San Francisco Bay Times - July 29, 2021

July 29–August 11, 2021 http://sfbaytimes.com

Remembering

Sally Gearhart (1931-2021)

Activist, Academic, Author and Defender of LGBT Educators Against the Briggs Initiative

PHOTO BY RINK

See pages 2–4

Remembering Sally Gearhart (1931-2021)

Filmmaker Recalls Sally Gearhart: ‘She Helped Change the World, and Also Changed Those of Us in Her World’

By Deborah Craig

Sally Gearhart was a toweringly brilliant woman I encountered quite by accident. I teach Public Health at SF State and am a filmmaker too. While helping LGBTQ public health expert Mickey Eliason with a study of lesbian health, I met so many perceptive and funny women that I began a short documentary about lesbians and aging. Mickey’s collaborator Penny Sablove mentioned an octogenarian she knew still living on women’s land in Northern California and cutting her own firewood with a chainsaw. Naturally, I zoomed up to meet her.

At this point, I knew little about Sally other than the chainsaw anecdote. But I trekked to Willits with my camerawoman Silvia Turchin in the summer of 2014 to find out more. Though 83, Sally kept us on our toes. She expounded on topics from aging to feminism to gay rights to environmentalism. She recited poetry and prose. She took us with her beloved dog Bodhi on a walk in the local woods—where we scrambled to keep up with her. And we toured the land in her signature battered Isuzu Jeep, an exciting and mildly hair-raising ride with Sally at the helm.

All these years after meeting her, I’m still learning about the richness, breadth, and depth of Sally’s contributions. She had a profound impact on queer scholars of religion and announced, “Feminism has done more for women in 20 years than Jesus Christ did in 2000 years.” She deeply influenced the field of communication, exploring the idea that rhetoric—trying to “win” verbally, and to change people—is a form of violence. She instead aimed to “womanize” rhetoric, advocating for dialogue and interchange, with the goal, not of persuading others, but of understanding their perspectives.

She traveled to Nicaragua to join solidarity brigades. She fought for animal rights and apparently had a unique vision of the perfect death: being eaten by a bear!

About Our Cover The legacy of lesbian activist and educator Sally Miller Gearhart (1931–2021) includes today’s LGBTQ teachers, whose basic human rights are recognized under state law given her and Harvey Milk’s leadership in defeating California Proposition 6. Sponsored by conservative state legislator John Briggs, the “Briggs Initiative” in the late 70s sought to ban gays and lesbians from working in the state’s public schools.

Besides being an idea person, Sally was a people person. She helped change the world, and also changed those of us in her world. I’ve had the amazing privilege to meet many of Sally’s friends and colleagues, some of them going back as many as 40, 50, or even 60 years. Without exception, they respected her intellect, loved her deeply, at times argued with her fervently, and had tremendous stories to tell: Sally apparently leapt on the desk when students weren’t paying attention. Sally strode out to meet the proselytizing Mormons who visited her women’s land community, despite being clothed only in work boots—nothing else. Sally’s unusual eating habits were legendary (I learned quickly to bring donuts rather than whole wheat bread). And Sally’s touch on someone’s shoulder was an electric memory half a century later. Sally was a “beacon,” a “lighthouse,” and a “prophet.” Sally “never said a mean word about anybody” and had “incredible generosity of spirit.”

The featured photo of Gearhart was taken in 1977 by legendary San Francisco Bay Times photographer Rink—now the Bay Times’ lead photographer—who worked with Milk (himself a photographer and the owner of Castro Camera at 575 Castro Street between 18th and 19th Streets). Gearhart was at the “No on 6” headquarters in San Francisco.

For me, meeting Sally has been an extraordinary journey: exciting, sweet, sad, enlightening, and humbling. In 2014, Silvia and I charged down a dirt path and rolled under a barbed wire fence to keep up with her. And I’ve been scrambling ever since to fully understand the brilliance, warmth, complexity, humor, theatrics, contradictions, engagement, connectedness, imagination, and 110% humanity of this truly one of a kind human being. Thank you, Sally, for the privilege. Thank you, Sally, for the adventure.

The image reflects many details of Gearhart’s life: her activism, dedication to research and work as an academic (the uncropped photo shows a hefty pile of work materials to her side), her strong presence, and her ability to find humor and joy in almost any situation. The latter often served her well in debates and other encounters with political foes.

For over a decade, Deborah Craig has been a lecturer in the Department of Public Health at San Francisco State University. She is also an award-winning documentary director and producer whose films use compelling personal stories to raise awareness about the challenges and strengths of underrepresented communities. Her short documentary “A Great Ride,” about several lesbians aging with humor and a zest for life, premiered at the Frameline LGBTQ Film Festival in 2018 and has screened 2

Sally Gearhart with Deborah Craig

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at over 50 film festivals around the world. Her new film-in-progress is about SF State’s own Sally Miller Gearhart, a lesbian feminist trailblazer who fought for gay rights side-by-side with Harvey Milk. For more details about the Gearhart documentary: https://www.documentaries.org/sally

COVER PHOTO BY RINK

With Sally, everything was exciting and nothing was simple. She turned out to be a les- Sally Gearhart on the deck at her home, the Wanderground, near bian separatist with many good Willits, California men friends and admirers; an environmentalist with a penchant for Pepsi and junk food; a radical feminist with staunch Republican friends; and a lapsed Christian who saw the sacred in every tree, animal, and human being. She also delighted in limelight and cherished her solitude.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DEBORAH CRAIG

More and more I learned of Sally’s tremendous importance: She was the first out lesbian to be granted tenure, at San Francisco State. She and other powerhouses such as Nancy McDermid and Jane Gurko cofounded the Women Studies department in the 1970s. Sally fought side-by-side with Harvey Milk—and so many others— to defeat the anti-gay Briggs Initiative, which would have prohibited “homosexuals” from teaching in California’s public schools. She wrote cult classic fantasy novels, including The Wanderground, which envisioned a female-centric utopia where women had supernatural powers. And much more.

The real question: Why didn’t I, a lifelong lesbian, immediately recognize her name and significance? After finishing my short film, A Great Ride, I set out to document Sally’s story in a feature-length film. She deserves it!

Remembering Sally Gearhart (1931-2021)

In Memoriam: Sally Miller Gearhart (1931–2021) Lesbian activist Sally Miller Gearhart, who helped launch the field of Women’s Studies and with Harvey Milk was key to the defeat of anti-gay Proposition 6 that would have banned LGBT teachers from public schools, died on June 14 in Ukiah at the age of 90.

One of the most prominent and influential out lesbians in Bay Area history, Gearhart was the first openly lesbian member of the boards of the San Francisco Family Service Agency and the San Francisco Mental Health Association. Through such positions, she fought homophobia and misogyny and advanced civil rights for all.

To understand the importance of her work, particularly concerning Proposition 6 (also called the Briggs Initiative after conservative state legislator John Briggs), consider these words published in the June 20, 1978, issue of the San Francisco Bay Times. They were written by teacher Larry Berner, who had previously outed himself to the teaching community in a newsletter article addressing the initiative.

defeated by a victory of 58.4% versus 41.6%.

Born in the small Appalachian town of Pearisburg, Virginia, Gearhart was affected by her parents’ divorce and was sent to her maternal grandmother’s boarding house. There she experienced female camaraderie and developed an admiration for “the collective strength of women.”

She attended the all-women’s Sweet Briar College in her home Sally Gearhart with Jane Gurko state before pursuing master’s studies at Bowling Green State University and then the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for a doctoral degree in theater (1956). For many years she was a popular and successful teacher of speech and theater, yet was blackmailed and experienced other threats due to her sexuality.

Doctoral graduation at University of Ilinois UrbanaChampaign (1956)

She moved to Kansas in 1969 in order to be with a lover (the term Sally with her mother and grandmother “lover” was commonly used at the Francisco State University). She was one time to describe same-sex partof the architects of that university’s radical ners). In 1970 she moved to San Francisco to Women’s Studies Program.” live and work openly as a lesbian.

A year later she convened the Her 1978 utopian novel The Wanderground: first women’s-focused course at If it were not for brave activists such Stories of the Hill Women “became an underBerkeley’s Graduate Theological as Gearhart and Milk, LGBT teachground feminist classic,” according to Love.

Union. It led to an article that, ers might not have been able to work in Gearhart went on to write other books with according to the book California, much less in women-centered themes. She was also an Lesbians Who Changed other states, with farenvironmental activist who traveled to counAmerica 1963–1975 reaching consequences tries such as Nicaragua to help with reforesby Barbara J. Love to other basic rights for tation efforts. “was one of the LGBT individuals. Tall, earliest lesbian After years of teaching she earned procharismatic, and a challenges to skilled debater, fessor emerita status at SF State and established reliGearhart shut moved to Northern California to loosely gion.” In the down many found “Women’s Land” in Willits to be in book Love adds Briggs supportnature and to be with other lesbians “outthat in 1973, ers and ralside of patriarchal confines,” according to “she became the lied allies at the Gearhart’s obituary in The New York Times. country’s first many events She often traveled back to the Bay Area, open lesbian in which she however, to visit and support friends. to be awarded spoke. The iniThe San Francisco Bay Times publishers frea tenure-track tiative was Sally Gearhart with Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon position (by San quently saw her at music producer Barbara

“Every time the door of my classroom opened, I jumped, thinking it might be the principal coming to replace me. About a week after the article appeared, three children were withdrawn from the school because of my presence.”

Price’s now-closed Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Club in the Montclair Village community of Oakland. It was an extraordinary and beautiful place, made even more so

by Gearhart’s presence. Just striding in she could light up a room, with people drawn to her presence even before she spoke. Her passion for LGBTQ issues, women’s rights, politics, the arts, and much more were evident, not to mention her sharp sense of humor.

In terms of her legacy in academia, aside from the evolution of Women’s Studies as a field, The Sally Miller Gearhart Fund for lesbian studies was established by Carla Blumberg, one of Gearhart’s former students, in January 2008 at the University of Oregon. It was created to promote research and teaching in lesbian studies through an annual lecture series and an endowed professorship at the university.

The Sally Miller Gearhart Papers (1956– 1999) are held at the Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv81757

Susan Leo, July 14, 2021: Sally slipped these earthly bonds last night after a long illness. In her last days she had been visited by many who loved her, both in the flesh and in spirit and she seemed ready to let go.

Sally was remarkable: sharp in her thinking, clear in her politics, fiercely determined, warmly compassionate. She was an immense presence in San Francisco, arriving in 1970 and becoming the first openly lesbian professor at San Francisco State University in 1973.

In 1978, she worked closely with Harvey Milk (1930–1978) in leading the campaign against Proposition 6, the California ballot measure that would have banned openly lesbian and gay teachers from public schools.

Her role is beautifully represented in the 1983 Academy Award–winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk, directed by Rob Epstein. By contrast, she is shamefully erased by Gus Van Sant’s 2008 biopic Milk.

Science fiction fans will recognize Sally for her ecofeminist and lesbian separatist novel The Wanderground (1978). With Susan Renne, she created The Feminist Tarot (1976). She was active in left politics through much of her life.

Susan Leo was a close friend of Sally Gearhart and reported her passing. Leo, currently with Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, served as an openly lesbian

pastor in the United Church of Christ. The Oregon Historical Society conducted an oral history interview with Leo in 2010: https://tinyurl.com/xry5w9js Roma Guy: Sally Gearhart was a leader in the LGBTQ community and academia. She raised the lesbian voice in both that did not often include women, except as tokens.

She understood rhetorically how to make her opponents laugh. For [the fight against] the Briggs Initiative, we were a minority trying to change the majority. She identified as a lesbian separatist, but knew that it was important for men and women to work together. During a rally held at Everett Middle School that I also attended, she basically told the crowd, “If I saw Briggs now and any of our opponents, I would go up and smack a big kiss on their lips!” The crowd went apes--t wild.

Sally and Harvey traveled all over for the “No on Proposition 6” campaign. Harvey knew that many of those for the Proposition were Mormons, and she was able to quote the Bible when interviewed by the media.

She wasn’t a hate monger. She humanized her opposition, and found humor in the most challenging times.

It was fun being with her, and for lesbians of multiple generations, she made a big difference. We are at the end of an era, though, with the passing of Sally, Del (Martin) and Phyllis (Lyon), and others.

Sally may not be an icon for younger people, but her legacy should be in our history.

PHOTO BY DAN NICOLETTA

LGBTQ Community Leaders Remember Sally Miller Gearhart

Sally Gearhart with Cleve Jones at a political rallly (1978)

Roma Guy is an LGBTQ and women’s rights activist. She co-founded The Women’s Building, La Casa de Las Madres, SF Women Against Rape, The Women’s Foundation of California, and more. Currently she serves on the board of directors of Metta Fund, a private foundation committed to San Francisco’s aging population and those furthest from access and opportunity.

Cleve Jones:

I fell in love with Sally when I saw her at The Word Is Out at the Castro Theatre. I thought she was amazing; her voice, in particular, was mesmerizing. She projected a degree of charisma that was remarkable.

As we approached the Briggs Initiative, it was my idea to team her up with Harvey Milk to do the debates. I wasn’t sure she and

Harvey would get along. It was therefore wonderful to see how immediately they connected and enjoyed each other’s company.

She was one of a kind. [She led to] a new generation of lesbian leadership that is more about shattering glass ceilings than about learning how to fly over them.

Cleve Jones is a human rights activist, author, and lecturer. He co-founded the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and founded the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. He works as an organizer for the hospitality workers’ union UNITE HERE. His memoir “When We Rise” inspired an ABC TV mini-series of the same name with a screenplay by Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black. (continued on page 4)

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Remembering Sally Gearhart (1931-2021) LGBTQ Community Leaders Remember Sally Miller Gearhart (continued from page 3)

PHOTO COURTESY OF JEAN CROSBY

Jean Crosby:

The best story about Sally that comes to mind at the moment is from 1975 in the era of the fledgling women’s movement. Three of us (including myself) were trying to establish the San Francisco Women’s Centers (parent organization of the Women’s Building).

We could commit to working full-time if we could quit our jobs and receive just enough money to live on. We created the Staff Support Project and asked women who had jobs to pledge on a monthly basis to that effort. Sally Gearhart became the loudest cheerleader of the effort, and the biggest contributor. The project was a success and we got off the ground. There was a staff, a small facility, volunteers, and a program, which resulted 3 years later in the establishment of the Women’s Building.

Jean Crosby is a Co-Founder of the San Francisco Women’s Centers. Her early history, along with that of others important to the Women’s Building, is shared at https://tinyurl.com/5bj2bubj Jewelle Gomez: Sally Gearhart’s novel The Wanderground enveloped me from my first encounter with the map of its mysterious, female land. It dared to say out loud an elemental truth many had difficulty expressing: outside of the autonomous community of women lay “Dangerland,” a violent threat whose memory we were often trying to excuse or erase.

the eye and in a very loving no nonsense way basically said something to the effect, “Well, get with the program, buddy ... .” And it was exactly what I needed in that moment and I did do and have been ever since. We were very honored to have her on the panel in San Francisco that night because we knew she did not like to leave her beloved dog for very long back home in Willits, CA.

Dorothy Haecker:

Sally was interested in a huge variety of topics, from Aikido to the Nicaraguan revolution. (She practiced Aikido and traveled to Nicaragua in support of the revolution.) She argued for “women only” space and also conspired with her gay brothers to win rights and funding for LGBT people and services.

My favorite moment with Sally was when we were on a Harvey Milk panel discussion together and I was whining to her about not being that secure about public speaking and she looked me square in 4

Dr. Marcy Adelman:

PHOTO COURTESY OF RUTH MAHANEY

She helped to found the Women’s Studies Department at SFSU, spoke at rallies for women’s rights and gay rights (as it was called then), and gave lectures at conferences and colleges around the state. Sometimes she invited me to join her speaking engagements where we would each present our perspectives: she as the Cultural Feminist, me as the Socialist Feminist. The audience would often try to resolve our differences, expressing discomfort with our conflicting ideas and trying to bring peace between us. We thought it was fun to disagree, but to be thoroughly committed to one another and both visions

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Sally was a professor, feminist, science-fiction writer, and political activist who fought alongside Harvey Milk to defeat the 1978 Briggs Initiative, and co-founded the women’s land community in Willits. And so much more. Lots has been written and filmed about her, and a documentary, Sally, is in progress.

To me, she was a dear friend who had humor, spiritual grace, and a love for music.

We sang together for about 15 years in the lesbian satire quartet Alternative Measures.

