December 15, 2011 editon of the Bay Area Reporter

5

8

Clinic CEO shares her story

Church nixes gay clergy

17

'Nutcracker' returns

The

www.ebar.com

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

Black AIDS agency seeks yuletide lift

Details revealed in brutal deaths

by Matthew S. Bajko

A

by Seth Hemmelgarn

R

ecently completed reports at the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office reveal details in the gruesome deaths of two gay city residents who were killed this year.

Freddy CanulArguello, 23, was found dead in Buena Vista Park June 10. The body of Jack Baker, 67, was discovered in his Nob Hill Murder victim neighborhood apart- Freddy Canulment February 11.

Arguello Meanwhile, hearings involving the men charged in the unrelated, alleged murders are approaching.

The first case started when Canul-Arguello was found strangled and burned in Buena Vista Park.

David Munoz Diaz, 22, was arrested for the killing July 22. Days later, he pleaded not guilty in San Francisco Superior Court to felony counts that included charges of murder and robbery. He also pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor count of destruction of evidence.

A date for a preliminary hearing, which is typically when a judge decides whether there is enough evidence for a trial, is expected to be set Friday, December 16.

The medical examiner’s report was completed November 23.

The document says a burned recycling bin was near Canul-Arguello’s body, which was charred in several places. The cause of death was listed as asphyxia due to strangulation.

Evidence of strangulation included fractured cartilage at his throat.

Canul-Arguello’s underwear had been pulled down to his knees. A loose pubic hair was on his right thigh.

Melted blue plastic was found on his face and other parts of his body. Burned, crumpled newspaper was in his “tightly flexed” left hand, the report, which the Bay Area Reporter examined, says.

In an August interview, Deputy Public Defender Alex Lilien emphasized he had more to learn about the case, but he said that the two men were having consensual sex when Canul-Arguello suffered “some type of erotic asphyxiation.” He called the death “a terrible accident,” and he also said that Diaz See page 13 >>

Vol. 41 • No. 50 • December 15-21, 2011

Jane Philomen Cleland

A drag queen on ice D

rag queens took to the ice last week for some holiday fun at the ice rink in San Francisco’s Union Square. Lil’ Miss Hot Mess, above, gave it her all and had a good time. She was joined by Anna Conda, who also skated. This was the second year that the ice rink, sponsored

by Safeway, invited drag queens to have their special night and proved to be popular with spectators.

n agency focused on delivering HIV prevention and health services to San Francisco’s black community is seeking a yuletide lift as it faces a severe funding shortage.

Leaders within the city’s LGBT African American community are hosting a holidaythemed fundraiser this weekend for the Black Coalition on AIDS. The nonprofit needs to raise $100,000 by June 30, the end of its fiscal Joe Mazza year.

John F. Weber It has set that target “in order to get in the black, so to speak,” Executive Director Perry Lang told the Bay Area Reporter this week.

“Otherwise, we will have to reduce or cut services even more,” he predicted.

The agency, now in its 25th year, has been hit See page 12 >>

Homeless memorial day sees problems, progress

by Seth Hemmelgarn

A

homeless man died in a doorway on Castro Street last week, in the middle of the day.

The San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office has identified him as Pedro Villamore Jr., 44.

He had no fixed address, and the cause of death hasn’t been determined.

His passing, likely not the only one of its kind in San Francisco as the days get colder, came just before National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, which is Wednesday, December 21.

Villamore’s death on Thursday, December 8 also occurred at a time local and state leaders are working to address homelessness, particularly regarding LGBTs, although it is not known how Villamore identified.

San Francisco Police Sergeant Chuck Limbert, the LGBT liaison to Mission Station, said there were no signs of foul play in Villamore’s death.

Eddie Lundeen, 44, is one of the owners of Mudpuppy’s Tub and Scrub, a dog-washing service located at 536 Castro Street, near where Villamore died.

He had seen Villamore in the doorway and had been buying him coffee and food for a couple weeks. Lundeen last saw Villamore alive last Thursday morning.

Thursday night Lundeen hung a sign in the

Rick Gerharter

A pedestrian walked by a small memorial to Pedro Villamore Jr., a homeless man who died in this Castro doorway last week.

doorway where Villamore died that mentioned the “simple gifts” he’d given the man in the previous weeks.

“My one wish is that I would have taken a moment to get to know him better,” the sign read. Lundeen also placed candles and silver

{ FIRST OF TWO SECTIONS }

Christmas decorations in the spot.

“The few times I was able to talk with him, he was very soft spoken,” Lundeen said in an interview. “He had a sweet, sweet disposition, it seemed.”

See page 12 >>

<< Community News

2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 15-21, 2011

▼

Foundation funding for LGBT causes continues to lag

by David Duran

A

s much as California foundations profess to give money to LGBT nonprofits, a new report by San Francisco-based Horizons Foundations shows that just $2.60 out of every $1,000 granted by foundation goes to LGBT organizations.

The report, entitled, “Californiabased Foundation Funding of California LGBT Nonprofits,” examined all grants made by California-based foundations to California-based grantees in 2009, the most recent year with data available.

Of California’s 7,184 foundations, only 48 grants were to California LGBT organizations or projects in 2009. While funding for marriage equality grew significantly between 2006 and 2009, grant-making to LGBT issues other than marriage in California dropped by 21.7 percent, according to the report.

Horizons conducted a previous study in 2006 and the numbers show that funding has slipped between then and just three years later. The drop was particularly pronounced in funding from mainstream, nonLGBT-specific foundations, which gave 19 percent less to LGBT causes in 2009 than in 2006.

“What this report reveals is that the great majority of foundations continue to overlook the needs and issues that the LGBT community confronts every day,” said Roger Doughty, the foundation’s executive director. “The lack of such support poses profound challenges to LGBT nonprofit organizations already

David Duran

Representatives of nonprofits that received Horizons grants attended a breakfast reception Tuesday.

wrestling with tough economic conditions.”

To that end, Horizons held a breakfast reception Tuesday, December 13 and announced $690,000 to Bay Area nonprofits that support LGBT issues.

The report also finds that support from non-LGBT foundations for causes other than same-sex marriage fell by more than 20 percent. The report indicates that the community’s needs go well beyond marriage equality to a broad range of issues such as LGBT youth and elders, HIV/AIDS, mental health, and the needs of women and transgender people.

The report also identifies other likely causes of the low levels of funding, including lack of awareness among foundation leaders and staff; the smaller size of many LGBT nonprofits; the widespread

– but erroneous – myth that LGBT people have disproportionately high incomes; and the persistence of bias against LGBT people.

“The discrepancy between the LGBT population and its needs on the one hand, and foundation funding patterns on the other, is wide enough to suggest that, at best, many foundations remain uninformed about the breadth and depth of LGBT issues,” said Doughty.

Grants announced Horizons has attempted to make a dent in the disproportionate foundation funding levels by announcing that 50 local groups would be splitting $690,000 in grants. Out city Treasurer Jose Cisneros joined Doughty and nonprofit leaders on the 32nd See page 10 >>

Attorneys to attempt plea deal in SJ rape case

by Seth Hemmelgarn

A

man accused of raping a gay 19-year-old man in San Jose remains in custody as prosecutors and his attorney plan to negotiate a plea deal.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office has charged Chad William Swanson, 44, on a felony charge of committing an act of sodomy while the victim was “incapable of resisting.” Swanson, who was arrested November 11, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment.

This week, his next court date was set for January 9, when attorneys and others involved in the case will try to reach a plea agreement and avoid a preliminary hearing and trial.

Swanson is in Santa Clara County’s Elmwood Correctional Facility, which is designed for people at low risk of harming themselves or others. He had been held in the main county jail.

According to Officer Jose Garcia, a San Jose Police Department spokesman, Swanson had allowed the “homosexual” homeless teen, whose name hasn’t been released, to stay at his house in the 400 block of Willis Avenue. The sexual assault allegedly occurred at Swanson’s home October 22 after the victim fell asleep, Garcia said.

Law enforcement officials haven’t explained why the alleged victim waited almost three weeks to report the incident, and they haven’t said whether additional victims have come forward.

State sex offender data indicate Swanson was previously convicted of

Courtesy San Jose Police Dept.

Defendant Chad William Swanson

“lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age.” No date is listed.

Garcia’s statement said Swanson frequented Crema Coffee Roasting Company and the Billy De Frank LGBT Community Center, two businesses next door to each other on The Alameda. Garcia said Swanson “is known to befriend young, gay males.”

In an interview, Garcia declined to elaborate on that statement, but said they wouldn’t necessarily be juveniles.

Adam Howard, 24, works at Crema and said Swanson came there almost every day. He said that one night in August, Swanson asked him to come to his house for a beer.

Howard, who’s straight, said he told Swanson, “I’m not gay. That sounds like a come-on,” but he said Swanson “seemed nice enough,” so he went.

Howard said there were containers

of lube sitting out in Swanson’s cluttered home, and he got “a very creepy vibe.” He said Swanson, who was “talking fast” and “acting nervous,” put on a porn movie, and when he objected, Swanson told him he was just joking. He soon left. Howard said that after he saw Swanson on the state sex offender’s site, he quit talking to him.

Andrew Thai, 21, another Crema employee, said he was at the shop when Swanson was arrested there.

Swanson had “a look of shock,” but didn’t resist officers, he said.

In a statement, the DeFrank center’s board said that Swanson attended group meetings there but wasn’t an active volunteer or member.

Board members also emphasized in their statement that the center is not “a hunting ground for sexual predators” and that volunteers had encouraged the alleged victim to report the incident.

Andrew Gonzales, 29, a friend of Swanson’s, has said that he was with Swanson the night of the alleged incident and doesn’t believe the accusation.

In a phone interview last week, attorney Edward Nino, who’s representing Swanson, wouldn’t say much more than, “I’m not going to comment on the facts of the case, and I’m not going to comment at this point on the legal strategy.” He also wouldn’t talk about Swanson’s prior record.

When a reporter visited Swanson’s house recently, a woman there said residents didn’t want to comment and would call the police if the reporter didn’t leave.▼

▼

Community News >>

December 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 3

SF State seeks gay male couples for study

by Matthew S. Bajko

S

an Francisco researchers are once again looking to recruit gay male couples from the Bay Area for an ongoing study looking at sexual risk behaviors within their relationships. The data collected will help formulate HIV prevention strategies aimed at couples that health officials can then deploy.

San Francisco State University’s Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality is recruiting 400 couples beginning in January for the second phase of data collection for its Gay Couples Study. Now in its ninth year, the study is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and has already generated several research papers.

“I don’t think anyone else is looking at what we are specifically looking at. We at the present time are the only ones doing it,” said Terry D. Dyer, a recruitment coordinator for the study.

A paper the center authored last year using data collected from 566 gay male couples found that close to half were not monogamous, and thus, at risk for contracting HIV. Yet most prevention messages are not tailored for couples, noted the

researchers.

Since the study’s release the researchers held a joint forum with Magnet, the gay men’s health center in the Castro, and public health officials that was aimed at serodiscordant couples, meaning one partner is HIV-positive and the other is HIV-negative. One idea the researchers are closely looking at is if gay male couples will be amenable to getting tested for HIV together.

“There are ongoing efforts to address relationship factors important to gay couples in HIV prevention. There are efforts to develop ‘couples testing’ protocols so that couples can test together and there are more researchers asking about relationship factors and considering partner specific risk factors,” Colleen Hoff, Ph.D., a professor of sexuality studies and the study’s principal investigator, told the Bay Area Reporter.

But she added that, so far, the response to her study’s research has not been “nearly enough – given how many gay men are in relationships and that new infections continue to occur within the couples context.”

The new round of interviews with couples – another 100 of the couples that previously took part are being

Michael K. Lavers

Panelists, including Openhouse’s Seth Kilbourn, right, and Mark Segal from Philadelphia, second from right, took part in the firstever summit on housing for LGBT elders at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C. last week.

HUD holds first-ever summit on LGBT elders

by Michael K. Lavers

S

ervice providers from across the country attended the first-ever federal summit on housing for LGBT elders at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, December 7.

Panelists discussed and debated support services for affordable housing, discrimination and legal barriers to long-term care, financial challenges that LGBT-friendly housing developments continue to confront, and overall policy recommendations.

“Senior citizens and older adults have challenges already,” Raphael Bostic, HUD assistant secretary for policy development and research told the Bay Area Reporter after he opened the summit. “LGBT seniors have a particular set of challenges that make them unique and more vulnerable.”

At the meeting, several agencies talked about their projects and programs.

Seth Kilbourn, executive director of San Francisco’s Openhouse, which is seeking to build an LGBT-friendly senior housing complex, attended the summit. The city of San Francisco had originally agreed to finance Openhouse’s proposed development at the former UC Extension campus at 55 Laguna Street that will contain at least 88 apartments for low-income seniors and a 10,000 square foot community center that will house Openhouse’s offices, but the recession and declining real estate values nearly derailed the project and the original partner filed for bankruptcy.

A combination of tax credits, local

funding, and HUD financing will fund the project, but financial challenges remain. These include a lack of local funds, a federal environmental and historical clearance, and high rents for tax credit-financed buildings.

“We want people to be able to move in and stay there for the rest of their lives,” said Kilbourn.

Openhouse, which is partnering with Wood Partners, will co-manage the development with Mercy Housing California.

The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center provides 80 activities each month at its Hollywood campus See page 13 >>

Staff of SFSU’s Gay Couples Study meet in the study participant room. From left: project director Seth Beougher, research assistant Carla Garcia, and recruitment coordinator Terry Dyer.

Rick Gerharter

asked to participate again – will be the final phase for data collection.

Once the research team has analyzed the new survey results, they plan to pilot in 2014 an HIV prevention strategy specifically geared toward gay male couples.

They are currently working on a new paper using the data already collected that looks at how serodiscordant couples disclose their HIV status to each other. And the center just finished the first phase of a different study, called You and Me, that recruited 48 interracial gay male couples, half from San Francisco and half from New York.

“We are looking at power dynamics in relationships ... and how they have been impacted by race,” said Chad Campbell, that study’s project director.

The ongoing research will guide development of the HIV prevention strategies for the center’s pilot project.

“We will use our data we got over the last 10 years and create an intervention for couples. It will be specifically tailored to what is going on in their relationships and we will pilot test it,” said Sean Beougher, a project director for the Gay Couples See page 13 >>

<< Open Forum

4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 15-21, 2011

Volume 41, Number 50 December 15-21, 2011 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Thomas E. Horn Bob Ross (Founder, 1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko Seth Hemmelgarn Jim Provenzano CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan Aiello • Tavo Amador • Erin Blackwell Roger Brigham • Scott Brogan Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Chuck Colbert Richard Dodds • David Duran Raymond Flournoy • David Guarino Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell John F. Karr • Lisa Keen • Matthew Kennedy David Lamble • Tony K. LeTigre Michael McDonagh • Paul Parish Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota Bob Roehr • Donna Sachet • Adam Sandel Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Ed Walsh • Sura Wood

ART DIRECTION Kurt Thomas PRODUCTION MANAGER T. Scott King PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland Marc Geller Rick Gerharter Lydia Gonzales Rudy K. Lawidjaja Steven Underhill Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge Christine Smith

GENERAL MANAGER Michael M. Yamashita DISPLAY ADVERTISING Colleen Small Scott Wazlowski CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING David McBrayer NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

LEGAL COUNSEL Paul H. Melbostad

Best Bay Area Community Newspaper 2006 San Francisco Bay Area Publicity Club

BAY AREA REPORTER 395 Ninth Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 415.861.5019 www.ebar.com

News Editor • news@ebar.com Arts Editor • arts@ebar.com Out & About listings • events@ebar.com Advertising • advertising@ebar.com Letters • letters@ebar.com A division of Benro Enterprises, Inc. © 2011 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.

▼

Foundations, donors must step up T

wo reports that were released this month make plain the lengths LGBT nonprofits must go to catch up to their mainstream counterparts. Both in terms of foundation giving and donors response, the message that LGBT folks need help is being lost.

To be clear, in the case of philanthropic foundations, we are specifically discussing those based in California that make contributions to LGBT groups within the state. In the case of donors, we are focusing on LGBT people themselves, who, for many reasons, continue to give to LGBT organizations at a very low level.

Horizons Foundation, a San Franciscobased organization that provides grants to nonprofits working on LGBT issues, looked at 7,184 California foundations and found that, in 2009, only 48 grants were made to LGBT organizations or projects. That’s an infinitesimal – and unacceptable – number. Roger Doughty, executive director of Horizons, noted that mainstream foundations “continue to overlook the needs and issues that the LGBT community confronts everyday.”

Another interesting facet of the Horizons report is that for LGBT issues other than marriage equality, foundation support fell by more than 20 percent. That means organizations that work with queer youth, elders, LGBT communities of color, and a host of other issues are not even close to achieving funding parity with those organizations that are working on marriage equality. And while same-sex marriage is a crucial issue, it’s not going to help young people, who were kicked out of their homes, find stable housing and it’s not going to help trans folks find employment, to cite two examples of specific need unique in our community.

What all of this means is that mainstream California foundations need to markedly change their formulas or processes for grants and work harder to include the LGBT community.

They should solicit feedback from their LGBT employee groups, and if they don’t have one, then perhaps they can contact a gay community center, which are located in most major cities in the state, and find out what’s going on in their area.

Development directors at LGBT nonprofits can redouble their efforts to meet with foundation officials, find out what their grant guidelines are, and submit a funding proposal. Of course, the

key to success is to identify programs that would be eligible for funding, as most grants are not for the catch-all general operating expenses, nor should they be. Successful nonprofits have donor bases for that purpose.

But foundations can certainly fund such programs as health outreach, HIV prevention and testing work, and other direct services.

A common misperception is that the gay community has more disposable income than their straight counterparts. This claim was started by go-go marketers in the 1990s and continues to live on today. If mainstream foundations are buying into that schtick, one quick look at the struggles faced by most local LGBT nonprofits should dispel any doubts.

Donors The second report was released last week by the Movement Advancement Project, an independent think tank that works to marshal the LGBT movement’s resources in the pursuit of equality. This study found that donors were fleeing LGBT nonprofits by a rate of 14 percent between 2009 and 2010. And, in a statistic that has been confirmed by Horizons at the local

level, MAP found that fewer than 3 percent of LGBT adults make a contribution to a national LGBT organization. In previous surveys Horizons found similar figures for giving to local LGBT groups.

We don’t think that means LGBTs don’t support the breadth of social service, arts, social justice, and other organizations. But we do think there is an ambivalence among LGBTs that needs to be rectified. It is likely that the bad economy has a lot to do with the drop in giving – LGBTs are looking for jobs too, and many have families they are raising – but there also seems to be a lack of commitment by the community as a whole to support its own.

There are many non-financial ways people can help LGBT agencies. Many seek dedicated volunteers to help provide critical services like taking someone to a medical appointment or visiting with a gay senior. We understand that it’s a donor’s choice where to give, but there are many in the community that need help, and it’s clear from these recent reports that the community must provide some level of assistance to its own even as we seek stepped up support from mainstream institutions.▼

Young and no home for the holidays

by Leslie Ewing

L

ast week, someone, around 40, walked into Pacific Center and said, “I’d like to do something for gay kids this holiday, but what do they want?”

The first thing that came to my snarky mind was, “Please! Not another It Gets Better video.”

But, in the spirit of communityness, I kept my cynical (however, spot-on) opinion to myself.

Our visitor was sincere and deserved a real answer. The problem was I wasn’t sure I had a real answer. Certainly not a definitive answer.

His question started me thinking about the “us and them” division between LGBTQQI2S youth and the gay community at large. Too many of us want to support youth, but can’t relate to their lives. Those of us who came out in our 30s simply have no clue what it’s like to live an “out” life at 13 or 14 and few of us have tried to find out. Overall, I don’t think we’ve done such a hot job at building bridges across our particular generation gap ... it seems very wide. Who knows, maybe, someday when all of us get through fighting over marriage, we’ll start working on ourselves, on our movement – and rising it up. Maybe.

Someday.

Meanwhile, there we were at Pacific Center ... in Berkeley ... on Telegraph Avenue ... four blocks away from People’s Park. Most of the transitional aged youth (13-21) who really need our help are newly out and on their own.

What they want more than anything else is to find a safe place to stay instead of being on the street or couch surfing.

Unfortunately, Pacific Center can offer a safe space to hang out, but not housing.

And, when we work hard to help youth find trustworthy housing, there just isn’t enough to fill the need. It feels very similar to being in San Francisco in the early 1990s when so many young men with HIV escaped the

prejudice of their hometowns and moved to San Francisco, simply because of the promise of a compassionate response. Today, selfemancipated youth from every corner of the country show up on the doorsteps of Bay Area community centers and youth organizations, hoping to find that same spirit of compassion.

More often than not, the spirit is willing but we let them down no matter how hard we try.

And, let’s face it: housing is at the top of many lists, not just the one titled “Queer Youth Needs.” Addressing the housing crisis takes a lot of will and money. However, nothing will ever get off the ground unless we persist in making the case why providing safe housing for queer youth is an investment in the future. We adults need to put the pressure on our elected representatives and encourage them to address this crisis. What all of us need to understand is that our lives are more interconnected than we realize. Our queer youth also hold our future in their hands.

And, that future is happening right now, even though we may not realize it. Queer youth are doing their part to make change happen. Over the last few months, youth – and especially queer youth – have taken to the streets as foot soldiers of the Occupy movement. And, in this leaderless movement, queer cyberactivists have been at the organizing forefront. Recently, in the New Yorker, Mattathias Schwartz reported that “the engine” propelling www.

OccupyWallStreet.org is a band of transfolk geeks who call themselves Trans World Order.

Organizing and building community is in our collective queer DNA: Bayard Rustin, your spirit lives on.

And during all this, the media keeps asking, “What do they want?” and lamenting the lack of a cohesive list of demands. The answer seems pretty clear to me: nothing more, and nothing less, than fairness. Historically, it’s a very queer demand. The same answer can

be interpreted as an ethereal response to our visitor’s question last week.

But, as I said before, he deserved a realtime answer to a real-time question. So, after much thought, here are a few “gift ideas” for all of us to consider this holiday season: time, experience and respect.

Time is your most precious possession.

Your experience runs a close second. If you can, share some of it with youth. Make your effort a personal one. Take the time to call your local LGBTQ community center, or youth organization, and talk to the youth program coordinator. Ask if there is a young person who needs new shoes or warm clothes, or even a warm meal. Then do it. Maybe you can provide a trip to the museum for a few kids. Maybe you can connect a couple of kids with part-time jobs.

Do what you can to keep youth safe and provide a healthy example of how to live life fully.

And, if you don’t have much time to give, financially support community organizations that provide direct services. We are all working very hard with very limited resources. Think of your donation as a community long-term growth investment.

But, don’t be surprised when your efforts go unappreciated. Give respect first. Be patient.

One of my biggest “learning opportunities” (i.e. embarrassing moments) at the Pacific Center happened the first time I dropped by our afternoon youth group. I was ready to start a conversation about a video project with our senior peer groups, but they wouldn’t even make eye contact. And a conversation? Not a chance. I eventually learned to back off and simply respect their ability to address issues important to them. Conversely, I had to earn their trust before I could ask for their respect.

It takes time.

Meanwhile, forget the YouTube stuff and memoir writing – unless you must.▼ Leslie Ewing is the executive director of the Pacific Center in Berkeley. For more information, visit www.pacificcenter.org.

▼

Letters >>

December 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

Dear Santa Claus I’ve been a very good boy, and my Daddy’s have been too! But I want them to be able to get married, so can we please have marriage equality here in California?

Thank you.

Bob Sodervick San Francisco

Supportive of Starbucks cafe Thanks for following the Starbucks issue for the building at the corner of Market and Sanchez [“Fight brewing over new Castro Starbucks,” Political Notebook, December 8].

I live in a house across the street from that building, and I have to say Starbucks would be an improvement.

Even though I am not likely to patronize the new Starbucks, I am still in support of it. That building has been getting progressively worse in the eight years that my partner and I have lived in our house.

As the stereo store struggled, the maintenance suffered.

But since that store closed and the new tenant moved in, the situation has become even worse. The current tenant is temporary and knows it, thus he has no motivation to keep the area clean or to work with neighbors to address any problems.

The Sanchez Street side of the building now serves as a urinal for everybody drunk walking down Market Street (especially the Lime weekenders, and not just men), and is frequently used as a place to vomit as well. The Starbucks plan would address the issues by remodeling the building, closing the gaps that serve as urinals, and installing windows on all sides, thus removing the “privacy.”

So, as a guy living across the street, would I rather have Starbucks, which has promised to restore the building and keep it clean (and has a history of doing so) or the guy who doesn’t care? For me, the answer is obvious.

