JUly 19, 2012 editon of the Bay Area Reporter

Pages 8, 9

11

17

McCain in the Castro

Bay Area living

Cindy Sherman

The

www.ebar.com

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

Vol. 42 • No. 29 • July 19-25, 2012

FDA OKs Truvada for PrEP

Healthy SF to remove trans exclusions

by Liz Highleyman

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by Cynthia Laird

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early two years after a complaint was filed charging that Healthy San Francisco, the city’s health insurance program for uninsured residents, is discriminatory beRick Gerharter cause it excludes ser- Scott Wiener vices for transgender people, city officials are in the process of rectifying the situation and including such services in the program.

Supervisor Scott Wiener and transgender leaders met with the Bay Area Reporter Monday, July 16 and said that city officials See page 13 >>

JB Higgins

AIDS Walk raises millions W

alkers took part in the 26th annual AIDS Walk Sunday, July 15 in Golden Gate Park. The annual event raised nearly $2.7 million for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and 46 other Bay Area HIV/AIDS organizations. Speakers at the

opening ceremonies included Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who commended Bay Area service providers and advocates “for their enduring commitment to addressing the ongoing HIV/AID crisis as well as the underlying social ills that

contribute to the high rates of HIV infection.” In San Francisco, there are more than 15,500 people living with the disease.

SFAF CEO Neil Giuliano noted that his organization is marking its 30th year of “answering the call from our community.”

he U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on Monday the approval of Truvada, a once-daily combination made by Gilead Sciences, for pre-exposure prophylaxis – better known as FDA Commissioner PrEP – to prevent sexu- Dr. Margaret al transmission of HIV. Hamburg “Today’s approval marks an important milestone in our fight against HIV,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg. “New treatments as well as prevention methods are needed to fight the HIV epidemic in this country.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 50,000 people are newly infected with HIV each year in the U.S. – a number that has barely budged over the past decade – while UNAIDS estimates that there See page 13 >>

Vapor Room dispensary Boy Scouts prepares for closure keep M gay ban

by Chris Carson

by Chuck Colbert

D

espite a push for change, including by at least two of its board members, the Boy Scouts of America has reaffirmed its longstanding exclusion of openly gay boys as members and gay parents as Scout leaders.

But news of the decision, which broke on Tuesday, July 17, has not deterred Jennifer Tyrrell, a lesbian mother from Bridgeport, Ohio, who was ousted as her son’s den leader in April, from pressing her case.

On Wednesday, July 18, arriving in at Scout headquarters in Irving, Texas, Tyrrell, who has made national headlines this spring, delivered to BSA leadership an online petition with more than 300,0000 signatures.

The Change.org petition calls for a reconsideration of “exclusivity against gay youth See page 6 >>

artin Olive, the executive director of the Vapor Room, which is set to close July 31, can remember about eight years ago when he met a man who stood six feet two inches tall, but due to cancer weighed no more than 110 pounds. Over time, Olive said, he watched as the man grew stronger and started to grow physically because of regular treatment with medical cannabis.

Olive said the man began to eat again and smile more. Not only did the cannabis relieve the pain of cancer and suppress his nausea, but it allowed him to socialize with the small community at the Vapor Room. Medical cannabis helped him beat cancer then. When it came back again and again, in different parts of his body, the cannabis helped him beat it those times as well, Olive said.

That’s one reason why Olive wholeheartedly believes in the value of medical cannabis.

“If I prefer to take a couple tokes off a joint for my illness,” Olive said of people with cancer, HIV, or other illnesses, “then I should have that option.”

“In California we do have that option, and we have it thoroughly regulated, and it’s a shame See page 12 >>

Rick Gerharter

The Vapor Room on Haight Street will close July 31 due to the federal crackdown on medical cannabis dispensaries.

{ FIRST OF TWO SECTIONS }

<< National News

2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 19-25, 2012

▼

Gay man completes walk across U.S.

by David Duran

D

anville native Richard Noble reflected on his journey of being the first out gay man to walk across the country, covering 10 states and over 2,700 miles in 16 months, saying at times that the trek was a lonely one.

The trip took almost twice as long as Nobel expected – he originally envisioned a nine-month journey – and he ended up in Florida instead of New York – but said it was worth it.

Noble carried a rainbow flag with him and a copy of the American Equality bill, which is a project of www.EqualityGiving.org that calls for full equality.

During his journey, Noble met community leaders, local, state, and federal officials, talking with them about full equality and civil rights.

Eleven mayors and three city councils issued official proclamations in support of his walk, including those in Oakland, Salt Lake City, Houston, and Baton Rouge.

Noble, from southern California, left West Hollywood on March 7, 2011 and headed to San Francisco, where he began the walk March 12 of last year He arrived in Jacksonville, Florida on June 9. Afterwards, he went to Washington, D.C. where he met with staff of the LGBT Congressional Equality Caucus chairs.

In the months prior to his walk, Noble was working at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

During the LGBT youth suicide crisis in the fall of 2010 and around the time that repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was being debated in Congress he marched 72 miles across the desert from Palm Springs to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twenty-nine Palms with both the American and rainbow flags. Shortly after, he went on a nine-day public fast to draw attention to bullying.

“My conscience would not let me go to work or play,” he said, “I found myself in a 24/7 response to the national crisis.”

Shortly after, while sifting through emails on hate crimes, global homophobia, youth suicides, and other topics related to the community, and after participating on national conference calls with activists around the country, he decided it was time to do something radical. Noble turned to prayer and meditation.

“I just keep hearing this voice, telling me to walk the rainbow flag across America,” he told the Bay Area Reporter. “It was too sweet and the

Courtesy Richard Noble

Richard Noble, carrying his rainbow flag, stood in the sand at Jacksonville Beach after his 16-month walk across the United States.

inspiration so beautiful and peaceful and full of love and free spirited, that I wanted to do it.”

The hardest part of the trip, he said, was walking 49 days without vehicle support in the desert. He not only questioned his beliefs while walking across America alone with a flag, but also feared for his life.

“I had no idea if I would be attacked or murdered,” he said. The elements, the animals, and the dangers of the highway kept him up at night even after exhaustion. Noble even took to carrying a gun while crossing Nevada.

“It was the extreme challenge and everything seemed to make the impossible even more impossible,” said Noble.

Turning to his Facebook community for support, Noble would receive gift cards and at times wire transfers when he needed it.

“There was nothing fancy about what I was doing,” he said. “There were no pomp and national news stories, I was on my own and I was going to make it or not.”

When asked about highlights of his journey, Noble quickly thanked his supporters.

“I had so many little gifts from people who wanted to add a trinket to the flag staff that it just became

one great ornament,” he said. “It’s very beautiful and will be a highlight for me if I ever got a call that it could find its resting place in the GLBT History Museum in San Francisco.”

Noble overcame his fears and said that many of his dreams came true.

He was fortunate not to have any assaults or thefts during his walk.

While walking through Texas, he adopted a dog named Trinity who walked 700 miles with a rainbow bandana. Trinity is now affectionately referred to as “The Equality Dog.” Noble is returning to southern California to “absorb the experience,” he said. He also hopes that publishers might show some interest in the hundreds of stories and nearly 9,000 photographs he has taken.

“I’ve begun to write the stories and want to arrange them in a timeline for a book,” he said.

Noble, who is returning home depleted of resources, hopes his writing will provide for his future. Noble spent $19,000 on the walk, and also sold his vehicle before leaving. He said that he feels a disconnect from his friends as he has been gone for so long, but is ready to move forward.

“I have no regrets, I knew I was walking into the seemingly impossible and had to make it possible,” he said. ▼

Trans man’s trek for equality cut short

by Heather Cassell

A

n attempt to cross America by foot was abandoned by trans man Mikal Chall before he made it out of California.

Chall, 37, who believed he was the first transgender man to attempt to walk across the U.S., set out from San Francisco on April 23. His goal was to raise awareness about inequalities and to make it to Washington, D.C. by Election Day. A secondary goal was, at 314 pounds, he hoped to lose some weight in order to complete his sex reassignment surgery.

But three weeks into his journey, Chall, who is from Travers City, Michigan, was in Placerville in the Sierra Nevada foothills heading toward the Nevada border when his fiancee Terra Truelove developed health issues, his eldest daughter had complications with her second pregnancy and he faced constant pressure from his mother to end the trek. Disappointed, Chall walked back to Sacramento and

Jane Philomen Cleland

Mikal Chall arrived at the Emeryville Amtrak station in April with his one-of-a-kind walking trailer; he abandoned his crosscountry walk near Placerville three weeks later.

got on a plane home to his fiancee Terra Truelove and his family and friends.

Chall, who lost 40 pounds, vows to resume his journey in the future. “[I] will absolutely attempt to walk

across America again,” said Chall. He told the B.A.R. that he would start right where he left off in Placerville.

His advice for anyone else attempting to walk across “the land of the free,” is to “just enjoy every minute of it.”

The lessons he learned about himself and other people are priceless, he said.

Chall learned about his own perseverance – when his handcrafted walking trailer was thrown into a garbage bin by a Starbucks employee and then taped up after a truck driver backed into it – and his ability to accept people for who they are during his brief journey.

He was deeply touched by the homeless people, especially the veterans, who looked after him and shared their space without asking anything in return.

“There are people who care and they care at the lowest point in their lives,” Chall said.

Lastly, he realized there are more allies for equality than ever before, he said.▼

▼

Community News>>

July 19-25, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 3

Trial wraps up in pedestrian death

by Seth Hemmelgarn

C

losing arguments are expected today (Thursday, July 19) in the emotional trial concerning a gay San Francisco pedestrian who died after being hit by an SUV last year.

William “Bill” Cox, 59, died September 6, 2011, hours after Gregg Wilcox, 60, allegedly struck him with his Ford Explorer in a crosswalk at 14th and Noe streets. Wilcox, who was driving with his left foot because he was wearing a medical boot on his right foot, has been charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. If he’s convicted, he faces up to a year in county jail.

Under examination by his attorney, Rafael Trujillo, Thursday, July 12, Wilcox quickly began choking back tears as he described what happened the morning he hit Cox. “I saw Mr. Cox on the top of my car, and his face was looking into my face,” said Wilcox. “When I first noticed his face, I was instantly terrorized and panicked.”

Wilcox’s face turned red and he appeared to be on the verge of sobbing as he tried to continue his

William “Bill” Cox

testimony, but San Francisco Superior Court Judge Susan Breall soon called for a break. After Wilcox resumed, he said that Dr. Robert Salk, whom he’d gone to for “extreme pain” in his foot, never told him he couldn’t drive with the medical boot, and he’d never thought to ask.

Earlier Thursday, Salk had testified, “If patients ask me, I’ll tell them it’s unsafe to drive in the boot,”

which he called “a bulky device.”

Wilcox, a former deputy director at Muni, said for more than a month he’d folded his right leg under his left leg and used his left foot to drive, with no difficulty. Wilcox, who’s right-handed, said he’d driven with the boot for more than a month before the incident.

He described cautiously approaching the intersection at 14th and Noe streets, but indicated he didn’t see Cox until it was too late.

“The first thing I knew there was a pedestrian on the hood of my car,” said Wilcox. He said that he and Cox made eye contact and Wilcox made “a huge gasp.” He said he proceeded to pull over and didn’t see Cox leave the top of his car.

“One instant he was there, and the next instant he was gone,” said Wilcox.

Wilcox, who said the accident happened “very, very fast,” said his “whole purpose” was to do what he could to prevent further injury to Cox. He said he felt the front driver’s side tire run over something, and he tried to get away from Cox as quickly

Police examine death of man found in gay cruising spot

by Seth Hemmelgarn

P

olice are investigating the death of a man whose body was found recently in a gay cruising section of Golden Gate Park.

The San Francisco Police Department reported that the man, identified by the medical examiner’s office as David Borowy, 55, was dead when paramedics and police responded at 5:35 p.m., Sunday, July 8 to the scene, which is near the intersection of John F. Kennedy Drive and Bernice Rogers Way. Police haven’t disclosed how Borowy died, and it’s not clear whether Borowy himself was in the park for sex. San Francisco police homicide Inspector Daniel Cunningham, who’s investigating the death, wasn’t available to comment for this story.

But several men who were in the park early last Saturday afternoon, July 14, said they’ve had sex in that area and at least a couple indicated that’s why they were there that day. The section of the park where Borowy’s body was found is filled with trails and clumps of trees that aren’t visible from nearby roads.

Bob Dupont, 66, said he was the person who called 911 to report the body. He said someone else had seen the body first and approached him in the park.

Borowy had been lying down with his face in the ground, Dupont said.

Seth Hemmelgarn

A piece of crime scene tape near where the body of a man was found in Golden Gate Park.

Borowy’s left arm had been hanging in a tree branch fairly close to the ground, and his jeans had been down below his knees. Either his underwear was down, too, or he hadn’t been wearing any, Dupont said. He said he couldn’t see any sign of injury.

Dupont, who’s gay and frequently comes to the area to read, said he’d caught a glimpse of Borowy’s face, and he hadn’t looked like anybody he’d seen before. He said he recognized the person who told him about the body but knew him only as Robby.

The small clearing where Dupont said he saw Borowy’s body is mostly surrounded by trees. Cars and people passing by on the road nearby can be heard but aren’t visible from the spot, which is bounded on one side by an

exposed tree root that one has to climb over to get to the clearing.

A used condom was on the branch where Dupont said Borowy’s arm had been, and two other used condoms, one mostly disintegrated, were close by. Dupont said he didn’t know if the condoms had been there when he saw the body.

Rudy Tijerina, who said he was also in the area July 8 and saw the body after it was covered, indicated the body had been in another spot near the clearing when he saw it.

No police tape appeared to be at the clearing, although small pieces of the yellow material were lying on the ground not far from the spot. Down a small hill, two sections of police tape had been hung in the trees near another clearing. Only a couple pieces of tissue and some other trash were visible at that site.

Dupont, who lives near the park, entered the spot where he said he saw Borowy’s body extremely reluctantly Saturday.

The incident “kind of spooks me still,” he said.

Several people near the scene Saturday said they hadn’t heard anything about the death.

Many of the men who were in the park Saturday were in their 50s and up.

Some indicated they come for simple socializing at least as much as sex. Joggers, people walking their dogs, and others also pass through the area.▼

Man charged in carjacking, stabbing

by Seth Hemmelgarn

A

San Francisco man has been accused in the recent carjacking and stabbing of another man in the Castro neighborhood.

James Clark, 34, pleaded not guilty Tuesday, July 17 in San Francisco Superior Court to a felony carjacking charge with allegations of using a deadly weapon and great bodily injury, according to Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.

The alleged incident started early Thursday morning, July 12, when the victim, who’s 27 and from San Francisco, met Clark in the Castro.

They got in the victim’s car and were near Market and Sanchez streets at 4 a.m. when the victim felt a sharp object against his neck and realized

Courtesy SFPD

James Clark in a 2011 mug shot

Clark had cut him, according to a San Francisco Police Department summary. The victim stopped the car and jumped out.

Clark drove off and was later stopped and arrested at Bayshore Boulevard and Oakdale Avenue, police said. The victim’s injury was listed as non-life threatening.

Police said Clark, who sometimes goes by James David Clark, used a knife in the incident but didn’t specify what type.

Clark’s in custody in San Francisco County jail on $100,000 bail for the carjacking charge and no bail for a felony motion to revoke probation. The probation is for seconddegree burglary.

Erin Crane, who’s been appointed as Clark’s attorney, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Wednesday morning, July 18.

The next court date is August 1 for a prehearing conference.▼

as he could and pull over.

“I didn’t know where he was,” said Wilcox, but then “I felt the rear tire go over Mr. Cox.” He said that he had no recollection of “braking or not braking” other than to come to a complete stop, but he felt that if he’d braked, a tire could have ended up on top of Cox. Wilcox said he had remained at the scene after the incident.

During cross-examination, Assistant District Attorney Mary Plomin questioned Wilcox repeatedly on why he’d kept driving after running over Cox the first time.

Among other things, Wilcox said that he’d wanted to “get over to the curb, get out, and render aid,” and he hadn’t known where Cox was.

According to the medical examiner’s report, paramedics found Cox lying on the pavement and speaking “with slurred, incomprehensible speech.” He died late that afternoon at San Francisco General Hospi-

tal. The cause of death was listed as blunt force injuries of the chest and abdomen.

As he responded to questions from Trujillo last Thursday, San Francisco police Inspector Clifford Cook referred to a witness who said that they had seen Cox walk “directly into the crosswalk without hesitation.” But he told Plomin that he hadn’t directly asked the bystander whether Wilcox had turned or Cox had stepped into the crosswalk first.

In a brief call with the Bay Area Reporter last year, Trujillo called Cox’s death “a terrible accident.”

David Douma, whose home Cox used to visit frequently, recently said, “A day doesn’t go by that we don’t remember Bill, especially at about 9 o’clock in the morning, when he used to come over here for coffee.”

Friends of Wilcox’s were in court last Thursday but declined to comment.▼

<< Open Forum

4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 19-25, 2012

Volume 42, Number 29 July 19-25, 2012 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Thomas E. Horn Bob Ross (Founder, 1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko Seth Hemmelgarn Jim Provenzano CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan Aiello • Tavo Amador • Erin Blackwell Roger Brigham • Scott Brogan Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Chuck Colbert Richard Dodds • David Duran Raymond Flournoy • David Guarino Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell John F. Karr • Matthew Kennedy David Lamble • Michael McDonagh David-Elijah Nahmod • Elliot Owen Paul Parish • Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff Jim Piechota • Bob Roehr • Donna Sachet Adam Sandel • Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Ed Walsh • Sura Wood

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▼

New weapon to curb HIV T

he U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s unexpected approval Monday of Truvada as an HIV prevention drug is welcome news. While an FDA panel had recommended the drug for preexposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, the FDA’s decision came a few months ahead of schedule and just before the International AIDS Conference opens in Washington, D.C. next week.

Truvada is already an approved medication for HIV. Now, HIVnegative people who are at high risk of exposure to the virus have a new tool to help them remain uninfected. Two major clinical trials have shown that PrEP’s effectiveness rose to 90 percent when taken regularly.

There are real concerns about the cost of PrEP, as well as assurances that people use it properly. The FDA said that Truvada is meant to be used as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention plan that includes risk reduction counseling, consistent and correct condom use, regular HIV testing, and screening for and treatment of other sexually-transmitted infections.

Truvada is not a substitute for safer sex practices.

People should not now assume that they can take a pill a day and not contract HIV. PrEP only reduces the spread of the virus and is not a guarantee against infection.

HIV testing remains a key component of prevention, and people should be tested regularly and know their status. Gilead Sciences, which manufacturers Truvada, has offered to provide the drug at no cost to low-income people without health insurance. The next step is to make it available in other countries hit hard by HIV.

start early next month. Not surprisingly, the mayor turned down PETA’s offer of $10,000 to halt the program, and is willing to give it a chance.

PETA should too. After all, if it’s so concerned about the welfare of animals, it should welcome a pilot program like WOOF that seeks to prevent dogs from being put down because their current behavior makes them less attractive for adoption.

Dufty expressed dismay at the animal rights group, and said that PETA, which usually has compassion for animals, “is showing a glaring lack of compassion for people.”

“They would like panhandlers to go away,” Dufty told us, adding that he’s talked to numerous organizations and found that one can “either push people around” among social services or give them a way out. Dufty is opting for the latter.

Interestingly, 20 people showed up at a recent WOOF orientation, a number that impressed Dufty.

PETA’s letter stated that “most former panhandlers are financially destitute because of struggles with substance abuse and mental health issues of their own.” But Dufty points out that PETA, like most people, is “bringing a lot of judgment” around drugs and alcohol. He advises all of us to “let go of some of that judgment.”

Most of the criticisms of the WOOF program are based on the false notion that the city will simply be handing out puppies to panhandlers on the streets, something that won’t be happen-

ing, said Rebecca Katz with Animal Care and Control.

While some underage puppies may be part of the program, she said, most of the dogs will be adolescents that are either under-socialized and have shut down emotionally, or are “adolescent rowdy.” “We don’t have people willing to foster” the animals, she said, so the program is “a dignified way people can earn a little money and help creatures.”

She emphasized that potentially aggressive dogs or those with a history of aggressiveness are not part of the program. Additionally, as noted, the clients must be enrolled in the housing program and not living on the streets.

Katz talked about the human-animal bond and how it can be helpful to both. Studies have shown people with pets tend to be in better mental and physical health because dogs are loyal companions that brighten up a person’s day with unconditional love. Some prisons have programs in which inmates work with dogs for their positive therapeutic effects so why not try a similar program for marginally housed poor people?

“I don’t think you can affect homelessness without acknowledging people are poor,” Dufty said.

And that’s the bottom line.

If PETA had come up with a constructive alternative that would be one thing. But to simply offer to throw $10,000 at the city for halting what could be a successful program – before it’s even started – is just another example of the organization seeking media attention above all else.▼

PETA barking up the wrong tree The dog days of summer can get pretty heated when you have PETA breathing down your neck, as Mayor Ed Lee’s homeless policy adviser Bevan Dufty discovered last week. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals fired off a letter to Lee that demands the city scrap its innovative new program Wonderful Opportunities for Occupants and Fidos that seeks to pair hard-to-adopt dogs from Animal Care and Control with formerly homeless people who live in partnership housing. The idea is that the clients will be able to work with the dogs, helping to socialize them so they can be adopted and in return receive a small stipend of around $50 a week so they will not panhandle. In fact, an explicit provision prohibiting panhandling will be in their contracts. The WOOF program was the brainchild of Dufty, the openly gay former supervisor, and is expected to

Re-examine the criminalization of HIV

by Jeff Sheehy

N

ext week the XIX International AIDS Conference will convene in Washington, D.C., and for the first time in 22 years it will be back on American soil, thanks to President Barack Obama’s lifting of the ban on travel into this country by HIV-positive individuals.

With research published recently showing that treating HIV-positive folks to the point of viral suppression reduces the likelihood that their HIV-negative partner will acquire HIV by 96 percent and that HIV-negative individuals taking a two-drug antiretroviral combo on a daily basis can reduce their risk of getting HIV by around 90 percent (pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP), expectations are high that the Obama administration will announce proposals providing the resources needed to break the back of our epidemic by implementing these research findings in communities across America.

Obama’s national AIDS strategy has already started through measures to expand HIV testing and treatment, along with linking and retaining patients in care. Treating upon diagnosis with HIV and the rollout of PrEp are likely additions in new initiatives. (The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved Truvada for PrEP.) However, I fear the recalibration of the criminal laws used to prosecute people with HIV remains sorely neglected. Let me give an example of the problem.

Nick Rhoades, HIV-positive since 1999, was taking antiretrovirals and his viral levels were suppressed to an undetectable level when he had sex with a negative partner in 2008. They had oral sex without ejaculation and without condoms. They had anal sex, with Rhoades as the top, and he wore a condom. No HIV trans-

mission took place, yet Rhoades was arrested and prosecuted under Iowa’s criminal transmission of HIV law. Convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison, he was released after a year in jail and his sentence reduced to five years probation. He remains a registered sex offender and is battling his conviction (huge thanks to POZ I AM and the Center for HIV Law and Policy for this background).

According to the Center for HIV Law and Policy, 32 states, two territories, and the federal government have “HIV-specific” criminal laws. If Test and Treat, plus Linkage to Care is implemented across the country as hoped, how does it square with a legal environment where seemingly responsible behavior by HIVpositive folks, like Rhoades, is harshly prosecuted?

If the plan is to dramatically increase testing and to encourage newly diagnosed poz folks to immediately start treatment with the explicit understanding that they can dramatically reduce their chances of infecting their partners if they succeed in achieving undetectability on their meds, is it still fair to subject them to severe criminal prosecutions if they have unsafe sex? And what if their negative partner has been taking a two-drug antiretroviral combo diligently on a daily basis to prevent HIV infection?

I think the hope is that if unsafe sex takes place, it occurs under exactly those conditions and the expectation is that HIV transmission will be negligible. In fact, a study was conducted in Switzerland of 46 sero-discordant heterosexual couples seeking to conceive with the HIV-positive male partner treated to suppression and the female HIV-negative partner

taking PrEP. The results, published in AIDS by Vernazza et al in 2011, found no HIV transmissions along with several babies safely conceived.

And as an aside, in 2008 the Swiss Federal Commission for HIV/AIDS resolved that, “an HIV-infected person on antiretroviral therapy with completely suppressed viremia is not sexually infectious, i.e. cannot transmit HIV through sexual contact and that this statement is valid as long as: the person adheres to antiretroviral therapy, the effects of which must be evaluated regularly by the treating physician, and viral load has been suppressed for at least six months, and there are no other sexually transmitted infections.”

If he were Swiss, Rhoades would not have been arrested, much less prosecuted and convicted. And again I ask, how can we start talking about ramping up biomedical prevention to “end AIDS” in America, without refining the laws that criminalize sexually acts

by HIV-positive individuals?

Trust, communication, and cooperation with communities hard hit by HIV and the success of new initiatives would be greatly bolstered by taking on and changing the draconian legal environment that envelops most Americans with HIV. And, enacting laws that reflect the latest scientific evidence will help reduce the staggering burden of stigma endured by people with HIV.▼ Jeff Sheehy has been living with HIV since 1997 and was the HIV/AIDS adviser to former Mayor Gavin Newsom. He is attending next week’s AIDS conference and you can follow him on Twitter at @jeffsheehysf.

Community News >>

▼ Pride swells in Castro Valley

by Matthew S. Bajko

T

he inaugural event in 2011, thrown together in a matter of weeks, drew 250 attendees. For the second installment, it had been estimated 500 people might show up.

Now organizers of Castro Valley Pride in the East Bay are bracing for as many as 1,000 people to take part in the LGBT festival this Saturday, July 21. The crowd count from this year will impact what happens in 2013.

“If this one is really well attended, if we get 2,000 people, we could need a larger space next year,” said organizer Billy Bradford, adding that the plan for now is to host a third and likely annual Pride event going forward.

