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Vol. 44 • No. 28 • July 10-16, 2014
Under new management, AIDS Walk SF approaches by Seth Hemmelgarn
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Rick Gerharter
Betty Yee marches in San Francisco’s Pride parade last month.
Yee, Perez await CA controller race recount by Matthew S. Bajko
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he outcome of the state controller’s primary race remains uncertain a month after voters went to the polls in June due to a gay candidate’s request for a recount. Over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, See page 6 >>
Frank Robinson, Harvey Milk speechwriter, dies at 87 by Seth Hemmelgarn
Daniel Nicoletta
Frank Robinson sits in his office in this 2010 photo.
F
rank Robinson, a gay man who was a wellknown science fiction writer and a major contributor to slain gay icon Harvey Milk’s legacy, died Monday, June 30. He was 87. Mr. Robinson, who wrote speeches for Milk, passed away at his home in San Francisco, concluding a life that included military service, film, and politics. See page 9 >>
Jane Philomen Cleland
AIDS Walk San Francisco saw 25,000 participants 2013.
rganizers are getting ready for the annual walk that raises money for HIV/AIDS programs and services throughout the Bay Area. AIDS Walk San Francisco is set to take place Sunday, July 20 at Sharon Meadow in Golden Gate Park. Sign-in begins at 9 a.m. This year marks the first time Project Inform, which does education and advocacy work around HIV and AIDS, will be the lead beneficiary. The AIDS Walk organization announced in 2012 it was splitting from the previous lead agency, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. The first AIDS Walk San Francisco was in 1987. Twenty-seven years later, about 20,000 people are expected to take part in the 6.2-mile walk this month. “So far fundraising is going quite well,” said Project Inform Executive Director Dana Van Gorder during an interview June 30. “Most of the action occurs between the Fourth of July and the actual event.” Agencies raise money by fielding teams and keeping 100 percent of what they raise. In addition to those funds, many groups also receive grants.
Van Gorder estimated total expenses would be $1,350,000, noting the figure “is pretty comparable to last year.” Organizers hope the event will bring in approximately $2.4 million. Based on that number, about $530,000 will go back to the 39 co-benefiting HIV agencies from grants and revenue raised by their individual teams. Net revenue of about $500,000 would go to Project Inform. MZA Events, which produces the walk, will be paid $162,000 in fees. Remaining costs include promotion and advertising. One of the agencies participating in the AIDS Walk is La Clinica de La Raza, which provides HIV and other medical care in Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano counties. In 2013, the agency had $86,308,558 in operating expenses and saw 91,752 patients. Scott Carroll, 45, of Berkeley, is HIV prevention services supervisor for the agency. For La Clinica, the event is more of a “community building activity within the organization,” said Carroll, who’s gay and HIVnegative. “We’ve never raised more than a few hundred dollars. It really is about pulling people together around the cause and getting out to walk together as a group.”
Project Open Hand expands eligibility for services
by Seth Hemmelgarn
See page 3 >>
cant increase in the number of critically-ill clients it serves, parSan Francisco-based ticularly home-delivered meals nonprofit agency that for this vulnerable population,” provides meals to people the agency, which has a budget living with AIDS and other disof $10.1 million, said in a news eases is expanding its eligibility release. for services. The nonprofit is also conProject Open Hand, founded ducting a study called Food = almost 30 years ago near the beMedicine in partnership with the ginning of the AIDS epidemic, anUCSF School of Medicine in an nounced this week that it’s allowing effort to show good nutrition’s people with acute symptoms of ability to “markedly improve” diseases that include diabetes and health and well-being for people heart disease to pick up groceries living with critical illness and and meals in addition to receiving lead to reduced medical costs. meals at home. As it updates its eligibility Jane Philomen Cleland Previously, picking up food criteria, Project Open Hand is was only available for people who Project Open Hand Executive Director Kevin Winge contacting current clients “to had HIV or breast cancer. determine how to best handle “In a way, there’s nothing new their needs,” the agency said in significant difference” in wellness. there,” Kevin Winge, the agency’s its news release. “In some cases The new services have been available executive director, told the Bay Area Reporter this may mean that a small number of existthrough the agency’s wellness programs, during an interview Tuesday, July 8. ing clients who are in good health,” including which assist critically ill residents of San FranThe agency has changed eligibility criteria some who’re living with HIV, “will no longer cisco and Alameda counties, since June 1 and before, he noted. want or need nutrition services.” were officially announced Tuesday. “We realized there’s a greater need we The agency will implement the new eligibility Last fiscal year, the nonprofit served about haven’t been able to address,” Winge said. criteria during clients’ next re-certifications. Re8,000 clients. In the current fiscal year, which “We’re especially interested in targeting those certifications are conducted every six months. started Tuesday, July 1, POH expects “a signifidiseases where we know nutrition will make a See page 2 >>
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<< Community News
2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
Fountaingrove Lodge Gives Back All Summer Long!
Join us for an afternoon of Fine Wines and Live Entertainment while we fundraise for 3 local LGBT and ally non-profit organizations!
July 20th
Da Puna Bruddahs – Hawaiian band
August 17th
Del Sol – Latin Jazz
<<
Project Open Hand
From page 1
Winge stated his agency would “work closely with affected clients” to get them to other resources, including the Senior Lunch Program for people who are over 60. In addition to meals, the agency also provides services like nutritional counseling. Since the new eligibility requirements were introduced in June, five clients who re-applied for service were no longer eligible, out of a total of 3,754 active clients. Winge noted that people with HIV and AIDS are living longer and may be susceptible to the same diseases that face other people who are aging. Clients’ conditions can change, added Winge, and they “may no longer be a great fit for home-delivered meals” because they don’t need them. “By continuing to expand who we serve, we are able to access new funding opportunities, which can strengthen our agency,” he added in the news release.
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Not everyone has welcomed the changes that Project Open Hand has instituted over the years. In a Thursday, July 3 post to Craigslist, Alan Weathers, 64, of Oakland, asked, “Has anyone else with HIV or [hepatitis] C had difficulty being approved for services at POH? I have received meals there for the past 10 years and every year the recertification/renewal processes get stricter and more complicated. What started out as an organization to help [people living with AIDS] has now morphed into a ‘we can help everybody’ venue … which
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largely excludes gay men with HIV/ AIDS.” In an interview with the B.A.R., Weathers, a registered nurse who works as a contractor and is living with HIV and hepatitis C, said he used to pick up meals and groceries from the nonprofit, but he chose to cut the groceries service after POH said he had to make a choice “a couple years ago.” Asked about Weathers’ post during the interview with the B.A.R., Winge responded, in part, “We certify all of our clients every six months. Some clients won’t qualify for services. That’s absolutely true,” he said. But “we’re actually going back” to agency founder Ruth Brinker’s original work of helping people who are the “sickest.” As for being “all things to everyone,” Winge said, “There’s no way we could do that.” He reiterated that the agency is trying to remain sustainable. HIV-specific funding sources are drying up, Winge said, and “this has been a trend for years.” “If we don’t look at how we remain relevant, we’re not going to be able to serve anyone living with HIV in the future,” he said. In the agency’s news release, former client Mark Ebelt, who’s living with HIV, was supportive of the nonprofit. Ebelt decided to stop receiving help from the agency months ago as his health improved, according to POH. “I know that I will need help from Project Open Hand in the future, but for now - for me - I want to know that people who are sick and hungry and really need these meals are getting them,” he stated. For more information, visit http://www.openhand.org.t
THE CASTRO/UPPER MARKET COMMUNITY BENEFIT DISTRICT PRESENTS July July 13 July 20 July 27*
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August & September The Jane Warner Plaza will be under construction on and off for periods during August and September. Check the Castro CBD website: www.castrocbd.org for updates and/or www.facebook.com/castrocbd
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International News>>
July 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 3
Kenyan gay activist visits San Francisco by Heather Cassell
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ganda and Nigeria have garnered much global attention due to the countries’ anti-LGBT laws, but little notice has been paid to other countries that have, or are proposing, similar laws, such as Kenya. Currently in Kenya, being gay can lead to a sentence of up to 14 years in prison if caught. In March, Kenyan Member of Parliament Irungu Kang’ata proposed that parliament conduct an investigation into the alleged “non-enforcement” of anti-gay laws by Kenyan officials, reported LGBT blog 76 Crimes. The website also reported that Kang’ata was forming an anti-homosexual caucus in parliament to push for more anti-LGBT legislation. In February, Kang’ata called upon police to uphold current antigay laws or he warned that citizens would have to enforce the law by arresting alleged LGBT people. Due to the hostile environment being fomented by anti-gay lawmakers back home, an LGBT activist from the northern part of Kenya agreed to speak with the Bay Area Reporter while visiting San Francisco last month as long as the paper did not use his real name and the name of an LGBT rights organization that he started. To protect his safety, the 31-yearold gay man asked that he only be referred to as Ken. He said he doesn’t believe that Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta supports anti-gay legislation. He also noted that parliament’s conversations about anti-gay laws have dropped down the priority list for discussion among members of parliament. He suspects that Kenyatta’s stance, and the hushed nature of anti-gay legislation in parliament, is due to recent U.S. sanctions against Uganda with threats for similar sanctions to hit Nigeria and other countries that pass similar anti-gay bills. Kenya’s LGBT community is getting stronger, said Ken, and he believes it will be able to fight anti-gay legislation if parliament brings it to the table again. But it won’t be an easy fight, he warned. The problem, said Ken, lies with the religious leaders and voters that manipulate and threaten elected officials in parliament, and even the president, by voting them out of office. Then there’s the question of oil. African countries are discovering oil, which will make them less de-
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AIDS Walk SF
From page 1
San Francisco resident Marc Jung, 61, who’s also gay and HIVnegative, has walked every year for 18 years and is leading a team of Presbyterian churches. Jung said he started doing the AIDS Walk at a time when coworkers with AIDS would “go on disability and never come back.” He said he continues to walk because “there still is no cure. Even though there are treatment options now, AIDS Walk is a way by which not only are we able to fundraise,” but also raise awareness.
SFAF revives 10K fundraiser
While it’s not leading AIDS Walk efforts any more, the AIDS foundation does have a similar fundraiser planned. The nonprofit is relaunching its Big Gay 10K walk and run in September. Van Gorder, however, doesn’t see the 10K as competition to the AIDS Walk. “It’s an event that has existed in the past and is being revived, and I
pendent upon Western nations for financial aid, he said. A guest of the American Jewish World Services, Ken toured the U.S. June 15-30 and was hosted locally by the organization’s Global Circle Bay Area division. This was his first trip to America, and he stopped in New York, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles in addition to the Bay Area to talk about being gay in Kenya and the state of LGBT rights in the East African country. More than 35 people listened intently to Ken’s story about being an LGBT activist in rural Kenya during his brief visit to San Francisco June 25. “I’m here also for education and to let people know that the amount of attention that this bill put on Uganda puts (LGBT Africans) more at risk,” he said. “We have countries like Ethiopia and Somalia who are at the highest risk. They have no one who is helping them or talking about (similar legislation to Uganda and Nigeria that have been introduced) everybody is in Uganda.”
Ken’s story
Born and raised in Northern Kenya, an arid desert land on the edge of the Sudanese border affected by severe drought and tribal wars, Ken said it is already a difficult part of the world to live in, but even harder for LGBT people and people living with HIV/AIDS. Often times LGBT people will cut themselves or go through rituals to cleanse and rid themselves of their same-sex attractions, he said, or take medicines to cure them because society views being gay as bad as being disabled. Many believe that parents who have a child who is disabled or gay, he added, is due to their not paying a proper dowry for marriage. The middle child in a family of nine sons and two daughters, Ken still lives in his village with his family. He was brought up believing being gay was bad and could land him in prison. Ken’s savior was a priest who encouraged parents to send him and other children to school to train to be translators for him and other missionaries. Ken began to learn English, but when the community chased the priest away from the village because children weren’t out in the fields and raiding other communities, he and the others had to find another way to finish school. He and a friend in his class ran away, staying with friends, family and think probably the constituencies for the two events is a little bit different,” he said. For instance, said Van Gorder, “There are a lot of corporations and businesses that field teams and raise money” for the AIDS Walk. The demographics for the two events are also different, he added. “Obviously there are LGBT people, but it’s also heavily a family event,” Van Gorder said of the AIDS Walk, with people “from all over the Bay Area. While I’m sure some of those people might participate in the Big Gay 10K, I would expect that event, given its name and feel, to be a little bit more queer. In any case, I think it’s fine. It’s an event they’ve done in the past, and it makes sense that they would do it again.” Neil Giuliano, the AIDS foundation’s CEO, has said that the 10K run isn’t meant to compete with the AIDS Walk. “It’s a very different model,” said Giuliano, who described the 10K as a “fun, very spirited, costumed big gay walk and run.” Asked about Van Gorder’s remarks, James Loduca, the AIDS
neighbors as they worked to finish their primary education. Ken became attracted to his friend, who shared the same feelings, but Ken’s friend urged him not to talk about it for fear of being killed or going to jail, he said. “This friend of mine was forced to go through (the ritual process mentioned above) because there was so much pressure in his family to marry,” Ken said. “After the same process, he left school because he was so traumatized he became mad. Up to now I speak, he is mad.” “Every time I am in our village I feel a lot of pain,” continued Ken. “Every time I meet him he cannot even talk or recognize you.” Rather than go through the same ritual, Ken wanted to take medicine to help him be attracted to women like other boys, but there was no such miracle medicine to be had. Instead, he completed his primary education and moved to a larger town. When he arrived the first story he heard about gay people was about a gay couple that committed suicide because the community wanted to kill them. He was scared. He knew that it was very possible, because in his years as an activist and growing up in his region of Kenya, he had witnessed people being stoned to death and activists taken to prison never to be seen again for being gay. Lesbians suffer so-called “corrective rape,” said Ken, and trans people “go through hell.” “This is what a gay person goes through in my culture,” said Ken. “So, what made me want to form a group? I did not want to come up with an organization. For me, I wanted medicine (to) help me change and be like other boys, be attracted to women, have family, have children. That’s what I wanted.” In his search for a cure to change him, Ken stumbled upon an opportunity to become a translator for a representative for an environmental project funded by AJWS. The representative and he connected, but instead of getting medicine he got his life’s work as the AJWS staffer told him, “I want to empower you to advocate for people like you.” That is how Ken became an LGBT activist nine years ago.
Fighting for LGBT rights
Since then through community education, his group has helped a gay man once expelled from his community be welcomed back by community members. “We wanted the community to realize that what they were doing was not right. It is the community that
foundation’s vice president for philanthropy and public affairs, said in an email that the 10K run is “attracting corporate teams and sponsors from around the Bay Area. It’s great to see this event really take off with LGBT and allies alike.” In an email, MZA Events CEO and President Craig R. Miller, who founded the AIDS Walk, wrote, “I believe the public will have an easy time discerning the difference” between the two events. The Big Gay 10K benefits only the AIDS foundation, while the AIDS Walk San Francisco, noted Miller, “benefits a collaborative coalition of leading HIV/AIDS organizations throughout the Bay Area.” Miller added that the change in management of this year’s AIDS Walk has been well received by donors and corporate sponsors. “I think that AIDS Walk San Francisco’s renewed emphasis on more efficient and volunteer-driven organizations explains, in part, why the restructured AIDS Walk San Francisco has emerged so strongly from the transition to Project InSee page 10 >>
Rick Gerharter
A gay Kenyan activist, who asked that his identity not be revealed, visits San Francisco during a recent stateside trip.
we would one day ask for our rights,” said Ken, about opening the community discussion about the old man after discovering that he was expelled because he was gay. “Lucky enough, now as I speak, he is living in the community. He is very old, but at least his last days on earth are like happy days compared to how he lived.” Today, Ken creates programs in schools teaching human rights, works with LGBT refugees in the refugee camps, and is beginning to document LGBT Kenyan stories along with two other local members of his group. At the schools his program frames LGBT rights as a human rights issue and encourages students to form human rights clubs. In one school of 300 students, an estimated 60 students have joined the club and they are taking the message home to their families. The project has been successful, said Ken. In a unique twist of fate students at the school where the program was tested halted the expulsion of three gay students from their own school for being gay. When the principal called the police, the students rioted, he said. It wasn’t an action that he supported, but he realized the impact for change that was occurring. This year, Ken expects to expand the project to a girl’s school. In order to document the LGBT movement and community in Ke-
nya, Ken has been collecting LGBT Kenyan’s stories as part of his work. One of the most challenging projects he works on, said Ken, is with LGBT and HIV-positive refugees in the camps where they escape to if they don’t go to Nairobi. There are many LGBT people escaping Uganda and neighboring countries. Ken estimates there are about 104 LGBT refugees in the camps where he advocates for the rights of LGBT people and people living with HIV. The number of LGBT people in the camps has surprised him. He was able to gather 24 to talk about their issues. Many HIV-positive people - gay and straight - perish in the camps, said Ken, because they can’t get proper nutrition or medicines. They contracted the virus, he said, from having sex with Kenyan police or people who took them in and took advantage of them when they were living on the streets as children. In addition to advocating for LGBT refugees and for HIV-positive people in the camps, Ken’s group uses pooled resources to buy healthier food for them. Life in the camps can be particularly rough for HIV-positive refugees whose visa applications get delayed at least a year once their status is discovered. The wait, said Ken, can cause them to get sicker and lead them to be disqualified in the process. “While in Ethiopia and Somalia LGBT people are running to the camps because the situation is hard. They are going through very terrible situations,” he said. During his talk in San Francisco, Ken urged the audience to support Senator Edward J. Markey’s (D-Mass.) International Human Rights Act of 2014. Introduced last month, the legislation would require the Secretary of State to name a special envoy for the human rights of LGBT peoples. Ken also asked that the international community keep an eye on the Kenyan parliament for any possible anti-LGBT legislation or clauses attached to other bills, such as anti-terrorism bills, and pressure the Kenyan government to support LGBT human rights. For more information, visit http://gc.ajws.org.t
4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
Volume 44, Number 28 July 10-16, 2014 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko Seth Hemmelgarn Jim Provenzano CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan Aiello • Tavo Amador Erin Blackwell • Roger Brigham Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth Philip Campbell • Heather Cassell Chuck Colbert • Richard Dodds David Guarino • Peter Hernandez Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell • John F. Karr Lisa Keen • Matthew Kennedy • David Lamble Michael McAllister • Michael McDonagh David-Elijah Nahmod • Elliot Owen Paul Parish • Sean Piverger • Lois Pearlman Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota • Bob Roehr Donna Sachet • Adam Sandel Khaled Sayed • Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Jim Stewart Andre Torrez • Ed Walsh • Sura Wood ART DIRECTION Jay Cribas PRODUCTION/DESIGN Max Leger PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland Rick Gerharter • Lydia Gonzales Rudy K. Lawidjaja • Steven Underhill Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge Christine Smith ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.359.2612 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863
LEGAL COUNSEL Paul H. Melbostad, Esq.
<< Open Forum
t Small dogs need spaces of their own I
n a city that loves to promote its vanguard status on myriad issues, San Francisco considerably lags behind all other jurisdictions in failing to provide dedicated spaces for small dogs throughout the city. The Rincon Hill Dog Park, which opened in 2011, is a rare exception. Backers of the canine play area on Beale Street, below the approach to the Bay Bridge, carved out a special area for small dogs under 20 pounds. In a city with an estimated 120,000 dogs, reportedly outnumbering children who reside in San Francisco, providing proper play space for pooches is no small matter. And the issue could gain greater importance should officials with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area impose more restrictions on which parts of the National Park Service properties, such as Ocean Beach and Crissy Field, canines can access. In June a number of local officials, including Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo/ San Francisco) and gay San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener, spoke out against the park service’s proposed rule revision plan that includes new rules barring dogs from a number of properties that fall under the jurisdiction of the GGNRA. At the press conference, Wiener read a statement from Mayor Ed Lee, in which he urged the GGNRA “to actively engage with San Francisco to create a better balance that considers the unique needs of dense urban cities. GGNRA has important stewardship responsibility, but their draft dog plans need to be reflective of our concerns about diverse users and impacts on local parks and streets. I hope that at the end of the rulemaking process, GGNRA does not significantly limit recreation - for humans or their dogs - in the precious lands that they oversee.” City planners have often failed to take into consideration the special needs of small dogs. Take for instance the newly built dog play area off Valencia Street under the highway off-ramp that leads to Octavia Boulevard and faces the city’s LGBT Community Center. Called the SoMA West Skate and Dog Park, and overseen by the Department of Public Works, the dog park section between Stevenson and Valencia streets, does feature play areas for both large and small dogs. The skate park, designed by New Line Skateparks, encompasses a rectangular space between Stevenson and Otis Streets.
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Sour grapes
As we report this week, gay Assemblyman John A. Perez (D-Los Angeles) has called for a recount in his race to be the next state controller after he fell into third place in recent weeks behind second place finisher Betty Yee, a Democrat who represents the Bay Area and northern California on the state Board of Equalization. Under California’s open primary system, the top two vote-getters advance to the general election in November. Republican Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin came in first in the June vote and will face one of the Democrats this fall. Rather than lose graciously and throw his support behind Yee, Perez is trying to pull off a Hail Mary pass by asking certain counties to review their vote counts by hand. He cherry-picked 15 counties where his campaign believes he can claim more votes, beginning with the decidedly more conservative Kern and Imperial counties. The fact of the matter is Perez fumbled running a statewide campaign. During his years in the state Legislature, when he was looking to run for a supervisor seat in his home base of Los Angles County, he largely ignored the Bay Area. It wasn’t until he switched gears to run statewide that Perez began popping up at events in San Francisco this year. In contrast, Yee crisscrossed the state in recent years to boost her name recognition ahead of the June primary. Rather than waste resources on a recount, Perez should have accepted defeat and conceded to Yee.t
Voters should elect their elected officials by John Avalos, Tom Temprano, Eileen Hansen, and Rafael Mandelman
BAY AREA REPORTER
But it remains to be seen how enjoyable this new park will be for small dogs that are notoriously unfriendly to skateboarders and can be enraged by the sound of the skateboards they encounter on city sidewalks. Nonetheless, the public works department should be commended for considering the needs of smaller dogs, as many do not do well in gated dog play areas that include larger dogs. We hope the department will build additional spaces as it reclaims more unused land around the city for recreational purposes. The city can take other steps. A simple solution would be to designate specific times for small dogs to use existing dog play areas or reconfigure larger dog run areas operated by the city to provide separate sections for both sizes of dogs. One prime location that could easily incorporate a small dog area is the Douglas Dog Play Area in Noe Valley, which is currently closed as city officials deal with irrigation issues at the former baseball park. National park officials should also heed the calls from city officials and local park advocates who have questioned the validity behind their reasoning for closing off public lands to dogs and their owners. There is no reason why canines should be banned from Ocean Beach, Crissy Field, or Baker Beach’s popular gay section.
et’s elect our elected officials. That’s a silly sounding phrase, isn’t it? But here in San Francisco, people regularly take elected office without a single vote being cast! When an elected office becomes vacant (because someone wins another office, resigns, is forced from office, or passes away) the voters don’t get to select the replacement - the Board of Supervisors or mayor do, with no vote of the people. The power of incumbency then gives that appointee an overwhelming advantage when they run in the next election. Harvey Milk, the city’s first openly gay elected official, once said, “It takes no compromise to give people their rights … It takes no political deal to give people freedom.” The “Let’s Elect Our Elected Officials” Act of 2014 will protect the voters’ right to elect their representatives in competitive, open elections. Currently, when the mayor’s office becomes vacant, the Board of Supervisors appoints a new mayor. And when a seat on the Board of Supervisors becomes vacant, the mayor unilaterally appoints a replacement. This ballot measure would instead require that these seats be filled by a democratic special election within 140 days (unless it could be consolidated with a regular election within 180 days of the vacancy). This would bring us in line with the more democratic processes for filling vacancies in the House of Representatives and our state Legislature. It strengthens the separation of powers. We all learned in middle school about how our democracy is based on checks and balances between the branches of government. Here in San
Francisco, the separation of powers breaks down when our legislative branch unilaterally appoints a new executive (the mayor), or when the mayor unilaterally appoints new legislators (the supervisors). At one point in the 1990s, then-Mayor Willie Brown had appointed a majority of the members of the board, which he infamously called “my mistresses in need of servicing!” It limits the power of incumbency. With incumbency comes valuable name recognition, access to political donors, and institutional power that puts any would-be challenger at an almost insurmountable disadvantage. When an unelected appointee is given this power of incumbency, the voters are effectively shut out of the decision-making process - it could be an entire decade before the seat is truly decided by the voters in an open race. It reduces backroom dealing. Our political history is marred by unethical deal making when a single individual has the power to appoint people to elected office. The most infamous case in recent history was former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted of soliciting bribes for the appointment to a U.S. Senate seat. Blagojevich was recorded saying, “I’ve got this thing and it’s (bleep)ing golden, and I’m just not giving it up for (bleep)ing nothing.” One of the worst local examples of this was when former Mayor Frank Jordan wanted to appoint his goddaughter, Annemarie Conroy - a registered Republican - to the Board of Supervisors. To create a vacancy on the board, he appointed the assessor-recorder, Richard
Hongisto, as police chief and then appointed Supervisor Doris Ward as assessor-recorder. The police commission removed Hongisto from office only six weeks later for ordering officers to confiscate copies of the Bay Times, a local LGBT newspaper that had criticized him. And Ward failed to win re-election after the FBI alleged she committed mail fraud by using taxpayer funds to mail fundraising requests. This type of backroom dealing that results in less-than-qualified appointees who are seemingly only appointed for reasons of political control stains the integrity of our government, makes people cynical about our electoral process, and contributes to lower voter turnout. The Let’s Elect Our Elected Officials Act will restore the public’s faith in our city government, maintain the appropriate checks and balances between branches, and ensure that voters are given the ability to choose their mayor and supervisor. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote at its meeting next Tuesday, July 15, on placing the ballot measure before voters. We urge the board to support this common sense approach to restoring the right of voters to elect their representatives at City Hall.t John Avalos represents District 11 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; Tom Temprano is co-president of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club; Eileen Hansen is a former ethics commissioner and current member of Friends of Ethics; and Rafael Mandelman is a former Milk club president and currently serves on the city’s community college board.
