November 22, 2018 edition of the Bay Area Reporter, America's highest circulation LGBTQ weekly. by Bay Area Reporter

Oddie wins in Alameda

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Lara, Thurmond win statewide office

Vol. 48 • No. 47 • November 22-28, 2018

City to mark 40th anniversary of Milk, Moscone killings By Matthew S. Bajko

by Matthew S. Bajko

espite the Associated Press calling the last two statewide contests in California for the Democratic candidates last Friday, it took until Monday evening for both of Lara campaign the races to be ofState Insurance ficially over. Until then, the contest Commissioner-elect Ricardo Lara with the lone gay contender for an executive branch position had remained unsettled. See page 12 >>

The Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club placed banners commemorating slain mayor George Moscone and gay supervisor Harvey Milk in the Castro. Shown here outside the Bank of America building, the banners now hang outside SoulCycle.

he devastating news of the murders of the city’s mayor and first openly gay supervisor left Shireen McSpadden and her fellow students at Lowell High School with a feeling of dread. It was a shattering blow for the then 14-year-old freshman. “For me, and for people my age, it was an end of innocence in a sense,” recalled McSpadden. “We were all blown away.” McSpadden and her friends joined hundreds of other residents of San Francisco the evening of November 27, 1978 in front of City Hall to mourn George Moscone, whose election three years prior as mayor swept in a progressive changing of the guard in the city’s politics, and Harvey Milk, who made political history in November 1977 by becoming the first out politician of a major American city, and the first in California, after winning a seat on the Board of Supervisors. “We all knew how bad that was and how scary it was, and then to know we are not safe,” recalled McSpadden, who is bisexual and now the executive See page 5 >>

Chiu hires Supreme Court justices to decide gay district whether to hear 3 LGBT cases director

Jane Philomen Cleland

by Lisa Keen

by Matthew S. Bajko

ong Beach native Tom Paulino has had his eye on a career in politics since being accepted to UC Berkeley, where he graduated in 2012 with a degree in a double major of political science and history. The question was how to achieve that goal. During his junior year in college Paulino was accepted into a UC program that had him intern in the fall of 2010 in the Washington, D.C. office of Congresswoman Linda Chavez (D-Lakewood), whose district includes his hometown. In the spring of 2011 he interned for Bay Area Congresswoman Barbara Lee (DOakland) and that summer moved over to the office of California Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. “I wanted to work in politics, but I didn’t know how to do it,” recalled Paulino, who landed a job with LinkedIn after he graduated college. “It was great and I loved it. But it also solidified my passion is really in politics.” See page 12 >>

are more likely to take a case brought by an employer.

hree big LGBT cases will be part of a private discussion at the U.S. Supreme Court next Friday, November 30, when the justices meet to conference about what appeals to hear in the coming months. All three cases test the limits of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on “sex.” Two of the three ask whether “sex” should be read to also prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. The third asks whether it should be read to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or “transgender status.” At least four justices must vote to accept an appeal before the court will schedule the case for argument. The likelihood of the court taking one of these cases is fairly strong, primarily because there is a conflict among several circuit courts as to whether Title VII can be read to include sexual orientation and/or gender identity discrimination. But with the newly constituted Supreme Court having a much more conservative slant, it is probably more likely that – if four justices want to hear an appeal – they will be seeking an opportunity to narrow the protective reach of Title VII, rather than expand it to LGBT people. In that regard, the justices

Funeral home case

Harris Funeral v. EEOC (from the 6th Circuit): This appeal comes from an employer in Michigan and asks whether “gender identity” or “transgender status” are covered under “sex” discrimination in Title VII. The employer, Harris Funeral, fired a longtime employee after she transitioned and refused to wear a man’s business suit supplied by the company. The employee, Aimee Stephens, first took her complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which ruled in her favor. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said “sex” discrimination in Title VII includes transgender discrimination. On appeal to the Supreme Court, the funeral home argues that its dress code applied equally to men and women and that the courts do not have the authority to say that “sex” includes “gender identity.” The reason the word “sex” was added to Title VII, said the funeral home, was to ensure “equal opportunities for women.” This case may be the most attractive to the conservative justices because they could deny protections to transgender employees and all LGBT people by simply claiming the lower courts have no authority to expand the definition of “sex”

Aimee Stephens was fired from a Michigan funeral home after she transitioned.

in federal law. The 6th Circuit includes Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee.

Parachute company case

Altitude Express v. Zarda (from the 2nd Circuit): This appeal comes from an employer in New York, challenging a 2nd Circuit ruling that Title VII does cover discrimination because of See page 13 >>

{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS }

TAYLOR MAC’S HOLIDAY SAUCE Fri, Dec 14 & Sat, Dec 15 Royce Hall

Have a Mary Christmas and a Sassy New Year.

<< Community News

2 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

After PA synagogue shooting, Sha’ar Zahav Receive to enhance security Event

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ongregation Sha’ar Zahav, the predominately LGBTQ synagogue in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood next to the Castro, is responding to an increase in violent attacks on religious institutions across the nation by taking measures to enhance its security, according to a letter sent to congregation members by President Nancy Levin November 13. Two deadly attacks came in the same week in October. On October 24, a white supremacist murdered two black seniors at a market in Louisville, Kentucky, minutes after surveillance footage captured the same person trying to forcibly enter a locked AfricanAmerican church. Three days later, a man who had posted anti-Semitic statements online killed 11 and injured six at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “As we mourn the victims at the Tree of Life Synagogue and contemplate these challenging times, security is high on our list of concerns,” Levin’s letter began. Levin, 62, said the synagogue has not had any threats in the past, and that was confirmed by lesbian Rabbi Mychal Copeland, 48. Security measures under consideration include improvements to the building’s front entrance, exterior lighting, a system to rapidly contact law enforcement, and training for front lobby attendants during congregational events. The congregation has formed a Security Task Force, according to Copeland. Synagogue staff, working with members, has written a grant request for funds to underwrite the security measures. “There are federal, state, and city grants available,” Levin explained in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, “and we are waiting to see if our request is funded.” Sha’ar Zahav also has strong ties with other religious institutions in San Francisco, Levin and Copeland both pointed out. Levin emphasized the importance of these ties because the recent attacks targeted diverse religious denominations. “Security has a lot to do with partnering and coordinating with neighbors,” Levin said, adding that is another avenue Sha’ar Zahav has pursued with its immediate Dolores Street neighbors. Commenting on the history of the Sha’ar Zahav synagogue, Levin, who declined to say how she identifies, said it “was started 41 years ago by three gay men looking for a place to be themselves. They

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started to meet and the congregation became a home for LGBTQ and many other people.” She portrayed the early congregation as a collection of people who “felt like they didn’t really fit in elsewhere” and “wanted a place where you could come as ‘you are.’ People who were maybe considered outsiders.” Today, Levin described Sha’ar Zahav as a synagogue that “welcomes diversity and sees the divine in everyone.” She added, “I’m not aware of other LGBTQ congregations in the Bay Area, but certainly there are many other (LGBTQ) welcoming Jewish congregations.” Copeland expressed her pride in the congregation and said, “Our prayer book was written by our community and is unique. It includes prayers for transitioning gender and prayers for taking medication. People come from far and wide to attend services at Sha’ar Zahav.” Copeland believes the first openlyLGBTQ rabbi was ordained in 1985. Over the 41 years, Levin said Sha’ar Zahav has had many addresses. “Early on we met in the Women’s Building, and at one time we were in Glide Memorial Church, then the Metropolitan Community Church, and then were on Danvers Street until we outgrew that location.” Copeland said, “We moved to 290 Dolores Street 20 years ago in December on Hanukkah.” Levin characterized the current location as, “an area of many churches and places of worship. A spiritual area. We own the building we’re in now, and have services on Friday and Saturday.” But on Sundays, Levin said, the Mennonites use the same sanctuary for their services. She said, “The Mennonites have been outspoken allies and supporters of Jews since Pittsburgh.” She recalled reading that someone in Pittsburgh said

after the anti-Semitic shootings there in October, “At my synagogue, I’ll take 20 Mennonites over armed guards.” Joanna Lawrence-Shenk, pastor at the First Mennonite Church of San Francisco, told the B.A.R. that her congregation “has stood vigil the last three Fridays during the Sha’ar Zahav service.” “After the Tree of Life killings, I contacted Rabbi Copeland and said we’re horrified and want to support you and your congregation,” Lawrence-Shenk wrote in an email. Lawrence-Shenk, 35 and a straight ally, added that Mennonites, who are part of the Christian tradition, “have always believed in, and preached, non-violence.” “We don’t believe more guns make us safer and the only option is to hire armed guards,” she wrote. The church has always been LGBT-inclusive, Lawrence-Shenk added, and was founded by straight and queer people. Levin’s letter promised congregation leadership is working to “keep our spiritual home both a safe and welcoming place.” “We are surrounded by people who are standing up for us,” she wrote. In her letter, Levin also expressed her gratitude and thanks to “numerous faith-based organizations around the city and the NAACP,” and encouraged congregation members to “continue to come out, show up, and be surrounded by our community.”t

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Sha’ar Zahav will hold its menorah lighting ceremony in the Castro Wednesday, December 5, starting at 6 p.m. in Jane Warner Plaza, in conjunction with Castrol Merchants. Everyone is welcome. For more information about Sha’ar Zahav, visit https://shaarzahav.org/.

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November 22-28, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 3

Boitano to help open SF Winter Park compiled by Cynthia Laird

the square, will feature merchandise, activities, and photo opportunities for the whole family and special events like kid’s yoga. It will be open Wednesday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., from November 23 through December 24. In other holiday news, the Jack London Square holiday tree lighting will take place Friday, November 30, from 5 to 8 p.m.

ay former Olympic ice skater Brian Boitano is expected to be on hand to help open San Francisco’s new Winter Park at Civic Center Friday, November 30, at 11 a.m. Winter Park is an all-new ice experience steps away from City Hall. It’s operated by Willie Bietak Productions, the same company that runs the ice rink in Union Square. Joining Boitano in the inaugural festivities will be Mayor London Breed and San Francisco Recreation and Park general manager Phil Ginsburg. There will be special performances on the ice from San Francisco Ice Theater and Mayumi Nakomoshi. Following the ceremony, local youth will take the ice for the first skate of the season. Winter Park consists of an ice rink and track woven through a lighted tree forest. It will operate daily from noon to 10 p.m. through January 6. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for children under 8, and includes skate rental. Children in the Tenderloin in grades K-12 will get a chance to experience Winter Park free of charge. The company also plans to work with nonprofits such as St. Anthony’s to host programs to benefit the homeless and lowincome residents. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https:// winterparkicerinksf.com/winterpark-san-francisco. Click on “In the Community” to learn more about the Tenderloin and other programs.

Bajko’s data collection series takes 3rd place

Bay Area Reporter assistant editor Matthew S. Bajko’s series of articles on the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity data won a third place award from the San Francisco Press Club. The awards were announced November 16. The three-part series on LGBT data collection was written last summer as part of a California Health Journalism Fellowship project with the University of Southern

Panel looks back 40 years after Briggs initiative Courtesy Winter Park at Civic Center

A rendering of the planned Winter Park at Civic Center.

California-Annenberg Center for Health Care Journalism. It looked at the importance of state agencies and local San Francisco departments collecting the SOGI data, as it’s called, to make sure the LGBT community is counted in government programs. The articles also examined challenges around collecting gender identity information because of the different ways people describe themselves. B.A.R. publisher Michael Yamashita praised Bajko’s reporting, calling it “important” both for the paper’s readers and state and local policymakers. News editor Cynthia Laird said that Bajko continues to report on the topic. The series won in the press club’s newspapers, non-daily, series or continuing coverage category. First place went to Elena Kadvany for “Sexual misconduct in Palo Alto schools” for the Palo Alto Weekly. Second place went to Gennady Sheyner for “Liz Kniss investigated for campaign-finance violation,” also for the Weekly. To read Bajko’s award-winning series, go to https://bit.ly/2zl70A1, https://bit.ly/2FsTWxR, and https://bit.ly/2DxNiUL.

Thanksgiving at Oakland LGBTQ center

The Oakland LGBTQ Community Center will hold its second annual LGBTQ Homecoming event

The FBI reported an increase in hate crimes for 2017.

Hate crimes

From page 2

gender-nonconforming people.” LGBT advocates were critical of the Trump administration. “One thing I can say is that hate crime statistics are challenging. So few hate crimes are reported to the police and the definition of a hate crime is based on an ever diminishing set of criteria,” Rebecca Rolfe, executive director of the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, told the Bay Area Reporter. “From the FBI reporting, it is difficult to understand what is happening in our community. From what we know, hate crimes are increasing.

That’s from what people are sharing about their own experiences.” National advocates were not surprised by the numbers. “These numbers are disappointing, but not surprising. The Trump administration’s divisive rhetoric and discriminatory policies fuel the flames of bigotry and acts of hatred throughout our country. The FBI’s hate crimes report is merely the thermometer – telling us that the temperature of hate and intolerance in America is spiking to sweltering levels. Sadly, we can trace the source of this heat directly back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the See page 13 >>

on Thanksgiving (November 22), at 3207 Lakeshore Avenue (entrance on Rand Avenue). The Thanksgiving Day dinner and community gathering takes place from 1 to 9 p.m. Food will be served from 2 to 5. Unique Soul Catering is providing dinner. Activities will include games, music, and movies in a fun family environment. Volunteer opportunities are available from set up to serving to clean up. To request a volunteer shift, contact Jack Beck at jack@turnout. org. For more information, go to https://www.oaklandlgbtqcenter. org/thanksgiving. There is no cost to attend; donations are welcome.

Black Santa pop-up in Oakland

Baron Davis, a two-time NBA All-Star and former Golden State Warriors player, will present Black Santa’s U Wish Workshop at Jack London Square for the holidays. The pop-up winter wonderland, located at 54 Washington Street in

Veterans of San Francisco’s progressive community will take a look back at the Briggs initiative, which was defeated 40 years ago this month, during a special edition of “The Michelle Meow Show” at the Commonwealth Club Thursday, November 29, at noon at the club’s offices, 110 The Embarcadero. Gay former state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), historian Sue Englander, and lesbian activist and former police commissioner Gwenn Craig will be in conversation with Michelle Meow and John Zipperer. The Briggs initiative (Proposition 6), named for its sponsor, conservative state lawmaker John Briggs, was on the November 7, 1978 ballot. It sought to ban gays and lesbians from working in California public schools. Voters rejected it. Ammiano is a former schoolteacher, school board member, and president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He launched the campaign that successfully fought Prop 6. Englander is a lecturer and historian at San Francisco State University and also teaches at City College of San Francisco. Craig worked to establish a gay presence in the Democratic Party.

She was manager for the No on Prop 6 campaign and worked alongside Ammiano, Harvey Milk, Sally Miller Gearhart, Bill Kraus, and Hank Wilson. The event is free. For tickets, visit https://bit.ly/2zXIJ2t.

Food for Thought events

Food for Thought, which provides groceries and frozen meals to people living with HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses in Sonoma County, has a couple of events coming up. This weekend, people are invited to help the nonprofit kick off the holiday season at its Food for Thought Antiques Gifts and Garden store, 2701 Gravenstein Highway South, in Sebastopol. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. November 23-25 people can enjoy hot cider and goodies while shopping for gifts. There will be storewide savings on holiday items, furniture, and more. The store also accepts donations and the agency is always looking for volunteers. For more information, visit https://www.fftfoodbank.org/ shop-1/. Then, on Thursday, November 29, Food for Thought will hold its 17th annual Dining Out for Life benefit. There are 66 participating restaurants that have pledged to donate between 25 and 50 percent of the day’s sales to Food for Thought. Organizers said that there are options throughout Sonoma County for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In addition to dining, there is also a raffle that people can participate in. Items include two three-day passes to Outside Lands 2019, a couple’s spa package at Osmosis Day Spa, and much more. For a list of participating restaurants, visit https://www.fftfoodbank.org/dining-out-for-life/.t

<< Open Forum

4 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

Volume 48, Number 47 November 22-28, 2018 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 • Alex Madison 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 • Dan Renzi Christina DiEdoardo • 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 • Juanita MORE! David-Elijah Nahmod • Paul Parish Sean Piverger • Lois Pearlman Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota • Bob Roehr Adam Sandel • Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Tony Taylor • 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 • Kelly Sullivan • Fred Rowe Steven Underhil • Dallis Willard • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge • Christine Smith ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small Bogitini VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

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

Pelosi should be House speaker

ongresswoman Nancy Pelosi worked her butt off for Democratic House candidates and it paid off big time when the party retook control of the House of Representatives in this month’s midterm elections. Finally, there will be a check on President Donald Trump in January. Right now, however, some of those newly elected congressmen and women who pledged not to support Pelosi for Speaker of the House are looking for someone to challenge her. Pelosi, who served as speaker the last time Democrats controlled the chamber (2007-2011), is the only congressional leader fighting for a leadership post. Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer were re-elected by their Senate colleagues as majority and minority leader, respectively. Republican Kevin McCarthy of California was elected as House minority leader for the incoming Congress. Yet Pelosi, who raised millions of dollars and crisscrossed the country campaigning for Democratic candidates, is facing rebellion within her party, because she has been so thoroughly demonized by the right that it’s strategically inconvenient for them to be associated with her. Some media outlets have reported a whiff of homophobia in the leadership tussle. Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, who has expressed interest in running for speaker but has not declared her candidacy, is one of just two Democrats who did not co-sponsor the Equality Act in the current Congress, according to LGBTQ Nation. That proposal, which has a chance of seeing the light of day, would provide federal anti-discrimination protections for the LGBT community. Every Democrat should be a co-sponsor and not shy away from supporting it. While we agree that the Democratic Party desperately needs to recruit younger candidates for leadership positions, now is not the time to jettison Pelosi without a plan in place for this transition without tested and capable leadership. She is an extraordinarily talented, tactical politician who can go toe-to-toe with Trump and the Senate. Her opponents love to paint her as some out-of-touch caricature of their fantasy of a San Francisco radical. She is certainly a liberal, but she knows Washington, D.C. better than anyone. She can count votes to get bills passed successfully, and she knows

Rick Gerharter

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi speaks in San Francisco at a 2017 rally for health care.

her caucus. She was aware when she was campaigning that some of the Democratic House candidates had pledged that they would not reelect her for speaker. The trick for her now is to persuade those who have not committed and win over the others. In a similar vein, 16 dissident Democrats signed a letter Monday saying that their victory came at the hands of younger politicians and that they and their constituents want to see real change in Washington. But here’s the kicker: that change is not going to come until Trump is out of office, or until Democrats control both houses of Congress. As it stands now, the House’s greatest task is to stop Trump from ruining the country, and to work with the Senate on health care and possibly infrastructure. There’s also a chance for bipartisan criminal justice reform, as Trump endorsed the concept last week – that would be a huge step forward. All this handwringing about Pelosi’s age and length of tenure in Washington is ageist and sexist. And it ignores the importance of her experience and skills, especially with Trump in

charge. Equality California sent a letter to the state’s incoming congressional delegation last week endorsing Pelosi for speaker. “In order to achieve the results that LGBTQ Californians, our allies, and all Americans deserve, we strongly believe that the House must elect a speaker with vision, experience, and a deep commitment to both our California values and our shared values as Americans,” EQCA Executive Director Rick Zbur wrote. “That leader is Nancy Pelosi.” She was instrumental in passing bailout legislation to save the economy under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. It was Pelosi who spearheaded House passage of the Affordable Care Act, and legislation repealing the military’s anti-gay “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which almost didn’t happen. It took a lame-duck session of Congress for that to occur. She does not get enough credit for her successes, making her one of the greatest speakers in the history of the House. Those Democrats opposing Pelosi should also remember that Trump would like nothing better than to have someone else as speaker. He may say he’ll get House Republicans to vote for Pelosi (the whole House votes in January for the final vote; the Democrats vote next week), but don’t believe that for a minute. He would love to run circles around some newbie in the House’s top leadership role. Don’t let Republicans choose our leaders. They will pour hate on Democratic Party leaders no matter who they are. Pelosi is a fighter for all Americans. She is the person we want in the Capitol determining what the House takes up, including necessary investigations of the president and his cronies. Unlike the Republicans, Pelosi and the Democrats are poised to hold the president to account. After two years of going along with all of Trump’s discriminatory proposals – the border wall, travel bans, banning trans people from serving in the military – one branch of Congress can provide some pushback and let the American people see what a disaster Trump has been. But that will only happen with a strong speaker, and that speaker should be Pelosi.t

Beyond representation by Edafe Okporo

resident Donald Trump’s administration reduced the number of refugees allowed into the country for 2019 to 30,000, a historic low, and also placed a ban on the southern border processing of asylum claims, leading to more detention of migrants at the border. But the strategy it’s following is still not the best way for handling refugees and migrants, as the European migration crisis in 2015 proved. I’ve argued against this strategy. In my book and podcast, I explained how detention centers are being operated, the cost of detaining migrants, and how the administration’s use of detention centers punished and deterred migrants from approaching the borders. (To be clear, I did fundraising for the efforts to house homeless migrants, just as I also advocate for migrants to have access to housing.) Learning the right lessons from the 2015 European crisis is key for the United States as it looks ahead to creating new policies. Over the past 40 years, the United States model for detention of migrants has grown to become a worldwide standard for keeping migrants. Detention of migrants costs the country financial burden. There are also often inadequate services for migrants who are fleeing violence and may be experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder from the countries they are leaving. Conventional wisdom dictates that isolation leads to mental health issues. Anxiety and depression compound PTSD and can lead to unhealthy behavioral patterns from the migrants detained. Using the European 2015 migration crisis as an example: migrants, refugees, displaced, and stateless people found out it was taking longer to resettle, so they decided to move in a caravan themselves to look for a new home.