Larry Hooper Sanchez Street

Remembering Michael Goldstein

Francisco hospital. Michael was fortunate to have two primary caregivers, his closest friends Debra Walker and Lorae Lauritch. Fewer than 24 hours after Michael’s death, his fellow activists gathered in support of a Castro resident with AIDS who fears eviction and cannot afford some of his medications. On the day before Michael died, at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park there was a ceremony for the “unsung heroes” of AIDS care at San Francisco General Hospital. Mayor Ed Lee presented a proclamation. But first, he thanked Wells Fargo Bank.

As with so many people without employer-sponsored health insurance, Michael may have delayed early intervention until it was too late. Michael and his community appreciated the care he received at San Francisco General, Laguna Honda, and UCSF hospitals. Despite chronic underfunding and punishing cutbacks, San Francisco’s health care workers deliver world-class AIDS care to all residents of San Francisco. The innovation of Healthy San Francisco didn’t come soon enough. If only Michael and so many others didn’t have to spend years before Healthy San Francisco worrying about choosing between health care and paying the rent.

AIDS continues to be both symptom and cause of poverty. Living with HIV depends on factors over which individuals have very little control. Though AIDS affects all people, being a non-Hispanic, white, non-transgender person increases the chance of survival. U.S. citizens are at least eligible for benefits while non-citizens are only eligible for disease. Homeowners who have not been foreclosed on can worry more about the infection than eviction.

The weather in Golden Gate Park on World AIDS Day 2011 couldn’t have been better. Hundreds of current and former San Francisco General Hospital and Laguna Honda Hospital health care workers embraced and were honored to receive the praise of Mayor Ed Lee. But first, he thanked Wells Fargo Bank.

The next day, Michael Goldstein died. Word passed instantly on social media: “Michael Goldstein, RIP (Rest in Power).”

On December 2, surrounded by close friends, gay activist Michael Goldstein died from AIDS in a San

Sasha Cuttler, RN San Francisco

Gay clergy disinvited from Castro Catholic church

by Cynthia Laird

A

t least three gay and lesbian clergy members were disinvited from participating in Advent services at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in the Castro, the Bay Area Reporter has learned.

The call for the gay clergy not to attend came from the Archdiocese of San Francisco, sources said.

George Wesolek, spokesman for the archdiocese, confirmed that Archbishop George Niederauer made the decision.

“The basic reason is that Archbishop Niederauer felt the themes for vespers should better reflect the themes of Advent,” Wesolek told the B.A.R. Wesolek said the decision came shortly before November 27, the first Sunday of Advent.

The Reverends Jane Spahr and Roland Stringfellow were among those asked not to participate, as was retired Episcopal Bishop Otis Charles. All three were scheduled to take part in Most Holy Redeemer’s Advent vesper services.

Spahr, a retired Presbyterian minister, is well-known for her advocacy of marriage equality.

She has repeatedly been brought up on church charges related to her marrying same-sex couples.

A church court in August 2010 found her guilty of officiating the weddings of 16 same-sex couples.

But at the same time the tribunal praised Spahr’s ministry over the years and her compassion. She founded a church group in the 1990s for gay Presbyterians.

In an email, Spahr confirmed she was disinvited from Most Holy Redeemer’s services. She was to speak Wednesday, December 14.

Spahr said that the people at Most Holy Redeemer “felt so badly” about the decision.

Rick Gerharter

The Reverend Jane Spahr

“It saddens me that Otis, Roland, and I will not have the opportunity to come and be with you,” Spahr wrote in an email to Most Holy Redeemer, which she shared with the B.A.R. “There is so much prejudice, misinformation, and mystery still about who we are either as LGBT people or advocates and allies.”

Spahr added that the Most Holy Redeemer parish has “been in the forefront of loving people through HIV and giving us the opportunity to thrive in expressing the fullness of who we are as we integrate our sexuality and spirituality.”

“Your ministry there in the Castro has helped save so many lives,” she wrote. “How sad for the archbishop that he is missing the depth and breadth of your ministry and how he still sees you as ‘one issue’ rather than the fullness of who you are. The heart of your ministry embraces true hospitality and welcome, the kind of ministry Jesus lived.”

She said that congregants at

Most Holy Redeemer “do not have to apologize” for the archbishop’s decision.

“We will pray that his heart will open as he experiences your love and grace,” she added.

A woman who answered the phone at Most Holy Redeemer Tuesday said that Father Steve Meriwether, the senior pastor, was not in the office this week. A message left for Mike Poma at the Castro church was not immediately returned.

Stringfellow is the welcoming congregations coordinator at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at the Pacific School of Religion. He was a community grand marshal in this year’s San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade.

He told the B.A.R. that he was neither shocked nor surprised at being disinvited.

“I was disappointed,” he said.

Stringfellow, who was to appear December 21, said he was able to help congregants with a conversation around being welcoming when the church hierarchy isn’t. He hopes to meet with a small group of people in February to explore that issue.

Charles was the Episcopal bishop of Utah and was married to a woman for many years. After his retirement in 1993, he came out as a gay man, divorced his wife, and moved to San Francisco. In October 2008 he married Felipe Sanchez-Paris, Ph.D. in a civil ceremony in San Francisco.

The couple had a church wedding in 2004 that was covered in the San Francisco Chronicle.

He told the B.A.R. that he received a call the night before his scheduled appearance “indicating that my participation in a liturgical service was unacceptable to the Chancery See page 12 >>

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 15-21, 2011

<< Commentary

▼ A step in the rights direction

by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

V

andy Beth Glenn, a transgender woman from Georgia, had been working as a proofreader and editor in that state’s Office of Legislative Counsel. Two years into her employment, in 2007, Glenn went to her supervisor to inform her of the pending transition. Her supervisor then took this news to her boss, Legislative Counsel Sewell Brumby. Brumby then terminated Glenn’s employment.

This story is likely not uncommon for many other transgender people out there. I still remember telling my employer about my own transition, all those years ago, and expecting that I’d soon be given my pink slip. Further, I suspect you’ll find transgender people who have found employment hard to gain due to their gender identity, or even who have had to face troubled times at work after their gender identity or expression becomes the subject of so-called water cooler chatter.

But Glenn’s story doesn’t end quite the same as it does for many, perhaps most, and this is important.

In 2008, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund filed suit on behalf of Glenn, claiming that her termination violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution. Specifically, her lawyers claimed that treating her employment differently due to her transgender status was in violation. A district court agreed, ruling that the Constitution was indeed violated, and Glenn was discriminated against. The state, naturally, appealed the case, known as Glenn v. Brumby, to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal.

Last week, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit handed down its decision. In the 3-0 ruling, the judges upheld the district court’s finding. In handing down its decision, the panel stated, “An individual cannot be punished because of his or her perceived gender-nonconformity.

Because these protections are afforded to everyone, they cannot be denied

to a transgender individual. ... A person is defined as transgender precisely because of the perception that his or her behavior transgresses gender stereotypes.”

This isn’t the first time federal law has been on our side. While the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not provide any explicit protections based on gender expression and identity – nor, for that matter, sexual orientation – we have been seeing recent instances of Title VII protections extended to transgender people. Perhaps the best known is Schwenk v. Hartford, where a transgender prisoner sued after an assault by a guard. The 9th U.S. Circuit determined that, “discrimination because one fails to act in the way expected of a man or a woman is forbidden under Title VII.” I’d be remiss if I did not mention this is a complete turnaround of a dusty, old Title VII case, Ulane v. Eastern Airlines Inc., from 1984. In Ulane, the 7th Circuit held that the Congress, in enacting Title VII, only meant to “prohibit discrimination against women because they are women and men because they are men.”

What Glenn v. Brumby has done is take this into new ground, saying that transgender people do enjoy the same protections as others under the 14th Amendment, and giving another avenue for recourse to transgender people who have had their rights violated.

Is it perfect? No. Much like the Ulane case was seemingly superseded by other Title VII cases, we could see other court challenges come down the line and rule opposite of the Glenn case. This is one step below the U.S. Supreme Court and, like it or not, that leaves a bit of wiggle room in the future.

It’s important to add, too, that if Glenn’s case had been a Title VII case, things would have gone a very different way – the appeals court did not feel that Glenn’s gender “nonconformity” would have applied in that case.

Of course, this was a lengthy fight. Glenn was fired in October

2007, and it’s taken until December 2011 to have the case resolved in her favor. It could still be appealed.

Not everyone has the resources and intestinal fortitude to go through this process.

That said, it’s important to consider that this case does provide some basis for those who can pursue a similar legal action. If the historically conservative 11th Circuit can find in Glenn’s favor, then there’s hope for us all.

I’d like to see this victory taken a couple steps further. For one, I’d like to see the U.S. Department of Justice look at where transgender people fall under Title VII, under the 14th Amendment, and other places where rights based on sex or gender are mentioned. Perhaps it is time these are clarified, in light of the Glenn case.

More than this, the case also points to the importance of legislation such as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and the need for this now-transgender inclusive bill to pass. Let’s clear this up, once and for all, and make sure that transgender protections are, and will be, the law of the land.

One more thing: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to the United Nations the same day as the Glenn decision. In a speech celebrating the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Clinton spoke at length about the importance of LGBT rights.

“I am talking about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, human beings born free and given bestowed equality and dignity, who have a right to claim that, which is now one of the remaining human rights challenges of our time,” Clinton said.

She followed that up by immediately noting, “I speak about this subject knowing that my own country’s record on human rights for gay people is far from perfect.”

Success in cases like Glenn v. Brumby is a step in the right direction. Let’s take more steps, and see that all people truly are protected.▼ Gwen Smith may be left handed, but she’ll take all the rights she can get. You can find her online at www.gwensmith.com.

Help needed for Christmas dinner compiled by Cynthia Laird

T

enderloin Tessie Holiday Dinners is once again calling on community members to help out for its Christmas Day dinner for those in need. The dinner will be held Sunday, December 25 from 1 to 4 p.m. at First Unitarian Church, 1187 Franklin Street (at Geary).

As with previous dinners, volunteers are needed the day before, in this case Christmas Eve,

to help unload the truck and pick up groceries. Some heavy lifting is required, said Michael Gagne, president and volunteer coordinator for the Tenderloin Tessie board.

On Christmas Day, several shifts are available: 9 a.m. to noon, set up and decorate; noon to 4 p.m., helping at the dinner and attending the mandatory noon meeting; and 3 to approximately 6 p.m., help with the last hour of the dinner and tear-down.

Correction The December 8 article, “City mulls restrictions for Castro plazas” should have specified that the proposed set hours for sitting between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. only applies to movable chairs and benches in the two plazas.

The ordinance would not ban overnight sitting on the plazas’ permanent structures.

The online version has been corrected.

Gagne said that the organization will also be doing a clothing drive, like it did at the Thanksgiving dinner last month. Gently used men’s, women’s, and children’s clothes are needed, as are coats and blankets.

To help out, send an email with your full name and phone number to tenderlointessiedinners@ yahoo.com or call him at (415) 584-3252. Include the desired shifts.

For more information, visit www. tenderlointessiedinners.com.▼

On the web A longer version of the Out in the World column is online. ebar.com

ebar.com

▼

Politics >>

December 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

Oakland mayoral recall lacks LGBT support

by Matthew S. Bajko

T

here appears to be at least one group of Oakland residents unconvinced their mayor needs to go: the East Bay city’s LGBT community.

Conversations with half a dozen gay and lesbian Oaklanders in the last week found none wanting to give the heave-ho to Mayor Jean Quan, who won a close election last fall in a race that included lesbian atlarge Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan.

All told the Bay Area Reporter that they are unaware of any LGBT people helping to spearhead the various efforts seeking Quan’s ouster. Instead, they said that the mayor has built up a stellar record on LGBT issues since coming into office.

She has named out people to top spots inside her inner circle and recruited LGBT people to serve on oversight panels. Quan early on expressed support for the re-launching of Oakland’s Pride celebration and vowed to work with Kaplan’s LGBT roundtable group.

“Jean Quan has an excellent record on LGBT issues. I know of no organized effort within the community to support the recall,” said gay Planning Commissioner Michael Colbruno, a local political lobbyist.

Montclair resident and lesbian activist Emily Rosenberg, 67, said she and her partner, Darlene de Manincor, have known Quan for nearly a decade and volunteered on her mayoral bid. Their support has not waned since she took office, said Rosenberg.

“I am very disappointed and upset that people are trying to stop the good work that Jean Quan has been doing for Oakland,” said Rosenberg, who has ridden with Quan in San Francisco’s Pride Parade the past two years. “She has dedicated lots of resources to improving safety and security in the neighborhoods most hard hit with crime. She is doing that by improving conditions there and getting additional policing there.”

An Oakland resident for 40 years, Rosenberg praised Quan for working to serve all city residents.

“What I respect most about Jean is she has room for everyone on her agenda and she finds ways to help communities get what they need. I can’t imagine that any will sign that or the LGBT community would want to recall her,” she said. “We want a community that is healed and moving forward. A recall would rip our city apart.”

Deborah “Isadora” Wade, 58, moved from Alameda into Oakland a year and a half ago with her longtime partner, Schon Wade.

The couple supported Quan for mayor and continues to believe in her leadership abilities.

But Wade conceded that Quan has stumbled over the past year.

Quan clashed with the Police Chief Anthony Batts and City Attorney John Russo, who both left, and was roundly criticized in late October when she ordered Occupy Oakland evicted.

“I think the woman has not ignored the issues that are going on in our community. I think she is trying to be a lot more thoughtful and learn from the mistakes she has made,” said Wade, who lives

Jane Philomen Cleland

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan

in Maxwell Park and is a frequent contributor to leather blogs.

“You know what, everyone makes mistakes.”

None of Wade’s friends or neighbors backs the recall drive.

“I have not heard a lot of people saying that she needs to be recalled,” said Wade.

Kaplan has yet to take a stance either way on the recall. Her office said she was too busy and unavailable for an interview.

“Councilmember Kaplan is really focused right now on her work as Oakland’s citywide councilmember – she’s collaborating with her constituents and her colleagues to create jobs and get illegal guns off the streets,” her aide, Jason Overman, told the B.A.R. While the brutal tactics that Oakland police mobilized against the city’s Occupy encampment – and Quan later apologized for – gave new life to the recall movement, political insiders say it stems more from a fight over a Port Commission seat that upset some in the city’s black community.

Gene Hazzard, a photographer for a local black paper, formed the Committee to Recall Jean Quan.

Another group is now working in conjunction with Hazzard’s committee to gather the 20,000 valid signatures of registered Oakland voters they need by May 14 to qualify the recall.

On a website Hazzard created, the recall proponents say their main gripes with Quan have to do with her handling of public safety issues and disagreement over the development of the Oakland Army Base.

They have formed various committees, organized by ecumenical leaders, business owners and homeowners, to oversee the signature drive. None specifically target LGBT residents.

A phone number listed for Hazzard on the site was disconnected this week, and he did not respond to an emailed interview request.

Greg Harland, who ran for Oakland mayor last year, has also launched his own recall bid. He recently told the San Francisco Chronicle that he had hired a campaign lawyer, James Sutton, to help with the effort.

Another group known as Recall Jean Quan has not updated its Facebook page since before Thanksgiving. And its website, so far, is nothing more than a placeholder. The B.A.R.’s emailed

interview request went unreturned.

It is unclear at this point if the recall efforts will be successful. Key will be if they receive funding to pay for professional signature gatherers.

As for Quan, she has vowed not to become distracted by the recall campaigns. She told reporters last week she is focused on bringing down crime in the 100 hardest hit blocks in the city.

“The last thing we need is a divisive and expensive recall election,” stated Quan in a statement her office released last week. “In 20 years of serving Oakland, my only agenda has been to work hard for our diverse city. I consider it a sacred trust.”

She touted balancing the city’s budget, setting aside a $36 million reserve, and moving forward on the army base redevelopment as just some of her accomplishments as mayor.

“Still, we are faced with important challenges to stabilize the city’s financial position over the long term ... these are very critical issues that require my focus and commitment,” stated Quan.

Gay man to lead South Bay transit panel Openly gay Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager will chair the Valley Transportation Authority Board of Directors in 2012. The former San Jose city councilman has spent more than a decade dealing with Bay Area transit issues.

“Having been part of the VTA board for the past 11 years, I feel that I am well prepared for the position,” Yeager told supporters in his recent emailed newsletter.

See page 13 >>

ebar.com

<< Community News

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 15-21, 2011

▼

HAFC-Walden House CEO draws on her own recovery

by Heather Cassell

L

ooking at Vitka Eisen, CEO of the recently merged Haight Ashbury Free Clinics and Walden House, you wouldn’t believe that 25 years ago she was a client of the very agency that she has been at the helm of for two years.

She doesn’t quite believe it herself.

“It’s pretty amazing, actually,” said Eisen.

When she finally walked through the doors of Walden House to beat her addiction to heroin for the fifth and final time nearly 25 years ago, it never entered her mind that she would be running the show and hold

a doctorate from Harvard University.

Yet, Eisen, a 52-year-old out lesbian, today is leading the 40-yearold institutions into their future.

The agency is a safe haven for individuals who have histories of living on the fringe of society suffering lack of access to health care, homelessness and poverty, serious health issues, substance abuse, and more. At HAFC-WH, individuals find hope without judgment of their past.

No one at HAFC-WH knows the meaning of the type of service the organization has pioneered more than Eisen.

Eisen was in and out of Haight Ashbury up to five times as a heroin addict until she checked herself into a hospital-based chemical dependency program and was referred to Walden House, she said.

Each time she returned she was greeted by the clinic’s employees with, “Hey, it’s good to see you,” she said, and when she asked they ensured her that she wasn’t the only lesbian enrolled in the program.

That welcoming attitude combined with homelessness and knowledge that she simply didn’t have the “hustle” to be a career heroin addict led her to Walden House. She remained at the residential program for three years, one of them in the main residential house, she said. It was there that she began to complete small responsibilities the staff gave her.

“I started off the new year with a new life,” said Eisen, when she finally walked through the doors of Walden House in 1985. “They never judged me.”

She continues that tradition now that she is in charge.

“We welcome you at any step that will take you to improve your life and health,” said Eisen, who said that the open door policy works. Most of the clients’ hesitation dissipates. Rather

Jane Philomen Cleland

Vitka Eisen is the CEO of the recently merged Haight-Ashbury Free Clinics and Walden House.

than freeze on the street somewhere or overdose, many clients choose to come through the doors and stay, she said.

As a resident, the benefits of Walden House slowly hit Eisen on a “very ordinary day,” heading to Golden Gate Park with some of her fellow residents, she said.

She suddenly thought, “You know, life could actually be different,” she told the Bay Area Reporter.

“It was subtle,” said Eisen. The realization took time and “positive experiences away from drugs.”

The Walden House staff encouraged her to continue improving all the way to Harvard University, where she obtained her doctorate in education.

In some ways, Eisen never really left Walden House. She stayed in touch and returned to work in positions offered to her by the organization’s leadership, running a school and later a prison substance abuse program for men. Her life partner of 18 years, Rachel Sing, whom she met in the same program at Harvard, ran a nearby women’s prison substance abuse program for Walden House until 2001.

Sing moved onto being the executive director of Girls Inc. of Alameda County and later of McCullum Youth Court, Eisen said.

Three years ago, Sing, 56, became a full-time parent to the couple’s three children.

A complementary union In July, Haight Ashbury merged with Walden House, combining two legendary health care and substance abuse agencies. It was complicated, but the union was a necessity, said Eisen and Barbara Garcia, director of San Francisco’s Department of Public Health.

Eisen now oversees the HAFCWH’s $62 million budget, 95 percent of which is federally and locally funded, said Eisen and Garcia. Garcia added that HAFC-WH is now in the process of restructuring and diversifying its funding sources.

The merger saved an estimated $1 million in administrative costs without “sacrificing treatment costs or one single bed,” said Eisen, proud of the fact that there was “efficiency” but “no compromise in the delivery of care” that are the formerly separate organizations’ legacies.

Garcia believes that the merger will “provide a healthy future” for the new HAFC-WH and its ability to continue the valued services that are the hallmark of the organization and San Francisco.

Eisen’s personal experience and example as a client who went from Walden House to Harvard to executive of the organization shows the possibilities of recovery, said Garcia.

“Vitka is an outstanding administrator,” Garcia said. “We are very happy with her leadership.”

Garcia, an out lesbian, understands the value of HAFC-WH’s combined

legacies along with San Francisco’s values to be a city that supports harm reduction. The city continues to be a center of excellence for HIV/AIDS for the U.S. and the world, she said.

“Those two combinations of efforts ... provide respite for many members of our community who are dually diagnosed and who have multiple issues,” added Garcia.

Eisen and Garcia believe the merger strengthened HAFC-WH’s services.

Walden House didn’t have a federally certified health center to provide primary medical care to clients. Haight Ashbury did. But Walden House had something Haight Ashbury didn’t have, a “robust” residential treatment of care services and a re-entry resource center, Eisen pointed out.

The only overlapping service, outpatient services, was integrated into the same primary care site, said Eisen.

The merged organization retained all of its 435 full-time staff, added Eisen, who took the helm of Walden House in 2009 replacing Rod Libbey, after his four-year tenure. Eisen’s salary is $193,156; she received an additional $20,481 for other work, according to the Walden House 2010 IRS filing.

Retention of the agency’s employees is a huge difference from two years ago. In Eisen’s introduction to Walden House’s 2009 annual report she noted the agency lost 200 “talented staff members.” The agency also saw services it provided in California’s prisons drastically cut to a third – it went from serving 2,500 inmates to 665 – and it closed its residential adolescent treatment program. In spite of the losses, the agency still provided “comprehensive and compassionate quality care” to more than 1,400 people, Eisen reported.

The merged agency now helps an estimated 65,000 individuals that come through its doors annually, according to its website. A portion of those clients, 16.7 percent of the behavioral health clients within the past 12 months, openly identify as LGBTQ, according to Jeff Schindler, HAFC-WH spokesman.

Doyle Johnson, a client of HAFCWH, is pretty sure that he would be “in the ground without these services,” he said in his Southern drawl. The former Alabaman came to HAFC close to death due to AIDSrelated and other non-drug-related health complications soon after moving to San Francisco in 2005.

The 36-year old gay man came to San Francisco with his high school sweetheart, Jonathan Dimmock. The couple was together off and on for nearly 15 years, Johnson said, then Dimmock died of a brain aneurism a month after the men arrived in the city.

Today, Johnson is healthy, thanks to the services provided by HAFCWH, he said. He is now on disability See page 12 >>

Read more online at www.ebar.com

December 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

bundle up this holiday season

buy one give one

SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB™ 8.9

SAMSUNG GALAXY S™ II SKYROCKET™

BUY A SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB™ 8.9 for

$

99

479

with 2-year wireless service agreement and minimum $35/mo data plan required.

GET A and

FREE

SAMSUNG GALAXY S™ II SKYROCKET™ with 2-year wireless svc agreement on voice and minimum $15/mo data plan required.

Limited 4G LTE availability in select markets. 4G speeds delivered by LTE, or HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul, where available. Deployment ongoing. Compatible device and data plan required. LTE is a trademark of ETSI. Learn more at att.com/network.

Limited-time offer expires 1/7/2012 and while supplies last. Coverage and svcs, including mobile broadband, not available everywhere. Geographic, usage & other conditions & restrictions (that may result in svc termination) apply. Taxes and other chrgs apply. Prices and equipment may vary by market and may not be available through ind. retailers. See store or visit att.com for details and coverage map. Offer Details Samsung Tab 8.9 with 2-yr wireless service agreement and min $35/mo data plan required is is $479.99 or $629.99 without any service commitment. Galaxy SII Skyrocket with 2-yr wireless svc agreement on voice & min $15/mo data plan required is $0.00. Taxes and other chrgs apply. Prices and equipment may vary by market and may not be available through ind. retailers. Smartphone is subject to Wireless Customer Agrmt. Credit approval req’d.

Activ. fee up to $36/line. Tablet Early Termination Fee (ETF): After 30 days, ETF up to $325. Restocking fee up to 10% of sales price may apply. Tablet Equipment Fee may apply if service is canceled between days 14 and 30 days of purchase – details att.com/returns. Smartphone ETF: None if cancelled during first 30 days but a $35 restocking fee may apply; after 30 days, ETF of $325 applies. Subject to change. 3GB Data Connect Plan: If you exceed your initial 3GB allowance, you will automatically be charged an overage of $10 for each additional GB provided. DataPlus (200MB): $15 will automatically be charged for each additional 200MB provided on DataPlus if initial 200MB is exceeded. All device data, including overages, must be used in the billing period in which the allowance is provided or be forfeited. For more details on Data Plans, go to att.com/dataplans.

Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge up to $1.25/mo. is chrg’d to help defray costs of complying with gov’t obligations & chrgs on AT&T & is not a tax or gov’t req’d charge. Sales tax based on price of unactivated equipment. CA sales tax based on no-commitment price. ©2011 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other AT&T marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

<< The Sports Page

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 15-21, 2011

▼

Sharing stories and hopes

by Roger Brigham

I

t was the kind of workshop that would have been unthinkable 30 years ago. But there it was this past Saturday: a classroom packed to the gills, standing room only, with LGBT high school students wanting to talk about sports.

I really did not know what to

expect when I proposed almost a year ago to the Gay-Straight Alliance Network that it have a sports session during its annual Youth Empowerment Summit in San Francisco. LGBT sports always seemed to register low on the excitement scale at LGBT journalism conventions, and a previous session I had put on earlier

this year for students in San Mateo drew just three students.

But the session Saturday at Horace Mann Community School drew a packed and very diverse crowd, eager to ask questions and share stories. One boy talked about being bullied in the locker room and his things being stolen.

A transgender athlete from Santa Cruz wanted to know about changing room access issues. All were looking for something they had never experienced before: advice and encouragement from queer adult jocks.

I think the students were most interested to meet Jaime Loo, a graduate from Mission High who came out through wrestling and had a very positive, empowering experience through the sport. (See February 3 www.ebar.com/columns/column. php?sec=sports&id=325.) But sadly, his story seemed to be a sharp contrast to the discouraging experiences so many young people in that room expressed.

For many, it seemed as if they were problems their teachers wished would go away.

So we encouraged them to choose their battles, not to edit themselves out of sports because of what they fear if they truly want to try them, and to reach out to the resources available. We made some referrals to the National Center for Lesbian Rights. And we told them how much sports meant for us and how through sports, we have built supportive families.

A fine collection of “game plans” for physical education classes, athletes, coaches and administrators exists on the website of the Changing the Game project of the Gay, Lesbian

Robby Davis

The name of Dr. Tom Waddell was added to the Circle of Friends at the National AIDS Memorial Grove.

and Straight Education Network.

The common theme throughout them? Include would-be athletes, don’t isolate them. It’s a good thought for this holiday season.

Waddell’s spirit honored Dr. Tom Waddell’s name was added this year to the Circle of Friends at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

Waddell, a doctor and Olympian athlete who died of AIDSrelated complications in 1987, founded the Gay Games.

NBA adds protection As expected, the National Basketball Association announced last week that the new players’ collective bargaining agreement recently approved has added sexual orientation to its nondiscrimination language. The NBA thus joins the NHL, Major League Baseball, the NFL and Major Indoor Soccer in protecting job protection for gays ... but not for transgender individuals or gender identity.

Soccer fans say, ‘Gay? Fine by me’ A study by the University of

<<

Foundation funding From page 2

floor of the Westin St. Francis for the morning reception, which was underwritten by a donation from Merrill Lynch. Total giving by Horizons will exceed $1.65 million in 2011.

The grants range from $1,500 to $35,000 and are being provided to organizations that strengthen and support LGBT programs in three areas of focus: community issues, elders, and people of color. Recipients include anchor LGBT community organizations and smaller, community-based nonprofits that rely heavily on grant funding such as that from Horizons.

One organization receiving a grant was Lavender Seniors of the East Bay, which will use the $27,000 to increase the hours of its care coordinator; expand the Elder-Friendly Emblem Project; and improve its technological capabilities in order to better track and serve clients.

“Our volunteers do not only address social issues, but other areas of concern as well,” Dan Ashbrook, executive director of Lavender Seniors, said at the breakfast.

He addressed the problem of younger seniors who are stuck in nursing homes who can’t afford to “get out.”

Somos Familias of Oakland received a $5,000 grant for

Staffordshire published in the most recent edition of the Journal of Sport and Social Issues indicates that nine out of 10 British soccer fans say there is no place for homophobia in the sport, and 40 percent blame clubs, agents, and other players as the biggest obstacles to players coming out.

“Football’s gay players have been reluctant to come out,” said study leader Ellis Cashmore.

“Their reasons for remaining silent lie inside the football industry rather than in the crowds. Most fans are embarrassed by the popular conception of football as a homophobic environment.

It is an impression, they believe, maintained by a code of silence orchestrated and enforced by agents and clubs.”

The British publication the Independent reported that although the chairman of the Association of Football Agents said it was “utter nonsense to suggest that a sports agent would place any pressure on a client confirming or denying or concealing his sexual status,” Paul Miller, treasurer of the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association said, “We know of gay and bisexual players being advised to remain in the closet by their agents fearing the effect it would have on their ‘saleability’ in the transfer market.”▼

programs to create and support and acceptance for Latina/o LGBT youth and their families. Laurin Mayeno, coordinator, showed a clip of the group’s short film aimed at helping families accept their children for who they are.

“We as family members and parents have to believe that it’s our job to send this message to the world that we need to love our children,” said Mayeno.

The nonprofit plans on using the grant money to continue to make videos that spread the message of equality to minority families.

Doughty closed out the breakfast with thanks to everyone in the room.

“Today brings together donors, funders, and grantees in one room, and I want to thank you all,” he said.

He noted that the LGBT community had a lot to celebrate over the past year, including milestones such as the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” marriage equality in New York, and the Obama administration stating it would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court.

“Changes also happen on a smaller level, a community level, and that’s the kind of work Horizons grantees do,” he said.▼ For a list of all grantees and to read the full report provided by Horizons, visit, www.horizonsfoundation.org.

ebar.com

Obituaries >>

▼ Former Milk Club president Michael Goldstein dies

by Cynthia Laird

S

an Francisco political activist Michael Goldstein, a former president of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, died Friday, December 2 at UCSF Medical Center of complications related to stage four non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and AIDS. He was 58.

Mr. Goldstein survived nearly 25 years with HIV. Friends said that Mr. Goldstein was able to experience his longtime commitment to quality health care for all through the wonderful care he received at San Francisco General Hospital, Laguna Honda and UCSF. In his final days, Mr. Goldstein had a steady stream of visitors – progressives, activists, politicians, and friends – who came to pay their respects and show appreciation for his deep dedication to creating a better San Francisco.

One of those who visited Mr. Goldstein was Carole Migden. The longtime San Francisco Democrat and former state senator served with Mr. Goldstein on the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee.

“Michael was a lovely man, eventempered, bright, and had a zealous heart,” Migden wrote in an email.

“His activism was fierce, his beliefs dogged, but he hated arguments.

His contribution and those of many others keep the machinery and the mechanics well-oiled. Also, he was a good time, always fun to encounter, always upbeat about life,

December 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

not a common characteristic among political die-hards.”

Mr. Goldstein had found his true community in the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, serving as its president in 2004. He threw himself into Democratic Party politics, and was elected to the DCCC in 2004 from the 13th Assembly District. He was re-elected to the DCCC and was serving as its fourth vice president at the time of his death.

State Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) issued a statement following Mr. Goldstein’s death.

“My thoughts and prayers are with Michael Goldstein and all those who loved him,” Yee said. “With the utmost class and dignity, Michael was a true progressive leader who always fought for justice and the most vulnerable in our society. I was proud to work with him on so many important causes, including HIV/AIDS prevention, civil rights, education, and open government. Michael will be sorely missed by our community.”

Aaron Peskin, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and the former president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, told the Bay Area Reporter that Mr. Goldstein was “part of the backbone of the San Francisco Democratic Party – in addition to being a lovely and thoughtful person.”

“It’s a great loss,” Peskin said, adding that Mr. Goldstein spent six years doing the painstaking work of chartering and re-chartering local Democratic clubs.

“He didn’t fit into any niche,” said

Former Milk Club President Michael Goldstein

Peskin. “He had a surprising and refreshing way of analyzing things.”

Michael Warner Goldstein was born on September 23, 1953 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He grew up living in and later leaving a city where he was misunderstood and life was difficult, eventually migrating in the early 1980s to San Francisco, looking for a place to put down roots. It was the San Francisco political community that embraced Mr. Goldstein, where he blossomed, following his passion by giving his all to further progressive politics in his chosen city.

Early on, Mr. Goldstein became a sales associate with Neiman Marcus, where he met his close friend and roommate, Lorae Lauritch. At Neiman’s he dressed many of San

Israeli bi activist visits San Francisco

by Heather Cassell

A

new voice is rising out of Israel’s LGBT movement. Brash, honest, and passionate, she is a bisexual feminist who is sex-positive and unapologetic: Completely different from what the movement has produced in recent years.

Anat Avissar, director of foreign relations of the Aguda, Israel’s oldest LGBT rights organization, was recently on a three-week tour of America and Canada. The purpose of the trip was to raise awareness of LGBT rights, in particular marginalized communities, within Israel’s LGBT community, which Avissar presented in a series of speeches dubbed the “Minority Report – Diversity, Identity, Ethnicity and Gender in the Israeli LGBTQ community.”

On the road with Avissar was Mike Hamel, the chairman of the national board of the Aguda for the past seven years. An IT professional, Hamel has brought the organization into the 21st century.

Founded in 1975, Aguda was the first national Israeli LGBT organization. For more than 35 years, the group’s leadership and mission has served as an advocate and safe haven for LGBT and women Israelis – Jewish and Arabic-Palestinian – among the multitude of ethnicities, nationalities, and religions that contact the organization.

Aguda is staffed mainly by volunteers and part-time social and psychological workers with several satellite offices throughout Israel.

It is the frontline contact for queer individuals seeking help in the Middle East as well as the political voice advocating for policy changes in Israel.

Violent world “I went there as a power lesbian,”

Jane Philomen Cleland

Anat Avissar is the director of foreign relations of the Aguda in Israel.

Avissar, who now identifies as a bisexual woman, said about the gay male dominated leadership of Israel’s LGBT movement and accepting her position at Aguda earlier this year.

Avissar, 30, who also is a columnist who writes about LGBT issues in Israel for YNET, the online edition of Yediot Achronot, sat down with the Bay Area Reporter in November to talk about the state of queer Israeli women’s and LGBT people’s lives in Israel after speaking to a small group at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center.

Israel’s LGBT community, while the most progressive in the Middle East, is struggling with providing services in many areas: from supporting its senior population to disabled individuals to preventing bullying and homophobia in schools, the military, and the workplace, Avissar said during her talk at the center.

Violence remains one of the “greatest challenges” that LGBT Israelis and Middle Easterners face, Avissar said.

See page 12 >>

Francisco’s “A List” and loved to gossip about them. The privilege he dealt with daily at Neiman’s gave him a political perspective he never forgot, friends said.

While still in New Mexico, Mr. Goldstein studied political science and economics, which laid the foundation for his later entry in 1998 to City College of San Francisco, where he received an AA degree and certificate in paralegal and legal studies. Mr. Goldstein become president of a progressive student organization at City College and began implementing his political ideas, consulting with the chancellor, deans, department chairs, and student leaders. He was on the Dean’s List in 1998-1999 and elected to Who’s Who Among Students in Junior Colleges in 1999. Ironically, years later, he was appointed to the City College Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, representing the SF People’s Organization where he was a founding member. His questioning on the oversight committee helped bring attention to the mishandling of funds by City College.

After obtaining his paralegal certificate, Mr. Goldstein worked at Positive Resource Center and AIDS Legal Referral Panel. This work on behalf of people with HIV/AIDS – like himself – was critically important to him, friends recalled.

Mr. Goldstein worked to elect

many progressive candidates, and according to Eileen Hansen, “Michael was noted for standing up to other gay men – along with other gay men – in his strong support of progressive women candidates. He worked hard to win support in the Castro for our District 8 supervisor campaigns in 2000 and 2002. He also worked to elect Alix Rosenthal for District 8 supervisor in 2006 and Debra Walker for District 6 supervisor in 2010. He became good friends with all three of us through our campaigns and he took those losses very hard.”

It was his close friends Walker and Lauditch who were primary caregivers to Mr. Goldstein in the time before his death.

Mr. Goldstein leaves behind a political family that will miss his acerbic wit, his political skills and commitment, and a compassionate heart often hidden under his “porcupine nature.” He also leaves his roommate and close friend Lauditch and their two cats, Missy and Cadeau; Walker; his sister and brother-in-law Karin and Tomas Butchart; and niece Marisa Butchart.

A celebration of Mr. Goldstein’s life is planned for Sunday, January 22, from 3 to 5 p.m., at SEIU Local 1021, 350 Rhode Island (entrance at 17th and Kansas streets). For more information, contact Hansen at eileenhansensf8@yahoo.com.▼

<< Community News

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 15-21, 2011

<<

HAFC-Walden House From page 8

and lives with his half brother in the city while he continues to work on his artwork. He declined to disclose his half brother’s name.

Eisen doesn’t know if the success rate of LGBT clients is different than their straight counterparts, she said.

She is sensitive to the challenges and multiple issues transgender individuals and women face around and with substance abuse. To help transgender and female clients, including mothers with their children, HAFC-WH provides tailored residential programs, she said.

The bottom line is that HAFCWH’s clients reflect San Francisco’s population, Eisen said.

<<

Black AIDS From page 1

hard by budget cuts, which included the loss of more than $250,000 in HIV/AIDS prevention contracts this fall. Since the summer of 2010 it has cut about a quarter of its staff, which now totals 16 people.

“Like many nonprofit agencies, BCA is challenged in this economic recession with shrinking resources but growing needs,” wrote board president Dian Harrison in the agency’s 2011-2012 community report. “To be sure, these are challenging times. But with the help of friends, allies and potential funders, I believe we can help turn the tide and support our community on the road to better health.”

Learning of the agency’s fiscal situation, John F. Weber, a leader within the city’s imperial court system, recruited a number of prominent black LGBT leaders to throw a “Soulful Holidays” benefit this Sunday, December 18 at Castro club Trigger. Among those helping out

<<

Out in the World From page 11

Women in minority communities often suffer from corrective rape inflicted by their families and communities and live in poverty.

Homophobia continues to plague various communities.

The personal and public violence Avissar has experienced fuels her fight for peace in Israel.

In the Middle East, survival and violence is the common theme that streams through each day and night for LGBT individuals and women. Israel is the only country in the Middle East that provides protection to LGBT individuals.

“Everyone knows you can’t be gay and Arabic,” Avissar said, with sarcasm in her voice.

It’s dangerous and difficult work to conduct outreach to Palestinian LGBT individuals, but Avissar doesn’t

<<

Homeless From page 1

He took down the tribute to Villamore late last week, but will put it up again for December 21.

Also that day, San Francisco’s Coalition on Homelessness and San Francisco Network Ministries are planning an interfaith memorial for those who have died while homeless this year. The service will start at 5:30 p.m. at Civic Center Plaza.

Visit www.cohsf.org for more information.

Shelter progress Even for people who have found an indoor place to stay, there can still be problems. At a Board of Supervisors committee hearing more than a year ago, in March 2010, many LGBTs testified about harassment in San Francisco’s shelters.

Not long after the meeting, work

Ray of light Four months after the merger, HAFC-WH is healthy, strong, and producing new programs and services.

This fall, HAFC-WH launched Social Model Detox, a shortterm alcohol and drug treatment program that accepts referrals and people who walk in off of the streets seeking care. The nonresidential treatment service has an open door policy that allows clients to return of their own will as many times as they want, said Eisen.

Leaving the door ajar is important because it takes most people who are dependent on alcohol or drugs “multiple attempts” to get on the path toward recovery, said Eisen.

Alcohol and drug dependency is a

“chronic chemical brain disorder,” making it a real challenge to sever dependency, she explained.

The agency is also rehabilitating its prison program, and extending its reach to Los Angeles, where it will also provide similar services to parolees, she said.

“I feel a tremendous passion for both organizations and the clients.

I really love what I do. I love the clients that I work for. I’m lucky that way,” said Eisen.

“Never stop trying to get help.

Everyone can change and there is no shame in having to continue working on it,” she added.▼ For more information, visit www.hafci.org or www.waldenhouse.org.

<<

Gay clergy

▼

(in all likelihood, the archbishop): presumably, my participation as the first openly out gay bishop, legally married according to the laws of the state of California, might suggest approval of gay marriage.”

Charles, too, indicated he was not that surprised by the archbishop’s decision.

“Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for the Roman Catholic hierarchy to denigrate, subtly and not so subtly, LGBT people and those who stand with them. The sad fact of this disrespect for the dignity of every human being is the apparent message it sends: silence,

invisibility, and even duplicity are valued as life choices,” he added.

“To be open, honest, and authentic will be costly,” Charles said.

Interestingly, Most Holy Redeemer was honored by the archdiocese in October when the church received the McGucken Award for its worship space.

The church was selected by the Archdiocese Worship Commission and the Environment, Art, and Architecture Committee as “an excellent example of environment where the setting further lends to the highest level and accessibility of liturgy for all worshippers, and is recognized as a model in our archdiocese.”▼

From page 5

are Troy Brunet, an HIV-positive man who is the first black president of the Castro Lions; Emperor 38, After Norton, Stephen Dorsey; and drag performers Mercedez Munro and BeBe Sweetbriar.

“It is one of the organizations that binds us, at least African Americans, in our community. So when they asked me to do it, I had to do it,” said Weber, who has also sought out services through the agency’s Rafiki Wellness program. “If I don’t speak up for my own folks in San Francisco, I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t do that.”

Last month a number of straight female performers hosted their own benefit for the agency. The nonprofit also launched its first-ever major donor drive this year to help it meet its fundraising goal by next summer, Lang said.

“One thing I have noticed is even though the numbers of black people in San Francisco has diminished,” said Lang, “those that remain and are able to are stepping up to the plate.”

Lang was rehired as the agency’s

executive director this spring – he had previously served in the position for four years – after the retirement of James Loyce. He would not disclose what his salary is but said it was reduced July 1 at the start of the new fiscal year.

The agency does not break out salary information for its highest paid employees on its tax filings as none make more than $100,000 per year.

Loyce told the B.A.R. he had been earning $71,000 at the time of his departure.

On its 2010 990 IRS form the agency reported total expenses of $1.8 million, with revenues short $214,804. For the fiscal year that ended this past June 30, the agency’s expenses fell to roughly $1.5 million and it had a small surplus, according to its community report.

It had projected expenses totaling roughly $1,228,788 million for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, with revenues coming in at $1,234,789.

The agency is exploring strategic partnerships with other agencies, but Lang would not disclose which

nonprofits he had approached. Asked if there were any fears the agency could close its doors, Lang dismissed such concerns and said that was not an option.

“That is not my focus,” he said. “I am focused on how to make sure we remain viable and of service to the community.”

In addition to providing HIV prevention services, the agency operates an 11-bed transitional housing program for homeless HIVpositive individuals. Its mission also includes addressing health disparities, such as diabetes, liver and kidney disease, and high blood pressure, within the black community.

“I do think there are more opportunities for health disparity funding,” said Lang. “But we cannot run away from HIV. AIDS is having a devastating impact on our community.”

According to city statistics, black people account for less than 6 percent of San Francisco’s population but comprise 14 percent of those living with HIV and AIDS.

Black women comprise 45 percent of all women diagnosed with AIDS through 2008.

The agency’s board has set a goal of seeking more grant funding and corporate sponsors to offset the loss in government support. It also wants to revise its organizational infrastructure, such as updating its board membership and governance policies, so it is better able to “sustain the health and wellness services” the agency provides.

“BCA has been in the forefront of the AIDS epidemic in the black community since its inception, and we intend to continue the fight until the disease has been curtailed,” stated Harrison.

The fundraiser takes place from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday night. The club is located at 2344 Market Street.

Tickets will be sold at the door and cost $10. A special VIP reception and party is $40 per person.

No one will be turned away due to lack of funds, said Weber.

To learn more about BCA, visit www.bcoa.org. ▼

care and is determined to succeed, she said.

“The queer community, it’s very pro-Palestinian, even in Israel,” said Avissar, pointing out that many queers remove themselves from “everything that smells Zionist or government.”

She deeply believes that the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians isn’t an excuse for violating queer Arab rights.

“That’s what I do for a living,” Avissar said about protecting LGBT Arabs who call into the organization’s hotline or show up on Aguda’s doorstep seeking help. “Conflict is not an excuse.”

Avissar estimates Aguda’s helpline receives up to 300 or more calls a month from Palestinians and Middle Easterners abused and tortured who are seeking assistance.

Queer Palestinians who are shuttled through illegally, dubbed the “rainbow underground,” show up at

Aguda and are quickly directed into the court system where they are then safe to remain in Israel, said Avissar.

She couldn’t say how many queer Palestinians escape from their homeland to Israel annually. The number is sealed behind Israel’s legal system.

“I’m proud to be an Israeli. My Israel has to do with human rights,” said Avissar, a descendent from Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel.

“The Holocaust to me is the very basis for any fight regarding human rights, anything, because us, the people who are decedents of the survivors, know the dreadful consequences of allowing human beings to treat other human beings as animals,” continued Avissar.

A representative of Bibi San Francisco, the LGBT Middle Eastern organization, did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Warrior woman

about why her voice is heard. “I can’t change me, so I will have to change the world, and for what it’s worth, I’m doing it.”

Avissar dreams of saving 5,000 lives, running Aguda’s hotline nonstop day and night, 365 days a year, and opening more satellite offices throughout Israel equipped to provide mental health and social services.

The San Francisco event was sponsored by A Wider Bridge, Keshet, the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund (LGBT Alliance and Israel Center), and the Israeli Consul General’s office.

To learn more, visit glbt.org.il/en/ aguda/articles.php?articleID=1626.▼

began to establish a space welcoming to LGBT homeless people at the Dolores Street Community Services-operated shelter at 1050 South Van Ness Avenue.

The anticipated completion date has been pushed back several times.

Those involved now predict the 24-bed space will be open by midFebruary.

Supervisor David Campos, one of two out board members, led the 2010 hearing and has been involved with establishing the Dolores Street space. He said that he’s “not satisfied” with the progress “in the sense that I had hoped all along the shelter would open sooner rather than later. It’s been quite some time since we had the hearing” and called for creation of the shelter.

The biggest hurdle has been construction of the gender-neutral bathrooms, according to some involved. The number of agencies

taking part has also slowed things down.

“There’s a lot of people with a lot of different opinions,” said Brian Basinger, director of AIDS Housing Alliance/San Francisco.

Another challenge has been working with non-LGBTs, including some city staff, and “educating them about our needs,” he said.

The nature of the shelter has also complicated matters. Unlike other sites, the Dolores Street space won’t be segregated by gender. Organizers have wanted to balance privacy with being able to monitor for safety.

Basinger said the shelter would include a small annex next to the showers where people “can put themselves together so they can present in whichever way they want.”

Despite the problems, Basinger remains enthusiastic about the site, which he believes will be the first of its kind in the country.

“I feel good,” he said. “I feel like it’s something we’re going to be proud of.”

Marlon Mendieta, Dolores Shelter program director, said although the process has taken longer than anyone had expected, “We needed to do this right.”

He estimated that operating the shelter space would cost about $163,000. That money, which comes from the city’s Human Services Agency, will go toward paying staff and other costs, he said. The funding will be part of Dolores Street’s ongoing contract with the agency but hasn’t been guaranteed for a specific number of years, he said.

Mendieta said his organization would probably need at least two full-time and two part-time staff for the space, which will open at 7 p.m. and close at 7 a.m. each day. He said that his organization would reach out to LGBTs “and see if we get qualified people from within the community”

Survival is a badge that Avissar wears proudly on her lapel. She said that she has been raped, endured domestic violence, and has been beaten for being a pansexual queer and a drag king.

“I don’t see myself as a leader. I see myself as a fighter, a warrior,” said Avissar, who was named after the goddess of love and war and goes by “James Bondage” when she’s in drag.

Violence sparked her career at the age of 14 in Rabin Square, when she stood an estimated 30 feet away from gunshots that rang out, killing then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin 16 years ago. Violence continued to shape her life as she witnessed LGBT members of her own community being attacked as they marched in the streets of Jerusalem during Jerusalem Pride and World Pride in 2005 and 2006.

“I never shut up,” said Avissar,

Got international LGBT news tips?

Call or send them to Heather Cassell at 00+1-415-221-3541, Skype: heather.cassell, or heather@ whimsymedia.com.

to work as shelter monitors.

Current staff at the existing shelter has already been trained on working with the LGBT community and would receive additional lessons on working with LGBTs, Mendieta said.

The space is designed to be welcoming to LGBTs 18 and over.

Residents will be able to stay for up to 90 days, and could additionally get two 30-day extensions.

Josh Reamer-Koehl, who’s 21 and bisexual, became homeless seven years ago when “My Mom just ditched me.” He’s been in San Francisco for just over a year. He said he probably wouldn’t stay at the Dolores Street space because he’s not planning to stay in the city much longer.

He said he mostly stays in the Castro because “It’s probably one of the more relaxed parts of the city,” although people can be “just fucking rude.” Reamer-Koehl usually See page 13 >>

▼ <<

Community News >>

Political Notebook

From page 7

He has also represented Santa Clara County on Caltrain and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. Yeager has been particularly focused on bringing BART to San Jose, extending the city’s Vasona Light Rail and improving its Diridon Station.

