March 30, 2017 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter

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Since 1971, the newspaper of record for the San Francisco Bay Area LGBTQ community

Vol. 47 • No. 13 • March 30-April 5, 2017

Sari Staver

Frank Lee, spokesman for the Pacific Justice Institute, spoke at a March 15 news conference.

Hormel Center director to retire

Sunset cannabis fight heats up by Sari Staver

Karen Sundheim, director of the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center at the San Francisco Public Library, will retire next month.

pponents of a medical cannabis dispensary in the Sunset are apparently making unsubstantiated claims about marijuana in an effort to scuttle the project. At a news conference organized by the anti-LGBT hate group Pacific Justice Institute earlier this month, pastor Chris Ng of the Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit announced that there have been several marijuana overdose deaths among relatives of his parishioners. See page 14 >>

2020 census won’t count LGBTs by Lisa Keen

he U.S. Census Bureau announced Tuesday its plans for the 2020 decennial census, and those plans do not include any efforts to determine the population of LGBT citizens. Gary Gates, Ph.D., a prominent social scientist in the study of LGBT demographic data who used to work at the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, said, “The census bureau never had plans to add sexual orientation or gender identity to either the 2020 census” or the annual American Community Survey. But Out magazine ran a story Tuesday saying, “Expectations that the 2020 census might start including LGBTQ subjects were raised and then quickly dashed. ...” It said the census bureau “admitted that it had ‘inadvertently’ included ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ in a long-awaited report outlining new categories for the survey.” That story triggered strong words from some LGBT groups. GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis said, “By erasing LGBTQ Americans from the 2020 U.S. census, the Trump administration is adding a disgusting entry to a long list See page 15 >>

by Matthew S. Bajko

he director of the San Francisco Public Library’s James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center is set to retire next month, just shy of 10 years leading one of the country’s premier archives for the LGBT community.

Wednesday, April 5, will be the last day on the job for Karen Sundheim, who became the acting manager of the Hormel Center in September 2007 and later its permanent director. Her retirement will start on April 8, when she turns 62. “That was my plan all along. It is common for city workers to retire on their 62nd

birthday,” Sundheim told the Bay Area Reporter during a recent interview. “I have absolutely loved my job, but it is also incredibly intense, with a huge workload.” Seated in the Hormel Center’s reading room on the third floor of the main library, Sundheim reflected on her 17-year career See page 15 >>

Clinton wows SF business crowd

Jane Philomen Cleland

by Sari Staver

when trying to ask a question,” Clinton said. n her first major speech since Clinton also called out losing the presidential election, Fox News commentator Bill Hillary Clinton gave a sharp O’Reilly for his “racist joke” critique of the current adminwhen he said that Represenistration’s treatment of women tative Maxine Waters’ (Dat the annual conference of the California) hairstyle looked Professional BusinessWomen of like a “James Brown wig.” California, held at Moscone Cen“Too many women ter Tuesday, March 28. ... have had a lifetime of Without mentioning Presipractice taking precisely dent Donald Trump by name, these kinds of indignities in Sari Staver Clinton – who received a standstride,” she said. ing ovation when she stepped Hillary Clinton spoke “But why should we have onto the stage in her black at the Professional to?” she asked rhetorically. leather pantsuit – said that the BusinessWomen of “Any woman who thinks this representation of women in the California’s conference in couldn’t be directed at her is current administration “is the San Francisco. living in a dream world.” lowest in a generation.” Clinton also discussed the In her hourlong presentation, Clinton, a forneed for better paid family leave policies, with a mer first lady, senator, and secretary of state, was cursory mention of the importance of “including outspoken in her criticism of the treatment of the LGBT” community in such proposals. women. “As a candidate for president, I put out a comClinton cited the heated exchange earlier that prehensive plan” for legal changes on family leave. day between White House press secretary Sean “I don’t expect you to remember that,” she said. Spicer and April Ryan, a correspondent for “In fact, there was a recent study showing American Urban Radio Networks, when Spicer that none of my plans were really publicized reprimanded Ryan for “shaking her head” while or talked about, so that gives me something for he was speaking. speeches for at least a decade,” she quipped. Ryan, one of the few black women journalists While the former presidential candidate did in the White House press corps, “is a respected not offer any details about her plans for the future, journalist with unrivaled integrity and was doing she did say she would “never stop speaking out.” her job ... when she was patronized and cut off In remarks tailored to her northern

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California audience, Clinton called on Silicon Valley to improve diversity and inclusion, but praised Salesforce and the Gap as companies “making real commitments to employees” on equal pay and paid family leave. She also mentioned Uber’s recent sexual harassment scandal, saying, “For some women, the hostility is even more direct, like the Uber engineer who spoke out about her experiences” with sexual harassment. “It’s a cruel irony that stereotypes and bias run rampant at companies that pride themselves at being forward-thinking,” she said, referring to the experience of Susan Fowler Rigetti, a former software engineer at Uber whose blog post about harassment went viral last month. Clinton said she was “appalled” to see the much-circulated photo showing an all-male group of Republican lawmakers last month negotiating women’s coverage in health care legislation, noting a social-media parody of it that showed an all-dog panel deciding on feline care. And last week’s collapse of the GOP health care bill, she said, was a “victory for all Americans.” Clinton thanked the organizers of PBWC for the opportunity to address such an “inspiring” audience, noting that the organization was founded by Representative Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco/ San Mateo) who was also scheduled to speak but had to remain in Washington, D.C. to attend a House Intelligence Committee meeting. “There is no place else I’d rather be than here with you,” she told the enthusiastic audience. “Other than the White House.” t

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What is TRUVADA for PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis)?

TRUVADA is a prescription medicine that can be used for PrEP to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection when used together with safer sex practices. This use is only for adults who are at high risk of getting HIV-1 through sex. This includes HIV-negative men who have sex with men and who are at high risk of getting infected with HIV-1 through sex, and male-female sex partners when one partner has HIV-1 infection and the other does not. Ask your healthcare provider if you have questions about how to prevent getting HIV-1. Always practice safer sex and use condoms to lower the chance of sexual contact with body fluids. Never reuse or share needles or other items that have body fluids on them.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

What is the most important information I should know about TRUVADA for PrEP?

Before taking TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce your risk of getting HIV-1 infection: u You must be HIV-negative. You must get tested to make sure that you do not already have HIV-1 infection. Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 unless you are conﬁrmed to be HIV-negative. u Many HIV-1 tests can miss HIV-1 infection in a person who has recently become infected. If you have flu-like symptoms, you could have recently become infected with HIV-1. Tell your healthcare provider if you had a flu-like illness within the last month before starting TRUVADA for PrEP or at any time while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Symptoms of new HIV-1 infection include tiredness, fever, joint or muscle aches, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, night sweats, and/or enlarged lymph nodes in the neck or groin. While taking TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce your risk of getting HIV-1 infection: u You must continue using safer sex practices. Just taking TRUVADA for PrEP may not keep you from getting HIV-1. u You must stay HIV-negative to keep taking TRUVADA for PrEP. u To further help reduce your risk of getting HIV-1: • Know your HIV-1 status and the HIV-1 status of your partners. • Get tested for HIV-1 at least every 3 months or when your healthcare provider tells you. • Get tested for other sexually transmitted infections. Other infections make it easier for HIV-1 to infect you. • Get information and support to help reduce risky sexual behavior. • Have fewer sex partners. • Do not miss any doses of TRUVADA. Missing doses may increase your risk of getting HIV-1 infection. • If you think you were exposed to HIV-1, tell your healthcare provider right away. u If you do become HIV-1 positive, you need more medicine than TRUVADA alone to treat HIV-1. TRUVADA by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV-1. If you have HIV-1 and take only TRUVADA, your HIV-1 may become harder to treat over time. TRUVADA can cause serious side effects: u Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious medical emergency. Symptoms of lactic acidosis include weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, nausea, vomiting, stomach-area pain, cold or blue hands and feet, feeling dizzy or lightheaded, and/or fast or abnormal heartbeats. u Serious liver problems. Your liver may become large and tender, and you may develop fat in your liver. Symptoms of liver problems include your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, and/or stomach-area pain. u You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or serious liver problems if you are female, very overweight (obese), or have been taking TRUVADA for a long time. In some cases, these serious conditions have led to death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any symptoms of these conditions.

u Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. If you also have HBV and take TRUVADA, your hepatitis may become worse if you stop taking TRUVADA. Do not stop taking TRUVADA without ﬁrst talking to your healthcare provider. If your healthcare provider tells you to stop taking TRUVADA, they will need to watch you closely for several months to monitor your health. TRUVADA is not approved for the treatment of HBV.

Who should not take TRUVADA for PrEP? Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP if you already have HIV-1 infection or if you do not know your HIV-1 status. If you are HIV-1 positive, you need to take other medicines with TRUVADA to treat HIV-1. TRUVADA by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV-1. If you have HIV-1 and take only TRUVADA, your HIV-1 may become harder to treat over time. Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP if you also take lamivudine (Epivir-HBV) or adefovir (HEPSERA).

What are the other possible side effects of TRUVADA for PrEP? Serious side effects of TRUVADA may also include: u Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider may do blood tests to check your kidneys before and during treatment with TRUVADA for PrEP. If you develop kidney problems, your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking TRUVADA for PrEP. u Bone problems, including bone pain or bones getting soft or thin, may lead to fractures. Your healthcare provider may do tests to check your bones. u Changes in body fat, which can happen in people taking TRUVADA or medicines like TRUVADA. Common side effects in people taking TRUVADA for PrEP are stomach-area (abdomen) pain, headache, and decreased weight. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that bother you or do not go away.

What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking TRUVADA for PrEP? u All your health problems. Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you have or have had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis virus infection. u If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if TRUVADA can harm your unborn baby. If you become pregnant while taking TRUVADA for PrEP, talk to your healthcare provider to decide if you should keep taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Pregnancy Registry: A pregnancy registry collects information about your health and the health of your baby. There is a pregnancy registry for women who take medicines to prevent HIV-1 during pregnancy. For more information about the registry and how it works, talk to your healthcare provider. u If you are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. The medicines in TRUVADA can pass to your baby in breast milk. If you become HIV-1 positive, HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk. u All the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. TRUVADA may interact with other medicines. Keep a list of all your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine. u If you take certain other medicines with TRUVADA for PrEP, your healthcare provider may need to check you more often or change your dose. These medicines include ledipasvir with sofosbuvir (HARVONI). You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Please see Important Facts about TRUVADA for PrEP including important warnings on the following page.

TVDC0086_D_9-75x16_BayAreaReporter_p1.indd 1-2

Have you heard about

TRUVADA for PrEP ? TM

The once-daily prescription medicine that can help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 when used with safer sex practices. • TRUVADA for PrEP is only for adults who are at high risk of getting HIV through sex. • You must be HIV-negative before you start taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Ask your doctor about your risk of getting HIV-1 infection and if TRUVADA for PrEP may be right for you.

visit start.truvada.com

3/16/17 4:27 PM

IMPORTANT FACTS (tru-VAH-dah)

This is only a brief summary of important information about taking TRUVADA for PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection. This does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your medicine.

MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT TRUVADA FOR PrEP

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF TRUVADA FOR PrEP

Before starting TRUVADA for PrEP to help reduce your risk of getting HIV-1 infection:

TRUVADA can cause serious side effects, including:

• You must be HIV-1 negative. You must get tested to make sure that you do not already have HIV-1 infection. Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 unless you are confirmed to be HIV-1 negative. • Many HIV-1 tests can miss HIV-1 infection in a person who has recently become infected. Symptoms of new HIV-1 infection include flu-like symptoms, tiredness, fever, joint or muscle aches, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, night sweats, and/or enlarged lymph nodes in the neck or groin. Tell your healthcare provider if you have had a flu-like illness within the last month before starting TRUVADA for PrEP. While taking TRUVADA for PrEP to help reduce your risk of getting HIV-1 infection: • You must continue using safer sex practices. Just taking TRUVADA for PrEP may not keep you from getting HIV-1. • You must stay HIV-1 negative to keep taking TRUVADA for PrEP. • Tell your healthcare provider if you have a flu-like illness while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. • If you think you were exposed to HIV-1, tell your healthcare provider right away. • If you do become HIV-1 positive, you need more medicine than TRUVADA alone to treat HIV-1. If you have HIV-1 and take only TRUVADA, your HIV-1 may become harder to treat over time. • See the “How to Further Reduce Your Risk” section for more information. TRUVADA may cause serious side effects, including: • Buildup of lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious medical emergency that can lead to death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, nausea, vomiting, stomach-area pain, cold or blue hands and feet, feeling dizzy or lightheaded, and/or fast or abnormal heartbeats. • Severe liver problems, which in some cases can lead to death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of these symptoms: your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, and/or stomach-area pain.

• Those in the “Most Important Information About TRUVADA for PrEP" section. • New or worse kidney problems, including kidney failure. • Bone problems. • Changes in body fat. Common side effects in people taking TRUVADA for PrEP include stomach-area (abdomen) pain, headache, and decreased weight. These are not all the possible side effects of TRUVADA. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with TRUVADA for PrEP.

BEFORE TAKING TRUVADA FOR PrEP Tell your healthcare provider if you: • Have or have had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis infection. • Have any other medical conditions. • Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. • Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed if you become HIV-1 positive because of the risk of passing HIV-1 to your baby. Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take: • Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist. • Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist about medicines that should not be taken with TRUVADA for PrEP.

HOW TO TAKE TRUVADA FOR PrEP

• Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. If you have HBV and take TRUVADA, your hepatitis may become worse if you stop taking TRUVADA. Do not stop taking TRUVADA without ﬁrst talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months.

• Take 1 tablet once a day, every day, not just when you think you have been exposed to HIV-1.

You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or severe liver problems if you are female, very overweight, or have been taking TRUVADA for a long time.

• You must practice safer sex by using condoms and you must stay HIV-1 negative.

ABOUT TRUVADA FOR PrEP (PRE-EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS)

HOW TO FURTHER REDUCE YOUR RISK

TRUVADA is a prescription medicine used with safer sex practices for PrEP to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection in adults at high risk:

• Know your HIV-1 status and the HIV-1 status of your partners.

• HIV-1 negative men who have sex with men and who are at high risk of getting infected with HIV-1 through sex. • Male-female sex partners when one partner has HIV-1 infection and the other does not. To help determine your risk, talk openly with your doctor about your sexual health. Do NOT take TRUVADA for PrEP if you: • Already have HIV-1 infection or if you do not know your HIV-1 status.

• Do not miss any doses. Missing doses may increase your risk of getting HIV-1 infection.

• Get tested for HIV-1 at least every 3 months or when your healthcare provider tells you. • Get tested for other sexually transmitted infections. Other infections make it easier for HIV-1 to infect you. • Get information and support to help reduce risky sexual behavior. • Have fewer sex partners. • Do not share needles or personal items that can have blood or body ﬂuids on them.

• Take lamivudine (Epivir-HBV) or adefovir (HEPSERA).

GET MORE INFORMATION TRUVADA, the TRUVADA Logo, TRUVADA FOR PREP, GILEAD, the GILEAD Logo, and HEPSERA are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. All other marks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. Version date: April 2016 © 2017 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. TVDC0086 03/17

TVDC0086_D_9-75x16_BayAreaReporter_p1.indd 3

• This is only a brief summary of important information about TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more, including how to prevent HIV-1 infection. • Go to start.truvada.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5 • If you need help paying for your medicine, visit start.truvada.com for program information.

3/16/17 4:27 PM

LGBT Seniors>>

March 30-April 5, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

SF leaders call for more LGBT senior housing by Matthew S. Bajko

ommunity and political leaders used the official dedication ceremony for San Francisco’s first senior housing complex aimed specifically for LGBT seniors to highlight the need for additional projects to be built. “This building is not the end, it is the beginning,” said Openhouse Executive Director Karyn Skultety, Ph.D. “Every LGBT elder deserves not only housing but a home where they feel loved.” The occasion last Thursday, March 23 publicly celebrated the opening of the Openhouse Community at 55 Laguna, 41 units of affordable senior housing on the edge of the city’s gay Castro district built by Mercy Housing California and Openhouse, the main provider of LGBT aging services in San Francisco. Twenty years ago the nonprofit’s two founders, life partners Marcy Adelman, Ph.D., and Jeanette Gurevitch, who died in 2003, started the push to build housing affirming of LGBT seniors. They initially had launched what was then known as Rainbow Adult Community Housing in response to seeing friends lose their homes after being evicted or forced out of their apartments. “I am completely overwhelmed,” Adelman said during last week’s ceremony. “This is the most amazing day of my life.” Also dedicated last week was Openhouse’s new, permanent offices at 65 Laguna Street, known as the Bob Ross LGBT Senior Center due to a $1 million donation from the foundation of the late Bay Area Reporter founding publisher. “Bob Ross used to talk about the dream of having a campus, a project where older LGBT people could live with dignity and be who they are,” said Thomas E. Horn, president of the Bob Ross Foundation and publisher emeritus of the B.A.R. “He would be thrilled to know that his philanthropy was used to form a piece of the pie that made it all happen.” Due to anti-discrimination laws, Openhouse could not set aside the $40 million development’s units solely for LGBT seniors. Nonetheless, close to 70 percent of the residents now living in the repurposed Richardson Hall, a former college building at 55 Laguna Street, identify as LGBT. One such resident is Richard Smallcomb, 63, a gay man now living in one of the building’s onebedroom apartments with his dog Dexter, a basset hound and corgi mix. He moved from the assisted living facility he had been at for 20 years just three blocks away after landing the number 11 spot in the lottery used to choose most of the 55 Laguna residents. (A city program selected the residents for eight units set aside for seniors at risk of

Correction The March 23 article “SF LGBT senior agency welcomes new leader,” misstated where Openhouse Executive Director Karen Skultety oversaw a budget of more than $15 million and over 150 staff members. It was at her previous job with the Institute of Aging. The online version of the article has been updated.

homelessness living with HIV or AIDS, or dealing with substance abuse or mental health issues.) “I am proud to live in an LGBT senior center,” said Smallcomb, a Boston native who has lived in the city nearly 30 years and once attended classes at Richardson Hall in the 1980s. “I didn’t think I would make it, but I am here.” Advocates are hoping to see the majority of units in the project’s second building, which will consist of 79 units of affordable senior housing for people 65 and older, also go to LGBT seniors. Being built on what is now a surface parking lot next door to Richardson Hall, it is set to open in early 2019. Mayor Ed Lee, after touring the renovated college building for the first time, told the several hundred people who had gathered to see it for themselves that it will allow LGBT seniors the ability to age with dignity. “Perhaps a dignity you have not experienced in years past,” said Lee, who also promised that his administration would work to build more

such housing in the city. “I commit to you it will not take another five years. We will hurry up and get more of this done, not just here but throughout the city.” As of now, there has been no announcement from either City Hall or Openhouse that a second LGBT senior housing project is in the works. Kelly Sullivan In an emailed reply to the B.A.R., Visitors marvel at the refurbished Richardson Hall during a tour of the Openhouse queer housing rights Community at 55 Laguna after the first phase of the senior housing project was activist Tommi Avi- officially opened Thursday, March 23. colli Mecca called on the mayor and percent affordable – and believe me, for the city to address its housing other city leaders to it wasn’t easy – then other 100 percrisis with additional 100 percent deliver on their promise and ensure cent affordable projects can happen affordable developments for the any new housing is also affordable. in the Castro,” wrote Avicolli Mecca. LGBT community. He and fellow gay housing activist “It’s not an exaggeration to say that “Openhouse should not be the Brian Basinger had pushed Openfor seniors, housing is a life and only LGBT senior housing project,” house leaders and city officials to death issue. Especially given the fact wrote Avicolli Mecca. “It should be deliver a below-market-rate project that several seniors have recently the first of many more to come, not at 55 Laguna, which at one point died or been hospitalized during or only for seniors, but for youth, the was to have been market-rate housafter their evictions.” homeless and others in our commuing for LGBT seniors. He added that “it’s imperative” nity who need affordable housing.t “If this project could be made 100

The best resource for managing your HIV is … you.

If you have HIV, you know that your health concerns are unique. The treatment regimen that is right for someone else may not be right for you. If you are interested in switching your HIV medications, you may want to consider the ATLAS clinical research study. The study is being conducted to learn if two investigational medications, one called long-acting cabotegravir (CAB LA) and one called long-acting rilpivirine (RPV LA), can keep the amount of HIV virus in your body at low levels compared to an HIV regimen containing three HIV medications. The study will evaluate these two investigational medications in adults with HIV that is currently controlled by existing HIV medication(s). You may be eligible to participate in the ATLAS study if you: • Are at least 18 years old • Have been diagnosed with HIV that is controlled (suppressed) by your current HIV medications • Have been on the same HIV medication(s) and dose(s) for at least 6 months (approximately) There are other requirements to be in the study that the study doctor will discuss with you to determine if you are eligible to participate. Study participation will last a minimum of 1–3 years. Participants will receive study-related tests and procedures, as well as the investigational medications, at no cost.