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Letters >>
July 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5
It takes a village
Thank you to the 175-plus volunteers who helped install the 19th annual pink triangle on Twin Peaks over Pride weekend. There were more than 50 people to help take it down too, including members of Gay for Good and the SF Hiking Club. It couldn’t have happened without all of the volunteers! Thank you to the speakers at the commemoration ceremony who included San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee; Lea DeLaria of Netflix’s hit program Orange is the New Black; celebrity grand marshal Ross Mathews, the host of Hello Ross; state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), Democratic San Francisco Assemblymen Tom Ammiano and Phil Ting; San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros; San Francisco Supervisors David Chiu, the board president, David Campos and Scott Wiener; and community grand marshals Melanie Nathan and Jewlyes Gutierrez. The ceremony began with a very moving and informative description of the origins of the pink triangle by DeLaria, and Nathan then immediately tied it to present day examples of persecution toward the LGBT community. Nathan had tried to bring LGBT refugees from Uganda and other African nations with her, however, the State Department unfortunately chose not to grant them visas, even though they face great danger by remaining in nations with severe anti-homosexuality laws, which in cases includes a sentence of death. Gutierrez gave a moving description of the struggles she faced as a transgender high school student and how she dealt with them. A big thank you to our 2014 sponsors: Toad Hall, Badlands, the Apothecarium, San Francisco Pride, the Castro Lions Club Charities, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Steamworks, Hodgkins Jewelers, Haus of StarFish, Starbucks for the coffee (and tea), as well as 35 volunteers in their first LGBT outreach event, Bloom-That for donating more than 1,500 pink flowers to adorn the dais, and Barefoot Wine and Bubbly for the champagne used in the christening. For help inspiring volunteers, thanks to the Bay Area Reporter and to Betty’s List for media sponsorship. Thanks to the San Francisco Police Department for 24-hour coverage for three days, and Katie Hickox for keeping up the pink triangle website. And thank you to the incredible San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Freedom Band for their ongoing participation. Patrick Carney Pink triangle organizer
Post Pride thoughts
Every year I’m amazed, proud and flabbergasted at the size and scope of the Pride celebration and that it is organized by a very small group with the help of many dedicated volunteers. Thank you all for your hard work on behalf of the LGBT community and the city. Your spirit is infectious. If Pink Saturday is any indication, people wearing silly and fun costumes has returned big time. I was starting to worry the past couple of years but am happy now (as someone who loves getting silly)! I wish more bars and businesses would decorate more. A rainbow flag alone is not decorating. We have so many creative folks in San Francisco, and millions are traveling to us, so let’s show them what we can do! (If you’ve ever been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans you know what I mean.) Finally, and this always gets me in trouble, I wish the organizers of the Dyke March would stop putting out the word through their press releases, calendar listings, etc. that men are welcome to cheer them on from the sidelines but are not welcome to march with them. At a time when we are celebrating “community,” it hurts me to see this. Would we like it, if say, the St. Patrick’s Day parade organizers said, “Gay people (or Jews or African Americans or French people - well maybe not French people - I’m kidding!) are welcome to cheer us on but are not welcome to march with us?” I have a lot of lesbian friends and the ones that support this (and there are more who don’t) have never been able to give me plausible answers as to why or how men who support them would somehow diminish the Dyke March if they wanted to join in. (Kind of reminds me of the far right’s response to same-sex marriage that it diminishes traditional (one man and one woman) marriage but they can never explain further.) Okay, ending on a positive note. I love the LGBT community as much as I love San Francisco. Joe Mac San Francisco
Pride is a joke
I am disgusted in this whole Pride celebration crap. What a joke! The only thing that has caused more wars, hate, violence, death, destruction, selfishness, etc. than this ridiculous thing called Pride (and I don’t just mean gay Pride, but pride in general) is religion. Maybe I feel this way because I live on a street that is blocked off on Pride and turned in to a dance club. I tried to stay away from my own apartment that weekend, but eventually I had to come home. I came back at 3 p.m. on Sunday to find a dance floor and DJ in front of my building and two lesbians bumping snatches against my
front door, oblivious to the fact that I was standing there wanting to get in to my own apartment building. I eventually got in, after having to yell at the top of my lungs just to be heard over the deafening thump-thumpthump of the crap that passes for dance music nowadays. Upon entering my apartment, I closed all the windows (not very comfortable being that it was a fairly warm day and I don’t have air-conditioning) and promptly put in earplugs, which was no help. I could still hear the crap dance music and feel the thumping vibrating my entire apartment building! I feel sorry for the poor disabled people who live in my neighborhood that, because of physical disabilities, can’t leave their apartments! What a selfish, obnoxious bunch of assholes the LGBT community is! I mean, really, how is this different than the religious “right” pushing their hate on us? I realize it is only one weekend a year, but think about all the money wasted on this ridiculous display of irresponsible behavior! I have never seen so many drugged out drunken idiots in one place before (no, I’ve never been to Burning Man)! Watching my fellow LGBT members carelessly trashing my neighborhood, sneaking in to my building to do their drugs so they can go back out and continue to act like fools. Quite frankly, it’s displays like this that make the rest of the world despise the LGBT community. It’s certainly not improving our reputation. And just think about the money wasted on this event, not just in setting it up, staffing it, etc., but also in cleaning the mess up. Street cleaners are out their all night cleaning up after all you thoughtless slobs who trashed the Civic Center area. It’s disgusting selfish thoughtless displays like this that make me ashamed to be a gay man! I think we need to rethink Pride and start doing something to celebrate our LGBT community that actually helps the incredibly sad state of the planet and all the people (and creatures) on it, something that we can actually be proud of! Grow up LGBT community! William Heaton San Francisco
An idea for corporations and Pride
I am sure there will be loads of discussion about the sheer size of the corporate contingents in this year’s Pride parade. Something is changing in that it is not LGBT employees marching to prove and improve their and our rights, but for the companies to market their brand. This is good and bad. One of the tech companies, in explaining what they do, discussed their work for Proctor and Gamble and other similar multinational companies. Here is my suggestion for the 1,500 Apple whomevers in their white T-shirts for next year. Why doesn’t Apple help Pride organize Apple and other tech companies into groups of 20 to go join every community-based contingent? Get to know the community, and possibly even all our tech needs, perhaps starting with Pride. Glad you are here in such great numbers - now mingle with us! We won’t bite, unless you want us to. And where were the labor groups? At least I didn’t see a lot of them, and the ones I did were way at the end. Don’t the transit workers want to up their images? Charlie Spiegel San Francisco
Boos for Wiener at Frameline
During Frameline’s screening of the film Folsom Forever at the Victoria Theatre Sunday, June 22, a very interesting thing happened. The documentary has a series of interviews with local figures. When several appeared, such as Race Bannon, Audrey Joseph, Danny Williams, and Jack Fischer, there was applause. When San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener appeared on screen, the audience booed and hissed. Many in our community see Scott as a traitor to the gay community. They see him as the gay man who is there to keep the other gay men in line in behest of the real estate interests who want the nasty, naked, sex-positive gay men to go away. The funny thing is that Scott is running unopposed for a second term in District 8, the real estate interests are winning, and you can’t get a one-bedroom apartment in the Castro for under $3,000 a month. New glass buildings that few can afford are rising in every space they can find. Many see this as the death of Harvey Milk’s dream; we are now being oppressed by our own out, gay supervisor and no one cares enough to run against him. It saddens me to think that San Francisco is like much of America; we support the politician who is sold to us by the highest bidder. Steve Gaynes San Francisco
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6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
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Gay-owned local jam company looks to expand by Matthew S. Bajko
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wo dozen washed pears sit piled in Jake Blaine’s home kitchen ready to be pared and sliced. This June morning Blaine is making a batch of Amaretto pear butter. “I like this apartment. It has ample kitchen space,” said Blaine, 33, the cook and proprietor behind Jake’s Castro Kitchen. The San Francisco-based company sells an assortment of jams, jellies, butters and chutneys all made from scratch by Blaine. The company’s name is now a misnomer, as Blaine and his partner, Clint Higgins, moved out of the Castro apartment they had been renting after being burglarized and into an apartment tower in the central Market Street corridor. Since the business began in the city’s gay neighborhood, they have no plans to change the name. The brand has quickly gained a following and continues to expand since its official launch in February of 2013. “We started in the Castro and that is the name we want to keep,” said Blaine, who was an award-winning pastry chef back in his home state of Utah. It was there, on his grandmother’s farm, that Blaine first learned how to make summer peach jam as a child.
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“Growing up Mormon, what do you do? You grow a big garden and can it all,” said the former Salt Lake City resident. He has incorporated a few of his family’s recipes into his business, but Blaine has created most by experimenting in his kitchen. One batch can take up to 8 hours from start to finish, said Blaine. He is beginning to rename his offerings to have more whimsy, so a strawberry, rhubarb with vanilla bean jam will be labeled ruby red slipper jam. A ginger plum jam will be called dance of the ginger plum fairy. He and Higgins moved to the Bay Area after a downtown hotel hired Blaine as its inhouse pastry chef. Five months later the hotel job was no more and he was out of work. “Really, it was a stressful job and a huge weight off my shoulder,” recalled Blaine. One day he “went overboard” making a batch of strawberry jam and found himself with 20 pints. Higgins suggested selling it, and “he has regretted it ever since,” joked Blaine. “No, it’s been fun,” interjected Higgins, who helps market Jake’s Castro Kitchen products when he is not working at his own full-time job creating online tutorial trainings. To date Blaine’s best seller has been a raspberry jalapeno jam. He also makes a bacon jam, which Blaine suggests using on bacon sandwiches, baked potatoes, or in potato salads. Other customer favorites are a blueberry Meyer lemon jam and a quadberry jam. They retail for $5 for 5 ounce jars, and Blaine has created a pamphlet with suggestions for how to use his various products. “One of our goals is to show people there is more to do with jam than just putting it on toast,” said Higgins. In addition to ordering online at http://www.jakescastrokitchen. com/home.html, Blaine’s products are sold at Eureka Café in the Castro, the Noe Valley shop Olive This Olive That and the Kitchener Collective in Corte Madera. Blaine also sells his jams at various pop-up markets, such as the Treasure Island Flea in San Francisco, Jack of All Trades in Oakland’s Jack London Square, and the monthly GOOD: street food + design market in Sacramento. “It is going really good now. We have found all these markets and are trying to get into more retail stores,” said Higgins. “If you want to be successful, you have to go out and find opportunities. They don’t come to you.” Jake’s Castro Kitchen is likely to move again, and out of a homebased kitchen, within the next year
Jane Philomen Cleland
Jake Blaine pares pears in his home kitchen in San Francisco.
as Blaine continues to grow and expand his business. “We are already looking into renting a commercial kitchen,” said Blaine. “By the end of the year I hope to bring on additional help. I can’t keep up.”
New Mexican eatery readies to open
Bandidos, the new Mexican eatery headed to upper Market Street in the Castro, is preparing to open in early August. Initially expected in time for Pride, co-owners Jesse Woodward and Dana Gleim have had to push back their timeline due to construction issues with the corner storefront at Market and 15th Streets in the ground floor of a new mixeduse residential development known as The Century. “Since it is a brand new building, we have to build out the kitchen from scratch and we have to build out the bathrooms from scratch,” said Woodward, 37, who with Gleim also co-owns the gay sports bar Hi Tops on the same block of Market Street where the restaurant will be located. Leticia Luna, who owns the building at 2200 Market Street, initially had planned to lease the nearly 3,000 square foot space to a bank. But after the city last summer imposed an 18-month moratorium on financial businesses opening along upper Market Street, she approached the Hi Tops team about operating a restaurant instead. For years Luna had owned her own Mexican restaurant at the site. They opted for a Mexican sitdown eatery, explained Woodward, “because we thought it was filling a niche” in the gay Castro district, where the only options are quick service taquerias. Gleim, 41, who like Woodward identifies as gay, added, “Plus, it is our favorite food. We love tequila, we love tacos, and we love margaritas.” She described the décor for Ban-
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Controller race
From page 1
gay Assemblyman John A. Perez (DLos Angeles) announced he wanted a recount of votes cast in 15 of California’s counties, including San Mateo and Napa in the Bay Area. According to the most recent vote totals, posted July 1, Perez was in third place with 877,714 votes. That was 481 votes behind the second place finisher Betty Yee, a Democrat who represents the Bay Area
didos as being “something unexpected,” although when customers walk in they “will feel like they are in a Mexican restaurant.” It will feature black and white tiles, a communal table, and round leather banquettes for parties of six to eight people. The designer is Craige Walters, who also designed the look of Hi Tops. The co-owners have brought on two lesbian chefs to oversee the menu. Jamie Lauren, who appeared on the TV show Top Chef, oversaw its creation and Christina Aviles will serve as the executive chef when Bandidos opens. The new restaurant will employ up to 40 people. There will be eight different tacos, available in corn, flour, or fried versions, fajitas, and albondigas or Mexican meatballs. Prices will run from $10 for two tacos up to $18 for entrees. “There are a lot of traditional items with a little twist,” explained Gleim. The 125-seat eatery will include a bar area with seating for 10 and outdoor seating for roughly a dozen diners. The hours will likely be from 4 or 5 to 11 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and to midnight Fridays. Brunch will begin at 10 or 11 a.m. on weekends, closing Saturdays at midnight and Sundays at 11 p.m. Gleim and Woodward are shooting to open Bandidos the first week of August, and they are already eying other business possibilities in the neighborhood as more new housing is built above ground floor retail along upper Market Street. “We would love to” open a third business, said Woodward. “It is still surprising to us there are a lot of vacant spaces in the Castro. We would love to continue contributing.”
Time for a picnic
The fast casual Vietnamese-inspired Urban Picnic officially opened its second location on July 1 in the Castro, though the eatery at 4039 18th Street soft-opened in late June. Formerly housing the restaurant
and northern California on the state Board of Equalization. Under California’s open primary system, the top two vote-getters advance to the general election in November. Republican Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin came in first with a total vote count that now stands at 1,001,473. Perez, the first out LGBT person elected to the powerful Assembly speaker post, which he resigned from in May, is holding out hope that he will advance to the fall elec-
Zadin, the 1,650 square foot space received a full makeover from Zero Ten Design. The full service restaurant sports an “outdoors in” décor, with seating for 35 that evokes picnic tables. The company updated its menu for the Castro location to include new additions such as its superfood salad (a blend of kale, spring mix, cabbage, carrots, raisins, grapes, coconut, and sunflower seeds) with a ginger lemongrass chia vinaigrette, a Sriracha lime chicken sandwich, and a Sriracha lime tofu sandwich. Among the top sellers so far are a kale quinoa salad and chicken pho. Beer and wine are also on the menu, including gluten free and organic beer. The store plans to soon start delivery service. “We are excited to bring healthy eating to a neighborhood that values health and wellness in their daily lifestyles. By opening in the Castro, we can finally cater to the community 7-days a week, including holiday weekends and late evenings,” said owner Trang Nguyen. Urban Picnic is open weekdays at 10:30 a.m., closing Mondays through Wednesdays at 10 p.m. and at 11 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays. It opens at 9 a.m. weekends, closing Saturdays at 11 p.m. and Sundays at 10 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.urbanpicniceater y. com/.
Honor Roll
Throughout Pride month in June La Boulange, the San Francisco-based French-inspired chain of cafes, once again sold rainbow macarons with a $1 for each box purchased earmarked for the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation. This year’s fundraiser netted $2,079 for the local charity, far surpassing the 2013 total of $1,764.t Got a tip on LGBT business news? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 861-5019 or e-mail m.bajko@ ebar.com.
tion and be the first out candidate to win a statewide seat in California. “Never in California history has the vote difference between two candidates for statewide office been so narrow, 481 votes or 1/100th of one percent, out of more than four million ballots cast,” stated Perez in a July 6 email announcing his decision to seek a recounting of votes. “It is therefore of the utmost importance that an additional, carefully See page 7 >>
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Politics>>
July 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7
SF planners back Campos’ LGBT housing rule by Matthew S. Bajko
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an Francisco planners are backing a proposed rule that would require national developers wishing to build residential projects with 10 or more units in San Francisco to disclose if they prohibit LGBT discrimination. The city’s planning commission will vote on the proposal at their Thursday, July 10 meeting, and the planning department is urging them to approve it. “The Planning Department supports the proposed ordinance in its current form and finds it an appropriate and minor adjustment to current application intake practices,” wrote Diego R. Sánchez, who oversees legislative affairs for the department, in a staff report to planning commissioners. As the Political Notebook first reported in March, gay District 9 Supervisor David Campos worked with LGBT housing rights activists to craft the proposal with an eye toward providing nationwide protections for LGBT tenants. Currently 21 states in the U.S. prohibit housing discrimination based on sexual orientation, and 16 states also ban gender-identity-based housing discrimination. The legislation is co-sponsored by Supervisors Scott Wiener, Jane Kim, Mark Farrell, John Avalos, and Eric Mar. If approved as expected, the policy would require the planning department to inquire, as part of its routine application process, whether developers of larger projects have a national policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the sale, lease
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or financing of any dwelling unit. While the planning department would be prohibited from using the information as part of its evaluation of a project, it would not be able to consider a development application as complete until the LGBT housing protection questions are answered. The department would be required to share the information with the city’s Human Rights Commission, which would use it to compile a written report on an annual basis for the Board of Supervisors to review. “As the executive director of HRC and as a leader in the LGBTQ community, I believe that information empowers and illuminates us on the path to eradicating discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation in the city and county of San Francisco and throughout the nation,” wrote Theresa Sparks, a transgender woman, in a letter of support. “To that end, the legislation proposed by Supervisor David Campos would serve as a vehicle of progress for some of the most marginalized individuals and families in
Congressman calls for end to gay blood ban
San Francisco Supervisor David Campos
our communities.” According to the staff report, the proposed rule has not generated any opposition. Planners did receive letters in support from a number of LGBT agencies, including the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Larkin Street Youth Services, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. The Board of Supervisors will take up the proposal following the planning commission’s vote. Once adopted, it would take effect 30 days after.
Congressman Mike Honda (DSan Jose) this week called on the Food and Drug Administration to end its “discriminatory regulation” that prohibits gay and bisexual men from donating blood. The ban has been in place since the early days of the AIDS epidemic, and despite the advent of HIV tests, the federal government has shown little imperative to revise its policy. “Despite tremendous advances in the medical and biotech fields, the Food and Drug Administration still bans blood donations from gay and bisexual men,” stated Honda, who is facing a heated re-election race this fall. “The American Medical Association now opposes this discriminatory and outdated restriction. Our society is increasingly supporting equality for LGBT people. I will fight this ban that only marginalizes, stigmatizes, and stereotypes healthy people across the country.” A number of South Bay politicians joined Honda at a press conference Monday, July 7 at the Santa Clara County Government Center in San Jose. “The ban on gay men donating blood is an archaic and discrimi-
natory policy that precludes gay Americans from participating fully in our society,” stated gay Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager. “Thanks to advances in testing science, overturning this ban would increase the donor blood supply and help save thousands of lives.” Gay Campbell City Councilman Evan Low has targeted the FDA’s anti-gay policy since last year after he was asked to oversee a local blood drive during his time serving as mayor of his hometown. “With the risk of man-made and natural disasters that could injure thousands of people, it’s inconceivable that we would be turning away gay donated blood that has been scientifically tested to be safe,” stated Low, who is running for a state Assembly seat this fall. “I urge the FDA to join the U.K., Canada, and Australia in rescinding this lifetime discriminatory ban.” Advocates of having the FDA lift its ban are holding a National Gay Blood Drive this Friday, July 11 to highlight the issue. They are asking people who can donate blood to do so that day in honor of a gay or bisexual man. For more information, visit http://www.gayblooddrive.com/.t
2014 NGLCC National Business and Leadership Conference July 29 – August 1 Caesars Palace | Las Vegas
Controller race
From page 6
conducted review of the ballots be undertaken to ensure that every vote is counted, as intended.” County elections officials had until early July to submit their final tallies to the Secretary of State’s office, which is required to certify the final election results Friday, July 11. In a July 1 press statement, as well as in an email sent to her supporters that day, Yee proclaimed herself the second-place finisher of the primary and called on Democrats to unite behind her candidacy to ensure the statewide position does not fall into GOP hands. “I want to thank the voters of California for their trust and support. I look forward to bringing my extensive finance experience into the office of controller,” Yee stated. “I want to congratulate Assembly Speaker Emeritus Perez for his strong and positive campaign and for his leadership in restoring fiscal stability to California. With the campaign now behind us, I call upon all Democrats to unite in the effort to hold this vital position as California’s chief financial officer.” The recount process has thrown elections officials around the state into a sense of confusion about the process and who will pay for it. Perez, who asked that ballots in Kern and Imperial counties be manually reviewed first, is required to pay the cost of the recount for each day it takes place. He also wants elections officials to review all ballots in the targeted counties that were not counted. It remains to be seen if he can overcome Yee’s lead. And if he does, it is likely the matter could land before the state courts before a final second-place finisher is determined.t
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<< Sports
8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
Aussies rugby highs and lows by Roger Brigham
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ugby news from Down Under last week ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. First up, the sublime. The Sydney Convicts, who will defend their Bingham Cup championship on their home turf in late August, became the first gay rugby team to play as the opening act for a professional rugby game, defeating the Macquarie University Warriors 30-12 on Sunday, July 6 before a match between the New South Wales Waratahs and the New Zealand Highlanders. The match was part of an antihomophobia campaign leading up to the Bingham Cup, August 24-31. Retired Australian rugby captain John Eale congratulated the Convicts on their win. “I am very proud of the Convicts for making history while also challenging stereotypes around gay men,”
Eale said. “Sports can and must lead society and be welcoming for everyone. It’s always disappointing to hear stories of people who don’t play sports because they fear discrimination. I’m sure that by holding historic events like this weekend’s curtain raiser and taking other steps to publicly support gay people, we can help eradicate homophobia and discrimination in sport.” The matches were preceded with a panel discussion on homophobia in sports and a You Can Play video was broadcast during timeout. The video is available on youtube.com under the title “BinghamTV - You Can Play!” One Convicts player, scrum half Jason Fowler, was facing his former Macquarie University teammates for the first time. “I saw a lot of guys on the field
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who I was afraid would reject me for being gay just two years ago,” Fowler said. “I’m amazed by how my life has come full circle and I can play against them now and be proud. In retrospect, my sexuality was not as big a deal as I made it out in my head and my old teammates have been extremely supportive.” Bingham Cup organizers are also taking part in an international study on homophobia in sports that is gathering the stories of experiences and observations of people across the globe. The anonymous survey takes about 20 minutes to complete and is available at www. outonthefields.com. The survey also refers respondents who have issues that are upsetting to them to various helplines. For the United States, respondents are referred to the GLBT National Helpline at (888) 843-4564 or www. gayhelpline.com. Information on this year’s Bingham Cup, which was founded in San Francisco and named after 9/11 hero Mark Bingham, is available at www.binghamcup.com. Now for the ridiculous. A photograph of pro rugby player Todd Carney urinating into his own mouth went viral on the Internet and led to his sudden termination by the Cronulla Sharks. Carney said he thought the firing was unjustified and a personal vendetta by Sharks chief executive Steve Noyce, who had previously sacked Carney when they were both with another club three years earlier. “I got a phone call late yesterday (July 6) afternoon and he asked me what I thought should happen,” Carney said. “I said that I wanted an opportunity to talk to the players firstly and talk to the board and the staff. He said he’d let me know about that after he sat down, and then the boys got a text message 10 minutes later saying there is a release that’s going to happen. I felt betrayed and lied to.” Someone named Mick Robinson apparently snapped the picture in a nightclub restroom and said he later lent the phone to his brother, who then lost it. Man, why didn’t Anthony Weiner
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Courtesy of Rod Spark Photography
Sydney Convicts scrum half Jason Fowler runs with the ball in the team’s July 6 victory over Macquarie University. The match was the first time a gay rugby team played as the opening act for a professional rugby game.
think of that? Now, myself, I’ve never tried that at home, but being a devoted reporter sworn to bring you the best available information (and save you countless hours cruising bizarre websites on the Internet that will take you to … well, never mind that), I Googled the web a bit and came away with some choice tidbits. Apparently, urophagia, as the health professionals know it, is a growing fad in Australia, especially among skaters, and is referred to by its devotees as “bubbling.” (Note to self: next time someone asks me if I want some bubbly, get him to specify whether that comes in a corked bottle or a zippered fly.) There are no extensive medical studies on the practice (I can see the little lab rats telling the scientists, “You want me to do what where?”), but doctors say that a) it’s a bad thing to do because it can dehydrate you like seawater and hurt your digestive tract; and b) it might be a good thing to do to stimulate your body’s immune system and fight cancer. No word on how it fares in taste tests.
