September 8, 2011 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

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Police warn about hook ups

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SF to get PrEP pilot program

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'Circumstance' opens

The

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Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971

Vol. 41 • No. 36 • September 8-14, 2011

Then-Supervisor Bevan Dufty shows Alice Hoagland the plaque about her son Mark Bingham at the Eureka Valley Recreation Center in the Castro that was named in his honor in 2006.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Thom Watson, left, and Jeff Tabaco joined marriage equality advocates outside the state Supreme Court before Tuesday’s hearing.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Men supporting World Naked Bicycle Day were questioned by a San Francisco Police officer outside the LGBT Community Center in 2008.

Wiener tackles Castro nudists

by Matthew S. Bajko

T

he Castro’s nudists would not be allowed in restaurants sans clothing nor be able to place their bare bottoms on outdoor seating in public plazas under a new rule introduced this week.

Openly gay District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the gayborhood at City Hall, submitted the proposed regulations at Tuesday’s board meeting following the summer recess. It would require people over the age of 16 who are nude in public to place an item, such as a towel, underneath them when they sit down on shared seating and would require nudists to don clothing before they enter a restaurant.

“San Francisco is a liberal and tolerant city, and we pride ourselves on that fact,” stated Wiener. “Yet, while we have a variety of views about public nudity, we can all agree that when you sit down naked, you should cover the seat, and that you should cover up when you go into a food establishment.”

The legislation does nothing to address growing complaints from some residents and merchants who want to see the nudists ordered out of the city’s LGBT district. And reaction to the proposed rules has been mixed, with some expressing support and others dismissing it as wrongheaded.

“What crazy stuff to have to waste your [time] on when there are such bigger problems!” one man wrote on Wiener’s Facebook page about the proposed rules.

Another person said it doesn’t go far enough and public nudity should be banned.

“Seriously just make it against the law to be nude. It solves all the ‘problems’ with this issue,” See page 16 >>

Rick Gerharter

Tenth anniversary of 9/11

Gone but not forgotten

by Ed Walsh

O

n the evening of September 11, 2001, there weren’t many details about what happened when United Airlines flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field. The terrorists had obviously been thwarted in their attempt to hit a fourth high profile target, following the airline crashes that brought

down both towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan and damaged the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C. But in San Francisco, there was no doubt among a group of friends who gathered that night at the Pilsner Inn that Mark Bingham helped played a pivotal role in the plane missing a target.

See page 17 >>

Court likely to grant Prop 8 backers standing

by Matthew S. Bajko

C

alifornia’s Supreme Court signaled this week it is willing to grant backers of voter-approved initiatives the right to defend the ballot measures in federal court when state officials opt against doing so.

The issue, known as “standing” in legal See page 16 >>

Local events to mark 9/11

Lydia Gonzales

Academy of Friends board Chair Howard Edelman, left, and founder Kile Ozier

compiled by Cynthia Laird

S

everal events around the Bay Area will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. All are free and open to the public and take place on Sunday, September 11 unless otherwise noted.

Castro In the Castro, the rainbow flag at Market and Castro streets will be lowered to halfstaff. Freelance photographer Bill Wilson plans to have a memory book in honor of Mark Bingham and Father Mychal Judge for people to sign in Harvey Milk Plaza from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. A program is scheduled for 1 p.m., Wilson said, adding that it might just be an open mike.

San Francisco

New York Fire Department Chaplain Mychal Judge will be remembered in the Castro this Sunday.

Parks Department will have tribute projects in partnership with Hands On Bay Area. Volunteers will gather at the Veterans War Memorial Building courtyard (near 401 Van Ness Avenue) to honor the memories of the victims of 9/11 and then going forth to give tribute to the fallen by serving at community projects.

The day begins at 9 a.m. with registration and a light breakfast. At 9:30 there will be a 20-minute program. At 10, volunteers will disperse to their projects. Project sites

The San Francisco Recreation and

See page 13 >>

AOF retooling 2012 gala

by Seth Hemmelgarn

M

onths after Academy of Friends told beneficiaries they wouldn’t be getting the combined $150,000 that they had been waiting for, the nonprofit is asking HIV and AIDS-related charities to work with them again.

Howard Edelman, who became AOF’s new board chair in June, and Kile Ozier, who See page 16 >>

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<< Community News

2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2011

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Struttin’ the runway at Oakland Pride A

Diva’s Closet, a boutique in Oakland, hosted a Queer Couture Runway at the second Oakland Pride festival Sunday, September 4, which saw young people strut the runway on the women’s stage. Sunny weather saw thousands of people attend the afternoon festival, which featured headliners Thelma Houston and Jennifer Holliday. Community groups were well represented and Oakland Mayor Jean Quan was also on hand.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Dolores enters rehab, gets makeover

by Tony K. LeTigre

M

ission Dolores Park, the 14acre urban oasis “unanimously voted the greatest place on earth” according to its Facebook fan page, is in the midst of a major renovation that has its many devotees on edge with worry, curiosity, and enthusiasm.

This month, those sitting on the park’s south hill could hardly fail to notice the huge, gaping hole in the park’s southern lawn where the playground used to be.

Tracy Isabella Gonzales, 23, secretary for the Queer Resource Center at City College of San Francisco, was optimistic.

“I think it’s for the best, Dolores could totally use a makeover,” Gonzales, who identifies as straight, told the Bay Area Reporter. “I look forward to seeing more children and families and less drug dealers once the changes are complete.”

Others are more ambivalent.

“The construction is an eyesore, no doubt,” said San Francisco resident Catherine Cole, 30, a lesbian. “I understand it likely will be beneficial in the end, but it definitely adds an odd obstruction to Gay Beach.”

That obstruction will become a new and improved playground, named after San Francisco philanthropist Helen Diller, with a grand opening projected for spring or summer 2012.

The Helen Diller Playground will boast a 10-foot-high “play mound” with rubberized surface, new swing set, a shipwrecked boat, sound garden, sand area, boulders and nets for climbing, and a 45-foot “super slide.”

It is the spectacular opening salvo of the project known as Dolores Park Renovation (or Improvement, or Rehabilitation), which falls under the auspices of the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department.

For native San Franciscan Nancy Gonzalez Madynski, chair of the volunteer organization Friends of

Rick Gerharter

Sunbathers enjoy the sun at the Gay Beach in the southwest corner of Dolores Park; the reconstruction of the children’s playground is in the background.

Dolores Park Playground, breaking ground is the culmination of a lengthy and arduous process.

“We’ve been working on this since 2004-05, when we started thinking and forming our group,” Madynski, 39, told the B.A.R. But it really gained momentum a couple years ago when the park bond passed. “We’ve had social events along the way, we have a 2,000-member email list. We’ve had an incredible amount of input from the community.”

Project Manager Jake Gilchrist of Rec and Park provided a status report from July estimating the total renovation budget – excluding the playground – at $11.7 million. All of it comes from the Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond, passed by voters in November 2008.

The playground has a separate budget of $3.5 million, covered by bond and general fund money plus a $1.5 million grant from the Mercer Foundation.

The improvement project isn’t expected to wrap until spring of 2014, if it stays on schedule.

Rec and Park approved a full-scale renovation design in June 2009. A police crackdown on drinking and other licentious behavior began around the same time, reportedly in response to complaints from neighbors who were not inured to the park’s libertine ethos.

“It’s been tradition to look the other way at drinking and smoking in the park,” said Donald Brust, cofounder of Dolores Park Works, created in 2009 to advocate for the park.

In 2010 rumors exploded that the park would be completely closed to the public throughout the renovation – as long as a year and a half. By then Dolores had (again) won a strong following, which went ballistic on her behalf. Then-supervisor Bevan Dufty issued a calming statement,

the rumors evaporated, and everyone settled back onto the lawn.

It appears the park will only be partially closed in the areas immediately affected, as it is now with the playground pit.

Madynski said that FDPP’s intention is “to preserve the park and its play value for all ages,” meaning anyone under 18 years of age can use the playground, in contrast to the general trend which designs playgrounds only for the youngest children, 0 to 4 years old.

“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to get on a swing, even at our age,” Madynski said. “We have a strong design team [Royston Hanamoto Alley and Abey] with a landscape architect hired privately [Koch Landscape Architecture].

Everyone’s very excited about it.”

Except those who are not.

Museum or playground?

“The playground design treats the park as if it had no historical value at all,” said Lucia Bogatay, copresident of the Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association, whose ultimate goal is to have the Mission registered officially as a historic district. “It removes the historic path and digs into the grassy slope above it for the slide. RHAA started on it early, without evaluating its resources properly.”

Bogatay is a Harvard-trained architect with a history of civic engagement on the side of preservation and commemoration.

She contributed to the design of the Castro’s Harvey Milk Plaza, fought against museums in the Presidio, and was a member of the jury that chose the winning design for the LGBT Community Center in 1997 when it was still in the conceptual stages.

Her objection to the playground was seconded by Harry Clark, 58, See page 14 >>

Read more online at www.ebar.com

September 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 3

<< Open Forum

4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2011

Volume 41, Number 36 September 8-14, 2011 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Thomas E. Horn Bob Ross (Founder, 1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko Seth Hemmelgarn Jim Provenzano CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan Aiello • Tavo Amador • Erin Blackwell Roger Brigham • Scott Brogan Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Chuck Colbert Richard Dodds • Raymond Flournoy David Guarino • Liz Highleyman Brandon Judell • John F. Karr • Lisa Keen Matthew Kennedy • David Lamble Michael McDonagh • Paul Parish Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota Bob Roehr • Donna Sachet • Adam Sandel Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Ed Walsh • Sura Wood

ART DIRECTION Kurt Thomas PRODUCTION MANAGER T. Scott King PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland Marc Geller Rick Gerharter Lydia Gonzales Rudy K. Lawidjaja Steven Underhill Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge Christine Smith

GENERAL MANAGER Michael M. Yamashita DISPLAY ADVERTISING Colleen Small Scott Wazlowski CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING David McBrayer

NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

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News Editor • news@ebar.com Arts Editor • arts@ebar.com Advertising • advertising@ebar.com Letters • letters@ebar.com A division of Benro Enterprises, Inc. © 2011 Published weekly. Bay Area Reporter reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement which the publisher believes is in poor taste or which advertises illegal items which might result in legal action against Bay Area Reporter. Ads will not be rejected solely on the basis of politics, philosophy, religion, race, age, or sexual orientation.

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Moving beyond fear A

s we pause to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, we see two unresolved policy areas that need to be addressed and provide an opportunity for our community to seek positive solutions to the problems that divide our country: discrimination and immigration.

We must pledge to seek these changes and get beyond the fear that grips some people uncontrollably and is further exploited by conservatives at every turn. We need to recognize common causes to unite with other minority communities if we want to achieve greater fairness and equality overall.

Discrimination One thing became clear even as smoke from the demolished twin towers smoldered at ground zero: Americans would need to struggle against the impulse to discriminate against and scapegoat all Muslims. The Muslim community felt it almost instantly in some parts of the country, where they were singled out because of their faith and unilaterally declared as the enemy. Even people mistaken for being Muslim faced angry stares, second-class treatment, and murder. This should sound familiar to LGBTs. As a community familiar with discrimination for generations, some LGBTs found a shared bond with our Muslim neighbors and co-workers and took the opportunity for shared understanding and a desire to see our communities free from discrimination.

During the debate last year over the planned construction of an Islamic center near the site of the 2001 attacks in Lower Manhattan, LGBT community leaders should have stood up to support the constitutional rights of the developers. A closer examination of that dispute shows that it was largely led by the overheated and false rhetoric on Fox News and conservative blogs who riled up people against Muslim Americans and tried to deny them their rights as citizens.

We need to move beyond the sound bites and stand up for fairness. Going forward, we must speak up when others cannot. We must call out

discrimination for what it is, and work to ensure that people are protected legally in housing, employment, and public accommodations.

We must build coalitions with the Muslim community and other allies; in this way, we can forge common ground together by lobbying political leaders or simply speaking up against blatant discrimination. It is not acceptable to stand by silently if we want others to speak up on our behalf.

Immigration Immigration provides another policy opportunity. The system needs reform, and neither former President George W. Bush nor current President Obama has been able to bring about even the most basic workable solution. Immigration is an LGBT issue because immigrants and same-sex binational couples have had their lives upended, just as people in other communities have. The failure of federal Dream Act legislation in the Senate last December – even as repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” moved forward – was a stark reality check that demonstrated the undue influence of conservatives to focus attention and action against immigrants by tying this country’s immigration policies to fear – the fear of another

terrorist attack or the fear of losing one’s job, even as it’s clear that many Americans wouldn’t do the work that immigrants perform.

Ideally we need an immigration policy that allows families to stay together, enables children of undocumented workers to get a college education, and strengthens our economy by putting people on a path to citizenship so that they can work legally in the United States and pay their fair share in taxes. Independent voters need to look beyond the hollow slogans generated by tea party politicians and the majority of the Republican presidential candidates.

In short, the divisiveness needs to come to an end. Given the toxic climate of Washington, D.C. these days, and a presidential election next year, we know that’s a tall order; but we must continue the conversations, telling our stories to leaders while listening as people in other minority communities tell theirs and supporting each other in common causes.

This 10th anniversary of 9/11 needn’t be a sorrowful time. Rather, it should be a time of renewal in ourselves, and in our country. Fairminded leaders need to move America in a new direction, but they can only do so if we demand it. Make your voice heard and your actions count. ▼

On 9/11, an unforgettable silence

by James Patterson

T

o say Washington, D.C. was in a state of chaos on the morning of September 11, 2001 greatly understates what I saw that day.

I lived in the D.C. neighborhood of Foggy Bottom at the time. The State Department and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are located in the neighborhood.

The day started like any other for me. I was up at 6 a.m. and I had an interview with a professor at Georgetown University for an article I was writing. After getting dressed, I began to scan the day’s headlines in the Washington Post. I also listened to the radio as I did every morning.

Just as I was reaching to shut the radio off and go to my interview, the radio host announced, “We are getting reports that an airliner has flown into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York.” What a horrible accident, I thought. I remembered the many times I had visited the World Trade Center. I paused to listen more.

In a few minutes the announcer said, “We are seeing another airliner headed for the south tower of the World Trade Center.” Two planes in a row? I asked myself. This is no accident, I concluded. I switched on the television in time to see Flight 175 hitting the south tower.

I watched in horror as the jetliner crashed into the tower. I sat glued in front of my television for maybe half an hour. Shortly afterward, the panes of my kitchen window rattled and I heard a distant explosion. This signaled that Flight 77 had crashed into the western side of the Pentagon and I could see from my kitchen window an ominous black cloud billowing smoke from across the Potomac River.

The radio announcer soon reported the Pentagon attack. The federal government immediately closed and workers were sent home. There were huge traffic jams as people

James Patterson

left Washington for their suburban Virginia and Maryland homes. The mayor declared Washington was in a state of emergency and people were ordered to stay off the streets.

Soon chaos reigned over the radio.

Crackpots began calling in to say the Library of Congress had been blown up. Likewise, the Supreme Court and the U.S. Capitol had been reduced to rubble. It was clear to me that some sick people were taking advantage of the Pentagon attack to spread terror with false claims of other Washington landmarks destroyed.

Though Washington was officially in a state of emergency, I had to go out to the streets. It was about noon at this point. The streets were bare and I couldn’t see any traffic anywhere along Pennsylvania Avenue. A TGI Friday’s was closed with a note posted to the door: “Go Home.”

As I walked back to my apartment, I noticed a military truck carrying several troops. One of the troops was listening to a portable listening

device, I assumed to keep track with the fast breaking news events. I also saw soldiers with weapons stationed at what would have been busy streets.

In sum, September 11, 2001 was a horrible day. It was frightening and disturbing for the city to be in a state of emergency. It was disturbing not to know what was happening and not to know what else might happen. It was almost like what might have happened if there had been a nuclear attack or some other type of disaster.

Of course, Congress, the president, and vice president had been moved to safe and secured locations. They were all whisked out of harm’s way for their protection until the situation stabilized.

Silence was the most memorable thing I recall from that horrible day. After the Pentagon was hit and the city locked down, the silence was amazing. I lived in D.C. for nearly 20 years and I have never experienced anything like the silence of September 11.

On a busy workday, like September 11 was, there should be noise. Noise was normal. I lived in the nation’s capital and I expected noise. The day started with noise but it gave way to silence.

An unforgettable and uneasy silence. It was as though something in the city had died as a result of the attack on the Pentagon.

It took days for the noise and other signs of life to return to the city and with it the compassion to honor the dead and injured.

With the noise also came the will and determination to seek retaliation against those who would kill innocents and sacrifice themselves to strike out at our country.

As we acknowledge the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, let us declare to seek a safe future domestically and internationally. The Arab Spring uprisings are a clear indication that people, subjected to decades of dictatorship, desire to be free. May we forever hear the voices of those who struggle to be free.▼ James Patterson is a San Francisco-based writer.

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Politics>>

September 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

Lee targets Castro voters in mayor’s race

by Matthew S. Bajko

I

nterim Mayor Ed Lee brought his campaign for a full-term in the job to the Castro over Labor Day weekend, not only marking the official start of the political season but also the mad scramble for votes from San Francisco’s LGBT voters in the mayoral race.

“This is a good way to do visibility and let people know there is an election,” Lee said as to why he spent his weekend doing merchant walks in various city neighborhoods.

Based on the reactions of shoppers and diners as Lee toured the gayborhood Saturday, September 3, he is a well-liked chief executive people would be happy to see remain in Room 200 at City Hall for the next four years.

“He is doing a great job. As the saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” said Martin Kamen, a gay man who was having brunch with friends at Squat and Gobble on 16th Street near Market as Lee made the rounds greeting patrons.

While stopping to talk to the proprietors of Cliff ’s Variety on Castro Street, Lee won praise from Martha Rose, a Castro resident.

“You are the best mayor we have had in years. You get things done,” Rose, an out lesbian, told Lee. In a brief interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Rose said she is “90 percent sure” she will vote for Lee as her number one choice for mayor. Under the city’s rankedchoice voting system, voters can rank their top three choices among the 16 mayoral candidates on the November ballot.

Kamen also told the B.A.R. that he planned to vote for Lee. Neither said they had made up their minds about a second choice.

Lee’s camp plans to have a regular presence in the Castro, as it is scouting for a location to open a satellite headquarters in the LGBT district. It hopes to secure a lease within the coming weeks and open sometime in mid-September.

The adoration Lee received from people on the Castro’s streets was in stark contrast to the lukewarm or lack of support the mayor has received from the city’s LGBT political clubs. The Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club snubbed Lee entirely in its endorsement vote, while the Log Cabin Republicans gave him its third-place nod.

The Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club is expected to follow suit next week when the membership votes on its endorsements in the race. Its political action committee has recommended Lee be given a third place endorsement.

The best showing Lee has made with a group with a sizeable LGBT membership is the moderate Plan C. It voted Tuesday night to give Lee its first place endorsement.

And so far the only personal endorsement of Lee from a wellknown out leader has been Susan Leal, a former city treasurer and supervisor who lost her own bid for mayor back in 2003. According to Lee’s campaign, a fundraiser focused on the LGBT community is being planned for late September.

Due to Lee’s last-minute entry into the race – for months he had pledged not to seek a full term – he did not expect to receive many first place endorsements, said campaign spokesman Tony Winnicker.

“We are glad to have one, two,

Jane Philomen Cleland

Issa Sweidan, left, managing partner of Squat and Gobble, sips iced tea during a merchant walk by interim Mayor Ed Lee last Saturday.

Joining them is Pride board Chair Lisa Williams (next to mayor), and Steve Adams, right, president of the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro.

or three in this ranked-choice environment. A lot of folks already made commitments over the last one to two years,” he said.

The mayoral candidates have two forums planned in the coming days. This Saturday, September 10 they will be hosted by the District 11 Council/ Democratic Club from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Bethel Center, 2525 Alemany Boulevard, between Ottawa and Foote streets. Then Monday, September 12 the Neighborhood Parks Council is sponsoring a mayoral debate from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Milton Marks Auditorium inside the state building at 455 Golden Gate.

Gay San Jose leader ends Assembly bid Openly gay Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager suspended his bid for a Silicon Valley Assembly seat over the Labor Day weekend.

He made the decision after state Assemblyman Paul Fong (D-Cupertino) told him he would seek re-election to the seat.

“Circumstances may change, but that is unlikely. I look forward to completing the three years I have remaining in my current term on the Board of Supervisors, and to working with all of you to solve the complex issues that confront our county,” Yeager told supporters in an email he sent Sunday, September 4.

Yeager had expected to make a bid for the San Jose-based Assembly seat currently held by Assemblyman Jim Beall, who is termed out of office next year. But the redistricting process threw him a curveball upending his plans.

Instead of being drawn into the Assembly seat covering the South Bay’s largest city, Yeager’s San Jose street ended up in the newly drawn Silicon Valley district. The longtime Democratic politician did not want to take on one of his party’s incumbents, and when Fong made it clear he would not run for a Senate seat, Yeager opted to put his ambitions for state office on hold.

“So, where before there was going to be no incumbent Assembly member on the 2012 election ballot, now there will be one. This change in circumstances has made me rethink my plans,” wrote Yeager in his emailed announcement.

Fong’s decision likely means that openly gay Campbell City Councilman Evan Low will also suspend his Assembly campaign as he works for Fong and has

repeatedly said he has no plans to run against him. Low did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

His campaign had already gone into a state of hiatus this summer.

The last event listed on his Assembly campaign website took place in late June.

Low is hosting a town hall tonight (Thursday, September 8) in Campbell to discuss issues related to his council job. While not listed on the agenda, the status of his Assembly bid may come up.

Pro-LGBT contracting bill becomes law Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Tuesday, September 6 a law that will ban companies that do not offer domestic partner benefits to their LGBT employees from being considered for state contracts. The bill is one of several LGBT rights legislation sent to the Democratic governor this year.

Lesbian state Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) authored the Equal Benefits bill, SB 117, which mirrors similar contracting regulations enacted by cities and counties. It bars state agencies from entering into contracts in excess of $100,000 with businesses and other entities that deny equal benefits to the same-sex spouses of their employees.

