San Francisco Bay Times - July 12, 2018

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2018) July 12–25, 2018 | sfbaytimes.com

A Hopeful Moment

During A Time of Political Unrest

DAVE EARL PHOTOGRAPHY

See pages 12–13

In the News Compiled by Dennis McMillan London Breed Sworn in as Mayor of San Francisco During Historic Inaugural On Wednesday, July 11, London Breed made history, becoming San Francisco’s first African-American female mayor. Former San Francisco Bay Times columnist Rafael Mandelman was also sworn in as Supervisor of District 8. Mayor Breed highlighted unity in her inauguration speech, expressing her desire to bring diverse political factions together to solve the City’s many difficult and pressing challenges. Mayor Breed attended a pre-inaugural event on July 9 at Third Baptist Church. She said, “I want to work with members of the board. I want to work with others to address (the City’s) issues. And it’s going to take time and it’s going to take patience. I’m committed to doing what’s necessary to get us to a better place.” The inauguration ceremony had seating for approximately 1,500, with 1,000 of those going to the public. Many LGBT individuals are part of her transition team, such as former Mayor Gavin Newsom’s director of public policy Joyce Newstat, Matthew Rothschild of the City Attorney Office, former supervisor Roberta Achtenberg and former city health commissioner Roma Guy. https://www.ktvu.com LGBTQ and Civil Rights Groups React to Trump’s Supreme Court Pick Following President Trump’s announcement late Monday, July 9, that federal appeals court judge Brett Kavanaugh is his nominee to fill Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat on the Supreme Court, reaction was swift and uniformly negative from dozens of LGBTQ and civil rights groups.

L a mb d a L eg a l , AC LU, H RC , GLAAD, Planned Parenthood, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Transgender Law Center, Freedom for All Americans, One Colorado, Equality California, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the National LGBTQ Task Force were among the groups that issued statements. HRC President Chad Griffin expressed the concerns of many: “In nominating Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump has followed through on his threat to nominate a justice who would undermine LGBTQ equality, women’s reproductive rights and affordable healthcare. Now, the Senate has a responsibility to fulfill its constitutional duty, serve as a check on this reckless president and reject Brett Kavanaugh‘s nomination. This nominee was handpicked by anti-LGBTQ , anti-choice groups in an explicit effort to undermine equality—and the prospect of a Justice Kavanaugh threatens to erode our nation’s civil rights laws, block transgender troops from bravely serving this nation and allow a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people in every aspect of American life. The 2018 midterm elections just became the most consequential elections of our lifetime, and we must seize the opportunity to pull the emergency brake on this regime. We need to vote this November like our lives depend on it—because they do.” https://www.hrc.org/ San Francisco LGBT Democratic Clubs Participate in Resist-a-Thon Week Resist-a-Thon, which began on July 9 and ends on July 15, is celebrating the 43 democratic wins since November 2016 and is working to recruit, train and mobilize activists to build a blue wave to the 2018 midterm elections. Members of San Francisco’s two LGBT democratic clubs have been participating, particularly in light of the announcement concerning judge Kavanaugh. The Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club also

issued this statement: “We, the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club as an organization, insist on implementing a sex-positive, queer, feminist, pro-environment, pro-human agenda, regardless of the push-back. We insist that our two U.S. senators do whatever it takes to block any judicial nominee from this so-called president from serving on the Supreme Court, whatever the cost. And we call for defunding ICE if and when Democrats take back the House of Representatives, no matter how advantageous 45 thinks this issue is to his base.” https://www.resistathon.com/ Anti-LGBT Organization Vetted and Approved Brett Kavanaugh Family Research Council (FRC), an organization that believes “homosexual conduct is harmful to the persons who engage in it and to society at large, and can never be affirmed,” was one of the right-wing organizations that vetted judge Brett Kavanaugh. FRC issued the following statement following the July 9 announcement: “From the day Justice Kennedy retired, the Left has sought to make this vacancy all about abortion—even though many other significant issues are at stake including religious freedom and free speech. Under the Obama administration, we saw a growing assault on religious freedom and the courts became a battleground for secularists seeking to remove faith from the public square. Judge Kavanaugh resisted this trend in at least two instances—an HHS contraceptive mandate case and in an opinion supporting inauguration prayers.”

The statement reminds that a critical tenant of our nation’s founding—separation of church and state—remains under serious threat.

Southern Poverty Law Center’s FRC page: https://www.splcenter.org/ fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/ family-research-council Kavanaugh Viewed as a ‘Get Out of Jail Free Card’ for Trump Although judge Kavanaugh contributed to a 1998 report calling for former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, Kavanaugh has since expressed doubts about investigating or prosecuting a sitting president. For example, he said, “Whether the Constitution allows indictment of a sitting President is debatable.” He has since become an ardent supporter of presidential power. Referring to the special counsel investigation of President Trump, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) this week told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow: “This seems to be the most self-serving person he (Trump) could choose to protect himself from this criminal investigation.” Senator Booker went on to call Kavanaugh a “political actor” and “get out of jail free card” who would protect Trump, advance the President’s agenda, and roll back rights and political victories progressives won in court over the years. ht t ps://w w w.med ia ite.com a nd http://www.msnbc.com/ #SaveSCOTUS Effort Now Underway #SaveSCOTUS is a joint project of multiple organizations, such as MoveOn, the National Center for Transgender Equality and many others. The project has created a toolkit for opposing President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee (https://savescotus.indivisible.org/toolkit/) and is a resource for resistance events nationwide. On the night of July 9, the national group Refuse Fascism staged a related protest outside of San Fran(continued on page 27) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JULY 12, 2018

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Bearing the Load of Justice Kennedy’s Departure

Cross Currents Andrea Shorter Who doesn’t remember one of the best scenes in the near cult classic TBS perennially aired movie My Cousin Vinny, when f iancée Mona Lisa Vito (Marisa Tomei) has something of an anxiety attack with a clearly overwhelmed novice attorney Cousin Vinny LaGuardia Gambini ( Joe Pesci) while they are holed up in an Alabama backwoods cabin as he prepares the defense of his youthful cousin (Ralph Macchio) and friend from a murder charge and robbery of the local Sac-O-Suds quickie mart? Concerned and frustrated at the lack of lawyerly acumen thus far displayed by her fiancée, who promised they’d get married when he wins his first case, she paces nervously back and forth on the creaky front porch, and the conversation goes something like this: Lisa: Well, I hate to bring it up, because I know you’ve got enough pressure on you already. But we agreed to get married as soon as you won your first case. Meanwhile, ten years later, my niece, the daughter of my sister, is getting married. My biological clock is [taps her foot] ticking like this, and the way this case is going, I ain’t never getting married.

Vinny: Lisa, I don’t need this. I swear to God, I do not need this right now, okay? I’ve got a judge that’s just aching to throw me in jail. An idiot who wants to fight me for two hundred dollars. Slaughtered pigs. Giant loud whistles. I ain’t slept in five days. I got no money, a dress code problem, and a little murder case, which, in the balance, holds the lives of two innocent kids. Not to mention your [taps his foot] biological clock—my career, your life, our marriage, and let me see, what else can we pile on? Is there any more we can pile on to the top of the outcome of this case? Is it possible?

Lisa: [pause] Maybe it was a bad time to bring it up.

Maybe you have to be a fan and master of the quotable nuggets of My Cousin Vinny to really appreciate the reference, but even out of context it does impart some of the feelings expressed these days about the spiral of events before us. So, I kind of hate to bring it up, but atop the pile of other

chaos and madness emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania and Mar-a-Lago weekends—disastrous draconian “zero-tolerance” separations of children from parents at the border; the obvious lack of any real plan, care or interest in reuniting a now reported 3,000 plus children with their parents; capricious tariff wars on our allies—Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s announced retirement has added even more stuff to the burgeoning back-breaking load of issues and challenges heading into the door-die midterm elections.

Justice Kennedy’s legacy as a debatable moderate on civil rights law still provided the heroic swing vote on the court that helped to advance LGBT rights in a series of pivotal landmark cases. Those most notable cases include 2003’s Lawrence v. Texas (6–3) that struck down Texas’ ban on sex between gay men or lesbians; 2013’s United States v. Windsor (5–4), ending the federal ban on marriage between same-sex partners; and eventually 2015’s Obergefell v. Hodges, which struck down state bans on the marriage of same-sex couples.

Justice Kennedy’s last ruling, in favor of the Masterpiece Cakeshop that refused to serve LGBT people based on religious objections, was certainly not the albeit narrow ruling concerning LGBT rights that we would have preferred, but save for Justice Kennedy’s favorable rulings in the canon of cases over the past 30 years, it is possible that the civil right to same sex marriage would not be the established law of the land.

There’s plenty enough Democrat political punditry and bellyaching about the timing of Justice Kennedy’s announced departure and the inconvenience it poses before mid-term or even 2020 Presidential elections.

“Gee, Justice Kennedy, why now?

Couldn’t you have at least waited until after the Democrats’ blue wave in November? Or maybe until we’ve mounted a fighting chance of kicking this guy out of the White House in 2020?

How could you, Justice Kennedy?!”

Well, he didn’t wait. Depending on the choice of most bittersweet narrative, he served on the SCOTUS since 1988, and is either now moving on to a much-deserved retirement at age 81, or is abandoning a desperate, embattled liberal cabal.

The man child of a President is then taking the opportunity, without delay of waiting for the people to vote in November for a possible gain of Democratic majority hold in the Congress or Senate, to move forward another Gorsuch-like nominee for Senate approval to cement a strong, conservative-leaning SCOTUS for the next 40 years.

Presently, Democratic high hopes rest on Republican U.S. Senator Collins of Maine positioning her might as the

key thumbs up or down on the nominee’s pronounced leanings on Roe vs.

Wade, in effect serving as a slim barricade between civilization as we know it and doomsday.

It is obviously not just the possibility of eroding Roe vs. Wade as established law under a clear conservative majority on the SCOTUS that should rattle our cages. Immigration rights, voter rights, LGBT rights and environmental justice are but a few of the issues at stake when this President’s nominee to dominate the highest court is seated.

And, from the looks of it, there’s not much that the Democrats can do, other than proliferate angry tweets and demand a reverse “Mitch McConnell wait until the people vote,” as in the fateful Garland nomination, to stave off whatever ghastly second appointment to the highest court in the land is to be made by this sitting President.

As we hold our noses at Trump’s SCOTUS nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, we should keep our eyes on the real prize under the gaze of this President: the possibility of being exonerated by the highest court from whatever criminal charges, egregious misconduct, proven collusions or corruption are expected to be eventually revealed from the Mueller investigation and findings. That’s the ticket for this short-sighted President: How might this benefit me, right now, as President? His self-serving baff ling sense of imperial majesty and immunity to the checks and balance as the executive branch of three branches of a democratic government never ceases to astound.

No matter the merits of his status as a moderate, or the impacts of his rulings both good and bad, the fact remains that the departure of Justice Kennedy at this critical juncture is opening to solidifying potentially forty plus years of a definitively conservative majority stranglehold on SCOTUS. As we rapidly course through the seven stages of grief concerning the gravity of Justice Kennedy’s departure, whether or not the fate of the balance of the high court will help to drive a blue wave rally to the polls to vote in a democratic majority in the house remains to be seen. I certainly hope it does. His departure might not be the best timing, but for better or worse, it is more stuff to bear while preparing the case for a blue tidal wave at midterm elections.

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.

Trans March Rally at Dolores Park The 15th Annual San Francisco Trans March was held on Friday, June 22, at Dolores Park. Following an invocation by Holy Old Man Bull, the entertainment and featured guests included Gavin Grimm, Our Lady J, Sheena Rose, Elena Vera from Trans Lifeline, Carolyn Henry and many more.

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Reflecting on Justice Kennedy’s Retirement: Can History Somehow Repeat Itself ? that he departed because he wanted Trump to name his replacement while a Republican-controlled Senate was likely to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. Adam Liptak reported in The New York Times on the White House’s “quiet campaign” to encourage Kennedy to resign.

When we heard the news of Kennedy’s retirement from the Court, it took a while for it to sink in. We really couldn’t quite believe it, especially in light of the fact that some respected court watchers perceived Kennedy’s opinions this past term to suggest he was staying on. And one of the first things that came to mind was the importance of taking care of ourselves, personally and as a community, in the face of an event that leaves LGBTIQ people more vulnerable and uncertain in many critical aspects of our lives.

6/26 and Beyond Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis We and many others had long feared the day might come. It did on June 27, 2018, when Justice Anthony Kennedy announced he was retiring from the U.S. Supreme Court, opening the door for solidly right conservatives to hold an iron grip on a 5-member majority on the Court for years.

Adam Liptak, The New York Times Supreme Court correspondent, recently opined on NPR’s Fresh Air, “I really can’t overemphasize how different Justice Kennedy’s retirement is from just about anybody else’s. It’s the end of the world as we know it. It’s a transformative moment in American life. He has been so important, so central to the work of the Court and to the meaning of the Constitution. And whoever succeeds him will cause the Court to be a completely different place.”

Ever yone knows how important Kennedy has been to LGBTIQ rights, having written all landmark Supreme Court opinions upholding LGBTIQ equality and freedom, including Obergefell, the 2015 nationwide marriage equality decision. It is well known that Kennedy was also the key swing vote in favor of a woman’s right to reproductive freedom and to affirmative action, and that he moderated the Court’s opinions on conservative issues in which he still sided with the Court’s very conservative wing.

Alice Breakfast

Whatever the reason, Kennedy’s decision to spend time enjoying his own family, despite their willingness for him to remain on the Court, adds enormous uncertainty to the lives of millions of LGBTIQ individuals and families, women and minorities.

If Trump succeeds in getting his chosen nominee Brett Kavanaugh confirmed by the U.S. Senate, we can anticipate any number of Supreme Court decisions that could be averse to LGBTIQ equality. Possibilities include decisions allowing businesses to discriminate against LGBTIQ people in the name of religion, permitting religious non-profits receiving government money to refuse to provide services to LGBTIQ people, holding that federal anti-discrimination laws such as Titles VII and IX do not cover sexual orientation and gender identity, and limiting the extent to which the government must treat married LGBTIQ couples on equal terms to straight married couples, even if the Court does not overturn Obergefell itself.

What responsibility did Kennedy have for all of us when he found himself in a position of such tremendous inf luence? We think of the many LGBTIQ heroes and others in history—both famous and not—who have put the needs of others above their own, when they have sought and gained powerful leadership positions or have found themselves in a position where they could make the world a safer and better place for others. In a sense, LGBTIQ people do this every time they take the risk of coming out in difficult situations instead of taking the easier path. All of us are called upon once again to extend ourselves in the face of Trump’s nominating Kennedy’s replacement.