“We will see how it goes. Right now it is a yes. But we need to see what happens this year.”

An unincorporated area of Alameda County, Castro Valley lies south of Lake Chabot against the San Leandro Hills. According to the 2010 census, its population totaled 61,388 people.

Same-sex married couples or partners accounted for 1 percent of the 22,348 households in the census area.

On Tuesday, members of the community held a debate on same-sex marriage. Bradford argued in support, along with Dr. Irene Landaw, a local Kaiser pediatrician and the Reverend Arlene Nehring from Eden United Church of Christ. Several years ago, Nehring’s appearance at a diversity day on the Castro Valley High campus drew anonymous emails critical of her talk. City residents Stacy Spink, Peter Hauer, and Trinity Bustria argued against marriage equality.

“There are a lot of LGBT families here,” said Bradford, 56, a single father whose son is 17 and heading to college in the fall. “It is not like the Castro, obviously.”

A 10-year resident of Castro Valley, Bradford works for a law firm in downtown San Francisco. He said there are many gays and lesbians who have jobs in the city but live across the bay due to the cheaper home prices and better schools.

“They are not dykes on bikes.

They are not leather men. They are parents who have children and want a good school system and an affordable house,” said Bradford, who is an organizer in the Bay Area for both Get

Courtesy Billy Bradford

Organizers of last year’s inaugural Castro Valley Pride event addressed the crowd and included, from left, Holly Zeitz, Johnna Murch, Billy Bradford, Frankie Canto (partially obscured), and Blair Hansen.

Equal and Marriage Equality USA. “Our Pride is not going to be what you might see in San Francisco or Oakland. It is about our community and families. It is a family-oriented event.”

It began last year after Bradford met a local high school student who thought Castro Valley should host some sort of Pride rally. The plans quickly grew into an outdoor festival held in a parking lot at Castro Valley High School.

This year a group of high school students and parents have spent the last three months organizing the Pride event with a budget of $3,000.

Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, scheduled to speak Saturday afternoon, secured $1,000 in funding, while the rest came from sponsors and the selling of booth space for $50 each.

As of press time Wednesday, July 18 nearly all 50 of the booths had sold out. According to a donation page at castrovalleypride.chipin.com/ castro-valley-pride-2012, more than $3,335 had already been raised to cover expenses.

“It is really expensive. Security is expensive and we have to pay for permits,” said Bradford. “I don’t think people realize how much it costs.”

Entertainment includes a Hawaiian dance troupe, a local rapper, and the cast of a local production of the Broadway musical Hairspray. There will be a face painter and balloon

artist for kids.

Those expected to join Miley on stage as guest speakers include state Senator Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro) and a representative of Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who represents the area and is vice chair of the congressional LGBT Equality Caucus.

San Leandro Mayor Stephen Cassidy, who helped launch the Mayors for the Freedom to Marry campaign earlier this year, and Hayward City Councilman Bill Quirk, who spoke last year, are also expected to attend.

“They are jumping on board because I think everyone over here realizes there are a lot of LGBT families on this side of the bay,” Bradford said of the growing political support for the Pride event. “You go into Hayward, Castro Valley, and San Leandro you will find a lot of LGBT families.”

The Pride event, dubbed Rainbow Rally in the Valley, takes place from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday in the senior parking lot on Mabel Street at Castro Valley High School, 19400 Santa Maria Avenue.

Entrance is free but donations of any amount will be accepted and specially designed T-shirts will be on sale for $10. All proceeds will go toward paying for the 2013 event.

For more information visit the event’s Facebook page at www.facebook.comevents/34193 9409188312/.▼

SB 48 repeal bid fails to make ballot compiled by Cynthia Laird

T

he coalition trying to repeal Senate Bill 48 announced Monday, July 16 that they’ve failed to gather the needed signatures to put their initiative on the ballot this year.

SB 48, also known as the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful Education Act, requires that California school students be taught about the historical contributions of LGBT Americans. Antigay activists needed 504,760 signatures

by Monday to qualify their measure.

In a statement, members of Children Learning Accurate Social Science Act claimed they had gathered about 446,000 signatures.

Kevin Snider, Pacific Justice Institute chief counsel and author of the repeal bid, indicated that they were unable to raise enough money for paid signature gatherers.

“Placing a measure on the ballot through grassroots efforts alone has not been done in California in recent memory,” Snider stated.

Another repeal effort backed by many, if not all, of the same people

failed to gain enough signatures last year.

SFPD condoms bulletin released San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr has issued a department-wide bulletin that says, “Members are reminded not to confiscate unopened condoms.”

The document, made available Friday, July 13, comes more than three weeks after a Bay Area Reporter story in which two department officials in the same unit contradicted one another: One said police don’t take condoms as evidence of prostitution, but the other said they do. Reports, mostly indirect, of police confiscating condoms have raised concerns about people being less likely to carry them, thereby putting people at greater risk for HIV transmission.

In the bulletin, Suhr refers to city public harm reduction policy and strategy regarding HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. He says, “Members may photograph or otherwise document possession of unopened condoms, money, and re-

lated paraphernalia when establishing probable cause for ‘loitering for the purpose of prostitution,’” and refers to the state penal code.

Suhr says members of the San Francisco Police Department should not confuse the order with a previous document addressing preservation of used condoms at crime scenes. Officers are reminded to adhere to the previous orders, he says.

Suhr had said the B.A.R. would get a copy of the condoms bulletin

by Monday night, July 2. In response to an email about the delay, Sergeant Michael Andraychak, a police spokesman, said in a July 10 message, “Some language needed to be clarified in order to bring the bulletin into accord with the policy on seizing evidence related to sexual assault investigations.”

Oakland gay chorus to host piano concert The Oakland East Bay Gay Men’s Chorus will present “Another Evening of Piano Music” Saturday, July 21 in Oakland.

Andrew Canepa and the chorus’ interim artistic director, Stephanie Smith, will perform solo and chamber music repertoire.

See page 13 >>

July 19-25, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

<< National News

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 19-25, 2012

▼

Episcopals move forward with same-sex blessing, transgender inclusion

by Chuck Colbert

I

t’s a new day for the Episcopal Church, as clergy and leaders prepare to welcome an official blessing for same-sex couples and affirm full participation by transgender people.

Meeting in its triennial gathering last week in Indianapolis, the Episcopal Church approved an official blessing for same-sex couples and at the same time delegates at the 77th General Convention (July 5-12) approved another LGBT-positive resolution, one that affirms full transgender participation, including a non-discrimination policy, which allows for the ordination of transgender clergy in the priesthood.

The vote on gay blessings came July 10 and was lopsidedly in favor, with the House of Deputies, which includes the laity and clergy, giving its approval by a 171-50 margin, according to the New York Times.

The vote in the House of Bishops, a day earlier, was equally decisive, with delegates favoring the new rite by 111-41, including three abstentions, according to Episcopal News Service.

While falling short of using the word “marriage” to describe the new rite – called “The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant” – its liturgical celebration is similar.

For example, the couples consent to a lifelong commitment, exchange vows and rings, and receive a blessing.

Starting on the first Sunday of Advent, December 2, clergy members will need permission of their bishops to bless gay couples.

But clergy can decline to preside at a blessing liturgy as the resolution also states that no one “should be coerced or penalized in any manner,

nor suffer any canonical disabilities” for either supporting or objecting to the convention’s approval of a blessing rite for same-sex couples.

In a telephone interview, the Reverend Jay E. Johnson, an ordained Episcopal priest, discussed the significance of his church’s more fully embracing LGBT persons among the faithful.

“For some observers” these recent actions at General Convention “might seem like this is coming out of the blue,” he said. “But the Episcopal Church has been working on LGBT issues for a relatively long time.”

Johnson, who is gay, wears several hats at the Berkeley-based Pacific School of Religion where he is a lecturer in theology and culture and senior director at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry for Academic Research and Resources.

Back in 1976, Johnson explained, General Convention “using the language of the day, passed a resolution which said homosexuals, like all other persons, have full and equal claim on the love, acceptance, and pastoral care of the church.”

Of course, over time, the question became how to put that into practice, said Johnson, who readily acknowledged, “a lot of two steps forward and one step back, along the way.”

A significant Episcopal milestone was reached in 2003, moreover, with the consecration of its first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Two years ago, Mary Glasspoll became the second openly gay Episcopal bishop in the Los Angeles Diocese.

Johnson also said that while other

The Reverend Jay Johnson

blessing liturgies have been done in various parts of the church for some time, the recent resolution is important “because the national church is giving approval for a rite to be used throughout the whole church for this purpose.”

“It’s no longer an ad hoc” experiment “to see if we can get away with it,” he said, referring to blessing liturgy.

Rather, “It’s a firm, clear, and formal acknowledgement and recognition same-gender couples in our congregations,” said Johnson.

Three years ago, General Convention gave provisional permission to clergy to bless gay couples, but only with their bishops’ approval.

Another significant feature of the 2012 resolution, said Johnson “is its call to form a three-year task force to study further the meaning of Christian marriage.”

Johnson served as chair of the Theological Resources Task Force for the resolution.

“For those of us who worked on this for the past two-and-a-half years we realized a real need for educational materials and conversations and ways to engage people on the theological meaning of marriage,” he said.

“Even though this was not a wedding liturgy that was approved and even though marriage was not used to describe it, it’s very clearly calling for study on what is Christian marriage anyway,” Johnson explained.

“So I am really excited about those conversations moving forward.”

The materials approved as part of the blessing resolution are nearly 100 pages, which include a series of theological essays, educational materials for congregations, pastoral care materials for couples and congregations, and the liturgical rites.

Transgender inclusion Meanwhile, transgender Episcopalians are equally excited and celebratory with the approval of a resolution called “Extending the Rights of the Laity,” which bans discrimination on the basis of “gender identity” and “gender expression.”

Another resolution, titled “Affirming Access to Discernment Process for Ministry” makes explicit that ordination is open to transgender persons and that they have “equal place in the life, worship, and governance of the church.”

The Reverend Cameron Partridge, who serves in the Episcopal chaplaincy at Boston University, offered his thoughts in e-mail correspondence.

“As someone who was ordained as an openly transgender man in 2004-5, it was especially affirming to see the convention take this bold step, proclaiming that there be no bar to trans people discerning a lay or ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church,” he said.

As in 2009, Partridge attended General Convention with TransEpiscopal, a group of transgender and allied Episcopalians who, he said, “came to share stories and make ourselves available for conversations, particularly with those unfamiliar with the trans community.”

“We were so moved by the conversations we were able to have.

With the strong support of partner organizations IntegrityUSA, the Consultation, and the Chicago Consultation, we were able to connect with a wide range of people.

Both the Houses of Bishops and

<<

Boy Scouts

From page 1

and leaders” and “an end of discrimination in an organization that is shaping the future.”

And yet the Scout leadership had already made up its mind – even before Tyrrell arrived.

In explaining its policy reaffirmation, an 11-member special committee that Scout leaders formed discreetly in 2010 concluded that “current policy remains the best interest of Scouting,” according to a BSA press release and Associated Press reporting.

Current organizational policy reads, “While the BSA does not proactively inquire about the sexual orientation of employees, volunteers, or members, we do not grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA.” For his part, Bob Mazzuca, BSA’s chief scout executive, said in a statement, “While a majority of our

Deputies passed our resolutions by a wide margin – the ordained ministry resolution passed by 85 percent in the Deputies (the only vote for which we have exact numbers),” said Partridge.

“Though people of all ages and all regions of the country supported the trans resolutions, young adults offered particularly moving testimony, and that was especially gratifying to me, as someone who works with young adults at Boston University and Harvard Divinity School,” he added.

“Ultimately, to my mind, the General Convention votes were about recognizing our connection to one another, seeing one another’s humanity, even when we do not fully comprehend one another’s experience. And for that reason, I hope that the conversations will continue, particularly with those who did not agree with the votes or may even feel alienated by them. At the end of the day, we are all part of one another.

We all contribute indispensably to the wider whole,” Partridge said.

For its part, the Chicago Consultation issued a statement on transgender inclusion.

“During our long journey toward the full inclusion of lesbian and gay Christians in the life of the church, Episcopalians have slowly come to accept that God made us in more varieties than typical ‘masculine’ men and ‘feminine’ women and have begun to respond to this insight by dealing more justly with previously marginalized and stigmatized transgender people,” said the Reverend Lowell Grisham, a coconvener of the group.

He added, “Today the Episcopal Church affirmed the human dignity of a deeply stigmatized population that is far too often victim to discrimination, bullying and abuse. We will no longer turn a blind eye to the violence and rejection suffered by transgender people. Now our clergy and lay leaders can represent the breadth of our church and serve as agents of welcome to all of God’s people.”

The Chicago Consultation is a group of Episcopal and Anglican bishops, clergy and lay people, in support of the full inclusion of LGBT Christians in the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The Episcopal Church, with 1.9 million members, is the U.S. branch of Anglicanism, which has roots in the English Reformation.▼

membership agrees with our policy, we fully understand that no single policy will accommodate the many diverse views among our membership or society.”

He added, “The vast majority of the parents of youth we serve value their right to address issues of samesex orientation within their family, with spiritual advisers, and at the appropriate time and in the right setting.”

The news came after a 19-yearold Scout, Eric Jones, was kicked out of his Missouri troop Sunday after coming out to his director at summer camp.

Reaction LGBT rights groups reacted strongly to the Scouts’ decision to remain anti-gay.

“This is a missed opportunity of colossal proportions,” said Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin in a statement.

“With the country moving toward inclusion, the leaders of the Boy Scouts of America have instead See page 11 >>

▼

Politics >>

July 19-25, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

July heats up with political events

by Matthew S. Bajko

T

he dog days of summer are proving to be expensive for LGBT donors in the Bay Area.

From candidates for local offices to the presidential contenders, numerous politicians have been hosting fundraisers in recent weeks to fill up their campaign coffers ahead of the fall election. And more such events are set to take place over the coming week.

Last Saturday, LGBT leaders in the South Bay hosted a $100-a-person fundraiser for Congressman Mike Honda (D-Campbell) at the home of gay Campbell City Councilman Richard Waterman.

Gay state Assemblyman Rich Gordon (D-Menlo Park) and his husband, Dr. Dennis McShane, are hosting an invite-only fundraiser tonight (Thursday, July 19) at their home for Gordon’s re-election bid.

It will also celebrate Gordon’s turning 64 on July 3.

They have invited as a special guest openly gay Assembly Speaker John A. Perez (D-Los Angeles).

“When I was 18 and diving headfirst into protesting the Vietnam War, and heard the Beatles’ song ‘When I’m Sixty-Four,’ I couldn’t imagine being 64. Now here I am, 64 years old, and political activism has defined my life for the past 45 years,” Gordon, chair of the Legislative LGBT Caucus, wrote in an invitation he sent to supporters via Facebook. “Donations made in support of this event will be used to help send me back to Sacramento so that I can continue to serve in the state Assembly on your behalf. “ Gordon has received some blowback for his voting this month in support of the state’s controversial highspeed rail project. The legislation approved by lawmakers includes provisions to electrify Caltrain’s Peninsula tracks, a $1.5 billion project, by 2019 and make them compatible with high-speed trains under a “blended system,” something Gordon fought hard to see be included in the bill.

“I think high-speed rail has to be part of California’s future,” Gordon told the Bay Area Reporter this spring.

“Connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco with a high-speed train is an investment that needs to be made.”

Despite strong pockets of opposition to the train project in his Assembly district, which stretches from Mountain View west to Half Moon Bay and other coastal communities, Gordon is expected to easily win reelection this November. A large portion of the money he will raise from donors will likely be used instead to elect Democrats running in swing districts around the state.

The latest campaign finance reports won’t be out until later this month; as of May 19 Gordon reported raising $178,360 in 2012.

With 40 percent of his district new due to redistricting, Gordon is spending money on his own race, sending out mailers to his new constituents.

“We haven’t taken anything for granted,” he said.

Oakland race could get volatile Speculation that longtime Oakland City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente would pull papers to run for the city’s at-large council seat had the incumbent, lesbian City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, hitting up her supporters for campaign donations last week.

An East Bay Express article, citing unnamed “City Hall sources,” said that De La Fuente would give up his District 5 seat to take on Kaplan ahead of running against Mayor Jean Quan in 2014. The conjecture centered on

Rick Gerharter

Assembly Speaker John A. Perez

the fact that the councilman wants to place a measure on the fall ballot that would repeal Oakland’s rankedchoice voting.

Such a citywide campaign could give De La Fuente a platform to circumvent campaign finance laws, according to the Express. Kaplan could then find herself outgunned moneywise, as De La Fuente could raise unlimited funds for his ballot measure and serve as its lead spokesman.

The news hit a day after the B.A.R.’s online Political Notes July 9 column reported that Kaplan had yet to attract a serious opponent in her re-election race and appeared to have an easy road to winning a second term.

“Things can change quickly in politics,” noted Kaplan in an emailed pitch for donations that linked to the two stories.

She added that she’ll “run the same grassroots, issue-based campaign around my record – with or without an opponent. And I’ll need you by my side either way. But your support today will make sure we have the resources to get our message out across town – no matter what we’re up against.”

As of press time Wednesday, De La Fuente had yet to pull papers to seek the at-large seat. The Express reported Monday that his ballot measure was stricken from the council’s July 17 agenda because it failed to garner support from the mayor and city administrator. Tuesday’s meeting was the last before the council takes its summer recess and when the council returns in September it will be past the deadline to put the measure on the ballot, the paper noted.

Obama, Romney swing through Bay Area Having already hit up donors in San Francisco and on the Peninsula in recent months, President Barack Obama is now targeting the East Bay. The president, who is trailing his presumptive Republican opponent Mitt Romney in the money race, is hosting a series of local fundraisers Monday, July 23.

In June Obama’s campaign pulled in $71 million, its best monthly fundraising total to date, yet Romney and the GOP managed to raise $106 million.

“This is no joke. If we can’t keep the money race close, it becomes that much harder to win in November,” Ann Marie Habershaw, the chief operating officer for Obama for America, wrote in an email to supporters last week.

Obama will first participate in a technology roundtable in Oakland before heading to the Piedmont home of Quinn Delaney and Wayne Jordan for a dinner reception. That event is limited to 45 people and costs $35,8000 per person.

Delaney is the founder and president of the Akonadi Foundation, aimed at nurturing the racial justice

movement. Her husband Jordan, a real estate investor and developer, is the foundation’s secretary-treasurer.

Later that night Obama will head to the Fox Theatre in Oakland for a campaign rally with supporters.

Tickets for the cheaper $100 balcony seats sold out within days, while general admission tickets costing $250 also are expected to sell out.

At the higher end are $1,000 preferred seating, while tickets at the $7,500 level come with preferred seating and entrance to a photo reception with Obama. Tickets were still available as of press time Wednesday (July 18) at donate. barackobama.com/page/contribute/ o2012-July23OaklandReception1?c ustom1=205504.

Medical marijuana advocates plan to protest Obama’s visit over the Justice Department’s continuing crackdown on cannabis dispensaries throughout California. Last week the outrage was over the planned shutdown of Oakland’s Harborside Health Center, reputed to be the nation’s largest medical marijuana dispensary.

LGBT rights activists are planning their own protest. They continue to press him to sign an executive order banning LGBT discrimination by federal contractors.

Romney is also targeting Bay Area donors with his own lineup of Peninsula fundraisers July 22. A lunchtime $50,000-a-person get-together will be held of the Woodside home of Siebel Systems founder Tom Siebel.

Then the former Massachusetts governor is expected to attend an event at the Fairmont Hotel atop San Francisco’s Nob Hill. Romney wraps up his swing through town at a private $50,000-per-plate dinner hosted by Shaklee Corporation chairman and CEO Roger Barnett and his wife, Sloan.

SF Dems set to elect new chair The newly elected members of San Francisco’s Democratic County Central Committee will be sworn in at the July 25 meeting. And it appears longtime DCCC member Mary Jung will be named chair of the local Democratic Party’s oversight panel.

As the B.A.R. reported in a blog post shortly after the June primary, Jung had emerged as the likely candidate to succeed party chair Aaron Peskin, who opted not to seek reelection.

Currently serving as the party’s recording secretary, Jung is a straight moderate and strong ally of the LGBT community. She initially had told the B.A.R. she was not interested in becoming chair.

But her fellow DCCC members convinced her to change course.

Several sources told the Political Notebook over the last week that Jung continues to have a lock on the chairmanship.

Former LGBT center ED returns A familiar face among the city’s LGBT leadership has returned.

Thom Lynch, formerly the executive director of San Francisco’s LGBT Community Center, is back in town.

He started work Monday, July 9 as vice president of development at the United Way of the Bay Area.

Lynch is credited with turning around the LGBT center’s finances following a poor first year of operation in 2002. In 2007 he moved to Spain only to return to the city a year later.

He took over New Leaf: Services for Our Community and in 2010 oversaw the closure of the LGBT nonprofit due to its no longer being financially viable. Then the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles hired him to be its executive director,

Rick Gerharter

Former LGBT center director Thom Lynch is back in San Francisco, now working at United Way of the Bay Area.

and Lynch relocated to southern California.

It doesn’t sound like he will miss living in West Hollywood, where he took up residence while working for the choral group. The famous gay enclave’s rules regarding storage containers for moving had him fuming on Facebook.

“Got off the phone with the City of West Hollywood today. What a bunch of idiots. They seem only to be interested in serving developers and businesses. Can’t say I’ve ever had a good experience at town hall,” complained Lynch.

Surely the same can’t be said of 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place. ▼ Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion, is on summer hiatus. It will return Monday, August 13.

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

<< Bay Area Living

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 19-25, 2012

▼

Priced out of the Castro? Head for Brisbane, says economist

by Matthew S. Bajko

S

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an Francisco’s Castro district may be considered a gay mecca the world over, but it costs a pretty penny to live there these days. Housing prices have climbed so high that fears of the neighborhood’s degayification have steadily increased over the years.

As they search out cheaper neighborhoods, more and more gay men are taking up residence elsewhere in the city. Some of the areas, such as the Bayview and Visitacion Valley, are as down-on-their-luck as the Castro was in the 1970s when it first started to attract gay residents.

Yet the cheapest place for gay men to live, according to real estate website Trulia, isn’t within the city’s borders.

The San Francisco-based company issued a report last month declaring Brisbane, just south of the city, as the best alternative for those who can’t afford the Castro.

“To get much below $500 per square foot and still have gay-male neighbors, look to Brisbane,” wrote Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko in a report posted to the company’s blog June 15.

Based on ZIP codes, the company calculated the share of same-sex male couples households using data from the 2010 census. Those figures where then combined with the median price per foot of listed homes in each ZIP code Trulia had registered on its site over the past year.

The calculations found that Brisbane’s 94005 ZIP code registered a pauper-friendly $311 per square foot.

(They also looked at data for same-sex female couples, declaring Oakland’s Redwood Heights neighborhood lesbians’ best bet for finding inexpensive digs. See story, page 9.)

The Castro’s 94114 ZIP code, at $671 per square foot, topped the list of the country’s 10 most expensive ZIP codes with the highest concentration of same-sex male households. The 94131 ZIP code covering Noe Valley, Diamond Heights, and Glen Park registered a close second with $564 per square foot.

“No surprise that San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood is at the top of the list, but throughout the country there are suburban and small-town neighborhoods with high concentrations of gay people,” wrote Kolko.

“Even in the big, expensive cities, it’s possible to find a gay community without spending a fortune.”

But Brisbane, population 4,282, as a viable gayborhood compared to the Castro? Most people would be hard pressed to locate it on a map. And the Australian city of the same name eclipses it in international name recognition.

It is nestled on the eastern slopes of San Bruno Mountain. Blink and you’ll miss it driving past on Highway 101.

There is no BART station, though a local bus line does stop on the outskirts of Brisbane’s sleepy four-block Main Street. The nearest Caltrain stop is a mile from town.

Its relative obscurity was turned into a moneymaker for the town’s library, which sold “Where the hell is Brisbane?” T-shirts one year to raise funds.

The San Mateo County city isn’t even listed as a location option on the popular gay hookup site AdamforAdam. (The omission was discovered in trying to seek out gay Brisbane residents to interview for this story.)

None of the handful of gay men on Facebook listed as living in Brisbane agreed to be interviewed by the Bay Area Reporter for this article. The only person who responded wrote that he wasn’t sure he could provide comment since he works in San Francisco “and well Brisbane is just a place to lay my head.”

The employee at a local hotel then

Danny Buskirk

Residential homes are nestled into the hillside of Brisbane, just south of San Francisco.

asked, “Does Brisbane really have that many gays?”

The truthful answer to that is no, said longtime Brisbane resident Kevin Fryer, a gay man who serves on the city’s Recreation and Parks Commission. He hadn’t heard about his hometown being dubbed a cheap place for gay men to live until after being sent the Trulia report by the B.A.R. After reading it, he said, “I think the study is a little odd. It is not like there are lots of gay men running all over the place,” said Fryer, a harpsichord maker who has called Brisbane home since 1997.

Fryer, 56, said he knows a handful of fellow gay and lesbian residents.

“The short answer is yes, I know a fair number,” he said, quickly adding, “There is not a gay majority population by any means.”

Nonetheless, he and his partner, Sisto Flores, 50, are very fond of Brisbane.

“We really love living there,” said Fryer, who launched a chamber concert series in town a while back and serves as its artistic director.

Small town charms Asked if he thought other gay men would want to live there, Fryer said he had never thought about Brisbane in such a way.

“It is a funny thing to put that framing on it being a great place for gay men. It is a great place to be totally integrated into a culture as a gay person,” said Fryer. “You are just totally integrated into the culture at-large.”

Another longtime gay Brisbane resident, Tom Lambert, 65, said the community is very gay friendly. He recalled that the city has had several gay council members since the 1990s and knows half a dozen gay and lesbian couples who live in town.

“It is a nice place to live. It feels like you are out in the country half way between the city and the airport,” said Lambert, a retired accountant. “Brisbane has always been a well kept secret for obvious reasons. It is a small community and has a lot of community spirit.”

