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Gays work to build Visalia center

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Vol. 46 • No. 11 • March 17-23, 2016

Yang, Johnson named Pride grand marshals

by Matthew S. Bajko

by David-Elijah Nahmod

W

ith artists and cultural institutions struggling to afford to live and do business in San Francisco, Cultural Affairs Director Tom DeCaigny is helming Jane Philomen Cleland City Hall’s efforts to bolster the local arts Cultural Affairs community.

Director Tom Since January 2012 DeCaigny DeCaigny, 39, who is gay and a former executive director of a nonprofit arts group, has overseen the city’s arts commission, which currently has a twoyear budget of $7.5 million. The agency is responsible for conserving San Francisco’s vast public-owned art collection, approving new public art projects, overseeing seven cityfunded cultural centers, and awarding funds to numerous artists and cultural groups.

An increasing part of DeCaigny’s portfolio is also figuring out how to ensure individual artists and local artistic and cultural nonprofits can afford to remain in San Francisco amid skyrocketing costs for housing, office space, and performance venues. A 2015 survey based on the responses of 579 local artists found just 28 percent were not facing displacement from either their studio space or homes in the city.

“We see a trend across the country of artists being driven out in other cities. It is not just San Francisco that is grappling with affordability challenges,” DeCaigny told the Bay Area Reporter during a recent interview in his new office inside the remodeled War Memorial Building on Van Ness Avenue across the street from City Hall. “Cities are changing so much and the role of the arts is evolving.”

Because of the city’s long-standing public funding of the arts, San Francisco should and can take a leadership role in addressing how urban centers can maintain a thriving arts community and cultural economy, argued DeCaigny.

“While there are some challenges, a lot of people are looking to San Francisco because historically we have supported art and culture in ways other cities dream of doing,” he said. “I think we are trying to look at the cultural health of the city.”

In close collaboration with the office of Mayor Ed Lee, who appointed him to the job, DeCaigny is working on a survey of potential See page 6 >>

A Krewe de Kinque’s new royalty K

Gareth Gooch Photography

rewe de Kinque held its Bal Masque XIII Saturday, March 12 at Beatbox, where the new queen and king, China Silk and Sergio Fedasz, shared a kiss. Stepping down as monarchs were King Wolf and Queen Roxie. Krewe de Kinque was officially founded on Mardi Gras

night, February 24, 2004, in San Francisco’s Castro district when a small group of friends formed the fraternal organization to promote the culture and traditions of Mardi Gras celebrations worldwide while raising funds and awareness for charitable causes.

leader in the meditation community and a well-known transgender advocate are the first two people to be named community grand marshals for this year’s San Francisco LGBT Pride parade.

Larry Yang, who Larry Yang teaches mindfulness and meditation locally and nationally, was the public’s choice, based on balloting, according to officials with the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee.

SF Pride members last week selected Janetta Johnson, executive director of the Transgender Gender Variant and Intersex Justice Project, as See page 13 >>

Castro’s Books Inc. to close

by Seth Hemmelgarn

Rising costs

Tucker told the Bay Area Reporter he acing declining business, Books Inc., doesn’t know why the Market Street site has a longtime bookstore in San Franbeen having trouble. He doesn’t attribute cisco’s Castro district, announced the decline to the online retail site Amazon. this week that it will close its 2275 Market “It’s not impacting other city stores that Street location. The last day is expected to way,” Tucker said. be in mid-June.

While sales have dropped, costs were ex“Sales have really been trailing off,” said pected to increase.

Michael Tucker, Books Inc.’s president and Rent on the Castro shop “probably” CEO, in an interview Tuesday, March 15, would have gone up 12 percent, Tucker the day the closure was announced. The said. The business faced “mandated inshop was at the end of a five-year lease. creases in payroll,” rising health care costs, “We’ve been losing money at that store and other factors that “made it difficult to for eight of the last 10 years,” he said. keep the store open.”

Rick Gerharter That, along with rising costs, helped lead “If sales could justify what we were to the decision to shut down the store rath- Books Inc., a fixture in the Castro, will close its doing, I would definitely keep it,” he said. er than renew the lease, Tucker, a straight Upper Market store in June.

He also worried that if the store were to ally, said. stay open, the other locations could suffer, The location was the first he and his In a news release, Tucker said, “Any of the potentially leading to layoffs. business partner opened when they took over book clubs, events, and special programming” The total rent, including maintenance and the company in the mid-1990s, he said. that “choose to will be moving to the Opera other costs, is “a little over $200,000 a year,” Tucker said the site has “some very dedicated Plaza location,” at 601 Van Ness Avenue. That Tucker said. The landlord and property mancustomers,” and he and others “really wanted” site “will be expanding LGBT selections in ager “couldn’t have gone any lower than they to keep the Castro site open. books and magazines to continue to better have gone.”

“We’ve been committed to being there,” he serve customers from the Castro.”

“They’ve been more than fair,” he said. said. “... It’s a very sad thing for me to be closing All nine staff members in the Castro “have Tucker has “no idea” what will happen with this one up.” been offered the chance to transfer to other the site, which is “about 3,600 square feet.”

Books Inc. has 10 other locations in the Bay locations,” he said. “Anyone choosing not to Marshall Jainchill, CEO of Marshall and Area, and another shop under construction in transfer to another Books Inc. location will be Company Property Management, which overthe South Bay city of Santa Clara is expected to offered a severance package. There are no lay- sees the location, said Books Inc. “just felt they open mid-summer. offs scheduled for the company.” weren’t doing enough sales. It wasn’t a question The Castro store has been known for featurThe store’s new hours will be 11 a.m. to 8 See page 14 >> ing books and readings by LGBT authors. p.m. through mid-June.

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4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 17-23, 2016

Volume 46, Number 11 March 17-23, 2016 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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Clinton moves AIDS discussion forward

D

emocratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton can be her own worst enemy, but her skillful recovery from a self-inflicted wound was on vivid display last week, when she said that the late Nancy Reagan helped start a “national conversation” on AIDS. That, of course, is ludicrous, as both President Ronald Reagan and his wife wanted nothing to do with talking about the disease, which in the 1980s and early 1990s was killing scores of gay men, including their actor pal Rock Hudson.

“It may be hard for your viewers to remember how difficult it was for people to talk about HIV/AIDS back in the 1980s,” Clinton, who was attending Nancy Reagan’s funeral in Simi Valley, California, told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “And because of both President and Mrs. Reagan – in particular, Mrs. Reagan – we started a national conversation, when before nobody would talk about it.

Nobody wanted anything to do with it.”

Clinton was blasted by a firestorm of criticism online, even from supporters such as Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin, who tweeted, “Nancy Reagan was, sadly, no hero in the fight against HIV/AIDS.” To her credit, Clinton quickly realized her error and swiftly issued an apology, saying that she had “misspoke.”

“While the Reagans were strong advocates for stem cell research and finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, I misspoke about their record on HIV and AIDS,” she said in a statement about two hours after her interview. “For that, I’m sorry.”

In contrast, gay state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) last month spoke out against President Reagan’s record on AIDS during the Legislature’s annual Ronald Reagan Day ceremony, which praises the late president for “advancing the public good.”

Leno said that he had remained silent in recent years, but this time he had to speak out and could not support the resolution.

“Though the AIDS crisis began in 1981, President Ronald Reagan refused to even publicly recognize the fact of the epidemic until September 17, 1985, vowing at that time that he would make AIDS research a top priority,” Leno said, according to a transcript. “When he introduced his 1986 federal budget, President Reagan actually cut AIDS funding by 11 percent. ... This is not my definition of advancing the public good.”

In correcting her own error, Clinton went

further than merely sending out a statement, and that’s what’s important. In a March 12 post on Medium, Clinton reiterated her mistake but also moved the conversation forward by outlining what her administration would do regarding HIV/AIDS. “The AIDS crisis,” she wrote, “looks very different today.”

And indeed it does. No longer an automatic death sentence, many people living with HIV/AIDS lead productive lives, working and engaging in recreational activities like anyone else. The medical advances over the last three decades have resulted in breakthrough treatments.

Activists on the front lines at the beginning of the crisis forced federal officials to speed up clinical trials and approve new drugs.

“There are more options for treatment and prevention than ever before,” Clinton wrote.

“More people with HIV are leading full and happy lives. But HIV and AIDS are still with us. They continue to disproportionately impact communities of color, transgender people, young people and gay and bisexual men. There are still 1.2 million people living with HIV in the United States today, with about 50,000 people newly diagnosed each year. In Sub-Saharan Africa, almost 60 percent of people with HIV are women and girls. Even though the tools exist to end this epidemic once and for all, there are still far too many people dying today.”

She proposed increasing HIV/AIDS research and investing in promising innovations that research is producing. She mentioned PrEP, the new once-a-day drug (Truvada) that has shown to be highly effective in both studies and real-world settings. “We should expand access to that drug for everyone, including atrisk populations,” Clinton wrote.

“We should call on Republican governors to put people’s health and well-being ahead of politics and extend Medicaid, which would provide health care to those with HIV and AIDS,” she added.

Clinton also discussed the need to change HIV criminalization laws, which was not heard previously on the campaign trail.

“We should call on states to reform outdated and stigmatizing HIV criminalization laws,” Clinton wrote. “We should increase global funding for HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment. And we should cap out-of-pocket expenses and drug costs – and hold companies like Turing and Valeant accountable when they

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attempt to gouge patients by jacking up the price of lifesaving medications.”

Turing was the pharmaceutical company that increased the price of Daraprim, a drug used by some AIDS patients, 5,000 percent – from $13.50 to $750 – before embattled former CEO Martin Shkreli was arrested on securities fraud charges last year.

Clinton ended her essay acknowledging long-term survivors and the need to keep working toward the day when HIV transmission is drastically reduced.

“We’re still surrounded by memories of loved ones lost and lives cut short,” Clinton wrote. “But we’re also surrounded by survivors who are fighting harder than ever.

“We owe it to them and to future generations to continue that fight together. For the first time, an AIDS-free generation is in sight,” she added. “As president, I promise you that I will not let up until we reach that goal. We will not leave anyone behind.”

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s opponent in the Democratic race, also released an AIDS plan following her gaffe. He said that one of the biggest problems is the high cost of drugs, which is true. He announced that if elected, he would establish a multibilliondollar prize fund to incentivize drug development. “This prize fund would replace our country’s broken system that drives drug prices up through government-sanctioned monopolies,” Sanders’ website states.

In keeping with Sanders’ platform, he also favors a Medicare-for-all single payer health plan, which he argues, would help people living with HIV/AIDS and millions of other Americans who do not have health insurance.

Clinton quickly responded to her mistake, owned it, and has pushed the conversation forward. The result is that both Democratic candidates are now talking about HIV/AIDS in a way that they weren’t before, and she and Sanders are the only presidential candidates even discussing the issue. Clinton started off with her foot in her mouth, but she quickly corrected the situation.

Even longtime AIDS activist Larry Kramer was impressed, writing on Facebook that he was glad Clinton penned the Medium essay.

“Boy, did she work fast to react to the pressure that so many of us immediately commenced,” Kramer wrote. “Onward.”

That’s leadership, and we’d rather have Clinton’s attention to policy than the Republicans’ obsession with scapegoating immigrants and race-baiting.t

Beyond the status quo: Achieving workplace equality for LGBT people of color

by Andrea D. Shorter

T

BAY AREA REPORTER

t

wenty years ago, less than 5 percent of American companies had policies prohibiting discrimination based on an employee’s sexual orientation. Mission driven to change those statistics for LGBT employees, Selisse Berry, founder and CEO of Out and Equal Workplace Advocates, has worked with over 500 multinational companies to create LGBTinclusive work environments for the past 20 years. These collaborative partnerships led and contributed to a markedly improved status quo: today, 91 percent of American companies include sexual orientation in their nondiscrimination policies.

Most millennial employees can hardly imagine working for a company or firm that does not have LGBT inclusive, non-discrimination policies and practices – these are expected of a worthy employer. The inclusion of such policies and practices is a notable measure of how far we have progressed to achieve LGBT workplace equality, and the important work ahead to continue breaking through and beyond the status quo.

While many large U.S-based companies are positively leading change by enacting LGBT inclusive policies and practices among their increasingly global workforces, 52 percent of the United States’ LGBT population lives in states that do not prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity – the clearest indication for the necessity of passage of the Equality Act. Furthermore, as our nation grows in racial and ethnic diversity, the need for employment

Out and Equal’s Andrea Shorter

non-discrimination and workplace inclusion policies becomes particularly urgent for LGBT people of color.

According to the Movement Advancement Project, an estimated 3 million American adults identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender people of color. The average unemployment rate for LGBT individuals is around 8 percent. For LGBT people of color, unemployment rates range from 15 percent among African Americans, 14 percent percent among Latinos, and 11 percent among Asian and Pacific Islander populations.

Lack of education, hiring bias, on-site discrimination, and a lack of mentorship are among the key barriers hindering LGBT workers

of color from securing and retaining good jobs.

Committed to improving the status of LGBT people of color in the workplace, Out and Equal established the People of Color Advisory Committee. Bringing together employee resource group leaders, human resources, diversity and inclusion professionals, and individual employees from corporate settings, the committee identifies strategies to ensure Out and Equal’s initiatives account for our diverse population, especially focusing on contemporary issues faced by LGBT people of color in the workplace, issues that won’t arise for Caucasian LGBT employees.

The committee also recommends relevant topics for workshop presentations, recruits speakers, keynotes, presenters, spotlight the achievements of LGBT people of color, and engages diverse attendance at Out and Equal’s annual Workplace Summit and Executive Forum.

A dynamic opportunity to help advance full LGBT inclusion and equality, we seek members who bring experience, networking connections, significant knowledge of LGBT workplace issues, and perspectives that can make a meaningful contribution to committee discussions.

To learn more about the Out and Equal People of Color Advisory Committee and how you can contribute to its important work, contact communities@outandequal.org.t Andrea Shorter is the director of community relations at Out and Equal Workplace Advocates. The organization will have its Momentum gala Thursday, March 24 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. For more information, see this week’s News Briefs or visit http://www.outandequal.org.

t

Letters >>

March 17-23, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

Israeli-Palestinian debate goes on

How sad (and predictable) that writer Jeff Pekrul can’t resist bashing Israel for maintaining a wall to keep out the bloodthirsty terrorists who yearn to snuff out more Israeli lives [Mailstrom, March 10]. Just what “changed his perspective” forever during his trip to the Holy Land? Perhaps he wasn’t aware that before the wall was built more than one thousand Israelis died as Arabs from the West Bank murdered men, women, and children. The wall has been a most effective means of saving Israeli lives.

Was it the never-ending stream of anti-Semitic invective, which is the staple of the Palestinian media? Or perhaps the fact that gay Palestinians fear for their lives while living among their own tribe? (Israel is the only country in the Middle East that provides a safe haven for gays of all religious backgrounds.)

Here’s a suggestion for Mr. Perkul: how about scheduling a return trip to your beloved Ramallah. Stand in the center of the town waving a gay pride flag. If you make it back to SF alive, I’ll take you out to dinner.

Dr. David L. Levine San Francisco

Pacific Center says thanks

Last fall, Pacific Center (www.pacificcenter.org) started putting the word out that we needed financial help for our youth program. Funding, from one government source and another local community foundation, was either cut in half or eliminated for fiscal year 2015-16. As a result, only $23,245 was guaranteed for this year. The program budget hovers around $65,702, and that meant we needed to raise $42,457 to sustain the program at its present level for 2016. We hoped for $50,000.

In our appeals, we promised we would never desert

young people who come to Pacific Center for help, no matter what.

Our Pacific Center family really stepped up and sent a powerful message that supporting our youth is a priority.

Thank you especially to the Bay Area Reporter and Seth Hemmelgarn, who contacted our organization and wrote a great story about our situation [“Pacific Center seeks funds for youth groups,” November 5, 2015].

Thanks also to Eric Jansen, at KALW’s “Out in the Bay,” who graciously hosted our new youth program manager and a few group members to share why Pacific Center’s support was so important to them.

We raised $42,185 in total donations.

This is a wonderful victory for us and proof that you recognize and appreciate everything Pacific Center has done for the community, and especially at-risk youth, for over 40 years.

Again, thank you.

Leslie Ewing, Executive Director Pacific Center for Human Growth Berkeley, California

Clinton steps in it on AIDS

Hillary Clinton has grotesquely misrepresented the history of the early AIDS epidemic with her recent comments praising Nancy Reagan for her “very effective, low-key advocacy” on behalf of persons with AIDS in the 1980s. Nothing could be further from the truth, as San Franciscans painfully know.

Despite years of fundraising for first Bill Clinton, then Hillary Clinton, by the LGBT community, and the votes of many more (including myself), the Clintons are not friends of our community. In fact, they need to exit the political stage, because neither one can be trusted with our lives.

John Mehring San Francisco

A number of LGBT people seek SF Dem Party posts

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by Matthew S. Bajko

chair Rebecca Prozan are both running for re-election, as are veritable who’s who of local gay attorney Rafael Mandelman, LGBT leaders is running on a onetime president of the more the June primary ballot for seats progressive Harvey Milk LGBT on the body that controls the San Democratic Club, gay mayoral Francisco Democratic Party. spokesman Francis Tsang, and Nine of the 11 current lesbian, bisexual police commissioner gay, and bisexual members – Petra DeJesus, an attorney.

Rick Gerharter there are no elected transgender Among the 39 DCCC candimembers – on what is known dates from the 17th Assembly DCCC candidate DCCC candidate as the Democratic County Cen- Keith Baraka Dr. Pratima Gupta District are seven out non-intral Committee filed to seek recumbents. Gay former Assemblyelection by the deadline to do so man Tom Ammiano is running, Friday, March 11. as is Arlo H. Smith, a gay man Opting not to seek re-election who last year resigned from his this year are lesbian former state DCCC seat representing the 19th lawmaker Carole Migden and Assembly District.

Matt Dorsey, a gay man who is “I served on it for 35 years; I HIV-positive and works for City know more than anyone there,” Attorney Dennis Herrera as his said Smith, who moved into the spokesman.

17th Assembly District to live Dorsey, who serves as the local with his fiance Phil Cortland, Jane Philomen Cleland party’s corresponding secretary, whom he plans to marry in June.

Incumbent told the Bay Area Reporter this Incumbent As the Bay Area Reporter has DCCC member week that he decided not to seek DCCC member previously reported, Sunshine Rebecca Prozan a second four-year term on the Francis Tsang Ordinance Task Force member oversight body because he wantShaun Haines, who is gay and Incumbent gay DCCC memed to focus on other interests. He African-American, is seeking ber Joel Engardio, named to fill a is training to run the California Into serve on the DCCC, as is Gary vacancy from the 19th Assembly ternational Marathon in December McCoy, a gay man who is HIV-posDistrict last year, is running for a from Folsom to Sacramento, which itive and serves on the city’s shelter full term. he has done several times now. monitoring task force.

One other gay candidate is among “I gave a lot of thought about Two queer women of color are the 21 people running running again. But there are other seeking DCCC seats: Kaiser OBfrom the 19th Assemthings I want to do GYN Dr. Pratima Gupta, who is the bly District: African this year,” said Dorsey, volunteer medical director of the American firefighter noting that the DCCC St. James Infirmary, a clinic for sex Keith Baraka who requires a considerable workers and transgender individulives in the city’s Merced time commitment. “I als; and Frances Hsieh, a legislative Heights neighborhood. am proud of the work aide to District 11 Supervisor John Like Engardio, Baraka is I have done in the last Avalos who is no relation to the seen as a moderate and four years.” two Tom Hsiehs also running for has been a longtime Migden did not DCCC seats. member of the Alice respond to a request “I have nearly 20 years of experiB. Toklas LGBT Demofor comment by press ence volunteering and working for cratic Club, whose polittime Wednesday.

Democratic candidates and causes, ical action committee this weekend There are 24 seats up for grabs on and running for the DCCC was the recommended that both Baraka and the DCCC in June. The members next logical step,” said Hsieh, an out Engardio be endorsed by the club at elected to the body then choose a married lesbian who is co-president its meeting Monday, March 21. local party chair from among the of the San Francisco Women’s PoThe out incumbents seeking repanel’s members as well as deterlitical Committee. “This time was election to their DCCC seats from mine what candidates and ballot especially fitting because I’ve inthe 17th Assembly District include measures the local party endorses creasingly felt like the party hasn’t gay Supervisors Scott Wiener (Diseach election cycle. represented the values that I hold trict 8) and David Campos (DisThe seats are divided between the dear as a lifelong Democrat and San trict 9) as well as gay former District city’s two Assembly Districts. There Francisco native.”

8 supervisor Bevan Dufty. are 14 seats allotted to the 17th AsAdded Gupta, “As a doctor, aborLesbian library commissioner sembly District covering the city’s tion provider, and mother, I can Zoe Dunning, a past co-chair of eastern neighborhoods and 10 given See page 13 >> the Alice club, and former Alice coto the 19th Assembly District.

A

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<< Community News

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 17-23, 2016

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Black health summit to provide screenings, workshops

by Sean Piverger

medicine, housing, and advocacy.

LeSarre said in an email that, “funding comes from a number of sources, including major funding from the San Francisco Department of Public Health, as well as foundations, corporations, individual donors, and other fundraising activities.

As a result, Rafiki is able to fund the summit and its other programs and services from those funding sources.”

According to the agency’s 2013 IRS Form 990, Rafiki operates on a budget of about $1.2 million.

The budget for this year’s summit was not available at press time and despite the fact that Rafiki receives funding from a variety of sources, LeSarre said that it’s not considered unlimited revenue.

“We’re scraping by given the large disparities within our community and what funding is available. So we do a lot on not very much. Unfortunately,” she said.

The summit is important because it gives Rafiki a chance to hear from those who need help getting information pertaining to health services.

“So, we know our clients, we know what they need and want, and we want to keep listening to them and keep hearing them and this is a focus by and for and of black folks in the Bay Area,” said LeSarre.

In a phone interview, Makulla Godwin, a San Francisco resident and Rafiki volunteer, said that she’s pleased when the summit brings “people together.”

In a phone interview, another San Francisco resident, Joy Abounds, said that she enjoys the “positive energy” that comes from attending the summits. She admires Rafiki for presenting a “professional” health summit without any “chaos or confusion.”

Adrian Tyler, director of development, communications, and human resources at Rafiki, said that working at the summits gives him the opportunity to hear “different voices” as it pertains to the health and wellbeing of the community.

“It’s a forum where they can be heard and feel like they’re actually participating in it as opposed to just coming in,” Tyler said. “Monique [LeSarre] gets up and speaks for 45 minutes, and then there’s 10 minutes of questions.”t

tion services, including The infirmary – named PrEP; sexually transmitafter pioneering sex ted disease testing and worker activist Margo St. treatment; transgender James – started in 1999 at hormone therapy; mental San Francisco City Clinic health care; harm reducon 7th Street and opened tion services, including its own clinic at 1372 Misneedle exchange and nalsion Street in March 2004. oxone; case management; Last summer the landsupport groups; food and lord and property owner, clothing; and other asMercy Housing Califorsistance to people of all nia, said it was selling the genders involved in the sex building and St James trade and their families. would have to leave that Liz Highleyman All services are free and space, located near the St. James Infirmary Executive Director Stephany Joy Twitter headquarters in a confidential.

“Our HIV services Ashley, center, cuts the ribbon to the agency’s new rapidly gentrifying neighteam has been collaborat- clinic as Janetta Johnson, right, executive director of borhood South of Market. ing closely with Glide and the Transgender Gender Variant and Intersex Justice A buyer for 1372 Mission Project, which shares the space, looks on. the San Francisco AIDS and two adjacent buildFoundation to create betings has not been publicly ter prevention and harm named. operation with SFAF on PrEP and reduction narratives,” St. The San Francisco Deproviding access to people who are James linkage-to-care navigator partment of Public Health helped St. interested in exploring its possibiliJuba Kalamka told the B.A.R., reJames secure the Tenderloin space, ties as an HIV prevention regimen.” ferring to services offered by Glide which was formerly the Housing St. James, which serves around United Methodist Church. “I’m and Urban Health Clinic. The agency 4,000 clients, operates on an annual particularly excited about our coalso worked with the city’s Nonprofit budget of approximately $750,000 Displacement Mitigation Program, and has a staff of 17 and about 25 which helps cover rent for nonprofvolunteers, Ashley said. TGI Justice its forced to move to more expensive Project, which works with transgenspaces. der people involved in the criminal “We are incredibly lucky to be justice system, has a budget “well staying in San Francisco, and very under $200,000,” Executive Director grateful to DPH for their help in Janetta Johnson previously told the keeping us here,” Ashley said.

B.A.R. The new space, measuring 3,000

square feet, features a reception area, staff offices, counseling rooms, two medical exam rooms, and a laboratory on the ground floor, with TGI Justice Project occupying the second floor.

St. James raised more than $35,000 through a crowd-funding campaign to fund the renovation and move, with an anonymous donor matching the first $25,000.

Much of the work on the building was done for free by a pro bono architect, a local painters union, and the clinic staff and volunteers. Artists from Precita Eyes created a new mural in the reception area. The walls are festooned with sex workers rights posters from different eras.

“We are thrilled about our new clinic space as it demonstrates our viability and growing independence,” St. James medical director Dr. Pratima Gupta told the B.A.R. “The fact that we were able to move and open our doors with only a slight break in our services is evidence that we are able to hustle and support our community to ensure that it stays healthy.”t

A

day of workshops, health screenings, and other activities will be offered at the Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness’ ninth annual Black Health and Healing Summit this weekend.

The free daylong summit takes place Saturday, March 19 and is sponsored by one of Rafiki’s community organizations, the African American Community Health Equity Council. This year’s theme is “Black Health Matters.”

The speakers at the summit will include Shakti Butler, Ph.D., an award-winning filmmaker and national educator who produced and directed the documentaries The Way Home, Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible, and Light in the Shadows, and restorative justice practitioners Rakhi HYP Holman and Gary Malachi Scott. There will also be free health screenings, massage, acupuncture, and more.

Attendees will get a chance to participate in a research project in which people will provide insight to the coalition so that it can better understand what the community needs in terms of health services.

The purpose of the summit is “to provide both an understanding of

Jane Philomen Cleland

Black Health and Healing Summit organizers include, from left, Julie R Harris, Saniira Alibakit, Maxine Gilkerson, Roshon Murray, and April Crawford.

what’s happened in black health and health inequity in the country,” said Monique LeSarre, PsyD. LeSarre, who is a psychologist and director of programs at Rafiki, hopes that the summit will “deepen the conversation” regarding health as well as provide tools for those who attend the conference. Rafiki expects about 250 attendees. Around 300 people attended last year’s event.

In 1986, Rafiki, formally known as the Black Coalition on AIDS, started out as a grassroots organization that was created as a response to help those in San Francisco’s black community living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. Later BCA

created the volunteer program, Rafiki Services, to help people living with AIDS. In January 2015, BCA changed its name to the Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness because it wanted to better reflect the diverse service menu for its core purpose, which is to promote health equity and eliminate health disparities in black and marginalized communities in San Francisco. (Rafiki means “friend” in Swahili and the agency works with all races.)