Just this month the VTA awarded a $772 million contract to the firm of Skanska-Shimmick-Herzog to build a 10-mile stretch of the new BART extension from the Santa Clara/Alameda border to Berryessa.

Construction could start in March, and the Berryessa line is slated to go into service in 2018.

It is one of three phases that brings BART into Santa Clara County, noted Yeager.

“Construction is already under way that will extend BART from

<<

Gay couples From page 3

Study. “It won’t be a fully blown intervention. We will see what works and what doesn’t work.”

Redesigned The study questions have been completely redesigned based on the findings of the first set of interviews.

And the researchers this week relaunched the study’s website, www. gaycouplesstudy.org/index.html, in order to begin enrolling participants.

The surveys look at such relationship dynamics as communication, intimacy, power dynamics, couple serostatus, sexual behaviors, and sexual agreements.

“Things new to this version of

<<

Brutal deaths From page 1

didn’t rob Canul-Arguello.

Lilien didn’t respond to an interview request for this story.

Diaz is in custody in San Francisco County jail. His bail’s been set at $5 million.

Omid Talai, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office, said he couldn’t comment on the medical examiner’s reports in either the Canul-Arguello or Baker cases.

However, he said that as the charges indicate, his agency believes CanulArguello’s death was “deliberate and premeditated,” not accidental. He

<<

Homeless From page 12

sleeps outside Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, at 18th and Diamond streets, with his dog and a sleeping bag to keep him warm.

Two out California lawmakers – Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and Assemblywoman Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) are on the Assembly’s Select Committee on Homelessness.

<<

HUD From page 3

and other facilities throughout the metropolitan area. Up to an estimated 89,000 LGBT seniors live in Los Angeles, but up to 75 percent of them live alone.

“That type of isolation can be detrimental to them,” said Kathleen Sullivan, the center’s director of senior services.

HUD announced in June 2010 that prospective grant recipients must comply with local and state anti-discrimination laws that include sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. The agency also unveiled a new media campaign in April designed to ensure that LGBT Americans have equal access to housing.

its current endpoint in Fremont to the Warm Springs area at the Santa Clara/Alameda border. When future funding is secured, the final phase of this project will send the BART line underground through downtown San José to the City of Santa Clara Caltrain Station,” he wrote.▼ Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check www. ebar.com Monday mornings around 11 a.m. for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion.

This week’s column details the disclosures in gay Republican presidential candidate Fred Karger’s new memoir.

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

Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 861-5019 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

December 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

Jolly gifts for the holidays

J

ust in time for the holidays, the organizers of the Sundance Stompede presented a check for $24,176 to the AIDS Emergency Fund and the Stop AIDS Project at their holiday party Sunday, December 11. From left: Jason Vincent; AEF Executive Director Mike Smith; Michael Armentrout, AEF deputy executive director; Robert Mison, Stop AIDS Project board member; and Dave Hayes, of the Sundance Stompede. Since Stop AIDS is now part of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the money will go to that agency’s portfolio of prevention services, spokesman Ryan McKeel said.

William Hardcastle

this study, we are also looking at other kinds of agreements, such as safety agreements, to prevent HIV transmission from one partner to another. We also are looking at what happens when agreements are broken,” said Beougher. “We are also trying to take the temperature of the community to see if people are open to testing with their partner.”

The questioning is extremely invasive, said one participant in the first round. But it led to a healthier relationship with his partner.

“The questions were very detailed and it actually made us question aspects of our relationship we never articulated before,” said Berkeley acupuncturist Kyle Miura.

Miura, 44, and his partner, Jonathan Pang, 32, who is a nurse,

have been together seven years.

They first took part in the study in December 2006 and spent the next three years taking part in it twice annually.

Each time they would use the $80 stipend they received to pay for lunch immediately after being surveyed.

They found the process valuable for strengthening their bond with one another and recommended gay male couples they were friends with to take part.

“For us it caused us to communicate better, to talk about our attitudes and about our relationship,” said Miura, adding that he and Pang would like to be part of the next phase. “We do still check in and that helped us to really do that, to ask good questions. For us it

strengthened our relationship.”

The researchers hope their data will inform how to help other gay male couples better communicate with one another about their sexual practices outside of a clinical setting.

“Hopefully, we will be able to implement interventions specifically for couples. Specifically relating to HIV prevention for couples,” said Dyer.

The study’s outreach team will be hitting movie theaters, transit centers, and museums to recruit couples starting in the new year. They will also be looking for people from the East Bay, South Bay, and as far as Sacramento.

The only selection criteria the researchers would reveal are that each of the partners must be at least

18 years old and both men, while surveyed separately, must participate in the study.

Once again participants will receive $40 per person ($80 per couple) for each visit. Instead of being interviewed by a person, as during the initial phase, this time it will be done electronically.

Those enrolled will be asked to complete five computerized surveys over a three-year period. Each followup visit will occur at approximately six-month intervals.

“What is important for people to know is even though we are still here, the survey we spent the last year intensively revising it. It is very different,” said Beougher. “We tweaked a lot of things. There are a lot of new questions in there.”▼

couldn’t say what the motive may have been.

Assistant District Attorney Heather Trevisan is prosecuting the case.

In the February case, Baker was found stabbed, strangled, and beaten in his apartment at 1035 Bush Street.

In March, Waheed Kesmatyer, 25, who police said was Baker’s roommate, pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder. A date for the preliminary hearing is expected to be set January 9.

The medical examiner’s office completed its review of Baker’s

death on Monday, December 5.

The B.A.R. examined a copy of the report, which listed the cause of death as “multiple traumatic injuries.”

Baker had “very deep lacerations with near decapitation” around his throat, the report says. A small knife blade was embedded in his skull, and there were long incisions on his face, among the more than 80 injuries described in the document.

An electrical cord had been wrapped around his neck and what looked like ceramic fragments were found in one of his wounds.

Crack and marijuana pipes were found near Baker, as well as two

broken knives. The toxicology report indicates that Baker had been smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol.

Police found blood smeared in several places at the scene, the medical examiner’s report says, including a bedroom and the elevator in the hallway.

Deputy Public Defender Hadi Razzaq, who’s representing Kesmatyer but has previously declined to comment on the proceedings, didn’t respond to an interview request for this story.

Asked about what appeared to be a vicious killing, Talai said, “I think it’d be speculative for

me to say what state of mind the defendant was in, other than we felt, given the knowledge we had, it was appropriate to file this as a firstdegree murder.”

He added it would be “improper” and speculative for him to say “whether or not [Kesmatyer] was angry or this was revenge.” Talai also said he couldn’t comment on whether Kesmatyer had been under the influence of drugs when he allegedly killed Baker.

Kesmatyer is being held in San Francisco County jail on $10 million bail.

Assistant District Attorney Diana Garcia is prosecuting the case.▼

Atkins, who chairs the committee, said they’ve had several hearings around the state, and she would release a report in January that encapsulates their work and includes recommendations.

Ammiano said a hearing in San Francisco is “definitely on the radar.”

“So many gay youth come here thinking it’s the mecca,” he said, only to find doors closed in their faces.

Ammiano said his biggest

concerns for LGBT homeless people include having safe places for them to stay. He said he also wants to see employment training, job placement, and counseling. He and his staff are working on establishing a statewide standard for LGBT cultural competency in delivery of services.

Additionally, Ammiano has introduced Assembly Bill 683. The bill would require the Department of Housing and Community

Development to create an integrated data warehouse to compile prescribed information on homeless people from collaborative agencies.

The purpose would be to develop a composite portrayal of the state’s homeless population, as well as the services provided to them. It would include demographic data showing sexual orientation, as well as gender identity and expression.

Atkins said she wants to see a

permanent source of funding for supportive housing. She also hopes to see an interagency council on homelessness that would bring various state agencies together to coordinate their efforts involving homeless people.

“My goal is we need to stay focused on this,” Atkins said. “We are not going to solve this problem overnight,” and with the recession, the problem is “getting worse, not better.”▼

Kenneth Johnson of HUD’s Office for Civil Rights cited a settlement that the office reached with three nursing homes that refused to admit a person with HIV. Under the settlement, the nursing homes issued new non-discrimination policies and required staff to attend mandatory staff trainings on them and federal patient privacy regulations. Johnson noted an additional 200 nursing home beds are available to those with HIV. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced in June that his agency had proposed a rule that would bar discrimination against LGBT people who seek access to HUD-funded programs or apply for Federal Housing Authoritybacked mortgages. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

advised state Medicaid programs in the same month that they could extend limited spousal protections to same-sex and domestic partners.

California adopted these provisions earlier this year.

The Defense of Marriage Act forbids Medicaid from extending direct benefits to same-sex couples, but Donovan personally backed marriage for gays and lesbians last month.

One way that service providers hope to address the lack of affordable housing for LGBT seniors is to build more so-called LGBT-friendly developments.

Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing’s Triangle Square in Hollywood offers 104 affordable apartments – including 35 that have been set aside for people with HIV/AIDS and

others who are either homeless or atrisk of becoming homeless. The first tenant moved into the development in February 2007, and the last vacant apartment was rented by the end of that year.

The Center in Halsted in Chicago hopes to break ground early next year on a development that will feature 75 apartments and street level commercial space that could house a clinic and other healthrelated services.

The proposed $19 million William Way Senior Residences in Philadelphia will feature 56 onebedroom apartments in a new six-story building in Center City.

A combination of city and state sources have contributed $8 million to the proposed development, while the remaining $11 million will come

from the sale of low-income housing tax credits that are expected to take place by early summer 2012.

“There’s a need for LGBT senior housing, and it can be done,” said Mark Segal of the dmhFund, which will develop the project with Pennrose Properties. “The funds are out there.”

Segal is also publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News.

Other organizations taking part at the summit included Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Elders; the National Center for Transgender Equality; Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund; the National Black Justice Coalition; the National Senior Citizen Law Center; and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.▼

Nob Hill murder

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

14 • Bay Area Reporter • December 15-21, 2011

Classifieds

t

Legal Notices>>

The

Legal Notices>> statement file A-033956900 The following person(s) is/are doing business KING CONSULTING, 2038 Divisadero St.,Apt. #304,SF,CA 94115.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Christopher King.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/17/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/17/11

Nov 24,dec 1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033956400 The following person(s) is/are doing business FETE CATERING,3487 21st St., #3,SF,CA 94110.

This business is conducted by an individual, signed Charles D. McCreight.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/17/11

Nov 24,dec 1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033958500 The following person(s) is/are doing business COOK & COMPANY 870 Market St.,Suite 576,SF,CA 94102.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Douglas E. Cook.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/16/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/18/11

Nov 24,dec 1,8,15,2011 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0301883-00 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as AWAKENED SEED,610 Clipper St.,Suite A,San Francisco, CA 94114.This business was conducted by an individual, signed James R.Joseph. The ficticious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/02/07.

Nov 24,dec 1,8,15,2011

nOTICE OF APPLICATIoN to sell AlCOHOLIC BEVERAGEs Dated 11/15/11 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : JESSICA LYNN VOSS. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 71 Stevenson Street, Suite 1500, San Francisco, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 858 FOLSOM St., San Francisco, CA 94107-1123.

Type of license applied

41- On-sale beer and wine – eating place dec 1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033962300 The following person(s) is/are doing business YT ELECTRIC CO.,2526 32nd Ave.,SF,CA 94116.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Rurong Chen.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/21/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033962100 The following person(s) is/are doing business KING OF THAI NOODLE #2,346 Clement St.,SF,CA 94118.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Thongchai Chaichaiana.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033956600 The following person(s) is/are doing business BURGER URGE,1599 Haight St.,SF,CA 94117.

This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Jack Mogannam.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/17/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033965400 notice of petition to administer estate of CATALINA A. WONG,AKA CATALINA WONG, AKA CATALINA A. LAW: Case Number: pes-11-295237 superior court of california county of san francisco 400 Mcallister, sf, ca 94102 Petitioner Elaine Law-Lau To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate or both of CATALINA A. WONG,AKA CATALINA WONG, AKA CATALINA A. LAW. A petition for probate has been filed by ELAINE LAW-LAU in the Superior Court of California, San Francisco County.

The petition for probate requests that ELAINE LAW-LAU be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate.

The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act.(This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)

The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. a hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: December 27, 2011, 9:00 am Probate department, Rm 204, 400 McAllister street, San Francisco, Ca 94102 If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or a contingent creditor of the descendent, you must file with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within four months from the date of first issuance of letters as provided in Probate Code Section 9100. The time for filing claims will not expire before four months from the hearing date noticed above. You may examine the file kept by the Court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice(form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for the petitioner: Maureen O’Connell, SB#069233, 999 W.Taylor St., Suite B,San Jose, CA 95126 408-297-6004

Dec. 8,15.22,2011

The following person(s) is/are doing business 1.LEXCENTREX,2.MUNDARTZ AG,3.PAPER NAPKIN,4.SENIOR ELDER AMERICA,301 Main St.,Suite 28A SF,CA 94105.

This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Myron H. Marshall.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/23/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/23/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033961400

statement file A-033968700 The following person(s) is/are doing business TC & ASSOCIATES,2748 Stewer St.,SF,CA 94123.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Amir A.Talebi.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 11/28/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 state of california in and for the county of san francisco file# cnc-11-548237 In the matter of the application of JOMO KENYATTA for change of name. The application of JOMO KENYATTA for change of name having been filed in Court, and it appearing from said application that JOMO KENYATTA filed an application proposing that his/her name be changed to JESUS. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Room 514 on the 24th of January, 2012 at 9:00 am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

Nov 24,dec 1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033954200 The following person(s) is/are doing business STUDIO TUCSON, 735 Montgomery St.,Suite 250,SF,CA 94111.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Cassie Griggs.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 11/16/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033937200 The following person(s) is/are doing business GOLDEN GATE SPEED DATE, 2206 Bryant St.,SF,CA 94110.This business is conducted by a general partnership, signed Joanne Gunderson.

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 11/0811

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033966600 The following person(s) is/are doing business WEST COAST PROPERTY SALES, 601Leavenworth St.,#42,SF,CA 94109.This business is conducted by an individual, signed John M. Pashby.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 11/23/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0329559-00

The following person(s) is/are doing business ENDODONTIC ARTS OF SAN FRANCSICSO,3113 Geary Blvd., SF,CA 94118.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Vladimir Shuster.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/11

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as BEST IN TENSION,999 Sutter St.,San Francisco, CA 94109.

This business was conducted by an individual, signed Peter J. Donovan. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/09/10.

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033962600

dec 8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033974900

The following person(s) is/are doing business THE UNLUCKY RABBIT,575 Cole St.,Apt.208,SF,CA 94117.This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Jacqueline Supman.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/22/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/22/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033931300 The following person(s) is/are doing business DINORA’S JEWELRY & FASHION,3218 21st St.,SF,CA 94110.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Irma D. Salguero.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/04/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/04/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0304081-00 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as KING OF THAI NOODLE HOUSE 2,346 Clement St.,San Francisco, CA 94118.This business was conducted by a corporation, signed Sara Thang.

The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/15/07.

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033971700 The following person(s) is/are doing business V&V FLOWERS,1455 Market St.,SF,CA 94103.

This business is conducted by a husband and wife, signed Van Lam.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/29/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/29/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011

The following person(s) is/are doing business CORONA HEIGHTS CONSULTING GROUP, 1222 Clayton St.,#11,SF,CA 94114.This business is conducted by a general partnership, signed Mark Sloman.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 11/30/11

dec 8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033950600 The following person(s) is/are doing business DOCTOR’S LOUNGE,4826 Mission St.,SF,CA 94112.This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Rochelle McCune.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 11/15/11

dec 8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033981400 The following person(s) is/are doing business POPSUGAR SHOP,111 Sutter St.,15th Floor,SF,CA 94104.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Sean Mecnew.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/02/11

dec 8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033983900 The following person(s) is/are doing business PROPAGATE DESIGNS,2728 Mission St., SF,CA 94110.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Melissa A. Hawkins.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/05/11

dec 8,15,22,29,2011

statement file A-033978400

statement file A-034000800

The following person(s) is/are doing business BAY SUBS & DELI,2486 Sacramento St., SF,CA 94115.This business is conducted by a husband and wife, signed Sang Woo Lee..The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/01/11

The following person(s) is/are doing business DOTTIE’S TRUE BLUE CAFÉ,28 6th St., SF,CA 94103.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Kurt D. Abney.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/17/93.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/13/11

dec 8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033985600

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033961300

The following person(s) is/are doing business INFINITY LIMOUSINE,845 Florida St., SF,CA 94110.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Corwin Chan.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/06/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/06/11

The following person(s) is/are doing TOMBOY PAINTING, 254 Montana St., SF,CA 94112.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Lydia S. Gonzales.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/24/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033991700

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0303656-00

The following person(s) is/are doing business ALBERS AND ABLERS, 197 Downey St.,SF,CA 94117.This business is conducted by an individual, signed John B. Albers.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/08/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033987600 The following person(s) is/are doing business THAI HOUSE 530, 530 Valencia St., SF,CA 94110.

This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Krittiya Meeriyagerd.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/07/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/07/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033979700 The following person(s) is/are doing business HOT COOKIE,407 Castro St., SF,CA 94114.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Daniel Glazer.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/01/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033986900 The following person(s) is/are doing business PAPER KITE FILMS,1226 46TH AVE.,#1, SF,CA 94122.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Anne Marie Fruit.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/06/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/06/11

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as BRAND X ANTIQUES,570 Castro St., SF,CA 94114.This business was conducted by an individual, signed Timothy J. Flint. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/01/07.

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0336352-00 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as HOUSE 530, 530 Valencia St., SF,CA 94110.This business was conducted by a corporation, signed Krittiya Meeriyagerd. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/17/11.

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012

ebar.com Hauling>> Hauling 24/7 441-1054 Lg. Truck

e25w

Upkeep>>

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033994000 The following person(s) is/are doing business ALBERT ELECTRIC,2735 39TH AVE., SF,CA 94116.

This business is conducted by an individual, signed Richard Albert Campbell.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/09/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033996100 The following person(s) is/are doing business SMILE,1002 Scott St., SF,CA 94115.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Lawrence Lauterborn.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/12/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/12/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033996600 The following person(s) is/are doing business FOG CITY NEIGHBORHOOD CAB DISPATCH SERVICE, 979 Bryant St.,SF,CA 94103.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Sonny Tam.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/12/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/12/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033996500 The following person(s) is/are doing business FOG CITY NEIGHBORHOOD CAB DISPATCH SERVICE, 1407 Irving St.,SF,CA 94122.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Sonny Tam.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/12/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/12/11.

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033993500 The following person(s) is/are doing business BRAND X ANTIQUES,570 Castro St., SF,CA 94114.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Timothy J. Flint.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/09/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/09/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-034000700 The following person(s) is/are doing business TK LIMO TRANSPORTATION,420 Oriente St., Daly City,CA 94014.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Tham Cheang Gip.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/13/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/13/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012

Brookline Electric 415-239-5393 Small Jobs Now

E26W

t Household

Read more online at www.ebar.com

Services>>

December 15-21, 2011 • Bay Area Reporter • 15

Counseling>>

Legal Services>> PATRICK MCMAHON

The Law Offices of

BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY We file Chapter 7 & Chapter 13 for individuals & small businesses who face: • WAGE GARNISHMENT • CREDITOR HARASSMENT • FORECLOSURE • TAXES • REPOSSESSION • STUDENT LOANS

• GOVERNMENT DEBTS

Gaylesta2x2_0610CN

Bankruptcy may be the answer...

FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION (415) 543-9338

703 Market Street, Suite 1109 • San Francisco, CA 94103 www.bklawclinic.com • patrick@bklawclinic.com

415-729-3996

For Sale>>

Tech Support>>

2 graves together, GG bridge vu Oaklnd’s Mt. View www.YesThisIsEasy.com

MACINTOSH HELP * home or office * 20 years exp * sfmacman.com

E43W

Real Estate>>

PAUL K CLEANING SERVICE Experienced and thorough.

Bonded. pauljk4@aol.com 415-516-3433

Instant Free Database of San Francisco’s Top Gay Realtors

E52W

prune your tree

E52W

Arborist with Amazing Aesthetic & Pruning Skill. Fruit Trees, Holiday Decorations 334-3334 Super Housecleaning Services Call David for pricing, availability, and services. 415 225 7994

E50W

Cleaning Professional 25 Years Exp (415) 664-0513 * Roger Miller

E05W

Did you know Tom Burdick(1950-1993)?

Law Offices of

Timothy J. O’Donnell

No obituary was written, but he deserves to be remembered.

Seeking friends’ descriptions / memories of Tom plus a picture as an adult (with Bob?) to complete his life story.

RobertNorgaard_1x1_2111 E-mail: orygunwolf@yahoo.com

Bankruptcy, Debt Collection, Estate Planning.

Relax.

415.951.1983

Place your ad here and on our website and let it do the work for you.

E49W

E52W

Housecleaning since 1979.

Many original clients. All supplies.

HEPA Vac. Richard 415-255-0389

E51W

$44 wkly.Overall cleaning of home or apt. Once $59, Monthly $49.

Fast paced,professional service. In BAR 15+ years. Seniors, disabled, small place $5 off. Equipment furnished.JR.415-205-0397

E51W

House/Pet Sitting

Good with all types of Pets.

Responsible, Reliable, References.

415-378-0219

E52W

Movers>>

TimothyODonnell_1x2_3011

Notices>>

E50w

Quality Housecleaner.

Polish,wash,iron.

Call Jose 415-225-4963

R ic k 41 5. 82 1 . 1 792

WWW.GAYREALESTATE.COM

PsychotheraPy

RobeRt NoRgaaRd, LMFt Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist mfc 42553

Therapy for individuals and couples

Now taking most insurance!

WWW.ROBERTMFT.COM

415.419.2404 LIFE COACH

Have a healthy, sexy and happy relationship.

Groups/Individuals 415-309-5105 for info.

County of Alameda Supr. Court. Dept 31. Any reason to deny Petition changing Rosemary L. Finnigan to proposed name Mrs. Robert J. Finn – must appear for Judge Ron Rolefson three days in adv hearing schedule: January 27,2012 at 201 Thirteenth St. Oakland,at 9:30am Client_size_issue Case no RG 11592109

PRO HYPNOTHERAPY

Call David at 415-861-5019 for rates and details.

To place your print and online Classified ad, go to

ebar.com

The

BAYAREAREPORTER E48w

http://www.tjolawoffices.com

The

Classified Order Form

Fax to:

Deadline: NOON on MONDAY. Payment must accompany ad. No ads taken over the telephone.

Get over it, to it, or through it: If you have a question, call 415.861.5019. Display advertising rates available upon request.

Bay Area/Skype/Phone (Relationship, grief,self-esteem,confidenc Indicate Style e,motivation,sexuality,substance 395 Ninth Street Type S.F. CA XBOLD and BOLD stop here Here use,phobias,emo-clearing,habit PHONE 415.861.5019 FAX 861-8144 change,trauma,memory, depression,NLP) www.guidedmindtour.com Heron Saline,CHT,CMT 415/706/9740

Fax from:

E49w

ebar.com Rentals>> RATES for Newspaper and website: First line, Regular 8.00 All subsequent lines 5.00 Web or e-mail hyperlink 5.00 CAPS double price BOLD double price X-BOLD triple price PAYMENT:

Cash

Personal Check

Contact Information Name Address Number of Issues

Mail with payment to: Bay Area Reporter 395 Ninth Street SF, CA 94103 OR FAX TO: 415.861.8144 OR E-MAIL: baradv@aol.com

Credit Card Payment Name Card Number Expiration Date Signature Money Order

City Classification

Visa

MasterCard

AmEx

Telephone State Amt. Enclosed

Zip

Fax to:

19

21

22

O&A

24

Out &About

Wild ride

Smiley faces

How Freudian

The

www.ebar.com/arts

Vol. 41 • No. 50 • December 15-21, 2011

Spirits of Christmas past

San Francisco Ballet’s ‘Nutcracker’ returns

San Francisco Ballet dancers Maria Kochetkova and Gennadi Nedvigin in Helgi Tomasson’s Nutcracker.

~ by Paul Parish ~

Erik Tomasson

T

he nation’s oldest Nutcracker came out of the mothballs at the Opera House last Friday night for a new round of Christmas performances, and the old girl’s looking very well indeed. The show runs through Tues., Dec. 27.

The Nutcracker was exceptionally well danced by everyone, especially the Sugar Plum Fairy, Frances Chung, whose gracious high spirits, backed by thrillingly solid technique, revealed the heart of this noble music and made us love it all over again.