To learn more or to see if you may qualify for the 201585 ATLAS study, visit www.theATLASstudy.com or call:

UCSF@Zuckerberg San Francisco General • Contact: Dan Berrner

415.476.4082 x 358

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 30-April 5, 2017

Volume 47, Number 13 March 30-April 5, 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 Michael Nugent • 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 Charlie Wagner • 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

<< Open Forum

Tang needs open mind on cannabis M

edical cannabis is expandto remove the open-air urinal at ing to the Sunset and San Mission Dolores Park last year, so Francisco Supervisor Katy Tang, that gives you an idea of its priorities. who represents District 4, needs Twenty-eight states and the Disto make sure she has accurate intrict of Columbia have enacted mediformation, mainly, that medical cal cannabis laws; California was the marijuana has helped millions first, back in 1996. If there were a of sick people in states across the problem with marijuana overdose country, and has been a legitimate deaths, health officials would have treatment option in California for sounded the alarm – which has not Sari Staver 20 years. Currently, the Apoth- Supervisor happened. What has occurred is that ecarium, one of the city’s most Katy Tang more and more people are turning respected medical cannabis dispento the medicine to alleviate saries, is seeking to open a facility in a variety of symptoms, the Sunset, a reliably conservative district. It’s from reducing chronic pain to mannot surprising that there is opposition to the aging nausea during chemotherapy plan, but what is shocking is that some Sunset to improving the appetite of those residents and others have allowed themselves living with HIV/AIDS. And it’s not to be influenced by an anti-LGBT hate group just smoking joints; medical cannabis and a church pastor who claims – without has evolved into a multibillion-dollar evidence – that relatives of parishioners have business, with new varieties of edibles died from pot overdoses. There is absolutely and oils regularly coming to market. no truth to that hysterical assertion, made by Dispensaries like the Apothecarium Chris Ng, pastor at the Lutheran Church of the employ trained professionals to counHoly Spirit. A Huffington Post story in 2015 sel patients and offer educational programs. reported that the Centers for Disease ConWe’re concerned that Tang is falling into a trol and Prevention said there have been zero trap set by cannabis opponents, whereby an deaths from marijuana overdoses. outside group whips up a few local hangersIf, as Ng said at a March 15 news conference, on into a frenzy, allowing fantastical claims there had been “several” marijuana overdose to overwhelm the facts. Tang has told us that deaths, the media would be all over that story, no matter where the deaths occurred. Not surprisingly, Ng did not provide more information (because he couldn’t), but just putting that claim out there has ginned up opponents, who are likely to repeat these fact-free rumors to decisionmakers and others responsible for public policy. Tang must keep an open mind and not be manipulated by Ng or another opponent, the Pacific Justice Institute, named by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBT hate group. It’s the organization that tried, unsuccessfully,

communications to her office have been running “seven-to-one” against the Apothecarium’s proposed Sunset dispensary, but doesn’t know how many emails and phone calls her office has received. As an Apothecarium official asked us, how can she know the ratio of opposition if she doesn’t know the total number? She has been made aware that there are 3,500 Apothecarium members in her district, and they’re supportive of the dispensary’s expansion. Tang also met with local resident Frank Lee, a spokesman for PJI. We know supervisors meet with lots of people and we don’t fault her for that, but Lee’s closeness to Ng (both were at the news conference) should give the supervisor pause, especially given Ng’s bogus pot overdose statements. There may be legitimate reasons for District 4 residents to oppose the Apothecarium’s Sunset dispensary, but fake information should not be part of the equation or play a role as Tang studies the issue. She told us she has not taken a position, because she’d have to recuse herself if the matter comes before the board. But as she gathers information and hears from constituents, Tang needs to leave all options open, and not discount Apothecarium officials simply because they run a dispensary. After all, the Apothecarium has a good reputation in the Castro, where the merchants group has said there haven’t been problems associated with its operation. The Apothecarium has worked conscientiously with the community and held outreach meetings in the Sunset. Unfortunately, opponents have reacted by shouting down speakers instead of engaging in real dialogue. Tang should elevate the conversation by batting down these false claims of pot overdose deaths so that the discussion can focus on real concerns residents may have, and what the Apothecarium will do to mitigate them. t

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Greed and fear work tolerably well for organizing a stock market; they ongressional Republicans candon’t work well for medicine. celed a vote on the bill to reFor example, drug companies peal Obamacare last Friday, after it have huge biases toward develbecame clear that the replacement oping only the most expensive they proposed could not get enough therapies. New antibiotics are not votes to win. a focus even though resistant inThe bill that failed was almost fections kill many thousands of unanimously opposed by doctors’ people each year in the U.S. alone. and other medical organizations – Why? Because antibiotics cure too Courtesy Facebook and then made worse to get votes of quickly; the companies want drugs right-wing Republicans, upsetting John S. James that need to be taken for years, idemoderate Republicans who otherally for life, so that more money wise would have voted for it. To reduce premican be extracted. ums, the final bill would have allowed health Combining unscrupulous, predatory, insurance companies to offer policies without what-the-market-will-bear pricing, with the maternity care, emergency care, treatment for traditional ideology that human life is pricemental health or substance abuse disorders, less, causes market prices to rise toward prescription drugs, lab tests, rehabilitation, infinity (especially when there is no and four other “essential benefits” required competition, due either to patent by Obamacare. Many moderate Republicans laws, or to regulatory logjams for could not vote for that. generics) – not just drug prices but most prices throughout What’s next? the complex, non-transparent What’s driving the problem is the excessive medical system. Quite comcost of U.S. health care – currently one-sixth monly one person’s medical of the entire U.S. gross domestic product. bills can be half a million dolThe U.S. spends far more on health care per lars or more. Since almost noperson than any other country in the world, body can pay that out of pocket but is currently #42 in life expectancy at birth (and they would have to pay extra-high (according to the CIA’s list, https://www.cia. prices if they did, since they don’t have the gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ negotiating power that insurance companies rankorder/2102rank.html). do), the idea is that almost everyone will be All the cost-reduction proposals we heard insured. There is little “market discipline” in the huge national debate leading up to in this system; insurance companies usually the failed Trumpcare bill were either to deny pay if high-status doctors say it’s needed. So health care to the poor, or to sell much worse prices go up and up while profiteers pocket policies to the middle class. None dealt with the cash. the fundamental reason that U.S. health care The real business model of health insurcosts so much. ance is to find excuses not to pay for care The reason is that U.S. health care is domi– and also to get rid of expensive patients, nated by corporations and individuals that one way or another (for example, automatic are all about making money, whatever their premium payments can go away automatimission statements may say. Almost all incencally and silently at the end of the year). tives in the system are to charge higher prices. Despite their complaints about not being

able to make money, health insurance companies have been remarkably successful in recent years (see “Gripes About Obamacare Aside, Health Insurers Are in a Profit Spiral,” from the New York Times: http://nyti. ms/2o3shd9). And since the poor could not possibly pay the insurance premiums, co-pays, and deductibles, government pays for their care through Medicaid. This is what Republicans want to get rid of – let the poor suffer and die without access to medical care. Or they can go to an emergency room when necessary to postpone death – which is not comprehensive medical care, and costs a median of $1,233 per visit (as of three years ago), according to a study by the National Institutes of Health, http://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3584078/. And more and more of the middle class can’t pay for effective insurance either, as costs go up and up. So both political parties propose various subsidies to help them, but ultimately not enough. The result in an extremely expensive system that burdens the middle class, the poor, and the taxpayers. It has become unsustainable. But mainstream politicians have avoided the real causes of excessive costs and prices, since talking about this would threaten profiteers who fund their campaigns. So others must take the initiative to get these problems addressed. If Republicans or Democrats want to help improve Obamacare, they can start by talking with health care professionals and finding proposals that working doctors and other health professionals can support. No more schemes that are almost unanimously opposed by the medical community, please. t John S. James was the editor and publisher of AIDS Treatment News. This essay first appeared on http://www.actuphealth.org.

Politics>>

March 30-April 5, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

Politics weighs on SF LGBT business summit

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he current political environment was front and center at a meeting in San Francisco this week of more than 100 senior and executive leaders from Fortune 500 companies and federal agencies. The LGBT professionals, along with their straight allies, had convened for Out and Equal Workplace Advocates’ 10th annual Executive Forum. The main focus of the yearly event is to assist with efforts to advance LGBT equality within corporate boardrooms and workplaces across the country. But the advent of the LGBThostile Trump administration and efforts in numerous statehouses to adopt anti-LGBT legislation loomed large at the gathering. “It is jarring, to say the least, to go from the supportive Obama administration to this current volatile environment,” said Selisse Berry, the founder and CEO of the San Francisco-based nonprofit who recently announced plans to step down and become an ambassador for the agency. Of particular concern, said Berry, has been seeing the introduction of so-called religious freedom bills in many statehouses. The legislation would allow business owners and others to cite their faith in order to discriminate against LGBT people. While efforts to enact similar laws at the federal level receive most of the attention, Berry said it has been heartening to see business leaders are “paying more attention to local and state issues.” One example is the Dow Chemical Company, which is based in Midland, Michigan but has an extensive footprint in various states. While it had taken a stand in the past on federal LGBT legislation, the company reached a “turning point” in 2015 when it publicly opposed a religious freedom bill in Indiana, said Cory Valente, a high-ranking gay employee at the company.

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Moderator Deborah Schmall, left, talked with gay executives George Kalogridis, who runs Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida; Cory Valente, with Dow Chemical Company; and Ken Janssens, a managing director at JP Morgan, at Out and Equal Workplace Advocates’ Executive Forum Tuesday in San Francisco.

“We saw what was going on with state-based legislation and called a meeting. The message was clear: Dow had been too passive in the past,” said Valente. “While we had been reactionary, now we would be proactive. Our stance is to speak out in states where we have a large footprint.” Ken Janssens, a managing director at JP Morgan, said his company is finalizing a plan for how it will respond to various LGBT rights issues that are now routinely arising in the myriad countries the bank operates in. The internal dialogue was prompted by the current debate in Hong Kong over passing a bill banning LGBT discrimination as well as efforts to enact marriage equality in Taiwan. “We are not a human rights organization; we are a bank. We can’t come out on everything constantly,” explained Janssens, who is based in London. “We are very conservative; JP Morgan is not Google. We work in a certain way.” The company plans to weigh several factors in determining if lending its voice would be prudent, such

as how many employees does it have in a country and would it be part of a coalition of businesses in support of the legislation in question. It took just 10 days for the bank executives to decide to support the Hong Kong bill, “which for JP Morgan is a world record,” noted Janssens. “We love our red tape.” Conversely, the corporate executives argued they could, at times, have more of an impact by working behind the scenes to ward off or repeal anti-LGBT laws. Walt Disney World Resort President George Kalogridis disclosed his company has been engaging with Florida lawmakers one-on-one about efforts to repeal an existing law that allows someone to be fired solely for being gay. “We found it a better way to work to change minds that way,” said Kalogridis, a gay man who formerly oversaw the company’s Disneyland Resort in southern California. The top executives of Dow, JP Morgan, and Disney have all been criticized for serving on bodies advising President Donald Trump. But their employees defended their bosses’ decisions not to resign and imstead use the opportunity to lobby the administration. See page 12 >>

Bill to decriminalize HIV passes 1st legislative panel by Matthew S. Bajko

to knowingly infect someone with HIV, and egislation aimed at the victim would have to modernizing Califortest positive for the virus. nia laws that make the “This bill is a long transmission of HIV a feloverdue effort to remove ony survived its first overa scar on California’s sight hurdle this week. penal code,” said gay Senate Bill 239 passed state Senator Scott Wieout of the state Senate’s ner (D-San Francisco), a Public Safety Committee State Senator co-author of the bill. Tuesday morning on a 5-2 Scott Wiener Added gay Assemblyvote, with both Republiman Todd Gloria (Dcan members opposed to San Diego), the bill’s it. Overall, the bill drew no formal other lead co-author, “Our current opposition at the hearing from law laws in California are outdated. enforcement groups, and the CaliThey must be modernized.” fornia District Attorneys Association Proponents of SB 239 argue the exannounced it was withdrawing an isting criminal statutes do nothing to earlier letter opposing the legislation prevent the transmission of HIV and, and would now work with its authors instead, only add to the stigma and on addressing its concerns. fear surrounding the disease. They As the Bay Area Reporter first also contend that the laws, adopted reported in February, current law during the height of the early AIDS makes it a felony to intentionepidemic, incentivize people not to ally transmit HIV to a sex partner, get tested or disclose their status. even if the person tests negative for “I thought these laws would the virus. The proposed legislation protect me from getting HIV. would make it a misdemeanor, simiThey failed,” said Hussain Turk, a lar to every other infectious disease, queer, Pakistani American who is

HIV-positive and works as a law fellow at the Los Angeles HIV Law and Policy Project. “I now have within my bloodstream a felony waiting to happen.” Although he discloses his HIV status to his sexual partners, Turk testified that he lives in constant fear that someone from his past will accuse him of infecting them with the virus. “It would be their word against mine,” he said. Senator Jeff Stone (R-Riverside), whose district includes the gay resort town and retirement destination of Palm Springs, came out against the bill at the hearing. “I heard an openly gay man come up and say he is not a felon. I don’t believe he is a felon,” said Stone. “But if you have HIV, are communicable, and have risky behavior with another person that causes them to get the disease, I believe that should remain a crime.” The Senate Appropriations Committee will next take up the bill before sending it to the full Senate for a vote. t

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8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 30-April 5, 2017

Not safe by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

s I write this, I am packing and planning my trek to Orlando, Florida for the 2017 LGBT Media Journalists Convening. While I should only need concern myself with how to keep everything down to one rolling bag, I find myself with one more concern. I have a layover at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Texas, you see. After five and a half hours in the air, I’m sure I’ll be ready to stop in a restroom. On March 15, the Texas Senate passed State Bill 6, the Lone Star State’s foray into the realm of bathroom bills. SB 6 would require people to use restrooms and other facilities that match their “biological sex.” Lawmakers define that as the sex listed on one’s birth certificate. I feel the need to point out here that a birth certificate doesn’t actually prove biological sex, given that it is predominately based on the opinion of the doctor attending a birth and not any sort of chromosome test. Further, it is worth noting that not even chromosome tests are definitive, as the notion that “XX” and “XY” are pure identifiers is much murkier than most seem willing to consider. Also, who carries their birth certificate with them at all times? I know I don’t – but I digress. The bill is part of a Republican push to force the issue in Texas, thanks to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick making transgender

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick

restroom access a “top priority” of this legislative session. SB 6 will disallow transgender people without a correct birth certificate from the use of same-gender facilities in public schools and other government buildings. It will also void trans-friendly legislation in Austin and, yes, Dallas. The bill still needs to make it through the Texas House of Representatives and be signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott before it becomes law, but I cannot help but feel a fair amount of pessimism given the political climate in Texas and the rest of the country.

Meanwhile, Arkansas is also making moves against transgender people, with House Bill 1986 – essentially the same bill as Texas’ SB 6 – making it through the Arkansas House of Representatives on the same day as Texas. North Carolina remains unable to repeal House Bill 2, in spite of yet another try earlier this month. An Associated Press analysis Monday reported that the bill will cost the Tar Heel State more than $3.76 billion over a dozen years. Further, the federal government has rescinded its guidance on restrooms for transgender students, while the United States Supreme Court did an about-face on the Gavin Grimm case – which would have let the high court clear up the issue of transgender restroom use – by sending it back to a lower court and striking the previous ruling in Grimm’s favor. I should note that these bills are not only about barring us from restrooms; they have a larger agenda. The fact that I need to consider whether to use the correct restroom in a crowded airport means I don’t have the same rights as others. The bills are about disenfranchising transgender people, and keeping us

from public life. It is no less than an attempt to remove transgender people from society. Supporters of the anti-trans bills will tell you that they are designed for “privacy” and “safety,” buzzwords with as much truth and clarity as “family” was in the marriage battles of the last decade. Speaking of family, the Family Research Council released a document last month, claiming 21 incidents of men violating the privacy of or assaulting women in restrooms. It wanted to make a point that allowing people to go into restrooms based on their gender identity will allow predators access. “It is important to note that the concern is not that transgendered individuals are more likely to be sexual predators,” said the FRC brief, “but rather that sexual predators could exploit such laws by posing as transgendered in order to gain access to women and girls.” The thing is, while FRC attempted to frame the narrative as such, the incidents it referenced did not involve anyone using such a subterfuge to gain bathroom access. It also avoids what I feel is the most important part of the story: allowing transgender people to use the restroom that fits their gender identity or expression does not limit or change laws against sexual assault. There

simply aren’t cases of this happening, and the notion of people using these laws as cover to harass women – while appealing to conservatives and others wanting the fight against trans rights – is a baseless claim. Now, I am assuming that SB 6 will not be on the books in Texas by the time I land, nor do I think I’d face airport security pulling me from the facility to demand my birth certificate. No, it is me who worries about being assaulted in a restroom. You see why FRC may want to make its issue about safety and privacy; it is transgender people themselves who are at risk. According to a study from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, some 70 percent of transgender people have faced assault or harassment in restrooms. Over the last two years, we’ve seen violence and murders of transgender people rise in numbers. We’ve already had eight reported antitransgender murders in 2017, and several other attacks. The legislative climate – and the fear tactics of groups like the FRC – is only fueling this hatred, and emboldening those who feel they will “protect” women. I want a safe, private restroom as much as anyone – but I expect that safety for all women, trans and not. Meanwhile, I think I’ll just go on the plane. t Gwen Smith can’t believe this is still an issue. You’ll find her at www.gwensmith.com.

Stryker talks trans history at Grace Cathedral by Alex Madison

usan Stryker, a professor, author, historian, and filmmaker, spoke at Grace Cathedral’s Forum March 26, talking about her experience as a trans woman and that equality continues to be a journey, especially in the current political climate, a topic she jokingly asked for a drink to be able to discuss. “The transgender people have suffered incredible amounts of unkindness and we want to better serve that community,” Malcolm Clemens Young, dean of Grace Cathedral, said. He began the forum by asking Stryker about her journey. “I’m not just a trans person,” she said. “Trans is intrinsic and has been present all along.” Although it’s been more than 20 years now since Stryker, 55, came out as a trans woman, she talked about how society is still a melting pot when

it comes to understanding gender. “How we understand gender is this bubbling soup,” she said. “A ground that is not stable with new ways of forming self like lava bubbling up and not knowing what it will look like when it’s cool.” It’s an exciting time, she said, but one not without setbacks. After a decade of progress for the trans community under the Obama administration, trans rights are now being stripped away. Just last month, the Trump administration rescinded protections for transgender students’ use of bathrooms in public schools, something Stryker called, “so stupid.” “It’s really disturbing,” she said with a tone of grievance in her voice. “We are seeing our rights being rolled back.” Stryker compared this to other minority communities, such as the fight for gay liberation during the 1970s or the civil rights movement

Alex Madison

Malcolm Clemens Young, left, dean of Grace Cathedral, interviewed Susan Stryker at an event at Grace Cathedral.

of the 1960s. Both of those efforts still continue. While same-sex marriage is legal nationwide, there is no federal anti-LGBT discrimination law. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, allowing states to make it harder for African-Americans and others to vote. Stryker’s point: the fight for equal rights has been, and continues to be, a long journey for the trans community. “We know how to live with no rights,” she said. “If you say you’re trans, people can take your kids away from you, take away your job. We have been criminalized.” However, that’s not to say there has not been progress. Today, one is not as marginalized as simply a

trans person, Stryker said. For Stryker, making progress will be done not by holding the red banner and creating a barricade, as she said, but by documenting the historical and current events and knowledge of the trans community. With a doctorate in history, Stryker does this through her work as an associate professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Arizona and director of its Institute for LGBT Studies. She has received numerous accolades for her books on transgender topics and an Emmy for her documentary, “Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria.” The film, released in

2005 after working on it for a decade, documents the uprising of the trans community in 1966 that took place at the former Gene Compton’s Cafeteria in the Tenderloin, not too far away from the Grace Cathedral. She also makes strides through her work with the Transgender Studies Quarterly, the first peerreviewed journal for cultural studies on trans issues. When asked about her hopes for the future, she replied, “It’s important to have neither hope nor hopelessness, but to stay focused on today. Think of history as a creative and political act that you perform in the present that links to a vision of the future.” t

Community News>>

March 30-April 5, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

Man who had outburst at Castro bar dies by Seth Hemmelgarn

gay San Francisco man who had a violent outburst at a Castro district bar and suffered cardiac arrest has died after being on life support for almost two weeks. Abel Marquez, 36, who reportedly had been drinking and using methamphetamine, had to be restrained by police after he broke a window and cut himself March 11 at Hecho Cantina, 2200 Market Street. He then became unresponsive and was taken to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, where he was kept on life support until he died early Friday morning, March 24. David Monroe, his stepfather, is attributing his death to a sedative that first responders reportedly gave Marquez as he was being restrained. “He’s the wealthiest man I’ve ever known,” Monroe said, referring to Marquez’s “hundreds and hundreds of friends.” “They’re all devastated over this,” he said. “None of them can believe it. He was such a wonderful guy. ... There’s a big hole where he used to be in all of our hearts.” After Marquez died Friday morning, someone posted a message to a Facebook group honoring him that said, “As Abel would say Fuck It! Please do not use RIP when referring to him ... #fuckit.” Almost 300 people belong to the group, which features numerous photos of Marquez smiling and surrounded by friends. The medical examiner’s office has confirmed that it has received Marquez’s body, but the cause and manner of death had not been issued by Tuesday. According to a summary from Sergeant Michael Andraychak, a San Francisco Police Department

