May 11, 2017 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter

Jenner has some regrets

ARTS

The Box

Ginger's Trois redux

The

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Vol. 47 • No. 19 • May 11-17, 2017

Sheehy calls for ‘respite center’ by Matthew S. Bajko

D Rick Gerharter

Petra DeJesus

DeJesus fights for SF police panel seat

by Seth Hemmelgarn

lesbian longtime San Francisco police commissioner is fighting to keep her seat after a labor leader with a history of verbal and physical outbursts who just moved to the city applied for the post. Two of the three members of the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee say they’re supporting Petra DeJesus, an attorney who’s been on the police oversight panel since 2005. People who don’t earn the committee’s recommendation don’t typically make it to the full board, so it’s unclear whether Olga Miranda, who’s See page 11 >>

CA official admits ‘mistake’ on ADAP by Seth Hemmelgarn

he head of Ca l i f or n i a’s Office of AIDS got an earful from advocates and others during a hearing this week about problems with the state’s AIDS Drug Matthew Whitley Assistance Program. Among other is- Dr. Karen Mark sues, many people had trouble getting access to medication and data for dozens of clients was breached after the state switched to a new contractor last year to oversee enrollment and eligibility. At an Assembly hearing Monday, May 8, Office of AIDS Chief Dr. Karen Mark explained how AJ Boggs had won the contract over Ramsell Corporation, which had done the work for almost 20 years. Assemblyman Mike Gipson (D-Carson), who chairs the Select Committee on Infectious Diseases in High Risk Disadvantaged Communities, told Mark, “I’m just a little confused. How did AJ Boggs score so high See page 13 >>

istrict 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy would like to open what he is calling a “respite center” in the city’s gay Castro district, possibly in a vacant retail space on the edge of the Duboce Triangle neighborhood, that would welcome homeless people off the streets during the day. It is his answer to the call by some homeless advocates to open in his supervisor district a Navigation Center, which can house homeless individuals and their belongings on a temporary basis as the city works to find them permanent housing. “We know there is growing support for a respite center,” Sheehy told the Bay Area Reporter. “I want to get the conversations rolling so enough people are comfortable with it to get it moving forward.” Since being appointed to his board seat in January by Mayor Ed Lee, Sheehy has questioned the need for placing a Navigation Center in District 8 when there are two such facilities on the border of his district. He also has noted the lack of available sites in District 8 that could house a Navigation Center. Instead, he envisions opening a facility in the Castro where homeless individuals could take shelter during the day and be off the streets, grab a bite to eat, and be connected to housing programs and other services. The

Courtesy North Beach Citizens

Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, center, toured the North Beach Citizens homeless resource center with Executive Director Kristie Fairchild and development director Don Spradlin.

model he has in mind is the homeless resource center operated by North Beach Citizens, which Sheehy toured Wednesday, May 3. In a Facebook post about his visit, he promoted replicating the agency’s model in the Castro. It was an idea former District 8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty had talked about when he was in office a decade ago. “The work of North Beach Citizens is truly amazing. They are a community funded

organization that provides meals, support services, and a pathway to housing for hundreds of homeless and low-income individuals,” wrote Sheehy. “The tour of their facility and operations today was very productive and I’m hopeful that we can duplicate this successful model to help our homeless residents in District 8.” See page 12 >>

Jennings steals show at EQCA gala by Cynthia Laird

alifornia Attorney General Xavier Becerra told the largely LGBT crowd that he’ll continue fighting for their rights as he accepted Equality California’s Vanguard Leadership Award last weekend in San Francisco. Gay Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) touted his successful law that instituted a ban for non-essential travel to states with anti-LGBT laws that the attorney general’s office compiled. But it was Jazz Jennings, a trans teenager and reality television star, who stole the show at the May 6 San Francisco Equality Awards gala with her heartfelt message for equality. Jennings, 16, whose “I Am Jazz” show is broadcast on TLC, received EQCA’s Visibility Award. She told the sold-out audience of about 700 people at the Westin St. Francis that she was diagnosed with gender dysphoria disorder at age 3. “Finally, when I was 5, I began my social transition to become the girl I am today, in kindergarten in 2006,” she said, drawing laughter from the audience. Her family has been fully supportive, she said, explaining that her parents have had to fight to let her use the girl’s restroom at school. She would often pee her pants, she said. “I just want to pee in peace,” Jennings added. Jennings told the audience she has battled depression and isolation and experienced bullying. “In the end, the obstacles made me stronger,” she said.

Rick Gerharter

Jazz Jennings speaks at Equality California’s San Francisco gala.

And to those who have seen her YouTube videos or TV show, she acknowledged that giving up her privacy for life in the spotlight has not always been easy. “I’m willing to give up some of my privacy if it helps other trans people,” she said. In the current political environment of President Donald Trump, Republican-controlled Congress, and may GOP-controlled statehouses, Jennings said it’s “a tough year for kids like me, and the whole community, in fact.” “But we won’t be bullied – you hear that,

Mr. President?” she said. “Our community has already shown the world we live authentically. We will not give up.” In accepting his award, Becerra, who was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown after former Attorney General Kamala Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate, pointed out he was one of the few who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 when he served as a congressman. But he wanted to look to the future. “I hope you’re giving me this honor not for stands I took 20 years ago,” he said. “I hope you’re doing this because of what I will do to continue the fight.” He pointed to religious liberty, which he described as “an important and cherished value.” The First Amendment, he said, gives people the right to exercise their religious beliefs, but not to force those beliefs on someone else. “The moment I hear ‘discrimination’ I get wound up,” Becerra said. “We need to stand up and get in the way, as [Representative] John Lewis says, and that’s what I will do.” Other honorees at the dinner included Michael Dunn, chairman and chief executive officer of Prophet, a consulting firm that redesigned EQCA’s logo, and Washington Post opinion writer Jonathan Capehart, who received the Leadership Award. EQCA Executive Director Rick Zbur said that the gala was the organization’s largest in San See page 5 >>

{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS }

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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.

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

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

May 11-17, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

Herrera wins judgment against landlord by David-Elijah Nahmod

an Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has secured a $2.4 million judgment against a woman who his office called a “notorious” landlord who had illegally forced tenants from their rent-controlled homes so that she could charge more money. Herrera announced May 3 that he had secured a tentative ruling against Anne Kihagi for her egregious patterns of unlawful business practices that include waging “a war of harassment, intimidation, and retaliation” against her tenants, according to a news release from the city attorney’s office. Properties included those in the Castro, Noe Valley, Mission, and North Beach. According to Herrera’s news release, the ruling, which would void the illegal evictions obtained by Kihagi and would also include a $2.4 million judgment, is subject to minor clerical corrections before it becomes permanent. “She bullied longtime tenants, even elderly and disabled tenants, from their rent-controlled homes in the middle of a housing crisis just to line her pockets,” Herrera said in a statement. “She forced one tenant out of his longtime home as he battled terminal cancer. That breathtaking cruelty was matched only by her contempt for the law.” One of those tenants who was illegally evicted by Kihagi was Allison Leshefsky, a lesbian who lost her Castro district apartment. She

Courtesy CBS5

Landlord Anne Kihagi

told the Bay Area Reporter that she was pleased to hear about the ruling obtained by Herrera. “San Francisco is a city that needs to be safe,” Leshefsky, 35, said via phone from her current home in Portland, Oregon, noting that during the presidency of Donald Trump and the GOP-controlled House and Senate, there was a particular need for LGBT sanctuary cities. “In a normal city you could pack up your things and look for another apartment, but not in San Francisco,” she said. Leshefsky was referring to the current San Francisco housing market, where many units are rented for $3,000-5,000 per month. Leshefsky lived in her rentcontrolled apartment at 19th and

Eureka streets for 10 years. She worked as a teacher at Paul Revere Elementary School in the Mission district and noted how difficult it is for the San Francisco Unified School District to fill teaching positions because of the cost of housing. “The children of San Francisco deserve teachers who are secure in their homes so they can dedicate themselves to teaching,” she said. According to the 154-page ruling by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Angela Bradstreet, Kihagi smiled as she told one tenant, “I am going to be happy when your grandmother is dead.” The judge also found that Kihagi often interrupted water, gas, electricity, and mail services in her attempts to force rent-controlled tenants out of her buildings. Karen Uchiyama, an attorney representing Kihagi, denied that exchange took place and said no tenant testified that Kihagi said that. Uchiyama said that they are planning to appeal, noting the city initially asked for $11 million to settle the case. Kihagi rejected that, and the case went to trial. The attorney accused the city of going on a witch-hunt. “She is not a slumlord,” Uchiyama said in a phone call Monday. Lawyers who represent tenants hailed the tentative judgment. “This is a great victory for tenants in San Francisco,” Steve Collier, a tenant’s rights attorney at the See page 11 >>

San Mateo LGBT center launches by Matthew S. Bajko

he Bay Area’s newest LGBT community center will officially open its doors in San Mateo County on June 1 to mark the start of Pride Month. Its launching means that all nine of the region’s counties now have community centers serving the needs of the local LGBT community. “I wish I had something like this when I was growing up,” said San Bruno native Lisa Putkey, 31, who is queer and was hired to be the center’s program director. The San Mateo County Pride Center is located at 1021 South El Camino Real in San Mateo, roughly 20 miles south of San Francisco. It soft-opened in February and has already begun hosting services, programs, and the meetings of the county’s LGBT commission. Convening in the building for the first time, having spent a decade advocating for the creation of an LGBT center, “it felt real,” said Commissioner Jei Africa, 47, a transgender man who lives in San Carlos. Africa, a psychologist and director of the San Mateo Health System’s Ofﬁce of Diversity and Equity, said the idea of having an LGBT center on the Peninsula was ﬁrst broached by the county’s Pride Initiative. It was then taken up by the LGBT County Commission, which was formed in 2014 to advise county leaders on the needs of the community.

EQCA gala

From page 1

Francisco. An EQCA spokesman said the event raised $400,000, $75,000 of which came from a pitch during the dinner. Zbur told the audience that California will protect LGBT undocumented people, and undocumented

Alyssa Canfield

The entrance of the new San Mateo County Pride Center.

Last year county officials designated $2.2 million over three years toward the establishment of the LGBT center. The funding is from the Mental Health Services Act, a special property tax state voters passed in 2004. “Having the center in the city of San Mateo is hopefully really convenient,” said Africa, noting it is a 10-minute walk from the city’s Caltrain station and located on several bus lines. The center is a joint project between five county nonprofits that have been delivering various LGBT-focused services under the auspices of the San Mateo County people in general. “We know what we need to do – protect and defend our community. We’re fighting the erasure of LGBT people from federal programs, which is what they want to do,” Zbur said, referring to the Trump administration. He also noted that there are seven congressional districts in California

Behavioral Health and Recovery Services. The agencies are StarVista, Peninsula Family Service, Outlet of Adolescent Counseling Services, Daly City Partnership, and Pyramid Alternatives. The quintet has been moving its LGBT-related programs into the center, while StarVista, as the lead agency, has been hiring a number of positions to staff the center, such as an administrative assistant, peer support worker, and a community outreach coordinator. “We will have social events, education workshops, trainings, and programs in addition to direct clinical services for individuals and family counseling,” said Putkey, who is an employee of StarVista. The center has a three-year lease for the nearly 4,400 square foot space, formerly a bank branch, with an option to extend it for several years. Its hours are still being worked out, but it is expected to be open weekdays from late in the morning into early evening and at least one weekend day. The Pride center is hosting a community forum from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, May 13 to hear from the public what sorts of programs and services it should offer. Its grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, June 1. It will also debut its website that day at sanmateopride.org/.t

that are represented by Republicans but were carried by Hillary Clinton in the presidential election and are in the Central Valley, Orange County, and San Diego, and pledged that EQCA would get to work educating constituents with the goal of flipping those districts in next year’s midterm elections. t

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<< Open Forum

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 11-17, 2017

Volume 47, Number 19 May 11-17, 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 ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small Bogitini VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

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EQCA zeroes in on the resistance E

quality California is poised to become a leader in the ongoing resistance to President Donald Trump and his administration. At its sold-out San Francisco Equality Awards gala last weekend, Executive Director Rick Zbur spoke about the challenges LGBTs face under the new administration. “It’s fair to say the world has changed,” he said. “This is a test of our community.” Over the last three years, Zbur has worked to shore up EQCA’s bottom line and that has paid off. California may be deep blue when it comes to our statewide officeholders and Legislature, but there are 14 Republicans in Congress from the Golden State. Zbur explained that EQCA has a plan to flip some of those seats. If he and other allies are successful, it could help the Democrats take back control of the House. Seven Republican members of Congress in California represent districts that voted for Hillary Clinton last year. Zbur said those seats are in the Central Valley, Orange County, and San Diego. EQCA has hired full-time organizers to start talking with voters and doing other outreach work. It makes sense to begin that organizing now, rather than in the heat of a campaign, as we learned from the Proposition 8 experience in 2008. EQCA is also broadly focusing on issues such as health care, immigration, civil rights, voting rights, and climate change, in addition to marriage rights, Zbur said. All are important, and all affect the LGBTQ community. Flipping some of those seven seats would help increase the chances of Democrats controlling the House; it’s important to look

at each congressional district, identify good candidates, and get them elected. One district at a time. Trump’s diehard supporters (about 40 percent) may not have tired of him yet, but plenty of other folks who voted for him are beginning to sober up. The more Congress tries to screw over working and middle-class people, the more they will see that Trump’s GOP is out of control and actively working against their interests. There’s also the U.S. Supreme Court, which is one retirement or death away from giving the president an opportunity to nominate another extreme conservative. (Neil Gorsuch, who was recently sworn in, took the place of the late Antonin Scalia, so didn’t fundamentally alter the court’s 5-4 conservative edge.) “We know what we need to do,” Zbur said. “We need to protect and defend our community.” EQCA also has a robust state legislative package this year, aimed at revamping some outdated laws and developing new ones. In

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recent weeks we have reported that the organization backs a proposed law that would change how sex offenders are tracked and another that would modernize HIV criminalization laws. Both laws are outdated and negatively affect gay men; they’re holdovers from a time when gays were considered perverts worthy of punishment. Two bills that aim to ease the state’s name change procedures for transgender, intersex, and nonbinary individuals are also moving through the Legislature. Next week, LGBTs and allies have a chance to advocate for those and other state bills at EQCA’s Advocacy Day. Joining with the Human Rights Campaign, LGBTQ Advocacy Day takes place Tuesday, May 16 in Sacramento. It’s an opportunity for activists to learn about the legislative process and how to effectively lobby lawmakers while becoming advocates for equality and social justice. EQCA, HRC, and other organizations will be lobbying on issues important to the LGBT community like health care, education, HIV/ AIDS, and trans rights. After some fiscal uncertainty before Zbur took the reins, EQCA now finds itself reenergized – and rebounding financially. It has set achievable goals and collaborates with other LGBT and allied organizations. That’s a good recipe going forward. LGBTs are going to need our allies to stand up to Trump who is more interested – and invested – in his personal businesses than running the country. As we saw earlier this year, many Americans are not sold on Trumpcare, which would gut coverage for the poorest and jack up costs for the sickest. Zbur said he wants Congress members “to fear us more than they fear the tea party.” And they will, if we defeat more incumbent Republicans in the midterm elections. t

Standing up to police violence by Richard Smith

but equally clear: Rogue officers will continue to brutalize and kill, and when they do, they will face no consequences.

o queers who are black, brown, or immigrants this will come as no surprise: Under President Donald Trump’s law-and-order regime, the LGBTQ community could face mounting police violence. And, sadly for San Franciscans, a recent decision by District Attorney George Gascón makes that even more likely.

Getting on board

The threat to LGBTQs

BAY AREA REPORTER

Trump is not our friend. As he appoints virulent homophobes to his administration and dismantles our workplace protections, his administration simultaneously emboldens violent and abusive cops who target minority communities like ours. Time to keep our eyes open. Our rainbow community’s strained relationship with police did not end with Compton’s Cafeteria or Stonewall or the paddy wagons outside local gay bars. As Amnesty International observed, police abuse of the LGBTQ community remains a problem for all of us regardless of race. “...[S]erious police abuses, including genderbased violence amounting to torture and illtreatment, against the LGBT community persist. The abuses reported range from sexually explicit, abusive language and threats to sustained beatings and rape,” the group reported. Even here in queer-friendly San Francisco, officers have perpetuated an abusive police culture through text messages both racist and homophobic.

Amilcar Perez Lopez’s story

Police brutality can take an enormous toll on a community. Consider recent events in the Mission district where my family and I live. Over two years ago – less than a year after police killed Alex Nieto with 59 bullets on Bernal Hill – police killed yet another young Latino, this time on Folsom Street, by firing six bullets to his back. He was Amilcar Perez Lopez, a hard-working 20-year-old Guatemalan, who immigrated to this sanctuary city to earn money for his impoverished family back home. For many Mission families, Perez Lopez’s story has opened old wounds from decades of

Richard Smith

Father Richard Smith speaks at a rally against police violence.

police brutality. That’s why, since his killing, hundreds of us have marched, stood in vigil, met with the DA, held news conferences, offered prayers, and signed petitions – pleading that Gascón bring this case to trial. There, evidence from both sides could be weighed and evaluated, and witnesses could be examined and cross-examined, all in the light of day. That was our hope. But Gascón did not listen to us. Instead, he deferred to a former officer from the corrupt Baltimore Police Department – the same police force that killed Freddie Gray and is now under a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice. With that questionable “expert testimony” in hand, Gascón made himself both judge and jury, and let the officers who killed Perez Lopez walk. Sadly, the DA’s seriously flawed decision in Perez Lopez’s case continues a deadly pattern. Since 2000, SFPD has killed more than 40 civilians, 19 of them during Gascón’s term as DA. In not one case has a DA filed charges against an officer. In not one case has such an officer even been brought to trial, much less convicted. To abusive cops the message is clear: If you brutalize or kill civilians, both the president and the local DA will have your back. To minority communities like ours, the message is different

It’s not hard to get on board the current police reform effort. Right now, community leaders from around the city are considering over 400 recommendations, many from the Obama-era Department of Justice. These call for an innovative, open-minded, and progressive approach to policing. We can put our own queer shoulders to this plow, holding police – and the White House and our local DA – accountable for this continuing nightmare. And we can add our voices to the many insisting that Gascón bring the 10 remaining officer-involved-shooting cases to trial, including those of Luis Gongora Pat, Mario Woods, and Jessica Williams.

No silent bystanders

Looking back on the Holocaust, Martin Niemoller confessed he had failed to speak out when Nazis came for the socialists, the Jews, and the trade unionists. “Then they came for me,” he wrote iconically, “and there was no one left to speak for me.” In a multi-hued, rainbow community like ours, Niemoller’s message is even more relevant: We are part of one another. Regardless of race or ethnicity, what affects one of us affects us all. Therefore, in the face of violent police abuse, there is no room for silent bystanders. The task of police reform falls on all our shoulders. t Father Richard Smith, Ph.D., is the vicar of St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in San Francisco. As a priest in San Francisco’s Mission district, he has worked for both immigration and police reform. He has a doctorate in ethics and social theory from the Graduate Theological Union and has taught at various Bay Area universities. He lives in San Francisco with his husband, Rob Tan, and their son, David.

Letters >>

May 11-17, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

SF Pride has lost its way

York and Los Angeles are doing and return to our roots in this critically important political era. I appreciate the work the committee has done, however, I feel we have lost our way. Last year I marched in a political contingent drowned out behind a float for a highly sweetened, premium-plus alcoholic beverage. I hope it’s not too late to change direction. Not sure what I will do this year. Maybe a road trip to LA.

My first gay Pride was more political march than parade in 1978. In the 1980s and 1990s, I marched as a registered nurse with HIV patients and colleagues from San Francisco General Hospital and Visiting Nurses and Hospice. It meant so much to us. As it’s evolved to be more of a corporate-sponsored party, my alienation has increased each year. Now we have a chance to do what New

Marcy Fraser San Francisco

Beckles seeks Assembly seat by Matthew S. Bajko

esbian Richmond City Councilwoman Jovanka Beckles is running for an open state Assembly seat in 2018. Should she win, Beckles would be the first out AfricanAmerican state legislator and the first LGBT member of the state Legislature from the East Bay. Beckles, 53, who also identifies as Latina, announced May 4 that she would seek the 15th Assembly District seat, as the incumbent, Assemblyman Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond), is running to be the state’s superintendent of public instruction. His district includes the cities of Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Emeryville, Hercules, Kensington, Piedmont, Pinole, Richmond, San Pablo, Tara Hills, and a portion of Oakland. “I am running a campaign built on individual donations and support from people like you. Not interest groups that are trying to influence the process for the benefit of the very few,” wrote Beckles in a Facebook post announcing her campaign. “This campaign is for the people: it’s for regular folks who work for their living and need real change in our politics, economy and culture to thrive!” First elected to her council seat in 2010, Beckles has been a progressive voice in the Contra Costa County city, helping to pass a local rent control measure and calling for greater scrutiny of refinery owner Chevron, which spent more than $3 million to try to defeat her in 2014. The first LGBT elected official in Richmond, Beckles was subjected to homophobic catcalls during council meetings early in her first term. In a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Beckles said the issues she has tackled on the council, from protecting workers and immigrants to housing affordability and access to health care, are of concern district-wide as well as across the region. “These aren’t just issues that are Richmond only, these are regionwide issues, these are statewide issues,” said Beckles, who works for the county as a mental health specialist with children. “Closing loopholes for corporations is also an issue that affects the whole region. If we close loopholes for corporations, cities can have the resources they need and provide critical services to our residents.” Born in Panama City, Panama, Beckles immigrated to the U.S. with her parents in 1972. She attended Florida A&M University on a full basketball scholarship and graduated cum laude in 1988 with a B.A. in psychology. Later she earned a master’s in business administration

Corrections In the Thursday, May 4 story “Pride center reaches out to Stockton area youth,” Jonathan Lopez’s drag name was misspelled. The

Jane Philomen Cleland

Assembly candidate Jovanka Beckles

from the University of Phoenix. Beckles and her wife, Nicole Valentino, a life coach, have an adult son, Lucio Valentino, as well as a nearly 1-year-old grandson and a 12-year-old granddaughter. Since moving to the Bay Area in 1989, Beckles has worked in a variety of jobs, including as a youth counselor and housing case manager. Due to the Assembly seat being open, a number of candidates are expected to enter the race. The names of two other lesbian officials have been mentioned as possible entrants: Berkeley school board member Judy Appel, considered a moderate, and Oakland At-Large City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, a progressive. Neither responded to a request for comment on if they planned to run. Beckles said she expects the race will “be competitive, but I also know the progressive values I share are the progressive values that District 15 residents share.” Progressive gay Berkeley City Councilman Kriss Worthington has already endorsed Beckles, as has Richmond City Councilwoman Gayle McLaughlin, a former Green Party member who served two terms as Richmond mayor. Should she be elected to the Assembly, Beckles promised, “my priorities will be the people’s priorities” and that she would fight “for a progressive future for California.” Beckles is the second LGBT nonincumbent to announce a state legislative bid this year. Gay Los Angeles resident Luis Lopez intends to seek the 51st Assembly District seat this summer should the incumbent, Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), be elected to Congress this spring. If Lopez wins then he would seek a full two-year term next year.

correct spelling is Hellen Heels. Due to incorrect information released by the organizers of the national Give OUT Day fundraiser, the amount of money raised by Equality Virginia was inaccurate in

There are currently four out Assembly members and all will be seeking re-election next year. They include lesbian Assemblywomen Susan Talamantes Eggman (DStockton) and Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona) and gay Assemblymen Evan Low (D-Campbell) and Todd Gloria (D-San Diego). So far, no LGBT candidate has pulled papers to run for a state Senate seat next year. Gay state Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Los Angeles) is running in 2018 to become state insurance commissioner. The three other out senators were all elected to four-year terms last fall and are not expected to run for higher office next year.