“The state’s tax dollars earned by hardworking Californians should not be invested in companies that unfairly discriminate against LGBT people and their families,” stated Roland Palencia, executive director of Equality California, which sponsored the bill.▼ Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check www.ebar.com Monday mornings around 11 a.m. for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. The column returns Monday, September 12.

Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ twitter.com/politicalnotes.

Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 861-5019 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

On the web Online content this week includes more news briefs, a reporter’s look back at covering 9/11, and Tammy Baldwin’s Senate campaign announcement. www.ebar.com.

<< Commentary

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2011

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Of dudes, dancers, and deadlocks

by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

A

www.ebar.com

t MTV’s video music awards – within the shadow of controversy over Tyler, the Creator’s win for best new artist – Lady Gaga took to the stage as her more masculine alter-ego, Jo Calderone.

Calderone started the show with a performance of Gaga’s “You And I,” but not until after a several-minute mock tirade about his relationship with Gaga.

The act itself was bold and showy and quite good overall.

Gaga remained in drag as Calderone for the whole show, accepting a Moonman statuette as well as presenting one to Britney Spears completely in character.

I do have to confess, I’ve never been a big Lady Gaga fan. What little I’ve heard hasn’t exactly made it into my record collection.

Fine enough music, sure, but nothing that’s made me say, “This has staying power.”

The glam outfits and the outrageous antics are classic rock and roll stuff dating back to Elvis Presley and Little Richard, and clearly inspired by Davie Bowie and all who came after him.

I must admit, though, after seeing the VMA performance, Gaga can really put on a show.

Unlike previous Gaga incarnations, Calderone is not in a meat dress or wearing plastic bubbles. He sports a white T-shirt with rolled up sleeves, jeans, and slicked-back hair: one might expect Calderon to start performing tunes from Grease rather than Gaga’s songs. He struts around the stage, taking drags from a cigarette or

Christine Smith

swigs from a beer bottle. If you’ve ever seen a good drag king show, well, you’ll recognize the moves – and they were done well.

There’s a much bigger story here, though. When one watched the performance, cutaways to the star-studded crowd showed many politely shocked faces, and even a few frowns of disapproval for Calderone. Justin Bieber, for one, appeared to want to be anywhere but there. Later, when Calderone was presenting the Video Vanguard Award to Spears, he leaned in for a kiss – and Spears turned away.

Many more in the media went on the attack, calling Calderone “disgusting” and “bizarre,” or even a “bizarro, genderbending alter he-go” by Tirdad Derakhshani of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Some stories wanted to focus on whether or not Calderon wore a faux phallus, and worried over what restroom Calderone used that day.

In short, the same stuff most other transgender people have to wade through.

In the same week as Calderone strutted across the VMA stage, the ABC reality program Dancing With the Stars announced that Chaz Bono would be on the show this season.

The show previously garnered a whole lot of press by having Bristol Palin hoofing it on stage and producers clearly suspected the Bono announcement would be yet another headline grabber.

For those who have been living under a rock, Bono is the son of Sonny and Cher, and the subject of the documentary Becoming Chaz.

His transition has been headlines on supermarket tabloids for months now.

As expected, Bono’s casting has stirred up controversy, so much so that Chaz’s mom hopped onto her

Twitter account to defend her son from hateful, transphobic comments. It really let loose, however, when Fox News gave Dr. Keith Ablow space on its website. Ablow, who describes Bono as, “the ‘transsexual’ woman who underwent plastic surgery and takes male hormones in an effort to appear to be a man, and who asserts she is a man,” warned parents to keep their children away from DWTS, for fear that they would “watch a captive crowd in a studio audience applaud on cue for someone whose search for an identity culminated with the removal of her breasts, the injection of steroids and, perhaps one day soon, the fashioning of a make-shift phallus to replace her vagina.”

Here I thought they’d be applauding his dance steps.

Silly me.

So in the course of one week we’ve seen two huge stories about two big celebrities; one who transitioned and is now going to be on one of the highest rated reality shows, and the other who opted to express a male gender on one of the bigger music award shows. It’s big, big stuff, and even the obvious queer-andtransphobic reactions only speak to the enormity of the stories.

But one more thing happened, and it likely won’t be found in Us or People.

In a courtroom in Los Angeles – the same city where the VMAs were held this year, and the same city where DWTS is filmed – a mistrial was declared in the shooting death of 15-year-old Larry King. It’s unclear if King was gay or transgender, but we do know that he was known to wear high heels, makeup, and other traditionally feminine attire, and chat with males.

One of these young men, Brandon McInerney, had told at least six people he was going to kill King in the days before the murder.

McInerney took a .22 caliber handgun to E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard in 2008 and shot King twice in the back of the head in front of other classmates. It was cold and calculated.

McInerney’s defense attorneys claimed that he felt threatened by a comment that King made in the hall – a simple “What’s up, baby?” – and that McInerney could not control himself. Yes, transgender panic rears its head again – and again, it works.

So I applaud the Gagas and Bonos out there for building awareness on the television screens of America.

Maybe what they’re doing now will help lead us to a better future.

Yet don’t believe for a minute that because Calderone can swagger across a stage, or that Bono can cut a reality show’s rug that we’ve reached acceptance. For some, expressing one’s gender remains a death sentence.▼ Gwen Smith is no monster. You can find her online at www. gwensmith.com.

ebar.com

Read more online at www.ebar.com

September 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

<< Business News

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2011

▼

Castro food trucks serve up controversy

by Raymond Flournoy

S

ince the opening of the Jane Warner Plaza parklet at the corner of Castro and Market, people have complained about a variety of visitors drawn to the new open space, including the homeless, nudists, and pigeons. Add to that list a new source of controversy: food trucks.

Recently the Chevron station at 2399 Market Street, which fronts the plaza, has begun hosting a succession of gourmet food trucks.

Many customers of the trucks sit at the plaza tables to enjoy the mobile eats.

For Dennis Ziebell, co-owner of Orphan Andy’s (3991-A 17th Street), this clearly violates the intended purpose of the plaza.

“The plaza is meant to benefit the entire neighborhood, the community. It isn’t meant to become a food court providing cafeteria seating for food trucks,” he said.

But Ziebell’s concerns go beyond seating, to what he sees as negative effects on the entire neighborhood from the trucks.

“Most of the merchants in the Castro like food trucks and think they are a good thing ... in the proper locations. But the city has created a bad economic policy in terms of where they allow these trucks to operate,” said Ziebell.

According to Ziebell, the ordinances covering food trucks were changed recently, making it much easier for trucks parked on private property to receive permits.

Ziebell does not believe that the trucks at the Chevron station are operating illegally, but he thinks that the permitting process did not properly weigh the concerns of the neighborhood hosting the trucks.

“The trucks do not contribute to the neighborhood. They truck the food in and then they truck the money out,” Ziebell said. “The original benefit of these food trucks was to provide food options in underserved areas, not to park in areas with lots of other restaurants and businesses.”

The subject of food truck permitting was taken up at the Castro and Upper Market Community Benefit District’s Services Committee meeting September 7. The CBD board meets tonight (Thursday, September 8) from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Castro Community Meeting Room on the second floor of the Bank of America building (501 Castro Street).

“The question we are posing is this: Will the CBD board of directors speak up to ask the planning department, the mayor’s office, and the Board of Supervisors to revisit and amend the ordinances as written and take into consideration the neighborhoods where these private property food trucks are operating?” asked Ziebell.

Ziebell is a member of the CBD board, but he made it clear that he was speaking as an individual.

“I am speaking as a resident and as a business owner in the neighborhood,” he said.

Complicating the situation is the fact that the owner of the Chevron station, Pat Sahagun, is also a CBD board member. Sahagun did not return a request for comment for this column.

Steve Adams, president of the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro and vice president of the San Francisco Small Business Commission, confirmed that the SBC has heard similar complaints about the food trucks from other neighborhood merchants, in particular in the Fisherman’s Wharf and Mission districts. Adams said that he is organizing a hearing to clarify the permitting process for food trucks, especially for ones operating on private property.

When contacted for comment, Supervisor Scott Wiener, whose district includes the Castro neighborhood, said, “I am very supportive of the food truck movement, but it has to be done in a way that is respectful to brick and mortar businesses. We shouldn’t create unfair competition and should have a transparent process. ... Regarding the truck in the Chevron lot, I will be speaking with the concerned merchants this week and others in the neighborhood as well.”

Castro businesses in flux As San Francisco gets ready for its warmest months, a number of Castro businesses are opening or facing other changes.

D and H Sustainable Jewelers (2323 Market Street) has announced the opening of Rose Cut Wine Bar, situated on the mezzanine at the rear of the store. In a press release, coowner Lindsay Daunell said, “Rose Cut will feature a hand-picked selection of local and sustainable wines from a single vineyard that will rotate every few months.”

Citizen men’s clothiers celebrated the grand opening of its new location at 489 Castro Street with a party and fundraiser on September 1. Raffle tickets were sold to raise money for Project Inform (www. projectinform.org), an advocacy

group for people with HIV/AIDS. Gingerfruit (2029 Market Street) has a new manager, a new chef, and a new menu. According to new general manager Tina Lauchengco, who replaced former GM Henry Lamb, the Asian tapas menu, which launched the restaurant earlier this summer, has been replaced with a more traditional salads and entrees menu. Driving the kitchen makeover is Daniel Onedrea, who moved over from the recently closed Home restaurant, which is currently looking for a new tenant.

The grand opening of Bryan Roberts Salon and Color Bar was held on August 27. The salon at 561 Castro Street includes a full-service Aveda spa, and is the brainchild of co-owners Bryan McKay and Robert Lee. Outside of the Castro, South of Market bar Truck (1900 Folsom Street) welcomes a new co-owner this month, Matt Mikesell. Mikesell, creator of the popular Bearracuda parties, will take over promotional work for Truck. A relaunch party is scheduled for Saturday, September 10 to welcome Mikesell onboard.

New music permit proposed Supervisors Wiener and Ross Mirkarimi have proposed a new limited live music permit that would make it cheaper and easier for bars, cafes, and restaurants to feature live entertainment. The new permit would cover performances that cannot be heard outside of the venue and which end before 10 p.m., such as a guitar player in a cafe.

“The legislation will provide opportunities for businesses to create more interesting and vibrant atmospheres for their customers, without breaking the bank to get a permit,” said Wiener.

The first reading of the legislation passed unanimously, and the second reading was scheduled for Tuesday, September 6. If all goes as expected, Wiener anticipates that the legislation will be signed into law by next week.

Music in the plaza The final Sunday Music in the Castro event will happen this Sunday, September 11, from 1 to 2 p.m. at Jane Warner Plaza. Swing vocalist Belinda Blair will perform at the free event, sponsored by the Castro CBD.▼

Steven Kasapi

Manager-buyer Josh Ellman, owner Petyr Kane, and lead Kyle Snyder celebrated the opening of Citizen’s new Castro Street location.

bartabsf.com

▼

CommunityNews >>

September 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

Police data show hook up dangers

by Seth Hemmelgarn

O

ver the summer, a handful of reports to police have highlighted what some say is a crime that’s been underreported: Men meeting other men in bars or online (“hooking up”) and later having property stolen or being assaulted.

At about 8:30 a.m., Saturday, August 20, a man reported to police that he’d met another man at the Mix bar, 4088 18th Street in the Castro, just after midnight.

They had drinks and took a cab, apparently to the man’s home in the 2400 block of 24th Street. When he woke up, the suspect was gone and several items were missing, including his wallet, a DVD player, wedding rings, and a computer. The Bay Area Reporter obtained a copy of the police report through a public records act request.

The victim, described as a 41-yearold white man, said that he didn’t believe he’d been drugged, but he had fallen asleep because he was tired.

The suspect was described as a 38 to 43-year-old Hispanic man, 5 feet 7 inches, with brown hair and a thin beard, weighing 167 pounds.

It’s not clear how much alcohol was involved in the incident. However, Sergeant Chuck Limbert, LGBT liaison for Mission Station, said that he and station Captain Greg Corrales have been noticing that all recent Part 1-classified personal incidents such as theft have somehow been related to alcohol. Mission Station oversees the Castro and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Limbert said some victims have been “so far gone” they can’t remember things like leaving the bar.

He said in one recent incident, a man couldn’t remember leaving the bar, but he recalled meeting another man on the street and taking him home.

The victim didn’t recall if they’d had sex or not, Limbert said, but the

Steven Underhill

Sergeant Chuck Limbert

man had woken up in the morning to find that his wallet was gone.

“That’s unnerving to me, that someone would be in a position ... that you don’t realize you’re that drunk,” he said.

Among other concerns, he said, “You don’t know if you’re practicing safe sex at that point.” Plus, “You could have been murdered. ... He could have called friends over,” he said.

Limbert said he hasn’t seen any spikes in hook up-related thefts recently, but such incidents are occurring on a weekly basis.

Such cases can include violence.

At about 1:15 a.m., Monday, August 22, a resident of the 3900 block of 18th Street reported to police that he’d brought home a man he’d met at the nearby 440 Castro bar.

The victim said that they were talking inside his apartment when the suspect demanded oral sex, which the victim declined. The suspect “started to act crazy,” according to the police report obtained by the B.A.R., so the victim asked him to leave.

The suspect pulled out a small black revolver, pointed it at the victim, and said, “You’re going to do what I say you’re going to do. If you leave that couch, I will kill you!”

See page 15 >>

Pride annual meeting Saturday compiled by Cynthia Laird

T

he San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee will hold its annual general meeting Saturday, September 10 at 2 p.m. at W San Francisco, 181 Third Street.

Items on the agenda include selection of the 2012 Pride Parade theme, elections to the board of directors, membership renewals, and updates from the Pride Committee leadership.

Registration begins at 1:30. A reception hosted by W San Francisco will immediately follow the meeting.

Ruth Brinker memorial The public is invited to a memorial service for Project Open Hand founder Ruth Brinker on Monday, September 12 at 5:30 p.m. in the North Light Court at San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place. Ms. Brinker died August 8 after a series of strokes and other illnesses. She was 89.

Small business seminar There will be an LGBT small business financial planning seminar where people can learn about taxes, liability, and changing business entities with law Professor Russell Stanaland on Wednesday, September 14 at 7 p.m. at the top of the TransAmerica Pyramid, 600 Montgomery Street. The event is free and preceded by a reception at

6:30. An RSVP is required and can be made by contacting rocio.x.puch@ ampf.com.

Award for youth activism Out in the Silence, a film and campaign for fairness and equality in rural and small town America, has announced a project that will support LGBT youth and help protect California’s new FAIR Education Act, also known as Senate Bill 48, which anti-gay groups are working to overturn at the ballot next year.

The Out in the Silence Award, with a $1,500 grand prize, $750 impact prize, and $599 new group prize, will go to the student or youth groups that most effectively raise LGBT visibility, call attention to bullying and harassment, and promote fairness and equality for all by holding an Out in the Silence film event in their school or community during October, which is also LGBT History Month and includes National Coming Out Day. Award winners will be announced in the Huffington Post on December 10.

People who are interested can become eligible for the awards and receive a free DVD and event planning toolkit by visiting wpsu.org/ outinthesilence.▼

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2011

September 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2011

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

Community News >>

▼ SF set to offer anti-HIV pill to gay men

by Matthew S. Bajko

S

an Francisco is expected to become the first city in the country to offer gay men an anti-HIV pill that has proven successful in stopping transmission of the virus that causes AIDS. Officials with the National Institutes of Health and San Francisco public health officials are close to finalizing an agreement to launch in early 2012 a demonstration project for usage of pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP. The combination pill contains tenofovir and emtricitabine (Gilead Science’s Truvada) and has proven to be highly effective during clinical trials studying its efficacy.

Under the contract, up to 300 men who have sex with men at high risk for contracting HIV would be enrolled in the pilot study. City Clinic would administer the program while Magnet, the gay men’s health center in the Castro, would help identify suitable participants for the study.

“We are anticipating we will be the first municipality to implement

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9/11 events

From page 1

include Jefferson Park, Margaret Hayward Playground, and Patricia’s Green. For more information, visit www.sfrecpark.org. People must register to take part; registrants receive a free T-shirt.

An interfaith observance will be held in Sharon Meadow at Golden Gate Park, held in concert with the San Francisco Opera’s annual Opera in the Park. Mozart’s “Requiem” will be presented, interspersed with brief reflections regarding the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. A procession of faiths will take place at 2 p.m., led by the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

The San Francisco Zoo will offer free admission to San Francisco Fire Department and San Francisco Police Department employees and their families as a way to say “Thank you” for the hard work that they do.

SFFD and SFPD personnel must present valid employee badge or ID to receive the offer; the admission discount is good for up to four people per party. For more information, visit www.sfzoo.org.

East Bay New Spirit Community Church will hold a special commemoration service at 4 p.m. The Reverend Jim Mitulski said that the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir will be a special guest and there will be interfaith prayers for peace. The church is located on the Pacific School of Religion campus, 1798 Scenic Avenue, in Berkeley. For more information, visit www.newspiritchurch.org.

The Oakland Peace Center will have an afternoon of food, music, films, speakers, Sufi dancing and labyrinth walking at its 10th Anniversary of Global Friendship event, from 4 to 7 p.m. at 111 Fairmount Avenue, near Broadway and 29th streets. Co-sponsors include the First Christian Church of Oakland, First Congregational Church of Berkeley, the Ecumenical Peace Institute, First Mongolian Christian Church, and the Starr King School of Ministry. For more information, visit www.oaklandpeacecenter.org.

South Bay In Palo Alto, Stanford University will commemorate the 9/11 anniversary with a performance of Mozart’s “Requiem in D Minor,” as choruses across the country join in a National Requiem of Remembrance.

The performance, which will feature Schola Cantorum, an 80-member chorus based in Mountain View, will take place at 1:30 p.m. at Stanford Memorial Church, located

September 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

a PrEP demonstration project and things are moving forward toward that goal,” Dr. Grant Colfax, the city’s director of HIV prevention, told the Bay Area Reporter this week. “We are hoping the demo project would be implemented in the first quarter of 2012.”

The exact funding amount for the National Institutes of Health Implementation Science Study is still being determined. And San Francisco is expected to partner with counterparts in Miami on the study to see if gay men want to use PrEP, and if so, how to safely administer the medical prevention technique.

“We don’t know if people want it,” said Colfax.

The rollout of PrEP has been highly controversial, with some HIV prevention officials worried gay men will use it in order to engage in risky sexual practices. Others are concerned about having gay men take powerful drugs every day and what impacts that may have on their health later in life.

“Certainly, there are a lot of

questions about it. I think the real question is once it is on the ground, and we have a program actually offering PrEP, what is the experience of the community for the demand?

What is the level of interest in the gay community in using PrEP to prevent HIV?” asked Colfax.

Magnet Director Steve Gibson told the B.A.R. that, so far, few of the clinic’s patients have asked about the HIV prevention tool or its availability.

Those who have, he said, either took part in the iPrEx clinical trials, known locally as PREPARE, or are HIVnegative men who have HIV-positive partners.

“We have had a handful of guys asking about PrEP,” said Gibson.

“These are guys trying to figure out what the result of the iPrEx study might look like for them and how they manage their HIV risks on a dayto-day basis.”

Some of the questions Gibson said he hopes the demo project will answer are not only how gay men adopt using PrEP but also how to ensure lower income gay and bi men and men of

color have access to it.

“We’ve proven the concept can work. Now the question is how can we make it work and be most relevant for gay men in San Francisco,” sad Gibson. “Then my concerns are about equity. In San Francisco how do we make it equitable for gay men in lower socio-economic status or fearful of health care providers.”

City Clinic medical director Dr. Stephanie Cohen will be updating the HIV Prevention Planning Council about the status of the PrEP demo project at its meeting this afternoon (Thursday, September 8).

In a brief interview with the B.A.R. this week, Cohen said city leaders felt it was important to update council members about the project even though the contract has yet to be signed.

“We just want to keep them in the loop,” she said. “There is a really good chance for it to go forward, so having people’s feedback is ideal.”

The health department plans to also seek public input into the study.

“We will do a series of focus groups

in the main quad.

In San Jose, a candlelight vigil and wreath-laying service will take place at 7:30 p.m. at Oak Hill Cemetery and Memorial Park, 300 Curtner

Avenue (at Monterey Highway).

Oak Hill’s 9/11 monument was designed in remembrance of loved ones lost during the 9/11 tragedy. It includes a depiction of Flight 93 that

went down in a Pennsylvania field. A newly-erected 24-foot memory wall will be on display, listing all names of those lost on that day. For more information, call (408) 297-2447.▼

Jane Philomen Cleland

Dr. Grant Colfax

to get input about ideas and concerns around the project,” said Colfax. “As part of the planning for the project, we want to hear from community members and potential PrEP participants about their concerns and ideas.”

Today’s HPPC meeting will begin at 3 p.m. at the Quaker Meeting House, 65 Ninth Street between Mission and Market streets in San Francisco. ▼

ebar.com

<< The Sports Page

14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2011

▼

Grappling with the past

by Roger Brigham

A

few years back, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Wrestling Club led an effort by Wrestlers WithOut Borders to pay tribute to past LGBT wrestling pioneers as well as to build the WWB brand. The latest incarnations of that effort will be on display this month during the Folsom Street Fair when wrestlers from New York to Australia descend on San Francisco for WWB Cup III. The WWB Cup was established in 2008 to serve as the international LGBT wrestling championship in non-Gay Games years, and any tournament put on by a WWB club can serve as the cup host. The first cup was held in Chicago, and the second cup in San Francisco, with GGWC’s Don Jung Memorial Tournament as the host event.

This year, for the first time, the Don Jung tournament was moved from May to September. Normally it is held on a Sunday as part of an extended wrestling weekend, with a Saturday clinic, a Monday pool party, and numerous dinners and barbecues. This year’s tournament will be held on Saturday, September 24. On Sunday, during the street fair, the wrestlers will be operating a fundraising beer booth and demonstrating mat moves at an informational booth.

