October 24, 2019 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter

Henderson revamps DPA

More LGBTQ history

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Vol. 49 • No. 43 • October 24-30, 2019

Meth sobering center top priority of task force, mayor says

by John Ferrannini

Sari Staver

Ronan Farrow spoke Monday in San Francisco.

Farrow tells all in book exposing serial abusers

by Sari Staver

G

ay investigative journalist Ronan Farrow, whose new book about serial abusers is flying off the shelves, told the Bay Area Reporter Monday that independent reporters are more important than ever.

Farrow was in San Francisco Monday, October 21, for an appearance promoting “Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators.”

The book, Farrow said in an interview prior to the event, is “a love letter to fellow reporters” who, along with whistleblowers, have shown See page 12 >>

B.A.R. MUNICIPAL ELECTION

ENDORSEMENTS SAN FRANCISCO Mayor

London Breed Dist. 5 Supervisor

Vallie Brown District Attorney

Suzy Loftus Public Defender

Manohar “Mano” Raju City Attorney

Dennis Herrera Sheriff

No Endorsement Treasurer

José Cisneros Board Of Education

Jenny Lam Community College Board

Ivy Lee SF Props

YES on: A, B, D, E NO on: C, F

T

he city will locate a place to house a meth sobering center within the next six months, based on a recommendation in the final report of the San Francisco Methamphetamine Task Force.

The 17 recommendations in the final report were discussed at a public announcement at Strut in the Castro Tuesday, October 22, that was headlined by Mayor London Breed and District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax, both gay men who co-chaired the task force.

The city is already looking into several potential locations for the sobering center, according to Colfax, who declined to state any potential sites.

The center was at the top of the list of recommendations in the task force report, and one that Breed said was incorporated into her comprehensive behavioral health plan, UrgentCareSF. “In addition to creating a safe place for people to sober up, the center will be a place where we can connect those individuals to services,” Breed said.

“Our plan is to have at least one of these centers open in the next three to six months.”

John Ferrannini

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announces recommendations from the city’s Methamphetamine Task Force. Joining her at Strut Tuesday were, from left, Mike Discepola, task force co-chairs Dr. Grant Colfax and Rafael Mandelman, interim District Attorney Suzy Loftus, and Dr. Anton Nigusse Bland, the mayor’s director of mental health reform.

The task force was convened in February and is the second dealing with the topic; then-Mayor Gavin Newsom convened a 2005 task force to deal with the problem of meth use in the LGBT community specifically.

See page 12 >>

In SF, Power speaks about fighting for LGBT rights globally

by Heather Cassell

F

ormer United States Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power didn’t waste time last month talking about championing LGBT rights on the global stage when she served in the Obama administration.

She was fully aware that many LGBT people were in attendance when she appeared at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre for a Commonwealth Club conversation with Dan Pfeiffer, co-host of the popular podcast “Pod Save America.”

She was met with much applause for her work.

Power, 49, has been on a tour promoting her new book, “The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir.”

The book chronicles her life and experiences leading up to, and through, the time she worked alongside President Barack Obama during his presidential campaign and later in his administration throughout his eight years in office.

Pathway to global equality

In a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter Saturday, October 19, Power discussed the struggles she, Obama, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced standing up for LGBT rights on a global scale; criticisms; what she believed the administration accomplished; and the state of LGBT rights around the world in the age of President Donald Trump.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power recently spoke in San Francisco about her new book.

She said that the decision to promote protections for LGBT people at the U.N. was a “nobrainer” for Obama, and, in her mind, it was undeniably the right thing to do as Americans.

“The state of persecution of violence and harassment for LGBT people around the world was not enhanced by America ducking this issue,” she said. Progress was being made at home, but abroad it was a different story.

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Some veterans of that task force served on the more recent one.

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“In so many parts of the world LGBT [people] were criminalized, were stigmatized, [and] were attacked with impunity from the attackers,” she said, speaking about how in 2011, consensual same-sex relationships were criminalized in 76 countries, and in some of them punishable by death.

See page 10 >>

<< Community News

2 • Bay Area Reporter • October 24-30, 2019

t

VOTE NOVEMBER 5, 2019

Ellen Lee Zhou NEW SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR

Loftus sworn in as SF DA

For a City That’s

SAFE & CLEAN

Time to take back SF! Rebuild with law & order! www.EllenforMayor2019.com | 415-920-3963 Ellen@EllenforMayor2019.com Paid for by Ellen Lee Zhou for Mayor 2019 | FPPC: #1414996 Financial disclosures available at sfethics.org

S

uzy Loftus recited the oath of office from Mayor London Breed Saturday, October 19, as she was sworn in as San Francisco’s interim district attorney, following the resignation of George Gascón. Loftus is also a candidate for DA on the November 5 ballot. She was joined at the swearing in by her husband, Tom Loftus, and daughters Maureen, Vivienne, and Grace, and her mother, also named Maureen (not pictured). In a statement,

Courtesy SF DA’s office

Loftus said she is “committed to working with the hardworking teams at the district attorney’s office to tackle auto burglaries, open-air drug dealing, and dangerous street behavior with great urgency.” Breed has been criticized by some for naming Loftus ahead of next month’s election – the first open DA’s race in more than 100 years – which also includes candidates Chesa Boudin, Leif Dautch, and Nancy Tung.

Police investigate 2 assault incidents near Castro

by John Ferrannini

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eople wearing masks, just blocks from the Castro, threatened two men with battery Monday, October 14.

San Francisco police are investigating the incidents, which the Bay Area Reporter reported online last week.

The first incident occurred at approximately 11:05 p.m. on Jersey Street in Noe Valley. The victim, who said he did not want to be identified because he is afraid the alleged assailants will return, wrote in an email exchange with the B.A.R. that he was walking home when all of a sudden a car stopped behind him.

“Multiple car doors opened and I saw people with Halloween masks come out,” he said. “It sent chills to my bones when I saw one holding a baseball bat.”

The victim said that the one who stood out the most was wearing a Jack-o’-lantern mask “that had a sinister smile.”

“All my brain told me was to run,” he said. “They immediately all bolted at me and one said, ‘it’s goin down ni---.’”

Courtesy KTVU via Ring

Video captured an alleged attack on a man October 14 in Noe Valley.

“It was the first time I ever thought I could be killed or receive irreversible head injuries,” the man said. “I screamed on the top of my lungs as I was running from the group for help.

It seemed hopeless.”

The victim hid and tried to call 911, but had no cellphone service where he was.

“I saw someone walk toward me

while I was on the 911 call and he offered if I needed help,” he said. “Honestly, it felt like a horror movie running and hiding and I’ve had nightmares of running from people like that, calling for help, with no response available.”

About 10 minutes later a similar incident happened at 26th and SanSee page 12 >>

Supe seeks fixes to Castro intersection after pedestrian hits

by John Ferrannini

G

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StevenUnderhill 415 370 7152 • StevenUnderhill.com

ay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman will seek improvements to the intersection of Market and Castro streets to improve pedestrian safety after at least four people were hit by oncoming traffic in the past several months, according to a spokesman.

“Ensuring the safety of pedestrians and cyclists is a top priority for the city and for my office. I’ve asked the SFMTA to assess the intersection of Castro and Market to see what additional safety measures can be taken to protect pedestrians.” Mandelman wrote in an emailed statement to the Bay Area Reporter October 17, referring to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

“The SFMTA is already working on safety improvements along Upper Market as part of the Upper Market Safety Project and I hope that these potentially life-saving improvements can be made quickly,” he added.

Mandelman’s statement came about after Mitch Enfinger, a gay man

John Ferrannini

The intersection of Market and Castro streets has seen three vehicle collisions with pedestrians since June.

who lives near the intersection, contacted the B.A.R. with three videos of pedestrians being struck by vehicles in the part of the intersection where Market Street crosses Castro Street.

The video of the first collision, from June 23, shows two men struck by the car and thrown into the air and

onto the street.

The second collision was on September 22. After the victim was struck, a bystander helped them get up and to safety.

The third collision, on October 13 See page 13 >>

t

Community News>>

October 24-30, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 3

Henderson shakes up police oversight office

by John Ferrannini

P

aul Henderson has wasted no time modernizing the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability since becoming its permanent executive director.

Henderson, 51, a gay man who became the head of the agency on an interim basis in 2017 before being appointed by former mayor Mark Farrell and approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors last year, said that he wants to lead a “model civilian agency.”

The DPA is responsible for hearing and investigating complaints against San Francisco police. It is one of the few agencies of its kind in the nation that has “compelled authority,” which means that the San Francisco Police Department has to cooperate with it.

“I think we are one of the models in the nation specifically because we do separate investigations (of police misconduct),” Henderson said in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter.

For the first time, the DPA is investigating all police-involved shootings, whether there was an official complaint lodged with the department or not.

“Believe it or not complaints

aren’t always filed,” said Petra DeJesus, a lesbian who is a commissioner with the San Francisco Police Commission. “I’m looking forward to three investigations – DA, [SFPD] Internal Affairs, and DPA.” For the first time in the city’s history, the DPA also now has oversight powers over the San Francisco Sheriff ’s Department in addition to SFPD. The sheriff ’s department is responsible for jails and security at the courts, City Hall, and some hospitals.