LGBT kiss cam snub?
The Giants lost 3-1 on Thursday, June 26 during their 12th annual LGBT Night Out at the Ballpark, but it was the sixth-inning Kiss Cam that proved to be the biggest disappointment for some of the fans at the otherwise festive occasion.
As they do at most of their home games, the Giants’ television crew cruised the stands for couples kissing so that they could show them on the Jumbotron screen. Only guess what? On a night celebrating gay pride, no gay or lesbian couples were shown exchanging smooches. Is our community’s sense of romance dead? Doug Litwin, who helps coordinate the event on behalf of Team San Francisco and the Federation of Gay Games, wrote a thank-you note to the Giants for holding the event to benefit local LGBT non-profits and noted the lack of same-sex couples shown. Shana Daum, vice president of public affairs and community relations, wrote Litwin back. “We greatly appreciate your attendance at LGBT Night and all of the support that we receive from the LGBT community,” Daum wrote. “The Giants value our relationship with the LGBT community and by no means was it intentional not to show same-sex couples on the Kiss Cam last night. All couples that appear on the Kiss Cam are selected at random. The Kiss Cam features as many couples as possible during the time allotted for this piece and showcases heterosexual and LGBT couples throughout the season. We will make every effort at the next LGBT event to highlight LGBT couples on the Kiss Cam.” But please: no bubbling.t
Can we talk, Joan? by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
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merican comedian and television host Joan Rivers, who may be even better known for her difficult history with The Tonight Show, her 1980s “Can We Talk?” catch phrase, and her many facelifts, has decided to add to her controversial history. After officiating the impromptu wedding of two gay male fans of hers at a New York book signing, the 81-year-old Rivers was asked if she thought the United States would first have a gay president or a woman president. In reply, Rivers said, “We already have it with Obama, so let’s just calm down.” That statement itself is oddly reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s oft-misunderstood declaration that President Bill Clinton was America’s first black president. I suppose one could look at this and consider the parallels. Morrison intended her statement as a reference to how Clinton was being vilified during the impeachment hearing, and how he was characterized by stereotypes that were often associated with being black in America. With that
thought in mind, perhaps Rivers would have a point. Perhaps one could tie the way Obama detractors view him as weak or soft to gay stereotypes. Rivers, however, did not stop there, so that is not the conversation we legitimately have. No, Rivers continued, “You know Michelle [Obama] is a tranny.” When asked to clarify, she said, “A transgender, we all know. It’s okay.” She then continues past the presumably shocked questioner, continuing to mumble to others as she passes by. Now, first and foremost, I think we should get one thing out of the way. Rivers has spent quite a number of decades trying to keep the spotlight on her. She certainly knows that the best way to sell more copies of her latest book is to court controversy. On this same book tour she’s been busy lashing out at members of PETA who protested her love of fur. See, I do think that a lot of this is a shrewd - if not altogether wise move on Rivers’ part to get her name in the press by whatever means possible. Even this very column, in its
own small way, is drawing attention to her thanks to these incendiary comments she made. There are those in the less-stable edge of the conservative movement who have indeed been trying to somehow “out” Obama for being gay, and Rivers’ comments feed perfectly into their twisted narrative. I’m sure they’ll also buy a few books, too. I’m not trying to excuse what she said, though, nor will I fall into the easy trap of excusing her for her age, claiming, “she just doesn’t know better.” No, I think she knows plenty. Let’s take a closer look, rather, at what Rivers had to say. First off, if Michelle Obama was transgender, does that make President Obama gay? It’s complicated, but I would have to assume that - if that were the case - then Michelle would identify as female. That would not exactly make for a samesex relationship. It’s an absolutely ham-fisted understanding of what it means to be transgender, let alone the nature of sex, gender and desire. That also would not explain Sasha and Malia Obama, but I digress. What Rivers is really saying isn’t so much that Michelle Obama is transSee page 10 >>
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Obituaries>>
Robinson
From page 1
“I’m quite sad,” said longtime gay activist Cleve Jones, 59, of Mr. Robinson’s passing. Like Mr. Robinson, Jones was also a confidante of Milk’s. “He was a very important figure, and I don’t think many people really understood what a big contribution he made to our efforts.” Robinson “is a big part of Harvey’s legacy,” said Jones, “so many of the words” for which Milk is remembered “were Frank’s words.” Mr. Robinson was born August 9, 1926 in Chicago. His sense of humor is evident in his online biography, where he wrote, “At age 3, the old man was deported to Canada for signing other people’s names to checks. Obviously where I get my writing talent.” John Levin, 70, of San Francisco, who knew Mr. Robinson for about 40 years and is serving as the trustee of his trust, said Mr. Robinson “came from a poor background” and grew up in an orphanage. Mr. Robinson eventually became a radio operator in the Navy, said Levin, and served in World War II and later in the Korean War. He received a
July 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9
bachelor’s in physics from Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin, and then a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, according to his biography. Eventually, Mr. Robinson wrote the Playboy Advisor column for the popular magazine known for featuring photos of naked women. Brian Kamps, 33, a friend of Mr. Robinson’s, said people have told him that the column “was one of the only real places where you could find gay-positive information” in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Mr. Robinson wrote the column. Jones said his friend was part of the gay liberation movement in Chicago in the early 1970s, but Mr. Robinson also continued living an unpredictable life. He authored numerous books, including 1975’s The Prometheus Strain, with Thomas Scortia, and 1991’s The Dark Beyond the Stars. His 1974 book The Glass Inferno, which he also wrote with Scortia, was part of the basis for the film The Towering Inferno. Around that time, Mr. Robinson met Milk outside Milk’s Castro Street camera shop when he
Daniel Nicoletta
Frank Robinson and Harvey Milk share a moment in 1976 at the front counter of Milk’s Castro Camera store.
stopped to play with the shop’s dog. In the foreword to Harvey Milk: An Archive of Hope, a collection of Milk’s speeches and writings, Mr. Robinson wrote that Milk, then a failed candidate for supervisor, told him of his plans to run again and asked whether he wanted to write speeches for him. “It’ll be a hoot,” he recalled Milk
Gay priest Anthony Turney dies at 76
18 Studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom “Below Market Rate” rental units available: Gantry, 2121 Third Street, San Francisco
by Matthew S. Bajko
A
nthony Turney, who served as the CEO of the NAMES Project Foundation and was ordained to the Episcopal diaconate in 1996, died Friday, July 4 on the 38th anniversary of his becoming a United States citizen. He was 76. Mr. Turney had battled cancer for the last three years. Surrounded by family and friends, he died peacefully at Coming Home Hospice in San Francisco. He had spent the last two years of his life living with his friend of 30 years, David Perry, and Perry’s husband, Alfredo Casuso. “The community has lost a true giant,” said Perry. “Anthony was a natural born leader, and a man of extraordinary talent, grace, and challenging intellect.” Mr. Turney’s career included positions as deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts; executive director of the Dance The-
18 below market rate (BMR) units available in this new 105 unit building. All 18 BMR units will rent and qualify at 55% of Area Median Income. Renter households must earn no more than the income levels listed below A one person household can make no more than $37,350 A two person household can make no more than $42,750 A three person household can make no more than $48,050 A four person household can make no more than $53,400 A five person household can make no more than $57,650 A six person household can make no more than $61,950 A seven person household can make no more than $66,200
18 Studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom
Market rental available: (Households must be at“Below least as manyRate” people asunits bedrooms in the unit)
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Anthony Turney
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18 below market rate (BMR) units available in this new 105 unit building. All 18 BMR units will rent and qualify at 55% of Area Median Lottery Applications due by 5pm on, Tuesday, July 15th 2014 to: Income. Renter households must earn no more than the income levels listed below
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ater of Harlem; and administrative director of the San Francisco Opera. Mr. Turney was born in Sutton, England, on December 23, 1937, the second oldest of three children within a family that soon broke up. The Turney family of Aylesbury, near London, See page 10 >>
A one person household can make no more than $37,350
person an household can make noGantry more thanBMR $42,750 Three ways Atotwo obtain application for units; A three person household can make no more than $48,050 A four person household can make no more than $53,400
(1) Applications can be picked up inperson person Tuesdays andno Thursdays ONLY 9:00 AM- 6:00 PM A five household can make more than $57,650 A six at person can make no Francisco, more than $61,950 from , June 17, 2014, - July 15, 2014 2121household Third Street, San CA 94107 A seven person household can make no more than $66,200
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Obituaries >> Thomas Eugene Stoker July 23, 1944 – June 20, 2014 Thomas Eugene Stoker died at the VA Hospital in Reno June 20, 2014, of complications of renal failure. He was 69. Born in Winnemucca, Nevada, Tom loved his native state with its rugged frontier. He was proud of an abandoned tungsten mine he inherited from his father. His parents had settled in Lovelock, and Tom earned a B.A. in Spanish with minors in history and English in 1969 at the university of Nevada, Reno. Tom converted to Mormonism and spent two years as a Mormon missionary in Montevideo, Uruguay, where he mastered the use of Rioplatense, the Spanish dialect of that region. On his return from Uruguay while studying at Brigham Young University, Tom developed an interest in genealogy and traced the Stoker family history. Of Danish/German roots, Tom traveled extensively in Mexico, Central and South America and Europe. While studying Arabic at the U.S. Army Language School, Tom was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a condition that deeply affected his personal and professional life. Tom worked at various jobs during his lifetime, including for the Salt Lake County Division of Aging in 197475 and for the CETA program in Reno. In San Francisco Tom worked for Morrison Knudson Engineers for five years. He also worked as a bus travel guide and later as a translator at the Hispanic Community Fund in the city. His writing talent earned him a job writing historical vignettes with personal commentary for the Humboldt Sun
saying. “We’ll stir some shit.” Daniel Nicoletta, 59, who lives in Grants Pass, Oregon and was friends with Mr. Robinson and Milk, said in a recent interview, “Harvey’s notes, if you look at them, are pretty erratic, both in terms of grammar and idea formation,” but Robinson was able to “take that and turn it into something concise.”
Jones pointed to the 1977 speech in which Milk famously said, “You have to give them hope” as an example of Mr. Robinson’s work. Milk became one of the first out LGBTs to win elective office in the United States when he won a seat on the Board of Supervisors in November 1977. Just over a year later, in November 1978, former Supervisor Dan White fatally shot Milk and then-Mayor George Moscone in City Hall. Mr. Robinson appeared in the 2008 biopic Milk and became friends with Dustin Lance Black, who won an Academy Award for the film’s screenplay. In a statement from the national Human Rights Campaign, Black, who’s gay, said, “For Frank, the word ‘hope’ was not a notion for our dreams, it was a bold call for immediate action in a time when it was illegal to be gay in every corner of this nation. He offered Harvey his strength, wit and wisdom. He shared the same with me, still grimacing at the idea of partial equality and patience. He felt strongly that what he called a ‘checkerboard nation’ of contradictory See page 10 >>
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newspaper in Winnemucca. Tom’s remains were cremated after his death and he will be buried near his mother and father, Lois and Vernon Stoker. Survivors include many nieces, nephews; his sister, Linda Walker in Denver; his brother Eldon in Beaver, Utah; and his housemate, Victor, in Lovelock. A memorial service is pending.
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San Francisco Library, Koret Auditorium
Michael Newell
Information Session th
Thursday, 26 6:00CA PM- 94102 7:30 PM 100 Larkin Street, San June Francisco,
July 20, 1946 – June 20, 2014
Location:
Long time San Francisco Attorney Michael Newell died suddenly on June 20 after suffering a stroke at his home in Portland, Oregon. He was 67 years old. A graduate of Ohio State and the University of Southern Florida Law School, Mike moved to San Francisco in the mid-1960s. He was a strong and active supporter of Lions Clubs International. Mike was a founding member of the Castro Lions, past President of the Castro Lions, District Governor of Lions District 4C4, past President of the Lions Eye Foundation and a current member of the Portland Downtown Lions. Mike was a kind and gentle soul and gave freely to the San Francisco community, providing many hours of pro bono services for those in need during the height of the AIDS crisis. He is survived by his partner of 26 years, Ross Mang, and their two dogs Ralph and Elsa. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Lions Eye Foundation, POB 7999, SF CA 94120 and to the Castro Lions Club, 584 Castro Street, POB 200, SF CA 94114.
Open House Dates San Francisco Library, Koret Auditorium Wednesday, July 2nd and July 9th 6:00-8:00 PM 100 Larkin Street, SanAM-1:00 Francisco,PM CA 94102 Saturday June 21st 11:00 Location: 2121 Third Street, San Francisco, 94107 Open House Dates nd th Wednesday, July 2 and July 9 6:00-8:00 PM st Saturday June 21 11:00 AM-1:00 PM 2121 Thirdpreference Street, San Francisco, to Location: apply. Lottery will be 94107 given
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Deposit Required $899 $1022 $1139 $1252
Units are monitored through the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and are subject to monitoring and other restrictions. Visit Units are monitored the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and are subject to www.sf-moh.org for programthrough information. Post lottery credit, rentaland history, criminal background and additional income verification take place. Lottery winners will be monitoring other restrictions. Visit www.sf-moh.org for will program information. contacted in rankcredit, order forrental further processing and move-in approval. Post lottery history,thcriminal background and additional income verification will APPLICATIONS DUE BY 5 PM on July 15 , 2014. Postmarked applications that arrive after the deadline will be considered late and take place. Lottery winners will be contacted in rank order for further processing and move-in NOT eligible for the lottery.
approval. APPLICATIONS DUE BY 5 PM on July 15th, 2014. Postmarked applications that arrive after the deadline will be considered late and NOT eligible for the lottery.
Serving the LGBT communities since 1971
10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
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Transmissions
From page 8
gender, but that she is a man. This is where things get even stickier. Setting aside that Michelle Obama is not male, it is important to note that there is a long history of critiquing African-American women for being “masculine” in appearance compared to Caucasian beauty standards. Whether Rivers realized that she was making a racist statement as well as a transphobic comment, I don’t know. I do know that whether or not she knew is irrelevant: what is important is that she did. Then there’s how Rivers spoke about transgender people. First, she referred to Michelle Obama as “a transgender.” Transgender, however, is not a noun. It is an adjective in this context. As Rivers meant it, Michelle Obama would be more correctly referred to as “a transgender
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Robinson
From page 9
laws still denied LGBT young people the hope and pride he so desperately wanted for them. So each time we spoke, he’d end with, ‘Fight on.’” At least locally, Mr. Robinson’s sexuality “was not a secret,” Levin said, but it wasn’t until around the time of the Milk film that he came out to his family. Marilee Robinson, 75, of Ocala, Florida, was married to Mr. Robinson’s brother Mark, who died in 1997. “It was always suspected” that Frank Robinson was gay, said his sister-in-law, but “we didn’t discuss it … It didn’t matter to us. He had
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Turney
From page 9
adopted him when he was 4. At the age of 17, he joined the Grenadier Guards, an infantry regiment of the British Army and the most senior regiment of the Guards Division. Besides serving in the Guards’ iconic ceremonial duties outside of Buckingham Palace, Mr. Turney also saw distinguished service under fire during the Suez Crisis. He moved to the United States in 1968, first establishing himself in New York City as an independent event producer. He was especially proud to have once presented Buckminster Fuller at Carnegie Hall. With the onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, Mr. Turney’s life changed dramatically. In mid 1991, he quit his work to care for his partner, James Brumbaugh, who died in 1992 from AIDS. Mr. Turney served as the executive director and CEO of the NAMES Project Foundation, the custodian
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AIDS Walk SF
From page 3
form’s leadership,” wrote Miller. Van Gorder said he’s “not particularly” worried about any financial impact the 10K may have on the AIDS Walk. “It could have some, but we’re working to increase the number of teams, and we have a lot of new teams this year, so I expect us to do well,” said Van Gorder. “Let’s face it. The world of nonprofit fundraising, whether it’s in HIV or anything else, is competitive.”
Grants to agencies will return
One of the biggest changes Project Inform is instituting this year is bringing back grants awarded to AIDS Walk participating agencies in addition to what is raised by those walking on their behalf. Because of its losing oversight of the fundraiser, the AIDS foundation last year decided to cut the grant disbursements. It did so in estimation of facing a $750,000 budget gap in its 2014 fiscal year. In 2012 the agency handed out $250,000
woman.” You can even shorten that to “a woman” and be correct. But she only used “transgender” to clarify, after calling the First Lady of the United States a “tranny.” This has been a particularly noteworthy year for that term, with the long-standing shouting match between RuPaul and his supporters on one side, and a large number of transgender activists on the other, over who can use that particular word and in what context. I personally stand in the unenviable position of seeing points from both sides. While I think one should be free to self-identify with whatever term they choose, including “tranny,” it is worth acknowledging that this is a term often evoked by those seeking to harm transgender people, and that one should consider alternatives when possible. Of course, one should also not assign such a term to others who do
not self-identify with it: that much should just be obvious. So in walks Joan Rivers, calling the wife of our president a “tranny” while claiming that President Obama himself is gay. It’s a twisted mess of a statement, likely made by someone whose only real concern is pushing paper, yet it is a statement that shows just how out of touch, just how cringe-worthy Rivers truly is. That she chose to make this in the wake of a wedding of two of her gay fans only adds to the insult. So, Joan Rivers, whether you were simply courting controversy, speaking out of pure ignorance, or both, now is the time to apologize, and make an effort to learn. Until then, you can keep the books.t
his lifestyle and his friends, and we’ve met a lot of his friends from time to time. They were always just really wonderful people.” Kamps, one of Mr. Robinson’s friends, met him 10 years ago and helped take care of him toward the end of his life. He said Mr. Robinson had had an irregular heartbeat for years, and in October, he’d had a stent put in. Then, in April, two more stents were inserted. Jones said that about three weeks ago, Mr. Robinson had been hospitalized with pneumonia. Kamps said that despite Mr. Robinson’s health troubles, he’d remained “very active” and managed to finish his autobiography.
Then, said Kamps, Mr. Robinson “wound down very peacefully and passed away the morning of June 30 at about 5:30.” In an excerpt provided by Kamps, Mr. Robinson wrote in his autobiography about sitting outside, watching “two young men, maybe in their midtwenties, strolling hand-in-hand.” He wrote, “If they were open to advice I’d tell them to get married. … It’s a different world now and as I look at the couples passing by, I can’t tell any difference between them in any ways that really matter.” A memorial is planned from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, August 8 at the Women’s Building, 3543 18th Street, in San Francisco.t
of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, from 1993 to 1997. Through his initiative, the NAMES Project established the landmark “Quilt in the Schools” program whereby individual AIDS Quilt panels traveled around the country to further HIV education. Under his leadership the quilt traveled to Washington, D.C. where it was displayed on the National Mall and was viewed by more than 1 million people. Through Mr. Turney, the NAMES Project adopted a simple and eloquent new mission statement: “End AIDS.” In 1996, Mr. Turney was appointed to the San Francisco Arts Commission. In 2000, he was a consultant to the United States Agency for International Development, assisting in the agency’s efforts to partner with faith-based organizations in responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. As an openly gay member of the clergy at Grace Cathedral, Mr. Turney was a vocal advocate for marriage equality and other social justice is-
sues. An energetic volunteer and traveler, he spent a month walking across Spain along the Camino de Santiago and successfully biked, three times, from San Francisco to Los Angeles as part of the AIDS LifeCycle. Mr. Turney is survived by his San Francisco, St. Louis and Los Angeles family; his Episcopal Church community; friends around the world; his canine companion, Drew; and his family in England and in Canada. In lieu of flowers, donations in Mr. Turney’s memory may be made to one of the following: the Sacred Dying Foundation (www.sacreddying.org); the Rainbow Honor Walk (www.rainbowhonorwalk.org); the Ghiberti Foundation; the arts and culture foundation at Grace Cathedral (www.gracecathedral.org); or the San Francisco Opera Archive (www.sfopera.com). Mr. Turney’s funeral will be held at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral at 11 a.m. Monday, July 14. Beginning at 7 a.m., his body will lie in repose in the AIDS Interfaith Chapel.t
through the grants program. This year a committee that includes nonprofit and county HIV organization representatives will review grant applications, said Van Gorder, “and help us make recommendations.” The news of the grants returning has pleased participating agencies. “Everyone is quite happy that we’re back on track,” said Jung, and he thinks the walk “will be very successful.” Other changes are also being implemented in conjunction with the 2014 fundraiser. AIDS Walk organizers will distribute money more broadly this year than has been done before. Eligibility to take part was expanded to agencies in seven Bay Area counties; before, groups in five of the region’s nine counties could walk. The participating counties are Alameda, Marin, San Francisco, Santa Clara, and San Mateo, along with Contra Costa and Sonoma counties, which were officially added this year, although Contra Costa had previously taken part. Organizers are also planning to
make the opening ceremonies “just a little bit shorter,” Van Gorder said, since “people are often eager to set off on their walk.” There will also be more emphasis on the multiple agencies that benefit from the money walkers raise, he said. “We will be incorporating many of the co-beneficiaries into the opening ceremonies as a reminder that Project Inform is not the only beneficiary of the event, and to give people a richer sense of what the funds go to support,” Van Gorder said. Individuals may register at any time up to the start of the walk. The deadline to register teams was July 9. Fundraising continues until August 15. For more information, visit http://www.aidswalk.net/sanfran.t
Gwen Smith wishes she could be half the woman Michelle Obama is. You can find her on the web at www.gwensmith.com.
On the web Online content this week features the Bay Area Reporter’s Wedding Bells Ring column. www.ebar.com
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NOTICE OF ADOPTION
In the Matter of the Petition of: Michelle A. Maxwell, for the Adoption of a Child. Case Number: 49D08-1405-AD-018725. To JASON CASSADY, the father of Michelle A. Maxwell (5/28/2008). You are hereby notified that on May 29, 2014, a Petition for Adoption of Michelle A. Maxwell born 5/28/2008 was filed in the Superior Court of Marion County, Indiana. All parental rights you may have with respect to the minor child will be lost and you will neither receive notice nor be entitled to object to the adoption of the child unless you appear in the pending adoption action and show cause why your rights to the child should not be terminated by adoption. Michele L. Jackson - Attorney for Petitioner HARDEN JACKSON, PC 11450 North Meridian Street, Suite 200 Carmel, Indiana 46032 Telephone: (317) 569-0770 Facsimile: (317) 569-6775
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JUNE 26, JULY 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035900100
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TEXT-O-MAT, 2899 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KENNETH WONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/05/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/19/14.
JUNE 26, JULY 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035865800
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JUNE 26, JULY 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035893500
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JUNE 26, JULY 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035904400
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WISCONSIN STREET DINING SERVICES, 5 GALILEE LANE #6, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed WILLIAM L. BOGDANOFF. 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 06/23/14.
JUNE 26, JULY 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035910000
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CB2, 34 ELLIS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed EUROMARKET DESIGNS INC (IL). 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 06/06/14.
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GALA, 2277 UNION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GAYLE LEE RECUERDO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/25/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/25/14.
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The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PIER 70 PARTNERS, 420 22ND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed PIER 70 PARTNERS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/19/14.