He and his husband, Tom Stout, moved to town in 1990. The longtime partners met in 1975 and bought a house in Glen Park in 1978 for $80,000.

When they bought their home in Brisbane it cost $260,000. Lambert estimated the home is now worth about $750,000.

Fryer also had been living in Glen Park when he moved into an apartment in Brisbane “with a broken heart,” he said. He chose the city because it was close to his studio in the Bayview.

“At the time I thought I would be there a few years,” he recalled.

He ended up staying, and in 2000 became the first homeowner in a new development being built called Altamar at the Ridge. The three-bedroom,

Danny Buskirk

Kevin Fryer and Sisto Flores have called Brisbane home for many years.

two-bath house cost $400,000, and due to the economy, likely would sell for the same today, he said.

“It is probably a good time to buy,” said Fryer.

There may not be good public transportation options, but the Castro is just a 20-minute car drive, Lambert noted. The weather is much nicer than the city, he added, and he enjoys being able to access hiking trails for the protected open space from his backyard.

“I would never leave here. I would never move away from here,” he said.

“I can’t imagine a nicer place to live than here.”

The town, with its small downtown and homes built into the bowl-shaped hillsides, feels like a warmer, fog-free version of Glen Park. It has some of the charms of city living, say residents, but with less crime and congestion.

Mad House Coffee at the end of Visitacion Avenue, Brisbane’s main drag, acts as a community gathering place, while at the other end is a public park home to a weekly farmer’s market on Thursday evenings.

There is a dog park near City Hall and, on the other side of the highway, is a marina and bayside hiking trails. A large lagoon keeps the freeway traffic at somewhat of a distance from Brisbane. Many of the homes have gorgeous views of San Francisco’s downtown skyline and the bay.

Brisbane’s nickname is “City of the Stars,” and the celestial bodies adorn the city’s street signs. At Christmas time large wooden stars attached to buildings throughout town are lighted at night.

“I love it. It is a small town and you know everybody,” said Fryer. “It is a small town where you can make a difference and make things happen.”

Maybe an influx of gay residents will finally put Brisbane on the map.▼ The Trulia report on cheaper alternatives to gayborhoods throughout the country can be found at trends.truliablog. com/2012/06/welcome-to-thegayborhood/.

▼

Bay Area Living >>

July 19-25, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

Oakland neighborhood offers good housing prices and diversity school’s LGBTQ-friendly atmosphere.

“It turned out that there were four queer families in our daughter’s kindergarten class,” she said, “It’s been great because the school recognized it was really important to put all those kids in the same class instead of splitting them up.”

The Aldridge-Peacock couple, both high school teachers, bought their home for $580,000, a price that Vasey says is average depending on what you’re looking for.

“A three bedroom, two bathroom goes for between $650,000 and $750,000,” she said. “A two bedroom, one bathroom is between $450,000 and $600,000.”

Other neighborhoods in Oakland that many lesbian couples call home are the Temescal, Skyline, Dimond, and Laurel districts and an area known as Lavender Hill just south of Mills College.▼

Elliot Owen

Anne, left, and Suzanne, right, Aldridge-Peacock with their son Roan, 6, and daughters Rachel, 6, and Abigail, 5, at their Redwood Heights home in Oakland.

by Elliot Owen

I

magine the quintessential gayborhood. No doubt, you’re picturing San Francisco’s bustling Castro district where nearly every shop, restaurant, and residence flaunts a rainbow flag in the window. But these days, a typical gayborhood is starting to look much different, according to a study released in June by real estate website Trulia.

Using 2010 census data, Trulia identified locations in the United States that house the highest numbers of same-sex couples. Topping the list for male couples – the Castro. While many lesbian couples reside there too, Oakland has the highest prevalence of lesbian couples in the Bay Area and as Trulia notes, are clustering in the diverse, middle class neighborhood of Redwood Heights located in the Oakland hills.

Real estate agent and co-owner of Caldecott Properties Michelle Vasey specializes in selling Oakland property. As a lesbian and having lived in Redwood Heights 15 years ago herself, she understands both personally and professionally why lesbian couples buy there. Around 20 percent of her clients are lesbians and often, she says, come from the more expensive San Francisco.

“A lot of couples start out living in the city but when they think of settling down, they want something more substantial than they can afford there,” Vasey said. “Or they want to start a family or they want a garden or room for their animals.

Family, affordability, and yard space are the top selling points for the Redwood Heights area.”

That’s exactly why Lili Cook and her partner Megan Tracey decided to start looking for a new home – they needed more space after their son was born in 1998, and for a good price. A year later, they had moved from their tiny apartment in Montclair to their current home in Redwood Heights that was worth $340,000 then.

“We looked around a lot of different areas but Redwood Heights felt more family-friendly,” said Cook, who teaches nursing at Samuel Merritt University. “It was and is very ethnically diverse, not homogeneous in any way and a little more affordable than other areas.”

When the couple moved into the neighborhood 13 years ago, they knew of no other same-sex couples.

Today, Cook estimates that LGBTQ families make up 30 percent of the neighborhood.

The quality of and distance to the nearest school are also factors that lesbian couples with children take into consideration. Redwood Heights Elementary School has quickly become known for its open and accepting ideology, and LGBTQ-friendly curriculum. The school has an LGBTQ family affinity group that Cook and Tracey helped found four years ago and integrates educational material like the film That’s A Family, a documentary that highlights the different shapes families take today, into its educational program. They currently have an 8-year-old daughter attending the school.

“The school feels incredibly supportive,” Cook said. “There are maybe 15 LGBTQ families there. It’s not all lesbian moms or gay dads, either.

We’ve got trans families, all different configurations of families – whether it’s the kids or parents that are LGBTQ.” According to the Williams Institute, a public policy analysis and legal research think tank for the advancement of sexual orientation and gender identity law at the UCLA School of Law, the 2000 census reported that 63,000 samesex couples were raising children.

Today, more than 110,000 are raising children, marking an almost 50 percent increase.

Anne Aldridge-Peacock and her partner Suzanne are one of those couples. They moved to Redwood Heights last year to start their oldest child in kindergarten at Redwood Heights School and are part of the identifiable increase in lesbian couples to the area.

Six years ago, they lived in Piedmont then moved to the East Coast for four years. While in Maine, they felt something in the environment was missing.

“One of the reasons we moved from Maine was because we wanted our kids to grow up with families that looked like theirs,” AldridgePeacock said. “I think most queer families think about that. I know we certainly did.”

While the existing cluster of lesbian families in Redwood Heights wasn’t a deciding factor for them, the couple was encouraged by it and the school’s LGBTQ affinity group.

Like Cook and Tracey, AldridgePeacock can’t say enough about the

<< Sports

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 19-25, 2012

▼

Arrogance from beyond the grave

by Roger Brigham

T

he belated uncovering of the sexually predatory crimes of Jerry Sandusky that festered for years on the Penn State University campus are more than can be rectified by a few daubs of paint and idle sports talk radio chatter. The crimes are etched forever in the hearts of the victims and in the memories of those who watched the drama unfold and unravel.

Sandusky, a former defensive assistant football coach at Penn State under the late Joe Paterno, was found guilty last month of 45 sex abuse counts stemming from a series of sexual assaults from 1994 through 2009, many of them occurring on Penn State facilities to which Sandusky continued to have access even after his retirement amid allegations of his abuse.

Several key Penn State officials, including Paterno, lost their jobs in the aftermath of the scandal, and Paterno died two months after his firing. An independent investigative report, commissioned by the Penn State board of trustees that examined the factors at Penn State that enabled and protected the crimes, was released last week. In its 267-pages, covering 430 interviews and review of 3.5 million documents, the investigative team found a “total and consistent disregard” for the abuse victims by senior Penn State leadership and charged Paterno, former Penn State president Graham Spanier, senior vice president Gary Schultz, and former athletic director Tim Curley with helping to conceal Sandusky’s crimes in an effort to prevent bad publicity for the university and its football program.

(In modern online parlance, that is what we call an “epic fail.”)

The report draws a portrait of a campus culture in which undue power is wielded by an inappropriate few, discussion and disagreement with the “Penn State Way” are discouraged, and basic training and background procedures were either absent or un-enforced. It outlines several fundamental corrections to be made, including most notably the separation of the human resources department from under the wing of the business and finance office that had previously overseen it.

So all that’s left to do now is to wait for Sandusky’s sentence to be handed out, the remaining charges against the two other Penn State officials for lying under oath to be prosecuted, and Penn State to get its house in order, right?

Not so fast.

Symbolic reactions have embroiled artists and sports fans alike. On radio talk shows, the pros and cons of having term limits on football coaches have been discussed and fans have weighed in on whether they think the bronze statue of Paterno which graces the Penn State campus should be removed. A school district in Connecticut announced this week it will paint over a mural of Paterno on a junior high school campus before classes resume this fall.

Artist Michael Pilato has been kept super busy modifying a mural of “inspirational” Penn State figures across from the campus. Sandusky had originally been included in the portrait, sitting to the right of Paterno, but Pilato removed him some time back and put a blue ribbon on the chair to signify support for child abuse victims. Later he painted child abuse activist Dora McQuaid into the chair, then over the weekend, following the release of the Penn State re-

Artist Michael Pilato’s mural as seen before he removed the halo over Joe Paterno that he had added after the coach’s death in January. At left is a likeness of activist-poet Dora Quaid that the artist painted after he removed Jerry Sandusky from the mural.

port, removed a halo he had put over Paterno’s head following the coach’s death in January.

Revisionist artistry.

But not all of the reactions have been either symbolic or constructive.

Some are sheer denials of reality, showing how arrogance and self-delusion can reach out from beyond the grave.

The New York Times reported Sunday, July 15, that in January 2011, the same month in which he testified before a grand jury about allegations against Sandusky, Paterno began to renegotiate his contract which was already set to run through the season.

The Times said the board was kept in the dark about details of the renegotiated contract until after Sandusky’s arrest details but that it included “$3 million at the end of the 2011 season if he agreed it would be his last.

Interest-free loans totaling $350,000 that the university had made to Mr. Paterno over the years would be forgiven as part of the retirement package. He would also have the use of the university’s private plane and a luxury box at Beaver Stadium for him and his family to use over the next 25 years.”

The Times reported that after Paterno’s firing, his family used threats of defamation lawsuits to extract even more from the university, including “the use of specialized hydrotherapy massage equipment for Mr. Paterno’s wife at the university’s Lasch Building, where Mr. Sandusky had molested a number of his victims.”

And here when Paterno said, “I wish I had done more,” we thought he was talking about what he could have done to help the victims.

Last week, as the damning report was being released, Paterno spoke from beyond the grave through a previously unpublished letter he had dictated to run as an opinion piece. The See page 11 >>

Danny Buskirk

A Real Bad warm-up R

eal Bad poster models Luis Casillas and Charles Garrett made an appearance at Grass Roots Gay Rights West’s annual margarita party Sunday, July 15 at Beatbox where the DJ and beneficiaries for this year’s Real Bad XXIV dance party were announced. This year’s DJ,

chosen from over 25 applicants, will be Rio de Janeiro-based Edu Quintas.

The Underground Lounge at the party will feature an alternative dance sound

by Melbourne-based DJ Kam Shafaati. This year’s beneficiaries will be AIDS Emergency Fund, UCSF Alliance Health Project,

Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center, Bay Area Young Positives, and the GLBT Historical Society.

Real Bad, which closes out the Folsom Street Fair, takes place September 23 at Club 1015 Folsom and is usually a sell-out. For ticket information, visit www.realbad.org.

▼

Community News >>

July 19-25, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

McCain shares stories of America at Castro appearance

by Elliot Owen

M

eghan McCain, the selfdescribed “single, twentysomething, gun-loving, Christian Republican” daughter of Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) and columnist for the Daily Beast, headlined the Castro Theatre Tuesday to talk about her new book, America, You Sexy Bitch: A Love Letter to Freedom.

The book is co-authored by Michael Ian Black, “a married, 40-yearold, gun-fearing, atheist, Democrat comedian,” who at first impression seems to be the polar opposite of McCain. Black, who also attended the July 17 discussion moderated

by Salon.com editor-at-large Joan Walsh, met McCain while shooting a pilot episode for an E channel series that never got picked up. He thought her hilariously refreshing and later propositioned her over Twitter to write a book with him.

“He asked for Bristol Palin and Chelsea Clinton and they said no,” McCain joked during the discussion.

The two took a six-week trip across the United States in an RV, talking to everyone from strippers

<<

Co-authors Michael Ian Black, left, and Meghan McCain talked with Salon.com editor Joan Walsh during an appearance Tuesday at the Castro Theatre.

to soldiers to Muslims to Mormons in an effort to understand the perspectives of a diverse range of Americans, and each other. The book chronicles these conversations in a humorous but often thoughtprovoking manner.

McCain and Black’s Castro Theatre conversation was equally as humorous and thought-provoking

for the almost 300 attendees. Surprisingly, the pair agree on issues historically regarded as pro-Democratic, but that’s what McCain is so outspoken about – her fresh take on being a Republican.

She is pro-same-sex marriage, not in favor of regulating what people do with their bodies, doesn’t understand marijuana’s social stigma,

Boy Scouts

From page 6

sent a message to young people that only some of them are valued. These adults could have taught the next generation of leaders the value of respect, yet they’ve chosen to teach division and intolerance,” he added.

“Clinging to a policy of exclusion and intolerance is hardly a good lesson for our young people,” said Darlene Nipper, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s deputy executive director.

“Once again, officials of the Boy Scouts of America have turned their backs on a chance to demonstrate fairness, exercise sound judgment, and serve as a role model for valuing others, free of bias and prejudice,” she added. “This is deeply disappointing. Discrimination is never the right policy, period.”

Herndon Graddick, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, offered another assessment. “With organizations including the Girl Scouts of the USA, the Boys and Girls Clubs, and the U.S. military allowing gay Americans to participate, the Boy Scouts of America need to find a way to treat all children and their parents fairly,” he said in a news release.

“Until this ban is lifted, the Scouts are putting parents in a situation where they have to explain to their children why some Scouts and hardworking Scout leaders are being turned away simply because of who they are,” said Graddick. “It’s unfair policies like this that contribute to a climate of bullying in our schools and communities. Since when is that

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Elliot Owen

Jock Talk

From page 10

letter runs more than 700 words and I won’t quote it all here (you can find it easily on the Internet by searching for the words “Paterno” and “letter”), but suffice it to say that it is an astounding testimony of arrogance.

“I feel compelled to say, in no uncertain terms, that this is not a football scandal,” Paterno wrote in the first paragraph, and it is a theme he repeats later.

JoPa, as you look down on us, halo or not, please know this: This was a football scandal. The only way it is not a football scandal is if football, the over-hyped, over-amped, overfunded beast of collegiate sports were played in a vacuum.

The assaults occurred over and

Courtesy GLAAD

Jennifer Tyrrell, right, cried at a news conference after she delivered petitions to the Boy Scouts of America headquarters calling for an end to its anti-gay policy.

a value worth teaching young adults?”

Oddly enough, presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee Mitt Romney once voiced support for openly gay Scouts.

“I believe that the Boy Scouts of America does a wonderful service for this country,” he said in a 1994 U.S. senatorial debate, according to a GLAAD website posting. “I support the right of the Boy Scouts of America to decide what it wants to do on that issue. I feel that all people should be able to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation.”

At that time Romney was a member of BSA’s National Executive Board. His opponent in the Massachusetts race was the late Senator

Edward M. Kennedy (D).

For more than three decades, the Scouts have maintained an anti-gay policy. Moreover, in 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, upheld the Scouts’ right to dismiss a gay assistant scoutmaster, saying that as a private organization, it had the right to decide whichever values it wishes to communicate.

In recent weeks two members of the Boy Scouts’ board, James Turley, chairman and CEO of Ernst and Young, and Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T, had said they would advocate a change in the Scouts’ policy. AT&T released a statement Tuesday saying that change must come from within, the New York Times reported.▼

over again because arrogant men did not have the time or the temerity to stop and act with the will of common decency.

The reason your portrait was included on the mural of leaders is because you were supposed to provide leadership and inspiration. Your example provided neither. You provided athletic and academic victory, but when the youngest lives were at their most vulnerable, you did nothing.

So, while I understand the desire of many to pull down Paterno’s statue, I think there is a more fitting solution rather than having a void where the statue once stood. I’d keep the bronze statue, but give it feet of clay. It would serve as a reminder to us all that as we chase glory and adulation for ourselves, we should always be wary at what is happening back on earth.▼

Memorial >>

Rob Walsh A gathering for nurse Rob Walsh will be held at the Mix, 4086 18th Street in San Francisco, on Saturday July 21 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

admires both liberal Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and the hawkish Senator Joe Lieberman (IConnecticut), dislikes conservative commentator Ann Coulter and calls GOP operative Karl Rove “a pathetic excuse for a human being.” But don’t risk calling her a Democrat in disguise without expecting a feisty backlash.

“Trust me,” McCain said. “I know why I’m a Republican. Just because I want my gay friends to get married doesn’t make me a Democrat.”

The book itself covers a number of LGBT issues.

“We talk about gay marriage and ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” McCain told the Bay Area Reporter, referring to the military’s anti-gay policy that was repealed last year. “Michael’s mom is a lesbian and so we met with her and her longtime partner.

She has a lot of health problems and issues with the hospital. We talked about things like how her partner can’t come visit and all the things that could happen if she dies.

Things like that. Michael and I are on the same page with it all.”

Black admits he is not a die-hard Democrat either, jokingly calling both parties “money-laundering mobs.” He does admit to learning a few things about Republicans during the RV trip, though.

“I’ve never been around clusters of Republicans,” Black said. “They are really generous people. I understand that drive to be self-sufficient, independent, to pull yourself up but your bootstraps ... I diverge from that politically but after this trip, I appreciate and admire that more.”

Witty humor, dynamic conversation and crowd applause aside, one thing’s for sure, McCain and Black both love their country.

“Some girls get drunk and make out with other girls,” Black said.

“Meghan get drunk and makes out with America.”

The discussion was organized by Inforum, a division of the Commonwealth Club.▼

<< International News

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 19-25, 2012

▼

Jamaican official blames gays for murders

by Heather Cassell

I

n a final public statement Les Green, the outgoing assistant commissioner of police and the third highest ranking police official in Jamaica, claimed anti-gay “hype” isn’t the truth and blamed the LGBT community for “most gay murders” in the country.

Jamaican LGBT and international human rights advocates harshly criticized Green’s statements and a column by Jamaica Observer columnist and New Nation Coalition Convenor Betty Ann Blaine that supported what Green said in his interview with the same paper.

In statements to the Jamaica Observer on July 5, days before leaving his post, the former Scotland Yard officer said that life in Jamaica for LGBT individuals is improving, but suggested a problem with gay-on-gay murders and members of the community attracting attention to themselves.

“I am not into gaybashing, but the problem is cross-dressing and going downtown.

Do they do that to create a media blitz? That just seems too contrived,” Green told the newspaper. He referred to an incident in 2007 where police dissolved an angry mob outside of a pharmacy in St. Andre Plaza that was attacking three cross-dressing men and a similar incident in downtown Kingston a few weeks later.

Green claimed that “Jamaica is far more tolerant than the public hype,” pointing out that there is a “vibrant community in Jamaica and there isn’t the sort of backlash that some people say.”

Green challenged people to observe how LGBT people live in Jamaica, where homosexuality is criminalized.

“It’s just the hype from some who claim Jamaica is very anti-homosexual, but the reality is far from that.

There are many homosexuals who live and work freely in Jamaica,” he told the newspaper. “I think we are much more tolerant and accepting.

Just go around and you will see they are more flamboyant in the way they dress and behave as if they are com-

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Vapor Room

From page 1

we are not being allowed to show the rest of the world all the good medical cannabis can offer,” he added.

The Vapor Room will have to close at the end of the month after the owner of its building in the Lower Haight received a letter from U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Melinda Haag, threating seizure of property, even jail time of up to 40 years, if the owner did not remove the “illegal medical cannabis dispensary” from their property.

But what surprises and saddens Olive about the federal government’s action, supposedly brought on by the club’s proximity to the patch of grass used for the dogs at Duboce Park, is that it is not an illegally operating dispensary.

“We always prided ourselves on operating as legally and ethically as possible. We always felt confident that anybody doing research would notice that and see we were not a part of the type of dispensaries being targeted and I thought that would protect us,” Olive said.

Federal crackdown The federal crackdown on medical cannabis dispensaries began last fall, when Haag gave a press conference outlining the government’s stance on medical marijuana. The Compas-

fortable with it. If that’s the case, why are they stigmatized?”

During his years as a homicide investigator Green suggested that many of the murders of individuals appeared to be crimes of passion or gay-on-gay crimes, with the exception of one that was deemed to be related to a robbery. The newspaper listed five murders, not including the two recent killings of Winston Ramsey and Jermaine Thompson in Kingston on June 13, Green referenced, stating the perpetrators, mostly jealous lovers, were in prison.

The exceptions were Steve Harvey, an employee of Jamaica AIDS Support, who was abducted and later found dead with his personal items taken, and former British diplomat John Terry, who was found strangled in his home in 2009. A handwritten note attached to his body by the murderer, a security guard who was later convicted of the crime, described him in Jamaican slang as a homosexual.

Green, who was head of Serious and Organized Crime at the time, refuted claims in the media that the nature of Terry’s death was a hate crime.

“I don’t think it is a homophobic attack, although it’s been run in the UK press. It isn’t consistent with the information that we have. It is unlikely,” Green told media at the time.

For the most part, Green believes that a majority of gay murders in Jamaica appear to be domestic in nature.

“All of those murders that I have investigated have been in relationships and are victims of gay attacks, domestic situations,” he told the newspaper.

Green claimed to have worked closely with Jamaica’s leading LGBT rights organization, the Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays, investigating crimes that appeared to be hate crimes against LGBT individuals.

Blaine supported Green’s statements in a column published on July 10, “The big gay lie” claiming that his statements were “timely” due to an “orchestrated campaign against Jamaica.”

sionate Care Act, an initiative passed

by California voters in 1996, allows patients with a valid doctor’s recommendation to possess and cultivate marijuana for personal use. Haag said that the medical cannabis industry has been “hijacked by profiteers who are motivated, not by compassion, but by money.”

When asked if the Vapor Room takes a profit, or operates illegally in any way, Olive told the Bay Area Reporter that it has been “a model dispensary” and anyone would be hard pressed to find evidence showing otherwise.

Haag’s comments from 2011 however, suggest that illegal or legal acts by dispensaries makes no difference.

She suggested the federal government was operating on the basis that, as Olive said, “Cannabis has no medicinal value,” and must still be treated as a banned substance, as it is under federal law. Because of the number of California dispensaries, Haag said she would focus on those close to places where children learn and play, such as schools and parks, making the Vapor Room a target.

Medical cannabis is basically being associated with crack cocaine, Olive said with a sarcastic laugh, as the logic for targeting dispensaries close to schools and parks is based on “the drug war stuff from the 1980s” when law enforcement made extra effort to keep drugs away from children.

jamaica-gleaner.com

Les Green, the outgoing assistant commissioner of police in Jamaica.

“When Les Green speaks people listen,” she wrote in the opening of her column. “If there is a single police officer whose name has become publicly synonymous with integrity and truth-speaking, that police officer is Les Green.”

Blaine accused leaders of the JFLAG and the international gay community of a negative advertising and lobbying campaign.

“Jamaicans are not violent homophobes as J-FLAG and the international gay community have been advertising,” she wrote. “What Jamaicans do not accept is the open, ‘in your face’ displays of homosexuality in its various modalities.”

“For far too long the homosexual lobby has been perpetuating the big lie about Jamaica’s violent homophobia with little evidence to substantiate the claim,” she continued, calling for Jamaicans to “fully debunk the big lie” and Green’s “factual information ... should be duly noted and documented.”

Disputing facts Blaine and Green have come under fire by Jamaican LGBT activists and human rights organizations.

Dane Lewis, executive director of J-FLAG, along with other LGBT Jamaican activists, spoke out democratically against the two public figures.

“Jamaica has made some progress, albeit not uniformly as a society, in respecting the humanity, dignity and equality of LGBT persons,” wrote Lewis on the organization’s website on July 12.

J-FLAG was launched in 1998

The reality is, the federal government “has no interest in protecting communities,” Olive said, and the closure of the Vapor Room is just the latest example in San Francisco.

Feds hit Oakland Meanwhile, across the bay in Oakland, on July 10, Harborside Health Center, the state’s largest dispensary and the city of Oakland’s third largest retail taxpayer, found a similar note from Haag on its door, calling for “an official Complaint for Forfeiture of Property” on the basis “that cannabis is being distributed on the premises, in violation of federal law,” said a statement sent to the B.A.R.

by Harborside media rep Samantha Campos.

Harborside has vowed to fight the seizure of its property.

And if dispensaries can’t be closed completely, efforts have been made to make things more difficult for people to access their medical cannabis. As of July 1, warned Merchant Service Providers, cannabis dispensaries will no longer be able to process transactions from credit or debit cards.

The Apothecarium in the Duboce Triangle neighborhood recently announced on Twitter it will no longer except credit cards, while the Green Cross on Market Street released a memo saying it can no longer take debit cards and urged people to contact their representatives and “de-

to advocate and lobby on behalf of LGBT Jamaicans and provide support to the Caribbean nation’s queer community. Lewis took the helm of the organization in 2008.

Lewis was concerned by Green’s statements about “working closely” with J-FLAG, stating that “our engagement was limited to John Terry’s murder” that wasn’t deemed homophobic by the inspector in spite of the evidence. Only ongoing reporting of hate crimes to the police has improved the relationship between authorities and the LGBT community, Lewis wrote. He agreed that police attitudes toward crimes against LGBT individuals have been handled with more professionalism, but an underlying homophobic hostility remains.

“Thankfully, the police, in many recent instances where LGBT persons report abuses, have been professional. However, hostility as an expression of their disapproval of LGBT persons still exists,” wrote Lewis, who was a victim of a hate crime in 1996.