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Gordon drops bid for state tax board

Gay former Assemblyman Rich Gordon (D-Menlo Park) has abandoned his 2018 bid for a seat on the state Board of Equalization amid a widening management scandal hitting the tax agency. A recent audit of the tax board discovered tens of millions of dollars had been misallocated and that two of its elected members had used agency personnel for personal events. The revelations led Governor Jerry Brown to call for the state Department of Justice to investigate the agency and rescind a number of its powers. State lawmakers are also looking into how to reform the tax board. In light of the agency’s problems, Gordon wrote in a May 4 letter to supporters that he had concluded the Board of Equalization should no longer be an elected body. Thus, he determined “it would be hypocritical” for him to campaign for the position. “The Board of Equalization has an administrative and quasi-judicial role to play in our tax system. I believe that this role becomes very difficult, if not impossible, to fulfill when board members must seek office through a political process,” wrote Gordon. “The electoral process leads to a conflict in roles so that community outreach is confused with self-promotion, constituent services create a dynamic where board members are advocates for those who may eventually have an appeal to be heard, and campaign fund raising will always leave questions as to whether decisions are reached on merit or on candidate support.” His decision comes a month after San Francisco Supervisor Malia Cohen announced her candidacy for the tax board’s sprawling District 2 seat, which spans from Santa Barbara on the Central Coast north to the Oregon border. Democrat Fiona Ma, the current occupant of the seat, is running for state treasurer in 2018 due to John Chiang’s decision to run for governor. t

last week’s News Briefs article. The LGBT statewide nonprofit received $9,718 from 285 donors, netting it a $5,000 cash prize. The online versions have been corrected.

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8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 11-17, 2017

Jenner recounts life pretransition at SF talk

by Sari Staver

When asked about her 91-year-old mother’s reachen Caitlyn Jenner was tion to her transition, Jenwriting her recently ner said, “She worries about published book, “The Secrets me being lonely and wonof My Life,” co-author Buzz ders if I’ll find” a long-term Bissinger pressed her to discompanion. close her regrets, if any. “Are you looking, and “I wasn’t a very good parif so, who should apply?” ent,” the former Olympic asked Cordell. athlete said she told Bissinger, “I have a lot of transgenthe Vanity Fair writer who has der friends. When you’re written a number of award18, 19, or 20 years old you winning nonfiction books. want to date” and possibly “I was too caught up in have children “just like any my own issues” to be able to normal human being,” she focus on her children, which said, not answering the Steven Underhill included two she fathered question about whether she with ex-wife Kris Kardashian Caitlyn Jenner, left, answers a question posed by might prefer to date men or Jenner as well as four step- retired Judge LaDoris Cordell. women. “If I meet somechildren Kris had with the one who enjoys what I’m late Robert Kardashian, the doing,” Jenner said she’d celebrity attorney who repre“welcome” the chance to Karla Gottschalk, a transgender sented O.J. Simpson. have a relationship. woman who attended the Jenner Jenner was married to three dif“But it’s not high on my priority event to attempt to submit quesferent women prior to coming out list,” she added. tions to her, said in a telephone inas a transgender woman in 2015, When asked about her politics, terview with the Bay Area Reporter and has six biological children from Jenner pointed out that the book that she wanted to ask Jenner if her those relationships. has “less than a page and a half ” de“Hollywood transformation gives Speaking to a sold out audience voted to that subject. young people an unrealistic view of of 700 people at the Mark Hopkins Acknowledging that she is a “contransgenderism.” Hotel May 3, Jenner, 67, said she has servative,” Jenner explained that her The evening went smoothly, alsince apologized to her children, loyalties are not with “Trump and though Jenner declined to personsome of whom are now celebrities the Republicans” but that she does ally autograph books, as is typically themselves. believe in “the Constitution ... lower done at such events, and refused to As for other regrets, said Jenner, taxes ... and less regulation.” do any one-on-one interviews with “I still talk too much about myself,” “My loyalties are with my comthe local media. a quality that worked in her favor munity,” said Jenner, who said that Opening the conversation, during the 75-minute conversation she is going to focus on trying to Cordell asked Jenner about the purwith moderator LaDoris Cordell, a convince the Republican Party to pose of the book. former Superior Court judge who support equality for the trans com“It is the story of my long strugnow stars in a new Fox TV reality munity. “I want Republicans to get gle and not a self-help book,” she show, “You the Jury.” to know transgender people.” replied. Jenner’s San Francisco speakIn a follow-up interview after the Jenner still sounds bitter about ing engagement, sponsored by the event, Cordell expressed skepticism the decades when the tabloids Commonwealth Club, was part of a about Jenner’s attempts to change “tried to destroy” her with stories national tour to promote her book, the views of Republican Party about her cross-dressing before her “which I just learned is number members. transition. four” on the New York Times best In an email to the B.A.R., Cordell When she began her transition, seller list, she announced at the said she believes Jenner is “very sin“I would’ve liked to go to a cabin event. cere” about hoping Republicans will in the backwoods of Alaska ... but The Commonwealth Club had be more supportive of the LGBT I knew the tabloids would find me initially reserved the much larger community. anyway,” she said. Castro Theatre (which accom“I also think that she is naive to Jenner said that she “controlled modates 1,400) but switched to believe that her sitting at the table the narrative” by giving exclusive a smaller ballroom at the glitzy with these ultra-conservative, antistories to Diane Sawyer of ABC-TV Nob Hill location. While the club’s LGBTQ people will result in their and to Vanity Fair, arrangements spokeswoman Riki Rafner said such having a change of heart,” said negotiated by her longtime public venue changes “often happen,” anCordell, who is a lesbian. relations representatives. other Commonwealth employee, Cordell said she’d read “the enThe book recounts her decades who asked not to be identified, said tire book,” describing it as “brutally of “sneaking around” when she weak ticket sales and a fear of demhonest” and “as with any memoir, dressed as a woman. Even today, “I onstrators sparked the decision to its accuracy is in the eye of the still cry when I read” it because of move the event. author.” all the painful memories of living a Still, there were obvious concerns Overall, said Cordell, “I found double life. about a protest at the Mark Hopkins, Caitlyn to be friendly, approach“Today my life is so simple,” she with security guards checking bags able, and willing to tackle all of the 11:50 AM said. “I just get up and am able to be of all attendees and a handful of peoquestions that I asked of her, none myself. It’s a wonderful feeling.” ple distributing a long list of mostly of which were given to her in adThe paparazzi still hound her, snarky questions, such as “Are you vance. I certainly disagreed with her “but I’m not going to change trying to get pregnant?” (If the quesanswers on political subjects – being my routine of going to Startions made their way up to the stage, a Republican, spending time talking bucks” just because they hang where they were screened by Cordell, to Trump, and her apparent opposiout there, she said. they definitely weren’t asked.) tion to gun control.” t

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Your opinion is not worth my life by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

ecently, Heineken released an online advertisement and accompanying website, titled “Worlds Apart.” The premise: set up two people with strong, diametricallyopposed viewpoints, have them work together on a project, reveal their opinions to each other, and then, see if they’d agree to sit down and share a frosty beer with each other. The results of three such experiments are in the advert. Of course, it is well produced, and I’m sure carefully crafted to

show just the stories that went well on the screen. I’m under no illusion that this is exactly how every attempt they shot went, or that the trio of stories presented wasn’t cut to focus on the best moments. Such is the nature of entertainment media. The featured stories show two guys who disagree on climate change, a feminist woman paired with an antifeminist male, and a transphobe with a trans woman. All of them get beyond their differences of opinion and find common ground – while enjoying a bottle of beer. The ad was largely praised, with

many immediately contrasting it with Pepsi’s recent commercial showing Kendall Jenner as part of an ersatz street protest, “winning over” an attractive street cop with a bubbly carbonated beverage. There’s really little comparison between the two, save their both coming out within a week or so of each other. I initially wanted to praise the Heineken commercial, but the more I thought about it, the more I pondered an obvious flaw – and one that underpins so much of the way our society seems to frame the socalled transgender debate. The two fellows presented in the Heineken ad, discussing climate change? They’re both on an equal See page 11 >>

Business News>>

May 11-17, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

Gay twins launch organic pet care company by Matthew S. Bajko

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fter she adopted Mishka, a tan and white pit bull mix that suffers from allergies, Janine Ling couldn’t find any pet care products suitable for the rescue dog. So the New Jersey pet store owner turned to her gay fraternal twin, Thomas Ling, for help in creating a line of organic shampoos, conditioners, and other products suitable for dogs with sensitive skin and other issues. “There are products out there but none of them work. In many, the first ingredient is water, but you don’t want to put it in a dog’s ear with infections,” said Janine Ling, who also owns a grooming business. As they researched what products were available, Thomas Ling said the siblings discovered that the focus seemed to be on providing “the least expensive shampoo without a focus on quality.” While he believes that “has changed fairly recently with the demand for natural and organic products, there is still a big catch up because all the market leaders are still focused on providing the cheapest possible item. It has been a great opportunity for us, because there is not a lot of competition in the pet care space.” The 36-year-old twins, who both identify as gay, launched their line of pet care products called kin+kind in the summer of 2015. They choose the name for it evokes a sense of family. “Our dogs are our family so the things we want for them are the same things we want for ourselves,” said Thomas Ling, a lawyer who focuses on running the company full-time. As they experimented with different formulas, their own dogs served as product testers. Thomas, who lives in New York City, adopted Burke, a rescue mutt, while Janine, who lives in the Garden State, also owns Banta, a shepherd huskie. “We had a few people working on it. The base took a few months to come up with,” said Janine Ling. “Since then, we have been expanding the line as different needs arise and with different scents.” They sell a charcoal deep clean dog shampoo and charcoal conditioner for dogs, an argan oil restoring dog shampoo, an oatmeal soothing dog shampoo and a puppy tearless dog shampoo. All cost $14.99 for a 12 oz. bottle or $19.99 for a 16 oz. bottle and can be ordered online at https:// www.kin-kind.com/. The ingredients are all “things we use in our daily lives,” noted Janine Ling. They picked charcoal, said Thomas Ling, because “it does a great job to draw to it things that smell bad or stain.” They test marketed the products, made at a facility they own in New Jersey, in Janine Ling’s own store first and then the stores of her friends. They also asked several pet groomers and veterinarians they know to carry their line. Since then kin+kind has taken off, with hundreds of stores across the country now carrying their products. At the lesbian-owned Noe Valley Pet Company in San Francisco, the nose and paw moisturizer ($9.99) from kin+kind flew off the shelf. “I don’t think it is a surprise because there was a dearth of that premium product on the market,” said Thomas Ling. “The challenge is trying to educate stores that haven’t focused on high-end products outside of San Francisco, New York or Los Angeles.” Nonetheless, one of their best markets has been Texas. And pet stores off the beaten path have also embraced them.

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kin+kind co-owner Janine Ling holds her dog, Mishka, while her twin brother, Thomas Ling, holds one of his dog’s sisters.

“Some of our best stores are located in the middle of nowhere,” said Thomas Ling. “Once the consumer understands the difference, they want that kind of product.” The twins – Thomas Ling is older by 30 seconds – have expanded their offerings to include a supplements line, a scent line featuring candles and body deodorizers, and a flea and tick line. They are now looking to expand internationally. They are working with a distributor in the United Kingdom and hope to be in Japan and China by 2018. “I think demand in East Asia is probably the strongest in the world for premium products,” said Thomas Ling. “In China they don’t have the same quality controls, so people who want premium products look for U.S. made.” They declined to provide any sales figures, since kin+kind is a private company. The Lings did say they have no desire to sell to a larger pet care company. “We get frequent inquiries from equity firms,” said Thomas Ling. “This is something we built and is valuable to us. It is not something we are looking to divest ourselves of.”

Castro ice cream parlor opens its doors

It’s launch delayed for nearly two years due to PG&E dragging its feet on upgrading its space, the Castro Fountain has finally opened its doors and is dishing up its signature ice creams and desserts. After a soft-opening period in recent weeks, the shop is hosting a grand opening celebration this weekend starting at noon Friday (May 12) and running through Sunday. Located at 554 Castro Street, the 1930s style soda fountain and bakeshop is the second location for owner Juliet Pries. She first opened the Ice Cream Bar in Cole Valley, which is a full service restaurant and known for its unique adult beverages. In 2015 she signed the lease for the former retail space in the heart of the city’s gayborhood and had hoped to open that year. But as the B.A.R. reported in March 2016, the doors remained closed while Pries cajoled the utility company to begin working on the space. She credited the article with kickstarting the process. “If you hadn’t written that story, I still may not be open,” Pries said this week. The Castro location is smaller than her first and will not be offering alcoholic drinks anytime soon. Pries told the B.A.R. she is reluctant to have to go through the city’s “unbearable” permitting process for a third time. “I wanted to just get open and then pursue that if I can,” she said of seeking a liquor license for the Castro Fountain.

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<< Community News

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 11-17, 2017

Health care battle now moves to Senate by Liz Highleyman

will instead create their own version.

Widespread opposition

he fight to repeal the Affordable Care Act moves to the Senate after House Republicans pushed through a bill to replace it with a new plan that would slash Medicaid funding and reduce coverage for people with preexisting conditions. People living with HIV or other chronic conditions will be heavily affected, advocates predict. “The American Health Care Act is cynical, cruel, and not befitting of a civilized nation, especially one with the resources of the United States,” said Project Inform Executive Director Dana Van Gorder, referring to what some are calling Trumpcare. “We are extremely disappointed in the legislators who voted for this bill, ignoring the will of most Americans and the needs of middle and lowincome individuals, especially those with serious illnesses.” Democrats breathed a sigh of relief in late March when Republicans canceled a vote on an earlier version of the American Health Care Act due to insufficient support. But some of the previous opposition came from conservative hard-liners who thought it did not go far enough in dismantling the ACA, also known as Obamacare, and the new version addresses their concerns. “This amendment takes a bad bill and makes it worse,” said Sean Cahill from Fenway Health in Boston. “If enacted, it would make it much more difficult for people with preexisting health conditions such as HIV to obtain health insurance that is affordable. This amendment seems designed to make it harder to obtain coverage for health care, not easier.” The revised bill passed May 4 by a four-vote margin – 217-213 – with all but 20 Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats voting against. Several California Republican representatives wavered in the lead-up to the

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

vote, but they all ultimately supported it after an amendment added $8 million to subsidize insurance for people with pre-existing conditions. The Republican plan removes several ACA mandates and leaves decisions about cost and coverage up to the states. It would roll back the ACA’s Medicaid expansion provision, which nearly twothirds of states have taken advantage of, to be replaced with block grants. The House bill revokes the mandate that individuals must carry health insurance or pay a tax penalty, and removes requirements that health plans must cover several essential services, including mental health care and maternity care. Government subsidies under the new plan would be based on age rather than income and would generally be lower. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the previous version of the AHCA could result in some 24 million people losing health coverage by 2026. The House passed the revised bill without a new CBO review. The legislation will now go before the Senate, but senators from both parties have said they will not vote on the House bill in its current form and

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Local and national patient advocacy and health care provider organizations generally opposed the legislation. “The AHCA dismantles key health reforms that have been pivotal to ending discriminatory practices that previously locked patients with HIV out of the individual insurance market and that guaranteed access to coverage for key services, including prescription drugs and mental health and substance use treatment,” said Dr. Wendy Armstrong, chair of the HIV Medicine Association. “By decreasing access to HIV care and treatment, the AHCA may worsen the HIV epidemic in the U.S. at a time when new infections were beginning to go down.” More than 40 percent of people living with HIV rely on Medicaid, according to Armstrong. “For the first time in my life we could see a real path out of the HIV epidemic,” writer and HIV activist Brenden Shucart told the Bay Area Reporter. “The end was right there, but the Republicans in the House just effectively voted to keep AIDS in America alive for another 30 years.” ACA repeal is expected to have a profound impact in California. State legislators are currently working on Senate Bill 562, which would provide universal single-payer health care for all residents. “The House vote to pass the American Health Care Act undermines

the ability of people living with HIV to access affordable health insurance and sadly perpetuates the health disparities faced by individuals here in California and in states across the country,” said San Francisco AIDS Foundation CEO Joe Hollendoner. “We call on the U.S. Senate to reject the AHCA, and to protect Medicaid [and] Medicare provisions that lower the cost of medications, and coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions.” San Francisco Health Director Barbara Garcia previously told the B.A.R. that the ACA has extended health coverage to approximately 133,000 San Franciscans. Mayor Ed Lee had harsh words for legislators who voted for the bill. “It is very disappointing to see the House of Representatives approve a bill that strips coverage from millions of people, punishes Americans with pre-existing conditions, attacks women’s reproductive rights, and creates an unequal, two-tiered health care system,” Lee said in a statement. “Repealing the ACA turns back the clock on health care progress, and will hurt the health, security, and economy of our city.”

HIV funding spared

The AHCA vote overshadowed a bit of good news earlier this month, as the House and Senate agreed on a Fiscal Year 2017 budget that maintains funding for most domestic HIV and hepatitis programs.

The FY2017 omnibus appropriations bill contains $2.3 billion for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program and $789 million for HIV prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the AIDS Institute. But the advocacy group expressed disappointment that only $34 million was allocated for hepatitis B and C prevention. Proposed deep cuts to the National Institutes for Health did not make it into the final bill – and in fact the NIH received a $2 billion increase for medical research. Planned Parenthood was also spared direct cuts, though language in the AHCA legislation still threatens the organization. “The bill’s $2 billion increase for the NIH is vital to keep our nation’s medical research enterprise on track,” HIVMA’s Armstrong said. “In addition, we welcome the sustained investment in global health programs, including PEPFAR and the Global Fund, that are combatting HIV, TB and other infectious diseases and shoring up global health security and preparedness to respond to new infectious disease outbreaks.” “We also are pleased that the bill allows federal funds to support syringe service programs that reduce the spread of HIV and viral hepatitis among individuals who inject drugs and maintains federal funding for Planned Parenthood programs, which are the only provider of HIV, STI and HCV screening services in some communities,” she added. t

Car tagged with anti-gay graffiti in SF by Seth Hemmelgarn

under the paint,” he said. Insurance is covering about $2,500. Barhoum said the Lancia, which he’s had for almost a decade, is insured for $18,000. In an email to the B.A.R., de Marchena, Barhoum’s partner, said, “The man who rented the garage spot to us was out of the country.” Five people had access to the garage, he said. Emmanuel Galvan, who rented the space to Barhoum, said he doesn’t have any idea who may have vandalized the

car, and he called the incident “very unsettling.” The garage has space for three cars, said Galvan. Besides the main entrance, “there’s also a back door, as well, but that’s normally locked,” he said. There had been some construction work at the site before the car was scratched, and “construction workers had access to the garage,” said Galvan, but that work had been completed before the vandalism occurred. After the incident, the couple scrambled to find another garage. Police have conducted interviews and “dusted for fingerprints,” said Barhoum. Officer Robert Rueca, a police spokesman, said police are investigating the incident as a hate crime. No suspects have been identified. De Marchena, who noted Barhoum’s “obsession with vintage cars,” said on a Gofundme page created to raise money for the repainting, “Let’s show the world that we can overcome homophobia, anti-Semitism and blind hatred by helping out.” The Gofundme page is at https:// www.gofundme.com/togetheragainst-a-hate-crime. t

her career at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. She is remembered along with Dorothy Sall Rosenbaum, Ph.D., her partner and wife of 15 years. She is survived by her children Jan Rosenbaum Sass (and her husband, Mark Sass); Eric Rosenbaum (and his husband, Pierre Vallet); Alan Rosenbaum (and his husband, William Reichmann); her grandchildren Megan Sass and Jonathan Sass; her friends JoAnne Marshall; Mary Ann Sullivan; Daniel Custer; Sara Russel; Amy Brahney; her cousin, Frances Chandler;

and nieces Carla Daster Sanderson and Rheanne Daster Burkett. Other family includes Lisa Wan and Katie Sutherland. She is missed by friends at Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco, and Coastside Jewish Community in El Granada, California (donations in lieu of flowers can be sent to these congregations, the Southern Poverty Law Center, or the Human Rights Campaign). Services will be held Sunday, May 21 at 1 p.m. at Home of Peace Cemetery, 1299 El Camino Real, Daly City, CA 94014.

his Army discharge he became deeply involved in the gay rights movement. An avid photographer; never without his camera, he chronicled both the movement and the many changes in the Castro. His captioned and dated photos are chronologically entered in dozens of albums. He lived in an apartment at Noe and Market streets for 37 years, so he was in the center of it all. Peter worked for Muni as a bus and streetcar operator. He retired from Muni on disability in 1984 when his battle with AIDS became all-consuming. As an injured veteran he was able to enroll in some of the early

AIDS trials that were being done through the SF Veterans Hospital. One of the lucky ones, he became a long-term survivor until a combination of diabetes-related complications took him from us. Peter always had a smile, a kind word, and loved to laugh. He will be dearly missed by his many friends and loving family. A memorial will be held Wednesday, May 24 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the National AIDS Memorial Grove, in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, at the intersection of Bowling Green and Nancy Pelosi drives.

gay San Francisco man is hoping to find whoever scratched “Fag” and a swastika onto the hood of his red 1967 Lancia Fulvia sports car. As Jeff Barhoum waits for police to identify suspects, he’s also trying to raise money to get the car repainted. Barhoum, who didn’t want his age published, said he and his partner, Edmundo de Marchena, discovered the vandalism April 29, two weeks after he’d last seen the car. The car had been kept in a locked garage Barhoum rented on San Jose Avenue. There were no signs of forced entry at the garage, and he said there were no indications that anyone had rummaged through the car, which hadn’t been locked. Barhoum doesn’t have any idea who may be responsible. “I don’t have any enemies,” he said, and “I’ve never had any altercations” with anyone, including the person he rented the garage from. “I don’t really get why it happened,” said Barhoum. “It’s kind of scary.” Repainting the car will cost $8,000 to $9,000 “if they don’t find any problems

Jeff Barhoum

A photo of the anti-gay and anti-Semitic graffiti found on the hood of a gay man’s car.

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Community News>>

May 11-17, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

SFAF joins panel on Trump-era policies compiled by Cynthia Laird

Organizers said that all are welcome to attend this LGBTQ dance party, which will include hors d’oeuvres, a mocktail bar, lots of dancing, and a photo booth. Castro Valley Pride’s own Billy Bradford will serve as DJ. Tickets are $17 in advance or $20 at the door. A happy hour with beer and wine will be available from 7 to 8 (must be 21 or older). To purchase tickets, visit www.haywardrec.org and use code 44165 (click on “register for classes” and enter the code).

he San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Project Inform will hold “What’s at Stake, What We Can Do,” a forum that will examine the impact of President Donald Trump’s first 100plus days in office and how policies will affect HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, and other health issues. The free event takes place Monday, May 22 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street, in the Rainbow Room. Members of the Project Inform staff will be joined by panelists Dan Bernal, chief of staff to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco); Vignetta Charles, chief executive officer at Education, Training, and Research; Ernest Hopkins, director of legislative affairs for SFAF; and Monique Tula, executive director of the Harm Reduction Coalition. Scott Shafer, a gay man who’s senior editor for California politics and government at KQED, will moderate. Organizers said in an announcement that the goal of the forum is “to support the community to be active in advocating for humane policies to end the HIV and HCV epidemics.” For more information, visit https:// www.projectinform.org/.