Her bass voice booms in my head as I write this. May our Sal bring more harmony to the universe and the earth. Fly on, Sister Sal! Janet Rachel is a vocalist with the band Ruby’s in Town and was a founding member of Out on a Clef. Her musical theater work includes a lead role in “Dykes on Broadway,” and she was a member of numerous jazz ensembles including the Note-orious jazz sextet and the Jazz City Singers. https://www.rubysintown.com/ Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, July 20, 2021:

Ruth Mahaney is a lesbian activist and educator, who for many years was a member of the Modern Times Bookstore collective. Her oral history is shared at https://tinyurl.com/d5jty5s9

Ruth Mahaney:

I met Sally Gearhart in the fall of 1971. Her booming voice greeted me through the telephone, screaming congratulations to my new woman lover’s announcement of our new relationship. When I moved to San Francisco from the Midwest a few months later, Sally immediately talked me into joining panels and events sponsored by the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, or San Francisco State University where she taught.

had been ill for a while. The care of loving friends made it possible for her to live in her own Wanderground, her land and cottage in Willits, California, until almost the end.

Most of all, she was the person most full of life I ever met. Her passing is so difficult to comprehend. A tall tree falling. But she was quite ready. She wanted to be in the sky or the forest. And I picture her at a party celebrating, but keeping an eye on us. She made a huge impact on this world. May we carry on in her memory.

An educator for five decades, Dorothy Haecker is an author and Professor Emeritus of Palo Alto College.

Holly Near:

Daniel Nicoletta:

Most of all, she loved people and made everyone feel that they were her best friends.

She also loved animals and trees, the earth, and the Goddess. And she loved to preach.

I remember her giving a speech at Glide Church from the pulpit, where she admitted she had always fantasized about being a minister.

As she was for so many, Sally was my awakening to the possibility of a life authentically lived. An elemental force of nature, charismatic, complicated, compassionate, Sally never met a being of any kind, animal, vegetable, or mineral, that she didn’t believe she could communicate and commune with. Her passion was the deep understanding of violence in all its forms and the ways to attenuate and dissolve it. She was one of the finest visionary storytellers, a most gifted synthesizer, an avant garde thinker, who saw what was coming before most others. Her spoken and written words are worth hearing and reading because they show us personal and global ways to heal and to love.

“San Francisco Bay Times” columnist Jewelle Gomez is an author, poet, critic, and playwright. http://www.jewellegomez.com/

Holly Near is a singer-songwriter, actress, teacher, and activist. https://www.hollynear.com/

Sally was a brilliant teacher. I know many women who took every class they could with her and who all say that she fundamentally changed their lives. Her classes were exciting and opened the topics of feminism as well as LGBT pride and equality. She believed that women loving themselves and one another was a major form of resistance in a sexist world. I was with her when she received the call from Dean Nancy McDermid informing her that she had been awarded tenure at SFSU. She was ecstatic, especially because she knew that she had just cracked another glass ceiling as an out lesbian becoming tenured at a major university.

Photographer Daniel Nicoletta worked in Harvey Milk’s Camera Store and is a longtime LGBTQ activist. His photography has been featured in books, periodicals, films, collections, and more. https://www.dannynicoletta.com/

Sally’s novel gave voice to our fears and our power and gave me a first look into the land of speculative fiction, where I’d make my home. When I finally met Sally at a conference and experienced her booming mellifluous voice, imposing stature, and head of wild curls, I knew I loved the original Hill Woman.

We shared big bear hugs every time our paths crossed.

for women. We both learned to embrace contradictions.

I met Sally in the 1970s when I was a graduate student at SFSU. She was a smart and courageous spirit with a twinkle in her eye. Her leadership and life-affirming, woman-loving spirit impacted me and so many other lesbians who came to San Francisco in the 1970s to live an out life. We were transforming our lives, fighting for our rights, and building community. Sally was our champion—an out educator and feminist who helped create women’s studies and who took on the Briggs Initiative and won.

Rest in peace Sally; we will be forever grateful.

“San Francisco Bay Times” columnist Dr. Marcy Adelman is a psychologist and LGBTQ+ longevity advocate and policy adviser who oversees the “Aging in Community” column. She serves on the California Commission on Aging, the Board of the Alzheimer’s Association of Northern California, the California Master Plan on Aging Equity Advisory Committee, and the San Francisco Dignity Fund Oversight and Advisory Committee. She is the Co-Founder of Openhouse, the only San Francisco nonprofit exclusively focused on the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ older adults.

Janet Rachel, June 14, 2021: Friends, a powerful loving woman has passed on to her next venture.

This morning Sally Gearhart made her free flight to the universe we can only dream about. She was 90 years old and

I requested that we adjourn today’s Board of Supervisors meeting in memory of Sally Miller Gearhart, who died on July 14th, 2021, in Ukiah, California, at the age of 90.

Sally was a truly extraordinary woman, an author, educator, and pioneering LGBTQ and feminist activist ... Sally was featured prominently in The Times of Harvey Milk; Last Call at Maud’s, a 1993 film about the famed San Francisco lesbian bar; and A Great Ride, a short documentary about senior lesbians living in Northern California.

She was portrayed by actress Carrie Preston in the 2017 ABC miniseries When We Rise.

Sally imagined her dream of a community of women into being, establishing her own feminist utopian space in the woods near Willits, California, where she resided for many years following her retirement from San Francisco State University. Here she entertained women, cats, dogs, racoons, deer, birds, and the occasional bear and human male with her stories, her music-making, and her imaginative appreciation of the diversity of the human experience.

May her memory be a blessing, and may her legacy live on in the work of future generations of LGBTQ activists for whom she paved the way.

Rest in Power, Sally Gearhart.

Former “San Francisco Bay Times” columnist Rafael Mandelman serves on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing District 8.

Visit Sally Gearhart’s website: https://sallymillergearhart.net/

Our Historic & Transformative State Budget

Assemblymember Phil Ting Thanks to record-breaking revenues and federal stimulus funds, we can build our state back boldly. As Assembly Budget Chair, I had the opportunity to be a part of putting together a once-in-a-generation fiscal plan—the most transformative in modern history. Highlights include:

• Child Care, T-K, After-School - We’re on a path toward Universal Transitional Kindergarten, which will be available to all 4-year-olds by 2025; 200,000 more infants and children will have access to subsidized childcare, plus all childcare providers will get a pay raise! The budget also funds expanded afterschool programs and state preschool.

• K-12 Public Education - There is record funding for K-12 schools providing about $21,000 for every K-12 student; implements Universal School Meals program.

California will be the first state to provide breakfast and lunch to every student regardless of income.

• LGBTQ Support - Teachers will now have more comprehensive training so they can better support LGBTQ students; topics include anti-bullying and harassment policies, as well as how to find target resources.

Higher Education • UC and CSU - UC and CSU get a 5% ongoing funding increase, and 15,000 more slots will be available to boost enrollment of California students next year.

• Financial Aid Expansion - There are Cal Grants for 133,000 more community college students, and our Middle Class Scholarship program will now cover both tuition and living costs so families won’t have to rely on big loans.

• Higher Ed Facilities/Student Housing - $2 billion will support new facilities and housing for students.

Economic Relief • Golden State Stimulus 2 - Residents with incomes between $30,000 and $75,000 will receive a $600 stimulus check, and families with kids, including ITIN filers, Homelessness will get an additional $500.

• Record $12 Billion to Address Homelessness - Over • Renter Assistance - To help lowthe next two years, funding will be distributed to income renters and small landlords, address homelessness, including $1 billion each year the budget includes funds to cover to the cities where most of California’s unhoused folks up to 100% of unpaid rent and live. extends the eviction moratorium to Fighting Poverty and Hunger September 30.

• Medi-Cal Age 50+ for All - All income-eligible Cal• Small Business/Nonprofits, ifornia residents 50+ years of age will now receive low Micro-Businesses, Arts and Culor no-cost health coverage, regardless of immigration tural Venues Grants - There is a status. total of $4 billion for the Small • Seniors, Disabled - The budget increases monthly Business COVID-19 Relief Grant payments to those living on SSI/SSP and provides Program, including special grants better wages to disability service providers. for micro-businesses and entertain• Hunger - The application process for food assistance ment venues. under CalFresh has been simplified, and counties K-12 Schools and Early Care have been given additional funding to staff up for the

influx of requests. The program has also been temporarily expanded to include college students.

• CalWORKs - California’s lowest-income families will receive higher monthly stipends and more assistance during pregnancy.

• Foster Care Support - Foster youth 18 to 21 now have access to housing stipends and more financial support for college. Payment to families with foster children is also increased, and California will no longer send our foster children to out-of-state placements.

More • Wildfire, Drought and Climate Resiliency - Over $7 billion over a few years to address wildfires and the drought, and to support climate resiliency projects.

• Broadband - Broadband access is now an essential need, yet many Californians have limited to no access.

To address our statewide digital divide, the budget invests $6 billion over three years to expand and build out broadband infrastructure and improve broadband access.

• Gun Violence Reduction - California’s CalVIP program will receive over $200 million to support gun violence reduction and prevention efforts across the state; there is another $1 million to train law enforcement on how to use Gun Violence Restraining Orders to prevent tragedies.

• API Equity Budget - There is $156 million to combat the alarming rise in hate crimes and incidents against Asian and Pacific Islander community so that more services and resources are available for victims, while also providing education and prevention funds.

• LGBTQ Health - There are increased efforts to fight HIV, viral hepatitis, and other epidemics disproportionately affecting LGBTQ Californians.

Recognizing the inevitability of future economic uncertainty, we put $25.2 billion in reserve accounts and fully paid off state debt for our schools, ensuring a responsible budget.

This budget represents the best opportunity that our state has had to lift families out of poverty and transform the lives of many Californians. I’m proud to have had a hand in crafting this spending plan.

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

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Counting Justices at the U.S. Supreme Court The night Donald Trump was elected president nearly five years ago, we remember asking each other in despair: Will conservative religious forces go to the U.S. Supreme Court to try to take away our marriage? Would there be an all-out attack on LGBTIQ rights at the Court?

Now that the Court has completed its first full term with a conservative supermajority of three Trump nominees, as well as two Bush, Jr., and one Bush, Sr., nominees, it’s time to assess where things stand today.

6/26 and Beyond Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis

Bear in mind, had Hillary Clinton won the 2016 Electoral College vote (she easily won the popular vote), the Court would look very different today. It would have a solid pro-LGBTIQ majority of one Bill Clinton, two Obama, and two Hillary Clinton nominees. The blatantly partisan way Trump’s three appointees gained Senate confirmation and the fact that a single election can shape Constitutional interpretation for decades lay bare the need for institutional reform of the Court.

But nonetheless, all is not lost with the current Court, and in some instances there is even cause for hope.

For example, even as the Court failed to rule in favor of LGBTIQ rights last month in the foster parenting case (Fulton), it recognized that equal treatment of gay couples in foster-parenting was unquestionably a “weighty” interest.

The Court reiterated language from a 2018 decision (Masterpiece Cake) that “[o]ur society has come to the recognition that gay persons and gay couples cannot be treated

as social outcasts or as inferior in dignity and worth.” It seems that three liberal Justices (Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayor) forged a compromise with three conservatives (Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Barrett) to issue a decision that The composition of the U.S. Supreme Court, from October 27, 2020, to present, includes (front row) Justices Alito, Thomas, Chief Justice Roberts, Breyer and resulted in the Catholic Social Sotomayor; and (back row) Kavanaugh, Kagan, Gorsuch and Barrett.

Services winning Remarks Barrett made in a 2016 speech the case on narrow religious exception before she became a justice cause us congrounds particular to the case instead siderable concern as to how she might of a sweeping decision with far-reaching vote on the issue, but the 2020 Bostock consequences. decision now stands as precedent. When The Court’s trend especially over the last the Supreme Court last month refused year with its conservative supermajority to hear a Virginia county’s attempt to to consistently find a way to rule in favor reverse courageous transgender youth of conservative religious claims in cases Gavin Grimm’s victory in his multiyear it hears is disturbing. But only three Jusbattle regarding his right to use the bathtices (Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch) have room at his high school, neither Barurged a more aggressive approach in rett nor any of the other justices joined LGBTIQ cases, as they did in their Fulton Thomas and Alito in voting to hear the concurrence last month. case.

Earlier this month they came together With respect to marriage equality, the again to dissent to the Court’s decision departure of Justice Kennedy from the not to hear the appeal of a Washington Court and the death of Justice Ginsberg state florist who claimed that, because of mean that only three of the five justices her religion, she could violate state law who voted in favor of marriage equalby refusing to provide flowers for a lesity in Obergefell remain on the Court: bian couple’s wedding (Arlene’s Flowers).

Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayor. HowSignificantly, neither Roberts, Kavanaever, many believe based on a 2017 deciugh, nor Barrett joined them in voting to take the case. sion reaffirming Obergefell that Roberts now respects it as binding precedent But last summer, Gorsuch broke with even though he strongly dissented from Thomas and Alito to author the Court’s the decision in 2015—and that Kavanalandmark 6–3 Bostock decision, holding ugh, Barrett, and hopefully Gorsuch do that employment discrimination against as well.

LGBTIQ people is unlawful sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII of the Thomas and Alito made national news Civil Rights Act of 1964. Justice Ginslast October when they blasted Obergeberg’s death reduced the vote margin by fell in a statement upon the Court’s decione, but the remaining five-Justice majorsion not to hear the case of the former ity, which includes Chief Justice RobKentucky County clerk Kim Davis, who erts, ensures that Bostock is safe for now. refused on religious grounds to issue marIt should have significant impact nationriage licenses to LGBTIQ couples. Neiwide on LGBTIQ equality in housing, ther Gorsuch, Roberts, nor Kavanaugh education, and health care, because par(Barrett was not yet on the Court) joined allel federal laws prohibit sex discriminatheir vitriolic attack. tion in those areas.

Many Court observers believe that the Court will someday address whether Title IX protections against sex discrimination apply to the right of transgender people to use the restroom that comports with their gender identity, an issue conservatives have used as a lightning rod wedge issue to motivate their political base and fundraise.

Although Kavanaugh joined Thomas and Alito dissenting in Bostock, he went out of his way to praise the “millions of gay and lesbian Americans [who] have worked hard for many decades to achieve equal treatment in fact and in law.” Will he now respect Bostock as precedent in future cases?

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Recent polling shows that 70% of Americans support marriage equality and 83% support laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBTIQ people in employment, housing, and public accommodations.

Our community and its millions of allies have created this dramatic societal embrace of equality. Our collective voice is what will sustain LGBTIQ rights at the Court.

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.

Out of the Closet and into City Hall Oakland City Councilmember At-Large, Rebecca Kaplan To live in the Bay Area is to understand that getting around the bay can be a maddening experience.

Cars are a frustrating and polluting experience, which can leave us idling in traffic for hours.

As we live surrounding our bay, transit by water is another important option that can and should be expanded.

Currently, the ferry connects Oakland with San Francisco, with ports in Oakland’s Jack London Square and Alameda. And yet many vital corridors are not yet connected.

The ferry can be an important transit mode, which can help our community by providing a welcoming transit option, reducing vehicle traffic congestion and air pollution, and encouraging public transit, and enabling effective connections to jobs, homes, and other key destinations.

As the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation

WIKIPEDIA.COM

Get Off the Highways, Get on the Waterways

Authority (WETA) has been working to improve and expand ferry service, it is important that certain efforts be considered. Additional location connections for the growing community in Oakland should be included.

Oakland has a ferry terminal in Jack London Square, which is home to a large and growing community that includes newly-built housing, office space, and other jobs, as well as recreation, entertainment, and dining destinations. It is important for community health and environmental sustainability to help ensure that a growing share of trips to and from this area will take place by public transit. The well-located ferry dock can help ensure these vital goals, with increased service, connections, and public outreach.

As WETA considers upcoming expansion opportunities, options for it to consider include: (a) increasing frequency of ferry service on exist-

ing routes to and from Oakland’s Jack London Square; (b) adding new routes to provide connections to and from Richmond, Larkspur, (c) and other areas not currently served from Oakland; and (d) increasing connectivity and outreach by further support of the Broadway shuttle, (ensuring last mile connectivity to the ferry), way-finding and informational signage, and community information regarding the ferry.

This can be a key opportunity to connect areas not currently served, as there is a lack of transit service connecting the East Bay with the North Bay, despite a growing number of trips along this corridor, which need better options. We are blessed to live around the bay, and public transit by ferry can help close gaps in our region and help unite our communities while reducing vehicle congestion and the harms it causes.

Councilmember At-Large and Council President Rebecca Kaplan was elected in 2008 to serve as Oakland’s citywide Councilmember; she was re-elected in 2016 and 2020. 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/ ).

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San Francisco’s $13.2 Billion Post-COVID Recovery Budget Package Passes 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.

We honor our history and the paper’s ability to build and strengthen unity in our community.

The Bay Times is proud to be the only newspaper for the LGBT community in San Francisco that has always been 100% owned and operated by LGBT individuals.

