October 27, 2016 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter

Vegas gears up for holidays

ARTS

Bob Mizer

Justin Sayre

The

www.ebar.com

Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971

Vol. 46 • No. 43 • October 27-November 2, 2016

In 2016, being an out candidate Folsom Street ED a matter of degrees leaving for new job by Seth Hemmelgarn

he longtime executive director of the nonprofit that produces the annual Folsom Street fetish fair has announced his resignation. Demetri Moshoyannis, 45, who’s been with Bill Weaver Folsom Street Events for 11 years, has ac- Demetri cepted a position with Moshoyannis the San Francisco-based Positive Resource Center as its managing director of strategic partnerships. “I feel like I’ve done a lot to advance the organization,” Moshoyannis said Monday about his time at Folsom Street. “I feel like we’re in a good financial position. The organization feels strong to me, and I feel like I’ve contributed as much as I can. It’s a good idea See page 5 >>

Brian Campbell-Miller

John Stevens

by Matthew S. Bajko

n 1961 the late drag queen Jose Sarria broke open the political closet door when he sought a San Francisco supervisor seat. It marked the first time the country had seen an out gay man run for public office. Ever since LGBT candidates have been confronted with how open they should be about their own sexual orientation or gender identity. For many years it presented a Sophie’s

Frank barnstorms for Wiener in SF visit by Cynthia Laird

ormer Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank had a whirlwind day in San Francisco last week, where he campaigned for Scott Wiener’s state Senate race. The two gay men also made some phone calls on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at her San Francisco headquarters before Frank attended a fundraiser for Wiener. Courtesy Wiener for state Senate campaign Frank has been unapologetic about the Publicist Lee Housekeeper, left, joined state need for voters to send a gay man to SacSenate candidate Scott Wiener and former ramento to replace another gay man, state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), Congressman Barney Frank on a cable car ride who is termed out of office and has enduring Frank’s whirlwind day of campaigning in San Francisco. dorsed Wiener. Wiener is locked in a close race with his colleague Supervisor Jane Kim. the final presidential debate last week after he “You need at least a couple of out people in a arrived in San Francisco, and laid the blame for legislative body,” Frank said in an interview with Republican candidate Donald Trump squarely the Bay Area Reporter Thursday, October 20. at the feet of GOP leaders. Frank said that after he came out in 1987, “I The Republican leadership, Frank said, “loved was a more effective legislator.” the most xenophobic” elements of the party that It was one thing for his congressional col- went after President Barack Obama for the last leagues to tell him they were “not for” someeight years, “accusing him of not being a citizen.” thing before he was out, Frank said. “It turned out they couldn’t turn that off and “It was harder for them to say your rights wound up destroying the Republican Party,” he aren’t important,” after he came out, Frank said. “I hope the Democrats win big in Novemadded. “If no one is openly LGBT in a legislaber and jolt these non-crazy Republicans.” tive body, it’s harder to get a seat at the table.” As for Trump, Frank said he’s an “arrogant While there are several lesbian and gay law- egomaniac who has no understanding of how makers in Sacramento, if Wiener loses his race to get along with others.” November 8 it will mark the first time San Frank took a different angle when asked Francisco has been without an LGBT represenabout the backlash against the LGBT commutative in the Legislature since 1996. Frank and nity in states like North Carolina, which passed gay Congressman Jared Polis (D-Colorado) an anti-trans bathroom law earlier this year. endorsed Wiener last month. “Why so pessimistic?” Frank asked. “A backFrank also said he supports Wiener’s position lash suggests retreat. Resistance to progress is on housing, saying that San Francisco needs to not a backlash. The trans issue is helping us.” build additional housing. By that, he meant that North Carolina Gov“It’s a major social issue for equality,” Frank ernor Pat McCrory (R) could be defeated in his said, adding that high housing costs are “a sigre-election bid in two weeks, ushering in a Demnal of inequality.” ocratic governor who opposes the law, known as House Bill 2. This week, McCrory had closed the Presidential race gap with his opponent, state Attorney General Frank also opined on the presidential race Roy Cooper, and the two men are essentially tied, and national issues. He had watched a rerun of according to the latest polls.t

Shanell Williams

choice: be out and proud yet risk turning off voters with homophobic views, or remain closeted and risk being subjected to a whisper campaign that could torpedo your chances. As times have changed, and more Americans embrace LGBT rights, the number of out candidates each election cycle inches ever higher. Yet how wide open their closet doors are on the campaign trail often differs by a matter of degrees between candidates. Some prominently disclose their spouses in their campaign materials, seek out endorsements from LGBT political groups, and promote the fact they are “the first” gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender candidate to run for elected office in their area. Others tend to downplay their social life and instead focus on issues in their campaigns. But they will include telltale signs in their biographies, such as serving on the board of well known LGBT agencies, to signal their being members of the LGBT community to LGBT voters. Then there are those who see no reason to trumpet being LGBT as a political candidate or struggle with how to disclose to voters their sexual orientation or gender identity without

Nick Resnick

seeming to be pandering for votes. The different ways candidates disclose their LGBT status can be seen among the more than 30 out LGBT candidates running for office in the Bay Area this November. Opting for full disclosure, for example, is Hercules resident Brian Campbell-Miller, a gay real estate agent running for city council. On his campaign site under the “about” tab, he talks about why he and his husband moved to the East Bay city and includes a photo of their wedding. “I wanted to be very upfront with who I am. I don’t see it as a liability,” Campbell-Miller, who would be his city’s first out council member, told the Bay Area Reporter. “I don’t see it as something I am ashamed of in the very least. It is not all of who I am, but I love my husband very much and am very happy we are married.” Taking a polar opposite approach is John Stevens, who is running for city council in Martinez and, if elected, would be the first LGBT person to serve on the governing body. His campaign site makes no mention of his being gay or his partner. While at one point See page 17 >>

B.A.R. election endorsements SAN FRANCISCO RACES GENERAL ELECTION State Senate Dist. 11: Scott Wiener

SAN FRANCISCO SUPERVISORS Dist. 1: Sandra Lee Fewer Dist. 3: Aaron Peskin Dist. 5: London Breed Dist. 7 (ranked): 1: Norman Yee, 2: Joel Engardio Dist. 9 (ranked): 1:Joshua Arce, 2: Hillary Ronen Dist. 11 (ranked): 1: Ahsha Safai, 2: Kimberly Alvarenga CITY COLLEGE BOARD: Rafael Mandelman Alex Randolph Amy Bacharach Shanell Williams SF SCHOOL BOARD Mark Sanchez Matt Haney Rachel Norton Jill Wynns BART Board Dist. 9: Bevan Dufty Judge SF Superior Court Seat 7: Paul Henderson State Assembly Dist. 17: David Chiu Dist. 19: Phil Ting

President: Hillary Clinton U.S. Senate Kamala Harris Congress (Bay Area) Dist. 2: Jared Huffman Dist. 3: John Garamendi Dist. 5: Mike Thompson Dist. 11: Mark DeSaulnier Dist. 12: Nancy Pelosi Dist. 13: Barbara Lee Dist. 14: Jackie Speier Dist. 15: Eric Swalwell Dist. 17: Mike Honda Dist. 18: Anna Eshoo Dist. 19: Zoe Lofgren

State Assembly (Bay Area) Dist. 15: Tony Thurmond Dist. 18: Rob Bonta Dist. 28: Evan Low

EAST BAY

BART Board Dist. 3: Rebecca Saltzman Berkeley City Council Dist. 2: Darryl Moore

Concord City Council: Pablo Benavente East Bay Regional Parks Ward 4: Ellen Corbett Emeryville City Council: John Bauters Martinez City Council: John Stevens Oakland City Council Dist. 3: Lynette Gibson McElhaney At-large: Rebecca Kaplan Peralta College Board Area 6: Nick Resnick Richmond City Council: Cesar Zepeda State Senate (Bay Area) Dist. 9: Nancy Skinner

CALIFORNIA PROPS

Yes on 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 62, 63, 64, 67 No on 53, 60, 66, 65 No endorsement on 61

REGIONAL

Berkeley Mayor (ranked): 1: Jesse Arreguin, 2: Kriss Worthington

BART Bond, Measure RR: Yes

Berkeley School Board: Judy Appel

Yes on A, B, C, E, F, G, I, J, K, N, O, S, V, W No on D, H, L, M, P, Q, R, T, U, X

SAN FRANCISCO PROPS

Remember to vote Nov. 8!

{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS }

<< Community News

2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • October 27-November 2, 2016

SFAF vice president resigns by Seth Hemmelgarn

leading San Francisco AIDS Foundation staff member has announced his resignation. Asked in an interview Monday why he’s leaving, SFAF Senior Vice President James Loduca, 42, referred to Neil Giuliano, who departed SFAF in 2016 after five years as CEO. “When Neil stepped down almost a year ago I made a commitment to the board I’d remain in a lead role until the new CEO was identified and on board to ensure a stable transition,” Loduca said. “Nearly a year later that day has come.” (Joe Hollendoner started as CEO in May.) In a group email, he said he felt “immense gratitude and pride” for what’s been accomplished in the seven years since he joined the organization. “Because of your support and commitment, we opened new service centers for clients in the midmarket and Castro neighborhoods – and raised nearly $15 million to fund the latter,” he said, referring to the Strut health center at 470 Castro Street, which opened in January. SFAF’s headquarters is at 1035 Market Street. “We expanded testing throughout the city with a new state-ofthe-art mobile testing unit,” Loduca continued. “We created one of the biggest PrEP clinics in the world. We tackled some of our city’s most difficult health policy challenges.

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James Loduca

Together with our partners, we created Getting to Zero and dramatically accelerated the pace by which San Francisco will become the first U.S. city to end HIV transmission.” Loduca told the Bay Area Reporter that he hasn’t settled on what he’ll do next. “There are a couple things I’m looking at,” he said. “I should have a better idea in the next couple months.” He does plan to stay in San Francisco, where he lives. Loduca said that since he joined SFAF, which was founded in 1982, the biggest achievement has been “the dramatic expansion of free services and programs.” The nonprofit, which has a budget of more than $30 million, pro-

vides HIV testing and counseling, syringe access, support groups, and other assistance to thousands of people a year. “Never before in the history of the foundation have we expanded to help more people with more services,” he said. However, Loduca said, there’s still a need “to fight the public perception that the fight against HIV and AIDS is less urgent than it once was, when in fact it’s more urgent than it’s ever been. We’re so close to ending HIV that to not double down now would be to walk away from 30 years of investment in this work, and that would be a travesty.” Loduca’s last day at SFAF will be October 31. In the coming weeks, he’ll be working to get Democratic presidential nominee Hilary Clinton elected. Among candidates in other races, he’s also supporting gay San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener, who’s running against fellow Supervisor Jane Kim to replace outgoing gay state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). Loduca declined to share his salary. According to SFAF’s 2014 tax documents, the most recent available, his total compensation was about $252,000. In response to emailed questions, Hollendoner said, “The community is stronger and healthier as a result of James’ work at San Francisco AIDS Foundation. During his tenure, James helped us expand

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people of color were mostly the victims. “It’s an example of safe spaces for me. The 49 people who died were my people, my community,” she said. Once the news broke that the killer, Omar Mateen, was Muslim, Shafqat again found herself being asked to choose between her two identities. Significantly, a vigil for the Orlando victims offered her hope for livand Gender Studies at the Pacific ing as fully human. Straight Muslim School of Religion in Berkeley. allies came together with queers of Last week, Sahar Shafqat, Ph.D., color in an inspiring, healing display. presented the 2016 Harkness Lec“They all held us in love and the ture at PSR, entitled “Being Queer emotions we were collectively feelMichael Nugent and Muslim in the Age of Trump.” ing,” she said. “I seek collective libSahar Shafqat, Ph.D., delivered She discussed her lived experience eration, for all my many parts.” the Georgia Harkness Lecture of both her identities in the U.S., the Shafqat has co-founded the Muslim at the Pacific School of Religion current political climate, and how Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diin Berkeley. LGBTQ Muslims seek liberation. versity to continue her work tackling Shafqat is a lesbian and an associboth Islamophobia and homophobia. Hybrid/City Kid’s ate professor of political science at Muslim versus bad Muslim, where There are over 3 million Muslims Kid’s St. Mary’s College of Maryland. 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SCOTT WIENER SCO S

Alice’s choice for Senate District 11

As a former Alice Co-Chair, Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party, and the only San Francisco Senate Candidate endorsed by the Democratic Party, Scott has been a strong LGBT leader in our city. With Senator Mark Leno’s endorsement to fill his shoes, we know Scott will do us Proud.

www.AliceBToklas.org Building Coalitions in San Francisco for Over 40 Years

Keep our LGBT representation in Sacramento. VOTE SCOTT FOR STATE SENATE! VOT VO

ELECTION ENDORSEMENTS

BY VOTE BER 8TH NOVEM IN PERSON OR BY MAIL

LOCAL BALLOT MEASURES

CITY COLLEGE BOARD

ALEX RANDOLPH ▼ Alice Board Member

AMY BACHARACH

SHANELL WILLIAMS

RAFAEL MANDELMAN

LATEEFAH SIMON BART Board, District 7

BOARD OF EDUCATION

STEVON COOK

RACHEL NORTON

MATT HANEY

GWYNETH BORDEN BART Board, District 9

JILL WYNNS

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

STATE BALLOT MEASURES LONDON BREED, D5 Board of Supervisors President London Breed has been a champion for affordable housing, the environment, the LGBT community and all San Franciscans

MARJAN PHILHOUR, D1 Small business owner and community advocate Marjan Philhour is fighting for affordable housing, effective transit, and public safety

JOSHUA ARCE, D9 Joshua Arce, a labor and environmental leader, offers real solutions and the ability to deliver results for the community

AHSHA SAFAÍ, D11 Ahsha Safai is a labor leader and passionate advocate for children and working families, running for a safe and affordable District 11

ELECTED OFFICIALS

LOCAL BALLOT MEASURES

SCOTT WIENER State Senate District 11

YES PROP A – Our Kids Deserve

DAVID CHIU Assembly District 17

YES PROP B – Expand

PHIL TING Assembly District 19

YES

PAUL HENDERSON Superior Court Judge

MARJAN PHILHOUR Supervisor District 1

YES PROP E – Healthy Trees,

LONDON BREED Supervisor District 5

YES

JOSHUA ARCE Supervisor District 9

YES

AHSHA SAFAI Supervisor District 11

LATEEFAH SIMON BART District 7

YES

Strong Schools

Opportunities at City College

GWYNETH BORDEN BART District 9

YES

PROP F – Voting Rights for Youth PROP G – Police Accountability PROP H – Expensive New City Elected Office PROP I – Dignity Fund for Seniors and Adults with Disabilities PROP J – Support Comprehensive Homeless and Transportation Planning

YES PROP K – Fund Comprehensive Homeless and Transportation Planning

MATT HANEY RACHEL NORTON JILL WYNNS

CITY COLLEGE BOARD ALEX RANDOLPH

PROP D – Political Games with Appointments Safe Sidewalks

BOARD OF EDUCATION STEVON COOK

PROP C – Create More Affordable Housing

▼

AMY BACHARACH RAFAEL MANDELMAN SHANELL WILLIAMS indicates that the candidate is LGBT

PROP L – Political Games with MUNI

PROP M – Political Games with Housing

PAUL HENDERSON Superior Court Judge Long time, active Alice member and former Chief of Staff to Kamala Harris, Paul Henderson would be the first LGBT African American to serve on the San Francisco Superior Court End the Death Penalty

NO PROP P – More Political

Games with Housing

YES PROP 56 – Cigarettes Kill,

Fund Health Programs

NO POSITION

PROP Q – Homeless Tent Regulations

YES PROP 57 – Common

YES

PROP R – New Police Neighborhood Crime Unit

YES

PROP S – Cuts Valued City Services

NO POSITION

PROP T – Lobbyist Regulations

NO POSITION

PROP U – Affordable Housing Income Levels

YES

PROP V – Healthy Kids and Families

YES

PROP W – Real Estate Tax for Free City College

YES

PROP X – Even More Political Games with Housing PROP RR – For a Safe and Reliable BART

STATE PROPOSITIONS YES

PROP 51 – Support Quality Education Around the State

Sense Sentencing Reform

YES

PROP 53 – Stop the Attack on Local Control

YES PROP N – Voting Rights for

PROP 54 – Costly Special Interest Proposition

PROP O – Jobs, Housing, YES and Parks in Hunters Point

YES

PROP 55 – Fund Education and Healthcare

School Parents

▼ indicates that the candidate is an Alice Board Member

PROP 59 – Oppose “Citizens United” Unlimited Spending PROP 60 – Dangerous Pornography Production Rules PROP 61 – AHF’s Poorly Written Prescription Drug Scheme

YES PROP 62 – End the Death

Penalty

YES

PROP 63 – Support Gun Control

YES PROP 64 – Legalize and

Regulate Marijuana

NO NO

YES PROP 52 – Strengthen

Medi-Cal

PROP 58 – Multilingual Education for a 21st Century Economy

YES

PROP 65 – Plastic Bag Industry Poison Pill PROP 66 – Removes Critical Death Penalty Safeguards PROP 67 – Keep the Plastic Bag Ban

Paid for by the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club PAC, FPPC #842018.

<< Open Forum

4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • October 27-November 2, 2016

Volume 46, Number 43 October 27-November 2, 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 ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Peter Sailsbery – 415.829.8941 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

LEGAL COUNSEL Paul H. Melbostad, Esq.

BAY AREA REPORTER 44 Gough Street, Suite 204 San Francisco, CA 94103 415.861.5019 • www.ebar.com A division of BAR Media, Inc. © 2016 President: Michael M. Yamashita Chairman: Thomas E. Horn VP and CFO: Patrick G. Brown Secretary: Todd A. Vogt

News Editor • news@ebar.com Arts Editor • arts@ebar.com Out & About listings • jim@ebar.com Advertising • scott@ebar.com Letters • letters@ebar.com Published weekly. Bay Area Reporter reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement which the publisher believes is in poor taste or which advertises illegal items which might result in legal action against Bay Area Reporter. Ads will not be rejected solely on the basis of politics, philosophy, religion, race, age, or sexual orientation. Advertising rates available upon request. Our list of subscribers and advertisers is confidential and is not sold. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, and writers published herein is neither inferred nor implied. We are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork.

These four for City College board

our years ago, in the midst of City College of San Francisco’s accreditation crisis, we didn’t endorse a full slate of candidates for its board of trustees. Since then, the college averted closure and is on the verge of restoring its accreditation. This year there are five qualified candidates running for re-election or election; it’s too bad that we can only endorse four. Starting with the incumbents: gay men Rafael Mandelman and Alex Randolph and straight ally Amy Bacharach have all done a great job during a difficult period. City College is now on restoration status, with the goal of full accreditation after a final report from accreditors by early next year. Bacharach praised Mandelman’s job as board president, and noted that the board is probably one of the best trained in the state. That’s because the board was actually stripped of its power several years ago, and had to rely on a special trustee. That special trustee is still there, and the board regained its governance powers about a year early, Bacharach said. But as a result of the problems, City College experienced declining enrollment. To reverse the trend, the board hopes to work closer with the San Francisco Unified School District so that high school students are aware of the many good programs and classes the community college offers. Additionally, should Proposition W pass next month, the city plans to make City College tuition free for San Francisco residents. Randolph pointed to building relationships with the school district and said he’s “very confident” that City College will regain full accreditation. Mandelman’s leadership has held the board together and he pledges to work on enrollment and accompanying fiscal issues (the college is reimbursed by the state by a formula based on full-time students). He has the skills to continue leading the college on its path out of the accreditation mess. Bacharach pointed out that the college needs to reach out to high school counselors to inform them of changes at the campuses and there should be more vocational programs. She’d also like to bring back training partnerships the college offered to city agencies like Muni and the police. “We should be providing training for all of those departments,” she said. For the final choice, we are endorsing Shanell Williams, an African-American bisexual woman who used to serve as the student trustee

Rick Gerharter

Rafael Mandelman

Jane Philomen Cleland

Alex Randolph

at the college. Williams was impressive in her interview with us and said the situation has changed at the college since the turnover on the board four years ago. She has disagreed with some board members on occasion, particularly regarding faculty issues, but said she understands the job is not easy. She wants to see more online course offerings and more English as a second language classes in the evenings, when working people can attend. She thinks she can help bring in more partnerships, including with the school district. Williams said gathering data would be her first priority, as well as a deep dive on the college’s budget. “I want to see it through,” she said, pointing out that she became student trustee in 2012 just as the college’s accreditation problems surfaced. She joined various campaigns to save City College. Williams is making her first bid at public office. She has the vision and know-how to be an effective board member. The other candidate is Tom Temprano, a gay man who ran unsuccessfully last year. He has been active in the save City College effort and said his priorities would be the budget. He also pointed out the school’s popular nursing program should be adding additional classes.

San Francisco school board

Voters have a chance to elect a gay man to the school board by voting for Mark Sanchez. The board hasn’t had LGBT representation since Sanchez last served from 2000-2008, including a stint as president. In a city that prides itself on diversity and at a time when LGBTQ students are the focal point of anti-gay fear-mongering across the country, we think it’s critically important that a large public school district like San Francisco’s has LGBT representation. Additionally, Sanchez pointed out, since he’s left

Courtesy CCSF

Amy Bacharach

Courtesy Williams for college board

Shanell Williams

the board, it hasn’t had a Latino or an educator on it either. Sanchez knows the district well; he’s currently the principal at Cleveland Elementary School in the city’s Excelsior district. He will likely have to quit his job if elected, which he said he is prepared to do. Sanchez is running on a platform of teacher housing. He would like to see the district turn underutilized properties it owns into affordable housing for teachers. There are possible sites “in the Bayview, in Twin Peaks, in the Richmond district, in the Mission” that could be redeveloped, he said. Retaining qualified teachers is critical, yet too many have had to leave the district because they can’t afford to live in San Francisco, or increasingly, other parts of the Bay Area. The other candidates we are endorsing are incumbents Matt Haney, Rachel Norton, and Jill Wynns. All of them have done a capable job on the board and will soon have to hire a new superintendent.

BART board, District 9

Gay former supervisor Bevan Dufty is throwing his hat in the ring for this open seat, and we think he would be an excellent BART director. He has decades of experience in public transportation, dating back to his time working as a congressional aide. While on the Board of Supervisors, he helped secure $4.4 million in improvements at the Glen Park BART station. He takes a cooperative approach to solving problems. Dufty’s priorities for BART include reinvestment for the core system; effective and transparent implementation of the $3.5 billion BART bond, should voters approve it; and making BART stations safe and clean, and more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. When we met with him, Dufty said he wants to look into what benefits BART provides to its employees, including LGBT workers. Dufty would be a strong addition to the BART board.t

Kaplan for Oakland City Council

he Bay Area Reporter has supported Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan since she first won the at-large seat in 2008 and we continue to support her in this election. She has been a successful legislator on the council by working to secure unanimous votes on some key measures that the council put on the ballot. A lesbian, Kaplan has brought visibility to the city’s large LGBT community and helped relaunch Oakland Pride. This year, Kaplan has been especially effective, and the city finally has a chance to develop real police accountability with the passage of Measure LL, a charter amendment that would establish a civilian police commission to oversee the scandal-plagued Oakland Police Department and form a community police review agency to investigate police misconduct and recommend discipline. Those reforms are long overdue, and while the formation of a police commission won’t change things overnight, just having a panel to hold police accountable is a big step in the right direction. Rising rents and the lack of housing are pressing issues in Oakland, partly because so many people priced out of San Francisco are relocating there. Kaplan authored Measure JJ on the November ballot, which seeks to protect renters from excessive rent increases and wrongful evictions. Significantly, Kaplan views the city not in isolation but one of many comprising the Bay Area region. She is chair of the Alameda County Transportation Commission, which oversees $8 billion in Measure BB funding. Under her leadership, the commission this year instituted a free bus pass program for school kids and continues to work on cleaning up truck con-

Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan

gestion and air pollution in hard hit areas like West Oakland. Along with that, Kaplan sits on the powerful Bay Area Air Quality Management District board – the first representative from Oakland in 25 years. Climate change is a top priority for her, and this position enables Kaplan to advocate for caps on emissions and greenhouse gases. Kaplan has passed legislation that bans leaving loose guns in unattended vehicles. Kaplan’s chief opponent is also a lesbian, Peggy Moore, who used to serve as a senior adviser to Mayor Libby Schaaf. But Moore has not articulated a reason to boot Kaplan from office. At a time when the Oakland City Council is working better than in the recent past – though it still can do more – we believe Kaplan has earned a third term. The atlarge seat represents the entire city, and Kaplan has proved she’s been effective.

Oakland City Council, District 3

Lynette Gibson McElhaney was not our en-

dorsed candidate four years ago, but she has been an effective City Council president who has managed to keep the meetings productive after previous council leaders shut meetings down because of protesters. She is also an ally to the LGBT community. Recently, she and county Supervisor Keith Carson started a new pilot program to address tent encampments whereby hygiene and other services are brought to the site, along with social workers – all with the aim of dismantling the camp and finding housing for the campers or reuniting them with family. It’s an out-of-thebox approach that might just work, and she deserves credit for a humane and creative attempt.