Courtesy David Monroe

Abel Marquez

spokesman, witnesses said that at Hecho, Marquez had “grabbed the cue ball from a pool table,” and “then struck the glass door, breaking it. He broke glass items on the bar, picked up a piece of glass, and cut himself on the wrist,” Andraychak, who didn’t confirm Marquez or Hecho’s names, said. When officers arrived, people were restraining Marquez on the bar’s floor, and he resisted police, who eventually managed to handcuff him, Andraychak said, adding that Marquez “suffered a medical emergency” as responders were preparing to take him to the hospital. Monroe shared with the Bay Area Reporter draft fire department records that say as a handcuffed Marquez continued to fight with responders, “this crew administered 5 mg Versed IM.” About two minutes later, Marquez was “noted to be apneic and pulseless,” according to medical records that Monroe provided. Versed is also known as midazolam hydrochloride and is often

given to people before they undergo medical procedures. According to the fire department documents, Marquez suffered cardiac arrest after emergency medical service providers arrived at the bar. Monroe believes mixing the sedative with other substances in Marquez’s body had ended his life. He said that medical staff have told him that Marquez had methamphetamine in his system, and the fire department report said alcohol could be smelled on his breath. Records don’t clearly mention methamphetamine or indicate how much alcohol Marquez had in his system. Monroe hasn’t filed complaints with any city agencies, including the fire department. “What good would that do?” he said. “... My complaint is going to be in the form of a lawsuit.” Jonathan Baxter, a fire department spokesman, has declined to comment on specific details of the case, citing medical privacy law. In response to a request for records associated with the March 11 incident, the Department of Emergency Management told the B.A.R. that the information could not be provided because it “is part of an ongoing criminal investigation.” Andraychak didn’t respond to a request to confirm the status of the investigation. Marquez, who was also known as Abel Florentino, was married. His husband was not available for comment. A Gofundme page (https://www. gofundme.com/abel-marquezfund) has been established to help pay Marquez’s medical bills and other expenses. Plans for a memorial are pending. t

SOMA hate crime trial opens by Seth Hemmelgarn

he San Francisco woman charged with threatening several men with a knife as they left a gay bar in the South of Market area last year had yelled “faggots” and “I’m gonna kill you, bitch” among other remarks, the prosecutor in the case said in his opening statements Tuesday. But the attorney for Pearly Martin, 30, the defendant, said that his client had “a reason to be upset” at the time of the early morning incident at Club OMG, 43 Sixth Street. Defense attorney John Kaman didn’t say what had provoked Martin, but he said she’d smoked a blunt that night and had been “so drunk she was blacked out partially and only remembers certain events from the evening.” Martin faces three counts of criminal threats, two counts of false imprisonment, and single counts of burglary and vandalism of a police car. The first six counts carry hate crime and use-of-a-knife allegations. “This is a hate crime case,” Assistant District Attorney Ben Mains told jurors. “This is a trial about being comfortable with who you are and feeling safe about who you are, and how it is a crime to take that away from somebody.” Mains said that during the April 25 incident, which started as the bar closed around 2 a.m., Martin had yelled statements at the victims, at least one of whom was in drag, including, “You ain’t got no real tits, you faggots,” “I’m going to cut you,”

Courtesy SFPD

Pearly Martin

“I’m gonna kill you, bitch,” and “My boyfriend has a gun.” He said the incident started as the men, who’d been “celebrating their identities” at the club, encountered Martin outside “walking back and forth. ... She was yelling. She was angry.” Martin pulled out a pocketknife, waved it around, and threatened the men with it as she yelled, Mains said. The men went back inside the bar, but Martin and some of her friends banged on the door and screamed, he said. Two of the men fled the club and got into a car nearby, locking the doors, but Martin followed them, continuing to yell while trying to slash the vehicle’s tires, Mains said. The three other victims ran to the single-room occupancy hotel about a block away where at least one of them lived. Martin, still wielding the knife, chased them and cornered them in the lobby, where she kept

shouting, according to Mains. Mains played surveillance video that showed Martin in front of the club walking around and holding a knife, with several people nearby. The knife was hard to see in the video, and there was no audio, but Martin’s movements indicated she was yelling at people. Mains also showed video footage from the hotel lobby where Martin appeared to be confronting people. As responding police officers detained Martin, she kicked the window of the patrol car and broke part of the window frame, Mains said. “She actually bent the whole thing,” he said, displaying a photo of the damage. “That’s how angry she was.” In his opening statement, Kaman referred to the 1974 Muhammad Ali-George Forman Rumble in the Jungle heavyweight fight, where Ali used his “rope-a-dope” strategy of letting Forman “beat the crap out of ” him and exhaust himself for seven rounds before knocking Forman out. “You haven’t heard the whole story yet, and you won’t hear the whole story until I’ve put my witnesses on,” Kaman said. He said the statements Mains attributed to Martin were “pretty much accurate,” but he questioned whether her comments rose to the level of a hate crime. “The only that that happened that night was yelling,” Kaman said, adding that Martin hadn’t actually used the knife and no one had been injured. See page 14 >>

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<< Travel

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 30-April 5, 2017

SLO shows visitors how to get happy by Heather Cassell

“The Central Coast is a historic town made famous great spot to vacation in genby author John Steinbeck all here’s a reason why people who eral, regardless of whether the way to Paso Robles, before live on California’s Central you are gay, straight, lesbian, dropping down toward sea Coast are so darn happy. bisexual, transgender, interlevel into San Luis Obispo. The region is an idyllic sweet spot sex, questioning or what the The two towns are the that has somehow retained its secreother things might be. The heart of the California Centiveness even after San Luis Obispo, Central Coast is just a retral Coast’s wine region, but affectionately called SLO by locals, ally fun place to come visit,” for many years it was a quiet was named the happiest place to live said Robert Kinports, 49, a coastal area and the perfect in America by National Geographic gay man who is the property resting stop midway between Geena Dabadghav and Oprah Winfrey in 2011. manager of the Gay and LesLos Angeles and San FranYou can feel that sense of calm and bian Alliance, San Luis Obiscisco, both four hours to the Rows of California vines make a picturesque happiness waft over you as you leave po’s LGBT community censouth and north, respectively. setting along the historic El Camino Real the action-packed and crowded San ter, and Pride coordinator. Travelers really didn’t stay. highway outside of Paso Robles. Francisco Bay Area behind. At MonGay restaurateur Robin They had lunch and perhaps terey, Highway 101 begins to open Covey, 60, agreed. checked out the Mission San downtown area, took advantage of up from the gnarled traffic. The road “It’s a little bit longer getaway ... Luis Obispo de Tolosa, California the natural beauty of the creek and opens to a decent pace along the two there’s just more adventure and exPolytechnic State University (better surrounding area, and created an lane stretch of the historic El Camino ploration,” said Covey, who co-owns known as Cal Poly), and the famed environment that would encourage Real lined with scenic planted rows of with his ex-wife, Shanny Covey, fine Madonna Inn with its unique rooms residents and visitors alike to walk artichokes, avocados, almonds, leafy dining restaurant Luna Red and caand ornate men’s bathroom before around and connect with one angreens, and other fruits and vegetables sual dining eateries Cafe Fiero and moving onto bigger destinations. other. The outcome was a charming in Salinas, the agricultural heart of the Ming & Craft, which will open by Then there was a movement in town where people are happy. Yet, in Golden State. Then, finally, the rolling the end of April. the early 1970s to create a true comsome ways, it has a somewhat coshills of vines appear just outside of the Covey owns Novo in San Luis munity. The city limited cars in the mopolitan flair, with well-educated Obispo, while Shanny Covey took residents who are interested in the over Robin’s Restaurant in Cambria world beyond them and how to parnearly 15 years ago, he said. ticipate in global as well as local and “It’s a great wine area. [There’s] national issues. A large part of that great hiking. There’s the ocean. is because it’s a university town. There’s a lot to do and it’s very lowHowever, that is all about to key,” added Covey, who enjoys golfing change for two reasons. The wine at Morro Bay Golf Course, hiking region, which boasts of heavyweight on Montana de Oro and Madonna vineyards Daou, Justin, and Opolo, Mountain, and taking in the arts in and has been a coveted favorite of San Luis Obispo. “It’s not quite as oenophiles and foodies seeking much as a ‘been there, done that’” exsomething different from Sonoma WINNER perience, he added. Best Wedding and Napa, is becoming increasingly Photographer Kinports noted that since he moved well known. Second, San Luis Obisto the area from Florida in 1991 he’s po Regional Airport is expanding its observed the community come out of service, which will make it easier for the closet and become more accepted 415 travelers to visit. At the beginning in the once conservative town, which 370 of the year, the airport announced is now more politically moderate. 7152 that United Express, operated by Other locals pointed out that the WEDDINGS, HEADSHOTS, PORTRAITS SkyWest Airlines, will offer four stevenunderhill.com · stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com LGBT community is simply woven daily round trip flights between San into the fabric of the community. Francisco International Airport and They have been assimilated and are Los Angeles International Airport. accepted. Local LGBTs like to dine, That service started March 9. party, and shop. They go to work “I feel like this is a unicorn town. downtown or in other neighboring How did I not know about this towns, enjoy the outdoors, and raise place before?” asked Fawzia “The their families just like everyone else. We are Your Local Experts helping Faz” Mirza, a queer Pakistani Mus“They just participate in life,” Exceptional Clients Buy and Sell lim woman from Chicago. Mirza said Covey, who grew up in nearby Beautiful Homes in San Francisco. was in town to present her film Cambria and has lived in San Luis “Signature Move,” which had just Call Us for a Free Valuation of Your Property. Obispo since 2003. premiered at South by Southwest, The largest event for San Luis at the recent San Luis Obispo InObispo County’s LGBT community ternational Film Festival. is Central Coast Pride. Usually held She called San Luis Obispo in July, it attracts “magical.” upward of 5,000 gay “As we were flying in and straight attendand the fog cleared and ees from all over the Mike Ackerman & Oliver Burgelman we came below the fog LIC# 01388135 | 01232037 county and beyond, all of the sudden I felt 415.307.5850 Kinports noted. The like we were landing in ABZ@ZephyrSF.com event is hosted in front BuildingTrust4Life.com Europe,” Mirza said. “We of the Mission in San Luis are in some beautiful space.” Obispo and the after-party is hosted at “Everything is very cute,” lesbian Novo, which is just across the bridge filmmaker Betsy Kalin said about over the creek from the Mission. the walkable downtown centered This year will be Central Coast around the Mission and the creek Pride’s 21st celebration. that runs through the city. “The Novo also hosts a Beleza Nights beauty too, Montana de Oro is one every Friday and Saturday night, of the most beautiful places I’ve ever which is popular both with the gays seen. I mean just if you are talking and straights. about lesbians and hiking ... it’s just Wendy Eidson, executive director gorgeous. I love it.” of the San Luis Obispo InternationKalin was also in town for the film al Film Festival, also talked about festival, which featured a number of the community. LGBT movies. She moderated the “We have a strong and wonderfestival’s women in film panel and ful LGBT community,” said Eidson, the “The Girls Just Want to Have a 58-year-old ally, who is proud to Fun” lesbian shorts discussions. have offered LGBT-themed films “I’m sure I have to come back to and filmmakers at the festival over SLO with my partner,” said Mirza, tellthe 12 years she’s worked there. ing the Bay Area Reporter that there There were several LGBT docuare about 41 things to do that have mentaries, which the festival is been recommended to her, but she known for, and movies this year, only had time to do about half during including “The Freedom to Marry,” this trip. She also said she plans to tell “Happy,” and the lesbian shorts. everyone she knows to visit SLO. “This town is awesome,” she said.

Steven Underhill

PHOTOGRAPHY

Simply charming

Local gays – natives and transplants – agreed with visitors about the charm and plethora of things to do. It’s why they either never left or journeyed across borders to call San Luis Obispo and the surrounding area home.

Friday night and unwound with a wonderful dinner at Novo. It was an amazing dining experience. My waiter, who was gay, was knowledgeable discussing the wine and food selections and living “gayly” in SLO. Everything was spot-on, from the 2015 Dolcetto Dogliani from Italy that went perfectly with the chevre to the seared Diver Scallops on a bed of spinach and pureed butternut squash that was a perfect dining experience under the trees along the creek. This wasn’t the only good dining experience I had in the area. During a separate trip to Paso Robles, which is only 30 minutes from San Luis Obispo, earlier this year, my girlfriend and I had excellent experiences at La Cosecha and the Steakhouse at Paso Robles Inn Restaurant. Lunch was a pizza affair. I dined on artisan wood oven fired pizza at SLO Brew, which was recently remodeled, in San Luis Obispo. In Paso Robles, we both enjoyed the pizza at Artisan and Opolo. For breakfast I enjoyed more great service and a healthy Mediterranean omelet at the charming Big Sky Cafe, which was gay-owned until recently, in San Luis Obispo. However, I couldn’t say the same for the overhyped Louisa’s Place Restaurant. The food was average diner fare and the service was amazingly slow even at the counter. I also heard great things from others about gay-owned SLO Provisions and Splash Cafe and Artisan Bakery for breakfast and lunch options. In Paso Robles, we enjoyed breakfast at Cowgirl Cafe and Springside restaurants. Cowgirl Cafe took home the prize for the biscuits and gravy.

What to do

The breakfast fueled us for a day of wine tasting and marathon movie watching. We headed up into the Paso Robles hills to Daou, stopping at Alta Colina winery on the way. We continued our tasting adventure at Justin and Opolo before heading down the hill to Eos Vineyards. I also met Katie Hayward, owner of Uncorked Wine Tours, at gay-owned Asuncion Ridge Vineyard Tasting Room for a tasting and lunch. These were our choices of activities, but San Luis Obispo offers more than wine, food, and movies. Outdoor enthusiasts will appreciate the more than 30 trails in the county, championship golf courses, great surf spots, and more.

Where to sleep

After full days of watching movies and wine tasting we checked into Best Western Plus Black Oak in Paso Robles and the Lamplighter Inn in San Luis Obispo before hitting replay the next day. Both hotels we stayed at were conveniently located close to town and the highway, making it easy to get anywhere we wanted to go.

How to get to there

Drive south on Highway 101, also known as Historic El Camino Real, Fly from San Francisco to San Luis Obispo. Take Amtrak along the coast. t

Dinner and a movie

My girlfriend and I recently made the drive down Highway 101 to go wine tasting at the beginning of the year in Paso Robles. I traveled solo to San Luis Obispo to attend the film festival earlier this month. It was a perfect weekend escape. I got into San Luis Obispo late

Heather Cassell

San Luis Obispo restaurateur Robin Covey stands outside at Novo, his popular restaurant.

Community News>>

March 30-April 5, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

Indian Center nets $4.6K compiled by Cynthia Laird

and believes it was due to a miscommunication between the two countries’ consular officials. He offered to help Kolakowski visit India in the future. “I don’t think someone who is a transgender judge invited by the U.S. Embassy to India should have a problem,” he said. “I definitely welcome this person to come to India.”

he recent Bay Area visit by Indian gay prince, Manvendra Singh Gohil, the crown prince of Rajpipla, netted $4,661 for his new LGBT community center he is building in Rajpipla. The majority of the funding for the center, which is under construction and set to open by the end of the year, was raised during a March 21 fundraiser in San Francisco’s gay Castro district held by MAX, a social club for gay men and their friends. The money will be used to help furnish the LGBT center in the Indian State of Gujara, about seven hours north from Mumbai. “I think the love and the support showered on me by the people of San Francisco has been amazing,” Manvendra told the Bay Area Reporter when asked how he felt the visit, his first to San Francisco, had gone. “I am encouraged to come back again and again because of the support I have received.” In a brief interview at a private dinner reception held Wednesday, March 22 for the prince, Manvendra said he was especially “surprised and touched” to see so many Indians living in the Bay Area, both LGBT and straight, attend the various events on his schedule during his visit last week. His trip coincided with the recent cancellation of a visit

Arts Commission opens ‘Sanctuary’ exhibit

The San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries has announced the first installment of “Sanctuary City,” a yearlong exhibition and public program Gooch series that delves into topics related to San Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil of India speaks to supporters during his San Francisco’s immigration Francisco visit. policies, immigrant and refugee populations, and the history of its sanctuto India by transgender Alameda ary city status. County Superior Court Judge The first installment, “Sanctuary Victoria Kolakowski at the City: With Liberty and Justice for invitation of the U.S. State Some,” opened last week and will Department. Indian ofbe on exhibit through April 8 at ficials failed to issue a visa 401 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 126 (at for Kolakowski, the wife McAllister). of B.A.R. news editor For this exhibit, the SFAC GalCynthia Laird, who leries partnered with Walter Maciel had been invited to Gallery in Los Angeles. Co-curated talk to people about by Bay Area artist Monica Lundy, LGBT issues. the exhibition features over 125 Asked about the visa snafu, Manvendra said he was See page 15 >> surprised to learn of the incident

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Trump guts LGBT contract order by Lisa Keen

resident Donald Trump on Monday signed what Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund called a “very disturbing” order that will give federal contractors a large loophole through which to discriminate against LGBT people. The White House on March 27 released a copy of an executive order signed by Trump. The order revokes all or part of three previous executive orders concerning federal contracting. Of greatest concern to LGBT people, Trump’s order revoked Executive Order 13673, signed by President Barack Obama in 2014. The Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order, as it’s called, required that companies receiving large federal contracts be able to demonstrate that they have complied for at least three years with 14 federal laws, several of which prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender stereotyping, or gender identity. By taking away the requirement that federal contractors be able to demonstrate that they have not violated these federal laws, said Camilla Taylor, senior counsel at Lambda Legal, “this administration has made it extremely difficult to enforce these federal laws as applied to federal contractors.” “It’s sending a message to these companies,” said Taylor, “... that the federal government simply doesn’t care whether or not they violate the law.” Among those 14 laws implicated are Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Title VII prohibits discrimination based on sex in employment. Under the Obama administration, the Department of Justice and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission argued that discrimination based on “sex” included discrimination based

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workers from discrimination. It applied to companies that sought federal contracts in excess of $500,000. Taylor said that companies seeking such contracts had to demonstrate that they had not violated the federal laws listed in the previous three years. And federal agencies could not award contracts to such companies unless the companies were able to “explain mitigating factors.” Taylor said “the substance of the laws are still there” and Lambda Legal would do everything it can to “make sure companies understand their obligation not to discriminate.” t

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on sexual orientation. The ADA and Rehabilitation Act prohibit discrimination based on HIV infection and other disabilities. And the Family and Medical Leave Act, under Obama’s Department of Labor, was held to include employees caring for a samesex spouse, even if the employee lived in a state that did not recognize marriage of same-sex couples. The 14 affected federal laws and regulations affected by the new Trump executive order also include Executive Order 11246, signed in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson. That order prohibited federal contractors from discriminating in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Four years later, President Richard Nixon added discrimination based on disability and age. In 1998, President Bill Clinton added sexual orientation. And in 2014, Obama added gender identity, plus prohibited federal contractors, too, from discriminating against their employees based on these categories. Obama’s signing of what was called Executive Order 13672 was hailed by many LGBT activists as protecting “millions” of LGBT

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<< Community News

t AIDSWatch draws hundreds; Pride plans underway 12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 30-April 5, 2017

by Liz Highleyman

ealth care largely dominated advocates’ attention during the past week as the latest Republican attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act failed and the Trump administration proposed cuts to HIV/AIDS funding. In New York City Thursday (March 30), activists are holding a march and rally to commemorate the 30th anniversary of ACT UP.

ACT UP/NY held its first action on March 24, 1987, a die-in on Wall Street to protest the high price of AZT (then the sole approved AIDS drug) and discrimination against people with AIDS. Chapters soon sprang up across the country, including in San Francisco. The latest White House budget details released include a $1.23 billion reduction for the National Institutes of Health, which provides funding for HIV vaccine and cure research.

