December 29, 2016 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter

HIVers fight stigma

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Vol. 46 • No. 52 • December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017

Travel bans to anti-LGBT states take shape Despite protests in San Francisco over the election of Donald Trump, the changing political landscape means that anti-LGBT bills are likely to be heard in various states in 2017.

by Matthew S. Bajko

ith bills allowing religious-based discrimination against LGBT people pending in state legislatures across the U.S., state employees in California, as well as those working for San Francisco, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties, could find themselves barred from traveling on the public’s dime to a

large swath of the country next year. As of January 1 the Golden State will join Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties in banning non-essential taxpayer-funded travel to states that have enacted laws allowing for discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It stems from the passage in the fall of Assembly Bill 1887 authored by gay Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell).

In November the state attorney general’s office informed Richard Gillihan, director of the California Department of Human Resources, that it intended to ban state employees from traveling to Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee due to those states having anti-LGBT laws on their books. More states are expected to be included when the See page 2 >>

Gay music icon George Michael dies by Heather Cassell

ay British pop singer George Michael, who rose to fame as part of the group Wham and later went on to a successful solo career, was found dead at his country home in EngGoldenPlec land December 25. He was 53. George Michael Mr. Michael’s manager, Michael Lipman, said that the cause of death was heart failure. Police arrived at his home in Goring-onThames, Oxfordshire shortly before 2 p.m. Christmas Day. He was dead upon their arrival, reported the New York Times. An autopsy report could be ready in a couple of days, forensic experts told the Times. Mr. Michael’s publicist Connie Filippello confirmed the news to the media Sunday. “It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother, and friend See page 8 >>

Nonprofit rating site seeks LGBT agencies New CA laws Rick Gerharter

by Matthew S. Bajko

hen GreatNonprofits, a Bay Areabased website that rates charitable organizations, released its list of the top-rated LGBTQ charities for 2016, just five agencies made the cut. And only one was based on the West Coast, Seattle’s Free2Luv. A check of the 8-year-old website’s past annual winners found that just three LGBTQ agencies in California had ever been included on the top-rated list. The lone Bay Area agency, the Gay Straight Alliance Network (now the Genders and Sexualities Alliance Network) in San Francisco, made the 2012 list, while two Los Angeles County agencies, the Trevor Project and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, were included in 2009. The website does list scores of LGBTQ nonprofits across the country, but very few have the top-rated status. The website has honored more AIDS agencies based in the Golden State, naming 11 as top-rated over the years. The Shanti Project and Project Open Hand, both in San Francisco, have made the list, as has the Oakland-based Internet Sexuality Information Services, which is now known as YTH, short for youth, tech and health. The lack of local LGBTQ agencies rated best by GreatNonprofits, however, could give potential donors a false impression, said Roger Doughty, president of the Horizons Foundation, which is focused on LGBT charitable giving.

Courtesy GreatNonprofits

A rainbow flag-themed Instagram post from a few days ago urged LGBT donors to make year-end contributions before the December 31 deadline.

“If their impression is there are no great LGBTQ nonprofits in the Bay Area or California that would be deeply unfortunate and deeply inaccurate,” Doughty told the Bay Area Reporter when asked about the website. “There are scores and scores of organizations that work like crazy and make enormous contributions to the community and to the movement. To suggest there are none in California that merits being well-rated is ludicrous.” What the website’s annual lists do signal, said

Doughty, is that “for whatever reasons GreatNonprofits has not made a lot of inroads into the LGBTQ community of nonprofits.” In an interview with the B.A.R. Perla Ni, the website’s CEO, acknowledged as much, saying she hopes to see more LGBTQ agencies participate in 2017. She has spoken to Doughty on how to get more local nonprofits involved. “We want to get the word out to Bay Areabased organizations better,” said Ni, who suggested their lack of participation this year many have been due to being more focused on the presidential election. To be named one of GreatNonprofits’ toprated LGBTQ charities in a given year, agencies have a rather low threshold they need to meet. They must generate, at minimum, 10 positive experiences, or “stories” as the website calls them, from clients, donors, or volunteers between January 1 and October 31 to be included in the annual top-rated list, which numbered more than 1,600 across all categories for 2016. “Our methodology is really communitysourced nominations,” explained Ni. “We invite nonprofits and their community to participate.” Hearing directly from those assisted by, or working with, the nonprofits can give donors and others better insight into the effectiveness of the agencies, argued Ni. It is a different way of evaluating a charity, she said, than the more financially focused methods used by other nonprofit rating agencies, such as Charity Navigator.

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take effect in 2017 by Seth Hemmelgarn

alifornia Governor Jerry Brown signed into law several LGBTsupportive bills this fall that are set to take effect in 2017, including a bill aimed to combat discrimination at universities and legislation designed to State Senator prevent youth suicides. Ricardo Lara One bill Brown signed into law is Senate Bill 1146, authored by gay state Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens). The legislation requires that private universities that receive public funds publicly disclose whether they discriminate against students based on gender expression, gender identity, or sexual orientation. If a university has a Title IX exemption, it’s required to notify the state Student Aid Commission and share the information with students and staff. At the federal level, Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and similar factors, in federally See page 8 >>

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<< Community News

2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017

Gay Oakland man beaten near BART by Seth Hemmelgarn

Courtesy Marvin Miller

Marvin Miller lost a tooth and suffered other injuries after being attacked leaving an Oakland BART station.

gay Oakland man says he was recently beaten outside the BART station in the city’s Uptown district. Marvin Miller, who lost a tooth in the attack, said he had just gotten off the train from San Francisco at about 12:40 a.m. and was on the escalator exiting the 19th Street station when the December 10 incident started. Miller had his headphones on and was looking at his phone when he heard the man in front of him “mumbling” remarks about “not liking gay people,” he said. After he took off his headphones and asked the man what he was saying, the man got behind him and made comments including, “I’m uncomfortable being in front of you with you looking at my butt,” Miller said. Then, a man who was in front of Miller hit him in the face, knocking

out one of his front teeth. One of the men made another anti-gay remark while Miller was struck, but he doesn’t remember exactly what it was. Miller, who’s 6 feet 4 inches tall and describes himself as “muscular,” fought with the men briefly before they left. “My sense is that they sensed it wasn’t going to be an easy fight so they all fled,” he said. The men didn’t rob him. The station had been “very crowded” just after he got off the train, he said, but by the time the incident had ended, “everyone had scattered.” He said there were three to five men in his attackers’ group, and all of them appeared to be 17 to 22 years old. He said the first suspect was an African-American man who’s about 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. He couldn’t remember the man’s clothing. The man who hit him was white or Latino, but Miller couldn’t

offer more details to describe him. When Miller called police, he was instructed to wait at 20th and Broadway streets, but he said officers failed to respond to the scene, even though he waited for about 20 minutes and tried unsuccessfully to flag down a passing patrol car. Police eventually did take a report. He said that with his “bigger frame, I’ve never really been afraid for my safety, but this is really a wakeup call to be vigilant about what is around you. ... It could have been a lot worse.” BART police Detective John Johnson declined to answer questions about the attack, stating that the Oakland Police Department is investigating it. However, he said there was no video of the incident. “They were changing out the DVRs” when Miller was struck, so there weren’t any digital video recorders in operation to capture

what happened, Johnson said. Officer Johnna Watson, an Oakland Police Department spokeswoman, said the agency is investigating the incident as a hate crime. “We take any crime seriously,” Watson said. “We certainly take any hate crime seriously.” No arrests have been made. Miller, who didn’t want his age published, has to undergo a root canal, grafting, and other procedures. He said he’s been “lifted by the support” he’s received since the incident. The gay Port bar, which is at 2023 Broadway, near the site of the attack, is holding a karaoke fundraiser for Miller starting at 6 p.m. Saturday, January 7. A Gofundme page has been established at https://www.gofundme.com/fronttooth4marvin, with the goal of raising $10,000. As of Tuesday, $10,060 had been contributed.t

Free Muni for New Year’s Eve compiled by Cynthia Laird

or the 17th consecutive year, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will offer free rides on New Year’s Eve from 8 p.m. Saturday, December 31 through 5 a.m. Sunday, January 1. “We want all San Francisco residents and visitors to have a happy and safe new year. As we all celebrate the new year, the SFMTA is providing free Muni rides so everyone can enjoy themselves around the city and get home safely,” Ed Reiskin,

SFMTA director of transportation, said in a statement. The free program includes all Muni lines and routes. Information on schedules and stops will be posted at www.sfmta. com/nye. Clipper card customers should not tap their cards to make sure they don’t get charged a fare. Mobile Muni passes will not be necessary. Metro fare gates will be open that night. Additionally, there will be extra Owl service (1 to 5 a.m.) on the following lines: 5 Fulton, 14 Mission, 22 Fillmore, 24 Divisadero,

25 Treasure Island, 38 Geary, 44 O’Shaughnessy, 48 Quintara-24th, 90 Owl, 91 Owl, L Owl, and N Owl. Reiskin said that extra Metro light rail trains will run from West Portal to 4th and King streets until 2:15 a.m., and between the Embarcadero and West Portal until 5 a.m. Buses will provide cable car service after approximately 6 p.m. Service on the F Market and Wharves streetcars will be provided by buses after about 9 p.m. The city will hold its fireworks show from a barge off of the Embarcadero south of the Ferry Building at midnight. As for BART, it will provide additional service – full fare pricing will be in effect – until 3 a.m. January 1. BART service to and from the East Bay will be split between Embarcadero and Montgomery stations after 8 p.m. The Pittsburg/Bay Point and Richmond lines will not stop at Embarcadero. Exit at Montgomery for the fireworks show. The Dublin/Pleasanton and Fremont lines will not stop at Montgomery Street station (exit at Embarcadero for the fireworks) and will not stop at West Oakland heading back to the East Bay. The first East Bay stop will be Lake Merritt. Millbrae and Daly City passengers should use Montgomery Street sta-

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Travel bans

From page 1

official list is posted online Sunday, January 1 by the AG’s office, which is responsible for compiling the list of banned states. “AB 1887’s travel prohibition will continue as long as any other state has such a discriminatory law in effect,” noted Angela Sierra, senior assistant attorney general, in her letter to Gillihan dated November 17. San Francisco is expected to follow suit and ban its municipal employees from traveling to the states on the AG’s list, and perhaps others, as of Valentine’s Day, February 14, when the city’s travel ban goes into effect. The local legislation also bans city agencies from entering into new contracts with businesses headquartered in the banned states, making San Francisco the first city to adopt such a policy. The city administrator, who is tasked with overseeing the list, has been working with the city attorney’s office to compile it and lay out the reasoning for why each individual state is covered by the travel ban policy. “We are actively working on it,” said Bill Barnes, a project manager for the city administrator. “Obviously, it is a changing landscape everyday as states are either adopting or appealing anti-LGBT laws.”

Courtesy ABC7

Muni will be free on New Year’s Eve beginning at 8 p.m.

tion. For more information, visit www.bart.gov.

State LGBT caucus to hold welcome back party

The California Legislative LGBT Caucus will hold its sixth annual welcome back reception for lawmakers and the Capitol community Monday, January 9 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the California Museum, 1020 O Street. Interested people are welcome to attend. Refreshments will be provided. For more information and to RSVP, contact Chelsea Lee at (916) 319-2013 or chelsea.lee@asm. ca.gov.

Post-election LGBTQ family forum

Our Family Coalition will hold a post-election LGBTQ family forum Thursday, January 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Laurel Bookstore, 1423

Officials in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties were the first in California to enact travel bans to states with anti-LGBT laws. And the cities of Santa Cruz and Watsonville have both imposed their own travel bans. Public officials in the three northern California counties are already barred from using taxpayer funds to travel to North Carolina due to that state’s House Bill 2, which restricts cities in the state from enacting local non-discrimination laws and requires transgender people to use public restrooms based on the gender they were assigned at birth. An effort to repeal the law just prior to Christmas failed, leaving the travel bans intact for now. County supervisors in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz earlier this year also banned non-essential countyfunded travel to Mississippi after lawmakers in the state enacted the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act, which allows individuals, businesses, and religious organizations to refuse service to LGBT people based on their religious beliefs. Santa Clara also bans most taxpayer-funded travel to Arkansas and Tennessee for having anti-LGBT laws on the books. The state’s travel ban covers not only government agencies but also

Broadway in Oakland. The forum will discuss the potential impacts of the Trump administration on LGBTQ families. Scheduled speakers include Emily Doskow, Linda Scaparotti, and Angela Bean, all of whom are attorneys with decades of experience working with queer families and immigration issues. The event is free. Child care is available with registration. To register, visit https://www.z2systems. com/np/clients/ourfamily/eventRegistration.jsp?event=58290.

Volunteers needed for homeless count

The San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing is seeking volunteers for the 2017 Point-in-Time count that is scheduled for Thursday, January 26. There is a mandatory volunteer training from 7 to 8 p.m., followed by the count from 8 p.m. to midnight. Point-in-time counts are unduplicated one-night estimates of both sheltered and unsheltered homeless populations. The one-night counts are conducted by continuums of care nationwide and occur during the last week in January each year. To register, visit http://dhsh. sfgov.org/2017-point-in-timecount/?platform=hootsuite.t applies to both the University of California and California State University systems. Travel necessary for the enforcement of California law, to meet prior contractual obligations, or for the protection of public health, welfare, or safety is exempted from the policy. The Sacramento Bee reported last week that neither the Board of Equalization nor the Franchise Tax Board would be asked to reduce employees’ travel to the banned states since their work often requires them to examine financial documents in person. But many sports teams at the state’s public universities would likely no longer be able to schedule away games in states on the banned list, the paper reported. And private sponsors would not be able to pay to have experts from California colleges speak at conferences, according to the Bee, citing a Human Resources memo informing state employees they cannot accept money from third party groups to pay for travel to the banned states.

List of banned states to grow

More states will likely join the travel ban lists later in 2017 should their legislatures and governors enact anti-LGBT laws of their own. Already lawmakers in Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, Texas, and West Virginia See page 9 >>

AIDS at 35>>

December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 3

Young HIVers work to combat stigma by Brian Bromberger

Support group

hen young men seroconvert, one of the main factors they must contend with is stigma. The stigma and shame of being HIV-positive can deter men from even getting tested for HIV, fearing negative social consequences. Even when diagnosed as HIV-positive, some men worry about discrimination and don’t seek good health care. Studies have shown increased rates of depression, lower self-esteem, anxiety, social isolation, substance abuse, alcoholism, even romantic loneliness for young HIV-positive men. Many men don’t want to disclose their serostatus to friends and family, thus cutting themselves off from supportive social relationships just when they need them most. To explore the ramifications of this discrimination, the Bay Area Reporter spoke to three young gay HIV-positive men. Keisuke Lee-Miyaki, 33, is a minister at the Buddhist Church of San Francisco and has volunteered at Positive Force, a client service of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Armando Estrada, 25, is a treatment and health educator for Clinica Esperanza, part of the Mission Neighborhood Health Center, focusing on undocumented immigrants. Chris Richey, 31, is director of marketing and communications for SFAF. As if to reveal the commanding power of stigma, it took months to find these three men willing to be interviewed for this article.

Stigma a worldwide issue

Lee-Miyaki found out in Japan in September 2012 that he was positive. He was shocked. “I had a bias against HIV, as in Japan HIV is stigmatized and not talked about publicly, nor is being gay,” he said. “I thought only heavily sexually active people got the disease. I thought I was going to die as I didn’t know about the protease inhibitor drugs.” He had been working as a minister in the biggest Buddhist congregation in Japan, but figured he would probably be fired if word got out. Needing a vacation in a “new world,” he came to the U.S. “I was only going to stay three months. I didn’t want my family to know that I was HIV-positive,” Lee-Miyaki said. “When I had told my mother I was gay, she cried and said she was hopeful I would be cured of this mental disease. My exboyfriend suggested I go to UCSF as it was the best medical treatment center for HIV.”