Over 5 million Syrian refugees fled in caravans and are spread in European cities. The resettlement of displaced migrants has been a burden on countries that are close by to the countries where war and natural disasters are taking place. A typical example is that one in five Lebanese is a Syrian refugee. This is a burden on Lebanon, which is a middleincome country. Imagine 60 million refugees in America – that would be a burden on the American economy. The United States is also facing this same scare by not paying attention to the problems faced by Central American countries. A 19-year-old boy in my shelter from Guatemala told me of how his family members were kidnapped. They shot his dad in front of him and raped his sister in front of him and their mother. When they managed to escape, they fled to the southern border and were detained. The teen was granted asylum but had no place to live. He was referred to a shelter and is now trying to rebuild his life with support of the community in New York City. He speaks no English and cries every day of how he misses his family. This young man, if given the choice, wants to return home just to be close to his family. This call for the issue of representation, how media have reported the refugee crisis, and how the people who are affected by this issue have been given the opportunity to say their stories, is what led to them fleeing their countries. The politics of today have created a divide. The large organizations that are entitled to space and power dynamics have failed in representing us the way we want our stories to be told. Many migrants have complained that the organizations asking for funds on their behalf have dehumanized their stories in the hopes of getting funds. Yes, the strategy of making people see the

Dear World

Edafe Okporo

real situations to make them feel empathy is ideal, but the same strategy has made ordinary citizens see us migrants as problems in their societies. The truth is, we migrants are fleeing persecution and we’re looking for a place to call home just like your forefathers and parents came to the United States either fleeing tyranny, bigotry, or injustice – looking for freedom and a better life. We’re calling on the media and government to learn from the refugee crisis in Europe and prevent history from repeating itself. Representation is having people who are affected by the issue speak up for themselves, having them involved in drafting, planning, implementing, and supervising of programs and policies that affect them.t Edafe Okporo is a gay man and the founder of the Pont LLC and executive director of RDJ Refugee Shelter in New York City. He is the author of “BED 26: Memoir of an African Man’s Asylum in the United States.”

Political Notebook>>

November 22-28, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

Courtesy of Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library

A photographer from the Associated Press in 1977 captured this iconic image of Supervisor Harvey Milk, left, and Mayor George Moscone inside San Francisco City Hall.

Milk, Moscone

From page 1

director of the city’s Department of Aging and Adult Services. While she attended the candlelight vigil to mourn the passing of the progressive leaders, McSpadden told the Bay Area Reporter in a recent interview that, at the time, she was too young to fully understand the gravity of the event. But the assassinations, committed by disgruntled former supervisor Dan White, combined with cult leader Jim Jones’ mass murder days earlier of his followers, who had relocated from San Francisco to a jungle compound in Guyana, had a noticeable impact on the city. “It was just a really tough year to be in San Francisco,” she recalled. Tom Nolan, who would break through his own rainbow political ceiling in 1985 by being the first out LGBT person elected to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, agreed that the events of 1978 left a long pall over San Francisco. “In 1976, I was living here in the city, and it felt exuberant being gay and out. My partner and I then moved to Washington, D.C. When we then moved back to San Francisco in 1979, it felt different,” said Nolan, who is the manager of special projects at the city’s aging department. The legacies of Milk and Moscone continue to reverberate today, with Milk now an international icon for the fight for LGBT rights. Increasingly, it is not just LGBT people citing Milk as an inspirational figure but also straight political leaders. South Carolina Democratic congressional candidate Sean Carrigan, who lost his bid to unseat Republican Joe Wilson, cited Milk in a campaign email sent last month ahead of marching in his state’s largest Pride event: Famously Hot SC Pride in Columbia. Of Milk, Carrigan wrote, “His words resound to this day, ‘It takes no compromising to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no survey to remove repressions’ ... In a day and age where the controlling party is attempting to roll back human rights for LGBTQ Americans, it is important that we have elected officials who will not compromise on their safety and liberty.” (Though Carrigan made a common mistake by referring to Milk in his email as “the first openly gay elected official.” That honor goes to Elaine Noble, who was elected in 1974 to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.)

Tuesday vigil

The double tragedies that rocked the city four decades ago are being

commemorated in various ways this month. Tuesday, November 27, at 7 p.m. the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club will host the annual vigil and candlelight march in honor of Milk and Moscone. This year, following remarks by those who knew Milk at Harvey Milk Plaza in the city’s gay Castro district, at the intersection of Castro and Market streets, attendees will walk to City Hall following the same route mourners took back in 1978. There, former state Assembly speaker and mayor Willie Brown is expected to reflect on Moscone, while union leaders and LGBT political and community leaders will discuss the impact both men had. “In November of 1978, bookending the Thanksgiving holiday, the city of San Francisco, and it might be said, the world was changed forever,” noted Stephen Torres, a Milk club board member who is helping to coordinate this year’s event. “The double horror of the tragedy at Jonestown, followed by the slaying of Harvey Milk and George Moscone was a crushing trauma to the heart and soul of San Francisco, and yet in that darkness we rose together in candlelight not only to remember those we had lost but to strengthen and galvanize ourselves to give them voice and continue their fight and vision for the future.” The club has partnered this year with a number of other groups to host several events marking the solemn anniversaries. It installed a banner commemorating those lost in the dual tragedies on the facade of the building that now houses SoulCycle above the Castro Muni station. The California Historical Society and the South San Francisco Public Library provided the photos of Peoples Temple members and the late Congressman Leo Ryan, who was shot and killed along with four others by members of Jones’ Peoples Temple while they were trying to flee Guyana. Prior to this year’s vigil the Nasser Family and management of the Castro Theatre are presenting a free showing of the Oscar-winning documentary “The Times of Harvey Milk” at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Wednesday, November 28, from 7 to 9 p.m. the GLBT Historical Society’s monthly “Fighting Back” series will focus on Milk’s living legacy. The talk takes place at the archival group’s GLBT History Museum at 4127 18th Street in the Castro. “His story, if framed correctly, has the power to reach so many,” said Torres, 40, who is gay and relocated to San Francisco from Los Angeles nearly 20 years ago. A bartender at the gay Twin Peaks bar in the Castro, Torres often talks

with one of his regular customers who worked on Milk’s unsuccessful 1976 campaign for a state Assembly seat against Art Agnos. “You can see how deeply emotional it still is for everyone that was there,” said Torres. “This was a working, breathing middle class city that, like, where everyone’s lives were intertwined. It was very difficult, I would imagine, for anyone to live through that and not be affected by it in some way, shape, or form.”

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Moscone documentary to air

A documentary about Moscone’s life will air this week on San Francisco’s public television station and is now available to be viewed online. As the B.A.R. reported last month, in an article for LGBT History Month, Moscone’s family in 2014 donated his papers to his alma mater the University of the Pacific. He had graduated with a B.A. in sociology from the university in Stockton, California, in 1953 when it was known as the College of the Pacific. Among the roughly 160,000 documents that make up the George Moscone Collection housed at the University of the Pacific Library’s Holt-Atherton Special Collections is a trove of letters, news releases, photos, and newspaper clippings that demonstrate the former mayor’s close ties to, and strong support of, the LGBT community. From appointing the first LGBT people to serve on key city commissions, including Milk, to signing a groundbreaking city law ending LGBT discrimination in both the public and private sectors, Moscone left a lasting legacy of his own in advancing LGBT rights. The archive includes 60 oral histories that filmmakers hired by the university incorporated into a documentary about Moscone, produced by University of the Pacific Professor of Communication Teresa Bergman with research and production assistance by Pacific undergraduate and graduate students. Nat Katzman directed the film, “Moscone: A Legacy of Change,” which is narrated by actor Peter Coyote. It will have its Bay Area television debut on KQED at 8 p.m. Friday, November 23. The station will reshow the film at 2 a.m. Saturday, November 24, and will also air it on the KQED PLUS channel at 3 p.m. Wednesday, November 28. To access the film online, go to the University of the Pacific’s website at https://www.pacific.edu/mosconetribute/moscone-documentary. html.t Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion, will return Monday, December 3. Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes. Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 8298836 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

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<< Commentary

6 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

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The two things transgender people aren’t by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

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Dutchman Emile Ratelband wants to shave 20 years off his age.

So people like Diallo and Ratelband make “sense” to fit in the same thought as transgender people to those outside of trans experience. Their reasons feel as sketchy as trans people do – to those who fail to understand what transgender people are. What’s more, this same attitude is at the heart of every argument against trans rights. The arguments against transgender people sharing public accommodations with members of their gender are usually painted with grim, alarmist language about “men being allowed into women’s rooms,” and are treated as if they will have a nefarious intent. This is the criminal narrative. It’s people who could only picture themselves transitioning for an unlawful reason. The example that comes to mind is Mike Huckabee’s claim he would have sneaked into the women’s locker room in high school by saying he was trans. “I’m pretty sure that I would have found my feminine side and said, ‘Coach, I think I’d rather shower with the girls today,’” Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate, said at the 2015 National Religious Broadcasters Convention “You’re laughing because it sounds so ridiculous, doesn’t it?”

As an aside, trans men are largely forgotten in this. I say this not for the “gotcha” of “but then you’ll let a guy like Buck Angel into the ladies room,” which reinforces the “nefarious purpose” myth, but because the narrative itself is rooted in misogyny. Why is that? Again, thinking from the non-trans mindset, a man “wanting to be a woman” is viewed as a “lesser” thing, and a guy would only “lower himself ” to be a woman for mental illness or malevolent purpose. Anyway, this is also one of the reasons there used to be crossdressing laws in this country. Wearing the clothes of the opposite gender was viewed as deceptive, though at the time it was largely viewed as a way to thwart homosexuals “tricking” straight men. On the other side of the coin is this belief that transgender people are mentally ill. Once again, a nontransgender person can’t see why we would do what we do – and if not for a criminal reason, then we must simply be mentally ill. It probably did not help that for many years transgender people had to claim mental illness for care – and in many cases still have to. By being medicalized, transgender people largely lost agency. Experts had to declare that we were “mentally ill” to receive treatment for a physical condition. One thing that doesn’t change when trans people are viewed as dishonest or demented is that nontransgender people see us as beings that cannot be trusted. This is a problem. By being disallowed our own agency, and assumed to be untrustworthy in one way or another, transgender people face an uphill battle of Sisyphean proportions. We can’t win until people learn a third way of looking at us. Transgender people are simply another natural variation. We do not exist because we wish to gain an unfair, criminal advantage of See page 10 >>

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<< Community News

8 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

Report: Schools are complying with CA suicide prevention law by Alex Madison

report released Monday shows that many schools serving grades 7-12 in California have suicide prevention policies that address the needs of LGBTQ youth, following a new state law that went into effect in 2017. The West Hollywood-based Trevor Project released its report, “Protecting LGBTQ Youth Through Inclusive School Suicide Prevention Policies in California,” November 19. The report focuses on Assembly Bill 2246, which passed in 2016 and requires schools serving grades 7-12 to adopt a policy on student suicide prevention that specifically addresses the needs of high-risk groups, including LGBTQs. The nonprofit, national organization that works to end LGBTQ youth suicide conducted a study of 406 schools serving grades 7-12 in the Golden State that have suicide prevention policies in place. The report looked at what it calls local education agencies, or LEAs, and concluded that more than 90 percent, or 286, of policies enacted post-AB 2246 address the needs of LGBTQ youth. That compares to just 3 percent, or two schools, that had suicide prevention policies containing language related to LGBTQ youth before the law went into effect. “This is why legislation is so important,” Sam Brinton, head of advocacy and government affairs for the Trevor Project, said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “The legislation is calling out a community that needs to be served. LGBTQ youth will now be able to study in a school where they are represented in

Courtesy the Trevor Project

The Trevor Project, supporters of which are shown at a Pride parade, released a report Monday showing that many California schools have LGBTQ-inclusive suicide prevention policies.

policies that protect them.” The report reveals that suicide prevention policies enacted prior to AB 2246 were significantly less likely to contain postvention procedures, address the needs of all high-risk students, and almost never included LGBTQ youth. Postvention refers to activities that reduce risk and promote healing after a suicide death. A positive outcome of the new law, as stated in the study, was that nearly 90 percent, or 343, of those schools’ suicide prevention policies implemented after AB 2246 met the requirements of addressing all three elements of prevention,

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intervention, and postvention. “Students in California are now better served because there are policies that will intervene and prevent suicide and address what happens when a student comes back from a suicide attempt,” Brinton said. According to the report, the schools’ policies were compared to California’s Model Youth Suicide Prevention Policy; the California School Board Associate Sample Board Policy; and the Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention collaboratively prepared by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the American School Counselor Association, the National

Association of School Psychologists, and the Trevor Project. “If a policy duplicated the language of any of the above policies, it was deemed in full compliance with AB 2246,” the report states. A total of 386 policies were available for review, the report states, representing 95 percent of known current suicide prevention policies in the state. Many of the schools’ plans follow the state Department of Education’s model policy, which is designed to serve as a guide for local educational agencies. The model policy specifically addresses the needs of highrisk groups, includes consideration

of suicide awareness and prevention training for teachers, and ensures that a school employee acts only within the authorization and scope of the employee’s credential or license. Having this policy in place is becoming increasingly more important, Brinton explained, because suicide is now the second leading cause of death for youth ages 13-18 and also is a leading cause of death among 10-12 year olds. From the study, he also emphasized that overall, only about 75 percent, or 291, of the suicide prevention policies specifically address LGBTQ youth and 79 percent, or 306, schools’ suicide prevention policies address high-risk youth. There is a lot of work still to be done, Brinton added, but he is pleased with the high numbers of implementation so far, given that AB 2246 does not include enforcement language. “As someone who studies this, I am really proud of California,” Brinton said. “These are really big numbers for no mandate being in place. A lot of schools stepped up to the plate.” The purpose of the report was to the help the state’s mission to evaluate which schools are actually following the law, Brinton said. The report states that the organization will continue to work with the state Assembly and California Department of Education to encourage schools to comply with the law.t For more information on the Trevor Project, visit www.thetrevorproject.org. Its 24/7 Lifeline for young people in crisis is 1-866-488-7386.

Gay Alameda councilman Oddie wins 2nd term by Matthew S. Bajko

n Election Night it appeared that gay Alameda City Councilman Jim Oddie had failed to win a second, four-year term. In the race for two council seats, he landed in third place among the five candidates. But due to a quirk in the East Bay city’s election laws, Oddie will continue to serve on the council through 2022. City Councilwoman Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft’s defeat of Alameda Mayor Trish Spencer had a domino effect on the council race. Because she will now resign her council seat, and Oddie came in third with 19 percent of the vote in the council race, he is automatically appointed to the vacancy on the council, as the East Bay Express noted in a story last week. Oddie’s victory is all the more surprising considering that, for the last year, he has been embroiled in a scandal over the hiring of the city’s fire chief and a prominent East Bay newspaper columnist had urged Alameda voters not to re-elect him. Oddie did not respond to a request for comment by the Bay Area Reporter’s press deadline Tuesday. Earlier this fall he had told the B.A.R. that he didn’t think the negative headlines stemming from the scandal would impact his council bid as most voters weren’t asking him about it on the campaign trail. In a late night Facebook post November 14, Oddie celebrated his victory.

Alameda Councilman Jim Oddie

“While votes continue to be counted, I am grateful that Alamedans have elected me to continue the work we began four years ago to address traffic, public safety, and affordable housing options for our workforce and future generations,” wrote Oddie, the district director for state Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland). “I congratulate the mayor-elect and councilmemberelects and look forward to working with the community to maintain the quality of life our residents expect and deserve.” Oddie first came out publicly to the B.A.R. in September, just days ahead of his sending out a campaign mailer with a photo of him and his

husband, graphic designer Hideaki Ichizawa. The couple, together nearly six years, married May 7 in a small, private ceremony that they had largely kept secret until this fall. He now joins three other out city council candidates in Alameda County who won their races this month. Gay Piedmont City Councilman Tim Rood, who also came out ahead of seeking re-election November 6, and lesbian Berkeley City Councilwoman Lori Droste both easily won second, four-year terms. And gay United States Navy veteran Shawn Kumagai won a seat on the Dublin City Council. See page 13 >>

<< World AIDS Day

t Events planned in SF, Oakland for World AIDS Day 10 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

by Alex Madison

n commemoration of World AIDS Day, December 1, several San Francisco organizations are holding events. The day, founded in 1988 by the World Health Organization and UN AIDS, is meant to unite people in the fight against HIV, show support for people living with HIV, and remember those who have died from the disease. It was the firstever global health day, according to www.WorldAIDSDay.org.

National AIDS Memorial Grove

The National AIDS Memorial Grove will hold its annual fundraiser, Light in the Grove, Friday, November 30, from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Located in Golden Gate Park, the ceremony is expected to welcome over 750 guests under the stars. Held on the eve of World AIDS Day, the event allows attendees to view the grove’s Circle of Friends, considered the heart of the memorial, illuminated with hundreds of candles. The Circle of Friends is a large flagstone circle engraved with over 2,500 names of people affected by AIDS, including those who have died, family members, and donors to the National AIDS Memorial Grove. Guests then walk through the Redwood Grove to a warmly-lit banquet tent where cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and a buffet dinner is served as musical performances are held. John Cunningham, executive director of the grove, called the night a “magical experience.” “It’s a fabulous, beautiful, and magical evening that brings great spirit and heart and love and compassion into one singular evening,” he told the Bay Area Reporter.

This year’s Lifetime of Commitment honoree is longtime AIDS activist and outgoing grove board chair Michael Shriver. Shriver, who is HIV-positive, has been involved in AIDS activism for more than 35 years. He first began as a volunteer in 1985 for the Shanti Project, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the health and quality of life of people with terminal illnesses including AIDS. He went on to become health commissioner and executive director of Mobilization Against AIDS and eventually a grove board member in 2009. “Just as I say that when I am in San Francisco I am alive, the same holds true for the grove,” Shriver wrote in an autobiographical blog post on the grove website. “What the grove embodies is that inexplicable but unmistakable reason why I live in San Francisco. When I am in the grove I am alive.” The grove is located in the eastern end of Golden Gate Park at the intersection of Bowling Green and Middle Drive East (Nancy Pelosi Drive), across from the tennis courts. Tickets for the evening start at $250 and are available at https:// www.eventbrite.com/e/light-in-thegrove-2018-tickets-49106226044. The grove will also host a World AIDS Day observance Saturday, December 1, from noon to 1:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. It will include an awards ceremony, a presentation exploring how the Asian and Pacific Islander community has been affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and musical performances by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and Emmynominated actress and singer Parris Lane. The Thom Weyand Unsung Hero Award will be given to the Recollectors Project, a website and oral history project telling the stories of

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Rick Gerharter

World AIDS Day was celebrated in the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park in 2016 by the reading of names newly inscribed into the Circle Of Friends.

children who lost parents to AIDS. Cunningham called this community “invisible,” due to the lack of awareness it has received. The Humanitarian Leadership Award will be presented to husband and wife Al and Jane Nakatani. The couple have lost all three of their sons, two from HIV/AIDS and one from homicide. Authors of the book “Honor Thy Children,” the Japanese-American couple have dedicated their lives to sharing their stories in public speaking events. In 1999, they founded Honor Thy Children, a nonprofit that made it easier to facilitate their work. According to a grove news release, the couple encourage other Asian and Pacific Islanders to stand with them, share their stories and, “demand inclusion, and demonstrate compassion for those impacted by denigration in general and by HIV/ AIDS more specifically.” More information can be found at https://aidsmemorial.org/ programs/world-aids-day-2018/.

AmfAR HIV Cure Summit

This year’s amfAR 2018 HIV Cure Summit will provide information on a new clinical trial and updates on HIV cure research. “The summit is going to include scientific content, but also a fair dose of community-oriented content,” said Rowena Johnston, vice president and director of research at amfAR, in an interview with the B.A.R. “We will be sharing our challenges, barriers, and how we are working toward overcoming those challenges and barriers and we want to hear from the community about their efforts and how they want to participate in advancing a cure.” The summit will host UCSF researchers involved in upcoming cure-focused clinical trials, community advocates working on behalf of people living with HIV, and scientists applying cutting-edge technologies to the search for a cure. AmfAR will unveil a clinical trial at the summit that the agency will be working on in the future. The trial aims to bring together a combination of interventions that may enable people suffering from HIV/

Transmissions

From page 6

our non-transgender peers, nor are we mentally incapacitated. It’s because this is what we have to do to be comfortable in the very skin we inhabit. It is certainly not so we can find

AIDS to stop taking antiretroviral medications and allow their immune system to fight the infection alone. The event will be held Wednesday, November 28, from 1 to 5:30 p.m. at the Robertson Auditorium on the UCSF Mission Bay Campus, 1675 Owens Street. There is no cost to attend. For more information and to RSVP, visit https:// www.amfar.org/2018summit/ or contact Alexandria Parker at alexzandria.parker@amfar.org or (212) 806-1621.