San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker has held the stage for almost 70 years now, going through many redactions since it was first performed during World War II, when it showed a vision of everything Americans held closest to our hearts, everything that the soldiers were fighting to save. It was “I’ll be home for Christmas” turned into a two-hour drama, seen from a sparkling point of view.

Tchaikovsky’s music is backward-looking, drenched in homesickness – it’s no accident

that Tchaikovsky was gay, that his vision is so emotional, idealized, romanticized, poignantly nostalgic, with delicate memories of the tree, the foods, the grandparents, the slightly scary, wizardly old bachelor-uncle, the excitement.

Within the story, the point of view is a little girl’s: how a quarrel at the Christmas party with her bratty brother, who grabs her favorite Christmas present (her Nutcracker doll, made for her by her queer uncle) and breaks it, is resolved in her dreams and turns into

an escape from the family imbroglio into a dazzling second-act world of freedom and importance.

Despite the proliferation of Nutcrackers everywhere (Christmas is full-employment time for dancers), Nutcracker is a spectacle that only an opera house can present properly.

It is a major piece of theatrical engineering, Lucasfilm-scale, the forerunner of today’s CGI fantasy-films. Big stage magic is required for See page 29 >>

What’s up in the galleries at year’s end?

by Sura Wood

A

trio of San Francisco-based gay artists – John Bankston, John Waguespack and S. Brett Kaufman – each pursuing and realizing vastly different visions in solo shows at local galleries, are among those featured in a month crowded with exhibitions. Yearning for a respite from the soul-crushing grind of holiday shopping, or simply an artlover seeking refuge in culture rather than commerce? Take a look.

Rena Bransten Gallery Smoke and Mirrors: African-American artist John Bankston has utilized the playful visual

vocabulary of childhood coloring books, role-playing and excursions into makebelieve to muse on sophisticated adult issues of identity, sexual and racial, through fantasies of African-American cowboys, pirates and other imaginary characters. His most recent sculptures and paintings, inspired by a visit to an old Alabama steel mill and its workers in the racially charged South, mark a new chapter in the continuing saga of the Rainbow Forest, whose inhabitants sprout immense beards and big hair in response to the proliferation of machines that can

transform whoever looks at them. Dec. 15Jan. 28, 2012. www.renabranstengallery. com The McLoughlin Gallery Deconstructing Hollywood: John Waguespack spent a summer in the Southland, and his new exhibition represents the fruits, sour and sweet, of his stay. Celebrity, superficiality, sun-drenched environs and the less attractive aspects of glamour – we know it was suspect all along – infiltrate the artist’s abstract, Pop Art vibe, and form a commentary on a See page 28 >>

{ SECOND OF TWO SECTIONS }

Courtesy Rena Bransten Gallery

“Looking Forward” (2011) by John Bankston.

Sculpture: oil and acrylic on epoxy clay and wood; backdrop: oil on panel.

<< Out There

18 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 15-21, 2011

▼

Recipe for a red-hot editor’s note

by Roberto Friedman

A

few weeks ago Out There caught a screening of director Gereon Wetzel’s documentary El Bulli: Cooking in Progress, a candid look at the influential chef Ferran Adria; his experimental cuisine, a so-called “molecular gastronomy”; and the ephemeral temple of his art, his nowclosed restaurant/ cooking school outside Barcelona. It was an interesting cinematic look at a demanding, creative professional.

We got to thinking about the exalted place that chefs hold in our current “foodie” culture. Adria is shown to be imperious, opinionated, impatient, even short-tempered, but that is all OK because after all, he is a genius, and El Bulli is the result of his persistent vision. Popular culture has room for television programs and Internet hype about chefs and restaurant culture in ways it never

celebrates teachers, social workers or nurses. What does that say about our never-sated appetites, our evergaping maws?

If a newspaper or media outlet is a great restaurant, then its editor is its chef. The character and strengths of a publication follow from its editor’s vision, her or his choices of spices, seasonings, even portion sizes. Think of an editor as the one wearing the toque. Would a master chef tolerate being interrupted in the midst of preparing a meal, for example, to take a call from a paprika salesman?

We’re in a ruminative mood this week after a misinformed blogger posted sensational claims on the Internet to the effect that the Castro Theatre would stop presenting films on its silver screen in the new year. This blogger’s only source was a disgruntled former employee, and before going public with his incomplete (indeed, misleading) information he did no fact-checking,

Ferran Adria, “the most influential chef in the world,” at a Castro Theatre appearance in October.

Steven Underhill

Adria signing his cookbook at the Castro Theatre.

made no effort to confirm the claims with a second source, never reached out to Castro management for comment. Of course this unsourced rumor-mongering went viral on the Net, cropping up on lazy blogs that never do any independent reporting of their own, climaxing when veteran film maven Roger Ebert tweeted the death knell of the Castro. Hearsay Gone Wild.

Last week we spoke by phone with the Castro’s new general manager and film booker Keith Arnold, who assured us that the theatre will continue offering classic films, festivals, rep programming and live events. A subsequent press release and letter from Castro Theatre director Don Nasser put it clearly. “Recently, there have been rumors about the theatre’s future and that radical changes will occur. There is absolutely

Steven Underhill

no truth to those rumors.”

We have no qualms about calling out this blogger on his lack of professionalism, since he’s made a meal out of telling other people how to do their jobs for a long time now – and frankly could stand to skip a lunch or two. But the failure of this new media model is larger than one blogger’s belly, it’s systematic.

Namely: what might have stopped misinformation from fast becoming disinformation? All together now: It might have helped if this blogspurt had had an editor.

Here’s another SF blogger reporting on a recent concert of the San Francisco Symphony: “I will always remember the sound of this 15 minutes and particularly Elizabeth Rowe on solo flute literally morphing herself into a babbling brook in the center of a huge, clear ensemble.”

Really, literally? That must have been something to see. Most people don’t think they need an editor. Most people are sorely deluded.

Hotel California As the great humorist Fran Lebowitz once said, “Some people want to go back to nature. I want to go back to the hotel.” One odd result of Out There having spent quite a bit of time in hotels, often on press trips, is that we have all sorts of hotel schwag lying around our domicile, provoking one dear old friend who should know better into inquiring, “Do you work for the W Hotel?”

In “Room with a Purview,” author Will Self stays in the W Hotel in London and says “Wow!” for T magazine. “‘Wow’ is very W – it stands for ‘whatever, whenever,’ as in, ‘whatever you want, whenever you want it,’ and they aim to fulfill this preposterous promise, although I didn’t put them to the test since most of my extempore desires are either obscene or illegal, or both.”

Journalist Guy Trebay in the NY Times Travel section describes “My Life in Hotels,” from the Hotel Ritz in Paris to a Best Western in Gallup, N.M., and offers helpful hints, such as: “You hear stories in hotels because strangers volunteer information,” and, “I am aware that the bed may have cooled just moments before my arrival, and I also know by now to ditch the bedspread at first chance because, as the gossip columnist Cindy Adams once put it with jaunty crassness, ‘That thing has seen more action than Kim Kardashian.’”

But we love a hotel room and

really don’t mind that its bed might have been a red-hot spot in the hours before the last check-out. Remind us to tell you about the time a bouncing baby concierge in a Berlin business hotel accompanied us to our room and personally demonstrated all of our bed’s remote-controlled amenities. He got tipped big.

Cheeky PR of the week 1. “Frank DeCaro reminds us that many Hollywood celebrities enjoyed cooking long before it was ‘cool.’ The man everyone knows as the movie critic on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has compiled recipes from over 145 of Hollywood’s favorite stars who are no longer with us and included them in The Dead Celebrity Cookbook. People are breaking tradition and inviting their favorite dead celebrities to their Christmas dinners via their recipes; in fact, having dead celebrity cooking parties is fast becoming the latest Hollywood trend. This has huge appeal for Hollywood trivia buffs, foodies, or anyone who loves great recipes spiked with hilarious commentary, such as, ‘feasting on Sinatra’s barbecued lamb, taking at stab at Anthony Perkins’ tuna salad, or wrapping your lips around Rock Hudson’s cannoli’ (and really, who hasn’t?).” It’s so much harder to sue for unauthorized use when you’re dead.

2. “NuVo Condoms announces NFL Week 12 winners for the NuVo Protection Plan: Alex Smith of the San Francisco 49ers sacked nine times! The results for the Week 12 winners of the NuVo Protection Plan have been tallied, and this week was a blow out! Alex Smith of the San Francisco 49ers killed the competition this week as a third-time recipient of the NuVo Protection!

Poor Smith was sacked nine times over the weekend, as the 49ers didn’t take care of business for the third time. With all that penetration, Smith needs some real protection this week!

“Luckily, generous NuVo Condoms donated a 48-pack of condoms to help keep Smith safe, since he clearly needs some serious help.”

“All that penetration!” Does this count as actionable libel?

Correx of the week From the old Out There mailbag! ‘[Opera director] Francesca Zambello enjoyed the article ‘Easy on the eyes & ears’ [Out There, Dec. 1, 2011] discussing ‘barihunks.’

See page 19 >>

▼

Theatre >>

December 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 19

Kevin Berne

Patrycja Kujawska, as one incarnation of the bedeviled title character, finds a suitor in a clumsy prince (Stuart Goodwin) in The Wild Bride at Berkeley Rep.

Grimm delight

by Richard Dodds

T

here is only one way that someone could tell that the stage interpretations of Brief Encounter and The Wild Bride came from the same creator. You’d have to zero in on what can make the electrons in our brains dance in different steps yet with some similar exuberance detectable only to some yet-to-be invented gauge to be planted deep inside the gray matter.

But with dissection ruled out, the wondrously inventive brain of coartistic director Emma Rice and her collaborators at Kneehigh Theatre from UK’s Cornwall region will have to be taken as a mystery of theatrical alchemy that can turn the trodden into fresh paths of interpretations through empirical evidence only. Exhibit A: The cinematically, technically playful adaptation of Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter at ACT in 2009. Exhibit B: The purely theatrical reinvention of a fairy tale only through glorious storytelling now at Berkeley Rep. The Wild Bride should delight anyone interested in the magic of imagination that only theater can provide. Based one of the Brothers Grimm’s lesser entries in their fairy-tale canon, one that has been sweetened despite amputations and even the death of a Bambi figure, it is presented as a folktale that emerges from a rustic place during America’s Great Depression. On the most basic level, it is the battle between purity and evil, but Rice and her English collaborators have turned what could be a simple butting of wills into a theatrical rendering of song, dance, movement, and simple but exquisite visual effects.

While comedy is not an accurate word for the proceedings, an almosthammy sense of humor is woven through the proceedings. When a bad pun is dropped, the perpetrator turns to the audience with a giveme-a-break shrug. At other times, the humor comes from the quirky whimsy of the dialogue. “I love ya like ferrets love a drain pipe,” says a father to his daughter, and then accidentally sells her to the devil. Later, when the now-nomadic title character purloins a pear, its owner declares, “I take fruit crimes very seriously.”

Fortunately, he is also a prince,

<<

Out There

From page 18

However, she would like to note that she coined the term ‘barihunk’ when she cast Nathan Gunn in Iphegenie en Tauride at Glimmerglass Opera, now the Glimmerglass Festival, in 1997. Francesca then later used the

a kindly galoot, who instantly falls in love with the girl despite her lack of hands; he outfits her with some Edward Scissorhands implements.

(Long story short, but Dad did some chop-chop on the devil’s orders.)

But once her prince is off to war, the bride is back to wandering the forest with the devil always waiting for her to sully herself so he can claim his prize. The devil loses this game, but a game is all it is to him, and he sets up shop for his next hunt. “Given half a chance,” the devil confides, “I like to upset the apple cart.”

Throughout this fanciful story, Rice, who is the adapter and director, creates a kind of worn but enchanted Appalachia where musicians and the performers themselves often break into Carl Grose and Stu Barker’s tuneful songs that range from bluegrass to big band, from Celtic to klezmer. Three actresses – Audrey Brisson, Patrycja Kujawska, and Eva Magyar – play the title character at different points in her journey, but all three are always in close physical approximation, providing syncopated back-up movement for whichever performer is in focus. Words are scant for these three women, but they are expressive in other ways that continually deliver emotional involvement.

Stuart McLoughlin is the devil – part-carny, part-wiseacre, and part oleaginously evil. Stuart Goodwin, in Bettelheim fashion, plays both the careless father and the rescuer prince. Ian Ross leads the musical ensembles that erupt around the forlorn tree that is at the center of Bill Mitchell’s set.

Kneehigh Theater has been around for more than 20 years but has only begun venturing outside the UK in the past two years. The Bay Area has been blessed to see both those excursions, first with Brief Encounter and now with The Wild Bride.

Whenever Kneehigh is ready to send another of its productions out into the world, it’s hard to imagine it won’t find a happy way station in this neck of the woods.▼ The Wild Bride will run through Jan. 1 at Berkeley Rep. Tickets are $14.50-$73. Call (510) 647-2949 or go to www.berkleyrep.org.

term in France with War and Peace at Opera de Paris in 2000, when she cast Nathan Gunn as Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.

“All the best, “Carolyne Hall, Assistant to the Artistic & General Director, The Glimmerglass Festival.”

You’re hunkily welcome!▼

<< Theatre

20 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 15-21, 2011

▼

Olivia Newton joint

by Richard Dodds

T

here is considerable leeway available, and often used, in New Conservatory Theatre Center’s Xanadu as it swerves around ragtag as stylistic choice, ragtag as honest effort, and ragtag that giddily doesn’t care which is which.

The original 1980 screen musical rose to the level of it’s-so-bad-it’sgood, though not many theatergoers took advantage of the opportunities to see Olivia Newton-John as a Greek muse trying to open a roller disco in Venice Beach. The material did much better on Broadway in 2007, where the creators (notably gay playwright Douglas Carter Beane) could make fun of the movie, and also poke around at cheesy musical-comedy conventions and toss out some softball societal barbs at the audience.

“This is like children’s theater for 40-year-old gay people,” harrumphs Calliope, one of the helpful muse’s trouble-making sisters. There are all sorts of rules set down by Zeus for his

muses, and Calliope and Melpomene are often found cackling on the sidelines as they try to force Clio into making the fatal mistake of falling in love with a mortal. His name is Sonny, and his artistic dreams have so far led him to chalk drawings along the boardwalk. And then, poof, Clio arrives on the scene disguised as a roller-skating Australian in legwarmers to help Sonny “create an apex for where all the arts combine.”

That would be the roller disco. “How timeless,” deadpans another character.

Director-choreographer Stephanie Temple seems to have eschewed polish for a kind of Waiting for Guffman comic enthusiasm. When the muses do their dance numbers, you just have to laugh at how bright-eyed and bad they are. Jaimelee Roberts and Nikki Aria, as the conniving Calliope and Melpomene, could be Imogene Coca and Martha Raye slam-banging their way through a sketch for the first time on live television. This easygoing playfulness only goes off-track for the lack of attention given to developing

roller-skating skills that could add another layer of fun to the show.

G. Scott Lacy provided the musical direction, with most of the instrumental accompaniment prerecorded. The ELO-oriented songs are either from the film or by the same songwriters, and you’re likely to recognize many of them, including “I’m Alive,” “Evil Woman,” “Have You Never Been Mellow,” and the title song.

As Sonny, the roller disco renaissance man, Jesus Martinez, Jr. has an inviting guilelessness that always makes you want to smile.

There is an angelic softness to Chloe Condon’s Clio, though her ability to project on a par with her cast was faulty on opening night. And then there’s her Australian accent, which sounds a lot like Jean Hagen’s character in Singin’ in the Rain (or Brooklynese, if your cinema trivia doesn’t go back that far.) Joe Wicht has the “straight” role, as the grouchy landlord and the grouchy Zeus.

From high on Mount Olympus,

Lois Tema

Boardwalk artist Sunny (Jesus Martinez, Jr.) shows a disguised Greek muse (Chloe Condon) his sketchings in Xanadu at New Conservatory Theatre Center.

Zeus has been following popular culture. “The muses are in retreat,” he blusters. “Creativity shall remain stymied for decades. The theater?

They’ll just take some stinkeroo movie or some songwriter’s catalog,

throw it onstage and call it a show.”

Welcome to Xanadu.▼ Xanadu will run through Jan. 15 at New Conservatory Theatre Center. Tickets are $26-$45. Call 861-8972 or go to www.nctcsf.org.

Seriously Sondheim

by Richard Dodds

I

f there is a Stephen Sondheim fan on your holiday shopping list, but not such a fanatic that these items were pre-ordered from the day they were announced, here’s a combo package that would make a nifty immersive gift for any side-by-side-bySondheimer you may want to marry a little.

It’s a serendipitous multi-media trifecta, which will need some waiting and a bit of traveling for Part III. But what you can start stuffing stockings with now is Look, I Made a Hat (Knopf), Sondheim’s second volume of collected lyrics with periodic commentary and analysis as he brings us up to the present with his musical career. It’s for someone who already has Finishing the Hat, and if the recipient does not have Volume I, sorry, you’re pretty much obligated to deliver on both. You can’t have one without the other.

On the other hand, if you’re a true believer, you can never have too many cast recordings of Follies.

The latest is a two-disc pressing of the current Broadway revival that many expect will be the last bigbudget production that the script demands but theaters can no longer

handle. That opulence doesn’t come across in the recording (PS Classics), which is professional and polished, but doesn’t often deliver on moxie. What it does have are welcome musical components and connecting pieces of dialogue that have not been recorded before.

Ever since Capitol Records botched the first original cast recording back in 1971 – the label insisted the songs be pruned and condensed, if not outright deleted, to get it onto one LP – there has been continuing interest in getting a definitive version. A concert version helped, and a London production was fully recorded with a starry cast – except Sondheim got talked into swapping out several songs for inferior replacements. (See Finishing the Hat.) More big names came together for a well-received production at the Paper Mill Playhouse, and it was recorded, but the widow of librettist James Goldman nixed a Broadway transfer, and instead supported a weak cast and budget-minded revival that few wanted to see and no one wanted to record.

The latest revival started out at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the reaction was strong

enough for a Broadway transfer, where the reviews were glowing.

That run is coming to an end in January, but here’s where the third part of your triple-headed Sondheim largesse comes in. The production and cast will move intact to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles for a May 3-June 9 run (www.centertheatregroup.org). Even if they haven’t quite yet driven the golden spike to open our new bullet train, zipping down to L.A. to see a show is a whole lot easier than the transcontinental journey to New York.

After eagerly listening to the cast album of the new production, I hope that experiencing it in a fully staged environment will improve my perception of the performances.

The original Follies offered a oncein-a-lifetime chance to cast the roles with genuine veterans of the era being depicted, who became quasidoppelgangers of the characters they played – the stars, chorines, novelty acts, and stage-door Johnnies who have come to a final reunion thrown by a Ziegfeld-type impresario before the theater bearing his name is to be torn down. Lingering fantasies, hibernating romances, and bitter realities are played out at the party while the libretto offers flashbacks of accelerating intensity.

When Yvonne DeCarlo sang “I’m Still Here” in the original Broadway production, or when Elaine Stritch

Stephen Sondheim with the newly released Look, I Made a Hat, a companion to his earlier book about his lyrics, his process, and some of his gripes.

blasts her way through it, there’s a chill that tidy English stage star Elaine Paige just cannot elicit.

Listening to the new album, it’s also hard to warm up to Bernadette Peters’ interpretation of a stifled suburban housewife. There’s that quirky voice that doesn’t always seem to be under Peters’ direct command, and even when she is speaking, she groups words in the oddest ways.

But nothing I write will stop a real Sondheimista from buying the CD – heck, it wouldn’t even stop me – nor has it stopped me from plotting an L.A. outing next spring.

Between pages of printed lyrics, Sondheim has a lot to say about

the creation of Follies and his other shows, and does have some light dirt to spread and some grudges with critics to settle. He also deflates, with examples, the talents of some of the musical theater’s best-loved lyricists. At 80, he figures he can be an ornery cuss.

But most of the good stuff comes in the first volume, Finishing the Hat, and the anecdotes grow dry in Vol. II, as do the musicals they illustrate. It’s much easier and more fun to read pages of lyrics when the music of Company or Follies is in your head, and while Into the Woods has some of this quality, it’s less so with Sunday in the Park See page 21 >>

Joan Marcus

Don Correia, Susan Watson, Jayne Houdyshell, and Mary Beth Piel share a nostalgic moment in the Broadway revival of Follies that is headed to Los Angeles.

▼

Film >>

December 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 21

Tinker, tailor, Gary Oldman The actor discusses playing spymaster George Smiley

by David Lamble

ambiguous, gray world. Le Carre is talking subjectively, he was someone who was inside. His world can be very cold, very cruel, and it isn’t particularly glamorous.

I

’m sitting in an expensive suite in one of San Francisco’s finest hostelries across from a handsome middle-aged man with whom I bet every last one of you has logged in some stimulating if quite edgy moments in the dark. Slight of build with a figure a schoolboy would kill for, at 53 Gary Oldman is the envy of his peers, considered an actor’s actor by guys who don’t pass out such compliments lightly.

In a 24/7 tabloid world where even James Bond (Daniel Craig) can be mugged by paparazzi, and Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) keeps a huge bodyguard at his Gotham digs, Gary Oldman can pass through all but anonymously, like a ghost, or like John le Carre’s greatest creation, spymaster George Smiley. In town to promote his take on Smiley in Tomas Alfredson’s terrific reboot of le Carre’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Oldman is open to recalling the now-legendary work of his furious professional adolescence. They were films where many of us developed a huge crush on the self-assured skinny-boy Brit who starved and appeared to scar and abuse himself in his incendiary turn as the Sex Pistols’ self-destructive bassist Sid Vicious (Sid and Nancy), or as the legendary, doomed ex-con, defiantly queer playwright Joe Orton (Prick Up Your Ears). He has also appeared on stage in two of Orton’s wicked farces, Loot and Entertaining Mr. Sloane.

Here is playwright William Hoffman’s incisive description of Orton’s Sloane, a devilish boy Oldman played in his 20s – it could be the philosophical credo for Oldman’s entire career.

“Ed lives in a macho fantasy world of ‘mates,’ schoolboy fantasies, and crude sadomasochism. The object of his affections, Sloane, is a bisexual male prostitute and murderer who uses both Ed and Ed’s equally lecherous sister, Kath.

This is not a play in which to look for confirmation of love. It presents a view of people as unredeemed beasts. We raise our hands in horror, as we do with Swift and Orwell. But often we are like that.”

I find myself almost chuckling along with Oldman as we discuss Orton’s continuing pertinence, over 40 years after his murder at the hands of a crazed, jealous lover, and the odd parallels between Orton’s lovely monsters and le Carre’s George Smiley. Oldman remembers how deftly Orton could outwit attempts to censor his rebellious take on middle-class British prudery.

“We had the Lord Chamberlain back then, who would put a pencil through [the plays] and rule, ‘You can’t say this.’ Orton would find inventive ways around this. In Loot, he had Inspector Truscott opening

<<

Backstage

From page 20

with George, Assassins, and Passion.

Finally, he devotes 112 pages to the musical that has been variously titled Wise Guys, Gold, Bounce, and Road Show, with elaborate explanations of how the show about brother realestate developers has evolved despite a fairly steady lack of public interest.

In an epilogue to the second volume, Sondheim writes, “You would think that the more you wrote, the easier it would get, but no such luck. Technical facility gets

Gary Oldman stars in Tomas Alfredson’s spy thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Focus Features

a door and they [two brothers who had stolen some money] had moved the body of this woman into a closet, and the corpse fell out. The Chamberlain ruled you can’t have a dead body falling out onto the stage, so Orton has Truscott open the door and say, ‘Good god, she’s standing on her head,’ which is better!

“The irony was you couldn’t have any references to heterosexual sex, so all those references in Sloane to Kath had to go, yet Ed says to Sloane, ‘I support the Scout movement, and with me behind you boy, we can have a great future.’ He was very mischievous the way he got around the censors.”

David Lamble: I was impressed with how you put your stamp on George Smiley, a part so associated with Sir Alec Guinness in the legendary British TV miniseries. In your world, you play Hamlet at a certain moment in life, King Lear at another. Now, at 53, you are the perfect age for Smiley.

Gary Oldman: It’s a moveable feast, the birthday of George Smiley. Sir Alec was nearly 70, and that’s more like Lear, so I’m closer to the age. At the end of the day, I approached it like you would a classical part – there have been other Hamlets, other Romeos, other Lears, and it was just a reinterpretation.

At the beginning of the story, Smiley is an unemployed ex-spy.

He’s brought back by Control (John Hurt) to find a mole (counter-agent) at the Circus, le Carre’s great code name for the British CIA, MI5.

It’s in keeping with spy work out in the field: you’re really anonymous. Even to your peers, you don’t discuss what you do, even at work. So now he’s working outside the Circus for the Circus. It’s a very easier; invention does not.”