Brian Bromberger

Armando Estrada

Keisuke Lee-Miyaki

Chris Richey

Estrada, originally from Mexico, was living in Los Angeles when he tested positive in November 2014. “There were times I didn’t use condoms ... you party, you get drunk, but it is pointless to reflect on who or where I got it. I have it now, so what will I do next?” he said. “At first I thought I could never have kids and would die young. So I sensed right away I needed more information.” Ventura County officials linked him with someone already living with HIV, who showed him the ropes. He got involved with the Being Alive support group, “where I learned the reality of what living with HIV is, as there is lots of misinformation and half assumptions.” Richey was diagnosed in 2010 in L.A. after graduating from college, having moved there from East Texas, at the same time his mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 lymphoma (she is now cancer free). Richey is well acquainted with stigma. “Stigma is the number one barrier to ending the epidemic. It impacts every facet of the HIV caring continuum,” he said. “It prevents people from going to get tested, because they are afraid of the label, afraid they will never have sex again, or afraid they are going to die. Stigma impacts on people living with HIV because they have to take a pill every day, which becomes a reminder they are HIV-positive. Stigma never really goes away and it never will go away until we say it is OK to have HIV.” Lee-Miyaki said he has not experienced any discrimination here being HIV-positive, but he discriminated against himself. “I didn’t want to identify as HIVpositive,” he said. “I didn’t tell anyone. I still had a strong bias and was afraid people wouldn’t accept me. By telling other people I was HIVpositive, I would be reminding myself I was HIV-positive. I projected

my bias to other people. And I still had that cultural norm of Japan not to talk about HIV in public.” Getting a referral from a licensed social worker at UCSF, he went to Positive Force, a community of HIVpositive men. A doctor diagnosed him as depressed and he joined a peer counseling group there, learning how to manage the physical and emotional sides of HIV. Estrada said that he has experienced discrimination. “I was waiting at a clinic in Ventura and this guy started talking to me. ‘Who are you waiting for?’ he asked. I told him my HIV case manager. And he said, ‘I can’t believe you have it. You look so smart. It’s always the pretty ones that get you. Did he tell you he loved you?’ I was in shock but it motivated me to get more educated,” he said. Similar to Lee-Miyaki, it took him about seven months “to get back into circulation.” He experienced much rejection on Grindr, with responses like, “I don’t play with Pos people.” “I would go on dates disclosing my status and giving them accurate information,” Estrada said. “But it didn’t change their minds, because it was coming from someone who has HIV and they figured I was just trying to get into their pants so he’ll say whatever he wants to say. Yes, I felt bad, especially if it was someone I was really interested in, but at the end of the day it’s about getting informed. I planted a seed and it is up to them to pick it up.” For Richey, like Lee-Miyaki, the worst stigma he experienced was internalizing the shame he felt. “I was living halfway across the country from where my mother and family live. I was ashamed that I was a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said. “I grew up in the Bible Belt where being gay was already bad. I came out of the closet in a blaze of glory

at age 16 in a small town. I was constantly told I would get AIDS and die. And then I went off and I got HIV. I just proved all those bigots right. My mother was fighting cancer and she didn’t ask for that. I felt HIV was my fault. I got lost in drugs for a while and then I tried to kill myself. I carried all that shame that comes from being poor and gay in the South. Fortunately good friends got me the help I needed and my family was always supportive.”

Some progress made

While, 35 years after the start of the AIDS epidemic, there is still stigma, Richey feels some progress has been made. In fact the city’s Getting to Zero initiative includes ending HIV stigma by 2020. He marvels how well people with HIV in San Francisco are taken care of, compared to Texas, where it is much harder for an HIV-positive person to hook up casually. “The Texas Legislature just passed abstinence-only education instead of sex education or more HIV funding,” Richey said. “These trends continue in the South and here we are subsidizing federal funding for HIV care and the results speak for themselves. “The stigma is compounded exponentially by all these other factors, yet San Francisco is a beacon of hope compared to the rest of the country,” he added. “HIV is now classified as a chronic, manageable condition, but so is diabetes and diabetics are not looked at in the same way people living with HIV are. Why? HIV is an infectious disease impacting people of color, people who are gay, people who inject drugs. Until the conversation changes, until we can say that people are OK and it’s not bad to get HIV. We all have sex. Mistakes can happen and there is this judgment made on someone living with HIV and that has to change.”

Estrada started volunteering at Clinica Esperanza in the Mission where he learned about the Spanish Shanti Life support group. “I built up a strong community as I had wanted a support group for Latino men,” he said. “I was undocumented then so I felt I would get more understanding from someone that was going through the same thing as me. The clinic welcomes everyone regardless of citizenship status.” Estrada wanted more information before he told his family as initially he was scared to reveal his status. Last Christmas he returned to Mexico to tell his brother and sister, so in case something happened, they could speak to his mother rather than doctors. Two months later he informed his mother. “I posted a speech I gave at last year’s World AIDS Day on Facebook. Family members told my father, who read it and he has been very supportive. I have been very fortunate,” said Estrada. Involvement with support groups has made him confident and not scared, even comfortable to share his status with other people. “HIV doesn’t define who I am, even though it is part of me. If I get any negative reaction, it is by people I wouldn’t want in my life anyway. There’s more to you than your status, despite what other people say.” A year ago a position at the clinic opened up for a treatment and health educator and Estrada was hired. “You get to see people experiencing HIV in different ways and educate them,” he said. “There is much misinformation in Latin America about HIV with much stigma and a subject you don’t talk about.” For Richey, the best way to deal with stigma is to find support groups like Fifty-Plus or Black Brothers Esteem, both programs of SFAF. “Stigma wins when it isolates you from others, when it keeps you from going to the doctor, or missing appointments, or having relationships with other people, these are all things that keep you going and make you healthy,” he said. In 2012, Richey was a co-founder of the Stigma Project, a nonprofit organization that seeks to end HIV stigma through art, provocation, awareness, and education. “We use social media and new media to conduct social marketing campaigns. We’ve had a lot of success with Facebook campaigns, educational campaigns with Gilead, See page 8 >>

<< Open Forum

t George Michael blazed his own trail

4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017

Volume 46, Number 52 December 29, 2016January 4, 2017 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman BARTAB EDITOR & EVENTS LISTINGS EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • Seth Hemmelgarn CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Aguilera • Tavo Amador • Race Bannon Erin Blackwell • Roger Brigham Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth Brent Calderwood • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Belo Cipriani Richard Dodds • Michael Flanagan Jim Gladstone • David Guarino Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell • John F. Karr Lisa Keen • Matthew Kennedy • Joshua Klipp David Lamble • Max Leger Michael McDonagh • David-Elijah Nahmod Paul Parish • Sean Piverger • Lois Pearlman Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota • Bob Roehr Donna Sachet • Adam Sandel • Khaled Sayed Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Sari Staver • Jim Stewart Sean Timberlake • Andre Torrez • Ronn Vigh Ed Walsh • Cornelius Washington Sura Wood ART DIRECTION Jay Cribas PRODUCTION/DESIGN Max Leger PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland • FBFE Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch Lydia Gonzales • Jose Guzman-Colon Rudy K. Lawidjaja • Georg Lester • Dan Lloyd Jo-Lynn Otto • Rich Stadtmiller Steven Underhil • Dallis Willard • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge • Christine Smith ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

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ritish pop star George Michael’s death on Christmas Day was a shocking loss, the last of 2016 of singers and musicians whose sexual fluidity or nonconformity gave hope to generations of queer kids. Rocker David Bowie, who at times during his long career identified as bisexual, died of cancer in January. Superstar Prince, who was not LGBT but whose androgynous persona attracted queer fans, succumbed to a drug overdose in April. Michael’s spokesman said the former Wham singer died of heart failure. Michael, Bowie, and Prince each presented different ways one could be a man. Their own masculinity may not have been “normal” in the eyes of most straight people, but each lived in their own skin and we are better for it. For young LGBTs growing up in the MTV era – back when the popular TV station only showed music videos day and night – Michael’s unapologetic sexuality was groundbreaking, as were his 1980s hits. He acknowledged he was gay in 1998 after being arrested in a Beverly Hills park on lewd conduct charges. But his gay fans weren’t surprised and they loved that he was proud to be gay and open about it in response. This was at a time when it was uncommon – and it still is – for a major music star to come out of the closet. Decades ago, stars would shop their coming out stories to a friendly magazine or TV interviewer to soften any negative reaction to their careers. Occasionally, an LGBT publication would get to break the news. Today, people come out via social media and it’s no big deal. To be sure, there are still the haters and homophobes, but usually a star’s coming out is met with overwhelming messages of support; and it’s often a re-

lief to them. Michael said years ago that hiding his sexuality had made him feel “fraudulent” and he struggled with depression. That’s quite common, and coming out can lift the burden on one’s mental health. Michael also fought against HIV/AIDS long before it became a popular cause. And while he may have come out in the late 1990s, many astute fans suspected he was gay long before his success as a solo artist. As New York Times critic Wesley Morris wrote in his appraisal, “Mr. Michael ... never had to say he was gay for his gayness to seem apparent and unabashed.” It’s easy to underestimate how Michael’s honesty and visibility about his love life helped young people. He was a gay pop star they could relate to. He assured them that they weren’t alone and bridged the isolation commonly experienced by queer youth. Of course, Michael endured brutal press coverage from the tabloids, notably Rupert Murdoch’s Daily Mirror in London, which called him a “poof” and “pervert” over the years. In an ironic turnaround this week, the paper gave him a “tribute” cover.

Courtesy ABC News

George Michael in concert in Amsterdam.

After Michael’s death, fan postings on Twitter showed a common theme: He insisted on being himself. A Twitter user who goes by Sid wrote, “George Michael’s defiance was everything if you were a gay teenager in the 90s.” Ilissa Gold tweeted, “In 2016 when toxic masculinity reigned, devastating to lose Prince, Bowie, and George Michael, who showed there’s no one right way to be a man.” His open gay identity was an affront to social conservatives. There’s a compelling urge to conform that can become stifling because of society’s difficulty accepting difference. That’s what stars like Bowie, Prince, and Michael did – they stepped into the spotlight and challenged the mores of society. Because of their fame, they were able to pave their own way through their music. That they each sold millions of albums and performed to sold-out audiences over the years attested to fans’ appetite for their craft. These musicians did not lead perfect lives – far from it. But they were extraordinarily talented and their music resonated – then and now. The deaths of music icons Bowie, Prince, and Michael in one year leave a sudden void that causes us to realize their contributions will not be replaced.t

A grand experiment to save the Stud by Marke Bieschke

the first nightclub in the country operated cooperatively. hen the Stud’s ownerWe are dedicated to preservmanager Michael McEling the vibe and honoring the haney announced in July that legacy of the Stud, the city’s the 50-year-old nightclub’s new longest-running gay nightclub. landlords had almost tripled the Last month we secured Legacy rent, and that he was retiring to Business status from the city, Hawaii, the news that San Franwhich will qualify us for various cisco was going to lose another forms of assistance. Earlier this precious queer performance month, we negotiated a two-year and gathering space was shocklease from the new landlords at ing – but, unfortunately, not an affordable price, ensuring the unfamiliar. Stud’s doors will remain open. In the past couple of years, the We’re also looking to the fucity has bid sudden, sad adieux to ture. The Stud will have to move such storied watering holes as the Cabure A. Bonugli/Shot in the City when our lease at the current Lexington Club, Marlena’s, Esta Members of the SOS Save Our Stud Collective are working to location is up. (The Stud moved Noche, and more. With the Stud’s preserve the popular LGBTQ bar. before, in the 1980s, from where impending closure, it seemed like the Holy Cow is now.) We will yet another punch in the gut to be using every means at our disthe horrific Ghost Ship fire pointed out, the need our legendary nightlife would be posal – bar income, city grants, for safe, accessible, artful queer spaces is absorbed with a weary shrug and a “but what crowdfunding, and good old-fashioned more necessary than ever. can you do?” fundraisers – to find a suitable space No, the main culprits in the Case This time, however, some of us had had to build out and keep the Stud of the Vanishing Gay Clubs, at least enough. Immediately after McElhaney’s andoors open for another 50 years and in San Francisco, are cost and will. nouncement, a coalition of performers, probeyond. Who has the money and time to moters, bartenders, DJs, and nightlife-lovers If successful, we hope to share open and operate a wonderfully came together to form the SOS Save Our Stud our experiences as a model for weird, freeform, community-inCollective and come up with a plan not only to others to preserve queer spaces in clusive LGBT space like the Stud save the Stud, but to hopefully preserve vantheir own communities. But that when rents are skyrocketing and ishing queer spaces in cities throughout the means we will need the commumany of us are struggling to pay world. nity’s help and support. We invite evour own bills? The rise of hookup apps and the assimilaeryone to join us at our first big party and funOne creative answer, we believe, is coming tion of gay culture in urban areas provide draiser as the new Stud owners on New Year’s from the Stud Collective. We’re embarking on tidy (and mostly anecdotal) explanations in a Eve – http://www.studnye2016.eventbrite.com a grand experiment, which we hope will promainstream narrative of decline, but the truth -- and to become part of our SOS Save Our vide a blueprint for saving other queer spaces. is that gay nightlife is more popular than ever. Stud group on Facebook to learn more. The Stud Collective is a worker-owned coThe drag scene has exploded thanks to outEspecially after the recent election, we need operative, along the lines of Rainbow Grocery lets like RuPaul’s Drag Race, an international places to gather and interact freely, to express or Arizmendi Bakery, and its 16 members “underground” gay dance music movement is ourselves and develop strategies of hope and (including me) are purchasing the Stud busithriving, and nostalgia for vintage gay afterresistance. For the new year, let’s toast the reness and liquor license. From programming dark experiences is at a peak. vival of queer nightlife in San Francisco. Long and bartending to cleaning and paperwork, And there are real-world success stories. The may she reign.t we’re an all-hands-on-deck operation, each of 33-year-old Eagle has transformed itself into a vius honing our areas of expertise while acquirbrant party destination, and the recently opened Marke Bieschke is a longtime party ing new skills. When we take possession of the Oasis is providing a stage for sparkling oodles of gadabout, Stud Collective member, and business at the end of the year, the Stud will be publisher of http://www.48hills.org. renowned performers. There is also tragedy; as

Letters >>

LeVay responds

December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

In a December 22 article [“Gay scientist draws criticism over remarks on trans kids,”], Brian Bromberger quotes Renata Moreira, of Our Family Coalition, as claiming that I am spreading unsubstantiated claims about the development of gender-atypical children, and that this “misinformation” contributes to bullying and aggression against those individuals. The claim that she seems to object to – that most children who desire to become the other sex lose this desire around the time of puberty – has been substantiated in numerous studies. Some do not, but it has not so far proved possible to identify this minority with any certainty. It therefore may be counterproductive for parents to strongly validate and reinforce

their children’s wish to change sex. The most truthful and helpful thing that parents could tell these children is, “Some years from now you will have the choice to become a boy (or girl), but most likely you won’t want to by then.” In the meantime, as I stressed to Bromberger, parents should love their children as they are, and not as they would prefer them to be. It’s a mystery to me how expressing this point of view could contribute to bullying and aggression against gender-nonconformist kids. But then, it’s almost normal these days to assume that someone you disagree with has an evil agenda. Simon LeVay, Ph.D. West Hollywood, California

SF LGBT Dem clubs to elect new leaders in 2017 by Matthew S. Bajko

n addition to the swearing in of a new president nationally and four new members on the Board of Supervisors locally, 2017 will also usher in leadership changes at several Bay Area LGBT political clubs. San Francisco’s two main LGBT Democratic clubs will both be electing new leaders come January. At the more moderate Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, Eric Lukoff is expected to become the new male co-chair as the two-year term of the current male co-chair, Brian Leubitz, is coming to an end. And at the progressive Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, the current president Peter Gallotta will be stepping down after two years. Two female members of the club, Kimberley Alvarenga and Carolina Morales, are running to succeed him as co-leaders. They are expected to win election to one-year terms next month. The trio will have a reprieve from local elections next year, as San Francisco voters will not head back to the ballot box until June 2018. Lukoff, 31, has been a member of the Alice club since 2011 and joined its board four years ago. This year he has served as its finance committee co-chair, overseeing its independent expenditures for its endorsed candidates in the June primary and November election. Originally from Philadelphia, where he worked on local campaigns for state and federal office, Lukoff relocated to San Francisco in 2010. He works at One Degree, a nonprofit focused on low-income families, as its chief technology officer. He was the only person to apply for Alice’s male co-chair position by the November deadline. Should he be elected as expected at the club’s January 9 meeting, Lukoff will serve alongside Louise Fischer, who goes by Lou and is entering her second and final year as Alice’s female co-chair. In a recent interview Lukoff told the Bay Area Reporter he is “most excited” about bringing some new ideas to the club. “Although there is no city elections coming up next year, it will still be a busy one for us. We will be focused on local issues that have been facing the city for years,” said Lukoff, who lives in Cole Valley. “Though we are all angry at Donald Trump becoming president, there is a lot of work to be done here in San Francisco on issues that were there well before Trump’s election.” At the top of his list is income inequality and poverty in general. Lukoff also cited the city’s homeless crisis, public transportation needs, and fighting to protect federal funding likely to be cut by the Trump administration. “I think we have our work cut out for us,” he said. “But we will be

Eric Lukoff is expected to be the new Alice club co-chair.

focused on using more of our electoral and soft influence to do more specific work on issues that our membership cares about.”

