September 15, 2016 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter

Stars shine at GLAAD Gala

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Andrea Chenier

Shirley Manson

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

Clinton health scare upends campaign

Vol. 46 • No. 37 • September 15-21, 2016

Oakland Pride features the whimsical and political

analysis by Lisa Keen

emocratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton had to back off some remarks she made before an LGBT fundraiser last Friday, but her poor choice of words there Rudy K. Lawidjaja is now being overshadDemocratic owed by reaction to concerns that she appeared presidential to collapse while getting candidate into her Secret Service Hillary Clinton van on Sunday morning at a 9/11 memorial in Lower Manhattan. Meanwhile, there has been little scrutiny of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s promises to religious conservatives Friday. “[In] a Trump administration, our Christian heritage will be cherished, protected, defended, like you have never seen before. ... And that includes religious liberty,” said Trump to the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. “Religious liberty” has become a frequent code phrase for many politicos to promote the idea of allowing people to discriminate against LGBT people by claiming they are exercising their religious beliefs. Trump said the Johnson Amendment has prevented clergy from speaking from the pulpit about politics. The tax law states that nonprofit groups can receive a 501(3)c (nonprofit group) tax break if they do not “participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements) any political campaign on behalf (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.” The purpose of the law was to ensure that taxpayer money is not used to subsidize partisan political activity. “I will repeal the Johnson Amendment, if I am elected your president. I promise,” he told the audience. The line elicited loud applause even though a president cannot repeal an existing federal law. Trump appeared to use a teleprompter during most of the speech, but he looked away from it to add that he had learned about the Johnson Amendment from a group of pastors he had invited to one of his Manhattan buildings to solicit their support. He said the pastors clearly wanted to support him but told him the Johnson Amendment prevented them from doing so. He said he learned that President Lyndon Johnson had unilaterally created the law to punish a church in Houston with which he was having “problems.” “Can you imagine that this man singleSee page 11 >>

by Cynthia Laird Dancers from Tierra Del Sol performed on the Latin Stage at the Oakland Pride festival.

he rainbow flags were flying as kids, first responders, churches, and businesses took part in the Oakland Pride parade Sunday, September 11.

The parade, which featured more contingents than last year, according to organizers, stepped off at 14th and Broadway, making its way up to 20th Street and the site of the festival. At times, there seemed like there were more See page 11 >>

Two state props address death penalty Rick Gerharter

by Seth Hemmelgarn

than Prop 62, the latter measure would be voided. alifornia voters will get two The LAO found that Prop 66 chances in November to would have an “unknown ongotake a serious look at the ing impact on state court costs state’s death penalty. One measure for processing legal challenges to that will be on the ballot, Propodeath sentences.” There would sition 62, would abolish it, while be “potential prison savings in another, Proposition 66, would the tens of millions of dollars reform it. annually.” Prop 62 would replace the death However, the agency also said, penalty as the maximum punish“The measure would accelerate ment for people found guilty of the amount the state spends on murder with a maximum sentence legal challenges to death senof life imprisonment without the tences,” because “the state would possibility of parole. incur annual cost increases in the The measure would apply retro- The death chamber at San Quentin State Prison hasn’t been near term to process hundreds of actively to people who’ve already used in a decade; California voters have the chance to weigh in on pending legal challenges within received death sentences. the time limits specified in the dueling death penalty measures. People sentenced to life with no measure.” possibility of parole would have The LAO report continued, Prop 66 would change government proceto work while in prison. Prop 62 “The state would save similar would raise the portion of their wages that may dures around state court appeals and petitions amounts in future years,” since at least some of challenging death penalty convictions and the costs “would have otherwise occurred over be applied to victim restitution fines or orders sentences. Among other provisions of the meaagainst them to 60 percent. a much longer term absent this measure. Given sure, it would designate the superior court for the significant number of pending cases that The state Legislative Analyst’s Office said in its report on Prop 62, “we estimate that this initial petitions and limit successive petitions. would need to be addressed, the actual amount It would also impose time limits on state court and duration of these accelerated costs in the measure would reduce net state and county costs related to murder trials, legal challenges to death penalty reviews, appointed attorneys near term is unknown. It is possible, however, who take noncapital appeals would be required that such costs could be in the tens of millions death sentences, and prisons,” likely by “around $150 million annually within a few years. This to accept death penalty appeals, and death row of dollars annually for many years.” reduction in costs could be higher or lower by inmates would be required to work and pay vicIn an email to the Bay Area Reporter, Allison tim restitution. tens of millions of dollars, depending on variSee page 11 >> Additionally, if Prop 66 receives more votes ous factors.”

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<< Community News

2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2016

Defendant accused in Castro crimes testifies

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put the knife away.” She eventually put the knife defendant accused of down after police drew a gun on wielding a knife at people her. and being a “nuisance” in San In another incident, which Francisco’s Castro district gave happened inside Strut in early her side of the story in the trial March, Robinson, a client there, against her. is accused of pushing a worker on Pat Robinson, 26, who identithe stairs. fies as gender neutral and has She said that when the man, been in custody since July 29, is who wanted her to leave, got in being held on $10,000 bail on front of her to prevent her from multiple charges of battery, being entering the second floor, she’d a public nuisance, resisting arsimply walked under the worker’s rest, and trespassing, along with outstretched arm and hadn’t aca charge of exhibiting a deadly tually touched him. weapon and a civil sidewalk Moments later, Robinson said, violation. “I saw he was sitting on the stairs. Robinson, who was once in the I don’t know what had happened Air Force and has a degree in psyto him.” chology, said she’s been “houseMore than once during her tesless” in the Castro for almost two timony, Robinson claimed she’d years. She testified in San Franbeen the victim of discriminacisco Superior Court Wednesday, tion, such as during a March inSeptember 7 about how she saw cident in which workers at Cliff ’s several incidents that date back Rick Gerharter Variety store, at 479 Castro, asked to March. (Her attorney told the A defendant testified last week about her to leave after she’d allegedly Bay Area Reporter that Robinson allegedly wielding a knife outside Strut. bothered other customers. is OK with female pronouns, Robinson said she’d been and does not consistently elect shopping for a book bag and no male, female, or gender-neutral one would explain to her why but then sheathed it. pronouns.) they wanted her to leave. Robinson, who’s black, heard One of the more serious charges “I feel like I was being discrimisomeone refer to her as “a little boy,” stems from an April incident outnated against,” she testified. and said, “I became concerned ... side Strut, the health center at 470 She said she’d only been OK with My thought process took me to a Castro Street, in which the volunleaving when Terry Asten Ben12-year-old boy in Cleveland who teer Castro Community on Patrol nett, whose family owns the store, was shot because he had a BB gun Group encountered Robinson holdasked her to. Robinson indicated in his hand.” ing a knife. the shop’s “No Trespassing” sign The remark was a reference to Robinson said she’d been looking specified people have to follow the Tamir Rice, 12, who police fatally at her reflection in car windows and owner’s orders to leave, rather than shot in Cleveland in 2014 after a BB using the knife to scratch off dead those of merely the management. gun he was carrying was mistaken skin. The trial, which got underway for a real gun. She recalled asking Greg Carey, September 2, is expected to conBut Robinson again held out the patrol group’s chief, “Is this an clude by the end of the month. the knife to ask passersby “if they issue? Me having the knife?” She Officials have declined to provide thought this was harmful to society. held out the knife for Carey to see Robinson’s booking photo.t ... If they did feel threatened I would

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fornia School-Based Health Alliance and school-based he executive director of a health care in California.” San Francisco-based nonAmong her other accomprofit that works to advance plishments, Appel is the forequity for LGBTQ families mer president and current with children through educlerk of the Berkeley Unified cation, advocacy, and other School District Board of Edumeans is leaving for the top job cation. She is seeking re-elecat another agency. tion this November. Judy Appel, who’s led Our Renata Moreira, 39, will Family Coalition for more serve as Our Family Coalition’s than a decade, is set to become interim executive director. executive director of the CaliAppel, who as “a lesbian fornia School-Based Health mom” described herself as Alliance, which addresses isa constituent of the nonsues ranging from trauma to profit, said that Moreira is Hybrid/City Kid’s Courtesy OFC asthma. “exactly what we need for our Hybrid/City Kid’s “I’m really proud of what Renata Moreira, left, is the new interim community.” we’ve built here at Our Fam- executive director of Our Family Coalition, Moreira, who served as actily Coalition over the last 11 succeeding Judy Appel, right. ing executive director for two years,” Appel, 51, who lives in months last year when Appel Berkeley with her wife and two took a sabbatical, said the of Assembly Bill 960, the Equal Prochildren, said. “I really feel like group anticipates announcing tection for All Families Act, which I have brought my best skill to help a new permanent executive director Our Family Coalition co-sponsored build up Our Family Coalition, and by January 1. Road Mountain with the National Center for Leswe have an incredible team on staff.” Asked whether she wants the job, Road Mountain bian Rights and Equality California. Her new job is part of “a really Moreira said, “I would be honored The law, which went into effect exciting field,” she said. if it turns out to be a great match.” Now Open Thursday to 7pm! in January and was authored by “It’s really important to see a Asked for her salary information, Now Open Thursday to 7pm! Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San child as a whole child, and schoolAppel said, “You know that I will Every Thursday in April between 4 & 7pm Francisco), modernizes California based health can really be an anchor never tell you. ... My salary is a priThursday in April between & 4& 7pm take Every 20% OFF all parts, accessories clothing.* law to protect families using assisted for a lot of kids,” she added. vate thing.” Open Thursday to &7pm! take Now 20% OFF all parts, accessories clothing.* reproduction methods. Under the Appel’s last day at Our Family Our Family Coalition’s tax *Sales limited to stock on hand. law, sperm donors are not legally Coalition, whichSPRING also has an office documents for the 2014-2015 fiscal *Sales limited to stock on hand. considered a parent and unmarried in Oakland, is Friday, September 16. year list Appel’s compensation as m Every Thursday in April between 4We’ve & 7pm got people using assisted reproduction She’ll start at the Health Alliance, $97,059. take 20% OFF all parts, accessories & clothing.* ready to ride have the same parental rights as which is based in Oakland, Monday, According to Health Alliance’s tax married parents. *Sales limited to stock on hand. September 19. documents for the same time peA message on the Health AlliOur Family Coalition, which riod, total compensation for Serena ance’s website says, “Our board of has a budget of about $1.3 million, Clayton, Ph.D, who’s still listed on directors chose Judy after a comworks with around 120 nonprofit the group’s website as executive diprehensive search process because and social justice partners to serve rector, was approximately $125,000. 1065 & 1077 Valencia (Btwn 21st & 22nd St.) • SF 1065 & 1077 Valencia (Btwn 21st &415-550-6601 22nd St.) • SF Hybrid/City of her strong experience leading statewide “as an LGBTQ-inclusive The organization’s budget is about SALES 415-550-6600 • REPAIRS a regional nonprofit to statewide voice on family issues, and a family SALES 415-550-6600 • REPAIRS 415-550-6601 $1.5 million, the filing says. Mon.- Sat. 10-6, Thu. 10-7, Sun. 11-5 and national prominence. ... We are voice on LGBTQ issues,” Appel said Moreira, who identifies as a queer Mon.- Sat. 10-6, Thu. 10-7, Sun. 11-5 pleased to welcome Judy as we begin in an email blast. Latina, said her salary in the interim a new phase of growth for the CaliVictories have included passage role is in the $90,000 range.t

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4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2016

Symposium honors 20th anniversary of ‘Watermelon Woman’ by Sari Staver

two-day symposium honoring the 20th anniversary of Cheryl Dunye’s groundbreaking film, The Watermelon Woman – the first feature film directed by and starring a black lesbian – will be held September 23-24 at San Francisco State University. The symposium includes film screenings, panels, performances, readings, and art. It is free and open

to the public, with an optional $25 VIP reception Saturday evening. Dunye’s film, originally released in 1996 and restored and rereleased earlier this year (see: http:// www.ebar.com/arts/art_article. php?sec=film&article=1484), was “a watershed moment for black cinema, feminist cinema, lesbian cinema, and new queer cinema,” according to Darius Bost, the symposium organizer. In the symposium announcement, Bost, assistant pro-

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fessor of sexuality studies at SFSU, said the film “garnered widespread critical acclaim and its success inspired many black lesbians to create their own films.” Bost and Dunye are faculty colleagues at SFSU, where Dunye is a professor in the school of cinema. In a telephone interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Dunye said she hopes the symposium will bring together academics and filmmakers together “to show how the film has influenced people.” The symposium, she said, “will be an opportunity to have that conversation.” Dunye emphasized that although she is the “topic of the symposium,” she left the organizing to others. Dunye will give an opening keynote but, she said, “otherwise, I’m there to listen and celebrate,” she said. “I want to hear about the new ideas so I can keep fresh and keep connecting,” she added. Dunye’s 2014 release, Black is Blue, a narrative short film that follows the life of a black transgender man in Oakland, will be made into a feature length movie next year, she said. In the program notes, Bost wrote, “Dunye continues to break ground through complex filmic representations of the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality.” The conference honor’s Dunye’s “growing body of work, as well as her cultural legacy,” he added.

Filmmaker Cheryl Dunye

The symposium, he said, “seeks to redirect our attention to the archives that we might claim under the multiply determined, overlapping, and sometimes competing identity categories of black, feminist, lesbian, queer, and transgender.” “While the celebration of the 20th anniversary of this film marks the increasing institutionality of black queer cultural production and black queer studies in the academy, queer of color scholars have voiced an increased aversion to the institutionalization and affirmation of cultural difference,” he wrote. This symposium “is both a mo-

ment of celebration and introspection: we seek presentations by scholars who draw on the interdisciplinary fields of feminist, lesbian, queer, and trans studies in their critical approaches to black cultural production, but who also will engage the tensions and contradictions that bind these approaches together.” “This symposium is especially salient in the context of contemporary social movements like Black Lives Matter, which has emerged as a queer and feminist led organization; yet questions still emerge about the need to address the particularity of black lives, as evidenced in campaigns like #SayHerName and #BlackTransLivesMatter,” the program said. The program opens Friday afternoon with a black, feminist, queer and transgender film festival. Eight short films will be screened, as well as the restored version of Watermelon Woman. A panel follows the screening. The Saturday program includes panels, a performance by Brian Freeman of Pomo Afro Homos; a reading by Jewelle Gomez, author of The Gilda Stories, which marks its 25th anniversary this year; and a conversation with filmmaker Dee Rees. SFSU is located at 1600 Holloway Avenue. More information about the symposium is available at https:// apps.chss.sfsu.edu/newsletters/thewatermelonwoman/index.html.t

Cruz, Benioff headline GLAAD Gala in SF

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LAAD threw itself a party in San Francisco last week, and made good on its goal of raising $1 million while honoring LGBT and straight allies for their work. The top award of the night went to Marc Benioff, Salesforce chairman and CEO, as he received the Ric Weiland Award, which honors innovators who advance LGBT equality and acceptance through tech and new media. Weiland was a computer software pioneer and philanthropist who died in 2006. Benioff, a straight ally, founded Salesforce in 1999. His vision was to create a new kind of enterprise software company, with a technology model based in the cloud, a pay-as-you-go business model, and an integrated corporate philanthropy model. He has donated millions of dollars over the years, and was 2:01 PM among the first to speak out against anti-gay legislation in Indiana last year. About 500 people attended the September 8 gala, held at City View at the Metreon. GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis was on hand and spoke about how culture has changed over the years. “Because when you came out everything was on the line. Your family. Your friends. Your career,” Ellis said. “This new generation of LGBTQ youth is our future and they are changing the conversation, from who you are allowed to love to who you are allowed to be,” Ellis added. Ellis also talked about how today’s generation is much more flexible and open-minded. “Generation Z and millennials find labels like LGBT and even Q are limiting. Terms like male and female are restrictive. One-third of millennials defined themselves as nonbinary on the Kinsey scale,” Ellis said, referring to the research tool conceived by Alfred Kinsey in the 1940s to describe a person’s sexual orientation based on their experi-

Khaled Sayed

Actor Wilson Cruz makes a point during his remarks at the GLAAD Gala September 8 in San Francisco.

ence or response at a given time. She also talked about the language of the presidential election and how it is not helping, talking about building walls and separating people. “As LGBT people we have faced many walls that discriminate, even harmed us,” Ellis said. “At GLAAD we say, ‘if you build a 10 foot wall we will build an 11 foot ladder’ because we envision a world where no matter who you are and who you love or how you identify, you are accepted.” The GLAAD gala was hosted by Aisha Tyler, an actor, comedian, director, author, and activist. Tyler, a straight ally, is currently co-host of the hit CBS daytime show The Talk. Wilson Cruz, a gay actor best known for playing Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life and Angel in the Broadway production of Rent, said that when he visits San Francisco, he is always reminded by what the city has done for LGBT people, and he is also reminded of LGBT people who were lost along the way. “It is a daily battle and struggle to be understood and accepted by the Latino community as an LGBT person,” Cruz said, “but it is also a battle to be seen and appreciated as a Latino in the LGBT community.” He talked about the importance

of events such as Latin nights at gay clubs. “But in a space like a Latin Night we are free. We can celebrate our culture and we can hold the hand of our beloved and we can be ourselves completely,” Cruz said. Cruz shared his personal story about losing his aunt, Brenda Lee Marquez McCool. She used to accompany her openly gay 21-yearold son, Isaiah, to the Latin Night at Pulse in Orlando. McCool was killed trying to protect her son during the Orlando mass shooting in June that killed 49 people and wounded 53 others. Hannah Maud Hart, a lesbian best known for starring in “My Drunk Kitchen,” a weekly series on YouTube in which she cooks something while intoxicated, was awarded GLAAD’s Davidson/Valenti Award. Monica Roberts, blogger, writer, award-winning transgender human rights advocate, and the founding editor of TransGriot, was also honored. According to Matt Goodman, GLAAD associate director of communications, Benioff matched all the money donated during the gala, and surpassed GLAAD’s $1 million goal for the night.t

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<< Open Forum

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2016

Volume 46, Number 37 September 15-21, 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

