September 8, 2016 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter

Dueling Pride runs raise hackles

ARTS

Chaz Bono

Fred Schneider

The

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

Vol. 46 • No. 36 • September 8-14, 2016

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Dueling Pride runs raise hackles

ARTS

Chaz Bono

Fred Schneider

The

www.ebar.com

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

SF props target mayor’s power

Vol. 46 • No. 36 • September 8-14, 2016

Oakland Pride still has no funds for center

by Seth Hemmelgarn

everal measures on San Francisco’s November ballot will ask voters to reduce the powers of the city’s mayor, from filling vacancies on the Board of Supervisors to appointRick Gerharter ing people to the board that oversees Mayor Ed Lee Muni. The city’s residents will also decide whether there should be a public advocate’s office. Here’s a look at those propositions.

Proposition D – Board vacancies

Under Proposition D, a charter amendment, when a Board of Supervisors seat becomes vacant, the mayor would appoint an interim supervisor to fill the office until the city holds a special election to permanently fill the spot, unless there’s a regularly scheduled election within 180 days of the vacancy. The interim supervisor wouldn’t be eligible to run during the special election to permanently fill the vacancy, but could run for the office in a subsequent election. Currently, the mayor can appoint a successor to fill a supervisor’s spot until an election is held. In response to an email asking why people should support Prop D, Supervisor John Avalos, the proposed charter amendment’s chief sponsor, said, “San Francisco’s city charter gives the mayor extraordinary powers to appoint members of the Board of Supervisors when there’s a vacancy, bestowing the power of incumbency and taking away local democracy. Instead of a single person selecting who should represent a district, the district voters should be able to elect representatives.” Avalos pointed to Supervisors Jane Kim and Scott Wiener competing to win the state Senate seat being vacated by Mark Leno (DSan Francisco), who’s being termed out. “Under the current conditions,” Avalos said, with either Kim or Wiener “going to the Senate, the mayor’s appointee will not have to run for two years. Because the power of incumbency is so great, by that time their victory could be all but assured.” It’s unclear if being a mayoral appointee is as big an advantage as Avalos contends. Mayor Ed Lee has twice appointed people to fill board vacancies, neither of whom went on to win election in their own right. See page 16 >>

by Seth Hemmelgarn

rganizers of the Oakland LGBTQ Pride parade and festival are set to hold their annual celebration and parade Sunday, September 11. But after years of throwing the party, they have little to show toward their original goal of building a fund for an LGBTQ community center. Asked last week whether any money’s

been put aside, Pride Co-Chair Carlos Uribe delayed answering directly by saying there’s been “a lot of speculation around is Pride putting money toward a center,” among other comments. But when he was asked again, he finally acknowledged that after the six celebrations that have happened since the festival was rebooted in 2010, no money’s been put aside for a center. See page 17 >>

People walked through the Oakland Pride festival last year.

Mixed results in new SF HIV report Kelly Sullivan

by Liz Highleyman

he San Francisco Department of Public Health recently released its annual HIV epidemiology report, showing that the number of newly diagnosed HIV infections continues to fall and people with HIV are achieving viral suppression sooner. But notable disparities remain, with African-Americans not benefitting as much as the city population as a whole. The September 1 report, which covers data through the end of 2015, shows that the number of new HIV diagnoses in San Francisco fell from 309 in 2014 to 255 in 2015 – the lowest level since the start of the epidemic. “We’re excited to see the progress we’re making in reducing new HIV diagnoses overall, but we’re not fully reaching our most vulnerable populations,” Dr. Susan Buchbinder, director of SFDPH’s Bridge HIV, told the Bay Area Reporter. “That’s why we are working with community partners and providers to expand innovative, effective programs for communities of color, homeless and marginally housed people, people using drugs, youth, and our aging population living with HIV, focusing not only on HIV, but also on the structural barriers that make communities vulnerable in the first place.” The new findings indicate that San Francisco is making progress toward achieving the goals of its Getting to Zero initiative: zero new HIV infections, zero deaths due to HIV/AIDS, and zero stigma for people living with HIV.

fections among Latinos and blacks exceeded their share of the city population (about 15 percent and 6 percent, respectively). Nationwide, African-Americans account for 44 percent of new HIV cases while making up 12 percent of the U.S. population. Three-quarters of newly diagnosed people in San Francisco were in the 25 to 49 age range, with another 13 percent being 18-24 and 11 New HIV cases percent being age 50 or older. New HIV cases have deNo infants or children have clined in San Francisco over been diagnosed with HIV in Liz Highleyman the past decade and the latest San Francisco since 2005. report shows that this trend Dr. Susan Buchbinder The Castro, South of continues. This year’s 17 Market, and the Tenderloin percent drop nearly matches had the highest concentrathe previous year’s 18 percent decrease. tion of new infections. About 10 percent of Compared with the United States as a whole, newly diagnosed people were homeless and people newly diagnosed with HIV in San Francisabout a quarter did not have public or private co are more likely to be gay men and to be white. health insurance. Men who have sex with men accounted for the “While the 2015 report indicates that the curlargest proportion of newly diagnosed people – rent HIV prevention approach has been successful 72 percent (compared to 54 percent nationwide) in some communities, it is clear we need to focus – while 9 percent are women and 2 percent are on populations with disparities by addressing the transgender people, mostly trans women. social determinants of health including discrimiWhite people accounted for 42 percent of nation, poverty, and homelessness,” Tracey Packer, newly diagnosed HIV cases, followed by Latinos director of Community Health Equity and Pro(24 percent), African Americans (17 percent), motion at DPH told the B.A.R. See page 12 >> and Asian/Pacific Islanders (12 percent). New in-

“The overall picture is very good, with San Francisco heading toward zero on every HIV measure,” said city Health Director Barbara Garcia. “However, the data also show significant disparities, affirming our focus on efforts for groups who are not experiencing as much progress. Without improvements for these populations, we as a city will not reach zero.”

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<< Oakland Pride 2016

4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

Competing Oakland Pride runs cause rift by David-Elijah Nahmod

wo women are planning competing 5K runs the day before the Oakland Pride parade and festival, causing confusion and bruised egos. Kin Folkz, who’s also known as Monica Anderson, is planning another edition of her Oakland Pride 5K fun run/walk, which first took place last year. Meanwhile, Nathalie Huerta, owner of the Queer Gym who originally expressed support for Folkz’s event, has gone and started her own Oakland Pride 5K. Both are scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday, September 10, the day before Sunday’s Pride parade. The Oakland Pride 5K sponsored by the Queer Gym will be held at the Lake Merritt Amphitheater. Folkz’s Oakland Pride 5K will start at Snow Park. The Queer Gym’s event has sold out, with 500 registrants, according to a post on Facebook.

Folkz, a genderqueer woman, conceived the Oakland Pride 5K fun run/walk in 2013 at what she called a “wellness gathering.” The first run took place in 2015 and was a success, she said, so Folkz, 50, moved forward with her plans to make the run an annual event to be held the day before Oakland Pride. “In 2015 we achieved the run with Oakland Pride reaching out and offering support in the form of promotion on their website and in print,” Folkz told the Bay Area Reporter. Folkz added that the event attracted nearly 100 runners, walkers, and volunteers. The run, which Folkz said cost $3,459 to produce, had a policy of not turning away those who lacked funds. “We received $655 in donations from runners, walkers and observers who wanted to contribute,” Folkz said. “The remaining $2,804 in bills associated with the run was paid for by myself and two other

and desist letter. “The board did not do so,” she said. “Instead, two of the three board members sent me text messages of support. We support Huerta’s attempts to grow her business, but not by appropriating the run idea from black queer women, pushing a pretense to be the first Oakland Pride-promoted 5K run.” Courtesy Facebook

Courtesy Facebook

Kin Folkz is planning her second Oakland Pride 5K run this weekend.

Queer Gym owner Nathalie Huerta has organized her inaugural Oakland Pride 5K.

community members.” Folkz noted that the run’s purpose was to elevate the wellness of Oakland’s queer community. But now, she is engaged in a dispute with Huerta, 32, a lesbian and former ally who originally expressed support for Folkz’ Pride Run. Huerta is the proprietor of Oakland’s Queer Gym, formerly known as the Perfect Sidekick, and has announced a competing Oakland Pride 5K event. “LGBTQ and allies unite to kick off Oakland Pride with a fun, healthy and hella gay 5K,” states the announcement, which is posted on Queer Gym’s website. Folkz said she was shocked by what she calls the stealing of her event. “Huerta’s conscience and integrity should have kicked in at some point,” Folkz said. “Her sister agreed and shared that the two runs had a different focus, in that their run was a fundraiser for the gym and included corporate sponsors.” Folkz pointed out that Huerta’s run had gotten Oakland Pride and Left magazine to sign on as promotional partners. According to Folkz, Huerta’s sis-

ter, Maricela Huerta, said that she would suggest that the gym’s run take place on a different day. “I supported that idea and also asked that Huerta call me directly to begin healing,” Folkz said. “I have not received a direct call from Huerta.” Maricela Huerta confirmed she did speak with Folkz. “I spoke directly with Monica [Folkz] over the phone to try and figure out where the miscommunication happened and more importantly, how we can find a resolution,” Maricela Huerta said. “I explained that it did not have to be ‘us or her,’ that we could work together, but she did not agree and got very angry. She told me, ‘No! I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen here. You’re going to go tell Nathalie I said she must shut it down, turn over the permits, and stand down!’ Then she hung up on me in the middle of what was supposed to be an open dialogue. After that she immediately started the social media attacks and has not stopped since.” Folkz claims that Oakland Pride’s board was asked to issue her a cease

Online petition launched

Folkz has posted a change.org petition directed at Huerta and Left’s David Helton titled, “We Won’t Support the Stolen Oakland Pride’s 5K Run’s Erasure of Black Women’s Genius.” To date the petition has garnered 394 signatures out of the 500 it seeks. Posted comments at the petition acknowledge Folkz as the originator of the Oakland Pride Run. Some comments also addressed gentrification and white supremacy. Carlos Uribe, Oakland Pride’s spokesman, provided the board’s response to Folkz’s allegations. “After some research, we learned that an organization, Spectrum Queer Media, run by Monica Anderson/Kin Folkz, had indeed hosted an event using the Oakland Pride name in 2015,” the statement reads in part. “Oakland Pride, however, was not a recipient of any of the funds generated by that event, nor was Oakland Pride involved in the planning, marketing, or execution of that event. Folkz had simply used the Oakland Pride name to promote her event.” The statement also claims that attempts were made this year to reach a compromise with Folkz. “We made several attempts to find See page 17 >>

Oakland’s ready for Pride parade, festival by Khaled Sayed

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ast Bay residents and those from other locales will be in Oakland to celebrate the annual Pride parade and festival Sunday, September 11. The daylong event will be Oakland’s seventh annual LGBTQ Pride festival and the third annual parade since the event returned in 2010. This year’s festival will have 60 contingents and floats, which is 18 more than last year, Pride officials said. The East Bay Pride festival, as it was then called, began in 1997, but ended in 2003 after being displaced by the multi-day Art and Soul festival. A gathering with a few booths occurred in 2004 and 2005. In 2010, Oakland LGBT leaders decided to start the festival again, with the goal to raise money for a community center (see story, page 1). According to Carlos Uribe, Oakland Pride board co-chair, attendance has been growing over the years. “Last year we had over 42,000 people, and we hope to grow that number up to 50,000 this year,” he said. This year, the festival will have four entertainment stages. The main stage will feature Canadian-born signer Deborah Cox. Her platinum selling debut album, Deborah Cox, earned her an American Music Award nomination. In 1996 she won the first of three Juno Awards for best R&B/soul recording. According to Oakland Pride, Cox received the Out Music Pillar Award in January 2015. In 2007, she received the Civil Rights Award from the New York state Senate for her efforts in the

Kelly Sullivan

Members and friends of Plymouth United Church of Christ, the Jazz and Justice Church, marched in last year’s Oakland Pride parade.

fight for human rights and equality. She was recently honored by the Harvey Milk Foundation at its 2015 Diversity Honors for her efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the LGBTQ community. Another main stage highlight will be Lisa Lisa, which with the Cult Jam was one of the most musically diverse and successful recording acts of the 1980s. With hits produced and written by Full Force, the group scored million-selling hits with dance-based tracks “I Wonder if I Take You Home,” and “All Cried Out.” Today, Lisa Velez has resurfaced and Lisa Lisa is a solo act. Other stages will also feature performances. “We have a women’s stage, which focuses on female-identified artists,”

Uribe said. “A community stage – which is exactly what it sounds like – it is a bunch of different local artists and folks in the community. In addition, we have a Latino stage for Latin artists that are popular in the LGBT Latino community.” Oakland Pride has long focused on making its festival familyfriendly, reflecting the abundance of same-sex families in the East Bay. This year is no exception as Oakland Pride’s traditional Family and Children’s Garden will have a carnival and fun fair theme. The event will feature a “Jurassic Maze,” and areas for families, toddlers, and older kids. The entrance is located on Franklin Street. Our Family Coalition is heading up the effort. See page 17 >>

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<< Business News

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

Gay trainer opens his own, small gym by Matthew S. Bajko

aving worked in New York’s fashion industry for a decade as an agent to stylists and hair and makeup artists, Ryan Allen decided he needed a change in his life. So he packed his bags and headed west, relocating to San Francisco nine years ago. “I was looking for a balance of what I had in the Northwest but more going on culturally,” said Allen, who grew up in Oregon and Washington states. Allen, 40, who is gay and single, also wanted to switch careers and became a personal fitness trainer. He started out at the gay-owned DIAKADI Fitness Performance Life, San Francisco’s largest personal training gym that helps independent trainers looking to break into the business. After eight years there, Allen felt the time was right to break out on his own. He launched his own company, Lifted, and in January took over the former leasing office for 38 Dolores, the apartment development along the entire block of Dolores between 14th and Market streets that houses a Whole Foods. “This is the first time I have had a brick and mortar space,” said Allen, who lives near Dolores Park within walking distance of the location at 600 14th Street. The industrial-looking space, at 550 square feet, is small though does include a spacious bathroom. There is no locker room or changing area, however, for clients, who sign up for 90-minute classes that are capped at seven people maximum. “I want to make it feel different than a standard gym,” Allen told the Bay Area Reporter in late August. “I liked the lightness of the space and how much natural light it gets.” Allen’s method of working out combines strength training and meditation, with sessions broken into segments that include breathing exercises, warming up, working with weights and kettle balls, stretching, and guided meditation. “I am trying to incorporate the mind and body together,” said Allen, who is a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and a TRX certified suspension trainer. “People are not leaving stressed out at the end, they are leaving centered and calm.” A competitive gymnast and runner in his youth, Allen is also an In-

Rick Gerharter

Ryan Allen sits on a mat at Lifted, his new gym, where he combines strength training with meditation.

ternational Sports Sciences Association fitness nutrition specialist. In addition to nutritional counseling, Allen offers individualized in-house training for clients. As for the group classes, he is offering them three times a day, at 6:30 a.m., 10 a.m., and 6:30 p.m., at the storefront on the corner of 14th and Dolores streets. The first class costs $30 then goes to $58, though he offers a 10-session package for $490 or a five-session package that must be used within 10 days for $225. “There is still some room, but it’s been getting much busier over the last month,” said Allen. To learn more about Allen, visit his website at http://www.becomelifted.com/ - training.

the roughly 1,475 square foot space will serve as the office for Theresa Sparks, named by Lee in June as his senior adviser for transgender initiatives. The area has windows facing Market Street and will be reconstructed to have its own entrance so its operating hours do not have to mirror those of the center. The city will be paying $3.50 per square foot, or $5,162.50 per month, in rent. And the center is providing a tenant improvement allowance of $30 per square foot. Claudia J. Gorham, the assistant director of real estate for the city’s Real Estate Division, told the B.A.R. last week that, “design of the space is just beginning. We hope to move Ms. Sparks into the site by November 15, 2016 or upon completion of the tenant improvements.”

John Updike, director of real estate for the city, stressed to the B.A.R. that the build out of the space for office use would be minimal. “We’re intentionally keeping a light touch on the tenant improvements, should one day the center see market interest in retail/commercial/cafe in that space, making conversion easier in the future,” Updike wrote in an email. As the B.A.R. has previously reported, the LGBT center is financing the project with a $10.3 million loan from Capital One in partnership with the Northern California Community Loan Fund. The financing includes New Market Tax Credit equity investments, as well as a $4.4 million senior loan and a $1 million bridge loan. A statement the LGBT center and Capital One issued last week

City leases LGBT center retail space

Plans to see a coffeehouse or another retailer move into San Francisco’s LGBT Community Center have been shelved, for now, as the city has leased the space to house Mayor Ed Lee’s adviser on transgender issues. With the building at 1800 Market Street undergoing a $6.5 million renovation, center officials had sought to find a locally owned business willing to move into a section of the center’s ground floor to the left of its lobby area. Years ago a gay-owned cafe had operated in the space but closed due to a rent dispute with the center. Instead of a business moving in,

explained that a $3 million tax credit allocation from the Capital One Community Renewal Fund was utilized for the transaction and a $163,000 term loan was made directly to the center from Capital One Community Finance. The Northern California Community Loan Fund also provided a $7.5 million tax credit allocation. “This was a great example of multiple Capital One teams working together to achieve a client’s very specific and complex goals,” stated Laura Bailey, Capital One’s senior vice president of community finance. “Despite many moving parts, we were able to successfully close and underwrite it in a short time frame. Because we recognize the importance of this center and its mission to the San Francisco community, we also provided philanthropic support for operations and a conventional loan to fund the renovations.” Earlier this year Rebecca Rolfe, the center’s executive director, had told the B.A.R. that the center would pay interest on the loan “at an extremely generous rate” for seven years and then buy it back for $1,000. The financing arrangement allows the center to retire its $2.9 million debt from the cost of the initial construction of the building, which opened in 2002. “The support Capital One and NCCLF have provided the center during this transformative time for us has been invaluable,” stated Rolfe. “Thanks to their help, our continuing work of providing a safe and supportive environment for all LGBTQ people and their allies is entering a new exciting phase.” The renovations, which will allow a number of local nonprofits to move into the center, should be completed in early 2017.

Honor Roll

Rick Gerharter

The ground floor space at left will be the new office for Theresa Sparks, Mayor Ed Lee’s new senior adviser for transgender issues.

To celebrate its 80th anniversary this year, the Castro’s general store Cliff ’s Variety hosted a special three-day fundraiser in mid-August for LGBT youth services provider LYRIC, short for Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center, whose offices are on Collingwood in the heart of the city’s gayborhood. The store and its customers raised $4,100 for the nonprofit. And Cliff ’s will be featured in the November issue of Popular Mechanics magazine as one of the best hardware stores in America. See page 9 >>

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<< Open Forum

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

Volume 46, Number 36 September 8-14, 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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News Editor • news@ebar.com Arts Editor • arts@ebar.com Out & About listings • jim@ebar.com Advertising • scott@ebar.com Letters • letters@ebar.com Published weekly. Bay Area Reporter reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement which the publisher believes is in poor taste or which advertises illegal items which might result in legal action against Bay Area Reporter. Ads will not be rejected solely on the basis of politics, philosophy, religion, race, age, or sexual orientation. Advertising rates available upon request. Our list of subscribers and advertisers is conﬁdential and is not sold. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, and writers published herein is neither inferred nor implied. We are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork.

Oakland Pride board should focus on event S

ix years ago Oakland Pride rebooted itself, and it’s come a long way. A small street festival with entertainment in 2010 has grown into a full-fledged Pride event, complete with a parade. This year’s celebration Sunday, September 11 will feature an expanded children’s area, four stages, the parade, and plenty of fun for everyone. But after all the celebrating there’s a need to reevaluate initial organizers’ goals as they were planning the festival’s return. They said then – and it remains on Oakland Pride’s website today – that “Oakland Pride is committed to facilitating leadership and coalition building for the funding and development of the first LGBTQ community center in Oakland for everyone.” But the fact is that no money has been raised for the center because most years Oakland Pride has run over budget, only recovering its financial footing last year, according to Oakland Pride board Co-Chair Carlos Uribe. The Pride budget is modest, only $250,000 to $270,000 this year, and less in previous years, which makes putting any money into an account for a community center unrealistic. For now the Pride board should abandon the community center idea and focus on what it does best – producing a fun and safe Pride parade and festival. While there may be a need for an LGBT community center in Oakland, opening any type of facility will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars if it’s to really make an impact, provide services, and

draw visitors. We’re not sure if the city needs a community center, but would certainly like to see a decision based on survey results and other feedback that Oakland Pride officials had planned to obtain. (As we reported last year, Pride officials were supposed to engage the public by hosting roundtable community meetings this year. We don’t know the results of those gatherings or if they were held.) Six years ago, the Pride office was in a vacant building in Jack London Square that organizers said would make a great LGBT center. Well, Oakland Pride isn’t there anymore, the site is still vacant, and it’s doubtful it would have been an ideal location anyway. Proximity to a BART station will also be essential for a center’s success, especially one that seeks to serve queer youth. There are community centers in nearby cities, so perhaps the size and scope of an Oak-

land center should be commensurate with the need. The Pacific Center for Human Growth in Berkeley already serves northern Alameda County, which includes Oakland, and has been an institution since it opened in 1973. In Contra Costa County, the Rainbow Community Center has been in operation since 1992, when it began as an offshoot of the Pacific Center. After this weekend’s Pride festivities, the Oakland Pride board needs to seriously examine and update its mission. It doesn’t do the community any good to keep hearing about a fantasy LGBT center in Oakland when not a dime has been raised for it. The Pride board should conduct a survey to gauge community need and support but only at a nominal cost. Otherwise, it’s an idea that’s best left to some other organization dedicated to the purpose of operating a center. Getting a community center open will take more than money; it will need the support of government leaders, local officials, and buy-in from the community. So far, an LGBT center is not a priority for Oakland’s city government, as it is focused on more pressing problems like police accountability and the housing crisis. This weekend is about celebrating LGBT Pride. So go and enjoy Oakland Pride Sunday. And thank the board and volunteers for their efforts at what they do best: putting on a great event. But the board should be realistic about concurrently organizing the annual event and pursuing a community center project. Although worthy, the center could prove impractical if there isn’t the need or support from the community to justify it.t

The 12 steps of dealing with STIs by Luke Adams and Race Bannon

our years ago, we wrote the first communitybased article about exciting possibilities for PrEP to bring us an era when new HIV infections might be brought to a halt. Two years later, we wrote an article dispelling the myths about PrEP perpetrated by the misleading folks at AIDS Healthcare Foundation and their supporters, and we discussed why psychotherapy/counseling was important for many people’s lives for whom PrEP would be a great risk-reduction solution. Now, we want to tackle the inevitable situation of a rise in less dangerous sexually transmitted infections, almost back to the worst levels of the 1980s (but not yet the staggering levels of the late 1960s and 1970s). The easy fix – and some have wanted us to go back to this – would be to try to scare everybody about antibiotic resistance and to terrorize people back into using condoms. Except, we know from experience that won’t work. Moreover, condoms are helpful at blocking some STIs, but not all of them, and only have about a 70 percent success rate for most people anyway. We admitted we had become powerless in seeking the easy fix – that our efforts to date had become unmanageable. To begin, we had to acknowledge the reality on the ground. The way social health educators have, in the past, handled our messages – especially to communities on the margins – had stopped working. In public/social health, we sometimes look at ourselves wondering how we keep winding up seeing a possible recipe for disaster, especially among gay and bi cisgender men and trans men. Too often, our approach for prevention had been to spew moralism from on high about the intimate realities of a person’s life. Join that with a kind of passive-aggressive behaviorist agenda-setting. Then join that with moralizing peer-pressure in health messages. Top it off with a reliance on devices that have been deeply loathed by men for five centuries and thrown away at every opportunity even at great personal cost. Now is it any wonder we eventually wind up with resentment, revolt, and reproach? No. Until we realize there is no more power to drive our health messages with fear, we remain sunk.

