March 2, 2017 edition of the bay area reporter by Bay Area Reporter

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Vol. 47 • No. 9 • March 2-8, 2017

Legal issues main focus of CA LGBT bills package by Matthew S. Bajko

Rick Gerharter

Heriberto “Beto” Martinez Nolasco, left, and his partner, Eric Bernacki, spoke at a February 22 panel about resisting mass deportation.

Panel discusses deportation

by David-Elijah Nahmod

ocal officials joined actor Danny Glover last week for a discussion about resisting mass deportation and San Francisco remaining a sanctuary city in the age of President Donald Trump. Public Defender Jeff Adachi moderated the discussion. Adachi reiterated his support and pride in San Francisco’s status as a sanctuary city. “With that status comes a responsibility to ensure that our most vulnerable citizens are protected,” Adachi said during the February 22 event at the Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Public Library. “We have to make sure that individuals are protected.” Adachi cited the Immigration Act of 1924, which was signed into law by then-President Calvin Coolidge. The 1924 law severely limited the number of Asians, Italians, and Jews who would be allowed to immigrate to the United States. According to statistics that were provided, San Francisco has 1,500 detained immigrants, of whom 67 percent have no legal representation. Only 22 percent of the detainees had criminal records. California currently has 44,000 undocumented immigrants, of which 91 percent were employed. Immigration Judge Dana Leigh Marks, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, and James Brosnahan, senior counsel at Morrison Foerster, underscored the importance of legal representation, noting that when immigrants have an attorney by their side, they are five times more likely to win their case. Heriberto “Beto” Martinez Nolasco and Eric Bernacki, a gay couple who’ve been together for more than a decade, shared their story. They recalled immigration agents knocking at their door at 7 a.m., while the couple were still sleeping. Martinez Nolasco was taken away in handcuffs; Bernacki was not told where Martinez Nolasco would be. “He screamed my name. An ICE officer blocked the entrance to our home. I was told that getting a lawyer would be worthless. I was See page 5 >>

SF shows trans support Rick Gerharter

an Francisco City Hall was bathed in the colors of the transgender flag Friday, February 24 as a symbolic show of support for the community. Last week the Trump administration rescinded Obama-era guidance on protections for trans students in public schools. It

was President Donald Trump’s first direct hit on the LGBT community after promising his support during the campaign. For more reaction, see the online Gays Across America column, and the Political Notebook, Transmissions, and Resist columns in this week’s paper.

opping the LGBT legislative agenda for lawmakers and advocates in California this year will be a variety of legal issues. The concerns run the gamut from how people can update their gender and name on government issued IDs and documents and how law enforcement agencies combat hate crimes to eliminating criminal laws that target people living with HIV. The most controversial bill will likely be a proposed change to how the state tracks sex offenders that, if passed, could result in men targeted by police during stings at gay sex cruising sites no longer needing to register as sex offenders. Other bills address various health concerns within the LGBT community, LGBT data collection by state agencies, and reporting requirements for religious institutions of higher education that discriminate against LGBT students. (See story, page 11.) See page 14 >>

Prosecutors urge hate crime reporting by Seth Hemmelgarn

ith President Donald Trump’s election victory in November, concerns about hate crimes have been heightened across the country. Trump’s bigoted rhetoric has been reflected in his Cabinet choices and drawn support from white supremacists and other hate groups. In San Francisco, District Attorney George Gascón has continued to pursue prosecutions of hate crimes, and he wants people to let authorities know about such incidents. “The only way we can understand the scope of the problem is by people reporting” incidents, Gascón said. The DA’s office is currently prosecuting 15 hate crime cases. At least two of those are LGBT-related. Ben Mains joined the San Francisco DA’s office in January 2016 and took over the hate crime unit last May. Maggie Buitrago, who’s been with the DA’s office since 2013, joined the unit in December. The two attorneys, who are both straight allies, also handle numerous other cases. Handling such prosecutions can be tricky, including trying to determine whether an act was motivated by hate. Just because a slur like “faggot” is used during an attack doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a hate crime. “The line is so gray between what is a hate crime and what’s not,” Mains said. There’s a “huge range” of factors that may be used to show that someone “was targeted

Rick Gerharter

Assistant District Attorneys Maggie Buitrago, left, and Ben Mains work in the hate crimes unit, which Mains leads.

substantially because of their identity,” including the type of slur and when during the incident it was made, he said. Regardless, Mains said, “You’ve got to report it, and we will work it out.” Even if factors such as slurs don’t result in a specific hate crime allegation, they’re “definitely a factor in aggravation, and we’ll take that into

consideration,” Buitrago said. Aggravating circumstances can mean tougher sentences. There can be “increased penalties” even if there’s not a separate allegation, Mains said. Buitrago recalled a case in which a transgender woman had been robbed. After she chased down the suspects, she heard at least one of them making anti-transgender slurs. That was used to show that it wasn’t a typical robbery, which resulted in a stiffer sentence. Two bills pending in the state Legislature would address how hate crimes are handled by law enforcement agencies. One would establish a toll-free hotline, while the other would require local agencies to update their policies. An incident may be a hate crime even if the victim isn’t a member of the targeted group, such as when someone attacks a straight man mistakenly thinking the victim’s gay. “It doesn’t matter if the defendant is wrong” in choosing their target, Mains said. He also urged people to report problems regardless of their immigration status. “We do not care what your immigration status is,” he said.

Challenges

There are other challenges, though. Buitrago said a “big hurdle” involves “the intersection between mental health and crime. ... Proving specific intent when someone has mental health issues is extremely difficult.” See page 14 >>

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<< Community News

t Diaz set to be released again

2 • Bay Area Reporter • March 2-8, 2017

by Seth Hemmelgarn

active.” Any similar problems in the future would mean a probation violation, Clark said. Diaz, who wore an orange jail sweatshirt and pants Thursday, spoke only to answer routine questions about the plea deal from retired Superior Court Judge Donna Hitchens. Assault and other counts in the case were dismissed.

avid Munoz Diaz, the San Francisco resident who was acquitted in 2014 of murdering another man during a sexual encounter, then jailed and released again in an unrelated arson case, is set to be out of custody soon in an incident where he allegedly disfigured a man. Diaz, 27, pleaded guilty Thursday, February 23 to felony false imprisonment and is expected to be released March 16 on up to five years of probation. The case stems from a November 29 incident in which police said Diaz handcuffed and bit a chunk out of another man’s scalp while impersonating a cop. In court documents, prosecutors said that he’d cut and disabled the victim’s tongue, put out one of his eyes, and slit his “nose, ear, and lip.” Police said both men had been hospitalized after the brawl. Outside the courtroom Thursday, Deputy Public Defender Rebecca Young said that Diaz had “a very strong self-defense case that we could have prevailed on” at trial, and it had been “hard to accept” the plea deal. She said the other man had hit Diaz with a metal pole, and Diaz had “shoved” him “and pushed him down.” Police who responded to the incident had placed both men in handcuffs, Young said. “It looked like mutual combat, because it was,” she said, adding that it had been “a confrontation between two people who’ve had too much to drink.” Diaz had suffered a “severe injury on his scalp” and “giant” bite marks on his arm and hand, which left “deep scars” that remain, Young said. Police had arrested only Diaz because one officer had told him, “Oh, I know you,” she said. “David was the one who called the police,” she said, and he’d remained at the scene. Despite the strength of Diaz’s case, though, Young noted that he was already on felony probation, and the possibility of him having to discuss the previous cases in front of jurors made his situation feel “more insurmountable.” “It was a big compromise for both sides,” she said. Diaz, who has a stay away order from the victim, is expected to be sentenced March 16 to five years formal probation, which could be terminated after three years if there

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Homicide, arson cases

Courtesy SFPD

David Munoz Diaz

are no violations or new arrests. He’s also expected to get a midnight curfew and be ordered to wear an ankle monitor for up to a year. That condition would be reviewed after three months, and the monitor would be removed as long as there weren’t any violations. Diaz is set to get credit for the time he’s served since being booked into custody November 29. Asked about people’s public safety worries around Diaz’s repeated arrests, Young referred to the curfew, saying that his “troubles ... tended to happen between midnight and 5 a.m.,” when there was “probably too much alcohol, which happens to a lot of people.” Diaz will receive alcohol counseling, Young said. “He needs the safety and privacy of one-on-one” counseling, she said, “rather than a group,” where he’d have to “bare [his] soul.” Young, who wouldn’t comment on where Diaz would be living, said that on his most recent probation, “he was doing everything he was supposed to do,” including working, receiving counseling, and reporting to probation. If Diaz violates his new probation, she said, he “would be reincarcerated.” The length would be up to a judge. In court Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Clark emphasized that his office’s offer had been for five years of probation with “intensive supervision,” and it would be up to a judge to decide whether Diaz should serve less time. “He’s going to have to convince the court the five-year probation should be reduced,” Clark said. “We’re not agreeing to that today.” He also said that Diaz had had “trouble in his past probation keeping [the ankle monitor] charged and

In 2014, Diaz stood trial for the June 2011 death of Freddy CanulArguello, 23, in Buena Vista Park. In his testimony, Diaz testified that Canul-Arguello had asked to be choked during a sexual encounter and that he’d accidentally killed him. Diaz said he’d set fire to a cup in a recycling bin to signal for help. The melted bin was found with CanulArguello’s heavily charred body. Jurors acquitted Diaz of seconddegree murder but convicted him of involuntary manslaughter, arson, mutilating human remains, and destroying evidence. He was released in September 2014 after spending more than three years in custody. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Donald Sullivan dismissed the arson count. In 2015, Diaz was arrested again for allegedly starting fires in the Castro district. He was accused of setting a fire at the Up Hair salon, which is located above the Mix, as well as burning Mix owner Larry Metzger’s car. Metzger was Diaz’s boyfriend at the time. Diaz originally pleaded not guilty to felony counts of arson of an inhabited structure, arson of property, and possession of an incendiary device, but as part of a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty in August to the incendiary device charge and a count of second-degree burglary. He was released in September after spending more than eight months in custody. Just before Diaz’s release, retired Superior Court Judge Philip Moscone sentenced him to a year of mandatory supervision. He was required to register as an arsonist for life, wear an ankle monitor for at least the first six months of his supervision, and receive counseling. He was also ordered to stay 150 yards away from 4082 through 4086 18th Street, the building where the Mix bar and the apartment where he’d lived with Metzger are located. Diaz’s mandatory supervision will be terminated at his March 16 sentencing.t

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has ordered that the widow of Omar Mateen, the man who fatally shot 49 people and wounded 53 others at Orlando, Florida’s gay Pulse nightclub last June, should be released on bond, saying federal prosecutors hadn’t shown sufficient evidence that she posed a serious flight risk or danger to the public. Noor Salman, 30, will be able to stay with her uncle who lives in the East Bay city of Rodeo.

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officials in Florida could review it. Salman pleaded not guilty in January to charges of aiding and abetting Mateen’s support of the terrorist group ISIS and to obstruction of justice. She was arrested January 16 at her family’s home in Rodeo. The former Fort Pierce, Florida resident’s 29-year-old husband was killed in a shootout with police at Pulse. She faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted. She’s currently being held without bail See page 15 >>

The February 23 article, “Trans archive would be a first for Bay Area,” contains inaccurate information. Contrary to what Terry Beswick, executive director of the GLBT Historical Society, said about the Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria in Canada being “regional” in its collections, Aaron Devor, Ph.D., chair in transgender studies and founder and academic director of the archives, wrote in an email to the Bay Area Reporter following publication of the story that, in fact, the Victoria archives, at 320 linear feet, are the largest in the world. Furthermore, the collections come from 18 countries on five continents, Devor clarified. The online version has been corrected.

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<< Open Forum

4 • Bay Area Reporter • March 2-8, 2017

Volume 47, Number 9 March 2-8, 2017 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman BARTAB EDITOR & EVENTS LISTINGS EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • Seth Hemmelgarn CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Aguilera • Tavo Amador • Race Bannon Erin Blackwell • Roger Brigham Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth Brent Calderwood • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Belo Cipriani Richard Dodds • Michael Flanagan Jim Gladstone • David Guarino Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell • John F. Karr Lisa Keen • Matthew Kennedy • Joshua Klipp David Lamble • Max Leger Michael McDonagh • David-Elijah Nahmod Paul Parish • Sean Piverger • Lois Pearlman Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota • Bob Roehr Donna Sachet • Adam Sandel • Khaled Sayed Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Sari Staver • Jim Stewart Sean Timberlake • Andre Torrez • Ronn Vigh Ed Walsh • Cornelius Washington Sura Wood ART DIRECTION Max Leger PRODUCTION/DESIGN Ernesto Sopprani PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland • FBFE Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch Jose Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja Georg Lester • Dan Lloyd • Jo-Lynn Otto Rich Stadtmiller • Steven Underhil Dallis Willard • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge • Christine Smith ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small Bogitini VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

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

‘Straight-up stupid’ T

he Trump administration’s decision last week to rescind Obama-era guidance to public schools regarding accommodations for trans students was mean-spirited and reckless. Under the guidance, which was released by Obama’s Justice and Education departments, students could use facilities such as restrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity. That has now been withdrawn, thanks to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and school districts are free to discriminate, humiliate, and berate trans students by forcing them to use the wrong restroom or establishing “separate but equal” bathrooms, which are neither. And we don’t buy the stories that emerged just before the decision was announced that DeVos wanted to keep the guidance in place, essentially standing against but ultimately giving in to Sessions. Two days later, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, DeVos was quoted as saying that the guidance was “a very huge example of Obama administration overreach, one-size-fits-all approach to issues best solved at personal or local level.” The problem with that, which DeVos may or may not know given her severely limited experience in public education, is that it frees school districts in conservative areas to blatantly discriminate against trans students. “We are living in some strange times,” pastor Marjorie Matthews of Plymouth United Church of Christ in Oakland, said in her February 26 sermon. “Some strange and disturbing times ... some ‘stop and frisk every brown person and demand to see their papers’ times; some ‘restrict restroom access for trans people and let’s just be straight-up stupid about something as simple as the need to pee’ times.” In an example of just how straight-up stupid some people are when it comes to trans issues, a trans boy, Mack Beggs, won the state girls wrestling championship in Texas last weekend because state policy calls for students to wrestle against the gender listed on their birth

certificate, the New York Times reported. His victory was marked by cheers and jeers from the crowd, and even though Beggs said he’d rather compete against other boys, he is not allowed to. Maybe this will get the attention of policymakers, who, in their zeal to rely on birth certificates, clearly missed the obvious incongruence in this case that Beggs is a boy. And this is just the beginning, folks. It’s crystal clear – not that anyone needs reminding – that Trump does not support the LGBT community, contrary to his campaign rhetoric. He uses us as props when it suits him, like his fake outrage over the Orlando massacre. When it’s a matter of students being comfortable and treated equally in school, forget it.

And the Oscar goes to ...

“Moonlight.” What a finish at this year’s Academy Awards when the producers and cast

of the gay black coming of age story belatedly found out they won best picture. While the epic snafu made for a few awkward moments on the Dolby Theatre stage (and great live television), in the end the gold statute actually went to the film that deserved it. And what a win for the LGBT community. It’s been 11 years since “Brokeback Mountain,” a story of two gay cowboys trying to sort out their complex feelings for one another, was robbed of the top Oscar after the mostly straight academy voters couldn’t bring themselves to give the honor to a gay film. To see it all come full circle this year was rewarding, especially for a film as moving as “Moonlight.” After two years of #Oscarssowhite, it was also a victory for diversity in filmmaking. “Moonlight” won best adapted screenplay and one of its stars, Mahershala Ali, won best supporting actor. Viola Davis from “Fences” won best supporting actress. Let’s hope the academy continues on its path to diversity, and we’d like to see the same from the studios. There are all kinds of diverse stories the movies can show us but have not.t

NBC

“Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins, left, stood on the Oscars stage after the film won best picture.

Transphobia is not a union value by Gabriel Haaland & Jerame Davis

made some of the most openly transphobic comments any public figure has made in the city he union movement motto, “An injury to in recent memory. He opposed the changes both one is an injury to all,” has served us well in Mirkarimi and Hennessy supported and, in the expanding awareness of organized labor within process, defined “transgender” as someone who the LGBTQ community and mobilizing the has had “the surgery.” Fast forward 18 months power of labor in the fight and the housing policy at the for equality. Over the last 20 jail hasn’t changed. A recent years, the union movement article in the San Francisco has been central to efforts at Chronicle attributes the delay the federal, state, and local to union negotiations. level to end discrimination If this reporting is true, based on gender identity it is appalling that the San and sexual orientation. And Francisco Deputy Sheriffs LGBTQ union members have Association is abusing hard been leading that work. This won union rights to prevent is why reported union resisadoption of progressive poltance to basic policy changes icies that keep transgender at the San Francisco Sheriff’s people safer and improve Department is such a travesty. conditions in the jail. Jane Philomen Cleland Currently, almost all Union members transgender people in San A cell at the San Francisco throughout Francisco jails are automati- County jail the ages didn’t cally housed based on their band together anatomy. For transgender women, in particuand sacrifice their own safety lar, this means that going to jail equals being and security so that their brothstripped of their identity and dignity. This is ers and sisters in the moveunacceptable anywhere, but particularly in a ment could use their power city like San Francisco. Every other agency in to oppress others. The union’s the county respects people according to their reported actions are anathema expressed gender identity. But, if a transgender to what our movement stands for. woman – with an “F” on her identification, We both believe that mass incarceration known for two decades at her job, by her neighneeds to end. But just as importantly, people bors, and among her friends as a woman – were who are incarcerated need to be treated with to go to jail, she would be housed in a men’s dignity and kept safe from harm. The San section and regularly referred to as “he” simply Francisco Deputy Sherifs Association and its because she had not had surgery as part of her individual members should be among the transition. loudest voices calling for improvements in In response to this injustice, then-Sheriff Ross conditions for everyone in their jails. They Mirkarimi announced in 2015 that he was movmost certainly should not be standing in the ing forward with a new policy that would regularly way of the basic human rights of transgender house transgender people based on their gender people in their custody. identity. Sheriff Vicki Hennessy, then a candidate Union workers aren’t separate from transfor office, publicly supported such a change. In gender people or inmates. We are them and response, Eugene Cerbone, the gay president of they are us. Unions are strongest when they the San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs Association, stand with everyone in our communities and

prioritize the dignity and safety of the people in their care. A core part of respecting transgender inmates is recognizing their gender identity as their gender and, when appropriate, housing them according to it. Union members should be leading the fight for policies that reflect labor’s principles. We strongly believe that rank and file sheriff’s deputies agree with us. They are, and justifiably want to be treated as, professionals. And, like doctors, nurses, and emergency response personnel, these deputies stand ready to perform their duties regardless of their personal beliefs or the transphobic attitudes of their union president. One of the most common excuses that corrections agencies use not to safely house transgender women is that female staff will object to performing searches on someone who has not had surgery. This is ridiculous. While staff – regardless of gender – may need some specific training, the idea that female staff are somehow incapable of doing their duty in a respectful manner is sexist and not supported by our experiences with union members in criminal justice fields. Like so many things, this argument is an excuse to hide ignorance or bias. Well, the time for ignorance is long past and there was never a time to give into biased views. Unions across the country know this and live it in their daily work on the job and in their communities. They are increasingly demanding it from their leadership and that is exactly what needs to happen here. If those in positions of authority in the Deputy Sheriff’s Association refuse to live up to basic union movement principles and respect the humanity and dignity of transgender people, it is time for individual union members to stand up and do it for them. t Gabriel Haaland is a member and former co-vice president of Pride at Work. Jerame Davis is the executive director of Pride at Work.