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EQCA’s no sellout

rogressive LGBTs who support Jane Kim have been crying foul for a couple weeks now, claiming that Equality California, the statewide LGBT advocacy group, has sold its soul to corporate bigwigs because its political action committee received $300,000 to fund an independent expenditure in support of Scott Wiener, a gay man running against Kim for state Senate District 11, which includes San Francisco and a portion of northern San Mateo County. It’s time for them to be honest. Kim has an independent expenditure from a corporation too. EQCA long ago endorsed Wiener in the race, as did the Bay Area Reporter, and after the surprisingly tight finish, which saw Kim in the lead after the June primary, it’s more important than ever to educate LGBT voters about the race and the candidates. SD 11 has the most LGBT voters and residents of any state Senate district. Additionally, the seat, because of its demographics, provides a powerful legislative platform and public support. Wiener, who has never been afraid to introduce – and more importantly, follow through on – cutting edge legislation, would be in a stronger position over other legislators who don’t have the same demographic advantages. Those calling out EQCA are being hypocritical regarding campaign funding. Kim had her own independent expenditure in the primary, backed by PG&E – a corporate giant. The utility has a monopoly in northern California over customers’ electric rates, was found guilty earlier this year on criminal charges stemming from the horrific 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion that killed eight people and destroyed a neighborhood, and runs circles around regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission. In other words, PG&E’s corporate record isn’t spotless. And yet, PG&E is also a terrific supporter of the LGBT community, actively contributing funds to many nonprofits over the years. The main complaint from progressives is that the EQCA PAC indepen-

dent expenditure contains money from real estate interests at a time when housing is such a crucial issue in San Francisco. But Wiener has shown his commitment to addressing housing issues as a city supervisor and as a state senator he would be in a position where he has pledged to repeal or substantially reform the Ellis Act, the state law that’s been used thousands of times to evict tenants in the city. Since affordability is becoming an issue in cities around the state, next year may be an ideal time to take that on again – and it won’t be easy. As a supervisor, he supported two state lawmakers’ past efforts to change the law, but those were unsuccessful. Earlier this year, Wiener told us that he supports increasing the inclusionary percentage of units developers set aside for affordable housing, but said an inflexible one-size-fits-all of 25 percent would be counterproductive. Kim’s website states that “she’s currently pushing to study whether that standard [40 percent set aside for affordable units] is workable for the new Treasure Island development, potentially paving the way for hundreds more affordable housing units. Jane knows that as the need for affordable housing increases – 40 is the new 30.” But if you read that carefully, it is a call to study whether the 40 percent figure is feasible – for Treasure Island or anywhere else, so it’s currently an un-

proven idea. In fact, Wiener told us that Treasure Island is struggling to hit its 25 percent requirement. This week City Controller Ben Rosenfield released a report concluding San Francisco should require between 14 and 18 percent of new apartments be rented at below market rate; for condos, he recommended a 17 to 20 percent requirement. As EQCA board President Andreas Meyer wrote in an open letter to former Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, Supervisor David Campos, former Supervisor Bevan Dufty, and the executive board of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club who are now critical of EQCA, the PAC sets its own objectives, and has its own policies for making endorsements. “We seek out financial contributions to achieve them,” Meyer wrote, adding that he strongly disagrees with the characterization of EQCA as a “back channel for corporate special interests’ or any other outside interests.” In its decision to endorse Wiener, Meyer wrote the EQCA PAC concluded that he “presented a more substantial record of commitment to the needs of the LGBT community, a deeper understanding of the myriad policy priorities in the area of LGBT social justice and civil rights, and a more detailed and specific public policy and legislative agenda aimed at improving the lives of LGBT people and people living with HIV.” Frankly, we’re glad that EQCA is in the position to financially support LGBT candidates to give them a better shot at victory. Just a few years ago, in the midst of a leadership vacuum, EQCA wasn’t even endorsing local candidates, reserving its meager resources for state legislative races. Now, the statewide group is backing qualified LGBT candidates in local races across the state, as well as keeping with its prioritization of legislative races. Kim’s supporters can complain all they want, that’s part of the political process. But they’re employing a double standard when they criticize EQCA for an independent expenditure when their candidate has one too. Independent expenditures are not controlled by candidates, so to suggest that they would be directly beholden to these interests is not being fully honest either.t

BART’s Mission Street plazas = public health hazards by Michael Petrelis

hen my hand accidentally slid into the pigeon poop near the handrail of the down escalator one morning in the spring of 2014 at the 16th Street BART station, I wanted nothing more than a chance to wash up. After paying my fare, I headed to the men’s room only to be reminded it’s been shuttered due to heightened security precautions since the 9/11 attacks. This episode two years ago was the beginning of my campaign to challenge the incumbent BART director for this station, Tom Radulovich. I attempted communication with him, but he, unfortunately, never replied to my voicemails and emails. A series of service requests to BART, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, and the Departments of Public Works and Public Health produced a concerted number of scrubbings and improvements of the two plazas at this critical transit hub. My advocacy led Out Traveler to run an article headlined, “Are S.F.’s Train Plazas Public Health Hazards?” Still, no public response came from Radulovich, a blot of disengagement on his record. In July of this year, before he opted out of running for another four-year term, I became a candidate for the BART District 9 seat. Democracy is best served when all incumbents face challengers to prevent political complacency. My campaign has directly engaged with the assorted public agencies tasked with a piece of the large maintenance picture for the 16th Street station. Photographic and video evidence of the dirty problems have been submitted to the agencies and shared on my social media. Crews from DPW have been out power-washing,

Michael Petrelis

The 24th Street BART station has attracted a lot of pigeons, and their poop.

using a good deal of soap, recycled gray water, and disinfectant to clean most of the surfaces, street furniture, and Muni bus shelters. The more permanent solution to the pigeon poop problem, especially near the stairs and escalators of the subway entrances, will require BART to fill in holes with concrete and install anti-avian metal spikes. The entrances at the 24th and Mission station are equally in need of pigeon abatement and better sanitation. Let me unequivocally declare that none of my proposals are designed to displace any users of the plazas. No one deserves a gross public transit hub. I’ve petitioned San Francisco Health Director Barbara Garcia to declare a sanitary emergency at these BART plazas, to better develop regular patterns of keeping the hub as hygienic as possible. She’s instructed DPH’s environmental division to investigate. Regardless of DPH’s investigation and findings, there is an overwhelming need to assess the filth at the plazas and to ensure the next BART District 9 director is monitoring their environmental conditions. Reopening the concourse level public toilets at 16th Street and all other closed restrooms would give everyone a place to pee and poop,

and wash our hands. As with the Pit Stop program, hiring the homeless to staff the toilets would help them and curtail bad behavior. I don’t believe anyone can claim the status quo is acceptable. As a candidate, there are other matters of importance I want debated. I’m pushing for greater transparency of BART management. The public needs to have easy online access to the salary and compensation packages of top managers and the calendar for General Manager Grace Crunican should be shared on BART’s site. Directors’ meetings are extremely inconvenient for BART riders and stakeholders. All of them take place at the start of the workday, at 9 a.m. on Thursdays. At the most recent BART board meeting, out of hundreds of thousands of riders, I was the sole person present. How can the directors and managers learn what is of concern to riders if they won’t hold any meetings at night? Let’s activate the plazas with pop-up bike repair and small vendor shops and meet-and-greet sessions organized by the station and BART management with the District 9 director in attendance. Establish specific times for outreach work by local nonprofit agencies – from homeless groups to public transit and biking advocacy groups – and interactive musical and art programs. Finally, we all need to vote yes on Measure RR, the BART bond on the November ballot. This would provide $3.5 billion to replace and modernize BART’s crumbling infrastructure. I would be honored to have your vote in the fall. For more information about my BART platform and campaign, please visit http:// www.Facebook.com/PetrelisFiles or http:// www.Mpetrelis.Blogspot.com.t The author is a government transparency leader who regularly files public records requests with city officials and successfully lobbied the fire and health commissions to air their meetings on SFGov TV.

Letters >>

September 15-21, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

EQCA criticized for campaign spending

For decades, San Francisco has been a place of refuge for LGBTQ people facing rejection or discrimination in less accepting regions. But that refuge is under attack, and our supposed advocates at Equality California have sided with the attackers. Because of our housing affordability crisis, San Francisco is no longer the city of refuge it’s been for decades. Hardly anyone with an income short of six figures can afford to move here. Surveys have found that LGBT homeless make up 20 percent of San Francisco’s overall homeless population and half of the city’s homeless youth. Cleve Jones was right when he wrote recently, “At this point in our history – for LGBT San Franciscans – the most important issue is housing.” Supervisor Jane Kim, now running for state Senate, has fought tirelessly to keep San Francisco affordable. But Equality California has taken hundreds of thousands of

dollars from the California Apartment Association, the California Association of Realtors, and other business interests that profit from gentrification and used it to run scurrilous, dishonest ads attacking Kim. When LGBTQ leaders like Cleve Jones, Carole Migden, Tom Ammiano, and David Campos called on EQCA to stop its sleazy attacks, the organization responded with baldly implausible “reasons” for its actions – claims that wouldn’t fool a bright third grader. I am proud to join with Jones, Ammiano, Migden, Campos, Bevan Dufty, Harry Britt, the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, and countless other LGBTQ champions in supporting Kim. I urge all San Franciscans to sever ties with Equality California until it ends its war on queer San Francisco. Bruce Mirken San Francisco

SF supe calls for LGBT cultural working group by Matthew S. Bajko

hold told the B.A.R. work on the LGBTQ cultural district would start “in early 2017.” Wiener said this week he hopes to see the working group convened “as soon as possible” once the board adopts the resolution. “We need to move forward now on whatever work can be done in the near term,” he said.

an Francisco is expected to form an LGBT Nightlife Working Group that will be tasked with not only supporting entertainment venues but also with pushing forward the creation of an LGBT Cultural Heritage District in the city’s South of Market neighborhood. The formation of the group comes as the city continues to see LGBT bars and nightlife venues struggle to survive, particularly those located outside of the still predominantly gay Castro district. The most recent bar to face questions about its fate has been the Stud, located in SOMA and recently purchased by a consortium of LGBT nightlife luminaries now trying to renegotiate a pending rent hike with its landlord. As for the heritage district, it has been stalled the last three years as planning officials prioritized other work. In 2013 the Board of Supervisors called for establishing such a special use district in western SOMA when it adopted the Western SOMA Community Plan. But as the Bay Area Reporter noted in July, little attention has been given to the LGBTQ district since. Focus instead in recent years has gone toward creating a historic context statement surveying the entire city’s LGBTQ history, which was adopted last fall and highlighted how a citizens advisory committee for the

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Rick Gerharter

Supervisor Scott Wiener

opment to push forward the LGBT cultural district as well as enacting policies and programs to support LGBT nightlife. “This is an overdue measure to ensure a strong community push to make this cultural heritage district a reality. This should have happened years ago,” Wiener told the B.A.R. “The creation of this district stalled, and we are trying to get it on track so it happens.” Gina Simi, a spokeswoman for the planning department, wrote in an email that the city is “well-positioned to provide technical assistance and support” to such a working group now that it has the LGBT historic context statement completed. “The statement provides invalu-

“The creation of this district stalled, and we are trying to get it on track so it happens.” –Supervisor Scott Wiener

SOMA LGBTQ district had yet to be formed. After conducting a committee hearing Monday about the longstalled LGBT Cultural Heritage District, as well as LGBT nightlife issues, gay District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener called on his colleagues at their meeting Tuesday to create the working group. The board is expected to approve his request at its meeting this Tuesday, September 20. The group will be made up of representatives from LGBT nightlife businesses and advocates, and will be tasked with working with the planning department, Entertainment Commission, and Office of Economic and Workforce Devel-

Barry Schneider Attorney at Law

able background on the struggles and victories of the community in making San Francisco not only a refuge for those in need, but also a destination for those seeking to learn more about the LGBTQ civil rights movement,” wrote Simi. “We’re looking forward to continuing to work with the community on this very important effort.” Wiener’s resolution does not stipulate how many people should serve on the working group. He is leaving it up to the city agencies to determine the number of members and choose the participants. When Wiener first called for this week’s hearing back in July, gay Planning Director John Rahaim

Tom Nolan, a gay man who chairs the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors, has been named a 2016 recipient of the prestigious American Public Transit Association Outstanding Public Transportation Board Member Award, the highest honor awarded to transit board members in North America. “It’s a lovely honor, more or less lifetime achievement,” Nolan, who works for the city’s Department of Aging and Adult Services, told the B.A.R. in an emailed reply. A former San Mateo County supervisor, Nolan is a former member of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Bay Area-wide planning body, and sat on the board overseeing SamTrans, the Peninsula’s transit agency. SamTrans board member Shirley Harris was also named APTA’s Outstanding Public Transportation Board Member. Nolan was named to the SFMTA board in 2006 and represents the agency on the Caltrain Joint Powers Board, which oversees the commuter rail line between San Francisco and San Jose. Due to term limits, Nolan is expected to step down from the SFMTA board next spring. During his tenure, the city’s transit agency adopted a program offering free rides to students and seniors, overhauled numerous bus lines while adding new routes, and moved forward on upgrading its vehicle fleet of buses and subway cars. “Near the conclusion of my over 30-year tenure as a board member/ commissioner on four different transportation agencies in the SF Bay Area, I am truly thrilled to receive this award from my national colleagues at APTA,” Nolan stated in a news release Tuesday about his winning the award. “I am proud of my service in this most important aspect of our common life and the award will always be a treasured capstone of that time for me.” In the release, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) praised Nolan for his decades of service, stating that his “stamp of leadership has been imprinted on almost every single transit project in San Francisco and the Bay Area. His public service has ensured that all people and communities can safely, efficiently and affordably be transported from work, school and home.”t

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<< Commentary

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2016

Unseen on the silver screen by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

iving in a time that’s supposedly beyond the “Transgender Tipping Point,” as Time magazine declared in May 2014, can be strange. While movies with transgender characters seem increasingly commonplace, the main roles are still given to non-transgender male actors who are somehow showing their compassion and speaking out for our marginalized community while taking jobs from actual transgender performers. In late 2013, Dallas Buyer’s Club hit the screens. The film, a story about AIDS patient Ron Woodroof smuggling drugs for he and his friends though the Texas city. In it, actor Jared Leto plays “Rayon,” a fictional trans woman named for a fabric. She dies before the final reel, but not before helping to redeem the main character and keep the club going. Leto won an Academy Award for his portrayal. He accepted his award in a white tux and full beard. When criticized by transgender people about being a non-trans male in a trans role, he opted to defend it, claiming in a Huffington Post interview that actors being able to “play roles that are outside them-

selves” opens up the opportunity for trans people to play non-transgender roles. But this is not happening. Two years later, Roland Emmerich’s film, Stonewall, hit theaters, with its clean white kid protagonist and straight-friendly retelling of the Stonewall rebellion. It includes Jonny Beauchamp as Ray/Ramona – a mash up of Sylvia Rivera and other trans-identified people at the uprising – and Otoja Abit as Marsha P. Johnson. Unlike Dallas Buyer’s Club, Stonewall was not on anyone’s Oscar list, and failed both critically and financially. Two months after Stonewall, The Danish Girl hit theaters. This told a strongly fictionalized account of the life of Lili Elbe and her partner, Gerda Wegener. The film, veering from Elbe’s own biography and history, also presents its audience with a trans story that will be unfamiliar to most trans people, while fitting assumptions by the non-transgender that trans people are little more than hyper-feminine fetishists. In the wake of the success of Dallas Buyer’s Club – and the disappointments that were Stonewall and The Danish Girl – comes yet another wretched transgender sidekick played by a non-transgender white

male. This time, it is gay actor Matt Bomer playing a trans sex worker in Mark Ruffalo’s upcoming feature film Anything. The story, based on Timothy McNeil’s play of the same name, focuses on Early, a suicidal widower who meets Freda, a trans woman who shows up on his doorstep beaten and bloody. The story ends up being about their relationship in spite of their varied backgrounds. As word spread about the film in trans circles, Ruffalo, an executive producer on the project, took to Twitter to defend the casting, pointing to work he did with Bomer on The Normal Heart. Yet Jen Richards noted that she was one transgender actress who did try out for the role, but was apparently not “trans enough” for the part. “I told them they shouldn’t have a cis man play a trans woman,” said Richards. “They didn’t care.” As the debate intensified, Ruffalo again spoke out about the casting decision, saying on Twitter, “To the Trans community. I hear you. It’s wrenching to see you in this pain. I am glad we are having this conversation. It’s time.” It’s well past time. In 1970, 46 years ago, The Christine Jorgensen Story hit the silver screen. It featured John Hansen as the title character. At the time, Jorgensen attempted to get a restraining order against Edward Small who owned the film rights, trying to avoid the film from becoming an

Christine Smith

exploitative “B-movie.” Five years later, a trans actress was passed over for Chris Sarandon, who played Al Pacino’s trans lover in Dog Day Afternoon. Five years more, and Brian De Palma’s Dressed to Kill features a transgender murderer played by Michael Caine. There’s plenty more. The 1980s saw The World According To Garp and John Lithgow’s supporting actor role as trans woman Roberta Muldooon, Ted Levine’s portrayal of killer Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs, Jaye Davidson’s trans portrayal in The Crying Game, Chris Williams in The World’s Fastest Indian, so on, and so on. This notion of a transgender character – particularly as a “sympathetic” supporting character for the straight, white male lead – is ages old. That the character is typically played by a straight white male actor instead of a trans woman – or for that matter, any woman – is even more played out. As an aside, I feel as if many of

these – Dallas Buyer’s Club, Anything, Stonewall, and earlier films like The Crying Game and others – are simply using trans as a way of presenting an exotic and “damaged” character to play against their “straight man” main character. The transgender character is simply the sympathy factor that helps our main character learn and grow, the transgender Hooch to their Turner. Of course, these are not movies being made for transgender people. These are stories for non-transgender people to consume, and are made for them so that they can feel redeemed by their acceptance of the trans character through the lead character’s friendship with them. There are trans actresses out there, and they are plenty competent. I already mentioned Richards, but she is only one of many. (Sadly, Alexis Arquette, another trans actress, died this week at 47.) They aren’t getting these roles, however. They’re not seen as trans enough, which judging from the characters we have seen means that they’re not apparently masculine enough for the part. Indeed, these films are not made with transgender people, and aren’t even really telling stories about us. These are fairly stale versions of trans people.t Gwen Smith deliberately name-checked a Tom Hanks movie. You’ll find her at www.gwensmith.com.