Berkeley mayor

Jesse Arreguin has run a stellar campaign and is our first choice for mayor of the famously progressive city. A straight ally, Arreguin wants to increase housing construction along transit corridors, strengthen the city’s rent protections, and raise the minimum wage to a living wage. On public safety, he says he will expand emergency mental health services and implement police body cameras. Arreguin is currently a city councilman and has a keen understanding of how the city works. He will be an innovative leader for the city. Kriss Worthington, the gay longtime city councilman, is also running for mayor with the strategy of asking constituents to vote for him and Arreguin under the city’s ranked choice voting, in order to stop the more moderate candidate, City Councilman Laurie Capitelli. Worthington has a great understanding of the city, and would be a good mayor. We recommend Arreguin as voters’ first choice and Worthington as their second. See page 5 >>

Letters >>

October 27-November 2, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

Opposes Prop 64

The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 is the Magna Carta of the medical marijuana community. It is a living document only nine brief paragraphs in length. Know its provisions to understand how Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, hijacks it. The CUA: Recognizes the marijuana plant as providing medicinal relief for serious illnesses such as the several which it lists, “... or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief;” legalizes personal use of marijuana as medicine by a person who obtains a doctor’s recommendation, thus recognizing medical marijuana (MMJ) doctor-patient relationship; gives patients or caregivers the right to cultivate their own medicine for personal use and to have safe access to medicine when they cannot cultivate; and does not give the legislature authority to amend it. Under California constitutional law, if a ballot initiative does not give express permission to the Legislature to change it, the Legislature cannot do so by mere statute. (The Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, passed by the Legislature, is a bundle of statutes.) The California constitution [Art.2 Sec.10(c)] requires the Legislature to put the proposed changes in another initiative to be voted on by the electors in another election. Enter AUMA, the hostile take-over! AUMA expands the CUA’s basic definition of marijuana from useful medicine to recreational drug. It treats both usages of marijuana equally, but they are inherently unequal. Equating medicine with recreation trivializes medicine and ignores the harm in drugging for recreation. AUMA creates a new doctor’s recommendation, overriding the CUA’s (Proposed HSC §11362.712). AUMA redefines the MMJ doctor-patient relationship by imposing additional diagnostic burdens on the physician. AUMA requires all patients to possess the new recommendation by 2018 and requires it for issuance of the state MMP ID card. The card becomes mandatory for patient exemption from the 15 percent excise tax on MMJ retail sales. AUMA gives initiative-statute status to MMRSA by incorporating it into AUMA (proposed BPC §26010).

Editorial

From page 4

Berkeley City Council, District 2

Darryl Moore has been an effective city councilman for 12 years. A gay African-American man, Moore has worked on issues such as affordable housing, public safety, homelessness, and youth. He also favors housing construction along transit corridors. On public safety, he has worked with his colleagues to secure five additional full-time officers, with a portion of the officers’ time dedicated to bike patrols in the parks. He will continue to advocate for his constituents in southwest Berkeley.

Berkeley school board

Judy Appel is a lesbian who’s running for re-election. The former executive director of Our Family Coalition, Appel has done an excellent job and is passionate about making public schools great for all kids.

BART, District 3

Rebecca Saltzman has been a breath of fresh air on the BART board and deserves re-election. A lesbian, Saltzman was instrumental in getting BART to start the trains

Folsom Street

From page 1

to always bring in new blood and fresh ideas. Those things are really critical for an organization.” Over the years Moshoyannis grew Folsom Street’s budget by more than 100 percent, raised the number of events from three to nine, and expanded the group’s philanthropic efforts, said a news release from the nonprofit, which for 2015 had a budget of about $1.4 million. Along with the Folsom Street Fair, which hundreds of thousands of people attend every September, the group also produces Up Your Alley, Bay of Pigs, and other events. Since Folsom Street Events began, it’s donated about $5.5 million to charities. In the October 19 news release

Medical and recreational marijuana jurisdictions are consolidated into one regulatory system. This is crucial. Whatever court challenges might be made against MMRSA’s unfriendly, unauthorized changes to the CUA – limiting patients’ cultivation rights to six plants, for example – become moot if AUMA wins in November. AUMA overrides CUA rights and re-issues them as privileges that can be revoked by the Legislature, cities, and counties. CUA patients can grow as many plants as their medical treatment reasonably requires. AUMA/MMRSA gives patients and partygoers identical grow privileges, not rights, of no more than six plants. Already, 55 percent of the state’s 482 cities and 38 percent of its 58 counties have enacted total or partial bans. So much for ending prohibition. Effective 2018, MMRSA/AUMA prohibits grower-patient collectives over five members, replaces not-for-profit dispensaries with profit-based retail outlets. Local permits are prerequisite to obtaining state licenses for everything from field to storefront. These costs, plus production taxes based on weight, the 15 percent excise tax and the ordinary sales tax, including local add-ons, along with retailers’ profit margin, will balloon the prices of legal pot. Production controls, and AUMA’s prohibition of price competition, will maintain high prices, driving low-income consumers back into illicit markets. AUMA glamorizes marijuana use. It was written by the industry, deliberately rejecting California’s controls on tobacco and alcohol, making it easier for people under 21 to buy marijuana than alcohol or tobacco. After the first five years, large-scale licenses are opened to agribusiness. The California residency requirement for participating is satisfied with a 20 percent interest; the other 80 percent can be out of state, including ex-felons. No AUMA revenues go to the general fund to defray the public health costs of legalization. All the money goes to the Bureau of Marijuana Control for Administration (4 percent), Enforcement (almost 60 percent), and four broad program areas. These are all contract-driven. AUMA hands the governor a gigantic slush fund. AUMA is a dope-pusher, influence-peddler, and buyer of politicians. Vote no on Prop 64.

earlier this year for San Francisco Pride, which was not an easy task. She has worked on labor negotiations to ensure BART riders won’t endure a strike for years into the future. She is constantly visiting various stations, whether to discuss upgrade plans or show riders the new cars that will start to arrive next year. A public transportation advocate, Saltzman is just what the BART board needs for another four-year term.

Up and comers

This year several up and coming LGBT candidates are running for office in the East Bay. While we didn’t endorse all of them, we recommend those listed below. Concord City Council: Pablo Benavente is a Latino man who’s focused on jobs, housing, and planning. He wants to see a unified Concord, not separated by class distinctions. Emeryville City Council: John Bauters was unsuccessful two years ago but this time around he’s running a tighter campaign and has garnered endorsements from the outgoing mayor, Ruth Atkin, a lesbian, and longtime ally state Controller Betty Yee. Bauters is recognized as an expert in social and announcing Moshoyannis’ departure, Folsom Street board President Edwin Morales said, “Demetri has dedicated over a decade to our organization in this capacity, and many more in a volunteer capacity. His contributions to this organization and to the community are immeasurable.” The nonprofit’s working on its plans to replace Moshoyannis, and it will issue “a subsequent press release with details about the job posting to fulfill this critical staff vacancy,” the announcement said. At PRC, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that helps people who’re living with HIV/AIDS or mental health disabilities, Moshoyannis will lead efforts to create and build partnerships with corporations, foundations, event-based groups

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fiscal policies that make communities affordable and wants to bring that know-how to Emeryville, a city long on retail and short on affordanaya.legal@gmail.com able housing. Edward M. Anaya Martinez City Council: John Stevens served as the chief executive officer of the Martinez Chamber of Commerce, which gave him insight into the city’s issues andAnayaLaw_2x2_092916.indd 1 8/31/16 1:11 PM brought him into daily contact with residents. Now, he wants to use that experience to help his city. His main goals are to create a waterfront infrastructure master plan and incentivize developers to encourage affordable residential development LGBT PROGRESSIVE CATHOLICS † OUR FAMILIES & FRIENDS downtown that is architecturally appropriate. He also wants to maintain public safety and provide transparent decision-making that involves city residents. Peralta College Board, Area 6: Nick Resnick is a trans man with a breadth of education experience Liturgy & Social: Every Sunday 5pm First Sunday Movie Night that would serve this community Second Sunday Potluck Supper college district well. Third Wednesday Faith Sharing Group Richmond City Council: Po1329 Seventh Avenue † info@dignitysanfrancisco.org litical newcomer Cesar Zepeda is a Follow us on Facebook! community leader in the East Bay city who would focus on affordable housing and tackling the city’s budget deficit. He also wants to improve relations between the police and residents.t

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like Folsom Street, and city agencies. He said it’s “an exciting time” for PRC, which recently merged with Baker Places, which provides residential substance abuse treatment and other services, and AIDS Emergency Fund, which offers financial assistance to people disabled by HIV/ AIDS. The combined agency is still known as Positive Resource Center. “That’s historic,” Moshoyannis said of the merger. “It’s an epic shift in how San Francisco is going to provide HIV services in the city, and I want to be a part of that.” Brett Andrews, PRC’s CEO, said in an email that he’s “thrilled” to have Moshoyannis joining his team. “Demetri’s long-standing passion for HIV/social services, consistent See page 17 >>

<< Politics

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • October 27-November 2, 2016

Gay Berkeley councilman Moore seeks re-election

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n Berkeley, gay City Councilman Darryl Moore is seeking to be elected this November to his fourth four-year term in office. Challenging him for his District 2 seat representing the East Bay city’s southwest neighborhoods are two women who contend fresh leadership is needed. For Cheryl Davila, defeating Moore would be a bit of payback for when the two clashed last fall. Davila upset Moore, who had appointed her to a city commission, when she used the post to call for Berkeley to divest from Israel due to its treatment of Palestinians. The other candidate is Nanci Armstrong-Temple, who identifies as queer and has been a vocal critic of the police in both Berkeley and San Francisco. She is part of a progressive slate of candidates running to flip the control at City Hall away from moderates. One of three out council members, Moore, 55, is a senior management analyst for the Oakland Housing Authority and is married to Bradley Johnson. While he dislikes being labeled as such, Moore is part of his council’s moderate bloc and has endorsed fellow Councilman Laurie Capitelli in this year’s mayoral race against progressive Councilmen Jesse Arreguin and Kriss Worthington, who is gay. “I don’t consider myself a moderate, I am a practical progressive who gets things done,” said Moore. Endorsed by the national Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club, and the Bay Area Reporter, Moore said he was unaware that Equality California, the statewide LGBT advocacy group, was endorsing in local races so he hadn’t contacted it. (As of deadline Wednesday, EQCA had yet to announce an endorsement of Moore). He said he is taking his re-election bid seriously and has been walking precincts and calling voters in his district. “I am doing everything I can possibly do to win re-election and am not taking any of my opponents for granted, particularly since we have ranked-choice voting, which makes things more difficult,” said Moore. He wants to remain on the council to continue to address public safety issues, especially those impacting his district, and tackling how to build more affordable housing in the city. He supports the city requiring developers to increase the number of below-market-rate units in projects from 20 to 30 percent and providing incentives to those that do. “There is unfinished business I would like to continue to work on,” said Moore. Armstrong-Temple, 41, and her husband, Carl, are raising twin daughters in West Berkeley. The founding director of Dance Out Loud, a movement-based after school program, ArmstrongTemple won the endorsement of District 3 Berkeley City Councilman Max Anderson, the Berkeley Progressive Alliance, and the weekly East Bay Express newspaper. She told the B.A.R. she is running to bring a cultural change to the city’s police department, whose chief recently resigned amid questions about his ethics in the job and an ongoing legal challenge from the family of a transgender woman killed in 2013 during an encounter with the police. Armstrong-Temple also contends that Moore is more inclined

Rick Gerharter

Berkeley City Councilman Darryl Moore

Davila for City Council campaign

Berkeley City Council candidate Cheryl Davila

School District board. EQCA noted that Appel “is committed to making Berkeley schools welcoming and supportive for LGBT students, and to fully implementing all-gender restrooms and the history-social science framework developed as a response to the FAIR Education Act,” which this summer was updated to include more lessons on LGBT people and events. Also picking up an endorsement from EQCA was Shanell Williams, a bisexual woman running for a seat on the City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees. A former student trustee with non-voting rights, Williams is a community engagement specialist for the Preterm Birth Initiative at UCSF. “If elected, she intends to focus on maintaining and increasing funding for the college’s LGBT studies program, making PrEP available through the student health center, and improving interaction between transgender students and faculty members,” noted EQCA. Its PAC has now endorsed all four out candidates running this November for seats on the college board. It earlier had endorsed gay incumbents Alex Randolph and board President Rafael Mandelman, as well as Tom Temprano, a gay man who lost his bid last fall for the vacant seat Randolph had been appointed to fill.

Former Milk club leaders back Wiener Armstrong-Temple for City Council campaign

Berkeley City Council candidate Nanci Armstrong-Temple

to support the needs of developers than that of residents who are being priced out of Berkeley. “The work he has done on a national scale for LGBTQ rights cannot be underplayed. Those are really important things,” she said. “But it is really time for a new voice to make sure we are not just about legacy but we are building a place where black, brown, and poor people and working people can live in the city of Berkeley and push that forward. I don’t think that person is Darryl and I am sorry to say that.” Davila, 60, did not return the B.A.R.’s call Tuesday seeking comment about her candidacy. She and her husband, Robert, raised two children in the district. She has been on the city’s Human Welfare and Community Action Commission since 2009, and it was on that public body that she pushed the pro-Palestinian measure. Moore said his objection to the measure stemmed from his belief it was not the right commission to address the topic. “The commission I appointed her to serve on is not supposed to deal with international matters but homelessness and housing in Berkeley,” he said. “We have an international commission to address that.”

EQCA endorses in local ed board races

The Equality California Political Action Committee recently endorsed two out women running for local education board seats. In Berkeley, the EQCA PAC endorsed incumbent school board member Judy Appel, who in September stepped down as executive director of Our Family Coalition, which advocates for LGBT-headed families, to head the California School-Based Health Alliance. She is running for a second fouryear term on the Berkeley Unified

Four former presidents of the progressive Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club have come out in support of moderate District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener in his bid for San Francisco’s state Senate seat against progressive District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim. The leaders are Jeff Sheehy, Bob Dockendorff, Debra Walker, and Martha Knutzen, who several years ago helped co-lead the more moderate Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club. As for the Milk club, its membership voted to endorse Kim in the race. “I am deeply honored to have these endorsements,” said Wiener, a gay man who aims to succeed gay state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), who is termed out of office and is supporting Wiener. “I have worked in San Francisco’s LGBT community almost 20 years. Even though I have had disagreements with the Milk club, I have always been able to work with leaders in the club. To have four past Milk club presidents endorse me is an honor.” And just days after transgender Health Commissioner Cecilia Chung endorsed Kim in the race, Wiener’s campaign also announced Tuesday that Theresa Sparks, Mayor Ed Lee’s adviser on transgender issues, had endorsed his Senate bid. “To my knowledge, his opponent has never, in six years as a member of the Board of Supervisors, authored an LGBT-specific law. Allies are always welcome but only members of the LGBT community actually know what our struggle is really about,” stated Sparks. The endorsements by Sparks and Walker are not that surprising, as both lost to Kim in the 2010 race for the District 6 supervisor seat. Walker, a member of the city’s Building Inspection Commission, explained in a statement that she based her decision on having worked with Wiener over the years on complex code enforcement reform, land use legislation, and tenant protections. “Things that have a huge impact on people’s lives. He understands this and takes the time and effort to make sure things are right. No drama. No grandstanding,” stated Walker.t

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<< Commentary

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • October 27-November 2, 2016

Make the change by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

transgender woman, apparently distraught with her life, walked out onto a U.S. highway to take her life. She was struck by a truck and killed. She left behind a suicide note. You may have immediately thought of Leelah Alcorn, who did this very same thing at the end of 2014 in Ohio. Alcorn, as you may recall, was raised in a strict conservative Christian household and had been sent to a conversion therapy program. Later, her parents removed her from school and restricted her social media contact. She died by suicide on Interstate 71 in Ohio, after leaving an impassioned note. “My death needs to mean something,” said Alcorn. “My death needs to be counted in the number of transgender people who commit suicide this year. I want someone to look at that number and say, ‘That’s fucked up,’ and fix it. Fix society. Please.” But my first paragraph was not about Alcorn, but Ashley Hallstrom. She took her life in mid-October, stepping in front of a dump truck on Interstate 89/91 in Utah. She left a letter that echoed Alcorn’s note. “I believe my last words can help

make the change that society needs to make so that one day there will be no others like me,” wrote Hallstrom, 26. “Please help make this change because trans people are everywhere. You may never know who you’re hurting until it’s too late. Please help fix society.” Hallstrom is not the only transgender suicide in recent days. Gabriel Tinto, 51, was found dead a few days after she complained to her school in southwest England about bullying around her gender identity. Cristan Williams also reported on her eponymous blog of two others, identified only as Viv and Sarah, who also took their lives in the last week or so. In May 2015, 14-year-old Kyler Prescott killed himself after staff at a San Diego area hospital repeatedly misgendered him while he was seeking care in its gender management clinic. His mother filed a lawsuit last month against Rady’s Children’s Hospital where he was being treated. In the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, conducted by the National LGBTQ Task Force and National Center for Transgender Equality, it was shown that 41 percent of transgender people attempt to take their own lives. In

Christine Smith

comparison, the national average stands at 4.6 percent, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The NTDS showed that those who faced discrimination in other areas were even more likely to die by suicide, but that has not stopped right-wing and anti-trans commentators from claiming that being transgender itself is what causes this high rate, implying that it is therefore better to ignore transgender identities overall. That’s nonsense, and one need look no further than those listed above. Not a one blamed their own transgender identity so much for them taking their own lives as they blamed the society around them and the myriad things that harmed them, hurt them, and kept them down. We live in a society that is seeing positive steps for transgender people, including some incredible, Obamaera policies that benefit transgender people, as well as an overall increase in positive visibility for transgender people. At the same time, we’re seeing a huge backlash that is eroding

these same rights, and is creating quite a lot of negativity toward transgender people overall. While we have sterling role models like Laverne Cox, we also have the proponents of laws like North Carolina’s House Bill 2 that are painting transwomen as male sexual deviants out to harm other women in restrooms. All this scaremongering is not only harming us directly, but is contributing to an environment toxic to trans people. All of this toxicity has contributed to 23 or so anti-trans murders so far in 2016, topping last year’s record number of anti-trans murders. Violence against us is rampant, as are other forms of discrimination. Meanwhile, in Donald Trump we have a presidential candidate who, among other things, wants to roll back the many protections we have gained in the last eight years, and install Supreme Court justices that will further erode trans rights. I look at all we have to face in this society and, much like Hallstrom or Alcorn, I find myself wondering how we can even survive – let alone thrive – in such a world. Should any of us be surprised when Hallstrom, or Viv, or Sarah, or so many others take their lives? One of my personal heroes is the late San Francisco supervisor

Harvey Milk. Like him, I believe in giving people hope. Hope is what keeps me fighting, even in my darkest times. We’ve got to have hope, but it’s getting damned hard in 2016 to keep that hope burning. I find I can’t fault those who have felt the need to check out early. So how do things “get better,” and how do we fix this society? In the wake of all this horribleness directed at trans people – as well as the rampant racism, sexism, xenophobia, and such currently polluting the air – is it even possible to make it better? How do we improve this world, in the wake of all this anti-trans bias and hatred? How do we push back? It’s the hippie in me: I want a world that will embrace us as just another wonderful part of human diversity, and will allow us the space and freedom to be all we can be. I want the trans movement to be one of joy, of laughter, and of music. I want this to be a harmony of voices, as my friend Lauren Wilson said more than two decades ago. She said that just months before taking her life, for all the same reasons as Alcorn and Hallstrom. Are we resigned for yet more trans people taking their own lonely walk out onto the highway – or will we fix this world?t Gwen Smith thinks it’s time for a change. You can find her at http:// www.gwensmith.com.

Trans film fest unveils largest program ever by Sari Staver

n its largest program ever, the 2016 San Francisco Transgender Film Festival includes two groundbreaking feature-length films: Free CeCe!, a documentary about a transgender woman who was imprisoned after defending herself during a brutal street attack, and Nakom, a narrative film shot in Ghana by San Francisco native T.W. Pittman. The 15th annual festival, held at the Roxie Theatre November 10-13, also includes 38 short films, several featuring well-known local filmmakers and actors. Question and answer sessions with filmmakers and stars will follow many of the screenings. The world’s first and longestrunning transgender film festival, SFTFF also includes its first-ever program subtitled for the hearing impaired, with ASL interpretation

before and after the shorts screenings Friday, November 11. The festival includes everything from “inspiring documentaries to jaw-dropping animation, from gender-busting music videos to hardhitting short films,” artistic director Shawna Virago said in a news release. Kicking off the festival Thursday, November 10 will be the documentary Free CeCe!, directed by Jac Gares, a New York City filmmaker. The film tells the story of Chrishaun Reed “CeCe” McDonald, who was viciously attacked on her way to the store with a group of friends in 2011. In defending her own life, a man was killed and, after a coercive interrogation, McDonald was incarcerated in a men’s prison in Minnesota, said Gares in a telephone interview. McDonald accepted a plea bargain of 41 months for manslaughter but was released after 19 months following a media campaign by activists. Among

415 -500 -2620

McDonald’s most vocal supporters was transgender actress Laverne Cox, star of the Netflix series Orange is the New Black. Gares, who produced the PBS television series In the Life for many years, asked Cox to collaborate on a documentary about the case, with Cox as executive producer. Gares raised $300,000 to fund the project, which is now on the film festival circuit. Gares said she is negotiating with a film distribuCourtesy SFTFF tion company and plans to move on to her next project, a film about Actress and executive producer Laverne Cox, left, interviews prisoner the abolition of prisons. On Wednesday, November 9, CeCe McDonald in a scene from Free the evening before Free CeCe! is CeCe!, which opens the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival. screened, McDonald will be speaking as part of the Black Excellence and traces Sinclaire’s earliest memoTour sponsored by the San Franries of self-discovery. cisco LGBT Community Center’s Opper, who also teaches film at Trans Employment Program. San Francisco State, directed and proThe film festival’s closing night duced the Emmy Award-nominated film is a narrative-documentary hyfeature documentary Off and Runbrid, Nakom, the story of Iddrisu, a ning and the feature documentary medical student who returns to his Búscame: Search for Me, which is suphome village in northern Ghana ported by a Fulbright Fellowship. after the sudden death of his father Opper, who identifies as genderqueer, and must deal with family obligarecently signed a contract with ITVS tions in the farming village. Directed to produce a web series about adopby San Francisco native T.W. (Trav) tion through the foster care system, Pittman, the film was inspired by which will be distributed next year. the years Pittman spent in the Peace Another short, Dear Abigail, Corps in Africa, she said. about the struggles of transgender Pittman, an African-American women, features Clair Farley, a trans transwoman, said in an interview advocate, actress, and writer who is that the film’s premier at the 2016 the director of economic developBerlinale festival, marked two hisment at the San Francisco LGBT toric firsts – the first fiction feature Community Center. Farley has from Ghana ever to play the worldstarred in a number of award-winfamous festival and the first fiction ning films, including My Life with feature directed by a transgender Mode Media, Red Without Blue, and woman ever to play there. The film American Transgender. was co-directed by Pittman’s longtime collaborator Kelly Daniela Other shorts Norris; the two made a film in Cuba Other short films of note include in 2013, Sombras de Azul. El Camino, directed by Alexander L. The shorts programs include two Lee, which tells a story of 16-year-old films featuring well-known members Jorge, whose father dies while servof the local transgender community. ing time in a California prison. Jorge One of them, Mezzo, stars San and his mother must race across the Franciscan Breanna Sinclaire, an state to claim the father’s body before African-American opera singer and prison authorities cremate the rethe first out transgender woman to mains against their wishes. graduate from a major conservaEden’s Garden is the first episode tory. The film is directed by San of a web series dramady starring an Francisco filmmaker Nicole Opper

all-transgender male cast. The series, directed by Seven King, deals with issues affecting transgender people, including dating, HIV awareness, and transphobia. Ryans is a romantic comedy about a trans woman who goes on a blind date with a man who had the same name as her ex and was directed by Rain Valdez and Natalie Heltzel. Virago said the festival has a budget of $65,000, which comes from a variety of grants as well as donors and box office receipts. Virago said that when the festival began in 1997, “there was absolutely no funding available for transgender arts events,” a situation that has improved over the years. “For years, we’ve had to survive and thrive on our transgender smarts, sweat, and love from the community,” she said. While the festival doesn’t provide fees to filmmakers to screen their work, they also do not charge a submission fee and, beginning last year, were able to provide hotel rooms for a number of out of town directors. The festival provides blocks of complimentary tickets to community groups, Virago added. The festival “provides a powerful counternarrative to the increasingly assimilationist world of transgender reality stars and celebrities,” she said. “Come see transpeople telling our own stories. Come see trans characters played by trans actors. We are the little festival that keeps going.”t Tickets for the festival are on a sliding scale from $12 to $15 but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Passes for the entire festival are available for $65 on the festival website, www.sftff. org. The Roxie Theatre is located at 3125 16th Street. Tickets for McDonald’s November 9 talk at Faithful Fools, 234 Hyde Street, are available at https:// bxtsf.eventbrite.com; sliding scale, no one turned away. On November 15, McDonald will be speaking in Berkeley, following a screening of her film.