Women of color to lead Milk

At the Milk club, Alvarenga and Morales would be the first female copresidents to lead the group should they be elected at the January 17 membership meeting. In 2009 the club’s bylaws were changed so co-presidents could be elected in a given year as long as one was a woman. Thus the club can elect two women as co-presidents but not two men. The queer women of color will also mark a return of minority leadership for the Milk club, which has faced questions in past years about a lack of diversity on its board. They were nominated at the club’s holiday party this month and word about their decision to co-lead Milk went public last week after Alvarenga and Gallotta posted to Facebook about their meeting over dinner to plan for the leadership transition. “It’s been one of the biggest honors of my life to have helped lead the club over the past two years, and I am proud of the work we accomplished together,” Gallotta told the B.A.R. in an emailed statement. “We had tough electoral races, with more money being spent against progres-

sive candidates than we have ever seen. The club worked hard to get (District 3 Supervisor) Aaron Peskin elected in 2015 and to take back the local Democratic Party this past June, and we were proud of those victories.” During Gallotta’s time as president, the Milk club celebrated its 40th anniversary this summer and orchestrated one of its largest slate mail and get-out-the-vote programs for its endorsed candidates and ballot measures in the November election, though many of the races it backed lost. “There’s no doubt the outcome of the November election was hard. Not only nationally, but locally too,” Gallotta acknowledged. “But what I’m proud of most is that, even against the odds, and even against all the money that we are up against, the Harvey Milk club still goes to the mat. We still fight.” Alvarenga, 47, is the political director of Service Employees International Union Local 1021 and lost a bid this year for the open District 11 supervisor seat. She and her wife, Linnette Haynes, have been together 17 years and live in the city’s Crocker-Amazon neighborhood, where they are raising their 4-yearold son, Oziah. Morales, currently a Milk club atlarge board member, is a queer migrant from Venezuela who lives in the Excelsior. Between August and December she worked as a legislative aide for gay District 9 Supervisor David Campos, who is termed out of office early next month. She had worked for 10 years at the nonprofit Community United Against Violence, where from March 2012 through November 2015 she served as its co-director. Morales is currently out of the country visiting family and friends until mid-January and was unavailable for an interview. Alvarenga said having the club elect its first leaders of color in nearly two decades comes at an especially important time politically. “As a queer Latina who is a child of immigrants running with another queer Latina who is an immigrant herself during these challeng-

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<< Travel

t Sunny S. Florida is a great LGBT winter getaway 6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017

by Ed Walsh

ay South Florida will take center stage this weekend when Key West’s famed drag queen Sushi will descend from a balcony in a giant high-heel shoe as a cheering crowd counts down the new year. CNN traditionally broadcasts the shoe drop live. It effectively adds a dash of quirkiness to the traditional ball drop in Times Square and other run-of-the-mill celebrations around the country. The New Year’s celebration is held in the gayest part of Key West, which has long been one of the country’s gayest cities. Miami and Fort Lauderdale have also long been LGBTwelcoming, and, if you can, it’s easy to combine all three in one trip. Just be sure to allow yourself at least two

or three nights in each city. Gays have been a big part of the revitalization of South Florida beginning in Key West in the 1970s, Miami’s South Beach in the 1980s, and Fort Lauderdale in the 1990s. That gay influence is woven into the political and cultural tapestry that continues to keep those cities hot tourist destinations. If you want to combine all three cities, you could easily start by flying into the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood airport. JetBlue is the airport’s biggest carrier with two daily nonstop flights from San Francisco. Virgin America and United also have nonstops from San Francisco and you can catch connecting flights to Fort Lauderdale from Mineta San Jose International and Oakland International. After spending a few nights in Fort Lauderdale, you could continue on with a 45-minute drive south to Miami. The ride through to the Florida Keys to Key West takes about 3.5 hours from Miami. You can drive back or with a one-way car rental, fly back to the Bay Area with a connection in Miami or Fort Lauderdale.

Ed Walsh

Bravo’s Top Chef 2 contestant Josie Smith Malave, left, joins Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau’s LGBTQ managing director Richard Gray, and Malave’s wife, Marcy Miller, at the Wilton Manor’s restaurant Bubbles and Pearls that Malave and Miller opened six months ago.

sprung up in place of run-down smaller hotels in the city’s historic Old Town. While many of the formerly gay resorts have since gone mainstream, Key West still has a handful of gay hotels that deservedly have a loyal repeat clientele. The gay men’s hotel, Island House Key West (http://www.islandKey West housekeywest.com/), ranks at the Just 88 miles to Cuba, the city on top or near the top of lists of the best the southernmost point of the congay resorts in the U.S. The 34-room tinental United States may soon beclothing-optional property includes come even more popular because of a 24-hour cafe and bar, gym, indoor the U.S.’s warming relationship with and outdoor hot tubs, dry and wet Cuba. Several tour companies are sauna, and a large pool surrounded talking about launching ferry serby upstairs and pool level sundecks. It vice to Cuba, making it feasible to is also a great place to meet locals who take day trips to the once-forbidden frequent the resort. The daily compliCaribbean island. mentary early evening happy hour is While Cuba is warming to the always very popular. concept of gay friendliness, it can’t If you prefer a mellower atmocompare to Key West, which was sphere, check out the beautiful LGBT-friendly long before it was Equator Resort (http://www.equafashionable. Beginning in the 1970s, torresort.com/), which is just down gays helped revitalize businesses the street from the Island House. along Duval Street, the city’s main The property took over the adjacent drag, and a bounty of gay resorts Coral Tree Inn a few years ago, expanding the resort to 34 units with two pools and hot tubs. The resort is not open for day passes and includes a free continental breakfast. Since Pearl’s Rainbow went mainstream six years ago, there are no exclusively lesbian resorts on Key West, but the fabulous Alexander’s Guesthouse (www.alexanderskeywest.com) is marketed exclusively to gays, lesbians, and friends of the LGBT community. It is about a 15-20 minute walk from the Island House and Equator resorts to the gay bars on Duval Street but if you prefer to be right in the middle of the party, the New Orleans House Inn (http://www.neworleanshousekw.com) is on Duval and its pool is part of the Garden Bar in the 801 Complex, at 801 Hybrid/City Kid’s Duval. The aforementioned Sushi Road 2016 WINNER Kid’s descends from the New Orleans’ balcony on New Year’s Eve. 2016 WINNER Its equally warm and sunny resi2016 WINNER dents only match Key West’s warm and sunny climate. Locals are very Every Thursday in April between 4 & 7pm tight-knit and are known for helping another out. It was a tradition that take 20% OFF all parts, accessories & clothing.* one was born out of necessity in its early Road Mountain days as an isolated island outpost. Mountain*Sales limited to stockYouon may Hybrid/City hand.have heard the “One Human Family” slogan. It was Now Open Thursday to 7pm! the brainchild of well-known and N.Y.’s Resolution: N.Y.’s Resolution: -loved island resident JT ThompEvery Thursday in April between 4 & 7pm son. His foundation (http://www. Now Open Thursday to 7pm! take 20% OFF all parts, accessories & clothing.* onehumanfamily.info) produces bumper stickers and rubber wrist*Sales limited to stock on hand. bands to help spread the message of Every Thursday in April between 4 & 7pm inclusiveness, tolerance, and respect take 20% OFF all parts, accessories & clothing.* for people of all races, sexual ori*Sales limited to stock on hand. entations and religions. Thompson has received messages of support from small villages in remote parts of Africa to large cities from all around the world. 1065 Valencia Btwn 21st 21st 22nd St. •) •SFSF 1065 &1077 1077 Valencia(((Btwn 22nd St.) •) SF 1065 & &1077 Valencia Btwn 21st&&& 22nd St. A good way to take in some of SALES 415-550-6600 • REPAIRS 415-550-6601 1065SALES &SALES 1077 Valencia ( Btwn 21st & 22nd St. ) • SF 415-550-6600 415-550-6601 the highlights of Key West without 415-550-6600 •• REPAIRS REPAIRS 415-550-6601 4PM NY Eve and all day NY Day Mon-Sat 10-6, Sun 11-5 • Closed SALES 415-550-6600 • REPAIRS 415-550-6601 Mon.Sat. 10-6, Thu. 10-7,NY Sun. 11-5 4PM Eve and all day NY Day getting lost is by taking its worldMon-Sat 10-6, Sun 11-5 • Closed open air Conch Tour Train Mon-Sat 10-6, Sun 11-5 • Closed 4PM NY Eve and all day NY Dayfamous (http://www.conchtourtrain.com). 1065 & 1077 Valencia (Btwn 21st & 22nd St.) • SF It’s not a real train but an open-air

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tram that runs regularly all day with a couple of stops if you want to get out and explore. Key West has an active LGBT business association, the Key West Business Guild, that maintains the great website, www.gaykeywestfl.com, which lists information on LGBT nightlife, special events, and tours. One of the best gay-focused tours is the Blu Q Catamaran Gay Sailing. The gay-owned and -operated company has regularly scheduled excursions, including a sunset tour. It is on hiatus now until February because of an unforeseen maintenance issue but you can book ahead at http://www. bluqkeywest.com.

Fort Lauderdale

The Greater Fort Lauderdale area includes Wilton Manors (population 12,000) that is second only to Provincetown, Massachusetts as the nation’s gayest city per capita. Wilton Manors also has the largest number of bars, restaurants, and shops of any place in Florida. Most of the gay resorts are closer to the ocean, in Fort Lauderdale city limits, about a five-mile drive from Wilton Manors’ nightlife. The most popular gay clubs include Georgie’s Alibi (http://www. alibiwiltonmanors.com/), Hunters (http://www.huntersftlauderdale. com), and the weekend nightclub, the Manor Complex (www. themanorcomplex.com). Georgie’s will celebrate its 20th year in business next year and it almost always draws a crowd. The neighboring Hunters nightclub took over from the old Boom nightclub and the space, which includes a stage, is a very popular venue for live performances and dancing. Hunters is known for its very friendly staff and routinely hosts community fundraisers. Manor is a block from Georgie’s and Hunters and tends to draw a younger crowd who pack in Thursdays through Sundays. One of the newest Wilton Manors bars is the Gym Sportsbar. It is across the street from Georgie’s and Hunters and draws a friendly crowd of sports fans.

While you are having fun, you can also get tested for HIV. A van is in the Georgie’s/Hunters parking lot every night to offer free HIV tests to anyone who stops by. Wilton Drive is where you will find most of the city’s gay nightlife and it is also home to some of South Florida’s best restaurants. Marcy Miller and her wife, Bravo’s Top Chef 2 contestant Josie Smith Malave, opened Bubbles and Pearls (http://bubblesnpearls.com/) six months ago and, thanks to their culinary talents, it serves up delicious gourmet food in a very casual and friendly setting. Be sure to order its signature Key Lime pie, which draws raves from even non-Key Lime pie fans. With the closure of the New Moon Bar a couple of years ago, Wilton Manors doesn’t have a lesbian bar any more but South Florida’s Beach Betty’s in Dania Beach is about 15 minutes south of Fort Lauderdale and has often been described as a lesbian Cheers and a place where everyone is welcome. Wilton Manors hosts a small, but worth seeing, storefront museum dedicated to LGBT history. The Stonewall National Museum and Archives (www.stonewall-museum. org) includes a display case dedicated to the victims of the Orlando Pulse nightclub mass shooting as well as artifacts from the entertainment industry. Visitors are greeted near the door by the bathrobe worn by Harvey Fierstein in the groundbreaking 1980s movie Torch Song Trilogy. The museum is part of the larger Stonewall Library and Archives in Fort Lauderdale that also contains exhibits as well as an LGBT-focused library. The archives contain more than 30,000 historical artifacts dating back to the early days of the gay rights struggle, including boxes filled with more than three decades worth of the Bay Area Reporter. Be sure not to miss the AIDS Museum (http://www.worldaidsmuseum.org) in Wilton Manors. It is the only museum in the world dedicated to AIDS. A room in the museum is dedicated to the impact AIDS has had on the African-American community. It features photos from San Francisco’s own Duane Cramer, who helped design the space. Cramer liked Fort Lauderdale so much that he now is bicoastal, splitting his time between San Francisco and the Florida city. No doubt the room will continue to be a very positive impact on raising HIV awareness under Cramer’s influence. The museum includes a large red AIDS ribbon that was made of pill bottles that were used by the museum’s director, Ed Sparan. He also fashioned a framed heart made out of needles from the Egrifta medication he took to deal with the fat distribution side effect from his HIV meds. A Bay Area TV news story about the first person funcSee page 8 >>

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The Island of Misfit Toys characters from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer stand guard outside the gay-popular La Te Da Restaurant, bar, and hotel.

Obituaries>>

December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

Ex-Nob Hill Theatre owner Shan Sayles dies by Seth Hemmelgarn

he former longtime owner of San Francisco’s iconic Nob Hill Theatre, Shan Sayles, has died. Mr. Sayles, who lived in Carmel, passed away Wednesday, December 21, one day before his 82nd birthday. The cause of death hasn’t been released. He bought the building at 729 Bush Street that houses the theater, known for its male strip shows and video arcade, in 1968. Current Nob Hill owner Larry Hoover said that six years ago when the people who owned the theater at the time decided not to renew their lease, Mr. Sayles “called us out of the blue and asked us about the theater, if we might be interested. He just had a love for this theater and didn’t want to see it close.” Mr. Sayles “was very charismatic,” Hoover said. “He was fun. He had great stories. He was full of life, and he was just a very, very fun man,

Political Notebook

From page 5

ing anti-queer and anti-immigrant times, I am really looking forward to lifting up the voices of our community and going back to our grassroots organizing,” she said.

GAPA leader to step down

The Gay Asian Pacific Alliance, a social club for gay and bisexual API men in the Bay Area that also wades into local political races with endorsements, is expected to elect a new chair next month. For years two co-chairs had led GAPA, but the group amended its bylaws this year to allow for just one chair. The current chair, Danny Tai Pham, who has led the club the last two years, told the B.A.R. he intends to transition his title to board emeritus or adviser next month. GAPA should have decided on its new leadership team, he said, by the end of January. “Leading an organization that is as old as I am (30 years old) has been personally rewarding in navigating the upkeep of long history of traditions and spirit of my predecessors,” Pham wrote in an emailed reply. “The needs and wants of the community have certainly shifted over time, and GAPA continues to adapt to serve the larger queer A&PI Community. With the current political climate, I encourage now is the best time to get engaged with GAPA.”

Gay SF GOP chair seeks full term

Next month Jason P. Clark will be seeking election to a full fouryear term as chairman of the Republican Party of San Francisco. In June he became the first openly LGBT chair of the local party when he was elected to serve out the re-

very giving.” according to Hoover. Mr. Hoover said that Mr. Sayles bought the rights Sayles still called the theto the name when he purater almost every week. chased the current site. “Even though he “They showed B films wasn’t a business owner initially,” but “it wasn’t he was interested in our making any money,” numbers” and who the Hoover said. Around that headline performers were time, several theaters in going to be, Hoover said. San Francisco showed gay Mr. Sayles wanted to en- Shan Sayles in an pornographic movies. undated photo. sure that customers were “His partner at the “happy,” he said. time suggested they show Hoover first met Mr. Sayles about gay porn,” so in the early 1970s, 25 years ago when his 16-year-old they changed the theater’s format, son got a summer job at Mr. SayHoover said. les’ Carmel theater, which showed Because of the stigma and legal mainstream films. issues involved with mailing or reOne day, someone in a Rolls ceiving pornography across state Royce dropped off the teen at home lines, “starting a business like that, after work. it was tough,” Hoover said, but “it “We said to my son, ‘Who was took off right away.” that?’ My son said, ‘That’s Mr. Sayles. Mr. Sayles also produced the 1970 He owns the theater,’” Hoover said. film Song of the Loon. The original Nob Hill Theatre, “It was soft porn, but it was kind which was at the Fairmont Hotel on of like the Brokeback Mountain of Mason Street, closed around 1964, its day,” Hoover said. mainder of Christine Hughes’ term after she resigned. The vote will either occur the first week of January or later in the month depending on when the venue is confirmed, said Clark, who is gay and a project manager at San Franciscobased Consilio, LLC. In October he also became chairman of Log Cabin Republicans of California, the political group for LGBT GOPers. Clark told the B.A.R. last week that he is unaware of anyone challenging him for the local party chair position. But he noted that anyone could be nominated at the election meeting, so there is a possibility there could be a contest for the chairmanship. “I was honored to serve as chair of the SFGOP in the footsteps of Harmeet Dhillon and Christine Hughes,” wrote Clark in an emailed reply. “The election has left us with a lot of work to do, and I’m hoping to build on the accomplishments of the past few months in my next term as SFGOP chair.” In October Clark’s term as president of the Log Cabin Republicans of San Francisco chapter was up. Due to his duties overseeing the local party and statewide Log Cabin board, he opted not to seek a new term. Succeeding him was Troy Bodnar, who recently told the B.A.R. he plans to run for re-election in October 2017.