JULY 03, 10, 17, 24, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035911100
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JULY 03, 10, 17, 24, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035911700
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JULY 03, 10, 17, 24, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035918500
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July 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11
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Vol. 44 • No. 28 • July 10-16, 2014
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This ‘Traviata’ is more like it by Jason Victor Serinus
W
Ailyn Pérez (Violetta) and Stephen Costello (Alfredo) in San Francisco Opera’s La Traviata.
hether San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley intentionally saved opera’s newest love couple, soprano Ailyn Pérez (Violetta Valéry) and her husband, tenor Stephen Costello (Alfredo Germont), for second-cast honors remains to be seen. But there’s no question that Gockley hit it out of the ballpark on July 4 weekend by having Pérez and Costello love and languish in front of 26,000 people longing for warmth in AT&T Park, and several thousand more sitting in rapt attention in the War Memorial Opera House. Pérez may not be a born coloratura, but her physical allure and ability to give body and soul over to Verdi’s doomed heroine are so compelling that it’s hard to take eyes off her. Despite a voice that was somewhat edgy in the first Act, and an interpretation that, especially in the final Act’s heartbreaking letter-reading scene (“Addio del passato”), seemed far too derivative of two of her greatest predecessors, Claudia Muzio and Maria Callas, her pain was so palpable and her conviction so moving that her reprise of the role for San Francisco Opera confirms her artistic maturation. See page 22 >>
Kristen Loken
Hofmann & Bess: two-fer at BAM by Sura Wood
W
hile not exactly a patron saint, German émigré painter Hans Hofmann was critical to the founding of the Berkeley Art Museum. An artist of impressive range and a highly respected teacher who played a key role in the development of Abstract Expressionism – Helen Frankenthaler, Frank Stella, Lee Krasner, Red Grooms, Ray Eames and Louise Nevelson were just a few of his illustrious students – Hofmann taught at UC Berkeley in the summers of 1930 and 1931, the same year he had his first American solo exhibition at the Legion of Honor. The experiences, he once said, launched his life and career in the U.S. He settled in New York in 1932. In the 1960s, in a demonstration of his gratitude to UCB, he gave the institution nearly 50 of what he considered his best paintings and pledged $250,000 of seed money to bolster the fledgling museum that would become BAM. One of his first gifts, the exuberant color plane painting “Summer Bliss” (1960), a shout-out to nature, landscape and the sheer joy of painting punctuated by rectangular blasts of joyous
“Polyhymnia” (1963), oil on canvas by Hans Hofmann. BAM
{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }
color – hallmarks of Hofmann’s passionate work – is currently on view along with a dozen paintings the artist personally selected as part of his gift. Dating from 1942 through 1963, and combining structural elements of Cubism and Fauvist color with a singular, acutely personal visual language that included thick, sensual layers of impasto, they’re part of Hofmann by Hofmann, a new show up between now and the museum’s closing at the end of the year. (Preparations are already underway for the move to its new building in downtown Berkeley.) In Paris, where he had spent a decade at the turn of the 20th century, Hofmann encountered Picasso and Matisse, whose dual influences are displayed in “Ecstasy” (1947), though for him it was the medium, “incited by reality” and fueled by imagination, that was paramount. “Nature is visual, our greatest stimulus,” he said, and one can feel that in “Above Deep Waters” (1959), a skyline terrain suffused with natural wonder and color so vivid it’s nearly aural. See page 23 >>
<< Out There
14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
Summer books quiz by Roberto Friedman
I
t’s that time of year again when we dive into the stacks upon stacks of book review copies towering over our desk and dip into some stories and nonfictional accounts we haven’t been able to cover fully. To make this exercise fun for us, and hopefully for you dear readers as well, we hereby present a few unattributed passages from the books, as well as the sources’ bibliographical information. See if you can match the text to the book. Answers appear at column’s end for the stumped among us. And no cheating!
The passages:
1. “I was living in a loft on Avenue B with my ex-girlfriend Amy, and her roommate, Rennes, who would pick up closeted fags and have noisy, slurpy sex. I shouldn’t complain. He’d agreed to let me live there for cheap, the broke poet with some weird disease that had me crying out with feverish dreams, disrupting his postcoital sleep. Drag queens had been there first, and it took days for me and Amy to clean the eye shadow ground into the bathroom grout.”
2. “Like every America hero, Louganis appeared both exceptional and typical. Divers have a unique history that links them to various national narratives and visions of the world. For example, after showing athletes in all sorts of disciplines, Leni Riefenstahl chose to conclude Olympia, her film of the 1936 Games in Berlin, with the diving events.” 3. “When the body’s core temperature drops in the 80s, complete apathy comes, and then stupor as the cold renders brain enzymes less efficient. The consciousness that still clings to the rapidly cooling body grows blissfully unaware of the catastrophic breakdown of physical function.” 4. “There was one trick where we were ushered into a spaceship by a group of androids. The spaceship would fly upward and dangle over the stage. People would be literally shaking! It was priceless seeing the looks on their faces when the androids converged at the front of the stage, took off their masks – and were us!” 5. “Infertility isn’t the kind of
subject people tend to talk about at work. ‘Hey, Frank. How was your weekend?’ “‘Pretty good. Saw the new Batman movie, tried that new Italian restaurant downtown, found out my sperm count is zero.’ “‘Oh yeah, how was the food?’” 6. “Fantasy tethers you to a pos-
sible world but makes you passive too, she suggests, ‘waiting – waiting with dread’ to discover what you already know, that the shoe of realism will drop.” 7. “’We think the tomb was broken into twice in antiquity,’ Carter put in. ‘One party of thieves seems to have been after the perfumes
t
and the anointing oils, the cosmetic creams and unguents – they were priceless then. We found the containers they’d left behind. Glorious things, finely carved, made of calcite, alabaster, but they left them – all they wanted was the face creams.’” 8. “Reed Marks, the hot, dirtyblond boy from the Little Rock team, at 16 already had a pelt of dark-brown stomach hair. I only spoke to him when I was in the water, lest he notice my raging hard-on when those crystal-blue eyes gazed at me.”
The books:
A. The Visitors by Sally Beauman; Harper, $27.99 B. Denali’s Howl – The Deadliest Climbing Disaster on America’s Wildest Peak by Andy Hall; Dutton, $27.95 C. Sex, or the Unbearable by Lauren Berlant and Lee Edelman; Duke University Press D. The Nearness of Others – Searching for Tact and Contact in the Age of HIV by David Caron; U. of Minnesota Press, $24.95 E. Eating Fire – My Life as a Lesbian Avenger by Kelly Cogswell; U. of Minnesota Press, $19.95 F. Mommy Man – How I Went from Mild-Mannered Geek to Gay Superdad by Jerry Mahoney; Taylor Trade, $24.95 G. Shining Star – Braving the Elements of Earth, Wind & Fire by Philip Bailey; Viking, $27.95 H. Sally Field Can Play the Transsexual – or, I Was Cursed by Polly Holliday by Leslie L. Smith; PressLess
The answers:
1. E; 2. D; 3. B; 4. G; 5. F; 6. C; 7. A; 8. H.
Vanessa’s victory
San Francisco Opera presented its eighth simulcast from the War Memorial Opera House to AT&T Park last Sat., July 5. This year’s free Opera at the Ballpark offering was Verdi’s La Traviata. Each year in cooperation with KDFC Classical Radio, SFO has held a public contest for someone to sing the National Anthem a cappella at the ballpark. The contest attracted 74 submissions from folks throughout the Bay Area, plus one each from Nevada City and Merced. The winner was selected by KDFC President Bill Lueth and San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley, and the 2014 winner was San Francisco resident Vanessa Bousay, a personality created by Erik Chalfant. None other than B.A.R. society columnist Donna Sachet graced AT&T Park some five years ago with her own interpretation of our national anthem, so there is precedence. And we heard Bousay actually could sing.t
t
Theatre>>
July 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 15
Midsummer night’s screams by Richard Dodds
A
homegrown Dracula and a trans-Atlantic Frankenstein arise this weekend to add some midsummer horror to the traditionally laidback theater season. In each case, the familiar story is viewed through a new theatrical lens refocusing timeworn expectations. Count Dracula, for one thing, is missing from his own story. In Central Works’ Dracula Inquest, a detective from Scotland Yard has arrived at an asylum for the criminally insane in his search for the Transylvanian nobleman who has gone missing. Four of the characters still alive at the end of the Bram Stoker novel are now asylum inmates, and the question becomes whether they are vampire-hunting heroes or conspirators to a murder with a particularly gothic alibi. Dracula Inquest is the 44th world premiere for Central Works, running July 12-Aug. 17 at Berkeley City Club. The company has its own “Central Works Method” for play development that starts off with just an idea and a distant opening date, as discussions, table reads, workshops, and other developmental activities bring forth a play from that seed of an idea. Playwright Gary Graves had the idea in this case, and director Jan Zvaifler helped shepherd it through its journey to stage. For tickets, call (510) 558-1381 or go to centralworks.org. Dr. Frankenstein’s Traveling Freakshow is, indeed, a traveling show. Tin Shed Theatre Company of UK’s South Wales will set up shop July 13-15 at the Hypnodrome, making its U.S. debut with this show-within-a-show that retells the Mary Shelley horror classic. In the Tin Shed variation on the story, the cruel ringmaster of a traveling freak show has such performers as the bearded lady and lobster boy
Jim Norrena
Eminent Gallery
Kenny Toll plays one of the characters from Dracula now under suspicion for the count’s murder in Dracula Inquest, making its world premiere via Central Works.
Mary Shelley’s legendary novel gets a new twist in Dr. Frankenstein’s Traveling Freakshow, which comes by the way of Tin Shed Theatre of South Wales.
reenact the Frankenstein tale, with the ringmaster saving the role of the bride of Frankenstein for himself. Pantomime, Indonesian shadow puppetry, and Kabuki stylings are mixed in with live action in the play by Antonio Rimola and Justin Cliffe and directed by Cliffe. Tickets are available at brownpapertickets.com/event/744920.
Spotlight on playwrights
From more than 500 entries, six plays have been chosen for the 2014 Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Each of the six will receive two staged readings during the festival, July 18-27, which also includes panel discussions, guest readings, symposia, and an opening-night party presented by Playwrights Foundation. The plays for the festival’s 37th edition are Elizabeth Hersh’s Shelter in Place, an apocalyptic dark
family comedy that examines our fear that private information really isn’t private; Phillip Howze’s abominable, in which a family vacation turns into a survivalist camp on the night before the father is to go off to war; E. Hunter Spreen’s Split the Stick, which explores the impact of the Iraq war on a veteran’s family; T.D. Mitchell’s Queens for a Year, a look at four generations of military women who must now tackle another kind of war; Don Nguyen’s Sound, in which a struggle over a cochlear implant rocks the family of a deaf man; and Rob Melrose’s Ozma of Oz, a musical created with the band Z.O.N.K. from L. Frank Baum’s follow-up to The Wizard of Oz. All performances take place at Thick House, and a full schedule of events is available at playwrightsfoundation.org.
Getting pumped up
Bar life has sustained Perra Pumps’ family for three generations, and now she is on the verge of losing her drag-centric Latino bar. The building has been sold and the new landlord is raising the rent, and Perra Pumps tries to sort out the shifting sands with friends, spirits, and song. Javier Luis Hurtado is the author of and has the title role in Perra Pumps: Last Call, which arrives at Brava Theatre Center on July 11-13. Last Call is the third in a trilogy of short plays examining the lives of Chicano queers in recent decades. It was first developed at AS220 in Rhode Island, and had its premiere at El Teatro Campesino in San Juan Bautista. The current performances are being staged to benefit Brava Theatre Center. Tickets at brava.org.
The return of ‘Liz’
Custom Made Theatre has created its own summer tradition with The Book of Liz, a theatrical collaboration between Amy and David Se-
daris that will begin its fourth run at Gough Street Playhouse on July 11. In the off-kilter world according to the Sedaris siblings, cheeseballs actually play a starring role. Sister Elizabeth Donderstock, also known as Liz, is famous for her cheeseballs at the religious sect where she lives. But when she goes rogue, she takes herself and her recipe on a series of adventures that include a chastity parade protesting casual glancing, Ukrainian cat declawers with Cockney accents, an Amish-themed restaurant with alcoholic waiters, and the curse of homosexuals who feast on yard sales. Custom Made’s regular season begins in the fall with a stage adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, and also includes Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, the musical Grey Gardens, and Sarah Ruhl’s Late: A Cowboy Song. More info on Custom Made activities is available at 798-2682 or custommade.org.t
Peaches Christ, off to see the Wizard by David-Elijah Nahmod
appropriation and parody.
D
In what way is the pre-show not “family-friendly?” When I first had the idea, I made sure the Castro was OK with enforcing the age restriction, and they were, because they already have their annual family-friendly sing-along event. We are only allowing people age 13+, so it’s a no-children event. Some of the humor in the pre-show will be geared towards adults. The witch doesn’t send a field of poppies to deter us from making it into the Emerald City; instead, we’re confronted by a sea of poppers. But besides the comedy of the pre-show, I just really wanted to feature a kidsfree screening of this title. I love kids! I do! Just not at the movies.
rag icons Peaches Christ, Sharon Needles and Heklina will go skipping down the yellow brick road for a trip over the rainbow unlike any other on Sat., July 12. The trio, along with a number of guest stars, will appear on the Castro Theatre stage for a ribald consultation with the Wizard. Peaches will star as Dorothy, the role that launched gay icon Judy Garland into superstardom (the character has been renamed Peaches Gale). It’s what we’ve come to expect from the outrageous Ms. Christ: an over-the-top caricature of a familiar face, redressed with the terrifyingly funny face of Peaches. Known for her often R-rated antics, Peaches wants audiences to know that this Wizard of Oz might not be suitable family viewing; no one under 13 will be admitted. Joshua Grannell, Peaches’ kinder, gentler brother, spoke to the B.A.R. about the show and about Judy Garland, who played Dorothy in the classic 1939 film. The movie will screen on the giant Castro screen after the stage show. David-Elijah Nahmod: Without giving away too many spoilers, what will your Oz stage show entail? Joshua Grannell: The pre-show will be an homage as well as a drag parody. But some of the humor will be geared more towards adults. I completely love this movie, and I worship Judy, so I wrote a show that taps into people’s love for this classic. There aren’t any Judy drunk jokes or anything like that. But we’re playing up on people’s love of drag
death contributed to the “fuck it, we’re not gonna take it” attitude of the Stonewall Riots. It doesn’t seem far-fetched at all that drag queens and queer men who were mourning the loss of perhaps the greatest gay icon of all time were simply pushed to the brink that night, and Judy’s passing had emotions running high. These were drag queens. Judy was a Goddess to them, and Judy’s death was devastating. And I think it’s beautiful to believe that Judy’s passing helped launch queer revolution.
What does The Wizard of Oz mean to you? I kinda feel that it helped launch my love of horror movies. In many ways it’s terrifying for children. I was so completely mesmerized by it as a child, and I worshiped the witch. I remember counting the days until it would air on television. They would play it annually, and I’d be sad when it was getting towards the end, because it meant we were leaving Oz for another year.
Joshua Grannell (Peaches Christ) as Peaches Gale.
What is the connection between Judy and the gay community? I think it all began with Dorothy. She gets to go to a completely fabulous place where the costuming is perfect, the battle between good and evil is over a pair of shoes, and her best friends are three fantastic nelly queens who know how to sing and dance. I think as queer people, we often feel as though we don’t fit into our home environments, and
Oz represented a fantastical place of magic and acceptance. I think gay men related to Dorothy, yearning for someplace over the rainbow. After we fell in love with her through Dorothy, I think queer people related to these struggles while also worshiping her enormous talent. The code phrase “Are you a friend of Dorothy?” suggests that there was this inherent un-
Jose Guzman Colon
derstanding that worshiping her was naturally entwined with one’s sexuality. I love celebrity idol worship. She’s the ultimate gay idol. Do you think Judy’s death really helped trigger the Stonewall riots? Might the riots have been triggered solely by the behavior of the police? I can certainly see how Judy’s
Is the younger generation forgetting Judy? Can we change that? I really hope not, but sadly I think in some ways there’s less interest from younger queers to understand the icons that came before their current pop-culture divas. It’s much harder for me to program a cult classic and have young people show up than it used to be. It’s awful that I have to worry about attendance for something like Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? or even Wizard of Oz. We cannot afford to let go of these classics. If I could, I’d forcefeed them to young smart queers because I know that once they come to the water, they’ll drink it. They’ll get it! I teach a film course at SFAI, and have been impressed by some students’ devotion to learn about queer culture and its history. This is encouraging.t The Wizard of Oz starring Peaches Christ as Peaches Gale, with Sharon Needles as the Witch, followed by a screening of the classic film. Sat., July 12, 3 & 8 p.m. Castro Theatre, 429 Castro, SF. Ticket info: peacheschrist.com.
<< Film
16 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
The many lives of Don Murray by David Lamble
I
confess there was a Don Who? moment that flashed across the cerebral bin where memories of the 20,000 or so films I’ve watched are stored. Don Murray? Oh yes, Advise and Consent, Bus Stop, The Hoodlum Priest. But credit the programming elves at the Roxie Theater with concocting a lovely 14-picture Don Murray weekend marathon, kicking off Fri., July 11, at 7:30 p.m. with the Fred Zinnemann-directed A Hatful of Rain, and ending on a romantic high with the Joshua Logan-directed Marilyn Monroe vehicle Bus Stop, Sun., July 13, at 9:15 p.m. When I say “14-picture,” I should qualify that claim with the small-print warning that Murray’s resume is studded with TV turns – edgy TV, mind you, like an episode from ABC’s 26week Western The Outcasts, a 196869 series that was reportedly axed for its hyperviolence. The weekend will be punctuated by archival chats with Murray, still sprightly in his 80s, recalling his tenure as “America’s leastremembered movie star.” Advise and Consent (1962) It’s June 1962, less than a week past my 18th birthday, and my New York Times-employed Uncle Bill treats me to the big Broadway opening week of an Otto Preminger political warhorse that was my introduction to queers on the big screen. Austrianborn producer/director Preminger never did anything halfway. If Allen Drury’s mega-hit novel (68 weeks on the Times’ bestseller list) had a snapcrackle-and-pop climax where a closeted United States Senator (Murray’s most memorable mainstream role) slits his throat after being threatened with exposure, then Preminger made sure his shame would ignite a lurid third-act moment that some would think distasteful, even grotesque. That is Sen. Brigham An-
Don Murray (left) arrives at a Washington, DC gay bar in director Otto Preminger’s Advise and Consent.
derson’s trip to a purple grotto-style gay bar, where he encounters a longago college fling, John Granger (Ray Shaff). Okay, you’ve read Vito Russo’s autopsy on this old chestnut in The Celluloid Closet, now experience why Preminger’s widescreen scandal-trolling mini-epic (139 minutes) melodrama today reads like both a 1962 Washington, DC Who’s Who (with real senators and congressmen as background “extras”) and a prescient look into the not-so-distant future, when an ideologically polarized capital would mimic the film’s state-of-art logo in flipping its dome. A deal-clinching touch is a classic Preminger all-star cast, with screen/ theatre veteran Henry Fonda silky smooth as “the egghead” with a “commie” past, Robert Leffingwell; teen sensation Eddie Hodges as the cool lefty’s jam-sandwich-making son; queer off-screen British actor Charles Laughton, having studied Mississippi’s John Stennis to get the swampy drawl of the implacable Leffingwell foe, Sen. Seabright Cooley; the avuncular, Canadian-born
Walter Pidgeon as the designated adult in the chamber, Senate Majority Leader Bob Munson; a virtually unrecognizable and oh-so-young Betty White as the feisty Sen. Bessie Adams; a party-throwing “hostess with the mostess” in a career revival for Gene Tierney; a shrewd, conniving President, nicely essayed by Franchot Tone, old before his time; a genial everyman impersonation from Lew Ayres as a Vice President likely modeled on Harry S. Truman; a fast-lane boozehound senator impersonated by then-JFK brother-inlaw Peter Lawford; a properly reptilian right-wing bogeyman given a gratingly aggressive energy by newcomer George Gizzard; Hollywood vet Burgess Meredith as Cooley’s beaten-down cooperative witness; and rounding out the devil’s brew, veteran comedy maven Paul Ford (TV’s Sgt. Bilko) as Bob Munson’s eyes-and-ears assistant. One of Preminger’s sly tricks is concealing the party labels, so hard-core Republican Pidgeon can don the titular hero’s cloak as the philandering but
Don Murray is the title character in director Irvin Kershner’s The Hoodlum Priest.
thoroughly decent Bob Munson, the man I confess both my teen self and my grouchy elder-critic self embrace as our personal hero. (7/13, 6:30 p.m.) Shake Hands with the Devil (1959) For those who have forgotten just how involving a Hollywood-spun political potboiler can be, director Michael Anderson plants us convincingly in the familiar territory of Ireland’s “Troubles” with the help of a late-career messianic turn from James Cagney as an Irish Republican Army (IRA) guerilla leader by night, Mr. Chipsstyle medical school lecturer by day. Murray’s low-key grounded star wattage deftly conveys the confusion and moral icks experienced by an Irish-American kid doing a memorial stint in his dead dad’s alma mater. The tension rises as Murray’s man-in-the-middle is given a cook’s tour of British atrocities against his people that strips away all his arguments for staying neutral. This one is effective and dramatically chilling
t
as an IRA “recruiting film.” Michael Redgrave, Glynis Johns and Cyril Cusack round out an impeccable supporting cast filmed where it happened. The Hoodlum Priest (1961) Director Irvin Kershner makes fine use of the screen debut of blond boy Keir Dullea (2001: A Space Odyssey) as a teen delinquent whose path crosses that of Murray’s crusading do-gooder priest. The creakiness of this early-60s “problem film”’s agitprop style is tempered by some fine declarative performances, especially Murray’s best-ever screen argument for saving wayward kids. (7/13, 3 p.m.) Bus Stop (1956) This barnburner from director Joshua Logan caught me off-guard. Marilyn Monroe, fresh from the Actors’ Studio, steals all her moments so seamlessly that you don’t even consider looking for a cop. In the role that made him an icy-cool male lead (1955-62), Murray puts out a Grand Coulee Dam’s worth of horny cowboy wattage, with veteran sidekick Arthur O’Connell subtly effective as uncle to a young man who is as hard to saddle as the rodeo steers and horses he sits astride. Chemistry is everything, and Murray probably recalls his clinches with Monroe with vastly greater affection that her Some Like It Hot co-star Tony Curtis, with his famous tag-line: “like kissing Hitler.” (7/13, 9:15 p.m.) The Confessions of Tom Harris (1966-72) If anything sums up the odd treats of the Murray Marathon, it’s this tempestuous melodrama set partially in a rough-and-tumble amateur boxing world. Co-directors John Derek & David Nelson did the first draft, and actor Murray made finishing it his personal passion for six more years. (7/12, 10:15 p.m.)t Info: www.roxie.com
Into the soul of Masochism by David Lamble
L
ife and US authorities have been unkind to the Polish-born Holocaust survivor Roman Polanski, but his art has seldom failed him. This is evidenced by his new whipsmart and sassy film treatment of Venus in Fur, based on David Ives’ Tony Award-wining stage play, in turn based on Leopold von SacherMasoch’s sexually explicit novella. In an empty Parisian theatre, we witness the frustrated playwright/ director Thomas (Mathieu Amalric) about to pack it in after an agonizing series of auditions as he seeks a young woman for his S&M-themed play. In pops Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner), who begs him to hear her read. Reluctantly, Thomas agrees. Soon he finds not only his perfect Venus, but also a perfectly matched opponent for a series of deadly serious mind-trips. Quickly Vanda turns the tables on her host, taunting him as she holds aloft his book. “And this? This ain’t Titian, babe, it’s S&M porn.” She tosses the book into a fireplace. “The whole thing’s one big cliché.” “In what way?” “He gets spanked, and suddenly he’s into S&M?” “It happened to Sacher-Masoch!” “Did it happen to you?” “No!” “So what do you know?” “For me, it’s a play about two people united forever. They’re handcuffed at the heart.” “By perversion.” “No, by passion.” “His passion!” “This is a chemical reaction.” “It’s a sex and class war. Vanda is
Sundance Selects
Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner) and Thomas (Mathieu Amalric) in director Roman Polanski’s Venus in Fur.
a sweet innocent who meets a total pervert.” “You don’t understand a thing.” “She says, ‘You’ve corrupted me.’” “Maybe she always had a thirst for domination. Maybe he brought it out.” “Maybe she’s just a woman. The play’s like an old anti-female tract. He makes her play along, and then blames her.” “It’s not like that at all.” “It is. Take the ending: she gets the Greek to whip him. She dumps him, dick in hand, and it’s her fault when he wanted it? I think he’s hot for the Greek.” In the end, Polanski the cinema magician gets us fully involved in a battle of wills, a mixing and matching of “perversions” that is insidiously delicious, all the while risking, as Vanda tartly notes, being revealed as terribly “corny.”
Amalric, who co-starred with Seigner in Julian Schnabel’s audacious 2007 psychological masterpiece The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, is perfect as the power-tripping Thomas, who becomes victim of a “Venus flytrap” of his own invention. Boyish enough to arouse our interest in seeing him battered around by this tough woman, he is sexist man incarnate, and his fate is a great example of theatrical stunts nicely translated into a dizzying cinema trip. Seigner has the body, the chutzpah and the sheer impudence to pull off this slow-simmering castration. Catch this one quickly, because there could be as many empty seats around you as on this marvelously imagined theatre set. (Opens Friday at Landmark’s Opera Plaza Cinema in SF, and Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley.) Venus in Fur conjures up the experience my 19-year-old self had in
Long Shot Factory
Dr. Arash Kohanteb, M.D., in doctor/filmmaker Ryan McGarry’s Code Black.
an East Side Manhattan art-house circa 1963 with Joseph Losey’s powerful S&M-themed melodrama The Servant. Starring Dirk Bogarde, a fine British actor who in the 60s was the go-to guy for any UK-produced film smacking of queer subjects, The Servant was a dark and bold exploration of the twisted bond that develops between Bogarde’s manservant and his employer (James Fox). Astonishing for its time, The Servant plays the Castro Theatre tonight (Thurs., July 10). Code Black If great filmmaking is an orchestration of emotion bearing down on a great subject, then doctor/filmmaker Ryan McGarry has aced his debut. McGarry draws on his stint as a resident physician at the birthplace for emergency medicine in America to allow us to get spatter-close to LA County’s
legendary C-Booth and hear the opinions of eight doctors and a 27year trauma-unit veteran RN. Code Black opens on the organized chaos of C-Booth as the team works to save a life. McGarry uses his catbirdseat access – at a facility where reportedly more Americans have died and been saved than in any other ER in the country – to give us a philosophical take on the stakes for medically indigent Americans at the dawn of Obamacare. McGarry displays C-Booth’s “triage” lists, the numbers game that determines how soon even patients with life-threatening conditions get seen: the difference between being a 1 or a 2 can be life or death. As one young doc opines, you hate to think that a patient with a brain tumor leaves the ER just because they can’t abide the wait. McGarry also reflects on how crucial architecture can be in the ER game, noting the vast difference in the culture of County’s old crowded facility, where ER docs called the shots and skimped on insurance forms, and the spanking new white rooms and corridors of the new County unit, where the ER docs are drowning in paperwork. If real blood on a 40-foot screen isn’t for you, consider renting Paddy Chayefsky’s gothic black comedy about a fictional but all-too-realistically constructed New York City joint. The Hospital (1971) features one of Chayefsky’s best one-line zingers, when a suicidally inclined grumpy Chief Resident (George C. Scott) bellows at his nursing supervisor, “Where do you train your nurses, Mrs. Christie? Dachau?” (Opens Friday.)t
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<< Out&About
18 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
Out &About
O&A
Forbidden Broadway @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko Alive and Kicking!, Gerald Alessandrini’s newest edition of the show tune parody revue, comes to the Bay Area, with musical send-ups and satirical vignettes of The Book of Mormon, Once, Newsies, Patti LuPone, Mandy Patankin and more. $45$60. Thu & Fri 8pm. Sat & Sun 7pm. Thru July 27. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (866) 663-1063. www.ticketweb.com
JB Higgins @ Magnet Opening reception for the photographer’s exhibit of prints depicting Moments of Realization, with local LGBT community subjects. Reception 8pm-10pm. Exhibit thru July. 4122 18th St. www.magnetsf.org
Sat 12
Life X 3 @ Phoenix Theatre
Vincent Chavez and Chris Duggan in Encore for Enrico
Summer lovin’
Alejandro Gomez
by Jim Provenzano
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idsummer fog and sunshine intertwine as our summer by the bay continues, and arts events provide classics done with a local flair, both indoors and out, reminding us of the need for layers, in both clothing and artistic structure.