Politics>>

March 2-8, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

City finalizes lease to house trans adviser at SF LGBT center by Matthew S. Bajko

fter months of negotiations, the city has finalized the lease to house San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee’s adviser on transgender issues in a ground floor space at the LGBT Community Center. The Bay Area Reporter first reported in September that, rather than rent out the roughly 1,475 square foot space to a local business, center officials instead had accepted an offer for Theresa Sparks, named by Lee last June as his senior adviser for transgender initiatives, to use it as office space for herself and her staff. Claudia J. Gorham, the assistant director of real estate for the city’s Real Estate Division, confirmed in an email to the B.A.R. last weekend that, “the lease is fully executed and commences March 1. We are working on moving Theresa in shortly thereafter. The lease has a year term, but can be extended.” The location has windows facing Market Street and now has its own entrance so its operating hours do not have to mirror those of the center. It was reconfigured as part of the center’s nearly $7 million interior renovation, set to be publicly unveiled Sunday, April 9. Under the terms of the lease, the city will pay a base rent of $6,050.57 per month, with a tenant improvement allowance of up to $74,000. It is more than what the city had expected to pay last year, which was $5,162.50 per month in rent to the center, though the tenant improvement allowance is now higher than the initial proposal of $30 per square foot. Sparks and other city staff are scheduled to do a final walkthrough of the space Thursday (March 2), and take possession of the keys. Once the city furnishes the premises, Sparks plans to move into her new office by late March. “It has been slower than we thought, I have to be honest about it,” said Sparks, who formerly was head of the city’s Human Rights Commission. “Just the process, and getting in touch with the right people, and getting it scheduled has just been harder.” She is planning to hire in the coming days two staffers, both full-time,

Deportation panel

From page 1

helpless,” Bernacki said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. It was June 2016, and Martinez Nolasco had been picked up because of a 2015 drunk driving conviction, according to a Bay Area Reporter story last year. Martinez Nolasco, who has been in San Francisco for about 12 years, spoke of the deep depression he felt while in custody. “There was no communication for four days,” he said. “I spent that whole first day trying to track Beto down,” Bernacki recalled. “I was not allowed to see Beto.” With the help of an attorney, Martinez Nolasco was released. The B.A.R. asked the couple if getting married would entitle Beto to a green card. They said they weren’t sure. “It’s possible, but difficult,” said Marks.

Rick Gerharter

Theresa Sparks

to serve as the office’s clerical person and a policy analyst. She delayed the hiring process until last month as there was no space to house the staff in the temporary office she has been using at 25 Van Ness a few blocks from City Hall, which was lit in the colors of the transgender flag over the weekend in protest of the Trump administration’s withdrawing guidance to public schools across the country that they had to allow students access to bathrooms and other facilities based on their gender identity. Having the three-person office housed at the LGBT center will not only be symbolic, said Sparks, but also will be a less intimidating address for people uncomfortable with having to be screened by security at City Hall and other government buildings. “The mayor wanted to show we are going to be in the LGBT community, a part of the LGBT community, and supporting the LGBT community,” said Sparks. “It is symbolic but way more than symbolic; it gives us access to a lot of different organizations.” She has requested funding in the new fiscal year, which starts July 1, to maintain the two staff people and hire an additional policy analyst through June 2018. Their top priority will be to work with the various agencies funded by the city to provide transgender services to ensure the community’s needs are being fully met and that there are no gaps in service. Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer spoke in tears about a Mexican exchange student who lived in her home while attending classes at San Francisco State University. She referred to the student as a family member and added that both families were now close friends. “This issue is personal,” Fewer said. “I feel ashamed of what this country is doing to immigrants – immigration policies in the United States are inherently racist.” Fewer has proposed an immigrant legal defense fund, which is due to be discussed at the March 2 meeting of the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee. Fewer is carrying a plan for $5 million of funding that was first proposed by gay former District 9 Supervisor David Campos. The money would be spent on hiring immigration attorneys who would represent undocumented immigrants in court. The proposal was discussed at the committee’s February 16 meeting

“The mayor told me he wants a seamless service experience from one end to the other for transgender people in the city,” said Sparks. In addition to advising the mayor about various developments at the national level regarding transgender policies, Sparks has been conducting trainings on transgender issues with various city departments. And she has been working with department heads to ensure they were updating the signage for singleuser toilet facilities overseen by their agencies so they are identified as for use by all genders in order to meet a state deadline to do so by March 1. She also recently attended a private reception between the city’s new police chief, William Scott, and local LGBT leaders where she discussed with him an LGBT violence assessment that the city commission she headed had produced several years ago. “He said he wanted to sit down with the community to talk about it and figure out how to fix it. He was very, very receptive,” she said of the chief. Her office will also be working with the Mayors Against Discrimination group, which Lee helped launch last April and now numbers more than 225 members, to share best practices on how to protect the LGBT community from discrimination and anti-gay federal policies. “Once we are up and running, we will be sending various policies to the cities that they can adopt to protect LGBT people in their city from any federal ordinance or regulation,” said Sparks. “Once we have made sure everything here is covered then we are going to push out these other policies to the mayors so they can protect their people. So there is a lot of work to do.”t Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check www.ebar.com Monday mornings at noon for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column reported on the election of moderate former Labor Secretary Tom Perez to chair the Democratic Party. Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ twitter.com/politicalnotes Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 8298836 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

and continued to Thursday. Several panelists spoke of the fear with which many illegal immigrants are forced to live. Those include fear of being returned to third world countries, some of which have policies of violent oppression against their own peoples. Glover recalled his immigrant friends during his Fillmore district childhood. He also spoke of his work years ago at the Mission Readers Clinic. “I remember how vibrant the Mission was because there were support systems,” Glover said. “Race does matter. Whether we’re Asian, Latin, or black this is the civil rights and human rights issue for the 21st century.” The audience was urged to contact their city and state lawmakers to express support for immigrant rights and to participate in marches. Glover cited a little known quote from the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King: “Always preach to the choir. They may start singing.”t

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6 • Bay Area Reporter • March 2-8, 2017

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You may choose to call us names, or say that we’re something we’re not, or try to delegitimize our existence – but we’re here nonetheless. ministration has – thanks to the We remain corporeal, and the words Department of Education under we choose for ourselves are the only Betsy DeVos and the Department words that really matter in our lives. of Justice under Jeff Sessions – reYou can attempt to legislate us scinded Obama-era guidance on out of existence, and use the law as a transgender students. This guidbludgeon, attempting to remove us ance extended Title IX protections from society at every turn. Yet this “on the basis of sex” to transgender only serves to slow us down. It does students, and required schools to not remove us from physical exisprovide access to all sex-segregated tence. We will prevail. events and facilities based on stuTransgender people have existed dents’ gender identities. By rescindon this earth for, presumably, as Hybrid/City Kid’s Kid’s ing these protections, they are sayHybrid/City Hybrid/City Kid’s long as humans have had concepts ing that it is up to the states, not the of gender. We existed uncounted AP federal government, to set policy on in cultures spanning the globe for transgender students. centuries. We are not a fad, and no Education Secretary Betsy DeVos This, of course, is the same thing matter what you try to do, we will past administrations have done exist long after you are gone. with other hot-button issues, most With that said, the internet has alless likely to care effectively for their recently with the marriage equality lowed so many more to explore their transgender students. Now Open Thursday to 7pm! battle. It seems to be the way the own gender identities, and learn to Make no mistake, too: this is only road Mountain road Mountain Mountainfederal government works to slow the first step. Today it is equal ac- express them in unique ways. There road Now OpentoThursday to 7pm! progress, knowing that it could take cess for transgender students, and are so many more out there that are Every Now Thursday April between 4 & 7pm Open in Thursday 7pm! years for such battles to be handled out here existing alongside you and tomorrow it may be public accomNow Open Thursday to 7pm! Thursday to 7pm! take 20% Now OFF Open all parts, accessories & clothing.* in each state and, eventually, the I. There are also plenty more who modations nationwide. It could love us, who call us lovers, or their be a rollback of rules Every Thursday April between & 7pm EveryinThursday in 4April between 4 & 7pm courts. *Salesbetween limited 4to&stock The focus, as with all Every Thursday in April 7pmon hand. children, or their siblings. 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It is a It could even be *Sales limited to stock on hand. and other things that may be sexthreatened right. We face murder, a threatened relisegregated within a we face criminal neglect, and we gious freedom exschool. face societal pressures that force our ecutive order that I’ve written exown hands. Yet you cannot stop us could give broad lee1065 & 1077 Valencia (Btwn (Btwn 21st & 22nd St.) •St.) SF • SF 10651065 & 1077 Valencia 21st & 22nd tensively on the issue all, and we will survive. way for businesses not 1065 & 1077 Valencia (Btwn 21st & 22nd St.) • SF & 1077 Valencia (Btwn 21st & 22nd St.) • SF SALES 415-550-6600 • REPAIRS 415-550-6601 of transgender bathroom access, You may not like us, and you Hybrid/City to serve transgender people based SALES 415-550-6600 •REPAIRS REPAIRS 415-550-6601 SALES 415-550-6600 • REPAIRS 415-550-6601 SALES 415-550-6600 •Thu. 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That cannot and will not The point is this: you can debate became the social issue it is today. change, no matter what Trump, Sesthe existence of trans people all This, however, really isn’t about sions, DeVos, or any other stooge you’d like, but all this debate does bathrooms. I mean, it is, but there’s the administration sends against my not stop us from being. It’s not a much larger narrative at play. If trans colleagues. like debating the existence of the you are a transgender student and The rescinding of these rules is Loch Ness monster or some such. your school is a hostile environa setback, and a painful one. In the You can see us. We exist. Flesh and 1065 & 1077 Vale ment to you, then you will be less end, however, we will win. Make no SALES blood, and we are living415-550 in your Mon.Sat. likely to excel in school. You may mistake.t community. well drop out. 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Trans women learn to dress for success by David-Elijah Nahmod

ressing for success was the theme at a trans fashion show that was hosted by Eileen Fisher, a high-end women’s clothing store at 2216 Fillmore Street in San Francisco. The February 24 event aimed to provide transgender women with some of the tools they might need when applying for jobs. Around two-dozen people, primarily trans women, attended the show, which was produced in conjunction with the San Francisco LGBT Community Center. “This event underscores our commitment to inclusivity,” store leader Liz Brooking said as the show began. Brooking announced that on August 26, all four Eileen Fisher stores in the Bay Area would donate 10 percent of the day’s proceeds to the LGBT center’s trans initiatives program.

David-Elijah Nahmod

Koledon models an outfit at the Eileen Fisher store as Theresa Sparks, left, looks on.

As hors d’oeuvres and drinks were served, the evening’s four models walked across the floor, displaying looks that were designed to be comfortable as well as to impress

potential employers – each model was seen in two outfits. Audience members smiled and applauded as each outfit was revealed. The models, who only used their first names, also addressed the audience. “I never before thought about how I should look,” said Koledon. “My look should speak to my strengths. When I spend money on clothes I want quality, not quantity.” Koledon said that she had just found a new job as the audience applauded. After all of the outfits were seen, audience members mingled with the models and with store staff, who were ready to help them find the look that best suited them. Theresa Sparks, who serves as the mayor’s senior adviser on transgender initiatives, is a longtime customer at Eileen Fisher. Sparks credits the store with providing her with a professional appearance that has See page 11 >>

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<< Community News

8 • Bay Area Reporter • March 2-8, 2017

Queer women in tech urged to ‘resist’ Trump by Sari Staver

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esbians and other queer women attending the recent Lesbians Who Tech summit were asked to join in fighting the anti-LGBT policies of the Trump administration. In her keynote address at the Castro Theatre, J. Bob Alotta, executive director of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, urged the audience to unite in the fight against injustice. In her February 24 speech, titled “Welcome to the Resistance,” Alotta, a lesbian woman of color who spoke at the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., said, “You’re here today because you chose to show up and to gather together. That’s what this time in history is all about – what we are going to choose?” Over the next four years, the values of the LGBT community will be tested, Alotta predicted. She urged the audience to commit to an “uprising of love” and continue working together “to fight and present a united front against the barrage of policy and public sentiment that we will endure under the Trump administration.” Alotta also said that attendees could support Astraea’s newly launched Uprising of Love Fund, announced in February. The fund will “fuel, sustain, and amplify the resistance of LSBTQI activists fighting threats to our equality where it is most needed and least resourced,” she said. This year’s conference, held February 23-26, saw more than 2,500 women register, up from 800 who attended the first conference in San Francisco in 2012. “Techies are one of the most diverse and global workforces to ever exist in human history,” Lesbians Who Tech founder Leanne Pittsford said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter at the conference headquarters at the Castro Theatre. The organization is committed to helping the tech sector “reflect the diversity and talent” of the nation, she said. “We lead by example,” said Pittsford, noting that the conference made sure that half the speakers were women of color and 15 percent were transgender or gender non-conforming. “We still have a long way to go when it comes to diversity in the tech sector,” she acknowledged.

Sari Staver

Lesbians Who Tech founder Leanne Pittsford stands outside the Castro Theatre during last week’s summit.

“We must continue to push for change, and if we do, I’m optimistic we will create a tech sector that reflects the people who live in the country.” Lesbians Who Tech now also has an annual summit in New York City; international summits in Mexico City, Paris, and Singapore; and has chapters in 37 cities around the world, with more in formative stages. Altogether, the group has grown to a community of 25,000 queer women and gender nonconforming people who work in technology.

Workforce diversity

The conference included a number of presentations on workforce diversity. Krys Burnette, a lesbian who is one of the owners of the consulting firm August Public Inc., said companies who want to diversify should look outside their normal sources to find minority candidates. When her company wanted to diversify, officials asked opinion leaders in minority communities “what they were reading and what events they were attending” to decide where to put their advertising dollars, she said. Elena Grewal, an interim data science lead at Airbnb in San Francisco, discussed the company’s techniques to find more women to join

the firm. Grewal, a lesbian, said the company first tried to find more women working in data science to encourage them to apply for jobs at Airbnb Inc. The company sponsored talks for women who worked in data science and wrote blog posts emphasizing the importance of diversity in the workplace for Airbnb. These approaches raised the number of female applicants, she said. According to Grewal, Airbnb also made efforts to make female job applicants feel more comfortable during their onsite interviews. After women applicants said it could feel intimidating to make a pre-employment presentation to a room filled with all men, the company assigned a woman “buddy” to accompany the applicant during the group interview process. This technique, and others, helped the company to recruit more women, Grewal said. Hazel Havard, a software engineer at Workday, discussed ways to improve the work culture for trans women. Havard, a trans woman, said that there is “lots” of discrimination now, including the loss of a job, the denial of a promotion, or harassment at work. Even at crisis centers, she said, one-fourth of transgender people are mistreated, according to one study. One strategy, she said, “is to put some trans people in the room” when you are trying to find out what problems may exist. Havard urged people to advocate for inclusive bathrooms in the workplace. “Bathrooms are a huge issue,” she said. “I’m scared every time I use a public bathroom because I don’t know when I’m going to get yelled at,” Havard added. Infrastructure changes take time, she acknowledged, but she urged people to use new buildings as an opportunity to have the developers build gender neutral facilities. For small start-ups looking for workspace, Havard suggested they tell rental agents that they need space with gender neutral bathrooms. “Tell them it’s a deal breaker” if they don’t have them, she said. t

Kirkpatrick sworn in as Oakland police chief

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akland’s first female police chief was sworn in Monday, pledging to “transform” the department as it recovers from past scandals and remains under a federal consent decree. Mayor Libby Schaaf administered the ceremonial oath of office to Chief Anne E. Kirkpatrick in the City Hall council chambers February 27. Numerous law enforcement officials attended, as did several City Council members and Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley. Kirkpatrick, 57, was most recently working at the Chicago Police Department before Schaaf recruited her late last year and announced her appointment January 4. Before that, Kirkpatrick served as police chief in Spokane, Washington. “Today is a good day,” Schaaf said.

Rick Gerharter

Oakland Police Chief Anne E. Kirkpatrick, left, was sworn in by Mayor Libby Schaaf Monday at City Hall.

“Today, we welcome Chief Anne Kirkpatrick and today you begin leading the department and build on safety and, as you’ve said, transformation.” In her brief remarks, Kirkpatrick

said that there are some priorities the mayor gave her: help build a thriving city, and work to restore See page 14 >>

LGBT Aging>>

March 2-8, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 9

Peer support, dementia programs launched for LGBT seniors by Michael Nugent

he San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services has announced grants for two new major community service programs for LGBT seniors. One will work to enhance the lives of LGBT seniors and adults with disabilities through a peer support network to reduce social isolation. The second will create an Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Network and education campaign designed to overcome the unique barriers aging LGBT individuals have to access needed services, according to a news release. Both of these programs are being implemented as part of the research and policy recommendations of the LGBT Aging Policy Task Force. “This is the result of so many years of work to address the real and unique needs of the LGBT senior community,” gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) said at a Friday, February 24 news conference on the City Hall steps. “It’s unfortunate that because of HIV, many people were not reaching senior status for many years,” said Wiener, who was instrumental in creating the aging task force,

which completed its work in 2014. He also noted that LGBT seniors are less likely to have adult children who can take care of them. According to the Department of Aging and Adult Services, 12 percent of San Francisco seniors identify as LGBT, which is 20,000 to 25,000 people over the age of 65. Gay District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, said, “This is one more great example of San Francisco leading the way in this country, showing others the way to go. “We know that discrimination makes it hard to thrive. It is fantastic these two awards have been made. My dad died of Alzheimer’s, so I know I am at risk personally for this disease,” added Sheehy. Wiener has focused on the needs of LGBT seniors since his time on the Board of Supervisors. He said that he’s submitted an LGBT seniors bill of rights in the state Senate, which is similar to successful legislation he authored when he was a supervisor. “Thanks to Scott Wiener, we have

Michael Nugent

Supervisor Jeff Sheehy talks about new programs for LGBT seniors at a February 24 news conference as state Senator Scott Wiener, right rear, listens.

Visalia LGBT center marks 1 year with expansion

legislation protecting us in senior facilities. Taking it across the whole state would be huge,” said Sheehy. The Shanti Project received a two-year $640,000 grant for isolation prevention services for LGBT seniors and adults with disabilities. Shanti has worked previously on the issue of LGBT elder social isolation, many of whom have experienced significant loss and trauma. “The medical community has confirmed what we already knew: having to face medical challenges alone makes it all the more difficult,” said Shanti Executive Director Kaushik Roy. “It’s now proven to contribute to mortality, like smoking.” Shireen McSpadden, the executive director of the San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services, said, “San Francisco has taken the lead in supporting the LGBT senior population. “Since 2011, we have researched the challenges of the LGBT senior community. The key finding is that even in San Francisco, the level of stigma impacts resources and exacerbated isolation,” McSpadden added. Openhouse, the LGBT senior agency, has funding from the aging department for its resource center that is now located at the Bob Ross LGBT Senior Center at 65 Laguna Street, said new Executive Director Karyn Skultety, Ph.D. Skultety wrote in an email that the agency would work with others to develop a first-of-its-kind training to enhance care for LGBT seniors living with dementia and their care partners or caregivers. “This grant allows us to better address the needs of LGBT seniors and adults with disabilities. We will work very closely with Openhouse and Family Caregiver Alliance,” said Angie Pratt of the Alzheimer’s Association. The Alzheimer’s Association’s two-year $400,000 grant will go to the forming of a Dementia Care Network for LGBT seniors. Funds

will go toward education and training community-based organizations, as well as professional and medical organizations to improve awareness of the unique issues LGBT seniors face. Next, a

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ne year after announcing efforts to open an LGBT community center in downtown Visalia, leaders of the Central Valley resource are doubling the size of the space. The news comes after a similar center in Merced unexpectedly closed its doors last month after two years of operation, as the Bay Area Reporter reported last week. The Source LGBT-plus Center officially launched last March with a fundraising goal of $5,000 to cover its initial expenses. Shortly after the B.A.R. first reported about the campaign and plans for the center, its boosters easily surpassed the total. It opened its doors in May inside a basement space in the retail building at 208 West Main Street in the heart of the city’s downtown. Cofounders Nick Vargas, who grew up in Visalia, and Brian Poth, who grew up in nearby Tulare, determined there was a need for a center after moving back home in the summer of 2015.