BAYMEC status unclear

The status of the South Bay’s LGBT political club known as BAYMEC, which stands for the Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee, is unclear. It was created 32 years ago to help elect LGBT and straight allies to office in Santa Clara County and later expanded its focus to also include San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Monterey counties. But BAYMEC did not endorse

Obituaries >> Saliem (Tommy) Thomas April 24, 1947 – October 27, 2016

Saliem (Tommy) Thomas, born April 24, 1947, in Portland, Maine; passed away suddenly of a heart attack October 27, 2016, at his San Francisco home. Tommy attended college in Boston, where he met his husband, Jim Maher. They moved to the Bay Area in 1985. Tommy and Jim shared 46 years, marrying on June 11, 2008, at the first legal opportunity. Tommy was Almaden Country Club’s executive chef for 20-plus years, Chaps Leather’s manager for 10-plus years, an award-winning chef, caterer par excellence, and member of the American Culinary Federation. Tommy belonged to countless

community groups, including: the Phoenix Uniform Club, of which he was first officer many times; AIDS Emergency Fund; Inter-Club Fund, of which he was both a director and president for many years, and Castro Merchants. He will be mourned by the SF leather/uniform community, Imperial Court, friends at Eureka Restaurant, Almaden Country Club co-workers/ members; CHAPS co-workers/customers, and many others. He is survived by his beloved husband, Jim Maher; sisters, Lorrillie Thomas, Mona Buttons, and Becky Bennett. A celebration of life will be held at the SF Armory’s Victorian Room, Sunday, January 8, from 1 to 3 p.m. If you wish to attend, and have not already, please RSVP via Facebook, or contact VADMBrock@gmail.com, or (415) 260-9953.

He said that Mr. Sayles “just loved films” and also owned mainstream theaters in other parts of the country. Although Mr. Sayles mostly lived in Carmel, when he still owned the Nob Hill he’d often stay in an apartment there that was once featured in Architectural Digest, Hoover said.

any candidates running for office in 2016, nor did it host its yearly fundraising dinner this fall. James Gonzales, who is listed as its president on BAYMEC’s website, has not responded to the B.A.R.’s questions about the club in over a year, including for this column. His first two-year term as president ended last December.

Leaders of Stonewall clubs to remain

Hoover, who said the theater continues to do well, said it’s “always been a safe place. It’s always been fun to come here.” John Whitt, Mr. Sayles’ partner, didn’t respond to an interview request. Hoover said plans for a memorial are pending.t

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<< Community News

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017

Young HIVers

From page 3

and work on HIV criminalization. We did the first PrEP campaign. We used shame to get Paris Hilton to apologize when she made that homophobic and derogatory statement that most homosexual men probably have AIDS in a taxi that was recorded by the driver. “All these comments, such as UB Clean 2, angered me years ago, but now everything is more normalized like people that work in emergency hospital rooms get used to death and now that I work in this HIV field, they aren’t as raw for me. Because of my work for the Stigma Project, I secured my position at SFAF,” said Richey. Richey said the Stigma Project is on hold for now. Estrada is not afraid of the stigma. However, he recognizes that stigma

Florida

From page 6

tionally cured of AIDS, Timothy Brown, plays on a loop in one of the exhibits. The story was by the nowretired KPIX anchor and reporter Hank Plante, who was known for his groundbreaking and compassionate reporting of the AIDS crisis. Of course, Fort Lauderdale is best known for its beach, lined by its signature white rolling wave wall, with columns at the various entrances to the beach. People often refer to the section of the beach by the street that intersects with it. The two sections of the beach that are most popular with the gays are the parts of the beach at Sebastian Street, and on the far northern end of the wave wall at 18th street, which is more popular with locals. Fort Lauderdale has long courted the gay travel market and now is actively marketing to transgender tourists, with various campaigns through social media and other outlets with the message that Fort Lauderdale is a very welcoming and safe destination for trans visitors. The campaign is thanks in large part by

George Michael

From page 1

George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period,” said Filippello. “The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage.” Mr. Michael’s boyfriend, Fadi Fawaz, a hairstylist and photographer, broke his silence December 26, tweeting, “It’s a Xmas I will never forget finding your partner dead peacefully in bed first thing in the morning. I will never stop missing you. xx.” In 1998, Mr. Michael came out as gay following his arrest for engaging in a “lewd act” at the Will Rogers Park in Beverly Hills, California. In more recent years, Mr. Michael’s run-ins with the law were drug-relat-

CA laws

From page 1

funded education programs and activities. Exemptions based on religion may be granted. “No university should have a license to discriminate, especially those receiving state funds,” Lara said in a news release from Equality California, which sponsored the bill. “Those that do will now have to inform incoming students of their Title IX exemption. This law represents a critical first step in the ongoing efforts to protect students from discrimination for living their truths or loving openly.” According to EQCA, “Students and staff across the country have reported learning of an exemption only after being expelled from school or fired from their jobs,” and there’s been a large increase in the

affects everything, even appearance. “I had a client who took half a pill because he thought it would be enough to help him and wouldn’t affect how he looked,” Estrada said. “There’s lots of drug use in the gay community, so you are having a threeday orgy fest, just smoking Tina and having sex, when will you take your HIV pill and if you are dating someone that doesn’t know your status, you spend the night but avoid taking your pill so he won’t ask any questions. “I ask people about their beliefs concerning HIV and I say, let’s look at the facts. I had another client who was homeless and said he couldn’t take his medication but he mentioned that he always took his shoes off at night and the first thing he does when he wakes up is that he puts on his shoes, so I suggested putting his bottle of pills in his shoes so it would remind him to take them in the

morning, and it worked.” Estrada said his clients are frightened by the election of Republican Donald Trump, especially since many are undocumented and worry about being deported. “They leave their countries because they are gay and come here to be safe, yet read about someone who is racist, misogynist, and unpredictable and no longer feel safe,” he said. “They worry about being attacked in the street because they don’t speak English. Trump has emboldened people to say things they previously may have thought, especially about immigrants, but would not have voiced publicly.” Richey has very strong feelings about PrEP and its effect on the LGBT community. “When it was first approved in 2012, it was stigmatized and people were slut-shamed for using it,” he said.

“PrEP has done a lot to highlight this divide in the gay community among people that weren’t as comfortable in their own sex as they thought they were. Now I feel there is a sexual revolution in our community again. “Before, when people were fingerwagging you better wear a condom, Mark King wrote a great piece, ‘Your Mother Liked It Bareback.’ It’s true and nobody finger-wags the straight community. PrEP has enabled us to have this intimacy that is different than before and that is remarkable. You are not in charge of that condom because in the heat of the moment you have no control. So what PrEP says is, ‘I’m going to take that pill in the morning before I go out,’ so six hours ago your prevention already started,” Richey said. Lee-Miyaki has made enormous strides. He started studying English at City College, as well as health edu-

cation. He became involved with the Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center. Feeling guilty about being HIV-positive for almost a year after coming to San Francisco, he wasn’t interested in meeting men. When he did meet men online, he wouldn’t disclose his status until he actually met them in person. He later met an employee at Positive Force, TJ LeeMiyaki, also HIV-positive, and they are now married. “Last year, I appeared on a poster for Positive Force hung on bus stops all over the city,” he said. “I had to accept myself before I could accept others with HIV. My husband’s being an openly positive gay man inspired me to have no shame or bias. TJ thinks I would be a great resource for gay Asian people and Positive Force has suggested a role for me as an advocate for them also, but I need more language skills for that.”t

efforts of Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau’s LGBTQ managing director Richard Gray. Fort Lauderdale’s largest gay resort, Worthington Resorts (www. theworthington.com), is three resorts combined into one with a total of 63 rooms, three swimming pools, two hot tubs and a small, but wellequipped, fitness room. It is just two blocks from Fort Lauderdale Beach. A free continental breakfast is included in the rate. The gay men’s resort is clothing optional and is a perfect place to meet fellow gay travelers. The upscale 33-room Grand Hotel and Spa (www.grandresort. net) is next door to the Worthington and includes a fabulous spa on the property that is open to guests and non-guests alike. Swimsuits are required for the pool in the front of the property, but the large hot tub and deck in the back are clothing optional. A continental breakfast is included and the property includes a well-appointed fitness room. If your budget allows, the 26room Pineapple Point Resort (http://www.pineapplepoint.com/)

is Fort Lauderdale’s most luxurious resort. It is ranked #1 of 33 specialty hotels in Fort Lauderdale. All the rooms are in pristine condition with a designer chic minimalist motif. Amenities include free poolside drinks, a wonderful continental breakfast and a very well maintained gym. For more information, check out Fort Lauderdale’s official travel website at http://www.sunny.org/lgbt.

(http://www.gaythering.com), as its name implies, is marketed toward the LGBT community, but straightfriendly, and is located at the west end of Lincoln Road. One of the best ways to see the Greater Miami area is on the “hop on and hop off ” tourist buses. A couple of companies offer the service. You can pick it up in South Beach and it makes stops in Miami Beach as well as the city of Miami. Although tourists call it all Miami, Miami Beach is a city separate from Miami, and is part of the barrier island between Miami and the Atlantic Ocean. A good overall guide to gay Miami and other South Florida cities can be found on the website http://www.jumponmarkslist.com. Key West is an ideal place for cycling and a number of companies rent bicycles and scooters but bikes are a better option because they are cheaper to rent and you can park them almost anywhere. We Cycle Key West (http://www.wecyclekw. com) is probably your best option. You can rent a one-speed coaster

bike for $10 a day. You don’t need a bike with different speeds there because the city’s highest hill is barely noticeable, at just 18 feet in elevation. The short cab ride from the Key West airport to the Old Town is about $17, including a 20 percent tip. If you are flying into Miami International, you can catch the Airport Flyer express bus that goes to the beach for just $2.25. Once you’re there, you can easily get around on foot or by bicycle. Miami Beach has a bicycle-sharing program similar to San Francisco’s called Deco Bike (http://www.decobike.com/). A rental car is more trouble than it is worth. During busy times, traffic can be heavy in the beach area and parking can be a challenge. A car is a good idea in Fort Lauderdale, especially if you plan on exploring Wilton Manors or the quaint shops along Las Olas Boulevard. It is about a 15-minute drive from the gay resorts on Fort Lauderdale beach to the heart of the LGBT nightlife in Wilton Manors. The good news is that car rentals in Florida are among the least expensive in the country.t

ed. In 2007, a judge sentenced him to community service and barred him from driving for two years. He was arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs the following year. But Mr. Michael was unapologetic about being openly gay at a time when it was rare for music stars, and served as a sex-positive icon for queers growing up in the MTV-era. Celebrities from his former Wham bandmate Andrew Ridgeley to Sir Elton John expressed their shock and sadness upon learning the news of his death. Ridgeley told the BBC he was “heartbroken at the loss of my beloved friend.” John posted a photo of he and Mr. Michael on Instagram, writing in the caption, “I am in deep shock. I have lost a beloved friend – the kindest, most generous soul and a

brilliant artist. My heart goes out to his family and all of his fans.” Fans stunned by the news continued to gather at Mr. Michael’s two homes, the one in Goring-onThames and the other in London, leaving flowers and condolences, and lit up social media with the news and an outpouring of messages of how he influenced their lives. Mr. Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in East Finchley, London, on June 25, 1963. He was the youngest of three children of Greek Cypriot immigrant restaurateur Kyriacos Panayiotou and the late Lesley Angold Harrison, who was an English dancer. He met Wham bandmate Ridgeley in school where they originally played together in a ska band called the Executive. The two shot to fame in the 1980s with hits “Wake Me Up

Before You Go-Go,” “Careless Whisper,” and “Jitterbug,” from their second album Make It Big, in 1984. The group released one more album together before the band dissolved in 1986. Mr. Michael went solo with Faith in 1987, which produced hits such as “Father Figure,” “I Want Your Sex,” “Monkey,” and “One More Try,” and garnered him a Grammy Award in 1989. He followed that with another Grammy Award-winning hit “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me),” a duet with Aretha Franklin. Mr. Michael’s success continued into the 1990s with Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, released in 1990. It was followed up with Freedom ‘90.” Mr. Michael sold more than 100 million albums throughout a career spanning almost four decades, according to the BBC.

Fame and success came early to Mr. Michael, when he was just 20, but he wasn’t satisfied with the pop machine and fought against it, seeking a more profound existence in life and his music, media reports noted. However, his music never reached the same heights with audiences as in his early years. In 2004, he released his last full studio album, Patience, and later released singles as free downloads. However, he didn’t stop performing and he made cameo appearances singing his hits in the 2008 TV show Eli Stone, which was set in San Francisco. In the hours following the news of his death, Mr. Michael’s life as a “closeted philanthropist” came to light with many people telling stories of his kindness and generosity.t

number of exemptions. The group said that in 2013, one school was granted an exemption. Now, approximately 43 schools in the U.S. have been exempted, including at least six in California. “The public needs to know which schools have licenses to discriminate against LGBT people and to ignore California’s civil rights protections,” stated EQCA Executive Director Rick Zbur. “This law will give fair warning to students, staff and faculty members before they accept enrollment or employment at a university with a license to discriminate.” The law takes effect January 1.

requires the state’s public schools implement suicide prevention policies that specifically address LGBTQ youths’ needs. O’Donnell, who chairs the Assembly Education Committee, stated, “As a classroom teacher, I know from experience that educators often serve as the first line of defense when a student is suffering from depression or suicidal thoughts. AB 2246 will provide parents, teachers and schools with the tools they need to help save the lives of at-risk youth.” EQCA was one of the bill’s sponsors. “Aside from students’ own families, teachers often spend more time with at-risk kids than anyone else,” Zbur said in a news release. “But it is difficult to help if they don’t recognize the warning signs or have access to resources at their schools. With the first state law in the nation

to require middle and high school suicide prevention education that specifically requires attention to the needs of LGBTQ youth, California can now serve as a model for schools nationally.” The Trevor Project, which works to prevent LGBTQ youth suicide, was another sponsor of the legislation. “Nearly 20 percent of young people who reach out to the Trevor Project’s suicide prevention programs are from California,” stated Abbe Land, the Trevor Project’s executive director and CEO. “AB 2246 will provide parents, teachers, and schools the tools they need to recognize students at risk for suicide and understand how to help, which will surely decrease the risk among youth in the state.” The law requires that policies be adopted by the beginning of the 2017-18 school year.