Henderson said that his department is working with SFPD to facilitate training for officers in areas such as language accessibility and implicit bias. He said that sometimes non-LGBT people don’t pick up on the differences and distinctions among sexual minorities.

“People come in and don’t understand. ‘Everything is gay,’” Henderson said. “But it’s not, there are subtleties. There may be a difference between a gay complaint and a trans complaint and you have to understand that to understand what they’re talking about.”

Samara Marion, a lesbian who is a policy director with the DPA, said that the department provides quarterly recommendations to the police, which often include in-

“I think we are one of the models in the nation specifically because we do separate investigations (of police misconduct).”

–Paul Henderson, Executive Director SF Department of Police Accountability

Expanded options

Steven Underhill

Paul Henderson

formation about ways to improve trainings.

“I am in the process of completing the work on SFPD’s training manual on domestic violence, which I worked on with a variety of community-based organizations and SFPD,” Marion wrote in an email to the B.A.R. “We included a section on lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, questioning, transgender, gender variant, nonbinary, and intersex that addresses the prevalence of domestic violence in LGBQQTGNI communities, the challenges that LGBQQTGNI victims/survivors may face and the myths of mutual abuse.”

Marion said that she has been working on trainings in collaboration with the SFPD and community organizations for years. One 2014 video that she co-wrote, edited, and produced was about “detecting and overcoming language barriers,” and focused on a “a domestic violence incident involving a Spanishspeaking victim and an elder-abuse incident involving a Cantonesespeaker.”

Henderson has experience working within the criminal justice system. Prior to his post at the DPA, he served as deputy chief of staff and public safety liaison for former mayor Ed Lee. Prior to that, Henderson served as chief of administration for then-District Attorney Kamala Harris, who’s now California’s junior U.S. senator and a Democratic presidential candidate.

Henderson said that the ways people can make a complaint about potential police misconduct to the DPA have expanded and people have the option to do it in a police station, online (either signed or anonymous), as well as in other languages.

“If you’re not doing all three of those things, I don’t know how you are forward thinking in terms of public engagement,” Henderson said about his department.

Henderson said he helped modernize the technology at the DPA, saying that when he started the agency was using an operating system from “the early 1980s.”

“One of my first priorities was getting new software and hardware for people to do their work,” he said.

DeJesus said she thinks the DPA is doing “a good job.” “(Henderson) has been very good and has enhanced the staff,” she said. “I’m impressed with the people he has brought in.”

One improvement that DeJesus said the DPA has made is with its annual report.

“We used to get reports with a bunch of numbers that people couldn’t understand,” she said.

Henderson said he wanted to make the reports more readable for the general public.

As the B.A.R. previously reported, in August, the Police Commission revised General Order 3.01 to add “several layers of accountability and oversight,” according to a DPA news release.

One of these layers is that the DPA will be involved in any changes to police general orders.

This is important particularly now because all the general orders are being reviewed for potential revision on a recommendation from the U.S. Department of Justice.

DeJesus said that the federal government found that there were “too many” and “contradictory” general orders, and that times have changed such that some are no longer relevant.

“We have a schedule now,” DeJesus said. “Everything is being reviewed.”

The DPA will be notified of proposed general order changes and will have the opportunity to make its case to the Police Commission should the department have a disagreement with a proposal.

The DPA can also recommend its own changes to police rules.

Henderson said that a major focus on his department will be making sure older orders are brought up-to-date considering social advances in the intervening decades.

“The DPA will ensure the rules and regulations are up to date with current civil rights law, and that outside subject matter experts are consulted for every major change,” he said in the press release.

On working with Henderson, Marion wrote to the B.A.R.: “It’s NEVER dull or ordinary!!”t For more on the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability, including annual reports, visit https://sfgov.org/dpa/.

VOTE

WITH ALICE BY NOVEMBER 5TH Find a full list of endorsements at AliceBToklas.org

NO on Prop C

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Suzy Loftus District Attorney

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Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club • 2261 Market Street #1800, San Francisco, CA 94114

<< Open Forum

t B.A.R. ballot measure endorsements

4 • Bay Area Reporter • October 24-30, 2019

Volume 49, Number 43 October 24-30, 2019 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 • John Ferrannini CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Aguilera • Tavo Amador • Race Bannon Roger Brigham • Brian Bromberger Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Belo Cipriani • Dan Renzi Michael Flanagan • Jim Gladstone David Guarino • Liz Highleyman Brandon Judell • John F. Karr • Lisa Keen Matthew Kennedy • Joshua Klipp David Lamble • Max Leger David-Elijah Nahmod • Paul Parish Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota Bob Roehr • Gregg Shapiro • Gwendolyn Smith Sari Staver • Tony Taylor • 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 • 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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H

ere are the Bay Area Reporter’s recommendations for the propositions on the November 5 ballot.

Proposition A: Affordable Housing Bond. YES.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed and the Board of Supervisors support this $600 million affordable housing bond. They know that the city desperately needs affordable housing for families, teachers, and seniors who are struggling to remain in the city. If approved, the city would issue $600 million in general obligation bonds.

Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman told us during a recent editorial board meeting that this is the biggest housing bond since 2006 and there is “a little bit for everybody.” He hopes to persuade LGBTs to support this measure. Prop A prioritizes $150 million for senior housing, specifically developments that are welcoming of LGBTs. The bond also seeks to finance projects in districts that lack affordable housing units and have lost a significant number of rent-controlled units that were taken off the market because of Ellis Act evictions or owner move-ins. District 8 would qualify for these LGBT senior housing projects if Prop A passes.

According to the voter guide, here’s how the bond is structured: $220 million to acquire, build, and rehabilitate rental housing for extremely low- and low-income individuals and families; $150 million to repair and rebuild public housing developments; $150 million to acquire and construct housing for seniors; $60 million to acquire and rehabilitate affordable rental housing to prevent the loss of such housing and to assist middle-income city residents and workers to secure permanent housing; and $20 million to support affordable housing for educators and employees of the San Francisco Unified School District and City College of San Francisco.

Tomiquia Moss, a queer woman who until recently was CEO of Hamilton Families, which works on homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing, told us that Prop A is critical for the city’s future. “There’s a real strong need for consistent resources for housing,” she told us in a meeting where she joined the mayor to discuss Prop A. Breed said that the city has “to start getting creative with housing.”

“We have to build more housing, period,” she added.

Mandelman pointed out the bond includes money for small sites, including in District 8.

Prop A is supported by both the Alice B. Toklas and Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic clubs, as well as the Q Foundation and even the League of Pissed Off Voters. In short, it has broad support from every neighborhood and is a testament to the dire state of housing in the city. Prop A requires two-thirds vote for approval. Vote Yes on A.

Proposition B: Department of Disability and Aging Services. YES.

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This would amend the City Charter to change the name of the Department of Aging and Adult Services to the Department of Disability and Aging Services (and change the name of the respective commission as well). In addition to services and resources for seniors, the department has long been the home for services and resources for people living with disability, but most people don’t realize that. According to the 2016 census, there are 94,000 San Franciscans living with a disability, or 1 in 10 residents.

The Board of Supervisors voted to place this on the ballot after concluding that the current name does not effectively communicate the disability aspect of the department’s work for the community. Changing the department’s name will more accurately reflect this role and guide community members to reach out to the agency for support. There was no argument against Prop B submitted to the Department of Elections.

Vote Yes on B.

Proposition C: Vaping Products. NO.

Now that Juul Labs Inc. has pulled its millions of dollars from the Yes on C campaign, the prospects are good that it will be defeated. It should.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance that suspends the sale of electronic cigarettes until they receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization and adopts new regulations on the sale, manufacture, distribution, and advertising of e-cigarettes in the city.

In response, opponents of the law (i.e., San Francisco-based Juul, a leader in the e-cigarette industry) gathered enough signatures to place this initiative ordinance on the November ballot. The problem is that the proposal effectively allows Juul to set public health policy for the city.

No thanks.

Rick Gerharter

Mayor London Breed, center, joined by Supervisors Norman Yee, Matt Haney, and Sandra Lee Fewer, speaks to volunteers at the September campaign kickoff for Proposition A, a $600 million housing bond for San Francisco.

Proposition E: Affordable Housing and Educator Housing. YES.

Rick Gerharter

A person vapes at the Castro Street Fair.

“Juul is directly writing legislation they want.

The ballot measure is a bad idea,” Mandelman told us.

Even before Juul pulled out of the campaign at the beginning of the month, health risks associated with e-cigarette use attracted news coverage.

As of last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 33 people have died from vaping-related lung illnesses. Young people, who are targets of Juul’s advertising, have no idea that consuming one standard cartridge equals a pack of tobacco cigarettes.

Although companies state that e-cigarettes are safe, there is no scientific evidence to support this view. Long-term data showing that vaping is a “healthier alternative” than cigarette smoking does not exist. If you don’t think tobacco companies are latching on to ecigarettes as a way to stabilize their customer base, think again. Altria Group (formerly Philip Morris Companies) acquired a 35% stake in Juul Labs for $12.8 billion last December.