South Bay Youth Pride Festival

The LGBTQ Youth Space, a program of Family and Children Services of Silicon Valley, will hold its inaugural South Bay Youth Pride Festival Saturday, May 13 from noon to 4 p.m. at 950 West Julian Street in San Jose (not

Herrera

From page 5

Tenderloin Housing Clinic who represented Leshefsky, told the B.A.R. “This landlord flouted all the rent ordinances in order to drive tenants out. This decision enforces tenant provisions the way they were meant to be applied,” he said. Collier also noted the difficulties

Courtesy SFAF

Ernest Hopkins

far from the Billy DeFrank Center and the SAP Center). The event is free and has been organized by and for queer and trans youth in the South Bay. The festival will feature music, entertainment, food, games and activities, a resource fair, guest speakers, and more. While intended for LGBTQ youth from ages 13-25 living in Santa Clara County, families and adult supporters are welcome, organizers said. For more information or to get involved, contact Adrienne Keel at akeel@fcservices.org or (408) 343-7942.

SF police panel

president of Service Employees International Union Local 87 and moved to the city from the East Bay this year, will get a vote. The battle for the seat comes as the city works to reform the police department, which has seen years of controversy related to fatal officerinvolved shootings, racist and homophobic texting among officers, and other problems. Miranda didn’t respond to the Bay Area Reporter’s interview requests. But asked in an email

Inaugural Prism Awards

Prism Comics and the Queer Comics Expo have announced the inaugural Prism Awards, which will be presented to comic works by queer authors and works that promote the growing body of diverse representations of LGBTQAI-plus characters in fiction or nonfiction comics People can submit nominations until June 1. Winners will be announced at the Queer Comics Expo in San Francisco July 8-9. To submit a nomination, visit http://bit.ly/2qoCxOA.

GAPA offers grants, scholarships

The Gay Asian Pacific Alliance Foundation has announced it is accepting applications for its scholarships and grants. The 2017 scholarships award up to $5,000 to students who have demonstrated outstanding activism and leadership within the API LGBTQ community. The deadline to apply is June 30. The grants award up to $5,000 to tax-exempt 501 (c)(3) community organizations that are making a positive impact in the API and/or LGBTQ community. The deadline to apply is July 15. Last year, the GAPA Foundation awarded five scholarships and 14 grants totaling $34,800. For more information regarding eligibility and application guidelines, visit https://gapafoundation.org/. t

There will be a Gay Pride Dance Friday, May 19, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Hayward Area Senior Center, 22325 North Third Street.

The AIDS Legal Referral Panel will hold a tenant rights boot camp Thursday, May 25 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Strut, 470 Castro Street in San Francisco. Attendees will be able to get

Taja’s Coalition holds trans art contest

lawmakers such as gay former state Senator Mark Leno has faced in amending the Ellis Act, the 1985 state law that allows landlords to evict tenants so they can get out of the rental business. Many housing advocates have stated that in the current market real estate developers have abused that law by buying multiple buildings, then evicting every tenant within days. Advocates claim that such building

owners were never in the rental business to begin with. “There has to be a change in state law,” Collier said. “There’s now a bill pending in the state Assembly to repeal Costa-Hawkins.” Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) has introduced Assembly Bill 1506 that would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which currently puts limits on the

application of local rent control laws with regard to certain properties. A repeal of Costa-Hawkins would allow cities to once again pass their own rent control laws, which could include preventing the decontrol of rent-controlled units after a tenant voluntarily moves out. For Leshefsky, the judgment against Kihagi is too late. “I was an active member of the gay

community,” she said of her former life in the Castro. “It was a nice place to go home to. It was an exciting time in my life – I immersed myself in gay culture.” Leshefsky hopes that the stand she took against Kihagi will help others in the future. “I hope that other lives aren’t disrupted like mine was,” she said. “I hope people can take a breath.” t

skinhead and an African-American sharing their opinions on blacks over some suds. Heineken wants you to believe this is equal to the climate change segment, but it simply isn’t. The transphobe’s argument is that transgender people simply do not exist. Or, in his words, “You’re a man, be a man.” Meanwhile, when asked for terms to describe her, the trans woman

says that she feels “attacked” and “misunderstood.” And then we have the reveal: they both get to watch videos of each other’s opinions. Well, he is shown giving his opinions. She gets to be outed, and outed in front of a man who has just literally said that she can’t be herself. This is the sort of thing that can get transgender people killed. This is the sort of thing that causes transgender people to be denied of their rights. Surely this isn’t on par with the climate change pairing. Sure, we get that happy ending with the two of them, even a snippet of their conversation at the end about keeping in touch, and how the transphobic guy will have to tell his girlfriend he’s corresponding with another woman. As transgender people have become more visible, and as we face an era of increased debate over the very rights of transgender people to

partake of society in some of the most basic ways, we are seeing these sorts of debates come up. It’s a cliche of cable news to present “both sides” of arguments as equals – false equivalence – even when they are not. Yet when you pair up a trans person with someone who is claiming that transgender people can’t or don’t exist, it takes things to a whole different level. Again, one side may be sharing an opinion, but it’s being countered with one’s identity. One’s existence is being offered up for debate. You can’t – or at least shouldn’t – debate the very nature of a person in this way. Transgender people face huge hurdles just to live. We’ve already heard of 10 known anti-transgender murders just this year in the United States, and it is only the middle of May. We’re watching our federal government roll back and remove transgender rights and protections. We’re still seeing states such as Texas try to bar

transgender people from restrooms and other public accommodations. In the face of this, trans folks still exist, because being transgender is not just “an opinion.” It’s not as if we can decide not to be transgender because the government has barred us from restrooms, or medical care, or anything else. Further, we don’t wink out of existence because someone says we can’t be who we are. I’ve said it before, and I will keep saying it: you are welcome to your opinions about my existence, but no matter your stance, I will continue to exist. As to Heineken’s advertisement, well, as “uplifting” as its message is, it remains deeply flawed. It is still, however, better than that Pepsi commercial. t

whether she’d withdraw her application, given that she apparently lacks the rules committee’s support, Miranda replied that she would not. Her strongest backer is Supervisor Ahsha Safai, who worked for years with Miranda and now chairs the rules committee. “As someone who fundamentally believes in term limits, I think 11 and a half years is a significant amount of time to serve on one commission,” said Safai, refering to De Jesus tenure. Miranda’s outbursts were covered in an April 26 article in the San Francisco Examiner that quotes

extensively from a recording of her berating a man at a meeting. According to the Examiner, the man reported to police that at a December 2016 Local 87 meeting, Miranda “lunged” at him and threw a cup of hot coffee in his face. “The charges were not pursued,” and there were no arrests, the paper said, but it quotes Miranda from a recording made the same day, when she had a meltdown over “a bunch of fucking pizza.” She told the man she’s accused of throwing coffee on, “Then go fuck yourself then. Walk like a little bitch and walk the fuck out. ... Fuck you,

motherfucker. Fuck you, motherfucker. And your mother and your wife, too. Your wife and your mother, too.” (Miranda also told the man he’d called her a “bitch.”) Asked about the story, Safai said, “I never condone bullying,” but “that tape is probably one side of the story,” and he said the incident had been “illegally recorded.” He added, “I wonder if [Miranda] were a man if we would be making such a big deal about it.” Others have accused Miranda of assaulting them, too, though, according to court records. In a request for a restraining

order filed in May 2015, government contractor Martha Lutt, who initially met Miranda at a bargaining meeting, wrote that as she left a restroom, Miranda “shoved me forward so hard that my right elbow hyper extended” and “stated that she was going to show up at my house.” Miranda “is aggressive and unpredictable,” Lutt wrote. “If she was brazen enough to shove me in front of others, she will harm me on the street or when I am alone.” The records show that Lutt filed a police report.

Pride dance in Hayward

Transmissions

From page 1

Huckleberry Youth Programs will hold its Huckleberry Still Jams benefit concert Saturday, May 20 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell Street in San Francisco. The organization is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The concert will feature performances by Big Brother and the Holding Company, Rozzi Crane, Krystle Warren, Call Me Ace, and more. The evening will include a musical tribute to the young people Huckleberry served during the Summer of Love and those it continues to support today. Tickets start at $125 and can be purchased at http://bit.ly/2ptbaxR.

February 2015 stabbing death of Taja Gabrielle de Jesus, 36, in the city’s Bayview district, is looking for works with an anti-violence theme. They will later be used for a citywide media campaign to stop violence against trans people and displayed at an art show this summer. So far this year, there have been reports of 10 trans people murdered in the U.S. Coalition members noted that most of the victims were trans women of color. The contest is open to any trans women of color in the Bay Area. Interested people can read the rules and submission guidelines at http://bit. ly/2q02end

Boot camp for tenants’ rights

From page 8

footing. They both have differing opinions. Yes, one of those opinions is science fact and the other isn’t, but they are still both sharing their own opinion on climate change. The feminist and the anti-feminist are also largely on equal sides of an argument, but here’s where it starts to get murky. They both have opinions on the rights of women, and on the feminist movement, but one of the two of them is far more personally invested in feminism. It is the feminist who is going to be far more impacted by misogyny and anti-feminist beliefs. This brings us to the trans story. This story isn’t just two people sharing opinions. Sure, he has an opinion, but she has an identity. That isn’t equal. This feels akin to, oh, an anti-Semite sitting down with a Jewish person for that German lager, or perhaps a

Huckleberry benefit concert

information on how to get a security deposit back, what to do if their apartment needs repairs, what they can do if threatened with eviction by their landlord, and their rights if the building is sold. Additionally, there will be information on organizations that can help tenants and accommodations for those with disabilities. The workshop is focused specifically on the needs and concerns of people living with HIV and residents of District 8. Refreshments will be provided. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which operates Strut, is a sponsor. To RSVP, email info@alrp.org.

Christine Smith

Trans Advocates for Justice and Accountability, or Taja’s Coalition, has announced it is seeking submissions for a trans art contest. The coalition, formed after the

Gwen Smith would choose a Stone Woot Stout over a Heineken any day. You can find her at http://www.gwensmith.com.

See page 13 >>

<< International News

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 11-17, 2017

Putin agrees to investigate Chechnya’s anti-gay purge by Heather Cassell

ussian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly bowing to international pressure to investigate the detention of gays in Chechnya. Gay Times reported May 8 that Putin told Russia’s human rights ambassador, Tatyana Moskalkova, that he would personally approach the prosecutor-general and the interior minister in Chechnya, following growing international pressure for him to help bring an end to an anti-gay purge. This is the first time that Putin has acknowledged and commented on the persecution of gays in Chechnya after more than a month of outrage from LGBT activists. “I will talk with the prosecutor general [and] the minister of internal affairs so that they [can offer you] support in the issue,” Putin told Moskalkova, according to Russian-controlled media outlet RIA Novosti. A little more than a month ago independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta broke the news about the arrest and detention of an estimated 100 men suspected to be gay in Chechnya. The newspaper also alleged that three men were killed by authorities. However, the Russian LGBT Network estimates as many as 20 men have been killed, reported the Human Rights Campaign. Additionally, Chechen police have instructed parents to kill their gay children, according to media reports. On May 5, reports surfaced that a 17-year-old gay teen was pushed off the ninth floor of a building by his uncle with his family’s support, reported Gay Star News. An unidentified survivor told the media outlet that the persecution of LGBT people in the region isn’t uncommon and has been happening since 2009.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) pleaded with President Donald Trump to take action. In a May 5 letter she asked that Russian LGBTs be allowed to seek refuge in the U.S. “While the United States demands that Russia stop these vile abuses, we must also provide a lifeline for refuge and resettlement for the innocent LGBT Russians being brutalized and murdered because of who they are and who they love,” wrote Pelosi. The Trump administration has been relatively quiet about the atrocities happening in Chechnya with the exception of a statement last month from the State Department that expressed concerns about what is happening in Chechnya. Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, also spoke out against the anti-gay purge. AllOut is petitioning Putin, urging him to investigate the allegations. Sign the petition at https://tinyurl.com/ ChechnyaLGHTDetentionPetition.

SF to turn out for IDAHOT

San Francisco LGBT activists will gather on International Day Against

Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia Wednesday, May 17 to celebrate the past year’s wins and protest ongoing atrocities. A custom-made 10-foot pink triangle will serve as the backdrop at Harvey Milk Plaza as LGBT activists continue to pressure Russia to act against Chechnya, according to a May 8 news release from Gays Without Borders. Patrick Carney, who co-created the giant pink triangle installed on Twin Peaks over Pride weekend, will speak about the significance of remembering the LGBT Holocaust victims. Carney is one of several speakers who will be at the rally, Gary Virginia, with Gays Without Borders, wrote in an email. The activists will hold a moment of silence in honor of the victims in Chechnya. In turn the protesters will also demonstrate against the ongoing murders of transgender individuals and urge resistance against President Donald Trump’s threats to the LGBT community in the U.S. The rally will also celebrate the release from prison that day of Chelsea Manning, the transgender former Army intelligence analyst. Manning, 29, was convicted of leaking secret information to WikiLeaks. She had the bulk of her 35-year prison sentence commuted by President Barack Obama days before he left office in January. She began her transition during her seven years in prison. IDAHOT was created in 2004 to bring attention to the violence LGBT individuals face around the world. Code Pink San Francisco is also a co-sponsor of the event.

Respite center

From page 1

During the monthly Castro Merchants meeting Thursday, May 4, Sheehy said the site he has in mind once housed an HIV clinic and used clothing store at the corner of Church Street and Duboce Avenue. “It would be a place for people to go so they are not on the streets,” said Sheehy. “Would you rather have people injecting in front of your businesses or in a respite place?” Surveyed if they would support seeing such a facility open in their neighborhood, the Castro business owners at the meeting overwhelmingly indicated they would. Daniel Bergerac, president of the business association, voiced support for having a place in the neighborhood that could serve both young and adult homeless people. “A respite center, I think, needs to serve all ages,” he said. Sheehy told the B.A.R. that the “driving force” for the respite center idea has been the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District. At the merchant meeting last week CBD Executive Director Andrea Aiello noted that data from the Castro Cares initiative has found most of the homeless in the neighborhood are in their 20s and 30s and don’t want to stay in the city’s shelters. “This would maybe be a place where people can go inside and get off the street,” she said. The location Sheehy is eying was vacated several years ago by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation following a rent dispute with its

Rick Gerharter

Supervisor Jeff Sheehy

landlord, Maitri Compassionate Care, a nonprofit that operates a hospice on the building’s second floor. AHF had divided the ground floor retail space into a traditional storefront and a health clinic area with its own entrance. Last year, a sex offenders’ rehab clinic had signed a lease with Maitri to relocate there. But it dropped its plans due to vehement neighborhood opposition. Sheehy acknowledged that placing his respite center idea there could be a hard sell with the neighbors but that would not deter him. “If people don’t like it, they can not vote for me,” said Sheehy, who will go before voters in June 2018 to serve out his predecessor’s term and run again that November for a full four-year term. Michael Colbruno, a consultant for Maitri, told the Bay Area Reporter there has been “active interest” in the retail space and the agency is reviewing several

letters of interest from potential tenants. But he did not respond when asked if the nonprofit would entertain leasing it for the purpose of a respite center. Sheehy stressed that the respite center proposal is just one idea he is pursuing to address homelessness. He is particularly focused on finding more housing for the estimated 1,500 homeless youth in the city, of which 43 percent identify as LGBT. One idea put forth by the city’s youth commission that he supports is doubling the number of beds for people under 25 years of age, which now stands at 558. “We need residential behavioral treatment beds,” said Sheehy.

Needle exchange services could be offered

The vacant commercial space could also double as a needle exchange site, said Sheehy, where intravenous drug users could drop off their used syringes and pick up

The IDAHOT rally in San Francisco will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. at Harvey Milk Plaza, Market and Castro streets. Participants of IDAHOT events globally will post actions on social media using the hashtags #IDAHOT and #IFED2017 to inspire and encourage others to raise their voices. For more information, contact Virginia at (415) 867-5004.

Trikone to hold rights workshop

Trikone, the South Asian LGBT organization, is hosting a “Chit, Chaat, and Chai: Know Your Immigration Rights” interactive workshop Saturday, May 20 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at API Equality Northern California, 17 Walter U. Lum Place, San Francisco. The workshop is being led by two Bay Area-based immigration attorneys, Aliya Karmali and Aradhana Tiwari. Participants will learn how to respond to immigration officials at key points where they are most-likely to interact with them, such as airports, borders, in the workplace, and at home. The workshop is supported by the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Community. The event is accessible and near BART. Reserve a space by May 15 at http://www.bit.ly/TrikoneKYR.

Bermuda legalizes same-sex marriage

Bermuda’s supreme court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage May 5. The current marriage act is “inconsistent with the provisions of the Human Rights Act as they constitute deliberate different treatment on

clean ones. He pointed out that AHF’s former clinic space, which was separated from the clothing store and had its own entrance on Church Street, could work for such a use. He noted that across the street from the vacant storefront, at the bikeway behind the Safeway shopping center, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation sets up a needle exchange station Tuesdays from 6 to 8 p.m., which has elicited complaints from nearby residents. Sheehy suggested it might be preferable for the agency to instead operate a harm reduction center similar to the one it has on Sixth Street, which he visited last week. “Bringing that inside might make the neighbors happier than they are now,” said Sheehy, a gay man who is HIV-positive and a longtime AIDS advocate. “This might allow us to provide a broader array of services to people.” He clarified that he is not proposing for there to be a supervised injection facility at the site, noting that such a use is currently not allowed under state law. A bill that would permit such facilities is currently before state lawmakers, and San Francisco supervisors have asked the city’s health director, Barbara Garcia, to convene a task force to look at how and where to set up supervised injection sites in the city. For the time being, Sheehy said he is only looking at moving the current weekly needle exchange program indoors and perhaps expanding its hours so intravenous drug users have a place in the area to discard their used needles other than on the street.

the basis of sexual orientation,” said Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons. “In so doing the common law discriminates against same-sex couples by excluding them from marriage and more broadly speaking the institution of marriage,” she continued, reported the Royal Gazette. The courthouse roared with applause, according to media reports. “The ruling today is more than me and pieces of paper. It’s more than any of that, it is what it means for Bermuda moving forward,” said Winston Godwin, a Bermudian and one of the men who launched the court case. However, not everyone is applauding. Anti-same-sex marriage group Preserve Marriage in Bermuda was critical of the ruling, calling out Simmons for deciding to “redefine the institution of marriage,” an unidentified representative said in a statement from the organization to the Gazette. The decision came to the British territory after a long court battle waged by Godwin and his Canadian fiance, Greg DeRoche, after the men attempted to register to marry, but were denied by the registrar-general. The two men argued that the Human Rights Act took precedence in Bermuda. Just a year ago Bermudians voted against same-sex marriage 69 percent to 31 percent. Homosexuality was decriminalized in Bermuda in 1994. Following the ruling, the two men told reporters that they planned to resubmit their marriage application. The new law goes into effect immediately. t Got international LGBT news tips? Call or send them to Heather Cassell at Skype: heather.cassell, or oitwnews@gmail.com.

“It would be great if we could use that space to have a respite center and get other services into there like needle exchange,” said Sheehy. “It is already happening around the corner.” Asked if he would support seeing a safe injection site open in the Castro should the state law pass and the city task force recommend it, Sheehy replied those are “too many ifs” for him to take a position at this time. Rafael Mandelman, a gay man and attorney who has filed to run against Sheehy next year, told the B.A.R. he supports the harm reduction model but would need to hear first from the community before he could back a safe injection site opening in the Castro. “I support safe injection sites as a way to reduce deaths from overdoses, and I would far prefer to have folks shooting up in a safe facility than on a sidewalk, or in a park, or at a Muni station, as we all see far too regularly,” said Mandelman. “But I would want to see a specific location and proposal and be confident neighbors wouldn’t be impacted.” Gary McCoy, a former Castro resident who supports safe injection sites and pushed for the creation of the city’s advisory group looking at the issue, told the B.A.R. that opening one in the Castro would likely face opposition. “It is definitely going to take support from the community, but I think it is possible,” said McCoy. “Every neighborhood in the city should do its fair share. The time is right for the neighbors to come together to support these advocacy and outreach initiatives.” t

t <<

Community News>>

ADAP

From page 1

technically but fail so quickly ... They failed so quickly and so early.” “Obviously, we made a mistake,” said Mark. “They couldn’t deliver upon what they promised to do.” “They lied?” Gipson asked. “They couldn’t deliver what they promised,” said Mark. Mark, who said ADAP serves about 29,000 people in California, said that Boggs’ contract was terminated in March due to “material breaches.” The California Department of Public Health took over the work Boggs was supposed to perform. (Two other contractors were also brought into the ADAP system, but major problems with them haven’t been reported.) Gipson also wanted to know why Boggs got the contract when its bid was more than $9 million over Ramsell’s. “I’m not sure that’s necessarily correct, but I don’t have the number in front of me,” said Mark. She said that the process had “emphasized technical merit, and the goal was to increase functionality.” Courtney Mulhern-Pearson, director of state and local policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which is part of the state HIV Alliance, said that advocates had shared their concerns about the system changes, but their request for the transition to be delayed was denied. Officials had said

SF police panel

From page 11

A temporary restraining order was issued, but the case was eventually “dismissed without prejudice,” when at least one of the parties didn’t appear at a hearing. Lutt, who’s president of Exemplar Enterprises, told the B.A.R. she didn’t want to say much about the case. “The facts are as you see them in the documentation,” she said, but “We’re still in negotiations with that union, and so I just don’t want to taint our relationship.” In a small claims case filed in 2010, Flor de Maria Rivas said Miranda owed her $7,500 for translation services and other expenses. Rivas said in a filing that Miranda “was extremely rude and even assaulted me.” Rivas told the B.A.R. that Miranda had thrown a purse at her and tried to scratch her face. She didn’t report the incident to police. Rivas declined further comment and falsely claimed a reporter didn’t properly identify himself when calling her. Rivas also said Miranda still hasn’t paid her, despite a judge’s order for Miranda to pay more than $4,000. Three people filed requests against Miranda in March 2008 for injunctions to prohibit harassment, but a judge ultimately denied those requests, according to court records. Miranda filed responses, the records say, but her filings weren’t immediately available for viewing. Safai, who said he hadn’t heard about any of those incidents, said he’s seen Miranda as “someone who’s very much about fighting for underrepresented communities”

