July 18 2013 by Bay Area Reporter

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Board backfills HIV money by Seth Hemmelgarn

he San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved backfilling $3 million in HIV funding Tuesday, July 16 as it passed the city’s two-year budget for 2013-15. Mayor Ed Lee had already appropriated $4 million to fill in a funding gap for the current fiscal year, which began July 1. The total two-year spending plan is nearly $16 billion. There had been Rick Gerharter little question that the Mayor Ed Lee board would provide the money, which is needed to backfill federal cuts stemming from reductions in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding, and cuts related to the federal sequestration. In a recent email he sent after the backfill passed a board committee, gay Supervisor Scott Wiener said, “I’m thrilled that we were able to get this done for the community and to avoid devastating cuts to our innovative and effective HIV care and prevention programs.” The mayor had already budgeted a full $8 million in HIV/AIDS funding for 2014-15. At the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, cuts would have resulted in reductions to substance use and mental health counseling services, assistance for clients to access HIV care, and prevention programs for Latinos at risk for HIV. “Once again the mayor and the supervisors have taken leadership action despite considerable challenges at the federal level to avert devastating cuts to services that save lives and improve health for thousands of people in our community,” said Neil Giuliano, CEO of the AIDS foundation, in a statement after the backfill proposal passed the committee. “We have been making tremendous progress in recent years in our fight against HIV/AIDS in San Francisco, and by restoring the cuts our city leaders have demonstrated their extraordinary leadership and longstanding commitment to ensure that we continue our forward momentum and move closer to ending the transmission of HIV in San Francisco once and for all.” According to the AIDS foundation, there are about 16,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the city. Only half of newly diagnosed people here achieve viral suppression within a year of diagnosis. The board’s final vote on the budget is expected next week, after which it will go to Lee for his signature.

Federal initiative

In other HIV/AIDS news, the Obama administration this week announced the HIV Care Continuum Initiative, which among other things is designed to promote expansion of successful HIV testing and service delivery models. In one upcoming project related to the initiative, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will invest $300,000 in a yearlong technical assistance initiative as part of the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program. The project is meant to build grantee capacity to integrate health care planning and care outcome measures into HIV housing programs.t

Vol. 41 • No. 29 • July 18-24, 2013

High demand for new Castro housing by Matthew S. Bajko

an Francisco native Brian Spiers stands on the unfinished seventh floor of his new mixed-use development Linea and

scans the views that residents of the condos on the upper Market Street corridor will enjoy. Most of the 115 units will have unobstructed sightlines of the Bay Bridge and the

Workers hoist a crossbeam at the construction site of Linea.

Rick Gerharter

bay itself. The five penthouses on the ninth floor will enjoy 360-degree city views, including the golden dome of City Hall and the historic spire of Mission Dolores Church. Atop the construction site on the corner of Buchanan and Market streets, Spiers can see cranes towering over other residential buildings at various stages of completion in both directions on Market Street. “I actually think it is great. This is the biggest thoroughfare in the city. It is the best opportunity for high-density housing to meet the needs of our residents,” said Spiers, 56, who owns the Lucky13 bar at 2140 Market Street. “It is exciting to finally see it.” Realtors and developers expect to see high demand for the units being built in a dozen new construction projects along the upper Market Street corridor. Not only are the mixed-use buildings the first to come on line in over a decade, they are entering into a super-heated housing market where supply is extremely low and prices are skyrocketing. “We are not doing any ads; we just don’t need them for that project,” said Suzanne Gregg, with Paragon Real Estate Group, who is overseeing sales of the 18 units in the development dubbed ICON at 2299 Market Street on the corner of Noe and 16th streets. See page 12 >>

SF Pride board unprepared for meeting by James Patterson

he first San Francisco Pride board of directors meeting since last month’s parade and festival was highlighted by continued community unrest about management and governance issues. The July 16 meeting, which lasted nearly four hours, drew questions about the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee’s compliance with policies and procedures and bylaws, as well as continued questions on basic operational functions such as online submission of membership applications. Board members seemed puzzled and unable to address basic questions on member privacy, why the July 9 meeting had been postponed, how many members San Francisco Pride has, and how many open seats there are on the board of directors, which was the stated purpose of the meeting. To the consternation of many of the estimated 30 people who attended, the meeting did not begin promptly at 7 p.m. as scheduled. It was delayed by about 10 minutes. Board Vice President Davace Chin announced he would chair the meeting. Board President Lisa Williams, who attended a Trayvon Martin rally at City Hall, arrived about 45 minutes late. Six other board members were present: Justin Taylor, Javarre Cordero Wilson, Kirk LinnDeGrassi, Shaun Harris, Pam Grey, and Lou Fisher. Chin told the Bay Area Reporter that he did not know why Pride CEO Earl Plante could not attend. SF Pride’s new interim attorney, Julius Turman, did not attend. Williams announced that board member Lord Martine had resigned. When Chin announced that Treasurer David Currie was not there to present a preliminary financial report, several people objected. He could have submitted a report in his absence, one Pride member said. SF Pride’s former counsel, Brooke Oliver, told the B.A.R. that she “recently joined” SF Pride as a member. She had a host of proposals aimed at making SF Pride address “accountability and transparency of the elections pro-

Rick Gerharter

Pride Board Vice President Davace Chin speaks during the monthly membership meeting Tuesday.

cess.” The purpose of the meeting, per governing bylaws, was for voting members to place into nominations new members to the board of directors. Under questioning, no board member knew how many seats were open. No board member knew exactly how many members SF Pride had. Chin eventually guessed at “about 330.” In the nomination of board members, Oliver and John Caldera accepted their nominations. Joey Cain, a former board member, postponed accepting his nomination. Chin said that nominations would be accepted until the August meeting.

Proposals, comments

The membership approved several of Oliver’s proposals and SF Pride will post its current bylaws, procedures, and policies on its website. SF Pride will send board candidate statements to members via email and post them on its website. But Oliver’s proposal to require SF Pride to comply with the California Corporations

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Code, “a statutory obligation” she said, and permit members access to SF Pride’s membership lists drew opposition from community members concerned for privacy based on sexuality and HIV status. Both Cain and attorney David Waggoner have requests for the membership rolls before the board. Last week Plante told the B.A.R. that Turman was researching the issue. This proposal will be further discussed at the August meeting. Community member Pat Keenan objected to the National Guard recruiters who were at the Pride festival this year and proposed they not be invited back. The board said it was a complicated issue and moved it for discussion to the August meeting. Several community members wanted SF Pride to return to an online application process. Fisher said the system had been hacked, the office had been swamped with applications, and “mistakes were made.” She agreed to take action on the request. SF Pride also agreed to post several things See page 25 >>

<< Section

2 • Bay Area Reporter • July 18-24, 2013

Two held for trial in Pink Saturday cases

by Seth Hemmelgarn

s the man who kicked a robbery victim in the face just after this year’s Pink Saturday party remains at large, a judge this week ordered two of the people who were with him to stand trial in connection with other incidents that occurred after the Castro area street party. Soon after the June 29 pre-Pride event, which drew thousands of people to the gay neighborhood, the San Francisco Police Department released a video showing the woman, who had just been robbed, lying on the ground. An unidentified suspect, who took part in the initial attack on her, kicked her so hard in the face that she was knocked unconscious, police said. A more complete version of the video, which was shown several times during a Tuesday, July 16 preliminary hearing in San Francisco Superior Court, shows the suspect and a woman attacking the victim, and the woman grabbing what appears to be the victim’s purse. The incident occurred outside the Mint karaoke lounge, 1942 Market Street. During testimony Tuesday, another woman pointed to Johnay Davis, 20, of Oakland, as the female robber. At the end of the hearing, Superior Court Judge Andrew Y.S. Cheng found there was sufficient evidence to hold Davis and Julian Williams, 22, also of Oakland, to answer on two counts of second-degree robbery, a charge of attempted second-degree robbery, and an allegation of causing great bodily injury stemming from other incidents that took place early June 30. Additionally, Cheng held Williams to answer on another attempted second-degree robbery charge. Williams was not held to answer on charges of assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury and false imprisonment. The charges are

Courtesy SFPD

Defendant Johnay Davis

largely based on witness accounts, as the victims appeared to have trouble identifying who had robbed them. Williams was also identified as one of the people in the video, although it doesn’t show him attacking the victim. Charges against Oakland resident Demaurija Monzarell Collins, 21, who had also been arrested in connection with the incidents, were dropped. One victim, a lanky young woman with short hair, testified Tuesday that she had been walking down Market Street with friends when “I felt somebody grab my cellphone out of my back pocket.” She turned around and a man hit her in the face. She stumbled, got back up, and he hit her again. “I was knocked unconscious,” she said. Williams allegedly tried to take the victim’s friend’s cellphone. The robbery victim had been found in the bushes near the Safeway on Market Street, according to court testimony. Another victim, a slender man who according to police is 19, said he and a friend had gone to what he called “the pink parade” and had been walking down Market Street

Courtesy SFPD

Defendant Julian Williams

Courtesy SFPD

Charges were dropped against Demaurija Monzarell Collins

near Church when several people surrounded them. A man later identified as Williams stood in front of him, and he felt the man “digging in my pockets,” he said. He realized after they walked away that his cellphone was missing. The victim’s friend testified that Davis had blocked her path as the victim See page 25 >>

Supe panel OKs airport naming advisory committee

by Cynthia Laird

San Francisco Board of Supervisors committee has approved changes to the administrative code to create the Airport Facilities Naming Advisory Committee, the first step in having a terminal at San Francisco International Airport named after slain supervisor Harvey Milk. The measure now goes to the full board for approval. The San Francisco Airport Commission already has its own naming committee, but gay Supervisor David Campos noted at last week’s rules committee meeting that the board has the final say in naming city facilities. Campos supported an amendment by Supervisor Norman Yee that could see some overlap in membership on the two panels. (The airport commission’s committee had its first meeting in May and members didn’t seem too keen on having SFO’s terminals named after anyone, as the Bay Area Reporter noted.) Campos and Mayor Ed Lee developed the board’s SFO facilities naming advisory committee as a compromise to Campos’s earlier plan to name the entire airport after Milk, which met with widespread resistance.

Rick Gerharter

Supervisor David Campos

At the July 11 committee meeting, Campos said that his airport idea was primarily to honor the gay rights leader. After talking with “hundreds of stakeholders,” Campos said that it was clear that the city should honor Milk and also consider honoring the legacies of other people. Campos said that a terminal should be named for Milk. SFO has four terminals. Under the proposed administrative code amendment, the city’s advisory committee would be made up of five people appointed by the

mayor and four by the Board of Supervisors. The committee would then make its recommendation to the board on which terminal should be named for Milk. After that, the committee would look at other naming possibilities and finish its work within 18 months. There was no opposition to the committee’s formation. Tom Temprano, president of the Harvey Milk LGB Democratic Club, said that San Francisco is a “beacon of hope to queer people throughout the world.” “Forty million people go through SFO every year,” Temprano said. “I was one of those people.” Erick Arguello, with the gay Latino group Aguilas, was supportive but cautioned the committee about the outcry years ago when Army Street was changed to Cesar Chavez. Yee noted the airport commission’s naming committee and said that he hoped there could be some overlap regarding members. Campos then offered his amendment. Jon Ballesteros, vice president for public policy at San Francisco Travel, is a member of the airport commission’s naming committee. He was at last week’s meeting and, speaking in his capacity as a San Francisco Travel representative, See page 25 >>

Politics >>

July 18-24, 2013 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

Bulb-out by Milk site causes a stir by Matthew S. Bajko

lans to build a bulb-out in front of Harvey Milk’s former camera shop in the Castro is causing a stir as a project to remodel the gayborhood’s streetscape moves toward approval. Final sign-off on the Castro Street sidewalk-widening project is expected in August, while construction is slated to begin in January 2014. As part of the plans, city planners are proposing to install a mini-parklet in front of the building at 575 Castro Street where Milk had his campaign headquarters and photo supply store in the 1970s. The site has become a popular tourist attraction for people interested in learning more about the city’s first openly gay supervisor. The bulb-out would add 6 feet to the sidewalk width for a length of 20 feet with transitions on either side to return to standard sidewalk width, explained John Dennis, a project manager with the city’s Department of Public Works. It would take up two parking spaces, though planners insist those spaces would be recouped elsewhere. Planning staff has stated that the sidewalk-widening project will not result in any lost parking and will maintain the 103 spaces currently available. Earlier this year city planners had suggested two miniplazas along Castro Street could be incorporated into the plan. But as the Bay Area Reporter noted in a March blog post, the idea turned out to be “polarizing,” with many residents expressing support but merchants opposed, explained Castro resident Nick Perry, an urban designer with the Planning Department’s City Design Group who worked on the project. Due to the feedback from surveys, planners scrapped installing a bulb-out across the street from the Castro Theatre. But due to the amount of foot traffic that the Milk site attracts, with tourists ending up in the street to take photographs, they decided it did make sense to build one on that segment of the 500 block of Castro Street. “Tourists stand in traffic now to take photos of Harvey Milk’s old shop. It is why we put the bulb-out there,” Dennis told Castro merchants during their June meeting. “Also, folks waiting to eat at Anchor Oyster Bar next door often stand in the sidewalk, so this would provide them with a place to wait.” Yet business owners were decidedly mixed when asked if they wanted a mini plaza built there. A straw poll vote found those at the meeting to be split 50-50 on the issue. A man who manages an apartment building where the bulb-out would go objected to the idea, saying it would create a nuisance for nearby residents. “People are going to hang out there late at night,” said Dave, who declined to give his last name. Roseann Grimm, who opened Anchor Oyster Bar in 1977 with her husband, Terry, told the B.A.R. she has mixed feelings about the bulb-out. While she believes the Castro could use the additional parking spaces, Grimm also sup-

Rick Gerharter

City planners have proposed a bulb-out on Castro Street in front of Harvey Milk’s old camera store, which now houses a retail shop for the Human Rights Campaign.

ports honoring Milk. “I think it is great to honor Harvey. He helped us get our license when we first started out here. But I hate to lose more parking,” said Grimm. “If Harvey was here today, he wouldn’t want to be losing parking spaces either.” However, Grimm stressed that she has not actively fought against the proposed bulb-out, and if it is built, she hopes it is taken better care of than some other mini-parklets that have been erected. “It is a wonderful tribute to him. I am not fighting it,” she said. “The parklet situation is a problem all over the city. They put them up without any kind of thought about what the impact will be.” While she expects the street project will negatively impact businesses during the construction process, Grimm does believe it will be a boon for the Castro once completed. “We are looking forward to it,” she said. Andrea Aiello, executive director of the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District, said her agency does favor seeing a bulb-out built in front of the old Milk store space, which currently houses the Human Rights Campaign’s retail shop and a local call center for the Trevor Project. “People come here to see Milk’s camera shop,” she said. “Creating a beautiful space in front of that area highlights it. In the long run it will be a real plus for the neighborhood to have a nice, inviting area there.” Gay District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener told the B.A.R. that he also supports seeing a bulb-out be built there. He also has promised that the mini-plaza would not have seating of any kind, and instead, may feature public art installations. “That is one of the most historic locations in the neighborhood,” he said. “And it makes sense to really, I think, it is a good idea to promote it and make sure it is a unique part of the neighborhood. A lot of tourists go there.”

Plans up for a vote

The bulb-out is just one of the changes in store as part of the Castro Streetscape Improvement Project. The city has designated $4 million from a voter-approved street bond fund to widen the sidewalks along the 400 and 500 blocks of Castro Street as well as install oth-

er pedestrian-friendly improvements between 19th and Market streets. Cosmetic changes are planned at Jane Warner Plaza, the miniparklet at the corner of 17th, Market, and Castro streets. The plan calls for new pavement material and accessibility improvements for ADA purposes. The crosswalk northeast of the plaza on Market Street will be moved so it aligns with the sidewalk in front of the Twin Peaks Tavern straight across to Pottery Barn. New street trees will be planted, with Columnar ginkgos used for the majority of the street and King palms for accent plantings. The city intends to save the Olive tree in front of PO Plus at 584 Castro Street and the Magnolia tree in front of Anchor Oyster Bar. The first 20 Rainbow Honor Walk plaques honoring LGBT people who have made significant contributions to society, which a nonprofit group is privately raising the money for, are slated to be installed along Castro Street as part of the redesign. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is expected to hold an administrative hearing Friday, August 2 where staffers will present traffic, parking, and loading zone changes included in the Castro Streetscape Improvement Project and the public will be able to provide comment. The meeting before the agency’s Sustainable Streets Division is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in Room 416 at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco. The SFMTA Commission could then vote on approving the sidewalk-widening project plans at its August 20 meeting, and if adopted, it could go out to bid as soon as September. It is expected that the first segment to be constructed early next year will be the 400 block of Castro Street, with the 500 block done last. Planners have promised that all construction work will be done prior to the 2014 Castro Street Fair, which will be held the first Sunday in October.t Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion, is on summer break. It will return Monday, July 29. Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes. Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 861-5019 or e-mail mailto:m. bajko@ebar.com.

<< Open Forum

6 • Bay Area Reporter • July 18-24, 2013

Volume 43, Number 29 July 18-24, 2013 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Thomas E. Horn Bob Ross (Founder, 1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko Seth Hemmelgarn Jim Provenzano CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan Aiello • Tavo Amador • Erin Blackwell Roger Brigham • Scott Brogan Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Chuck Colbert Richard Dodds • David Duran Raymond Flournoy • David Guarino Peter Hernandez • Liz Highleyman Brandon Judell • John F. Karr Matthew Kennedy • David Lamble Michael McDonagh • David-Elijah Nahmod Elliot Owen• Paul Parish • James Patterson Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota Bob Roehr • Philip Ruth • Donna Sachet Adam Sandel • Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Ed Walsh • Sura Wood ART DIRECTION T. Scott King ONLINE PRODUCTION Jay Cribas PHOTOGRAPHERS Danny Buskirk Jane Philomen Cleland Marc Geller Rick Gerharter Lydia Gonzales Rudy K. Lawidjaja Steven Underhill Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge Christine Smith GENERAL MANAGER Michael M. Yamashita ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Scott Wazlowski 415.861.5019 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

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Stunning Zimmerman verdict

he news from Florida was disappointing, where last weekend a six-woman jury determined that former neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman was not guilty in his second-degree murder trial for shooting to death Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager. The jury couldn’t even convict on a lesser charge of manslaughter, which, from what we’ve read and seen of the proceedings, would have been a decent outcome. The justice system worked, in that there was a trial and both sides presented their cases; but justice was not served. Of course, it wasn’t the first nor will it be the last time that an unsatisfying verdict is rendered. But every time a polarizing case receives widespread publicity, it draws visceral reactions. The African American community in this country is hurting. Rush Limbaugh is boasting that he can now say “nigga,” because in CNN interview Martin’s friend Rachel Jeantel said that she didn’t think the word is racist. While not everyone shares her viewpoint, Limbaugh “happily dove in,” as Media Matters noted. He likes nothing better than to inflame a situation, precisely at a time when calmer statements are desperately needed. It’s too bad the country can’t ignore gasbags like Limbaugh. We can certainly empathize with people who believe that justice was denied in the Martin case. Our community has seen its share of bum jury verdicts: Harvey Milk, Matthew Shepard, Gwen Araujo are three heart-breaking murders in which the perpetrators got far lesser punishment than they deserved. Some murders, like that of transgender African American woman Brandy Martell, who was shot and killed in Oakland last year, are still unsolved. We support the Justice Department’s entry into the Martin case, and urge the federal government to explore every avenue to ensure that Martin’s civil rights are honored. President Barack Obama, who has said little about race during his administration,

could move the conversation forward by addressing the issue. During his first campaign in 2008 he gave a much-praised speech on race, and that was about it. Much like he helped open the conversation about marriage equality, Obama must do the same on race relations. After all, he is our first black president. In the end it’s clear that Americans are still grappling with race. The scenes of violent protests in downtown Oakland this week were a reminder of the demonstrations in the city four years ago after a local, unarmed young black man, Oscar Grant, was shot by a former BART police officer. Coincidentally, a critically acclaimed movie depicting the last 24 hours of Grant’s life, Fruitvale Station, opened to packed audiences in Oakland last weekend. In the wake of the

Zimmerman verdict, some people felt the need to smash windows and vandalize businesses like Oaklandish, a local grassroots store, and Youth Radio. A waiter at a local restaurant was hit in the head with a hammer. How does any of this honor Martin? The people committing the vandalism do not have the slightest understanding of Oakland or the fact that Youth Radio, in particular, has consistently given a voice to young people like Martin, as many have pointed out. These punks who come to Oakland to smash windows only make matters worse and need to get a life. And city leaders need to step up and take control, rather than just send Facebook messages urging people to shop local. The protests should focus on Martin, his short life and violent death, and seek new answers to create change. But above all, they should be peaceful, as Martin’s own minister has stated. Vandalism and violence won’t help anybody.t

Save City College by Rafael Mandelman

ack in January, in a meeting with the board of trustees of City College of San Francisco, state Chancellor Brice Harris warned, “City College is not too big to fail.” That may be the case, but City College is certainly too important for us to allow it to fail. It is a truism to say that City College is a civic treasure. Serving tens of thousands of students at nine campuses and numerous other sites throughout the city, the college is the city’s major provider of workforce training as well as the primary path by which young adults are able to pursue a college degree to which they might not otherwise have access. Measured against other community colleges statewide, City College generally scores better than most on such metrics of student success as transfer and completion rates. And, thanks to the generosity of San Francisco voters who have repeatedly opted to provide City College with local revenue to augment its state funding, City College has been able to offer a breadth and depth of programming far beyond what other community colleges in the state can offer. City College has played an especially important role in the development of San Francisco’s LGBT community. From offering one of the first gay literature courses in the country in 1972 to establishing the first Gay and Lesbian Studies Department in the country in 1989 and right through to this day, City College has been a pioneer in the development of LGBT studies. And with more than 200 out-of-the-closet administrators, faculty, and staff, and thousands of queer students, City College is not just a San Francisco treasure but a queer community treasure as well. The July 3 announcement by the Accrediting Commission of Community and Junior Colleges that it would be terminating City College’s accreditation effective July 31, 2014 was stunning and outrageous. As a new member of the board of trustees, I know I still have lots to learn about the college, but in the short time I have served on that board, I have witnessed the monumental effort of so many at the institution, including my fellow members of the board of trustees, to respond to the original findings and “show cause” sanction of the ACCJC just one year ago.

Jane Philomen Cleland

City College supporters attended a rally in downtown San Francisco last week.