Prop C is a shill for youth vaping and part of a national campaign to overturn local communities’ efforts to stop it. E-cigarette companies target kids with enticing candy-flavored products.

Last year, city residents overwhelmingly voted to ban flavored tobacco. Vote No on C.

Proposition D: Traffic Congestion Mitigation Tax. YES.

If approved, Prop D would, beginning January 1, impose a business tax on commercial ride-share companies for fares generated by rides that start in San Francisco as follows: 1.5% on a shared-ride fare, and 3.25% on a private-ride fare. (The same business tax would apply to driverless-vehicle companies.) It is supported by the mayor and the Board of Supervisors because the funds would be used for the city’s public transportation system, repair local streets, and improve safety. According to the voter guide, it will provide more Muni buses and trains, hire more Muni drivers, and improve bike and pedestrian safety.

Mandelman pointed out that the city is precluded from regulating ride-share companies “in any meaningful way,” yet the congestion generated by so many Uber and Lyft vehicles is “insane,” he added.

It’s important to note that Uber and Lyft both support Prop D, which is expected to generate an estimated $30-$35 million annually. Prop D requires a two-thirds vote to pass. Vote Yes on D.

This measure would amend the Planning Code to allow 100% affordable housing projects and educator housing projects in public zoning districts and to expedite approval of these projects. Currently, the code allows government buildings, public structures, city plazas, parks, and other similar uses but prohibits residential buildings in public zoning districts. Prop E would change that, and allow 100% affordable housing projects and educator housing projects in residential and public zoning districts. Notably, property used for parks would be exempt and the lots would have to be at least 10,000 square feet. Potential housing projects could not demolish or replace existing residential housing and would allow a limited amount of mixed or commercial use that supports affordable housing. Prop E would require a review of proposed 100% affordable and educator housing projects within 90 to 180 days, depending on the size of the project. Prop E is supported by the mayor and the Board of Supervisors.

Mandelman told us Prop E would streamline housing projects and create some incentives for building affordable housing and teacher housing on SF school district property. Vote Yes on E.

Proposition F: Campaign Contributions and Campaign Advertisements.

NO.

While it’s a good idea to make campaign contributions more transparent, the problem with this ballot measure is that election regulation should be done by legislators, not by voters. If this measure passes, future changes can only be approved by voters (very difficult if not almost impossible) unlike legislation, which a simple majority of the Board of Supervisors can rewrite or abandon at any time.

Currently, local law restricts certain campaign contributions to local elected officials and candidates, including from corporations, city contractors, or anyone seeking such a contract. Prop F would restrict two types of campaign contributions: those to elected officials or candidates from limited liability corporations; and those to the members of the Board of Supervisors, mayor, city attorney, and candidates for office and their campaigns from persons with certain financial interests in city land-use approval matters (read: developers). Currently, contributions related to land-use approvals are not allowed for persons with an ownership interest of $5 million or more in a project; a director or principal officer of an entity with an ownership interest of $5 million or more in a project; and a developer of a project with an estimated construction cost of $5 million or more.

While Prop F aims to limit pay-to-play campaign contributions, it narrowly targets one group rather than expanding to all individuals or entities making a political contribution. We need transparency for all contributors to candidates and ballot measures. If the Board of Supervisors is serious about comprehensive campaign finance reform, they should create legislation like they did earlier this year with two ordinances that changed the city’s public financing program – not throw it to the voters if they can’t pass it. Vote No on Prop F. t

t

Politics >>

October 24-30, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

In 1st year, Newsom praised on LGBT bills

by Matthew S. Bajko

H

aving finished his first legislative session, Governor Gavin Newsom is winning praise from LGBT advocates for his across-the-board support for the six LGBT-related bills sent to his desk. It ensures he will receive perfect marks from Equality California when the statewide LGBT advocacy organization releases its scorecard for state lawmakers later this year.

Having built an international reputation as a supporter of LGBT rights when he served as mayor of San Francisco and famously ordered city officials to wed same-sex couples in 2004, Newsom had been expected to be extremely supportive of LGBT issues as governor. He has hired a number of LGBT people to high-profile posts in his administration; flew the rainbow flag at the California Capitol for the duration of Pride Month in June for the first time in the state’s history; and became the first sitting governor of the Golden State to march in a Pride parade.

Among the hundreds of bills Newsom signed this year were ones allowing people to obtain HIV prevention medications over the counter; requiring state education officials to create training materials for how school teachers can address LGBT-based bullying; mandating school districts update the records of transgender students; improving access for LGBT-owned businesses to hospital and insurance company contracts; and protecting the rights of LGBT adoptive parents.

“I think we were really pleased with the governor’s office, especially given they were just starting up in their first year,” EQCA Executive Director Rick Zbur told the Bay Area Reporter in a phone interview Tuesday. “We had a very high level of engagement with

Barry Schneider Attorney at Law Rick Gerharter

Governor Gavin Newsom, and his wife, first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, rode in this year’s San Francisco Pride parade.

the governor’s staff on our bills.”

Helping Newsom avoid the use of his veto pen during his freshman gubernatorial year on bills backed by EQCA was legislative maneuvering to address the cost of the teacher training bill. At the governor’s request, the mandatory provision in the legislation was pulled, and in exchange, Newsom agreed to come up with the funding next year, said Zbur.

“It is the first step toward it. He allocated budgetary resources to make a new position at the California Department of Education,” noted Zbur. “Basically, the person will start the program by developing more online training for teachers as part of the bill.”

Newsom is likely to face several pieces of controversial LGBT legislation during his second year in office. For various reasons the bill sponsors or committee chairs held the legislation over to next year’s legislative session.

A trio of bills aimed at helping intersex people, transgender inmates, and

gay and lesbian adolescent sex offenders will be taken up again in January when lawmakers return to the Capitol.

According to gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the chair of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus and the author of the three bills, opposition to his legislation has not come from Newsom’s office but from outside groups or his fellow lawmakers.

“I think the governor is off to a very strong start with our community,” said Wiener. “The good thing about Governor Newsom is he understands our community’s issues in a way that not all straight elected officials do. Because of his experience in San Francisco, he has been exposed to a lot of those issues.”

Wiener said he has been working closely with Newsom’s office and state prison officials to move forward next year his bill to ensure trans inmates are housed in gender appropriate prisons based on their personal preferences.

On Monday this week he traveled to Chino to meet with trans male and female prisoners, as well as cisgender inmates, at a male prison and a female prison in the San Bernardino County

E

arlier this year, our community rejoiced with the opening of the Marcy Adelman and Jeanette Gurevitch Community at 95 Laguna. This LGBT-welcoming affordable senior housing project provides safe, stable, and affordable homes to our friends and neighbors in District 8. This project was vitally needed, and it’s great to read the stories and hear the testimonials from the new residents.

But we know that the need is so much greater. In fact, we could easily fill 10 more such developments in District 8. Ninety-five Laguna is an amazing development, but we still have a dire shortage of affordable housing, and we must keep pushing to build and preserve more affordable options in the Castro, Noe Valley, and throughout District 8.

We can continue our progress by supporting Proposition A on the November ballot.

Prop A is a historic investment in affordable housing. It provides $600 million – the largest affordable housing bond in San Francisco history – to upgrade and repair existing public housing, as well as create new housing for seniors, teachers, low-income families, and our most vulnerable residents.

We know the lack of affordable housing has changed San Francisco and our District 8 neighbor-

Rick Gerharter

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman

hoods. Our community was once a haven for young LGBTQ people escaping to a queer Oz by the Bay. Today, many such young people struggle to meet rent, cannot even dream of affording their own home – and some end up on the street.

At the same time, too many LGBTQ seniors and their friends – people who changed the world and made San Francisco the city it is today – live in fear of an eviction notice, terrified they’ll have to spend their golden years somewhere else.

• Divorce w/emphasis on Real Estate & Business Divisions • Domestic Partnerships, Support & Custody • Probate and Wills www.SchneiderLawSF.com

415-781-6500 *Certified by the California State Bar 400 Montgomery Street, Ste. 505, San Francisco, CA

See page 10 >>

Yes on Proposition A

by Rafael Mandelman

family law specialist*

We cannot fix the housing affordability crisis overnight, but we can cast our ballots in November for Prop A to help more San Franciscans – and more District 8 residents – stay in the communities they love.

Critically, this ballot measure directs funding to areas like District 8 that have a history of eviction and displacement, but a lack of new affordable housing. And it also includes $150 million specifically for senior housing, with LGBT-welcoming developments getting priority.

When applications opened for the Marcy Adelman and Jeanette Gurevitch Community, more than 4,000 seniors applied for the 119 available units. I am so happy for the seniors who were able to move into their new homes, but I also know there are many more who wait for the day they too get the keys to new apartments.

I urge all San Franciscans, but especially District 8 residents, to support Prop A – and make that happy move-in day come sooner for more of our neighbors. t Rafael Mandelman is the only LGBT member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, where he represents District 8.