Oakland exhibit looks at Lexington Club compiled by Cynthia Laird

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hotos and ephemera from the Lexington Club, San Francisco’s last lesbian bar that closed in 2015, are now on exhibit at the Qulture Collective in Oakland. The “Lex,” as it was affectionately known, was an iconic dyke, lesbian, queer bar that operated for 18 years in the city’s Mission district. It served its last drinks April 30, 2015. According to exhibit organizers, the Lex was more than a bar; it was a living room, cultural center, and a safe space. The exhibit includes images and ephemera curated by Lauren Tabak and Susie Smith of the Lexington Club Archival Project, and aims to show the vibrancy of the community that formed around the bar. Amidst changing patrons and aesthetics, the space transformed and was transformed by its 11:43 AM community. Tabak and Smith shot over 150 images inside the bright blue-walled bathrooms during the final months that the bar was open, documenting the faces and emotions of the patrons as they came to say goodbye to the beloved institution. “While reviewing the selections, we realized that we unwittingly also captured the bar as it physically disappeared,” Tabak and Smith said in a news release. “When viewed chronologically, it becomes apparent that the small hole in the bathroom wall is slowly growing, until a large piece is missing.” In addition to Tabak and Smith’s photos, artists in the exhibit include Ace Morgan, whose black and white documentary photos capture the opening night and 10-year anniversary party; Molly DeCoudreaux, who created many of the images used in promotional materials; Elizabeth Beier, whose comics recall her

Lauren Tabak/Susie Smith

Lexington Club patrons share a kiss in the bathroom, one of many photos of the now-closed bar on exhibit in Oakland.

adventures at the Lex; and Rebeka Rodriguez and Cody T. Williams, who both shot portraits outside the bar during the closing night parties. The exhibit is up until early next month at Qulture Collective, 1714 Franklin Street in Oakland. Hours are Wednesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday from noon to 4. A closing party will be held October 7 from 6 to 9 p.m.

SF Police Commission seeks input on next chief

The San Francisco Police Commission continues to seek community input on the recruitment process for the next chief of police and is offering an online survey. In a news release, the commission said it encourages the public to participate in the process by taking the community input survey. It also asked neighborhood associations, community and advocacy groups, and other groups to share the survey link so that their members can

take part. Individual responses are anonymous and will be de-identified when reported. The online survey will be available until Friday, September 16 and can be found at http://www.ralphandersen.com/sfpc-survey/.

Party for the Parks

The San Francisco Parks Alliance will hold its Party for the Parks Saturday, September 17 at the playground in the Panhandle in Golden Gate Park (Oak and Ashbury streets). The event is a fundraiser for the nonprofit, which works to facilitate collaboration between residents and city government to improve parks and raise the visibility of parks and recreation as a vital public service. The evening begins with a cocktail reception at 6, followed by a buffet dinner and dancing from 7:30 to 11 p.m. Cocktail attire is suggested. Tickets are $275 per person, with a limited number of young professional tickets (under 35) for $175. For tickets or more information, visit www.sfparksalliance.org. See page 12 >>

Community News>>

t Spate of burglaries hits Castro by Sari Staver

n a recent four-day period, there were three home break-ins and a commercial burglary in the Castro. The San Francisco Police Department reports that it is likely that all the home burglary victims may have left their front doors unlocked. According to San Francisco Police spokeswoman Officer Giselle Talkoff, the residential burglaries, or hot prowls, took place between September 3-6. No one was injured in any of the incidents. The first break-in took place September 3, when a 62-year-old woman awoke about 7 a.m. to find several witnesses at her door to tell her that the front door at her home on Diamond Street was open. The home had apparently been burglarized during the night; stolen items included a computer and credit cards, she told the police. Police said there was no sign of forced entry and the woman told police they’d been having problems with the front door. On September 4, another burglary occurred overnight on Hartford Street, near 17th. In that case, a bedridden 56-year-old man left the front door of his home unlocked for his son, who arrived home at 2 a.m. to find numerous items missing, including a laptop, camera, backpack, and jacket. That same night, burglars al-

Sari Staver

Lobsang Wangmo stands in front of her store, Deki Jewels, which was reported burglarized last week.

legedly broke the front window of Deki Jewels, a Tibetan gift shop at 4202 18th Street, across from Mollie Stone’s. The store, which has been in business at that location for over 10 years, had another late night mishap recently, when vandals started a fire in front of the store, according to owner Lobsang Wangmo. According to Wangmo, during the September 4 incident, the store’s alarm system alerted the police to the break-in and captured pictures of a male and a female using a club

to break into the store. They grabbed jewelry and other items, she said. Wangmo said the two appeared to be African-American or Latino and had been seen riding bicycles in the neighborhood that night. And on September 6, burglars reportedly entered a residence on the 4200 block of 20th Street. A woman resident told police said the only item missing was a roommate’s set of keys, which may have been left in the front door, according to the police. Gay Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the Castro, said more police officers are needed in the neighborhood. “We need officers responding to crimes, but also walking beats and preventing crimes, and I’ve been a strong advocate for increasing our police staffing,” Wiener told the Bay Area Reporter. “Unfortunately, many members of the Board of Supervisors are hostile to increasing police staffing, so we have to continue to fight for officers to address these burglaries, thefts, and hot prowls happening in our neighborhoods.” Talkoff said burglaries of this type are typically “crimes of opportunity.” The burglars will check doors in the late night and early morning hours until they find one that is unlocked. “Why bother breaking in if you can just walk in?” she said.t

Aging panel calls for yes on Prop I

September 15-21, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

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assage of Proposition I, which goes before San Francisco voters in November, is critical if the city’s LGBT elder population and adults with disabilities are to continue receiving existing or expanded services, according to panelists at a community forum on LGBT ageism. Hosted by the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, the discussion drew a crowd of around 100 people to the Eric Quezada Center For Culture and Politics September 12. Panelists also called for more community involvement at the activism level. Sam Trevino, 60, a licensed clinical social worker in Monterey County, opened the discussion by saying that the community needed to define ageism. “It’s one of the many -isms we deal with,” he said. “Ageism is the stereotyping of and the discrimination against people based on their age. Stereotyping based on age is still socially acceptable.” The term “ageism,” Trevino noted, was coined by Dr. Robert Butler in 1969. Butler was the first director of the National Institute on Aging. “Are you hesitant to shop in a clothing store that caters to the young?” Trevino asked. “That’s ageism. Ageism is the only -ism we will all be subjected to.” Shireen McSpadden, 52, executive director of the city’s Department of Adult and Aging Services, offered statistical information. “Older adults are more likely to be poor,” she said. “Seniors in San Francisco face very high rates of isolation – we really see this in the LGBT community. Twenty percent of San Franciscans are age 60 or older – this is the biggest percentage of any city in California.” McSpadden added that the numbers would be 25-30 percent by 2030. “We are up against a culture focused on youth, beauty, vitality and productivity,” said Trevino. Panelist Marcy Adelman, 70, a clinical psychologist and a founder of Openhouse, which is nearly ready for people to move into the

ebar.com Rick Gerharter

The Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club sponsored a forum on ageism in the LGBT Community featuring panelists, from left, moderator L. Michael Costa, Marcy Adelman, Ph.D., Shireen McSpadden, Sam Trevino, and Daniel Redman.

first phase of its LGBT-friendly housing project at 55 Laguna Street, underscored the importance of supporting Prop I, which is more commonly known as the Dignity Fund. According to its website, the Dignity Fund will stabilize funding for today’s services and support for seniors, veterans, adults with disabilities, and adults living with chronic and life-threatening health conditions and establish a fund that will grow with the city’s discretionary revenues. Any unspent funds will roll over to the next year, and it will not raise taxes. Should the measure pass, it is hoped that annual spending on the fund will be around $111 million by 2036-2037. A flier that was handed out to attendees specified who would benefit should Prop I pass: San Francisco residents age 60 and over, adults of all ages with disabilities, isolated LGBT seniors, veterans, caregivers, older adults living with HIV or dementia, and people with other significant chronic conditions. “We need to create a safety net and good policies so people can age well in their communities,” Adelman said. “There needs to be cultural competence training so service providers are LGBT-friendly.” “Ageism makes you invisible,” she said. “You’re not counted and so

your needs are not met. You have to be visible and out.” Attorney Daniel Redman, 35, said that many LGBT seniors “have navigated discrimination their whole life.” “It’s made them resilient,” he added. Redman spoke of his work as an attorney, where he’s seen many obvious cases of discrimination get dismissed by judges. Such cases, he said, were very hard to prove. Redman advised people to hold politicians accountable. “Ask candidates what their policies are on elders,” he said. “There needs to be inter-generational work in the LGBT community.” Trevino said that leadership on these issues was needed as he recalled activist groups such as the Grey Panthers. “We have lost those charismatic leaders,” he said. “We have not rushed to pick up the mantle. “Start a movement on what it means to be an elder adult,” said Trevino. “You need to sit with yourself and think about your own biases. You need to rewrite your own script. Have you witnessed ageism? Speak out. We can start a movement that challenges the culture so we can change the culture.” More information on Prop I can be found at http://www.sfdignityfund.org.t

<< Sports

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2016

NCAA to boycott North Carolina by Roger Brigham

he exodus of sporting, corporate, and entertainment events from North Carolina as a result of that state’s recently enacted transphobic and homophobic law grew this week when the NCAA announced it was removing seven national championship events from the state for the 2016-17 season – including two rounds of the Division I men’s basketball championship tournament in March. “The NCAA Board of Governors made this decision because of the cumulative actions taken by the state concern-

ing civil rights protections,” the association said on its website. “NCAA championships and events must promote an inclusive atmosphere for all college athletes, coaches, administrators, and fans. Current North Carolina state laws make it challenging to guarantee that host communities can help deliver on that commitment if NCAA events remained in the state.” The association cited four specific conditions forcing its decision: the removal under House Bill 2, as the law is known, of local non-discrimination ordinances protecting LGBT individuals; the state requirement that

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The San Francisco Columbarium provides a museum-like look back in time. Since its opening in 1898, many of the pioneers of San Francisco have made this their final resting place.

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men and women use bathrooms associated with the gender on their birth certificates, not their true gender identities; state law protecting government officials who refuse to provide services to LGBT individuals; and the ban several states and cities currently have against sending representatives to the state. “The NCAA has put the needs of their student-athletes first, especially the most vulnerable,” Helen Carroll, sports director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, told the Bay Area Reporter. “I applaud their decision and note it is a historic moment for the nation in validating the place of transgender students in colleges in this nation.” In addition to the men’s basketball events, which had been scheduled for Greensboro, the other championship events to be relocated include this year’s Division I women’s soccer and lacrosse, Division II baseball and Division III men’s and women’s tennis, from Cary; Division I women’s golf, from Greenville; and Division III men’s and women’s soccer, from Greensboro. The NCAA action follows the decision by the National Basketball Association to remove its 2017 AllStar Game from Charlotte. In another blow to North Carolina, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced Wednesday, September 14 that it was also moving its neutral site championships out of the state due to HB 2. “As members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the ACC Council of Presidents reaffirmed our collective commitment to uphold the values of equality, diversity, inclusion and nondiscrimination,” the ACC’s statement said. “Every one of our 15 universities is strongly committed to these values and therefore, we will continue to host ACC Championships at campus sites. We believe North Carolina House Bill 2 is inconsistent with these values, and as a result, we will relocate all neutral site championships for the 2016-17 academic year. All locations will be announced in the future from the conference office.” Referring to the negative impact the law has already had on the state, ACC Commissioner John Swofford said, before Wednesday’s meeting, “On a personal note, it’s time for this bill to be repealed as it’s counter to basic human rights.” Kami Mueller, communications director for the state Republican Party, responded by saying, “This is so absurd it’s almost comical. I genuinely look forward to the NCAA merging all men’s and women’s teams together as singular unisex teams. Under the NCAA’s logic, colleges should make cheerleaders and football players share bathrooms, showers, and hotel rooms. This decision is an assault to female athletes across the nation.” Alas, Mueller did not offer to draw a diagram on a whiteboard explaining her logic.

Kaepernick said. (Editor’s note: he hadn’t heard Mueller’s quote yet.) “To me, you are telling me that my position as a backup QB and being quiet is more important than people’s lives. I would ask him to really have a conversation with the families of people that have been murdered and see if he still feels that way. Because I bet that he doesn’t, just because he hasn’t experienced that type of oppression.”

Gymnastics, swimming fallout North Carolina Republican Party communications director Kami Mueller

Anthem protests grow, evolve

In the few weeks since 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sparked a national discussion by remaining seated for the national anthem before a preseason NFL game as a protest of racial inequality and violence, other athletes in football and other sports have weighed in, many of them showing support with demonstrations of their own. Kaepernick had modified his anthem protest by kneeling during the last preseason game in San Diego. With season openers held on 9/11, many players also kneeled. Some raised fists. Others interlocked their arms with teammates. Several high school players and teams were reported to have begun kneeling for the anthem. Lesbian soccer star Megan Rapinoe, who had knelt for the anthem during an earlier game, on 9/11 stood with her Seattle Reign teammates, arms interlocked. For the Niners season open on Monday, Kaepernick knelt with teammate Eric Reid while a few of the other players raised their fists. One of the most absurd criticisms of Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the anthem came from ESPN commentator Trent Dilfer during Sunday’s pregame show. Dilfer said he respected Kaepernick’s passion and position, but thought he should have stuck a sock in it because he was disrespecting not the country, but his team. Gasp! “I do not respect the fact that he put himself and his stance above his team,” Dilfer said. “It has disrupted the organization.” He said Kaepernick should “be quiet and sit in the shadows and get the starter ready to play Week 1. It has caused friction and has torn at the fabric of the team.” That fabric-torn team then whipped the Los Angeles Rams 28-0 for its first opening day shutout in franchise history. “I think that’s one of the most ridiculous comments I’ve heard,”

Obituaries >> William “Crash” Courtney August 18, 1946 – September 8, 2016 Born in Boston, William Courtney came to San Francisco as a young man. He was a taxi driver for many years, infamously earning him the name “Crash.” Crash was an enigma; no one really knew him. Indeed, not many knew his real name. He seemed to dislike people – yet he craved company. He hated religion (once calling Christianity a “Nazarene Death Cult”) – yet he drifted toward the good Reverends: Father Chuck, Father Don, and Father Lyle of the San Francisco Night Ministry. He seemed dull and slow and distant but we, his friends, knew that he had the capacity to be sharp and witty when he wanted. Not much is memorable about Crash except to say that he instilled in us a sense of caring and has shed a light on the conditions that exist for those who are poor, alone, and have no advocate. His home was disheveled, dark, and

dirty, yet one small part was immaculate – a shelf that displayed: his favorite books, a very old taxi driver’s hat, and a polished coconut that a friend had mailed to him long ago.

Douglas (Doug) Matley September 13, 1952 – September 10, 2016 Douglas (Doug) Matley, who for years was a familiar sight in the Castro, passed away September 10, 2016 after a lengthy illness. He would have been 64 on September 13. Doug played the concert harp, composed music, wrote on esoteric themes, and collected religious art. He is survived by brothers Bruce, Kenneth, and Randal; and sister Tamara. Douglas left this earth a wandering soul, and we hope and pray that this next journey will be his best.

Two storylines from gymnastics and swimming were obscured during Olympic celebrations in Rio de Janeiro but are continuing to generate headlines and heated discussions – and likely will for many months to come. Three top officials from the antidoping review board of FINA, international swimming’s governing body, submitted their resignations to the FINA board September 1, saying FINA had overridden their suggestions when determining the Olympic eligibility of Russian swimmers following revelations of extensive institutional efforts in the Russian sports administration to skirt drug testing. FINA had initially said in July that seven Russian swimmers who had previously been connected to doping violations would automatically be disqualified from the Rio Olympics – then decided, what the hell, let ‘em swim. The International Olympic Committee earlier had upheld the suspension of the entire track and field team except for an athlete who trained in the United States, but said it would rely on the various sports federations to determine whether Russian athletes would be eligible in their sports. The resigning members of FINA’s eight-member doping advisory board – chairman Andrew Pipe, Larry Bowers and Susan White – said they received no notice from FINA about its decision to ignore their recommendations. “We learned of the decisions regarding the eligibility of Russian competitors only by observing the Olympic competition,” they wrote. “We were disappointed to note that our recommendations were not followed – and even more disappointed to receive no specific response to a subsequent written request for information regarding the reasons for FINA’s decision.” Meanwhile, a news series by the Indianapolis Star in August revealed that U.S. gymnastics officials routinely failed to report allegations of sexual abuses by coaches and officials to law enforcement and nurtured a cover-up culture that enable suspect abusers to continue to operate. Now two women have taken legal action against a former team doctor for the national team, alleging sexual abuse. A Jane Doe lawsuit was filed Friday, September 9 in Sacramento County against Michigan State’s Larry Nassar, a doctor of osteopathic medicine who had been a national team physician before resigning shortly before the Rio Olympics. Similar criminal complaints were filed two weeks earlier with Michigan State University police by Rachael Denhollander. Denhollander alleged Nassar sexually assaulted her during back treatment when she was 15 and became more abusive over the course of subsequent treatments. “I was terrified,” Denhollander told the Star. “I was ashamed. I was very embarrassed. And I was very confused, trying to reconcile what was happening with the person he was supposed to be. He’s this famous doctor. He’s trusted by my friends. He’s trusted by these other gymnasts. How could he reach this position in See page 12 >>

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From the Cover>>

September 15-21, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

Oakland Pride

From page 1

marchers than people watching, as viewers lightly dotted the street. First responder vehicles carried placards designating them as legacy grand marshals in observance of the 9/11 terror attacks that occurred 15 years ago. The festival warmed up as the day wore on and crowds filled the streets. Oakland Pride spokesman Carlos Uribe didn’t respond to a message seeking attendance estimates by press time. Among the more colorful groups on hand was Verasphere, which was started by longtime San Francisco artist and activist Michael Johnstone. He and his partner, David Faulk, a.k.a. Mrs. Vera, make costumes out of recycled materials and then they and their friends wear them. “We make people smile,” Johnstone said. Among the politicians on hand were the top two candidates running for the at-large seat on the Oakland City Council. And in separate interviews, incumbent Rebecca Kaplan and challenger Peggy Moore, both lesbians, made their case for why Oakland residents should vote for them. Moore spoke with the Bay Area Reporter after the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club’s Pride breakfast at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle. “I’ve always really loved the atlarge seat,” Moore said when asked why she was running. A relatively late entrant into the race, Moore last month resigned her position as senior adviser to Mayor Libby Schaaf to challenge Kaplan, a two-term incumbent with wide name recognition, partly because of her two unsuccessful mayoral runs. Moore said that she did an “assessment of my skills,” and concluded that she could offer “more engagement with people, more engagement with the mayor, and more

Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan marches in the Pride parade.

engagement with the City Council” should she be elected. She called her approach “completely different” from her opponent’s and said trust was a big issue in the race, enveloping issues such as housing and affordability. She said people must have trust in the council as to how the city is handling the police department, which has been caught up in a sex scandal involving a young woman who alleges that she had sex with officers – including when she was a minor – in exchange for protection. Last week, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley announced that her office planned to file charges against seven law enforcement officers, including five from the Oakland Police Department. A couple days before O’Malley’s news conference, Schaaf announced that the city issued notices of intent to terminate four members of OPD as a result of sustained findings of misconduct related to the sexual misconduct investigation. Moore said that she intends to run a positive campaign, but that assertion was challenged by Kaplan,

Death penalty

Martin, a Yes on Prop 62 spokeswoman, said the measure “is the only commonsense solution to deal with California’s deeply dysfunctional and expensive death penalty system. Prop 62 will finally put an end to our failed death penalty system, saving California taxpayers $150 million annually and guaranteeing we never execute an innocent person.” The state has not executed anyone since 2006. Two years ago, a federal judge ruled that the state’s death penalty system was unconstitutional

Pride breakfast

The fourth annual East Bay

Rick Gerharter

Clinton

From page 1

On the council, Kaplan said that she successfully passed a measure to ban coal shipments from traveling through Oakland, and she fought successfully to put a rent control measure on the November ballot, which she said has the support of the labor council and the Democratic Party. “I helped launch Oakland Pride,” Kaplan said, pointing to the crowds of people wandering through the festival grounds. She also said that three years ago she took action to provide money for LGBTQ youth programs. “Part of what it means to be active on things is to actually go out and do something,” Kaplan said. Schaaf, in a brief interview at the festival, said that she has endorsed Moore in the race, and that she didn’t have anything negative to say about Kaplan, who ran against Schaaf for mayor two years ago. Schaaf, who again rode her snail art car in the Pride parade, said she “loves” the feel of Oakland Pride “and how everyone turns out.”