The attraction of the WWB Cup being combined with a major street fair has lured Australians to the event for the first time. It is believed that four Australians, buoyed by their success last year at the Gay Games in Germany, will compete, along with sizeable contingents from New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Two newcomers to WWB are also expected to make a showing: Carlin Yetts of Columbus, Ohio, who is starting his own wrestling club to compete in Gay Games IX in Cleveland; and Olympic hopeful Akil Patterson. Patterson, a heavyweight

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Dolores Park

From page 2

a gay Castro resident and member of the renovation project’s steering committee.

“It seems the playground was designed in a vacuum, disrupting the park’s most defining characteristic, which is the open green lawn,” Clark vented to the B.A.R. “They’re building this landscape of boulders, when there’s never been a single rock in the park. Who thought that would be appropriate? The original footprint has doubled in size. I thought this was a renovation of a playground, not a revision of the master plan of the park.”

Bogatay and Clark are among the hard-line preservationists who feel the park’s historic value has not been adequately represented at the monthly public workshops that began in June.

But Supervisor Scott Wiener, who has also been in the thick of the fray, contradicted their views.

“Lucia and others have spoken to the park’s historical value at the meetings,” Wiener said in an interview with the B.A.R. “Helen Diller came out of an extensive community process regarding the design. The old playground was outdated, it wasn’t up to modern safety standards, and it had horrible irrigation and drainage problems.”

Preservationists aren’t the only ones complaining. If Dolores Park is “San Francisco’s living room,” as a Yelp.com user named Gay Chris termed it in 2009, then the city is a dysfunctional family, and right now everyone is

Gene Dermody, top, wrestles Australia’s Barry Webb, in red, at the Gay Games in Cologne.

Mathias Ebert

Greco-Roman specialist, is not expected to compete but will officiate and may participate in exhibitions.

“I think we’ll see greater attendance than we would have in recent years, with athletes who are competing and spectators who are interested in watching the action,” said Chris Lorefice, Southern California Wrestling Club’s delegate to WWB. “It will help the tournament become part of the larger weekend activities rather than a stand alone event, and having multiple events in one weekend to attend will make it all the more fun.”

After the 25th edition of the Don Jung tournament last year, the wrestlers had planned to rotate the tournament among GGWC, SCWC, and the San Diego Bulldogs. As GGWC’s mission expanded through the years – the club is now involved in helping run a youth wrestling program with the city of San Francisco – Golden Gate found its energies sapped from trying to stage two major annual weekends.

“A lot went into this decision, as it was becoming difficult to host two popular events every summer in San Francisco,” said Gene Dermody, president of GGWC. “This event will also be billed as WWB Cup III. The confluence of both the tournament and the huge Folsom Street

fundraiser guarantees critical mass for all events. The Folsom Street Fair has been a major sponsor of GGWC for 25 years. Now GGWC shares the profits with its WWB member organizations to offset wrestler costs to travel and compete.”

Dermody said the value of having the tournament tied into a major LGBT event could not be overstated.

The inaugural WWB Cup in Chicago in 2008 was held during International Mr. Leather weekend.

“Getting a critical mass of athletes to these events is the name of the game,” Dermody said. “These events get us back to our Gay Games roots, enhancing critical mass by investing in the sports component.”

The interplay of honoring the past and expanding the future also led to the creation of the Runyon Wrestling Classic, which will be held during January’s Martin Luther King weekend in Las Vegas as part of the Sin City Shootout. SCWC will serve as host club. The event is named after the late Pete Runyon, founder of SCWC. (See July 31, 2008 www.ebar.com/columns/column. php?sec=sports&id=189.) It will be the first major LGBT wrestling tournament to offer non-gi grappling in addition to traditional freestyle.

“Grappling is becoming so popular, we would be missing the boat if we didn’t recognize its importance and work to promote it along with See page 15 >>

fighting over the living room.

“Most people don’t even know that it’s the main entrance to the park,” Kefauver added.

The access road, however, is one of the more contentious elements of the entire renovation package.

Kefauver, also a member of the steering committee, said there was “no choice” in the matter of the road, since Rec and Park stipulated it from the start.

Clark said ADA only requires a road “four to six feet wide,” and blamed the maintenance department for the new road’s 12-foot width, which he and others feel will impinge heavily on the free-flowing unity of the lawn.

“Maintenance has this rule, or rather opinion, that the road must be wide enough for an eight-foot truck and a four-foot wheelchair to use it at the same time,” Clark explained.

“There’s no reason they have to have trucks in the middle of the park. What about smaller vehicles that aren’t eight feet wide? What about limiting trucks to certain hours? Maintenance needs to get more creative.”

One thing everyone appears to agree on is the need for new and more accessible restrooms.

Wiener thought they had reached “a fairly broad consensus” for three new restrooms to be installed on Gay Beach, the tennis courts, and Hipster Hill.

But Rec and Park officials said the agreement was for two restrooms, one in the tennis courts and one by the new playground. ▼

The big picture Besides the new playground, the renovation design at present consists of the following: a new, 12-foot-wide, central and universally accessible road (“The ADA Road,” since it responds to federal regulations under the Americans With Disabilities Act); a building and loading zone for the maintenance crew, at least two new restrooms at opposite ends of the park, a brand-new bike polo court, an updated storm water collection system, new picnic areas and offleash dog zones, plus a revamp of the existing sports areas and the pedestrian bridge that connects the park with Church Street.

The fate of the Clubhouse building, where maintenance and the restrooms now dwell, is not yet decided. Re-use advocates want it converted into a Dolores Park history museum, while others would tear it down and replace it with a cafe or restaurant.

“The Clubhouse is not a building of great historic value,” argued Lindsay Kefauver of Dolores Park Dogs, a canine advocacy group. “There used to be a little gothic chapel there before it. The plumbing is totally shot, it’s from the 1930s. The whole building is filled with asbestos.”

The ADA Road will mean destruction of the historic promenade leading in from the park’s central eastern gate, a fact lamented by Bogatay and Clark, but not Kefauver.

She described the promenade as “a wasted area” that not many people use.

Next week: A look at some of the gay history of Dolores Park.

▼

Obituaries >>

Harry Dale Cameron May 18, 1936 – August 25, 2011

Harry Dale Cameron, a.k.a.

“Squirrel,” passed away peacefully on August 25, shortly after being admitted to hospice care at the Veterans Administration Hospital following a brief battle with cancer.

Known as Dale, he celebrated his 75th birthday in May. Dale acquired the nickname Squirrel while tending bar at Jackson’s Restaurant and Cabaret on upper Powell Street in the early 1970s. It’s not clear if he was best known for serving or sampling pink squirrel martinis, which were popular at the time.

The name carried over to Squirrel’s Liquors, located at 549 Castro, which Dale owned and operated with his life partner Tom Ogg. They were the toast of the Castro in the 1970s and 1980s.

Tom died December 23, 2008.

After closing the store Dale began a new career at Schlage Lock and was their factory production manager for many years. Born and raised in Colorado, he was particularly proud of his service in the U.S. Navy during the first Formosa Crisis in 1955.

He served on a ship that sat in the straits between Taiwan and mainland China blocking military escalation.

He recently received commemorative medals from the Republic of China honoring that hazardous duty.

Bright and creative, Dale studied Spanish at City College in his 50s and became quite fluent. He was an accomplished artist, mastering Oriental bamboo painting. And he had fun as an actor at the Eureka Valley Playhouse.

Dale is survived by his brother Larry in Colorado, sister Paula in Idaho, nephew Charles in Wyoming, and many good friends in San Francisco and beyond. Per his wishes, his body has been donated to the University of

September 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 15

California medical school for uses in the advancement of health care. No services are planned.

Steven Ira Martin May 28, 1963 – August 13, 2011

Steven Martin died August 13 at his Valencia Street home. He was 47.

Steven grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, where he developed an insatiable curiosity about the world. He moved to San Francisco in the mid-1980s and immersed himself in alternative culture.

Working his way up from barback at the I-Beam to bartender at the Stud, his was a familiar face in the club scene and at Pride parades. After testing positive for HIV, undaunted, he took off for a grand tour through Europe.

He returned to the South where he farmed specialty lettuce, groomed

dogs, and imported tropical fish.

Steven and his partner Mike had a long-term relationship that remained important to him always.

Steven volunteered doing Hurricane Katrina relief work in Louisiana, then came back to San Francisco.

His interest in botany frequently brought him to the Arboretum and Conservatory of Flowers. He worked occasionally in video production, always eager to learn new things.

Most important to Steven was his immediate family. Survivors include his mother Laure Martin, sister Susan Martin Hartman, brother Terry Martin, and a beloved niece and nephew. They and many close friends will hold him in their hearts forever.

Jerome Michael McGuire January 12, 1968 – August 26, 2011

Jerome “Jerry” McGuire, 43, passed away early Friday, August 26, at his San Francisco residence. Jerry

was employed at The Blue Muse Restaurant in San Francisco. He leaves to cherish his memory, his mother, Lucy McGuire; father, Philip “Mickey” McGuire; three sisters; and of course, his beloved cat, Gonzo.

We will remember Jerry and his wicked sense of humor. He would make us laugh until we cried, as nothing was sacred except his love of his family and friends. Possessing a biting sense of wit, Jerry wasn’t afraid to use it; you always knew what was on his mind. Jerry loved to bring people together, and he valued his loved ones from a wide variety of backgrounds.

He was highly opinionated yet free of petty prejudice. We will all miss his zest for life.

A celebration of his life will be held at The Blue Muse, 370 Grove Street (at Gough), on Sunday, September 18 from 2 to 5 p.m. Please stop by and join us to raise a glass to our dearly departed friend. That is what he would have wanted.

LGBT asylum seekers in Europe face bias

by Heather Cassell

R

obert Segwanyi, a gay Ugandan, was released penniless from the deportation center where he was held for more than two weeks just hours before he was about to board a plane back to Uganda. His deportation to Uganda was delayed, but the British Home Office held him in a deportation center from August 18 through September 5.

His solicitor appealed the refusal of his case September 1, Segwanyi’s friend John Bosco Nyombi wrote in an email to the Bay Area Reporter.

Segwanyi was provided a notice to report to the immigration centre in Portsmouth, England on September 13. He is expected to report weekly to the immigration centre from that point forward, Nyombi wrote.

If he had been sent back to Uganda, where parliament is currently in a political game of chess over much publicized anti-gay legislation, dubbed the “kill the gays” bill, Segwanyi could have been sent

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Jock talk

From page 14

traditional freestyle wrestling,” said Lorefice. “A lot of our current athletes are interested in grappling and many compete in both types of wrestling.

Having a grappling competition as part of the tournament will also help us attract additional athletes who

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Hook up dangers

From page 9

He then grabbed a candlestick holder and threw it at the victim. It just missed his face, so the suspect grabbed it again, held it close to the victim’s face, and said, “I’m going to hit you in the fucking head you fucking white bitch.”

The victim told the man to take money that he had in his clothing drawers. While the suspect was inside the bedroom, the victim went to the neighboring 7-Eleven to call police. He didn’t see which way the suspect fled.

When police first arrived at the scene, the victim identified a man standing in front of the store as the suspect, and police detained the man at gunpoint. But the victim soon said that it wasn’t the suspect, and the man was released, according to the report.

The victim said he couldn’t find his cell phone and house keys and

directly back to the very jail that from which he escaped or worse. Under the proposed bill homosexuality could be criminalized or even punished by death if passed.

The bill authored by Member of Parliament David Bahati, who originally introduced it in 2009, is currently anticipated to be reintroduced this week.

Years ago, Segwanyi was jailed and tortured for homosexuality in his homeland. Somehow he escaped to the UK where his asylum case has been rejected time and again by immigration judges relying on information provided by the UK Border Agency.

The case that set the ball rolling to return Segwanyi to Uganda took place in November 2010, but the most recent rejection, August 25, claimed Segwanyi was “misapplying the law,” reported LGBT Asylum News.

Segwanyi’s case reads as a real life account directly from Fleeing Homophobia: Seeking Safety in Europe, a report that was released September 5.

The yearlong study, conducted by

Sabine Jansen and Professor Thomas Spijkerboer, revealed that thousands of LGBT asylum seekers in Europe face prejudice and rejection yearly.

The authors found that many authorities processing LGBT asylum cases base their standards on stereotypes, dismissing nonstereotypical gays and lesbians and completely dismissing bisexuals and transgender individuals. Even more frightening, authorities recommend

individuals seek assistance from authorities in their home countries who may be homophobic or remain self-imprisoned in the closet, according to the report.

The researchers found that many applicants were returned to their country of origin upon authorities’ recommendations.

Recommendations that were made in spite of well-founded fears of discovery of sexual orientation or gender identity could lead to abuse by authorities and communities, imprisonment, persecution, and in some cases death, the report stated.

This was in spite of Article 4(3)(a) of the Qualification Directive that recognizes sexual orientation as a persecution ground into the national Law on Asylum and Refugees, according to the report. Gender identity currently isn’t included in the section, but the authors suggested it could be amended.

Alarmed by their findings, the authors lashed out at the European Union’s handling of LGBT asylum cases. In the 86-page report that examines eight key areas where discrimination and denial of LGBT individuals’ seeking international protection take place in Europe, the

authors note that the EU’s practices and policies are below the standards required by international and European human rights and refugee laws and that the current policies and systems in place are “sadly lacking.” One of the major problems as Europe aims to create a common European asylum system is that each country has its own policies and practices for handling sexual orientation and gender identity cases. There is no set standard for processing these cases.

The authors made nine recommendations for improvement as Europe moves toward standardizing its LGBT asylum cases.

The report was published by COC Netherlands and VU University Amsterdam, in cooperation with the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Avvocatura per i diritti LGBT/Rete Lenford, and the European Council on Refugees in Exiles. The European Refugee Fund, the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, and other participating organizations funded the report.

To read the report, visit: www. rechten.vu.nl/nl/Images/Fleeing%20Homophobia%20report%20EN_tcm22-232205.pdf.▼

might not have attended otherwise.

Adding wrestling into the Sin City shootout gives wrestling a lot more exposure and I think a lot of the other athletes there will see it as a legitimate competition sport for men and women who are well past high school or college. I’m hoping that it brings more people to the sport of wrestling and helps our current clubs expand

their membership.”

To avoid a schedule conflict and enable its wrestlers to attend the Runyon Classic, New York City’s Metro Wrestling Club moved its annual tournament away from the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

The Sin City event could prove to be a preview of Gay Games IX, as the Federation of Gay Games has

authorized host Cleveland to add grappling, beach wrestling, and Greco-Roman wrestling if it wants to.

“As we prepare for Cleveland Gay Games 2014, promoting grappling will probably double our registrations to about 200 because of the popularity of MMA, UFC, and the explosion of new movies like Warrior,” Dermody said, referring to mixed martial arts

and ultimate fighting championships.

For information about GGWC and the WWB Cup, visit www.ggwc.org.

For information about the Runyon Wrestling Classic, visit www.sincityshootout.com.▼

believed the suspect had stolen them, even though he hadn’t witnessed the theft. He initially reported that nothing else appeared to have been stolen.

The man asked that crime scene investigators not process the scene at his apartment. Police gave him a ride toz a relative’s home and secured the apartment.

The next morning, on August 23, the man reported that he’d returned home for the first time since the incident and found his keys. However, he reported that a shoulder bag, iPod, checkbook, and other items had been stolen.

The victim is described as a 41-year-old white man, and the suspect is listed as a 40 to 45-year-old black man with black hair, 5 feet 10 inches, weighing 180 pounds.

Crimes can also occur when people meet online.

Around 2 a.m., Saturday, July 30, in the 400 block of Eddy Street in the Tenderloin neighborhood, a white 39-year-old man reported that

he’d met a white 30-year-old man on Craigslist and invited him to his house.

When the suspect arrived, he threw the other man up against the door and choked him, according to a police summary. He then took the victim’s cell phone from his hands and fled. Police said the victim wasn’t injured.

Limbert thinks such cases are happening more often than police reports reflect, and he acknowledged that victims might be too embarrassed to talk.

“I totally understand why people would not want to come forward, but no one’s judging. It happens,” he said. He encourages people to report crimes. When someone reports an incident, it can help solve other cases.

“Each little piece of the puzzle” can potentially help, Limbert said.

Even when people don’t remember every detail, something as simple as recalling a suspect’s tattoo can help, he said.

Lieutenant Mark Cota, the officer

in charge of the Mission Station investigative team, indicated he hasn’t seen underreporting of hook up-related thefts.

He said he’s noticed “a reluctance, at first” to report such incidents.

“They’re still reported, but they might think it over for a day or for the afternoon,” he said.

Limbert has asked bars around the Castro to post signs urging patrons to keep an eye on their property and drink responsibly, among other tips.▼

Asylum seeker Robert Segwanyi

<< From the cover

16 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2011

<<

Castro nudists

From page 1

wrote the man.

In a media release sent out Tuesday, Wiener acknowledged that his proposal only goes so far.

“While there are many opinions about the appropriateness of people going nude in public, there is little disagreement that public nudity should be sanitary. Supervisor Wiener’s legislation will help accomplish that goal,” stated the email sent by his office.

<<

Prop 8 standing

From page 1

parlance, is key in the legal fight over Proposition 8, the ban against same-sex marriage Golden State voters adopted in 2008. If the antigay groups behind the measure are found not to have standing in the case, then a federal district judge’s ruling last summer that Prop 8 is unconstitutional would be upheld.

California’s governor and attorney general, as well as their predecessors, have all refused to defend Prop 8 in federal court. Attorneys for the two same-sex couple plaintiffs have argued that only the elected state leaders can pursue an appeal of the lower court ruling, and therefore, if they opt not to then the case should come to an end.

The matter is currently before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel for the appellate court heard oral arguments in the case, known as Perry vs. Brown, last December.

But the justices postponed issuing a ruling because California law is unclear when it comes to what rights backers of ballot measures have in defending them in federal courts. The justices asked the state court to weigh in first before making their decision known.

<<

AOF retools

From page 1

founded the group more than 30 years ago, acknowledged mistakes have been made in recent years. But Edelman said AOF plans to simplify operations in an effort to provide more assistance to its partners.

“There still is a need out there for money to keep people alive,” Edelman said.

At least some beneficiaries appear reluctant to again join AOF, best known for its pricey Academy Awards gala. AOF plans to meet with its 2011 beneficiaries today (Thursday, September 8).

Over the years, the group has contributed more than $8.5 million to Bay Area HIV and AIDS service organizations. Through sales of raffle tickets, gala tickets, and other underwriting, beneficiaries have been required to raise 25 percent of their pledged grant. They’ve also provided volunteers.

But in recent years, AOF hasn’t delivered what partner agencies were expecting. The 11 nonprofits that worked with the agency on the 2010 gala were asked to return for 2011 so AOF could make good on its pledges.

All but one of the groups agreed.

The charity had initially said it would distribute a combined $220,000 to the 11 organizations.

But in May, AOF representatives told beneficiaries they were backing out of paying what they owed.

On Friday, September 2, Edelman and Ozier met with the Bay Area Reporter at the paper’s offices and in one hour disclosed more information to the B.A.R. than former AOF officials had in months. (Ozier is serving in a “supportive” capacity, rather than in an advisory role, Edelman said in an email.)

One detail Edelman shared in the interview was that $147,400 had remained to be paid to beneficiaries.

▼

Nude men have been fixtures along the Castro’s sidewalks for years, if not decades. But they gained citywide notoriety after they began congregating – and sitting – in Jane Warner Plaza. The parklet at the corner of Castro and Market streets opened in 2009 and is named after the late lesbian patrol special police officer whose beat included the Castro.

A cover story in the SF Weekly earlier this year focused attention on the nudists and their cause.

Subsequent media coverage

has focused on neighborhood complaints about the police’s inability to do anything about the situation, while tourists have taken to getting their photo taken with the nudists.

Police counter that unless a member of the public is willing to make a citizen’s arrest, their hands are tied. Technically, being nude in public isn’t a crime unless the person is sexually aroused.

The proposed changes to the city’s police code would make it an infraction for anyone to expose their

genitals, buttocks or anal region in an eating or drinking establishment “who primary purpose is to serve food.” The rule appears to be written so as not to outlaw someone from, say, wearing ass-less chaps in a gay bar.

In response to a question from the Bay Area Reporter, Wiener’s office said that bars would be exempted from the rules. Therefore, for example, should the policy be adopted in time for next year’s Folsom Street Fair, someone attending the fetish event naked or

wearing ass-less chaps could go to a bar that day.

But they would have to cover up if they went inside a restaurant to eat.

Violators of either the sitting or restaurant clothing policy would be fined $100 for their first offense and $200 for a second incident within 12 months. A third infraction within a year’s time would warrant a fine of $1,000 and could include up to a year in county jail.

Wiener’s legislation is expected to go before the board’s land use committee sometime in October.▼

At Tuesday’s hearing the majority of justices on the seven-member state court sounded unconvinced that backers of Prop 8 or any other ballot initiative should not be granted the right to defend the measures in court.

Under the state’s legal system, judges have implemented what Justice Kathryn M. Werdegar called “liberal standing policies.”

“We liberally allow interventions,” she noted, meaning initiative backers have consistently been allowed to defend their measures in state courts.

Charles J. Cooper, an attorney representing the Yes on 8 campaign backers, argued that the courts have “a duty to protect the people’s initiative process.” Not granting standing, he argued, would in effect give state leaders veto power over ballot initiatives they disagreed with and dilute the people’s power to enact such measures through the ballot box.

“If there is no one before it to defend the validity of that initiative then the fundamental right to propose that initiative would be nullified,” said Cooper.

Rather than quarrel with Cooper over his position, the justices repeatedly asked him how far their decision would need to go to allow ballot measure backers the right to defend their initiatives.

Justice Joyce L. Kennard asked if

the court needs to find that initiative backers have a “particularized interest” as well as “the authority to assert the state’s interest” in defending the constitutionality of an initiative or can the court rely on one or the other in making its decision.

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, hearing her first case involving LGBT rights since joining the court, inquired if either of the two interests “is stronger than the other?”

The newest justice on the court – Justice Goodwin Liu was sworn into office last week – was the only one to raise concerns about the broader implications of having ballot measure backers allowed to overstep elected state leaders’ authority.

He wondered aloud if the attorney general would need approval from the ballot measure proponents before taking any kind of action in regards to the initiative in question.

Liu asked Cooper if the court’s ruling would adhere “only to standing for purposes to appeal a decision in federal court or is it broader?”