National News>>

October 27-November 2, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

Federal reports address diversity, police bias by Seth Hemmelgarn

he U.S. Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently released a report examining barriers and “promising practices” in hiring, recruitment, and retention “for advancing diversity in law enforcement,” the EEOC announced in a news release. This month the Justice Department also released the results of its examination of the San Francisco Police Department, which has faced recent scandals related to alleged bias. But last weekend, negotiations between the San Francisco Police Commission and the powerful Police Officers Association reached an impasse on use of force over a proposal that would bar officers from shooting at moving vehicles. “While the POA and the police department agree on a majority of the policy, we could not agree on the issue of shooting at moving vehicles,” acting Police Chief Toney Chaplin said in a statement. He said that the Justice Department recommendations issued earlier this month “clearly indicates that officers should not shoot at moving vehicles, as this poses a significant danger to all parties, including the public.” The DOJ/EEOC report, which was developed with help from the Center for Policing Equity, is designed to help law enforcement agencies enhance diversity by highlighting certain strategies. Among the ideas the report explores are ensuring that agencies’ organizational structures are guided by cultural inclusivity and “engaging stakeholders – both from within and outside the law enforcement agency – to help create a workforce that reflects the diversity of the community,” officials stated in the October 5 announcement. San Francisco is known for its diversity but has not been immune to claims of bias. Numerous scandals have hit the city’s police department recently, including several instances of officers fatally shooting AfricanAmericans, and some officers being accused of exchanging racist and

Courtesy EEOC

EEOC Chair Jenny R. Yang

homophobic text messages. On October 12, the DOJ’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services released its initial assessment of the SFPD. Mayor Ed Lee and former Chief Greg Suhr, who resigned in May after one of the shootings, had requested help from the DOJ to review the police department. The report identified deficiencies, including disparities in traffic stops and use of deadly force against African Americans. “In addition, there are numerous indicators of implicit and institutionalized bias against minority groups,” a DOJ news release said. In response, the police department said that while the community oriented policing office’s “analysis found the department’s use of force is proportionate and ‘there were no racial or ethnic disparities in the severity of force,’ we agree that SFPD must do a better job regarding investigations of use of force, training and data capture. ... We intend to look closely at data to determine the role of neighborhood ‘calls for service’ and ‘on-view’ detentions in traffic stops and other encounters. SFPD will continue to move rapidly to root out implicit and explicit bias.” However, the department also said that the community oriented policing office’s assessment team found that “there is no evidence that explicit bias is widespread. On

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emorial services have been set for Wayne Friday, 79, the former Bay Area Reporter political editor and Harvey Milk confidante. Friday killed himself October 12. A celebration of Friday’s life will be held Sunday, November 20 at 4 p.m. at the Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. Friday, 79, died from a gunshot wound to the head, Christopher Wirowek, deputy director of the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office, said Tuesday, October 25. Wirowek confirmed the manner of death was suicide. Toxicology results are pending. Friday had been battling Parkinson’s disease and his health had faltered in the weeks before his death. Friends said he was in a lot of pain and “despondent.” After Milk was elected supervisor in 1977, Friday took over his political column in the B.A.R. For decades politicians jockeyed to see their name in bold print in his “Our Man Friday” column. Straight politicians wanted to be in the column to get themselves known to LGBT

the contrary, the team observed a law enforcement agency that for the most part showed genuine compassion, caring, and professionalism toward the people of San Francisco.” Lee said in a statement, “We have made progress, but there is still a lot of work to do. I am directing the leadership of SFPD and the Police Commission to implement these reforms as soon as possible, and with one specific goal: Fair and just policing that treats everyone the same and places the sanctity of life above all else. The problems we have in our city won’t be solved overnight. But my administration is committed – I am committed – to seeing this through. While some reforms may take longer than others, so much important work is already underway, or near completion.” Gay Police Commission Vice President Julius Turman said in a separate statement, “On the recommendation of the DOJ, the Police Commission will require the SFPD to adopt the recommendations in this report and provide monthly progress updates to the Police Commission. We will share these monthly updates with the mayor and the Board of Supervisors.” In response to an email from the Bay Area Reporter about the EEOC report, Sergeant Michael Andraychak, a gay police department spokesman, said that his agency recruited LGBT officers at several events this year, including LGBT Pride celebrations in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, as well as the Castro Street Fair. Additionally, Andraychak said, “We have an active employee group, the SF Police Officers Pride Alliance. Department members and members of Pride Alliance are some of our best recruiters as they interact with friends and people they meet on their personal time as well as people they contact on duty. In addition to the recruitment efforts at the SF Pride Festival, members participate in the Pride parade and other events surrounding Pride, Folsom and the Castro Street Fair.”

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voters, and gay politicos wanted readers to know what they were doing to help the community. Friday retired the column in 2004, a year after the B.A.R.’s founding publisher Bob Ross died. Friday also worked for years as an investigator in the district attorney’s office and served on the Police Commission, a role he coveted.t

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<< Travel

t Vegas celebrates Pride, looks ahead to New Year’s 10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • October 27-November 2, 2016

by Ed Walsh

as Vegas just celebrated Pride last weekend and is gearing up for its biggest night of the year – New Year’s Eve. While the big gay New Year’s party, Evolve, is not happening this year, LGBTs will mix into the mainstream celebration as Las Vegas Boulevard shuts down to accommodate the overflow crowds that will pour into the street at midnight to watch the fireworks. If you are planning on being in Vegas for New Year’s, make your hotel reservation now. Hotels sell out early and you won’t find any bargains on that night. There are also a number of restaurants with a bird’s eye view of the fireworks, but early reservations are a must. While Las Vegas is the place to be for New Year’s, the deck is stacked year-round with plenty to see and do. If you are looking for a bargain, between now and the end of the year is a good time. November through Christmas tends to be slow in Vegas and the smaller crowds translate into bargain hotel rates. You also won’t have to deal with the notoriously bad traffic jams on the Las Vegas Strip during very busy times.

The Strip and downtown

For the uninitiated, almost all the tourist attractions in Las Vegas are either on the Strip or in the downtown area. The Strip is the 4.2-mile section of Las Vegas Boulevard between the Mandalay Bay resort at Russell Road to Sahara Avenue, just south of the Stratosphere Tower. The Strip is just outside of the Las Vegas city limits, in an unincorporated section of Clark County. The city of Las Vegas doesn’t begin until Sahara Avenue. Many tourists never make it be-

yond the mega casino/resorts on the Strip but downtown Las Vegas is emerging as the new hip place to hang out. Entrepreneurs, many LGBT, have joined forces with the techies and hipsters to bring new life to downtown, which up until recent years was a place where people were afraid to be at night. Las Vegas is notorious for literally blowing up old stuff to make way for the new. But there is a new appreciation in downtown for preserving the city’s past while embracing the new. Old Las Vegas is best known for neon lights and you will see an old restored neon sign on every block from the north end of the Strip, past the center of downtown to the Neon Museum (http://www. neonmuseum.org/). That museum’s “boneyard” is a fascinating collection of restored signs of casinos and resorts that have come and gone. Another museum in the heart of downtown documents part of Vegas’ past that is quickly becoming a distant memory: organized crime. While mobster money helped build the city, authorities were eventually able to end the stranglehold of corruption that marked the mob’s influence. That shady past is now chronicled in the Mob Museum (http://themobmuseum. org/), which is ironically in the city’s former courthouse. The modern interactive museum opened four years ago and documents the mob’s rise and fall in the U.S. as well as its depictions in movies and TV. In the heart of downtown, the Fremont Street Experience (http:// vegasexperience.com/) is a pedestrian mall covered with a light canopy with light and music shows every half hour after sunset. If sitting around and just watching is not participatory enough for you, you

Ed Walsh

Divas’ star Larry Edwards performs as Tina Turner at the popular Vegas show.

can fly through the air on a zip line. Be sure to check out a walking tour of Las Vegas. One of the best is the gay-owned and -operated Las Vegas Pop Culture Tours (http:// www.lasvegaspopculturetours. com/). Babs Daitch and Richard Hooker can give you all of the fascinating behind-the-scenes scoop on Vegas, plus the lesbian and gay history of the city. The guides can also point out the gay-owned businesses downtown that have helped spark its revitalization. Those businesses include the very popular coffee shop PublicUS; the wonderful deli and grocery store; the Market; the Southwest Louisiana-themed Zydeco Po-Boys restaurant; Hub Modern Home and Gift; the candy shop, Sweet Spot; and the discount fragrance shop, Scentual Scents. The latter three are part of the open-air Downtown Container Park, made up of shops and restaurants housed in shipping containers. A giant flame-throwing praying mantis stands guard in front of the park. Las Vegas Pop Culture Tours offers tours of both

downtown Vegas and the Strip. Las Vegas began 110 years ago as a railroad stop in the area now known as downtown. For years, the stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard leading to downtown was not much more than a glorified roadside attraction leading to the big city. When developer Steve Wynn opened the Mirage on the Strip in 1989, it set a new standard of luxury in Vegas and ignited a building boom, ushering in MGM, Treasure Island, Paris Las Vegas, Bellagio, the Venetian, and more. The newest casino-resort on the Strip is also one of the best, the SLS (http://slshotels.com/lasvegas/). It opened two years ago in place of the Sahara Hotel, on the north end of the Strip, just south of the Stratosphere Tower. SLS stands for Style Luxury Service and the resort more than lives up to those words. It became part of the Starwood Hotels and Resorts group last year and in December one of the SLS’ towers will reopen as Vegas’ first W Hotel. The LINQ (www.thelinq.com) is another of the newer casino-resorts on the Strip. It also opened just two years ago and includes Vegas’ newest landmark, the world’s tallest Ferris wheel, the High Roller. It measures 550 feet, about 100 feet taller than the London Eye. The LINQ used to be the Quad, which used to be the Imperial Palace. By the way, the LINQ will be one of the host hotels for the Dinah Vegas (http://www. dinahshoreweekend.com/), which is scheduled for late April 2017. The LINQ also hosts Vegas’ gayest, and one of its best, shows, Divas. It features Frank Marino, who plays Joan Rivers, and a wonderful cast of female impersonators who do everyone from Diana Ross to Reba McEntire. Ticket prices start at a very reasonable $24.99, a bargain price for a Vegas show. For one of the most unique shopping experiences, check out the Miracle Mile (http://www.miraclemileshopslv.com/) shops on the Strip. The indoor mall is a mile long and is designed to look like an old Middle Eastern town with a permanent dawn-like sky. The shops range from bargain to the upscale, including H&M. It includes a wide variety of both casual and fast food restau-

rants. The latest addition is the fab Nacho Daddy, which opened two months ago. If you want to get paid to get your opinion heard, check out the Test America shop. It will pay you to test products or a TV show. It doesn’t pay much, but enough to cover a cheap lunch. Speaking of inexpensive lunches, in recent years Las Vegas has shifted from offering a wide variety of restaurants offering bargain eats to ones that emphasize gourmet food, quality service, and upscale surroundings. Some of the best feature great views of the Strip, including Guida and HEXX that will undoubtedly fill up early for New Year’s Eve fireworks. Las Vegas’ newest open space is part of the MGM Resorts (https:// www.mgmresorts.com/) and it is called, simply, the Park. It is next to New York-New York, in front of the T-Mobile Arena, which just opened in April. A giant sculpture of a dancing woman is one of the park’s highlights. One of the best casual and inexpensive dining spots there is Beerhaus. But if you are driving to the Park, you will have to pay for parking. In June, MGM became the first of the resorts to charge for parking. The impacted hotels include ARIA, Bellagio, Delano/Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Mirage, and New York-New York. If driving and on a budget, you would be better off to park in a nearby property and walk, or you might want to skip the MGM resorts altogether. But parking is still cheap by Bay Area standards: free for the first hour, $7 for one to four hours, and $10 for 4 to 24 hours. If you feel like getting out of the city, an easy excursion is Boulder City and Hoover Dam, about a 45-minute drive away. The dam is open for regularly scheduled tours during the day and you can walk across the dam anytime before sunset. The best view of the dam is from the new Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, which opened in 2010 just south of the dam. But the view is not great driving over it because of the concrete safety barriers on either side. The best view is reserved for pedestrians. Look for the parking lot and walking path up to the bridge on the road before you get to the dam. Boulder City is a quaint town that was built to house the 1930s dam workers. The town has a museum dedicated to the people who built Hoover Dam.

Nightlife

Las Vegas does not have a gay neighborhood, but the biggest cluster of gay bars is along the so-called Fruit Loop. That is where you will find the upscale Piranha on Paradise Road, near East Naples Drive, about 1.5 miles from the Strip. There are no full-time lesbian bars, but gay women are very welcome at most of the predominantly gay male bars including Piranha, which hosted a See page 17 >>

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Ed Walsh

A sculpture of a dancing woman is a focal point at the Park in front of the new T-Mobile Arena.

National News>>

October 27-November 2, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

STDs hit new highs, says CDC by Liz Highleyman

ases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis are at their highest levels ever, exceeding last year’s record, according to the latest Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released October 19. Young people and gay men are particularly heavily impacted. Experts said the increase comes as STD prevention, testing, and treatment services have suffered budget cuts nationwide. “We have reached a decisive moment for the nation. STD rates are rising, and many of the country’s systems for preventing STDs have eroded,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. “We must mo-

bilize, rebuild, and expand services – or the human and economic burden will continue to grow.” According to the report, a total of 1,526,658 cases of chlamydia, nearly 395,216 cases of gonorrhea, and nearly 23,872 cases of primary and secondary syphilis were reported in 2015. These figures do not reflect the full extent of the problem, however, as many STDs are asymptomatic in their early stages and often go undiagnosed and unreported. Reports of chlamydia, the most common STD in the U.S., rose by 6 percent from 2014. Young women and men age 15-25 accounted for almost two-thirds of all diagnosed cases. Gonorrhea reports climbed by 13 percent, with youth accounting for half of diagnosed cases. Gay and bisexual men of all ages also had a high rate. Syphilis saw the greatest increase,

Courtesy CDC

Dr. Jonathan Mermin

up 19 percent from 2014. Men accounted for more than nine out of 10 cases, with gay and bi men mak-

ing up more than 80 percent of cases among men, based on data from states that report the sex of partners. Although less than 10 percent of reported syphilis cases involved women, congenital syphilis – transmitted from mother to baby during pregnancy – rose by 6 percent. As recently reported, new statelevel data released at the 2016 STD Prevention Conference in September showed that the nationwide rate of primary and secondary syphilis among gay and bi men was 309 cases per 100,000 in 2015, compared with 2.9 per 100,000 for heterosexual men. States in the southeast had the highest rates. Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis can all be treated and cured with antibiotics, preventing progression to serious complications and halting further transmission. But drug-resistant gonorrhea is a

growing concern worldwide. Public health officials from Hawaii recently reported that they had identified the first cluster of gonorrhea cases with reduced susceptibility to both drugs in the current recommended treatment regimen. In recent years more than half of state and local STD programs have seen budget cuts and many health department STD clinics have closed, resulting in less access to testing and treatment, according to the CDC. “STD prevention resources across the nation are stretched thin, and we’re beginning to see people slip through the public health safety net,” Mermin said. “Turning the STD epidemics around requires bolstering prevention efforts and addressing new challenges – but the payoff is substantial in terms of improving health, reducing disparities, and saving billions of dollars.”t

Intactivists remember Conte, try to deliver petitions to AAP by David-Elijah Nahmod

ntact America, a group that advocates for the end of circumcision for male infants, held a news conference outside the meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics in San Francisco, where it had tried to present a petition but was rebuffed ahead of the meeting. The group also remembered longtime intactivist Jonathon Conte, a gay San Francisco man who killed himself in May. As the October 22 rally got underway, some passersby stopped to talk to protesters and read their handouts, though most people entering Moscone Center for the conference avoided looking at the demonstrators. Rally organizers had hoped to deliver a petition with 10,000 signatures to the AAP. The

protest was organized when reps from AAP refused to meet with Intact America, the organization behind the petition. According to Intact America, in the past year researchers and experts have published articles and studies that contradict the 2012 AAP statement that “the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks.” Conte was remembered by the small group of about 25 protesters, who gathered to speak out against forced and medically recommended circumcisions. San Francisco resident Lloyd Schofield, a close friend of Conte’s, spoke at the rally. Schofield said that Conte had referred to his circumcision, which happened during his infancy, as “forced genital mutilation.” “Jonathon lost his job a week after his opposition to human genital

Erickson Fine Art Gallery sculpture by Jeffrey Van Dyke

Rick Gerharter

Attendees at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics, left, pass by activists from Intact America, Boodstained Men and Their Friends, and Bay Area Intactivists outside Moscone Center during a protest October 22.

mutilation was documented in the San Francisco Chronicle,” Schofield said as he fought back tears. “He

then devoted himself full time to speaking out, so that others would not have to endure the physical

and psychological pain that he did. Eventually the lies, myths, and denial perpetrated by those at the AAP who practice, promote and profit from genitally mutilating healthy children were too much to bear and he took his own life in May.” Niki Sawyers traveled from her home in Philadelphia to attend the rally. She said that she was a “regret mom,” someone who had allowed doctors to circumcise her son. “Circumcision doesn’t just hurt the baby, it hurts the mother,” she said. “It keeps on hurting. Most mothers I speak to would never have allowed it had they known the facts. Why are parents not being given the facts?” According to a flier handed out by Intact America, foreskin is a natSee page 17 >>

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<< Sports

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • October 27-November 2, 2016

Gay bowlers bring tourney to SF by Roger Brigham

he International Gay Bowling Organization will hold its annual mid-year meeting and tournament in San Francisco November 8-14. It is the first time in the group’s 26-year history that the event has been held in San Francisco. “We put together a great bid to land the meeting,” organizer Vince Wilson said. “We have participants from most of the states, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. We plan to host over 300 members and have been tireless on making sure the first foray in the Bay Area is memorable.” To market the bid, organizers chose a “Tales of the City” theme and reduced videos of the original television series to create informational videos about the events. “I think we had the best thought-

out bid to host, plus San Francisco is a ‘destination’ city,” Wilson said. “Of course, the younger kids didn’t quite understand what ‘Tales of the City’ was.” Why, it’s simply gay author Armistead Maupin’s books of who we were and how we came to be who we are. And now IGBO can add its own chapter to the story. The week kicks off with board meetings starting November 8 and the start of tournament play November 10. The general membership meeting is November 11-13. On Sunday, November 14, a scratch masters tournament will be held for qualifiers and a clinic by equipment sponsor Storm presented. Longtime bowler and Gay Games volunteer Doug Litwin will host the board members for a cruise on his yacht during the week. Scattered throughout the week are bar crawls, cocktail reception, pool parties, and a wine country tour.

Gay Games challenge grant

The International Gay Bowling Organization will bring its midyear meeting and tournament to San Francisco next month.

All competition will be held at Classic Bowl in Daly City, which organizers renamed Barbary Lanes for the tournament. For more information about the mid-year meeting events, visit http://www.igbomy2016.org. For information about IGBO, visit http://www.igbo.org.

Local Gay Games supporters Martha Ehrenfeld and Carla McKay have announced a $20,000 challenge scholarship grant, promising that if the Federation of Gay Games raises $20,000 before December 31, they will match it. Scholarship funds are used to bring inneed participants from underserved and repressed areas to participate in the Gay Games. The next Gay Games will be held in 2018 in Paris. Ehrenfeld and McKay met through the Gay Games and honeymooned at the Cologne Gay Games in 2010 after being married that same year. “Being a participant in three Gay Games has been a life-changing experience,” Ehrenfeld said. “Marching in the opening ceremony and meeting athletes from around the world has been fantastic. It inspires you to reach out and help others who think they are alone. I never thought my tennis world and my gay world could come together. I could be who I am on and off the court without any explaining or

hesitation. I met my wife, great friends, and inspirational leaders. I feel so lucky and grateful for the Gay Games; how could I not give back to them?” To donate, visit www.gofundme. com/fggscholarship.

Tsunami 30th anniversary party

San Francisco Tsunami Masters Swim Team, which was formed in 1986 in connection with Gay Games II in San Francisco, will hold a 30th anniversary celebration Saturday, December 30, with a 6:10 p.m. party at Slide, 430 Mason Street. Tsunami is trying to connect with as many past members as possible. People interested in finding out more information about the party or RSVPing can visit the Tsunami 30th anniversary party page on Facebook. Ticket sales will be announced soon, with an expected price of about $20. For more information about Tsunami, visit http://www.sftsunami. org.t

Museum exhibit looks at LGBT Latinx life by Sari Staver

multimedia exhibition offering a glimpse into the life of LGBT Latinx in San Francisco from the 1970s to the 1990s opens at the GLBT History Museum in the Castro Friday, October 28. Entitled “Noche de Ambiente” (night of atmosphere, or environment), the exhibit runs through February. According to the museum, the exhibit offers a “small window” focusing on queer activism, AIDS activism, drag performance, and “ambiente.” For decades, the museum said, ambiente has served as a queer code word in the U.S. and Latin

America by Latinx LGBT people to identify themselves, their distinctive cultures, and their spirit of resistance. The show, curated by Juliana Delgado Lopera and Ángel Rafael Vázquez-Conceptión, is an “innovative display” of diverse documents, images, and videos from the archives of the GLBT Historical Society and from materials contributed by the community to celebrate a quarter century of ambiente in San Francisco. Lopera, a writer, educator and spoken word performer, is the author of ¡Cuéntamelo!, an illustrated bilingual collection of oral histories by LGBT Latinx immigrants and is executive director of Radar Productions, which

THIS IS THE

san francisco

ColumbariuM A perpetual record of yesterday Lives are commemorated Memories are made tangible Love is undisguised

organizes queer literary programs. In a telephone interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Lopera explained how she first learned about the term “ambiente.” When Lopera moved to San Francisco nine years ago, she met a Cuban transwoman, Adela Vazquez, “who became my ‘queer mom,’” she said. Vazquez, an AIDS activist in the 1980s, told Lopera stories, that “opened an underground world” of queer Latinidad stories unknown to most of the public. Through Vazquez, Lopera met many queer Latinx activists, some of whom formed her “chosen family,” she said. “These are some of the many stories I want to unearth and share,” she said. Lopera, 28, who has been volunteering at the history museum for the past 18 months, said the idea for the exhibit came from her cocurator, who “approached me about working together.” Their goals for the exhibit, she said, are to give visitors “a glimpse into the Latino queer life of San Francisco” and to illustrate the “huge impact and contribution” they’ve made in the city. “We’re talking about three decades, the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, so really it’s just a window,” Lopera said. “It would’ve been impossible to try to tell the entire story.” The curators also “wanted to start a conversation” about the memories of a marginalized community she said. “A lot of mainstream LGBT history is very white,” Lopera explained. The exhibit represents an “inter-

Federal reports

From page 9

The DOJ and EEOC engaged with dozens of law enforcement leaders, civil rights advocates, and others to produce their report. “While greater workforce diversity alone cannot ensure fair and effective policing, a significant – and growing – body of evidence suggests

One Loraine Court between Stanyan & Arguello

(415) 771-0717 COA 660

SFAF

From page 2

programs and services, including procuring a state-of-the-art mobile testing unit and overseeing the Campaign for Health and Wellness, which has raised almost $15 million and resulted in the opening of Strut earlier this year. He has also been central to the success of AIDS/ LifeCycle, which he not only helped produce but also participated as a rider for 15 years, raising more than

Jim Jess courtesy Augie Robles

A photo showing the 1994 New Year’s Eve party at Esta Noche is one of the items in the “Noche de Ambiente” exhibit.

generational dialogue,” something rarely seen in San Francisco, she added. Co-curator Vázquez-Concepción, 34, moved to San Francisco from Puerto Rico, where he worked in San Juan at the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and at the Museum of Contemporary Art. In a phone interview with the B.A.R., Vázquez-Concepción said he hopes people will “walk away from the exhibit with a broader and more complex perspective on Latinidad.” While there are lots of Mexican queers living in San Francisco, “we are also from Colombia, Cuba, Puerto

Rico” and many other places, he said. “We want people to know the immigrant experience can vary widely,” he added. But all of the experiences, as illustrated in the exhibit, and “told through the lens of coming out of the closet,” will give people a more articulated perspective, VázquezConcepción said.t

that diversity can make policing more effective, more safe and more just,” the EEOC news release said. EEOC Chair Jenny R. Yang stated, “When law enforcement agencies remove barriers to equal opportunity, the agencies and the diverse communities that they serve both stand to benefit. Departments from around the country have been working to build a robust and di-

verse talent pipeline to strengthen their workforce. This report raises up some of the most promising recruitment and retention practices of these departments.” The DOJ/EEOC report is available at www.justice.gov/policediversity. The DOJ’s community oriented policing report is at http://ric-zai-inc. com/ric.php?page=detail&id=COPSW0817.t

$230,000 to support the programs and services of the foundation.” The LifeCycle bike ride raises money for SFAF and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Hollendoner said he hopes to have someone new overseeing fundraising efforts early in 2017. “Until then,” he said, “I have great confidence in the team that James has built and know that they will continue to be successful in raising awareness of and support for San Francisco AIDS Foundation.”