May 11-17, 2017 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

“they couldn’t be more ready,” said Mulhern-Pearson. Immediately, she said, “significant” problems appeared, and the state was “clearly not prepared,” which resulted in “a lot of anxiety.” By last fall, the situation had “continued to get worse,” said Mulhern-Pearson, who reported that affected clients included people who had traveled 50 miles to pick up their medications only to find they couldn’t get them. Advocates were treated as if they were “overreacting” and they weren’t giving the changes “time to work through,” she said. Everything changed, though, when the security breaches were found. That was the first time it seemed that “the department understood these were bigger issues than just individual complaints,” said Mulhern-Pearson, who has put the number of affected clients at 94. The situation’s improved, she said, but like other advocates who spoke Monday, she said she wants to see more legislative oversight and more transparency from the Office of AIDS, including a publicly available list of what remains to be fixed. “There’s a lot of mistrust among the community right now given the problems that came up over the last year,” said Mulhern-Pearson. Kevin Stalter, who noted that Mark didn’t mention the data breach in her opening statement,

said the state had stepped back “into the 19th century” after leaving Ramsell. Stalter said at least one friend of his “lives with the fear of losing his care.” “The ability of people to get their medication and keep their care is urgent and threatened” by the ADAP mess, he said. Martha Ayala, an enrollment worker at APLA Health, said when the transition was made, “it was clear” the system hadn’t been tested fully. “Enrollment workers were not included in the testing of the new system,” said Ayala, and “the new portal was extremely inefficient” and hard to use. One client had to pay more than $500 for his insurance to be reinstated after a payment got sent to the wrong address, she said. Craig Pulsipher, state affairs specialist for government affairs at APLA Health, said, “It can’t be overstated how traumatic and how problematic this has been for everyone involved.” A Ramsell representative said Monday, “They could have called us. We’ve been around a long time. We may have been able to help. ... We’re a little shocked at why we weren’t involved at all.” Gipson indicated that legislators would work to help “make sure this doesn’t happen again.” Boggs CEO Clarke Anderson didn’t respond to a request for comment. t

and who’s always advocated for immigrants, LGBTs, women, and others. Miranda’s “very fiery for sure,” he said, but “I’ve never seen her be physical with anybody.” He also said that Miranda has “transferable skills” that would make her a good police commissioner. As someone who does disciplinary reviews “on a daily basis,” she is “consistently doing what a police commissioner does,” said Safai. He’s also untroubled by the fact that Miranda just recently moved to the city. “I think we should be celebrating people that are talking about uprooting their families and moving into the city, not condemning them,” he said, adding that Miranda, who has a husband and son, has worked in San Francisco for decades. Safai said his backing of Miranda is unrelated to DeJesus’ opposition to allowing police officers to carry Tasers. Supervisor Norman Yee, who’s also on the rules committee, said he’ll be supporting DeJesus. “My personal policy is when people come up to be reappointed, I look at their record,” said Yee. “... It has nothing to do with Olga, it has more to do with an incumbent who’s doing their job.” Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer, the third member of the rules committee, said in response to the B.A.R.’s emailed questions that she’s also backing DeJesus. “Petra DeJesus has a proven track record of holding the police department to a higher standard of transparency and accountability,

asking the hard questions and yet tempering it with compassion and respect for those who are doing the hard work of policing. To replace her with someone with less experience is doing a disservice to [the] impacted communities,” said Fewer, whose husband is a retired police officer. In a phone interview, DeJesus, who’s being supported by the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, among other groups, said she wants to remain on the commission in part because of all the effort she and others have put into reforming the police department. “I’d like to see it through,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of hard work on this commission.” Referring to community meetings held to discuss officer-involved shootings, DeJesus said Miranda “hasn’t participated in any of that.” Gay Supervisor Jeff Sheehy didn’t respond directly to interview requests, but his office stated in an email, “Supervisor Sheehy appreciates the vital role the police commission plays in protecting neighborhood safety and implementing needed reforms. He is in the process of meeting with and getting to know the people who are interested in being a police commissioner and looks forward to the recommendation of the rules committee hearing” when it happens. Miranda’s and DeJesus’ applications had been expected to be on the rules committee’s May 10 agenda, but they’ve been delayed. The date for the next committee meeting hasn’t been set. t

Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037544000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAN FRANCISCO NATURAL AESTHETICS, 490 POST ST #1701, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARK IWANICKI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/22/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/04/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FILLMORE BILLIARDS, 1526 FILLMORE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NAE MOON PARK. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/18/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/18/17.

APR 20, 27, MAY 04, 11, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037547700

APR 27, MAY 04, 11/18, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037569000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: YING TRADING, 2226 ULLOA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TIMOTHY GENE YU. 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 04/06/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HUNAN HOME’S RESTAURANT, 622 JACKSON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed NEW HUNAN HOME, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/24/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/24/17.

APR 20, 27, MAY 04, 11, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037552100

APR 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037566000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PRIVEX CONSULTING GROUP, 400 BEALE ST #1409, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed STELLA M. EDRALIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/11/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/11/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NARA SUSHI, 1515 POLK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed LEESUNHEE NARA CORPORATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/20/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/20/17.

APR 20, 27, MAY 04, 11, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037553500

APR 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037563900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: REPUTOLOGY, 86 IDORA AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed DEUMAS HOLDING, INC (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/01/15. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/12/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JODI RENTALS, 2131 19TH AVE #202, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed IM PROPERTIES 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 04/19/17.

APR 20, 27, MAY 04, 11, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037554100

APR 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037563400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FLOWERSHOP, 753 ALABAMA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed FLOWER SHOP, 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 04/12/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PAINTED MARY, 478 UTAH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed MARY NATALIE FINLAYSON & MATTHEW JAMES LUCKHURST. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/19/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/19/17.

APR 20, 27, MAY 04, 11, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037557300

APR 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2017 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037143800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KENNY CO STAR ART, 337 FULTON ST #57, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KENNETH PAUL COWAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/14/17.

APR 20, 27, MAY 04, 11, 2017 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036869600 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: VALENCIA STREET OPTOMETRY, 1000 VALENCIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by MARTHA KLUFAS. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/07/16.

APR 20, 27, MAY 04, 11, 2017 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-17-552954

In the matter of the application of: LAP TO CHOI, 670 33RD AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121, for change of name having been ﬁled in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner LAP TO CHOI, is requesting that the name LAP TO CHOI, be changed to KEN LAPTO CHOI. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, on the 13th of June 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

APRIL 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037559000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JV ELECTRIC, 655 ELLIS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JIMMY VEGA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/14/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/14/17.

APR 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037559700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AIIM SF; ASCENDING IN INDIVIDUAL MINDS, 41 BEACHMONT DRIVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MICHELLE JOSEPHINE FONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/17/17.

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FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037562400

APR 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037564400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: STATE SPACE, 1295 ALABAMA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DANIELLE GRANT. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/19/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/19/17.

APR 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2017

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: METIS MENTORING, 1661 GRANT AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by STEVEN HORNER. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/16/16.

APR 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2017 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-034504900

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: HUNAN HOME’S RESTAURANT, 622 JACKSON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by YUANS LEGACY CORPORATION. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/03/12.

APR 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2017 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037271100 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: LE TREND NAIL SALON, 783 DIVISADERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by NGUYET HA. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/20/16.

APR 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2017 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-17-553008 In the matter of the application of: RENEE MEDRIC BELEC, 1259 LOMBARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109, for change of name having been ﬁled in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner RENEE MEDRIC BELEC, is requesting that the name RENEE MEDRIC BELEC, be changed to CATHERINE RENEE ARTEMISE COATEVAL. 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 29th of June 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAY 04, 11, 18, 25, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037573400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: POREA COMMUNICATION DESIGN & POCO DESIGN, 290 SAN JOSE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BRIAN POREA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/02/2017. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/26/2017.

MAY 04, 11, 18, 25, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037571300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GLITZ HAIR SALON, 2387 OCEAN AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SYLVIA P. THORNE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/10/97. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/25/17.

MAY 04, 11, 18, 25, 2017

<< Classifieds

14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 11-17, 2017

Legals>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037569400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TWENTY 89 HAIR DESIGN, 2089 HAYES ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RAYMOND WOO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/24/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/24/17.

MAY 04, 11, 18, 25, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037560400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NOAH MOVING, 68 PASADENA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PENGFEI DONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/17/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/17/17.

MAY 04, 11, 18, 25, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037554200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHEZ NOUS CAFE, 1145 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CHEZ NOUS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/12/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/12/17.

MAY 04, 11, 18, 25, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037560700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TOP ROUND ROAST BEEF, 2962 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed WORK HARD 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 04/17/17.

MAY 04, 11, 18, 25, 2017

SUMMONS (FAMILY LAW) SUPERIOR COURT, VENTURA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA NOTICE TO RESPONDENT: JENNIFER IVEY, YOU HAVE BEEN SUED. PETITIONER’S NAME IS TIMOTHY CENICEROS CASE NO. D369912

You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this Summons and Petition are served on you to file a Response (form FL-120 or FL-123) at the court and have a copy served on the petitioner. A letter or phone call will not protect you. If you do not file your Response on time, the court may make orders affecting your marriage or domestic partnerships, your property, and custody of your children. You may be ordered to pay support and attorney fees and costs. For legal advice, contact a lawyer immediately. Get help finding a lawyer at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courts.ca.gov/ selfhelp), at the California Legal Services website (www.lawhelpca.org) , or by contacting your local county bar association. NOTICE-RESTRAINING ORDERS ARE ON PAGE 2: These restraining orders are effective against both spouses or domestic partners until the petition is dismissed, a judgment is entered, or the court makes further orders. They are enforceable anywhere in California by any law enforcement officer who has received or seen a copy of them. FEE WAIVER: If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the clerk for a fee waiver form. The court may order you to pay back all or part of the fees and costs that the court waived for you or the other party. Clerk of the Superior Court by J. LUNA, Deputy. STANDARD FAMILY LAW RESTRAINING ORDERS: Starting immediately, you and your spouse or domestic partner are restrained from: 1. Removing the minor child or children of the parties, if any, from the state or applying for a new or replacement passport for those minor children without the prior written consent of the other party or an order of the court; 2. Cashing borrowing against, canceling, transferring, disposing of, or changing the beneficiaries of any insurance or other coverage, including life, health, automobile, and disability, held for the benefit of the parties and their minor children; 3. Transferring, encumbering, hypothecating, concealing, or in any way disposing of any property, real or personal,

whether community, quasi-community, or separate, without the written consent of the other party or an order of the court, except in the usual course of business or for the necessities of life; and 4. Creating a nonprobate transfer or modifying a nonprobate transfer in the manner that affects the disposition of property subject to the transfer, without the written consent of the other party or an order of the court. Before revocation of a nonprobate transfer can take effect or a right of survivorship to property can be eliminated, notice of the change must be ﬁled and served on the other party. You must notify each other of any proposed extraordinary expenditures at least ﬁve business days prior to incurring these extraordinary expenditures and account to the court for all extraordinary expenditures made after these restraining orders are effective. However, you may use community property, quasi-community property, or your own separate property to pay an attorney to help you or to pay court costs. NOTICE - ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HEALTH INSURANCE: Do you or someone in your household need affordable health insurance? If so, you should apply for Covered California. Covered California can help reduce the cost you pay towards high quality affordable health care. For more information, visit www.coveredca.com. Or call Covered California at 1-800-300-1506. WARNING – IMPORTANT INFORMATION California law provides that, for purposes of division of property upon dissolution of a marriage or domestic partnership or upon legal separation, property acquired by the parties during marriage or domestic partnership in joint form is presumed to be community property. If either party to this action should die before the jointly held community property is divided, the language in the deed that characterizes how title is held (ie: joint tenancy, tenants in common, or community property) will be controlling and not the community property presumption. You should consult your attorney if you want the community property presumption to be written into the recorded title to the property. The name and address of the court are SUPERIOR COURT, 800 S. VICTORIA AVENUE, VENTURA, CA 93009; The name and address of the petitioner’s attorney, or the petitioner without an attorney are: TIMOTHY CENICEROS, 257 N. LOMITA, OJAI, CA 93023, 213-304-0862

MAY 11, 18, 25, JUNE 01, 2017

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037582000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ROOTS & BLOOMS, 1177 CALIFORNIA ST #1502, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BRITTNEY KERRIGAN. 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 05/03/17.

MAY 11, 18, 25, JUNE 01, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037583100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TRANSFORMA THERAPY, 842 CALIFORNIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ORLANDO ZUNIGA. 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 03/04/17.

MAY 11, 18, 25, JUN 01, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037588300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MAYDAY HAULING, 316 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DAVID DENSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/22/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/05/17.

MAY 11, 18, 25, JUN 01, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037558500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TE’SHELIMA, 121 9TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SARAH KIDANE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/14/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/14/17.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037578500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NUG MEDICAL CANNABIS DISPENSARY, 1190 BRYANT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BI MZ1, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/28/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/01/17.

MAY 11, 18, 25, JUN 01, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037568100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HIGHER GRADE, 518 BRANNAN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed HGV GROUP, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/21/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/21/17.

MAY 11, 18, 25, JUN 01, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037565700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: YELLOW CAB OF SAN FRANCISCO, 2060 NEWCOMB AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BIG DOG CITY CORPORATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/20/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/20/17.

MAY 11, 18, 25, JUN 01, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037574200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HURLEY HOTEL, 201 LEAVENWORTH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HURLEY HOTEL LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/13/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/27/17.

MAY 11, 18, 25, JUN 01, 2017

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Vol. 47 • No. 19 • May 11-17, 2017

Ron Amato

www.ebar.com/arts

Stretching the boundaries of male beauty by David-Elijah Nahmod

he first thing readers will notice when they peruse The Box, Ron Amato’s striking new photobook of male nudes, is the age diversity of the models. There are cute younger guys, but there are also models pushing 50 and beyond. Some of the models have full heads of darker hair, while others have the white hair that comes with age. Still others are bald. The models hail from a variety of cultural backgrounds. All the models share one common trait: a confident sensuality that comes from deep within. The Box, a 112-page book, is now available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com. The book will ship on June 1. See page 16 >>

From photographer Ron Amato’s book The Box.

Roy De Forest, footloose and fancy free by Sura Wood

O Courtesy OMCA

ne could easily surmise that California artist Roy De Forest never saw a patch of blank canvas he didn’t feel compelled to fill. His large-scale works are crammed with fantastical imagery and explosive color, and the results can delight and inspire affection, but also fatigue. They can overwhelm, especially when 50 of his paintings and fanciful, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink, collaged sculptures are gathered together in one place, as they are in Of Dogs and Other People: The Art of Roy De Forest at OMCA. See page 24 >>

Installation view of Of Dogs and Other People: The Art of Roy De Forest at the Oakland Museum of California.

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

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<< Out There

16 • Bay Area Reporter • May 11-17, 2017

Lighting up the Legion of Honor

tion is Urs Fischer: The Public & the Private, marking the first time that contemporary art has been installed among the traditional masterpieces at the Legion (through July 2). Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco director Max Hollein said, “Fischer’s site-specific installation at the Legion of Honor is a unique

manifestation of artistic imagination, expanded context and institutional challenge.” The Swiss artist presents more than 30 works installed throughout the Court of Honor, the rotunda and the upper-level galleries at the Legion of Honor. The juxtaposition of Fischer’s bronze sculptures with Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” in the usually spare Court of Honor serves notice that something new is going on inside the galleries. Perhaps the show’s most immediately striking installation is “Dazzled” (2016), a sculpture placed in the gallery devoted to English paintings. The two oversized, disembodied eyes of “Dazzled” make the museumgoer conscious of the act of looking, and isn’t intent observation what art appreciation is all about? “Drained” is one of two wall art-pieces that share space with the Legion’s permanent collection in other galleries. The sculpture “Invisible Mother” is a striking use of a human skeleton in the Legion’s central atrium. The attention-grabbing “Mr. E & Spotzy” consists of stainless steel boxes polished to a mirrorlike sheen, the better to reflect the Rodin sculptures in the space around it. In “Fiction” (2012), a hidden motor makes a wooden table shiver and shake so much you can’t focus on the print in an open book, the

desire, conflict and empowerment. Amato told the Bay Area Reporter that his interest in photography began during childhood. “I was interested in photography from an early age, but it was just one of many art disciplines I was interested in,” he said. “I drew a lot. I had a sketchbook and taught myself drawing techniques from books I found in the library.” A former Catholic school student, Amato grew up in a home and a community where the arts were

not valued. But he persevered. He brought his first camera with his first paycheck from a summer job at a Wall Street brokerage firm, where he received encouragement from a friendly boss who was himself an amateur photographer. “I walked out of college one day and enrolled in the Germain School of Photography, and have been doing photography full-time since,” he said. “That was 1981.” Amato spoke about how he chose his models for The Box. “Obvi-

Rick Gerharter

Ryan Butterfield from the exhibitions staff at the Fine Arts Museums/SF lights “Adam,” a wax sculpture by Urs Fischer that is part of the exhibition Urs Fischer: The Public & the Private now at the Palace of the Legion of Honor.

by Roberto Friedman

ut There trucked out to the Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park last week to catch up with two exhibits there. The crowdpleaser is Monet – The Early Years, now in its final weeks (through May 29). But the more unusual exhibi-

The Box

From page 15

Amato, an Associate Professor of Photography at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, photographs more than 30 men posing inside, outside, underneath or on top of boxes. Some of the men pose solo, while others pose with one or two other models. The photos are meant to challenge and expand the public’s perceptions of male beauty, while exploring themes of isolation,

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table’s sole, trembling object. “Snail Crossing Helmet” (2016) is a visual poem on the idea of slow vs. fast, as a snail makes its way across a shining silver motorcycle helmet. Both are, in effect, shells protecting organic matter. But the exhibit’s crowning glory is “Adam” (2014-17), Fischer’s sculpture of a standing man originally eight-feet-tall. We say “originally” because his wick is burning and he’s in the process of melting, leaving the wax that once was his body coiled and pooled on the gallery floor. Adam is doomed, like the figures of Rodin’s “Gates of Hell.” He’s looking mortality in the face, just like the rest of us.

Composing critics

The American Composers Forum Board of Directors will present its 2017 Champion of New Music award to percussionously the world is filled with beautiful people,” he said. “Attraction is definitely a component of casting, but for me there needs to be something deeper. I have turned down many men who have wanted me to photograph them because, even though they were beautiful, there was something missing for me. I need to see something beneath the beautiful surface. I never know what that is, and it is different for each individual. I guess the best word for it is intrigue. I need to be intrigued by someone.” Next came pairing the models up. “I started to look at combinations,” he said. “I make spreadsheets with photographs and the men’s heights so I can look at them next to each other. I was looking for interesting combinations. Sometimes that meant they were very similar, sometimes that meant they were very different. I think a unique aspect of the gay community is that we interface between ages and races more than some other subsets of society. That is probably because our sexuality bonds us together in stronger ways due to marginalization and discrimination.” The Box is not Amato’s first foray into male photography. During the 1990s he worked for men’s fitness magazines. “It was a great way to combine making a living with my love of men,” he recalled. “At the same time my personal work moved to more erotic and intimate work. It was kind of two sides of the same coin, really all about the body.” Amato also spoke of his portrait work. “I have two ongoing projects. Men of Style, which I guess you could call fashion but I think it is portraits, and Artists of Provincetown. I am doing a sabbatical in

ist, radio producer and Other Minds artistic and executive director Charles Amirkhanian. Amirkhanian will receive the award on Sat., May 20, during an Other Minds concert featuring the Gamelan masterpieces of Lou Harrison at Mission Dolores in San Francisco. Just a day before this honor, Other Minds Records will release Composer-Critics of The New York Herald Tribune, a CD featuring works by music critics for that newspaper who were also composers. The department was headed by the great gay composer Virgil Thomson, and between the years 1940 and 1954 it included such seminal figures in 20th-century music as Paul Bowles, Lou Harrison, Peggy Glanville-Hicks and John Cage. All of these men were gay, and we’re not sure about Peggy. Bowles is represented on the disc by his Music for a Farce (1938), Glanville-Hicks by her Sonata for Piano and Percussion (1951-52). Thomson’s Capital Capitals (1927) sets a 1917 text written by lesbian genius Gertrude Stein in a way that clearly presages his opera Four Saints in Three Acts, which also sets texts by Stein. Cage’s String Quartet in Four Parts (1949-50) proves that the avant-garde master was equally adept at traditional music structures. But the disc’s most beautiful piece of music is (no surprise) Harrison’s Suite for Cello and Harp (1949), from a score written for, but ultimately not used in, a film about the prehistoric paintings in the Lascaux Caves of France. Maybe call it early rock music?t

Provincetown later this year to work on that project. I think it might be a book. Norma Holt published a book in 1980, Face of the Artist, that was portraits of artists in Provincetown. My approach is very different, but I appreciate Norma’s work very much. I think much has changed in Provincetown in 37 years. I hope to capture some of the current energy in my photographs.” For now Amato is busy promoting The Box. We asked him what he learned from producing the book. “I learned that my experiences are the experiences of many,” he said. “We all have joys and heartbreaks. Those are the things that bond us as humans. The book is autobiographical, but it holds universal truths. I have received many lovely notes from people telling me how much the work mirrors their own experience. That alone makes me feel less isolated and more bonded with others.” Amato added that he now feels closer to his community. “I feel a special affinity for the men in the photographs. For me they represent me and the larger gay community.”t Info: ronamato.com.