Other health issues that Rafiki addresses include diabetes, asthma, and cancer. The agency also provides complementary alternative

The Black Health and Healing Summit takes place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at San Francisco State University in the Cesar Chavez Student Center. For more information, visit http://www.rafikicoalition.org or check the Facebook page at “Rafiki Coalition.”

Sex worker clinic moves into new home

by Liz Highleyman

A

fter a month of renovations, packing, and moving, St. James Infirmary, San Francisco’s health care organization for sex workers, cut the ribbon on its new Tenderloin clinic Monday, March 14.

St. James shares the space, located at 234 Eddy Street, with the Transgender Gender Variant and Intersex Justice Project.

“Our new facility is bigger and brighter and will accommodate more people and programming than our old home,” St. James Executive Director Stephany Joy Ashley told the Bay Area Reporter. “That it’s also next to a park, near other allied organizations, and in the middle of a neighborhood with such a long history of LGBT and sex worker activism is wonderful. The Tenderloin is rich with community, and we are excited to be a part of the neighborhood.”

In addition to primary medical care, the peer-based organization also offers HIV testing and preven-

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SF arts

From page 3

city-owned parcels where affordable housing for artists could be built.

One possible site is the parking lot of the African American Art and Culture Complex in the Fillmore.

Board of Supervisors President London Breed, who once ran the center, touted the site as ripe for redevelopment earlier this year at a forum with women leaders hosted by the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club.

“I would like the African American culture center to build artist housing,” she said.

DeCaigny expects to have the report on potential development sites completed by June.

“The mayor has given us the direction to work on a clear plan for affordable artist housing,” he said.

“We are looking at what neighbor-

hoods have a density of artists living there based on our artists grants data and other survey data we have to try to understand where artists are living and where artists are facing affordability challenges.”

Sustainability initiative

Also now under DeCaigny’s purview is the San Francisco Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative, which was adopted by city leaders in 2014.

Overseen by the arts commission and the mayor’s offices of Housing and Community Development and Economic and Workforce Development, the program has awarded $4.5 million to 74 community benefit organizations, from nonprofit service providers to arts groups.

“It helps arts organizations maintain their homes and leases,” explained DeCaigny.

The arts commission has faced questions on how it distributes

St. James Infirmary is located at 234 Eddy Street, near Taylor.

Therapy and case management drop-in hours are noon to 2 p.m.

Monday through Thursday, clinic drop-in hours are 6 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, or call (415) 554-9634 to schedule an appointment.

funds to local artists and groups, with some minority arts leaders calling into question how equitable the awards have been in recent years.

The agency’s cultural equity endowment, meant to fund individual artists work, was recently increased by 50 percent to $2.95 million annually.

DeCaigny acknowledged, “As a city we can always do better,” but defended his and his staff ’s efforts to ensure the commission funds a diverse array of artists and groups.

After artists or groups are awarded grants, the commission asks them to answer a survey that includes questions about their ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

“We do it after we make a selection,” explained DeCaigny, “because we don’t want it to be a barrier in the decision-making process.”

According to a 2015 report from the arts commission, the two miSee page 9 >>

t

National News>>

March 17-23, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

PrEP pipeline highlighted at HIV confab

by Liz Highleyman

S

everal potential new drug candidates for HIV prevention were discussed at the recent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston. Researchers presented findings on oral, injectable, and gel antiretrovirals for PrEP, but these are still in development and daily Truvada (tenofovir/ emtricitabine) remains the only approved PrEP regimen.

TAF for PrEP

Closest on the horizon is a nextgeneration version of Truvada that contains tenofovir alafenamide, or TAF. TAF is a new pro-drug that delivers active tenofovir to cells more efficiently. It produces high intracellular drug levels with a tenfold lower dose than the older tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, or TDF, which means about 90 percent lower drug levels in the blood and less exposure for the kidneys, bones, and other organs and tissues.

Studies have shown that TAF works as well as TDF for HIV treatment with fewer kidney and bone side effects. On March 1 Gilead Sciences announced that the Food and Drug Administration had approved a second TAF-containing threedrug regimen (brand name Odefsey) for HIV treatment; the first, Genvoya, got the nod in November.

Approval of a dual coformulation (brand name Descovy) containing TAF and emtricitabine – like Truvada but with TAF replacing TDF – is expected in the coming months.

That approval will only be for HIV treatment, but some researchers and advocates have suggested it could potentially be a safer alternative to Truvada for PrEP. Gerardo Garcia-Lerma, Ph.D., from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and colleagues tested whether TAF/emtricitabine would prevent rectal infection in macaque monkeys exposed to an HIV-like virus called SHIV. GarciaLerma’s team previously did much of the animal research showing that Truvada is effective for PrEP. They found that none of the six monkeys treated with oral TAF/ emtricitabine became infected after 19 rectal SHIV exposures, while all six monkeys that received a placebo became infected after one to 10 exposures.

Another study, however, supports caution about TAF for PrEP. Katy Garrett, Pharm.D, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues from Gilead found that tenofovir levels were lower in vaginal and rectal tissue and fluid samples from healthy women who received TAF compared to those who took TDF. Levels in genital tissue were about twofold lower, while levels in rectal tissue were about tenfold lower.

The effectiveness of Truvada for HIV prevention is associated with adequate tenofovir levels measured in the blood, but it is still not clear whether protection is due to high drug levels in the genital or rectal tissues, in the blood, or in vulnerable cells.

“It was disappointing and confusing that tenofovir’s safer cousin,

Corrections In the March 10 story, “Hormel to receive inaugural ‘Champion’ award,” the first name of Commonwealth Club of California CEO Gloria Duffy was incorrect.

In the March 10 obituary, “SF musician and activist JD Taylor dies,” the date of the October 6, 1989 Castro Sweep was incorrect.

The online versions have been corrected.

TAF, may not build up protective levels in humans in vaginal and rectal tissue,” David Evans of Project Inform told the Bay Area Reporter.

“Hopefully it will still be as effective in humans as it was in monkeys, which was a knockout punch.”

Garcia-Lerma and Garrett both stressed at the February CROI gathering that TAF should not be used for PrEP until clinical trials are complete and it is approved for this indication. When Descovy is approved for HIV treatment doctors will be allowed to prescribe it off-label for other uses, but it should not be substituted for Truvada PrEP until more is known, they said.

Maraviroc alone performs poorly

Dr. Roy Gulick from Cornell University presented initial results from the NEXT PrEP trial, which tested maraviroc (brand name Selzentry), an antiretroviral currently approved for HIV treatment. The study included 399 gay and bisexual men, seven transgender women, and 188 non-trans women. Participants took once-daily maraviroc pills either alone or with tenofovir or emtricitabine (the drugs in Truvada).

Safety and adherence looked good, but there were five new HIV

tions. In particular, maraviroc plus emtricitabine might be an option for people with pre-existing kidney or bone problems who should not use tenofovir.

Injectables, gels, and rings

Liz Highleyman

CDC researcher Gerardo Garcia-Lerma, Ph.D., spoke about HIV prevention new drug candidates at last month’s CROI conference in Boston.

infections during the study. Two occurred in people with undetectable blood drug levels, but the other three were in people taking maraviroc alone who had detectable drug levels. A related laboratory study also showed that solo maraviroc did not prevent HIV infection in rectal tissue samples as well as maraviroc combined with either tenofovir or emtricitabine.

These findings mean that maraviroc alone is not suitable for PrEP, but it appears to work well in combina-

In order to work well PrEP must be used consistently, and other formulations besides daily pills may make it easier for some people to achieve good adherence.

Dr. Martin Markowitz from the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center presented findings from the ECLAIR trial, showing that the injectable integrase inhibitor cabotegravir appeared safe to use as PrEP. However, it was absorbed in the body faster than expected, meaning it will probably need to be administered every two months instead of quarterly.

This trial enrolled 126 men and was not intended to determine effectiveness. One person taking cabotegravir was newly infected with HIV, but this happened nearly six months after his last injection when he no longer had detectable cabotegravir in his blood.

A similar study is being done in women. Once these phase 2 studies are complete, ViiV Healthcare will decide whether to move for-

ward with larger effectiveness trials, which would likely take another two years.

In this study, participants started taking cabotegravir pills to make sure they could tolerate the drug before receiving long-lasting injections that cannot be removed from the body. The regimen also requires caution at the end of dosing, since drug levels decrease slowly over a prolonged period. If a person stops using cabotegravir for PrEP, drug levels several weeks or months after their last injection may be too low to prevent infection, but high enough to lead to drug resistance if infection occurs.

“As promising as long-acting cabotegravir for PrEP is, it sticks around in the body a really long time after your last injection,” Evans said. “This might require taking it orally for a while after your last injection, diminishing the advantage of infrequent injections.”

The study regimen used two 2-milliliter injections of cabotegravir – four times the volume of a typical flu vaccine – one in each buttock. Most participants reported injection site reactions such as pain or swelling, but few people dropped See page 14 >>

<< Community News

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 17-23, 2016

Funds sought for LGBT center in Visalia

by Matthew S. Bajko

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campaign is underway to raise money for an LGBT community center in the heart of downtown Visalia, an agricultural hub in the southern Central Valley north of Bakersfield.

Backers of what is being called the Source LGBT-plus Center aim to raise $5,000 by May 1 via an online appeal posted to the site CrowdRise.

As of Wednesday this week, the fundraising drive had netted $500.

The lead organizers are two gay men who grew up in the area then headed to two of the state’s main coastal regions for college, eventually returning to their hometown last summer. Visalia native Nick Vargas, 38, after graduating from Stanford, had been living in San Francisco’s gay Castro district and working in finance as an investment adviser for 18 years.

But family matters and the increasingly high rents in the city prompted him to return to the Central Valley city. He is now working as a substitute teacher in the local public schools.

Actor Brian Poth, 40, who was a recurring character on the CBS crime show CSI Miami, also returned home last year from the gay enclave of West Hollywood due to a family emergency. The Visalia resident, who grew up in nearby Tulare, also now works as a substitute teacher and runs an after-school program for performing arts and filmmaking through a local charter school.

The friends, both single, initially met at a dinner arranged by a mutual acquaintance. They bonded over their both having moved back to the rural town from the big city.

“Coming back to the area was difficult because the visibility of what I consider to be gay life doesn’t exist here,” said Poth. “There is safety in numbers. Coming from West Hollywood, everyone I knew was gay.”

Moving back to Visalia, added Poth, was a bit “bizarre” at first.

“I felt like I had gone in a time machine and gone back to 1993 when I graduated high school,” he recalled.

“Not a lot has changed here.”

It is unclear just how many LGBT people call the area home. According to the Williams Institute, the LGBT think tank at the UCLA School of Law, 10 percent of the state’s more than 1.3 million LGBT residents reside in what it calls the Southern and Central Farm region, which includes the San Joaquin Valley as well as an area along the border with Mexico east of San Diego County.

In 2011 it was reported that Tulare County, which includes Visalia, had the highest percentage of same-sex couples raising children of any area in the state. Based on U.S. Census data, 46 percent of the 824 same-sex couples living in Tulare County had children.

A 2008 report from the think tank, using both federal and state data, found that in Kings County there were 2,160 gay, lesbian, or bisexual residents with 284 same-sex couples.

There was no relevant data for the number of LGB residents in Tulare County, although the report did say there were 417 same-sex couples living there. (The study did not include data on transgender residents.)

Other than the Republic, a local straight bar that twice a week hosts drag shows, there are limited oppor-

Brooke Jackson Photography

Nick Vargas, left, and Brian Poth are raising money for an LGBT community center in Visalia.

tunities for LGBT people who live in Tulare or Kings counties to socialize and access services. The closest LGBT center is located north of Visalia in Fresno, about an hour’s drive away.

Thus, Vargas and Poth decided to open a local LGBT center that could serve as a gathering place, referral center, and provider of services for residents of Visalia and the surrounding area.

“Not even LGBT adults have a place to go outside the drag nights,” said Poth, who played a vampire on HBO’s True Blood and was in two episodes of the cable channel’s acclaimed series Six Feet Under. “Every time I open my mouth about it, another person said we really need it. I started asking around to start meeting and get a board together.”

William Martin, a local businessman and straight ally, offered them a basement space in a retail building he owns at a reduced rent. Located at 208 West Main Street in Visalia,

the space includes an entrance area with room for seating, a small office, and a larger conference room that can accommodate 15 people.

The center would also have access to a larger meeting room that can hold up to 40 people. They signed a letter of intent in February to secure the space for the first year and agreed to a sliding scale rent in the second year with an option to renew.

“This is new for everybody here.

My aim is for it to be a presence that I know exists in other areas,” said Poth. “We are not here to be activists. We are just here to say if you need a place and need to ask some questions, we may be able to hook you up with some resources we did some good vetting on.”

Their fundraising target would cover the center’s first year of rent, as well as start up costs to incorporate as a nonprofit and buy initial supplies.

They are confident they can reach

t

their goal and open the doors to the center on May 1, which is a Sunday.

“We want to offer a safe space for anyone who identifies as LGBT or an ally to come and hang out,” said Vargas. “The center will also provide access to resources and things that already exist, like Planned Parenthood, health services in the county of Tulare, and PFLAG.” They also want to begin offering peer-to-peer support groups at the center, as well as gay-friendly recovery services like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. They would also like to compile a list of gay, lesbian, and transgender friendly doctors in the area.

Beverly Anderson, a local licensed marriage and family therapist, has agreed to serve as the center’s clinical adviser. And Karen Adell Scot, a transgender woman living in Yosemite who just started her own nonprofit called Transcare, is serving as a trans adviser to the center.

The center has also received support from lesbian Visalia City Councilwoman and Tulare County supervisor candidate Amy Shuklian, who did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

She grew up on her family’s farm and now lives with her partner of 19 years, Mary Randol, and their two rescue chocolate Labrador retrievers, Georgee and Gracee.t To donate to the center, visit https://www.crowdrise.com/ thesource-lgbt-center1.

Those interested in learning more about the center can visit http://www.thesourcelgbt.org or email Vargas and Poth at thesourceLGBT@gmail.com.

Tech confab aims to empower lesbians

by Sari Staver

“It’s rare that we talk about how diverse people in tech bring value.”

L

esbians working in technology, still greatly outnumbered by men in the workplace, are often “smarter” than many co-workers because they have developed emotional intelligence, according to Roseanne Malfucci, product lead at Thought Works (http://www.

ThoughtWorks.com).

Speaking to a standing-roomonly audience at the recent Lesbians Who Tech conference in San Francisco, Malfucci said that queers may have higher rates of emotional intelligence because “we were forced to understand the dominant culture.”

“Learning to manage emotions when we were younger was a way to stay safe,” Malfucci noted.

The three-day conference, held February 25-28, brought over 1,700 lesbians and their allies to the annual meeting of the rapidly growing organization. Begun about three years ago as a happy hour gathering for lesbians, the Lesbians Who Tech community has over 15,000 members in 35 chapters, six of them international.

Emotional intelligence, Malfucci explained, is a concept made popular by psychologist Daniel Goleman that refers to the ability of people to identify and manage emotions, both their own and those of other people.

Goleman found that emotional intelligence has a stronger correlation to success at work than IQ, she said.

At the panel on career growth and leadership, Malfucci said that many people get “hijacked by their emotions” in the workplace. Instead, she said, a better strategy is to figure out “when to push and when to lay back.”

While there is much talk about the need for diversity in the tech field, “it’s rare that we talk about how diverse people in tech bring value,” Malfucci said.

Someone with emotional intel-

–Roseanne Malfucci

Jane Philomen Cleland

Tiffany Dockery, a senior product manager at Amazon, talked about overcoming the “imposter syndrome” at the recent Lesbians Who Tech conference.

ligence, she added, may find it easier to “cultivate empathy with customers” by being able to “put yourself in their shoes.”

Emotional intelligence can also help people take care of themselves.

For example, if someone is hard at work coding for several hours, and finds their vision is getting blurry or they’re getting irritable, it’s best to take a break rather than pushing too hard and making mistakes, Malfucci said.

Also speaking on the career panel was Heather Hiles, the CEO and founder of Pathbrite (http://www. pathbrite.com), a cloud-based portfolio platform where users can “showcase all digital evidence of what they have created, achieved, and mastered.”

Hiles, a lesbian who formerly served on the San Francisco school board, urged conference attendees to create a free personal portfolio as a means of improving their career.

No matter what someone’s current position she said, “we are all really

just freelancers and need to show off the latest thing we have achieved.”

Hiles said she founded the company, after working in education for 25 years, to make “free technology” available to people not used to having access to such tools.

“You’ve got to just keep putting it out there,” she said.

February Keeney, an engineering manager at San Francisco’s GitHub, urged the attendees to fight “patriarchy bias” in a company’s hiring practices. Keeney, who has spent almost two decades “on both sides of the interview table,” explained her recent experience interviewing several dozen women for a job at GitHub, a San Francisco web hosting company.

Keeney, a trans woman, said she found herself ranking higher the women “who she could make easy friendships with,” rather than those most likely to be best at the job.

“We must be sure we use objective criteria to hire,” not try to meet

new friends, she said. Keeney also suggested, “taking good notes” while interviewing someone and afterward, “notice your biases,” if any.

If someone is overheard saying, “She’s not a good fit” for the team, call out these “non-qualifier” statements, she added.

Tiffany Dockery, a senior product manager at Amazon in Seattle, described her experience overcoming the “imposter syndrome.” Earlier in her career, Dockery found herself working in a department where she was the only African-American person, as well as the only out LGBT person.

“I found myself constantly apologizing and questioning whether I was good enough,” she said.

But one day, she had a “tech bro revelation” when she overheard a male co-worker voice the same doubts she had.

“It’s a human problem,” she said.

“We live in a world that tells us we’re not enough.”

Out tech journalist Kara Swisher said that when women in tech ask her for career advice, she tells them to “stop waiting for people to offer you things.” Rather than job offers that come in over the transom, said Swisher, the co-executive editor and co-founder of Re/code, go after “what you want.”

Swisher said that in her career, “any time I think I have failed has been when I wasn’t straightforward and outspoken enough. I always regret not speaking up.”

“I always ask for tons of money,”

in job interviews, Swisher said.

Once, while interviewing with Vox Media, the interviewer, in trying to convince her to accept a salary package, said, “Oh, c’mon Kara, we’re friends,” Swisher recalled, adding that she responded, “Yes, I love you but give me the fucking money.”

(Vox acquired Re/code last year.)

While it is difficult to get an accurate count of LGBT people in any workplace, Lesbians Who Tech founder Leanne Pittsford said, in an email to the Bay Area Reporter, that the number of queer women in the technology sector is growing, “because we’re reaching a point where we’re not silent about our identity anymore.”

“Where we’re not hiding our wedding ring when we get to work so we don’t have to tell our co-workers that we’re married to another woman. Where we’re not fearing not getting a job in the first place because we chose not to hide who we are,” Pittsford said. “We’re in a time where more and more queer women in positions of power – VPs, product managers, directors, board members – are coming out and in turn, will only lead to acceptance of more of us in tech, more queer women role models, and more queer youth getting involved and assuming positions of leadership.

“And as more tech companies continue to be called out for their lack of diversity amongst women and people of color, our hope is that these numbers will grow,” she added.t

t

Community News>>

March 17-23, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

Art school conference explores gender

by Elliot Owen

I

t was a packed house recently at the San Francisco campus of California College of the Arts as acclaimed queer theorist and UC Berkeley Professor Judith Butler gave a lecture that concluded the college’s weeklong series of events exploring gender.

The series – the latest contribution to a larger project called Gender in Translation – included a visit from French art historian, critic, journalist, and academic Elisabeth Lebovici, who participated in an open critique of student work centering gender in translation on February 23. The following day she was featured in a visiting critic forum where she discussed her explorations of gender theory and contemporary art. Also on February 24, award-winning filmmaker Malic Amalya, who teaches video production at CCA, presented a screening of queer underground films.

Butler’s lecture served as the week’s capstone feature. CCA accommodated 200 attendees in the auditorium where the notable academic spoke, and 50 more watched her lecture in an overflow area via a live broadcast. Another 200-300

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people were turned away according to Tirza True Latimer, chair of the graduate program in visual and critical studies at CCA and main organizer for the lecture component of the event series.

In her introduction of Butler, Latimer, a self-identified queer lesbian feminist, spoke of a recent visit to the grave of French writer and feminist theorist Simon de Beauvoir, which she found adorned with offerings – “metro tickets, smooth stones, messages” – from “feminist pilgrims.”

“One of the notes ...,” Latimer told the audience, “read: ‘You changed my mind.’ The power of this homage has stayed with me and I’m honored to have the opportunity to repeat it this evening. Judith Butler, with your critical elaboration of concepts from performativity to precarity, you changed our minds.”

Over the next 90 minutes, Butler, best known for her 1990 book Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, detailed the history of the term “gender” and discussed the different meanings, understandings, and implications gender embodies when entering different social, political, and cultural contexts. As it relates to linguistic translation, Butler explored how

Elliot Owen

UC Berkeley Professor Judith Butler discussed gender at a recent conference at California College of the Arts.

gender emerges and is “performed” via the language the speaker is using.

“Gender is subject to various grammatical formulations in different languages,” Butler said. “That is part of how it operates. There is no referent we might call gender that belongs to the pure order of being. ... At the moment one has to explain gender in another language one sees that one’s own language is, hey, one way of trying to present the phenomenon.”

Butler also underlined the historical specificity of language at any given moment; gender expressed through language can shift and evolve over time. “... When we do feel it quite necessary to be referred to in a certain way, that’s because language has opened up a possibility of selfreference or for pronoun reference for speaking in English, then it’s the historical changes in English that informs pronoun usage that have made the possibility of our selfreference an actuality,” Butler said.

Butler concluded her lecture emphasizing that faltering together in different languages would bring humans closer together under collective humility.

CCA visual critical studies graduate student Eden Redmond, a selfidentified white queer girl and fat femme darling, attended the lecture and found Butler’s theoretical work more accessible in-person in contrast to reading Butler’s writings.

“Reading Butler in school,” Redmond, 23, told the Bay Area Reporter, “while I appreciated the prose and what concepts I could glean on my own, it was always laborious to understand. I was nervous that Butler’s spoken presentation would require the same kind of attention

... but hearing her speak words animated her concepts giving them tenderness and immediacy that resonated much more readily. ... This lecture was incredibly impactful and I feel honored to have seen it.”

Providing CCA students with a “theoretical toolkit” is one of the school’s priorities, Latimer told the B.A.R. The institution’s intent is to introduce conceptual frameworks to work within, expand from, and push forward.

“The hope of an event like this and hopefully part of the outcome in bringing this project and conversation to art schools,” Latimer said, “is that you can move the abstract to a place of action. This is where the rubber hits the ground, in these contexts where people are makers of cultural. To see the ways student work grows and gets traction because of being exposed to, understanding, and even misunderstanding an idea, is always really exciting.”

The CCA events operated under the initiative Gender in Translation, an ongoing academic project created by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in San Francisco, dedicated to questioning the concept of gender in the social sciences, philosophy, and artistic disciplines.t

SF arts

From page 6

nority groups whose organizations received the most grants funding, not counting the money given to cultural centers, between 2004 and 2014 were the city’s Asian American and LGBTQ communities. (The largest group overall, at more than $3 million, had no specific community focus.)

During the decade studied, Asian American organizations received more than $2 million, while LGBTQ groups received nearly $608,900.

Women’s groups came in fourth at more than $585,000, while groups with a multiple community focus received more than $570,000.

African-American groups were given close to $558,400; Latino organizations received $544,500; Native American groups saw more than $347,000; immigrant groups received $156,350; and Pacific Islander groups ($55,250) and disabled organizations ($25,000) received the least.

Individual LGBT artists also fared well, landing in the third spot at $517,460 in terms of funding received over the decade covered.

Asian Americans took the top spot with $745,950 and women were in second with $603,110.

“I am really proud of the work we are doing to support the many artists from vulnerable communities, providing them commissions of cutting-edge work and opportunities for them to contribute to the city,” said gay Arts Commissioner Roberto Ordeñana, who was recently appointed to a second four-year term. “In terms of cultural equity, the increasing of the amount of grants and the increase in the size of grants the art commission has been able to do under (DeCaigny’s) leadership has been historic.”

In terms of cultural center funding during the 10-year timeframe, the most money went to AfricanAmericans at nearly $11.6 million.

In second was the multiple community focus category at more than $8.5 million, while Latino centers were third at nearly $7.7 million.

LGBTQ funding in this category was in fifth place at more than $1.4 million. When all three grant categories are combined, the LGBTQ community was in sixth place at nearly $2.56 million in funding.

“Many artists who live in the CasSee page 13 >>

Gustavo Serina, joined in 2013

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Gustavo believes in giving back. He sits on several boards and manages duties as vice president of the SF Commission on Aging and Adult Services. Under the pen name “Tavo Amador” he also writes for the Bay Area Reporter. With roots still deep in the Castro, he loves to walk the city and find the stories that connect us all. See why his sense of community extends far beyond his address here at San Francisco Towers. To learn more, or for your personal visit, please call 415.447.5527.

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<< Community News

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 17-23, 2016

t

New program teams teens with Savage on sex

by Seth Hemmelgarn

A

group of high school students is preparing to talk about sex with popular gay sex columnist Dan Savage.

As part of a social justice leadership program, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco is helping several teens become sex-positive peer educators through partnering with Savage, who’s appearing at a sold out event at the center March 21.

The youth will take part in three learning sessions on subjects including healthy relationship communication and boundary setting, peer sexual health education, and reproductive health and legislation. The students will also plan a question and answer session with Savage, becoming

ambassadors to share their knowledge with their schools and communities.

The program is part of JCCSF’s “Uninhibited: About Sex” series, which includes lectures, storytelling, live music, and other events.

In a news release, Barbara Lane, director of the community center’s arts and ideas programs, said, “Being located in the middle of such a progressive city, the JCCSF has become a safe space for the community to explore topics that matter. We want to share the Jewish value that safe and consensual sexuality is fundamentally healthy and pleasurable.

This allows ‘Uninhibited’ to explore a topic that is universally relevant, but often complicated, emotional, political and sensational.”

Christine Shirilla, the community

center’s teen program “At least three” of coordinator, said in an the students are LGBT, interview that working Shirilla said. with students on a project Student Lauren Safier, that’s so closely related 17, who’s straight, said in to sex “hasn’t been too an email that the program challenging.” “provided a space to open“The community partly and safely discuss and ners we’ve been working learn about sex positivity with, this is what they’re and healthy relationships.

Sex columnist trained in,” Shirilla said.

I left the program with “And the students Dan Savage a greater understanding are ready,” she added. of effective birth control “They’re ready to take on this topic methods, the importance of consent, and talk about sex, and more then and the qualities of a healthy relationjust the biological part of sex.” ship. But most importantly, I left the Shirilla said that the students program with a greater understandhave indicated they’re “feeling reing and appreciation of the imporally grateful to have these topics distance of health education.” cussed in a safe environment” with Savage’s sex advice column, “Savage knowledgeable health educators.