Kennedy’s departure caused us to ref lect on the scope of ethical responsibility that leaders, such as Supreme Court justices, assume when they take positions in which they exert enormous power over the lives of others, especially those who are vulnerable. As Franklin Delano Roosevelt put it, “Great power involves great responsibility.”

As Trump made his nomination earlier this week to replace Kennedy, the Senate confirmation battle begins. We are reminded that in 1987, a broad coalition of people who valued civil rights and liberties organized successfully to prevent Ronald Reagan’s ultra conservative Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork from joining the Court. Anthony Kennedy won the job instead. Let us together enable history to repeat itself.

In an off icial statement, Kennedy stated that he was leaving the Court because of a “deep desire to spend more time with” his family.

But significantly, he also acknowledged that “his family was willing for him to continue to serve.” We can understand Kennedy’s personal desire to retire at age 81; however, we are concerned by the possibility

Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis, 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.

Photos by Bill Wilson and Paul Margolis

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PHOTO BY BILL WILSON PHOTO BY BILL WILSON PHOTO BY PAUL MARGOLIS

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Featuring special guest speaker Senator Kamala Harris, the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club’s annual Pride Breakfast was held on Sunday, June 24, at the Hyatt Embarcadero. Kate Kendell, NCLR executive director, was honored for her years of advocacy. She received the Jim Foster Lifetime Achievement Award. http://www.alicebtoklas.org/breakfast

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JULY 12, 2018

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Strengthening the Effort to Abolish ICE

Out of the Closet and into City Hall Oakland City Councilmember At-Large, Rebecca Kaplan With all of the painful and offensive things going on in the world today, it can sometimes be difficult to maintain hope. And yet, to continue to work for positive change, we need to find the motivation and inspiration.

Some good news is that progressive women leaders have won major victories lately, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez winning the Congressional primary in New York. This brilliant, progressive young woman won her election despite being outspent by a margin of over 10 to 1. This victory helps to highlight the importance of campaigning clearly for human needs, from universal healthcare to abolishing ICE and more.

I am happy to announce that I recently signed onto a letter calling for the abolishment of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE’S actions have

had ramifications in our own backyard. ICE came into West Oakland and tore apart a family while falsely slandering them—claiming it was a criminal case—when they were filing a civil deportation action and no criminal charges. In response to this raid, for which the Oakland Police Department (OPD) provided traffic support, I introduced a resolution to the Oakland City Council, which passed unanimously, prohibiting any further use of OPD to help with ICE raids.

Customs Enforcement (ICE), the lawless federal agency that has terrorized immigrants and separated families in the communities we live in and represent since its creation in 2002. As one of our newest federal agencies, ICE has shown that when given a blanket directive to round up families, it spends more time destroying communities than it does keeping communities safe. The experiment that is ICE has failed, and must be ended as soon as possible.

In addition, I am proposing that the Oakland City Council adopt a resolution to urge Congress to abolish ICE. We’ve now experienced enough of ICE telling lies, spreading racism, ripping apart families and leaving guns loose where they can get into the hands of murderers. It’s time to abolish ICE.

As leaders and elected officials, we are committed to ensuring that our communities have the opportunity to thrive—that means everything from keeping our infrastructure up to date and creating good jobs to ensuring that our kids get a quality education.

Above all else, we are responsible for the safety of people in our communities. Our government should encourage civic and community participation and increase the quality of lives of our residents. The presence of ICE in our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, places of worship, and homes, makes this impossible.”

The letter, in part, reads: “We are outraged at the recent actions of the administration, which have separated over 2,000 families who came to this country fleeing violence and seeking asylum, only to be detained and cruelly and capriciously separated. We fundamentally believe that our country can and should be a place where people seeking freedom and opportunity can find a home.

While this escalation of policy is particularly devastating and inhumane, it is part of a larger crisis that has been building in our communities for years because of the rampant and brutal enforcement tactics of Immigration and

Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan was elected in 2008 to serve as Oakland’s citywide Councilmember; she was re-elected in 2016. She also serves on the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC). Follow Councilmember Kaplan on Twitter @Kaplan4Oakland (https://twitter.com/Kaplan4Oakland) and Facebook (https://www.facebook. com/Kaplan4Oakland/).

New State Budget Helps LGBTQ Community Working with a team of California’s mayors, we were able to secure $500 million for the Homeless Emergency Aid grant program to provide shelters, services and supportive housing. San Francisco will be eligible for almost $28 million. This critical funding will go a long way in helping people to get off of the streets faster, including the 30% of our homeless population identifying as LGBTQ.

Assemblymember Phil Ting State budgets are statements of our priorities and provide a framework for us to strengthen and uplift our communities. They are the most powerful tool California has to ensure that economic prosperity and social justice are shared by all people.

With decisions from Washington, D.C., constantly threatening our California values, I’m proud that this year’s new $200 billion state budget, just signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, prioritizes progressive investments. As Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, I fought to ensure that our revenues address our homeless crisis, invest in our youth and help families in poverty.

We also heard from community organizations, like Larkin Street Youth Ser vices, urging that emergency grant funding be set aside to meet the unique needs of homeless youth.

On any given night, more than 1,300 youth in San Francisco don’t have a safe place to call home, with studies showing LGBTQ young people are 120% more likely to become homeless than their straight peers. Our budget requires that at least 5% of emergency grants be dedicated toward homeless youth.

Additionally, universal health care access remains one of our top priorities. Towards that goal, we invested nearly $10 million in HIV prevention programs and other health initiatives intended to keep drug costs down.

This funding will boost eligibility for PrEP and PEP assistance programs

and the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (known as ADAP), while staffing up those programs to handle the new enrollment.

Lastly, I’m proud to have worked with Senator Scott Wiener to secure $250,000 for a proposed Museum of LGBTQ History and Culture in San Francisco. The museum’s vision is to have a 35,000 square-foot space that incorporates exhibits, events, retail and dining. The GLBT Historical Society is championing the project and says it would be the first of its kind anywhere in the world. For far too long, the stories of the LGBTQ community have remained unknown or marginalized. This museum would be a destination where those stories could reclaim their rightful place in history.

I’m excited about the progress made in this year’s state budget. As we begin work on next year’s proposals, I look forward to hearing from you about how we can keep building a more equitable California.

Phil Ting represents the 19th Assembly District, which includes the Westside of San Francisco along with the communities of Broadmoor, Colma and Daly City.

Public Relations Society of America

The Public Relations Society of America SF Chapter (PRSA-SF) held a “Meet the Media” forum at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center on Wednesday, June 13. Coordinator John McCartney welcomed panelists Robert Bernardo, moderator; Matthew Bajko, Meredith May and Rink Foto.

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olence perpetrated between Pride anthems and politically correct posturing. Our voices are absent or silenced in spaces where we can provide the necessary experienced leadership to address these abuses.

The Art of Living Kin Folkz June: 30 days, 720 hours, 43,200 minutes. It was a magnif icent month filled with precious Pride opportunities for our TLGBQIA+ community to publicly profess the rightness of our identities. As we gathered and coalesced each strident and shiny social media worthy moment into rainbow filtered posts, Trump acted as if the millions of us were nonexistent.

30 days, 720 hours, 43,200 minutes of disregard and silence from the White House.

Very few celebrants found that news to be revealing. In fact, many of us expected vile behavior from this demonstrated racist, misogynistic xenophobe. We marched, danced and rolled, in spite of the blatant mistreatment. We picked up our pain, slung it ‘round our neck and wore it like a bejeweled cape of courage. We congratulated ourselves for the effort and rushed to fill in any gaps in our show of unity. Many of us rhythmically remarked on the return to our activist roots in the face of fascism. We came forth in colossal corporate columns and small ragtag contingents.

Many of us also felt neither pride nor a connection to the euphoria enjoyed by the throngs of privileged TLGBQIA+ and heterosexual people who have continued to hold sway on Pride boards and contingents, and as paid Pride staff and contractors. Many more of us did not feel safe attending Pride knowing that even our TLGBQIA+ abusers rationalize away their accountability simply by announcing themselves also as the oppressed. Racism, sexism, classism, trans/bi/homophobia, ageism and

QTPOC and femme-identified folks struggle to be heard when we point out that the Pride decision-makers, power-brokers and media-makers are still primarily white-identified folks, masculine-identif ied people and QTPOC figureheads who refuse to release their privilege or to use it to provide parity. In effect, during this most glorious 2018 Pride season, many of us QTPOC, poor and femme-identified folks were disregarded twice over—our needs rendered irrelevant, less worthy and impotent by both the general population and our own rainbow community. QTPOC, poor and femme-identified folks’ rights deserve attention and the dignity to delve deeper than simply serving as Pride props that all too often are denied access to decision-making power and wealth equity.

Pride was conceived by authentic equity seekers and freedom f ighters—by folks living in the margins. They env isioned a revolut ionary gathering of TLGBQIA+ people being led by the most oppressed among us—a demonstration that would breathe balance and sanity into the world.

Many of us have lost sight of our noble Pride objective by continuing a practice of power-hoarding and unwittingly buttressing the toxic pro-white, pro-male power agenda that Trump embodies. Our opportunity to upend our own community’s prejud ices against power sharing with QTPOC, poor and femme-identif ied people and prioritizing our leadership depends completely upon whether we all truly want to co-create equity.

Authentic equity liberates us all and calls for much more than mused over slogans on handd raw n sig ns. It a sk s that we drop the pretense and address the oppression recreated in our Pride celebrations and communities.

Many Pride boards and Pride staff stand as excellent examples of equity-seeking entities walking unf linchingly into an evolved TLGBQIA+ and ally future.

ableism still run amok in our community by masking bitter prejudice as “preferences.” Pride is not immune.

Recent surveys validate how people of color and women of all genders experience Pride as spaces fraught with oppressions. There are documented instances of anti-POC, anti-immigrant, anti-trans, anti-elder, anti-disabled, anti-child and anti-woman vi10

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Yet, most remain unchanged. As we face the fight for our freedoms in a nation led by would be oligarchs, we must adopt a universal set of equity objectives and agreements across all Pride boards and provide community practices that honor our origins. #NoJusticeNoPride Kin Folkz is the Founder and Executive Director of Spectrum Queer Media (http://www.spectrumqueermedia.com/), an Oakland-based national LGBTQ rights advocacy organization.

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Pride and Prejudice in the Age of Trump

Business Tips from GGBA

Commissioner Orders Workers’ Comp Insurers to Report Federal Income Tax Savings Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones recently issued an order requiring that every insurer licensed to write workers’ compensation insurance in the state of California must report their federal income tax savings annually through a rate filing in light of the new tax law.

The recent revision to the Federal Tax Schedule for 2018 reduced the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. This means that nationally, insurers will now be able to retain even more of policyholder premiums as profit.

“Any savings to insurers should be passed along to California businesses,” said Commissioner Jones. “This order will allow my department to examine workers’ compensation insurers’ sav-

GGBA Member Spotlight

ings and rates and provide transparency to the public. I urge insurers to pass these savings along to policyholders.”

Jones’ order will require each insurer to submit a rate filing to report the dollar amount of their tax savings by December 31, 2018, and on a yearly basis through December 31, 2020.

Insurers will need to provide details about how those savings impact their rates. The insurer must also provide a detailed explanation if they have determined that there is no rate impact, stating why the reduction in the federal corporate tax rate does not affect their rates.

The Hugh Groman Group

The Hugh Groman Group (HGG) provides catering and event planning services throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, and is comprised of three companies: Hugh Groman Catering, Greenleaf Platters and Phil’s Sliders. Providing food and service of the highest quality, the HGG has been a Certified Green Business for 10 years.

We interviewed Hugh Groman, founder of the HGG. He is an experienced entrepreneur and a proud member of the Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA). We encourage you to read the interview with him here and to watch videos showcasing some of his amazing culinary skills. They can be found at YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxPNWplFdwzW7k3UbW3kIwA), our website (https://ggba.com/) and at our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/GoldenGateBusinessAssociation/).

ing business relationships and friendships takes time and effort. They are extremely rewarding and “worth it.”

GGBA: W hat has been your biggest rewa rd/ satisfaction during your journey as an entrepreneur, and your biggest disappointment/nervewracking situation?

Hugh Groman: I created my business because I love hospitality, food and creativity. Having a catering and event planning business allows me the opportunity to work with wonderful people, as well as the chance to be creative on a daily basis.

Hugh Groman: I’m grateful for my whole 20 plus year journey as an entrepreneur. I’ve had the freedom to create and recreate my job many times over.

I’ve learned many huge personal and spiritual lessons along the way. I consider the whole process of owning and running a business an opportunity for personal growth. My biggest challenge has been owning and running and selling restaurants (twice!) in both Brooklyn and Berkeley.

GGBA: Do you have any specific policies in place that benefit the LGBT Community?

GGBA: What’s the most important lesson you learned being an entrepreneur?

Hugh Groman: We donate or provide discounted catering to a number of LGBT non-profits and organizations.

Hugh Groman: It’s hard to choose just one lesson as being the most important. Long ago, I learned that the people in my life don’t love me because of what I can do or what I have achieved. Most recently, I learned that I can’t take responsibility, nor should I, for fixing every problem my team might bring to my attention. There have been many lessons in between.

GGBA: Why did you decide to create your business?

GGBA: Do you have any specific policies in place regarding workplace equality?

Hugh Groman: We don’t have explicit policies, because we haven’t felt the need to have an explicit policy. We have people of all ages, races, sexualities and genders working for us.

GGBA: Why did you decide to join the GGBA? Hugh Groman: I joined the GGBA to have the opportunity to network with a new group of wonderful business people who all have something in common.

GGBA: How has the GGBA helped your business so far?

Hugh Groman: On a practical level, I’ve already been referred business by members of the group. But my participation has also reinforced what I already knew, which is that build-

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GGBA: What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about starting their own business?

Hugh Groman: I have lots of advice. One lesson I took a long time to learn is that it’s OK not to be good at everything. Eventually though, you want to hire people who compliment your skill set, and work hard to empower them to bring their gifts to the table. It may feel threatening, because they will see things a different way than you do.

To learn more, go to: http://thehughgromangroup.com/

Register for all of the events listed here at https://ggba.com/

July Make Contact Tuesday, July 10 6pm–8pm Wall Beds & More 550 15th Street, Floor 2, San Francisco Stand Up & Speak OUT! Bi-Weekly Workshop to be a more effective Speaker and Communicator Featuring National Award-Winning Speaker, Gina Grahame Wednesday, July 18 3pm–5pm Offices of the U.S. Small Business Administration 455 Market Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco EDGE Master Class for High-Performing LGBT Businesses LEAN for Small Business Enterprises Thursday, July 26 1:30pm - Registration 2pm–5pm - Workshop 5pm–6pm - Networking Reception Hosted at ZillowGroup 535 Mission Street, Suite 700, San Francisco

Stand Up & Speak OUT! Bi-Weekly Workshop on how to be a more effective Speaker and Communicator Featuring National Award-Winning Speaker, Gina Grahame Wednesday, August 1 3pm–5pm Offices of the U.S. Small Business Administration 455 Market Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco August Make Contact Tuesday, August 14 6pm–8pm Art Attack SF 2358 Market Street, Suite 1, San Francisco EDGE Master Class for High-Performing LGBT Businesses Goal Setting for Increased Business Performance and Longterm Professional Growth Tuesday, September 18 1:30pm - Registration 2pm–5pm - Workshop 5pm–6pm - Networking Reception Hosted at ZillowGroup 535 Mission Street, Suite 700, San Francisco

Join GGBA If you are an LGBTQ business owner and want your business to grow, we encourage you to join GGBA! See GGBA’s website (https://ggba.com/) for details on our business and community education, development and advocacy work.