Dr. Betty L. Sullivan Jennifer L. Viegas Co-Publishers & Co-Editors

Beth Greene, Michael Delgado, John Signer, Abby Zimberg Design & Production

Kate Laws Business Manager Blake Dillon Calendar Editor

Kit Kennedy Poet-In-Residence J.H. Herren Technology Director Carla Ramos Web Coordinator Mario Ordonez Distribution

Juan R. Davila Volunteer Coordinator CONTRIBUTORS Writers Rink, Sister Dana Van Iquity, Ann Rostow, Patrick Carney, Leslie Sbrocco, Heather Freyer, Kate Kendell, Heidi Beeler, Gary M. Kramer, Julie Peri, Jennifer Kroot, Robert Holgate, Dennis McMillan, Tim Seelig, John Chen, Rafael Mandelman, Jewelle Gomez, Phil Ting, Rebecca Kaplan, Leslie Katz, Philip Ruth, Bill Lipsky, Elisa Quinzi, Liam Mayclem, Karen Williams, Donna Sachet, Gary Virginia, Zoe Dunning, Derek Barnes, Marcy Adelman, Jan Wahl, Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis Brandon Miller, Jamie Leno Zimron Michele Karlsberg, Randy Coleman, Debra Walker, Howard Steiermann, Andrea Shorter, Lou Fischer, Karin Jaffie, Brett Andrews, Karen E. Bardsley, David Landis,

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors and community members on July 27 celebrated the passage of the city’s $13.2 billion post-COVID recovery budget package. The budget includes historic funding to target homelessness and housing stability, expands mental health services and community public safety initiatives, offers support for youth and families, and invests in Black, Latinx, API, and LGBTQ+ communities.

“Last year was one of the hardest in the history of our city and the residents who were impacted, every single one of them, deserve a recovery budget that seriously and directly meets their needs. The implications of our budget this year and next year are massive and those hit hardest by the pandemic will be looking to us to provide them with the support they need to recover,” said Budget Chair Matt Haney. “This budget package includes robust, strategic investments and funds new, innovative initiatives for San Francisco’s health, safety, and economic development to build back better.”

The budget package directs millions to housing stability, homelessness prevention, and anti-displacement services. It includes funding for housing case management for older adults and adults with disabilities, additional staff positions to support case management and client advocacy, increasing housing and behavioral health access for community members facing barriers in navigating these systems, anti-eviction services for tenants in high needs districts, rapid rehousing rental subsidies for unhoused women experiencing sexual exploitation, permanent supportive housing for women, and district specific funds to help keep people housed.

Photographers Rink, Phyllis Costa, Jane Higgins Paul Margolis, Chloe Jackman, Bill Wilson, Jo-Lynn Otto, Sandy Morris, Abby Zimberg, Deborah Svoboda, Devlin Shand, Kristopher Acevedo, Darryl Pelletier, Morgan Shidler, JP Lor ADVERTISING Display Advertising Standard Rate Cards http://sfbaytimes.com/ or 415-503-1375 Custom ad sizes are available. Ads are reviewed by the publishers.

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“This year our communities received a record-breaking 100 plus million dollars for community programs addressing our unhoused population, violence prevention, COVID economic recovery, rent relief, support for BIPOC organizations and the Black community, affordable housing, relief for small businesses, food insecurity, immigrant services and protections, free legal services for low income families, housing for TAY youth, LGBTQ services, and resources to assist our small businesses in their fight to come back even stronger. I’d like to personally thank Budget Chair, Supervisor Matt Haney, for his extremely hard work and commitment to making sure we passed a balanced budget that prioritizes meeting the needs of the communities that need us the most,” said Supervisor Shamann Walton.

The Board’s budget package also includes an additional $15.8 million in broader investments in public safety through investments in community safety initiatives and alternative models of response. As part of an effort to fund alternatives to policing, the proposed budget expands Mental Health SF and compassionate alternative response teams, increases paramedic staffing, and funds major investments in community ambassadors and community-based safety plans across the city. To support residents who are impacted by crime in San Francisco, the budget includes funding for victim witness investigators, property crime advocates, an emergency victim fund, and pay equity for legal support through the District Attorney’s Office. As a combined response from the Public Defender’s Office, the package also supports the expansion of the pretrial release unit and equitable services clients.

“As we entered into this year’s Budget Season the Board of Supervisors and the Budget and Appropriations Committee committed to San Franciscans that we would construct a budget that would meet the needs of the people most impacted COVID and uplift our city back to the vibrant place it was prepandemic. This budget will make it free to start a small business, deliver resources and support to struggling families, and continues on our promise to create safe alternatives to law enforcement in response to homeless and mental health calls,” said Supervisor Hillary Ronen.

An additional $5.2 million will be appropriated for youth and family support in an effort to address learning loss, the effects of a year of isolation, and continue supporting resource and referral organizations that are connecting families to lifelines in the city, money to recruit and hire Black early childcare educators, housing subsidies and violence prevention programs for transitional aged youth, support for Family Resource Centers serving high-need communities, food access that has become even more essential after COVID, and more.

“Our city is forever evolving.

COVID-19 has drastically changed how we do business and during this crisis, we have been able to produce more than a decade’s worth of innovation and new programming with the relaxing of our government processes. This budget presented today represents our city’s investment in affordable housing, support and services for the unhoused, mentally ill and drug addicted, new innovation, expanded equity and inclusion, and programming for our most vulnerable seniors, immigrants and families,” said Budget Committee Vice Chair Ahsha Safai

This recovery package also adds another $6 million investment in Black, Latinx, and API communities on top of the commitments made in the Mayor’s budget. This includes SRO housing subsidies, rapid response network for immigrant communities, arts and culture development for BIPOC communities, and increased support for Black and Brown-led service providers.

Chinese serving organizations and community members have been collective and clear about what they need in this budget cycle to defend, elevate, and embrace their community to serve the most vulnerable API residents and this budget has attempted to reflect the full breadth of needs the community has. This budget adds funding to support the Chinatown Visitors Center and increases the support for helping to ensure that City Hall is clean and vibrant.

“The Budget is our biggest response in this moment of reckoning on racism and violence against Asian Americans, by investing tens of millions to expand public safety language access, culturally responsive services, wraparound victim support, case management, safety network infrastructure, and cross-racial efforts. Public safety also means protecting our social safety net, like the millions for the City College Workforce Education and Recovery Program, youth programs, senior services, and direct services like those provided by AAPI-serving CBOs, in the communities they know best. I am proud of how this budget also invests deeply in other BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized communities, stabilizing (continued on page 28)

GLBT Fortnight in Review I Heart Good Republicans Did you ever imagine you’d feel a sense of solidarity with Liz Cheney?

Do you remember Liz Cheney back in the day? The woman who made a point of disavowing her gay sister and her sister-in-law in her unsuccessful effort to win a Senate seat, telling Fox News in 2013 that she believed in the “traditional” view of marriage?

Cheney’s sister-in-law Heather Poe posted on Facebook: “Liz has been a guest in our home, has spent time and shared holidays with our children, and when Mary and I got married in 2012—she didn’t hesitate to tell us how happy she was for us. To have her now say she doesn’t support our right to marry is offensive to say the least.”

Mary Cheney, in turn, posted: “Liz—this isn’t just an issue on which we disagree—you’re just wrong— and on the wrong side of history.”

Well, that was then and this is now.

“Good job, Big Sister,” tweeted Mary on January 7. “Liz and I have definitely had our differences over the years, but I am incredibly proud of how she handled herself during the fight over the Electoral College. She defended our constitution, our country and our people while many of her colleagues were willing to risk our democracy in order to further their own political careers.”

I find myself sending the onceloathed Cheney psychic pats on the back as she courageously destroys her political future in Trump’s bonfire of the vanities. That’s after nodding along with George W Bush and cheering on Mitt Romney, two men I

By Ann Rostow

have absolutely despised in the past.

In the fairly recent past!

post-pubescent but younger than late teens.

sexuality was like an evil spell you could revoke with time and effort.

I understand why the enemy of your enemy is your friend, but rarely have I seen it made manifest so clearly. Normally, I’d toss in a little folksy wisdom at this point, rhetorically wondering if someday I might change my view of Trump or Matt Gaetz in the context of something even worse taking over American politics. But I can tell you that will not happen.

Of course, our discussion would not be complete without referencing “teleiophilia,” a preference for adults, “mesophilia,” an attraction to middle-aged adults, and “gerontophilia,” you guessed it. My pleasure at discovering these fun, new characterizations is somewhat dampened by the fact that these last three terms were invented in the last 20 years, so instead of uncovering important new knowledge, all we’re really doing here is blindly following a modern trend of creating Latin-esque expressions for things that don’t really need names to begin with.

“It’s very hard to argue with someone who thinks that an integral part of your identity is just an evil delusion,” Green said on a Slate podcast called One Year. “She wants a relationship with a person who doesn’t exist because I’m not the person she wants me to be.”

And for the record, I have not completely forgotten or forgiven the blunders and stumbles of the early 2000s.

I�ve just changed my perspective.

The X Philes As for Matt Gaetz, I just watched a couple of Tik Toks by his fiancé’s sister, Roxanne Luckey, who says Matt urged one of his 40-something buddies to repeatedly ask her out when she was 19 or 20. Eventually, Roxanne told the guy to cool it, and he explained (oddly) that he was only pursuing her to get Matt off his back.

When Roxanne confronted Matt about this situation at Thanksgiving, he reportedly went ballistic.

Meanwhile, Roxanne’s sister Ginger is madly in love with Gaetz and is looking forward to their wedding.

Roxanne says Gaetz is not a pedophile, but an “epehbophile,” namely, someone mainly attracted to people in their late teens. This observation led me to learn about things called “chronophilias,” which are attractions based on age ranges.

Pedophilia, perhaps the most famous, refers to pre-pubescent children. But there’s also “hebephilia” which is

Still, I like the sound of mesophilia.

What was that ad slogan for Vegas?

Just the right amount of wrong? You remember those ads, don’t you? A beautiful woman walks into a hotel room with a goat on a leash. She might be a mesophile, for all we know.

M, I, C ... ‘C’ You Real Soon So, I loved the story about Anita Bryant’s lesbian granddaughter, who is about to be married.

According to an article on Yahoo News, when Sarah Green was celebrating her 21st birthday, her grandmother, the famed antigay activist and Mouseketeer, sang “Happy Birthday” and then speculated that a husband was going to come along in the near future.

“I just snapped,” Green recalled, “and was like, ‘I hope that he doesn’t come along because I’m gay, and I don’t want a man to come along.’”

Bryant sternly informed Green that no one is really gay, but that homo-

Now, years later, Green is about to get married and trying to decide whether or not to invite Granny to the festivities. According to the report, Bryant’s face froze when her son, Sarah’s father Robert Green, told her about the wedding plans.

Sarah says she plans to call Bryant and ask her if she wants an invitation.

Am the only one that thought Anita Bryant died a while ago? Oh, wait! I just checked. I was confusing Bryant with Annette Funicello, who unlike Bryant was, in fact, a Mousketeer, and who did die in 2013. Anita Bryant was a singer, a Miss America contestant, not a Mouseketeer, and lives in Oklahoma.

K,E,Y. Why? Because we love you!

M,O,U,S,E. Gross!

I keep preparing to launch into GLBT legal news (my favorite thing!) but then getting caught up in random anecdotes, like the Anita Bryant story or the bit about Matt Gaetz’s lascivious buddy. Oh, and I was also going to write about the win/loss records of over a thousand candidates endorsed by the Victory Fund!

Now, just as I was starting one of these interesting topics, I noticed

the MetroWeekly headline: “‘Trump Man’ Found Guilty of Repeatedly Pooping on Gay Men’s Lawn.” Guys?

How are we supposed to resist pausing to cover this disturbing development in the life our extended community?

“A so-called ‘Trump man’ in Ohio has been sentenced to prison after repeatedly defecating and urinating on a gay neighbor’s lawn,” MetroWeekly explains, relying on a report from Smoking Gun. Seventy-something Jerry Detrick of Greenville, Ohio, confessed to the crimes after getting caught in the middle of the night May 30 by Matthew Guyette, 59, and his husband.

Detrick, a retired high school biology teacher, said the men’s sexual orientation had nothing to do with his offenses, but insisted it was because the men were Democrats, while he himself was a “Trump man.” But writing on Facebook, Guyette said police finally caught the guy who had been pooping on his lawn for a decade, leaving little pieces of restaurant napkins in his wake.

Detrick was eventually sentenced to 20 days in jail, 30 hours of community service, and $232 in fines for littering. He was also ordered to write his neighbors an apology, and he did so, telling Guyette and husband he was “extremely sorry.”

“Let me say that I didn’t know you were gay, I did know you were a Democrat. I am a Republican,” Detrick wrote. “Doesn’t make any difference, my actions were disgusting and cruel.” Detrick added that

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Bomb Scares and Death Threats and Music, Oh Dear

TLC: Tears, Laughs and Conversation Dr. Tim Seelig No one ever imagined our chorus— or any chorus—would garner the attention and fanatical ire of the far, far-right. This happened not once, but twice within a month. We’ve heard many questions. Hopefully, this will answer some of them.

In the beginning, the chorus adopted music and mission, art and activism as co-equal partners in its DNA. The chorus has used its music in the fight against injustice and ignorance at every turn— for 43 years. One might say this was our destiny and bound to happen sooner or later.

our singers, staff, supporters on our website and on our other videos on SFGMC TV. They were leaving no stone unturned, even going so far as to select members and create sex offender files with their names. These were shared with millions of people—on blogs, videos, “news” outlets. Out of fear for our members, we decided to take it down. It was not because we do not stand 100% behind the song, as it was portrayed. We finally put it up because it had already been cloned and was being posted by many altright outlets. We even made Fox News and Breitbart.

We were completely overwhelmed and frightened. The video was getting hundreds of thousands of views on alternative websites and the comments were unbelievably vile and violent. We sought help from the

The first attack from the right came in late May when the chorus released a take on Three Dog

Night’s “Celebrate.”

One of our artistic staff, Paul Saccone, changed the words to “Vaccinate” and we released a brief and hilarious video encouraging people to get vaccinated! Oh, boy. The far political right rose up and began online harassment of the chorus for “promoting propaganda, being a mouthpiece for Fauci and supporting the Biden agenda of lies.” That evil agenda is trying to save lives, of course. For the gay community, this is NOT our first pandemic, or trip to the rodeo as it were. That backlash was just a primer for what was soon to come.

The big one would come with the release of a music video, “Message from The Gay Community.”

There was no scenario imaginable where a song by a gay chorus, released on its own YouTube channel, could illicit personal threats to its members, graffiti on its building, and bomb scares to organizations associated with the chorus. The chorus became an instant cause célèbre for the radical religious right. Within hours, it had been twisted, taken out of context, and promoted by the most despicable media outlets on earth. From that point, there was no getting the genie back in the bottle or the cows back in the barn.

No amount of “but did you actually listen to the whole thing?” mattered.

They took certain phrases out of context and referred to their usual playbook: gay men are pedophiles.

We immediately began getting threats. They found the names of 12

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police, the FBI, professionals in crisis management, and PR. Each day brought new onslaughts of hate.

Let’s back up to fill in the blanks of “Where did it come from?” and “Who chooses the music anyway?”

In the summer of 2017, Maestro Michael Morgan of the Oakland Symphony commissioned a multimovement work from composer/ lyricists Tim Rosser and Charlie Sohne. The result was “A Message from the Gay Community.” My email immediately exploded about this new piece. It was magic and the audience, mostly straight, literally howled at the humor and satire so obvious in the piece. The “message” was clear. It actually took the religious right’s own playbook and turned it on its ear.

Soon after the premiere, we began conversations with Tim and Charlie about whether or not they would be willing to have it arranged for a TTBB chorus [four-part men’s chorus]. They said yes, and the process began. We premiered it at our Pride concerts in 2019 to huge response.

Over the next year, we would perform it many times, including for the San Francisco City Attorney’s annual meeting at Herbst Theater, and in Charleston and Greenville,

S.C. All of these were majority straight audiences.

We performed it at Outfest in L.A., and were looking forward to performing it at the GALA Festival in Minneapolis that was cancelled due to the pandemic. Everywhere we performed it, it was peoples’ favorite piece. Many LGBTQ choruses were excited about bringing it to their own audiences. We had a hit on our hands! At no point along this 4-year path did anyone raise any concerns or even think it would get worldwide attention.

For the record, researching and selecting music is one of the main responsibilities of the Artistic Director. It is one I take huge joy and great pride in doing. That said, I do not do it alone. All potential music first goes to the artistic staff—paid and volunteer. It then goes to our Music Input Committee, made up of 20 singers. The group is widely diverse in every way, including music expertise. In the end, based on the above input, I make the final choices of what goes on the stage. I did so without reservation when it came to “Message.”