Love,” debuted in 1991 and is syn-

dicated in dozens of newspapers. In 2010, he and his husband, Terry Miller, founded the It Gets Better Project, which has generated thousands of videos offering hope to LGBT youth.

Other events in the Uninhibited series include “Take it Off! The New Burlesque,” March 18; and “Bawdy Storytelling: True Stories of Sexual Adventure,” March 24. Lectures and discussions include “The Big O: Women and Sexual Desire” April 5, and “A Celebration of Animal Reproduction” April 21.

Although the Savage event is sold out, it will be live-streamed at www. jccsf.org/arts-ideas/ondemand.t Event tickets range in price from $27 to $37 and are available at www.jccsf.org.

Clinton surges, 3 left in GOP race

by Lisa Keen

D

emocratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton had to scramble this week to correct a misstatement about Nancy Reagan’s contribution to the AIDS epidemic. But there are very few signs that her LGBT support has abandoned her, and she racked up decisive wins in Tuesday’s primaries – taking four out of five of the large primary states.

Clinton won the majority of votes in the primaries of Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio. Missouri was still undecided for both Democrats and Republicans as of Wednesday morning, but it appeared that race, too, would go to Clinton.

Clinton now has 66 percent of the 2,383 delegates she needs to secure the nomination; Sanders has 34 percent.

In the Republican primaries, real estate mogul Donald Trump won three of the five states, including Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina.

Long shot Republican contender John Kasich won the primary in his home state of Ohio, significantly bolstering the hopes of the only politically moderate candidate in the GOP field.

Senator Marco Rubio lost his home state of Florida and announced early Tuesday night that he was suspending his campaign.

Trump now has 50 percent of the 1,237 delegates he needs to secure the Republican presidential nomination; Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has 32 percent; and Kasich has 11 percent. During his victory speech Tuesday night, Kasich, governor of Ohio, said he would go “all the way to Cleveland,” where the GOP convention will take place this summer, to win the nomination.

The race for the Republican nomi-

Associated Press

Hillary Clinton greets supporters in Florida after handily winning that state and others Tuesday.

nation has been thrown into a state of shock and intrigue. Most political leaders in both parties have expressed disbelief and revulsion at Trump’s comments at many of his rallies.

Among other things, Trump has called for banning all Muslims from entering this country, building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, said Mexican immigrants are criminals and rapists, and hesitated to disavow the Ku Klux Klan and a former grand wizard, David Duke. He has also encouraged his supporters to “punch” people protesting his racially hostile remarks and even “promised” to pay for their legal expenses.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said Tuesday he urged Trump to “condemn and discourage” violence at his rallies.

Trump blamed Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders’ supporters for disrupting a planned rally in Chicago last week. According to one local television station, protesters against Trump chanted “Racist pig, anti-gay, Donald Trump, go away.” Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-Illinois) said the antiTrump crowd included “men and women, gay and straight, black and

white, Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Jews from every part of the world.”

Trump fired back with a post on Twitter: “Be careful Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours!”

Speaking from West Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday night, Clinton referred to Trump and his controversial remarks.

“We should be breaking down barriers, not building walls,” said Clinton. “... We have to take on all forms of inequality and discrimination. Together, we have to defend all of our rights – civil rights and voting rights, workers rights and women, LGBT rights and rights for people with disabilities.”

AIDS gaffe

Clinton has consistently mentioned LGBT people in her remarks at many campaign events, but she set off a small firestorm last Friday when, attending the funeral for Reagan, the former first lady, she complimented Reagan as having helped start a national conversation about AIDS when President Ronald Reagan was in office.

Many activists still remember how painfully slow the president was to address the AIDS crisis that

exploded unchecked in the 1980s.

Very few were aware of any contribution Nancy Reagan made to help people with AIDS. But before most people even heard about Clinton’s compliment to Nancy Reagan, Clinton issued an apology and posted a message on Twitter, saying, “I misspoke about [the Reagans’] record on HIV and AIDS. For that I am sorry.” She later issued a second statement on Medium, discussing at length the early response to AIDS. “To be clear, the Reagans did not start a national conversation about HIV and AIDS,” wrote Clinton.

“That distinction belongs to generations of brave lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, along with straight allies, who started not just a conversation but a movement that continues to this day.”

Sanders, who has a long and strong record of supporting equal rights for LGBT people, also mentioned them during his remarks Tuesday night. But most channels did not cover his hourlong speech at a rally in Arizona.

At a town hall sponsored by CNN Sunday night, Sanders said that civil rights movements, including the gay movement, have shown that “the only way we really transform this country – is when people stand up by the millions and fight back.”

Anecdotal information suggests the LGBT community is largely behind Clinton, though a significant number support Sanders. In early February, a marketing survey of 563 LGBT voters nationwide found that 48 percent would vote for Clinton, 41 percent for Sanders, 2 percent for Trump, and 1 percent each for Kasich and Rubio. Four percent were undecided. No exit polls yet

have identified LGBT voters in the primary states.

The newly formed LGBT Congressional Equality Political Action Committee, led by gay Representatives Jared Polis (D-Colorado) and Mark Takano (D-California), announced Monday it was endorsing Clinton for president.

LPAC, a pro-lesbian political action committee headed by Chicago activist Laura Ricketts and D.C.-based Hilary Rosen, supported Clinton. Ricketts and Rosen both gave personal contributions to Clinton, too. And Rosen has been a longtime Clinton ally.

In D.C., longtime activist Rick Rosendall said he’s supporting Clinton.

“Hillary is a pragmatic liberal.

She is a bit too hawkish for me, and a bit too friendly to Bibi Netanyahu, but as secretary of state, she demonstrated an understanding of the value and importance of diplomacy,” said Rosendall, referring to the Israeli prime minister. “In that job, she also went to Geneva to launch a worldwide LGBT rights effort. She has embraced President Obama’s legacy, and I think he is the best president of my lifetime.

“I think Sanders is a good guy and has helped the Democratic cause by bringing his issues to the campaign,” added Rosendall. “But he is a singleissue candidate, and his hectoring style is wearing thin with me. He would be crucified in the general election for his praise for Fidel Castro.

And I don’t see evidence of his ability to enact his proposals. Also, Hillary is much more deft on racial issues.”

Next week, GOP primaries will take place in Arizona and Utah; Democratic primaries will take place in those states plus Idaho, Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington state.t

Garland is characterized by many court observers as a moderate, but he clerked for one of the Supreme Court’s most liberal justices, William Brennan, and he was nominated to the D.C. Circuit Court by President Bill Clinton.

Garland was born in Chicago in 1952. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law, and clerked for Judge Henry Friendly, worked at a law practice, and then became an assistant to President Jimmy Carter’s attorney general, Benjamin Civiletti.

He helped prosecute the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Obama said Garland would begin meeting with senators Wednesday and he pleaded with Senate Republicans to give Garland an up or down vote. Failure to do so, said Obama, will wreak havoc with the Supreme Court and democracy.

Lambda Legal Defense and

Education Fund issued a statement Wednesday calling on the Senate Judiciary Committee to give Garland “a complete and timely review.”

“Despite the recent Supreme Court victory that made marriage equally available to same-sex couples throughout the United States, numerous issues that are critically important to the LGBT community are likely to come before the court again soon,” Lambda Legal’s legal director Jon Davidson said in a statement.

“These include the constitutionality of sweeping, ardently anti-LGBT laws masquerading as religious freedom protections; the legality of anti-transgender policies designed to bar equal access to public spaces; the protection federal employment discrimination laws provide to LGBT workers; and the constitutionality of harsh and discriminatory HIV criminalization laws.”t

Obama nominates Garland for Supreme Court

by Lisa Keen

P

resident Barack Obama announced Wednesday that he is nominating Merrick Garland, the chief judge of D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In announcing Garland’s nomination, Obama said he is a “thoughtful, fair-minded judge who follows the law.”

“People respect Merrick’s deep and abiding passion for protecting our most basic constitutional rights,” said Obama.

Garland, 63, serves on the D.C. appeals court and at one time was joined by now U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. On that federal appeals court, Garland upheld a gay Navy man’s discharge even though two discharge boards

said there was insufficient evidence to merit discharge. He also joined a decision that upheld a Federal Communications Commission action against the operator of a low-power radio broadcaster serving the gay community. And he joined then-D.C. Circuit Judge Roberts in a decision rejecting police liability for misconduct by officers who sprayed a chemical deterrent on members of a pro-gay protest group during President George W. Bush’s first inaugural parade.

Given the Senate Judiciary Committee’s announced intention to ignore Obama’s nominee, the choice of Garland to replace the high court’s most conservative justice set off immediate conjecture.

Obama said Garland’s name came up repeatedly during previous Supreme Court nominee searches as one proffered by both Democrats and Republicans.

Courtesy ABC7

President Barack Obama announces his nomination of federal appeals Judge Merrick Garland, right, in the Rose Garden, joined by Vice President Joe Biden.

But Obama has previously nominated judges that break new ground – the first Latina to the Supreme Court, the first openly gay man to a federal appeals court, the first African-American lesbian to a federal district court.

This time, he chose a white, male moderate in what will likely be his last high court appointment.

t

Community News>>

March 17-23, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

1049 Market residents fight eviction again

by Seth Hemmelgarn

T

enants of a San Francisco building that’s been popular with low-income LGBT artists are again fighting their landlord’s efforts to oust them.

People residing in live-work lofts at 1049 Market Street received Ellis Act notices about two weeks ago, according to Chandra Reddick, 60, a lesbian musician and longtime tenant.

John Gall, one of the building’s owners, has previously tried to evict tenants. In September 2013, residents received an email from the building management claiming that because of at least one “longstanding” code violation, the city’s Department of Building Inspections was making management oust the tenants. A DBI spokesman has disputed that claim.

In 2014, Gall withdrew his appeal of the city’s suspension of his demolition permit, tenants said at the time. He would have needed the permit in order to proceed with his plans for the building.

The Ellis Act, through which the current eviction effort is being made, is a state law that allows landlords to evict tenants in order to get out of the rental business. The landlord must remove all units from the rental market. Such tenants are paid relocation expenses to move.

Gall didn’t respond to interview requests.

According to a news release from tenants, “The landlord has already begun illegally converting units into offices, ensuring this rent-controlled housing stock is kept off the market.”

Asked where she’d go if she has

Seth Hemmelgarn

1049 Market Street resident Chandra Reddick, seen here in 2013, doesn’t know where she’ll go if she’s evicted.

to leave her home, Reddick, who’s made music in her unit, said, “That’s the problem. I have no idea whatsoever at this point.” Her rent is $830

a month, an amount that’s almost impossible to find anywhere in the city now.

Steve Collier, a Tenderloin Housing Clinic attorney who’s representing the tenants, said, “We’ll fight the eviction.”

“We don’t believe the Ellis Act was intended to be used for artists’ livework” units, said Collier. He estimated there are up to 25 tenants left in the building, which according to city records has about 60 live-work spaces. The law instead has been “used for apartments,” Collier said.

Queer housing rights advocate Tommi Avicolli Mecca, who works for San Francisco’s Housing Rights Committee, has been working for years with the 1049 Market tenants.

“We’re going to continue to fight,” Avicolli Mecca said, and “I feel pretty confident we’re going to

win. ... The stage is right for these tenants to win. They’ve been fighting so successfully for so long.”

The fact that the building’s tenants are again at risk after the situation appeared to be settled is “just the way these epic battles go,” he said. “You stop one attempt, and then you hope the landlord won’t try another one, and sometimes they do. These battles often take years.”

District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim, who’s also been helping the tenants, has brought successful legislation that put controls on converting residential units into office space.

The eviction attempt is “clearly greed-driven and speculative,” said Kim, who’s running for state Senate.

The people living at 1049 Market are “the very type of residents we want to protect in San Francisco, the city that we love,” she said.t

EQCA SF gala to honor Pelosi, three others compiled by Cynthia Laird

H

ouse Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) will receive Equality California’s Ally Leadership Award at the statewide LGBT rights group’s San Francisco gala Saturday, April 2.

The organization also announced that gay actor and activist George Takei, lesbian businesswoman Kathy Levinson, and gay former San Francisco supervisor Bevan Dufty will also be honored.

Pelosi is being recognized for her decades of support for the LGBT community as well as her transformative leadership to advance LGBT civil rights in Congress. She was the

first woman to serve as speaker of the House of Representatives and in that role spearheaded the passage of a fully-inclusive hate crimes bill, signed by President Barack Obama, and led the efforts to repeal the military’s anti-gay “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy during the lame-duck session in 2010, just before Democrats lost control of the House in 2011.

“House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi truly sets the standard for everything an LGBT ally should be,” EQCA Executive Director Rick Zbur said in a news release.

Takei will receive the Equality Advocate Award for the outstanding public example he has set as an out gay man and as an activist advanc-

Rick Gerharter

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi

ing social justice. Best known for the role of Mr. Sulu on television’s original Star Trek, Takei has been an outspoken advocate for LGBT

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He spent much of his childhood in wartime internment camps for Japanese-Americans. He married his husband, Brad Altman, in 2008 two months before the passage of Proposition 8, the state’s same-sex marriage ban that was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013.

Levinson will be honored with the Geoff Kors Leadership Award for her role in changing California’s LGBT civil rights landscape as a founding board president of EQCA, and through her significant philanthropic and community activities.

Under her leadership, EQCA adopted a goal to win marriage equality and full civil rights for LGBT Californians within a decade. As a result of that strategy, California went from a state with limited laws

protecting LGBT people to the state with the most comprehensive LGBT civil rights protections in the world.

She married her wife, Naomi Fine, in 2008 before the passage of Prop 8. Levinson is the former president and chief operating officer of E-Trade.

Dufty is receiving both a Humanitarian Award and a State Farm Good Neighbor Award for his 40year public service career that has made San Francisco a better, more humane place to live. Last year he retired as director of Housing, Opportunity, Partnership, and Engagement, the city’s initiative targeting homelessness. He is best known in that capacity for launching the city’s first Navigation Center, where homeless people can go with their See page 13 >>

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<< Commentary

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 17-23, 2016

t

Waiter, there’s a transgender person in my soup

by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

M

ichael Savage is, like any number of other right-wing talk radio hosts, no stranger to courting controversy. He’s made inflammatory statements about groups ranging from the Catholic Church to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. This shtick has been very successful for him, leading his “Savage Nation” program to be one of the most listened to radio talk shows in the country.

Savage took to the airwaves this month to discuss where he sees the United States going, should Hilary Clinton be elected this November.

“She is an absolute dictator,” said Savage. “She will seize guns and make them illegal in any way necessary.” Of course, Savage has been saying the same thing about President Barack Obama for eight years or so, including jumping on the Sandy Hook conspiracy bandwagon, wherein people believe that the school shooting that claimed the

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lives of 20 kids was a hoax.

He had more to say about a Clinton presidency beyond the usual Second Amendment statements, and this is where it gets truly interesting.

“Socially [the country will be] a nightmare,” said Savage.

“There will be a transgender in your soup.”

He broke to commercial right after this, not bothering to elaborate on how a transgender person would end up in one’s minestrone, or what he even meant. Yet it’s worth noting that in the world of far-right politics he doesn’t need to explain. Just throwing up a transgender boogeyman is enough. We’ve reached a point where simply using the word transgender is enough to get you in very hot water.

Transgender people being used this way is not necessarily new. I can recall the same sort of scaremongering around transgender teachers nearly two decades ago. Before that, gay and lesbian people were marginalized in similar fashion by hate mongers, who usually applied highly stereotyped cross-gender expressions on each. In the last few years, this sort of alarmist activity around transgender people has reached new levels.

With the end of the marriage rights battle – aside from the rise now of so-called religious freedom bills to curtail same – the right is looking for its new foe. Time magazine’s “Transgender Tipping Point” issue, as well as the coming out of Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner, gave the right a potential new target.

Conservatives also discovered a new way to fear monger with

But there is a fringe out there that eats these things up, who decides to gobble up the word salad of right-wing scaremongers. Presumably paired alongside their transgender soup.

Another well-known right-wing radio personality, Alex Jones of “InfoWars,” has Christine Smith – among all his other contransgender people, reviving old spiracy theories – claimed arguments about gays and lesbians that first lady Michelle Obama is attacking kids in bathrooms. We’ve transgender. Presumably, the story seen this attack for years now, with goes, the president is a gay man, and arguments that allowing transgenMichelle is actually male. der people to use restrooms of their In the words of an insurance preference will open the bathroom commercial, “This isn’t how it doors for all sorts of pedophiles and works! This isn’t how any of this rapists. Indeed, in the fringe world works!” The whole notion is laughthat Savage’s core audience surely able, nonsensical, and ludicrous. I’m inhabits, there is no distinction benot going to try to unpack how bad tween transgender peoit is, nor do I suspect anyone literple and these predators. ate enough to read this column will In 2014, a month beneed me to do so. fore the aforementioned I would also be remiss not to menissue of Time magazine, tion the alleged Planned Parenthood the Office for Civil Rights shooter, Robert Lewis Dear. Dear in the U.S. Departwas himself the very sort of audience ment of Education member who might listen to Savage issued guidelines or Jones. He fell into the belief that that made it clear Planned Parenthood was “selling that transgender baby parts” – another right wing dog students were prowhistle in heavy rotation – and took tected from discrimination under matters into his own hands. He’s Title IX. It is Title IX that has reaccused of killing three people, and quired schools to allow transgender injuring nine others. students to use facilities consistent In the wake of the shootings, the with their gender identity and exGateway Pundit, a self-described pression – and what has caused “right of center news website,” defights over restrooms at schools clared that Dear was a transwoman across the country, including the due to a clerical error on his voter recently defeated vetoed HB 1008 in registration. The story was repeated South Dakota. often, even repeated by current ReAs I indicated above, many of publican Presidential candidate Ted these fights are cleverly calculated Cruz. Of course, Dear is not transby the same foes we saw in the margender, and even a cursory look at riage battles. Much of this is a cynihis history makes that plain to see. cal attempt to fill their coffers at the People ask why transgender cost of transgender rights; in much people are being murdered at such the same way Savage will apparently See page 14 >> say anything for ratings.

The rhythm of disability

by Belo Cipriani

W

hether you love it or hate it, dance is universal and at the core of just about every social function. And while some may claim not to be born with the gift of rhythm, the truth of the matter is that what sets non-dancers apart from those who enjoy swaying and spinning is desire. So, whether someone has two left feet, no sight or hearing, or is missing limbs, if they wish to shake it and shimmy, they can do it with ease.

Judith Smith, artistic director of the AXIS Dance Company, an Oakland-based organization that is changing the face of dance and disability, believes that one of the biggest fallacies the general public has about the disabled and dance is that people with physical impairments have no rhythm.

“A big misconception is that people with disabilities can’t dance,” Smith said. “Another is that we wouldn’t want to dance.”

Smith, who identifies as a lesbian and disabled, thinks these outdated perspectives exist everywhere – even in the eclectic LGBT community. And often the first reaction from audience members who attend AXIS shows is that they find the performance mind blowing. Another unique attribute about AXIS is the dance company features dancers with and without disabilities together – a style known as physically integrated – which makes for a truly diverse dance experience.

“It’s not just about seeing dancers

Andrea Basil

Judith Smith and Janet Das perform in AXIS Dance Company’s “Foregone” choreographed by Kate Weare.

who are disabled. It’s about seeing both dancers with and without disabilities moving together powerfully and creating a vocabulary that could not exist with just non-disabled dancers or with just disabled dancers,” Smith said.

AXIS offers an array of workshops for adults and children, creates one to three new repertory pieces each year, and generally travels to eight to 14 cities per year.

Additionally, they perform at several conferences that showcase inclusivity and innovation.

“I often say,” Smith said, “we’re the dance company that goes where no dance company has been before or since.”

AXIS holds workshop-style auditions and Smith is constantly scouting for new talent. She admits the pool of trained disabled dancers is extremely small. In the past, many

AXIS dancers have come through its dance classes and summer intensives, as it gives Smith the opportunity to get to know them in a less stressful scenario. Also, AXIS offers job training through an apprenticeship program. And while some disabled dancers may want special equipment to dance, it is not required.

“Some dancers are able to have a chair or prosthetics specific to dance, but a lot of us have to rely on our everyday equipment. It’s a money thing and it’s difficult to get sponsorships for dance compared to sports,” Smith said.

In May, AXIS will host a national convening in New York City on the future of physically integrated dance in the U.S., followed by six regional gatherings around the country. “We are touring a fair amount and preparing for our 30th anniversary,” said Smith.

AXIS will be performing at Stanford’s Live Context: Art and Ideas series April 23. It will also be performing in Sean Dorsey’s Fresh Meat Festival in San Francisco, June 16-18.

And for those who may be interested in joining AXIS, it will be auditioning for new dancers July 29-30.

For more information, visit www. axisdance.org, or find them on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.t Belo Cipriani is a freelance journalist, the award-winning author of Blind: A Memoir and Midday Dreams, and a spokesman for Guide Dogs for the Blind. He was voted best disability advocate in the Bay Area in 2015 by SF Weekly. Learn more at www.

BeloCipriani.com.

t <<

Community News>>

Pride grand marshals

From page 3

their choice for community grand marshal.

SF Pride also announced that Black Lives Matter will be this year’s organizational grand marshal, based on the public vote.

This year’s Pride theme is “For Racial and Economic Justice.”

Yang, 61, identifies as an Asian American queer man. He played a key role in the development of the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland and the Insight Community of the Desert in Palm Springs. He’s helped to found a number of longtime LGBTQ meditation groups and is on the Teacher’s Council of Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin County. Yang has a long-standing commitment to serving multicultural and queer activist communities.

He pointed out that fighting for equality and dealing with bigotry can be quite stressful – meditation can play a key role in alleviating that stress, he said.

“The work of social activism is hard and often harsh,” Yang said. “Can we do the work without our hearts hardening and becoming harsh as well? What would it be like to do the

<<

News Briefs

From page 11

partners, possessions, and pets. He served two terms as a city supervisor.

“Bevan understands that homelessness is very much an LGBT problem,” Zbur said. “In some cities, a staggering 40 percent of homeless young people are LGBT.” In San Francisco, last year’s Pointin-Time Count identified 29 percent of the city’s homeless as LGBT. The EQCA San Francisco Equality Awards takes place from 6 to 11 p.m. at the Westin St. Francis, 335 Powell Street. Individual tickets start at $350. For more information, visit http://www.eqca.org.

Glide to show film about defrocked minister

Glide United Methodist Church will screen An Act of Love, the story of pastor Frank Schaefer, who was defrocked by the Methodist church

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Political Notebook

From page 5

bring the unique medical voice to the issues since I feel as though as issues from education, to the environment, to transportation arise from improving the health of our community.”

Also in the race is gay Milk club member Rick Hauptman.

Proposal could give SF supes DCCC seats

With nine out of 11 of the city’s supervisors running for DCCC seats this year, once again attention has turned to whether or not the supervisors should be allowed to serve on the DCCC. A ballot measure in 2010 that would have barred supervisors from serving on the DCCC

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SF arts

From page 9

tro or who perform in the Castro get grants from us,” noted DeCaigny, who lives in the city’s Excelsior district. “We are a leader nationally as a local city funding LGBTQQ arts and culture. It is a point of pride for the arts commission; we go out of our way to foster and encourage emerging artists who transcend all the identities in our community.”

Pamela S. Peniston, the Queer Cultural Center’s artistic director, told the B.A.R. “that it’s been great having a director who is not only gay and has nonprofit administration experience but who is also committed to serving artists and audiences from the city’s underrepresented

work of justice with hearts and minds that are free from greed, hatred, and delusion. That is the invitation of meditation, to create our social activism as our spiritual practice.”

Yang also said that he was “deeply humbled and moved by all our communities who have expressed their caring and support for all our collective journeys and aspirations for a more just and kind world.”

“I bow deeply to the lives and work of my co-marshals, Janetta Johnson and Black Lives Matter,” he said. “They are role models for me as I continue to learn how I might be of service.”

Johnson told the Bay Area Reporter that she was delighted to be chosen, but cautioned the community to keep in mind that equality for all has yet to be achieved.

“I am thrilled to be selected as grand marshal and deeply appreciate the recognition of my work with TGI Justice Project,” she said. “I just have to say that while I am honored, I am also aware that there is no pride for some of us without liberation for all of us. So I will be celebrating, and I will also be thinking of my trans sisters, brothers, and siblings currently kept out of the community in cages by systems of oppression – including

March 17-23, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

Janetta Johnson

prisons, jails, and detention centers.”

Johnson, who declined to state her age, added that she enjoys working with others who share her goals.

“I am proud to be working with and alongside the other grand marshals and proud to continue to create spaces and campaigns for economic justice and safety, together,” she said. “Thank you for selecting me as a SF Pride grand marshal.

Black trans lives matter.”

According to its website, TGI Justice Project works “in collaboration

with others to forge a culture of resistance and resilience to strengthen us for the fight against human rights abuses, imprisonment, police violence, racism, poverty, and societal pressures.”

The agency seeks to create a world rooted in self-determination, freedom of expression, and gender justice. The site further notes that the organization’s membership is comprised of low-income transgender women of color, their families who are in prison, formerly incarcerated, or targeted by the police.

Black Lives Matter is an international network of more than 30 chapters working for the validity of black life, according to an SF Pride news release. It works to build the black liberation movement and affirm the lives of all black people, specifically black women, queer and trans people, people who are differently-abled, and those who are undocumented and formerly incarcerated.

“The Black Lives Matter national network is honored to have received the distinction of serving as the organizational grand marshal for this year’s San Francisco Pride parade,” Shanelle Matthews, communications strategist for BLM, told the B.A.R.

“Black Lives Matter is committed to empowering those marginalized within black liberation movements, specifically queer, transgender and gender non-conforming people.”

Some have questioned whether the Black Lives Matter movement is an LGBT issue. Matthews said that it is.

“The fight for LGBT rights and black liberation has always been inextricably linked,” she said. “We know many San Franciscans share our vision of a world where black LGBT people can have the political, social, and economic power we deserve to make the best decisions for ourselves and our families, like everyone else. Black Lives Matter was founded and is staffed by queer black women. We never miss an opportunity to highlight the needs of the LGBT community, especially black trans women.”

In fact, one of the co-founders, Alicia Garza, a queer woman, served as a Pride community grand marshal last year.

SF Pride officials said that additional community grand marshals are expected to be named in a couple weeks.

This year’s Pride Parade will commence on Sunday, June 26 at 10:30 a.m.t

Openhouse holds women and AIDS forum

for officiating his son’s same-sex marriage, Tuesday, March 22 from 6 to 9:15 p.m. at Glide, 330 Ellis Street in San Francisco.

Schaefer will be on hand for the event, along with filmmakers Scott Sheppard and Kate Logan and Glide senior pastor, the Reverend Karen Oliveto.

While the U.S. now has marriage equality, the United Methodist Church – the country’s secondlargest protestant denomination – is still sharply divided on the issue. In May, the church will hold its general conference and one of the issues to be determined is whether to allow pastors to perform same-sex marriages. In advance of the conference, An Act of Love showcases the human side of the debate through Schaefer’s story.

Schaefer had a church trial nearly six years after officiating his son’s marriage and he was given a choice: promise never to perform a same-

sex wedding again or turn in his credentials as a minister. Schaefer refused to make the promise, and was subsequently defrocked.