SFAF board Chair Philip Besirof said in an email, “On behalf of San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s board of directors, staff, and clients, I thank James for his seven years of service to our community. James has been a tremendous asset to San Francisco AIDS Foundation and I’m grateful for his leadership in helping the Campaign for Health and Wellness achieve 96 percent of its $15 million goal. James will be missed, and I wish him much success in his future pursuits.”t

An opening night reception featuring remarks from the co-curators takes place Friday, October 28 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the museum, 4127 18th Street. Wine and light refreshments will be served. Admission is $5; free for members.

Election 2016>>

October 27-November 2, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

Log Cabin declines to endorse Trump by Lisa Keen

og Cabin Republicans President Gregory Angelo said it early on: Donald Trump is the “most progay” Republican presidential candidate in history. And following the deadly attack on an LGBT nightclub in Orlando in June, Trump himself suggested that he – not Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton – is the presidential candidate who is “really the friend of women and the LGBT community.” But over the weekend, Log Cabin said it would not be endorsing in the presidential race. “Mr. Trump is perhaps the most pro-LGBT presidential nominee in the history of the Republican Party. His unprecedented overtures to the ‘LGBTQ community’ – a first for any major-party candidate in our nation’s history – are worthy of praise and should serve as a clarion call to the GOP that the days of needing to toe an anti-LGBT line are now a thing of the past,” said the October 22 statement. “But Log Cabin Republicans have long emphasized that we are not a single-issue organization, nor are our members single-issue voters. Even if we were, rhetoric alone regarding LGBT issues does not equate to doctrine. As Mr. Trump spoke positively about the LGBT community in the United States, he concurrently surrounded himself with senior advisers with a record of opposing LGBT equality, and committed himself to supporting legislation such as the so-called First Amendment Defense Act that Log Cabin Republicans opposes.” The group gave a “qualified” endorsement for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in October 2012 and enthusiastically endorsed GOP candidate John McCain in 2008.

Clinton versus Trump

Clinton’s claim to the mantle as the Democratic Party’s most progay presidential candidate in history has to compete with the party’s 2012 nominee, President Barack Obama. But even during this year’s general election campaign, when most Democratic presidential candidates typically grow subtle about their support for the LGBT community, Clinton has prominently and repeatedly stated her support in stump speeches and debate answers. LGBT leaders were asked to make their best arguments for their party’s candidate. “As a black gay man, I know that Mrs. Clinton will protect and work to extend LGBT rights gained under the Obama administration,” said Earl D. Fowlkes Jr., chairman of the Democratic National Committee’s LGBT Caucus. “She will appoint Supreme Court judges who will not undo same-sex marriage, women’s reproductive rights, and more provisions of the Voting Rights Act. In short, Mrs. Clinton will be a president that will fight for all Americans. “She is one of the most qualified candidates to ever run for the presidency,” Fowlkes added. “As first lady, senator, and secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton has both the experience and temperament to handle the complex issues that our nation is facing.” Charles T. Moran, a prominent Trump delegate from Los Angeles to the GOP convention, said, “The strongest reason why LGBTQers in our community should vote for Donald Trump is that he’s constantly recognized our community and treated us with respect. In his business and philanthropic work, he’s always been supportive, even when it hasn’t been popular. “From the money he’s given to HIV/AIDS causes in New York City to opening the first private club in Palm Beach to allow open homo-

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump

sexuals to join to just recently dismissing the dramatic debate in the GOP and stating that Caitlyn Jenner should use whatever bathroom she wants at his Trump properties to bringing forward the issue of protecting our community against radical Islamic jihad and threats of violence against our freedoms, he has truly walked the talk, and that is 30-plus-year history of support, unlike Hillary Clinton’s zigzag on our issues over her 30 years in the public eye,” Moran said. The Bay Area Reporter this week received reports of two complaints filed against Moran at the California Secretary of State’s office, alleging that he used his parents’ address in San Pedro, California to run for a seat on the Republican Central Committee for the 70th Assembly District. The complaints allege Moran really lives in Hollywood. Moran said his office and a mailbox address are in Hollywood but that his residence is San Pedro. He sent the B.A.R. a copy of his driver’s license with a San Pedro address and said voting records would show he is registered to vote in San Pedro and has voted there for the last 15 years. Moran had not received any notice of the two complaints. “It looks like somebody is annoyed that I got elected,” said Moran. “This whole year has been defined as ‘establishment versus the new wave of people coming into the Republican party,’” said Moran. “I consider myself part of the established Republican Party, but I’m a Trump supporter.” Moran did not respond to a message seeking comment. Meanwhile, numerous LGBT groups have endorsed Clinton: the Human Rights Campaign, the Lesbian Political Action Committee, the Congressional LGBT Caucus PAC, and the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. She has also won the endorsement of several statewide LGBT political groups, including Equality California and Equality Pennsylvania. She has the backing of prominent LGBT elected officials, such as former Congressman Barney Frank and five of the six current LGBT members of the House of Representatives (only Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona has not).

Polls past and present

Historically, LGBT voters have supported the Democratic presidential candidate over the Republican by a margin of about 3 to 1. Over the years, the polls suggest that many LGBT people who used to identify as independent are now identifying as Republican or Democrat. In September 2012, a Gallup study found 43 percent of LGBTidentified adults said they were “independent,” 13 percent Republican, and 44 percent Democratic. An NBC poll in September found that only 13 percent identified as independents, compared to 18 percent “Republicans or Republicanleaners” and 70 percent “Democrats and Democratic-leaners.”

Over a shorter span of time, support for Clinton among LGBT voters has also grown. In a Gallup survey in May, 54 percent supported Clinton and 18 percent Trump. But in the NBC poll in September of 1,728 registered voters who identified as “homosexual or bisexual,” 72 percent said they would vote for Clinton; 20 percent for Trump. (Including the Libertarian and Green Party candidates in the mix, the NBC survey found 63 percent of LGBT voters supported Clinton, 15 percent Trump, 13 percent Libertarian Gary Johnson, and 8 percent Green Party Jill Stein.) Looking at data going back to 1990 (the first year the National Election Pool exit poll sought to identify gay, lesbian, and bisexual voters), the lowest LGB vote for Republicans came in 2008 when only 19 percent of LGB voters supported McCain. A 2012 exit poll conducted by the New York Times and other major media outlets found that 76 percent of LGB voters supported Obama, the Democratic incumbent. That meant, at best, 24 percent for Romney.

speech, Trump added, “And I have to say, as a Republican, it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just had to say. Thank you.” But for many in the LGBT community, Trump’s statement of solidarity with the LGBT community was undercut by his insistence that the Orlando massacre was made possible because the U.S. allows Muslims, who he said want to “murder gays,” to immigrate. Trump has called for a ban on allowing Muslims to enter the country (more recently, he’s called for “extreme vetting” of Muslims). Trump also confused and dismayed many by seeming to signal initial support of transgender people in the North Carolina House Bill 2 (bathroom) controversy only to say later that the issue should be “left to the states.” And his repeated promise to appoint a Supreme Court nominee in the mold of the late Antonin Scalia, who had the most anti-gay voting record of any justice on the nation’s highest court, will not likely earn him any LGBT votes. Clinton has repeatedly included words of support for LGBT equality in her stump speeches. She addressed the 2015 HRC national dinner, unabashedly putting herself on record – early in the primary season – as supporting numerous positions favored by LGBT voters. Among other things, she promised, “as president, I would push to cut off federal funding for any public child welfare agency that discriminates against LGBT people.” She visited Orlando to show solidarity with the LGBT community following the Pulse massacre. On LGBT issues, she stumbled twice: Once by saying that Nancy Reagan had helped lead public sup-

Rudy K. Lawidjaja

Hillary Clinton campaigned with her running mate, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, last week in Philadelphia.

The campaign rollercoaster

Trump’s most pro-LGBT moments in the two-year campaign came in reaction to the June 12 mass shooting this year at the Pulse LGBT nightclub in Orlando. He immediately expressed sympathy over the 49 lives lost and 53 people injured. During his nationally televised acceptance speech to the Republican National Convention in July, he reiterated his concern to the GOP – a party whose platform has been notoriously hostile to equal rights for LGBT people. “Only weeks ago, 49 wonderful Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic terrorist – this targeting the LGBTQ community. No good, and we’re gonna stop it,” said Trump. “As your president, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful, foreign ideology – believe me.” Then, departing from the text of his

port for the fight against AIDS and a second time by saying that President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act as a way to head off a constitutional amendment banning marriage for same-sex couples. Internal campaign emails made public by WikiLeaks this month show that LGBT Democratic activists moved quickly to urge Clinton to correct the record on both of those statements. She did correct her remark concerning Reagan and apologized. She said her DOMA statement reflected her recollection of “private discussions” she participated in. In one of the leaked emails, a staffer said Clinton would “never approve a true walkback” of the comment.

Positions on the issues

Supreme Court: Clinton said she would make marriage equality a priority issue in choosing a nominee to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump said he would ap-

point someone in the mold of Scalia, who is perhaps the most anti-gay justice in history. Equality Act: Clinton supports it, saying it will mean “full federal equality for LGBT Americans and stronger anti-discrimination protections for everyone.” Trump has declined opportunities to say where he stands on the measure. Marriage equality: Clinton evolved over a period of 10 years to support marriage equality. In 2004, she said it was “a sacred bond between a man and a woman.” In 2007, she supported repeal of part of DOMA but also wanted to leave the marriage equality issue to the states. Then, in a 2013 video after leaving her secretary of state post, Clinton said she had “learned” and “come to believe” that LGBT Americans “deserve the rights of citizenship – that includes marriage. ... I support it personally and as a matter of policy and law.” On CNN, Trump said, “I don’t say anything. I’m just for traditional marriage.” But he has also said he would appoint Supreme Court justices willing to reverse the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell that struck down state bans on marriage for same-sex couples. North Carolina’s HB 2: Clinton issued a statement the day after the North Carolina Legislature passed the law – banning local jurisdictions from prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people and prohibiting transgender people from using the public restroom that matches their gender identity. The statement said, “LGBT people should be protected from discrimination under the law – period.” When questioned about the law on NBC’s Today show, Trump said the state should “leave it the way it is,” noting that there had been “very few complaints the way it is.” “People go. They use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate. There has been so little trouble,” said Trump. But three months later, he said he had spoken with North Carolina’s governor and “a lot of people” and he had changed his mind. “I’m with the state on things like this.” Kim Davis controversy: A Kentucky county clerk named Kim Davis refused to allow her office to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples even after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state’s ban. Clinton said it was appropriate that Davis was jailed until she agreed to let her fellow clerks issue the licenses. Trump said Davis should either let her fellow clerks issue the licenses or have same-sex couples go to other counties to obtain their licenses. LGBTs in campaign: Clinton hired a gay man, Robby Mook, as her campaign manager. She also hired an LGBT outreach director, Dominic Lowell. Trump has not hired any openly LGBTs in his campaign leadership. Vice president: Clinton’s choice, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, is a longtime supporter of equal rights for LGBT people. Trump’s choice, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, is a longtime opponent of equal rights for LGBT people. Pro-active assist: As secretary of state, Clinton spoke publicly about the need to address hostilities toward LGBT people around the world, saying “gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights.” In 2011, Trump accepted the invitation of an LGBT Republican group, GOProud, to speak at the conservative CPAC conference. And he eliminated a beauty pageant rule requiring contestants be “naturally born female.” Voting record: Clinton earned a 94 score from HRC during her last congressional session as senator; she earned 89 and 88 in previous sessions. Trump has never held elective office and has no voting record.t

What is TRUVADA for PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis)? TRUVADA is a prescription medicine that can be used for PrEP to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection when used together with safer sex practices. This use is only for adults who are at high risk of getting HIV-1 through sex. This includes HIV-negative men who have sex with men and who are at high risk of getting infected with HIV-1 through sex, and male-female sex partners when one partner has HIV-1 infection and the other does not. Ask your healthcare provider if you have questions about how to prevent getting HIV-1. Always practice safer sex and use condoms to lower the chance of sexual contact with body fluids. Never reuse or share needles or other items that have body fluids on them.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION What is the most important information I should know about TRUVADA for PrEP? Before taking TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce your risk of getting HIV-1 infection: u You must be HIV-negative. You must get tested to make sure that you do not already have HIV-1 infection. Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 unless you are conﬁrmed to be HIV-negative. u Many HIV-1 tests can miss HIV-1 infection in a person who has recently become infected. If you have flu-like symptoms, you could have recently become infected with HIV-1. Tell your healthcare provider if you had a flu-like illness within the last month before starting TRUVADA for PrEP or at any time while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Symptoms of new HIV-1 infection include tiredness, fever, joint or muscle aches, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, night sweats, and/or enlarged lymph nodes in the neck or groin. While taking TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce your risk of getting HIV-1 infection: u You must continue using safer sex practices. Just taking TRUVADA for PrEP may not keep you from getting HIV-1. u You must stay HIV-negative to keep taking TRUVADA for PrEP. u To further help reduce your risk of getting HIV-1: • Know your HIV-1 status and the HIV-1 status of your partners. • Get tested for HIV-1 at least every 3 months or when your healthcare provider tells you. • Get tested for other sexually transmitted infections. Other infections make it easier for HIV-1 to infect you. • Get information and support to help reduce risky sexual behavior. • Have fewer sex partners. • Do not miss any doses of TRUVADA. Missing doses may increase your risk of getting HIV-1 infection. • If you think you were exposed to HIV-1, tell your healthcare provider right away. u If you do become HIV-1 positive, you need more medicine than TRUVADA alone to treat HIV-1. TRUVADA by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV-1. If you have HIV-1 and take only TRUVADA, your HIV-1 may become harder to treat over time. TRUVADA can cause serious side effects: u Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious medical emergency. Symptoms of lactic acidosis include weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, nausea, vomiting, stomach-area pain, cold or blue hands and feet, feeling dizzy or lightheaded, and/or fast or abnormal heartbeats. u Serious liver problems. Your liver may become large and tender, and you may develop fat in your liver. Symptoms of liver problems include your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, and/or stomach-area pain.

u You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or serious liver

problems if you are female, very overweight (obese), or have been taking TRUVADA for a long time. In some cases, these serious conditions have led to death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any symptoms of these conditions. u Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. If you also have HBV and take TRUVADA, your hepatitis may become worse if you stop taking TRUVADA. Do not stop taking TRUVADA without ﬁrst talking to your healthcare provider. If your healthcare provider tells you to stop taking TRUVADA, they will need to watch you closely for several months to monitor your health. TRUVADA is not approved for the treatment of HBV.

Who should not take TRUVADA for PrEP? Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP if you already have HIV-1 infection or if you do not know your HIV-1 status. If you are HIV-1 positive, you need to take other medicines with TRUVADA to treat HIV-1. TRUVADA by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV-1. If you have HIV-1 and take only TRUVADA, your HIV-1 may become harder to treat over time. Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP if you also take lamivudine (Epivir-HBV) or adefovir (HEPSERA).

What are the other possible side effects of TRUVADA for PrEP? Serious side effects of TRUVADA may also include: u Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider may do blood tests to check your kidneys before and during treatment with TRUVADA for PrEP. If you develop kidney problems, your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking TRUVADA for PrEP. u Bone problems, including bone pain or bones getting soft or thin, may lead to fractures. Your healthcare provider may do tests to check your bones. u Changes in body fat, which can happen in people taking TRUVADA or medicines like TRUVADA. Common side effects in people taking TRUVADA for PrEP are stomach-area (abdomen) pain, headache, and decreased weight. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that bother you or do not go away.

What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking TRUVADA for PrEP? u All your health problems. Be sure to tell your healthcare

provider if you have or have had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis virus infection. u If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if TRUVADA can harm your unborn baby. If you become pregnant while taking TRUVADA for PrEP, talk to your healthcare provider to decide if you should keep taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Pregnancy Registry: A pregnancy registry collects information about your health and the health of your baby. There is a pregnancy registry for women who take medicines to prevent HIV-1 during pregnancy. For more information about the registry and how it works, talk to your healthcare provider. u If you are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. The medicines in TRUVADA can pass to your baby in breast milk. If you become HIV-1 positive, HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk. u All the medicines you take, including prescription and overthe-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. TRUVADA may interact with other medicines. Keep a list of all your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine. u If you take certain other medicines with TRUVADA for PrEP, your healthcare provider may need to check you more often or change your dose. These medicines include ledipasvir with sofosbuvir (HARVONI). You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Please see Important Facts about TRUVADA for PrEP including important warnings on the following page.

Have you heard about

TRUVADA for PrEP ? TM

The once-daily prescription medicine that can help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 when used with safer sex practices. • TRUVADA for PrEP is only for adults who are at high risk of getting HIV through sex. • You must be HIV-negative before you start taking TRUVADA. Ask your doctor about your risk of getting HIV-1 infection and if TRUVADA for PrEP may be right for you.

visit start.truvada.com

Community News>>

October 27-November 2, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 17

PrEP, vaccines highlighted at HIV prevention meeting by Liz Highleyman

rEP, vaccines, and other ways to deliver drugs to prevent HIV infection were among the highlights of the HIV Research for Prevention conference, or HIVR4P, held last week in Chicago. Studies have shown that daily Truvada (tenofovir/emtricitabine) preexposure prophylaxis reduces the risk of HIV among gay and bi men by more than 90 percent if used consistently. Researchers are both looking at how to expand PrEP access to those who need it most and seeking to develop new prevention tools. Sharon Hillier, Ph.D., with the Microbicide Trials Network, reviewed several new biomedical prevention methods in the pipeline. These include vaginal rings that dispense antiretroviral drugs (sometimes along with contraceptives), vaginal or rectal films, and a rectal douche containing tenofovir. The douche demonstrated good coverage and protective activity in laboratory and animal studies, but much more research is needed before it’s ready for human use. “We have to remember that making products that work is only half the battle,” Hillier said at the conference. “We also have to develop

Intactivists

From page 11

ural part of the penis. Removing it removes a layer of protection which the penis needs and also reduces the pleasure of sexual sensation. Georganne Chapin, executive director of Intact America, told the Bay Area Reporter that circumci-

Vegas

From page 10

lesbian Pride eve party. Quadz video bar is across the street from Piranha on East Naples. It is located where the old Buffalo bar was. It is right next door to the gay bookstore, Get Booked. The friendly and divey Free Zone bar is across the street from Get Booked and Quadz. The city’s newest gay bar is the

Folsom Street

From page 5

and increasing levels of executive and fundraising management, in addition to his deep connections to the community and corporate world make him uniquely qualified for this crucial position,” Andrews said. “We all know that he will serve in this fundraising roll with distinction.” Moshoyannis said he’s been living openly with HIV since 1994, when he was 23 and “there were very few services directed toward young people.” He started the Youth Positive

Out candidates

From page 1

his biography mentioned he had served on the board of the Human Rights Campaign, it has since been changed and deletes that reference to the national LGBT rights group. The only clue to his being an out candidate comes from his listing “Victory Fund” among his endorsements, a reference to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which works to elect LGBT candidates across the country. When asked if he was deliberately downplaying his being gay in the race, Stevens told the B.A.R. that most residents of Martinez know about his sexual orientation as he has been interviewed a number of times by the local newspaper for stories about LGBT issues. He and his partner did pose for a photographer they had hired to take photos

HIV infections, public health officials there are doing less to support and promote PrEP. Dr. Dawn Smith from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that just 38 percent of health departments nationwide were supporting PrEP – and often this only involves referring high-risk individuals to PrEP providers, with fewer actively working with providers to improve PrEP delivery or providing and funding it themselves. Outside the United States only a handful of countries have approved Truvada for PrEP, including Australia, Canada, France, and South Africa. Last week Norway became the first country to announce that it would provide PrEP for free under its national health system. Lack of PrEP approval in most countries has led a growing number of people to seek access to PrEP “in the wild” outside established health care channels, according to conference presentations and a new report, “PrEP Access in Europe.” People may obtain PrEP, for example, by buying Truvada or generic equivalents online, personally importing it from other countries, or getting it from HIV-positive

users at different sites, Scheer’s team relied on surveys asking how many clients of community-based organizations and clinics had PrEP use in SF used PrEP, and applying Susan Scheer, Ph.D., this percentage to the of the San Francisco total number of at-risk Courtesy HIVR4P 2016 Department of Public men who have sex with Health, presented find- Researcher Sharon men. The 12,500 figure ings on PrEP knowl- Hillier addresses the assumes that 25 percent edge, usage trends, and HIVR4P conference of an estimated 50,000 disparities in the city. HIV-negative gay and Current estimates suggest that apbi men in the city use PrEP. proximately 12,500 San Franciscans Self-reported data showed that are now on PrEP. only 19 percent of City Clinic clients “Measuring PrEP knowledge and knew about PrEP in 2011, the year use is difficult,” Scheer told the Bay after publication of trial results showArea Reporter. “People go on and off ing it is highly effective. By 2016 this PrEP, so determining current users had increased to around 90 percent at is hard. Sites often can only guess City Clinic and Strut, but just 71 perat the numbers on PrEP, and some cent at community HIV testing sites. sites can’t pull the information from Turning to self-reported use, 29 their medical records.” percent of City Clinic clients and 44 A recent informal survey of major percent of Strut clients said they had PrEP providers by the B.A.R. estiused PrEP in 2016, but this fell to only mated that more than 6,000 people in 11 percent at community testing sites. the city are on PrEP, including 1,000 Scheer’s report confirmed that at the San Francisco AIDS Foundagay men of color and women are tion’s Magnet program at Strut; 1,800 less likely than white gay men to at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco; know about and use PrEP. People over 500 at City Clinic; and about 220 under age 18 and over 50 are also at DPH primary care clinics. less likely to do so. Rather than adding up PrEP Although African-Americans ac-

counted for 17 percent of new HIV infections in San Francisco in 2015, the proportion of black PrEP users ranged from less than 5 percent to just over 10 percent at the various sites. Strut and Kaiser were more likely to see white PrEP users, while DPH primary care clinics came closest to having their PrEP users match the racial distribution of new infections in the city – and were the only sites to serve a substantial number of non-transgender women. As part of San Francisco’s Getting to Zero initiative, DPH aims to increase the number of people on PrEP to 15,000 by 2017, with around 2,500 new PrEP starts next year. “It is important to monitor PrEP use so that gaps in knowledge and use can be identified and resources can be used to target those not currently being reached,” Scheer told the B.A.R. “We want to be a city where everyone who would benefit from PrEP knows about it and has equal and easy access to it.”

sions were medically unnecessary. “Children need to be protected from medically useless and potentially harmful surgery that will permanently alter their bodies,” she said. “Nobody has the right to consent to a medically unnecessary procedure on behalf of another person who cannot, because of age, legally consent.” Chapin added that many doc-

tors and hospitals profit from performing medically unnecessary procedures. She acknowledged that some religions, such as Judaism and Islam, require circumcisions to be performed. “There is no place in legitimate medicine for physicians and other health care practitioners to be performing cultural rituals,” she said.