Condom code

This is what happened with the condom code by 1995. What had once been a modestly

Luke Adams, left, and Race Bannon

successful, fear-based behavioral change campaign, dissolved in reaction and disregard – 64 percent of men who have sex with men had abandoned full compliance, a number that remains only slightly higher today (and higher among heterosexual men). Biomedicine saved us from an explosion of HIV infections. The suppression of the virus in our “herd” through the widespread use of highly active antiretroviral therapy kept new transmissions almost to zero among those who were medicationadherent and who were not simultaneously using hyperstimulants (which could throw off adherence and/or spark mutations and breakthroughs in viral load). So, we came to believe that this power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. This process of seeing what had failed was how we discovered TasP (treatment as prevention). It is also how we discovered that high viral loads in patients who usually don’t know their status were the main sources of our new infections. We learned that men were coming up with risk lowering strategies by getting educated and employing knowledge on their own. We realized that if we vaccinated people against hepatitis A and hepatitis B, we could dramatically bring down infections. Some of us, unaided by many physicians and insurance companies, have strongly advocated that all queer men get vaccinated for HPV, even if they’ve had a wart from a strain, because there is likely protection for other strains and from cancer. Many of us have advocated strongly for annual flu shots and for the vaccine against meningococcus, and for the same reason – in close

quarters like meetings and conferences, these are easily spread and can be deadly. We could use more help from doctors and insurers about these, too. We learned from all of this that we really needed a testing campaign for HIV. We made a decision to entrust ourselves to the care of that process. At community suggestion, we have tried many ways to make that testing widely accessible, acceptable, and free of stigma. Yet, we still regularly hear reports of gay/bi/queer men shaming other gay/bi/queer men about getting tested. Yet, clearly, plenty of us – the shamers and the shamed – are still having a whole lot of sex. So, we took a fearless and searching “asset and liability” inventory of ourselves. We all have to ask ourselves: Why the shaming? Have we internalized the hatred of ourselves so much that we would rather scorn and shame each other into lonely lives of hermitage, or into unwanted bourgeois affectations, or into preventable infections with dangerous pathogens? It seems that way. What can we as queer men do about that? We know we do have to get bluntly honest with the whole process, with ourselves, and with each other, about the exact nature of the problem. It has been a long issue with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that we don’t have a national, open and frank, multi-racial/ethnic gay, bi, polysexual, and pansexual men’s and transguy’s testing campaign, not only for HIV, but also for the hepatitis C virus and other STIs. Even the CDC’s “Get tested for STD Awareness Month” campaign was only youth-specific. Its newer campaign is better, but it’s still conservative organizations like the CDC and Food and Drug Administration that throw us roadblocks (CDC is still telling people a lie: that oral sex is a significant risk for HIV; and the FDA still won’t let gay men who’ve had sex in the last year give blood – all of which is a matter of outright homophobia, not of science). The campaigns have been highly sanitized, and have lacked any national social marketing campaign to go with them. This is really the crux of the matter, to have a set of clear action items on which queer men can See page 12 >>

Politics>>

t Sonoma County names lesbian as next administrator by Matthew S. Bajko

onoma County supervisors have named a lesbian lawyer to be the county’s next administrator. It is believed to be the first time an LGBT person has been hired for the powerful position, which oversees an employee workforce of more than 4,000 and a $1.6 billion budget. Sheryl Bratton, 53, who currently serves as assistant Sonoma County counsel, is expected to begin her new role in October. She lives in Penngrove with her wife, Joann Bratton, and their 12-yearold daughter, Ella Marie. “I am honored to serve the board and community as Sonoma County’s next county administrator,” stated Bratton in an August 31 news release announcing her hire. “I feel passionately about public service, and am looking forward to the opportunity to work collaboratively with the board, county department heads and staff, community-based organizations, other local and regional governments, and members of the community to advance key strategic initiatives and priorities while sustaining the county’s long term fiscal health.” The Board of Supervisors, having selected Bratton over two other finalists for the job, will vote to approve her contract at its September 13 meeting. Her salary as the county administrator will be $249,369.13 annually. “Ms. Bratton has the vision and experience to move the county forward in a way that balances fiscal responsibility with addressing critical community needs. Ms. Bratton impressed the board with her understanding of the issues and innovative problem solving abilities,” stated Supervisor Efren Carrillo, who chairs the board. “She has consistently demonstrated her ability to tackle the most challenging issues, work collaboratively, and lead effectively. We are looking forward to working with Ms. Bratton to strengthen the county organization and advance community priorities.” According to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Bratton will be the second woman to hold the county’s top executive post after Veronica Ferguson, 59, who announced in May that she planned to retire in October. Last week Ferguson told the paper that she is “delighted to have such a qualified individual to hand over the reins to,” describing Bratton as “tenacious and unflappable” and having “a deep understanding of the organization, and a passion for serving Sonoma County.” For 24 years Bratton, who grew up in southern California, has worked for Sonoma County, having been first hired as a deputy attorney in the county counsel’s office. She has long been an out public official, and in her new role, will be one of the highest-ranking LGBT munici-

Business Briefs

From page 6

The Golden Gate Business Association, the country’s oldest LGBT chamber of commerce, in late August received a National Excellence in Community Impact Award at the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce’s 2016 International Business and Leadership Conference, held this year in Palm Springs. The San Francisco-based chamber earned the award for its work helping 19 local LGBT businesses win contracts from the Super

Incoming Sonoma County Administrator Sheryl Bratton

pal employees in the Bay Area. In the late 1990s she was a vocal advocate for domestic partner benefits and served on a committee that lobbied the Sonoma supervisors to treat their LGBT employees the same as their heterosexual counterparts. “If you’re married, the county will contribute a certain amount for payroll benefits for your spouse. So my neighbor in my office, who has the same qualifications as I do, makes more money,” Bratton told the Sonoma County Independent in 1999. Years later ABC7 News covered her civil marriage to Joann, whom she has been with since 1997 and privately married in 1999, when same-sex marriages were first legalized in California in June 2008. “I want to act before there is legal maneuvering going on that might try to strip away the counties from being able to marry gays and lesbians,” she told the television station, foreshadowing the ballot measure voters passed in November of that year, which brought an end to the marriages and resulted in years of court decisions that culminated in 2013 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling striking down the anti-gay marriage law.

LGBT leaders hail Bratton’s hiring

LGBT leaders in Sonoma County hailed the news of Bratton’s hiring. They noted that it is another sign of the community’s growing clout and presence in the northern most region of the Bay Area. “Sonoma County, including its towns and cities (like Cloverdale!), have grown ever more welcoming over the years and so are benefitting greatly in myriad ways from the residents and businesses of our thriving LGBT community. As I see it, that Sheryl Bratton is an out lesbian is the latest undeniable proof of that,” wrote lesbian Cloverdale City Councilwoman Carol Russell in an emailed reply to the Bay Area Reporter. As a longtime board member of Bowl 50 Planning Committee. “We are deeply honored to receive this recognition of our work with the Super Bowl 50 Planning Committee and the NFL,” stated Paul Pendergast, GGBA’s president. “In a very short period of time we were able to effectively lobby for the historic inclusion of LGBT-certified/owned businesses and advocate for meaningful contracts for our members in one of this nation’s largest events. Collectively, we made a positive impact that will resonate throughout the nation as the Super Bowl moves

Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit, Russell said she was “especially familiar” with Bratton’s “fine work related to its financing,” as Bratton played an instrumental role in helping county leaders come up with how to pay for the new regional transit system, known as SMAR, that will soon debut. With Bratton taking over the county administrator role, Russell wrote that she feels “confident that our county can look forward to an ever-improving organizational structure underpinned by an increasingly productive workforce.” Michael Volpatt, a gay man and business leader in Guerneville, told the B.A.R. “the decision to appoint an LGBTQI community member as an administrator is an important recognition of the diversity and changes our community is bringing to the county.” He noted how LGBT business owners have been at the forefront of a “renaissance” in Guerneville, long a gay resort area, and how LGBTQI events throughout the county have also been making a difference. “Beyond that there are still groups of this community that are underrepresented, including young adults, youths, senior residents, the disabled, homeless, economically disadvantaged and otherwise marginalized,” wrote Volpatt in an emailed response. “We hope that this appointment will ensure that their voices are heard as well.” Jill Ravitch, a lesbian who is Sonoma County’s district attorney, told the Press Democrat that Bratton “brings a new perspective to the position” and will “enhance the work that we do here at the county. I think it’s a terrific selection and I look forward to working with her in her new position.” Prior to being hired by the county, Bratton had been with the San Francisco-based law firm Morrison and Foerster. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in urban planning and received her law degree from the University of San Francisco, where she also earned a master’s degree in business administration. “It’s always a good sign to see highly competent LGBT folks assuming key roles in government, whether local or national. Government functions best when leaders reflect the community they serve,” National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell told the B.A.R. “We congratulate Ms. Bratton and wish her every success. We know the vibrant Sonoma community is delighted by her selection.”t

September 8-14, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

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from city to city each year.” GGBA also announced last month that it had won a $5,000 grant from the national chamber, funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation, that it will use to increase its own capacity and assist certified LGBT businesses expand and grow. GGBA will hold its 42nd annual meeting and board elections from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, September 13, at Hotel Zephyr, located at 250 Beach Street in San Francisco. For more information about the meeting and GGBA in general, visit http://ggba.com/.t

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<< Community News

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

MCC-SF promotes pastor by Seth Hemmelgarn

San Francisco church that serves as a spiritual home for many LGBTs has announced it’s promoting a lesbian to serve as provisional pastor.

The Reverend Annie SteinbergBehrman, 59, who’s most recently served as associate pastor of Metropolitan Community Church-San Francisco, said she’s hoping the church can boost attendance.

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Steinberg-Behrman’s new position was announced just as the Reverend Robert Shively, senior pastor, departs, and the church faces a deficit. His resignation is effective September 8. (Shively hasn’t responded to interview requests.) “I’m just so excited,” SteinbergBehrman said. “I love this church and look forward to meeting people and being a vital part of San Francisco life and justice.” Steinberg-Behrman will lead the church as chief executive for 18 to 24 months. She’ll then be presented to congregants as the candidate for the settled senior pastor post. In an email announcing her promotion, the church’s board said per the bylaws of MCC-SF and the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Churches, “only the congregation can affirm the call of a settled pastor, and at MCC-SF, a vote of 85 percent of the voting members is required.” The board members added, “Needless to say, we are delighted she’ll be staying on in an expanded leadership role.” Steinberg-Behrman, who previously served as MCC-SF’s interim associate pastor from 2006 to 2007, said in an interview, “I love MCCSan Francisco, and I would love to stay there, absolutely. It is a unique congregation with big hearts that are invested in one another and making a difference in the world, and it is wonderful to be with them and be part of that journey.” In December, the church finalized and approved a five-year growth plan. About 100 to 125 people altogether attend the three services at the church, which shares space with the First Congregational Church of San Francisco, 1300 Polk Street. “The biggest part” of the plan “is that we want to encourage people to come and join us in our ministry, and to increase the number of

Courtesy MCC-SF

The Reverend Annie SteinbergBehrman

programs we have at the church that would be important to the greatest number of people in the area,” Steinberg-Behrman said. The church could use more pledges. “MCC-SF’s operating deficit this year is larger than we had budgeted,” board members said in their email. “Pledges for 2016 were lower than what we all approved in the budget at last year’s annual meeting, and pledge payments have so far totaled only about half of what had been promised in pledges. ... [W]e encourage you to do whatever you can to get MCC-SF back on course financially.” Among other problems, the deficit has “interfered with plans to launch new programming and outreach initiatives that require any spending. This situation remains serious and continues to occupy the board’s time and attention.” The board members’ email also said, though, that the first payment from the endowment created after the sale of the church’s former site at 150 Eureka Street and an adjacent apartment building “is expected sooner than originally anticipated. As a result, despite a looming deficit,

we hope to be able to launch some additional programming before the end of the year.” Despite the board’s message, Steinberg-Behrman insisted the church isn’t in financial trouble. The church is “not at risk of closing its doors or anything,” she said. “Not at all. We are far from it.” However, she said, “We want people to step up and pledge.” She said the endowment includes “several million” dollars but she didn’t know the precise figure. She also didn’t know how much the interest payments would be. Asked about the church’s finances, Rick Rosser, the financial secretary, said, “We actually budgeted for a small deficit that we can cover with a small amount of proceeds from the sale of our building.” The deficit is “a little bit bigger than what we had anticipated,” he said, but he noted there are three months until the year is over and “I’m confident we’ll be able to make that up.” Rosser, who was at his day job when the Bay Area Reporter spoke with him, didn’t know MCCSF’s budget or the size of the deficit. He said before the church deposited money in its endowment, it also put some in certificates of deposit. Steinberg-Behrman’s salary hasn’t been determined. “I know it will be equal to what Robert was doing,” she said, estimating Shively’s salary was in the “high 60s or 70s.” Steinberg-Behrman lives in Berkeley with her wife of 12 years, Dr. Victoria Steinberg-Behrman, 57, who’s a physician at San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital specializing in HIV and hepatitis C. The couple has four children. The church will have a special reception for Steinberg-Behrman from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, September 24.t

Trial starts for woman accused in Castro crimes by Seth Hemmelgarn

Congratulations to Oakland Pride

IT IS AN HONOR TO STAND WITH YOU FOR EQUALITY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. Barbara Lee, Member of Congress

he trial of a woman accused of threatening people with a knife and other incidents in San Francisco’s Castro district got underway as her attorney suggested the defendant’s being targeted because she’s black. In his opening statements Friday, September 2, Assistant District Attorney Blair Pickus called the Castro “one of the most welcoming districts of San Francisco,” and a neighborhood with a history of “fighting for those who are oppressed.” However, he said, sometimes people in the district “just reach their breaking point.” People in the 400 block of Castro Street, which stretches between Market and 18th streets and includes the Castro Theatre, bars, and the Strut men’s health center, “have had to put up and deal with” Patricia Robinson, 27, since March. Despite offers of help, Pickus said, she’s “become a nuisance.” In a March incident, he said, Robinson walked into Strut, at 470 Castro, and demanded to use the bathroom. The concierge, who knew her, said she couldn’t, but she went upstairs toward the restroom anyway. When the worker tried to stop Robinson, Pickus said, “she pushed him with enough force that he fell backward on the stairs,” although he didn’t fall down the staircase. Police came and escorted Robinson out of the building. Less than two weeks later, Pickus said, Robinson entered Cliff’s Variety, at 479 Castro, and soon, she was asked to leave. After “she started

Rick Gerharter

An alleged incident outside Strut is one of several that resulted in the arrest of a woman who is now on trial.

pestering other customers,” workers again asked her to go, but she refused. Police removed her, but Robinson tried to get back in again after the officers left, and employees had to block her from entering. The police came again and arrested Robinson, Pickus said. Then, in mid-April, Robinson was cited for violating the city’s prohibition on sitting or lying on the sidewalk. A week later, Pickus said, the volunteer Castro Community on Patrol Group encountered Robinson wielding a knife outside Strut on a Saturday night. She eventually put the knife down after police drew a gun on her, Pickus said. Finally, in July, officers patrolling the street near the Castro Theatre, at 429 Castro, saw Robinson lying

down. She got up and ran across the street, but she was arrested. Sierra Villaran, Robinson’s attorney, said the first thing her client told her was, “I get it. I check all the boxes: Young, gay, black, female, homeless. But those boxes don’t define me.” Villaran said the assumptions people have made about Robinson make her life a struggle. She said her client would testify, and jurors would get to see that Robinson is “educated, articulate, compassionate, and she is strong.” “A right is not something someone gives you,” she said. “It’s something no one can take away. ... That’s what this case is about.” Villaran offered her own take on the incidents that Pickus laid out. See page 18 >>

Community News>>

t SJ museum knows the way to include LGBT families

September 8-14, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

We are family

Narciso said she wasn’t sure if there will be more events geared toward LGBT families throughout the year, when the Bay Area Reporter mentioned LGBT History month, National Coming Out Day, and Halloween in October. However, Martin expressed interest in exploring “other ways for the museum to help its visitors and the community understand that there are many ways to create families.” The new 18-member LGBTQ advisory board – made up of 50 per-

cent museum staff and 50 percent South Bay LGBT community leaders, parents, professionals, and individuals – is part of the museum’s nearly 20-year-old Cultural Confidence Committee. The Cultural Confidence Committee has created special awareness weekends to celebrate Latino, Vietnamese, and other communities in Silicon Valley at the museum, said Narciso and Martin. This spring Martin helped launch the museum’s LGBT advisory board, which is tasked with “helping to identify community needs and

how the museum, in its unique role, might best support the community,” she wrote in an email to the B.A.R. Some key LGBT community organizations working on the advisory board include the Santa Clara County Office of LGBTQ Affairs, the Health Trust, the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Community Center, the LGBTQ Youth Space, the Gender Identity Awareness Network and more. Maribel Martinez, 35, a two-spirit See page 17 >>

Ad pa yo

Jo-Lynn Otto

Erika, left, and Michele Lee help their 6-year-old son, Tristan Reed, blow bubbles at the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose during Proud of My Family Weekend August 28.

by Heather Cassell

he Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose is on the cutting edge of providing LGBT family programming with the launch of its LGBTQ advisory board and recent Proud of My Family Weekend. The new advisory board is part of an emerging trend for children’s museums to create programming for LGBT families. According to the museum, 3,051 people attended the LGBT family weekend. The LGBT family event happened during the same weekend as Silicon Valley Pride, August 27-28, where the museum also had a booth at the celebration, said Patricia Narciso, director of development and marketing for the Children’s Discovery Museum. The museum quietly brought the LGBT family Pride event inside the museum last year after Silicon Valley Pride moved its celebration from Discovery Meadow, where it was hosted for many years, said Narciso, a 60-year-old ally. “It’s very important and it’s exciting for our families too,” said Narciso. “People can talk about what they love about the different varieties in their family. What we find is people come in and find it enjoyable to be in a welcoming and exciting environment for their families.”

Rainbow fun

It was all rainbows from the moment families stepped into the museum. Straight and LGBT families could choose to wear a rainbow pin offered to them when they entered the museum and participate in a variety of rainbow-themed events. One of the most popular was the Rainbow Reflection Wall. Kids and parents were able to write messages about love, their family, and nature on Post-It notes in the colors of the rainbow and stick it on the window near the entrance to the museum. The art room and the “night club,” where kids and parents made their own rainbow dance accessories and danced up a storm, were also very popular. The events blended in with many of the usual activities and exhibits kids and parents can find at the museum. The Englesmith and Lee families were pleasantly surprised and delighted when they accidentally stumbled upon the museum’s LGBT family Pride event. Benjamin and Jaason Englesmith, of Los Gatos, were simply looking for something to do with their 7-month-old daughter, Katella, when they entered the museum. The gay husbands immediately picked up the rainbow pins and put them on, they both said. Benjamin Englesmith, 36, is a stay at home dad and a South Bay native. Seeing the museum decked out in rainbows represented the welcoming nature of the South Bay to its

LGBT community. “It is very open and accepting of us,” he said. “It’s nice just to feel inclusive and to feel like, instead of being on the outside, for one day we feel like we are part of the mainstream,” added Jaason Englesmith, 40, who was softly bouncing Katella on his leg. It’s “a more comfortable feeling.” Both men were excited to meet other LGBT families, they said. “We want her to be around families that are similar to hers so she doesn’t feel different. It’s important for us to build those networks and to find that community,” Jaason Englesmith said of his daughter. The Englesmiths said they were definitely interested in becoming members of the museum. The Lees, who were visiting from Sacramento, were also excited to accidentally discover the museum’s LGBT family Weekend. Erika Lee, a 27-year-old lesbian who visited family in the area and came to the museum as a kid, had fond memories. She was excited about showing it off to Michele and their 6-year-old son, Tristan Reed. The fact that it was an LGBT family day was an added bonus. “I was shocked. I had no idea. I thought it was really cool,” said Michele Lee, a 28-year-old bisexual woman, while their son painted a picture of his family. “It’s phenomenal. It just shows me that there are so many more people out there who actually love and have unconditional love.” Tristan gave the day and all of the rainbows a thumbs up. The Englesmiths and Lees both said they will plan on attending next year’s Proud of My Family Weekend at the museum.

Fam

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The museum, which is celebrating is silver anniversary this year, operates on about $7.5 million annually, supported mostly by individual and Advice and insight from community organization contribuAdvice and insight from tions, entrance fees, and sales from parents & surrogates to assist the gift shop, said Narciso. parents & surrogates to assist The museum welcomes an averyour journey to parenthood. Advice and insight from your journey to parenthood. age of about 350,000 visitors yearly, and insight fromAdvice and insight from parents &Advice surrogates to assist which it has exceeded for the last Through Conference & surrogates to assist parents &Families surrogates to parents assistSurrogacy two years, she added. Families Through Surrogacy Conference your journey to parenthood. your journey to parenthood. your journey to parenthood. “Children’s Discovery Museum is a place where people from many Families Through Surrogacy Conference FamiliesSurrogacy Through Surrogacy Conference Families Through Conference different places, experiences, and LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES cultural backgrounds come together to explore and learn,” said Jenni 1visit: OCTOBER 2016 1 OCTOBER To learn 2016 more Martin, 52, a lesbian who is the diTo learn more visit: To learn more visit: rector of strategic initiatives at the To learn more visit: www.familiesthrusurrogacy.com/la www.familiesthrusurrogacy.com/la museum and leads its initiatives and www.familiesthrusurrogacy.com/la www.familiesthrusurrogacy.com/la To learn more visit: advisory committees. “We strive to welcome everyone here and to help www.familiesthrusurrogacy.com/la children and their adult caregiversCreate your family.Create your family. affirm their own heritage and be inPROUDLY SPONSORED BY troduced to new ways of thinking.” “This will better equip us to serve the evolving needs of all families,” said Marilee Jennings, executive PROUDLY PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY director of the Children’s Discovery SUPPORTED BY Museum, about the advisory board PROUDLY in the museum’s August 16 news SUPPORTED BY release.

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<< Guest Opinion

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

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Guest Opinion

From page 8

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We have to become entirely ready to use the process to remove our liabilities and enhance our assets. We still face the primary concern of infection with HIV, a national lack of sufficient care and medications to keep the infected healthy and virally-suppressed, and lack of sufficient care and medications to get PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) and PrEP into the hands of every sexually-active MSM in this country (and in the world). If you don’t want to take your daily pill to keep from getting a deadly virus, you might imagine how women on contraceptives feel every day, and how advantaged you are to have this option. Next, we face infection with HCV, and the insurance provider and Big Pharma games about paying for the new very effective treatments. Hence, we face a lack of adequate treatment to get the HCV-infected cured so they can’t pass it on. There is a lack of money directed toward standard sexual health testing for HCV. There is a lack of knowledge among MSM that HCV can be passed by blood-to-blood contact during rough sex (jewelry and fisting in the presence of high viral concentration anybody?) and can live on toys and in lube for weeks. Finally, we do face rising infections of gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and even NGU (nongonococcal urethritis), along with the lower-cooking infections of herpes and chancre (more than half of MSM carry HSV2, and suppress-

celebrates

Oakland Pride 2016

ing the virus with medication and avoiding sex during budding is the best way to avoid infection). We have seen some antibiotic resistance in the bacteria that causes gonorrhea, Neisseria gonococcus, and we remain two antibiotics away from standard treatment failure. Local physicians and public health bigwigs still have not done the work needed to figure out how we will give intravenous infusions of bioactive silver to every gonorrhea case when the antibiotics are gone, but that’s what we face. It would be better if they figured that out sooner, rather than in a crisis. We also have to remember that if you get a notice that you’ve had a direct exposure to syphilis, you need to not only get tested, but also to get epidemiologically treated right then. Syphilis can hide for 12 weeks, so epi-treatment is non-negotiable. It’s a must. We have to become workers among workers, and get the people with the money and power to help keep us from falling short. It is insanity that we are the only major nation in the world that doesn’t guarantee health care as a human right; and even the current Democratic Party platform could do a better job of moving us more quickly toward universal health care for all. It’s insanity that the Republican Congress wants to cut funding for Ryan White monies, rather than increase funding for PrEP, the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, and Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS. It’s insanity that we don’t have federally funded STI clinics in every city. So, we all have to get more involved in political and health advocacy. We need to make a list of all persons we have to reach, and become willing to build coalitions and alliances with all. Because we need help, and we need personal changes, too. It’s incumbent on us to learn new risk reduction methods about toys, lubes, jewelry, and hand care regarding the blood-to-blood spread of HCV. And that gives us one more thing to talk about without stigma before we have sex. And we do need to talk before we have sex. No, you can’t trust everything that somebody tells you. But we can make it a standard operating procedure to put our testing and risk reduction strategy in our online profiles, just as we do with TasP and PrEP, and to talk about them in bars and coffeehouses and wherever else we actually meet in real life. We can make it a habit to be adult about disclosures of anything we have and what we do to treat it, instead of playing victim. We can all be knowledgeable about real risk and real risk reductions. We can call-in the people who shame others, and tell them that is not acceptable. If they won’t listen, we can call them out.

HIV report

From page 3

The decline in new HIV cases is likely due to a combination of factors including prompt testing and early antiretroviral treatment, as HIV transmission appears to be all but impossible if viral load is undetectable. The steepening of the decline in new diagnoses coincided with approval of Truvada (tenofovir/ emtricitabine) for PrEP in 2012, but adoption was initially slow and experts commenting on last year’s epidemiology report agreed it probably had not yet had much effect. But PrEP use has expanded rapidly in the past couple of years – a recent informal survey put the number of people on PrEP at more than 6,000 – and it may now be having an impact on new infections.