Students participating in the Unity Theme Program at the UC Berkeley marched in the Oakland Pride parade.

From page 1

handedly – he was having problems with churches and there was a church in Houston that was giving him a hard time – maybe for good reason – and he put in an amendment that basically stopped our great pastors and ministers and others from talking. ...” He repeated calls for repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, promised to bring forth a “new civil rights agenda for our time,” and said he would fight for “family values.” That “civil rights agenda,” he said, is “the right to a safe community, a great education, and a secure job.” He praised anti-gay right-wing conservative Phyllis Schlafly, who endorsed him, as one of the great champions of family values. Schlafly, who died September 5 at the age of 92, was best known for leading the opposition to an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution in the 1970s. In doing so, she claimed the ERA would lead to allowing gays to teach in schools, marry, and adopt children. Her Eagle Forum group was a frequent contributor of legal briefs opposing equal rights for LGBT people.

Rick Gerharter

who pointed to a survey last month that attacked her and claimed that Moore is “supported” by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), according to a story in the East Bay Express. In fact, Lee did not endorse in the City Council race and sent out her own statement to that effect. “It’s an unusual thing,” Kaplan said of Lee’s August 30 statement. Kaplan, speaking near her booth at the Oakland Pride festival, said that LGBT politicians are achieving leadership positions they’ve never had. She is now chair of the Alameda County Transportation Commission and was appointed to a seat on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, marking the first time in 23 years that the district has had a representative from Oakland city government. “We’d lose those positions,” Kaplan said, adding that she had to get votes from all the mayors of all the cities in Alameda County for the air quality board. The air quality district may be best known for issuing its Spare the Air alerts, but it also funds projects such as the free Broadway Shuttle in Oakland.

“I regret saying ‘half’ – that was wrong.” –Hillary Clinton

Neither FRC nor the Trump campaign posted his speech on their websites, but the full address can be watched via a “Right Side Broadcasting” YouTube post. But media attention since Friday has been riveted only on two things: Clinton’s characterization of many Trump supporters as “deplorable” and Clinton’s physical health. On Friday night, before an LGBT fundraiser in Manhattan, Clinton said this: “To just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the ‘Basket of Deplorables,’ right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic – you name it. And

unfortunately, there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites – that used to have only 11,000 people, now have 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive, hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric. “But that other basket of people are people who feel the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures. And they’re just desperate for change.” (An incomplete video of these remarks can be seen at CNN.) Throughout the weekend and into Monday, media reports replayed Clinton’s characterization of some

because it is arbitrary and plagued with delays. This is the second time in four years that voters will decide whether to abolish the death penalty. The last effort, Proposition 34 in 2012, was defeated 52 percent to 48 percent. Recent polling suggests those numbers haven’t changed, making Prop 62 an uphill fight. Kent Scheidegger, a spokesman for No on Prop 62/Yes on Prop 66 and legal director for the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, said in a phone interview that voters should oppose Prop 62 “because it would eliminate the only just punishment for the very worst murderers.”

“It would let people off with inadequate punishment for crimes such as mass murder, serial murder, rape, and the murder of children,” he added. Scheidegger said Prop 66 “would at long last fix the problems with the unnecessarily long reviews of capital cases. We are spending far too much time and far too much money litigating multiple times questions that have nothing to do with whether the guy is guilty or not.”

Ties to Prop 8?

Referring to California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage, passed by the state’s voters in 2008 but undone by the U.S. Supreme

Stonewall Democratic Club Pride breakfast was attended by a host of LGBT and ally candidates. “For me, Oakland Pride is about community building and remembering those lost to hate crimes and HIV/AIDS,” said club President Brendalynn Goodall. The club recognized two people, one LGBTQ nonprofit, and one business. Cedric Brown, chief of community engagement at the Kapor Center for Social Impact, received the Trailblazer Award. A black gay man, Brown said that through “smaller and transgressive acts, we’re pushing the envelope everyday.” Rodney K. Nickens Jr. received the Emerging Leader Award. A recent graduate of UC Hastings College of the Law, Nickens also worked as an intern at the Greenlining Institute and the state Department of Justice. “I’m inspired by the elected officials in the room,” Nickens said, “and young people have a role to play.” Aldo Gallardo, a trans Latina, accepted the Community Service Award on behalf of Genders and Sexualities Alliance Network, also known as GSA Network. Gallardo said there’s a “whole lotta work to do” regarding trans equality and other issues. Finally, the club’s Corporate Leader Award went to Airbnb. Cody Enicke, a gay man who works for the company, said that he moved to San Francisco to be himself. He talked about the short-term rental company’s response after the mass shooting in June at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub in which 49 people died and 53 others were injured. “We helped people, hosts cooked meals, and took people to the airport,” Enicke said, adding that Airbnb set up at Orlando’s airport to help family members arriving in the city.t

Trump supporters as a “basket of deplorables.” (They did not include her comments about those who feel “let down” and “desperate for change.”) The Trump campaign also seized on the “deplorable” comment. Trump vice presidential candidate Mike Pence claimed the word was aimed at “Americans, farmers, coal miners, teachers, veterans, and members of our law enforcement community.” By Saturday, Clinton issued an apology, saying, “I regret saying ‘half ’ – that was wrong.” But she said it is deplorable that Trump has hired, for his campaign chief, a man (Steve Bannon) who heads up a right-wing media site (Breitbart News) that shows support for anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant sentiments. The statement said she “won’t stop calling out bigotry and racist rhetoric in this campaign.” “I also meant what I said last night about empathy, and the very real challenges we face as a country where so many people have been left out and left behind,” said her statement. In fact, recent polls show more than half of Trump supporters believe President Barack Obama is a Muslim (he’s a Christian) and that

he wasn’t born in the U.S. (he was born in Hawaii). Clinton’s remarks Friday and her apology Saturday have been characterized by some political commentators as potentially as damaging as Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s private fundraiser remarks, characterizing most of Obama’s supporters as “47 percent of Americans” who “pay no income tax.” Then, Clinton was hit Sunday with what appeared to be a near fainting spell as she abruptly left a 9/11 memorial service in New York. A bystander’s video of her getting into her Secret Service van shows her appearing to almost collapse as aides hold her up and help her into the van. Initially, her campaign said she had become overheated at the event; by nightfall, it said she was suffering from dehydration and pneumonia. And late Sunday night, it announced she would cancel campaign events for Monday in order to recover. The incident has prompted a new media review of Clinton’s health ailments – which have included a 2012 fainting spell as secretary of state, attributed to a stomach virus, which led

Court in 2013, Martin, the Prop 62 spokeswoman, said that the people who are running the No on Prop 62/ Yes on Prop 66 campaign are “the same group that pushed the hateful Prop 8 to deny same-sex couples in California the right to marry.” Asked in a phone interview about Martin’s statement, Scheidegger laughed and said there’s “No connection whatsoever.” He said he personally “wasn’t involved in the campaign” backing Prop 8 “at all,” and he “didn’t contribute to it” or “do anything for it.” However, he said he did vote for the anti-gay measure. “I didn’t see the need at the time

to change the definition of marriage. I thought civil unions did the job,” he said. In a follow-up email, Scheidegger said, “For what it’s worth, Anne Marie Schubert is one of the main leaders of the Yes 66/No 62 campaign.” Schubert, a lesbian who’s the Sacramento County district attorney, is the sister of Prop 8 mastermind Frank Schubert. Asked whether Frank Schubert has anything to do with No on Prop 62/Yes on Prop 66, Scheidegger said, “Nope. Not a thing, to my knowledge.” “The district attorneys are largely running it,” he said.t

See page 12 >>

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2016

News Briefs

From page 8

Arbore to receive community award

Patrick Arbore, founder and director of the Institute on Aging’s Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention and Grief Related Services, will receive the Norma Satten Community Service Innovation Award from the Community Living Campaign at its benefit Thursday, September 22 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Marines’ Memorial Club, 609 Sutter Street in San Francisco. Arbore, a gay man, planned and presented at the first suicide prevention and LGBT community conference sponsored by San Francisco Suicide Prevention in the 1980s. He also established IOA’s Friendship Line, a 24-hour toll-free crisis line for people aged 60 and over and adults living with disabilities. The awards event includes a cocktail buffet, the awards program, entertainment, and an auction and raffle. Tickets are $125 and can be purchased online at www.sfcommunityliving.org. The IOA’s Friendship Line number is 415-752-3778 (local) or 1-800-971-0016 (national).

State, city officials announce return of property tax assistance

State Controller Betty Yee and San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu have announced the return of property tax assistance for eligible homeowners. The Property Tax Postponement, or PTP, program was suspended seven years ago by the California

Jock Talk

From page 10

the medical profession? How could he reach this kind of prominence and stature if this is who he is?” Nassar denied the allegations through an attorney. States require suspected sexual abuse to be reported to authorities, but the Star investigation indicated that was not standard practice for USA Gymnastics. “USA Gymnastics would not disclose the total number of sexual misconduct allegations it receives each year,” the paper reported. “But records show the organization compiled complaint dossiers on more than 50 coaches and filed them in a drawer in its executive office in Indianapolis.”

Cowardice statement retracted

In last week’s Jock Talk (“Cowards? I think not,” September 7), I noted a comment by Outsports founder Cyd Ziegler in which he

Clinton

From page 11

to a concussion and blood clot. Breitbart News stirred up concern about Clinton’s health last January when it quoted anonymous sources as claiming Clinton’s prolonged bathroom break during a debate was related to the previous concussion. Since then, Trump has been saying that Clinton “doesn’t have the strength and stamina” to serve as president. Trump told Fox News Monday that he thinks “something’s going on” with Clinton’s health and that it will “be an issue.” The Clinton developments have overshadowed nearly every other important development in the presidential campaign during the past few days, including: • The prospects for Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson took a major plunge Friday after he appeared to be completely uninformed about the refugee crisis in Aleppo, Syria. (When a MSNBC Morning Joe panelist asked Johnson what he would do as president “about Aleppo,” Johnson responded, “What’s Aleppo?” Aleppo has received a flood

Legislature for lack of funds at the height of the Great Recession. In a news release, Yee and Chu said that all California property owners are required to pay annual taxes based on the property’s assessment. Failure to pay property taxes may result in penalties, tax liens, or foreclosures. The PTP program, administered by the state controller, allows eligible applicants in all 58 counties to defer payment of their residential property tax. “San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities to live in the state,” Chu said in the release. “For seniors who are on a fixed income, there may not be much left for property taxes after paying other necessary expenses, such as food, utilities, and medical expenses. PTP will be a helpful state-sponsored program for low-income homeowners who are running out of options.” To be eligible for PTP, a homeowner must be at least 62, or blind, or have a disability. The homeowner must also have a household income of $35,500 or less, have at least 40 percent equity in the property, or occupy the home as the primary residence. Yee said the program offers crucial housing security for seniors and people with disabilities. “The economic recovery has not reached every individual in every corner of our state, and PTP is another tool to help address these inequalities,” she stated. The program application and more details are available on Yee’s website at http://sco.ca.gov/ardtax_ prop_tax_postponement.html.t called closeted professional athletes “cowards” with a “disdain for the mental health of America’s youth.” Ziegler wrote to tell me he had recanted his words and apologized in a YouTube video. “I feel terrible about two grossly hyperbolic statements I made in a recent story about gay professional athletes,” Ziegler said, referring to the original story that was published in the Washington Blade. “Not only do I regret the words I used, but they don’t reflect how I feel, which makes it, for me, 10 times worse. I do not believe that, just because a professional athlete doesn’t come out publicly, he is a ‘coward.’ And I don’t believe that just because someone doesn’t come out they show a ‘disdain’ for the mental health of children. These are both gross concepts that don’t reflect the nuance of the broader issues or the struggles each person faces in their own lives.” Ziegler’s full statement is available at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=_873-sHOM1k.t of media attention lately because it is the focal point of the Syrian civil war and because Russia recently staged air strikes against the city in support of the Syrian government. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are said to be trapped inside the city and in dire need of food and water. • Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine spoke to the Human Rights Campaign’s annual Washington, D.C. dinner Saturday night. Kaine said he first felt support for LGBT people while witnessing violence against LGBT demonstrators on his college campus in Missouri. “That was a moment of consciousraising for me,” said Kaine. “I was changed by it. It made me angry. And it made me even more convinced I wanted to stand up for what is right.” He acknowledged that, as a devout Catholic, he was less supportive of marriage equality at first. But he said he opposed members of the Virginia Legislature who sought to amend the state constitution to ban marriage for same-sex couples. Kaine ended by saying “the LGBTQ vote in so many of our battleground states can be the difference between victory and defeat.”t

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FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037222700

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037224800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SHAMS STUDIO, 737 POST ST #612, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SAHAR ESLAMI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/10/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/10/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KTIM LOVE, 754 PACIFIC AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHAO QIANG LIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/18/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/18/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SPIRALS AND SPRINGS, 49 ZOE ST #6, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MONA SALINAS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/17/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/19/16.

AUG 25, SEPT 01, 08, 15, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037224300

SEPTEMBER 01, 08, 15, 22, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037228800

SEPT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037238600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FAHERTY PLUMBING, 403 ALHAMBRA RD, SO. S.F., CA 94080. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DAVID FAHERTY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/19/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/19/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: POLYGON VISUALS, 2750 42ND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TONY MAC. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/23/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/16.

AUG 25, SEPT 01, 08, 15, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037216400

SEPTEMBER 01, 08, 15, 22, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037230800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JC DESIGN, 19A HOMESTEAD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JESSE TAYLOR CRAVILLION. 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 08/16/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: YEARNING 4 LEARNING, 1946 10TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MELISSA SILVER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/25/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/25/16.

AUG 25, SEPT 01, 08, 15, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037222300

SEPTEMBER 01, 08, 15, 22, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037226800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NEWS UP NOW, 142 HARTFORD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GLEIDSON MARTINS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/18/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/18/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: STRUT THE MUTT, 2695 44TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ADAM DOV TEITELBAUM. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/19/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/22/16.

AUG 25, SEPT 01, 08, 15, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037224500

SEPTEMBER 01, 08, 15, 22, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037227500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JASON MICHAEL BERLIN, 446 OLD COUNTY RD #100-423, PACIFICA, CA 94044. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JASON MICHAEL BERLIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/11/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/19/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAN FRANCISCO INTEGRATIVE MASSAGE, 1733 LARKIN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CARL ALEXANDER. 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 08/23/16.

AUG 25, SEPT 01, 08, 15, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037218600

SEPTEMBER 01, 08, 15, 22, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037229300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GB PRODUCTIONS; GB EVENT PRODUCTIONS; 306 #A MONTCALM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GB EVENT PRODUCTIONS 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 08/16/16.

AUG 25, SEPT 01, 08, 15, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037227300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CROSTINI AND JAVA, 601 VAN NESS AVE #E3209, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed PARVUS INVESTMENTS 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 08/23/16.

AUG 25, SEPT 01, 08, 15, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037217400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SOAK, 3435 24TH ST #19, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SOAK HOUSE SF1 LLC (DE). 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 08/16/16.

AUG 25, SEPT 01, 08, 15, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037200000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ARCHIVE PRINT CO., 115 BYXBEE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PAOLA CHRISTINA MARTINS JOHNSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/24/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/24/16.

SEPTEMBER 01, 08, 15, 22, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037227100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SANKO KITCHEN ESSENTIALS, 1758 BUCHANAN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed JPT AMERICA, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/06/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/16.

SEPTEMBER 01, 08, 15, 22, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037220800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAY STAR REALTY, 462 JOOST AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ADVANCED FINANCIAL GROUP INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/17/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/17/16.