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Nick Vargas, left, and Brian Poth are raising money for an LGBT community center in Visalia

Last week they announced the center had outgrown its 400 square foot space and would be expanding into an adjacent space of similar size that connects to it and had become vacant. The center began moving in Wednesday, March 1. It also announced a new crowdfunding campaign aimed at raising $5,000 to cover the cost of a year’s rent for the additional lease.

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<< Community News

10 • Bay Area Reporter • March 2-8, 2017

CADPH to terminate ADAP contract by Seth Hemmelgarn The California Department of Public Health has decided to terminate its contract with the company that had provided oversight for its AIDS Drug Assistance Program. AJ Boggs had been awarded the contract to oversee ADAP eligibility enrollment beginning in July 2016. But ever since then, there have been problems with the system.

In an email to the Bay Area Reporter Wednesday, March 1, CDPH spokeswoman Ali Bay said the agency was ending its contract with Boggs effective March 31. “This decision was made in order to best serve the state’s 29,000 ADAP clients,” Bay said. She said Boggs would continue to perform eligibility work through Friday, March 3. Bay said the contract was being terminated for “material breaches.”

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Meanwhile, the company that previously held a key contract in California’s ADAP sought to keep the state from switching to the new contractor, just before the change started causing problems with the system that still have not been fixed. Among other problems Ramsell Corporation cited with the Office of AIDS awarding the ADAP enrollment contract to AJ Boggs, was that Ramsell’s bid was “$9 million lower than Boggs’.” In a June 13, 2016 filing in Sacramento Superior Court, Ramsell, which had overseen the state’s ADAP system for almost 20 years, also claimed there had been “obvious scoring errors and bias” toward Boggs “throughout the bidding process.” Officials with the state’s Department of Public Health have said the trouble with ADAP, which is supposed to help thousands of people get the care they need to stay alive, started after the agency switched to new contractors in July 2016. According to one advocate, problems have included clients being turned away by their pharmacies or even being dropped from ADAP. Through its court petition, Ramsell has asked that the state be ordered to

rescind its contract with Boggs. According to a declaration filed in June, Sophia Byndloss, Ramsell’s president of products and services, in July 2015, the Office of AIDS split the ADAP contract into three separate requests for proposals – enrollment, insurance, and pharmacy benefits managers. That October, the agency issued its request for proposals for the enrollment contract, which includes managing the client database. During the process, agency staff “released several material amendments ... . Many of them appeared to have but one purpose: to ensure that Boggs would receive the highest score on the contract and not Ramsell,” Byndloss said. After the agency “realized that Ramsell’s bid was much lower than Boggs,” she said, it issued an amendment that changed the request from one based on price to one based on

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“technical requirements.” “This change had one purpose: to keep Ramsell from receiving the contract,” Byndloss said. She said that after the state indicated the contract was going to Boggs, her company “discovered intentional scoring and evaluation errors that were large enough to cause Ramsell to lose the contract.” Additionally, Byndloss said, Boggs’ failure to include information in one part of its bid rendered it “nonresponsive,” which obligated the Office of AIDS “to reject it.” After Ramsell protested the contract going to Boggs, the state “canceled the fatally flawed, illegal” enrollment contract award to Boggs. The agency explained that in its request for proposals, it had cited the wrong state contract guidelines. The Office of AIDS then issued a new request for proposals, and in May 2016, Ramsell was informed the contract had been awarded to Boggs. Byndloss said that the Office of AIDS “abused its discretion and exceeded its authority” by awarding Boggs the contract based on “biased and erroneous scoring,” or “awarded a noncompetitive ‘sole source’ contract to Boggs,” violating state regulations. Messages sent to state officials just before Ramsell’s contract expired June 30, 2016 expressed strong concerns about the state not being prepared for new contractors to take over. Court documents include a June 15 letter to Office of AIDS Chief Dr. Karen Mark from Mario Perez, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s Division of HIV and STD Programs. “Based on the call that you and your staff participated in with statewide HIV/AIDS advocates late last week, I am compelled to request that our HIV/AIDS partners in Sacramento reconsider the transition timeline,” Perez told Mark. He added, “As you know, Californians living with HIV, including thousands of Los Angeles County residents, depend on the error-free and efficient implementation of these programs to ensure unfettered access to care and medication – particularly as many who depend on ADAP are marginally housed or transitory and can be difficult to contact by letter or phone.” Along with other statements, Boggs said in court documents that “Ramsell makes no effort to identify any applicable authority requiring [the Office of AIDS] to competitively award the contract at issue.” Boggs also said the state agency “had thoroughly vetted the available competition, and had determined that AJ Boggs was the only interested proposer that offered the technological improvements sought by the office.” CDPH did not provide documents requested by the Bay Area Reporter until just as the paper was going to press Wednesday afternoon. Agency staff also didn’t respond to questions about when the problems with ADAP would be fixed, and why the transition to new contractors had proceeded despite concerns that it was happening too quickly. Clarke Anderson, AJ Boggs’ CEO, has previously declined to answer questions from the B.A.R. Ramsell’s public information officer has previously declined to answer questions. The court documents were provided by Ramsell’s attorney. t

Community News>>

March 2-8, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

CA bills address health, LGBT school issues by Matthew S. Bajko

alifornia lawmakers are being asked to expand the number of state agencies required to collect LGBT demographic data and readdress the issue of LGBT discrimination on the campuses of religious affiliated colleges and universities during the new legislative session. They also have under consideration the creation of a “bill of rights” for LGBT seniors living in assisted care facilities and a request to expand insurance coverage of a procedure that benefits HIV-positive individuals. The quartet of bills are in addition to the six other pieces of legislation that make up statewide LGBT advocacy organization Equality California’s legislative package this year. The other bills all address legal issues that impact the LGBT community. (See story, page 1.) “This year’s legislative package is part of our continuing effort to address the disparities that LGBT people face as a result of longstanding discrimination and lack of acceptance,” stated EQCA Executive Director Rick Zbur. Of the four bills, the most controversial one will likely be Assembly Bill 888, authored by gay Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), the new chair of the Legislature’s LGBT caucus. It would require private colleges and universities receiving Cal Grant funding to annually report how many LGBT students they have disciplined or expelled because they are LGBT or have engaged in LGBT community or advocacy activities. The bill follows on the heels of similar legislation passed last year, and authored by gay state Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), that requires schools to publicly disclose if they have received a waiver of the requirements of the federal Title IX, which protects LGBT students from discrimination. It also requires colleges to notify the state Student Aid Commission, which oversees Cal

Trans woman

From page 6

opened many doors for her. Sparks told the Bay Area Reporter that she found the evening to be a “resounding success.” “I was particularly pleased with how many trans women of color not only attended the event, but participated in it,” Sparks said. “The runway component of the event was so impactful to not only the women who wore the outfits but to those in the audience. I think the ultimate impact was that this two-hour event showed trans women and nonconforming people that these kinds of clothes really are accessible to all.” Brooking told the B.A.R. that she always enjoyed working with Sparks. “I dressed her to speak at the United Nations,” Brooking said. “I got to know her. It opened my eyes to the realization that we have several transgender customers. Some are visible, some are not. They needed more assistance than I could give them on the phone.” Brooking proposed the fashion show idea to Sparks, who helped to organize it. “I want to create a space where the trans community feels safe and welcome,” Brooking said. Brooking added that she enjoys looking at a person, then picking an outfit and urging them to try it on. In addition to the upcoming Day of Giving, Eileen Fisher has committed to donating 300 dresses per year to the LGBT center, to be used by individuals seeking employment. t

Assemblyman Evan Low

Grants, each time a student is expelled for violating a school’s moral code of conduct. Due to fierce opposition from faith-based schools and their supporters, Lara removed a provision from his bill that would have allowed students to sue if they felt they had been discriminated against. The opponents of the provision argued it would result in the schools no longer accepting students with Cal Grants. In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Zbur said rather than try again with allowing students at the schools to sue, this year’s legislation

will result in data showing if LGBTbased discrimination is a widespread concern at the religious colleges’ campuses. “We think this bill will reduce the number of times religious schools are expelling students,” said Zbur. “We will also have a database on what is occurring. We think it will be more compelling when we have evidence it is widely occurring to circle back on the Cal Grants issue.” Another bill that revisits an issue addressed by previous legislation is AB 677, authored by Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco). It would increase by 10 the number of state agencies required to collect data on sexual orientation and gender identity under his LGBT Disparities Reduction Act that was adopted in 2015. The first group of four state agencies, mainly dealing with health services, must begin collecting the information by July 1, 2018. This year’s bill would require state agencies that deal with education and employment issues to start collecting the LGBT data by July 1, 2019. As the B.A.R. previously reported, Senate Bill 219 – the Seniors Long Term Care Bill of Rights – will protect LGBT seniors from being discriminated against in long-term care facilities in the state. Author gay state Senator Scott Wiener

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<< Commentary

12 • Bay Area Reporter • March 2-8, 2017

Spicer throws cold water on legal pot by Sari Staver

hile city and state lawmakers prepare legislative proposals to regulate the burgeoning recreational cannabis industry, the federal government is threatening to put a wrench in the process. In late February, with 44 bills pending in the California Legislature, the White House announced that federal law enforcement agents could be soon targeting the eight states, including California, that have legalized adult use of recreational marijuana. White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters February 23 that states should expect “greater enforcement” of federal marijuana laws under President Donald Trump’s Justice Department. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who heads the department, has long been opposed to marijuana. In his response, Spicer drew a distinction between legalized recreational marijuana and legalized medical cannabis. Twenty-five states, plus the District of Columbia, have legalized medical marijuana. “I do believe you’ll see greater enforcement” of federal law “with respect to recreational marijuana,” he said. It was the clearest and strongest warning yet that the Trump administration may move to disrupt the cannabis trade in states that have legalized the recreational use of pot. Spicer told reporters that the administration had no plans to continue the permissive approach of the Obama administration and that

Courtesy CNN

White House press secretary Sean Spicer

it viewed recreational cannabis as a violation of federal law. Spicer’s threat that the Justice Department could initiate enforcement actions in states that have legalized recreational pot – as California did last year when voters approved Proposition 64 – alarmed local officials. “Of course this administration ignores the will of California voters and the view of almost 60 percent of Americans who say recreational cannabis should be legal,” gay District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy wrote in an email to the Bay Area Reporter. In Spicer’s comments to reporters, he compared cannabis to opioids. “When you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming around so many states ... the last thing we should be doing is

encouraging people,” he said. “There is still a federal law we need to abide by in terms of when it comes to recreational marijuana and other drugs of that nature.” Sheehy, who is HIV-positive and a medical cannabis patient, took issue with Spicer’s analogy. “The linkage to opioids is directly contradicted by facts,” wrote Sheehy to the B.A.R. Sheehy pointed out that according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, states with medical cannabis laws had a 24.8 percent lower opioid overdose mortality rate compared with states without medical cannabis laws. The article noted, “Examination of the association between medical cannabis laws and opioid analgesic overdose mortality in each year after implementation of the law showed that such laws were associated with a lower rate of overdose mortality that generally strengthened over time.” “As we medical cannabis users know, research has shown that medical cannabis provides safe, non-addicting, effective pain relief,” wrote Sheehy. “This is yet one more battle that San Francisco and California is prepared to have with this administration.” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) said he’s ready to safeguard the rights approved by 57 percent of voters in Prop 64, which allows California adults to possess,

transport, and buy up to an ounce of cannabis for recreational use. “I took an oath to enforce the laws that California has passed,” Becerra said in a statement after Spicer’s comments. “If there is action from the federal government on this subject, I will respond in an appropriate way to protect the interests of California.” And California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom (D), a leading supporter of Prop 64, took a similar approach, sending a letter to Trump urging him not to carry through with threats to launch a federal enforcement effort. “I urge you and your administration to work in partnership with California and the other ... states that have legalized recreational marijuana for adult use in a way that will let us enforce our state laws that protect the public and our children, while targeting the bad actors,” wrote Newsom.

Local pot department

On February 14, Sheehy asked the city attorney to draft legislation that would establish an independent department that would regulate the adult use of cannabis cultivation, sale, and distribution within San Francisco. Under current law, the Department of Public Health oversees medical cannabis use under Proposition 215, which state voters passed in 1996. Sheehy’s news release noted that no city office or agency is yet responsible for adult use of

recreational marijuana, which becomes legal on or before January 1. Sheehy’s office noted that, before Prop 64 passed last year, the Board of Supervisors formed the Cannabis State Legalization Task Force to advise the city on the matter. The panel issued its recommendations just before the election. Future legislation at the Board of Supervisors will incorporate these recommendations and public input, according to a statement from Sheehy’s office. In an interview with the B.A.R., Sheehy said that the new department would probably resemble the city’s Entertainment Commission and likely will have staff and volunteer commissioners. “Nothing is set yet,” he said. Meantime, there are 44 bills regarding cannabis now pending in the state Legislature. Six of the bills pertain to driving under the influence. Most of the others pertain to licensing and regulation, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Terrance Alan, chair of the San Francisco legalization task force, said, “The number of bills pending is indicative of all the complexities that must be worked out before January 1, 2018,” when the state anticipates cannabis will go on sale to adult users. “This is far from simple,” he said in an interview with the B.A.R.t Bay Area Cannasseur runs the first Thursday of the month. To send column ideas or tips, email Sari Staver at sari@bayareacannasseur.com.

Trio of non-binary gender changes granted in SF by Seth Hemmelgarn

trio of San Franciscans have changed their gender to nonbinary, becoming the first in the city to do so. The three people’s petitions, which were filed in December, were granted February 16 without hearings. David Strachan, 69, said he made the change because he has “an intersex condition,” and both his “sexual body” and his gender are neither male nor female. “I have a non-binary DNA makeup, and it just makes sense to have a non-binary gender on top

of it,” said Strachan, who identifies as “a non-binary, intersex person who’s in a relationship with a man.” Strachan added, “I’m almost 70, and to finally legally be able to do this is a joy for me. It leads the way to younger people being able to do it.” He also noted someone doesn’t have to be intersex or transgender “to have a non-binary gender identity.” Char Crawford, 32, who identifies as non-binary and a-gender and uses third-person pronouns, said that despite facing hurdles at agencies like the Social Security

Administration, which still only allows people to identify as male or female on its forms, “I’ve been elated. ... It’s been really wonderful actually to have this acknowledgement and recognition. It’s been extremely validating.” Crawford noted that Strachan and others have been working “for years” on having the non-binary option available. “The right thing to do is to have our law take into account those of us who are neither male nor female, because we’re a part of this society, and we live and work and organize in the community along with everyone else,” they said. Xin Farrish, whose gender was also changed to non-binary, didn’t respond to an interview request. In an email exchange, Toby Adams, executive and legal director for the Intersex and Genderqueer Recognition Project, which worked with the three to get their petitions granted, said that she and Strachan founded IGRP after he contacted her in 2011 “about legally changing his gender.” Others in Santa Cruz County and southern California have already had their gender legally changed to non-binary. Adams, a bisexual cisgender woman, said her group is working with three more people to have

their genders changed in Alameda County. “It’s a very exciting time for non-binary people in California right now, while simultaneously being a scary time for transgender youth in this country,” she said. “We in the LGBTQI community and our allies need to stand side-by-side with all trans and gender non-conforming” people, especially with the antiLGBT administration of President Donald Trump “showing their complete lack of support.” Courtesy David Strachan In an email to the Bay Area Reporter, San Fran- David Strachan cisco Superior Court specifically, but Donlan said, spokeswoman Ann Don“These decisions were his as lan said that Judge Joseph M. opposed to a court change in Quinn, who granted the petitions, process.” “made his decisions based on the Lesbian state Senator Toni Atfacts and the law as he understood kins (D-San Diego) and gay state them at the time. ... He is encourSenator Scott Wiener (D-San aged by [California Senate Bill Francisco) introduced SB 179 – 179] which, if passed and signed, the Gender Recognition Act of would make it easier to secure or2017 – in January. It would go ders granting non-binary status. into effect January 1, 2018 if apWhile obstacles – bureaucratic proved by the Legislature and and otherwise – may remain, signed by Governor Jerry Brown. the new law could ease the path The state would be the first in forward.” the country to have a third-gender Quinn, who is gay, couldn’t marker for non-binary people. t comment on the three cases

SF eliminated from Gay Games bidding by Roger Brigham

on’t expect San Francisco to host the Gay Games on the 40th anniversary of the inaugural Gay Games here. The regional bid to stage Gay Games XI in 2022 ended Tuesday, February 28, when the membership of the Federation of Gay Games cut the number of finalists it will consider to three: Hong Kong; Guadalajara,

Mexico; and Washington, D.C. “In writing our bid, we believed that as San Francisco was the site of the first Gay Games in 1982, our vision of respecting the past created a very special opportunity for FGG,” Ken Craig, co-president of the bid organized through San Francisco Bay Area Local Organizing Committee, said. “Along with the city and county of San Francisco’s pioneering efforts,

we would have created a sustainable path to the future. While we are disappointed not to be included in the final round, we wish the three candidate cities well and are confident that they will produce a worthy Gay Games for 2022.” A final vote on the host for 2022 will be made in October at the FGG membership meeting in Paris, host See page 15 >>

Community News>>

March 2-8, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 13

Trans youth and allies protest Trump policy by Liz Highleyman

ore than 400 transgender youth and allies rallied at San Francisco City Hall last Thursday, February 23, a day after the Trump administration rescinded guidance that protects trans students from discrimination. “We are protesting with love for our trans youth who actively protest this decision and are met with hate from the people in power,” said trans youth speaker Samir, who did not give a last name. “Let’s be clear. This is not an issue about bathroom rights, it’s an issue about human rights.” Under the Obama administration, officials in the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education had told school administrators in May 2016 that Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded educational programs, covers gender identity. If the Obama administration’s interpretation of Title IX is overturned in pending court cases, protections for trans students will be at the states’ discretion. California officials have indicated that antidiscrimination protections will not be

rolled back here. Last week’s spirited rally drew trans youth of all ages, parents, educators, and current and former elected officials, including gay Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, Supervisor Jane Kim, and gay former state lawmakers Mark Leno and Tom Ammiano. Rally speaker Sarah Kaplan read a message written by her 9-year-old trans son, James, who stood beside her at the podium. “I know how bad it feels to be bullied, and we need to stop it even if it’s our own president who’s trying to bully us,” the message said. “We just need to support each other and then we will thrive.” Another speaker, trans activist Mia Satya, related how she had gone entire days in school not using the bathroom, which can lead to health and safety issues. Similar protests in support of trans youth took place last week in other cities, including a large rally outside the Stonewall Inn in New York City and another in Chicago’s Boystown neighborhood. A protest outside the White House featured Gavin Grimm, the Virginia high school student whose trans

rights case will go before the U.S. Supreme Court later this month. Activists expect actions around trans youth rights will continue. “While this action is done, the work’s not over,” said San Francisco rally organizer Gwen Park. “We still have lots to do around trans youth and the many other intersecting issues they and we face. Trump and Co. are attacking all the time and we need to keep fighting.”