Maurice Tomlinson, a leading Jamaican gay rights activist who was forced to flee the country when police failed to protect him from death threats made against him, hoped that the incoming police force will be more sensitive to LGBT victims.

“The Jamaican government has said that more UK police are coming to the country. I sincerely hope that Green’s replacement is more familiar with basic human rights principles and has the capacity to really think for himself, instead of being sucked into the anti-gay group-think of the monolithic Jamaican police force,” he told Gay Star News.

Yet, Lewis stated, Green’s position and the information he provided have “given legitimacy to the inaccuracy of his statements.”

In a study conducted by Professor Ian Boxill, it was found that 82 percent of Jamaicans are homophobic.

Lewis pointed out 186 incidents of human rights abuses were reported to the organization between 2009 and 2011. The highest number of abuses, 84, was recorded in 2011.

There were 27 incidents of physical assaults with eight of them being assaulted with a weapon.

Since the beginning of this year

there have been approximately 20 incidents with 11 of them being physical assaults. The numbers don’t include the countless unreported cases, Lewis pointed out.

Many of the individuals end up homeless, congregating and living in popular areas, such as where the two gay men were found brutally murdered on July 13, Lewis wrote.

“Among the most recent attacks against the gay community was the savage killing of two young men.

The men were apparently brutally murdered with blunt instruments in the vicinity of the intersection of Trafalgar Road and Lady Musgrave Road. People who are homeless frequent this area. Among them are young gay men who have been made homeless because of the continued intolerance of homosexuality in Jamaica,” Lewis wrote.

He called upon Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and the Ministers of National Security and Labour and Social Security to “listen to the cries and needs of members of our community who continue to be subjected to discrimination and violence, have nowhere to live and no food to eat because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned the recent murders of Ramsey and Thompson in Kingston along with eight other reported murders within the last three months.

The organization, which oversees human rights in the Americas, called upon Jamaica’s government officials to fulfill its obligation to investigate the crimes and punish those who are found responsible.

“The Inter-American Commission urges the state to conduct an investigation that takes into account whether this murder was committed because of the gender expression, gender identity or sexual orientation of the victims,” the organization said on its website.

To contact Herman G. LaMont, the consul-general of the Consulate of Jamaica, call (212) 935-9000 or email registry@congenjamaica-ny.org.▼

mand that they support and defend California’s medical marijuana laws.”

A few politicians seem to be listening.

Rawstory.com reported that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) made a public statement supporting Californians’ right to access medical cannabis and criticized the recent actions taken by the federal government. Pelosi even suggested that Democrats would be willing to take steps toward changing how federal law deals with marijuana after the November election.

Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, an out lesbian, noted last week that the federal Department of Justice initially said it would not target medical marijuana.

“They went back on their word – starting to target medical cannabis facilities allowed under California law,” Kaplan said.

Out Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), along with Oakland City Attorney Barbara J. Parker, went public in defense of Harborside, criticizing the federal government for reaching too far into state’s rights in a misguided effort to fix an unbroken problem.

“I ask that the federal government focus its scarce resources on the real crisis in Oakland – violent crime and illegal guns that are snuffing out the lives of so many,” Parker said in a statement.

She added that, “In the midst of this crisis, it is tragic waste for the federal government to spend its time and money cracking down on legitimate health care providers.”

Ammiano, who authored the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Control Act, which sets clear, statewide rules for the medical cannabis industry, said, “First the federal authorities targeted facilities near schools and parks, but now the rules seem to be changing. The U.S. attorney has been quoted as saying Harborside’s size makes it more likely that laws have been broken. Is it good public policy to go after an operation just because it is highly successful at helping medical patients, with no evidence of criminal acts offered?

“The ongoing federal crackdown only reinforces the need for California to establish effective state regulation, through which we hope to convince federal authorities there is no need for criminal proceedings against organizations providing compassionate care,” he said.

Olive couldn’t agree more. He said he doesn’t know a single person working in medical cannabis dispensaries that is against further regulation. He said that those who want to sell cannabis illegally will do so no matter what, but those who want to work within the laws feel like there should be more of them.

“Give us some laws,” Olive said.▼

Got international LGBT news tips? Call or send them to Heather Cassell at 00+1-415-2213541, Skype: heather.cassell, or heather@whimsymedia.com.

▼ <<

Community News>>

News Briefs

From page 5

Canepa holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Colorado in Boulder and currently studies with Taubman keyboard technique specialists Marc Steiner and John Bloomfield. He regularly performs chamber and solo concerts on all of the keyboard instruments. He directs the music ministry program at St. Mary Magdalen Church in North Berkeley.

Smith, an accomplished pianist, took over as director of the gay men’s chorus last year.

The concert program includes solo works by Antonin Dvorak, Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert, and the “Souvenirs” dance suite by Samuel Barber.

The event is a benefit for the cho-

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Healthy SF

From page 1

are expected to soon sign off on the changes that would allow sexual reassignment services, treatment, and surgery to be covered for transgender patients just as they are now for non-trans patients.

Barbara Garcia, the director of the Department of Public Health, told the B.A.R. Monday that her agency is committed to the changes, but that it would take another year to year and a half before the administrative steps are implemented, due to contracting requirements.

“We’re totally committed to it,” Garcia said.

Wiener introduced a resolution at Tuesday’s board meeting calling on the health department to “provide medically necessary transitionrelated care for transgender people and to remove exclusions under the San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance,” or Healthy SF. Healthy SF is the city’s locally de-

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Truvada for PrEP

From page 1

were 2.7 million new infections worldwide in 2010.

Truvada contains two drugs, tenofovir and emtricitabine, that are among the most widely used medications for HIV treatment. On May 10 the FDA’s Antiviral Drug Advisory Committee voted decisively in favor of approving Truvada for PrEP based on evidence from large clinical trials showing that it can dramatically lower the risk of acquiring HIV via sex.

Evidence of effectiveness The approval comes on the heels of the publication of results from three randomized, controlled PrEP trials in the July 11 advance edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. Findings were previously presented at medical conferences in 2011 and early 2012.

The iPrEx trial, which enrolled nearly 2,500 gay and bisexual men and a small number of transgender women in six countries (including San Francisco and Boston in the U.S.), found that daily Truvada reduced the risk of HIV by 42 percent overall, rising to 92 percent for participants who had drug levels in their blood indicating good adherence.

The Partners PrEP study, which looked at approximately 4,700 mostly heterosexual serodiscordant couples in Kenya and Uganda, found that the drugs in Truvada reduced the likelihood of infection by 75 percent. Another study of heterosexual men and women in Africa, TDF2, showed a 62 percent risk reduction.

The Fem-PrEP study of daily Truvada for high-risk African women did not demonstrate a significant protective effect, but further analy-

July 19-25, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

Hirschman, legendary Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and city Librarian Luis Herrera at Kerouac Alley in North Beach. The party features an introduction of participating poets and performances and readings by former Modern Lovers musician Jonathan Richman, former San Francisco Supervisor Matt Gonzalez, and more.

A number of venues will take part in the festival. Highlights include a Friday lunchtime poetry reading in Civic Center Plaza; outdoor poetry and performances on Saturday in Civic Center Plaza; a poetry crawl in North Beach; and youth poetry, translation workshops, Beat poetry lectures, and more.

For a complete schedule of events, visit www.sfipf.org.▼

rus, and will include a silent auction. People can also purchase the chorus’ new CD, The First Ten Years.

The evening begins with the silent auction at 6:30 p.m., followed by the program at 7:30. It takes place at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Avenue in Oakland.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased through the chorus’ website, www.oebgmc.org.

seeks to educate LGBT seniors of color about the importance of being involved with the newly created LGBT Senior Task Force and identify issues particular to seniors of color for the task force to review.

The meeting is open to the public and written suggestions are encouraged. Refreshments will be provided.

Community meeting for LGBT seniors of color The National Center for Lesbian Rights and the San Francisco Human Rights Commission will host “Setting the Agenda: A Community Meeting about Issues Facing LGBT Seniors of Color” on Thursday, July 26 at 2 p.m. at the Women’s Building, 3543 18th Street, Room A. Organizers noted that the forum

The Northern California chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association is seeking applicants for the fifth annual Bob Ross Student Scholarship. Students must be enrolled full-time pursuing studies in journalism or communications or similar areas and must be from northern California or going to school in northern California.

The scholarship is underwritten

Celebrate the creative spirit at the third San Francisco International Poetry Festival July 26-29. Presented by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, the Mayor’s Office of Protocol, the San Francisco Public Library, and emeritus San Francisco Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman, the event brings together more than 18 poets from around the world for free poetry and music open to the public.

The festival begins next Thursday with a kick-off party hosted by

signed and funded universal health care program that was launched in 2007. It currently provides hormone treatment and mental health services to transgender participants, but administratively excludes sex reassignment surgery and denies coverage for certain surgical procedures to transgender people when the same procedures are provided to non-transgender participants, “thus denying transgender residents equal access to necessary health care under this local plan,” Wiener’s resolution states.

For example, a Healthy San Francisco participant diagnosed with breast cancer could have breast reduction surgery covered under the plan, but a female-to-male transgender person could not have the same surgery covered.

Wiener said the costs would be negligible and pointed out that when the city began offering similar benefits to its transgender employees several years ago the actual cost was lower than the projections.

Cecilia Chung, a transgender

woman who was former president of the Human Rights Commission and who was recently appointed by Mayor Ed Lee to the Health Commission, agreed.

“The benefits outweigh any costs,” she said. “It’s removing barriers to transgender patients.”

She also said that such services would be determined between the doctor and patient.

“Most procedures are already being offered,” Chung said. “We want the process to be smooth but realistic.”

The city spent approximately $150 million on Healthy SF in fiscal year 2011-12, Wiener said.

Wiener’s resolution noted the “insignificant” cost of removing the exclusions and that inclusion “in fact provides cost savings as well as significant benefits for the health, welfare, and safety of the transgender population,” according to a California Department of Insurance study of actuarial data of five employers, including the city of San Francisco.

It’s been a long road for transgender leaders, who started talking about

the change nearly two years ago when the initial complaint was filed.

“Since then, we’ve been negotiating with Barbara Garcia, TLC, and the community group to move forward,” said Human Rights Commission Executive Director Theresa Sparks, who is transgender. “San Francisco should be a center of excellence for transgender health.”

Sparks and the other transgender advocates pointed to Wiener’s involvement being a key to accelerating the changes to Healthy SF. “Scott brought energy to the discussion,” Sparks said.

Wiener; Sparks; Kristina Wertz, director of policy and programs for TLC; and Masen Davis, executive director of TLC, also noted that more private sector employers are now removing transgender health care exclusions. The Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBT rights organization, made providing such coverage part of its Corporate Equality Index and that, too, has led to an increase in private sector companies coming on board. Those firms run the gamut from Bank of America to Chev-

ron Corp. to Intel.

As to the original complaint, Sparks said that her department, the health department, and TLC held several mediation sessions with the client and DPH agreed to provide the services under the city’s general services provision, not Healthy SF. “The complaint shed light on the exclusion,” Wertz said Monday.

Some two years ago TLC and LyonMartin Health Services established the Health Council, a local group formed to advocate around transgender health care needs. Jackson Bowman, a transgender man, said this week that he welcomes the announcement from city leaders.

“Removing the exclusion in Healthy SF is important. There was a discriminatory element with the exclusions,” Bowman said.

Bowman also pointed out the unique demographics of the transgender population, noting that many are chronically underemployed or in-between jobs. Bowman himself recently became unemployed, he said.▼

sis showed that participants’ blood drug levels were low despite selfreported good adherence.

In all these trials participants also received a comprehensive package of prevention support including risk reduction counseling, regular HIV and sexually transmitted infection testing, and free condoms in addition to Truvada or placebo.

“PrEP offers a new prevention tool for those most at risk for HIV, and should be provided in the context of other prevention strategies, including HIV and STI testing, condoms, and adherence support,” Partners PrEP principal investigator Connie Celum told the Bay Area Reporter. “To turn the tide on the HIV epidemic in the U.S. and globally, we need to be guided by evidence in developing our approach to HIV prevention.”

While Truvada was shown to be highly effective for selected high-risk populations that use it correctly as part of a comprehensive prevention approach, some have raised concerns about the difficulty of ensuring good adherence, side effects including kidney and bone toxicity, drug resistance, and cost and access issues.

The FDA’s decision was “reckless,” according to Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the loudest critic of Truvada for PrEP, who described the approval as “negligence bordering the equivalence of malpractice which will sadly result in new infections, drug resistance, and serious side effects among many, many people.”

In the clinical trials, resistance developed in some participants with acute HIV infection – before standard tests can detect antibodies against the virus – who were mistakenly classified as uninfected.

Truvada alone is unable to suppress HIV replication, allowing resistance mutations to emerge.

To guard against this possibility, the new Truvada medication guide and revised prescribing information specify that people considering PrEP must receive a confirmed negative HIV test before starting the drug and every three months thereafter.

As a condition of approval Gilead is required to collect virus samples

for resistance testing from people who become infected, and must keep a record of outcomes among women who get pregnant while taking Truvada for PrEP. The company will also conduct a study to evaluate drug adherence and its relationship to side effects, seroconversion risk, and resistance.

have substantial, ongoing risk for HIV infection. Magnet health center and other local sites will help recruit people for the study.

Eligible participants – who must have confirmed negative HIV tests – will receive Truvada for up to 48 weeks, along with a prevention package that includes risk reduction and adherence counseling, condoms, and regular HIV and STI testing.

“PrEP is an important and welcome step forward as momentum builds for making serious headway against HIV infection,” said Judith Aberg, chair of the HIV Medicine Association. But she added that implementation of PrEP “must not contribute to HIV-related health care disparities,” noting that the low-income and minority populations most heavily affected by HIV are less likely to be engaged in health care and are more likely to be uninsured or rely on Medicaid.

“We’re really ushering in new era of HIV prevention,” San Francisco AIDS Foundation spokesman James Loduca told the B.A.R. “If we’re successful in the rollout of PrEP, the mandate for all of us is to develop innovative programs that can successfully deliver Truvada for PrEP and the wrap-around medical services it requires to hard-to-reach communities that traditionally are not in care.”▼

Minimizing risk Monday’s announcement came as a surprise to many because the FDA had extended its deadline for a decision from mid-June to midSeptember to allow more time for Gilead to develop a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy to ensure safe use of Truvada for PrEP. Most HIV treatment advocates applauded the approval.

“Finally, after 30 years, HIV-negative individuals have a new way to protect themselves from becoming infected,” said Project Inform Executive Director Dana Van Gorder.

“While PrEP isn’t a tool that will be appropriate for broad use, we are thrilled to have a new option that could offer substantial benefit to those at highest risk for HIV, including gay and bisexual men and transgender women who struggle with consistent condom use, and heterosexual women living in areas with high HIV rates whose partners refuse to use condoms.”

by the Bob Ross Foundation and is named for the founding publisher of the Bay Area Reporter. Ross died in 2003.

The application deadline is August 31. The application packet and more information can be found at nlgja.org/norcal.

SF poetry fest coming up Journalism scholarship applications available

Next steps for PrEP The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is working with local public health departments to develop demonstration projects that will attempt to answer some of the outstanding questions about PrEP. The first two programs – in San Francisco and Miami – are expected to start in late August, according to Stephanie Cohen, medical director at City Clinic, which will spearhead the local project.

Cohen explained that the goals of the demonstration project include determining the level of community interest in PrEP, evaluating how people adhere to a daily prevention regimen in a real-world setting, collecting additional Truvada safety data, and assessing whether and how sexual practices change when people know they are taking a pill that can lower their risk of infection.

The demonstration project is open to men who have sex with men and transgender women who

Seth Hemmelgarn contributed to this report.

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Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

14 • Bay Area Reporter • July 19-25, 2012

Classifieds

t

Legal Notices>>

The

Legal Notices>> TO:

ALL PATIENTS AND FORMER PATIENTS OF GOLDEN GATE COMMUNITY HEALTH, formerly known as PLANNED PARENTHOOD GOLDEN GATE Re:

Golden Gate Community Health, Case No. 11-31703 DM U. S. Bankruptcy Court, N.D.CA

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that Golden Gate Community Health, formerly known as

Planned Parenthood Golden Gate (collectively “GGCH”) ceased its operations on February 28, 2011 and filed for bankruptcy on May 2, 2011. GGCH operated health centers at the following locations: (a) 815 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA; (b) 2211 Palm Avenue, San Mateo, CA; (c) 2 H Street, San Rafael, CA; (d) 482 West MacArthur Boulevard, Oakland, CA; (e) Eastmont Mall, 7200 Bancroft Avenue, Suite 210, Oakland, CA; (f) 1370 Medical Center Drive, Rohnert Park, CA; (g) 1866 B Street, Hayward, CA; (h) 1230 Hopkins Avenue, Redwood City, CA; (i) Good Samaritan Health Center, 1294 Potrero Avenue, San Francisco, CA; and (j) Novato Youth Center, 1767 Grant Avenue, Novato, CA .

IF YOU WERE a GGCH PATIENT, you or your current health care provider may request a copy of your medical records by submitting a written request for your medical records. You may download an Authorization for Release of Medical Records (“ARMR”) from GGCH at www.ggch2012.com. Please submit the completed, signed ARMR to GGCH–Patient Records at: GGCH–Patient Records 2370 Market Street, PMB 502 San Francisco, CA 94114 -orFax: (415) 373-4466 -orEmail: ggch2012@gmail.com Please read and fill out the form carefully. If you have any questions, please contact us via email at ggch2012@gmail.com or telephone (415) 518-5716.

IF YOU DO NOT REQUEST A COPY OF YOUR PATIENT RECORDS ON OR BEFORE AUGUST 31, 2013, GGCH will request that the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the California Department of Health and Human Services take possession of your medical records. However, these agencies are not obligated to do so and you should not assume that they will. If these agencies decline to take possession of and responsibility for the records, the patient medical records will be destroyed, pursuant to Order of the Bankruptcy Court.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034424400

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034418700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: REVERSE METHOD, 3111 24th St., SF, CA 94110.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Sean Conrad. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/22/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/25/12.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: T FACTORY, 47 Julian St., SF, CA 94103.

This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TFactory 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 06/21/12.

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034427600

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034418600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: A TOUCH OF THE SPECIFIC, 211 Sutter St. #502, SF, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Kathryn Elizabeth Woodford. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/26/12.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE ARMORY CLUB, 1799 Mission St., SF, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed Julian Holdings 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 06/21/12.

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034420300

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034424100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ENCORE.ORG, 114 Sansome St. #850, SF, CA 94104. This business is conducted by a corporation non-profit 501(c)3, and is signed Civic Ventures (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/18/12.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/21/12.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FLYING CRANES, 777 Florida St. #301, SF, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Burness C. Broussard.

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/20/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/22/12.

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034414100

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name FILE A-025058700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: STERLING GRAPHICS, 375 Alabama St. #227, SF, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Sterling Graphics Collective, Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/12.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/19/12.

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034417600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MILSAL MCCAULL, 2678 California St., SF, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Milsal McCaull (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/20/12.

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF california, county of san francisco file CNC12-548780 In the matter of the application of: YESSENIA ZHOU ZHANG for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner YESSENIA ZHOU ZHANG is requesting that his/her name be changed to YESSENIA CHAIU. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept.

514 on the 18th of September 2012 at 9:00 am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JULY 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2012

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The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: MINA’S TAILOR STUDIO, 2031 Union St. #5, SF, CA 94123. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by Merry M. Yong.

The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/30/01.

June 28, july 5, 12, 19, 2012 notice of application TO SELL alcoholic beverageS Dated 06/25/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: T&M RESTAURANT ENTERPRISES INC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612 to sell alcoholic beverages at 798 Sutter St., SF, CA 94109-6417.

Type of license applied for

41 - On-sale BEER & WINE – EATING PLACE July 5, 12, 19, 2012 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF california, county of san francisco file CNC12-548755

In the matter of the application of: QI QI CHIN for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner QI QI CHIN is requesting that his/ her name be changed to QIQI JUNE CHIN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514 on the 6th of September 2012 at 9:00 am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JULY 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2012

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034439500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SYN2, 45 Rio Court, SF, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Serdar Yeralan. 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 07/02/12.

JULY 5, 12, 19, 26, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034416100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PHOTOJIMSF. 1878 Market St. #201, SF, CA 94102.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Jim James. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/19/12.

JULY 5, 12, 19, 26, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034435000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EASY-RENTAL, 1779 35th Ave., SF, CA 94122.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed John Feely. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/29/12.

JULY 5, 12, 19, 26, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034427500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EDEN CAFE, 47 Franklin St., SF, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Su Yan Cai. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/26/12.

JULY 5, 12, 19, 26, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034433700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EARTH TU FACE, LLC, 36 Calhoun Terrace, SF, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed Earth Tu Face LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/19/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/28/12.

JULY 5, 12, 19, 26, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034429300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EAST WISH CONSTRUCTION, 74 Waterville, SF, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a husband & wife, and is signed Changxiong Zuo & Yanyan Zhuo. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/27/12.

JULY 5, 12, 19, 26, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034432500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MEXICOB, 4036 25th St., SF, CA 94114.

This business is conducted by a husband & wife, and is signed Rafael Trickett-Robles & Timothy Trickett-Robles. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/28/12.

JULY 5, 12, 19, 26, 2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name FILE A-034221700 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: EDEN CAFE, 47 Franklin St., SF, CA 94102. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by Angela Chang. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/23/11.

JULY 5, 12,19, 26, 2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name FILE A-031751400 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: STUDIO VOXPOP, 555 Arguello Blvd. #303, SF, CA 94118.

This business was conducted by an individual and signed by Justin Thomas Akers. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/05/09.

JULY 5, 12,19, 26, 2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name FILE A-031806700 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: MAX CAB, 2121 Evans St. #A, SF, CA 94124. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by Steven B. Gee. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/26/09.

JULY 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2012

notice of application TO SELL alcoholic beverageS

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034440100

Dated 06/29/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: JAMES ROBERT ATTON, MATILDE PALOMA MUELA. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612 to sell alcoholic beverages at 428 11th St., SF, CA 94103-4316.

Type of license applied for

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SALEEMA BOUTIQUE OLD & NEW, 2420 San Bruno Ave., SF, CA 94134. This business is conducted by a husband & wife, and is signed Saleema Muhammad & Vincent A. Jones. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/02/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/02/12.

41 - ON-SALE BEER & WINE - EATING PLACE July 12, 19, 26, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034424000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: T.V. EYE, 1512 Broderick St., SF, CA 94115.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Daniel Paul Sneddon. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/21/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/22/12.

JULY 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034419500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ALAN LIMOUSINE, 1950 Montecito Ave., Mountain View, CA 94043. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Hisham Adel. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/21/12.

JULY 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034426600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CREEK SIDE HOME IMPROVEMENT, 300 Channel St. #23, SF, CA 94158. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Gregory L. Hall. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/25/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/25/12.

JULY 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034441200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MYRIAD HARBOR, 146 Dore St., SF, CA 94103.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Rachael Yu. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/02/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/02/12.

JULY 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034421100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PING AND MING 306, 56 Tucker Ave., SF, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Rui Wen Zheng. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/21/12.

JULY 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034436900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SUPER NAILS & SPA, 3251 20th Ave. #234, SF, CA 94132. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed Anh Ngoc Thi Nguyen & Daniel Nguyen. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/29/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/29/12.

JULY 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034443300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LEFT ANGLE RECORDS, 743 Wisconsin St. #Y, SF, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed Anna-K. Karney & William P. Ortiz. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/02/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/03/12.

JULY 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034428000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AL GRAF BAIL BONDS, 859 Bryant St., SF, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed Al Graf Bail Bonds LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/12/06. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/26/12.

JULY 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2012 notice of application FOR CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP OF alcOholic beverage LICENSE Dated 07/06/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: DONATELLO BEVERAGE CORPORATION, SOUL OF SCANDINAVIA CORPORATION. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612 to sell alcoholic beverages at 333 FULTON ST SF, CA 94102-4423. Type of license applied for

47 – ON-SALE GENERAL EATING PLACE JULY 19, 2012

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JULY 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034405600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MINUTEMAN PRESS, 529 Commercial St., SF, CA 94111. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Edgewise Investments Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/07. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/13/12.

JULY 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034452000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CALI COMMUNICATIONS & WIRING, 775 Goettingen St., SF, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Calvin Laporte-Anderson. 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 07/10/12.

JULY 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034414900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SHAWNTE HAIR, 660 Market St. #204, SF, CA 94104. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Shawnte Fernandez. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/19/12.

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t

Read more online at www.ebar.com

July 19-25, 2012 • Bay Area Reporter • 15

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E23-26

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

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19

The

Vol. 42 • No. 29 • July 19-25, 2012

www.ebar.com/arts

Artist Cindy Sherman’s series of Hollywood-style head shots.

Rick Gerharter

W

ill the real Cindy Sherman please stand up? If the controversial photographer, a chameleon whose gift for disguise and masquerade has made her an electrifying presence on the art scene, granted that request, it would defeat the point of a life’s work that gives new meaning to role-playing.

Over the last 30 years, employing herself as top model, she has pursued an interest in gender, conflicting female roles and how society sees, distorts and confines women; the grotesque

‘Cindy Sherman’ retrospective opens at SFMOMA

by Sura Wood and macabre; the fluidity of identity; fairy tales, clowns, fashion victims and the falseness of a medium that purportedly documents the truth. Cindy Sherman, a touring retrospective

that originated at NY MoMA, is the artist’s first museum exhibition in San Francisco. Arriving at SFMOMA last week with 155 photographs – 15 fewer than were in the New York show – it

turns out that less is indeed more.