City College has in that short time radically altered and streamlined its shared governance structure, and undertaken a dramatic administrative reorganization involving dozens of positions and resulting in a number of long-time administrators leaving or losing their jobs. The college’s financial circumstances, so dire a year ago, had turned a corner, with the board recently approving a 2013-14 budget that included a $2 million surplus even after making necessary new investments in technology and maintenance and rebuilding the college’s reserves to a level well in excess of the 5 percent recommended by the state chancellor’s office. And the members of the board itself, so divided and acrimonious a year ago, had in the interim shown considerable self-restraint and resolve to doing whatever was needed to keep the college open and accredited, beginning last September by requesting that the state chancellor appoint a special trustee empowered to overrule any decision of the board. It is worth noting that since taking the position last October, the special trustee has never had to exercise that authority. Were all of City Colleges problems, resulting from decades of poor decisions and five years of devastating and poorly managed budget cuts, fully

addressed in the past year? Plainly not, nor could they have been, but to me at least, it seemed that we were well on our way. Indeed, the report of the ACCJC’s own visiting team this spring identified substantial progress in all 14 areas where they had made recommendations the year before. No reasonable person could contend that City College is without serious problems. The question is how best to fix them and whether City College deserved and deserves a fair chance to try. The Los Angeles Times in its July 11 editorial, “College monitors gone wild,” stated the issue well: “The accrediting commission’s chief job is to hold colleges to a certain standard, but it also must be cognizant of the harm it can do by imposing excessively harsh penalties and timelines.” At City College, the harm of the ACCJC’s approach is real and tangible. In announcing one year ago that City College would have less than one year to bring itself into full compliance with ACCJC standards or face termination of accreditation and closure, the commission set the college up for failure. That decision itself has substantially depressed enrollment, costing the school millions of dollars and making it difficult, if not impossible, for the college to recruit a strong chancellor at a time when all agree the college is in dire need of an effective leader. The ACCJC’s July 3 announcement can be expected to further drive down enrollment and make it even harder to attract and retain good administrators and faculty. The one silver lining is that San Franciscans are fighters. Even after all the drama and dysfunction of the last several years, there are still excellent faculty, staff, and administrators at City College committed to doing whatever it takes to keep the school open. Happily too, our queer electeds Assemblyman Tom Ammiano and state Senator Mark Leno, and Supervisors Scott Wiener and David Campos have all stepped up to make it clear that San Francisco will not tolerate the closure or significant downsizing of the college. Over the next few months, with their help, lots of us will be agitating any and every way we can to save our City College. t Rafael Mandelman is a trustee on the City College board.

Letters >>

July 18-24, 2013 • Bay Area Reporter • 7

Questions remain on Pride shooting

Gay SFPD Officer Lenny Broberg should not stop with demanding answers from San Francisco Pride about its security arrangements at Civic Center and the board response to two people shot on Pride Sunday [“Shooting mars Pride party,” July 4]. Broberg also reminds us of the shooting death of Stephen Powell three years ago for which no one has been arrested, homo history we need to be reminded of. Are there other unsolved murders or robberies or assaults in the Castro gayborhood that are open files at the police department? We must raise questions why Supervisor Scott Wiener hasn’t used the power of his office and forced law enforcement agencies to spare no effort or expense to investigate and prosecute the 2010 gun-related street killing at Pink Saturday, in which Powell was killed. Wiener wasted no effort forcing law enforcement agencies, whose budgets are influenced by him at the board, to pull out all the stops and spare no expense to go after Michael Petrelis for snapping his photo at a sink in a city hall bathroom. In my book, murder and assaults are serious crimes in need of Wiener’s and law enforcement agencies’ attention, more so than a political adversary playing paparazzo. Todd Swindell San Francisco

[Editor’s note: While Powell was shot at the end of Pink Saturday festivities in 2010, as far as we know he did not identify as gay; police have made no arrests.]

Are gangs killing gay Pride?

I live in a high-rise overlooking the Civic Center in San Francisco and what I saw at the gay Pride venue in front of City Hall on Saturday and Sunday (June 29-30) was frightening. On both days at the closing of the festivities there were near riots on Market Street at Larkin and Hyde streets. Both days I witnessed gang-type women slugging one another while a crowd stood by and photographed. I witnessed the police chase a suspect into an alley next the

to Hotel Whitcomb with a small crowd chasing behind the police. Reinforcements had to be called to defuse the situation and protect the arresting officers. Sunday two people were shot in the leg, the suspect escaping. Will gay Pride be trashed by outsiders like Halloween was? Hopefully not, if some common sense things can be put in place. It is obvious that next year a check for weapons at the entrance should be put in place. I don’t think that would be a problem for most people being that most are almost naked when they arrive. Another thing that could be done is to have a much greater variety of music. Why does there have to be this extremely loud booming music all day? What happened to diversity? My observation is that the music played both days attracted and kept the gang types in the Civic Center all day. If the Pride organizers don’t take action for next year’s celebration we may see a tragedy. My advice for next year’s Pride celebration is for people to leave no later than 5 p.m. and don’t loiter in the area. I’ve lived in the area for 42 years and I have seen several riots develop. I have become very good at reading the crowd from my high-rise perch. If the organizers and the city do not take action for the 2014 Pride celebration I see serious trouble happening. Jerry Royer San Francisco

Now this is breaking news

Could you please ask your television critic, Victoria Brownworth, if she knows that a local news station, KRON, has hired an absolutely gorgeous reporter-anchorman by the name of John Fenoglio? For those who have yet to have the Fenoglio experience: There will be only one news channel to turn to, all the bad stuff being reported will be a little easier to deal with and whenever there’s a news story here in the Castro you will be praying that Mr. Fenoglio shows up with his microphone. The John Fenoglio Fan Club starts now. Who’s with me? Anthony Rhody San Francisco

CCOP training Thursday compiled by Cynthia Laird

he grassroots Castro Community on Patrol organization will be holding a basic training workshop Thursday, July 18 from 7 to 10:30 p.m. Anyone aged 18 and older is encouraged to join and participate in the basic patrol training class. People are not obligated to patrol upon completion of the class, but will learn useful information. If people want to patrol, organizers ask for a minimum of one 2.5-hour shift per month, though people can do more. CCOP was established in November 2006 and is dedicated to promoting safety and safety awareness in the Castro and Duboce Triangle neighborhoods. Its mission is to create a safer neighborhood for those who live, work, or visit the community. CCOP works in collaboration with the San Francisco Police Department, San Francisco District Attorney’s office, San Francisco Patrol Special Police, and San Francisco Safety Awareness for Everyone, which serves as CCOP’s fiscal sponsor. To sign up for the class and to obtain the address, visit http://

www.castropatrol.org and click on “Sign up now.” Pre-registration is required.

AIDS Walk is Sunday

The San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s last AIDS Walk is Sunday, July 21. The walk begins and ends at Sharon Meadow in Golden Gate Park. Opening ceremonies begin at 9:45 a.m., followed by the walk at 10:30. A post-walk concert is scheduled for 12:30. Special guests expected to be on hand for the event include Tabatha Coffey (Tabatha Takes Over), Alex Newell (Glee), and actresses Sally Struthers and Annaliese van der Pol. Local political leaders include state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco); Supervisors Eric Mar, Scott Wiener, and, David Campos; and city Treasurer Jose Cisneros. SFAF CEO Neil Giuliano will also be at the walk. SFAF, citing its own budget gap, won’t be distributing grants to other organizations this year. The B.A.R. reported in May that instead, SFAF will maintain its community partners program, which encourages teams to raise money on their own and generally provides more funds than the smaller grants. The foundation is paying MZA Events, which

licenses the AIDS Walk, $212,000 for this year’s event. As the B.A.R. reported last December, the 2014 AIDS Walk will see Project Inform take over as the lead agency. For more information, visit http://www.aidswalk.net.

Panel on effect of SF’s increasing rents

The San Francisco Human Rights Commission’s LGBT Advisory Committee will present a panel, “Sky High Rents, Disappearing Nonprofits” Tuesday, July 23 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room at the San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin Street. Panelists will explore the impact on the LGBTQ community as nonprofit organizations are forced to leave the city due to unaffordable rent increases. Speakers will include Mark Cloutier, CEO of the American Red Cross, San Francisco; Grant Eshoo, program director at the Housing Equality Law Project; Jodi Schwartz, executive director at the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center; Miss Major, executive director of the TGI Justice Project; and Rafael Mandelman, a trustee at City College of San Francisco. There is no cost to attend this public event.t

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<< Section

8 • Bay Area Reporter • July 18-24, 2013

EnGAYged

B.A.R. wedding announcement guidelines W

ith the resumption of same-sex marriage in California, the Bay Area Reporter is once again welcoming wedding announcements. The paper’s policy is below. The B.A.R. accepts announcements of weddings, civil unions, and domestic partnerships. The announcements may be published in the paper, on our website, or both, depending on space availability. There is no charge for the publication of wedding announcements. To submit an announcement, please include the following information: 1. Legal names of both parties and ages. 2. Date, time, and location of wedding. Who officiated the ceremony. 3. Brief description of the couple, which may include how they met, education, occupation, how long they have been together, family information, etc. 4. Any other information you wish to include. 5. Announcements should be kept to 300 words and may be edited for space. 6. A copy of the marriage license and a daytime phone number are required for verification purposes only. 7. A photograph of the couple will be accepted in digital format (.jpg). Photos should be high resolution (300 dpi) and in focus. Spouses should be identified in the body of the e-mail accompanying the photo. 8. Announcements should be sent in within four weeks of the ceremony. CharlesSpiegel_2x2_2313 Send information via e-mail to mailto:c.laird@ebar.com or by mail to Bay Area Reporter, 395 9th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. For questions, please send an email to the above address.

CHARLES SPIEGEL

Collaborative Family Attorney-Mediator

Prenups Workshop/Hearts & Smarts SF LGBT Center Thurs. July 25 6 to 8 pm. CharlesSpiegelLaw@gmail.com www.CharlesSpiegelLaw.com (415) 644-4555

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www.180eleven.org Rental proceeds support The Arc San Francisco for adults with developmental disabilities.

Community News>>

July 18-24, 2013 • Bay Area Reporter • 9

Neighbors appeal Twin Peaks project by David-Elijah Nahmod

development project that was approved by the San Francisco Planning Commission is being appealed because it will allow construction on one of the few remaining open green spaces in the city. Neighbors also fear it will set a precedent and allow construction on several other open spaces in the area. In a twist, one of the developers of the project is Rodrigo Santos, who is a former president of the city’s Building Inspection Commission and a former City College trustee. The building permit that was approved by the commission in May will allow a five-story over garage, four-unit building to be built at 70 Crestline, near the Twin Peaks bus stop. The building would be up against and sharing the public staircase that neighbors and tourists use to get to and from Twin Peaks, one of the highest points in San Francisco, according to members of the Twin Peaks Eastside Neighborhood Alliance. Last Saturday, alliance member Frank Pietronigro, a gay artist and environmental activist, led a walking tour of the site to look at the green spaces. “It was always the intention of the original developers to leave open spaces to complement and enrich the quality of life in the community,” Pietronigro told the Bay Area Reporter during the July 13 tour.

Rick Gerharter

A group of neighbors from the Twin Peaks Eastside Neighborhood Alliance look at 70 Crestline, left of the stairs, during a July 13 walking tour of 14 open space parcels that are threatened with development on the east side of Twin Peaks.

“The city does need housing, but let’s hope the city has the capacity and wherewithal to keep open spaces green. Once they are gone they cannot be brought back.” Pietronigro led an upbeat group of about a dozen neighborhood residents on a circular tour of the street around the disputed site. Again and again, people stopped at vari-

ous points to admire the impressive views and greenery that graced the open spaces between many of the small apartment buildings. One of the spots included the area’s last remaining orchard tree. “I’m really conscious of overbuilding, and what we are building,” said Patricia Camp-Aguilar, a longtime area resident. “What are we re-

placing? If we remain unconscious of our own environment, then we remain unconscious of what’s going on in our country and in the larger environment of the world. It’s all interconnected.” Camp-Aguilar pointed out that many of the open spaces provide safety access and exits during fires and earthquakes.

Donald Bateman showed the B.A.R. the plans for the proposed new building. Developers promised to keep the space green by growing ivy along the side of the completed structure. “Ivy growing up a concrete wall is not a green space,” observed Martha Gorzycki. “It’s called mold,” said Grant Wilson. According to the alliance, the commission’s approval of the project came despite opposition by neighbors, community activists, and even planning department staff, which urged the commission to deny the application to subdivide and build on the 70 Crestline lot. Some neighbors have appealed the commission’s decision to the Board of Appeals, which was expected to hear the case July 17 (after press time). In his letter to the board, Pietronigro said that the long-term quality of life issues should prompt it to deny the proposal. “When I open my door each morning I am greeted with some of the last open spaces that Vista San Francisco offers our neighborhood,” Pietronigro, a 16-year resident, wrote. Santos and Urrutia, the developers, did not respond to messages seeking comment. For more information, contact the Twin Peaks Eastside Neighborhood Alliance at tpena.70crestline@ gmail.com.t

Gay comic books teach and entertain by David-Elijah Nahmod

an Parent is feeling gratitude. The creator-writer of Kevin Keller, Archie Comics’ first openly gay character, was the target of a boycott from One Million Moms, the conservative group that seeks to censor entertainment it finds “unwholesome.” But the effort apparently backfired. “The Moms increased sales and opened discussions,” he said with a laugh during a telephone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. Archie’s Pal Kevin Keller is one of a number of comic book titles that reflect a changing world in which LGBT people are part of the landscape. Issue 10, set to be published in August, will feature Kevin kissing his boyfriend on the cover. Parent said that the One Million Moms boycott found its way into the issue’s storyline. “Veronica tapes the kiss and uploads it. It gets media attention, and there’s a community forum. The Moms are on one side, the pro-Kevin camp is on the other,” Parent said. Archie and the gang all stand behind their friend Kevin, Parent said. “It’s the most political storyline we’ve done so far, but it’s not going to be like this every issue. There’s a lot of fun stuff coming: there will be some competition between Kevin and Veronica.” One Million Moms notwithstanding, Parent said he’s gotten a lot of support for the Kevin series. “We hear from the parents of gay kids who thank us for having a gay character in a normal fashion. We’ve also heard from kids and older gay men who tell us that Kevin ‘makes a difference.’” Many comic fans have assumed that Parent, 48, a popular staple at comic book conventions, is himself gay. But the comic book artist and writer is a straight, happily married man who’s also a staunch

Comic book writer Dan Parent

advocate for LGBT equality. “I grew up in Vermont, ‘the first gay state,’ in a very liberal household,” he said. “I was raised in an open-minded manner, and I always find it strange to meet people from conservative areas – I’m astounded by their views.” Openly gay Michael Troy, 40, has a far more personal stake in The Stonewall Riots, his new graphic novel. “Part of the reason we’re doing the book is that it keeps the story of Stonewall alive,” Troy said in a telephone interview from his West Hollywood home. “The younger generation has never heard of Stonewall. They have no idea of its impact.” The modern gay rights movement is often credited to the hot summer night in June 1969, when patrons of the Stonewall Inn in New York City, many in drag or transgender people, fought back

against harassment from the New York Police Department. Three day of riots brought an end to the harassment and gave birth to the first Pride parades, then called Gay Freedom Day. Troy said that he could recall a time when gay couples couldn’t hold hands in public, even in gay areas. “That’s why people fought so hard,” he said. “Rather than bitch about it, I’d rather educate. Stonewall is an important part of American history, it should be taught in schools. We’re the only group of people still denied our rights. One hundred years from now, this will be an embarrassment.” There are more titles available for the discriminating gay comic book reader. Artifice is a futuristic sci-fi thriller, written by out Bay Area comic book aficionado Alex Woolfson, with art by Winona Nelson. Woolfson, 43, said that he grew up loving science-fiction and action movies, but never got to see what he really wanted: “kick-ass genre stories with real heroes who happen to like other guys.” Artifice, published by AMW Comics and labeled “for mature audiences,” tells the tale of Deacon, a handsome android soldier so advanced he’s called an “artificial person.” Deacon is a wanted “man.” He disobeyed orders. People died, yet Deacon insists that he did the right thing. Deacon’s actions are rooted in his relationship with Jeff Linnell, a human outcast. Yes, Deacon is indeed a gay android, and he embarks on a sexual relationship with Linnell in this intrigue-filled thriller. Some emerging LGBT comic book artists are using the medium to share their own personal stories. “Adventures in Gay” is a new e-comic written and drawn by recently out Josh Lieberman,

The cover for The Stonewall Riots

25, who shares his adventures in the coming out process and in taking on the world. Lieberman will be donating a portion of his proceeds to the Ali Forney Center in New York, which serves homeless LGBT youth and is dedicated to raising awareness of the plight of homeless LGBT youth across the U.S. “There are more gay comic book geeks than you think,” said Troy. “Comic book geeks, even

when straight, feel ostracized as it is, so they’re more accepting.” More info about Kevin Keller can be found at http://www.archiecomics.com. The Stonewall Riots, and other gay interest titles from Troy can be found at http://www.bluewaterprod.com. For information about Artifice, visit http://www.amwcomics. com. To read “Adventures in Gay,” visit http://www.adventuresingay. tumblr.com.t

<< Community News

10 • Bay Area Reporter • July 18-24, 2013

Retail rules impact Castro developments by Matthew S. Bajko

ew rules aimed at curbing the number of chain stores along upper Market Street are confounding developers of several new mixed-used projects who have various sized storefronts to rent. Just what sort of merchants will meet with neighborhood approval and also be financially viable remains unclear, say developers and real estate agents looking to lease spaces on a main corridor in the city’s gay Castro district. Recent rejections of proposed Starbucks and Chipotle Mexican Grill locations along the thoroughfare due to the new chain store policy have given leasing agents pause as they try to find retailers who can successfully navigate the planning approval process.

Castro real estate

From page 3

“It is doing incredibly well. More than half the building is already under contract.” The building’s promotional website attracted 1,200 people expressing interest. Since last month, when the building came out from behind scaffolding, tours of the units have been given privately to those potential buyers who have already been pre-qualified by lenders. Residents are expected to be able to start moving in as soon as the end of the month. “I really see a benefit from the fact you can walk to everything you need, or if you are using public transportation it is right there,” said Gregg, who grew up in the city. “It is a really good quality building made of steel and concrete. It is surprisingly very quiet in there.”

Rick Gerharter

The ICON condo building on Market Street will include Bank of the West as a retail tenant, along with smaller spaces for other businesses.

“I didn’t do one large space for only formula retail. But they cer-

Allaying fears that the new residents would turn out to be straight twentysomethings working in Silicon Valley, real estate agents are seeing strong demand from LGBT people looking to live near the heart of the city’s gay Castro district. “It has mostly been young professionals with a good-sized gay contingency,” said Gregg. Spiers’s building Linea, named after the geometry and lines in its design, is not slated to open until January 2014. Yet already 1,000 people have signed up for the list of those interested in purchasing one of the condos, 40 percent of which will be two-bedroom units and the rest one-bedroom units. “I think, definitely, we will have a large presence of gay couples or singles wanting to buy because of the location,” said Spiers. “We will also get young urban professional types who want to live in the heart of the city.”

tainly have limited our options of what we can do,” said Brian Spiers,

the local developer building the Linea project at the corner of Market and Buchannan streets near the U.S. Mint building. He has yet to begin marketing four retail spaces, which vary in size from 400 square feet to 2,000 square feet, as they aren’t planned to be ready until early 2014. The corner storefront Spiers envisions as a small cafe to “activate that corner” as it will have access to an outdoor patio. With the Safeway shopping plaza north of his building, a Pet Food Express across the street, and a planned Whole Foods in the new development kitty-corner to it, the Linea’s four retail spaces will all likely fall under the new rule that recommends disapproval of any formula retailer that brings the concentration of chain stores to 20 percent or

more within a 300-foot radius. “I might get lucky. A small bank might work here, but it doesn’t seem it would fly,” said Spiers, who owns the Lucky13 bar on the 2100 block of Market Street where both Starbucks and Chipotle had wanted to open in corner storefronts of existing buildings. Both national brands met with no votes from the city’s planning commission partly due to triggering the 20-percent threshold rule. They also had garnered fierce neighborhood opposition. Following Starbucks’ decision to accept the vote, Chipotle has also decided not to appeal the oversight body’s rejection of its plan to open in the long-vacant former Home restaurant space. “We are still very interested in See page 25 >>

Rick Gerharter

Linea developer Brian Spiers

Among the 350 people who have already expressed interest in the Century San Francisco, a mix of two- and one-bedroom condos at the corner of Market and 14th streets, many are older LGBT people who already live nearby, said JeanPaul Samaha, with Vanguard Properties, who is overseeing sales of the units. “It is interesting, we are hearing from a lot of older gay and lesbian people currently living in the neighborhood in single-family homes or in buildings that do not have elevators and are looking to get into a brand new construction elevator building,” said Samaha. “They love the neighborhood and want to stay in the neighborhood and are looking for other opportunities to stay in the neighborhood in their early retirement years.”