Cooper responded it would only apply when “state agents fail to uphold their duty to defend initiatives.”

Theodore B. Olson, the attorney representing the same-sex couples, told the court that the California Constitution does not guarantee to

ballot measure proponents the right that they can defend it in courts.

He argued that the Prop 8 backers erred when they did not state in their measure that they would be able to defend it if legally challenged.

The only people given that right under California’s laws are the attorney general and the governor, and for it to be changed would require a constitutional amendment, argued Olson.

Justice Ming W. Chin challenged Olson on that assertion. He said were the court to accept such an argument, it would mean that the elected politicians could “pick the laws they will enforce.”

Olson countered that it does give them “discretion to appeal” but not to ignore the law. He noted that even though Governor Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris oppose Prop 8, they nonetheless continue to enforce it as law.

But the justices appeared unconvinced with Olson’s position.

Justice Carol A. Corrigan asked if the initiative process would be rendered “hollow” if the court did not allow people to defend their own initiative.

And Chin seemed taken aback with Olson’s arguments, asking if he really meant to say that if the right to defend an initiative wasn’t specified in the legislation itself and no state

officials will defend it that “no one else can?”

“Yes, that is correct,” responded Olson.

Later Chin asked Olson if it wasn’t in the best interest of the court to hear from both sides during oral arguments.

“Do you want the federal court to answer this with only one side represented?” asked Chin.

Liu also rebuffed Olson’s arguments, at one point telling him “I don’t know how you can say that” in regards to initiative backers not having a right to defend their measures in court.

And Kennard echoed Chin’s sentiments behind his questioning when she told Olson the initiative process “is a great power” wielded by the people and if the court were “to agree with you would nullify the great power that the people have.”

How the court answers the question before it over standing will have a wide-ranging impact.

Cantil-Sakauye noted that the issue is of significance beyond just the legal sparring over Prop 8.

“As we know the initiative process is legion in the state of California,” she said.

The justices have 90 days from Tuesday, September 6 to issue their ruling.▼

He said AOF still will not be distributing that money, and is asking for a fresh start.

Former board Chair Alan Keith and member Jon Finck, who had refused to speak with the B.A.R for much of this year, are among those who have left AOF’s board, Edelman said. The oversight panel now has nine members.

In recent years, AOF has held events in addition to the annual gala, apparently resulting in the agency spreading itself too thin. Edelman said this year the focus would be back on the gala, including the raffle and silent auction.

An August letter to beneficiaries signed by Edelman and Ozier said, “Our goal is to sponsor the gala entirely through funding from underwriters and corporate sponsors; this will allow us to bestow the majority, if not all, of the ticket, raffle and silent auction revenues to our beneficiary organizations.”

They added they’re only planning “a very few ‘momentum’ events” to help promote the Oscar party, which is planned for February 26, 2012.

Tickets will be $250 apiece, the same price as in recent years.

AOF will be at this year’s Castro Street Fair on October 2 and is planning a launch event for October 13 to generate interest in the gala.

Edelman said during last week’s interview that beneficiaries would get a cut of the proceeds, though “We haven’t finalized everything” yet.

He said partners would be given goals, based on their abilities and what they think the best return is, but wouldn’t be required to do anything.

He also said AOF hopes to give the other agencies some cash flow from things like raffle ticket sales in advance of the gala itself. The money raised at the gala typically isn’t distributed until a couple months after the event.

Once they pay the gala expenses and know how much they can

distribute, they’ll dole out the rest of the money, Edelman said. He said the check distribution party would most likely be sometime in mid to late April.

AOF has asked beneficiaries to make their decisions on whether they’ll join by around September 15, he said.

The same beneficiaries have been in place for three years, so other agencies have been unable to take part.

Edelman said the 2010 beneficiaries have the “first right of refusal,” but other groups might be included if there’s money left over.

The number of tickets for the 2012 gala will be limited. Edelman said, “We’re targeting 1,000,” and added, “The goal is to make it a sold out event.” He said, “It would be great to raise $300,000” from corporate sponsors this year. The overall budget hasn’t been determined.

participation, but I think we may need to see more on their part.”

Credibility for those involved, including beneficiaries, is at stake, he said.

“If for the third year in a row this is not going to be profitable, then everyone would just start looking a little bit foolish,” he said.

Positive Resource Center is another agency that didn’t get all the money it had expected from working with AOF. The organization was supposed to get $50,000 from AOF last year. But Brett Andrews, the center’s executive director, said this week that about $33,000 went unpaid.

He said his agency is “really not sure” whether it will partner with AOF. Andrews said they need to “really hear from [AOF] on a report out on what’s happened this past year, how that didn’t translate to actual dollars for organizations and, most importantly, what strategy do they have going forward that will be new and innovative and effectively address some of the shortcomings they’ve had over the past few years.”

Asked if he wanted a guarantee beneficiaries would get some money, Andrews said, “They’ll probably not walk themselves all the way up to that level of commitment, considering that would be unprecedented for them.” He added, however, “I think it’s worth asking.” He said that in the past, AOF has carefully worded contracts to say they would make “their best efforts” to distribute certain amounts.

he “watched from afar” what was happening to the organization.

“It’s my baby, and I’m very concerned about its health,” he said, adding that he “unrestrainedly” supports the AOF board’s new direction.

Edelman acknowledged what appears to have been a key mistake on AOF’s part, pledging money that it wasn’t able to raise.

Another concern AOF’s partners have had is transparency on the part of AOF. “They felt Academy of Friends wasn’t communicating very well with them and we needed to change that,” Edelman said. He said being evasive is “not my style at all.”

AOF plans to have bi-monthly meetings with beneficiaries, he said.

Edelman also said that less than 1,000 people attended the 2011 gala, and the event lost about $5,000.

Additionally, “We didn’t have a budget last year,” he said. “We never voted on a budget for the agency. So you wonder why we had problems?”

He said “solidarity” had been lacking on the board.

There are no plans to fill the executive director’s post as a paid position; AOF currently has one paid employee.

Edelman said as far as filling board vacancies, AOF needs people with experience such as public relations and marketing, and corporate solicitations. He also said, “We could always use more people on the finance side.”

AOF owes about $16,000 to vendors, which would be paid down as invoices become due, he said. The group has about $7,000 in the bank.

“This is a really critical time for us,” Edelman said. “… Our success hinges on people getting behind us and supporting us,” especially through cash contributions.

For more information, visit www. academyoffriends.org.▼

Partners hesitant As AOF officials work toward the 2012 gala, it’s unclear how many previous beneficiaries will be joining them.

One of AOF’s partner agencies since 2010 was Project Inform. AOF had a contract to pay the agency $20,000, of which it paid $8,000.

Project Inform Executive Director Dana Van Gorder said this week that his agency hasn’t decided whether it will participate again.

“I think, along with most of the other prospective beneficiaries, we need a concrete sense the event would actually be profitable and will actually make a distribution to beneficiaries,” he said. “I think it’s just hard for us to stand behind an effort that results in a significant cost to hold an event that doesn’t result in checks being written to AIDS service organizations.”

Van Gorder said AOF sharing 50 percent of raffle ticket sales and other proceeds would “help us feel confident that we would actually see some revenue as a result of our

Previous problems During last week’s interview, Edelman, 53, said beneficiaries have expressed great trust in Ozier, 59, who moved back to San Francisco from New York in May. AOF started as a group of friends meeting in Ozier’s living room.

Ozier said he’d been puzzled as

â&#x2013;ź

From the cover >>

September 8-14, 2011 â&#x20AC;˘ BAY AREA REPORTER â&#x20AC;˘ 17

ClassiďŹ eds The

Legal Notices>> Mark Bingham

Jeffrey Collman

<<

people have not forgotten 9/11,â&#x20AC;?

Hoagland said.

Hoagland, 61, is a retired United Airlines flight attendant.

She said that while she appreciates the work others have done on memorials, the five things she is focusing on now are the need to improve airline security, eradication of terrorism, reconciliation of Islam with American values, the advancement of the causes of the LGBT community, and support for competitive sports and rugby.

Hoagland went from a grieving mother to a strong ally for LGBT rights after her sonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death. She said she feels like a mother to the gay rugby players and the team that meant so much to her son. She is looking forward to attending the annual Bingham Cup tournament in Manchester, England, in 2012.

Hoagland is encouraging people to visit the Web site www.911day. org and pledge to do a good deed in honor of 9/11 victims and their families as well as the military and first-responders. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It will be a wonderful way to change 9/11 around so it is not just a ghastly day of horror but rather a national day of service and remembrance,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And I am really grateful to President Obama in aiding us in that cause and declaring September 11 every year to be a national day of service and remembrance.â&#x20AC;?

Earlier this year, Hoagland expressed a sense of closure she felt when she received news that Osama bin Laden had been killed by a Navy Seal team in Abbottabad, Pakistan. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m going to miss my son every day of my life but this, the death of Osama bin Laden, seems to be perfect closure for the foul and evil deeds that that man has committed,â&#x20AC;? she said in early May.

Gone

From page 1

On Sunday, September 11, 2011, those friends will convene again at the Pilsner to remember Bingham.

Before that private gathering, the San Francisco Fog gay rugby team will host a benefit beer bust in Binghamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s honor at the Lone Star Saloon, South of Market. Proceeds from the 4 to 8 p.m. event will go to the Mark Bingham Foundation.

In keeping with the dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rugby theme, the Lone Star will show the Rugby World Cup match between the United States and Ireland from noon to 4 p.m.

Bingham, 31, was a player with the San Francisco Fog and was known for his physical strength and courage. Friends recall that the 6-foot-5 UC Berkeley graduate wrestled a gun out of a muggerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hand in San Francisco and fought back another mugger in New York.

He was gored while running with the bulls in Spain.

Bingham, who worked as a public relations executive, and New York City Fire Department Chaplain Mychal Judge were among the most high-profile LGBT victims of the terrorists attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people 10 years ago.

Both were subjects of books and documentaries.

Novato resident Jeffrey Collman, 41, was also the subject of a book. He was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11. About 15 minutes into the Boston to Los Angeles flight, the al-Qaeda terrorists took over and eventually flew the jet into the north tower of the World Trade Center. The impact, at 8:46 a.m. (Eastern), began a morning of horror that would end with the fourth hijacked plane crashing in Pennsylvania nearly 90 minutes later.

Collmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s partner of 11 years, Keith Bradkowski, told the Bay Area Reporter this week that he believes that the terrorists likely killed Collman early on in their attack because he was the only male flight attendant onboard. Bradkowski plans to attend a memorial gathering in Boston on Sunday, September 11.

Bradkowski currently lives in Seattle. He said that the 9/11 attacks transformed him into a gay civil rights activist. Shortly after the attacks, he successfully lobbied for California Assembly Bill 2216, which gives same-sex partners inheritance rights, and attended the billâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s signing ceremony with thengovernor Gray Davis in 2002.

Binghamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mother, Alice Hoagland, told the B.A.R. that she plans to attend ceremonies at the Flight 93 memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, September 10 and Sunday, September 11. Saturdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ceremony will be a candlelight dedication of the memorial and President Barack Obama will make an appearance during a ceremony there Sunday. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very uplifting and encouraging for me to know that

Other victims The 9/11 attacks took the lives of many LGBTs, including Washington, D.C. resident David Charlebois, the co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon.

Ronald Gamboa, his partner, Dan Brandhorst, and the coupleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s adopted 3-year-old son were killed in United Flight 175 when it crashed into the second World Trade Center tower. They were the founders of the Pop Luck Club, an organization of gay men interested in adopting children.

Pentagon analyst Sheila Hein, 51, was killed when Flight 77 slammed into the building. Her partner of 18 years, Peggy Neff, was denied funds from the Virginia Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund but she was granted funds from the federal governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 9/11 Compensation Fund.

Patricia McAneney, 50, was an insurance claims adjuster who worked on the 94th floor of the North Tower, one of the floors hit by the first plane. Her partner, Margaret Cruz, was eventually given some survivor benefits in a lawsuit settlement against McAnerneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brother. â&#x2013;ź

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Surveying, and Geotechnical. $ OLVW RI W\SLFDO SURMHFWV ZKLFK FRQVLVW RI ERWK design-bid-build and design-build contracts IRU ZKLFK WKH &2168/7$17 PD\ SURYLGH services includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the following: East Contra Costa BART Extension (â&#x20AC;&#x153;eBARTâ&#x20AC;?), Earthquake Safety 3URJUDP ´(63Âľ 2DNODQG $LUSRUW &RQQHFWRU ´2$&Âľ :DUP 6SULQJV ([WHQVLRQ 3URMHFW (â&#x20AC;&#x153;WSXâ&#x20AC;?), facilities (stations and buildings), WUDLQ FRQWURO V\VWHPV WUDQVLW SRZHU V\VWHPV controls and communications, mainline and yard infrastructure, automatic fare collection, SDUNLQJ DQG LQWHUPRGDO DFFHVV DQG UDLO YHKLFOH VXSSRUW :RUN LV H[SHFWHG WR EH SHUIRUPHG RYHU WKH QH[W Ă&#x20AC;YH \HDUV FRQWLQJHQW XSRQ funding availability.

Estimated Cost and Time of Performance: 7KH 'LVWULFW LQWHQGV WR PDNH WKUHH VHSDUDWH stand alone awards as a result from this RFP. (DFK RI WKH WKUHH DQWLFLSDWHG DJUHHPHQWV shall not exceed twenty million dollars ($20,000,000). The term of each agreement HQWHUHG LQWR SXUVXDQW WR WKH 5)3 ZLOO EH Ă&#x20AC;YH (5) years. $ 3UH 3URSRVDO 0HHWLQJ ZLOO EH KHOG RQ :HGQHVGD\ 6HSWHPEHU 7KH 3UH 3URSRVDO 0HHWLQJ ZLOO FRQYHQH DW P.M., local time, at the Kaiser Center Main Auditorium, located at: 300 Lakeside Drive, 2nd Floor, Oakland, California, 94612. At this meeting the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Disadvantaged Business (QWHUSULVH '%( 3URJUDP ZLOO EH H[SODLQHG 3URVSHFWLYH SURSRVHUV DUH UHTXHVWHG WR PDNH every effort to attend this only scheduled 3UH 3URSRVDO 0HHWLQJ DQG WR FRQĂ&#x20AC;UP WKHLU attendance by contacting the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract $GPLQLVWUDWRU WHOHSKRQH SULRU WR WKH GDWH RI WKH 3UH 3URSRVDO 0HHWLQJ Networking Session: Immediately following WKH 3UH 3URSRVDO 0HHWLQJ WKH 'LVWULFW¡V 2IĂ&#x20AC;FH RI &LYLO 5LJKWV ZLOO EH FRQGXFWLQJ D networking session for subconsultants to meet ZLWK WKH SRWHQWLDO SULPH FRQVXOWDQWV IRU '%( SDUWLFLSDWLRQ RSSRUWXQLWLHV 3URSRVDOV PXVW EH UHFHLYHG E\ 3 0 ORFDO time, Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at the address OLVWHG LQ WKH 5)3 6XEPLVVLRQ RI D SURSRVDO VKDOO FRQVWLWXWH D Ă&#x20AC;UP RIIHU WR WKH 'LVWULFW IRU one hundred and eighty (180) calendar days IURP GDWH RI SURSRVDO VXEPLVVLRQ Please direct all questions concerning the RFP, other than the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Disadvantaged %XVLQHVV (QWHUSULVH '%( 3URJUDP WR 0U Ron Coffey, at (510) 287-4775, FAX (510) 464-7650. All questions regarding DBE SDUWLFLSDWLRQ VKRXOG EH GLUHFWHG WR 0V /LQGD :HOOV *URJDQ 2IĂ&#x20AC;FH RI &LYLO 5LJKWV DW

464-6195, FAX (510) 464-7587.

WHERE TO OBTAIN OR SEE RFP DOCUMENTS (Available on or after August 30, 2011) &RSLHV RI WKH 5)3 PD\ EH REWDLQHG (1) By written request to the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract Administrator, 300 Lakeside Drive, 17th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612. Reference RFP No. 6M8051 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Construction Management Services for BART Projects and send requests to Fax No. (510) 464-7650.

%\ DUUDQJLQJ SLFN XS DW WKH DERYH DGGUHVV Call the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract Administrator, (510) SULRU WR SLFNXS RI WKH 5)3 (3) By E-mail request to the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract Administrator, Ron Coffey, at rcoffey@bart. gov.

%\ DWWHQGLQJ WKH 3UH SURSRVDO 0HHWLQJ DQG obtaining the RFP at the meeting.

Dated at Oakland, California this 29th day of August 2011. /s/ Kenneth A. Duron Kenneth A. Duron, District Secretary San Francisco Bay Area 5DSLG 7UDQVLW 'LVWULFW Â&#x2021; &16 BAY AREA REPORTER

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT NOTICE TO PROPOSERS GENERAL INFORMATION The SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Districtâ&#x20AC;?), 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California, is advertising for Request for Statement RI 4XDOLĂ&#x20AC;FDWLRQV WR SURYLGH 6XVWDLQLQJ Construction Management Services for BART Projects, RFSOQ No. 6M8056, on or about August 31, 2011, with SOQâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s due by 2:00 P.M. local time, Tuesday, October 4, 2011.

DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED CONSULTANT shall assist and advise BART in construction PDQDJHPHQW SURFXUHPHQW DFWLYLWLHV DQG related issues associated with BART designELG EXLOG DQG GHVLJQ EXLOG SURMHFWV RU RWKHU SURMHFWV LVVXHV DV UHTXHVWHG &2168/7$17 shall work in conjunction with other &2168/7$17 WHDP PHPEHUV DQG %$57 staff as required. Professional services to EH SURYLGHG E\ &2168/7$17 XQGHU WKH $JUHHPHQW VKDOO FRPSO\ ZLWK WKH ODWHVW HGLWLRQ RI DOO DSSOLFDEOH FRGHV RUGLQDQFHV criteria, standards, regulations and other ODZV XQOHVV RWKHUZLVH VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;HG E\ BART. CONSULTANT shall maintain required EXVLQHVV DQG SURIHVVLRQDO OLFHQVHV WKURXJKRXW WKH GXUDWLRQ RI WKH $JUHHPHQW DV DSSURSULDWH CONSULTANT shall manage and monitor BART construction contracts by SURYLGLQJ VHUYLFHV ZKLFK LQFOXGH SURMHFW FRPPXQLFDWLRQV UHFRUG NHHSLQJ PHHWLQJ coordination, cost and schedule management, WHFKQLFDO VXSSRUW HQYLURQPHQWDO PRQLWRULQJ FRRUGLQDWLRQ ZLWK RWKHU DJHQFLHV SURMHFW UHSRUWLQJ DQG SURMHFW FORVHRXW 7KH 5HTXHVW IRU 6WDWHPHQWV RI 4XDOLĂ&#x20AC;FDWLRQV (RFSOQs) for Sustaining Contruction Management Services for BART Projects VKDOO EH IRU D WKUHH \HDU SHULRG DQG WKH District intends to make two (2) awards UHVXOWLQJ IRU WKLV 5)624 ,W LV DQWLFLSDWHG that each of the two (2) Agreements awarded under this RFSOQ shall not exceed the amount of Three Million Dollars ($3,000,000.00); however, the Consultant may UHFHLYH D OHVVHU DPRXQW GHSHQGLQJ XSRQ WKH Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actual need for Consultantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s services.

A Pre-Submittal Meeting will be held on :HGQHVGD\ 6HSWHPEHU 7KH Pre-Submittal Meeting will convene at 2:00 P.M., local time, at the Kaiser Center Main Auditorium, located at: 300 Lakeside Drive, 2nd Floor, Oakland, California, 94612. At this meeting the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Disadvantaged Business (QWHUSULVH '%( 3URJUDP ZLOO EH H[SODLQHG 3URVSHFWLYH SURSRVHUV DUH UHTXHVWHG WR PDNH every effort to attend this only scheduled 3UH 6XEPLWWDO 0HHWLQJ DQG WR FRQĂ&#x20AC;UP WKHLU attendance by contacting the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract $GPLQLVWUDWRU WHOHSKRQH SULRU to the date of the Pre-Submittal Meeting.

Networking Session: Immediately following the Pre-Submittal Meeting, the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2IĂ&#x20AC;FH RI &LYLO 5LJKWV ZLOO EH FRQGXFWLQJ D networking session for subconsultants to PHHW ZLWK WKH SRWHQWLDO SULPH FRQVXOWDQWV IRU '%( SDUWLFLSDWLRQ RSSRUWXQLWLHV RFSOQs must be received by 2:00 P.M., local time, Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at the address listed in the RFSOQ. Submission of a RFSOQ VKDOO FRQVWLWXWH D Ă&#x20AC;UP RIIHU WR WKH 'LVWULFW IRU one hundred and eighty (180) calendar days from date of RFSOQ submission.

Please direct all questions concerning the RFSOQ, other than the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 'LVDGYDQWDJHG %XVLQHVV (QWHUSULVH '%(

Program, to Aminta Maynard, at (510) 464-6543, FAX (510) 464-7650. All TXHVWLRQV UHJDUGLQJ '%( SDUWLFLSDWLRQ VKRXOG EH GLUHFWHG WR 0V /LQGD :HOOV *URJDQ 2IĂ&#x20AC;FH of Civil Rights at (510) 464-6195, FAX (510) 464-7587.

WHERE TO OBTAIN OR SEE RFSOQ DOCUMENTS (Available on or after August 31, 2011) &RSLHV RI WKH 5)624 PD\ EH REWDLQHG (1) By E-mail request to the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract Administrator, Aminta Maynard, at amaynar@bart.gov.

(2) By calling the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract Administrator, (510) 464-6543.

(3) By attending the Pre-Submittal Meeting and obtaining the RFSOQ at the meeting.