Theatre>>

May 11-17, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 17

Finally ‘Sordid’

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Lois Tema

Three generations of a dysfunctional small-town Texas family (Luke Brady, Marie O’Donnell, Cat Luedtke, Michaela Greeley, Scott Cox) gather for the funeral of their elderly matriarch in Sordid Lives at New Conservatory Theatre Center.

by Richard Dodds

he author of Sordid Lives couldn’t quite believe it when he heard that his play is only now having its San Francisco premiere. “Isn’t it crazy that it’s never been done there?” marveled playwright Del Shores. “There have been so many productions of Sordid Lives that I had to check with Samuel French to make sure. But, sure enough, after 20 years, it is the San Francisco premiere.” This seems natural territory for the comedy, which has always had a core gay fanbase that grew considerably when the film adaptation was released a few years later, and prompted more theaters to stage the original play. Meanwhile, New Conservatory Theatre Center had produced two of Shores’ later plays, Southern Baptist Sissies and Yellow, and he had become a big fan of the theater and Artistic Director Ed Decker. “Every time they’d do another of my plays, I’d say to Ed, you know, you still haven’t done Sordid Lives. It is a little lighter, a littler fluffier than the meatier plays they have done of mine, so maybe that’s it.” Decker himself, briefly cornered at a recent opening at New Conservatory, could come up with no particular reason why the Shores play with the most obvious commercial appeal had been passed over for so many seasons. “I guess I’m just stupid,” he joked. But whatever the dynamics of putting together seasons of plays, Sordid Lives finally found its place in the current series. Performances begin on May 12, with Dennis Lickteig directing a cast playing the colorfully dysfunctional residents of a small Texas town who must come together for the funeral of a local matriarch, who died in a freak accident during a tryst with a considerably younger and most certainly married man. Just as Sordid Lives is about to make its local theatrical debut, the sequel to the movie, A Very Sordid Wedding, will soon have its Bay Area premiere. Shores and his producing partner and cast member Emerson Collins have been rolling out the movie city-by-city, often showing up for opening-night festivities. “I

Steven_2x5.indd 1

back for the funeral, and trying to say we’re on a dog-and-pony kind summon the nerve to tell his keepof tour,” Shores said recently from ing-up-appearances mother about Los Angeles. “We do have a broker, his sexual orientation. In A Very but it’s a bit like do-it-yourself disSordid Wedding, it is Ty’s planned tribution, which works much better nuptials in Winters, Texas, that has for us than having a regular disthe town astir. tributor who takes most Shores grew up in Winters, a of the money.” town in central Texas with a popuShores expects to lation of under 2,500 whose nearest have an exact date big town is Abilene about an hour’s soon for a run at the drive away. His mother was a high Rialto Cinemas Elmschool drama teacher and father a wood in Berkeley, but Southern Baptist preacher, and his he acknowledges that own story most clearly mirrors Ty’s he wanted to have the in the play. After graduating from premiere engagement Baylor University in 1980, he headed in San Francisco. “We straight for Los Angeles to become were hoping to do at an actor. Conflicted about his sexuleast one night at the ality, he tried to live a heterosexual Castro, and then move it into an life, getting married indie house, but and having two the Castro said no, daughters. which was surHe had come out prising to me. We to his now ex-wifeC did two or three by the time Sordid episodes from the Lives was gettingM TV series in 2008 ready to open inY during Frameline Los Angeles in at the Castro, and 1996 – and to hisCM they sold out. wife’s surprise, herMY There are only a parents took roles few theaters in in the stage version,CY each city that book screen version, TV independent films, CMY version, and now and you just have the sequel. NewellK to wait until there Alexander plays is an open slot.” a homophobic From the original bartender who stage production happens to be the that opened in Los Sordid Lives playwright object of Brother Angeles in 1996, to Del Shores was surprised to discover that NCTC’s Boy’s affections, the 2000 movie, to production would be its and Rosemary Althe 2008 Logo TV San Francisco premiere series, and now to exander plays the after 20 years. A Very Sordid Wedpsychiatrist trying ding, many of the to de-homosexucharacters have remained the same alize Brother Boy to further her while the performers have transiambitious agenda. tioned over time. One constant has “My youngest daughter lives up been Leslie Jordan, perhaps the most in San Francisco, and she is a big fan memorable of all the Sordid charof my work,” Shores said. “Whenacters, who has played the Tammy ever I perform standup up there, Wynette-channeling Brother Boy in she brings all her friends,” he said. all his incarnations. Institutional“She’s 24 now, so when she was just ized for his cross-dressing fantasies, a little girl and the play premiered, I he escapes long enough to become would have to walk my kids in and part of the mayhem surrounding out of the theater. There was just the funeral for the god-fearin’ but things they couldn’t see. She’s very sexually adventurous Peggy. excited to see Sordid Lives all the One of the major among many way through again.”t subplots involves the character Ty Williamson, a young man who Sordid Lives will run at NCTC moved from small-town Texas to through June 11. Tickets available at (415) 861-8972 or at West Hollywood as an aspiring nctcsf.org. actor and emerging gay man. He’s

4/24/17

9:14 AM

5/8/17 2:22 PM

<< Theatre

18 • Bay Area Reporter • May 11-17, 2017

Wounds of war: minimalist version by Richard Dodds

with four performers on a largely bare stage for only ar is not healthy for 70 minutes. But there is a children and other power in the simplicity, living things.” If you’re of the from methodically vivid right demographic, perhaps descriptions of post-battle you had the iconic poster on carnage to the mordant your dorm room wall gently whimsy of its parables. stating the obvious with a There are times when sense of newfound wisdom. the current production, Flashback several thousand adapted and directed by years, and you can see that Brooks and Marie-Helene it has been wisdom learned Estienne, suggests, conand forgotten with unerring tradictorily, a tightly conregularity. But words spoken trolled looseness – even way back then don’t have a meandering, but this poster-ready uplift: “There is is belied by the intense no choice between war and discipline of the cast. The peace. The choice is between four actors and single war and another war.” percussionist at the Geary Those words are heard early are the original quintet Donald Cooper in Battlefield, now at ACT’s who have been with the Geary Theater, an epilogue of Carole Karemera and Jared McNeill play mother and son dealing with the aftermath project since its debut of war in Peter Brook’s Battlefield at ACT’s Geary Theater. sorts to director Peter Brook’s in London last year, and epic stage version of The Mathere is precision in their habharata, and a reassertion every word and gesture. beyond words of wisdom whispered musings on the goals of life. Brooks that the war to end all wars has yet to The performers play more than among the characters at the end, but and his adaptor Jean-Claude Carever be. The surviving characters in one role, but most have a single not for our ears. riere’s original production ran more Battlefield may feel they have been character that is their main focus. The Mahabharata itself is an than eight hours, had a cast of 24, through that war, but the gods know For Jared McNeill, it is the devasepic narrative poem in Sanskrit and played in venues ranging from better – even we mortals sitting in tated victor of a war that has killed that details a horrific war in ancient an abandoned quarry to molderthe theater know better – and this hundreds of thousands, and ravaged India, with the stories of the oping movie palaces. Battlefield, in elegiac drama offers little comfort his own family, as McNeill makes posing princes and philosophical contrast, is a study in minimalism,

“W

palpable his utter sorrow in what should be triumph. Carole Karemera is a striking figure as his forlorn mother who shares a shameful secret only after brother has killed brother. Sean O’Callaghan has the most varied roles, from a blind, vanquished, but forgiving leader to a swaggering storyteller. Often in the role of soothsayers, Ery Nzaramba has the voice and demeanor that complement the roles’ sage characteristics. Toshi Tsuchitori, who was part of the musical ensemble in Brook’s original The Mahabharata, is on stage drumming throughout with an ebb and flow of percussion that becomes at one with the story being told. At the very end, Tsuchitori takes center stage with the rest of the cast and hammers furiously with his hands before bringing the percussion down to steadily diminishing intensity that turns, at some ineffable point, into an inaudible thrumming. All is silence, and it is up to the audience to commit to the fact that the play is over.t Battlefield will run at ACT’s Geary Theater through May 21. Tickets are $20-$105. Call (415) 749-2228 or go to act-sf.org.

Horrors of war, Greek dramatized by Tavo Amador

he consequences of war have been lamented since the earliest civilizations, but world peace remains a Sisyphean task. History records numberless wartime casualties, yet often it’s the most personal and individual losses that grieve us. No one understood this better than the great Greek dramatist Euripides (ca. 480-406 B.C.) In 415 B.C., dur-

ing the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.), Athens conquered the city of Melos, enslaving those citizens whom it didn’t kill. In response to that brutality, Euripides wrote The Trojan Women, part of an unconnected trilogy. In 1971, Michael Cacoyannis (1964’s Zorba the Greek) filmed it. It’s available on DVD. Euripides resets the story to Troy after it has fallen. He dramatizes the fate of its women at the hands

of the triumphant Greeks. The story opens with Queen Hecuba (a ferocious Katharine Hepburn) and a chorus of women bemoaning the horrors inflicted on her. She witnessed her husband King Priam’s murder on the altar of Zeus the protector. Her sons, including the heroic Hector and Paris, whose abduction of the Spartan Queen Helen triggered the war, are dead. Her daughter, Cassandra (a brilliant Genevieve Bujold), is mad. She doesn’t know what has happened to her other daughter, Polyxena. She, a queen, is to be a slave of Odysseus, who devised the ruse of the Trojan Horse. Her destiny: to bow and open doors, to die in a strange land, with no family to mourn her. “Count no man happy, however fortunate, before he dies.” The Greek Talthybius (a suitably conflicted Brian Blessed, years before his memorable Augustus on PBS’ wonderful I, Claudius) is the messenger for the Greeks, charged with delivering terrible news. He comes for Cassandra. She, wielding a torch, hides in a cave and resists attempts to take her away. A priestess of Apollo, she has the gift of prophecy, but is cursed to have no one believe her. Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, commander of the Greeks, has claimed her. Ten years earlier, he sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenia, to raise a wind so that the mighty Greek fleet could sail to Asia Minor and Troy. Cassandra foresees the bloody fate that awaits him and his wife, Clytemnestra, and their children, including Electra and Orestes. But her terrifying warnings are dismissed as lunatic ravings. Eventually, she is subdued and taken to the ship while Hecuba stands by, helpless. Talthybius next delivers Andromache (an incandescent Vanessa Redgrave), Hector’s widow. She, too, is to be a slave. Her son, Astyanax, a mere boy, is with her. She tells Hecuba that Polyxena is dead, another unimaginable blow to the aging Trojan queen. Andromache believes her son will live. That

hope is soon smashed, and she is overcome. She and Hecuba argue over which of them has suffered the most, a pointless discussion, as each has and is bearing immense, unending pain. “Better dead than a life of grief,” declares Andromache. The women reconcile as it will be Hecuba who will have to bury Astyanax after Andromache is taken away to sail to Greece and face a life of enslavement and tortured memories. Astyanax, thrown from the walls, his body on a shield, is brought to Hecuba. In an especially haunting scene, she accuses him of having lied to her, of having kissed her and promised to mourn her death, to cut a large lock of hair to show his grief, and to bury his beloved grandmother. But it is she, her hair already shorn to honor so many others of her family, who must drape his body with her worn cloak and lower him into his grave.

Helen pleads

And what of Helen (a seductive, confident Irene Papas), wife of Menelaus (a torn Patrick Magee), what will the Greeks to do her? Helen, beautifully dressed, pleads with her husband, saying it was Aphrodite who gave her to Paris, that she had no choice, and that he, Menelaus, left them alone in the pal-

ace while he went off to war. None of this was her fault. Hecuba powerfully refutes her claims of innocence, saying it was her insatiable love of Trojan gold that made her seduce Paris and betray her husband. She is the cause of the countless deaths on both sides and should be killed. Menelaus insists he no longer loves her, but decides to take her back to Sparta where she will be sentenced to death. Helen, Hecuba, and everyone else knows that he will forgive her. Helen will escape unharmed. That is the final, perhaps cruelest blow to hit Hecuba. As he had done in 431 B.C. with Medea, Euripides makes non-Greeks (“barbarians”) sympathetic, truly tragic victims. Cacoyannis honors the playwright’s intentions: the women in the film are all-too-human, their sufferings unique yet universal. He elicits remarkable performances from his exceptional cast. Their styles and accents are different, yet somehow this makes sense: it underscores their characters’ individuality. He skillfully uses the chorus as both extras and on-camera speakers, commenting on the action, providing needed back story, as was the case in the Athenian theatre. Yet he makes these women part of a cinematic experience. Audiences are not watching a filmed play. The movie is never static. It captures the tumult of defeat, the ever-present, ever-changing threats, the chaos and panic. The mood is unrelentingly grim. Cacoyannis eliminates the physical presence of Poseidon and Athena, but his screenplay is otherwise generally faithful to the acclaimed Edith Hamilton English translation of the original. The impressive cinematography is by Alfio Contini. The picture was shot in Spain. Mikis Theodorakis wrote the outstanding score. Not surprisingly, despite the all-star cast, and despite the turmoil over the Vietnam War, the film wasn’t a commercial success and was ignored by the Oscars. Sadly, it’s as timely and timeless today as the play was 2,100 years ago.t

Music>>

May 11-17, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 19

Merriment from the Lamplighters by Philip Campbell

amplighters Music Theatre, the treasured San Francisco-based home for traditional stagings of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, is closing their 64th season with an original musical, A Song to Sing, O!: The Gilbert & Sullivan Story. Conceived, written and directed by Artistic Director Emeritus Barbara Heroux (LMT, 1974), the show is a revival of the award-winning production from 1998. After opening San Francisco performances last month, the musical revue moved to the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek, where I caught the chance to wallow in a feast of G&S songs. Featuring a salon orchestra of 10 musicians cherry-picked from the marvelous Lamplighters ensemble, led from the piano by legendary Music Director/Conductor Baker Peeples (over 40 years with LMT), a talented cast of familiar veterans, and the typically adept production team, A Song to Sing, O! presents a long evening of delightful music and sometimes tedious exposition. Even English filmmaker Mike Leigh tended to go on a bit with his brilliant 1999 biopic Topsy-Turvy, but he achieved better concision centering the drama on the staging of the famous partners’ The Mikado at a turning point in their tumultuous career. Heroux’s narrative tries to have it all, not only

explaining the authors’ lives, but also the plot-lines of their many comic operas. As biography, the story is told in the broadest of strokes – sometimes with dialogue or recitation of facts, but usually most effectively with members of the ensemble singing or declaiming from Victorian newspapers. Synopses of the operettas become an exercise in futility. You really have to see a full G&S show to understand W.S. Gilbert’s whimsical and piercing wit. The stories are mere contraptions built to skewer the establishment, satirize grand opera and comment on universal human folly, all supported by Arthur Sullivan’s gorgeously melodic and delightfully catchy music. The title of the revue comes from a song in The Yeoman of the Guard, but I might have gone for a better descriptive line from “My object all sublime” in The Mikado: “A source of innocent merriment.” There isn’t enough pith in Heroux’s depiction of the two writers to make a very satisfying drama. When the cast is left to romp their way through the actual work-product, the show takes wing. All of the talented crew has also been handpicked from the impressive LMT Company of singing actors. We will acknowledge them alphabetically as the printed program does, but first mention the ostensible stars: Charles Martin

Sonia Gariaeff (2003) is an as Gilbert, and Jonathan admitted personal favorite Spencer as Sullivan. Both due to her particularly polhave given much enjoyished blend of vocal ability ment for years in leading and comic timing, but then and supporting roles, I have to include Cary Ann and they each cut a fine Rosko (2006) for possessing figure in designer Melissa the same qualities. They both Wortman’s and costumer command our undivided Hannah Velichko’s elegant attention whenever they period dress. Affecting appear, and tickle us with mild English accents (as hilarious characterizations. most LMT players sensibly But I’m skipping ahead. adopt), the two stars porLet us just say that all of the tray as much personality players occupy a place of recand depth as possible, but ognition and warm appreciaI kept wishing they could tion with LMT fans. Patrick step out of character and Hagen (2016), William Neely join their colleagues in (1978), lyric soprano (what a song. We know they are divine voice) Erin O’Meally richly capable of everything (2015) and Robby Stafford from patter to serenade. (2009) personify the fabulous Soprano Jennifer Ashtradition with their versatile worth (LMT, 2001) has a skills and memorable contripleasing mezzo quality that butions. Chris Uzelac (2004) adds weight to her coloratualso embodies the LMT prora and gravitas to her comic file with a Company career singing. That ability to Courtesy Lamplighters that includes both comic and sound operatic, even when romantic leads and frequent acting the vaudevillian, is Jonathan Spencer as Arthur Sullivan, and characteristic of Lamplight- Charles Martin as W.S. Gilbert, in Lamplighters stand-out supporting roles. Music Theatre’s original musical, A Song to Sing, ers performers. The ensemble makes A F. Lawrence Ewing (1989) O!: The Gilbert & Sullivan Story. Song to Sing, O! worthy of has also endeared himself its name; Messrs. Martin and to the LMT faithful with his Spencer give G&S due recogety of G&S leads as well as the titular many comic enactments, and he nition. Final performance: May 14, role in the Company’s ambitious has a great talent for singing patter Menlo Center for Performing Arts, mounting of Leonard Bernstein’s songs while staying in character. Atherton.t Candide. His mixture of vocal puYoung tenor Samuel Faustine rity and golly-shucks innocence (2014) has proven himself in a variInfo: lamplighters.org. makes him a natural.

LGBT playlist

by Gregg Shapiro

comedy with music, the film version of queer playwright Stephen Karam’s play Speech & Debate includes original cast member Sarah Steele as one of the three teen misfits (including one who’s gay) taking a stand against the conservative adults in their hometown. The source of the ruckus is a high school production of Mary Rodgers’ One Upon a Mattress. Speech & Debate: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Broadway) features a portion of “Happily Ever After” from Mattress. There are also songs from Hamilton, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar and The King and I, as well as original songs by Karam “More Weight” and “Hold It In,” and Kristin Chenoweth sing-

ing “Losers Are Winners (Flying Free).” Speaking of Mary Rodgers, her father Richard Rodgers was one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century, the man behind such eternal musicals as Oklahoma!, The King and I, The Sound of Music and Pal Joey. Billy Porter presents: The Soul of Richard Rodgers (Masterworks) by Tony and Grammy Award-winner Billy Porter and an impressive array of guest artists reveals another side to Rodgers’ familiar tunes. Via collaborations with Pentatonix (“Oh, What a Beautiful Morning”), Deborah Cox (“This Nearly Was Mine”), Todrick Hall (“I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair”), India.Arie (the timely “Carefully Taught”) and others, Porter and his pals have the power to share Rodgers with an entirely new audience. Like Porter, Tyce is focusing on one songwriter on his double-disc debut Hero (Broadway). That songwriter is Jim Steinman, best known for his longtime working partnership with Meat Loaf. Revisiting Steinman’s dramatic songs made famous by Mr. Loaf (“Heaven Can Wait,” “I’d Do Anything for Love”), Barbra Streisand (“Left in the Dark”), Bonnie Tyler (“Total Eclipse of the Heart,” “Holding Out for a Hero”) and Celine Dion (“It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”), Tyce succeeds in making these recognizable songs his own, and that’s no easy feat. But it’s unclear why, as an openly gay artist, Tyce didn’t make pronoun adjustments to “Left in the Dark.” Benj Pasek, the gay half of acclaimed songwriting duo Pasek and Paul, is enjoying quite a year with his creative

partner Justin Paul. The pair scored an Oscar for their work on Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, and have the biggest hit of their theatrical careers with Dear Evan Hansen, a musi-

cal about a teen with social anxiety that is a massive success currently on Broadway. The 14 songs on Dear Evan Hansen: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Atlantic), including

“Requiem,” “For Forever” and “Good for You,” are excellent examples of the kind of memorable compositions that keep Pasek and Paul in demand.t

MARIO CANTONE and JERRY DIXON

SPENCER DAY

LORNA LUFT

June 2 – 3

June 16 – 17

June 23 – 24

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

<< Film

20 • Bay Area Reporter • May 11-17, 2017

Final notice: everything must go! by David Lamble

y father didn’t get one; his richer, older brother did. My mom got one only because I wrote it myself. The newspaper you’re reading made its mark back in the terrible days of the height of the AIDS epidemic by printing more obituaries, or death notices, as news than any LGBTQ paper ever had. If you don’t consider the whole subject a bit too morbidly depressing, you’ll probably enjoy Obit, a remarkable new nonfiction film about the obituary department at The New York Times. The film opens Friday in San Francisco. Filmmaker Vanessa Gould succeeds by approaching her subject with a light, at times almost comic touch that relieves Scene in The New York Times newsroom, from director Vanessa Gould’s Obit. a viewer’s natural anxiety. Her topic is a nervous reminder newsroom, the hallowed site where composing an accurate, warts-andthat the best thing that may ever be generations of reporters had chronall article under deadline pressure. printed about us is going to appear icled depressions, wars, epidemics, That means obit writers Bruce at least a day too late. great sporting events, and yes, a Weber, Douglas Martin, Margalit As an adolescent I was proud that whole lot of deaths. For generations, Fox and William Grimes have to my Liverpool, England-born Uncle having your obit make the Times’ be good at that classic journalisBill was a “Timesman.” At the height front page has been a signal honor. tic knack: telephone pursuit of a of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Obit is most successful observing story. The film allows us to watch Bill took my 18-year-old self on a the current generation of obituary Weber (also the author of a great tour of the old Times 43rd Street writers going about the tall task of film about baseball umpires) as

he makes phone inquiries about the freshly deceased. We hear only his side of those conversations. One of the delicious insidebaseball sides to the news business has been the fact that Times obit writers refer to their enormous file of clippings about their subjects as “the morgue.” The film really sparkles during its time spent with the morgue’s comparatively young Ben Wolf current custodian, Jeff Roth. He explains, “This is the Times’ morgue; at the height, it was manned by about 30 people, now one person. Three shifts a day, seven days a week, almost 24 hours, until 3 a.m., you had the cutter, the indexer, the filers, the refilers. We clip from about 24 different publications, along with the Times. Before we moved, there were approximately 10,000

drawers of clippings. If it went into the new Times building, all the floors would pancake, it couldn’t stand the weight.” Filmmaker Gould’s chat with Roth concludes with his admitting that neither he nor any of his colleagues can actually read all of the staggeringly large files that exist at the new, far sleeker Times headquarters building today. Roth emerges as one of Obit’s previously unsung heroes. At one point he explains with pride how an obituary of the legendary folk singer Pete Seeger contained a precious 1921 photograph of a then-two-year-old Seeger posing alongside his dad, the noted musicologist Professor Charles Seeger. Roth explains that the Times paid 10 bucks for that photo, and it helped distinguish the paper’s coverage of the famous anti-war balladeer from stories published anywhere else. “You see his life [and fate] from the very beginning.” Like most great films, Obit has a philosophical stance towards its subject. In this case, it’s that this country’s fabled newspaper of record has a precious department where real people judge whether one is worthy of getting the most august send-off that our society has to offer.t

Islam called Wahhabi, whose ideology Sharma argues is responsible for the export of ISIS terrorists to other countries. His hajj of defiance quickly becomes a hajj of endurance, due to sleeplessness, constant walking which bloodies his feet, lack of water, mobs of people with the possibility of being stampeded, and filthy streets with trash-strewn sacred grounds uncleared by the government. Less than 1,000 feet from these holy sites is a glittering shopping mall with a Starbucks, so it becomes the Mecca of capitalism. Along the way he encounters a Pakistani man asking forgiveness for participating in the mercy killing of his brother’s wife, and another pilgrim whose wife was sexually molested while circling the holiest shrine at Kaaba. Sharma can’t finish the final ritual of slaughtering a goat because the Saudis, running out of sacrifices, close the stadium. So he must travel to India to formally end his hajj. He concludes that it is up to

him as a gay Muslim to accept Islam rather than the other way around, believing that while pilgrims leave Mecca, Mecca never leaves them. Sinner has drawn controversy. Sharma has received death threats, and when the film premiered at Toronto’s Hot Docs festival, extra security was summoned. The film functions best as a stinging critique of not only Saudi Arabia’s brutal brand of Islam, but also its poor custodianship of Islam’s holiest sites. Yet Sharma’s conclusions seem anti-climactic. The most affecting part of the film is his story of his late mother’s rejection of him, reading her correspondence and poetry, meeting her old friends and neighbors. Sharma was taking a personal risk and does highlight the precarious state of gay people in conservative Muslim countries. A Sinner in Mecca reminds us that in spite of extremists doing horrible acts in Islam’s name, the religion does not deserve to be denounced.t

Gay pilgrimage to Mecca by Brian Bromberger

ith media disclosure of the ongoing persecution of gay men in the predominantly Muslim country of Chechnya resulting in the roundup of over 100 homo-

sexuals being tortured and put into camps, with at least three deaths, the recent release of the film A Sinner in Mecca, written, directed, and starring Parvez Sharma, onto DVD (Kino Lorber) couldn’t have arrived at a more opportune mo-