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The administration also proposed $50 million in domestic cuts for “less effective HIV research and prevention activities” and a decrease of nearly $300 million for global HIV/AIDS support through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, according to various news sources. An earlier budget outline had led some advocates to hope that PEPFAR would be spared. “Research, education, testing, and treatment are how we are going to get to zero new [HIV] infections,” GLAAD’s director of programs Ross Murray said on Twitter. “The Trump budget will set us back.” As news of the latest cuts spread, more than 600 activists gathered in Washington, D.C., March 27-28 for AIDSWatch, an annual advocacy event where people with HIV, staff of AIDS service organizations, and other allies visit members of Congress to demand support for HIV/ AIDS programs. This year’s lobby day was one of the largest ever and organizers had to cap participation. “This year’s AIDSWatch was sold out for one reason and one reason only,” Ace Robinson, executive director of Dignity Health’s Comprehensive AIDS Resource and Education program in Long Beach, told the Bay Area Reporter. “We are on the precipice of ending AIDS in America and the sum total of [Donald Trump’s] and [House Speaker Paul] Ryan’s agendas will not only undo our progress, but will also bring sickness and death back to our communities again. It does not get any deeper than this: We want to live.” On March 24, Ryan (RWisconsin) announced that the Republicans’ proposed American Health Care Act did not have enough votes to pass, due to combined opposition from House Democrats, moderate Republicans, and conservative Republicans who said the plan did not go far enough in dismantling Obamacare. The day before the vote 24 progressive activists – including LGBT health advocates – were arrested in front of the White House, representing the 24 million people the Congressional Budget Office estimated would lose their health insurance under the Republican plan. The D.C. rally and civil disobedience were part of a National Day

Political Notebook

From page 7

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In January, gay former Assemblyman Rich Gordon launched his bid for a state Board of Equalization seat in 2018, and ever since, he has been racking up endorsements from local and state Democratic Party leaders. If he thought doing so would scare off other Democrats from entering the race, Gordon received his answer this week when San Francisco Supervisor Malia Cohen announced her candidacy. Cohen, one of two AfricanAmerican women on the city’s board, posted the news to Facebook Monday, March 27. She disclosed that both San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf had endorsed her bid for the tax board’s sprawling District 2 seat, which spans from Santa Barbara on the Central Coast north to the Oregon border. “I have fought my entire career to put the interests of the people

AIDSWatch’s Ace Robinson

of Action coordinated by Health Care for America Now. Protests took place in more than 40 cities, according to a HCAN press release. Although there were no large actions in the Bay Area, protesters in Modesto held a die-in outside the district office of Representative Jeff Denham (R-Turlock).

Pride plans in the works

Local activists are making plans to participate in several upcoming coordinated actions including a Tax March on April 15 to demand that Trump release his tax returns, and “general strike” with large-scale protests on May 1, International Workers Day. Further ahead, LGBT activists across the country are discussing plans to make this year’s Pride events less of a party and more of a protest. As previously reported, after the massive Women’s March in D.C. and sister marches across the country in January, a call went out for LGBT people to converge in Washington Sunday, June 11, the scheduled date of that city’s Pride event, making it a national protest march. Los Angeles organizers subsequently announced that the city’s June 11 Pride event this year would be a “human rights march instead of before special interests. That’s why I took on Big Soda and passed soda taxes in San Francisco, Oakland and Albany,” wrote Cohen, adding that should she win the race, “I will continue to put the interests of the people over special interests.” Gordon campaign consultant Dave R. Jacobson told the Bay Area Reporter that the Menlo Park resident is “working his heart out every day to build a far-reaching coalition of support in every corner of the 2nd District,” pointing to endorsements in particular from South Bay Democratic Congressional members Anna Eshoo and Ro Khanna. “With that said, regardless of who else enters the race, Rich is taking nothing for granted in this campaign and he plans to run like he’s 10 points behind until he crosses the finish line in June of 2018,” wrote Jacobson, referring to the primary election, in an emailed reply. According to the secretary of state, lesbian state Senator Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) has pulled paperwork for the tax board seat. But she doesn’t live in the tax board district, so she is more likely using it as a way to park donations for a future bid for elected office since she will be termed out of her Senate seat

a parade,” according to the Christopher Street West website. Activists in cities that traditionally hold their Pride events later in June, including San Francisco and New York, are also calling for more resistance. Heritage of Pride, the group that puts on New York’s Pride event, has agreed to place activist groups, including ACT UP and Rise and Resist, near the front of the June 25 parade, after the women’s motorcycle contingent and grand marshals, according to a report in Gay City News. Activists in San Francisco have called for a similar shift in the tone of the June 25 Pride event. “There’s a growing consensus throughout the country that the Pride celebrations this year must be much more political and much more focused on resistance to Trump’s agenda of hatred and division,” longtime activist Cleve Jones told the B.A.R. Jones added that he has met with representatives from San Francisco Pride and “it’s my sense that they fully understand the urgency and are willing to work with people who want to make it more political.” To date, George Ridgely, executive director of the San Francisco LGBT Celebration Committee, has not responded to the B.A.R.’s requests for comment, and evolving plans will be covered in more depth in future issues. t in 2020. The tax board’s District 2 seat will be open next year as Democrat Fiona Ma, the current occupant, is running for state treasurer in 2018 due to John Chiang’s decision to run for governor. The Board of Equalization is facing questions about its oversight, as an audit to be released Thursday will report it misallocated tens of millions of dollars and that two of its elected members from other areas of the state used agency personnel for personal events, according to recent reports by the Associated Press and the Sacramento Bee. t Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http:// www.ebar.com Monday mornings at noon for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column reported on a pro-trans bathroom policy adopted by Santa Clara County. Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes. Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 8298836 or e-mail mailto:m.bajko@ ebar.com.

Sports>>

March 30-April 5, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

Adios to World Outgames sports

by Roger Brigham

f you were following sports news closely the past week, you no doubt caught the death notices of two institutions. The first, of course, was that of the Oakland Raiders. As we age, we learn there are very few things in life we can count on to last forever: true love, death, “The Simpsons,” and Oakland’s municipal debt used to lure the Raiders to return to their Oakland roots two decades ago. This week, NFL owners overwhelmingly voted to kick the shit out of the hearts of the most loyal fans in the country and approve a largely government financed plan for the Raiders to relocate to Las Vegas, making it the first team in any major league pro sports to become established in the nation’s gambling capital. That should at last put a wooden stake through the heart of the vampiric and mythic Raiders Nation once and for all time – or at least until the Nevada venture goes belly up and the franchise comes crawling back, demanding more cash to return to the scene of the team’s former glory. Let’s hope that at that time our local politicians will have learned to say no. The other obituary was that of the World Outgames’ claims to be a major inclusive LGBT-centric global sports event. The event may survive beyond the next scheduled

edition in Miami less than two months from now as a legitimate, even important, human rights conference – I won’t attempt to address that issue – but its efforts to bill itself as a major sports event may now officially be laid to rest. Let’s just hope the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association recognizes that reality and stops trying to lure LGBT athletes with its perennial sucker bets. As recently as last September (See September 29 JockTalk), Miami World Outgames 2017 organizers, relying heavily on unpublished and unverified past registration numbers supplied by GLISA, which sells the licensing rights for the event, were unable to provide up-to-date registration numbers for the May 26-June 4 event but were still projecting abut 10,000 attendees, after initialing projecting 15,000 – a number never achieved by any LGBT global sports event. Last week, Outsports.com reported that Miami has just 2,000 registrants with two months to go. A plurality of the sports registrants are in two big-number sports that will hold their international championships in Miami independently of what happens with other events: the International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics’ diving, swimming, water polo, and synchronized swimming championships; and the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association’s world championship.

Miami organizers’ ability to pull in another few thousand athlete registrants in two months to make the remaining 30-plus sports disciplines worthy of competition is no longer an improbability; it is now an impossibility. Miami spokesman Michael Goodman told Outsports, “A handful of sports, which have low registrations, like netball, are being removed to ensure a healthy competition,” and those cuts will be made by April Fools’ Day. None of this should come as a surprise to any serious LGBT sports person, but rather as an inevitability. I have been criticized by past WOG organizers for judging their events as sports events rather than as human rights events. I make no apologies for anything I have ever written about the event. I’m paid to write about sports events. This is a sports column. An event such as the World Outgames gets judged here as a sports event when and if it sells itself as a sports event. Period. Reality is, the World Outgames, born more than a decade ago as a spiteful attempt to co-opt the Gay Games’ mission to advance LGBT human rights through a global, inclusive multi-sports festival, have failed to deliver on the sports experience over and over again. The 2006 Montreal Outgames, announced in 2003 after the chosen hosts for the 2006 Gay Games walked out of negotiations and declared they would run their own competing event their own way and make millions in doing so, instead lost millions of dollars and were lying to government agencies,

Panel passes injection bill

by Liz Highleyman

upervised drug consumption facilities took another step forward last week as a California Assembly committee voted to advance a bill calling for a five-year exemption from the state’s controlled substance laws. Supervised consumption services allow people to inject drugs under the watch of medical staff, reducing the risk of overdose deaths. Facilities provide clean syringes, preventing transmission of HIV and hepatitis B and C through shared equipment. They also reduce street-based drug use and improper syringe disposal, and offer clients an entry point for seeking medical care or addiction treatment. On March 21 the Assembly Health Committee voted 9-4 in favor of Assembly Bill 186, introduced by lesbian Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman (DStockton) and co-authored by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). AB 186 amends existing laws that make it a crime to possess controlled substances or drug paraphernalia, or to maintain a place for the purpose of using or distributing drugs. It would allow cities or counties to authorize the operation of supervised injection services on a trial basis through January 2022, and would exempt people from criminal sanctions while using or operating an authorized facility. The proposed legislation requires that facilities must be supervised by health professionals or other trained staff. They would provide sterile syringes and other injection equipment, but clients would bring their own drugs. Advocates from San Francisco HIV organizations, including the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Glide, and Project Inform, spoke in favor of the legislation at a lobby

Liz Highleyman

Getting to Zero substance use panel members Edwin Charlebois, left, from UCSF; Kyriell Noon, from Glide; Laura Thomas, from the Drug Policy Alliance; and Isaac Jackson, from Urban Survivors Union, discussed a state bill that would allow supervised injection facilities on a trial basis.

day preceding the health committee vote, according to Laura Thomas of the Drug Policy Alliance, speaking at a March 23 San Francisco Getting to Zero Consortium meeting. AB 186 will next go before the Assembly Public Safety Committee, probably in late April, Thomas said. If it passes the Assembly, an equivalent bill will be considered in the Senate.

SF could be among the first in U.S. to open a site

There are currently nearly 100 safe injection sites in countries around the world, including Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Australia. Vancouver’s Insite – the first North American facility – served more than 6,500 clients in 2015. Since it opened in 2003 Insight staff have intervened in nearly 5,000 overdose incidents, resulting in zero deaths, according to Vancouver Coastal Health, which operates Insight. San Francisco is among several cities considering supervised

injection facilities in the United States, including Seattle, New York, Baltimore, and Boston. The Board of Health in King County, Washington, which includes Seattle, voted in January to approve two facilities. County health officer Dr. Jeffrey Duchin said they are expected to open within a year. In February, San Francisco Board of Supervisors President London Breed called for the creation of a city task force to study supervised consumption. Originally the task force was proposed to last a year, but advocates are seeking to shorten the process to three months, Thomas said. As the B.A.R. previously reported, San Francisco Health Director Barbara Garcia told a Board of Supervisors committee last December that she supports safe infection facilities. Mayor Ed Lee has indicated that he is also open to the idea. “We must thoroughly assess whether the public health and safety benefits [of safe injection services] outweigh any negative impacts,” Lee said in his January 26 State of the City address. Research shows that a supervised injection facility in San Francisco could avert at least three new HIV infections and 19 cases of hepatitis C per year, Thomas reported at the Getting to Zero meeting. The facility would be expected to attract high-risk homeless and other marginalized individuals who are often not reached by HIV and other services. “Even though injection drug use-related [HIV] transmissions are low, they are not going down,” Thomas said. “In order to get to zero we have to bend that line down as well. I think it’s entirely possible for us to get new HIV transmissions related to injection drug use to zero in this city, but it’s going to take additional intensive interventions such as this.” t

The concept of World Outgames as major sports events is as antiquated as the 45-rpm phonograph record adapters the 2017 logo resembles.

creditors, and would-be participants about budget and registration numbers right up to the opening ceremonies. Chicago, chosen to host Gay Games VII after Montreal bolted, ended up drawing roughly 12,000 registrants and finished in the black. WOG 2, held in Copenhagen in 2009, drew fewer athletes than projected, leading Outsports to refer to its collapsed competition brackets as a “clusterfuck” and causing Team Berlin to ask rhetorically, “Was anyone hot for Copenhagen?” WOG 3, in Antwerp in 2013, drew even fewer athletes than Copenhagen; and no complete breakdown of budget figures or attendance numbers for it have ever been published. In some sports, tournaments were canceled and turned into overpriced workshops. Marketing and world peace are wonderful, but reliable delivery of fulfilling sports experiences are what athletes are looking for and counting on when they pony up

registration fees. LGBT sports federations want to be able to guarantee quality sports competitions from event hosts before they are willing to invest their resources and brand names to big expensive events focused more on parties, conferences, and Pride events than advancing human rights through the unique experience of high quality, highly competitive but inclusive and welcoming sports tournaments. Club-hosted tournaments have emerged in numerous sports as great bargain basement options. Sin City Shootout has organically grown into the largest and least expensive multi sports event LGBT athletes from across the globe can count on. And the venerable Gay Games, headed to Paris in 2018, offer the most consistent, amazing, life-changing, bring-us-togetherthrough-sports our community has ever known. World Outgames? Dead as a sports event. t

<< International News

14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 30-April 5, 2017

Compensation for trans sterilizations proposed in Sweden by Heather Cassell

wedish lawmakers have introduced legislation to grant compensation to transgender men and women who were forced to undergo sterilization after gender reassignment surgery. Government statistics show that 865 people asked to legally change their gender, however only 500 of them actually completed the process, reported the Japan Times. Sweden’s sterilization law was enforced between 1972 and 2013, according to Frida Sandegard, president of the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights, or RFSL. In December 2012, a Swedish court ruled the practice unconstitutional because it violated the European Convention on Human Rights. The court reviewed testimonials from over 160 forcibly sterilized people gathered by RFSL to take the case to court, according to a March 28 news release from Transgender Europe. At the start of 2013 a ban came into force. That same year nearly 150 Swedish transgender individuals demanded an official apology and compensation of upwards of $5.4 million, or $36,768 per person who was legally compelled to accept sterilization in order to complete a sex change. However, the bill introduced to the legislature would award only $26,000 per person, Gabriel Wikstrom,

Sunset

From page 1

“I don’t know anything more, that was what I was told,” Ng said when pressed for more details. San Francisco officials sharply disputed Ng’s claim. “Oh, come on,” said Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, a gay HIV-positive man who is also a medical marijuana patient, when told about purported overdoses. “It is widely known that nobody has died from an overdose,” Sheehy said in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “Just the opposite. It helps people deal with diseases and provides relief for many conditions.” Sheehy likened PJI’s tactics to those of President Donald Trump, who has been criticized for numerous false and misleading statements. “It’s sad to see the type of tactics used by President Trump here in San Francisco,” Sheehy said. “Using blatantly false statements to manipulate voters, in coordination with an antiLGBT hate group, is so unfortunate and very divisive.” At issue is a proposal by the Apothecarium, a Castro-based medical cannabis dispensary, to open a facility in the Sunset. Dr. Floyd Huen, an internist and medical adviser to the Apothecarium, was shouted down at a recent community meeting in the neighborhood. At that same March 15 news conference, held at the San Francisco Community Empowerment Center, Frank Lee, a community activist and local spokesman for PJI, urged San Franciscans to “come together” to oppose medical marijuana dispensaries trying to locate near facilities where children congregate. “We at PJI are here to weigh in on

Hate crime

From page 9

He acknowledged that Martin’s statements may be “shocking,” and “You may already feel motivated against Ms. Martin.” “Everybody has a right to feel comfortable in their own skin,

Andreas Paulsson

Frida Sandegard is president of the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights.

Swedish minister for public health, healthcare and sports said, reported Dagens Nyheter daily. Last April, Swedish government officials announced plans to compensate transgender individuals who were forced into sterilization. “The demand for sterilization that existed previously laid out a vision from which today’s society wishes to distance itself and the government believes it was wrong to demand it,” Wikstrom told the newspaper. This is a first for the Swedish government to recognize transgender citizens who were subjected to sterilization. Until

March 24, when the proposal was announced, the government refused to compensate transgender citizens who were forced into sterilization. The country did compensate more than 230,000 victims sterilized under a eugenics program between 1935 and 1996. They received $21,630 each, reported the Times. Swedish LGBT activists praised the ruling, however, Sandegard pledged to push for a higher level of compensation. “The sum should be at a level that constitutes a real recognition of the excesses of the state,” Sandegard told Pink News. “Monetary reparations cannot completely compensate for the violations of forced sterilization, but financial redress initiated by the government is an official acknowledgement that these actions were wrong and that the state should not have treated its citizens in this way,” added RFSL’s Kerstin Burman. Ulrika Westerlund, a Swedish member of Transgender Europe’s executive board, said human rights violations “cannot be undone.” “But by recognizing the violation and compensating trans people financially, Sweden has taken a big step toward rectifying previous injustice,” Westerlund said in a release.

Julia Ehrt, executive director of TGEU, welcomed Sweden’s decision and urged other governments to follow its example. “This is the first time a state has recognized forced sterilizations of trans people in legal gender recognition procedures as the human rights violation and financially compensates victims,” said Ehrt. Claims for compensation will be open to be claimed for two years starting May 1, 2018, when the temporary law is passed.

Landmark marriage equality case before Taiwanese court

Taiwan’s constitutional court last week began hearing a samesex marriage case that could see the island legalize such unions. While Taiwan is ruled by its own government, China regards it as part of its territory. As a result, Taiwan’s sovereignty is not recognized by many countries in deference to China. It does have relations with the U.S. Marriage equality supporters gathered outside the court in Taipei with rainbow flags as 14 grand justices listened to a debate about the constitutionality of same-sex marriage. The court was under heavy guard as the hearings began March 24.

Veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei and the Taipei city government brought two petitions for interpretation of Taiwan’s civil code, where it states marriage is “between a man and a woman.” The legal definition has caused officials to reject requests to register same-sex couples, marriage equality advocates claim. Government officials have received a growing number of requests from same-sex couples to marry, reported Agence France-Presse. The court will hear arguments focused on the section of the civil code that contravenes elements of Taiwan’s constitution. Advocates argue that the constitution guarantees equality and freedom of marriage. The hearing comes after a legislative committee in Taiwan’s parliament in December passed the first draft of a bill that will legalize same-sex marriage. “Gay people as citizens deserve equal rights and protections under the law,” Lan Shi-kai, a 24-year-old salesman, told the AFP outside of the courthouse. The bill is now due for a second reading. The court is expected to decide within two months. The judges’ decision will be legally binding, Hsieh Kuo-lien, a law professor at National University of Kaohsiung, told AFP. t Read the complete story online at www.ebar.com

Other politicians have taken a more nuanced approach to proposals to open dispensaries in their districts. District 4 Supervisor Katy Tang, who represents the Sunset where the Apothecarium is trying to open a

dispensary at 2505 Noriega Street, has gone on record as believing that her constituents are “strongly opposed” to the new business. In an interview with the B.A.R. last week, Tang emphasized that she has personally not taken a position on the issue, because if she did she would have to recuse herself if it came before the Board of Supervisors. Tang insisted that her office’s relationship with PJI has been “mischaracterized,” pointing out that nobody from her office attended its March 15 news conference, where representatives announced marijuana overdose deaths and claimed that dispensaries were a danger to children. But when pressed, Tang acknowledged that she had met with PJI’s Lee, although she said the meeting was arranged by other neighborhood activists and that she was not told that Lee would be attending. Tang said that the calls and letters to her office are running “seven to one” in opposition to the dispensary, although she said they are not keeping count on how many total communications have been received. Those that are in favor of the dispensary “all sound alike,” she said, “leading me to believe they may be based on a form letter.” The Apothecarium’s community outreach director, Eliot Dobris, a gay man, noted that the dispensary has over 700 letters of support from members, half of whom live in District 4. Dobris also questioned Tang’s math. “If they’re not counting the number of calls and letters coming in, how do they know it is seven to one against?” he asked. When told that some 3,500 residents of her district were members of the Apothecarium in the Castro, Tang

said she was unaware of that. Her legislative aide, Ray Law, who joined the interview, said he had learned that fact at a meeting just the night before and had not had a chance to share that information with the supervisor. Tang said she “of course would take that information into consideration” in deciding how a dispensary might affect her constituents. Other facts seem to illustrate support for medical cannabis among Sunset residents, said Dobris. He pointed out that the majority of voters in the Sunset supported both Proposition 215 in 1996, legalizing medical marijuana, as well as last year’s Proposition 64, legalizing adult recreational use. “Those are two separate issues,” said Tang. “People may be in favor of cannabis but not want it sold in their neighborhood.” Daniel Bergerac, a gay man who’s president of the Castro Merchants, wrote in an email to the B.A.R., “Katy Tang should be very concerned about being manipulated by this anti-LGBT hate group. The Pacific Justice Institute is telling lies to her constituents and those lies are getting repeated back to her. “It’s hard to overstate the positive impact the Apothecarium has had on the Castro neighborhood,” Bergerac added. “They have improved the quality of life on their block and have never had a single police incident. They’ve also given more than $300,000 in donations, primarily to neighborhood nonprofits. I have never heard a single complaint about the Apothecarium. I would welcome more businesses like them.” The Apothecarium’s executive director and co-founder, Ryan Hudson, said they will fight for the project. In an email to the B.A.R., Hudson

wrote, “We’re disappointed to see the same old false fears about medical cannabis dispensaries being used today in the Sunset. The Apothecarium has never had problems in the Castro – so there’s no reason to think we would in the Sunset.” Hudson said the dispensary has had to reduce its charitable giving due to the costs of fighting “this outside hate group.” “We’re looking forward to getting past this fight and resuming our regular, quarterly donations to nonprofits in the Castro. We also hope to begin a similar program of giving in the Sunset,” he wrote. With the passage of Prop 64 in November, it’s likely that dozens more dispensaries will be selling to adults over the counter beginning in January. Additional controversies with neighborhood activists and medical marijuana dispensaries are likely, officials said. Dennis Richards, a gay man who’s a member of the San Francisco Planning Commission, which approves dispensary applications, put the situation in perspective. In a phone interview with the B.A.R., Richards said, it is common for “busloads” of several hundred people to testify against dispensaries at Planning Commission hearings, leading to a “lot of theatrics.” With the legalization of recreational adult use of cannabis coming in January, Richards pointed out that there will likely be a “tidal wave” of new dispensaries applying to open their doors. When that happens, the lengthy debates that are taking place now “will look like mouse nuts in comparison to what we’re going to be dealing with beginning next year,” he said. t

particularly in San Francisco,” Kaman said, and the allegations against Martin are based on the victims’ “choice of sexual orientation.” But he said, “Ms. Martin is not biased or prejudiced against gay people,” and Martin, who’s AfricanAmerican, is a member of “a vanishing minority” in San Francisco.