HIV bills

Suicide prevention

Protecting the lives of school students is the aim of Assembly Bill 2246, authored by Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach), which Brown signed into law and

Miami

Miami Beach’s South Beach has an official gay beach known as the 12th Street Beach, you will know it by the rainbow flags planted in the surf. It is directly in front of the Palace Bar and Restaurant (http:// www.palacesouthbeach.com). The gay bars within walking distance of the beach include Miami’s longest-running gay club Twist (http://www.twistsobe.com). It’s been a fixture on Washington Avenue for 18 years. About a half mile north of Twist on Washington is the dance bar Score (http://www. scorebar.net). It used to be on Lincoln Road but moved three years ago. The boutique hotel, Gaythering

Transportation

Brown also signed into law two bills that address HIV prevention. AB 2640, authored by Assemblyman Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson) aims to stop the spread of HIV and save the lives of people who are at high risk of being exposed by providing information about PrEP and PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) to high-risk patients when HIV test results are negative. “It is estimated that one in two black gay men and one in four Latino gay men will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime if infection rates continue to rise,” Gipson said in a news release. “This is unconscionable. Women of color and transgender individuals are also among the groups at greatest risk for HIV. We now have effective tools like PrEP and PEP that can help end the HIV epidemic, See page 9 >>

t <<

Read more online at www.ebar.com

Political Notebook

From page 7

“I will be continuing on as cochair going into 2017, focusing this year on fostering new leadership to take the reigns,” Galisatus told the B.A.R., adding that Yan will be staying on as co-chair “for the time being, though he will likely be phasing out so we can bring someone else up.” East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club President Brendalynn Goodall is entering the second year of a two-year term heading up the LGBT political club centered in Alameda County. She was first elected to the position in 2014. “So I’ll be here,” she told the B.A.R. at the club’s holiday reception earlier this month. Club member Karen Anderson praised Goodall’s leadership. “Brendalynn’s leadership has made all the difference in the world to the club,” Anderson said. “She’s smart, a born leader. And she made all the difference in the direction the club is going and involvement in the community.” Anderson, the longtime membership committee chair, said that the club is now able to “be a force for people who want to be involved in politics.” Currently, the club has about 200 members and will celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2017. At the December 14 event, held at the Health and Human Service Resource Center in Oakland, LGBT candidates who were elected or reelected in November were honored, including Emeryville City Council

CA laws

From page 8

but that won’t happen unless people know about them. With the passage of AB 2640, we are now doing more to make sure that people know about the resources available to protect themselves.” Craig E. Thompson, CEO of AIDS Project Los Angeles, which sponsored the bill, stated, “We are extremely pleased that Governor Brown has signed this bill into law. This is one of several proposals the governor has supported to increase information about and the availability of PrEP and PEP, and we thank him for his continued leadership on this issue. AB 2640 is a crucial step toward raising awareness about effective HIV prevention tools, reducing new infections, and ending the epidemic in California.” AB 2439, authored by Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian (D-Sherman Oaks), is another HIV-related bill that Brown signed. The legislation creates a pilot project that will be administered by the state health department that will assess and

Travel bans

From page 2

have signaled they intend to push discriminatory bills in the new year. “There are a range of things we think will happen at the federal and local levels, but the flavor of the month here are religious freedom exemption bills,” James Esseks, director of the ACLU LGBT Project, told reporters during a recent media briefing. Following the November election, with the number of statehouses controlled solely by Republicans now up

Nonprofit rating site

From page 1

“It only tells you the cost of things and nothing about the agency’s actual benefit to the local community. It is such a perverse way to look at things,” she said. “People are much more interested in looking at the impact of a nonprofit than the overhead.” While donors should take into account how much a charity’s leader

member John Bauters, who’s the new vice mayor; Rebecca Saltzman, re-elected to the District 3 BART seat (and a day later became BART board president); Berkeley school board member Judy Appel, who was re-elected, and Alameda County Superior Court Judge Victoria Kolakowski, who was re-elected. Appel thanked the club, saying it “stands with its members” and works on social justice and equity issues. Kolakowski, the only elected transgender official in the country, is herself a former club president and gave a brief history lesson, noting that the club was instrumental in getting the city of Berkeley to pass domestic partner legislation before San Francisco did. Darryl Moore, the gay former Berkeley city councilman who was defeated last month, received the club’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his 12 years on the council and, prior to that, his term on the Peralta Community College district. “Thank you, this means a lot,” Moore said. “It’s a new chapter. Who knows what will happen in 2018? I truly believe that as doors close, new ones open up.”t Cynthia Laird contributed to this report. She is married to Victoria Kolakowski Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion, is on holiday hiatus. It will return Monday, January 9. Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes.

make recommendations about the effectiveness of routinely offering an HIV test in a hospital emergency room. Four hospitals, or fewer under specified circumstances, are to be selected for the pilot, which will commence March 1 and end February 28, 2019. By December 1, 2019, the health department is to complete a report with findings and recommendations to the Legislature. Nazarian’s office didn’t provide comment on the bill’s signing.

Travel ban

AB 1887, legislation authored by gay Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), is a reaction to the transphobic and homophobic laws various states have passed over the last year, most notoriously the state of North Carolina, which continues to be boycotted due to its House Bill 2 that restricts cities in the state from enacting local non-discrimination laws and requires transgender people to use public restrooms based on the gender they were assigned at birth. Brown signed the bill into law in September. It takes effect January 1. (See related story, page 1.)t by two to number 24, LGBT advocates are bracing for multiple legislative fights over LGBT rights, especially in the South and Midwest. The onslaught of anti-LGBT bills is expected to be so vast that the ACLU will be launching a dedicated website to track the homophobic and transphobic legislation. “This kind of political landscape does give us a sense of what we may anticipate,” said Eunice Rho, the ACLU’s advocacy and policy counsel. “In 2016 we had over 200 antigay bills. I won’t be surprised if we go over that in 2017.”t is paid, Ni said they should also look at other measures when evaluating where to donate their money. And she pointed out that those who have had negative experiences with a nonprofit can share their stories via GreatNonprofits. “I think how clients are served is the most important part you want to hear from,” said Ni. For more information, visit http://www.greatnonprofits.org.t

December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037375600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: IAMTHEWAYSERVICES1, 291 HOLLY AVE, SO. SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94080. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MIGUEL A. JIMENEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/17/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/06/16.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037353300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CUMBE LEATHERS, 3448 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NICOLAS ULLOA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/18/16.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037372600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MUTINY RADIO AND GALLERY, 2781 21ST ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PAMELA BENJAMIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/05/16.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037353900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAY AREA DBT & COUPLES COUNSELING CENTER, 4216 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARIELLE BERG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/18/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/18/16.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037363200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TWIN PEAKS ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING, 1504 SHRADER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed YINLAN ZHANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/29/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/29/16.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037342400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DIG-IT TRAVEL, 77 SHOTWELL ST, UNIT 3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LUKE JOHNSTONE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/28/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/10/16.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037342500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DIG-IT EXPERIENCES, 77 SHOTWELL ST, UNIT 3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LUKE JOHNSTONE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/28/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/10/16.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552546

In the matter of the application of: SOOYEON CHO, 1435 WASHINGTON ST #7, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner SOOYEON CHO, is requesting that the name SOOYEON CHO, be changed to TIFFANY CHO FORD. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 19th of January 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037369600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JYVE, 832 SANSOME ST, 1ST FL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed JYVE (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/02/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/01/16.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037372500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EYEBROW QUEEN SALON, 4792 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed EYEBROW QUEEN SALON INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/05/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/05/16.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037369500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ST. REGIS HOTEL SAN FRANCISCO; ST. REGIS LOBBY LOUNGE; VITRINE; REMEDE SPA; ST. REGIS HOME OWNER ASSOCIATION; GRILL RESTAURANT, 125 3RD STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed QIA SR SAN FRANCISCO OPERATING LLC (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/01/16.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036624600

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: EYEBROW QUEEN SALON, 4792 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business was conducted by a general partnership and signed by EYEBROW QUEEN SALON. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/11/15.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-035773700

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: BIG SLICE PIZZA, 1535 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by FERAT INC. (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/10/14.

NOTICE

The Annual Report of the Burk Chung Foundation, 837 Washington Street, San Francisco, California 94108 is available at the Foundation’s office for inspection during regular business hours. Copies of the Annual Report have been furnished to the Attorney General of the State of California. Burk Chung, Trustee. Fiscal year ended November 30, 2016.

DEC 15, 22, 29, JAN 05, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT A-037378900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DOWNTOWN GROCERY, 289 EDDY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GHAMOAN JAMIL ALI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/08/16.

DEC 15, 22, 29, JAN 05, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT A-037382600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LARK IN THE MORNING, 837 25TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ERIC AZUMI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/12/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/12/16.

DEC 15, 22, 29, JAN 05, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037350600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RICHARD GERVAIS COLLECTION, 1465 CUSTER AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RICHARD NORMAN GERVAIS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/17/16.

DEC 15, 22, 29, JAN 05, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037363600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MIKE’S, 505 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ZIPZAP HAIR INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/26/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/29/16.

DEC 15, 22, 29, JAN 05, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037376800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FRESH GREEN, 1970 JERROLD AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GRUBMARKET INC (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/05/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/07/16.

DEC 15, 22, 29, JAN 05, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037376700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: UX SOLUTIONS, 4257 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GREGORY WELLS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/15/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/07/16.

DEC 15, 22, 29, JAN 05, 2017 COPYRIGHT NOTICE:

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SLICE HOUSE BY TONY GEMIGNANI, 1535 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed FERAT INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/30/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/30/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ROHAN CONSTRUCTION, 26 FOREST SIDE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KIERAN P. ROHAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/08/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/08/16.

This constitutes actual lawful and constructive notice and declaration of the following facts, registration and copyright protections for the trade-name/trademark, Sheila Ann Blanc©, a private divine proportional trust and an original expression created on or about September 13, 1962, with all rights reserved, held by blanc,sheila ann©, for the Sheila Ann Blanc© Living Trust, domiciling near Sebastopol, California. Said common-law trade-name/trade-marks may not be used, printed, duplicated, reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, neither in whole nor in part, nor in any manner (including signature in existence by my hand) whatsoever, without the prior, express, written consent and acknowledgment of the Trust, hereinafter “Secured Party.” With the intent of being contractually bound, any juristic person, as well as the agent of said juristic person, assents, consents, and agrees that neither said juristic person, nor the agent of said juristic person, shall display, nor otherwise use in any manner, the common-law trade-name/ trade-mark, nor the common-law copyright described herein, nor any derivative, variation, and/ or spelling and printing of Sheila Ann Blanc©, including and not limited to all style, word order, abbreviation, punctuation, hyphen, font, color, derivatives, variations in the spelling, abbreviating, upper/lower case rendering and writing of said trade-name/trade-mark. Secured Party neither assents, nor consents, nor agrees with, nor grants, nor implies any authorization for, any unauthorized use of tradename/trade-mark, and all unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Mutual Assent Implied and Express Contract Executed by Unauthorized Use of Secured Party’s Common Law-Copyrighted Property; Self-Executing Security Agreement in Event of Unauthorized Use of Secured Party’s Common Law-Copyrighted Property: By these terms, both the person and the agent of said person engaging in unauthorized us of copyrighted property, hereinafter jointly referred to as the “Interloper” does assent, consent, and agree that any use of the tradename/trade-mark, except the authorized use as set above constitutes unauthorized use, unauthorized reproduction, copyright infringement, and counterfeiting, of Secured Party’s common-law copyrighted property, is contractually binding upon said Third Party Interloper, securing an interest in said Interloper’s assets, land, and personal property for equal consideration and not less than $1,000,000.00, based on the estimated value of the secured trade-name/trade-mark at the time of this notice. Any person claiming an adverse interest, challenging, or rebutting the rights of the Secured Party may write to the Trust in care of: 7319 Witter Road Sebastopol, California 95472-9999, non domestic/without the USA.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016

DEC 15, 22, 29, JAN 05, 2017

DEC 22, 29, JAN 05, 12, 2017

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037350300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WEST PORTAL PRODUCE MARKET, 222 WEST PORTAL AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed YH CHOE AND SONS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/16/16.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037375200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WASSAM LABORATORIES, 1026 WISCONSIN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed WASSAM LABORATORIES INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/06/16.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037370000

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036255800

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: WASSAM LABORATORIES, 660 4TH ST #297, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by PASCAL WASSAM. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/20/15.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552615

In the matter of the application of: LARRY DUKE ROGERS, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner LARRY DUKE ROGERS is requesting that the name ROGERS be changed to LARRY DUKE ROGERS. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Rm. 514 on the 7th of February 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

DEC 15, 22, 29, JAN 05, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037379000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RIVERSIDE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT, 1201 VICENTE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed E&S SUNSET GROUP INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/21/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/01/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SEABEE CONSTRUCTION, 1387 BRUSSELS ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ZHIBIAO YAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/08/16.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037366400

DEC 15, 22, 29, JAN 05, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037378600

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10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017

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Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037387800

XBOLD and BOLD stop here

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HAPPY FACE FAMILY PRESCHOOL, 631 HEARST AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ELENA RAMIRIZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/28/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/28/16.

DEC 22, 29, JAN 05, 12, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037385100

DEC 29, JAN 05, 12, 19, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037370400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: L & C MAINTENANCE, 1641 NEWCOMB AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NATAN ISAAC CALLEJAS GUZMAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/12/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/14/16.

DEC 22, 29, JAN 05, 12, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037356800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: L T TRANSPORTATION, 430 PARIS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LUIS TORRES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/22/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/22/16.

DEC 22, 29, JAN 05, 12, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037379102

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INSTITUTE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH...; INSTITUTE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH; CENTER FOR LOOSE ENDS, 751 LOMBARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KARIN A. WEISS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/01/78. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/08/16.

DEC 22, 29, JAN 05, 12, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037357000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAMLO TRANSPORTATION, 138 PARIS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SAMUEL MEJIA LOPEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/22/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/22/16.

DEC 22, 29, JAN 05, 12, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037385500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHARLIE’S DRUG STORE, 1101 FILLMORE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NAHLA SHOMAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/87. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/14/16.

DEC 22, 29, JAN 05, 12, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037392800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SOMA VIDEO PRODUCTIONS, 1040 FOLSOM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed AHMED ADNANI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on12/20/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/20/16.

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: NORIEGA STREET CLEANERS, 1711 NORIEGA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by YUEER LIN. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/29/15.

DEC 22, 29, JAN 05, 12, 2016 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552649

In the matter of the application of: TONY MICHAEL PERKINS, 19 CLEMENTINA ST #207, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner TONY MICHAEL PERKINS is requesting that the name TONY MICHAEL PERKINS, AKA TONY MICHAEL DANIEL APKER PERKINS, be changed to TONY MICHAEL ARCHULETA-PERKINS. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 23rd of February 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

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FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037400100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MARLEY BADSELF INSPECTIONS, 1390 MARKET ST #2606, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KAZEEM LAWAL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/15/16.

DEC 22, 29, JAN 05, 12, 2016 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036508000

The

DEC 29, JAN 05, 12, 19, 2017 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552648

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INTEGRITY MARKETING, 662 HURON AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RICHARD G. HABIB. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/02/16.

DEC 29, JAN 05, 12, 19, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037395300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GIDDYUP PUP, 44 TUCKER AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GENEVIEVE NIZIC. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/21/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/21/16.

DEC 29, JAN 05, 12, 19 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037380500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NORIEGA STREET CLEANERS, 1711 NORIEGA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed YU FEN WANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/09/16.

DEC 29, JAN 05, 12, 19, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037393700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SERENITY SKINCARE BY RACHEL, 754 PACIFIC ST #D1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RONG RONG HUANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/20/16.

DEC 29, JAN 05, 12, 19, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037388400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SERVICE EXPERTS, 280 FRANKFORT ST, DALY CITY, CA 94014. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JONATHAN JOYA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/15/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/15/16.

DEC 29, JAN 05, 12, 19, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037397900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INVITE A THIRD, 4153 20TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CUC NGUYEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/12/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/27/16.

DEC 29, JAN 05, 12, 19, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037398200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: COCO’S RAMEN, 3319 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ZHILING XIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/27/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/27/16.

DEC 29, JAN 05, 12, 19, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037393100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NORCAL COURIER AND LEGAL SERVICES, 268 BUSH ST #4042, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed 41510 LOGISTICS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/20/16.

DEC 29, JAN 05, 12, 19, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037396100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BEX SPEX, 4083 24TH ST #460726, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed BEX SPEX, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/05/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/22/16.

DEC 29, JAN 05, 12, 19, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037397500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ICARUS ARCADE, 4145 ULLOA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ICARUS ARCADE (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/23/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/23/16.

In the matter of the application of: TIMOTHY LEE ARCHULETA, 19 CLEMENTINA ST #207, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner TIMOTHY LEE ARCHULETA, is requesting that the name TIMOTHY LEE ARCHULETA, be changed to TIMOTHY LEE ARCHULETA-PERKINS. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 23rd of February 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE WORD; YELLOW BRICK ROAD INDUSTRIES, 465 S. VAN NESS AVE STE A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed YBR PROMOTIONS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/06/16.

DEC 29, JAN 05, 12, 19, 2017

DEC 29, JAN 05, 12, 19, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037375300

DVDs 2016

Out &About

Fine art 2016

O&A

Classics 2016

See O&A at ebar.com

Vol. 46 • No. 52 • December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017

www.ebar.com/arts

Best films of

2016

(part 2) by David Lamble

his second part of our Best Films list is dedicated to the rebels, the misfits, the semi-permanently disgruntled if not entirely mad souls who will be both freshly relevant in the new year and quaking with targets on their foreheads. 11. Moonlight African American director Barry Jenkins aces his feature with a layered account of three stages in the life of a young gay black kid. Moonlight dramatizes the forces arrayed against the mere survival of a gay black kid at home and at school. See page 13 >> Scene from African American director Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight.

Best theater of 2016 Jocelyn Pickett played a showgirl having a rowdy time with her guests in Ray of Light’s eye-opening production The Wild Party.