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ment. Sharma won fame for his 2007 documentary A Jihad for Love, chronicling for the first time in cinema the lives of gay and lesbian Muslims in 12 countries. His reward was being targeted with a fatwa for apostasy. Sinner continues his journey of integrating his Muslim religion with his gay sexuality, focusing on this crisis of faith by going on a pilgrimage to Mecca (called the hajj), required once in the lifetime of all good Muslims, as it cleanses one of all sins. As a public infidel, Sharma could have been arrested and worse if caught, both for his homosexuality and for filming these sacred rituals. He smuggled his film out of Saudi Arabia. Sinner opens on a conversation Sharma had on ManJam, a website for gay Muslims. Mo in Saudi Arabia spoke of an incident when another gay man was beheaded in a public market square in Medina after being arrested at a private party. Mo begs Sharma, “Please help me get the fuck out of this country. It’s hell.” This is followed by a terrifying news clip showing an actual beheading with harrowing music. Then Sharma updates us on his personal life, reporting on his marriage to Dan, a musician, in New York in 2011, followed by their honeymoon in Sharma’s formerly native India. Dan is not Muslim, doesn’t believe in God, and worries about his partner’s dangerous journey. Before she died of cancer when Sharma was 21, he came out to his mother (a poet), who never forgave him. Sharma wants to ask forgiveness from Allah, so he starts his perilous trip on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 during the Arab Spring year, seven months after the U.S. killing of Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian. He was so terrified he wrote a will before he left in case he didn’t return alive. He will film his journey on his iPhone and two small videorecorders smuggled in as phones. He starts in Medina, the second holiest city in Islam, the burial place of the Prophet Mohammad, where one gets a blessing for the pilgrimage. As part of his defiance, he is travelling as a Sunni with Shia pilgrims, despite this bitter split in Islam. Saudi Arabia practices a cruel, repressive form of Sunni

Books>>

May 11-17, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 21

Olympic transformation by Jim Piechota

The Secrets of My Life by Caitlyn Jenner; Grand Central Publishing, $30

n March 2015, Bruce Jenner became Caitlyn Marie Jenner. The big news became a big public spectacle with a Vanity Fair cover months later, which the author, in her candid memoir The Secrets of My Life, admits did not impress her sons Burt, Brandon, and Brody, but truly embarrassed them. “I did not gauge how a son would feel seeing his father in a cream-colored bustier.” Moments like these, genuine and self-deprecatingly humorous, are sprinkled generously throughout a book that Jenner has co-written with Buzz Bissinger, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Friday Night Lights, and of the cover story for the head-turning Jenner article that appeared in Vanity Fair’s July 2015 issue. At 67, Caitlyn Jenner has lived a full life, just not as the person she’d always wanted to be. Public speculation about her gender ambiguity began years ago and in quite a cruel fashion as compromising photographs began popping up in the tabloids, but Jenner finally disclosed the truth in a frank Diane Sawyer 20/20

interview, with a revealing display of honesty and deliverance about how the frustration and shame of her inner self became the motivator for her new emergence as a woman. Her memoir moves across those iconic years, basking in the glory of being an Olympic gold medalist, but also describing Jenner’s three divorces amidst the “gender issues” that were alive and fighting in her day-to-day life. Just as fascinating are the rituals Jenner undertook in order to get Caitlyn ready, back in her closeted days. She had a female friend purchase her clothing – standing at 6’2” with “big feet,” this was no swift shopping spree at Macy’s – she carried clear plastic wrap as a “homegrown” way of body-cinching, and wore a breast prosthesis that was almost confiscated during a security screening at LAX. Less fascinating and more frustrating are the details of how the entire ordeal played out as a hyped media event. For example, a public relations representative was one of the first people Jenner called when she’d decided to come out. Her self-interest is played out in several chapters, but if readers can overlook it, they’ll find great contributions to trans visibility as well. The Kardashian clan provides a lot of heat-seeking melodrama for those who prefer the TMZ ver-

sion of Jenner’s ordeal. She doesn’t mince words when discussing the PR machine known as her ex-wife Kris, as they both, in the final years of their doomed marriage, were “at each other’s throats.” There is also the lingering issue of her estranged daughter Khloe, whom Jenner hasn’t spoken with in over two years. But Jenner remains tightlipped about more current familial abandonments in favor of closing the book on a positive note – that is, until a last-minute addendum. In typically ornery Jenner style, she adds one snarky final paragraph admitting to undergoing “The Final Surgery” in January this year in an effort to liberate herself, “have all the right parts,” stop “tucking the damn thing in all the time,” and satisfy the curious “so all of you can stop staring.” The staring will never cease, Caitlyn, since you remain in the public eye. Her complaint will fall on deaf ears as long as Jenner continues to cash in on her journey. While this memoir probably won’t win over any of her detractors who feel her Republican leanings are hypocritical or her gender journey nothing but a publicity stunt, Jenner does promote the fact that truth can set you free, and that it’s never too late to live the life you’ve always felt was your truest one.t

Cat on a hot gay roof by Tim Pfaff

ou might think that Pajtim Statovci pre-qualifies as an original voice. My Cat Yugoslavia (Pantheon), the debut novel by this 27-year-old gay Muslim Kosovan refugee to Finland, just issued in a splendid English translation by David Hackston, could have slipped comfortably into any number of currently fad-ish subgenres (or even into the currently out-of-fashion magical realism category) and found a publisher and an audience. In the original Finnish and the 11 languages into which his 2014 novel has previously been translated, it has. Just not comfortably. Anyone who writes as naturally and powerfully as Statovci surely has models, but they’re not apparent in My Cat Yugoslavia, and he’s one of those rare performers in language who puts you out of mind of all others while you’re reading his charged, bounding prose. He betrays no more interest in being stuffed into a pigeonhole than his protagonist Bekim’s pet boa constrictor is in being put back into the heated glass terrarium its thoughtful owner has bought for its comfort. As the reader will have surmised, the novel itself is a glass menagerie that includes two, not just one, actual snakes and a pride of cats, the bulk of them also real. But then there’s Yugoslavia. OK, you may think momentarily of early Guenter Grass as Bekim meets the larger-than-life Yugoslavia, in a gay bar where the black-andwhite feline, standing tall on its hind legs, is making the scene, flirting and dancing and playing hard to get. Only after finally being taken home by Bekim does he get candid – vocifer-

ous, you might say – about how he loathes gay men (and, hilariously, despises people who see things only in black-and-white). Before we know that Yugoslavia goes home with Bekim because he is otherwise homeless, he tells the “astounded” Bekim, “Gays. I don’t much like gays.” He has “nothing against homosexuality” of course, but, “Obviously, I like all kinds of toms, but I hate bitches.” The cat moves in, promptly turning Bekim into his house slave, Yugoslavia losing his figure eating pistachios in bed, his “master” doting until, predictably if not inevitably, Yugoslavia moves out, cursing the scorched earth (and gruesomely slain boa constrictor) behind him. As a child, Bekim is plagued by nightmares, and I fear bringing some on myself by venturing an “interpretation” of Yugoslavia, the kind of character who resists being reduced to a symbol. Still, since he dominates the first third of the

novel, you have to wonder. I think it’s not an accident that this grabbing pussy is named for Bekim’s homeland before the fall of Tito and the rise of Milosevic, literally Balkanizing the country into warring and factions and states-to-be. Revelations about the current horror in Chechnya hint at how nightmarish being gay must have been in that milieu, but it’s telling that Statovci doesn’t make that case per se. The author’s real Muslim family fled to Finland when he was two, and the only prejudice he talks about is of being a refugee in a country where he tries to pass as Michael or John so he won’t have to say where he is from. This brings us to the book’s humans, equals perhaps nowhere else than in the pages of this manyspecied book. Statovci tells his story in a layered (but easy to follow) double narrative, shuffling the deck of his own angst with that of his mother Emine, as sympathetic a character as he could have created, breathing life into the dirt of riven lands. We meet her as she is about to be married to the rich, handsome, hairy, scary Bajram, who jumps the gun on the finale of the traditional days-long Kosovan marriage tradition and prematurely sexually traumatizes his virgin wife (who, no slouch in the brains and self-survival departments, and tutored by her mother, has tucked into the armpit of her wedding dress a razor blade with which she can cut her hand to make sure she also bleeds copiously when her hymen is torn). It’s the marriage you’d expect, but in a move of impressive narrative suavity, the author brings the

two narratives together when his mother finds comfort with a real stray cat. With minimum self-pity, Bekim narrates growing up in a family that first discovers that you can go home again only with great discomfort, and finally, that you can’t go home again. His fraught relationship with his father – and a cultural homophobia so thick in the air it doesn’t have to be named – results in flawed,

broken, desultory “intimate” relationships with men and maybe, just maybe, a viable reunion with Sami, the best of them. It’s a ninth life beyond Yugoslavia’s hissed parting curse, “No one will ever love you.” It’s hardly surprising that there’s a surge in topical fiction in a world writhing with its largest refugee population ever. If in too few other lands, and hearts, there’s a place for them in this remarkable book.t

<< Out&About

22 • Bay Area Reporter • May 11-17, 2017

Out &About

O&A

The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd @ Exit Theatre Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley’s classic satirical musical about class warfare gets a new production. $20$40. Thru May 27. 156 Eddy St. www.landmarkmusicals.com

Sean Dorsey Dance @ Z Space The award-winning local dance company performs Dorsey’s queer and trans-themed new works, Boys Bite Back, with live accompaniment by The Singing Bois. $20-$50. 8pm. May 13, 4pm 7 8pm. 450 Florida St. www.seandorseydance.com

Wed 17 Sevan Kelee at Black Love @ Strut

Heart songs by Jim Provenzano

o your favorite local and visiting artists make your heart sing? If so, please tell your heart to be quiet in the theatre. For nightlife events, see On the Tab listings.

Thu 11 Alonzo King Lines Ballet @ YBCA The popular SF dance company features a collaborative work with poet/filmmaker Bob Holman. $25-$85. Wed & Thu 7:30pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 5pm. Thru May 14. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. www.linesballet.org www.ybca.org

Classic & New Films @ Castro Theatre May 11-May 16: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast sing-along (2017 live action version, nightly 8pm, Sat & Sun also 2:30pm). $10-$16. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

Daughter of a Garbageman @ The Marsh KGO host and stand-up comic Maureen Langan’s solo show about her family life, and the endurance of working class people. $20-$100. Thu 8pm. Sat 5pm. Thru May 13 (at Berkeley Marsh June 1-15, 2120 Allston Way). 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

Dodie Bellamy & Kevin Killian @ City Lights The local beloved author couple share an evening with contributors to their anthology, Writers Who love Too Much. 7pm. 261 Columbus Ave. www.citylights.com

Family Feast & Fundraiser @ CounterPulse Enjoy drinks and nibbly things, plus lots of silent auction items at the fundraiser for the performance space. 7pm-10pm. 80 Turk st. www.counterpulse.org

Katrín Sigurdardóttir @ SF Art Institute Opening reception for the Harker Award Artist-in-Residence’s new exhibit. 7pm-9pm. 800 Chestnut St. www.sfai.edu

Noises Off! @ SF Playhouse Michael Frayn’s hilarious farce, about the on- and offstage shenanigans in a theatre company, gets a local production. $35-$85. Tue-Thu 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sat 3pm, Sun 2pm. Thru May 13. 450 Post St. 677-9596. www.sfplayhouse.org

Phèdre @ Exit on Taylor Cutting Ball Theatre performs a new translation of Jean Racine’s classic tragedy of love and revenge. $15-$45. Thu 7pm, Fri & Sat 8pm, Sun 5pm. Thru May 21. 277 Taylor St. www.cuttingball.com

Primahood @ Center for Sex & Culture Exhibit of drawings and comics by Tyler Cohen. Thru May 22. 1349 Mission St. www.sexandculture.org

Rex Ray @ Gallery 16 Retrospecitve exhibit of works by the late gay artist, whose visual designs were known worldwide; Monograph Rex Ray: We Are All Made Of Light on sale. Thru June 30. 501 3rd St. www.gallery16.com

Roz Chast: Cartoon Memoirs @ Contemporary Jewish Museum New exhibit of the wry cartoons by the award-winning artist and author; thru Sept. 3. May 11, (6:30pm, panel discussion on queer aesthetics. Also, Carey Leibowitz: Museum Show (thru June 25). Free (members)-$12. Fri-Tue 11am-5pm, Thu 11am-8pm (closed Wed). 736 Mission St. 655-7800. www.thecjm.org

The Scottish Ballet @ Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley West Coast premiere of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Nancy Meckler’s dance/film adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire, with a jazz score by Peter Salem. $36-$105. 8pm. Also May 11 & 12. Bancroft Way at Dana, UC Berkeley campus. www.calperformances.org

Shifting Movements @ SOMArts Cultural Center Genevieve Erin O’Brien and Jess X Snow’ dual exhibit of works that explore queer, mixed race and Asian subjects; co-presented with the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center. Thru May 25. 934 Brannan St. www.aawaa.net www.somarts.org

Twins @ Pianofight World premiere of Stuart Bousel’s darkly comic docudrama that combines Greek mythology with modern violence that often targets youth. $20-$40. Thu-Sat 7:30pm. Thru June 10. 144 Taylor St. www.pianofight.com

Fri 12 Hamilton @ Orpheum Theatre The mega-hit multiple Tony-winning hip hop musical about President Alexander Hamilton makes its Bay Area premiere. $100-$868. Thru June 8. 1192 Market St. www.hamilton.shnsf.com

Monsoon Wedding @ Berkeley Repertory Mira Nair’s musical stage adaptation of her popular film about IndianAmerican and Indian fiancés and their families. $60-$120. Thru June 25. www.berkeleyrep.org

Smuin Ballet @ Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek The SF ballet company performs works by Nicole Haskins, Trey McIntyre and Amy Seiwert. $57-$73. 8pm. May 13, 2pm. 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. Also May 19-28 at YBCA in SF. www.smuinballet.org

Sordid Lives @ NCTC

Del Shores’ hit comedy, about three generations of an eccentric smalltown Texas family, gets a new local production. $20-$40. Previews; opens May 20. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru June 11. 25 Van Ness Ave., lower level. www.nctcsf.org

Summer in Sanctuary @ The Marsh Berkeley Al Letson (NPR host) performs his acclaimed solo show about being a creative writing teacher in a poor Florida neighborhood. $20-$100. Fri 8pm, Sat 8:30pm. Thru May 29. 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley. themarsh.com

Temple @ Aurora Theatre U.S. premiere of British playwright Steve Waters’ drama bout the Occupy London movement, and its eventual decline. $32-$65. Tue & Sun 7pm, Wed-Sat 8pm. Also Sun 2pm. Thru May 14. 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. www.auroratheatre.org

Yes to Everything @ Exit Theatre Footloose’s solo performance festival, with eight acts (Sarah Elovich, Jeremy Julian Greco, Nicky Martinez, Andrea Mock, Paco Romane, Tracy Shapiro and Steven Westdahl. $15-$25. Fri & Sat thru May 20. 156 Eddy St. at Mason. www.ftloose.com

Sat 13 Arts Festival @ Yerba Buena Gardens The annual outdoor daytime array of music, dance and theatre performances kicks off with amazing vocal ensemble Kitka (1pm). Various days thru Oct. 29. ybgfestival.org/events

Bernadette Peters @ Palace of Fine Arts The acclaimed Tony-winning Broadway, film and TV actress-singer performs a concert of classic songs. $95-$140. 8pm. 3301 Lyon St. www.ticketfly.com

The Events @ Ashby Stage, Berkeley

Mama Says @ Galeria de la Raza

Queer Tango @ Finnish Hall, Berkeley

Radar Productions presents a night of QTPOC lineage and storytelling, with Indira Allegra, Grace Rosario Perkins, Roberto F. Santiago, José Iniguez and Myriam Gurba. Free/donations. 6pm. After-party 8pm. 2857 24th St. www.radarproductions.org www.galeriadelaraza.org

Same-sex partner tango dancing, including lessons for newbies, food and drinks. $5-$10. 3:30pm-6:30pm. 1970 Chestnut St, Berkeley. www.finnishhall.org

Over the Top: Math Bass & the Imperial Court SF @ Oakland Museum Paired exhibit of works by the LA artist with archival items from the Bay Area Imperial Council royals; thru July 23. Also, Dorothea Lange: Politics of Seeing (thru Aug. 13), Of Dogs and Other People: The Art of Roy De Forest (thru Aug. 20), and Bees: Tiny Insect, Big Impact (thru June). Free/$15. Reg. hours Wed-Sat 11am-5pm (Fri til 9pm). 1000 Oak St., Oakland. (510) 3188400. www.museumca.org

SF Hiking Club @ Black Diamond Join GLBT hikers of the SF Hiking Club for an eight-mile hike at Black Diamond Regional Preserve in Contra Costa County. Carpool meets 9:00 at Safeway sign, Market & Dolores. (510) 926-9220. www.sfhiking.com

Summer of Love Experience @ de Young Museum New exhibit about San Francisco’s historic 1967 groovy era. Also, a beautiful Stuart Davis exhibit, and amazing modern and historic art. Free/$15. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park. famsf.org

Tiny Bubbles @ SFAC Gallery Group exhibition curated by Steven Wolf includes several works by the late Jerome Caja, and others with adult themes. 11am-6pm. SF arts Commision Gallery, 401 Van Ness Ave. www.sfartscommission.org

Todd Grey @ Museum of the African Diaspora Todd Grey: My Life in the Bush With MJ & Iggy, an exhibit of art by Michael Jackson’s personal photographer through the 1980s, and his experience living and documenting the Los Angeles music industry. Also, The Ease of Fiction and Love or Confusion: Jimi Hendrix in 1967. Free/$10. Each thru Aug. 27. 685 Mission St. www.moadsf.org

Two-Year Anniversary @ Tenderloin Museum Free community day at the museum, with performances, author talks, and a reading of scenes from the workin-progress about the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot. 109am-9pm. 398 Eddy St. www.tenderloinmuseum.org

Sun 14 Atmosqueer @ Strut LGBTQ community connection fair, with representatives from local nonprofits, athletics groups, health, lifestyle, arts and culture groups; food drinks, a live DJ and prizes. Free. 1pm5pm. 470 Castro St. www.strutsf.org

Flagging in the Park @ AIDS Memorial Grove

David Greig’s drama about people effected by tragedy and pushed to extreme reactions; with different Bay Area choruses perfoming live accompaniment. $25-$40. WedSun, thru June 4. 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. www.shotgunplayers.org

The flow dance and music outdoor party returns, with DJ Russ Rich. Proceeds benefit SF Suicide Prevention. Bring blankets, picnics, hula hoops, flags, umbrellas. 1pm4pm. Nancy Pelosi Drive at Bowling Green Drive, Golden Gate Park. http:// www.flaggercentral.com

Guards at the Taj @ Marin Theatre Company, Mill Valley

Inappropriate in All the Right Ways @ The Marsh

Bay Area premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s ‘ghoulishly funny’ play about two Taj Mahal guards swept up in carnage and injustice. $25-$60. Tue-Sun 7:30pm. Also Sun 2pm, thru May 21. 397 Miller Ave., Mill valley. marintheatre.org

Igor Josifov @ InSpace Artist’s reception for his Continuum multimedia installation of evocative singed fabric and other media. 6pm10pm. thru May 31. 218 Fillmore St. almyracommunications.com/inspace/

Mon 15 Fenton Johnson, Andrew Lam @ SF Public Library Johnson reads from his new memoir, Everywhere Home: A Life in Essays; Lam from Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora. 6pm. 100 Larkin St., James Hormel center, third floor. www.sfpl.org

Unearthed @ California Academy of Sciences Exhibits and planetarium shows with various live, interactive and installed exhibits about animals, plants and the earth. $20-$35. Mon-Sat 9:30am5pm. Sun 11am-5pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. www.calacademy.org

Tue 16 Excuse Me, Can I See Your ID? @ Vessel Gallery, Oakland Group exhibit celebrating Asian American artists. Thru May. 471 25th St. www.vessel-gallery.com

Kyle Abraham @ YBCA YBCA 100 honoree, MacArthur ‘Genius’ grantee and Doris Duke Award-winning choreographer’s commissioned Dearest Home is performed. $18-$40. Tue-Sat thru May 20. 701 Mission St. www.ybca.org

Wed 17 Black Love @ Strut Performances by Queer Black artists, with Na’amen Gobert Tilahun, Magnoliah Black, Luna Malbroux, Dazie Ristin Grego-Sykes, Alexandria Love and Andre Le Mont Wilson. Free/donations. 8pm. 470 Castro st. www.strutsf.org

The Mushroom Cure @ The Marsh Adam Strauss’ comic Off-Broadway hit solo show about his attempts to use hallucinogenic drugs for his OCD. $20$100. Wed & Fri 8pm, Sat 8:30pm. Thru June 3. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

New Strands Festival @ Strand Theater American Conservatory Theatre’s annual festival of new works in a variety of disciplines; performances, lectures, cocktail nights, staged readings and student day and evening productions. Thru May 21. act-sf.org

Smack Dab @ Dog Eared Books Poet and songwriter Maya Byrne is the featured performer at the eclectic open mic series, cohosted by Dan Hopkins and Larry-bob Roberts. 7:30pm sign-up, 8pm show. 489 Castro St. www.dogearedbooks.com

Thu 18 Looking Through the Lens @ Diane Wilsey Center for Opera

Ann Randolph returns with her hit solo show about working in mental instituations, with Mel Brooks Off-Broadway and more. $20-$100. Sundays 2pm. Thru June 18. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

The Glory of San Francisco Opera, Past and Present, an exhibit of historic productions photos from the SF Opera’s many productions. Free. Mon-Fri 9am-6pm. Veteran’s Building, 401 Van Ness Ave. www.sfopera.com

Kristen Enos @ Gresham Hall

Melody Moore, SF Gay Men’s Chorus

The Lambda Literary Award finalist and lesbian feminist Asian-Americon author discusses her graphic novel, Active Voice: The Comic Collection. Free. 9:30am. Grace Cathedral, 1100 California St. www.gracecathedral.org

Fundraiser for the Chorus’ Lavender Pen Tour, with the soprano and the chorus’ Vocal Minority performing. $500 and up. 6pm. 33 Mountain Spring Ave. www.sfgmc.org

DVD>>

May 11-17, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 23

Eternal relevance of James Baldwin by Brian Bromberger

pproaching the 30th anniversary of his death, gay novelist James Baldwin suddenly seems more alive and relevant than he did in 1987, especially with the release of the searing documentary I Am Not Your Negro on DVD by Magnolia Pictures. In 1979, Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent proposing a project, Remember This House, a personal account of the lives and assassinations of his three close friends Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Baldwin completed only 30 pages by the time he died, but Haitian-born director Raoul Peck (Lumumba) has re-imagined on film the book he never finished, producing this feature nominated last year for an Oscar as best docu-

mentary. The film uses only words Baldwin wrote, selecting passages from his books, essays, letters, notes, and interviews, with voice-over narration by actor Samuel Jackson. We behold Baldwin not only as a visionary author, but also as an elegant performer on camera through his lectures and as a guest on talk shows, bearing witness to how racism has affected ordinary people, as well as caused his own pain. Baldwin was a no-holds-barred social critic who moved to France in the late 1940s to escape the racism and homophobia of the US. The move also gave him the necessary distance to gain a wider perspective of what was occurring in the nation during this turbulent period. The film consists of Baldwin’s prophetic commentary on the 1950s and 60s, as well as a moral sociology on black identity. Through Alexandra Strauss’ skillful editing, images from a protest to end public segregation in Birmingham, Alabama (1963) morph into pictures from Ferguson, Missouri (2014), with the same excessive violence used by police against unarmed African-Americans. Baldwin’s words are from an appearance on the Dick Cavett show: “If any white man in the world says give me liberty or give me death, the entire world applauds, but when a black man says exactly the same thing, he is judged a criminal and treated like one and everything possible is done to make an example of this bad n-!”