Thu 10 American Buffalo @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley Aurora Theatre Company performs David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1977 drama about three desperate men who plot to steal a valuable coin collection. $35-$60. Tue 7pm. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm & 7pm. Extended thru July 20. 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 843-4822 auroratheatre.org
Forbidden Broadway @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko Alive and Kicking! , Gerald Alessandrini’s newest edition of the show tune parody revue, comes to the Bay Area, with musical send-ups and satirical vignettes of The Book of Mormon, Once, Newsies, Patti LuPone, Mandy Patankin and more. $45$60. Thu & Fri 8pm. Sat & Sun 7pm. Thru July 27. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (866) 663-1063. www.ticketweb.com
Hick: A Love Story @ Eureka Theatre
Pearls Over Shanghai @ The Hypnodrome Thrillpeddlers’ hilarious Cockettes revival returns, with new choreography, costumes, performers, and some of the original cast members. $30-$35. Thu-Sat 8pm. Extended thru July 26. 575 10th St. (800) 838-3006. www.thrillpeddlers.com
Room: Upright @ Royce Gallery
Into the Woods @ San Francisco Playhouse Local production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s acclaimed musical that takes an ‘after Happily Ever After’ look at fairy tales. $20-$120. Tue-Thu 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Also Sat 3pm & Sun 2pm. Thru Sept. 6. 450 Post St., 2nd floor of Kensington Park Hotel. 677-9596. www.sfplayhouse.org
The months-long free performance series has commenced, with weekend outdoor dance, music and theatre concerts, on various days and evenings. July 10: Musical Art Quintet, 12:30pm. July 12: The Klez-X, 1pm. July 15: Poetic Tuesday at Jessie Square, 12:30pm. Shows thru Oct. Mission St. at 3rd. 543-1718. www.ybgfestival.org
Fri 11 Chomp! @ Conservatory of Flowers They Came From the Swamp, a new floral exhibit of carnivorous plants, includes exhibits, docent talks, and a giant replica model so you can feel like a bug about to be eaten. Thru Oct. 19. Reg. hours, 10am4pm. Free-$7. Tue-Sun 10am-4:30pm. Thru Oct. 19. 100 JFK Drive, Golden Gate Park. 831-2090. www.conservatoryofflowers.org
Sat 12
Shotgun Players’ production of William Shakespeare’s romantic classic includes live music and a jaunty-sexy staging. Previews. Opens July 12. $20-$35. Thru Aug. 17. 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org
Sat 12 As You Like It @ Forest Meadows Ampitheatre, San Rafael Marin Shakespeare Company kicks off its 25th anniversary summer series with William Shakespeare’s gender-bending romantic comedy. Ampitheatre open one hour prior to showtime for picnicking; Bring overwear; it gets chilly. $12-$240 (season pass) and pay as you like Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 4pm. Thru Aug. 10. 499-4488. Forest Meadows Amphitheatre, 890 Belle Avenue, Dominican University of California, San Rafael. marinshakespeare.org
Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi The musical comedy revue celebrates its 40th year with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs. $25-$160. Beer/wine served; cash only; 21+, except where noted. 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd (Green St.). 421-4222. beachblanketbabylon.com
Screenings of the works of the late gay filmmaker who defied trends and created his own unique cinematic style, some with explicit gay themes. July 12: Jubilee, 8:30pm. $4-$6.50. Saturday screenings Thru Aug. 28. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu
Dracula Inquest @ Berkeley City Club
Hick: A Love Story Lynn Fried
Man Dance @ Marines’ Memorial Theatre The local dance company performs two gay-themed works: Bryon Heinrich’s Firebird, a choreographic tribute to slain teen Matthew Shepard, and a lighterthemed dance adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with guest dancers Antoine Hunter, Jonathan Dummar and others, plus a gay wedding! $35-$45. 8pm. Also July 12. 609 Sutter St. www.mandance.org
Maria Diamond @ Hotel Rex Society Cabaret presents the veteran chanteuse, who performs a musical tribute to Marlene Dietrich. Cocktails and small plates available; no minimum. $25-$45. 8pm. 562 Sutter St. 857-1896. www.societycabaret.com
Les Misérables @ Woodminster Ampitheater, Oakland Woodminster Summer Musicals presents a local production of the hit Broadway musical based on the Victor Hugo novel about tyrants and the underclass in Revolutionary France. $28-$59. Fri-Sun 8pm. Thru July 20. Joaquin Miller Park, 3300 Joaquin Miller Road, Oakland. (510) 531-9597. www.woodminster.com
Monster Drawing Rally @ Verdi Club
Shrek the Musical
Twelfth Night @ Ashby Stage, Berkeley
Derek Jarman, Visionary @ BAM/Pacific Film Archive
Thu 10
The annual festive event where 120 artists create custom drawings for donors to art venue Southern Exposure. $15, $20, $60. 6pm-11pm. 2424 Mariposa St. www.soex.org
JB Higgins at Magnet
San Francisco Opera’s new production of Verdi’s classic opera stars Nicole Cabell, Simir Pirgu and Vladamir Stoyanov; in Italian with English supertitles. $24-$379. July 11 (8pm) and July 13 (2pm). 301 Van Ness Ave. 863-3330. www.sfopera.com
The award-winning solo performer premieres his new show, Each and Every Thing, a multi-character play about the search for real community in a hyperconnected world. $20-$50. Thu & Fri 8pm, Sat 8:30pm. Extended thru August 24. 1062 Valencia St. at 21st. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org
Unusual Shorts @ Oddball Films
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival @ Esplanade
Fri 11
Dan Hoyle @ The Marsh
Rifftrax (some of the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 cast) make fun of one of the most unintentionally hilariously awful action movies ever made, with Ian Ziering battling flying tornado-swept sharks. $12$15. 8pm. www.FathomEvents.com
Mugwumpin @ Costume Shop
July 10: The Servant (7pm) and Accident (9:10). July 11: Only Lovers Left Alive (7:30) and The Addiction (9:45). July 12: The Wizard of Oz with Peaches Christ and Sharon Needles (see Sat 12). July 13: Frozen sing-along (1pm), The Ladykillers (7:10) and The Lavender Hill Mob (5:30, 9pm). July 15: Manhattan (7pm) and Klute (8:50). July 16: The Godfather (5pm, 8:30). July 17: Young & Beautiful (7pm) and Swimming Pool (8:50). $11. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com
The exhibition includes nearly 70 paintings from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., featuring the work of 19th-century avant-garde painters such as Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Vincent van Gogh. Also, the Salon Doré, a reconstructed room from the Hotel de La Trémoille, has re-opened. Free/$25. Thru Aug. 3. Lincoln Park, 100 34th Ave. 7503600. www.famsf.org
Sharknado @ Bay Area Cinemas
Enjoy wacky offbeat vintage short films. July 10, 8pm: Let’s Go to the Fair!, World’s Fair short films. July 11, Crazy Cats! , feline flicks. Thu & Fri, each $10, 8pm. 275 Capp St. 558-8117. www.oddballfilms.blogspot.com
New and Classic Films @ Castro Theatre
Intimate Impressionism @ Legion of Honor
The Room Series presents a concert with virtuosic pianists Sarah Cahill, Luciano Chessa and Joe Lasqo and Pamela Z. $10$15. 8pm. 2901 Mariposa St. www.roycegallery.com
Terry Baum and Pat Bond wrote and perform in a two-woman play about the romance between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok; co-presented by Theatre Rhinoceros and Crackpot Crones. Free. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 3pm. Thru July 27. 215 Jackson St. at Battery. crackpotcrones.com
The innovative experimental theatre company celebrates ten years with several revivals; This Is All I Need and Super:Anti:Reluctant in repertory with the new Blockbuster Season, also later this summer. Thru July 13; other shows thru August and Sept. $20-$40. 1117 Market St. www.mugwumpin.org
Broadway West performs Tony and Olivierwinning playwright Yasmina Reza’s comic drama about a dinner party gone wrong, where family truths are revealed. $40. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 3pm. Thru July 19. 414 Mason St. #601. (510) 835-4205. www.offbroadwaywest.org
La Traviata @ War Memorial Opera House
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Central Works performs Gary Graves’ new dramatic take on Bram Stoker’s classic vampire tale. $15-$28. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 5pm. Thru Aug. 17. 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. (510) 558-1381. www.centralworks.org
Encore for Enrico @ Dance Mission Theatre Benefit concert to raise funds for medical costs of local gay choreographer Enrico Labayen; performers include Robert Moses’ Kin, Dance Theater of San Francisco, Anandha Ray’s Quimera Project, Dance Wright Project, World Dance Fusion, Kinetech Arts, Mudita Arts, Alayo Dance Company and many others. $25 and up. 7:30pm. 3316 24th St. (800) 838-3006. www.labayendancecompany.com
Feisty Old Jew @ The Marsh Charlie Veron’s new solo show about a fictional elder man who hitches a ride with surfer-hipsters, and rants about what he hates about the 21st century. $25-$100. Sat & Sun 5pm. Extended thru July 13. 1062 Valencia St. 282-3055. themarsh.org
Frank Pietronigro @ Johnston Gallery Exhibit of gay-themed paintings (“Great American Patriots”) and “Documents,” an unusual installation that uses anti-gay words. Thru Sept. 2327 Market St. www.pietronigro.com www.johnstontaxgroup.com/art
Lua Hadar & Twist @ Hotel Rex The accomplished vocalist and band perform C’est Magnifique, a concert of jazz and blues with a French style. Cocktails and small plates available; no minimum. $30-$60. 8pm. 562 Sutter St. 857-1896. www.societycabaret.com
Coastside Pride @ Half Moon Bay Brewing Company Enjoy delicious BBQ meals, beers and live music, along with drag acts at the dog-friendly Mavericks Beer Garden.SF and South Bay queens perform in this fun and light-hearted show along with music by The Screaming Streisands, Ginger Snap, Natalie Ray, Sheena Rose, Tweaka Turner and host Connie Servative. A full bar and full summer menu are available all day. 2pm-6:30pm serving. Show at 2pm. 390 Capistrano Road in Half Moon Bay. (650) 728-2739. www.hmbbrewingco.com
San Francisco Mime Troupe @ Various Venues Ripple Effect, the newest play produced by the politically-themed satirical theatre company now celebrating its 55th season, takes on eviction, Google Glass-sporting hipster techies, and economic disparity in the Bay Area. Half-hour music set preshow. July 12 & 13 at Cedar Rose Park, Berkeley. 1:30 music, 2pm show. Indoor and outdoor locales thru Sept. 1. 285-1717. www.sfmt.org
Shrek the Musical @ Julia Morgan Theater, Berkeley Berkeley Playhouse’s youth-inclusive production of the stage musical based on the animated film about an ogre who enters the world of a royal kingdom. $17$60. Sat 1pm & 6pm. Sun 12pm & 5pm. Wed & Thu 7pm. Thru Aug. 3. 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. (510) 845-8542. www.berkeleyplayhouse.org
SPF7 @ ODC Theater The seventh annual Summer Performance Festival, presented by SAFEhouse for the Performing Arts, includes new dance works by the Anata Project, Cali & Co Dance, Alma Esperanca Cunningham, Jaara Dance Project, Joe Landini and others. $10-$20. Wed-Sun various times. Thru July 20. 3153 17th St. at Shotwell. www.spf7dance.org
Various Exhibits @ Oakland Museum Judy Chicago: A Butterfly for Oakland, a collection of slides and films of her 1974 Lake Merritt pyrotechnical installation; part of a nationwide group of exhibits celebrating the pioneering feminist artist’s 75th birthday; thru Nov. 30. Also, Vinyl: The Sound and Culture of Records, about the culture of collecting records, local indie labels; includes sound exhibits, talks, and colorful catalogs. Both thru July 27. Also, Inspiration Points: Masterpieces of California (thru July 13). Free/$15. Reg. hours Wed-Sat 11am-5pm (Fri til 9pm). 1000 Oak St., Oakland. (510) 318-8400. www.museumca.org
The Wandering Moon @ Tenderloin Forest Radar Reading and The Luggage Store Gallery present the quarterly night of readings and performances, with Juliana Delgado, Lopera, Erin Peterson, K.M. Soehnlein, Ben McCoy and Gem Top. Free. 8pm. 511 Ellis St. www.radarproductions.org
The Wizard of Oz @ Castro Theatre Peaches Christ and Sharon Needles lead a wacky pre-screening drag show parody-tribute to The Wizard of Oz, with Suppositori Spelling, Raya Light, Cousin Wonderlette, Peggy L’eggs, Heklina and others. Costume contest and screening of the film, $15-$30. (Not for little kids! Ages 13 and up). 3pm & 8pm. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com All followed by an after-party at Beaux with DJ Guy Ruben, a performance by Raya Light, and flying gogo monkeys. $5. Beaux, 2344 Market St. 9pm-2am. www.beauxsf.com www.peacheschrist.com
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Out&About>>
July 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 19
Sun 13
Ron Kat & Katdelic @ Castro Plaza
Woods to Wildflowers @ SF Botanical Gardens
Fury Factory Festival @ Various Venues
The local funk band performs as part of the ongoing free outdoor series. 1pm. Jane Warner Plaza. www.castrocbd.org
See blooming floral displays, trees and exhibits. Also, daily walking tours and more, at outdoor exhibits of hundreds of species of native wildflowers in a centuryold grove of towering Coast Redwoods. Free-$15. Daily. Golden Gate Park. 66121316. www.SFBotanicalGarden.org
Fifth annual festival of theater, with companies from several countries performing innovative new works at Z Space (420 Florida St.), Z Below (470 Florida St.), Joe Goode Annex (401 Alabama St.) and NOHspace (2840 Mariposa St.). $16-$55. Thru July 20. (866) 811-4111. www.foolsfury.org
God Fights the Plague @ The Marsh 18-year-old playwright Dezi Gallegos (who made a splash at 14 with Prop 8 Love Stories) performs a solo show with multiple gay and straight characters of different faiths, each searching for God. $15-$100. Sat 8:30pm. Sun 7pm. Thru Aug. 10. 1062 Valencia St. at 21st. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org
Project Mah Jongg @ Contemporary Jewish Museum Opening day of a new exhibit about the popular Chinese game and Jewish culture’s affection for it. Thru Oct. 28. Also, Designing Homes : Jews and Midcentury Modernism, an exhibit of architectural, furniture, dinnerware, photos, and interior design in post-WWII. Other exhibits, lectures and gallery talks as well. Free (members)-$12. Fri-Tue 11am-5pm, Thu 11am-8pm (closed Wed). 736 Mission St. 655-7800. www.thecjm.org
Tours and Exhibits @ The Old Mint New Sunday program offers tours and exhibits about San Francisco’s history. Explore the fascinating building’s grand halls and vaults. $5-$10. Weekly, 1pm4pm. 88 5th St. 537-1105. SFhistory.org
The World of Mary Blair @ Walt Disney Museum Magic, Color, Flair, an exhibit of original art work from the innovative production design artist for Disney’s Peter Pan, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and other films, and the iconic attractions at Walt Disney World like the “It’s a Small World” ride; thru Sept. 7. Also, Leading Ladies and Femme Fatales: The Art of Marc Davis, including original drawings of Cruella DeVille, Tinkerbell and other iconic characters; thru Nov. 4. 104 Montgomery St. waltdisney.org
Mon 14 10 Percent @ Comcast David Perry’s weekly online talk show’s rebroadcast through the week. This week, Perry talks to Lillian Phan about her dream same-sex wedding contest Love For All, and internationally acclaimed landscape designer Stephen Suzman. Mon-Fri 11:30am & 10:30pm. Sat & Sun 12/13 at 10:30pm. www.comcasthometown.com
Fri 11
Into the Woods
Thu 17 Fri 11
Man Dance
Biconic Flashpoints @ GLBT History Museum
Meditation Group @ LGBT Center
Four Decades of Bay Area Bisexual Politics, thru Aug. 15. Also, the new exhibit of fascinating historical items and how their legacies are still with us; includes queer youth, Harvey Milk, José Sarria, AIDS and gay bar ephemera and the lesbians of The Ladder. Reg. hours Mon-Sat 11am-7pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. ($5/free for members). 4127 18th St. 621-1107. www.glbthistory.org
Weekly non-sectarian meditation group; part of the Let’s Kick ASS AIDS Survivor Syndrome support group. Tuesdays, 5pm, 1800 Market St. letskickASS.org sfcenter.org
Frozen Music Festival @ Balançoire
Terry Baum @ GLBT History Museum Co-writer and performer of Hick: A Love Story (see Thu 10) discusses the real-life story of “Lorena Hickok: Butch Dyke, Renowned Journalist & Eleanor Roosevelt’s lover.” $5/members free. 7pm-9pm. 4127 18th St. 621-1107. www.glbthistory.org
Two nights of music with several local bands at the stylish nightclub and restaurant; with an auction to raise funds for the Frozen Film Festival. $5. 9:30pm12:30am. Also July 15. 2565 Mission St. at 21st. 920-0577. www.balancoiresf.com
Wed 16
Tue 15
Filmmaker Huckleberry Lain is the featured performer at the monthly eclectic, often queer-themed reading and open mic night, cohosted by Larry-bob Roberts and Dana Hopkins. Sign up by 7:30pm. Show at 8pm. 4122 18th St. www.magnetsf.org
Anthony Friedkin: The Gay Essay @ de Young Museum Exhibit of photos, and an audiovisual installation, by the Los Angeles artist who focused on gay underground culture of the late 1960s and early ‘70s in SF and LA. Thru Jan. 11, 2015. Also, Lines on the Horizon : Native American Art from the Weisel Family Collection, thru Jan. 4, 2015. Free/$10. Tue-Sun 9:30am-5:15pm. Golden Gate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive. www.deyoungmuseum.org
Smack Dab @ Magnet
Sony Holland @ Level III The acclaimed jazz vocalist performs with guitarist Jerry Holland. Weekly 5pm-8pm. Also Thursdays & Fridays. JW Marriott, 515 Mason St. at Post. www.sonyholland.com
William Odiorne’s Paris @ Robert Tat Gallery Photo exhibit of the artist’s 1920s prints of the beautiful French capital. Tue-Sat 11am5:30pm (1st Thursdays til 7:30). Thru Aug. 23. 49 Geary St. #410. 781-1122. www.roberttat.com
Bi Any Other Name Contributors @ GLBT History Museum Loraine Hutchins, Lani Ka’ahumanu, co-editors of the groundbreaking 1991 Bi Any Other Name, read from and discuss the anthology as the ebook edition is published, along with several contributors. $5/members free. 7pm-9pm. 4127 18th St. 621-1107. glbthistory.org
Gorgeous @ Asian Art Museum New exhibit about 2,000 years of unconventional visualizations of beauty at the contemporary and historical museum. Thru Sept 15. Permanent exhibits as well. $15. 200 Larkin St. asianart.org
Skulls @ California Academy of Sciences Exhibits and planetarium shows with various live, interactive and installed exhibits about animals, plants and the earth, including the new popular exhibit of animal and human skulls (thru Nov. 30). Special events each week, with adult nightlife parties most Thursday nights. $20$30. Mon-Sat 9:30am-5pm. Sun 11am-5pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. calacademy.org
Wrong’s What I Do Best @ SF Art Institute Group exhibition of works that push the boundaries of social, political and personal fault lines. Tue 11am-7pm. Wed-Sat 11am6pm. Thru July 26. Walter and McBean Galleries, 800 Chestnut St. www.sfai.edu
To submit event listings, email jim@ebar.com. Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication. For more bar and nightlife events, go to On the Tab in our BARtab section, online at www.ebar.com/bartab
<< Music
20 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
PAPER: H DATE: RT DUE: NTENT: SIZE: CTION:
Cher turns back time
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by David-Elijah Nahmod
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her’s Dressed To Kill tour is living up to its name. The Oscarwinning legend changed her colorful wardrobe at warp speed throughout her July 2 concert at San Jose’s SAP Center. Chaz Bono’s mom wore a different costume for almost every single song. The star’s sexy back-up dancers kept the packed house entertained while the diva dressed for the occasion. The crowd roared when the incomparable Cher stepped onto the stage for the first time. After a rousing rendition of her recent hit “Woman’s World,” the Goddess stood before her congregation clad in her trademark revealing attire. Looking as sexy and as hot as ever, she announced her current age, 68. “And what’s your Granny doing tonight?” she quipped, to much applause. For the next 90-plus minutes, Cher sang her heart out as her dancers swirled madly about her. The show was a visually stunning spectacle. Early on she sang “Lovers Forever,” a song cut from the 1994 film Interview with the Vampire. At the end of the number, the Dark Lady revealed two sharp fangs, which she buried into the neck of a pretty blonde chorus boy. There was a moving tribute to decades gone by as Cher, dressed in Nancy Sinatra-style go-go boots, sang a virtual duet with her former husband, the late Sonny Bono. As Sonny, projected onto a giant screen, sang his lines from the 1965 Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com. To charge by phone (800) 745-3000. Limit 8 tickets per person. hit “I Got You Babe,” Cher looked All dates, acts and ticket prices are subject to change without notice. All tickets are subject to applicable service charges. up at the ghostly image, singing her part live. Some 15 years after Sonny’s passing, and 40 years since their Tickets are available at LiveNation.com and select Walmart locations. To charge by phone (800) 745-3000. Limit 8 tickets per person. divorce, it became clear that Cher All dates, acts and ticket prices are subject to change still loves the guy. without notice. All tickets are subject to applicable service charges. Other classic hits included the iconic tunes “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves,” “Dark Lady,” and “Half-
ebar.com BAY AREA REPORTER 7/10/14 7/4 TORI AMOS 1/6 PG (3.75X7) SACHA PFEIFER (720) 239-3411
Cher on her 2014 tour: dressed for the occasion.