In the end, I am suggesting holiday gifts of a CD that I don’t think is particularly exciting, the second volume in a series that started off much better, and tickets to a show that won’t arrive until nearly six months after Christmas.

If one word of what I have written could dissuade you from the siren call of Sondheim, then I’m afraid the complete set of Frank Wildhorn musicals will be under your tree as the sun rises on Dec. 25.▼ BARstage@comcast.net

ebar.com

Isn’t it odd to be doing a period piece about the guys who were policing our world when we were kids?

In period films, you get used to long, flowing clothes or riding horses. But because I lived through the period, you spent an hour on the set, the production design was so fantastic, it was like a time machine.

Every prop, a bar of chocolate or the wallpaper, you’d say, “I remember that wallpaper, that’s what a train ticket used to look like.” It was a time warp, and these things carry a scent with them. Tomas, the director, told a student group, “We basically want to capture the smell of damp tweed.”

It was great for young filmmakers to hear that he didn’t look at another film.▼

<< Film

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 15-21, 2011

▼

Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud in A Dangerous Method.

Freudian slip

by David Lamble

I

n 1962, on the eve of my freshman year at Hofstra, I treated myself to one of the most obscure entries on John Huston’s long resume, Freud. I must have caught it at one of those posh, Upper East Side Manhattan cinemas where they piped in Vivaldi during intermissions and served fresh-roasted Colombian coffee. A bearded Monty Clift was the young Freud trying out his scandalous new theories about the human psyche on a gullible Viennese public. It was Monty’s next-to-last role. Leonard Maltin remembers the result as “intelligent [but] unglamorous,” and my phonebook-sized VideoHound has no record of it. I confess I don’t recall a single scene, Nearby, a 26-year-old Woody Allen was trying out comedy monologues on the first of many analysts.

Half-a-century later, the new David Cronenberg film A Dangerous Method (screenplay by Christopher Hampton, based on his play The Talking Cure) takes a stab at translating Freud for today’s Vivaldi and fresh-roasted coffee crowd. The new angle here, the super-charged if short-lived intellectual relationship between a 50-something Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and a conflicted, tormented and free-thinking Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), provides a promising if ultimately unsatisfying basis for examining one of the most important debates of the 20th century. The filmmakers’ ace in the hole is the married Jung’s incendiary, transgressive relationship with a female patient, 18-year-old Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley).

Act I, where we meet the players, does produce some sparks. There’s a feral chemistry between Knightley, as a violent hysteric who turns out to have been physically abused by her father, and Fassbender, the initially buttoned-down Jung.

Jung eventually turns to Freud, transforming their mentor/disciple bond into a more perplexing father/ confessor duality. This development, along with some irreconcilable differences about the underlining theories supporting psychoanalysis, eventually leads to an historic rupture between the men, which will reverberate powerfully right down to our own times.

The problem is that most of the juicy parts are front-loaded.

It’s delicious to watch Jung thrash Sabina over her ample bottom, then have the large-jawed Knightley

snap like a castrating turtle at the almost demure Fassbender (a lovely change of pace from his sex-crazed dog in Shame), but once this slutty duo rings down the curtain on the dominatrix act, the film literally peters out into the Freud/Jung dueling stogies. The first conversation between these great men is meant to condense their legendary 13-hour marathon talking jag. While the brevity is appreciated, it doesn’t address the fact that ideas, no matter how powerfully conceived and consequential, tend to flatten out on the big screen unless accompanied by emotionally engaging action or spectacular visual metaphors.

Such fireworks used to be métier of the brash young Cronenberg, whose raunchy science-fiction provocations (Videodrome, The Fly) earned him the reputation as one of English Canada’s few genuine bad boys.

John Huston’s Freud is now lost in the mists of time partly because it represented one of the rare times this man’s man pulled his punches, opted for the high-minded approach to a serious subject. It’s an occupational hazard for once cutting-edge artists. As Huston himself, as his surly, land-raping old tyrant in Polanski’s Chinatown snarls to Jack Nicholson’s nosy private eye Jack Gittes, “Politicians, ugly buildings and whores all get respectable if they last long enough.”

Freud, Jung and co. have become the respectable pillars of a thriving “talking cure industry” whose onceheretical ideas have been largely supplanted by an endless river of pills. During many long, cigarpuffing moments between geniuses in this film, my mind would turn to thoughts like, “Didn’t Freud lose his jaw to cancer due to his oral fixation? Didn’t I see a better version of the spanking number performed by lesbian vixens at Josie’s?” Or, “Didn’t the Titanic sink right about now?”

An impudent young boyfriend nicknamed Scooter once took me on a bratty sojourn through Jung’s dream theories. It was a great reminder of how male/male trysts can sizzle long after sex. Queer men once paid dearly to be abused by disciples of Freud and Jung.

Woody Allen’s comedies have long displayed a far more knowing take on the benefits of the talking cure than does A Dangerous Method, which abruptly ends right when it should pop.▼

ebar.com

▼

Books>>

December 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 23

Symphony story

by Philip Campbell Music for a City, Music for the World: 100 Years with the San Francisco Symphony by Larry Rothe (Chronicle Books, $45)

T

he San Francisco Symphony celebrated 100 years in operation and the birthday of its original concert earlier this month with a business-as-usual subscription series program that featured a visiting maestro, guest soloists and the SFS premiere of a Violin Concerto composed by the conductor himself.

That bill exhibited a comforting sense of continuity: regular weekly concertizing during a long 10-month season, presenting internationalleague musicians and continuing a clear commitment to new music.

For those of us who want a bigger, brighter candle on the birthday cake (and we are legion), the Symphony couldn’t have offered a better example of what has made it great.

They have been doing up centennial celebrations to a real fare-thee-well at Davies Symphony Hall, with special programs, parties and events that will continue through the new year.

With the holiday season upon us and gift-giving in mind there could not be a better way to celebrate the Symphony’s centennial than by reading and giving Larry Rothe’s magnificent book that chronicles all 100 glorious years, Music for a City, Music for the World. As editor for the SFS program book and coauthor of some excellent tomes on music including American Mavericks, Berkeley resident and historian Rothe has accomplished the seemingly impossible. The whole sprawling history of the fabulous institution we have loved like family for decades is presented in a lavish, old-fashioned coffee-table format with hundreds of fascinating photos, sidebars, anecdotes and a remarkably cohesive narrative. From the rise of the city from the ashes of the great quake of 1906, the SFS has never stopped to consider its daunting mission. It has also taken it as a given

that the mission will never end.

Rothe gets off to a relatively slow start detailing the local climate and citizenry at the time of the orchestra’s birth. It’s fascinating to get a glimpse of the attitude of San Franciscans back in the day (unsurprisingly, just as confident, brash and open-minded as the present). An introduction to the visionaries who got the wheels in motion is instructive. The author chronicles a Who’s Who of important Northern Californians and American and European movers and shakers, against the backdrop of a city and audience that has always hungered for the best and brightest in music.

The story starts to pick up with the World War II years and the exponential growth of the Symphony’s outreach and audience base. Early tours, recording projects and educational programs are all described with clarity, and illustrated with absorbing graphics.

For those of us who came in during the exciting Seiji Ozawa years,

then followed the orchestra to its own home at Davies Hall (yep, we were there for the opening gala!), reading the book is like looking through a family album. We matured along with Edo de Waart (and his thenwunderkind composer-in-residence John Adams), listened in admiration as Herbert Blomstedt grounded the band in the central repertoire, and have remained enthusiastically faithful right up to the current glory days with fearless leader Michael Tilson Thomas on the podium.

Music for a City is definitely a book for dipping into. We can excuse the sheer heft and size of the edition.

Commuters may not be able to schlep it on BART, but it makes for a great read at home on a cold winter’s night, and as a reference source, it is invaluable. The big book is also highly entertaining. There is something endearing evident on every glossy page. It seems Rothe is as much in love with the city and the San Francisco Symphony as the rest of us.▼

Mothers & sons

by Jim Piechota Conversations and Cosmopolitans by Robert & Jane Rave; St. Martin’s Press, $14.99

M

others can be beautiful, but they can also be the source of a gay man’s worst nightmare. Just ask Robert Rave, a Los Angeles-based satirical novelist (Spin, 2009; Waxed, 2010) and former public relations wizard, whose heartfelt, long-winded “gay letter” to his parents via U.S. mail when he was a 21-yearold college graduate spurred heartache, happiness, and revelation – all of which is detailed in Conversations and Cosmopolitans, a dual-authored, somewhat schlocky memoir.

Relayed in alternating voices, Rave son and Rave mother chime in to dictate the anxieties and struggles of offspring coming out to parents vs. a parent’s initial shock and resistance to accept what is out of their control to change.

Mother Jane is an Illinois housewife who internalizes the fall-out of her son’s shocker. She discovers she must shoulder the burden of acceptance on her own once her husband, Robert’s father, emerges both gracious and accepting of his son’s problematical disclosure, remarking, “At the end of the day, does it really matter? He’s

our son. He was before the letter. Why should it change now?” Definitely a glorified exception to the everyday horrors heard about others’ coming out experiences, it’s the stuff of dreams for every gay adolescent with a burning desire to spill the beans.

Mother and son meet each other halfway through daily phone calls and support-group meetings.

Robert regales melodramatic stories of his bodily obsessions (waxing, workouts, weight management),

lo loneliness and social isolation in big, bad New York City while st starting at the bottom rung in the corporate PR ladder of su success.

Jane suppresses her w worst fears that her son will e up living his life alone, and end fights to turn a deaf ear to the h homophobic, ignoramus loudm mouths at her beauty parlor.

The moments of levity and d droll, mother-son culture e exchanges far outweigh the a awkward scenes where an o overly desperate Robert a attempts to find a boyfriend a way he can, whether at any t gym or through the tricky the m machinations of chat rooms a and Internet dating (this w come as no surprise to will contemporary gay readers).

Jane eventually finds true acceptance of both her son and h herself once she backtracks to h own adolescence as an her ostracized pregnant teenager who was kicked out of school and forced to grow up way too soon.

Truth be told, the jokey, selfeffacing, coming-out-to-theunsuspecting-parents theme is undeniably well-worn territory.

These stories have been told before: some atrociously, some commandingly.

The Rave chronicles fall somewhere inbetween, depending on the reader’s experience (and patience) with middling coming-out memoirs.▼

<< Out&About

24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 15-21, 2011

Cinesex 1010 @ Oddball Film

drinks. 8pm & 10pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell.

781-9468. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Holiday Crafts Fair @ Civic Center Park, Berkeley

Vintage saucy short flicks about straight and gay sex, like VD Attack Plan (a Disney sex ed cartoon for soldiers!) and more. $10. 8:30pm. More strang short flicsk Dec 17, 8pm. 275 Capp St. www.oddballfilms.blogspot.com

by Jim Provenzano

Think global; shop local. Swap old holiday lights for new LED lights, buy handmade crafts as gifts-ceramics, jewelry, cards, clothes toys and more. 10am-4pm. Center St. at MLK Jr. Way. www.ecologycenter.org

Clam Lynch @ the Dark Room

Kinsey Sicks @ Herbst Theatre

Cut the Crap, a parody self-motivation solo show. $12-$15. 10:30pm. Also Jan 6 & 13.

2263 Mission St. www.darkroomsf.com

O&A Out & About

Twelve days before Christmas, publicists sent to me: Twelve art exhibits, Eleven musical shows, Ten comic artists, Nine choirs singing, Eight gogos dancing, Seven movies screening, Six Nutcrackers, Five toy drives!

Four Golden Girls, Three Jewish fetes, Two orchestras, And Connie Champagne as Judy G.

Thu 15 >>

Bring It On @ Orpheum Theatre

Touring musical stage adaptation of the comedy film about competing cheerleading squads. $25-$85. Tue-Sat 8pm. Wed, Sat Sun 2pm. Sun 7:30pm. Thru Jan. 7.

1192 Market St. at 8th. (888) SHN-1799. www.shnsf.com/shows/BringItOn

Celtic Yuletide @ Marines Memorial Theatre Michael Londra ( Riverdance ) brings his heartarming show of Irish music and dance to the US. Special Celtic holiday menu dinner and lunch deals at the Leatherneck Steakhouse and Lounge. $15-$100. TueSat 8pm. Wed, Sat Sun 2pm. Sun 7pm.

Thru Jan 1. 609 Sutter St. 2nd floor. 7716900. www.marinesmemorialtheatre.com

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas @ YBCA Special screening of the uncut version of the Muppet holiday film, with extended Kermit scenes. 7:30pm. Also Dec 18, 2pm.

Free (members)-$6-$8. 701 Mission St. 978-2787. www.ybca.org

Francois Truffaut Films @ Castro Theatre The Soft Skin (3pm, 7pm) and Shoot the Piano Player (5:15, 9:15). $10. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

Great Russian Nutcracker @ Flint Center, Cupertino Moscow Ballet’s touring production of the Tchaikovsky ballet, with a 30+ corps, beautiful traditional backdrops and 300+ costumes. $28-$98. 7:30pm. 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino. (800) 7453000. www.nutcracker.com

The Jewish Nutcracker @ ODC Theater World Dance Fusion’s multi-genre ethnic dance revisioning of the Tchaikovsky ballet. $15-$25. 2pm & 6pm. Dec 18 2pm. 3153 17th St. www.odctheater.org

Mommy Queerest @ Bindlestiff Studio Kat Evasco’s comic solo show about her own misadventures trying to get her

Thu 15

The hilarious dragapella quartet, rounding out their latest national tour, perform their holiday classic Oy Vey in a Manger, now with extra sacrilege! $28-$39. 8pm. 401 Van Ness Ave. 392-4400. www.cityboxoffice.com

God’s Plot @ Ashby Stage, Berkeley Oakland Ballet’s Nutcracker See Thu 22 mother to come out as a lesbian. $15-$25.

8pm. Thu-Sat 8pm thru Dec. 17. 185 6th St. www.bindlestiffstudio.org

The Monster Show @ The Edge Cookie Dough’s weekly raucous drag show with hot gogo guys and DJ MC2. This week, A Very Tim Burton Christmas. 9pm2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Out in the Bay @ KALW Host Eric Jansen interviews philanthropist, author and ambassador James Hormel in a live edition of the gay radio show. 7pm. 91.7 FM. www.kalw.org www.outinthebay.com

Richard McKay @ GLBT History Museum Historian presents his essay, “Randy Shilts and the Creation of Patient Zero: Humanizing the AIDS Epidemic?” $5. 7pm. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Smuin Ballet @ Novellus Theater Local dance company performs Michael Smuin’s whimsical Christmas Ballet, and works by Amy Seiwert and Robert Sund. $25-$62. Wed-Sat 8pm. Also 2pm Sat & Sun and 7pm Sun. LGBT night out Dec 22 ($40, 6pm reception, 8pm concert). Thru Dec 24.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. 556-5000. www.smuinballet.org

Tenderloin Christmas Hustler @ Phoenix Theater Demetrius Martin’s mash-up theatre parody of many traditional TV holiday specials, as performed by strung-out hustler characters. $20-$25. Thu-Sun 8pm. Thru Dec 23. 414 Mason St. 6th floor. (800) 8383006. www.tenderloinxmashustler.com

Three Sisters @ Eureka Theatre 42nd Street Moon’s staged concert production of the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical; not about the Chekov characters, instead, it’s a precursor to their later musical Carousel. $20-$50.

Wed 7pm, Thu-Fri 8pm. Sat 6pm Sun 3pm.

Thru Dec 18. 215 Jackson St. 255-8207. www.42ndstmoon.org

Fri 16 >>

Anneke Eussen @ Highlight Gallery Opening reception for the Flemish artist’s unusual works (velvet-covered bicycles) and installed sculptures which transform spaces with visual deceptions. 6pm-9pm. Fri & Sat 12pm-6pm. Thru Jan 27. 3043 Clay St. 5291221. www.highlightgallery.com

The Birds @ Castro Theatre Hitchcock’s scary aviary classic! $10. 4:30, 7pm, 9:30pm. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

A Christmas Carol @ ACT American Conservatory Theatre’s annual lavish production of Carey Perloff and Paul Walsh’s adaptation of the classic holiday Charles Dickens story. $15-$105. Tue-Sat 7pm. Sun 5:30pm. Various matinees at 2pm & 1pm. Thru Dec. 24. 415 Geary St. 749-2228. www.act-sf.org

The Great Russian Nutcracker

Shotgun Players’ commissioned play written and directed by Mark Jackson; an update on the 1665 satire on the King of England. $18-$27. Thu 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm.

Sun 5pm. Thru Jan. 15. 1901 Ashby Ave. Berkeley. (510) 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org

The Golden Girls @ Victoria Theatre

Peaches Christ hosts The Shining

The Wild Bride @ Berkeley Repertory Theatre

The Christmas Episodes, the 6th annual drag stage adaptation of the hit TV show, with Heklina, Matthew Martin, Cookie Dough and Pollo Del Mar. $25-$30. ThuSat 8pm. Thru Dec. 23. 2961 16th St. at Mission. www.trannyshack.com

Touring production of Kneehigh Theatre Company’s acclaimed Broadway show with music and dance that blends fairy tale dreams and humorous yet heartbreaking realities. $27-$82. Tue, Thu-Sat 8pm. Wed 7pm (Dec 7, at 8pm). Sat & Sun 2pm. Sun 7pm. Thru Jan 1. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley.

(510) 647-2972. www.berkeleyrep.org

Handel’s Messiah @ Davies Symphony Hall

Xanadu @ New Conservatory Theatre

The San Francisco Symphony performs the classic holiday religious musical work, with guest soloists Joelle Harvey, Kelley O’Connor, Richard Croft and Michael Todd Simpson. $15-$135 (1/2-price 17 and under). 6:30pm. Also Dec 17, 7:30pm and Dec 18 at 2pm. 201 Van Ness Ave. 8646000. www.sfsymphony.org

The hit Broadway musical –based on the campy 80s Olivia Newton-John/Gene Kelly film about a mythical muse and roller skating rink– gets a local production. $25-$45.

Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru Jan. 15.

25 Van Ness Ave, lower level. 861-8972. www.nctcsf.org

Holiday Ice Rink @ Union Square

TV broadcast of the San Francisco Ballet production of John Neumeier’s dance adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson tale. 9pm PST. www.kqed.org

Marga Gomez @ The Marsh Veteran lesbian comic performs Not Getting Any Younger, a new solo show about her ‘coming of middle age.’ $15-$50. Thu & Fri 8pm. Sat 8:30pm. Sun 3pm. Extended thru Dec 17. 1062 Valencia St. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

The Nutcracker @ Bankhead Theatre, Livermore Valley Dance Company’s 31st annual production of the Tchaikovsky ballet, accompanied by the Livermore-Amador Symphony Orhestra. $18-$33. 7pm. Also Dec 17 & 18, 2pm & 7pm. 2400 First St. Livermore. (925) 373-6800. www.valleydancetheatre.com www.livermoreperformingarts.org

The Nutcracker @ War Memorial Opera House San Francisco Ballet, the home of the first U.S. holiday production of the Tchaikovsky ballet, performs Helgi Tomasson’s version, reset at San Francisco’s 1915 World’s Fair. $35-$135. 2pm & 7pm most Tue-Sun. Thru Dec 27. (no show Dec 25; Dec 24 11am & 4pm). 301 Van Ness Ave. 865-2000. www.sfballet.org

Period of Adjustment @ SF Playhouse Local staging of Tennessee Williams’ “serious comedy” about a man who brings his bride to meet his best friend. $20-$50.

Tue-Thu 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Thru Jan 14.

533 Sutter St. near Powell. 677-9596. www.sfplayhouse.org

A Tale of Two Genres @ SF Playhouse Un-Scripted Theater Company’s comic production of An Improvised Dickensian Musical, with audience suggestions. $10$20. Thu-Sat 8pm. Also Sat 3pm. Thru Dec 21. 533 Sutter St. www.un-scripted.com

Nutcracker Sweets @ Children’s Museum Marl Foehringer’s contemporary update on the classic holiday ballet, set to the Tchaikovsky score. $20-$35. Various Sat & Sun (a few weekdays Dec 20-22), 11am & 2pm.

Thru Dec. 23. 221 4th St. www.brownpaper-tickets.com

The Matter Within @ YBCA Fascinating new exhibit of contemporary Indian art; installations, sculptures and other media. Don’t miss Sunil Gupta’s alluring gay photo series Love, Undetectable and Sun City. Free-$12. Exhibit thru Jan 29. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. 978-2787. www.ybca.org

Playwrights Foundation’s annual showcase of 70 incredibly short plays. $18-$20. 8pm.

Also Dec 18, 2pm & 7pm. 1695 18th St. www.playwrightsfoundation.org

Paula Poundstone @ Palace of Fine Arts

Ladies in Waiting @ Exit Stage Left

The Little Mermaid @ PBS

Ho Ho Whore!, Laybelline’s holiday drag show at the LGBT sober space, with Olivia Hart, Velveeta Whore Mel, Serenity Heart, The Hot Mess Express and others. $3-$6. 10:30pm.

4058 18th St. www.castrocountryclub.org

One-Minute Play Festival @ Thick House Theater

Paula Poundstone

Skate around shoppers at the ice rink in the middle of downtown’s busy Union Square.

A portion of ticket sales benefit Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco. $5-$10. 10am11:30pm. Thru Dec 31. Powell St. at Geary.

781-2688. www.unionsquareicerink.com

No Nude Men Productions’ three comic plays about damsels in distress include Marie Antoinette and crossdressing werewolves. $20. 8pm. Thu-Sat. Thru Dec. 17.

156 Eddy St. www.horrorunspeakable.com

The Laybelline Show @ Castro Country Club

Nationally known comic performs her Ha Ha Ho Ho Holiday Show. $35-$40.

8pm. 3301 Lyon St. (800) 745-3000. www.paulapoundstone.com

Sat 17 Yes, Sweet Can @ Dance Mission Theater Sweet Can Productions’ acrobatics show, with live music, dance, theatre, and astounding feats. $15-$60. 8pm. Various times Tue-Sun thru Jan 1. 3316 24th St. at Mission. 225-7281. www.sweetcanproductions.com

Sat 17 >> The Air We Breathe @ SF MOMA

New group exhibit of works by 30 contemporary artists and eight poets who explore the issues of legalizing same-sex marriage.

Other exhibits ongoing. Free-$18. 151 Third St. 357-4000. www.sfmoma.org

Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi Musical comedy revue, now in its 35th year, with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs. $25$130. Wed, Thu, Fri at 8pm. Sat 6:30, 9:30pm.

Sun 2pm, 5pm. (Beer/wine served; cash only).

678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd (Green St.).

421-4222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com

Beat by the Bay @ Ever Gold Gallery Exhibit of historic Bay Area Beat Era visual artists and archival material from selected galleries of the era. Wed-Sat 1pm-6pm.

441 O’Farrell St. 796-3676. www.evergoldgallery.com

Playland @ Conservatory of Flowers New exhibit of miniature trains and buildings recreating the Sutro Baths, Cliff House and Playland amusement park of SF’s yesteryears. $1.50-$5. Also, special evening event Dec 17: Sex and Survival in the Tropics, a botanical tour and wine event. $25.

6pm. Reg. hours Tue-Sun 10am-4pm. Thru April 15. 100 JFK Drive, Golden Gate Park.

831-2090. www.conservatoryofflowers.org

Queer Comic Artists @ Cartoon Art Museum Opening reception for a group exhibit of work by Burton Clarke ( Gay Comix), Jaime Cortez ( Sexile), Ed Luce ( Wuvable Oaf ), Jon Macy (Teleny and Camille),MariNaomi ( Kiss and Tell), Trina Robbins ( Wimmen’s Comix), Joey Alison Sayers (Just So You Know), Christine Smith (The Princess), Mary Wings ( Come Out Comix), and Rick Worley (A Waste of Time); live drag acts, film screening and fun. 5:30-7:30pm. Thru March 4.

Reg hours Tue-Sun 11am-5pm. Free-$7. 655 Mission St. www.cartoonart.org

Queer Jitterbugs @ Queer Ballroom Last week of the same-sex partner dance lessons and open dancing in a variety of styles- Argentine tango, Cha Cha, Rhumba; Also Dec 19. $5-$25. 151 Potrero Ave. at 15th. www.QueerBallroom.com

Queertetto Ma non Tanto @ Holy Innocents String quartet from the Bar Area Rainbow Symphony performs works by Mozart and Dohnanyi. Free/donations. 3pm. 455 Fair Oaks at 25th/Dolores streets. www.bars-sf.org

Ho Ho Ho Party @ Nob Hill Theatre

Renegade Craft Fair @ Concourse Exhibition Center

Michael Brandon, the extra hung stocking stuffer, performs at the Christmas-themed strip show. $25 includes all shows, the downstairs cruise areas, plus food and

Shun the billionaire-owned conglomorates and buy indie at the third annual large-scale sale and display of handmade goods by 250 artists: clothing, jewelry posters, art, gar-

Sat 17

The Temperamentals @ New Conservatory Theatre Center Jon Marans’ hit Off-Broadway drama about 1950s gay activist Harry Hay’s struggle to form the historic Mattachine Society. $25-$45. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru Dec. 18. 25 Van Ness Ave at Market, lower level.