Listen Up! Voices of AIDS activism

The GLBT Historical Society will hold the first public showing of video interviews from the organization’s ongoing San Francisco ACT UP Oral History Project. The videos, which document the history of direct-action AIDS activism in the Bay Area, will be shown at the GLBT History Museum Thursday, November 29, from 7 to 9 p.m. The museum is located at 4127 18th Street. Admission is free for members and $5 for non-members. The videos, the entirety of which will eventually be made available to researchers, are meant to provide “new insights into the contributions of activists as LGBTQ people and people with AIDS fought against the epidemic and the lethally slow response of the government,” according to a news release. Tickets are available online at https://bit.ly/2DT2gpS.

Grace Cathedral

Grace Cathedral will commemorate World AIDS Day with an AIDS Memorial Quilt Concert Saturday, December 1. Starting at 7:30 p.m., live performances from the AIDS Quilt Songbook will be performed by the cathedral’s male choir. The AIDS Quilt Songbook is an ongoing collaborative series of songs written in response to the stigma and grief surrounding the spread of HIV/AIDS. It is meant as a musical companion to the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, some panels of which are currently on display in the cathedral’s AIDS Interfaith more dates on Tinder, I can assure you. Ratelband and Diallo may have found their moment of nefarious fame, and that has come at the expense of transgender people who have faced decades in a very treacherous dichotomy. What they have done has nothing

Memorial Chapel. “The AIDS crisis is so hard to describe to younger people. It was a horrifying experience in San Francisco to have so many beautiful, creative, vibrant young people dying in a mass plague,” the Very Reverend Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young, dean of the cathedral, told the B.A.R. “This is a time for people to remember the lives lost and all those affected by AIDS.” Grace Cathedral is located at 1100 California Street. For more information, visit https:// www.gracecathedral.org/events/ aids-memorial-quilt-concert/.

Candlelight vigil

The San Francisco AIDS Foundation will host a candlelight vigil in honor of World AIDS Day Friday, November 30, from 5 to 6 p.m. The vigil will honor the lives lost from the disease. Attendees will meet outside the SFAF office, 1035 Market Street, and walk together to San Francisco City Hall. The walk is free and open to the public. Candles will be provided. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/ events/348115012611644/?active_ tab=about.

Oakland LGBTQ center

The Oakland LGBTQ Community Center will celebrate LGBT volunteerism on World AIDS Day, December 1, from 3 to 6 p.m. at the center, 3207 Lakeshore Avenue (enter on Rand). In partnership with TurnOut, an LGBTQ volunteer organization, the center will hold an award ceremony focusing on volunteerism in the queer community and those who serve the center. “Speakers will discuss the many ways volunteers stepped up to help those living with HIV/AIDS during the first few waves of the epidemic and the state of volunteering today,” said Joe Hawkins, executive director of the center. “We will also be awarding volunteers who continue the legacy of volunteerism here in Oakland.” There is no cost and interested people are welcome to attend.t to do with transgender people, and until non-transgender people learn this, we will continue to see deceitful people latch onto similar narratives for their own ill gain.t Gwen Smith has never been called a positivity guru. You’ll find her at www.gwensmith.com.

Sports>>

November 22-28, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

Giving thanks in our sporting lives by Roger Brigham

hanksgiving Day is a bit more somber this year for many of us. We have spent the past weekplus choking and squinting in relentless smoke from a relentless wildfire that devastated a huge chunk of our beautiful state, destroyed homes and businesses, killed too many loved ones, and left thousands homeless. Now, as the rains are anticipated with much needed relief, we await inevitable evangelical proclamations that the state’s horrific fires are caused by the gays. So as we sit down to dig into turkey, tofu, and seasonal overindulgence, let’s take time to give thanks for some of the more ancillary blessings we have enjoyed the past year. Such as this breathless sentence that graced the www. Out.com website last week: “Former Dallas Cowboys linebacker, Jeff Rohrer, has not only come out as gay, he plans to marry his partner of two years, Joshua Ross, this Sunday, November 18.” Let that one sink in for a moment, non-millennials. Rohrer, 59, was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round in 1982 and played until 1987. Back then, David Kopay was the only NFL player, retired or active, who had come out; and legal

same-sex marriages in the United States would just be struggling into reality 20 years later. Rohrer, who was married and divorced previously and has two children, told the New York Times he began his escape from the closet when he met Ross, a skin-care specialist, at a bar in West Hollywood in 2015. “If not for Josh, I’d still be in there,” he said. Rohrer and Ross, 36, were married Sunday at Wattles Mansion Gardens in Los Angeles. “If I had told the Dallas Cowboys in the 1980s that I was gay,” Rohrer told the Times, “I would have been cut immediately. It was a different world back then. People didn’t want to hear that. I’ve given at least five people heart attacks with this news. But for the most part, many of my closest friends, including some of my former teammates with the Cowboys, could not have been more happy and supportive.” Thanks as well to gay former rugby star Gareth Thomas for using a recent homophobic attack against him as an opportunity to heal rather than double down on retaliation. Police confirmed that Thomas, 44, was assaulted in Cardiff, Wales the night of Saturday, November 17, by a 16-year-old assailant. Thomas, who in 2009 became the

Courtesy Instagram

Former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jeff Rohrer, left, married his partner, Joshua Ross, Sunday in Los Angeles.

first pro rugby player to come out as gay, posted a video about the attack on Twitter and available on YouTube. Police apprehended the suspect quickly, Thomas asked authorities to allow the boy to apologize rather than go through prosecution for a hate crime. “I was the victim in my home city of a hate crime for my sexuality,” Thomas said on the video, in which he appeared with a badly banged up face. “There’s a lot of people out there who want to hurt us, but unfortunately for them, there’s a lot more that want to help us heal.” More details of the attack were not immediately available. Thanks also to the folks who continue to speak out against homophobia in their sport.

“To us Gareth is a hero, one of the few brave enough in men’s rugby to stand up and be open about who he is,” said Ben Owen, chair of International Gay Rugby. “Hate crimes have no place in 21st century Britain and have no place in our sport, on or off the pitch. International Gay Rugby will continue to work at a grassroots level, with national unions and with World Rugby to make sure rugby remains a sport for all – a sport that says no to the intolerance and bigotry that was seen in Cardiff on Saturday night.” Another blessing we can all enjoy is the absolute silence, after more than a decade of self-serving lies and puffery, from the late and hardly lamented World Outgames. Two years ago I reported the initial signs that the wheels were falling off the cart for the 2017 Miami Outgames and a year ago I was still mopping up the financial fiasco the event proved to be. Yes, it would have been satisfying to see justice done in the courts and liars made to pay for lies but, under the circumstances, I’ll be happy just to know they’ve stopped bilking the LGBT sports community. Let us also give thanks to the six international activists – Marta Márquez of Spain, Eric Houter of the Netherlands, Eloi Pierozan Junior of Brazil, Guillermo León of Mexico, Vanesa Paola Ferrario of Argentina, and Mateo Fernández Gómez of Colombia – who paraded through the streets of Russia during the 2018 men’s World Cup soccer tournament in national

Costa Rica poised to legalize same-sex marriage

team jerseys that combined to replicate the rainbow flag. Russia may silence LGBT voices at major international sports events it hosts – but it can’t make us invisible. “We have taken advantage of the fact the country is hosting the World Cup at the same time as Pride Month, to denounce their behavior and take the rainbow flag to the streets of Russia,” the activists said on their website, http://www. thehiddenflag.org. “Yes, in the plain light of day, in front of the Russian authorities, Russian society and the whole world, we wave the flag with pride.” And thanks to the hundreds and hundreds of female gymnasts who stood up in a Michigan courtroom to testify day after day after day about the ongoing sexual abuse engaged in by Larry Nassar, former team doctor and trainer with USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University. History may eventually record their testimony as the turning point in the battle to end the abuse-enabling culture in elite American sports programs and to make those programs more supportive and safer for young athletes. And now, my personal thanks to the young man in Utah who signed up to be an organ donor and the medical team that inserted a newto-me kidney into my body this year, ending my eight-year flirtation with death on dialysis. This will be the first Thanksgiving in years that I will have a real appetite come turkey time and I intend to make the most of it.t

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Denmark withholds funding to Tanzania

Courtesy Gay Community News

Costa Ricans march for same-sex marriage and transgender rights at San Jose Pride, in the country’s capital city.

by Heather Cassell

osta Rica is poised to become the first Central American country to legalize same-sex marriage. On November 14, Costa Rica’s constitutional court formally ordered the country’s lawmakers to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. The court action paves the way for same-sex marriage to be legal in 18 months, after it’s published in the official gazette next week. Same-sex weddings could begin in May 2020. Margarita Salas, a Costa Rican LGBTI activist who previously ran for the country’s National Assembly, called the ruling a “fundamental” win for LGBT rights. “This is a fundamental step in continuing the fight for the human rights for LGBTI people in Costa Rica,” she told the Los Angeles Blade. President Carlos Alvarado Quesada, who took office in May, ran with same-sex marriage as one of his major campaign platforms. Former President Luis Guillermo Solís

struggled to push a same-sex marriage bill through the legislature, but it failed to be passed. “It’s now just a matter of time. Full equal rights will come, love will prevail,” Alvarado Quesada tweeted on Thursday. He added the ruling was “a big step forward toward equality.” The ruling has been 11 months in the making. It follows a landmark decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Located in Costa Rica’s capital city of San Jose, IACHR ordered Costa Rica and other Latin American and Caribbean countries to legalize same-sex marriage and transgender rights if they haven’t already. In August, Costa Rica’s constitutional court struck down the country’s law prohibiting same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. Marriage equality opponents were critical about the ruling. Reuters reported that the Catholic Church’s Episcopal Conference of Costa Rica insisted the “natural

Tanzania’s second-largest funder, Denmark, is withholding millions of dollars due to the anti-gay crackdown led by a regional governor last month. Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation Ulla Tornaes announced November 14 via Twitter that the country was withholding about $10 million from Tanzania due to concerns over the country’s recent human rights violations. “I am very worried about the negative development in Tanzania, the latest being the completely unacceptable homophobic statements from a commissioner,” Tornaes tweeted, without mentioning Paul Makonda, governor of Dar es Salaam, directly. Tornaes also hinted that another $6 million might be pulled from Tanzania’s government, but didn’t say when, reported Into More. The BBC reported that she also canceled an upcoming planned trip to the East African country. Last year, the Danish government gave Tanzania $52 million in aid, according to media reports. “Currently, about half of our cooperation goes through the government,” Tornaes claimed. “I will look at changing that, so we don’t work directly with a government leading a politic that goes in the wrong direction on human rights issues.” See page 12 >>

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<< Election 2018

12 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

Lara, Thurmond

From page 1

As the Bay Area Reporter reported online Friday, gay state Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) will become the first out candidate to ever win a statewide post in the Golden State. He bested Republican-turned-independent Steve Poizner in their race for statewide insurance commissioner, which Poizner had previously served as from 2007 through 2011. Yet, Lara did not declare victory until after a vote count update was posted Monday afternoon, when he stood at 52 percent or 5,345,900 votes. Poizner, at that point with 48 percent or 4,931,105 votes, called his opponent to concede the race. In an exclusive statement to the B.A.R. Monday evening, Lara said he was “grateful for the support of California voters who deserve a strong consumer advocate. Helping communities recover from wildfires while preparing for the threat of climate change will be my first job as insurance commissioner.” Lara, who turned 44 the day prior to the November 6 election, added that, “as communities are rocked by devastating wildfires, Californians

State Superintendent of Public Instruction-elect Tony Thurmond

challenges, can succeed with a great public education,” he wrote. “As superintendent of public instruction, I’ll fight for these values every day. Because these are the values that will create a better life for all through the power of public education in the great state of California.” The elections of Thurmond and Lara mean Democrats again swept all of California’s statewide races. And in Lara’s case, he has broken through a rainbow political glass

District director

Out in the World

From page 11

The announcement came right after the World Bank announced it was withholding a planned $300 million loan to Tanzania’s Ministry of Education to improve access to quality secondary education. The bank wasn’t pleased by the country’s policy of banning pregnant girls from attending school.

Court strikes down Guyana anti-transgender law

The Caribbean Court of Justice struck down a part of Guyana’s colonial-era law banning crossdressing in public. The international court, which has jurisdiction in several Caribbean and South American countries, ruled November 13 that the 1893 British law was “from a different time and no longer served any legitimate purpose in Guyana,” reported Pink News. The court heard a challenge to the

ceiling no other out LGBT candidate in the state has been able to do over the last two decades. It is a stunning victory for Lara, who was seen as the underdog heading into the election, with some polls showing him losing by double digits. His win is all the more remarkable considering that Poizner had won the endorsements of 24 newspapers in the state. Lara will now resign from his state Senate seat by early January, which things we are looking at, such as the challenges of housing for LGBT seniors and the ongoing challenges of LGBT homeless youth.” Chiu added that, “My hope is we have a robust conversation around the HIV and AIDS agenda in Sacramento. The Getting to Zero movement was pioneered here in San Francisco but we are finally launching that statewide. And for the transgender community, there are things we can do in California to protect transgender Californians.”

From page 1

Having kept in contact with coworkers he had met on Capitol Hill, Paulino heard that Feinstein’s office was hiring. He applied but was passed over at first, then applied again and landed a job in February 2014 as a constituent services representative for Feinstein in the Bay Area. “I wore them out, you know,” joked Paulino, who two years ago was promoted to a field representative position. Now, Paulino is switching gears from federal politics to state matters. Monday, November 19, was his first day on the job as district director for state Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco). He is the second Feinstein staffer to be hired by a local political leader for a high profile post in recent months. Her former state director, Sean Elsbernd, was poached by San Francisco Mayor London Breed to be her chief of staff. “She attracted talented staff, I have to say,” said Paulino when asked about the staff departures. His leaving for a new job wasn’t due to his thinking Feinstein would lose her re-election bid this month – the 85-year-old easily bested state Senator Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), who is 51, for a sixth term in Congress – but because of happenstance. He had run into a friend who works for gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) at an event who suggested he apply for

need a healthy, honest insurance market that allows them to quickly rebuild their lives and protects against future disasters.” In the other close statewide contest, Assemblyman Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond) over the weekend celebrated his defeat of charter school supporter Marshall Tuck in their contest for state superintendent of public instruction. According to the updated tally Monday evening, Thurmond had 4,741,604 votes or 50.9 percent of the total. Tuck, who had been in first place on Election Night, continued to be in second place with 4,583,013 votes or 49.1 percent of the total. In a Facebook message late Saturday morning, Thurmond wrote that Tuck had called him to concede and thanked his opponent for “his offer to help in our work to help students going forward.” Thurmond pledged “to be a champion” for all of the state’s 6 million students and its public schools. “I ran for superintendent of public instruction to deliver to all Californians the promise that public education delivered to me – that all students, no matter their background and no matter their

Rick Gerharter

Tom Paulino

the job with Chiu. “This opportunity came out of nowhere,” said Paulino, 29, a gay man who lives in the upper Haight. “It all happened very quickly. It is a big life change ... Working for the senator has been amazing. I always said I would only leave for something incredible that came along and this is in line with that.” His main focus as district director will be on communication, said Paulino, informing Chiu’s constituents about the work he is doing on their behalf in Sacramento and alerting his boss to the needs of the residents of his 17th Assembly District. Chiu represents San Francisco’s eastern neighborhoods and was easily re-elected this month to a third two-year term. “I see the role as a conduit and channel of communication between the needs of the district to the office

and to the member,” said Paulino, “and vice versa seeing that everything the assemblyman is working on in Sacramento gets communicated to folks in the district.” In a recent editorial board meeting with the Bay Area Reporter, Chiu said he plans to continue to address the needs of the state’s homeless population, lack of affordable housing, and restrictions on expanding rent control in the next legislative session. He also wants to assist in the efforts to see California adopt a statewide plan to end the transmission of HIV. “I am excited to have a new governor who has a demonstrated record in supporting LGBT rights and issues,” said Chiu, referring to Governor-elect Gavin Newsom, the state’s current lieutenant governor and a former mayor of San Francisco. “There are a number of

law led by four transgender women who were arrested in 2009 and punished for “cross-dressing in public.” At the time of their conviction the women were fined $100 each and told by a magistrate to “go to church and give their lives to Jesus Christ,” reported the website. The court agreed with the women that the “law resulted in [transgender] and gender-nonconforming persons being treated unfavorably by criminalizing their gender expression and gender identity.” The court decided that the law was “unconstitutionally vague” and it went against the South American country’s own constitution, which protects its citizens from discrimination. Therefore, the antiquated law violated the appellants’ “right to protection of the law and was contrary to the rule of law.” The court also found that the magistrate acted inappropriately by telling the women to turn to Jesus. “No one is to be treated in a

discriminatory manner by any public office or authority,” the court wrote in its decision. Guyana is the only South American country that still criminalizes homosexuality. Following the court ruling, LGBT activists called on Guyana’s government to decriminalize homosexuality. Belize and Trinidad and Tobago in recent years struck down their colonial-era anti-sodomy laws. Hundreds of people came out in June to celebrate Guyana’s first Pride in Georgetown. The Pride marchers called for the country to end its anti-LGBT discrimination.

Poland threatens Russia style anti-gay law

Polish President Andrzej Duda told an interviewer last week that he isn’t opposed to passing a Russianstyle anti-homosexuality propaganda law. In 2013, Russia banned gay

Paying it forward

Paulino used to babysit a cousin who is now 18, transitioning their gender, and is engaged to their partner. It is a striking difference, he said, to his own coming to terms with his sexual orientation. He didn’t come out of the closet until moving to San Francisco six years ago. His family was accepting, especially his mother, who lost her best friend in high school to AIDS and has a gay brother. Unfortunately, Paulino is not close to his uncle, as he is estranged from the family for reasons other than his sexual orientation. “My mom’s exposure at a young age in her life primed her to be the best mom for a gay son,” said Paulino. “I am very blessed to have the family and support that I do.” Looking to pay it forward to the next generation of LGBT people, Paulino joined the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus as an upper baritone nearly four years ago. Next propaganda, such as media, online posts, and public organizing. Duda was responding to recent youth-led, pro-LGBT protests following a ban on “Rainbow Friday,” reported LGBTQ Nation. The event is similar to America’s Spirit Day, an event to show pride and solidarity with the LGBT community. Youth across Poland protested by wearing rainbow colored clothing to school. “I think that this kind of propaganda should not take place in schools, it has to be calmly and consistently opposed,” said Duda in the interview. “If such a law was created and would be well written, I do not exclude that I would approach it seriously.” Poland is a member state of the European Union, which protects LGBT rights. Duda’s statements also go against his country’s supreme court, which ruled against a print shop for denying printing a banner for an LGBT

will prompt a special election to be held in early 2019 in his Los Angeles area district. When he does step down, it will also mean that the California Legislative LGBT Caucus will see its membership shrink in the next legislative session for the third time since it was established in 2002. Currently, there are eight out members of the state Legislature, four each in the Assembly and Senate. Lara’s departure will bring it down to seven, as none of the nonincumbent LGBT legislative candidates won their races this year. There is a chance the LGBT caucus could return to having eight members, the most it has ever had, should an out candidate win the special election for Lara’s Senate seat. His 33rd Senate District includes the Los Angeles County cities and communities of Cudahy, Bell, Bell Gardens, Lynwood, Maywood, Signal Hill, Paramount, South Gate, Vernon, Walnut Park, Huntington Park, and most of Long Beach with portions of the cities of Lakewood and Los Angeles. Gay Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia is often mentioned as a potential candidate, though one local publication recently reported that it is doubtful he would enter the race.t

month he will be performing with the chorus in its holiday concerts. This past spring he joined the chorale group’s board as president of membership. Last fall, Paulino helped organize its tour through the South. “The amount of love and support we were given and shown by folks, gay and straight, white and black, from the city to rural areas, it was just overwhelming,” recalled Paulino, who had never before visited the region. “The intent of the project from the beginning was here are these states that have extreme anti-LGBT laws; we need to go there and show people that gay people aren’t as scary or crazy as they believe. We were there to support the LGBT community there; we didn’t expect how much love came from that community to us.” A believer in the power of government service, Paulino didn’t rule out running for elected office himself one day when asked if he was interested in doing so. “Oh goodness! Someday, who knows,” he said. “I was talking to co-workers last week that, when I was working in the office of Linda Chavez, nowhere in my wildest dreams did I thought I would be where I am today. Why not leave a door open.” If he does run for office, it would be in San Francisco, as he has no plans to move back to southern California. “I feel I became who I was meant to be here,” said Paulino.t organization in June, according to Human Rights Watch. Remy Bonny, a political scientist specializing in LGBT issues in central and eastern Europe, told LGBTQ Nation that the Polish government has “no problems with copy-pasting their illiberal policies” despite suspecting the Russian government of orchestrating the murder of the country’s previous president, Lech Kaczynski in 2010. He believes that the Polish government is attempting to appease rural voters who hold the majority electorate over big cities, such as Warsaw, where a “progressive and queer scene is developing.” “These attacks on the LGBT community are a political strategy to win the votes of the people living in the Polish countryside,” Bonny said.t Got international LGBT news tips? Call or send them to Heather Cassell at Skype: heather.cassell or oitwnews@gmail.com.

t <<

Community News>>

Supreme Court

From page 1

sexual orientation. The case involves a recreational parachuting company, Altitude Express that fired one of its trainers, David Zarda, after learning he was gay. Zarda died before his lawsuit could be resolved, but his sister has pursued his claim. The 2nd Circuit covers New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.