LGBT PROGRESSIVE CATHOLICS † OUR FAMILIES & FRIENDS

Celebrating our Sexuality and Love as Gifts of God Liturgy & Social: Every Sunday 5pm First Sunday Movie Night Second Sunday Potluck Supper Third Wednesday Faith Sharing Group 1329 Seventh Avenue † info@dignitysanfrancisco.org Follow us on Facebook!

<< Commentary

6 • Bay Area Reporter • October 24-30, 2019

On being trans at Halloween

by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

H

alloween is a time of magic and mystery. Traditionally, it once served as the end of the year, when fall – and the abundance of the harvest – gave way to the dark and dim days of winter. In that liminal space between the seasons, one could get a moment to pierce the veil between other states, even between life and death itself.

It was a time for communing with spirits, and finding out secrets from the great beyond. In short, this was when what may be hidden could be revealed.

The holiday today is largely one for adult pursuits, as fears of drugs, poison, or sharp items in Halloween candy given to trick-or-treaters – coupled with the crippling fears of “the other” that seem to pervade our ill society – have led us to all-but-bar children from enjoying this annual ritual beyond carefully supervised events.

Meanwhile, adults take to wearing costumes throughout their day.

A whole cottage industry is focused on providing “sexy” versions of just about any pop culture noun in existence, and parties allow adults to hit their favorite alcoholic beverage rather than trading “fun size” candies.

When I was a child, more decades ago than I wish to consider, Halloween was a somewhat different affair.

Christine Smith

The idea of it as an adult party was largely foreign, as kids dominated the holiday.

In my neighborhood, we’d eagerly await dusk, when we’d have full rein of the semi-suburban streets I called home. We’d hit all the houses we could, bringing home buckets chock full of candy.

My parents would usually make my costume. It was usually delegated to my mom to do the sewing, while my dad would sometimes be drafted to work up something special, like securing fake blood and painting a widow’s peak on me for a vampire look one year, or wiring up some tiny light bulbs for the time I hit the streets as a “Jawa” character from “Star Wars.”

As much attention as my parents put into these costumes, of course, I really wanted one of the cheap maskand-smock costumes available at the

local five-and-dime, displaying whatever character was hot that year.

Then one year, my mom made a costume suggestion that shook me to the core: she suggested she could dress me up like a girl.

As much as you might think otherwise, this suggestion terrified me.

By this point in my young trans life, I’d already tried my hand in my mom’s makeup drawer, as well as a stash of old 1960s-era party dresses.

I was a latchkey kid, and had many hours at my disposal. I had also become an expert at removing makeup within mere seconds, saving myself from any awkward questions that might come my way.

This suggestion made me question just how well I had done, and if this was some test my mother was putting forth. I could not help but assume there was an ulterior motive in play, and I feared what it all meant.

What’s more, if I were to show up dressed as a girl for Halloween, the bullies who had by that time labeled me the school queer would have had a field day. I knew the taunts would be louder, and the punches harder.

There was, of course, a third option, and one that frightened me the most. I already knew how I felt, and had already heard of transgender people. I feared I might likely be trans.

I knew that once I experienced this,

even just that one night of being out in the open, my life might never be the same.

I knew that Halloween was a time of magic and mystery, and I feared just what may be revealed about me.

It would be another decade and a half before I would work up the courage to have that experience, wearing a hand-made “Belle” costume to an event at a local trans support group, then later at the nearest trans-friendly nightclub.

I am somewhat disappointed to admit that no incredible transformations took place, as I remained – physically, at least – the same person I was. Also, by that point, the genie was already out of the bottle, and my trans self was no longer a dark secret.

A decade or two later, this experience is old hat for me. The magic and mystery may remain, but I find myself with precious few secrets to reveal on October 31.

Yet I know that for a great many more, this may be that year when they first end up experiencing a possibility they may have only dreamed of, something they never thought possible, revealed under the light of a

t

Halloween moon.

Maybe they, too, have experienced the fear of revealing themselves in a city not ready for them, or to parents who would not be ready to accept if their child’s costume was something more, some outward sign of who they truly were within.

If this Halloween will be the first time you’ve been able to reveal your truth, I wish you nothing but success, and I hope the mystery of Halloween carries you to a place of happiness.

If you don’t yet feel you can reveal yourself this year, understand too that this is OK. In these times, being safe and well is an important thing. Halloween will come again, and one day you may be ready for it.

Finally, if a friend or family member of yours decides that this year is a time to share a part of themselves they’ve long since kept hidden, show your support, and your love. In short, be a part of the magic. t Gwen Smith has no costume plans for 2019. You’ll find her at www. gwensmith.com.

Crawford, Miss Major receive Acey Awards compiled by Cynthia Laird

A

Bay Area lesbian and a trans former resident have received awards from the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice.

Brenda Joyce Crawford, a former leader of the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club when it was called the East Bay Lesbian/Gay Democratic Club, and Miss Major GriffinGracy are two of the four recipients of this year’s Acey Awards.

The Acey Social Justice Award was launched in 2017 as a way for Astraea to honor the lesbian, queer, and trans elders over the age of 62 whose activism and contributions to their communities pave the way for new generations of organizers working across the U.S., according to a news release from the foundation.

Crawford, 73, was recognized for her social justice work. She now lives in Vallejo and does work on cannabis justice with the SeniorCann organization. Last year she and other local activists became involved after Tanzania cracked down on LGBTs. Vallejo is a sister city with the port city of Bagamoyo in the African country.

“I am honored to get this award and humbled by the recognition,” Crawford wrote in a Facebook message to the Bay Area Reporter. “As I have gotten older I sometimes think that my advocacy is not as effective and my opinions not valued or my voice not heard because of my age.

Agism coupled with racism is a lethal combination for many African Americans. When you throw in homophobia on top of all this it causes many black lesbians to retreat and become isolated.

“This award says that my work over all these decades for social justice and full inclusion, and now my work with seniors has made a difference,” she added.

Griffin-Gracy, a trans woman and a veteran of the Stonewall riots and a survivor of Attica State Prison, was honored for her work with her community, particularly trans women

of color who have survived police brutality and incarceration in men’s jails and prisons. She is the former executive director of the Transgender Gender-Variant Intersex Justice Project in San Francisco, which advocates for trans women of color in and outside of prison.

Griffin-Gracy is also the subject of a documentary, “Major!”

The two other recipients of the Acey Award are Julia Bennett, a healer based in Brooklyn, New York; and Norma Timbang, a lifelong queer activist whose work is known in the Pacific Northwest, where she is from.

The award is named for Katherine Acey, who led Astraea for 23 years.

For more information, visit astraeafoundation.org.

LGBT anti-blackness conversation

Representatives from the Compton’s Transgender Cultural District and Color Bloq will discuss antiblackness in the LGBT community Friday, October 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club of California, 110 The Embarcadero in San Francisco.

“When POC is Not Enough: Anti-Blackness in LGBT Communities” will feature Kin Folkz, Aria Sa’id, Socorro Moreland, Tuquan Harrison, and more, according to a news release.

The program is in partnership with Michelle Meow of “The Michelle Meow Show,” which has her program through the Commonwealth Club.

The program’s goal is to add more context and understanding from the voices of black queer community stakeholders in San Francisco.

According to the release, the conversation comes in an era where numerous research reports conclude that San Francisco’s black and African American population is less than 3% of the city’s residential population – a tremendous drop compared to the 1980s, when African Americans made up about 25% of the city’s population.

Courtesy Astraea Foundation

Brenda Crawford, left, and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy received Acey Awards from the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice.

“I think we have an amazing opportunity to share both our pride as black queer and transgender people – and also analyze the ways in which non-black communities have created spaces without intention of including us,” Sa’id, a black trans woman who is executive director of the Compton’s cultural district, said in the release.

The Compton’s district is the world’s first legally recognized transgender district that is based in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood.

“I realize ‘anti-blackness’ can turn folks off but I think audiences have a rare opportunity to hear us dig deeper in what being black, transgender or queer, and men or women means in San Francisco in 2019, and gain enhanced awareness on how to be activated to address this experience in their own communities and friend groups,” Sa’id added.

Folkz is CEO of Spectrum Queer Media; Harrison is an LGBT policy adviser for the San Francisco Human Rights Commission; Moreland is a trans activist and founder of #brotherhood. Other speakers include Corey Baker, a librarian and performing artist and Nia Ibu, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist.

The conversation will be livestreamed on social media and YouTube in addition to the live inperson audience.

Tickets are free for Common-

wealth Club members, and $5 for non-members and students with valid ID. For more information, visit http://www.commonwealthclub. org and click on “Events.”

SF Night Ministry benefit

The San Francisco Night Ministry will hold its Fall Harvest fundraiser Saturday, October 26, beginning at 5 p.m. at Ginger’s 86 Hardie Place, in the city’s Financial District.

Drag queen Olivia Hart and night minister Valerie McEntee will cohost the party, which includes drag performances, appetizers, silent and live auctions, and raffle prizes.

The night ministry provides compassionate spiritual and emotional care, counseling, referrals, and crisis intervention to anyone, in any kind of distress, every night of the year between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.

Tickets are $10 at the door. For more information and to preview auction items, visit https://cbo.io/ bidapp/index.php?slug=sfnm.