None of that matters at this point.

People are being hurt immeasurably by this. People are frightened. Their livelihoods are being threatened.

Private information is being stolen and used for threats of physical harm. And why? Because we sang the truth, actually. As we sing in the song, we do want to convert you children—away from hate to tolerance. We are coming for your children—because they are locked in your prison of ignorance. The very ones who threatened singers with bodily harm are the ones whose children need to hear this message.

There are television series and movies about extracting young people away from dangerous religious cults.

You must be taught to hate. We know this. We offer a way to teach love and acceptance instead.

The use of the term “convert” is perfection on the part of the lyricist. It pushed their buttons in the best possible way. For centuries, it has been the goal of Christian and other religions to convert children. I WAS ONE OF THEM. I was converted from my sinful ways at the age of 6. I had no choice. I was fully indoctrinated into the shackles of a conservative religion. But, hallelujah, at the age of 35 I “unconverted” myself ! I was converted to the gays—not by the gays. I only knew one gay person and he didn’t try to convert me to the gays; he just cut my hair. Yes, there was hair in 1986. For this un-conversion, I say: “Thank you, Jesus.”

For those raining threats on our lives, converting children is what they do. If it doesn’t work, conversion therapy is not far behind. I (continued on page 28)

The Whiffenpoofs of Yale University and SFGMC’s Homophonics in Concert Artistic Director/Conductor Dr. Tim Seelig, on behalf of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, welcomed Yale University’s famous a cappella group The Whiffenpoofs to San Francisco on Saturday, July 24.

The group performed a joint concert with SFGMC’s Homophonics at St. Ignatius Church. Host for the evening was Deke Sharon, a singer, composer, arranger, and teacher who is known as “the father of modern a capella” for his wide-ranging career and influence in the field.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS

The incredible concert, which had free admission, was live-streamed and may be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f38yacY-Ag4

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Grubstake Diner Redevelopment Project Plans Approved The San Francisco Planning Commission by a vote of 4–2 on July 22 approved plans to construct an eight-story, mixed-use building at 1525 Pine Street, the site of the Grubstake Diner that has historic ties to the LGBTQ community once centered in Polk Gulch.

The plans include rebuilding the restaurant, well-known for its late-night hours, “Breakfast Anytime,” and Portuguese dishes included in its extensive menu.

Owners Jimmy Consos and former Mayes Oyster House partner Nick Pigott have long supported the LGBTQ community and were grateful for the help they received from San Francisco Bay Times team members, former SF Pride President Gary Virginia, and others.

One familiar voice at the commission meeting said: “This is Juanita MORE!, Empress of the Imperial Council of San Francisco. I am also a 30-year [District 3] resident and a 30-year customer of the Grubstake. I approve of this current buildout. I spoke with the owners; I’ve seen the plans. I’m very happy with it. When the Austin [a nearby condo complex] went up, I found that to be the eyesore. There are pieces of the Grubstake that I believe will be installed into the new building which makes me very happy. It’s been a longtime part of the LGBTQ+ community.”

Grubstake is open for delivery through many online services, and now is a great time to visit and enjoy the good eats that were featured on the popular television show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. The current hours are 6:30 pm to 3 am Sunday– Wednesday & 6:30 pm to 4 am Thursday–Saturday.

KREMAN MORRIS

MORE! was among the 67 LGBTQ community leaders and allies who had previously signed a petition in support of the plans.

Opposers expressed concern that the project would block sunlight at the Austin. They may appeal the commission’s decision to the SF Board of Supervisors. But, as Virginia shares, “For now, Grubstake Diner has a green light to rebuild and preserve many of the ephemera and architectural elements of this iconic late-night eatery, while adding 21 new apartments to badly needed housing supply.”

PHOTO BY RINK

Architect’s rendering by Kreman Morris

Grubstake’s Jimmy Consos (left) with Gary Virginia celebrating the approval during Divas & Drinks Go for Gold, July 23, at The Academy.

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PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY RINK

http://sfgrubstake.com/

Uncoupling Athleticism & Opportunity from Gender

The Centered Way Jamie Leno Zimron Like music and art, sports are an integral part of our humanity. Every person deserves to happily inhabit their body, and to have equal access to athletic opportunities. Fitness, self-expression and fulfilling one’s potential are for everyone. Gender, race, religion, class, size, age, sexuality, etc. have nothing to do with the human need to stretch, get our breathing and heart rates up, break a sweat, rise to challenges, and go beyond current capabilities.

Everyone’s inner athlete can come out and play—and sports are no place for discrimination!

And yet ... the sports world persists as one of the hardest arenas for women and gender-non-conforming people to gain entrée, much less find safety or parity. Why in sports is the gender pay gap such a chasm, and are LGBTQ people so especially fearful of coming out?

Sexist gender roles and homophobia are intensely inter-linked in sports, such that it remains a last bastion of male domination and het-

ero-normative bias and exclusivity.

Even the United States Congress and military have been coming to terms with women and LGBTQ people in their ranks, and are willing to change their thinking and policies.

Women’s prolonged diminishment in sports, and the outright dangers queer people face, serve to preserve the domains and privileges of men, hand in hand with “straight supremacy.” The subjugation of women and societal oppression of gender-bending people are perpetuated so long as hetero-sexism persists.

These are very significant phenomena, the subject of active research and forward-facing books. Suffice it to say that sports often go on glorifying male values, top-dog toxic masculinity, and testosterone-driven mindsets of “killer” competition.

Hetero-sexist language that trashes women and bashes gay and transgender people still flows unchecked. Just locker room talk is used to excuse MeToo abusers, whether “average guys” or high-profile politicians and celebrities. High school to high-paid pro athletes commit emotional abuse, hate crimes, and rape at alarming rates, and with even more alarming impunity from serious legal or financial consequences. That they often command huge contracts and rolemodel status is only explicable in a still deeply misogynist and homophobic society.

Fortunately, greater respect and inclusion are taking hold as the 2020s get underway, along with longneeded censure of bigots and abusers. Progress is being made, albeit gradually. Gender-based harassment, limitation and exclusion are still far too prevalent. Players, teammates,

fans, and commentators still tolerate the demeaning slurs and threats that go on daily, both behind the scenes and on the playing field. Much conscious work is required to change attitudes and speech, equalize pay, and expand sports options for all people across the board.

The time has more than arrived to un-couple athleticism from gender. It is up to all of us to make playing fields and locker rooms safe, respectful places for women and LGBTQ athletes. Scholarships, jobs, and pay in sports need to be equally available regardless of gender or sexual orientation. The homophobic and sexist name-calling that all kids and adults face as just sports banter must stop.

Spectator, competitor, and media culture need to be freed of genderbased judgment and discrimination, period.

Have we come a long way? Yes, thanks to so many brave athletic souls and supporters. Do we have a long way to go?

Yes! On May 6th, 2021, news reports revealed that the men’s PGA Tour has been keeping over 90% of revenue from joint television deals with the women’s LPGA. While women are pushing to end wage discrimination, the gender pay gap in sports remains scandalously wide.

The number of out-athletes is not yet more than a trickle. Over 240 antiLGBTQ bills are moving through state legislatures in just the first half of 2021. Dozens seek to ban trans-

gender girls and women from sports participation, with some already being signed into law.

It is nearly 5 years since Colin Kaepernick sacrificed his football career as he courageously took a knee during the national anthem, in protest of racism and police violence. Because sports are so human and replete with every societal issue and ill calling out loudly for change, they are coming more and more to the fore as a prime field of social activism and evolution. As the articles in this series make clear, we are all called upon as athletes and fans to make sure that all can play, and work, with equal opportunity and pay. The time is now!

Jamie Leno Zimron is an LPGA Golf Pro, Sensei, Aikido 6th Dan, Somatic Psychologist, and Trainer. https://www.thecenteredway.com/

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Tokyo Olympian Tokyo Summer Games Out LGBTQ Athletes 3x3 Basketball

Stefanie Dolson (USA)

Basketball

Julie Allemand (Belgium) Sue Bird (USA) Marjorie Carpréaux (Belgium) Chelsea Gray (USA) Brittney Griner (USA) Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage (Puerto Rico) Kim Mestdagh (Belgium) Leilani Mitchell (Australia) Shaina Pellington (Canada) Dayshalee Salamán (Puerto Rico) Breanna Stewart (USA) Diana Taurasi (USA) Ann Wauters (Belgium)

BMX Freestyle

Perris Benegas (USA) Hannah Roberts (USA) Chelsea Wolfe (USA, reserve)

Boxing

Rashida Ellis (USA) Kellie Harrington (Ireland) Michaela Walsh (Ireland)

Canoe Slalom

Evy Leibfarth (USA) Florence Maheu (Canada)

Cycling

Georgia Simmerling (Canada)

Diving

Tom Daley (Britain) Anton Down-Jenkins (New Zealand)

Equestrian

Cathrine Dufour (Denmark) Edward Gal (Netherlands) Carl Hester (Britain) Domien Michiels (Belgium) Hans Peter Minderhoud (Netherlands) Nick Wagman (USA, reserve)

Fencing

Astrid Guyart (France)

Field Hockey

Sarah Jones (Britain) Grace O’Hanlon (New Zealand) Susannah Townsend (Britain) Anne Veenendaal (Netherlands) Leah Wilkinson (Britain)

Golf

Mel Reid (Britain) Alena Sharp (Canada)

Handball

Babi Arenhart (Brazil) Nathalie Hagman (Sweden) Alexandra Lacrabère (France) Amandine Leynaud (France)

Judo

Alice Bellandi (Italy) Amandine Buchard (France) Nina Cutro-Kelly (USA) Jasmin Grabowski (Germany) Natalie Powell (Britain) Tessie Savelkouls (Netherlands) Sanne van Dijke (Netherlands)

Rhythmic Gymnastics Rut Castillo (Mexico)

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Rowing

Saskia Budgett (Britain, reserve) Kendall Chase (USA) Gia Doonan (USA) Maarten Hurkmans (Netherlands) Meghan O’Leary (USA) Jessica Thoennes (USA) Ellen Tomek (USA) Emma Twigg (New Zealand) Julian Venonsky (USA)

Rugby

Elissa Alarie (Canada) Britt Benn (Canada) Kelly Brazier (New Zealand) Gayle Broughton (New Zealand) Isadora Cerullo (Brazil) Megan Jones (Britain) Alev Kelter (USA) Ghislaine Landry (Canada) Kaili Lukan (Canada) Celia Quansah (Britain) Kristen Thomas (USA) Ruby Tui (New Zealand) Sharni Williams (Australia) Portia Woodman (New Zealand)

Sailing

Jolanta Ogar (Poland) Cecilia Carranza Saroli (Argentina)

Shooting

Jolyn Beer (Germany) Andri Eleftheriou (Cyprus) Aleksandra Jarmolińska (Poland)

Skateboarding

Margielyn Didal (Philippines) Annie Guglia (Canada) Poppy Starr Olsen (Australia) Alexis Sablone (USA) Alana Smith (USA)

Soccer

Yenny Acuña Berrios (Chile) Andressa Alves (Brazil, reserve) Bárbara Barbosa (Brazil) Kadeisha Buchanan (Canada) Marta da Silva (Brazil) achel Daly (Britain) Tierna Davidson (USA) Anouk Dekker (Netherlands, reserve) Christiane Endler (Chile) Abby Erceg (New Zealand) Magda Eriksson (Sweden) Sisca Folkertsma (Netherlands) Formiga (Brazil) Adrianna Franch (USA) Emily Gielnik (Australia) Lina Hurtig (Sweden) Letícia Izidoro (Brazil) Sam Kerr (Australia) Fran Kirby (Britain) Stephanie Labbé (Canada) Hedvig Lindahl (Sweden) Chloe Logarzo (Australia) Erin McLeod (Canada, reserve) Teagan Micah (Australia) Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands) Kelly O’Hara (USA) Fernanda Pinilla (Chile) Quinn (Canada) Megan Rapinoe (USA) Aline Reis (Brazil) Jill Scott (Britain) Caroline Seger (Sweden) Kailen Sheridan (Canada)

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Team USA

Megan Rapinoe, Soccer

Rashida Ellis, Boxing

Sherida Spitse (Netherlands) Demi Stokes (Britain) Carly Telford (Britain) Daniëlle van de Donk (Netherlands) Shanice van de Sanden (Netherlands) Stefanie Van Der Gragt (Netherlands) Merel van Dongen (Netherlands) Hannah Wilkinson (New Zealand) Tameka Yallop (Australia)

Softball

Ally Carda (USA) Amanda Chidester (USA) Taylor Edwards (USA, reserve) Larissa Franklin (Canada) Joey Lye (Canada) Haylie McCleney (USA) Kaia Parnaby (Australia) Anissa Urtez (Mexico)

Diana Taurasi, Basketball

Surfing

Silvana Lima (Brazil) Sofia Mulanovich (Peru)

Swimming

Rachele Bruni (Italy) Ana Marcela Cunha (Brazil) Amini Fonua (Tonga) Mélanie Henique (France) Ari-Pekka Liukkonen (Finland) Erica Sullivan (USA) Markus Thormeyer (Canada)

Kristen Thomas, Rugby

Taekwondo

Julian Venonsky, Rowing Nick Wagman, Equestrian

Jack Woolley (Ireland)

Tennis

Demi Schuurs (Netherlands) Sam Stosur (Australia) Alison van Uytvanck (Belgium)

Track and field

Michelle-Lee Ahye (Trinidad, sprints) Ramsey Angela (Netherlands, relays) Geisa Arcanjo (Brazil, shot put) Tom Bosworth (Britain, race walk) Erica Bougard (USA, heptathlon) Dutee Chand (India, sprints) Aoife Cooke (Ireland, marathon) Izabela da Silva (Brazil, discus) Gabriela DeBues-Stafford (Canada, 1500-meter) Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela, triple jump) Raven Saunders (USA, shot put) Senni Salminen (Finland, triple jump)

Trampoline

Dominic Clarke (Australia)

Volleyball

Ana Carolina (Brazil) Paola Egonu (Italy) Carol Gattaz (Brazil) Douglas Souza (Brazil)

Water Polo

Rowie Webster (Australia)

Weightlifting Laurel Hubbard (New Zealand)

Wrestling

Kayla Miracle (USA)

Tierna Davidson, Soc

Taylor Edwards, Softball

ns

Who A re Out

BAY TIMES S

Brittney Griner, Basketball

Erica Sullivan, Swimming

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N

C

I

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O

From the looks of it, out women appear to proliferating well beyond battleground strongholds in soccer (40), softball (6), and volleyball (3), and are proliferating the hell out of Olympic sports in basketball (14), BMX freestyle (3), boxing (3), canoeing (2), cycling (1), diving (2), equestrian sports (2), fencing (1), field hockey (5), golf (2), handball (3), judo (7), rhythmic gymnastics (1), rowing (9), rugby (14), sailing (2), shooting (2), skateboarding (5), surfing (2), swimming (6), tennis (2), track and field (6), weightlifting (1), and, wrestling (1).

Andrea Shorter

Sue Bird, Basketball

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

Cross Currents

ccer

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CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2021)

Adrianna Franch, Soccer

Evy Leibfarth, Canoe Slalom

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2020 Summer Olympics: Gold, Silver, Bronze, and More Lavender Than Ever

Chelsea Gray, Basketball

Stefanie Dolson, 3x3 Basketball

A

After postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo are finally happening right now in 2021. Whether you’re either kinda okay with the convening of 11,326 world class athletes for the ultimate global competition for the gold they’ve worked their whole lives for, or, you’re not so much for the idea of an actual global virus super spreader event amongst the swiftest, strongest, and mightiest of us mortals, or, are just simply not into anything that involves poll vaults, javelins, butterfly strokes, or skate boards—yes, that’s right, skateboarding is now an Olympic sport, go figure—the Summer Olympics are here and queerer, so get used to it, at least until it fades into sports history on August 8.

Since the commencement parade of nations last Friday, new Olympic and world records have been made, many medals have been won, as well as dreams for the gold, bronze, or silver shattered in the agony of defeat. One record for note in this quadrennial pageantry? The record number of at least 166 out LGBTQ Olympians competing in Tokyo—reported to be more than all the previous Summer Olympics combined. Wow. Perhaps not previous as in all the way back to Olympic origins in Ancient Greece or even in 1936 Germany when Jesse Owens ran and won quite handily the race against Hitler’s "master race," but more at least as far back as the accounts kept by LGBTQ sports tracker Outsports, which reported 23 publicly out athletes in 2012 in London, and 56 in 2016 in Brazil.