Third case

The third case before the Supreme Court conference this month is one brought by a gay employee who lost at the lower level. Bostock v. Clayton County (from the 11th Circuit): This appeal comes from a gay man in Georgia, challenging an 11th Circuit decision to dismiss his Title VII lawsuit. Gerald Bostock was a child advocate employee of the Clayton County Juvenile Court System for 10 years and all was fine. Then, in 2013, he joined the Hotlanta gay softball league and urged other players to consider volunteering for the county agency. Within six months, his office was audited, someone

Hate crimes

From page 3

Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a news release. “Hate has no place anywhere in our country. Most alarming, this report captures only a fraction of the problem. The federal government must improve their hate crime data collection to accurately represent this country’s epidemic of hate,” Gupta added. Rolfe attributed the increase to “permission” from leaders such as Trump. “The rise in hate-based language and the permission coming from our national leaders around hate violence and hateful speech that leads to hateful conduct,” she said. The 2017 hate crime statistics also show that victims who saw the highest increase of hate crimes against them were disabled individuals, with an increase of 39.65 percent. Hate crimes motivated by bias against gender increased by 16.66 percent and motivated by religion bias increased by 18.60 percent. Anti-religion based hate crimes remain the second highest category in 2017, as it was in 2016. Bias-motivated crimes based on race, religion, disability, and gender all increased. The FBI reported that anti-black hate crimes increased by 32.60 percent, from 1,739 incidents in 2016 to 2,013 incidents in 2017. Hate crimes targeting black people represented 28 percent of all reported hate crimes in 2017. Every other racial and ethnic group also saw increases in the number of reported hate crimes. Hate crimes relating to someone’s race, ethnicity, or ancestry are still

Oddie wins

From page 8

In Contra Costa County gay business leader John Stevens, running a second time for Martinez City Council, remains in first place for the District 4 council seat. He has an 11-vote lead over his opponent, Debbie McKillop, who heads Contra Costa County’s crime lab. Formerly the first LGBT CEO of a chamber of commerce in Contra Costa County, having led the Martinez Chamber of Commerce, Stevens will be the first out LGBT member of his city’s council. Gay El Cerrito City Councilman Gabriel Quinto, currently serving as his city’s mayor, easily secured reelection, as he and another candidate were the only people to run for the two council seats up this year.

November 22-28, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 13

publicly complained about his playing in the gay softball league, and he was fired. The county said he was fired for “conduct unbecoming a county employee;” Bostock said he was fired because he is gay. Bostock filed suit, saying his firing violated Title VII. The 11th Circuit (which covers Georgia, Florida, and Alabama) dismissed the lawsuit, saying it had already ruled that sexual orientation discrimination is not covered under Title VII. At the Supreme Court, Bostock’s attorney acknowledged that the 11th Circuit has previously ruled that “sexual orientation” cannot be read into “sex” discrimination, but he argued that other circuits have ruled it can. He also argued that the Supreme Court’s 1989 ruling in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins requires courts to read “sex” discrimination to include gender-based stereotypes. And he argued that the 1998 Supreme Court decision in Oncale v. Sundowner underscored that “sex” discrimination had to be read more broadly. The 11th Circuit ruled as recently as last year that Title VII does not prohibit sexual orientation

discrimination. The employee in that case, Evans v. Georgia Regional, appealed to the Supreme Court but the court simply refused to accept the appeal for review. The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of sexual orientation discrimination (Hively v. Ivy Tech), but the employer did not appeal to the Supreme Court. So, LGBT people in 7th Circuit states (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin) can press a Title VII claim, as can those in the 2nd Circuit and 6th Circuit. LGBT people in the 11th circuit cannot. Meanwhile, similar cases in other circuits are percolating up, putting pressure on the Supreme Court to settle the dispute nationally. The court could announce as early as Monday, December 3, whether it will – or won’t – hear any, or all, of the appeals. It could, and often does, re-list some cases for conference at a later date. Two of the three cases were originally scheduled for September but were rescheduled after the third case was given more time (until October 24) to file briefs. Now, all three are on the conference list.t

the most common, with the highest number of individuals in this category both in 2016 and 2017 (59.6 percent). This category saw an increase of 15.54 percent from 2016 to 2017 with anti-Arab increasing by 50 percent and anti-Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander motivated hate crimes increasing by 43.75 percent. A 38.64 percent increase was shown in anti-American Indian hate crimes and anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 13.74 percent. Crimes motivated by anti-Hispanic and Latino bias increased by 19.43 percent. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón criticized Trump for the rise in hate crimes in the U.S. “America’s elected president has mocked the disabled, called Mexicans rapists and murderers, executed a Muslim travel ban, issued disparaging remarks about women and African-Americans, and is working to roll back protections for members of our transgender community,” Gascón said in a news release. “The country’s increase in hate crimes should be a surprise to no one, but it should be alarming to all. We look to our elected leaders to set an example. They’re on television and in the news, and our children perceive them as role models. The President’s campaign of fear has emboldened hate and a growing white nationalist movement that is responsible for far more domestic attacks than any international terror group.” Rolfe mentioned some things that could mitigate hate crimes. “Awareness of the fact that hate language is happening and even here in the Bay Area, which has previously been seen as a safe space from hate violence,” she said. “The most extreme levels of violence,

occurrence at a higher frequency, and starting at a younger age is most prevalent in transgender, low-income, women, people of color, and people who have been homeless.” As previously reported by the B.A.R., hate crimes in San Francisco and California rose for the third year in a row, according to annual reports released by state Attorney General Xavier Becerra in July. The reports show that hate crime incidents in San Francisco rose by 30.5 percent and increased by 17.4 percent in the state. Incidents motivated by sexual orientation bias – real or perceived – increased by 18.8 percent in California, more than race motivated hate incidents, which rose by 16 percent. Anti-transgender and anti-gendernonconforming hate crimes also saw an increase of 7 percent. The statistics alarmed many local and statewide LGBT officials, some of whom blamed the exclusionary, anti-immigration and anti-minority rhetoric coming from Trump and his administration. In San Francisco, Sneh Rao, a gay man who’s director of policy for the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, previously spoke to the B.A.R. about how the White House’s rhetoric is impacting communities across the nation. “It is hard not to view this sharp increase in violence as connected to the Trump administration’s discourse and policies against minority groups, particularly Latinx, Muslim, and LGBTQ communities,” Rao wrote in an email. “I worry that the administration’s rhetoric helps to normalize discrimination and embolden perpetrators of hate violence, both in our state and across the country.”t

Four years ago he became the first LGBT person to serve on the El Cerrito City Council, and his election marked the first time a person living with HIV had won public office in the Bay Area. In Richmond, gay community leader Cesar Zepeda continues to be in fourth place for three seats on the council. Two years ago he lost his bid to become the first out gay man elected to the Richmond City Council. As of Monday, he was trailing the third place finisher by 94 votes. Should the results go unchanged as more votes are counted, then Richmond will no longer have an out council person come 2019. Lesbian City Councilwoman Jovanka Beckles will depart this year as she forewent seeking re-election to instead run for state Assembly, a race that

she lost. In other East Bay election news, LGBT advocates appear to have been unsuccessful in defeating Fremont City Council candidate Yang Shao, currently president of the city’s school board. They had targeted Shao due to his opposition to LGBT inclusive sex-ed curriculum. Justin Sha, a gay recent graduate of UC Hastings College of the Law, had even entered the race for the open District 4 council seat in hopes of luring Asian voters away from Shao. And on Election Night, the strategy looked to have worked, as Shao was in second place. But with more ballots now counted, Shao is in first place with 26 percent of the vote. Community organizer Robert Daulton has fallen to second place with 23 percent of the vote.t

Legals>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-554370

In the matter of the application of: XIAO CAI, 187 LELAND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner XIAO CAI, is requesting that the name XIAO CAI, be changed to XIAO JIANG. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 13th of December 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038376900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TOUR GALLERY, 95 JEFFERSON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JIMMY GRUBBS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/25/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/29/18.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038369700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CONSULT MD TODAY, 1750 VALLEJO ST #601, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DMITRY MELNIKOV. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/23/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/23/18.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038373600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SMO CERAMICS, 744 OAK ST #6, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SARAH M. OGDEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/05/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/25/18.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038369900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LINEA CALIFORNIA, 3445 GEARY BLVD #410, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EVGENY SHKURATOV. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/22/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/23/18.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038371600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WAH MAY INTERNATIONAL TRAD CO, 1008 PACIFIC AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHAN KAT HUNG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/24/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/24/18.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038371200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CANDY’S & BOBA, 1352 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed AMANDIP GELLON. 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 10/24/18.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038367500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TASTY RESTAURANT, 5550 GEARY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MYO MIN THANT. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/20/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/22/18.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038371500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KAMILA KOWALSKA PHOTOGRAPHY, 355 BERRY ST #228, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94158. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KAMILA KOWALSKA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/22/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/24/18.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038368500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FIX AUTO DIVISADERO, 1745 DIVISADERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed F. LOFRANO & SON 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 10/23/18.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038368600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FIX AUTO 17TH STREET, 3355 17TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed F. LOFRANO & SON 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 10/23/18.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038370700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SF SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL, 1560 DAVIDSON AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SHAKESPEARE-SAN FRANCISCO INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/05/83. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/24/18.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038371900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MISSION BAY DENTAL, 588 MISSION BAY BLVD NORTH, UNIT 4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94158. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed NONNA VOLFSON DDS, PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION (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 10/24/18.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038374200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 333 & 335 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE HOA, 333 & 335 PENNSYLVANIA AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an unincorporated association other than a partnership, and is signed ALICIA JOHNSON & TASANAPORN PITIYANUVATH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/25/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/25/18.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038374900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MEATFREEZER APPS, 205 16TH AVE #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MEATFREEZER LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/25/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/25/18.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037049100 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: CAFE SIS, 402 BALBOA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by JIYEON LEE. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/14/16.

NOV 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF LYNN MCKANNAY, AKA LYNN BLASKOWER MCKANNAY IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-18-302353

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of LYNN MCKANNAY, AKA LYNN BLASKOWER MCKANNAY. A Petition for Probate has been filed by RICHARD H. MCKANNAY JR. in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that RICHARD H. MCKANNAY JR. be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: November 28, 2018, 9:00 am, Dept. 204, Room 103, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Petitioner: Mr. Richard H. McKannay Jr., 170 Avila St, San Francisco, CA 94123; Ph. (415) 217-9696.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 2018 SUMMONS SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: PAUL JOHNSON CONNELL AND DOES 1 THROUGH 10, INCLUSIVE, YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF: BANK OF STOCKTON CASE NO. CGC-17-559950

Notice! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. The name and address of the court is: Superior Court for the State of California, County of San Francisco Civic Center Court, 400 McAllister St. San Francisco, California 94102 The name, address and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney is: Barry W. Ferns, Esq., SBN 76381 Ferns, Adams & Associates, 2815 Mitchell Dr #210, Walnut Creek, CA 94598, (925) 927-3401, (925) 927-3419. Date: July 05, 2017 Clerk of The Court, Rossaly De La Vega-Navarro, Deputy.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038385900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MARTINEZ ELECTRIC CO, 1318 QUESADA AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EDWIN MARTINEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/05/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/05/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038386200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: COME HITHER BEAUTY, 1500 VALLEJO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MICHELLE A. SMITH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/05/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/05/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038381600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FASHION FORMULA, 1716 OCEAN AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MIAOTIAN JIANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/30/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/01/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018

See page 14 >>

<< Legals

14 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

Legals

From page 13

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038363800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: COINECT, 414 BRANNAN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CARL WU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/15/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/18/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038381800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RICK’S BARBERSHOP, 5349 GEARY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JERVIEN VELASCO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/01/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038377900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOUSE OF CLAY, 584 CASTRO ST #458, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CLEUTON DE ARAUJO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/29/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/29/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038377000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HEALING KITCHEN, 2948 FOLSOM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KANA CARLISLE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/29/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/29/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038379900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PLAYLAND 33, 1049 MARKET ST #403, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed HSF HOLDINGS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/29/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/30/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038381500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KAZUO KITCHEN, 4036 BALBOA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed KAZUO KITCHEN (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/24/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/01/18.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038385000

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038391100

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038383100

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038365700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FOODIE BOX, 2800 LEAVENWORTH ST. STE A09, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TANCHAN LLC, (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/02/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NICHI NICHI MAKANAI, 612 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed THE 4TH MONKEY, 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 11/01/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-035535500

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: OF ARCHETYPE LLC, 348 HYDE ST #11, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business was conducted by a limited liability company and signed by OF ARCHETYPE LLC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/12/13.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 STATE OF DELAWARE CERTIFICATE OF DISSOLUTION (SECTION 275):

State of Delaware Secretary of State Division of Corporation Delivered 08:05 AM 10/31/2018 FILED 08:05 AM 10/31/2018 SR 20187405495 – File # 2979471 The corporation organized and existing under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, hereby certifies as follows: 1. The dissolution of ERIDE, INC. has been duly authorized by the Board of Directors and Stockholders in accordance with subsections (a) and (b) of Section 275 or by unanimous consent of Stockholders in accordance with subsection (c) of Section 275 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. 2. The date of filing of the Corporation’s original Certificate of Incorporation in Delaware was January 4, 1999. 3. The date the dissolution was authorized is September 30, 2018. 4. The names and addresses of the directors and officers of the corporation are as follows: Yukio Furuno, Director, 2-20 Nishinomiyahama, Nishinomiya-shi Hyogo 662-0934 Japan; Rikio Mishiro, Director, President, Treasurer, 2-20 Nishinomiyahama, Nishinomiya-shi Hyogo 662-0934 Japan; Tatsuyuki Okamoto, Director, Secretary, 2-20 Nishinomiyahama, Nishinomiya-shi Hyogo 662-0934 Japan. By: Rikio Mishiro, Authorized Officer.

NOV 15, 22, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-554392

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NOMADNIGHTCLUB, 839 POST ST #107, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JAMES KEITH HARPER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/08/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE PARK GYM GEARY BLVD, 4801 GEARY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DAVID PARK. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/19/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/19/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038390400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GENESIS JANITORIAL SERVICES, 5734 HARMON AVE, OAKLAND, CA 94621. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FRANCISCO J. MOLINA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/24/05. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038383200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HYDEOUT TALENT AGENCY, 1545 A PERSHING DR., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94129. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHRISTOPHER MCGREW. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/15/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/01/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038390900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EARLY CARE EDUCATORS OF SAN FRANCISCO (ECESF), 445 CHURCH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAN FRANCISCO EARLY CARE EDUCATORS RESOURCE PROGRAM (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/07/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038389800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CINDERELLA BAKERY & CAFE - THE MISSION, 2937 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed 24TH CINDERELLA BAKERY, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/02/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/07/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29 DEC 06, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038380100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FITNESS SF TRANSBAY, 425 MISSION ST #212, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TRANSBAY FITNESS, 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 10/30/18.

In the matter of the application of: PHUONG TRANG THI PHAM, 1501 19TH AVE #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner PHUONG TRANG THI PHAM, is requesting that the name PHUONG TRANG THI PHAM, be changed to TRANG PHUONG THI PHAM. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 20th of December 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038379400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FAMILY STONE CHOCOLATE, 1049 MARKET ST #103, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed HSF HOLDINGS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/29/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/30/18.

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FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038374800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CROSSROADS PIZZERIA CAFE, 1596 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed UNIVERSAL CAFE DELICANCIES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/25/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/25/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038387700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BREAKTHROUGH PERSPECTIVES, 950 LINCOLN BLVD #29095, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94129. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CTMG LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/06/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/06/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 NOTICE OF SALE BY RECEIVER

Prospective bidders should refer to Sections 701.510 to 701.680, inclusive, of the California Code of Civil Procedure for provisions governing the terms, conditions, and effect of the sale and the liability of defaulting bidders. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT, Greyhound IP LLC, solely in its capacity as the Court appointed receiver (the “Receiver”) for Dr. Aleksandra Yufa, pursuant to pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure § 567 for Case No. 09-01315 KAW entitled Yufa v. TSI Incorporated US District Court for the Northern District of California (the “Court”), to sell U.S. Patents Nos. 7,573,573 (expired); 7,439,855; 6,346,983; 6,034,769 (expired); US5,946,091 (expired) and 5,767,967 (expired) relating to optical particle counting, (collectively, the “Optical Particle Patents”), and U.S. Patent No. 5,969,665 relating to vessel collision risk detection (the “Vessel Collision Patent”) (collectively, the “Yufa Portfolio”). Documents relevant to the sale are available in the virtual data room at the following link, https://www. dropbox.com/s/2of1hntuf4tmp4m/Yufa%20Portfolio%20 PSA%202018-11- 06.docx?dl=0 or by contacting Receiver’s representative (identified below). The Receiver received a bid from a judgement creditor in the amount of $165,525.88 (the “Stalking Horse Bid”) for the Yufa Portfolio. Pursuant to the Auction Procedures (defined below), all subsequent bids must exceed $165,525.88. Terms and Conditions of Sale. The Receiver will sell the Yufa Portfolio, pursuant to the Order Granting Defendant’s Second Renewed Motion To Compel Assignments Of Patents To Receiver by the Court. The Yufa Portfolio shall be transferred on an “AS IS,” “WHERE IS,” and “WITH ALL FAULTS” basis. THE RECEIVER MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES AS TO CONDITION OR FITNESS OF USE FOR OF THE PROPERTY. THE RECEIVER EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE SALE ASSETS, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. The winning bidder will be required to execute a patent sale agreement substantially in the form provided in the virtual data room (identified above). The Receiver expressly reserves the right, upon notice to those parties that have demonstrated an interest in bidding on the Yufa Portfolio, to: (a) modify, waive or amend the Auction Procedure with respect to any or all potential bidders, (b) impose additional terms and conditions with respect to any or all potential bidders, and (c) cancel the sale without further notice. All inquiries regarding the Yufa Portfolio or the Auction Procedures should be directed to the auction representative for the Receiver, Kevin Mulroy, Intellectual Property Trade Pte Ltd, (415) 418-3148 (telephone), kevin@iptrade.net (email). Auction Procedure. Parties interested in participating in the telephonic auction should provide notice by email to kevin@iptrade.net before 5:00 pm PST on December 18, 2018 to receive detailed bidding instructions. For those parties providing notice, the auction will be held via a conference call on December 20th at 9:00 am PST.

NOV 22, 2018 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF AUDREY SUE WOO IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-18-302377

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of AUDREY SUE WOO. A Petition for Probate has been filed by BETTY J. YEE in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that BETTY J. YEE be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Dec 11, 2018, 9:00 am, Rm. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: Mr. Michael Yee SBN: 25881, Michael Yee Law Group, 4010 S Land Park Drive, #B, Sacramento, CA 95822; Ph. (916) 927-9001.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 NOTICE OF SECOND AMENDED PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF ROSA ISABEL VALLE IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-17-300714

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of ROSA ISABEL VALLE. A Second Amended Petition for Probate has been filed by CESAR BONILLA III & DIANA BONILLA in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that DIANA BONILLA be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and

shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Dec 11, 2018, 9:00 am, Dept. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: Mr. Philip E. Carey, 555 University Ave., #116, Sacramento, CA 95825; Ph. (916) 564-0706.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-554400

In the matter of the application of: SUMANA LAKSHMI VALLURI RAO, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner SUMANA LAKSHMI VALLURI RAO, is requesting that the name SUMANA LAKSHMI VALLURI RAO, be changed to SUMANA VALLURI RAO. 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 10th of January 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038397100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JEFFERSON MACK & ASSOCIATES, 2266 SHAFTER AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JEFFERSON MACK. 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 11/14/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038398500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BITTIKER ARCHITECTURE, 8 LANDERS ST #203, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DANIEL BITTIKER. 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 11/15/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038399500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RILEY REAL ESTATE GROUP, 160 LANDERS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SHAWN MICHAEL RILEY. 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 11/15/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC, 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038394900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NEW 7 NAILS, 2611 A SAN BRUNO AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed NEW 7 NAILS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/13/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038397700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ART OF TECH, 2261 MARKET ST #317, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed EDUCATIONAL MEDIA ARTS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/14/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/14/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038398600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TRIDENT REAL ESTATE, 3 STARK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed NORTH BEACH NATIVE 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 11/15/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038397000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GOZU; ITTORYU GOZU, 201 SPEAR ST # 120, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed KOJIN SF 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 11/14/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038395100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INNOC3NTS, 2035 35TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ZLMMLL, 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 11/13/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038400600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SLEEP OVER SAUCE, 135 GOUGH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MALTI INVESTMENTS LLC. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/16/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038402000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: QUICKY BURGERS, 4092 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed EYLUL LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/19/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/19/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018

China today

Trans am

Ken dolls

In like Flynn

Vol. 48 • No. 47 • November 22-28, 2018

Steven Underhill

www.ebar.com/arts

Scenes from the Cirque by Jim Gladstone

R Twin brothers Andrew and Kevin Atherton prepare to swirl through the air in hypnotic symmetry in Cirque du Soleil’s “Volta.”

ed noses over respirator masks. That was the unfortunate fashion trend at last Thursday night’s opening of “Volta,” the latest touring extravaganza from Cirque du Soleil. See page 20 >>

Ebru Yildiz

Laurie Anderson: “I’m still having a blast.”