Costs raise concerns

The roughly 1,000 units of new market-rate housing, however, is receiving mixed reactions from LGBT community leaders. Some welcome seeing the infill developments rejuvenate the streetscape and add new residents and merchants to the gayborhood even if the changes are visually shocking. “People are kind of amazed by all of the buildings. It is as if people woke up one day and all of a sudden the cranes now turned into buildings,” said Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association President Pat Tura. “I think everybody didn’t quite realize the impact it would have on the neighborhood. At the same time, I believe many people welcome the changes.” Others complain the new housing will not meet the needs of lowincome LGBT seniors, youth, or those living with HIV and AIDS with limited means who are being priced out of or evicted from the

Castro. As the Bay Area Reporter noted in a March article, the new buildings along the upper Market corridor will produce just 228 new below-market-rate units. “We don’t see cranes the same way as a lot of people in this city do. We see cranes and think of high-rises that come with rising rents in the neighborhoods surrounding them,” said Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club President Tom Temprano. The progressive queer political group last week hosted a meeting about the new housing being built in the Central Market corridor and what impacts the development may have on the nearby Tenderloin neighborhood, where many LGBT people have sought out cheaper housing options. “I think it sort of feeds into the desperation a lot of people are feeling about the changes in our city,” said Temprano of all of the new, high-end housing projects. “With all these new market-rate, high-rise developments, I don’t think I have heard a single positive word from Milk club members in discussions around them.” The new housing along upper Market Street isn’t cheap. According to a price list for first phase sales at the ICON that was released this spring, a one-bedroom with a parking space was priced at $739,000, while a two-bedroom, two-bath unit without parking was going for $849,000. A two-level townhome unit with two bedrooms and two-and-ahalf bath cost nearly $1.6 million. Monthly homeowners dues ranged from $384 to $520 a month, depending on the unit size. Nonetheless, the costs are not deterring buyers. “It will soon be sold out,” predicted Gregg. “It is an incredible market and the building is at a stellar locaSee page 19 >>

<< International News

t Gay rights activist found murdered in Cameroon 16 • Bay Area Reporter • July 18-24, 2013

by Heather Cassell

rominent Cameroonian gay rights leader Eric Ohena Lembembe was found dead July 15. Friends of Lembembe discovered his mutilated body in his home in Yaounde, the capital city, Monday evening. They had been unable to reach him by phone for two days and went to his house, according to a Human Rights Watch news release. His friends were unable to get into the house because the front door was padlocked on the outside, but they were able to see his body on his bed through a window, and called police to break down the door. One friend reported that Lembembe’s neck and feet appeared

to have been broken and his face, hands, and feet had been burned with an iron, according to HRW. This is the first high-profile murder of an LGBT activist in Africa in two years, reported Huffington Post. In 2011, gay activist David Kato of Uganda and lesbian activist Noxolo Nogwaza of South Africa were murdered. Lembembe, 33, was the executive director of the Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS. He worked closely with HRW and two Cameroon-based human rights organizations – AlternativesCameroun and the Association for the Defense of Homosexuals. The leaders of these organizations collaborated on researching and releasing a report this year documenting the prosecutions for consensual same-sex conduct,

be’s murder. “We don’t know who killed Eric Lembembe, or why he was killed, but one thing is clear: the Cameroonian authorities’ utter failure to stem homophobic violence sends the message that these attacks can be carried out with impunity,” said Neela Ghoshal, senior LGBT rights researcher at HRW. “The police should not rest until the perpetrators of this horrific crime are brought to justice,” continued Ghoshal, who urged Cameroon President Paul Biya to “publicly condemn this brutal attack.” Courtesy Cameroon Online

Eric Ohena Lembembe was found murdered in his home in Cameroon.

according to HRW. He also worked on drafting a submission for Cameroon’s Universal Periodic Review to the United Nations Human Rights Council in May, documenting and writing about attacks against Cameroon’s LGBT community. The U.S. State Department quickly issued a statement condemning the attack. “We deplore the brutal murder of Eric Ohena Lembembe, who was found tortured to death in his home in Yaounde yesterday,” Sate Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf stated. “We condemn this terrible act in the strongest terms and urge the Cameroonian authorities to thoroughly and promptly investigate and prosecute those responsible for his death.” Yves Yomb, executive director of Alternatives-Cameroon, based in Douala, recalled how Lembembe was among the first activists to speak out against a sharp increase in anti-gay attacks in 2005. “It is a big loss for our community,” Yomb told Cameroon Online. “We are a bit scared about what can happen to us. He was one of the leaders of this community. So what can happen to the other leaders?” Homosexuality is a criminal act under Cameroon’s penal code, which criminalizes same-sex sexual acts and has been enforced since 1972. LGBT Cameroonians and supporters are constantly under attack. HRW reported that in recent weeks attacks against human rights and LGBT organizations have been on the upswing. Alternatives-Cameroun, which provides HIV services to LGBT people, saw its offices burned down on June 26. On June 16, the office of lawyer Michel Togue, who works with LGBT individuals, was burglarized. The thieves took his legal files and laptop. Additionally, Cameroonian lawyers defending LGBT people have received death threats for themselves and their families, according to HRW and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. The threats have been reported to authorities, but no suspects have been apprehended by police, according to HRW and the attorneys. Lembembe himself was aware of the dangers. “There is no doubt: anti-gay thugs are targeting those who support equal rights on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” he said earlier this month following the June incidents. “Unfortunately, a climate of hatred and bigotry in Cameroon, which extends to the high levels in government, reassures homophobes that they can get away with these crimes.” HRW urged authorities to bring justice to those involved in Lembem-

Britain, Wales OK same-sex marriage

Queen Elizabeth II has given official approval to a same-sex marriage bill, meaning that same-sex couples in England and Wales are expected to begin getting married sometime next year. According to a tweet from Stonewall UK, the queen gave Royal Assent for the bill early Wednesday morning. Hundreds of LGBT Britons celebrated outside of parliament on July 16 as the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill was sent to the queen. Established churches of England and Wales – many of which oppose same-sex marriage – will not be forced to perform weddings. The long wait is due to a last minute amendment to the bill to include pension rights. The bill was approved and backed by the leadership of Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties after the Lords amendment on July 15, an unidentified spokesman told reporters. The bill was returned to the House of Commons, which previously voted in favor of it, for a final reading as a formality before being sent on to the queen. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg greeted the celebratory crowd gathered in front of Parliament late Tuesday and gave an impassioned speech thanking marriage equality advocates. “It is an extraordinary step,” he told the crowd. “But, I hope, in a very short space of time, everyone will look back and think, ‘What on earth was the fuss all about?’” Clegg, who is a leader of the Liberal Democrats and one of the lead backers of the bill, along with Prime Minister David Cameron, in the House of Commons, continued, stating that expression of love should be “unremarkable.” “It should be, in my view, entirely unremarkable, and not unusual that people who want to express their love to each other and commemorate their love and celebrate their love – regardless of who they are, regardless of their sexuality, regardless of their gender – should be able to do so on an equal footing.” “Celebrating love in an equal way across society is what this is all about,” he added. Civil unions were legalized in Britain in 2004. Openly gay Muslim Lord Waheed Alli, a member of the Labour Party who was a backer of the bill, addressed the chamber in an emotional speech. “You have given me dignity where there was sometimes fear. You have given me hope where there was often darkness,” he told his peers. “You have given me equality where there was sometimes prejudice.” “My life and the lives of many others will be better today than they were yesterday,” he added. Outside in front of Parliament, Sue Sanders of School’s Out, agreed. “It felt so dark and now we are

literally and metaphorically in the sun,” said Sanders. She reflected on days when news from the legislature wasn’t as positive for LGBT people, she told Gay Star News.

Marriage for some, but not for everyone

The passage of the law and the royal ascent doesn’t make same-sex marriage legal throughout the British Isles. Scotland and Northern Ireland weren’t included in the bill. Lawmakers in the two countries are considering similar legislation. In June, Scottish government officials published its same-sex marriage bill. Around the same time, Northern Ireland’s assembly voted to block a similar measure. Gay rights activists vowed to take the battle for same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland and Scotland, reported the Agence France-Presse. Just as marriage equality supporters vow to press forward with making same-sex marriage the law of the U.K., conservatives threatened a backlash. Angry opponents claim the bill was rammed through Parliament and said that they have a plan to unleash against politicians supportive of the bill to influence the 2015 elections. Anti-same-sex marriage supporters state the issue will come back to bite Cameron, who supported the bill against all opposition from within his Conservative Party and grassroots groups. Colin Hart, campaign director of Coalition for Marriage, told the Telegraph that the organization has nearly 700,000 supporters, nearly six times the number of members of the Conservative Party. Yet, leading up to Parliament’s votes Monday and Tuesday, opposition leaders withdrew from the marriage equality battle. Leaders canceled a demonstration outside of Parliament before votes on the bill. Inside Parliament, opponents failed at multiple attempts to kill the bill.

Colombia to celebrate first gay wedding

Colombia will celebrate its first same-sex wedding July 24. Judge Carmen Lucia Rodriguez gave gay couple Diego and Juan, identified only by their first names, permission to obtain a marriage certificate, reported GSN. The law on same-sex marriage is murky in Colombia. A 2011 Constitutional Court ruling stated LGBT couples could legally register to marry if lawmakers failed to vote on the marriage equality law by. In April, the Senate rejected a measure that would have allowed same-sex marriage. The catch is the ruling didn’t use the term “marriage,” but stated couples could “formalize and solemnize their contractual link” before a notary or judge, leaving the law open to interpretation. Rodriguez interpreted the law in alignment with Articles 5 and 135 of the Civil Union Code. The codes deal with handling gaps in the law and procedures in regard to officiating marriages. She used the codes along with the current state of same-sex marriage law as extending the rights of civil partnership laws to gay couples, potentially paving the way to same-sex marriage in Colombia, reported GSN.t Got international LGBT news tips? Call or send them to Heather Cassell at 00+1-415-2213541, Skype: heather.cassell, or oitwnews@gmail.com.

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Community News>>

July 18-24, 2013 • Bay Area Reporter • 17

Port commissioner sworn in

Jane Philomen Cleland

akland Mayor Jean Quan, left, swears in Port Commissioner Michael Colbruno during a City Hall ceremony Thursday, July 11. The openly gay Colbruno previously had served on the city’s planning commission for seven years. Colbruno, who was approved by the City Council a few months ago, will become the commission’s first out member since the resignation last year of Michael Lighty. “I’m honored to have served three mayors, first as a planning commissioner and now as a member of the Port Commission,” Colbruno wrote in a Facebook note to the Bay Area Reporter after the council approved him. “Oakland’s port has endless opportunities at its airport, over 20 miles of shoreline, and its maritime division. I’m eager to help drive this amazing economic engine to new heights ... and we have the best views of San Francisco.” Over the summer, Colbruno has been touring port facilities and getting acquainted with both local commissioners and his counterparts from around the state.

New director joins gay business chamber by Seth Hemmelgarn

he country’s first gay chamber of commerce has selected a new managing director. Jason Holstein, 31, recently started in the top post at the San Francisco-based Golden Gate Business Association and will manage dayto-day business including membership development, programming, and marketing. Holstein, who’s gay, said he looks forward to growing the budget, which is currently about $125,000, and membership. “I’m going to be working with our board members to establish a strategy to figure out how we’ll do that moving forward,” he said. Approximately 350 businesses belong to GGBA. The association’s mission is to grow, promote, and increase the visibility of LGBT businesses and businesses in the community that support them. Among other posts, Holstein was previously the corporate development director for the Metropolitan Business Association of Orlando, central Florida’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce. His work there resulted in MBA Orlando receiving the 2012 Rising Star Chamber Award by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Also in 2012, the White House Office of Public Engagement recognized Holstein as an emerging LGBT leader for his work with the LGBT business community. Holstein said he wanted the GGBA job because “this is America’s first LGBT chamber of commerce, and they’ve inspired nearly 40 years of work to create more inclusive business opportunities and more inclusive workplaces for LGBT business owners and professionals.” Asked about specific areas he wants to address, Holstein said, “I think the opportunity to certify LGBT-owned businesses as such to be included in the supply chain of major corporations as well as gov-

Castro real estate

From page 12

tion.” At the one mixed-use development that will be monthly rentals, named Venn on Market located next door to the LGBT Community Center, online listings for the one- and two-bedroom units range in price from the low $3,000s to low $4,000s depending on the square footage. It has already started leasing the 113 units in the building, 14 of which are BMR, where amenities include a fifth floor sky deck and so-

Courtesy Jason Holstein

New GGBA managing director Jason Holstein

ernment agencies is an incredible opportunity now that we’ve secured marriage equality in the state.” Over the last several decades, major corporations have been working to diversify the supply chain and provide more procurement opportunities to minority- and womenowned businesses, Holstein said. During the last 10 years, with the certification program that the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce launched, businesses can certify that they’re 51 percent LGBT-owned, “and be recognized in the supply chain in major corporations and certain government agencies,” he said. GGBA is an affiliate chamber of the national group. The Bay Area Reporter was certified as an LGBT business enterprise in March. Such certifications allow gay businesses to take advantage of diversity procurement practices offered by other companies, usually large corporations. Holstein’s first day in his new post was July 1. Asked in an interview just a few days later about what major challenges he sees, Holstein said, “I’m looking forward to figuring out what those challenges are, and collaborating with our board and our members to overcome them,

cial lounge as well as a dog washing station. Samaha has yet to price the units at the Century San Francisco but expects to start being able to accept deposits from interested buyers as soon as August. The units are scheduled to be ready for move-in sometime this fall, either in midSeptember or early October. “We are waiting until we are further ahead in construction” to determine the pricing, said Samaha. “Just like other similar developments in the area, we will have showings prior to completion to the building

but it’s a little early in my time with GGBA to be able to specifically state what has to be done, and what obstacles exist.” The association had been without a managing director since Pat Mayfield left about a year ago, according to Dawn Ackerman, vice president of GGBA’s board. “We weren’t necessarily just running out to find someone,” Ackerman said. “We wanted to find someone that really could understand immediately what this organization was about, and what the organization needs to be doing to grow for its members and to prepare for next year’s 40th anniversary of the organization.” She also pointed to the desire to grow the supplier diversity initiative with the national chamber. Holstein is “the perfect person” to take on the job, said Ackerman, who’s an out lesbian and president of OutSmart Office Solutions. As for why GGBA needs a managing director when its gone for approximately a year without someone in that job, Ackerman said, “The organization suffers when you don’t have one. All the work of running the organization falls completely on the shoulders of the all-volunteer board.” As of early July, Holstein was living in the South Bay city of Mountain View, waiting for his partner to relocate with his job. His partner, whose name Holstein didn’t share, will likely be working in Sunnyvale, “so we’re looking to split the commuting distances between our two offices,” and they’d probably move a little more north to San Mateo County, he said. Holstein declined to share his salary. “I would need to check with our board of directors before disclosing that information,” he said.t

(((((((((

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Full disclosure: Bay Area Reporter advertising manager Scott Wazlowski is a GGBA board member.

as a whole.” In late June Spiers told the B.A.R. that pricing for the units at Linea, whose residential address is 8 Buchanan Street, would range from $600,000 for a one-bedroom unit to more than $1 million for a penthouse. Monthly homeowner dues covering such things as gas, water, garbage, and lobby security would be $450 to $550 a month depending on unit size. This week Spiers planned to open a preview and sales center for people on Linea’s interest list located inside See page 23 >>

www.ebar.com )))))))))

KIPPY MARKS 2:00 pm MATT ALBER 3:00 pm Saturday August 10th kippymarks.us mattalber.com

KIPPY MARKS Saturday August 24th 3:00 pm THE RUDICALS* (Ska) Sunday August 25th reverbnation.com/therudicals DAMFINO PLAYERS Saturday August 31st 3:00 pm

and more to come...

Welcome To Castro Weekends On weekends the Castro will be “occupied” by successive community organizations. GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM August 10th & 11th glbthistory.org/museum

WORLD RAINBOW FUND August 24th & 25th rainbowfund.org

Schedule is growing! CHECK FOR UPDATED SCHEDULE:

www.castrocbd.org castrocbd visitthecastro The

ARTS &CULTURE The

<< Travel

18 • Bay Area Reporter • July 18-24, 2013

24 hours in Anchorage

by Ed Walsh

f you want to sleep, you might want to close your window shades,” a Virgin America flight attendant advised on my recent flight to Anchorage. “It will get dark but then get light again as we fly into Alaska, the land of the midnight sun.” The flight attendant was right. The jet took off from San Francisco International Airport right on time at 8 p.m. Two hours later, the flight crossed the Canadian border. Then, the sky turned red and the sunset gave way to twilight. But an hour later, three hours into the flight, the horizon took on a bright reddish hue as if the sun was just about to rise again. And it did. The sun’s rays were reflected off the front of the plane’s engines as it made its way to Alaska. I watched the sun set for a second time that night as the plane approached Anchorage at the end of the four and a half hour flight to the city. The twilight faded after 1 a.m. but after that there was kind of a halftwilight. There was always enough light in the sky where you could make out the mountains that surround the land of the midnight sun. Downtown Anchorage is a short $20 cab ride from the city’s modern Ted Stevens International Airport. After I checked in to the downtown Comfort Inn, I checked out one of the city’s two gay bars, Mad Myrna. The bar gets its name from owner Jeff Wood’s drag alter ego, Myrna. I ordered a drink and the bartender asked me for an ID. He saw I lived in San Francisco and it turns out he is a transplanted San Franciscan. He goes by his drag name

Ed Walsh

Drag star Michael Steck (a.k.a. Pandora’s Boxx), left, shares a laugh with his friend, Ian Dinse, at Mad Myrna’s bar in Anchorage.

Meme. He introduced me to drag star Michael Steck (a.k.a. Pandora’s Boxx) who was performing at Myrna’s the next day. As I left Myrna’s a little after 2 a.m., a woman called to me, “Hey, I saw you on the flight from San Francisco. I knew there would be people here from that flight tonight. This is the place for us.” Alaska made headlines a few days before my trip because of the near record-breaking high temperatures in the mid-80s. When I arrived, the temperature only reached the high 50s, about 10 degrees cooler than average for this time of year in Anchorage. You can get a good sample of what Alaska has to offer all within an hour’s drive from downtown Anchorage and you can get a good taste of it in 24 hours. That’s all the time I had in Anchorage. My return flight to San Francisco left 25 hours after I arrived. I had to be back in the city for work.

Whirlwind tour

On the start of my whirlwind tour, I got up at about 8:30 a.m., had breakfast, visited a museum dedicated the Alaskan Native people, got up close to a glacier, saw moose, elk, brown and black bears at an animal rescue refuge, walked through Earthquake Park, had a drink at Anchorage’s other gay bar, and had a tour of a gay-managed bed and breakfast and an Alaskan salmon dinner. If you are staying in downtown Anchorage, you can get by without a car. You will also save money. Supply and demand means that car rentals through Labor Day can run as much as $100 or more a day, but can be a third of that in the winter. A number of tour companies offer day trips that will allow you to take in the highlights in a day tour. For a good overview of the city close to downtown, you can take an hourlong trolley tour of the city. Bicycle rentals are about $20 a day and Anchorage has an abundance of bicycle paths. Whoever said everything is big in Texas has not been to Alaska. The state is bigger than Texas, California, and Montana combined. But just 700,000 people live in the state – less than the population of San Francisco. About 40 percent of the state’s population lives in Anchorage. Most of the rest live in the state capital, Juneau, or Fairbanks, Alaska’s second-largest city. Anchorage’s historic downtown is compact but the city itself is immense. You have to drive about an hour from downtown to get to the city limits. By the way, you will sometimes hear locals complain about traffic but rush hour traffic jams are largely a foreign concept in Anchorage. Unless there is an accident or temporary weather closure, expect clear sailing in the city most

of the time. Alaska became a state 54 years ago, just before Hawaii. The state had been a territory since it was purchased from the Russians in 1867. It was evident the U.S. got the better end of the deal just a few years later when gold was discovered in the state. In 1967, the discovery of North America’s largest oil field in what we now know as the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field along the Arctic coast created the boom that continues today. Anchorage is a relatively new city. It will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2015. The city’s economy is booming as the recession didn’t affect it much. Unemployment is among the lowest in the U.S. at just under 5 percent. Real estate never took a big dive like it did in the lower 48. The popularity of Alaskan cruises has also been a big boost to Anchorage’s economy. Most tourists fly into Anchorage where they spend a few days before heading out to the ocean. Alaska has no sales or income tax. Some cities in Alaska charge a sales tax but Anchorage does not; the price you see is the price you pay. The Apple store in town is very popular with tourists from high sales tax states like California who appreciate buying tax-free. My first stop in my brief Anchorage visit was the Alaska Native Heritage Center. The various Native Alaskan cultures are represented and explained in this modern center. The centerpiece of the center is an indoor stage next to a twostory glass wall that affords visitors a sweeping view of Lake Tiulana, which is surrounded by a walk showcasing the homes where Native Alaskans lived. Traditional Native dances and musical shows are performed regularly as well as lectures explaining the differences in the Native cultures. It is not uncommon to see moose wandering around Anchorage. Special fencing had to be put up around the airport to keep them off the runways. I was determined to see one, and since I had only a short time in the city, I cheated. My next stop was the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. The center is a refuge for animals that need special care because they were orphaned, sick, or otherwise unable to take care of themselves. The center allows elk, moose, bears, and other animals to roam in their natural habitat. My third stop was Portage Glacier. It is one of 50 glaciers within an hour’s drive of Anchorage. The glacier borders the freshwater Portage Lake on the outskirts of Anchorage. Guided boat tours take visitors up to where the moving wall of ice meets the lake. The lake itself is dotted with mini icebergs. The tour guide explained that because the lake is freshwater, the ice is not as buoyant and that 90 percent of the icebergs are below the surface. I struck up a conversation with the ship’s affable captain, Tom Callahan, who said he is a former Bay Area

Travel >>

July 18-24, 2013 â&#x20AC;˘ Bay Area Reporter â&#x20AC;˘ 19

Ed Walsh

Tourists view the Portage Glacier, one of 50 glaciers that are within an hourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drive of Anchorage.