According to this tracker, which only reports on athletes who have publicly come out in media or have made clear they are in a same sex relationship, “the United States has the most out athletes at these Olympics, with the more than 30 out athletes we know of about a fifth of all the attendees on the list. Team USA is currently followed in the number of publicly out LGBTQ athletes

by Canada (17), Britain (16), Netherlands (16), Brazil (14), Australia (12), and New Zealand (10).” That’s reasonably impressive, and also includes reserve athletes in attendance in Tokyo.

What’s more is that women outnumber out men by almost 8:1. Surprise or maybe not so much, it’s reported that women’s soccer has more than 40 out players. "This continues a trend seen at past Olympics and is reflective of out athletes in elite non-Olympic sports where women also proliferate,” Outsports observes.

With at least one out LGBTQ athlete competing in 27 of 30 sports, they are clearly very near everywhere in the Tokyo Olympics. While there are many more out LGBTQ Olympians to cheer on beyond the well-known, brand name athletes like mega powerhouse couple Sue Bird (basketball) and Megan Rapinoe (soccer), another point of notice in this census of out LGBTQ Olympians: the overwhelming majority of accounted for out Olympians are from the USA, Canada, Britain, Sweden, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, Poland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, and Chile.

To date, no out LGBTQ athletes are noted from the African, Russian, Chinese, and Saudi Arabian delegations.

Being out in these areas of the world can be perilous. We know our brothers and sisters must be in there; we are everywhere. We await the Olympics when we can openly support them being out, open, and safe as their authentic selves.

Another point of fact about this 2020 in 2021 summer Olympics: all eyes were on superstar diva Simone Biles, the most decorated and greatest gymnast of all time. You know when you are the best of the best when moves are named after you, and the closest competitor to your greatness is yourself. While Biles withdrew from the gymnastics team final, there is already immense pride in her as the senior member of Team USA at age 24. Pride and mad respect. Respect for her for choosing not to bow out as an aging gymnast, and instead being motivated to continue as the highest profile survivor of allegedly over 135 sexual assaults and abuses of minors committed by convicted and imprisoned former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar. No matter how many medals Biles pulls in, her courage and perseverance as a survivor is the win many survivors value most.

Gold is golden, silver shines, and bronze is beautiful. Nothing shines brighter than our lavender competitors. From wherever they might come from and call home on this big blue marble, a fist bump salute to all LGBTQ Olympians. Be swift, go higher, be strong, and, above all, be safe.

Andrea Shorter is a longtime Commissioner for the City and County of San Francisco, now serving on the Juvenile Probation Commission after 21 years as a Commissioner on the Status of Women. She is a longtime advocate for gender and LGBTQ equity, voter rights, and criminal and juvenile justice reform. She is a co-founder of the Bayard Rustin LGBTQ Coalition, and was a David Bohnett LGBT Leaders Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

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Divas & Drinks ‘Go for Gold’ @ The Academy Where are the women in the Castro? On Friday, July 23, many along with allies were at 2166 Market Street for the new Divas & Drinks @ The Academy women-themed event series. The evening marked the official start of the Tokyo Olympic Games, so “Go for Gold” was on our minds with Olympics coverage shown on four live-streaming video screens throughout the venue.

PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER

On site at The Academy, San Francisco Bay Times host Donna Sachet welcomed special guests including representatives of the Japanese lesbian group Omusubi and the umbrella organization Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women & Transgender Community (APIQWTC). Rainbow World Fund’s Karen Kai and Jeff Cotter demonstrated Japanese origami, and guests enjoyed sushi and other delicacies sponsored by Mollie Stone’s Castro store. San Francisco State University’s Amy Sueyoshi, Dean of Ethnic Studies and an historian, gave welcoming remarks and read an original piece for the evening.

Olympian Barbra Higgins (1984 Los Angeles Games), who was introduced by Recology’s Minna Tao, entertained with stories of personal experiences as an Olympic flag bearer and energized the evening’s competition featuring an “Olympic” ring toss and more with Liz Gonzales and Team SFGSL (San Francisco Gay Softball League) challenging Team Olivia Travel led by Anna Chase.

San Francisco Bay Times columnist Louise (Lou) Fischer, who was invited to train with the U.S. women’s 1980 Summer Olympics shooting team but who was unable to attend the Games due in large part to the multi-country boycott that year in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, was also in attendance.

Barcardi Vice President Heather Freyer and Team Bacardi, led by Vanessa Wright, demonstrated Japanese-themed cocktails.

PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER

Sachet thanked community philanthropists Mary Sager and Michelle Jester for their support in creating the first of a series of shot glasses commemorating historic lesbian bars of San Francisco. The initial one, created for the San Francisco Bay Times by ellaprint’s Audry deLucia and Fran Herman, commemorated Maud’s, which opened at 937 Cole Street in 1966 and closed in 1989, but for many years later was the location of “Maud’s Reunion” during Pride Week. (It’s now Finnegan’s Wake that recently earned distinction as a Legacy Business.)

The San Francisco Bay Times thanks Nate Bourg and Paul Miller at The Academy, Mollie Stone’s Erika Petryszyn and Taniesha Broadfoot, Kokak Chocolates’ Carol Gancia, volunteers Juan R. Davila and Letitia Lopez, and all of the organizations and others who helped out with the event. We are grateful for contributions to the event goodie bags made by the San Francisco Federal Credit Union, Bacardi, Olivia Travel, and Rainbow World Fund. Additional thanks go to photographers Rink and Darryl Pelletier.

Plans are underway for the next Divas & Drinks @ The Academy on August 27.

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PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER PHOTO BY RINK PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER

PHOTO COURTESY OF GARY VIRGINIA

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY SUEYOSHI

PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER

https://www.academy-sf.com/

PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER

PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER

DJ Rockaway, well-known for her “Play” events and spinning tunes for Olivia Travel, provided music for the evening.

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

By Donna Sachet

T

he highest civic or military order of merit the nation of France can present to any individual is the Legion of Honor, created by Napoleon Bonaparte and formally awarded for hundreds of years since. A glance at the recent list of honorees gives one a sense of how distinct and important this recognition truly is; it includes Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartney, Robert Redford, Martin Scorsese, George Shultz, Danielle Steel, and now, Tom Horn. Our friendship with Tom dates back to the late Bob Ross, Founder of the Bay Area Reporter, well-known philanthropist, San Francisco Emperor, and business partner and friend of Tom. Over those years, we have benefited from his counsel, explored his political opinions, enjoyed his conversation, and appreciated his generosity. To be invited to attend his Legion of Honor ceremony, however, was a tremendous privilege and to attend a private brunch on Sunday, July 18, was extraordinary.

As loyal readers of this column and our other writings over the years will attest, we rarely include private parties out of respect for the host and guests, but when one is invited to the legendary penthouse of San Francisco’s Chief of Protocol Charlotte Shultz, we simply must share some of the particulars. We invited our dear friend Michael Loftis to accompany us and in his dashing care, we could not go wrong. Times being what they are and this being a rather tony guest list, we were met at the valet parking with COVID precautions, but soon after, the elevator whisked us up to what can only be described as a palatial penthouse in the sky with 360-degree views of the city we have come to love. Our hostess was relaxed and amiable, perfectly at ease with the variety of guests, handpicked by Tom for the occasion, and quickly put everyone at ease with her warm hospitality and disarming humor. Décor for the event honored the French in color and theme with costumed characters, including the Statue of Liberty, and a lively musical ensemble. Gladys Perint Palmer created a special design for the occasion pairing a sketch of Tom with an image of the Legion of Honor medal. We moved smoothly from rooms filled with eclectic artwork to wraparound outdoor decks and from a beautiful graphic tribute to her late husband George Shultz to casually arranged seating for a brief program and brunch, which featured caviar, omelets, quiche, salmon, salads, pastries, and more.

Not knowing who to expect to see there, we were delighted to visit with Tom’s partner Cesar Alexander, Yan Liu, Gina Moscone, Jonathan Moscone, Darryl Carbonaro, Matthew Goudeau, Tony Bravo, and Mayors Willie Brown and London Breed and to meet French Ambassador to the United States Phillipe Etienne and Ambassador of Monaco to the United States Maguy Maccario Doyle. The honored guest who surprised most everyone was a long-time friend of the hostess, Henry Kissinger, who spoke of the deep friendship and alliance between the United States and France. With our last sip of Bellini, we bid our friends adieu, reflecting on what a place it is in which we live and what a treat to share a glimpse of such a rare visit with the community we love to represent.

– Marcel Proust

Thursday, August 12 Catching Up with Susan Stryker Queer Culture Club monthly series Online interview by Terry Beswick 7 pm Free, $5 suggested donation www.glbthistory.org Sunday, August 15 Vanessa Bousay Presents: Nightingale 70s tribute to Carole King & Karen Carpenter Tom Shaw on piano, Roberta Blake percussion Guest vocalist Steven Satyricon SF Oasis, 298 11th Street 7 pm $25 www.eventbrite.com

Divas & Drinks, the collaborative event between The Academy and the San Francisco Bay Times continued last Friday with Go for Top: Ken Henderson, Donna, Joe Seiler, and Jen Chan at Divas & Drinks @ Gold, themed to tie in with the Olympic Games in Tokyo. MulThe Academy tiple screens showed the Opening Ceremonies while guests Bottom: Jeff Cotter, Karen Kai, and Donna were immersed in Japanese culture—including origami demonstrations; representatives from Omusubi, a Japanese Lesbian affiliation group; Bacardi specialty drinks; and a We rounded out the weekend by welcoming back to buffet of sushi samplings. Once again, we held a rousing competiSan Francisco for a brief visit from their new home tion on the patio, this time between Team Olivia and Team Gay in Palm Springs one of the most beloved couples Softball League with silly games and even sillier results. Addof the Imperial Family of San Francisco, Keith & ing immensely to the evening was a local participant in the Gladys Bumps! Empress Misty Blue hosted a 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, Barbra Higgins; packed celebration at Lookout and friends poured her Olympic stories had the house roaring with laughout the love. The Reigning Emperor David Glater. Among the crowd were Ken Henderson & Joe mamore & Reigning Empress Juanita MORE! Seiler (soon to announce the upcoming schedule of injoined Emperors Terrill Grimes Munro, Leanperson Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation events!), dro Gonzales, John Weber, Steven Dorsey, Jeff Cotter, Gary Virginia, Stuart Gaffney John Carrillo and Empresses Patty McGroin, & John Lewis, Dr. Marcy Adelman, RecolBaby Shaques-Munro, Khmera Rouge, Merogy’s Minna Tao, Mary Sager & Michelle cedez Munro, Alexis Miranda, Renita ValJester, Kokak Chocolates’ Carol Gancia, dez, Galilea, Cockatielia, Marlena, Pushy and Jimmy Consos, fresh from the recent Phyllis, and many others for a raucous party, Planning Commission approval of Grubclearly certifying that Lookout is back and ready to stake Diner’s construction plans. We surhost you and your events! prised the SF Bay Times’ own Jennifer Viegas with a birthday cake presented Donna Sachet is a celebrated performer,

by Juan Davila. Watch here for future fundraiser, activist and philanthropist who Divas & Drinks events where you’ll comhas dedicated over two decades to the LGBTQ fortably mix with good friends while Community in San Francisco. Contact her at empsachet@gmail.com making new ones.

PHOTO BY SHAWN NORTHCUTT

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PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER

PHOTO BY RINK

The following day was the formal presentation of the French Legion of Honor at The Green Room of the War Memorial Building in Civic Center. The symbolism of returning to The Green Room after its extended closing due to the pandemic was not wasted on anyone. The formal room, freshly renovated and providing soaring ceilings and sweeping views of City Hall, was festooned in the Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge of the French national flag. Guests were greeted at the door by Tom Horn and Frederic Jung, Consul General of France to San Francisco. Speakers included San Francisco Chief of Protocol Charlotte Shultz, French Ambassador Philippe Etienne, Mayor London Breed, and Lieutenant Governor of California Eleni Kounalakis. We chatted with Mark Rhoades, Joshua Morgan, Paul Pelosi, Kaushik & Stacy Roy, Tom & Lacey Donley, Paul Melbostad, Victor & Farah Makras, Vera Carpeneti, and Jessica Cole. The formal ceremony is really something to witness, steeped in over 200 years of tradition, including the national anthems of France and the United States, and filled with personal praise for the honoree. Tom Horn’s acceptance remarks were delivered in both beautiful French and English, a true testimony to his love of French culture. Champagne and other libations, gorgeously prepared hors d’oeuvres, and an instrumental trio from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music completed the evening. As guests made their farewells, we were not the only one clinging to the lovely printed program and a couple of souvenir napkins bearing Tom’s likeness!

PHOTO BY RINK

Cocktails With Heather

Bacardi Vice President Heather Freyer with Bacardi team members shared a matcha-infused cocktail with guests attending Divas & Drinks Go for Gold Party on Friday evening, July 23, at The Academy. From left to right is Heather Freyer, Steven Puente, Liz Thyken, Stephanie Moriarty and Jonathan Smalley. Join Team Bacardi for a special cocktail at the next Divas & Drinks event, co-produced by the San Francisco Bay Times and The Academy, on Friday, August 27.

PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER

RUM RITA 1-ounce Bacardí Lime-Flavored Rum 1-ounce Tequila Cazadores Blanco 1-ounce Monin Exotic Citrus Syrup 1-ounce lime juice lime wedge

PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER

Add a little bit of Caribbean flare to a traditional margarita with Bacardí Lime-Flavored Rum. This zesty cocktail tastes great no matter the occasion, whether you’re chilling with friends or tearing up the dance floor.

PHOTO BY RINK

Heather Freyer

PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER

Fill a rocks glass with ice.

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice, and shake vigorously. Strain into the rocks glass.

Garnish with a lime wedge. https://tinyurl.com/yyc4me8t Heather Freyer is a beverage expert who is the Vice President and General Manager for Open West States at Bacardí USA. Previously she was with Trinchero Wine Estates, Castle Rock Winery, Cost Plus World Market, and more.

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Rum Rita Cocktail

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Among the guests (top to bottom) attending the Divas & Drink’s Go for Gold party along with Heather Freyer and members of Team Barcardi were Minna Tao and Linda Scaparotti; Susan Boone and Gina Grahame; Fran Herman, Karen Brandman and her friend Cathy; and more.

Destination: Yosemite National Park

With Rush Creek Lodge & Spa and the Evergreen Lodge, Yosemite’s accommodations and food now match the grandeur of the outdoors.

Photos by Kim Carroll

sive, historic building. (Full disclosure: we stayed at the Ahwahnee Hotel after Aramark took it over when it was ridiculously called the Majestic Yosemite Hotel due to a lawsuit—and we visited for lunch this trip.) According to a recent report in the San Francisco Chronicle

by Kurtis Alexander, “Hotel inspectors with AAA have revoked the Ahwahnee’s prestigious four-diamond rating, a distinction the site had held since 1991.”

The Gay Gourmet David Landis Many of my loyal readers know The Gay Gourmet as an urban foodie, trotting to the latest and greatest restaurants the City has to offer. But there’s another side to this citified gourmand. For years, I’ve been an avid hiker, starting in the 1980s with

Located on Highway 120 about a mile from Yosemite’s west entrance (it’s Yosemite’s closest upscale lodging to San Francisco), Rush Creek has 143 rooms, suites, and two-bedroom villas, all complete with outdoor balconies. The But there is good news. There are spa is a real stun- The iconic “Tunnel View” of Yosemite Valley two newcomers just outside the two gay guys (and their friend) in ner: a Zen palace park—the Rush Creek Lodge & a remote location, we didn’t know that would be at home in Beverly Spa and the renovated Evergreen what to think. But a woman from Hills or the Hamptons, complete Lodge—and they both offer 5-star the Angels came up to us and said, with warm waterfall coves (inspired accommodations. Best of all, their

by Yosemite’s famous waterfalls) and “I’m Squirrel. If any of these guys chef-driven dining rooms deliver a warm river rock bed to while away gives you any trouble, you come truly innovative, fresh, and seasonal the afternoons. The resort boasts find Squirrel.” Believe it or not, comestibles in a comfortable, moun- a super-sized solar-heated saltwathe Angels were completely well tain setting. ter pool and two hot tubs; a meditabehaved—and quiet—and we didn’t tion pond; a grocery store with an need to call upon the talents of Both are owned by the same operespresso bar; a year-round flowing Squirrel that night. ators, Lee Zimmerman and Brian creek; and a tavern and restaurant, Anderluh of First Light Needless to say, you’ll understand both with outdoor seating overlookHospitality. They first why my expectations were on the ing the mountains. low side for the Evergreen Lodge.