Manuel Vaca

Music for a better world

Resident genius

by Philip Campbell

by Sari Staver

vant-garde artist and pop music icon Laurie Anderson will present five different concerts in San Francisco beginning Nov. 28, as part of her tenure as Resident Artistic Director at SFJAZZ Center, a music venue in Hayes Valley that is considered the first free-standing building in the U.S. built for jazz performance and education. See page 24 >>

Conductor Daniel Barenboim led the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, featuring cello soloist Kian Soltani, for Cal Performances.

wo concerts with similar intentions brought opposite sides of the Bay in synch recently with the belief that music is a human right. It may be preaching to the choir, but it is still important to be reminded: the universal language of music extends far beyond the bubble. See page 24 >>

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

TAYLOR MAC’S HOLIDAY SAUCE Fri, Dec 14 & Sat, Dec 15 Royce Hall

Have a Mary Christmas and a Sassy New Year.

<< Out There

16 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

In the lap of luxury

Courtesy The Clement

The Clement Palo Alto is a luxury hotel adjacent to Stanford University.

by Roberto Friedman

Holi da yv& t ick et s sE e ’ r a Y e ! W O Ne w N E L

O N SA

GETTICKETS TICKETS NOW! NOW! GET

ur favorite hotel down the Peninsula invited us back for an overnight stay, so we returned to The Clement Palo Alto a few weeks ago. It’s a different sort of luxury hotel, as you’ll see. Our first stop after checking in was a visit to The Museum of American Heritage, 351 Homer Ave. in Palo Alto, to see their current exhibit “Vintage Toys: It’s Child’s Play,” a collection of antique pedal cars, trains, toy sewing machines and more (through Feb. 17, 2019). There we enjoyed the seriousness of purpose given to creating a toy: typewriter (1950s), telephone (1921), mixer (1960), American Skyline building set (1950s), and plush squirrel (late 1800s). In the section “Electrical Toys for Boys,” several toy train sets operate at the push of a button. The museum also has early examples of Monopoly, Sorry!, Scrabble, and the Lobby Board Game (extract political favors! Milton Bradley, 1949), as well as samples from the Matchbox 1-75 series of model cars (1953-61, London). To match the miniatures, there’s a real life-size 1915 Model T Ford parked in the open garage. (Open Fri.-Sun., 11 a.m.-4 p.m., free.) We found “The Blue Trees” (2018) by artist Konstantin Dimopoulos in the plaza surrounding Palo Alto’s City Hall. A water-based, environmentally safe, organic colorant has temporarily dyed a small brace of trees a striking cobalt blue. The installation remains until March 2019, following which we are assured the trees will gradually revert to their natural state. When we returned to The Clement, we had a friendly chef grill a burger and chicken breast for our lunch while we reclined in a cabana on the roof deck. For this is the essence of the place: we’re invited to have our meals whenever we like, wherever we like, in the dining room, living room, outdoor terrace, or in the privacy of our own suite. Then we crossed El Camino Real over to the Stanford University campus, site of our grad school years, and strolled down Palm Drive to the Cantor Arts Center, free and open to the public. There, the “Contact Warhol: Photography Without End” show was attracting a lively audience. It celebrates the museum’s archive of contact sheets, photos and negatives acquired from the Warhol Foundation, supplemented by a few silkscreen paintings. It’s slightly absurd that the 3,600 images from this archive should wind up here, as Andy Warhol had no ostensible connection with Stan-

ford. But the exhibit is a good West Coast ancillary to the gigantic Warhol retrospective going on right now at the Whitney Museum of American Art in NYC. Both shows bring Andy out as a very gay artist, and the Cantor show even has a section entitled, “Gay Gay Gay,” with photos of his lovers and other hunky nude male models (through Jan. 6, 2019). The Anderson Collection, housed in a sparkling new museum next door, is showing “Salon Style II: Collected Marks on Paper” (through Feb. 18), “Spotlight on Elizabeth Murray” (through March 25) and a reinstallation of its own permanent collection, all very worth seeing, free, and open to the public. Back at The Clement, our suite had been stocked with treats we had requested: chilled white wine, premium gin and roasted almonds. Here is the real luxury of this place: it’s like having a private concierge attend to all your desires. The multilingual staff was unfailingly helpful, cheerful and polite. When we asked

for copies of the Sunday New York Times, two copies were brought to our breakfast. On a previous visit, we had our shoes shined. A quick swim in the serene rooftop pool and soak in the hot tub, then dinner included such delights as Roasted Colorado Lamb Loin with white bean cassoulet, Seared Black Angus Fillet with fingerling potato salad, and appetizers Seared Day Boat Scallops and Duck Rillettes. Service was impeccable. When Pepi wanted the Foie Gras appetizer with Fig Mostardo, but for dessert, he got it. It was like hotel magic. Back upstairs, our bed had been turned down, candied orange slices left on the pillows, shades automatically drawn. The ambience was luxurious. We can’t think of a time when we’ve been better taken care of.

Correx box

Correction from The New York Times: “An article on Thursday about the winner of a Powerball lottery jackpot misstated the odds of winning the prize. They are one in 292,201,338, not 292,201,338 million.” Oh, much better odds.t

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

Andy Warhol, black-and-white negative “John Sex with snake at Christopher Makos’ studio and on the street” (1983).

The ultimate holiday survival guide.

TAYLOR MACâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HOLIDAY SAUCE

Have a Mary Christmas and a Sassy New Year. Fri, Dec 14 & Sat, Dec 15 Royce Hall

cap.ucla.edu 310 825 2101

<< Fine Art

18 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

Now We’re Here

Chinese puzzles

a celebration of the music of Queen and the novel Now I’m Here

featuring Peter Fogel, Suzanne Ramsey, Diogo Zavadski, Coleton Schmitto, and Adam Dragland with special guests Leigh Crow, Ruby Vixen and Jason Brock, hosted by author Jim Provenzano

The F’Inn

814 Grove Street, San Francisco $20-$50. Thursday, Dec. 6 at 8pm (doors 7:30pm)

queencelebration.brownpapertickets.com

S TUNNING O CEAN V IEWS WITH A P RIVATE O UTDOOR T ERRACE CEREMONIES | RECEPTIONS | HOLIDAY PARTIES | BUSINESS ENTERTAINING

DINING AT THE CLIFF HOUSE

CliffHouse.com 415-386-3330 1090 Point Lobos San Francisco 94121 Private Events Direct 415-666-4027 virginia@cliffhouse.com

Courtesy Cao Fei

Cao Fei, “RMB City: A Second Life City Planning” by China Tracy, aka Cao Fei, 2007 (detail). Color video with sound, 6 min., part of “Art and China After 1989: Theater of the World” at SFMOMA.

by Sura Wood

he bad news first: “Art and China After 1989: Theater of the World” is a bit of a snooze. The new exhibition at SFMOMA sounds promising, structured as it is around a period dating from the dramatic 1989 student-led protests and the violent military crackdown in Tiananmen Square, images of which transfixed a horrified public, to the pageantry of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, which grabbed center stage in a very different way. The show is comprised of over 100 mostly conceptual works by two generations of independentminded, contemporary Chinese artists and artist groups living in China and abroad. Collectively they’ve critiqued, translated and helped catalyze and chronicle the rapid socio-political and economic transformation that overtook their country, while also responding to the onset of globalization and rise of authoritarianism at home. All the elements would seem to be in place for a rousing day at the museum, but the enterprise never achieves lift-off. Granted, there’s a cultural chasm that may be difficult for many Westerners, including critics, to bridge, but that doesn’t account for why the show packs little of the punch of the Asian Art Museum’s exciting “28 Chinese,” which surveyed similar territory in 2015. Scant background on the 60 participating artists, many of whom aren’t well-known to visitors, doesn’t help. Though label text amplifies a number of individual works, it’s not plentiful enough, and its placement is often awkward. Organized by the Guggenheim, the exhibition arrives with some confounding artspeak and a lingering discussion of the confusing animal rights vs. free expression controversy that erupted around the show’s debut in New York last year. Statements from the affected artists and shells of the offending artworks minus their original contents are included here. This opening salvo is followed by galleries featuring paintings, photography, dozens of video monitors showing,

among other things, Zhang Peili’s footage of various people furiously scratching their bare skin; performance art documentations; and an arsenal of installations such as Xu Tan’s “Made in China” (1997-98), a room littered with disposable consumer items, from toy army tanks, cartoon figures and a Mona Lisa jigsaw puzzle to couches and a bathtub wrapped in cheesy metallic Mylar. Variety notwithstanding, the exhibition alternates between boring stretches and reasons to perk up like Paris-based Chen Zhen’s snake-like marvel “Precipitous Parturition” (1999). Suspended from the ceiling of the museum’s atrium, the 85-foot-long, writhing black sculpture, made of bicycle inner tubes, steel and plastic toy cars, could be construed as the spirit animal of the show. An interesting assortment of pieces can be found in a section called “Otherwhere: Travels Through the In-between,” where “Ascending Dragon Project for Extraterrestrials No. 2” (1989) resides. A cross between a treasure map and a traditional Chinese landscape ink painting, the ethereal ink-andgunpowder creation on a large swath of rough-hewn paper is an early brainchild of artist Cai GuoQiang, whose explosion artworks channel the country’s history with gunpowder, the transience of life, and the ephemeral nature of art. One of the most fascinating figures on China’s art scene, he likes to blow up his gorgeous, haunting paintings, often in front of a live audience. After detonation, they leave behind a ghostly residue of their former selves, like those mummies that, when unsheathed, were said to assume the likeness of the person who once existed for a split-second before disintegrating into dust. Cai, who came of age in China during the Cultural Revolution, was the subject of a memorable “60 Minutes” segment and a Netflix documentary; both are worth checking out. The work on view here documents the first of his massive, site-specific, kerpow events, which took place on the slopes of Mont Sainte-Victoire, a

familiar sight in the paintings of Cezanne. Hanging from the ceiling nearby is Chen Zhen’s whimsical “Lumiere Innocente” (2000), a DIY fantasy light fixture in the shape of a pudgy dirigible. Lit from within, it’s crafted from the metal frame of a child’s crib, and comes equipped with four “feet” on wheels should the need for a speedy escape arise. Your imagination can run away with you while watching the short color video “To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain” (1995), which witnesses a group of ordinary people – perhaps members of a death cult or an art collective? – removing all of their clothes on a rocky promontory of Mt. Miaofeng near Beijing. Stepping forward to be weighed on a scale, some shoot an irritated glance toward the camera operator. They look vulnerable and cold, shivering as, one by one, they pile on top of each other face down, forming an impersonal mound of flesh. An unidentified man comes into the frame, taking measurements to ascertain whether or not they’ve achieved the desired height, or are his calculations for a mass grave? The exercise, carried out in silence, has disturbing associations with the terrible images of the stacked naked bodies left behind in Nazi death camps. The question of how far one is willing to go in the name of art – like risking pneumonia or worse – is also raised by an infamous photo, “12 Square Meters,” taken by Rong Rong, of Shanghai photographerperformance artist Zhang Yuan, a protégé of Ai Weiwei. One stifling summer day in 1994, he coated his naked body with a mixture of honey, fish oil and salt, and sat inside a fly-infested latrine for what must have been the longest, most miserable hour of his life. Some may remember the startling image from the aforementioned “28 Chinese.” What possessed him to undertake the tortuous feat of endurance was his desire to assert dominion over his body, a radical act of resistance against a repressive, autocratic regime. “The body is the proof of identity,” he has said. “The body is language.”t

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<< Theatre

20 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

“radiant in Bach’s otherworldly harmonies and majestic in passages of choral grandeur…”

PHILHARMONIC —Miami Herald

fire

DEC. 5-9 guest conductor Patrick Dupré Quigley for a sparkling Join program featuring two glorious Bach cantatas with the

fantastical effects in Purcell’s “The Frost Scene” from King Arthur and the plaintive sounds of the alto voice in Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus. Monteverdi’s “Confitebor tibi Domine” will stir the holiday soul as you celebrate the beauty of old music as it is intended to be heard with PBO. MONTEVERDI “Confitebor tibi Domine,” No. 2, from Selva Morale e Spirituale BACH Cantata No. 61 Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland VIVALDI Nisi Dominus PURCELL “The Frost Scene” (Act III, Scene II), from King Arthur BACH Cantata No. 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme

(415) 392-4400 philharmonia.org

TICKETS

SAN FRANCISCO BERKELEY PALO ALTO

Annual tion LGBT Recep ncert After The Co December 7

Please RSVP

Volta

From page 15

The clown beaks were handed out by greeters at the Big Top next to AT&T Park, welcome gifts for guests, many of whom arrived with their faces already obscured in response to an air quality index close to 200, officially “very unhealthy.” “I can totally feel it,” said panting, sweat-drenched dancer Joey Arrigo, taking a break from his workout in the adjacent performers’ tent the prior afternoon. “Especially having just come from Seattle.” On Thursday, the city sky had further thickened with smoke from the Camp Fire upstate. San Francisco school closures were announced for Friday. But the show must go on: 26-yearold Arrigo and his fellow troupers would soon be leaping, swinging, jumpSteven Underhill roping and diving through Unicyclist Phillippe Bélanger with that toxic, tragic air. acrobat Marie-Lee Guilbert standing That the evening’s specatop him in Cirque du Soleil’s “Volta.” tacle unfolded with no obvious signs of breathing strain might want to hang out and meet is no doubt a tribute to the people, but it’s not worth the payextraordinary physical conditioning out. To me, it’s really important to of “Volta”’s corps de Cirque, which live as close as possible to the show was otherwise deliciously obvious; and stay focused.” for this particular outing, the beef“I think we’re at different stages cake bakery worked overtime. of life,” said Harper, a Boston naAmong the specialty acts, massive tive. “I’m open and looking. In the bare-chested unicyclist Phillippe beginning of my career, I think I was Bélanger pedaled around the cirsuper-focused on my work. But I’ve cular stage with acrobat Marie-Lee had so many great experiences, and Guilbert first spinning on his shoulnow I think maybe it would be nice ders, then standing on his head. Béto have someone to share this with. langer dismounted mid-routine for “I’m staying in Balboa Park,” some distinctively bro’-ey flexing Harper joked. “There seem to be and flirting with audience members lots of nubile college-age people (male and female), egging the crowd around there.” into playful body worship. Call him Magic Bike. Star turns Two more featured acts further Among the Bay Area celebs spotupped the hunk factor: twin brothted in the opening-night crowd were ers Andrew and Kevin Atherton jazz chanteuse Paula West, novelswirling through the air in hypnotic ist Amy Tan, and be still my heart, symmetry with their strap routine, singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, and a ferocious platoon of dudes as thrilled with the show as the rest putting their guns to good use in of us. a frenzied gymnastic ring act. You Hardly a surprise. Because there could almost smell the perspiration. are some talents on display in Arrigo, who plays Woz, the “Volta” that are truly exceptional. protagonist in “Volta”’s ignorably Sure, those famous ladies can write sketchy plot, brought a sweeter sort and sing, but can any of them be of sexy to the proceedings in several lifted 20 feet in the air by their scalp? ballet-inflected gymnastic dance In one of the most mesmerizing/ routines, accompanied by some of disturbing solo acts seen in a Cirque the most beautifully bracing music production, Brazilian performer in the sometimes McLachlanDanila Bim opened her act sitting mushy Cirque canon. The score in a meditative pose on a large by Anthony Gonzalez leans more cushion, only to be craned skyward toward rock and spotlights Jean-Luc by a cable attached to the top-knot Pontyesque electric violin solos by of hair on her otherwise shiny pate. Camilla Bäckman. Imagine a human carrot, uprooted. There was only the most minimal Gays du Soleil visible strain in her facial muscles as Arrigo, 26, and vocalist Darius Bim swam vertically, treaded air and Harper, 32, are two of only a handdanced through the ether. ful of queer stage performers in the Throughout the evening, other show, but behind the scenes, said Arquirky singular talents were on rigo, “the head of almost every prodisplay, from close-to-the-ground duction department is. I’m proud to juggling of 10 balls, to jumping rope say the gays are in charge!” Both on while doing a handstand, to runthe road with “Volta” for over two ning up walls Donald O’Connoryears now, Arrigo and Harper readstyle with the help of a vertical ily admit that, even in cities where trampoline. they have long stays (the show is in The final act in “Volta” is a dareSF through early February), it can devil BMX bicycling routine in be difficult to build much of a social which riders crisscross each other’s life outside of their work. paths mid-air. Clear Lucite ramps “As of two weeks ago, I am single, and platforms allow every jump, thank god!” laughed Arrigo. “I’ve twist, and in-flight rotation to be had three different long-distance viewed from all angles. It’s a wincerelationships over the past two inducing scene of flying bone and years, and the distance just created metal. problems. I’m ready to mingle, but Still, under the Big Top, marginI’m not going to stay with you, baby. ally protected from the city’s ashy I’ll eat you up and spit you back out. atmosphere, I was thrilled to the “In all honesty,” he said, “the edge of fear, momentarily happy to work is exhausting. I’m actufeel breathless.t ally trying to find more time to just relax by myself. Trying to spend time outdoors on Mondays when Cirque du Soleil, “Volta” at AT&T Park through we’re dark. I usually stay in Air Feb. 3. Tickets from $57. BnBs, and I’ve experimented staycirquedusoleil.com/volta ing in cool neighborhoods where I

TV>>

November 22-28, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 21

Transgender & fit to serve

LogoTV

Scene from directors Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson’s “TransMilitary.”

by David-Elijah Nahmod

he new documentary by Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson “TransMilitary” shares the stories of four transgender people who serve

in the U.S. military, and shows their efforts to make the military a more welcoming place for them. The film, which recently aired on Logo and is still streaming at logotv.com, takes on a special meaning given the anti-

trans policies of the Trump administration and the president’s efforts to ban trans people from serving in any capacity. Early in the film the directors acknowledge a surprising statistic:

15,500 trans folks currently serve in the armed forces, making the military the country’s largest employer of trans people. As the film’s four subjects point out, all they want is to do the best job they can and to be themselves. “I stand to lose everything I have,” says Staff Sergeant Logan Ireland, a trans man who serves in Afghanistan. He speaks of preferring the dangers of being in that war-torn country, where he’s seen as “just another guy,” to being at home, where he must live in fear of being outed. Ireland is engaged to Laila Villanueva, a trans woman who accepts an honorable discharge so she doesn’t lose her benefits. Many times Villanueva was forced to slick her hair back and don men’s attire. She speaks of the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” which happened under Pres. Obama. “I had no idea it didn’t cover the T in LGBT,” she says. Much of the film deals with an organization called SPART*A, which advocates for transgender people in the military. SPART*A has set up a series of meeting with top military officials, asking that the trans ban be lifted and that transgender people be allowed to serve. The meetings go well. The Pentagon’s Brad Carson offers an apology for the way the military has treated trans

people. Ireland, meanwhile, takes a bold step. At a public event with Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, he introduces himself as a trans man. Co-director Dawson spoke to the B.A.R. about what she hopes viewers will take from the film. “One of the main goals of ‘TransMilitary’ is to give audiences a new way to understand what it means to be transgender through the lens of those who have chosen to serve our country,” she said. “As the ban on open transgender service continues its battle in the courtroom, the film builds empathy, increases validation, and breaks down stereotypes. Audience members have told us they leave the theater feeling angry and inspired to action, whether that action is to look at and treat their trans neighbors differently, or to ask their congressperson to stand up against judicial and legislative efforts to roll back LGBTQ protections.” Without preaching, “TransMilitary” paints a vivid portrait of the everyday struggle for acceptance faced by transgender people. By focusing on individual stories, the film makes the argument for the rights of trans people with heart, soul and compassion.t To view TransMilitary, go to logotv.com.