Action training and women’s strike coming up

On Saturday, March 4, the new Bay Resistance coalition, made up of more than 50 organizations and unions, will hold its first mass meeting and training at 1:30 p.m. at Mission High School, 3750 18th Street. The coalition works to advance racial, economic, climate, and gender justice, and the training promises to “build your skills to join the resistance to the Trump agenda.” Bay Resistance sends out text alerts about major actions. Sign up on its website at bayresistance.org. The people behind the massive post-inauguration Women’s Marches in Washington, D.C. and nationwide have called for “A Day Without

Liz Highleyman

Trans activist Mia Satya speaks during a February 23 protest outside San Francisco City Hall against the Trump administration’s announcement it would rescind protections for trans students.

a Woman” strike on International Women’s Day, March 8. The organizers are asking women to take the day off from paid and unpaid work, avoid shopping for the day, and wear red in solidarity, according to their website (womensmarch.com/womensday). On the same day, San Francisco activists are planning a Strike Against Gender, featuring a noon

rally at Justin Herman Plaza on the Embarcadero. At 2 p.m. there will be a march to the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters to protest recent Trump administration policy changes that have led to crackdowns on undocumented immigrants in several states, including California. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/2mu2k5X. t

Trans wrestler victim of regressive gender policies by Roger Brigham

he cesspool of regressive politics currently feeling its oats in the nation manifested itself in the Texas high school girls state wrestling tournament, where a boy was crowned a girls champion because the rules governing the sport in that state required him to wrestle in a gender division no one believes he should be allowed in and prohibited him from wrestling in the division everyone wanted him in. Mack Beggs is a 110-pound junior at Euless Trinity High School who is in the process of transitioning to a boy, the gender with which he identifies. His wrestling career this season was caught in the conflicting policies that regulate high school sports in the state of Texas. On the one hand, the scholastic league that governs Texas school sports said the state’s education code allows the use of banned drugs, such as steroids, if they are “prescribed by a medical practitioner for a valid medical purpose.” The league sees gender transition as valid, so Beggs was eligible to wrestle. But the same league also ruled in 2016, about a year after Beggs started the transition to the gender with which he has publicly identified for five years, that students may only compete under the gender listed on their birth certificates. So Beggs was not allowed to compete against boys, but was allowed to compete against girls, no matter how many vitriolic haters tore their hair out in protest. “Honestly, I didn’t even care about the boos,” Beggs said after his 12-2 title victory. “This is what I worked for. It finally paid off. The spotlight should’ve been on my teammates. The hard work that I put in the practice room with them beside me – that’s what the spotlight should have been on, because I would not be here

Obituaries >> Jon Drew Byrnes February 27, 2017 Jon Drew Byrnes, 60, of San Francisco, passed away February 27, 2017 with his friends by his side. Jon Drew was born in Englewood, New Jersey. Jon Drew was compassionate, generous, and had a genuine love for helping others. He enjoyed a

Texas girls wrestling champion Mack Beggs

without them.” Beggs, 17, had a perfect 52-0 record this season before finishing undefeated in the state tournament. Along the way, some wrestlers refused to compete with him. Yet nobody during that time pressured the governing officials to revise their rules to allow athletes to compete as the gender they lived their daily lives, rather ones they had long discarded. My thoughts? I know many will think that undefeated season was built entirely on an edge Beggs might have gotten from his transition-mandated testosterone supplements. Extra testosterone might have given him a strength boost, but not an undefeated season’s worth. Some of his opponents likely had higher than average testosterone levels, and in wrestling, strength is of fractional importance compared with

technique. I’ve seen some video of Beggs wrestling and his fundamental positioning and mechanics look pretty damn solid. And forget any notion that boys will always beat girls of equal weight. That’s absolute nonsense. In California, girls have separate tournaments and a separate state championship, but they wrestle in the same league matches as their male counterparts. At Mission High School, where I have coached the past nine years, my girls have routinely beaten or even pinned boys. We even made recruiting posters a few years back: “Our girls pin their boys.” Nevertheless, the decision to force Beggs to wrestle girls was a screwed up product of willfully ignorant policies – policies that fail to accept that some people’s experiences with the gender binary do not match those of the policy makers but are equally valid. Beggs should never have been forced to wrestle girls. That imposed an unwanted media spotlight on him and them rather than allowing them to focus entirely on wrestling. That spotlight was a bizarre public intrusion into a matter that is painfully personal. It attaches an unwarranted asterisk to their achievements. And it denied them the opportunity to be judged as competitors against their true peers. I say these policies are based on willful ignorance because that fact is inescapably true. It is not an alternative fact. The people who set policy are supposed to be concerned with education, with the well-being of the students, and have

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Call Robert Hasty love of travel and fine dining. He lived in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. He was a longtime HIV survivor and served others well with all the time he was given. Jon Drew is survived by the man of his dreams, Garin Thomaszewski, of Buffalo, New York; his lifelong companion, Bobbie Bass of Las Vegas, Nevada; his sisters, Donna Byrnes of Indianapolis, Indiana and Kim Gaydos of Brick, New Jersey; as well as

his nieces and nephew Emily, Alayna, and Bryan Gaydos. He is also survived by many amazing friends who were like family, including children Isabella, Sophia, Matthew, and Thomas Fischer who brightened his life with immeasurable joy. He was predeceased by his parents, James and Elaine Byrnes. Cremation will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to any charity of your choice.

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<< Community News

14 • Bay Area Reporter • March 2-8, 2017

LGBT legal bills

From page 1

The package of 10 bills that Equality California is co-sponsoring this legislative session is the most since 2011, when the statewide LGBT advocacy organization sponsored 12 pieces of legislation, 10 of which were signed into law. This year’s legislative package is the largest since EQCA hired Rick Zbur as its executive director in the fall of 2014. “Every single one addresses LGBT civil rights gaps that are still in place or LGBT health disparities compared to the general public,” said Zbur in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. In terms of the bills focused on legal issues, several deal with areas of the law long considered too controversial to tackle. Chief among them is Senate Bill 695, which would create a three-tiered system for California’s Sex Offender Registry with registration periods of upwards of 10 years, 20 years, or life. It would also remove from the registry those who were targeted and arrested by police under former statutes that criminalized homosexual sex between adults, such as stings using undercover cops in public parks or at highway rest areas. “We had a generation of LGBT people whose lives have been ruined for being LGBT or engaging in LGBT sexual activity at a time when it was criminalized,” said Zbur. California is one of only four states with a universal lifetime registry for sex offenders, and there are over 100,000 registrants, far more

Oakland police

From page 8

trust in the community. “She’s given me one charge, to make Oakland safe,” Kirkpatrick said, “and to work with the community and the police department with [that] one goal. “When a city is safe it’s truly prosperous,” she added. Schaaf pointed out that crime statistics in the city are down. Over the last four years, there has been a 20 percent reduction in all violent crime, she said. Noting changes in the police department that are already underway, the mayor said

Visalia

From page 9

“We know we can count on ALL OF YOU to help us expand to serve even more LGBT+ people,” wrote Vargas and Poth on the fundraising page. Since it opened its doors, the Source has seen more than 1,500 visitors. Its programming runs the gamut from recovery meetings and transgender resources to drop-in hours and health services like access

Hate crime reporting

From page 1

One person who’s been particularly helpful as prosecutors deal with hate crime cases is gay police Sergeant Pete Shields, the lead investigator in the Special Investigations Division. “We could not do this job without Pete,” Mains said, calling Shields

Jock Talk

From page 13

access to the best available information on scholastic issues. Regarding transgender issues for pre-surgical adolescents, the best information and advice comes from the people at the Women’s Sports Foundation, who

would be that people would no longer need a letter from their doctor attesting to medical treatment. Atkins has also introduced SB 310 – the Name and Dignity Act – which establishes the right of transgender people incarcerated in state prisons or county jails to petition the court directly to change their legal name or gender marker. It would also require corrections officials to use the new name of a person who obtains a name change, and to list the prior name only as an alias. A pair of bills deals with how hate crimes are handled by law enforcement agencies. Assembly Bill 800, authored by Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco), would establish a statewide, tollfree hotline and an online form to report hate crimes and biasmotivated incidents and provide information to support targeted communities. AB 1161, authored by Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), would require local law enforcement agencies to update their policies on hate crimes and provide guidance to strengthen those policies. According to EQCA, the bill would help the police in recognizing hate crimes when they have occurred, engaging in appropriate response given the targeted community and the broader community, and fostering a community environment that prevents future hate crimes and incidents from occurring. “Part of the issue is law enforcement doesn’t always see hate crimes when they are in fact hate crimes,” explained Jo Michael, EQCA’s legislative manager. t

B.A.R. to Lara’s office since he is the bill’s lead author. In an emailed reply, Lara stated, “California has made progress in righting the wrongs of history, when same-sex relationships were considered a crime in California. While many who were convicted of charges that are no longer a crime have been removed from the registry, SB 695 will bring fairness for LGBT individuals who may remain on the registry decades after they were put there because of a consensual same-sex relationship. By removing these individuals, law enforcement can instead focus on those who pose a risk to public safety.” In addition to EQCA, the bill’s coEQCA Executive Director Rick Zbur sponsors include the Los Angeles District than any other state, according to Attorney’s office, the EQCA. The legislation would base California Sex Offender Managea person’s placement on the tiered ment Board, and the California Coregistration system based on the alition Against Sexual Assault. seriousness of the crime, the risk of Another bill that would change reoffending, and the person’s crimithe state’s criminal statutes is SB nal history. 239, which would modernize the Gay state Senator Ricardo Lara state’s HIV criminalization laws ad(D-Bell Gardens) and Senator Holly opted during the height of the AIDS Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), one of the epidemic in the 1980s. As the B.A.R. chamber’s most liberal members who has previously noted, under the bill has made law reform one of her chief a person could only be prosecuted areas of focus, are the bill’s co-authors. for intentionally transmitting HIV In response to a request for comif their sex partner tested positive ment, Mitchell’s office referred the for the virus.

Under current law, HIV-positive persons may be prosecuted for engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse with the specific intent to transmit HIV even if no actual transmission of the virus occurs. If convicted, they could be sentenced to up to eight years in prison. Another law on the books targets sex workers who are HIV-positive. If the person is convicted of solicitation, even if they did not engage in intercourse, they can be sentenced to prison for 16 months or longer. That would no longer be the case under the proposed legislation. Gay lawmakers state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) are the lead authors of the bill. A number of legal groups and AIDS agencies are supporting the legislation, which will be the focus of a special informational hearing at 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 8 at the Statehouse. “The bottom line is this bill is good for public health,” said Zbur.

that there’s been a 70 percent reduction in use of force by officers. Last June Schaaf went through three police chiefs in about two weeks. Popular Chief Sean Whent was forced out after a police sexual misconduct scandal and racist and homophobic texts among police personnel emerged on his watch. He was replaced by two others, who resigned in quick succession. Since then, City Administrator Sabrina Landreth took over most of the day-to-day oversight of the department, joined by acting Assistant Chief David Downing. Schaaf said that Kirkpatrick was selected for her depth of experience

and skills. “You are unafraid to hold others accountable for the most ethical conduct,” the mayor said, adding that Kirkpatrick is also a “warm” person with “wisdom and vision.” The mayor recalled two moments that stood out to her after she interviewed Kirkpatrick for the job. The two talked about “broken windows,” a philosophy of policing that links disorder, such as broken windows, in generating and sustaining more serious crime. Kirkpatrick said that things such as blight and adequate streetlights must be addressed, but there can be problems with overreaching and broad enforcement,

Schaaf said. The other thing Schaaf recalled was when Kirkpatrick was asked what she’d be remembered for? “You said a decent woman with good values and a pioneer,” Schaaf said. For her part, Kirkpatrick said she was up to the challenge of running Oakland’s police department. “I know for whom I work,” Kirkpatrick said, referring to the mayor and City Council, which recently approved a two-year contract for the chief that will pay about $270,000 a year. “This is a big occasion in my life,” she continued. “Oakland is a city on the move.” City Councilman Abel Guillen,

who identifies as two-spirit, said it was “a new day” in Oakland. “It’s exciting to see your police chief walk from home to the police station,” he said. He said he spent about an hour meeting with Kirkpatrick prior to her official start. Tiffany Woods, a transgender woman who serves as the trans liaison to the police department, had yet to meet Kirkpatrick but did submit LGBT recommendations during the search process. “I’m excited to see what reforms she makes,” Woods said. t

to condoms. The center will soon offer HIV support groups and after school tutoring for high school students. As of wednesday, nearly $950 had already been raised through the online fundraising effort. To donate, visit crowdrise.com/ the-source-expansion.

of Lenora Hickock and Eleanor Roosevelt.” Baum plans to discuss Roosevelt’s 30-year relationship with Hickock, a famous reporter, including evidence that the pair carried on a lesbian affair early in their friendship. While there is disagreement among historians about the nature of the women’s relationship,

Baum said that there is evidence the two shared a love affair for several years and would remain friends and partners in activism, according to a news release. Organizers said that interested people should attend even if all reservations are taken. For more information, visit nps.gov/rori/ index.htm. t

San Francisco playwright and author Terry Baum will talk about

the love story of Lenora Hickock and Eleanor Roosevelt when she gives a talk Saturday, March 4 at 11 a.m. at the Rosie the Riveter WW II Home Front National History Park, 1414 Harbour Way in Richmond. Baum gathered quite a bit of information while researching her play, “Hick: A Love Story – the Romance

“very thoughtful and thorough.” Shields also had praise for Mains and Buitrago. “I’ve worked with Ben very closely,” he said. “He is absolutely amazing. ... I can call Ben any time of the night, any time, and he’s really willing to talk with me and go over cases.” Buitrago has been “a great addition,” Shields said. “She shares the same passion,” he

said, adding, “I feel fortunate to be working with the two of them.” Shortly after the November election, Gascón and other city officials promoted a hate crime hotline number that – while never out of service – was republished. There were reports that attacks on LGBTs, Muslims, people of color, and other communities had increased nationwide since Trump’s election.

Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the DA’s office, said in an email, “Our hate crimes prosecutors have been alerted to six calls to the hotline since December. None have included information about possible suspects. This obviously does not account for other hate crime incidents that the [San Francisco Police Department] and DA’s office are investigating.” t

have studied it the most. The foundation recommends that sports governing bodies adopt policies that are “based on up-to-date expert legal and medical knowledge about the effects of gender transition on athletic performance” – not on gut prejudice. “Individual sport governing organizations should accommodate

transgender athletes to ensure access to locker rooms, showers, and toilet facilities appropriate for their gender identity,” the foundation stated. Skeptics have long expressed fears that male-to-female transgender athletes have an unfair competitive advantage, although science has long disproven that. No

one has ever claimed that femaleto-male athletes have an unfair advantage. Beggs was a junior this year. That will give the state of Texas, which is currently considering North Carolina-style legislation to strip transgender individuals of basic rights and protections, a few months before next year’s

Baum to talk about ‘Hick’ at Rosie museum

Name change and hate crimes bills

Two of the bills aim to ease the state’s name change procedures for transgender, intersex, and nonbinary individuals. As the B.A.R. first noted in January, lesbian state Senator Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) teamed with Wiener to co-author SB 179 – the Gender Recognition Act of 2017. It would allow people to choose “non-binary” as the gender on their birth certificates and other documents. It would also streamline the process people use to update their gender and names on documents. One change

Matthew S. Bajko contributed reporting.

The DA’s hate crime hotline number is (415) 551-9595. People may contact the police department anonymously by calling (415) 575-4444 or by texting TIP411. Type SFPD in the subject line. Officials have reminded people that emergencies should still be reported to 911.

season to figure this mess out through any number of court cases. They’ve seen a test of their policies, which should be enough to convince them of the invalidity of their current position. Should be. Then again, willful ignorance is a powerful force. Fingers crossed that Texas sees the light and gets this one right. t

t <<

Community News>>

Legal Notices>>

Gay Games

From page 12

for next year’s Gay Games X. Site inspections of the three finalists will be made by an FGG committee in May. Of the finalists, only Washington, D.C. had previously bid for the Gay Games, finishing second to eventual 2014 Gay Games host Cleveland. All of the other bidders eliminated in the vote this week were American cities: San Francisco, Denver, Salt Lake City, Dallas, and Austin. In the weeks leading up to the vote, several members of the FGG assembly openly discussed the degree to which politics should play a role in the wake of the election of President Donald Trump, his stated intent to roll back federal protections for LGBT individuals, and his executive order to restrict immigrant travel. If it wins, Hong Kong would become the first city in Asia ever to host the event. Guadalajara’s biggest previous foray into hosting an international multisports event was the 2011 Pan American Games. The first two Gay Games were organized in 1982 and 1986 in the Bay

Orlando widow

From page 2

in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Salman declined a visit from the Bay Area Reporter earlier this year. A news release from the U.S. Department of Justice says, “According to [her] indictment, from no later than end of April 2016 through and including June 12, 2016, Salman aided and abetted Mateen’s attempted provision and provision of material support, namely, personnel and services,” to the terrorist group “and the death of multiple victims resulted.” Prosecutors continued that on June 12 – the day of the worst U.S. mass shooting in modern history – “Salman obstructed justice by engaging in misleading conduct” toward officials. Salman’s attorneys had asked for her to be released on bond, saying she was a battered woman with learning disabilities who doesn’t pose a danger. Prosecutors had said that she’d known of the coming attack and that she’d even given Mateen a cover story. In federal court in Oakland Wednesday, Ryu said, “All the

March 2-8, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 15

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037457800

Hong Kong is one of three finalist cities vying for the 2022 Gay Games.

Area by San Francisco Arts and Athletics. The third Gay Games were then awarded to Vancouver, Canada for 1990 as SFAA reorganized into the international FGG. All hosts since then have been selected through competitive bids. Three of those bids were awarded to North American cities (New York City, 1994; Chicago, 2006; and Cleveland, 2014), two to European cities (Amsterdam, 1998; Paris, 2018); and one Australian city (Sydney, 2002). The four games held in San Francisco, Chicago and Cleveland have been the only ones to finish in the black.t information provided by the government is hotly debated.” Among other things, she noted that any admissions Salman had made had come at the end of a 16-hour interrogation the day of the massacre, and no attorney had been with her as she was questioned. Salman’s uncle and mother agreed to post their homes to secure the $500,000 bond. Ryu emphasized to them that if Salman violates her bond, they could lose their homes. Salman was ordered to be monitored by GPS and can only leave the house for reasons like medical appointments or court appearances. Federal prosecutor Sara Sweeney has said that Salman had “repeatedly lied to law enforcement,” and that she’s a “risk of flight and danger to the community.” Sweeney has said that Salman had admitted that she knew Mateen had left their home June 11 “with a firearm and a backpack full of ammunition” and that he’d been “pumped up.” She said that Salman had known that her husband was “planning a terrorist attack.” The next court date is March 9.t

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: D. HUDSON GOLFWEAR, 3636 BRODERICK ST #5, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JEFFREY CHANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/03/17.