Dated at Oakland, California this 30th day of August 2011. /s/ Kenneth A. Duron Kenneth A. Duron, District Secretary San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District Â&#x2021; &16 BAY AREA REPORTER

NOTICE OF APPLICATION TO SELL ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : NAMU HAIGHT LLC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 71 Stevenson Street, Suite 1500, San Francisco, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 499 Dolores St., San Francisco, CA 94110-1023. Type of license applied for:

41- ON-SALE BEER AND WINEEATING PLACE SEPT. 08,2011

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NOTICE OF APPLICATION TO SELL ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : SUGITA FOODS INC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 71 Stevenson Street, Suite 1500, San Francisco, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 101 4th St.,SPC 1, San Francisco, CA 94103-3003. Type of license applied for:

41- ON-SALE BEER AND WINEEATING PLACE AUG25,SEPT 1,8,2011 STATEMENT FILE A-033717000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as EBANISTA SAN FRANCISCO,101 Henry Adams St.,#425,SF, CA 94103.This business is conducted by a limited partnership, signed Fari Pakzad.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ďŹ ctitious business name or names on 05/15/11. The statement was ďŹ led with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/27/11.

AUG.18,25,SEPT.1,8,2011 STATEMENT FILE A-033753500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as DYNAMAIR SOLUTIONS, 58 West Portal Ave.,#245,SF, CA 94127.This business is conducted by a general partnership, signed James Sana bria.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ďŹ ctitious business name or names on 08/11/11. The statement was ďŹ led with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/11/11.

AUG.18,25,SEPT.1,8,2011 STATEMENT FILE A-033748900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as NOPA CATERING,1518 FULTON ST.,SF, CA 94117.

This business is conducted by an individual, signed Tony Vo.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ďŹ ctitious business name or names on 08/10/11. The statement was ďŹ led with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/10/11.

AUG.18,25,SEPT.1,8,2011 STATEMENT FILE A-033751800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE DANCING PIG SF,544 Castro St.,SF, CA 94114.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Larry Metzger.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ďŹ ctitious business name or names on 08/02/11. The statement was ďŹ led with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/11/11.

AUG.18,25,SEPT.1,8,2011 STATEMENT FILE A-033738100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FLOORDESIGN,25 Rhode Island St.,SF, CA 94103.

This business is conducted by a corporation, signed J.Patrick Aaron.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ďŹ ctitious business name or names on 08/04/11. The statement was ďŹ led with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/04/11.

AUG.18,25,SEPT.1,8,2011 STATEMENT FILE A-033756200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as 1.CALIFORNIA PROPERTY MARKET, 2.GOLDEN GATE PROPERTIES, 339 Richland Ave.,SF, CA 94110.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Ferdinand Piano.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ďŹ ctitious business name or names on 08/12/11. The statement was ďŹ led with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/12/11.

AUG.18,25,SEPT.1,8,2011 STATEMENT FILE A-033753700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BUENA VISTA STUDIO, 60 Rausch St.,Apt. 312,SF, CA 94103.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Steven Gary Sullivan.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ďŹ ctitious business name or names on 08/10/11. The statement was ďŹ led with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/11/11.

AUG.18,25,SEPT.1,8,2011 STATEMENT FILE A-033750200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as U&I AUTO SAFETY CENTER, 758 Bryant St.,SF, CA 94107.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Sang Yuo.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ďŹ ctitious business name or names on 11/01/88. The statement was ďŹ led with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/10/11.

AUG.18,25,SEPT.1,8,2011 STATEMENT FILE A-033760600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as K&K AUTO SERVICE, 1729 15TH St.,SF, CA 94103.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Ma Chung Kwong.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ďŹ ctitious business name or names on 08/16/11. The statement was ďŹ led with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/16 /11.

AUG.18,25,SEPT.1,8,2011

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statement file A-0337078100

statement file A-033770500

statement file A-033789300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as QUIZNOS #3860,901 Polk St.,SF, CA 94109.

This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Seung J. Hyun.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/19/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/21/11.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as LA BOULANGE De SUTTER,222 Sutter St., SF, CA 94108.This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Jean-Pierre Lachance.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/19/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/19/11.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as KEIKO A NOB HILL, 1250 Jones St., SF, CA 94109.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Eiko Takei.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 08/30/11.

AUG.18,25,SEPT.1,8,2011 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0329891-01

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033775200

SEPT.8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033800400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE LARGO GROUP,55 Madrone Ave., SF, CA 94127.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Ryan Largo.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/20/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/22/11.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as INFIELD DESIGN, 499 Carolina St., SF, CA 94107.This business is conducted by a general partnership, signed Marc Infield.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/04. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/02/11.

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033755200

SEPT.8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033794500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CAMPUS,2241 Chestnut St., SF, CA 94123.This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Richard Howard.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 08/12/11.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BOOKS & THINGS, 740A 14th St., SF, CA 94114.

This business is conducted by an individual, signed Mack A Isaac.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/01/11.

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 nOTICE OF APPLICATIoN to sell AlCOHOLIC BEVERAGEs

SEPT.8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033797600

AUG.18,25,SEPT.1,8,2011 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0327065-03 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as 1.PEOPLES CHOICE LENDING,2.FIXED RATE FUNDING,3.MICHAEL DELIA FINANCIAL,4.SHERIDAN FINANCIAL,88 Kearny St.,3rd floor,SF,CA 94108.

This business was conducted by a limited liability company, signed Brett McGovern. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/13/10.

AUG.18,25,SEPT.1,8,2011 state of california in and for the county of san francisco file# cnc-11-548004 In the matter of the application of KELLY LYNNE FOSTER for change of name. The application of KELLY LYNNE FOSTER for change of name having been filed in Court, and it appearing from said application that KELLY LYNNE FOSTER filed an application proposing that his/her name be changed to JAMES THOMAS FOSTER. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Room 514 on the 27th of October, 2011 at 9:00 am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

AUG.18,25,SEPT.1,8,2011 nOTICE OF APPLICATIoN to sell AlCOHOLIC BEVERAGEs To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : MISSION BOWLING CLUB LLC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 71 Stevenson Street, Suite 1500, San Francisco, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 3176 17th St., San Francisco, CA 94110-1331. Type of license applied for:

47- On-sale general - Eating place SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033766200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE UNLUCKY RABBIT, 575 Cole St.,Apt. 208,SF, CA 94117.This business is conducted by a general partnership, signed Ryan Garwin & Jacqueline Supman.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 08/17/11.

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033765000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BEYOND MEDICINE,2037 Irving St.,# 212,SF, CA 94122.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Frederick Lee.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/17/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/17/11.

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033767300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as IRVING TRADING CO.,1409 Irving St., SF, CA 94122.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Sonny K. TAM.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/18/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/18/11.

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033758000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as STYLEXCLUSIVE,4287 26th St., SF, CA 94131.

This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Jaya Gali.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 08/15/11.

Aug.25,SEPT.1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033770400

To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : DOUBLE RAINBOW LLC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 71 Stevenson Street, Suite 1500, San Francisco, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 398 12th St., San Francisco, CA 94103. Type of license applied for:

48- On-sale general public premises sept. 08,15,22,2011 nOTICE OF APPLICATIoN to sell AlCOHOLIC BEVERAGEs To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : INDIGO PIE LLC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 71 Stevenson Street, Suite 1500, San Francisco, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 687-689 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102-3111.

Type of license applied for:

47- On-sale general eating place sept. 08,15,22,2011 statement file A-033779200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as AMERICAN EAGLE CONSULTING & BOOKKEEPING, 22 Battery St., Suite 202, SF, CA 94111.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Dale RJ Peronteau.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 08/24/11.

SEPT.1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033777200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as K.O. KOMBO,2110 Irving St., SF, CA 94122.

This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Barry Yeung.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/23/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/11.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ZAYA NAIL SPA,2970 Mission St., SF, CA 94110.

This business is conducted by an individual, signed Sen Huynh.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/02/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/02/11.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as HOGAN’S GOAT TAVERN,2295 3rd St., SF, CA 94107.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Christopher Webster.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 09/06/11.

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The following person(s) is/are doing business as FOURTH WAVE, 1356 Polk St., SF, CA 94102.This business is conducted by a general partnership, signed Bernard J Curran.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 08/24/11.

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Out& About

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The

Vol. 41 • No. 36 • September 8-14, 2011

www.ebar.com/arts

Fleeting moments of liberation Iranian youth culture flowers in ‘Circumstance’ ~ by David Lamble ~

Scene from Maryam Keshavarz’s Circumstance.

Roadside Attractions

T

here’s an intoxicating moment in Circumstance, the new lesbian-centered, Sundance award-winning Iranian family drama. A group of young women and men, flush from their seeming success at defying their country’s authoritarian religious apparatus with underground raves and co-sexual dance parties, decides to smuggle in a film whose martyred protagonist is beyond the power of the mullahs to co-opt.

“We’ll dub Milk into Persian.”

“They can’t copy a gay figure.”

“We’ll pour into the streets together.”

“I’ll take the role of Milk. You’ll be his lover,

Diego Luna.”

“It isn’t about fucking, it’s a human rights movement.”

“Fuck all the mullahs who shit all over this country!”

“To Hollywood!”

We see the bigger-than-life image of Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, exhorting a sea of extras (including your intrepid critic) in front of Harvey Milk Plaza to remember how angry they are. One can only imagine the real Harvey’s delight at the notion that his Hollywood-created doppelganger would someday lead a cinema revolt against foes far more insidious than white-

bread American homophobes.

Director Maryam Keshavarz plants her 16-year-old, girl-loving heroines firmly in the belly of the beast: 7th-century worshipping, 21st-century pop/tech-obsessed Tehran. How do young lesbians survive in a society lubricated by theology, bribes and arranged marriages? The wealthy Atafeh (Nikohl Boosheri) finds a willing playmate in orphan Shireen (Sarah Kazemy).

At first, the girls bond harmlessly around swimming, singing and underground dance clubs. Trouble comes knocking in the form of Atafeh’s formerly drug-addled brother Mehran (handsome Reza Sixo Safai, deliciously smarmy

in the manner of a young John Cassavetes).

Mehran’s insidious video espionage on his family reminds us of early Atom Egoyan. Keshavarz deftly dissects the fault-lines in a wealthy, secularleaning family whose Berkeley-educated dad has created a lovely bubble, a bourgeois utopia which at first seems impervious to the mullahs’ morality police.

Fed up with the humiliating short leash of Dad’s urine tests and weekly allowances, Mehran finds an alternative Dad at the mosque, the morality-squad chief, who disarms the troubled young man with charitable acts and the See page 32 >>

Who’s afraid of ‘A Delicate Balance?’

Edward Albee’s play opens Aurora Theatre’s new season

by Richard Dodds

David Allen

E

dward Albee was 38 when A Delicate Balance opened on Broadway, just about the same age that Tom Ross was when he directed his first play at the Aurora Theatre. Although he has wanted to direct the play for years, he has held off until now. “I felt that it is a play about later life, reflecting on all of the roads not taken, so I was waiting until I was of a certain age,” said Ross, who is now the artistic director of the intimate Berkeley theater that almost always seem to offer a touch of class to its productions and its loyal patrons.

Ross, 58, has been with Aurora under a variety of job titles since its humble beginnings 20 years ago in a 67-seat theater set up in an empty space at the Julia Morgan-designed Berkeley City Club.

His ascent to artistic director, taking over from founding artistic director Barbara Oliver, came three See page 33 >>

Agnes (right, Kimberly King) tries to keep the peace between her family and friends (left to right, Charles Dean, Anne Darragh, Carrie Paff, Ken Grantham) in Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance, opening the 20th season at Aurora Theatre.

{ SECOND OF TWO SECTIONS }

<< Out There

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2011

▼

Towering inferno

by Roberto Friedman

L

ebar.com

ast week Out There attended one of the final rehearsals for San Francisco Opera’s world premiere of Heart of a Soldier, the so-called “9/11 opera” opening this Saturday night, Sept. 10, at the War Memorial Opera House. Prior to the rehearsal, there was a small press conference in the house’s Intermezzo Lounge, a swank spot just off the box bar, where SFO general director David Gockley; the premiere’s conductor, Houston Grand Opera artistic director Patrick Summers; director Francesca Zambello; librettist Donna Di Novelli; and composer Christopher Theofanidis all took questions from arts journalists.

The mood lighting and plush digs made the press event something like having a romantic date with five powerhouses of contemporary opera, simultaneously.

Gockley, the driving force behind such 20th-century operas as John Adams’ Nixon in China, began by saying that we shouldn’t be surprised by the appearance of another of what some wag somewhere once dubbed “CNN opera.”

“Contemporary events magnified by the power of electronic media create myths. We have grist for our mill, impressed upon us by the media, for new opera – music ennobling words,” he said.

Zambello, director of this summer’s acclaimed Ring cycle, was instrumental in bringing Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James B. Stewart’s book of the same name to the stage. She was asked what it was about the true story of Rick Rescorla, who saved thousands of lives as head of security for Morgan Stanley at Two World Trade Center, that said “opera” to her. The story, she said, has operatic themes, of bravery and courage. The book is “a testament to those who have fallen for freedom.”

Di Novelli said her first task as a librettist was to inspire the composer.

For his part, Theofanidis said his focus was on creating “tonal, accessible music,” an “opera in service of the drama.” The cast features acclaimed baritone Thomas Hampson, tenor William Burden and soprano Melody Moore. Watch these pages

Courtesy San Francisco Opera

Early model for the set of San Francisco Opera’s Heart of a Soldier.

for review and commentary.

Do ask! Do tell!

Find us a tenor If they bestowed a prize for greatest male opera singer of the 20th century, surely Spanish tenor Placido Domingo would be first in contention. He has performed more operatic roles than any other tenor; has added a conducting career, and served as general director of both the Washington National Opera and the Los Angeles Opera. In Placido Domingo: My Favorite Roles airing on Great Performances (Fri., Sept. 23, PBS, check listings for time), he recounts his most memorable roles from a storied career.

These include his first appearance singing baritone, in Simon Boccanegra, which he says is “a longtime dream, and I wanted to do it as the last thing in my career. But now I hope it is not my last part.” We see him as Don José in Carmen, which is “very close to my roots, because my mother was born in Basque country”; in his first La Gioconda, given in Madrid; in Luisa Miller, Andrea Chénier, and Zeffirelli’s Pagliacci; and as Caravadossi in Tosca, the role he has performed more than any other. He stars opposite soprano Shirley Verrett in SF Opera’s 1981 Samson et Delilah; and we see him in his signature role, the title character in Verdi’s greatest opera, Otello, which he says “wears you out.”

Domingo admits that, although he likes to be happy in his private life, his preference on stage is to suffer.

It’s a specific type of performance masochism, we guess.

HBO Documentary Films, Frameline and GLAAD present the world premiere of The Strange History of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell on Wed., Sept. 14 at the Castro Theatre.

After the screening, producer/ directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato will take part in a questionand-answer session with the audience. Several local San Francisco LGBT and veterans organizations that appeared in the film will also have representatives in attendance, including Servicemembers Legal Defense (SLDN), OutServe and The Palm Center.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell will premiere on HBO on Mon., Sept. 19, at Midnight, the very moment the repeal of DADT takes effect, with a prime-time encore on Tues., Sept. 20, at 8 p.m. Barbato and Bailey’s credits include HBO’s Wishful Drinking and the feature film Party Monster, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. The screening at the Castro Theatre on Sept. 14 will take place at 7 p.m., followed by a discussion. The filmmakers will be in attendance.

Free to the public, limited seating.

RSVP to 1 (888) 745-7425.

Queen of PR Here’s a press release we want to re-print verbatim, it’s so good! So we will.

“They’re back, darlings. The comedy phenomenon Absolutely Fabulous will return to television with three brand-new specials, with BBC America and Logo serving as joint American co-producers for the series. Comedy sensations Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley will See page 23 >>

Rada Film

Tenor Placido Domingo in the 1993 film Tosca, from Great Performances’ Placido Domingo: My Favorite Roles.

▼

Film >>

September 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 23

Hello, spaceman

by David Lamble

I

n the opening act of Nicolas Roeg’s long-neglected 1976 sciencefiction masterwork The Man Who Fell to Earth (coming to theaters on Friday), a staid, rather stodgy queer couple are reacting to their first visit from an androgynous space alien, Robert Newton (David Bowie). The dryly witty, frightfully nearsighted patent attorney Oliver Farnsworth (Buck Henry) has just been offered a small fortune by Newton to manage his earthly affairs, which include the ownership of nine basic patents whose exercise would shake to their very foundations the reigning corporate behemoths: RCA, Eastman Kodak and Dupont.

“My father used to say, if you get a gift horse, pat it down, open its mouth, and get a good look at its teeth.”

“I’d say that was good advice.”

“Yes, but my father was always wrong!”

We get a chuckle or two at the expense of a 1960s-70s tunnelvision view of what the world of science had in store for earthlings, just as in Stanley Kubrick’s classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. Roeg, like Kubrick, could give a fig for the happenstance of dated brand names or gadgets. Both were far more intrigued by more soulful hiccups.

Based on a novel by Walter Tevis, The Man Who Fell to Earth tracks Steven Spielberg’s theory in ET that aliens have far more to fear from human greed and paranoia than we do from any of their fancy, advanced-civilization bull crap.

Bowie’s first screen role, at the height of his Ziggy Stardust glamrock willowy androgynous beauty, keeps the proceedings nicely tethered. Moving through the movie with the innocence of a newborn, gradually modified by the jaded melancholy of a very old citizen,

<<

Out There

From page 22

reprise their celebrated roles as Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone. The duo last teamed up for the BBC America comedy Clatterford, in 2006.

“Was it really 20 years ago that the world was introduced to Edina, Patsy and Saffron? It has never been quite the same. Eddy PR’d things. She was into every new fad and fashion imaginable, and was often to be found at the bottom of a champagne glass, actually more likely a bottle. Not much has changed. Her best friend Patsy worked in magazines and lived the high life. She still does. Eddy’s daughter Saffy was hard-working, all but ignored by her mother and hated

by Patsy. Eddy’s mother was and is, well, her mother. They are all back for three new shows, 20 years after they first fell onto television.”

Saunders said, “We are thrilled to be able to celebrate our 20th birthday with all of the original cast. We hope that, like a good bottle of champagne, we have grown better with age, but lost none of our sparkle. Viewers in the U.S. have been very kind to the show over the years, and we are very happy to return on not one but two U.S. channels at once. We fully intend to party like it’s 1991. When we started filming in West London, it was like time had stood still. It was raining. Nevertheless, we are so happy to be working for an audience that has grown just a tiny bit older, like us, but is still willing to let us fall over on TV in the name of PR.”

Celebrate porn!

Here’s the lowdown on A Celebration of Sleaze! Gay Porn Panel, Clip Show and Screening coming on Tues., Sept. 20 at the SF LGBT Center as part of Good

Rialto Pictures

David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth.

Bowie has us believing that he’s just down on a visit from his droughtstricken birth planet, going about the business of raising some quick cash to upload a whole lot of bottled water.

Newton is gradually dragged down by his crazy human pals: Candy Clark’s whiny, needy hotel maid, Rip Torn’s horny, suspicious scientist, and a flock of G-men with more bad intentions towards the alien than a cage full of rabid wolverines.

By the time Man Who Fell hit theatres, David Bowie had, at 29, been through enough dodgy career turns to keep more than a few real-life Oliver Farnsworths fully engaged, but this was still a sweetly innocent time when a fan could believe anything they cared to about a glam rock artist’s claims to a bi or queer identity. Yet to come were the debunking media interviews designed to keep record sales hopping in the puritanical American hinterlands. The film’s parody of a sexual revolution just losing its steam features only hetero bed-hopping.

Vibrations’ 6th annual Indie Erotic Film Festival. Featured panelists include Jack Shamama, product manager at NakedSword and GayPornBlog editor; Chris Ward, president of Falcon Studios/Raging Stallion; Kent Taylor, vice president and chief photographer of Falcon Studios/Raging Stallion; Gehno Sanchez, director of PR, community development and production team member at Treasure Island Media; Michael Stabile, journalist and director of Smut Capital of America, a documentary on the adult-film industry’s origin in SF; and John Karr, esteemed B.A.R. porn reviewer, co-founder of the SF Jacks and guest lecturer of gay sexuality and erotology at SF State University and the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality.

The panelists will present a short clip from each of their studios, then explore questions about the changing landscape of gay porn, moderated by Good Vibrations’ staff sexologist Dr. Carol Queen. For tickets and details, visit www.GV-IXFF.org.

Good cause On Sun., Sept. 25, the On Your Feet Foundation (OYFF) hosts its annual Wine & Wishes Celebration, a fundraiser to support the mission of the Northern California chapter. OYFF provides peer support, mentoring, vocational and psychological counseling, and educational scholarships to birthmothers who have placed a child for adoption. The event takes place at the St. Francis Yacht Club, 700 Marina Blvd. on the Marina in SF, from 4-6 p.m. Tickets start at $100. To purchase tickets, call (415) 515-4744, e-mail reservations@ onyourfeetca.org, or register at www. onyourfeetca.org. ▼

Apart from the lovely, swooning Bowie (his Newton, paradoxically, is apparently both immortal by earthly standards, yet undernourished and prone to fainting spells), the main joy of rediscovering this treasure is to be freshly astonished by Roeg’s jumpcut anti-narrative style. He’s a film artist not bound by petty plot conventions, but also a dark soul who would spring nasty surprises on his creations: the children in peril from the homicidal dad in the outback in Walkabout; the reclusive rock star getting in over his head with gangsters in Performance; and, in Man Who Fell, an abrupt, though not homophobic dispatch of its queer couple.

As to why Bowie didn’t contribute to the film’s soundtrack, it appears that Bowie the businessman wore a separate hat from Bowie the lowlypaid aspiring screen actor. But music director John Phillips more than compensates, with a scratch track that contains buried treasures like Fats Domino’s 1956 jukebox chart-buster “Blueberry Hill,” which offers a bluesy counterpoint to the film’s space oddities.▼

bartabsf.com

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2011

▼

Film >>

Rare Crawford classics

by Tavo Amador

J

oan Crawford (1906-77) embodied the flapper in silent films and became a star in talkies at MGM, playing romantic heroines and working-class women determined to climb the social ladder. In 1943, after 18 years, Metro decided she was through. She signed with Warners, waited two years, then won an Oscar as Mildred Pierce. She followed that triumph with several fascinating movies about issues facing women as they navigated the post-World War II seas. Two of these rarely screened pictures play the Castro Theatre on Thurs., Sept. 8.