Kaman suggested that the victims had been drinking in the hours before the incident and said, “After seven hours of drag queen shows [they] were pretty high themselves,” which affected their perception. He also noted that while Mains said Martin had chased people, the video footage didn’t show anyone running.

Horace Chapple, 57, a friend of Martin’s, said outside the courtroom recently that she’s “a good person. Everybody has their faults. I don’t think it’s a hate crime.” A woman who said she’s Martin’s mother agreed to speak to the Bay Area Reporter just before opening statements Tuesday, but Kaman told her, “Don’t talk to him. He’s not on

your side.” Martin, who’s been in custody since her arrest, wore a dark suit in court as she listened to opening statements. Her bail is set at $300,000. Superior Court Judge Sharon Reardon is overseeing the trial, which is expected to last about two weeks. t

behalf of every community group and religious institution to be sure rights of children are respected,” said Lee. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, PJI has been listed as an “anti-LGBT hate group” for several years, following repeated incidents where members of the group publicly demonized the LGBT community. Agreeing with Lee were two longtime neighborhood activists, both former Democratic candidates for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Marlene Tran and Teresa Duque. Tran, spokeswoman for the Visitacion Valley Asian Alliance, said in a follow-up interview with the B.A.R. said that dispensaries are likely to “bring additional crime to a neighborhood.” When asked about evidence, Tran pointed to a recent attempted kidnapping of a child in Bernal Heights. “The news story said the kidnapper was high on alcohol and marijuana,” she said. In addition, Tran said she is acquainted with police officers who are opposed to new dispensaries. “If dispensaries were safe, why would police be opposed?” she asked. Tran said she became acquainted with Lee when they jointly opposed an open-air urinal at Mission Dolores Park. PJI was unsuccessful in its lawsuit to remove it. When asked if she was aware of PJI’s long-standing opposition to many LGBT issues, Tran said, “I don’t agree with them on everything.”

Supe’s nuanced stance

t <<

Community News>>

Hormel Center

From page 1

with the city’s library system. After stints at both the Berkeley Public Library and the Environmental Protection Agency’s library in downtown San Francisco, Sundheim was hired as the branch librarian of the Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial library in the gay Castro district. “I have had an incredibly enriching, fascinating, and stimulating career,” said Sundheim, adding while laughing, “but I am really tired.” In addition to her duties overseeing the Hormel Center, Sundheim has also been responsible for the main library’s collection on European history after the fall of Rome. She also supervises two librarians and 20 pages, the people who reshelve books. “I am really going to miss the library staff, because they are amazing,” she said.

portraits of immigrants to the U.S.

News Briefs

From page 11

by 100 artists from LA and the Bay Area. Conceived in response to the presidential election last November, the show is a statement in response to the current administration’s efforts to block immigrants from six Muslim-majority countries from getting visas for 90 days and reinstates a temporary ban to refugees for 120 days. (That order was put on hold by a federal judge and has not gone into effect.) There is no cost to visit the galleries, which are open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, visit www.sfartscommission.org.

Intersex forum at JCCSF

The Jewish Community Center of San Francisco will present “Between Genders: Exploring Intersex with Hida Viloria” Friday, April 7 at 7 p.m. at JCCSF, 3200 California Street. Viloria, who was born with genitals and reproductive organs that don’t fit standard definition of male or female, is a gender-fluid Latinx intersex author and activist. The first openly intersex person invited to speak at the United Nations, Viloria is founding director of the Intersex Campaign for Equality and chair of Organization Intersex International, the largest intersex advocacy group in

The library will begin looking to hire Sundheim’s replacement after she leaves. It is also planning to hire a Hormel Fellow for a twoyear period part-time. The position is funded by the library’s friends group and foundation and will be tasked with outreaching to younger and more diverse communities. Sundheim hopes her successor will bring a renewed focus on engaging youth, many of whom she noted are interested in learning about LGBT history. And they will also need to bring more LGBT people of color “into the fold” of the Hormel Center, she advised. The collection remains “heavily Caucasian,” she said, despite her efforts to diversify it during her tenure. “That was my top goal, but I could only do so much,” said Sundheim. The Hormel Center, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, is named after the country’s first openly gay ambassador, who

donated $500,000 to help launch the collection. The center’s holdings span the history and culture of the LGBTQ community, said Sundheim, with a special focus on northern California. It includes more than 13,000 books and nearly 5,000 films, the majority of which were donated by the city’s Frameline LGBT Film Festival. The materials also cover periodicals, music, and 75 archival collections, some on loan from the GLBT Historical Society, that are the collected papers of noted LGBT individuals. It also houses the Freedom to Marry Archive, which Sundheim acquired from the marriage equality activist Molly McKay. It consists of 22 binders of photos, articles, and documents spanning a 20-year period. Countless writers, filmmakers, and scholars over the years have utilized the materials. And the Hormel Center has presented various events,

readings, and exhibits featuring its collection and the works of LGBT poets, thinkers, and artists. “I have done thousands of programs,” said Sundheim, explaining that her goal with each was to bring “people into the library for knowledge but also entertainment.” Tim Wilson, an archivist for both the Hormel Center and the library’s San Francisco History Center, said he would miss working with Sundheim. “Karen’s curiosity about all aspects of our history was boundless,” Wilson told the B.A.R. “I’ll miss her enthusiasm, professionalism, and the respect that she has consistently shown coworkers and patrons alike.” Jim Van Buskirk, the Hormel Center’s founding director, also praised his successor’s achievements over the last decade, from the public programs she oversaw to the digitization of the Frameline film collection. “Karen has done a terrific job

managing the Hormel Center and leaves a lasting legacy,” wrote Van Buskirk in an emailed reply. “I’m proud of her many accomplishments and wish her all the very best in her post-Hormel life!” Sundheim and her wife, Nancy Suib, 68, who retired in June from her job as an independent book rep, plan to spend 12 days in April driving through Oregon. The Oakland couple are also planning a threeweek trip this fall along the East Coast to visit family and friends. Twice a month Sundheim plans to lead the weekly meditation group that meets each Wednesday at noon in the Hormel Center. She started it five years ago, and it attracts between 25 to 30 people for each session. But mostly Sundheim wants to relax, do some personal writing, and plow through the thousands of book titles on her reading list. “I want to try to learn what resting is,” said Sundheim. “I don’t know how to rest.” t

the world. Viloria will appear in conversation with Sam McConnell, producer of “The Out List” and “The Trans List.” Tickets start at $28; JCCSF members get 10 percent off. For tickets or more information, visit https://www.jccsf.org/arts-ideas/ exploring-intersex/.

brought their perspectives as artists, visionaries, and sexual outsiders to the uprising; all made a lasting impact on American culture.” Cain is a queer man who is a researcher, historian, and longtime community activist. In addition, the exhibition documents the ways San Francisco’s homophile community responded. There will be a public reception Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the museum, 4127 18th Street. Admission is $5. The show runs through September 27. For more information, visit http://www.glbthistory.org/ museum.

especially for seniors and customers with special needs. For more information, visit www. sfmta.com/escalator or call 311.

provides a “watchdog” function and has broad latitude to examine city departments, agencies, and officials. It issues a report detailing its findings and recommendations. Each affected city department or official is required to formally respond to each recommendation contained in the reports, which are then presented in public hearings before the Board of Supervisors. The civil grand jury is independent and selects its own topics for investigation. Past civil grand juries have examined the city’s clean power initiative, affordable housing, homelessness, and a variety of departments, including the assessor’s office, fire department, and Muni. The next term runs from July 1 through June 30. After the initial screening, volunteers are interviewed by a panel of Superior Court judges, who select a pool of 30 jurors. From that, the 19 sworn jurors and 11 alternates are randomly selected. Interested volunteers should be able to commit time consistently throughout the one-year term. The civil grand jury usually meets once a week, with additional meetings and interviews scheduled as necessary. To apply, visit http://civilgrandjury.sfgov.org. The deadline is May 31. t

GLBT History Museum looks at Summer of Love

This spring and summer, many San Francisco cultural organizations are sponsoring special events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Summer of Love. The GLBT History Museum is taking part with a new exhibition set to open Friday, April 7, “Lavendertinted Glasses: A Groovy, Gay Look at the Summer of Love.” “In San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury district, young people were seeking a way out of what they saw as the soul-destroying alienation of materialism,” curator Joey Cain said in a news release. “They created new art, philosophies, politics, forms of self-expression, music, and relationships. The city already had a dynamic LGBTQ community, and many members saw the developments of the Summer of Love as opening the way to greater liberation.” According to the museum, the exhibit tells this story by “highlighting the roles of four queers in the making of the Summer of Love: poet Allen Ginsberg, filmmaker Kenneth Anger, philosopher Gavin Arthur, and singer Janis Joplin. All of them

Census

From page 1

of tactics they’ve adopted to legally deny services and legitimacy to hardworking LGBTQ Americans. The Trump administration is trying hard to erase the LGBTQ community from the fabric of America, but visibility has always been one of the LGBTQ community’s greatest strengths.” The National LGBTQ Task Force noted that a census handbook of the subjects for data collection that was available in early March did mention “Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity” in Appendix-2, identifying it as “Proposed.” But the handbook released Tuesday did not include it. Gates says the content for the 2020 census has been “fixed” for more than a year already. “I should note that I was a member of the Census Scientific Advisory Committee for more than five years, leaving the committee last year. I sat through many meetings about these issues,” he said. “While the bureau may have agreed to consider adding sexual orientation or gender identity measurement to the [annual American Community Survey] at some time in the future, it most certainly could not have happened

March 30-April 5, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 15

Courtesy Williams Institute

Gary Gates, Ph.D.

in time for 2020,” Gates said. “On average, the testing and vetting of new questions for the ACS takes more than five years.” The American Community Survey is an ongoing statistical survey done by the census bureau. Gates said there is “certainly evidence that the new administration is trying to undermine or reverse recent gains made in federal LGBT data collection.” The removal of sexual orientation and gender identity from its mention in the appendix suggests that.

SF court seats applicants for civil grand jury

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will begin work in early April on the escalator serving the inbound platform at Church Street station. The escalator will be out of service for about five months, and a wooden barricade will be built around it during the repairs. The stairway will remain open. Work hours will be from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, with some weekend work required. In an announcement, MTA noted that most of the old escalators at Muni Metro stations have been on the job for over 40 years. They are outdated and easily break down. The new units, equipped with state of the art technology, will make the Muni system safer, more reliable, and accessible,

The San Francisco Superior Court is accepting applications for civil grand jury service for the 2017-18 term, Judge Susan Breall announced. “San Franciscans who are eager to make a difference and want to be an agent of change in this great city should apply to become a member of the civil grand jury,” Breall, chair of the court’s civil grand jury committee, said in a news release. “The civil grand jury offers a unique and exciting opportunity to contribute to our community by examining city government to address inefficiencies in operations and hold officials accountable.” In order to serve, volunteers must be U.S. citizens, at least 18 years of age, have lived in San Francisco for at least the past 12 months, have no felony convictions, and be able to effectively communicate in English. This year, judges on the civil grand jury committee are attending various community events across the city to recruit civil grand jury members in person. Through these efforts, the judges are committed to seeking a civil grand jury that represents the city’s rich diversity. A requirement of the California Constitution, the civil grand jury

“It appears that the census bureau had included sexual orientation and gender identity among a list of possible future topics for consideration in the ACS and then removed that from the document. But that’s not the same as saying that a decision to add Sexual orientatiom and gender identity measures has been reversed,” said Gates. “It has not.” The census bureau’s 73-page handbook released Tuesday also omits any mention of same-sex households in its discussion of the importance of gathering data about marital status and the benefit of identifying “community marriage trends.” The census bureau press office did not respond by deadline, but its website indicates, “All census bureau demographic surveys collect information about same-sex couples. The level of detail collected varies, as well as the availability of other characteristics of the partners.” The “subjects” of inquiry for any decennial survey must be submitted to Congress three years in advance; the actual questions must be submitted to Congress two years in advance. Data collected by the surveys has direct implications for how congressional seats are allotted and for how much the federal and state

governments spend on various programs each year. The census bureau falls under the purview of the Department of Commerce, currently headed by Wilbur L. Ross Jr., who took office February 28, just four weeks before the bureau released its plans for 2020. Census data is widely used by entities beyond the federal government. Social science researchers have used data about same-sex couple households to determine the number of adopted and foster children living in such households, courts have used them in determining whether class action suits can proceed, and to calculate the economic impact of policies affecting same-sex couple families, among other things. The census bureau has, over the years, repeatedly changed how it processes data concerning same-sex couples. Up until 2000, the bureau counted as a mistake any same-sex couple who identified themselves as married – and re-counted them as heterosexual married couples. Even though some states began allowing samesex couples to marry as early as 2004, it was June 2009, just months into President Barack

SFMTA rehabs Church station escalator

Matthew S. Bajko contributed reporting.

Obama’s first year in office, when the administration indicated it would have the census provide a separate count of same-sex married couples. The 2010 census was the first time in the nation’s history when a same-sex couple could actually hold a marriage license and thus accurately identify themselves as “married” on the decennial survey. It did so even though the Defense of Marriage Act prevented any federal agency from taking notice of any same-sex couples. But the decision to start counting same-sex married couples did not necessitate any change in the 2010 census form. It simply called for taking a separate notice of couples in which Person 1 identified a same-sex person – Person 2 – on his or her census form as either a “husband or wife” or an “unmarried partner.” DOMA was struck down in 2013. And the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state bans against marriage for same-sex couples in 2015. The annual national American Community Survey in 2015, the most recent data available, showed 858,896 as the “total same-sex couples,” identifying them as neither married nor unmarried. t

<< Legal

16 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 30-April 5, 2017

Legal Notices>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-17-552810

In the matter of the application of: FNU KAREN, 2263 37TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116, for change of name having been ﬁled in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner FNU KAREN, is requesting that the name FNU KAREN, be changed to KAREN EFFENDI. 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 20th of April 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037501500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LALIGURASH JEWELLERY, 910 STOCKTON ST #12, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RAM KRISHNA LAKANDRI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/06/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/06/17.

MAR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037502100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FCA COMPANY, 579 GEARY ST, 2ND FLR, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GUILLAUME COUTHEILLAS. 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 03/06/17.

MAR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037494000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RENE HEALTH, 5 THIRD ST #501, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BEN BEDI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/28/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/01/17.

MAR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037480500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE TRAINING ZONE STUDIO, 5332 GEARY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CAN 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FRANCISCO A. NIEVES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/22/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/22/17.

MAR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037487000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HEIT CERAMICS, 75 MANCHESTER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GAY LEAH HEIT. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/24/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/24/17.

MAR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037491200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JAY HORNE, 1355 HUDSON AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JAQUITA HORNE. 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 09, 16, 23, 30, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037489900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PALAYAN’S ORIENTAL RUG CLEANING, 2115 VICENTE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SHANT PALAYAN. 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 02/27/17.

MAR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037486500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TENANTS BUYING REAL ESTATE, 870 MARKET ST #315, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TENBUY CORPORATION (CA). 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 02/24/17.

MAR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037493800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ROYAL INDIAN CUISINE, 1740 FILLMORE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BELLA FOODS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/01/17.

MAR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037494500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SILVER SPUR, 1914 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SHOTSKI LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/01/17.

MAR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2017

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037499000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: O/M, 1095 NATOMA ST #2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed YOUNG DESIGN LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on NA. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/03/17.

MAR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2017 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-034401800 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: TENANTS BUYING REAL ESTATE, 870 MARKET ST #315, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by RICHARD HURLBURT. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/11/12.

MAR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2017 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-17-552848 M

In the matter of the application of: KELLY ANN ELEK, 965 TERESITA BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127, for change of name having been ﬁled in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner KELLY ANN ELEK, is requesting that the name KELLY ANN ELEK, be changed to JAZMIN KELLY ELEK. 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 4th of MAY 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 16, 23, 30, APR 06, 2017 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-17-552856 In the matter of the application of: MARINA MCCORD GELMAN, 646 CLARENDON AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131, for change of name having been ﬁled in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MARINA MCCORD GELMAN, is requesting that the name MARINA MCCORD GELMAN, be changed to MARINA GELMAN-MCCORD. 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 9th of May 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 16, 23, 30, APR 06, 2017 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-17-552851

In the matter of the application of: BRYAN BERNARD FINLEY, 130 CAINE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112, for change of name having been ﬁled in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner BRYAN BERNARD FINLEY, is requesting that the name BRYAN BERNARD FINLEY AKA BRYAN FINLEY, be changed to BRYAN BERNARD VILLASEÑOR. 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 4th of May 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 16, 23, 30, APR 06, 2017 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-17-552843

In the matter of the application of: ANTHONY STEPHEN WILEY-GREEN, 1147 HOLLISTER AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124, for change of name having been ﬁled in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ANTHONY STEPHEN WILEY-GREEN, is requesting that the name ANTHONY STEPHEN WILEY-GREEN AKA ANTHONY WILEY-GREEN AKA ANTHONY STEPHEN GREEN-WILEY, be changed to ANTHONY STEPHEN GREEN-WILEY. 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 2nd of May 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 16, 23, 30, APR 06, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037502400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SFWOOFPACK, 219 LEAVENWORTH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NATHAN E.GUIDAS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/06/17.

MAR 16, 23, 30, APR 06, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037483100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JIFFY DOG, 300 DEHARO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALEX TAO. 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 16, 23, 30, APR 06, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037483200

Before the Tel Aviv-Yaffo Magistrate Court

C.C.