FEB 09, 16, 23, MAR 02, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037459700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NCI REAL ESTATE, 2267 37TH AVE. SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PABLO JOSE WONG. 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 02/06/17.

FEB 09, 16, 23, MAR 02, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037460800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: VIV TAX SERVICES, 1790 FULTON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TAI TRAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/06/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/06/17.

FEB 09, 16, 23, MAR 02, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037460400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 421 E. 18TH STREET PROPERTY PARTNERSHIP, 4804 MISSION ST #222, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed NASEEF MUSLEH; NAJEEB SHIHADEH; MICHEL MUSLEH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/06/17.

FEB 09, 16, 23, MAR 02, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037453700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BLINKS + BROWS SAN FRANCISCO, 1901 VAN NESS AVE #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed BLINKS + BROWS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/10/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/01/17.

FEB 09, 16, 23, MAR 02, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037452900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DISTRICT COFFEE, 199 NEW MONTGOMERY ST #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed 199M LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/31/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/31/17.

FEB 09, 16, 23, MAR 02, 2017 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-17-552777

In the matter of the application of: MANUEL DE JESUS BOTEO OCHOA, C/O GERVY JHON TESORO (SBN 298501), 1630 TARAVAL ST #B, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MANUEL DE JESUS BOTEO OCHOA, is requesting that the name MANUEL DE JESUS BOTEO OCHOA, be changed to MANUEL DE JESUS BOTEO DIAZ. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 13th of April 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 16, 23, MAR 02, 09, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037425400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GUERRERO FOOD MARKET, 1546 GUERRERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ROBERTO M. DAGUMAN JR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/17/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/17/17.

FEB 09, 16, 23, MAR 02, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037462900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JULY MOON, 1142 BUCHANAN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed THERMOND WELLS JR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/07/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/07/17.

FEB 16, 23, MAR 02, 09, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037468900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SUCCESS CONSTRUCTION SF, 1887 25TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PAK S. WAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/12/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/13/17.

FEB 16, 23, MAR 02, 09, 2017

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037461500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: IRWELL ELECTRIC, 106 FAIR OAKS ST #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NEIL ANTHONY HALSALL. 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 02/07/17.

FEB 16, 23, MAR 02, 09, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037465400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BALLADARES EXECUTIVE TRANSPORTATION, 901 HOLYOKE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NORMAN A. BALLADARES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/09/17.

FEB 16, 23, MAR 02, 09, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037465700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: E & H 24 HRS ROAD SERVICES, 682 GROVE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ELIAS HAGOS WOLDEZGHI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/09/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/09/17.

FEB 16, 23, MAR 02, 09, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037458100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MASTER PAINTING & DECORATING, 1325 EVANS AVE #B, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ASHLEY RHODES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/02/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/03/17.

FEB 16, 23, MAR 02, 09, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037462700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AVAYA WELLNESS, 350 TOWNSEND ST #275, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TIRTHA MENDAKE WANIGASEKARA-MOHOTTI. 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 02/07/17.

FEB 16, 23, MAR 02, 09, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037429100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FEST GEGEN, 28 SECOND ST #300, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed JASON CHASE BEAHM & KELSEY ROSE TRUJILLO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/16/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/17/17.

FEB 16, 23, MAR 02, 09, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037463800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TUNNEL RECORDS AND BEACH GOODS, 3614 TARAVAL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed BEN WINTROUB & ANDREA CHRISTINE DE FRANCISCO. 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 02/08/17.

FEB 16, 23, MAR 02, 09, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037448800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BERNHARDT REMODELING LLC, 1542 MCKINNON AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed BERNHARDT REMODELING LLC. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/31/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/31/17.

FEB 16, 23, MAR 02, 09, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037436100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PACHINO PIZZERIA, 318 KEARNY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed AMERICAN WEST VENTURES LLC. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/20/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/20/17.

FEB 16, 23, MAR 02, 09, 2017 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036577800

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: HAI FENG TRADITION CHINESE MED; HAI FENG CHINESE HERBAL, 1818 NORIEGA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by LIANG ZHUSHEN. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/15/15.

FEB 16, 23, MAR 02, 09, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037477600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LOGOPEDA SPEECH THERAPY, 1768 PAGE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALINA MIHAL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/17/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/17/17.

FEB 23, MAR 02, 09, 16, 2017

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-17-552788

In the matter of the application of: GOLEE ABRISHAMI CASTLEBERRY, 10 LUNADO WAY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner GOLEE ABRISHAMI CASTLEBERRY, is requesting that the name GOLEE ABRISHAMI CASTLEBERRY, be changed to GOLEE FARSHBAF ABRISHAMI. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 18th of April 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 23, MAR 02, 09, 16, 2017 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-17-552779

In the matter of the application of: AARON BARBER, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner AARON BARBER, is requesting that the name AARON BARBER AKA AARON MICHAEL BARBER, be changed to ELEMENT ELEFTHERIOS ECLIPSE. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 11th of April 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 23, MAR 02, 09, 16, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037466000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ELEMENT D, 55 DUBOCE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NICHOLAS SETIAWAN. 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 02/09/17.

FEB 23, MAR 02, 09, 16, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037448200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BE KIND, 890 BUSH ST #301, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed VICTORIA RAYLES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/19/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/30/17.

FEB 23, MAR 02, 09, 16, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037470700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DRESS YOU UP, 1815 BROADWAY ST #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARIA CHRISTINA MANALO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/14/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/14/17.

FEB 23, MAR 02, 09, 16, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037469100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 6DAYS PRODUCTIONS, 686 11TH AVE #12, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed MARIO MARE & TAE HO YOON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/17/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/13/17.

FEB 23, MAR 02, 09, 16, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037476900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE POP AGENCY, 2010 CHESTNUT ST #105, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GREENSENSE MEDIA INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/16/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/17/17.

FEB 23, MAR 02, 09, 16, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037474800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OM INDIAN CUISINE, 1668 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed A & A RESTAURANT GROUP INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/16/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/16/17.

FEB 23, MAR 02, 09, 16, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037465600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MARUFUKU RAMEN, 1581 WEBSTER #235, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed EK FOOD SERVICES, INC. (CA) The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/23/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/09/17.

FEB 23, MAR 02, 09, 16, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037477000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TAQUERIA ZORRO, 308 COLUMBUS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SF NICE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/11/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/17/17.

FEB 23, MAR 02, 09, 16, 2017

16 • Bay Area Reporter • March 2-8, 2017

Serving the LGBTQ communities since 1971

Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037461600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OPEN ACCESS, 475 CONNECTICUT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed OPEN ACCESS, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/07/17.

FEB 23, MAR 02, 09, 16, 2017 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037155800

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: OM INDIAN CUISINE, 1668 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by AJAY RAJ KHADKA. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/29/16.

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-034571700 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: AUERBACH GLASOW FRENCH, 225 GREEN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by AUERBACH + ASSOCIATES, INC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/07/12.

MAR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2017 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF HARUYOSHI IIDA IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-16-299459

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: X. This business is conducted by an X, and is signed X. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on X. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on X.

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of HARUYOSHI IIDA. A Petition for Probate has been filed by JUNJI SUZUKI in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that JUNJI SUZUKI be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: MARCH 20, 2017, 9:00 am, Dept. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: EDWARD S. MIYAUCHI (SBN 230553), MARSHALL SUZUKI LAW GROUP, LLP, 150 SPEAR ST #725, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105; Ph. (415) 618-0090.

DECEMBER X, 2017

MAR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2017

FEB 23, MAR 02, 09, 16, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037483500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SANS DESIGN, 415 CLYDE AVE #106, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 94043. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SANS DESIGN LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/23/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/23/17.

MAR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037490200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HI-VIS BRANDING, 8 NEWELL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HI-VIS BRANDING (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/27/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/27/17.

MAR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037478800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MEDIA NOCHE, 3465 19TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed DOS PULPOS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/21/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/21/17.

MAR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE X

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-17-552820

In the matter of the application of: NICHOLAS STEVEN BIRTH, 2782 22ND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner NICHOLAS STEVEN BIRTH, is requesting that the name NICHOLAS STEVEN BIRTH, be changed to NICHOLAS STEVEN BEAR. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 25th of APRIL 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037480800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EXPRESS PHOTO AND MAIL; PASSPORT DEPOT, 1388 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MICHAEL YOUNG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/28/98. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/22/17.

MAR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037479500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CLEANING & MORE, 1015 CORTLAND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO CA, 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOSE D. ROMERO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/21/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/21/17.

MAR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037481000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: C PLUS TRAVEL, 2555 44TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MINGFENG WU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/11/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/22/17.

MAR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037477300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FOUNDATIONS R US, 1291 11TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOHN O. DONOGHUE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/17/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/17/17.

MAR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2017

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City and County of San Francisco Outreach Advertising March 2017 Youth Commission The San Francisco Youth Commission is now accepting applications from youth ages 12-23 who would like to advise the Mayor and Board of Supervisors on the unmet needs and priorities of young San Franciscans. This is an important opportunity for young community advocates who are interested in policy, legislative and budget advocacy, and representing their communities! Youth commissioners hold afterschool hearings on youth-related legislation being considered by the Board of Supervisors and propose their own set of policy priorities each year. Applications are due April 23rd for a term beginning in August 2017. For more information, visit: www.sfgov.org/yc DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN, YOUTH AND THEIR FAMILIES The annual citywide Summer Resource Fair is coming up on Saturday, March 11 from 10am to 2pm at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park. The Summer Resource Fair is a free, family-oriented event that showcases the multitude of summer programs and other opportunities for young people in and around San Francisco. This year the Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families will bring in 200 exhibitors from summer programs, camps, and classes for children and youth ages 0-24. The SF Rec & Park Department will host a range of sports, arts & crafts, and other play stations, the SF Public Library will give away books, many of the exhibitors will host activities at their tables, and Play-Well TEKnologies will work with attendees to build a model of the city of San Francisco out of LEGOs! Please visit www.dcyf.org Assessment Appeals Board Notice is hereby given of 6 vacancies on the AAB. Applicants must have at least 5 years of experience in the State of California as one of the following: Certified Public Accountant or Public Accountant; licensed Real Estate Broker; Property Appraiser accredited by a nationally recognized organization, or Property Appraiser certified by the California Office of Real Estate Appraisers. For additional information or to obtain an application, please call (415) 554-6778. Department of Elections Californians Ages 16 and 17 Can Now Pre-register to Vote! To pre-register to vote in California, you must be: • A United States citizen • A resident of California • Age 16 or 17 To pre-register if you are 16 or 17, or register to vote if you are 18 or older: • If you have a California Driver’s License or CA ID from the DMV visit registertovote.ca.gov • Use a paper Voter Registration Card from the Department of Elections, City Hall, Room 48 • Call (415) 554-4375 and the Department of Elections will mail you a Voter Registration Card Be sure to update your voter registration every time you move, change your name, or want to change your political party preference. Visit sfelections.org. The City and County of San Francisco encourage public outreach. Articles are translated into several languages to provide better public access. The newspaper makes every effort to translate the articles of general interest correctly. No liability is assumed by the City and County of San Francisco or the newspapers for errors and omissions.

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O&A

Vol. 47 • No. 9 • March 2-8, 2017

www.ebar.com/arts Lisa Helmi Johanson as Little Red Riding Hood and Anthony Chatmon II as the Wolf meet up in Fiasco Theater’s Into the Woods, coming to the Golden Gate Theatre.

The Fiasco approach by Richard Dodds

Courtesy the filmmaker

Joan Marcus

uring the debut run of a radically reimagined Into the Woods at New Jersey’s McCarter Theatre, co-director and performer Ben Steinfeld noticed “a strange older guy” in the audience laughing at unexpected moments in the show. “And at the blackout at the very end we heard him say ‘Wow’ right before the applause started.” It was Stephen Sondheim. See page 24 >>

Queer ﬁlms rock the Roxie by Sari Staver Scene from Douglas Langway’s Bear City 3, coming to the Roxie Theater.

W Courtesy Xuzhou Museum

ith a long history of supporting queer cinema, the Roxie Theater is really rocking it this month, with seven films of interest to LGBT audiences on their March calendar. See page 24 >>

You can take it with you! by Sura Wood

T Coffin, unearthed from the Tomb of the King of Chu, Shizi Mountain, Xuzhou, Jiangsu. Western Han period (206 BCE-9 CE), 2nd century BCE. Jade, wood, and lacquer.

omb Treasures: New Discoveries from China’s Han Dynasty is yet another tour de force from the Asian Art Museum. Like their previous installations, which consistently rank as the best in town, this one is staged like a theatrical production, with darkened galleries, dramatic lighting and knowledge-fi lled text, all designed to enhance a visitor’s journey into the distant past. See page 18 >>

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<< Film

18 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 2-8, 2017

Well-versed in viniculture by Roberto Friedman

ut There has always loved drinking wine. Like everything else, such as modern art, or opera, or bondage, the more you learn about a subject, the more you appreciate it. So we were pleased to be invited to the Catalan Wines USA Master Class & Wine Tasting that transpired at The Bently Reserve last week. More knowledge! The Master Class on wines from Catalonia was led by Lucas Payá, a former sommelier of the famed Catalan restaurant El Bulli. There, among wine brokers, concierges, sommeliers, and the trade press, we learned about the 11 different appellations, regions and terroirs of the Catalan region. These are mostly characterized by fruity, bold and spicy Mediterranean wines, but there are vineyards found from sea level all the way up to 10,000 feet high in the coastal mountains, so there’s varied fruit of the grape to be enjoyed. Catalonia is about the size of Maryland, with a population analogous to Washington State. The ancient Phoenicians established winemaking there in what became a major wine source for Rome. Today cava tops the export varietals, which include Grenache, Riesling, Tempranillo, Pinot Noir and Albarino. Growers are among the most innovative

Tombs

From page 17

Though not as flashy as some shows, it’s magical viewing over 160 recently unearthed artworks and objects from one of the most advanced, powerful and wealthy ancient civilizations on earth – comparable to the Roman Empire – that have been buried underground and haven’t seen the light of day for over 2,000 years. If you thought the Egyptians had a lock on elaborate preparations for the afterlife, you’d be mistaken. The Han stocked their tombs with the pleasures and accoutrements they enjoyed in life, including sex toys and toilets with a sophisticated, minimalist design a modern architect could admire.

Courtesy Press Club

Out There (Roberto Friedman) puts his nose to work during a wine tasting at the Press Club last year.

in Europe, the first in Spain to use stainless-steel vats and electric riddling devices in underground cava cellars. Catalonia is also the second most important region in Europe (after Portugal) for the trees that supply high-quality corks. The Catalan people have a proudly independent culture and language, impetus for a popular movement demanding independence from Spain. The labels for Catalan wines, pointedly, are in Catalan. The informative lecture was followed by a walk-around wine tasting complemented by light

tapas from the award-winning Spanish restaurant Teleferic Barcelona. We enjoyed everything we sampled, especially the cavas with their small, consistent bubbles, overtones of citric fruit and forest herbs, and crisp finishes. We’ll seek these wines out.

Most of the artifacts were excavated as recently as 2011 from looted mausoleums at Dayun Mountain in Jiangsu province on the central coast of China. The complexes were vertically dug into the ground or into elevated platforms; ramps led down to sunken pits and a burial chamber, surrounded by huge storage compartments loaded with both sensual and utilitarian goodies for the underworld, and hermetically sealed by heavy doors. Courtesy of a digital touch screen, one can zero in on a location within the burial sites, and embark on a virtual tour. Embedded in what the Han deemed essential to accompany them in death are clues to their lives, the lives of royals and nobility that is, though two simple, forlorn-look-

ing earthenware sculptures of an armless man and woman (188-141 BCE), perhaps symbolizing servants accompanying the king, have a poignancy that resonates through the centuries. A primitive yet graceful dancer, likely modeled on a performer providing entertainment for the royals, has elongated arms and flared sleeves that convey undulating movement. Other pieces suggest a higher level of craftsmanship, such as a bronze lamp in the shape of a stag whose head is tipped back, balancing the base of the candle-holder on the tip of its nose like a juggler; a matching pair of striped bronze tigers inlaid with gold and silver, their backs arched, front paws extended; or the elegant bronze candelabra whose multiple swirling arms converge like the tributaries of a river,

Since we were on a vinicultural roll, we visited the California Historical Society for their exhibition Vintage: Wine, Beer and Spirits Labels from the Kemble Collections of Western Printing (through April 16). This is a display of wine and other labels produced by the Lehmann Printing & Lithographing Co. of SF (founded in 1911) during

IN ASSOCIATION WITH SE ASON PRODUCERS: NORMAN AB R AMSON & DAVID B EERY E XECUTIVE PRODUCERS: ALVIN BAU M & ROB ERT HOLGATE , MICHAEL GOLDEN & MICHAEL LE V Y, JIM TAU L & DAVE HOPMANN PRESENT

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trated by tableau of yachtsmen, bon vivants and outdoorsmen. Were these really what the libations’ consumers looked like? There is a work-station where you can design your own label. Some upcoming programming tied to the exhibit: The History of California Wines in 20 Labels, a talk by UC Davis wine historian James Lapsley (3/15); a screening of America’s Wine: The Legacy of Prohibition with filmmaker Carla De Luca Worfolk (3/16); and What is the Future of Wine Label Design? with designer Jessica Hische and wine label lawyer James Seff. Bottoms up!t Info: californiahistoricalsociety.org.