art showcased there. Even at midnight, there was a view. The sun had already set, but there was still plenty of twilight to see the mountains that surround the airport. I also snapped a photo of a clock at midnight that shows the twilight sky in the background. The airport is very busy late at night with a sizeable security line. I am told that the airport is typically most busy then so that travelers can catch morning connecting flights in the lower 48 states. As the Virgin America flight headed south a little before 1 a.m., the twilight started to fade and the sky turned dark but started to lighten again as dawn broke over the northern California coast. Sitting on the right side of the plane gave me a great view of the Russian River and of the Sonoma and Marin County coastlines. But I am told the view is better on the left side of the plane when you fly out of Alaska because on a clear day, you can see Mount McKinley. Flight attendants shut off the lights just before takeoff and most passengers preferred to sleep on the way back for an arrival in San Francisco a little before 6:30 a.m. For more information visit the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s official tourism site, visit http://www.anchorage.net. Click on the LGBT section at the bottom of the site for gay-specific information.t

resident who first came to Alaska and Seaforts Saloon and Grill overafter getting transferred there with looking the ocean. It is right next the Coast Guard. He defiantly drove door to the Copper Whale. the boat through chunks of the ice It is easy to misjudge the time and chided passengers who quipped during the summer in Alaska. When about the Titanic. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say the we began eating it was about 9:45 T-word,â&#x20AC;? he warned. The tour runs p.m. but of course, it seemed a lot from mid-May to mid September. earlier because the sun was still After the glacier, it was time for a shining. It was already time to head drink and a snack. I headed for the out to the airport to catch the 12:40 Seven Glaciers Restaurant. It was a a.m. Virgin America flight back to short tram ride from the base at the San Francisco. Alyeska Resort, a high-end property The Ted Stevens International in the Girdwood section of AnchorAirport is a well-designed facility. age, about 50 minutes from downI got there early enough that I was town. The view is spectacular from able to check out the view from the the viewing platform at the top. You observation deck as well as the Nacan take in the view from the plattive Alaskan historical exhibits and form around a gift shop or you can go for a hike. Next stop was Earthquake Park. Anchorage was hit by North Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strongest earthquake in 1964. A large section of earth near where the airport is now fell to the sea below. A forest has grown back where the ground fell off so if you didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know any better, you would have assumed that it was simply a sharp hill leading to the sea. Plaques put in place along the walkway in the park recount the history of the quake. The park once was part of a neighborhood that was destroyed in the ferocious shaker. If you go in the summer, be sure to generously spray yourself with mosquito repellant first. I was dressed in a leather jacket and long pants but I still managed to get a half-dozen mosquito bites. The little buggers crawled up my sleeve and bit me on the arms. They also bit me on my ankles, right through my socks. Next it was a stop at the Raven bar in downtown Anchorage. It is just two blocks from Mad Myrnaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Both bars, by the way, are mostly male, but are lesbian-friendly. The Raven has a spacious patio and a friendly local crowd. It also serves food, including $5 reindeer hot dogs. I met a couple from Nashville at Raven who said that they would return to Alaska again just to take another tour with the gay-owned and -operated tour company, Knik Glacier Tours. It includes a boat tour of glaciers and a nature walk. (knikglacier@mtaonline.net). I also chatted with Raven bartender Emily Craver. She mentioned that she owns and operates her own tour company, Last Frontier Diving and Adventure (http://www.LastFrontierDiving.com), a great option if you want a more active excursion. After Raven I stopped by unannounced for a tour of the Copper Whale Bed and Breakfast Inn, William J. Hanna, Psy.D., William J. Hanna, Psy.D., Clinical Director William J. Hanna, Psy.D., Clinical Director which is situated in a perfect locaClinical Director William J. Hanna, Psy.D., Clinical Director I believe in the Strengths Perspective, which is I believe in the Strengths Perspective, which is tion in downtown Anchorage. It is a a way of perceiving people in their struggles a way of perceiving people in their struggles I believe in the Strengths Perspective, which is 14-room and suite hotel with an exI believe Perspective, which to rise above difficult circumstances. Here,in at the Strengths rise above difficult circumstances. Here, at wayis of a perceiving people in theirtostruggles Reflections, on bolstering panded continental breakfast. Thewe placea emphasis way of perceiving people inemphasis their on strugReflections, we place bolstering to rise above difficult circumstances. Here, at client self-efficacy; and mobilizing clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; inn is a wonderful alternative to a self-efficacy; and mobilizing clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; gles to rise aboveclient difficult circumstances. Reflections, place emphasis on own bolstering own strengths and social support we systems, strengths and social support systems, big impersonalWilliam hotel. Summer rates rehabilitation Here, atDirector Reflections, we place emphasis on J. Hanna, in promoting Psy.D., and recovery clientClinical self-efficacy; and mobilizinginclientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; promoting rehabilitation and recovery start at $249. By the way, maintenance tourism and sustenance. bolstering client self-efficacy; and mobilizown strengths and social support systems, maintenance and sustenance. ing clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; & social support takes a dip the Iweek after the Strengths Labor in promoting recovery believe in the whichown is andstrengths Contact me directlyPerspective, if you have anyrehabilitation questions: Contact me directly if you have any and questions: systems, in promoting rehabilitation Day weekend and so do hotel prices, and sustenance. (650) 996-4766 a way of perceiving peoplemaintenance in their struggles (650) 996-4766 recovery maintenance & sustenance. so you can save big if you can travel drhanna@livingatreflections.com drhanna@livingatreflections.com Contact me directly if you anyhave questions: to rise aboveFor difficult circumstances. Here, atifhave (800) 611-7316 Contact me you any questions: in early fall or late spring. those (800) 611-7316 (650) 996-4766 Reflections, we place emphasis on bolstering on a tight budget, the Backpackers drhanna@livingatreflections.com 996-4766 clientfrom self-efficacy; and mobilizing clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Hotel is just a block Mad Myr(800) (650) 611-7316 drhanna@livingatreflections.com naâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and you can get a private room own strengths and social support systems, there even in the forrehabilitation $60. in summer promoting and recovery Finally, I topped the day off maintenance andwith sustenance. an Alaskan salmon dinner at Simon

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<< Sports

20 • Bay Area Reporter • July 18-24, 2013

Gay sailors gear up for America’s Cup by Roger Brigham

es, the massive catamarans speeding across the bay each cost about the gross national product of a small country. Yes, the legal wrangling behind the scenes is enough to nauseate even the most die-hard litigator. And yes, the technical lingo thrown about so casually among its adherents may make you blush at your own seafaring ignorance. But there’s a big wonderful world of sailing and boating all around us in the Bay Area, and the arrival of the America’s Cup on our own shores makes it a perfect time to plunge in and find out what it’s all about. Heather Stewart used to dock other people’s boats when she worked at camps before coming to the Bay Area at the start of the millennium but decided she wanted to get out on the water to try it out. She heard about a sailing team being formed by Kip Darcy and Katharine Holland to sail in the 2002 Gay Games in Sydney. Stewart quickly formed a team with Sallie Lang and Deb Jacobs. “It was the first time they were going to offer sailing at the games,” Stewart said. “They got us started. We jumped full on into sailing and learning how to race. That was the impetus.” The experience in Sydney was enough to hook Stewart for life. “It was awesome,” she said. “There were 150-plus entries, and 30 of them were from San Francisco. We got kind of a bad reputation for taking up so many spots. There were three people per team and 10 teams. My team had trained

quite a bit, but it was pretty much self-taught, self-coached. And we didn’t have anything equivalent to what we would be sailing in.” But, hey, that’s what new adventures are all about. They were able to secure a local boat through a maritime academy connection. “We got to Sydney and we put our bags down and we went to the marina for a training session,” Stewart said. “The yacht club had just bought a brand new fleet of boats for their junior program, and we got to sail around in those brand new boats.” The Sydney competition was raced in the just-designed Elliott 6-meter keelboat – the same boats now used in the women’s Olympic races. “They were nothing like what we had trained on,” Stewart said. “Ultimately our boat was one of only two from San Francisco to make it to the finals. We ended up seventh of out 23.” But as they say in the Gay Games, it isn’t how you finish: it’s how you get there and how you fight. How you participate and how you battle. “Holy cow – that was one of the most physical weeks I’ve ever had. It was intense,” Stewart said. “My two crew were kind of on the small side and I am not. My mass was important to keep us in position. My legs and my entire backside was basically one big bruise. Plus I personally had to keep the grip on the job trimmer. I had to pull the line a lot. I had no grip by the end of the week, my muscles were so fatigued.” The final day in windy conditions they battled through six

Courtesy Heather Stewart

San Francisco Team 6 in the finals at Sydney Gay Games included, from left, Heather Stewart, Deb Jacobs, and Sallie Long.

races. And afterward? “The excitement of being the first participants in this event in a place as prestigious as Sydney Harbor was amazing,” she said. “There were Euro Cups before, but this was the first time gay sailors from around the world were really getting together.” Stewart said that she’s one of four sailors from the Bay Area who have sailed in all three Gay Games that have offered the sport. Sailing will be offered next year in the Cleveland Gay Games, which announced two months ago that Tartan Yachts was sponsoring the event and building all of the boats for the event. “That is huge,” Stewart said. “I wrote them a thank you letter the

second I heard about that. To have them building all the boats for us is amazing and exciting. In the sport of sailing, as in so many sports – well, there are not a lot of ‘out’ sailors. It seems to be just a straight rich white boy kind of club where they are more concerned about bikinis on the deck. So for Tartan to do this is huge. To have such a respected yacht builder come in is so big for our sport.” The options for LGBT boat enthusiasts, whether they prefer recreational yachting or competitive racing, have grown through the years. San Francisco Sailing Team (http://www.sfsailingteam.org) continues to organize teams to go to the Gay Games and is a member of Team SF locally and the Gay and Lesbian Organization of Racing and Yachting internationally. And Barbary Coast Boating Club (http://www.bcbc.net) brings together power boaters and sailors, kayakers and water skiers, with regularly scheduled events. As Stewart noted, many enthusiasts love the sport even if they don’t want to be bothered with racing. Mary Rose, commodore of BCBC, said she and her partner, Jackie Yee, became involved in the sport when they started their relationship five years ago and wanted to have new friends and interests in common. “There’s just something about having mastery and pushing 23 tons around,” she said with a laugh. And? “The camaraderie,” Rose said. “The emotional and physical support. It starts with a commonality. It makes it possible to interact with people you might otherwise never meet. Lesbians don’t necessarily want to hang out with gay men, but in Barbary Coast, the gay men are extremely welcoming. And we have some straight couples, too. The thing is, the people are very serious about boats. We have about 90 members and more than 50 boats. A lot of our members are couples.” BCBC has multiple social events each month. Its annual general membership meeting and dinner this year is Thursday, August 1. Enjoying the America’s Cup up close and personal is Emeryville’s Larry Jacobson, an author who in 2007 with his partner, Ken Smith, became the first openly gay couple to sail around the globe. (See August 9, 2007 Jock Talk.) Jacobson acquired his pilot’s license earlier this year, just in time to land a job as captain of the VIP spectator boat for the Louis Vuitton challenge races. “I take out the guests on this

catamaran with twin diesel engines and it is absolutely fun to drive,” Jacobson said. “We get to sit at the windward mark and we’re as close to the action as anyone can possibly expect. We go out for about three hours and watch the race, and then I give them a short tour of the bay.” Jacobson said he encourages people to visit the America’s Cup venues and make the event “theirs.” But really, isn’t it a rich white men’s scene? “I can see how they can say that, because when you go to the park, you see Larry Ellison’s big yacht and you think, ‘How am I a part of this?’” Jacobson said, referring to the Oracle CEO and defending America’s Cup champion. “But the group of people I’m involved with, the America’s Cup race management, is made up of a lot of Brits, a lot of Australians, and a lot of Kiwis. I’ve never met a more welcoming open group of people who have accepted me so easily.” “I’m not one to hide who I am at all,” Jacobson continued. “Sailing has traditionally been a rather straight sport, yet I think it is kind of a matter of what you put into it. Even though it seems that way, it isn’t necessarily. It’s almost up to us to change it, not to the people who already do it. If you want to become part of racing or sailing, just jump in and do it. Nobody’s going to reject you because you are a different gender or race or sexuality. I say, ‘This is my city. This is who we are. Get over it.’” And in this city, we like to party. “My 50th birthday is this year, I have reserved a big boat for the Louis Vuitton finals in August,” Stewart said.

Baseball bolsters anti-discrimination policy

Major League Baseball announced during the All-Star break that it was strengthening the nondiscrimination policy protecting sexual orientation it first formally adopted in 2011. Commissioner Bud Selig announced on Tuesday, July 16, that professional baseball will add development of awareness training and educational programs for players, guidelines for reporting harassment, and even a reminder that off-field conduct, like tweeting, falls under the new policy. All personnel, uniformed and non-uniformed, as well as all employees throughout the major and minor league systems, are subject to the policy, which applies to all work environments and situations. In the past, clubs have dealt with See page 23 >>

Obituaries>>

t Senior, community advocate Jazzie Collins dies

July 18-24, 2013 • Bay Area Reporter • 21

by Cynthia Laird

azzie Collins, a transgender woman who served as vice chair of the San Francisco LGBT Aging Policy Task Force, died Thursday, July 11 at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in the city. She was 54. Ms. Collins had been in the hospital for about a week; her cause of death was not released. “We are devastated and heartbroken,” Bill Ambrunn, chair of the aging panel, told the Bay Area Reporter. Ms. Collins, who was open about her HIV-positive status, was active on the aging task force from its inception. The panel is an advisory committee under the Human Rights Commission and will make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. “Jazzie was unanimously elected vice chair of the LGBT Aging Policy Task Force because she brought a wealth of experience as an advocate, an educator, and a self-described policy wonk,” Ambrunn said. “She earned the respect of everyone she worked with by being herself with grace and dignity, and never making apologies for who she was. The task force will miss her terribly.” Last month, the LGBT Legislative Caucus in Sacramento honored Ms.

Rick Gerharter

Jazzie Collins

Collins at the state Capitol for LGBT Pride Month. “Jazzie was absolutely glowing last month when the LGBT caucus honored her in the Capitol,” gay Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) said in a statement. “Of course, we were the ones honored to have her with us, gracing us with her stature as a community leader and a human being. Her work for justice and equality in San Francisco will have long-lasting impact, as will her advocacy for communities that needed her voice, and she is missed.”

Assemblyman and caucus Chair Rich Gordon (D-San Mateo) also praised Ms. Collins. “Today we lost an advocate and a leader,” Gordon said in the July 11 statement. “Jazzie Collins worked tirelessly on behalf of all communities, serving as an untiring advocate for the poor, for the transgender community, and truly, for all San Francisco residents. While we celebrate Ms. Collins and her life’s work, her spirit will continue to live on through the many lives she has touched.” Gabriel Haaland, a longtime transgender activist and close friend of Ms. Collins, said, “I am honored to have been her friend, and to have borne witness to her beautiful transition. She was a fierce fighter for justice with a tender heart. We will miss her dearly.” Born to a teen mother in Memphis, Tennessee on September 24, 1958, Ms. Collins moved to San Francisco in 1988. She began her transition in her late 40s. In 2002, Ms. Collins began her political activism as a tenant at the Plaza Hotel when the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency was trying to demolish the building. She began to organize tenants and fought for their rights to keep the space as affordable housing.

During 2002-2004, Ms. Collins also worked at the Mission Agenda, a San Francisco-based organization focused on fighting for the rights of residential hotel tenants. With her newly acquired knowledge of organizing SRO tenants, Ms. Collins soon began to help with the local food pantry program and advocating at City Hall for housing and land use issues. In 2004, Ms. Collins was an organizer for the South of Market Community Action Network, a multiracial community organization that educates, organizes, and mobilizes immigrant and low-income SOMA residents. She served on the board of the Western SOMA Plan from 20052009. That was a citizen-based planning committee created to oversee proposed redevelopment in the area. Ms. Collins also served as chair of the SOMA Stabilization Fund Committee in 2006. That panel advised the Mayor’s Office of Community Development and the Board of Supervisors on recommended expenditures from the fund. Three years ago, Ms. Collins became an organizer for Senior Action Network, a member-led organization that empowers and organizes seniors and people with disabilities. The organization is now known as Senior

and Disability Action. “Jazzie was a motivator, mentor, and a non-stop activist in the areas of LGBT rights, housing, and issues affecting seniors and people with disabilities,” Tony Robles with SDA. “She was a fighter and a friend whose life experience helped SDA immensely.” In addition to her circle of San Francisco friends and colleagues, Ms. Collins is survived by her mother, Mary Mackey; brothers Arthur Cahill Jr., Roosevelt Bufort, Antonio Washington, and Michael Cahill; and sisters Latasha Cahill, Betty Cahill, Katherine Cahill, and Jennette Cahill. Memorial plans were pending at press time. However, donations are being sought to help cover memorial and cremation expenses. Meals on Wheels of San Francisco is serving as the fiscal agent, according to Executive Director Ashley McCumber. People can go to http://www.mowsf. org/ways-to-give/donate-now and in the “Special Comment” section indicate that the donation is for the “Jazzie Collins Memorial.” Donors can also mail their gifts payable to MOWSF and note in the memo line that the donation is for “Jazzie Collins Memorial.” Checks can be mailed to Meals on Wheels of San Francisco, Attn: Ashley McCumber, 1375 Fairfax Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94124.t

A Guide for Men, Women, and Couples is considered a classic on the subject. He also was the author of The Erotic Mind, a treatise on the psychology of sex and peak erotic experiences. In addition to sexology and psychotherapy, Jack had a passion for photography. He became an avid traveler, and his photographs from

exotic ports are spectacular. But his stellar photographic expressions were from his Male Beauty Project, where he photographed average guys with average bodies, capturing the essence of beauty in each one of his ethnically diverse subjects. Jack is survived by his sister, Anne; his brother, Tom; and his mother, Nan. He was blessed to have

been well-attended to by his former husband Scott and Scott’s husband Dave. Jack was also surrounded by loving friends who already miss him immensely. A celebration of Jack’s life will be held at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street, on Saturday, August 17 from 1 to 4 p.m.

Obituaries >> Hans Hunter Kindt July 11, 1959 – April 13, 2013

Han Hunter Kindt died April 13, 2013 in an automobile accident in Novato, California. Hans was born July 11, 1959 in San Francisco. He was the son of Phyllis and Vance Kindt. Hans was raised in Piedmont, California and later lived in San Francisco and Santa Rosa. He studied acting, comedic improvisation, music, philosophy, social anthropology, archeology, astronomy, science, mathematics, and religion to name a few. He traveled extensively and made countless friends and acquaintances. He spent the final years of his life in Santa Rosa caring for his aging mother who died in February 2013. Those who knew him will remember a fun-loving, charismatic man who never shied away from adventure and wore his heart on his sleeve. A lover of music and arts, Hans inspired others to achieve and live their lives to the fullest. Hans is survived by his brother,

Jock Talk

From page 22

homophobic slurs on a piecemeal basis if at all. “We welcome all individuals regardless of sexual orientation into our ballparks, along with those of different races, religions, genders, and national origins,” Selig said. “Both on the field and away from it, Major League Baseball has a zero-

Castro real estate

From page 19

several modular trailers set up in the vacant lot on the corner of Sanchez, Market and 15th Street next door to the Swedish American Hall at 2174 Market Street. Inside will be a mockup of what a unit will look like, including the bathroom, said Spiers, as well as touch-screen computers showing the building’s design renderings and various unit configurations. “This way here you will have an op-

Eric. Hans’s body was cremated at the Chapel of the Hill Mortuary and will be laid to rest with his mother and father at the Saint Helena Cemetery.

John (Jack) Morin April 13, 1946 – June 14, 2013

John (Jack) Morin, Ph.D., died June 14 of complications due to cancer. He was 67. Jack grew up in Detroit, attended Wayne State University, and earned his Master of Divinity degree before moving to California in 1972. In California, he became licensed as a marriage and family therapist, started a private psychotherapy practice, and later earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Saybrook University. In addition to his work as a psychotherapist, Jack was a board-certified sex therapist, a diplomat of the American Board of Sexology, and a professor of human sexuality in San Francisco and on the Peninsula for nearly 40 years. Still in print, his 1981 book Anal Pleasure & Health:

tolerance policy for harassment and discrimination.” The Last Closet video campaign has attempted without success to get all of the commissioners of major men’s professional team sports in the U.S. to publicly record encouragement and support for any gay athletes ho chose to come out. Selig’s announcement promises that support without providing the campaign its hoped-for recording. t

portunity to walk into the sales office and buy a unit and not have to worry about being outbid the next day,” he said. “By mid-July we expect to put people in contracts for the units. We are pretty much on schedule at this point.” For more information on ICON, visit http://www.icon-sf.com/index. html. To join the interested buyer list for the Century San Francisco, visit http://thecenturysf.com. For Linea, visit http://lineasf.com/.t

<< Automotive News

22 • Bay Area Reporter • July 18-24, 2013

Crossovers come into their own by Philip Ruth

elcome to another installment of Out Wheels. This time, we will compare two crossovers and examine a sporty compact coupe. Enjoy.

Toyota versus Kia

2013 Toyota RAV4 XLE, $26,165, 26 mpg, 180-inch length. 2013 Kia Sportage SX Turbo: $30,900, 24 mpg, 175-inch length. My client was unimpressed. Last year, I accompanied him to test drive a Toyota RAV4. I checked his expression as he drove, and his pursed lips were not a good sign. We returned to the dealer, and I dismissed the salesman so we could chat. He didn’t need to: he shook his head and said, “It feels tinny, like there’s a hamster turning a wheel under the hood.” I’ve liked the RAV4’s 269-horsepower V6 for its boot-in-the-butt thrust, but from the passenger seat, I had to agree that the four-cylinder version seemed insubstantial. So it was with interest that I received the redesigned RAV4 for review. Now that the V6 is gone from the lineup, how would this new version do, hamster wheel and all? About the same time, Kia dropped off a Sportage for review, another small crossover that would like nothing more than to wipe the RAV4 off every last shopping list. This Sportage was the top-line SX Turbo, with 260 horsepower – 32 percent more than the mid-level RAV4 XLE sitting opposite. Seemed like the Kia had this one in the bag. The Sportage’s turbocharger was a hoot, no question. But Toyota has spun up a surprisingly satisfying car

Philip Ruth

The stylish Kia Sportage SX is fun to drive.

to drive in the new RAV4. These are similar vehicles with very different personalities, and in the end, I was still going back and forth on which one I’d buy. First, let’s take a moment to celebrate the Sportage’s mighty punch. Before the turbo kicks in at lower speeds, the smallish 2.0-liter four jumps this little wagon from stop sign to stop sign with a clean stream of go-juice. Then get it out on the highway and slam down the throttle, and the turbo rockets you forward. I was like a lab rat at the sugar drip, going back again and again for the bang brought by every throttle slam. Probably not how you’d drive if you were making payments or gassing it

up every week, but it sure was nice to know that immediate speed was just a tromp away. By comparison, the RAV4 is eventempered. Its engine has an extra half-liter of displacement compared to the Kia’s, giving it some nice zip off the line. Passing lacks the Sportage’s thrills, but thanks to quick throttle response and much reduced noise, vibration and harshness, the new RAV4 has traded the hamster for, say, a well-behaved Labrador retriever. Ride and handling are where the RAV4 and Sportage show their differences. On the errand run, the Kia had a firm response accompanied by the hint that it was ready to go faster, just say the word. It also had a fairly stiff ride, with some pounding over potholes that the RAV4 smoothed over with its softer suspension. But unlike the Sportage,

the RAV4 didn’t hint at anything; it was simply happy in its work, no questions asked. Inside, the tested Kia’s front perches continued the firm theme but disappointed with its flat bottom cushion – a more buckety shape would encourage you to take more of those hints it sends. The RAV4’s also mirrored the ride by being pleasantly pliant, with enough support to keep you off the door panel on exit ramps. You buy a crossover mostly for practicality, and the Kia and Toyota are within an inch or two of each other in people space. But the RAV4 has a clear advantage in back, with 12 more cubic feet with the rear seats up and another seven with the seats down. Alas, more cargo room means longer length, and the RAV4’s 180 inches will have to pass up those 175-inch Civic and Corolla-sized parking spots that the Sportage will squeeze into. Styling is another area where the Sportage tips the pendulum back. The RAV4 was carefully conceived, with pleasing combos of convex and concave surfaces, but few observers gave it a second look. The Sportage’s striking 18-inch wheels

merged with the simpler body shape to create a “futuristic” presence in the eyes of one onlooker, and it’s worth noting that to get 18s on the RAV4, you have to step up to the $28K Limited, where Kia has them as standard on the mid-level EX at $24K. So you have to get spendy for a dramatic look in the RAV4, where the Sportage serves it up for less. One distinction for the RAV4 is an available blind-spot monitor to flesh out the poor over-the-shoulder view suffered by both these crossovers, though the RAV4 again makes it Limited-only. There’s a rung in hell for product planners who limit safety features to only the flushest among us. So the RAV4 tempts with its handling, seating, and roominess, while the Kia excels in power, styling, and value. The availability of a manual transmission in the base-model Sportage may be a tiebreaker, but that means no turbo, no sunroof, and no fancy wheels. As with most choices in life, your own priorities would decide this. That was the case for my RAV4testing client. He abandoned crossovers altogether and bought a black BMW 328i convertible. Practicality was a noble idea, but ultimately he went all-in for fun. Last I checked, he had no regrets.