Sherman’s explorations and aptitude for transformation (through the wonders of makeup, hair, wardrobe, prosthetics, wigs, staging, major-league attitude and, most recently, digital technology) are fascinating. Although her work deserves a full-on retrospective – the last one was 14 years ago – her imaginative images, rich in subtext, deliver greater intensity in small doses. In stand-alone photographs or in selfSee page 19 >>

Absolutely Jewish

32nd San Francisco Jewish Film Festival highlights

by David Lamble

T Courtesy SFJFF

Black Jewish rap artist Y-Love is the subject of Caleb Heller’s documentary Y-Love.

he 32nd San Francisco Jewish Film Festival rolls out across the Bay Area for the next three weeks, kicking off at our Castro Theatre movie palace (July 19-26) and continuing at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center (JCC/SF, July 2829), Berkeley’s Roda Theatre (July 28-Aug. 4), Oakland Art Murmur (Aug. 3), Oakland’s Piedmont Theater (Aug. 6), the Rafael Film Center (Aug. 4-6) and Cinearts in Palo Alto (July 28-Aug. 2).

This year there’s a special emphasis on “Jews & Tunes,” with biographical documentaries ranging from a penetrating look at the

{ SECOND OF TWO SECTIONS }

evolution of a Jewish blues singer (A.K.A. Doc Pomas) to the extraordinary transformation of an inner-city Baltimore lad to Orthodox Jewish rhyming rap artist (Y-Love). Hava Nagila (The Movie) kicks off the Castro Theatre opening night, followed by a party at the Swedish American Hall.

Other festival highlights include Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir; the perplexing life journey of world-class flamenco guitarist David Serva, Gypsy Davy; and the festival’s usual quota of off-beat shorts, such as Woody See page 28 >>

<< Out There

18 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 19-25, 2012

▼

Portraits of the art-world in life & in print

by Roberto Friedman

C

onfronting the room of societylady portraits in the awesome Cindy Sherman retrospective that just opened at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, it’s hard not to think of the cadre of society matrons who rule over San Francisco boards and charity events with iron manicures in velvet gloves.

Consider the well-known Mommy chairman of the board of another museum entirely, for example, who gifted her sweet boy-child with a four-gallery display of his trophy photography collection. Oh, how we could go on.

At the media preview for the Sherman show last week, NY MoMA associate curator of photography Eva Respini called the artist’s oeuvre an exploration of “the anxiety of self.” Add in the anxiety of social status, acquisition, and other artworld neuroses, and you’ve got a tight focus on the crowd at the Artist’s Circle and Director’s Circle open-

ing party that evening. Interestingly, although she didn’t attend the press preview that morning, Sherman did appear at the opening soiree for collectors, donors and other high-rollers.

We think we know where we rank in that particular pecking order.

At the evening affair, Out There lounged upon a divan set up in the SFMOMA atrium and couldn’t help thinking how much we’ll miss that space with its soaring staircase, and its all-over stripes of Italianate marble, when the building is overhauled for its expansion, and of how no one in the SF arts commentariat has yet remarked critically upon this desecration of Mario Botta’s iconic building.

As the poet Joni Mitchell has sung, “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you got til it’s gone?”

Viennese treat We cover the waterfront. Representatives from the Vienna Tourist Board were in town last week, inviting us to lunch at the glamorous Wa-

Rick Gerharter

Artist Cindy Sherman’s series of society portraits, installed in her SFMOMA retrospective.

terbar on the Embarcadero to entice us with their city’s attractions. Along with the presentation we were fed beet salad with goat cheese, butter lettuce and toasted pistachios; pan-roasted Petrale sole with fingerling potatoes, shallot gremolata in a shellfish-tomato fondue; and fresh summer berries in vanilla chantilly – all washed down with good Austrian wine. Urp. Our hosts pointed to new and developing neighborhoods in their ancient city, futuristic hotels and a new concept of lodging in converted storefronts. But we were delighted to find that the Vienna tourism folks also include LGBT events and attractions in their pitch, highlighting the LGBT Kreativball, the HIV/ AIDS fundraiser Life Ball, and the gay pride Rainbow Parade. Prominent in their press kit is a LGBT-targeted “Queer Guide” that’s available from their offices at www.vienna.info.

rector and former Philharmonia Baroque e.d. Peter Pastreich, now immortalized upon the wall in the Grill’s entryway with other musical luminaries of every description. The affair was hosted by Pastreich’s longtime friend and B.A.R. publisher Tom Horn,

Light fantastic L

Arts administration The classic fish palace Hayes Street Grill was the site, last Monday a week ago, for a gathering of musicworld types at the unveiling of a framed photograph of former San Francisco Symphony executive di-

into the collection of BAM. “His way of looking at and understanding art was more emotional than analytical, and his anecdotal method of conveying a sense of art as a living entity was viewed by some colleagues as insufficiently academic,” writes Karlstrom.

“Yet this approach turned out t be a major part of his appeal to t a number of the students at to Berkeley.”

In our reading of the book, w came upon a passage inwe c cluding some quotes and p perspective from arts expert S Sidra Stich, who was Selz’s t teaching assistant in the early 1 1970s.

Just the day before, we h been chatting with Stich had a the Sherman presser. What at a small arts world!

and attracted such boldface names as San Francisco Opera general director David Gockley, SFS e.d. Brent Assink, former SFS president Nancy Bechtle, PBO e.d. Michael Costa, City Arts & Lectures founder Sydney Goldstein, and a smattering of pressies such as the likes of Out There.

HSG proprietress Patricia Unterman served up tasty nibbles, and the bar offered good New World wine, as we toasted Pastreich and his huge contributions to the musical life of this city.

It’s about time arts administrators get their place in the sun. Last week we also read Peter Selz: Sketches of a Life in Art by Paul J. Karlstrom (Univ. of Calif. Press), a biography of the founding director of the thenUniversity Art Museum, now-Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. It’s an interesting account of Selz’s career, from high posts at Chicago’s Institute of Design (the so-called “New Bauhaus”) and NY’s MoMA to the BAM directorship, and then, after conflict with the UC board of regents, notably conservative art collector Norton Simon, to the arts faculty at UC Berkeley.

Selz was an important figure in the recognition of modern art and artists, championing the work of Max Beckmann, Sam Francis, Mark Rothko, Bruce Connor and Nathan Oliveira, among others. He was also key, even in retirement, to getting artist Fernando Botero’s politically hard-hitting Abu Ghraib series exhibited and

Lest you think it’s all art histo tory and scholarly research with th this old Out There, we were also p present last week at the debut o of Corazon Under the Dome, u under the old Emporium dome at SF’s Westfield Centre. OT ch chilled like our champagne in th the VIP holding pen as the musi sic-and-light show came alive ab above us, projected onto the m majestic 102-ft.-wide dome.

It’s all SF iconic images: the Gold Rush, the 1906 quake, 1930s jazz, the Beatniks, the 60s psychedelic haze, 70s disco, and the new, post-Loma Prieta waterfront. The soundtrack includes classics from Tony Bennett, Otis Redding, Judy Garland, Journey, Santana and the Steve Miller Band. Promo says: “From cable cars and Coit Tower to Fisherman’s Wharf and the Ferry Building, Corazon Under the Dome is a dazzling tribute to the City by the Bay.” Located on Level 4, the seven-minute light spectacular begins nightly at 5 p.m. and runs every half-hour until the Centre closes. From Mon.Sat., the last show is at 8 p.m. On Sunday, the last show is at 6:30 p.m.

(Through Sept. 3.)

Endquote Perhaps this is apropos of nothing, but we came across this great quote last week while we were reading the letters to the editor of The New York Times Book Review, because we still read books, can you believe it, what with all those great new apps?, and we also actually read reviews of books, and then, to go the whole nine yards, we also read letters to the editor about those book reviews, but that is how we got acquainted with this quotation, which we like so much we will parrot it back to you.

“Words ought to be a little wild, for they are the assault of thoughts upon the unthinking.” – economist John Maynard Keynes. Words to live by.▼

▼

Theatre>>

July 19-25, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 19

Revolutionary fervor

by Richard Dodds

I

t is 1808, and all is well in France.

Louis XVI is 11 years in his grave, the Reign of Terror is over, and Napoleon Bonaparte has calmed revolutionary turmoil by declaring himself emperor. With the veneer of civic sanity restored, the enlightened director of the asylum at Charenton promotes mental health by encouraging the inmates to stage theatrical entertainments. And to stage these shows, let’s see, who do we have? Of course, we must use the Marquis de Sade. Let the sanity begin.

The above words more or less fit historical facts, but the play that de Sade puts on, though based on a pivotal event in the midst of the French Revolution, is part of the canny creation of German-born playwright Peter Weiss. Written in the early 1960s, Marat/Sade remains a remarkably relevant work and retains an almost diabolical theatrical intensity that so dazzled early audiences. And if you are going to let the lunatics run the asylum, you would be hard-pressed to find a better fit than the Thrillpeddlers troupe.

Working with co-producer Marc Huestis, Thrillpeddlers has moved from the tight confines of its Hypnodrome venue to Brava Theatre, where every inch of the vast stage becomes part of the Charenton asylum. While one suspects that this production behaves very differently from the Royal Shakespeare Company original, it is perfectly suited to the style that director Russell Blackwood has developed with Thrillpeddlers in both bloody Grand Guignol spectacles and revivals of Cockettes musicals.

A kind of organized chaos reigns, and the opening-night audience vocally shared in the irreverent merriment spilling from the stage. But when the characters turned serious, and spoke of how easily a revolution can be co-opted and the ease with which the rich always seem to reinherit the earth, Weiss’ prescient comments came across loud and eerily clear. One can imagine Broadway audiences in 1964 intellectually connecting with the words, but today the connection is more visceral.

But whose words are these? Peter Weiss is, of course, the final spokesman, but the dialogue is largely the Marquis de Sade’s interpretation of historical events and philosophies in his play within the play, and that dialogue is delivered by those whom the state has declared insane. It is time now to give the full title of the play, which offers a matter-of-fact description of the proceedings: The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade.

Marat was a major player during the French Revolution, a leader of the radical Jacobins, who endorsed

<<

Extreme Makeover

From page 17

contained series, it’s as if the subjects and the carefully constructed scenarios she devises for them are directed only at you, an audience of one. It’s a difficult illusion to sustain when confronted with a large-scale show that introduces Sherman to visitors only vaguely acquainted with her, and fleshes out the scope of her accomplishments for those who know her better.

Combining Pop, Conceptual, performance art and cinema, she has distilled her own art form, one made no less original because she’s grown influential and spawned a legion of imitators. Ah, the wages of success. Though she’s inarguably a

Daniel Nicoletta

Jeff Garrett, as the Marquis de Sade, tries to coach Bonni Suval, as a fellow asylum inmate who plays assassin Charlotte Corday in Marat/Sade, now onstage at Brava Theatre.

violent retribution against the more moderate Girondists. The stage Marat spends the entire production in a bathtub, in recognition of the balm the actual Marat sought from the skin disease he contracted while hiding from enemies in Paris’ sewers. He is murdered while soaking in the tub by the Girondist Charlotte Corday, who is played at Charenton by a patient suffering from melancholia and narcolepsy. Other players must regularly rouse her so she can get through her scenes and finally plant the fatal dagger.

There are, quite clearly, many dramatic layers happening simultaneously, which also include a motley chorus that at regular intervals ambles forward to present one of the Brechtian ballads composed

by Richard Peaslee. Scrumbly Koldewyn, a veteran of Cockettes and Thrillpeddlers productions, is the onstage pianist who keeps the musical direction on the circuitous track that playwright Weiss and director Blackwood have laid out.

A huge cast is fully in sync with the production’s woozy rhythms, with numerous standout performances. These include Brian Trybom as the pompous and panicky asylum director, Jeff Garrett as the imperious and subversive Marquis de Sade, Bonni Suval as the addled Charlotte Corday, and Aaron Malberg as the passionately philosophizing Marat. They have all been exquisitely and evocatively costumed by Beaver Bauer, and James Blackwood’s scenic design pulls you right into the world of a 19th-century asylum.

trailblazer, those imitators, coupled with the now-commonplace practice of adopting personas, means that her photographs don’t seem as fresh, radical or transgressive as they did when she burst into public consciousness in the 1980s with Untitled Film Stills. In that breakthrough series of 70 grainy 8 ½ x 11” black & white pictures that resemble old publicity stills shot on studio backlots, she personifies stock female types in fictionalized films recalling noir, Italian Neo-Realism and Hollywood movies of the 1950s and 60s.

Striking an array of actressy poses, she’s a femme fatale, a distressed housewife, a sultry European starlet casually lighting up a cigarette, a desperate woman leaning against a See page 23 >>

The scenery includes graffiti evoking the present day, but it is not needed for Marat/Sade to resonate with contemporary audiences. The opportunities to experience this resonance are rare enough, and the production at Brava is an even more rare blend of artistry, dramatic connection, and showbiz pizazz wrapped up as a carefully planted sloppy wet kiss.▼ Marat/Sade will run at Brava Theatre through July 29. Tickets are $25-$35. Call 863-0611 or go to www.thrillpeddlers.com.

ebar.com

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

20 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 19-25, 2012

▼

Books >>

Pan sexuality

by John F. Karr

I

t’s a pity that John Franceschina’s Hermes Pan – The Man Who Danced with Fred Astaire is boring (Oxford University Press; cloth, $35). Hermes Pan (1909-90) was the dancer/choreographer who collaborated with Fred Astaire – stood in for him, body-doubled him, and coaxed the self-doubting dancer into some of his most memorable performances. Pan also worked with almost every star, at almost every studio – RKO, Fox, MGM, Paramount – on 89 films during a career that compromises the history of the Hollywood musical, from the first Astaire/Rogers feature in 1933, through Liz Taylor’s Cleopatra arrival in Rome, to Lost Horizon in 1973. And he was gay.

There hasn’t been a biographic study of this major figure, whose own memoirs remained unfinished.

Early reviews of the book promised it would include information about his sexuality. This it does disappointingly, on less than a page of the Introduction, where the author tells us that Pan’s sexuality was no secret within the film community, and

only became a problem when his large coterie of male friends made his mother uncomfortable. Pan’s mother love, along with his devotion to the Roman Catholic church, made him obsessively secretive. So much so that even William J. Mann, in Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood 19101969, cited Pan as a heterosexual dance director.

It’s obvious, then, that Hermes Pan is a necessary corrective. Yet there just isn’t much documentation that Franceschina can offer; source material is severely limited, and the author doesn’t examine attendant artistic or political gay issues. Gossip and scandal weren’t expected; a fuller discussion was hoped for. The Introduction also includes what would be called an amusing anecdote if it weren’t colored with such sadness. Cardinal Spellman, the Archbishop of New York whose affair with a chorus boy was no secret in Broadway circles, invited Pan to an all-male party, where Pan’s astonishment at what he deemed the clique’s seemingly flagrant public display served to increase his personal reticence. Several

decades later, and more than threequarters of the way through the 270-page book, we find Pan finally allowing himself a lover. The dancer Gino Malerba was Pan’s companion for five years, but nonetheless maintained a separate apartment, and yielded opening nights and society affairs to a beard. The last bit of news we hear on the subject finds Franceschina quoting society writer David Patrick Columbia. “Pan’s sexuality was a burden for him.” It is made clear, however, that Pan was a secretive but not tragic figure.

As for Pan’s movies, Franceschina covers each and every musical number in each and every film Pan worked on, but can only list changes in tempo – a Schottische is followed by a waltz – as he apparently lacks the skill to illuminate movement or enliven his descriptions. It’s not long before his dutiful song-bysong summary becomes a slog. This is quite a contrast to the simultaneously published The Astaires, about Fred and sister Adele’s vaudeville and Broadway career, in which author Kathleen Riley unfolds her story with warmth and a lively talent at bringing readers to visualize per-

Courtesy Oxford University Press

Hermes Pan, right, rehearses with Fred Astaire.

formances. In Hermes Pan, Franceschina lists the facts in proper order.

As the only book on the subject,

Hermes Pan is worth a musical film fan’s acquaintance. Just don’t expect to be entertained.▼

Film >>

Gallery of not-so-lovable losers

by David Lamble

W

hat’s it like to experience the latest Todd Solondz bitter satire Dark Horse? Imagine an 85-minute pilot for a Seinfeld reboot that focused – no, make that obsessed – over the juvenile fantasies, delusional ambitions and revenge-filled rants of a dumpy, balding George Costanza. Imagine a George, moreover, who has never left his boyhood bedroom, who works for his morose, overbearing dad, and who endures the faux sympathy of a mom whose ditzy, fashion-challenged persona would have been a perfect fit on the 1970s soap spoof Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.

MH, MH famously, deliciously for its devotees, featured an episode where a man drowned face-down in a bowl of Mary’s homemade chicken soup. The chicken-soup demise would have made a perfectly suitable exit for Dark Horse’s bitter, balding, not-so-jolly, fat protagonist

Courtesy of Jojo Whilden

Dark Horse writer & director Todd Solondz.

Jordan Gelber as Abe (left) and Selma Blair as Miranda (right) in Todd Solondz’s Dark Horse.

Abe (a fine big-screen premiere for Jordan Gelber) if the God who created him, writer/director Solondz, hadn’t fashioned a more sardonic fate.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Abe’s fate and his fumbling attempts to avoid it should be set against a career cavalcade of flawed if thoroughly human Solondz characters. They begin with Welcome to the Dollhouse’s much-bullied high school wallflower Dawn Wiener and continue with a sad gay boy whose whiny attempts to come out to and make it with his school’s most popular boy, Scooby (a classic blinkered-teen turn from Mark Weber), in Solondz’s Storytelling are greeted with the bored rejoinder, “We know, we know!”

A consumer advisory: those who have resisted earlier Solondz critical favorites Happiness, Palindromes and Life During Wartime due to well-advertised “unsavory” plot elements should consider this less-spicy remix their invitation to the party. As the director himself has observed, this time, “There’s no rape, there’s no child molestation, there’s no masturbation, and then I thought, ‘Oh my God, why didn’t I think of this years ago?’” Or as Solondz put it even more tartly, “I’m Judd Apatow’s dark side.”

Aside from the dark humor that goes with the territory as an increasingly agitated Abe lashes out at family and workmates, true Solondz fans have usually appreciated him most for those unexpectedly moving scenes where two very unlikely

characters forge a brief, genuine, if extremely uncomfortable human connection. Like the dark-night-ofthe-soul conversation in Happiness where a prison-bound serial-pedophile dad actually communicates a true, non-creepy love for his now thoroughly confused son.

Dark Horse’s epiphany speech comes quite unexpectedly as Abe finds himself wooing a depressed younger woman, Miranda (Selma Blair), who has as many or more coping issues, and who, for a brief moment at least, considers Abe’s marriage proposal a plausible if improbable romantic safe harbor. The scene begins with Abe uncharacteristically offering some sage advice to the over-medicated Miranda.

“You know, not that I’m an expert in these things, but maybe you should think about taking less medication.”

“Please tell me something, and I need you to be honest, are you for real?”

“Absolutely, 200%!”

“And you’re not being ironic, like performance art or something?”

“Well, I suppose it’s true that most people would describe me as having an ironic sense of humor, but I’m definitely not into performance art or anything like that, no way!”

“And you were serious about what you said last time?”

“Absolutely, 100%!”

“Even though we hardly –” “I know all I need to know. Do you think you might want –?”

“I want to want you!”

“That’s enough for me!”

“I had a long Skype with Mahmoud, my ex, and I told him all about you: how different you are from what I’m used to, all the downside to everything, and he agrees I should stop trying to slit my wrists, give up on a literary career, give up on hope, ambition, success, independence, self-respect. I should just get married, have children.”

After a long pause, they kiss.

“Oh my God, that wasn’t horrible! Things could have been so much worse!”

This being a Todd Solondz joint, things do get worse, and in ways I won’t even try to communicate lest I intrude on the thrill of discovering them in the dark. Suffice it to say that the final portion of Abe’s story is lodged increasingly in his own fevered dreams and delusions. There are scenes so surreal I’m still not entirely sure what happened, but they held me. My favorite scene involves a hallucinatory episode I call “Justin and the Cougar,” as Abe stumbles upon an older, bitterly funny office colleague having a sexual fling with the “office twink,” a charmingly boyish, elfin figure delightfully essayed by the same Zachary Booth who’s so sublime as the drug-addled boyfriend in Ira Sachs’ incendiary Frameline hit Keep the Lights On. Yet another Solondz film becomes a kind of destination resort for a talented ensemble, including Mia Farrow’s “killing-him-softly mom” – boy, have we missed her since her Woody Allen breakup – and a fiendishly grumpy Christopher Walken, who’s been acing the over-the-top dad roles ever since the Steven Spielberg/Leonardo DiCaprio collaboration Catch Me If You Can. With a lead who enters and exits scenes in a yellow Hummer that’s the Batmobile of his still-childish fantasies, Abe becomes perhaps the most poignant of Solondz’s notso-lovable losers, as if TV’s George Costanza were to transform from cuddly, irascible buffoon into a comic/tragic figure who requires a bigger screen to exit his vale of tears.

(Opens Friday.) ▼

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DVD >>

July 19-25, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 21

Versatile master

by Tavo Amador

V

incente Minnelli (1903-86) is best remembered for directing landmark musicals, including Cabin in the Sky (1943), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), An American in Paris (1951) and Gigi (1958). The last two won Best Picture Oscars, and he earned the Best Director award for Gigi. He was, however, equally adept at melodramas: The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Some Came Running (1958); and comedies: Father of the Bride (1951). Two of his lesserknown but fascinating films are available on DVD from Warner Archives.

The Cobweb (1955) is set in a posh mental clinic in a small town. Its new director, Dr. Stewart McGiver (Richard Widmark), advocates liberal approaches to treatment, including letting patients have a say in their care.

His method differs from that of Dr. Douglas Devanal (Charles Boyer), who’s distracted from work by women and drink. The hospital’s controller, Miss Vicky Inch (Lillian Gish), is obsessed with keeping expenses low.

McGiver’s sexy wife, Karen (Gloria Grahame), resents his neglecting her and their children. Widowed occupational therapist Meg Rinehart (Lauren Bacall) masks her loneliness through work.

The patients include Stevie (John Kerr), an unstable father-hating youth with a self-proclaimed “Oedipus Complex”; an agoraphobic teenager, Sue (Susan Strasberg); and a mother-fixated middle-aged man, Mr. Capp (Oscar Levant).

Unexpectedly, a clash over new library drapes becomes a huge

power struggle, with Karen, Miss Inch, Stevie, and Meg at odds. It’s a catalyst that exposes deep fissures.

At times, the behavior of the staff is difficult to distinguish from that of their charges. The complex characters don’t always behave well, yet are sympathetic.

Minnelli brings out the best in the talented cast. Grahame is outstanding as the frustrated wife who briefly consoles herself with Dr. Devanal.

In one memorable scene, she asks her husband if he knows what their daughter said in school about who she wanted to become. “A patient!” she snaps. Widmark is effective as a failing husband and father who hopes to redeem himself. Boyer has a few hammy moments, but is generally fine as a man facing professional failure. Bacall looks terrific and is very appealing. Her scenes with Widmark are touching. Gish is tough, vitriolic, but in the end, compassionate. Kerr, fresh from his Broadway triumph as the “sensitive” prep-school boy believed to be gay in Tea and Sympathy, is sometimes over-the-top, but conveys his anguish well. Stevie’s relationship with Dr. McGiver has a homoerotic undertone. Strasberg, daughter of Actors Studio guru Lee and his wife Paula, is good, as is Levant.

Minnelli’s fluid camera and great color sense add to the melodrama.

The vivid hues reflect exploding passions. He moves the story swiftly, with conflicts escalating throughout. The ending, though optimistic, isn’t pat.

Life won’t be easy for any of them.

The script, by John Paxton and William Gibson, from the latter’s novel,

is heavy with Freudian symbolism and pop psychology, but Minnelli’s skillful helming masks those weaknesses.

The Reluctant Debutante (1958), set in London, is a high comedy filled with manic behavior that differs dramatically from The Cobweb. Lord Jimmy Broadbent (Rex Harrison) and his second wife Sheila (the glorious Kay Kendall) await the arrival of Jane, his American-reared daughter from his first marriage (Sandra Dee). It’s “the Season,” the summer months when upper-class English girls make their society “debuts” and attend formal dances hoping to attract suitable young men. Marriage is the goal. Sheila’s waspish distant cousin Mabel (Angela Lansbury) has entered her plain daughter Clarissa (Diane Clare) in the marital sweepstakes. Impulsively, Sheila decides she must do the same for Jane.

To Mabel’s annoyance, Jane attracts far more attention than does Clarissa.

She’s delighted, therefore, when the only young man Jane is drawn to is an “inappropriate” American drummer, David (John Saxon), whose band plays at the parties. Sheila is equally concerned about David’s background. Complications, including mistaken identities, ensue.

Minnelli moves the action quickly, keeping things frothy and giddy. Kendall, in real life married to Harrison, was unique: simultaneously beautiful, sexy, statuesque, elegant, and a matchless comedienne equally adept at high and low humor. She dazzles, walking off with the movie. (She died in 1959, age 33, from leukemia.)

Lansbury is barely a step behind, rattling off sharp dialogue at breakneck speed. Her cooing Schadenfreude over Sheila’s worries about Jane is delicious. She gleefully adds to her cousin’s anxieties. Harrison, a deft comic actor, is very funny: tired, harassed, trying to be a good father. Saxon (one of notorious gay Hollywood agent Henry Willson’s discoveries) is hand-

Black, blue & broken

by Gregg Shapiro

T

he six Black Briefs (Guest House) referred to in the title of this compilation of gay short films are black in that they are all of a dark nature. Hong Khaou’s Spring, the first film on the DVD, involves a 20-year-old university student negotiating an intense (S&M, B&D) sexual scene with a slightly older man. There’s a noose, a blindfold, commands to bark and fetch like a dog.

There’s also respect and a sense of release and relief.

In Remission, directed

by Greg Ivan Smith, Sam (Michael Fitzpatrick), a gay man in a Maine cabin, waits out the weekend for the Monday results of his biopsy. Accompanied by his Boston terrier, Sam’s trip to the country quickly begins to go bad. He is missing his boyfriend’s opening-night performance, his cell-phone is dying, and he can’t find the charger. Then he begins to hear, see and smell things. Is it just his anxiety, his meds, or is there really a shadowy figure outside the window and lurking in the cellar? Prepare to be horrified.