B ig a l c i s u m ents m om

by Philip Campbell

T by Richard Dodds

nd the award for most depressingly prescient production goes to Berkeley Rep for It Can’t Happen Here. This new adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’ 1935 novel about a presidential election in which a populist-spouting plutocrat defeats a middle-of-theroader seemed like overkill during a fall run that ended just before T-Day. Since there didn’t seem much suspense about who would win in November, the production felt more ha-ha than uh-oh. Ha-ha, indeed. See page 14 >> Nick Otto

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

he past year in classical music and opera performances has been strong as ever in San Francisco. The shock of the election has created a certain background of anxiety, but the power of music is indomitable, and 2016 was marked especially by the many contributions of the singers and instrumentalists of the Bay Area. See page 15 >> Yijie Shi as Bao Yu in Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang’s Dream of the Red Chamber for San Francisco Opera. Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

<< Out There

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017

Reading through 2016 by Roberto Friedman

ut There reads a lot in our off-hours. We find reading bound volumes of print on paper a fine relief after staring into screens all day. Plus it keeps our mental synapses stimulated, you know? It’s anti-oxidant and anti-aging. Below, find 20 good books we read in 2016. Note: Some were paperbacks of hardbacks that were released in 2015. One is from way back in 2013, but it’s a real keeper. In alphabetical order. Bettyville – A Memoir by George Hodgman (Penguin). Beyond Monogamy – Polyamory and the Future of Polyqueer Sexualities by Mimi Schippers (NYU Press). Christodora by Tim Murphy

(Grove Press). Communal Nude – Collected Essays by Robert Glück (Semiotext(e)). Finale – a Novel of the Reagan Years by Thomas Mallon (Vintage). A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (Viking). The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown, pub. 2013). I Can Give You Anything But Love by Gary Indiana (Rizzoli). The Lonely City – Adventures in the Art of Being Alone by Olivia Laing (Picador). Mad Enchantment – Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies by Ross King (Bloomsbury). Our Young Man by Edmund White (Bloomsbury). Queer – Documents of

Contemporary Arts edited by David J. Getsy (MIT Press). Scream by Tama Janowitz (Dey St.). Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” – The Authorized Graphic Adaptation by Miles Himan (Hill and Wang). Showstoppers! The Surprising Backstage Stories of Broadway’s Most Remarkable Songs by Gerald Nachman (Chicago Review Press). The Soho Press Book of 80s Short Fiction edited by Dale Peck (Soho Press). Soviet Daughter – A Graphic Revolution by Julia Alekseyeva (Microcosm). Stone’s Throw by David Deitcher (Secretary Press). What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell (Picador). Write That Down! The Comedy of Male Actress Charles Pierce by Kirk Frederick, foreword by Armistead Maupin (Havenhurst Books).t

The art-world year that was by Sura Wood

016 will go down as the year when we all got shook up, but despite the fear and dread engendered by recent events, the local art scene, with its dramas, grand openings, dislocations triggered by skyrocketing rents, and stellar exhibitions, has been a refuge. Galleries proliferated, but the nexus continued its shift from the Union Square area to more affordable districts like Mid-Market, SoMa and Dogpatch, where the new Minnesota Street Project staked its claim, signing up several former 49 Geary tenants, while veteran art dealers John Berggruen and Larry Gagosian, relocated to spaces virtually next door to one another across from SFMOMA’s Howard St. entrance. The past year saw a glut of museum retrospectives, particularly in the last quarter; some were too much of a good thing and ran the risk of leaving visitors exhausted, like the otherwise fascinating, very fine Bruce Conner show. Herewith: more highs and lows of the year in art. Most original out there (as in outer space) show: Tom Sachs’ Space Program: Europa, which turned the YBCA campus into a launch pad, gets the award for daring, imagination, chutzpah and a Darth Vader beer refrigerator. Sachs,

Rick Gerharter

SFMOMA Curator Gary Garrels (left) points out a detail in Bruce Connor’s “Ratbastard” to Jean Connor, his widow, and Bob Conway (obscured), in Bruce Connor: It’s All True at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

a bent, gravity-defying whiz-kid bricolage sculptor, has beaten the competition to Jupiter’s icy moon, and the way things are going on terra firma with You-know-who in the White House, hopping a ride to an off-planet destination is more appealing than ever. Meanwhile, back on Earth: Dede won’t be leaving the building. Last August, right there on the front page of The New York Times Arts section, was a sorry spectacle, a story detailing financial impropriety and infighting at the Fine Arts Museums, with Wilsey at the center of the storm. The embattled

board chairwoman ultimately prevailed, but after her Olympic feats of fundraising for FAMSF, let’s hope she graciously withdraws from the spotlight and allows the confidenceinspiring new director Max Hollein to run the show. A sight that will stay with you the whole night through: The terrible, awesome beauty of nuclear tests conducted at Bikini Atoll in 1946, caught in Crossroads (1976), Bruce Conner’s 37-minute, black & white amalgamation of found footage shot at the site by over 700 cameras, from different angles and slow motion speeds (SFMOMA).

Courtesy the artist, FAMSF

K.81 combo (K.37 and K.43) large size (2009), protogen RPT with stainless steel tubing, by Frank Stella, seen at the de Young Museum.

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

The Chevalier de Balibari (James Magee) in Barry Lyndon (1973-75, GB/US), directed by Stanley Kubrick, seen at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, SF.

Most razzle-dazzle: You know big? You don’t know from big. The de Young’s admirably selective, impeccably installed Frank Stella retrospective had everything but live fireworks. Comeback story of the year: Last May, SFMOMA made a prodigal return. The big boy was back in town along with the Pritzker Center of Photography. A thrill for lovers of the medium, it mounted three excellent shows: Japanese Photography from Postwar to Now; Anthony Hernandez’s first major museum retrospective; and Corey Keller’s ambitious inaugural exhibition, About Time: Photography in a Moment of Change. Amidst the cooing and architectural critiques of the building, it’s just plain swell to have them back. BAMPFA reopened across from the UCB campus in a sleek, renovated art deco facility with state-of-theart theaters, an outdoor screen and a location walking distance from the Berkeley BART, praise the lord! Where they’ll go with their new toys is still unclear, but Covered in Time and History: The Films of Ana Mendieta, on view through Feb. 12, was a standout. The annual “hats off” goes to Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture Gary Garrels, an accessible, erudite curator whose Herculean efforts and superior instincts lent panache to SFMOMA’s beautifully executed, post-renovation installations. Most unique new addition to the city: The one-of-a-kind William Blake Gallery, which has the largest collection of works for sale by the late-18th/early-19th century English Romantic poet, painter, printmaker, and progenitor of the livre d’artiste. Best Museum Shows: The Stanley Kubrick retrospective was both an illuminating, exhaustive

examination of an artist at work and a film buff ’s paradise, with hundreds of pages of the director’s thoughts collected in notebooks, and a section on unfinished passion projects like the Holocaust drama Aryan Papers, Napoleon, and a futuristic city planned for A.I. (CJM). Pierre Bonnard: Painting Arcadia was like visiting a beloved old friend. Even if your connection to this artist didn’t run deep, being transported to the South of France to luxuriate in his spectacular sunkissed landscapes or soak in the warmth of his domestic scenes was an antidote to whatever ailed you (Legion of Honor). In a banner year for installations, bravo to: 500 Capp St. If you had an eccentric bohemian uncle who turned his house into a cross between a living conceptual-art installation and the movie set of a film that had Marcel Duchamp as a consultant, you’d be halfway to the singular Mission District home that belonged to late San Francisco artist David Ireland. William Kentridge: The Refusal of Time, the South African artist’s latest multimedia video installation at SFMOMA, is a theatrical experience that, with humor and grace, takes on the history of science, silent cinema, and theories of time. Home Land Security, from the same team behind Ai Weiwei at Alcatraz, hit it out the park this time around with artworks inhabiting deserted gun batteries overlooking the Golden Gate at Ft. Winfield Scott. Here’s to an even better year to come. Happy Holidays!t

On the web This week find Victoria A. Brownworth’s Lavender Tube column, “The year in TV,” and Out & About online at ebar.com.

Books>>

December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

Best LGBT fiction of 2016 by Tim Pfaff

year in which the first publication of a big chunk of Walt Whitman prose was eclipsed by new writing, and a new Edmund White novel was an also-ran, became an amazing year for gay fiction. White weighed in with Our Young Man (Bloomsbury USA), a breezy but darkly nostalgic tale that clung to its title like the desperate lovers in the beautiful boy’s wake; it went down easily enough. Elsewhere, the earth shook. The annus mirabilis of 2016 peaked at least four times – consecutively, with Garth Greenwell’s What Belongs to You (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), Alexander Chee’s The Queen of the Night (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), Adam Haslett’s Imagine Me Gone (Little, Brown and Co.) and Nicole Dennis-Benn’s Here Comes the Sun (Liveright) – novels that pushed the envelope while landing blows to the heart. The high-wire act was Chee’s Queen, a magnificent, ambitious novel that managed to meet its own, dauntingly high aspirations. It’s a novel that crossed boundaries and was as much misunderstood as understood when pigeonholed as a historical novel about a 19thcentury French opera singer. That was only one “life” of Chee’s central character, Liliet Berne, a woman of gritty self-determination who left

Film 2016

From page 11

12. Mifune: The Last Samurai Japanese-American director Steven Okazaki’s hip and engaging biodoc of the great action-movie star Toshiro Mifune provides insights on the development and cultural import of the action movie in both America and Japan. The long career of Mifune (1920-97) not only made him one of the first non-white action heroes, but also gave him an international fan-club of filmmakers, including such superstar directors as Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. With the assistance of both American disciples, Okazaki’s film shows how Japanese “sword dramas” made possible such Hollywood classics as Star Wars and The Magnificent Seven. 13. Gimme Danger Punk rock star Iggy Pop is the subject and the main attraction of this music biodoc on the rise and fall and rise again of the bare-chested Iggy Pop and the Stooges. The film never broaches why Iggy isn’t queer or what fuels his exhibitionist tendencies. While his face shows a great deal of wear, his body and mouth look good for a million more punk-music miles. 14. Closet Monster In one of the best-reviewed gay male dramas of the year, Canadian director Stephen Dunn mixes genres from domestic comedy to teen horror/fantasy centering on an ambitious Newfoundland-raised kid. Oscar is double-cast: Jack Fulton is a seven-year-old discovering the terrors of what appears in his bedroom when the lights go down, and the handsome Connor Jessup is the teen Oscar, terrified of his emerging gay self, and working at a hardware store next to his high school’s most gorgeous hunk, Wilder (lanky tease Aliocha Schneider). The film is a sexy compilation of every imaginable erotic and social misadventure. From his fumbling attempts to be a movie special-effects makeup artist to the social meltdown of a disastrous Halloween costume party, Oscar’s struggles are funny and identifiable. The film also boasts a terrific son/dad meltdown. 15. Fire at Sea Italian director Gianfranco Rosi’s narrative doc is a compelling attempt to drag a reality-TV-distracted film audience into the all-too-real world of this

family disaster on the frozen plain of Minnesota for a wholly unexpected life whose final chapter it would be criminal to give away. This is the kind of “big book” other writers tried for this year (and largely failed), multi-tiered and genrepushing. Chee, at full, mature mastery, delivered. The sheer achievement would matter less if the book, like its protagonist, had not had as much soul as derring-do. Haslett’s novel, also his second, stuck to more customary fiction territory (family insanity in the American Northeast) and the hereand-now. That said, nothing about it is ordinary, either technically or decade’s “boat people.” It’s agitprop film theater whose maker is all but shoving your head down into the diesel-tainted waters off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. 16. Patterson Jim Jarmusch, America’s indie-film darling whose 1984 breakout B&W feature Stranger than Paradise opened the Opera Plaza Cinemas, returns in top form with a tale about a handsome poet/ bus-driver (low-key Adam Driver). It’s rare when a drama pivots on the beat of “The dog ate my poetry.” 17. Heartbreak Ridge AngloAmerican (LA-born, British-raised) actor Andrew Garfield returns with a touching portrait of a pacifist military medic who’s truly tough when the combat going gets rough. A small gem for a war-weary, uncertain time. 18. Lion This docudrama recreates the odd but true story of an Indian-born boy who in one terrible night loses a brother, a mother and a homeland. Raised by white Australian parents, the grown man’s story is resolved through the help of big hearts and Google Maps. 19. O.J.: Made in America Director Ezra Edelman takes eight hours of TV time (ABC/ESPN) to examine the complicated cocktail of race, sex, celebrity and politics driving so much that titillates and frightens us in these divided states of America. 20. Company Town Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow offer a provocative peek at the impact of the tech industry on everyday Bay Area life. The film both documents the ravages of tech’s impact on affordable housing and offers tentative solutions and possible new heroes. A good place to begin while contemplating the lessons of the “Ghost Ship” Oakland warehouse fire. PS: This top-film list is dedicated to the memory of young actor Anton Yelchin, remembered in these pages because the 27-year-old had among his 68 professional credits a number of films that connected the dots on youth sexuality, drug use, gun violence and the difficulty faced by American kids in making life-and-death decisions in a world where adults abdicate their duties as teachers and role models. The Russian-Jewish-born American actor was killed by his malfunctioning vehicle, and has at least three final releases remaining for 2017.t

in the emotional ground it explores. Its most fantastical invention, its central character, Michael – brilliant not to a fault but to inevitable tragedy – tosses the reader about with the same centrifugal force as he does his adoring, helpless family. The characters all speak for themselves, in chapters bearing their names, telling the linear story from their own perspectives and in their keenly individual voices. Haslett’s transfixing novel speaks all the emotional truth that’s bearable, and then some. Greenwell’s short, incisive What Belongs to You so seized the collective imagination of readers worldwide that it overwhelmed the competition. It’s given most readers the sense that it was written for them, perhaps exclusively for them. It’s a fictional take on the author’s own story, teaching English in Bulgaria as an expat, earning citizenship in the land of adult transactions and emotions. I’ve read it five times and continue to find more in it. Regrettably, in my view, it’s been hailed for its putative universality, particularly regarding sexual desire and its

consequences, whereas its brilliance is precisely in its meticulous, candid telling of the story of two male individuals – the unnamed narrator and a hot young Belgian, Mitko, whose major currency in the modern adult world is his smoldering sexuality – an out-of-the-ordinary collision that proves transformational for both of them. Its opening, frank account of tearoom hustling and its discontents (only readers actually get off) put the novel on the map, but the first U.S. publication of Neel Mukherjee’s 2008 A Life Apart (Norton), also a debut novel, was considerably more detailed in its depiction of gay male cruising. Greenwell’s novel is as mandatory reading as any gay novel in our time, but what it shares with Mukherjee’s, Chee’s and Haslett’s, is storytelling at its most empathetic and absorbing. Of the year’s many debut novels, none came so out of the blue (Caribbean blue, specifically) as Nicole Dennis-Benn’s hypnotic Here Comes the Sun. It, too, could have contented itself with its unflinching

look at the sexploitation of women, lesbians among them if not necessarily in particular, in a Jamaica (her home country) gutted by the forces of tourism. But Dennis-Benn dug deep, telling the wrenching story in luminous prose devoid of selfpity and populated with characters who walked off the page and made you think about them when you were away from the book. It’s been snagging prize after richly deserved prize. Abdellah Taia, the Moroccan novelist who made a splash with his fine first novel Salvation Army, returned with Infidels (Seven Stories Press), a bolder, pithier, nearly poetic look at the infinite complexities of being poor, Muslim and gay in a lot of the wrong places at many of the wrong times. It appeared hard on the heels of Orlando, lending it, too, a patina of topicality or universality, but it tells its mesmerizing story without once resorting to stereotype or cliche. With Guapa (Other Press), British-based author Saleem Haddad, of Lebanese-Palestinian-IraqiGerman descent, produced another debut novel about the conflicts of being gay and Muslim, in this finely crafted novel with a strong individual voice. Matthew Griffin’s Hide (Bloomsbury USA) skillfully investigated another largely unexamined gay niche, the committed older gay couple facing late-life realities. Insofar as poetry must at least qualify as not nonfiction, it can’t be said often or loudly enough that in 2016 a great new gay poet was “born.” Vietnamese-American Ocean Vuong – whose voice is both, yet who does in fact strike universal chords –knocked everybody out with his first published collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds (Copper Canyon Press). Especially if you’re a “don’t read poetry” type, don’t miss this.t

<< Theatre

14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017

Ringing in NYE with Paula Poundstone by Sari Staver

hen comic Paula Poundstone has an audience meet-andgreet after her show, people often confide details about their sex lives, or lack of them. “I’m dead serious,” Poundstone, 57, explained in a phone interview with the B.A.R., although many of her answers were anything but serious. Poundstone, who will perform on New Year’s Eve at the Nourse Theater in San Francisco, said her shows often include a mention of her lifelong disinterest in sex. It’s a topic Poundstone first broached when she began her standup career almost four decades ago. “But back then,” she recalled, “I had two older guys who were my managers, and they really discouraged me from discussing it on stage.” The managers “had zero understanding of me, and one was a bit of a drama queen and a bit of a nutter.” The managers’ advice did not stop Poundstone after she realized how many people identified with her. “I used to think I was some sort of freak,” she said. “As a kid, I was not a terribly sexual human being. I thought one day something would happen, and I’d change, but