861-8972. www.nctcsf.org

Queer Comic Artists

Rick Worley

Regifting

Sat 17

▼

▼

Out&About >>

December 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 25

Fri 16

Susa, Carols and Lullabies; John Rutter: Selections from Dancing Day; Libby Larsen: Natus est Emanuel ; Kodály: The Angels and the Shepherds; plus sing-along carols and other selections. $28-$65. 7:30pm.

201 Van Ness Ave. www.sfgirlschorus.org

Claire Kelm @ Old Saint Mary’s Cathedral Soprano performs holiday music from Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic and modern eras, with harpsichordist Jonathan Dimmock. $5. 12:30pm. 660 California St. www.NoontimeConcerts.org

Feast of Words @ SOMArts Gallery Handel’s Messiah dening goods, bath and body products and lots more. Food, beverages served, too. plus workshops and more. Free.11am-6pm. Also Dec 18. East Hall, 620 7th St. at Brannan. www.renegadecraft.com/holiday-sf

Santa’s Cool Holiday Film Fest @ Castro Theatre SF Firefighters Toy program cohosts this fun day for kids and kids-at-heart. Bring a new unwrapped toy to donate at the fire truck parked outside, and get reduced admission for kids. See the restored print of the wacky 1964 flick Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, plus funny short cartoons and trailers (2pm, 5pm, 8pm). $5-$10. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

The Shining @ Castro Theatre Red rum! Peaches Christ hosts a screening of the perfect family holiday film; the creepy horror flick based on the Stephen King book where a family goes crazy in an empty hotel. Enjoy the Torrance Family Christmas Revue with Peaches Claus and the Midnight Mass Players. $20-$40. 7pm VIP fun with cocktails. 8pm show. 429 Castro St. www.peacheschrist.com

Soulful Holidays @ Trigger Cabaret drag show and benefit at the Castro nightclub. Proceeds benefit the Black Coalition on AIDS. $10-$40. 6pm-10pm.

2344 Market St. www.clubtrigger.com

Sunday’s a Drag @ Starlight Room Donna Sachet and Harry Denton host the fabulous weekly brunch and drag show. $45. 11am, show at noon; 1:30pm, show at 2:30pm. 450 Powell St. in Union Square.

395-8595. www.harrydenton.com

Stump the Drag Queen @ Marlena’s Compete in or out of drag in a fun contest for best unrehearsed lip-synching! Miss Galilea hosts; $100 first prize. 4pm-7pm.

488 Hayes St. www.marlenasbarsf.com

Sun18

Local fave singer performs her charming Judy Garland show, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. $32.50. 4pm. Also Dec 19, 8pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.ConnieChampagne.com www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Lesbian/Gay Chorus of SF @ Martuni’s A Shameless Show of Holiday Shite, the chorus’ wacky collection of traditional and whimsical holiday songs, sing-alongs, and a toy drive. So, bring an unwrapped toy for a needy kid. 4pm. Also Dec 19, 7:30pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market. www.lgcsf.org

Magnificat @ St. Mark’s Lutheran Church Baroque vocal ensemble performs Schütz’s Weihnachtshistorie ( Christmas Story) in honor of its 20th season and SFEMS’s 35th, with special guests The Whole Noyse and the Sex Chordæ Consort of Viols. $12-$35.

7:30pm. 1111 O’Farrell St. www.sfems.org

Rejoice @ Vessel Year-end celebration for the LGBT nonprofits GLAAD. Startout and Reason To Party.

Music by DJ Grind. $30-$100. 7pm-1am. 85 Campton Place at Stockton. www.rejoicesf.eventbrite.com

Sing-Along Messiah @ Dance Palace, Point Reyes Community sing-along to Handel’s classic musical work. $5-$23. 3pm. Point Reyes Station, Marin. 663-1075. www.dancepalace.org

Wed 21 >>

Drive, The American @ Castro Theatre

Double feature of manly thrillers starring Ryan Gosling ( Drive; 3pm, 7pm) and George Clooney (American, 4:50, 8:50). $10. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

Enjoy a Hanukkah/ Houdini mash-up with tour of the exhibit Houdini: Art and Magic, a music concert by the Beards, magic giftmaking workshops, a driedel spin-off and more. $5. 6pm-8pm. 736 Mission St. at 3rd.

655-7800. www.thecjm.org

Sun 18 >>

Connie Champagne @ The Rrazz Room

Veteran chanteuse’s Twisted Xmas: A Druid’s View of the Holidays, with irreverent unusual holiday songs and comedy. $30.

8pm. Also Dec 21, 8pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Conspiracy of Beards @ Contemp. Jewish Museum

Bring and donate new unwrapped toys for needy kids, and drink some beer. 12pm-7pm.

1369 Folsom St. 431-4695. www.hitws.com

Christmas concert of vocal music by Bach, and from Spain, France and the Philippines. $15-$25. 5pm. 3321 16th St. 621-8203. www.missiondolores.org

Sharon McNight @ The Rrazz Room

Thu 22 >>

Toy Drive @ Hole in the Wall Saloon

Basilica Choir @ Mission Dolores

A Literary Potluck, the new monthly event, this time with poet Arisa White reading at a potluck dinner; produced with youth chefs from Old Skool Café. Lex Leifheit and Irina Zadov cohost. $5 with a potluck dish; $10-$20. 7pm9pm. 934 Brannan St. www.somarts.org

Connie Champagne

Yuletide Beer Bust @ Kok The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence host a fundraiser with Jell-O shots, a stuffed stocking raffle, a Sister Santa and holiday fun.

Bring non-perishable food items for the SF Food Bank. $8-$10. 3pm-7pm. 1225 Folsom St. www.thesisters.org www.kokbarsf.com

Mon 19 >> David Simon @ Jewish Community Center

MacArthur Fellow and writer for The Wire and Treme discusses his career with The Hollywood Reporter’s Tim Goodman. $10$25. 7pm. 3200 California St. 292-1233. www.jccsf.org

Jackie Beat @ No Name Restaurant Enjoy drinks and light food at the bawdy LA drag queen’s act, all with a song-filled holiday theme (“I Saw Daddy Doin’ Santa Claus, “Alcoholidaze”). $30. 7pm and 9:30pm.

2223 Market St. a Noe. www.MissJackieBeat.com

Opus Q @ Julia Morgan Center, Berkeley Songs for a Winter’s Night, a multicultural holiday concert by the men’s vocal ensemble. $20. 7:30pm. Also Dec 20 & 21.

2640 College Ave. www.opus-q.org

Tue 20 >>

Angelic Voices @ Davies Symphony Hall Grammy Award-winning San Francisco girls Chorus and Chrosu School perform Conrad

Sat 17

A Gospel Christmas @ The Rrazz Room Kim Nalley, Tammy Hall and guest singers perform a soulful holiday music night. $35.

8pm. Also Dec 23, 8pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

The Nutcracker @ Paramount Theatre, Oakland Oakland Ballet’s production of the Tchaikovsky holiday ballet, with a traditional Viennese flair choreographed by Graham Lustig. Music performed by the Oakland Easy Bay Symphony. $20-$59. 2pm & 7pm. Thru Dec 24 (11am).

2025 Broadway. www.oaklandballet.org

Santaland Diaries @ Eureka Theatre David Sinaiko performs the solo stage adapatation of David Sedaris’ popular short story. $20-$50. Thu-Sat 8pm. Matiness 3pm. 215 Jackson St. Thru Dec. 30. www.eurekatheatre.org

Twas the Night @ Davies Symphony Hall SF Symphony Brass and Symphony Chorus perform carols and holiday music in a sing-along concert. $15-$68 (half-price for kids 17 & under). 7pm. Also dec 23, 7pm, Dec 24, 2pm. 201 Van Ness Ave. 864-6000. www.sfsymphony.org

Our Vast Queer Past @ GLBT History Museum See the fascinating exhibit from the GLBT Historical Society, with a wide array of rare historic items on display. New miniexhibit focuses on the legacy of activist and performer Jose Sarria. Free for members-$5.

Wed-Sat 11am-7pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Tree of Life @ Castro Theatre Terrence Malick’s impressionistic beautiful film about life’s journey, starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. $10. 2pm, 5pm, 8pm. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

Winter Solstice Party @ Hole in the Wall Saloon Celebrate the sun and winter and beer and stuff. 12pm-2am. 1369 Folsom St. 431-4695. www.hitws.com

To submit event listings, email jim@ebar.com.

Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication.

The Kinsey Sicks

For bar and nightlife events, go to www.bartabsf.com

www.ebar.com

<< Leather +

26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 15-21, 2011

▼

James Franco’s porn film

by Scott Brogan

N

o, unfortunately for us he’s not in a porn, nor is there some newly discovered torrid sex tape.

Franco is making a documentary about SF’s Kink.com. You might remember they’re the folks who purchased the SF Armory back in 2006, causing a big controversy in the neighborhood. To date, no fire and brimstone. Just lots and lots of hot gay and straight kinky sex.

Franco’s crew was at Mr. S Leather’s store on 398 8th St. in SoMa on Wed., Dec. 7, to film one of Kink.com’s regular Bound in Public shoots. Bound in Public features sexy, kinky men doing (naturally) kinky things in public locales like bars, stores, or maybe someday our apartment. Franco is usually supervising the shoots, and was previously at Kink.com to set things up. He planned to be at this shoot, but had other priorities. Let’s hope it wasn’t a call from the Oscar telecast committee. Just teasing, James! I can’t imagine what could take priority over watching hot men get free rein at a smorgasbord like the one Mr. S Leather has to offer.

But I’m biased.

No word on when the documentary will be completed and shown, but as it’s about Kink.com, you can bet the premiere will be here in SF. Maybe we’ll get to meet Franco. Perhaps it’s a good thing he wasn’t at this shoot. With all the participants and onlookers getting turned on, I think he might have found himself in an, um, uncompromising “position.”

One can dream.

Out & About The Christmas season is filled with parties, shopping, stress. A welcome stress relief is our great nightlife. We recently went out on the town to

Santiago Salsido

Kink.com’s Jessie Colter takes a break shooting Bound in Public for James Franco’s documentary.

our favorite watering hole, the Powerhouse, and had a blast. The Powerhouse has been a supporter of our community for 15 years or so. I don’t know the exact number.

But who cares about numbers when you’re having a great time with real, s e x y men of all shapes and sizes, the hottest bartenders around, and a manager who’s second to none.

This is the place to be if you want to have a great time on any night of the week.

After the Powerhouse, we met some friends at Beatbox.

This is SF’s new dance club that opened last June. It’s not a “gay club,” but it does have certain nights and events each month that are gay. Lord, I can think of a zillion things to say with that.

What a great crowd. What a great space. This was the site of a few of Will Clark’s Bad Boys by the Bay events back in the day, but it’s much better now. The whole place was

packed with men of all shapes, sizes, and ages. I said to my husband, “They seem to get younger every year.” Naturally, he replied, “No, Scott, you’re just getting older.” That makes one feel confident in a sea of hard bodies gyrating to the beat of great music.

The staff was friendly, not fake.

The bartenders were appropriately hot. Friendly, too, and they were fullon busy. Too many times I’ve been to places where the bartenders are so busy they’re rude. Not at Beatbox (or the Powerhouse). The go-go boy, make that man, we saw upon entering was beefy, hairy Spencer Reed, who moved like a real man.

So much better than some twink who only fills out his briefs because he’s skinny. Going to Beatbox took me back to my glory days. I won’t say that the music and styles were all that different, but I will say that nothing got between me and my Calvins. Well, almost nothing.

SF LDG’s 15th anniversary See page 27 >>

Coming up in leather and kink Thu., Dec. 15: Daddy Thursdays at Kok Bar (1225 Folsom). Shot & drink specials. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Thu., Dec. 15: Underwear Night at The Powerhouse (1347 Folsom). Show your undies for drink specials.

10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

ornament to decorate the Citadel’s tree and get $5 off.

Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Sat., Dec. 17: Beatpig with Juanita More! at the Powerhouse. Oink! 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Thu., Dec 15: Fight Back! Resistance Play & Kinky Wrestling with Stefanos & Chey at the SF Citadel (1277 Mission). 7:30 p.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Sun., Dec. 18: Farewell Party for Off Ramp Leathers (342A 9th St.). Join Paul & John as they say goodbye to SF. 3-6 p.m. Go to: www.facebook.com/offrampleathers.

Fri., Dec. 16: Impulse – When You Can No Longer Stand the Urge at the SF Citadel. Hosted by Stefanos and Jesse, a Men’s Only Play Party. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Sun., Dec. 18: Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Yule Tide Beer Bust at Kok Bar. Benefits the SF Food Bank, bring non-perishable food items. 3-7 p.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Fri., Dec. 16: Men in Gear Monthly Event at Kok Bar. Wear any gear for drink specials. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Sun., Dec. 18: Castro Bear Presents Sunday Furry Sunday at 440 Castro. 4-10 p.m. Go to: www.castrobear.com.

Fri., Dec. 16: Trailer Trash Girlz Annual Holiday Toy Drive at Marlena’s. Benefiting Mama’s Toy Drive.

Cocktails at 7 p.m., show starts at 8. Go to: www.mamasfamily.org.

Sun., Dec. 18: PoHo Sundays at The Powerhouse.

DJ Keith, Dollar Drafts. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf. com.

Fri., Dec. 16: Michael Brandon presents Edging at The Edge (4149 Collingwood). Go-go boys, Spankings by Chris, Sexiest Happy Trail Contest. 9 p.m.close. Go to: www.edgesf.com.

Fri., Dec. 16: Levi/Leather Toy Drive at The Bolt (2560 Boxwood St., Sacramento). Benefits Mama’s Toy Drive. 9 p.m.-close. Go to: www.mamasfamily. org.

Mon., Dec. 19: Trivia Night with host Casey Ley at Truck. 8-10 p.m. Go to: www.trucksf.com.

Mon., Dec. 19: Dominant Discussion Group at the SF Citadel. RSVP to: MommaD@sfcitadel.org. $5$15 donation. 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Mon., Dec. 19: Nasty at The Powerhouse. Get nasty for drink specials. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Sat., Dec. 17: SF Leathermen’s Discussion Group 15th Anniv. Celebration at the LGBT Center (1800 Market). 3-7 p.m. Go to: www.sfldg.org.

Tue., Dec. 20: Pit Stop Happy Hour at Kok Bar. $1 shots every hour on the hour. 6-9 p.m. Go to: www. kokbarsf.com.

Sat., Dec. 17: All Beef Saturday Nights at The Lone Star (1354 Harrison). 100% SoMa Beef & Co. 9 p.m.close. Go to: www.facebook.com/lonestarsf.

Tue., Dec. 20: Ink & Metal at The Powerhouse. 9 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Sat., Dec. 17: SF Citadel Dickens Fair Takeover with holiday-themed party to follow. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org for details about the Dickens Fair, costs, and more.

Sat., Dec. 17: SF Citadel Open Play Party Holiday Edition. Arrive in a Dickens Fair costume or bring an

Wed., Dec. 21: Bare Bear, a Night at the Baths at The Watergarden (1010 Alameda, San Jose). 6-10 p.m. Go to: www.thewatergarden.com.

Wed., Dec. 21: Underwear Buddies at Blow Buddies (933 Harrison), a male-only club. Doors open 8 p.m.12 a.m. Play till late. Go to: www.blowbuddies.com.

▼

Karrnal>>

December 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 27

The son also rises

by John F. Karr

S

o, okay, Joe Gage’s Dad Goes to College is occasionally clumsy in negotiating some set-ups. And it’s almost proudly low-budget.

But it’s the sex that matters, and that’s where Dad comes through.

Its snappy advert proclaims, “Intergenerational Goes Higher Educational!” That means we get silver-bearded daddy Allen Silver making it with the freshmen class.

But that’s not all – intergenerational takes a backseat to intra-familial.

That’s right. Dad makes it with his son. Twice.

Seems when Dad returns to school he’s gonna room with his son, played by Connor Habib. Well, Dad voices, “Carpe diem.” Which in this movie translates roughly as, “Fuck me, Sonny.” And since turnabout is so carpe, we also get, “Fuck me, Daddy,” in the father-son flip-flop which provides the movie’s climax.

They get it on in the first scene, too. They share a really long piss by the side of the house (during which they cross arcs of piss as if recreating Liberace’s Dancing Waters), after which Dad admits to feeling tense about returning to school. Sonnyboy Habib has a helpful suggestion.

“Why don’t you beat off?”

“What?” stammers Dad after an incredulous pause. Well, this being porn, Dad’s cock is soon coaxed out. When Sonny Boy grasps it, Dad nearly gasps. But, carping that diem, he grabs Sonny-boy’s bazooka right back, and pretty soon they’re hungrily sucking. “Goddamn, your cock tastes good, son,” Dad drawls, adding blasphemy to incest. And it’s not just his son’s cock he takes in his mouth – Papa Silver’s a cum consumer, too.

Matter of fact, guys gourmandize the gonad gold in nearly every scene of Dad Goes to College, but most especially Mr. Silver, who rarely meets a cock-squirt he doesn’t want to swallow.

Venerable performer Spike, whose cock is a monument, waves the big thing around at a rural pick-up site.

Enter Ben Bach, in suit and tie, lookin’ for some love-muscle on his lunch break. I like Bach a lot.

He’s tall and handsome, masculine and self-confident. Then Jake Steel arrives on the scene. He’s even taller than Bach. The vertically challenged Spike comes up to his waist (although Spike’s dick spikes past Steel’s ear). There’s a general dick-feast as they blow each other all around, and finally pump their loads onto Spike’s tongue.

<<

Ray Dragon Media

Conner Habib & Allen Silver in Joe Gage’s Dad Goes to College.

A threeway for Silver, Girth Brooks and young lad Alex Andrews sputters more than it sparks, until Brooks fucks the kid.

Andrews is so overwhelmed while getting ass-slammed that he can’t even coordinate kissing Silver.

Husky dude Will Swagger recently made a tasty debut in Pantheon Productions’ Beefcake Daddies. In this, his second film, he’s even juicier. At a roadside hotspot, he cruises tall wonder Jake Steel, who crosses the no-man’s-land between their cars with his wonder cock fully hard. I love seeing guys walk around with boners bobbing, and this is a choice moment. It’s also a choice moment for Bryan Slater to show up. His is not a wonder cock – it’s a downright miracle. So I thoroughly enjoyed the whole lotta peacocking of their cocks the guys indulge, as well as their uvuladisplacing cocksucking. But my dick-daze was rudely terminated by a jump-cut into a fuck that’s so quick and lacking in lead-in that we can only surmise who the bottom is. It’s beefy Swagger, of course, into

whose ass Steel makes a lasciviously slow entry. Then he gets going, and oh, blesséd booty, how he pumps it home. Lucky bottom Swagger gets to sit on Steel’s ass-splitter while sucking Slater’s miracle mile, and even guzzle up the ripped dude’s dream whip.

There’s some mighty impressive cock strutted by Tommy Deluca while he seeks counsel from Student Advisor Ben Bach. Allen Silver is also present, so you know Deluca’s monster wang is gonna get sucked.

Surprisingly (and disappointingly), this doesn’t result in an OCS. Silver also forgoes the jizz his son shoots all over after they’ve fucked in the next, final scene. What’s up with that, Mr. Silver?

An in-joke credits Mac Larson with the movie’s editing. Of course, that’s a nom de porn for Joe Gage, which itself is a nom de porn. The director signals his good humor when he puts a bit of Schubert under the opening credits, which helped not to confuse the movie’s low-key approach for lack of oomph. I was smackin’ my lips and shootin’ my load over most every scene.▼ www.RayDragonMedia.com

Leather +

From page 26

celebration The San Francisco Leathermen’s Discussion Group (SF LDG) is celebrating its 15th anniversary this Sat., Dec. 17, at the LGBT Community Center (1800 Market St.) from 3-7 p.m. It’s no secret that they do amazing work, have amazing monthly discussions (open to all, not just men), and organized last summer’s Is Leather Dead? community discussion.

The LDG will give out their first annual LDG service awards, Race Bannon will speak briefly on LDG’s history, and Richard Sprott, Ph.D., will speak on the LDG’s soon-tobe unveiled mentor program. Plus, Scott Wiener will present a city commendation. There will also be evil elf shenanigans, Rubber Santa, Santa’s Discipline Corner, human Christmas trees, a red carpet photo op with their favorite porn guys, raffles, and great

Beatbox

Last summer’s Rub – Up Your Alley at Beatbox.

food and drink. Plus, the community!

The celebration is open to all adults, even those who act like children (you know who you are!). It’ll be a fun event celebrating a group

whose work often goes un-awarded but never unappreciated. Go to www. sfldg.org for details.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!▼

ebar.com

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

28 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 15-21, 2011

▼

Film>>

Drive, he said

by David Lamble

W

hen I think of Ryan Gosling, I recall the Mormon kid from Ontario who told me about the sad people he grew up around; the kid actor who learned his trade at Disney World as a fifth-generation Mouseketeer; the young stud who leaped at the chance to portray a Jewish neo-Nazi skinhead; the young actor eager to freeze his butt off in Montana impersonating a melancholy rancher kid. In The Slaughter Rule, still the best queercontent film of the past decade never to have escaped the gravitation pull of Planet Sundance, he plays football for a coach who may love his misfit charges a tad too much.

When I think of Gosling, I think of an ex-Canadian who has adopted the trace of an East Coast accent and the best traits of a young Paul Newman (between Cat and Hud)

that give him a leg up on ferocious losers: the drug-addled high school English teacher in Half Nelson, the wife-killer in All Good Things, the Leopold and Loeb-style teen thrill assassin in Murder by Numbers, the slick, conscience-stricken DA who springs a better mousetrap on wifeslayer Anthony Hopkins in Fracture.

In the high-octane noir Drive (playing the Castro Theatre, Wed., Dec. 21), Gosling is a cross between Clint’s Deadly Stranger and Steve McQueen’s cop with a code (Bullitt) as a young film stuntman who moonlights as LA’s top getaway driver. His code is enforced with a stopwatch. “If I drive for you, give me a time and place. I give you a fiveminute window: anything happens in that five minutes and I’m yours, no matter what. I don’t carry a gun – I drive.”

Gosling’s driver, “The Kid,” breaks his code because of a girl (Carey

a spellbinding opener where The Kid is evading the cops to deliver some holdup goons safely into the belly of the Staples Center, before blending into an exiting Lakers’ crowd.

The next best thing is a drawn-out elevator kiss with Mulligan that gets its oomph from our knowledge that the lovers are sharing the cage with

a dangerous thug. It’s here where the blood really starts to flow, and you may be shocked at what our little Ryan is capable of. It’s the ancient Hollywood game where an A-list star is spurred by manly needs into committing beastly acts, or gets a movie-star papal dispensation.

It’s sad when a promising talent like Mulligan is consigned so early to generic girlfriend roles (remember the spunk and sass she brought to her five minutes as Jake Gyllenhaal’s dinner date in Brothers), but a gal’s gotta work, and she does, until vaporizing in a fabricated finale.

If there’s only one Gosling film on your short list this season, make it his disillusioned political operative in The Ides of March. But if you’re up for guilty-pleasure Ryan, Drive delivers stupid fantasy thrills like The Kid’s terse threat to a lying moll, “If you don’t tell the truth, I’m going to really have to hurt you.”▼

Still, it’s Violet Keppel Trefusis, whom Sackville-West likened to an “unexploded bomb,” who in her feisty way towers over the other characters in the gallery. As a personality, she simply cold-cocks the already impressive competition, but Holroyd makes a case others (including another fascinating woman, scholar Tiziana Masucci, who calls Trefusis a “literary thunderbolt”) have made: that it’s

p past time for a complete reeevaluation of her as a writer. ““Vita belonged (even in h her own time) to the past,” H Holroyd writes, “and Violet w was a European writer who rrepresented her own time.

P Partly for that reason, Violet’s n novels were more modern tthan Vita’s. She emerges like a figure from the pages of P Proust.”

It was my endless fa fascination with wealthy aand/or upper-class lesbians, p preferably with but also w without artistic leanings, that first drew me to this book.

T The relentless onslaught of ar aristocracy of all kinds in its p pages – actual royalty and G Gore Vidal make appearances – can make you forget te temporarily that everything in them is of interest only to that tiny subset of us humans who are fascinated by the varieties of sexuality and the power of the erotic. But when Holroyd writes about them, rainbow and granite seem like the only things that matter.