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A Hopeful Moment During A Time of Political Unrest

Photos courtesy of Dave Earl Photography

Iconic Choirs Briefly Unify Mormons and LGBTQ Community During Pride On June 25, as Pride Month was drawing to a close, an historic event took place. Dr. Tim Seelig, Artistic Director of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC), served as guest conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square during a concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View.

Seelig stepped onto the conductor’s podium to lead the Choir and Orchestra in the encore number, “This Land Is Your Land.” The Choir traditionally invites a guest conductor who is well known to the community—from musicians and government officials to religious leaders and celebrities—at each of its concert stops.

Few guest conductors, though, have “been as symbolically potent” as Seelig, noted The Salt Lake Tribune journalist Peggy Fletcher Stack. As she explained, the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints maintains that being gay is not a sin, but acting on it is. The Mormon church opposes same-sex marriage and any gay relationships as a result.

Yet here was Seelig at the helm, with many SFGMC members in attendance. Thirty members of SFGMC had participated in a special sound check prior to the concert. The sound check included a meet-and-greet with Dr. Mack Wilberg, Music Director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and members of this Choir. Sixteen members of SFGMC also had the opportunity to sing with the Choir as they rehearsed. Two other guest choirs from the San Francisco Bay Area—the San Jose Pop Up Choir and the Grand Chamber Group—also participated in the sound check.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir music director Dr. Mack Wilberg (center) welcomed SFGMC’s Dr. Tim Seelig and Chris Verdugo

Mormon Tabernacle Choir President Ron Jarrett later commented, “It was such an honor to have Dr. Seelig conduct the Choir.”

He summed up the event well by adding, “This was a beautiful moment for both of our organizations to be unified through music.”

Mormon Gay Pride: Behind the Headlines ternoon rehearsal. Wouldn’t it be great if they invited the gay men’s chorus?”

We thought for sure we were being punked. But he gave his full name and a phone number. It was too outrageous not to give him a call. He knew someone who knew someone. Now, not to distrust Arthur, but we needed to hear from someone in the MoTab ranks officially. Boom. The invitation was indeed real from both the Publicist and the General Manager. My laptop did not burst into flames.

TLC: Tears, Laughs and Conversation Dr. Tim Seelig “The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Gets a Gay Conductor - On One Night” Headline from The Salt Lake Tribune on June 25, 2018 What? That has to be fake news. Regardless of where you stand on religion or the gays, this event resonated with people in both groups as two things that do not go together in nature. In fact, the press release alone had “views and hits” by 2,486 outlets with a potential audience in excess of 80m. “How the heck did that happen?” you might ask.

Let’s start at the very beginning. No, not all the way back to Joseph Smith, just back to Arthur.

About four weeks ago, we received an email in the office from a person named Arthur. “The Mormon Tabernacle Choir (MoTab) is coming to the Bay Area on tour. They’ll be in Mountain View on Monday, June 25.

Sometimes they invite members of local choruses to join them for their af-

That’s when the real discussion began internally. It included our own members who had left the Mormon religion—mostly not of their own accord. They are former Mormons or FoMo’s.

We were puzzled by the invitation coming from one of the most anti-gay religions anywhere. While the Mormons have not been physically abusive as some religions are, they have been guilty of emotional and psychological abuse resulting in countless broken hearts and lives. It was not lost on any of us that in a week when families were being forcibly separated at our borders, the same has happened to thousands of families at the hands of the Mormon church.

What should we do with this invitation? We went directly to our own mission statement for the answer. It says that we build community, inspire activism and foster compassion through music.

The answer was clear. All three of these pillars would be served by accepting the invitation.

We had three requirements: 1. We would be introduced as the San Francisco GAY Men’s Chorus.

2. We would wear SFGMC t-shirts: bright purple, a rainbow swoop and with the words “Love Can Build a Bridge.” (They are fabulous and designed by a FoMo.) 3. We would bring our own photographer (also a FoMo).

The answer was yes to all, and there were no caveats or contingencies placed on us in return.

The t-shirt we wore said it all. Building bridges is an interesting thing. I wrote an entire article about it. (See http://sf baytimes. com/bridge-to-somewhere/) In the best case, it begins on both sides of the chasm. In this case, regardless of their motivation, they had laid the first brick on their side. We responded to the invitation by laying the first brick on our side. We were clear from the outset that the bridge would not be completed any time soon, but how could we not do our part? We felt that we were doing this for all of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters for whom this might give just a glimmer of hope.

They allowed us to bring 25 singers. Nine of those are actually former Mormons, our FoMo’s. Some of their stories are shared in this issue.

There are more who couldn’t make the Monday afternoon event. FYI, recovering Baptists are greatly outnumbered by FoMo’s in the chorus.

The remaining slots were filled on a first come first served basis.

On Saturday morning, June 23, as I was getting ready for two shows that day, the phone rang. It was Scott, the MoTab General Manager. I was ful-

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ly expecting, “We’re so sorry. It’s not going to work out for Monday.” His message stopped me in my tracks.

“We are excited about having your singers. We also wondered if you would be our guest conductor for the encore?” I said, “You mean at the rehearsal?” He said, “No, at the performance.” Lordy, Lordy. I picked myself up off the f loor as he told me I would conduct, “This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land”—OMG, could it get any better? They would also present me with a special commemorative baton.

On Monday, our little gaggle o’ gays arrived at the enormous Shoreline Amphitheater. The massive Chorus and Orchestra were already on stage. Within 5 minutes, I was approached by 3 large men in dark suits and ties (even though it was a very sunny warm day in the South Bay). I was a little frightened, but they were smiling and introduced themselves as Elder this and that, shook my hand and told me how delighted they were that we were there. Seriously, they seemed delighted.

As the rehearsal began, our singers joined MoTab on stage. They stood out in their bright purple/rainbow swoop, colored hair and beards! I thought they were going to sing one song, but they stayed as much as an hour! One of our singers was actually placed by his cousin who sings in MoTab. Oh, yes. You can’t make this up. The MoTab singers were absolutely gracious. Of course, they were; they are Mormons. But everyone sensed that it was not just “Mormon nice,” but something deeper.

Toward the end of the rehearsal, I was escorted to the stage. I wasn’t actually invited to say anything, but that has never stopped me. I called out the big rainbow elephant in the room. I thanked them for putting aside our differences long enough to make music together. It was a moment I will never forget. I can’t, since it was filmed! (You can see it on the SFGMC Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SFGMC/) After rehearsal and before the concert, Dan and I were invited to a VIP reception where we were introduced to many of the Mormon Elders (with “Hello, my name is (continued on page 13)

SFGMC Event with Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sparks Emotional Responses Below are just some of the responses that followed Dr. Tim Seelig serving as Guest Conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Mormon Gay Pride continued from page 12

“The whole experience felt surreal. I was bracing myself for conflicting emotions and a tortured heart, much like I experienced as a closeted Gay man in the church. But this experience was peaceful, positive and filled with love, which was enough for me in that moment.

I’m already dreaming of a joint concert someday.”

SFGMC member Tyler

Elder Price” ringing in our ears). We introduced ourselves as husbands to everyone we met. That was fun!

Then the concert began.

The chorus of 300 and the 60 -piece orchestra performed f lawlessly. I mean f lawlessly. They are simply stunning. Not a note or a hair or a pearl necklace out of place (only the women donned pearls—another difference from SFGMC).

“I was surprised by how moved I was during “Come, Come, Ye Saints.” For all the pain and anger I’ve felt towards The Church, I can’t escape the fact that these are my people, my ancestors, and this was their anthem of hope that kept them going during unimaginable hardships. I would not be a professional musician today if it were not for the Church. Considering all the negative publicity the Mormon Church has received as far as their treatment of the LGBTQ community, it’s nice to see them do something positive.”

SFGMC member Lynden

During intermission, Dan and I visited with one of the elders. We asked how the decision had been made to make this happen. Apparently, it had been discussed among the MoTab folks first. They were coming to the Bay Area. It was Pride month. They knew of SFGMC’s reputation and I am an acquaintance of their conductor. They decided to send the idea up the hierarchical flag pole.

“I officially resigned from the Mormon church in December, 2012, and moved to San Francisco. I just had to get away from Utah and all of the emotional baggage. Since then, something has changed.

My emotional wounds have healed, at least partially. Healed enough, that not even singing those old MoTab chestnuts caused the wounds to reopen. (Can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”) I figured I would just grit my teeth and muddle through. But what happened was quite the opposite. Those religiously charged lyrics had no power over me.”

SFGMC member Dan

They did not expect a “yes.” It went up and up and finally landed in The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. To everyone’s surprise, they said, “Yes.” That explained some of the overt friendliness. They had been given their blessing by the highest body of the LDS church. The gays and the church had found a small plot of land where we could coexist—a land called music.

Then, it was time. The announcer told the audience, “Tonight’s guest conductor is the Artistic Director of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.” An immediate cheer went up from the audience and continued as I made my way to the podium and took a bow. (Film of this is also on our Facebook page.)

Everyone in that place knew something significant was happening. The song went well. I got my baton.

The ovation from the audience—and the choir and orchestra—was overwhelming.

The choir then sang their traditional blessing that they always end with, a cappella. The powers that be asked that I turn and allow the choir to sing it to me, and to the audience. “God be with you ‘til we meet again.” There were many tears among the choir members. (OK, and a few from me.)

Not everyone thinks that it was a good idea for us to have taken this foray into “enemy” territory. Some think it is folly—or worse—for us to have accepted the invitation.

I believe that I have explained our reasons. It’s about building bridges. It’s what we do.

We accepted an invitation to sing this past October from the Southern Baptists. We’ve accepted an invitation for this coming October from the Catholics.

These kinds of things are the only way we are going to continue to keep the rights for which we have all fought so hard.

None of us are fooled. The current movement, using “Religious Freedom” as its moniker, is a very thinly veiled attempt—on the part of organized religion—to limit our rights and to disavow our very existence. We will sing on, wherever invited.

It is these stories shared in this issue that make the entire experience worth it.

As a group, we are far from being Christian. But there is irony that the gay men’s chorus actually demonstrated Biblical truths, such as forgiveness and loving your neighbor. It was the right thing for us. We hope it was the right thing for them.

This is one of the most humbling experiences of my life—not because I was invited to conduct what is, as they call it, “The World’s Choir,” but because of what I hope it meant for our own community and for theirs. I know I stood there representing an incalculable host of young people who have been cast aside, wounded. There is some deep symbolism in the fact that the crown jewel of the Mormon Church—MoTab—opened its hearts and made room on its podium for a BIG OLD GAY to lead them.

THIS LAND IS OUR LAND ... not yours, not mine, but ours.

Dr. Tim Seelig is the Artistic Director of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.

“I am so unbelievably offended and insulted that the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus sung with the choir of bigotry. They are responsible for thousands of queer youth deaths and you sing with them on Pride Weekend. Shame on you. I will never go to another game ends horse event or performance or support you in any way. I was raised Mormon and just resigned last year. I know the damage, the pain in the blood they have on their hands, and now you have it on your hands as well.”

Post on Facebook “I read in the news that you conducted the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Is this true? Do you even know their stance on homosexuality? You guys are gay as f--k and they, as a church, won’t even let you get baptized. I don’t understand the rationale behind this collaboration. Would you care to explain?”

From a letter received in the SFGMC office “I joined the LDS Church in 1966 thinking that if I were baptized and became an Elder, I would be healed of my ‘tendencies.’ My first year at Brigham Young University, I fell in love with Mitch.

We sought guidance from a member of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I began conversion therapy. It was not successful. I was excommunicated. A group of Elders stood in a circle with candles, said my name and then turned the candles upside down, smashing out the flame, signifying that my soul/spirit was scattered throughout the universe—and dead. All these years later, nothing prepared me for the experience of actually singing with MoTab. Wow! They were kind, they were gentle and they were welcoming with warm hearts open to our presence. We shared stories, we laughed, and most importantly of all, for that one moment in time, we sang as one. There is no false thinking that all is hunky-dory now. But for today, a bridge was built through the love of song. I am at peace.”

SFGMC member Gregory

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20th Annual Pride Brunch

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San Francisco Bay Times with Olivia Travel at Pride Festival, Saturday, June 23

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San Francisco Pride Parade 2018 • San Fran Photos by Sandy Morris, Kait Miller, Abby Zimberg and Elizabeth Herren The Pride Parade is truly a high point of our year, and congratulations and gratitude go to the staff and volunteers at SF Pride.

Celebrating the Parade’s official theme for 2018, “Generations of Strength” and the paper’s 40th Anniversary (1978-2018), the San Francisco Bay Times contingent was proud to feature ABC-7’s Dan Ashley and his band along with hundreds of volunteers and supporters in the annual march up Market Street.

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It truly takes a village to assemble a Pride Parade contingent, so the San Francisco Bay Times wishes to thank supporters Gray Line San Francisco, Napa Cellars, Olivia Travel, Celebrity Cruises, San Francisco Federal Credit Union, Dixie Horning, Extreme Pizza, Budget Signs,The Balloon Lady, Premium Resources, Grubstake, La Mediterranee, Equator Coffee and Cruise America RV Rentals & Sales.

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Can Meditation Relieve Depression?

Most recently, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine reviewed thousands of previous studies on meditation, and found that one type, mindfulness meditation, may rival antidepressants in relieving the symptoms of depression. The research found that, while meditation is not a cure-all, when it comes to the treatment of depression, anxiety or pain, the practice may be just as effective as medication for all three of these issues.

Roland Schembari and Bill Hartman, Co-Founders Randy Alfred, Founding News Editor 1978 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 Q: I’ve been depressed for a long time and finally started getting treatment for it last year. I’ve been taking antidepressants and seeing a therapist for eight months. I am feeling better, but I’m still down a lot. I’ve never meditated, but I have friends who do, and they say it could help me to be less depressed. Is this just hype, or is there anything to the idea that meditation helps with depression?

A: Yes, there is. I’ve been teaching meditation to patients with depression and anxiety for over twenty years, and I am convinced that it can be very helpful as part of an overall treatment plan. In recent years, research has produced a mountain of evidence that confirms this view.