Teenage chefdom by David Lamble

e’ve had “The Galloping Gourmet” and Julia Child. Now behold the arrival of a great teenage chef. The large segment of the LGBTQ filmgoing community hooked on TV cooking shows will find one coming attraction to be literally mouth-watering. In the new culinary film bio-doc “Chef Flynn” (opening Friday), a blond, lightly freckled teenager, Flynn McGarry, is seen working up a head of steam in his family’s kitchen. With the blessing of his mom, Meg, the then10-year-old Flynn turns the family room into a fancy dinner club, employing his young classmates as assistant chefs. Says Meg Flynn, “I’m sort of a player in this film about my strange son who figured out his life so early. I just want to make sense on how it happened.” Joining a growing genre of food docs, director Cameron Yates demonstrates how the boy goes from celebrity teen, appearing in 2014 in a widely circulated New York Times Magazine cover story, to a culinaryindustry force competing with men and women with years of painful

apprenticeship behind them. Flynn McGarry leaves little doubt that regular high school classes were crimping his style. “I hated having to be at school eight hours a day. I’d just be planning dishes. Can’t I be homeschooled?” Flynn’s mom adds, “He wants to be taken seriously. He wants the top of the game that’s fine dining.” Young Flynn had a bit of help in realizing his dream to conquer the expensive and often snobby world of fine dining. Flynn’s mom and dad spared little expense in retrofitting their modest middle-class bungalow. If the kitchen counters were too high, they paid for turning their dining room into an exact replica of the one at that gourmet heaven The French Laundry. When their son needed privacy to expand his menu items, his father built a small kitchen in Flynn’s bedroom that bore a striking resemblance to Chicago’s trendy Alinea’s. While many kids his age would ask for a car as a birthday present, Flynn requested and received an induction burner, and later a vacuum sealer as a Christmas stocking-stuffer. McGarry himself signaled the direction his career was heading

Kino Lorber

Teenager Flynn McGarry, subject of director Cameron Yates’ “Chef Flynn.”

when he sold his guitar to pay for a high-end kitchen appliance. In a cheeky aside, the young chef replies to comments about his age and rosy red complexion. “Maybe I’ll be a boy

forever!” The filmmakers take pains to capture some of the kid’s kitchen techniques, such as using a blowtorch to help one special dish along. Even a childhood illness, a case

of whooping cough when he was 11, proved a blessing in disguise, as it allowed Flynn and his mom to binge-watch the program “Iron Chef Japan.”t

Reigning queens by Jim Piechota

Kens by Raziel Reid; Penguin Teen, $17.99

n “Kens,” Canadian author Raziel Reid’s satirical, razor-sharp homo hybrid of “Heathers” and “Mean Girls,” the snobby popular clique consists of tongue-clucking twinks who wear baby pink short-shorts and 8-carat diamond earrings, and worship Baphomet. It’s a Barbie world where the boys rule on thrones laden with sequined pink fabric and “ditch most classes and hold court in the caf. They sometimes show up for exams, but mostly just to take a selfie of themselves taking the exam in their cutest nerd-chic outfit.” These nearly identical bitchy blond “Kens” (Ken Hilton, the lead queen, and his dutiful followers Ken

Roberts and Ken Carson) aren’t mere teenagers at Willows High in Willows, Wisconsin, but glittery queens of the highest order who shoot Botox, endure plastic surgery to look identical, and pad their already perky bodies with butt, pec, cheek, chin, and eyelash implants, with a flare of glamorous superiority. Awkward student Tommy Rawlins yearns to be one of these Alisters, and is given that opportunity with a Ken-sanctioned makeover resulting in dramatic facial reconstruction and a look “like he’s just rubbed cocaine along the inside of his gums and is about to sell everyone’s secrets to Radar Online.” But things don’t gel as they should, and Tommy is swiftly rebuffed by Ken Hilton. Pressure mounts as fast as the thirst for revenge, and as “the

magic bleeds out of him,” a murderous counterattack plot is hatched between Tommy and school newcomer Blaine to overthrow the lead Ken and assume his throne. All of this vainglorious, candy-coated hoopla can be quite hilarious, particularly if you’re a younger reader with a snarky sense of humor and a keen eye for our consumerist, self-obsessed, hashtag culture. Amidst all the attitude, judgmental side-eyes, glitter, and glam, there is a dark thread running through the book. Things get murky and gravely suicidal in its final third when the fate of a few Kens is spelled out, and what’s left of the popular group is left to pick up the pieces of a high school in serious shock.

Blogger and former columnist Reid, who has an acting degree from the New York Film Academy, is best known for his controversial young-adult novel debut “When Everything Feels Like the Movies,” based on the 2008 murder of gay teenager Lawrence Forbes King. It won the Governor General’s Award for children’s literature in 2014, when Reid was just 24. This new work is not for every taste, but dark-humored entertainment with a conscience and hinged on Instafamous societal obsessions does have its place on certain bookshelves. If you enjoy it, Reid has more gay on the way: a new novel called “Followers,” a take on the vanity of the Instagram culture, arrives next year.t

<< TV

22 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

Queer eye for gay TV representation by Victoria A. Brownworth

e wouldn’t normally tout another LGBTQ publication here, but the “Out 100” were named Nov. 14, and that’s more about our community than it is about a single publication, much like the Glamour Woman of the Year Awards, named the same day. If you have not seen pics of Hillary Clinton and Janelle Monae at the WOTY, Google immediately. Spectacular. We don’t know who dressed the two of them, but wow. Hillary is like a feminist Obi Wan Kenobi, and Monae is a pansexual goddess. Having had the honor of being included on the Out list twice, once for our award-winning book “Coming Out of Cancer: Writings from the Lesbian Cancer Epidemic,” and again for our AIDS journalism, we know it’s big. Out named the cast from “Queer Eye” as entertainers of the year, and Tony winner Billy Porter for performance of the year for his role as the gay HIV+ emcee Pray Tell in “Pose.” We couldn’t agree more with the “Queer Eye” re-boot. We didn’t think it was possible to re-imagine a show that seemed perfect the first

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time, but Netflix created a new Fab Five a decade after the initial show in both a delight and a revelation, taking the show to a place more substantive than the original. People magazine highlighted a story about the queer quintet on Nov. 15. Pivoting off the Out nod, People detailed how the series’ Bobby Berk, who grew up gay in a religious community and has talked about it poignantly on “Queer Eye,” was able to preach his own gospel. People quoted Berk, “I received a message from a pastor who told me he’d been preaching against homosexuality his entire life and changed his ways after watching our show. He said he will never preach that way again.” Amen to that. But while we love “Queer Eye” and the Fab Five and are so glad they are reaching Middle Trumpmerica, it was Billy Porter who resonated most for us. Porter filled one of the most searing roles of 2018. Those of us on the front lines of the AIDS crisis always knew a Pray Tell, a gay man who shepherded the dying through their final days, and who did his best to protect the living from meeting the same fate. Porter told Out that Ryan Murphy wrote the role of Pray Tell specifically for him. Porter had read for the dance instructor, a role that went to Charlayne Woodard, who was extraordinary in it, but Murphy and Porter both thought there was a better role for him. There was: Porter became one with Pray Tell, opening each episode and emceeing the balls. As magnificent as those scenes were, it was the scenes in the hospital that blew us away and sent us into The Ugly Cry. Pray Tell with his dying lover, the dreaded yellow gowns and the aides leaving food trays in the hall because they didn’t want to enter the room: all of that took us back in time and resonated deeply. If you are among those who somehow missed watching “Pose,” one of the best drama series of the year, be sure to watch it on demand on FX. It’s mesmerizingly good. Porter is sublime, but there are other performances by trans women actresses, notably Mj Rodriguez, Indya Moore and Dominique Jackson, that will catch your heart as well. Porter also co-starred in “American Horror Story: Apocalypse.” The eighth season of the FX anthol-

ogy from Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk ended this week with a surprising finale. Surprising that it was able to believably wrap a complex season with many unanswered questions, and surprising in that we were satisfied with it. The question for Season 9 has to be: Where do we go after the end of the world? The finale of “Apocalypse” gave us a glimmer: back to witches. But we shall see. Murphy and Falchuk may have an entirely new plan for viewers. While there were many intriguing elements to “Apocalypse,” we mostly hate-watched this season, which never lived up to the promise of the first two episodes. There were some spectacular performances. Jessica Lange is a queen. Kathy Bates hasn’t been this good since “Misery,” and who knew she could reinvent herself at 70 as a leather-clad butch hipster goddess? Both gave Emmy-worthy performances. Frances Conroy was at her bitingly acid best, while Billie Lourd came into her own this season. Joan Collins (how does she still look her best at 85?) was mad fun and a real Ode to Camp. Angela Bassett had naught but a walk-on in the finale, where was she the rest of the season? Evan Peters was everywhere yet underutilized. But Cody Fern was one sexy antiChrist. There was just too much going on. The melding of elements of previous seasons (“Asylum,” “Coven”) was lost on first-time viewers, while the effort to mold those elements into an end-of-theworld scenario often felt forced. The most cohesive elements came from the “Coven” links. But too much of the season was a big crowd scene where all the characters from those two seasons plus new ones were brought in. It was just not very watchable except as a visual feast, which it often was. There was a lot of Sarah Paulson (she played three characters) but we didn’t love her this season. Her directing debut in episode six with Lange was nuanced. We expect to see more directing from her next season. But there’s suspension of disbelief, and then there’s throwit-against-the-wall-and-see-if-itsticks. Too much of the latter. We need season nine to be trimmed down with a tighter storyline, fewer cast members, and a better focused plot. But the season was worth watching for the performances of Lange and Bates alone.

Get away

Nov. 15 was the season finale of “How to Get Away with Murder,” and well, wow. Be warned: there are spoilers ahead. The good news is Oliver is not dead. We were dreading the discovery of Who Died at the Wedding in the finale, as the flashback element of the show told us it was someone from the wedding. Oliver was missing, Connor was searching for him, and we were scared. So: phew. As for the wedding itself: oh yes, we cried. How could we not cry? We’ve seen other gay and lesbian weddings on the tube, notably Cam & Mitchell on “Modern Family” and Callie & Arizona on “Grey’s Anatomy,” and the iconic wedding on “Friends” a bazillion years ago, officiated by Newt Gingrich’s lesbian sister Candace. We loved all those weddings in their time and place. But Connor (Jack Falahee) & Oliver (Conrad Ricamora) are 20somethings, not 30somethings, marrying in our very uncertain times. Oliver is HIV+. Connor was known for 24/7 Grindr hookups. The week before the wedding they were involved

FX Networks

Billy Porter as the gay HIV+ emcee Pray Tell in “Pose.”

in a gay bashing when a Trumper called them faggots and Connor fought back. We weren’t sure they would make it as a couple or to the altar. They did. It was a beautiful, sweet, totally gay wedding, in a church with a woman priest and their parents in attendance. Oliver talked about how he’d planned his wedding from childhood, which was the queeniest thing ever. Emotionally unavailable and shut-down Connor talked about how Oliver was indeed the love of his life. It was deeply moving and very believable. Someone was killed at the wedding, but neither Oliver nor Connor died and neither were the perpetrators, so it was good. Now we also know who did die, who was the killer and who Gabriel Maddox (drop-dead gorgeous Rome Flynn) really is. Bring on season six! One of the things we’ve always liked about “HTGAWM” is that because the show was created by a gay man, the gay characters are really gay, the gay sex is really gay, and we don’t feel cheated by fake-gay teasers. Such is not the case with the popular teen-driven drama “Riverdale,” based on the Archie comics. We are so over it. We like the concept and characters in “Riverdale.” What we don’t like is the queer-baiting. The promo for last week’s show had Joaquin kissing Archie. Wait, Archie is bi? No, Archie is still totally straight, the kiss was non-consensual, part of a larger set-up, and ugh. Just no. Stop queerbaiting to draw in gay viewers. We’re already watching because you have five gay and lesbian characters on the show. Actual queer characters. So you don’t have to use a gay sexual assault as a come-on. “Riverdale” has done this before, in the first season with Betty and Veronica, who also aren’t gay. Yes, everyone likes to see girls kissing. No, we don’t need to play to the straight male audience by having the straight girls play-kissing. Katy Perry, sit down. Where are the lesbian storylines on “Riverdale” for Cheryl Blossom and Toni Topaz? They are an actual couple, interracial, both in the main cast. Why not focus on their lesbian lives? But why did “Riverdale” have Joaquin (he was lovers with Kevin in season one: remember those hot kisses up against the chain-link fence?) forcing Archie into a kiss? Do we need this gay MeToo moment? No we do not. Three gay male characters: Kevin, Moose and Joaquin. Find a storyline. Two lesbian/ bi characters who are girlfriends. Find a storyline. As we explained in our deconstruction of the latest GLAAD report, there’s not as much LGBTQ characterization on the tube as simple numbers of characters would suggest. There may be five LGB characters on “Riverdale,” but are there five LGB storylines? Most definitely not. This tease was also a problem in “You,” which just ended a spectacular first season with yet another murder. We loved this show in a

perverse way, since the protagonist is a disturbed serial killer who we root for throughout, mostly because Penn Badgley, who plays said serial killer Joe Goldberg, is so engaging. But “You” ran a tease that Beck (Elizabeth Lail) was going to have an affair with her bestie, Peach (Shay Mitchell). There wasn’t a question that Peach had a thing for Beck. Joe found dozens of photos on Peach’s computer of Beck nearly naked and asleep, among other stalkery moments. But trailers kept giving us flashes of Peach and Beck kissing, and that never really happened except in people’s imagination. Despite being the creation of Greg Berlanti, who practically owns gay TV at this point, there was nothing gay in “You.” A missed opportunity, because the intensity of the relationship between Beck and Peach was there and, pun intended, ripe for it. Peach was a cloying and possessive dominatrix, so not a lesbian character we wanted to root for. But still, there should have been something. Instead, Peach ended up being yet another dead lesbian of color in a long line of such lesbian TV deaths, one of the few sour notes for us in an otherwise truly genius first season of this taut yet arch psychological thriller. There were a couple dozen new series this season, and as the season finales roll out and the holiday specials roll in, some shows likely won’t be returning. We think we can say for certain that “The Alec Baldwin Show” won’t be back and no one will miss it, except whoever cashes the checks at Baldwin’s house. We’re not sure who thought this was a good idea. Someone who reads Baldwin on Twitter and thought expanding those 280-character bites into an hour would work? All we know is Baldwin is the most tedious talk show host in history. The show has the worst ratings of the season. The shows most likely to be on the chopping block are sitcoms, and among those will be the muchhyped re-boot of “Roseanne,” “The Conners,” as well as the re-boot of “Murphy Brown” and the muchhyped but badly placed “I Feel Bad” from Amy Poehler. We like the new “Murphy Brown,” but it’s not a show we feel dedicated to watching. Much as we like the young gay character on “The Connors,” he just isn’t reason for us to watch an otherwise unexciting series. “I Feel Bad” was supposed to be a feminist sitcom. It isn’t, because the series let the men take over what is a woman’s story. If we wanted to watch that, we’d be watching CSPAN and the attacks on Nancy Pelosi. In the Schadenfreude moment of the week, on Nov.16 a judge Trump appointed ordered the White House to restore the press credentials of CNN’s Jim Acosta. Nearly every major news outlet including Fox News had signed onto an amicus brief requesting Acosta be restored to his position. The ruling by Judge Timothy J. Kelly stated that the White House had violated Acosta and CNN’s Fifth Amendment rights by offering no due process. Yes. Finally, on the Nov. 15 Thanksgiving preview episode of “Beat Bobby Flay,” judge Martha Stewart divulged that she both raises her own turkeys and kills them for Thanksgiving. She told the mesmerized group that she gives them each a tumbler of vodka beforehand as it relaxes the neck muscles. So now you know how to get through Thanksgiving with the fam. So for surprising breaking news, Thanksgiving tidbits, season finales and the holiday madness to come, you know you really must stay tuned.t

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11/15/18 4:13 PM

<< Film

24 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

Rural realities by David Lamble

ou have a sense of what you’re dealing with when the credits for “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” flash across the screen at the Roxie, where the ambitious, Alabama-shot film opens Friday. It’s directed, filmed, edited and written by RaMell Ross, a still photographer who’s stepping up his game. As timely as today’s headlines, “Hale County” tracks the disjointed lives of two African-American men, Daniel and Quincy, and their kin and friends as they experience the highs and lows of early adulthood. These include gospel church services, the birth of twins, the tragedy of Sudden Infant Crib

Cinema Guild

Scene from director RaMell Ross’ “Hale County This Morning, This Evening.”

much of America, especially but not only the rural South, is still almost entirely segregated.

Laurie Anderson

From page 15

Anderson, a creative pioneer best-known for her music, multimedia presentations and innovative use of technology, was named a resident artistic director earlier this year, an invitation she said “was a tremendous honor that I accepted immediately.” In a telephone interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Anderson said the opportunity to spend more than a week in the Bay Area, with creative freedom to perform, “is something I have been looking forward to” since the invitation came last June. “I love San Francisco and look forward to connecting with friends and family” between performances, she said. As a writer, director, visual artist and vocalist, Anderson has created a series of groundbreaking works that span the worlds of art, theater, and experimental music. She is credited with inventing several experimental musical instruments, including the tape-bow violin, talking stick, and voice filters. Her first performance piece, a symphony played on automobile horns, was performed in 1969. First introduced to mainstream pop culture through her single “O Superman” from her 1981 debut album “Big Science” and the largescale theater piece “United States,” Anderson released a series of albums including “Mister Heartbreak,” “Strange Angels,” “Bright Red,” “Life on a String,” and “Homeland.” She has collaborated with many artists including her late husband Lou Reed, Pater Gabriel, Philip Glass, William S. Burroughs, Spalding Gray and the Kronos Quartet. Her performances in San Fran-

Death (SICD), an impromptu burial, and then life goes on for 71 or so minutes that are mostly diverting. The press notes accompanying this production from New York’s Cinema Guild announce that the filmmakers are striving to follow in the agit-prop footsteps of James Agee and Walker Evans in their fabled Depression-era film “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.” This lofty goal is hit-and-miss in its execution: moving scenes bump up against tedious ones. The 99% African American cast is unpretentious and credible even when they make the beginners’ mistake of staring into the camera for uncomfortably long shots. “Hale County” illustrates the sad truth of just how

Divan Orchestra

From page 15

A visiting orchestra and the West Coast premiere of a touching composition, both demonstrating hope and forgiveness, seemed perfectly timed as a turbulent year comes to a close and the world still rages. The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra made its first appearance in Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall last week after close to a decade of trying. Legendary pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, who lists himself a citizen of Argentina, Israel, Palestine, and Spain, and the equally controversial late Palestinian-American writer and scholar Edward Said founded the orchestra in 1999 as a workshop for Israeli, Palestinian and other Arab musicians. Aiming to replace ignorance with education and understanding, and to remove dangerous demonization, the workshop brought participants together to live and work as equals. The experiment was intended to produce a one-time event, but it has since evolved into an ongoing testa-

Courtesy Laurie Anderson

The set-up for “Lou Reed Drones” at Grace Cathedral.

cisco feature collaborations with a number of other artists. Following her first performance, a listening party on Nov. 28 that has already sold out, Anderson performs “Songs for Women” on Nov. 29 with Bay Area musician Tammy Hall, whose piece “For Miss Jones,” inspired the concert. Hall is a popular pianist, organist, composer, and arranger, and has performed extensively in Japan, Europe, and Mexico, including a 30city tour with Queen Esther Marrow and the Harlem Gospel Singers. “I love music that’s written for a real person and tries to capture her in a song. I thought it would be interesting to do a collection of pieces we’ve both written for women, and make it into a celebration that crosses back and forth from jazz to stories to electronics,” said Anderson. The program hasn’t been finalized yet, and “may very well include some spontaneous choices,” she added. The third evening, held at Grace Cathedral on Nov. 30, is entitled “Lou Reed Drones,” and is described by Anderson as “something between an installation and performance,” and features “the hypnotic overtones and harmonics of guitar ment to the bonding power of music. Such lofty goals seem nearly impossible, but “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and seeing the large, freshfaced ensemble could only make the capacity Cal Performances audience feel gratitude. A feeling of shared optimism was heartwarming. The program itself was a little scrappy, especially during the first half, but the level of playing was high, and the musicians showed obvious commitment. Barenboim elicited the sound of a promising youth orchestra in a blurry rendition of Richard Strauss’ tone poem “Don Quixote.” Cellist Kian Soltani, portraying the title character, and violist Miriam Manasherov, as his loyal squire Sancho Panza, gave focus to a rather disjointed reading. After tilting at windmills, Soltani sounded sweettoned and rich in an encore, “The Swan” by Saint-Saens. The second half was stronger, with Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony showcasing some fine playing by the horns and textured depth in the strings. Elgar’s anthem-like “Nim-

feedback.” Accompanied by British guitarist Stewart Hurwood and German saxophonist Ulrich Krieger, the evening will also include a viola duet with Eyving Kang. Anderson was married to Reed from 2008-13, when he died. Beginning in the late 1990s, the couple collaborated on a number of recordings. Anderson told the B.A.R. she has performed the “Drones” piece 10 times, the first in 2013 at a memorial service just after Reed died. The fourth performance at SFJAZZ is “Songs for Men,” an “evening of improv with the amazing Scott Amendola,” a San Francisco drummer and composer whose styles include jazz, blues, rock, and new music. The final concert, on Dec. 2, is entitled “Scenes from My Radio Play,” and includes themes and variations on the characters and situations in her play. Anderson will be joined by English musician Fred Firth, who will ”invoke hypnosis, memory, old juke joints, canoe trips, and love.” Anderson, 71, began her career in the 1970s in downtown New York City, on the street or in informal art spaces, including a memorable

While the real-life players are generous with their time and candid in their opinions, “Hale County” event when she stood on a block of ice playing her violin while wearing ice skates. When the ice melted, the performance ended. Over the next three decades, her work also included visual art, poetry, film, photography, and multimedia presentations. Virtual reality has recently captured her interest. She has toured around the world and has presented her work everywhere from small art spaces to grand concert halls, and everything in-between. Anderson’s most recent album “Landfall,” released last February, was her first collaboration with Kronos Quartet, and was inspired by her experience of Hurricane Sandy in New York. The Washington Post described it as “riveting and gorgeous.” In addition to “Landfall,” Anderson also released a new book last February, “All the Things I Lost in the Flood: Essays on Pictures, Language and Code,” published by Skira Rizzoli. The book came about after she began looking through her four decades of work, looking at many projects with a fresh eye, and leading her to write a collection of essays on the way language entered her visual work. In recent years, Anderson has also created a number of virtual reality experiences, most recently one at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, a multi-functional constellation of galleries and installations, on display through 2019. Throughout her career, Anderson has received dozens of awards, including three Grammy nominations and a Guggenheim Fellowship for the Creative Arts. She has also received a National Book Award and

Brandon Patoc/San Francisco Symphony

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony performed Tilson Thomas’ “From the Diary of Anne Frank” with mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard narrating, here seen during curtain calls.

rod” from “Enigma” Variations was the perfect encore.