Fewer deaths, more people in care

The total number of deaths due to all causes among people with HIV in the city fell from 218 in 2014 to 197 in 2015, about a 10 percent

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We cannot accept shaming and the projection of stigma about what we have to do to stay sexually healthy. The guys standing in line outside of Strut, or who call you when you’ve had an exposure, are the HEROES, not the pariahs, among queer men. To stand up for our own sexual health, we have to be knowledgeable, go to the doctor or the clinic openly, get our shots, take our meds, reduce or eliminate the harm from all the drugs, test and treat, and openly talk about what’s going on. Fingerwagging about either barebacking or condom-coding, or the structure of our relationships (polyamorous, open, monogamous), or the frequency of our sex, or how we like to play, cannot be tolerated among queer men, unless we want to consign each other to sickness and death. Stop the madness of shaming about sex. We need to make direct coalitions and alliances with our people wherever possible, and to avoid actions that would injure them or others. Those of us who are white MSM also have to get over our own racism, our classism, our misogyny, and our biases against anybody who expresses gender in a way some of us might not like. If you’re a queer white man and you’re not working to rectify the prejudices that come from your “-isms” every day, you’re doing active harm to people’s health and lives. Adopt your first clue, because your own ass may literally be at stake. Seriously, no one can be left behind when it comes to our health: we are a herd. Your “no fats, no femmes, no blacks, no Asians” offenses on Grindr do not change the fact that we are a petri dish. We are all in this together. The AIDS crisis has taught us that we rise united or we fall apart. The disparities around HIV are glaring, and they need fixing now; STIs are in the same bucket. So, as the 12 steps go, there are the final three which are called “maintenance steps” for the whole process, adapted to fit here. They are: We continue to take personal inventory and, when we are wrong, we try something better. We seek, through dialogue and listening carefully, to improve our conscious contact with each other and all queer men through this process. Having “got woke” to our own shortfalls and built up our own assets, we try to carry the work to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. We are offering this essay to begin to make that happen.t Luke Adams is a certified sexual health specialist with the American College of Sexologists and a lifetime member of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology. Race Bannon is an author and community activist who writes the Leather column for the Bay Area Reporter.

drop. Four out of ten deaths of HIV-positive people were due to HIV/AIDS-related causes. Other leading causes during 2010-2013 were non-AIDS cancers (14 percent of deaths), drug overdoses (10 percent), and heart diseases (9 percent). As deaths have declined thanks to effective treatment, the total number of people living with HIV has continued to rise, reaching 15,995 in 2015. Nearly three-quarters are gay men, 6 percent are women, and 2 percent are transgender people. As a consequence of improved survival, the population of HIVpositive people is aging: currently 60 percent are over age 50 and 23 percent are over 60. San Francisco continues to do a better job than the U.S. as a whole in moving people through the HIV continuum of care from testing to linkage to care to initiation of antiretroviral treatment to viral suppression. Overall, 93 percent of people thought to be living with HIV in San Francisco are aware that they are infected. The proportion of people diagnosed late – meaning they See page 18 >>

Community News>>

September 8-14, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

Actor Alan Cumming to speak in SF compiled by Cynthia Laird

ut actor Alan Cumming will be interviewed on stage by longtime gay activist Cleve Jones for a Commonwealth Club Inforum event. The appearance, titled “Spend the Night with Alan Cumming” takes place Thursday, September 22 at 7 p.m. at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street in San Francisco. Cumming, a bi man, is a Tony Award-winning actor, activist, and author. He’s expected to share insider stories from his long career in show business, as well as his fascinating life away from the limelight. He has long been an advocate for LGBT rights and AIDS charities, receiving a GLAAD Media Award and the Human Rights Campaign’s Humanitarian Award. Queen Elizabeth has also named him an Officer of the British Empire. Jones is well known for launching the AIDS Memorial Quilt in 1987. Most recently, he’s in the final stages of completing his memoir, When We Rise, which is the inspiration for an ABC-TV miniseries of the same name that will air next year. General admission tickets are $35 for nonmembers and $25 for members. Premium seating (first few rows and a preprogram cocktail reception at 6 p.m.) is $55 for non-members and $45 for members. A news release stated that ticket prices are subject to change. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.inforumsf.org.

Alice club to hold panel on ageism

The Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club will hold a panel discussion on ageism in the LGBT community at its meeting Monday, September 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Eric Quezada Center for Culture and Politics, 518 Valencia Street in San Francisco. Alice Co-Chairs Lou Fischer and Brian Leubitz noted in a news release that ageism is an issue in American society, given fundamental cultural preferences for young, new, and fresh, rather than aged, old, and experienced. These preferences are heightened in the LGBT community due to “external” societal bias toward LGBTs as well as to “internal” bias toward aging LGBTs. “Alice is committed to increasing diversity and tolerance in San Francisco,” Leubitz stated. “With the housing and homelessness crises disproportionately affecting the LGBT community, particularly senior members of our community, we can and must do more on these problems.” Fischer said the panel “will look for ways to address these very real problems facing the LGBT community and San Francisco as a whole.” Panelists will include Shireen McSpadden, director of the San Francisco Department of Adult and Aging Services; Marcy Adelman, Ph.D. a founder of Openhouse and practicing clinical psychologist; Daniel Redman, an elder law attorney at Springs and Associates; and Sam Trevino MSW, a faculty member at California State University, Monterey Bay. Michael Costa, a San Francisco LGBT Aging Policy Task Force and Alice emeritus board member, will moderate. The meeting is free and open to the public. Audience members will have an opportunity to ask questions following the panel discussion.

Castro street repaving starts soon

San Francisco Public Works is scheduled to repave the intersec-

Steven Underhill

Actor and activist Alan Cumming

tion at Castro and 18th streets and Jane Warner Plaza and will have the contractor address some drainage and other deficiencies that are still under warranty from a previous project that included the sidewalk widening, street paving, and work at the plaza. Also, as previously reported, a film crew recently damaged the rainbow crosswalks so those will be replaced and the production company will pay for that work. Alex Murillo, who handles public affairs for Public Works, told the Castro Merchants at its meeting September 1 that, “We had some work not meeting city standards” that had led to “some ponding in front of Harvey’s.” “There is one night of work because of the amount of traffic and buses in the area,” said Murillo. The work Monday, September 12 will run from 7 p.m. To 6 a.m. All buses will be rerouted through the area. The rainbow crosswalk replacement work will occur September 19-20. The Jane Warner Plaza pavement redo will take place September 19-21. Public Works project manager John Dennis said, “Jane Warner Plaza will be repaved because the color asphalt has failed.” The city agency had been in negotiations with the original contractor, the Marin-based Ghilotti Brothers, to come back and do the repairs. “It will be standard asphalt with a color treatment,” said Dennis, adding the new color will be sea foam, blue-green color. “It will be a tasteful aqua.” Street parking will not be possible near the work zone during construction hours and people should see posted barricade signs for exact work hours, days, and locations as they will vary. Sidewalk access will be maintained at all times, Public Works said in an information sheet about the projects.

Lesbian artist wins Muni Art contest

Out artist Monica Tiulescu was the top vote-getter in last month’s Muni Art 2017 project and is one of five artists who will have their work displayed on 100 Muni buses that will be transformed into rolling art galleries beginning in January. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency teamed up with San Francisco Beautiful for the project, which saw 53 applications received. Of those, 10 artists were selected as finalists and online public voting was held in August. Tiulescu comes from an architecture background and has taught architecture for 16 years, mostly at See page 16 >>

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Remembering Our Names For 25 Years Circle of Friends Reaching Capacity The original Circle of Friends at the National AIDS Memorial Grove will reach capacity by the end of this year. The deadline to secure spaces in this final round of engravings is Friday September 30, 2016. If you would like your name—or that of a loved one— included this year, we strongly encourage you to act now before we reach capacity. Visit our website for more information: aidsmemorial.org/circle-of-friends

<< Obituaries

14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

Episcopal leader, nonprofit executive Bob Rybicki dies by Sari Staver

ob Rybicki, director of operations, finance, and personnel at Church Divinity School of the Pacific and assisting clergy at Grace Cathedral, died suddenly at Kaiser Hospital in San Francisco September 3. He was 65. A cause of death was not released. Mr. Rybicki, a gay man with over 25 years of experience leading nonprofits, also had a consulting business, R and P Associates LLC, for the past two years. Prior to his position at the divinity school, Mr. Rybicki served as vice president for programs and services at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation from 2010-2014. He was also a former executive director at the Shanti Project from 1997-2002. A Roman Catholic priest serving urban congregations earlier in his life, Mr. Rybicki was received as an Episcopal priest in 2014. In a letter to colleagues, W. Mark Richardson, president and dean of the divinity school, said, “During his short time with us at CDSP, Bob enlivened our entire community with his passion for leading and teaching about ways to make positive change, his optimism, and his willingness to do any job, no matter how mundane.” In an email, Barbara Kimport, who was the interim CEO at the AIDS foundation when Mr. Rybicki joined that organization, said, “What is true for all of us who knew and worked with Bob is that when you were with him, you always wanted to be your best self and do your best work. He imbued this in us all of us through his exceedingly supportive and kind manner. He and Lee bring out the best in us.”

Bob Rybicki

She was referring to Lee Ng, Mr. Rybicki’s husband of eight years. Kyriell Noon, senior director of programs at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church and a former colleague at the AIDS foundation, said on his Facebook page, “Bob was a truly gentle man, charismatic, compassionate, and funny as hell. To me he was boss, mentor, teacher, friend, and I already miss him. My heart breaks for all of us who knew and loved him, but especially for his husband, the great love of his life, Lee, who meant the world to him. “His life work was about compassion, from his time as a Catholic priest in the inner-city to his work to care for HIV-positive GBT men in Chicago to disadvantaged youth on the Peninsula, to hiring a displaced Ph.D. candidate with an uncertain future in SF. He changed my life and that of so many others and I will honor his memory by continuing his legacy,” Noon added. Tim Patriarca, a friend and former colleague at SFAF, said in an

email, “Bob was a gracious leader, and he exemplified integrity, compassion and social justice. He had an easy style and a wry wit that made me along with so many others love working with him. He dedicated his entire life – first as a priest and then as a public servant – to bettering others. I miss him dearly.” Another AIDS foundation coworker, Tim Ryan, RN, MSN, former director of nursing at SFAF, said in an email, “Bob was a man of great vision, compassion, and tremendous faith. He was one of the kindest people I have ever met, worked with and knew. He will be greatly missed by all of the people whose lives he has influenced and touched.” At press time, the circumstances surrounding Mr. Rybicki’s death remain unclear. Through a spokeswoman, Rebecca Wilson, whose firm Canticle Communications, represents the divinity school, said, “Bob’s husband has asked us to say simply that Bob died suddenly.” Based on information posted on the Caring Bridge website, Mr. Rybicki said he’d spent a total of five weeks at Kaiser Hospital beginning in late May. He had two operations, the first unsuccessful, which caused him to spend several days in intensive care. The second operation was successful, Mr. Rybicki wrote, and on July 4, he was discharged from Kaiser and went to the Jewish Home, a skilled nursing facility. He was readmitted to Kaiser, where he died. In his letter, Richardson said that although Mr. Rybicki “had been ill since last May, we had every hope and indication that he was recoverSee page 18 >>

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!

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<< Community News

16 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

SF props

From page 3

Proposition L – MTA board

Under Prop L, another charter amendment, the Board of Supervisors would have more say in the Municipal Transportation Agency. Currently, the mayor appoints the seven directors on MTA’s board. The

Board of Supervisors usually only needs six votes to act, but it takes seven supervisors to reject an MTA budget. Prop L would allow the Board of Supervisors to nominate three of the MTA board’s members, and it would only need six votes to reject the transit agency’s budget. Supervisor Norman Yee, the proposed charter amendment’s

chief sponsor, didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment. In a phone interview, Wiener said he opposes Prop L. “This measure will undermine public transportation,” he said. “It makes it much easier for the Board of Supervisors to meddle in Muni’s budget.” Until 1999, Wiener said, the city’s supervisors “controlled Muni’s budget, and the Board of Supervisors basically drove Muni into the ground. Muni was falling apart in the 1990s,” but in November 1999, voters took the transit operation away from the supervisors and created the Municipal Transportation Agency so that system “could be handled in a professional manner and not based on the politics of the Board of Supervisors.”

Proposition M – Housing and development

San Francisco Columbarium

THE cemetery for cremated remains in the City!

Prop M, another charter amendment, would create the Housing and Development Commission to oversee two newly formed departments: the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Department of Economic and Workforce Development. Currently, economic and workforce development, along with housing and community development, are agencies within the mayor’s office. The commission would have seven members. Three would be appointed by the mayor, three would be appointed by the Board of Supervisors, and one would be appointed by the city’s controller. Supervisor Aaron Peskin, the proposal’s chief sponsor, said, “City government runs better when everybody can see what it is doing in the light of day and have the opportunity to participate in it. ... Right now, all the housing and economic development functions happen behind closed doors. There’s no forum for public input or participation.” Wiener’s opposed to Prop M, calling it “a terrible idea.” He said it takes “two incredibly important functions” – affordable housing and economic development – away from Lee and future mayors. “This goes well beyond that and almost eliminates the mayor’s role in affordable housing and economic development,” he said. Peskin said his proposal isn’t “about taking power away from anybody.” Instead, he said, it’s about “empowering our communities and our neighborhoods and our housing activists.”

News Briefs

From page 13

the college level. For this year’s Muni Art theme, “San Francisco Neighborhoods,” Tiulescu started with portraits of her students holding up signs with the neighborhoods they live in. She said she was very happy to

Proposition H – Public advocate

One of the most discussed proposals on the ballot is Prop H, which would create the Office of the Public Advocate. The office, proposed by gay Supervisor David Campos, would have the authority to review the administration of city programs, and investigate and try to resolve people’s complaints about city services. Jon Golinger, a spokesman for Prop H supporters, said it would create “one investigatory watchdog of city agencies” that would “have the ability to do more than just ask questions.” Golinger said the city’s supervisors “are prohibited under penalty of official misconduct from doing more than asking city departments and agencies about problems or wasteful spending. ... This is a very substantive job that is about digging deep into the mechanisms of city government and solving complaints and problems that are not being addressed by other parts of city government.” Wiener, who’s also gay, said the public advocate’s office would be “a waste of public resources.” “It’s not going to improve anything or make anyone’s lives better,” he said. “We elect 11 public advocates. They’re called members of the Board of Supervisors.” The supervisors are supposed to be “responsive and accountable to our constituents,” Wiener said. “If a supervisor is not doing that, then the voters should toss that supervisor out of that office.” Supervisor Malia Cohen is also opposed to Prop H. “I don’t see the merit in the public advocate position at all,” Cohen said, and she has “many” problems with the public advocate proposal. She cited analysis by the city controller’s office that said the office could cost up to $3.5 million a year, and said the department would be “providing duplicative services” that the board’s already charged with. “I don’t think we need more government,” Cohen said. “I think we need better management of the resources we have. The last thing we need is more government.” Asked about the potential cost of Prop H, Golinger referred to the controller’s office saying in a letter that the proposal “mandates a minimum staffing requirement of four positions ... at a likely cost of between $600,000 and $800,000 annually.” He said if the public advocate’s office were fully funded “some day through the budget process, it could

receive the most votes, 606, in the contest. “I am grateful for all the support I received from people I know and do not know throughout the country,” she said in the announcement from SFMTA and SF Beautiful. In an email to the Bay Area Reporter, Tiulescu explained why she

Obituaries >>

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.

Meet Your Neighbors

You’re invited to mix and mingle with the people who will one day share your permanent San Francisco address.

The original building is a marvel to experience. & Cheese Open House Come see theWine original and the newer facilities Friday, July 19, 2013 2—5pm that compliment this treasure. RSVP Required: (415) 752-8791

Group tours1 Loraine withCourt—San the locally world-famous Francisco, CA 94118 Emmitt Watson, are available by appointment or just stroll on your own. Call Robert at 415 777 0717 or visit us at 1 Loraine Court (between Stanyan and Arguello, off Anza) COA 660

Channing-Celeste Wayne January 2, 1968 – June 28, 2016 Channing-Celeste Wayne was a brave and beautiful transgender woman and a respected HIV/AIDS activist who served as co-chair of the San Francisco HIV Health Services Planning Council from 2011 until her death. She was a proud graduate of the University of Phoenix, where she completed a Bachelor of Science degree in management in 2011. An avid reader, gifted writer, powerful public speaker, and wonderful storyteller, Channing-Celeste brought life and laughter to every space she entered. Her favorite sayings were: “If you want to enjoy the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain,” and “You can’t grab the world with two hands if you’re holding a grudge in one.” She leaves to cherish her memory her partner, Nicholas; her parents, Vicki and Alfonso; her sisters, Lisa and Cheryl; several nieces and nephews; extended family

members; and many dear friends. A celebration of Channing-Celeste’s life was held July 30 at her home church, Plymouth United Church of Christ, the Jazz and Justice Church located in Oakland.

Ronald Michael Zehel November 23, 1966 – August 14, 2016 Ronald Michael Zehel, 49, born November 23, 1966 in Lorain, Ohio, passed away August 14, 2016. He resided in Palm Springs at the time of his passing. The San Francisco leather community will no doubt remember Ron as the winner of the Mr. Drummer competition in 1988. He became a tireless fundraiser for HIV/AIDS causes. He was the kind of guy who became part of the lives of everyone who new him, always offering a helping hand to anyone who needed it. Ron was a remarkable man, not only for his handsome good looks, but also his passion for the leather community and helping his brothers in need. My sincere condolences at the passing of this very special man.

have two additional staff per supervisor district.” If it were “fully staffed under that decision, that would be 22 people,” he said. The controller’s office said, “The additional cost to meet this staffing policy would likely cost between $2.8 million and $3.5 million annually, although this policy is not binding on the city and would be subject to decisions made during the annual budget process.”

Proposition G – Police accountability

Prop G would change the name of the Office of Citizen Complaints to the Department of Police Accountability. Currently, the budget for the OCC, which investigates complaints of police misconduct, is part of the police department’s budget, and it must by be approved by the Police Commission. If voters approve Prop G, the Police Commission would still oversee the renamed agency, but the department would have direct authority over its own budget. Cohen, who introduced Prop G, said she wants a department that won’t be subject to “political whims.” The agency “needs to be as far away from politics as possible,” Cohen said. “It is my hope that we will continue to move in that direction,” and that voters will support it “so it can be independent and transparent when it comes to reviewing officer misconduct cases.” In a piece published in July in the San Francisco Chronicle, former Mayors Willie Brown, Dianne Feinstein, Frank Jordan, and Gavin Newsom expressed opposition to proposals like Props H and M. “Clear accountability of the mayor’s office is essential for our city and county government to work,” they said. “As a result, San Franciscans know to hold the mayor responsible for he efficient and effective delivery of government services.” Deirdre Hussy, a spokeswoman for Lee, declined to comment on the propositions, saying in an email, “The mayor’s press office does not handle press inquiries about the November election.” She referred questions to Tony Winnicker, a senior adviser to Lee. Winnicker didn’t respond to an email from the Bay Area Reporter. The city’s progressive Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club has endorsed Props D, G, H, L, and M. The moderate Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club has endorsed Prop G but opposes D, H, L, and M.t thought her art was unique. “I think it is because I mostly do portraits and you have to look at them because they are looking at you,” she said. “A certain tension is created, they are not decorative or stylistic. The colors are loud and in confrontation with each other and with the dark line work. I also think, and have been told, the paintings are very urban. Perhaps that resonates with people considering them for buses in a city such as San Francisco.” In addition to Tiulescu, who will receive a $2,000 prize, the other winners were Lillian Shanahan for “Bit by Bit,” with 446 votes, and a threeway tie with 443 votes by Luis Pinto (“Las Historias”), Peter Tonningsen and Lisa Levine (“City Walks”), and Todd Kurnat (“Sight Seeing”). They will each receive $1,250. “This project is a win-win for both the artists and the riding public who were engaged in the voting process from the very beginning,” said Ed Reiskin, SFMTA director of transportation. “These local artists can be proud to showcase their work across our city, which will add another round of engaging art to our Muni trips.” The Muni Art program is funded in part by the Community Challenge Grant program. See page 17 >>

t <<

Community News>>

Funds for center

From page 3

“That never was an intention or a goal of Oakland Pride, to raise funds for a center, but that is something we are going to be taking on and tackling,” Uribe said. However, his statement contradicted what Pride officials have previously said. Uribe himself told the Bay Area Reporter last September, “In the beginning an optimistic goal they had was we can use this festival to raise funds for a center.” Pride’s own mission statement says that it’s “committed to facilitating leadership and coalition building for the funding and development of the first LGBTQ community center in Oakland for everyone.” But as Uribe said in 2015, “The reality is the festival has been either cost neutral or, some years, it’s put us into debt, which is unfortunately a pretty common thing with most LGBT festivals across the country, as we are coming to learn.” Pressed on the issue last week, he said, “I think there was maybe some naivete ... in thinking a festival could

Pride runs

From page 4

a suitable compromise,” Oakland Pride’s statement says. “Instead of a dialogue, however, she presented us with a list of unrealistic demands, one of which was that the event be an exclusively ‘black LGBTQ event’ and that all the other committed sponsors step aside. That is not in the spirit of Oakland Pride’s values; our events are always inclusive of all nationalities, races, and genders. We also include our straight allies. Oakland Pride is fully inclusive and does not discriminate on any level for any reason.” Folkz denied Oakland Pride’s allegations, and said that she never

Oakland Pride parade

From page 4

“We are one of the most familyfriendly Pride festivals in the country, with a large area dedicated to children and family where we are having a petting zoo, face painting and rides,” Uribe said. Polly Pagenhart, family programs director at Our Family Coalition, said that most queer spaces are designed by adults with adults in mind, and are not places where one would take kids. “Club culture is still a big part

SJ museum

From page 11

woman who is the manager of the county’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, also serves on the LGBTQ Advisory Board at the museum. She described the new “endeavor as innovative and exemplary” and “very successful.” “There is a significant population of LGBTQ parents with school age children locally,” said Martinez. Cassandra “Cassie” Blume, a 33-year-old queer woman who is the director of LGBTQ programs at Family and Children Services of Silicon Valley and director of the LGBTQ Youth Space, enjoyed attending activities at the museum. “My family and I were thrilled to be a part of the Children’s Discovery Museum’s Proud of My Family photo shoot for Pride this year,” Blume said. “It’s so much fun to play there and know that throughout

News Briefs

From page 16

Shaping San Francisco offers talks, tours

Shaping San Francisco, a project of Independent Arts and Media, has announced a series of talks and bicycle and walking tours.

September 8-14, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 17

off a lot of strong emotions that have come up with Orlando and some rhetoric that’s been in the media lately,” from elected officials and others who are “trying to push back hard because of the wins we’ve had in the last few years. Personally, I just want to make sure Oakland Pride stays a space where folks can come out and celebrate who they are and they’re community and Oakland and everything that makes our city and the entire East Bay great.” The parade starts 10:30 a.m. at Broadway and 14th streets. The main entrance for the festival, which runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., is at Broadway and 20th streets. Visit http://www.oaklandpride. org for more information.

After Omar Mateen, 29, fatally shot 49 people and wounded 53 others at Orlando, Florida’s gay Pulse nightclub in June, questions were raised about safety at LGBT Pride festivals. A couple weeks after the massacre, for the first time, San Francisco’s LGBT Pride Celebration Committee implemented bag checks and metal detectors at its celebration after years of fighting such changes.

Uribe said Oakland Pride organizers wouldn’t be making major changes. “Our security is going to be the same as it is every year,” he said, but “we will be a little stricter on the bag checks.” Security guards at the gates will have metal detector wands “for any suspicious activity,” as they have in the past. He didn’t know of specific situations in which guards might use the devices. “We’re still going to have the same number of officers from Oakland Police Department required on our permit, but we are definitely not going to be in any way militarizing our Pride festival,” he added. Sunday’s events, which will be held on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, will include a commemoration for first responders, with agencies such as the Oakland police and fire departments participating. “Our goal is much the same every year,” Uribe said. “We want to provide the safest, most inclusive, diverse festival that we can that represents all the communities we have” within the East Bay’s LGBTQ community. This year, he said, “We’re coming

demanded that the run be an exclusively black LGBTQ event. She reiterated her commitment to staging a successful run and to uplifting the community’s wellness. Uribe said that Oakland Pride tried to work with Folkz. “Even though we reached out to Kin Folkz on different occasions and heard no response, we were willing to find a way to work with all parties involved, but Kin Folkz refused to engage or accept our offer,” he said. “Oakland Pride in no way was trying to take over an event, prevent anyone from participating in any events, and will work with any organization or group who wants to use the Oakland Pride name and/ or event weekend. Oakland Pride

is committed to maintaining events that are inclusive and reflective of our Oakland/East Bay LGBTQ communities and we work to ensure that happens each year.” For her part, Nathalie Huerta said she, too, is open to finding a resolution. “However, attempts to resolve this issue have been met with personal attacks to my character and a list of demands after she deliberately decided not to put any effort into collaborating when our team initially reached out to her months ago,” Huerta said in an email. “It is unreasonable to demand that we cancel our event, terminate partnership agreements and hand over the permits after it has taken months of

preparation from numerous local partners to make this a successful fun-filled celebration for our community.” Huerta added that she has not posted online attacks against Folkz. “Despite the consistent online attacks to my character, I’d like to add that the Queer Gym has not once replied or posted any negative statements about her character or her organization,” she said. “We will continue to promote unity within the community and wish Monica well.” Angela Tsay, CEO of the Oakland-based apparel designer Oaklandish, is co-hosting the Queer Gym’s Pride run. “We are well aware of Kin Folkz’s protest of the Oakland Pride 5K, but

in partnership with the Queer Gym, we have put an event together that will be full of nothing put positive vibes, community unity, and funds for local organizations,” Tsay said. “We received an overwhelming positive response from the community, selling out the event with 500 runners. Amazing work for an amazing community. Oaklandish is proud to stand by the Queer Gym and our partners as we kick-off Oakland Pride.” Folkz said that Oakland Pride’s statement is libelous and that she hopes that she and Huerta can still get together for lunch and resolve their differences, even as time is running out. Folkz said she will move forward with her run, which will include a wellness expo.t

of the queer experience of being a gay adult,” she said. “LGBT people, when they start to raise kids, are often faced we having to let go of queer community and culture in order to have an appropriately enriching experience for their kids.” Pagenhart believes that LGBT people get hetarosexualized when they have kids “by that I mean ‘presumed to be heterosexual,’ something that many of us don’t anticipate as a part of our parenthood. But it is, given how relatively new queer parenthood is to most folks.” According to Pagenhart, LGBT

parents live all around the Bay Area. Oakland Pride brings LGBT parents together and introduces kids to the rich gay culture. “LGBT parents, they are still culturally queer,” she said. “And it’s important for our kids to see our rich deep culture that we are part of. It’s also important for our kids to see that there are tons of other families like theirs.” Prior to the festival, the third annual Pride parade will take place. The parade was added to celebrate the fifth annual event and has returned the last couple years. “We are relatively new organiza-

tion,” Uribe said. “The parade was added few years ago, because as we growing it was a great next step for our activities.” Jason Hall, vice president and regional compliance officer for Kaiser Permanente Northern California, said that Kaiser Permanente is a proud sponsor of this year’s Oakland Pride celebration because Kaiser’s history has been about inclusion and diversity from the very beginning. “We celebrate diversity and invest in community health. We embrace equality because we believe it helps lead to a healthier, happier commu-

nity,” Hall said. Oakland Pride is also sponsored by national corporations like Facebook and many local businesses like PG&E, the Golden State Warriors, Oakland A’s, BART, and the Bay Area Reporter. The Oakland Pride parade kicks off 10:30 a.m. at Broadway and 14th Street. The festival opens at 11 and ends at 7 p.m. The main entrance is located at Broadway and 20th Street. General admission to the festival is $10; children under 12 pay $5. For more information, go to http:// www.oaklandpride.org/.t

the museum, staff and community members are actively working to make sure queer and trans families are included and visible alongside all of the diverse families who visit.” Martinez agreed, adding that she hopes “other spaces in the area follow this great example,” as queer kids of all ages need to feel welcome and LGBTQ museum experts believe that museums are a perfect place to provide supportive educational programming. “We are also seeing a rising number of youth exploring gender and coming out as LGBTQ youth. Initiatives such as the ones at Children’s Discovery Museum create a welcoming and inclusive space,” said Martinez.