SEPTEMBER 01, 08, 15, 22, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037233600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ACME FLORAL CO., 432 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KIRK WILDER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/31/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/02/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BROADWAY LIQUORS AND COMPANY, INC, 460 BROADWAY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BROADWAY LIQUORS AND COMPANY, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/26/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/26/16.

AUG 25, SEPT 01, 08, 15, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037216100

SEPTEMBER 01, 08, 15, 22, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037243300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ABSOLUTE ABUNDANCE, 261 OXFORD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KENNETH DAIGLE. 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 08/15/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LACHINECN, 1047 STOCKTON ST #301, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JIA KONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/02/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/02/16.

SEPTEMBER 01, 08, 15, 22, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037237000

SEPT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037222600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BINBIN WINDOWS, 272 BAYSHORE BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed YUBIN CHEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/29/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/29/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ST. FRANCIS DENTISTRY, 697 MONTEREY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MICHAEL W. HING. 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 08/18/16.

SEPTEMBER 01, 08, 15, 22, 2016

SEPT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DOWN AND OUTLAWS, 378 2ND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed PETER DANZIG, CHRIS DANZIG, KYLE LUCK & JON CARR. 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 08/30/16.

SEPT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037239900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DISCOUNTED OUTLET, 4802 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed VY NGUYEN, PHUONG HOANG NGUYEN & CALVIN LU. 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 08/31/16.

SEPT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037240400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SALON MACIAS, 1757 UNION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SALON MACIAS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/30/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/31/16.

SEPT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037244300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FOGHORN HOLDINGS, 250 KING ST #474, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed ANNELYSE FINLEY & JEN NORVELLE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/29/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/02/16.

SEPT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037232200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 2705 JACKSON STREET, 2705 JACKSON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by joint venture, and is signed WILLIAM T. BOATRIGHT, KENNETH E. BOATRIGHT, RAYMOND E. BOATRIGHT & TIMOTHY A. BOATRIGHT. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/26/16.

SEPT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037241700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NANDE-YA, 1737 POST ST #375, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed M&M INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT LLC (OR). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/26/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/01/16.

SEPT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-033818000

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: SALON MACIAS, 1757 UNION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by JUAN CARLOS MACIAS CHAIRES. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/12/2011.

SEPT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT

RFP NO. 6M4512 EXTENSION OF TIME FOR RECEIPT OF PROPOSALS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the General Manager of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District has extended the time for receipt of Proposals until the hour of 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 20, 2016, at the District’s Offices, 23rd Floor Receptionist, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California 94612 (by Hand Delivery), or to the District Secretary’s Office, P.O. Box 12688, Oakland, CA 946042688 (by U.S. Mail), for Supplier Services for the Rental of Digital Monochrome Copy Machines at Various District Offices/Facilities, RFP No. 6M4512, as more fully described in the RFP Documents. Dated at Oakland, California, this 8th day of September, 2016. /S/ Richard J. Wieczorek Richard J. Wieczorek, Department Manager, Procurement San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 9/15/16 CNS-2923694# BAY AREA REPORTER

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Ensure that your funeral wishes are honored Many of you have expressed an interest in pre-arranging your cemetery and funeral arrangements. Skylawn Funeral Home, Memorial Park & Crematory offers free informational seminars as a service to our community. We conduct these seminars in a relaxed environment with a complimentary meal provided. Whether you have chosen traditional burial or cremation, this is a great way to gather information and fellowship with your neighbors.

Attend a pre-planning Seminar There will be no selling at these seminars, only information is shared. Choose a date and call, text, or email to reserve your seat!

Wednesday September 21 11am-1pm

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Women’s Building 3543 19th Street, Room B San Francisco, CA 94110

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Topics of discussion are: • At-Need vs. Pre-Need Benefits • Veteran’s Benefits: What the government does and does not provide • Social Security Benefits • The 72 decisions that Must be made when a death occurs • Why you Don’t want your children or heirs to make arrangements • Why insurance should Not be used for purchasing burial needs • Advanced planning for final arrangements, Burial & Cremation options

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Vol. 46 • No. 37 • September 15-21, 2016

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VERY VERISMO

Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and soprano Renée Fleming joined conductor Michael Tilson Thomas at the San Francisco Symphony Opening Night Gala.

by Philip Campbell

he San Francisco Opera opened the 94th season last Friday with an especially good choice. A lavish production of Umberto Giordano’s melodic verismo opera Andrea Chénier directed by David McVicar made an appropriate centerpiece for a luxurious night of celebration. See page 22 >>

Yonghoon Lee in the title role of Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chénier. Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Ab Fab T Gala

Moanalani Jeffrey Photography

by Philip Campbell

he San Francisco Symphony’s Opening Night Gala marked the official start to the city’s fine arts season last week and also the ban on white after Labor Day, a brief hot spell, the Orchestra’s 105th season, composer Steve Reich’s 80th birthday, and Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas’ incredible 22 years on the podium at Davies Symphony Hall. See page 19 >>

Judy

Joining forces to honor

by Richard Dodds

udy Garland’s adventures probably would have crashed even TMZ’s website. But before there was a world wide web of gossip, Garland commanded headlines with decades of crashes and resurrections. The last big headline came on June 22, 1969, when an “incautious overdose” put a wretched exclamation mark on a life so intensely lived for 47 years. See page 16 >>

Michael Feinstein and Lorna Luft will appear at Feinstein’s at the Nikko to pay tribute to Luft’s mother Judy Garland on Sept. 28-Oct. 1. Randee St. Nicholas

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<< Out There

16 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2016

Incredible celebrations by Roberto Friedman

our gay uncle Out There has survived yet another round of opening galas for the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera, both of which are reviewed in these pages this week. Thanks to our friends in the press rooms on both sides of Grove Street for their gracious hospitality and power-party know-how. The Symphony Gala was a classy good time, with first-rate musical guests Renée Fleming and Susan Graham joining conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and his band. The after-party spilled out onto the street, equipped with open bars and festooned with giant silkscreen portraits of the talent created by Blueprint Studios. The rollicking dance party in the Patrons Tent featured Prince tribute band the Purple Ones. Two nights later, the Opera pulled

out all the stops for the kick-off to its 94th season, the San Francisco Opera Guild’s Opera Ball 2016, La Révolution et L’Amour. In keeping with the French revolutionary theme of Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chénier, the courtyard on Van Ness Avenue was made-over as a Parisian boulevard, complete with flower carts and elegant French poodles. Woof! The Bravo! Club invited us to their festive champagne reception upstairs on the Opera House’s Loggia before the show. Later, the tented after-party put the seal on an extraordinary evening, and OT even got to personally congratulate conductor Nicola Luisotti on his crew’s triumphant performance. OK, now even OT is partied out, so let’s bring on the musical season. But briefly while we’re on the topic of art music, our heartfelt congratulations go out to Jessica Bejarano, the newly appointed

music director of the San Francisco Civic Symphony, who is an out and proud lesbian. Group by group, ensemble by ensemble, LGBTQ musical talent is taking over the town!

Patty cake

OT hasn’t heard from our old pal Marc Huestis for some time. The intrepid ex-impresario is now living much of his life semi-retired in a cabin perched high atop the Sierra Nevadas. But we were happy to receive his communiqué that excerpts of his 2009 extravaganza Sparkle, Patty, Sparkle! will be featured on Criterion’s Blu-ray release of the camp classic Valley of the Dolls. It features 16 minutes of the late great Patty Duke being queried by bon vivant Bruce Vilanch at the Castro Theatre. Huestis confides, “I always wanted to be an extra! Criterion’s Blu-rays are the gold standard. I’m pleased as punch that a little of my legacy of 20 years at the Castro lives on!” Well, sparkle, Marc-ie, sparkle! So heat up the lasagna and get out the booze and dope: this spectacularly remastered Blu-ray hits the streets on Sept. 27.t

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Feinstein’s

From page 15

But as those headlines decay along with the newsprint that carried them, what has survived is durable documentation that attests to a nonpareil talent. That is what two of the foremost keepers of the Garland flame will be celebrating Sept. 28Oct. 1 at Feinstein’s at the Nikko. Michael Feinstein, pianist, singer, musicologist, and now a trustee of the Garland estate, will be joined by Garland’s younger daughter Lorna Luft in a salute to the legendary performer. While Feinstein has known Luft for years, even considering her an honorary sister, the two have never worked together before this engagement. “Lorna and I’ve been seeing each other a lot more lately socially, and just thought why not,” Feinstein said. In a separate phone interview, Luft added, “Michael is practically a family member, and when he said, ‘Let’s do something together in San Francisco,’ who would say no? It’s sort of a no-brainer.”

2:11 PM NEW CONSERVATORY THEATRE 9/8/16 CENTER THE 2016–17 SEASON

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C E L E B R AT I N G

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Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Joel Sorensen as The Incredibile in San Francisco Opera’s Andrea Chénier.

The interviews were conducted a couple of weeks ago, and the structure and repertoire of the upcoming show were still to be worked out. “We have so much material, so many possibilities, it’s going to be relatively easy,” Feinstein said. Luft added, “I’ll put together the songs that I think people want to hear me sing, and then Michael and I will figure out what we’ll do together, and then what Michael’s going to do on his own. It will be an evening of love and respect and celebration.” Luft was only 16 when her mother died, but by then the two had worked together on Garland’s TV series in the early 1960s and at the Palace Theatre in the last of the big comebacks in 1967. But when Luft began to carve her own career, she was determined that it have nothing to do with anything Garland. She stayed busy cutting pop-rock singles, appearing in musicals on Broadway and the road, co-starred in the ill-fated Grease 2, and did a season on TV’s Trapper John, M.D. It was a career without much focus until she realized that her mother’s legacy was something to run toward and not away from. “I think no matter who your parents are, if they’re famous or not, it takes a really long time to come to terms with who you are,” Luft said. “But when you have a famous parent, it makes it different – not harder or easier, just different. It’s really easy for people who advise me or are friends to say, why don’t you do this, or when are you going to do that? I ran away from my mother’s legacy because it was so overwhelming that it scared me. I had to feel I was ready.” And then she was. She has toured widely since 1999 in variations of her concert show Songs My Mother Taught Me, made up of songs and anecdotes, and was touring the UK last year when a second bout with breast cancer brought her back to the States. “Humpty Dumpty got put back together,” Luft said of a major surgical intervention that has left her, she said, in good health. As for Feinstein, Garland had been dead for seven years when, at age 20, he entered her world through Ira Gershwin. The lyricist and older brother to George Gershwin had written many songs performed by Garland, including “The Man That Got Away.” Gershwin hired this young piano-bar musician to organize and catalog his vast collection of recordings and sheet music, a job that was to last six years and give him entry into the world and people

of the Great American Songbook. “I had met Liza Minnelli [Lorna’s older half-sister] through her father Vincente Minnelli, who was very close to the Gershwin family, and Ira had been the best man at the wedding of Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland. So it was like a family thing when I met Liza, and the same thing with Lorna. I don’t think of Judy Garland in terms of celebrity, but simply as Lorna and Liza’s mother. When I do think of Judy Garland and her art, I sometimes think of her as a separate person.” Feinstein first heard Garland’s voice through one of the small flexible vinyl records once inserted in magazines to promote regular LPs. “I played it over and over again, and I thought, ‘Who was this lady?’ And then I saw The Wizard of Oz and became aware of the MGM musicals, and those were the songs and repertoire I was interested in. When I started playing in piano bars when I was in high school, I discovered more about Judy Garland from the people who would come to the club, and learned about the gay sensibility that’s connected to her that I found fascinating.” Luft has embraced her mother’s rainbow connection as well. This past summer, she paid her first visit to the Stonewall Tavern in Greenwich Village, where a riot against police harassment broke out in the early morning hours of June 29, 1969. That was just hours after Garland’s funeral had drawn 20,000 mourners a few miles away in upper Manhattan. Part of the Garland lore posits that the riots, which marked the beginning of the modern gay-rights movement, at least partly happened because the patrons of the gay bar resented being hassled See page 17 >>

Ron Galella

A 14-year-old Lorna Luft joined mother Judy Garland during a month-long run at the Palace Theatre in 1967.

Fine Art>>

September 15-21, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 17

Auctioned for a good cause by Sari Staver

ickets are almost sold out for the upcoming 20th annual Art for AIDS gala, a glitzy cocktail party and juried auction benefitting the UCSF Alliance Health Project. The organization, formerly known as the AIDS Health Project, provides mental health and wellness services for the HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ communities in San Francisco, serving more than 6,500 clients annually at their clinic at 1930 Market Street. The auction, which includes 180 works of art available for purchase to the highest bidder, will be held at City View at Metreon, 135 4th St., on Fri., Sept. 16, 6-10 p.m. Tickets are $125 (artforaids.org) and include unlimited cocktails and wine from El Rio and Maldonado Vineyards, and bites from Bisou, Cardel Catering, Garabadlis, Melon’s Catering, and Precita Park Café. Some 800 guests are expected, said director Lori Thoemmes. The event sells out every year, she said, “and the fire marshal tells me” that they won’t be able to accommodate more people. The art at auction includes drawings, prints, mixed media, sculpture, paintings, and photography, according to community liaison D.K. Haas. More than 300 works of art were submitted to a jury, which selected 186 for this year’s event. Many of the artworks were donated by people who identify as LGBT, including some living with HIV. The silent auction also features luxury getaways, restaurant gift certificates, winery tours, and theater tickets. An online catalog can be found at artforaids.org/gallery/art-for-aidscatalog/. A special feature, in recogni-

Courtesy the artist

“Y Not” by Amy Ahlstrom. Handmade silk and cotton quilt, stretched over canvas and finished with a custom-made solid maple frame.

longtime donors are Joel Hoyer, a gay man who does painting, sculpture, and mixed media. The work he donated to the auction, “In Ison’s Tail,” is egg tempera painting with silver leaf, mounted on a wood board. Hoyer, who has donated artwork every year since the late 1990s, said in a telephone interview, “It is important to me to give back to the community, and I try to donate as much as I can. I understand the needs of people with HIV because I am one. Sharing my work with an agency like the AIDS Health Project is very gratifying.”

Courtesy the artist

“Sound of Color VI” (2009-10) by Fernando Reyes. Oil on wood panel.

tion of this 20th year, is a photography exhibit featuring black-and-white portraits of eight people living with HIV, photographed by Trish Tunney, a longtime donor to the auction. This year’s event is a far cry from the tiny community fundraiser held two decades ago at SOMA Cultural Center, said Haas. That event, which raised several thousand dollars, grew larger every year. “We went from funky to fancy over the past two decades,” she said. Last year the auction raised $250,000 after expenses. In total over the past 20 years, over $2.5 million has been raised. Among the artists who are

Feinstein’s

From page 16

on this particularly mournful night. “I never talked about Stonewall because I really didn’t know about Stonewall,” she said. Once, when an interviewer asked her about her mother’s relationship with Stonewall, she replied, “Stonewall Jackson?” But her knowledge had broadened when she appeared in June at Feinstein’s/54 Below in New York at a show meant to be a part of the city’s Pride celebration. “And then Orlando happened,

Painter Fernando Reyes has also been donating artwork for many years. This year he donated an oil painting from his Sound of Color series. The series came about after Reyes discovered that after a day spent painting, there was inevitably some unused paint left on the palette that would no longer be used. Because it seemed wasteful to discard good paint, Reyes rescued it, beginning this series. Each painting became a historical record of his color palette. A palette knife is used to apply dollops of the paint to a panel, done over a series of months or years until the surface is filled. which really knocked me to my knees, so I changed the show,” Luft said. “There was only one song that said what all of us were feeling, and that’s why I did ‘Over the Rainbow’ for the first time in front of an audience. It’s now out there online, and I hope it can give gay people a tiny bit of hope.” Critics writing in the mainstream press in Garland’s day would often reference claques of tight-trousered boys at her concerts, at least when not skipping the euphemisms in favor of simply calling them fags. “There’s a myth that’s built over

Reyes, a gay man, told the B.A.R. in a telephone interview that by donating his artwork to the auction, “I am able in a small way to honor so many of my friends who have passed away” from AIDS. Urban quilter Amy Alhstrom donated to the auction for the first time this year, she said in an email. Ahlstrom donated a quilt she named “Y Not,” composed of images she found on the streets of San Jose. “I’ve had friends donate in the past, and they talked about what a great experience it was, so I held onto this quilt because I thought it would be a good fit for the auction. I’m honored to be included and proud to donate to such an important cause,” Ahlstrom said. Her work “involves taking hundreds of pictures of signs, graffiti, stickers and architectural details in a neighborhood, then sampling and remixing images into a digital sketch. From this sketch I create paper patterns, cut the images out by hand, and make a quilt of silk and cotton.” The AIDS Health Project began in 1984, when a group of mental health providers, including current executive director James Dilley, founded the group at SF General Hospital. At that time, AHP focused on mental health support for people living with AIDS and prevention counseling for gay men. In 1985, after the HIV antibody test became available, AHP developed a pre- and post-test counseling protocol, which became a model for HIV testing in the US and internationally. AHP’s work has grown to include a large range of mental health crisis services, support groups, therapeutic programs, and substance abuse counseling. After San Francisco’s LGBT mental health clinic New Leaf closed, AHP expanded its mission to provide non-HIV, as well as HIV-related, mental health and wellness services for the entire LGBTQ community. In September 2010, the organization changed its name to Alliance Health Project to reflect this broadening of the organization’s focus.t the years that all my mother had were gay fans, and I’d like to set the record straight,” Luft said. “That just wasn’t the case. What was the case is that after my mother passed away, it was the gay community that kept my mother’s memory going, and they have continued to do that, always playing it forward. And I am forever grateful to the gay community for that.”t Tickets to Feinstein and Luft’s tribute to Judy Garland are $80$100, available at (866) 663-1063 or feinsteinsatthenikko.com.