Breed,” which Cher performed in a colorful, floor-length Native American headdress and little else. She also took to the stage wearing her sizzling costume from the 1988 video of her monster hit “If I Could Turn Back Time.” It’s a costume that reveals so much that MTV at the time refused to air the video during “family hour.” Twenty-six years later, Cher fit right into the scanty outfit. “Take that, Katy Perry!” she quipped as the crowd jumped to its feet. The cheering continued throughout Cher’s powerful rendition of the song. There was also a sizzling, sexy, Vegas-style dance number centered
around “Welcome to Burlesque,” the opening tune from Cher’s 2009 film Burlesque. Dressed in a tuxedo top, black nylons and high heels, Cher was a dazzling sight to behold. She literally took to the sky in order to please her audience. As her set closed, she boarded a platform that was attached to wires. She and the audience waved to each other as she floated above the crowd, belting out the plaintive “I Hope You Find It.” It was an unforgettable evening with the Queen of Farewell Tours. Will she be back? No, she said, as she turned away from the audience, revealing her fingers crossed behind her back.t
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Film>>
July 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 21
Inescapably real screenings in Oakland by Erin Blackwell
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orilla love. If you’ve not yet succumbed to their simian seductions, you will by the end of Virunga, an extraordinary new documentary about the role these great apes play in the never-ending battle to stop foreigners stripping Congo of its natural resources. Two hundred mountain gorillas live amidst the 3,000 square miles of Virunga National Park, Congo’s oldest, where 150 park rangers have been killed by poachers and rebel militias. Catch this exotic, exciting, excruciating record of conservation-in-action during the second annual Matatu Film Festival, July 16-19. Director Orlando von Einsiedel prefaces Virunga with a quick history of Congo, using archival footage to remind us that in “1885, Africa was carved into colonies for European countries, but only Congo was privatized and ruled by corporations.” Belgian King Leopold is arguably more heinous than Hitler, enslaving the Congolese on plantations churning out such marvels as rubber, mutilating and killing millions for personal profit from pillaged resources. In 1960, Patrice Lumumba led Congo to independence, but “foreign mining interests rallied against him.” In 1961, he was assassinated “with the support of Western governments.” These crimes against black humanity paved the way for subsequent terror campaigns back and forth between rival rebel groups and across borders. Geez, it’s beginning to sound like Iraq. The latest bad guy on the scene is British oil company SoCo, which somehow managed to acquire exploration rights to Virunga, a World Heritage Site, although that’s explic-
Courtesy Matatu Film Festival
Gorillas in the mist of Virunga National Park, Congo.
itly against Congolese law. SoCo has flooded the country with wannabecolonial operatives and mercenary security agents tasked with bribing rebels to work against the interests of the park, the gorillas, and the indigenous people whose lives depend on the park. The film starts with the funeral of a ranger killed in the line of duty. Imagine the Grand Canyon overrun by Texas wildcatters. It’s like fracking the Appalachians. Oh wait, they are. Habitat destruction by fuel extraction is a global nightmare. Virunga is home to lions, hippos, okapi, water buffalo, warthogs, elephants, hundreds of bird species, all of whom deserve not to be eradicated, but the trump card is the Mountain Gorilla. Made famous by primatologist Dian Fossey, the charismatic primate (who shares 98% of our DNA) has made millions in eco-tourism dollars for neighboring Rwanda. To mirror Rwanda’s success is the guiding hope of rehabilitated Belgian aristocrat Emmanuel de Merode, anthropology Ph.D. and
Courtesy Matatu Film Festival
Scene from Mala Mala, a celebration of the trans community in Puerto Rico, part of the second annual Matatu Film Festival.
chief warden since 2008. On April 15, 2014, 10 days before Tribeca Film Fest screened Virunga, Merode was ambushed and shot four times in the abdomen. He’s back on the job, but the message is clear: Greedy bastards hate wildlife. At the heart of the film stands Andre Bauma, a beautiful man with a strong, gentle soul. Young gorillas cling to him like the war orphans they are. He’s disarmingly happy to say he’s not a father but a mother to them. “My father died in the war, when I was very young,” he says, erasing the human-animal divide. “You must justify why you’re on earth. Gorillas justify why I’m on earth.” Another ranger, equally dedicated, points to the socio-economic raison d’être of the park. “Oil is exhaustible. Flora and fauna are inexhaustible. Virunga is immortal.” Support the people of Congo by supporting Virunga. (Fri., July 18, at 9:15 p.m.) Opening night, director Bill Morrison’s Great Flood splices 80 min-
utes of black-and-white archival footage of the catastrophic 1927 Mississippi River flood, set to a sinuous jazz score by Bill Frisell. (Wed., July 16, at 7 p.m., at Impact Hub. All other shows at Flight Deck.) Evaporating Borders explores immigration issues on the island of Cyprus through the eyes of writer/ director Iva Radivojevic. (Fri., July 18, at 7:15 p.m.) Now a 33-year-old NYU grad, director Darius Clark Monroe documents his young and foolish decision to rob a bank to help his family. Post-prison, the former straight-A student examines his big mistake in Evolution of a Criminal, produced by Spike Lee. (Sat., July 19, at 5:45 p.m.) Mala Mala documents MTFs in Puerto Rico, some of whom aspire to be RuPaul. (Sat., July 19, at 9:30 p.m.) Of Good Report celebrates the gynophobia that kills, batters, and enslaves women globally. Filming
rural South Africa in contemplative black-and-white, writer/director Jahmil X.T. Qubeka stages a Grand Guignol of dead black Lolitas strung up for dismemberment by a timid black schoolteacher. As Oscar Pistorius’ ongoing trial for girlfriend slaughter highlights South Africa’s fucked-up white macho culture, Qubeka shows that woman-hatred transcends skin color. Cowards killing women. Scary. Sad. Not funny. (Sat., July 19, at 7:15 p.m.) Maybe next year’s Matatu will showcase some women. Meanwhile, kudos to curator Michael Orange for creating a challenging series of community-building independent films that encourage us to consider “inescapable realities” in this time of panic, paranoia, and pain.t
ited these last journals of Wescott, which end in a single entry in 1984. Rosco provides a 13-page glossary of Wescott’s contemporaries and names mentioned in his journals, a Who’s Who of the glitterati of the 20th century. Towards the end of his life, Wescott felt he would become best-known for his journals, which I think were a source of liberation for him, allowing him to express his ideas and opinions. In A Heaven of Words, he writes that he now lives novels instead of writing them. Wescott had an active intellectual and sexual life. Both he and Wheeler had scores of younger lovers during this time, even into their 80s. They reveal the power of charm, sophistication, and personality over looks, which today seems quaint if not unimaginable. These journals also mention Wescott working with Christopher Isherwood to publish their mutual friend E.M. Forster’s romantic gay novel Maurice posthumously. Wescott also labored for years on his friend W. Somerset Maugham’s biography, but this work also remained uncompleted. He maintained a long-term professional and personal relationship with sex investigator Alfred Kinsey, helping him with his research and being filmed having sex, by Kinsey. Wescott edited other writers, and as a critical thinker with a keen eye, was very good as an arts impresario, discovering and nurturing the talents of others. He continued to write nonfiction essays. His journals are filled with his personal experiences, thoughts on the craft of writing, melancholy reflections on aging, and the torture of creating artistic works, expressed with wit, compassion, and some sorrow. One of my favorite entries is his
erotic, amoral description of an orgy he participated in with three other guys, at 63: “The simplest continuous single act of intercourse, four men as mutually engaged as ardently as any heterosexual coupling, about half an hour of continuous action with one change of position, and my own oral-genital activity, the same throughout. No sort of conscious indecency or self-conscious eroticism, friendliness and sense of beauty predominant over everything, everything except sexual sensation, arousal,
and finally orgasm.” Considering how autobiographical Wescott was as a writer, not being able to draw from his rich gay experiences perhaps stunted his career as a novelist, and may have contributed to his writer’s block. Did the discrimination of the time stifle his public creativity? We are fortunate that Rosco has made it his mission to reacquaint us with this visionary talent, ensuring that his unique gift for living life to the fullest, and his raconteur abilities to capture his exploits, are not forgotten.t
Wed., July 16, Impact Hub, Oakland. July 17-19, Flight Deck, 1540 Broadway, Oakland. $12 per show, $72 per pass. Info: (510) 497-0777, www.matatufestival.org.
Life fully lived by Brian Bromberger
A Heaven of Words: Last Journals, 1956-1984 by Glenway Wescott, edited by Jerry Rosco; University of Wisconsin Press “ am an aging genius, with an insufficient talent, now pregnant with certain books that I have been gradually laboring at for years; in extremely unhappy circumstances in some ways, kept in extraordinary luxury here at home but penniless otherwise; perhaps due to be famous before long, perhaps more apt to fail, to sicken, to disappear from the picture.” This entry, dated 1957, from the influential gay American poet and writer Glenway Wescott, 56, is excerpted from his last journals, which just won this year’s Lambda Literary Award for best autobiography/memoir. He led an extraordinary life full of adventures in and out of the bedroom, and possessed a towering talent that was not totally fulfilled. Born in Wisconsin on a farm in 1901, the gorgeous brunette studied at the University of Chicago at 16, narrowly survived the Spanish flu pandemic, and met his lifelong partner, Monroe Wheeler, at 18. Wheeler published Wescott’s first book of poems, encouraged him to move first to New York, then to Europe and join the expatriates in France, becoming friends with Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald. His second critically successful novel The Grandmothers in 1927 established his reputation, followed in 1940 by his short novella The Pilgrim Hawk, considered his masterpiece by reviewers. In-between, Wescott wrote short stories and essays. His open gay relationship with Wheeler was one of the most
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celebrated of the 20th century, and their 15-year threesome with prominent fashion, portrait, and malemodel photographer George Platt Lynes was the most famous in gay history, until their amicable 1943 breakup. His final novel, An Apartment in Athens, a true story about a family in Nazi-occupied Greece, was published in 1945, and became his only bestseller. He attempted to write two other novels, but they were never finished. He suffered one of the most notorious writer blocks of the period. His brother married the banking heiress Barbara Harrison, who helped support him, even giving Glenway and Monroe a two-story stone house on their property called Haymeadows, near Rosemont, NJ, which became a literary and artistic salon, with the couple becoming name-droppers, entertaining most of the brightest cultural figures of the 20th century, including Jean Cocteau, W.H. Auden, Truman Capote, Katherine Ann Porter, Marlene Dietrich, Sal Mineo, among many others. Wescott became president of the Academy Institute of Arts and Letters, while Wheeler became the Museum of Modern Art’s publication director and curator. Wescott would die of a stroke in 1987, with Wheeler succumbing also of a stroke a year later. Editor Jerry Rosco argues that Wescott continued to be an important writer through his journals, which also incorporated much of his letter-writing. Rosco met Westcott in his final years and edited his first set of journals, Continual Lessons, 1935-1955. He wrote a well-received biography, Glenway Wescott Personally. He has now ed-
<< Books
22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
Kinky craftsmanship by Jim Piechota
The Artisan’s Book of Fetishcraft by John Huxley; Greenery Press, $27.95 aking pride in the showcasing of your own handmade creations is one of the finer aspects of establishing yourself as an artist. Canadian woodworker and craftsman John Huxley’s beautifully expansive volume of fetishwear The Artisan’s Book of Fetishcraft is so much more than a hobbyist’s workbook of patterns and processes; there’s even a disclaimer in the opening pages absolving the author and the publisher of “any damage sustained” as a result of readers who attempt to design the bondage-related gear for themselves (or their favorite scene partner). Comprehensive and stylish, Huxley’s guidebook is required reading
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for both the novice crafter with a casual interest in leather fetishwear and the experienced artisan who is open to new patterns, new ideas, and a fresh perspective on the fetish lifestyle. Brimming with exacting details and instructions for sewing, stitching, and handcrafting with leather, cloth, and metal hardware, the book also includes specifications on the usage of the machinery and trade tools needed to complete each of his prototypes. The range of materials and styles extends from Zentai whole-bodysuits, leather corsets, vests, and chaps to laceup masks, strap harnesses, leashes, and step-by-step instructions for constructing a singletail bullwhip, which the author notes is “one of the most difficult and time-consuming” projects in the book – and the most impressive, if executed well. Embellishing the artistry of these
varied and wonderful items are drawings of Egyptian funerary Amduat artwork found on the walls of the tomb of Tuthmosis III, the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. The inclusion of these recreated drawings lends the chapters both a historical and a gothic significance, and bestows Huxley’s patterns with the regal grace of kings and the loyal dedication of their subordinates. This type of meticulously imagined and executed artistry is enjoyed by many talented artisans worldwide, from the San Francisco Bay Area all the way to Germany, where Seven Mitchell, also known in creative performance circles as “Aurora Switchblade” (his “dark passenger”), works as a self-employed graphic designer in Dusseldorf. He co-owns the business “Victor Language and Design” with his partner, and finds great enjoyment working with latex “and the forceful aesthetic of fetish design.” A lover of the “dark motif,” Mitchell admits that latex can be a vexing material to work with and finesse into the exact design he is aiming for. He notes that while his former work with Mr. S Leather in
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Steven Underhill
PHOTOGRAPHY
415 370 7152
WEDDINGS, HEADSHOTS, PORTRAITS
stevenunderhill.com · stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com
the South of Market district taught him a great deal about the challenges of “appeasing a mass, branding, marketing, and politics,” his affinity for the fetish industry is as strong as ever, and “comes down to celebrating the freaky dark fantasies that live in all of us, and making those fantasies a reality.” Robert Hendricks, a UCSF project manager, is another fetish craftsman with boundless passion and determination. He began hand-
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crafting with leather in 1994 as a hobby together with his partner Bill Gooch (Northern CA Mr. Drummer, 1991), and currently, as a leather fetishist, he revels in the sheer enjoyment of taking “a piece of raw material [leather] and turning it into something that will look good on someone.” He enjoys getting creative with his clients – mostly males who range in age from 22 to 60 – and his hand-made clothing repertoire contains a virtual leather treasure trove of items like chaps, titleholder belts and sashes, wrist and arm bands, collars, and cock and ball toys. Huxley’s instructional masterpiece closes with articulated chapters that immerse the reader in the actual application of leather fetishwear within the realms of ritualistic scene-play. This methodology is meant to fully embody and harness the various aspects of dominance, submission, physical movement restriction, and sensory deprivation, and integrate it into a unique amalgam of pleasure and pain. Fantasies can indeed come to life with this exquisitely produced, fetish-crafting instructional and educational handbook.t
La Traviata
From page 13
Costello, in turn, may lack the essential vocal brilliance, ping, and freedom on top that mark an ideal Verdi tenor, but his ability to sing ardently and, at one point, hold his wife tight while kissing her on the lips for what seemed like seven seconds must have scored several home runs on the big screen. He would have been wise to have cut his Act I cabaletta, especially since he, like his wife, lacked the climactic high note that would have capped his labored performance. But when his Alfredo gazed upon Violetta with starryeyed, puppy-dog innocence, it was possible to momentarily ignore the fact that, by singing Verdi, he may be pushing his voice beyond its natural limits. The other major asset in SFO’s quintessentially multicultural trio of leads was the arrival of baritone Quinn Kelsey as the tragedy-inducing father, Giorgio Germont. Instead of stolid Vladimir Stoyanov’s one-dimensional voice and acting, the beauty and warmth of Kelsey’s instrument, which soars with uncommon freedom on top, made for a far more believable paternal figure. The start of his great aria, “Di Provenza il mar, il suol chi dal cor ti cancellò?” (“Who erased the sea, the land of Provence from your heart?”), may have been more than a bit routine, but the ardor and love he projected at its conclusion made his final emotional turnaround seem somewhat believable. Which is no easy task. What SFO’s second cast lacks is conducting on the level of Music Director Nicola Luisotti’s. Yielding the baton on his opening night, Resident Conductor Giuseppe Finzi may have set apt tempos for his singers, but he was unable to inspire the excellent San Francisco Opera orchestra to bring out the sighing arches of tears and undercurrent of yearning that distinguished his gifted colleague’s opening overture. His accompaniment to the aforementioned baritone aria also sounded dismayingly routine. Thankfully, the three principals were more than able to hold their own. Some of my fellow critics found it difficult to stifle yawns at the sixth go-around of John Copley’s 1987 production. I, however, find it quite effective. The red, orange, amber and browns of Flora’s parlor are es-
Kristen Loken
Stephen Costello (Alfredo) in San Francisco Opera’s La Traviata.
Kristen Loken
Ailyn Pérez (Violetta) in San Francisco Opera’s La Traviata.
pecially appealing, and David Walker’s costumes are right on the mark. Honors are also due several of the supporting performers. Current Adler Fellows gay baritone Hadleigh Adams (Marquis d’Obigny), soprano Erin Johnson (Annina), and the beautiful mezzo-soprano Zanda Svede (Flora Bervoix) have all deepened their portrayals, with Adams’ voice and Johnson’s sympathy notably impressive. Stunning dancer Timo Nuñez gives Pérez a run for
the money in the looks department, and continues to inspire bravos and back-room fantasies. Pause to sigh. Alas, only two performances remain, on July 11 at 8 p.m., and July 13 at 2 p.m. If you want to know why opera-lovers have spent the last 161 years sobbing over Violetta’s demise, seize the time.t For tickets to San Francisco Opera’s La Traviata, see sfopera.com or call (415) 861-3330.
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Fine Art>>
Hofmann & Bess
From page 13
Hofmann taught to support himself, first in Europe, then in New York and Provincetown, where he maintained a studio; though teaching had its pleasures, it took crucial energy away from his own career. He closed his schools, and with his devoted students having left home, so to speak, he had a surge of creativity late in life, evident in these large canvases. More than half of the exhibition’s paintings were completed when Hofmann was well into his 70s and 80s. It was his time, his turn. To be in a room surrounded by them is to be invigorated by his unflagging vitality. Through Dec. 21. Also on view at BAM: Forrest Bess: Seeing Things Invisible, a retrospective of small-scale dreamscapes infused with enigmatic tribal symbols and anthropological references that testify to a tormented man’s quest to make himself whole. Bess’ relentless drive to merge his
July 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 23
male and female sides, not an unreasonable desire on its face and an understandable source of conflict, grew into a full-blown obsession. He ardently believed that becoming a hermaphrodite was the path to immortality, an idea he went to extraordinary lengths to achieve. He claimed to have enlisted a local doctor to perform several surgeries to transform him – the anatomical details are not for the squeamish – but it’s likely he operated on himself. An exhibition case of archival materials contains letters in which he attempts to persuade medical professionals of the validity of his theories – he even sent an appeal to Pres. Eisenhower – as well as graphic photographs of his altered genitals. Remarkably, he survived the procedures, but they precipitated a downward slide in his health, not to mention salacious curiosity. Trapped inside his troubled mind, Bess’ narrow field of vision limited his life and the scope of work that rarely rises above the idiosyncratic.
But despite psychological travails and living in virtual isolation in a shanty near Bay City, Texas, Bess, a fisherman by day and self-taught artist by night, attracted a following and representation by a New York art dealer who had Pollock, Rothko and Still on her client list. Like one of his idols, Vincent van Gogh, Bess suffered from hallucinations; they informed his art, along with his eccentric medical theories, Jung’s philosophy of the collective unconscious, and Australian aborigine rituals. He often painted in a nether zone between sleep and waking that allowed his preoccupations to reign (“Tree of Life: Sign of the Hermaphrodite,” 1953). But oil paintings such as “Untitled” (1957), in which a winding yellow-and-black railroad track vanishes into the crimson distance; or his 1951 homage to Albert Pinkham Ryder, a desolate expanse defined by shadowy rocks poised like giants about to rise against a waning sunset; and “Complete Freedom” (1970), where paradise awaits beyond mountain peaks on the horizon in a world devoid of people, suggest nocturnal visions, premonitions and an all-too-real loneliness. Through Sept. 14.t
The Menil Collection, Houston
“Untitled” (1947), oil on canvas by Forrest Bess, now showing at the Berkeley Art Museum.
Fundi’s
TROUBLE IN BLACK PARADISE: Catastrophic Legacy Worshiping the New World Politics of Saving Souls A Sizzling New Self-illustrated Novel: Standard Black Christian Anti Gay Rationale Debunked In A Daring Historical Exposé Available online: Amazon.com Books; Authorhouse.com
Paul Hester; The Menil Collection, Houston
“View of Maya” (1951), oil on canvas by Forrest Bess, now at BAM.
Locally at: Books, Inc. (Upper Market St.), Crystal Way, Folio Books, Bound Together Books & The Green Arcade.
Asian Art Museum Through Sept 14 www.asianart.org #HelloGorgeous
Beautiful or bizarre? Ravishing or repulsive? When it comes to viewing art, it’s all in the eye of the beholder. Artworks from the Asian Art Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art— appearing together for the first time—invite you to get personal and explore what “gorgeous” means to you. Come take a look, engage in some one-on-one with the objects, and see what happens.
This exhibition was organized by the Asian Art Museum in partnership with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Presentation at the Asian Art Museum is made possible with the generous support of Prospect Creek Foundation, Fred Eychaner, Helen and Charles R. Schwab, Doris Fisher, The Bernard Osher Foundation, United, The Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang Fund for Excellence in Exhibitions and Presentations, Jim Breyer, William Mathews Brooks, Eliza and Dean Cash, Sakurako and William Fisher, Fred M. Levin and Nancy Livingston, The Shenson Foundation, Hiro and Betty Jean Ogawa, Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Lucy Sun and Warren Felson, Jean and James E. Douglas, Jr., and an anonymous donor. Image: Strut, 2004–2005, by Marilyn Minter (American, b. 1948). Enamel on metal. Collection SFMOMA, Accessions Committee Fund purchase: gift of Johanna and Thomas Baruch, Charles J. Betlach II, Shawn and Brook Byers, Nancy and Steven Oliver, and Prentice and Paul Sack, 2005.187. © Marilyn Minter. Courtesy of the artist, SFMOMA, and Salon 94, New York. Media Sponsors:
HAPPY PRIDE FROM THE SAN FR ANCISCO SYMPHONY!
CHEYENNE JACKSON GOES TO THE MOVIES **
with special guest appearances by Faith Prince and Courtney Act JULY 24–25 7:30PM
The multi-talented actor, singer, and songwriter Cheyenne Jackson returns to lead the audience on a walk down cinematic memory lane as he sings tunes from classic American films, including “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, “Luck Be A Lady” from Guys and Dolls, and more. Plus, the San Francisco Symphony performs famous overtures from Gypsy and Funny Girl, the music you know from the films you love. New album release! West Side Story with Cheyenne Jackson sfsymphony.org/westsidestory M E D I A PA R T N E R
FAITH PRINCE Tony Award-winning musical actress, star of Guys and Dolls
COURTNEY ACT RuPaul’s Drag Race finalist A “sensation.”— B E T TE M I D L E R
MELISSA ETHERIDGE with the SFS
JULY 30–31 7:30PM Congratulations to Melissa Etheridge, who just tied the knot with her longtime partner! Etheridge will join the San Francisco Symphony to perform new orchestral arrangements of her many hit songs.
GREASE SING-ALONG! + with host Didi Conn, ‘Frenchy’ from the original film JULY 20 7:30PM
M E D I A PA R T N E R
Sing along with props, dancing, a costume contest, and plenty of surprises. M E D I A PA R T N E R
PINK MARTINI
ARRIVAL: THE MUSIC OF ABBA
PIX AR IN CONCERT
AND MORE!
SFSYMPHONY.ORG/SUMMER (415) 864-6000 LEAD SPONSOR
SUPPORTING SPONSOR
GUEST ARTIST SPONSOR
MEDIA PARTNER
Concerts at Davies Symphony Hall. Programs, artists, and prices subject to change. * Subject to availability. † The San Francisco Symphony does not appear on this concert. **Please note: no film clips will be shown during this concert. Box Office Hours Mon–Fri 10am–6pm, Sat noon–6pm, Sun 2 hours prior to concerts Walk Up Grove Street between Van Ness and Franklin
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On the Tab
Leather Pride
NIGHTLIFE FOOD
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SPIRITS
SEX
Shades of Grey
SOCIETY
ROMANCE
PERSONALS Vol. 44 • No. 28 • July 10-16, 2014
www.ebar.com ✶ www.bartabsf.com Philly Gay Calendar
LEATHER
Dancing and Democracy in the Bro’ Love City by Jim Provenzano
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ith same-sex marriage bans being lifted in many states, including Pennsylvania, why not share some travel tips about our nation’s historically political birthplace? Philadelphia’s current scene is gay and friendly, without the occasional attitude of its larger neighbor, New York City. Our bewigged history and birth as a nation, the pivotal events of which took place in Philadelphia, may seem boring to some, but it’s enlivened by a queer context. Philadelphia is also the site of the first gay rights protests, which occurred years before the Manhattan Stonewall Bar riots. Barbara Gittings, Frank Kameny and other early gay activists were among those brave citizens who organized what came to be known as the Annual Reminders; quiet, simple poster-holding protests outside Independence Hall in the mid-1960s, which called for the acceptance of gays and lesbians in mainstream society. Since then, LGBT events have certainly expanded. The William Way Center, Philadelphia’s longstanding LGBT center, hosts events almost nightly. From fundraisers to lectures and film screenings, seniors events and meditation sessions, there’s even an occasional Women’s Jello Wrestling night. 1315 Spruce Street. www.waygay.org See page 26 >>
Hunks at the Camac Block Party.
Quaintly Queer Half Moon Bay’s Intimate Pridefest by Jim Provenzano
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Mary Oldham
or a change of pace from the massive LGBT Pride celebrations in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, Half Moon Bay’s second annual Coastside Pride celebrations will be intimate, to be sure. But with several Bay Area drag talents performing, and a beer garden sponsored by Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, this intimate celebration, set for Saturday July 12, will doubtlessly be another hit. Road trip, anyone? The idea for the event came from Connie Servative, a Montara resident and transgender activist, who decided to both raise awareness for transgendered people while providing a fun way to bring communities together. The first event, held last July, was a success. Servative, who lives with her wife of two decades, called the event “a celebration of trans and gay and drag. It’s one event down here that’s not about pumpkins or hot rods,” she said, referring the much larger annual auto and pumpkin festivals held in Half Moon Bay. “One of the great things that we have down here that makes our area totally unique is the large lesbian population,” added Servative. “We are the lesbian Guerneville, and have one of the largest groups of lesbian women.” See page 28
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The fun drag show at the Coastside Inn.
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Serving the LGBT communities since 1971
26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
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Philly Gay Calendar
Philadelphia’s gayborhood’s hopping on a weekend night.