The film had its world premiere at last year’s Mill Valley Film Festival, where it won the Silver Audience Award for best documentary.

A question and answer session will follow the screening, which is free and open to the public. To register, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-act-of-love-a-filmscreening-and-glide-talk-tickets-22664098930.

Judy and Dennis Shepard, the parents of slain gay Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard, will receive Out and Equal Workplace Advocates’ Ally Award at its Momentum gala Thursday, March 24 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

Since their son’s brutal murder

in 1998, Dennis and Judy Shepard have gone on to start the Matthew Shepard Foundation, whose mission is to erase hate by replacing it with understanding, compassion, and acceptance. The foundation inspired federal hate crime legislation, named in part after Matthew Shepard, which has shaped the nation’s dialogue on LGBT violence and acceptance.

The gala will feature emcee Kate Clinton, live and silent auctions, a cocktail reception, and dinner.

Included with tickets for Momentum will be a panel on LGBT veterans that precedes the gala at 4:30 p.m. in the grand ballroom.

Momentum starts at 6; tickets are $175 and can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ momentum-out-equals-annualgala-tickets-19733734130. The Palace Hotel is at 2 New Montgomery Street. For more information, visit http://www.outandequal.org.

failed to pass.

Currently, four supervisors sit on the DCCC: District 1 Supervisor Eric Mar and District 10 Supervisor Malia Cohen in addition to Wiener and Campos. All four are seeking re-election this June.

And running to become DCCC members are Supervisors Jane Kim (District 6), Mark Farrell (District 2), London Breed (District 5), Norman Yee (District 7), and Aaron Peskin (District 3), who formerly served not only on the DCCC but was a past party chair.

Also among the DCCC candidates are several people who are also running to become supervisors this fall, such as Engardio, who is running against Yee for his seat covering the city’s neighborhoods west of Twin Peaks. Two candidates

seeking to succeed Mar are also on the DCCC ballot in the 19th Assembly District, Sandra Lee Fewer and incumbent DCCC member Marjan Philhour.

From the 17th Assembly District are supervisor candidates Wendy Chau, who is running against Peskin this fall, and incumbent DCCC member Joshua Arce, a candidate to succeed Campos in District 9.

DCCC member Alix Rosenthal, who is seeking re-election this year, has floated a proposal that would automatically award the city’s Democratic supervisors ex-officio seats on the party’s oversight panel, similar to those given to state and federal lawmakers.

Not everyone supports the plan, and some are arguing any changes to the membership of the DCCC

should be tabled until after the June election.

“I think it is a worthy proposal to look at,” said Dorsey, noting that it needs a two-thirds vote to pass. “It makes sense to take the time and deliberate it at length. There is no reason these reforms can’t be done until after the election.”

Smith is urging the DCCC, should it grant automatic seats to supervisors, increase the number of elected seats on the body.

“I support it if they increase the elected membership by at least seven so they are not depleting the elected members’ votes,” said Smith, who four years ago supported a defeated proposal to add four DCCC seats from the 17th Assembly District and another three from the 19th Assembly District. “I see the

argument for giving them ex-officio seats if we have enough seats to get the grassroots elected.”

The DCCC will debate the proposal at its meeting Wednesday, March 16.t

and under-served communities.”

nearby residents of newly constructed apartment buildings or condos.

Doing so “is super important for the Castro,” added DeCaigny, as a way to protect the gayborhood’s bars and clubs.

“We have to make sure people know that a historic entertainment venue or gay bar is a part of the cultural heritage of the neighborhood you are moving into. We could do a better job to keep that in mind of new residents,” he said. “You have to know that is what you are moving next too and be excited about it and know what that means. We could do a better job of setting those parameters but also enforcing them and making sure we keep those expectations.”

Prior to working for the city, De-

Caigny had served for nine years as executive director of the Performing Arts Workshop. Between 2004 and 2006 he served as board co-chair of the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center in the Castro, and in the late 1990s worked as the education manager for the nonprofit overseeing the AIDS quilt.

As the B.A.R. noted at the time of his hiring, DeCaigny is the second out gay man to lead the San Francisco Arts Commission. The first was Richard Newirth, who held the position for 12 years until resigning in 2007.

His successor, Luis Cancel, was forced out in the summer of 2011 after news reports detailed his telecommuting from Brazil. It was the start of a series of negative headlines

involving the city agency, which was also slammed for doling out contracts to an artist who had killed a dog as part of an artwork in 1977.

An audit released a month prior to DeCaigny’s hiring found not only low morale and poor management at the agency but also that $477,000 had been incorrectly given to a nonlocal arts group. Since taking on the job, DeCaigny has won praise for his steady leadership of the agency.

“I think Tom is really inspirational. He is an incredible problem solver and he is a true champion of the arts,” said Ordeñana, who works at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center as its director of development. “I think it is a testament to his

Nightlife intertwined with the arts

Another initiative DeCaigny supports as a way to bolster the city’s cultural offerings is seeing “good transportation across the bay,” such as BART, operating past 2 a.m. It would benefit not only artists and patrons of the arts, he said, but also workers at other nightlife offerings such as bars and nightclubs.

“For a healthy arts ecology you need a healthy entertainment and nightlife ecology,” said DeCaigny.

“They are closely intertwined.”

He also believes the city should do more to protect existing venues, from dance halls to concert spaces, from being targeted for closure by

Out and Equal to honor Shepards at Momentum

In honor of Women’s History Month, Openhouse will hold a forum on the role of San Francisco’s lesbian community during the AIDS crisis Thursday, March 24 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the San Francisco Women’s Building, 3543 18th Street.

The panel will include a diverse group of local women and will also provide an opportunity for participants to share their personal recollections.

Organizers at Openhouse, which provides services to LGBT seniors, said that the forum is free and refreshments will be provided. People can bring a friend, or ally, or just themselves for what’s described as a powerful afternoon of collective storytelling. For more information, contact Armando Paone at armando@openhouse-sf.org or (415) 728-0194.t

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http:// www.ebar.com Monday mornings at noon for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion.

This week’s column reported on the lone out GOPer seeking a state legislative seat this fall.

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

Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 8298836 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

See page 14 >>

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 17-23, 2016

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Transmissions

From page 12

a high rate, especially as awareness has risen. Read above, and I think you can tell me the answer.

These are the times we live in.

This is a raucous, unbelievable political season, where anti-transgender discrimination is – to one level or another – a part of one major party’s plank, and where just using the term is enough to inflame pas-

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PrEP

From page 7

out for this reason and a majority said they would prefer long-acting shots over daily pills for PrEP. Looking at another type of PrEP formulation, investigators with the MTN-017 trial tested a tenofovir-containing gel as a rectal microbicide.

This study, conducted at eight international sites, including San Francisco in the U.S., enrolled gay men, trans women, a few non-trans women, and people who did not identify as either men or women.

The 195 participants used oral Truvada PrEP, the tenofovir gel applied daily, or the gel applied before and after sex.

Safety was good in all treatment groups, but Truvada proved more popular than the gel. While a majority of people said they would use the gel before and after sex, most did not want to use it every day. Three new HIV infections occurred while on PrEP, one in each of the three different method groups.

The biggest prevention news at CROI came from a pair of studies that tested vaginal rings containing the experimental antiretroviral dapivirine in African women. The

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Books Inc.

From page 3

of rent or anything like that. In fact, they pay relatively low rent compared to the market.”

There had been no plans to raise the rent, Jainchill said.

“I don’t think we had even established what the rent was going to be.”

Asked what may go into the space next, Jainchill said, “Probably not a bookstore. I have no idea.” He indicated it would be turned over to a leasing company to help find a new tenant.

“I certainly don’t like to have any new tenants competing with our existing ones,” he said, noting the location is already home to a fitness center, nutrition store, a sushi restaurant, and other businesses.

Jainchill doesn’t have any idea how long the bookstore site may be empty.

“I hope not too long,” he said.

Asia Yung Inc. and WS Gan Partnership, the property owners, are overseas and couldn’t be reached, Jainchill said.

‘Heartbroken’

Daniel Bergerac, president of the Castro Merchants business group

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SF arts

From page 13

ability to build strong partnerships and relationships across the arts ecosystem, within city government and with a variety of different types and size of arts organizations across the city.”

DeCaigny has also become a vocal supporter of the arts in the media and at conferences around the globe.

He recently was in London representing San Francisco at a gathering of global cities where investing in the arts was part of the agenda.

“We have an incredible team,” DeCaigny said of his agency’s staff.

Despite having moved into his new office in late October, DeCaigny has yet to decorate the walls with

sions. There is a fringe out there that listens to these talk shows, the rhetoric of these politicians, and even their own insecurities, and acts on them.

This is the real societal nightmare, and it has very little to do with transgender people being in your soup.t Gwen Smith pairs best with a good split pea. You’ll find her at http://www.gwensmith.com.

rings reduced the risk of HIV infection by 27 percent in one study and by 31 percent in the other. But in one trial protection was greater, reaching 61 percent, for women over age 25.

While the reduction was modest, it still spurred excitement – with the presenters receiving a standing ovation at the conference – because no other biomedical prevention methods have proved as effective for women in real-world use as Truvada PrEP has for gay men.

“Having a new HIV prevention method women can control will be really empowering,” Dr. Albert Liu from the San Francisco Department of Public Health told the B.A.R. And that level of protection remains very high – well above 90 percent – for people who take Truvada consistently, despite the widely publicized report of a single case of PrEP failure in a Canadian man infected with a highly resistant strain of HIV, as reported March 3 (http://ebar.com/news/article. php?sec=news&article=71332).

“PrEP is like birth control – it’s not one size fits all,” Markowitz said.

“Some people prefer pills, some prefer injections, some prefer rings.

The more options we have, the better off we all are.”t and a gay neighborhood resident, said, “I’m just heartbroken, absolutely heartbroken” about the shop closing.

Many have been concerned about empty storefronts in the area, and Bergerac said, “I can’t imagine what will go into a space that large.”

Gay Supervisor Scott Wiener, whose District 8 includes the Castro, said, “I’m incredibly sad” about the closing of the shop, which he’s lived close to “for almost 20 years.”

“It’s my neighborhood bookstore,” Wiener said. “I’ve purchased more books at Books Inc. than I could ever remember. It’s an amazing community institution, and I’m heartbroken that it’s closing.”

He said that when he first heard the news Tuesday, “my immediate assumption was there must be a terrible property owner forcing them out.” However, he felt after speaking with Tucker that “this is not a bad landlord situation.”

Wiener said since he’d just learned of the closing, he hadn’t spoken with other businesses about going into the space, but he hopes to see a “good, neighborhood-serving retailer” there.

“We need good, active retail in Upper Market,” he said.t any city-owned artworks. He told the B.A.R. this week that he is still finalizing the art to hang but will be displaying a poster from the arts commission’s Outdoor Art Show from May 1948.

“It’s a great piece of SFAC history!” he noted in an email.

The barren look of his office could give a visitor the impression of someone not intending to stay long. Yet DeCaigny, who now earns $163,760 a year, told the B.A.R. he has no plans to leave anytime soon.

“San Francisco is my home, so I am definitely staying,” said DeCaigny, whose longtime partner, Seth Goldstein, is a graphic designer and artist. “This role has been exciting and continues to be exciting and challenging.”t

t

Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036945200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CRYSTAL STINGRAY LEATHER COMPANY, 1740 BANCROFT AVE #4508, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ZHI GUANG LI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/18/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/18/16.

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036942200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BLACK SERUM; BRUCIUS TATTOO; 377 GUERRERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BRUCIUS VON XYLANDER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/16/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/16/16.

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036948400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE MINDFUL CLEANER, 2306 MARKET ST #409, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOE R. ZAMORA. 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 02/19/16.

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036910400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BRIGHTSOURCES, 5758 GEARY BLVD #106, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EUN JIN JEON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/28/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/28/16.

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036938300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HAIR DOKTORS, 3150 18TH ST #260, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JANAYA CASEY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/12/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/12/16.

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036939700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MYIGHTY, 459 FULTON ST #107, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MICHEAL NGUYEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/16.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/16/16.

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036930700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BLACK MAGIC USA, 400 BAKER ST #104, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed PETER DANZIG & JON CARR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/09/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/09/16.

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036941000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: R&D CLEANING SERVICES LLC, 2911 CALIFORNIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115.

This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed R&D CLEANING SERVICES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/16/16.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/16/16.

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036937300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PONTIAC HOTEL, 509 MINNA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed 509 MINNA STREET LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/12/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/12/16.

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036941400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LA BELLE, 3226 GEARY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed FORTRINITY LLC (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 02/16/16.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-551895

In the matter of the application of: RUO WU XU, 318 WILDE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner RUO WU XU, is requesting that the name RUO WU XU, be changed to NICHOLAS R. XU. 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 April 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036942500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NOODLEME, 333 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed RANDY WATSON GROUP, LLC (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 02/17/16.

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036953500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HUMAN VIDEO GAME LLC, 550 15TH ST #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HUMAN VIDEO GAME LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/23/16.

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036521100

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: SCIENCE INK, 377 GUERRERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by ANGELO L.M. CADUTO. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/05/15.

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016 SUMMONS: FAMILY LAW, SAN DIEGO COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: SANDRA BJORK RUDOLFSDOTTIR YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF: KEVIN ANTHONY NASH CASE NO. D-559231

Notice: You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and petition are served on you to file a response (form FL-120) at this court and have a copy served on the petitioner. A letter, phone call, or court appearance will not protect you. If you do not file your response on time, the court may make orders affecting your marriage or domestic partnership, your property, and custody of your children. You may be ordered to pay support and attorney fees and costs. For legal advice, contact a lawyer immediately. Get help finding a lawyer at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), California Legal Services website (www.lawhelpca.org), or by contacting your local county bar association.

NOTICE: Restraining orders are effective against both spouses or domestic partners until the petition is dismissed, a judgment is entered, or the court makes further orders. They are enforceable anywhere in California by any law enforcement officer who has received or seen a copy of them.

FEE WAIVER: If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the clerk for a fee waiver form. The court mat order you to pay back all or part of the fees and costs that the court waived for you or the other party.

The name and address of the court are SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, CENTRAL DIVISION, FAMILY COURT, 1555 6TH AVE., SAN DIEGO, CA 92101.

The name, address, and telephone number of the petitioner’s attorney, or petitioner without an attorney, is:

KEVIN ANTHONY NASH, 3875 FLORIDA ST., SAN DIEGO, CA 92104; (619) 384 - 9130.

Date: 01/27/16; Clerk, by A. THOMPSON, Deputy.

MARCH 03, 10, 17, 24, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036953200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MR. NICE WHEELS. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RASIKH WAZIRALI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/23/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/23/16.

MARCH 03, 10, 17, 24, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036961700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ANITA B:SPA. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ANITAFACIAL, 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 02/26/16.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-551899

In the matter of the application of: MICHAEL LEE WOODIN C/O GINA GEMELLO, SBN 282964, AIDS LEGAL REFERRAL PANEL, 1663 MISSION ST #500, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MICHAEL LEE WOODIN, is requesting that the name MICHAEL LEE WOODIN, be changed to MICHAEL LEE BROKAW. 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 14th of April 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MARCH 10, 17, 24, 31, 2016 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-551921

In the matter of the application of: YIN FUN CHOY, 516 CLEMENT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner YIN FUN CHOY, is requesting that the name YIN FUN CHOY, be changed to CHRISTY YIN FUN CHOY. 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 28th of April 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MARCH 10, 17, 24, 31, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036970100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BOF COMPANY, 215 14TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BRENDAN O’FLAHERTY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/02/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/02/16.

MARCH 10, 17, 24, 31, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036955700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SKALLIWAGS PET CARE, 1186 FLORIDA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GLYNIS RADELMAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/24/16.

MARCH 10, 17, 24, 31, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036974400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EVENT SOLUTIONS, 118 TURK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARICHELLE S. DIZON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/04/16.

MARCH 10, 17, 24, 31, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036978500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TSM GENERAL CONTRACTOR, 5191 3RD ST #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed THOMAS STOCKDALE MILLER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/81. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/16.

MARCH 10, 17, 24, 31, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036978300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: METTA, 421 BRYANT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed PAPERO INC. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/22/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/16.

MARCH 10, 17, 24, 31, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036979700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NAVAJO CARE HOME, 108 BOSWORTH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed REYNALDO SALAZAR & CONCEPCION R. SALAZAR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/08/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/16.

MARCH 10, 17, 24, 31, 2016 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-551937

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BLACK SERUM, 377 GUERRERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed OPUS INK, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/16/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/16/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAFE HOUSE. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed KIRKHAM STREET SERVICES LLC (CA). 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 02/29/16.

In the matter of the application of: JOANNE MICHELLE RAMIREZ, 909 FRANKLIN ST #7, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner JOANNE MICHELLE RAMIREZ is requesting that the name JOANNE MICHELLE RAMIREZ, aka JOANNE M. RAMIREZ, aka JOANNE RAMIREZ, be changed to JOANNE MICHELE CUENCA. 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 3rd of May 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016

MARCH 03, 10, 17, 24, 2016

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016

FEB 25, MAR 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036942300

MARCH 03, 10, 17, 24, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036963100

▼

Read more online at www.ebar.com

Legal Notices>> NOTICE OF FAMILY COURT ACTION IN THE FAMILY COURT FOR THE STATE OF DELAWARE IN AND FOR SUSSEX COUNTY FILE NO: CS16-01334

To: Robert Dervaes, Respondent Petitioner, Kristine Dervaes has filed a Petition for Custody against you in the Family Court of the State of Delaware in and for Sussex County on February 25, 2016. If you do not file an answer with the Family Court within 20 days after publication of this notice, exclusive of the date of publication, as required by statute, this action will be heard in Family Court without further notice.

Petition No.: 16-06297 dated 03/09/2016, signed Thomas E. Gay, Esquire, Stumpf, Vickers & Sandy, P.A., 8 West Market Street, Georgetown, Delaware 19947. Phone (302) 856-3561 To: Robert Dervaes, Respondent Petitioner, Kristine Dervaes has filed a Petition for Divorce against you in the Family Court of the State of Delaware in and for Sussex County on February 25, 2016. If you do not file an answer with the Family Court within 20 days after publication of this notice, exclusive of the date of publication, as required by statute, this action will be heard in Family Court without further notice.

Petition No.: 16-06597, dated 03/09/2016, signed Thomas E. Gay, Esquire, Stumpf, Vickers & Sandy, P.A., 8 West Market Street, Georgetown, Delaware 19947. Phone (302) 856-3561

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-551887

Classifieds

March 17-23, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 15

The

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036982100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BJ’S ELECTRIC BIKE TOURS; JB ROAD BIKE TOURS, 2715 HYDE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed AMERICAN SCOOTER & CYCLE RENTALS (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/09/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/09/16.

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MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036992700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SOL AMBIANCE, 5522 GEARY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed FLORAL AMBIANCE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/05/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/15/16.

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036968801

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BRYAN ROBERTS SALON LLC; PRIMA FACIE, 561 CASTRO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114.

This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed BRYAN ROBERTS SALON LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/11/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/02/16.

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MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036980200

HOUSECLEANING SINCE 1979 –

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036989500

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036982300

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036977400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HRMONIK, 2261 MARKET ST #450A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANN JEAN-PHILIPPE DUTREUIL. 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 03/08/16.

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036985200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DROMONE TRUCKING, 945 TARAVAL ST #142, SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FECHIN MCCORMACK. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/10/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/10/16.

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036991700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: POKE BAR, 1355 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BLUBERD 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 03/15/16.

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036983700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NORCAL CARPLANET INC, 2200 CESAR CHAVEZ ST #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed NORCAL CARPLANET 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 03/09/16.

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036993300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SUSHI HON, 2598 HARRISON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed MINS GROUP, 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 03/15/16.

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016

www.christophershousecleaning.com

415.370.4341

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RADDISH, 3201 23RD ST #102, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed RADDISH INC (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/22/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/22/16.

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036951400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NOMA, 3201 23RD ST #102, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed NOMA LLC (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/22/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/22/16.

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016, STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-033314300

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: DIOGENES, 1000 PENNSYLVANIA AVE #8, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business was conducted by MAURIZIO BRONZETTI and signed by MAURIZIO BRONZETTI. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/01/11.

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-034577300

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: DOLCI BEAUTY, 1521 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by HOA - LAVIE BEAUTY INC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/12/12.

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016

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MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036976000

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036951500

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CLEANING PROFESSIONAL –

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: UNIVERSAL MARTIAL ARTS ACADEMY, 4348 3RD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed UNIVERSAL MARTIAL ARTS ACADEMY (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/18/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/09/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CUSTOM FIT, 1844 MARKET ST, RETAIL #2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CUSTOM FIT LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/07/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/07/16.

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MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036959800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE PAN AMERICAN, 730 O’FARRELL ST #11, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MOJITO EFFECT LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/08/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/16.

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The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MAURI PHOTOGRAPHY, 1000 PENNSYLVANIA AVE #8, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MAURIZIO BRONZETTI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/25/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/25/16.

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The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE LOST CHURCH LLC, 65 CAPP ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed THE LOST CHURCH LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/14/16.

MARCH 17, 24, 31, APRIL 07, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-036988300

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In the matter of the application of: TERESA HART LAU, 1339 20TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner TERESA HART LAU, is requesting that the name GREYSEN JOSHUA CHAU, be changed to GREYSEN JOSHUA LAU. 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 10th of May 2016 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: KING’S CONSTRUCTION CO, 319 HOLLOWAY AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PAK KIN LO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/14/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/14/16.

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SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT NOTICE TO PROPOSERS GENERAL INFORMATION

HAULING 24/7 –

(415) 441-1054 Large Truck

The SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT (“District”), 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California, is advertising for proposals for Construction Management Services for the TBT, Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 6M8114, on or about March 10, 2016, with proposals due by 2:00 PM local time, Tuesday, April 26, 2016.

395 Ninth CAS.F. CA 395Street NinthS.F. Street

Fax from: Fax from:

PHONE 415.861.5019 FAX 861-8144 PHONE 415.861.5019 FAX 861-8144 DESCRIPTION OF

SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED

The District is soliciting the services of Construction Management Services for the TBT. A Pre-Proposal Meeting and Networking Meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. The Pre-Proposal Meeting will convene at 1 pm at the Joseph P. Bort Metrocenter, 101 Eighth Street, Oakland, California 94607. At the Pre-Proposal Meeting the District’s Non-Discrimination Program for Subcontracting will be explained. All questions regarding MBE/WBE participation should be directed to James Soncuya, Office of Civil Rights at (510) 464-7578 – FAX (510) 464-7587. Prospective Proposers are requested to make every effort to attend this only scheduled PreProposal Meeting and Networking Meeting.

Networking Session: Immediately following the pre-Proposal meeting, the District’s Office of Civil Rights will be conducting a networking session for subconsultants to meet the prime consultants for MBE/WBE participation opportunities.

WHERE TO OBTAIN OR SEE RFP DOCUMENTS

(Available on or after March 10, 2016) Copies of the RFP may be obtained electronically as follows: ( 1) PROSPECTIVE PROPOSERS WHO ARE NOT CURRENTLY REGISTERED ON BART’S PROCUREMENT PORTAL TO DO BUSINESS WITH BART, ARE REQUIRED TO REGISTER ON THE BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL ONLINE AT HTTPS://SUPPLIERS.BART.GOV/ IN ORDER TO OBTAIN THE SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS, UPDATES, AND ANY ADDENDA ISSUED ON-LINE AND BE ADDED TO THE ON-LINE PLANHOLDERS LIST FOR THIS SOLICITATION. PROPOSERS WHO HAVE NOT REGISTERED ON THE BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL PRIOR TO SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL, AND DID NOT DOWNLOAD THE SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS FOR THIS SOLICITATION ON-LINE SO AS TO BE LISTED AS AN ON-LINE PLANHOLDER FOR THIS SOLICITATION, WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR AWARD OF THIS AGREEMENT. Dated at Oakland, California this 4th day of March, 2016. /s/ Kenneth A. Duron Kenneth A. Duron, District Secretary San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 3/17/16 CNS-2854626# BAY AREA REPORTER

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23

Harpischord nights

Love hurts

22

Out &About

Mother's days

20

O&A

20

Vol. 46 • No. 11 • March 17-23, 2016

www.ebar.com/arts

Sean Hayes has the title role in the Broadway comedy An Act of God coming to the Golden Gate Theatre.

by Richard Dodds

The Divine Sean Hayes

T

he publicist appeared at the door, signaling that it was time to wrap up the interview. But Sean Hayes asked for a few minutes more. He wanted to return to a subject we had discussed and seemingly moved on from. “I just wanted to make sure I get everything about that other thing,” he said, explaining the extension. “We were on a roll there.”

See page 26 >>

Jim Cox

Oscar party

by Sura Wood

This Easterninfluenced embroidered silk ball gown from Ann Getty’s closet is part of the exhibit Oscar de la Renta: The Retrospective, now at the de Young Museum.

A

s Bernie Sanders rails against the 1%ers and San Francisco residents bridle at the influx of a newly flush techie elite, hold onto your stylish booties. because here comes the de Young Museum’s

Oscar de la Renta: The Retrospective, an exhibition focusing on the late high-fashion designer whose creations only the wealthy with money to burn could afford.

See page 24 >>

San Francisco Ballet dancers Frances Chung and Vitor Luiz in Balanchine’s Coppélia.

A living L doll

Rick Gerharter

G N I Y A PL “A TENDER, FUNNY AND TERRIFIC NEW PLAY” The New York Times

ACT-SF.ORG | 415.749.2228

Erik Tomasson

ast week saw two revivals of near-perfect ballets not seen here for years, synesthetic works in which the music, spectacle, and moves all unite to create pure delight. At the Opera House, San Francisco Ballet presented Balanchine’s 1974 revision of Marius Petipa’s See page 25 >>

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

NOW

by Paul Parish

A.C.T.’S GEARY THEATER

<< Out There

18 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 17-23, 2016

Star unextinguished

t

by Roberto Friedman

“L

ook up here, I’m in heaven!”

All these weeks after David Bowie’s death, it’s still startling to hear that lyric from “Lazarus” on his last album Blackstar (Columbia/ ISO). The end of the mortal Bowie has only reinforced how important he was to people worldwide, who will remember the immortal Bowie forever. As Laurie Anderson says, “The purpose of death is the release of love.”

When you’re as old as Out There, you’ve been through many different Bowie periods: “Space Oddity,” of course, but also Low, Heroes, Station to Station, even (embarrassingly) Let’s Dance and Tin Machine days. Our all-time favorite Bowie album, Scary Monsters, still resonates today.

“Scary monsters and super creeps”: is there a better descriptor of 2016 Republicans, Log Cabin or otherwise?

When that album springs open,

like a jack-in-the-box, with “It’s No Game,” the world of tomorrow comes sharply into focus. “To be insulted by these fascists, it’s so degrading!” Indeed.

We were also captivated by Bowie’s penultimate album The Next Day, with its own intimations of mortality.