“Doubly so on babies and children who have no stated religious or spiritual beliefs.” Chapin pointed out that the AAP does not recommend circumcisions. AAP Executive Director Dr. Karen Remley did not respond to the B.A.R.’s email requesting a comment. Schofield said members of the pe-

diatricians’ group should speak out. “I urge those ethical members of the AAP to speak up strongly against those within the organization who use terms like ‘do no harm’ and ‘informed consent,’” Schofield said. “They hypocritically speak out against early childhood trauma while they themselves routinely inflict it.”t

Locker Room, just a block from the Free Zone, also along East Naples Drive. It offers pizza, cheap drinks, and live entertainment. The Garage is about 1.5 miles from the Fruit Loop on East Flamingo Road. It has been open about five years and is the place to watch sports and play pool, darts, and shuffleboard. By the way, the Garage owners bought out Vegas’ oldest gay bar, Snick’s Place, last year. They

renamed it Bastille on 3rd, (it’s at 1402 S 3rd Street) and it is Vegas’ only downtown bar. It still has the friendly Cheers-like feel of the old Snick’s and plans are in the works to expand the bar to the property next door. The corner where Bastille is situated represents the gay community with a beautiful LGBT-themed mural. Other popular gay nightlife options include the Phoenix, known

for the distinctive fiery red eagle painted on its exterior. It hosts a lesbian night on the last Saturday of every month. The country western themed Charlie’s Las Vegas has a famous underwear night on Wednesdays, when the bar serves free drinks to customers who take off their pants. Across town, on East Tropicana Avenue, the Las Vegas Eagle has an underwear and Karaoke night on

Tuesday and Friday nights. The weekend nightclub, Share, draws a big crowd. It’s on Wynn Road near the Orleans Hotel and Casino.

program in Washington, D.C., and went on to serve as executive director of Being Alive in Los Angeles and San Francisco’s Bay Area Young Positives, among other posts. Moshoyannis’ last day in the Folsom Street office is Thursday, October 27. His first day at PRC will be December 1. Moshoyannis, who uses his husband’s last name, Sparks, on social media, declined to state his current salary, since his replacement won’t initially be paid as much as what Moshoyannis is making now, and “I don’t want to do anything to sabotage” the board’s hiring pro-

cess. Folsom Street’s tax documents for 2014, the most recent available, list his total compensation at about $108,000. His salary at PRC is being negotiated. Moshoyannis said a highlight from Folsom Street has been the artwork that the nonprofit uses to advertise the fair. One prime example is 2007’s Leather Last Supper poster, which shows members of the fetish community rather than Jesus and his disciples. The image infuriated many anti-gay groups. “I think for me the most exciting

opportunities I’ve had have been to galvanize our community through our poster images,” Moshoyannis said. “... I think ever since that Last Supper image, people really started paying attention. It’s an opportunity for us to feel united under one banner.” Asked about the biggest challenge for Folsom Street’s next executive director, he said, “This city is constantly changing and evolving, and simultaneously, the city government is putting new regulations on outdoor events. There are going to be a number of challenges just figuring out how to execute what we’ve al-

ways done” and ensure compliance with the regulations. He used the example of the temperature of the water at the beverage booth hand washing stations, which is supposed to be “heated to 100 degrees.” “I don’t know how to do that in the middle of the street,” Moshoyannis said. Moshoyannis lives in Castro Valley with his husband, Joshua Sparks, and their son, Christopher, 2.t

for his campaign material. “We just picked out the best pictures. It happened not to be of the two of us together,” he said. “There was no strategy talk about if we shouldn’t include him or should include him.” Stevens did query a current councilperson when he was deciding if he should enter the race on if his being gay would be an issue. The answer he received was an emphatic “No.” “When Prop 8 was overturned in 2013, the local paper called me and interviewed me about it. The story and a photo of me ran on the front page,” recalled Stevens, referring to the California ballot measure that had banned same-sex marriage. “People figured out a long time ago that I am gay. They are not whispering about it; everybody pretty much knows it.” Voters in San Francisco who peruse the website of Shanell Williams, a candidate for the commu-

nity college board, will learn she became a ward of the court at 15 and is the first person in her family to attend college. She goes into some detail about her advocacy work with various nonprofits and involvement in the fight to save City College of San Francisco while serving as the student trustee on the board. What they will not learn is that Williams is bisexual. “For me, there are a lot of things that make up my identity. I am not in the closet,” said Williams. As a first time candidate, she said how to discuss her identity with voters “is a new realm for me.” While she has won the support of many LGBT organizations and leaders, and has been active in the local LGBTQ community for years, Williams said she does encounter biphobia at times. “It is hard when you are a bisexual person. Often you have to choose

one or the other,” she said. Oakland resident Nick Resnick, running for a seat on the Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees, has struggled with how best to be open with voters about being a transgender man. He boasts about being a “proud Oakland homeowner,” married father, and teacher on his campaign site, but nowhere does he talk about his gender identity. He acknowledged in an interview with the B.A.R. that the issue of disclosure has been “tough” as he is “not super out about being transgender” in his personal life, let alone on the campaign trail. “But not for any particular reason,” Resnick added. “At this time in my life it is not something at the forefront really of my mind or a consideration when I am meeting and reaching out to people.” When asked about it, Resnick

doesn’t hide his being transgender. But he readily admitted he is conflicted about how to discuss that aspect of his life in his campaign. “I don’t want to use my trans identity to come off as I am pulling a card,” he said. “Because I am seen to everybody I work with and volunteer with and mentor in every aspect in my life as a white man who holds significant privilege, I really battle with how to disclose that information.” Should he win his race, thus becoming only the second known transgender person to win an elected office in the Bay Area, Resnick will again be confronted with how visible and outspoken as a transgender elected official he is comfortable being. “I am still figuring out what that would look like,” he said. “I would want to be a voice for LGBT people.”t

products that are stigmatizing, that fun to use, and don’t undermine sexual experience.”

less are that the

PrEP ‘in the wild’

In contrast to San Francisco and cities such as Boston, Chicago, New York, and Seattle, other parts of the country are not doing as much to expand access to PrEP. Although the South has the highest rate of new

See page 18 >>

For more information

For a good overall blog on Las Vegas, visit http://www.gayvegastravel.com. For the city’s official tourism site, visithttp://www.lasvegas.com and click on the LGBT section under the trip-planning tab on the right.t

For more on Moshoyannis, see Race Bannon’s Leather column in the BARtab section, page 36.

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

18 • BAY AREA REPORTER • October 27-November 2, 2016

PrEP

From page 17

friends. But this often means forgoing the regular HIV testing and kidney function monitoring needed to use PrEP safely. “The official authorities are playing catch-up and failing in their duty to protect public health,” the report authors wrote.

Med student moralism

Finally, Sarah Calabrese, Ph.D., of Yale University, reported findings from a survey of more than 100 students at two medical schools, showing that ideology and moral judgment may interfere with their

ability to provide PrEP. Surveyed students said they would be less willing to prescribe PrEP to gay men who were nonmonogamous and did not use or planned to stop using condoms – precisely the group most in need of an effective prevention method. They also found it more acceptable to stop using condoms to allow for conception, rather than to improve sexual function or to enhance pleasure or intimacy. “Providers are gatekeepers,” Calabrese said at an HIVR4P press briefing. “Personal values may undermine optimal access to PrEP. Cultural competence training needs to be part of PrEP training.”t

Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037311500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GEHRUA, 643 MASON ST #8, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JEANETTE MARIE YOUNGER. 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 10/18/16.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037313300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE GAME PARLOUR, 1534 19TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BENSON CHIU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/15/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/18/16.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037318300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GLOBALPERFORMANCE.BIZ, 1245 CALIFORNIA ST #602, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RAMIN RANJBAR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/24/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/24/16.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037312800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EYE PLUS LASH, 555 SUTTER ST #200, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MIEASHA BROWN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/18/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/18/16.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037315700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE CARVILLE, 3100 NORIEGA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TABITHA TOTAH. 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 10/20/16.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037299400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DISTRICT 3, 704 FILBERT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JORELL CORPUS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/07/16.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037316300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GHOST CAT STUDIOS, 2261 MARKET ST #450A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JAY MARSTON RUBIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/15/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/21/16.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037315600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAY AREA BOOK REPAIR, 912 KIRKHAM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SARAH SONGER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/27/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/20/16.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037284100

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552472 In the matter of the application of: DANIEL ADRIAN VALCHAR COFFEY, 1346 ALABAMA ST #C, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner DANIEL ADRIAN VALCHAR COFFEY, is requesting that the name DANIEL ADRIAN VALCHAR COFFEY, be changed to DANIEL GEORGE VALCHAR COFFEY. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Rm. 514 on the 29th of December 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037308100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAN FRANCISCO GUITAR QUARTET, 3820 IRVING ST #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed PATRICK O’CONNELL, RAMON FERMIN, DAVID GONZALES & MATTHEW FISH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/14/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/14/16.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037314400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INTERNET SIMPLICITY; ISIMPLE, 1035 FOLSOM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed STEPHENSON VENTURES, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/16/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/19/16.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037312900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NEW REVOLUTION MEDIA, 1250 MISSOURI ST, #112, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed NEW REVOLUTION MEDIA LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/16/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/18/16.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037316600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KEGERATOR WORLD; THE COMMERCIAL REFRIGERATOR, 1 POLK ST #1903, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed BE YOUR ACT LLC (NV). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/16/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/21/16.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037315200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BARRY’S BOOTCAMP, 333 BUSH ST #101, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed BBC 333 BUSH STREET LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/15/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/20/16.

Legal Notices>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552432

In the matter of the application of: MONICA POTTER, 185 CHANNEL ST #525, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94158, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MONICA MAZZEI POTTER, is requesting that the name MONICA MAZZEI POTTER, be changed to MONICA MAZZEI. 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 29th of November 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

OCTOBER 06, 13, 20, 27, 2016 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552376

In the matter of the application of: BRANDON WHALE, 8 BUCHANAN #309, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner BRANDON WHALE, is requesting that the name BRANDON WHALE, be changed to FAUST WHALE. 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 November 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

OCT 06, 13, 20, 27, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037287900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: POST DRY CLEANERS, 1610 POST ST #102, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TSOLMONBAATAR SERGELEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/30/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/30/16.

OCT 06, 13, 20, 27, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037290000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ANTONIO ANGUIANO PAINTING, 2745 BRYANT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOSE ANTONIO ANGUIANO HERNANDEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/03/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/03/16.

OCT 06, 13, 20, 27, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037289800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: VAL S. FRENKEL CONSULTANTS, 300 THIRD ST #1005, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed VYACHESLAV FRENKEL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/03/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/03/16.

OCT 06, 13, 20 27, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037281300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TINY-MOOSE-DISTRIBUTION; TINY-MOOSEDIST.; 875 LA PLAYA ST #275, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EFRAT LIBKIND. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/22/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/27/16.

OCT 06, 13, 20, 27, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037286900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FRISCO NOVELTIES, 435 LONDON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed VENEZIA VALENTINO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/29/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/29/16.

OCT 06, 13, 20, 27, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037286500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MI LINDO PERU, 3226 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CARLOS FRANCISCO MIYAHIRA. 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 09/29/16.

OCT 06, 13, 20, 27, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037282500

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PYRAMID RECORDS, 3174 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ROBERT MCCOLE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/26/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/27/16.

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-034410100

OCT 06, 13, 20, 27, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037266100

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037280400

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037301100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GREEN-TECH DEVELOPERS, 22 BITTING AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GOLDEN GATE SOLAR (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/26/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/26/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: VOW IN PARIS, 41 VIENNA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PUI HANG YEUNG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/11/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/11/16.

OCT 06, 13, 20, 27, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037282300

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037271600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: COWDEN AUTOMOTIVE, 875 FOLSOM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ALL PRO MECHANIX INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/21/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/27/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RRM CLEANSIT CO., 2443 FILLMORE ST #438, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RICARDO RICKY MYERS. 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 09/20/16.

OCT 06, 13, 20, 27, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037282700

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037295100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ZITA, 2862 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ALIMENTO, 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 09/27/16.

OCT 06, 13, 20, 27, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037289500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CAFELAMBRETTA, 101 TOWNSEND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CAFÉ LAMBRETTA LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/03/16.

OCT 06, 13, 20, 27, 2016 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036400500

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: POST DRY CLEANERS, 1610 POST ST #102, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by ENKHJARGAL BALIDAR. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/30/16.

OCT 06, 13, 20, 27, 2016 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552438

In the matter of the application of: NICHOLAS DMITRI REPIN, 582 MARKET ST #2001, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner NICHOLAS DMITRI REPIN, is requesting that the name NICHOLAS DMITRI REPIN, be changed to NIKOLAI DMITRIEVICH REPIN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514 on the 29th of November 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552440

In the matter of the application of: HSING-YUAN TING, 2355 POLK ST #306, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner HSING-YUAN TING, is requesting that the name HSING-YUAN TING, be changed to WAYNE HSING-YUAN TING. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514 on the 1st of December 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037300200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KARLA CLEANING CARE, 24 BYRON CT, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual and is signed KARLA AMADOR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/11/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/11/16.

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037300300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ANTONIO’S JANITORIAL SERVICES, 22 RELAIGHT AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BOANERGES GARCIA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/11/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/11/16.

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037300400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DIRT ALLEY DESIGNS, 1924 KIRKHAM ST #4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MICHELLE CHANDRA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/05/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/05/16.

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037293800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: METRO CAFFE, 247 FILLMORE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed OMAR NAZZAL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/06. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/05/16.

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 2, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037276400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DABBLE, 140 ARAGON ST, VALLEJO, CA 94591. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ASMARA VEGA-CURTIS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/22/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/22/16.

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037297300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WHAT’S UP DOG, 300 DE HARO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALEX TAO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/07/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/07/16.

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037291300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HANG AROUND HOUND, 182 TIOGA AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed THERESA HEDGEPETH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/04/16.

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037292000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GIRLS UP FRONT, 1306 MCALLISTER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed CAITLIN FREEMAN & BETH MILES. 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 10/04/16.

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037298700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NOVEL3; ADVANCED CONSULTING & ANALYTICS. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ADVANCED CONSULTING & ANALYTICS (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/25/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/07/16.

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037297600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAN FRANCISCO TRANSGENDER INSTITUTE, 45 CASTRO ST #121, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed THE BUNCKE MEDICAL CLINIC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/06/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/07/16.

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037285900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GOODS HOLDING COMPANY, 5826 CALIFORNIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed EVA HOLMAN & CAROLYNN BOX. 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 09/28/16.

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: SAN FRANCISCO GUITAR QUARTET, 3820 IRVING ST #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business was conducted by a general partnership and signed by PATRICK O’CONNELL & JONATHAN E. MENDLE. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/15/12.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RYAN COCHRANE WINES, 2455 3RD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed RYAN COCHRANE & CATHERINE COCHRANE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/16/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ELVIS MAINTENANCE SERVICES, 1935 DONNER AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ELVIS GUTIERREZ .The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/11/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/11/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BALBOA PLUMBING SUPPLY CORP., 2633 CLEMENT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BALBOA PLUMBING SUPPLY CORP. (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 09/29/16.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016

OCT 06, 13, 20, 27, 2016

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016

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Read more online at www.ebar.com

Legal Notices>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552435

In the matter of the application of: ERIN ELIZABETH FLANNERY, 2865 JACKSON #4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ERIN ELIZABETH FLANNERY, is requesting that the name ERIN ELIZABETH FLANNERY, be changed to ERIN FLANNERY LI. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514 on the 29th of November 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037294300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LUXURIOUS NAIL BOUTIQUE, 4138 3RD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed THE WASHINGTON, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/05/16.

OCT 13, 20, 27, NOV 03, 2016 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF DAISY M. TURNER IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-16-300253

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of DAISY M. TURNER. A Petition for Probate has been filed by KASHINA D. PIERCE in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that KASHINA D. PIERCE be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: November 09, 2016, 9:00 AM, Rm. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: MR. OSBY DAVIS, ESQ. (SBN: 59272) LAW OFFICE OF OSBY DAVIS, 410 TUOLUMNE ST, VALLEJO, CA 94590; Ph. (707) 644-7424.

OCT 20, 27, NOV 03, 10, 2016 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552446

In the matter of the application of: MEGAN MCKAY STOESZ AKA MEGAN ELIZABETH MCKAY, 1998 25TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MEGAN MCKAY STOESZ AKA MEGAN ELIZABETH MCKAY, is requesting that the name MEGAN MCKAY STOESZ AKA MEGAN ELIZABETH MCKAY, be changed to MAGNOLIA ELIZABETH MCKAY. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514 Rm. 514 on the 1st of December 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

OCT 20, 27, NOV 03, 10, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037310100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE PARK GYM, 1960 HARRISON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DAVID PARK. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/17/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/17/16.

OCT 20, 27, NOV 03, 10, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037301300

October 27-November 2, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 19

Classifieds The

NOTICE OF PETITION FOR PROBATE FOR THE ESTATE OF PETER MON YU HUNG IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-16-300244

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of PETER MON YU HUNG. A Petition for Letters of Administration has been filed by MICHAEL PUI HUNG, in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that MICHAEL PUI HUNG be appointed as administrator and full authority be granted to administer under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. – the estate of the decedent. Decedent died on Feb 23, 2016 at CPMC – DAVIES CAMPUS, SAN FRANCISCO. Decedent was a resident of the county named above. Street address, city, and county of decedent’s residence at time of death: 1825 ANZA STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94118 ESTATE OF PETER MON YU HUNG, decedent. Character and estimated value of the property of the estate: Personal Property $75,000; Net value of real property: $221,536; Total: $296,536. All heirs at law are adults and have waived bond. Decedent died intestate. Proposed personal representative is a nominee of a person entitled to Letters. Petitioner is a person entitled to Letters. Petitioner is a nominee of a person entitled to Letters. Petitioner is related to the decedent as: BROTHER. Proposed personal representative is a resident of California and a resident of the United States. Decedent was survived by no spouse as follows: a) divorced or never married. No registered domestic partner. No child. No issue of a predeceased child. Decedent was survived by a parent or parents who are listed in item 8. Decedent had no predeceased spouse. KWAI JONE HUNG, FATHER, AGE 81, 1825 ANZA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118; JULIE KUK HUNG, MOTHER, AGE 63, 1825 ANZA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118; MICHAEL PUI HUNG, BROTHER, AGE 40, 1591 HOWARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: November 01, 2016, 9:00 am, Dept. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. Attorney for petitioner: MR. JAY GREENE, ESQ (297803), JAY GREENE LAW FIRM C/O TSAO WU YEE, 447 SUTTER ST #410, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108; Ph. (415) 905-0215.

OCTOBER 13, 20, 27, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037305100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MAREA MEDIA INSTITUTE; EDUCATIONAL MEDIA ARTS, INC, 2261 MARKET ST #317, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed EDUCATIONAL MEDIA ARTS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/13/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/13/16.

OCT 20, 27, NOV 03, 10, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037304900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MAREA MEDIA, 2020 15TH ST #9, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed RUTH GUMNIT & MARGUERITE SALMON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/07. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/13/16.

OCT 20, 27, NOV 03, 10, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037306500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: QUINN ADVISORY GROUP, 8 10TH ST #1017, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CJQ LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/13/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/13/16.

OCT 20, 27, NOV 03, 10, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037273900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAR SAN PANCHO, 3198 16TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CHINO-AMERICANO LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/15/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/21/16.

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Legal Notices>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552477

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552439

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OCT 20, 27, NOV 03, 10, 2016 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552356

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAYVIEW RENOVATION, 1206 SHAFTER AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BAYVIEW RENOVATION & DEVELOPMENT, 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 10/11/16.

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The following person(s) is/are doing business as: K-OZ CAMPER, 250 BEACH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed KEI AND OZ LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/10/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/18/16.

In the matter of the application of: KENNETH BURT PERFIT, 1591 22ND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner KENNETH BURT PERFIT, is requesting that the name KENNETH BURT PERFIT, be changed to KENNETH BURT PERFITT. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Rm. 514 on the 6th of December 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

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In the matter of the application of: GLORIA JEAN MABALATAN, 2609 MARKET ST #2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner GLORIA JEAN MABALATAN, is requesting that the name GLORIA JEAN MABALATAN, be changed to JASMYN GLORIA MABALATAN-WEISSMAN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Rm. 514 on the 15th of December 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

OCT 20, 27, NOV 03, 10, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037312500

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In the matter of the application of: KARL PRELOVSKY JACOBSEN, 381 TURK ST #305, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner KARL PRELOVSKY JACOBSEN, is requesting that the name KARL PRELOVSKY JACOBSEN, be changed to KARL PARKER SANDORA. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Rm. 514 on the 8th of December 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

OCT 27, NOV 03, 10, 17, 2016

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O&A

Vol. 46 • No. 43 • October 27-November 2, 2016

www.ebar.com/arts

1,000

perfect specimens by John F. Karr

he 1000 Model Directory is an eyeballboggling book. Or books. It’s a two-volume boxed set from Taschen, weighing in at 10 pounds, with a staggering 1,000 pages of lustrously printed reproductions of Bob Mizer’s classic physique photographs. Over 2,000 of them. Even the set’s price is impressive, at $100. Yup, a hundred bucks, although you can find it cheaper if you poke around the internet. But that’s only 10 cents per page. Each and every masculinity-packed page a bargain. See page 31 >>

Photographer Bob Mizer pioneered the gay-angled physique photo. Courtesy Bob Mizer Foundation

Scenes from a legendary epic by Sura Wood

“Hanuman, Angada, and Jambavan climb Mount Mahendra” (approx. 1720). India; western Pahari region, Himachal Pradesh state. Opaque watercolors and gold on paper. Museum Rietberg Zurich.

ccording to some scholars, the Ramayana is the greatest story never told in the West. Familiar throughout South Asia to over a billion of the world’s peoples, the beloved, 2,000-year-old tale is the story of four characters: Rama, a selfless prince or reincarnated god whose father exiles him to the forest for 14 years, a fate he accepts with grace and without complaint; Sita, his lovely, long-suffering, dutiful wife who follows him into poverty and isolation but is kidnapped and held captive on an island kingdom by the vengeful, red-faced Ravana, a 10-headed, multi-limbed demon lord; and Hanuman, the steadfast, exceptionally erudite warrior monkey known for his lively conversation, who allies himself with Rama and mobilizes a legion of monkeys to rescue Sita. Hanuman is described as the life of the party, a lover and a fighter visualized as a superhero in a 1982 photolithograph. But with his bulging eyes and bared, jagged teeth, he’s definitely someone better to have as friend than foe. See page 32 >>

Rainer Wolfsberger

Y A D I L HO S E D I U G

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

2016

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<< Out There

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • October 27-November 2, 2016

Creating Memories for a Lifetime! THE CLIFF HOUSE TERRACE ROOM A UNIQUE SAN FRANCISCO EXPERIENCE Ceremonies • Receptions • Family Celebrations • Parties

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Czech, please! by Roberto Friedman

ut There’s weekend begins after our presstime on Tuesdays. We’ve been toiling away all through the weekend to bring these few Arts & Culture pages to you in some sort of edited shape. After presstime finally we’re free at last, free at last, from the exigencies of copy, from the drumbeat of publicity. But of course the Arts beat never ends. This past week was stuffed to the gills with arts & cultural opportunities for OT. Tuesday evening the international auctionhouse Sotheby’s invited us to Gallery Wendi Norris for a special reception and private viewing of highlights from their fall Impressionist & Modern Art and Contemporary Art auctions in New York. The glamorous haul included works by art superstars Gerhard Richter, David Hockney, László Moholy-Nagy, and Cy Twombly. It’s not that often you see work of this caliber, even on blue-chip gallery walls, on offer in SF. A rare colorful work by Robert Motherwell, a Robert Rauschenberg collage from 1961, a moody Edvard Munch and works by Miro, Tanguy, and Dali competed for our attention. Colors in a landscape by Maurice de Vlaminck (1906) leapt right off the wall. Dazzled by the art. Thanks to Sotheby’s for showing the goods. Then we hot-footed it over to the War Memorial Opera House in time for San Francisco Opera’s The Makropulos Case, in director Olivier Tambosi’s beautiful staging, a co-production with Finnish National Opera, reviewed last issue. Russian conductor Mikhail

Tatarnikov made his Company debut leading the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, sensational German soprano Nadja Michael vivid as Emilia Marty, American tenor Charles Workman in his SFO debut as Albert Gregor, and American baritone Stephen Powell as Baron Jaroslav Prus. Czech composer Leoš Janáček watched on from the heavens of High Art. We can hear him now, too bad we don’t know Czech. Kudos to SF Opera for holding fast to its 7:30 p.m. night curtain times. After three acts of grand opera, a full intermission and long, spirited ovations, we were still out of the opera house by 9:30 p.m. A giant onstage clock, part of the set, kept us ontime. That first-act scenery, a giant, curved bookcase spilling books onto the floor, looked just like OT’s own humble abode. Except their books, made of real bindings, had their innards replaced with a foam core. (Last perf., Sat., Oct. 29.) Next night, distinguished AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP) executive director Bill Hirsh invited Pepi and OT to ALRP’s annual gala held in the beautiful Julia Morgan Ballroom atop the California Merchant Exchange Building. Morgan was that rare 20th-century California woman architect who was given important commissions, such as the Hearst Castle, and the Ballroom is a real fantasy of woodwork and baroque touches high above the Financial District. ALRP offers important pro bono legal services for people living with HIV and other life-threatening conditions. A dedicated group of folks, they’re doing work worth your charitable contribution: alrp.org.

All natural by Jim Piechota

Treehab: Tales from My Natural Wild Life by Bob Smith; University of Wisconsin Press, $24.95 he 12 terrific essays decorating comedian and author Bob Smith’s new book Treehab are at once thought-provoking, provocative, humorous, and true to the author’s style, unflinchingly honest. Readers familiar with Smith know that he was the first openly gay comedian to appear on The Tonight Show, produced a successful HBO comedy special, and is a prideful father and a lifelong nature lover. What is not common knowledge about Smith is that he has suffered with debilitating, non-familial ALS/Lou Gehrig’s disease since 2007, which has not only robbed his physical livelihood but also cruelly vanquished his vocal abilities. Smith communicates solely through his iPad. ALS disability notwithstanding, the author appears in fine form here, with nods to his career, his enduring sense of humor, and everything flourishing in the outside world. Smith’s unflagging love and Thoreauvian appreciation for nature and all things Native American have been a part of his existence since he was five, when going camping with his family in the Adirondacks was as pleasing as the subscription his aunt purchased for him to the children’s version of National Geographic. Nature grounds the collection, as does Smith’s career in comedy and his life thus far. He shares insights on how to quell a homophobic heckler at his stand-up comedy shows, how hooking up and having

great sex can be the best way to fall in love with a particular place, and on his requirement for being a close friend: “a gay man who would rather go camping on a prairie than see a production of Oklahoma.” He shares stories of his four best friends known as the Nature Boys, and his opinion on California redwood trees. “Walking through a redwood forest, you wonder why anyone would want to cut them down. I owned a house in Los Angeles that was built in the 1920s and was horrified to learn that it was built out of redwood. It’s like building a baby stroller out of baby bones.” Later chapters find the outspoken comedian astonished by the great cell reception at Walden Pond reservation in Concord, Massachusetts, and offering a brilliant compilation of Ten Deal Breakers for religion. Smith is hilariously opinionated on just about

Courtesy SFO

Soprano Nadja Michael stars in Janacek’s The Makropulos Case for San Francisco Opera.