In the matter of:

1. Karina Abitisian I.D. 311915615 2. Arthur Abitisian I.D. 311915680 Both by their rep. adv. Zeev Braz and\or Yiftach Ibn Ezra Of 3 Nirim St. TLV 67060 Phone: 03-6886565 fax: 03-6886566 The “Plaintiffs”-Vs. -Yelena Fisherman I.D. 304233372 Whose address is: 418 25th Ave. San Francisco, California 94121, United States of America The “Defendant” Remedy essence: winding-up of a real estate partnership; receiver appointment; declaratory And in the matter of: Winding-up of a Real Estate Partnership Claim The honorable court is hereby requested to use its authority and provide an order for the winding-up of the partnership in the residential apartment on 59 Jabotinsky St. Bnei Brak known as parcel 82/15 in plot 7361, by way of its sale to a third party. Also, the honorable court is requested to declare that the Plaintiffs are entitled to receive full consideration of the land sale. In so doing, the honorable court is requested to appoint Plaintiffs rep. as receivers of the rights of the Defendant in the referenced land and authorize them to sign in her name and on her behalf any document and\or statement necessary for the transfer of her rights in the apartment to a third party. Factual Background 1. The Plaintiffs are spouses, Israeli citizens and residents, who in 1994 or thereabouts immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union. 2. The Defendant too was a new immigrant who immigrated to Israel on those dates, yet she has ceased to be an Israeli resident many years ago, since she left Israel in favor of the Ukraine and then the U.S. 3. Immediately following their arrival in Israel, the Plaintiffs and the Defendant purchased the capitalized lease rights in the referenced residential apartment, so that the Plaintiffs purchased 2/3 of the rights and the Defendant purchased the remaining 1/3. A copy of the apartment’s registration extract is attached herewith and marked “A”. 4. Transaction amount was 316,890 NIS. 5. In favor of purchasing the apartment and in order to fund it, the parties realized their right as new immigrants and took a mortgage guaranteed loan from the Bank of Jerusalem Mortgages Ltd. in the sum of 300,000 NIS, i.e. funding of more than 90 percent of transaction amount. A copy of the deed of mortgage is attached herewith and marked “B”. 6. Immediately following the purchase of the abovementioned apartment and since she did not manage to settle in Israel, the Defendant decided to leave the country and moved to the Ukraine. 7. Before leaving the country and in light of her rights in the apartment, the Defendant took several steps aimed at waiving all of her rights in the apartment in favor of the Plaintiffs: 7.1. On October 19th 1994, the Defendant signed a power of attorney, authorizing Plaintiff 1 to take any action in the apartment, including its sale. A copy of the power of attorney is attached herewith and marked “C”. 7.2. On December 4th 1994, the Defendant signed a waiver instrument, in which she renounced all of her rights in the apartment in favor of Plaintiff 1, provided that Plaintiff 1 bore all of the mortgage payment she owed, according to her relative share. A copy of the waiver instrument, translated into Hebrew and notarized, is attached herewith and marked “D”. 7.3. On December 18th 1994, the Defendant signed an evidenced will, according to which she bequeathed that following her demise all of her rights in the apartment will be transferred to the Plaintiffs, in equal shares. A copy of the will is attached herewith and marked “E”. 8. It is further noted that prior to leaving the country, the Defendant borrowed from the Plaintiffs the sum of US$7,000, which she has never repaid them. 9. On February 21st 1995, the Defendant left Israel. 10. Indeed, as of the apartment’s purchase by the parties, for approximately 20 years, the Plaintiffs paid the mortgage on the apartment, out of their joint account, when the Defendant did not pay a single penny. 11. In total, throughout loan years, the Plaintiffs paid the lending bank a sum amounting to approximately 600,000 NIS. 12. On October 21st 2014, the Plaintiffs repaid the remainder of the loan and retired the mortgage on the property. A copy of the mortgage repayment certificate is attached herewith and marked “F”. 13. The Plaintiffs’ attempts over the years to locate the Defendant in the Ukraine have failed, and despite their investment of great efforts and funds they came up empty handed. 14. Several months ago, the Plaintiffs managed to locate and contact the Defendant, through social media, and learned that she currently resides in San Francisco, California, U.S.A. 15. As part of the contact with the Defendant, the Plaintiffs asked her to sign a new power of attorney for them before the Israeli Consul in California, in lieu of appendix “C” [which expired] so they could realize their right, as they agreed, sell the apartment to a third party and move to a larger apartment, yet she refused to do so. Plaintiffs Arguments 16. The Plaintiffs argue that the Defendant waived in their favor all of her rights in the referenced apartment, prior to leaving the country and against the Plaintiff ’s undertaking to bear full payment of the loan taken by the parties to purchase the property. 17. That waiver is undisputed and was accompanied by the Defendant’s signature of several documents, unequivocally attesting to that waiver, mainly a special power of attorney in favor of the Plaintiffs, authorizing them to sell her share in the apartment in her name and on her behalf. 18. However, the Defendant remained the owner of rights registered with the Land Registration Bureau, and in the absence of a valid power of attorney the apartment could not be sold to a third party. 19. In this state of affairs, the Plaintiffs are held captive by the Defendant and cannot sell their rights in the apartment and improve their quality of life, as they have been wishing to do for several years, when in reality she has no right to enjoy sale fruits. 20. Therefore, the honorable court is requested to order the winding-up of the partnership in the referenced land, by way of the sale of the rights in it to a third part. The honorable court is also requested to declare that the Plaintiffs are entitled to receive the full consideration. To do so, the honorable court is requested to appoint Plaintiffs’ rep. as receiver of the rights in the apartment, to put it up for sale and sell it. 21. The honorable court has material and local jurisdiction to debate the claim, in light of its requested remedy and the location of the referenced property. Yiftach Ibn Ezra, adv. Representing the Plaintiffs The Tel Aviv-Yaffo Magistrate Court Motion number: 1 Before the honorable judge Avi Shalev Applicants

1. 2.

Respondent

Karina Abitisian Arthur Abitisian Vs. Yelena Fisherman

Decision Based on motion reasoning and according to my authority under Ordinance 500 of the Civil Procedure Ordinances of 5744-1984, a permit is hereby given for process out of jurisdiction according to the Respondent’s address in the statement of claim. Delivery will be made via registered, verified air mail or personal verified delivery via an international courier. Delivery will include the statement of claim with its appendixes, the subpoena, the motion for a permit for process out of jurisdiction with all it entails, and this decision. All documents will be sent in their original form, as well as in a notarized translation into Russian. The Respondent will file a statement of defense within 90 days of receiving the documents and is authorized to appeal for motion annulment within 45 days. Secretariat will process the decision to Applicants rep. Given today, Kislev 3rd 5775, November 25th 2014, without parties presence. Avi Shalev, judge

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037501700

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037503800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TYE’S BARBER SHOP, 570 MONTEREY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TYRONE D. POWELL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/06/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/06/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: VIDEO/PHOTO EFFECTS FROM THE HOOD, 1883 PALOU AVE #B, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DANIEL EDWARD FARR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/07/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/07/17.

MAR 16, 23, 30 APR 06, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037502900

MAR 16, 23, 30, APR 06, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037508700

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037509100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DIG IT EVENTS, 77 SHOTWELL ST #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LUKE WEBSTER JOHNSTONE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/10/17.

MAR 16, 23, 30, APR 06, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037508900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JIFFY DOG, 2175 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALEX TAO. 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.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SWEET SURRENDER STUDIOS, 1801 TURK ST #22, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RICHARD DOUGLAS SHARON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/07/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/07/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DENIS ENGLANDER PHOTOGRAPHY, 687 2ND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DENIS ENGLANDER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/10/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAY AREA EFFICIENT MOVERS, 1238 NORTHPOINT DR UNIT D, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94130. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed DZIANIS VASILEUSKI & GULZHAN BEISENOVA. 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 03/10/17.

MAR 16, 23, 30, APR 06, 2017

Classifieds>>

t Legal Notices

March 30-April 5, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 17

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037504000

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037517600

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037518100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AGUILA DEFENSE TRAINING, 588 SUTTER ST #750, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed LYU LOPEZ & SEAN D. O’CONNOR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CREATIVE LICENSE CONSULTING SERVICES; INNOVATION STATION; CLCS, 183 STATES ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed STEVEN A. KOWALSKI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/17/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/17/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PARTSMARKET; PARTSMARKET PRIME, 350 TOWNSEND ST #405, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed INTERNET 404 TECHNOLOGIES INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/17/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/17/17.

MAR 16, 23, 30, APR 06, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037490600

MAR 23, 30, APR 06, 13, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037511200

MAR 23, 30, APR 06, 13, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037513900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TENDER ROSE DEMENTIA CARE SPECIALISTS, 120 GREEN ST #200, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TENDER ROSE HOME CARE, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/12/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/27/17.

MAR 16, 23, 30, APR 06, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037501100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INTERIM CMO; OXGN, 463 MISSISSIPPI ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed OXGN, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/06/17.

MAR 16, 23, 30, APR 06, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037519700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EYEBROW STAR, 2649A MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PRABHA THAPALIYA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 11/01/16. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/20/17.

MAR 23, 30, APR 06, 13, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037510100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LIPSHTICK PICTURES, 34 6TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SERENA SCHULER. 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 03/13/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FLORE, 2298 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed FOCUS 415 CAPITAL INVESTMENTS GROUP INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on NA. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/14/17.

MAR 23, 30, APR 06, 13, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037514300

MAR 23, 30, APR 06, 13, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037511800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BOOZEPHREAKS, 865 SAN JOSE AVE #5, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BLAKE TUCKER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/14/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LIN’S ORIENTAL IMPORTS, 1520 TENNESSEE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed LINS IMPORT CORP (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 03/13/17.

MAR 23, 30, APR 06, 13, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037508200

MAR 23, 30, APR 06, 13, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037500800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NEW FORMALISM, 1501 LEAVENWORTH ST #7, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed WEIPEI CHERNG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/09/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/10/2017.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CONSULERIS LLC, 101 CALIFORNIA ST #2710, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CONSULERIS LLC (DC). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 06/11/14. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/06/17.

MAR 23, 30, APR 06, 13, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037506900

MAR 23, 30, APR 06, 13, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037512600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GLIIM, 5214F DIAMOND HGTS BLVD #352, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANDREW STOCKETT CAVALIER. 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 03/13/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OCEAN VIEW SPA, 1632 NORIEGA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed RU HAI LIANG & ZHU MING LIANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/07/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/09/17.

MAR 23, 30, APR 06, 13, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037519000

MAR 23, 30, APR 06, 13, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037517200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOOK FISH CO., 4542 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HOOK FISH COMPANY LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 09/15/16. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/14/17.

MAR 23, 30, APR 06, 13, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037519100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OFFICIAL BIZNESS STUDIO, 2200 CESAR CHAVEZ ST #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DANIEL MORGAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 07/14/16. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/20/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BLUE WATER TOWING & AUTO SERVICE, 7490 MISSION ST, COLMA, CA 94014. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BLUE WATER TOWING & AUTO SERVICE INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/16/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/16/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: POTRERO NUEVO VENTURES LLC, 1032 IRVING ST #973, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed POTRERO NUEVO VENTURES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/15/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/20/17.

MAR 23, 30, APR 06, 13, 2017

Classifieds

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036221400

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: OCEAN VIEW SPA, 1632 NORIEGA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by ZHU MING LIANG. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/30/14.

MAR 23, 30, APR 06, 13, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037529400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE UPPER HAND NAIL SPA, 3836 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NGUYET NGUYEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/27/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/27/17.

MAR 30, APR 06, 13, 20, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037529200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EBERHART, 1575 TURK ST #308, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NYZEINA EBERHART. 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 03/24/17.

MAR 30, APR 06, 13, 20, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037527800

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Out &About

Hamilton hit

O&A

Courtesy SFFILM

Season to taste by Richard Dodds

Scene from director Gillian Robespierre’s Landline.

World-class cinema

t’s the time of year for season’s greetings. Not the kind framed with pinecones and holly berries, but that time when theaters roll out their offerings for the coming season. The latest troupe to reveal how it will trim the branches of its 2017-18 season is New Conservatory Theatre Center, which has two world premieres on its schedule, two revivals, and a slew of regional premieres. See page 23

by David Lamble

he 60th edition of San Francisco’s longest-running film festival, the San Francisco International Film Festival, kicks off earlier than usual (April 5-19) and plays at our Castro Theatre film palace, the Roxie Theater, the Victoria Theatre, the Alamo Drafthouse/New Mission, SFMOMA, Dolby Cinema @ 1275 Market, the Walt Disney Family Museum, YBCA, BAM/PFC (Berkeley) and Proxy. The festival’s organizers attribute the earlier playdates to the shifting calendar of worldwide film festivals. See page 26 >>

Seen here in its 2003 production, New Conservatory Theatre Center is reviving Howard Crabtree’s When Pigs Fly as part of its 2017-18 season.

Gallerygoing greets the springtime by Sura Wood

Courtesy of the artist and Catharine Clark Gallery

ust off that Stravinsky recording and dance a pagan rite to spring, because contemporary art is blooming at local galleries. Here’s a sampling. Catharine Clark Gallery Edge of Alchemy is the final chapter in Stacey Steers’ trilogy of short psychological films that delve into women’s interior worlds and embedded emotional memories that never let go. In her latest production, she reimagines early silent cinema, casting the era’s leading ladies, Mary Pickford and Janet Gaynor, in a “phantasmagoric” tale of monstrous, crimes-againstSee page 20 >>

Photocollage (gelatin silver print) from Edge of Alchemy by Stacey Steers (2017).

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

Limit 8 tickets per person. All dates, acts and ticket prices are subject to change without notice. All tickets are subject to applicable service charges. *Advance tickets will still be available with NO SERVICE CHARGE on Sunday 10:00am to 3:00pm at the Fillmore box office only. Charge by phone at 800-745-3000. Buy tickets at livenation.com.

Lois Tema

Vol. 47 • No. 13 • March 30-April 5, 2017

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<< Out There

20 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 30-April 5, 2017

Sneak peek at spring books

Galleries

From page 19

nature creation that takes a cue from the pages of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Steers’ old-fashioned, labor-intensive process involves assembling and animating over 6,000 antiqued, hand-colored photo collages, techniques reminiscent of George Melies and Canadian wild man Guy Maddin. Incorporating historic etchings and photos, she constructs surreal landscapes

where fields are carpeted by bees and garish flowers, a human-sized teaspoon leans against a porch railing, and scientific laboratories of suspicious origin conduct dubious experiments with gauzed-wrapped figures and beakers of bubbling red liquid. The film, accompanied by an original score from Brothers Quay collaborator Lech Jankowski, is complemented by a suite of photographic stills, collages and a contraption dubbed “Oculus.” Through April 15; cclarkgallery.com.

Tues., May 15, 6 p.m. at the San Francisco Public Library’s Hormel LGBT Center (Main Library). The gay son of refugees from the Vietnam War, Lam was Johnson’s student in an undergraduate fiction workshop in the 1990s at San Francisco State, has published a couple of nonfiction books and a well-received collection of short stories (Birds of Paradise Lost), and is now senior editor at New American Media in San Francisco. The reading is free.

Everywhere Home – A Life in Essays by Fenton Johnson (Sarabande Books, pub. date May 16): Journalist and activist Johnson has been an essayist, memoirist and novelist for 30 years. These pieces concern art, desire, religion, gender, sexuality and AIDS, among other topics. Reprinted from original publications in The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s Magazine, Mother Jones and elsewhere. Johnson will read from Everywhere Home with his former student Andrew Lam on Dolby Chadwick Gallery In the most recent iteration of her Falling series, Vanessa Marsh embraces the cosmos and geologic time in largescale nocturnal landscapes that communicate the wonder of the universe. Nights of 1,000 stars are interrupted only by silhouettes of distant peaks and valleys (some pulled from Ansel Adams’ photographs), blackened trees, and splashes of violet nebulae in the vastness of space or silvery halos sprinkled across the Milky Way. Before you strap on your backpack and head to Death Valley, be advised: these vistas aren’t real. They’re total fabrications, “relatable false realties,” as Marsh calls them, which conjure misty mountain starlit canyons (“Cave 3”) and backdrops for mystical stone edifices (“Arches 2”) as magical as anything conceived by J.R.R. Tolkien. Marsh’s entrancing collages combine cut paper, drawings, Mylar painted with transparent inks, and darkroom techniques that converge in photograms, made without the benefit of a camera. Specks of black gesso, for instance, block light hitting the photographic paper, producing the illusion of starscapes in the great beyond. Go and be amazed. April 6-29; dolbychadwickgallery.com. Jenkins Johnson Gallery If the shows mounted here have been inclusive, they’ve also been especially attuned (and allotted generous space) to works by women artists, who are often constrained or confronted by gender/identity politics, social upheaval, sexism and backlash. Gathering together an eclectic mix of 15 powerhouse female talents who use drawing as their primary medium or as a component of multimedia projects, Dialogues in Drawing is an exhibition of unexpected abundance, with 144 pieces such as Alison Saar’s “Coup Study” (2006), in which a nude woman sits on a chair as if poised to make a run for it. Gripping a fearsome pair of scissors on her lap, her long braided hair is entwined around a pile of suitcases struggling to break free. Two bohemian vendors, each with trays of confections balanced on her shoulders, face off in Amy Cutler’s “Peddling in the Poppies” (2016). In one of Damali Abrams’ tangy collages, pop culture icon Rihanna, swathed in gold lame and

Courtesy of the artist and Dolby Chadwick Gallery

ut There often reads more than one book at a time. Do you do that? How about four books at once? Is that OK? Here are some books stacked up on our desk right now, some of them still in their prepublication galleys. Jews Queers Germans, a novel/ history by Martin Duberman (Seven Stories Press): Duberman, a history professor and founder of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at CUNY, is a natural writer of historical fiction. Here he plunges into queer life in Weimar-era Germany. The cast of characters includes Prince Philipp von Eulenberg, who was the bosom buddy of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and endured a 1907 trial for homosexuality; Jewish sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, the pioneering homosexualist; and Count Harry Kessler, a homosexual aristocrat. OT knows a thing or two about all three title tribes. Make Trouble by John Waters (Algonquin Books, pub. date April 11): When pop-culture icon Waters

was asked to deliver the commencement speech to the graduating class of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), he evidently took to the task with gusto. This wee volume contains the text of that speech, handsomely illustrated by graphic artist Eric Hanson. Sample advice: “A career in the arts is like a hitchhiking trip. All you need is one person to say ‘get in,’ and off you go. And then the confidence begins.” Waters will sign books at Green Apple Books on the Park, 1231 9th Ave., SF, on Wed., April 26, at 7:30 p.m. A Queer Love Story – The Letters of Jane Rule and Rick Bebout, edited by Marilyn Schuster, with a foreword by Margaret Atwood (UBC Press, pub. date May 1): Schuster presents 15 years of correspondence between lesbian novelist and essayist Jane Rule and Toronto-based radical queer publication Body Politic journalist and editor Rick Bebout, touching on queer life and letters, HIV/AIDS, censorship, public sex, S/M and other queer issues.

Courtesy of Jenkins Johnson Gallery

by Roberto Friedman

Above: Vanessa Marsh, Horizon 3 (2016), edition of 3, Chromogenic photogram. Below: Amy Cutler, Peddling in the Poppies (2016), gouache on paper.

peacock feathers, stands next to a sign throwing it all down: “You think I’m not a goddess,” it asserts. “Try me.” Just saying. Through May 13; jenkinsjohnsongallery.com. Fraenkel Gallery Ralph Eugene Meatyard: American Mystic. Meatyard, an artist partial to imagery of masked children acting out dramas in overgrown rural settings and abandoned houses, gets welcome exposure in this show of both lesser- and better-known works, along with his notebooks and annotated volumes from his library. Rare self-portraits, a photograph featuring the artist’s wife and a companion in grotesque masks from “The Family Album of Lucybelle Crater,” and a gang of

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Spring forward

Springtime is always a woohoo season for OT, and last week was no exception. Last Wednesday night we were chilling at the party for Illy Caffé’s newly opened North American flagship café, deep in the FiDi at 220 Montgomery St. in San Francisco. We love Italian coffee, pastries and men, so this was a natural fit. We had a fun long dish session with our friend journalist Emma Krasov Krasov. Then Thursday we were among the large crowd for the Grand Opening celebration of the Openhouse Community at 55 Laguna, affordable housing for seniors in a beautifully restored building. We booked it downtown for the press opening of the national tour of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s phenomenal musical Hamilton at the Orpheum Theatre (reviewed in this issue). We were thrilled to be invited to the opening-night afterparty, held appropriately enough at that Greek Revival relic the Old Mint (Alex Hamilton was first Secretary of the US Treasury), the most significant building architecturally in all geewhiz of San Francisco. OT is not throwing away our shot!▼ kids hanging out on the front steps in masks too big for their bodies are among the selections on display. A Kentucky optician by trade, Meatyard picked up a square, mediumformat camera, and in his spare time, began shooting close to home. What began as a hobby developed into a series of provocative photographic investigations whose orchestrated compositions, props and costumed subjects were every bit as staged as a theatrical performance. Though acknowledged as an important artist within an informed coterie of artists, philosophers, mystics and writers such as Wendell Berry and Thomas Merton, Meatyard labored in obscurity for the majority of his brief career, from the mid-1950s through the early 70s, photographing for an exacting audience of one: himself, and creating a potent, off-center and unsettling body of work pervaded by a sense of dislocation. When it comes to interpreting and deciphering his enigmatic pictures, he leaves viewers on their own, somewhere between the Twilight Zone and the backwoods. Through May 6; fraenkelgallery.com. state Fantasy Island. Although some devotees of the Aaron Spelling television phenom are still trying to live down the fact they watched the program religiously during its inexplicable seven-year run (1977-84), San Francisco artist Kelly Inouye is not about to let anyone forget. Using a palette of hand-mixed paints in installations and smaller works, she resurrects the old chestnut’s plotlines, characters and motifs with a 21st-century twist, and riffs on its kitschy prescriptions for living. Remember those weekly on-the-nose, cautionary tales of ego, excess and desire? How about Mr. Roarke, the suave overseer of the escapist ocean destination not found on any known map, and his diminutive sidekick, Tattoo? They’re reunited in a watercolor portrait whose smudged outlines reinforce the mystique of the dynamic duo. Meanwhile, the oversized “This Place Is Too Much” partially recreates a set with a rattan peacock chair and tropical foliage, where one can relive the show’s heyday and absorb a remix of its earworm soundtrack.April 8-May 20; statespacesf.com.▼