/lgbtsf BAY AREA REPORTER Weekly September 8 AND 15, 2016 issues [same insertion art, both issues] 1/6th page Vertical: 3.75”w x 7”h

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<< Fine Art

18 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2016

Coastal art installations by Sura Wood

he idea of site-specific installations in unconventional spaces is often more exciting in theory than in practice. That context can shape perception of artwork in unexpected ways, and that artwork, in turn, can alter one’s view of the place where it’s exhibited, are thrilling concepts but devilishly difficult to pull off. Home Land Security, the latest project from the FOR-SITE Foundation, a collaborative venture between curator Cheryl Haines, owner of Haines Gallery; the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy; National Park Service; and the Presidio Trust, exemplifies what happens when all the elements align. This is the same team, with the exception of Presidio Trust, behind last year’s Ai Weiwei at Alcatraz, which was long on ambition but failed to fully ignite, in part because the ghosts of tortured souls and the decrepit prison’s cinematic mystique and atmosphere hung so heavy they competed with the work. Special in its own right, Home Land hits its marks, and out of the park, so to speak. Recent and newly commissioned paintings, sculptures and videos are by a slate of 18 international artists and collectives, who, like latter-day archaeologists, unearth hidden histories and inhabit five historic structures, including old gun batteries and a deserted chapel at Ft. Winfield Scott, a deactivated coastal defense complex at the Presidio. Though the ruggedly beautiful area, which overlooks the Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific Ocean, is spectacular, the site reinforces rather

Robert Divers Herrick

“Weapon” (2003-7) by Yin Xiuzhen (view from outside Battery Boutelle): used clothes and materials from everyday life, courtesy the artist and Beijing Commune.

than overwhelms the exhibition’s primary themes of coastal defense, displaced and voiceless persons, fear of the “other,” and war: its weapons and the damage done. The Nike Administration building, the first stop on the tour, most closely approximates a standard gallery experience with a series of white

brick rooms off a narrow hallway, but that doesn’t mean the work isn’t first-rate. Israeli, New-York-based artist Tirtzah Bassel does wonders with duct tape in “Concourse,” using it to draw scenes on the walls, of airport travelers dragging suitcases, hanging on security rope lines, and being subjected to TSA pat-downs.

One figure with its hands up blocks a barred window. New media video artist Bill Viola’s hypnotic Martyr series features solitary figures dressed in white, in works projected on four screens mounted in a darkened room. In “Fire Martyr,” an AfricanAmerican man dozes in a chair as flames rain down on him from above,

while “Earth” starts with a man buried under a pile of rubble that defies gravity, the dirt rising slowly toward the sky as he unfurls into an upright position, unbowed and clean as a whistle. In “Air,” a woman twists in the wind, suspended by knotted rope, her ankles tied. Displacement and loss course through this exhibition, and Alexia Webster, who runs a mobile portrait studio that travels to refugee camps around the globe, supplies transmissions from limbo. Equipped with a portable printer, she offered to photograph people in the Bulengo IDP camp in the Congo. Having lost everything, some stood on line for hours and borrowed clothes so they could pose for the precious family photos seen here. Trevor Paglen’s “Code Names of the Surveillance State” consists of a list of names scrolling on a rectangular screen. Dressy Shoes, Dumb Waiter and my favorite, Evil Hamster, are among the 4,000 snappy appellations used by the NSA for security purposes. Battery Godfrey, just down the hill, is where installations complement dank, low-ceilinged spaces as if they were made for each other. Here the AK-47, the cheap weapon of choice for Soviets and guerilla insurgents, and the M-16, the precision American firearm, literally collide in “AK-47 vs. M16,” a brilliant, arresting piece from the Propeller Group, a collective established in Vietnam a decade ago, now based in Ho Chi Minh City and L.A. The work calls up both the Cold War See page 19 >>

Waste not, want not by Erin Blackwell

e are indeed fortunate to live in the enlightened city of San Francisco, where recycling is a way of life. Some of us are more into it than others, assiduously parsing each individual tea bag towards the compost and moaning inwardly when we see that a plastic bag has insinuated itself into an otherwise pristine recycling tub. Others are downright degenerate, bundling their cardboard toilet rolls along with shiny energy-bar wrappers and flinging them all into the black bin destined for landfill. Far from being a matter of individual weakness, a failure to recycle is a blot on civic pride, as is made clear in a thrilling new documentary called Racing to Zero, opening Friday at the Roxie. Zero in the title stands for zero waste, zero landfill, nothing going into the black bins. The self-imposed deadline for the city of San Francisco, to which Mayor Lee has given his imprimatur, is the year 2020. That deadline has been on the minds of the people whose minds work that way since the early 70s. We are currently generating irredeemable trash at the

rate of 400,000 tons a year, or half of what we were generating 15 years ago, but equal to what we generated in the early 70s. The fact is, we have to work a lot harder today than we did then to combat lifestyles based on accelerating addictions to disposability. Racing to Zero, produced by Diana Fuller and directed by Christopher Beaver, wastes zero of its purposeful 57 minutes in lecturing us on our predilection for products wrapped in trashy plastic and recyclable cardboard that we sometimes fail to conscientiously separate out in the blue-forrecycling and black-for-landfill bins so conveniently provided by the city. The film wisely steers clear of imposing any guilt trips, focusing rather on a concept somewhat ineptly described by James Kao, of Green Citizen, as “cradle to cradle.” We’re not talking human babies here, but items produced to serve a human need, which wear out, or get boring, and need to leave our sight, but can and must be repurposed for some other human. “Out of sight, out of mind” doesn’t work for Robert Haley, the curlyhaired gentle giant who is Zero Waste Manager for the city’s Department of the Environment. The concept

plastic to MBA Polymers, glass to bottle-makers, paper to China, and most sublimely, food scraps to heroic earthworms called Red Wrigglers, who shit them out as life-giving mulch for farmland a wee bit north. Like Soviet cinema, this vision is utopic, but it is not unachievable, and as the film gently reminds us, the goal of zero waste will only be achieved by communal effort. “There are financial incentives,” says

Haley, and there are laws. And there is a third way. “This is the culture of San Francisco. In San Francisco, this is what people do. And then, people will naturally tend to follow that social bar. This is all part of the educational process.” Otherwise known as peer pressure, or wanting to be cool, or fashion. There’s an idea: overly art-directed shots of models tossing carrot tops, to-go cups, and slightly nibbled burritos into green bins. Unlike Soviet cinema, Zero is devoid of ideology. There’s no reference to our proud hippie heritage, which includes the San Francisco tradition of the free table: any designated area in a building where people discard still-useful items. The simplest and most antithetical to a market economy, this repurposing method is said to have originated with the Diggers, or perhaps they brought it back. The Diggers were a group of hippies who performed in the parks, provided free food, medical care and housing, and generally offset the pernicious grasp of private property any way they could. Their spirit did not die with the 60s. It’s alive and well to the extent that we practice commonsense, life-enhancing civic virtues.t

festival circuit, Viva did modest but steady business in the early summer, with a two-month US run netting $177,062. Given the practices of the import film business, it’s doubtful that its producers will see much or any of its Stateside income. Spa Night Korean American filmmaker Andrew Ahn plants his good-little-boy protagonist David (Joe Seo, Sundance Special Grand Jury Award) in his family’s rundown LA bathhouse. David quickly discovers that this old-fashioned business has become a de facto late-night same-sex make-out club.

One-week run on American screens made a total of $20,224. Little Men Gay writer-director Ira Sachs explores gentrification through the lens of a double coming-of-age tale, 12-year-old best friends in breakout performances from Theo Taplitz and scene-stealing natural-born actor Michael Barbieri. Little Men did modest business for the month it was in theatres, with an American domestic gross of $282,968. Front Cover Ryan discovers that his emotionally volatile editor has reneged on a long-promised cover See page 19 >>

Courtesy the filmmaker

Recology artist-in-residence Terry Berlier in director Christopher Beaver’s Racing to Zero.

of “throwing something away,” as though objects could be made to magically disappear, seriously needs to be composted. Zero conveys, with a subtle, lyrical simplicity, not unlike Soviet cinema of the 1920s, how all our yucky urban garbage can be spun into gold-like threads of useful hand-me-downs to Goodwill, raw materials to eclectic artists, electronics to Green Citizen, concrete to Ferma Corporation, stubborn

Indies at the box office by David Lamble

ver find yourself loving a new indie drama only to discover it has already left town? No matter how good that LGBTQ movie is, it still has to compete for screen space and consumer dollars with an everincreasing tide of similar fare. While 2016 has been an above-average year artistically, how did indie films survive the rigors of reviews, fickle taste and hundreds of competing entertainment options? Our source is the theatre-tracking service Box Office Mojo. Scanning their Top

100 grossing films of the summer, it’s dispiriting to note that Sundance films are way down the list. Here are the raw numbers for the summer’s smartest offerings. Florence Foster Jenkins This critically praised comedy-drama about the 30s heiress whose lifelong ambition to sing opera was thwarted until the end of her life by a complete lack of talent has become an Oscar-buzz vehicle for Meryl Streep. Produced on what seems like a shoestring budget of $19 million, the film has grossed just south of $20 million and can be seen on

a robust lineup of 1,324 screens nationwide. Since the film-biz rule of thumb is two-and-a-half times the negative cost, FFJ will not break even until the first batch of critics’ Top 10 lists are announced. Viva Héctor Medina makes his feature debut as Jesus, a skinny teen who dreams of becoming a larger-than-life drag diva. By night Jesus appears in Old Havana’s cross-dressing clubs, while by day he’s doing hair and wigs for his hood’s grand dames. Jesus’ cross to bear is his sponging, homophobic macho dad. A hit on the queer

t <<

Music>>

SF Symphony Gala

From page 15

If that’s in no particular order, it’s because the centerpiece of the opening, the concert itself, couldn’t seem to come up with any clear priorities either. MTT has attempted and achieved a mostly persuasive formula over the years. As the elegant openingnight host, his results usually satisfy just about everyone. There are typically big-name guest stars on hand too, as further insurance of glamor. The beginning of 2016-17 felt much the same as always, but the show was surprisingly shorter and slighter than what we learned to expect. A “Give em what they want” programming attitude didn’t appear too heavy or overly cliché, but there was more sense of grab-bag than potpourri about the bill. The opening Overture from William Tell by Rossini was strong enough to engage younger listeners, but I suspect it was the older crowd that smiled most when the Lone Ranger theme appeared. Not exactly pandering, but I wondered why the overcooked amuse-bouche was served in the first place. Time to send in the superstars. Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham made a fine entrance, looking marvelous in emerald green, to sing a measured and tonally lustrous aria from Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito. Gal pal and colleague (both

Home Land Security

From page 18

and the hotter one waged in Southeast Asia in a freeze-frame of bullets shot simultaneously from each weapon into ballistic gel that solidified. The result: tensile silver fragments, frayed, jagged and stretched, encased in a vitrine lit from within. The victimless “shoot-out” sits on a stand like a specimen in a mad scientific experiment. Across the way is a slow-motion video of the dueling metal projectiles at the moment they were shot into the gel, a substance designed to mimic human flesh for weapons-testing purposes. Nearby, in what feels like the dimly lit recesses of a castle dungeon, Do Ho Suh’s “Some/One,” a six-foot-tall, stainless steel robe, awaits a Samurai warrior, albeit one of gargantuan proportions, or a knight errant. (Resembling armor, it’s actually comprised of dog tags, shipped in sections and assembled on-site.) Reflective on the inside, and sweeping around the floor in a three-quarter circle, it holds court in a pool of light like a grand artifact

September 15-21, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 19

chums of MTT as well) soprano Renée Fleming arrived to sing two arias because La Graham’s first song was “longer than hers.” A lovely gem from Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur and the familiar, beloved “O mio babbino caro” from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi highlighted the concert with Fleming’s trademark limpid sound. “Like buttah,” as they say, and the first half ended with the pair singing a bright duet from Mozart’s Così fan tutte. After a literally sparkling intermission (nothing like the bubbly to fuel the fun), the second half opened with Three Movements, which was to be played again later in the week and on the following Sunday in the concert celebrating Steve Reich’s birthday. It you’re looking was a fine“Ifrendition, easily for thesomething most incredibly well-written, a Sci-Fi impressive music on the bill, and romance epic that delivers happily, the composer was there, on every front: action, love, perfect you’re looking for something wearing “If his“If trademark ball cap, to you’re looking for something villains and triumph, is the incredibly well-written, athe Sci-Fi accept the ovation. Granted,this incredibly well-written, a Sci-Fi series you need to read. Even if romance epic that delivers epic that piece stuck romance out a little, like thedelivers onlyonon you’refront: not aaction, Sci-Fi fan I’m every love,(and perfect action, perfect guest who every didn’tfront: get the dresslove, code, not), you will likely fall inislove villains and triumph, this the villains and triumph, this is the but it was enough to satisfy listeners with “Alien Dangers”. IEven did.” series you need to to read. if if series you need read. Even hankering for more substantial fare. I’m you’re notnot a Sci-Fi fanfan (and you’re a Sci-Fi (andGay I’mRomance Reviews The abnot), fab ladies to sing -returned Allen @ fall Sinfully you will likely inin love not), you will likely fall love some Gershwin andDangers”. then paired with “Alien I did.” with “Alien Dangers”. I did.” amusingly for a jokingly confrontaAllen @ed@ Sinfully Gay Romance tional and cleverly- modifi Irving - Allen Sinfully Gay RomanceReviews Reviews Berlin “Anything You Can Do.” If the program seemed slighter than most in recent memory, it was If you’re looking for something incredibly well-written, a Sci-Fi romance still fun and fast enough, and the soigné after-party could easily be called epic that delivers on every front; action, love, perfect villians, and gala. Bigger bites of the orchestral triumph, this is the series you need to read. Even if your’re not a Sci-Fi repertoire will be following soon.t

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displayed at a history museum. Merging the conflicting forces of culture and militarism, Shahpour Pouyan’s “Projectiles,” a quartet of totemic, missile-inspired works, hang above the floor of the vacant Ft. Scott Chapel. There’s a hint of Moorish influence in the Iranian artist’s winglike steel sculptures. Sharply pointed at top and bottom like arrows, and etched by hand, they have long mesh cylinders, modeled after Persian chain mail, lodged in the center. A fifth piece looms over an absent altar. Walking back to the car, I was haunted by the words of Tammam Azzam, whose large-scale black & white paintings, based on news photographs of devastated Syrian cities, capture the maze of bombed-out streets in his homeland. Although he wants to believe the creative impulse can rebuild the future, he says, “Bullets are more powerful than art now.” Let’s hope for the sake of humanity he’s wrong about the latter. Author’s note: Be prepared for cold, wind, flocks of pelicans and heartstopping scenery. Don’t miss it.t Through Dec. 18. Info: for-site.org.

Indies’ box office

From page 18

story and has instead assigned him to create a campaign around an egoinflated Chinese fashion model just in from the mainland. Director Ray Yeung’s film was one of the weakestperforming of this summer’s LGBTQ dramas, taking in $6,907 in a single week’s run on two screens. Where to Invade Next Michael Moore travels to thriving democracies from Norway to Latin America, quizzing the locals about how the US should get its act together and provide for Americans the sort of domestic socialism, state-sponsored health care, that other societies take for granted. It’s performed modestly well for a political doc, with a domestic box office take of $3,820,195. The Last Man on the Moon Only after a second viewing of British doc-maker Mark Craig’s gorgeously filmed memory piece did it strike me just how sad it is for 21st-century Americans to be casting a nostalgic eye back on the salad days of the US space program. Took in $30,880 in its single week on American screens. The Lobster A bleak love story unfolding at a rural hotel where

Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant in Florence Foster Jenkins: yet to break even.

single people are tracked down and forced to pair up. The penalty for not going along with the plan is being turned into an animal and hunted down for sport. Ran for four months in the US, reaching domestic ticket sales of $8,685,182. The Hollars This screwball family comedy finds character actor Margo Martindale finally finding her perfect showcase as a family matriarch dying of cancer forced to ride herd over an extended clan with few truly grownups. Took in $38,800 its opening weekend, and is still in release. Miles Ahead Don Cheadle dishes up a warts-and-all portrait of jazz genius Miles Davis. Domestic sales of $2,609,971.t

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I am the future of the LGBT community. I was married to a wonderful woman for 30 years. Now it’s time to be who I really am. Now I’m happy, authentic, and dating a wonderful man. I read EDGE on all my devices, because I have a whole future to look forward to - and that’s where I want it to be.

The person depicted here is a model. Their image is being used for illustrative purposes only.

<< Out&About

20 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2016

O&A

Thu 15

Fri 16 Dear Master @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley 25th anniverary revival production of Dorothy Bryant’s play about the rivalry between 19th-century French novelists George Sand and Gustave Flaubert. $32-$65. Thru Oct. 2. 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org

Folsom Street Flair @ Pianofight

People power

Multiple Maniacs (Sept. 16); see New & Classic Films @ Castro Theatre

by Jim Provenzano

an Francisco is dead. Long live San Francisco! Support people power through the arts, because there’s no app for human interaction. For more events, visit us online at www.ebar.com. For nightlifery, check out On the Tab in BARtab.

Thu 15 19th & Lexington @ Qulture Collective, Oakland Photos and from San Francisco’s Last Lesbian Bar 1997-2015, a group exhibit of photos and comics from the popular and much-missed Mission bar. Thru Oct. 7. (closing celebration 6pm9pm). Wed-Fri 10am-4pm, Sat 12pm4pm. 1714 Franklin St., Oakland. www.qulturecollective.com

all of what you love and none of what you hate @ Strand Theatre

King Charles III @ Geary Theater American Conservatory Theatre’s season premiere is Mike Bartlett’s multiple-Tony-nominated royal drama about Britain’s current remaining family troubles after Queen Elizabeth’s death. $20-$105. Tue-Sat 8pm. Wed, Sat & Sun 2pm. Thru Oct. 9. 415 Geary St. www.act-sf.org

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. Thru Oct. 25. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

San Francisco Playhouse presents Phillip Howze’s multimedia drama about a Black family and one girl’s confusion in a social media-saturated life. $30. Thu 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. thru Sept. 24. 1127 Market St. www.sfplayhouse.org

Book launch for the local writer’s new poetry book, Triptych Caliform. 6pm9pm. 398 11th St. 2nd floor. www.norfolkpress.com

August: Osage County @ Marin Theatre, Mill Valley

New & Classic Films @ Castro Theatre

Marin Theatre Company’s production of Tracy Lett’s 5-Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning darkly comic family drama. $25-$45. Tue-Sat 7pm. Thu & Sun 1pm. Thru Oct. 2. 497 Miller Ave., Mill Valley. 388-5208. www.marintheatre.org

Sept. 15: Blue Velvet (7pm)and Private Property (9:15). Sept. 16: 4K restored print of John Waters’ early underground classic, Multiple Maniacs (7pm & 11pm) and Russ Meyer’s campy Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (8:55pm). Sept. 17 & 18: Grease singalong (2:30, 7pm). Sept. 18: Ace in the Hole (7pm) and Nightcrawler (9:05). Sept. 20: Hurricane Bianca, a comedy starring Bianca Del Rio, with a star & director Q&A (www.hurricanebianca. com). 7:30pm. Sept. 21: Transparent cast and crew, and Season 3 sneak preview (7:30). Sept. 22: Alan Cumming (see Thu 22). $11-$16. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

Caught @ Ashby Stage, Berkeley Shotgun Players’ production of Christopher Chen’s drama about a real-life Chinese dissident who was jailed over a work of art, and the conflicting accusations of fictionalized accounts. $25-$35. Oct. 2. 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. www.shotgunplayers.org

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. Thru Oct. 2. Highway 87 at Julian Street exit, San Jose. (866) 999-8111. www.cavalia.net

Jon Ginoli @ Dog Eared Books The cofounder of the veteran queer punk-pop band Pansy Division performs solo acoustic songs from the band’s new album Quite Contrary, and reads from his memoir Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division. 8pm. 489 Castro St. www.dogearedbooks.com

Magnificent Magnolias @ SF Botanical Gardens See beautiful floral and foliage displays, trees and plants in various beautiful gardens specific to region. Daily walking tours and more. Free-$15. Sept. 15: The Park: A Love Story, nature photos by Stephen Kane; artist reception 5pm-7pm (thru Dec.) Sept 16: Full Moon Walk, with refreshments, haiku readings; bring a flashlight. $20-$25. 6:30pm-8:30pm. Open daily, 7:30am-sunset. Golden Gate Park. 661-1316. www.sfbotanicalgarden.org

Natasha Dennerstein @ Norfolk Press

Nose Job @ Pheonix Theatre Windy City Productions performs Susan Rabin’s comedy about beauty standards in plastic surgery, and family secrets. $20-$25. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru Sept. 24. 414 Mason St. www.nosejob.brownpapertickets.com

Passport to Beauty @ Epi Center MedSpa Academy of Friends’ benefit at the luxurious spa, with light bites, drinks, entertainment, a silent auction, raffles and giveaways. 21+. $40-$750. 6:30pm-8:30pm. 450 Sutter St. www.eventbrite.com/o/academy-offriends-2109668021

Through Knowledge to Justice @ GLBT History Museum Through Knowledge to Justice: The Sexual World of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935), about the early gay rights pioneer and scholar, whose early museum was destroyed by the Nazis. Thru Nov. 23. Also, Stroke: From Under the Mattress to the Museum Wall. Thru Oct. 16. $5. 4127 18th St. glbthistory.org

West Wave Dance Festival @ Z Space 25th anniversary season of the diverse dance fest, with performances, workshops and more. $15-$20. WedSun 8pm. Thru Sept. 18. SAFEhouseArts.info/west_wave25 www.zspace.org

Live sex SF’s new show, with chat sessions, live acts and comedy with Jesus U. BettaWork and Gabby Poccia. $15-$20. 10pm. 144 Taylor St. www.eventbrite.com www.jesusubettawork.com

The Real Americans @ The Marsh Dan Hoyle returns with his hit solo show about the polarized sides of right and leftwing America. $25-$100. Fri 8pm & Sat 8:30pm. Extended thru Oct. 15. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

The Rocky Horror Circus Show @ Great Star Theater Vespertine Circus presents a special screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with their acrobatic shadow cast; costumes and audience participation encouraged! “Oh, Rocky!” $25-$35. Fri & Sat 10pm. Sun 8pm. 636 Jackson St. www.vespertinecircus.com

Home Land Security @ Presidio Trust Park Site-specific multi-artist installation in and around the historic gun turrets overlooking the bay and Golden Gate Bridge; curated by Cheryl Haines with the For Site Foundation. Thru Dec. 18. www.for-site.org

Sat 17 7X7 Art Show @ Noman Coffee Pop-up art show at the freight car coffee shop. 6pm-9pm. 55 Duboce St. www.nomancoffee.co

Andrea Chénier @ War Memorial Opera House San Francisco Opera’s season opening night, a production of Umberto Giordano’s opera about lovers caught in the turbulent French Revolution, with tenor Yonghoon Lee, soprano Anna Pirozze, and baritone George Gagnidze. $31-$305. 8pm. (Also 9/22 & 30 at 7:30pm, 9/25 at 2pm. 301 Van Ness Ave. www.sfopera.com

The Art of Fire @ Harvey Milk Photo Center Opening reception for Fighting the Beast: Photographs of San Francisco Firefights at Work, a collaborative exhibit curated by Dwayne Newton. 6:30pm-9pm. Thru Oct. 25. 50 Scott St. www.harveymilkphotocenter.org

Chanticleer @ Various Venues

Raised By Gays and Turned Out OK! @ Exit Theatre

Jok Church @ Center for Sex & Culture

Stand-up comic Elizabeth Collins’ touching solo show about growing up in Texas with two gay dads; part of the SF Fringe Festival. $12. 7:30pm. Also, 9/18, 8:30pm, 9/21, 8:30pm.9/22, 7pm. 156 Eddy St. www.elizabethcollins.com www.sffringe.org

Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition @ Contemporary Jewish Museum Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition, a multimedia exhibit about the prolific filmmaker (thru Oct. 30). Free (members)-$12. Fri-Tue 11am-5pm, Thu 11am-8pm. 736 Mission St. 6557800. www.thecjm.org

Exhibit of the homoerotic-psychedelic artwork by the late leatherman and scholar. 1349 Mission St. www.sexandculture.org

Queer Words @ Folio Books Quarterly reading series, this time with essayist-nonfiction authors Julia Serano, Aaron Shurin and Yuska Lufti Tuanakotta, with wine and appetizers; Richard May hosts. 7pm. 3957 24th St. 821-3477. www.foliosf.com

Trans Jews Picnic Dinner @ Rincon Park Trans and gender-nonconforming Jewish folks picnic and gathering. 6:30pm. www.keshetonline.org

Wed 21 Ann Patchett @ Nourse Theater The bestselling author discusses her books, including the new Commonwealth, with Roy Eisenhardt. $29. 7:30pm. 275 Hayes St. cityboxoffice.com

Big Book Sale @ Fort Mason Center

Thu 22

Alan Cumming @ Castro Theatre

Sun 18 Abrazo, Queer Tango @ Finnish Brotherhood Hall, Berkeley Enjoy weekly same-sex tango dancing and a potluck, with lessons early in the day. $7-$15. 3:30-6:30pm. 1970 Chestnut St., Berkeley. (510) 8455352. www.finnishhall.com

Blade Bannon @ Daddy’s Barbershop Book release party for the SF photographer’s Built for Pleasure, which features a variety of local handsome men, several of whom will attend the reception. Books $40. 6pm-9pm. 4102 19th St. www.bladetbannon.com www.daddysbarbershop.com

Sarah Cahill & Kate Stenberg @ Point Reyes Dance Palace The acclaimed pianist and violinist perform a concert of classical and modern works by Brahms, Mozart, Debussy, Hovhaness and Cowell. $20. 2pm. 503 B St., Point reyes Station. www.dancepalace.org

Mon 19

The Grammy-winning a cappella ensemble performs a new concert, My Secret Heart. 9/17, 8pm at Mission Santa Clara, 500 El Camino Real. 9/18, 5pm at St. Francis Church, 1066 26th St. 9/21, 8pm at St. Augustine Church, 3999 Bernal Ave., Pleasanton. 9/23 & 24 at SF Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St. 9/25, 5pm at Marin Osher Jewish Community Center, 200 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael. www.chanticleer.org

Hormel at 20: Celebrating Our Past/ Creating Our Future, a dual exhibit of archival materials celebrating two decades of the LGBTQ collections. 100 Larkin St., 3rd floor, and at the Eureka Valley Branch, 1 Jose Sarria Court at 16th St. www.sfpl.org

Holding the Edge @ The Marsh Berkeley

Shortbus @ Second Act Theater

Elaine Magree’s insightly and funny solo show returns to the AIDS wards of the mid-1980s, and how an outraged lesbian fought to save lives. $20-$100. Thu 7:30pm, Sat 5pm. Thru Oct. 15. 2120 Allsont Way, Berkeley. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Jamil Hellu @ Thacher Gallery, USF

Adoptable pets and blessings at the local church. 11am-3pm. 152 Church St.

Pet Adoptions & Blessings @ St. Francis Lutheran Church

Annual festival of comic, satiric and dramatic show plays, including solo shows and works with LGBTQ themes. $10 each, or passes for $45 and $85. Thru Sept. 24. www.sffringe.org

Tom Sachs NASA-styled installation takes you to Jupiter’s moon. $10. Thru Jan. 15, 2017. 701 Mission St. www.ybca.org

Tue 20 Once Upon a Time, an exhibit of the artist’s photos, screen prints and videos that visualize his conflicting queer and Middle Eastern identity. Thru Oct. 23. Gleeson Library, Geschke Center, 2130 Fulton St., USF campus. https://www.usfca.edu/ thacher-gallery/once-upon-a-time

San Francisco Fringe Festival @ Exit Theatre, PianoFight

Space Program: Europa @ YBCA

Queerest Library Ever @ SF Public Libraries

Calamus Faggot Sensibility screens John Cameron Mitchell’s 2006 funny, unusual and sexually daring queer film. Free/donations. 7pm. 1727 Haight St. at Cole. www.secondactsf.com

Friends of the Public Library’s annual massive book sale, with books and other media for $3 or less. 10am-6pm. (member preview 9/20, 4pm-8pm). Festival Pavilion, 2 Marina Blvd. www.friendssfpl.org

Smack Dab @ Strut The eclectic monthly reading and open mic series, cohosted by Dana Hopkins and Larry-bob Roberts, features poet and novelist Meliza Banales aka Missy Fuego. 7:30pm sign-up, 8pm show. Free. 470 Castro st., 2nd floor. www.strutsf.org

Tim Murphy @ City Lights Bookstore The author of Christadora, a novel set in the iconic East Village apartment building in 1980s AIDS-ravaged New York City and in the future, reads from his new work. 7pm. 261 Columbus Ave. www.citylights.com

Thu 22 Alan Cumming @ Castro Theatre The charming Tony-winning actor ( Cabaret), activist and author ( You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams, Not My Father’s Son ) discusses his private and public lives with gay rights pioneer Cleve Jones. $25-$35. 6pm program, 7pm book-signing. 429 Castro St. inforumsf.org castrotheatre.com

Flyaway Productions @ Fort Mason Center Jo Kreiter’s new acrobatic dance, Grace and Delia are Gone, premieres, with seven daring dancers and a commissioned sound score. $22-$30. Thu-Sat 8pm. Wed & Sun 7:30pm. Thru Oct. 2. 2 Marina Blvd. flyawayproductions.com

Kirk Frederick @ SF Public Library The author of Male Actress, the biography of legendary drag performer Charles Pierce, discusses his book. 6pm. James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, 3rd floor. 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

Night at the Jewseum @ Contemporary Jewish Museum Enjoy performances, cocktails, dances by Chlo & Co Dance, musicians Shane Mrybeck and Emily Shisko, games and crafts, plus an evening viewing of the Stanley Kubrick exhibit. $8. 21+. 6pm9pm. 736 Mission St. 655-7800. www.thecym.org

DVD>>

September 15-21, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 21

Film icon keeps it classy by David-Elijah Nahmod

ow 85 years old, Tab Hunter is living the life he’s always dreamed of. He and Allan Glaser, his partner of 33 years, share a home in Central California where Hunter, a top box office star of the 1950s, raises horses. Hunter was the top-billed star of many hit films. He also enjoyed a successful recording career. Millions swooned at the mention of his name. In the 1980s he staged an unlikely comeback after co-starring with legendary drag queen Divine in John Waters’ Polyester. Many people assume that Polyester served as Hunter’s official coming out, but he continued to keep his private life private for many more years. Hunter, born Arthur Gelien in 1931, was a man with a secret. At a time when coming out would have meant career suicide, Hunter lived deep in the closet. It wasn’t until the publication of his 2005 autobiography Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star that he publicly came out as a gay man. Even today, as an out gay man, Hunter chooses his words carefully. In the acclaimed documentary Tab Hunter Confidential, newly out on DVD, Hunter recalls a Hollywood

that forced him to go out on a fake “date” with fellow movie star Natalie Wood. Wags at the time coined the phrase “Natalie Would, but Tab Wouldn’t.” Hunter also speaks eloquently about some of his most painful memories: an estranged father who refused to speak to him, his mom’s battle with mental illness, and the death of his brother in Viet Nam. “That was tough,” Hunter said, speaking to the B.A.R. by telephone. He was referring not only to his decision to have his beloved mom committed, but also to going public about it. He explained his reasons for revealing something so personal. “Compassion and understanding are important. People are very quick to criticize what they don’t know.” He said he has no regrets about his film career, or about his decision to walk away from it. “I loved the Hollywood hoopla,” he said. “But sometimes you have to pull back. It’s like you can’t have too much chocolate cake.” When he was in Hollywood, the pressure to conform, to date women and to present a “wholesome” image, was enormous. As Tab Hunter Confidential illustrates, Hunter was the subject of many tabloid rumors. Undaunted, Hunter pursued his craft, which he took quite seriously.

He studied with Jeff Corey, a top acting teacher of the era whose students included many of the period’s biggest stars. “It was so wonderful to study with such top people,” he said, adding that he had no interest in making a late-in-life comeback. “What’s the point? I’ve done that. I have two lovely horses that I love to take care of and take to shows.” We wondered if Hunter had any thoughts on the changes in society he’s lived to see, such as the nationwide legalization of gay marriage. “I’ve never confronted anything like that,” he replied. “Things are so ‘in your face’ these days, which is not my comfort zone. If someone wants to get married, that’s their choice. Make the best choice you can, and keep it simple.” Now back in the spotlight as Tab Hunter Confidential garners acclaim on the film festival circuit and begins to sell via digital media, Hunter has no regrets about going public with his personal tale. “I’m thankful it’s been well-received,” he said of the film. “I’ve gotten letters from all over the world, it’s very touching. I’m thankful, but I’m keeping it simple. I spent this morning with my yearling. That’s where I’m the happiest.”t

Tab Hunter in the shower, from Tab Hunter Confidential.

Portrait of the author as a young man by Brian Bromberger

One of These Things First: A Memoir by Steven Gaines; Delphinium Books, $24.95 t seems incredible that being committed to a mental hospital for six months would be preparation for the social graces and life, but that’s the case in Steven Gaines’ new memoir One of These Things First. Gaines, whose work includes biographies of fashion designer Halston, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and Alice Cooper, reminisces about his life as a gay 15-year-old Jewish boy in Brooklyn in the early 1960s. Gaines was a brilliant but lonely young man seeking to find himself in a hostile environment. The book begins with his suicide attempt and the long, bumpy ride to becoming an openly gay success story. Growing up in Borough Park, a ghetto of assimilating Jews, in a dysfunctional family, with a ne’erdo-well father and an overbearing mother, Gaines is essentially raised by his maternal grandparents. They own a shop, Rose’s Bra Girdles Sportswear, where he spends most of his free time being watched by three harpy saleswomen who teach him about female “plumbing.” He hides for hours in a box behind a rack of dresses so he can leer at the shirtless neighborhood kid mowing the lawn. His only escape is the Culver Theater where he watches films, memorizing dialogue and fantasizing about movie stars. His grandfather Gog is a philanderer who lives in a house with both his wife and mistress. Gaines is tormented daily by two bullies who own the local luncheonette. His only confidante is a lonely housewife dying of multiple sclerosis. Isolated in his emerging gayness, he develops OCD symptoms including touching certain objects (doorknobs) many times. He is cast as a student on a local TV show, adopting a false English accent, which makes him even more insufferable. Fired from this gig and ashamed about his homosexuality, he tries to kill himself by punching his arm through a windowpane. His psychiatrist wants to

commit him to a mental ward with bars on the windows. But, learning that Marilyn Monroe was treated

at the celebrated Payne Whitney Clinic (“the Harvard of psychiatric hospitals,” whose famous patients included Carson McCullers and William S. Burroughs), Gaines convinces Gog to pay for a six-month stay there. The memoir comes into its own in the Payne Whitney chapters as Gaines encounters a worldly group of wealthy neurotics and oddballs who become his friends and tutors in a sophisticated cultural world. Chief among them is the curmudgeonly Broadway producer/critic Richard Halliday, husband of stage star Mary Martin. Halliday becomes his mentor, teaching him how to eat and dress. At first resistant to therapy, he sends a note to his shrink: I think I am a homosexual. Gaines confides, “I would jump through hoops of fire if I could be normal.” His psychiatrist Wayne Myers promises he can cure Gaines of his

Personal best

homosexuality via Freudian analysis. But Gaines remains obsessed with men, describing himself as “haywire with horniness, spending most of the time walking around in a semi-hunch trying to hide an erection that wouldn’t subside.” Gaines is evicted from Payne Whitney after breaking the rules helping Halliday escape. He spends 10 years with Myers trying to cure his homosexuality, dutifully sleeping with women, trying to be a satisfying partner, but experiencing neither joy nor lust. “No matter how wonderful the women I romanced were, I was driven by nature and design to love a man more.” He returns 30 years later for a visit to Brooklyn and Dr. Myers. Myers apologizes for trying to change Gaines, but Gaines rejects his confession, saying therapy “helped shape me into a human being. You taught me that integrity has its own rewards. And you made me believe that if I really wanted to

make something happen, I could.” Whether readers will be as forgiving as Gaines is debatable. Still, if ever there were an example of persevering through bullying and suicidal thoughts, Gaines is it. While the memoir is candid and touching, Gaines lacks introspection, never forging a link between his gayness and creative spirit. There is no transition between his shame about being gay to his eventual proclamation, “If you asked me my blessings, chief among them was that I was born gay.” Yet he writes, “I still don’t feel entirely comfortable inside the gay world.” Whatever contentment he has found has roots in his time at Payne Whitney. “I felt like Eliza Doolittle at the psycho country club. Maybe it was a ship of crazies, but I had embarked on a voyage where almost anything was possible.” Gaines’ readers accompany him on this heartwrenching, funny, ultimately triumphant journey.t

by David Lamble

ilicon Cowboys dishes up an absorbing tale about the bad old days of the early 1950s, when socalled personal computers looked more like sewing machines and were anything but easily portable. It also redresses the balance of credit due the early digital pioneers in Texas, instead of allowing all the credit for our high-tech lives to go to the founders of the Apple and Microsoft empires. If you’re looking for a story of the little guy battling the evil corporations and actually winning for a while, check out Jason Cohen’s detailed history of Compaq Computer. The documentary describes the historic meeting of three buddies in 1982 at a small Houston diner. Upstart computer nerds, they had the glimmer of a notion that if the personal computer could be made truly portable, there was a big fortune to be had. Bachelors with tiny budgets, the trio met at an eatery dubbed The House of Pies, a 24hour joint affectionately known to Houston’s gay community as “The House of Guys.” Their start-up