Hyundai Elantra

2013 Hyundai Elantra Coupe SE PZEV, $23,965, 31 mpg, 179-inch length. Extroversion is the new emphasis from Hyundai and Kia, and it suits them. The Sportage reviewed above got almost the same number of looks as did the stylish Range Rover Evoque a few weeks earlier, while the RAV4 generally slipped past unnoticed. Honda and Toyota make hay from putting in just enough flair to get you interested, but these Korean brands are venturing out with boldness, and the Elantra Coupe is another example of that, with a look that excites and delights. Next step for Hyundai is to make the driving just as exciting. The engine and automatic transmission do their jobs but, as with so many See page 25 >>

Philip Ruth

The redesigned Toyota RAV4 has more cargo space in the back.

Philip Ruth

The Hyundai Elantra coupe is the company’s latest attempt to compete with Honda.

t t <<

Community News>> Read more online at www.ebar.com

Castro retail

From page 12

San Francisco, and actively looking for sites. But we aren’t going to appeal this one,” company spokesman Chris Arnold told the Bay Area Reporter last week. Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association President Pat Tura, whose group had pushed for the new chain store policy, said city planners and residents in the area were both afraid that the upper Market corridor construction would attract the same influx of chain stores as has occurred in the new developments built near the San Francisco Giants’ baseball stadium. “It is a classic marketing strategy, where there is an existing, viable market and you bring in new development, that is where formula retail wants to go,” said Tura. Yet San Francisco has proven that commercial corridors can survive and thrive without name brand

SF Pride

Pink Saturday

From page 4

was pushed around. “It was very scary,” the friend said. “It’s not something I’ve ever had to go through before.” Collins, Davis, and Williams were arraigned July 3 and their bail was set at $175,000 apiece. Assistant District Attorney Tinnetta Thompson is prosecuting all three defendants, who appeared in court Tuesday. At the end of the hearing, Cheng exonerated Collins’s bail. It’s not clear how much the sus-

Airport committee

From page 4

said the proposal provides an open and transparent process while at the same time protects the SFO brand and avoids visitor confusion. John Lazarus with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce was

The main concern continues to be those landlords of older buildings on prominent intersections who have shown a predilection for leasing to chain stores, said Mogg. “It is a matter of outreach to those landlords before they get into negotiations with chains,” she said. As it is, upper Market Street is not lacking in interest from retailers. Ruggero Gadaldi is at work relocating Pesce, a Venice-styled eatery on Polk Street, into 2223 Market Street, which most recently housed Jake’s on Market. The restaurant follows on the heels of Jeffrey’s Natural Pet Foods, which recently moved from 18th Street by Church to a storefront on Noe Street near Market. In recent weeks local foodie blogs have reported on plans by Italian coffee company Illy to open in the vacant storefront at 2349 Market Street and on the desire of Marin County’s Weaver Coffee to open at 2301 Market Street in the ground floor of Fitness SF.

From page 3

online, including meeting minutes for the past 12 months, its process for determining contingent lineup and the 2013 parade lineup. In previous years, the parade lineup had been posted on SF Pride’s website prior to the event. This year it was not. The meeting was further complicated when the board had a lengthy delay to determine who among the approximately 30 members present were eligible to vote. The delay further frustrated members and many expressed disgust at the conduct of the meeting. Eventually, eligible voters were given red cards to vote on proposals. After the meeting, Oliver told the B.A.R. that her proposals, aimed at accountability and transparency, were not related to the board’s handling of the Bradley Manning grand marshal

stores, said Tura, pointing to the nearby Hayes Valley district where there is an outright ban against formula retail. “They are not hurting for business in Hayes Valley,” said Tura. “In this neighborhood we weren’t looking for a ban; we were looking for a balance. It gets out of whack when people say DTNA is against everything. We aren’t against everything, but we are against very lopsided development.” The San Francisco Locally Owned Merchants Alliance is trying to help connect commercial realtors overseeing leases along upper Market Street with small business owners seeking to open in the gayborhood. “I don’t think it will be a huge issue to fill” the newer storefronts, said Sweet Inspiration Bakery Cafe co-owner Wendy Mogg, a member of the alliance. “Local developers know who they are looking for and are already doing outreach with merchants for the smaller spaces.”

July 18-24, 2013 • Bay Area Reporter • 23 July 18-24, 2013 • Bay area reporter • 00

Out Wheels

From page 24

modern drivetrains that thin out low-end response to boost mileage, the Elantra can feel flat-footed when starting up San Francisco’s hills. If you’re considering an Elantra, be sure to try the manual transmission, as it just has to be perkier than the automatic in my tester. Handling is another place where I’d like to see more zing; the suspension is competent but unremarkable. In these ways, the Elantra (along with the Sportage) feels like a collection of

The proposed Illy location was where a planned bar was met with neighborhood objections, while the owners of the gym ended talks to lease their storefront to the local Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf franchisee due to the concerns over chain stores. Neither of the new coffee roasters falls under the city’s rules for formula retail, nor have they yet to spark similar outcries as Starbucks did. Suzanne Gregg, who is handling the leases for the storefronts at the nearby ICON building at 2299 Market Street on the corner of 16th and Noe streets, said she is taking into account the neighborhood’s desire for locally owned businesses. It was a fight over Bank of the West’s obtaining a lease in the building last year that helped convince planning officials of the need for the new chain store zoning rule. As part of a compromise that led to approval of the financial insti-

tution’s permit, developer Angus McCarthy agreed to carve out retail spaces of 500 square feet or less that would fit the needs of smaller merchants. A juice bar and a dry cleaning service have expressed interest, said Gregg. “I don’t think it is going to be an issue” to lease out the storefronts, said Gregg. “We are looking for really neighborhood servicing small businesses. I know the city wants that as well as the neighbors.” Community leaders are convinced that landlords can find tenants for their buildings along upper Market Street that will be warmly welcomed. “Obviously, the upper Market corridor is one of the hottest places to start a business right now because of the new population of renters and owners who are going to be here,” said Tura. “Certainly, it has not been short on people who want to come here and open a business.”t

grand marshal but that honor was rescinded by the board two days later. Oliver said she would not comment on her June resignation as SF Pride’s longtime counsel. She said it

was attorney-client privilege. “As a human being,” she said, “I was not happy how the Bradley Manning grand marshal process was handled by SF Pride.”t

Legal Notices>>

Rick Gerharter

Pride Committee members voted using red cards at Tuesday’s membership meeting of the Pride Board of Directors.

fiasco. The gay Army private, currently in a court-martial in Maryland

for leaking classified government documents, was named a community

pects who are in custody are helping to identify the man who is at large. Officer Tracy Turner, an SFPD spokeswoman, said no updates on the unidentified suspect’s status were available as of Wednesday, July 17. In an interview last week, she said the defendants could say who they were with the night of the incidents “if they wanted to, but they refuse to provide that information.” Turner said police can’t offer the three any incentive to share the man’s name, and that would be up to the district attorney’s office. Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the DA, declined to

comment. After Tuesday’s hearing, Deputy Public Defender Stephen Rosen, who’s representing Davis, would only say, “A jury trial will clear up everything.” Attorney Susan Kaplan, who’s representing Collins, declined to comment. Williams’s attorney, Peter Furst, wasn’t available immediately after the hearing. Davis and Williams are due in court July 30 for arraignment. A video of the unidentified kicker is available at http:// sanfranciscopolice.org/index. aspx?recordid=718&page=3763.t

also supportive and said naming airport facilities is the “appropriate thing to do.” Doug Yakel, spokesman for SFO, told the B.A.R. Monday, July 15 that the airport commission’s naming committee would continue to meet and develop a policy for renaming facilities at SFO. But he said that from an airport perspective, the

supervisors’ amendment allowing possible overlap of membership between the two panels is “a good thing.” “You don’t want to duplicate things,” he said, adding that the airport commission’s advisory committee has already done a lot of work on an overall naming policy for SFO.t

good ideas that exist apart from each other. With some BMWs and Mazdas, for instance, you get the sense that car enthusiasts spent some time honing the package to create a consistently satisfying response from all systems and controls. Hyundai and Kia seem to be still working on that kind of integration. Fortunately, the rest of the Elantra tells us that they’re on the right track. The interior is a happy place to be, with noticeably better roominess and visibility than the Civic Coupe. Honda makes it so you can’t get leather with a manual transmis-

sion, but Hyundai says yes to both, and the high quality throughout makes it easy to feel like you spent more than you did, which shows just how far Hyundai has come. For most of the driving public, the Elantra is good enough. Here’s hoping that the car nuts at Hyundai will get a freer rein to make it great. t Philip Ruth is an automotive journalist and consultant at http://www.gaycarguy.com. Go to ebar.com for more photos and a review of the 2013 Hyundai Elantra SE. See you next time.

Read more online at www.ebar.com

July 18-24, 2013 • Bay area reporter • 25

Legal Notices>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CAlIFORNIA, COUNTy OF SAN FRANCISCO FIlE CNC13-549516 In the matter of the application of: MARIA ESTRELLA DIANE PEREZ VANCIL, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MARIA ESTRELLA DIANE PEREZ VANCIL, is requesting that the name MARIA ESTRELLA DIANE PEREZ VANCIL, be changed to MORNINGSTAR P. VANCIL. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514 on the 5th of Sept. 2013 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035224200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: STARPAC TRADING, 445-447 SUTTER ST. #412, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EDGARD ESPIRITU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/08/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/08/13.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035215000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BERNARDO TRANSPORTATION CO, 3159 CESAR CHAVEZ #6, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MANOLO BERNARDO MERCHANT. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/02/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/02/13.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035198600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: USA POWER MARKET, 1532 OCEAN AVE., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed AMY WONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/24/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/24/13.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035220800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WALKIN DOGS, 333 FREDERICK ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHARLENE M. HAUGE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/05/13.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035216400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ULTRA WORLD COMMUNICATION CO., 1010 STOCKTON ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RUN CHANG HE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/24/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/02/13.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035202900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BERNAL HEIGHTS MARKET, 3391 MISSION ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ISSA DABAI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/25/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/25/13.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035222000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THOUSAND ORCHIDS, 4 DESMOND ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HERMAN LEE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/05/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/05/13.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035228200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PACIFIC BAY REALTY, 3601 CABRILLO ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed IGOR BELOV. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/09/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/09/13.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035228300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MERCURY DISTRIBUTING; MERCURY MANAGEMENT; MERCURY MAIL ORDER; MERCURY DISTRIBUTORS; MERCURY PUBLISHING; 4077A 18TH ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PATRICK E. BATT. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/04/82. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/10/13.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035227900

NOTICE OF APPlICATION TO SEll AlCOHOlIC BEvERAGES

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035225700

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035222100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE MARKET; THE MARKET ON MARKET; MARKET ON MARKET; M.O.M.; 1355 MARKET ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MARKET ON MARKET, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/09/13.

Dated 07/02/13 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: 242 COLUMBUS AVENUE LLC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 33 New Montgomery St. #1230, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 242 COLUMBUS AVE., SF, CA 94133-4509. Type of license applied for

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KIRIN ENTERPRISE, 3700 CABRILLO ST. #304, SF, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHEN HUANG. 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 07/09/13.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: J & J, 175 ORSI CIRCLE, SF, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed JACLYN LEE & WESLEY LEE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/05/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/05/13.

47- ON-SAlE GENERAl EATING PlACE JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 2013 NOTICE OF APPlICATION TO SEll AlCOHOlIC BEvERAGES

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035226700

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035229100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CONTRABRANDS, 2539A POLK ST., SF, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NICHOLAS R. AVEDESIAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/09/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/09/13.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAY EQUITY REVERSE, 100 CALIFORNIA #1100, SF, CA 94111. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed BAY EQUITY LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/09. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/10/13.

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035233400

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035228500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RAGE STYLE SAVVY BOUTIQUE, 1678 KIRKWOOD ST. #B, SF, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KASHIA DOMINQUE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/11/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/11/13.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PESCE, 2223 MARKET ST., SF, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed PESCE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/10/13 The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/10/13.

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035241300

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035234600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SPACES DESIGN, 966 ILLINOIS ST., SF, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed MARK STEVEN MILLER & FELIPE MAXIMO RODRIGUEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/19/05. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/16/13.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GREAT CLIPS 5270, 1770 FULTON ST., SF, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed GRACE GCCA LLC - (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/12/13.

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035235100

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-0352212 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAN FRANCISCO INN, 385 9TH ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed NINTH STREET LODGING LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/05/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/05/13.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035226000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: REENTRY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM; RECOVERY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM; RAP; 3012 16TH ST. #201, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103-5933. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed RECOVERY SURVIVAL NETWORK (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 07/09/13.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035224700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: YOUTH SF, 4722 MISSION ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed FRIENDS OF ST STEPHENS (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 07/08/13.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035193400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RD TRANSPORT, 1958 35TH AVE., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ABSOLUTE IMPORT USA (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/20/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/20/13.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035243600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ALWAYS TRUCKING, 1601 CORTLAND AVE., SF, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PATRICIA ESPINOZA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/16/13.

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FIlE A-034687600 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: VAGABOND INN CIVIC CENTER, 385 9TH ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business was conducted by a limited liability company and signed by NINTH STREET LODGING LLC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/31/12.

JUly 11, 18, 25, AUG 1, 2013 NOTICE OF APPlICATION FOR CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP OF AlCOHOlIC BEvERAGE lICENSE Dated 07/08/2013 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: RAFAEL HERNANDEZ. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 33 New Montgomery St. #1230, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 2401 16TH ST., SF, CA 94103-4210. Type of license applied for

47- ON-SAlE GENERAl EATING PlACE JUly 18, 2013 NOTICE OF APPlICATION TO SEll AlCOHOlIC BEvERAGES Dated 07/12/13 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: CARMEL PIZZA LLC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 33 New Montgomery St. #1230, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 2826 JONES ST., SF, CA 94133-1110. Type of license applied for

41- ON-SAlE BEER & WINE - EATING PlACE JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 2013 NOTICE OF APPlICATION TO SEll AlCOHOlIC BEvERAGES Dated 07/11/13 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: URBAN PUTT SAN FRANCISCO LLC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 33 New Montgomery St. #1230, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 1096 S VAN NESS AVE., SF, CA 94110-2616. Type of license applied for

41- ON-SAlE BEER & WINE - EATING PlACE JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 2013

Dated 07/08/13 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: HENRY CHANG, QIN CHEN. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 33 New Montgomery St. #1230, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 836 IRVING ST., SF, CA 94122-2311. Type of license applied for

41- ON-SAlE BEER & WINE - EATING PlACE JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 2013 SUMMONS (FAMIly lAW) SUPERIOR COURT OF CAlIFORNIA, COUNTy OF CONTRA COSTA NOTICE TO RESPONDENT: MICHAEl P. GIANNINI, yOU ARE BEING SUED. PETITIONER’S NAME IS ESTHER A. DIXON CASE NO. D13-00517 You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this Summons and Petition are served on you to file a Response (form FL-120 or FL-123) at the court and have a copy served on the petitioner. A letter or phone call will not protect you. If you do not file your Response on time, the court may make orders affecting your marriage or domestic partnerships, your property, and custody of your children. You may be ordered to pay support and attorney fees and costs. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the clerk for a fee waiver form. If you want legal advice, contact a lawyer immediately. You can get information about finding lawyers at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/ selfhelp), at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), or by contacting your local county bar association. SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF CONTRA COSTA, 751 PINE ST., MARTINEZ, CA 94533. The name, address, and telephone number of petitioner’s attorney, or the petitioner without an attorney, is: ESTHER A. DIXON, 314 MALCOLM DR., RICHMOND, CA 94801 Date: JAN 31, 2013. Clerk of the Superior Court, by AJ GAMBOL, Deputy.

JUly 18, 25 AUG 01, 08, 2013 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CAlIFORNIA, COUNTy OF SAN FRANCISCO FIlE CNC13-549642 In the matter of the application of: ALICE ANNE PIERCE, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ALICE ANNE PIERCE, is requesting that the name ALICE ANNE PIERCE, be changed to ALICE PIERCE JOHNSTON. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 514 on the 12th of September 2013 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035239900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HEADLIGHTS HAIR STUDIO, 494 HAYES ST., SF, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GLENN KEITH DE MATTIA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/15/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/15/13.

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035242500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: L & G ELECTRONICS, 101 GUTENBER ST., SF, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHENGYU GUO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/16/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/16/13.

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035230700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PORTER GULCH DESIGNS, 1635 GOUGH ST. #604, SF, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BROOKE DEDIEGO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/07/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/10/13.

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FIlE A-035237400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM TRAININGS, 5214F DIAMOND HEIGHTS #106, SF, CA 94131. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RICHARD LAWRENCE RUSSO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/03/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/15/13.

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HENRY’S HOUSE OF COFFEE, 1618 NORIEGA, SF, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed HOUSE OF COFFEE INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/12/13.

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SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT NOTICE TO PROPOSERS GENERAL INFORMATION The SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT (“District”), 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California, is advertising for proposals for On-Call Moving Services at Various District Locations, Request for Proposal No. 6M4269A, on or about July 8, 2013, with proposals due by 2:00 PM local time, Tuesday, August 6, 2013. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED The District intends to engage the services of a moving company (“CONTRACTOR”) to provide on-call moving services. The District presently intends to enter into a three (3) year Agreement with the CONTRACTOR selected with two options, exercisable by the District at its sole discretion, to extend the term of the Agreement for one (1) year each. A Pre-Proposal Meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 23, 2013. The Pre-Proposal Meeting will convene at 10:00 a.m., local time, at BART Offices located at 300 Lakeside Drive, 17th Floor – Conference Room #1715, Oakland, CA. At the Pre-Proposal Meeting the District’s Non-Discrimination Program for Subcontracting/Small Business Program Policy will be explained. All questions regarding DBE/WBE participation should be directed to Cindy Chan, Office of Civil Rights at (510)464-6574 – FAX (510) 464-6324. Prospective Proposers are requested to make every effort to attend this only scheduled Pre-Proposal Meeting, and to confirm their attendance by contacting the District’s Contract Administrator, telephone (510) 464-6543, prior to the date of the Pre-Proposal Meeting. WHERE TO OBTAIN OR SEE RFP DOCUMENTS (Available on or after July 8, 2013) Copies of the RFP may be obtained: A PDF version of the RFP will be sent to all firms on the Interested Parties List at time of advertisement; or (1) By E-mail request to the District’s Contract Administrator, Aminta Maynard, at amaynar@bart.gov (2) By arranging pick up at the above address. Call the District’s Contract Administrator, (510) 464-6543 prior to pickup of the RFP. (3) By attending the Pre-proposal Meeting and obtaining the RFP at the meeting.

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT NOTICE TO PROPOSERS GENERAL INFORMATION The SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT (“District”), 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California, is advertising for proposals for Financial Advisory Services for General Obligation Bonds, Series C for the District’s Controller’s Office, Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 6M2040, on or about July 9, 2013, with proposals due by 2:00 PM local time, Tuesday, August 6, 2013. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED The District is soliciting the services with a consulting firm or Joint Venture (CONSULTANT) to provide Financial Advisory Services for the General Obligation Bonds (GO) Series C resulting from the election of 2004. The services will not be required on a constant or continuous basis, but rather on a onetime basis. The District presently intends to enter into an Agreement for three (3) months with an option to extend for an additional three (3) months, subject to termination as provided for in the RFP. A Pre-Proposal Meeting will be held on Friday, July 19, 2013. The Pre-Proposal Meeting will convene at 1:30 PMlocal time in Conference Room 1700 at 300 Lakeside Drive, 17th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612. At the Pre-Proposal Meeting the District’s Non-Discrimination Program for Subcontracting and the Small Business Program will be explained. All questions regarding MBE/WBE participation should be directed to Dominque B. Burton, Office of Civil Rights at (510) 287-4712 or E-mail, dburton@bart.gov. Prospective Proposers are requested to make every effort to attend this only scheduled Pre-Proposal Meeting, and to confirm their attendance by contacting the District’s Contract Administrator, Steve Alva, telephone (510) 464-6383, or E-mail salva@bart.gov prior to the date of the Pre-Proposal Meeting. Networking Session: Immediately following the Pre-Proposal Meeting, the District’s Office of Civil Rights will be conducting a networking session for subcontractors to meet the prime contractors for MBE/ WBE participation opportunities. WHERE TO OBTAIN OR SEE RFP DOCUMENTS (Available on or after July 9, 2013) Electronic version of the RFP may be obtained E-mail request to the District’s Contract Administrator, Steve Alva, salva@bart.gov. Your firm will also be placed on the Interested Parties List (IPL) for this procurement and you will be kept advised during all stages of the entire process.

Dated at Oakland, California this 3rd day of July 2013. /s/ Kenneth A. Duron Kenneth A. Duron, District Secretary San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 7/11/13 CNS-2506929# BAY AREA REPORTER

Dated at Oakland, California this 9th day of July 2013. /s/ Kenneth A. Duron Kenneth A. Duron, District Secretary San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 7/18/13 CNS-2508238# BAY AREA REPORTER

JUly 18, 25, AUG 01, 08, 2013

Disco queen

Chance encounter

Rock and roll

Out &About

O&A

The

www.ebar.com/arts

Vol. 43 • No. 29 • July 18-24, 2013

Fire (2005) by Teresita Fernández; silk yarn, steel armature, and epoxy. Collection SFMOMA.