Theatre 2016

From page 11

But for the moment at least, the sun still rises each morning, and best-of-the-year lists still appear as each December runs up to its 31st day. What follows is a list both arbitrary and capricious, one person’s opinions formed from a fraction of all the theatrical opportunities available to Bay Area audiences. So, in no particular order, here are the 10 productions of 2016 that vividly resonate as we get ready to start building a new list for 2017. The Wild Party Ray of Light Theatre surpassed all expectations with its production of Andrew Lippa’s off-Broadway musical. The original New York run was not a success, but at the Victoria Theatre, it blossomed in director Jenn BeVard’s production of synchronized sprawl, recalling both the vaudeville framework of Chicago and the multi-story jigsaw of Follies. Sets, costumes, staging, performances, and music all came together to realize the original production’s ambitions. Seared San Francisco Playhouse offered the world premiere of Theresa Rebeck’s play set in a restaurant kitchen where the dramatic stakes may seem rather small. They aren’t, of course, to the mercurial chef so wonderfully played by Brian Dykstra, or to the staff that he seems in constant battle with. The playwright found the luminous in the

Stand-up comedian Paula Poundstone: zero sex drive.

it hasn’t. I just have no desires in that direction.” Poundstone said she dated “a few times” when she was younger, but “I have no sexual drive, and I consider myself lucky.” Recent shows have also included riffs about Donald Trump. “Clearly, we are all still in a state of shock” about the election. With a largely Democratic-leaning audience, Poundstone’s riff about “all the jobs coming back” usually goes over well. “Then there are those people who mundane, and Margarett Perry’s direction uncovered the magic between the words that took on much weightier issues of whether or not scallops should be on the menu. The Brothers Size The overwhelming fearsome performances displayed by LaKeidrick S. Wimberly, Gabriel Christian, and Julian Green galvanized Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play about sorely tested brotherly love. It was all pulled together in Darryl V. Jones’ pressure-cooked production for Theatre Rhino. A House Tour Z Space was turned into a maze of rooms for Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s site-specific and actorspecific play that is an absurdist tragicomedy with a heavy dose of silliness. What is supposed to be the tour of a celebrated mansion becomes the journey into the mind of its peculiar docent played by Danny Scheie. The combination of playwright and actor was a heady one as they played to and off each other’s talents in a finely tuned immersive experience directed by Jason Eagan. City of Angels This 1989 Broadway musical needs sharp-as-a-tack skills in every department, something San Francisco Playhouse was able to amply provide. The ingenious plot that is both the story of a movie being made in old Hollywood and the interwoven scenes of the movie itself is filled with snappy dialogue and a clever score that director Bill English and his cast hit squarely on the head.

believe coal is coming back.” With more than 90 performances in 2016, Poundstone is away from her home in Santa Monica most weekends. But life on the road is anything but glamorous. She flies coach, does her own hair and makeup, and when the show is over, “I’m ready to be wheeled back to my hotel,” where she “does some paperwork and packs” for the flight home. At home, Poundstone’s calendar is packed. She volunteers at a nursing home, and “a

lot of time is spent like this,” she said, doing interviews with journalists. Poundstone said that when her three kids were growing up, “almost everyone I knew was someone I met through my kids’ activities. My daughter and I calculated that we had a total of over 70 ping-pong parties at the house.” She is also a frequent panelist on NPR’s weekly news quiz show Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. She’s made many television and film appearances over the years, and has had specials on HBO and Bravo. Poundstone has been appearing in San Francisco since the early 1980s, when she was known for her improvisational sets at the now-closed Other Café in the Haight Ashbury. She was seen by the late Robin Williams, who encouraged her to move to Los Angeles, and who included a stand-up set for her on an episode of Saturday Night Live he hosted. She has always had a strong following among LGBTs, “probably because they knew how much I respected and loved them.” In her early days of stand-up, it would “not be unusual” for other comedians to make homophobic remarks during their act. For the past several years, she’s been putting on a New Year’s

Jessica Palopoli

Brian Dykstra (center) played a tempestuous chef at a struggling restaurant in the world premiere of Theresa Rebeck’s luminous Seared at San Francisco Playhouse.

The Unfortunates This collaborative effort, developed at ACT following an Oregon Shakespeare Festival run, took us on a unique journey into one man’s private hell that, in a most unexpected fashion, also found ways to joyous manifestation. During some war in an unspecified past, a POW is struck into unconsciousness that sends him into a woozy nightclub where a phantasmagoria of delights and horrors unfolds. The opportunity to emerge in a state of grace helps lighten the hovering dark clouds of his final moments. Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat Even those who don’t believe they have any agenda are often seen as having one by those who do. That’s the tug and pull that the central character undergoes in Yussef El Guindi’s intriguing play about breaking from the lockstep that any group can feel is necessary among a dominant culture. In this case, it’s an aspiring Egyptian-American author who is pressured to pursue some specific Arab-American philosophies that not even those around her can agree upon. Director Torange Yeghiazarian brought out the humor, irony, and tragedy for Golden Thread Productions. 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips The estimable Emma Rice and her Kneehigh Theatre troupe from the UK are in their fourth foray to the Bay Area, and again they have delivered a wonderland of theatrical ingenuity that fluidly flows through time. Based on a novel by Michael Morpurgo (War Horse), this is a tale of a sleepy English village that is suddenly uprooted by Yankee troops who need the beach to practice for the upcoming D-Day invasion. In the culture clash, both tragedies and wonders unfold,

in a production that gets high impact from its low-tech charms. Casa Valentina What could have been the humdrum drama set in a niche world turned out to be an entertaining and nuanced entry into that environment. New Conservatory Theatre Center presented a stylish rendering of Harvey Fierstein’s most recent Broadway play under Becca Wolff’s direction. Set in a rundown Catskills resort in the early 60s, the play is based on an actual establishment where heterosexual men could indulge their urge to dress and behave as everyday women. It was a little Eden that collapsed, ironically, in the march toward sexual liberation. King Charles III Set in a nearfuture that can arrive in a heartbeat, Mike Bartlett’s audacious mashup of contemporary parlance and Shakespearean stylings imagines the immediate aftermath of Queen Elizabeth

Eve show at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, but “decided it was time for a change” and moved the show to the Nourse, where she had performed with NPR and “really loved it.” As for the future, Poundstone said she’d love to be a “comic actress” in a film, write a screenplay, and write a novel for middle-school kids that deals with electronics addiction. Next May, Poundstone’s book The Totally Unscientific Study of the Secret to Human Happiness will be published by Algonquin Books. When the publisher asked Poundstone to get celebrities to write book-jacket blurbs, Poundstone said she was “really annoyed. It felt so awkward and sticky,” she said. But everyone she asked said yes, including Lily Tomlin, Carl Reiner, and Dick Van Dyke. “They all said great things, but I have to remember that if I start to believe my own press, that’s a sign of really bad mental health. “Besides,” she added, “Did Dickens have to do this sort of thing?”t Paula Poundstone’s Dec. 31 show, 8 p.m. at the Nourse Theatre, 275 Hayes St., SF. Tickets ($57.50): paulapoundstone.com.

II’s death and Prince Charles’ ascension to the throne. Amidst often amusing squabbles of the immediate family arises an intriguing political crisis. Should the new king violate the constitution by refusing to put his pro forma signature on legislation that undermines democracy? Bartlett and director David Muse convince us that a contemporary tale of a monarchy whose members we know so well could swell into something of Shakespearean proportions. Honorable mentions: Whittling down the superior theatrical offerings of 2016 to a Top 10 was difficult, and several productions kept trying to edge their ways into the list. So here are six more memorable moments that happened on Bay Area stages: San Francisco Playhouse’s delightful production of the gemlike musical She Loves Me; Oren Stevens and Ariel Craft’s inventive adaptation of The Awakening, Kate Chopin’s proto-feminist 1899 novel, for the Breadbox Theatre at the Exit; Will Eno’s quirkily amusing, vaguely disturbing look at the meaning of life in The Realistic Jones at ACT; San Francisco Playhouse’s production of Jennifer Haley’s The Nether, a disturbing look into the future of virtual reality that asks if horrific fantasy can cross the line into criminality; Stuart Bousel’s fresh take on silicon civilization in Adventures in Tech (with Pillow Talk on the Side) at PianoFight Theatre, which ventured into the more merrily skewed nooks and crannies of the digital world; and Julia Cho’s Aubergine at Berkeley Rep, which demonstrated how food and its tastes help define everything from families to huge swathes of society.t

Jessica Palopoli

Brandon Dahlquist, left, played a movie character, and Jeffrey Bryan his screenwriting creator, in San Francisco Playhouse’s outstanding production of City of Angels.

Film>>

December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 15

Films in my year by Erin Blackwell

watched many films in 2016. I can’t remember the titles of most of them. They light up my retina for their run-time, then slide onto the pile of images stored in my brain like old vegetables in a fridge bin. They merge plotlines until they begin to seem meaningless. I’m beginning to wonder if movies are anything more than amusing propaganda, something to keep actors busy, oxycontin for the masses. Lucky for me I’m fed a diet of intriguing independents and stylish oldies by local curators via a dedicated publicity firm. Of the independents I see, the documentaries have the most scintillating narratives. Fiction films, often from other countries, lean so heavily on classic movie tropes that they induce a sense of déjà vu.

I find myself fast-forwarding because I can, because distributors no longer rent a screening room, so it’s between me and my laptop. Documentary storylines, on the other hand, are refreshed by startling new realities, revealed through twisted intrigue, rendered compelling by innovative visuals. Zero Days stands out as a gripping suspense tale of espionage at the heart of Iran’s nuclear program. Stuxnet the Worm had appeared in headlines, but I couldn’t wrap my head around the reality of a centrifuge, let alone a worm that could bring down a centrifuge by messing with its rotational speed and feedback loop. Zero Days provided images that transported me to Iran’s nuclear enrichment lab and inside the mechanism of a centrifuge. The detailed forensic reenactment was

Scene from the Stuxnet documentary Zero Days: detailed forensic reenactment.

riveting. I recommend the film to anyone who thinks the NSA can be trusted. Theo Who Lived, a documentary about a U.S. journalist taken hostage by Al Qaeda, sequestered and tortured for nearly two years, puts a unique spin on the collateral damage of our endless “war on terror.” Theo Padnos is a kind of secular

saint or self-designated sacrificial lamb who accepts his fate in the interest of both mental health and ultimate release. He’s driven not only by the drive to survive, but also by a fascination with what makes his captors tick. This sort of fellow, or fool, so rare in America’s current war culture, is a sublime agent of subversion. Must see. Author: the J.T. Leroy Story is worth seeing for its subject matter, but only with a healthy dose of skepticism. Laura Albert is a local scallywag who turned the tables on the so-called avant-garde literary establishment by beating them at their own game of fake news, otherwise known as P.R. She invented an alter ego who charmed, nagged and terrified key members of the gay cognoscenti like Dennis Cooper, who greased her path to temporary

stardom. Too bad she didn’t claim the whole glorious deception as an extended performance piece. Nevertheless, her personal saga of sexual abuse, drugs, and subterfuge lays bare the hollow nature of celebrity. My favorite fiction film this year was made in 1925. Woman of the World, whose title describes a lifestyle no longer in vogue, shows what happens when a lady of means loses her boy toy to a younger woman on the French Riviera. She ships herself off to Middle America, where she’s embroiled in a moral showdown with a small-town DA bent on outlawing the public dance hall. Poor sap, he’s smitten by Pola Negri’s command of erotic insinuation and ends up on the wrong side of a whip. The wit and wisdom of this unpretentious yet sublime comedy feel forever young.t

Best LGBT DVDs of the year by Brian Bromberger

actress, while the film captured Best Picture. Far ahead of any American trans movie, we’re presented with an authentic, flawed TG who helps to liberate the people around her and maybe even the audience. 8. A Taste of Honey (Criterion). The resurrection of this 1961 British kitchen-sink film, released for the first time on DVD, is a milestone. Heroine 17-year-old feisty Jo (Rita Tushingham) becomes pregnant by a black sailor. Forced to live on her own by her alcoholic mother, she finds friendship with the homosexual Geoffrey. Geoffrey, sympathetically portrayed by a gay actor (Murray Melvin), becomes an early LGBT role model in this trenchant study of class, race, gender, and sexual orientation by the great bisexual director Tony Richardson. 7. Holding the Man (Strand Releasing). An old-fashioned saga covering a 15-year period following the love story of two Australian

high school boys from the mid-70s to the early-90s, based on Tim Conigrave’s bestselling memoir, which he finished 10 days before dying of AIDS in 1994. The film is almost a primer on the early LGBT rights movement, as the two men flee their rejecting parents and get politically involved in Sydney. They discover they are HIV+ and cope with the illness through the film’s second half. 6. Back on Board (Passion River Films). This compelling documentary explores the life of Greg Louganis, the greatest Olympic diver and arguably the greatest gay athlete ever. The film covers his diving career with its peaks and valleys, including homophobia, gold Olympic medals, an abusive lover/corrupt manager, finding out he’s HIV+ before the 1988 Seoul Olympics where he hit his head on a diving board, and living happily ever after with his new husband. Ultimately this is a story of resilience. Despite rejection from

the sport, he becomes a coach and mentor to young Olympic athletes. 5. Those People (Wolfe Video). Joey Kuhn’s debut film is a reimagining of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited with the implied Ryder/ Flyte relationship now an openly gay one set in contemporary New York’s Upper East Side. Well-to-do painter Charlie has been pining for his childhood best friend Sebastian, a wealthy party boy whose father is imprisoned for swindling peers in a Bernie Madoff scheme. Charlie falls in love with Tim, a Lebanese classical pianist, who wants him to move to SF when he is offered a job with the Symphony, producing a romantic triangle. An impressive first achievement with excellent acting. 4. Larry Kramer in Love and Anger (HBO/Amazon). This potent documentary on the antics of combative writer-activist Larry Kramer makes the case that, love him or hate him, as the founder of the radical protest group ACT UP, he saved thousands of lives from dying of AIDS. There is emphasis here more on anger (starting with his abusive father) than love, though Kramer’s partner cares for him after a near-fatal liver transplant. This movie doesn’t sugarcoat Kramer’s obnoxiousness, but is still an absorbing love letter to one of the most important gay men of the 20th century. 3. Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party (Wolfe Video). A charming portrait of Henry starting to come to terms with being gay at his 17th birthday pool party, including a hidden yen for buddy Logan. What will the ramifications be within his family? His father is the pastor of their

Evidence of our own maestro’s equanimity was apparent throughout the first half of the 2016-17 season. His support of guest artists is always in service of their gifts and the composers they showcase. The astonishing pianist Yuja Wang set DSH afire with MTT aiding and abetting her. The Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1 stood out boldly in a program that included some thrilling Stravinsky. MTT’s lifelong association with composer Steve Reich was warmly celebrated with SFS programs featuring the revolutionary maverick’s Three Movements. A separate concert had the composer and the maestro sitting side-by-side for an excerpt from Clapping Music. Reaching back to summertime, we make admiring mention of West Edge Opera and the knock-out punch of the company’s Thomas Ades’ Powder Her Face last July. The young cast was as notable for their sexy acting skills as for their amazing vocal talents. The venerable San Francisco

Opera must be more measured in its approach to unusual works. Its recent season was a solid representation of what a big institution must do to satisfy core patrons, donors, restless critics and potential fans. The gala opening was a well-cast restaging of director David McVicar’s vision of Umberto Giordano’s onehit-wonder Andrea Chenier. Tenor Yonghoon Lee and Soprano Anna Pirozzi made memorable SFO debuts along with debut performances by baritone George Gagnidze and mezzo J’Nai Bridges. More characteristic of the mighty capabilities of the SFO was the world premiere of Dream of the Red Chamber. Commissioned by SFO, a coproduction with the Hong Kong Arts Festival, with music by Bright Sheng, libretto by David Henry Hwang and Bright Sheng based on the book by Cao Xueqin, Dream was a spectacular pageant and intimate family history. The gorgeousness of the physical production is fresh in memory, as well as some nagging doubts about the surprisingly banal libretto.