The alliance was formed as a group of LGBT museum professionals in 1998, according to Joseph Klem, director of communications of the American Alliance of Museums. Possibly the earliest known exhibit that included any mention of an LGBT family was the “How Your Life Began,” which included a page about a family with “two moms,” at the Boston Museum of Science in 1991, he pointed out. Yet, currently, it’s unknown how many programs exist. No one organization is tracking the development of these museum advisory committees and programs, wrote Lesperance. However, the AAM’s LGBTQ Alliance is working on developing a way to track these new initiatives and is developing materials to help museums to create more welcoming environments for LGBT families and individuals, he wrote. Earlier this year the alliance pub-

lished “Welcoming Guidelines,” to help museums welcome LGTB members and families, he wrote. Also, the alliance plans to launch a survey to begin tracking LGBT museum advisory committees and programs. For San Jose’s children’s museum, Martinez hopes “more families hear about it and engage in these wonderful opportunities.” It looks like she might get her wish as the museum plans on hosting the program again next year during Silicon Valley Pride Weekend, Martin wrote.t

The Proud of My Family Weekend was modeled after the museum’s other cultural advisory committee programs, as well as

influenced through its partnership with the Chicago Children’s Museum at Navy Pier, which launched its LGBT family initiative in 2015 led by Theresa Volpe, an intern for the museum’s initiative to welcome and engage the LGBTQ community. Volpe was a former marriage equality activist in Chicago who was honored at the White House with her partner, Mercedes Santos, for their work on passing same-sex marriage, she wrote in an essay about her experience at the museum published by Queering the Museum. The two programs are paving the rainbow path along with the Boston Children’s Museum’s “Mimi’s Family” program and other smaller initiatives led by LGBT individuals at various museums, wrote Michael Lesperance, 46, a gay man who is chairperson of the American Alliance of Museums’ LGBTQ Alliance, in an email to the B.A.R.

The talks are offered Wednesdays from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at 518 Valencia Street in San Francisco. All are free. Upcoming topics include the Hunters Point riot, 50 years later, on September 14; 19th century California Indian slavery and genocide, September 28; and the 50th anniver-

sary of the Compton’s Cafeteria riot, October 12. Bicycle tours cost $15-$50 sliding scale (no one turned away) and start at noon at 518 Valencia, ending at 4 p.m. A food and politics tour will be offered Saturday, September 24. A Colma cemetery tour will be held Sunday,

October 23. Walking tours cost $10-$20 sliding scale (no one turned away). A walk through South of Market (“Beer, Dunes, and Trains”) will be held Saturday, September 17 from noon to 3 p.m. Meet outside SOMArts, 934 Brannan Street. A “King (Willie) Tide Tour

of Mission Bay” will take place Saturday, October 15 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. People should meet at Pier 36. For a full schedule of upcoming events, visit http://www.shapingsf. org.

be a fundraiser for a center.” Pride has “run a deficit” for “essentially every year,” Uribe said, but “we’re recovering from that. ... We’re working to close those gaps every year.” The deficit from 2015 has been closed, he said, and “we are projecting to come within about $5,000 of our break-even point” this year. About 42,000 people attended last year’s Oakland Pride events. Organizers are hoping to have more than 50,000 this year. The budget is $250,000 to $270,000. Approximately $80,000 to $90,000 has been raised so far, mainly through sponsorships. The remainder will come from ticket and beverage sales, and other income. (General admission for the festival is $10. Children under 12 get in for $5.) Some of the proceeds are shared with community partners. “The long story short in terms of the center is we are building toward that. ... We’re starting to build momentum,” Uribe said. Among others, Pride officials have been talking to Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan and Abel Guillen’s offices.

“They have been very supportive,” he said. Neither councilmember responded to an emailed request for comment. Uribe said Pride organizers have worked with others to ensure that LGBT organizations would be funded through the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth. If a community center is established, “whatever organization that center is founded under will be applying for OFCY funding,” he said. He also said Pride will host a series of town halls in 2017 to solicit from people what they need in a community center.

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Oakland Pride breakfast

The East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club will hold its annual Pride breakfast from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Sunday at Comcast Xfinity Pavilion, near the Pride festival. A continental breakfast and refreshments will be provided. Gay comedian Sampson will emcee the event. For more information, go to http://www.eastbaystonewalldemocrats.org.t

For more information, visit http:// www.cdm.org. To learn how to create a welcoming experience for LGBT families and individuals at your museum, visit http://www.aam-us.org/ docs/default-source/professionalnetworks/lgbtq_welcome_guide. pdf?sfvrsn=6)—that.

See page 18 >>

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

18 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

Castro crimes

From page 10

Robinson “had every right to be at Strut,” she said. Her client takes classes and receives counseling at the center, and “Pat has always been welcome there.” She also had a right to be at Cliff ’s, Villaran said, but “people didn’t like the way she looked” or “the way she smelled,” and Robinson had actually asked workers at the store to call police. Villaran also disputed the prosecution’s evidence of the knife incident outside Strut, and she said video footage of the incident would show “that’s not what happened.” Robinson had been looking at her

Bob Rybicki

From page 14

ing and might even be able to return to work part-time this fall.” Mr. Rybicki received his bachelor’s degree from Loyola University in Chicago and a master’s of divinity from St. Mary of the Lake Seminary and a master’s of arts from the University of Illinois in Chicago. Prior to SFAF, Mr. Rybicki was CEO of Westside Community Services; executive director of the National Brain Tumor Society; and CEO of Star Vista. In Chicago, Mr. Rybicki was assistant commissioner in the

HIV report

From page 12

progressed to AIDS within three months of an HIV diagnosis – fell to 16 percent in 2014, compared to 23 percent nationwide. People with HIV are also being linked to care sooner. In 2014 (the latest year with available treatment data), 84 percent of newly diagnosed people were linked to care within one month, up from 72 percent the previous year. Three-quarters reached an undetectable viral load within one year after diagnosis, up from 65 percent. It took a median of 21 days from HIV diagnosis to treatment initiation and 88 days to viral suppression.

Disparities remain

The new data reveal that some disparities remain – and in fact may be widening. African-Americans, in particular, have not seen the same gains as the city population as a whole and are the only group for whom new diagnoses are stable or rising rather than declining. Some advocates have suggested that San Francisco’s overall good progress in preventing and treating HIV is in part related to its small and dwindling black population, as well as people at risk for and living

News Briefs

From page 17

Rainbow symphony seeks musicians

The Bay Area Rainbow Symphony invites orchestral players to audition ahead of the group’s fall concert, which is scheduled for Saturday, November 5 at Everett Middle School. Alasdair Neale will be the guest conductor. The program will include Benjamin Britten’s Four Seas Interludes from Peter Grimes, Copeland’s Clarinet Concerto, and Samuel Barber’s Medea’s Dance of Vengeance. Interested musicians can contact the symphony for audition information by emailing recruitment@barssf.org. Rehearsals are on Wednesday nights, with the first one scheduled for September 14. For more information, visit http://www.bars-sf.org.

Clausen House to hold art show

Clausen House, an Oakland service provider for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities, is holding its annual art show

reflection in a car window so she could shave, and “She wasn’t threatening anyone,” Villaran said. She told jurors that Robinson’s “not a nuisance. Her existence isn’t a crime,” and she asked them to “think about what biases witnesses might have.” Robinson, who’s been in custody since July 29, is being held on $10,000 bail on multiple charges of battery, being a public nuisance, resisting arrest, and trespassing, along with a charge of exhibiting a deadly weapon and a civil sidewalk violation. Superior Court Judge Samuel Feng is overseeing the trial, which is expected to conclude by the end of the month.t city’s department of health; CEO of Alexian Brothers Bonaventure House; and director of social services at Howard Brown Memorial Clinic. In addition to his husband, Mr. Rybicki is survived by an extended family in Chicago including his cousins, Claude Foreit, Michael Foreit, David Foreit and their families, and by Lee’s extended family in Singapore. A memorial service will be Saturday, September 10 at 1 p.m. at Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94108. In lieu of flowers, friends are asked to make a gift in Mr. Rybicki’s memory to their favorite or preferred charity.t with HIV being displaced due to the high cost of housing. Black men and women had the highest rates of new HIV diagnoses and higher mortality compared to the city population as a whole. African-Americans were also more likely to be diagnosed late (22 percent), less likely to be linked to care within a month (67 percent), and less likely to achieve viral suppression within a year (53 percent). During the next fiscal year the DPH budget for HIV prevention and health services will reach $57.5 million, including $4.3 million allocated to the Getting to Zero initiative, which will largely focus on reducing disparities, according to DPH. “Our innovative Getting to Zero strategy is working,” said gay District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener. “This steady decline in infections should lead us to accelerate our strategy, and the funds we obtained in the recently adopted city budget will allow us to do so.” “But it’s highly concerning that our African-American community is not seeing the same decline,” he added. “We have an obligation to ensure that our successful HIV care and prevention strategies reach all communities, and this data is yet another reminder that we have work to do.”t and reception for the community Friday, September 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the organization’s community center, 650 Grand Avenue. The displays will feature paintings (oil, acrylic, and watercolor), sculptures, and an entire section of fantastic urban art that includes jewelry, glassware, and handmade purses. “Our artists have been preparing for this event for the entire year,” art teacher Tami Espe said in a news release. “We have engaged in a variety of mediums and projects to create these exquisite pieces that will be on display.” All of the art on display will be available for purchase. Additionally, Clausen House will hold a silent auction and raffle to raise funds for its art program and other essential programming for this underserved population. The public is welcome and there is no cost to attend For more information, visit http://www.clausenhouse.org.t Matthew S. Bajko contributed to this report.

Legal Notices>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552335

In the matter of the application of: GARY NOGUERA, 942 TERESITA BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner GARY NOGUERA, is requesting that the name GARY NOGUERA, be changed to HATUN NOGUERA. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Rm. 514 on the 18th of October 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-16-552339

In the matter of the application of: QIAN WEI, 1685 CHESTNUT ST #308, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner QIAN WEI, is requesting that the name QIAN WEI, be changed to KRINA WEI TETRAULT. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Rm. 514 on the 20th of October 2016 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037217500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CALIFO ELECTRIC, 362 MOULTRIE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NIGEL ANTHONY MULLIGAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/16/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/16/16.

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037217000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: URBAN GARDENERS, 163 HARTFORD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANTHONY CRAIG BROCK. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/16/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/16/16.

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037216800

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037205200

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037224500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MADRIZ PRODUCTIONS, 7 GONZALEZ DR, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALICIA MADRIZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/08/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/08/16.

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.

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037207000

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

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SANKO KITCHEN ESSENTIALS, 1760 BUCHANAN ST #1, 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 08/09/16.

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037214100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PIE, 421 BRYANT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed PAPERO INC. (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/08/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/12/16.

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037194600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GLOBAL YOGIS, 44 TEHAMA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed IMPULSE ANALYTICS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/21/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/28/16.

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037208500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LUXURIOUS NAIL BOUTIQUE, 4068 FOLSOM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed THE WASHINGTON LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/15/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/09/16.

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036551400

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: 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.

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

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: STARDUST TRUCKING, 785 BURROWS ST #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BETTY TRAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/16/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/16/16.

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: LLOYDS LIMOUSINE SERVICE, 1770 PINE ST #401, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by MANSOUR TAVAKOLIAN. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/29/15.

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.

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037213400

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037191300

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

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AMPED FRAMES; THE JAM BAND; 219 BRANNAN ST #75, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ERIN DAHLBECK DAVIS. 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 08/12/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAY AREA EFFICIENT MOVERS, 1238 NORTHPOINT DR, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94130. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed SEID SEIDOV & DZIANIS VASILEUSKI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/26/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/26/16.

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037216000

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037209900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NINOSKA KINNINGER INSURANCE AGENCY, 2456 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NINOSKA KINNINGER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/15/16. 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: 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.

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037210700

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

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MARS BAKING, 1903 18TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARCO RANGEL. 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: 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.

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037213300

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

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SIMPLE ADVERTISING AND INTERNET DESIGN, 891 POST ST #305, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MATTHEW SHIRK. 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 08/12/16.

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.

AUG 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037200300

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

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.

SEPTEMBER 01, 08, 15, 22, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037222700

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAY AREA GRAFFITI ABATEMENT, 1123 PACIFIC AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DENNIS DEAN KINKLE. 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 08/02/16.

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 18, 25, SEPT 01, 08, 2016

AUG 25, SEPT 01, 08, 15, 2016

SEPTEMBER 01, 08, 15, 22, 2016

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Read more online at www.ebar.com

Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037227500

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.

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

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: 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.

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

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.

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

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.

SEPT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2016 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037224800

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037238600

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

September 8-14, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 19

Classifieds The

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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.

Celebrating 31 Years of Fabulous Travel Arrangements!

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.

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

CLEANING PROFESSIONAL –

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.

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

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.

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.

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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.

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Castro cool

Lit fraud

Matthew music

Out &About

O&A

Vol. 46 • No. 36 • September 8-14, 2016

www.ebar.com/arts

Chaz Bono goes where I the bears are

by David-Elijah Nahmod

t sounds like a crazy idea on paper, but the web series Where the Bears Are has taken off. Since its debut in 2012, Bears episodes have amassed 20 million views. The Bears have been flown to Mexico, Europe and Australia for personal appearances, according to their website. See page 30 >>

Chaz Bono, in suit and tie, and the cast of Where the Bears Are, Season 5. Courtesy the artists

More fall offerings on Bay Area stages by Richard Dodds

ast week, our cup runneth over with fall preview possibilities, and even a generously allotted number of column inches couldn’t contain all the flow. So consider this Fall Theater Preview Part II, as what was reluctantly subjected to the select-delete function left worthy offerings on the Word cutting-room floor. See page 29 >>

The Kneehigh Theatre Company returns to Berkeley Rep with 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, set in a sleepy English village that becomes a center for D-Day preparations.

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

Steven Tanner

AT THE VENETIAN ROOM

FAIRMONT SAN FRANCISCO 9/23 11/6 12/4 1/29 3/5

Tony winner KELLI O’HARA (The King & I, South Pacific, ) Tony winner LESLIE ODOM, JR. (Hamilton, Glee) Singer/dancer TONY YAZBECK (On the Town, Gypsy, Finding Neverland) Tony nominee CARMEN CUSACK (Bright Star, Wicked, Phantom, Les Mis) A CABARET SPECTACULAR (Sidney Myer, Carole J. Bufford, Amanda McBroom, Nicolas King)

20 1 SE 6 –20 AS 1 ON 7

3/26 Internationally renowned jazz duo JOHN PIZZARELLI & JESSICA MOLASKEY 4/2 Tony nominee CHRISTINE ANDREAS (Oklahoma!, Light in the Piazza, La Cage aux Folles) 5/14 Tony and Grammy winner BILLY PORTER (Kinky Boots, Shuffle Along, First Wives Club)

Buy tix at www.bayareacabaret.org or subscribe to get discounts, reserved seats at (415) 927-4636.

<< Out There

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

Gems from the archives by Roberto Friedman

ast week the San Francisco Opera Archive unveiled its new, permanent photography exhibition Looking Through the Lens: The Glory of San Francisco Opera, Past and Present. Located in the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera in the Veterans Building, the exhibit features 135 photos drawn from the San Francisco Opera Archive collections, curated and assembled by San Francisco Opera Director of Communications and Public Affairs Jon Finck. The exhibit spans two long corridors on the building’s fourth floor. The David Gockley Gallery offers 58 black-and-white prints, visual documents of San Francisco Opera’s early years under General Directors Gaetano Merola and Kurt Herbert Adler. The Hume Family Gallery brings us up to the present in 77 color scenes from the War Memorial Opera House stage, and other images of the Company’s orchestra, chorus, dancers and supernumeraries. Some highlights from the blackand-white collection (though you are sure to find your own): Wagnerian soprano Kirsten Flagstad and tenor Lauritz Melchior on stage in a 1935 performance of Die Walküre, American baritone Lawrence Tibbet as Baron Scarpia in Tosca, American soprano Leontyne Price in her Company debut as Madame Lidoine in Dialogues of the

Carmelites, and soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in her US debut as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier. Stand-outs in the color prints include Plácido Domingo in Cyrano de Bergerac, Renée Fleming in Rusalka, Nina Stemme in Siegfried, Nadja Michael in Salome, Company premieres of Glass’ Satyagraha and Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt, and world premieres of Adams’ Doctor Atomic and Wallace’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter. It’s great to see arts photographers who regularly capture the beauty and drama of the opera recognized here, including Cory Weaver, Robert Cahen, Ken Friedman, Terence McCarthy, Larry Merkle, Ron Scherl, and Marty Sohl. Best of all, Looking Through the Lens is free and open to the public, Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-6 p.m. The online performance archive database is at archive.sfopera.com.

Chamber work

The world premiere of composer Bright Sheng and co-librettist David Henry Hwang’s Dream of the Red Chamber, opening Sept. 10, is shaping up to be a highlight of the SFO season. The opera, a coproduction with the Hong Kong Arts Festival that will be performed there in March 2017, is based on a classic of Chinese literature, author Cao Xueqin’s 18th-century novel of the same name. At a bilingual press conference in the Opera House last week, new

Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Philippe Sly as Ormonte in Handel’s Partenope (San Francisco Opera, 2014), part of the San Francisco Opera Archive’s Looking Through the Lens: The Glory of San Francisco Opera, Past and Present.

SFO General Director Matthew Shilvock proclaimed that San Francisco is the “right city to be doing this” world premiere in. Members of the creative team spoke about finding the emotional core of the 120-chapter Chinese novel, a vast epic, citing the contemporary opera Moby-Dick as a similar case of radical abridgement. Director Stan Lai said that Red Chamber lies “at the backbone of Chinese literature,” taking up themes of destiny, karma, and cause and effect. For the first time, supertitles will appear in both English

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Ildar Abdrazakov as Mefistofele and Ramon Vargas as Faust in a scene from Boito’s Mefistofele (San Francisco Opera, 2013), part of the San Francisco Opera Archive’s Looking Through the Lens: The Glory of San Francisco Opera, Past and Present.

(horizontally) and Chinese (vertically), as the Bay Area’s ChineseAmerican community has demonstrated great interest in the opera. Opening night is sold out, and the run is nearly so, which is extraordinary for a new opera that has never been heard before by prospective audiences. Watch these pages for our coverage and review. (Through Sept. 29; sfopera.com.)

Slack-jawed

This week, arts writer Tavo Amador reviews author Jean Stein’s history of Los Angeles, West of Eden:

Alta · Cala · Chez Maman · Dobbs Ferry · Fig & Thistle · Minas Brazilian Restaurant & Cachaçaria · Noir Lounge · Smuggler’s Cove · Straw · Quinn’s Lighthouse

An American Place. He shared an anecdote from the book with us. It comes from the reminiscences of the famed author, raconteur, and provocateur Gore Vidal. The context is the rampant lesbianism among actresses in Los Angeles in the late 1930s and 40s. Vidal says he was at a party at which Greta Garbo and Katharine Hepburn, both conventionally dressed, arrived together. Not long afterwards, Marlene Dietrich arrived, wearing slacks. Garbo murmured, “Ah, there is Miss Dietrich, giving the whole game away.”t

Plague decades Christodora by Tim Murphy; Grove Press, $27 everal times a year, a few books are published that are so compelling and immersive they simply demand the unadulterated free time of the reader. Tim Murphy’s Christodora is one of those powerful, ambitious sagas. A Manhattan-based journalist who has reported from the frontlines of the HIV/AIDS epidemic for two decades in places like POZ magazine, the Advocate and New York magazine, Murphy knows AIDS, and he knows New York City intimately. He imparts this knowledge into a sweeping epic that takes us from the 1980s all the way into a futuristic East Coast (circa 2021), by way of a cast of characters ensconced in an iconic 16-story Gotham apartment building. The folks who populate his pages are difficult to forget, and their legacy fully dramatizes the devastation and frenzied panic of the epidemic. At the core of the novel is Mateo, orphaned by an HIV+ Latina mother, then the adopted son of Milly and Jared, both affluent East Village artists. Mateo matures throughout the novel: he is a vibrant boy who becomes influenced by another Christodora resident, Hector, a Puerto Rican meth head, with whom he experiments with heroin while barely out of high school. Then he adopts the smooth, fiery-tongued personality of a “hiphop hipster” living the “art-school thug life.” Hector also becomes a central character as he “unraveled before the neighborhood’s eyes, from a handsome, muscular man in his early 40s to a mumbling mess in his early to mid50s, screaming in the street at the dog he cooped up in that tiny basement apartment.” Prior to his decline, Hector mourned a lover lost

Straume

Duo Pianists and Composers

Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

by Jim Piechota

An Evening of Light & Love through Classical Music featuring

to AIDS and became an activist rallying against homophobia and the ignorance of government agencies who turned a blind eye to the decimation of his tribe. Murphy’s prose is smooth, chatty, and addictive. As the novel progresses, readers will find themselves reveling in the cumulative force of his descriptive powers. Each scene is filled with atmospheric detail, period dialogue, and the intricate nuances of a character’s movement, attitude, and emotion. There is drug use galore in this novel, but Murphy handles it by tapping into both the elegiac, menacing allegiance and physical dependency users experience, as well as the sense of freedom that comes from using: to escape a time and place that has become too intense and miserable can, for some, be a job worthy of a meth high or a heroin injection, a Quaalude, or a dancefloor bump of MDMA. Drugs can also become a saving grace for those plucked from the clutches of death by the advent of anti-retroviral and protease-inhibiting medications. Murphy handles these issues masterfully. Aside from some overly-manipulated story arcs, some of the chapter progressions can prove bumpy, jolting from one decade to another over the course of 40 years. Readers must recalibrate their sense of place and the ages and demeanors of certain characters. But these are minor quibbles in a novel that reads like a contemporary motion picture beautifully acted by a durable cast with a been-there-done-that caliber of experience. Murphy has truly outdone himself with a perceptive and accomplished novel that is captivating and immensely entertaining – and features a cure for AIDS at its conclusion!t

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<< Film

24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

Velvet September at the Castro Theatre by David Lamble

ur look at the Castro Theatre’s September repertory lineup kicks off with arguably one of the top five American films in the second half of the 20th century. Blue Velvet (1986) Writer/director David Lynch’s exploration into the Id of young Jeffrey Beaumont (low-key triumph for Kyle MacLachlan) kicks off when Jeffrey discovers a severed ear in the fields outside of Lumberton, his deceptively sleepy hometown. Jeffrey is a Huck Finn-like figure who has the ability, when inspired by his devil-like mentor Frank Booth (a career-redefining Dennis Hopper), to morph into a perverse being who can respond to young women and, more shockingly, to Frank in a disturbing tryst that defies screen taboos. Blue Velvet’s brilliance can be gleaned from a couple of dialogue pulls. First there’s Jeffrey’s dangerous liaison with the damsel in distress, torch singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini), whose first encounter with Jeffrey has her holding a butcher knife on the nearly naked youth, flushed out of her front closet. Later Dorothy, having gotten used to the young man’s surprise visits to her art deco flat, whispers to her young lover, “I looked for you in my closet tonight.” Even odder is Jeffrey’s seemingly ordinary hookup with girl-nextdoor blonde sweetheart Sandy Williams. Beginning with not-soinnocent chats at the local malt shop, Sandy goes from mild crush to confederate in crime, a break-in to Dorothy’s apartment. Sandy opines, “I can’t figure out if you’re a detective or a pervert,” to which Jeffrey slyly replies, “Well, that’s for me to know, and you to find out.” The most perverse chapters concern Jeffrey’s near-death encounters with the dangerous lunatic drug criminal Frank. In real life a sophisticated art collector and great dad to an actor son, here Hopper takes his own drug binges and career-wrecking bouts to create an American villain so layered I’m still getting new takes after more than a dozen-andhalf screenings over 30 years. (9/15)

Isabella Rossellini as torch singer Dorothy Vallens in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet.