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<< Theatre

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 30-April 5, 2017

Alexander the Great by Richard Dodds

illary has seen Hamilton twice, and while the current president has not seen it, he did take time to dis it in a tweet. The funny thing is, he’d probably enjoy the musical if he could score a ticket. It’s the art of the deal, after all, with the swoop of quill pens instead of tiny keyboards used to fire off inflammatory missives, plus it’s about the man who literally taught the fledgling United States how to make money. If we take the president at his word that he’s the “least racist person you’ll ever meet,” the cast of many colors playing the founding fathers wouldn’t be an issue. And while the rap-based score might not be his preferred groove, he at least once posited himself as more of a sophisticate than the man who had to endure second-tier country bands at his inaugural parties. But to appreciate the intricate wordplay of the lyrics, you need to pay attention, and that could be a stumbling block for the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Rather than a show you lean back and enjoy, Hamilton is a show that you must lean into to appreciate. Hamilton has finally officially opened in San Francisco, the debut of a new company that will eventually become the show’s touring production after its run concludes at the Orpheum Theatre in August. With the original creative team overseeing the birth of this new company, the results have the intricate precision of the workings of a vintage Swiss timepiece, even within its contemporary design. Just watch how Thomas Kail’s direction and Andy Blankenbueller’s choreography are seamlessly

was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr, and he’s the guy on the $10 bill. But when Miranda read Ron Chernow’s straightforward biography of Hamilton, he saw a civics lesson waiting to be retold in a contemporary vernacular reflecting the gritty deal-making, backstabbing, and jealousies among figures whose images have long been burnished in marble. Plus you get a sex scandal in the midst of the story of an orphaned illegitimate son growing up in poverty in the West Indies before arriving in New York exploding Joan Marcus with ambition and a keen Michael Luwoye, second from left, plays the title character in Hamilton, a musical that lives up to the frenzy of hype that has followed it from New York to mind, becoming George Washington’s aide-deSan Francisco. camp during the Revolutionary War and the first meshed into a kaleidoscope of a crowd in a character-revealing Secretary of the Treasury, movement, often framing counpromenade. who would create a monetary policy terpoints to central action that can One of those sisters becomes that could financially unite the 13 challenge the eyes to both focus and the wife of Alexander Hamilton, a colonies-turned-states. go wide. Hamilton doesn’t so much devoted husband and father who Miranda is something of a gerevolutionize musical theater as ruined his reputation by having to nius in how he combines emotions build and expand on what has come admit publically that he had paid and plot elements into ingenious, before. The language of Lin-Manuel blackmail to cover up an adulterrhythmic rhymes in rap and hip-hop Miranda’s music and lyrics is built ous affair. The musical delves into styles. Many of the musical numbers from sounds both familiar and unthe minds of both Elizabeth and either spin off from those styles or usual for the Broadway stage, from Alexander as the scandal plays move into other sounds completely. rap and hip-hop to sweeping ballads out, a dramatic gift to the musical After Hamilton’s adultery becomes and razzle-dazzle showstoppers. biographers, who otherwise didn’t public, his wife (movingly played by The accompanying movements have much onto which to peg Solea Pfeiffer) burns his love letters range from Bob Fosse to Beyonce, Hamilton’s personal life in a story as she sings an aching ballad. Back shifting patterns in a matter of momostly focused on the personalities in England, observing the antics of ments, while even incidental moveof politics. his colonial subjects with clueless ments – three sisters crossing the For many of us, what we have cardisdain, King George III (the merrily stage, for example – seldom involve ried forth from history class was that buffoonish Ryan Vasquez) performs something as mundane as mere Hamilton was somehow important a vaudeville song-and-dance routine walking. Instead, they glide through in the early days of the country, he with a layering of British 1960s pop.

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A preening Thomas Jefferson (the merrily supercilious Jordan Donica, who also plays a similarly tres continental Lafayette) doesn’t come off too well in this narrative, asking in boogie-woogie fashion if he missed anything of importance during his long sojourn to France. In the most dynamic scene of the show, Aaron Burr complains with increasing passion and bitterness of his exclusion from “The Room Where It Happens” – that is, where the important decisions are being made, in a song that can’t easily be categorized as rap, pop, or showtune, but is splendidly rendered by Joshua Henry in a laser-focus performance as the seldom-satisfied Aaron Burr. Because Lin-Manuel Miranda became so associated with the title role, his absence is the hardest to get past. Michael Luwoye doesn’t project a distinctive charisma in the earlier scenes as Hamilton, where he can momentarily get lost in the crowds, but it’s a performance that grows in stature as the musical proceeds. Putting it all together, Hamilton is an audacious undertaking that has come together with something tantalizingly close to perfection. There is “importance” stamped on the material, but that is no hindrance to the sheer delight of a musical that, like Hamilton himself, knows what it wants and sets out to grab it.▼ Hamilton will run through Aug. 5 at the Orpheum Theatre. Tickets are still available in scattered locations at various performances during the run. Or enter the painless online lottery for a daily chance to win a pair of $10 tickets. All ticket info at shnsf.com.

Humane beings by Richard Dodds

t’s one thing if Bruce Jenner decides to publically identify as a woman – it’s a little late to be calling it a phase – but when prepubescent children insist that they are not what

their genitalia suggests, parents are understandably flummoxed. Aren’t the kids too young to make such fundamental decisions about themselves? Buy him boxing gloves and her a princess outfit, and wait for the phase to pass.

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But there are increasing numbers of parents who believe it’s better to nurture than to fight, knowing that challenges await, but not really knowing how or when or their enormity. Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder’s new play Everything That’s Beautiful charts one family’s early journey into these uncharted waters with a warmth that doesn’t dismiss the confusion and uncertainty affecting every move that both child and parents take. Developed in the theater’s new-play program, this appealingly humane work is having its world premiere at New Conservatory Theatre Center. While their motives may be complicated, parents Luke and Jess have decided to relocate from smalltown Pennsylvania to New York City, where they hope acceptance will come more easily for eightyear-old Morgan, who was their son but who they are trying to let grow up as their daughter. Morgan has no doubt about that gender identity, but that hasn’t been achieved without attempts at self-inflicted harm. The family may have found a welcome anonymity in the big city, but they haven’t been able to escape their own internal conflicts. Ed Decker’s sensitive direction provides breathing room for the characters to emerge organically, and while there are flirtations with melodrama, these moments aren’t allowed to pull the play out of shape. The cast is very much in tune with the rhythms and tones of the play, while Devin Kasper’s scenic design of swooping shapes and aquatic motifs provides an atmospheric setting in whatever location the characters find themselves. One of the most important locales is a water park, where Morgan’s older brother has a summer job selling

Lois Tema

Eight-year-old Morgan’s family provides support as gender issues are navigated in Everything’s That Beautiful, now in a worldpremiere production at New Conservatory Theatre Center.

snow-cones, and where a mermaid show leaves Morgan spellbound. Gaby, the resident mermaid, who also works in seamier circumstances in Coney Island, bonds with Morgan, and offers free swimming lessons. She doesn’t seem to mind spending time with Luke either, while Jess has a mild flirtation of her own in play at her job as a waitress. There must be a crash before the family can rebuild on a more solid foundation. The playwright made the dicey decision to have an eight-year-old character an equal part of the proceedings, but this production has a treasure in Mattea Fountain. The 6th grader plays Morgan with astonishing aplomb, displaying a solid grasp of the circumstances swirling around the character, and delivering dialogue with confidence. Dana Zook effectively captures Morgan’s brave-front mother who can’t shake the knit-brow of worry. As Luke, William Giammona plays the most

bottled-up character, and he lets us see his conflicting emotions as much through body language as dialogue. Nick Moore is utterly convincing as the surly teenage son who resents having to go along with his parents’ accommodations for Morgan’s needs, while April Deutschle plays the water-park mermaid with an inviting sense of mystery. Morgan’s parents may be progressive, but they have no answers that will carry them beyond the immediate present. What can Jess say when Morgan declares she doesn’t have a penis? And Luke is left speechless when Morgan asks him, “Do you think boys will think I’m pretty?” The answers will have to await plays yet to be written.▼ Everything That’s Beautiful will run at New Conservatory Theatre Center through April 23. Tickets are $25-$50. Call (415) 861-8972.

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Theatre>>

March 30-April 5, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 23

Joan Marcus

Megan Mullally, Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane were among the stars of the recent Broadway production of It’s Only a Play, which will mark NCTC’s 11th production of a Terrence McNally play when it opens next March.

NCTC

From page 19

Under Ed Decker’s artistic direction, NCTC’s season will start off with one of those world premieres. Expected racial roles are reversed in the gay relationship at the center of Harrison David Rivers’ This Bitter Earth (Sept. 22-Oct. 22). The focus is on a biracial couple in which the white partner is wrapped up in the Black Lives Matter movement while his African-American partner’s political apathy puts their relationship at risk. NCTC commissioned the play from the Minneapolis-based playwright, widely considered an important emerging talent. Next up is the regional premiere of Le Switch (Oct. 27-Dec. 3) by Philip Dawkins, the Chicago playwright who received a double introduction to the Bay Area in 2014 with overlapping productions of The Homosexuals at NCTC and Failure: A Love Story at Marin Theatre Company. In Le Switch, Dawkins looks at how different generations of gay men view the recent right to marry, especially a commitment-phobic New York librarian in his 30s who sees gay marriage as hetero-normative; and the dilemma he then faces when he is attracted to a much younger man at a wedding in Montreal who sees same-sex marriage simply as the norm. Come December, NCTC will present – drumroll, please – Avenue Q (Dec. 1-Jan. 7). If you think you have heard this before, it’s because this will be the fifth annual production of the Muppets-for-grownups musical. Still at Risk (Jan. 19-Feb. 25) is the second world premiere in the season nurtured through NCTC’s New Play Development Lab. The theater presented Tim Pinckney’s Message to Michael nearly 20 years ago, and in his new play, Pinckney

Courtesy Harrison David Rivers

NCTC commissioned Harrison David Rivers to write This Bitter Earth, about unexpected complications for a biracial gay couple, which will open the upcoming season in September.

focuses on a former AIDS activist struggling with a lost sense of purpose whose passions are rekindled when an event threatens to erase the history he was part of creating. Terrence McNally, the four-time Tony Award-winning playwright, will be represented on NCTC’s stage for the 11th time with the regional premiere of It’s Only a Play (March 2-April 1, 2018). McNally updated the references in his name-dropping backstage comedy for its recent starry Broadway run following an earlier run in 1986 (so goodbye Charles Nelson Reilly reference; hello, Harvey Fierstein). The story takes place as opening-night revelers are awaiting the reviews of a new play, while the real sweat is being shed by the producer, director, playwright, leading lady, and friends with various agendas who are sequestered in a suite upstairs, and who pass the time with insider-y bitchery about that business they call show. Bathsheba Dolan’s The Mystery of Love and Sex (April 13-May 20, 2018) may only have four characters, but it has the kind of title that suggests a sprawling investigation. That might not be far from the truth, for as The New York Times wrote of its 2015 Lincoln Center debut, Doran’s drama is “so packed with humanity that it seems infinitely larger, like a chart depicting the sexual and emotional anatomy of us all.” Its particular focus is on two childhood friends – she’s white and was raised Jewish, and he’s black and was raised Baptist – who still live together as adults but not as lovers. The comfortable arrangement begins to unravel during dinner with her parents, and paths forward are revealed not always to be the ones right in front of you. NCTC will close its season with an updated revival of Howard Crabtree’s When Pigs Fly (May 11-June 10, 2018), which first played the theater 15 years ago. The title derives from Crabtree’s high school counselor remarking on his dreams of making it big in the theater: “When pigs fly,” she replied. The musical revue is designed as a shoestring extravaganza in which mundane objects are used to build the spectacle, while the character “Howard” struggles with collapsing scenery, performers’ egos, and other backstage calamities. The show became an off-Broadway hit when it opened in 1996, just weeks after Crabtree had died from AIDS. The total number of shows in the season has been reduced from eight to seven, in part to allow for holdovers of popular productions and, according to Executive Director Barbara Hodgen, “to give us the time we need to go into even more depth as we develop new plays from queer and allied artists.” Several subscription packages containing different numbers of shows are now on sale. Call (415) 861-8972 or go to nctcsf.org.▼

CHEYENNE JACKSON

RITA MORENO

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN

April 7 – 8

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For tickets: feinsteinsatthenikko.com Feinstein’s | Hotel Nikko San Francisco 222 Mason Street | 855-322-2738

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.

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24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 30-April 5, 2017

Crawford clings to stardom in the 1950s by Tavo Amador

ollywood has always been tougher on women than men, especially during the studio era (1925-60). Actors like Clark Gable played romantic leads opposite much younger women. His last two co-stars, Sophia Loren and Marilyn Monroe, were respectively 33 and 25 years younger than he was. Actresses rarely had comparable chances. Joan Crawford (1906-77), who made her first movie in 1925 and became a star in 1928, was among the few women appearing in leading roles for over 30 years. But as can be seen in the fascinating TCM’s Joan Crawford in the 1950s, the strain showed. The four films in the collection include repeated references to her beauty. In all four, she plays women much younger than her age and relies on expert cinematography to create that illusion. In contrast, Gable looked his age in his final pictures. As Harriet Craig (1950), Crawford is a seemingly devoted wife who’s actually house-proud, orderobsessed, and manipulative. When loving, trusting husband Walter Craig (Wendell Corey) is offered a promotion at work that threatens Harriet’s world, she moves to block it. Walter, learning of her actions, confronts her. He realizes that their entire marriage has been a lie. In a mesmerizing scene, Harriet admits that she sees marriage as a bargain – she gave Walter a beautiful wife, a well-run home, and sex. He gave

her financial security. She recalls her Dickensian childhood, abandoned by her father, living behind a laundry run by her mother. It’s the most autobiographical scene in all of Crawford’s films. Director Vincent Sherman gets superb performances from both stars. With Lucille Watson and Ellen Corby (years before The Waltons). Anne Froelich and James Gunn adapted George Kelly’s 1926 misogynistic Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Crawford, uncredited, had a hand in the script. Sheila O’Brien designed Crawford’s wardrobe. The eye-popping 50s sets are by William Kiernan. Fine cinematography by Joseph Walker.

Helen Hunt was responsible for Crawford’s chic, mannish hairstyle. The film was a remake of 1936’s Craig’s Wife, played by 29-year-old Rosalind Russell. Queen Bee (1955) is even more misogynistic than Harriet Craig. Crawford is Eva Philips, an “outsider” who married into a wealthy southern family. Eva and husband Avery (Barry Sullivan) have two young children and outwardly seem like a devoted couple, but he’s more interested in running his business and drinking than in their marriage. His sister Carol Lee (Betsy Palmer) lives with them and is engaged to plant manager Jud Prentiss (John Ireland). Moving into the family mansion is Eva’s cousin Lucy Marlowe (Jennifer Stewart). Carol Lee compares Eva to a queen bee. Men find Eva irresistible, but her sting is deadly. Lucy, who initially adores her cousin, slowly discovers the truth. “Any man’s my man if I want it that way,” crows Eva. She remains resentful that the family “hates outsiders,” including her. The film builds to an operatic finale that is both gripping and hilarious. Ranald McDougall directed and adapted Edna Lee’s novel. Jean Louis designed Crawford’s superb wardrobe, which reveals a figure of a woman half her age. Dazzling cinematography by Charles Lang.

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In Autumn Leaves (1956), Crawford plays unmarried typist Millie Weatherly, living and working in a rented bungalow in Los Angeles. Despite her “loveliness,” she has no love life. Her landlady (Ruth Donnelly) seems to be her only friend. Then she meets Burt Hansen (Cliff Robertson), who courts her. She resists, citing their age difference, which the script suggests is only a few years. (Robertson was 19 years younger than Crawford.) He convinces her to marry him. The arrival of Burt’s ex-wife, Virginia (Vera Miles), disrupts their happiness. Millie knew nothing of their marriage. Millie also meets Burt’s father (pre-Bonanza Lorne Greene), whom she thought dead. When she confronts Burt, he becomes violent and physically abusive. Millie discovers Burt’s history of emotional breakdowns, triggered by a traumatic event, which eventually is revealed. She’s forced to institutionalize him. The film effectively portrays the harsh, primitive treatment options, the shame associated with mental illness, and Millie’s guilt about her decision. Crawford is uneven – often touching, frequently unbelievably melodramatic and noble. The hunky Robertson is excellent in his star-making part. Miles and Greene are terrific. Robert Aldrich (six years before Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?) directed, and shamelessly mimics From Here to Eternity’s famous beach scene. Blacklisted Jean Rouverol and Hugo Butler, along with Lewis Meltzer and Robert Blees, wrote the script. Jean Louis designed Crawford’s costumes. Sharp cinematography by Charles Lang. Nat King Cole sings the hit title song over the credits.

The Story of Esther Costello (1957) casts Crawford as wealthy Margaret Landi, who visits the Irish village she left as a child. The local priest (Dennis O’Dea) persuades her to assist a young blind and deaf girl living in squalor and ignorance. Margaret teaches Esther (Heather Sears) sign language and how to read braille. She gives her a loving, comfortable home. Margaret’s estranged husband, Carlo (handsome Rosanno Brazzi), re-enters her life, seeking a reconciliation, which she resists. But he prevails. He also suggests that Esther’s story be made public. Soon the girl becomes a media sensation. Margaret establishes a foundation to help disabled children. It’s funded by the money Esther earns from her public appearances. Then Margaret learns that Carlo has been stealing some of the funds. She also realizes that he’s attracted to Esther. One night, Carlo rapes the girl, with traumatic consequences for all concerned. The film, based on a novel by Nicholas Monsarrat, predated the movie versions of Elmer Gantry (1960) and The Miracle Worker (1962), yet anticipates elements of both. Crawford is convincing as the conflicted Margaret. Brazzi and Sears are excellent. David Miller’s suspenseful direction and Charles Kaufman’s operatic script result in a spellbinding if implausible picture. Only Crawford’s unwavering conviction could make the ending believable. Jean Louis again designed Crawford’s sumptuous wardrobe. Terrific cinematography by Robert Krasker. Crawford’s last movie was the lamentable Trog (1970). She played her final romantic role opposite Ty Hardin (24 years her junior) in Berserk (1967).▼

opening up five other restaurants with the help of Ida (Eve Arden), her friend and manager. Mildred begins an affair with Monte, but devotes all her time and money to providing for her two daughters so they will not undergo the same hardships she did. Kay will die of pneumonia, which makes Mildred dote on the monstrous, manipulative, pretentious, deceitful Veda, who resents her mother’s work as socially degrading but happily takes her money to sustain her luxurious lifestyle. Monte, rich in name only, essentially becomes Mildred’s gigolo, as she supports him. Mildred becomes aware how spoiled Veda is (“I think I’m seeing you for the first time in my life, and you’re cheap and horrible.”) Yet, unable to resist Veda’s guilt taunts (“It’s your fault I’m the way I am”), she continues to buy her love. Blyth comes dangerously close to stealing the film from Crawford. In one of the great lines in cinema

history Ida remarks, “Veda’s convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young.” Mildred marries Monte even though she doesn’t love him, hoping to win Veda over. Then the murder occurs with its surprise twist ending. A rarity among film noirs, with Crawford’s voiceover, we have the woman’s point of view. But here is Mildred Pierce, a successful career woman with a husband and two children, yet none of it brings her any happiness, because the one thing she wants, Veda’s love, she can’t have. The film implies that independent women who venture out of the house face disastrous consequences. This apocalyptic scenario fitted perfectly into the tenor of the times. WWII veterans returned home to find their jobs had been taken by women. Mildred’s downfall is a way of allaying those fears. The extras on this DVD include a 2002 documentary on the life of Crawford, with Anjelica Huston narrating; commentary from Christina Crawford telling what a horrible mother Joan was; astute observations from drag diva, playwright/film historian Charles Busch and surviving co-stars. The chat between film critic Molly Haskell and film historian Robert Polito is worthwhile. They feel Mildred and its director Michael Curtiz have been underappreciated. Finally there is the conversation taped in 2006 at the Castro Theatre, in a Mark Huestis production, between Ann Blyth and film historian Eddie Muller in which you realize what a virtuoso performance she gave. Mildred Pierce deserves to be rediscovered as a unique Hollywood classic.▼

Appreciating Mildred by Brian Bromberger

ith the 40th anniversary of the death of film star Joan Crawford fast approaching in May, it seems the right time to get beyond the Mommie Dearest childabusing wire-hanger cloud that has darkened her legacy for decades. With the success of the F/X cable series Feud detailing the acrimonious relationship she had with Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? co-star Bette Davis, and a sympathetic performance by Jessica Lange, Crawford is back in the cultural Zeitgeist, providing another reason to reevaluate her 50-year career. Criterion has put her most famous film and Oscar-winning performance as Mildred Pierce on Blu-ray in a flawless 4K digital restoration with uncompressed monaural soundtrack.