In Humoresque (1946), Crawford is Helen Wright, a rich Manhattan socialite in her third marriage. She has a drinking problem and not enough to do. At one of her parties, the hired pianist invites workingclass violinist Paul Boray (John Garfield) to play. Helen likes what she hears – and sees. She makes a few smart, patronizing comments, to which he responds in kind. “Bad manners, an infallible sign of talent,” she says. Thanks to her patronage, he becomes a classical music star.

Initially, Helen claims her interest in Paul is only artistic. Soon, however, they begin an affair. His mother (a superb Ruth Nelson) voices strong disapproval. Although Paul loves Helen, he loves his career more. She cannot accept being second in his life. They quarrel. The operatic ending is gripping.

Crawford isn’t on screen until about 30 minutes into the movie, but she dominates it – a true star performance. Magnificently dressed

by Adrian (from her MGM days),

Joan Crawford and John Garfield in Humoresque.

this is her last appearance as an unarguable beauty. She acts with riveting intensity, managing to be alienating and sympathetic at once. Several of her close-ups are breathtaking. Garfield was her best leading man after Clark Gable – tough enough to stand up to her, virile enough to suggest why she wanted him. Their chemistry is potent. With Oscar Levant, playing the piano and tossing quips with abandon. Pretty Bobby (later Robert) Blake plays the young Garfield. Isaac Stern is the violinist on the soundtrack. Clifford Odets and Zachary Gold wrote the screenplay, based on a Fanny Hurst short story. Superb black-and-white cinematography by Ernest Haller.

Jean Negulesco directed. (Matinee and evening.)

In Daisy Kenyon (1947), Crawford is a successful commercial

artist living in Greenwich Village, having an unsatisfactory affair with married Dana Andrews. She meets Henry Fonda, recently home from the military and facing issues adjusting to civilian life. Daisy likes her career, resents her backstreet situation, but isn’t sure if Fonda is the right man for her – or indeed, if she needs a man at all. She’s soon faced with several unexpected choices. Under Otto Preminger’s expert direction, Crawford gives one of her most nuanced and vulnerable performances. Andrews is charismatic and arrogant – he’s happy with his arrangement.

Fonda’s character is more cerebral.

With Ruth Warrick as Andrews’ wife, long before she became a regular on television’s All My Children. John Garfield has an unbilled cameo at the Stork Club. (Matinee and evening.)▼

Music >>

Rock out & rejoice

by Jason Victor Serinus Jon Anderson - Survival & Other Stories (Gonzo Media Group)

I

www.ebar.com

s it possible that Yours Truly is falling in love with the voice of former Yes lead singer Jon Anderson?

Anderson, who is almost a year older than I, as if anyone could be that old and go through lord knows how many years of drunken rock n roll carousing, and cigarette and joint smoking, and still have a voice, is celebrating his return to health (after a bout of asthma and acute respiratory failure in the summer of

2008) by releasing his solo album, Survival & Other Stories. The themes are spiritual and eclectic, the lyrics inspiring, and the oft-joyous effort facilitated in part by contributions culled from the Internet. One song praises Buddha, Jesus, and Master Mohammed; another thanks Divine Mother Audrey Kitagawa (carrier of the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna); and a third is just a little too Christian God the Master and all that for comfort.

Nonetheless, the spirit of this album is so positive, the energy so uplifting, and Anderson’s naturally high, slightly ragged tenor voice so amazing, that all I, and probably you as well, can say is. “Yes.” Annette Cantor Songs to the Earth (Source Being Productions) It took me awhile to realize that the extremely evocative, beautiful voice of Annette Cantor that elevates this album of seven songs for meditation and healing is the same voice that, years ago, helped make master musician

Deuter’s Garden of the Gods one of my favorite New Age albums. Both artists, as it turns out, were born in Germany and live in Santa Fe. Cantor’s migration, however, came See page 25 >>

▼

Dance >>

September 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 25

MMDG/Costas

Mark Morris Dance Group in Dido and Aeneas: radically queer.

Steps for a new season

by Paul Parish

W

ith San Francisco Ballet out of the Opera House till Christmas, the big-time dance available will be from international touring companies coming in to Berkeley, Stanford, and the Novellus Theater at Yerba Buena Gardens.

Foremost among them should be the Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s final appearances in the Bay Area. Now that the great gay choreographer has died, the company is going out of existence with a bang at New Year’s (in New York City, of course). Their last show on the West Coast will be at Stanford’s Memorial Auditorium on Nov. 1. Get tickets now – people will come from all over the West. It’s your last chance to see the work done by the people whom he trained, and who know how. They’ll dance Nearly 90, his last work.

Next biggest thing, IMHO, is Mark Morris’ great Dido and Aeneas, Sept, 16-18 in Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall.

Dido when it was new in 1989 was radically queer – Morris himself danced Queen Dido, wearing a black dress and gold press-on nails – but it has turned out to be a classic. The work repays all the attention you can give it. It can break your heart. Morris set the tragic opera by Henry Purcell, the greatest opera ever written in English, placing the singers in the pit, and having his dancers act out and dance the story (which comes from Virgil’s Aeneid) onstage. The androgynous Amber Darrow, who has something of the young Morris’ charisma, will dance the queen this time, Craig Biesecker the hero who abandons his lover in order to fulfill his duty and found the city of Rome.

The musical forces in Berkeley will be among the finest in the world: Morris himself will conduct the renowned Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale, while his remarkable company dances the

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Songs to the Earth

From page 24

after a period of operatic training in Vienna.

Cantor composed her songs, a mixture of Christian Gregorian and Native American Chant with more than a passing nod to the music of India, during a year of healing cancer while taking long

timeless story. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, “the true successor to Marilyn Horne in the Baroque and bel canto repertory” (New York Times), leads the assembled vocal artists of chorus and soloists.

Many who saw Wayne McGregor’s new ballet Chroma, which was presented by San Francisco Ballet last year and caused a sensation, will be eager to see his own Random Dance Company Fri.-Sat., Nov. 11 & 12, 8 p.m., at the Novellus Theater at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

These are McGregor’s own dancers, they are most attuned to his quirks, the mysterious inward contortions and hyperextensions and altered energy states he wants from them.

McGregor’s work has entered the repertories of the Paris Opera Ballet, London’s Royal Ballet, and now the Bolshoi. We all want to see what he does with his own team.

Meantime, our own great hyperballet company, Lines Contemporary Ballet, will have danced their fall season at YBCA, Oct. 14-23. Alonzo King, who’s been developing his own fusion style of ballet here since the 1970s, is now internationally famous for his incorporations of the dance traditions of the region extending from India to Africa. He has been working with Zakir Hussain, with Indian and Moroccan musicians, with jazz master Pharaoh Saunders; this fall’s premiere investigates the music of the Sephardim. The Lines website describes the “vivid and tangled intercultural history that spans continents, centuries, languages, and faith.” This should be magnificent material for King, who is himself the product of rich intercultural conflict, coming as he does from African-American aristocracy in Georgia. His education is deep, his sensibility unique and rich, and his ballets can be generous and profound.

Predicting what the independent

dancer/choreographers of San Francisco will do is very difficult, but you should know about them, since they constitute the yeastiest dance culture in the whole country outside New York (and are arguably more interesting than New Yorkers).

They’re imaginative, smart, serious, and into depicting the way we live now. Be on the lookout for a showing of Detention Duets, by the multiple-award-winning star of The Tosca Project, Nol Simonse; it is not scheduled for performance at this point, but may turn up at Counterpulse or Dance Mission towards the end of the year. It is a series of brilliant Dadaist duets for Simonse and Christy Funsch, a genius of a performer who has a gift for intimacy that puts me in mind of Jean Arthur.

I wouldn’t miss Katie Faulkner’s free outdoor piece We don’t belong here. It sounds like it’s going to be a flash-mob thing coalescing at sites along SF’s Market St. corridor, with a “These are the good old days” feel to it, but since it’s still evolving, who knows? Fact is, Faulkner’s track record is superb, her stuff is always interesting, and she even wins huge cash prizes. Look for the events to happen Sept. 29, 30, and into October; more info will be available at www.Dancersgroup.org.

Another big freebie will be Cal Performances’ Fall Free for All on Sun., Sept. 25, a full day of free performances at venues all over the UC Berkeley campus. Thousands came last year. This year features the pioneering AXIS dis/Abled Dance Company, Los Cenzontles Mexican Dance and Music, the distinguished ethnomusicologist CK Ladzekpo African Music and Dance Ensemble, UC Berkeley Depts. of Music, Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, as well as SF Opera Adler Fellows, not to mention musicians of all sorts. Info at www.calperfs. berkeley.edu. ▼

walks in the high desert. Her music is as rooted in the earth as it invokes the forces that transcend all. To the sounds of Patrick Shendo-Mirabal’s Native American flutes and vocals, Mike Chavez and Gregory Gutin’s grounded percussion, and Michael Kott’s evocative cello, Cantor’s voice soars. Her Christian/Native American blend may seem more than a little curious to peoples

whose culture and land have been taken from them by cross-bearing missionaries and soldiers, but the integrity of Cantor’s faith, and the deep connectedness of her vision, resound of profound truth. On this album of songs dedicated “to our earth with respect and reverence,” the sounds of Cantor’s wideranging voice reach deeply into the sacred core of our shared being.▼

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26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2011

<< Music

▼ Out of the past, a rare album

by Tavo Amador

T

bartabsf.com

he interplay of art and politics is often obvious: Versailles glorifies Louis XIV as the embodiment of the French state, for example. Sometimes, however, it’s far more subtle. In 1960, when homosexuality was regarded as a mental disorder and same-sex love considered perverted, Lace Records issued an astonishing album, Love Is a Drag, featuring an exceptionally gifted male singer performing classic love songs directed at other men. The renditions aren’t remotely campy – they convey heartfelt sentiments with unerring truthfulness. This remarkable affirmation of feelings now considered natural marked a little-known milestone on the path that has taken us to where we are today. Amazingly, thanks to the skills and determination of singer/ pianist Scott Reed, this part of our past has been reclaimed.

Listening to Love Is a Drag is an intimate experience. The unknown vocalist makes each song personal.

His take on “Lover Man,” by James

Davis, Ram Ramirez, and James Sherman, is more poignant than Billie Holiday’s. “He’s Funny that Way,” by Charles N. Daniels and Jack A. Whiting, sounds as though it should always have been written about two men. “My Man,” made famous in America by Fanny Brice, is hauntingly rendered, and shows that suffering isn’t limited to a specific gender.

The Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart masterpiece “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” takes on a new meaning because Hart was gay. Undoubtedly, his lyrics reflected his own experience with a younger, opportunistic male lover whose only talent was sexual. “Can’t Help Loving that Man” and “Bill,”

tenor with flawless taste, conveying a world of candlelight suppers for two. His superb phrasing may evoke strong emotional responses, yet is never maudlin. The outstanding orchestrations speak of gifted musicians inspired to perform at their best.

Little is known about Lace Records. Given the era in which Love Is a Drag was produced, it was probably carried at few stores, and sold sub rosa to customers feeling the need to be discreet.

Undoubtedly, this album was played at private parties in the 1960s.

In addition to being an artistic triumph, Love Is a Drag was also a powerful political statement made during a dangerous era. It offers

“Love Is a Drag” features an exceptionally gifted male singer performing classic love songs directed at other men. both from Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s musical about forbidden love Show Boat (1927), are touchingly rendered.

Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin’s “The Boy Next Door,” memorably sung by Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), is sweetly ironic. In the film, she’s longing for Tom Drake – an actor who in real life was gay.

Here, the situation seems reversed – the object of the singer’s affection is likely straight. His rendition of the Gershwins’ great “The Man I Love” breathes new life into that haunting standard. Gay Noel Coward would have recognized his own passion in “Mad About the Boy.” “Stranger in Paradise,” from 1953’s Kismet, based on music by Borodin, suggests both the rapture of secret love and a time when it could be openly expressed.

Two less familiar tunes are equally noteworthy. “He’s My Guy,” by Don Raye and Gene DePaul, is intensely romantic, while “Jim,” by Nelson Shawn, Caesar Petrillo, Edward Ross, and Milton Samuels, is a powerfully rendered torch song.

The singer uses his rich, smooth

further proof that despite what ignorant and bigoted people may have once believed about homosexuals, many of us rejected their corrosive definitions. Instead, we accepted and honored feelings we intuitively knew were healthy. It helped set the stage for subsequent decades marked by an ever-increasing acceptance of who we are.

Reed headlined at some of New York City’s toniest clubs during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, and also performed in San Francisco. He spent years trying to locate a stereo version of the original long-playing album. After finally securing one in excellent condition, he brilliantly re-mastered it. Anyone familiar with vinyl records knows that they inevitably had audible technical glitches – “pops.” Reed has virtually eliminated these in his CD, making it better than the original album, and matching the highest levels of today’s professional standards. He also acquired the copyright. It’s available from Garnet Records for $16, including shipping and handling. To order, e-mail nsr575@att.net. ▼

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▼

Music >>

September 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 27

Andy Bell’s world

by Gregg Shapiro

A

ccording to Andy Bell of Erasure, “there was quite a lot” going on in the four years between the release of the duo’s 2007 Light at the End of the World album and their new one, Tomorrow’s World (Mute). In-between, Bell released his second solo disc, 2010’s NonStop, and promoted it “a little bit,” while Vince Clark “was building his studio in Maine, and getting it all finished and the synthesizers installed.” But the wait is over.

Tomorrow’s World, produced by rising electronic musician/producer Frankmusik, has arrived, and it’s sure to please the duo’s many fans.

Fighting a cold, Andy soldiered on for this interview, which took place in late August 2011.

Gregg Shapiro: The world figures in the titles of 2007’s Light at the End of the World and the new Tomorrow’s World. Does that have particular meaning to you?

Andy Bell: We were trying to think of a title for the record, then Vince came up with Tomorrow’s World without thinking that the last one had World in the title as well. It sort of ties them both in, really. I think this one is much more optimistic than Light at the End of the World. That album was more throwaway, old-style Erasure.

But Vince says he’s very optimistic about the way things are turning out. It seems that the world is getting smaller and smaller, and we’re having these huge weather patterns all over the place. We’re all becoming one community. We’re learning how to care about each other by our own suffering. We’re morphing into these lab-created people with fake hearts and skin and eyes. We’re creating our own versions of ourselves.

Singer Andy Bell of Erasure: ‘That’s the folly of youth!’

how it turned out. So it’s nice when things work out.

The single “When I Start To (Break It All Down)” was originally a beautiful ballad, but he made it into more of an ELO [Electric Light Orchestra] type of song. “A Whole Lot of Love Run Riot,” which is one of my favorites because it’s so clubby and disco and kind of Euro, Frank made it that way.

That truly sounds like tomorrow’s world. Not to belabor the subject, but the phrase “be with you” appears in both the song of the same name and “What Will I Say When You’re Gone?”

I think it’s probably because I’m on the cusp of a burgeoning new relationship. “Be with you” is the essence of wanting to be all the time with the person!

How long have you been together?

One year.

You still have that nice fresh bloom on the relationship.

Oh, it’s lovely.

You and Vince co-produced the preceding Erasure discs, but on Tomorrow’s World, you worked with producer Frankmusik.

I think it was about time. It was good for us to relinquish our control, to see what can happen.

It’s been very healthy, and Frank has done an amazing job. His musicality in the studio was really inspiring. In the end, the record company was over the moon about

In “I Lose Myself ” you sing, “I’m not concerned about the bitch I’ve been.” It’s hard to imagine that’s the case, being the nice fellow that you are, but have you had to be a bitch to some people?

I think what I mean is feeling the bitch inside and suppressing the bitch, not letting the bitch out, which isn’t very healthy!

2011 also brought the expanded anniversary edition of Wonderland, and an expanded

reissue of The Circus. How did it feel to revisit the material for the reissues?

It was strange in some ways.

Especially on Wonderland, I can hear my naiveté completely. I always had such faith in my voice, I thought I was as good as Elvis Presley, and then I hear my voice on that and I think, “Jesus, how could you have ever thought that?” That’s just the folly of youth! At the ssame time I made a song such aas “Oh, L’Amour,” which has eendured. And then you hear ssongs such as “Push Me, Shove M which we’re doing live Me,” n now, and you think, “Oh my G God, this really sounds fresh.

I stands the test of time.”

It A one of the most As i uential artists in the infl e electronic music realm, w what do you think of t current crop of the p practitioners?

There’s lots of people that I like. I love Royksopp. I l love Robyn and MGMT. I w doing an interview and was s somebody asked me if I’d h heard the band Hurts because they sound like Erasure. I said they look kind of pretty, the boys [band-members] do. People always say things sound like us, but I think it has more to do with the music than the singing.

Well, there’s only one Andy Bell.

Yeah, there’s only one me! That’s it! And there’s only one Vince, as well. It’s very hard to have that rare combination.▼ Erasure will perform on Oct. 4 at the Fox Theatre in Oakland.

PERSONAL TRAINER ASCEND STUDIOS San Francisco

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Balance, Flexibility, Endurance and Strength Training christopher@phoenixtraingandfitness.com www.phoenixtrainingandfitness.com

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<< Out&About

28 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2011

Fri 9 >>

3 Guys in Drag Selling Their Stuff @ The Garage Edward Crosby Wells’ comic 2000 hit OffOff-Broadway play about Diva, Lillian and Tink’s yard sale, performed by –you guessed it– three guys in drag. One critic called it a “’Grey Gardens’ garage sale.” $20. 8pm.

Fri & Sat thru Sept. 19. 975 Howard St. www.975howard.org

Arturo Cozenza @ Magnet

(2:30, 5:15, 8pm). Sept 15, Taxi Driver (3:30, 7:15) and Blast of Silence (5:35, 9:20). $10.

429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

(previews Aug 18-19). $15-$35. Wed-Sat 8pm. Thru Sept 17. 505 Natoma St. 2557846. www.crowdedfire.org

Country Western Dancing @ Humanist Hall, Oakland

FACT/SF, Lenora Lee Dance @ CounterPulse

Texas Rose hoedown for queer women and their trans and FTM friends, with lessons, social dancing, line dancing and a buffet. $5-$10. 6:30-11pm. 390 27th St. at Telegraph, Oakland. www.humanisthall.org

Shared night of new experimental dance works by two ensembles. $15-$20. 8pm.

Thru Sept. 11. 1310 Mission st. at 9th. www.counterpulse.org

Sara Moore’s comic solo show about a quirky clown’s life in a low-rent circus. $20$32. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru Oct. 9. 25 Van Ness Ave at Market. 861-8972. www.nctcsf.org

Hella Gay Comedy @ La Estrellita Café, Oakland

Shut Up little Man! @ Roxie Cinema

Charlie Ballard hosts the raucous totally multi-culti un-PC comedy night. $10. 21+.

Full bar & dining available. 9pm. 446 East 12th St. www.charlieballard.com

Matthew Bates’ film uses the audio recordings of deranged, hilarious and frightening arguments between his neighbors, a pair of gay and antigay roommates in the Haight district in the 80s. $7-$10. Extended run.

3117 16th St. 431-3611. www.roxie.com

Christophe Coppens @ Highlight Gallery Opening reception for an unusual exhibit of the Belgian artist’s self-portraits, videos and installation examining his lifelong obsession with Barbra Streisand. 6pm-8pm. Thru Oct. 30. Wed-Fri 2pm-6pm. 3043 Clay St. 5291221. www.highlightgallery.com

Opening reception for an exhibit of creative photo portraits of Personalities, i.e. local drag performers. 8pm-10pm. Exhibit thru Sept. 4122 18th st. at Castro. www.magnetsf.org

Blink & You Might Miss Me @ Exit Studio Veteran musical theatre performer (A Chorus Line, Xanadu) Larry Blum’s funny bawdy solo show and tell-all about working with, for –and sometimes under– celebrities. Part of the SF Fringe Festival. $10-$13. 8:30pm.

Also Sept. 10, 2:30pm; 9/11, 9pm; 9/15, 10:30pm; 9/17, 6pm. Thru Sept 18, 1pm. 156 Eddy St. www.sffringe.org

Classic Films @ Castro Theatre Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (7:30) and Rushmore (9:30). Sept. 11, Raiders of the Lost Ark

A Delicate Balance @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley Edward Albee’s brutal comedy of manners about responsibility to others. $10-$55.

Wed-Sat 8pm. Tue & Sun 7pm, also Sun 2pm. Thru Oct. 9. 2081 Addison St. (510) 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org

Exit, Pursued By a Bear @ Boxcar Playhouse Lauren Gunderson’s hilarious revenge comedy about domestic abuse.

Opening night tonight

Marga Gomez @ The Marsh Veteran lesbian comic performs Not Getting Any Younger, a new solo show about her ‘coming of middle age.’ $15-$50. Thu & Fri 8pm. Sat 8:30pm. Sun 3pm. Previews thru Sept. 14. Opens Sept 15. Thru Oct. 23. 1062 Valencia St. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

SF Fringe Festival @ Various Theatres Diverse array of comic, dramatic, and nearly no-budget yet clever plays and solo shows, including the two gay one-acts, Fit and On a Bench at Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy St. (Sept 9,

Sat 10 >> This Means War is Personal @ Krowswork Gallery Dual exhibit of photos and video installations by Jason Hanasik, of highly personalized portraits of friends in the military; and David Gregory Wallace, who documents a Nevada military base’s non-human flying drones. Fridays 3pm-6pm.

Saturdays, 1pm-5pm; also by appointment. (Artists reception Oct 1, 5pm) Thru Oct. 15. 480 23rd St. (510) 229-7035. www.krowswork.com/war.html

T

his week, many somber, artistic and informative 9/11-related events take place. There are also lots of completely unrelated events for you to enjoy.

Among the many press releases for commemorations of September 11, 2001, one stood out that wasn’t cloying, kitschy or in questionable taste. In fact, it’s quite touching. Art for Heart: Remembering 9/11, published by Assouline Books, is comprised of drawings and statements by children who either witnessed or knew of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. $35. Proceeds benefit the 9/11 Memorial. Special order it from your local bookstore or buy online at www.assouline.com and www.911memorial.org –Jim Provenzano

Thu 8 >> Love Hate Love @ Kanbar Hall A Response to 9/11, Don Hardy and Dana Nachman’s film, is screened, with a Q&A. $10. 7pm.

Jewish Community Center, 3200 California St. at Presidio. 292-1233. www.jccsf.org/arts

Thu 8 >> Operatic Heroism @ SF Public Library A conversation with James B. Stewart, author of Heart of a Soldier, which is being adapted for the San Francisco Opera; and Tom Barbash, author of On Top of the World: Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick and 9/11: a Story of Loss and Renewal. Free. 6:30pm. Koret Auditorium, lower level, 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

Fri 9 >> Unveiled @ Brava Theater Rohina Malik’s solo show portraying five Muslim women in a post-9/11 world. $10-$25.

7pm. Thu-Sat 7pm. Sun and Sept 10 at 3pm.

Thru Sept 17. 2781 24th St. at York. 647-2822. www.brava.org

Sat 10>> Heart of a Soldier @ War Memorial Opera House World premiere of Christopher Theofanidis and Donna Di Novelli’s opera based on James B. Stewart’s story about Vietnam War veteran Rick Rescorla, who died after saving thousands during the World Trade Center attacks. $21-$389. 8pm.

Also Sept 13 (7:30), 18 (2pm), 21 (7:30), 24 (2pm), 27 (8pm) & 30 (8pm). 301 Van Ness Ave. 864-3330. www.sfopera.com

Sat 10 >> Keeping an Eye on Surveillance @ Performance Art Institute Group exhibit of 30 artists’ multi-media works that examine societal surveillance in the post-9/11 world. Opening reception Sept.

10, 6pm-9pm. Wed-Sat 12pm-6pm. Thru Oct. 22. 575 Sutter St. 501-0575. www.theperformanceartinstitute.org

Sun 11>> Castro Tribute @ Castro Plaza Ceremony honoring Mark Bingham and Father Mychal Judge, two gay men who died on 9/11 and are remembered for their heroism. 1pm.

Castro St, at Market.

Sun 11>> Chapel College Men and Boys Ensemble @ St. Paul’s Episocopal, Oakland Concert of J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor, commemorating 9/11. Free. 4pm. 114 Montecito Ave. (510) 473-7736. www.pacificcollegium.org

Sun 11>> SF Opera in the Park @ Sharon Meadow Civic observance of 9/11, with a concert of Mozart’s Requiem, works by American composers, including Christopher Theofanidis, composer of the 9/11 opera Heart of a Soldier. Free. 2pm.

Golden Gate Park. www.sfopera.com/oitp

Mon 12 >> 9/11mm @ Little Roxie Theatre Jim Provenzano’s (yes, me) small multimedia window installation explores the ghosts of the World Trade Center imagery in film; best viewed at night. 3125 16th St. Thru Sept. 431-3611. www.roxie.com

Tue 13>> James B. Stewart @ Commonwealth Club Author of Heart of a Soldier, about 9/11 hero Rick Rescorla’s life (adapted to the new opera premiering at SF Opera) discusses his awardwinning journalism with SF Opera’s David Gockley, composer Christopher Theofanidis and moderator/radio journalist Gil Gross. $7-$20.

5:30pm. 595 Market St. 2nd fl. 597-6705. www.commonwealthclub.org

Wed 14 - The Strange Story of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell @ Castro Theatre World premiere of Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato’s documentary about gays and lesbians in –and kicked out of- the U.S. military. 7pm.

Free. RSVP: 765-7793. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

8:30pm; 9/11, 4pm; 9/12, 7pm; 9/17, 1pm) $10-$13. Thru Sept. 18. www.sffringe.org

Show Ho @ New Conservatory Theatre

Tandy Beal and Company @ Cabrillo Crocker Theatre Innovative dance-theatre company performs HereAfterHere: A Self-Guided Tour of Eternity, an exploration of the concetp of heaven, and life after death. $13-$38 ($50 includes VIP reception Sept 9; proceeds benefit Hospice of Santa Cruz County). 7:30pm.

Also Sept 10, 7:30pm and Sept 11, 3pm.

6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos. ($4 parking).

(831-420-5260. www.santacruztickets.com

The Tempest, The Complete History of America @ Forest Meadows Ampitheatre The Shakespeare classic about an exiled king, and the comic three-man romp about US history, play in repertory. $20-$75 (season tix).Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 4pm. Thru Sept 25. 1475 Acacia Ave., Dominican Universaty, San Rafael. www.marinshakespeare.org

True Stories Lounge @ The Make-Out Room Accomplished writers Joyce Maynard, Adam Hochschild, Gary Kamiya, Alicia Erian, Tyche Hendricks and Steven T. Jones tell fascinating nonfiction stories; Everyn Nieves hosts. $10. 7pm. 21+.

3225 22nd St. 647-2888. www.makeoutroom.com

Waiting for Giovanni @ New Conservatory Theatre Center World premiere of Jewelle Gomez’ and Harry Waters, Jr.’s much-anticipated play inspired by the life of gay author James Baldwin. $22-$40. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru Sept. 18. 25 Van Ness ave., mlower level. 861-8972. www.nctcsf.org

Sat 10 >>

Bay Area Now 6 @ YBCA Group exhibit of local visual artists in varied media. Exhibit thru Sept. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. 978-2700. www.ybca.org

Bay Area Rainbow Symphony @ SF Music Conservatory LGBT-inclusive orchestra performs Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suite No.1, and Lowell Liebermann’s Flute Concerto, Op. 39 with David Latulippe as flute soloist. Assistant Conductor Jessica Bejarano conducts “Nimrod” from Elgar’s Enigma Variations as a 9/11 tribute. $15-$30.

8pm. 50 Oak St. at Franklin. (800) 5954TIX. www.bars-sf.org

Best Buck in the Bay @ Driscoll Ranches, La Honda Golden State Gay Rodeo Association’s annual Bay Area rodeo and festival, with c Some social events at the Winery San Francisco, Bldg 180, Treasure Island. Also Sept. 11. www.bestbuckinthebay.com

Cymbeline @ Presidio Parade Grounds San Francisco Shakespeare Festival’s

Thu 15 >> Top Secret America @ Kanbar Hall Award-winning Washington Post journalists Dana Priest and William Arkin look at theoutof-control national security apparatus built in response to September 11. $10-$20. 7pm.

Jewish Community Center, 3200 California St. at Presidio. 292-1233. www.jccsf.org/arts

Thu 15 >> John Perkins @ Berkeley Unitarian Hall Former economic consultant reveals his role in aiding the World Bank and IMF in financially crippling poor nations; preceded by the controversial short film about 9/11 from Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, which raises disturbing questions about the events. $5-$10. 7pm. 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. (510) 841-4824. www.bfuu.org

Heart of a Soldier.

See Mom. 10 (column)

▼

outdoor production of the tale about princesses, kings and thrones. Saturdays at 7:30pm; Sundays and Labor Day Monday at 2:30pm. www.sfshakes.org

Of Dice and Men @ La Val’s Subterranean, Berkeley Impact Theatre’s comic play about gamers.

Pizza and beer/beverages available. $10$20. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru Oct. 1. 1834 Euclid Ave., Berkeley. (510) 224-5744. www.impacttheatre.com

Line Dance Classes @ ODC Dance Commons New fun line dance classes taught by Sundance Saloon’s Sean Ray, with a special LGBT-anybody-inclusive ambiance, and not just country music. $14. Weekly Saturdays, 6pm-8pm. 351 Shotwell St. www.odcdance.org

The Power of Two @ Castro Theatre Twin Sisters, Two Culture, Two New Chances at Life, a film about twins afflicted with cystic fibrosis and a portrait of the lives of people advocating for organ transplantation. $20$125. 2pm matinee. 7:30pm gala screening and fundraiser (6pm VIP reception). 429 Castro St. www.ThePowerofTwo.com

Christeene @ Truck Truck’s new co-owner, Matt Mikesell (of Bearracuda fame) presents the hilariously bizarre drag act Christeene, plus showering gogo guys, and DJ Trevor Sigler. 9pm-2am.

Want something a bit more relaxed? Enjoy the beer bust Sunday September 11. $10, 4pm-8pm. 1900 Folsom St. www.trucksf.com

Rita Moreno: Life Without Makeup @ Berkeley Rep Tony Taccone and Rita Moreno’s solo show about the award-winning actress’s life and times; with music and a four-piece band. $14-50-$73. Tue, Fri-Sat 8pm. Wed & Sun 7pm. Thu, Sat, Sun 2pm. Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St. (510) 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org

SF Hiking Club @ Portola Redwoods State Park Join LGBT hikers on a 10-mile trek in a deep canyon formed by the Santa Cruz Mountains. Carpools meet 8:30am at the Safeway sign, Market St. at Dolores. (650) 615-0151. www.sfhiking.com

Shamanism Class @ LGBT Center Liz Dale leads a spirituality class about “finding your power animal” through drumming and rituals. Monthly, 2nd Saturdays. $25. Details/RSVP: Lizsanpablo@aol.com 1800 Market St. www.sfcenter.org

Sun 11 >>

Amanda King @ Martuni’s Soulful singer performs at the intimate cabaret bar. 7pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market. www.dragatmartunis.com

Buffet Flats @ Tenderloin National Forest Queering Slow Food, a Harvest Moon celebration of art, performance and sustainable cuisine, with hosts Seth Eisen as Jean Malin, M.A Brooks as Jean LaRue, and performances by Juba Kalamka, K.M. Soehnlein, Jaime Cortez, Screamy-Marilyn McNeal, Emily Butterfly, Margit Galanter & Niki Ford; Eco experts Markos Major, Joe Cannon and Price Sheppy; Chef Lisaruth Elliott sharing food and recipes; plus visual art by David Gremard Romero, Honey McMoney, Megan Wilson and Eliza Barrios. $20-$50. 6pm10pm (Gallery Opening Sept 8, 5pm-8pm).

509 Ellis St. at Leavenworth. 531-7037. www.buffetflats.org

Eagle in Exile @ El Rio The Whoa Nellies play ‘60s pop hits (with a second set of all Monkees songs!) at the fun monthly event (1st Sundays). 3pm-6pm.

3158 Mission St. 282-3325. www.elriosf.com

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Out&About >>

September 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 29

A Funny Night for Comedy @ Actors Theatre Host Natasha Muse and sidekick Ryan Cronin welcome comics Mike Spiegelman, Brian Fields, Alex Koll, Chris Burns, Trevor Hill and Femikaze. Daring improv jam follows. $10. 7pm. 855 Bush st. 345-1287. www.NatashaMuse.com

Nanette Harris @ SF Public Library Blue People by a Green Painter, an exhibit of works by by the artist who paints people of color in different tones, and uses recycled paint. Special meet & greet with the artist Sept. 11, 2pm-4:30pm, Latino/Hispanic Community Room, lower level. Part of the Afro Solo Arts Fest. Thru Oct. 20. 100 Larkin St. www.afrosolo.org www.sfpl.org

SF Hiking Club @ Sweeney Ridge Join LGBT outdoorsy types on a strenuous 15-mile hike in the scenic Peninsula, including Montara Mountain. Carpool meets 8am at the Safeway sign, Market St. at Dolores.

990-6474. www.sfhiking.com

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

395-8595. www.harrydenton.com

Mon 12 >> Comedy Night @ El Rio

Host Lisa Geduldig welcomes Veronica Porras, Nathan Habib, Josh Healey, and Conrad Roth. $7-$20. 8pm. 3158 Mission St. (800) 838-3006. www.elriosf.com

Thu 15 Project Bandaloop @ Great Wall, Oakland The pioneering aerial movement dance company celebrates its 20th anniversary with the premiere of Bound(less) ; featuring six dancers, a live band and three free outdoor performances. Thru Sept. 17. Grand & Broadway streets, one block from BART 19th St. station. Also, film previews Sept 8 at ODC Theater, 8pm, 3153 17th St., and live preview at Mint Plaza (5th St at Mission) Sept 8 at 12:30 & Sept 9 at 5pm. www.projectbandaloop.org

Duets @ ODC Theater Nikki & Ethan White, Jean Isaacs, Mary Carbonara, Rande Dorn, Dana Lawton, Pearl Marill and Somebodies Dance Theatre. $18$22. 8pm. 3153 17th St. part of the West Wave Dance Festival (thru Oct).

(866) 55-TICKETS. www.westwave dancefestival.org

Marga’s Funny Mondays @ The Marsh, Berkeley Marga Gomez brings her comic talents and special guests to a weekly cabaret show.

This week: Kellen Erskine, Dave Thomassen, Priya Prassasd and Beth Schumann. $10.

8pm. Thru Oct. 31. 2120 Allston Way. ( 800) 838-3006. www.margagomez.com

Tue 13 >> Inside Scientology @ Kanbar Hall

Rolling Stone editor Janet Reitman’s groundbreaking Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion offers the first full history of the Church of Scientology. $10-$20. 7pm. Jewish Community Center, 3200 California St. at Presidio. 292-1233. www.jccsf.org/arts

Jewish Lesbian Poetry @ SF Public Library Joan Annsfire, Ellen Bass, Elana Dykewomon and Jenny Factor, contributors to the anthology Milk and Honey, read from and discuss their writing and inspirations. Free. 6:30pm.

Main Library, Third Floor, James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center, 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

Wed 14 >>

Our Vast Queer Past @ GLBT History Museum See the new mini-exhibit about the Alice B. Toklas San Francisco LGBT Democratic political organization as it celebrates its 40th anniversary; part of Our Vast Queer Past, the popular exhibit from the GLBT Historical Society, with a wide array of rare historic

items on display. Free for members-$5. WedSat 11am-7pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Book Club @ Books Inc LGBT literature fans discuss Jean Genet’s classic sailor tragic romance Querelle (in Englis). Free. 7pm. 2275 Market St. 8646777. www.booksinc.net

Thu 15 >> Charles Gatewood @ Robert Tat Gallery

New exhibit of prints by the popular photographer. Tue-Sat 11am-5:30pm. Thru Nov. 26.

49 Geary Suite 410. 781-1122. www.roberttat.com

Extinction Burst @ California Academy of Sciences A Dance of Lost Movement, Chris Black’s dance-image work about extinct species, will be performed in various areas of the museum during its weekly nightlife event. $10-$12. 7:30pm. 21+. Other shows: Free$29.95. Sept 20 (aam), 22, (2pm), 27 (2pm) and 29 (11am). 55 Music Concourse Drive. www.calacademy.org/events/nightlife

I Exist @ LGBT Center Voices From the Lesbian and Gay Middle Eastern Community in the US, a 2003 film, is presented by BibiSF, with members of the cast and crew. $5-$10. 7pm. 1800 Market St. www.BibiSF.org www.sfcenter.org

Leon Mostovoy @ LGBT Center Death of my Daughter, a diptych photo series of female-to-male transgendered people with symbolic poses and imagery. Thru Sept 29. 1800 Market St. www.leonmostovoy. wordpress.com www.sfcenter.org

Patrick Wolf, Calpernia Addams @ Bimbo’s 365 Club Acclaimed UK singer performs his new music; transgender author-actress-singer opens with her unique “electro folk” music. $20.

Extinction Burst. See Thu 15

9pm. 18+. 1025 Columbus Ave. 474-0365. www.bimbos365club.com

Picasso @ de Young Museum Masterpieces from the Museé National Picasso, Paris, a new exhibit of classic early modern works by the Spanish master painter. Free (members)-$25. Tue-Sun 9:30am-5:15pm. Wed 9:30am-8:45pm (the Aug). Thru Oct. 9. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive. 750-3600. www.famsf.org

Same-Sex Dancing @ Queer Ballroom Ongoing partner dance lessons and open dancing in a variety of styles- Argentine tango, Cha Cha, Rhumba and more; different each night. $5-$25 open dancing to $55 for private lessons. 151 Potrero Ave. at 15th. www.QueerBallroom.com

Styling the Modern Man @ Bently Reserve Classy fashion promotional show with cocktails, style sessions, hair and grooming presentations and more. Dress sharp. $40$100. 6pm-11pm. 301 Battery St. www.stylingthemodernman.com

Thunder From Down Under @ The Rrazz Room Australian male strip dance troupe returns for their sexy shows. No full nudity, but still fun, and yes, men are welcome. Special LGBT night Sept 15. $35-$55. Wed & Thu 8pm; Fri & Sat 7pm & 9:30pm. 2-drink min (except Wed & Thu). Thru Sept. 17. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

To submit event listings, email jim@ebar.com.

Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication.

For bar and nightlife events, go to www.bartabsf.com

The Strange Story of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. See Wed 14 (column)

www.ebar.com

<< Leather+

30 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2011

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Alternative sex research

by Scott Brogan

giving me way more credit than I’m due. nowledge is essential That exchange to sexual freedom.” made me ponder how That was the title and our community is theme of a 2009 article still maligned. That

by Dr. Richard Sprott, someone would use executive director of “fetish” – and “seniors,” CARAS [Communityfor that matter – as Academic Consortium an ultimate slur for Research on shows how we’re still Alternative Sexualities]. misunderstood by CARAS is a San Francisco the mainstream and nonprofit organization the greater LGBTQ founded in 2005 that, communities. CARAS as board member Race works to remedy this.

Bannon put it, “proI recently had lunch motes serious academic with Bannon, chatting research and profesabout CARAS. I had no sional education about clue of the scope of their alternative sexualities organization. Part of and polyamory. This their work is providing work ultimately quantitative, academic improves the lives of research about BDSM/ everyone in the leather, kink, research done kink, BDSM and polyby professionals that amory communities.” is taken seriously by CARAS has official the greater psychoauthority from the logical community.

Richard Sprott American Psychological Specifically, they Association to train CARAS executive director Dr. Richard Sprott. support “research psychologists, therapists addressing underand counselors about studied sexual was a negative accusation at me: BDSM/kink, polyamory, and any communities, with a current “I heard you do gay fetish porn for other “alternative” sexuality. focus on BDSM/leather/kink/ seniors?” The fetish and seniors It’s hard to believe in 2011, fetish sexualities and consensual parts were meant to be a kind of but CARAS is one of a kind. non-monogamous relationships ultimate slam. The implication The American Psychological such as polyamory. Employing a was that merely accusing Association’s acceptance of their community-based research model, someone of doing gay work is a huge step towards CARAS has assembled a network of porn isn’t enough, but getting the mainstream academics, clinicians and respected adding the fetish and psychological field to members of these communities who seniors angles made it understand that this will work directly with researchers to unforgivable and just type of research is valid promote scientific and other forms horrible! Obviously, and needed. I’m not of scholarly research.” The research anyone who knows surprised it’s taken this projects have the approval of people me knows that a long for a mainstream in our community who have the comment like that association to recognize expertise to help this research bring would have the opposite our community as about positive social and legal effect. I laughed heartily more than just “kinky change in attitudes towards our and applauded their weirdoes.”

I was community. cleverness. It was clever, regardless reminded of this recently when Bannon is one of many board of the tone. I then thanked them for someone lobbed what they thought See page 31 >>

K

Coming up in leather and kink Thu., Sep. 8: Locker Room Thursdays at Kok Bar SF (1225 Folsom). Free clothes check. 9 p.m.-close. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Sun., Sep. 11: Troy Brunet’s 6th Annual Leather Walk Fundraiser at El Rio (3158 Mission). 3-6 p.m. $10 beer bust.

Thu., Sep. 8: Lick It! Hosted by Lance Holman at The Powerhouse (1347 Folsom). Benefiting the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, featuring go-go guys, raffles, bootblacks. $5 cover. 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Sun., Sep. 11: Eagle in Exile presents the Off Ramp Leathers Fashion Show at El Rio in conjunction with the Leather Walk Fundraiser. 3-6 p.m. Live music by the Whoa Nellies. Benefits the AIDS Emergency Fund. Check out Off Ramp Leathers Fashion Show on Facebook for details.

Thu., Sep. 8: Edu Kink Scenes Without Pain at the SF Citadel (1277 Mission). 7:30-10:30 p.m. $15-$25 sliding scale. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Fri., Sep. 9: Cockstar hosted by DJ Gehno Sanchez at Kok Bar. Drink specials, cash prizes and “Pin the Cock on the Star” contest at Midnight. 10 p.m.-2 a.m.

Go to: www.kokbarsf.com Fri., Sep. 9: Truck Wash at Truck (1900 Folsom).

10 p.m.-close. Live shower boys, drink specials. Go to: www.trucksf.com.

Fri., Sep. 9: Master’s Den: Revelry at the SF Citadel.

Stefanos presents the original celebration of female submission & male dominance. 7:15 p.m.-1 a.m. Multiple admission fees. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Fri., Sep. 9: Kok Blok at Kok Bar. 4-9 p.m. $50 pool tournament starts at 6:30 p.m. Cheap drinks. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Fri., Sep. 9: Pec night at The Powerhouse. Drinks specials for the shirtless. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Sun., Sep. 11: Beer Bust Fundraiser for Local Causes at Kok Bar. $8 all you can drink Bud Light or Rolling Rock. 5-9 p.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Sun., Sep. 11: Night Cruise Sundays at Kok Bar SF. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Sun., Sep. 11: Castrobear presents Sunday Furry Sunday at 440 Castro. 4-10 p.m. Go to: www.castrobear.com.

Sun., Sep. 11: PoHo Sundays at The Powerhouse.

DJ Keith, Dollar Drafts all day. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Mon., Sep. 12: Trivia Night with host Casey Ley at Truck. Featuring prizes and ridiculous questions!

8-10 p.m. Go to: www.trucksf.com Tue., Sep. 13: Busted at Truck. $5 beer bust 9-11 p.m. Go to: www.trucksf.com.

Tue., Sep. 13: Ink & Metal at The Powerhouse.

9 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Sat., Sep. 10: All Beef Saturday Nights at The Lone Star (1354 Harrison). 100% SoMa Beef & Co. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www.facebook.com/lonestarsf.

Wed., Sep. 14: Golden Shower Buddies at Blow Buddies (933 Harrison). This is a male-only club.

Doors open 8 p.m.-12 a.m. Play till late. Go to: www.blowbuddies.com.

Sat., Sep. 10: Boot Lickin’ at The Powerhouse.