The night ministry’s crisis line is 415-441-0123. For more information, visit https://www.sfnightministry.org/.

‘5B’ film screening in San Jose

The San Jose State University Pride Center and the BAYMEC Community Foundation will have a screening of the film, “5B” Tuesday,

October 29, at 6 p.m. at the SJSU Student Union Theater, 211 South Ninth Street in San Jose.

The film tells the story of Ward 5B at San Francisco General Hospital, which in the mid-1980s became the first ward designed specifically to deal with AIDS patients. The story of the ward is told through firstperson accounts from the nurses who built it, their patients, loved ones, and the hospital staff who volunteered, resulting in a bittersweet and moving monument to a pivotal moment in American epidemiology, San Francisco history, and a celebration of quiet heroes.

“5B,” directed by Oscar nominee Dan Krauss, won the Entertainment Lions Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Next week’s event kicks off with a brief reception, followed by the film.

General admission tickets are $10.

SJSU students, faculty, and staff can attend free with ID. For tickets and more information, visit https://bit.ly/2VUo4H7.

Halloween bingo at DeFrank center

There will be a special Halloween-themed bingo night at the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Community Center Wednesday, October 30, at 7 p.m. at 938 The Alameda in San Jose.

Guest bingo caller will be Frank La. There is a $15 buy-in. People get an extra bingo sheet for free if they come in costume. There will also be a costume contest.

For more information, visit www. defrankcenter.org.

Youth Halloween party in San Mateo

The San Mateo County Pride Center will hold a Halloween party for youth (ages 10-18) Thursday, October 31, from 5 to 8 p.m. at 1021 South El Camino Real in San Mateo.

The event will include a scavenger hunt, face painting, arts and crafts, snacks, a hangout space, and movies. There will also be a thrifty costume design contest. People are welcome to stop by before or after trick-or-treating.

See page 12 >>

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After some .ŠĂ?Ă&#x17E;ŠÂ&#x2DC;C fo\Â?fof Ă&#x17E;Š Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x17E;BĂ° ĂŽÂ&#x152;Š ĂŽoĂ?o Â?ÂŁĂ&#x201D;Ă&#x17E;BÂ&#x2DC;Â&#x2DC;Â?ÂŁÂ&#x192; B fÂ?oĂ?Ă&#x201D;c ç£foĂ? Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;o \ŠÂ&#x17E;Â&#x17D;persistence on behalf of the stranger, BowÂŁoĂŽ oĂŻÂ&#x152;Â?RÂ?Ă&#x17E; Â?ÂŁ Â&#x152;Š£ŠĂ? Š| B RÂ?Ă&#x17E;c BÂŁf Ă&#x201D;oÂŁĂ&#x17E; 1Â&#x192;Ă&#x17E;ž %Ă?Ă&#x17E;oÂ&#x17D; Â&#x17E;BÂŁf Š| B¸Ă&#x17E;ž BĂ&#x201D;¸BĂ? fo man decided to attend an informaĂ&#x17E;Â&#x152;o ĂĽ~ĂśĂ&#x17E;Â&#x152; BÂŁÂŁÂ?Ă­oĂ?Ă&#x201D;BĂ?ðž Ă&#x17E; Â&#x192;B ĂŽÂ?Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152; oÂ?Â&#x192;Â&#x152;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x201D;ŠÂ&#x2DC;fÂ?oĂ?Ă&#x201D; Ă&#x17E;Š .ŠĂ?Ă&#x17E;ŠÂ&#x2DC;Cc Â&#x192;ŠíoĂ?£ŠĂ? Š| BÂ&#x2013;B tional session.

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Â?oÂ&#x192;Š Š£ |ŠŠĂ&#x17E; |Â?ÂŁf proached Bowman in theĂ&#x17E;Š shopping at the YMCA on Broad Street and Master Street. center: Alvernian Davis, known BĂ°c in the .ŠĂ?Ă&#x17E;ŠÂ&#x2DC;Cc ĂŽÂ&#x152;Š \BÂ&#x17E;o ç¸ Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;o of Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;oÂ&#x17E; Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;oĂ?ocĂ&#x2039; BĂŽ Ă&#x201D;BÂ?fž Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;o |BRÂ&#x2DC;of !Š£Ă&#x17E;oĂ?oĂ° scene as Alvernian Prestige. Â&#x152;Bf Ă&#x160; Ă&#x17E; ĂŽBĂ&#x201D; Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;o oÂŁf Š| Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;oÂ?Ă? Ă?Â?fÂ&#x192;o Â&#x2DC;BĂ&#x17E;oĂ?c ĂŽBĂ&#x201D; £ŠĂ&#x17E; Â?Â&#x17E;Â&#x17D; ĂŽÂ&#x152;oĂ?o Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;o 1¸BÂŁÂ?Ă&#x201D;Â&#x152; Berlin, London, and Amsterdam. other hierarchical couples that can

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<< LGBTQ History Month

t The rise of the ballroom scene through the ages

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The house was one of the first in include prince and princess or duke the City of Brotherly Loveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ballroom and duchess. scene â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x153;a space where your femininâ&#x20AC;&#x153;Just seeing ... the joy and exciteity and you being unique and different ment of people when they hit the back was celebrated,â&#x20AC;? said Bowman, now of that runway, their talents come to 36 and a celebrity makeup artist. life. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s overjoying for me,â&#x20AC;? said Davis, Ballroom is an underground LGthe original house mother of PhilaBTQ subculture in which particidelphiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s House of Prestige who curpants, who are largely black or Latinx rently serves as house father.Ă&#x17E;Š ¸Ă?o¸BĂ?of 1BĂ&#x17E;çĂ?fBĂ° Ă° oÂ&#x2DC;Ă­Â?ÂŁ

Â&#x152;BÂŁ trans people and gay men, compete for prizes, trophies, titles â&#x20AC;&#x201C; think â&#x20AC;&#x153;legÂ&#x152;ŠÂ&#x2DC;f BÂŁ ç£BçĂ&#x17E;Â&#x152;ŠĂ?Â?Ă´of How the ballroom scene endâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;iconâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or cash events ¸Ă?ŠĂ&#x17E;oĂ&#x201D;Ă&#x17E; Â&#x17E;BĂ?\Â&#x152; Ă&#x17E;Šnation ¸Ă?oĂ&#x201D;Ă&#x201D; %" %" v at Š£Â&#x192; spread across the known as balls. Judges evaluate those Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;oÂ?Ă? foÂ&#x17E;BÂŁfĂ&#x201D;ž Š£Â&#x192; BÂŁĂ&#x17E;Â?Â&#x17D;Â&#x192;ŠíoĂ?ÂŁÂ&#x17E;oÂŁĂ&#x17E; The ballroom scene in its form towho â&#x20AC;&#x153;walkâ&#x20AC;? in a ball in various catday, Ă la the 1990 documentary 1縸ŠĂ?Ă&#x17E;oĂ?Ă&#x201D; Â&#x152;oÂ&#x2DC;f B â&#x20AC;&#x153;Paris foÂ&#x17E;Š£Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x17E;Ă?BĂ&#x17E;ŠĂ?Ă&#x201D; BĂ?o Ă&#x201D;oĂ&#x17E; |ŠĂ? egories, including voguing, pretty is Burningâ&#x20AC;? and the FX drama series ¸Ă?BĂ°oĂ? Ă?BÂ&#x2DC;Â&#x2DC;Ă° 1BĂ&#x17E;çĂ?fBĂ° B£ŠĂ&#x17E;Â&#x152;oĂ? Ă&#x201D;Â&#x152;ŠÎ Š| \Â?Ă­Â?Â&#x2DC; boy realness, butch queen, face, body, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pose,â&#x20AC;? originated in New York Wall Street, best dressed, pop fashion ÂŁÂ?Â&#x192;Â&#x152;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x17E;Š \BÂ&#x2DC;Â&#x2DC; |ŠĂ? Â?ÂŁĂ&#x17E;oĂ?ÂŁBÂ&#x17D;City fÂ?Ă&#x201D;ŠRofÂ?oÂŁ\o BĂ&#x201D; Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;oĂ° in the early 1970s, when legendary and sex siren. Winners can take home drag queen of color Crystal LaBeija earnings totaling hundreds or even founded the first-ever house: House thousands of dollars. of LaBeija.