Vintage labels

NEW CONSERVATORY THEATRE CENTER

By Jewelle Gomez Directed by Arturo Catricala

the 1930s, using offset lithography. With such illustrative treasures as the labels for Old Trail and Lucky Crane brands, these potent examples of commercial art tell a story of the ongoing marketing of the California myth. As wall text points out, the labels use “weirdly effective combinations of an Art Deco design sensibility with faux Mission, Medieval or Antique vignettes.” Wines represented here are heavy on Port, Claret and Sherry. As for the rest, our favorites include Apache and Rodeo beers, Gold Fish Ginger Ale, Ace High Lithiated Snappy Lemon Dry. Lucky Strike Bourbon Whiskey, Cream of California Brandy, Bon Vivant Pisco Punch, and Hart’s Mint-Flavored Gin. Then there are the aspirational labels, illus-

MARC H 3 – APR I L 2 A play with music about Blues legend Alberta Hunter BUY TICKETS AT NCTCSF.ORG BOX OFFICE: 415.861.8972 25 VAN NESS AVE AT MARKET ST

California Historical Society

Lehmann Printing & Lithographing Co. labels from the Kemble Collections on Western Printing.

anchored on a stand in the shape of a horned toad, a mythical creature associated with the moon. Quite a few objects relate to war: a set of spearheads, a crossbow trigger mechanism, and an imposing wood sculpture of a cavalryman from the Guangling kingdom, 1st century BCE. Exhibited in profile, the soldier is mounted on a robust equine with a braided tail, finely detailed hooves, and an alert, muscular body poised for battle. The figure was among 126 wooden warriors and attendants once lined up in procession formation inside a tomb. The Han invested generous resources in custommade regalia to protect Courtesy Nanjing Museum the corpse and soul in the underworld, such as the Lamp in the shape of a deer, unearthed strange and spectacular from Tomb 1, Dayun Mountain, Xuyi, jade burial suit here. Suits Jiangsu. Western Han period (206 BCE-9 of this kind could be con- CE), 2nd century BCE. Bronze. structed with as many as 2,500 individual pieces regularly, liberally exfoliated, of jade cut in rectangular, burned perfumed incense and intriangular, round and half-moon dulged in massage. Baths and toilets shapes, and stitched together with occupied separate rooms, even after gold, silver or bronze threads. Laid death. According to the exhibition out serenely on a table, the headtext, the first reference to a toilet in to-toe body armor, which covered China’s historical record is a bizarre the feet like an upscale version of incident that occurred in 580 BCE Doctor Dentons pajamas, resemwhen the Marquis of Jin drowned in bles a cross between Frankenstein one after tripping and landing headand a space traveler from a 1950s first in a large latrine pit. Necessity sci-fi TV serial. A favorite target of being the mother of invention, the grave-robbers, only a handful of royals upgraded to a pedestal style intact suits survive. they subsequently installed in their Han royals like Jiangdu King Liu palaces and tombs. Fei subscribed to the importance of Bringing up the rear, so to speak, eternal pleasure and the idea that and the star of the show is a protono one, dead or alive, should be type model on view here. Made of without a portable phallus. The polstone with a pair of raised parallel ished finish on a rather substantial, strips on the floor on either side of seven-and-a-half-inch-tall bronze a hole in the center, it has armrests baby appears to have gotten quite and a backrest for added comfort – a workout before being entombed; everything but a magazine rack for a smaller one has a handle for ease the latest issue of The New Yorker. of use. Their interest in sex toys It’ll be a while, dear.t and other Daoist bedchamber arts rivaled an obsession with personal Through May 28. hygiene, evidenced by the presence Info: asianart.org. of numerous basins. They bathed

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March 2-8, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 19

Classified data in the digital age

– don’t forget Julian Assange and former hacker Adrian Lamo, who reported Manning to the authorities – would seem impossible to encapsulate, let alone musicalize. Ted Hearne and Mark Doten, with director Daniel Fish and production designer Jim Findley, have managed brilliantly to create an immersive theatrical mixed-media performance that tackles the challenge in a mere 75 minutes. Divided in two sections facing each other, the audience sits with four Stefan Cohen implanted singers, surrounded by four Bass-baritone Jonathan Woody in SF Opera Lab’s production of composer Ted towering screens, Hearne and librettist Mark Doten’s The Source. with a chamber band of musicians on a platform behind one Bradley, as she was then known) anby Philip Campbell of them. The projections show nounced she was transgender and he second season of SF Opera a diverse (age, gender, ethnicity) requested the necessary treatments. Lab opened last week at the group of volunteer participants After she went on hunger strike in Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Thein extreme close-up as they watch 2016, the Army allowed her gender ater with composer Ted Hearne’s an 11-minute video later dubbed transition surgery. During the last digital-age oratorio The Source. The “Collateral Murder.” week of his administration, Presilibretto by Mark Doten is culled Much of the data in the “War dent Obama commuted Manning’s from the classified data leaked by Logs” is set as recitative, and the sentence to a total of seven years, US Army private Chelsea Manning singers croon, belt and sprechand she is set for release in May to WikiLeaks and released to its stimme (speech-voice) their way 2017. media partners in 2010. through it with voices electronically Chelsea’s saga is as complicated Manning was convicted in 2013 processed by an intriguing method as the vast amount of information on numerous military infractions of auto-tuning. They sound both she leaked, and it has provoked and counts of espionage, theft and detached and intensely human, a every bit as much controversy and computer fraud. Sentenced to 35 description that could be applied to analysis. The material itself and the years’ imprisonment, Chelsea (or the entire work. personalities involved in the leaks

Hearne uses lightningquick samplings of songs by singers including Dinah Washington and Clay Aiken, and snippets of lyrics from songs from composers Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht to Jerome Kern/Otto Harbach, as punctuation for his rockinflected score. There are a surprising number of discernible original tunes, and the terrific vocalists – soprano Melissa Hughes, bass-baritone Jonathan Woody and singer/actors Samia Mounts and Isaiah Robinson – all display an impressive range, equally at ease with pop, classical lieder and Nathan Lee Bush high-end Broadway. Spolier Alert in this para- The Source composer Ted Hearne. graph! The arc of the libretto culminates in an actual realtime viewing of the horrific war, gender, and issues of personal tape, seen by the onscreen particiresponsibility, we are bombarded pants, showing the killing of civildaily in the media. Processing an ians and journalists mistaken as incredible amount of information enemy combatants. is both confusing and exhausting. Lights up; silence; a long and Breaking off an 11-minute chunk uncomfortable pause as the from the vast amount of the stunned audience faces off in tickWikiLeaks data and presenting it ing moments of contrasting emoto us unadorned in the end makes tions and a strange combination a shocking impact. Hearne’s and of isolation and communion. You Doten’s The Source resonates as could call it a coup de théâtre, but far more than an evening’s musithat would minimize the produccal theatre diversion. No simple tion’s intent. answers are given, but at least Staying for the Q&A after the we get a chance to confront our performance is recommended. This opinions.t will happen each night and afternoon of the run. It helps sort our The Source continues at the feelings, and starts a conversation Taube Atrium Theater, Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera, that will inevitably continue. March 1-3 at 8 p.m. In an age of divisive politics on

Naughty Handel by Tim Pfaff

oy treble Elias Maedler steals the scene, as boy trebles are wont to do, early in the Katie Mitchell production of Handel’s Alcina for the 2015 Aix Festival (Erato DVD) as Oberto pining for his lost father, but not a moment too soon. By then we have had (“heard” misses the point) only two arias, by the opera’s leading ladies, both sung while their respective sopranos are being sexually dominated, naughtily. Oberto supplies brief relief that at last there’s a character safe from sexual predation – but no, there’s still Act II. There are worse ideas than introducing sex into Handel’s opera – which, rightly, is steadily gaining the top slot as the greatest of his stage works – about a sorceress who turns her sexual conquests, once subdued, into animals. But Mitchell offers the crassest titillation, a shade or two of grey with the predictable props offset by costumes that would kill the sex drive of a Handelian Alberich. It tries both to make a point and to be unctuously cute about it, and everybody’s the loser. Actual practi-

tioners of S&M should, and would, take offense. Mitchell does her superb vocal cast no favors. As if Handel’s intricate music weren’t torture enough, the singers are saddled with vapid, nonstop business to dispatch while they’re trying to realize Handel’s fleshand-fur characters buried under the theatrical (and literal) taxidermy. Staging it on yet another of her twotiered, six-panel unit sets (which worked well for her Written on Skin at Aix three years earlier) adds yet more distraction, not to mention actors and dancers doubling the characters, hard enough to tell apart in this typically baroque plot with its genderfuck voice assignments. Had she noticed that the first time her production attains more than antic power is during Philippe Jaroussky’s spell-binding secondact Ruggiero aria, during which he does nothing but sing like a god, she might have been inclined to trust Handel more. But if, elsewhere, you want to see Jaroussky with his shirt off, and sometimes more, this is your chance; but really you don’t want to. As a sound-only recording (just look away), this Alcina has much to recommend it. Conductor Andrea Marcon draws a dramatic, hellbent-for-leather performance from the ace Freiburger Barockorchester and fine soloists.

Weirdly, much the same can be said for the new Pierre Audi production (Alpha, Blu-ray only) of Alcina, which hails from the other extreme of the thespian spectrum. Conceived for the Baroque-style theater at Drottningholm, this 2015 revival for Belgium’s Monnaie is done in “period” (that is, roughly 18th-century) costumes and on a bare set with moveable flats. Especially by comparison with Mitchell’s manic Alcina, in Audi’s almost nothing happens; you’re advised to arrive with a better knowledge of the piece than subtitles can provide. But if you do, your reward is one of the great Alcina recordings, not that the competition is stiff. Out Baroque wizard Christophe Rousset drives an electrifying account of the score with his lithe periodinstrument ensemble Les Talens Lyriques and an even stronger cast than Aix fielded, headed by the brilliant Alcina of longtime Rousset colleague Sandrine Piau. There’s some meddling with the score (Audi deals with Handel’s problematic ending by cutting it) that could not have been by Rous-

set’s hand or with his blessing. But Alcina is a longer night in the house than some Wagner operas, so complaints will be muted. Certainly with the absence of the late Alan Curtis, it’s clear that there’s no greater Handelian working today than the resourceful Rousset, who is so solidly grounded in the music’s style that he can shape and attend to its drama in both short and long terms. This Alpha Alcina comes with a second Rousset-Audi Handel restaging, of the still underappreciated but dramatically incisive Tamerlano. The manner of staging is the same faux Baroque, but either Audi yields to the drama of the opera or, more likely, master dramatist Handel takes charge. Tamerlano tells the tale of a despotic monarch with fatal female trouble, an always timely subject. Here a superlative cast is headed by Jeremy Ovenden’s Bajazet (briefly, bizarrely, a Placido Domingo role), the wildest of the singers; he blows up every scene he’s in and rather literally leaves it all on the field or, in this case, the throne. With terrific

acting all around, this Tamerlano is compulsively watchable. What’s auguring to be a bad time for the arts is, for this perilous moment anyway, a good time for the Alcina fable. A 17th-century version, the dramatic cantata La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola di Alcina by Francesca Caccini (daughter of the somewhat betterknown Roman composer Giulio Caccini) has just been released on Glossa. It’s being welcomed as a rediscovered masterpiece, and the performance by period specialists Allabastrina-La Pifaresca is rightly bewitching. The cavalcade of amazing Les Talens Lyriques releases continues with its recent Francois Couperin disc, the rarely heard solo cantata Ariane console par Bacchus (Ariadne consoled by Bacchus), featuring out gay baritone Stephane Degout, and two of the composer’s instrumental “apotheoses,” here to Lully and Corelli. The playing is so strong it provides immediate uplift, which some may join me in finding welcome. I have it on continuous play.t

<< Film

20 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 2-8, 2017

Marching with the Castro by David Lamble

arch at our Castro Theatre movie palace is a delicious cinema potluck with a dash of almost everything in the modern repertory cupboard. As usual, the Castro is a great place to catch current awards-season fare. Jackie (2016) This bio-pic from Chilean director Pablo Larrain (No), aided by Noah Oppenheim’s brilliant script, doesn’t ask where you were when the “Camelot” presidency of John Fitzgerald Kennedy ended abruptly on a beautiful fall day in Dallas, Texas. Jackie instead seduces you into imagining what it must have been like for first lady Jacqueline Kennedy when the sound of three bullets shattered her regal world forever. (3/6) Incendies (2010) French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve concocts a Middle East travel puzzle that starts with a brother/sister attending a reading of their father’s will. With Lubna Azabal and Remy Girard. In French with English subtitles. (3/7) Manchester by the Sea (2016) Casey Affleck is moving as a smalltown New England janitor drowning in sorrow who’s a human hand grenade capable of pulling his own pin. Just when his life appears to have bottomed out, Lee gets the news that his older brother has died, leaving him in charge of his teenage nephew. Kenneth Lonergan withholds crucial information about the source of Lee’s dark mood until

We are the future of the LGBT community. “The world still has its challenges but things are getting better. From the way we first met on line to marriage equality to our daughter’s upcoming Quinceañera our life together is more fulfilling every day. We keep up with events and entertainment on EDGE, because that’s where we see our future at its brightest.” The people depicted here are models. Their image is being used for illustrative purposes only.

late in the film when everything is painfully and poignantly clear. With a great supporting cast: newcomer Lucas Hedges battles his emotionally unstable uncle like a pro, while Michelle Williams scores as a reformed alcoholic ex-spouse. (3/8) CAAMFEST Opening Night: The Tiger Hunter. (3/9) Grease Sing-a-long. (3/10-12) Fences (2016) This powerful African American family drama, adapted by Denzel Washington from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by August Wilson, concerns the fate of four generations, particularly the patriarch of the clan, Troy Maxson (Washington). He turned his back on a major-league baseball career only to find himself angry and trapped at precisely that moment when a man should feel pride in family and work. (3/14) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) The Rebel Alliance moves to steal plans for the Death Star. Director Gareth Edwards helms a cast including Diego Luna, Felicity Jones and Alan Tudyk. (3/16-17) Julieta (2016) In queer Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s latest, our heroine (Emma Suarez) is sharing a Madrid flat with a boyfriend. The couple plans a move to Portugal when by chance Julieta reconnects with the best friend of her longabsent adult daughter Antia. Heartbroken that her child, now married and living in Switzerland, has not been in touch for 12 years, Julieta cancels her trip and returns to her old apartment, hoping that Anita will know where to find her. (3/21-22) Lost Highway (1997) David Lynch’s noirish offering features a topdrawer cast: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Blake, Natasha Gregson, Richard Pryor, Lisa Boyle, Jack Nance, Henry Rollins, Gary Busey, Robert Loggia, Marilyn Manson and Giovanni Ribisi. In Cold Blood (1967) In the hands of veteran director Richard Brooks, Truman Capote’s nonfiction novel traces a tragic arc from the senseless slaughter of a Kansas farm family to the apprehension and punishment of their feckless killers. The only thing this brilliant drama lacks is a sense of its author and how his attraction to one of the murderers would lead to his own downfall. (both 3/23) Vertigo (1958) Of all the Alfred Hitchcock top-drawer material, this chilly San Francisco-lensed thriller is the hardest to sassy up to. Jimmy Stewart is a retired cop who becomes obsessed with an old pal’s estranged wife (Kim Novak). The retro shots of Stewart cruising around Nob Hill are matched only by Bernard Herrmann’s addictive soundtrack score. (3/24-26)

The Last Embrace (1979) The always reliable Roy Scheider returns as a CIA agent who witnesses the murder of his wife and wonders if he’s next. With Janet Margolin, John Glover, Sam Levene, Christopher Walken and Charles Bapier. (3/24) 20th Century Women (2016) Writer/director Mike Mills on how hard it is to ever really know anyone. The film is a fabulous homage, specifically to Mills’ mom, but also to any woman, about what to value and when not to shut up when bullies threaten. Plays with Certain Women. (3/28) Manhattan (1979) My pick for Woody Allen’s finest hip romantic two hours in widescreen b&w. Opening to the strains of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” Woody, as writer Isaac Davis, opines over a montage of Gotham City at work: “Chapter One. He was as tough and romantic as the city he loved. Behind his black-rimmed glasses was the coiled sexual power of a jungle cat. New York was his town, and it always would be.” (3/29)

The Disposable Film Festival. (3/30) Young Frankenstein (1974) This comic romp from Mel Brooks, in collaboration with writer/costar Gene Wilder, pulls out all the stops, leaving no childish prank unreferenced. Especially good is then-rising action star Gene Hackman’s cameo sending up the memorable blind-man scene in Bride of Frankenstein. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) One of the most memorable horror/comedy combos ever produced. Beyond camp, the lusty travesty features Tim Curry as the musical transvestite from Transylvania, with original comic/ faux horror turns from a very young Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Meatloaf, Charles Gray and Patricia Quinn, directed by Jim Sharman. Generations of school-age revelers throwing rice and singing along to madcap lyrics can’t all be wrong. (both 3/31)t castrotheatre.com

Film>>

March 2-8, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 21

Victims & victimizers by David Lamble

n the Danish drama Land of Mine, a small band of German POWs, boys barely old and strong enough to hold a rifle, is ordered to clear a seemingly pristine stretch of beach along Denmark’s Atlantic coast. The beach is deceptively inviting. Buried just below the white sand are 45,000 unexploded land mines, ordered put in place by Adolph Hitler, the German despot fearing an Allied invasion at precisely the point where American, British and Free French troops would have the shortest path to capturing Berlin. Writer/director Martin Zandvliet’s empathetic drama pulls out all the emotional stops. It would take a cold heart to resist its well-crafted tugs on our sympathies. An important element of the film’s power is its steadfast decision never to leave the beach. As long as the boys are trapped there on their bloody suicide mission, we are there with them. Land of Mine delivers an epic story in 101 minutes. The cast, fresh-faced adolescent German newcomers, is uniformly excellent,

particularly the Danish lead Roland Moller as the gruff, avuncular Sgt. Leopold Rasmussen, whose job it is to lead lambs to the slaughter. Of special note is the heartbreaking story of real-life twin brothers Emil and Oskar Belton, the fate of whom is the film’s moral pivot. Also outstanding is Louis Hofmann as Sebastian, the natural leader of the German teen prisoners who manages to get to the sergeant’s softer side by manipulating a religious symbol. At first the 40-something sergeant, who has seen his share of action, is all business with his young charges, barking out orders, physically abusing the lads, inducing tears, then punishing the offenders for their inability to suffer for the crimes of their compatriots and their nation’s mad leader. Soon Sgt. Rasmussen grasps that he has entered a moral kill zone where what he is inflicting on these boys will take an unacceptable psychic toll on him. The tension ratchets up as a boy fiddles in the sand with disarming a weapon capable of destroying an armored vehicle. Just when we feel

In a film that carefully rations out its big-speech moments, one comes when the sergeant appeals to his superiors on behalf of the boys, a few of whom have been sickened by eating vermin-tainted grain. Leaning over the desk of his commanding officer, Rasmussen metaphorically

switches from the role of an old war dog to that of a representative from Amnesty International. Sergeant: “These are small boys who cry for their mothers when they are afraid, whose legs and arms are being blown off.” Officer: “They are German, Carl, and if I hear one more thing about small boys, I will go down there and shoot them myself!” Director Martin Zandvliet exposes us Sony Pictures Classics anew to the moral stakes when human beings cross the narrow line separating victims from criminal abusers. shows how quickly humans can change from hunters to prey, and how souls, moral high ground and the fate of innocent children can be sacrificed before the return of our better natures.t

to keep track of the erotic entanglements. The most striking scene in the film is Carrington at night outside on the lawn at Ham Sprays observing through the brightly lit windows her past paramours romantically intertwining with their new flames. She remains the lonely outsider. Pryce runs away with the picture with his riveting portrayal of the effete Strachey. Written and directed (in his debut) by Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons), the dialogue is witty and vicious (“I once proposed to Virginia Woolf, and she said yes. It was ghastly”). The repartee is more fun than the sex (“Ah, semen. What is it about that ridiculous white secretion that pulls down the corners of an Englishman’s mouth?”). But homosexuality is given short shrift, treated almost as an exotic sideshow. We see a fully-clothed Strachey kissing Ralph while Carrington is naked, kama sutra-like, with her male lovers. Carrington’s relationships with women are ignored. The movie is divided into six parts, each covering a range of time over a 17-year span, yet it all seems disjointed, as these small scenes appear knitted together with little connecting material. Sturm und Drang is conveyed by small gestures and silences devoid

of any emotional punch, even when events turn tragic towards the conclusion. Yes, this was a cerebral artistic enterprise, but little passion is exhibited except for the lush cinematography, reminiscent of a naughty Merchant-Ivory production. What are we to make of Carrington as a feminist? She was happy to provide stability so Strachey could finish his work, pointing to an eraser with the imprinted phrase “Use Me,” saying that is all she needed. She rewrote rules for her sexuality but not for the rest of her life. Her paintings were only for her and Strachey, she declined any invitations to exhibit her work publicly. She’s hardly a precursor of Gloria Steinem. Today we might ask, Was Carrington transgender (“I wish I had been born as a boy”)? Thompson has never been better, but her great performance was overshadowed in the same year by her acting in the popular and more satisfying Jane Austen movie Sense and Sensibility. Carrington functions better as a cultural artifact than as entertainment. The real unvarnished Dora Carrington and a less detached life deserve another screen version. Until then, this movie will have to act as the bland appetizer before the hopefully tastier main entree. t

Scene from director Martin Zandvliet’s Land of Mine.

we can’t take the pressure, the worst does happen, and we’re exposed to the unbearable cries of a youth who has suffered a mortal wound but will not die soon. His comrades react to his pain and we see innocence defiled, with victims and victimizers rapidly exchanging places.