Silent nights by Erin Blackwell

Spiritual intent

Greta Garbo in G.W. Pabst’s The Joyless Street.

by Sura Wood

Courtesy Teresita Fernández

ince SFMOMA announced they would be closing their doors for nearly three years during their expansion, there has been speculation about what would happen to their collection and how they would maintain their presence in the city art-scene while they’re off the market. A partial answer has arrived with the opening of Beyond Belief: 100 Years of the Spiritual in Modern Art, a partnering with the Contemporary Jewish Museum (the host venue for the show), and the beginning of a series of pop-up or off-site exhibitions coming down the pike. The response to this particular outing, despite its subject matter, should be less than ecstatic. Purportedly looking at modern art from 1911 to 2011 through the prism of Jewish thought and broader philosophical and religious questions, Beyond Belief is a grab-bag of art in an array of media and styles, tenuously connected by a nebulous notion of the spiritual, a potent idea which has devolved in

the culture at-large into an all-purpose term appropriated by some for their own ends: it can be whatever you want it to be or mean whatever you choose it to mean. In this case it serves as an umbrella for an exhibition that could just as easily have been titled “Miscellaneous,” or, “Really good stuff that might otherwise be in storage.” And admittedly, there is some really good stuff, such as Mark Rothko’s earthy yet sublime painting “No. 14, 1960,” a half-dozen pieces by Paul Klee, and the work of other heavy-hitters like Alberto Giacometti, whose fragile, tensile sculptures are a joy to behold in any setting, Piet Mondrian, Bruce Conner, Jay DeFeo, Vassily Kandinski and Georgia O’Keeffe, just to name a few. The late Bay Area figurative artist Nathan Oliveira is represented by “Allegorical Drawing” (1960), an exquisite fragment of a winged angel done in ink on a dark background that speaks to existential hope and despair in the shadow of the void. See page 36 >>

f you see no other film this year, pack a hip flask and settle back for two-and-a-half hours of the painstakingly restored but still-incomplete The Joyless Street (1925), the revelation of this year’s San Francisco Silent Film Festival at the Castro Theatre, Sat., July 20 at 8:30 p.m. You will not believe your eyes. G.W. Pabst’s reputation as a director did not prepare me for the multi-layered genius of this German film, cut to ribbons by European censors because it told the truth about the economic ravages of war on civil society. Today’s American Imperialists will appreciate this compassionate yet harrowing fable of suffering and despair in 1921 Vienna, where the 1% mixes with the 99% to trade sexual favors, meat, jewels, stock tips, champagne, and death. It’s a lot like now. The film’s star, Asta Nielsen, was a decent Danish stage actress who became a celluloid phenomenon, the first international screen diva, who is regrettably underknown in the

Courtesy SF Silent Film Festival

U.S. Her cult was based on an unparalleled ability to squeeze emotional energy out her eyeballs while maintaining her mask, or face, perfectly still. She resembled Lillian Gish, but danced a meaner hoochie-coochie. This isn’t “acting” as it’s commonly understood and practiced. This is “being” raised to such incandescence you think the screen’s going to ignite in a puff of smoke. Utter transparency of inner psychic turmoil combined with an animal’s eroticism, unburdened by shame, under the complete aesthetic control of the artist. She’s wearing one of the world’s all-time outré costumes with the sang-froid of a showgirl. Uncanny. You think Crawford’s crazy? Wait til you see this bitch. The term is an honorific. As a lowerclass woman driven insane by jealousy – a role Crawford would later incarnate, body and soul – “die Asta” plays every known note of passion while her lover simultaneously seduces a rich See page 30 >>

Prickly cactus juice by David Lamble

ack in the late 1960s when the movie bug first bit me, I would have been crazy in love with a freedom-loving gulp of pure mad sensations like Sebastian Silva’s Crystal Fairy. Chilean director Silva, who got high praise for his breakout hit The Maid, with its bracing truths about life inside an affluent Santiago family from the perspective of a loyal servant, returns with an equally praiseworthy but much rarer creation, the hippie film. Those who remember an era when these hairy creatures roamed the planet may be shocked to witness their brief return. In the set-up, the protagonist, Jamie, a 20something “Ugly American” drug tourist played with saucy glee by Ontario native Michael Cera, confesses to a Chilean friend his desire to have a mind-ex-

Michael Cera as Jamie in director Sebastian Silva’s Crystal Fairy.

See page 28 >>

{ SECOND OF TWO SECTIONS }

<< Out There

28 • Bay Area Reporter • July 18-24, 2013

Books we know as old friends by Roberto Friedman

eprinted in new editions, several books by authors we loved in our youth came back into our reading focus. It was great to make their re-acquaintance. The reissue of the great (mostly) underappreciated gay author James Purdy’s 1964 novel Cabot Wright Begins (Liveright) reminded us of why we loved Purdy novels like Malcolm, The Nephew and Eustace Chisholm and the Works in the first place. Simply put, no one else writes quite like JP (1914-2009). “Mrs. Bickle had arrived in New York during the big drought, the revival of the wig and white-lead lip makeup, fellatio as the favorite subject in bestselling fiction, the campaign by the Commissioner of Markets to put palm-readers, fortune-tellers. and purveyors of the occult out of business, and world sugar irregular.” This is pure Purdy, like the setting

of so many small jewels, one by one, in a bracelet of a sentence. Despite the preciousness of the prose, and the soapiness of the plot, the story always barrels right along. Cabot Wright is a satire of the New York literary world, with trenchant portrayals of writers, editors, and publishers. It involves a rapist as a commodity. Out There very much got a chuckle out of it. The paperback reissue comes on the heels of the first publication of The Complete Short Stories of James Purdy (Liveright, in hardback), all 56 of them, including seven previously unpublished tales. In his introduction, filmmaker John Waters suggests, “Randomly select a perfectly perverted Purdy story and read it before you go to sleep, and savor the hilarious moral damage and beautiful decay that will certainly follow in your dreams.” It wasn’t chosen at random, but we started dipping into the volume with a midcareer story, “Some of

These Days,” in which a young hustler, released from jail, looks for his beloved benefactor in every porno theater in New York. “And so there in my cell I had to confess what did I have for him if it was not love, and yet I had treated him meaner than anybody I had ever knowed in my life, and once come close to killing him.” Violence, destitution, amnesia, sordid sex: to use Waters’ metaphor, these are the bon bons in Purdy’s chocolate box. If you read for natural settings, well-rounded characters or verisimilitude, go elsewhere. But if you love a writer who plays with words in impish fashion, Purdy could be for you. Meanwhile, Farrar, Straus & Giroux has re-published three classic novels by the celebrated late gay author Christopher Isherwood: A Single Man, Down There on a Visit, and The Memorial. They’re reissued in handsome little paperbacks newly redesigned by graphic artist Charlotte Strick. A Single Man, published in 1964 and regarded as one of the

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Crystal Fairy

From page 27

panding trip to the beach fueled by

may remember the recent excellent film adaptation starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode, but the book is worth its own read. It’s short and sweet. Here’s George observing his young male college students: “Most of these wore sneakers and garterless white wool socks, jeans in cold weather, and in warm weather shorts (the thigh-clinging Bermuda type – the more becoming short ones aren’t considered quite decent.) If it is really warm, they’ll roll up their sleeves and sometimes leave their shirts provocatively unbuttoned to show curly chest hair and a St. Christopher medal.” Garterless, how shocking! Down There on a Visit is generally considered Isherwood’s most fully realized novel. It brings together four times and settings: Bremen, 1928; the Greek Islands, 1932; London, 1938; and California, 1940. They parallel four periods in the author’s life, and profile four individuals who were influential to him. The prose is all Isherwoodian titillation. “We passed a fountain – a sculptured group of Laocoon and his sons writhing in the grip of the snakes. In this sunshine you could almost envy them. For the snakes were vomiting cool water over the hot, naked bodies of the men, and their deadly wrestling match ap-

Chile’s favorite hallucinogen. “We made this plan to drink San Pedro on the beach. It’s an ancient tradition. This is the perfect thing in my life right now, to do mescaline. Your brothers are into taking it, too? We’ll have a psycho outing.” Jamie’s plan to get high and quasi-naked with three long-haired Chilean brothers (played by director Silva’s actual brothers) is complicated by a mad moment at a party when he impulsively invites a “feral” girl, Crystal Fairy (Gaby Hoffmann), to join the boys’ drug picnic. From the get-go the presence of this preachy, New Age-spouting young woman seems to push Jamie into a dark place. Not only is he curt and downright rude to Crystal Fairy, but Jamie also violates the normal code of conduct when vacationing on foreign soil. Informed that they have to persuade some elderly homeowners to gift or sell pieces of their San Pedro cactuses, Jamie boldly hops over a fence and steals a hunk of the precious plant. Things go from prickly to nasty as Jamie rebuffs Crystal Fairy’s efforts to ingratiate herself with the boys. The young woman never stops pushing her “blinding white light” healing-power-of-crystals philosophy. It’s a tribute to the strength of the leads and to the strong hand of writer/director Silva that we can be in turns enchanted and repulsed by both. The peak in a series of emotional set-pieces, psychic duels between Jamie and Crystal Fairy, comes in a beach campfire scene

peared lazy and sensual.” The Memorial, which we haven’t yet read, is a portrait of an English family. FSG will be publishing two additional classic Isherwood novels, A Meeting by the River and The World in the Evening, in October 2013.t

On the web This week, find Victoria A. Brownworth’s Lavender Tube column, “Summer crushes,” online at ebar.com.

where Crystal Fairy incites the boys to reveal their insecurities, and Jamie refuses to join her “healing circle.” “Maybe we should break the ice by talking about what we’re afraid of.” “I don’t know, the ocean and, like, sharks.” “Jamie, maybe you’re just afraid of being honest and opening up.” “Yeah, well, I really am just afraid of sharks.” The movie benefits from a vivid sense of reality – from Crystal Fairy’s bold, naked hotel-room moment attempting to intimidate the boys into bowing to her New Age goddess powers, to Jamie’s mix of misogyny and pure terror at having to confront this threatening female. This is a true “hippie movie” in the sense that the filmmakers ask us to question middle-class prerogatives. Crystal Fairy owes much to mindexpanding youth films like Arthur Penn’s Alice’s Restaurant and Alfonso Cuaron’s Y Tu Mama Tambien, with characters who make brave, life-shattering choices. For gay men, the film offers the kind of playful male nakedness – boy/men playing in the sand and giving over to pure narcissism – that’s rare in American commercial cinema. The beach scenes in particular have the kind of accidental erotic charge that few pornographers, with the exception of the late Arthur Bresson, Jr., can begin to match. See page 36 >>

Books >>

July 18-24, 2013 • Bay Area Reporter • 29

Postwar gay casualty by John F. Karr

espite its scary title, Dreadful The Short Life and Gay Times of John Horne Burns would have been the perfect book to review for Gay Pride Week. It’s the biography of a once-lionized novelist who became somewhat less than a footnote in the history of both American and gay letters. Biographer David Margolick is understanding of the gay issues that unraveled Burns’ life, and is no stranger to civil rights issues. Among his five previous books are the unique Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song and Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock. In Dreadful (Other Press, $28.95), he depicts with sympathy but not sentimentality the destruction of soul, and ultimately of life itself, caused by the repression of homosexuality during the first half of the last century. John Horne Burns was born in 1916. Although prolific when young, he was unpublished until after World War II. His observation of wartime life in Naples, where he’d been stationed, inspired him to write The Gallery. A sort of novel by way of

short stories, it portrays with appreciably polished prose and keen, unsparing insight the lives of the locals, the WACS and the enlisted men who pass through the Galleria Umberto, one of those enclosed, domed and highly decorated shopping areas that were the Old World antecedent to today’s malls. Most pertinent to gay readers are a chapter set in the soldiers’ syphilis ward, and another that’s a pretty amazing depiction of a gay bar serving the soldiers. No one had ever previously written about gay soldiers, and the bar’s whirling life still makes for unsettling reading – particularly the way he so unerringly delineates the different types of gay men gathered together. The Gallery was a huge success, hailed by Burns’ reviewers and even competitors, especially Michener, Mailer and Vidal, who’d also written about the war. But self-negation was settling in, and Burns’ second novel – arrogant, filled with bile and spite – was cautiously reviewed before becoming a hushed-up embarrassment. Horne expatriated himself to obscurity and alcoholism in Italy, where he wrote an inchoate third novel that was

so dreadful it was refused by his publisher. Not long after, Burns was dead, at the age of 37 in 1953. Burns was a curious bundle of contradictions, but it’s painful to read and understand how his inherent traits were curdled by the period’s homophobia. He suffered objectivity common to outsiders. He felt superior, and that deepened his detachment. He was brilliant, and he was brilliantly cruel. He was empathetic, and a cynical misanthrope. He flamed as much as he could, as much as self-loathing and the need to dissemble allowed (or promoted). No wonder he drank. Margolick’s account of Burns’ life quickly propelled me to read The Gallery. It’s mighty fine. Of course, the gay aspects of the book, its most revolutionary content, were almost entirely overlooked (or perhaps more accurately, ignored) by the book’s reviewers. The subject was taboo in 1947. As Burns found fame was difficult to handle while maintaining a public mask, perhaps he got off easy on that account. The next gay-themed novel, published a year after The Gallery, was Gore Vidal’s The City and the Pillar, and it was pilloried for its gay

Small name, big story by Matthew Kennedy

argaret Talbot must have known a straight-ahead biography or “a daughter’s loving recollection” would get her published at an obscure house with a readership of three. After all, her father, actor Lyle Talbot, hardly belongs to the pantheon of Cagney, Bogart, Cooper, and Grant. Wisely, the New Yorker staff writer took family letters, stories, and clippings, and wove them into the larger tapestry of show

business to create a singular book, The Entertainer: Movies, Magic, and My Father’s Twentieth Century, from Riverhead (Penguin Group) Books. The fact of Lyle’s minor fame makes this format possible. In Margaret’s smooth, elegant narrative, her father becomes the master of ceremonies of a tour through every major show business form of the last century, from stock companies to vaudeville, talkies, radio, Broadway, B-pictures, Z-pictures, and television. The Enter-

tainer is a book that pleasingly rambles and sways, rather like a sailboat changing tack on a breezy day out near Catalina. The extended asides always come back to Lyle. Margaret writes of the

Author John Horne Burns during the war years.

subject. According to Vidal, Orville Prescott, the book critic for The New York Times, found The City and the Pillar so objectionable that he refused to review or allow the Times to review Vidal’s next five books, creating a longlasting blacklisting of Vidal’s work by other critics. The scandal of Truman Capote’s Other Voices, Other Rooms, published later in 1948, was perhaps mitigated by Capote’s perfumed prose and oblique handling of his subject. It would be another five years before James Baldwin’s gay characters and

ordinariness of early 20th-century parental corporal punishment and horrendous accidents involving cars, fires, and unsound buildings before stricter regulations, but all serve as backdrops for her father’s Nebraska childhood and early theater work in Memphis. At every chapter, Margaret provides extended context for

themes appeared in 1953, followed by Christopher Isherwood’s in 1954. As a preview to Burns’ extraordinary novel, here’s how he describes the cruising at the Gallery’s gay bar, called Momma’s: “Restless and unsocketed eyes wheeled all around ... looking and calculating ... Momma’s bar when crowded was a goldfish bowl swimming with retinas and irises in motion.” An important reclamation for gay and American literature, David Margolick’s life of John Horne Burns is fascinating, poignant, tragic.t

Lyle’s life on and off the stage. Lyle secured a Warner Bros. contract in 1931, and was soon appearing in pulpy pre-Code fare such as Three on a Match, Havana Widows, and Ladies They Talk About. Margaret covers familiar ground, but it’s freshly told. There is the small-town nature of Depression-era Hollywood, the grueling work hours, dance marathons, star bio fabrications, summons to Hearst See page 34 >>

<< Music

30 • Bay Area Reporter • July 18-24, 2013

Sylvester: mighty real, and then some by Jason Victor Serinus

ust in time to celebrate the third wave of gay marriage in California, Sylvester (1947-88) is back. The unforgettable, gender-bending, high-flying androgynous Queen of Disco – part of a vanguard of preand post-Stonewall gender-bending gay performers that included San Francisco’s fabulous Cockettes – Sylvester emerged from a childhood singing gospel in the Pentecostal churches of Watts to build a singing career that propelled his voice and spirit through the sound system of every disco club on Planet Earth. Who among us of a certain age doesn’t recall dancing the night away to the Queen of Disco’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and “Dance (Disco Heat)?” Who can listen to them without recalling the unholy perfume of poppers and sweat that filled the air? It’s fabulous to hear these tracks again on Sylvester: Mighty Real – Greatest

Silent Film

From page 27

countess for money, and a well-todo debutante for marriage. Even though he’s only ever loved her. And that’s only one facet of The Joyless Street, a panorama of Vienna’s angst-ridden human comedy. Another narrative thread follows the young Greta Garbo in Goth eyeshadow as she resists being recruited into prostitution. Garbo’s wannabe pimp is none other than cabaret great Valeska Gert, playing a fashion designer-by-day whose sleazy after-hours club offers pleasure too frenzied to be fun. Order a large popcorn. Artistic director Anita Monga says they’re the #1 silent film festival

Dance Hits, a 10-track retrospective (plus one 2013 dub mix) of Sylvester’s glory years, when he and Harvey Fuqua of Fantasy Records released the five albums that made Sylvester a living legend. Sylvester’s greatest hits of the Fantasy period, released in both CD and two-LP format (pressed on pink vinyl, no less), sound just as alive now as they did back then. What’s amazing about them is their combination of innocence – living emblems of an era when many of us thought we could party and play night after night with no consequence – and their life-affirming lyrics. With Sylvester backed by the fabulous Two Tons of Fun, it’s a joy to revisit “Stars,” which

in the U.S. and #2 in the world, but cedes to none the high level of “production values,” including customcomposed live accompaniment that fully immerses the audience in the feeling world of each film. Seventeen programs over four days (July 18-21) run the gamut of genres, from animation to slapstick to screwball to melodrama to travelogue to avant garde that’s still, alas, avant garde. Opening night features Louise Brooks in her last starring vehicle, Prix de Beauté (1930), a disappointingly shallow portrait of a typist whose beauty contest win leads to a film contract. Details of Paris life are interesting, but the Grand Guignol finale is unearned. I guess they can’t show Pandora’s Box every year. Marion Davies, whose comic

declares that each of us is a star, and “Body Strong,” which affirms the divinity of our temples. What’s equally great is that Sylvester, upon his death from AIDS, bequeathed royalties from the sale of his music to benefit two San Francisco AIDS charities, the AIDS

Emergency Fund and Project Open Hand. This is one album that you’ll not only want to have, but also feel good about buying rather than ripping off from your friend’s playlist. Many of us have our Sylvester stories. While I inexplicably can’t recall one of his final performances with the Cockettes at their infamous gender-fuck debut at the Anderson Theatre on New York’s Lower East Side – the sound system was so bad, and everyone so dragged out in every sense of the word that it’s not surprising that he failed to make an impression and left the troupe shortly thereafter – I do have indelible memories of two San Francisco appearances. One was at the 1978 Castro Street Fair, where, as the act that preceded him on the stage at the intersection of Castro and Market, I discovered the street was packed for blocks, with men who couldn’t squeeze into the street hanging out every open window. Equally astounding was Sylves-

ter’s 1980 “Evening of Glamour and Glitter” in Davies Symphony Hall. How it got omitted from his bio on Wikipedia, I do not know. Sylvester wasn’t in his best voice that night – he couldn’t get on top of the highest-flying passages – but he put on an incredible show. Most amazing was when he introduced his mother who, perfectly quaffed in a blond do, emerged from between the curtains to bow in such a queenly manner that you knew whom Sylvester got it from. By the time “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2004, it had already achieved immortality as an anthem of a bygone era. Revisiting it again is to recall a time, right before the emergence of HIV, when day and night blended into a cycle of non-stop celebration and debauchery. Take a listen, and discover how the joy of Sylvester’s singing, and the beauty of his spirit, live on.t

talent was eclipsed by her unfortunate marriage to William Randolph Hearst, is showcased in King Vidor’s early screwball comedy The Patsy (1928). Comic genius Marie Dressler heads a dysfunctional family whose daughters, brunette and blonde, vie for a marriageable male. Davies goes to many endearing lengths, including mimicking dramatic stars Mae Marsh, Lillian Gish, and Norma Talmadge. Hard to believe Hollywood was ever this innocent. A world away, director Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Chorus (1931) is a masterpiece of social realism. A young man struggles to maintain his integrity while providing for his young family in tough economic times. This intimate story of urban domestic life, told with whimsy and

Courtesy SF Silent Film Festival

Louise Brooks in opening-night film Prix de Beauté.

grace, is moving but never maudlin. If you love the circus and Parisian couture, don’t miss The Golden Clown (1925). This rags-toriches-to-alcoholism-and-suicideredeemed-by-miracle-child epic follows the fortunes of the titular hero and his true love, who inanely ditches him for a womanizing fashion designer. The plot’s a great excuse to emote and change costumes. The House on Trubnaya (1928) is a gorgeous exemplar of visual inventiveness translating Russian wit and soul. The Weavers (1927), based on the Hauptmann play based on

the 1844 factory revolt that inspired Marx and Engels, will feed your revolutionary soul. Don’t miss deathdefying comic acrobat Harold Lloyd in Safety Last! (1923). The SF Silent Film Festival is responsible for restorations of two films in this year’s program. The Last Edition (1925), filmed at the San Francisco Chronicle, offers antique views of the pressroom and Market Street. The Half-Breed (1915) stars that most irresistible of action stars, fabulous Douglas Fairbanks. Pity the idiots who won’t go to see a silent film.t

Theatre >>

July 18-24, 2013 • Bay Area Reporter • 31

Risky business by Erin Blackwell

usicals are like murder mysteries. Not easy to write. Usually, one person writes the book, another writes the music, a third writes the lyrics. Or somebody writes book and lyrics, or music and lyrics. Collaborators can call forth each other’s strengths. Richard Isen is bravely going it alone with Chance: A Musical Play about Love, Risk & Getting it Right at the Alcove Theatre downtown. The blond, boy-next-door, buff but not ridiculously over-pumped Ken Lear, who can not only sing but also act, is perfectly cast as Chance, a comely hooker with a tiger’s heart and Daddy issues. His website, AGuyNamedChance.com, attracts Gregory, a middle-aged professional still mourning the AIDS crisis, who’s too uptight to enjoy the session he’s booked online. So he books another he loosens up for but can’t help ruining by insulting Chance’s professional status. A lovely premise for an intimate

musical. Will these two find love among the transactions, heal some trauma, bridge some gaps, resolve their money issues, make us proud of our gay wounds through our tears? Although many right moves are made in this direction, the emotional pay-offs are ultimately, permanently shanghai’d by the intrusive attentions of Gregory’s anima, an Auntie Mamesque drag queen who renders “real life” superfluous. The fabulous Randy Roberts is very, very good at commanding the stage with a well-arched eyebrow, not to mention belting with panache and crossing her legs atop a piano. His purple, spidery, sparkly diva gown slit up to there, with matching turban, leaves all other production elements in the dust. I can’t believe she didn’t get a costume change for Act Two. That’s just wrong. This Old-Hollywood-channeling succubus infantilizes Gregory, who lives alone, the dialogue informs us, in a ritzy flat, surrounded by movie