Dear Diary

Last week, another concert celebrating hope and humanism warmed Davies Symphony Hall. San Francisco Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas conducted the first SFS performances of his own “From the Diary of Anne Frank” (1990). Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard proved a great choice to speak the deeply affecting thoughts and prayers

of the beloved 13-year-old girl. Originally commissioned by UNICEF for Audrey Hepburn to premiere at MTT’s New World Symphony, “From the Diary of Anne Frank” is well-suited to Leonard’s firm, womanly tone. Sweetly innocent but also remarkably mature, her interpretation made it easy to imagine how Anne might have sounded had her life not been cut so horribly short. MTT provides a soundtrack that clearly shows his musical influences, ranging from Copland to Bernstein, but still makes a personal statement.

would benefit from the same kind of subtitles British director Ken Loach used with “Sweet 16,” his docudrama set in a part of workingclass Scotland where the accents are impossible for an outsider to comprehend. Winner of a Sundance Special Jury Award for Creative Vision, “Hale County” falls into the same category of rural expeditions as Barbara Kopple’s Oscar-winning 1977 doc on a Kentucky coal mine strike, “Harlan County, U.S.A.” The denizens of both films live in another country from their urban cousins. In times of fire and flood, to say nothing of ordinary economic hiccups, about all we share, sadly, is the evening news.t

the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. In 2015, she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for directing the documentary “Heart of a Dog.” As Anderson approaches her sixth decade as a performer, she has no plans to slow down. Her life, she said, is “divided in many ways” that include writing, music, film, and technology. “I have a lot of fun doing things, and I’m still having a blast,” she said. “I don’t consider what I do ‘work,’” she said. “So the notion of kicking back makes no sense to me. I already feel like I’m unemployed and just fooling around, just doing things I enjoy.” Anderson repeated a recent conversation she had with composer Philip Glass, who suggested she had just “started to do her late work,” and predicted it would be “very different” from her early- or middleperiod work. “I know it’s true of his work, and I hope it will also be true of mine,” she said. In addition to performing, Anderson said she is spending an increasing amount of time studying and practicing meditation. “Studying the nature of the mind is baffling and exciting. It helps my work and my concentration, and helps me to understand who I am and who other people are. It’s a confusing time to be alive. “I’m weirdly grateful to live in these turbulent and challenging times.”t Info & tickets: go to the SFJazz website at www.sfjazz.org/ tickets/seasons-series/2018-19/ sfjazz-resident-artistic-directorlaurie-anderson.

The evocative score glistens and surges with emotion and convincing insight. One would have to be made of wood not to respond. “For in spite of everything, I still believe people are really good at heart.” Anne’s words will endure because we want to believe as well. Hearing them again was refreshingly inspirational. The recent performances were recorded for future release on SFS Media. The second half of the program was given to MTT’s crisp and rhythmically taut handling of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica.” The superbly responsive SFS has previously performed and recorded this electrifying interpretation. It capped the concert with a sense of elation. This week, MTT conducts the Beethoven Ninth at DSH. Part of the two-week celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the concerts have been called, “Music as a Human Right.” Can we offer an amen?t Info: sfsymphony.org.

Christine Andreas

Prime Time

www.ebar.com V www.bartabsf.com

Shining Stars Vol. 48 â&#x20AC;˘ No. 47 â&#x20AC;˘ November 22-28, 2018

Arts Events November 22-29 Breathe in the healthful ideas, images and sounds of the local arts scene. Support benefits for fire victims and others. The arts shall heal us all.

Mon 26 World Tree of Hope Decorating @ Grace Cathedral

Listings start on page 26 >

Shot in the City

Nightlife Events November 22-29

Sat 24

Taste the delicious buffet of nightlife fun, with no leftovers!

Polyglamorous @ F8

Listings start on page 28 >

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

<< Arts Events

26 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

Thu 22

Expedition Reef @ California Academy of Sciences, open on Thanksgiving

It’s a Wonderful Life @ War Memorial Opera House

Wild SF Walking Tours @ Citywide

Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s innovative operatic adaptation of the Frank Capra film. $26-$370. Nov 20, 24, 25, 29, Dec 1, 4, 7 & 9. 301 Van Ness Ave. https://sfopera.com/

Enjoy weekly informed tours of various parts of SF, from Chinatown to the Haight, and a ‘radical’ and political-themed LGBT-inclusive tour. Various dates and times. $15-$25. www.wildsftours.com

Other Cinema @ ATA Gallery Weekly screenings of wacky, unusual, short, documentary and animated films; free books, vinyl, VHS and wine. $7. 8:30pm. 992 Valencia St. www.othercinema.com

Pike St. @ Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Thu 22 Expedition Reef @ CA Academy of Sciences Open Thanksgiving! Exhibits and planetarium shows with various live, interactive and installed exhibits about animals, plants and the earth. $20-$35. Mon-Sat 9:30am-5pm. Sun 11am-5pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. www.calacademy.org

Plant Collections @ SF Botanical Garden Open Thanksgiving! Visit the lush gardens with displays of trees, flowers and shrubs from around the world. Monthly plant sales, plus art exhibits and gift shop. Free entry with SF proof of residency. $5-$10 for others. 7:30am-closing. 9th Ave at Lincoln Way. sfbotanicalgarden.org

Skating @ Safeway Holiday Ice Rink Open Thanksgiving! The Union square ice rink is open, with hourly rates, skate rentals, and special events through Jan. 21. $13-$18. 333 Post St. unionsquareicerink.com

Fri 23 Absolutely Fabulous Live @ Oasis

Everything is Illuminated @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley Simon Block’s adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, about a Jewish writer’s quest to find his family history in the Ukraine. $35-$70. TueWed 7pm. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm & 7pm. Thru Dec 9. 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. www.auroratheatre.org

Flight of the Ancestors @ Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts

and calamitous critique of Christmas. $29-$469. Thru Dec. 1. 450 Geary St. https://sfcurran.com

The World of Charles and Ray Eames @ Oakland Museum Exhibit of the innovative designers’ works, including furniture, toys, and rare prototypes; thru Feb 17. Friday night events 5pm-9pm. Free/$15. 1000 Oak St. www.museumca.org

Nov 21-25: Sing-along The Sound of Music, with hosts Sara Moore and Laurie Bushman (2pm, 7pm, thru Nov 25). $11-$16. 429 Castro St. http://www.castrotheatre.com/

Contact Warhol @ Cantor Arts Center, Palo Alto Exhibit of contact sheets and previously unseen images by Andy Warhol. Thru Jan 6, 2019. Stanford University campus, Palm Drive at Museum Way. https://museum.stanford.edu/visit

Crazy for You @ Alcazar Theatre Bay Area Musicals’ intimate staging of the hopping George and Ira Gershwin musical. $20-$65. ThuSun, various curtain times thru Dec. 16. 650 Geary St. www.bamsf.org

Wheeled fun at the former Sacred Heart Church-turned disco roller skate party space, hosted by John D. Miles, the “Godfather of Skate,” 7pm-10pm. Sat afternoon sessions 1pm-2pm and 3pm-5pm. $10. Kids 12 and under $5. Skate rentals $5. 554 Fillmore St at Fell. www.churchof8wheels.com

The popular Broadway adaptation of the P.L. Travers book and Disney film about a magical nanny gets a local production; music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman; book by Julian Fellowes. $30-$55 and up. Thru Jan 12. 450 Post St. www.sfplayhouse.org

Fri 23

The local folk-rock band performs. $10-$15. 8:30pm. 1317 San Pablo Abe., Berkeley. www.moonalice. com www.ashkenaz.com

It’s a Wonderful Life @ War Memorial Opera House

Through-LINES: The Art of Ballet @ 836M Exhibit of stunning dance photos by prolific photographer RJ Muna, with design and sound installations by Christopher Haas, Bernie Krause and Jim Campbell; presented by Alonzo King LINES Ballet as part of its 35th anniversary season. Thru Jan 7, 2019. 836 Montgomery St. www.linesballet.org

Fri 23

Crazy for You @ Alcazar Theatre

Men on Boats @ Strand Theater ACT’s new production of Jaclyn Backhaus’s subversive retelling of 19th-century explorer John Wesley Powell’s journey through Wyoming’s waterways, with an all-women cast. $25-$55. Thru Dec 16. 1127 Market St. www.act-sf.org

Older and Out @ North Berkeley Senior Center Weekly group discussion about problems for elders in the LGBT community. 3:15pm. 1901 Hearst Ave., Berkeley. pacificcenter.org

Queer Yoga @ Love Story Yoga All-level weekly classes in an LGBT space. $11. 6:30pm-7:30pm. 473 Valencia St. at 16th. www.lovestoryyoga.com

Taylor Mac @ Curran Theater The dizzyingly talented super-queer singer-performer brings Holiday Sauce to SF, a rollicking celebration

World Tree of Hope Decorating @ Grace Cathedral Decorate the Rainbow World Fund’s annual holiday tree, with 1000s of origami paper cranes, in its new location. Volunteer Nov 24-30 at various times. Unveiling ceremony Dec. 3. 1100 California St. https:// www.worldtreeofhope.org/help-us/

Sun 25 Ecstatic Dance @ Sacred Heart Church Weekly group freeform dance with a spiritual flavor at the former churchturned event space. $15. 9am-12pm. Also Wed. and Fridays in Oakland and Fairfax. 554 Fillmore St. www.ecstaticdance.org

Lew the Jew and His Circle: Origins of American Tattoo @ Contemporary Jewish Museum Lew the Jew and His Circle: Origins of American Tattoo, an exhibit of the prolific tattoo artist’s work, tools and life; thru June 9. 2019. Also, Veiled Meanings: Fashioning Jewish Dress, from the Collection of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, an exhibit of detailed clothing from dozens of countries; thru Jan 6, 2019. Also, In That Case: Havruta in Contemporary Art—Oxossi Ayofemi and Risa Wechsler, thru July 2019. 736 Mission St. https://thecjm.org/

Painting is My Everything @ Asian Art Museum

Moonalice @ Ashkenaz, Berkeley

Cardboard Piano @ NCTC

Classic and New Films @ Castro Theatre

Skate Night @ Church on 8 Wheels

Mary Poppins @ SF Playhouse

Edina (Terry McLaughlin) and Patsy (Michael Phillis) return in comic drag performances of episodes from the BBC comedy favorite. $27-$50. Thu 8pm, Fri & Sat 7pm, thru Dec. 1. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com Hansol Jung’s moving drama about hope amid unrest and repression in Uganda; pre-show live Nigerian music Thursday nights (post-show conversations with Executive Director of the African Human Rights Coalition, Melanie Nathan on Nov 9, 16, 23). $25-$45. WedSat 8pm Sun 2pm. Thru Dec. 2. 25 Van Ness Ave., lower level. www.nctcsf.org

Award-winning performer/ playwright Nilaja Sun’s new solo show portrays three generations of a Puerto Rican family. $27-$80. Thru Dec 16. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. www.berkeleyrep.org

Day of the Dead exhibition of multimedia works. Reg. hours TueSat 10am-5pm. Thru Nov. 17. 2868 Mission St. missionculturalcenter.org

Ben Krantz

For full listings, visit www.ebar.com/events

Sat 24

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

Art From India’s Mithila Region, thru Dec 30. Also, contemporary works by Kim Heecheon and Liu Jianhua; also, exhibits of sculpture and antiquities. Sunday café specialties from $7-$16. Free-$20. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. 200 Larkin St. http://www.asianart.org/

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

Second Look, Twice @ MOAD Exhibition of the work of 15 critically-acclaimed contemporary artists of African descent, including Glenn Ligon, Martin Puryear, and Kara Walker, who have used the medium of printmaking to create vivid and abstracted works. Thru Dec. 16. Free/$15. 685 Mission St. www.moadsf.org

Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi The musical comedy revue with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs. $25-$160. Beer/wine served; cash only; 21+, except where noted. Wed-Fri 8pm. Sat 6pm & 9pm. Sun 2pm & 5pm. 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd. (Green St.). 421-4222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com

Fall Contemporary Art @ Harvey Milk Photo Center Works by local artists in various media, plus a preview of The Senior Portrait Project. Thru Dec. 1. 50 Scott St. www.harveymilkphotocenter.org

Films @ BAM/PFA Artistic and award-winning films, including international features, and documentaries about artists; ongoing. 2155 Center St., Berkeley. www.bampfa.org

Sat 24

Pike St. @ Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Arts Events>>

November 22-28, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 27

The Life and Times of Jo Mora @ Cartoon Art Museum

Listen Up! Voices of AIDS Activism @ GLBT History Museum

New exhibit of drawing, maps, paintings and ephemera by the prolific illustrator of American culture (1876-1947). Thru April 28, 2019. 781 Beach St. www.cartoonart.org

Eric Sneathen and local veteran AIDS activists discuss a screening of video from the ACT UP Oral History Project. $5. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Queer Sex U @ Strut Joshua O’Neal facilitates a discussion about Gender identity and expression. 6:30-8pm. 470 Castro St. www.strutsf.org

Various Events @ Oakland LGBTQ Center

Fri 23

Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce @ Curran Theater

Various Exhibits @ Chabot Space & Science Museum, Oakland

Tue 27

Space, science and planetary exhibits, including planetarium shows and the Observatory; special nighttime events like meteor shower shows. Free-$18. 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. chabotspace.org

Between Life and Death @ Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Harvey Castro’s photo exhibit of Mexican peoples’ traditional ways of honoring their dead. Thru Dec 13., Tue-Sat 10am-5pm. 2868 Mission St. http://missionculturalcenter.org

Mon 26

A Bronx Tale @ Golden Gate Theatre

Book Club @ Strut

Touring production of the acclaimed musical adaptation of Chazz Palminteri’s autobiographical story, about a Bronx teenager enamored of a mafia boss. $56-$256. Tue-Thu 7:30pm. Fri & Sat 8pm, Wed, Sat Sun 2pm. Thru Dec. 23. 1 Taylor St. at Market. www.shnsf.com

The gay men’s health and art center’s book club discusses local author Jim Provenzano’s gaythemed novel Now I’m Here, about a 1980s Ohio piano prodigy and a pumpkin farmer. 7:30pm. 470 Castro St. https://bit.ly/2K7I834

Connecting Threads @ JCCSF Quilts From the Social Justice Sewing Academy, an exhibit of textile art by local youth, with political themes. Mon-Fri 8am10pm, Sun 8am-8pm, thru Nov. SF Jewish Community Center, 3200 California St. www.jccsf.org

Looking Through the Lens @ Diane Wilsey Center The Glory of San Francisco Opera, Past and Present , an exhibit of historic productions photos from the San Francisco Opera’s many productions. Free. Mon-Fri 9am6pm. Veteran’s Building, 401 Van Ness Ave. www.sfopera.com

State of Emergency: Violence Against Trans Women @ Commonwealth Club Michelle Meow hosts a discussion about anti-trans violence, with Ellie Hearns (Activist & Founder, The Marsha P. Johnson Institute), Diamond Stylz (Lifestyle Influencer, Activist) and Toni-Michelle Williams (Activist, Co-director, Solutions Not Punishment Coalition). Free. 6:30pm. 110 Embarcadero. commonwealthclub.org

Community Meetings @ Strut Meetings for harm reduction, cycling, book club and more, most weekdays. 470 Castro St. www.strutsf.org

Exclusion @ Presidio Officers Club Exhibit documenting the Presidio’s Japanese-American incarceration during World War II; other exhibits show the history of the former military base and the SF peninsula. Free, Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. Thru Spring 2019. 50 Maraga Ave. presidio.gov/ officers-club/exhibitions/

Fever @ Center for Sex & Culture Fever: Documenting the Human Sexual Experience, a group photography exhibit curated by Anissa Malady. Tue 11am-5pm. Wed 10am-3pm, Thu 3pm-7pm and by appointment. Thru Dec. 28. 1349 Mission St. www.sexandculture.org

Jaime Cortez @ Strut Horned Up Now: The CL Drawings, an exhibit of the artist’s works derived from the Golden Age of portraiture. Thru Nov. 270 Castro St. www.strutsf.org

Exhibit of large-scale photos by women photographers focusing on West Coast communities. Thru May 2019. North Light Court, Ground Floor, 1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Place. www.sfartscommission.org

Lew the Jew and His Circle: Origins of American Tattoo @ Contemporary Jewish Museum

Enjoy exhibits, a bookstore and gift shop that celebrates the era of ‘Beatnik’ literature, with frequent readings, walking tours and other events. $5-$8. Daily 10am-7pm. 540 Broadway www.kerouac.com To submit event listings, email events@ebar.com Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication.

15th annual festival of fun, unusual scifi, horror and animated films. $15-$160 (full pass). Thru Dec. 12. www.sfindie.com www.ahith.com

Dames at Sea @ Gateway Theatre

Thu 29

42nd Street Moon’s production of the musical that spoofs 1930s shows. $30-$75. Wed/Thu 7pm. Fri 8pm, Sat 6pm, sun 3pm. Thru Dec 16. 215 Jackson St. www.42ndstmoon.org

Listen Up! Voices of AIDS Activism @ GLBT History Museum

Deirdre Weinberg: Living Memory in the TL @ Tenderloin Museum Exhibit of mini-portraits showing “beauty where it might be overlooked.” 398 Eddy St. www.tenderloinmuseum.org

Playmates and soul mates...