The hottest Saturday night in SoMa. 10-11 p.m. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Wed., Sep. 14: Bear Bust Wednesdays at Kok Bar SF. $6 all you can drink Bud Light or Rolling Rock drafts.

Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Sat., Sep. 10: Open Play Party at the SF Citadel.

8 p.m.-1 a.m. $25 plus membership. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Wed., Sep. 14: Nipple Play at The Powerhouse.

Specials for shirtless guys. 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Sun., Sep. 11: SF Men’s Spanking Party at The Power Exchange (220 Jones St.). This is a male-only event. You must be 18+ with valid ID. 1-6 p.m. Go to: www.voy.com/201188/.

Wed., Sep. 14: Naughty Knitters at the SF Citadel.

7-9 p.m. $5. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

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Karrnal >>

September 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 31

Future of porn

by John F. Karr

T

o everything, there is a season.

Except porn. It’s got that “Ol’ Man River” thing going on – it just keeps cummin’ along. So while columnists for publications of every ilk, from Entertainment Weekly and The New York Times to the redoubtable B.A.R., have been detailing things to come from the arts and culture of the fall season, I can only say that whatever the sexo industry’s been shoveling our way will slog on. I can, however, offer some personal prognostication.

In the future, every movie will have the same cast.

I remember fondly from years ago the “On the Plank” section of the late Sweet Lips’ column, in which the Lips would report which studly bartender was at which bar this week. Lips called their jumping around Chinese Checkers. If a mixologist was hot, every bar owner wanted to book an appearance. Just like porn, huh? Tends to make the products indistinguishable, though.

In the future, porn stars will be mature and honorable. Their lives will be ordered and stable. No one of them will have unsafe sex, abuse drugs, commit a spousal abuse, be arrested, have their mug shot flood the Web. Ostensible safe-sex companies – you know, the ones that use condoms – will continue to sanction bareback movies by employing performers who have appeared in them. Bareback movies will proliferate. And those “breeding” movies will burgeon, since a slew of sexographers are so naturally at home in stupidity and cupidity.

Sexographers will continue cramming str8 guys into their films because they don’t think authenticity is a component of gay porn. Don’t get me wrong – bisexuality is just fine by me. In many instances, it’s a turn-on. But you know what most all these str8 guys in porn are?

They’re carpetbaggers.

Why, I ask, is an opportunist like Cody Cummings being employed by gay producers? And why should I be offended

by Cummings making a buck, when at every opportunity I’ll gleefully whack along with Reese Rideout or Parker London?

I adore the shiny, happy, technically str8 but obviously cockhungry London. Yet I just don’t know what to make of the curious exchange heard in an interview portion of LucasEntertainent’s Auditions 39 Fresh Meat. “How’s your girlfriend?” Michael Lucas asks. “Oh,” laments London, “we

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Courtesy Active Duty Productions

Self-sucker Jack, top man DJ, and to-gay-or-not-to-gay Fox, left to right, as seen in Active Duty Productions’ Deep in the Foxhole.

broke up.” To which Michael dryly replies, “So you’re back to being gay.”

For some of us, being gay is life. For others, being gay is a job.

And then there are those who fall somewhere in-between, and fascinate me so.

Those Marines filmed by producer Dink Flamingo for his Active Duty Productions – are they making a buck? Are they str8?

Coming out? All of the above? Most of them seem to be gay4pay. But then there’s Fox, the star of Deep in the Foxhole.

Yes, that’s definitely a pun in the movie’s title. Fox’s co-stars get deep into his hole in both the movie’s two scenes, vehemently urged on by the happy-go-lucky lad. Yet what does he do when penetrated? He cries.

Real tears. Yet in the aftermath of his fucking, he’s of such good cheer, as if, “Hallelujah, and It Hurt Me So.” What is his self-punishment all

Leather +

From page 30

members who have M.D. or Ph.D. after their names. As executive director, Dr. Sprott has the education (he’s an adjunct professor at CA State), the needed experience, and stature in our community. This adds a level of expertise you wouldn’t get with someone who’s purely academic.

CARAS also mentors students and researchers in properly interacting with our community (many of these folks are getting their first exposure here). CARAS focuses not solely on short-term results, but on the long-term. Many studies take years for the results to be adopted in various procedures, regulations, and policies. But it’s worth it, because they are being recognized and adopted.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, CARAS is in need of our help. The board

Race Bannon

CARAS board member Race Bannon.

and staff members give so much of their time and energy, but as with many nonprofit organizations out there, they could use our help. Their

about? He doesn’t seem gay, yet with qualifications seems to be fervently working toward that status. All through his agonizing submissions, he’s sucking cock, and showing great, deep throating skill. And he insists on gobbling his partner’s cum on more than a couple occasions.

Won’t miss a drop of the stuff. But he doesn’t seem to swallow, and lets the glorious goo drip from his mouth.

Just what’s going on with Fox? Less convoluted, and more directly and unconflictedly arousing, is one of Fox’s partners, Jack. He flips his legs over his head so that Fox’s voracious rimming (while Fox is being brutally sodomized) will push Jack’s cock down into his own eager mouth for a good self-sucking, and a “Thanks, I’ll Eat it Here” finale in which Jack just loves his own cum.

Which is not, as you might think, strictly a gay thing to do. Str8 guys do it, too. Deep in the Foxhole is just a conflagration of unsettled – and unsettling – sexual identity.▼ www.ActiveDuty.com

work is important, and will benefit our community now and in the long run. With all the recent talk and questions about “Is leather dead?,” here is our chance to help ensure that answer is a resounding “No!” Please note that CARAS is looking for 1-2 academic researchers and 1-2 community members “with enthusiasm for science and scholarship” to serve on the Research Advisory Committee, which “reviews different research proposals, provides guidance and feedback, and makes decisions on whether or not CARAS will actively support the research activities, given our resources.” Now’s your chance to really help bring positive change to our community!

For more details, go to: www. carasresearch.org. To donate, click on the donate button. With Leather Week around the corner, here’s a great way to get involved, and help make a real and lasting difference.▼

www.ebar.com

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

32 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2011

▼

Music >>

Opera’s bad girls

by Tim Pfaff

P

oor little Lulu. It’s been one step forward and one or more back every since Alban Berg’s second and last opera, arguably the 20th century’s greatest, had its premiere at the Zurich Opera in 1937, two years after Berg’s death and in what came to be called “the torso,” the two of three planned acts Berg completed, and the story (and most of the characters) finished off by two movements from the composer’s orchestral suite of music from the opera.

Since the 1979 Paris premiere of the three-act opera Berg envisioned, with the third act, fully sketched out

by Berg, completed by Friedrich Cerha, Lulu has regularly been staged “complete.” But when it returned to Zurich in 2002, it was, for other than sentimental reasons, performed again – for the first time in more than 30 years – in the old “torso” version. In Lulu – The Lethal Victim, Rainer E. Moritz’s film that accompanies and explains the production on a DVD of a live performance (Arthaus Musik), the conductor Franz Welser-Moest

makes a strong case for the integrity of the torso. But to all who have become familiar with the power of the three-act version, which more closely conforms to Berg’s goal in his magnum opus, it just doesn’t cut it.

But director Sven-Eric Bechtolf, in his opera debut, struck gold with his concept of Lulu as someone who had been sexually abused, probably

by Schigolch, her apparent father, and surely by Dr. Schoen, who picked her up off the street (where, at 12, she was selling roses outside a cafe at Midnight) and “helped” her.

With hints scattered throughout Berg’s own libretto, other directors have picked up on that as a contributor to Lulu’s extreme character – fatally attractive to men, but also brought to her own death by that attractiveness – but Bechtolf is the first in my experience to break free of the question of whether Lulu is, whatever else she is, a bad girl. His Lulu is, from the get-go, a candidate for sympathy, if never wholly sympathetic. In the most potent moments of his staging, a young girl mime (Lynn Lange) literally embodies the abused Lulu, rag-doll

limp in a literal tug-of-war between the singing Lulu and Dr. Schoen, and her blunted, shocked-beyondshock presence is devastating.

But all too predictably, Bechtolf takes it too far, leaving the perimeters of any opera Berg had in mind. In its single most egregious moment, as Lulu sings her most beautiful line, “O Freiheit!” (“O freedom!”), after being sprung from jail for the murder, the director has her ride on the back of Schigolch (as she earlier had ridden on Dr. Schoen, resuscitating a Patrice Chereau cliché best left for dead), and then strangle him to death. Just because Bechtolf doesn’t need Schigolch for a third act (as Berg does), he can hardly justify this off-kilter view of the Lulu-Schigolch nexus.

A greater waste, Bechtolf blows the film Berg asks for between the two scenes of Act II. Having proved how good he is at film by covering each of the interludes up to the

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opera’s midpoint with a sepiatoned, freeze-framed précis of the action of the previous scene, he then abandons that style – which would have been perfect for the film Berg asks for to accompany the musical palindrome at the center of Act II – for a fantasy film of his own confection, in lurid color, depicting a young girl being chased through a forest and then drowned in a river by a disembodied hand.

Except for Cornelia Kallisch’s ghastly lesbian Countess Geschwitz, the cast is fine and equal to Bechtolf ’s demanding theatrics. But in the end the reason to see this Lulu – indeed, not to miss it – is Laura Aikin in the title role. SF Opera fans will remember her vivid portrayals of The Angel in Messiaen’s Saint Francois d’Assise and Anne Truelove in Robert LePage’s production of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress.

She sings Lulu as radiantly as Ann Panagulias or Agneta Eichenholz,

executes Bechtolf ’s blocking with the agility of a Chinese acrobat, and delivers the role from so deep inside that you are, as you must be, transfixed from first to last.

Marlis Petersen, arguably the world’s leading Lulu at the moment, and rumored to be the soprano with whom Abbado will undertake Lulu, appears in another opera of an operatic bad girl in a newly released DVD of the 2010 premiere of Aribert Reimann’s Medea, captured in a live performance of its premiere production at the Vienna State Opera (Arthaus). It’s a relentless, bombastic piece of music theater – composed for Petersen, which makes you wonder whether Reimann even likes her – that doesn’t amount to much. The good news is that Petersen handles the savagely difficult music masterfully, and with character to burn – and has cancelled subsequent revivals.

We need her.▼

Circumstance

From page 21

promise of a new life with property and a coerced marriage to his sister’s girlfriend.

Taking good advantage of the outlaw status of her tiny undercover production, with Beirut standing in for Tehran, Keshavarz shows how well-intentioned idealists like Atafeh’s American-educated dad can be tricked and bullied into constructing a life for their kids that is little more than a techno-embellished prison.

Towards the film’s end, Atafeh takes a last, nostalgic hike into the country with her now beaten-down father.

Looking back at the religious-dictated shackles of a birthplace she will soon flee, Atafeh bitterly addresses him. “You created this world for us with that revolution of yours. Now we are forced to live under these circumstances.”

I first met Maryam Keshavarz and lead actor Reza Sixo Safai at the party for their film at the San Francisco International Film Festival, a night when a room full of Iranian exiles found their party interrupted by Blackberry updates on the American execution of Osama bin Laden.

During out video chat, Keshavarz and Safai cradled details on making this underground gem (which will probably prevent them from visiting Iran during the reign of the mullahs) with anecdotes of their peripatetic childhoods.

First: the funny, revealing scenes where the young cast members are goofily translating Milk into Persian.

Maryam Keshavarz: I went to Northwestern University, and I had this amazing gay history professor who showed us The Times of Harvey Milk. I remember leaving the theatre so angry, because I have such a great education, but I had never heard of Harvey Milk. [To Reza Sixo Safai:] You had a similar experience.

Roadside Attractions

Circumstance director Maryam Keshavarz.

Safai: I saw it on KQED, actually, it never left me. When I heard the movie [Milk] was being made, I thought, “Oh no, I hope they don’t ruin it.” But of course, it turned out great.

Keshavarz: I had this idealistic but naïve character who wanted to come to Iran and “change the world.” It’s amazing that the Iranian government can co-opt many heroic figures, like Gandhi and Che, for their own use, what’s the only one they couldn’t do that with? Milk. In Iran, the kids love the film Milk, they loved Brokeback Mountain, they were relating to the forbidden love.

I was born in New York, my parents came to America in the 1960s. There weren’t enough doctors, the Vietnam War, so my dad came to Bed-Sty, Brooklyn, the summer of 1967. In 1982, my mom moved me back to Iran, and I went to second grade there during the height of the Iran/Iraq War. When you’re a kid, you know it’s a war but it seems like a game. Adults create a safe space: “Oh damn, they’re bombing again, I can’t

get a hamburger.” We’re citizens of the world, but I always feel connected to my Iranian roots, because I lived between two countries that hate each other. As a child, I would chant, without really understanding it, “Death to America!” In America, I was absolutely harassed during the hostage crisis. Our neighbors, who knew us, would smash our windows, slash our tires, and beat us up at school.

Safai: I was born in Iran, and when I was young, pre-Revolution, we came to the States. My dad worked for the steel industry. We went to Disney World, a Texas rodeo, then back to Iran. My dad’s not religious, so as soon as he was asked to pray at work, he said, “Okay, we’re leaving.”

They kept us at U.S. customs for an unbelievably long time. It was the moment when you realize that your dad is not all-powerful. I experienced a lot of racism, so my early strategy was to distance myself from being Iranian. It feeds me as an actor: I had to play this role observing everyone around me, very Mehran-like. ▼

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Read more online at www.ebar.com

September 8-14, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 33

Music >>

Nostalgic for the 90s?

by Gregg Shapiro

T

he 1990s began with grunge’s sonic roar, exemplified by Pearl Jam and Nirvana, and ended with teeny-bop girl singers such as Britney Spears, who couldn’t, um, sing. In-between there was yet another British invasion (see Oasis and Elbow), and bands such as The Strokes, who were going for a punk/ new wave revival.

Working our way backwards, let’s begin with Britney Spears. Blame her parents, who pimped her out, or blame the Disney machinery that molded her, but Britney has been making headlines, not all of them music-related or flattering, since her debut. Long a product of studio wizardry rather than actual performance ability, Spears’ latest disc Femme Fatale (Jive) exemplifies that in spades. From the selection of songwriting-by-committee compositions – the pseudo disco of “Till the World Ends,” the fauxurban suggestiveness of “Inside Out” and “How I Roll” – to the lifeless and robotic vocals (will.i.am’s “Big Fat Bass”), Femme Fatale is fatally flawed.

The worldly music influence of “Machu Picchu,” the opening track of Angles (RCA) by The Strokes, gives the impression that the guys have been listening to fellow New Yorkers Vampire Weekend. Or could that be vice versa? Regrouping after pursuing solo and side projects, The Strokes sound revitalized on Angles.

Part of that renewed energy comes in the form of a new tidal wave,

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beginning with the disc’s artwork, which looks like it stepped off the boat from 1979. Angles tilts towards fun, from the bouncy and light “Under Cover of Darkness” to the dance rock of “Two Kinds of Happiness,” the potential dancefloor smash “Games” (calling all remixers!) and the 70s flashback of “Gratisfaction.”

Welcome back, Strokes!

Anyone with even the least bit of familiarity with the brawling Gallagher brothers of Oasis knew that the band was doomed. The fact that they lasted as long as they did (15 years or so) is something of a miracle. Liam Gallagher has returned with a new band, Beady Eye, and album Different Gear, Still Speeding (Dangerbird). You don’t have to dig too deeply to hear the similarities between Gallagher’s previous band and the current one. Gallagher’s distinctive vocals alone have the power to conjure up Oasis, not to mention the rocking vibe of album opener “Four Letter Word.” But he sounds, dare it be said, less snarly and somewhat more at ease. That’s especially true on “Millionaire,” “Kill for a Dream” and the Beatlesque “The Roller.”

On the grunge spectrum, Nirvana was closer to the punk end, while Pearl Jam pointed in a hard rock direction. So it’s interesting after the grunge-metal of the band’s breakthrough debut disc that they would move towards a slightly more commercial side with the follow-up, 1993’s Vs. Sure, there is still vocal chord shredding and head-bobbing rawness to tracks such as “Go,” “Animal,” “Blood” and “Leash.” But then you have “Daughter” and “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” to give you more to ponder.

Less than a year passed before the arrival of 1994’s Vitalogy,

A Delicate Balance

From page 21

years after the theater achieved an incredible feat for a tiny enterprise.

It raised the $2.5 million to build a new and handsome theater just a few yards away from Berkeley Rep. While the seating capacity increased to 150, its floor-level deep-thrust stage surrounded by audiences on three sides, no theatergoer is more than four rows away from the stage.

Ross, who worked for Joe Papp at the New York Public Theatre before moving to San Francisco, knew that big changes were coming as Papp was succumbing to cancer. “It seemed time to move on, and as I am a gay man, I like San Francisco very much.

At the Public I had been developing rock musicals, and I thought San Francisco would be a great place to do that.”

It didn’t turn out that way. “I thought because I had worked for Joe Papp, getting work was not going to be a problem, but of course it was a problem. Nobody from ACT would even bother to meet with me,” he said, “and Theatre Rhino offered me a terrible job.” So he became a freelance producer, often for vanity productions, and he would trot press releases to the newspapers, get the halls booked, the tickets printed, and posters stapled to telephone poles.

Then he started producing his own shows, such as A Karen Carpenter Christmas at the Marsh, numerous shows at Josie’s, and helped run the Solo Mio Festival.

He saw an ad in Callboard magazine for a new theater company looking for a general manager. “So I went to this gingerbread castle in Berkeley that Julia Morgan had designed, and it was Christmastime, and there were birds tweeting, and out comes this little old lady with white hair, who turned out to be Barbara Oliver.”

Despite his 14 years with the company, and the fact that he had been directing a production every season, it was hardly fait accompli that

Lisa Keating

Aurora Theatre Artistic Director Tom Ross.

he would get the artistic director title when Oliver decided to resign. “They did a national search for a year before I finally got the job,” he said. “That was a very hard year for me, and I wasn’t at all sure I’d stay with the company if I didn’t get the job.”

But the story obviously had a happy ending, as Aurora’s artistic and financial situations have remained healthy under Ross’ artistic guidance.

In addition to his own love for A Delicate Balance, he also chose the play to open the 20th anniversary because it has roles that could include Aurora veterans and regulars in the cast.

Ken Grantham, who co-founded Aurora with Oliver, and Kimberly King, who had the title role as Shaw’s Candida in the theater’s debut production, are returning from their current home in Seattle to play Tobias

and Agnes. They’re an intelligent, settled, and wealthy older couple whose pastime consists mainly of philosophical debates.

A fly in their domestic ointment is the permanent residency of Agnes’ witty alcoholic sister Claire (Jamie Jones). Several more flies arrive in short order, including Tobias and Agnes’ daughter (Carrie Paff), fleeing from the failure of her fourth marriage, and, more ominously, Tobias and Agnes’ best friends Harry (Charles Dean) and Edna (Anne Darragh), who arrive unannounced with suitcases in hand as they seek refuge from some unidentified terror that has gripped them in their own home.

“This play is rich in themes that I’m still uncovering,” Ross said, “but some of the themes certainly include the limits of responsibility we have to our

containing the band’s most punk rock cut (“Spin the Black Circle”), alongside rave-ups “Whipping,” “Satan’s Bed” and “Last Exit,” as well as the stunning “Nothingman” and “Better Man.” Both Vs. and Vitalogy have been reissued and repackaged in expanded editions, alongside the Live at the Orpheum Theater April 12, 1994 disc, in an Epic/Legacy box set.

Out of the premature ashes of Nirvana sprang Foo Fighters, led

by Dave Grohl. He’s still “gathering the ashes,” as he sings on “Bridge Burning,” the first track on Wasting Light (RCA/Roswell), one of 11 songs listeners are encouraged to

“play at maximum volume.” In the midst of all the FF-style chaos, there’s much radiance, including “I Should Have Known” and the luminescent “Walk.”

Even if you don’t know the name Ben Ottewell, you’ll probably recognize his voice as the lead vocalist of Gomez. A British band still going strong since their acclaimed 1998 debut disc, Gomez’s most recent disc was released in 2009. Ottewell steps out on his own on Shapes and Shadows (ATO).

While pleasant enough, it’s clearly not meant to be taken as a sign that Gomez fans need to worry about the group disbanding.▼

Founding artistic d director Barbara Oliver re returns in April to direct A Arthur Schnizler’s A Anatol, and the season w conclude with the will w world premiere of Mark Ja Jackson’s Salomania in June, which recalls t the scandals that s swirled around SFb born dancer Maud A Allen, who became a E European sensation f her interpretations for o Dance of the Seven of V Veils, then became s of a lesbian Oscar sort W Wilde as her career c collapsed in libel and obscenity trials.

While being gay does have some role in his choice of plays – “It’s part of who I am,” he said – Ross claims no agenda behind the Aurora programming.

The original Playbill from the 1966 production of A Delicate Balance, with Jessica “When we started out at Tandy, Hume Cronyn, and Rosemary Murphy. the Berkeley City Club, since it is a landmark building, we literally could not touch the family and friends. And a big symbol walls with sets or anything else,” Ross of this play is this existential dread said. “We couldn’t count on spectacle that Harry and Edna are running or incredible sets, so we had to do from. I think this play may be Albee’s plays with strong, intelligent scripts masterwork, because its themes are so that could showcase great, intimate vast.” acting.”

The rest of the season includes While there is more structural a typical Aurora mix of classics, latitude in the new theater, sets still recent plays, and world premieres. have to be minimized because the These include a new collaborative productions are virtually in the conceptualization in November of round. “I just look for plays that can Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale, directed shine in intimate settings,” Ross said.

by Ross and ballet dancer Muriel “What I’m really after is just finding Maffre, that features Maffre as well a way to expand the audience’s hearts as other actors and life-size puppets. and minds in some way. Plus, I do A lesbian couple are at the center of have to keep myself enthused, so Annie Baker’s Body Awareness, having we’re always trying to come up with its Bay Area premiere in January, who weird challenges.” ▼ are dealing with the collision course caused by the arrival of one of the A Delicate Balance will run though couple’s troubled sons and a male Oct. 9 at Aurora Theatre. Tickets photographer who specializes in are $30-$48. Call (510) 843-4822 or female nudes. go to www.auroratheatre.org.

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