Model-pretty actor Ryker (Gavyn Michaels) invites his two boyfriends Brian (Hunter Lee Hughes) and Ernesto (Adrian Quinonez) to a theater where they will duke it out for his affections in Winner Takes All. Alec Mapa, as Ryker’s assistant/slave Simon, is the best part of Camille Carida’s short. Lalo Vasquez’s Promise opens the morning of Stu (Korken Alexander) and Chris’ (Rick Cornette) gay wedding. It’s clouded by the ugly events of the night before, at a bar

where they celebrated the last night of their bachelorhood with friends.

Joseph (Joshua Blanaru), a one-time threesome partner who developed into something more for Stu, creates friction between the couple, leading to a heated argument back home that escalates into something more serious, leaving the couple (and the viewer) wondering whether or not they will

walk down the aisle.

At six minutes, Video Night is the shortest short on the DVD. But you’d be surprised how quickly it has the ability to horrify you. Friends Jim (co-director Jim Hansen), Jesse (Jesse Rice), Jack (co-director Jack Plotnick) and Kali (Kali Rocha) are having fun making a silly home video. But dur-

ing the editing process, they discover two things. One is that Kali is missing, and the other is that there is terrifying footage of what happened to her. The most exotic short on the DVD, Communication, from Christopher Banks, is set in New Zealand. Recent college grad Jacob (Rudi Vodanovich), an Orthodox Jew, has learned that he has inherited the house that belonged to hi his gay college prof Andr drew (Alexander Campbe bell). That not only di displeases Andrew’s boyfr friend Charles (Richard La Lambeth), but stirs up al all sorts of unexplored fe feelings and emotions in Ja Jacob.

The six shorts comp piled on the DVD Blue B Briefs (Guest House) are al also a mixed bag. The b best of the series, Sal B Bardo’s Requited, comes first, the story of Nichola las (Christopher Schrram) and Gregor (Max R Rhyser), a couple in N New York facing issues o of commitment and sseparation. Nicholas aand Gregor are spendiing their last weekend ttogether before Gregor rrelocates. Their time iis not their own, as the w weekend also includes a going-away party for G Gregor and the wedding of Nicholas’ best friend Aaron (Matthew W Watson), with whom he is in love. Good writing and good acting combine to make this required viewing.

Boys Like You, starring and directed

by Sal Armando, examines the complicated relationships between gay men and straight men, and the dangers of drinking and flirting. Alain Hain’s The In-Between, “based on true

stories,” takes an unusual approach: voiceovers incorporating interviews with men on the subject of infidelity, while a cheating story is depicted on-screen. Teens relationships figure into half of the shorts, with the best one being Abdi Nazemian’s Revolution, about an Iranian teen “working within the system to make incremental change” (per his father’s advice) in 1989 Los Angeles.

A non-traditional biopic about the late gay poet Hart Crane, depicted in 12 “voyages,” writer/director/ star James Franco’s film adaptation of Paul Marini’s book The Broken Tower (Focus World/eOne) is overly See page 30 >>

some, charming, and appealiing. Dee, only 16, is competent aas the practical Jane.

Hollywood veteran Jules J. E Epstein and William DouglasH Home wrote the screenplay, aadapted from the latter’s play.

IIt’s a witty send-up of English aaristocratic rituals. The endiing is charming, if implausible.

JJoseph Ruttenberg’s color cineematography is lush, undoubteedly influenced by Minnelli’s m masterful camera technique.

P Pierre Balmain designed the sspectacular, soignee costumes w worn by Kendall and Lansb bury. Helen Rose created Dee’s en ensembles. The score includes se several Cole Porter tunes.

Although Minnelli never fo formally came out and married fo four times, most famously to Ju Judy Garland, his homosexual ality was no secret. He was the consummate classic studio-era director, in part because management could feign ignorance about his sexual orientation. He worked steadily through the mid-60s, but the results showed a marked decline that paralleled that of the system in which he had thrived. He regained a bit of magic guiding Barbra Streisand in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970). Sadly, his final film, A Matter of Time (1976), starring daughter Liza Minnelli, Ingrid Bergman, and Boyer, was badly edited, opened to terrible reviews, and quickly disappeared from theatres.

All the more reason to welcome the availability of The Cobweb and The Reluctant Debutante.▼

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 19-25, 2012

Bruckner love

by Tim Pfaff

F

or a work with near-rarity status, Anton Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony has, like an endangered species of whale, breached the surface in three significant live recordings in recent months. One – with the Berlin Philharmonic under Joseph Keilberth (Testament) – is actually historical, from the 1960 Salzburg Festival. Another – with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra under Roger Norrington, from two years ago (Haenssler) – is historically informed.

The third – with Simon Rattle leading the Berlin Philharmonic last February (EMI Classics) – augurs to be historic.

It’s easily the most important classical recording of the year so far.

Although Bruckner was working on the Finale to his Ninth Symphony the day he died, he finished only the first three movements, pretty much the only form in which it has been played until now. Rattle’s recording is the first to present the Ninth in the four-movement form Bruckner perfected and clearly intended for his last symphony. Controversial as this completion may be, Bruckner lovers who hear it will soon find themselves as unable to settle for performances of the three-movement version as opera lovers are to abide with the “torso” of

the two-act, unfinished Berg Lulu – and for the same reason. The unfinished versions actually misrepresent these landmark works.

Bruckner was close enough to see if not actually hear the vaulting conclusion of his strange last symphony, which he famously dedicated to “my beloved God.” The team – Rattle calls them “forensic musicologists”: Nicola Samale, Giuseppe Mazzucca, John Phillips, and Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs – that made this completion has taken nearly three decades to arrive at a final score for the Finale.

Their timetable says more about Bruckner’s genius (and the fraught nature of all completion exercises) than about the state of his manuscript. Bruckner was as disciplined in his working methods as he was in the musical architecture of his huge symphonies. Some 600 of the Finale’s 650 measures existed in full score or were extensively sketched. As Rattle comments in an accompanying note: “There is much more Bruckner here than there is Mozart in the Requiem.”

Some of the fragments have been heard before, importantly in a fine 2002 recording with the Vienna Philharmonic under Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Like all completions, this one has had its detractors, most of whom have trotted out the predictable ar-

guments that some passage or other doesn’t sound like the composer or is something the composer would never do. Almost without fail, as their predecessors have with Lulu and Mahler’s 10th, the completers have responded that the passages objected to were ones in which they made no changes to the composer’s autograph.

Superbly realized by Rattle and the Berliners, the new Finale does sound like nothing Bruckner had written before – but that’s the point, what

today we would call “the good news.”

As Mahler was in his 10th more than in any previous symphony, Bruckner was in his Ninth staking out new musical territory. And in both cases, listening to these supremely great symphonists’ final thoughts – hearing them out – changes our understanding of the arc of their work overall.

The Berliners sculpt Bruckner’s great slabs of sound with unflagging attention to detail, and Rattle positions them in revealing relationship to one

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another. For the listener, the feeling is like being the first person at Stonehenge.

Much of this music is jarring to hear, both in the extremes of the instrumentation and, even more, in its leaps from one sonic tectonic plate to another. Plate slippage and the resulting fiasco never seem far from the alarms this music regularly and insistently sets off. Rattle cites “particularly a dotted rhythm that recurs in an almost obsessive way.”

Before we get to that jagged gesture, the music speaks of flight and alarm.

The heavy repetition of phrases that has (wrongly) won Bruckner the tag of “proto-minimalist” becomes almost percussive in intensity in the Finale, and a single, shrill repeated note, picked up from the Adagio, becomes increasingly horrid, as disturbing as the piercing trumpet note keening over the climax of Mahler’s 10th.

Against all odds, the music coheres, into a mighty double fugue.

Still, it would be little more than sound and fury signifying nothing if Rattle and the Berliners didn’t deliver such a probing account of the whole symphony, re-oriented to Bruckner’s planned destination. Yet even if the familiar music sometimes sounds different, there’s no diminution of its impact. That includes vertiginous lightness, like the Adagio’s saturated chords in spongy sonorities wrung See page 27 >>

Summer soul men

by Gregg Shapiro

T

his month marked the seventh anniversary of the passing of legendary R&B singer/songwriter Luther Vandross. The loss of his bountiful talent is still being felt today. From his early days as a backing vocalist for Bette Midler, Carly Simon, Roberta Flack and David Bowie, among others, songwriter

and arranger, Vandross became indispensible behind the scenes. But once his 1981 Never Too Much disc was released, there was no turning back. Vandross went on to put out more than a dozen full-length studio recordings, containing a multitude of hit singles. Ultimately we lost Vandross, whose personal struggles included issues surrounding both his sexuality and his

weight, much too early, at the age of 54. The compilation Hidden Gems (Epic/Legacy) attempts to unearth lesser-known Vandross tracks and bring them into the light. It’s most successful at highlighting his gift for interpretation on renditions of “The Impossible Dream” and “Goin’ Out of My Head,” his mad skills in the dance arena on “Are You Using Me?” and “You Really Started Something,”

and of course, his gift for writing memorably, as on “You Stopped Loving Me.” One of the most soulful if fiercely overplayed singles of 2012 was “Somebody that I Used to Know”

by Australian musician Gotye (aka Wally de Backer). Gotye’s brand of blue-eyed soul is the dominant factor on his Making Mirrors (Samples n Seconds-Universal Republic) disc.

Vaguely reminiscent of Sting at his most earnest, the songs on the disc emphasize drama (walking the plank on “Eyes Wide Open”) while maintaining a contemporary R&B attitude, which comes through on “Smoke and Mirrors” and “Save Me.” There’s even a touch of handclapping gospel on “In Your Light,” and an island influence on “State of the Art.” The aptly titled Black Radio (Blue Note) by the Robert Glasper Experiment opens with the mic check “Lift Off,” featuring Shafiq Husayn at his level DJ/MC best. From there it launches into one of the finest selections of modern soul jazz tunes, both originals (co-written by jazz pianist Glasper) and covers. That’s Erykah Badu providing the vocals on Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro Blue,” while Lalah Hathaway (daughter of

Donny) does her thing with Sade’s “Cherish the Day.” The bright “Always Shine,” a co-composition by Glasper and Lupe Fiasco, features Fiasco and Bilal, while the affirmative “Ah Yeah” pairs Musiq Soulchild with Chrisette Michele. Out bassist/ singer/songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello makes envy sound like less than a deadly sin on “The Consequences of Jealousy.”

If you dig modern blue-eyed soul acts such as Fitz & the Tantrums, then Mayer Hawthorne will be your cup of bittersweet tea. Hawthorne, an alias for Andrew Cohen, dips his ladle into the soul tureen and serves it up hot and steamy on How Do You Do (Universal Republic). Making expert use of the time he spent in rap acts, he teams up with Snoop Dogg on “Can’t Stop.” “Dreaming” is an infectious soul update, while the sexy strut of foul-mouthed break-up tune “The Walk” begs for its own line-dance. “Hooked” is a perfect name for such an addictive song, and get ready to dance when “You’re Not Ready” starts to play.

Van Hunt takes a less traditional approach to his style of soul on What Were You Hoping For? (Thirty See page 27 >>

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Read more online at www.ebar.com

July 19-25, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 23

Theatre>>

‘Miserables’ redux

by Richard Dodds

T

here was a time when Les Miserables was practically a biennial visitor to San Francisco. Between 1989 and 2002, three touring companies of the Victor Hugo-inspired musical passed through town. It’s back again, but for the first time not as a replication of the iconic Trevor Nunn-John Caird production. New sets, costumes, orchestrations, and staging help keep the musical from gathering museum-piece dust, though the effect is not radically different from what has come before.

It’s good enough if you’re seeking the Les Miz experience again or for the first time.

Where it does occasionally come up short is in its ability to push through the blander stretches of a long show. The story is told nearly all in song, and the musical motifs in Claude-Michel Schonberg’s score can be both stirring and numbing.

Schonberg often employs ascending sequences of repeated notes to effectively build into power ballads, but the same technique can grow wearisome when serving as the underpinning of recitative dialogue.

The lyrics, adapted into English

by Herbert Kretzmer from Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel’s original French libretto, are similarly at their best when tightly focused in

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the arias and anthems that provide the show’s most exciting moments.

But in the narrative sequences, the lyricist’s ear can seem off when such phraseology as “Hey, Eponine, what’s up with you?” becomes part of the sung-through dialogue of 19th-century France.

Les Miserables arrived on Broadway in 1987 as part of a British invasion of mega-musicals that, for a while at least, seemed to be entrenched as the gold standard of musical-theater success. Along with Les Miz, there were Phantom of the Opera, Cats, and Miss Saigon. But then came such commercially disappointing enterprises as Chess, Sunset Boulevard, and Martin Guerre, and that well went dry.

The successful productions, including Les Miz, used bang-foryour-buck spectacle to enhance emotional sweep. This new staging of Les Miz by Laurence Connor and James Powell attempts to maintain the sweep while reducing the spectacle. When the material is there, as shown in the stripped-down version of Sweeney Todd, less can reveal more. Les Miz is not another example of that phenomenon.

To be fair, much of set designer Matt Kinley’s work creates the proper atmosphere for the sprawling tale, using large set pieces that fly in and out against changing projected

Deen Van Meer

Peter Lockyer stars as the heroic Jean Valjean in a reconceived version of Les Miserables now at the Orpheum Theatre.

backdrops that are kept at a hazy remove in Paule Constrable’s helpful lighting design. But at several key moments, the effect is spoiled, and the drama undermined, when the projections become computer animations meant to suggest that stationary characters are in motion.

It’s just a little cheesy.

The cast is equal to the challenges of the material, and in several cases, more than equal. Peter Lockyer cer-

Extreme Makeover

From page 19

stone wall, an image reminiscent of Sophia Loren in Vittorio De Sica’s Two Women, an ambitious career woman taking the city by storm in pillbox hat and pumps, and a wanton blonde goddess in sexy lingerie stretched out on a bed, etc. (The artist doesn’t title her images, a choice that invites speculation by the viewer and doesn’t fence her in. It may also account for the feverish debate triggered by her work and the reams of copy written about it.)

At the entry to the exhibition, the walls are papered with Sherman’s recent project, 18-foot tall, floor-toceiling murals that suggest that bigger is not better. They provide an interesting counterpoint to the smaller black & white imagery from the mid-1970s and early 80s. That work, like the aforementioned Film Stills, and the multiple girlish images of herself, cut-out and lined up alongside each other in an all-Cindy chorus line, is comparatively free of artifice, created before she became as sophisticated technically, moved to color, and mastered the orchestration of increasingly complex scenes. Sherman’s mind must be a very busy place.

Graphic, grotesque imagery from the 1980s & 90s is as startling as it is difficult to look at. In contrast to almost all of her photographs, she doesn’t appear in these ferocious pictures of unvarnished rage which feature rotted food, entrails and torn, violated bodies. In one, a creature of indeterminate gender has legs cut off at mid-thigh, distended fake breasts, and a face mercilessly ravaged by age; in another, a penis, looking like a bloated hot dog, juts out from an unexpected source. While the latter series is sans Sherman, in the so-called History Portraits, made during a stint in Rome in 1989, her subjects are primarily male – or a daring female adept at impersonating men. In these wild, ingenious, very entertaining pictures, she pretends, with the aid of humor, fake noses, facial hair and prosthetics, to be sitters for Old Masters paintings by the likes of Titian, Holbein and Fragonard, among others. She also reenacts actual paintings like Caravaggio’s “Sick Bacchus.” Where the brawling Italian master once stood in for the god of wine, she appears in an

Rick Gerharter

Artist Cindy Sherman’s series of History Portraits.

ill-fitting tunic and a laurel wreath on her head as he (she?) grasps a cluster of grapes, appraising the viewer with a debauched, boozy stare.

Sherman reserves some of her strongest satiric ammunition for women trapped in societal stereotypes and prisons of their own making.

Members of a group of middle-aged society ladies range from vanquished and imperious to downright hostile, oppressed by and angry at the indignities of aging and loss of status in a world that doesn’t like to see its women betray signs of mortality. The inevitable decay is staved off by heavy makeup, vulgar jewelry, caftans, couture and hair coifed within an inch of its life. Exhibit A is a severe woman in a red silk dress clasping a fan to her waist like a weapon and armed with an expression that’s more warning shot than greeting.

A natural hunting ground for Sherman is fashion, whose victims she parodies. Take the furious platinum blonde, slouching and naked under a tres serious navy blue man’s overcoat, or the punky woman with nose rings and a chain tattoo circling her neck.

Wearing grey-and-white-checked, gingham gloves, she aims a finger at the side of her head like a gun. Who can blame her? We’ve all been there.

(Through October 8.)

Endnote: In conjunction with the show, Sherman has curated a twomonth film series that reflects her taste for the eerie and bizarre. The program includes Suture, a stylized black & white murder mystery involv-

ing a plastic surgeon named Renee Descartes; Chris Marker’s La Jetee, a surreal, post-apocalyptic tone poem; Texas Chainsaw Massacre; and John Frankenheimer’s sci-fi/horror cautionary tale Seconds, which may be most memorable as the last and only film where Rock Hudson was actually good. (Thursdays @ 7 p.m. at the SFMOMA theater, through Aug. 30.)▼

tainly makes his mark as the heroic Jean Valjean, an ex-convict whose repurposed life as a humanitarian does not stop the obsessed Inspector Javert, vividly portrayed by

Andrew Varela, from trying to put Valjean back behind bars.

Valjean’s journeys lead him into the thick of the Paris uprising of 1832, when his adopted daughter Cosette (Lauren Wiley) falls in love with student leader Marius (Max Quinlan). Other important players include Cosette’s woebegone mother Fantine (Betsy Morgan), her daughter’s original abusive guardians, who here serve as comic relief in the guise of Shawna M. Hamic and Timothy Gulan, and their own waifish daughter Eponine (Briana Carlson-Goodman), with soot that seems tattooed on her face.

This production of Les Miserables is billed as “the 25th-anniversary tour,” and it isn’t much of a stretch to predict that if I’m still pounding the keyboards five years from now, I will be writing about the 30th-anniversary tour. The show, as they say in Paris, has jambes.▼ Les Miserables will run through Aug. 26 at the Orpheum Theatre.

Tickets are $31-$150. Call (888) 7461799 or go to www.shnsf.com.

<< Out&About

24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 19-25, 2012

Suite by Samuel Barber. Proceeds benefit the Oakland-East Bay Gay Men’s Chorus. $20.

6:30 pm silent auction, 7:30 program.

114 Montecito Avenue, Oakland. www.oebgmc.org

per, Daffney Deluxe and Ruby LeBrowne; dinner seating at 7pm. Show at 8pm.

No cover. 124 Ellis St. 421-8700. www.fauxgirls.com

Password @ Public Works Litquake’s literary speakeasy reading (new venue) with a vintage Algonquin Round Table flair features Robin Ekiss as Tallulah Bankhead, Issac Fitzgerald as Robert Benchley, Eddie Muller as Dashiell Hammett, Sarah Fran Wisby as Dorothy Parker, Joshua Mohr as Sinclair Lewis, and Alia Volz MCing as Louise Brooks. No-host bar of gin and vidka cocktails, plus jazz pianist J. Raoul Brody and chanteuse Laurie Amat. Vintage attire suggested. $15-$18. 8pm. 161 Erie St. 932-0955. www.litquake.org

The Scottsboro Boys @ A.C.T. The true story of nine African American men unjustly accused of a crime is given a sardonic yet rousing musical adaptation (which won 12 Tony nominations) with the songs of John Kander and Fred Ebb, and book by David Thompson; directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. Special Open-Captioned performance July 21, 8pm. $20-$95. Tue-Sat 8pm. Wed, Sat & Sun also 2pm. Some 7pm Sun shows. Thru July 22.

American Conservatory Theatre, 415 Geary St. 749-2228. www.act-sf.org

Fri 20>>

Chris Colfer

Fab-tabulous

By Jim Provenzano

I

t’s not that they’re gay that makes them fabulous and talented. Or maybe it is. You’ll have to ask them, although they’ll be busy singing, reading from their new books, or doing a zany cabaret act. Either way, despite being post-Pride, the rainbow continues to fly in the local arts scene.

Thursday, July 19: Scott Capurro @ Punch Line The gay comic performs his wickedly funny stand-up act. $20. 8pm. Thru July 22. 444 Battery St. at Clay. 281-9242. www.punchlinecomedyclub.com

$25. 2-drink min. 10:30pm.

Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.therrazzroom.com

The fifth annual women’s music festival features live acts (Judea Eden, Sistas in the Pit, campgrounds, food plus healing and health booths, workshops and more.

Single day passes $20. To camping rentals and full-pass at $180 and up for three days. Daily thru July 22. Walker Creek Ranch Retreat and Conference Center, 1700 Marshall Petaluma Rd, Petaluma. www.fabulosafest.com

LGBTQ Family Day at the Contemporary Jewish Museum

Sun., July 22: LGBT Family Day @ Contemporary Jewish Museum The afternoon music festival features Critical Bliss, the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, and the SF Lesbian/ Gay Freedom Band; a picnic with event co-sponsors from Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, Family Builders, Keshet, Our Family Coalition, and the SF LGBT Center; hands-on art activities and exhibits. 11am-3pm. See Do Not Destroy, a group exhibit of art in varied media exploring the relationship between Jewish traditions and trees. Free-$12.

Daily 11am-5pm Closed Wed. Thru Sept 9. 736 Mission St. 655-7800. www.thecjm.org

Wed., July 24: Chris Colfer @ Books Inc. Opera Plaza Matt Yee

Sat., July 21: Matt Yee @ The Rrazz Room Hawaiian gay comic premieres his hilarious Outrageous Adult Sing-Along Show.

Thu 19>> Ballroom With a Twist @ Marines Memorial Theatre Dancing With the Star’s Louis van Amstel’s new ballroom dancing stage show features DWTS’s Anna Trebunskaya, Jonathan Robert, Peta Murgatroyd, Dmitry Chaplin, plus performers from So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol’s David Hernadez and Gina Glocksen (Different performer line-up some nights). $49-$79. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Sun 6pm. Thru July 29. 609 Sutter St. 2nd fl. 771-6900. www.marinesmemorialtheatre.com

Bebe Sweetbriar @ Beatbox The local singer performs a musical tribute

The openly gay star of Glee reads from and discusses his imaginative children’s book, The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell. $18. 6pm. Ticketed event (includes book). 601 Van Ness Ave. 776-1111. www.booksinc.net

to Donna Summer and Whitney Houston, with Raquela, Gypsy Love and the Familiar Waters Band. Proceeds benefit the SF Gay Men’s Chorus. $10-$25. 7pm. 314 11th St. www.BeBeSweetbriar.com

Enron @ Exit Theatre Open Tab theatre company’s production of the U.K. West End hit that combines the documentary facts of The Smartest Guys in the Room with the performance style of Avenue Q. $25. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru Aug. 17.

156 Eddy St. www.enron2012.com

Fauxgirls @ Infusion Lounge The classy drag revue (3rd Thursdays) has moved to a new location, and celebrates its 11th year; Victoria Secret, Alexandria, Chanel, Maria Garza, Mini Minerva, Kip-

Fabulous @ Creativity Explored

Fri 20 Cara Rose DeFabio, Maryam Farnaz Rostami @ CounterPulse Solo performance works by the local artists explore cyborg feminist theory and telecommunications, and stereotypical Middle Eastern modern women’s fashion as politics. Part of the Summer Special Series. $20-$50. Fri & Sat 8pm.

Sun 2pm. 1310 Mission st. at 9th. 6262060. www.counterpulse.org counter-revolutionary assassination.

Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 7pm. 2781 24th St. 863-0611. www.thrillpeddlers.com www.marchuesticpresents.com

A Midsummer Night’s Dream @ Forest Meadows Ampitheatre

Tides Theatre’s production of Evan Lindor and Andrew Hobgood’s comic play about a 1950s women’s social group’s McCarthy-era secrets. $20-$38. Thu-Sat 8pm. Also extra Sat at 10pm. Thru July 28. 414 Mason St. #601. 336-3533. www.tidestheatre.org

Shakespeare’s summery romantic comedy, where fairies make asses of humans, gets an appropriate outdoor production by Marin Shakes. $20-$35. Previews. Opens July 28.

Thru Sept 30. Dominican University of California, 890 Belle Ave., San Rafael. 499-4488. www.marinshakespeare.org

Bay Area Playwright’s Fest. @ Thick House Theatre

Les Misérables @ Orpheum Theatre

35thannual whirlwind showcase of new and unusual theatre pieces features six new plays

by Gordon Dahlquist, Aditi Brennan Kapil, George Brant, Aaron Loeb, Lauren Yee, and Christopher Chen. $15-$60. Various times thru July 22. 1695 18th St. www.playwrightsfoundation.org

25th anniversary touring production of Boublil & Schönberg’s legendary awardwinning musical based on the Victor Hugo novel about the French Revolution, in a new re-designed production. $30-$150. Tue-Sat 8pm. Wed, Sat Sun 2pm. Thru Aug. 26. 1192 Market St. at 8th. www.shnsf.com

Cindy Sherman @ SF MOMA

Rene Capone @ Live Art Gallery

Retrospective touring exhibit of 150 photos by the artist who poses as different fascinating and obscure characters. Free-$18. Daily 11am-5:30pm, except Wed. late Thu until 8:45pm. Thru Oct. 8. 151 Third St. www.sfmoma.org

Fabulosa Fest

Friday, July 20- Sunday July 22: Fabulosa Fest @ Walker Creek Ranch, Petaluma

5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche @ Phoenix Theatre

Exhibit of watercolor paintings by the talented local artist, whose work include mythical, homoerotica and fantasy imagery in lush colors. Thru July 15. 151 Potrero Ave. at 15th St. www.renecapone.com

Disaster Double Feature @ Castro Theatre

Salomania @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley

Zero Hour! (7:30) and Airplane! (9:05), one parody of disaster films; the other is the one it’s based on! Exclamation point! $7-$10.