“Here I am/Not quite dying,/My body left to rot in a hollow tree,/ Its branches throwing shadows/On the gallows for me.” At just seven songs, Blackstar is more like a Bowie song cycle.

The mood varies from the dirgelike

Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Angela Renée Simpson (Queenie, enter) in San Francisco Opera’s Show Boat, coming to KQED 9.

“Lazarus” to the buoyant “Tis a Pity She Was a Whore,” but it’s dark overall. OT likes dark, but we’re not fond of a lyrics booklet that’s all black lettering on black paper. It’s hard to be a stickler for legibility.

Opera on TV

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We’re always happy to pass on the schedule of San Francisco Opera broadcasts on KQED 9, the sixth season of opera and musical-theater works recorded live in high-definition from the War Memorial Opera House. The season airs in primetime over four consecutive Thursday evenings at 8 p.m.

Hosted by opera superstar and Bay Area resident Frederica von Stade, the series begins March 31 with Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s landmark musicaltheater work Show Boat, followed

by Vincenzo Bellini’s early-19thcentury bel canto masterpiece Norma on April 7, Carlisle Floyd’s lyrical drama Susannah on April 14, and Gioachino Rossini’s sparkling Cinderella (La Cenerentola) on April 21. Each opera is sung in its original language with English subtitles, and features the acclaimed San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Ian Robertson, Chorus Director).

Show Boat (Thurs., 3/31, 8 p.m. on KQED 9; Wed., 4/6, 8 p.m. on KQED LIFE Channel) Based on the novel

by Edna Ferber and adapted for the

“It’s seriously funny!”

—NY TIMES

young woman Susannah Polk. The all-American cast includes bass Raymond Aceto as Reverend Olin Blitch, and tenor Brandon Jovanovich as her hotheaded brother Sam Polk. The production, set in mid-1930s rural Appalachia, was a collaboration between director Michael Cavanagh and set designer Erhard Rom. Conductor Karen Kamensek made her Company debut in this SFO production recorded in October 2014.

Cinderella (La Cenerentola) (Thurs., 4/21, 8 p.m. on KQED 9; Wed., 4/27, 8 p.m. on KQED LIFE Channel) Based on the fairy tale, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s whimsical SFO production was directed

by Gregory Fortner and features Spanish conductor Jesús LópezCobos. French mezzo-soprano Karine Deshayes stars in the title role of Angelina, the servant girl who catches the eye of a handsome prince. Tenor René Barbera is the dashing prince Don Ramiro, and baritone Efraín Solís is the prince’s valet Dandini. Spanish baritone Carlos Chausson delights as Cinderella’s evil stepfather Don Magnifico. Recorded in November 2014.t

Hurts so good

by Jim Piechota

The Subs Club, Book 1 by J.A. Rock; Riptide Publishing, $17.99; Kindle $6.99 nique, adventuresome, and sinfully entertaining, J.A. Rock’s first book in her four-part bondage-themed Subs Club novel series will appeal both to alternative romance readers and to fans of light BDSM gay fiction.

This introductory volume, published last December, follows four friends who explore their darker side and in the process find out a lot about themselves and the push-pull kink world of bondage and discipline.

David, the story’s hilarious narrator, accompanies his 20something friends Miles, Kamen, and Gould to popular BDSM club Riddle’s theme night, “Kink by Candlelight,” standingroom-only by the time they arrive.

Each man has his niche: Kamen is the tall, handsome, buzzed-head jock; David is the quick-witted, blue-eyed boy next door; Gould is short, stocky, shy, and kinkyhaired; and Miles is the cardigansweater-wearing brainiac with a

U

Join us for Thursday Night Trivia!

Pre-show at 7pm Enjoy drinks, music and trivia fun HOSTED BY MARTUNI’S HEADLINER JOE WICHT APR 7, 14, 21

stage, directed by Francesca Zambello, and featuring an ensemble cast spanning the worlds of opera and Broadway. The cast features Heidi Stober (Magnolia Hawks), Michael Todd Simpson (Gaylord Ravenal), Bill Irwin (Cap’n Andy Hawks), Patricia Racette (Julie La Verne), Morris Robinson (Joe), Angela Renée Simpson (Queenie), Kirsten Wyatt (Ellie Mae Chipley), John Bolton (Frank Schultz) and Harriet Harris (Parthy Ann Hawks). John DeMain conducts the SFO Orchestra and Chorus, recorded in June 2014.

Norma (Thurs., 4/7, 8 p.m. on KQED 9; Wed., 4/13, 8 p.m. on KQED LIFE Channel) American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky leads a first-rate cast including Jamie Barton (Adalgisa), tenor Russell Thomas (Pollione) and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn (Oroveso). SFO Music Director Nicola Luisotti conducts the SFO Orchestra and Chorus in a production directed by Kevin Newbury, recorded in September 2014.

Susannah (Thurs., 4/14, 8 p.m. on KQED 9; Wed., 4/20, 8 p.m. on KQED LIFE Channel) Soprano Patricia Racette performs the title role of the innocent and falsely accused

“This show will go down like ‘butta’!”

— E N T E R TA I N M E N T W E E K LY

Robert Rushin will perform on Saturdays Apr 2, 9 & 16 at 2pm

WRITTEN BY JONATHAN TOLINS DIRECTED BY REBECCA LONGWORTH STARRING J. CONR AD FR ANK

MAR 18–APR 24, 2016 BUY TICKETS AT NCTCSF.ORG BOX OFFICE: 415. 861. 8972 25 VAN NESS AVE AT MARKET ST

Prince Albert piercing who dresses “like a minister’s daughter” but is the biggest pain slut in the group.

They network on Web groups like “Fetmatch,” and troll for the profiles of hot men they see at the bondage club, hoping to angle for a hot chat, a date, or a future spanking session.

David spies a rugged guy with a “pornstache” at Riddle one night See page 21 >>

JOURNEY THROUGH A

RAINFOREST THE DEEP SEA AND OUTER SPACE

all in one day

3D Earth: Rainforests Explore the Amazon in a new 3D show.

Step inside a 4-story rainforest dome at the only aquarium-planetarium-rainforest-living museum.

Get tickets at calacademy.org

25654_CAS_BayAreaReporter_Rainforest_9.75x16.indd 1

2/26/16 2:35 PM

<< Theatre

20 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 17-23, 2016

Return of the matriarch

by Richard Dodds

W

hy this meeting is happening just now, 20 years after their last encounter, isn’t solidly explained. But as they acknowledge, both knew it would eventually happen. In Mothers and Sons, Terrence McNally returns to characters he introduced in the 1990 teleplay Andre’s Mother. One of the characters has stayed bitterly frozen in time; the other is breezily in tune with the times, and their differences are now wider than ever.

The recent Broadway play, now at New Conservatory Theatre Center, is a necessary reminder that what is now an unexceptional occurrence – in this case, two men who have married and are raising a child – was inconceivable for not only the mother whose son died of AIDS years before, but also for his comfortably gay lover who is now part of a phenomenon that no longer seems revolutionary. There are those who would gleefully take it all away, but the focus of Mothers and Sons is on matters personal rather than political.

It is quite a battle royal that McNally has set up between Katherine Gerard, Andre’s mother, and Cal Porter, whom Katherine still blames for Andre’s lifestyle, illness, and death. Almost like prizefighters, they pummel at each other before taking short breaks between rounds. Even when they stop to take a breath, when moments of civility can arise, they are ill-tuned to each other’s frequencies. “Should I alert you when

Lois Tema

Andrew Nance plays a character who is about to surprise Velina Brown, as his late lover’s mother, with a picture of her son in Terrence McNally’s Mothers and Sons at New Conservatory Theatre Center.

I’m bantering?” Cal mockingly asks Katherine. And in a moment of her own style of bantering, she describes how circumscribed her widowed life has become in Dallas. “Thank God for Jeopardy,” she says, “but even that is starting to annoy me.”

The be-furred and elegantly coiffed Katherine has arrived unannounced at Cal’s Manhattan

apartment (rendered in suitably luxe fashion in Kuo-Hao Lo’s set design). She is ostensibly there to return a personal object, and she is as mortified as surprised when Cal’s husband, Will, and their eight-yearold son, Bud, come bounding in after an outing. Will, of course, has heard about Andre and his mother from Cal, but he is 15 years Cal’s

junior and met him after Andre had already been dead for nearly a decade. And their effervescent son has no idea who this woman is. “How did your little boy die?” he asks Katherine, after receiving a vague explanation of her circumstances.

Director Arturo Catricala deftly guides the production through its emotional twists, turns, and

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roundabouts. There isn’t much to be done when Cal goes into monologue mode when talking about AIDS, except to make sure the actor playing Cal does so with a conviction rooted in character. Andrew Nance is successful in this challenge, as he is throughout the play, holding his own against Katherine and juggling this unexpected intersection of what now must seem like separate lives to him.

Velina Brown creates a formidable presence as Katherine, adroit at delivering withering putdowns, achingly bringing us into her pain when she allows her armor to be breached, and still horrified that her son died of such a stigmatized disease. When Cal proudly tells her that Andre’s name is on the AIDS Quilt, she gasps, “His full name?”

Providing an effective counter to this toxic blast from the past, Daniel Redmond plays Will with an easygoing charm, a character for whom same-sex partnerships, marriage, and parenting are not extraordinary and who never saw his friends dying in quick succession from AIDS. As eight-year-old Bud, Aviv D. Drobey (who alternates in the role with Dash Ferrero) has a natural charm, and whose blissful innocence provides a final moment of such sweet satisfaction that it may moisten the eyes of even the most stoic of theatergoers.t Mothers and Sons will run at New Conservatory Theatre Center through April 3. Tickets are $25$45. Call (415) 861-8972 or go to nctcsf.org.

Well-tempered harpsichordist

by Tim Pfaff

I

can think of no other musician as reliable and reliably insightful and exciting as Christophe Rousset. The out-from-the-start harpsichordist and ensemble leader – his Les Talens Lyriques easily holds its own with any other early-music ensemble today – takes so much work to the studio that reviewing him, on disc alone, could be a part-time job.

Certainly if it’s French Baroque repertoire, it’s safe to assume that his recordings, when there’s competition, are preferable. To hear playing of an aggression and voluptuousness not usually associated with the Baroque, try the newly released disc of Antoine Forqueray viol music (Aparte), in which Rousset plays

continuo to Atsushi Sakai’s pungent viol.

When Rousset takes up the music of J.S. Bach, all of whose music for solo harpsichord he has played and recorded, the competition gets incalculably greater, but I’ve yet to hear him in Bach when he doesn’t have as much to say about the music as anyone else, and say it in an immediately identifiable voice with sagacity, clarity and elan. It’s probably not an accident that he has saved for last, in the studio (the “studio” being the Dauphin’s apartment in the chateau of Versailles) the two books of Das wohltemperierte Klavier (Aparte; Book I new, Book II 2015).

The 48 sets of paired preludes and fugues in the complete cycle of musical keys hold a uniquely high

place in Western music, less as high-water marks, through they’re that, too, than as complete genome maps of the harmony and counterpoint that is still the one that’s stuck in our ears, despite all the attempts to deconstruct it over the centuries since. Bach did not intend them as graduated exercises in keyboard technique, like, say, Bartok’s Mikrokosmos. Rather, as Rousset comments in his characteristically detailed and thoughtful notes, what have come to be known as The 48 “represent an overview of what a well-ordered mind ought to be able to accomplish on a keyboard.” Rousset’s is just such a mind, with a complete intellectual grasp of this core material and a keen sensitivity to the specific weights and balances of its expressive feeling. Listening, never once do you think of the fingers – still, for all the bright young harpsichordists breaking onto the scene today, the best in the business.

The likelihood of hearing The Well-Tempered Clavier – either book, let alone both – in live recital today is so remote that it is an ideal subject for recording, what recording at its most essential should do. If there’s nothing provisional about Rousset’s playing, as assured as it gets, neither is there anything didactic. It doesn’t preach, it ponders, and plays.

The piano may be the hardest instrument to record, but the harpsichord has to be the hardest to record favorably. In both these recordings, a very special instrument, a 1628 Joannes Rucker twomanual harpsichord modified in France in 1706, has been captured to the smallest crease in its sound, and no one hearing it under these hands would repeat the ill-founded claim that the modern piano offers a broader range of sonorities. The

only times this instrument squeaks are those when the keys themselves – the harmonies, not the actual keys on the instrument – chafe.

Catch the weightlessness of Book I’s B-flat Prelude, a fantasia rippling breathlessly across an unbroken stretch of 32nd notes. No sooner has its bright-eyed fugue run its course than we’re thrown into the jangle of the B-flat-minor Prelude’s “lamentation” (Rousset’s apt word). The harpsichord can do highmindedness like nobody’s business, but seldom enough does it rise to what could be called nobility.

But that word describes Rousset’s introduction of the halting F-sharpminor Fugue. The subtle freedom

of rhythm that is a defining characteristic of his playing overall, always grounded in the most disciplined sense of meter, reaches an apex here, where the music becomes suspended in time.

Rousset calls Book II “the summit.” Bach’s later expansions of his original concept are at least by an order of magnitude more complex. What enlivens Rousset’s ascent to the summit is the feeling that it is more an adventure with astonishing vistas at every gradient than an assault on a peak from which the listener might fall. No matter how thin or severe the air, there is always a sense of play in the line. The music takes time to relish as well as to reflect.

Picking favorites here is a Sophie’s choice, but it would be withholding not to draw attention to the B-Flat Major Prelude, which seems to fall like rain from the heavens after the heavy weather of the Aminor Fugue, or the fugue in its minor key, which achieves monumentality only after the most hesitant of starts.

Rousset has accomplished what all of the supreme interpreters of Bach’s music for solo instruments have: made what can seem, in lesser hands, not just abstract but objective music become deeply personal and communicative. This is the first time in my long experience of Book II that the music has flown at all, let alone flown by. My long advocacy of the harpsichord as the ideal if not the only vehicle for this music has been eroded over time to what is now a simple inability to tolerate “noisy,” nerve-rattling harpsichord playing or sound. The final measure of Rousset’s supreme integrity in this music is the constant sense of delectation of beauty with which it is shot through.t

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Music>>

March 17-23, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 21

High energy in the concert hall

by Philip Campbell

T

he recent bout of rain didn’t deter music-lovers from Davies Symphony Hall during the past two weeks. A concert starring director and violinist Joshua Bell and the illustrious Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and the return of admired guest conductor Charles Dutoit leading the San Francisco Symphony, were reason enough to brave the storms.

World-famous in his own right, Joshua Bell was announced as Music Director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in May 2011, the first person to hold the title since Sir Neville Marriner founded the Orchestra in 1958. Conducting most of the program from his position as concertmaster, Bell made his own artistic goals abundantly clear. He added fresh vigor to the orchestra, already known for its warmth and precision, maintaining meticulous attention to detail and encouraging forceful ensemble sound.

Assertive brashness in the opening Prokofiev Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Classical, got the concert off to a surprisingly hyperactive start, but the beloved score still proved irresistible. If the strings sounded uncharacteristically shrill occasionally, we blame misjudgment of the tricky DSH acoustics before faulting Bell’s exceptionally robust approach.

High energy propelled the rest of the night as well. Standing centerstage to essay the soloist’s part while conducting the Academy players in Max Bruch’s gorgeous Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Bell seemed confidently capable of playing a dual role. This was an exciting performance of a work requiring virtuosity and refinement. The lyricism of the Adagio benefitted equally from the expressive dynamism of the soloist and orchestra.

The spontaneity of the finale earned a deserved standing ovation.

The second half started with Elegy for Orchestra (from the second movement of Robert Schumann’s Violin Concerto in D minor) arranged for solo violin and strings

by Benjamin Britten. The brief work is performed by permission of the Britten estate, and has been out of currency with the Academy since Neville Marriner in 1958. There is history involved, and getting the go-ahead is something of a coup

<<

The Subs Club

From page 18

and finds himself turned on, declaring he’d “never met a mustache that made me feel this way.” The man disappears, but when searched on Fetmatch, he is the legendary Dom named the “Disciplinarian,” a hyperstrict, appointment-only top with a laundry list of requirements.

To eagerly corruptible David he’s a challenge, and their interaction develops with both learning lessons from the other in and out of the playspace.

The foursome hadn’t been to the club since Hal, David’s best friend and a popular submissive, wound up dead there after some heavy play with an irresponsible Dom named Bill Henson. The tragedy devolved into a nasty court case. Bill was acquitted of any wrongdoing and reinstated as a member of Riddle, which infuriated David. Intent on sparing other submissives Hal’s fate, David launches an online blog where subs can review their dominant counterparts – a veritable Yelp for bottoms, forewarning them before they engage in any playtime to avoid careless Doms. The website irks Doms who discover it.

Rock establishes the club’s atmosphere with great creative skill.

Riddle has three playrooms: Chaos,

Lisa Marie Mazzucco

Music Director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Joshua Bell.

for Bell. Originally arranged by Britten in honor of his late friend, horn player Dennis Brain, the piece is more than a curiosity. The quietly touching movement was conveyed with poetic intimacy. It certainly stood alone in light of what followed.

Bell and the Academy have already shown collaborative understanding of Beethoven on disc, and the closing performance of the concert was an ear- and eye-opening romp through his good-humored Eighth Symphony. The composer declared his mood “unbuttoned” when writing it (even though his personal life was in shambles), and the visiting Academy of St. Martin with the ebullient Joshua Bell had fun complying with his intentions.

They demonstrated what people mean when they call Beethoven life-affirming.

Last week, Charles Dutoit was back on the podium for the first concert in his current two-week stay at DSH. Known for his elegantly nuanced shaping of a wide repertoire, Dutoit is currently Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. His storied career and vast discography make him a frequent partner with many important See page 23 >> Refinement, and Tranquility. Activities range from serious role-play with crosses, stocks, cages and ladders, to sedate scenes behind the velvet-roped areas of Tranquility.

First-timers must read and sign a 10-page confidentiality agreement replete with disclaimers and clubhouse rules. The excitement that the characters experience leaps off the page. These four guys are into their scene, a circuit party for pain and degradation. Rock takes time to flesh out her characters and attribute likeable qualities to each, but she is careful to make them human, fallible, with physical flaws, not cookie-cutter, cut-abs, perfectly coiffed model-types. Much of the interplay is light and humorous.

A woman named Rachel turns her subs into human menorahs. Ponyplay queen Cinnamon badgers the gang, but has a heart.

Rock is a prolific Chicago-based author of queer romance and suspense novels who sometimes writes under the pseudonym Jill Smith.

There are four books in this series: Pain Slut was released in February; Manties in a Twist will drop at the beginning of April; and 24/7 will complete the series in June. Readers eager for kinky gay fiction and those with an interest in the BDSM community will find much to enjoy in the Subs Club series.t

Courtesy SFS

Guest conductor Charles Dutoit: elegant shaping of the repertoire.

<< Out&About

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 17-23, 2016

O&A

Fri 18 Buyer & Cellar @ New Conservatory Theatre

Here Come the Videofreex @ Roxie Cinema

Hidden Gold @ Asian Art Museum

Jon Nealon and Jenny Raskin’s fascinating documentary about the ‘60s and ‘70s pioneering video journalist collective, with historic videos of protests, rare footage of Black Panthers, Abbie Hoffman and more. $8-$12. Thru Mar. 24. 3117 16th St. VideofreexFilm.com www.Roxie.com

Hidden Gold : Mining its Meaning in Asian Art, thru May 8. Also, China at the Center: Rare Ricci and Verbiest World Maps; Extracted: a Trilogy of Ranu Mukherjee (thru Aug. 14); Chinese Laquerware (thru July 31); Elephants Without Number (thru June 26), and more. Free-$25. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. 200 Larkin St. 581-3500. www.asianart.org

Hotel Burlesque @ Exit Theatre Red Velvet and Amanda Ortmayer’s new play about unlikely characters banding together to solve a murder mystery, before they too become ghosts. $15-$25. Fri & Sat 8pm. Thru April 2. 156 Eddy St. www.theexit.org

Sprang

The How and the Why @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley

by Jim Provenzano

H

ow about the bouncy ways blossoms bloom? How about the jaunty pose an actor offers before sharing a great monologue, or the way an amazing musician launches into a song? Arts events boing and sproing here, with more online, and nightlifery, on www.ebar.com Lois Tema

Thu 17 Christopher Calix @ Books Inc. The local author reads from and discusses Dead Celebrities, his Hollywood-set gay murder mystery.

7pm. 2275 Market St. booksinc.net

New & Classic Films @ Castro Theatre Mar. 17: Dr. No (2:35, 7pm) and From Russia With Love (4:45, 9:05). Mar. 18: Goldfinger (2:30, 7pm). and The Hill (4:35, 9:05). Mar. 19: Thunderball (2:10, 7pm) and You Only Live Twice (4:40, 9:30). Mar. 20: Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (5pm). Mar. 21: Diamonds are Forever (2:15, 7pm) and The Man Who Would Be King (4:30, 9:15). Mar. 22: Die Another Day (2:35, 7pm). and The Matador (5pm, 9:325).

Mar. 23: pre-Code classics Bitter Tea of General Yen (7:45) and Downstairs (6:15, 9:35). Mar. 24: Disney’ The Little Mermaid sing-along various times thru March 29. $11-$16. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

The Unfortunates @ Strand Theatre The amazing must-see darkly comic blues-gospel-hip hop musical tells of Big Joe, a tough-talking soldier cursed with giant hands, who must face his dead friends and battle a plague in the Underworld. $35-$95. Tue-Sat 7:30pm. Wed, Sat Sun 2pm. Thru April 10. 1127 Market St. 749-2228. www.act-sf.org

Wicked @ Orpheum Theatre Stephen Schwartz’ mega-hit Tonywinning musical based on the novel about the ‘other story’ of Oz and the witches Glinda and Elphaba returns. $80-$238. Tue-Sat 8pm. Wed, Sat & Sun 2pm. Sun 7:30pm. Thru April 16.

1192 Market St. www.wickedthemusical.com www.shnsf.com

West Coast premiere of Sarah Treem’s ( House of Cards) drama about two women biologists who clash over evolution and gender theories. $35$45. Tue 7pm. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru May 22. Harry’s UpStage, 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 8434822. www.auroratheatre.org

Losing My Mind @ Circus Center The monthly circus cabaret show includes clowns, acrobats, drinks and live music. $15-$250 (VIP tables).

8pm. Also Mar. 19. 755 Frederick St. www.circuscenter.org/cabaret

Macbeth @ Berkeley Repertory Theatre “The Scottish play,” Shakespeare’s classic tragedy about a murderous royal couple, stars Conleth Hill and Frances McDormand. $45-$145. Tue, Thu-Sat 8pm. Wed & Sun 7pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Thru April 10. Roda Theatre, 2025 Addison St. berkeleyrep.org

Mothers and Sons @ New Conservatory Theatre Regional premiere of Tony-winning gay playwright Terence McNally’s about the mother of a deceased gay man who visits his surviving partner, who now has a family. $25-$45. Wed-Sat 8pm.

Sun 2pm. thru April 3. 25 Van Ness Ave, lower level. 861-8972. www.nctcsf.org

Night Vision, Silence @ Z Below

Oakland Symphony @ Paramount Theatre

Word for Word, the company that performs great short fiction, takes on Emma Donaghue and Colm Tóibín stories. $20-$55. Wed & Thu 7pm.

Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 3pm. Thru April 3.

470 Florida St. (866) 811-4111. www.zspace.org

The syphony performs the world premiere of Rokeach Piccolo’s concerto, Cherubuni’s Requiem (with the Oakland Symphony Chorus), and Beethoven’s 2nd Symphony. $20-$75.

8pm. 2025 Broadway, Oakland. (510) 444-0802. oaklandsymphony.org

ODC/Dance Downtown @ YBCA

Risk Is This @ Cutting Ball Theatre

New dance works by Brenda Wat., KT Nelson and Okada, with commissioned scores. $25-$80. ThuSat 7:30pm. Sun 5pm. (with a festive fundraiser gala March 18 at the St. Regis March 18, 6pm). Thru March 27. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 700 Howard St. www.odcdance.org www.ybca.org

The Realistic Joneses @ Geary Theater American Conservatory Theatre’s production of Will Eno’s Broadway hit comedy about neighbors whose language collapses as they struggle to know each other. $25-$105. Special nights thru the run. Thru April 3. 415 Geary St. www.act-sf.org

San Francisco in Ruins @ Tenderloin Museum

Thu 20 Jee Leong Koh @ Modern Times Bookstore

Fri 18 Aubergine @ Berkeley Repertory Theatre Tony Taccone directs Julia Cho’s acclaimed drama about an estranged Asian family. $48-$89. Tue, Thu-Sat 8pm. Wed & Sun 7pm. Sun 2pm.

Thru March 20. 2025 Addison St. (510) 647–2949. www.berkeleyrep.org

Buyer & Cellar @ New Conservatory Theatre Center

Exhibit of paintings by local artist Jacinto Castillo depicting old San Francisco. March 17: Celebrating Jazz at the Blackhawk, with music performances. March 24: screening of You Don’t Know Jack: the Jack Soo Story (pioneering Barney Miller actor).

Free/donations. 6:30pm reception, 7pm shows. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm, $6-$10 ($15 includes walking tour). 398 Eddy St. 351-1912. tenderloinmuseum.org

J. Conrad Frank stars in Jonathan Tolin’s hilarious solo show about an actor working in Barbara Streisand’s underground shopping mall. $20-$45.

Previews thru Mar. 25. Thursday night pre-show trivia & piano with Joe Wicht thru April. Thru April 24. 25 Van Ness Ave, lower level. 861-8972. www.nctcsf.org

Swimmers @ Marin Theatre Company

Feminists to Feministas : Women of Color in Prints and Posters, a new exhibit of illustrations depicting LBT women of color from the 1970s to today. $5. Thru July 4. Reg, hours Mon, Wed-Sat 11am-6pm. Sun 12pm5pm. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

World premiere of Rachel Bonds’ contemporary play about the strange oddities of modern life. $10-$58.

Tue-Sun 7:30pm. Also some matinees.

Thru March 27. 397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley. www.marintheatre.org

Feminists to Feministas @ GLBT History Museum

Experimental plays festival returns, with original unusual stage works. $20- $50 full pass. Fri & Sat thru March 26. 277 Taylor St. 525-1205. www.cuttingball.com

Shotgun Blast Festival @ Ashby Stage, Berkeley Variety of plays, drag shows, dance, theatre and comedy. $15-$20. Thru March. 1901 Ashby Ave. shotgunplayers.org/Online/blastival

Take This Hammer @ YBCA New exhibit of nearly dozen local activist-artists who work in different media. Thru Aug. 14. Other exhibits as well. Thru April 3. $8-$10. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. www.ybca.org

Talking Heads @ Royce Gallery Spare Stage presents performance of the award-winning British gay playwright Alan Bennett’s monologues. $5-$25. Fri & Sat 8pm, Sun 4pm. Thru March 27. 2901 Mariposa St. www.sparestage.com

Sat 19 Colossal @ SF Playhouse Andrew Hinderaker’s witty stage combination, with half a dozen hunky male actor-dancer-jocks, about football, dance and disability and recovery. $25-$100. Tue-Thu 7pm.