The event happened to take place during the final Clinton/Chump debate, so smartphone bulletins were shared across cocktails, but not during speeches. The whole thing could wait until later. Thanks to our buddy On Demand, we caught up with all the ins and outs, the political shenanigans, post-party. We also spilled a bunch of wine, oops sorry, Wilder. Friday night we attended the opening night of playwright Jeff Augustin’s The Last Tiger in Haiti at Berkeley Rep, reviewed in this issue. In Berkeley, the home team was playing in a nationally televised event of some sportsball significance, we were assured. Inside Berkeley Rep, in Peet’s Theatre, there was Haitian storytelling and singing, poetry and stagecraft. Also, in the Roda Theatre, It Can’t Happen Here continuing its main season run. All the vibrant theatre energy made a nice contrast with the sports stuff going on outside. Finally it was the weekend, and we could get to work!t

everything. Lesbians, for example, “can afford to be ruthlessly discriminating when picking a sperm donor,” he admits. “In fact if all women were as selective as lesbians, we’d have evolved into a race of gods by now.” Fickle gay men don’t get a pass either. “Every gay man has a history of meeting guys you like immediately whom you don’t like later.” A chapter on mixed sexual signals finds Smith opining that “evolution really should have evolved a pheromone that works like a fart: letting the room know you’re horny. Or even a phero-moan, a grunt that signals you’re in the mood.” But not everything the author writes is strictly for comedic effect. His chance encounter with outspoken British paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey while on a catering assignment in his youth spawned an epiphany about unapologetically living the way one wants to live. “Leading a curious life is the most practical thing a person can do.” His awareness that ALS is robbing him of his vital faculties is palpable throughout these pieces, but that sadness doesn’t make the book somber or fashion it into a plea for sympathy. Instead, what Smith finds most painful is the complex machination of the corporate health care system, which he has been frustratingly navigating for over a decade, and which he feels is “designed as a form of euthanasia, since you’d rather die than deal with its pernicious complexities.” Still, he continues doing what he does best by sharing insights, wit, and food for thought about everything under the sun. “My illness has made me understand that our sixth sense is our sense of humor.”t

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<< Theatre

24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • October 27-November 2, 2016

Haitian school of hard knocks by Richard Dodds

aiti is not known as a land of riches, but there is a high value placed on its traditions of storytelling. The Last Tiger in Haiti is an attempt to capture that richness on stage, with evocations of Haitian-style storytelling eventually superseded by a tale of misused memories that co-opt actual lives. It’s an intriguing dynamic set up by playwright Jeff Augustin, a Miami native of Haitian descent, but the results are often unfulfilling in ways that are curiously different in each act. The first act is set in a shack in Port-auPrince where five youngsters live in a kind of indentured servitude to a comparatively prosperous family, farmed out by their own parents because of desperation, neglect, or wishful thinking that a better life is available. They are restavecs, part of a Haitian practice this is now outlawed but still widely in use, and these boys and girls of different ages and backgrounds form an uneasy family in which communal storytelling is the one activity that can quiet the ongoing wrangling. It’s pretty much a slice-of-life rendering, with bits and pieces of each character’s stories revealed along the way. The most vivid of the characters are the youngest and oldest, as 11-year-old Rose clings to 18-year-old Max as a surrogate parent, a role he appears to embrace even as the approaching day of his emancipation remains his main focus. Max is also the master storyteller, calling out the requisite “Krik?” that requires “Krak” from the listeners before the story can begin. But not even the centerpiece story about a

Brittany Bellizeare and Andy Lucien play youthful indentured servants in Haiti who form a close bond in The Last Tiger in Haiti at Berkeley Rep.

metaphorical encounter with a tiger is particularly compelling, and the surrounding dialogue is only mildly flavorful. The adolescents are played by adults, and while Clinton Roane, Jasmine St. Clair, Reggie D. White, and, especially, Andy Lucien as the determined Max are fine, only Brittany Bellizeare as little Rose is convincing as a youngster. Unfortunately, Bellizeare is not so convincing as the grownup version of the character, not able to temper the glibness that the playwright takes beyond the bounds of a credible character. Rose now lives in a luxury high-rise condo on Miami Beach, a celebrated author thanks to her memoirs of her life in Haiti as a restavec, and who is having her first reunion with Max after a decade. She expects him to be happy since she made him the hero of her book, but Max delivers a twist that upends much of what we thought is true. Lucien is particularly powerful in these confrontations, although he maintains an accent that can be a challenge to decipher. Directed by Joshua Kahan Brody with a focus that can be fuzzy especially in the first act, the production is a shared world premiere with La Jolla Playhouse, where it opened in July. Since then, Haiti has had yet another calamity befall it, Hurricane Matthew, and it would be nice to report that The Last Tiger in Haiti offers a glimmer in the saga of this hard-luck country. But it’s just not the case.t The Last Tiger in Haiti will run through Nov. 27 at Berkeley Rep. Tickets are $29-$97. Call (510) 647-2949 or go to berkeleyrep.org.

Jim Carmody

Adjusted lens on Marga Gomez

Courtesy Marga Gomez

Marga Gomez returns with a new perspective to the subject of her showbiz parents in Latin Standards, having a short pre-New York run at Brava Theatre Center.

by Richard Dodds

ay it isn’t so, Marga. “I am pretty sure Latin Standards will be the final solo theatrical performance from me,” said local treasure Marga Gomez, who has been entertaining audiences for decades with her standup comedy and a series of autobiographical solo shows. Her latest solo outing will have a short shakedown run at Brava Theatre Center on Nov. 4-6 before its official debut in New York in January. “I’m approaching Latin Standards as if it is the last thing I ever

get to share,” Gomez said recently. “I can’t imagine there will be anything left to say about myself once it’s finally complete.” Besides, she added, it will be her 12th solo show. “Being the superstitious person I am, I wouldn’t even try to do a 13th solo show.” Gomez mines autobiographical details for all her shows, finding the absurd in her various adventures through gay romance, showbiz, and family life. She has explored the latter category in several shows, and it is the focus – with an adjusted lens – of Latin Standards.

A second-generation performer, Gomez grew up in Manhattan, where her volatile, self-obsessed parents were celebrities in the Latino community. Her father was a Cuban-born comic whose stage name was Willy Chevalier, and her mother was an exotic dancer from Puerto Rico known as Margarita. She dove most deeply into this world 10 years ago in Los Big Names, wryly and poignantly exploring it from the perspectives of both a confused child and an adult still dealing with the consequences. “I feel like I have lived 100 years since then,” she said of Los Big Names. “I am now the age my father was when he passed. I feel ready to write about him as a peer rather than as the baffled child. I’m that guy.” Again working with David Schweizer, who directed Los Big Names, Gomez will officially debut Latin Standards at an off-Broadway theater festival in January. The plan is then to bring it back to San Francisco in the spring for a regular run. “It’s a memoir presented as a farewell concert in a series of farewell concerts, like when Sinatra took 10 years to retire,” Gomez said. “But I promise not to sing – at least not more than two minutes.” Tickets are available at brava.org.

while Managing Director Joe Mader has left the company. Baker Street arrived on Broadway in 1965 in a ballyhoo cranked up by producer Alexander H. Cohen, a savvy promoter with a dubious commercial record. To hype the event mentality, he announced that men would not be admitted unless they wore jackets and ties, while women would have to wear dresses. The mixed reviews quickly undid this dress-up policy, but no matter what audiences wore, they did not arrive in sufficient numbers to make the show profitable. It has been rarely produced since then, which makes it a prime candidate for Moon’s mission of reviving often-neglected musicals. Librettist Jerome Coopersmith combined elements from several of the series of novels that Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about his

fictional detective, and Broadway newcomers Marian Grudeff and Raymond Jessell provided the score. Josh Logan, the intended director, was replaced by Hal Prince early on, who then called in Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock (Fiddler on the Roof) to add several songs for which they did not take credit. Cyndi Goldfield is directing and choreographing Moon’s production at the Eureka Theatre, with Moon regular Dave Dobrusky continuing in his role as music director. Michael Monagle heads the cast as Holmes, with Dan Seda as his loyal assistant Mr. Watson, Michael Barrett Austin as archenemy Professor Moriarty, and Abby Haug as love interest Irene Adler. Baker Street will run at the Eureka through Nov. 20. Tickets are available at 42ndstmoon.org.t

Moon enters new phase

42nd Street Moon not only starts a new season on Nov. 2, but it is also introducing a new leadership team. The Sherlock Holmes musical Baker Street, part of the final season chosen by Founding Artistic Director Greg MacKellan before retiring to Southern California, will be the first under the leadership of recently appointed Executive Directors Daren A.C. Carollo and Daniel Thomas. Carollo, who has worked with numerous Bay Area theaters, and Thomas, a Bay Area native whose major credits have been in Southern California, have assumed the leadership of all artistic and administrative operations. Co-founding Artistic Director Stephanie Rhoads will remain on the board of directors,

42nd Street Moon opens a new season with Baker Street, a 1965 Broadway musical that starred Fritz Weaver (center) as Sherlock Holmes, Martin Gabel as Professor Moriarty, and Inga Swenson as Irene Adler.

Film>>

October 27-November 2, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 25

French teenage male bonding

Strand Releasing

Kacey Mottet Klein and Corentin Fila in director Andre Techine’s Being 17: two boys awkwardly smitten with each other.

by David Lamble

n the tenderly framed new French drama Being 17 (opening Friday), two awkward teen boys find themselves coping with more than a full plate of cruel facts and choices. These include a long commute to school from a perpetually snowed-in enclave only a tourist could truly love; one boy’s mom is inexplicably pregnant, while the other talks to his soldier dad mostly by Skype; the two are constantly in trouble at school for fighting with each other; and to top it off, each boy is mostly awkwardly smitten with the other, each lacking the social graces to do anything beyond making matters progressively worse. Being 17 is that most marvelous of finds, an instant classic on the subject French filmmakers have traditionally excelled at: truly messy love affairs that upset social applecarts for more than just the couple at the heart of the affair. The film is the latest queer love story from a master, Andre Techine, who 20 years ago gave us Wild Reeds, placing its young male lovers in the poisonous aftermath of the French war in Algeria. Wild Reeds set the bar high for movies where teen characters grapple with adult dilemmas. Techine now ups the stakes for us with a beautifully nuanced tale where a black kid and a white one overcome ethnic differences and complicated personal histories to forge a bond neither could have imagined. The stories of Thomas (Corentin Fila) and Damien (Kacey Mottet Klein) feature a well-intentioned if perplexed referee, Damien’s mom (a perpetually baffled Sandrine Kiberlain), who apologizes for her meddling in the boys’ world in this third-act chat with Damien after the boys’ most violent school-hall fight results in Thomas’ expulsion from their high school. Mom: “I was wrong to invite him here. You didn’t fight back? Why did he hit so hard?” Damien: “I tried to kiss him. [Pause.] Nothing to say?” “No. I’m just listening. What is there to say?” Plenty, as it turns out, in scenes where the obstacles facing the boys are plotted out without seeming neat or possible only in a movie. Warning: there are moments where French

ways will ruffle feathers at that august watchdog of film behavior, the American Humane Society, such as the scene where Thomas pays for Damien’s doctor mom attending to his bed-ridden mom by snapping the neck of a live chicken. Elsewhere, Americans who have endured more than our share of faraway colonial wars will feel the poignancy of Damien and his mom able to converse with their soldier hubby/ dad only by Skype. The farm scenes where Thomas displays an easy familiarity with domestic livestock may resonate with farm folks here who still get their sustenance from homegrown animals and produce. But Damien’s hobby, which feeds directly into his early fisticuffs with Thomas, is martial-arts training provided by a wizened old teacher named Polo. Here Being 17 resembles such American farm-boy queer dramas as the Ryan Gosling/Big Sky Country vehicle The Slaughter Rule, where his cattle-ranchraised boy-man’s agricultural background hooks him up with an older male mentor/predator with a taste for teen boys. A very French note is sounded in the first act, where the boys’ less-than-cute meet occurs when Thomas deliberately trips Damien in class after the latter has made what Thomas feels is a pretentious recitation on Rimbaud. You could probably travel the whole of our country without finding boys who duke it out over poetry. But as with 1994’s Wild Reeds, Techine provides queer viewers with evidence of same-sex attraction with arresting shots of Damien eyeing Thomas’ naked butt as the boy plunges into an icy forest stream. The young actors should be singled out for special mention. Kacey Mottet Klein, as Damien, projects a special mischievous energy as the plucky lad who’s constantly swinging back and forth between the impulses to fight or fuck. French film buffs may recall him as the rogue-in-the-making in 2012’s Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life, in which his pint-size boy artist-to-be sings a bawdy song in a very adult setting. Being 17 marks Corentin Fila’s film debut – he had previously appeared on French TV as himself. Techine makes good use of his young leads’ expressive faces, their very soulful eyes. In the end, Techine’s film affirms the slogan boldly emblazed on Damien’s T-shirt: “My Dream Is Alive.”t

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We are the future of the LGBT community. “My girlfriend and I want to get married next year. We met in school, and we’re determined to be together. The problem is that I live here and she doesn’t. She can’t visit me for long periods of time because of harsh immigration laws. And our future together in this country depends on how our country rewrites those laws. So it’s important to us that we understand how this year’s elections could impact LGBT citizenship.

Strand Releasing

Kacey Mottet Klein and Corentin Fila in director Andre Techine’s Being 17.

We keep up with EDGE’s political coverage on our mobile devices. Because we know that’s where our future will be.” The people depicted here are models. Their image is being used for illustrative purposes only.

<< Film

26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • October 27-November 2, 2016

Call to action in tech-appropriated SF by David Lamble

His way of getting things done is that traditional – and I hope it’s not sexist to say this, but a masculine approach of very forcefully letting people know where you stand, then using all methods at your disposal, including confrontation, to get what you want.” To which Peskin responds, “I’d certainly rather come to the arena with honey rather than vinegar, but if you come with vinegar, I suggest you get the big bottle out.” Company Town wears its politics and everything else on its sleeve. It’s a concise call to action while there is still a part of San Francisco left that the late gay pioneer politician Harvey Milk would recognize. Recently I sat down with the directors to discuss what they learned while making the film.

ay Area documentary-makers Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman present a succinct and persuasive thesis in their new film Company Town as to why the raging “tech boom” has been such a mixed blessing for many of the area’s traditional communities. They argue that: 1. San Francisco is the new global capital of high tech, home of “sharing economy” companies like Airbnb, Uber and Lyft. 2. The tech boom has displaced ethnic communities and driven the middle class out of the once-freespirited city. 3. A grassroots backlash against the tech invasion could swing an upcoming election, sending a powerful message. Company Town (opening Friday at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco and the Rialto Cinemas Elmwood in Berkeley, with a special Nov. 6 screening at the Smith Rafael Film Center) should be considered must-viewing before Bay Area voters cast their ballots. Snitow, a former TV/radio news director-producer, and Kaufman, co-founder of San Francisco’s influential Jewish Film Festival, have for the past two decades turned out a series of cutting-edge docs: Blacks and Jews, Thirst, Secrets of Silicon Valley. Now, with Company Town, they have essentially covered an array of topics that might be seen as a new agenda for progressive forces in California. One of the doc’s framing stories is the recent election in which former SF Supervisor Aaron Peskin returned to the board in a hard-fought race. He defeated a supporter of Mayor Ed Lee, now-former Supervisor Julie Christensen, who early in the film declares that “technology and technology companies are not an issue in my campaign.” Peskin, on the other hand, asserts that “a handful of tech billionaires have decided to invest in the business of politics, and they are interested in controlling

Snitow-Kaufman Productions

Aaron Peskin running in San Francisco’s District Three Supervisor race, from directors Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman’s Company Town.

mayors and supervisors.” Much of Company Town consists of juicy chunks of the campaign for District Three, which cuts through the heart of the city’s once-iconic North Beach area, the launching pad for the 1950s Beat Movement, and still home to the fabled City Lights Bookstore. Throughout

shop-owners, producing in the process a skyline that resembles Manhattan or the new core downtown of Los Angeles. One of film’s many community hosts is Joe “Fitz” Rodriguez, an SF Examiner columnist and transit reporter, “so-named because my mom’s Irish and my dad’s Puerto Rican.”

“Everybody now needs a second or third job. We’ve had other booms, but this is on a different scale.” –Deborah Kaufman

the 77-minute film, community spokespeople note a virtual tsunami of evictions that have thinned out the ranks of the city’s oncesubstantial coalition of renters and

Rodriquez chuckles as he leads the camera through his “hood” in the Mission, which he admits is “a little gritty, a little rustic, it’s definitely not the cleanest of spots,

but many people make it their home, working-class people. Just two blocks away is Valencia, a completely different world, and only in the past five years since this influx of money and tech workers has come into San Francisco, Valencia is completely transformed.” As he walks by a “smoothie bar,” Rodriquez laughs as he notes, “$9 for a smoothie!” He zeros in on one of Valencia’s burgeoning blocks of high-end condos, where prices range from $1.7-2.4 million. As a rep proudly boasts, “It’s ground zero for tech workers!” While it’s not hard to discern where their hearts lie, Snitow and Kaufman employ the prism of the District Three campaign between Peskin and Christensen to give a taste of personal style, which at one point turns into “She said, he said.” Referring to charges that Peskin has a rough-and-tumble, masculine approach to his brand of politics, Christensen quips, “My opponent is a table-pounding, epithet-spewing politician in the grandest sense.

David Lamble: Why the title Company Town? Alan Snitow: It’s a term that goes way back to the Industrial Age, but we wanted to focus on the new implications for this city and the tech industry. It’s no longer about the extraction of coal. It’s now about the extraction of data. Deborah Kaufman: There was an election here last year that focused attention on this new definition. Snitow: Joe Rodriquez talks about how there are now 35,000 Uber drivers in San Francisco, compared to 2,000 taxi drivers. Kaufman: Everybody now needs a second or third job. We’ve had other booms, but this is on a different scale. Tech workers themselves are affected. It’s not an attack on tech workers, but a focus on a whole different economic model. What was your biggest challenge in making the film? Snitow: It was, How do you make a film about people staring at small screens? Ultimately what we discovered is that it’s a film not so much about tech workers, but about political power. It’s about tech being freed to seek political power, fueled by a libertarian ideology.t

We are not Japan by Erin Blackwell

apan is a very small country with a very big culture. Per square foot or per capita, Japan has contributed more to world religion, theatre, visual art, and sex than most. Roland Barthes thought the Japanese, like the Parisians, did not invent so much as perfect the inventions of others. The floating island does not always want to share its perfections with the imperfect outside world, which would probably only degrade them. And so it is that the film We Are X opens Friday at the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission Theater in San Francisco to inform us of the world’s greatest rock band no one’s ever heard of. To call director Stephen Kijak’s We Are X a documentary is to mislead the public. The film is a PR love letter or hagiographic homage, with little or no context or chronology to frame the phenomenon in a meaningful way. In terms of pure story, the Wikipedia entry for the band X Japan is far more compelling, not to mention informative. Yes, you get to hear them play and sing, but in a disjointed, harum scarum edit that leaves the viewer without a clear sense of what all the fuss is about. The film clocks in at a modest 72 minutes only if you include over six minutes of end credits. So maybe X isn’t Japan’s greatest rock band? Who knows? They did manage to play Madison Square Garden for a night in 2014, by which time a few of the original fabulous five were dead from suicide or suicide-like accidents. The film is punctuated by superimposed titles counting down to their dream concert, starting with “Four Days to Madison Square Garden,” but between these hopeful markers, any and all digressions are fair play. Mostly, though, the spotlight is on Yoshiki, the drummer and possibly craziest band member.

Yoshiki has the requisite childhood trauma for a doomed rock legend. At age 10, he was already playing numerous musical instruments, receiving a different one each birthday from his doting dad. He returned home from a summer away playing brass to find his father sprawled on the floor, if I heard him correctly. Onscreen, his speech patterns in English are husky and withholding. He clearly controls the message. Anyway, his father’s flesh was so white it seemed blue. He had suicided. And from that day forth, Yoshiki was an angry young musician. Yoshiki soon left his classical piano behind. His mom bought him a drum set on which to vent his adolescent abandonment issues. In 1982 he met the boy who would be his lead singer. After a weird interlude in which Toshi was dragged into a cult by a girlfriend and brainwashed into thinking X was satanic, the childhood buddy has been a key member. In 1989, the band broke into public consciousness with the album Blue Blood. Until 1997, their career thrived. Internal issues caused them to go silent. Ten years later, they were back and touring Japan and the imperfect world beyond. The United States, filled as it is with people who limit themselves to learning the official language English, is apparently fairly hostile territory for those who speak only Japanese. At least, that was X’s experience when they tried to crack the world’s biggest rock scene. Madison Square Garden was a step in that direction, and now this film. Fascinating for Japanophiles, We Are X is intriguing as an ethnographic study of how the Anglo-American rock tradition gets perfected into mournful, fanciful, Kabuki-esque overacting and Butoh-style orgies of self-extinction through drumming too hard, too fast, too long.t

Yoshiki, the drummer for the Japanese band X, in director Stephen Kijak’s We Are X. Alamo Drafthouse

Music>>

October 27-November 2, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 27

Idina Menzel doesn’t hold back by David-Elijah Nahmod

wondering what might have been? “I can feel you breathe,” she sings on “Everybody Knows,” the following track. “I found my piece, the missing part, I found my hands to heal this broken heart.” Is she remembering Diggs, or looking forward to a new love? Menzel, who has a cult following among gay men, has a voice that hearkens back to other singers who have been idolized by gays such as Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland. Like her predecessors, Menzel is blessed with a unique gift: the ability to weep with her voice. She shares her feelings when she sings. She knows how to make her audience feel what she feels. Since Menzel paid her dues on Broadway, you know the voice is real. There’s no faking it. There’s no need to electronically enhance her voice. There’s power in her pipes. The album ends on a lovely note. In the down-tempo acoustic number “Nothing in This World,” Menzel looks to the future. “Nothing in this world is gonna keep me from you,” she sings. “After all is said and done, baby you’re my setting sun.” Menzel is ready to move forward and find a new love. She invites you to join her on that journey.t

hanks to her performances in Rent and Wicked, Idina Menzel has become one of Broadway’s biggest names. The multifaceted entertainer, who sings, dances and acts, went on to achieve worldwide acclaim for her appearances in the film version of Rent (2005) and for her recurring role as Rachel’s mom on Glee. Menzel also provided the voice of Elsa in Disney’s Frozen. As her star continues to rise, Menzel has released a new, self-titled CD. With Idina, Menzel proves herself to be a “raging storm” of talent. “I’m not holding back anymore,” she sings. “I’m slaying like the Queen of Swords.” And slay it she does. Menzel knocks it out of the park in this collection of 12 emotionally heartfelt songs, some of which may be taken from her own life. In 2014 Menzel was divorced from her Rent co-star Taye Diggs after 10 years of marriage. “I lie awake, looking back,” she sings on “I See You,” the album’s fourth cut. “Here’s to the lonely, to the broken-hearted, I want you to know I feel your pain.” It’s a gutwrenching song, and the chanteuse belts it out from a place deep within her soul. Was she looking back upon her marriage,

Tea dance dudes by Gregg Shapiro

or the longest time, dance music was the domain of the gay community. Sure, there were straight artists, including disco divas, producers and musicians, who dared to work in the genre, especially in the years following the famous “disco demolition” led by schlock shock jock Steve Dahl. Today, dance music is bigger than ever, especially the kind made by straight men. Meanwhile, Dahl is merely an unfortunate footnote. Remember how exciting it was when British blue-eyed soul singersongwriter David Gray added electronic beats to his music on his groundbreaking 1999 album White Ladder? Tom Odell gets similar results on his marvelous new album Wrong Crowd (RCA). Opening the disc, the title tune has almost everything you could ask for: fantastic lyrics, a persuasive beat, Odell’s exceptional vocals, the right balance of guitar and keyboards, and whistling. The album’s mesmerizing first single “Magnetised” will also pull you towards the dance-floor, so don’t fight it. Ditto for “Silhouette” and “She Don’t Belong to Me.” Like Odell, Mike Posner is intent on proving that he can exist in both the electronic and acoustic music worlds. He does a good job of verifying that on his second album At Night, Alone (Island). The first 10 tracks feature the cocky Posner in more traditional musical settings. The six bonus remix tracks are where the album reaches its eventual peak. Not that the initial versions of “I Took a Pill in Ibiza,” “Not That Simple” and “In the Arms of a Stranger” (Posner sings “she smelled like Michigan”) don’t have their merits. The thing is that Posner is at his most effectual when backed up by awesome beats. iii (Atlantic), the third album by Swedish dance threesome Miike Snow, is a fitting follow-up to the band’s previous releases. Danceoriented tunes “For U” (featuring Charli XCX), “My Trigger” and

“Over and Over” give listeners reasons and room to move. The Air-y “I Feel the Weight” and the Stockholm soul of “Heart Is Full” offer good examples of the trio’s diversity. Kygo plays well with others, as is evident on the 14 tracks on Cloud Nine (Ultra/RCA). Collaborating with a fascinating cross-section of artists, including Tom Odell (the fantastic “Fiction”), John Legend (“Happy Birthday”), Foxes (“Oasis,” co-written by Sia), Kodaline (“Raging”), and hit songwriter Julia Michaels (“Carry Me,” co-written by gay songwriter Justin Tranter), Kygo transports listeners to the title place. Working under his own name, William Phillips scored a Grammy