Over the course of this literally fabulous book, I came to regard it as escapist history – something the 20th century (my favorite of the two I’ve lived in) offered too little of.▼

Ryan Gosling as The Kid in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive.

Mulligan), then falls in with some typical B-movie baddies, including a faux-funny gangster (Albert Brooks) with a penchant for misusing kitchen utensils.

Danish-born director Nicolas Winding Refn, whose oeuvre is splatter-bent, provides honest thrills in the driving sequences, particularly

Books>>

Eminent lesbians

by Tim Pfaff

I

n one of the drier moments in A Book of Secrets: Illegitimate Daughters, Absent Fathers (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), author Michael Holroyd, among other things the biographer who outed Bloomsbury circle writer Lytton Strachey, notes: “Strachey had revitalized biography with Eminent Victorians.

In Elizabeth and Essex he tried to transform the genre from a solid craft, built on a platform of factual research, into a poetic drama based on psychological instinct and conveyed in fast-moving narrative prose – rainbow and granite.”

It’s as if the ailing Holroyd, who says A Book of Secrets will be his last book, is also first to review it, so precisely does his observation about Strachey fit his own swan song. A wild literary ride, A Book of Secrets, the last installment in a trilogy of biographical-autobiographical books that includes Basil Street Blues and Mosaic, is itself perfectly described as a mosaic.

As a reader you enter, in medias res, a story so looped and fractured that only the sheer breathlessness of the read keeps you from asking so absurdly reductive a question as what the book is about. At times it feels like it’s about a bust of Rodin’s,

<<

at others like a social history of the Villa Cimbrone on Italy’s Amalfi coast.

Reading this book of real secrets, there’s always a delicious feeling of overhearing a conversation by exceptionally smart and cosmopolitan people, but one you’re not meant to hear. But enough of the names – conspicuously, those of the three lavender lady Bloomsbury V’s, Virginia Woolf, Vita SackvilleWest, and Violet Trefusis – are familiar that you stay glued to their densely interwoven stories until the book vanishes into the ether from which it condensed.

Even Holroyd’s wife, the novelist Margaret Drabble, is a character – yet another larger-than-life one – in the story, as is Holroyd himself.

Somewhere roughly in the middle of the saga of the tempestuous relationship of Sackville-West and Trefusis, he intrudes: “And at this point, reader, I throw up my hands in despair at any of these characters behaving with proper consideration for their biographers,” including himself. “A tragic love story – for this is what it is – has been made chaotic and incredible by the tumult of contradictions.”

Lest that sound arch, it’s a word in the nick of time, for so intricately interwoven are these “characters” –

many disappear and then reappear as if in a revolving door, and all seem like major players for however long they hold Holroyd’s stage – that even the most alert reader is occasionally inclined to despair. I wish I could tell you that the price of this book gives you entree to the deepest secrets of the Vita-Violet liaison – Holroyd opens the door of the closet, but not of the bedroom – but it does bring you into sometimes alarmingly direct contact with its mysteries.

Just a peek: though Sackville-West and Trefusis knew each other from childhood, their passionate lesbian affair played out in a mere couple of years, beginning at a time when Sackville-West’s husband was on medical forced sabbatical from sex because of a venereal infection he got in a tryst with another man.

But in different ways, it was to affect the rest of both women’s lives as well as those of others around them.

Orlando, for example, would appear to be in part Woolf ’s response to her own subsequent affair with Sackville-West.

Art galleries

From page 17

company town where sex and looks are common currency, and people are commodities. Emerging from horizontally-lined canvases that call up associations with shutters or pixels, a fading Marilyn Monroe smiles through the pain in pinkish, berry hues the color of Hawaiian Punch; a sad-eyed, world-weary Dorothy Dandridge gazes out at the viewer from the shadows of her success and the damage done; and angst-ridden rebel James Dean is eternally frozen at the apex of his untarnished, youthful beauty.

Through Jan. 21, 2012. www.mgart. com 5 Claude Lane Gallery Life and Times: Photographic Works and Assemblages: S. Brett Kaufman’s ingeniously constructed portraits of historical figures are divided into three telling categories: Jews, Gays and Divas. The artist builds assemblages as if they were puzzles, putting them together piece by meticulously detailed piece like mosaics, adding fragmented

Courtesy Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco

“Mick Jagger (Drawn by the hand of a young woman)” (2011)

by Ray Beldner, ink on paper, rubber glove.

Monique Deschaines/Haines Gallery

imagery and found objects, then photographing the finished collages. They each tell a story behind a carefully crafted public persona: Harvey Milk’s grinning face reflects the light of countless glowing candles; a young Ginsberg, Anne Frank and Golda Meir form

“Face P” (2011) by Leslie Shows, ink, acrylic, Mylar, Plexiglas, metal filings, sand, crushed glass, canvas and engraving on aluminum.

a Jewish triad; a Joseph Cornellinspired diorama of Gertrude and Leo Stein’s Paris apartment takes us into an expat, art-collector

paradise; the face of a bejeweled, oblivious, soon-to-be-beheaded Marie-Antoinette was etched into the icing of a strawberry cake and

photographed. She told the peasants they could eat cake and now they can eat her, illustrating that turnabout is fair play. Through Jan. 14, 2012. www.5claudelane.com Haines Gallery Leslie Shows: Split Array: Meditations on matter and making order out of the chaos of the physical universe – this and a chunk of fool’s gold launched Shows’ recent investigations. She takes irregular shards of corrugated aluminum, adds Plexiglas, paints and engraves the surfaces, applies encrusted glass, sand, Mylar, inks, metal filings and other materials, producing the effect of a shattered iridescent mirror colliding with geological elements; it’s as if the lunar probe crashed in Wonderland.

To call these complicated, luminous, exquisitely composed and balanced works abstract collages doesn’t adequately describe them. Their beauty needs to be seen to be believed. Through Dec. 24. www. hainesgallery.com Robert Koch Gallery Lynn Geesaman: Self-taught, sporting a See page 29 >>

▼

Read more online at www.ebar.com

December 15-21, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 29

Books>>

Out of the closet & into the streets

by David-Elijah Nahmod Quentin Crisp: The Profession of Being by Nigel Kelly, foreword by Guy Kettelhack; 216 pp., photoillustrated, softcover; McFarland Publishing, $45

I

wish to live in the world, not in a closet,” Quentin Crisp was believed to have said as far back as 1931. Whether or not he actually said it may not matter. The late gay icon (1908-99) certainly lived it.

From his childhood, it was quite apparent that Dennis Pratt was an effeminate queen. But for the uppermiddle-class youngster, it was no act. Even when he assumed the name Quentin Crisp in the 1930s, he was not playing a character, he was being who he really was. In a newly published, easy-to-read biography, Dublin, Ireland resident Nigel Kelly, a keeper of the Crisp flame, tells the story of a difficult but admirable life. With the assistance of Crisp’s close friends from his late-in-life days as a New York celebrity, film star, author and lecturer, as well as from family members still in the UK, Kelly reconstructs events in an unforgettable journey.

For many years, Crisp endured beatings, false arrests, and daily taunts. These indignities came

<<

Art galleries

From page 28

degree in physics and a one-time job in a weapons lab, photographer Lynn Geesaman didn’t arrive on the art scene with the usual CV. Reportedly, she’s not the outdoorsy type, either; however, her surreal photographs of lines of trees,

<<

his way because he was unable to hide who he was.

He often found himself shunned by London’s deeply closeted gay community of the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Sometimes unemployable, he lived in poverty from time to time.

All that changed when The Naked Civil Servant, his 1960s memoir, became an unexpected bestseller.

When John Hurt starred in the Thames TV adaptation of the book a decade later, Quentin Crisp became a worldwide celebrity. When he passed on at age 90, Crisp was a true icon.

Author Kelly’s book is perhaps the most comprehensive telling of Crisp’s story outside of the subject’s own tome.

Kelly, who doesn’t sugarcoat his story, writes from the perspective of deep admiration for a personal hero. Yet Kelly is quite straight. In an e-mail to the B.A.R., he described growing up in Northern Ireland during the 1970s and 80s, which he describes as a segregated society. “There were two groups, Catholics and Protestants,” Kelly said.

saturated in color and recalling majestic parks, formal palatial gardens and imaginary realms not of this earth, say differently.

In her enchanted, ethereal dream landscapes, shot in France, Belgium, Louisiana and Kentucky, diffused oranges glow against mossy greens, the filigree of pink dogwood trees leaps out against skeletal trees

“Each group was clearly identified by simple things as the sports you played, which school you went to, the color of clothes you wore, and of course, which church you went to. It was a form of protection as long as

yo you adhered to some basic ru rules.”

Kelly described the vi violence that could occur if yo you broke those rules, which w weren’t that far removed fr from the threats that hung o over Crisp for so many years.

C Crisp’s ultimate emergence as a celebrity proved to be a lifeaaltering experience for the yyounger man.

“In 1975, when I saw T The Naked Civil Servant o on television, I was bowled o over by this extraordinary m man and his exceptional ccourage,” said Kelly. “He sstrove to be true to himself, aand daily risked more than jjust a beating and waking up iin hospital. This happened m frequently than he ever more a admitted.

Quentin said the m surprising thing about most t those years was that he was n never murdered.”

Though he is happily married to a woman, Kelly sees no difference between himself and his hero. “Quentin said, if all we ever talk about is our sex lives, no one will have anything in common with anyone. I have never been one to label people. I do not think of people as being gay, heterosexual, British,

Irish, American, Christian or Jewish.

I try to think of people as individuals.”

He reports that Crisp’s personal philosophy is now his own. “Be true to yourself. I have striven to follow this in my own life, and have never been willing to change who I am to fit in. There have been times when it has cost me friendships. There have been times when it made me vulnerable.”

One of the more interesting questions raised by Kelly is whether or not Crisp, who lost interest in sex early in his life but remained effeminate till the end, might actually have been transgender. “I think it is a real possibility, and it would explain a lot,” he said. “In old age he looked increasingly like an elderly lady. In his last years, Quentin himself seems to have accepted the possibility that he might be a transsexual, and said that if he had known this when he was a young man, he would have had the operation and lived his life running a shop. I have no doubt that she would still have been this extraordinary human being who would have left their mark on the world and everyone they met.”▼

dripping with color, and a gnarled trunk digs its ancient roots into the ground. Needless to say, these are not your Daddy’s nature photographs.

Through Dec. 24. www.kochgallery. com Catharine Clark Gallery Ray Beldner: Portraits: In his exploration of celebrity culture, Beldner presents a veritable rogues gallery

in which the famous mingle with the notorious. Drawn by a siliconegloved hand dipped in ink, largescale portraits of Jagger, Michael Jackson and Oprah hang just across the room from rapist/child abductor Philip Garrido and the Night Stalker serial killer, Richard Ramirez. The lines are blurred in the cult of personality, and that’s the idea. For

a second series shown here, Beldner created meta-portraits by Googling famous personages and layering the first 100 digital images on top of one another until the visage became so out of focus that media mega-stars like Palin and Britney Spears are barely recognizable. Who are these people we think we know? Through Dec. 23. www.cclarkgallery.com ▼

Quentin Crisp: The Profession of Being by Nigel Kelly is now available in select bookstores, and online at Amazon.com.

Nutcracker

From page 17

the phantasmagoria that shows us Clara’s dream, when after the party’s over suddenly the furniture becomes giant-size, her Nutcracker grows big, indeed comes to life and saves her life from the monstrous rats that suddenly burst out of every crevice and threaten her. SF Ballet’s latest production (new in 2004) outdoes anything I know of anywhere in creating the hallucinogenic, “Go ask Alice” effects, when the Christmas tree starts to grow, the diningroom furniture becomes huge and distorted, the breakfront lowers a drawbridge and tin soldiers come marching out into battle with the giant creepy mice. It was designed by the internationally distinguished team of Michael Yeargan (sets) and Martin Pakledinaz (costumes), cost a bundle, and is totally worth it.

It’s true, this ballet can survive small-stage productions, since its charm depends on miniaturization and the story is a girl’s. Therefore the recital-sized versions that abound at this season can yield major satisfactions – especially if you know the children involved, who may well be fine young dancers. Their skills and delight can make up some for the loss of the special effects that trap-doors, stage fog, furniture that grows and moves create. But for the full effect, you really have to be in the opera house when the stage is whirling with snow, dancers are spinning, darting, leaping through it, with amazing boldness and clarity of intention (and not falling and not losing their place).

The deepest pleasure that ballet has to offer may be the spectacle of people so alert, so confident, so amazingly in control of what they’re doing that they can rush about at blinding speeds, like snow in the wind, precisely, and nobody gets hurt.

Erik Tomasson

Erik Tomasson

San Francisco Ballet character dancer Val Caniparoli in Helgi Tomasson’s Nutcracker.

There is a problem with our Nutcracker – the story itself is weakly told, and the choreography is insufficiently fantastic. It matters little that it’s been reset in San Francisco. Aside from a brilliant scene in Uncle Drosselmeyer’s shop, where we see him (the excellent Val Caniparoli) putting the last screws into the Nutcracker before leaving for the party, plot points of the story are handled slip-shod. The staging too often leaves the music to carry the action forward.

It’s SFB’s dancers, who are among the best in the world, who made it all make sense. All praise to them: parents, children, grandparents, servants in the party scene, especially Luke Willis and Quinn Wharton as fathers, Anita Paciotti as the grandmother, Pascale Leroy as Clara’s mother, and Nicole Finken, our child-heroine, created likeable, plausible people and projected these characters well out into the house.

Clara Blanco was especially fantastic as Drosselmeyer’s toy ballerina doll, who performs as one of his magic

tricks at the party: you could almost hear her joints click into place.

The young men of the SFB School, with their big legs, made wonderfully menacing rats. Daniel Deivison, especially creepy as the rat king, died spectacularly when Clara summoned her courage and attacked to save her Nutcracker (SFB’s outstanding classicist Gennadi Nedvigin). Said rat disappeared back into the hell he came from, down the prompter’s box.

It would be impossible to exaggerate the vertiginous skill displayed by the whole corps de ballet in the snow scene. The choreography here is strong – the web of trajectories is intricate, many paths are curved, dancers often dart directly towards each other.

Adrenaline levels in the audience go through the roof as the confetti-snow falls heavier, the light gets blindingly bright, and the dancers keep taking these daredevil risks. Standouts among these brilliant creatures were Nicole Ciapponi, Clara Blanco, and the radiant Sasha deSola – not to

San Francisco Ballet in Helgi Tomasson’s Nutcracker.

mention the King and Queen of the Snow (Davit Karapetyan, Vanessa Zahorian), whose feats were sharply etched and surpassingly difficult.

The second act is pure celebrations – the Sugar Plum Fairy welcomes Clara and celebrates her victory over the mice by having embassies from the four corners of the world dance for her: Spanish, Arabian, French, dances follow one another quickly, all sharply characterized.

The corps dancer Lonnie Weeks was astonishing as the Chinese acrobat chased by a dragon; again, it was more than technique – his timing was stunningly accurate. The crowd’s favorite was probably the trepak of Russian dancers who burst out of Faberge eggs, spun, leaped and doffed their hats, and spun and leaped some more, in choreography by the late great Anatole Vilzak, retained from the last production. The dancers were Pascal Molat, Daniel Baker and Benjamin Stewart.

Or perhaps it’s the kids and the teddy bear (Matthew Stewart) who pour out of the giant skirts of Mother Ginger: my colleague at the NY Post

Leigh Witchell, who flew into town to see it, quipped, “Of course, a drag queen and a bear, this must be San Francisco.”

Sasha deSola again lit up her role in the Waltz of the Flowers, while Frances Chung soared over all difficulties as the Sugar Plum Fairy. The evening closed with an immaculate performance of the Grand Pas by Maria Kochetkova, the tiny, Russian-born, Bolshoi-trained great-hearted ballerina who came to SF several years back and has made herself a star here in record time.

Her variation ends with a diagonal line of sharp-cut steps that sprang to pointe and streaked back upstage like diamonds in a bracelet. She and Gennadi Nedvigin, her cavalier, are well-matched in figure, training, temperament, and style.

The evening ends strong on a note of homecoming – the scene transforms again to the Stahlbaum house, Clara wakens from her dream as her mother comes downstairs to check up on her, and the curtain falls as they meet in the middle of the grand staircase and embrace.▼

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

30 • Bay Area Reporter • December 15-21, 2011

t

Personals The

Model/Escorts>>

Massage>>

EDUARDO chilangosexy.com

415-374-4439

Edgy Escort For Xtreme Clients

HOT*COOL*24HRS. Out* 860-5468*$150 Hr.*

Shin Tong / 1x2 / 35-08

Top Cmt Amazing Massage by wellendowed. Mid 40’s Hot & Hard Man. Strong Gentle 415-320-0302

ASIAN ECSTACY

e50w

Smooth,Slim,bi-guy in Marin County

Superb Sensual Massage

By Handsome Athletic CMT. Full Body Soothing Satisfying In/$45 Hr. Oakland Near Bart Clean, Pvt., Shower EZ Park Out/ $65 Hr. Entire Bay Area

coremassage4men.com

Call Shin # 510-502-2660

e51w

Massage for Men-Montclair $45.00. 12:30-7:00pm George 510-601-0451

Late Hours OK

e52w

SWEDISH MASSAGE

By Rick

ASIAN ECSTACY

Fremont, Jim CMT * Great Hands * Mature $40/HR (510) 651-2217

e52w

“Dr. BLISS” is IN! I love touching men and it shows! Massage is my artform. 415.706.6549 http://bodymagicsf.blogspot.com

Wanna Melt? Castro $50 Superb Sensual Massage By Handsome Athletic CMT. Jim 415-621-4517

e04w Full Body Soothing Satisfying • In/$45 Hr. Oakland Near Bart SEXY ASIAN Clean, Pvt., Shower EZ Park • Out/ $65 Hr. Bay Area $60Entire Jim 269-5707 HAIRY

MASSEUR Call Shin # 510-502-2660

e50w

e52w

Erotic Relaxing Full Body Massage Superb Late Hours OK Full Body Sensual Massage by hairy Irish/Portugese guy.

By Handsome friendly Gift Certificates Available Asian CMT All Bay Area.

In/$45/Hr Oakland, Nr. (510) 912-8812 late nights ok. e50w BART EZ PARK Out To Hotels /$65/Hr. Asian CMT In Sunnyvale. In -$50, Entire Bay Area Out-$70 Michael 408-400-9088 Call Shin 510-502-2660 or 408-893-1966 e52w Late Hrs. OK Genital &/or Prostatic Certified Sexological Bodyworker Health and Pleasure. Goal Focused 415-796-3215,Post and Hyde.

E52w

e52w

erotic MASSAGE FOR SENIORS ONLY DAVID 415 806-3150

e50w

e50w

CUTE YOUNG GUY Awesome Massage sfmassageformen.com 415-935-3217 Asian CMT massage 510-779-8234

Older Men, yes! I’m 50 Andy.

497-3696

E51W

Massage for Athletes

Experienced athlete specializing in body work on athletes. It takes a passonate athlete to help a passionate athlete. Give me a call or or text at 925-580-2474.

E50w

East Bay - El Cerrito Hills - 1111pm. Web & Info – Experienced $40/Hour www.rickoz2.com

Friendly, tall, hung,6’3”, 190, hung 8” x 7” $80/hour & $110/90 min. for in calls. Add $20 for out calls in Call /text me at 415-235-2555. http://www.fillmorerub.com E50w

Massage W/Release 7 Days A Week. In/Out. 415-350-0968

E50w

e51w

e51w

Full Body Therapeutic Massage 10 -10 daily.

Central Castro Location Call Kirk * Special Holiday Rates * 415 845 7933

E50w

Full Body Massage, Sexy 6’,175lbs,8”.In/Out (510) 658-2437

E50w

m

co ebar.

E50W

AMAZING TOP

Very well endowed. Will fulfill your fantasy & more. Hard. 40’s 320-0302 Seek Hot Yng Musc Bondage models 4 videos BONDAGEZINE.com masterjk2@earthlink.net

E50W

Thick 8/5 Uncut Top 37, Dominate Top, 415-573-7904

E50w

BLK HORSEMEAT DADDY 4 U Out Only.510-757-6472 $400. Email Meat mandingostud3@gmail.com

E50w

24 YO Master James is in the Mood!!! 5’9” 135# Smooth & Fit 8”cut. Fetishes www.dreamconduit/james 415-424-1997

E50W

23,BL/BL,smooth,hung, fun,friendly. Outcalls only.

Call 925-238-3517

E50w

Well Educated and talented Miguel 22yo Great lover and Kisser. Do not be shy to love.

Miguel 415-312-0604.

E50w

Str8t Hung Collge Jock

*EXCELLENT MASSAGE*

Model/Escorts>>

Nude,Swedish, Hypno, Prostate 60 -120 min. sessions: $85 & up.

6’3”, 198#, Blond, CMT SF 415-706-9740

Gothic Model – Escort Available for Filming.

Older Gentlemen Preferred.

415-519-1041

e52w

HIV+ TOP/VERS.6’3” 198# 8” Blond Hot. Friendly 415-706-9740

E50W

Sensuous Massage!

Pelvis – Hips – Thighs - Low Back Jeff Gibson 415-626-7095

E50W

Ten incher! 6’2” muscular, Lean, Diehard hard TOP 415. 935.0737

E50w

21 YEAR LATINO

E50w

HUNG,Br/Br, TALL, 8” INCH UNCUT CALL ME OR TXT 415 786 1399

E50w

t

Read more online at www.ebar.com

December 15-21, 2011 • Bay Area Reporter • 31

“I think that somehow, we learn who we really are and then live with that decision.”

-Eleanor Roosevelt

JeffAllen_2x5

People>> Did you know Tom Burdick(1950-1993)?

No obituary was written, but he deserves to be remembered.

Seeking friends’ descriptions / memories of Tom plus a picture as an adult (with Bob?) to complete his life story.

E-mail: orygunwolf@yahoo.com

E49W

sfmanscaping.com

Look your best this summer season! Body groom / trim services.

Please book through www.sfmanscaping.com -- Gil

Men MEET Men...

VISA/MC/AMEX - as low as $1.00 per day!

MrN

E52w

HOT LOCAL MEN & WOMEN

Listen to Ads & Reply FREE! SF - 415-430-1199 East Bay - 510-343-1122 Use FREE Code 5931, 18+

New FREE dating website SameSexConnections.com

MrN

01W

Connnect Now on the Bay Area’s hottest chatline!

FREE 415-707-2400 Try it for

408-539-2400 510-281-2400 650-870-2500

E39W\

Right Now

VISA/MC - as low as $1.00 per day!

Connnect Now on the Bay Area’s hottest chatline! eI B

Body Trim & Shaving in the Castro 415-626-1168 for appt

Right Now

Men MEET Men...

FREE 415-707-2400 Try it for

707-582-2400 831-789-2400 925-955-2000

airq

origin_Communications_2x2_3910

ai rq

408-539-2400 510-281-2400 650-870-2500 707-582-2400

831-789-2400 925-955-2000

ebar.com

Men MEET Men...

Men MEET Men...

All the n ews that’s fit to post.

ebar.co

Right Now

Right Now

m

Client_size_issue

VISA/MC - as low as $1.00 per day!

The

VISA/MC - as low as $1.00 per day!

Classified Order Form

MrN

MrN

Deadline: NOON on MONDAY. Payment must accompany ad. No ads taken over the telephone.

If you have a question, call 415.861.5019. Display advertising rates available upon request.

Connnect Now on the Bay hottest chatline!

XBOLD and BOLD stopArea’s here

Indicate Type Style Here

Connnect Now on the Bay Area’s hottest chatline!

FREE 415-707-2400

FREE 415-707-2400

Try it for

408-539-2400 510-281-2400 650-870-2500 707-582-2400

831-789-2400 925-955-2000

Try it for

ai rq

ai rq

408-539-2400 510-281-2400 650-870-2500 707-582-2400

831-789-2400 925-955-2000

Find your type of man. Place your Personal ad.

RATES for Newspaper and website: First line, Regular 8.00 All subsequent lines 5.00 Web or e-mail hyperlink 5.00 CAPS double price BOLD double price X-BOLD triple price PAYMENT:

Cash

Personal Check

Contact Information Name Address Number of Issues

Mail with payment to: Bay Area Reporter 395 Ninth Street SF, CA 94103 OR FAX TO: 415.861.8144 OR E-MAIL: baradv@aol.com

Credit Card Payment Name Card Number Expiration Date Signature Money Order

City Classification

Visa

MasterCard

Adult Jobs>> Hot guys 4 porn

AmEx

Telephone State Amt. Enclosed

Zip

ebar.com

Looking 4 Hot Guys For Adult Films. RU 18-40, In Good Shape? apply @ factoryvideos.com/casting

39w