Fri &Sat 8pm. Sat 3pm, Sun 2pm.

Thru April 30. 450 Post St. 677-9596. www.sfplayhouse.org

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Mon 21 Calamus Series @ Bound Together Bookstore Activist-historian Joey Cain’s “Faggot Sensibility” discussion group. This time, a free screening of the film adaptation of E.M. Forster’s Maurice.

7pm. 1727 Haight St. www.calamusfellowship.org

Rodney Ewing, Jamil Hellu @ Berkeley Art Center Dual exhibit of works exploring the challenging representation of the forgotten, including Flint, Michigan residents, and Syrian men executed for being gay. Opening reception 6pm. Thru May 8. 1275 Walnut St., Berkeley. (510) 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org

San Francisco City Chorus @ Old First Presbyterian Church The chorus performs Mozart and Saint-Saëns Requiems, accompanied by a chamber orchestra and organist R.S. Walko. $15-$20 (free for kids).

1751 Sacramento St. www.sfcitychorus.org

Totem and Taboo @ Berkeley City Club Central Works’ production of David Weisberg’s wacky comedy about a pill-popping stay-at-home husband, whose hallucinations include The Honeymooners as cannibals. $15-$30.

Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 5pm. Thru March 20. 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. (510) 558-1381. www.centralworks.org

Sun 20 Abrazo, Queer Tango @ Finnish Brotherhood Hall, Berkeley Enjoy weekly same-sex tango dancing and a potluck, with lessons early in the day. $7-$15. 3:30-6:30pm. 1970 Chestnut St., Berkeley. (510) 8455352. www.finnishhall.com

Oscar de la Renta @ de Young Museum Stylish new retrospective exhibit of the world-famous fashion designer’s gown on display, as well as archival photos and materials; Thru May 30.

Other exhibits of modern art as well.

Free/$25. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive. www.famsf.org

Queer Astrology Roadshow @ Women’s Building Readings, speakers and group gathering through the day, and some with an astrological LGBTQ perspective from 5pm-8pm. $50-$60.

1pm-8pm. 3543 18th St. www.queerastrology.com www.sfastrologicalsociety.com

Sarah Cahill @ Central Library, Berkeley The amazing local pianist performs post-modern works by Ruth Crawford, Pauline Oliverosm Sofia Gubaidulina and Bunita Marcus. Free. 2pm. 2090 Kittredge St., Berkeley. www.sarahcahill.com

SF Hiking Club @ Uvas Canyon Join GLBT hikers for a ten-mile hike in lushly wooded Uvas Canyon County Park; enjoy expansive views of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Carpool meets 8:30 at Safeway sign, Market & Dolores. (408) 797-7088. www.sfhiking.com

Word Week @ Various Venues Tenth anniversary mini-festival of books and local & Noe Valley authors.

Mar. 22: Women in Their Own Write, with lesbian YA author Erica Lorraine Scheidt; Mar. 24: queer authors Genanne Walsh and Wayne Goodman on How to Get Your Book Published.

Mar. 25: Queer Words: LGBT Authors, with Wilfredo Pascual, Anne Raeff and Roberto F. Santiago. Other Noe Valleyarea events at Folio Books, 3957 24th St. Thru March 26. www.foliosf.com

Sun 20 Sarah Cahill @ Central Library, Berkeley

Tue 22 An Act of Love @ Glide Screening of the documentary about Methodist Rev. Frank Schaefer’s trail and defrocking after officiating his son’s same-sex marriage ceremony.

Free. Reception 6pm, screening 7pm, discussion 8:30pm. 330 Ellis St. www.glide.org

Roman Vishniac Rediscovered @ Contemporary Jewish Museum New exhibit of photos from the prolific documenter of Jewish life in eastern Europe. Thru May 29.

Also, Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution (thru July 5). Free (members)-$12. Fri-Tue 11am-5pm, Thu 11am-8pm (closed Wed). 736 Mission St. 655-7800. www.thecjm.org

Will Durst @ The Marsh The political comic’s updated solo show, Elect to Laugh: 2016, adds topical jokes about the bizarre election season. $15-$100. Tuesdays, 8pm. Thru April 19. 1062 Valencia St. 282- www.themarsh.org

Wed 23 The Boys From Syracuse @ Eureka Theatre 42nd Street Moon’s new production of of the classic Abbot, Hart, Rodgers musical comedy adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. $25-$75. Wed & Thu 7pm.

Fri 8pm. sat 6pm. Sun 3pm. Thru April 17. 215 Jackson St. 255-8207. www.42ndstmoon.org

Literary Death Match @ Alamo Drafthouse 60th episode of the fun event where writers compete for the best storytelling; with Joyce Maynard, Kevin Simmonds, Charlie Jane Anders, Kevin Sessums, Maisha Z. Johnson and Shanthi Sekaran. $20. 7:30pm.

2550 Mission St. drafthouse.com/sf

Thu 24 Black Virgins are Not for Hipsters @ The Marsh Berkeley Echo Brown’s hit solo show about desire and doubt moves to the company’s East Bay theatre. $20$100. Thu 8pm Sat 8:30pm. Thru April 23. 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley.

282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Jee Leong Koh @ Modern Times Bookstore The Singapore-born queer poet shares new work from his fifth collection.

7pm. 2919 24th st. 282-9246. www.mtbs.com

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DVD>>

March 17-23, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 23

Couples counseling

by Brian Bromberger

T REAT YOURSELF TO AN EXCITING C ULINARY ADVENTURE WITH M ICHELIN S TAR C HEF SRIJITH GOPINATHAN

H

ave you ever woken up during the night, looked across at your partner beside you, and wondered, How did they get there? Such romantic ambivalence is the cornerstone of Philipp Karner’s heartbreaking film Like You Mean It, recently released on DVD by Breaking Glass Pictures. Karner writes, directs, and stars in this somber but absorbing movie reminiscent of Ira Sachs’ Keep the Lights On. Karner’s Mark Miller character is unpleasant, remote, and cold, which, according to one of the cast interviews, is based on his own painful breakup a few years ago. Unhappy with himself and his acting career, he took his frustrations out on his ex-partner.

Like You Mean It appears both autobiographical and therapeutic for Karner.

The film opens at an LA restaurant where Miller and his partner Jonah (Denver Milord) are celebrating their best-friend straight couple’s engagement when they announce their temporary split prior to their wedding so they can each have final flings. Mark, a struggling actor, isn’t fazed by the news, but Jonah, an aspiring musician, sensing cracks in their own relationship, is concerned. Indeed, Mark is starting to realize he is falling out of love with his upbeat boyfriend. Mark soon hears from his sister that his estranged father in Austria has died.

Off his anti-depressants and struggling with anxiety, he decides to try new medication. But he doesn’t tell Jonah either of these life-altering events. Instead, he signs them up for couples counseling, as there is little affection, sex, and conversation between them. Mark reveals to the therapist (Hilary Ward) that he is committed to saving the relationship, but doesn’t follow through with any of her bonding exercises.

Jonah, whose world happily revolves around Mark, just wants to recapture the magic of their early days together, symbolized by flashbacks to a seaside afternoon early in their romance. A date night results in disaster when Mark, wanting to resuscitate their passion, spikes their drinks with ecstasy. Mark is a talented actor but seems to be sabotaging

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SF Symphony

From page 21

American and European orchestras.

His most recent program looked unbalanced on paper. Two subtle and stylistically similar French works (both infrequently performed) were mixed with two big Russian sonic blockbusters. How deftly he managed to pull it off came as a nice surprise. It didn’t hurt that his soloist was Russian powerhouse Nikolai Lugansky, making a seemingly effortless appearance in the difficult Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for Piano and Orchestra.

Ordinarily I can wait to hear the Variations until they appear on a summer Pops program, but there is no mistaking Rachmaninoff ’s brilliance or wit. His gift for orchestration and heart-melting melodies defy musical snobbism. Seeing Lugansky hardly breaking sweat as he boldly navigated every daunting page was simply amazing. Dutoit framed his bravura with sophisticated restraint, making the results even more thrilling.

Spice Pot — Chef’s interpretation of traditional Indian street food with vegetables, tamarind chutney, and chickpea crackers.

his auditions. He seems incapable of sharing any of these struggles with Jonah, who feels increasingly isolated from the moody Mark. Can Mark learn to control his feelings and start communicating?

Karner deserves credit for offering an unflattering profile of his earlier self. Although the film is told from Mark’s viewpoint, the Jonah character is inadequately developed despite an attractive portrayal from Milord, whose highlight is the performance of his own self-penned song, “First Love.” Karner critiques the pseudo happy-go-lucky LA persona with scenes of Mark driving through a carwash, reflecting the auto-bound isolation of the city.

Cinematographer Aaron Kovalchik rates high marks for pictorially representing this dual nature of LA. Mark’s difficulty in trying to become someone he can’t be is skillfully rendered in its often-comic ineptitude.

But Mark’s traumatic relationship with his father is never explained. So the reasons why Mark is so distant and self-destructive are not explored. It’s hard to empathize with the unlikable Mark despite his obvious pain. Still, both characters are realistically drawn, and many viewers will connect with the gay couple issues dissected here. Ultimately you hope Mark and Jonah will survive together, despite their flaws. Kudos go to Karner and his willingness to grapple with the unsavory elements of all relationships, even if Like You Mean It can’t quite rise to the heights of its own aspirations.t

During the second half, Lugansky was spotted sitting in a side-balcony seat. He was probably sticking around for the post-concert CD signing, but I couldn’t help thinking it was cool of him to join with the crowd for the rest of the show.

The concluding Suite from The Firebird (1910/19) by Stravinsky was literally a showstopper. The SFS musicians responded beautifully to Dutoit’s supple direction. He was obviously pleased with their virtuosity.

The program opened with a lovely interpretation of Ravel’s Mother Goose, and the second half started with an equally fine Suite from Pelleas et Melisande by Faure.

Both works are right up the Swiss conductor’s alley, and the audience received them both with appreciative applause, but it was the Russians who set their hearts aflame and brought them to their feet.

Dutoit is back this week with some Haydn: Symphony No. 104 (London), and two Berlioz works: Waverly Overture and Harold in Italy, featuring SFS Principal Viola Jonathan Vinocour.t

Journey along India’s Spice Route by way of California at six-time Michelin star winner Campton Place. Chef Srijith’s cuisine masterfully blends the finest local produce with the richness of the region’s seasonal bounty.

Enjoy a six-course Spice Route menu or indulge in our nine-course Degustation menu. For those with lighter appetites we offer a three-course Theatre Menu and Vegetarian Tasting menu.

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<< Film

24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 17-23, 2016

Techno-tedious

by David Lamble

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’m sad to report that the new film about so-called “Augmented Reality,” Creative Control (opening Friday in San Francisco), is the first real bomb of the new year. Filmed in b&w like an especially dubious experiment in sensory deprivation, the film depicts the creative angst and relationship hassles of a self-absorbed coven of white 20somethings who spend the bulk of the movie’s 97-minute running time boring each other, and by extension us, nearly to death. Purportedly set in Brooklyn “five minutes into the future,” the plot details the misadventures of a group of young ad guys who have developed or stumbled upon a techno gimmick like an even more intrusive version of Google glasses. Considering all the possibilities of this kind of breakthrough, the movie’s hero chooses to employ the technology to seduce his best buddy’s girlfriend.

The film’s director, Benjamin Dickinson (co-writer with Micah Bloomberg), displays a leaden sensibility. A film with Creative Control’s ambitious aspirations should ideally

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Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Writer-director Benjamin Dickinson (center) stars in Creative Control.

be either thrilling, erotically enticing or screwball-comedy hilarious.

Instead, watching it feels more like the effects of a poorly concocted sleeping pill. In a film singularly devoid of humor, except of the inadvertent variety, one line sticks out, a girlfriend informing the inventor/ hero that she can’t grasp the necessity of an invention “where we can check our e-mail in our sunglasses.”

The b&w photography is so poorly lit that you can’t tell it’s taking place in Brooklyn, or even if it’s night or day. There are a couple of moments that quasi-connect where a character leans directly into the camera, and there’s an ongoing womandirected yoga class that infuses the proceedings with a little purposeful energy. Unfortunately, when these scenes pass by, they only underscore

the more fundamental issue of the director/writer’s shocking misogyny.

A real battle of sexes is called for, but one never really breaks out.

Perhaps the only remedy would be to put filmmaker/actor Dickinson and his co-stars Nora Zehetner and Dan Gill on a kind of cinema watch-list to prevent them from performing a future crime against celluloid. Filmgoers interested in

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movies with similar ambitions that hit their targets should look up Robert Downey’s 1969 savage b&w satire of the advertising business Putney Swope, in which a radical black group commandeers a New York ad agency, producing some extremely funny TV ads in the spirit of a multi-racial 60s vision.

In Woody Allen’s brilliant 1971 scifi comedy Sleeper, Woody’s nerdy health-store worker awakens 200 years after a simple hospital procedure to find himself trapped in a Big Brother-ruled world where sex is facilitated by orgasmatron machines and everyone takes themselves very seriously at the risk of having their minds electronically simplified.

Another of Creative Control’s annoying creative lapses involves a young sidekick of the hero who wanders around its version of Brooklyn sporting a beard that resembles the stuck-on-with-glue variety the Marx Brothers offered in their 1935 spoof or practically everybody and everything, A Night at the Opera.

Skip Creative Control. It’ll probably hit the Sci-Fi channel in due course. Google glasses, anyone?t

de la Renta

From page 17

De la Renta’s place in the pantheon was assured, if it hadn’t been already, when he scored a major coup shortly before his death in 2014: Amal Clooney selected him to design the exquisite tulle wedding dress she wore to the altar in Venice. But the headline of his New York Times obit may have put it best when it stated that he “clothed stars and became one.” The dashing Dominicanborn American dressed some of the world’s most famous and discerning women, from local socialites and red-carpet habitues like Sarah Jessica Parker, Nicki Minaj and Penelope Cruz to former first ladies such as the late Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton, both of whom he befriended. Yes, chickadees, he tried to help Hillary with those unflattering pantsuits, and she owns the unfortunate leopard print ensemble that’s on view.

The flawless installation poses some mannequins with their backs to viewers, a nice touch that invites optimal ogling of the svelte lines of gowns like the reed-slim, strapless, scarlet-silk georgette dress, streamlined to within inches of its slightly flared hem, and accessorized with elbow-length black gloves.

Vogue magazine pronounced the designer “King of Evening,” and the title fits. His dressy coats can be spectacular; a close-fitting, fulllength one in olive-green silk velvet with gold embroidery and fur trim is worthy of Tsarist royalty.

Underneath the surface of even the most ardent feminist lurks the girlish dream of becoming (or at least feeling like) a fairy-tale princess descending a palace staircase and turning heads at the ball; de la Renta hit that sweet spot. But if you’re excited by the kinky punk aesthetic of Vivienne Westwood or the trashy, streetwise, transgressive vibe of Jean Paul Gaultier, this show won’t be rock & roll enough for you. “Sleek by day, lavish by night” was de la Renta’s calling card, and

Victor Virgile/Getty Images

Oscar de la Renta for Pierre Balmain evening dress (on right): Autumn/Winter 1998-99. Silk taffeta, bead, sequin, and metallic thread embroidery, chenille yarn. Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas, College of Visual Arts and Design.

overall, the fashions are demure and skew toward the conservative, ladies-who-lunch society crowd who made up the bulk of his client base. If one measures the value of a costume show – the designer’s name recognition and attendant status aside – by whether the work makes that crucial jump from pop-cultural artifact to art, de la Renta’s attention to detail and especially his opulent fabrics put him over the fence in that regard with acres of layered tulle, luxurious taffetas, plush velvets and hand-embroidered silks;

but in terms of invention and sheer virtuosity, he pales in comparison with the neglected genius Charles James, featured in FAMSF’s High Style show last year.

The museum’s overview is the first major retrospective survey of the life and career of this glamorous tastemaker who hobnobbed with Norman Mailer, the Clintons and the Rothschilds, flamenco dancers, opera singers and bullfighters.

Divided into thematic sections and consisting of 121 looks created over five decades, it begins with his rise to prominence in Franco’s Spain in the 1950s and his apprenticeship to Cristobal Balenciaga, followed by a period in Paris with Lanvin and Balmain, and his move to the U.S. in 1983. It also showcases an array of inspirations, Eastern, Russian and Spanish, which express his attraction to the exotic. The Spanish section references El Greco, Velazquez and the prairie – that is, if a ranch woman were inclined to wear taffeta, like the stunning long-sleeve,

Erin Burns, courtesy of the Kent State University Museum

Oscar de la Renta caftan: Spring 1982. Hand-painted silk crepe de chine. Kent State University Museum, Silverman/Rodgers Collection.

navy blue blouse partnered with a ruby red, tiered ruffle skirt that rustles when its wearer moves. His trademark romanticism is at full throttle in the Garden gallery. Recalling a bygone languorous age, the feminine, willowy, floral print dresses, suitable for decadent outdoor parties at Versailles, evoke the sumptuous decadence of 18th-century France and Marie Antoinette.

When deciding if a creation passed muster, de la Renta often asked himself if his wife, Annette, would like it. Several of her remarkable custom-designed pieces are part of the show: a sable-trimmed shawl, displayed with matching dark velvet pants and tunic with a gold accent; a puffy-sleeved citron-satin evening cape; and a snappy, lace-effect, black

tulle and silk taffeta appliqué dress with a trim, boatnecked bodice and a saucy matador hat.

The new exhibition is an opportunity to appreciate the elegance of a man classy to a fault, beloved by his clients, and by many accounts, wickedly charming and a true gentleman in a business of ruffians. He once gave the show’s curator, Andre Leon Talley, a caged tarantula as a gift. Thanks, Oscar. The designer was also a gifted gardener whose handiwork can be seen in a video of the verdant grounds of his Connecticut estate. It seems he brought his love of beauty and signature style to every aspect of his life.t Through May 30 at the de Young Museum.

Film>>

t America’s sweetheart no more

March 17-23, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 25

New game show with a queer twist Tiffany Laufer, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

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Melissa Rauch as Hope Ann Greggory in The Bronze.

by David Lamble

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s a journalist with fond memories of the early-1980s launch of the Gay Games, I sometimes muse about the fate of generations of LGBTQ athletes whose fleeting glory is long behind them. Their careers ended abruptly in San Francisco, Sydney or Montreal, and their only shot at relevance was becoming some promising kid’s coach.

The brittle new sports comedy The Bronze heterosexualizes those musings, giving us Hope Ann Greggory (TV comedy star Melissa Rauch), a mouthy, pain-in-the-ass one-time gymnastics prodigy who, 10 years out of the spotlight, inflicts her bitterness on the residents of a small Ohio town while living in her longsuffering postal-carrier dad’s (Gary Cole) basement.

The Bronze, opening Friday,

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Coppelia

From page 17

classic Coppelia, and in Berkeley Cal Performances showed Mark Morris’ 1988 masterpiece, also essentially a dance of joy, L’Allegro, il Penseroso, ed il Moderato, last seen here in 2009. Each had live music. The ballet’s excellent orchestra played Delibes’ 1870 score, and for the Morris, Philharmonia Baroque, the finest Baroque-music specialists in the land, played Handel’s oratorio with first-rate soloists and chorus in the pit under the direction of Nicholas McGegan.

Balanchine knew Petipa’s version of Coppelia in St. Petersburg before he defected to the West. He had danced in it, and loved it. He revised the Ballets Russes’ shabby production of it in 1945 for Alexandra Danilova, whom the foremost critic of the day, Edwin Denby, called “incomparably brilliant” in “the most glorious dancing in the world.” Thirty years later he revived it again, with Danilova’s help, and restaged it for Patricia McBride and Helgi Tomasson. Tomasson, now the artistic director of SFB, brought it in as a vehicle for his own brilliant dancers, first in 2011, and again last week, when they covered themselves in glory.

I saw two casts: Tuesday’s opening night, with Frances Chung as

by David-Elijah Nahmod

might have worked, might have actually sparkled, if the severely disgruntled heroine were played by Betty White in her prime, if Dad were an ego-deflating Bob Newhart, or if the film’s writers weren’t the star and her husband.

The first act finds Hope Ann, still sporting a ponytail and lounging around in her Team USA uniform, cadging free meals from local merchants and angrily resisting Dad’s entreaties that she devote herself to training young women for the emotional rigors of international competition.

“Have you thought any more about becoming a coach?”

“I’m not a coach, I’m a star. It’s called Dancing with the Stars, not Dancing with the Coaches!”

On the plus side, the screenwriters and director Bryan Buckley give us the sunny sitcom version of

exurban life 40 miles west of Cleveland, Ohio, with a gaggle of teachers, druggists and ex-boyfriends who resist the temptation to shun the peevish ex-American sweetheart. The make-or-break moment comes when Hope Ann is forced to train her replacement, aspiring gymnastics star Maggie (Haley Lu Richardson). The younger athlete has the trait, found only at the movies, of seeing just what she wants to see in her beloved mentor.

The Bronze would make much more sense as a lesbian relationship-based sports film, say a sort of next-generation sequel to Robert Towne’s Personal Best, where Mariel Hemingway and Patrice Donnelly fall in love while preparing for the 1980 Olympics. The film that actually exists is recommended for young athletes who need to gird themselves for life after the gym.t

our girl Swanilda and Vitor Luiz as Franz, both very good. Wednesday featured Maria Kochetkova and Gennadi Nedvigin, who were superb. Both trained from childhood in Russia and grew up in storyballets. Both were completely in character from the outset. Kochetkova’s energy and wit made her “like champagne.”

The ballet’s tone remains borderline preposterous even as the story moves into dark material. Franz is infatuated with the mysterious beauty who sits on the balcony overlooking the square, not realizing she is a robot created by the crazy scientist Dr. Coppelius (Pascal Molat), who wants no less than to capture Franz, steal his life force, and animate the doll he has created.

Swanilda sneaks into the scientist’s workshop, pretends to be the doll, then pretends to come to life, creating artful mayhem and crushing the inventor’s hopes, all the while remaining delightful.

Nedvigin was excellent. Not since Gelsey Kirkland’s Giselle have I seen such a natural fit of role with performer. Everything he did was exactly right and never too much, even when in a farcical passage he hotfooted it across the stage like Bugs Bunny.

Balanchine created a complete third act, a wedding scene using all Delibes’ music, to stage an allegory

on the creation of new life through marriage: children, domesticity, daily life. There’s a Dance of the Hours for 24 children, who were wonderful; Dawn, Prayer, War and Discord (centurions and Amazons). Finally, Peace, a brilliant wedding duet, took off into delirium. Everything sped up: the ballerina’s circle of the stage doing pique turns became two smaller circles of the stage in the same time. Franz did the same, but with flying jetes, going so fast it made you giddy. When it was over, the whole audience jumped to its feet and screamed.

Outstanding were Swanilda’s friends: Isabella DeVivo, Jahna Frantziksonis, Ellen Rose Hummel, Norika Matsuyama, Lauren Parrott, Rebecca Rhodes, Julia Rowe, Emma Rubinowitz. Balanchine’s new folk dances for the first act were thrillingly danced by all, especially Diego Cruz, Lonnie Weeks, and Kimberley Braylock-Olivier.

Lauren Strongin led the children in the Waltz of the Golden Hours. Sasha De Sola was thrilling as Dawn, and both Sophiane Sylve and Jahna Frantziskonis were magnificent as Prayer.

Morris’ L’Allegro was dominated by the musicality of the ensemble dancing, an accompaniment to the singing and orchestral playing. The great scenes – the landscape created by dancers pretending to be trees

ere TV is now offering its first game show. If you’re a fan of cheesy 1970s game shows such as The Dating Game or The Newlywed Game, then Modd Couples is the show you’ve been waiting for.

Hosted by Emmy-nominated David Millbern and comedian Olivia Harewood, Modd Couples effectively recreates the ambiance of those campy game shows our moms and grandmas watched some 40 years ago. Modd Couples’ set, a brick wall that looks suspiciously looks like paper-mache, might fall over were a gentle breeze to hit it. The colorfully garish furniture and the quasi-retro clothing worn by the hosts and guests add to the show’s charm.

This show is so retro you might think it’s 1978.

But Here is a gay network.

When Jim Lange grilled couples on The Dating Game, he never

and bushes, while foxes get chased by slavering dogs; the Shades disappearing into the mists of Elysium – are such brilliant feats of imagination that no single dancer stands out. As the choral voices swell up, these friezes move past us, merry or grave, as the visions conjured up by Milton’s text emerge and dissolve.

The delightful dances outnumber the penseroso passages, the greatest of which is the echo-duet of the nightingales (Maile Okamura, Lauren Grant) accompanied by the ravishing voice of Sherezade Panthaki, whose high notes bloom in out-of-this-world radiance.

The dances of joy carry the day.

Dallas McMurray’s larky bird-dance epitomizes the gay side; the slapstick men’s dance remains side-splittingly funny, its humor contained by the forms of the central-European folk-dance it’s based on. The secrets

asked questions about sex, and the subject of dildos and vibrators never came up. Those “unmentionable” topics are mentioned with resplendent good cheer on Modd Couples, as are more “acceptable” topics like driving and going to the beach.

The concept of Modd Couples is simple. Two couples, one gay, one straight, answer a variety of questions about each other. The couple that gets the most correct answers wins – or, more to the point, they get “leid.” Harewood adorns the winners with actual Hawaiian leis, though they also win a prize.

Modd Couples isn’t likely to attract much attention from the media, but it is a delightfully silly time-waster. Six episodes have been produced for the freshman season.

Comcast subscribers can see them at Here on Demand. Don’t subscribe to cable? Never fear, the episodes are also streaming at Here’s YouTube and Hulu pages.t

of this ballet lie in the intricacy of the folk-dance rhythms Morris has teased out of Handel’s score and given his dancers, which give rhythmic organization to this rhapsody of visions and make it a piece that will last til the end of time. As long as dancers dance, they’ll want to dance this.

Coming up: SF Ballet’s Program 5, featuring Jerome Robbins’ greatest work, Dances at a Gathering, with Yuri Possokhov’s Swimmer.

Opening tonight is our premiere modern dance company ODC/SF’s winter season Dancing Downtown.

Also this weekend, already sold out, is Trajal Harrell at Cal Performances, followed by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at month’s end. The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards will be given out March 21 at Yerba Buena (free to the public).

Maybe I’ll see you there.t

<< Theatre

26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 17-23, 2016

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Sean Hayes

From page 17

Hayes was in town promoting his upcoming run in An Act of God that begins performances on March 29 at the Golden Gate Theatre. In David Javerbaum’s comedy, seen on Broadway last year with Jim Parsons in the title role, Hayes plays God, or more precisely, God appears to us in the form of Sean Hayes to deliver a replacement set of the 10 Commandments. “You know what’s funny,” God tells the audience. “Sean doesn’t even know he’s here.”

Hayes had talked about the appeal of the play, a laugh-out-loud comedy with poignant underpinnings, when the topic of his early reluctance to identify as a gay man came up – leading him to ask for more interview time. “I think when you’re young and under the spotlight, you do stupid things because of fear,” he said. “I’ve said publicly in other interviews that I apologize to the gay community for not coming out sooner. I’m trying to be a better human being now. I was just scared.”