Fighting Back: Harvey Milk’s Living Legacy @ GLBT History Museum Community forum about the slain politician’s legacy and his effect on LGBTQ politics today. $5. 7pm. Also, the exhibit A Picture Is a Word: The Posters of Rex Ray, a survey of the graphic works of internationally renowned San Francisco queer artist and designer (1956 - 2015). $5. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Friendly Fire @ Wessling Gallery Group exhibit of vibrant works in various media by 14 artists. 440 Brannan St. wesslinggallery.com/

Joey Wolf @ Ever Gold Drinking Games, the LA artist’s exhibit of realist group paintings. Wed-Sat 12pm-5pm. 1275 Minnestoa St. evergoldprojects.com

Lucy Jane Bledsoe @ REI Stores

The Golden Girls @ Victoria Theatre

Sun 25

Meow and cohost John Zipperer discuss LGBT issues with different prominent guests. Nov. 29: 40 Years After the Briggs Initiative: Our Power in Speaking Up and Speaking Out, with Tom Ammiano, Sue Englanders and Gwen Craig. Weekly, 12pm. 110 Embarcadero. www.commonwealthclub.org

Various Exhibits @ The Beat Museum

Another Hole in the Head Film Festival @ New People Cinema

Thu 29

William Blake in Color @ William Blake Gallery

Michelle Meow Show @ Commonwealth Club

Earthly Delights, the painter’s new exhibit of realist/surreal works. Thru Dec. 22. 464 Sutter St. www.jenkinsjohnsongallery.com

Wed 28

The lesbian author of the new short story collection Lava Falls, reads from her Grand Canyon adventure story, and other works, at the outdoor/camping supply stores. Nov 28, 7pm: 849 Brannan St. SF. Nov 29, 7pm: 1338 San Pablo Ave. Berkeley. Dec 6, 7pm: 2450 Charleston Road, Mountain View. http://www.lucyjanebledsoe.com/

Westward @ City Hall

Exhibit of classic plates in the new gallery of historic art by the 18th- and 19th-century poet and illustrator. Mon-Fri 10am-5pm. Sat 11am-5pm. 49 Geary St. #205. williamblakegallery.com

Social events and meetings at the new LGBTQ center include film screenings and workshops, including Bruthas Rising, trans men of color meetings, 4th Tuesdays, 6:30pm. Film screenings, 4th Saturdays, 7:30pm. Game nights, Fridays 7:30pm-11pm. Vogue sessions, first Saturdays. 3207 Lakeshore Ave. Oakland. www.oaklandlgbtqcenter.org

Scott Fraser @ Jenkins Johnson Gallery

They’re back! D’Arcy Drollinger, Heklina, Matthew Martin and Holotta Tymes perform drag versions of holiday episodes of the classic elder women’s sitcom. $25-$50. Thu-Sat 8pm, Sun 7pm thru Dec. 23. 2961 16th St. thegoldengirlslive.com

San Francisco:

1-415-692-5774

18+ MegaMates.com

<< Nightlife Events

28 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

Prism @ Qube Bar & Grill, San Mateo New weekly LGBT night at the Peninsula restaurant and bar. 8pm11:30pm. 4000 South El Camino Real, San Mateo. https://qubelyfe.com/

Steam @ Powerhouse Near-bath house fun with towelclad gogos, wet towel contest, and Steamworks Berkeley giveaways, DJ Blackstone. $5. 9pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Sat 24

Taboo @ Oasis Dance night with cutie gogo guys and drag queens. $10. 10pm-2am. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Mother @ Oasis

Vibe Fridays @ Club BnB, Oakland

For full listings, visit www.ebar.com/events

Thu 22 Gayface @ El Rio Queer weekly night out with DJed and live music, at the popular Mission bar. 10pm-2am. 3158 Mission St. www. elriosf.com

Long Island Thursdays @ White Horse Bar, Oakland Get snockered with cheap drinks at the historic gay bar. 9pm-2am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 652-3820. www.whitehorsebar.com

Martini Thursdays @ Trax The Haight gay bar offers cheap gin & vodka cocktails. 1437 Haight St. http://www.traxbarsf.com/

The Monster Show @ The Edge The weekly drag show with host Sue Casa, DJ MC2, themed nights and hilarious fun. $5. 9pm-2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Picante @ The Cafe Lulu and DJ Marco’s Latin night with sexy gogo guys. 9pm-2am. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

Porn @ The Stud Turkey Day edition of the kink and sex worker dance party. 9pm-2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Queer Karaoke @ Club OMG KJ Dana hosts the weekly singing night; unleash your inner American Idol; first Thursdays are Costume Karaoke; 3rd is Kinky Karaoke 8pm. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Rock Fag @ Hole in the Wall Enjoy hard rock and punk music from DJ Don Baird at the wonderfully divey SoMa bar. Also Fridays. 7pm-2am. 1369 Folsom St. 431-4695. www.hitws.com

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

Sat 24

Thanksgiving Dinner & Potluck @ SF Eagle

La Bota Loca @ Club 21, Oakland

Share a holiday meal at the historic leather bar; bring a dish to share. 4pm-9pm. Too Many Cooks show follows with the Boys of Bearlesque at 8pm-12am. $5. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Banda Los Shakas performs live at the LGBT Latinx night. $10. 9pm4am. 2111 Franklin St. club21oakland.com

Thanksgiving Potluck @ Lone Star Saloon

Bubblegum pop lipsynch tournament. $5-$10. 9pm4am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Annual holiday dinner at the SoMa bear bar; bring something to share. 12pm. Thursdays Rock with DJ Brd follows ($8, 9pm-12am). 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com

Thursday Night Live @ SF Eagle Rock bands play at the famed leather bar. $8. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

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

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

Fri 23 Absolutely Fabulous Live @ Oasis Edina (Terry McLaughlin) and Patsy (Michael Phillis) return in comic drag performances from the BBC comedy. $27-$50. Thu 8pm, Fri & Sat 7pm, thru Dec. 1. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

DTF Fridays @ Port Bar, Oakland Various DJs play house music, and a few hotties gogo dance at the new gay bar’s weekly event. 9pm-2am. 2023 Broadway. (510) 823-2099. www.portbaroakland.com

Fantasy Friday @ Divas Weekly drag shows at the last transgender-friendly bar in the Polk; with hosts Victoria Secret, Alexis Miranda and more. Also Thursdays/ Saturdays; Thursday karaoke night. $10. 10pm. 1081 Polk St. divassf.com

Sun 25 Beer Bust @ SF Eagle The popular daytime party, where $10-$15 gets you all the beer you can drink, supporting worthy causes. 3pm-6pm. T-Dance Aftermath follows, 7pm-1am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Beer Bust @ Lone Star Saloon Beer, bears, food and beats at the weekly fundraiser for various local charities. $15. 4pm-8pm. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com

Beverage Benefit @ The Edge Fundraiser and fun, with proceeds going to local nonprofits. $10. 4pm7pm. 4149 18th St. www.edgesf.com

Big Gay Beer Bust @ The Cinch Benefits and plenty of beer at the historic neighborhood bar. 3pm-7pm. 1723 Polk St. www.cinchsf.com

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

Fake and Gay @ The Stud

Leather Tribe @ SF Eagle DJs Derek B and Carlos Souffront spin at the hardocre leather night. 9pm-2am. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.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

Fri 23

Matt Simons @ Brick & Mortar

Dirty Musical Sundays @ The Edge

Heklina’s popular drag show, with special guests and great music themes. Omar plays grooves. Nov 24 is a Dolly Parton tribute. $15-$30. 10pm-3am (11:30pm show). 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Sing along at the popular musical theatre night, with a bawdy edge; also Mondays and Wednesdays (but not dirty). 7pm-2am. 2 for 1 cocktail, 5pm-closing. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Nitty Gritty @ Beaux

Jock @ The Lookout

Josh Carmichael with DJ Salazer host the tattoo appreciation night. $10. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Onyx Northwest @ Powerhouse Leather men of color gathering with dJ Blackstone.5pm-9pm $5. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Polyglamorous @ F8 Groovy dance night with guest DJ Nate Manic, plus residents john Major, Mark O’Brien and Beya. $7-$12. 10pm-4am. 1192 Folsom St. www. facebook.com/polyglamorous.club

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

Juanita’s Drag Brunch @ MORE/Jones Juanita MORE’s new daytime drag show on the restaurant’s scenic courtyard terrace, with a tasty revamped menu by chef Cory Armenta and food stylist Cole Church. Entrees $14-$21. 11am-3pm. Wednesday Fried Chicken nights, too. 620 Jones St. www.juanitamore.com

Sugar @ The Cafe

Sexy Good Time Wrestle Show @ Oasis

Dance, drink, cruise at the Castro club, with DJs Gay Marvine, Taco Tuesday and Matthew XO. 9pm-2am. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

Hoodslam, the East Bay wrestling clan, returns for rassling fun, with MC Wonder Dave. $20. 3pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Growlr @ SF Eagle Cruisy night for bears, cubs, chubs, otters and others, with DJ Russ Rich. $5-$10. 9pm-2am. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Manimal @ Beaux Gogo-tastic dance night starts off your weekend. $5. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Matt Simons @ Brick & Mortar The Palo Alto native, whose latest, “Amy’s Song” includes same-sex couples in its video, performs as part of his North American tour; Chris Ayer opens. $10-$13. 8pm. www.mattsimonsmusic.com

Sun 25

Juanita’s Drag Brunch @ MORE/Jones

Cabaret>>

November 22-28, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 29

Christine Andreas From Broadway to Paris at the Venetian Room

Christine Andreas

by Jim Gladstone

hristine Andreas, elle ne parle pas francais. Mon dieu, it’s true. While the acclaimed soprano’s Bay Area Cabaret performance at the Venetian Room on December 2, is a tribute to iconic French singer Edith Piaf, Andreas doesn’t speak the Little Sparrow’s native tongue. “I’ve always had an affection for singing in French,” says the classically-trained Andreas, who made her name in the 1970s and early ‘80s with award-winning Broadway performances as Eliza Doolittle in the English-accented My Fair Lady and

as Laurey in the Americana-infused Oklahoma. “There’s just something about singing the sounds of that language that helps me bring so much emotion to the music.” But there’s also something about Piaf, whose life was a tumultuous series of successes and heartbreaks, that helps Andreas connect with the legendary chanteuse’s music. “I used to sing Judy Garland,” says Andreas. “But Judy was hard on my heart. Piaf was never a victim. She was such a complex, soulful artist. She was born in poverty, abandoned by her mother, was an addict, had a zillion relationships with men. She was terribly insecure. But when

Piano Bar 101 @ Martuni’s Sing-along night with talented locals, and charming accompanist Joe Wicht. 9pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market.

Songs of the Season @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko

Sun 25 A John Waters Christmas @ Great American Music Hall

Spellbound @ The Stud Witchy drag night with goth gals and pals. $5-$10. 9pm-2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Tag Team @ Powerhouse Singlet and sportsgear night. $5. 9pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Mon 26 Gaymer Meetup @ Brewcade The weekly LGBT video game enthusiast night includes big-screen games and signature beers, with a new remodeled layout, including an outdoor patio. No cover. 7pm-11pm. 2200 Market St. brewcadesf.com

Munro’s at Midnight @ Midnight Sun Drag night with Mercedez Munro. No cover. 10pm. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Opulence @ Beaux Weekly dance night, with Jocques, DJs Tori, Twistmix and Andre. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Donna Sachet’s annual holiday concert and fundraiser for Positive Resource Center, produced by Brian Kent, with Frenchie Davis, David Hernandez, Leanne Borghesi, Effie Passero, Kenny Nelson, Dan O’Leary and other performers. $60-$100 ($20 food/drink min.). 8pm. Also Nov. 27 & 28. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. feinsteinsatthenikko.com

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

Tue 27 Cock Shot @ Beaux The weeknight party gets with DJ Chad Bays. No cover. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Gaymer Night @ Midnight Sun Weekly fun night of games (video, board and other) and cocktails. 8pm12am. 4067 18th St. midnightsunsf.com

Karaoke Cocktails @ Ginger’s The new basement tribute to the old Ginger’s Trois hosts singing fun. 8pm12am. 86 Hardie Place. gingers.bar

Vice Tuesdays @ Q Bar Queer femmes and friends dance party with hip hop, Top 40 and throwbacks at the stylish intimate bar, with DJs Val G and Iris Triska. 9pm2am. 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

Piaf performed, she found a way to transmute all of her pain and turn it into something beautiful.” Andreas connects with that powerful alchemy. Her rise as a star of concerts and cabaret came partly out of necessity. The demands of an eight-shows-a-week Broadway schedule became unreasonable in the mid-1980s when she became mother to Mac, a developmentally disabled son. Andreas shifted her primary focus to raising Mac, who’s now grown and thriving in a group home. But it was essential to Andreas that she keep music in her life. “I have a special needs kid,” she says. “If I can’t set the difficulties aside and get into something soulful, I’m no good for him. The arts should be regenerative. That’s true for the performer as well as the audience. “I’m a bit of a healer,” says Andreas. “If you’re in a room with me and I’m singing, you open up your heart. You don’t have a choice. You put everything else aside for a minute and get lost in something beautiful.” While Andreas’ early cabaret career found her focusing on Broadway and Great American Songbook standards, she began to deepen her connection with Piaf after a suggestion by the musical director of Crystal Cruise ships (Andreas appears in concert on up to four luxury cruises a year). She immersed herself in Piaf ’s recordings and accounts of the singer’s life, most notably Carolyn Burke’s No Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf. Burke’s biography, says Andreas,

“really works to dis-embellish the legend. I think you do a disservice to an artist if you just propagate the myths about them. Myth has a way of thinning out the real person.” Andreas, who performs accompanied by her husband, Grammywinning arranger Martin Silvestri, says that while getting her sea legs with Piaf on cruises, she felt an unusual responsiveness from the audience. “I’m used to seeing people being moved by music, but this seemed to be at a different level. There’s so much beauty and such a range of emotion. “And Piaf started talking to me. I swear to God. Not necessarily speaking, but I’d feel her; nudges, sometimes gentle, sometimes forceful. I felt encouraged and provoked.”

Wed 28

Queeraoke @ El Rio

A John Waters Christmas @ Great American Music Hall

Midweek drag rave. 10pm. 3158 Mission St. www.elriosf.com

The ‘Pope of Trash’ film director ( Hairspray, Desperate Living ) brings his solo show of stories and anecdotes to the stage. $55-$125 VIP meet & greet. 8pm. 859 O’Farrell St. https:// slimspresents.com

Academy of Friends @ Williams Sonoma The Oscar party nonprofit hosts a holiday reception at the popular kitchen and homeware shop, with 20% shopping discounts; cocktails and food, too. $20-$40. 6pm-8:30pm. 340 Post St. www.eventbrite.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

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

Andreas has gone on to record a stunning album of Piaf standards with a 36-piece orchestra and is now touring Piaf: No Regrets, in which she tells Piaf ’s story as well as singing her songs in both English and French. “When I did this show in New York,” she says in anticipation of her Venetian Room concert, “there was just this sense of wholeness and tenderness, of complete sharing.” That’s a language we could all stand to speak. Christine Andreas performs ‘Piaf—No Regrets’ Sunday Dec. 2, 5pm. Bay Area Cabaret at the Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason St. Tickets $65. (415) 927-4636. www.bayareacabaret.org

Christine Andreas

Shevil @ Powerhouse Midweek drag fun. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. powerhousebar.com

Thu 29 Dining Out for Life @ Sonoma Restuarants Food For Thought’s annual fundraiser, where part of your dinner bill at participating Sonoma County restuarants goes to the food bank nonprofit. www.FFTfoodbank.org

Literary Speakeasy @ Martuni’s James J. Siegel’s monthly authors and cocktails night, with Katie Aliferis, Kelly Landmine, Kyle Thomas Smith, D’mani Thomas, and Jenny Xie. 7pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market. Want your nightlife event listed? Email events@ebar.com, at least two weeks before your event. Event photos welcome.

Gigante @ Port Bar, Oakland Juanita MORE! and DJ Frisco Robbie’s weekly event, with Latin, Hip Hop and House music, gogo gals and guys, and a drag show. $5. 9pm-2am. 2023 Broadway, Oakland. www.portoakland.com

Hex in the City @ SF Eagle Women’s burlesque show. 8:30pm11pm. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Karaoke Night @ Club 1220, Walnut Creek Sing along at the East Bar gay bar; dance nights on weekends, and drag shows, too. 9pm-1am. 1220 Pine St., Walnut Creek. www.club1220.com

Miss Kitty’s Trivia Night @ Wild Side West The weekly fun night at the Bernal Heights bar includes prizes, hosted by Kitty Tapata. No cover. 7pm-10pm. 424 Cortland St. 647-3099. www.wildsidewest.com

Pan Dulce @ Beaux Drag divas, gogo studs, DJed Latin grooves and drinks. 9pm-2am (free before 10:30pm). 2344 Market St. www.clubpapi.com

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30 • Bay Area Reporter • November 22-28, 2018

Celebrating grey – the older kinkster ‘If you build it, they will come. But promote the hell out of it too!’

Ready for Prime time

Marques Daniels

Ed Morgan (left) is the creator of Prime and his partner, Julian Hobson (right), is an integral part of the production team.

by Race Bannon

’m old. Well, older. I guess age is all relative. Whatever way I position it though, at 64 years of age I’m most definitely not the younger leatherman and erotic explorer I once was, and I’m entirely okay with that. One of the many attractions to San Francisco when I moved here in 1994, and when visiting for many years prior, was how readily it embraced older gay men. When I’d visit San Francisco, I was always pleasantly surprised at how well older gay men were integrated into the larger LGBTQ whole, especially in the leather scene, and it consistently drew me here like a magnet. That’s continued to be my experience as a resident. The Bay Area tends to embrace the entire range of LGBTQ ages better than some other urban centers I’ve lived in and visited. I’ve always found it a bit easier to be an older gay guy in San Francisco. We all have things around which we’re not as well-adjusted as others, but my age is something I’m rather comfortable with and always have been. Still, living amid people who see me less defined by my age is a nice thing to experience. Lately though, I see a dearth of leather and kink resources for older community members. Truthfully, I think this is a natural outcome for a culture founded on sexuality. The bulk of sexual and erotic energy historically tends to come from younger people. So why would the resulting organizations, events, classes, contests, services, parties and other opportunities not skew heavily in favor of the young? It makes total sense. But just because it makes sense doesn’t mean that’s what we should be content to accept. It would be nice if young people made space and opportunities for the older among us, and some certainly do, but I do not fault them for not doing

so. Their attentions are typically on their own interests and needs and I would expect them to focus like a laser on what their younger counterparts and friend circles want and need too. More power to them. Resignation is not my standard mode, though. Anytime I see a lack of something in a community, one of the adages to which I return repeatedly for community building motivation echoes in my head. It’s what Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) hears in the movie Field of Dreams. “If you build it, he will come.” The voice whispering to Costner’s character to build it (in that case a baseball field) is one I repeat anytime someone starts pointing out a lack of something. I use the more popularized if inaccurate version of the quote, “If you build it, they will come.” Time and time again I hear the words, “I wish we had ABC” or “If only they would XYZ” or some variation of “life would be so much better if we had a certain something” with that certain something being a place to gather, an event, an organization, a discussion group, a community service, or something else that would improve the lives of us kinky folks or anyone who lives at the edges of norms. Out of my mouth immediately comes the build it and they will come phrase quickly followed by “and once you build it you have to let people know it’s built.” This is the caveat I always include. I see so many people create something really cool, then watch it die on the vine due to lack of promotion. And passive promotion is often not enough. You usually must reach out, directly. Contact key community linchpins who are highly networked and get them on board. Go directly to the people you want to attend or join something and then encourage them to reach out to their networks. So, the adage should really state,

A prime example (you’ll see why that’s funny in a moment) of this concept are the guys behind a unique men’s dance event here in San Francisco. I had initially hesitated to put forth this event as an example here because I’ve been honored to be a host for the event many times. But the alignment with the concept I’m trying to illustrate is just too good to ignore. My friend Ed Morgan approached me a while ago asking me what I thought about a new concept for a men’s dance party. There seemed to be a hunger for a dance event that catered to older guys and those who found them hot. Since Ed has navigated within the leather and kink worlds for a long time, he noticed the same lack in those sectors too. From that early conversation and others that followed Ed took the idea and ran with it and created what’s now become an iconic local event, Prime (now you know why my use of the word was funny, well, as funny as I get anyway). Prime is now a regularly recurring dance party that caters to a dancing audience of men in their prime and their admirers. Even every go-go dancer on top of the boxes is a man in his prime. The dance has always reached out to and been overtly welcoming of men in the leather and kink communities too. Morgan created Prime to give older gay men a sexy, fun social event where they can get out and feel comfortable being themselves, and where they can celebrate life among peers. It started out with the “audacity” of having a man over 50 doing something (gogo dancing) that for most of gay society is not age-appropriate. Ed and his production crew are happy they can demonstrate that it’s not only appro-

priate, but sexy and desirable. And Morgan is ecstatic at the reaction to the Prime dances thus far. “The reaction to the event has been extremely positive. From the beginning, men showed up who haven’t been out at a dance event in years – some had not been out since PleasureDome back in the ‘90s! We frequently have folks tell us how much they appreciate the fact that we’re doing this. People understand the concept and are loving that we have created a sexy daddy party that’s free from judgment. People often say they feel so comfortable at our events because the environment is so friendly.” The next Prime dance event is December 8. You can find a link to the event and future Prime events from their website, www.TrophyDad.com. I’ve used one specific example

Each Prime dance packs in a crowd of men in their prime and their admirers.

here, but I could have put forth others. Instances where someone noticed a lack and then created something to fill the void. This is how community gets developed. This is how the various leather and kink camps within our overall scene will continue to thrive. We can’t assume others will create what we need. Often, we’ll have to do it ourselves. Consider this me granting you permission to build it so that they will come, especially if you’re going to create something for us older kinky folks. I assure you, we’ll be quite appreciative.t

For Leather Events, visit www.ebar.com/events Race Bannon is a local author, blogger and activist. www.bannon.com

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November 22-28, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 31

Shining Stars Steven Underhill Photos by

Cirque du Soleil @ AT&T Park C

irque du Soleil, the spectacular circus phenomenon, returned to San Francisco with its new show, Volta, which includes hunky acrobats and aerialists, talented vocalists and musicians, and a variety of amazing gymnastic performers garbed in colorful costumes. The show runs through February 3. www.circquedusoleil.com See plenty more photos on BARtab’s Facebook page, facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at StevenUnderhill.com.

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