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Philly Fun
From page 25
Get the 411 2pub-BBB_BAR_071014.pdf
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Looking for a guidebook, a local magazine or an online guide? Your first newspaper to pick up – or the web version to check out in advance– should be the Philadelphia Gay News. The LGBT news weekly includes up-to-date arts and cultural events in the Philly area. www.epgn.com Facebookers can friend Philly Gay Bar Scene Gayborhood at www.facebook.com/phillybarscene. gayborhood to get the latest updates on bar events and drink specials. Another online resource is Philly Gay Calendar at www.phillygaycalendar.com, which features recent photo albums of various LGBT events, from bike rides to their early June Pride, celebrity appearances and galas. Giovanni’s Room, the historic decades-old LGBT bookstore, has closed, unfortunately. But you’re welcome to stop by and see its Historic Landmark street sign at 245 South 12th St. www.queerbooks.com
Bars
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Bars are mostly located in the aptly-named “gayborhood,” actually Washington Square West, between 7th and Broad streets and between Chestnut and South Streets. It’s all nicely situated between historic areas that lead to the major tourist attractions (Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, etc.). Many of the bars are on quiet side streets, and within walking distance of each other. A few more are located in outlying areas of town. While many are mostly popular with men, a clearly friendly and mixed crowd can be found at most bars and clubs. Sammy’s Place (1449 N. 5th St.) has LGBT Saturday night dance nights, monthly drag shows, and is popular with the Latino queer community. ICandy’s dance floor hops almost nightly, with DJs spinning
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Street sign in the gayborhood.
various music genres. When it’s warm, the rooftop deck offers a scenic view and fresh air. Their weekly Frat House Friday is popular, as is their Sunday “Hangover Brunch” at a mere $10 at the next door café The Tuscan Tavern, which serves a full menu of burgers and other edibles.. (18 to enter/21 to drink) 254 S.12th St. (267) 324–3500. www.clubicandy.com One of the oldest gay bars in the city, and the country, Tavern on Camac has been serving patrons since the 1930s in its various incarnations. Although the downstairs music can be a bit loud on weekends, the atmosphere relaxes during happy hour. 243 South Camac St. Nearby, the Venture Inn, one of the oldest bars in Philly, serves tasty food, fun, drag shows and drinks at 255 South Camac Street. www.viphilly.com Woody’s, the mostly gay men’s club, includes a video bar (with expansive windows that open out during spring and summer), and two upstairs dance floors (202 South
13th St.) Another longtime favorite, The Bike Stop is a simple yet friendly tavern at 206 South Quince Street. For women, check out Tabu, a gay/lesbian sports bar at 200 South 12th St., and Sisters at 1320 Chancellor St., which includes two floors, bars, and a restaurant. The Dolphin Tavern, while not specifically gay, certainly gets hopping, specifically for its new weekly extra-queer Clubhaus each Friday. The event includes the city’s most bawdy drag queens and slim and sexy gogo guys. 1539 South Broad St. www.facebook.com/DolphinPhilly
Cruising
If you prefer more direct cruising grounds, Philadelphia has a few options, including bath houses. Imagine that! A modern city with a sizable gay population actually trusts men to have sex in a privatelyowned business. Sansome Street Gym offers a clean space for working out and pumping of a different sort. Along with “naked socializing” hosted by PANG (Philadelphia Area Nudist Group), the club hosts nude strip acts, and student discounts. $10 for a day-pass, $40 for a membership. Various prices for lockers and rooms. 2020 Sansome St. (267) 3300151. www.sansomstreetgym.com For the cinematically aroused, Sansom Cinema (120 South 13th St.) and the Adonis Cinema (2026 Samson St.) offer a flicker of furtive fun in the dark.
Sights
Philly Gay Calendar
Patrons at iCandy
From the massive Art Museum (known for its famous steps in the movie Rocky) to the Rodin and other newer and renovated galleries See page 29 >>
Serving the LGBT communities since 1971
28 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
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Quaintly Queer
From page 25
Servative agreed that her event could inspire San Franciscans to visit for a fun day trip or overnight visit. “If we have this large population and we’re right next to a bigger city, why not bring people down here for this event?” Noting the diversity of the audiences, Servative said, “We’ve had straight families come and see the drag queens, and the kids are wonderful. Seeing their looks with big eyes, it’s like they’re saying, ‘You mean it’s okay? Let’s go home, Mom, and do this.’ It’s like giving someone permission to be who you are.” Servative, who lived as a man for decades while working in the Arctic and on an oil rig, is a fascinating person who’s also active with local environmental issues in Half Moon Bay. “We have a big marine preserve and a huge seal population that migrates in spring and fall,” she said. “Some people here want to develop it all, and that’s crazy. Why would we want to destroy this area and turn it into Laguna Beach?” While keeping a focus on environmental issues in regards to tourism and traffic, Servative hopes to expand future Coastside Pride events. She mentioned the numerous local seafood restaurants as a popular attraction in the usually quiet town. “If you ask a restaurant owner who has the best seafood, they’re sure to say, ‘All of them.’” This year’s festivities will take place at the Coastside Inn. The hotel
is still accepting reservations for the weekend. The dog-friendly heated outdoor patio space, which includes a full bar and food menu, will once again be the setting for a fun yet “family-friendly” show featuring San Francisco talents Ginger Snap, Kitty Tapata (as drag king Kit Tapata), plus the Screaming Striesands (Connie Servative’s three-keyboard trio), Natalie Ray, Sheena Rose and veteran trans icon Donna Persona. “I found it to be a most inclusive and rewarding experience, a breath of fresh sea air, so to speak,” said Tweaka Turner, one of the drag talents who performed at last year’s show, and who will return. “The audience was enthusiastic and I felt they were thoughly entertained by us queens. You could sense that this wasn’t a regular occurence down their way.” For beer fans, Half Moon Bay Brewery’s selection of tap and bottled beverages emphasizes locallymade session beers and delicious ales. Each autumn, the brewery also makes a special spicey pumpkin beer timed with the town’s annual Pumpkin Festival. Speaking of spices, Ginger Snap (aka bartender Tim Tait), when asked about participating for the first time, said that “Performing for a mostly straight audience is quite fun, actually. I typically perform for a local San Francisco gay audience, and they get to see drag shows nearly every night of the week. Going somewhere like Half Moon Bay is a treat, because that audience doesn’t get the opportunity to see as many shows, and they tend to get really excited.” Tait said he doesn’t have to tone down his act, either. “I don’t really have to adapt my performances to be family-friendly, they’re pretty friendly already. There’s no cursing in my performances, mostly pop, comedy and showtunes.” Tweaka Turner may perform either a Tina Turner number, or her rendition of “Milk Shake” while dressed as a cow. “One of the more unusual places I’ve performed was in a ice cream truck parked in front of a gay disco,” Turner added. As the event builds bridges between gay, straight and transgendered people, are drag performers serving as ambassadors between communities?
Hello, Kitty
Mary Oldham
Tweaka Turner at last year’s first Coastside Pride party.
For Kitty Tapata, aka Karin Jaffie, the Half Moon Bay event has some significance. “My wife and I have dined at Coastside Brewery more than once, so I’m extremely honored that Connie asked me participate.” Jaffie will perform at Kit
Mary Oldham
Sheena Rose performs at the 2013 Half Moon Bay Pride show.
Tapata, a “drag king ambassador for the breed.” As host of the weekly trivia game night at the 3300 Club, a familyowned Irish bar in the Mission, Jaffie said she’s “pretty well-versed –and immersed– in the hetero community, and they like me, they really like me.” She also performs at the Castro Country Club’s sober yet festive monthly Mascara shows. Jaffie’s more unusual gigs have included performing a lunchtime drag show at an upscale hotel’s employee cafeteria, touring Laguna Honda Hospital with drag host Mutha Chucka to cheer up patients and staff, and in a muddy cow pasture at the Golden State Gay Rodeo. No matter the venue, Jaffie said that she appreciates any lively audience. “Kit’s a bit of a swinger,” she said of her drag king persona. “I get to flirt with both genders. I’m often the only ‘guy’ in a drag line-up. But as a five-foot-nothing ultra-charming teddy bear, I can get away with a lot. I have to be careful though; some of those housewives seem kind of hungry.” Asked how she tones down her act, Jaffie said, “Leave the curse words and sexy talk at home, and try to point to my crotch less! Fortunately, my repertoire includes many classic movie songs, including ones adults –and kids– can sing along to; one of my favorite things to have happen. For that one moment, we’re all just people singing and being together, a feeling I hope will sustain.” Jaffie divulged that she’ll be singing a sample of her upcoming “purrrrfor-
Mary Oldham
The appreciative crowd at the Coastside Inn.
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not overly sexy and offensive or in your face, and really no cuss words in them,” she said. “I try and be respectful to everyone, and I know that at events, like this especially, that there will be some children present.” She also cited the mainstream effect of RuPaul’s Drag Race. “RuPaul was very non-threatening and not overtly sexy and in your face about it, she essentially performed House music that at times could be considered bubble gum pop.” And pop music is part of Rose’s talent. She’ll perform a medley of her original dance music songs, including “Queen of Clubs” and “Make Me Over.” “I’m especially excited to be performing my dance version of the Broadway gay anthem “I Am What I Am” [from La Cage Aux Folles]. “This is a song that I recorded and released special for my appearance at this year’s Trans March, and it’s my gift of love to all of my LGBT sisters and brothers.” Patrons of bars like Aunt Charlie’s Lounge know Donna Persona. This is her first time performing in Half Moon Bay, but she’s old pals with all the performers.
Mary Oldham
High heels and hilarity from last year’s premiere Half Moon Bay Pride party.
mance” as the campy Dandy Lion in Cocketelia’s River of Oz show at Buck’s in Guerneville on July 19. And, she added, “If there’s time for one more, then a swampy rainbow nod to my hero, Kermit the Frog.”
Sheena and Donna
Sheena Rose also performed last year, and will sing her own songs and remixes live at this weekend’s event. She described last year’s event as having “great entertainment, food, and the audience was mixed and amazing.” A regular performer at Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, Rose said she has performed for very mixed straight and gay audiences. “We get a lot of bachelorette parties and birthday parties. It’s not really all that different,” she said. “I’ve found that everyone who comes to my shows wants to have a good time and are there for the show and to be entertained. For the most part everyone is very respectful. Sometimes you may get a straight guy or lady who may be a little shy or feel out of place. As an entertainer, it’s your job to gauge that audience and make them feel comfortable and to respect their space. In the end, after a couple drinks, everyone is having a great time.” Rose considers her act as ‘familyfriendly,’ and compares her fauxbreasts as comparable to a Dolly Parton concert. “My numbers can be sexy, but are
“What we have in common is we’re fun-loving, light-hearted women. I’ve had a good helping of straight family audiences,” said Persona. As to strange venues, Persona recalled a Cockettes show at the Center for Sex & Culture where an audience member was caught masturbating. “That was deemed inappropriate!” Persona’s performances extend beyond bars and nightclubs, including with The Cockettes and at the East Bay Mills College. “I served up my glamorous Donna Persona,” she said of the college gig. “After the show, a young hetero couple brought their five-year-old son over. He wanted to meet me. This is what I hope to bring to this show.” Persona noted the difference with such first-time fans. “Straight audiences see our performances with different eyes, more wonder,” she said. “I find that they love it. Sometimes they look at me in astonishment. They want to know about our world.” Persona said she’s excited about this event, “Because I do feel like an ambassador for my community, especially on the heels of our own San Francisco Pride. As we go along in time, it’s my hope that there is less distance between straights and ‘us’ and more family of us all.” t Coastside Inn, 230 Cabrillo Hwy S, Half Moon Bay. (650) 726-3400. www.coastsideinn.com
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July 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 29
is an intimate experience along the mostly close sidewalks. Buses and the under and over-ground SEPTRA train systems took me quickly to points in all directions, and for a nominee fee. Getting a weekly card was also simple. Feeling bike-ish? Despite the tight and frequently one-way streets, Philadelphia is a very cyclist-friendly. Bike lanes abound, but be careful. Like its neighbor city New York, Philly residents tend to jaywalk with frequency. I rented a sturdy Trek hybrid from Breakway Bikes, which was only two blocks from the Palomar. Online reservation and payment was easy, and the staff was cool. www.breakawaybikes.com
spoken word, dance nights and other events, all with a decidedly queer/alternative edge. www.phreaknqueerfestival.wordpress.com Halloween’s festivities include tours of the notorious Eastern State Penitentiary, where the cells and decaying halls take on a realistically spooky edge. Some are done up in historic settings with vintage décor that recreates the cells of famous prisoners.
Nearby
Philly residents love to boast about their selection of convenient vacation escapes. Nearby mini-trip potentials include the scenic New Hope, which is basically a rustic
village with an amusingly disproportionate amount of gay-owned bed and breakfast inns. Autumn’s foliage is amazingly beautiful and photogenic, and worth at least an overnighter. Atlantic City, while not the happening showplace of its glory years, does include a few gay venues in between casinos. For summer beaching, go “Down ‘a shore,” specifically Cape May, where gays sometimes outnumber the Jersey Shore types. For general event listings and features on Philadelphia sports, arts and other events and attractions, visit www.philly.com. Find local and regional tourist info at www.visitphilly.com.t
Events
For those with a sports fan preference, many pro teams with historic winning (and losing) streaks play locally during their seasons. Also, annual events thrive through the seasons in Philadelphia, and not just the traditionally patriotic Fourth of July. The annual Equality Forum
Jonathon Edmond, Philly Gay Calendar
Gay Bingo Night
M. Edlow
Rittenhouse Square and a bit of the Philadelphia skyline.
From page 26
La Mediterranee Noe @LaMedNoe
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The exterior –and a luxurious bathroom– at the Hotel Palomar.
A few notably gay-owned eateries include A Full Plate Café (1040 N. American Street), Barbuzzo, known for delish Mediterranean cuisine (110 South 13th St.), El Vez, for Mexican cuisine served in a campy décor (121 South 13th Street), and for those who just want a dish to go, or a few groceries to snack on, visit the simply-named Grocery (105 South 13th St), a lesbianowned grocery with takeout food that’s open late.
Hotels
But where, oh where, are you going to stay? Two words: Kimpton Hotels. My palatial room at the stylishly designed Palomar Hotel (117 South 17th St.) was a dream. From the fine-tuned climate control to the enormous Jacuzzi and fully tiled shower that could have fit four guests BARtab –with a view– the Palomar is also perfectly situated in One of many restaurants that host sidethe center of Center City walk seating, weather permitting. itself. With an expansive 24-hour Walgreen’s right Other smaller parks, like the around the corner, I was now-gorgeous and once-cruisy Ritable to get snacks, toitenhouse Square, were created over letries and other items the past few centuries for beauty quickly. www.hotelpaloand well as safety. Found father Wilmar-philadelphia.com liam Penn foresaw small parks as Kimpton’s other honot only an aesthetic improvement tels in Philadelphia into the growing city, but as a fire preclude The Monaco at 433 ventative as well. Chestnut St., which features modern style with Eats a nod to Philly’s history. After burning all those calories www.monaco-philadelbarhopping and/or observing flora, phia.com you might be hungry. But despite its reputation for cheesesteaks, much more savory cuisine awaits in Philly. Numerous restaurants, ranging from traditional American, to Italian, Asian, and upscale sushi and French cuisines are available.
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288 Noe Street, SF (415) 431-7210 lamednoe.com
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Cafe | Restaurant | Catering
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and museums, the arts are well represented in Philly, so much so that I’m not even listing them. You could spend an entire week just seeing art. History, of course, is prominent, with more innovations and “historic firsts” than most other U.S. cities. From tours of Independence Hall to other attractions, our country’s history is encapsulated in many of the attractions. For a break from the nightlife scene, the massive Fairmont Park makes for a scenic bike ride in spring, summer or autumn, and a scenic snowy visit in winter. A long strip of forests and recreation buildings along the banks of the Schuylkill River, the verdant lands are part of Philadelphia itself and several suburban towns. It’s ten times larger than Manhattan’s Central Park.
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event draws activists, social change veterans and newbies to the City of Brotherly Love. Meet and greet noted LGBT civil rights activists, and enjoy large-scale street parties and gala benefits. The next Global LGBT Summit is the first weekend of May 2015. www.equalityforum.com With New York’s annual LGBT Pride events overshadowing those of its neighbor, Philadelphia’s Pride events are understandably smaller yet festive, including Pride, usually set for the first weekend in June. The annual Outfest, a multi-event celebration, coincides with National Coming Out Day, October 11. Bastille Day gets a wacky homegrown holiday as well. July 14 sees a unique faux-reenactment of the taking of the Bastille, set at the Eastern Penitentiary. It’s basically an excuse for a fun street party, where “Marie Antoinette” shouts, “Let them eat Tastycakes!” then the locally produced snacks are flung from the roof of the prison. July 31 – August 3 will see a return to the Phreak n Queer Festival, a loosely arranged bevy of music, art,
Transport Getting first a bit with any but you’ll
around’s at confusing, as bustling city, find walking Independence Hall
BARtab
Steven Underhill
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415 370 7152
WEDDINGS, HEADSHOTS, PORTRAITS
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<< On the Tab
30 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
Forbidden Broadway @ Feinstein's at the Nikko
eON THE TAB f July 10–17
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Alive and Kicking! , Gerald Alessandrini's newest edition of the show tune parody revue, comes to the Bay Area, with musical send-ups and satirical vignettes of The Book of Mormon, Once, Newsies, Patti LuPone, Mandy Patankin and more. $45$60. Thu & Fri 8pm. Sat & Sun 7pm. Thru July 27. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (866) 663-1063. www.ticketweb.com
Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi
Friday Night @ de Young Museum
Basement Jaxx @ Public Works
Nightlife events at the museum take on different themes. $20-$35. 6pm-8:30pm. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive. www.deyoung.famsf.org
The electro-pop duo performs at the warehouse-sized nightclub. $15-$30. 161 Erie St. 779-6757. www.basementjaxx.com www.publicsf.com
Happy Friday @ Midnight Sun
Fri 11 The Crystal Method @ Public Works
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ow do you enjoy your mid-summer days and nights? In your underwear in a bar? On a patio with pals? Sipping vino on a veranda? Whatever your slice of life, dig in.
Pearls Over Shanghai @ The Hypnodrome
The Crib @ 715
Thrillpeddlers' hilarious Cockettes revival returns, with new choreography, costumes and cast members. $30-$35. Thu-Sat 8pm. Extended thru July 26. 575 10th St. (800) 838-3006. www.thrillpeddlers.com
La Femme @ Beaux Ladies' happy hour at the Castro nightclub, with drink specials, no cover, and women gogos. 4pm-9pm. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com
Fuego @ The Watergarden, San Jose Weekly event, with Latin music, half-off locker fees and Latin men, at the South Bay private men's bath house. $8-$39. Reg hours 24/7. 18+. 1010 The Alameda. (408) 275-1215. www.thewatergarden.com
Gym Class @ Hi Tops
Tubesteak Connection @ Aunt Charlie's Lounge The intimate groovy retro disco night with tunes spun by DJ Bus Station John. $4. 10pm-2am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www.auntcharlieslounge.com
Whimsical Belle Epoque-style sketch and magic show that also includes historical San Francisco stories; hosted by Walt Anthony; optional pre-show light dinner and desserts. $40. Thu-Sat 8pm. 433 Powell St. www.SFMagicParlor.com
The Monster Show @ The Edge Cookie Dough's weekly drag show with gogo guys and hilarious fun. $5. 9pm-2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com
Nap's Karaoke @ Virgil's Sea Room Sing out loud at the weekly least judgmental karaoke in town, hosted by the former owner of the bar. No cover. 9pm. 3152 Mission St. 829-2233. www.virgilssf.com
Gogo-tastic night starts off your weekend. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com
For sizzling photos, Pride event coverage, LGBT news & entertainment!
VIP @ Club 21, Oakland
Fri 11
Fri 11 Maria Diamond @ Hotel Rex
Maria Diamond @ Hotel Rex
Bad Girl Cocktail Hour @ The Lexington Club Every Friday night, bad girls can get $1 dollar margaritas between 9pm and 10pm. 3464 19th St. between Mission and Valencia. 8632052. www.lexingtonclub.com
Society Cabaret presents the veteran chanteuse, who performs a musical tribute to Marlene Dietrich. Cocktails and small plates available; no minimum. $25-$45. 8pm. 562 Sutter St. 857-1896. www.societycabaret.com
The Crystal Method @ Public Works
Sean Duran, Brian Bonds @ Nob Hill Theatre
Opulent Temple presents the electronic music duo, who play a DJ set; with Aphrodite and Funkagenda, and an outdoor "silent dance party." $20-$25. 9:30pm-4am. 61 Erie St. 779-6757. www.publicsf.com
Fedorable @ El Rio Free weekly queer dance party, with gogos, prizes, old groovy tunes, cheap cocktails. 9pm-2am. 3158 Mission St. 282-3325. www.elriosf.com
The hot porn stud strips down and lapdances to friendly tipping patrons, and performs a sex show with Bonds at 10pm. $25. 8pm and 10pm. Also July 12. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com
Some Thing Mica Sigourney and pals' weekly offbeat drag performance night. 10pm-2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com
Fri 11
The classic leather bar's most popular Sunday daytime event now also takes place on Saturdays! 3pm-6pm. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com
The weekly mash-up dance night, with resident DJs Adrian & Mysterious D. No matter the theme, a mixed fun good time's assured. $8-$15. 9pm-3am. 21+. 375 11th St. at Harrison. www.BootieSF.com www.DNAlounge.com
La Bota Loca @ Club 21, Oakland Johnny Crash
DJed tunes, gogo hotties, drag shows, drink specials, all at Oakland's premiere Latin nightclub and weekly cowboy night. $10$15. Dancing 9pm-4am. 2111 Franklin St. (510) 268-9425. www.club21oakland.com
Pan Dulce @ The Cafe Amazingly hot Papi gogo guys, cheap drinks and fun DJed dance music. Free before 10pm. $5 til 2am. 2369 Market St. www.clubpapi.com www.cafesf.com
Beer Bust @ SF Eagle
Bootie SF @ DNA Lounge
Nightlife @ California Academy of Sciences Themed event nights at the fascinating nature museum, with DJed dancing, cocktails, fish, frogs, food and fun. $10$12. 6pm-10pm, 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. www.calacademy.org
CHECK O CHE CCOOKING OOKING
Enjoy eight bars, more dance floors, and a smoking lounge at the largest gay Latin dance night in the Bay Area. Happy hour 4pm-8:30pm. Dancing 9pm-4am. 2111 Franklin St. (510) 268-9425. www.club21oakland.com
Underwear Party @ Powerhouse
Hip Hop, Top 40, and sexy Latin music; gogo dancers, appetizers, and special guest DJs. No cover before 11pm and just $5 after all night. Dancing 9pm-3am. Happy hour 4pm-8:30pm 2111 Franklin St. (510) 268-9425. www.club21oakland.com
Magic Parlor @ Chancellor Hotel
The accomplished vocalist and band perform C'est Magnifique, a concert of jazz and blues with a French style. Cocktails and small plates available; no minimum. $30-$60. 8pm. 562 Sutter St. 857-1896. www.societycabaret.com
The women's burlesque and variety show presents a bible-thumping-themed night of holy-rolling hijinks, with guest performers Harvest Moon, Rummy Rose, blanche Bourgeois, Gwen Ruby, The Devil-Ettes and more. $15-$30. 9:30pm. 375 11th St. www.dnalounge.com
The weekly live rock shows feature local and touring bands. 9pm-ish. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com
Jukebox @ Beatbox
Josh Klipp and his jazz band perform classic songs at the stylish bar and grille. No cover. 8pm-11pm. 850 Montgomery St. www.klipptones.com www.cigarbarandgrill.com
Beer only $8 until you bust. 4pm-8pm. 1369 Folsom St. 431-4695. www.hitws.com
Lua Hadar & Twist @ Hotel Rex
Hubba Hubba Revue @ DNA Lounge
Thursday Night Live @ SF Eagle
Strip down to your skivvies at the weekly cruisy SoMa bar night. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhouse-sf.com
The Klipptones @ Cigar Bar
Beer Bust @ Hole in the Wall Saloon
Enjoy delicious BBQ meals, beers and live music, along with drag acts at the dog-friendly Mavericks Beer Garden. Sf and South Bay queens perform in this fun and light-hearted show along with music by The Screaming Streisands. plus Ginger Snap, Natalie Ray, Sheena Rose, Tweaka Turner and host Connie Servative. A full bar and full summer menu are available all day. 2pm-6:3pm serving. Show at 2pm. 390 Capistrano Road in Half Moon Bay. (650) 728-2739. www.hmbbrewingco.com
Manimal @ Beaux
Enjoy cheap/free whiskey shots from jockstrapped hotties and sexy sports videos at the popular sports bar. 10pm-2am. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com
Veteran DJ Page Hodel (The Box, Q and many other events) presents a new weekly dance event, with soul, funk, hip-hop and house mixes. $10. 21+. 9pm-2am. 314 11th St. at Folsom. www.BeatboxSF.com
The popular video bar ends each week with gogo guys (starting at 9pm) and drink specials. Check out the new expanded front lounge, with a window view. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com
The musical comedy revue celebrates its 40th year with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs. $25-$160. 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd (Green St.). 4214222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com
Coastside Pride @ Half Moon Bay Brewing Company
Latin Explosion @ Club 21, Oakland
Thu 10 Dance night for the younger guys and gals. 9:30pm-2am. 715 Harrison St. www.thecribsf.com
Sat 12
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Club Rimshot @ Bench and Bar, Oakland Hubba Hubba Revue @ DNA Lounge
The weekly hip hop and R&B night. $8$15. 9pm to 4am. 510 17th St. www.bench-and-bar.com
Resilient @ OMG The free monthly dance/social event (second Saturdays) by and for HIV+ guys and allies. 2-for-1 well drinks from 5-6pm. Start your party under the dome and dance to beats from the best local DJs while our dancers get sweaty. 5pm-9pm. 43 Sixth St. www.facebook.com/RESILIENTSF www.clubOMGsf.com
Splish! @ Beaux SF Tsunami Water Polo's annual festive fundraiser includes a swimwear show, raffle, entertainment, MC Mutha Chucka, DJ Riley Patrick, and aquatic antics. Donations. 7pm-10pm. 2344 Market St. www.tsunamipolo.org www.beauxsf.com
Stallion Saturdays @ Beaux The gogo-tastic night returns, with hunky dancers offering lap dances upstairs in the lounge, hosted by Sister Roma. $4. Free before 10pm. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com
The Wizard of Oz @ Castro Theatre Peaches Christ and Sharon Needles lead a wacky pre-screening drag show parody-tribute to The Wizard of Oz, with Suppositori Spelling, Raya Light, Cousin Wonderlette, Peggy L'eggs, Heklina and others. Costume contest and screening of the film, $15-$30. (Not for little kids! Ages 13 and up). 3pm & 8pm. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com All followed by an after-party at Beaux with DJ Guy Ruben, a performance by Raya Light, and flying gogo monkeys. $5. Beaux, 2344 Market St. 9pm-2am. www.beauxsf.com www.peacheschrist.com
July 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 31
Full of Grace @ Beaux Weekly night with hostess Grace Towers, different local and visiting DJs, and pop-up drag performances. No cover. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com
GlamaZone @ The Cafe
Red Hots Burlesque @ El Rio Women's burlesque show performs each Wed & Fri. Karaoke follows. $5-$10. 7pm. 3158 Mission St. 282-3325. www.elriosf.com
The weekly jock-ular fun continues, with special sports team fundraisers. 3pm-7pm. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com
Liquid Brunch @ Beaux
Beer Bust @ Lone Star Saloon
Salsa Sundays @ El Rio Salsa dancing for LGBT folks and friends, with live merengue and cumbia bands; tapas and donations that support local causes. 2nd & 4th Sundays. 3pm-8pm. 3158 Mission St. 282-3325. www.elriosf.com
OUT WHAT’S G AT EDGE!