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mas and experiences that we can’t extrapolate ourselves from.

The Lesbian Love Doctor Dr. Frankie Bashan With the recent high-prof ile suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, new attention is again being dedicated to mental health, depression and the struggle that many people suffer in silence. As a clinical psychologist serving the queer community, I treat people every day who think they’re the only ones and that no one can relate to their feelings of helplessness, loneliness and isolation.

That is simply not true. My whole goal with this month’s column is to make it clear: If you or a loved one are suffering, they are not alone, they do not deserve to suffer, and simple, practical treatments are available.

Causes of Depression But before I talk about treatments, it’s helpful to talk about what causes depression. Depression is a complex illness. Often resulting from a chemical imbalance, depression doesn’t manifest simply by having a disproportionate amount of certain brain chemicals, research suggests. Possible triggers of depression include: • faulty mood regulation, • genetic vulnerability, • medications, • other medical problems, • stressful life events.

Researchers have identified that depression is a combination of biology (brain chemicals, nerve cell connections and genes) and psychology— your mindset or way of thinking.

Much of these are beyond our control; we can’t manipulate our nerve connections, and our mindsets are frequently molded from early life trau-

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When we’re sad, depressed or anxious, we tend to focus on the negative things that have happened to us and worry about the negative things that may happen to us in the future.

We ruminate and brood, which can drive us into a downward spiral that can lead to deeper depression. Mindfulness practice is essentially about focusing the attention on the present moment, which can break this cycle of rehearsing and rehashing.

Learning to be mindful—to rest the awareness in the present moment— is usually considered a foundational meditation skill, but there are also other traditional eastern meditation practices that can do much to lift your mood, and western psychology is only beginning to explore these.

One focused concentration practice that I have found very helpful with depressed patients is self-compassion practice. One of the most painful symptoms of depression is relentless self-denigration. Learning to incline the mind in the direction of more selfacceptance and self-forgiveness can therefore be very helpful. If you’d like to explore this avenue, a good place to start is: http://self-compassion.org/ A nother pract ice that can ease bot h depression and an x iet y is lovingkindness meditation. This is a concentration practice in which you deliberately send well-wishes, first to yourself, and then to others. Just a few minutes daily of the practice can help to increase empathy and to decrease the habit of critical and judgmental thoughts toward self and others.

Here’s a link to a website where you can learn how to do this practice: https://positivepsychologyprogram. com/gratitude-meditationhappiness/ Finally, the regular practice of gratitude can be very helpful. When people are depressed, they tend to focus their attention on what is deficient or absent in their lives, and to lose sight of what is positive or fulfilling. Just a few minutes a day of focused concentration on the things in your life for which you can be grateful can do much to counteract this tendency.

You can learn how to do this practice here: https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/gratitude-meditationhappiness/ Meditation is obviously not as easy as taking a pill. It takes patience and sustained commitment to learn. One way to help ensure success is to meditate with others. While the previously mentioned resources can be very helpful, I suggest that you also find a meditation class to attend, or a meditation group that meets weekly. Learning any new skill is easier to do if you do it with other people, and meditation is no exception. Good luck!

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

Struggling with Depression or Thoughts of Suicide?

You’re Not Alone

CONTRIBUTORS Writers Rink, Sister Dana Van Iquity, Ann Rostow, Patrick Carney, Kate Kendell, Alex Randolph, Heidi Beeler, Gary M. Kramer, Dennis McMillan, Tom Moon, Tim Seelig, Cinder Ernst, John Chen Rafael Mandelman, Jewelle Gomez, Phil Ting, Rebecca Kaplan, Kin Folkz, Leslie Katz, Philip Ruth, Peter Gallotta, Bill Lipsky, Karen Williams, Donna Sachet, Gary Virginia, Zoe Dunning, Marcy Adelman, Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis Brandon Miller, Jamie Leno Zimron Michele Karlsberg Lyndsey Schlax, Randy Coleman, Debra Walker, Howard Steiermann, Andrea Shorter, Scott Tsui, Tom Temprano, Lou Fischer, Frankie Bashan, Karin Jaffie, Brett Andrews

While the reasons that meditation is effective with depression aren’t completely known, the researchers noted that it is linked to reduction in activity in the amygdala, the “alarm system” of the brain, and also to reduced activity in the default mode network, the brain network that is “on” when your mind is wandering from thought to thought. This may be important, because one of the key features of depression is that it hijacks attention.

If you’d like to explore this avenue, an excellent resource is The Mindful Way Through Depression. This book will show you how to use mindfulness practice in your daily life, and it also includes a CD with six guided mindful meditations that you can use to get started in your practice.

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For example, many queer people come from homes that were less than supportive. If a person endures a childhood of trauma, addiction, dysfunction and situations that were less than loving and supportive, they will enter adulthood with a certain mindset that the world isn’t safe (to a certain extent) and their experiences left them vulnerable. Mix in genetics, with their ability to influence mood, and you have a vicious cycle of brain chemicals and life experiences that trap people into believing they’re destined to suffer and suicide is their only escape. This is how depression is an illness. It requires medication, professional intervention and consistent treatment that the individual cannot implement on his or her own.

Symptoms of Depression It’s normal for us to feel blue, down or just generally unhappy as we go through life. While these are unpleasant, if we allow ourselves to feel our feelings and move through them, our mood and feelings will change and we w ill feel better.

Depressed individuals don’t generally “feel better.” Their symptoms persist and cause them to behave in ways that are dangerous to their longevity.

Mild symptoms of depression include: • decreased motivation, • decreased social involvement, • difficulty sleeping, • less interest in activities that you were previously interested in, • overall malaise, • viewing all life events as negative.

Moderate to severe depression symptoms may include: • avoidance, not calling, texting or connecting with people, • complete disinterest in life activities, • no longer practicing self-care (showering, eating, maintaining one’s house), • beginning to discuss suicide and starting to make a plan.

Obviously, if someone is discussing suicide and how she/he is going to do it, you should immediately call the 24-hour Suicide Hotline. Non-judgmental, trained professionals can help

to navigate you or your friend to help.

The key to depression symptoms is to observe the person. Has their behavior drastically changed? Do they no longer want to participate in outings or activities that they once did?

Or did they experience a stressful life event (death, break up or job loss, for example) and do not seem to be recovering? All of these situations are cause for concern.

Treatment Seek professional help. I will say it again: Seek professional help. Seeking help is a sign of strength and is not a sign of weakness. You cannot fix this illness without proper intervention and your suffering can be minimized.

Medication A professional will likely use a combi nat ion of psychot herapy a nd medication (antidepressants). Antidepressants manipulate neurotransmitters (chemicals in the brain), that relay messages from neuron to neuron. They tend to increase the concentration of chemicals at the synapse, the spaces between neurons.

The theory is that shifting the concentration of these chemicals will support the brain in doing its job.

Medication and psychotherapy are long-term plans. Everyone’s chemistry is different, so your doctor may experiment with dosages and classes of medication, to see what works for you.

In the short-term, there are several activities you can do that can support your recovery.

Self-Care Self-Care is the number one tool you should have in your mental health toolbox. Your body and mind are complex mechanisms that require an orchestrated combination of sleep, food, exercise and human contact to function optimally. Your body wants to be healthy and it needs your help to do so. Adopting a vigilant self-care routine can go a long way towards fighting off feelings of helplessness, by keeping yourself balanced and inspired. An example of a healthy selfcare routine includes: Sleep: No more than 8 hours. If you’re having trouble getting out of bed, schedule a friend to call you who

will commit to making sure you’re out of bed before she/he hangs up.

Exercise: 3 times a week, at least 30 minutes each day. Finding a one-hour circuit training class in your neighborhood is a fantastic way to get exercise and human contact without much scheduling.

Food: Make a point of consuming whole foods, preferably proteins and vegetables with small servings of fats and carbohydrates. Granted, there are many diets one could follow, and I encourage you to find the one that works for you, but I’ve seen clients lose weight and feel more stable when they commit to a simple protein and vegetable diet. Stay clear of fast foods and alcohol.

Human Contact: Put yourself around people who are supportive of you. This is a hard one when you’re depressed because you don’t want to interact, but it’s the one thing that can help. Scheduling phone calls, coffee dates or simple house visits can do wonders for your state of mind. If you live in a remote place or don’t have many friends, go to online communities like Reddit or chat rooms that exist to support others who are also suffering.

Volunteer: Studies have proven that the more people volunteer, the happier they feel. London researchers found that Americans who volunteer monthly, are 7% happier than those who don’t. The happiness level nearly doubles to 12% if you volunteer weekly. Donating your time to an organization or a group of individuals is the simplest way to feel appreciated. Start with non-profits and associations in your neighborhood and see where it goes.

Support Groups: Find one and commit to it. A simple search for “depression support group” + your city will yield results. If you’re religious, reach out to your church leader. If you have health insurance, find out if they offer a group. Kaiser, for example, has a variety of support groups offered every season. The key is to commit to showing up to the group every session. (continued on page 26)

GLBT Fortnight in Review

By Ann Rostow The End of an Era I just read over a dozen press releases from over a dozen civil rights groups bemoaning the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the High Court. In the rare moments that Mel and I can stomach cable news, we’re also seeing various Democrats urge all of us to the barricades in defense of justice.

But why? Does anyone think a backup nominee would be better than Kavanaugh? The 2016 election is over.

Trump is in the White House and once Justice Kennedy turned in his robe, the damage was already done.

Twenty years of a gay friendly Court have come to an end, and instead of looking forward to appellate litigation, we must now hope and pray that big gay civil rights cases stay away from the Supreme Court docket. Indeed, those prayers may be too late for the huge petition now sitting in the pending file—the appeal of our big Title VII victory before the full bench of the Second Circuit: the Zarda case.

Like everyone else, I assumed Kennedy was good for at least another session; he hired clerks and allowed the traditional retirement announcement month of May to lapse without comment. Although our chance of winning the Senate in November had been slim, there was still a chance. And who knows? Maybe (I had thought) Kennedy was harboring an inner disgust with this repellent President, deciding to wait for his successor. The man was only 81. That’s nothing these days, in this administration and in this Congress where 80 is the new 60. My point is that our rose-colored glasses were ripped off our noses and ground into shards under the jackboots of our conservative foes, who laughed as they strode away.

Now what?

Let’s get one thing straight, so to speak. Our marriages will not be cancelled. Nor will we return to a time when same-sex couples cannot wed.

But that’s about all we can be sure of. Justice Kennedy wrote five gay rights opinions, and yet the man never decided whether or not sexual orientation bias is on par with sex discrimination or racism. If the answer is yes, then we are equal and no one can fire us without reason or put a cross around their neck and refuse to serve us. If the answer is no, then we are in limbo.

Personally, I kept assuming that the definitive, hard hitting, clear legal guidelines were just around the corner—surely Kennedy would put some teeth into his next decision. But he never did. Gay couples deserve “dignity,” he wrote. They have the right to define their own concept of the “mystery of human life.” The status of marriage for same-sex couples ref lects “both the community’s considered perspective on the historical roots of the institution of marriage and its evolving understanding of the meaning of equality.” Huh? Say what? Never does Kennedy say whether or not sexual orientation defines a protected class like race or gender. Nowhere does Kennedy determine whether the high levels of judicial scrutiny that apply to race and sex bias should apply to cases of gay bias as well.

He ruled in our favor, but dangled his opinions by thin threads, always making sure to leave a wide margin in his jurisprudence for religious prejudice. Those who oppose marriage equality, Kennedy wrote in Obergefell, “reach that conclusion based on decent and honorable religious or philosophical premises, and neither they nor their beliefs are disparaged here.”

In Masterpiece, he leaned even further towards the decent and honorable, albeit beleaguered, faith-based objectors, ruling that although it’s not nice

to discriminate against gay customers, those who make the effort deserve a respectful hearing. It was a weird opinion, Masterpiece, and although legal analysts think we “won” the main contest, the decision is looking murkier by the day. Indeed, a few days after the Masterpiece ruling, the Court vacated a gay rights victory out of Washington state in a similar antigay wedding case, and asked the Washington Supreme Court to reconsider. Why? I have no doubt that the Court conservatives who write the next GLBT opinions will not be vague or ambiguous. The questions that were repeatedly asked but never answered by Justice Kennedy will now be resolved by Kavanaugh and company. Is sexual orientation bias as nefarious as racial bias or sex discrimination? No. Is gay bias a form of (impermissible) sex discrimination? No. Are there times when a business can decline gay or lesbian customers? Absolutely. These questions are coming to the Court, and the answers are likely to be concise, specific, well written statements that usher in decades-long setbacks to the gay rights movement.

So Close and Yet So Far Away Look at how far we’ve come. Back in 1996 when Romer v Evans was decided, gay activists were fighting, not for equality, but just for relief from bad things. Don’t bash us; don’t put us in jail for being in love; don’t fire us for no reason. Just ten years earlier, the Supreme Court had ruled that sodomy laws were constitutional. And then, just a decade later, we won a solid victory. Colorado voters had passed an amendment preemptively barring state or local gay rights laws in the future, but the High Court ruled that in passing such an amendment, the state made a whole class of people, as Kennedy put it, “a stranger to its laws.”

The case was decided by a 6–3 majority on Equal Protection grounds using the lowest standard of review.

The Romer majority came together eight years later when the same six justices ruled against the Texas sodomy law based on the Due Process clause. And here’s when the f lowery mush machine got started.

Texas criminalized gay sodomy, but not straight sodomy, so you would think that the law would be struck on Equal Protection grounds. But an Equal Protection ruling would likely have to grapple with the question of what level of scrutiny a court must use to consider a case of unequal treatment of gay men or lesbians.

If you rule that gay bias doesn’t require extra scrutiny, you undermine gay civil rights litigation for years. If you invoke heightened scrutiny, you cut off the debate. Kennedy avoided what was then a tricky subject by skipping Equal Protection altogether, ruling instead that consensual and private gay sex was an important liberty that the government could not restrict without Due Process. Why? Well, again, it wasn’t obvious.

At the time, it didn’t seem to matter so much. In his ruling, Justice Kennedy managed to make one flat legal statement: “Bowers was not correct when it was decided, and it is not correct today,” he wrote, proving that he was indeed capable of def initive prose.

Gone was the most destructive legal precedent in our adversaries’ arsenal.

As long as it remained constitutional to outlaw gay sex, and by extension to criminalize committed gay relationships, gay advocates would never win significant legal victories. Now this obstacle was gone, and the path to equal rights seemed to stretch ahead.

Recall that Mary Bonauto of Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders had argued for marriage rights before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court just three months prior, that Vermont had already begun civil unions, and that marriage was le-

gal in the Netherlands, Belgium and large parts of Canada.