Courtesy of FilmRise

Compaq Computer co-founders Jim Harris, Bill Murto and Rod Canion, with the first Compaq portable computer in director Jason Cohen’s Silicon Cowboys.

enterprise pioneered a line of personal computers long before the rise of Apple. Back in the 80s, IBM, nicknamed “Big Blue,” was the big bully on the block, and the film describes the ways the little guys out-thought the big boys. Making smart use of archival film footage, Silicon Cowboys kicks off with scenes that play like an early draft of George Lucas’

Central Valley, CA saga American Graffiti. Oscar-nominated for his short subject Facing Fear, the story of forgiveness between a Neo-Nazi and victims of his hate crimes, Cohen is adroit at jumping the divide between the film world’s fiction and nonfiction divisions. Here he juxtaposes present-day interviews with the major players and home-movie-quality clips

showing not only the birth of the p.c., but the early development of the first Texas mega-city, the little berg 50 miles up the Ship Channel that would soon be dubbed “Space City” and become the center of America’s fledgling attempts to overtake the Russians in the race to space. Opens Fri. at SF’s Roxie and Four Star Theaters, San Jose’s Camera 3.t

<< Music

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2016

Blond on Blond by Tim Pfaff

edia-for-media’s-sake AM radio station WIAM (What It All Means) is broadcasting Frank Ocean’s new album Blond around the clock. I bet now they wish they had gone stereo FM while there was still time, because the noise is earsplitting. The worry is that Ocean – the out R&B artist sometimes known as a rapper; also, sometimes not – is really telling a long, complicated joke, and all the wrong people are laughing. I am, with delight, and I’ve got to be high on the list of the wrong people: a seen-it-all, aging-not-atall-gracefully classical-music critic moonlighting on the other music he likes (there’s a lot). But if anything disqualifies my opinion, it’s that I have not sampled the entire new Ocean package – the extended music video Endless, infamous for the aptness of its title; a small-run glossy magazine; even cars and houses, I hear – with which the 29-year-old songster has come roaring back after a four-year silence. In Music for the Masses Time, that’s the equivalent of Brünnhilde’s generational sleep. In any case, the presser for the drop of this Ocean was last-minute and haphazard, so no wonder the bloggers are growling. The people who called it to my attention, hot on its release, are

Andrea Chénier

From page 15

When the curtain went up on Act I to reveal the opulent Winter Garden salon of the Contessa di Coigny, one couldn’t help thinking it was reflective of the finery and abundance displayed on the audience side of the proscenium. Conductor Nicola Luisotti quickly made certain that focus was switched from the red

“ordinary listeners,” people whose sensibilities I trust and who listen far outside the industry’s echo chambers. I bought it on iTunes, which I might not have done had I known that that was the only way to get it. It’s a weird kind of artistic independence joined at the hip to our era’s Great Communicator, Apple. But as with so many things Appleplectic (taxes, say) there’s just some

things you gotta eat, core and all. It’s not to detract from the singular power of Ocean’s voice, artistic or bodily, on Blond to say that it’s plaintive, inward-looking, and never far from hyper- on the sensitivity scale. He all but self-parodies in the “outro” (opposite of intro) of “Self-Control,” when he begins each stanza with “I, I, I, I” before it turns confessional, selfabnegating and outright pleading,

carpet outside the Opera House to the turmoil of French society at the time of the Revolution and the Reign of Terror onstage. There are longueurs during the four acts (one intermission), and a faster tempo might have helped speed or mask occasional sags in the composer’s and librettist Luigi Illica’s theatrical impetus, but Luisotti caressed and shaped every page to reveal influences on Giordano’s

score and the delicious synthesis he achieved. When the music swings French we are treated to the perfumed loveliness of Massenet; when it is most Italian we feel the muscular punch of Mascagni, and of course every note is infused with the heart-melting emotion of Puccini. Giordano could never again equal the success of his one big hit, but his tale of idealism and death-defying love has survived, usually waiting

in that debased way that romantic love, however brief, has its way with us. Even when he shares vocals with other singers – white Swedish rappers, Beyonce ffs – no one’s dominating, competing, or screaming. All the voices are individual and conspicuously lacking in “branding,” which is at the heart of Ocean’s endeavor, and the furor around this release. The boldest thing he’s done is to articulate the not-to-be-said in this time of vaulting change in the realm of other-sexual liberation, candor and defiance of the oppressor. Ocean gives voice, in words and music, to the taboo idea that no one can make a gay man hurt harder than another gay man can. His point is not that gay men are shits but that there are two sides to every freedom medallion. That’s the way love is. I’ve been on a terrible Tristan tear, so I’m down with the idea that love hurts. Ocean speaks the hurt in an unmistakably gay way yet does it without self-pity. It’s as brilliant an example of making the political personal as I’ve heard. There’s astonishing variety in Ocean’s new songs. The sound is heavily layered throughout, but although anyone’s noise needs will be met, the sound never clots in the ear. “Pretty Sweet” heads the nerve-janglers. At the opposite extreme, the irony of “Close to You,” invoking the Bacharach-David hit in the Stevie Wonder cover, will be lost on no one, nor will for the right mixture of vocal casting to fill the trio of leading roles. The SFO’s co-production with Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing has come up with three impressive stars. All are making their welcome San Francisco debuts. South Korean tenor Yonghoon Lee in the title role and Italian soprano Anna Pirozzi as his courageous and compassionate love Maddalena di Coigny may not share the same level of subtlety revealed by Georgian (Tbilisi) baritone George Gagnidze as jealous zealot Carlo Gérard, but Illica gave his character more shading in the first place. What counts most is the singing, and Lee’s baritonal tenor makes his performance as passionate and sympathetic as required. His handsome ramrod-straight stage presence suits the hero’s deep commitment. His voice doesn’t open at the top with much bloom, but he still gets there with complete assurance. Anna Pirozzi reportedly has a devoted fan base in Italy, and it appears well-justified. There was an immediate response to her singing on opening night, and she grew in power and lyricism as the opera went on. Her famous aria “La mamma morta” brought cheers, and her low-keyed acting helped integrate it into the scene better than usual. It remains a show-stopping moment, but it made more dramatic sense. Lee is a darker-voiced tenor, and George Gagnidze is a darker-voiced baritone. His performance was memorably powerful as the complicated revolutionary who finally cannot betray his friend or the woman they both love. He brought sympathetic intensity to his big moments. Secondary roles were also wellcast. American mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges made her SFO and role debuts as the heroine’s companion Bersi with a pleasing sound that matches her lovely stage presence. American baritone David Pershall also made his SFO debut as Roucher, and managed to stand out despite the lack of dramatic substance in his role. As the old Contessa di Coigny, woefully ignorant of the suffering around her, SFO favorite Catherine Cook won another huge audience

the earnestness of Lennon-McCarthy’s “Here There and Everywhere” in “White Ferrari.” All the lyrics are available online; I’d suggest genius. com/Frank-ocean-nights-lyrics. The closest Ocean comes to a rant is in the opening track, “Nike,” a caustic anti-promotion of our demeaning material culture. It’s not sugar-coated, but musically the message is lodged in the notion of how deeply we’re all in this together. The album represents what little revolt is still possible against corporate avarice. The spoken-word riff by French producer SebastiAn on the depredations of Facebook friending is chillingly funny, and the perils of love in the drug-enhanced 24-hour city (“It’s hell on Earth and the city’s on fire”) loom large. But it’s the really personal songs that cut close to the bone. “Self-control” is more emotionally shredding than “I’ll be your boyfriend in your wet dreams tonight,” the opening line of its chorus, lets on. The “Keep a place for me” refrain is where the real feeling lies. And for a sentiment anyone can get behind, there’s “Summer’s not as long as it used to be” (“Skyline to”). It’s part of America’s contract with its artists that, if they willingly leave our ever-dwindling attention spans for years at a time, when they return they had better be oracular. Blond is no ordinary drop in anyone’s Ocean.t

Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Anna Pirozzi as Maddalena di Coigny in Umerto Giordano’s Andrea Chénier.

response at the final curtain. Front-and-center singing makes perfect sense in an opera that deliberately stops in its tracks to make important declarations or to allow impassioned duets. For the rest of the show, follow spots pick out the principals in crowd scenes. For those who find McVicar’s traditional approach old-fashioned, I defend his refreshing boldness in an age that demands ponderously overthought opera productions. They usually inspire audience outrage and critical trashing anyway. Sumptuous sets by Robert Jones and gorgeous costumes by Jenny Tiramani (both making their SFO debuts) are beautifully visible, thanks to lighting designer Adam Silverman. Most importantly, Maestro Luisotti is in the pit to punch up the action and get the verismo blood pumping. The production is physically huge, necessitating mood-breaking pauses between acts, but McVicar’s intelligent details and dramatic instincts quickly return our attention. He finds the heart of an opera with a showman’s flair for the theatrical. By the final blackout, after the lovers have shared one of the biggest duets in the repertoire to walk upstage towards their tragic fate, only a heart of stone could be unmoved. It may be old-fashioned, but who really wants it to go out of style?t Andrea Chénier continues in repertory through Fri., Sept. 30. sfopera.com.

On the Tab

Shining Stars Vol. 46 • No. 37 • September 15-21, 2016

www.ebar.com ✶ www.bartabsf.com

Shirley Manson

The lead singer of Garbage on touring, politics and ‘queer’ fans by Jim Provenzano

wenty years ago, the band whose song about “the queerest of the queer” hit the airwaves, and fans have grown for the unique rock style of Garbage, particularly for the strong, evocative vocals of lead singer Shirley Manson. In an interview from Mexico City along the band’s world tour, Manson discussed the band’s new work, politics and their devoted LGBT fanbase.

Cheryl Mazak

Joseph Cultice

Shirley Manson and Garbage band mates.

Suede’s smoot h song style

The veteran singermakes her Feinstei’ns debut by Sari Staver

P Suede onstage

op, jazz, and blues singer Suede will make her debut at Feinstein’s at the Nikko on September 23 and 24, accompanied by pianist John R. Burr. Her new concert, Anything Could Happen, includes her own songs, plus some popular classics. See page 25 >>

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24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 15-21, 2016

Shirley Manson

From page 23

When I grow up

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Manson’s father was a university lecturer and “I love being on the road,” Sunday School teacher; her said Manson of Garbage’s mother was a big band singer. ambitious world tour, which From an early age, Manson includes gigs in the U.S., rebelled against organized Europe, South America and religion. She studied several even Russia. musical instruments, and “This is our sixth studio performed in local dramatic record, and we’re really proud and musical shows through of it,” Manson said of Strange university and afterward. Little Birds, their new studio One notable role was playalbum. At their September 24 ing a prophet in an awardconcert at Masonic Hall, fans winning Edinburgh Fringe can expect new songs from Festival production of that album, along with favorMaurice the Minotaur. ites like “Only Happy When But through her school It Rains,” “Paranoid” and years, she was bullied until “Queer,” from their first aljoining a group of rebellious bum, which the UK Guardian students. “I know what it feels dubbed one of the 100 greatest like to be oppressed by the staalbums of all time. tus quo,” Manson said. “I want Known for partially formto fight that, so I think of you ing as a studio session group in as my community, my allies, Madison, Wisconsin in 1993, Amy Harris/Shutterstock my people.” the band’s name comes from Asked if her Scottish their catchy remixes composed Shirley Manson on stage in 2015. heritage, and Great Britain’s for other bands. One offhand centuries of occupation of comment called the sound Scotland, have to do with her “like garbage.” “It has since become very de risense of defiance, Manson said, “I Undaunted, American musigeur for artists to do that. But back think there’s a a small part of that cians Duke Erikson, Steve Marker then, we were playing in Detroit, in all Scottish people, because we and Butch Vig decided to seek out and that morning I had been going were overrun by our own governa strong female lead singer, and through some of our social media, ment. I grew up in a Scotland unteamed up a year later with Scottish and received a message from a lovely der [then-Prime Minister Margavocalist-musician Shirley Manson boy, a very elegant note, asking if we ret] Thatcher, and Thatcher fucked in London, who was then with the would mind if he proposed to his the Scots; willfully fucked them. band Angelfish. partner on stage that night. So I definitely have a chip on my Her first audition did not go well. “It was something about the way shoulder about that. Also, producer and drummer Vig, he wrote that was very sincere,” she “But I think it’s more personal,” who had just produced Nirvana’s said. “He wasn’t just wanting to be she added. “From when I was 11, I smash hit album Nevermind, was on stage. The things he said about had a young gay friend, the only gay dealing the death of Kurt Cobain. A his partner were incredibly beautiful. kid in school. And then I met club few later meetings and sessions went It turned out we’ve since met these kids, so I met a whole community of better. The band took their time, two men, and I had a good sense of freaks and geeks; I loved them. When avoiding the grunge sound of the people; they’re really beautiful. I left school, they were my people.” era, with experiments that resulted “It turned out to be very emoThe fact that Manson and the in a unique collaboration. Their first tional for us,” Manson added. band are simply great to listen to album premiered in August 1995 to “We’ve been longterm supporters and watch in concert are part of great acclaim. of the LGBT community, so it felt their strong fan base. Her contralto A combination of slick and catchy like a very special moment in all our vocals range from sultry to soaring, grooves, lyrics full of contrasting lives. We were all crying!” to intimate whispers with a consisemotions –doubt, joy, fear, resolve The couple reportedly later joked tently dramatic edge. and a hint of kink– Garbage won that they knew they were meant for Manson was asked if her early fans worldwide. Last year, the band’s each other because they both had training in theatre aides her per“20 Years Queer” tour included conGarbage CDs in their collection. forming style in music, which varcert performances timed with a re“I can’t really explain why we have ies between brooding to –in their mastered version of the album. always felt an affiliation with our latest tour– surprisingly cheerful Now, with 12 million records LGBT fans, but we have had a longand buoyant. sold, a new album and an ambitious standing relationship and a sincere “I think the way I perform now tour schedule, Manson talked about investment in their happiness, as we is very different,” she said. “I credit the expanded focus of their music. continue to fight for that civil rights that with having studied with an “The records that we always love battle,” said Manson. “Whenever we acting teacher, who really broke are the ones that are really grounded, see small steps taken in advancing the down for me what a performance so that you’re getting an entire picrights of the community, we feel joywas. She taught me that you have ture of the human experience,” said ful and happy that we took a little part to find the essence of who you reManson. “I don’t think there’s one in it. We took a step with that comally are, not anybody else, not any person in the world who’s entirely munity, and we’ll always have their of the rock stars you grew up emuone thing. When we hear records backs.” lating, but who you are. She taught that are one-note, we get bored Asked if part of their gay fandom me how to really listen to the music pretty quickly. We want to have a rehas as much to do with the band’s and put that into my body. This is cord that’s full of contradictions and music, and its use of the term ‘queer,’ what I do now, but not when I was contrasts, because that’s how we feel as with Manson being a strong womyounger. I used to put on weaponry, human beings are. an and a rock icon, she said, “Quite to protect myself, and I wanted to “As artists, we want to call on the recently I read an article that made remain apart; now I want to be part human experience,” she continued. total sense, sort of an epiphany. It of it. That’s a difference psychology.” “Our job is to chronicle, to witness said that LGBT people are a strong and also to reflect. I think that’s alfemale’s best friend. They want to see Push it ways what we attempt to do when strong female figures do well. They’re Manson discussed the band’s we go into the studio. With Strange not threatened by women in a way playlist of new and favorite songs. Little Birds, we’ve managed to do that perhaps heterosexual communi“We just play what we believe that well. With some of our records, ties can be.” will make a cool journey in a live we’ve tried and failed. But with the The band’s song and music video show, and arrange them to fill out new one, we’ve managed to bring a “Androgyny” even foreshadowed the set,” she said. “We want to make lot of complexity to the record, a lot the transgender rest room contropeople feel things; at least, that’s my of shades.” versy with lyrics and accompanying intention.” shots of “boys in the girls’ room, Despite much success, the band ‘Queer’ and present girls in the men’s room.” took a break in 2005. During that Harkening back to their debut, “I feel that we’ve gravitated totime, Manson created some solo Manson discussed the surprise and wards the LGBT community for and collaborative work, and even acclaim for their first album, and its numerous reasons,” said Manson. acted in the TV show Terminator: unusual single, “Queer.” “We all identify in Garbage as being The Sarah Connor Chronicles. DurAlthough not gay-identified on the outside. We’ve never been in ing the band’s music hiatus, Man(Manson, 50, is married to the the middle of the culture, never the son almost quit when her mother, band’s sound engineer Billy Bush), most successful, or the most popular. suffering from dementia, died. In she discussed her gay fans, in parWe’ve always been sort of this strange an Elle Magazine interview, Manticular the male couple who got enlittle community of our own outside son said that a friend’s request to gaged onstage at one of the band’s of the mainstream music scene. sing David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” concerts. We’ve remained outside of that.” at their son’s funeral revived her “It was gorgeous,” said ManThis is despite the band’s critical musical creativity. son of Scott Sauter’s proposal to and sales success, which Manson “It meant so much to them that I his boyfriend Domenick Vivano said still keeps her a bit wary. “I am could sing that song and so much to at a 2013 Garbage concert in obsessed with the idea of oppresme that I was able to do something. Detroit (See the video on Yousive aspects of mainstream culture, Tube: https://www.youtube.com/ partly because I am a strong female, See page 25 >> watch?v=I0SULMU7kaU). since I was young.”

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