429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

Aurora Theatre Company’s production of acclaimed Bay Area playwright Mark Jackson’s play about Maud Allan, the San Francisco dancer-actress who performed a notorious Dance of the Seven Veils. $34-$55. Tue 7pm.

Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm & 7pm. Thru July 29.

2081 Addison St. (510) 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier @ de Young Museum From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, the first exhibition devoted to the gay French fashion designer (previously shown in Montreal and Dallas), includes film and stage costumes and haute couture, prints, video clips and more. Also, Chuck Close and Crown Point Press, and exhibit of the painter’s printmaking works, (All thru Oct. 14). $6-$20. Tue-Sun 9:30am-5:15pm.

Other exhibits ongoing. Friday night special events 5:30pm-8:45pm. Thru Aug. 19. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park. 750-3600. www.famsf.org

Fiddler on the Roof @ Woodminster Ampitheater The classic musical about Russian Jewish villagers facing oppression and the loss of tradition gets staged as part of the 46th season at the popular outdoor theatre venue. $27-$56. Thu-Sun 8pm. Thru July 22.

330 Joaquin Miller Road/Park, Oakland. www.woodminster.com

Jip: His Story @ The Marsh Katherine Paterson’s youth musical about an 1850s Vermont boy whose life is changed by a community’s racism and class prejudice. $8-$50. Thu-sun various times. Thru July 15.

1062 Valencia St. at 22nd. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

▼

Trannyshack @ DNA Lounge Enjoy a Tina Turner drag act tribute with Heklina and crew, plus the Hard French DJs. $12. 9pm-3am. Show at 11pm. 375 11th St. www.trannyshack.com

Sat 21>> Adrian Arias @ Galeria de la Raza New exhibit of works by the multi-media artist who’s created the futuristic tale of an island-continent made of floating trash that’s washed ashore in California circa 2086, and the altered books, totems and art works that fill it. Thru Aug 4. 2857 24th St. 826-8009. www.bt-thelostlibrary.blogspot.com www.galeriadelaraza.org

Andrew Canepa, Stephanie Lynne Smith @ St Paul’s Episcopal Church An evening of piano music solo works by Antonin Dvorak, Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert, and featuring “Souvenirs” Dance

Group exhibit of paintings and works in other media that show off LGBT Pride from a developmentally disabled perspective.

Thru Aug. 1. 3245 16th St. at Guerrero. www.creativityexplored.org

Man Ray/Lee Miller: Partners in Surrealism @ Legion of Honor Photographs, paintings, drawings and manuscripts that explore the creative interaction between gay artists Man Ray and Lee Miller, two giants of European Surrealism.

Also, Marcel Duchamp: The Book and the Box. Free-$10. Thru Oct. 14. Tue-Sat 9:30am5:15pm. Lincoln Park at 100 34th Avenue (at Clement Street). www.famsf.org

The Marvelous Wondrettes @ Fox Theatre, Redwood City Broadway by the Bay presents the bouyant show about four 1960s high school girls who share growing up stories and sing vintage hit songs. $20-$48. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Thru July 29. 2215 Broadway St., Redwood City. (650) 579-5565. www.broadwaybythebay.org

Mascara @ Castro Country Club U-Phoria hosts the monthly drag show at the LGBT sober space. $3-$6. 10:30pm. 4058 18th St. www.castrocountryclub.org

My Fair Lady @ SF Playhouse Modern stripped-down (11 actors, two pianos) adaptation of the Lerner & Lowe classic musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. $20-$50. Tue-Thu 7pm.Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 3pm. Thru Sept. 29. 533 Sutter St. 677-9596. www.sfplayhouse.org

Myth @ Modern Eden Gallery International group exhibit of paintings that visualize ancient and recent mythological characters and stories. Thru Aug. 5. Wed-Sun 11am-7pm. 403 Francisco St/. 956-3303. www.ModernEden.com

Occupy Bay Area @ YBCA New exhibit of activist art related to the Occupy protests. Exhibit $8-$10. Thru Oct. 14. Also, David Shrigley: Brain Activity, an exhibit of caustically witty sculptures and visual art. Free-$15. Exhibit thru Sept. 23. $8-$10. 701 Mission St. 978-2787. www.ybca.org

Photography in Mexico @ SF Museum of Modern Art Group exhibit of historic prints documenting Mexican life and culture since 1920. Also, The Utopian Impulse: Buckminster Fuller and the Bay Area, and a new mural by Dutch artist Parra. Thru July 29. Free-$18. Open daily (except Wednesdays) 11am-5:45pm.; open late Thursdays, until 8:45pm. 131 Third St. 357-4000. www.sfmoma.org

Plantosaurus Rex @ Conservatory of Flowers Exhibit of prehistoric plants and flowers (giant ferns, spiky horsetails) from the Mesozoic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, with life-size models of dinosaurs. Free-$7.

Tue-Sun 10am-4:30pm. Thru Oct. 21. 100 JFK Drive, Golden Gate Park. 831-2090. www.conservatoryofflowers.org

La Quebradora @ Mission Cultural Center Curator Amy Pederson’s group exhibition about Lucha Libre Mexican wrestling culture, with videos, sculptures, paintings and performances (Wed nights 7pm). $5. Reg. hours Tue-Sat 10am-5pm. Thru Aug. 5. 821-1155. www.missionculturalcenter.org

Sweeney Todd @ Eureka Theatre Ray of Light Theatre’s new production of the deliciously grisly Stephen Sondheim musical

King John @ Forest Meadows Ampitheatre, San Rafael Marin Shakespeare Company’s production of The Bard’s action-packed royal drama. $20-$35. Season tickets $45-$75. Dinner and pre-show talk $35. Fri-Sun 8pm.

Some Sun matinees 4pm. Thru Aug. 12.

890 Belle Avenue, Dominican University of California, San Rafael. 499-4488. www.marinshakespeare.org

Marat/Sade @ Brava Theatre Thrillpeddlers and Marc Huestis’ production of The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade, Peter Weiss’ strange drama about 1700s French

Thu 19 Werk Collective @ ODC Theater Showcase of new works by Bay Area young choreographers Alyce Finwall, Minna Harri, Tanya Bello, Christine Bonansea, Michelle Fletcher and Malinda Lavelle. $25-$60.

3 programs at various times thru July 22. 3153 17th St. 863-9834. www.werkcollective.org www.odctheater.org

▼

Out&About >>

July 19-25, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 25

Life & Death in Black & White @ GLBT History Museum AIDS Direct Action in San Francisco, 1985–1990, focuses on the AIDS activist photojournalism of Jane Philomen Cleland, Patrick Clifton, Marc Geller, Rick Gerharter and Daniel Nicoletta. Selection of other LGBT historic items also on display, now include Pride-themed items, including rainbow flag creator Gilbert Baker’s sewing machine and other items, plus a marriage equality and LGBT faith community ephemera. $5. New expanded hours: Mon-Sat 11am7pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Fri 20 Noises Off @ Live Oak Theatre, Berkeley Actors Ensemble of Berkeley perform Michael Frayn’s hilarious backstage farce, where a play is performed three times, front, back and out of control. $10-$15. Fri & Sat 8pm.

Sun 2pm. Thru Aug. 18. 1301 Shattuck Ave at Berryman, North Berkeley. (510) 6495999. www.aeofberkeley.org

about The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, with a live on-stage orchestra. $25-$36. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. (Special Goth costume night July 28 with a post-show party; $30.)

Thru Aug. 11. 215 Jackson St. at Battery.

690-7658. www.rayoflighttheatre.com

Truffaldino Says No @ Ashby Stage, Berkeley Shotgun Players’ new production of Ken Slattery’s comic farce about an ambitious servant that combines Commedia Dell’arte and sitcom ribaldry. $18-$25. Wed & Thu 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 5pm. Thru July 29.

1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory @ Julia Morgan Theatre, Berkeley Local singer-musician Vernon Bush stars in Berkeley Playhouse’s musical stage adaptation of the Roald Dahl book (a new script adapted with permissions from the Dahl estate), with songs from the original film adapatation, about a boy who wins a visit to a mysterious candy factory. $17-$35. Thu 7pm. Sat 2pm. Sun 12pm, 5pm. Thru Aug 19.

2640 College Ave. (510) 845-8542. www.berkeleyplayhouse.org

Sun 22>> Sex & Sobriety @ Castro Country Club Harm reduction workshop on negotiating hot safe sober sex; for singles, couples, buddies. Free. 1pm. 4058 18th St. www.castrocountryclub.org

Sunday’s a Drag @ Starlight Room Donna Sachet and Harry Denton host 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

Various Exhibits @ Oakland Museum of Art Bay Area figurative art; Dorothea Lange archive, early landscape paintings, Gold Rush Era works, California ceramics. Gallery of California Natural Sciences. $6-$12.

1000 Oak St. Oakland. (510) 318-8400. www.museumca.org

Mon 23>> Damon McLay @ Magnet Exhibit of the artist’s expressive personal photographs. 8pm-10pm. Thru July.

4122 18th St. www.magnetsf.org

Mixed Relief @ Lorraine Hansberry Theatre One-night benefit performance of an ensemble theatre piece celebrating the women writers of the Works Progress Administration during the Depression. $5$10. 7:30pm. 450 Post St. (877) 232-1913. www.WomenArts.org

Royal Families of the Americas @ SF Public Library, Harvey Milk/Eureka Valley Exhibit of photographs by Karen Massing of four years of pageantry and royalty in the LGBT International Court System. Thru Sept.

15. 1 Jose Sarria Court at 16th St. www.karenmassingpix.com www.sfpl.org

Star Trek: The Next Generation @ Cinearts Empire 3 Fathom Events’ simulcast of two favorite episodes of the science fiction TV series.

(E. 106 “Where No One Has Gone Before” and Ep. 114, “Datalore.” $12. 7pm. 85 West Portal Ave. Also at other Bay Area cinemas. www.fathomevents.com

Ten Percent @ Comcast 104 David Perry’s talk show about LGBT people and issues. This week, Perry chats with Robert Berry, Academy of Art alum and noted fashion designer; and San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Prozan. Mon-Fri 11:30am & 10:30pm. Sat & Sun 10:30pm. www.comcasthometown.com

Tue 24>> Andrea Marcovicci @ The Rrazz Room Cabaret veteran performs classic American Songbook hits. $35-$45. 7:30pm. Wed-Sat 7:30pm Sun 5pm. Thru Aug. 5. 2-drink min.

Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (800) 380-3095. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

The Drag Show @ Various Channels Stu Smith’s weekly LGBT variety show features local talents, and not just drag artistes.

Channels 29 & 76 on Comcast; 99 on AT&T and 30 on Astound. www.thedragshow.org

Elect to Laugh @ The Marsh Will Durst welcomes comic commentator pals to a weekly political humor night. $15$50. 8pm. Thru Nov 6. 1062 Valencia St. at 21st. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Jesse Bering @ GLBT History Museum Stubbornly Queer: Sexual Reorientation Attempts Through the Lens of History, a lecture/discussion by the author of Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That? 7pm.

4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Radically Gay: The Life of Harry Hay @ SF Public Library Exhibition that celebrates the remarkable life and work of activist Harry Hay, who laid the foundation for the modern lesbian and gay rights movement. Thru July 29. Jewitt Gallery, lower level, 100 Larkin St. 557-4400. www.sfpl.org

Wed 25>> Bollywood Nights @ Conservatory of Flowers After Hours party at the botanical indoor garden, with Non Stop Bhangra, Pinjabi folk music and dance, food trucks ($8 or less items) and drinks (cash bar). $5. 6pm-10pm.

Golden Gate Park, 100 John F. Kennedy Dr. 831-2090. www.conservatoryofflowers.org

Candlelight Flow Yoga @ LGBT Center David Clark leads various yoga poses and practices, plus meditation and breathing exercises. Bring your own mat and water bottle, etc. $10. 7pm-8:30pm.

1800 Market St. www.4dbliss.com

Dream Queens Revue @ Aunt Charlie’s Lounge Old-school drag show (2nd and 4th Wednesday) at the classic Tenderloin bar, featuring Collette Ashton, Ruby Slippers, Sophilya Leggz, Bobby Ashton, Sheena Rose, Davida Ashton and Joie de Vivre!.

No cover. 10pm. 133 Turk St. 441-2922. www.dreamqueensrevue.com

Thu 26>> Arctic Hysteria @ Bindlestiff Studios Berlin-based theatre company Kinderdeutsch Projeckte’s bilingual performance about the wild behavior induced by living in snowladen polar lands. $15. Fri-Sun 8pm.

Aug 4 2pm. Thru Aug 4. 185 6th St. www.kinderdeutsch.org

Comedy Bodega @ Esta Nocha The new weekly LGBT and indie comic standup night. This week, Keith Lowell Jensen, Jessica Sele, Kristee Ono, Johnny Taylor and Tirumari Jothi. 8pm-9:30pm. 3079 16th St. at Mission. www.comedybodega.com

Jewish Film Festival @ Various Cinemas Festival of films about the Middle East, Israel and Jewish-Americans, at theatre in SF, Oakland, Palo Alto and San Rafael.

Thru Aug 6. Opening night at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St. www.sfjff.org

Project Lohan @ The Costume Shop West Coast premiere of D’Arcy Drollinger’s comic, ironic pop culture timeline show about the troubled actress turned media catastrophe. $25-$30 (got a DUI or parole card? Get $5 off!). Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 7pm.

Thru Aug. 19. 1117 Market St. at 7th. www.projectlohan.com

Queer Sex & Technology @ GLBT History Museum Hooking Up From the 1940s to the Present, a panel discussion about LGBT modes of meeting, creating communities, and also getting laid, with historian Martin Meeker, (Contacts Desired: Gay and Lesbian Community and Communications, 1940s-1970s), queer theorist Juana Maria Rodriguez (Queer Latinidad: Identity Practices, Discursive Spaces) and blogger Oscar Raymundo (Queerty).

7pm. 4127 18th St. 621-1107. www.glbthistorymuseum.org

To submit event listings, email jim@ebar.com.

Thu 26

Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication.

The Ettes @ Thee Parkside Cool rock/grunge/whatever band performs; they’re good. See ‘em. Nectarine Pie and and Warm Soda also play sets. $10. 9pm. 21+. 1600 17th St. 252-1330. www.theettes.com www.theeparkside.com

For more bar and nightlife events, go to www.bartabsf.com

bartabsf.com

<< On the Town

26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 19-25, 2012

▼

Strange fruit

by Donna Sachet

W

(((((((((

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

hat do you do for a true San Francisco personality on the occasion of his 70th birthday? Last Monday, a group of loyal friends and fellow San Francisco personalities celebrated the birthday of Strange de Jim at Café Flore in the Castro. The guest of honor has added a whimsical charm and fresh quirkiness to our city for years, and his fondness for the color blue played in with decorations, cake, candles, and displays.

Attendees included Stephen Pullis, Leah Garchik, Cleve Jones, Dan Nicoletta, Gary Virginia, and Anna Damiani, with a Certificate of Honor from State Senator Mark Leno. Once again, Café Flore proved the perfect place for a warm celebration with friends!

While major events may not be in abundance right now, the bars in the Castro and South of Market continue to provide nightly diversions. We like to start at LookOut, enjoying the view from the balcony and the vibe inside, then work our way up Market Street. There always seems to be a crowd at The Café, but on Sunday nights, the dancing is fierce, the dancers are hot, and the place is rocking.

Twin Peaks puts together one of the most successful teams for AIDS Walk SF, and the Sunday before the walk, they had a great silent-auction fundraiser. 440 Castro has built on their popular photo campaign with new color portraits of their staff prominently displayed on the walls of the bar and in their ads. Now it’s easy to call your favorite bartender by name!

We often find ourselves at Q-Bar on Wednesday for Booty Call, Juanita More! & Joshua’s weekly dance party. Blush on Castro provides a more intimate wine bar experience. With the warm afternoon weather, The Mix is popular, providing a large patio and plenty of eyecandy. One of the original video bars, Midnight Sun still offers the creative combination of popular TV series, comedy snippets, and theme nights.

Moby Dick nearly overwhelms the senses with multiple video screens, a

Steven Underhill

Performers at a Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation benefit event held earlier this month: more musical extravaganzas are to come.

huge aquarium, active pool table, and diverse clientele. We find Harvey’s perfect for conversation, since the atmosphere is more laid-back and food is available. The newer Toad Hall complements Badlands, both providing dance music, the former with a small patio and occasional benefit events, and the latter with a more serious dedication to dancing.

Don’t let those lines intimidate you; a short wait is worth your while. Finally, if you have not visited The Edge since their remodeling and revitalized activity schedule, you haven’t really been to the Castro.

With so many choices in the neighborhood, these bartenders really know how to keep the clientele returning for more.

This is the perfect weekend to venture South of Market and get more familiar with those bars in preparation for Up Your Alley street fair the following weekend, Sun., July 29. Hole in the Wall has had several incarnations, but the current location is true to its roots, offering basic drinks in a simple environment to a beefy, no-nonsense crowd. Lone Star Saloon may be best known for its bear following, but the patio and friendly bartend-

ers attract a diverse clientele. Kok Bar has a loyal following, with sexy special events nearly nightly. Truck is a little more out of the way, offering a gritty setting, tasty food, accommodating staff, and friendly crowd. But the big daddy of them all is Powerhouse, with a dazzling array of special events, two floors of cruising, generous bartenders, and an enveloping aura of masculinity. Although it may not fit neatly on the Castro or SoMa maps, Rebel is the latest business to occupy the space at Market and Octavia with a lively environment, themed events, great music, and food menu. The newest attraction here is Designing Women Live, a drag re-enactment of episodes from the popular TV series, starring Heklina, Arturo Galster, Johnny Kat, and D’Arcy Drollinger, every Mon. & Tues. at 7 & 9 p.m. through August. This is the same group that brought you the outrageous Golden Girls re-enactments, so we can only imagine what’s in store!

Beyond the Castro and SoMa, one bar remains in a class by itself: Marlena’s. Nestled in up-and-coming Hayes Valley, no one is a stranger at Marlena’s, with rotating visual displays, fundraising events, and the popular Saturday night Hayes Street See page 27 >>

Coming up in leather and kink Thu., Jul. 19: Koktail Club Happy Hour at Kok Bar (1225 Folsom). Drink specials, Hamisi doing Hammy Time. 5-10 p.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Thu., Jul. 19: Howling at the Moon, an insightful exploration into human wolf play at the SF Citadel (181 Eddy St.). 8 p.m. Doors open at 7:30. $20.

Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Thu., Jul. 19: Sweet Turkie presents Porno Third Thursdays at Beatbox (314 11th St.). DJ Pornstar spinning, Porn-a-go-go’s. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to Facebook for details.

Thu., Jul. 19: Underwear Night at The Powerhouse.

Strip down for drink specials. 10 p.m.-close.

Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Fri., Jul. 20: Fridays Underwear at Kok Bar. Boxers, jockstraps, undies and nasty fun! Drink specials! 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Fri., Jul. 20: Master’s Den: Casino at the SF Citadel.

7:15 p.m.-1 a.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Fri., Jul. 20: Michael Brandon presents Edging at The Edge (4149 Collingwood). Celebrating the leather lifestyle. 9 p.m.-Midnight. Go to: www.edgesf.com.

Fri., Jul. 20: Hardbox at The Powerhouse. Featuring DJs Guy Ruben, Gehno Aviance. 10 p.m.-close.

Go to Facebook for details.

Fri., Jul. 20: Truck Wash at Truck (1900 Folsom).

10 p.m.-close. Live shower boys, drink specials.

Go to: www.trucksf.com.

Sat., Jul. 21: Community Gear Swap-Meat at The Powerhouse. 3-7 p.m. Go to: www.rmsf.org.

Sat., Jul. 21: Shirts Off at Kok Bar. Go shirtless and get drink specials. 10 p.m.-close.

Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Sat., Jul. 21:All Beef Saturday Nights at The Lone Star (1354 Harrison). 100% SoMa Beef! 9 p.m.-close.

Go to: www.facebook.com/lonestarsf.

Sat., Jul. 21: Beatpig: Summer Sizzle! at The Powerhouse. 9 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse.com.

Sat., Jul. 21: The Rod: Gear it Up! at The Bolt (2560 Boxwood, Sacramento). Wear your gear!

Benefiting the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center.

9 p.m.-close. Facebook for details.

Sun., Jul. 22: Truck Bust Sundays at Truck. $1 beer bust. 4-8 p.m. Go to: www.trucksf.com.

Sun., Jul. 22: Jockstrap Beer Bust at Kok Bar. $8 if in gear, $10 if not. 3-7 p.m.

Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Sun., Jul. 22: PoHo Sundays at The Powerhouse.

Dollar drafts all day! Go to: www.powerhouse -sf.com.

Mon., Jul. 23: Trivia Night with host Casey Ley at Truck. 8-10 p.m. Go to: www.trucksf.com.

Mon., Jul. 23: SF Ring presents Innovative Rope Ties for Sex with Knotty Brent, at Club Eros (2051 Market). No charge, no pre-registration required.

7:30 p.m.

Tue., Jul. 24: Pain Processing and Catharsis at the SF Citadel. $20. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Tue., Jul. 24: Ink & Metal at The Powerhouse.

9 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Wed., Jul. 25: Pit Stop at Kok Bar. Happy Hour prices, 5 p.m.-close. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Wed., Jul. 25: Leather Buddies at Blow Buddies (933 Harrison), a male-only club. Doors open 8 p.m.-12 a.m. Play till late.

Go to: www.blowbuddies.com.

Wed., Jul 25: Leathermen’s Discussion Group presents Leathersex & Spirit: Living an Authentic Life with Maser Skip Chasey at the Mr. S Playspace (385A 8th St.). 7:30 p.m.

Go to: www.sfldg.org for details.

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Karrnal >>

July 19-25, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 27

House studs

by John F. Karr

A

rare appearance by seemingly retired Derrick Hansen led me to the Lavender Lounge collection of scenes Fuckin’ Around the House – the company’s 11th film, and the first in HD. It’s not that director/ entrepreneur Mark Kliem is behind the times, but that he’s been working mostly with vintage 8mm footage.

TLA lists 45 titles (plus a few compilations) for the 6’2” slab Hansen, with his first titles coming from Defiant in 2002. But I don’t trust the TLA search engine, which misfires all over the place. Among other discrepancies, TLA lists Michael Lucas’ La Dolce Vita, which includes what is perhaps Hansen’s best scene, but not the four other Lucas films Hansen’s in (and which are still available at the Lucas website, where his name is spelled Hanson). Hansen worked for most of the major companies through 2010, when he made a couple scenes for Raging Stallion (Sounding #5 moving firmly into fetish; Caught on Tape moving D.O. firmly into Derrick). After Hansen’s time-out, Kliem landed him at Lavender Lounge, which seems to be where former stars go if only to show they can still do it. Kliem’s got recent footage of Tober Brandt, Jacob Slader, and Markie.

Hansen isn’t the only lure to Fuckin’ Around, which opens with hairy, bearded studs Alessio Romero and Dirk Caber flip-flop fuckin’ all over the kitchen counters.

Romero’s swell, but I’m an especial Caber fan.

His pleasure in what he’s doing is always visible, and he’s so natural and spontaneous. A scene that launches with lips locked, nipples pinched, and hard cocks laid atop one another marks a good beginning. The guys swap BJs and rim jobs; Caber’s an especially good crack-lapper.

And then Hansen breaks in newcomer Cy Stone, an early-20s punky dude, a nose-ringed, tunnel-eared, bearded renegade type, with tattoos all over the place (and not those regulation gay inkings) and a pad of hair atop his head like Prince Chulalongkorn’s, but dyed Day-Glo red.

Hansen’s still sporting the mid-neck, leather-thong choker he’s worn since his debut a decade ago. I’ve never

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liked the way this sorta fashion accessory bisects a neck. It doesn’t look butch to me. But on Hansen, oh fuck – it looks butch.

Stone’s cocksucking is extra good, but Hansen’s eager to get his face in the dude’s crack. Stone obliges by sitting on Hansen’s face, and then leaning forward to keep sucking the big guy’s cock. Hansen loves tonguing that hole, and loosens it all up for the fuck to come. We see the curious tat on Stone’s lower back, that reads Museum Entrance $1.25. Now, I always keep a nickel aside to see the stuffed whale (that’s an arcane and daringly un-butch reference to Hello, Dolly!), but I’ll start savin’ those nickels if it takes that much to get my goods inside this guy’s clenched Curiosity Cabinet. Stone’s ass swallows up Hansen’s cock with alacrity, and Stone rides so vigorously that the outcome is assured and agonized. Then Hansen sits his ass back down on Stone’s face as stimulus for Stone to reach his own orgasm. The scene’s full-length, but I coulda taken much more.

The next scene could have been a challenge for me: I had to watch a per-

son I know quite well have sex. That’s always weird. Real-life lovers with a pair of whopper dicks, Lance Navarro (tall, furry, uncut) and Tommy Lazarri (good-humored bear cub, furry, cut) make out with unusual jocularity that’s parsed with fierceness of deep-throating and slamfucking. Lazarri is the well-known SF performer and naughty lyricist Tom Orr. I undo his nom de porn as an alert to fans of his theatrical outings, who turn out in force to see the guy pull out his dick while onstage.

That’s a guaranteed occurrence, even in the super-splashy production of Marat/Sade in which he’s cavorting for a limited time (and in which his goods makes a limited appearance).

Lazarri/Orr is clean-shaven, though he looks better bearded, and his tangled mass of hair is not as flattering as previous styles have been.

Still, the big-dicked dude knows how to throw a mean fuck, and gives Navarro a double whammy by pumping his cock while plowing his ass.

Kliem’s amateur-style scenes aren’t urgent, but don’t lack impetus. His films don’t have music, which allows natural make-out sounds to prevail; his camerawork is secure; and his smooth editing treats the encounters organically. www.Pornteam.com▼

On the Town

From page 26

Follies, led by Galilea.