In late 2005 and early 2006, our sixjustice gay rights majority collapsed to five. Dead was Rehnquist, retired was O’Connor, and replacing them were John Roberts and the archconservative Samuel Alito. At the same time, Americans were learning about marriage equality and changing their opinions of gay couples, in part thanks to Republican engineered public votes that amplified debate.

After Obama got elected, we replaced two of our justices with younger versions; Sotomayor for Souter, Kagan for Stevens, but more importantly, the U.S. Department of Justice was suddenly on our side, writing briefs supporting gay rights, revamping agency guidelines in favor of equality and speaking out on our behalf.

After Obama was reelected came our twin marriage rulings, Windsor in 2013, which struck the federal Defense of Marriage Act and forced the government to recognize legal marriages from various states, and Obergefell in 2015, forbidding states from restricting marriage to heterosexual couples. And even though, yet again, Kennedy wrote the opinions, and Kennedy left the key legal questions unanswered, it didn’t seem to matter.

Was the Obergefell decision in favor of marriage rights based on Equal Protection or Due Process? Both, sort of, but no one could say for sure.

We assumed the i’s would be dotted down the road; the t’s crossed in the near future. As November 2016 approached, we wondered whether Hillary Clinton would re-nominate Merrick Garland to the empty seat on the Supreme Court or pick someone younger and more liberal. Why not?!

Because, yes, we could marry. But we could still get fired the next day.

There were still clerks who didn’t want to marry us, bakers who didn’t want to make our wedding cakes and bureaucrats who didn’t want to put our wives on birth certificates. So, we still needed the High Court—just to make things clear. And maybe, with all due respect to Justice Kennedy, maybe Kagan or Ginsburg could write the next gay rights opinion? We were f lying very high, my friends.

Perhaps you remember, because it hasn’t even been two years.

Even after Trump’s victory, the new conservative justice, Neil Gorsuch, replaced the old conservative Antonin Scalia, so we maintained our 5–4 gay rights majority. Unless Kennedy retired or someone died, we would still survive. And meanwhile, we held open a narrow window to settle the outstanding legal issue of the gay rights movement, to put it succinctly: are we equal?

Masterpiece Cakeshop could have answered the question by f latly saying that, just as faith cannot justify ignoring a law against race discrimination, nor can faith or other First Amendment claims justify ignoring a law against sexual orientation discrimination. How hard would that have been? Instead, we got some glop. A handful of opinions, dissents, concurrences and whathaveyou, centered on a technicality that vindicates the antigay baker, while spouting some anodyne gay rights language in the process.

As I mentioned, the Court sent a similar case back down the ladder, but let’s suppose the Washington Supreme Court again rules against the antigay florist, Barronelle Stutzman, who declined to do arrangements for the wedding of two men. And let’s imagine that again she petitions the Supreme Court—the Supreme Court owned by Roberts, Gorsuch, Alito, Thomas and Kavanaugh. (continued on page 26) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JULY 12, 2018

21

From the Coming Up Events Calendar See page 28 Wednesday, July 18 - Star Wars: A New Hope - Feature Film @ San Francisco Symphony, Davies Symphony Hall, 401 Van Ness. Sarah Hicks conducts John Williams’ score to George Lucas’ epic film. 7:30pm and also July 19, 20 and 21. http://www.sfsymphony.org

Saturday, July 21 - Live! in the Castro @ Jane Warner Plaza, 17th and Castro.

Live performance by musician Kippy Marks. 1pm. http://www.castrocbd.org

Absorbing New Drama The Cakemaker Connects Food to Love and Coping After Loss around the kosher law to sell them.

She soon initiates a deeper, more personal relationship with Tomas—unaware that he was her husband’s lover.

Film Gary M. Kramer

Via Skype from Germany, where he has emigrated, the Israeli-born filmmaker spoke with me for the San Francisco Bay Times about making The Cakemaker and the intimate connection that develops between Tomas and Anat. Both grieve for Oren, comforting themselves with food. The Cakemaker features many scenes of characters preparing food and eating as a way of coping with their loneliness and palpable sense of loss.

Out gay writer-director Of ir Raul Graizer’s gentle, absorbing drama, Food is a key element in Graizer’s life.

The Cakemaker, opens July 20 at the As a gastronomist, the filmmaker inLandmark Theaters in San Francisco sisted, “Food is very natural to me; and Berkeley. It begins with business- it’s in my DNA. I teach cooking. I am man Oren (Roy Miller), a married fa- writing a cookbook.” He continued to explain the conther from Israel, nection of food frequenting the and feelings, recafé in Germacalling how his ny where Tomas family gathered ( Tim Kalk hof ) together on Friworks and bakes. day evenings to The two men inibreak bread, and tiate a passionthe sense-memat e t r y st t h at or y pleasure ends unexpectof, say, eating a edly, when Oren bi r t hd ay c a ke is killed in a car that your mother accident. T h is Ofir Raul Graizer, writer-director of The made when you tragedy prompts Cakemaker were a child.

Tomas to travel to Jerusalem to visit the café owned Moreover, his emotional bond to food

by Oren’s widow, Anat (Sarah Adler). was emphasized when the filmmaker moved to Berlin. He said, “I was When Tomas gets a job washing dish- with a group of immigrants and we es for Anat, he starts to bake cookies got together and cooked and rolled for her café. He is not Jewish, how- eggplant and talked about the diffiever, so his pastries are not kosher. culties and adventures we had,” indiYet they are a success, so Anat works cating how food bonds people.

Filming The Cakemaker was also an adventure for Graizer, who shot the film in 21 days and for less than $200,000.

He describes it as a “guerilla movie.”

He recounts how people objected to the filmmakers posting a non-kosher sign in Anat’s café window for a key scene in the film, so the crew had to hang it, shoot and leave. Likewise, a montage featuring Tomas baking chocolate cakes was filmed only when the production’s cameraman and sound guy snuck into the location on a Saturday (when Jerusalem observes the Sabbath) to shoot the baking montage.

The kitchen is also a place where Anat seduces Tomas, creating a love triangle of sorts with the ghost of Oren. Graizer emphasized that the sex between Anat and Tomas is not about their sexuality. “When I wrote the film, it was clear to me that [this sex scene] would happen. Tomas is gay, but he can do it. When I tried to think, ‘Is it possible or not?’ it didn’t matter. This thing between them in the small kitchen is that they have a very strong connection.”

He continued that they have sex, “but it’s about connecting after being alone, and feeling the presence of Oren in the kitchen with them. For her, it’s defying the memory of Oren, saying, ‘I can do what I want.’ And for Tomas, it is saying, ‘I want this, I want to try this. She is good, and open to me, and I can take Oren’s place.

This is the way I can do that.’ It may not be conscious, but it’s beyond the definition of sexuality.”

Grazier observes, “When you lose someone you love and grieve, you suffer. I think that from the second Tomas finds out about Oren’s death he is in post-trauma; he can’t cope with it.

He goes to Jerusalem and copes by bak ing. He is sad, and he’s b a k i n g s a d l y.

The only way he

copes is through food, and Anat is not allowed to sell his food.”

As The Cakemaker shows, the characters find themselves through breaking social laws. Significantly, Grazier does not condemn his characters for their deceptions. “I can be angry with Oren for having an affair, or for Tomas giving Anat sex, and touching her, which she needs,” he says. The film, however, allows audiences to understand the reasons for the characters’ behavior.

The director continues, “It was important to show why Oren made his choice to find a job out of Israel and in Berlin. Oren is gay. He came from a religious family. He married a secular woman and raised a son.”

Tomas’ relationship with Oren is only seen brief ly in The Cakemaker. It is, though, quite critical to shaping the film’s power. Grazier acknowledged that he deliberately downplays the relationship between the two men: “In the beginning, you don’t think it’s a great love; it’s an affair more important for Tomas than Oren.”

But it soon becomes clear how important the relationship has been for the lonely Tomas—and this is what makes The Cakemaker resonate. © 2018 Gary M. Kramer

Tim Kalkof in The Cakemaker Scene from The Cakemaker

KIT’N KITTY’S

QUEER POP QUIZ 22

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S

FROM THE WEST END TO BROADWAY This 1979 play by Martin Sherman, nominated for both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, concerns the persecution of gays in Nazi Germany: A) Rent B) Screwed C) Rounders D) Bent ANSWER ON PAGE 26

J U LY 1 2 , 2 0 1 8

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

Broadway’s Lesbian Troika

Photos courtesy of Dr. Bill Lipsky

1920 she was a star of the first magnitude and at the beginning of a fiveyear romance with the writer Mercedes de Acosta.

Faces from Our LGBT Past Dr. Bill Lipsky The three women were at the height of their careers, the peak of their creative abilities. Eva Le Gallienne (1899–1991) was one of “the high royalty of the American theatre.” Margaret Webster (1905–1974) was the director celebrated as “the ablest woman in our theatre.” Cheryl Crawford (1902– 1986) was a successfu l Broadw ay pr o duc er known for being an “ indiv idual of courage and for t it ude.” A l l three were supremely talented, recognized a n d h o nor e d .

T hey for med their own repertory company to bring the nation the finest plays via the finest productions. What could possibly go wrong?

Le Gallienne and Webster had known each other from childhood. Growing up in Paris among the “free-spirited” women who lived there on “the Left Bank of Lesbos,” Le Gallienne, at age seven, was inspired by Sarah Bernhardt to become an actor. She made her London debut in 1914 and appeared in New York the next year. By

In 1926, at the height of her prestige, Le Gallienne established the Civic Repertory Theatre in New York. The same year, she met the actress Josephine Hutchinson, who became her lover. The press dubbed her Le Gallienne’s “shadow,” then a euphemism for a lesbian girlfriend, and derided their theater group as “the Le Gallienne sorority.” Both women’s careers survived the homophobic publicity.

Also an actress, Webster’s greatest success came as a director of Shakespeare. In 1937 she began a collaboration with Maurice Evans that lasted for five years. One of the towering actors of his time, Evans, who never married, is best remembered now, ironically, as Dr. Zaius in Planet of the Apes (1968) and Samantha Steven’s father on Bewitched, the gayest televiEva Le Gallienne sion series of the (1899–1991) late 1960s.

S t a r t i n g w it h Richard II, not seen on Broadway since 1878, t hey presented Hamlet (New York’s first stagMargaret Webster ing of the ful l (1905–1974) text of the play), Tw e l f t h N i g h t , Henry IV, Part 1 Cheryl Crawford and Macbeth, with (1902–1986) Judith Anderson, who played the lavender housekeeper in Rebecca, as the wife with uncleanly hands. At the same time, Webster and Le Gallienne renewed their friendship from many years before. Soon they were lovers, a relationship that lasted 14 years.

Webster achieved theatrical immortality with Othello in 1943 by defying the era’s theatrical and cultural racism with a simple, obvious and daring casting choice. For the first time

in Broadway’s fabled history, a black actor, the great Paul Robeson, played the title character, a black man; for the first time a black Othello made love to his wife, a white woman, on stage. Many predicted dire consequences, but her production ran for 296 performances in New York alone, which is still the record for a Shakespearian play on Broadway.

Besides confronting bigotry, Webster’s Othello was revelatory of the play itself.

Audiences finally saw that the drama was not only about jealousy, suspicion and deceit, but also was about racial prejudice and the “tragedy of racial conflict.” A white actor playing Othello now seemed false and shallow; none has appeared in the title role on Broadway since. Even Laurence Olivier, displaying more ham than a 2nd Avenue deli, wore blackface when he came to film the work in 1965.

Crawford discovered her love of performance as a student at Smith College, where her deep voice and “masculine mannerisms” won her the breeches parts in school plays. After graduation, she moved to New York to pursue a career in theater, finally becoming an independent producer in 1937. She was successful, according to famed lesbian New Yorker columnist Janet Flanner, because she “eliminated a lot of customary, costly, masculine waste.”

In an era that demanded women be wives and homemakers, all three had to convey the public’s expected images of femininity and domesticity. So, when the New York Herald Tribune published a profile of Crawford in 1942, it included “some of her favorite recipes.” Perhaps she got them from Ruth Norman, restaurateur and cookbook author, her longtime partner. Typically, “married to my career” or “too busy for romance” were the fig leaves that hid their private sexual truth.

In 1945 the woman formed the American Repertory Theatre. Their goal was to present the world’s great plays in limited runs with a stock compa-

Eva Le Gallienne

Othello poster (1943)

ny of mostly upcoming actors. Many reasons were given for their failure, including underfunding, changing audience tastes, critical reviews and “the misogyny of the male theatrical mainstream” against three unmarried, successful career women, among others. It went dark in 1948.

They survived the misadventure. In 1950, Webster became the first woman to direct an opera for the Metropolitan Opera Company, one of seven she did across the next ten years.

Le Gallienne appeared less and less in New York, but instead toured the country, wrote and taught acting classes. In 1964, she received a Tony for lifetime achievement. Crawford went on to co-found the Actor’s Studio in 1947 and to produce, among others, four plays by Tennessee Williams, her “proudest experience.”

However much they were pressured to conform to their times, each defied the expectation that women, should they work at all, should work at “women’s jobs.” All three changed performance practice, introducing new acting styles, casting criteria or works by then little-known playwrights. With their lasting contributions to theatrical innovation and to the understanding and pleasure of their audience, all three made indelible theater history.

Eva Le Gallienne Theatre Magazine (1929)

Josephine Hutchinson and Eva Le Gallienne in Camille

Tennessee Williams and Cheryl Crawford

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

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE DE YOUNG AND LEGION OF HONOR

Ranu Mudherjee: A Bright Stage

At the de Young from July 14, 2018–January 20, 2019

San Francisco-based artist Ranu Mukherjee employs drawing, painting, animation, and choreography to create hybrid installations that blur the lines between the moving and still image. For the de Young’s Wilsey Court, Mukherjee has conceived a sprawling multi-media work entitled A Bright Stage.

The installation metaphorically invokes a grove of banyan trees, also called strangler figs. Native to India, banyan trees grow by attaching themselves to, and eventually killing, other trees. Mature banyans reach such significant scales that their canopies come to define social gathering spaces. A Bright Stage reflects on the cultural and spatial perspectives of the museum and the atrium as a freely accessible space for public voice and interaction.

“It feels like history is cracking open right now and I’m thinking a lot about the amplification of public voices carrying histories of colonialism and feminism,” says Mukherjee. “This historically and geographically wide-ranging collection [at the de Young] with its colonial, nineteenth-century roots is informing the trajectory of my work. It has the potential to talk back and slowly turn cultural perspective inside out.”