Days of Heaven (1978) Terrence Malick’s stunning portrayal of the American heartland was photographed by camera geniuses Nestor Almendros & Haskell Wexler. There is probably no better film by which to study the cinematographer’s art. Check out Almendros’ account of his experiments with light in the book Man with a Camera. With Brooke Adams, Sam Shepherd and Linda Manz. Knight of Cups (2015) Recent neglected film from Malick, one of the least prolific of master filmmakers. With Christian Bale, Wes Bentley, Brian Dennehy, Cate Blanchett & Natalie Portman. (both 9/8) The Holy Mountain (1973) Alejandro Jodorowsky conducts a spiritual journey in Spanish with English subtitles. Zardoz (1974) Director John Boorman sets this dystopian science fiction fantasy in the year 2293. With Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling. (both 9/9) California Independent Film Festival: Flatbush Luck (2016) Gay director Casper Andreas has two hunky phone company guys using their tech savvy to engage in insider trading. Kiss Me, Kill Me (2016) Andreas’ tale of a man who faints after a fight with his cheating boyfriend. With American Queer as Folk star Gale Harold. King Cobra (2016) Justin Kelly’s drama is about a lonely

guy in the porn business who discovers mob rivals after his cute young star. Loosely based on the career of Sean Paul Lockhart, aka Brent Corrigan. With James Franco, Christian Slater, Molly Ringwald & Alicia Silverstone. (all 9/10) Remains of the Day (1993) Anthony Hopkins plays a butler whose devotion to old-fashioned British ideals of service will take you inside the Anglo worldview. Emma Thompson is a fellow domestic who tries to get Tony to lighten up. With Hugh Grant, James Fox, Michael Lonsdale, Christopher Reeve & Patrick Godfrey. Howards End (1992) Closeted gay British novelist E.M. Forster’s shrewd and emotionally revelatory skewering of class, money and snobbery in an Edwardian England whose elite fail to detect their own coming doom in war. James Ivory directs a stellar cast: Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, James Wilby, Vanessa Redgrave. Particularly compelling is the romantic relationship between Thompson and Hopkins, its clear-eyed lessons on the damage class can do to the human heart, and the power of love to heal. (both 9/11) The Seven Year Itch (1955) Tom Ewell brings his hound-dog puss to this Billy Wilder-directed comedy about a husband reduced to summer bachelorhood by the vacation of wife and son. Ewell’s loneliness is temporary, as he is soon seduced by his ravishing upstairs neighbor, Marilyn Monroe in her early prime, who demonstrates why her fame was no fluke. Lord Love a Duck (1965) George Axelrod’s first stint as director is a dark comedy about high school kids with agricultural skills. With Tuesday Weld, Roddy McDowall, Lola Albright, Martin West, Ruth Gordon, & Harvey Korman. (both 9/14) Multiple Maniacs (1970) A newly restored print of this naughty John Waters classic has Divine as a funny urban terrorist, in acts of terror against the uptight citizens brigade of middlebrow Baltimore. A good introduction to the Waters gang, witty, carefree and perverse in the best possible sense. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) First and last collaboration

Courtesy of the Italian Cultural Institute

Anna Magnani is the focus of a one-day film series.

between schlockmeister Russ Meyer and movie critic Roger Ebert has young maidens heading to the lower depths of Hollywood, where they are badly used. At least partly a satire. (both 9/16) Ace in the Hole (1951) The most toxic of Billy Wilder features is a funny, bitter diatribe against tabloid journalism. Kirk Douglas is an unscrupulous headline-hunter. Jean Arthur as a hard-bitten cafe owner has a one-liner that still sings: “Kneeling bags my nylons.” Nightcrawler (2014) Jake Gyllenhaal’s Lou Bloom is an ambulance-chasing TV reporter who prides himself on beating everyone to the goriest accidents and crime scenes. Rene Russo is fabulous as a tough assignment editor who does all she can to temper this bargain with the devil. (both 9/18) Alan Cumming in conversation with Cleve Jones The Scottish-born queer star of stage, screen and TV shares his adventures co-starring on the seven-year run of CBS’ The Good Wife, the stage hit Cabaret, and his recently published book You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams. (9/22) Chinatown (1974) Jack Nicholson is the cynical private dick who works for untrustworthy people. Jake Gittes’ case begins when an LA water commissioner is discovered drowned in the city’s reservoir. Clues point in all directions, focusing on an avuncular and dangerous Mr. Big (sly turn

Author by any means necessary by Erin Blackwell

T LeRoy is a gender-volatile teenage boy who published a transgressive novel, Sarah (2000), and short story collection, The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2001), about his life at the mercy of his crazy hooker mom and fundamentalist grandparents. In 2005, New York magazine outed 40-year-old Laura Albert as having written the fiction and engineered the metafiction, or marketing campaign, or mass hallucination of a literary prodigycum-biologically valid white-trash rent boy. Ten years later, there’s a film about the mishegoss. Author: The JT LeRoy Story opens Friday at Landmark Embarcadero. That director Jeff Feuerzeig prefers the term “nonfiction” to “documentary” preps the viewer not to expect a coherent parsing of LeRoy’s multi-platform PR campaign, or pack of lies, or non-consensually immersive performance piece. Too bad, because this story is so trippy it could use some clarity. Feuerzeig scrambles chronology and does not identify footage that illustrates repetitive voiceovers. He thinks 110 minutes isn’t 20 minutes too long. He prefers his histrionically reclusive subject, seen in medium shot against a proverbial “open book,” gushing girlishly about all

the confidences she betrayed. Feuerzeig, whom I interviewed at producer Henry Rosenthal’s bohemian paradise in downtown San Francisco, couldn’t say why he chose to make this film, his second after a 10-year hiatus, except that “Laura’s voice needed to be heard.” Styling himself a practitioner of “New Journalism,” he ignores its fundamental tenet: the author as locus of the narrative. Feuerzeig remains invisible and unknowable in Author, except as the credited manipulator of images. His absence leaves the spectator to bob on a sea of babble devoid of context. Rosenthal, the perfect host, showed off his collection of twoheaded calves, stuffed and mounted on dainty hooves in a townhouse teeming with eccentric collectibles. Asked why he’d produced a film about Laura Albert, he credited her with possessing the artist’s audacity to ignore conventional behavioral constraints, which freedom gives her extraordinary power. Rosenthal, the scion of German Jewish merchants, was “the worst drummer” for San Francisco’s first punk band, Crime, circa 1977. He probably understands her better than anybody. Albert, now 50, is a mystifying, maddening personality. That’s her calling card, her demon, her shtick. Her claim to fame is having spellbound some players inside

Samantha Knoop as the faux JT LeRoy: unparalleled chutzpah.

the delusional bubble of celebrity with the prose and persona of the blond-haired, blue-eyed, Southern truck-stop, transgender teen genius JT LeRoy. She wrote his books and voiced him. She got her sister-inlaw, lesbian Samantha Knoop (the K is not silent), to perform him in Warholian wig, shades, and hat. By holding up a series of mirrors to gullible stars, themselves the creations of PR machines, Albert ensorcelled them. Quite an achievement, but one she is loath to admit. As the eldest daughter of a

divorced-lady theater critic, Albert’s inner lives found early expression in a mosaic of made-up monologues spoken to the mirror, which moved into school hallways and onto prank phone calls, one of which morphed into a months-long narrative arc climaxing in the imaginary caller’s death. That first aural artwork isn’t mentioned in Author, a dismaying ellipsis. You can read about it in The Paris Review (Fall 2006) or see the animated version in Marjorie Sturm’s critical documentary The Cult of JT LeRoy (2015).

by director John Huston). The best thing director Roman Polanski left before he was run out of town. With a sultry turn from Faye Dunaway as Huston’s daughter. The Two Jakes (1990) Nicholson directs and stars in this long-delayed sequel that catches up with the characters post-WWII. Again fueled by a magnificent Robert Towne screenplay. (both 9/23) The Castro presents a one-day orgy of Anna Magnani films, courtesy of the Italian Cultural Institute (9/24). Rome Open City (1945) is a slice-of-history drama: Magnani is the wife of an Italian resistance fighter against the Nazi occupation. Roberto Rossellini is director and co-writer. Bellissima (1952) In Visconti’s send-up of the Italian film industry, Magnani is a stage mom whose daughter is pushed into auditioning for a famous director. The Rose Tattoo (1955) Magnani won an Oscar as Tennessee Williams’ widow with a teenage daughter. Williams based the character on her. Daniel Mann directed. Cinematographer James Wong Howe also won an Oscar. Co-starring Burt Lancaster as an earthy truck driver who woos Magnani. The Passionate Thief (1960) Inside-the-filmbiz drama drawn from a couple of novels by Albert Moravia. Magnani co-stars with Toto as a couple of has-been film actors. (all 9/24) All three films of Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future trilogy, back to back to back. Used Cars (1980) Untidy comedy set in the world of used car dealers features a turf war between rival dealers, twin brothers (both played by Jack Warden). Kurt Russell is an untrustworthy car salesman. (all 9/25) Some Like It Hot (1959) Menin-dresses farce stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon as Depression-era musicians fleeing the Mob. Marilyn Monroe steals all her scenes as the singer for “Sweet Sue and Her Society Synchopators.” Top-grade slapstick penned by director Billy Wilder and co-writer I.A.E. Diamond. Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) Frank Tashlin directs blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield, based on her Broadway turn starring opposite Tony Randall. (both 9/28)t

During a fragmented adolescence that included nonconsensual stays in a mental ward, Albert called hotlines as a boy, convinced her actual Brooklyn Jewish girl self would be told, “You’re fat, ugly, and disgusting, and you deserve” to be abused. Made a ward of the state, she moved to a group home on the Upper West Side, where she learned to see through celebrity. A student at New School, she annoyed her teacher by writing in the persona of a boy. Suicidal in San Francisco in 1993, she found the helpful, not to say enabling, therapist Dr. Owens, phoning him for daily 30-minute sessions as Jeremiah, alias Polk Street hustler “Terminator,” who became JT for publication. For having signed the name JT LeRoy on a film rights contract, Albert was sued for fraud in 2007. Trial footage shows Dr. Owens exonerating Albert of intent to deceive. He ought to know: he spoke to her, thinking it was him, every day for years. Featured in Cult but missing from Author, this key professional witness cautions against “superficial understanding of her psychopathology. She’s a lot sicker individual than is obvious on superficial contact.” Few would dispute that, but his declaration, “She wouldn’t have See page 25 >>

Music>>

September 8-14, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 25

Time warped by Gregg Shapiro

wenty years after the original, four-person line-up of The Monkees released its final album, and four years after Davy Jones died, remaining members Mike Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz and Peter Tork have regrouped for Good Times! (Rhino). Produced by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne fame, who also contributed a couple of tracks, the album has the kind of hipster glow to it that helped artists such as Glen Campbell, Mavis Staples, Johnny Cash, Bobby Womack and Loretta Lynn gain renewed credibility among a whole new generation of fans. It also helps that new songs written for the disc by Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, Andy Partridge of XTC, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, and a collaboration by Noel Gallagher of Oasis and Paul Weller of The Jam and The Style Council, make up the bulk of the material. There are also new songs by Nesmith, Dolenz and Tork, as well as new recordings of tunes by songwriters who played a role in The Monkees’ success, including Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson, and Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. Of course, all of these details wouldn’t matter in the least if the music weren’t any good. Yes, it’s good, especially “You Bring the Summer,” “Me & Magdalena,” “She Makes Me Laugh,” “Whatever’s Right” and “Birth of an Accidental Hipster.” Rogue Wave returns after three years with the wonderful new album Delusions of Grand Fur (Easy Sound). There’s more fun to found on the disc than just the wordplay of the title. Led by Zach Rogue, Rogue Wave makes timeless modern pop that can be traced all the way from the 1960s (hello, Monkees!) to the present day. Songs “California Bride,” “In the Morning,” “Ocean” and “What Is Left To Solve” are some of the best examples. “Falling” deserves mention for being one of the most beautiful songs of the year. In the late 1980s and early 90s, Seattle band The Posies proved that power pop and grunge could not only co-exist, they could also crossbreed. Nearly 30 years after its debut and six years since its prior studio album, original band co-founders Jonathan Auer and Ken Stringfellow have reunited under The Posies’ banner for Solid State (My Music Empire). Displaying a softer but still rocking side with wonderful harmonies and a catchy set of tunes, Solid State is solid. Even if you weren’t a part of the previous Posies pack,

JT LeRoy Story

From page 24

the capacity to be consciously manipulative” is harder to swallow. She lost the case. Branded with the letter H for Hoax or Harlot, Albert in Author pleads for the sincerity of her inner teenage boy. I’m inclined to believe her. But there’s a shadow side to this brilliant hoax-that-dare-not-speakits-name. Albert’s ace in the hole was, and still might be, phone sex. It paid the bills, her empathic powers enabling her to intuit clients’ proclivities and transform herself into their fantasy. Applying these techniques to PR, Albert reached out to the literary establishment, starting with Dennis Cooper, who fell hard. Phone calls promoted prose,

THE GREAT LGBT SCIENCE FICTION THE GREAT LGBT SCIENCE FICTION TRILOGY OF OUR TIME TRILOGY OF OUR TIME

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expanded reissue of A Boy Named - Allen @and Sinfully Romance - Allen @ Sinfully Gay RomanceReviews Reviews Goo got things rolling, now Gay co-founding members Johnny Rzeznick and Robby Takac return with Boxes (Warner Brothers). If you’re looking for something incredibly well-written, a Sci-Fi romance There are some pleasant surprises epic that delivers on every front; action, love, perfect villians, and under the lid of Boxes, such as “Flood,” a duet with Echosmith’s triumph, this is the series you need to read. Even if your’re not a Sci-Fi Sydney Sierota; the light pop of fan (and I’m not), you will likely fall in love with ‘Alien Dangers’. I did. “The Pin” and the title track; and the galloping dance beat of “Reverse.” –Allen @ Sinfully Gay Romance Reviews Six seems to be the magic number for experimental band Autolux. Its debut album and follow-up came out six years apart. Autolux’s new disc Pussy’s Dead (30th Century-Columbia) has arrived six years later. Fal-

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setto vocals, glitchy, twitchy beats and buzzes, fuzzy funk, ominous guitars and keyboards, and vocal distortion collide in a Radiohead-meets-The Flaming Lips setting for music that is alternately welcoming (“Soft Scene”) and challenging (“Junk for Code,” “Listen to the Order”). The four years that passed between the time Deftones released its previous album and the arrival of Gore (Reprise) doesn’t seem to have dulled the band’s aggressive but melodic screamo metal attack. If you like it loud and crunchy, Deftones deliver on “Doomed User,” “Pittura Infamante” and the title cut.t which lent gravitas to JT’s personal appearances. When JT exploded in 2005, his imaginary friends felt hurt and angry. Doors closed to Albert that Author attempts to reopen. If you’re not confused yet, you haven’t been paying attention. Laura Albert is a San Francisco phenomenon, a sex worker and male impersonator of subversive wit and unparalleled chutzpah, who fooled people into falling in love with a Jewish miracle, a shiksa sacrifice whose existential approach to abuse is to turn the other cheek. If you seek clarity, watch both documentaries with disbelief. Cult is too judgmental, Author isn’t mental enough. The actual books are better fiction than they ever were memoir, unless you think imagination is the Devil’s work.t

LUCIE ARNAZ

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN WITH LORNA LUFT

September 16 – 17

September 28 – October 1

For tickets: feinsteinsatthenikko.com Feinstein’s | Hotel Nikko San Francisco 222 Mason Street | 855-322-2738

<< Out&About

O&A

26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

Big and bountiful

Thu 8 Tom Ammiano’s Mincing Words @ The Marsh

by Jim Provenzano

heatre, music and other arts events are revving up for the Fall season. For more events, visit us online at www.ebar.com. For nightlifery, check out On the Tab in BARtab.

Tom Reardon @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko Enjoy cabaret classics performed by the witty musical theatre actor-singer in his new show, a tribute to Ladies Who Lunch. $30-$50 ($20 food/drink min.) 8pm. Also Sept. 9. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com

Vanguard Revisited @ Tenderloin Museum Rev. Megan Rohrer and historian Joey Plaster discuss the 1960s radical queer youth organization and the revamp of the art and poetry zine. Also, the group exhibit Exposure: Photographic Tales From the Tenderloin. 6pm-9pm. 398 Eddy St. 351-1912. www.tenderloinmuseum.org

The Wholehearted @ Z Space

Sat 10 All Access Comedy Show @ Marines Memorial Theatre Pro-Choice America and other groups’ comedy night, with host Nato Green, Michell Buteau, Matt Braunger, Laurie Kilmartin, Baron Vaughn and Kate Willet. Free/RSVP. 8pm. 609 Sutter St. www.AllAccess2016.com

Approaching American Abstraction @ SF Museum of Modern Art See the restaged installations and new exhibits of Pop, Abstract and classic Modern art at the renovated and visually amazing museum, with two extra floors, a new additional Howard Street entrance, café and outdoor gardens. Free-$25. 10am8pm. 151 Third St. www.sfmoma.org

Holum Project’s multimedia production of Deborah Stein and Suli Holum’s drama-performance about a woman boxer and the pain and abuse she endures, inside and outside the ring. $30. Wed-Sat 7pm. 450 Florida St. (866) 811-4111. www.zspace.org

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

August: Osage County @ Marin Theatre, Mill Valley 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

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. Thru Oct. 2. 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. www.shotgunplayers.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

New & Classic Films @ Castro Theatre Sept. 8: Terence Malick’s Days of Heaven (7pm) and Knight of Cups (8:50). Sept. 9: The Holy Mountain (7pm) and Zardoz (9:10). Sept. 10: California Independent Film Festival, including the premiere of the James Franco’s gay-porn-murder film King Cobra (9pm). (www.caiff.org) Sept. 11: The Big Parade, a silent classic with Bruce Loeb accompanying (1:30). Sept. 11: Merchant-Ivory classics Remains of the Day (5pm) and Howards End (7:30). Sept. 14: The Seven Year Itch (3pm, 7pm) and Lord Love a Duck (5pm, 9pm). Sept. 15: Blue Velvet (7pm)and Private Property (9:15). $11. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

Sun 11

Disastrous! @ Oasis Champagne White returns in D’Arcy Drollinger’s third edition of the hilarious campy action-packed drag comedy show about our hardy heroine, where espionage and earthquakes are only part of her troubles! With Matthew Martin, Adam Roy, Nancy French and other talents. $25-$35. $200 VIP tables. Thu-Sat 7pm. Thru Sept 17. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Dohee Lee Puri Arts @ CounterPulse Composer and performer’s ritual theatre work, ARA Ritual I: Waterways, about the story of the goddess of tears. $20-$35. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 3pm. 80 Turk St. www.counterpulse.org

Justin Chin Tribute @ City Lights Bookstore Readings and remembrances by friends of the late local gay author and poet, and the posthumous release of Justin Chin: Selected Works ; Kevin Killian, Rabih Alameddine, Henry Machtay, Larry-bob Roberts, Thea Hillman, Maw Shein Win, Alvin Orloff, and Daphne Gottlieb. 7pm. 261 Columbus Ave. www.citylights.com

Ken Graves @ Anglim Gilbert Gallery Opening reception for The Home Front, the late photographer’s exhibit of oddly spooky and banal prints, from the 1960s to recent works. 5:307:30pm. Thru Oct. 15. 14 Geary St. www.anglimgilbertgallery.com

Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @ SF Public Library

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

Pat Metheny @ SF Jazz The center’s season opening events feature the veteran jazz guitarist, who performs with his band. $60-$130. 3pm & 7pm. Also Sept. 9-11. 201 Franklin St. www.patmetheny.com www.sfjazz.org

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, Robert W. Richards’ exhibit of gay men’s erotic magazines from the 1950s to the ‘90s. Thru Oct. 16. $5. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Dream of the Red Chamber @ War Memorial Opera House San Francisco Opera’s world premiere production of Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang’s new opera based on a classic Chinese novel. $26-$417. 9/10, 13, 23, 27 & 29 at 7:30pm. 9/18 at 2pm. Thru Sept. 29. 301 Van Ness Ave. 864-3330. www.sfopera.com

Flagging in the Park @ National AIDS Memorial Grove Christoper B is the guest DJ at the outdoor fun flagging and flow arts event, with proceeds going to Project Inform. BYO picnic, blanets, etc. Donations. 1pm-4pm. Nancy Pelosi Drive, Golden Gate Park. www.flaggercentral.com

I am the LGBT c

Fri 9 Thu 8

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 9/14, 17, 22 & 30 at 7:30pm, 9/25 at 2pm. Gala pre-show opening party as well. 301 Van Ness Ave. www.sfopera.com

Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi The musical comedy revue celebrates its 40th year with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs; now with new characters like Sia and Bernie Sanders. $25-$160. Beer/wine served; cash only; 21+, except where noted. Wed-Fri 8pm. Sat 6pm & 9pm. Sun 2pm & 5pm. 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd. (Green St.). 421-4222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com

City of Angels @ SF Playhouse Cy Coleman and David Zippel’s Tonywinning film noir musical is produced by the acclaimed local theatre company. $20-$125. Tue-Thu 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru Sept. 17. Kensington Park Hotel, 2nd floor, 450 Post St. 677-9596. www.sfplayhouse.org

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

Othello @ Forest Meadows Ampitheatre, San Rafael Marin Shakespeare Company’s production of The Bard’s classic tragedy or betrayal and jealousy. $10$35. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 4pm. Thru Sept. 25. 890 Belle Ave., San Rafael. www.marinshakespeare.org

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

San Francisco Fringe Festival @ Exit Theatre, PianoFight 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

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

Daveed Diggs @ Jewish Community Center

Home Land Security @ Presidio Trust Park

The Tony-winning star of Hamilton has an on-stage discussion with Chinaka Hodge. $35. 7pm. 3200 California St. www.jccsf.org

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

Drag Queen Story Hour @ Eureka Valley Library Beatrice Thomas reads to kids at the Castro library. 12:15-1:15. ! Jose Sarria Court at 16th. www.sfpl.org

Looking Through the Lens @ Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera

Emperor’s Treasures @ Asian Art Museum

The Glory of San Francisco Opera, Past and Present, an exhibit of historic productions photos from the San Francisco Opera’s many productions. Free Mon-Fri 9am-6pm. Veteran’s Building, 401 Van Ness Ave. sfopera.com

Chinese Art From the National Palace Museum, Taipei ; thru Sept. 18. Other exhibits include Japanese and Chinese laquerware, Worshipping Women: Power and Devotion in Indian Painting (thru Mar. 26, 2017), A Billion Buddhas: The Awakened Cosmos of Himalyan Buddhism (thru April 9, 2017). Free-$25. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. 200 Larkin St. 581-3500. www.asianart.org

Magnificent Magnolias @ SF Botanical Gardens See beautiful floral and foliage displays, trees and plants in various beautiful gardens specific to region. Expect amazing new growth and blossoms following the rainy days. Daily walking tours and more. Free$15. Tours, lectures, classes and more. Open daily, 7:30am-sunset. Golden Gate Park. 661-1316. www.sfbotanicalgarden.org

Out&About>> Wish Upon a Star: Pinocchio @ Walt Disney Family Museum New exhibit all about the Disney classic about a puppet who longs to be a real boy; thru Jan. 9, 2017. Also, Mel Shaw: An Animator on Horseback, an exhibition showcasing 120 artworks and designs by the prominent Disney animator, whose own life was full of adventures. Free (members)-$20. Thru Sept. 12. 104 Montgomery St., The Presidio. 345-6800. waltdisney.org

Writers With Drinks @ The Make Out Room

Thu 8 Dohee Lee Puri Arts @ CounterPulse

Charlie Jane Anders hosts the fun literary night, this time with scifi, poetry and comedy from Anuradha Roy, Margaret Wappler, Hollie Hardy, Naamen Tilahun, Dominique Gelin and Curtis Chen. $5-$20. 7:30pm. 3225 22nd St. www.makeoutroom.com

e future of the 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.