Chef Lemens at Winemaker Dinner Our lovely room at Rush Suffice it to say the new Evergreen Creek had a beautiLodge puts those memories to rest. ful (and firm) king-sized The cabins are gorgeously renobed, a modern, slate-tiled vated with a mountain-chic décor, oversized shower (comthe restaurant retains the old, hisplete with all the refillable toric bar but has added outdoor shampoos, soaps, and conseating and the property also ditioners you’d ever need), features a grocery store and a swima sitting area with a sofa, ming pool on the premises. a refrigerator and coffee maker—and a beauSo, let’s get to the food. The Gay tiful deck overlooking a Gourmet had two dinners at Rush tranquil forest. Another Creek and one at the Evergreen plus? The rooms are airLodge—and I’m happy to report conditioned (which the Ahwahnee most definitely is not). There’s no TV, so as to encourage guests to enjoy the outdoors and congregate with their own families. I also liked that each room has Alexa, so we could listen to Djavan’s Brazilian music even though we were thousands of miles from South America!

Rush Creek pool area at Sunset

bought the old Evergreen Lodge an annual trip to Yosemite National in 2002 to, as they say, “teach job Park accompanied by my good pal and life skills to underserved Bay Paul Pretkel. In fact, we’d covered so Area youth.” Open five years, Rush much territory that I doubt there’s Creek Lodge and Spa was the first a trail at Yosemite that I haven’t at new lodge to open at Yosemite in least slightly travailed. Paul and I 25 years. Even though it is brand would backpack the high country of spanking new with modern decor, Yosemite, but then follow our stomit has the feel of a congenial hillside achs to dine at the famed and iconic lodge that seemingly has Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite’s stunbeen part of the landning Valley. Upon returning to San scape for years.

Francisco, we’d regain our urban culinary foothold by Evergreen Lodge fire pit heading straight to feast at Joyce Goldstein’s awardwinning Square One restaurant. The wilderness was terrific, but tasty food was always a must.

That’s the good news.

Now for the bad.

You know The Gay Gourmet rarely has a negative take on restaurants—or hotels. If I don’t like something, I’d just prefer not to write about it. But I can’t in good faith do that with the Ahwahnee anymore. That formerly grand Yosemite hotel and its illustrious dining room have become a shell of their former selves. Since Aramark took the Ahwahnee over a few years back, the service has suffered, the rooms are badly in need of an upgrade, the food is mediocre at best, and none of it befits the architectural majesty of the impres-

that all meals exceeded expectations.

At the Rush Creek, the menu is expertly overseen by Executive Chef Anthony Lemens. The wine list is surprisingly cosmopolitan, with the expected California vintages but also international wines from Italy, France, and Argentina.

After my obligatory Negroni, we chose a Tiefenbrunner Pinot Grigio from Trentino that was crisp, dry, and delicious. But don’t overlook the craft cocktail menu: with such offerings as a Yosemite Breeze (vodka), a Sake Thyme (with Empress Gin and sake), or a Jalapeño Margarita, you may be tempted to drink outside your comfort zone.

We started our meal with a gourmet California cheese board, including a Marin French brie, Big Rock Blue, and what I believe was a California gouda (I’m guessing it may have been from Oakdale Cheese), all served with fig jam and country (continued on page 29)

The Evergreen Lodge, on the other hand, is in a more remote location on the way to Hetch Hetchy reservoir (where San Francisco’s drinking water originates). True story: I had visited the old Evergreen Lodge (shall we say, a much more spartan version of today’s contemporary rustic offerings) many years ago. I was there with my then boyfriend (now husband) Sean and our friend Maryann when a train of Hell’s Angels motorcyclists pulled up to the Lodge for the night. Being

Evergreen Lodge pool view from Cedar Terrace S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2021)

Jewelle Gomez

Let’s Dance

maintained an online dance season and plans to premiere new work in 2022!

intelligence and strength I remember to her dancing with ZACCHO as well as to her teaching.

Leave Signs Jewelle Gomez I was watching the documentary Can You Bring It, about the dancer/ choreographer Bill T. Jones as part of the Frameline Film Festival, and was reminded of how exhilarating dance performances can be, especially after a year of pandemic lockdown. The still-relevant piece Jones was re-mounting had originally been created as part of the exploration of grief during the AIDS epidemic, which took the lives of many in the dance world, including Jones’ life/ work partner Arnie Zane.

My own experience in dance is limited to the childhood tap in Boston. I remember the power of the sound of taps even as I understood I was better with my hands than my feet. I did include tap dancing in two of my most recent plays, providing the characters a firm sense of themselves and their power even in difficult historical times.

AXIS

Another of my favorite companies is Sean Dorsey Dance. Sean is the country’s first nationally recognized transgender choreographers and for good Joanna Haigood reason. His works explore the emotional and historical depths of what it means to be transgender in a pho-

Robert Henry Johnson

Krissy Keefer Sean Dorsey

Because of the lockdown I realized I missed the physical exuberance of dance as well as theatre. I looked back longingly at companies that had influenced me through their physicality as well as the emotional/ political contexts.

Amara Tabor Smith

The Bay Area has such a wealth of dance artists it is impossible to squeeze them all into one discussion, but you got to start somewhere.

ZACCHO Dance Theatre founded

by Joanna Haigood is one of the amazing examples of companies that bring together heart, head, and body in extraordinary ways. The aerial dances and site-specific performances explore everything from the early, free, African American settlers of this country to German song cycles.

Jewelle Gomez (tap dancing)

Can You Bring It: https://www.d-mandocumentary.com/

AXIS Dance Company: https://www.axisdance.org/ The Dance Brigade: https://tinyurl.com/4x8hk723

bic culture. The last piece I saw of his, Boys In Trouble, (way before the pandemic) captured the complexity

POP QUIZ

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S

Each of these veteran and genius performers faces down the challenges thrown at all of us with fluid, powerful movement that can delight and inspire. Buy tickets now to see them!

Sean Dorsey Dance: https://seandorseydance.com

QUEER 22

A hero for me has always been dancer/choreographer Krissy Keefer.

Her company, The Dance Brigade, emerged from the feminist activist company The Wallflower Order and has a home at The Dance Mission Theatre where dance classes proliferate. Krissy’s performances and choreography can be described as a fierce, sumptuous engagement with radical, social issues that won’t let you sit in your seat. Her work reimagines the power of women’s bodies and our influence on social problems. As Keith Hennessey (another Bill T. Jones revered Bay Area dancer/performer) said in an article: “In an alternative world, Keefer would already been awarded the MacArthur (genius) award.”

ZACCHO Dance Theatre: http://www.zaccho.org/

Two dancers who perform with ZACCHO regularly also do independent work. San Francisco native Robert Henry Johnson moves with sinewy grace and also has his own eponymous dance company as well as choreographing for others. I watched him directing an evening of poetry performance several years ago and was sure those poets would take flight if they could.

Amara Tabor Smith is a favorite of mine because we first met when she danced with Urban Bush Women’s production of my play Bones & Ash, which was based on my vampire novel. Amara brings that same

Oakland-based AXIS Dance Company was created to redefine the relationship of the able-bodied and people with disabilities to dance. The first performance I saw, more than a decade ago, was filled with muscular and elegant choreography that made it impossible not to see the wholeness of each of the dancers and was a reminder that we are all temporarily able-bodied.

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of trans bodies, as well as the both frightening and humorous nature of masculinity. Sean has

Jewelle Gomez is a lesbian/feminist activist, novelist, poet, and playwright. She’s written for “The Advocate,” “Ms. Magazine,” “Black Scholar,” “The San Francisco Chronicle,” “The New York Times,” and “The Village Voice.” Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @ VampyreVamp

GOLDEN COUPLE Out diver Tom Daley is now an Olympic gold medalist. His husband, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, has won top honors too, including a screenwriting Oscar in 2008 for Milk. Black keeps the award: A) in a downstairs bathroom B) in the garage C) in a kitchen nook D) in his husband’s home gym

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Bad Boys, Bad Girls

Off the Wahl Jan Wahl A remarkable film has just been released. The subject is the ultimate bad boy and a talented man who made the overlooked accessible to all of us. He took us on unimagined journeys and into the depth of cultures we never knew. His name was Anthony Bourdain, a giant of courage and creativity.

I met Bourdain twice when he was through town selling books. I found the same intriguing, authentic bad boy who had become a national treaOscar award winner sure. Roadrunner Morgan Neville (20 Anthony Bourdain, 2007 is a film he would’ve Feet from Stardom) approved of—edgy and hip, just has crafted a two- hour documenlike Tony. tary that will have you devouring every frame. Many of us followed Hedy Lamarr saw herself as a Bourdain’s books and trajectory as bad girl, evil in fact, for not tellhe went from acclaimed chef to hering the United States government oin addict to best-selling author and Hitler’s plans for overthrowTV star. ing Europe. She knew the specifics, names, dates, and weapons He revolutionized food and travel at the ready when she came to television by being the antidote to Hollywood, fleeing a Nazi husadorable, cuddly, and sweet. He band. Before escaping from her took us to the Congo, Afghanistan, munition’s millionaire in Vienna, and Jordan along Hedy found out all with the usual susthe information and pects of Italy and knew her country and France. When going others would soon be to those typical places, swallowed up by the he always dug down machine of the Third into something deeper Reich. Knowing she than seen on other could’ve saved milshows. When visiting lions, Hedy began a Brooklyn or Rome or lifelong self-loathing, anywhere else on this though the guilt led to globe, he often took us her communication to the dark side, allowinvention that may ing us voyeurs to wan- Morgan Neville, Director have saved thousands. der streets we never We still use it today. knew existed. He sought out dissidents and former rock stars, always Crazy story, no? But true and looking for the edgy, raw, and surwell documented in The Only prising. But it was always his own Woman in the Room, by Marie cynical, world-weary voice that kept Benedict. This New York Times bestus excited and searching with him. seller is called a novel, but I found it true to all I’ve studied on Hedy Tony Bourdain died in 2018 at the Lamarr, with a great deal of detail age of 61. It didn’t make sense to any about her inventions that was new of us. Surely it was a murder or acciand enlightening. Lamarr was a dent, not a suicide. Here was a man woman of secrets, from her Jewish who was at the top of the game, a heritage to her ability as a scientist. loving father, someone who was free She was used to (as to write his own ticket many women are) of to the future. He was keeping on the mask, found with no drugs painting the face, and or alcohol in his syshiding the thoughts. tem. His friends and One doesn’t have colleagues, loved ones, to be as beautiful as and fans were interHedy to know the feelviewed after the death, ing of not being taken attempting to underseriously as a woman stand what happened by the male establishto this gifted soul. Did ment. This caused he let down his armor her enormous pain against depression, Marie Benedict and led to a life of didn’t listen to the docdespair and disappointtors for meds, decided his beloved ment. I wish she had lived to see 11-year-old daughter was better off the respect she is finally receiving. without him, found the pain of livThe book is a page turner, and celing too great? Were fame and travel ebrates a woman who lived bigger driving him into madness? The than anyone thought possible. end of the film is powerful, and it is impossible not to be touched by it. (continued on page 28) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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www.gganfg.org/~sfbt2106

PHOTO BY CHRIS STEPHENS

For more information, please visit:

Film Gary M. Kramer Swan Song, opening August 6, is the third entry in out gay writer/director Todd Stephens’ “Sandusky” trilogy.

It is based on an iconic man Stephens knew in his hometown. Mr. Pat (Udo Kier) is a retired hairdresser asked to style a dead woman (Linda Evans) for her funeral. As he escapes his nursing home and travels across town, Pat encounters various folks—some new, and some he knows—and reflects on his life.

The filmmaker chatted with the San Francisco Bay Times about his new film and his hometown hero.

Gary M. Kramer: Is your film an homage to Mr. Pat, or a biopic?

Todd Stephens: It’s an homage.

This actual event never happened.

Details from his life made it into the film, but the actual plot wasn’t from his real life.

Gary M. Kramer: Swan Song is the third film in your Sandusky trilogy. Can you discuss the focus of these films and how they interconnect?

Todd Stephens: The trilogy is loose. The connection is that they are films dealing with different parts of the queer experience in a small town—in this case, my hometown.

Gary M. Kramer: Whereas your last Sandusky film Gypsy 83 was a road movie, Swan Song is a road movie that never leaves town. Can you talk about the appeal of this genre and how you came up with the different encounters Mr. Pat has?

Todd Stephens: I just like the frame of a road movie. It’s so American, and such an American cinematic convention. I was very inspired for this film by films like The Straight Story, The Trip to Bountiful, and Nebraska, films that deal with aging and the end of life. The first couple of experiences Mr. Pat has, I wanted to make it clear to the audience that being gay was not a con-

flict or that he was ridiculed or bullied for being different. I wanted to make a point that he goes into a redneck gas station, and you think that being who he is would have provoked a reaction in somebody like Lyle (Bryant Carroll) [the store clerk]. But I wanted to show how the world has changed. He wants to get a rise out of the guy, but Lyle really doesn’t care. And there was Janine (Catherine Albers), a Christian woman who has conservative values. I wanted to show they connect and have a mutual thing they relate to. The farmer, Josiah Todd Stephens (Dave Sorboro) Pat meets when he trips [while walking], was probably the first hot, sexy guy he’d seen in many years.

Gary M. Kramer: Your titles often have musical themes, and Swan Song has a great soundtrack.

Can you talk about the use of music in your film(s)?

Todd Stephens: When I start writing a script, it’s like I’m listening to a playlist. The music allows me to come up with the ideas. The only time I ever saw Pat do drag, he did it to Shirley Bassey’s “This Is My Life,” and he loved Dusty Springfield and Judy Garland. Those were Mr. Pat songs, from that era of old school queens.

Gary M. Kramer: Udo Kier is great to watch jumping rope with kids and lip synching to Robyn with a chandelier on his head, but you also utilize Stephanie McVay well in one scene and you feature Linda Evans and Jennifer Coolidge in small roles. What can you say about the actors who play against Udo? Todd Stephens: 95% of directing is casting the right people and nudging them a little bit here and there and letting them do their thing. I knew they would all be great in the parts. Jennifer Coolidge—half of what she said I didn’t write. That’s her style, and I loved that. She is a master of improv.

Stephanie McVay was my mom in Edge of Seventeen, and her character is my mom character here. Stephanie is always playing a different incarnation of my mother. Linda Evans came out of retirement to do the movie. She hasn’t done a film in twenty years. The story just touched her. I felt her character needed to be an actress with gravitas. It’s a small part but a pivotal character. I am glad she did it and I want to work with her again.

Gary M. Kramer: The film is a story about forgiveness. Do you hold grudges?

Todd Stephens: Yes. And part of the reason that I wrote the film was to try to let them go. I have anger at certain people, and it stands in my way. Writing Swan Song was to let go of some resentment I have because you can’t say you’re sorry to someone you’re mad at after they are dead. It’s better to say what you have to say to someone while you’re both alive. © 2021 Gary M. Kramer Gary M. Kramer is the author of “Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews,” and the co-editor of “Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.” Follow him on Twitter @garymkramer

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Nar-Anon family groups are 12-step support groups for friends and loved ones of addicts. Our San Francisco group meets virtually every week: Tuesdays, 7:00–8:15 pm.

Swan Song Is a Gay Road Movie That Never Leaves Town

PHOTO BY CHRIS STEPHENS

Is someone else’s drug use making you crazy?

By Sister Dana Van Iquity Sister Dana sez, "Dozens of states are passing outrageous voter access laws that are rooted in racism. These laws discriminate against Black, Brown, and Native communities the most. Without federal regulation and oversight, states will continue to pass laws that limit voting access in these communities. This is why we must act now to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act swiftly and urgently!"

The One-Year Anniversary LOCKDOWN COMEDY SHOW on July 15 virtually featured five hilarious comedians: EssEff’s fabulous Marga Gomez, Shazia Mirza (from London), Jim Short (Australia), and show producer for over a year, Lisa Geduldig (from SF, but was locked down in a Florida senior compound with her comical mother Arline). Since it was a party, we remained on our screens to dance and celebrate the anniversary. Lockdown Comedy continues its Zoom show on August 19 with an all-star line-up: Jason Stuart (LA), Vijai Nathan (Washington, D.C.), Dan St Paul (SF), Lisa Geduldig (back in SF after a year plus locked in the aforementioned compound), and, of course, Arline. https://tinyurl.com/ahe2mr7f “POSE” star Mj Rodriguez (as Blanca) has made history as the first transgender actor to be nominated for an Emmy Award in a lead acting category. However, a recent GLAAD report has revealed that the film industry still has much work to do when it comes to transgender representation. GLAAD found that there have been zero transgender characters represented in major Hollywood movies in the last four years.

From the Academy Award-winning writing team behind BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (Diana Ossana & Larry McMurtry) and Academy Award nominee Mark Wahlberg, JOE BELL tells the deeply touching and emotional true story of an Oregonian father who embarks on a walk across America for his teenage gay son to share his soul with heartland citizens about the real and horrifying costs of bullying. The following is a spoiler of the big reveal, so if you want to be surprised, don�t click this: https://tinyurl.com/3jf2vf7z San Francisco and the LGBTQ community has lost a legendary activist with the passing of educator and legend Sally Miller Gearhart on July 14. She was a prominent activist in San Francisco during the 70s and 80s. She was also a tenured professor of women�s and genders studies at SF State, one of the first in the country.