Painted a solid base color—green, pink, light blue or yellow—the atrium’s walls will be swept in multiple swaths of linen, superimposed with silk embroidery, and featuring a pattern of media images of ritual processions, civic demonstrations, dance and communal prayer. LCD screens embedded in the fabric will display a series of graphic animations of physical and social bodies, traveling with the viewer through the space. http://deyoung.famsf.org/exhibitions/ranu-mukherjee-bright-stage

Rendering of Ranu Mukherjee: A Bright Stage, 2018 at the de Young museum. Courtesy of the artist and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Ranu Mukherjee, “Movement 1” print design for A Bright Stage, 2018. Courtesy the artist and Gallery Wendy Norris

Ranu Mukherjee, We are multi-dimensional beings (far left), Body Language (center), Love in Shadowtime 2 (right), 2017. All pigment and milk paint on paper on panel. © Ranu Mukherjee. Photo by Johnna Arnold. Courtesy of the artist and of Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco. Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

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

JULY 12, 2018

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Weddings, Occasions & Relationships Choosing Your Bay Area Wedding Venue

By Alexis Garhammer, CWP Choosing a venue is one of the biggest decisions couples need to make when pl a n n i n g t he i r w e d d i n g.

The reception site sets the tone for the entire wedding celebration and often guides other big decisions about the big day. Traditional or contemporary. Formal or casual. Indoor or outdoor. The choices can seem endless. And while we are lucky to have a plethora of venue options in Northern California, from coastal and urban to wine country and everything in between, many couples may feel overwhelmed by this decision, often the first one to be made during the wedding planning process.

If you and your partner don’t already have a defined wedding style or theme, it can be helpful to tour several venue types and see what speaks to you. Perhaps try a winery, a traditional hotel ballroom and an industrial raw space. You’ll quickly discover which end of the venue spectrum works for your style, as well as determining your practical requirements like capacity, food and beverage options (and restrictions), budget, etc. Your next round of tours will then be a more refined list of venues so that you can select the one that is best for you.

While there’s no one right choice, many couples are returning to the traditional option of hotel weddings for their one-stop-shop convenience and simplicity. With catering, rentals, cakes, overnight accommodations and more all offered under

one roof, usually with one experienced planner to coordinate all of the details for you, it’s no wonder busy couples find the convenience of a hotel wedding appealing. What makes this an even easier choice?

San Francisco and the greater Bay Area offer no shortage of both historic grand hotels and new contemporary hotels.

new Limewood Bar & Restaurant, creating an overall aesthetic that is both classic and contemporary.

Claremont Club & Spa, the iconic Berkeley Hills resort that Frank Lloyd Wright described as “one of the few hotels in the world with warmth and character,” offers couples both old world charm and modern design. Claremont recently unveiled its newly updated event space, including the iconic Claremont Ballroom and the appropriately named Skyline Room (thanks to stunning Bay views), both popular destinations for wedding celebrations.

To learn more about hosting your wedding at Claremont Club & Spa and to book your tour, go online (https://www.fairmont.com/ claremont-berkeley/), phone 510549 - 8591 or send an e-mail to claremontcatering@fairmont. com. Claremont can accommodate meetings, weddings and social events for up to 300 guests.

The new spaces feature updated carpets, wall coverings, furniture and décor, as well as new names that pay homage to the East Bay. Over 20,000 square feet of meeting and event space were updated during the four-month redesign. Since rebranding as a Fairmont hotel in late 2015, the landmark resort, which opened in 1915, has also undergone renovations to its main lobby and public spaces, all 276 guest rooms and the

Whether you know it well or only know of it, now is the perfect time to rediscover the “new” Claremont Club & Spa, a quintessential Bay Area wedding destination for over 100 years.

As a Certified Wedding Professional and Claremont Club & Spa’s resident wedding expert, Alexis Garhammer is passionate about incorporating design and personality into the planning process to create unique weddings, fundraisers and social events at the iconic East Bay resort. She began her career in Chicago planning a range of events and holds a Bachelor of Science in Event Management from the University of Central Florida.

Frederick Sullivan and Jaime Botello, who oversee the Weddings & Occasions page for the “San Francisco Bay Times,” are the talented wizards behind Sullivan-Botello Events (http://sullivanbotelloevents. com) and SnB Party Rentals (650-877-0840, www.snbpartyrentals.com). Both are Certified Wedding Planners with extensive experience in creating memorable, personalized events for special occasions. Their rental service is incredible, offering everything from beautiful gold Chiavari chairs to LED dance floors, and all at competitive prices. They are the creators of the Gay Vanity Wedding Show and are longstanding members of the Golden Gate Business Association, which is the nation’s first LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun bow nun in the Parade. The love was truly mutual!

Sister Dana sez, “So now that Gay Pride Month is over, are we supposed to return to Gay Shame? Aw hell no! Gay Pride is every month, 24/7 nonstop forever and ever!”

THE VINE, a very queer/queerfriendly church at Grace Cathedral, presented SISTER ACT SINGALONG PRIDE MASS on the Wednesday before Pride Weekend.

We had over 800 folks singing and dancing to such Sister Act movie faves as “I Will Follow Him,” “Oh Happy Day,” and “Joyful, Joyful,” among others. I got to stand at the pulpit in my nun’s habit and say out loud, “We pray that our community continues to grow as we embrace the beautiful complexities of our diverse family. May love always win.” Amen! After the service everyone ate yummy rainbow Pride cake. What a powerful evening!

LGBT PRIDE PARADE was a dazzling success again this year. The Parade Committee has said that with attendees’ donations at the gates and elsewhere this year, they will most likely reach the Three Million Dollar milestone in their donations back to Bay Area nonprofit organizations.

And they are already looking forward to San Francisco Pride 2019—when we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the STONEWALL UPRISING. By the way, I want to thank the glorious crowd for returning my air kisses, peace signs, and thumbs-up approval as I proudly rode atop the San Francisco Bay Times bus as a rain-

THE SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE presented their fundraiser, PRIDE BACKSTAGE: LIGHTS, CAMERA, FASHION! on the Friday before the Parade, June 22, at the Bespoke event space in the Westfield Mall. There was delicious food and an open bar. Activities included a makeup and nail beauty setup from Bloomingdales, photo booth, a popup booth with GLAAD logo merchandise, a raffle of a prospected hotel stay, karaoke, and music. They also played SPI video/photos on several giant video screens. It was a great way to prepare for the upcoming Parade.

By Sister Dana Van Iquity

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The rights and existence of transgender people have been more intensely under attack since the election, so it was even more critical that activists gathered this year to fight back, resist, celebrate and create community. The mission of the SAN FRANCISCO TRANS MARCH hosted

by TRANS MARCH is to inspire all trans and gender non-conforming people to realize a world where transgender people are safe, loved and empowered. They strive to create a space for our diverse communities to unite and achieve the social justice and equality that each of us deserves.

This year the March started off in Dolores Park on June 22 at noon with dozens of inspirational speakers. The event lasted all day with plenty of activities and parties.

On Pride Weekend, we celebrated at the Nourse Theater with the SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS and a brandnew world premiere musical “UNBREAKABLE.” Composed by and starring Broadway legend Andrew Lippa, “Unbreakable” chronicled the untold stories of our community and beautifully wove together LGBTQ history from the last 120 years. The 250-member San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus was joined by stars Andrew Lippa, internationally acclaimed soprano Lisa Vroman, Broadway’s Britney Coleman, rising San (continued on page 27)

Advanced Strength Training Hacks

Take Me Home with You!

stance, when you do a chest fly, your hand position takes out some of the help you get from your shoulders and triceps. Conversely, the hand position on a chest press allows the shoulders and triceps more participation, and so a chest press is considered to be a compound (sometimes called a basic) exercise. All muscle groups have isolation and basic options.

Easy Fitness Cinder Ernst In the last column you learned basic strength training principles, such as peak contraction and continuous muscle tension. This time you will discover some easy to implement suggestions for building the intensity and improving the effectiveness of your strength workouts. Try adding one at a time to your routine to see what feels best for you.

Supersets Supersets are where you combine two strength training exercises with no rest in between. The objective is to switch from one exercise to the other as quickly as possible. Exercise intensity is increased when you reduce the rest period. When deciding upon your superset, consider how quickly and efficiently you can move from the first exercise into the second.

Opposing Muscle Supersets Choose to focus on a pair of opposing muscles. For instance, you could do a back/chest superset with a pulley row for your back and a push up for your chest. It is easy and quick to go from a row to a push up. Another good example is a back pull down with a pulley chest f ly, since that equipment is often close by in the gym. Biceps/triceps and hamstring/quads are opposing muscle superset combos.

Same Muscle Supersets Here I want to define the difference between a compound or basic exercise and an isolation exercise, so you can choose how you create your same muscle combination. An isolation exercise puts more specific emphasis on the exact muscle you are working by attempting to isolate that muscle. Positioning makes this possible. For in-

Pre-exhaustion Isolation Supersets When doing a superset with just one muscle group, you can go either way. I prefer what is called a pre-exhaustion isolation superset. This just means that by doing an isolation exercise first, you pre-exhaust the muscle and then allow the compound exercise to help you push further.

The main component in a pre-exhaustion isolation superset is failure. Failure is actually a principle in strength training. When you work the muscle beyond failure, you break down the muscle fibers. Your body then repairs that muscle and it comes out stronger. This process is called muscle adaptation. Supersets are a safe way to go beyond failure. (Cheating is also a principle in strength training. You can cheat with your form or range of motion to push past failure. This is a riskier path to take, and I do not recommend it. Having a spotter is a safe way to cheat.)

Lilou

ly lift my arms 10 times and I loved it. Drop sets are fun to do using machines where you can easily move the pin in the weight stack.

Be creative in setting up these beneficial exercise combos. Also, do not forget to allow yourself an extra rest after a superset workout for your muscles to recover and adapt.

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” (http:// cinderernst.com/easy-fitness-book/), is available in paperback and Ebook. 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

“My name is Lilou! I’m a sweet and friendly girl, and will rub against your legs to say ‘hello.’ I just celebrated my 10th birthday and I’m looking for a mellow, stable home where I can enjoy my golden years with someone special. I’d love to be your cuddle buddy for afternoon cat naps and evenings on the sofa!”

Lilou 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 Lilou.

To meet Lilou 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!

Dr. Jennifer Scarlett and Pup

For more information: www.sfspca.org/adopt

Great examples for a pre-exhaustion isolation superset are f lat dumbbell chest f lys to failure (for exercise #1) and then turn your hands to press position and continue with a set of dumbbell presses. Another fun superset consists of lateral dumbbell shoulder raises that segue right into overhead shoulder presses. Think ahead and set up your dumbbells/barbell machine ahead of time.

Drop Sets With a drop set, you take one exercise and drop the weight each time you reach failure. As with all supersets, the quickness between exercises is the key to effectiveness. One of my favorite drop sets involves lateral shoulder dumbbell raises. Start with your heaviest weight for 10 repetitions, drop to a lower weight for 10 reps and then drop again for 10 reps. I used to start with 7.5 pounds followed by 5 pounds, and then I could bare-

SF Sketch Randy Coleman Randy Coleman hails from New York, but has lived in San Francisco since 1975. Coleman shares that before moving to the Bay Area, he studied Art History and Architecture at Boston University while working as a resident artist for architectural rendering at a Massachusetts historical society. “All of my life I’ve been an artist,” Coleman says. “To know me is to know that I have a passion for art and architecture. I love this project for the San Francisco Bay Times, and hope that you enjoy my sketches.”

© Randy Coleman, 2018

Fitness SF Trainer Tip of the Month Carson Crain, Fitness SF Mid-Market “If you’re short on time and want to get a full-body workout in, the answer is simple: Row. Rowing activates your triceps, biceps, deltoids, and pectoralis major, to name a few. It also works your leg muscles, including quads & hamstrings, plus your abdominal core. It’s a fantastic cardio challenge too!”

Tore Kelly, Director of Creative & Social Media for Fitness SF, provides monthly tips that he has learned from professional trainers. For more information: https://fitnesssf.com/ S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JULY 12, 2018

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An LGBTQ Athlete’s Story: Mark McCabe Part 2 - Gay Rugby Changed My Life

Sports John Chen (Editor’s Note: Part 1 of Mark McCabe’s story is in the June 7 issue of the San Francisco Bay Times. McCabe was on the fast track to becoming a professional soccer player in Europe before he came out to a teammate.

The negative response and other homophobia that he experienced emotionally scarred McCabe, who soon thereafter quit soccer with no explanation to his teammates and family.)

During the years that followed the abrupt ending of an emotionally tumultuous, budding professional soccer career, Mark McCabe lived deeply inside his closet and existed in a vacuum. He had little experience and knowledge of the LGBT community then. Fortunately, not too long after abandoning his dream to become a soccer star, McCabe found some refuge in a loving, but covert, relationship that began while McCabe was working in London.

A colleague at the time, noting McCabe’s impressive physical stature, asked him if he would like to play rugby. Having been out of competitive sports since sixteen, McCabe hesitated but eventually said yes. In only two weeks, he fell in love with the sport.

Being on the field brought back to

him all of the good inf luences and habits—the discipline and the structure—that were once associated with high level competition. For the first time in a long time, he felt that he belonged.

shamelessly, but harmlessly, with little inhibition and feeling of consequence.

Not to be outdone, their wives and girlfriends would also join in by daring, urging and cheering their men on.

Then something unexpected happened. After a game and while in the clubhouse, McCabe had a social chat with an unfamiliar individual who was there to support his partner. Puzzled, he recounted his naivety at seeing men at a distance being affectionate with other players. He said, “I didn’t know that there was a women’s rugby team down here.”

Discovering rugby and its more socially open culture helped McCabe to discover himself. In the accepting environment, being gay was not a bad thing and did not connote a stereotype. Gradually, his remembered voices on the soccer terraces started to be less damaging and painful. They took less of a toll and less control of his own self-identity.

“Wow, you really are new to this clubhouse!” was the reply. “See all of those guys over there? They’re on the gay rugby team.”

Nearly ten years after he quit soccer, McCabe was then ready to confront his demons and to let his parents in on his secret. Where once there was no explanation, no reason and no justification, there now was an answer.

McCabe’s coming out gave his mother a sense of closure and peace, but his father could not, and would not, acknowledge the truth. He held silence and avoidance as his last line of defense.

“No way!” McCabe said. “There’s such a thing as gay rugby?!?”

“Oh, you haven’t been educated,” she said. “Your coach for your straight team identif ies as bisexual and he started the gay rugby team. We are all based in the same clubhouse.”

With his mind blown, McCabe giddily and sheepishly grinned as he told me: “It was fate. I randomly joined a rugby club that just happened to share the same clubhouse as the gay team.”

In rugby, McCabe learned that camaraderie is part of the clubhouse ritual. There was no gay or straight; there was only brotherhood—or sisterhood—where ruggers are adversaries solely on the field. His clubhouse was a place of celebration that brought everyone together for the spirit of the game. Being gay and merry were the hallmarks of rugby tradition.