Jay Yamada

Richard Hefner as Gregory, and Ken Lear as Chance in Chance: A Musical Play About Love, Risk and Getting it Right, at the Alcove Theatre.

paraphernalia. Too bad the “set” is devoid of glamour, and Sugar Daddy’s clothes inspire pity he can’t find decent pants or keep his shirt pressed. Maybe they’ll work that out. Point is, Richard Hefner’s Gregory seems

emotionally retarded, which makes him cuddly when we need him adult, fully conscious, and beset with angst. The material’s complex depths remain potential. The songs’ cluttered lyrics keep

DVD >>

urity of heart is to will one thing,” wrote the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard. No one quotes Kierkegaard in Patrick Wang’s In the Family, an independent film as far from vintage Woody Allen as you can get. But the wise Dane’s dictum nails the substance of Wang’s plaintalking film, just released on DVD. The one thing its main character, Joey – not incidentally played by Wang – wants is “Chip coming home,” and in the journey to that reunion, hearts all around are purified. Chip (six-year-old newcomer Sebastian Banes in a performance of mesmerizing focus) is the noteven-adopted son of recently single gay dad Joey, who abruptly finds himself in a custody battle for the boy, the biological son of his lover of six years, Cody (Trevor St. John). But to say that the film is about custody is like saying that Swann’s Way is about cookies or Death in Venice about the perils of tourism. Late in the film Joey confesses that the male couple’s own-made family was so happy that he and Cody forgot to make time to talk about “the big things,” like wills. In the Family talks about the big things, but less about wills than about love, compassion, inclusion, and hope. It reminds us that True Love Waits, in the Radiohead sense. The single-minded Wang, writer, director, producer, and principal actor of In the Family, has made an artful film that quietly defies the term “vanity production.” The collegiality of the enterprise is palpable, and the film’s disparate elements – words, image, and sound; the Rembrandt colors, the Vermeer light – mesh so completely that they disappear inside the story. Its tone, embedded in the characters’ Tennessee accents, intrinsically sweet as pie, is a testimony to the power of understatement when it comes to the big things. Joey drives a big, red truck that crowds many a frame while simultaneously keeping his character rightsized: he looks almost like another kid behind the wheel. A maker and a doer, he’s a builder who creates homes both at and away from the client site. The home he wants to bring Chip back to is mostly a place of the heart, but it’s also the house he refurbished for Cody and his then-wife Rebecca (Julia Motyka), to make it child-ready. The vital and

greatly pregnant Rebecca, whom Cody clearly loves to pieces, dies in childbirth. Months later, as Cody thanks Joey not just for his handiwork but more for “holding this all together” – Joey has, among many more inconspicuous things, built a crib for Chip – he kisses Joey, twice. As the film opens, they’ve been living together in the house, with Chip at the center of their lives, those six years. Another Kierkegaard idea, “thoughts that wound from behind,” describes something essential about the film’s nonlinear narrative. The viewer is shuttled back and forth in time across ice-smooth transitions, but never in a way that creates confusion. The flow is true to the rhythms of memory as actually experienced. The film’s three hours unfold at the uncomfortable pace of everyday life, where big things happen in the blink of an eye and change life irrevocably. Less than a half-hour into the film, Cody is killed in a car accident (that the viewer is spared), and the two-daddy family’s odyssey hits the rocks. (As the real-life dead do, Cody comes back for potent flashbacks.) The big is frequently enacted by the little. The flashing red lights of a police car, refracted through the frosted glass around the front door of Cody’s sister, Eileen (Kelly McAndrew), signal not only that Chip has been taken from Joey’s life, but also that Joey’s movements toward Chip are now circumscribed by the law, the inevitable restraining order. Films about fatherhood, mostly fumbled, are thick on the ground these days. In the Family skillfully evades their conventions and cliches. Joey’s struggle is not to free Chip from the grip of false family. After his initial blowup when Eileen explains that she’s the official executor of Cody’s estate (“he had six years to change his mind,” she says, brandishing a will Cody signed just before bringing Joey into his life) – and the indignity of repeatedly being told what a good job he did raising the child now taken away from him – Joey learns not to challenge the integrity of the couple with the law on their side but instead to find common ground with them. Many people will show up to help this remarkable kid, Joey observes in the film’s most powerful sequence, incongruously set at a legal disposition, “but I’m going to be at the front of that line.”

The viewer sees Joey from two main perspectives. In the dominant one he sits, hugging the left edge of the screen, at the breakfast table of the house he calls home, before and after it is broken. He’s perched there like the captain of some modern Flying Dutchman, off to find redemption through love. The other view is from behind, as he frequently appears, center-screen, readying himself for the thoughts, words, and actions that wound. The film’s audio track includes nothing that the characters don’t also hear. Songs by droll troubadour Chip Taylor, which mean the world

Through July 28, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 3 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m., Alcove Theatre, 414 Mason St., SF. (415) 992-8168, thealcovetheater.com

real-time leitmotifs. Other sounds – a nerve-jangling child’s alarm clock, the scrape of bevel on wood, the rattle of Joey’s truck – make an aural tapestry for the story while keeping us focused on it. Overheard things are often more important than heard ones. Joey’s flagging hope is buoyed by hearing Chip’s voice in the background of a subversive phone call made by a mutual friend of his and Eileen’s. And in one of the film’s most airborne sequences, we hear, through a crack in a bedroom door, the voice of Joey, on cassette, telling the exiled Chip the story of “Pastey” (the legendary Irish dragon, Paiste), the latest in a series of “the dragon of the week” stories both gay daddies have

Places of the heart by Tim Pfaff

things theoretical, neglecting the dramatic moment. One stunning exception is the succinct “Give In,” a sexualtension stand-off that proves Isen can craft a Sondheim-style duet-interruptus that revs the relationship. Too often, his songs arrest the action to explore “themes.” And out of left field, Roberts scores big with “The Angle of the Light,” a diva’s perky paean to stagecraft. What’s that doing in there? Director Robert Kalfin’s staging is perversely hard to watch. He has the 49 seats facing the lively trio of music director Tammy Hall, keyboards; Caleb Herring, bass; and Ruth Price, percussion. Meanwhile, 80% of the action is on a raised platform to the right, meaning the audience must twist themselves 90 degrees. The other 20% is to the left, idem. Some viewers stopped bothering. Chance, the evening’s eye candy, delivered one impassioned aria behind our backs. That’s not avant garde, Baby, that’s cray-cray.t

to Cody and supply the soundtrack for his opening up to Joey, become

See page 35 >>

<< Out&About

32 • Bay Area Reporter • July 18-24, 2013

Sweet Bird of Youth, Thu. 11

Project Bandaloop @ Fort Mason

Project Bandaloop, Thu. 18

The astounding aerial dance company performs Harboring, a new work. $25-$100 (post-concert gala). 8:30pm, nightly thru July 21. Festival Pavilion, 2 Marina Blvd. at Buchanan. www.bandaloop.org

San Francisco Silent Film Festival @ Castro Theatre 18th annual showcase of classic and obscure 1920s silent films, including Louise Brooks in Prix de Beauté (opening night), and Alfred Hitchcock’s early works. Thru July 21. 429 Castro St. 777-4908. www.silentfilm.org

Strange Shorts @ Oddball Films Unusual vintage short films, July 18: Amazing Animal Antics, $10, 8pm. July 19: The Speed of Dark; Nightmares and Nightlife ; $10, 8pm. July 20: the 3rd annual Robot Film Festival, 3:30pm (www.robotfilmfestival.com). 275 Capp St. 558-8117. www.oddballfilms.blogspot.com

Sweet Bird of Youth @ Tides Theatre Local production of Tennessee Williams’ haunting play about about boozy has-been actress and her gigolo, who escape to his small Gulf Coast hometown after a Broadway flop. $20-$40. Wed-Sat 8pm. Thru Aug. 24. 533 Sutter St. at Powell, 2nd floor. 399-1322. www.tidestheatre.org MDRP.net

Adults-R-Us by Jim Provenzano

ometimes, grown-ups can act rather childishly, as depicted in some local theatrical productions. And as long as there’s a bit of beefcake,

Thu 18 Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg @ Contemporary Jewish Museum Enjoy the new exhibit of vintage prints, taken by the gay Beat poet, of his friends Jack Kerouac and others. Also, Beyond Belief: 100 Years of the Spiritual in Modern Art, part of the SF MOMA’s off-site collaborative exhibits; thru Oct 27. 2pm-5pm. Free (members)-$12. Thu-Tue 11am-5pm (Thu 1pm-8pm) 736 Mission St. 655-7800. www.thecjm.org

Bruce Vilanch @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The burly gay comic, Hairspray star, and notoriously campy Academy Awards quip writer, tells tall tales of tawdry Hollywood. $30-$40. 8pm. Hotel Nikko lobby, 222 Mason St. www.ticketweb.com

Fauxgirls @ Infusion Lounge The classy drag revue (3rd Thursdays) now in its 12th year features Victoria Secret, Alexandria, Chanel, Maria Garza, Mini Minerva, Kipper, Daffney Deluxe and Ruby LeBrowne, with special guest Anya; dinner seating at 7pm. Show at 8pm. No cover. 124 Ellis St. 421-8700. www.fauxgirls.com

The Little Mermaid @ New Conservatory Theatre Center The teen Summer Ensemble performs Stephanie Temple’s adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s classic undersea fairy tale. $10-$15. Thu-Sat 11am-1pm. Thru July 20. 25 Van Ness Ave., lower level. 8618972. www.nctcsf.org

Post: Ballet, Thu. 18

their tragedy, plus distance, is our amusement, be it a sexy musical comedy (50 Shades! The Musical) or a sultry drama (Sweet Bird of Youth).

Gabriel Roth, Chris Baty @ Hotel Rex Litquake offers an early author event with two writers of fiction and journalism. $5$10. 7pm. 562 Sutter St. www.litquake.org

Jason Brock @ Martuni’s The celebrated powerhouse vocalist performs a Diva tribute concert (Whitney, Aretha, Beyonce and others), and celebrates his birthday. $25 (includes one martini). 7pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market. www.jasondivas.

Out: The Glenn Burke Story @ Zaentz Media Center, Berkeley Screening of the acclaimed, locallyproduced SportsNet documentary about the life and tragic demise of the gay MLB player who played for the Oakland A’s and competed in the Gay Games. Free/RSVP online. 7pm. 2600 Tenth St., Berkeley. www. berkeleyfilmscreening.com/Films.html

A Pinoy Midsummer @ Bindlestiff Studio Lorna Velasco’s Philippine-themed adaptation (with music, puppetry and Tagalong passages) of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream gets a return production. $10-$25. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru July 20. 185 Sixth St. at Howard. www.BindlestiffStudio.org

Post:Ballet @ Lam Research Theatre Innovative local modern/ballet dance company performs a world premiere of choreographer/director Robert Dekkers and architect Robert Gilson’s Four Plays ; with a live score by violinist Matthew Pierce. $30-$60. 8pm. Also July 19. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. www.ybca.org www.postballet.org

Tinsel Tarts in a Hot Coma @ The Hypnodrome Thrillpeddlers performs Scrumbly Koldewyn and Pam Tent’s new, full-length restored version of The Cockettes’ 1971 wacky drag musical comedy on the 42nd anniversary of the original production. $30-$35. Thu-Sat 8pm. Extended thru July 27. 575 10th St. at Bryant. (800) 838-3006. www.thrillpeddlers.com

Fri 19 Bay Area Playwrights Festival @ Thick House Theater 36th annual showcase of new plays, including works by Bay Area writers Joan Holden, Prince Gomolvilas and Erin Bregman; and New Yorkers Jiehae Park, Laura Schellhardt and Kimber Lee. $15-$60 (full pass). Various times thru July 28. 1695 18th St. www.playwrightsfoundation.org

Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi Musical comedy revue, now in its 35th year, with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs. Reg: $25-$130. Wed, Thu, Fri at 8pm. Sat 6:30, 9:30pm. Sun 2pm, 5pm. (Beer/wine served; cash only). 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd (Green St.). 4214222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com

Betrayal @ Phoenix Theatre Harold Pinter’s drama gets a local production from Off Broadway West Theatre Company. $40. Thru July 20. 414 Mason St. #601. (800) 838-3006. www.offbroadwaywest.org

Blake Tucker @ GLBT Center See the local photographer’s large exhibit of gay-themed prints. 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors. Thru July. 1800 Market St. www. BlakeTucker.com www.sfcenter.org

Chance @ Alcove Theater Richard Isen’s gay-themed musical play about love and taking risks, inspired by quotations from Oscar Wilde. $40-$60. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sat 3pm. Sun 5pm. Thru July 28. 414 Mason St. 992-8168. www.chancethemusical.com www.thealcovetheater.com

Matt Haber

God of Carnage @ Shelton Theater

Hedwig and the Angry Inch @ Boxcar Theatre

New local production of Yasmina Reza’s darkly funny play (translated by Christopher Hampton) about four parents whose negotiations about a bullying child descend into savagery. $26-$38. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru Sept. 7. 533 Sutter St. (800) 838-3006. www.SheltonTheater.com

The hit local production of John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s popular transgender rock operetta features multiple actor-singers performing the lead. $25-$40. Wed-Sat 8pm. Also Sat 5pm. Extended with open-ended run. 505 Natoma St. 967-2227. www.boxcartheatre.org

Josh Klipp and The Klipptones @ Palace Hotel

In the Moment @ Asian Art Museum

The local jazz crooner and his band perform weekly shows at the hotel’s lounge, with a growing swing-dancing audience, and a Michael Jackson-Ella Fitzgerald tribute July 19. Extended thru Aug. 16. 7pm-11pm. 2 New Montgomery. www.joshklipp.com

Japanese Art From the Larry Ellison Collection, an exhibit of 60+ artworks from the collection of Oracle’s CEO. Thru Sept 22. Also Art of Adornment, Southeast Asian Jewelry ; Thru Nov 24. Free (members)-$12. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. 200 Larkin St. 5813500. www.asianart.org

Josh Kornbluth @ Ashby Stage, Berkeley The acclaimed thought-provoking solo performer’s Sea of Reeds explores his process of getting bar-mitzvahed in Israel as an adult, despite being an athiest. $20-$35. Wed & Thu 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 5pm. Thru Aug. 18. 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org

Keith Moon: The Real Me @ Eureka Theatre Mick Berry’s solo show explores the life and death of The Who’s fabled drummer. $40. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 7pm. 215 Jackson St. (800) 838-3006. www.keithmoontherealme.com

Lit Tease @ Swedish American Hall Get a sneak preview of Litquake’s annual Lit Crawl reading events, with comic/host Zahara Noorbakhsh, music by Conspiracy of Beards, Mark Growden Trio, plus a book fair of tomes by curators and authors. $20. 21+. 8pm. 2174 Market St. www.litquake.org

Rocky Horror Picture Show @ Smith Center Ampitheatre The East Bay ‘Bawdy Caste’ performs at an outdoor screening of Tim O’Brian’s “sweet transvestite” cult classic musical film. $7 ($2 parking). 8:30pm. Ohlone College, 43600 Mission Blvd., Fremont. (510) 6596031. www.smithcenter.com

Live in the Castro @ Jane Warner Plaza New twice weekly live outdoor music concerts presented by the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District. July 20, 3pm: Suzanne Ramsey, aka Kitten on the Keys. Suly 21, 3pm: Mark Etheredge. Castro St. at Market. 500-1181. www.castrocbd.org

Open House @ Billy De Frank Center, San Jose Enjoy refreshments, entertainment, and informational talks about the South Bay LGBT community center. 6pm-10:30pm. 938 The Alameda, San Jose. (408) 2933040. www.defrank.org

Brenna Murphy @ YBCA Liquid Vehicle Transmitter, Murphy’s unusual neo-futuristic installation (Thru Sept. 8). Artist talk, July 20, 2pm. Also, Migrating Identities, a group exhibit of international artists exploring themes of heritage and personal history, from Iran to South Africa. Free-$12$15. 6pm-10pm. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. www.ybca.org

Can You Dig It? @ The Marsh Don Reed’s new solo show about the groovy 1960s. $15-$50. Sat 8:30, Sun 7pm. Thru August 25. 1062 Valencia St. at 22nd. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Marin Shakespeare Company’s outdoor ampitheatre productions of William Shakespeare’s classic story of mistaken identities, adapted with a Texan cowboy theme; performed in repertory with The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Kyd’s classic Elizabethan revenge tragedy, considered Shakespeare’s inspiration for Hamlet . Thru August 11. $20-$37.50. Fri & Sat 8pm. 4pm and/or 8pm Sun. Preshow picnicking welcome. Dominican University, 890 Belle Ave., San Rafael. 499-4488. www.marinshakespeare.org

Fortunate Daughter @ La Val’s Subterranean

The openly gay smooth jazz saxophonist performs with his band and special guests on his Summer Horns Tour. $40-$125. 15400 Montalvo Road, Saratoga. www.ticketmaster.com

J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere: Sartorial Moments and the Nearness of Yesterday (artist talk July 24) and Gordon Parks: Photographs at His Centennial (both thru Sept. 29). Special lectures and events thru exhibit runs, including Girls of Color in the Media (July 22-Aug 14, Mon-Wed 9am-4pm) a summer program for girls 11-13, to help them understand depictions of women of color in the media. $30. 6pm-10pm. 685 Mission St. at 3rd. 358-7200. www.moadsf.org

Sat 20

A Comedy of Errors @ Forest Meadows Ampitheatre, San Rafael

Dave Koz & Friends @ Montalvo Garden Theatre

J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere @ Museum of the African Diaspora

Impact Theatre’s intimate production of Thao P. Nguyen’s solo show about her struggle to exist in separate families: traditional Vietnamese heritage, and her acquired queer family. $10-$20. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru Aug. 3. 1834 Euclid Ave., Berkeley. www.impacttheatre.com

From Heather’s Mommies to Tango’s Daddies @ SF Public Library Subtitled The Evolution of Family Affirming Children’s Literature, exhibit curator Randall Tarpey-Schwed shares his unique collection of children’s books that portray gay or lesbian parents. Thru Aug. 1. Hormel Center, 3rd floor. Also, illustrations from Marcus Ewert and Rex Ray’s book 10,000 Dresses on display on the 2nd floor (thru Aug 31). 100 Larkin St. 557-4400. www.sfpl.org

Emily Bergl, Thu. 25

Pedalfest @ Jack London Square, Oakland Bicycle festival with thousands of bikers enjoying food, beer, entertainment, exhibits and two-wheeled stunt performers in a rodeo, BMX pros and more. Free ferry rides for cyclists. 11am-7pm. Broadway at Embarcadero. www.pedalfestjacklondon.com

Reefer Madness @ San Jose Stage Company South Bay production of Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney’s Off-Broadway musical comedy loosely based on the vintage camp film about marijuana addicts. $16-$45. Wed & Thu 7:30pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru July 28. 490 South First St., San Jose. (408) 283-7142. www.thestage.org

This Is How It Goes @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley Aurora Theatre Company’s production of Neil LaBute’s edgy comic drama about race, love, and emotional manipulation. $35-$50. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm & 7pm. Extended thru July 28. 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org

Out&About >>

The Wiz @ Julia Morgan Theater, Berkeley

July 18-24, 2013 • Bay Area Reporter • 33

50 Shades! The Musical, Tue. 23

Berkeley Playhouse’s local production of Charlie Smalls and William F. Brown’s Tony Award-winning musical update on The Wizard of Oz. $17-$60. Wed & Thu 7pm. Sat 2pm & 7pm. Sun 12pm & 5pm. Thru Aug. 25. 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. (510) 845-8542. www.BerkeleyPlayhouse.org

Wunderworld @ Creativity Theater Thrillride Mechanics perform Sara Moore and Michael Phillis’ “human cartoon” play about an 80-year-old Alice who takes a trip down the rabbit hole once again. $10-$15. Sat 11am & 2pm. Sun 2pm & 5pm. Thru Aug. 11. 221 4th St. at Howard. www.Wunderworld.net

Sun 21 Annie Leibovitz: Pilgrimage @ San Jose Museum of Art Exhibit of works by the popular portrait photographer, but this time of objects of famous people and awe-inspiring nature scenes. $5-$8. Tue-Sun 11am-5pm. Thru Sept 8. 110 South Market St. www.sjmusart.org

San Francisco Symphony @ Dolores Park Free outdoor concert of works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Copland, and Williams; Teddy Abrams conducts. Free “instrument petting zoo” 12:30-1:45. Concert at 2pm. 19th St. at Dolores. www.sfsymphony.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.harrydenton.com

Mon 22 10 Percent @ Comcast Cable David Perry’s LGBT-themed talk show features a variety of local and visiting guests. July 22-28: Cecilio Asuncion, director of the documentary What’s the T? and Donna Sachet. Various times. www.comcasthometown.com www.davidperry.com

Adam Forfang @ John Pence Gallery Exhibit of still life and tromp l’oeil paintings by the local artist. Thru Aug 3. Reg hours Mon-Fri 10am-6pm Sat til 5pm. 750 Post St. 441-1138. www.JohnPence.com

The Bridge Builders @ City Hall New exhibit of Joe Blum’s fascinating largeformat photos of the recent construction of the new Bay Bridge. Thru Sept. 27. Weekdays, 9am-5pm. 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, ground floor. www.sfarts.org

California Native Plant Bloom @ SF Botanical Gardens Seasonal flowering of hundreds of species of native wildflowers in a century-old grove of towering Coast Redwoods. Free$15. Daily. Golden Gate Park. 6612-1316. www.SFBotanicalGarden.org

Cut & Paste @ Hang Art Exhibit of collage and mixed media art by David King, Phillip Hua and Anthony May. Mon-Sat 10am-6pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. Thru 567 Sutter St. 434-4264. www.hangart.com

The Great Gatsby @ Castro Theatre Leonardo DiCaprio stars in Baz Luhrmann’s lavish pop interpretation of the F. Scott Fitzgerlad novel. $8-$12. 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm. Also July 23 (no 12pm). 429 Castro St. 621-6120. www.castrotheatre.com

How to Make Your Bitterness Work for You @ Stage Werx Theatre Fred Raker’s darkly comic self-help parody solo show. $15. 8pm. Thru Aug. 27. 446 Valencia St. www.bitternesstobetterness.com

Clifford Roles

Piano Bar 101 @ Martuni’s Sing-along night with talented locals, and charming accompanist Joe Wicht (aka Trauma Flintstone). 9pm-1:30am. 4 Valencia St. at Market.