Sundance Saloon @ Space 550 The popular country western LGBT dance night; enjoy fun foot-stomping twostepping and line-dancing. $5. 5pm10:30pm with lessons from 5:30-7:15 pm. Also Thursdays. 550 Barneveld Ave., and Tuesdays at Beatbox, $6. 6:30-11pm. 314 11th St. www.sundancesaloon.org
Sunday's a Drag @ Starlight Room Donna Sachet hosts the weekly fabulous brunch and drag show. $45. 11am, show at noon; 1:30pm, show at 2:30pm. 450 Powell St. in Union Square. 395-8595. www.starlightroomsf.com
Mon 14 Cock and Bull Mondays @ Hole in the Wall Saloon Specials on drinks made with Cock and Bull ginger ale (Jack and Cock, Russian Mule, and more). 8pm-closing. 1369 Folsom St. 431-4695. www.hitws.com
Drag Mondays @ The Café Mahlae Balenciaga and DJ Kidd Sysko's weekly drag and dance night. 9pm-1am. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com
Frozen Music Festival @ Balançoire Two nights of music with several local bands at the stylish nightclub and restaurant; with an auction to raise funds for the Frozen Film Festival. $5. 9:30pm-12:30am. Also July 15. 2565 Mission St. at 21st. 920-0577. www.balancoiresf.com
Irish Dance Night @ Starry Plough, Berkeley Weekly dance lessons and live music at the pub-restaurant, hosted by John Slaymaker. $5. 7pm. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. www.thestarryplough.com
Karaoke @ The Lookout Paul K hosts the amateur singing night. 8pm-2am. 3600 16th St. at Market. www.lookoutsf.com
Mahogany Mondays @ Midnight Sun Honey Mahogany's weekly drag and musical talent show starts around 10pm, 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com
Monday Musicals @ The Edge The casts of local and visiting musicals often pop in to perform at the popular Castro bar's musical theatre night. 7pm2am. 2 for 1 cocktail, 5pm-closing. 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com
Beer Bust @ SF Eagle
Fri 11
The classic leather bar's most popular Sunday daytime event in town draws the menfolk. July 13, proceeds benefit Camp Sunburst, a therapeutic summer camp for children and families effected by AIDS/ HIV; presented by members of the SF Ducal Council. 3pm-6pm. Now also on Saturdays! 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com Enjoy crunchy sandwiches and mimosas, among other menu items, at the popular sports bar. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com
Dance to music from the 1970s to 2014, with DJ Jamie D. 21+; no cover. 9pm-2am. 399 Ninth St. at Harrison. www.studsf.com
Weekly women's night at the stylish intimate bar. 9pm-2am. 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com
Bingo Night @ Club OMG
Watch newbies get nude, or compete yourself for a $200 prize. Audience picks the winner. $20. 9pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com
So You Think You Can Gogo? @ Toad Hall The weekly dancing competition for gogo wannabes. 9pm. cash prizes, $2 well drinks (2 for 1 happy hour til 9pm). Show at 9pm. 4146 18th St. www.toadhallbar.com
Sony Holland @ Level III The acclaimed jazz vocalist performs with guitarist Jerry Holland. Weekly 5pm-8pm. Also Thursdays & Fridays. JW Marriott, 515 Mason St. at Post. www.sonyholland.com
Block Party @ Midnight Sun
Trivia Night @ Harvey's
Weekly screenings of music videos, concert footage, interviews and more, of popular pop stars. 9pm-2am. 4067 18th St. 8614186. www.midnightsunsf.com
BeBe Sweetbriar hosts a weekly night of trivia quizzes and fun and prizes; no cover. 8pm-1pm. 500 Castro St. 431-4278. www.harveyssf.com
Bombshell Betty & Her Burlesqueteers @ Elbo Room
Underwear Night @ SF Eagle
The weekly burlesque show of women dancers shaking their bonbons includes live music. $10. 9pm. 647 Valencia St. 5527788. www.elbo.com
Filter, Helmet, Local H @ The Independent Three electro and metal-rock bands perform. $25. 8pm. 628 Divisadero St. 7711421. www.theindependentsf.com
Funny Tuesdays @ Harvey's Ronn Vigh hosts the weekly LGBT and gay-friendly comedy night. One-drink or menu item minimum. 9pm. 500 Castro St. at 18th. 431-HARV. www.harveyssf.com
Ink & Metal @ Powerhouse Show off your tattoos and piercings at the weekly cruisy SoMa bar night. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhouse-sf.com
Strip down to your skivvies at the popular leather bar. 9pm-2am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com
Way Back @ Midnight Sun Weekly screenings of vintage music videos and retro drink prices. Check out the new expanded front window lounge. 9pm-2am. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com
Thu 17 La Femme @ Beaux Ladies' happy hour at the Castro nightclub, with drink specials, no cover, and women gogos. 4pm-9pm. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com
Gym Class @ Hi Tops
Naked Night @ Nob Hill Theatre
Enjoy cheap/free whiskey shots from jockstrapped hotties and sexy sports videos at the popular new sports bar. 10pm-2am. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com
Strip down at the strip joint. $20 includes refreshments. 8pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com
The Monster Show @ The Edge
Piano Bar @ Beaux
Cookie Dough's weekly drag show with gogo guys. 9pm-2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com
Singer extraordinaire Jason Brock hosts the new weekly night, with your talented host –and even you– singing. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com
Nightlife @ California Academy of Sciences
Weekly game night for board and electronic gamers at the warehouse multipurpose nightclub. 21+. 6pm-12am. 1425 Folsom St. www.showdownesports.com
The museum's weekly cocktail parties continue with drinks, food live music and pop-up display exhibits and docent talks, plus creature, plant and science exhibits. $10-$12. 6pm-10pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. www.calacademy.org
Trivia Night @ Hi Tops
Pan Dulce @ The Cafe
Play the trivia game at the popular new sports bar. 9pm. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com
Enjoy amazingly hot Papi gogo guys, cheap drinks and fun DJed dance music. Free before 10pm. $5 til 2am. 2369 Market St. www.clubpapi.com www.cafesf.com
Wed 16
Stand Up for Campos @ El Rio
Showdown @ Folsom Foundry
Bottoms Up Bingo @ Hi Tops
New weekly underwear night includes free clothes check, no cover, and drink specials. 9pm-2am. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com
The legendary leather bar gets jock-ular, with beer buckets, games (including beer pong and corn-hole!), prizes, sports on the TVs, and more fun. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com
Rookies Night @ Nob Hill Theatre
Michael Brandon hosts the game night and funderaiser for The Community Initiatiuve. 7pm-10pm. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com
No No Bingo @ Virgil's Sea Room
Sports Night @ The Eagle Sean Duran @ Nob Hill Theatre
13 Licks @ Q Bar
Play board games and win offbeat prizes at the popular sports bar. 9pm. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com
Sing-along night with talented locals, and charming accompanist Joe Wicht (aka Trauma Flintstone). 9pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market. www.dragatmartunis.com
Weekly live music shows with various acts, along with brunch, mimosas, champagne and more, at the stylish nightclub and restaurant. 2565 Mission St. at 21st. 9200577. www.balancoiresf.com
Tue 15
BeBe Sweetbriar hosts a weekly musical trivia challenge and drag show. 8:30-11:30pm. 4146 18th st. at Castro. www.toadhallbar.com
Piano Bar 101 @ Martuni's
Brunch Sundays @ Balançoire
Disco Pop Mash-Up @ The Stud
Name That Beat @ Toad Hall
Mica Sigourney and Tom Temprano cohost the wacky weekly game night at the cool Mission bar. 8pm. 3152 Mission St. www.virgilssf.com
Brunch @ Hi Tops
Grammy-winning pop-punk band performs songs from their new CD Upside Out, and other older faves. $22. 8pm. 628 Divisadero St. 771-1421. www.okgo.net www.theindependentsf.com Weekly Latin partner dance night. 8pm1am. 314 11th St. www.beatboxsf.com
Jock @ The Lookout
No cover, no food, just drinks (Mimosas, Bloody Marys, etc.) and music. 2pm-9pm. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com
OK Go @ The Independent
Queer Salsa @ Beatbox
Pollo del Mar's weekly drag shows takes on different themes with a comic edge. 8:30-11:30pm. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com
Sun 13 The ursine crowd converges for beer and fun. 4pm-8pm. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com
Sat 12
Splish! @ Beaux
John Kennedy
t
On the Tab>>
Dare 2 Bare @ Club OMG
Mad Manhattans @ Starlight Room The new weekly event includes classic cocktails created by David Cruz, and inspired by the the show Mad Men, plus retro food classics like prawn cocktails and Oysters Rockefeller, all with a fantastic city view. 6pm-10pm. 21st, Sir Francis Drake Hotel. 450 Powell St. www. starlightroomsf.com
Miss Kitty's Trivia Night @ Wild Side West The weekly fun night at the Bernal Heights bar includes prizes, hosted by Kitty Tapata. No cover. 7pm-10pm. 424 Cortland St. 6473099. www.wildsidewest.com
Comedy and music show and fundraiser for David Campos' Assembly run, with Yayne Abeba, Frankie Quiñones, Steve Lee, and Lisa Geduldig. And music by Candace Roberts and Larisa Migachyov; and Dr Loco y Sus Cuates featuring The Peña Goveas, Tomas Montoya & Francisco Herrera. $7$100. 7pm. 3158 Mission St. www.elriosf.com
Tubesteak Connection @ Aunt Charlie's Lounge Retro disco tunes and a fun diverse crowd, each Thursday; now in its tenth year! $4. 10pm-2am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www.auntcharlieslounge.com
Underwear Party @ Powerhouse Strip down to your skivvies at the weekly cruisy SoMa bar night. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhouse-sf.com
Want your nightlife event listed? Email events@ebar.com, at least two weeks before your event. Event photos welcome.
Serving the LGBT communities since 1971
32 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
t
Leather – Going National by Race Bannon
S
an Francisco’s Pride 2014 weekend is now just a memory, but I remember it fondly. I especially cherish being able to yet again march with the Leather Pride Contingent in the parade. The contingent is a microcosm of why it’s so great to be a kinkster in the Bay Area. We were a proud gathering of people from all walks of the local leather and kink factions coming together to celebrate and declare our pride in being ourselves alongside many others who were doing the same. The Bay Area is a unique place indeed. As usual, the contingent included the man and woman selected by vote of the community to be the Leather Marshals leading us down Market Street. This year they were Deborah Hoffman-Wade and Scott Peterson, both people who are quite deserving of the honor.
portant organization to support. “When I kept hearing from people who lost their job because they were into leather or had their kids taken away because they were kinky, I knew we needed a group like NCSF,” she said. “Nobody else fights for our rights, so we have to do it ourselves. For 17 years, NCSF has worked hard to destigmatize BDSM, but we still have more work to do.” Another organization doing important work on a national scale is the Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities (CARAS) (www. carasresearch.org). CARAS is dedicated to the support and promotion of excellence in the study of alternative sexualities and the dissemination of research results to the alternative sexuality communities, the public and the research community. CARAS does this by supporting research that addresses understudied
Race Bannon
Local leather icon Graylin Thornton holds the Leather Pride Contingent banner in the recent SF Pride Parade at which the leather contingent won the Outrageous award from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
I am fully aware, however, that many people can’t comfortably do what we did. Marching out and proud so comfortably and visibly is not as easy elsewhere. The Bay Area bubble is far more welcoming and accepting of kinksters than are most other parts of the country. As I gazed upon the marchers in our contingent, I realized how lucky we have it and how much I hope that other kinky folk may feel the same freedom and acceptance. This made me think about some of the national organizations working hard to ensure that kinksters across the country can experience even some semblance of the openness and opportunity we in the Bay Area feel. While there are a plethora of local leather and kink clubs and organizations working hard to make life better for us all (and most such work does need to be done at the local level), there are a handful of national organizations trying to do the same on a broader scale. I don’t think the general kinkster population is as aware of these national organizations as they should be. Their work helps us all. Let me point out a few of them. Founded in 1997 by Susan Wright, the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) (www. ncsfreedom.org) is an organization committed to creating a political, legal and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights for consenting adults who engage in alternative sexual and relationship expressions. Their work is done primarily with BDSM, leather, fetish and polyamory issues and encompasses direct services, education, advocacy and outreach. I asked Ms. Wright why she founded NCSF and why it’s an im-
sexual communities, with a current focus on BDSM/leather/kink/ fetish sexualities and consensual non-monogamous relationships such as polyamory. Employing a community-based research model,
“Courts, criminal proceedings, medical professionals, psychiatrists – and people who make policies and rules in our society about kinky behavior – are more likely to change if we can discuss the reasons why they should change in the language and discourse they understand and use. But beyond our need to destigmatize kink (so we can enjoy it without penalty or punishment or interference), knowing more will increase our ability to play better, to live better, and to increase our health and well-being. That’s why we need to support serious academic research about us.” Years ago, my friends Tony DeBlase and Gayle Rubin, along with a few others, were deeply concerned that the history of the leather and kink scene would be lost unless a concerted effort was made to capture and preserve that history. Out of their concerns the Leather Archives & Museum (LA&M) (www. leatherarchives.org) was born. The LA&M serves the international leather and kink scene by compiling, preserving and maintaining our history, archives and memorabilia for historical, educational and research purposes. The current Executive Director of the LA&M is Rick Storer. I asked him why he think it’s important for leather and kink folks to support their work. He said, “Without our history, we’re just a bunch of folks having really creative sex. Our history connects us to generations of people who have been doing, for thousands of years, what we do today. At its core, the Leather Archives & Museum preserves and provides access to Leather and kink culture and history.” There are a few other organizations working on a national level to help the kinky among us, but I chose these three because I think they represent some key areas of work that can’t really be done as effectively on a local level. We need these national organizations. We need to support these organizations with our money and, if possible, our volunteer efforts. What they do is so important to ensure that we all can live in a country that allows us kinksters to value and enjoy our history,
Race Bannon
Scott Peterson and Deborah Hoffman-Wade, the 2014 Leather Pride Contingent Leather Marshals.
CARAS has assembled a network of academics, clinicians and respected members of these communities who will work directly with researchers to promote scientific and other forms of scholarly research. One of the original founders of CARAS, along with Robert Bienvenu and David Ortmann, is the current Executive Director and Bay Area local, Richard Sprott. I asked Mr. Sprott why it’s important for the leather/kink community to support serious academic research about us “Research is the ‘coin of the realm’ for legal and medical concerns in our society,” he said.
freedoms and erotic self-awareness fully because that’s the only way everyone can really be who they are in terms of their sexuality. So, to my fellow Bay Area kinksters, enjoy the freedoms you enjoy here. We are so lucky. But let’s not forget it’s not the same everywhere and we should all help people and organizations that are seeking to make a better environment in which we can all play and connect with each other.t Race Bannon is a local author, blogger and activist. Read more, and contact him at www.bannon.com
t
Read more online at www.ebar.com
July 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 33
Shades of Grey by John F. Karr
H
ere’s something I realized at the Frameline Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, while watching Michael Lucas’ documentary about homophobia in Russia. He’s the only political activist I know of among gay pornographers, the only one using his skills and company resources for feature films other than porno. So, what about it, Other Companies? Or is it unrealistic of me to ask in which ways, if at all, the tightly-knit porn community might poke its head into a broader gay world? Let me know, fellas, where I’m shortsighted. And here’s another question for my readers. Is it kosher for me to write about a condomed movie released by a company that also
Lucas Entertainment
Precious or powerful, innocent or edgy—Colton Grey’s a young sizzler.
makes bareback flicks? Such collateral support lies uneasily for me behind the following review of a new condom feature from LucasEntertainment. The company is now releasing more bareback features than condomed—not counting two
anthologies of older material, only two of its last 14 films have been condomed. One of those movies caters to foot fetishists, and the rest of us can get it up for Cruising for Colton Grey. It’s unusual for a new star to give away so much, so soon, but Mr. Grey is featured in four of the hot flick’s five scenes. And featured at such generous length—at over three hours, the movie can leisurely document the many sides of its hot young star. Colton Grey is a mere 22, and a mere 5’ 6”. But that doesn’t limit him. Sure, he can be precious. But he can be powerful, too. Cleanshaven, with hair neatly combed, he’s a cute twink, exuding innocence. But with a faux-hawk, and taking notice of his random tattoos and punky edge, he can be a fierce stud, throwing butch back in your face. His eyes are a clear, watery blue; his lips are plump and rosy. He’s basically smooth-bodied, but has a deliciously furry (and sweetly round) butt, with such a virginal looking asshole, all pink and moist. And his cock, well, my friends, it’s an extra thick ‘n beefy eight inches. Grey’s a LucasEnt. Exclusive, who was paired for his porn debut with Lucas himself; natch, he bottomed. Then, he not only flip-fucked with Hans Berlin, but fed the guy his cum. And then, Adam Killian confidently directed and videographed the four pairings of Cruising for Colten Grey, each one bringing out a different aspect of Grey’s appreciable sexual hunger. With fellow twink Justin Cruise—a slender, uncut Russian youngster—it’s all young love, with luminescent hidden lighting shedding a lovely glow on smooth skin. Theirs is not one of those athletic speed humpings, but an intimate, slow ass-searching with lovingly entwined bodies. But listen to Grey whisper to Cruise, “I’m gonna fuck you so bad.” Versatility is the name of the game when Grey and his BF An-
thony Verruso invite their personal trainer home. Sandy-haired hunk Jake Adams demonstrates stretching techniques, which leads quickly to the stretching of boners and buttholes (it’s curious that all three start off wearing identical underwear). They scramble topping and bottoming, with each getting and giving with steamy fervor. As in the first scene, they’re unrushed, spontaneous, and, to this viewer, excitingly fulfilling. Things get pretty vigorous, and there’s a novel chain-fuck linking all three in a revealing position. It’s one
Lucas Entertainment
Fri 11 Sober Kink Together @ Castro Country Club Officially a CMA meeting, but open to all Anonymous 12-step Fellowship members, 4058 18th St., 9:30pm.
of those hot button moments that just might set you off. The lads get to lap up Andrew’s cum as it spouts from the source of all things (speaking of which, the long, arching cock of lanky lad Verruso is entrancing). And then Andrews gets to lap both of theirs. Grey shows up with his crotch shaved when he and dark-haired Addison Graham get to flip each other into swell fuckable positions—there’s a fine RC that lets us take in Grey’s finer attributes from head to toe, while concentrating on the mid-parts.
Fri 18
Fri 25
Sober Kink Together @ Castro Country Club
Up Yours by Hell Hole @ Alchemy
Officially a CMA meeting, but open to all Anonymous 12-step Fellowship members, 4058 18th St., 9:30pm. www.castrocountryclub.org
Men’s fisting party, $40, 1060 Folsom St., 8pm. To get an invitation (you need to be on the email list) visit www.hellholesf.com
Sun 20
Sat 12
Folsom Street Events Beer Bust @ SF Eagle
Whips In The Park @ States Street Playground
Beer bust fundraiser for Folsom Street Events and related charities, 398 12th St., 3pm. www.sf-eagle.com
Casual social event where kinksters can throw whips together, 186 States St., down the hill from Corona Heights and the Randall Museum, 1pm.
Wed 16 Hepatitis C Forum @ Center for Sex & Culture What You Need to Know (But May Not) About Hepatitis C! with Andrew Reynolds of Project Inform, who answers questions about hepatitis C treatment and prevention, sponsored by the Handball Academy, 1349 Mission St., free, 7:30pm.
Thu 17 – Sun 20 Gear Up Weekend Three days and nights of kinky fun, catered meals, open bar, pool and hot tub, dungeon play space, workshops and activities, camping space, and shower and toilet facilities. www.gearupweekend.com/register
Tue 22 MagneKink @ Magnet A Magnet social event for San Francisco’s leather and kink gay men, 4122 18th St., 7pm. www.magnetsf.org
Wed 23 Leathermen’s Discussion Group @ Mr. S Leather Leathersex and Spirituality – a panel discussion, 385A 8th St., 7:30pm. www.sfldg.org
Thu 24 5th Annual SF BLUF Dinner @ Don Ramon Restaurant Leather, biker, or other gear required, $30 at door, 225 11th St., 6pm bar, 7:30pm buffet. Reserve seats by July 20 at blufsf@yahoo.com.
rociously. Shiny with sweat, Killian’s hard-won orgasm is truly a climax. Turning his attention to Grey, Killian tongues the tip of the lad’s trophy as the thrashing kid cums. So, whew! All four scenes are winners. And there’s a bonus scene, with Justin Cruise returning for a bruising bout with Tyler Wolf, a top with shaved crotch and tattooed body. Oh, boy.t
San Francisco’s 18+ Sex Club!
Just about the first sight we get of Colton Grey promises big things, in a screen grab from Cruising for Colton Grey.
Leather Events, July 10-27, 2014 There’s always a lot going on in the San Francisco Bay Area for leather and other kinksters.
Adam Killian gets the star treatment of closing out the show, and his scene with Grey justified my by now Pavlovian response to this swarthy, sweating star. Ah, that Killian—in the midst of a feral, potent fuck, his lusty smile lets us know how glad he is to be making out. The guys kiss intimately, suck cock with a near religious relish, and fuck each other fe-
Sober Kink Together @ Castro Country Club Officially a CMA meeting, but open to all Anonymous 12-step Fellowship members, 4058 18th St., 9:30pm. www.castrocountryclub.org
Sat 26 The 15 Association Men’s Play Party @ SF Citadel A men’s BDSM play party. 181 Eddy St., 8pm. www.the15sf.org
Bay of Pigs Official dance event of Up Your Alley, 525 Harrison St., 10pm. See website for ticket details. www.folsomstreetevents.org
Sun 27 Up Your Alley Street Fair Annual leather/kink street fair, see website for South of Market location, 11am. www.folsomstreetevents.org
Phoenix @ Mr. S Leather Men’s rubber play party, 385A 8th St. See website for pre-registration details. www.rmsf.org/power-of-three
Open daily at 12pm
2051 Market St. at Church St. Info: 415-864-EROS (3767)
Serving the LGBT communities since 1971
34 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 10-16, 2014
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Shooting Stars
July 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 35
photos by steven underhill One Night Only
M
usical theatre fans got a rousing night of songs from cast members of the touring production of Once at the most recent One Night Only benefit concert at North Beach’s Club Fugazi, home of the long-running show Beach Blanket Babylon. Local vocal favorites Spencer Day, Sharon McNight and David Burnham also pitched in at the benefit for the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation and Equity Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, held Monday June 30. For more info on upcoming benefits, visit www.reaf.org See more event photo albums on BARtab’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife and on www. StevenUnderhill.com See this and other issues in full page-view format at www.issuu.com/bayareareporter
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For headshots, portraits or to arrange your wedding photos
call (415) 370-7152 or visit www.StevenUnderhill.com or email stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com