She served as an early and vocal ally to Supervisor Harvey Milk. They both worked to successfully defeat Prop. 6, the Briggs Initiative, which would have barred lesbian and gay people from being teachers, if passed.

(See pages 1–4 of this issue for more about Gearhart.)

On July 16, Their Most Imperial Majesties Emperor Mr. David Glamamore and Empress Juanita MORE! held the INVESTITURE of 2021 at Oasis bar. The New Monarchs crowned two members of the community as Imperial Crown Prince and Imperial Crown Princess. These prestigious

honorees are second in line to His Most and Her Most in fulfilling the responsibilities of the Emperor and Empress.

Congratulations to Princess Countess Katya SmirnoffSkyy and Prince of the Purple Reign Traci Ross. Second in line are Second Princess Nicki Jizz and Second Prince Tito Soto.

Welcome all to the Sister Dana and Mike Woolson celebrating Pride 2021 Kingdom! queer identities. Including the STUD Nashville PREDATORS hockey ARCHIVE, the exhibition looks at player Luke Prokop celebrated his iconic taverns and gathering places new contract with the NATIONAL in San Francisco that have provided HOCKEY LEAGUE by coming out haven and joy for the LGBTQ+ comof the closet as a gay man. No NHL munity since the 1960s, as well as player, active or retired, has ever work by young queer artists considdone so before. Welcome to OUR ering the role of their queer famiteam, Luke! lies and role models in their sense of You absolutely must enjoy the preself. There are also posters from the miere of THE HAND THAT old Palace Theatre portraying such ROCKS THE CRAWFORD writicons as Sylvester, Divine, and ten by comic genius Michael The Cockettes. I was honored as a Phillis. What if Joan Crawford nun to give a combination exorcism was the femme fatale of your favorand blessing at their grand opening, ite 80s movies like Basic Instinct, Fatal along with my backup team of Sister Attraction, Single White Female, and Plush Lovebud & Sister Gendra other thrillers? Find out with this Euphoria. Visit free 215 Haight stellar cast that includes Matthew Street, Thursdays 12–8 pm, Fridays Martin (flawlessly as Mommie through Sundays 12–6 pm.

Dearest herself), Michael Phillis Sister Dana sez, "The (as handsome leading man Michael Republican ‹audit› in Arizona Douglas), Katya Smirnoff-Skyy, was a disaster, so of course Sara Moore, and Steven Lemay.

Pennsylvania wants to do one.

The hand that rocks the Crawford is Who›s next in crazy audit-land? the hand that rules the world! And Texas?! Sorry, clueless ones, but be sure to scream at the appropriBiden won wholeheartedly!" ate time: “NO WIRE HANGERS!” Thursdays–Saturdays, 7 pm through Two LGBTQ appointees of President August 7 at Oasis, 298 11th Street.

Joe Biden’s were confirmed by the https://www.sfoasis.com/ Senate on July 22 and will soon take their respective posts in the THE JOKE, originally recorded by Department of Defense (DoD).

Grammy winner Brandi Carlile, Shawn Skelly, appointed to become “is a song for people that feel underthe Assistant Secretary for Readiness, represented, unloved or illegal,” the is the second out transgender persinger said. Lyrically, the song uplifts son ever confirmed by the Senate people who struggle to fit the molds after Dr. Rachel Levine in March. made for them by modern sociGina Ortiz Jones, an out lesbian ety. Performed by members of the and Iraq War veteran who ran for SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S Congress twice, will become the first CHORUS, this song beautifully conwoman of color to serve as the Under veys the invaluable message of being Secretary of the Air Force. your most authentic self. https://tinyurl.com/3h5ct369 In the latest installment of their Sister Dana sez, "No thanks to the richy-rich Repugnicans who want to take over California, the stupid September 14 Recall Election will cost us taxpayers over $276 million. They did this way back in 2003 replacing great Governor Gray Davis with awful Arnold!”

A message from Lisa Middleton, Palm Springs Mayor Pro Tem: “ I am the first transgender person elected to political office in California. And I wanted to share my thoughts on Caitlyn Jenner’s run for governor: No one wants to see a transgender governor of California more than me.

But Caitlyn Jenner is simply not the right candidate. Caitlyn’s support for Donald Trump tells you everything you need to know about her judgment. We simply cannot elect another reality TV star who cares more about fame and money than the civil rights, healthcare and the safety and security of her own community.”

Currently, GLAAD counts at least 65 moves that “affect LGBTQ people and rights,” with all of them having positive effects for LGBTQ people— especially in contrast to the nearly 200 anti-LGBTQ actions that they counted over the four years of the Trump-Pence administration.

THE HAIGHT STREET ART CENTER (HSAC) is proud to present QUEER VISIONS, an ongoing exhibition that brings together LGBTQ+ artists and institutions to explore the role of nightlife in the creation of queer community in San Francisco as well as the importance of chosen families and genealogies in the shaping of individual

PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE WOOLSON

Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun

“QUEERIOSITY CORNER” program series, GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY museum registrar and curatorial specialist Ramón Silvestre and reference archivist Isaac Fellman will present some of the most purely fun pieces in the Art and Artifacts Collection: a set of LGBTQ board games from the 1970s and 1980s.

Whimsical, satirical, and risqué, the games to be shown include a rare “Gay Monopoly” set and the tonguein-cheek “Twinkees and Trolls.”

It’s Gayme Time beginning 6 pm, August 6. https://bit.ly/2UgNoKU Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, GRASS ROOTS GAY RIGHTS FOUNDATION (GRGRF) will again produce the annual REAL BAD fundraising party that follows San Francisco’s world-renowned FOLSOM STREET FAIR on Sunday, September 26, at 1015 Folsom. GRGRF announced that it will donate 100 percent of the general admission ticket price to the historically sold-out event. Last year, GRGRF raised $20,000 during the pandemic and has raised over $3.27 million over the years. This year’s beneficiaries are SF GAY MEN’S CHORUS and SOLANO PRIDE CENTER. http://grassrootsgayrights.org/

The FRIENDS OF HARVEY MILK PLAZA (FHMP) released preliminary designs for the redo of Castro›s Harvey Milk Plaza during a recent virtual public meeting. (They were first revealed in one of the Bay Times’ Pride issues, published on June (continued on page 28) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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Rebellion, Madness, and My Mother

Words Michele Karlsberg Michele Karlsberg: Sebastian Stuart has published 9 novels. The list includes a national bestseller published in eight languages, and a New York Times bestseller. His novel The Hour Between was an NPR Season’s Readings selection and won the Ferro-Grumley Award as best LGBT novel of the year. As a playwright he was dubbed “the poet laureate of the East Village” by Michael Musto in The Village Voice. His work has

been seen at La Mama, the Public Theater, the Kitchen, and other venues, and he has won grants from the Edward Albee Foundation and the Jerome Foundation. His screenplays have been optioned by Lee Grant, Sondra Locke, and others. The following is an excerpt from Sebastian Stuart’s recently published What Wasn’t I Thinking? - A Memoir of Rebellion, Madness and my Mother. This excerpt follows Sebastian on his misadventures in 1960s San Francisco: One day I ran to catch the Powell Street cable car and hopped on board. An odd-looking gay guy— he was wearing thick black glasses because of a walleye—said to me, all pissy, “You’d be sexy but you walk too fast. Walking fast is not sexy.”

The following Saturday I went up to Haight Street and practiced my new walk—long and slow with some sideto-side hip action. I hadn’t gone a block when a handsome light-skinned Black man, who looked about forty, approached me, “You have a sexy walk.”

“I’m trying.”

He laughed. He had a gorgeous smile. There was some definite heat.

“My name is Eddie.”

“Sebastian.”

“Cool name. Wanna head into the park and smoke a joint on Hippie Hill?”

“Definitely.”

Hippie Hill, a short walk from the entrance to Golden Gate Park, was an iconic landmark of the 60s. It was jammed with drumming circles, Hare Krishnas, stoned hippie chicks dancing topless with their eyes closed, guitar players, trippers, and dopers. If you looked more closely, you’d also see bleary homeless teen addicts under the trees, skinny and sallow, their forlorn mutts asleep beside them, and lecherous old men ogling the half-naked chicks.

We sat on the hill, Eddie took out a joint and we smoked. He was one charming guy, with a ready smile and a devilish twinkle in his eye. I

moved a little closer to him.

“I’m from New York City. What about you?”

Sebastian Stuart

“I’m from right here.

My dad is a judge.

And right now he is surely judging me.

You see, I have a wife and two kids.”

“And you left them?”

“Yup. I realized I was getting older and it was now or never. That’s the long version. The short version is I want to go straight to hell.” He smiled again, “Want to come with me?”

I shrugged.

And off we went.

Eddie had friends all over the city and we visited them in his big blue Pontiac. We usually all ended up in bed. Eddie shot both heroin and speed and was forever imploring me to join him. I resisted. Then one day,

in some unknown apartment, he said, “I have something new.”

“What’s that?”

He took out a little piece of folded glassine paper and opened it to show me a white powder. “This is pure medical-grade methamphetamine.”

I’d hung out with enough speed freaks to know about the clenched jaw, the paranoia, the rank sweat, and the mile-a-minute all-night yak fests. “Maybe not for me.” (continued on page 28)

Speaking to Your Soul

Astrology Elisa Quinzi The great myth of the hero’s journey is about each of us.

When we are in awe of a great athlete or leader, the heroic in us is lit up. We identify with the ability to break through limitations and accomplish the difficult.

We root for the hero for what they represent in us—the light and the good. Now, more than ever, we are being called to the hero’s journey.

We are called to feel worthy, and to shine our light into the shadows.

As Terence McKenna once advised us, “Let’s not give our control over to the least among us. Rather, you know, claim your place in the sun and go forward.”

ARIES (March 21–April 19) Born with a courageous heart, your hero awakens when you triumph over your fear. It’s also how you have the most fun.

Joy and courage are connected for you, so focus on what lights you up, and own it.

LIBRA (September 23–October 22) The heroic in you lights up when you are contributing to justice and to the good of the collective. You offer much-needed harmony to the world. A cause you care about needs you, and it’s time to take up your sword.

TAURUS (April 20–May 20) It’s vital to your peace and well-being that you feel good at home. And the grounds are fertile for planting fresh seeds of joy there. Paint a wall tangerine, listen to some music, and spread some good cheer to your family members. Your sense of belonging is tied to you finding joy inside of yourself, as you will always be living with you.

SCORPIO (October 23–November 21) You are gaining attention, so let purity of character guide your mission. Avoid power struggles by handling your position with integrity and respect. It’s an excellent time to plant seeds that will come to fruition at a future time.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) As a sign with something to say, in August you’ll find your audience. The better you feel about yourself, the better your message is received. When your voice is grounded in love, you uplift the people around you and draw them to you naturally.

CANCER ( June 21–July 22) What we do with what we have reflects our degree of selflove. When we do our best and put forth our fullest effort, we grow to love ourselves more. Based on realizations you’ve gained around your birthday, you can tap into the well of self-love more fully now, and know your true value.

LEO ( July 23–August 22) Leo’s entire life is a series of evolutions. You keep it fresh, which is part of your appeal. A trailblazer, presentation matters as you understand that all eyes are often upon you.

You are especially magnetic now, and it’s time to evolve your style game to represent who you’ve become.

VIRGO (August 23–September 22) Virgo can be vulnerable to martyrdom, as you fall into serving others so naturally and can lose your way amidst a sea of duties. Since much of your work on earth is, in fact, service-focused, it becomes crucial to serve something bigger than the obligations themselves. Thankfully you are ripe for a mystical experience to arise, as you likely need clarity around the spiritual purpose of your life.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22–December 21) The quest for meaning lights you up, and you must heed the call in some way. You shine brightest when you are expanding your horizons, and having new adventures. Trust your intuition to guide you toward the spiritual experiences you seek.

CAPRICORN (December 22–January 19) Slaying your dragons means submitting to your emotions and surviving them. By facing your fears, you open up the space to then potentially be graced with moments of bliss and ecstasy as well. The more vulnerable you can be, the greater the opportunity to get your needs met.

AQUARIUS ( January 20–February 18) You’ve got to ask for the love you need. Or better yet, give it.

Notoriously detached from overly emotional displays of affection, you still long for connection like everyone, perhaps even more than most would suspect. Love is in the air, so don’t let it pass you by.

PISCES (February 19–March 20) If you haven’t yet devoted yourself to the work that gives you joy, do it now. Become good at it, and as you help people with your distinct skills, you feel better about yourself. When you feel appreciated, you feel your place in the grand scheme of it all.

Elisa Quinzi is a certified professional astrologer who brings a strong spiritual perspective, as well as over 20 years of experience, to her work with clients. Contact her at futureselfnow@gmail.com or at 818-530-3366 with your exact birth time to schedule or to ask questions.

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

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compiled by Rink

Jen Chan

Heather Freyer

Minna Tao

DJ Rockaway

Michelle Jester

"I practice regular holistic wellbeing in my life and business."

"I work out 6 days a week."

"I crosstrain."

"I work hard at my shows in San Jose and on ‘Play on the Bay Cruises’"

"Eating healthier by cooking at home and exercising instead of commuting"

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Dykes

With Drills

Tip of the Week

By Julie Peri

Clamps We love clamps! Clamps are incredible tools that help you with almost any project you are working on. They secure wood pieces when you cut or use a screw; they hold pieces together while you are gluing—they are all around awesome, and probably our favorite tools.

Clamps come in many shapes and sizes, too.

There are twisty clamps, squeezy clamps, pipe clamps, C-clamps, and more! Highlighted in the picture is a twisty clamp. We use those most frequently, as we find they tend to help you get the best grip. Learn how to use a clamp at our next Intro to Tools workshop near you!

Here is what we have coming up next:

Introduction to Tools August 7, San Francisco Queer Family Gardening Workshop August 22, Pleasant Hill Construction Workshop Series Fall 2021, Walnut Creek For more information about these and other events, go to: https://www.dykeswithdrills.com/workshops Julie Peri is the Founder and Director of Dykes With Drills. https://www.dykeswithdrills.com/

Take Me Home with You!

“My name is Presley! I’m just 4-months-old and new to the big city, so I’m looking for someone who can be my best friend and my guide. I had a rough start in life, and I’m making it up with positive vibes only from now on. Just look at how happy and relaxed I was at Dolores Park on a recent weekend! I’m very curious and still have lots of puppy energy, and I’d love to find someone who will help me learn and explore. Maybe you!?”

Presley 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 Presley.

To apply to meet Presley, visit https://www.sfspca.org/adoptions/ Dr. Jennifer Scarlett and Pup S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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ROSTOW (continued from page 11) he was raised in a “Christian family,” and “should have known better.” Hmmm.

Oh, before I go, in the course of careening around the internet, I read about a woman who paid her bill in a restaurant but left no tip because she thought the waiter made a sexist comment. I don’t really remember much of this story and it’s been a while since I read about it, but at any rate, the comment wasn’t actually sexist, for the record. So, the woman continued on with her day and accidentally left a cashier’s check worth $400,000 at the table! That’s like leaving nearly half a million in actual cash.

She couldn’t remember where the restaurant was, but the waiter looked her up with her credit card information, called her, and gave her back the check, which she was taking to a real estate closing. She felt like a heel. Doncha love it?

Brass Tacks Okay, Victory Fund. Here goes.

From 2016 to 2020, non-transgender lesbians and bisexual women were the most successful GLBT wannabe politicians, winning 69 percent of their races. Gay cisgender men were next at 59 percent, transgender women won 54 percent of the time, while transgender men won 18 percent of their races. That sounds low, but only 11 out of 1,088 GLBT candidates in this report were transmen, while 39 were transwomen. There were also 11 nonbinary candidates.

Some 59 percent of all candidates were cisgender men, while 35 percent were cisgender women. By the way, “cis” is Latin for “on this side,” ergo, it’s sort of the opposite of “trans.” I say sort of, because we could have ended up with non-trans or homo-gender or many other adjectives, which, in turn, makes

SISTER DANA (continued from page 25) you wonder how these new words settle into our vocabulary.

Moving right along, I note that a case close to our hearts has just been decided in our favor by a split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. I also note that the July 26 opinion consists of 103 pages and I can’t find any smart summaries!

Are we really going to spend the next three hours squinting at legalese and drinking nothing stronger than diet Dr. Pepper in order to manage a two-hundred-word synopsis that I can plop down at the end of this column and which you will probably skip, if I know you, which I do.