Hayes, now 45, was still in his 20s, with one indie film and a few commercials on his resume, when he was cast as the lovably ditsy, flamboyantly gay, wannabe actor Jack McFarland

on Will & Grace. That the sitcom’s lead male character, Will Truman (played by the quietly straight Eric McCormack), was also an out-gay man, and a successful lawyer at that, gave the series breakthrough status when it debuted in 1998. Running for eight seasons, often at the top of the ratings, it was inevitable that Hayes would face “are you or aren’t you?” questions about being gay himself.

“The great thing that came out of that is now I recognize I should have, and can still, do more,” he said. “I do things in my way, and one of the things I do, which I never did before, is talk about being married to a man [music producer Scott Icenogle]. I talk about it on talk shows, and I shoot funny videos with my husband. Even just talking about this now with you is part of the journey.”

There were complaints from the gay community when he declined to discuss his orientation, and there were complaints when he finally did.

“Lots of people were mean because it wasn’t on their terms. ‘How dare he take so long,’ or, ‘He’s doing it now because he needs to promote something.’ I’m always promoting something every fucking week of the year.”

An Act of God is something he is cheerfully promoting. When Hayes’ agent told him that director

Courtesy Sean Hayes Courtesy NBC

Sean Hayes, left, poses with his Will & Grace co-stars Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, and Megan Mullally.

Joe Mantello and playwright David Javerbaum were interested in him playing the role in a production for Los Angeles and San Francisco, he started reading the script. “I didn’t get to see the play on Broadway, but after I read just five or six pages, I said, ‘I’m in.’ I love that it’s approaching the topic of religion, all religions, under the umbrella of humor. It’s not preaching anything or telling you what you should or shouldn’t believe.

It’s first and foremost a comedy.”

Javerbaum, who has written for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, began what became An Act of God as a series of tweets that he then compiled into a book. But the play is not

Sean Hayes married music producer Scott Icenogle in 2014, after an eight-year courtship.

just a collection of quips. “There is a narrative here to mold,” Hayes said, “so we had to find the right levels and colors of the piece. It’s not just silly. It’s super-smart. On every page you get sideswiped by, like, ‘I never thought about it that way before.’”

For most of his career, Hayes has been wrapped up in television, both as a performer and more recently as a producer through Hazy Mills Productions of such shows as Grimm, Hot in Cleveland, and the NBC sitcom Crowded, which debuted just this week. Hazy Mills is also working on a screen adaptation of Avenue Q. Tied to television production for so many years, Hayes’ stage work has been much more limited. He did co-star with Kristen Chenoweth in a

t

2010 Broadway revival of Promises, Promises, and of course, he was playing to live studio audiences through 194 episodes of Will & Grace. As Hayes explains it, it became something of a wonderful grind.

“It was one of the greatest experiences of my entire life, but you are stuck, because you have a contract where you must play this character, and they have their vision for it, and you’re hired to follow their vision,” he said. “After awhile, I think the character became a silly fop. I felt myself growing, but not the character growing.”

His production company was also behind Sean Saves the World, which gave Hayes his first title role on a TV series in 2013, but which was canceled after just 13 episodes had aired.

“It was kind of a conflict of visions,” Hayes said, quick to acknowledge the sitcom’s shortcomings even though the show was built as a vehicle for his talents. Would he do another sitcom?

“Oh, no, no, no, not as long as I live.

But never say never.”

And never does he blame an audience for not getting it. “The audience is never wrong,” Hayes said.

“The audience’s only job is to be entertained, and we’re supposed to figure out the rest for them.”t An Act of God will run March 29-April 17 at the Golden Gate Theatre. Tickets are $45-$150. Call (888) 746-1799 of go to shnsf.com.

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PERSONALS Vol. 46 • No. 11 • March 17-23, 2016

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Both Sides Now Alameda County Judge Tom Reardon Moonlights As A Cabaret Star

by David-Elijah Nahmod

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Arkansassy

Tom Reardon

hen Tom Reardon returns for his fourth appearance at Feinstein’s at the Nikko on March 18 and 19, he’ll be celebrating the legacies of his musical idols Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan.

See page 29 >>

Gender SChmear Purim party for nice Jewish queers returns

by David-Elijah Nahmod

P Festive attendees at a previous Gender Schmear event.

urim is the gayest holiday on the Jewish calendar. It’s a night when Jews are encouraged to dress up in their most colorful and outrageous finery.

“There’s a saying that every Jewish holiday can be described in nine words: ‘They tried to kill us. We won. Let’s eat!’”, explains Gene Goldstein-Plesser, a nice Jewish gay guy who works with Keshet, a networking and advocacy group for LGBTQ Jews.

See page 28 >>

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS } Photo: RJ MUNA

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28 • Bay Area Reporter • March 17-23, 2016

A Stake in Sex

Jallen Rix on his sexy healing show

by BARtab staff

Francisco Jacks, the adult circle jerk that has met regularly in the City for more than thirty years. Of course, for the show I don’t masturbate on stage, but I do lose track of my clothes.

O

n Easter weekend Club Oasis is hosting a particularly sexy yet uniquely spiritual show, Stake In The Ground, with sexologist and author Jallen Rix. No stranger to San Francisco, Dr. Rix lived for a quarter century in San Francisco. With a Doctorate of Education in Sexology, he maintains a private practice in Palm Springs, but he’s back with a solo performance piece that has played to sold out shows in Los Angeles, Seattle and Palm Springs. We tossed him a few questions to clue us in on what a sexologist is doing on stage.

It seems like everyone is performing one-person shows these days. What makes yours stand out?

Jallen Rix: It’s all about sex, baby!

Where other shows may include a sexual component, I address it head on. Storytelling has been a integral tool in the way I educate others. It was such an honor early on to have Richard Jessup, the person who would become the director of this show, hear me at a speaking gig and pull me aside to say, “We have to bring this to the stage!”

The show has become a fascinating and entertaining amalgam of emotional and engaging stories that highlight “TED Talk” style insights. However, it’s not just a ‘three steps to better kissing’ workshop that deals with sex only on a surface level. I dig deep into the dark, sexual shame that many of us are spoonfed at a young age and how I have, and how many others have consciously transformed their lives by embracing sexual pleasure. People are resonating to the many layers on which the different stories touch. I actually

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Gender Schmear

From page 27

Purim recalls the story of Esther, who was a nice Jewish girl in Ancient Persia: Esther saved her people from the evil clutches of Haman, an adviser to the king.

“The word Purim means ‘lots’, because Haman cast lots to decide which day his decree condemning Jews to death would take effect,” said Goldstein-Plesser.

He invites you to join Keshet for Gender Schmear, an LGBTQ Purim party. The fun commences at 8PM on March 23 at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, San Francisco’s LGBTQ synagogue. Prior to the party, there will be a reading of the “Megilla,” the story of Purim, at 7PM in the Shaar Zahav sanctuary.

“Traditionally, Purim is the biggest party holiday of the Jewish calendar,” said Goldstein-Plesser.

“After reading the Megilla, Jews gather for a festive meal that always includes abundant alcohol. Other traditional parts of the holiday include giving food to the poor and eating triangular cookies shaped like Haman’s hat; hamantashen.”

Those ancient traditions will have a nice queer twist at Gender Schmear, which is in its third year.

“It’s our biggest party of the year,” Goldstein-Plesser said. “It’s a chance for gay, lesbian, bisexual transgender or otherwise queer Jews and their friends to gather together and celebrate our craziest holiday.”

He explained the meaning of the party’s name.

“I think it’s catchy,” he said.

“Schmear is a Yiddish word for a spread, almost always cream cheese, as in a bagel and schmear. Perhaps as partygoers loosen up over the course of the evening, we’ll see some gender identities and sexual expressions get a bit schmeared.”

It sounds like it’s going to be

t

Jallen Rix in his show Stake in the Ground.

am starting to have ‘groupies’ who say they learn something new every time they see the show.

If the show is all about sex, what does it have to do with spirituality?

That’s exactly the kind of question I address in the show, that often in our culture, sexuality and spirituality seem to have little to do with each other. Most of us have been forcefed lies from abusive religious sources that tell us sex is disgusting, and spirituality is glorious and the two should never meet. In reality, humanity is at its best when we allow all the different aspects of our lives to come together as a whole.

In the show I demonstrate this by paying homage to my Radical Faerie heritage (much of which I first encountered in San Francisco) by recreating a Faerie ritual right on stage with the audience as part of the experience. I figure for this Easter, why not do something that will affirm your queer, sexy, crazy and spiritual incarnation? Come to the show and discover where the holiday really got its start.

Are there other aspects of San Francisco in your show?

Yes, as part of my journey out of sexual shame I explore what sexual health means. One story has me searching for “sexual mentors” at San

Getting naked onstage must be quite liberating. You mention sexual shame a lot. Do you view this as a problem in today’s society?

Oh! Hell yes! I find shame to be the number one enemy of a healthy sense of sex today. Some call shame in our society an emotional epidemic. Shame is the belief that you are never enough. “You’re not popular enough.” “You’re not thin enough.”

“You’re not moral enough.”

These messages come at us hundreds of times a day through the media, commercialism, religion and politics. It’s hyperconformity dressed up in a slick and snappy manner. It’s high school peer-pressure gone wild!

Therefore, when this belief of “not enough” bleeds into our sex lives, it is nearly impossible to feel good about anything we do sexually. Whether you’re making love to a partner, connecting online, or just walking into a bar, if you are already predisposed to believe that you’re not good enough, it undermines your entire ability to be your sexy and unique self.

Sexy pride is good!

I’ve actually had people report back that they’ve had great sex as a result of seeing the show. That’s what I’m all about! I’m extremely excited to share it with my San Francisco family.t Jallen Rix performs ‘Stake in the Ground’ at Oasis, Saturday, March 27 at 7pm. $30. 298 11th St. www.cometrueproductions.com www.sfoasis.com

So, how does one rid themselves of sexual shame?

You’ll just have to come to the show and find out! The journey on stage is truly transformative from a horny Baptist boy ashamed of masturbating, to a sexologist who is not only willing to talk about sex, but I fully embrace ex- Jallen Rix periencing it as much as possible.

a night to remember. GoldsteinPlesser tells us that legendary lesbian DJ Page Hodel will be spinning from the bimah, which is the pulpit inside Shaar Zahav’s sanctuary.

“There will be drag performances

by Kylie Minono, host of Mazel Top, the monthly gay Jewish club at Oasis,” said Goldstein-Plesser.

“We’ll have hundreds of fresh gourmet Hamantashan, as well as other vegetarian hor d’eouvres.

We’ll have a costume box and a photo booth, plus the oppurtunity to schmooze with hundreds of queer Jews from all of the LGBTQ rainbow… and an open bar.”

Purim, Goldstein-Plesser assures us, is the Jewish Halloween.

“Lots of Jews take up the opportunity to dress up in costumes, sometimes related to the Purim story, but often not. We always encourage Gender Shmear partygoers to go a step further and dress as a Purim character of a different gender than themselves.”

Goldstein-Plesser has always mixed his Judaism and his queerness. He’s the guy behind Nice Jewish Boys, a group within Keshet which meets for Shabbat (Sabbath) dinners, happy hours and other activities.

“In the Bay Area, many queer Jews have separate queer friend groups and Jewish friend groups,” he said.

“We wanted to create a space where no one has to check their Jewish or their queer identity at the door. I’ve been lucky enough to never have to personally feel a conflict with my gay identity and my Jewish identity, and I’m thrilled to be working with Keshet to help more people feel a connection between their queer and Jewish selves.”t Keshet Gender Schmear, Wednesday March 23 at 8PM, Congregation Shaar Zahav, 290 Dolores. $20 in advance, $25 at the door. www.keshetonline.org

The stories are at times darkly intense, and other times they’re heart-warming, funny and freeing.

I and the audience strap in for a rollercoaster ride of entertainment, authenticity and sexiness!

All photos: Arkansassy

All Photos: Arkansassy

Festive attendees at a previous Gender Schmear event.

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Read more online at www.ebar.com

Tom Reardon

<<

Both Sides Now

From page 27

“Dylan invented the singer/songwriter, Mitchell perfected it,” Reardon said of the two legendary icons. He shared an anecdote regarding Mitchell and her friend Kris Kristofferson, who noted how revealing Mitchell’s lyrics were. “Leave something to yourself,” Kristofferson told her.

It’s that very personal nature of the Mitchell and Dylan catalogs which appeals to Reardon. “I’m always interested in telling a story,” he said. “I like great lyrics matched to a great melody, like Steven Sondheim or Richard Rodgers. I’ve always included Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell in this category because they’re superlative storytellers.”

Dylan and Mitchell both rose to stardom during the mid-1960s, a time when the country was in the midst of great social upheaval, and when folk singers expressed the anguish and frustration of a generation. Reardon said that he won’t be dressed in hippie attire when he performs at Feinstein’s. “I’ll be wearing

ple melody, an old folk feel.” a jacket which invokes their Though Reardon has enjoyed a folk sensibilities, but that’s great deal of success in the Bay Area still classy enough for Feincabaret and theater world, he’s not stein’s,” he said. expecting to star on Broadway anySome might be surprised time soon.

by Reardon’s career as a per“I’m realistic,” he says. “It’s a former, which includes sold tough nut to crack. It’s tough to out cabaret performances and pay bills. I wouldn’t want to give many roles in musical theater. up the pension from my day job.

Reardon, who is openly gay, is My performing is strictly Bay also a sitting judge in AlamArea.” eda County Superior Court, Still, there’s always the chance which he calls his “day job.” that “someone” might see him on So far, none of the defendants stage. “If the offer were right, I probhe’s presided over have come ably would,” he said. “You only live to see his shows. once. It would be a big risk, but I “There’s not a lot of crosswouldn’t want to look back and ask over between Criminal Justice why didn’t I?”t and musical theater,” he said.

Reardon has recieved a lot of support from his colleagues Tom Reardon performs Both Sides in the legal community, and Now: The Songs of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell at Feinstein’s at the has had some of his jurors Nikko. $25-$45. $20 food/drink come to see him perform after min. March 18, 8pm. March 19, their service ended.

7pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. The judge said that he greatly en(866) 663-1063. www.ticketweb.com joys his day job, and credits it with www.tommyontherocks.com helping him to find his footing on stage. “The legal world instills a sense of discipline,” he points out.

Reardon will be leaving the legal world behind –for just a few hours– when he brings his Dylan/Mitchell tribute to Feinstein’s. He cited Mitchell’s “A Case of You” and Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Allright” as his favorite compositions from each.

“I am a lonely painter, I live in a box of paints,” is the line from “A Case of You” which most resonates with Reardon. “There’s always one line in her songs that brings me back,” he said.

Reardon added that “Don’t Think Twice, Its Allright” was one of Dylan’s earlier, lesser known numbers. “It really comes out of a folk tradition,” Tom Reardon he said. “It has a beautiful, sim-

45 On April 7, 2016, America’s longest continuously-published and highest circulation LGBT newspaper celebrates our historic 45th Anniversary and the results of our 6th annual readers’ choice awards.

BESTIES The 2016 LGBT Best of the Bay

READERS: Join us at our 45th Anniversary celebration!

RSVP at www.ebar.com/besties2016 ADVERTISERS: Call (415) 829-8937 or email advertising@ebar.com to learn more about advertising and sponsorship opportunities associated with our 45th anniversary celebration.

March 17-23, 2016 • Bay Area Reporter • 29

The In-Voice Study explores the relationship between alcohol use and sexual behavior. You must be HIV+, sexually active, and a regular alcohol consumer.

Participants will have two interviews over a 6-week period and may be assigned to 6 weeks of daily cell phone-based data collection.

Compensation ranges from $70 - $190 over the 6-week period depending on the group one is assigned to.

To see if you are eligible call Bob at 415.802.4500 or email in-voicestudy@ucsf.edu

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PHOTOGRAPHY

415 370 7152

WEDDINGS, HEADSHOTS, PORTRAITS

stevenunderhill.com · stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com

<< On the Tab

30 • Bay Area Reporter • March 17-23, 2016

On the Tab March 17-24

Sunday, March elebrate spring (first day is and a bit of g cin dan e som 20) with tha of t to be found. revelry, and there’s plenty

C

Sat 19

Georg Lester

Beatpig @ Powerhouse

Thu 17

Thursday Night Live @ SF Eagle

Adult parties at the interactive science museum. Cocktail cash bar. $10-$15.

6pm-10pm. Pier 15 at Embarcadero. www.exploratorium.edu

Music night with local and touring bands. March 17: Essaie Pas, Xultur, and Forbidden Colors. $8. 9:30pm.

398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Ain’t Mama’s Drag @ Balancoire

Tubesteak Connection @ Aunt Charlie’s Lounge

After Dark @ Exploratorium

Weekly drag queen and drag king show hosted by Cruzin d’Loo. 8pm10pm. No cover. 2565 Mission St. www.balancoiresf.com

Bulge @ Powerhouse Grace Towers hosts the fun sexy night. $100 cash prize for best bulge. $5-$10 benefits Groundswell Institute, the queer retreat camp. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Comedy Returns @ El Rio Funny people perform at the monthly show: Sherry Glaser (Off-Broadway’s longest running one-woman show, Family Secrets), Abhay Nadkarni (originally from South India), Baruch Porras-Hernandez (writer/performer/storyteller), Judi Leff (Director of Arts and Cultural Programs at Congregation EmanuEl), Eve Meyer (Executive Director of SF Suicide Prevention), and hostess Lisa Geduldig. $7-$20. 8pm. 3158 Mission St. (800) 838-3006. www.elriosf.com

Maria Konner @ Martuni’s The “trans-diva” singer and multiinstrumentalist performs with her band at the the intimate cocktail bar; 3rd Thursdays. No cover. Open mic afterward. 6:30-8:30pm. 4 Valencia St.

Nightlife @ California Academy of Sciences Themed event nights at the fascinating nature museum, with DJed dancing, cocktails, fish, frogs, food and fun. $10-$12. 6pm-10pm, 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. www.calacademy.org

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

Sexitude @ Oasis D’Arcy Drollinger’s popular aerobic class and dance party will make you sweat! Bring your retro workout gear and then have cocktails. $10. 9pm.

298 11th St. at Folsom. 795-3180. www.sfoasis.com

Disco guru DJ Bus Station John spins grooves at the intimate retro music night. 10pm-2am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www.auntcharlieslounge.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

Ladies of San Francisco @ Club OMG Galilea hosts the weekly “old school drag show” with guest performers and DJ Jack Rojo. $4. 9pm-2am. 43 6th St. www.clubOMGsf.com

The Revivalists @ The Independent

The Final Girls @ Clay Theatre

New Orleans funk-rock band performs two nights of shows; Zigaboo Modeliste and Kolars open. $20. 9pm.

Also March 19. 628 Divisadero St. 771-1421. www.therevivalists.com www.theindependentsf.com

Peaches Christ hosts a Midnight Mass screening of gay partners Josh Miller & Mark Fortin’s new film parody about a girl who falls into her mother’s slasher movie; with a preshow Q&A and costume contest. $10.

11:55pm. 2261 Fillmore St. at Clay. www.landmarktheatres.com

Some Thing @ The Stud Mica Sigourney and pals’ weekly offbeat drag performance night. $7. 10pm-3am.

399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Swagger Like Us @ Oasis Queer hip hop dance beats amaze with Princess Nokia, DJs davO and Bianca Oblivion. $10. 10pm-2am. 298 11th St. at Folsom. 795-3180. www.sfoasis.com

Tom Reardon @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The accomplished Bay Area musical theatre and cabaret performer premieres a new concert, Both Sides Now: The Songs of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell at the classy nightclub. $25$45. $20 food/drink min. 8pm March 19, 7pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (866) 663-1063. www.tommyontherocks.com www.ticketweb.com

Uhaul @ Beatbox The monthly women’s dance night returns, with DJs Chelsea Starr and Siobhan Aluvalot, a performance by Bossy SF and the women’s dance group Entangle and Sway. $10. 10pm-2am.

314 11th St. www.beatboxsf.com

Boy Bar @ The Cafe

Valerie Branch’s weekly comedy night, where she embodies her faux queen character Pia Messing for some offbeat wit, along with guest performers. $5. 8pm-10pm. 2565 Mission St. www.balancoiresf.com

The family-friendly night events returns, with exhibit tours, dancing, food, drinks, and live music. $7-$15.

5pm-9pm. 1000 Oak St. www.museumca.org

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

Growlr @ SF Eagle The beartastic night, sponsored by the furry dude app; with DJ Steve Sherwood, gogo cubs and chubs. $5.

9pm-2am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

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

Loreena McKennitt @ Masonic Auditorium The popular Celtic multiinstrumentalist singer-songwriter performs with guitarist Brian Hughes and cellist Caroline Lavelle. $39.50$85. 1111 California St. 8pm. www.loreenamckennitt.com www.sfmasonic.com

Make Out Party @ SF Eagle Nark Magazine studs, with DJs Elaine Denham and Robin Simmons. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Mascara @ Castro Country Club

Weekly dance night with nearly naked gogo guys & gals; DJs Chad Bays, Ms. Jackson, Becky Know and Jorge T. $4.

9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Fri 18

Saturgay @ Qbar Stanley Frank spins house dance remixes at the intimate Castro dance bar. $3. 9pm-2am (weekly beer bust 2pm-9pm). 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

The Revivalists’ lead singer Dave Shaw @ The Independent

Latin Explosion @ Club 21, Oakland

Sat 19

Soul Delicious @ Lookout

Enjoy Latin, hip hop and electro, plus hot gogos galore, and a big dance floor. March 18: Valentino’s Electro Birthday Bash, with hot gogo guys & gals, Lulu Ramirez and Jacqueline La Gata, and DJ Carlitos. $10-$20.

9pm-3am. 2111 Franklin St., Oakland. www.club21oakland.com

Beatpig @ Powerhouse

Juanita More!, Walter Gomez and Sidekick’s groovy mix of hunks and drag always entertains. 10pm-2am.

1347 Folsom St. www.beatpigsf.com www.powerhousebar.com

Soul Party @ Elbo Room

The Manhattans @ Yoshi’s Oakland

La Bota Loca @ Club 21, Oakland

The classic R&B quartet perform, with featured singer Gerald Alston, soulful hits with their band at the cool nightclub-restaurant. $39-$69. 8pm & 10pm. Also March 19, 7:30 & 9:30pm.

510 Embarcadero West, Oakland.

(510) 238-9200. www.yoshis.com

Manimal @ Beaux

Brazilian Takeover @ Beatbox

Midnight Show @ Divas

DJs Fabio Campos and Rodolfo Bravat bring high-energy Brazilian music to the SoMa gay club. $15-$35. 10pm4am. 314 11th St. beatboxsf.com

The saucy women’s burlesque show hosted by Dottie Lux. March 18, Pee Wee’s Big Cabaret Show, a Pee-Weethemed night, with Alotta Boutte, Snatch Adams, and more. $10. 7pm10pm. 314 11th St. www.beatboxsf.com

Brunch, booze, sass and grooves, with the Mom DJs, Motown sounds, and soul food. 11am-4pm. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com DJs Lucky, Paul, and Phengren Osward spin 60s soul 45s. $5-$10 ($5 off in semi-formal attire). 10pm-2am. 647 Valencia St. 552-7788. www.elbo.com

Latin, hip hop and Electro music night. $5-$25.

9pm-4am.

2111 Franklin St., Oakland. club21oakland.com

Gogo-tastic dance night starts off your weekend. $5. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Red Hots Burlesque @ Beatbox

The Manhattans @ Yoshi’s Oakland

Cabaret show tribute to sidekicks, villains and other characters at the hotel’s lounge. $25-$40. 8pm.

562 Sutter St. 857-1896. www. societycabaret.com

Nitty Gritty @ Beaux

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

Fri 18

Heather Paton-Watson @ Hotel Rex

Heklina’s weekly drag show night with different themes, always outrageously hilarious. $March 19: David Bowie Tribute night part 2! 15. 10pm-2am.

298 11th St. at Folsom. 795-3180. www.sfoasis.com

Comedy Noir @ Balancoire

Friday Nights @ Oakland Museum

The monthly dance party for Gaysians and their pals. $10-$14. 10pm-3am.

155 Fell St. www.rickshawstop.com

Mother @ Oasis

Gus Presents’ weekly dance night, with DJ Kid Sysko, cute gogos and $2 beer (before 10pm). 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

Goth Industrial Darkwave tribute night celebrates its ninth anniversary, with DJs Xander, Panic and Daniel Skellington. $5-$8. 9:30-2am. 1190 Folsom St. www.sfcatclub.com

Gameboi SF @ Rickshaw Stop

The sober space’s monthly drag show takes on a Dallas theme, with Somoa That’s farewell show. $10. 10:30pm.

4058 18th St. www.castrocountryclub.org

Fri 18

Dancing Ghosts @ Cat Club

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Sat 19 DJ Fabio Campos at Brazilian Takeover @ Beatbox

Club Rimshot @ Club BNB, Oakland The weekly hip hop and R&B night.

8-$15. 9pm to 4am. 2120 Broadway.

(510) 759-7340. www.club-bnb.com

Sugar @ The Cafe Dance, drink, cruise at the Castro club.

9pm-2am. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

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On the Tab>>

March 17-23, 2016 • Bay Area Reporter • 31

Shot in the City

Sun 20 Daytime Realness @ El Rio

Cock Shot @ Beaux Shot specials and adult Bingo games, with DJs Chad Bays and Riley Patrick, at the new weekly night. No cover.

9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Funny Tuesdays @ Harvey’s Ronn Vigh hosts the weekly LGBT and gay-friendly comedy night. One-drink or menu item minimum. 9pm. 500 Castro St. at 18th. 431-HARV. www.harveyssf.com

Gaymer Night @ Eagle Gay gaming fun on the bar’s big screen TVs. Have a nerdgasm and a beer with your pals. 8pm. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Hella Saucy @ Q Bar Queer dance party at the stylish intimate bar. 9pm-2am. 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

High Fantasy @ Aunt Charlie’s Lounge Sundance Country @ Beatbox

Electric Six, Parlor Tricks @ The Independent

The monthly two-stepping countrywestern dance party. $8. 6pm-10pm.

314 11th St. www.beatboxsf.com

The fun band “(Gay Bar”) performs new and fave tunes; the NY-based pop band with queer influences opens. $18-$20. 8pm. 628 Divisadero St. 771-1421. www.theindependentsf.com

We Players Gala @ Episcopal Church of Saint John the Evangelist The creative site-specific theatre company’s annual fundraiser includes dinner, drinks, entertainment, auctions, a Cupid courier service, and music. $135 and up. 6:30-10pm. 1661 15th St. www.weplayers.org

Sun 20

Femme, Xtravaganza @ Balancoire Weekly live music shows with various acts, along with brunch, mimosas, champagne and more, at the stylish nightclub and restaurant; shows at 12:30pm, 1:30pm and 2:45pm. After that, T-Dance drag shows at 7pm, 10pm and 11pm. 2565 Mission St. at 21st.