Bloomsbury bohemia by Brian Bromberger

efying classification, the 1995 film Carrington, out of print for years and just released on Bluray by Olive Films, seems more fashionable today than it did when first shown, or during the 1915-32 period it covers, due to its depiction of radical sexual lifestyles now more socially acceptable. The movie purports to be a biography of the bohemian Dora Carrington (1893-1932), a virtually unknown painter whose surrealistic landscapes were not appreciated until decades after her death. The film is based on Michael Holroyd’s biography of Lytton Strachey, the gay writer and aesthetic literary critic who produced two masterworks, Eminent Victorians and a mythbreaking recounting of the life of Queen Victoria (popular now due to the PBS miniseries). The former book was a satire and debunking

of Victorian customs and ethics, which fit into his Bloomsbury (of Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster fame) ethos, rejecting bourgeois social conventions of the day, especially sexuality. Strachey is the commanding presence in Carrington, with poor Dora reduced to a supporting role in her own movie, reflecting the same role she played in life. Carrington (Emma Thompson), who hates her first name, was first introduced to Strachey (Jonathan Pryce) at a tea party given by Vanessa Bell (Woolf ’s sister). Strachey spots her cropped pageboy hairstyle and androgynous look while playing soccer and asks, “Who is that ravishing boy?” They are awkwardly introduced, and while taking a hike in the countryside he attempts to kiss her, which she spurns. Later that evening she sneaks into his bedroom and attempts to cut off his long, spongy

beard, but stops, staring into his sleeping face, falling in love with him. Strachey is brought before a conscientious objector board to defend his pacifism during WWI. In a hilarious scene, he enters the tribunal and puts a rubber donut on the chair, announcing, “I am a martyr to the piles.” He is declared medically unfit for any military service. Meanwhile, Carrington had been dating fellow art student Mark Gertler (Rufus Sewell), who wanted to have sex with the 23-year-old virgin, but she refused. Desperately horny, he turns to the presumably safe Strachey for help, which only winds up driving him closer to Carrington. She rejects Gertler, who cannot understand why she is obsessed with this “disgusting pervert,” to which she amusingly replies, “You always have to put up with something.” Strachey invites her to live together in a nebulous limbo relationship in-between platonic and sexual love. They find Marsh House, which she refurbishes with her stunning artistic and decorative design. She takes on other lovers (after having been finally successfully deflowered by Gertler before their split), many of whom she shares with Strachey. She meets the handsome soldier Rex Partridge (Steve Waddington), renamed Ralph by Strachey, and marries him to keep the menage a trois intact. Strachey’s success with Eminent Victorians leads to him buying Ham Sprays, a luxurious country estate in Berkshire, which he shares with Carrington, Partridge, and their partners as a commune. The mostly hetero Partridge has his London mistresses, and to act as a distraction away from Strachey, he introduces him to his best friend poet Gerald Brenan (Samuel West). But Brenan falls in love with the irresistible Carrington, and they begin an affair. He wants her to go with him to Spain, but she disdains commitment except to Strachey, the one man who cannot give her what she needs, leading to quiet torment, mental instability, and other male lovers. Strachey falls in love with Roger, a young Oxford student. One almost needs a flow chart

<< Out&About

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 2-8, 2017

O&A

Silence: The Musical @ Victoria Theatre

Out &About

Cloud 9 Theatricals and Ray of Light Theatre present the Bay Area premiere of Jon Kaplan, Al Kaplan and Hunter Bell’s acclaimed unauthorized musical parody of the film/book Silence of the Lambs. $35-$45. Thu-Sat 8pm (Some Saturdays 7pm and/or 10pm). Thru March 18. 2961 16th St. 863-7576. silencethemusicalsf.com

The Source @ Taube Atrium Theater

Thu 9 Escaping Agra, part of CAAMfest @ Various Cinemas

Enveloop by Jim Provenzano

he nominees for best arts events are… Oh, let’s not go there, shall we? For more listing, visit www.ebar.com. For nightlife winners, see On the Tab listings.

Thu 2

Beartoonist of San Francisco @ GLBT History Museum Beartoonist of San Francisco: Sketching an Emerging Subculture, featuring art work by bear cartoonist Fran Frisch. $5. 4127 18th St. glbthistory.org

Billy Elliot @ Berkeley Playhouse Local production of the (10 Tonywinning) musical, with music by Elton John, based on the film about a poor British boy who aspires to become a ballet dancer. $22-$40. Note earlier curtain times (7pm or 1pm). Thru Mar. 25. Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. berkeleyplayhouse.org

Bootycandy @ Brava Theatre Center Robert O’Hara’s semi-autobiographical subversive comedy about growing up Black and gay in America. Thru March 5. 2781 24th St. www.brava.org

The Christians @ SF Playhouse Lucas Hnath’s Off-Broadway hit unflinching look at faith in America, staged with a live choir, gets a West Coast premiere. $20-$125. Tue-Thu 7pm. Fri 7 Sat 8pm. Sat 3pm, Sun 2pm. Thru March 11. 450 Post St., 2nd floor. sfplayhouse.org

Classic & New Films @ Castro Theatre March 2: Delicatessen (7pm) and The Tenant (8:55). Mar. 3: Reservoir Dogs (7pm, 9pm). Mar 4: Scary Cow Short Film Festival (www.scarycow.com). Mar. 6: Jackie (4pm, 6:15, 8:30) Mar. 7: Elle (2pm, 7pm). and Incendies (4:30, 9:30). Mar, 8: Manchester by the Sea (2:30, 5:15, 8pm). Mar. 9: CAAMfest 35 opening night feature Tiger Hunter (7pm). $11-$16. 429 Castro St. castrotheatre.com

Daughter of a Garbageman @ The Marsh KGO host and stand-up comic Maureen Langan’s solo show about her family life, and the endurance of working class people. $20-$100. Thu 8pm. Sat 5pm. Thru March 25. 1062 Valencia St. themarsh.org

Eat, Pray, Laugh! @ The Marsh Berkeley Katie Rubin’s solo show about a Jewish princess’ search for an Indian guru. $20-$100. Thu 8pm, Sat 8:30pm. Thru March 11. 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley. themarsh.org

Fool for Love @ Magic Theatre New production of Sam Shepard’s capitivating drama about two straight lovers digging into their past in a run-down hotel room. $75-$90. Tue 7pm. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2:30pm. Thru March 5. 2 Marina Blvd., Bldg D. magictheatre.org

John @ Strand Theatre American Conservatory Theatre’s production of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker’s drama about a couple’s increasingly strange stay at a bed and breakfast in historic Gettysburg; co-starring Georgia Engel ( The Mary Tyler Moore Show ). $20-$105. Tue-Sat 7:30pm. Wed & Sat 1pm. Thru April 23. (Out with A.C.T. night Mar. 15). 1127 Market St. 749-2228. act-sf.org

Matthew Morrison @ Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek Broadway musical theatre star and Glee’s favorite teacher performs his new cabaret concert. $72-$102. 8pm. 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. lesherartscenter.org

Mincing Words @ The Marsh Tom Ammiano’s comic solo show about his life in California politics. $20-$100. Thursdays at 7:30pm thru March 9. 1062 Valencia St. www. themarsh.org

Murmuration Festival @ Z Space Short solo plays by Kevin Rolston, Dazié Greg-Sykes, Rotimi Agbabiaka, Evan Johnston ( Don’t Feel: The Death of Dahmer) some with gay themes, in repertory, thru March 12. $20 each; $80 for all shows. Various times/ dates. 450 Florida St. (866) 811-4111. zspace.org/murmuration

Composer Ted Hearne and librettist Mark Doten’s acclaimed multimedia oratorio about Chelsea Manning. $35. March 1-3, various times. Veterans Building, 4th floor, 401 Van Ness Ave. sfoperalab.com

Rodney King @ Odell Johnson Performance Arts Center, Oakland Roger Guenveur Smith’s one-night solo show performance about the haunting life of King, who suffered police brutality, media scrutiny and a tragic death. $10-$20. 7:30pm. Laney College, 900 Fallon St., Oak. laney.edu

Summer in Sanctuary @ The Marsh Al Letson’s solo show about working as a creative writing teacher in a porr Florida town. $20-$100. Fri 8pm, Sat 8:30pm. Thru March 18. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

Sat 4

Assassins @ Alcazar Theatre

Fri 3

13th Floor, Twisted Oak @ ODC Theater Double bill of physical dance theater works by the two local companies. $15-$45. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 5pm. Thru March 4. 3153 17th St. odcdance.org

David King @ IS Fine Art and Design Opening reception of a new exhibit of the local artist’s collage and acrylic works. 6pm-8pm. Thru March. 3848 24th St. ianstallings.com

Flim-Flam @ Eureka Theatre World premiere of John Fisher’s new comedy about three actors who hit the road in search of roles. $15-$40. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sat 3pm. Thru March 18. 215 Jackson St. TheRhino.org

Hand to God @ Berkeley Repertory Robert Askins’ dark comedy about a hand puppet that speaks to a young man in a far-right religious church. $29-$89. Tue, Thu-Sat 8pm. Wed & Sun 7pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Thru March 19. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 647-2949. berkeleyrep.org

Stephen Sondheim’s five Tony-winning musical about historic political killers is performed by Bay Area Musicals. $35-$65. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sat 2pm. Thru Mar. 18. 650 Geary St. bamsf.org

East 14th @ The Marsh Don Reed’s multi-award-winning solo show about his unusual relationship with his father in Oakland. $20-$100. Sat 8:30pm, Sun 5:30pm. Thru April 15. 1062 Valencia St. themarsh.org

Monet: The Early Years @ Legion of Honor New exhibit of paintings by the master Impressionist; thru May 29. Also, The Future of the Past : Mummies and Medicine, thru August 2018. Also, World in a Book, A Princely Pursuit and other exhibits. Free/$15. Tue-Sun 9:30am-5:15pm. Lincoln Park, 100 34th Ave. 750-3600. famsf.org

Psychedelic Sex @ Center for Sex & Culture Psychedelic Sex from Buzz Bense’s Gay Stash: A Memorial Exhibition of colorful erotic art works by the late founder of Eros Sex Club. Thru April. 1349 Mission St. sexandculture.org

SF Hiking Club @ Sunal Regional Park

Elaine Magree’s solo show recounts a part of her life as a lesbian hospice AIDS nurse in the 1980s. $ Fri 8pm, Sat 5pm, thru April 1. themarsh.org

Join GLBT hikers of the SF Hiking Club for a 7-mile hike to a 19th-century outlaw hideaway among the lush hills of Sunol Regional Park. Bring water, lunch, hat, layers, sturdy shoes. Carpool meets 9:30 at Safeway sign, Market & Dolores. (510) 599-4056. sfhiking.com

Larger Than Life @ Strut

Vinyl Riot @ Thrillhouse Records

Holding the Edge @ The Marsh

Opening reception for Joseph Abbati’s exhibit of tapestries depicting local drag celebrities (Peaches Christ, Sister Roma, Juanita More, Honey Mahogany, Heklina, Grace Towers, and Creme Fatale). 8pm-10pm. Thru March. 470 Castro St. strutsf.org

Leaving the Blues @ New Conservatory Theatre Center World premiere of Jewelle Gomez’ commissioned music drama about the life of singer-songwriter Alberta Hunter. $25-$50. Previews; opens March 11. Wed-Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm. Thru April 2. 25 Van Ness Ave, lower level. nctcsf.org

Group exhibit of historic punk music art by Eddie Valentine, Heriberto Martinez Jr., Jennifer Phan, Abigail Munoz, Tommy Becker, Brian Weiss and Solis. Thru Mar. 4. 3422 Mission St. innovativemammalsolis.com

Sun 5

A Billion Buddhas @ Asian Art Museum A Billion Buddhas: The Awakened Cosmos of Himalyan Buddhism (thru April 9). Other exhibits include Worshipping Women: Power and Devotion in Indian Painting (thru Mar. 26). Free-$25. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. 200 Larkin St. 581-3500. asianart.org

Pandora Boxx stars in the LA production of a drag parody of the famous Hitchcock film; with special guest star Katya Smirnoff-Skyy. $25$35. 8pm. March 3 & 4, 7pm. 298 11th St. sfoasis.com

Dual exhibit of graphic works at the LGBT sober space. Opening reception 5pm-7pm. 4058 18th St. castrocountryclub.org

Queer Tango @ Finnish Hall, Berkeley Same-sex partner tango dancing, including lessons for newbies, food and drinks. $5-$10. 3:30pm6:30pm. 1970 Chestnut St, Berkeley. finnishhall.org

Swim for LIFE @ Hamilton Pool Shanti fundraiser for its LIFE program of self-management and HIV services. Swimmers raise at least $100. 9am12pm. 1900 Geary Blvd. swim4lifesf.org

Mon 6

Rhino in the Castro @ LGBT History Museum The gay theatre company performs a staged reading of Noël Coward’s classic 1941 comedy Blithe Spirit. $5. 7pm. 4127 18th st. glbthistory.org

Vintage Prints @ William Blake Gallery New gallery of historic art by the 18th and 19th-century poet and illustrator. Mon-Fri 10am-5pm. Sat 11am-5pm. 49 Geary St. #205. williamblakegallery.com

Tue 7

Eclipsed @ Curran Theater Danai Gurira’s acclaimed drama about young Liberian women gets its West Coast premiere. $39-$135. Thru March 19. 445 Geary St. sfcurran.com

Sister Spit @ The Stud The women’s literary reading/ performance group hosts a night at the historic gay bar, as part of their 20th anniversary tour. $10-$20. 6pm8pm. 399 9th St. sisterspit.com

Various Artists @ NIAD Art Center, Richmond Exhibits of art made by developmentally disabled people. Mon-Fri 10am-4pm. 551 23rd St. Richmond. (510) 620-0290. niadart.org

Wed 8

Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia @ Berkeley Art Museum/ Pacific Film Archive New large-scale multimedia exhibit about 1960s-1970s counterculture. Thru May 21. Free-$12. 2625 Durant Ave., Berkeley. bampfa.berkeley.edu

LGBT Book Club @ Dog Eared Books Group discussion of The Days of Anna Madrigal, the final volume of Armistead Maupin’s Tales of The City series. 7pm. 489 Castro St. dogearedbooks.com

Thu 9

Center for Asian American Media’s annual film festival of feature and documentary films, including several with LGBT themes. $12-$14 each; full or multi-screening passes available. Thru March 19. caamedia.org

The Real Thing @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley

Kilgallen/Jones @ Exit Theatre

Tom Stoppard’s Tony-winning play about a straight couple’s problems of infidelity and fiction vs. reality. Thru March 5. 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 843-4822. auroratheatre.org

The award-winning gay comic brings “Comic Relief From the Grief” to the new LGBT bar. $15. 7pm. 2023 Broadway, Oakland. sampsoncomedy.com

Joshua Grady, Mike Shriver @ Castro Country Club

CAAMfest @ Various Cinemas

Psycho: The Musical @ Oasis

Sampson McCormick @ Port Bar, Oakland

World premiere of Allison Page’s unusual thriller about the life and death of the 1960s writer and TV personality. $20-$30. Thru March 25. 156 Eddy St. theexit.org

Fri 3 Leaving the Blues @ New Conservatory Theater

Meat Rack, Gay San Francisco @ Roxie Theater Screening of two historic 1970s films documenting lost gay culture in the Bay Area; post-screening Q&A with director Michael Thomas. $8-$12. 6:30pm. 3117 16th St. roxie.com

Music>>

March 2-8, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 23

Sing out, Karen Mason! by David-Elijah Nahmod

he title of cabaret diva and Broadway veteran Karen Mason’s new CD can be interpreted in several ways. The disc, titled It’s About Time, is available on March 3. It’s Mason’s first CD in nine years. But the CD’s moniker holds a deeper and more meaningful resonance for the singer. The title tune, co-written by Mason’s husband Paul Rolnick, is a celebration of marriage equality. “I was asked to sing at a wedding after marriage equality was passed in New York State,” Mason tells the Bay Area Reporter. “I asked my husband Paul to write a song for Perry and Peter [the couple] as a wedding gift.” The song “It’s About Time” was the result. “The song is a beautiful representation of what marriage equality should be about,” Mason

said. “It’s a song about people loving each other.” She added that she was particularly fond of the song’s bridge: “It’s about love, it’s about life, it’s about time.” “I would love for the song to be sung at every wedding from this moment on,” she said. Mason also pays tribute to gay

icon Judy Garland on It’s About Time. Garland is one of Mason’s musical influences. “So much has been written about who she was,” Mason said. “What she did so brilliantly was make you feel like she was talking to you. Her voice walked that fine line between passion, heart and conversation. She was telling you her story through her music, and that’s pretty special. She lets you into her heart without letting you know what she’s thinking.” Mason’s own heartfelt song stylings put her own unique spin on Garland standards such as “Over the Rainbow,” “The Man that Got Away” and “Zing Went the Strings of My Heart.” “Judy still speaks to people,” she said.