People in the ballroom scene are The culture rippled across the East also part of house culture, meanCoast New Jersey|BÂ?Ă?Â&#x2DC;Ă° and BÂŁf Phila3Â&#x152;o

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B\\çĂ?BĂ&#x17E;oÂ&#x2DC;Ă°c ing each participant is a member of Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;o ÂŁoĂŽĂ&#x201D;into delphia and caught on nationally in a specific â&#x20AC;&#x153;house,â&#x20AC;? or ballroom Â&#x152;Š£oĂ&#x201D;Ă&#x17E;Â&#x2DC;ðž Ă&#x17E; Â?Ă&#x201D; ŠçĂ? ¸ŠÂ&#x2DC;Â?\Ă° Ă&#x17E;Šunit, \ŠĂ?Ă?o\Ă&#x17E;localities Ă&#x201D;Â?Â&#x192;ÂŁÂ?|Â?\BÂŁĂ&#x17E; oĂ?Ă?ŠĂ?Ă&#x201D; Š| |B\Ă&#x17E; ŠĂ? including Chicago, Atlanta, that has its own leadership and rules. ĂŽĂ?Â?Ă&#x17E;o Ă&#x17E;Š ŠĂ?Ă?o\Ă&#x17E;Â?Š£Ă&#x201D;c 1BÂŁ Â&#x17E;Â?Ă&#x201D;Â&#x2DC;oBfÂ?ÂŁÂ&#x192; Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x17E;BĂ&#x17E;oÂ&#x17E;oÂŁĂ&#x17E;Ă&#x201D;ž .Â&#x2DC;oBĂ&#x201D;o San Antonio, and Los Angeles. Today, Each house is governed by a house Ă?BÂŁ\Â?Ă&#x201D;\Š Â&#x152;Ă?Š£Â?\Â&#x2DC;oc ¼Ü° !Â?Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x201D;Â?Š£a1Ă&#x17E;žc 1BÂŁ in Ă?BÂŁ\Â?Ă&#x201D;\Šc ball exists almost every

state, Damother and/or father, as well as board ¼ °Üà ŠĂ? Ă&#x201D;oÂŁf oÂ&#x17D;Â&#x17E;BÂ?Â&#x2DC; Ă&#x17E;Š \ŠĂ?Ă?o\Ă&#x17E;Â?Š£Ă&#x201D;PĂ&#x201D;|\Â&#x152;Ă?Š£Â?\Â&#x2DC;ož\ŠÂ&#x17E;ž vis said, and many international chapmembers, a treasurer, and various ters operate in destinations like Paris,

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thinking or way of talking, my body gestures, my movements, were celebrated,â&#x20AC;?

Bowman said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It definitely

BĂ?Â&#x2DC; "ŠÂ&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;oĂ?Ă&#x201D; \ŠÂ&#x2DC;çÂ&#x17E;ÂŁ created that safe space because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s B¸¸oBĂ?Ă&#x201D; 1ç£fBĂ°Ă&#x201D;ž Â&#x17E;BÂ?Â&#x2DC;b true that you can be who you want to \£ŠÂ&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;oPĂ&#x201D;|\Â&#x152;Ă?Š£Â?\Â&#x2DC;ož\ŠÂ&#x17E; be. You can be whatever it is that you 3ĂŽÂ?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x17E;oĂ?b P\BĂ?Â&#x2DC;£ŠÂ&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;oĂ&#x201D;| want to be.â&#x20AC;?

As a world â&#x20AC;&#x153;built on the backs of African American trans women,â&#x20AC;? Davis said the ballroom world has historically created a haven for trans people and folks of color, especially those experiencing hardships like homelessness or being cast out by biological families because of their LGBTQ identities. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is imperative that we form a unified fellowship of brothers and sisters, especially our trans sisters, battling the true enemies of our oppressed communities, which also include racism, HIV, homophobia, discrimination and other social misfortunes,â&#x20AC;? Davis added. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always been a safe space.â&#x20AC;?

Bowman introduced Richard LaBoy, an Afro-Latino gay man, to the ballroom scene when LaBoy was in 10th grade at Philadelphiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Central High School. At the time, LaBoy was in and out of youth shelters. Â?ÂŁfo¸oÂŁfoÂŁĂ&#x17E; Â?ÂŁĂ&#x2026;çÂ?Ă?Ă° Â?ÂŁĂ&#x17E;Š â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ballroom is definitely a communiBÂ&#x2DC;Â&#x2DC;oÂ&#x192;of ¸ŠÂ&#x2DC;Â?\o RĂ?çĂ&#x17E;BÂ&#x2DC;Â?Ă&#x17E;ðž ty, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s definitely a family. ... Ballroom started in the early because a lot 3Â&#x152;oĂ°Ă?Ă?o BÂ&#x2DC;Ă&#x201D;Š1970s çĂ&#x201D;Â?ÂŁÂ&#x192; of people of color, specifically from 1ç£fBĂ°Ă?Ă&#x201D; Ă?BÂ&#x2DC;Â&#x2DC;Ă° Ă&#x17E;Š foÂ&#x17E;BÂŁf communities and cities, were kicked Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;BĂ&#x17E; out ofĂ&#x17E;Â&#x152;o theirÂ&#x192;ŠíoĂ?ÂŁÂ&#x17E;oÂŁĂ&#x17E; homes, like me, for being Ă&#x201D;\Ă?B¸ B RBÂŁ Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;Â?Ă&#x201D;out gay,â&#x20AC;? said LaBoy,BfŠ¸Ă&#x17E;of now 35. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I came Â&#x17E;Š£Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152; Š£have |B\o Â&#x17E;BĂ&#x201D;Â&#x2014;Ă&#x201D; and didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a lot of placesBĂ&#x17E;to go.

BallroomÂ&#x192;BĂ&#x17E;Â&#x152;oĂ?Â?ÂŁÂ&#x192;Ă&#x201D;ž actually is one of the places ¸çRÂ&#x2DC;Â?\ that accepted me, and it accepted %Ă?Â&#x192;BÂŁÂ?Ă´oĂ?Ă&#x201D; Ă&#x201D;BÂ?f foÂ&#x17E;Â&#x17D;a lot of people since its founding.â&#x20AC;?

Some members of the ballroom scene, like 61-year-old New York City ball pioneer Kevin Omni Burrus, who founded the House of Omni in his living room in 1979, trace the cultureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earliest roots back to the French Masquerade balls of the 18th century. The traditional event was followed by the Harlem Â&#x152;oÂ&#x2DC;¸ Renaissance Balls beginning Ă&#x17E;Â?Š£BÂ&#x2DC; |ŠĂ? Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;oÂ?Ă? \BçĂ&#x201D;ož in the 1920s and spanning through %Ă?Â&#x192;BÂŁÂ?Ă´oĂ?Ă&#x201D; Â&#x152;BĂ­o íŠÎof Ă&#x17E;Š the 1940s, he said, when the gatherÂ&#x152;ŠÂ&#x2DC;f Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;oway ¸Ă?ŠĂ&#x17E;oĂ&#x201D;Ă&#x17E; ings gave to theÂ&#x17E;BĂ?\Â&#x152; popular drag 1ç£fBĂ° balls of theoĂ­oÂŁ 1950sĂ&#x17E;Â&#x152;ŠçÂ&#x192;Â&#x152; and 1960sÂ?Ă&#x17E;before ultimately their pinnacle in |BÂ?Â&#x2DC;of Ă&#x17E;Š reaching ĂŽÂ?ÂŁ B¸¸Ă?ŠíBÂ&#x2DC; todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s¸ŠÂ&#x2DC;Â?\oc house-structured ball scene. |Ă?ŠÂ&#x17E; ĂŽÂ&#x152;Š \Â?Ă&#x17E;of The House of Omni became Ă?Â?Ă&#x201D;Â&#x2014;Ă&#x201D; Ă&#x17E;Š ¸çRÂ&#x2DC;Â?\ ŠĂ?foĂ?ž the House of Ultra Omni in 1990. Ă&#x201D; Ă&#x201D;oÂ&#x17E;Â?Â&#x17D;BçĂ&#x17E;Š£ŠÂ&#x17D; The Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;o ballroom scene caught fire in Â&#x17E;ŠçĂ&#x201D;

Â&#x152;Â?ÂŁoĂ&#x201D;o Los Angeles in the Ă&#x17E;oĂ?Ă?Â?Ă&#x17E;ŠĂ?Ă°Ă?Ă&#x201D; 1990s, said Sean Milan, 48, \Ă?Â?Ă&#x201D;Â?Ă&#x201D; who started voguing in Š£Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x17E;Ă?BĂ&#x17E;ŠĂ?Ă&#x201D; ΊçÂ&#x2DC;f fo|Ă° Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;o ¸ŠÂ&#x2DC;Â?Ă&#x17E;Â?\BÂ&#x2DC; oĂŻĂ&#x17E;oÂŁfĂ&#x201D; the City of Angels in 1992.