September 8-14, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 27

Ed Ruscha @ de Young Museum Ed Ruscha and the Great American West, an exhibit of the artist’s landscape/text paintings; thru Oct. 9. Also, exhibits of Bruce Davidson photos, Printed Stories, The Sumatran Ship cloth, and works by Kay Sekimachi. Free/$25. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive. www.famsf.org

Floral Exhibits @ Conservatory of Flowers

Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @ SF Public Library Screening of the film about the oldest out African American lesbian, who was born in 1899. 3pm. Latino/ Hispanic Meeting Room, lower level. 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

Oakland Pride @ Broadway, Downtown Oakland Enjoy the parade (10:30am), festival and related events, including stage performers Deborah Cox, Lisa Lisa, Wendy Ho, Frenchie Davis, Kaycee Ortiz, Sampson McCormick, Charlene Moore, and Larina Iglesias, plus food, drinks, business and arts booths, after-parties at several nearby gay bars. 11am-7pm. Broadway & 20th St. www.oaklandpride.org

Vanessa Bousay @ Martuni’s The talented drag songstress performs a new show, Diva 101, a back-toschool show; Broadway and pop classics with a touch of camp; Tom Shaw accompanies. $15. 7pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market. www.vanessabousay.com

The Wild Bunch @ SF Conservatory of Flowers New Spring exhibit of oddly-shaped succulents, cacti and fat plants. Thru Oct. 16. 100 John F. Kennedy Drive, Golden Gate Park www.conservatoryofflowers.org

Mon 12 Color of Life @ California Academy of Sciences Exhibits and planetarium shows with various live, interactive and installed exhibits about animals, plants and the earth; new exhibit focuses on vibrantly colored species of octopus, snake fish and other live creatures. Special events each week, with adult nightlife parties many Thursday nights. $20-$35. Mon-Sat 9:30am5pm. Sun 11am-5pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. www.calacademy.org

One Night Only @ Marines’ Memorial Theatre Pop-Up Sex Culture Expo @ Center for Sex and Culture One-day multi-part event, with panels, readings, storytelling and more. $30-$70. 11am-6pm. 1349 Mission St. www.sexandculture.org

Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition @ Contemporary Jewish Museum

Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition, a multimedia exhibit about the prolific filmmaker (thru Oct. 30). Other exhibits about Jewish culture include Lamp of the Covenant: Dave Lane and Pour Crever by Trimpin, Hardly Strictly Warren Hellman, ongoing. Lectures and gallery talks as well. Free (members)-$12. Fri-Tue 11am-5pm, Thu 11am-8pm (closed Wed). 736 Mission St. 655-7800. thecjm.org

Sun 11 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

Architecture of Life @ Berkeley Art Museum/ Pacific Film Archive New art and film museum, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, with more than 200 new and ancient works dating back 2,000 years. Free-$12. 2625 Durant Ave., Berkeley. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu

Wed 14

Beautiful floral displays, plants for sale, and docent tours. Tue-Sun 10am4pm. $2-$8. Free for SF residents. 100 JFK Drive, Golden Gate Park, 8312090. conservatoryofflowers.org

Motown & More, a night of music, comedy and dance, with cast members of the touring company of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and Katya Smirnoff-Skyy, hosted by comedy writer-quipster Bruce Vilanch. $36-$75 (VIP includes dessert party with the cast). 7:30pm. 609 Sutter St. www.reaf-sf.org

Perfectly Queer @ Dog Eared Books Edmund Zagorin reads from The Face of Our Town, the life of a millennial techie, and Daniel Curzon presents “How To Cyberbully Your Teacher,” based on his own experiences as a professor at City College. 7pm. 489 Castro St. www.dogearedbooks.com

13th Floor at West Wave Dance Festival @ Z Space

Queerest Library Ever @ SF Public Libraries

Non Non Violence @ Guerrero Gallery

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

Group exhibit of works that question non-violent reactions to racist violence. Wed-Sat 12pm-6pm. 4005168. www.guerrerogallery.com

Yael Naim @ Great American Music Hall The brilliant French/Israeli singersongwriter (France’s 2016 Artist of the Year) performs music from her three albums. $36 ($61 with dinner). 8pm. 859 O’Farrell St. slimspresents.com

Tue 13 Anthony Ervin @ Books Inc. Berkeley The Bay Area swimmer and two-time gold medal Olympian talks with his book Chasing Water: Elegy of an Olympian with co-author Constantine Markides. 7pm. 1491 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. www.booksinc.net

Jamil Hellu @ Thacher Gallery, USF 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

Radar Reading @ SF Public Library Queer reading series with Anna Pulley, Mira Gonzalez, Amber Flame and Fin Lee; hosted by Juliana Delgado Lopera. 6pm-8pm. Latino/ Hispanic Meeting Room, lower level. 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

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

Wed 14 10 Percent @ Comcast David Perry’s online and cable interviews with notable local and visiting LGBT people, broadcast through the week. www.ComcastHometown.com

The Grace Jones Project, Dandy Lion @ MOAD Dual exhibitions of video, performance and artwork about the iconic singer and queer identity; and Dandy Lion: (Re)Articulating Black Masculine Identity. Free-$10. Both thru Sept. 18. Wed-Sat 11am-6pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. Museum of the African Diaspora, 685 Mission St. at 3rd. www.moadsf.org

Cinco y Cinco @ The Mexican Museum

King Charles III @ Geary Theater

New exhibit of works by 10 contemporary artists from Mexico and Latin America. Thru Nov. 6. Fort Mason Center, Bldg. D, Marina Blvd. at Buchana. www.mexicanmuseum.org

American Conservatory Theatre company’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

Thu 8 Justin Chin Tribute @ City Lights Bookstore

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

West Wave Dance Festival @ Z Space 25th anniversary season of the diverse dance fest, with performances, workshops and more, including works by Oakland Ballet, Labayan Dance, World Dance Fusion, Fat Chance Belly Dance, 13th Floor, Oakland Ballet, Nol Simonse, Deborah Karp, Graham Lustig, Mary Carbonara, Kendra Kimbrough, and Milissa Payne. $15-$20. Wed-Sun 8pm. Thru Sept. 18. www.SAFEhouseArts.info/ west_wave25 www.zspace.org

Thu 15 Altered State: Marijuana in California @ Oakland Museum The first-ever museum exhibition to focus on pot, with art, political documents, scientific displays. Thru Sept. 25. Other exhibits include Oakland, I want you to know..., an exhibit of Oakland resident portraits and reflections on gentrification. Free/$15. Reg. hours Wed-Sat 11am5pm (Fri til 9pm). 1000 Oak St., Oakland. (510) 318-8400. www.museumca.org

Bright Light Bright Light @ Rickshaw Stop The charming UK/NYC pop singercomposer Rod Thomas performs music from his new CD Choreography, which includes collaborations with Elton John, Alan Cumming, Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears and Ana Matronic. Ghost & The City and DJ davO (Double Duchess) also perform. $15. 8pm. 155 Fell St. www.brightlightx2.com www.rickshawstop.com

Comedy Returns @ El Rio Betsy Salkind, Richard Sarvate, Priyanka Wali, Nate Blanchard, and host Lisa Geduldig perform queer and queer-friendly stand-up comedy. $7$20. 8pm. 3158 Mission St. www.elriosf.com www.brownpapertickets.com

Kingdom @ Brick and Mortar The award-winning drag king vocal ensemble performs at a benefit for the upcoming first Drag King museum exhibit. $10-$20. 7pm-11pm. 1710 Mission St. www.brickandmortarmusic.com To submit event listings, email events@ebar.com Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication.For more bar and nightlife events, go to On the Tab in our BARtab section, online at www.ebar.com/bartab

<< Film

28 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

Inside the ring with Roberto Duran by David Lamble

he new boxing drama Hands of Stone from Venezuelan director Jonathan Jakubowicz both fits and breaks the mold for filmmakers trying to reinvent the wheel. It tries to give Millennials of all persuasions an opportunity to find their place in arguably humankind’s oldest pastime: beating one’s fellow to a pulp within “civilized rules.” From the opening bell it’s clear that Jakubowicz has in mind an epic bio of legendary Panamanian boxer Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran. It’s not every day that a “B-movie” gets Hands of Stone’s “A-list” cast: Robert De Niro, Edgar Ramirez, Ana de Armas, Ellen Barkin, Ruben Blades, John Turturro and pop singer Usher. The casting process was itself bumpy, as reportedly Al Pacino dropped out as Arcel, and Mexican star Gael Garcia Bernal was once slated to don the gloves as Duran. One index of boxing’s enduring claim on our affections lies in the astonishing literature that the sport has inspired. Norman Mailer, James Baldwin and Joyce Carol Oates have let it claim a surprising amount of their creative output. Oates confesses in her volume On Boxing to have

gone to amateur bouts with her dad in their Upstate New York town. Many have heard the backstory behind American cinema’s best film with a boxing pedigree, the 1980

ring devotional Raging Bull, with De Niro copping a Best Actor Oscar and director Martin Scorsese engineering new ways for his camera to climb inside the ring. The presence

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of De Niro as Duran’s aging trainer Ray Arcel is the best argument for catching this film before it hits BluRay. We learn that Arcel was clubbed nearly to death by a Mafia thug for what the Mob guys considered his attempt to steal their racket back when boxing’s TV popularity nearly eclipsed the gang-controlled neighborhood fight clubs. The film kicks off with a hungrykid version of Duran beating up his grade school mates for a scrap of bread or a few pesos. While Ramirez is credible as the 29-year-old Duran in the first of three savage matches against Usher’s pretty-boy Sugar Ray Leonard for pro boxing’s welterweight (140 lb. division), it’s a stretch to see him as the hungry young punk fresh off the streets recruited by vet trainer Arcel. Arcel, facing a mob-ordered death sentence if he ever again trains a fighter for money, shrewdly agrees to work for free, a deal that leaves Mob kingpin Turturro nonplussed. Director Jakubowicz first hit the international markets with 2005’s Secuestro Express, about a young couple kidnapped by Caracas thugs looking to collect a ransom from their wealthy families. Having made his country’s biggest box office smash, Jakubowicz clearly

saw dollar signs in a deal with the Weinstein Company. But Hands of Stone violates one of Lamble’s rules of foreign film order by having tiny, bleached-out yellow subtitles that make the early Panama City slum scenes hard to follow. There’s one neat touch in sync with the spirit of our presidential-year politics as we observe a beleaguered Jimmy Carter defending returning the Panama Canal to Panama while Ronald Reagan, hot under the collar, berates him for giving away an engineering miracle paid for by the US. The oddest moment in Duran’s 34 years in the ring (from age 16-50) is the crazy scene towards the end of the eighth round of the second fight against Leonard when he abruptly quits, leaving the normally garrulous Howard Cosell nearly speechless. Hands of Stone does nothing to resolve the mystery. In real life, Duran claims he never uttered the often-quoted phrase “No mas,” or “No more.” Jakubowicz is quoted on the Internet Movie Data Base with a couple of pithy phrases that sum up my reaction to Hands of Stone: “I think that 90% of the movies that are made are too long and too slow. In life we kill time, but in film time kills us.”t

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Books>>

September 8-14, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 29

Male actress supreme by Tavo Amador

“The worst thing about being an atheist is that you have nothing to say during an orgasm.”

o aging baby boomers and their predecessors, Charles Pierce (1926-99) remains a unique entertainer, a brilliant male actress whose hilarious impersonations of classic Hollywood and Broadway legends left indelible memories. In Write That Down (Havenhurst Books, $16.95), Pierce’s longtime friend and associate Kirk Frederick documents many of the star’s comedy routines and provides a brief biography. He also includes parts of Pierce’s unfinished memoir. Born in Watertown, NY, Pierce began his professional career on local radio. Eventually he established himself in San Francisco in the 1960s and 70s, performing at gay clubs like The Gilded Age, Gold Street, After Dark, and later, at such prestigious venues as the Fairmont Hotel’s Venetian Room and the War Memorial Opera House. He was equally successful in New York, where he was awarded an Obie; Los Angeles; and other major cities. Pierce disliked the term “drag queen” and refused to call himself one. Nor did he want to be called a “female impersonator.” Rather, he saw himself as continuing the long tradition, both in the West and the Orient, of men playing female parts on stage. He sometimes appeared in plays, including starring as Margo Channing in a San Francisco production of Applause, for which he revealed a fine singing voice. He also worked on television and had roles in a handful of movies, but those engagements usually failed to capture his impromptu, often manic wit. Frederick provides a brief introduction about Pierce’s career and their professional and personal association over many years. He segues into “The Blondes that

–Charles Pierce as Mae West nothing to say during an orgasm.” For years, Pierce would leave the stage as West and return as Katharine Hepburn in her Eleanor of Aquitaine costume from 1968’s The Lion in Winter, for which she won her third Best Actress Oscars. For a brief period, he replaced Hepburn with Joan Collins, then enjoying great success on television’s Dynasty (1981-89). Critics liked his Collins, but audiences preferred Hepburn, so he brought her back for good. He cracked jokes about some of her most famous films, including Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), then turned into Hepburn as Coco Chanel in the Broadway musical Coco. In his best Hepburn voice, he would sing “Always Mademoiselle,” the show’s big number. Pierce’s greatest role was Davis, who usually involved her rivalries with Joan Crawford and Tallulah Bankhead. Dressed in a version of Edith Head’s famous gown worn by Davis in All About Eve (1950), wearing a shoulder-length wig, he would roll his eyes, purse his lips, wave a cigarette, and mimic her clipped speech. “Joan Crawford is dead! One must speak good of the dead. Joan is dead. Good.” He would sometimes switch into Crawford and play both ladies in scenes from their co-starring film, 1962’s Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? When Crawford’s daughter Christina published her vindictive, highly suspect

bestselling memoir of her mother Mommie Dearest (1978), Pierce added a bit to his act. “Christina? Christina, darling. Mommie Dearest has your bathwater boiling.” He sometimes did an inspired routine based on a Davis and Bankhead movie, Lady Pilots of the RAF. Davis, commanding an aircraft carrier, gave landing instructions to Bankhead. “To the left, Tallulah. To the right, Tallulah. Swim, bitch!” As Davis, he would satirize scenes from some of her campiest movies, including Beyond the Forest (1949), The Star (1952) and Dead Ringer (1964). A separate chapter is devoted to Pierce in Applause, a success that gave him great personal satisfaction. There are also chapters on Pierce’s close friendship with Bea Arthur and a compilation of his reviews. Frederick writes with genuine affection, but hasn’t penned a hagiography. Pierce was a great and influential performer. Charles Busch and Carol Burnett owe him much. As Armistead Maupin notes in a foreword, he was very much of his time, an era in which two generations of gay men had similar camp cultural references. Not many millennials or Gen X gay males have those same references. That doesn’t diminish Pierce’s legacy, but this book is likely to appeal primarily to those who remember him and still treasure the women he indelibly portrayed.t

different and, at the moment, hostile cultures. Baba Joon is a term of endearment that a son might call his father (similar to Daddy), but it also expresses respect, a dual meaning used deliberately here. Baba Joon is the story of religious Persian Jews who

have emigrated to Israel, the dictatorial grandfather patriarch (Rafael Faraj Eliasi) having built the turkey farm (which has been in the family for generations) in the dusty, harsh landscape of the Negev in southern Israel (shot on location). Initially resistant, his son Yitzhak has been beaten into submission to run the farm with its endless work and drudgery, the temple being their only diversion. The film is set in the early 1980s, when Israel was being transformed from an agrarian, kibbutz society into a modern technological country. Yitzhak wants his 13-year-old son Moti (Asher Aurahami) to continue the proud family business, but Moti’s passion is engineering, resurrecting old cars and building a buggy out of an old scooter. He longs to follow his own interests and talents, to play and have fun. He hates working in the turkey barn, which Yitzhak interprets as personal rejection. When Yitzhak tries to teach Moti how to clip the turkey’s beaks (so they don’t

hurt each other), Moti refuses to do it, leading to a tense confrontation between father and son. His mother Sarah (Viss Elliot Safari) is caught in the middle, sympathetic to Moti, but trying to maintain peace, reminding her husband what it was like to be a boy. Any chance of harmony is destroyed when Yitzak’s older brother Darius (Fariborz David Diaan), a jewelry-maker who fled to America to escape Yitzak’s fate, arrives for an extended visit, bringing back old resentments and wounds. Darius encourages Moti’s mechanical gifts, telling him to do what he loves, much to Yitzak’s consternation. When the grandfather orders Darius to work on the turkey farm or leave, he moves to a nearby cottage, where Moti starts spending most of his free time. When Yitzak falls off a ladder and hurts his back, Moti becomes even closer to Darius, learning how to craft jewelry. Eventually the battle of wills between father and son will reach a boiling point in the dramatic conclusion. Will Yitzhak reconcile with Moti or alienate him?

Most LGBT viewers’ gaydar will go off when the unmarried, artistic, well-dressed, cosmopolitan, religionrejecting Uncle Darius appears. There is no indication that Darius is gay, but in an email exchange with director Yuval Delshad (whose family’s experience of leaving Shiraz in Iran and immigrating to Israel provides the movie’s background), when asked about this possibility, he replied, “It is good sense to see what you saw about the uncle; it wasn’t clear that he can be gay, but it is an option.” The queer audience can decide for themselves. Regardless, the theme of rejecting outdated traditions, letting go of the past, and seeking one’s independence, will resonate. The fact that he may be a gay relative that inspires this change is meaningful. Deliberately paced, Baba Joon builds to an enthralling climax, aided by Ofer Inov’s stark cinematography and Eyal Saeed Mani’s evocative Persian score. This coming-of-age/intergenerational conflict augurs well for Delshad, whose outstanding talent is a welcome newcomer to world cinema.t

Library Theatre combines excerpts from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure and Henry Purcell’s opera Dido and Aeneas, performed by Jacobi, director Richard Clifford, and a cast of 25 actors, singers and musicians. napashakes.org. A new play by Tom Stoppard is always of interest, but The Hard Problem was lopped last week in favor of ACT’s season opener, King Charles III. ACT is one of Stoppard’s go-to theaters in the United States, and his newest play will run Oct. 19-Nov. 13 at the Geary Theatre. First produced last year in London, the eponymous

hard problem is a frequent topic of debate between a university psychology student and her tutor, who also happen to be lovers at the start of the play. An example of their pillow talk: Is altruism a manifestation of free will or the result of an individual’s random gathering of neurons? act-sf.org. Similarly, because they were the second and third plays of its season, Berkeley Rep received a spotlight only on its opening show. But the second is a world premiere developed by Berkeley Rep, and the third is an American premiere from the

always-welcome Kneehigh Theatre from England. The world premiere is Jess Augustin’s The Last Tiger in Haiti, running Oct. 14-Nov. 27, about a reunion after 15 years of once-indentured children whose storytelling fantasies collide in the reality of their grownup worlds. Emma Rice’s Kneehigh Theatre (The Wild Bride, Brief Encounter) uses the upbeat jollity of a military variety show to tell the tale of 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips (Dec. 2-Jan. 15), set in a

Hollywood Forgot,” a catch-all which includes snippets from Pierce’s take-offs on Bette Davis (his most famous recreation, she gets her own chapter), a deliriously funny Carol Channing trashing an overweight Shelley Winters, Marlene Dietrich, Jeannette MacDonald, silver-haired Barbara Stanwyck, and brunettes Gloria Swanson, Maria Montez and Maria Ouspenskaya. He also includes one-liners from Pierce’s impression of former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Pierce’s own alter-ego, the blonde Celene

Kendall, makes an appearance. Mae West gets her own chapter. Pierce occasionally used West’s dialogue from her films, but for the most part, he authored his material. His was the older West of Myra Breckinridge (1970), her misguided return to the screen after a 27-year absence. Wearing a blonde wig with a topknot, a glittery dress, and acres of costume jewelry, he told Westianstyle jokes. “Sex is like a misdemeanor. The more you miss, the meaner you get.” “The worst thing about being an atheist is that you have

Down on the turkey farm by Brian Bromberger

t happens to everyone as they reach a crossroads: deciding whether they will embrace the traditions preserved for them through their family, or seek personal freedom on a new, unfamiliar path. Most LGBT people don’t have the luxury of a decision. The dilemma is often forced upon them as they forge a new road and a new identity, with few signposts to guide them. This conflict is well drawn in Baba Joon, an Israeli film just released on DVD by Strand Releasing. Baba Joon won five Ophir awards, Israel’s equivalent of the Oscar, including Best Film. It was Israel’s submission to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language feature, though it wasn’t included among the final five nominees. Baba Joon was the first time the Farsi (Persian) language appeared in a mainstream Israeli film along with Hebrew. The movie acts as a bridge between two vastly

Fall Theatre

From page 21

Even though our radar usually doesn’t pierce into the far north, we cranked up the power because it’s a chance to see celebrated actor Derek Jacobi in a world premiere that is headed to the Kennedy Center. Measure + Dido will make its debut Sept. 24 at the Napa Valley Performing Arts Center in Yountville, with a second performance on Sept. 25 at Weill Hall on the Sonoma State campus. This co-production between NapaShakes and Folger Shakespeare

See page 31 >>

Esteemed actor Derek Jacobi will be part of a world-premiere production of Measure + Dido, with performances in Napa and Sonoma counties before moving to the Kennedy Center.

<< Books

30 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

Demons in the City of Angels by Tavo Amador

he 1849 Gold Rush made San Francisco the 19th century’s wonder city. For several decades, it dominated California. By the early 20th century, however, Los Angeles had become the state’s most populous city. It’s now the country’s second largest. Jean Stein’s fascinating, sometimes frustrating West of Eden: An American Place (Random House, $30) recounts how oil and the movies turned Los Angeles into a megalopolis, and how it influenced America. It’s based on oral accounts of five families who were part of those industries. Stein begins with the Dohenys, whose Wisconsin-born patriarch Edward (1856-1935) discovered oil in the La Brea Tar Pits, which made him rich. By 1902, Doheny had sold his fields, but would soon invest in oil wells in Tampico, Mexico. Charged with bribery during the 1921-22 Teapot Dome scandal, he was twice acquitted. His first marriage produced a daughter, who died at age seven, and a son, Edward, Jr., known as Ned. In 1899, the Dohenys divorced, with Ed getting custody of six-year-old Ned. A year later, his ex-wife committed suicide. Doheny remarried and became a great philanthropist, but tragedy struck again. In 1929, Ned was killed by Theodore Hugh Plunkett, his secretary, who then shot himself. The two had met while working at a gas station – all male Dohenys were

expected to do that. The murder was hushed up. Descendants speculate that the married Ned may have been gay, perhaps a factor in the murder/suicide, but no one knows for sure. The Dohenys were the model for Sinclair Lewis’ 1927 novel Oil, the inspiration for the 2007 movie There Will Be Blood. Stein then turns to Jack L. Warner (1892-1978), who, with his brothers Harry, Albert, and Sam, founded Warner Bros. Studios early in the century. During the Depression, Warners produced realistic movies and Busby Berkeley musicals. Jack ran the day-to-day operations, but relations with his surviving brothers (Sam died young) were acrimonious. After Jack engineered a takeover in 1956, he and Harry never spoke again. Warner divorced his first wife, who was the mother of his son, Jack, Jr. His second wife, Ann, was a great beauty and dazzling hostess who often used her influence to help studio contract players. But Ann is blamed for the falling out between Jack and Jack, Jr. Warner developed dementia before he died. Ann became an obese recluse. Openly gay music and movie mogul David Geffen purchased Warner’s lavish mansion “for more money than Warner got for his studio,” which he sold in 1966. When Geffen bought the house, he was told that the furniture was 18th-century English and that the parquet floors had been given by

Napoleon to one of his sisters. His decorator broke the news that it had all been made by studio craftsmen. Somehow, that seems fitting. Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Jones (1919-2009), born Phyliss Isely, is the central character of another family chronicle. From 1939-45, she was married to actor Robert Walker (1918-51). They had two sons, Robert, Jr., and Michael. In 1949, she married producer David Selznick, her Svengali. They had a daughter, Mary. Jones was widowed in 1965. In 1971, she married millionaire businessman Norton Simon, and in 1993 was again widowed. Jones was beautiful, ambitious, narcissistic to a startling degree, even by Hollywood standards, and inept

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at the simplest aspects of daily living. She was an affectionate mother, but emotionally distant. Both sons struggled with alcohol, but Robert, Jr., got free of it. Michael, deeply troubled, abused drugs, identified with homeless people, looked like them, but was never homeless. He was often harsh to his mother, and predeceased her. Daughter Mary committed suicide. Robert, Jr., who strongly resembled his father, had a modest acting career and cared for his mother during the last years of her life. Jules C. Stein (1896-1985), founder of MCA and the author’s father, anchors that family’s LA history. Born in South Bend, Indiana, Stein became a successful

Chicago ophthalmologist, but preferred booking bands throughout the Midwest, which, in the 1920s and 30s, proved lucrative. He expanded to New York and LA, where he arrived in 1937. Soon he was representing Hollywood stars, including Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Frank Sinatra, Ingrid Bergman, Jack Benny, Bette Davis, and Eddie Cantor, in their dealings with the studios. He made his key associate, Lew Wasserman, CEO in 1946. Wasserman had got Ronald Reagan a superb contract with Warners, then helped him become president of the Screen Actors Guild. Reagan approved an agreement with MCA allowing it to produce movies and television shows, thus representing and employing actors, an obvious conflict of interest. Ultimately MCA was forced to choose. Production won. By then, Reagan was the host, star, and production manager for television’s General Electric Theatre (1954-62). His folksy charm endeared him to millions of viewers. That celebrity, carefully aligned to his ambition, enabled him to be twice elected Governor of California and twice President of the United States. The fifth saga is associated with Jane Garland, the troubled daughter of a scheming, failed actress. The wealthy family lived in Malibu. Garland, who suffered from bipolar disorder, is sympathetically drawn. But the family hardly seems as significant as the Dohenys, the Warners, the Selznick/Simons or the Steins. In addition to descendants, Gore Vidal, Lauren Bacall, Jane Fonda, and Dennis Hopper are among those with colorful recollections. An appendix identifies all the speakers. The photographs are plentiful. A brief description of the central character in each family story and an index would have been helpful. Still, this unusual approach to the history of Los Angeles and its impact on America is worth reading.t

Chaz Bono

From page 21

The premise of Where the Bears Are is simple. Four sweet but nottoo-bright gay bear roommates in Los Angeles solve murders while they look for love in all the wrong places. For their fifth season, a very special guest star is visiting the Bears: Chaz Bono, son of show business legends Sonny and Cher, has signed on for a recurring role. Bono, a former musician and writer, is pursuing a Hollywood acting career. He recently completed a short-term role on the popular daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful, where he played a pastor. It’s a far different life for the man who was once known as Chastity Bono. Bono’s transition made headlines five years ago. His battle with gender dysphoria and his struggle to find his true self were eloquently chronicled in the 2011 documentary Becoming Chaz, which aired on the OWN Network. As season five of Where the Bears Are began streaming, Bono spoke to the Bay Area Reporter from his home in Los Angeles. He said that writing and music were in the past. “I started off as an actor,” he said. “I got into the NYU School of Drama, but you have to be comfortable in your body to pursue acting. I wasn’t, but at the time I didn’t know what the issue was.” Bono said he began to seriously pursue acting in 2012, soon after he transitioned. “I got great feedback at Anthony Meindl’s Actor Workshop,” he recalled. With his confidence boosted, Bono began getting roles on television. He prefers playing “dark” characters and doing “edgy” dramas,