Baldwin sums up the ethical indictment against white America’s treatment of its black citizens: “I’m terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the heart, which is happening in my country. These people have deluded themselves for so long that they really don’t think I’m human. And I base this on their conduct, not on what they say. And this means they have become in themselves moral monsters.” Baldwin is just as astute in his dissection of culture, commenting on racism in Hollywood movies, to clips from Imitation of Life, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and The Defiant Ones. He notes that when Sidney Poitier jumps off the train to save Tony Curtis, white people were relieved and joyful, but black audiences yelled at Poitier to “get back on the train, you fool!” Baldwin had the realization, at age 7, about “Gary Cooper’s killing of the Indians: realizing, when you were rooting for him, that the Indians were you.” Because a white schoolteacher gave him books to read and opened up the world to him, Baldwin “never really managed to hate white people.” But that doesn’t stop his razor-sharp polemic from reconciling the virtues Caucasian America claims it stands for, and how it actually behaves. “What is really happening in this country is that brother has murdered brother knowing it was his brother. It is not a racial problem but a problem of whether or not you’re willing to look at your life and be responsible for it, and then begin to change it. And it is because the American people are unable to face the fact that I am flesh of their flesh, bone of their

How movies create gay us by Brian Bromberger

Gay Men at the Movies: Cinema, Memory, and the History of a Gay Male Community by Scott McKinnon; Intellect/University of Chicago Press, $60

lmost every LGBT person can remember a movie that was allimportant to them, that helped in determining who they are and what mattered most to them in life. How movies have played a role in the way we think about ourselves as LGBT people, our identities, and the emergence of the LGBT community, is at the heart of Scott McKinnon’s brilliant new book Gay Men at the Movies. McKinnon, a postdoctoral research fellow at Western Sydney University, shows how the experience of seeing movies and being part of an audience helped to build a community among the gay men of Sydney, Australia from the 1950s to the present. Because the films were primarily LGBT-oriented ones from America and because Australia’s gay rights movement parallels closely that of the U.S., McKinnon’s findings are as relevant to us as they are to Australians. “Memories of the movies can act as one of the signposts or landmarks through which we chart a course from our remembered childhood selves to our adult subjectivities.” The book is not a history of gay films or a history of gay men as film actors, writers, directors, or producers. McKinnon’s focus is on gay men as film audiences rather than as filmmakers. The films considered here are popular cinema, meaning movies screened in commercial theaters and reviewed in the mainstream media. McKinnon is not interested in developing new insights or analyses of these films but rather in understanding “the historical processes of interpretation and meaning-making undertaken by audiences.” At the

movies, we engage not only with a film, but also with a space, with an audience, friends, and a neighborhood, so that going to movies is an act of social and cultural interaction and participation. Thus to understand how movies have shaped gay culture, identity, and community, we need to contemplate the place, context, and ongoing memories of film viewing that become part of our individual histories and a collective past. As part of his research, McKinnon conducted 16 in-depth, oral-history interviews with gay men of Sydney, aged 20-70, covering not only their memories of the movies but their childhoods, coming out, and feelings of connection to the gay cultures and communities of Sydney. He wants to discover not just how gay men have been represented on screen or which movies have been significant within gay culture, but also the place of cinema within the personal lives of the interviewees. McKinnon charts a chronological course from 19502010, examining a specific decade, looking at theater-going, censorship and gay life in Sydney in that period, before looking in-depth at the reception of particular films: Tea and Sympathy and Rebel Without A Cause (1950s); Victim and Advise and Consent (1960s); Boys in the

Band and Sunday Bloody Sunday (1970s); Cruising and Making Love (1980s); Philadelphia and Longtime Companion (1990s); and Brokeback Mountain and Milk (2000s), among many others. For gay men, movies were often a form of escape from homophobia and bullying, where one could safely indulge one’s fantasies of a happier life, or temporarily resolve issues of childhood confusion or isolation. Films could also be the place where one discovered one’s sexual attraction and desire by seeing (near) naked male bodies onscreen. As cinema delved into gay lives and topics, one could learn how to come out, behave as a gay man, learn gay culture, or even how to have sex, believing that a film was telling your story. Movies could be the place where we found we were different, but also enjoyed seeing a gay movie with an LGBT audience who understood all the dialogue, references, and connotations. “Feelings of isolation around childhood movie-going can be replaced with feelings of belonging and of pleasure in having located a group that shares one’s cinematic tastes and movie memories,” with one’s ability to quote from a particular film (Wizard of Oz, All About Eve) as an indicator of group identity. Films based on well-known homosexual figures or based on moments from gay history (Stonewall, Milk) can be mobilized as part of our current history. Past history can be reclaimed as part of my history. For McKinnon, each generation makes its own meanings of movies and creates new memories on which to “contemplate, debate, dispute, build, and celebrate” new forms of identity. McKinnon has managed in coherent language to show us that as much as movies are made by us, they also make us who we are, by shaping our gay personal and community memories.t

bone, created by them. My blood, my father’s blood, is in that soil, yet I am the most despised child.” By using news footage, vintage photos, newspaper clippings, movie scenes, and onscreen texts of both past and current events, this potent documentary almost creates a new language. It exposes the lie that we have reached a post-racial consciousness, cutting through the veneer of righteousness that we have ended oppression against any minority. It’s no overstatement that every white person should see this documen-

tary of alternative American history. Although Baldwin’s homosexuality is briefly referenced – in a Hoover memo for the FBI! – it would be great if another filmmaker could use a similar style to present Baldwin’s observations on gay America, even though many of his pronouncements on race are apropos for LGBT people. This defiant, unforgettable film challenges us as a society to do better. Baldwin, an American treasure, though often caustic, says, “I can’t be a pessimist because I’m alive, so I’m forced to be an optimist.”t

<< Film

24 • Bay Area Reporter • May 11-17, 2017

Digital Big Brother is watching by David Lamble

ebster’s defines dystopia as “an imaginary place where people lead de-humanized and often fearful lives.” In the new dystopian thriller/dark comedy The Circle (now playing in Bay Area theaters) a collection of attractive 20/30-something women and men embrace a world where digital technology has advanced to the point that somebody or something is always watching. The English writer George Orwell called his idea of a such a world 1984. In 2013, Bay Area writer Dave Eggers updated Orwell with a chilling satire he entitled The Circle. The heroine of this 497-page novel, Mae (Emma Watson), is a young, restless office-worker who abhors the bland ennui of her work life in a corporate office cubicle. She’s soon uprooted from this treadmill to oblivion by the siren song of a radically different sort of workplace, whose spiritual leader Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks) is a fountain of New Age platitudes. “Knowing is good, but knowing everything is better.” Bailey’s enterprise seems to combine the vision and possibly the overreaching dynamics of such high-performing, hyper-profitable Silicon Valley Internet corporations as Google and Facebook. He will later update his mantra to the distinctly less upbeat “We’re so fucked.”

by both Eggers’ book and The techno upgrade the film. Similarly, in 1951 that makes The Circle’s many newspaper reviewBig Brother possible is ers were highly annoyed a tiny camera that is alby director Billy Wilder’s ways on, always observAce in the Hole, with its ing, always recording unscrupulous reporter (a and storing everything career-high nasty anti-hero it surveys. Why would from the now-100-yearanyone think this a old Kirk Douglas) making good idea? Well, that’s journalists as a class look where things get sticky. like a bunch of sensationSome will point to a seeking ghouls. world where technolOne of The Circle’s clear ogy has abolished many casting coups is putting traditional forms of Tom Hanks in the role of honorable labor, from the dystopian cult’s fearfactory jobs to driving less leader. This is the same to media occupations. Tom Hanks who is relentOthers will point to a lessly on-the-mark as the post-1960s conservative American spy-catcher in desire to reign in the Bridge of Spies, and so resradical “hippie, free love, olutely heroic as the pilot free speech” generation of the airliner ditching in that ousted two AmeriNew York’s East River in can presidents and STX Entertainment the bio-pic Sully. Could threatened the moneyTom Hanks as a dystopian cult’s fearless leader in The Circle. this latter-day Jimmy Stewmaking ties between art icon steer us wrong? the classroom and the In 1949, Hollywood vet boardroom. comedy of an old baseball umpire The film hedges its bets with Hanks’ King Vidor directed a top-drawer On the one hand, computer-age trying to recruit a neighbor kid to character presenting an image of cast headed up by Gary Cooper and technology gives us so many lovely strong male leadership that is both pass as his son at a college reunion Patricia Neal in a then-topical bigtechno toys to play with, on the enticing and quite sinister, while in Off the Black. In The Circle, the screen take on far-right philosopher other hand it presents a real threat the young actor Ellar Coltrane, who comedy is just as palpable, but the Ayn Rand’s anti-collectivist vision to any last traces of privacy. It is prestole our hearts in director Richard laughs may stick in your throat as in her long novel The Fountainhead. cisely these big-picture, Darwinism Linklater’s Boyhood, here presents a you realize the greater threat posed The Circle has brought us full circle, implications that make evaluating less attractive role model as Mae’s by The Circle’s genuine attack and Bay Area tech-savvy audiences The Circle so tricky. Is The Circle a feckless ex-boyfriend. on the very idea of privacy. Some will have to figure out if that’s a cult? Are Mae and her female friends Director James Ponsoldt excelled from the tech sector may resent the good or very dangerous thing.t victims of the ultimate male gaze? at tweaking out the slapstick socialattack on their legitimacy raised

Both photos: Estate of Roy De Forest/Licensed by VAGA, New York

Above: Roy De Forest, Country Dog Gentlemen (1972), polymer on canvas. Below: Roy De Forest, The Green Pony (1971), acrylic and polymer on canvas.

Roy De Forest

From page 15

The retrospective, a serious attempt to encompass the breadth of the artist’s practice, is both too much at once and surprisingly sparse and rudimentary in the supporting-text department. Kids will love the show, no doubt, and good luck dissuading them from running up and touching the characters that animate the De Forest universe. When he was a boy, little Roy had a succession of dogs, all of whom he named Hector. He lived with his mother, a bohemian mystic, until he married in his 40s. Though influenced by the totemic, religious motifs of Mexican and Native American art, the pups were a constant. That he loved canines and they loved him back speaks well of the man, and he rewarded them with starring roles in his art. They’re depicted in the black of sleepless nights and in shades of electric blue and red, with preternaturally bright, glowin-the-dark eyes, their ears pricked up and tongues hanging out, ready

to tango. They and a menagerie of other creatures peer out at us, their audience, like stage performers in clamorous primitive settings where one might expect to hear wolves howl or hostile tribes chanting in the distance. In “Dog in the Night” (1976), twinkling neon stars pierce the night sky above a dark landscape dominated by a mythic, violet-eyed canine whose neck is ringed by fiery imagery. It’s one of several scenes that reminded me of the talking dogs in Pixar’s Up: just turn the knob, and presto, they speak! A spontaneous maximalist who embraced the Bay Area Funk and Nut Art Movements and taught at UC Davis, a haven of idiosyncrasy in the mid-1960s, De Forest forged his own quirky, comical narratives and alternate realities in exuberant, wild works that are often too busy for their own good. By all accounts De Forest was a lovely man – he died in 2007 – but he clearly had an active inner life and an untamed, even nightmarish dream world populated by carnival figures, screamingyellow-haired clowns, red-faced horned devils, floating horses and more dogs than the average kennel. It’s an unruly psyche that enters the field of his paintings. A number of them – “Wise Horse’s Dream” (1972), which has the spirited chaos of revelers at a Brazilian street fair; the sweet, Chagall-like “A Coasting Horse” (1983); and “Black Dog” (1973) – kindle the fairy-tale enchantment found in children’s picture books. The show takes its cue from the artist’s playfulness, eschewing chronological organization for thematic categories such as Horse of a Different Color, Flashback, and Heart of Darkness. Down the Rabbit Hole, a section whose title applies to the whole exhibition, includes “Untitled (rabbit)” (1977),

in which a giant black & white calico rabbit sits patiently for his picture to be taken, his photographer hidden under the hood of an old-fashioned box camera. “We Catch the Bleeding Hare” (1978) is an excursion into Alice in Wonderland territory where an oversized red rabbit in a waistcoat, an orange heart with a mustachioed face, the disembodied head of a toy soldier and a black-eyed dog resting his chin on the wayward ear of a pink bunny are among the denizens of a topsy-turvy realm of lily pads and giant palm fronds. But anything remotely passing for restraint goes off the rails in overcrowded paintings such as “Tom Druid in Hartzville” (1981), which is like Grand Central Station at rush hour if one were on peyote and tequila and having a fever dream in a psychological thriller. And what to make of the anthropomorphized thatchedroof hut with big eyes that’s pointing to the pouty bulldog alongside him, backed by a scorched sunset and swaying palms in “Hans Bricker in the Tropics” (1974)? The identity of Hans and what De Forest must have been thinking at the time remain a mystery. An oasis of calm by comparison, De Forest’s mixed-media drawings could be the vivid crayoned creations of a precocious kid. “Untitled (French Sisters)” (1972), a pastel of what might be twin Brides of Frankenstein fresh off the assembly line, or refugees from a Brian De Palma movie, have matching page-boy frightwigs, square blocks in the center of their foreheads, body suits stitched up the front, and the same dim expression. A convocation led by a cartoonish scribbled Satan is underway in “Untitled (Devils/ dog)” (1989-90). One hand on a pitchfork, the other on his hip, he presides over a meeting of demons contained within a sculptural wooden frame. Crafted by the artist and painted in the devil’s red, it’s decorated with knobs, scrub brushes and a moose that’s a dead ringer for Bullwinkle.t Through Aug. 20. museumca.org.

Jarrod Spector

Leather

Shining Stars Vol. 47 • No. 19 • May 11-17, 2017

Steven Underhill

www.ebar.com V www.bartabsf.com

Ginger’s Trois Redux

The historic gay bar reborn by Sari Staver

ay bar history got a resurrection of sorts, with the soft opening of the new/old Ginger’s Trois, located in the basement of Rickstop, the bar that took over its location several years ago. The old Ginger’s Trois closed January 30, 2008. See page 27 >>

Shot in the City

Staff of the new Ginger’s Trois

On the Tab

Fri 12 Uhaul @ Oasis

May 11-18 of local talents and an you count the number k stars performroc and ens que visiting DJs, quality over the ing this week? Perhaps, but ! joy En go. Listing vast quantity’s the way to

s on page 26 >>

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

@LGBTSF

@eBARnews

<< On the Tab

26 • Bay Area Reporter • May 11-17, 2017

Edited for space. Full listings at www.ebar.com/bartab

Thu 11 Courtney Act @ Oasis The Aussie drag performer ( RuPaul’s Drag Race ) brings The Girl From Oz to the SoMa nightclub. $25-$35. 8pm. Also May 12., 7pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Gayface @ El Rio Queer weekly night out at the popular Mission bar. 9pm-2am. 3158 Mission St. www.elriosf.com

Midnight Show @ Divas Weekly drag shows at the last transgender-friendly bar in the Polk; with hosts Victoria Secret, Alexis Miranda and several performers. Also Saturdays. $10. 11pm. 1081 Polk St. www.divassf.com

RuPaul’s Drag Race Viewings @ Various Bars Kick off Season 9 of the popular drag competition show. 8pm at Oasis (cohosted by Honey Mahogany and Sister Roma), Beaux, Toad Hall, Midnight Sun, Port Bar Oakland and other venues. www.logotv.com

Sun 14 Billy Porter @ The Venetian Room The Tony Award-winning singer-actor ( Kinky Boots) performs songs from his fourth album, The Soul of Richard Rodgers, and other hits. $50-$60. 7:30pm. Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason St. www.bayareacabaret.org

Blessed @ Port Bar, Oakland Carnie Asada’s fun drag night with Carnie’s Angels – Mahlae Balenciaga and Au Jus, plus DJ Ion. 2023 Broadway. www.portbaroakland.com

Jock @ The Lookout Enjoy the weekly jock-ular fun, with DJed dance music at sports team fundraisers. 12pm-1am. NY DJ Sharon White from 3pm-6pm. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Sundance Saloon @ Space 550 The Country-Western line-dancing two-stepping dance events celebrates 18 years! Free, including lessons for newbies. 5pm-10:30pm. 550 Barneveld Ave. www. sundancesaloon.org

Sunday’s a Drag @ Starlight Room Donna Sachet often hosts the weekly fabulous brunch and drag show, now celebrating its tenth anniversary. $45. 11am, show at noon; 1:30pm, show at 2:30pm. 450 Powell St. in Union Square. 395-8595. www.starlightroomsf.com

Mon 15 Epic Karaoke @ White Horse, Oakland Mondays and Tuesdays popular weekly sing-along night. No cover. 8:30pm1am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 6523820. www.whitehorsebar.com

Sat 13 Hot Sauce @ El Rio

Jarrod Spector @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The Tony-nominated star of Jersey Boys and Beautiful: The Carole King Story returns after his recent sold out concerts at the intimate upscale nightclub. $40-$60; $20 food/drink min. 8pm. Also May 12. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (866) 663-1063. www.jarrodspector.com www.feinsteinsathtenikko.com

The Klipptones @ Top of the Mark The local jazz band performs weekly at the swanky hotel lounge bar. 7pm11pm. thru August. 999 California St. www.klipptones.com

Rice Rockettes @ Lookout Local and visiting Asian drag queens’ weekly show. $5. 10:30pm show. DJ Philip Grasso. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Tubesteak Connection @ Aunt Charlie’s Lounge Disco guru DJ Bus Station John spins grooves at the intimate retro music night’s 13th anniversary bash! $5. 10pm-2am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www.auntcharlieslounge.com

Fri 12 Aimee Mann @ The Fillmore The talented folk-pop singer-composer returns with new and favorite songs, with Jonathan Coulton. $35. 9pm. 1807 Geary St. at Fillmore. www.aimeemann.com www.thefillmore.com

Boy Division @ Cat Club The New Wave extra-queer-friendly dance night celebrates Britpop and Electro, too, with DJs Xander, Tomas Diablo, Donimo and more. Tauruses get free entry. $5-$8. 9:30pm-3am. 1190 Folsom St. www.catclubsf.com

Hella Gay Comedy @ Club OMG Weekly women & queers comedy night hosted by Debbie Devereaux (aka Charlie Ballard). No cover. Open mic, too. 6pm-8pm. 43 6th St. www.clubOMGsf.com

Latin Explosion @ Club 21, Oakland The Latin dance night includes drag acts hosted by Lulu and Jacqueline, and gogo studs. April 21 is a special Selena tribute night, with a lookalike contest and cash prize. $10-$20. 9pm-4am. 2111 Franklin St., Oakland. www.club21oakland.com

Lick It @ Powerhouse DJ Blackstone, cruisy vibes, drink specials. $5. 10pm-1am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Uhaul @ Oasis The women’s dance party features DJs Silly Sly, Ms. Jackson and Ripley, plus full moon rooftop patio fun. $20. 10pm2am, 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Vibe Fridays @ Club BnB, Oakland House music and cocktails, with DJs Shareef Raheim-Jihad and Ellis Lindsey. 9pm-2am. 2120 Broadway. (510) 759-7340. www.club-bnb.com

Sat 13 Dragathon @ Oasis SF Gay Mens’ Chorus members perform in Sheroes Vs. Villains, a fundraiser for the Chorus, with Courtney Act (RuPaul’s Drag Race) and the SF Baloney dancers. Online and in-person donations. 6pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Hot Sauce @ El Rio

Crop Top @ Oasis Don your cutoffs and croptop T-shirts at the hot T-dance for all kinds of queers. $8-$10. 1pm-7pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Domingo De Escandal @ Club OMG Weekly Latin night with drag shows hosted by Vicky Jimenez and DJ Carlitos. (Comedy Open Mic 5:30pm). 7pm-2am. 43 6th St. clubomgsf.com

Femme Brunch @ Balancoire Weekly live music shows with various acts, along with brunch buffet, bottomless Mimosas, champagne and more, at the stylish nightclub and restaurant, with live entertainment and DJ Shawn P. $15-$20. 11am-3pm. After that, Femme T-Dance drag shows at 7pm, 10pm and 11pm. 2565 Mission St. at 21st. 920-0577. balancoiresf.com

Musical Mondays @ The Edge Sing along at the popular musical theatre night; also Wednesdays. 7pm2am. 2 for 1 cocktail, 5pm-closing. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Spanglish @ Club OMG Spanish and English drag shows and dance music with DJ Carlitos. $5-$10. 9pm-2am. 43 6th St. clubomgsf.com

Underwear Night @ Club OMG Weekly underwear night includes free clothes check, and drink specials. $4. 10pm-2am. Preceded by Open Mic Comedy, 7pm, no cover. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Wed 17 AlternativeFags @ Powerhouse Cruise lounge, gogos, alt grooves with DJ Steve Fabus. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Bottoms Up Bingo @ Hi Tops Play board games and win offbeat prizes at the popular sports bar. 9pm. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com

Castro Karaoke @ Midnight Sun Sing out with host Bebe Sweetbriar; 2 for 1 well drinks. 8pm-2am. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Comedy Showcase @ SF Eagle Kollin Holtz hosts the open mic comedy night. 5:30pm-8pm. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Girl Scout @ Port Bar, Oakland The weekly women’s happy hour and dance night with DJ Becky Knox. 6pm10pm. 2023 Broadway. www.portbaroakland.com

Latin Drag Night @ Club OMG

Underwear Night @ 440

Weekly Latin night with drag shows hosted by Vicky Jimenez. $5-$10. 9pm-2am. 43 6th St. clubomgsf.com

Strip down to your skivvies at the popular men’s night. 9pm-2am. 440 Castro St. 621-8732. the440.com

Pan Dulce @ Beaux

Tue 16 High Fantasy @ Aunt Charlie’s Lounge Weekly drag and variety show, with live acts and lip-synching divas, plus DJed grooves. $5. Shows at 10:30pm & 12am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www.auntcharlieslounge.com

The hot weekly Latin dance night with sexy gogo guys, drag divas and more, returns to the Castro, with Club Papi’s Frisco Robbie and Fabian Torres. $5 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Trixie Mattel @ Oasis The RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant and glam drag queen performs her show Ages 3 and Up. $25-$40. 8pm. May 19-21 at 7pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Sun 14 Flagging in the Park @ AIDS Memorial Grove

Polyglamorous presents a fun cutoffs and caftans backyard dance party, with DJs Lotus Disco and RoseGold, with resident DJs M*J*R, Mark O’Brien and Beya. $10. 2pm-8pm. 3158 Mission St. www.elriosf.com

House Party @ Powerhouse DJ Mohammad spins house grooves as the bar is turned into a loungey fun space. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Lips and Lashes Brunch @ Lookout Weekly show with soul, funk and Motown grooves hosted by Carnie Asada, with DJs Becky Knox and Pumpkin Spice. The yummy brunch menu starts at 12pm, with the show at 1:30pm. 3600 16th St. lookoutsf.com

Mother @ Oasis Heklina hosts the fun drag show with weekly themes. May 13 features Courtney Act and a Superheroes vs. Villains theme. DJ MC2 spins dance grooves before and after the show. $10. 10pm-3am (11:30pm show). 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Saturgay @ Qbar Stanley Frank spins house dance remixes at the intimate Castro dance bar. $3. 9pm-2am (weekly beer bust 2pm-9pm). 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

Woof @ SF Eagle Human pup mosh, with mats and play space. 2pm-5pm. 2pm-5pm. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Flagging in the Park @ AIDS Memorial Grove The flow dance and music outdoor party returns, with DJ Russ Rich. Proceeds benefit SF Suicide Prevention. Bring blankets, picnics, hula hoops, flags, umbrellas. 1pm4pm. Nancy Pelosi Drive at Bowling Green Drive, Golden Gate Park. www.flaggercentral.com

Stoopid @ Powerhouse Games and prizes with DJ Jimmy Swear and Profundity. 5pm-9pm. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

GlamaZone @ The Cafe Pollo del Mar’s weekly drag show takes on different themes with a comic edge. 8:30-11:30pm. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

Karaoke Night @ The Stud Sing Till It Hurts with hostess Sister Flora; 2 for 1 happy hour, no cover. 8pm-2am. 399 9th St. studsf.com

OutLoud Storytelling @ Oasis

Thu 18 Circle Jerk @ Nob Hill Theatre Tattooed porn hunk Teddy Bryce leads the interactive sex party. $15. 9pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. thenobhilltheatre.com

Joshua Grannell, Tommy Salami and Peggy L’eggs cohost the storytelling series, this month: Glory Days, true tales of SF’s fun past, with Marga Gomez, Russell Blackwood, Allen Sawyer, Sweet Pam, Timmy Spence and Barbara Lui-McDowell. $10. 7:30pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Nap’s Karaoke @ Virgil’s Sea Room

Una Noche @ Club BnB, Oakland

Thump @ White Horse, Oakland

Vicky Jimenez’ drag show & dance night. 9pm-2am. 2120 Broadway. (510) 759-7340. www.club-bnb.com

Sing out loud at the weekly least judgmental karaoke in town, hosted by the former owner of the bar. No cover. 9pm. 3152 Mission St. 8292233. www.virgilssf.com

Weekly electro music night with DJ Matthew Baker and guests. 9pm-2am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 652-3820. www.whitehorsebar.com

May 11-17, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 27

Rick Gerharter

Sari Staver

Steven Underhill

Read more online at www.ebar.com

From Top to Bottom: Patrons of the new Ginger’s Trois; Pool-playing pals at the new Ginger’s Trois; The dapper doorman at the new downstairs Ginger’s Trois; The original Ginger’s Trois in 2008, shortly before it closed.