Ro\BçĂ&#x201D;o Š£Â&#x192; Â?ÂŁĂ&#x17E;Š B |Â?|Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152; Â&#x17E;Š£Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;c ¸Ă?ŠÂ&#x17D;Milan ¸ŠÂ&#x2DC;Â?\o The AIDS epidemic was the original founding \Š£Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x17E;Â?Ă&#x17E;çĂ&#x17E;Â?Š£ Â&#x192;çBĂ?Â&#x17D; Ă&#x17E;oĂ&#x201D;Ă&#x17E;oĂ?Ă&#x201D; BĂ?o Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă°Â?ÂŁÂ&#x192; Ă&#x17E;Š mother Â&#x2014;oo¸ â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Š£Â&#x192;Ă?Ă&#x201D; and beyond along with house father Jeffrey Bryant OmniĂ&#x17E;Â&#x152;o Burrus estimates heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lost Ă?Â?Â&#x192;Â&#x152;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x17E;Š ¸Ă?ŠĂ&#x17E;oĂ&#x201D;Ă&#x17E;ž Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;o ¸Ă?oĂ&#x201D;Ă&#x201D;çĂ?o Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;o Â&#x192;ŠíÂ&#x17D;â&#x20AC;&#x201C; of BÂŁĂ&#x17E;ooĂ&#x201D; and grand motherŠ£ Ja Ja Mizrahi more than 600 friends in the ballroom oĂ?ÂŁÂ&#x17E;oÂŁĂ&#x17E; Ă&#x17E;Š Ă?oĂ&#x201D;¸Š£f Ă&#x17E;Š the House of Rodeo, which opened in scene to AIDS. 1997 asfoÂ&#x17E;BÂŁfĂ&#x201D;c one of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first official oÂ&#x2DC;Ă­Â?ÂŁ Â&#x152;BÂŁ Â?Ă&#x201D; BÂŁ Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;oÂ?Ă? Â?ÂŁ\Â&#x2DC;çfÂ?ÂŁÂ&#x192; â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was a period of my life houses, along with theBÂŁf House |çÂ&#x2DC;Â&#x2DC; foÂ&#x17E;Š\Ă?B\Ă° BÂŁof Fer- Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x201D;Š\Â?BĂ&#x17E;of .Ă?oĂ&#x201D;Ă&#x201D; ĂŽĂ?Â?Ă&#x17E;oĂ?ž where I just continuously had to go to ragamo. Before that, the Hoopla Difunerals,â&#x20AC;? Omni Burrus said. vas operated, though not as an official In 2012, he launched the Kevin house. As time passed, more people Omni Burrus Funeral/Burial Fund started houses or established chapters to offset funeral costs of those in the of East Coast houses that originated community. From 1989-91, he helped in cities like Washington, D.C. and organize the Love Ball, a fundraiser "ŠĂ?Ă&#x17E;Â&#x152;oĂ?

New York City. £ BÂ&#x2DC;Â?|ŠĂ? ÂŁ Â?BĂ?Ă&#x201D; BĂ?Â&#x192; o Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x17E; " oĂŽĂ&#x201D; ¸B¸ oĂ? event for the Design Industries FounAs many Los Angeles ballroom dation Fighting ¸4Âź0Âź-Âź0Âź AIDS, a Â&#x20AC;Ă&#x2013;ÂŁÂ?Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2014;ôš nonprofit participants started with the House that provides preventive education of Rodeo or House of Ferragamo, eeĂ&#x17D;nĂ&#x2019;Ă&#x2019; AÂ&#x2014;Â&#x2014; Â?AÂ&#x17D;Â&#x2014; Ă&#x153;§MiAœœĂ&#x17D;§œĂ&#x17D;Â&#x17D;AĂ&#x153;n enÂśAĂ&#x17D;Ă&#x153;Â?n¢Ă&#x153; and advocacy for AĂ&#x153;a people impacted by lan told Philadelphia Gay News, the 2Â&#x2039;n 0A¢ Ă&#x17D;A¢[Â&#x17D;Ă&#x2019;[§HIV

Â&#x2039;Ă&#x17D;§¢Â&#x17D;[Â&#x2014;n or AIDS. cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scene has a smaller, communityÂŁĂ´ÂŽ !Â&#x17D;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2019;Â&#x17D;§¢ 0Ă&#x153;Ă&#x17D;nnĂ&#x153; Many of Davisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ballroom friends focused feel compared to Ă&#x17D;A¢[Â&#x17D;Ă&#x2019;[§b East Coast ÂŁÂ&#x20AC;ÂŽĂ´Ă&#x17E;Â?ĂŁÂŁss 0A¢ who he came out with during the locales.

1980s also died from AIDS, â&#x20AC;&#x153;a scary â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ... this certain!AÂ&#x17D;¢ sense Ă&#x2019;ĂŹÂ&#x17D;Ă&#x153;[Â&#x2039;Q§AĂ&#x17D;e of thingâ&#x20AC;? that was â&#x20AC;&#x153;just taking people out family and togetherness that everyone ¸Â&#x20AC;ÂŽ}š Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2013;Â?ÂŽÂŽÂŽÂŽ of here,â&#x20AC;? he said. has because we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have as many â&#x20AC;&#x153;I remember a friend telling me he

nÂ&#x2014;Â&#x17D;ĂŤnĂ&#x17D;ĂŽ !nÂ?QnĂ&#x17D; Ă&#x2019;nĂ&#x17D;ĂŤÂ&#x17D;[nĂ&#x2019; functions Ă&#x2019;nĂ&#x17D;ĂŤÂ&#x17D;[n as other states may have, was positive and two months later, he { 뤟 e§ ¢§Ă&#x153; Ă&#x17D;n[nÂ&#x17D;ĂŤn enÂ&#x2014;Â&#x17D;ĂŤnĂ&#x17D;ĂŽ §{ 뤟Ă&#x17D; ÂśAÂśnĂ&#x17D; §Ă&#x17D; Â&#x17D;{ 0A¢ Ă&#x17D;A¢[Â&#x17D;Ă&#x2019;[§ AĂ&#x17D;nA ¸Â&#x20AC;ÂŽ}š Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2013;Â?Ă&#x2013;Ă´Ă´Ă´ especially like New York,â&#x20AC;? said Milan, 뤟 Â&#x2039;AĂŤn A¢Î [Â&#x17D;Ă&#x17D;[ĂĽÂ&#x2014;AĂ&#x153;Â&#x17D;§¢ Ă&#x192;ĂĽnĂ&#x2019;Ă&#x153;Â&#x17D;§¢Ă&#x2019; §Ă&#x17D; ÂśĂ&#x17D;§QÂ&#x2014;nÂ?Ă&#x2019;b was dead,â&#x20AC;?

AÂ&#x2014;Â&#x17D;{§Ă&#x17D;¢Â&#x17D;A Davis added. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was a scary Â&#x2014;Â&#x2014; §Ă&#x153;Â&#x2039;nĂ&#x17D; AĂ&#x17D;nAĂ&#x2019; ¸sôôš Ă&#x17E;ÂŽĂ´Â?ĂŁÂ&#x20AC;}} now known as Legendary Sean MiĂ&#x153;nÂ&#x2014;nÂśÂ&#x2039;§¢na feeling, whenÂ&#x20AC;ÂŁÂŁÂ?}Ă&#x2013;Ă´Ă´ a lot of people $ĂĽĂ&#x153;Ă&#x2019;Â&#x17D;enespecially