Tue 23 50 Shades! The Musical @ Marines’ Memorial Theatre Touring production of the musical parody, where a women’s book club reads the bestselling (yet terribly written) straight erotica book series. $30-$65. Tue-Thu 8pm. Fri & Sat 3pm, 6:30-9:30pm. Sun 3pm & 6:30pm. 609 Sutter St. Thru July 28. (888) 746-1799. www.50ShadesMusical.com

Butterflies & Blooms @ Conservatory of Flowers Popular exhibit transforms the floral gallery into a fluttering garden with 20 species of butterflies and moths. 10am-4pm. Free-$7. Tue-Sun 10am-4:30pm. Thru Oct. 20. 100 JFK Drive, Golden Gate Park. 8312090. www.conservatoryofflowers.org

Funny Tuesdays @ Harvey’s Ronn Vigh hosts the weekly LGBT and gayfriendly comedy night. One drink or menu item minimum. 9pm. 500 Castro St. at 18th. 431-HARV. www.harveyssf.com

Migrating Archives @ GLBT History Museum Migrating Archives: LGBT Delegates From Collections Around the World features historical items from nearly a dozen countries and archives, each showcasing an archive of prominent LGBT persons. $5. Reg hours Mon & Wed-Sat 11am-7pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistorymuseum.org

Peter Murphy @ The Fillmore The goth rock singer celebrates 35 years of Bauhaus. $28-$40. 8pm. 1805 Geary Blvd. www.theFillmore.com

Ramekon O’Arwisters @ African American Art & Culture Complex Sugar in Our Blood: The Spirit of Black and Queer Identity in the Art of Ramekon O’Arwisters, an exhibit of multimedia folk art-inspired works by the local gay artist. Tue-Sat 12pm-5pm. 762 Fulton St. Thru Sept. 12. www.ramekon.com

Sky High Rents @ SF Public Library Human Rights Commission Office hosts a panel discussion on the effect rising local rents are having on LGBTQ non-profits, with Mark Cloutier, Grant Eshoo, Jodie Schwarz, Miss Major and Rafael Mandelman. Free. 6pm-7:30pm. 100 Larkin St. at Grove, Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room, lower level.

Wed 24 Gloria, Escape From New York @ Castro Theatre New York-themed double feature; Gena Rowlands in the Cassavetes film (7pm), and Kurt Russell at his hunky prime in the scifi B-classic (5pm-9:20). 429 Castro St. 621-6120. www.castrotheatre.com

Joshua Lutz @ Robert Koch Gallery Hesitating Beauty, the photographer’s exhibit of unusual portraits and suburban imagery. Thru Aug 24. 49 Geary St. 5th floor. 421-0122. www.kochgallery.com

The Lower 48 @ Café Du Nord

Dave Koz, Fri. 19

Cool Portland trio performs their ‘60s-styled tunes. Comet Empire headlines, and Bang Bang and White Teeth open. $8. 8:30pm. 2170 Market St. www.cafedunord.com

Milk Club Dinner & Gayla @ Roccapulco The Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club’s annual dinner and “gayla” includes a buffet dinner, awards ceremonoy, keynote address by Lt. Dan Choi. $40, $80 and up. 7pm10pm. 3140 Mission St. www.MilkClub.org

Monika Steiner @ Geras Tousignant Gallery Exhibit of small abstract works. Thru Aug. 4. 433 Pacific Ave. 986-1647. www.gtfineart.com

One of a Kind @ RayKo Photo Center Group exhibit of unusual photos. Tue-Thu 10am-10pm. Thru Sept 1. Fri-Sun 10am8pm. 428 Third St. 495-3773. www.RayKoPhoto.com

Runway Couturier @ Crocker Galleria Fashion show of local designers’ clothing lines (rescheduled from July 3), with a competition, and judges Donna Sachet, designer Peter Lou and others. Free, but limited tickets. Champagne reception 5:30pm, show 6:15pm. 50 Post St. at Montgomery. www.runwaycouturier.com

What Is a Bear? @ GLBT History Museum Exploring and Defining a Gay Male Subculture, a panel discussion with Mark Katzenberger, Harry Lit, Desmond Miller, Nick Sabatasso and Dan Taylor. Cosponsored by Bears of San Francisco (BOSF). $5. Reg hours Mon & Wed-Sat 11am-7pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistorymuseum.org

Thu 25 Courtney Love @ The Independent The royal widow of grunge performs live, apparently without her band Hole, nor an opening act; should be interesting! $45. 8pm. 628 Divisadero. 771-1421. www.theindependentsf.com

Emily Bergl @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko Entertaining “nouveau cabaret” singer performs classics and pop faves (Cole Porter, Tracy Chapman). $30-$55. ($20 food/ beverage credit included). 8pm. Also July 26, 8pm & July 27, 7pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1111. www.hotelnikkosf.com

In the Moment @ Harvey Milk Photo Studio Group exhibit of locally-shot photos; thru Sept. 6. 50 Scott St. 554-9522. www.HarveyMilkPhotoCenter.org

Jewish Film Festival @ Castro Theatre Annual festival of Jewish and Israelithemed narrative, feature, short and documentary films. Thru Aug. 12. 429 Castro St. 621-6120. www.castrotheatre.com

Mark I. Chester @ Magnet Exhibit of prints by the prolific photographer of leather/kink communities; Narratives of Desire, a series of multiple images with a sexy gay narrative. Thru July. 4122 18th St. www.markichester.com www.magnetsf.org

To submit event listings, email jim@ebar.com. Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication. For more bar and nightlife events, go to www.bartabsf.com

34 • Bay Area Reporter • July 18-24, 2013

<< Society

t Fame, fortune & fundraising by Donna Sachet

n the aftermath of our recordbreaking Pride Week, the world seems to be spinning at a slightly slower rate, but it certainly continues to spin. The Edge hosted its yearslong monthly Full Moon Contest, where brave souls bare their hindquarters for the chance at $100 cash and debatable local fame. Emperor John Weber deftly emceed, and Sister Dana van Iquity, Kippy Marks, and this tireless columnist judged. In keeping with longstanding practice, we will not reveal the name of the winner in the press, but suffice it to say that the attending revelers were pleased, as was the winner. This is a fundraiser for Krewe de Kinque, the local New Orleans-style club which hosts its annual Mardi Gras ball and distributes funds to various charitable organizations. The Starlight Room, home of the successful, ongoing Sunday’s a Drag brunch shows, is branching out to include periodic evening entertainment produced by Society Cabaret. This is a new venture featuring talented cabaret performers in this elegant setting with a full bar and upscale menu selections. Last Thursday, we joined Starlight Room manager Michael Pagan, dapper in his white dinner jacket, for opening night of Molly Ringwald’s three-night show. Although largely known as an actress, she demonstrated her soft singing talents with various choices from the Great American Songbook, accompanied by piano, bass, and percussion. The show was engaging, her delivery was warm and personal, and her singing talent was a delightful surprise. The room was packed, so get your tickets now for the next singer, Bryan Batt, Broadway veteran and most recently, acclaimed actor on AMC’s Mad Men, appearing Aug. 15-17. (By the way, Ringwald attended Sunday’s a Drag a few days later with husband and four kids in tow, much to the delight of all.) With AIDS Walk right around the corner on July 21, individuals and teams are madly seeking generous sponsors. Twin Peaks bar in the Castro has had a successful team for many years, often surpassing much larger teams with bigger corporate profiles. We joined them last Saturday for their raffle day at Noon, when patrons gobbled up raffle tickets and scooped up prizes, adding significantly to the amount their AIDS Walk team raises. It just goes to show you what a group of creative minds can do! Watch for the Twin Peaks team of bartenders, partners, patrons, and associates to overwhelm once again at AIDS Walk San Francisco. Later that day, we celebrated the birthdays of Mark Paladini, Pat-

Lyle Talbot

From page 29

Castle, nights at the Cocoanut Grove, the reinvented names, makeovers, tight-knit studio cultures, house styles, and Pre-Code raunch that, thanks to ample rediscovery, isn’t so shocking anymore. Though blessed with a handsome mug and comfortable screen presence, Lyle’s stardom eluded studio efforts. He lacked Gable’s hemanhood, and so was fashioned as “a sophisticated yet boyish indoorsman, a collector of first editions.” Lyle’s union activism didn’t endear him to studio heads, either. Plum roles passed him by. He rather enjoyed a run on Broadway in Separate Rooms with Glenda Farrell, an old friend from 1930s Warner Bros. After the war, he came back to a changed Hollywood. Strangers were running the place, and work

Steven Underhill

Oakland Raiders player Chris Kluwe, a marriage equality advocate, signs his new book at Books Inc. for Sallie Tomato, a fan and player on the gay softball team The Cougars, sponsored by Moby Dick.

Steven Underhill

Handsome man eye-candy in the house as Magnet celebrated its 10th anniversary in the Castro.

rick Noonan, Robert Makowka, and George Langford at a summer camp-themed party at The Edge. All four of these gentlemen give back to the community in different ways on an ongoing basis, and the community certainly came out for them that afternoon. Skillful emceeing by Ray Tilton and show-stopping performances by Kylie Minono, Kit Tapata, Sissy Parker, Tiger Lily, Danielle Logan, and many others gave the crowd a reason to give, with money going to Camp Sunburst, providing camping experiences for children and parents impacted by AIDS. Sunday took us first to Club OMG’s Vive La France!, hosted by Joseph Nunez and attended by Reigning Emperor Drew Cutler, Empress China Silk, Gary Virginia, John Brosnan, and others. Proceeds benefited Project Open Hand. If you haven’t yet discovered this swanky new club, check it out soon on Sixth St. between Mission and Market. Then it was off to Midnight Sun for a celebration of 15 years of marriage for Greg Welliver & Grand Duchess Paloma Volare St. James, emceed by Landa Lakes. Open House, providing services to LGBT seniors, benefited from the raffle, auction, and tips to per-

formers, including Empress Marlena, Boylesque, Raquela, Gladys Bumps, and Jill Felta-Fish. This is the second show we’ve attended recently at Midnight Sun, and they know how to throw a party! X-Factor sensation and local heartthrob Jason Brock will be singing his heart out tonight, Thurs., July 18, at Martuni’s, 7-8:30 p.m. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard his “Black Diva Medley.” On Wed., July 24, 5:308 p.m., Fritz Lambandrake hosts another fashion-show sensation, this time at the Crocker Galleria, featuring three debut collections and a designer competition, with Supervisor Jane Kim among the judges. These events are professionally produced, incredibly creative, and well attended, so make your reservation for seating now. And then we’re into Dore Alley weekend, with enough public and private parties to keep you and your out-of-town guests busy for days. We extend to you a special invitation to the VIP Play Pen at Play t-dance, Sun., July 28, 5-Midnight, upstairs at Mezzanine. Finish off your fetish weekend with BeBe Sweetbriar, Suzan Revah, this columnist, and the BeatBox team with drink specials, leather demos, dancers, and more, all exclusively ensconced above the main dance floor. Even divas have to let loose once in a while!t

was scarce. He made serial cheapies, becoming the screen’s first Lex Luthor in Atom Man vs. Superman. He played Commissioner Gordon in the 1949 no-budget Batman and Robin serial. As an older character actor, Lyle somewhat resembled today’s Karen Black, where work comes first and all offers are accepted. He holds the questionable honor of appearing in three Ed Wood productions: Plan 9 from Outer Space, Jail Bait, and Glen or Glenda. Margaret applies compassion to her writing about Wood, noting that his enthusiasm for making “art” and wearing women’s clothes were exceeded only by his vast ineptitude. In Glen or Glenda, Lyle contributes as much dignity as that quasi-pseudocrypto-faux documentary could possibly hold. A 10-year stint as neighbor Joe Randolph on “the remarkably bland and corny” Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet secured financial as well as

psychological well-being. Lyle simply loved the work. Margaret does not shrink from her father’s humanity, his drinking, or his weakness for women. After countless affairs and three quick marriages, he married actress-singer Margaret Epple, and together they had four children. All became accomplished in their fields of documentary filmmaking, writing, and medicine. Despite a 26-year age difference, the Talbot-Epple marriage was a true love match, and lasted to her death in 1989. When Lyle died in 1996, he had lived through all but five years of the 20th century. How refreshing after a career of false starts just outside the limelight, and way too much drinking, that a strong, passionate marriage and a happy family should be Lyle Talbot’s late life reward. And how fortunate that his youngest child so finely chronicled his life and the bigger story that surrounded it.t

Karrnal >>

July 18-24, 2013 • Bay Area Reporter • 35

Heavy hitters by John F. Karr

ny need I had to watch a sexo was superseded for a couple days last week by an erotically charged revelation in Shirley Jones’ brandnew A Memoir. Shirley’s son, former teen-throb David Cassidy, has “a giant endowment.” His mom says that his brothers called him Donk, short for Donkey. That’s nice to know, but it’s not the brain-freeze part of Shirley’s dish that comes next. It’s been blabbed all over the place that David’s father, Broadway star Jack Cassidy, was similarly blessed (Ms. Jones once again recounts the story of Jack making Cole Porter crawl across the floor to get it). And here it is: Jack used to compare sizes with his son. After a course of electroshock therapy removed from my brain the scenario conjured by that dear father/ son hookup, I watched two enjoyable movies. Falcon’s Rock Star! lays it down with considerable charm, and Raging Stallion’s Behind the Big Top tops a trio of trouser-tenting scenes with an unbeatable classic finale. Director Andrew Rosen did a swell, light-handed job on Rock Star! The playful nature of the movie’s vignettes and its sly filming ratchet up the heartiness of its sex. And the cast is swell – a couple of newbies surrounded by heavy-hitter stars. Pug tops Twink describes the first scene, with smooth and hard Alex Graham atop sweetie Colby Chambers. Wet and Shiny names a poolside scene for ass-blaster Jimmy Durano and hot-wired Ray Diaz. A decent interlude comes from uncut muscleman Sebastian Rossi plugging fresh Cal Skye. And then comes the major payoff. A couple movies back I wondered if I’d seen the last scene Paddy O’Brian had made for Falcon. Wrong! But that’s to our advantage. The jaunty battering he gives to bouncy Joey Cooper is one of his best. Actually, Cooper is the instigator, playing a kid with moxie, which is perhaps the proper description of Cooper, too. The rest of the description would be two words: adorable and fuck-bunny. Playing a groupie, he gains entry to rock star Paddy’s pad, and makes a pass that can’t be passed up. Now, Paddy’s never made any bones about being G4P, and before he mounts Cooper in Rock Star!, his character mounts a sly rationale for having sex with guys. “What – didya think I was gay?” Paddy/Rock Star asks Cooper. “Cause I’m not!” Well, then, asks Cooper, why does his boner poke his skivvies so high? “I’m a rock star,” quips Paddy. “We’re curious by definition.” After which, whippersnapper Cooper whips Paddy into all sorts of rousingly committed homosexualities. Don’t let the circus setting scare you away from Raging Stallion’s Behind the Big Top. The theme is only there to provide atmosphere as it brings you ringside to witness a tent full of thrills and spills. That would be bodily thrills and semen spills. And stars! There’s nary a second-stringer among the gentlemen of the cast, and director/cinematographer Tony Dimarco gets out of the way and lets them play. Svelte blond Logan Vaughn is a human pincushion for the insertions of heavy hung Leo

In the Family

From page 31

been telling their dragon-obsessed kid. No sooner has it ended than Chip hits replay, to hear his purloined dad call him “Chipmunk,” the nickname he claimed to hate. Only the minutely documented

Falcon Studios

Paddy O’Brian and delightful Joey Cooper, as a kid with moxie, in Falcon Studios’ Rock Star!

Falcon Studios

Showing red fur forever, James Jamesson is sensational in Raging Stallion’s Behind the Big Top.

Domenico and swarthy, cockringed Rogan Richards. Jimmy Fanz and Josh Long show that younger men can be as furry as daddies and bears as they practice their acrobatics, which repeatedly put Long’s crotch in Fanz’s face. And you know what that leads to. The guys aren’t really acrobats, but they get each other off in some very entertaining new positions. Leo Domenico then returns to top the fancifully named Genesis Luna. And then comes the Main Attraction. Get out your sunglasses, because here comes the ultimate ginger dude, beaming and beautiful James Jamesson. His ever-shifting hairstyles have attained maximum wonder

for Big Top. His blend of deep red, brazen orange and gleaming bronze hair thickly forests his chest, and is groomed extra-long and slick on his head. And the beard! Lumberjack lovers will swoon when they see it; never has a porn star sported a thicker mustache or bushier beard. And I’m sure you know all about Jamesson’s thrilling thick hunk of cock. It’s sheer divinity. And when he rolls his legs over his head to lick and suck at his own red-hair rimmed love-rod – well, the crowds who aren’t uncontrollably spurting their joy juice all over themselves will stand up and cheer. The fab Dale Cooper joins in loving Jamesson’s cock – and there’s some truly deep lovin’ going on as they both suck it at once. Ultimately, Cooper finds Big Red rammed in where the sun don’t shine.t

progress of Joey’s soul could prepare you for the deposition scene, when he speaks without calculation about the love that can come only from having been loved. I saw In the Family on the big screen in three consecutive early-afternoon matinees during its San Francisco run. Each day’s audience felt like

the same worshipful handful of us, sprinkled throughout the theater, mostly in groups of one, showing up for the parenting. At the last of those matinees, I recorded the deposition scene, audio only, on my smartphone – so, like Chip, I could listen as often as I wanted until the DVD of In the Family was released.t

<< DVD

36 • Bay Area Reporter • July 18-24, 2013

Spy games by David Lamble

know a thing or two about predatory behavior, and what once was a legitimate intelligence agency is now being used on weaker governments.” This defiant sentence – surely a quote from American intelligence rebels Edward Snowden or Bradley Manning – was actually uttered by another disgruntled young man more than a generation ago, when American intelligence-gathering was dedicated to winning a Cold War rather than an amorphous battle against global terror. The Falcon and the Snowman, the last great narrative feature from openly queer Oscar-winning British director John Schlesinger, hit theatres in 1985, smack in the middle of the patriotic revival promoted by Ronald Reagan. The movie, inspired by a nonfiction bestseller, dwells on events beginning during the early 70s Watergate scandal when two former altar boys, Christopher Boyce (Timothy Hutton) and Andrew Daulton Lee (Sean Penn), turned spies for both moral and mercenary reasons. That these two middle-class “traitors” would inspire complicated mix-

(((((((((

www.ebar.com )))))))))

Had it clicked at the box office, Schlesinger’s career might had a very different trajectory. As it is, this perplexing moral fable/ dark comedy is a glorious example of the early flowering of two of our best and most politically committed young actors. Anyone viewing Falcon would not have been surprised by Penn’s midlife breakout turn as the martyred Harvey Milk. Extras include a collectible booklet.t

Beyond Belief

From page 27

Meanwhile Bay Area rabble-rouser Bruce Conner calls up the celestial, using the illuminated silhouette of his own body to transcend his mortal coil in the photogram “Sound of One Hand Angel” (1974). In a nod toward CJM’s mission, several Jewish artists are included: Barnett Newman, Helene Aylon, Wallace Berman, Alfred Stieglitz, Rothko (an observant Jew who acknowledged experiencing spiritual epiphanies in the act of painting), and Philip Guston. Guston (ne Goldstein) had already moved away from abstraction in favor of the cartoonish style seen in “Red Sea; The Swell; Blue Light” (1975), a triptych in which he illustrates, in his own inimitable way, the Biblical narrative of the Jews’ escape from slavery in Egypt and their deliverance from the evil pharaoh, the apocryphal parting of the Red Sea, which splashes across all three panels, and the drowning en masse of the Egyptian soldiers who pursued them. When artists grapple with spirituality, the specter of death necessarily looms large. Felix Gonzalez-Torres, for example, created “Untitled (America # 1),” a cord of exposed light bulbs, items not known for their long life spans, after his partner died of AIDS. Ross Bleckner addresses the same subject obliquely, wrestling with the cosmos and the ephemeral nature of existence in “Knights not Nights” (1987), a large canvas where shards of crystals stand in for sparkling stars whose glow is muted by a mysterious greenishblack fog threatening to engulf them in the night sky. Though this is a relatively small

es of admiration and intense loathing from their countrymen at the time is putting it mildly. Three decades later, their decidedly mixed motives may meet with more approval from film fans weaned on WikiLeaks. Movie-wise queer video aficionados should appreciate the tightrope walked by Schlesinger trying to balance the raging egos and insecurities emanating from his charismatic young leads. Hutton, whose Oscar for Ordinary People gave him a slight edge in the delicate pecking order among Hollywood young Turks, was upset that his one-time friend was upstaging him in scenes that overflowed with the quirky black humor that would become a Sean Penn trademark. Underappreciated at the time, Falcon can today be viewed as a nuanced, morally ambiguous work of the type today mostly found on cable.

Crystal Fairy

From page 28

Canadian actor Michael Cera’s explosive career of creating a hero boy mostly pure at heart, starting with Superbad and extending

Ben Blackwell

No. 14, 1960 (1960) by Mark Rothko; oil on canvas. Collection SFMOMA.

exhibit, its 62 works are organized, in some cases it seems arbitrarily, into 10 thematic groups: Genesis, Divine Architecture, the Secret Language, Presence, God in the Abstract, the World to Come, Without End, Matter of Time, Hidden and Revealed, and last but not least, Loss and Redemption. The sheer number of these categories and their lofty headings suggest too many cooks stirring too small a pot. In fact, the whole enterprise suffers from curatorial overload. It feels as though it was conceived during a long evening of wine and art-historical discussion among the seven

contributing curators, who have ultimately failed to make a persuasive case, while the premise appears to have sprung from the primary goal: to get the artworks out on display. One senses that a plausible way to link them together came later. If not for the text that accompanies most of the objects, justifies their inclusion and explains their relationship to the overarching concept, it’s doubtful one would discern – or accept – the connections to the spiritual asserted by the curators. Despite an abundance of verbiage, there’s less here than meets the eye. (Through Oct. 27.)t

through funny cult-novel adaptations (Youth in Revolt, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), has now come full circle. At 25, the Brooklyn-residing writer/actor sheds his curly locks and springs forward into adulthood on screen and off.

Director Silva has redeemed the promise of The Maid and demonstrated that sometimes the most telling critiques of the limits of personal freedom emerge from the violated soul of a conservative society like Chile.t

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