Courtesy the artists

Chaz Bono, in back, gets into the spirit of Where the Bears Are.

citing shows like Ray Donavan and Orphan Black as the type of work he hopes to do. Bono had a nice part in Dirty, an independent film – it was this production that brought him to the attention of Bears’ producers. “I had never heard of Where the Bears Are before,” Bono said. “But it has good production values and good writing, so I thought it would be good for my reel. And the guys are cool.” Bono said that he had a lot of fun playing Gavin, his Bears role. “I’m in the security business,” he said. “I basically get very irate because they’re pretty stupid and I’m a professional. I got to show a different side of myself.” Since Bears’ storylines involve murder mysteries, Bono was reticent about giving away too much. “As in every season, the guys are bumbling around being stupid,” he said. “I can say that I have a choreographed fight scene that’s fun to see.” Bono added that issues relating

to LGBT status have no bearing on whether or not he accepts a role. “I don’t think about that,” he said. “I’m just an actor now, I look at the role. I saw the show as funny, with a good character for me. It was something I hadn’t done before. And I think it’s great that they tapped into a market that hasn’t been served. Bears producer/co-star Ben Zook told the B.A.R. that the entire team was delighted with Bono. “After meeting Chaz I was very impressed by the fact that he is just like every other working actor in Hollywood,” Zook said. “He takes his craft very seriously. He is in classes at a theater company and is auditioning just like the rest of us. There is no pretense. He is a great guy and talented actor. I think he’s going to have an amazing career. Hopefully he will come back if we do more seasons.” “The door is definitely wide open for next season,” Bono said.t wherethebearsare.tv

Music>>

September 8-14, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 31

The Passion of Matthew Shepard by Tim Pfaff

ome deaths are more sacramental than others. Something about the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, the inescapable sense of fundamental innocence being crucified, lent the tragic event a power no amount of subsequent, CNN-style dirt-digging about the quality of Shepard’s innocence could tarnish. The land on which he died in 1998 has been sold, the fence that was his cross dismantled (for practical reasons), its replacement built some 50 yards away, and people are still making pilgrimages to it today. It’s not stretching the emotional truth for most LGBTs to say that Matthew Shepard died for all of us, and that some part of most of us, a part we wouldn’t be without, died with him. Of the numerous responses to Shepard’s death that fall into the category of art, one of the most profound is Considering Matthew Shepard, a 90-minute, largely choral composition by Craig Hella Johnson, the out music director of the a cappella chorus Conspirare. The musical frames of the piece (what is it, a secular oratorio? a vernacular Passion?) are a solo-tenor old-style country-tune “Yoodle-ooh, yoodle-ooh-hoo,” insouciant on its first outing and devastating at its reprise, both times encapsulating in music of the utmost simplicity the essence of the “ordinary boy” Matt Shepard. The remarkable work, just released on CD by Harmonia Mundi, goes the distance in showing just how unordinary he was. The stroke of genius in the work’s conception is that Johnson accents, without overemphasis, the Everyman element in the story. There’s no Shepard “character” in the piece – no Jesus – and the texts are sung by solo voices. There’s a sense that Johnson wrote each of these parts – solos, duets and larger

Courtesy Matthew Shepard Foundation Courtesy Matthew Shepard Foundation

Archival photo of Matthew Shepard.

ensembles – for particular singers in his chorus, whose individual talents he knows, and to a one they’re ideal for their assignments and sing as though their lives depended on it. They don’t sing like “opera singers,” nor do they perform with that Broadway tendency to let vibratoladen intensity carry the show. They just slay you, number after number. Full attention is given to the criminal injustice of the bashingunto-death and modern-day crucifixion, but neither is it bled egregiously. The total absence of “abuse porn” releases the work to become untrammeled ritual.

Archival photo of Matthew Shepard.

One of the most remarkable passages in the work, certainly its most sacramental, surfaces unanticipated, when a combination of individual and fullchoral voices sings “I am like you/We are all sons” to the unseen Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson characters, reallife perpetrators of the crime. What could be feral accusation is not “tempered,” in no way excused, but rather, balanced with the confession, “I am like you, I get confused and I’m afraid/ And I’ve been reckless, I’ve been restless, bored,/unthinking, listless, intoxicated,/I’ve come unhinged,/and made mistakes/and hurt people very much.” “The Fence” becomes a virtual character in this Passion, and this particular old rugged cross is given its place in the cosmic order by recognition, by a speaker, of the fact that when Deputy Sherriff Reggie Flutty arrived on the scene, a lone doe was lying by the dying young man, clearly keeping him company. Johnson composes a “Deer Lullaby” and “Deer Song” you won’t be forgetting anytime soon. Thanks to tapes of concert broadcasts, I’ve been living with the piece for a few months now, and I can testify that it has the richness,

Fall Theatre

From page 29

sleepy English seaside village where American troops have gathered to prepare for the D-Day Invasion. berkeleyrep.org. A self-imposed dictum that the recent fall preview should reach only into November, when most of December is actually part of autumn, also meant trimming Gertrude and a Companion from the story. But now we can acknowledge Theatre Rhino’s production, running Dec. 18-Jan. 17, at the Eureka Theatre. Win Wells’ play imagines a conversation that the aging Alice B. Toklas has with her late partner Gertrude Stein that has them reminiscing through their various adventures and personalities they encountered – and pointedly, the particularly strained relationship with Ernest Hemingway. therhino.org. The 19th-century novelists George Sand and Gustave Flaubert were unlikely pen pals, with eyebrow-lifting styles both in literature and life that seemed so contrary to one another. They had flamboyant love lives, though not with each other, and each dabbled in same-sex affairs. But dowdy Flaubert, author of Madame Bovary, and fiery Sand (pen name of Amantine Aurore Dupin) maintained a 20-year correspondence that is the basis of Dorothy Bryant’s Dear Master, running through Oct. 2 at Aurora Theatre. It’s the play that helped launch the company 25 years ago. auroratheatre.org. Bay Area Musicals will open its sophomore season with The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling

depth and complexity to compel repeated hearing, and the power to get you the first time out. There’s a whiff of Eric Whitacre in the choral writing, a stronger presence of Bach and Brahms, but the piece would be unimaginable if Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson hadn’t informed it, and its natural progenitor is Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, those last three composers the iconic American gay triumvirate. But for all the musical styles Johnson employs, from plainchant to an electric guitar whine seguing into smoky jazz, to tunes that could have come out of a summer stock production of The Fantasticks, it has a unity of conception and voice that is all Johnson’s.

None of the variety seeks attention, and as a result all of it works; no cringe alerts here. To assemble the text he sets, Johnson drew on everything from interviews, news reports, poets from Rumi to Blake and beyond, and in a fundamental way, poet Leslea Newman’s October Morning: A Song for Matthew Shepard. The way you hear the small eternity this work was in gestation and birth is in its integrity. Considering Matthew Shepard is a deeply American piece, performed with utter dedication by performers for whom it was composed. But its universality lies in the fact that it could be performed by many others – and must be, for all our sakes.t

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

“Terrifically entertaining. Paul King, A must-read!” –John The PRIDE L.A.

David Allen

Michael Ray Wisely as Gustave Flaubert and Kimberly King as George Sand share a moment in the epistolary play Dear Master that returns to Aurora Theatre after 25 years.

Bee at the Alcazar Theatre, running Nov. 5-Dec. 30. William Finn and James Lapine’s unexpectedly playful follow-up to their collaboration on Falsettos looks into the cutthroat world of the title activity, with audience members corralled to compete amongst the singing, dancing and spelling contestants. bamsf.org. Avant Gardarama! lives up to its name by packing seven short experimental works into a single evening’s entertainment. The bill of the Cutting Ball Theatre production includes a post-apocalyptic theatermovement piece, a look at the opposing sides of Virginia Woolf ’s personality, an election-oriented spoken and danced vignette, and a Lorca-inspired work performed in Spanish with English subtitles. Performances are Oct. 5-23 at the Exit on Taylor. cuttingball.com.

In the hard-to-classify department, The Speakeasy returns with its immersive theater experience that sold out its 75 performances before lease issues forced it to close in 2014. Now, with a budget of nearly $1.5 million raised through investors large and small, The Speakeasy will reopen for business on Sept. 15 at a secret location near where North Beach and Chinatown come together. At the 9,000 squarefoot venue, three times as large as its previous home, audiences can choose to begin their adventures in the cabaret, bar, or casino before moving onto the other spaces where a cast of 35 will create the ambiance of a gin joint during prohibition. But a high-end gin joint. “No jeans, T-shirts, or casual clothing,” reads the dress code. “No exceptions.” thespeakeasysf.com.t

r design by

Book cove

Jaime Flor

Join author Kirk Frederick, interviewed by local entertainment diva Jan Wahl, with video clips of Charles Pierce performance highlights, an open discussion about the book, plus a question-and-answer session with the audience, followed by a book signing. FREE ADMISSION. Books available for sale at the event; also online at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

THE JAMES C. HORMEL LGBTQIA CENTER

OF SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY ONE TIME ONLY: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 AT 6 PM

On the Tab

On the Town

FX Rios Vol. 46 • No. 36 • September 8-14, 2016

www.ebar.com ✶ www.bartabsf.com

Fred Schneider The B-52s: Cindy Wilson, Fred Schneider and Kate Pierson.

t’s been four decades since The B-52s formed at a casual party in Athens, Georgia. Their first recording sold out its run of 2,000 copies, and after being signed by DB Records in 1978, they soon became a hit with their space-age party vibe and unique retro-future sound. In a phone interview from Lenox, Massachusetts, while on tour, front man Fred Schneider talked about the band’s legacy, their unique style, and other subjects with his wry sense of humor.

by Jim Provenzano

The B-52s frontman talks music, loss, and love shacks

See page 34 >> Pieter M van Hattem

a i d e m Com D’elle Disastrous

Behind the scenes of the third Champagne White comedy

by Jim Provenzano

ith equal parts slapstick and a mirthful version of the Hero’s Quest, D’Arcy Drollinger’s third installment of the Champagne White comedy shows at Oasis have left audiences rolling in the aisles. This time, the parody of disaster movies finds familiar characters and running gags in a nonstop Vaudeville-style romp. See page 37 >>

Faux-flamin’ fun in Disastrous, with D’Arcy Drollinger (left) and cast.

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

AT THE VENETIAN ROOM

FAIRMONT SAN FRANCISCO 9/23 11/6 12/4 1/29 3/5

Gareth Gooch

20 1 SE 6 –20 AS 1 ON 7

Buy tix at www.bayareacabaret.org or subscribe to get discounts, reserved seats at (415) 927-4636.

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

34 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

The Official WHITE HORSE Inn

Pink Party!

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH

The Official WHITE HORSE Inn

AFTER-PRIDE SUNDAY PARTY! <<

The B-52s in the late 1970s.

SEPTEMBER 11TH

The White Horse Inn

6551 Telegraph Ave., Oakland • www.whitehorsebar.com

EXPLORE THE GAY WORLD

Fred Schneider

From page 33

Next week, the B-52s will perform three Northern California concerts, and Schneider recalled the last times they had performed in San Francisco. “It’s been a while,” said Schneider of their 2013 show at The Fillmore. “We usually play outside San Francisco, and I haven’t been in the city since then.” Despite a few different line-ups over the years (cofounding member Keith Strickland is still in the band, but has stopped touring), the band has retained its iconic status as the definitive self-titled ‘party band.’ From “Love Shack” to “Rock Lobster,” their biggest hits, and so many other fun songs have become embedded into pop culture. With Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson’s soaring harmonies grounded by Fred Schneider’s spoken-sung baritone, plus Keith Strickland’s drums and other instrumentals, the B-52s’ music remains the key to bringing joy to any gathering or music mix. Schneider acknowledged his band’s reputation for uplifting songs as having withstood the test of pop culture time. “We started out as a party band and we’re still a party band, with a message,” he said. Those messages include fundraising for AIDS nonprofits, fighting for animal rights, and politics. Ironically, for the band known for its song about a lobster, Schneider hasn’t eaten them since he was a child. “My family used to go crabbing in New Jersey, and that did it for me.” Born Frederick William Schneider III in Newark, New Jersey, the artist, 65, started off reciting his own poetry. His Athens, Georgia college days led to an impromptu performance at a Chinese restaurant with Cindy Wilson, her brother Ricky Wilson, Kate Pierson and Keith Strickland. Their first real gig was at a Valentine’s Day party in 1977. Asked about the fun nature of the band’s music, Schneider explained it simply. “We want people to have a good time,” he said. “We started out playing at people’s parties. We have political songs, and we’d rather discuss politics than clothing. People don’t wanna be hit over the head with a message, though.” In the days of the band’s early growth, the early 1980s, dressing up in the New Wave styles was often a political statement, a counter to the Reagan-era conservatism. Bands like The B-52s represented a cool alternative to mainstream culture, even as they were being absorbed into it. “We didn’t have money in those days, so we shopped at thrift stores,” said Schneider of the band’s look, and the beehive hairdos of Wilson and Pierson. “My first look that I had for a while –until David Byrne stole it– was a seersucker suit and

Liesl Dano

Fred Schneider onstage.

white shoes and glasses.” The B-52s were among the first bands bring attention to the AIDS pandemic after Wilson’s brother Ricky, part of the original band, became ill and died from AIDS in 1985. “We still do a lot for charities,” said Schneider. “We’ve raised more than a million and a half dollars for various AIDS organizations. We’re always donating time and band memorabilia.” For some later fans, their first impressions of The B-52s came from the 1989 hit single “Love Shack” and its wacky music video, which featured drag pals RuPaul and Wigstock founder Lady Bunny, “all the characters,” Schenider said. “We still keep in touch. Now Bunny does a cruise. Her show is so trashy; it’s great. Anything less from her would still be filthy.” Asked about the numerous B-52s tribute bands, Schneider mentioned Hey, Lady. “They probably make more money than we did going on tour in the beginning!” Schenider said they don’t expect performance royalties from tribute bands. “Gimme a T-shirt; I’ll be happy.” When not working or touring with the B-52s, Schneider has recorded and performed with a trio, The Superions, as well as his solo album Just Fred, and other works.

Fred Schneider on stage in 2015.

Schenider’s collabrations are interesting as well. “Working with Patti LaBelle was a dream come true,” he said. “My exmanager at the time said, ‘Why do you wanna work with her? She’s a has-been!’ And within a month, the biggest record of her career came out. So, I didn’t listen to him any more.” Upcoming projects for Schneider include songs written for camp icon Elvira. “I wrote two songs, ‘The 13 Nights of Halloween,’ which is like ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas,’ only better, and ‘Two Big Pumpkins,’ about her pumpkin patch.” A recent Foo Fighters performance-collaboration of a cover of The B-52s’ “Planet Claire” was unexpected. Schneider explains, “I was friends with their stylist, and Claire Danes, who is a mutual friend, and they said, ‘Oh, let’s go see them.’ But I didn’t realize they had already prepared for me to sing. I thought, ‘Oh, these kids aren’t going to know who I am. But they did.” Which brings up the intergenerational appreciation for The B-52s. Folks who grew up with them, younger people, and even older fans’ kids, appreciate them. “We don’t curse, or anything like that,” said Schneider. “If anything, it’s adult tongue-in-cheek humor, with my stage patter, that hopefully goes over the kids’ heads. We’ve always said that everyone’s invited to our party.” Not that Schneider didn’t endure a bit of censorship for his solo work. The music video for his wacky song “Monster (in my Pants)”, which featured the late Ethyl Eichelberger and Keith Haring, was refused airplay by MTV. “That was ridiculous,” said Schneider. “They said the hot dog with a hat looked like a penis. Oh, please. I also think Warners [their record label, and Schneider’s solo label] didn’t want me to stray from the band. But I wanted to do my own thing, too.” Schneider commented on the exclusion the band endured from corporate media in their early days. “They hardly played us in the beSee page 36 >>

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

36 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars Viewing @ Port Bar, Oakland

On the Tab

Enjoy the popular Logo drag race at the new Oakland bar. 7pm. 2023 Broadway, Oakland. www.portbaroakland.com

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

Sept. 8-15

Tom Reardon @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko

Fri 9 Joe Wicht @ R3 Hotel, Guerneville

ome and see the fun.

Thu 8 Bulge @ Powerhouse Grace Towers hosts the fun sexy night. $100 cash prize for best bulge. $5-$10 benefits various local nonprofits. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

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

Nightlife @ California Academy of Sciences

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

Themed event nights at the fascinating nature museum, with DJed dancing, cocktails, fish, frogs, food and fun. Sept. 8: psychedelic music with White Fence, The Tyde, DJs Freaker and Britt Govea. $10-$12. 6pm-10pm, 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. www.calacademy.org

The Monster Show @ The Edge

RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars Viewing @ Oasis

Mary Go Round @ Lookout

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

Rock Fag @ Hole in the Wall

Enjoy weekly screenings of the Logo drag show in the Fez Room, followed by Lip-Synch For Your Life with Kylie Minono. No cover. 8pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

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

Enjoy cabaret classics performed by the witty musical theatre actor-singer in his new show, a tribute to Ladies Who Lunch. $30-$50 ($20 food/drink min.) 8pm. Also Sept. 9. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. feinsteinsatthenikko.com

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

DTF Fridays @ Port Bar, Oakland DJ Pacifico plays house music at the new gay bar’s weekly event. 9pm2am. 2023 Broadway. (510) 823-2099. www.portbaroakland.com

FX Rios @ Nob Hill Theatre The Latin porn stud makes his strip club premiere, with solo shows (8pm) and duo sex shows with Jon Shield (10pm). Also Sept. 10. $25. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Pride Kickoff @ Club BnB, Oakland Vjuan Allure of the DC Elite Beats spins at the pre-Oakland Pride party. $10. 9pm-3am. 2120 Broadway, Oakland. www.club-bnb.com

Joe Wicht @ R3 Hotel, Guerneville The popular cabaret pianist-singer performs sing-along shows with Kristina McGraw, The Singing Bartender, at the Russian River hotel. No cover. 8pm. 16390 4th st., Guerneville. www.ther3hotel.com

Latin Explosion @ Club 21, Oakland

Fri 9 Ain’t Mama’s Drag @ Balancoire Weekly drag queen and drag king show hosted by Cruzin d’Loo. 8pm10pm. No cover. 2565 Mission St. www.balancoiresf.com

Boy Bar @ The Cafe Gus Presents’ weekly dance night, with DJ Kid Sysko, cute gogos and $2 beer (before 10pm). 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

Aug. 12- 24-Year Anniversary party, with a drag show. Enjoy Latin, hip hop and electro, plus hot gogos galore, and a big dance floor. $10-$20. 9pm-3am. 2111 Franklin St., Oakland. www.club21oakland.com

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

Red Hots Burlesque @ The Stud The saucy women’s burlesque show hosted by Dottie Lux has moved, with new acts. $10. 8pm-9:30pm. 399 9th St. Also Sunday brunch shows at PianoFight Theatre, 4pm. www.redhotsburlesque.com

Fri 9 DJ Vjuan Allure at Pride Kickoff @ Club BnB, Oakland

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

UHaul @ Oasis The hot women’s dance party returns, with DJs Silly Syl, Ms. Jackson and Ripley, a full moon and roof patio fun, too. $15. 10pm-2am. 298 11th St. at Folsom. 795-3180. www.sfoasis.com

Fri 9 UHaul @ Oasis

See page 39 >> Shot in the City

Fred Schneider

From page 34

ginning. We were always on at three in the morning. They also didn’t play any African American artists, hardly.” He noted how irrelevant such avenues are now for real musicians. “That’s over with, on MTV,” he said. “These days, that’s human tacos on the beach, with hot naked kids squirted with mustard and ketchup.” Despite the lack of TV music promotion, Fred and the band have made the most of their popularity, with quite a few amusing cameos in films and TV shows. Asked which was his favorite, he replied, “The Flintstones was fabulous. They treated us like royalty. They gave us cars to use, but then we realized none of us wanted to drive. I loved it; Hollywood star treatment.” His other cameos include The Rugrats movie. “I’m the kid that farts. I also did The Cleveland Show last year; I voice-overed an African American bank teller who sounds like Fred Schneider. That was really stretching it as an actor.” Oh, and don’t forget Schneider’s line of coffee, Fred’s Monster Blend. And look forward to a new Superions album, one of many side projects he works on in between tours with The B-52s. “We were The Del Morons, but someone said they wouldn’t take us seriously, even

though we’re ridiculous.”

Politics of dancing

Along with the mirth and joy in The B-52s’ lyrics and sound, Schneider isn’t shy about noting his band’s message. He called Athens, Georgia, where The B-52s were formed, “a great college town, but the rest of it was racist as hell, and it’s getting like that again, thanks to that awful Donald

The B-52s performing in Barcelona.

Trump. I think he’s going to scare a lot of people into voting for Hillary Clinton when they see how demented his followers are.” Asked why he thinks so many Republican candidates have a history of playing liberal musicians’ songs without permission, he said, “If we find out that someone like that is using it, we stop it immediately. Rush Limbaugh was using ‘Good Stuff ’ and we had that stopped. Luckily,

our friends are more internet-savvy, and let us know right away.” Although some may not consider it a political act, for many fans, The B-52s represented a queer presence in music, even before Schneider came out publicly, or bandmate Kate Pierson married her partner Monica Coleman. As a teenager, Schneider telling his mother he was gay was no big deal. As he’s said, she was house-

cleaning, told him she knew, and she then continued vacuuming. “I was probably stoned, too,” Schneider sighed. Asked if he and his bandmates noticed their LGBT fan base in the early days, Schneider agreed. “There was always just a wild mix of people, who were considered losers in their homes,” he said. “We had gays, straights, kids considered nerdy; we just embraced everybody. We were artists who didn’t go to art school. Unlike other bands who graduated and wrote arty shit, we just had our own universe to utilize. A lot of our friends were kindred spirits and we meet them everywhere.” Schneider said that by being themselves, they attracted others who needed a band like them. “We get fans from Bumfucke, Egypt, who say, ‘Thank god you came around, because I thought I was the only person different in a lot of ways; beaten up in high school, and all that. So, it makes us feel good. We hear that quite a bit.”t The B-52s perform Sept. 16 at The Sunset Center, Carmel by the Sea ($78-$135, 8pm) proceeds benefit Beacon House; Sept.17 at Rodney Strong Vineyards, Healdsburg ($89-$129, 5pm); and Sept. 18 at the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center, Valencia ($74-$110, 7pm). www.theb52s.com

Read more online at www.ebar.com

September 8-14, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 37

Gareth Gooch

(left to right) Adam Roy, Matthew Martin and James Arthur in Disastrous!

Disastrous

From page 33

“I didn’t make that conscious decision,” said writer-director and star Drollinger of the commedia d’elle arte-styled tale(s) of a heroic dancer who solves dastardly crimes plotted by a recurring villain. “I’ve studied that so much for my other plays and musicals, so that when I’m building a plot, going for those hero’s journey archetypes –the villian, the gatekeeper, the mentor– it’s kind of inherent.”

sequence, which are fascinating, but you don’t miss them. Having to work within the time constraint of a nightclub, switching over for other events, has made me more ruthless in ‘killing my darlings.’ I know a joke is funny, but it lets me become a better editor.”

Puppet people

Along with big jokes and high kicks, the amusing floating props, created and operated by Joe Casserly and Todd Young, add a comic visual element to the show. “Joe and I have been collaborat-

“Having a cast with the same actors is great.They’ve been initiated into my school of comedy, so they’re able to fine-tune the jokes in rehearsal.” – D’Arcy Drollinger The broad comedy style, complete with lines that repeat fans shout back, are familiar territory for the coowner of the nightclub that’s become a home for original drag shows. “I feel like this series of Champagne White shows has fused my worlds together,” said Drollinger. The first edition premiered at the former nightclub Rebel, returning at Oasis, along with the second version. “It has a sitcom feel that everyone knows and feels. It is so cartoonish, there is the feeling of the masked theatre, especially having the puppeteers do the two-dimensional flames.” The deliberately fake flames are created and moved by the duo team of Todd Young and Joe Casserly. But more about those creative guys later. Drollinger said the final script for Disastrous came together quickly when he was faced with an imminent deadline. “I had finally finished Sex and the City,” (one of many TV-show drag parodies). “My parents had already planned to visit for the show, but I hadn’t written a word. I visited a friend’s house in Palm Springs, and for ten days, I just wrote. I returned with a script, and polished it with my cast in rehersal.” The collaborative nature of the cast helped set in the finishing touches. “Having a cast with the same actors is great,” said Drollinger. “They’ve been initiated into my school of comedy, so they’re able to fine-tune the jokes in rehearsal. James Arthur knows ‘Sergio.’ Matthew Martin knows the villain. There is no ramping them up, since they’ve already got it.” The seven-week process included shooting all the video work, setting fight scenes, choreography, and a dizzying array of sound cues. “It was an intense process,” said Drollinger. “We cut about twenty minutes out after the first night. Two scenes were cut, plus a filmed

ing on various productions almost from the day we met,” said Young. “Very early on, we found there to be a synergistic force between us that more than doubles our creativity individually. Luckily, we also share the desire to unleash that power on the unsuspecting public every chance we get!” Young is also known for his creative artwork on the gate of their Page Street apartment building as The Gate Guy SF. He creates festive holiday-themed art out of cut-up plastic tablecloths. “For many years I helped create gala-style

events for nonprofit organizations that were working with a beer-bash budget,” said Young. “By volunteering my time on design and construction, spending judiciously, and as much as possible, putting together recycled, discarded, and found items, the viewer subconsciously adds the high end details. I found this to be of great value when used in a cabaret-style stage production. “My background studies in the Psychology of learning, perception, and how our brains work, studio arts, crafts, construction, and years as a visual merchandiser give me a familiarity of materials and some unique skills to take creative concepts and run with them. D’Arcy, and Oasis, gave me the chance to see how much is possible.” Young also creates art elsewhere in Hayes Valley, and for many special events. “Everything I put my name on is a labor of love, and I find it incredibly rewarding when others respond to it positively and tell me stories of how it inspired them to create. That is what feeds my drive to keep pushing myself in creative ways and find new ways to break paradigms. “The balance between realistic and recognizable, and the cartoon-like style, is such an incredibly narrow gap that even the slightest lean in any one direction can destroy the whole vibe we were trying to hit. Challenges lead to interesting solutions, and hopefully, a really fun-to-watch show.” Drollinger had worked with the Young and Casserly in his 2010 dark satire Scalpel. “They knew what I wanted,” said Drollinger.