McCabe fondly recalled that straight players would regularly get naked with the gay players and would f lirt

Five years after McCabe came out, his family convinced his father to watch him play rugby in an international tournament, coincidentally against a team from San Francisco. After a hard-fought victory where players left everything both emotionally and physically on the field, McCabe saw a familiar face walking towards him. There were no words or pleasantries. Instead there was just a tight, emotional embrace worth a thousand words from his father.

One of the main reasons why rugby is viewed as a more LGBT-welcoming sport, according to McCabe, is because there are respected role models at the top of the game. Arguably the best rugger and the best official in the

world are openly gay.

Not only are they ambassadors to the sport, but they are also leaders in promoting a positive gay image for players and fans alike.

McCabe laments that the early path he took in life may not have been the best, or the correct, one. Without any guidance, support and role models—especially during the most impressionable years of his youth— McCabe made due with what he learned and heard on the terrace.

His confusion and fear clouded his development as a player and as a person, such that his former soccer dreams became his nightmare.

Now a resident of San Fr a nc i sco, a n older and wiser McCabe is at peace with himself. He is enjoying everything that California has to offer. On occasion, he still plays a mean game of rugby, but he leaves his soccer gear back at home in the United Kingdom.

Armed with a lifetime of wisdom, McCabe told me that he wished he’d had the courage and strength to withstand the homophobia of his youth, even though it was a lot to ask of someone who had not yet come of age. As he wistfully said, “I could’ve been that openly gay professional soccer player, that role model for kids like

BASHAN (continued from page 20)

ROSTOW (continued from page 21)

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 300 million people worldwide suffer from depression. As the leading cause of disability, depression does not discriminate.

It affects celebrities, CEO’s, white people, people of color, successful people and lots and lots of folks in between. No one is immune, but everyone deserves relief. If you or a friend are suffering, and contemplating suicide, reach out. Call 24-hour Suicide Hotline (415-7810500) for immediate help and reach out to the resources in your community for assistance.

If you’d like to reach out to me, please email me (drfrankie@littlegaybook.com) or call 415990-2929.

It’s not hard to imagine that four or five of these men will accept review and make it clear that a f lorist or a baker has every right, not just to decline gay business, but to do so while violating a state law because gay rights laws should not be imposed on people against their will. They won’t really be “overturning” Masterpiece Cakeshop because Masterpiece doesn’t really stand for much.

For more information: https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/facts-statistics-infographic https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-living/volunteering-and-its-surprising-benefits. htm https://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/optimizing-depression-medicines#2 https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/what-causes-depression Dr. Frankie Bashan is a psychologist, matchmaker and relationship guru who has been using her psychology background combined with technology and personalized algorithms to successfully match lesbian couples nationwide. As the founder of Little Gay Book, the only exclusively lesbian/bi matchmaking agency in the U.S., she helps women in every state to find authentic, healthy, righteous, full-blown love and she knows what makes relationships tick. For more info: https://www.littlegaybook.com/

KIT’N KITTY’S

QUEER POP QUIZ ANSWER (Question on pg 25) D) Bent Bent was first produced in London in 1979. The play starred actor Ian McKellen as Max, a young gay man in Berlin. Richard Gere took on the lead role in the 1980 Broadway production.

As for the case of the skydiving instructor, Donald Zarda, who was fired from his job for being gay, we have all been excited about this case, hoping the High Court will accept it, pleased that we seemed to have gotten a major civil rights issue in under the wire, while our gay rights majority remained intact. Oops.

Zarda died base jumping, but his case, continued by his estate, will likely die at the hands of the Trump Court in a ruling that will etch a gay exception into High Court precedent for the foreseeable future. This Court will say explicitly that gays and lesbians are not covered by federal anti-discrimination laws. Given the chance, they will rule that transgender kids are not covered by Title IX. In the process, they might pause to clarify current Supreme Court caselaw to make clear that gender stereotyping is not always a violation of Title VII’s workplace protections.

The potential damage is of f the charts. The only optimistic thought I can summon is itself derived from the shock of this completely unexpected turnaround, and it’s this: You never know what’s going to happen. arostow@aol.com

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me, and that positive voice drowning out the noises on the terrace.”

John Chen, a UCLA alumnus and an avid sports fan, has competed as well as coached tennis, volleyball, softball and football teams.

Pets at Pride

Photos by Rink

NEWS (continued from page 5) cisco’s Federal Building. The group, which includes many LGBTQ individuals and supporters, chanted: “No fascist Supreme Court, Trump and Pence have got to go.” https://savescotus.indivisible.org/ and www.ktvu.com Hundreds of Immigrant Families, Activists Demand End to Family Detention Echoing t he message of t he Nationwide Day of Action, San Francisco organizers pushed to #AbolishICE through creative art and direct action. On Monday, July 2, outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Headquarters in San Francisco, hundreds of immigrant families, children, community organization leaders and allies rallied and took direct action to demand the end to family detention and the Muslim Ban, and to call for the dissolution of ICE. Some protesters carried placards stating, “Families Belong Together,” “No Human Is Illegal,” and “No Justice, No Peace.” There were American flags, rainbow flags, banners, drummers, chanting, marching and street theater. The message was clear by one activist: “The daily horrors being committed by the U.S. government against immigrant fam-

ilies and individuals at border crossings are a crime against humanity.

Those on the frontlines who have been living with and resisting America’s hardline and inhumane immigration policies are warning us: what happens at the U.S.-Mexico borderlands is the laboratory for what happens in the rest of the country.” https://front.moveon.org/ UCSF Seeks Participants for Major Health Research ‘Pride’ Study of U.S. LGBTQ Adults UCSF researchers Mitchell R. Lunn, MD, and Juno Obedin-Maliver, MD, MPH, are conducting the first-ever longitudinal health research study of LGBTQ adults in the U.S. The main question the team wants to answer over many years is: How does being a sexual or gender minority influence physical, mental and social health?

“While it may seem like research is not important right now, nothing could be further from the truth,” said Kai River Blevins, SLDN Director of Education, Chapter & Veteran Services. “With better data about our community, we will not only be able to make policy changes, we will have a better understanding for ourselves of the challenges our community faces.” It takes about 60 minutes to com-

plete all sections of enrollment, depending on the details of one’s health history. Participants will be asked questions about sexual orientation, gender identity, and physical, mental and social health. https://www.pridestudy.org/ Half of LGBTQ Employees in the U.S. Remain Closeted at Work HRC has released the results of a survey of employees across the nation, “A Workplace Divided,” revealing the persistent daily challenges that have led nearly half of LGBTQ people to remain closeted at their workplaces.

“While LGBTQ-inclusive corporate policies are becoming the norm, LGBTQ workers too often face a climate of bias in their workplace,” said Deena Fidas, director of HRC’s Workplace Equality Program. “LGBTQ employees are still avoiding making personal and professional connections at work because they fear coming out—and that hurts not only that employee, but the company as a whole. Even the best-of-the-best private sector employers with top-rated policies and practices must do more to nurture a climate of inclusion for all.” http://www.hrc.org/

AIDS Walk SF Continues to Benefit Dozens of AIDS Service, Research and Education Organizations AIDS Walk San Francisco, which will take place this Sunday, July 15, has raised more than $90 million for HIV programs and services in the Bay Area since 1987. Last year, the thousands of participants—many of whom were members of corporate and community teams—raised more than $1.8 million. The primary beneficiaries are ACRIA, the world’s leading research organization on HIV and aging; Positive Resource Center and Project Open Hand. https://sf.aidswalk.net/

the theme very appropriate in the current political environment that has enveloped Washington. “There are so many people in the (LGBTQ) movement who have been fighting for generations and are still fighting for the right things,” Harris said. “We are going to fight for everyone’s equal rights, we are going to fight for always doing the right thing ... especially in these moments where there are people sowing hate and division among us.” https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/ Castro Community on Patrol Seeks Volunteers

More than 240 contingents—including floats, marching groups and more—took part in this year’s Pride Parade in San Francisco. The theme was “Generations of Strength.” Nearly one million onlookers and participants attended this year’s peaceful event under blue skies and that was kicked off per tradition by the always impressive Dykes on Bikes. U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) called

Castro Community on Patrol (CCOP) has been the City’s only “Walking Neighborhood Watch” since 2006.

New volunteers allow CCOP to put teams out more frequently to keep the neighborhood safer. Volunteers walk in teams of three or more to provide visibility, report unsafe conditions and to educate the public about their own well-being. They ask for only one patrol (three hours) a month for a low commitment of time. The next free training workshop is on July 17. For more information and to sign up, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ patrol-volunteer-basic-training-class065-tickets-39802601653

One of my faves is “Safe Space,” depicting an area where it is safe to be who you are—be it a same-sex trio embracing, a very large drag queen lounging in the nude or a guy dressed as a bunny. My second favorite is “Don’t Shoot,” with all of these black hands raised in the air around a pair of hands in cuffs with an ominous figure possibly representing death overhead. http://sfaf.org/

sure-to-be high energy fun. Special guest American Idol alum and recording star David Hernandez will be joining the cast. Proceeds from this event will benefit REAF and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Tickets range from $35 to $65 with $65 tickets including the after-party with the cast featuring wine tastings, Ketel One cocktails and lite bites. https://www.reaf-sf.org/

Sister Dana sez, “You absolutely must check out the HBO documentary, “BELIEVER,” about Dan Reynolds of IMAGINE DRAGONS, including openly gay Tyler Glenn of NEON TREES. It’s the heart-wrenching story of the “LOVELOUD” concert to embrace gay Mormons that benefits THE TREVOR PROJECT, GLAAD, and other orgs addressing gay youth suicide. (https://loveloudfest. com/)

Tony Award-Winning SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE is now presenting their 59th season with SEEING RED: A TIME-TRAVELING MUSICAL now through September 9. A disillusioned Trump voter travels back in time to 1912, when her town was a hotbed of the American Socialist party, and realizes that she may have more in common with those blue-state progressives than she previously thought. All park shows are free and open to the public, running throughout the Bay Area in SF, the North Bay, East Bay, Peninsula, Sacramento, Davis, Nevada City, Merced, Santa Cruz, Petaluma, Ukiah and Northern CA. For a complete schedule and more information, call 415-285-1717 or browse http://www. sfmt.org/index.php

Nearly One Million Attended San Francisco’s 2018 Pride Parade

SISTER DANA (continued from page 24) Francisco tenor Marcus Paige, and an exquisite chamber ensemble.

“Unbreakable” was drawn from reallife stories of struggle, turmoil, and prevailing courage. Weaving together themes of awareness, activism, and hope, this groundbreaking new work raised their voices in ways never before heard. As the slogan goes, “We may bend, but together, we are Unbreakable.”

And on June 25, in front of approximately 2,400 concertgoers, Dr. Tim Seelig, Artistic Director of the SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS (SFGMC), served as guest conductor at the MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR AND ORCHESTRA at Temple Square concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. Seelig stepped onto the conductor’s podium to lead the Choir and Orchestra in the encore number, “This Land Is Your Land.” The Choir traditionally invites a guest conductor who is well known to the community—from musicians and government officials to religious leaders and celebrities—at each of its concert stops. Kudos to Dr. Tim! (See cover and pages 12–13.)

FRAMELINE42 celebrated another successful year of outstanding LGBTQ film and media, following a terrific Closing Night (after the Parade) screening of the documentary STUDIO 54, as performances from San Francisco legend Heklina and the Festival’s annual awards took the stage at Oasis Nightclub. With attendance numbers over 62,000, Frameline42 saw 11 days of sold-out screenings, lively parties, social events, invigorating panels, and an array of special guests. The Festival’s 153 films (52% directed or co-directed by women), presented through five venues in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland, were met with thunderous applause and meaningful dialogue amongst the LGBTQ, independent film and media arts communities.

Frameline’s mission is to change the world through the power of queer cinema. Hooray for Gay Film!

SPARK ARTS in the Castro held an artist’s reception at their studio at 4229 18th Street on July 5 for an evening of modern art acrylic on canvas paintings by Alice Desert, jazz by Ruth Asawa School of The Arts “Take The Room,” and handmade chocolate truffles by the neighbors, The Truffle Shop. Then we took off for the local Castro DOG-EARED BOOKS to enjoy a huge silver multi-

media piece of Madonna in glass, mirror shards and photo equipment.

Just stunning!

ART SAVES LIVES lives on! I am both sad and angry that ART SAVES LIVES Studio, Gallery and Performance space at 518A Castro Street has closed by eviction of landlord. The manager and curator, well known artist Thomasina DeMaio, did an awesome job, activating the front area of the AHF Clinic storefront—offering models for art classes, wall space for artists’ works to hang, live performance by local talent and lovely parties free of charge to the community. For now, SPARK ARTS at 4229 18th Street is hosting Thomasina’s art classes Saturdays 1 to 4 pm. And plans are being made to have regular art receptions at HARVEY MILK PHOTO CENTER in the future. Thomasina is eventually turning the 518A Castro studio over to THE ARC for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to display their art as she clears out her studio. Thomasina said co-renter AIDS HEALTH FOUNDATION (AHF) has been extremely supportive. If you have a venue to offer or a need to display your talent, you are encouraged to contact Thomasina at artsaveslives@aol.com For the month of July, STRUT, the Castro center for health and wellbeing for gay/bi men, is exhibiting the work of Katie Morton. On July 6, a reception was held. We learned that her story is both sad and encouraging. She confessed, “My work has always been about fear, confinement, and the emotional and physical violence of society. I am a queer artist, but for many years I have been making paintings about my physical surroundings, too afraid to make personal art about my queer experience. I was scared to make images of powerful naked bodies, of violent sexuality, of sexual violence. I was scared that my parents would see. Or that my extended family would see. Or that my friends would see. Or that anyone would see. I was scared to tell people that I had sex with women, had relationships with women. I didn’t know what would happen, but I was scared.

Too scared to make that art.” But, she added, “This past year, I have finally started a series of work about the in-the-closet relationships that shaped who I am today. My recent drawings explore loss, sexuality and identity, often through feminist reinterpretations of canonical mythology and through dark humor. This series of

work is part of my struggle to achieve honesty and authenticity in a world that is hostile to my reality. Rather than keep my work separate from my gender identity and queer relationships, I’m pushing back against that denial and fighting repression.” Two of her pieces stand out for me. Her “20/20” speaks to me as an ironic expression of a figure surrounded by many, many eyeballs but with no face to see them, so 20/20 vision is not enjoyed. But is it still felt? Morton’s second piece tells the story of an ancient god who wants to rape “Daphne,” but when she calls out to her friendly river god, he saves her by turning her into a tree. #metootree?