“INTENSELY MOVING... DESIRE BEGINS!” Award for “Stay With Me,” the song he co-wrote with gay performer Sam Smith. Making music as Tourist on his debut disc U (Monday), Phillips exhibits an even more exhilarating side of his talents. U is one of those rare dance music albums that can be enjoyed as a source of movement and dance-floor expression, and as a set of innovative and agreeable tunes. From the garage-y “To Have You Back” and propulsive “Run” through the gently crashing “Waves” and the rapid time-step of “Too Late,” U marks the arrival of a welcome visitor. With its eponymous new album on Elektra, Fitz and The Tantrums’ third full-length album in six years, the band completes its evolution from retro soul slingers to a full-fledged dance band. The hipshaking first single “Handclap” is a good indication of what’s to follow on dance-oriented numbers “Run It,” the loping “Tricky” and the hot “Burn It Down.” It might have seemed like the brother quartet Kongos (sons of one-hit wonder John Kongos) appeared out of nowhere when its inescapable hit single “Come with Me Now” dominated the airwaves in 2014-15, including use in TV commercials. But the bros had been at it for a while, and the song itself was actually a few years old at the time it broke. On the heels of that unexpected success, Kongos returns with Egomaniac (Epic), which expands on its Soweto-style brand of dance music, complete with accordion. Opportunities for dancing abound, especially on “Autocorrect” and “Repeat After Me.” “A story that starts where it ended,” 401 Days (401days.com) took New York via Israel electro musician j. views (aka Jonathan Dagan) that length of time to create the interactive and collaborative project that became this artistically-packaged album. Dance-floor-destined selections include “We Move” and “Turned to the Sun (So Low).” Don’t just sit there, find a dude and dance!t

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<< Books

28 • BAY AREA REPORTER • October 27-November 2, 2016

Country comfort with author Jeff Mann by Gregg Shapiro

anyone there knows or cares about my publications, which irks my considerable ego. Hinton is beautifully situated among mountains along the New River, and its economy is slowly improving. I still have family and friends there, and enjoy visiting them. John and I have what I call Big Queer Convocations, with colorful guests like Miss Ilene Over, my favorite drag queen, and lesbian political theorist Cynthia Burack. Much booze is consumed, and I make big meals. So I might not have found a Big Fat Queer Life in DC, but I’ve created one here in Appalachia.

ay writer and educator Jeff Mann is nothing if not prolific. With the publication of his new novel Country (Lethe) and two forthcoming 2017 titles, Mann has written 17 books and contributed to more than 100 anthologies. Country is a fictional examination of what happens to the life and career of country music superstar Brice Brown when he is outed as gay. Brice comes up against outspoken and violent opponents, unexpected supporters, unscrupulous journalists, hateful religious fanatics, and ultimately, a young gay man named Lucas, whose own traumatic life experiences put Brice’s into perspective. I spoke with Mann about the novel this fall. Gregg Shapiro: Considering the way journalists are portrayed in Country, I’d like to begin by thanking you for agreeing to do this interview. Jeff Mann: Thank you for conducting this interview! I appreciate anyone who helps publicize my writing. I’ve only had positive experiences with journalists, but I’m pretty sure the pushy, nasty, sensationalist reporters that my protagonist encounters in Country are realistically portrayed. Luckily, none of the books I’ve published have led such aggressive folks my way. The closest I’ve gotten to such meanness has been hate mail from homophobes. Country is set in 1997. Is that intended to be a means of measurement for how much, or how little, things have changed for a queer musician in Nashville? I set Country that far back in time

West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Country author Jeff Mann: “redneck defiance.”

in order to increase the conflict and tension. These days, it appears that Nashville is a little more accepting of LGBT folks than it has been, so I chose a time when my protagonist would have an enormous, hostile backlash to deal with when he’s outed. Plus I wanted to write a little tie-in to my novel Cub, 1997-98 allowed me to do that. After Brice is outed in Nashville, he heads home to Hinton, West Virginia, which also happens to be where you are from. Is it important to include your home turf in your work? I’d depicted Hinton in Cub, though more of it appears in Country. Most people have a conflicted love/hate relationship with the place they call home, and I’m no exception. When in high school, I realized that I was gay, I hated and feared the place, just as conservative, fundamentalist, and homophobic as you might imagine. A coterie of lesbian

friends helped me keep my sanity til my escape to college. As a student at West Virginia University, I began to miss my family and appreciate Hinton, enjoying rare weekends home. When I moved to Washington, DC in 1985, in search of A Big Fat Queer Life in the city (something most rural queers dream of), not only did I not find that life of erotic popularity, but I realized how much I missed Appalachia and the South, how much I detested the crowds, rush, and noise of cities. I realized how much of me had been shaped by my native region. So I moved back to West Virginia, determined to learn how to balance my sexual and regional identities. It took me a while to do that, but I have. My husband John and I bought the house I grew up in, the same house where Brice takes refuge in Country. I’ve made my peace with Hinton, though I don’t think

How much of Jeff is in Brice? Brice is very much like me, at one stage or the other in my emotional evolution. I came to terms with my gay identity far earlier than he did and with much less conflict, but the rest of him, his hot temper, foul mouth, sex drive, redneck defiance, physical build, narcissism, depression, hard drinking, protectiveness, creativity, loyalty, and enthusiasm for good food, that’s all me. How important is it for you to maintain a level of erotic content in your work? It is very important. There’s nothing like publishing fiction with frank erotic elements to be reminded how much the elitist and erotophobic American literary mainstream dismisses such writing. Academia – the world in which I’m employed, I’m an associate professor at Virginia Tech, yet another world in which I don’t really belong – scorns such publications as “mere

genre writing,” as it does historical fiction and romance. I’m a creature of deep passions and strong appetites, even at age 57, and I’ve always been fascinated by the erotic, in particular the power dynamics of BDSM. Including honest, detailed sex scenes in my writing is a political act as far as I’m concerned, another expression of Appalachian orneriness, “redneck defiance.” If there were a movie version of Country, who would make a good Brice? Well, I had country singer Lee Brice in mind physically, but to name an actor, maybe Gerard Butler or Russell Crowe? Just because I think they’re both hot as hell. They’d have to work up an Appalachian accent, though! Who would make a good Lucas? Country singer Brantley Gilbert was the man I had in mind when I envisioned that character, but to play him on the screen, some fuzzy, lean guy, how about Colin Farrell or Jake Gyllenhaal? Again, just because I think they’re top-notch hot. A sex scene between any two of those four would be a dream come true. Butler topping Farrell, or Crowe topping Gyllenhall, oh yes! Thank you for questions that have provided me with such salacious couplings, if only in my mind. Who would Brice vote for in the upcoming election? Oh Lord, he’d vote for Hillary Clinton. Like me, he admires and respects strong women with liberal views, and like me, he recognizes a dangerous, queer-hating fascist when he sees one. No way Brice would ever vote for a fulvous baboon like Donald Trump.t

The tortured soul of Klaus Mann by Tim Pfaff

t’s an open question who would have wanted to be the child of German novelist Thomas Mann, but six offspring knew the mixed privilege. Looking back, in many ways the second of them, Klaus Heinrich Thomas Mann, seems most obviously a chip off the old block, the price for which is spelled out in frequently chilling detail in Cursed Legacy: The Tragic Life of Klaus Mann (Yale). Frederic Spotts’ absorbing new biography leaves little doubt that, although he was not the only other novelist in the family, Klaus was, of the six children, the true writer, a tortured soul of the tragic-Romantic archetype who, when not completely incapacitated by drugs or depression, wrote not only well but compulsively, with focus and speed. Gay from the get-go, the kind of homosexual who had no need of coming out given the obviousness of his nature, he openly bore the stigma that kept his vastly more famous father in the closet for the whole of his life. At least since Death in Venice, of 1911, there were indications enough that the elder Mann was himself homosexual, and reading Spotts’ unsparing biography, you don’t have to be a diviner to see that the taint of gayness lay at least near the heart of the endlessly conflicted relationship between father and son. “If he was lucky,” Spotts writes, “Klaus, like one of the family dogs, might occasionally get a pat on the head by his master but was regarded as an ill-disciplined nuisance. He could shake his fist in Hitler’s face but not in his father’s.” As is the case with not a few great artists, an unmistakable childishness colors much of Klaus’ behavior

throughout his short, tragic life, and despite his breathtaking industry in a range of creative disciplines, he never achieved that critical financial independence from his parents. The most absorbing chapter of Spotts’ book, where all the madnesses of Klaus’ life and times intersect, is the one about his improbable – preposterous, really – two-year, almost accidentally successful career as a soldier in the U.S. Army in the climactic years of World War II. It was that for which Klaus received Thomas’ unstinting admiration. For most readers, the most impressive thing about the son will be his clear-eyed, courageous opposition to the horror of Germany’s turn toward fascism, decades before his father’s, which for harrowing periods of his life left him stateless and completely vulnerable while his father’s family was safely ensconced in Santa Monica. There was a similar courage in his work for gay equality, and a similar childishness in his sexual and romantic relations, about which Spotts is forthcoming, candid and notably unsensational. Klaus’ most fervent loves seldom lasted more than 18 months, though the single most disastrous of them dogged him his entire adult life. The latenight anonymous sex, the tricks and the inevitable bouts of syphilis are reported candidly but with notable compassion. Like many of his gay literary contemporaries and peers, his fondest relationships were with men of the lower classes; it was his seemingly more equal relationships with those peers that were fraught. He was a visitor to the famous Brooklyn house where Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears, W.H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood and, in Isherwood’s

words, “their kind” were boarders, but he kept his distance. Attempted friendships with Auden and Isherwood ended, at best, in a draw, and despite having written an admiring and admired tract on his near idol, Andre Gide, the Frenchman held Klaus at a distance when not outright condemning him.

What is never in question is his commitment to culture and his tireless participation in it. “His point was that culture was not a pretty ornament decorating life but an essential part of a nation’s substance,” Spotts writes. The author of, among other works, Bayreuth, an indispensible history of the Wagner festival,

Spotts is an ideal elucidator of the web of Klaus’ vast cultural network, and the array of his friends, associates and subjects is astonishing. Klaus interviewed Germans who lasted out the war in their homeland, including Richard Strauss and Winifred Wagner, both of whom had prospered in the Third Reich and were, at most, innocent of regret. One of Klaus’ most hard-won realizations was that most Germans under the Nazis were anything but political about it, and that the Americans he fought alongside were not fighting fascism so much as doing their unusually odd jobs. Klaus took himself out of Germany, but there was no taking the Germany out of the boy. Present-day Germany’s ongoing struggle to redeem its fascist past has brought new attention to the Mann clan, and this new biography adds to the earlier record while ironically making Klaus Mann’s own seminal point: that the problem of the modern world is, at root, nationalism. Spotts is clear-eyed about Klaus’ writing and treats all of it with respect and appreciation for its fluency, craft and even soul. Still, on his claims it’s difficult to imagine Klaus’ literary stock gaining much on the current regard for his most enduring work, the novel Mephisto. Copious amounts of the heaviest drugs available did not serve his art. Controversially, Spotts posits that Klaus’ death, in Cannes, of an overdose, was not, intentionally, suicide. Like his emotionally ungrounded British-American-Canadian counterpart Malcolm Lowry (my analogy, not Spotts’), Klaus may not have meant to kill himself the night one inadvertent dose too many led to death by misadventure.t

I am delighted to join t Lesbian, Gay, Bisexua Transformative power of transgender drama Community in celebra I am delighted to join toward "Equality withou Lesbian, Gay, Bisexua Americans. you CommunityThank in celebra to represent thiswithou great toward "Equality and thrives Americans. Thankonyouou They’re likeable enough to represent this great c and thrives on ou Sincerely, DVDs>>

San Francis October 27-November 2, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 29

by Brian Bromberger

ulturally, the last year has been a transformative one for trans consciousness. There’s been the public coming out of Caitlyn Jenner; the Golden Globe and Emmy Awards recognition of Transparent, the Amazon.com streaming series with Jeffrey Tambor transitioning into a woman with the support of his dysfunctional family; the Pentagon lifting the ban on military service by transgender people; and the White House hiring the openly transgender Raffi Freedman-Gurspan as policy advisor at the National Center for Transgender Equality. Carl(a), the transgender drama made in 2011, but just released on DVD by Ariztical Entertainment, is not a milestone like the above events, yet it raises two issues every transgender must reckon with: How far does one transition? and, How does one deal with hostility from both one’s family and society at large? While hardly breaking new ground, Carl(a) is a potent study of a trans woman trying not to lose herself as she maps out her life journey and tries to overcome harsh obstacles to find her true self. Carla (Joslyn DeFreece) is a pre-op transgender woman and live-cam sex worker complete with her own website, living in Brooklyn with several clients she entertains online. She is

saving her money so she can pay for surgery to complete her transition. Her dream, besides becoming a “real” woman, is to work as a shoe designer. Her family disdains her, including a hostile brother, a shaming father, and her doubtful mother, none of whom will use her name or acknowledge she is now a woman. But her grandfather (Mark Margolis) supports Carla, and is trying to reconcile her with her parents. Her best friend is Cinnamon (Laverne Cox), a trash-talking street prostitute regularly beat up by her johns and high on drugs, but who also protects Carla from neighborhood thugs. One of her clients, Sam (Gregg Bello), a nerdy computer programmer, breaks the rules and asks Carla out on a date. Not only because of her job, but because of her poor previous relationships with men, Carla is reluctant to accept. She seeks Cinnamon’s counsel, who advises, “It’s tough enough for any of us to get a man interested, so you should go for it.” Carla starts dating Sam, and they become a couple, as he seemingly loves her for who she is. Unexpectedly, she receives the funds she needs to pay for her surgery, but Sam doesn’t want her to have the surgery, threatening to cut off their relationship if she does. Carla is faced with a heart-wrenching dilemma about her surgery: she either loses Sam or herself.

It must be said that only because Laverne Cox has become a star on Orange Is the New Black, the Netflix streaming TV series – as well as becoming the first trans woman to grace the cover of Time magazine – has Carl(a) seen the light of day. It had a brief theatrical run years ago before now arriving on DVD. The cover lists Laverne as the star, but she plays only a supporting role. But she has such magnetism and a vibrant presence in her few showy scenes that it is easy to see why she has become famous, and why Orange is not a flash in the pan. Joslyn DeFreece, in a more laid-back interior performance, is just as good and talented, even without the benefit of the scene-stealing melodrama conferred upon Laverne. Their acting soars in this micro-budget indie that is a bit rough on the edges, even if we stretch the definition of cinema verite. To be honest, there is nothing new here that hasn’t been showcased more sophisticatedly on Transparent. But there is a genuine honesty, a warts-and-all depiction of trans life in sketchy urban areas, especially as Carla is trying to rise above her working-class roots and make a new life for herself, a theme we don’t often see in LGBT cinema. Carla wants to be accepted by others on her terms, and recognizes the heavy price she might pay for those choices. The audience will wish her well.t

by Brian Bromberger

pproaching one’s late 30s, near the precipice of middle age, one may start evaluating where one has been and whether change needs to occur before certain decisions are no longer possible. This period is the province of the film People You May Know, just released on DVD by Breaking Glass Pictures. The Facebook-inspired title concerns four friends, both straight and gay, trying to figure out what connections and boundaries work among them, and how they can be renegotiated without sacrificing long-standing ties. The movie’s description sounds more intriguing than its execution, but a likeable cast and breezy atmosphere hold your interest. Delia (Andrea Grano) and husband Rodrigo (Nacho San Jose) want to have children, but medical tests reveal Rodrigo is sterile. He goes to Spain for several months on a business trip, but keeps up regular contact with Delia via Skype. Joe (Sean Maher) is both Rodrigo’s best friend, and despite now being gay, when he was “straight” he was Delia’s boyfriend. He is somewhat promiscuous, a boozer and drug user, as well as a struggling novelist who is also pursuing a secret online relationship with Tom, whom he has never met in person. Herbert (Mark Cirillo) is also gay, looking for a husband, but obsessed with getting ahead at work. During a wild night of alcohol and drugs, Delia and Joe sleep together, and she gets pregnant. Initially Joe wants her to abort the baby. But because she is almost 40 and has had no luck having a child, Delia wants to keep it, and absolves Joe from any responsibility of raising it. She decides to fly to Spain to tell Rodrigo what has happened. Advised by his mother (the wonderful Carmen Maura, Pedro Almodovar’s star, in a cameo) to reject Delia and the baby, Rodrigo sees both Delia and Joe as having betrayed him. With his online relationship becoming kinkier (he is sent a black mask to wear while he masturbates) and more mysterious, the frustrated Joe starts investigating who Tom is, only to discover that he has been a victim of catfishing, seduced into

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a relationship through a false online identity. Joe is still haunted by whether the impersonated but real Tom exists, and investigates. Herbert meets a younger animal-rescue worker, Nicholas (Curt Hansen), and his bearded dragon Pancho. They fall in love when Herbert is given a big promotion at work that involves him moving to San Diego. Each character is at a crossroads in their lives and has to make a major decision about how they’ll move forward, and what impact that will have on each other’s friendship. Although People You May Know occurs mostly in LA, writer-director JC Falcon is Spanish, and the project is a joint co-production of LA Panda and Pony Films, based in Madrid. The Spanish influence is pervasive, embodying Almodovar’s

coolness in the face of potential tragedy, lacking the Spanish master’s zaniness, but not his penchant for melodrama. Disaster seems to loom, but we know despite messy romantic lives, there will be fairytale-like endings. Predictability is a drawback, soap opera machinations prevail, yet there is warmth here that is real, so the audience can forgive sentimentality. All the actors inhabit their parts well, but Cirillo comes off best, standing in as a cheeky narrator and commentator on everyone else’s faults, not afraid to tell them. We may not know people as well as we think, but we love them anyway in spite of their flaws. The casual ambience wins you over, and with intelligent dialogue well-executed, you won’t mind succumbing to People You May Know’s charms.t

NANCY PELOSI

House Democratic Leader

NANCY PELOSI 415 -500 -2620

<< Out&About

30 • BAY AREA REPORTER • October 27-November 2, 2016

O&A

Castro Creepy Crawl @ Castro District March and protest against evictions. 1pm-2pm. Meet at Harvey Milk Plaza, 2401 Market St. www.facebook.com/ events/1159739084108402/

Dia de los Muertos @ SOMArts Cultural Center

Masketeers by Jim Provenzano

hether you’re staying up late all weekend for a great pumpkin, or hiding under a bushel, do find the nerve to enjoy our sampling of arts events, each more culturally nutritous than candy corn. For nightlifery and Halloween parties, check out On the Tab in BARtab.

A Promise Not To Forget, the annual exhibit of installations inspired by traditional Mexican tributes to deceased family; curated by René and Rio Yañez. Thru Nov. 5. 934 Brannan St. www.somarts.org

Fri 21 Casa Valentina @ New Conservatory Theatre Center Lois Tema

Thu 27 Absolutely Fabulous @ Exit Theatre Royal British Comedy Theatre returns with the fun stage adaptations of two new episodes of the hit comedy show: Sex and Small Opening, costarring Terrence McLaughlin and Zsa Zsa Lufthansa. $15-$25. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru Nov. 19. 156 Eddy St. rbct.us

Adam Pascal & Anthony Rapp @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The two stars of the hit musical Rent perform their new show, Acoustically Speaking: a 20-Year Friendship, including Broadway favorites and original songs. $55-$75. 8pm. Also Oct. 28, 8pm & Oct. 29, 7pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com

Buffy Live! @ Oasis D’Arcy Drollinger’s new drag parody of the popular scifi vampire TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with Michael Phillis, Kim Burly, Melanie Marshall, Flynn DeMarco, Adam Roy, and many other talents. $25-$35. 8pm. Fri & Sat 7pm. Also Oct. 26 & 31 8pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Carnival of Souls @ Century 9 Cinema The RiffTrax guys ( Mystery Science Theatre 3000 alums) take on the 1962 cult classic about a church organist haunted by ghosts. $10.50-$12.50. 8pm. Also Oct. 31 7:30pm. Also at several other theatres. 845 Market St. www.fathomevents.com

The Hard Problem @ Geary Theatre Tom Stoppard’s thoughtful drama about a psych graduate forced to balance her romance with her advisor and a prestigious research job. $10-$115. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sat 2pm. Sun 7pm. Thru Nov.13. 405 Geary St. www.act-sf.org

LGBT Career Fair @ Linked In 39th annual day for jobseekers to meet and network with LGBT-friendly local companies and corporations. Business attire, and bring copies of your resumé. 1pm-4pm. 222 2nd St. www.sfcenter.org

Literary Speakeasy @ Martuni’s The monthly reading series hosted by James J. Siegel, ‘Martini Bar of Horrors,’ includes Carson Beker, S.G. Browne, Dana Fredsti, Sunil Patel, Loren Rhoads and Alia Volz. No cover. Raffle tickets and prizes 7pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market.

Mincing Words @ The Marsh Tom Ammiano returns to the stage with his comic solo show about his life in politics. $20-$100. Thu 8pm, Sat 5pm. Extended thru Nov. 19. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

Nogales @ Magic Theatre Richard Montoya of LA’s Culture Clash performs his funny and touching solo show about the Texas/Mexico border town. $50-$90. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun and some Sat 2:30pm. thru Oct. 30. 2 Marina Blvd. Bldg D. www.magictheatre.org

New & Classic Films @ Castro Theatre Oct. 26: Nick Offerman shares his book writing and woodworking talents in person ($50-$70 includes book: www.booksmith.com/ OFFERMAN). Oct. 27: Dawn of the Dead (7pm) and Trailer Apocalypse Redux (9:25). Oct, 28: Bay Area Science Fest. Oct. 29: Tested: The Show (8pm). Oct. 30: Rosemary’s Baby (2:35, 7pm) and The Sentinel (5:10, 9:30). Oct. 31: John Waters’ cult classic Multiple Maniacs, starring Divine. (5pm, 7pm). Nov. 1: Birth of a Nation (2, 5, 7, 9:20). Nov. 2: The Last Picture Show (2:35, 7pm) and Hell or High Water (5pm, 9:20). Nov. 3: Brights Lights starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (7pm). $11-$16. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

The Rocky Horror Show @ Victoria Theatre, SF Ray of Light Theatre company’s hit production of Richard O’Brien’s sweet transvestive rock musical returns, with D’Arcy Drollinger leading a talented cast. “Oh, Rocky!” $25-$40. Wed-Fri 8pm. Sat 7pm & 11pm (Oct. 29 only). Thru Nov. 5. 2961 16th st. www.rayoflighttheatre.com

The Great Liberation Upon Hearing @ Dance Mission Theater

It Can’t Happen Here @ Berkeley Rep

The Tubes @ Kanbar Center for the Arts, San Rafael

New and timely stage adaption of Sinclair Lewis’ 1935 book about a tyrannical demagogue’s rise to power in America. $45-$97. Tue, Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun & Wed 7pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Thru Nov. 6. Roda Theatre, 2025 Addison St. www.berkeleyrep.org

The pop punk band (“White Punks on Dope”) performs at a costume party and concert. $35-$50. 8pm. 200 North San Pedro Road, San Rafael. www.marinjcc.org

The Last Tiger in Haiti @ Berkeley Rep Jeff Augustin’s then-and-now story of a group of modern Haitians fleeing to freedom. $45-$81. Tue, Thu-Sat 8pm. Wed & Sun 7pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Thru Nov. 27. 2025 Addison St. www.berkeleyrep.org

Noche de Ambiente @ GLBT History Museum

Shocktober 17 @ Hypnodrome

Queer Open Mic @ Modern Times Bookstore

Welcome Home 40th @ ODC Theater

The last of the long-running LGBT open mic reading event, before the bookstore closes in November, with featured writer Maggie Tokuda-Hall; cohosted by Blythe Baldwin and Barcuh Porras-Hernandez. 7:30pm. 2919 24th St. www.mtbs.com

Seed Language @ ODC Theater

Continuing two-week celebration of the acclaimed dance space’s 40th anniversary, with a exhibit of photos and art, commissioned essays, informal performances. Thru Oct. 30. 3153 17th St. www.odcdance.org

Embodiment Project’s vibrant dancetheatre work about racial injustice, with Black Lives Matter’s Alicia Garza, Black Panther leader Ericka Higgins, live music and street dance. $20-$30. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 7pm. 3153 17th St. www.embodimentproject.org www.odcdance.org

Fri 28

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? @ Ashby Stage, Berkeley

Art Night SF @ UN Plaza Outdoor art, sculpture and Halloween kid-friendly event, with live music, karaoke and costume contests and more. 5pm-9pm. Market St. at Embarcadero. www.artnightsf.com

Casa Valentina @ New Conservatory Theatre Center Harvey Fierstein’s play about straight men in the 1960s who privately crossdressed at Catskills parties, and the pressure to ‘come out.’ $20-$65. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru Nov. 6. 25 Van Ness Ave, lower level. www.nctcsf.org

Tofu Art @ Glamarama Time Travel Photos, a new exhibit of San Francisco-themed collages by the local artist, at the Mission hair salon. Thru Nov. 27. 304 Valencia St. tofuart.com www.glamarama.com