The SFO returned to safer ground with a witty mounting of Donizetti’s opera buffa Don Pasquale. Director Laurent Pelly and costume designer Chantal Thomas set the stage with conductor Giuseppe Finzi for an evening of knockabout humor that had soprano Heidi Stober as the mean girl Norina, tenor Lawrence Brownlee making his SFO debut as her boyfriend, and Italian bassbaritone Maurizio Muraro ripping up the scenery as the beleaguered title character. Janacek’s The Makropulos Case brought soprano Nadja Michael on board to fill the high-heeled shoes of Karita Mattila, after her stunning appearances in the role of the 337-year-old diva in 2010. Michael’s interpretation was more feral cat than Mattila’s cool, jaded Emilia Marty, but it suited director Olivier Tambosi’s inventive staging. Two mountings of well-loved operatic hits brought 2016 to a close. The first was a confused if ambitious re-telling of Verdi’s Aida by director Francesca Zambello.

n this first Top 10 List of LGBT DVDs, mainstream movies such as the wonderful Carol have been excluded to give exposure to independent films, as have re-releases and Blu-rays of already existing DVD features such as Big Eden and Seventeen. Kudos to Wolfe Video, hands down the best distributor of LGBT films, capturing five spots on the list. 10. Margarita with a Straw (Wolfe Video). This effervescent film from Indian writer-director Shonali Bose charts the erotic adventures of Laila, a 21-year-old bisexual, cerebral palsy-affected, wheelchair-bound artist trying to discover her place in the world. Laila travels to the U.S. to study creative writing at NYU, where she meets fellow activist Khanum, a spunky, visually-impaired, half-Pakistani, half-Bangladeshi student, and they become lovers despite family resistance. Able-bodied actress Kalki Koechlin is extraordinary as Laila. Laila intends to participate fully in life, but on her terms, in this exhilarating movie on accepting disability, sexuality, and yourself. 9. Open Up to Me (Corinth Films). One of the best films ever on transsexuals, this gem from Finland follows Maarit after fully transitioning to a woman. Through a deception she impersonates a therapist and meets Sami, a married high school teacher/soccer coach. They begin an affair while Maarit attempts to reconnect with her angry teenage daughter. Leea Klemola is a revelation as Maarit (despite not being TG) and won Finland’s Oscar as best

Music 2016

From page 11

Spanish conductor Pablo HerasCasado made his annual visit to Davies Symphony Hall with a program featuring exciting young Alisa Weilerstein in Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor. Their concerts gave the dynamic maestro a chance to show his ability in the core repertory. Dudamel may have been bringing coals to Newcastle when he appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic to lead a concert devoted to Mahler’s emotional Symphony No. 9, but he also presented Tchaikovsky’s Fourth. His reputation as a “rock star” of classical music was reinforced by the solid response of the visiting Angelinos. Later in November, the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Simon Rattle also dared to bring Mahler to SFS, with a revelatory reading of the composer’s difficult Symphony No. 7. It was fabulous, and MTT, ever the generous host and musical colleague, would have been enthusiastic.

suburban evangelical mega church. Characters range from school friends to church buddies to adults from Henry’s church, all with secrets that will be revealed. A tour de force from Stephen Cone (The Wise Kids). 2. Women He’s Undressed (Wolfe Video). This winning documentary directed by Gillian Armstrong (My Brilliant Career) rescues from oblivion the life of openly gay Australian Hollywood costume designer Orry-Kelly, who won three Oscars and had a long affair with Cary Grant. Talented, difficult, and a mean drunk, he had legendary clashes with studio head Jack Warner, but was Bette Davis’ favorite designer. Best-known for Marilyn Monroe’s see-through beaded dress in Some Like It Hot, he died in 1964. He was forgotten until his memoir was discovered stored in a pillowcase in the back of a cupboard. A must-see film reclaiming an unsung hero of the LGBT community. 1. Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson (Wolfe Video). Written and directed by out lesbian Jane Anderson, the film is the sad story of her great aunt Edith Lake Wilkinson (1868-1957), an artist committed to an insane asylum in 1924, probably sent there by her attorney using her lesbian relationship with partner Fannie as an excuse to steal her money. The movie is really a detective story as Anderson, after discovering a trove of Edith’s paintings, attempts to find out what happened to her. The scene where Edith’s work is finally exhibited in a Provincetown art gallery is the most thrilling moment of the year in LGBT cinema.t Zambello’s font of ideas, in partnership with contemporary artist Retna, would have proved more comprehensible had the rest of the production team stayed on the same page. The cast couldn’t be faulted. Tenor Brian Jagde was a full-voiced Radames, and soprano Leah Crocetto is becoming the best Verdian on the scene. Conductor Nicola Luisotti elicited wonderful response from the orchestra, and the Chorus added weight to crowd scenes. Puccini’s tragic heroine Madama Butterfly brought the season to a close with a revival of the colorful Jun Kaneko-designed production. It might have been too soon for soprano Lianna Haroutounian to take SFO favorite Patricia Racette’s place, but she is fast becoming a favorite as well. If the audience on the night I attended (the day after the election) was subdued, it was due more to collective shock than to what was happening on stage. As long as singers of Haroutounian’s talent are there to keep the tradition alive, we will survive.t

<< Music

16 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017

Best classical recordings, 2016 by Tim Pfaff

t’s usually not a stretch to bring weekly news of a classical recording featuring a gay composer, performer or subject, but 2016 yielded the most gay-everything new composition and recording of our young century, Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard (Harmonia Mundi). Shepard, its far-too-soon expired subject, lives on in the hearts of LGBTs, and this profound secular cantata-oratorio augurs to keep the memory alive forever. Johnson, out creator and director of the superb chamber chorus Conspirare, has fashioned a work of historical moment, high topicality and imagination, merging music of a wide range of genres into a piece with a devastating dramatic arc. Other choruses are already performing it, but the musicians for whom Johnson wrote this remarkable music perform it as if all of our lives depend on it, as increasingly they do. Hans Abrahamsen’s let me tell you, a haunting cantata for (very high) soprano and orchestra, set to Paul Griffith’s remarkable text using only the 400-plus words spoken by Shakespeare’s Ophelia, yielded one of the year’s top records, with Andris

Nelsons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Soprano Barbara Hannigan went on to perform it in the world’s music capitals. (You should lean on MTT.) Abrahamsen also took “song title of the year” with the name of his new concerto for piano left-hand, Left, alone. There hasn’t been a commercial recording yet, but you can hear the premiere, with out pianist Alexandre Tharaud, on YouTube. In my eons as a music critic, I’ve rarely seen a single recording make everyone’s “Best of ” list, but this year Daniil Trifonov’s Transcendental (DG), a recording of all of Liszt’s solo-piano etudes, has done just that. The astounding pianist seems one of those musicians that comes from another planet, to which he offers us a peek in this truly transcendental recital. If we’re extra nice, maybe someday he’ll take us back there with him. If I’m allowed to go on loving swishy Chopin under the new regime, I promise I’ll limit myself to the mazurkas. I’ll be altogether content with the astonishingly good set by Pavel Kolesnikov (Hyperion). It was hard to imagine Andris Nelsons maintaining the standards of his towering recording of

Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony in the Boston Orchestra’s Life under Stalin series, but he followed it this year with searching accounts of the Fifth, Eighth and Ninth (DG). If you want a preview of life under a Russian autocracy, ask a Latvian like Nelsons, who’s distracting himself from Putin’s stink-eye on his homeland by leading most of the world’s greatest orchestras, superbly. Handel’s operas are now such an omnipresence in the music world that you can buy just about any Handel recording, of which there were gobs in 2016, confident of a strong performance. Decca’s Arminio was a hit you don’t want to miss. If you like vocal superstars

and empty, mocking European opera productions, run, don’t walk for Decca’s Giulio Cesare, but don’t say you weren’t warned. Two stunning new DVDs of Alcina will be reviewed very soon. Don’t go away. Dmitri Tcherniakov’s brilliant Parsifal for Berlin (BelAir DVD/ Blue-ray) is probably the best Wagner opera production I know. Cavalleria Rusticana is a piece I’d hoped I’d heard the last of three decades ago. But the new Salzburg production (Sony, paired with Pagliacci), with Christian Thielemann working his magic in the pit and Jonas Kaufmann at his greatest, found me crawling back. French soprano Sabine Devielhe

was out of this world with her Mozart: The Weber Sisters recital disc (Erato) before going off to have a baby. Her musical partners, Rafael Pichon and his marvelous early-music ensemble Pygmalion, were also brilliant all over the place, knocking off one of the most adventurous CDs of the year with Rheinmaedchen (Harmonia Mundi). The goodbyes of 2016 were painful, but the valedictory recording of the late, great Nicholas Harnoncourt, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (Sony), made the most of it. No one was better at this strange, monumental score than Harnoncourt, who recorded it several times. This was with his beloved Concentus Musicus Wien, just as he wanted to hear it, and it properly crowned his career. Rising harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani weighed in with an important reading of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, now one of the most recorded pieces of keyboard music, for DG. But he’s been such a perfect prick on social media, and by all accounts to his SF audience this year, that as we shake our booties on the way out the door of 2016, we’re sayin’, “See ya next time.”t

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Adiós, 2016!

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Vol. 46 • No. 52 • December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017

On the Tab

Dec 29, 2016Jan 5, 2017

ots of New Year’s Eve par ties will fill every bar and nig htclub on Saturday. Toast and taste, because 2017 doesn’t look too ter rific.

page 18 >> Listings begin on

Sat 31

Gareth Gooch

Dusti Cunningham

Bearracuda @ Folsom Street Foundry

s t s a r t n o 2 c f o r a 016’s u A ye ps an d dow

By Donna Sachet

W A close-up view of the origami swans that filled the Tree of Hope at City Hall.

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

hat a year of contrasts it has been! Somehow, each cause for celebration has been haunted by events eliciting disappointment, anger, and divisiveness, leaving many of us with a dark sense of foreboding, sensing obstinate challenges immediately ahead. See page 19 >>

<< On the Tab

18 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 29, 2016-January 4, 2017

Picante @ The Cafe Lulu and DJ Marco’s Latin night with sexy gogo guys. 9pm-2am. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

Queer Karaoke @ Club OMG Dana hosts the weekly singing night; unleash your inner American Idol. 8pm. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Thump @ White Horse, Oakland Weekly electro music night with DJ Matthew Baker and guests. 9pm-2am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 652-3820. www.whitehorsebar.com

Sat 31

Thursday Night Live @ SF Eagle

Thu 29

Music night with local and touring bands. $8. 9:30pm. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Baloney @ Oasis

Tubesteak Connection @ Aunt Charlie’s Lounge Karaoke Night @ The Stud

On the Tab

From page 17

Sing along and sing out, Louise, with hostess Sister Flora Goodthyme. 8pm2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Thu 29

After Dark @ Exploratorium Adult cocktail party at the interactive science museum. Dec. 29: Tactile Dome fun and demos. $10-$15. 6pm10pm. Pier 15 at Embarcadero. www.exploratorium.edu

Baloney @ Oasis The popular male burlesque dance revue brings their ‘Best Of’ show to the SoMa club. $25-$50. 7pm. Nightly thru Dec. 31. 298 11th St. www.sfbaloney.com www.sfoasis.com

Literary Speakeasy @ Martuni’s The monthly reading series hosted by James J. Siegel this month includes poets Sharon Coleman, Indiana Pehlivanova, and René Vazquez; authors Richard May and Rob Rosen; and singer/songwriter Margrit Eichler. 7pm. 4 Valencia St.

Mary Go Round @ Lookout Mercedez Munro and Holotta Tymes’ weekly drag show. $5. 10:30pm show. DJ Philip Grasso. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Hippity Hop Pop @ Port Bar, Oakland

The Monster Show @ The Edge

Pre-New Year’s Eve warmup party, with DJ 6Pac, gogos and House of Mizrahi vogue dancers. 8pm-2am. 2023 Broadway. (510) 823-2099. www.portbaroakland.com

The weekly drag show with DJ MC2, themed nights and hilarious fun. $5. 9pm-2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Disco guru DJ Bus Station John spins grooves at the intimate retro music night. No cell phones on the dance floor, please! $5. 10pm-2am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www.auntcharlieslounge.com

Free coat/clothes check when you strip down to your skivvies at the cruisy SoMa bar. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Fri 30

Ain’t Mama’s Drag @ Balancoire Weekly drag queen and drag king show hosted by Cruzin d’Loo. 8pm10pm. No cover. 2565 Mission St. www.balancoiresf.com

Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi The musical comedy revue celebrates its 40th year with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs. Holiday Extravaganza runs thru Dec. 31 (special New Year’s Eve shows). $25-$160. Beer/wine served; cash only; 21+, except where noted. Wed-Fri 8pm. Sat 6pm & 9pm. Sun 2pm & 5pm. 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd. (Green St.). 421-4222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com

La Mediterranee Noe @LaMedNoe

288 Noe Street, SF • (415) 431-7210 • lamednoe.com

Circle Jerk @ Nob Hill Theatre

16TH ST

CASTRO ST

lamednoe.com

NOE ST

Cafe | Restaurant

Serving the Castro288 Noe Street, SF since 1981 (415) 431-7210

Gus Presents’ weekly dance night, with DJ Kid Sysko, cuteSTgogos and $2 15TH | beer Catering (before 10pm). 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

CATERING

RESTAURANT

M AR

Sleater-Kinney @ Masonic Hall

Midnight Show @ Divas

X-ing Over @ Oasis

Weekly drag shows at the last transgender-friendly bar in the Polk; with hosts Victoria Secret, Alexis Miranda and several performers. Also Saturdays. $10. 11pm. 1081 Polk St. www.divassf.com

Juan DJs a pre-New Year’s Eve dance night, with sexy gogo guys and gals. $10. 10pm-2am. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

New Queers’ Ball @ Groundswell Institute, Yorkville

Boy Bar @ The Cafe

CAFE

Sat 31

Underwear Night @ Powerhouse

Porn pup Armond Rizzo leads the very interactive sex fun in the downstairs arcade of the famed strip club (before 17TH ST his Dec. 31 shows). $20. 9pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Ease on Down the Road @ Port Bar, Oakland Official after-party for the screening of The Wizard of Oz at the palatial next-door Paramount Theatre, with DJ Ricky Sixx, host BeBe Sweetbriar and gogos. Oz-themed attire welcome. 9pm-2am. 2023 Broadway. (510) 8232099. www.portbaroakland.com

Gogo Fridays @ Toad Hall Hot dancers grind it at the Castro bar with a dance floor and patio. 4146 18th St. www.toadhallbar.com

Enjoy a celebratory weekend and New Year’s eve and Day parties at the nonprofit queer-owned campground and retreat, with cabins or tenting, meals and gatherings. $75-$175. Thru Jan. 2. 18500 Highway 128, Yorkville. www.groundswell.institute

Red Hots Burlesque @ The Stud The saucy women’s burlesque show hosted by Dottie Lux will titillate and tantalize. $10-$20. 8pm-9:30pm. 399 9th St. Also Sunday brunch shows at PianoFight Theatre.144 Taylor St. . www.redhotsburlesque.com www.studsf.com

Rock Fag @ Hole in the Wall Enjoy hard rock and punk music from DJ Don Baird at the wonderfully divey SoMa bar. Also Fridays. 7pm-2am. 1369 Folsom St. 431-4695. hitws.com

Some Thing @ The Stud Mica Sigourney and pals’ weekly offbeat themed drag performance night. $7. 10pm-3am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Vibe Fridays @ Club BnB, Oakland House music and cocktails, with DJs Shareef Raheim-Jihad and Ellis Lindsey. 9pm-2am. 2120 Broadway. (510) 759-7340. www.club-bnb.com

Sat 31

Bearracuda @ Folsom Street Foundry Celebrate New Year’s Eve with the big boys, DJs Nick Bertossi and Paul Goodyear. $20-$25. 9pm-3am. 1425 Folsom St. www.bearracuda.com

La Bota Loca @ Club 21, Oakland Latin, hip hop and Electro music night. Dec. 24: no cover, all night. 9pm-4am. 2111 Franklin St., Oakland. www.club21oakland.com

Bootie SF @ DNA Lounge DJs Mysterious D and guests spin at the mash-up DJ dance party; four rooms of different sounds, eight DJs. $10-$15 and up. 9:30pm-3am. 375 11th St. www.bootiesf.com www.dnalounge.com

Bounce @ Lookout Dance music with a view at the Castro bar. 9pm-2am. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Brava’s New Year’s Eve Comedy Fiesta @ Brava Theater Center Priya Prasad and Chey Bell cohost the fifth annual comedy night, with Marga Gomez, Tom Ammiano, and Carla Clayy; champagne toast and post-show dancing til 1am. $35-$50. 9pm. 2781 24th St. www.brava.org

See page 20 >> David Wilson

Moni Stat hosts New Gear’s Eve @ The Eagle

Happy Friday @ Midnight Sun The popular video bar ends each work week with gogo guys (starting at 9pm) and drink specials. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Hard Fridays @ Qbar DH Haute Toddy’s weekly electro-pop night with hotty gogos. $3. 9pm-2am (happy hour 4pm-9pm). 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

Latin Explosion @ Club 21, Oakland

415 -500 -2620

Gia Farré performs live at a special pre-NYE edition of the Latin dance night, with drag acts and gogo studs. $10-$20. 9pm-4am. 2111 Franklin St., Oakland. www.club21oakland.com

Sat 31 Carla Clay, Marga Gomez and Tom Ammiano at Brava’s New Year’s Eve Comedy Fiesta @ Brava Theatre