One forgets that prior to Mildred, Crawford was at the lowest ebb of her career. In her last years at MGM, she was branded box-office poison since her final films there had failed to make any money. After 18 years, Louis B. Mayer fired her in 1943. Crawford didn’t work for two years until Warner Bros. offered her Mildred, but only after other major actresses, including Barbara Stanwyck, had rejected the role. They didn’t want to play the mother of a 16-year-old girl in that ageconscious Hollywood era. Crawford was afforded the opportunity to make one of the greatest comebacks in screen history. It was an ideal role for a middle-aged actress, perfect for Crawford, known for playing indomitable, determined women who overcome tough odds. Here she also had to convey vulnerabil-

ity and fragility. The film was nominated for six Oscars, but only Crawford won. Allegedly ill the night of the Academy awards, she was at home with a 104 degree temperature. Upon learning she won, she summoned the media to her house for the famous picture of her in bed clutching her Oscar. Her victory put her back on top. The next decade saw some of her best screen performances. Mildred Pierce is a weird amalgamation of film noir and women’s picture. It was based on a psychological novel by James Cain. The film was recast into a murder mystery, which was not part of the book. In its famous beginning, Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott), Mildred Pierce’s second husband, is murdered in her house. As he lays dying, he keeps repeating her name. We then see Mildred walking on a pier, threatening to commit suicide, but stopped by a strolling policeman. She encounters her former business partner, Wally (Jack Carson in a snappy performance), and tries to frame him for the murder. The police feel Mildred’s first husband, Bert Pierce (Bruce Bennett), is the real culprit. They interrogate Mildred, who tells her life story in a series of flashbacks. When Bert loses his real estate job and announces he is seeing another woman, Mildred throws him out of the house. She will raise her two daughters, Kay and Veda (Ann Blyth), on her own. She gets a job as a waitress. With the help of her husband’s business partner, Wally, she wants her own restaurant. Playboy Monte gives her a great deal on the house she wants to use as the restaurant. She becomes a huge success,

March 30-April 5, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 25

Charting a fresh course by Philip Campbell

ecent San Francisco Symphony concerts at Davies Symphony Hall have been varied and highly contrasted, each offering interesting selections along with proven favorites. Differences in presentation hinted at the exciting course Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas is charting for the Orchestra, his fans, regular attendees, and life-sustaining new (read younger) listeners. SoundBox, the Symphony’s nightclub venue, has stimulated fresh interest in all sorts of experimental and traditional music, but it is small and hard to get tickets. The buzz has been constant. Nothing is more likely to generate curiosity than limited availability and a long queue, but there has also been a genuine sense of discovery and delight about the place, and the atmosphere is hip, relaxed and enthusiastic. If Fearless Leader can’t get everyone into SoundBox, he will just have to bring SoundBox to the big stage, and last week he managed to bring some of the fun to a larger crowd with a highly engaging concert that featured some of the smaller venue’s eye-catching attractions. We have seen the trend for several years of presenting concerts in enhanced mixed-media formats at DSH. Semi-staged productions have enjoyed a notable success rate, so why not amp things up with light-shows and visuals for other concerts? Kronos Quartet had the idea years ago, and the surprise won them acclaim. Their prodigious talent secured an audience, and no one would accuse them of pandering. A new generation of concertgoers has missed the opportunity for familiarity with the core repertoire. We can only blame their pennypinching and shortsighted elders for that. Technology has also made shorter, more segmented musical fare the norm. A little visual stimulus

during longer works is entertaining, but also helps with appreciation and understanding. With visualization conceived by MTT and evocative projections designed by video artist Clyde Scott and lighting design by Luke Kritzeck, the recent concerts featuring maverick composer John Cage’s brief but resonant dance score The Seasons (1947) were beautifully realized. Too bad all the pretty windowdressing wasn’t used through the rest of the evening, SoundBox style. This is not to say the North American premiere of composer Robin Holloway’s Europa & the Bull did not enjoy a fine performance and presentation. SFS Principal Tuba Jeffrey Anderson played the solo role and made good on his promise as Holloway’s muse when the work was first co-commissioned by the SFS and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society. The score is accessible enough without lighting effects, but they wouldn’t have hurt. The piece is per-

Luke Ratray

Violinist Gil Shaham played Davies Hall.

suasive enough to stand on its own, without the lengthy program synopsis. The title tells it all, and Holloway’s old friend and colleague MTT, along with Anderson’s wonderful resonance, made a big success of a relatively small work. The composer was in attendance, and his beaming face expressed his gratitude to the performers and audience. The evening ended with a good if underwhelming rendition of Bartok’s masterpiece Concerto for Orchestra (1943). The moody, richly textured music might have benefitted from lights and screens, but the audience didn’t seem to need the extras, and the ovation was sincere. The prior week offered a more conventional experience, but the inclusion of two modern, albeit tonal and Late Romantic works added spice to the menu. Guest conductor Juraj Valcuha opened with Franz Schreker’s Chamber Symphony (1916), and the glistening score was instantly seductive. Valcuha seemed a bit rigid for the hothouse salon atmosphere, and he let interest sag a bit. It was a great set-up, anyway, for the appearance of well-loved guest violinist Gil Shaham and his heartfelt reading of Samuel Barber’s gorgeous Violin Concerto, Opus 14 (1940). The music is lyrical and exquisitely melodic for the first two movements, but turns brilliant and technically challenging during the final Presto in moto perpetuo. Shaham’s eagerness added urgency to his playing, never losing the passionate thread of the narrative. The night ended with Valcuha’s pleasing interpretation of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. It was hardly earthshaking, but the SFS musicians gamely followed the guest leader. MTT and Herbert Blomstedt before him have shown what they can really do.▼

Remembering Bayard Rustin

Courtesy Estate of Bayard Rustin

Bayard Rustin and Walter Naegle in a scene from Matt Wolf’s short film Bayard and Me.

by David-Elijah Nahmod

n Matt Wolf ’s short, sweet film Bayard and Me, Walter Naegle, a gay man in New York, recalls his relationship with Bayard Rustin (1912-87). Rustin was the openly gay civil rights leader who worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King in organizing the March on Washington in 1963. Because of his homosexuality, Rustin has often been left out of history. Wolf, a younger gay man who grew up in San Jose, is a longtime admirer of Rustin. The filmmaker, who currently lives in New York, points his camera at Naegle and lets the now 68-year-old share his memories. Parts of Bayard and Me were shot in the New York apartment

where Rustin and Naegle made a life together. That apartment remains Naegle’s home three decades after Rustin’s passing. Bayard and Me is only 16 minutes long. Wolf manages to include an impressive amount of information in the film’s scant running time. As Naegle walks through New York’s once-seedy Times Square, he recalls his first meeting with Rustin in front of a newspaper stand in 1977. Both men were waiting for a red light. They looked into each other’s eyes and instantly connected, remaining together for the rest of Rustin’s life. At the time, Rustin was 65. Naegle was 27. He speaks honestly and matter-of-factly about their age differences. Both men knew that their time together would be

limited. Naegle also recalls a mom that many gay men of the period might have wished they had. Though concerned for the many taboos her son was breaking (a gay, interracial, intergenerational relationship) at a time when LGBT equality laws were still a dream and intolerance was still the norm, Mrs. Naegle accepted their relationship and embraced Rustin. As he sits in the home they once shared, a home still filled with many objeßts d’art that Rustin collected and loved, Naegle reminds us what life was like in those pre-marriageequality days. Rustin wanted to be sure that Naegle could remain in their home after his passing. To give Naegle legal status, Rustin adopted Naegle as his son, a common practice among same-sex couples in generations past. Mrs. Naegle signed the necessary paperwork, giving up her own parental connection to her son so the adoption could move forward. The best films leave you wanting more. When Bayard and Me fades out, most viewers will be thirsty for more. In 2013 Naegle accepted the Medal of Freedom from Pres. Obama in honor of Rustin’s civil rights work. It was a long overdue honor, yet this is not mentioned in the film. Hopefully Wolf and Naegle can collaborate on a longer version of this work, so that more insight into the couple’s life and Rustin’s work can be offered. Bayard and Me is currently touring the film festival circuit. For more info: superdeluxe.com or mattwolf.info.▼

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26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 30-April 5, 2017

Czech butch dyke flick hits the Roxie by Erin Blackwell

an Francisco is no longer the citadel of all things bohemian. We have been colonized by soulless technocrats who daily drive down the quality of life in this erstwhile haven for artists, anarchists, and free spirits. We have lost so much ground to the forces of conformism and successism, and yet here and there pockets of subversion hang on. One such cultural holdout is the venerable Roxie Theater on 16th Street. For the three days of the Czech That Film mini-fest, cinephiles plunge into the inspirational dreams of the ancient kingdom of Bohemia herself. Six recent films reveal the cutting edge of a rich aesthetic heritage, starting Friday. On July 10, 1973, in the capital city of Prague, a truck going 60 mph jumped the sidewalk and mowed down a small group of people, killing eight and injuring 12. It wasn’t an accident. The driver was a 22-year-old woman with hate

in her heart for the human race. Olga Hepnarova was ahead of her time. Today, her mad act would fit right into the online Daily Mail’s collection of bizarre urban atroci-

ties. Nonetheless, eyebrows would still be raised at the fact that she was a woman acting alone, unaffiliated with an Islamist, or indeed any other human, let alone group, a white European simply hellbent on destroying a bunch of her fellow citizens. Of course she was a lesbian. A couple of men, writers-directors Tomáš Weinreb and Petr Kazda, have taken on the task of publicizing Hepnarova’s evil genius so that she might serve as an inspiration to a new generation of lesbian troublemakers. For this, I applaud them, and urge everyone to run to this opening-night film, annoyingly scheduled at 9:20 p.m. on March 31, and only playing once. But maybe the Roxie will wise up and make it a regular Midnight show with costume contests, kiss-ins, and truck-driver discounts. Free popcorn for alienated butch truck-drivers convinced the world hates them.

Courtesy SFFILM

Scene from director Eliza Hittman’s Beach Rats.

SFIFF

From page 19

The opening-night film (4/5, Castro) is Landline, director Gillian Robespierre’s probe of our distracted digital online world with its everincreasing stress factors. The chief characters are sisters Dana (Jenny Slate) and Ali (Abby Quinn), their

parents heading for divorce court (Edie Falco and John Turturro), and their boyfriends (Jay Duplass and Finn Wittrock). Landline references a recent past now way in the rear-view mirror, the Bill Clinton era, when our world was not run from an internet cloud. The only references to clouds in our romantic affairs lay in lyrics from Rodgers

& Hart, Lerner & Loewe, Jagger & Richards, or Lennon & McCartney. Followed by an opening-night party at the Regency Center, 1300 Van Ness Ave., SF. Here are capsule summaries of a few film programs of particular interest to the LGBTQ community. Beach Rats Director Eliza Hittman, whose 2013 first feature It Felt Like Love played the festival, returns with a tale of a confused Brooklyn teen, Frankie (handsome newcomer Harris Dickinson), caught between a public life of drugs, Coney Island beach romps, handball games with macho, misbehaving buddies, and the world of online chats with older men. The film raises the question of whether Frankie can ever admit to his same-sex desires and still retain a social place his traditional Brook-

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The film’s title, I, Olga Hepnarova, is a quote from a brief manifesto she sent to two newspapers before her final truck ride. Alas, having never before heard of this icon of butch liberation, I don’t know the letter by heart, but must quote from Wikipedia. “I am a loner. A destroyed woman. A woman destroyed by people. I have a choice – to kill myself or to kill others. I choose TO PAY BACK MY HATERS. It would be too easy to leave this world as an unknown suicide victim. Society is too indifferent, rightly so. My verdict is: I, Olga Hepnarova, the victim of your bestiality, sentence you to death.” Wow. I, Olga Hepnarova is shot in black-and-white, in a style that is cold, clinical, and near the film’s start, even kitsch in its depiction of lesbian style. A ham-fisted series of encounters establishes Olga’s dyke credentials upfront in a graphic display that will satisfy the male voyeur. Lead actress Michalina Olszanska does a pretty good job of looking permanently pissed-off, hunching her body into a tense curve of

repressed rage, head down, gaze averted. The actress is, however, a raven-haired beauty, filmed in interminable close-ups with a vaguely alienated semi-sneer and an ineptly held cigarette in fingers that lack that hard-earned nicotine stain. Hepnarova was hanged on March 12, 1975, after a trial at which she made clear her contempt for a society that had bullied her. Was she schizophrenic? Probably. How did she get that way? The film doesn’t attempt an answer, satisfied to illustrate the known facts of the case in a meticulous reenactment that never takes flight into the heart of her madness. We are held at arm’s length, in a literal-minded rendering of alienation that remains tentative and cautious where its anti-heroine was over-the-top monstrous. Only the Czech equivalent of a young Bette Davis could do this bitch justice, and even she’d need a better script.▼

lyn neighborhood. Hittman won a Best Director award at the 2017 Sundance festival. (SFMOMA, 4/9; Roxie, 4/11) Discreet Travis Mathews, director of 2013’s Interior, Leather Bar, returns with a small Texas-set tale of a man whose return home reawakens desires and memories he thought he had outgrown. Plays with Bay Area filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt’s seven-minute Trumpera short Scared. Very Scared. (Castro, 4/8) This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous Academy Award-winning documentary-maker Barbara Kopple directs this unveiling of the journey that allowed one Gregory Lazzarato to become “Gigi Gorgeous,” then share her transition stories and advice with others on a similar path. Following this screening there will be onstage Q&A about the role of YouTube and other special media. (Victoria, 4/12) The House of Tomorrow Onetime child actor Asa Butterfield has grown up while retaining his acting chops, as demonstrated in this engrossing comedy-drama whose subjects cover the waterfront from young love to the legacy of geodesic dome inventor Buckminster Fuller. Butterfield is Sebastian, a bright teen and orphan living with his grandmother (big-screen legend Ellen Burstyn). Sebastian and Grandma are huge fans of geodesic-dome advocate Fuller, hoping that Bucky’s ideas will lead to a revolution in home construction. In the course of his adventures, Sebastian meets another cute teen (Alex Wolff), and the duo bond over the boy’s heart condition, his cute sister and the opportunity to form their own punk band. Peter Livolsi’s direction includes a hint

of homoerotic tension between the nominally straight teens. (SFMOMA, 4/8, 13; Dolby, 4/9) The Death of Louis XIV (France/ Portugal/Spain) It’s shocking to realize that one of my all-time-favorite French actors, Jean-Pierre Leaud, is not only old enough to play, but through the magic of his craft and great makeup, indeed resembles the great Sun King, Louis XIV, on his death bed. Albert Serra’s chamber piece reputedly touches on the pain, humor and downright weirdness of the death of a King, back when people took the whole monarchy thing deadly seriously. (BAM/PFA, 4/6; YBCA, 4/8, 12) Citizen Kane (1941) A towering work from the then-25-year-old prodigy actor-writer-director Orson Welles. In concert with genius-level collaborations from screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, cinematographer Gregg Toland and composer Bernard Herrmann, Welles exposes the feet of clay of a newspaper baron (based on William Randolph Hearst) plutocrat pretending to be the people’s tribune. The screening will be followed by an onstage conversation between Hearst grandson William R. Hearst III and film historian David Thomson. (YBCA, 4/6) Rivers and Tides - Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time Director Thomas Riedelsheimer implants us with the aging artist as he prepares artistic installations on landscapes around the world, including England and Scotland. The result is a little bit like an extended version of CBS Sunday Morning’s fabled Minute with Nature series, accented by a musical score by Fred Frith. (Vogue, 4/8)▼

Czech That Film, March 31-April 2, Roxie Theater. roxie.com.

Our coverage continues next week. More info at sffilm.org.

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Karrnal Knowledge Vol. 47 • No. 13 • March 30-April 5, 2017

Cheyenne Jackson

Broadway & TV star – and doting dad – returns to Feinstein’s

by Jim Gladstone

heyenne Jackson, who brings his cabaret act to Feinstein’s at the Nikko next weekend, has made some rather significant changes in his life since his last performance in San Francisco. See page 28 >>

Cheyenne Jackson

The Original Breakfast Club The long, amazing history of the 181 Club by Michael Flanagan

here are rare bars that are popular in one generation and come back a second time. Even rarer is one which has three lives. The 181 Club was such a bar. It lasted from the 1950s to the 1990s and left its mark on three generations. See page 29 >>

Left: Vicki Marlane (white wig), Pat Montclaire and her showboys at Club 181. Right: Vicki Marlane (standing) and other performers at Club 181 in the 1970s.

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

28 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 30-April 5, 2017

Robert Martinez

Cheyenne Jackson onstage at a 2014 concert in Arizona.

Cheyenne Jackson

From page 27

Just a month after his January 2014 engagement at Feinstein’s, the veteran of Broadway, American Horror Story, Glee, and the San Francisco Symphony production of West Side Story announced his engagement to Jason Landau, an actor and entrepreneur, who he praises as “smart, animated, and sharply funny.” Jackson, who met Landau at a 12-step meeting in 2013, says that he had natural trepidations about building a relationship while working recovering from both addiction and Cheyenne Jackson’s album Renaissance. the end of his first marriage. “But when I met Jason,” he recalls, “I knew. We both did.” is his biologically, and one is mine. The couple were married in Sep“I hadn’t really seen myself as the tember, 2014 and welcomed daughdad of twins,” admits Jackson. “But ter Willow and son Ethan this past you’re encouraged at the fertility October. clinics to put in two embryos to up Jackson explains that he and Lanyour chances of one pregnancy takdau had their children via surrogacy. ing. You have to really be mentally “We used a gestational surrogate ready for both to take, though, and and an egg donor and fertilized with for the reality of having two human his and my sperm. So one of the kids beings to care for. It’s a 20 percent

Cheyenne Jackson with Lady Gaga in American Horror Story: Hotel.

chance or something. And that’s what happened. “We tried just once, with two embryos and were so blessed to have both take. Now I can’t imagine anything else. People say to us, ‘Oh my god, how do you manage two?’ But it’s all we know, and honestly, one would seem strange at this point. It’s loud in our house, and we love it!” Jackson says he turned to fellow gay dads in the entertainment business for tips on impending fatherhood. “I chatted with Ricky Martin when we were in our second trimester,” said Jackson. “He had lots of advice on twins, since he has first-hand experience.” Another role model was filmmaker Ira Sachs, who has five-year-old twins with husband Boris Torres. Sachs directed Jackson –along with John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, and Marisa Tomei– in Love Is Strange, a tender, criminally underseen 2014 feature about longterm gay relationships. (Available on streaming services including Amazon and YouTube). After Ethan and Willow were born, Jackson took a six-month hiatus from work to be a stay-at-home father. But that didn’t stop him from exercising his musical talents. “I sing to my kids constantly,” he noted recently from the family’s home in Los Angeles. “Sometimes it’s children’s songs, but there’s almost always music playing in our house, so I just sing along. Both kids really respond to music. Their bodies wiggle and their arms and legs shoot out adorably and they squeal. Sometimes I just make up a song for them. Jason does fully choreographed danced routines. They love that, and they laugh hard.” Jackson says he grew up in a house full of music himself. “My mom always sang to me. She never took a music lesson, but she had perfect pitch and a clear, beautiful voice. She sang folk music mostly: Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan—my parents were hippies.” And evangelical Christians. “My mother taught me how to sing harmony when I was five,” added Jackson. “There’s a song I remember singing with her, ‘Oh you can’t get to heaven on roller skates/’Cause you’d roll right by those pearly gates.’” “Lots of subtext in that one,” jokes Jackson, whose early Broadway leads included the rolling role of Sonny in the camp extravaganza, Xanadu. While Jackson now maintains a good relationship with his mother after some uneasiness in the years after his coming out, he says that he’ll raise his own kids with slightly different lessons. “The Golden Rule always applies… but I’m going to be skipping

the Bible stories. And I’m going to teach them what RuPaul taught me. Other people’s opinions of me are none of my business!” As his six months at home with the children comes to an end, Jackson says that while “it’s been the most rewarding experience of my life, I definitely feel the pressure to be employed because there are two more mouths to feed. I don’t fret about it though. My priority is still my relationship with my husband and with my kids.

“We have a nanny who helps out when one of us can’t be home during the weekdays,” he explains. “But it’s just us at night and on the weekends. We love it that way. We want to be there for every single part of their lives. These first six months have already gone too quickly and I don’t want to miss a thing.” Close to home in LA, Jackson is starting production on a new television series, American Woman, set in the 1970s and co-starring Alicia Silverstone and Mena Suvari. A late March concert in Florida and his upcoming San Francisco booking are the only out-of-town gigs currently on his schedule. Jackson’s performances here will include some new selections, including a tribute to George Michael, a childhood idol, but also fresh takes on tunes that his cabaret audiences have heard him sing in the past. “It’s interesting what fatherhood does to your storytelling as a singer,” he remarks. “I’m finding much more pathos and nuance in some of the songs. “It’s all about my kids right now. And that’s exactly the way I want it. I’m sick of it being about me. It’s been about me for 40 years. They are much more interesting than me.”t

Cheyenne Jackson performs his new cabaret show at Feinstein’s at the Nikko, April 7 at 8pm, and April 8 at 7pm & 10pm. $85-$105 ($20 food/drink minimum). Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason Street. www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com

Cheyenne Jackson’s Instagram

Top: Jason Landau with husband Cheyenne Jackson. Bottom: Landau and Jackson their twins, Ethan and Willow.