Then on July 7, STRUT featured the art of Serge Gay, Jr., in his show titled “BY THE RULES.” This show is part of Strut’s seasonal art series, separate from their monthly art shows. Serge Gay’s recent work speaks for the communities who are different, out of the norm or don’t feel equal in this world. “By the Rules” explores contemporary issues and stories people don’t talk about in the art field—things that get pushed under the rug. This Seasonal Art Show is on the first and third floors, bringing an artist into their space for an entire season. He said, “Finding out that no matter how hard you work or talented you are, some people will never find you as their equal, or see you as ‘less than.’ Knowing that you’re always going to be fighting and proving people wrong. That is the perspective I want to showcase in my work to the world. The dialogues I’m trying to show in my work are current event issues or stories people don’t talk about in the art field, things that get pushed under the rug. Seems like recently the reoccurring themes is politics and stories on self-exploring and finding one’s self. From other peoples, to my own behavior, trying to fit in or be accepted for being different in a world of unaccepted moral philosophies.” He elaborates, “Like the saying of the Golden Rule and how it relates to a fundamental human nature that is lacking in our system, I find that message enlightening. Recently I discovered that my work is a diary.

This overview timeline of all my life’s experiences and the journeys that I’ve seen or felt strongly about at that moment of time. So therefore, I love to create that world for people to see visually and to be touched in some kind of way or relate to. That’s the only way I can let people understand who I really am as a person.”

“Oh, and there are all of these other July events!”

Cheer on the SF GIANTS with KREWE DE KINQUE Mardi Gras club at The Edge bar in the Castro on Saturday July 21, 4–7 pm! The tailgate pep rally starts at 4 pm with an optional $10 Bottomless Beer & Soda Bust with a plate of picnic goodies (Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, Mac n Cheese) until 7 pm. We’ll have lots of fun raffle prizes including SF Giants memorabilia, wine, vodka, etc. And a great show, Jell-O Shots & Edge Drink Specials. Get your ORANGE & BLACK gear on as the Giants take on the Oakland A’s (game in Oakland) at 6:05 pm; the game will be on the TVs at The Edge.

Sister Dana sez, “We just got extremely unethical Pruitt, the biggest alligator in Trump’s swamp, to resign. The campaign to get a better EPA Administrator starts right now. You can bet that Trump has someone terrible in mind for the EPA. We can’t let that happen!”

REAF’S ONE NIGHT ONLY benefit cabaret with the Broadway touring cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s newest musical based on the film by the same name, SCHOOL OF ROCK! is on July 16. Cast members from this hit Broadway show will be singing and dancing and rocking and rolling at Brava Theater on 24th Street. The kids will be rocking and the adults in the show will be singing more Broadway and pop songs in this

COMFORT & JOY warmly invites you on July 21, noon to six, to the third annual PLAYA IN THE GROVE, a free fabulous afternoon of art, music, connection, and other festivities in partnership with the NATIONAL AIDS MEMORIAL GROVE for this celebration of our amazing queer community, both in the Bay and at Burning Man, and we feel the sacred Memorial Grove is the perfect magical space to revel and relax in as we honor our past and envision our future. In the collaborative community spirit, the event will also host a delicious POTLUCK, so please bring FINGER FOOD (no utensils) to share, as well as your own libations (BYOB), blankets, park fun (flagging, hoops, massage oil, etc) and love. Water, ice and cups will be provided. https://www.facebook.com/ events/199765680730442 Sister Dana sez, “All this uproar about how protesters are not being civil makes me think that deserving civility only applies when one is civil in the first place. And I will quote former President Bill Clinton: ‘It’s hard to pour poison down other people’s throats and not have some of it come back up and bubble up!’”

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CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS Compiled by Blake Dillon sfbaytimes.com

12 Thursday NightLife Live @ California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, 55 Music Concourse Drive. The summer music series kicks off on the Academy’s outdoor stage with a performance by headliner Com Truise and a host of other artists. The evening is one in the Academy’s ongoing Thursday NightLife series features art, music, performances and ideas inspired by the future of life in space and shared with experts. 6–10pm. http://www.calacademy.org

13 Friday Game Night @ Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, 3207 Lakeshore Avenue, Oakland. Free night every Friday for older teens and adults in the common ground community room. 7:30-10:30pm. http://www.oaklandglbtqcenter.org

SAVE THESE DATES SATURDAY, JULY 14

Castro Valley Pride SUNDAY, JULY 15

AIDS Walk San Francisco AUGUST 2-5

Lazy Bear Weekend SATURDAY, AUGUST 25

Silicon Valley Pride SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

Oakland Pride SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6

Horizons Annual Gala SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7

14 Saturday Castro Valley Pride @ 20283 Santa Maria Avenue, #2291, Castro Valley. The annual celebration of Pride in Castro Valley where a safe and welcoming space is created for LGBTQ members and friends.

12noon-5pm. http://www.castrovalleypride.wix.com

15 Sunday AIDS Walk San Francisco 2018 @ Golden Gate Park. Begins early with the Star Walker and Macy’s VIP Breakfast and continues through the Post-Walk Show. See the full schedule for details. https:// sf.aidswalk.net/Day-of-Event-Info

Castro Street Fair FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12

Mighty Real Gala SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20

OurTownSF Non-Profit Expo 34th Annual HRC SF Bay Area Gala MONDAY, DECEMBER 24

SFGMC Home for the Holidays Tuesdays and learn about current projects and volunteer opportunities. 6:30–8pm. http://www.portal.clubrunner. ca/13807

Live! in the Castro @ Jane Warner Plaza, 17th and Castro. Live 3rd Tuesday - You Sa Ho performance by Market Street Railway.

Bingo with Holotta & Saki @ 1pm. http://www.castrocbd.org Club 1220, 1220 Pine Street, Walnut MAX SF Second Sundays Creek. Drag Bingo hosted by Ho@ Finn Town, 2251 Market Street. lotta Tymes and Saki Samora, every The social group for gay men hosts 3rd Tuesday. 7pm. a Sunday afternoon mixer where http://www.club1229.com attendees can enjoy cocktails and wine tastings. 3–5pm. http://www.maxsf.com

18 Wednesday

Sunday’s A Drag @ The Starlight Room, Powell Street. Hosted

by Donna Sachet, the event features a brunch and a troupe of entertainers. It is described as “The Greatest Drag Show in San Francisco,” and we agree that it is great! Two shows every Sunday at 11am and 2pm. http://www.startlightroomsf.com

Smack Dab Open Mic @ Dog Eared Books Castro, 489 Castro. Cohosted by Dana Hopkins and Larrybob Roberts, the evening features Sumiko Saulson presenting her work for all ages and all genders. 7pm. http://www.dogearedbooks.com

Star Wars: A New Hope - Feature Film @ San Francisco Symphony, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, 401 Van Ness.. Sarah Hicks conducts the Symphony’s musical Perfectly Queer “Pride performance of the John Williams Poetry Palooza 2018” @ The score accompanying George Lucas’ Booksmith, 1655 Haight Street. Poepic film. 7:30pm and also July 19, 20 ets Susan Dambroff, Natasha Denne- and 21. rstein, Michael Tod Edgerton, Europo http://www.sfsymphony.org Grace, Philip Harris, David Hatwell, Randall Mann and Luna Merbruja will perform. 7-8:30pm. http://www.booksmith.com 3rd Annual Polk Street Sumer Wine Walk @ Polk Street between Jackson and Post Streets.

The Lower Polk Community Benefit A Thousand Splendid Suns @ District, The Polk District Merchants A.C.T. Theater, 405 Geary Street.

Association and Steven Restivo A special two-week only return Event Services, Inc., are hosting engagement of the acclaimed show the 3rd Annual Polk Street Sumbased on the best-selling novel by mer Wine Walk and Tasting. 4-8pm.

Khaled Hosseini telling the epic http://www.sresproductions.com tale of three generations of Afghan Beer Garden NightLive @ women. http://www.act-sf.org California Academy of Sciences, 1st and 3rd Tuesdays - CasGolden Gate Park, 55 Music Contro Rotary Club @ The Sausage course Drive. Follow the brewing Factory, 517 Castro Street. Join process from botanical inception to LGBT Rotarians on 1st and 3rd foamy finish and taste brews by local

16 Monday

19 Thursday

17 Tuesday

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brewing companies. The evening is one in the Academy’s ongoing Thursday NightLife series features art, music, performances and ideas inspired by the future of life in space and shared with experts. 6–10pm. http://www.calacademy.org

20 Friday Gay & Lesbian Tennis Federation - Social Doubles @ SF Tennis Court, 645 5th Street.

6:30-9pm. http://www.gltf.wildapricot.org

21 Saturday Live! in the Castro @ Jane Warner Plaza, 17th and Castro. Live performance by musician Kippy Marks.

1pm. http://www.castrocbd.org

22 Sunday San Francisco Symphony Free Concert @ Stern Grove Festival, 19th Avenue and Sloat Blvd. Conductor Jayce Ogren leads the Symphony’s program featuring Dvorzák and Beethoven. 2pm. http://www.sfsymphony.org Tatianna Live - LGBT Night @ The Tabard Theatre Company, 29 N. San Pedro Street, San Jose.

Hosted by Josh Diamonds and Xavier Toscano. 7pm.

23 Monday MagneKink @ Strut, 470 Castro Street. The 5th annual event in honor of the Up Your Alley weekend.

7-9pm. http://www.strutsf.org

24 Tuesday

Check Out the New Personals Section for LGBTQ Singles: BayTimesDating.com

Velvet Rage Book Club @ Strut, 470 Castro Street. The weekly Tuesday book club of the SF AIDS Foundation’s Stonewall Project, with facilitators Wade Smith and Christopher Zepeda, explores the complexity of gay identity and culture, HIV, substance use, healing relationships and more. 4–5:30pm. http://www.strutsf.org Perfectly Queer Plus @ Dog Eared Books Castro, 489 Castro.

Readings by authors Nick White (Sweet & Low), Lucy Jane Bledsoe (The Evolution of Love), Dave Madden (If You Need Me I’ll Be Over There) and Hilary Zaid (Paper is White). 7pm. http://www.dogearedbooks.com

25 Wednesday Transcode SF @ SF LGBT Center, 1800 Market Street. A free class for trans and gender non-confirming folks. 6-8pm. http://www.transcodesf.org

26 Thursday LGBTQ Job Club @ SF LGBT Center, 1800 Market Street, Room 201. A networking group for Trans and LGBQI job seekers and professionals. The group offers a range of networking events, hiring events and workshops tailored to help you advance or get back to work. 6:30 pm–7:30 pm. http://www.sfcenter. org/programs/employment-services Senior Safari Walkabout @ Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, 1300 Senter Road, San Jose. A monthly Billy DeFrank Community Center outing for seniors.

Castro Street Cam Live Streaming 24/7 http://sfbaytimes.com/ castro-street-cam/ Supported by Cliff’s Variety, Orphan Andy’s and Castro Smoke Shop S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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IMES TThrowback AYPhoto BRink S

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Are) a CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2018

San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band 40th Anniversary Gala Photos by Rink Guests at the 40th Anniversary Gala of the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band observed Band members modeling past and present uniforms and other performance outfits. The event, held at the Green Room, honored the family of Jon Sims, who founded the Band as the first performing arts group in the world to have “gay” in its name. Attendees enjoyed entertainment by Sharon McNight, City Swing, Leanne Borghesi, Tom Ammiano and more. Congratulations to the entire family of members, volunteers and friends who continue the great traditions of this seminal group in the LGBT performing arts field.

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n June 25, 1978, artist and LGBTQ activist Gilbert Baker (1951–2017), along with around 30 volunteers, raised two history-making flags at San Francisco’s Civic Center—then more commonly known as United Nations Plaza. The first was the soon-to-beiconic Rainbow Flag, while the second was an American flag displaying rainbow stripes instead of the traditional red and white colors.

The Rainbow Flag was lovingly, yet laboriously, handcrafted by Baker and his team in the topfloor attic gallery of the Gay Community Center, which was at 330 Grove Street. Each swath of material was individually dyed in its own big trashcan filled with water and natural colorant.

Rinsing was done at a nearby laundromat late at night. It involved thorough cleaning of the machines to avoid turning the next unknowing customer’s laundry one of the bright hues.

In an interview for the San Francisco Bay Times with Pink Triangle project co-founder Patrick Carney, Baker explained what inspired him to create a flag symbolizing the gay community.

He shared that “flags have power; flags say something.” He added, “I love to sew. My craft is my activism. I had no money. I wanted to dress like the rock stars in the 70s, so I had to learn to sew to be able to express myself.”

Baker’s grandmother had owned a clothing store, which was another early influence on his craft.

It was fitting that the Rainbow Flag was raised 40 years ago in June, as the occasion marked Gay Freedom Day, later to be known as the San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade and Celebration.

The theme that year was “Come Out with Joy, Speak Out for Justice.” An estimated 240,000 people did just that with the bold and beautiful flag in unmistakable view.

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Round About - All Over Town Pride Season!

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Photos by Rink

Theatre Rhino’s John Fisher (center) with the cast of the farce DareBnB presented at Spark Arts Gallery on June 30

The Dog Eared Books Castro window display on June 22

A long line of diners waited outside of Orphan Andy’s following the Pride festivities on Sunday, June 24. The restaurant has been a Castro icon for more than 40 years.

The rainbow flag flew adjacent to “Old Glory” on the front of the St. Francis Hotel at Union Square on Saturday, June 23.

items of the week Casusgrill

Friends strolling on Castro Street near the Castro Theatre on “Pink Saturday,” June 23

is a single use Eco Friendly and Biodegradable Grill. This unique product is constructed of cardboard, bamboo, lava rock and a patented easy light bamboo charcoal. Easy to setup and easy to compost at the end of the day.

A large crowd gathered outside 440 Bar on Castro Street on Pink Saturday, June 23.

The Sunnylife Adult Size Unicorn Pool Float

is the must have item this summer. Perfect for a backyard pool party, weekend at the river or just crammed into your tiny shared bedroom.

A group of revelers were all smiles pausing for a photo in front of Cliff’s Variety on Pink Saturday, June 23.

Store owner Kate Razo (second from left) along with (left to right) Marco Razo, Alvin Orloff, Jyoti Arvey, Carly Nairn and Marcus Ewart at the Second Anniversary Party of Dog Eared Books Castro held on June 19

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t is that time of year! The sun is shining or not... this is San Francisco. But either way, July means summer vacations, that AIDS Walk SF is almost here and the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival will soon be at the Castro Theatre. Stop in and get your fancy new pool floaty, your Trump toilet paper and enough rainbows to choke a unicorn.

Entertainers Troth, Angelique, Larissa and Kira at the Art Saves Lives Gallery on June 8

Angelique and Thoth performing at the Art Saves Lives Gallery on June 8

As Heard on the Street . . . What do you do to stay healthy?

compiled by Rink

Heather Nguyen

John Fisher

Sean Durnin

Michael DeMartini

“Remind myself to breathe.”

“I swim a mile every day, and I am a bicyclist.”

“I count my calories daily.”

“I’m healthy when I’m involved or engaged with the theatre, the arts. I need to be doing something.”

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