Ginger’s Trois Redux

From page 25

The Financial District dive bar’s new incarnation will soon expand its schedule and offer entertainment, according to an interview with manager Michael Sedlacek. Sedlacek, a 29-year-old gay man, has been one of the managers of parent company Future Bars for the past three years. Future Bars operates a number of other trendy watering holes, including Tradition, Bourbon and Branch, Local Addition, and Pagan Idol. In a Bay Area Reporter interview, Sedlacek said that Ginger’s first weekend was “great,” following a soft opening for staff on May 3 and a private party last Thursday night. But is the new Ginger’s Trois an actual gay bar, since it’s set inside a straight bar that replaced it? In these days of stray (straight/gay) bars, is hanging up a rainbow flag enough for a venue that wants to attraact LGBT patrons? “I wanted to create a local watering hole that could pay respects to the previous bar with the same name,” Sedlacek said. The original Ginger’s Trois had been located upstairs of the new venue at 246 Kearny, where Rickhouse is located. The front door to Ginger’s is on Hardie Place, a half-block long alley around the corner from Rickhouse. “With so many gay bars closing, we wanted to create something new where everyone would feel welcome,” said Sedlacek. The original Ginger’s Trois at 245 Kearny was something of a mixed bag, according to B.A.R. BARchive columnist Micheal Flanagan’s recent feature. “The owner, Don Rogers, had owned bars in the Tenderloin as well as downtown and his clientele came from both the business and the Tenderloin worlds. “Rogers began his entertainment career at LeBoeuf Restaurant (545 Washington Street) in the 1960s and opened the first Ginger’s at 100 Eddy in 1978. This first bar lasted until the late 1980s. By the time it closed, Rogers had opened Ginger’s Too on 43 6th Street. “Ginger’s Trois opened in December 1991. It was a favorite of the late B.A.R. columnist Sweet Lips, who would often call it ‘an inexpensive bar for people with money’ – which became the motto of the bar.” The owners of the new Ginger’s Trois bought the business, including the use of the name, from Don Rogers. Most of the bartenders in the new venue will be LGBT, said Sedlacek. Ginger’s Trois, built in the space previously used for storage and prep by Rickhouse, is currently open Thursday-Saturday from 5PM to closing. Within the next few weeks, Sedlacek hopes to expand the number of days the bar is open and “add entertainment, including drag shows, if I can find the right people,” he said. While Sedaleck never visited the previous Ginger’s Trois, “as a regular patron of The Cinch on Polk Street, I have many friends who were regulars and let me know how much they had loved it,” he said, adding, “We were really pleased with the turnout over the weekend.” The new menu features five specialty cocktails at $9, as well as a specialty shot at $4, and a selection of beer, wine, and cider priced from $5-$10. The cocktails include Ghost of Ginger’s, a blend of gin, lime, mint, ginger and sparkling wine, and the Esta Noche, which is made with tecquila blanco, jalepeno-cucumber, lime, and ginger beer. The Death Drop Kamikaze specialty shot is made with vodka, lime, and

blood orange. So, while new drinks and entertainment may bring in patrons, nostaligc memories may also do the same. Former patrons recalled their fond memories of Ginger’s Trois. Kevin Grady, a gay man who worked in the Financial District for many years, told the B.A.R. via email that he loved to stop at Ginger’s Trois on the way home. “It was seedy, but in the right way,” said Grady, who recently moved to Attleboro, Massa-

chusetts. “There is nothing like Ginger’s here,” he said. “I really liked it. It was very homey and welcoming.” Sara Mitra Payan, who identifies as a queer woman, wrote about visiting the old Ginger’s Trois in 2001. “It was my favorite old divey San Francisco bar,” she wrote. “I wish I could remember the names of the bartenders. They were kind of crabby until you got to know them. After that, I’d always head there a couple times a month for drinks.”t

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

28 • Bay Area Reporter • May 11-17, 2017

Maryann Lopinto

Jarrod Spector The Broadway star brings his ‘Jukebox Life’ to Feinstein’s

Jarrod Spector

by Jim Gladstone

his past Sunday, Jarrod Spector –who appears at Feinstein’s at the Nikko tonight and tomorrow– arrived in San Francisco. But unlike most Feinstein’s headliners, who fly out of town shortly after their final performance, Spector is fixing to stay for a spell. Starting next week, Spector will be in tech rehearsals at the Golden Gate Theater for the pre-Broadway run of Roman Holiday (The rehearsal process got underway in New York studios last month). The show, a musical adaptation of the 1953 Audrey Hepburn-Gregory Peck film, will keep Spector around town through mid-June. His consecutive stints in a solo

show and the production musical give Bay Area showbiz aficionados an opportunity to experience the breadth of Spector’s century-spanning repertoire. His cabaret act features pop standards from the 1960s to the present, including Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” and local anthem “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” Roman Holiday harkens back to an earlier era of pop hits, weaving Cole Porter standards into the fairytale plot of the William Wyler-directed movie. Yet, as Spector explained it during a recent phone conversation, even Roman Holiday hews to the pattern of his professional career, summed up in the title of his Feinstein’s show, Jukebox Life.

“In its own way, this is a jukebox musical of Porter songs,” he explains. “It’s not about musical performers” –as was the case with Spector’s career-making Broadway bio-hits, Jersey Boys and Beautiful– “but it takes songs that already exist and works them into the story.” As Jukebox Life makes abundantly clear, music has always been a major factor in the Jarrod Spector story. In 1984, a three-year-old Spector appeared on Al Albert’s Celebrity Showcase, a television talent show in his native Philadelphia, with a shuffling, hand-jiving “Toot Toot Tootsie.” By the time he was 7, Spector was winning national attention as a contestant on Ed McMahon’s Star Search enthusing his way through

Above: Jarrod Spector performing at Manhattan nightclub Below 54. Below: Jarrod Spector in Jersey Boys.

the likes of “Splish Splash” and “The Birth of the Blues.” While peers were asking, “Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?”, Spector was making himself at home on Tin Pan Alley. And what was his parents’ role in all this? “No three-year-old decides to do Al Jolson impersonations or knows how to play to a television camera on his own,” Spector replies tartly. “My parents have always been very supportive.” After doing several stints as Gavroche in the Broadway production of Les Miserables starting at age nine, Spector began auditioning for television and film roles. At age 16, he was involved with a major sitcom pilot that failed to be picked up by a network. “At that point, I felt like I was dealing with emotional stakes that were just too hard for me to handle. I told my parents I just wanted to stop, to have a girlfriend and play lacrosse. It was very hard for them to accept my not wanting to do what they’d had me doing for my whole life.” Academically successful, Spector graduated high school and went on to Princeton University, where he began a major in economics. “After two years,” he explains with great candor, “I had kind of a nervous breakdown. I went and lived at home for a year, trying to figure out who I wanted to be.” Spector says that, despite a period of emotional tumult, taking time off to pursue a different path ultimately served him well. “Eventually, I decided to move to New York and I went to acting conservatory at the Atlantic Theater Company. But even though my parents continued to be supportive, I knew it was my own decision.” Fresh out of conservatory, Spector aced his first audition, winning the lead role of Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys, which he first played at the Curran Theater here before transferring into the New York pro-

duction, where he stayed on for a remarkable five years. Of that long run, Spector recalls, “It was my first time back on the big stage since I was nine years old. The novelty takes a long time to wear off. And I was going to New York, I was expecting to take Broadway by storm, which doesn’t happen that way, of course. I wasn’t even the originator of the role. But I found ways to keep it interesting. I’d go back and listen to the Four Seasons’ recordings and try to pick up little nuances of the way Frankie sang. Or I’d find something fresh by looking into the eyes of my acting partners. “Eventually though, after years of six or eight shows a week, it became too great. And I was lucky enough to have an incredibly supportive partner [Fellow Broadway performer, Kelli Barrett, to whom Spector is now married] who encouraged me when I thought about leaving the role. “It’s a really terrifying experience, to leave a full-time job in a hit show without having anything else lined up. But look, we didn’t choose this field because we wanted job stability. We’re artists and we have to feel energized and take risks.” Along with workshopping a handful of other shows, Spector used some of his time between Jersey Boys and Beautiful (in which he originated the role of songwriter Barry Mann) to begin putting together Jukebox Life. He’s also collaborated with Barrett on an additional pair of cabaret shows, This is Dedicated: Music’s Greatest Marriages and Look At It My Way. The latter, Spector says, “is very much a book musical. A 75-minute jukebox musical that happens to be about our life.”t Jarrod Spector performs his new cabaret show, ‘Jukebox Life,’ at Feinstein’s at the Nikko, May 11 & 12, 8pm. $40-$60; $20 food/drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (866) 663-1063. www.jarrodspector.com www.feinsteinsathtenikko.com

Read more online at www.ebar.com

May 11-17, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 29

Playing nice together

Rich Stadtmiller

Ms. Kelly Chance (left) and slave boiDi (right), the new 2017 Northwest Master and slave.

by Race Bannon

e all know about the Golden Rule. “Do to others what you want them to do to you.” It nicely sums up most of the manners and civility guidelines that our society tends to honor and respect. Think about the other person before interacting in any specific way; good advice. What’s good advice in the rest of our daily lives is good advice for our leather and kink lives too. Be respectful. Be polite. Honor people’s boundaries and desires. Ask if you’re not sure about something. Seems so simple, doesn’t it? Simple or not, there are always a few folks who intentionally or unintentionally violate the parameters for basic decent interactions with others. Since in our often erotically intense scene there are safety and consent violations that can result is various levels of harm, playing nice together becomes something the kinky must think about even more. In our kink world, the kissing cousin of the Golden Rule is the concept of consent. While the word and concept have long been a part of the BDSM ethos, consent was mainstreamed and brought to the forefront of our attentions when the catchphrase of “safe, sane and consensual” was coined by David Stein in 1983, quickly skyrocketing to prominence throughout the leather and BDSM communities. While many in our scene no longer use safe, sane and consensual as a guiding phrase, instead using concepts such as risk-aware consensual kink or something else, consent remains a foundation cornerstone for how kinksters should behave. Consent is a hot topic among kinksters, as it should be. Anytime a newcomer to BDSM and kink are taught our scene’s basic principles, consent is typically one of the first things mentioned. It’s fundamental to what we do and who we are as kinksters. Perhaps the most wide-sweeping assessment of consent within the BDSM world was undertaken in 2012 by the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF). The

NCSF Consent Counts Survey was a robust internet survey to gauge respondents’ views on consent in a BDSM context. There were 5,667 respondents giving this survey significant credibility. In their analysis of the survey, Susan Wright and Judy Guerin noted that perhaps the most significant conclusion to be drawn from the responses to the survey is that the respondents overwhelmingly recognize the importance of consent. All the basic questions concerning the importance of consent showed an 84% agreement or higher. For those deeply interested in our community’s views on consent, I recommend you search for and read the survey analysis available online. So, it’s heartening that the vast majority of those in our scene recognize the importance of consent. Handling consent on a one-too n e basis is on its face a fairly straightforward endeavor. Not always perfectly executed perhaps, but at least it’s two people who hopefully have lines of open communication between them to ensure that consent isn’t violated, and if it is, corrected quickly. Managing consent in larger groups or at big leather and kink events can be trickier. Now you’re dealing with people that may not be vetted in any way. Once you cast open the doors to an event or gathering to anyone with the price of admission, it’s vital that everyone be even more aware that we are indeed our brother’s keeper and must be sensitive to real or perceived consent violations. The topic of consent is hotly debated and has many nuances, but for me, there are some rules by which I abide and I encourage others to do the same. At the very least, every kinkster should give a bit of brain time to thinking about their own consent guidelines and how they might best interact with others to ensure that no one feels their boundaries have been breached. These rules of mine apply to both one-on-one and group and event situations. 1. Ask permission. Do you want to touch someone? Kiss someone? Spank them? Engage in some heavy

verbal play? Whatever you want to it simple is something I say often. do with them, ask first. Never asHonoring my love of simplicity, sume anything. This applies to sexuI think all the consent and kinky al play as well as social interactions. good manners rules are encap2. Realize consent is ongoing. Just sulated in the words of Patrick because someone said you could do Mulcahey from his keynote speech something once doesn’t mean you at the recent Northwest Leather can do it forever. Maybe you were Celebration weekend. given permission to kiss someone “First, be a human being. Not once. That doesn’t mean you can a Top, not a bottom. Not a Master walk up to them and kiss them the or a slave. Not a whip connoisseur. Not a ﬁster. Not a masochist. Not a next time without checking in first protocol hardass. First, be a human that it’s okay. Also, make sure whobeing.” ever you’re playing with can always Isn’t that on point? Be a human communicate in some manner being. Keep that thought in mind throughout the play session. You and a lot of the consent stuff simcan’t adjust consent permissions unply happens because you’re being a less clear communication is possible. human being, and treating others 3. Watch out for each other. like human beings, with the decency Whether it’s in a private or puband respect we all deserve. lic playspace, at a leather event, or anywhere, note when you see a situation where consent might have been violated. Check in with the person to be sure. And while it’s our nature to do so much of the time, don’t jump to conclusions. Find out the specifics because what you think might be a consent violation might not be between the parties involved. 4. Discuss consent. Talk about it with your play partners. Talk about it with your friends. Talk about it when you’re at a leather or kink event. This doesn’t need to be a super heavy, serious thing. We’re in this scene for fun and connection. But we need to talk about it to foster an atmosphere where we all feel safe enough. Nothing in life is risk-free. Especially what we in kink do sometimes. But Rich Stadtmiller the downside of risk should be minimized whenever possible. Patrick Mulcahey delivered the keyAnyone who knows me note speech at the recent Northwest well knows that I’m a big pro- Leather Celebration. ponent of simplicity. Keep

Northwest Leather Celebration Speaking of the Northwest Leather Celebration, it took place this past weekend in Sacramento. I was unable to attend, but I received many reports of it being a great weekend. Congratulations to the producers, organizers and volunteers for offering our part of the country yet another great leather event to attend. While the keynote speech by Patrick Mulcahey I already mentioned was considered one of the highlights of the weekend, the weekend also offered more than 40 workshops, social gatherings, a Master/slave contest, vendor area, entertainment, playspace, and more. Something for everyone. Erich, Ms Rhonda, and Tomo, the owners and Producers of the weekend, expressed to me that they are all grateful for the outpouring of support from the community. They consider the event a huge success in its first year at its new Sacramento home with over 365 attendees. The formal leather dinner, stepdown luncheon and Sunday keynote brunch were enjoyed by all. The attendees played hard at the onsite play parties, attended hospitality parties hosted by various clubs, shopped in the vendor area and at the silent auction. Entertainment included Kippy Marks playing violin along with his dancers, the Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus, and erotic dancer Tina. Emcees Lance Holman, Tomo, and Erich kept it all moving along. Two couples vied for the title of 2017 Northwest Master and slave. They were Ms. Kelly Chance and slave boiDi and Master Karl and betakarentene. Their judges were Lady Catherine (head judge), Angel, Master John, Laura Carlson, Patrick See page 30 >>

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

30 • Bay Area Reporter • May 11-17, 2017

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San Francisco:

(415) 692-5774 www.megamates.com 18+

Leather Events, May 11-28, 2017 Fri 12, 19, 26 Sober Kink Together @ Castro Country Club Officially a CMA meeting, but open to all Anonymous 12-step Fellowship members, 4058 18th St., 9:30pm. castrocountryclub.org

Gear Party @ 442 Natoma Gear play party (leather, rubber, harnesses, etc.) for gay men. 442 Natoma St., $15 (plus $5 membership), 10pm. www.442parties.com

Golden Gate Guards Beer Bust @ SF Eagle Proceeds from the beer bust will benefit Guide Dogs for the Blind and San Francisco Leathermen’s Discussion Group. 398 12th St., 3-6pm. www.ggguards.org

Mon 15, 22 Ride Mondays @ Eros

Sat 13

A motorcycle rider and leathermen night at Eros, bring your helmet, AMA card, MC club card or club colors and get $3 off entry or massage. 2051 Market St. www.erossf.com

Leather Contingent Beer Bust @ SF Eagle

Fri 19

Proceeds from the beer bust will benefit the Leather Contingent in the Pride parade. 398 12th St., 3-6pm. www.sfleather.org

IML Send Off Party for Mr. SF Leather 2017 @ SF Eagle Help send off Geoff Millard, Mr. San Francisco Leather 2017, to compete at IML in Chicago. 398 12th St., 5-8pm. www.sf-eagle.com

GearUp Men’s Play Party @ SF Catalyst Friendly erotic space where kinky men can socialize with, learn from and play with other men. 1060 Folsom St., $20, 8pm-12am. www.gearupweekend.com

Sun 14 Rich Stadtmiller

THE Kiki(nk) @ SF Catalyst

Attending Northwest Leather Celebration this year were local notables (left to right): Raquela, well-known local singer; Sebastian Wilson, and Azalea, Ms. San Francisco Leather 2017.

San Francisco’s newest private play space for men. 1060 Folsom St., 2am-6am. $20 advance tickets. www.raunchafterhours.com

Puff Cigar Club @ SF Eagle A social gathering for queer Femme cigar smokers of all levels of interest and experience. They’re definitely about femmes to the front, but all queers are welcome to join. A monthly club selection is available (nominal $) for anyone interested; but please feel free to bring/smoke whatever you like. 398 12th St., 6-9pm. www.sf-eagle.com

Sat 20 The 15 Association Men’s Play Party @ SF Catalyst Men’s BDSM play party. Please see the website for more information or to request an invite to our parties, if you have not previously attended. 1060 Folsom St., 7pm-12am. www.the15sf.org

Mon 22 Novice Fisting Workshop @ SF Catalyst Workshop for men who are new, or new-ish, to handball and those who simply want to hone their skills. This is not an advanced workshop. 1060 Folsom St., 12-5pm. Tickets at surveymonkey.com/r/WD6JJ5GA

Wed 24 Leathermen’s Discussion Group @ Mr. S Leather Studio See website for this month’s topic. Free community program for kink identified men, but open to adults of all genders, 385A 8th St., doors 7pm, program 7:30pm. www.sfldg.org

Leather/Gear Buddies @ Blow Buddies Erotic fun for leather and gear guys, $15, 933 Harrison St., 8pm. www.blowbuddies.com

Sat 27 Hell Hole SF @ SF Catalyst Fist party for men. 1060 Folsom St. Doors open 8pm-12am, party ends 2am. $30. Students and Military with ID, $10. Volunteers get in free. http://hellholesf.com/

Sun 28 ACLC Memorial Day Weekend Beer Bust @ SF Eagle Join the Alameda County Leather Corps for their beer bust. 398 12th St., 3-6pm. www.aclcweb.org with other men. 1060 Folsom St., $20, 8pm-12am.gearupweekend.com

Read more online at www.ebar.com

May 11-17, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 31

Shining Stars Steven Underhill Photos by

Gay Pocket Cover Guy Contest @ Beaux

ur colleagues at Gay Pocket SF, the handy quarterly guide to the Bay Area, held a cover model contest and fundraiser for Theatre Rhinoceros at Beaux on May 6. Cohosts Leanne Borghesi and Scott Mullaney kept the show going with songs and saucy stunts, and winner James Kindle, a muscled ginger stud, will be the pocket guide’s next cover guy. For info, visit www.gaypocketusa.com Beaux, 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf. com. More photo albums are on BARtab’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at www.StevenUnderhill.com.

Read more online at www.ebar.com

April 27-May 3, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 31

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For headshots, portraits or to arrange your wedding photos

call (415) 370-7152 or visit www.StevenUnderhill.com or email stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com

1985

Help Reduce Isolation in Your Community Give back as a one-on-one Shanti volunteer for our newest program!

2015

Shanti’s LGBT Aging & Abilities Support Network(LAASN) Supporting LGBT Seniors and Adults with Disabilities

1995

2001

Since 1974, Shanti has trained 20,000 Bay Area volunteers to offer emotional and practical support to some of our most vulnerable neighbors, including those with HIV/AIDS, women’s cancers, and other life-threatening diseases. We are now excited to announce that our services are being offered to LGBT aging adults and adults with disabilities who face isolation and need greater social support and connection.

Shanti LAASN peer support volunteers: 2009

1. Go through the internationally-recognized training on the Shanti Model of Peer Support TM 2. Make a commitment of 2-4 hours a week for a minimum of 6 months

1987

3. Get matched with one client, for whom they serve as a non-judgmental source of emotional support and reliable practical help 4. Have one of the most rewarding volunteer experiences of their lives!

2009

To learn more about how you can be a Shanti volunteer, please contact Volunteer Services Coordinator, Kayla Smyth at 415-674-4708 or email: ksmyth@shanti.org. If you think you or someone you know could benefit by being a Shanti client, or to learn more about the services, please contact Joanne Kipnis at 415-625-5214 or email: jkipnis@shanti.org

1988

2010

The LGBT Aging & Abilities Support Network is made possible by funding from the City and County of San Francisco’s Department of Aging and Adults Services.

2006

2001

Embracing Compassion. Care, and Community Since 1974