Around the corner is one of our favorite events, Help is on the Way: That’s Entertainment, Sun., Aug. 5, Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation’s musical extravaganza, this year benefiting AIDS Housing Alliance, AIDS Legal Referral Panel, Positive Resource Center, and Maitri. Herbst Theatre welcomes an abundant cast, including Carole Cook, Kimberley Locke, Sam Harris, Loretta Devine, Maureen McGovern, Lisa Vroman, Jason Brock, and Paula West. A VIP reception and silent auction precede the concert, and a dessert reception with the cast follows. Don’t miss it!▼

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Lavender Lounge

Derrick Hansen and Cy Stone in Fuckin’ Around the House.

Bruckner love

From page 22

from the high strings. The great splatter of sound minutes afterwards wields a devastating emotional component, followed by a seven-second rest that leaves you breathless.

Remarkably, another recent Bruckner recording, equally fine, is Claudio Abbado’s of the Fifth in a live performance with his Lucerne Festival Orchestra last summer (Accentus DVD). Even if the music turf is familiar, orchestral playing this elevated is trailblazing.▼

Steven Underhill

Members of the cast of The Scottsboro Boys, a musical destined to become a classic, at their opening-night party earlier this month.

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Summer soul men

From page 22

Tigers). With influences ranging from Living Colour to Prince and Maxwell, you won’t find Hunt doing any of that Chris Brown or will.i.am posing. You get a taste of soul/funk/ rock hybrid on the first two cuts, “North Hollywood” and “Watching You Go Crazy Is Driving Me Insane,” on the tight-fitting “Designer Jeans” and the bulls-eye of “Moving Targets.” But it’s “Cross Dresser” that turns out to be the most revealing song on the disc. “Covered in

wigs and motives,” Hunt “sparked a counter culture” and found a new way to deal with the end of a relationship.

Further variations on a modern soul theme include I Will Set You Free (Central Control) by Barry Adamson, Now Was Once the Future (The Whipping Club) by Gary Go, Moving On (Shanachie) by K’Jon, the bluesy Contraband (Telarc) by Otis Taylor, Times Are Weird These Days (Warner Brothers) by Theophilus London, and Letters from Birmingham by American Idol champ Ruben Studdard (Shanachie).▼

Read more on www.ebar.com

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

28 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 19-25, 2012

▼

Books>>

Grin & bare it

by Ernie Alderete

R

eady for a completely different kind of vacation? How about a few days in an entirely naked town?

The name of the city in French is a rather innocuous-sounding Cap d’Agde. But its claim to fame as the world capital of nudism is anything but innocent!

Women go topless at most beaches in Southern Europe, and men skinnydip at many places along the Riviera.

But the Naked City is a horse of a different color. You can live virtually your entire life wearing nothing but a smile.

Shop, dine, bank, visit a clinic, see a dentist, patronize a beauty salon, and much more, all in the buff. The Naked City isn’t exactly a theme park like Disneyland, but it is a private, gated community, and everyone who enters has to adhere to the rules. Rather than a clothing optional enclave, it is a mandatory nudity zone. The token cover charge (about $10) is just fine, because it keeps the riff-raff and curiosity seekers out.

The Naked City attracts an astonishing 300,000 visitors every summer, about 40,000 at any one time.

Tens of thousands of unclad bodies carpet the three-mile long beach on a sunny day. With that many naked bodies, you better believe there will be hundreds that suit your exact taste. I never get tired of ogling choice bods, but there’s plenty to do besides gawking at the meat and potatoes. Besides complete nudity, which dominates in the daytime, you can dress up in your favorite fetishwear, leathers and other intimate apparel for forays into discos

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and swingers clubs at night. “Shake Your Groove Thing” takes on a whole different meaning at Tantra Disco.

Most people dress casually for dinner.

You wouldn’t want to spill hot soup on your private parts, after all. But you can shop for souvenirs, do your banking, visit delicatessens and bakeries, fill your gas tank, and frequent dozens of other establishments in your birthday suit.

Nudism or naturism is not, of course, synonymous with sexual activity. Many aficionados come simply for the feeling of clothes-free liberation they can enjoy. And an al fresco sense of camaraderie. But horndogs like me enjoy the greatest spectator sport ever created. Beach sex! It usually takes place as the sun begins to set. You can walk along the shoreline at the adult section of the beach and pick out your favorite couple to watch as they put on their show. These copulating couples are obviously exhibitionists of the most shameless, loud and vulgar variety. And my favorites! Many draw a score or more of aroused spectators, depending on how loud the moans are, to pull in the peeping toms. Tips are not appreciated, but a warm round of applause can be a welcome reward. It sure beats watching a DVD. The beach is roughly segmented into three parts. The family area, primarily for parents with children, is at the south end of the beach. In the center is the adult area, where couples congregate. The lavender beach is on the northeastern edge of the main strand. The dunes adjacent to the gay beach are known as the site of a non-

stop sexual carnival.

Of course, the Naked City wasn’t designed with the gay man in mind.

All the advertising and literature is oriented toward the straight male: Boobs, boobs, and more boobs. But anywhere there are thousands of nude male bodies to admire, there’s a place for gay men. There are about a dozen gay bars and guesthouses in the area to service our needs. Le Look is the most popular gay bar in the Naked City itself, and you get free entrance to the Naked City through the bar.

Le Eros is another popular gay nudist bar. Several discos and swingers clubs have playrooms with multiple cubicles where you can consummate an attraction that you began on the dance floor or beach.

While the great clothed majority calls our naked brethren nudists, they have a name for us: textile guys.

The Naked City is located on the mild Mediterranean Sea at the lower end of the Riviera, the warmest region of

F France. It’s the only area of that counttry where being naked around-theclock is really an option, climate-wise.

Nearby Carcassone is the crown jewel of medieval France, a city still enclosed by its ancient stone walls, virtually a living museum. The Naked City is close to Nimes, Montpellier and Arles. Most bon vivants reach it by air via the nearby town of Beziers. Or via a five-hour high-speed train ride from gay Paris.

Paris is the home of the biggest gay male bathhouse in the world, Sun City, a destination unto itself. The authentic Indian décor will transport you into another world. Sun City is only one of 20 fine saunas and a dozen sex clubs in the French capital.

Le Riad is another major sauna, this time in an entirely Moroccan ambience. Atlantide Sauna welcomes men, women, straight, gay, bisexual and transgendered, so the possibilities are endless.

Accommodations in the Naked City run the gamut from nearby rustic nudist camping grounds, and

a bed and breakfast on a barge, to apartment and villa rentals, as well as a hotel in the resort itself. Every swinger should make a pilgrimage to the Naked City at least once in his or her life. There is no other place quite like it. It ranks at the very pinnacle of erotic travel destinations.

If you go, The Naked Truth about Cap d’Agde by Ross Velton is mandatory reading material. The book is loaded with tips and reviews of restaurants, bars, clubs and accommodations. Besides swimming and tanning, you can indulge in such sports as squash, tennis, weightlifting, archery, horseback-riding, even go-carts and parasailing in the Naked City. It’s primarily a French resort, attracting French nationals year-round, so English is not widely spoken. Bone up on your high school French and learn your metrics. The currency is the Euro. And don’t forget the sunscreen, you wouldn’t want your woodie to get sunburned!▼ www.cap-d-agde.com

SF Jewish Film Fest

From page 17

Before Allen, an uproarious account of a small Russian city’s attempt to reclaim its Jewish roots by honoring filmmaker Woody Allen, with the honoree’s unexpectedly enthusiastic cooperation.

Y-Love As we first meet the former Yitz Jordan, a.k.a. Y-Love, he’s hanging with rap-loving co-religionists in Jerusalem, seemingly at home with all the contradictions inherent in a black, Jewish gay orphan rap-artist identity.

It soon becomes clear that Y-Love isn’t entirely at peace in any surroundings, as Caleb Heller’s doc traces his bumpy childhood with a drug-addicted mom, his TV PSA-inspired conversion to Judaism followed by rabbinical training, an extremely short-lived arranged marriage, and an awkward coming out to a white best friend. Inbetween we witness the inauguration of a unique show-biz career whose arc is still to be determined. (Plays with The Moon is Jewish, Castro, 7/24; Roda, 8/2) Life in Stills In Tamar Tal’s moving portrait across three generations of a rowdy Tel Aviv family, young Ben Weissenstein is helping his 96-yearold grandma Miriam cope with the city’s desire to demolish the historic photo archive established by her late husband Rudi, whose million prints document the young nation’s early history and provide a provocative peek at Miriam’s past life as a feisty acrobatic Czech immigrant. Ben and Miriam’s story is underscored by their crabby old married-couple chemistry, Ben’s moving in with a male lover, and the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Ben’s parents. (Plays with the short Music Man Murray, tracing the plight of one Murray Gershenz, an 89-year-old LA record-shop owner who’s eager to unload his 300,000 albums so he can devote more time to his emerging career as a character actor.) (Castro, 7/24; Cinearts, 7/29; Roda, 7/30) Stitches Adiya Imri Orr’s ambitious short traces an Israeli lesbian couple’s passage through the tension-

Courtesy SFJFF Courtesy SFJFF

Ben Weissenstein and his grandmother Miriam Weissenstein in Tamar Tal’s documentary Life in Stills.

laden territory of same-sex parenthood. It’s a difficult labor. The women are on different pages as to how they’ll share parenting duties, as well as in their fears about how such a child will be accepted in the ferociously polarized and fiercely tribal Israeli society.

(Plays with the shorts program The Best of Tel Aviv University, Castro, 7/25; Cinearts, 8/1) Glickman Depression-era Brooklyn boy Marty Glickman remembers his dad borrowing his Bar Mitzvah money; well-built but height-challenged young Glickman made school teams because of his speed; he was always aware of being Jewish, but who could have guessed that his religion would block him from a once-in-alifetime shot at Olympic gold because the head of the US team harbored an ambition to meet Hitler?

The big, booming bass of Marty Glickman hosting the Dodger pregame shows with female pioneer Gussie Moran on WMGM, the voice of the football Giants on WNEW, was fantasy material for my dreams of radio fame. As James Freedman’s doc demonstrates, Glickman was the first true voice of the fan, inventing a whole new language for our 24/7 sports-mad culture on then-upstart HBO in the 1970s. At life’s end, Glickman would in effect dance on Hitler’s grave, revisiting the German stadium where his own dreams had been de-

nied. This was a mensch. (Castro, 7/22; Cinearts, 7/28; Roda, 7/29; Rafael, 8/6) Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir In Laurent Bouzereau’s wrenching and revealing memoir, friend Andrew Braunsberg walks the Paris-born prodigy Roman Polanski through still-painful memories of a Holocaust-shadowed childhood. His family made the disastrous decision to return to Krakow, Poland: his mom would die, and Polanski and dad barely survived, permanently scarred by unspeakable evil.

His Polish government-scorned first feature Knife in the Water enabled a horror quickie, Repulsion, “an act of prostitution,” before the release of Cul-De-Sac brought pride. The heart of the doc, filmed while Polanski was under Swiss house arrest facing extradition to LA for a 1977 statutory rape case, consists of the director’s honest, contrite but always moving and thoughtful analysis of how fate channels the best and worst sides of our nature. (Castro, 7/25; Cinearts, 7/30; Roda, 8/2) Woody Before Allen Masha Vasyukova scores a major comic coup with this funny short proving that Woody Allen reads and answers his e-mail. The young filmmaker requests that the veteran director judge entries in a contest to pick a statute to honor him in the former German city

Riki Blich as Amit, and Shira Katzenelenbogen as Noa in Adiya Imri Orr’s short Stitches: two loving women, on different pages.

of Konigsberg, heavily bombed during WWII and annexed by the Soviet Union as Kaliningrad. Allen was born Allen Konigsberg before re-branding himself for show biz. There’s a droll chat as Woody picks a winner, wryly regretting that there couldn’t be two statues, “at each end of the square.”

Fans of Woody’s War and Peace spoof Love and Death will love Allen’s recollections of how he experienced 1970s St. Petersburg. “Nothing worked. I asked the hotel clerk to book me on the first flight out, no matter where it was headed.” It’s a hilarious, humane tribute to the home of Wagner, Hoffman and Kant. (How to Re-establish a Vodka Empire program, JCCSF, 7/20; Roda, 8/2) Broken Alain Tasma’s hard-hitting melodrama is based on the trauma of a young Jewish teacher in a Blackboard Jungle high school for Arab slum kids. Anna’s youthful idealism is shattered by her pupils’ defiant rejection of her plans for their history class. Anna gets an earful of rude antiSemitic jibes, while a subplot shows the emotional meltdown of an Arab boy injured by a distracted French surgeon. This heartbreaking thriller should keep you aroused and enraged for two hours. (JCCSF, 7/29; Roda, 7/30; Cinearts, 7/31) Ameer Got His Gun The decision of an Israeli-born Arab youth to be the third generation of his family to join the Israeli Defense Forces provides a

window on the everyday intercourse between young Israeli men from both tribes. (With My Neighborhood, Castro, 7/25; Roda, 8/1) A.K.A. Doc Pomus Who knew that the composer of the early rock ballads “This Magic Moment” and “Teenager in Love” was a polio-surviving, Jewish blues singer whose mobilitychallenged career pivoted from Elvis to Dylan? Peter Miller and Will Hechter cast a spell around the adventures of Jerome Felder. You’ll never be able to hear “Save the Last Dance for Me” again without remembering a man who could never negotiate the dance floor. (Castro, 7/26; Cinearts, 7/28; Roda, 8/4; Rafael, 8/5) Gypsy Davy Rachel Leah Jones weaves a romantic mystery out of the strange but true sojourn of one-time Berkeley High School student David Jones. The man who was destined to become world-acclaimed flamenco guitarist David Serva is the father who abandoned Jones and her dancer mom when she was a year old. Drawing on an archive of photos, home movies and interviews, Jones shows how her dad became a serial seducer who would flee his latest nest once a child had arrived.

This is also the story of a galvanizing art-form and generations of children under its spell. (Castro, 7/23; Roda, 7/28; Cinearts, 7/29) www.sfjff.org

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TV >>

July 19-25, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 29

Gay, gayer, gayest

by Victoria A. Brownworth

T

he biggest reality show of the next few years is about to hit the ground running: the 2012 London Olympics. NBC has the airing rights. Plus they made a deal with Facebook, so if you want to see all those gorgeous bodies running, jumping, diving and just plain sweating, it’s streaming at NBC.com as well as on your TV 24/7. How can you resist? It isn’t even about who wins. It’s about watching the competition. And those bodies.

For weeks, NBC has been airing the Olympic trials. They have been awesome. The competition is incredibly fierce. It’s crushing to watch what happens when these fabulous athletes don’t make the cut because of a millionth of a nanosecond or a little too much splash from a threestory-high dive. If the trials are any indicator, this is going to be an incredible Olympics.

It was ABC who broke the story about the Olympic uniforms. Made in China. Awk-ward. The uniforms are nice enough (in a super-militaristic kind of way), as they should be, since they were designed

by Ralph Lauren. ABC has been doing a “Made in America” investigation on outsourcing of everything from flags to clothes to furniture for close to a year. Diane Sawyer’s evening newscast has had people in Grand Central Station take off all the clothes they are wearing that are not made in America, and had families remove everything from their homes not made in America. Which has made for intriguing newscasts showcasing near-naked people and near-empty homes.

The uniforms were the most recent item to pop (since those Memorial Day and 4th of July flags) as being outsourced. Even Congress was upset about this one. Yet, not to be deterred or embarrassed, the sleek billionaire Lauren, one of the most popular designers in the U.S., announced late on Friday the 13th (bad day for so many: Sawyer stumbled three times before she got the phobia right) that the next Olympics, he would be producing the uniforms in the U.S. Oh, OK, then.

The reality is, the only penalty for outsourcing is when you are running for president. Still, it’s a little hard to understand flags and Olympic uniforms made anywhere but here. Plus, we would add: working conditions in the developing world? Terrible. Do we really want to be contributing to the misery of others?

Speaking of misery, we forced ourselves to watch ABC’s The Glass House and the premiere of the millionth season of CBS’ Big Brother in the hope that, despite the draw of ultra-queer contestants, you will stay away from these brain-zapping reality shows. A few months ago, CBS had sued ABC over Glass House, saying the show was an exact rip-off of Big Brother. ABC demurred, but hey, we’ve seen both shows. We’re not sure why CBS wanted to stake a claim to this vile inanity, but Glass House is absolutely the same show with different IKEA stylings and different pretty, stupid (or pretty stupid) people, different flaming queens and different vicious straight guys.

Both shows are awful. Stay away.

You probably get enough of divadriven bar backs and hair stylists in your real life, anyway. We would add that on the opener of Big Brother last week, we were reminded of how utterly un-life-like host Julie Chen is. She’s slightly more human on her daytime show The Talk, but her

battery-pack may be fully charged earlier in the day. Her forced emoting on Big Brother makes her seem like a giant Asian Barbie come to (almost) life. Creepy. But appropriate, given the awfulness of the show.

And even if you think the gay guy Wil is cute (he is), just change the channel.

Speaking of queers on reality shows, two of our favorite reality series, Hell’s Kitchen and Master Chef (both on Fox), manage to entertain, give us queer contestants and not make us hate them, and also teach us how to create fabulous food. We were sorry to see cutie-pie Michael Chen voted off Master Chef, especially after his brave coming out on the show. But we think Christina will definitely be in the top five on Hell’s Kitchen, if not the final two.

We liked her casual coming out last week when David Beckham was a featured guest: the chef from Philadelphia noted that she liked women, but even she was enamored of Beckham. Cool.

Speaking of cool, we predicted that the terrible “What is it?” show The Revolution, which ABC thought was a suitable replacement for its Emmy-winning 40-year-old soap One Life to Live, would tank. And it has. The last episode aired last week, and the only reason we will miss it is because ABC found something worse to replace it with: Good Afternoon America, the afternoon version of Good Morning America, with different co-hosts.

How many versions of the exact same show can we have at the exact same time? At least the soaps are different from the vast talk wilderness that is daytime.

Back to The Revolution. What we did like about that show was host Tim Gunn. We liked seeing his perfectly attired flaming-queen self every afternoon being kind to unattractive overweight women and making them feel good about themselves. We liked how he came out as celibate since the AIDS crisis. What could be braver than that reveal? We liked how classy he always was and what a good sport he was. We just hated the show. We really think ABC should bring back OLTL. It was well-written, well-acted and had occasional queer storylines. But GAA? Who wants to watch a show whose acronym is GAA, anyway?

Idol endgame Speaking of shows that are the same as other shows, why is American Idol still the top-rated show on TV? We get why NBC’s America’s Got Talent comes in at a close second, because it’s not just singing and it’s got a huge array of contestants (some openly queer, and it’s racially and ethnically diverse as well). But can anyone name an American Idol winner since Kelly Clarkson? If you said Clay Aiken, Jennifer Hudson, Adam Lambert or Carrie Underwood, you were wrong. None of them actually won. Plus, since the vicious Simon Cowell and crazy Paula Abdul left the judges pool, what’s the reason for watching?

The big Friday the 13th news (people love risks, don’t they?) was that J-Lo/Jennifer Lopez has decided to quit as a judge. From a hotel room in Philadelphia, she called into Ryan Seacrest’s show and said she was leaving. Isn’t this the equivalent of breaking off an engagement with a text message? The gorgeous J-Lo’s leave-taking follows the announcement that Steve Tyler is also leaving. Which means Randy Jackson is all alone. Dawg!

Names being floated as replacements include Charlie Sheen, Mariah Carey, and Adam Lambert, who’s

Ralph Lauren

Made in China: the Ralph Lauren-designed U.S. Olympic team uniforms for the London Games.

looking prettier than ever: those eyes, that eye-liner! Much as we’d like to see all three of them together in an apocalyptic judge-fest, we think there’s a better answer: Make this the last season. We are especially over the veiled homophobia on AI. Apparently, although AI is still top-rated, the ratings are down significantly. Perhaps that’s because the show sucks.

When we view shows like The Voice, Duets, The X Factor, and the aforementioned AGT, which has crowned singers every season but one (and that winner was a ventriloquist singer), all of which have better talent and are just better overall as shows than AI, and which don’t have issues with queer contestants (AGT has had numerous gay, lesbian and transgender contestants), we don’t see the need for AI anymore.

Yes, it was the first. But are you on MySpace or Facebook? Exactly.

Stick a fork in it, it’s done.

AGT, however, is anything but.

This is the best season of what we think is the best talent show on the tube. The talent is so amazing, it’s the singing and dancing version of the Olympic trials. It’s so good, it’s made us like Howard Stern. Who knew the a-hole of talk radio would be such a solid, sincere, generous, caring judge who takes the job so seriously he’s been feuding with cojudge Howie Mandel about Howie not taking it seriously enough?

Speaking of anomalies, two superb real-life drama series debuted last week. NY Med is part of an episodic documentary series ABC has been doing at different major U.S. hospitals. This time, at New York-Presbyterian. It’s truly compelling cinema verite from a range of perspectives: that of the medical personnel, the patients and their families. In the opener, a doctor gets vomited on by a patient. No big deal, right? Wrong. The patient was HIV+ and Hep C+, and some vomit got into the eyes of a doctor. Which meant he had to undergo one of the more horrifying procedures we’ve witnessed: propulsion eye-flushing, where contact lenses with small hoses in them are inserted into the eye and an hour-long flushing with saline is done. No doubt that made the prophylactic meds seem easy-peasy.

Meanwhile, another patient comes in with a 12-hour erection after a dose of Cialis. (A cautionary tale.)

The penis must be drained of blood with a very long needle. Ouch.

NY Med is an extraordinary show on many levels, not the least of which is watching the different elements of humanity that attach to medical crises. Since at some point we will all be in a hospital, better to have a keen sense of the territory ahead of time. Oh, plus this show has Dr. Oz, who is, lest we forget, a world-class heart surgeon.

Final Witness takes true crime and restages it from the vantage point of the victim. It’s better than Dateline and 48 Hours Mystery, and does make one wonder why, when straight people do such terrible things to each other, queers are the

ones being blamed for screwing up society.

Speaking of queers, reality and some of the barely-survived moments of Friday the 13th, we were watching Extra. Jerry Penacoli was interviewing Gary Oldman, and we just wondered why aren’t there any out queers on these tabloid shows, which are basically half-hour dish fests? The rumors have swirled about Penacoli for decades, since he was the first butt of the gerbil rumor back in the 1980s in Philadelphia.

Time to send an e-mail reveal to Anderson Cooper?

On that same episode of Extra that had us musing, the controversy of the day was a big flap over Kate Upton being too fat. She’s being called “piggie” and “lard-ass.” Seriously? Upton might be a size 2. She’s drop-dead gorgeous, has the flattest stomach in Hollywood, and has endorsements for a gazillion products.

Let’s focus on the very real dangers for truly obese people (Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, Biggest Loser) instead of making up anorexia-inducing nonsense about women who are actually on the skinny side of normal weight.

Speaking of Perception, we’re not sure about the new TNT show starring Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) as Dr. Daniel Pierce, a schizophrenic neuroscientist tapped to work for the FBI. The show follows The Closer, which just began its seventh and final season. We like the

idea of the schizophrenic. And we like McCormack. And Alan Poul, famous gay producer and showrunner, is involved. Perception may get better. But the opener was a little schizoid.

As for The Closer, we can’t quite envision the TV landscape without Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson of the Major Homicide Division of the LAPD. Kyra Sedgwick’s stellar portrayal of a smart but damaged woman working in the gritty men-only world of violent crime in LA has been a tour de force for seven seasons, and has won her Emmy, SAG, Golden Globe and other awards. At the end of its sixth season, The Closer had the highest ratings of any cable series. It’s had many queer storylines over the years, and Sedgwick, whose decision it was to end the series, has been largely responsible for the diversity of casting and expansive aspects of the series’ plotlines. This final season will be short but sweet. Be sure to watch.

Political Animals, another short drama series, debuted July 15. This fabulous series from major gay showrunner Greg Berlanti (Brothers & Sisters, Dirty Sexy Money) is must-see. The cast alone – Sigourney Weaver as a former president and current Secretary of State (no, not that one), Adrian Pasdar, Ciaran Hinds, Ellen Burstyn, Carla Gugino – makes this show worth watching.

But the story? Oh so good. And tis the season to be political. Political Animals makes politics incredibly enticing.

Also back for another season with another top-notch actress, Glenn Close, in the lead is Damages. Although Rose Byrne, who plays Ellen Parsons, is angling for lead as her twisted relationship with Patty Hewes gets more so. True Blood is back. And Teen Wolf, back. Gay, gayer, gayest.

Finally, we leave you with this burning question: Is Days of Our Lives’ gay Will Horton actually a murderer? Or just a manipulative blackmailer? To answer this and so many questions, you really must stay tuned.▼

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

30 • BAY AREA REPORTER • July 19-25, 2012

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ambitious but admirable. After doing an impressive job portraying another gay poet, Allen Ginsberg, in Howl, Franco turns his attention to Crane. Shooting in black-andwhite (with the exception of a scene shot in a church in France), Franco seems to want The Broken Tower to be a visual poem. It is nice to look at, especially the New York scenes involving the Brooklyn Bridge. For a film about someone so conflicted towards his family (Crane kept his homosexuality hidden from his parents), The Broken Tower is a family affair, with Franco’s brother Dave playing the younger Crane, and his mother Betsy playing Crane’s moth-

er Grace.

Franco is particularly brave in two regards. First, in his frank and sometimes graphic presentation of Crane’s gay life, including dalliances with truck drivers and sailors, as well as his relationship with Emile (Michael Shannon). Second, Franco’s appreciation for Crane’s work, whether the poems are being read aloud in the background of a scene or at poetry readings given by the poet, is obvious. One can only hope that viewers will want to explore Crane’s work. As Marini says, we still don’t have a clear picture of Crane, but Franco does what he can to illuminate the poet’s brief and tragic life. DVD bonus features include Franco’s Skype interview with literary scholars.▼

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