“They got very invested in to bring in all these different worlds.” The breakneck speed of Disastrous’ joke upon joke, with one sight gag or corny pun after another, leads to a combination of kid’s show with a bawdy edge of camp. And whether or not you’ve seen the previous two incarnations of the Champage White saga, it’s still a hoot. Audience participation is played well, even with a missed cue, staged or not. “It does feel like that for us, where things do fall apart and the audience is in on the joke,” said Drollinger. “A lot of the technical jokes, like the spotlight moving away from me, are now planned, but it happened as an accident.” But there can be no accidents with the funny fight scenes, and swift costume changes. The supporting duo of henchmen and friends, played in multiple costumes by Adam Roy and James Arthur, are part of the fun. “They have costume changes from thug to lady thug in about 45 seconds,” said Drollinger. “Backstage is so crazy sometimes.”

Trixie’s kicks

Veteran stage actor Matthew Martin, in his third time as the evil queen, albeit a twin this time named Trixie, joked about the simplicity of his new/recurring role. “I go out there and do it. They applaud. I look left, they laugh. I look right, they laugh!” Being more serious, Martin said, “It’s all in the writing and it goes to D’Arcy. This is the third time the same cast is together, and that is such a rarity, to have the original cast reassembled. So that’s a magic

formula. It’s a privilege to have parts written for us.” Martin said he enjoys the campy over-the-top humor of the show. “Someone who hasn’t seen the other two installments won’t feel left out.” Indeed, part of the fun of the show is seeing the actors have fun. Martin said he enjoys “being part of a repertory, like Christopher Guest’s films, having the same crew and the same energy, having a role tailored to me.” During the creative process, Martin said Drollinger was “receptive and collaborative without being a pushover. He knows what he wants, but is very egalitarian about it. And he appreciates everybody’s respective talents and highlights it.” Martin agreed about the point of the stock characters being comfortably familiar, while the campy script takes new heights (or depths) of humor. “Being able to play the villain or the bad girl or a henchman is fun, because D’Arcy writes deliciously within the archetypes.” As for the nightly rigors of high kicks and faked punches, Martin, who has been dancing since childhood, brought his decades of experience to the role, and said the fight rehearsals led by Jon Ficarra were like attending a kickboxing class. “My childhood dance teacher was there at opening night,” said Martin. “It made me happy to see how much her profession gave to me. She hadn’t seen me in a theatrical piece. She loved it. She taught me to make it good or even great.” t Disastrous continues at Oasis through Sept. 17. www.sfoasis.com

Steve LeMay

Puppeteers Joe Casserly and Todd Young in the Oasis dressing room with a few of their creatively constructed props.

Gareth Gooch

Trixie (Matthew Martin) encounters Champagne White (D’Arcy Drollinger).

WINNER Best Wedding Photographer

Gareth Gooch

‘Champagne’ (D’Arcy Drollinger) and ‘Trixie’ (Matthew Martin) in a wacky stage fight, with POW! and BOOM! props by Joe Casserly and Todd Young.

Steven Underhill

PHOTOGRAPHY

415 370 7152

WEDDINGS, HEADSHOTS, PORTRAITS

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Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

38 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

Rainbow honors and regal romps

Steven Underhill

Guests (including Marilyn Pittman, left) at the Rainbow Honor Walk fundraiser at The Elbo Room. Steven Underhill

Brian Kent, Donna Sachet and Audrey Joseph at the Rainbow Honor Walk fundraiser at The Elbo Room.

By Donna Sachet

ong ago, but in a place very near, there was a bar called Amelia’s that lesbians in San Francisco and for miles around could finally call home, congregating regularly to drink, dance, and simply be with each other. Well, for one short night on August 26, the current Elbo Room reverted to that historic bar as the upper room packed to capacity for a fundraiser for the Rainbow Honor Walk. This is the first fundraiser for the group since they recently announced the next 24 names to be recognized with brass plaques in the sidewalks of the Castro, joining the 20 already in place. Cocktails flowed, food disappeared, and silent auction items were snapped up as conversations harkened back to those raucous

pre-Stonewall nights, frequently remembering Rikki Streicher, a pioneering lesbian businesswoman who will join those recognized by the Rainbow Honor Walk. In addition to her smart business accomplishments, Rikki was instrumental in the formation of the Society for Individual Rights and the Tavern Guild and championed the San Francisco Gay Softball League and Gay Olympics, now known at the Gay Games. Among those gathered were Marilyn Pittman, Audrey Joseph, Brian Kent, Barbara Tannenbaum, Michael Gorman, Linda Lee, Jennine McFarland, Mary Sager & Michelle Jester, and Rebecca Goldfader. And yes, thanks to DJ Sami Fink, there was indeed dancing and thanks to event chair Charlotte Ruffner, significant funds were raised to support those historical plaques. Thank

goodness we are not alone in our fascination with our LGBTQ history and in our commitment to getting the record right. It is truly incumbent upon us to assure an accurate, complete, and colorful history of our own community. Last Sunday became one of those marathon days, starting with the

Imperial Court’s Golden Gate 20th anniversary brunch at LookOut. We joined our Emperor Brian Benamati & Tony Onorati, visiting from their home in Portland, to recognize many of the previous holders of the titles Mr. and Miss Golden Gate and the creator of the title, Empress Cockatielia.

Brian Benamati

Tony Onorati (left) at Lenny Broberg’s (right) 60th birthday party.

The bar buzzed with excitement as many old friends reunited and thanked the outgoing Mr. Golden Gate Leandro Gonzales and Miss Golden Gate Rad Ronda for a year of community service. They have really demonstrated that it is not the title, but the title-holder that makes something out of these contests; they seemed to be everywhere, always supporting their Emperor and Empress and always looking for ways to contribute. From there, we headed to the Old Mint downtown for a private surprise party celebrating the birthday of community leader Lenny Broberg. As loyal readers of this column know, that is a name frequently seen herein, a partner to us and so many others in our efforts to raise money for nonprofits, to enrich the LGBTQ experience in San Francisco, and to develop the next generation of leaders. Guests waited anxiously in the long formal hallway for the guest of honor’s arrival. As that door opened, Lenny’s face left little doubt that the See page 39 >>

The Super Tour 2nd Show Added by Popular Demand!

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Read more online at www.ebar.com

On the Tab

From page 36

Sat 10 Club Rimshot @ Club BNB, Oakland The weekly hip hop and R&B night celebrates Oakland Pride, with a live performance by Netta B. $15. 9pm to 4am. 2120 Broadway. (510) 759-7340. www.club-bnb.com

Dance Party @ Port Bar, Oakland Enjoy relaxed happy hour cocktails early (open at 5pm) and later dancing in the cozy back room at the newest LGBT bar. Daily 5pm-2am. 2023 Broadway, Oakland. www.portbaroakland.com

Flagging in the Park @ National AIDS Memorial Grove Christoper B is the guest DJ at the outdoor fun flagging and flow arts event, with proceeds going to Project Inform. BYO picnic, blanets, etc. Donations. 1pm-4pm. Nanvy Pelosi Drive, Golden gate Park. www.flaggercentral.com

September 8-14, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 39

Mother @ Oasis Heklina’s weekly drag show night with different themes, always outrageously hilarious. Sept. 10 is a Dolly Parton tribute night. $15-$25. 10pm-2am. 298 11th St. at Folsom. 795-3180. www.sfoasis.com

Nitty Gritty @ Beaux Weekly dance night with nearly naked gogo guys & gals; DJs Chad Bays, Ms. Jackson, Becky Know and Jorge T. $4. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Saturgay @ Qbar Stanley Frank spins house dance remixes at the intimate Castro dance bar. $3. 9pm-2am (weekly beer bust 2pm-9pm). 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

Sat 10

Show Tunes Karaoke @ Port Bar, Oakland Sing along at the karaoke fundraiser for DreamCatcher Youth Services. 6pm-9pm. 2023 Broadway. (510) 8232099. www.portbaroakland.com

Soul Party @ Elbo Room DJs Lucky, Paul, and Phengren Osward spin 60s soul 45s. $5-$10 ($5 off in semi-formal attire). 10pm-2am. 647 Valencia St. 552-7788. www.elbo.com

Frolic @ The Stud

Writers With Drinks @ The Make Out Room

The monthly cosplay fursuit party returns, with DJ Neon Bunny, guests Bakfylla, Ikkuma and Sean B.A.S.S. spinning EDM, house and more. $5 in fursuit, $10 w/o. 9:30pm-3am. 399 9th St. www.frolicparty.com neonbunny.com www.studsf.com

Charlie Jane Anders hosts the fun literary night, with scifi, poetry and comedy from Anuradha Roy, Margaret Wappler, Hollie Hardy, Naamen Tilahun, Dominique Gelin and Curtis Chen. $5-$20. 7:30pm. 3225 22nd St. www.makeoutroom.com

Sun 11 Follow the Faun @ Oasis

Flagging in the Park @ National AIDS Memorial Grove Xavier Caylor

Sun 11 Beer Bust @ SF Eagle The classic leather bar’s most popular Sunday daytime event in town draws the menfolk. Beer bust donations benefit local nonprofits (Check the website for a list of recipients). 3pm6pm. Now also on Saturdays. 398 12th St. at Harrison. sf-eagle.com

Big Top @ Beaux The fun Castro nightclub, with hot local DJs and sexy gogo guys and gals. $5. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.Beauxsf.com

Crop Top @ Oasis The Shenanigans crew return with a T-dance for cut-off shirts, or bring your own and get it trimmed. Show off your belly! $7-$10. 2pm. 298 11th St. at Folsom. 795-3180. www.sfoasis.com

Domingo De Escandal @ Club OMG Weekly Latin night with drag shows hosted by Vicky Jimenez and DJ Luis. 7pm-2am. 43 6th St. clubomgsf.com

Follow the Faun @ Oasis Pagan participatory rave-robics led by horny musical theatre star in heels. Dress to dance, expect to sweat. Note: contains scenes of a sexual nature and a ritual sacrifice. $20. 8pm. 298 11th St. at Folsom. 795-3180. www.thefaun.com www.sfoasis.com

GlamaZone @ The Cafe Pollo del Mar’s weekly drag show takes on different themes with a comic edge. 8:30-11:30pm. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

On the Town

From page 38

surprise was a success! From there, we wandered into the open-air courtyard, the “vault of memories” with a continuous slide show, and the main room where singing, cakecutting, and well-wishing proceeded. The faces there certainly reflected Lenny’s widespread following, including Supervisor Scott Wiener, Acting Police Chief Toney Chaplin, Emperor Kevin Lisle and Empress Khmera Rouge, Richard Sablatura & Norm Claybaugh, James Holloway, Jay Harcourt, Chad McLaughlin, Doug Brogan, Doug Waggener, Brett Brockschmidt, Desmond Perotto, Anna Damiani, Deborah Hoffman-Wade, Graylin Thornton, Werner Tillinger, and of course hosts Gerry Roberts, Audrey Joseph, Tim Wong, and Paul Maluchnik, Lenny’s partner. Great party for a great guy! Next was a quick stop at Encore Lounge where the candidates for Grand Duke and Duchess were introduced, namely Colby Michaels and Peter Griggs for Grand Duke and Migitte Nielsen for Grand Duchess. You are sure to see them all over town for the next few weeks campaigning for votes, so meet

them and make your choice. Grand Ducal Coronation is on Saturday, September 24, when the Reigning Grand Duke Aja Monet Ashton and Reigning Grand Duchess Olivia Hart step down and the new title-holders are announced. (Yes, in addition to all the events surrounding Folsom Street Fair, there will be a slew of Ducal events as well. Something for everyone!) Our final stop was Toad Hall, where a gaggle of Imperials congregated after lively games in Collingwood Park (no, not those kinds of games!) and the winners of this year’s contest were announced, none other than Mr. Golden Gate Mr. Bill and Miss Golden Gate Mini Osa! These two and fellow candidates Barry Miles and Kirsten Swanson sold tons of raffle tickets and so thousands of dollars will be awarded to worthy organizations by the Imperial Court of San Francisco. We’ll be in the nation’s capitol this weekend, celebrating with the Imperial Court of Washington, D.C., and perhaps paying an surreptitious visit to our President and First Lady. Please keep an eye on things here in San Francisco and be sure to report any exciting goings-on to us immediately! Remember, full names, correctly spelled! Carry on.t

Sat 10 Frolic @ The Stud Neon Bunny

Jock @ The Lookout Enjoy the weekly jock-ular fun, with DJed dance music at sports team fundraisers. 12pm-1am. NY DJ Sharon White from 3pm-6pm. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Sunday’s a Drag @ Starlight Room Donna Sachet hosts the weekly fabulous brunch and drag show, now celebrating its tenth anniversary. $45. 11am, show at noon; 1:30pm, show at 2:30pm. 450 Powell St. in Union Square. 395-8595. www.starlightroomsf.com

See page 40 >>

Brian Benamati

Imperial Court’s Golden Gate 20th anniversary brunch at LookOut, with (left-right) John Paul Soto, Kevin Lisle, Khmera Rouge, Alexis Miranda and Donna Sachet.

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

40 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

Sun 11 Oakland Pride @ Downtown Oakland

On the Tab

From page 39

Mon 12 Drag Mondays @ The Cafe Mahlae Balenciaga and DJ Kidd Sysko’s weekly drag and dance night. 9pm-1am. 2369 Market St. cafesf.com

Epic Karaoke @ White Horse, Oakland BAR 3.75x5 PrEP Couples Ad 6-16.indd 1

6/14/16

Mondays and Tuesdays popular weekly sing-along night. No cover. 11:43 AM 8:30pm-1am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 652-3820. whitehorsebar.com

Gaymer Meetup @ Brewcade The weekly LGBT video game enthusiast night includes big-screen games and signature beers, with a new remodeled layout, including an outdoor patio. No cover. 7pm-11pm. 2200 Market St. brewcadesf.com

Karaoke Night @ SF Eagle Sing along, with guest host Nick Radford. 8pm-12am. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Mahogany Mondays @ Midnight Sun Honey Mahogany’s weekly drag and musical talent show starts around 10pm. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Mule Mondays @ Port Bar, Oakland

Nob Hill Theatre

Enjoy frosty Moscow Mule cocktails in a brassy mug, specials before 8pm. 2023 Broadway, Oakland. www.portbaroakland.com

Mon 12 Bruce Vilanch MCs One Night Only @ Marines’ Memorial Theatre

Musical Mondays @ The Edge

Opulence @ Beaux

Sing along at the popular musical theatre night; also Wednesdays. 7pm2am. 2 for 1 cocktail, 5pm-closing. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. edgesf.com

One Night Only @ Marines’ Memorial Theatre Motown & More, a night of music, comedy and dance, with cast members of the touring company of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and Katya Smirnoff-Skyy, hosted by comedy writer-quipster Bruce Vilanch. $36-$75 (VIP includes dessert party with the cast). 7:30pm. 609 Sutter St. www.reaf-sf.org

Thu 15

FX RIOS JON SHIELD th th

Bright Light Bright Light @ Rickshaw Stop

SEPTEMBER 9 & 10

Weekly dance night, with Jocques, DJs Tori, Twistmix and Andre. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Piano Bar 101 @ Martuni’s Sing-along night with talented locals, and charming accompanist Joe Wicht. 9pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market.

Underwear Night @ 440 Strip down to your skivvies at the popular men’s night. 9pm-2am. 440 Castro St. 621-8732. www.the440.com

Tue 13 Bandit @ Lone Star Saloon New weekly queer event with resident DJ Justime; electro, soul, funk, house. No cover. 9pm-1am. 1354 Harrison St. www.facebook.com/BanditPartySF www.lonestarsf.com

Fx rios jon shield

Block Party @ Midnight Sun Weekly screenings of music videos, concert footage, interviews and more, of popular pop stars. 9pm-2am. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. midnightsunsf.com

Sept. 9th & 10th fx rios

solo shows @ 8pm

jon joins

for 10pm sex shFx ows!

Gaymer Night @ Eagle Gay gaming fun on the bar’s big screen TVs. Have a nerdgasm and a beer with your pals. 8pm. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Mon 12 Yael Naim @ Great American Music Hall

Hella Saucy @ Q Bar Queer dance party at the stylish intimate bar. 9pm-2am. 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

Hysteria @ Martuni’s Irene Tu and Jessica Sele cohost the comedy open mic night for women and queers. No cover. 6pm-8:30pm. 4 Valencia St.

See page 42 >> Girlie Action

Read more online at www.ebar.com

September 8-14, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 41

Rios grande

Special FX At The Nob Hill Theatre by Cornelius Washington

wo words that are often absent in the gay male porn world are “alluring” and “intriguing.” A man who has found the balance of the two will make his debut performance at The Nob Hill Theatre, as one of the most special and sizzling men ever to headline there. Performing with local porn stud, Jon Shield, you will experience the mysterious, the provocative and powerful energy that FX Rios executes under the lights. This is Mr. Rios’ first major interview in gay print media and, this is how it went. Cornelius Washington: I’ve found it difficult to find any other interviews about you. Is this your first interview? FX Rios: Yes it is. I normally deny interviews to be discreet and selective. When on stage, it’s an alter ego performance. This industry, I choose to figure it out in silence. What inspired you to enter the adult film industry? I started this industry with the only intentions to make quick and fast money in a time of need. Studios started booking me ever since and I got to work with some of the best. Your porn name is so interesting. It’s my first and last initial from my first name. I like it. #FX Where were you born and raised? What was it like growing up there? Chicago; Beautiful city. When and what did you first hear about The Nob Hill Theater? The first time I heard about this venue is when I got a booking request. I was interested to find out about The Nob Hill Theatre since. I saw that they booked some amazing models who caught my attention. How do you feel about performing at such a legendary venue? I’m excited for the opportunity. Similar answer to the question before; excited to be featured. Have you ever worked with Jon Shield before? If so, please describe your working relationship. If not, what are your ideas about working with him that will set the theater on fire? Never worked with this stud, but I’m excited to see what we can create, sexually. How do you think you’ll gather yourself (physically, mentally emotionally) for the live performances? Working out, being prepared, walk in with confidence and just have fun with it.

FX Rios

I have been told by many Latino porn actors of the racism of the adult industry. Your thoughts? I never experienced or felt racism. I believe directors have an eye on the lens of what they know will look good and work for a successful shoot. There are studios for everyone. Some studios just know their brand and the image they’re trying to showcase. Do you ever watch your scenes? If so, how do your respond to your work? I only see the trailers. What do you want people to feel while watching your performances? I want them to feel like it’s them that I’m fucking. What special goals do you have for your career? Getting to work with the best photographers, underwear brands and studios. Please tell me about your bareback work. How, if at all, does it translate into your private sexuality, etc.? Bareback, obviously, feels better. I can agree with it, as long as it’s clean and honest fun.

With whom would you like to work in your next film? What would you do to/with them? I met this other porn star a couple weeks ago in New York City named Jay Alexander. We vibe well, and I think if we were to work together, it was be hot; a love scene, with a twist. Have you ever developed a crush on any of your scene partners? Yes, and we became really good friends. What’s your favorite form of after-care, following a scene? Detox, massage, vitamins and getting tested every three months. What are your sexual limits, both on-and off-screen? I fuck the same off and on screen. I fuck them good with the intention to make them cream, moan, and enjoy every piece of my nine-inch dick. What would you like to see as the next big trend in porn, and where do you see yourself in it? I would like to see a reality show with different porn stars; either a challenge show or stars moving into a house together. Please describe your typical social night out. Cocktails with good company. How important do you think a porn star’s social media presence is to their career? It’s the primary way to be noticed. Who in the porn industry do you admire, and why? No names in particular. I do admire several people who have started from the bottom and made it to the top, branding themselves well. Do you have any ‘do-overs’ in your career (If I had it to do all over again, I’d...)? I’d have a completely different stage name. It’s so close to my real name.t

Lucas Entertainment

FX Rios

Raging Stallion

FX Rios makes his strip club premiere, with solo shows (8pm) and duo sex shows with Jon Shield (10pm). Sept. 9 & 10. $25. Nob Hill Theatre 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. thenobhilltheatre.com

42 • BAY AREA REPORTER • September 8-14, 2016

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On the Tab

From page 40

Meow Mix @ The Stud The weekly themed variety cabaret showcases new and unusual talents; MC Ferosha Titties. $3-$7. Show at 11pm. 9pm-2am. 399 9th St. at Harrison. www.studsf.com

Naked Night @ Nob Hill Theatre Strip down as the strippers also take it all off. $20. 9pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Retro Night @ 440 Castro Jim Hopkins plays classic pop oldies, with vintage music videos. 9pm-2am. 44 Castro St. www.the440.com

Thu 15

Underwear Night @ Club OMG Weekly underwear night includes free clothes check, and drink specials. $4. 10pm-2am. Preceded by Open Mic Comedy, 7pm, no cover. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Kingdom @ Brick and Mortar

Thu 15

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

Comedy Returns @ El Rio

Wed 14 Bone @ Powerhouse Weekly punk-alternative music night hosted by Uel Renteria and Johnny Rockitt. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Floor 21 @ Starlight Room Juanita More! presents the weekly scenic happy hour event, with host Rudy Valdez, and guest DJs. No cover, and a fantastic panoramic city view. 5pm-9pm. Sir Francis Drake Hotel, 450 Powell St. www.starlightroomsf.com

Miss Kitty’s Trivia Night @ Wild Side West The weekly fun night at the Bernal Heights bar includes prizes, hosted by Kitty Tapata. No cover. 7pm-10pm. 424 Cortland St. 647-3099. www.wildsidewest.com

Latin Drag Night @ Club OMG Weekly Latin night with drag shows hosted by Vicky Jimenez. 9pm-2am. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Open Mic/Comedy @ SF Eagle Kollin Holts hosts the weekly comedy and open mic talent night. 6pm-8pm. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Pussy Party @ Beaux Ladies night at the Castro dance club. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Queer Jewish Women @ Lost and Found Beer Garden, Oakland Keshet’s social gathering for women in the Bay Area. 7pm. 2040 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. www.keshetonline.org

Thu 15 Bright Light Bright Light @ Rickshaw Stop The charming UK/NYC pop singercomposer Rod Thomas performs music from his new CD Choreography, which includes collaborations with Elton John, Alan Cumming, Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears and Ana Matronic. Ghost & The City and DJ davO (Double Duchess) also perform. $15. 8pm. 155 Fell St. www.brightlightx2.com www.rickshawstop.com

Kingdom @ Brick and Mortar The award-winning drag king vocal ensemble performs at a benefit for the upcoming first Drag King museum exhibit. $10-$20. 7pm11pm. 1710 Mission St. www. brickandmortarmusic.com

The Monster Show @ The Edge The weekly drag show with themed nights, gogo guys and hilarious fun. $5. 9pm-2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Nap’s Karaoke @ Virgil’s Sea Room Sing out loud at the weekly least judgmental karaoke in town, hosted by the former owner of the bar. No cover. 9pm. 3152 Mission St. 8292233. www.virgilssf.com

Nice Jewish Boys @ The Residence Keshet’s social event happy hour for gay Jewish men and their pals. 7pm. 718 14th St. www.keshetonline.org

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

Thursday Night Live @ SF Eagle Music night with local and touring bands. 9:30pm. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Tubesteak Connection @ Aunt Charlie’s Lounge Disco guru DJ Bus Station John spins grooves at the intimate retro music night; 10pm-2am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www.auntcharlieslounge.com Want your nightlife event listed? Email events@ebar.com, at least two weeks before your event. Event photos welcome.

Read more online at www.ebar.com

Shining Stars

September 8-14, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 43

photos by

Steven Underhill Powerblouse @ The Powerhouse

he cruisy bar yet again blended drag glamour and bear cub style at the monthly Powerblouse, where Juanita More, Glamamore and guest stars (this month Miss Rhani NothingMore) make over a drag virgin in high style. September’s makeover was handsome bartender Brian Nelson, who was transformed into a grand queen. Proceeds went to the AIDS Housing Alliance. The next Powerblouse is October 1. 1347 Folsom St. www.juanitamore.com www.powerhouse-sf.com More photo albums are on BARtab’s Facebook page, www.facebook. com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at www.StevenUnderhill.com.

Brian Nelson

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For headshots, portraits or to arrange your wedding photos

call (415) 370-7152 or visit www.StevenUnderhill.com or email stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com

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