World premiere of Theresa Reback’s play about a Brooklyn chef who deals with the pressures of sudden success. $35-$75. Tue-Thu 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sat 3pm. Sun 2pm. Thru Nov. 12. 450 Post St. www.sfplayhouse.org

The 17th annual theatrical scarefest of four one-acts will shiver your timbers with terror and titillation. $30-$35. Thu-Sat 8pm (no show Oct. 8), plus special 8pm Halloween shows Oct. 30 & 31. Thru Nov. 19. 575 10th S.t at Bryant. 377-4202. www.hypnodrome.org

Darren Criss and Tony Award winner Lena Hall reprise their acclaimed Broadway roles in the national tour of John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s popular rock musical about a down and out German transgender singer (Hall plays Hedwig on most Wed. shows). $45-$212. Tue-Sat 8pm. Wed, Sat & Sun 2pm. Thru Oct. 30. 1 Taylor St. www.hedwigbroadway.com www.shnsf.com

Dance Brigade Director Krissy Keefer’s dance-drama journey through the Bardo via the Tibetan Book of the dead. $15-$50. Fri & Sat 7:30pm. Sun 6pm. 3316 24th St. www.dancemission.com

Opening reception for the new mini-exhibit of Latino/x LGBT history, curated by Juliana Delgado Lopera and Ángel Rafael Vázquez-Concepción. $5. 7pm-9pm. Also, exhibits Through Knowledge to Justice: The Sexual World of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935), about the early gay rights pioneer and scholar (thru Nov. 23). $5. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Seared @ SF Playhouse

Hedwig and the Angry Inch @ Golden Gate Theatre

Shotgun Players perform Edward Albee’s classic drama about disgruntled married college town couples. $25-$40. Wed-Sun thru Nov. 20. In repertory Nov. 27-Jan. 22. 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org

Sat 29 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari @ St. Cyprian’s Church Pianist Stephen Prutsman and The Telegraph String Quartet accompany screenings of the classic 1920 silent suspense film, plus a short comedy. $17-$20. 8pm. 2097 Turk St. www.noevalleymusicseries.com

Sun 30 Cavalia @ Downtown San Jose Odysseo, the visually amazing company’s new show of horses, riders, acrobats and music. $29$264. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Extended thru Oct. 30. Highway 87 at Julian Street exit, San Jose. (866) 999-8111. www.cavalia.net

Date Night at Pet Emergency @ The Marsh Lisa Rothman’s solo show about family troubles surrounding a sick dog. $20$100. Sundays, 2pm. Thru Dec. 4. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

Jason Brock @ Martuni’s The talented powerhouse crooner performs Halloween special songs with the Coker Sisters and pianist Dee Spencer. $20-$25. 7pm. 4 Valencia St. www.jasonbrockvocals.com

Jewelle Gomez @ Borderlands Books The acclaimed local author/playwright reads from and discusses the 25th anniversary re-release of her classic lesbian vampire novel, The Gilda Stories. 3pm. 866 Valencia St. www.borderlands-books.com

SF Civic Symphony Orchestra @ Nourse Theatre The orchestra performs RimskyKorsakov’s “Cappricio Espagnol,” Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, and guest-vocalist Vanessa Bousay sings “Love In Any Language.” $10. 3pm. 275 Hayes St. sfcivicsymphony.org

Mon 31 Jason Mecier @ Dog Eared Books The world-famous gay collage artist, known for celebrity portraits made of objects, exhibits his latest collection, Real Housewives of Macaroni. Daily 10am-10pm thru Dec. 489 Castro St. https://twitter.com/JasonMecier www.dogearedbooks.com

The Rocky Horror Picture Show @ UC Theatre Berkeley Screening of the classic Richard O’Brien film adaptation of his hit musical about sweet transvestite aliens. $16-$27. 8pm. 2036 University Ave., Berkeley. theuctheatre.org

Tue 1 Lucy Jane Bledsoe @ Booksmith The lesbian author of A Thin Bright Line reads from and discusses her new book, about a Cold War romance. 7:30pm. 1644 Haight St. www.booksmith.com

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. Extended thru Nov. 8. Also at The Marsh Berkeley, Nov. 4, 8pm and Nov. 5, 8:30pm (2120 Allston Way). 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

Wed 2 Alonzo King Lines Ballet @ YBCA The fall home season of the innovative local dance companny includes Meyer, King’s collaboration with grammywinning composer & bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer. $35-$80. Thru Nov. 6. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. www.linesballet.org

Baker Street @ Eureka Theatre 42nd Street moon’s production of Marian Grudeff and Raymond Jessel’s musical adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes story A Scandal in Bohemia. $25-$75. Thru Nov. 20. 215 Jackson St. 255-8207. www.42ndStMoon.org

Created in God’s Image @ JCC East Bay Keshet presents a seminar, Gender Expansive Inclusion in Jewish Settings, 6:30pm. 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley. www.keshetonline.org

Day of the Dead Procession @ Mission District El Colectivo del Rescate Cultural’s 34th annual procession honoring the dead. 7pm at Bryant and 22nd Sts. Festival of Altars starts at 5pm at Garfield Park, Harrison and 24th St. Day of the Dead Exhibit at Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, 2868 Mission St. www.missionculturalcenter.org

In the Life at 30 @ Perch Coffeehouse, Oakland Celebration of the pioneering Black gay literary anthology edited by Joseph Beam, with Jair, Shawntez, and Khalil Sullivan. 6pm. 440 Grand Ave., Oakland. www.facebook.com/perchcoffee

Skin Deep: The Art of Tattoo @ Katz Snyder Gallery Opening reception for an exhibit of art and photos about tattoo art by 20 regional artists, with food, music, live art installations, and tattoo demos, film screening of Ed Hardy: Tattoo the World. 6pm-9pm. Free/RSVP: arts@jccsf.org Thru Jan. 20. Jewish Community Center, 3200 California St. www.jccsf.org

Stud Bar Legacy Meeting @ City Hall Public forum to decide the legacy status of the historic gay bar. 12:30pm. Commission Chambers, Room 400, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place. www.studsf.com

Thu 3 Jonathan Poretz @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The smooth crooner performs music popularized by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin and Sammy Davis, Jr. $35-$55. 8pm. Also Nov. 4. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com

Safeway Holiday Ice Rink @ Union Square The annual ice rink opens once again for holiday fun. Thru Jan. 16. Special events, including Christmas tree lighting. www.unionsuareicerink.com

Books>>

October 27-November 2, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 31

Courtesy Bob Mizer Foundation

It’s not hard to see why Dick Dubois was such a popular model.

Bob Mizer

From page 21

Bob Mizer pioneered the gayangled physique photo when he founded AMG, the Athletic Model Guild, in 1945. Over two decades he photographed, like, eleventy zillion models, and sold the photos through a monthly catalogue called The Physique Pictorial (Taschen reproduced every one of them in a three-volume set in 1997). To fit all the model photos into his hip-pocket catalogue, Mizer reduced them to postagestamp size. The reproduction wasn’t at all sharp, the careful lighting coarsened. Who knew there was art hidden within them? Dian Hanson, the editor of the new Taschen set, has released the men from those miniaturized photos into full-sized portraits, presenting Mizer’s handsome hunks in striking clarity in prints made from his original 4x5 negatives. Mizer’s a guy whose place in the pantheon has already been firmly fixed, although perhaps not entirely appropriately. Taschen’s first major Bob Mizer collection, Bob’s World, published in 2002, was generous and informative, but purposefully undertook to deliver the campy setups, déclassé models and sexually lurid poses of Bob’s later work. I’m left fairly unmoved by that endless parade of gaping assholes (they

weren’t particularly to Mizer’s taste, either, but he thought his fans wanted them). “Lurid” was indeed the exact word that editor Hanson once used to describe the book. The 1000 Model Directory is an atonement of sorts, and should correct perceptions. On nearly every page it makes clear that Mizer was, indeed, a Master of his art. Here, finally, is a Mizer collection that leans only a little toward camp or sexual provocation. There’s hardly an aggrandized basket or bulge shot among them, and diaphanous posing straps creep in only toward the end. Indeed, the book smartly ends in 1966, just as nudity became allowable and the alluring posing strap fell into oblivion. Not that the photos even at their most artistic do not convey an eroticism that was massive in its day, and is still effective. Unlike the rigidly posed, straight-faced depictions in the bodybuilding magazines of the 1930s and 40s, Bob’s models held hands. They looked at each other, they touched, with a previously unknown happiness, and even longing. They gazed directly at the viewer, invited him in. Mizer’s revolution in physique photography was to add sexuality. It was understated, for sure. But unmistakable. The less restrictive standards of Mizer’s day let him engage younger models, and the new book includes many guys who are 15 and 16 years

old. Arnie Payne was 14 when he was photographed. There are also brothers, and twins, many of them rather racily intertwined. Like most Taschen books, this one offers only sketchy documentation. Its index is particularly woebegone. It’s unacquainted with alphabetical order, difficult to navigate, and is disappointingly incomplete. Out of a thousand potentialities, its thumbnail model biographies offer a mere 139. The chance that was missed in making this volume complete in both photo and documentation is painful. I noticed only one error. Hanson writes that model Bud Counts never

Courtesy Bob Mizer Foundation

Jerry Kindle and Kenny Mann seem happy to be getting more closely acquainted, in the 1000 Model Directory.

did frontal nudes. But I’ve got them, yes, plural, downloaded right off the Net. It’s a small error, but alerts one to the possibilities of more. On the other hand, Hanson’s research can be appreciated. She tells us which of the models became bodybuilding title-holders, which of the robust boys appeared in which Hollywood movies, which one became Mae West’s consort of several decades, which one was the inspiration for a

Courtesy Bob Mizer Foundation

Bob Mizer, circa 1945. Was it a self-portrait?

David Hockney painting, and what professions others entered, whom they married, and when they died. The 1000 Model Directory is a limited edition, of only 7,500 numbered copies. Perhaps you’ll get yours at the book’s launch party on Nov. 3, at The Magazine, the cherished store at 920 Larkin St. that caters to media freaks. You’ll also meet the book’s editor, Dian Hanson, and Bob Mizer Foundation founder and president Dennis Bell. And, you’ll be able to honor Bob Mainardi and Trent Dunphy, who have owned and run The Magazine for 43 years. Looking forward to their future legacy, they have donated not only the building, but also their extensive photo collection, to the Mizer Foundation. It’s a major gift. For the moment, the building is sort of two-faced. But as the store’s merchandise is sold off, it will slowly morph away from The Magazine to become solely the Foundation. Bell envisions an exhibition area and gift shop on the first floor, and a research area on the second. Down below, there’s a vast basement that will no doubt house the negatives and prints of the BMF. The event begins at 6 p.m. Bell will make a special announcement at 6:45 p.m. It’s free, and there’s no need to RSVP. Just show up. The first 50 people who purchase the 1000 Model Directory will get a copy of the original 1957 1000 Model Catalogue.t

John F. Karr

Courtesy Bob Mizer Foundation

Model Jim Johnson in the 1000 Model Directory.

The Bob Mizer Foundation will soon be the only name on The Magazine’s awning.

<< Fine Art

32 • BAY AREA REPORTER • October 27-November 2, 2016

Rama epic

From page 21

This relatively simple story of good and evil has found expression across multiple mediums, from painting, sculpture, dance and stage performance to television serials, cornball movies and comic books; it has even popped up on YouTube. A crash course in the legend, its myriad interpretations and underlying old-world values can now be had courtesy of the Asian Art Museum’s newest exhibition, The Rama Epic: Hero, Heroine, Ally, Foe. With artworks dating back 1,500 years, it features 145 old and contemporary objects – gilded wood sculptures, terracotta reliefs, ancient bronzes, exquisite ink & watercolors on paper and painted narrative scrolls, startling theatrical masks and video clips. In yet another example of the museum’s knack for creative display design, large, intricately carved shadow puppets are shown on one side of a case, while the shadow, as it would have looked to audiences, can be viewed on the other. A full complement of on-site performances are scheduled through the run of the exhibition, along with live bards who will visit the galleries on weekends and spontaneously spin a yarn related to sequences in the story, and instead of the standard audio tour with commentary by curators, the narration is dramatized and

performed like a radio play to bring the imagery to life. The multiple avenues of entry into the storytelling experience are inventive, but if there’s a criticism of the show, it’s that it tries to go in too many directions at once. A 10-minute short playing on a loop in the first room lays the groundwork for the fascinating history of the epic, which originated in India, spread to Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, and surfaced in Europe nearly 350 years ago. Its earliest rendition, thought to have been written 2,000 years ago by the poet Valmiki, a Homeresque figure – or an amalgam of several authors – has since morphed into numerous versions in dozens of languages. Its closest Western counterpart, after the Arthurian legend, may be Star Wars, which also relies heavily on myth to impart life lessons, and has reached untold millions around the world. The Ramayana arrived at a time when the world was in disarray, selfabsorption was pervasive, as were violence, hunger for power and abuse of women – sound familiar? The saga filled the need for an ethical template of decency, goodness and compassion, qualities embodied by Rama, the self-sacrifice of his wife, and the unswerving devotion of Hanuman – all of whom triumphed over Ravana, the evil Id-incarnate. It also served both as

Courtesy AAM

“Scenes of the Rama epic” (approx. 1870). Myanmar (Burma). Manuscript; opaque watercolors and gold on paper. The British Library.

a caution to women and children to obey and submit to patriarchal rule, and a model for monarchs striving to align themselves with the better angels of Rama’s nature. The show is organized around the four characters, each with its own

Y A D I HOL S E D I U G

gallery, a fine 1,000-year-old bronze likeness, except for Ravana, and an array of eclectic artworks. Sita, for instance, inspired a dreamy, Chagalllike pastel portrait (1893) by French Symbolist artist Odilon Rodon, who imagines her as a celestial entity

floating above the earth in an azure blue, star-flecked sky. It hangs next to a photograph of dancers Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis in a 1918 production of The Abduction of Sita. Ravana, the villain of the piece and the most complex and compelling of the quartet, is shown in various formats, rabid, raging, and/or riding into town like an outlaw on the back of a mythical bird with a multi-color fan tail and talons depicted in an amazing Indonesian wood sculpture (1800-1900) from the Asian’s collection. Despite his satanic appearance and dastardly deeds, he’s said to have been a creature of duality, engendering the love of his many wives and the loyalty of a faithful retinue who mourned his passing. Even Mussolini reportedly had a soft spot for animals and children. In true Hollywood focus-group fashion, there are two alternate endings detailed in the exhibition’s final room: one happy, one not so much. In the former, Rama reigns for thousands of prosperous years with Sita by his side; in the latter, he’s tormented and suspicious of Sita’s fidelity. Despairing, she’s embraced by Mother Earth and sinks into oblivion; he wades into a river, returning to the heavens where the two are reunited. Talk about delayed gratification.t Through Jan. 15, 2017. Info: asianart.org.

2016

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Darlene Popovic

Cher at Oasis

Vol. 46 • No. 43 • October 27-November 2, 2016

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Justin Sayre

Sodomite satire show returns to Oasis by Jim Gladstone

he Meeting is about to be adjourned. Perhaps the most prolific queer quipster working today, Justin Sayre has been writing a new set’s worth of comedy material nearly every month since 2011, when he first presented his topical live act, The Meeting of the International Order of Sodomites, at Joe’s Pub in New York back in 2011. See page 34 >>

Steven Underhill

Justin Sayre performs his hit show, The Meeting.

Gay bees buzz around the Castro (Halloween a few years ago).

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Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

34 • Bay Area Reporter • October 27-November 2, 2016

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Justin Sayre

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Justin Sayre

From page 33

Sayre’s sharp, insightful monologues on topics from “Ab Privilege” to “Gay Divorce” have become viral video sensations and been collected on a spoken word album, The Gay Agenda. Since 2014, the hilarious, hirsute truthteller has regularly brought his act to San Francisco, building a loyal following at Oasis. The shows feature Sayre’s deftly structured but superficially free-form riffs interspersed with hand-picked musical and variety acts. While some of the best lines from his Manhattan gigs make their way into the shows, Sayre also incorporates material especially geared to locals. His wicked 1:05 PM takedown of HBO’s SF-set Looking memorably began with Sayre noting, “Now, it’s not like I haven’t done a lot of other things out of a sense of Gay Obligation, but…” When Sayre returns to Oasis on Saturday November 5, it will be The Meeting’s South of Market swansong. “This is the last season on both coasts,” he said in a recent call from his home in West Hollywood, where Sayre moved from New York to work on the writing staff of 2 Broke Girls. It’s also where, in the past few years, Sayre’s personal agenda has grown too full to manage, hence the demise of The Meeting. He’s written three plays (Love’s Refrain, an experimental reflection on romance and astronomy was produced at La Mama last spring), a television pilot, and the first two in a series of young adult books. The first of those, Husky, is told from the perspective of Davis, an overweight gay tween. The book was lauded as both “genuinely

funny” and “heartwrenching” by book trade journal Kirkus Reviews (Adjectives that would be equally apt in describing Sayre’s Meeting diatribes on gay dating and selfloathing). The second, Pretty, will be released next summer. And then there’s Sparkle and Circulate, the monthly podcast (available on Apple music) in which Sayre comes off as a hybrid of James Lipton and Terry Gross, engaging artists and performers in digressive, curlicued conversations. Singer Nellie McKay, album cover artist Robert Richards, and Jim Colucci, author of a book about The Golden Girls, have been recent guests. “The podcast grew out of my sense that when we do The Meeting. I have very little interaction with the guest performers. It’s a true variety show in that way. So this is a chance to really sit down and talk to people I admire about their philosophies of work and art.” “I’m not an interviewer who preplans,” says Sayre. “I like to keep it informal and as organic as possible. Its not the kind of talk show that’s build around plugging projects. It’s really about opening up and going down the rabbit hole together.” Now that The Meeting appears to be making way for Sayre’s other projects, he offers a comparison of the audiences in New York and San Francisco. “In New York, everyone wants to be on top of everything,” he says. “They want to be in-the-know and never want to be left out. But things move so fast and I touch on so many topics that sometimes I know I get laughs for jokes that people don’t follow. Everyone wants to be in on the joke. “In San Francisco, everyone wants the show to be fabulous,” he says.

Justin Sayre in a New York production of his show, The Meeting.

“They’re so glad to be there, and they’re so glad that I’m there. People come up to me saying, ‘Oh, thank you so much for coming here!’ I mean, really? It’s a gay-themed show and this is San Francisco, not some backwater! But there’s this gregarious feeling there—the audience wants to take me out for drinks after the show. “ How does Sayre think fans who know him only through The Meeting will react to the less strictly comedic content of some of his newer work? “Well, there were people who came to see Love’s Refrain because of The Meeting,” he says. “I don’t know what they were expecting, but I’m sure it was very different. That said, I haven’t really run into a sense of resistance. The common element of all my work is that I really try to build a sense of trust and intimacy with the audience, so that they’re willing to go on a ride with me from very lighthearted places to very serious places. Five years from now, I’d like people to think of a Justin Sayre piece –in any medium– and know that it will be something that will make them simultaneously think and feel. “It’s been so great doing The Meeting in San Francisco,” Sayre says. “And I’d like to find ways to perform at Oasis in the future. They’ve been great to me and introduced me to a whole new audience here.” And then, just before hanging up, Sayre unexpectedly invokes the Cher rule: “You know, this is the last Meeting. But it might not be the last Meeting ever.”t Justin Sayre performs The Meeting at Oasis, Saturday, November 5. $20. 7pm 298 11th St. www.themeetingshow.com www.sfoasis.com

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

36 • Bay Area Reporter • October 27-November 2, 2016

Leadership defined Demetri Moshoyannis on his tenure with Folsom Street Events I’m particularly proud of certain poster images we’ve created and the documentary about Folsom Street Fair (Folsom Forever) that was produced and directed by Mike Skiff. Even some of our promotional videos have been incredibly well done, so I’ll miss being around that kind of creative energy. I think I’m leaving things in a much better place.

Rich Stadtmiller

Demetri Moshoyannis, outgoing Executive Director of Folsom Street Events.

by Race Bannon

very so often a leader comes along who quietly and without much fanfare does the arduous and sometimes persnickety work of building community. This applies to all communities, including the broad swath of networks that form the local and national patchwork of kink communities. Such a person is Demetri Moshoyannis, the outgoing Executive Director of Folsom Street Events (FSE), who recently submitted his resignation to assume the position of Managing Director of Strategic Partnerships with Positive Resource Center (PRC). Over the past decade, Demetri has more than doubled the budget of FSE, increased the number of event offerings from three to nine, and substantially expanded the nonprofit organization’s philanthropic endeavors. Demetri leaves a legacy of well-produced, internationally renowned events for the leather and fetish communities, heralded by the community, media and city leaders alike. I caught up with Demetri recently and he expressed pride in what he was able to accomplish during his tenure with FSE. I have the utmost respect for Demetri and the work he’s done. So, I took the opportunity to ask Demetri a few questions.

Race Bannon: Can you give me a short history of your background prior to being with FSE? Demetri Moshoyannis: Prior to my work as Executive Director (ED) of FSE, most of my career has been working in HIV/AIDS services. I spoke at the first White House Conference on HIV/AIDS, addressing President Bill Clinton and Secretary Donna Shalala. Since that time, I served as an ED two other times – once at Being Alive in Los Angeles and another at Bay Area Young Positives. I’ve also worked for incredible organizations such as Howard Brown Health Center in Chicago, and the AIDS Memorial Quilt when it was based here in San Francisco. Most of my work was in fundraising, finance, and executive positions. How would you describe your time at FSE? It’s been extremely rewarding. I learned a lot about our community and about issues that I never thought I’d encounter in my professional career, including copyright and trademark law, recycling and composting programs, and more. I’ve interfaced with thousands of people volunteering their time on behalf of some amazing local charities, including Positive Resource Center, and I couldn’t be more grateful to those volunteers for helping us bring our events to life.

You see so many aspects of our leather, kink, BDSM and fetish scene. What changes have you seen, locally and nationally, during your time with FSE? Organized groups come and go, parties come and go, and certainly nightclubs and bars come and go. Hopefully FSE has been a stable force in the community, helping others to thrive. But, our scene is always evolving. It feels, at times, like there is less enthusiasm than in the past, but that could just be my selective memory. I guess it feels like people aren’t going out in leather and fetish gear on a random week or weekend night anymore. It feels like they save it for more “special” occasions like contests, big parties, or events like our street fairs. This phenomenon feels more commonplace in the States, though. Traveling abroad, I don’t feel that dynamic as much. What brought you the greatest joy during your time with FSE? When we did a particularly strong poster image, it felt like the community responded with additional enthusiasm. Certain examples include the Leather Last Supper (2007), Fetish Family (2009), and Leather Cable Car (2015). At least two of those posters were directed by my co-worker and friend, Patrick Finger. Those images resonated within San Francisco and across the inter-

national leather/fetish communities. That feeling of our community coming together is what has brought me the most joy. It’s a similar feeling I get when our exhibitors set up at Folsom Street Fair. It feels like a little leather village is coming to life. There’s always been something very comforting to me about that. What was a challenge during your time with FSE? I think the biggest challenge was leading the organization through the recession. Sponsorships fell and we had to figure out how to make ends meet. We figured out how to rely on other revenue streams and we made it through the worst of times just fine. This was when other grant-making organizations were defaulting on their payments. We never did that, and I’m proud of that. But it was difficult to get through those years. We’ve never been a particularly dramatic group, though. Our Board of Directors attracts wellgrounded, hardworking individuals. They are the unsung heroes of the organization. Can you use your crystal ball and look forward into our local kink scene? Where is it going? Do you have suggestions on how to keep it alive and vibrant? All I can say is that our community has been trending toward a lot more role play in the last decade. Whether it’s the explosion in popularity of pup play or age and gender play or even cosplay, most of what I’ve seen is geared in that direction. I mean, who knew that our scene would look like this 40 years ago? To some, it might look and feel unrecognizable. I do believe there will always be a place for the classic leatherman, though. It’s just too iconic.

You’re moving to PRC. What will you be doing and what are your hopes for the new position? Many people still don’t seem to know that PRC is merging with AIDS Emergency Fund and Baker Places. That’s huge! Together, the organizations will be providing seamless HIV supportive services including benefits counseling, employment services, and emergency grants, as well as residential treatment for people struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues. The long-term plans for the merger are exciting and you should talk to Brett Andrews about those plans sometime. He’s an inspiring leader from whom I hope to learn a lot. I’ll be serving as Managing Director of Strategic Partnerships, working to expand relationships with corporations, foundations, event-based groups like FSE, and The City. Demetri concluded our interview by saying, “I’m just extremely honored and grateful to have been given such an incredible opportunity to serve our community. The outpouring of support has been tremendous and I couldn’t be happier.” Let me add, Demetri, we are honored to know you and laud you for dedicating your life for so long to helping our local kink communities. You’re a class act. I have no doubt your future will be incredibly successful.t

For Leather events, visit us online at www.ebar.com/bartab Race Bannon is a local author, blogger and activist. You can reach him his website, www.bannon.com.

Fred Alert

The 2007 ‘Leather Last Supper’ Folsom Street Fair poster garnered criticism from rightwingers, and loads of free publicity for the Fair.

Left: Steven Underhill, Right: Rich Stadtmiller

Two scenes of crowds at the Folsom Street Fair; at right, Paul William atop a gogo platform.