920-0577. www.balancoiresf.com

Bay Nature Gala @ UCSF Mission Bay Conference Center Local Hero Awards honor Bay Area conservationists. $150 and up. 5:308:30pm. 16750 Owens St. www.baynature.org

Big Top @ Beaux The fun Castro nightclub, with hot local DJs and sexy gogo guys and gals. $5. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.Beauxsf.com

Daytime Realness @ El Rio Heklina and Tom Temprano’s daytime drag and fun party returns, with DJs Stanley Frank, Mark O’Brien and Miss Pop, performances by Scarlett Letters, Sugah Betes, Carnie Asada, Sue Casa, Linty, BBQ while it lasts, and dancing fun. $8-$10. 2pm-8pm.

3158 Mission St. www.facebook.com/ DaytimeRealness www.elriosf.com

Disco Daddy @ SF Eagle DJ Bus Station John’s groovy disco T-dance this time celebrates Miss Diana Ross. $5. 7pm-12am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Domingo De Escandal @ Club OMG Weekly Latin night with drag shows hosted by Vicky Jimenez and DJ Luis.

7pm-2am. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Epic Karaoke @ White Horse, Oakland Mondays and Tuesdays popular weekly sing-along night. No cover. 8:30pm1am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 6523820. www.whitehorsebar.com

Gaymer Meetup @ Brewcade The weekly LGBT video game enthusiast night includes big-screen games and signature beers, with a new remodeled layout, including an outdoor patio. No cover. 7pm-11pm.

2200 Market St. www.brewcadesf.com

K’s Choice @ Slim’s The talented rock brother-sister duo and their band performs. A Fragile Tomorrow opens. $21. $46 with dinner. 8pm. 333 11th St. www.kschoice.com www.slimspresents.com

Meow Mix @ The Stud The weekly themed variety cabaret showcases new and unusual talents; MC Ferosha Titties. $3-$7. Show at 11pm. 9pm-2am. 399 9th St. at Harrison. www.studsf.com

The Naked and Famous, The Rubens @ The Independent Hard soul and rock from these two bands. $29.50. 8pm. 628 Divisadero St. 771-1421. www.theindependentsf.com

Jim Hopkins plays classic pop oldies, with vintage music videos. 9pm-2am.

44 Castro St. www.the440.com

Trivia Night @ Hi Tops Play the trivia game at the popular new sports bar. 9pm. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com

Una Noche @ Club BnB, Oakland Vicky Jimenez’ drag show and contest; Latin music all night. 9pm-2am. 2120 Broadway. (510) 759-7340. www.club-bnb.com

Underwear Night @ Club OMG Weekly underwear night includes free clothes check, and drink specials. $4.

10pm-2am. Preceded by Open Mic Comedy, 7pm, no cover. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Wed 23 Bedlam @ Beaux

New weekly event with DJs Haute Toddy, Guy Ruben, Mercedez Munro and Abominatrix. Wet T-shirt/jock contest at 11pm. $5-$10. 9pm-2am.

2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Bone @ Powerhouse New weekly punk-alternative music night hosted by Uel Renteria and Johnny Rockitt. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Bottoms Up Bingo @ Hi Tops Play board games and win offbeat prizes at the popular sports bar. 9pm.

2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com

Karaoke Night @ SF Eagle

Sat 19 Lorena McKennitt @ Masonic Auditorium

GlamaZone @ The Cafe Pollo del Mar’s weekly drag show takes on different themes with a comic edge. 8:30-11:30pm. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

Jock @ The Lookout Enjoy the weekly jock-ular fun, with DJed dance music at sports team fundraisers. 12pm-1am. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Spillin’ Tea @ Oasis DJs Ruben Mancias, Teejay Walton and Brian Salazar spin at the daytime party. $10. 3pm-9pm. 298 11th St. at Folsom. 795-3180. www.sfoasis.com

Sunday’s a Drag @ Starlight Room Donna Sachet hosts the weekly fabulous brunch and drag show, now celebrating its tenth anniversary. $45.

11am, show at noon; 1:30pm, show at 2:30pm. 450 Powell St. in Union Square.

395-8595. www.starlightroomsf.com

The Sydney, Australia-based femalefronted power pop-punk band performs. $19-$21. $44 with dinner. 7pm. 333 11th St. www.slimspresents.com

La Voix @ Beatbox

La Voix @ Beatbox

Mahlae Balenciaga and DJ Kidd Sysko’s weekly drag and dance night, with 9pm RuPaul’s Drag Race viewings. 9pm-1am. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

Retro Night @ 440 Castro

Irene Tu and Jessica Sele cohost the comedy open mic night for women and queers. No cover. 6pm-8:30pm. 4 Valencia St.

Tonight Alive, Set It Off @ Slim’s

Sun 20

Drag Mondays @ The Cafe

Strip down as the strippers also take it all off. $20. 9pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell.

397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Hysteria @ Martuni’s

Beer Bust @ SF Eagle The classic leather bar’s most popular Sunday daytime event in town draws the menfolk. Beer bust donations benefit local nonprofits (Check the website for a list of recipients). 3pm6pm. Now also on Saturdays. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Mon 21

Weekly drag and variety show, with live acts and lip-synching divas, plus dJed grooves. $5. Shows at 10:30pm & 12am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www.auntcharlieslounge.com

Naked Night @ Nob Hill Theatre

The sensational UK singer, inpressionist (Shirtley Bassey, Judy Garland, Tina Turner) and drag artist performs her new show, Diva Breakdown. $20-$30. 7pm. 314 11th St. www.lavoixsf.eventbrite.com www.beatboxsf.com

Sing along, with guest host Nick Radford. 8pm-12am. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Mahogany Mondays @ Midnight Sun Honey Mahogany’s weekly drag and musical talent show starts around 10pm, with 9pm RuPaul’s Drag Race viewings. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Monday Musicals @ The Edge Sing along at the popular musical theatre night; also Wednesdays. 7pm2am. 2 for 1 cocktail, 5pm-closing.

4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

No No Bingo @ Virgil’s Sea Room Mica Sigourney and Tom Temprano cohost the wacky weekly game night at the cool Mission bar. 8pm. 3152 Mission St. www.virgilssf.com

Opulence @ Beaux Weekly dance night, with Jocques, DJs Tori, Twistmix and Andre. 9pm-2am.

2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Piano Bar 101 @ Martuni’s Sing-along night with talented locals, and charming accompanist Joe Wicht (aka Trauma Flintstone).

9pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market. www. dragatmartunis.com

Underwear Night @ 440 Strip down to your skivvies at the popular men’s night. 9pm-2am. 440 Castro St. 621-8732. www.the440.com

Tue 22

Block Party @ Midnight Sun Weekly screenings of music videos, concert footage, interviews and more, of popular pop stars. 9pm-2am. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Tue 22 High Fantasy @ Aunt Charlie’s Lounge

See page 32 >>

<< On the Tab

32 • Bay Area Reporter • March 17-23, 2016

Linda Simpson’s Drag Explosion @ Oasis The New York drag icon ( My Comrade ) brings her fab slideshow of NYC drag stars through the 1980s and ‘90s. No cover.

9pm. 298 11th St. at Folsom. 795-3180. www.sfoasis.com

Tue 22 K’s Choice @ Slim’s

<<

On the Tab

From page 31

B.P.M. @ Club BnB, Oakland Olga T and Shugga Shay’s weekly queer women and men’s R&B hip hop and soul night, at the club’s new location. No cover. 8pm-2am. 2120 Broadway, Oakland. www.bench-and-bar.com

Floor 21 @ Starlight Room Juanita More! presents a new weekly scenic happy hour event, with host Rudy Valdez, DJs Vin Sol and Rolo.

No cover, and a fantastic panoramic city view. Sir Francis Drake Hotel, 450 Powell St. www.starlightroomsf.com

Gender Schmear @ Sha’ar Zahav Keshet’s annual LGBT Purim party for Jewish queers and their friends includes DJ Page Hodel, food, drinks (open bar!), dancing, a drag show, drag and festive costumes encouraged. $20-$25. 7pm ‘megillah’ reading, 8pm party. www.keshetonline.org

Latin Drag Night @ Club OMG Weekly Latin night with drag shows hosted by Vicky Jimenez. 9pm-2am.

43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Literary Death Match @ Alamo Drafthouse 60th episode of the fun event where writers compete for the best storytelling; with Joyce Maynard, Kevin Simmonds, Charlie Jane Anders, Kevin Sessums, Maisha Z. Johnson and Shanthi Sekaran. $20.

7:30pm. 2550 Mission St. www.drafthouse.com/sf

Thu 24

Nap’s Karaoke @ Virgil’s Sea Room

Picante @ The Cafe

Yuri Kagan’s no holds barred comedy night. $5. 7pm. 298 11th St. at Folsom. 795-3180. www.sfoasis.com

Super-hung porn stud Rafael Alencar rouses the horndogs at the interactive downstairs event, before his stage shows March 25 & 26 ($25). $10. 9pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

So You Think You Can Gogo? @ Toad Hall

Gym Class @ Hi Tops

Rookies Night @ Nob Hill Theatre Watch and vote as newbie strippers compete for $350 in cash prizes. $20. Show 9pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Shit Talk @ Oasis

Circle Jerk @ Nob Hill Theatre

The weekly dancing competition for gogo wannabes. 9pm. cash prizes, $2 well drinks (2 for 1 happy hour til 9pm). Show at 9pm. 4146 18th St. www.toadhallbar.com

Enjoy whiskey shots from jockstrapped hotties and sexy sports videos at the popular sports bar.

10pm-2am. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com

Trixxie Carr @ Oasis

The Monster Show @ The Edge

The performer brings her tribute to The Cure to the nightclub’s stage. $15-$30. 7pm. Also March 30. 298 11th St. at Folsom. 795-3180. www.sfoasis.com

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

Man Francisco @ Oasis

Gay Mafia’s uniform costume-themed night; dress up as your favorite sexy cop, fireman, Marine, Scottish log roller… (oh, my). $5. 8pm-2am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Night at the Jewseum celebrates the holiday, with the ska band Monkey, 90s DJed tunes, cocktails from monarch, noshes from Anda Piroshki, funny hats and more. $donations/free for members. 6pm-9pm. 736 Mission St. www.thecjm.org

Queer Karaoke @ Club OMG Dana hosts the weekly singing night; unleash your inner American Idol.

8pm. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Enjoy retro 80s soul, dance and pop classics w/DJ Jorge Terez. No cover. 9pm2am. 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

Wed 23

The weekly fun night at the Bernal Heights bar includes prizes, hosted by Kitty Tapata. No cover. 7pm-10pm.

424 Cortland St. 647-3099. www.wildsidewest.com

Ladies night at the Castro dance club.

9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Purim Party @ Contemporary Jewish Museum

Throwback Thursdays @ Qbar

Miss Kitty’s Trivia Night @ Wild Side West

Pussy Party @ Beaux

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

Groove on wheels at the former Sacred Heart Church-turned disco roller skate party space, hosted by John D. Miles, the “Godfather of Skate.” Also Wed, Thu, 7pm-10pm. Sat afternoon sessions 1pm-2:30pm and 3pm-5:30pm. $10.

Kids 12 and under $5. Skate rentals $5.

554 Fillmore St at Fell. www.churchof8wheels.com

Men in Uniform @ SF Eagle

Kollin Holts hosts the weekly comedy and open mic talent night. 6pm-8pm.

398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Sing out loud at the weekly least judgmental karaoke in town, hosted by the former owner of the bar. No cover. 9pm. 3152 Mission St. 8292233. www.virgilssf.com

Skate Night @ Church on 8 Wheels

The sexy, funny weekly male burlesque show returns; choreographed by Christopher James Dunn; Mr Pam MCs. $20. 2 Two-drink min. 9:30pm. 298 11th St. at Folsom. 795-3180. www.sfoasis.com

Open Mic/Comedy @ SF Eagle

t

Linda Simpson’s Drag Explosion @ Oasis

Way Back @ Midnight Sun Weekly screenings of vintage music videos, and retro drink prices. 9pm2am. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Wooden Nickel Wednesday @ 440 Buy a drink and get a wooden nickle good for another. 12pm-2am. 440 Castro St. 621-8732. www.the440.com

My So-Called Night @ Beaux Carnie Asada hosts a new weekly ‘90s-themed video, dancin’, drinkin’ night, with VJs Jorge Terez. Get down with your funky bunch, and enjoy 90-cent drinks. ‘90s-themed attire and costume contest. No cover. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.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

Trixxie Mattel @ Oasis The drag performer’s Make-Over Party includes a show and meet & greet. No cover. 10pm. 298 11th St. at Folsom.

795-3180. www.sfoasis.com Want your nightlife event listed?

Email events@ebar.com, at least two weeks before your event.

Event photos welcome.

Leather Events, March 17 – April 3, 2015 Thu 17

Mon 21

Night Scenes @ Mr. S Leather

Ride Mondays @ Eros

FF & Intense Play. An in-store event intended to give customers the unique opportunity to see Mr. S gear in use in a live “scene” by experienced players in the community. 385 8th St., 6-8pm. www.mr-s-leather.com

Fri 18/25/1 Sober Kink Together @ Castro Country Club Officially a CMA meeting, but open to all Anonymous 12-step Fellowship members, 4058 18th St., 9:30pm. www.castrocountryclub.org

Gear Party @ 442 Natoma Gear play party (leather, rubber, harnesses, etc.) for gay men.

442 Natoma St., $15 (requires $5 membership), 10pm. www.442parties.com

Sun 20 Thirsty Pups @ The Edge It doesn’t matter if you prefer to drink from a bowl, a cup, or straight from the tap, come join the service pups of Wagz Pack Inc for a cold one. 4149 18th St., 4-7pm. www.wagzpack.org

A motorcycle rider and leathermen night at Eros, bring your helmet, AMA card, MC club card or club colors and get $3 off entry or massage. 2051 Market St. www.erossf.com

Sex Talk Monday @ Eros Exploring sex in its broadest sense.

What are your: kinkiest pleasures, greatest joys, hottest experiences, biggest fears, highest risks? Have some fun, share insights, make some new connections and tap into our collective sexual wealth and potential to get more of what we want and avoid what we don’t want. Free.

Facilitated by Richard Carrazza. 2051 Market St., 7-9pm. www.erossf.com

Leather/Gear Buddies @ Blow Buddies Erotic fun for leather and gear guys, $15, 933 Harrison St., 8pm. www.blowbuddies.com

Men In Uniform @ SF Eagle Join the SF Gay Mafia as we dress up in sexy, slutty, and/or silly uniforms of any kind, and wish one of our fearless leaders Timothy Dean Cochran a very happy birthday. 398 12th St., 8pm. www.sf-eagle.com

Sat 26 Anti-Hero: Episode #2 @ SF Eagle

Tue 22

For those who enjoy the intersection of fetish gear and cosplay. 398 12th St., 2-6pm. www.sf-eagle.com

GameGear @ Wicked Grounds

Leather and Gear Social @ SF Eagle

Game night hosted by Rubber Men of San Francisco. 289 8th St., 7:30pm. www.rmsf.org

Wed 23 Leathermen’s Discussion Group @ Mr. S Dungeon Stomping with Bamm-Bamm.

Everything you ever wanted to know about stomping or trampling.

Have you ever wanted to walk all over someone literally? 385A 8th St., 7:30-9:30pm. www.sfldg.org

Gear up and get out. Come out for hot men, drinks, cigars and great gear on display. 398 12th St., 9pm-12am.

CODE @ The Edge 3-year anniversary party. Bringing leather back to the Castro. 4149 18th St., 9pm-2am. www.edgesf.com

Mon 28 Ride Mondays @ Eros See Mon 21

t

Read more online at www.ebar.com

March 17-23, 2016 • Bay Area Reporter • 33

A Weekend to Remember

Rich Stadtmiller

Cody Elkin (second from left), the new Mr. SF Leather 2016, flanked

by Harry Kong (second from right, first runner up), Jacob Ray (left, second runner up), and Trevor Black. Mr. SF Leather 2015 (right).

by Race Bannon

I

n a previous column I gave a promotional preview to the weekend that just transpired, the event-laden leather and kink weekend organized by the San Francisco Bay Area Leather Alliance and their army of hardworking volunteers and supportive sponsors. I attended many of the Leather Alliance Weekend events and was impressed by and entertained at each one.

This annual weekend is one of San Francisco’s largest such event, only trailing in attendance behind the likes of Up Your Alley and Folsom Street Fair weekends. It’s always a great time to reconnect with fellow leatherfolk and kinksters. In recent years, an increasing number of people have traveled from elsewhere to attend, particularly from Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Sacramento and San Diego.

Mr. S Leather hosted the opening meet and greet party at their store on Friday night, and what a collection of hotness was there. People cruised and mingled. The contestants, judges and contest staff was introduced.

As the party wound down many migrated to Beatbox for the Gary Virginia Roast.

Gary, a past Mr. SF Leather and all around community icon, graciously accepted the jabs and barbs hurled at him from the array of speakers.

All that changed though when it came time for Gary to speak and he

lovingly read others to filth and it was awesome.

On Saturday, Leathermen’s Discussion Group hosted two education sessions at the Center for Sex & Culture. The Payasos of Los Angeles offered insight into their organization’s structure and mission, and Pup Spike led a session on how to give and participate in an oral history to capture our history.

The main event, the Mr. San Francisco Leather contest, was held at Hotel Whitcomb and it was incredibly well attended. It was the largest crowd I can recall, with organizers estimating up to 400 in attendance. Everyone seemed to have a great time.

One of the new contest features introduced this year I really liked. Before the contest, someone handed out a phone number you could text to submit pop questions for the contestants.

Many of those questions ended up among the ones contestants were asked later.

The contest began with Peter Feliciano and Raquela singing the Canadian and American National Anthems, respectively. They delivered perhaps the best renditions of the anthems I’ve ever heard at a contest.

Immediately after the anthems were sung, Raquela led a great production number to open to show.

MCs Pollo Del Mar and Don Mike started the contest proceedings with their usual witty banter, and they did a masterful job of over-

Leather Alliance & Mr. SF Leather

seeing the contest all night.

Contest organizers gave Susan Wright of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom microphone time to speak to the audience. I consider NCSF one of our scene’s most important organizations. They fight for our sexual freedom and privacy rights with an emphasis on serving the leather and BDSM communities.

The contestants were introduced, and a sexy bunch they were: Cody Elkin, Mr. Lonestar Leather 2016; Damien Alvarez, Mr. Chaps Leather 2016; Element Eclipse, Mr. Powerhouse Leather 2016; Eric Burkett, running as an independent; Harry Kong, Mr. SF Eagle Leather 2016; Jacob Ray, Mr. Daddy’s Barbershop Leather 2016; Keith Robling, Mr. Sober Leather 2016; Kippy Marks, Mr. Friendly 2016; Kody Staubitz, Mr. Edge 2016; and Paul William, Mr. Worn Out West 2016.

From the start, it was anyone’s contest to win. They all did a great job. In fact, as I moved among the crowd and we played the “Who do you think is going to win?” game, everyone had a different answer.

That’s testimony to how well all of the contestants performed.

Of course, the jockstrap portion is an audience favorite and this group of contestants did not disappoint. All were hot and sexy in their own way. As all that male pulchritude was on display, they each picked a pop question and crafted their answers well.

Lenny Broberg presented his award, given annually to someone who has consistently dedicated time and effort to helping with the contest, to Beth Downey. Beth deserved this award due to the countless years of service she’s given our community generally and the contest specifically.

Next up was the contestant speeches that covered a broad range of topics including sobriety, the healing power of music, leather history, developing personal confidence, leather family, spanking, and much more.

The speeches ended the competition and while the tally masters were crunching scores totals, Trevor Black, Mr. San Francisco Leather 2015, delivered an emotional and heartfelt stepdown speech. Trevor did all of us proud this past year and I admire the man considerably.

At this point I was still scratching my head wondering who was going to win. I honestly had no idea because everyone did so well on stage.

This must have made the judges’ jobs even more difficult, but in the end judges, Arthur Mainster, Garry McLain (Marlena), Gary Virginia, Patrick Smith, Stela Furtado (D. Love), and Trevor Black had to select the top three.

Rich Stadtmiller

Judges for Mr. SF Leather 2016 gather at Mr. S Leather during the kickoff Meet and Greet. Left to right: Patrick Smith, International Mr. Leather 2015; Arthur Mainster; Trevor Black, Mr. SF Leather 2015; Stela Furtado (D. Love), Ms. SF Leather 2016; Tyler Fong, judges’ boy; Garry McLain (aka Marlena); Gary Virginia, Mr. SF Leather 1996; and Jason Husted, judge coordinator.

Before the winners were announced, another contest tradition took place. The awarding of the Brotherhood Award is given to the man his fellow contestants believe best represents the spirit of comradery and brotherhood. This year they chose Element Eclipse.

A new award was given to identify the contestant the bootblacks working the event felt was most likely to become a good bootblack in the future. Scout, International Mr. Bootblack 2014, gave the award to Kody Staubitz.

Finally, the winners were announced. The winner of the Mr. San Francisco Leather 2016 contest was Cody Elkin, our new Mr. San Francisco Leather 2016. First runner up was Harry Kong. Second runner up was Jacob Ray. People moved on to the Lonestar, the winner’s sponsor bar, for the Victory Party.

I asked Cody if he’d like to offer

a few first words to his fellow San Franciscans.

“I’m very proud to be part of a group of brothers that’s so diverse,” he said. “I look forward to working very hard with my brotherhood this year, and to represent San Francisco to the best of my abilities at IML to make my brotherhood proud of me.

I’m in this for all 10 of us.”

Congratulations to Cody and may your year be a good one.

Leather brunch

On Sunday, the 50th Community Awards Brunch (yes, this was actually the 50th year of these awards, which is amazing) was held at Oasis. Organizers estimate 150-200 attended. Local people, clubs, organizations and events were honored with awards to herald their contributions to the local leather community.

See page 34 >>

34 • Bay Area Reporter • March 17-23, 2016

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Leather

From page 33

Winners were Golden Gate Guards – Springtime in Yosemite (Best Traditional Run), Golden Gate Guards – Fall Adventure (Best Overnight Run), Leathermen’s Discussion Group (Most Visible Organization), Gear Up Weekend (Best Community Weekend Event), Leathermen’s Discussion Group – Tom of Finland Art Auction and Social (Best Community Leather/ Fetish/Motorcycle Event), Ms. San Francisco Leather 2016 (Best Bay Area Leather Contest), Leathermen’s Discussion Group – Rich Trove 10

Year Anniversary (Best Organizational Anniversary Event), Leathermen’s Discussion Group – Up Your Alley Fair History with Gayle Rubin (Best Community Educational Event), The Little Scouts (Best New Organization), Center for Sex & Culture (Outstanding Community Nonprofit), Rover Spotts (Frank Benoit Award), Marilyn Hollinger (Jim Remer Community Volunteer Award), Jason Husted (Next Generation Award – under35), Bob Goldfarb (Man of the Year), a tie between Beatrice Stonebanks and Jesbian Bagheera (Woman of the Year), and Gayle Rubin (Philip M Turner Lifetime Achievement).

Patrick Mulcahey also received the Leather to Leather Award 2016, an award given to the person who builds friendships and alliances between the Los Angeles and San Francisco members of the leather community.

Every one of these organizations and people deserved the awards they received. They are all stellar examples of the personal and organizational contributions that makes the Bay Area without a doubt one of the best leather and kink scenes in the world.

The brunch crowd joined others at the SF Eagle afterward for the Mr. SF Leather 2016 beerbust.

That wraps up another Leather Alliance Weekend. I look forward to next year when we do this all again.t

Rich Stadtmiller

Cody Elkins, aka Cody Bear, shows off his big sword at the Mr. SF Leather 2016 competition, held at the Hotel Whitcomb.

Race Bannon is a local author, blogger and activist. You can reach him on his website, www.bannon.com.

San Jose:

ebar.com

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Dance Party Boys

by Jim Provenzano

I

nto Linkin Park? Long-haired metal guys? Shaved punkers into Queens of the Stone Age? Dance Party Boys will thrash your sensibilities with their classic rock-punk hybrid sounds next Thursday, March 24. Prepare to mosh and sweat at the leather bar’s weekly live band night.

We emailed a few saucy Qs for the band members.

How long have you been performing?

Rob, Jon and I have been in the band four years, Lobo joined us a few months ago.

Musicians are hot. Do you have groupies? What do you like to do with them?

You mean group-ons? Do people still do that?

On a Kinsey music scale, how queer is the band?

Xavior Breff: C# minor, sometimes pentatonic, depends on amount of shots.

want to play Benders, Thee Parkside, and Merchant’s Saloon in Oakland.

What do you each do when you’re not being punk rock musicians?

Rob’s behind a camera at arena sporting events, Jon’s in construction, Lobo just got a new job (weather man? modeling?). I design gardens.

Create a super gig of your favorite punk or queercore bands. Which bands would play?

Fantasy gig: Extra Fancy, Speedqueen, Nick Name and the Normals, and Pansy Division, all at their peak, main stage at Sunset Junction.

In Real Life: we open for Disastroid, Torche, and QOTSA at The Regency; not necessarily punk or queercore, until you put all of us together.

Where can we hear your stuff online now?

Reverb Nation has current stuff, Bandcamp has ‘In Case of Submergency’, from 2013, including ‘Eels’, which I got Chi Chi LaRue to play when she was DJ’d at the Eagle.

Is punk by nature queer or has it become less “punky?”

‘Punk’ was slang for queer long before it was a Dance Party Boys music genre; jus’ sayin’.

Who writes the songs for the band? I heard there are a few homo themes in the lyrics.

We all write music, Jon and I come up with most of the lyrics, Lobo penned a new one called ‘Where’s My Refill?’ As far as homo themes, so far friends get too distracted by the eye candy on stage to ponder our lyrics.

Punk hunks’ fun at the Eagle

What are the band’s favorite local or far-away venues?

In SF: Slim’s was a lot of fun.

Beyond SF: Blank Club in San Jose (closed), playing outdoors at Yosemite was sweet: we had our first stage diver. In Nevada City, I forget the name of the bar, we stayed in a haunted hotel; the town was party city. This year I

What’s your favorite thing about The Eagle, where you’re playing March 24?

Don Baird playing for the crowd on a hot sunny Sunday.t Dance Party Boys play The SF Eagle March 24, 9pm, with Flexx Bronco and The Perishables opening. 398 12th St. www.reverbnation.com/dancepartyboys www.soundcloud.com/dancepartyboys www.dancepartyboys.bandcamp.com www.sf-eagle.com

t

Read more online at www.ebar.com

Shooting Stars

March 17-23, 2016 • Bay Area Reporter • 35

photos by Steven Underhill Green Party @ 1015 S

t. Patrick could have driven those Irish snakes into a dance groove if he’d had the powerhouse DJ team of Steven Redant, Wayne G and Dan De Leon, who played at Gus Presents’ fifth annual Green Party. Held on Saturday, March 12 at 1015 Folsom with its stunning LED screen, attendees (mostly) dressed and undressed for the green occasion.

More event photo albums are on BARtab’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at www.StevenUnderhill.com.

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For headshots, portraits or to arrange your wedding photos

call (415) 370-7152 or visit www.StevenUnderhill.com or email stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com