Dear Reader, I think not!

The case is out of Colorado, where as you know the state has outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender in public accommodation. This was the law that led to the ambiguous Masterpiece Cakeshop case, and now it has triumphed in the case of a one-woman website and graphic design company called “303 Creative.”

Run by Lorie Smith, the company plans to offer wedding websites in the future, but will not take on a client for a same-sex wedding. Smith planned to put a little notice up to this effect, which will directly violate the “Communications Clause” of the Colorado Anti-discrimination Act (CADA). As such, she preemptively sued the state, arguing that the enforcement of CADA violated her First Amendment rights.

The lower court ruled that Smith had standing to challenge the Communications Clause, but since she had yet to discriminate against an actual client, she could not challenge any other part of CADA. The judge then ruled against her,

at which point she appealed to the Tenth Circuit, where (Yay) two out of three judges agreed with the court below.

“As to the merits,” they wrote, “we hold that CADA satisfies strict scrutiny, and thus permissibly compels Appellants’ speech. We also hold that CADA is a neutral law of general applicability, and that it is not unconstitutionally vague or overbroad ... Accordingly ... we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Colorado.”

Perhaps you remember “neutral law of general applicability” from our recent discussion of the 1990 precedent, Employment Division v Smith, that says you can’t use religion to avoid following a neutral law of general applicability. I’m guessing that the majority here applied this precedent to the current case and that their reasoning did not help our web designer. But I don’t know for sure because I’ve only read ten pages and I have 93 to go.

As for the phrase “strict scrutiny,” the majority apparently believes that Colorado has a compelling interest in preventing discrimination against the GLBT community and that its Anti-discrimination Act is narrowly tailored to serve that interest.

Look, I now have two weeks to read the rest of this opinion, plus the dissent, plus a ton of other articles by smart lawyers and analysts. And (drum roll, please) this sounds suspiciously like the kind of case that might wind up before the High Court, the same Court that barely allowed Employment Division v Smith to survive the beat down between Catholic Social Services and the City of Philadelphia.

So, the excitement awaits! arostow@aol.com

SEELIG (continued from page 12) think of the horrors of escaping the cult of religion—the hundreds of stories of suicides by young people who had been forcefully converted and had no one out there saying, “There’s another way. Look over here. Listen. We’ve got you!”

There was and is a growing wave of support that simply silenced the radicals. After three days, they must have realized the tide had turned.

They had been caught twisting the truth. Of course, there will never be acknowledgment of that, but the simple fact that the flame dies as quickly as it ignited tells the whole story. There was no there there. We have received thousands of messages of support from all over the world.

Unfortunately, our thousands are a drop in the bucket to their literal millions.

GLAAD: “The ugly anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and violent threats reinforce the need for LGBTQ visibility, community, and advocacy, all of which SFGMC has exemplified in its 40+ year history.”

SFist: “Extremely Funny SFGMC video unleashes a Torrent of RightWing Threat, Vitriol.”

PinkNews: “Right-wing cranks flip out over hilarious gay men’s chorus song about teaching kids tolerance.”

Consequence: “Satirical song by SFGMC awakens conservative rage machine.”

Twitter: “Let’s keep converting children to be tolerant and fair ... and funny!”

The head of a PR firm in Washington, D.C., suggested this statement for the chorus: “SFGMC finds it unfortunate that the Alt-Right has chosen to take aim and threaten members of our chorus who are singing lyrics that convey the importance of raising tolerant, loving, non-judgmental children. These are the very core foundational values they find in the Bible they so passionately claim to uphold in their daily lives.”

The ire and death threats the AltRight have for our members only emphasized the need for the message even more. The song promises, “We’ll convert your children ... someone’s got to teach them not to hate.

Their behavior is the purest example of why songs like this and choruses like ours exist: Because someone must spread the message of love and acceptance. If they are not going to take that message from the Bible, then the least we, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, can do is help to spread it.”

Do I hear an Amen up in there?

I know the chorus will be stronger because of this. We will most definitely suffer from the scars that remain. The chorus as a unit will certainly survive and thrive. The individual singers will have a harder time. They have been personally attacked and, in some cases, libeled.

It will take time to unravel all of this and heal the wounds. But we will heal! The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus is the most amazing logical family. There are unfathomable depths of love and support among the members. That cannot be extinguished by hate. There is just too much light!

Thank you for your incredible support during this trying time. We are going to need a huge hug when we see you!

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

24.) Design features include an expanded plaza area, a candlelight vigil light display, a pink glass canopy over the stairway and elevator, and an oculus light well. Other prominent areas will include “The Pedestal,” an elevated platform at the intersection of Castro and Market streets; “The Beacon,” a digital display on the new elevator; “The Grove,” a memorial tree grove close to Collingwood; and “The Gallery,” an art display on the Castro Muni station mezzanine level. The new design being shared is preliminary and FHMP will continue to seek input from the community.

FHMP anticipates the design being finalized this year and construction starting in Summer 2022.

Senator Scott Wiener has obtained $2 million in the State’s budget for MISSION FOOD HUB and MEALS ON WHEELS SAN FRANCISCO, along with funding and changes in the law to revamp the Calfresh application process to make it easier and more accessible for seniors and those with disabilities.

Sister Dana sez, “It seems obvious, but let me emphasize that Stacey Abrams and not Donald T-Rump should receive the Nobel Peace Prize!”

KARLSBERG (continued from page 26) “Oh, come on, sweet boy.” He put a hand on the back of my neck and kissed me. We made out and I melted. “Eddie wouldn’t steer you wrong, we’ll have us some fun. We’re not junkies, baby, we’re just cats digging life, liberty, and the pursuit of a high.” He kissed me again.

I felt a tug-of-war inside my psyche. On one side was doubt, on the other was dare. Hey-hey-hey, get high, baby, get high whispered the devil on my shoulder. He was such a seductive little f----er.” (Editor’s Note: According to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in San Francisco, drug overdoses resulted in more than 700 deaths in the city last year, with 2021 on course for having a record number. Should you find yourself in a situation similar to that of Sebastian, please resist the temptation to take this and similar drugs. Bay Area Substance Abuse Resources: https://tinyurl.com/ddtyayb2 ) Sebastian Stuart has written over a score of original e-books, as well as travel guides, business books, fundraisers—and a cookbook! He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his partner of 30 years, novelist Stephen McCauley.

Michele Karlsberg Marketing and Management specializes in publicity for the LGBTQ+ community. This year, Karlsberg celebrates 32 years of successful marketing campaigns. For more information: https://www.michelekarlsberg.com

BUDGET (continued from page 10) our foundation so that San Francisco can recover in full force, together,” said Supervisor Gordon Mar. The Latinx community has been the most disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 virus, with the community seeing the highest rates of cases and deaths. It was through a herculean effort by community partners to come together and launch an unprecedented community initiative that families, frontline workers, and youths were provided the baseline level of support they needed. The complexity of needs that the community faces is far from over. Historic underfunding of family resources, affordable housing, arts and culture, and Latinx LGBTQ serving organizations and initiatives has exacerbated the harm this past year has brought onto the community. The investments put forth in the new budget are crucial to the vitality of San Francisco’s rich diversity and are a matter of urgency for the Latinx community.

WAHL (continued from page 23) Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It is another remarkable documentary that is as fun, wild, and smart as its subject.

Rita Moreno has a story to tell. In this fast-moving documentary feature, we go from the young girl from Puerto Rico who finds her way to Hollywood. Clawing her way through stereotypes and insulting experiences, she is slowly recognized as the major talent she always will be.

Her love affair with Marlon Brando, disappointing marriage, Oscar, loving friends, and sheer thrill of victory make this film a joy to watch.

You go, Rita. You deserve it all!

Jan Wahl is a Hollywood historian, film critic on various broadcast outlets, and has her own YouTube channel series, “Jan Wahl Showbiz.”

She has two Emmys and many awards for her longtime work on behalf of film buffs and the LGBTQ community.

Contact her at www.janwahl.com

QUEER POP QUIZ ANSWER (Question on pg 22)

A) in a downstairs bathroom

Read more from SFBT online www.sfbaytimes.com 28

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The couple says that many visitors mistake the award for a toilet brush. Daley told CBS News, “I don’t know why he does that. He says it’s something about he doesn’t want to give it any more power than it needs.”

LANDIS (continued from page 21) toast. To gild the lily, we also ordered the homemade focaccia, served with sundried tomato tapenade (we asked for olive oil as well, which was a robust and hearty complement to the bread). A pet peeve of mine is focaccia that is dry or, worse yet, day-old.

Rush Creek bakes their focaccia fresh daily and it’s moist and delicious.

Our second course included a caprese salad, which I’m usually reluctant to order since often restaurants serve tomatoes that aren’t ripe. Despite being miles from nearby farms, the tomatoes were juicy, fruity, and tasty; the creamy mozzarella and tart arugula provided a welcome counterbalance, all topped with a balsamic reduction and virgin olive oil dressing. We also sampled the rich, thick, and flavorful homemade tomato soup. Another night we ordered a fan favorite at the restaurant: crispy fried cauliflower, served with a unique coconut milk, sriracha, sesame seed, and sweet and sour sauce.

For our mains, I had the King salmon, perfectly cooked to a medium rare with bok choy, glazed shiitake mushrooms, yuzu ( Japanese grapefruit) ginger butter, sesame seed, and scallions. My Montanabred husband predictably had the New York strip, also cooked to a perfect medium-rare and tender to a fault, with a cabernet sauce and extra crispy fries. As an accompaniment, we selected the green beans with a deliciously-different pistachio pesto sauce. Our only disappointment was the honey cheesecake—frankly, a bit too sweet for our taste, but dense and creamy nonetheless. Other menu items fortunately cater to families, so youngsters can choose from a burger, a grilled cheese, or even a Philly cheese steak. A note about the service: in a word, excellent. One night we had the knowledgeable Cory and the next night we had his equally fun and informative wife, Linda.

With all this deliciousness, you’ll need to work off some new-found pounds— but don’t worry, there are plenty more trails at Yosemite that will help deliver on that front while you admire one of Nature’s most majestic destinations.

Bits and Bites After a pandemic-induced hiatus, we decided to head back to Sam’s Anchor Café in Tiburon—and the Trident in Sausalito. Both offer up stellar views of San Francisco Bay and the City.

Sam’s, known for their Old Bay-seasoned fries, has one of the best mai tais around—modelled after the Monkeypod restaurants in Hawaii (complete with lilikoi foam on top). They also have one of the freshest and most delectable prawn salads in town. Ask for server Cinnamon, who knows the ins and outs of the menu like a pro. Just remember: there are still no reservations at Sam’s, so get there early and be prepared for a wait.

At the Trident, together with some potent rum cocktails and a great rosé wine, we sampled the Tomales Bay stone crabs (who knew they were a thing?). They were meaty and delicious and helped us forget our urban stress while staring at San Francisco’s singular skyline. At the Trident, they do take reservations, but outdoor spots get snapped up early.

Both restaurants provide an al fresco experience that’s like taking a mini-vacation with bayside dining—and you’re just a few minutes beyond the Golden Gate.

Disney+ streams a new documentary, Wolfgang, where celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck (a personal fave of The Gay Gourmet) tells all: achievements, warts, and all. Yes, he’s the culinary genius behind Beverly Hills’ celebrated Spago restaurant; yes, he oversees a worldwide food empire; and yes, he’s had great success. But the documentary also profiles his challenging upbringing as a child where he even contemplated suicide. His advice for how to succeed?

Embrace failure. Says Puck, “Only people who do nothing have no failures.

Then you’re really a failure.”

Wolfgang on Disney Plus: https://disneyplusoriginals.disney.com/movie/wolfgang Yosemite Rush Creek Lodge & Spa: https://www.rushcreeklodge.com/ Evergreen Lodge: https://www.evergreenlodge.com/ Yosemite National Park: https://www.nps.gov/yose/index.htm Sam’s Anchor Café, Tiburon: https://samscafe.com/ The Trident, Sausalito: https://www.thetrident.net/ David Landis, aka “The Gay Gourmet,” is a foodie, a freelance writer and a PR executive. Follow him on Instagram @GayGourmetSF, on Twitter @ david_landis, email him at: david@landispr.com or visit him online at: www.gaygourmetsf.com

At the Evergreen Lodge, Executive Chef Aaron Haas presides over a menu that has a nod to the new— and the old. Craft cocktails are a star as well, but we opted for the Tiefenbrunner Pinot Grigio again.

The lodge is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, so we chose some of the centennial-inspired dishes. Our starter was the Evergreen version of a Waldorf Salad with apples, walnuts, celery, roasted garlic ricotta, and a roasted grape vinaigrette. (Truth be told, I haven’t seen a Waldorf Salad on a menu in years, but what a welcome addition.) We also sampled the perfectly sized and yummy beef sliders with onion bacon jam on a brioche bun (not your family’s White Castle burgers!). We split what they call “Chicken a la King,” but really, it’s more of a risotto with lemon, spring peas, and a breast of chicken in a sherry-wine harissa sauce: so comforting, but with a new take on an old-fashioned recipe.

Service again is attentive but never intrusive, which contributes to the relaxing atmosphere.

One cautionary note: even though you’re in the mountains, reservations for dinner—and breakfast—are a must at Rush Creek. We tried to go to breakfast one morning without reservations and would have had to wait a half hour. Luckily, the grocery store/ espresso bar has yummy breakfast sandwiches and cappuccinos to fill the gap.

Another note about access to Yosemite National Park: during high season this year (which includes the summer), permits are required to enter the park. You can’t just show up in your car or you’ll be turned away. And due to COVID, there are no shuttle buses this year. It’s also a bit of a hassle to get the permits since they’re in high demand. But if you stay at Rush Creek, they have van tours to Yosemite, so you don’t have to worry—you just book directly with the Lodge when you reserve your room.

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San Francisco Investiture 2021: The Court of More Is MORE! Photos by Rink

On Friday, July 16, His Most Imperial Majesty Mr. David Glamamore & Her Most Imperial Majesty Juanita MORE! welcomed attendees to the Investiture of the Court of More is MORE! at Oasis located at 298 11th Street. Imperial Council Chair Misty Blue presided, assisted by predecessor John Carrillo, during the event that is an official occasion of the Imperial Council’s year. San Francisco Bay Times columnist Empress Donna Sachet and lead photographer Rink represented the Bay Times and enjoyed the Investiture Reception (7:30–9 pm) followed by the Celebration that included dancing and a show. The net proceeds benefited the Monarchs Administrative Fund of the Imperial Council, which is a 501c3 nonprofit organization in the state of California. http://www.imperialcouncilsf.org/index.html

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Round About - All Over Town

Photos by Rink

CASTRO STREETCAM presented by

Designer Bruce Beaudette and his companion Yoko O Yes are regulars at venues throughout the Castro.

Owners Sharon Ratton and Katey McKee, along with their dog Wednesday, stood before artwork by Jason Mecier on display at the new Milk-SF café located at 302 Valencia Street and 14th Street in the Mission.

http://sfbaytimes.com/

San Francisco Bay Times columnist Donna Sachet, along with Peanut, visited with performer Carly Oxnard, who was accompanied by her father and dog, on the corner of 18th and Castro on July 18.

As noted on the marquee of the Castro Theatre, the 41st Jewish Film Festival opened on July 22 and continues through August 1.

Get ready for a picnic at Dolores Park or a Stern Grove Festival concert with these fabulous outdoor Oniva blankets from Picnic Time. They are available in two sizes: 59” x 51” for $21.99 and 70” x 80” for $34.99.

Fable restaurant’s decorated parklet, located on Castro between 18th and 19th, has become a popular spot for outdoor dining.

In addition to dining, guests at the Midnight Sun’s parklet enjoy watching performances on overhead screens.

After a long year and a half, are you ready to start planning your next international adventure?

Play cards and start learning a new language with Lingo Playing Cards for $12.99.

Super Duper’s burgers and other fare continue to attract diners daily.

Another popular sidewalk dining area is at Gyro Express, 499 Castro Street.

W

e want to express our continuous gratitude to our community for supporting us for the last 85 years.

Without you we wouldn’t be here and we are here for you. It is our sense of community that helps us keep going even on those days when we would rather hide under the covers. Thank you!

The iconic Eastern Bakery, which has served Asian and French pastries for 100 years, has reopened in Chinatown.

A California Cable Car took a trial run in Chinatown on July 14.

Heroic Italian sandwich owner David Bullitt welcomed guests at Swirl On Castro Street where his sandwiches and salads are available for onsite dining and carryout.

The colorful F Line street cars returned to service in mid-May and make their way daily through the turn around at Jane Warner Plaza before heading back to Market Street.

Michael Petris’ The Mask Shop & Castro Stitchery continually introduces a striking selection of masks, caps, and other attire.

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