Mason admits that there are challenges for jazz/standard singers in marketing themselves. “It doesn’t dictate the songs I do,” she said. “I have to do songs that mean something to me. I’m not going to be the singer who has the career of Adele, but the people who do listen to me pass the music along.” She notes that CD Baby, an Amazon-style website that exclusively sells music, doesn’t offer Broadway as a category. The Great White Way has been a big part of Mason’s career. “So where do you put yourself?” she wonders. “You just keep trying. I’m fine where I am now.” When asked what her future goals were, Mason harkened Bill Westmoreland back to It’s About Time’s title track. “My dream is to have ‘It’s Cabaret diva and Broadway About Time’ heard in a movie,” veteran Karen Mason: “I’m fine she said. “I would love to have where I am now.” the song heard that way.” t

LGBT playlist 2017 by Gregg Shapiro

hat a career the late lesbian singer/songwriter Lesley Gore had! Beginning as a teenager in the early 1960s, produced by Quincy Jones, Gore had massive hits with “It’s My Party,” “Judy’s Turn To Cry,” “You Don’t Own Me” and others. She appeared on the Batman TV series as a sidekick to archcriminal Cat Woman (Julie Newmar) singing “California Nights” (co-written by Marvin Hamlisch). In 1980, “Out Here on My Own,” a song she co-wrote with brother Michael, appeared in the movie Fame, and went on to be nominated for an Oscar. A few years before Fame, Gore and Quincy Jones reunited for the 1975 album Love Me by Name (Real Gone/A&M), now debuting on CD with two bonus cuts. Backed up by an extraordinary assortment of musicians including Herbie Hancock, Dave Grusin, the Brothers Johnson, Harvey Mason, Jim Keltner and Tom Scott, Gore perfectly captures the spirit and mood of 1975 with early disco beats, pop novelty and jazz fusion on “Sometimes,” “Paranoia,” “Immortality,” “Other Lady” and “Along the Way.” You know that line about someone singing the phone book and still sounding fantastic? Ruthie Foster is one such singer whose singing voice is so breathtaking that it almost doesn’t matter what she’s singing, we’d still listen. Fortunately, the songs on her new album Joy Comes Back (Blue Corn Music) pass the phone book test. Foster brings joy to the country pop of Chris Stapleton’s “What Are You Listening To?,” the empowerment blues of Grace Pettis’ “Working Woman,” and the soulful Four Tops cover “Loving You Is Sweeter

than Ever.” Her timely reinterpretation of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” is especially profound. No one could ever accuse Xiu Xiu of being accessible. Daringly experimental? Yes, always. Formed and still led by queer musician Jamie Stewart, Xiu Xiu challenges and rewards listeners on every album, sometimes even in the same song. Featuring a stellar line-up of guest artists including drag legend Vaginal Davis, Forget (Polyvinyl), as it turns out, may actually be Xiu Xiu’s most broadly appealing release to date. “Get Up” is practically a pop song, while the adult language of the EDM/hiphop hybrid of “The Call” has the potential to earn Xiu Xiu a whole new and diverse audience. There are even more dance beats to be found on the wondrous “Wondering” and the dramatic, unforgettable title cut. “Jenny Gogo” sounds like a tribute to the late Alan Vega and synth-minimalists Suicide, while “Queen of the Losers” pays homage to Low and Lodger-era Bowie. Opening with the thrilling “Dangerous,” the most perfect dance song of 2017 so far, The XX takes its unique brand of electronic music to the next level on the incredible I See You (Young Turks). Out co-lead vocalist Romy Madley Croft ascends to dance diva status on “Dangerous,” “I Dare You” and “On Hold.” Fear not, The xx hasn’t abandoned the electro atmospherics of its first two albums, as you can hear on “Say Something Loving,” “Lips” and “Brave for You.” The xx marks the spot. On the exquisite Confessions (Nonesuch), queer composer Nico Muhly and Faroese singer/ songwriter Teitur (Lassen), team up to create an album of haunting

and lovely music that lingers in the atmosphere long after it has ended. Recorded with the Holland Baroque ensemble, these 14 achingly beautiful songs are an example of what occurs when unlikely collaborators come together on a project. Remarkably in the midst of this stunning setting, there’s still room for playfulness, as in the wonderful “Printer in the Morning” and “Don’t I Know You from Somewhere.” Very strongly recommended. Almost 25 years after it debuted on Broadway, the William Finn/ James Lapine gay musical Falsettos was revived in a new Broadway production starring Andrew Rannels, Christian Borle and Stephanie J. Block. Combining the one-act musicals March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland into first and second acts, Falsettos: 2016 Broadway Cast Recording (Ghostlight/Razor & Tie) begins in 1979, with the classic opening number “Four Jews in a Room Bitching.” It continues over the course of 30 songs through 1981. Pre-dating Rent’s Broadway debut by a few years, Falsettos was one of the first musicals to incorporate the subject of AIDS into its premise. Riot Grrrl goddesses SleaterKinney famously regrouped in 2015 for No Cities To Love, the band’s first studio album in 10 years. While we patiently wait for another album if there is one, we have the 13-track concert recording Live in Paris (Sub Pop). Recorded at La Cigale in 2015 during the band’s reunion tour, the disc naturally focuses on songs from the new album, but also generously includes beloved S-K tunes such as “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone,” “Dig Me Out,” “Start Together” and “What’s Mine Is Yours.” t

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<< Theatre

24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 2-8, 2017

Into the Woods

Steinfeld is one of the artistic directors of Fiasco, an ensemble theater company created by graduates of the Brown University/Trinity “Luckily, I didn’t know he was Rep M.F.A. acting program. While in the audience because we have Fiasco had already made a name for an agreement that if anyone knows itself in New York and regional thesomeone big is coming to the show, aters with its break-the-rules prowe don’t talk about it,” Steinfeld said ductions of stripped-down Shakeduring a recent visit to San Franspeare, Into the Woods marked a cisco. “He came backstage after the large step up. The Fiasco production show and said he was very moved of the Sondheim-Lapine show is and excited.” now on a national tour, playing in James Lapine, who had written the same theaters where such megathe fractured fairytale book to go hits as The Book of Mormon, The with Sondheim’s score, had already Phantom of the Opera and Kinky seen the production and recomBoots have played. mended it to Sondheim. “Once we Its next stop is the Golden Gate realized they were really into it,” Theatre, running March 7-April 2, Steinfeld said, “it turned out we had and the tour has been organized by a better shot of getting into New two big-league producing compaYork and London and on the road.” nies: the Dodgers (Matilda, Jersey Boys) and Networks Presentations (Finding Neverland, The King and I). The Dodgers and Networks didn’t have the Fiasco production in mind when they began exploring the idea of a new tour of Into the Woods to take on the road. “I think the Dodgers and Networks went independently to the authors wanting to do a tour of the show, and Stephen and James said if you’re going to tour it, you should tour the Fiasco one,” Steinfeld said. “So it’s really been Steve and James who have been such ardent champions of the production.” The Fiasco approach to each of its shows is to pull together its core members to collaboratively find ways to tell a story that can find creJoan Marcus ative inspiration within the Stephanie Umoh plays the witch in a limitations of cast size and radically reimagined version of Into the budget. Co-directors SteinWoods that is SF-bound. feld and Noah Brody were part of the original cast of 11

From page 17

Roxie Theater

From page 17

First on tap is Staying Vertical (3/3, 5, 7 & 8), a new film Vanity Fair magazine called the “most controversial film” to screen at the Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Alain Guiraudie, who is gay and has directed 10 mostly LGBT films since 1990, his latest film tells the story of a writer trying to finish a screenplay and his interactions with a variety of people while coping with writer’s block. Among the scenes many reviewers found shocking was one in which the writer sodomizes an elderly man who is dying after taking a suicide cocktail. The scene is graphic, showing the two having sex, both nude and uncovered by sheets, until the man is dead. The film, greeted by mixed reviews, was nominated for the prestigious Palme d’Or (the highest prize awarded at Cannes) as well as the Queer Palm. The New York Times film critic A.O. Scott said the film has a “rough gravity that holds your attention and sticks in your mind.” On March 6, the Roxie has two

screenings of the 1981 black comedy Polyester, which was directed, produced and written by John Waters, and stars Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massy and Mink Stole. The film was shot in Baltimore, Waters’ hometown, and features a gimmick called “Odorama,” allowing moviegoers to smell what they saw on the screen through specially made scratch-and-sniff cards. Last year, when the Roxie screened the film complete with the scratch-and-sniff cards provided by Warner Bros., the film sold out quickly and another screening was added. The film, a satirical look at suburban life, involving divorce, abortion, adultery, alcoholism, foot fetishism, and the religious right, has been popular with gay audiences since it was released . On March 9, moviegoers will enjoy a double bill. The 30-minute lost documentary Gay San Francisco screens at 6:45 p.m., followed by the underground cult film Meat Rack, with an Q&A with director Michael Thomas following the film. The screenings, co-sponsored by the Tenderloin Museum, depict the early queer movements in the

Courtesy the Roxie

Howard Brookner and William S. Burroughs in Uncle Howard.

that often played double and treble roles, pulling props and costumes from what could be an attic that had been collecting family memorabilia for decades. Other than a lone pianist on stage, the actors play all the instruments. In the first act of Into the Woods, Lapine takes a sardonic wink at several familiar fairytales, mashing up such stories as Jack and his beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel, while adding several new characters. The first act ends in happily-ever-after fashion, with the notion that you should be careful what you wish for coming crashing down on the characters in the second act. “James Lapine himself very generously pointed out that stripping away a lot of the pageantry of the productions he has directed has allowed a lot of the writing to come forward in a more powerful way,” Steinfeld said. “I think Sondheim’s sensibility is in many ways an offBroadway sensibility, and then sometimes when you try to stretch that to the size and expectations of Broadway, it doesn’t always hold.” The Fiasco troupe is currently workshopping another Sondheim musical that may have originally suffered from bloat. This tour is the first time a Fiasco production has been performed without the originating actors. “A lot of what’s in the tour comes from the framework of the original production because that stuff really worked,” Steinfeld said. “So we wanted people who could execute those original choices, while realizing that the stuff that works best is when actors have brought their own sense of creativity and spontaneity and emotion to their choices. It’s an experiment we

Tenderloin, unveiling the district as pivotal in the gay rights movement as the first gay neighborhood in the city. Gay San Francisco, shot between 1965-70 by Jonathan Raymond, features a collection of footage of San Francisco’s thriving LGBT culture, with scenes from gay bars intercut with interviews featuring gay men, lesbians, and trans women discussing issues from harassment to sex to job security. Filmmakers Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman unearthed Gay San Francisco while researching their Emmy Awardwinning documentary Screaming Queens: the Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria. The Tenderloin Museum screened the film for the first time in 30 years to a sold-out audience. The soft-core rarity Meat Rack, shot mostly in San Francisco, is a gritty, brooding story of a bisexual hustler who has sex with anyone who has the money. According to the Roxie website, the film uses sexploitation and art-film esthetics and is “an essential and compelling artifact of pre-hardcore adult cinema.” Director Thomas, who shot the film when he was 21, went on to co-found Strand Releasing, one of the most important American independent distributors and a central force behind the New Queer Cinema of the 1990s. For three nights beginning March 10, the Roxie will screen the 1983 documentary Burroughs, made up of intimate revelatory footage of the author and poet William Burroughs filmed over the course of five years by Howard Brookner, which had been lost until the late director’s nephew discovered a print of it in 2011 and spearheaded a restoration. The film is a nonfiction portrait that features onscreen appearances by artists Allen Ginsberg, Herbert Huncke, Patti Smith, and Terry Southern. Also beginning March 10 and screening nightly through March 16

wanted to try, to see if this can work without the original cast doing it, and I think the answer is yes.” The theaters where the original Fiasco production played ranged from 400 to 800 seats, but now it’s in houses with upwards of 2,000 seats. “Making the leap to the big theaters has worked really well, surprising us all, and the set looks better than ever because of its height and texture. It still feels very much like an acoustic show even though it has the electronic help to fill a big theater.” Even in a big theater, the stripped-down Jim Cox approach provokes what Fiasco tries to Co-director Ben Steinfeld played the baker do in all its produc- along with Patrick Mulryan as Jack in the first tions. “We always try production of Fiasco Theater’s Into the Woods. to leave space for the audience to meet to try to keep working together as the production halfmuch as possible, and we accomway,” Steinfeld said. modate one or two missing pieces “Sure, you’re asking if someone else has something more from them, but they want to do.” without knowing it, Into the Woods may be a tipping that’s what every audipoint for this little theater that could. ence wants. They don’t “Certainly this tour of Into the Woods want to have every means our work is being shared with blank filled in, and we audiences that would never get it see choose shows that can it,” Steinfeld said. “We had absolutely operate on that level of no idea that that would be what imagination.” would become of the experiment. Holding together the core group That’s why we took the name Fiasco. of the Fiasco company after 10 It’s a tongue-in-cheek way of saying years is getting harder as it memyou have to be willing to risk total dibers grow older, start building saster in order to eventually achieve families, and look to reach out your greater goals.” t to other opportunities. “It’s challenging,” Steinfeld acknowledged, Tickets are available at (888) “but the company is committed 746-1799 or shnsf.org.

Courtesy the Roxie

Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs in director Howard Brookner’s Burroughs documentary.

is Uncle Howard, a new release telling the story of filmmaker Howard Brookner, whose work captured the late 1970s and early 80s cultural revolution, as well as his nephew’s personal journey 25 years later to discover his uncle’s films and the legacy of his life, cut short by AIDS. The film includes long-lost footage and archival photos of Andy Warhol, Spike Lee, John Waters, and Madonna. Finally, on March 24, the Roxie presents the local premiere of Douglas Langway’s Bear City 3, which screens for seven nights. The Bear City trilogy began in 2010 with a comedy depicting a group of bears, who returned in 2012 for Bear City 2 with new cast members Kathy Najimy, Richard Riehle, and Kevin Smith. The Bear City films were written, directed and edited by Langway, who won the 2010 grand jury award for best screenplay by the Los Angeles LGBT film festival, Outfest. Langway, who is gay, also wrote, produced, directed and edited the first gay action film, Raising Heroes, in 1996, dubbed “a nonstop speed-

ing bullet of a picture” by the online website Film Threat. The Roxie has always had a commitment to LGBT cinema, said executive director Dave Cowen, a straight ally, in an interview. Last year, after hiring longtime LGBT programmer Jennifer “Junkyard” Morris to the staff, “We’ve been able to increase the quantity and quality of our LGBT programming,” he said. Roxie fans who would like to support the independent movie-house should consider either joining its membership program (roxie.com/ membership) or attending the March 8 annual fundraiser, a $150 per person (a significant portion of which will be tax-deductible) event that includes dinner, bowling, and an auction, held at the trendy Mission Bowling Club (accelevents. com/events/roxie#the-event). The Roxie is located at 3176 16th Street, between Valencia and Guerrero, in SF. Tickets for regular shows are $10-$12; $8 for seniors and for shows before 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The Roxie accepts Visa and Mastercard at the box office and online. t

Karrnal Knowledge

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Shining Stars Vol. 47 • No. 9 • March 2-8, 2017

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Miss Coco Peru Tame your tension with the comic dragster by Sari Staver

eeling stressed out by the horrible turn of events since the election? Storyteller Miss Coco Peru was, and she wrote a new show to help her, and her audiences, deal with it all. See page 26 >>

Miss Coco Peru

Living authentically Kink, leather and Finding oneself by Race Bannon

Friends at the 2016 Leather Alliance W≠eekend Awards Brunch, held at Oasis.

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ne of my quirky and pervasive propensities is to constantly connect the dots between what I observe and learn about life and the world generally with our leather and kink culture. I read a book, hear a lecture or have a conversation and suddenly an aha! moment ignites in my brain and I’m busily making connections between the data points like a spider creating a web. It’s just what I do. See page 27 >>

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26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 2-8, 2017

Miss Coco Peru

From page 25

The show, The Taming of the Tension, is coming to the Oasis for three nights beginning Wednesday, March 8, fresh from its world premiere in San Diego the week before. Peru, the drag persona of Clinton Leupp, a 51-year-old actor, comedian, and drag performer, now lives in the San Fernando Valley with his husband, a college professor.

“I married well. He’s a doctor,” said Leupp in a phone interview from his couch, where he enjoys spending time when he has the luxury of being at home. For many weeks, Leupp is on the road performing, typically spending a couple of days away. In addition to a dozen different Miss Coco Peru shows, where Leupp dons the trademark coppertoned flip hairdo, he has appeared in dozens of films and television

f i nd your own paradise with the acclaimed

SAN FRANCISCO

GAY MEN’S CHORUS DR. TIMOTHY SEELIG, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

PARADISE FOUND HERBST THEATRE

programs, including a starring role in the 1999 indie film Trick. Leupp also hosts an ongoing live series of shows at the Renberg Theater in Los Angeles, called Conversations with Coco, in which he interviews and celebrates the lives and careers of the LGBT community’s favorite icons. Past guests include Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Liza Minnelli, and the drag legend Charles Busch. A pilot tape with Lily Tomlin is making the rounds of Hollywood producers now, in hopes that it can be turned into a series. Leupp’s performing career began when he was just out of college in Long Island, New York, where he majored in theatre and was told by a professor he’d have to “butch it up” to make it as a performer. Instead, Leupp did just the opposite, creating Miss Coco Peru, a character that has stood the test of time. To get a few details about the new show, we caught up with Leupp while he was putting the final touches on the new script. Last year, with no plans in place for a new show, Leupp said the manager of a popular San Diego club called, asking him to perform a new show. “There is no new show,” said Leupp, who said that the club manager replied, “’You could read from the phone book and the audience would love it.’” Leupp passed up that opportunity and got to work writing. “I’ve never written a show just because I wanted to write,” he said. “I always write because I have a deadline. I’ve seen people let their dreams pass them by and wait for the moment they feel like writing. For me, I need the deadline to get motivated. It’s always been terrifying to perform new material. But I’ve found in life that kind of terror is often where the rewards lie.” With the show’s premiere just a few weeks away, Leupp said, “Right now, I’m an absolute wreck. But then I have to remind myself that

I’m always a wreck before a show.” As for the new show, Leupp says he talks about “the changes in the gay community” over the past several decades. “Now it’s easy to find gay role models and connect online” but life, even in New York City, was different in the late 1980s. Leupp grew up in the Bronx, where his father was a truck driver and his mom, a waitress retired to raise the kids. Leupp was teased by “almost every kid” in the neighborhood who demanded to know if “I was a boy or a girl.” The constant bullying “cost me my education,” said Leupp, “because I was so stressed out all the time that I was really pretty much unable to absorb most of the material” taught in school. A transfer from public schools to Catholic schools for high school “actually made things worse,” he said. “The kids were even meaner.” College wasn’t that much easier, he said. “I wanted to be a serious actor, but I had two strikes against me: I looked and acted very gay and I had a Bronx accent.” At age 25, when Leupp came out to his Catholic family, “I suddenly realized I had wasted all those years in the closet suffering for nothing,” when he realized his family was “completely supportive.” Leupp’s practice of writing and memorizing his scripts began when he wrote this first script: the speech he gave to his parents, coming out as a gay man. “I read a book that said when you come out to your family, don’t cry or get emotional because it will seem like you’re sad about being gay. The book strongly advised people to come across as strong when they told their family they were gay.” The impetus to start his career came while Leupp was a waiter; a coworker mentioned her dreams of the day she would win an Academy Award. “I thought,” said Leupp, “I don’t want to get stuck thinking about when I do something.” He called the club Don’t Tell Mama, which is still open, and booked his first show that day.

Back then, with the AIDS epidemic raging and effective treatments years away, things were tough in New York City. Perhaps in part because people were in need of entertainment, the Coco character took off immediately and, Leupp said, “I got favorable reviews in many major publications.” When his family’s reaction was so supportive and loving, “I realized how heartbreaking it was that I’d kept this secret,” he said. “I never felt truly loved and I had lived my life in fear. As corny as it sounds, that’s why I created Coco. She is my vehicle for telling stories which are my way of trying to change the world. Through drag, I realized I could embrace everything that was so terrifying to me growing up.” And Leupp was no amateur when he started. “My theatrical training in college was a big help in learning the craft,” he said. “Growing up, my heroes were Bea Arthur, Bob Hope, and Milton Berle, people who knew their craft. I was absolutely obsessed with Bea Arthur’s timing.” Since then, the Coco shows have supported Leupp through the ups and downs of the economy, he said. “There have been a few times when I’ve gotten a little bit stuck, not sure exactly what I wanted to do in my next show. But all in all, it’s been absolutely wonderful. I love performing for a live audience and I am so grateful that I’ve been able to pursue this career.” The upcoming show in San Francisco “is going to be fantastic,” said Leupp. Heklina, the co-owner of the Oasis, is a very close friend. “The last time I was in the city I stayed at her apartment. I love performing in San Francisco. The audiences have always been very supportive, and of course I love the city.” For those who have never seen a Miss Coco Peru show, Leupp has a message: “Do not delay. I’m planning to retire in eight years, so see me now while you can!”t Miss Coco Peru performs her song and comedy show, ‘Tame the Tension,’ at Oasis. $25-$35. Mar. 8 & 9, 8pm. March 10 & 11, 7pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

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Above: Miss Coco Peru with Jane Fonda. Below: Miss Coco Peru with the late Patrick Swayze in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar.