San Francisco Bay Times - March 7, 2019

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2019)

COVER ART BY DEBRA WALKER

March 7–20, 2019 | http://sfbaytimes.com

STONEWALL 50 Gay Liberation Now! 50 Years of Stonewall

Photos courtesy of Bill Lipsky

toward full civil rights for LGBT Americans.

Before Stonewall Stonewall was not the first time that members of LBGT communities fought back against police harassment and government persecution in the United States. The earliest may have been in September 1956, when inmates of the “homosexual ward” of Vacaville State Hospital protested their treatment as gay men. In May 1959, transgender women, drag queens, lesbians and gays pelted police with donuts and coffee cups at Cooper Do-nuts in Los Angeles when, not for the first time, they were hassled there by officers.

Faces from Our LGBT Past

About Our Cover:

San Francisco Bay Times Featured in National Stonewall 50 Exhibit To mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, this issue of the San Francisco Bay Times will be featured in the national exhibit Rise Up: Stonewall and the LGBTQ Rights Movement opening March 8 at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. We thank San Francisco-based artist, activist and Commissioner Debra Walker for creating the cover.

The Newseum, which has the mission of increasing public understanding of the importance of a free press and the First Amendment, is well known for the ongoing Today’s Front Pages exhibit that brings together the front pages of newspapers from around the country ( https://bit.ly/1vvC9rK ). For this important Stonewall anniversary year, Today’s Front Pages, in conjunction with Rise Up, is bringing together the front pages of LGBTQ papers from across the country. We are proud to be included.

The protests following the June 1969 raid of the Stonewall Inn in New York’s Greenwich Village are considered to be the catalyst that inspired the modern gay liberation movement and the ongoing fight for LGBTQ civil rights. The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot that occurred in San Francisco three years before Stonewall, along with certain other events related to the gay and especially to the transgender community’s struggle for basic rights, are also being recognized more now for their historic importance.

Dr. Bill Lipsky Shortly before midnight on June 27, 1969, four police officers and two undercover agents entered the Stonewall Inn, a local bar popular in the predominantly gay neighborhood of Greenwich Village, New York City, to “observe the illegal sale of alcohol.”

The bar was crowded, so they called their precinct for backup. After it arrived in the early hours of June 28, the officers began strong-arming patrons into the street and arresting them, then a typical—and frequent—police action against homosexuals.

There were other incidents, too. In August 1966, a group of transgender women and gays stood up for their rights at Gene Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco. When police tried to evict them, they were routed by flying dishes, trays and f latware. The next year, after police raided the Black Cat in Los Angeles, assaulted several patrons and arrested six of them for lewd conduct because they kissed each other at midnight on New Year’s Eve, groups of protesters gathered in front of the bar over several days.

T h is t ime, however, somet h ing amazing happened. Instead of going gently into the night and the paddy wagon, some of the bar’s patrons challenged the police, jeering at them and assailing them with anything and everything they could f ind. Many eyewitnesses credited Sylvia Rivera, a transgender rights activist, as the first person to fight back, but whoever it was, the action ignited three days of demonstrat ions, protests and rioting—and fifty years of progress

Not Just Standing Up, But Following Up What was different about the night of June 27? Police had raided lesbian and gay bars and clubs in major cities for decades without provoking a civil rights movement. This time, however, the community not only stood up, it followed up. A young, emerging, activist generation determined that what happened at Stonewall would be remembered, making it a defining moment that changed forever the struggle of LGBTs. With limited public awareness their task was not easy. The local newspapers reported about the raid and the riots that followed, but briefly and mostly without sympathy. The New York Times ran two brief stories about them.The New York Post headlined its five-paragraph account, “Village Raid Stirs Melee.” The Daily News titled its article, “Homo Nest Raided, Queen Bees Are Stinging Mad.” Elsewhere, mainstream newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times never mentioned them.

Rise Up launches a yearlong program series at the Newseum featuring journalists, authors, politicians and other newsmakers who have led the fight for equality. Through powerful artifacts, images and historic print publications, the exhibit explores key moments of gay rights history, including the 1978 assassination at San Francisco City Hall of Supervisor Harvey Milk, the AIDS crisis, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank’s public coming out in 1987, the efforts for hate crime legislation, the implementation and later repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the fight for marriage equality.

The LGBT press was almost as limited. The New York Mattachine Society included a special supplement about Stonewall in its July newsletter titled, “The Hairpin Drop Heard Around the World,” later reprinted by the barely two year old Advocate in Los Angeles. Vector, published in San Francisco by the Society of Individual Rights, and the Ladder, the bi-monthly publication of the Daughters of Bilitis, ran short articles about the events in their October issues.

Rise Up also looks at popular culture’s role in influencing attitudes about the LGBTQ community through film, television and music, and explores how the gay rights movement harnessed the power of public protest and demonstration to change laws and shatter stereotypes. The exhibit, which includes educational resources for students and teachers, will travel nationally after its run at the Newseum ends on December 31.

(1969)

NEW YORK POST

For more information: http://www.newseum.org/

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Activist Mobilizing No matter. Members of the LGBT community spread the word using telephone trees and leaf lets. By the end of July, New York lesbians and gays created the Gay Liberation Front, then the Gay Activists Alliance to press for their civil and human rights; within a few years they would have hundreds of chapters all over the country. Others organizations followed, including chapters of the Gay Student Union at numerous colleges and universities.

Pride in the Legacy San Franciscans commemorated the actual date of the Stonewall Riots, June 28, with a Gay-In at Golden Gate Park.

The same day, some 200 members of the local Gay Activist Alliance led New York’s f irst “Christopher Street Day March” and Los Angeles saw its first LGBT parade down Hollywood Boulevard. At the time, only in Illinois was sexual intimacy between consenting adults legal in the U.S.

Katie Conry

Trans women, especially trans women of color, have been at the forefront of the struggle for queer liberation. This is strongly reflected in the history of the Tenderloin and across the country as well. We are proud to share it at the Tenderloin Museum, which opened in July 2015 and celebrates the rich history of one of San Francisco’s most overlooked neighborhoods.

Through history exhibitions, resident-led walking tours, commu n it y pr o g r a m s and the presentation of original artwork, the Tenderloin Museum invites all comers to learn about the roots of our dynamic neighborhood. The Tenderloi n Mu se um highlights the pioneering activism and f ierce resistance woven deeply into t h e s t or y o f our 31-square blocks.

T he cor nerstone of t h i s histor y is the Tenderloin’s role as a center of LGBTQ activism, includScene from the play The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot produced by the ing t he 19 66 Tenderloin Museum (2018) Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, the first recorded militant uprising by the queer community against police harassment in U.S. history. As such, this history features prominently into our permanent exhibition and public programming.

Play Recreates History On February 22, 2018, the Tenderloin Museum opened the interactive theater work The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot to the delight of a sold-out crowd and quickly sold out every night of the extended run. The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot was directly inspired by the 1966 riots that were a catalyst for the birth of LGBTQ activism in San Francisco. Predating New York City’s Stonewall Inn Riot by three years, The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot remains relatively unknown. The riot has become an integral piece of the Tenderloin’s identity, and this play has offered a singular opportunity for audiences to celebrate the individuals whose tenacious spirit spawned a civil rights movement.

As for what happened at Compton’s during that fateful summer of 1966, a drag queen patron of the cafeteria threw her cup of hot coffee in the face of a police officer as he made an unwarranted attempted to arrest her. The neighborhood’s drag queens and allies banded to-

gether to fight back against their ongoing discrimination, beating the cops with their high heels and throwing furniture through the cafeteria windows.

While the play The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot has immense significance for the TLGB community at large, it was a defining moment for the Tenderloin. The play was conceived in 2015 and developed by myself and Bay Area playwright Mark Nassar. The history on display at the museum inspired us to translate this pivotal moment to the stage.

Nassar wrote the script with legendary neighborhood drag queens Donna Personna and Collette LeGrande, whose firsthand accounts of Compton’s inform the dialogue and direction. After last year’s wildly successful run at the Tenderloin Museum, our partners plan to restage the play later this year.

Compton’s Transgender Cultural District Another exciting contribution to the remembrance of the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot and the LGBTQ rights movement it spawned is the creation of the first legally recognized transgender district in the world, the Compton’s Transgender Cultural District. Spearheaded by three Black trans women—Honey Mahogany, Janetta Johnson and Aria Sa’id—and currently under the leadership of Sa’id, this cultural district continues the vital work of honoring the neighborhood’s trans history and celebrating the people living and working in the Tenderloin today.

Honoring both the Compton’s Cafeteria and Stonewall Riots honors trans women, and particularly trans women of color, and recognizes their vital contributions to the early days of the LGBTQ movement.

Commemorating these landmark historical events gives trans women back their rightful place as pioneers of the movement. Honoring the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, the neighborhood’s seminal act of resistance of a marginalized community striving for survival and recognition, gives the Tenderloin and San Francisco back their rightful place in history as the birthplace of the modern LGBT rights movement.

Katie Conry is the Executive Director of the Tenderloin Museum in San Francisco ( http://www.tenderloinmuseum.org/ ).

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TENDERLOIN MUSEUM

Today, 50 years after Stonewall, Pride parades and celebrations take place all over the world, thanks to the dedication and hard work of women and men everywhere who chose and choose to be their authentic selves, whatever the consequences. We owe a debt of gratitude to them all. We also owe a special bouquet of recognition to Glinda, who long before gave us both the most meaningful advice of anyone and shared the first necessary step to achieving civil and human rights: “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”

Bill Lipsky, Ph.D., author of “Gay and Lesbian San Francisco” (2006), is a member of the Rainbow Honor Walk board of directors.

PHOTO BY RINK

By Katie Conry

‘The Birth of Gay Liberation’

One year later, on Saturday, June 27, 1970, some thirty self-proclaimed “hair fairies” marched from Aquatic Park down Polk Street to San Francisco’s Civic Center to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.

On the same day, Chicago Gay Liberation sponsored a procession from Washington Square Park to the Water Tower, which spontaneously continued on to the Civic Center, now Daly Plaza.

These were the first two pride parades held in the U.S.

PHOTO BY RINK

Honoring Trans Women of Color as Pioneers of the LGBTQ Rights Movement

These new groups were different than the earlier ones. Unlike the Homophile organizations created in the years after World War II, their members were not interested in being assimilated into or even being accepted by mainstream heterosexual society. Not concerned with conversation or compromise, they used publicity, awareness, activism, protest and confrontation to effect change. Stonewall came near the end of a tumultuous decade of political and social change in the U.S., so the new LGBT rights movement had plenty of examples of strategies that worked, especially militant protests to secure civil and human rights for LGBTs—the right to be themselves.

Even at the time, many hailed Stonewall as “the birth of gay liberation” and saw it as a vivid symbol around which they could organize lesbians and gay men to create aggressive, not passive, campaigns for their rights. As early as the fall of 1969, activists in New York began looking for a way to commemorate the first anniversary of the event and to encourage other groups in different cities to hold similar events.

COURTESY OF FELICIA ELIZONDO

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY TENDERLOIN MUSEUM

LIPSKY (continued from page 2)

Compton’s location at Market and Van Ness Streets (1964)

Tenderloin Museum (2018) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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Remembering Jeff Adachi I did not support Jeff Adachi in any of his races; we had differences of opinion and his candidacy represented the “other side” of the political spectrum. That said, over time, he wore me down and won me over in other ways and I truly liked him.

Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History Louise “Lou” Fischer Jeff Adachi was a hero and a fierce protector of the constituents he served. His untimely and sudden passing at the age of 59 was a tragedy for his family and the City of San Francisco. He is most likely the last of his kind in San Francisco, an awardwinning lawyer, filmmaker, author, non-conforming renaissance man and elected official who was still respected by groups that did not endorse or support him even when he ran for office unopposed by any other viable candidate.

I met Jeff in 2002 when he ran against my chosen candidate, Kimiko Burton, in the race for public defender.

It was an antagonistic race, and as a member of Kimiko’s campaign, we saw Jeff as the rival to be vanquished.

He certainly had an ax to grind as one of Kimiko’s f irst actions upon her appointment as public defender in 2001 was to fire Jeff from the PD’s office. He won the race soundly by a 10-point margin, and while lesser individuals might have gloated, he was gracious in victory and praised the positive changes made by Kimiko and committed to continue her work.

Jeff was a complex man of political contradictions. For someone who ran for elected office 5 times (including an unsuccessful campaign for mayor in 2011) he never played it safe or took the easy route. While most elected officials would never dream of taking on controversial subjects that would inflame their base of supporters, Jeff charged ahead and probably ignored the pleas of every political consultant who ever worked for him.

He took on labor unions, city employees a nd even h is ow n staff by waging war on high pension costs borne by the City. He failed miserably with Proposition B in 2010, and while most strategic politicians would have given up, he tried again with Proposition D in 2011. Fiscally, they weren’t bad ideas, but politically speaking, come on. W ho does that?

Floral tributes placed at the Public Defender’s office

Photos by RInk Last year, he threw caution to the wind again by masterminding the campaign to unseat four San Francisco Superior Court judges with four lawyers from his office. It is an unspoken tradition not to take on incumbent judges; the tactic was widely denounced and the voters rallied around the incumbents and all four held their seats on the bench.

I have my own experiences with Jeff’s contrarian approach to politics; it’s no secret that my political club never endorsed him. We were, as mentioned, behind Kimiko in 2002, and every other time Jeff ran for office, he managed to come up with some cockamamie scheme Acting Public Defender Matt Gonzalez spoke at the Public Defender’s office where hundreds gathered for a or proposition that was at vigil and march on February 27. odds with our politics. Despite this, every year at the annual Alice Pride Breakfast, while most non-endorsed candidates either don’t show up or slide in on a free ticket from a sponsor, Jeff dutifully purchased a sponsorship of a high enough value to get his name in the program and made a point to attend.

It was an event on a much smaller scale, however, that truly surprised me and cemented my personal respect for Jeff. During my run as Alice Co-Chair, in an effort to inject some culture into the club, I sponsored “Alice Night at the Theatre.” It wasn’t lost on anyone that this theatrical outing coincided with a show in which my partner Amy was cast and Emcee Rudy Corpuz of United Playaz, Gold Metropolitan Media’s Sabrina Pacheco and former Milk Club coI was part of the tech crew; president Carolina Morales were among those who gathered at the Public Defender’s office and then marched call it a win-win for every- to City Hall. one. show. On the night of the Alice event, show his support for, the theatre comStandard protocol is to send an invi- several of our endorsed elected offi- munity. tation to every elected official in San cials attended, gave a speech, shook Farewell, Jeff. You were a champion Francisco and hope that at least one some hands and then left. for those most in need. Your legacy or two show up and “say a few words.”

A few nights later, after the official will live on. May your memory be for Rarely does an elected official actu“event” and while setting up the spotally pay for a ticket and stay for the lights on the mezzanine, I looked a blessing. down and there was Jeff waving up to me. In the amount of time it took me to think, “What the heck is he doing here?” he bounded up the steps, gave me a hug and said, “Sorry I missed the Alice event. I came tonight to support you and your partner. I love live theater.”

After the show, he stuck around to congratulate the performers and was visibly thrilled when the director offered him a tour of the stage and the rest of the theatre. I have no doubt that he didn’t actually “miss” the Alice event. It probably would have been awkward, but I was truly touched that he made the effort to come to, and

Louise (Lou) Fischer is a Former Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club and has served as an appointed and elected Delegate for the State Democratic Party. She is a proud graduate of the Emerge California Women’s Democratic Leadership program, was a San Francisco Commissioner and has served in leadership positions in multiple nonprofit and community-based organizations.

Hundreds of friends, colleagues and supporters gathered for a vigil and memorial march to San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday, February 27.

Aztec dancers performed a memorial dance at the Public Defender’s office.

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Deputy Public Defender Maria Evangelista with a portrait displayed at the Public Defender’s office and then carried to City Hall

The 2020 Strategy to Beat nie TV,” but ever since his 2016 race, Sanders has powerfully leveraged social media to deliver his message directly to his supporters and left-leaning voters. In 2017 alone, his team published 550 policy-focused videos that were shared on Facebook and Twitter. Last year, they began livestreaming town halls featuring Sanders on Facebook—each outdrawing CNN on the night it aired.

To the Left, To the Left Peter Gallotta There is a new Get Out the Vote (GOTV) strategy taking hold across the country. Many of the leading candidates for president are banking on it, while others are scrambling to keep up with it. I call it: Get Out the Social Media (GOTSM).

In the coming months, we will watch the presidential candidates take to the campaign trail, host fancy fundraisers, participate in town halls and pack arenas to deliver electrifying speeches to their supporters. As with any election, ground game is key, especially in swing states. But the next president, whether we realize it or not, could be elected by a far more insidious tactic: social media.

We’ve seen this before.

Last year, the special counsel released indictments against Russia’s Internet Research Agency, two different companies and 12 individuals for attempting to digitally influence the 2016 presidential election. The special counsel’s report mirrors the Senate Intelligence Committee f indings that Russian intervention on social media likely suppressed the vote of both Bernie Sanders supporters and African-Americans, urging them to vote for a third-party candidate or not to vote at all.

What’s more unsettling is that these interferences continue to this day.

Even if we were to put a stop to foreign meddling in our elections (and we should), social media remains a challenging space to regulate. It is, after all, a giant bullhorn that virtually anyone can access and utilize with pretty limited checks and balances.

And it looms large as the biggest dark horse of the 2020 race.

In my column last month, “The President Can’t Handle the Truth,” I talked about the ways in which Trump leverages social media to misinform the masses and appeal to his base. It’s no surprise then that Trump’s former social media strategist, Brad Parscale, has been hired as his 2020 campaign manager. Trump already has a whopping $100 million raised for his reelection campaign and there’s no doubt that they will spend some of that cold hard cash on social media.

In fact, they already have.

In 2018, Trump was among the biggest political spenders on Facebook, YouTube and Google search. Between May and October of last year, the Trump campaign spent $4.8 million to run over 100,000 ads on Facebook. Parscale has said that he plans to build an “army of Trump” through online engagement, going beyond swaying voters with sensationalist information and directly recruiting armchair activists into active Trump voters.

But Donald Trump isn’t the only presidential candidate who’s trying to build a social media empire. So is Bernie Sanders. Some call it “Ber-

The strategy for Sanders comes from a perception, if not reality, that the mainstream media still does not sufficiently or accurately cover him or his views. Why deal with a middleman when you can deliver your message in a more direct way and at an unmatched scale? His videos have been viewed over 800 million times.

One of the most watched clips captures a Republican Senator challenging a Canadian doctor on their single payer health care system (which, of course, backfired on the Senator).

That clip alone has been viewed 32 million times. It’s now not so hard to see how Sanders is helping to change the national conversation. In fact, a January 2019 poll shows that a majority of Democrats not only support Medicare for All, but 84% of them want the Party to make it a top priority.

When it comes to the central issues to be debated amongst the Democratic presidential candidates, Sanders will likely have a major advantage in inf lu-

encing not only the discourse, but also the public sentiment on key policy proposals. The fact that he announced his candidacy for president on social media also says a lot about how he’s going to run and, more importantly, communicate his vision to a broad swath of voters.

But it’s not just the more social media savvy campaigns that are revving up. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who’s rumored to be announcing a presidential run, has been actively receiving briefings from digital and social media companies as he develops a strategy to appeal to young voters.

It is also rumored that Biden is prepared to hire at least 20 social media experts when he announces his 2020 campaign.

In the end, of course, social media doesn’t vote. People do. But in 21st century politics, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have become more than just sources of information; they are inf luencing outcomes. For now, we might be able to sit back and watch the social media arms race from afar, partaking in the occasional #FeeltheBern or #NeverBernie debate on our own newsfeeds (oh, how we love to relitigate 2016). But as 2020 draws near, we can’t discount the power of GOTSM. It may do a little or it may do a lot. But it will do something.

Let’s just hope it works out better for us this time.

Peter Gallotta is a 30-something LGBT political activist holding on to the city that he loves thanks to rent control and two-for-one happy hour specials. He is a former President of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club and currently serves as an appointed member of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee and an elected delegate to the California Democratic Party.

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Standing with the Kenyan LGBTIQ Community

Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis “To say we are disappointed would be an understatement.” So read the tweet from a leading Kenyan LGBTIQ rights group minutes after a Kenyan court announced last week that it was delaying until late May issuance of its much-anticipated ruling about the constitutionality of Kenya’s law criminalizing same-sex sexual activity.

Expectations for a favorable ruling in February had been high prior to the announcement. The Nairobi News reported that many LGBTIQ people turned out to be present in the courtroom when the hoped-for ruling was to have been announced.

They “were all dolled up with makeup and wigs as dapper partners suited up and wore bow ties for the occasion.” People hugged each other, and couples held hands as they entered the courtroom. Author and activist Denis Nzioka tweeted: “Splash of color, fierceness, and beauty as LGBTIQ members showed up” for court.

At issue in the case is the constitutionality of Sections 162 and 165 of the Kenyan Penal Code, which subject LGBTIQ Kenyans to a 14-year prison term for penetrative sexual activity and gay men to 5 years in prison for other sexual activity— even in the privacy of their own homes.

According to Reuters, the Kenyan government arrested 534 LGBTIQ people under these laws from 2013 to 2017. The effect of the law’s sanctioning discrimination, hostility and violence against LGBTIQ Kenyans is far wider. One person described on Twitter: “What irks me is that ho-

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PHOTO SOURCE: NAITOBINEWS.COM

6/26 and Beyond

Kenyan LGBTIQ activists emphasize how the British government originally imposed the law on Kenya in 1930 during its colonial rule of the country. Author Shailja Patel tweeted before she entered the courtroom last week: “We’re here. Ready to overturn 89 years of colonial homophobia.” The British modeled the Kenyan law on a similar law it enacted in India back in 1860. Similar British colonial era criminal statutes became law in many of its colonies, including the present day African countries of Botswana, The Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Swaziland, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

PHOTO SOURCE: NAITOBINEWS.COM

mophobes will threaten my life and still get to go home to their families. Meanwhile my family & friends will worry for days that something bad will happen to me ... .”

The post-colonial Kenyan government has retained the law, and President Uhuru Kenyatta last year stated that homosexuality was currently “not acceptable” to “the people of Kenya” and “not an issue of human rights.” But the Kenyan LGBITQ communi- LGBT couples at the High Court in Nairobi, Kenya ty continues to fight back, by underscoring the law’s colonial roots. Another activist spoke of the hyWriter Magunga JaKaruoth tweet- pocrisy he perceived on the part of ed to the law’s proponents: “You in- some Christians: “Whenever gay herited cruel laws from colonialists rights are brought up, every [C]hriswho went back to their country and tian that drinks, smokes, fornicates, changed them, yet you still cling on steals, covets, curses and uses God’s name in vain, is suddenly concerned to them.” with what the Bible says and perIn the face of such adversity, many mits.” Other advocates spoke of how LGBTIQ Kenyans have forceful- sections 162 and 165 interfere with ly and eloquently stood up for love, “providing healthcare services to equality and personal dignity and the LGBTIQ community” and the security. One activist explained on country’s “achievement (of ) global television: “I am someone’s daugh- health targets outlined” by the govter; I am loved from where I come ernment. from as a Lesbian, and I would want my fellow Kenyans to love us as we The personal toll that Sections 162 are because (we are) just like any oth- and 165 exact on all LGBTIQ Keer Kenyan.” Another person tweet- nyans cannot be overstated. As one ed: “I am queer. I am femme. I am person put it: “[W]e are tired of the Kenyan. I am everything and yet stigma, the blackmail, the threats, I am made to feel like nothing. My the struggle to live.” Sections 162 love is not a phase. My love is not a and 165 mean “you’re either out and sin. My love does not make me less of a human.”

(continued on page 26)

GLBT Fortnight in Review Younger Than Midwinter

Oh, Y’awl of Little Faith

Good for Cynthia Nixon for calling out Joe Biden after he said Mike Pence was a “decent guy.” To be fair, Biden wasn’t focused on Pence when he used the adjective. He was talking about the recent speech in Munich: “ ... by a guy who’s a decent guy, our Vice President, who stood before this group of allies and leaders and said, ‘I’m here on behalf of President Trump,’ and there was dead silence.

Dead silence.”

I know the Methodists should be the top story of the week, but I find it difficult to drum up enthusiasm for their plight. Most mainstream American churches have somewhat come to terms with their GLBT conundrums over the last decade or so, but not the Methodists, who have a large contingent based in Africa and other far f lung conservative locales.

As you have no doubt already read, the church Mandarins recently got together in St. Louis to vote on gay stuff, and managed to carve out a 53–47 majority in favor of keeping a ban on gay clergy, gay marriage and whatever else they had tossed into the ballot bin.

So, it’s seemingly innocuous, but as Nixon wrote in a Washington Post oped, “ ... when [Biden] talks about Pence being ‘a decent guy,’ he is putting politeness over policy. In effect, he is saying that Pence’s record doesn’t matter.” The activist actress and former gubernatorial candidate then rehashed the Vice President’s atrocious anti-gay history, which combined with his deeply unattractive persona makes it difficult to root for Trump’s premature ouster without a few shivers of misgiving. (Difficult, but not impossible.)

Biden is also a candidate who defies the age barrier without chagrin. At least Reagan joked about his age and at least the media discussed the subject even though he was 69 when he first took office. That’s younger than Elizabeth Warren, soon to be 70, not to mention Sanders at 77, Biden at 76, Trump at 72. I understand that 70 is the new 50 or whatever, but this is ridiculous. That said, I just saw a poll that ranked Biden as the candidate most likely to beat Trump in 2020.

If such a poll were to be repeated in June of next year, I’d throw my irritation out the window and back good old Joe with enthusiasm.

So, my sad Methodist friends, join the Presbyterians or the Lutherans or the Episcopalians! Are they really that different? Honestly. Prayers, hymns, sermons, Sunday suppers, Jesus. If you like that sort of thing, you have plenty of options. Alternatively, you can join the Church of Nothing in Particular, where you spend Sundays watching sports on TV and drinking, try to be a good person in general, don’t judge others, count your blessings and live by the Golden Rule. Not such a bad denomination when all is said and done.

And yes, we have a vague deity as well. It’s the cosmic mystery of the universe and it provokes a sense of humility. It also responds haphazardly to prayers when your team is poised on the edge of victory and defeat, just like the God of organized religion. It’s also called “God,” but that is only because, as Paul Tillich noted, “God” is a symbol for God. Did I mention that it’s vague?

By Ann Rostow On this subject, my wife showed me a cartoon the other day that had a football player scoring a touchdown and pointing one finger in the air in thanks to the Lord. Meanwhile in Heaven, Jesus is avidly watching a hockey game.

Trust, but Verify Walmart is under fire from our adversaries for a gay male episode of its “Love is in the Aisle” promotional ads that show couples on a blind date at Walmart, and makes the point that you can discover a lot about a person by the way he or she shops. It’s cute. One of the guys suggests that the other get an all-in-one shampoo, conditioner and body soap, but the other one points out that you can never really know whether or not all three elements are provided in the single substance. What’s to stop them from leaving out the shampoo? Can you tell by the ingredients?

He makes an excellent point. I’ve never trusted these multi-purpose products myself. Too convenient by half.

Meanwhile, Cottonelle is running a gay male commercial, and I think you know how I feel about graphic toilet paper ads. This one uses a ripe peach reminiscent of the scene in Call Me by Your Name, and makes not so veiled reference to gross bathroom goings on.

Speaking of such unpleasantness, I was a little unnerved the other day to read that conservatives are far more sensitive to repugnant images than are liberals. A recent piece in the Atlantic presents evidence that, in their words: “To a surprising degree, a recent strand of experimental psychology suggests, our political beliefs may have something to do with a specific

aspect of our biological makeup: our propensity to feel physical disgust.”

Speaking of pets, and since I’ve started a “news” section that’s heading nowhere, let me mention that an elementary school teacher in Pinecrest, Florida, is in trouble for reading a book about a gay bunny to his class (one grandfather called it “pornographic”). The school district has opened an investigation, and yes, it’s John Oliver’s satiric alternative to Mike Pence’s book about his rabbit, Marlon Bundo. In Oliver’s book, the Pence family pet is gay and marries another gay male bunny.

After some introspection, I concluded that my own reactions (mostly against the Charmin bears) are based on a generational sense of propriety, not an instinctive disgust. But it’s also possible that some of us are the exception that proves the rule. For example, I recently rejected an invitation (at the bottom of a Washington Post article) to view a dinner plate-sized tarantula kill and eat a small possum. If feeling repelled is a sign of conservatism, I maxed out on the edge of NeoNazi at that.

Let’s Get Serious In the no-news department, we continue to ignore the dozens of antigay bills floating around the various state legislatures, and will do so unless and until any one of them makes significant progress. In the past, most of these proposals either die on the vine or rot in abandoned crates of the unpalatable fruits of hatred raised by our worst country’s most obnoxious lawmakers. I say “in the past,” but I understand that what’s past may not necessarily be prologue in this increasingly hostile day and age.

Here’s Cheese in Your Eye Before we go on, can I just ask why an exception to a rule would ever prove the rule? I’ve never quite understood that axiom, because I would think the exceptions would disprove the rules, particularly if you can amass more than a few. Just saying.

Oh, and since I was procrastinating for a few minutes, I just saw several videos of the “sliced cheese challenge,” a new internet game where people throw slices of American cheese at babies or dogs. The cheese sticks to the babies’ faces, and they acquire a perplexed expression. One guy threw cheese at his dog who caught it and ate it in one bite, of course. Who thinks of things like this?

In this case, it was a “Michigan Dad.”

Second, the High Court continues to list various GLBT-related petitions on its conference agenda, but has yet to take action. Again, the three or four cases we’re watching have been relisted for the March 15 conference, which is basically good news, I guess.

We don’t really want them to see the light of day unless John Roberts comes to his senses on gay issues.

Not too long ago, people were frightening their pets by seeming to vanish.

They would stand there, get the pet’s attention, hold up a sheet and then duck into a hallway and let the sheet drop to the f loor. The pets, mostly dogs, were all worried and upset, which seemed a little cruel.

This brings us to the actual-news department, where the Supreme Court of Missouri has issued two opinions in our favor (sort of), one in the workplace discrimination case of a gay (continued on page 26)

Real Estate

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A Quick Review of Tax Changes That Could Impact You 1040, there are also many who will have to file one or more schedules.

Part of the impetus behind the shorter form is that tax filing will be greatly simplified when fewer people have to itemize. To make that happen, Congress nearly doubled the standard deduction. Married-filing-jointly taxpayers get a $24,000 standard deduction, up from $13,000, and individual f ilers go from $6,500 to $12,000.

Money Matters Brandon Miller Remember that scene in Gone with the Wind where Scarlett O’Hara says, “I can’t think about that right now. If I do, I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about that tomorrow.” That might have been your reaction when the new tax bill passed in late 2017. Why think about all of the changes and how they were going to impact your tax bill until you had to?

Well, now you have to.

The new laws are kicking in for your 2018 taxes, so fluff up your petticoat, tie your bonnet and pinch your cheeks while I take you on a quick tour of the most important changes.

The f irst thing you’ll notice is the 1040 form itself. There is now just one form for everyone. Forms 1040-A and 1040-EZ have been eliminated to get rid of any confusion about which one to use. While not quite the postcard we were promised, the new 1040 is much shorter.

Unfortunately, everything that was removed from the form itself is now on six schedules. While there are people who will be able to file just the

Terrific. Except the personal exemption has been completely eliminated. The personal exemption was over $4,000 in 2017. And you could subtract that amount for yourself and each of your dependents, making this loss painful for large families.

But wait! The Child Tax Credit has doubled to $2,000 per dependent child under age 17. Also starting in 2018 is a new $500 credit for dependents that don’t meet the Child Tax Credit criteria, such as elderly relatives or children older than 17.

Now to the change with significant impact in California—the cap on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction. People who itemize used to get an unlimited deduction for their state individual income, sales and property taxes. In fact, the SALT deduction was one of the main reasons for itemizing.

Under the new law, the deduction is limited to $10,000. Here in the Bay Area, that may not even cover the first property tax payment for some homeowners. And if you have multiple properties, sorry, you’re still limited to that 10k. Same story if you’re married. The SALT deduction is $10,000 if you file jointly or $5,000 each if you file individually, which really amounts to a marriage penalty since two unmarried taxpayers get an aggregate of $20,000 to write off.

At least the source of the most common marriage penalty has now been virtually eliminated. With the new tax rates, Congress essentially doubled the income thresholds for single filers (except for the top two brackets), so married couples don’t face a higher tax bill unless they make over $400,000.

The last big change is the qualified business income deduction. This was added to help small businesses that didn’t benefit from the breaks given to large corporations under the new law. Owners of sole proprietorships, S corporations or partnerships may deduct up to 20% of the income their business earns. There are exceptions and limitations to this deduction (of course!) and the language isn’t crystal clear about certain points. So, if you think you may qualify for this fabulous deduction, you may want to consult with a tax professional.

With all of these changes, it’s hard to know whether you’ve been helped or hurt by the new tax bill until you actually file. If you find yourself on the “hurt” side of the spectrum, it may be smart to talk to a financial professional about changes you can make to lower your tax burden for 2019, because as Scarlett reminds us, tomorrow is another day.

The opinions expressed in this article are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security. The material is presented solely for information purposes and has been gathered from sources believed to be reliable, however Brio cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information, and certain information presented here may have been (continued on page 26)

Personal Style in Crossovers just by the fronts. Their prices are closely aligned in the mid$40K range. Adding all-wheel drive to the Ford hikes its bottom line $1,995 and brings it within $110 of the Acura; close competitors indeed.

Auto Philip Ruth It’s over: tall wagons and crossovers have bypassed sedans to become the top choice for car buyers.

This shift dates back to the 1980s, when early SUVs graduated from the practical to prestige. Along the way, drivers appreciated the high driving positions they never knew that they wanted, and the butch and utilitarian SUV image became the default for exerting your vehicular power.

Momentum continued toward truckbased SUVs and the budding carbased crossover market until the 2008 economic crash. Chastened consumers filtered back to sedans for lower cost and higher fuel mileage.

But that, in terms of sedans, probably won’t happen again. Crossovers have narrowed the eff iciency gap, and while prices are still higher, their broad proliferation makes good deals more likely.

That’s where we pick up with this issue’s crossovers—the Acura RDX SH-AWD A-Spec and the Ford Edge Titanium. The tested Acura is allwheel drive, and the Ford is driven 10

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You’d get even closer if you matched up the tested RDX SH-AWD A-Spec, the sportiest RDX there is, with the ampedup Edge ST. The ST plugs in a performance suspension, sport seats and other upgrades to give its handling more of, well, an edge. You’d know that these trims compete directly by their use of trendy blackout wheels, for a serious look.

As closely as the RDX and Edge compete, they do feel different.

Acura’s image emphasizes driving fun, and the tested SHAWD A-Spec impressed from the first step on the accelerator. Its 272-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission.

The combo bursts this Acura off the line and through holes in traffic. The tested RDX’s nimbleness absolutely belies its two-ton curb weight.

The Edge Titanium also has a turbocharged 2.0-liter four. The transmission has two fewer gears, and it makes 22 less horsepower, so it feels a bit milder than the tested RDX but is still robust. The Edge ST settles this argument by stomping both evaluation cars with a turbocharged 2.7-liter V6 with 335 horses.

The Edge is an inch thicker than the RDX, and it feels it, particularly with the flared-up ends of the hood accenting the Edge’s 75.9-inch width. The Edge is just under three inches taller as well, so it’s not surprising that the

Acura RDX

Ford Edge Titanium

Edge has more head, shoulder and hip room than the RDX. What the RDX gives up in volume, the thoroughly-equipped SH-AWD A-Spec tester gave back in gadgetry, with a center-screen controller that has you poking rather than swiping and the newest thing in audio systems—independently-adjusted ceiling speakers. The poking has a learning curve, and the stereo sounds fantastic.

Good feelings flowed through both of these crossovers. For those looking for vehicles with personal style, the Edge and RDX are set up to complement your own.

Philip Ruth is a Castro-based automotive photojournalist and consultant ( www.gaycarguy.com ). Check out his automotive staging service at www.carstaging.com

Cross Currents Andrea Shorter Women’s History Month is a time to highlight and celebrate the achievements of women who have, or are making, significant contributions to move our local, national and global communities forward. Each year, there are fewer domains in which women have not had or are making strides, breaking ground and leading the way. Whether in politics, the sciences, the arts, media, business, economic development or other areas where women have been categorically underrepresented and underappreciated for centuries, there are numerous stories to be told of the robust half of the human population making their marks to reshape history—or her-story, as is more appropriate for this annual occasion.

Certainly, the 2018 midterm elections elevating a record-breaking number of women into the House of Representatives, the return of the first woman Speaker of the House, the record-

breaking numbers of women crowding the field in the race for president (seven so far, including iconic spiritual guru Marianne Williamson), and the groundswell of women who bid for offices high and low across the nation in 2018—13 women ran in Gubernatorial races, over 470 women registered for primary runs for Congress— are already registered achievements to salute and build upon in the here and now.

A woman’s place is in the House: women now make up a quarter of the 116th Congress. With a fifth of the Democratic women in the Senate running for president, and Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House 2.0, it begs the question: is this a good time to revisit the Equal Rights Amendment? Any takers for seriously re-taking up this nearly 100-year proposed amendment to the Constitution that would guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex? Anyone?

There is a glimmer—and, I do mean glimmer—of hope for at least reconsidering the importance of an ERA. The last major legislative attempt to keep the ERA on the docket was by Senator Tammy Baldwin. In 2011, along with co-sponsors, Baldwin proposed to lift the perennial decadeafter-decade, deadline-after-deadline loop to ratify for Constitutional amendment. Eight years later, aside from a recent utter of the term “ERA” on the primary campaign trail by one presidential hopeful, Senator Kama-

WWW.WOMENSHISTORY.ORG

100 Years and Counting: Time to Ratify an Equal Rights Amendment?

la Harris, perhaps indicating a cursory testing of the waters for an ERA revival, we haven’t heard a peep from other candidates or anyone else for that matter.

The path towards ratification of an Equal Rights Amendment is a long, storied and bumpy one for sure. Since its conception in the 1920s by feminist foremothers Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman, the push for an Equal Rights Amendment has gone through more twists and turns than a long stretch of coastal California Highway 1. It unfolds an epic drama with casts of characters both for and bitterly against its ratification.

In the 1970s, just as the gay liberation movement had its conservative hetero-maniacal foe in Anita Bryant, Phyllis Schlaf ly (also no friend to “the gays”) served as staunch antifeminist, anti-equality anti-thesis to the women’s movement. Mobilizing conservative women and more than a few not so good men, she and others succeeded to derail the bipartisan support for ratification of an ERA in the House and Senate during the eras of Nixon, Ford and Carter. Coming upon the election of Ronald Reagan

as president, the last of Republican support for an amendment was receded from its platform as the party sought to absorb and promote anti-ERA pro-life factions to accelerate reproductive rights as a campaig n wedge issue.

Today, there are 25 st ates’ adop tions of some form of equal rights protections and non-discriminatory laws concerning 50% of the population identified as female. What remains is a checkerboard scenario similar to the preSCOTUS ruling on same sex marriage equality—here a state, there a state for or against constitutional provision and protection of a civil right.

As LGBT people still remain without federally protected equal rights under the law (we need the Equality Act), the cause for a similar constitutional amendment for LGBT individuals and women are not so far apart.

In 2019, have the social, cultural and political winds over the past four decades shifted enough to reignite ma-

jority support for ratification of an ERA? If the elections of a historic diversity of women into the 116th Congress, and the numbers of women running for president—all much inspired to counter and oust the most anti-woman president e ver — a r e a ny i nd icat ions, one wou ld t h in k so. What do you say then? Can we at least talk about it? I’ll start: #ERA2020.

Andrea Shorter is a Commissioner and the former President of the historic San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women. She is a longtime advocate for criminal and juvenile justice reform, voter rights and marriage equality. A Co-founder of the Bayard Rustin LGBT Coalition, she was a 2009 David Bohnett LGBT Leadership Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Visit the National Women’s History Museum’s website http://www.womenshistory.org and the Alice Paul Institute’s website http://www.eualrightsamendment.org

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Roland Schembari and Bill Hartman, Co-Founders Randy Alfred, Founding News Editor 1978

The Three Components of Self Compassion: 3 - Mindfulness vs. Over-Identification

Kim Corsaro Publisher 1981-2011

2261 Market Street, No. 309 San Francisco CA 94114 Phone: 415-601-2113 525 Bellevue Avenue Oakland CA 94610 E-mail: editor@sfbaytimes.com www.sfbaytimes.com The Bay Times was the first newspaper in California, and among the first in the world, to be jointly and equally produced by lesbians and gay men.

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Examined Life Tom Moon, MFT Can we intentionally learn to be less self-critical and more self-compassionate? Psychologist Kristin Neff believes that we can. Based on her pioneering research, she has identified three basic elements of self-compassion: self-kindness vs. self-criticism, common humanity vs. isolation, and mindfulness vs. over-identification. She has developed techniques for strengthening each of them. This week’s subject is mindfulness, a skill that she sees as crucial to strengthening our capacity for self-compassion.

When Martin began therapy, he described his childhood as happy and non-problematic. He told me that his parents had both loved and cared for him, and that he grew up feeling safe and secure. But it wasn’t long before

this picture became more complicated. He continued to know that he had been loved, but he had to revise his idealized picture of his family when he remembered periods of neglect, and even of cruelty, at the hands of both of his parents. Martin reacted by feeling intense rage at both of them.

He ranted about them in his sessions and drafted denunciatory letters to them which—fortunately—he never sent. For a time, his feelings of victimization and betrayal consumed him.

This is a moment in the therapy process that many people experience. On the one hand, we can’t heal what we can’t feel. On the other hand, when we begin to experience painful emotions that we’re used to suppressing, the danger is that we can be overwhelmed and respond impulsively and destructively. This isn’t uncommon, because so many people just can’t acknowledge the depth of the pain they’re feeling; and others, when confronted with life challenges, get so lost in problem-solving that they don’t pause to notice the suffering they’re feeling in the moment.

That’s why I’ve come to see training in mindfulness as an important part of the therapy process. Mindfulness (in case there is anyone out there who is still unfamiliar with the term) is a non-judgmental, receptive mindstate in which we neither suppress our feelings nor act on them. When

we’re mindful, we have our feelings, but they don’t have us. Mindfulness of our negative thoughts and feelings means that we don’t become overidentified with them, and don’t get swept away by our aversive reactions.

The term “mindfulness” is, in some ways, a misleading term for the state of presence that it tries to describe, because it suggests something detached, even cold. But when we’re able to be still and to stop either resisting our pain or wallowing in it, and just give it our full attention, something beautiful begins to happen. A deep, soothing warmth—self-compassion—arises, all by itself, and moves us to think and behave with kindness toward ourselves.

For this reason, some meditation teachers prefer to call the practice “heartfulness” or “kindfulness.” It’s a tremendous thing to find, that, in our deepest selves, we all hold the potential for limitless, unconditional love.

Unfortunately, this discovery rarely comes without work, because practicing mindfulness is like swimming against the stream. The mind doesn’t want to sit still and just be present to what’s happening, especially when what’s happening hurts. It is more or less constantly leaning into the future (unless it’s rehashing the past). Mindfulness is a learned skill, and something that must be practiced regularly to yield results.

In our work, Martin made an agreement not to talk to his parents about his anger until he had finished processing it with me. In time, he was able to experience his hurt and disappointment fully while containing it all in a gentle and spacious awareness.

Mindfulness gave him a perspective that allowed him to see that, while the abuse and neglect he remembered were real, they were only a part of the truth, and that the love he remembered receiving was equally real.

That larger view enabled him to experience a genuine forgiveness for their imperfections that was also rooted in realism. When he was ready to talk with them, he centered himself with a period of mindfulness practice first. The conversation that followed was honest, but free of acrimony, and actually wound up bringing them closer together.

For those who would like to learn more about Kristin Neff’s pioneering research on the process of cultivating self-compassion, I highly recommend her book Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself (2010, William Morrow).

Tom Moon is a psychotherapist in San Francisco. For more information, please visit his website http://tommoon.net/

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By Sister Dana Van Iquity Sister Dana sez, “’Beware the Ides of March!’ It’s a saying I never understood. Now I do.

The Ides of March is a day on the traditional Roman calendar that corresponds to the date of March 15th on our current calendar. Today the date is commonly associated with bad luck, a reputation that it earned at the end of the reign of the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. So, on March 15, I guess, avoid bad luck?!”

ACADEMY OF FRIENDS celebrates 39 years of galas, glamour and giving. AoF has evolved over the past 39 years. Soon after the onset of the HIV epidemic, they dedicated themselves to the mission of easing the burden of the disease through fun and fund raising for direct care.

The agencies they support provide direct care, education and support for those at risk for or living with HIV/ AIDS—from policy and advocacy to prevention and treatment to youth and senior services, Academy of Friends has been on the front line.

As the pandemic grew, thus did their scope: to help “ ... where the need is greatest, until the crisis has passed.”

It has changed, but it is not over.

They have raised over $8.9 Million in support of more than 73 HIV/AIDS

That’s why I joined them for their annual ACADEMY AWARDS NIGHT GALA on Oscar Night at City View Metreon with the theme Neptune’s Fantasy. Trying to keep thematic, I wore a blue Hawaiian shirt with shell necklaces, pretending to be a lost sailor on a shipwrecked island.

Sister Dana sez, “Hi, simply hi from Tinseltown North, this is your intrepid reporter!” Coming off the elevator, we noticed Hollywood Walk of Fame stars going all the way up to the entrance, which had jellyfish and other sea creatures prominently displayed. We walked the elegant red carpet to be greeted by living male golden Oscar statues. My escort Tom Boyer and I enjoyed a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, as mermaids and mermen floated on by. Everyone joyously sang along with Adam Lambert and Queen as they opened the Oscars with “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions,” perfectly setting the tone. Fellow celebs in our VIP area were jazz chanteuse extraordinaire Paula West, the lovely Donna Sachet in an Oscar black sequined gown, Krewe de Kinque King Gary Virginia, current reigning KdK King Gooch & Queen Miss Chief and several past and current kings and queens and royals and imperials. OurTownSF’s Paul Margolis and husband Donald Grant were scary pirates attacking us with love. AAARRRH! We sampled so many delicious dishes, my faves being octopus sandwiches and caviar canapés with champers.

Yum! Senator Scott Wiener reminded us of the wonderful works

the AoF accomplishes and reminded us that AIDS is far from over. It was so divine hearing the Divine Miss M Bette Midler singing that sweet song from Mary Poppins Returns. We all went gaga when Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper cuddled and crooned the Oscar-winning love song, “Shallow.” Kudos to Barbra Streisand who aptly Dennis McMillan (aka Sister Dana) has been out and about attending community events, including: (left) Academy of noted, “Truth is especially precious these Friends’ annual gala at The Metreon held on Sunday, March 24, and (right) BALIF’s (Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom) 39th Gala held at the Bentley Reserve on Friday, March 1. days.” But I always dread the “In MemoNewman played guitar and sang along to The Beatles’ “With a Little riam” segment, sadly reminding me Gerri songs. We saw delightful vidHelp from My Friends.” Joshua relatof the over 100 friends I have lost to eo excerpts of Gerri in the Cocked to us the wishes Gerri expressed AIDS. Death is a real beeyotch. But ettes show, Tinsel Tarts in a Hot Coma, for her funeral—to be surrounded by nun-the-less we danced the night and with the Fou Ha Has in An Eda band doing Queen tunes, lowered away with our fellow seaworthy wardian Ball. Hilarious! Matthew into her grave (and joking “taking the friends. Oscar indeed rocked us! band down with me”). So, the band Martin put on his tap shoes and and us fans all sang Queen’s “We sang “It’s a Jolly Holiday with GerRest in peace, comic extraordiWill Rock You,” and stomped and ri,” tapping up a storm!

He reminded naire Gerri Lawlor, because we shouted so loud that Gerri in heaven us of the crazy role Gerri played with loved you to pieces, and you took could no doubt hear it! him in Baby Jane. RonKat Speara piece of our hearts! Accordingman gave us the funk on guitar that ly, THE GERRI LAWLOR MEWe experienced the true spirGerri adored. Margaret Cho was MORIAL was held on February it of Mardi Gras with San Francisnot just a fellow comic but a long25 at SF Oasis to a packed house. It co’s KREWE DE KINQUE Mardi time friend of Gerri’s since school was a gathering of her family, friends Gras club! Our annual BAL days. Margaret joined her band of six and fans. The one time I ever actMASQUE, with the theme “Boin several rockin’ numbers, included with Gerri, I was so star-struck hemian Royalty: A Glam Rock ing one that she and Gerri frequentthat I couldn’t do a very good job Revolution,” was held at the specly sang together, “Keep Your Elecof improv with her. But she cartacular Castro nightclub The Café tric Eye on Me,” and also some Pink ried the show flawlessly. This night on Saturday, March 2. KDK King Floyd that they used to get high with. was filled with reminiscing and full & Queen XV Gareth Gooch & Margaret also gave us some amazof entertainment, hosted by JoshMiss Chief reigned over an exciting, funny impressions of Gerri. The ua Brodie. Kevin Fagan on guitar ing night of wild costumes, outra(and Steve Rubenstein on harmon- band finished with a song from Hargeous performances, regal Kings & old and Maude, another frequent ica) sang Tom Petty numbers GerQueens & sexy shenanigans by the fave. Connie Champagne sang a ri enjoyed and joked about the time West Coast’s authentic krewe. KDK special song to Gerri, Connie’s signashe was supposed to be a partner in a Queen VII Sister Dana distributed ture “Over the Rainbow.” The band corporate production but kept mugreturned for a grand finale and singging and stealing the scene. Ken (continued on page 26) PHOTO BY PAUL MARGOLIS

service organizations in the Bay Area. They are a trusted and knowledgeable source for allocating charitable funds.

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Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun

Imperial Council of San Francisco Coronation 54

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Held on Saturday evening, February 24, at the San Francisco Design Center, the 2019 Imperial Council Coronation “Under the Sea” was hosted

by TMIM Emperor Leandro Gonzales and Empress Pollo Del Mar. Introduced at the event were delegations of Imperial Council members from throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada. All were welcomed by Queen Mother of the Americas Nicole the Great. The culmination of the evening was the crowning of newly elected Emperor Terrill Grimes Munro and Empress Baby Shaques Munro. Read more about the Coronation in Donna’s Chronicles on page 15.

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By Donna Sachet

he 54th annual Imperial Coronation certainly lived up to its reputation for glamor, entertainment and generosity! Last Saturday, hundreds of attendees from across the continent gathered at the Design Center for the final event of Reigning Emperor Leandro and Reigning Empress Pollo del Mar, as they honored many who had been a part of their exciting year and presented checks totaling over $100,000 to charitable causes they supported. In addition to royalty from Courts across Canada, the United States and Mexico, our local leaders Mark Leno, State Senator Scott Wiener and City Councilman Rafael Mandelman were on hand. Of particular note this year, several Monarchs celebrated major anniversaries of their reigns, including Emperor XVII, After Norton, Jerry Coletti, with a lovely 30-year tribute to his Empress Pat Montclair, Absolute Empress XXIX Anita Martini wearing the same gorgeous dress from 25 years ago and joined on stage and through video by some of her original cadre of supporters, and Absolute Empress XXXIV Sheba! showcasing her musical talents with a spirited troupe of back-up dancers, celebrating 20 years. Other standout entertainment came from Absolute Empress XXXVIII Snatch a nd M i s s G ay Reigning Empress and Emperor Baby Shaques Munro and S a n F r a n c i s - Terrill Grimes Munro co Ruby Red Munro. This was the culmination of a week of activities and events, following the previous Saturday’s public election of a new Emperor and Empress. Although this year’s titles were uncontested, the candidates worked hard to present their visions and at the Imperial Coronation performed beautifully. Much to the delight of those assembled, well before midnight, we crowned Terrill Grimes Munro as Emperor and Baby Shaques Munro as Empress of San Francisco, continuing 54 years of rich and amazing history.

Even for those truly dedicated individuals, Sunday was a test of fortitude as we rose early for the annual Pilgrimage to Colma. Yes, there really was an Emperor Joshua Norton and yes, he is buried in Woodlawn Memorial Park in Colma. Yes, Our Beloved Founder of the Imperial Court José Sarria is also buried in Colma nearby her reputed husband. And yes, a rag-tag group of Imperial Court members and other supporters visit their graves annually on the morning after Imperial Coronation. José loved this campy event organized by the Emperors of San Francisco that includes the Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, representatives from Night Ministry, Queen Mother of the Americas Nicole the Great, and this humble columnist as emcee. This year we shared responsibilities with Emperor Berlin, who proved a formidable co-emcee. Robert Sunshine and his singing friends, Full House, provided additional music. Although difficult to describe, this unique gathering on the lawn of a cemetery among gravestones mixes tradition and reverence with camp and whimsy, reflecting the quirky personality of José Sarria. Make it a point to attend next year!

Sunday ended with the not-to-be-missed 39th annual Academy of Friends Gala at City View at Metreon. What started as a house party with friends has grown into a huge fundraiser for local causes where a well-dressed crowd watches the Oscar Awards presentation on video screens while bidding on silent auction items, sampling food and drink and catching up with friends. Among those we saw there were Richard Sablatura, Adam Sandel, Cip Cipriano & Okan Sengun, Matthew Denckla, Kit Tapata & Lori Howe, Ron Patton & Mini Minerva, Emma Peel, Patty McGroin, Khmera Rouge, Patrik Gallineaux, Ken Henderson, Bill Hirsh, Paula West, George Ridgely, and Cicero Braganca & Russ Fischella. This year’s Neptune’s Fantasy theme brought out all kinds of creative costumes to complement the undersea décor and cameras were flashing all night. This year’s beneficiaries were AIDS Legal Referral Panel, LGBT Connection, Positive Resource Center and St. James Infirmary.

Even when the awards are disappointing, the Academy of Friends Gala never disappoints. We can’t imagine the official party in Los Angeles being any more glamorous!

Exciting news from our friends over at PRC. Having recently merged Positive Resource Center, AIDS Emergency Fund and Baker Place into one agency, PRC was anxious to find a physical home where all of their services would be readily available. Their new home will be on Ninth Street just south of Market!

In preparation for this expensive but necessary move, they happened upon a unique fundraising idea called Chair the Love. Just as a couple about to wed or expecting a child might create a registry to guide guests in their gift-giving, so PRC provides a website where you can sign up to fund the furnishings vital to the activities in this new home. Instead of buying a set of wine glasses, a toaster or a microwave, you can envision your contribution of various dollar amounts underwriting chairs, tables, office furniture and other essentials so that PRC can open this headquarters for the wide variety of services now available from a proven staff of professionals. Naming opportunities are available for larger contributions, proudly marking your support of PRC. Check out the website ( https://chairthelovesf.com/ ). And watch for the Grand Opening in May! Our f inal event report is on Krewe de Kinque’s Bal Masque XVI at the Café last Saturday night. For lovers of Mardi Gras, New Orleans or just a rocking party, this event had it all. The Bohemian Royalty: A Glam Rock Revolution theme encouraged all kinds of entertainment and costuming as King Gareth Gooch and Queen Miss Chief oversaw the festivities with Grand Marshals Michelle Meow & Tookta. Guests enjoyed food galore, a huge silent auction, raff le prizes, festive cocktails and a thoroughly entertaining show and new King Aja Monet-Ashton and Queen Kelly Rose were

–Donna Sachet

Calendar a/la Sachet PHOTO BY RINK

T

Donna’s Chronicles

“Few things are more important than lighting. And thank you to the Gay man who invented the dimmer switch.”

Every Sunday Sunday’s a Drag!

10:30 am Brunch, 11:30 am Show The Starlight Room Sir Francis Drake Hotel $75 inclusive https://bit.ly/2OB4Gur Every Monday, Wednesday and Sunday Musical Night The Edge 18th & Collingwood 7 pm Different themes, different VJs http://qbarsf.com/EDGE/ Every Monday M@M Munros Midnight Sun 4067 18th Street 9 pm RuPaul’s Drag Race viewing 10 pm drag show http://www.midnightsunsf.com/ Every Monday Underwear Night 440 Castro 9 pm Yes, Underwear Night, really! http://www.the440.com/ Every Tuesday Vice Tuesday Q-Bar 456 Castro 9 pm Women’s night http://www.qbarsf.com/ Every Wednesday Castro Karaoke Midnight Sun 4067 18th Street 8 pm BeBe Sweetbriar hosts, cash prizes http://www.midnightsunsf.com/ Every Thursday The Monster Show The Edge 18th & Collingwood 9 pm Outrageous drag show with lively audience http://qbarsf.com/EDGE/ Every Friday Beards & Booze The Edge 18th & Collingwood 7 pm Brian Kent, dancers; beard or not, everyone is welcome http://qbarsf.com/EDGE/ First Saturday of Every Month Go Bang!

The Stud 399 9th Street 9 pm Legendary dance party, legendary club https://www.studsf.com/ Second Saturday of Every Month Mother at Oasis Oasis 298 11th Street 10 pm Award-winning, long-running themed drag show & party $10 https://sfoasis.com/ Fourth Saturday of Every Month ShangriLa The End Up 401 6th Street 10 pm Very popular themed dance party https://theendupsf.com/

(continued on page 26) PHOTO BY SHAWN NORTHCUTT

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This Month at the Castro Farmers’ Market The Castro Farmers’ Market Returns for the Season

By Debra Morris Strike up the band and pass the veggies! The Castro Farmers’ Market returns for the season on Wednesday, March 13, 4 pm to 8 pm, at Noe and Market Streets.

Opening day will bring the community together for another season of fun-filled events, music and great produce—everything from fruits to nuts!

There will be a lively ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5 pm with brief remarks from District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and other elected officials. Donna Sachet, the Queen of the Castro and a fellow San Francisco Bay Times columnist, will be the MC for the evening, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will offer a blessing of the market.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PACIFIC COAST FARMERS’ MARKET ASSOCIAITON

Kick up your heels with musical entertainment for the opening hour provided by Miss Connie Champagne, followed by the Black Pack with awesome cover songs.

Kids can enjoy spectacular arts and crafts with creative performer Llano River Blue, sponsored by Flore (2298 Market Street).

More than two dozen California farmers and other local food producers are expected to sell their products at the market on opening day. Mia Simmans, Manager of the Castro Farmers’ Market, says, “We are looking forward to kicking off the season with a bang. We have a lot of great activities and events planned and we will offer a terrific selection of California produce.” Throughout the year, patrons can enjoy an array of musical entertainment, tastings, kids’ crafts and other events.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PACIFIC COAST FARMERS MARKET ASSOCIATION

PHOTO BY RINK

Debra Morris is a spokesperson for the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association (PCFMA). Check out the PCFMA website for recipes, information about farmers’ markets throughout the region and for much more: https://www.pcfma.org/

PHOTO BY RINK

Andy Rodin of Rodin Farms

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PHOTO BY RINK

Celebrate your local community, all the freshest produce that local farmers can provide, and visit with friends. Come down and start a fresh new season with us at your Castro Farmers’ Market! We’ll be here through November 20. See you there!

PHOTO BY RINK

The market will also have pasture-raised eggs from Shelly’s Farm in Brentwood, delicious baked goods from Feel Good Bakery of Alameda, fresh tamales from Donna’s Tamales out of Martinez and much more.

PHOTO BY RINK

The market, which is sponsored by the Castro Merchants Association, provides Castro residents a direct opportunity to support local California farmers. These local farms will offer a variety of seasonal California produce, like fresh asparagus from Jacob’s Farm of Los Banos, citrus from Ken’s Top Notch from Fresno, organic veggies from Happy Boy Farms out of Watsonville, juicy strawberries from Berrylicious in Gilroy, organic fruits and nuts from Allard Farms out of Westley, and smoked salmon from our newest producer, Coastside Farms and Specialties.

Fifth Crow Farm’s John and Sarah

Weddings, Occasions & Relationships The Risk of Dating Unavailable Men

Lonely No More Scott Tsui During a recent visit to Southern California, I caught up with Spencer, a 50-year-old gay man. I met Spencer five years ago at a social event in Palm Springs. At the time, he told me that he was single and wanted to find a partner. Spencer was thrilled when I contacted him, and he was excited to see me.

While sipping cocktails at The Abbey in West Hollywood, Spencer told me about his five-year relationship with Sam, an older man in his sixties. Before they met, Sam was dating Nick, a 47-year-old restaurant manager from Phoenix. Sam was commuting between L.A. and Phoenix to maintain the relationship. Despite being aware of Nick’s involvement, Spencer willingly became involved with Sam. Sam and Nick eventually married last year, and they now live together in Palm Springs. Spencer was deeply hurt and claims to have moved on, hanging out with Sam and Nick despite knowing that Sam still has feelings for him. Sam becomes jealous whenever Spencer is approached by other men or has anyone express an interest in him.

Visit to Colma

Spencer’s situation is not at all uncommon in the gay community.

Research studies in the U.S. and U.K. indicate approximately f ifty percent of gay men have been, or are, in open relationships. This explains the number of partnered or married men outsourcing their sexual needs on the many hookup apps. While some single men enjoy “no ties, no strings” fun with partnered/married men, others become emotionally attached for various reasons. These reasons may be the power trip, the sense of satisfaction from fooling around with someone’s significant other, an unintentional attachment or simply an enjoyment of the drama. The end result often brings hurt, disappointment or heartache, or simply wasted time, emotions and energy.

I have met men who spend years with partnered or married men in an open relationship, in the hope that someday their man will choose them over their partner. Those having fun with partnered men, while searching for their own partner, often fall in a dangerous trap in which the habit becomes hard to break. Their emotional entanglement with an unavailable man eventually leads to disappointment and heartbreak.

Sadly, those men who don’t consider the consequences often fall into a pattern of chasing men who are unavailable, repeating the same mistakes, and eventually adopting the “all the good men are taken” mentality. This manner of thinking is dangerous because it discourages exploration of what’s possible, leading instead to feelings of despair and hopelessness.

On the contrary, some men in search of long-term relationships cautiously stated that they refuse to date partnered, married or cheating men. These men know what they want and understand the danger of unnecessary strain and drama that comes with getting involved with this group of men. They would rather invest their time and energy in men who have the potential to become a long-term partner, and they portray those standards that attract men who expect likewise.

The safest way to avoid involvement in a love triangle is not to give it the chance to form.

As for Spencer, he was honest enough to admit that he liked the drama, but f inally realized the price that he was paying. After investing five years of his life in a relationship that ended in an unexpected way, he admitted to having learned his lesson. He has realized that time is precious and flies by fast, and that he should work on ensuring he does not waste another five years on someone he can’t have.

If every story has a silver lining, then Spencer’s story would be that he enjoyed f ive years of fun and now knows what he doesn’t want.

And that will take him one step closer to finding his dream man.

Scott Tsui is the Relationship Results Coach, author of “Lonely No More – 8 Steps to Find Your Gay Husband” and the creator of the world’s first online gay relationship training: Gay Men Relationship Blueprint. Tsui works to help gay men find, attract and sustain meaning ful relationships. For more information: http://scotttsui.com/

Photos by Bill Wilson

Members and friends of the Imperial Council of San Francisco, on Sunday morning February 24, made their annual pilgrimage to visit the grave of José Sarria, Empress I, The Widow Norton, at Woodlawn Cemetary in Colma. The San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band performed during the program at the gravesite.

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Top 10 Fitness Trends for 2019 less. The main point is to get a quick and very eff icient workout, and you can do it anywhere. Google HIIT and check out the living room workout. I have been training like this for years w it hout c a l l i ng it HIIT because I like the idea of working harder in less time.

Lately I use circuit strength training, an interval workout on the stationary bike and a few rounds of shadow boxing.

Easy Fitness Cinder Ernst Here are the top 10 fitness trends for 2019, according to a survey done by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) of their certified fitness professionals. ACSM is currently one of the top-rated fitness certifications.

1. Wearable Technology The merging of fitness and technology is here to stay. Smart watches, fitness trackers and heart monitors are commonplace. So many people love to know how many steps they’ve taken on any given day. Be careful about comparing yourself to someone else; this is never a good idea. Also, generally recommended guidelines may not be right for you. Call me old-fashioned, but I am a fan of learning how to listen to your body and giving it what it’s asking for. If you find you are beating yourself up with the fitness tracker, take it off for a little bit.

2. Group Training This is any workout with more than five participants. Online group workout classes help to keep group training in the top 10. As a personal trainer, I used to offer early morning workout groups at the popular beforework times, and we all loved that option. Having a group keeps the energy flowing and builds community.

3. HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) HIIT training involves short bursts of high-intensity bouts of exercise followed by a short period of rest. HIIT workouts are usually 30 minutes or

4. Fitness Programming for Older Adults I guess this is a trend as we all get older. Keep moving and reap the numerous health benefits that come with being active, not the least of which is being able to have more fun!

5. Bodyweight Training This fitness modality uses your bodyweight for resistance, like push-ups, planks and chin-ups. I love being able to work out anywhere and not need any equipment.

6. Employing Certified Fitness Professionals I remember that when I started my personal training business in 1988, there was no personal training certification. I participated in the first official one-on-one certification by the American Council of Exercise in 1990. ACSM was already in play for sports physicians and later became a leading certification for fitness professionals in 1995. Always better to hire a pro!

7. Yoga!

Need I say more? How about Goat Yoga?

8. Personal Training Personal training has been trending upward for decades and now many of us do online personal training to make it more accessible. As I write this, tomorrow is my last day training people at my Fitness SF gym location and I will go exclusively online. For

30 years I’ve been working in a San Francisco gym ... feels like the ending of an era and a new beginning, too.

9. Functional Fitness Training This mode of training endeavors to make activities of daily living easier as it mimics the motions. For instance, step ups can make climbing upstairs easier. Squatting can make getting up from a chair or the toilet easier.

I love training for a fun activity also.

Since my hip replacement in December, I’ve been sitting on my motorcycle getting my range of motion back and the strength to hold up my bike.

10. Exercise Is Medicine This is ACSM’s global health initiative that encourages healthcare providers to help their patients to get on a regime and analyze physical activity as part of regular check-ups. Since ACSM commissioned the survey, it’s a bit self-serving, but still good for all.

I personally think that using exercise as medicine takes the fun out of it and makes it one more thing we “should” do. Maybe our doctors could encourage us just to have more fun!

Cinder Ernst, Medical Exercise Specialist and Life Coach Extraordinaire, helps reluctant exercisers get moving with safe, effective and fun programs.

Her book, “Easy Fitness for the Reluctant Exerciser” ( https://bit.ly/2D6itYo), is available in paperback and E-book. She specializes in fitness and rehab for plus-size clients, but her stress-free approach is suitable for all. Find out more at http://cinderernst.com

Take Me Home with You! “My name is Dwight! Some people have said that I’m the most exuberant dog they’ve ever met—which I think is a big compliment! I’d love to share all of this love and energ y with someone special. I’m looking for an active adopter who likes to go on lots of adventures!

If that sounds like you, come on down to the SF SPCA’s Adoption Center and ask to meet me. You won’t regret it!

Dwight is presented to San Francisco Bay Times readers by Dr. Jennifer Scarlett, the SF SPCA’s Co-President. Our thanks also go to Krista Maloney for helping to get the word out about lovable pets like Dwight.

Dwight

To meet Dwight, as well as other pets seeking their forever homes, please visit: San Francisco SPCA Mission Campus 250 Florida Street San Francisco, CA 94103 415-522-3500 Aside from major holidays, the adoption center is open Mon–Fri: 1–6 pm and Sat–Sun: 10 am–5 pm. Free parking is available for those wishing to adopt!

For more information: https://www.sfspca.org/adoptions

YOU TOO CAN BE A WINNER! 18

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Subscribe to the San Francisco Bay Times e-mail list: https://bit.ly/2XDNnh7 Subscribers enter the REPLY TO WIN! online competition for a chance to win event tickets, services and products we announce.

Lisbet h Tellefsen, Ericka Huggins and Cheryl Ward at Rock the CASA 2019

Dr. Jennifer Scarlett and Pup

Patr ik Gallineaux and Gary Virginia at Academy of Friends 2019

Ted Maylath, Joh n Chen, Clayton Lepak and Westo n Hartman at Beach Blanket Ba bylon

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2019)

From the Coming Up Events Calendar See page 24

Sunday, March 10 - Remembering James Brown @ The Boxcar Theatre, 644 Broadway. A live tribute show about “The Godfather of Soul” written and performed by Derick Weathersby.

4pm & 7pm. http://www.boxcartheatre.org

Thursday, March 21 - Frameline Encore Screening: Rafiki @ Landmark’s Piedmont Theatre, 4286 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland. A free screening of the acclaimed lesbian love story by Kenyan Wanuri Kahiu. 7pm. http://www.frameline.org

Four Queer Films Opening in the Bay Area This Month fortable domesticity, Robert eventually starts to explore his sexuality with men.

He also starts taking photographs.

Film Gary M. Kramer No less than four queer-themed films open in Bay Area theaters over the next two weeks. Here is a rundown of what to watch.

Ondi Timoner’s ambitious but uneven biopic Mapplethorpe (opening March 8) opens in 1969 with Mapplethorpe (Matt Smith) meeting Patti Smith (Marianne Rendón) and moving in together. While they struggle as artists and share a com-

It isn’t until Sam Wagstaff (out gay actor John Benjamin Hickey) turns up to praise Mapplethorpe’s work and to help him sell his dirty pictures that the film hits its stride. However, like Sam and Robert’s relationship, this bliss is shortlived. Instead, Mapplethorpe continues to hit the expected beats of the photographer’s life, having about as much depth as a Wikipedia entry.

When the film depicts Mapplethorpe’s rel at ion sh ip w it h M i lton Moore (McKiney Belcher III), an African American model he discovers on the street, Timoner uses broad strokes to have Milton argue about Robert’s bad behavior rather than to portray the actions and let viewers determine what to think and feel. Smith at times resembles Mapplethorpe, especially in his later years when he is suffering with AIDS, but the actor seems mostly to be going through the motions in the role.

Mapplethorpe presents too much of its subject in black and white, when a shade or two of gray would have been much better.

Giant Little Ones (March 7 at AMC Kabuki 8) is out gay Canadian writer/ director Keith Behrman’s over-stuffed drama about queer teen sexuality. The film introduces Franky ( Josh Wiggins) and Ballas (Darren Mann), two handsome 16-year-old bros who have been best friends forever. They, like most teenagers, have sex on the brain. When Franky celebrates his 17th birthday with a party at his house, the night ends with sex—he and Ballas end up in bed together.

Behrman deliberately keeps what happens between the guys ambiguous, revealing the ramifications of the event before the truth comes out, which is noble. However, while Giant Little Ones wants to explore gay, straight and fluid teen sexuality, the film merely raises the points without much depth. Behrman certainly tackles important issues, but he does it in a clumsy manner that dilutes the impact of his messaging.

Out gay filmmaker Christophe Honoré’s Sorry Angel (opening March 15) is an affecting drama, set in 1993 France that alternates between Jacques (Pierre Deladonchamps), an HIV+ writer in Paris, and Arthur (Vincent Lacoste), a Breton. There is an imbalance between them: Jacques is 35 and cynical, while Arthur is 22 and sentimental—so, of course, they belong together.

As the protagonists slowly give in to their longing, viewers become invested in the guys coupling up together. Honoré’s elliptical narrative approach keeps the men apart for much of the film, detailing their lives and other relationships. However, Sorry Angel captures a feeling of romance and intimacy that is so strong, viewers may also experience the f lush that comes from unexpected love. A letter Jacques writes to Arthur fills the screen with text at one point, and includes the phrase, “Paris kisses on your salted butter skin.” It’s enough to melt the hardest of hearts. This melancholic romance is often swoon-inducing.

Therein lies the magic of Honoré’s film.

The Gospel of Eureka (opening March 15) is out gay filmmakers Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher’s revealing documentary—expanded from their 2016 short, Peace in the Valley— about Eureka Springs, Arkansas, population 2073. In this town, which is home to the largest statue of Jesus Christ in the U.S., the Great Passion Play, a dramatic reenactment of Christ’s last days, is performed regularly. But this town is also home to Live Underground—dubbed “a hillbilly Studio 54”—a popular bar where drag queens lip sync gospel songs.

The f ilm cross-cuts between performances in each venue to show that, while the Christians and the gays may be very different, they really are more

KIT’N KITTY’S

QUEER POP QUIZ

LOVE IS LOVE This singer-songwriter worked with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis on an LGBTthemed track from their debut studio album The Heist.

alike than they think. The Gospel of Eureka, which is narrated by Mx. Justin Vivian Bond, also presents the town’s battle over a local ordinance that would grant bathroom rights and other LGBT protections.

The filmmakers introduce interesting folks, from Lee Keating and Walter Burrell, a gay Christian couple who own the Live Underground; to Jayme Brandt, a straight Christian shop owner whose father is gay; to Randall Christy, the CEO of the Great Passion Play; as well as various drag queens, a transwoman and even the actor who plays Jesus.

Their stories show how the inter-

A) Hayley Kiyoko B) LP C) Mary Lambert D) Beth Ditto ANSWER ON PAGE 26

viewees reconcile faith and sexuality (or don’t), and this provides the value of the film. The lessons of (in) tolerance illustrate the humanity of these people, and how they try to live side-by-side. The film includes several lyrical and powerful moments that indicate just how fragile that balance can be. © 2019 Gary M. Kramer Gary M. Kramer is the author of “Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews,” and the co-editor of “Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.” Follow him on Twitter @garymkramer

Karin Jaffie, aka Kit/Kitty Tapata, won the title of Mr. Gay San Francisco in 2011 and has earned many other honors since.

Connect with Jaffie via Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ktapata

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The Matchbook: Tenderloin Historical Ephemera Project Through March 31 at the Tenderloin Museum Through the mundane act of picking up a matchbook and striking a match, one is transported to another place and time. The past is remembered through a pedestrian interaction with a tangible object. Matchbooks are emblems of local culture: accessible, utilitarian ephemera that functioned as the chosen form of advertising for small businesses in an era before plastic lighters and health concerns about smoking.

These ritual objects exist at a fascinating intersection of material culture, local history and design art. Matchbooks and other local business ephemera are striking populist artifacts that serve as portals to places and people in a neighborhood’s past. The Matchbook: Tenderloin Historical Ephemera Project presents an illuminating new perspective on the Tenderloin’s often overlooked history, enriches the detail and depth of the neighborhood’s narrative and ignites the Tenderloin community’s historical imagination.

This multi-faceted project encompasses the publication of The Matchbook: Vintage Matchbooks from San Francisco’s Tenderloin, an artfully designed history book of the Tenderloin featuring the matchbooks of local businesses and cultural institutions; The Tenderloin Ephemera Exhibition, featuring historical Tenderloin ephemera from the 1920s–1950s including glassware, postcards, menus, matchbooks et al.; and the first addition to the Tenderloin Museum’s permanent exhibit, The Matchbook Map Exhibit, featuring a searchable, interactive touchscreen map that connects matchbook imagery to historical information on the associated business and address.

The visual language of the matchbooks broadcasts a rich local dialect, which took root in the Tenderloin’s many restaurants, bars, hotels and social clubs.

Aesthetically evocative examples of this lingo abound, conjuring a rich, nuanced vision of the Tenderloin’s past.

As art objects, these vintage matchbooks are visually striking representations of Tenderloin architecture or a cheeky synecdoche for good times to be had inside a given establishment.

Whether emblazoned with minimalist typographic experiments, strikingly representative imagery, or an ingenious amalgam of design and illustration, Tenderloin matchbooks stoke the historical imagination.

As physical artifacts, they provide a historical record of a business or particular address. But what’s more, these mass-produced and widely distributed tokens touched myriad individual narratives, belonging to people who walked the same streets and lived in the same buildings as the present Tenderloin community.

While certainly eye-catching, these paper matchbooks were meant to be used, not to last forever. As such, The Matchbook: Tenderloin Historical Ephemera Project is a call to preservation for these evocative relics that are so prone to decay.

In some cases, matchbooks are the only evidence that remains of long-shuttered Tenderloin businesses.

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By presenting an intimate, everyday perspective in an aesthetically appealing way, The Matchbook and accompanying exhibitions and programs make this histor y widely accessible, and promote preservation advocacy within the City, as thousands of people benefit from improved historical knowledge of a long-overlooked district. Preservationists of the future will be able to easily access information about specific addresses and buildings in the Tenderloin neighborhood, and the Cit y’s public life is enriched by a deepened understanding of our shared history.

Today, the tradition of creative, charismatic and often idiosyncratic promotional materials is one that continues amongst the local businesses in the Tenderloin. The Matchbook creates continuity and lineage between the Tenderloin of the past and

the Tenderloin of the present.

Related Programming Two related programs will take place this month at the Tenderloin Museum: Tenderloin Cocktail Culture March 21, doors open at 6:30 pm As San Francisco’s roaring vice district, the Tenderloin of the early 20th century figures greatly into the development of cocktail culture. Many of the bars, restaurants and hotels represented in The Matchbook: Tenderloin Historical Ephemera Project played a role in San Francisco cocktail history. Attend for a survey of the neighborhood’s historic bar culture and recipes from the innovators who shaped the modern cocktail landscape through a historical discussion, guided tasting and hands-on class led by Shana Farrell, author of Bay Area Cocktails: A History of Culture, Community and Craft. The event will be in collaboration with the California Historical Society.

Tenderloin Historic Ephemera Project Closing Reception March 28, 6–9 pm Celebrate the magic that is ephemera with the closing of the Tenderloin Historic Ephemera Project. This event is your last chance to see the temporary ephemera exhibit and the matchbook art exhibition Close Cover Before Striking: Alexander von Wolff. Artist von Wolff and ephemera collector and enthusiast Glenn Koch will be on hand to discuss their work and research. You are invited to bring your own ephemera collections for this one night only closing event.

Bring your own ephemera from San Francisco’s past, especially the Tenderloin! The organizers are excited to explore the neighborhood’s collective memory as told through your mementos.

For more information: http://www.tenderloinmuseum.org/

#WomensHistoryMonth: Writing Your Memoir

Words Michele Karlsberg Michele Karlsberg: Sandra Gail Lambert, author of A Certain Loneliness: A Memoir, and Tina Alexis Allen, author of Hiding Out: A Memoir of Drugs, are featured in this issue of the San Francisco Bay Times. I asked them to discuss crafting a memoir, including how difficult it can be to relive your experiences and to choose from the overwhelming details of your life.

Sandra Gail Lambert: The process of writing a memoir is fraught with uncertainty. I took having polio as a baby, using braces and crutches and then wheelchairs to get around, coming out in the 70s into the lesbianfeminist and women-in-print movements, growing up a military brat and so moving every few years, and the transformative power of the natural world and threaded the whole thing through with the tension between loneliness, independence and desire.

Immersing myself in the past could have me spread-eagled across the bed and held still by the weight of memories, but other times I’d be giggling along as I wrote about the absurdities of couple dynamics.

However, there were plenty of moments when I’d fall into a despair about how boring it was and why would anyone want to read about my life. It would help to remind myself that I’d thought that about everything I’d ever written, ever. So, I kept on with it.

It also helped to reread memoirs that still resonated with me—memoirs that had affirmed my own life or had changed the way I thought about the world.

As I read this time, I’d pay attention to the evocation of setting in one, the power of specific details in another, and the breathtaking imagination of metaphors in another. The best I could, I learned the lessons Sandra Gail these books offered.

Sandra Gail Lambert is the author of the memoir “A Certain Loneliness” and a novel “The River’s Memory.” She is the co-editor of the antholog y “Older Queer Voices: The Intimacy of Survival.”

Tina A lexis A llen: I came of age at lightning speed as the youngest of 13 children. People who hear my story—specifically, my coming of age—are gener- Tina Alexis Allen ally floored that I’m funcrecording my audiobook was the ultitioning so well. Most are shocked by mate ownership of my story, the ultiall the secrets and lies I was carrying, mate freedom. Speaking those words as well as my ability to forgive. out loud, “playing” all the characters, But actually, forgiveness is a selfish giving voice to the drama and bringact and I have done it mostly for my ing it fully alive have made me feel so own healing. There were certain- much lighter about all of it. ly a few bumpy emotional days while writing my memoir, but I have been Tina Alexis Allen is a GLAAD Awardprocessing my past for decades. Hid- nominated actress, producer, scriptwriter and ing Out is a culmination of all that pro- playwright. Allen was most recently a cast cessing, creating and sharing of my member of the TV series “Outsiders” and story as an actress and writer. co-starred in the feature films “Moving Mountains,” “Tom’s Dilemma,” as well as I wrote Hiding Out because my story feels bigger than me, bigger than my the web series “Looking for Kathleen.” Alfamily. It’s for anyone who has or is len is also the co- founder of Gina Raphakeeping secrets; anyone hiding their ela Jewelry’s mission-driven No More Vioauthentic self. We all hide parts of lence collection. ourselves, but I wanted to risk writing Michele Karlsberg Marketing and a book that exposed the truth, shameManagement specializes in publicity lessly. I do believe if you don’t own for the LGBTQI community. This your story, it will own you. year, Karlsberg celebrates 31 years Truth telling is the antidote to my of successful book campaigns. shame, so Hiding Out is just one more step towards freedom. And I must say,

BALIF 39th Annual Dinner & Awards Gala

Photos by Rink

The annual BALIF (Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom) gala was held at the Bently Reserve on Friday, March 1. Gala cochairs Tyler Alexander of Delta Dental of California and Austin Philips of Facebook welcomed the attendees along with 2019 BALIF co-chairs Sarah Davis of Morrison & Foerster and Annick Persinger of Tycko & Zavareei. The National Center for Lesbian Rights (Legal Service Award) and Black and Pink (Community Service Award) were honored.

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Bal Masque XVI

Photos by Rink

The annual Mardi Gras-themed benefit produced by Krewe de Kinque was held on Saturday, March 2, at The Café on Market Street in the Castro. Hosted by the organization’s founder Gary Virginia, the gala, titled Bohemian Royalty: A Glam Rock Revolution, featured emcee Donna Sachet and a lineup of performers from the KDK membership, including BeBe Sweetbriar, Deana Dawn, Alvaro Barrios, Lady Cuki Couture, Tony Leo, Kippy Marks, Kitty Tapata and many more. King XV Gareth Gooch and Queer XV Miss Chief welcomed the newly crowned royalty. The event beneficiary was the LGBT Asylum Project Center for Immigrant Protection.

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2019)

COMING UP

The 2019 Saint Patrick’s Day Parade will begin at 11am on Saturday, March 16. The route starts at 2nd and Market Streets and continues to Civic Center Plaza near SF City Hall where the festival will take place (10am-5pm). http://www.http://uissf.org Noe Valley Bakery, 4073 24th Street, has been the San Francisco Bay Times “go to place” for Irish Soda Bread for about 25 years.

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS http://sfbaytimes.com/

7 Thursday Rainbow Toastmasters @ St Francis Lutheran Church, 152 Church Street. This every Thursday event is the Bay Area’s largest communications skills training resource for the LGBT community. Dinner follows at a local restaurant.

6-7:30pm. http://bit.ly/2P7Y7mC Flashing After Dark: Queer Nightlife Photography Then and Now @ GLBT History Museum, 4127 18th Street. A panel of photographers and writers will join Melissa Hawkins to share photos and discuss their methods and more. 7-9pm. http://www.glbthistory.org HERstory: Past, Present, Future @ Multiple Locations of SF Public Library. The Library celebrates Women’s History Month with a lineup of events at the Main Library, Branch locations and other venues. http://www.sfpl.org/HERstory.org

8 Friday International Women’s Day Dance with Stephanie Teel @ Sausalito Cruising Club, 300 Napa Street. Sausalito. 6pm. http://www.stephanieteel.com

JAZZphoria @ Rendon Hall, California Jazz Conservatory, 2040 Addison Street, Berkeley. Jean Fineberg leads the group with their original Groove Beat Music (funk, bebop, swing, blues, reggae, bossa, salsa) in this International Women’s Day performance. 8pm.

510-845-5373 Robin Flower & Libby McLaren @ Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, 2020 Addison Street.

This International Women’s Day event will feature Nancy Vogl and Suzanne Shanbaum in an opening set followed by Flower and McLaren.

8pm. http://www.thefreight.org

9 Saturday Garden Work Day @ Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, 4235 19th Street. All are welcome to join in planting, decorating, clean up and maintenance projects for all ages.

10am-1pm. http:/www.harveymilk.com The Marlenes & Friends: Women’s Voices, Women’s Stories @ Caffe Chiave, 2500 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley. The presenters include Marlene and Elaine Bulloch of The Marlenes, Nancy Schimmel, Lauren Renee Hotchkiss and Cate Larsen

and Linda Atkinson from Liquid Girlfriend. 8-10pm. https://bit.ly/2EyNvWq

10 Sunday Remembering James Brown @ The Boxcart Theatre, 644 Broadway.

A six-piece band accompanies the cast telling the story of two decades in the career of The Godfather of Soul with his passion for music and message of home. 4pm. http://www.boxcartheatre.org Can you Feel It? @ Jolene’s Bar, 2700 16th Street. BAYDJs will host this dance party featuring house, techno, breaks and more. 6-11pm. http://www.jolenessf.com

11 Monday Town Hall with Mayor London Breed: Districts 5 and 8 @SF LGBT Center, 1800 Market Street. Space is limited, RSVP is required or watch live on YouTube. The event brings together neighbors for an informative conversation in the first of the Mayor’s town hall evenings. 6-8pm. https://bit.ly/2XxKw9z Sister Spit 2019 x The Stud @ The Stud, 399 9th Street. Seven artists will be on hand to entertain and provoke in the program produced by RADAR Productions.

7-9pm. https://bit.ly/2XBHAbT Requiem @ Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street. The Masterwork Festival Chorus will present John Rutter’s classic work, directed by Sandra Snow. 7pm. http://www.gracecathedral.org

12 Tuesday Dyke March Committee Meeting @ SF LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street. The first meeting of the year to discuss how to keep the SF Dyke March radical and inclusive. 7-9pm. http://www.thedykemarch.org In Search of the Glass Slipper Exhibit @ James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SF Main Library 100 Larkin Street.

The works of photographer Perci Chester are featured in this exhibit focusing on the pre-AIDS era in San Francisco when personal expression, friendship and theater thrived.

Through May 16. James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SF Main Library, 100 Larkin Street. http://www.sfpl.org

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Compiled by Blake Dillon

13 Wednesday Farm to City: Lesbian, Gay and Queer Writers Discuss Their Rural Roots @ James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SF Main Library, 100 Larkin Street. Writers, including Nona Caspers,Vernon Keeve III, Jim Provenzano, James J. Siegel and Mark Abramson, will discuss their rural roots and how they shape life experiences and literary works. 6-7pm. http://www.sfpl.org LGBT Peer Support Group Information Meeting @ Pacific Center for Human Growth, 3075 Adeline Street, Berkeley. Pacific Center and The Center for Independent Living are offering an 18+ support group for LGBTQ people with disabilities. 6-7pm. http://www.pacificcenter.org The Modern Elder and the Intergenerational Workplace with Chip Conley @ SFJAZZ Center, 201 Franklin Street.

Entrepreneur Conley will consider the meaning of “elder,” how age is another type of diversity, and the cultivation of wisdom as a lifetime pursuit. 7:30pm. http://www.sfjazz.org

14 Thursday Castro LGBTQ Cultural District Community Meeting @ GLBT History Museum, 4127 18th Street. Join neighbors, community leaders and activists for a discussion and update on plans for the new Castro LGBTQ Cultural District. 6-7:30pm. http://www.castrolgbtq.org Boys in Trouble - Sean Dorsey Dance @ Z Space, 450 Florida Street. This award-winning show, a commentary on contemporary masculinity, returns as Fresh Meat Productions celebrates its 15th Anniversary as part of a twenty-city tour. 8pm, performances through March 16. http://www.seandorseydance.com Comedy at Ashkenaz!

Women’s History Month Comedy @Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley. The show features a diverse line-up of comedians, Carla Clayy, Priyanka Wali, Jade Theriault and Lisa Geduldig. 8pm. http://www.ashkenaz.com

15 Friday Bay Area Women in Rock: The 1960s and 1970s @ SF Public Library, 100 Larkin Street. A discussion and film clips presentation about the Bay Area’s women

rock performers, including Grace Slick, Janis Joplin, We Five, the Pointer Sisters and more. Noon1:30pm. Also March 20,6-8pm at the North Beach Branch. http://www.sfpl.org When Pigs Fly Over the Moon: A QTAPI Gathering @ Salesforce Tower, 415 Mission Street.

Organized by the Queer and Trans Asian and Pacific Islander and GLBT Historical Society organizations, the event is a resource fair, mixer and talent showcase plus history exhibit.

6-9pm. https://bit.ly/2TeOGV3 The Gospel of Eureka @ Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street.

Narrated by Justin Vivian Bond, the documentary visits Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a one-of-a-kind oasis in the Ozarks where Christian piety rubs shoulders with a thriving queer community. 9:10pm. http://www.roxie.com

16 Saturday Write Away! Queer Elders Writing Workshop Public Reading @ 3170 23rd Street.

Hosted by Openhouse, the event will feature queer writers presenting their original works. 1-4pm. http://www.openhouse.org Private GLBT History Tour @ GLBT History Museum, 4127 18th Street. Hosted by the San Francisco Bay Times, the tour will be led by historian Dr. Bill Lipsky and followed by an optional visit to Harvey’s bar. 3pm. Reservations required. Inquire for details.

Publisher@sfbaytimes.com or call 415-601-2113.

So You Think You Can Drag? @ The Café, 2369 Market Street. A competitive drag show fundraiser, the event supports the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy and features special guest Laganja Estranja from “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” 4pm-5:30pm. http://www.thecafesf.com Bay Area Rainbow Symphony Spring Concert @ Wilsey Center for Opera, 401 Van Ness Avenue. Conductor Dawn Harms directs a program including Conte’s A Copland Portrait, Coplan’s Our Town, Rodrigo’s Guitar Concerto and Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 in E minor. 8-10pm. http://www.bar-sf.org

17 Sunday Judea Eden Birthday Celebration @ High Street Station, Encinal and High Streets, Alameda. A lineup of LGBT favorites including the Amy Myers Band, Bad Ass Boots, Margrit

Eichler, Karen Mullally, Janet Rachel, Live2Love, Rosewoode and more.

Judea Eden on Facebook

18 Monday Black Futures Wild Tongues @ Openhouse, 65 Laguna Street.

The event will feature a panel discussion with LGBTQ elders including Andrea Horne, Tuffy Eldridge, Myles Dixon and Patti Ann Hall. 2-3:30pm. http://www.openhouse.org

19 Tuesday Jacob Tobia/Sissy: A ComingOf-Gender Story @ The Bindery, 1727 Haight Street. Jacob Tobia will discuss and present this heartwrenching, eye-opening and giggleinducing memoir about what it’s like to grow up not sure about your gender. 7:30-9pm. http://www.booksmith.com/bindery Falsettos: The Broadway Revival @ SHN Golden Gate Theatre, 1 Taylor Street. The Tonynominated musical, about a gay man named Marvin, his wife, his lover and his soon-to-be-Bar-Mitzvahed son. http://www.shn.com

20 Wednesday Honoring Cesar Chavez’s Legacy Panel @ San Francisco Latino Democratic Club, 518 Valencia. A panel discussion on the life and work of the famous labor organizer. 6-9pm. http://sflatinodemocrats.com Castro Rotary Club @ Hamburger Mary’s, 531 Castro Street. The Club welcomes the California Earthquake Authority’s Lynda Foster. 6:30pm. https://bit.ly/2C5MHrB Mr. and Miss Golden Gate Gaymer Night @ Brewcade SF, 2200 Market Street. Benefiting the health and wellness programs of Strut, the event features arcade games, drag performances, prizes and food & beverage specials.

7-10pm. http://www.brewcadesf.com

21 Thursday Celebrating Womxn’s History Month @ SF Museum of Modern Art, 151 3rd Street. Free admission is offered in celebration of the womxn artists whose works are on display at SFMOMA. 10am9pm. http://www.sfmoma.org We Built a Movement from Books: Carol Seajay, Jack Collins & Jim Van Buskirk in Conversation @ James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SF Main Library, 100 Larkin Street. Three experts will discuss the role of bookstores, publishing houses, libraries and literature courses in forging a movement. 6-7:30pm. http://www.sfpl.org Life Beyond Uranus: Remembering a Golden Age of San Francisco Nightlife @ GLBT History Museum, 4127 18th Street. Legendary club scene personalities will share stories of nightlife before the internet. 7-9pm. http://www.glbthistory.org Free Frameline Encore: Rafiki @ Landmark’s Piedmont Theatre, 4286 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland. This free screening is part of the Frameline Encore series. http://www.frameline.org

22 Friday Deathtrap @ The Gateway Theatre, 215 Jackson Street.

Theatre Rhino presents the classic thriller by Ira Levin. Through April 13. http://theaterrhino.org S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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STUART & JOHN (continued from page 8)

SISTER DANA (continued from page 13)

scared for your life” or you’re “quiet and suffocating.”

colorful bead necklaces to attendees. We celebrated Mardi Gras with stunning Bourbon Street & Glam Rock decor by Balloons A Go-Go, music by DJ Jimmy Strano, a second line parade led by Celebrity Grand Marshals Michelle Meow & her spouse Tookta, a costumed tableaux show emceed

by Donna Sachet, the crowning of KDK King & Queen XVI and professional staged photos by King Gareth Gooch.

Last year, the Indian Supreme Court overturned that nation’s anti-gay criminal statute dating back to 1860, holding that criminalizing a person’s “right to love” is “profoundly cruel and inhumane.” This month, a court in Botswana will hear a challenge to its similar law.

The forthcoming ruling from the Kenyan court in May will be subject to appeal to an intermediate appellate court and the Kenyan Supreme Court, but its impact may ultimately be felt across the continent. As these cases unfold and activism and public education continue, activist writer Giramata wrote on Twitter: “To my queer Kenyan friends, Whose work I will never take for granted Whose organizing will never go unnoticed Whose love for community fuels me Whose love of self holds me I stand with you, today and always!”

So do we.

John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, together for over three decades, were plaintiffs in the California case for equal marriage rights decided by the California Supreme Court in 2008.

Their leadership in the grassroots organization Marriage Equality USA contributed in 2015 to making same-sex marriage legal nationwide.

MILLER (continued from page 10) condensed or summarized from its original source. Brio does not provide tax or legal advice, and nothing contained in these materials should be taken as such. To determine which investment may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing. As always please remember investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital; please seek advice from a licensed professional.

Brio Financial Group is a Registered Investment Adviser. SEC Registration does not constitute an endorsement of Brio by the SEC nor does it indicate that Brio has attained a particular level of skill or ability. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Brio Financial Group and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. No advice may be rendered by Brio Financial Group unless a client service agreement is in place.

Brandon Miller, CFP® is a financial consultant at Brio Financial Group in San Francisco, specializing in helping LGBT individuals and families plan and achieve their financial goals.

So here was how the night started out. “Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler” (French for: “Let the Good Times Roll”) with DJ Jimmy Strano, KDK Queen IV Joan Crawford Texas. Welcome by KDK Founder, King I & Ball Captain Gary Virginia. Introduction of King XV Gareth Gooch & Queen XV Miss Chief. National Anthem performed by KDK Member Aaron Priskorn on the horn. Okan Sengun, Executive Director & Co-Founder of THE LGBT ASYLUM PROJECT—Center for Immigrant Protection (our special fundraising project). Celebrity Grand Marshals who gave us a rousing pep-talk and some glorious singing, and then led us with the traditional Second Line Parade. Mistress of Ceremonies— KDK Member Donna Sachet—sang a scintillating “Sweet Dreams” and then introduced these amazeball entertainers. “I Wanna Rock N Roll All Night” was sung and shouted out by KISS band KDK Queen X Kitty Tapata & KDK Members Lori Howe, Nic Hunter & Sarah Chase. Then my KdK mother (she and many others are responsible for my being Queen VII Sister Dana), the vivacious KDK Queen VI DivaD, made us “Stand Back” in awe. “One Way or Another” was grinded out by the bodacious Miss Golden Gate 2018–19 Tye Olsen. But I must say I was astounded to see and hear “Raspberry Beret” performed by KDK Queen XIII Garza in full-tilt Prince drag. Pruplicious! Then came “When the Saints Go Marching In” and a whole lotta bluesy jazz by KDK Member Aja Monet-Ashton followed by an explosive “Cherry Bomb” by KDK Member Kelly Rose. Hmmm ... I wonder why those two were paired. My my my.

After intermission, it was time for Act II, starting out with “A Bohemian Serenade,” an original composition by KDK King X Kippy Marks & Izabella (his Violin). What could follow that but “Lovergirl” cranked out by KDK Queen II Deana Dawn & KDK King IX Tony Leo, and I believe behind that mask was Queen Cockatelia. Giving us “Fashion” was KDK Queen XIV Lady Cuki Couture in her fashionable new gown. Then for stepping down from her current reign, we really enjoyed a wild interpretation of “Wild Things” by KDK Queen XV Miss Chief, followed by his stepping down of “Children of the Revolution” by KDK King XV Ga-

reth Gooch with us fellow protesters raging and carrying protest signs to “RESIST” (and this sister resister kept smacking “Donald Trump” on the head). Bringing us back to a party mood, “Slave to the Rhythm” by KDK Queen IX BeBe Sweetbriar got us going. Finally, it was time for the crowning of KDK King XVI & Queen XVI, and as I hinted above, it was revealed to be my fabulous friends and yours, King Aja Monet-Ashton and Queen Kelly Rose! Let the good times roll!

Next up was the annual KdK MARDI GRAS BUS & BAR CRAWL on Fat Tuesday (translation of “Mardi Gras”) on March 5, with a second line parade into each gay bar led by the new King and Queen.

Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF) is one of the nation’s oldest and largest association of LGBTQI persons in the field of law. Founded in 1980, BALIF represents its members’ interests in the wider San Francisco Bay Area. BALIF held their GALA, celebrating 35 years, at the Bentley Reserve on March 1. Welcoming everyone and introducing the Board of Directors were Gala Cochairs Tyler Alexander and Austin Phillips. I ran into the Sisters’ lawyer back in the day, Michael Fiumara, who now practices in Napa County. Also, there was my buddy and our Treasurer Jose Cisneros. Presentation of Community Service Awards were given to SF BAY AREA BLACK AND PINK. Presentation of Legal Service Award was awarded to THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS (NCLR). Closing comments were by BALIF Co-Chairs Sarah Davis and Annick Persinger. We learned that 35 years ago, the world was a different place. The BALIF newsletter and directory were sent out in brown envelopes, lest the recipient be outed and be the victim of discrimination. The name BALIF itself was selected because “Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom” did not reveal the queer identity of their members to outsiders yet nevertheless emphatically proclaimed the goal of the organization. The evening closed with tunes spun by DJ Juan Garcia and his dancing ladies, as we gleefully danced along.

Sister Dana sez, “Rain, rain, go away!

Come again some other day! And what’s with this weather term, ‘Pineapple Express’? I thought that was a strain of marijuana! Anyway, don’t let the rain keep you away from these upcoming events!”

STRUT held their First Friday March Art Opening reception on March 1, celebrating the work of Ashish Kumar aka Axeishguy entitled ANG RASIYA. South-Asian in origin, Ashish Kumar is a gay man currently living in San Francisco. He is a self-taught digi-

tal artist and has been drawing male nudes and gay themed sensual art since 2016. This is his first solo show. “Ang” means body, and “Rasiya” can be translated as an epicure. “Ang Rasiya” is about celebrating gay men sensually expressing themselves via a wide range of sexual activities. Through “Ang Rasiya,” one can get a glimpse into a rich cultural world of Indian gay men. His artwork depicts his life journey of coming to terms with his sexuality and his perspective of how amazing and queer the world can be. My faves are “Affection” with 5 couples loving one another; “Mystique” with a phallic touch; “Delicate Freedom” bare-chested man surrounded by beautiful butterflies; “Be Embraced” with embracing; and also pillows as art were on display. This amazing exhibit will remain all month long at Strut, 470 Castro Street.

Larger-than-life New York politicians are all the rage now, so this 42ND STREET MOON production of FIORELLO, one of the most acclaimed bio-musicals in Broadway history, is sure to be both wildly entertaining and thought-provoking. The mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1945, Fiorello H. La Guardia was a charismatic publicity hound considered by many to be one of the greatest mayors in American history. His upbeat spirit and pledge to help those less fortunate is portrayed in this Tony and Pulitzer Prizewinning musical at the Gateway Theatre, 215 Jackson Street, now through March 17. http://42ndstmoon.org/fiorello/ SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DRAG? is a competition and drag show fundraiser for HARVEY MILK CIVIL RIGHTS ACADEMY on March 16 at The Cafe, 2369 Market Street. Featuring special guest Laganja Estranga from RuPaul’s Drag Race, along with many of San Francisco’s best entertainers.

VIP tickets include meet & greet with Langanja and the cast, plus delicious bites! Doors at 4 pm/VIP meet & greet at 4:30 pm–5:30 pm.

Drag show and competition at 6 pm. https://bit.ly/2tRo7Gq March 17 is ST. PATRICK’S DAY, so as a gay Irish nun, I will kiss the Blarney Stone and also get stoned on green bud and green beer.

Do support your local gay bar, drink Irish and wear green! Begorrah!

Sister Dana sez, “President (T)Rump traveled halfway around the world to make nicey-nice with monstrous murderous Kim Jong Ugh, and came back with nothing. Although Prez did manage to denigrate the Obama administration as usual. It really Hanoi-ed me!”

ROSTOW (continued from page 9) man and another in the case of a transgender high school student denied use of the boys’ facilities. Both rulings merely allowed the cases to proceed, so it’s not as if Missouri has come down in favor of our civil rights. It’s only that the court acknowledges there’s a legitimate argument in play in both instances.

Finally, the ACLU of Southern California has settled a long running suit against San Bernardino County, where GLBT inmates at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga were kept in an “Alternative Lifestyle Tank” where they stayed in their cells for 23 hours a day and were denied access to the various prison programs available to everyone else. The 600 or so inmates who shared this fate at various points from 2012 to 2018 will split a million dollars, while the lawyers will be paid about the same. The sheriff’s department will train their personnel in the rules of decency, and the federal court will monitor the operation for the next three years.

Twin Perks Let’s see what else is going on.

There are a lot of foreign datelines in the news; Kenyan High Court mulling sex laws, Taiwan still wrestling over marriage equality, ditto Japan, and Katmandu has opened a gay bar and restaurant.

Have any of you ever read Annapurna, Maurice Herzog’s harrowing 1951 account of climbing the 8,000-meter summit? For some reason I just imagined the frostbitten survivors of the expedition clambering through the doors of Pink Tif26

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DONNA (continued from page 15) fany, shaking the ice off their boots, leaning, exhausted, against the bar and ordering a pitcher of Singapore slings. Want to run a tab? They nod wearily. With difficulty, Herzog removes a glove and extracts a Visa card from his inner pocket.

His fingers are black.

litigation, while the crazy kook who filed suit to begin with has promised to appeal again.

Last but not least, the Mormon college student who starred as Brigham Young University’s Cosmo the Cougar mascot from 2015 Then we finally won citizenship for the to 2018 came out of the closet in a son of an American man who married touching op-ed in the Deseret News an Israeli man. The couple had twins late February. through a Canadian surrogate, but when “A s C o s mo t he C ou g a r at they applied for citizenship, the State De- Brigham Young University, I partment forced an unwanted DNA test, kept the best part of my life a seand discovered that one son had Amer- cret from everyone around me by ican blood, while the other had Israeli wearing a mask. I traveled the blood. Even though the men were married, only the genetically correct twin was considered American, while his brother was allowed to stay with the L.A.-based family on a tourist visa. It took a federal judge to rectify the situation in a mid-February ruling.

country, performed for millions of people, took pictures with screaming fans, signed autographs and danced like no one was watching—even though everyone was,” wrote Charlie Bird. “There are many people like me who suffer in silence, struggling to reconcile complicated ideas with thoughts, feelings and religious beliefs,” he continued. “There are many who feel misunderstood and heartbroken. We never know who around us might be wearing a mask.” arostow@aol.com

KIT’N KITTY’S

And I should have mentioned earlier that a weird case out of Texas has been dismissed by a state court judge, who ruled that the city of Houston must indeed recognize legal same-sex marriages. To be clear, Houston itself was on our side and had no desire to discriminate, but the city was sued by a nutty resident who complained all the way to the state supreme court. In a decision that made headlines last year, the Texas Supreme Court ruled inexplicably that the question of marriage equality remained unresolved despite the High Court’s ruling in our favor back in 2015. The Texas supremes sent the case back to the lower court, and now the lower court has rightly tossed the nonsensical MA RC H 7 , 2 0 1 9

QUEER POP QUIZ

ANSWER (Question on page 19)

C) Mary Lambert Lambert’s shows are described as “safe spaces where crying is acceptable and even encouraged.” Raised as a Pentecostal, she struggled for many years to reconcile her faith and her sexuality, and eventually concluded that being gay does not conflict with Christianity.

crowned. While we know it takes an army of volunteers to throw a party like this, the lion’s share of credit goes to the founder of the club and tireless champion of its activities, Gary Virginia; if he gets behind an event, it is going to succeed! This year’s beneficiary was the Lesbian/ Gay Asylum Project, soon to move operations onto Castro Street.

In preparing the calendar of upcoming events for this edition’s column, we were amazed to f ind a quite limited number of big galas, parties or special events, so we decided to remind everyone of some ongoing weekly and monthly events that keep this City so interesting.

Seriously, there is something to do every night of the week, many of them in support of worthwhile charitable causes. So, reacquaint yourself with these regularly scheduled events and the hard-working people behind them!

And finally, we recognize the recent loss of a true public servant, Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who died suddenly on February 22. The City and the many individuals he helped mourn his death.

Donna Sachet is a celebrated performer, fundraiser, activist and philanthropist who has dedicated over two decades to the LGBTQ Community in San Francisco. Contact her at empsachet@gmail.com

Round About - All Over Town

Photos by Rink

CASTRO STREETCAM presented by

A large crowd of supporters and friends were on hand at Strut to support artist Ashish Kumar (right) during the exhibit opening reception on Friday, March 1.

Artist Ashish Kumar discussed his works included in the new exhibit, entitled Ang Rasiya (body epicure), while emcee Jared Hemming listened in during at the Opening Reception at Strut on Friday, March 1.

Moderator Kin Folkz led a panel discussion at Strut on February 21, on the topic “Anti-blackness in the LGBTQ Communities.” The panel discussed the threats faced

by Black queer and trans people and how anti-Blackness shapes their experiences.

Nai Ibu, Corey Baker and Aria Sa’id served as panelists for the well-attended discussion at Strut on February 21, on the topic “AntiBlackness in the LGBTQ Communities.”

http://sfbaytimes.com/

items of the week

Assemblyman David Chiu, former Senator Mark Leno and Project Open Hand founder Tom Nolan were on hand to congratulate Project Open Hand’s Mark Ryle (second from right) on the achievements during Ryle’s tenure with the organization.

Tommy Art DIY Paint System Rainy weather got you trapped indoors?

Add some color to your stuff with Tommy Art! Rich matte mineral paints and some easy to use specialty finishes will brighten up your space. Visit Cliff’s Annex to select from 40+ colors for $12.99 each.

St. James Infirmary’s Toni Newman, PRC’s Brett Andrews, Mark Ryle, ALRP’s Bill Hirsh, Project Open Hand’s Mary Dunbar and Project Angel Food Project Open Hand’s chef of LA’s Richard Ayoub at the Farewell Party for Mark Adrian Barrow (right) with Ryle at Project Open Hand friends at the Farewell Party for Mark Ryle held at Project Open Hand on February 21

Mark Ryle (second from right) received fond applause from all attending during his Farewell Party held at Project Open Hand.

ForLife Curve Teapot Add a cup of cozy to that indoor craft project with a bright and beautiful teapot! We have 24oz pots in ten different colors for $34.99 each.

H

Project Open Hand’s van is a welcome sight all over town.

Moderator Julie Nice, San Francisco Bay Times contributors Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis, Kara Korbel Chlnula, Ruth Villasenor and Anna Eng presented a panel discussion on “Fighting Back/Love Marriage and Queers: 15 Years of Bliss?” at the GLBT History Museum on February 28.

Roxie Baltimore and Lotus Bebey with a table full of Girl Scout Cookies for sale on Castro Street. By all accounts, the Thin Mints variety continues as the top seller this year.

A display of books about women and by women in honor of Women’s History Month in the display window at Dog Eared Books Castro on Thursday, February 28

as the rain gotten you down or are you enjoying the way the rain has cleaned up the city?

Either way, we have crafts, games and jigsaw puzzles to fill these gray winter days and full spectrum and daylight light bulbs to brighten up your rooms.

Nothing makes these rainy days more fun than a quick trip to Cliff’s.

As Heard on the Street . . . Why is the Imperial Court important to you?

compiled by Rink

Michael Kasian

Diana Wheeler

Paloma Volare Sharitt

Migitte Nielsen

T.J. Wilkinson

“As a first timer at the Imperial Coronation, I’m really fascinated by all of the comaraderie and positivity that you feel when walking around.

Also, I am a sucker for tinsel, so I’m very happy.”

“I am the Godmother to the Brotherhood of Emperors. The courts are an opportunity for service to the community and a way to have a family”

“I am amazed how well they have done while I was away reigning as Empress of Long Beach. A sold out Imperial Coronation and raising $120,000 is impressive.”

“I believe that the Imperial Coronation is amazing. I am looking forward to the newly crowned monarchs, Emperor Terrill Grimes and Empress Baby Shaques’, reign.”

“The Coronation was an amazing event this year, raising an awesome $120,000. It is about community, courage, and love.”

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

M ARC H 7, 2019

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