AÂ&#x2014;Â&#x17D;{§Ă&#x17D;¢Â&#x17D;A ¸sôôš lan Ă&#x17D;A¢[Â&#x17D;Ă&#x2019;[§ Garcon, AĂ&#x17D;nA member the House of 0A¢ ¸Â&#x20AC;ÂŽ}š of Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2013;Â?Ă&#x2013;Ă´Ă´Ă´ Â&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;ÂśaĂ&#x2DC;Ă&#x2DC;ĂŹĂŹĂŹÂźĂ&#x2019;{[Â&#x2039;Ă&#x17D;§¢Â&#x17D;[Â&#x2014;nÂź[§Â?Ă&#x2DC;A[[§ü¢Ă&#x153; became close within ballroom and ... Â&#x2014;Â&#x2014;Garcon, §Ă&#x153;Â&#x2039;nĂ&#x17D; AĂ&#x17D;nAĂ&#x2019; ¸sôôš Ă&#x17E;ÂŽĂ´Â?ĂŁÂ&#x20AC;}} which was established in Los these people family. §Ă&#x17D;Angeles {AĂ­ Ă&#x153;§ ¸Â&#x20AC;ÂŽ}š }Â&#x20AC;Ă&#x17E;Â?Â&#x20AC;sÂŽĂ&#x2014; §Ă&#x17D; §¢Â&#x2014;Â&#x17D;¢n AĂ&#x153; §Â?n enÂ&#x2014;Â&#x17D;ĂŤnĂ&#x17D;ĂŽbecame Ă&#x2019;ĂĽQĂ&#x2019;[Ă&#x17D;Â&#x17D;ÂśĂ&#x153;Â&#x17D;§¢Ă&#x2019; AĂ&#x17D;nTo see all about a decade ago when the Â&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;ÂśaĂ&#x2DC;Ă&#x2DC;ĂŹĂŹĂŹÂźĂ&#x2019;{[Â&#x2039;Ă&#x17D;§¢Â&#x17D;[Â&#x2014;nÂź[§Â?Ă&#x2DC;A[[§ü¢Ă&#x153; A[[nÂśĂ&#x153;ne {§Ă&#x17D; Adisappearing Â?Â&#x17D;¢Â&#x17D;Â?ĂĽÂ? Ă&#x153;nĂ&#x17D;Â?and §{ {§üĂ&#x17D; your family dying, unit made its way west from Washing0ĂĽQĂ&#x2019;[Ă&#x17D;Â&#x17D;ÂśĂ&#x153;Â&#x17D;§¢ Ă&#x17D;AĂ&#x153;nĂ&#x2019;b ĂŹÂ&#x2039;Â&#x17D;[Â&#x2039; Â&#x17D;¢[Â&#x2014;ĂĽen orĂŹnnÂ&#x2013;Ă&#x2019;Âź people [who] couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t handle the !Â&#x17D;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2019;ne enÂ&#x2014;Â&#x17D;ĂŤnĂ&#x17D;Â&#x17D;nĂ&#x2019;a AÂ&#x2014;Â&#x2014; QnĂ&#x153;ĂŹnn¢ s AÂźÂ?Âź A¢e ÂŽÂŽ A[[nĂ&#x2019;Ă&#x2019; Ă&#x153;§ Ă&#x153;Â&#x2039;n eÂ&#x17D;Â&#x201A;Â&#x17D;Ă&#x153;AÂ&#x2014; ĂŤnĂ&#x17D;Ă&#x2019;Â&#x17D;§¢ §{ Ă&#x153;Â&#x2039;n ton,{§Ă&#x17D; D.C. AÂźÂ?Âź Ă&#x17D;nÂśÂ&#x2014;A[nÂ?n¢Ă&#x153;Âź HIV epidemic and were committing ¢nĂŹĂ&#x2019;ÂśAÂśnĂ&#x17D;b AĂ&#x17D;na kÂŽÂ&#x20AC;ÂźĂ&#x2014;Ă´ ÂśnĂ&#x17D; ĂŹnnÂ&#x2013; {§Ă&#x17D; At the turn of the 21st century, 2Â&#x2039;n Â&#x2039;Ă&#x17D;§¢Â&#x17D;[Â&#x2014;n Â&#x17D;Ă&#x2019; enÂ&#x2014;Â&#x17D;ĂŤnĂ&#x17D;ne Â&#x17D;¢ A Ă&#x17D;n[ĂŽ[Â&#x2014;AQÂ&#x2014;n ÂśÂ&#x2014;AĂ&#x2019;Ă&#x153;Â&#x17D;[ Ă&#x2019;nĂŤn¢ eAĂŽĂ&#x2019; A ĂŹnnÂ&#x2013;Ă&#x2022; kŽôŸ£ô ÂśnĂ&#x17D; ĂŹnnÂ&#x2013; {§Ă&#x17D; suicide.â&#x20AC;? younger ball participants QAÂ&#x201A; eĂĽĂ&#x17D;Â&#x17D;¢Â&#x201A; Â&#x17D;¢[Â&#x2014;nÂ?n¢Ă&#x153; ĂŹnAĂ&#x153;Â&#x2039;nĂ&#x17D; §Ă&#x17D;â&#x20AC;&#x153;developed QĂŽ Ă&#x2019;Âśn[Â&#x17D;{Â&#x17D;[ !§¢eAĂŽ 0AĂ&#x153;ĂĽĂ&#x17D;eAĂŽĂ&#x2022; ÂśnĂ&#x17D; Davis Ă&#x153;Â&#x2039;Ă&#x17D;§üÂ&#x201A;Â&#x2039; also serves on akÂŁÂź}} community Ă&#x17D;nĂ&#x192;ĂĽnĂ&#x2019;Ă&#x153;Âź 2§ §œĂ&#x153; scene,â&#x20AC;? §üĂ&#x153; §{ Â&#x2039;AĂŤÂ&#x17D;¢Â&#x201A; 뤟Ă&#x17D; ÂśAÂśnĂ&#x17D; ĂŹnnÂ&#x2013; {§Ă&#x17D; :ne¢nĂ&#x2019;eAĂŽ Ă&#x153;Â&#x2039;Ă&#x17D;§üÂ&#x201A;Â&#x2039; 0ü¢eAĂŽĂ&#x2022; their own known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kiki advisory the Ă&#x153;Â&#x2039;Ă&#x17D;§üÂ&#x201A;Â&#x2039; University of QAÂ&#x201A;Â&#x201A;ne [AÂ&#x2014;Â&#x2014; ¸Â&#x20AC;ÂŽ}š Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2013;Â?Ă&#x2013;Ă´Ă´Ă´Âź kĂ&#x2013;ÂźĂ&#x2013;} ÂśnĂ&#x17D; board ĂŹnnÂ&#x2013; {§Ă&#x17D;at Ă&#x17D;Â&#x17D;eAĂŽ balls,â&#x20AC;? Omni Burrus said. These next0ü¢eAĂŽĂ&#x2022; kĂ&#x2014;Âź}Ă´ ÂśnĂ&#x17D; ĂŹnnÂ&#x2013;Center {§Ă&#x17D; 0ü¢eAĂŽ §¢Â&#x2014;ĂŽÂź Pennsylvaniaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Penn for AIDS ${{Â&#x17D;[n Â&#x2039;§üĂ&#x17D;Ă&#x2019;a

ĂĽĂ&#x2019;Ă&#x153;§Â?nĂ&#x17D; 0nĂ&#x17D;ĂŤÂ&#x17D;[n Â&#x17D;Ă&#x2019; AĂŤAÂ&#x17D;Â&#x2014;AQÂ&#x2014;n generation, mini-balls give youth a

Â&#x17D;Â&#x201A;Â&#x17D;Ă&#x153;AÂ&#x2014;Â?§¢Â&#x2014;ĂŽacting Ă&#x2019;ĂĽQĂ&#x2019;[Ă&#x17D;Â&#x17D;ÂśĂ&#x153;Â&#x17D;§¢Ă&#x2019; AĂ&#x17D;n kÂŽĂŁÂźĂ&#x2014;Ă´ ÂśnĂ&#x17D; QnĂ&#x153;ĂŹnn¢ s AÂźÂ?Âź A¢e ÂŽÂŽ AÂźÂ?Âź 0ü¢eAĂŽÂź Research, as a liaison between ĂŹnnÂ&#x2013;Âź §¢üĂ&#x2019; eAĂŽĂ&#x2019;a AÂ&#x2014;Â&#x2014; Ă&#x2019;ĂĽQĂ&#x2019;[Ă&#x17D;Â&#x17D;ÂśĂ&#x153;Â&#x17D;§¢Ă&#x2019; safe space to practice and gain expothe college and ballroom community Â&#x17D;¢[Â&#x2014;ĂĽen enÂ&#x2014;Â&#x17D;ĂŤnĂ&#x17D;ĂŽ §¢ "nĂŹ <nAĂ&#x17D;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2019; AĂŽb sure. enÂśAĂ&#x17D;Ă&#x153;Â?n¢Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2019; "nĂŹĂ&#x2019; -Ă&#x17D;nĂ&#x2019;Â&#x17D;en¢Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;

AĂŽb trials, !nÂ?§Ă&#x17D;Â&#x17D;AÂ&#x2014; AQ§Ă&#x17D; about research, and AĂŽb workshops.

Ballroom star Tommy â&#x20AC;&#x153;Deeâ&#x20AC;? Mur AĂŽb 2Â&#x2039;A¢Â&#x2013;Ă&#x2019;Â&#x201A;Â&#x17D;ĂŤÂ&#x17D;¢Â&#x201A; A¢e Â&#x2039;Ă&#x17D;Â&#x17D;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x153;Â?AĂ&#x2019;Âź LaBoy, an executive member of the AĂŽ

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LaBoy said, !Â&#x17D;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2019;Â&#x17D;§¢ 0Ă&#x153;Âźb 0A¢ Ă&#x17D;A¢[Â&#x17D;Ă&#x2019;[§b magical acts.â&#x20AC;? ÂŁÂ&#x20AC;ÂŽĂ´Ă&#x17E;Â?ĂŁÂŁssÂź â&#x20AC;&#x153;because at the end of the day, this community is, unfortunately, stillĂ&#x153;§be-§Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x153;Â?AĂ&#x2019;Ă&#x153;nĂ&#x17D;a 0n¢e AeeĂ&#x17D;nĂ&#x2019;Ă&#x2019; [Â&#x2039;A¢Â&#x201A;nĂ&#x2019; Creating safe spaces 2Â&#x2039;naffected.â&#x20AC;?

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When Bowman entered ballroom, 0Ă&#x153;Âźb 0A¢ indicates Ă&#x17D;A¢[Â&#x17D;Ă&#x2019;[§ that ÂŁÂ&#x20AC;ÂŽĂ´Ă&#x17E;Âź Data young memhe said he found a lot of people who bers of the ballroom community are looked and talked like him. poised to be some of the most imâ&#x20AC;&#x153;It was just a safe space of where <nAĂ&#x17D; ÂŽ}} Z 9§Â&#x2014;ĂĽÂ?n ĂŁĂ&#x2013;Ă&#x2013; pacted by new cases of HIV. In 2017,

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youth ages 13-24 accounted for 21% of new HIV diagnoses in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The same year, black people and African Americans made up 13% of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population, but 43% of new diagnoses. Within this, 73% of new cases in the black community occurred in men.

Many ballroom houses collaborate with LGBTQ organizations to provide HIV testing at the competitions, which Davis said is especially important for young participants who may disproportionately experience homelessness.

On top of the ongoing fight to thwart HIV and AIDS, Davis said two other issues impact the ball community: the murders of trans women across the country and an increase in crystal meth use. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We need more people getting involved in mental health,â&#x20AC;? Davis said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If people are depressed and stressed ... theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not going to take their HIV medicine; theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not thinking about that. When people are on crystal meth, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be high for three or four days, so thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s three or four days that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re off their medications.â&#x20AC;?

Promoting health and wellness for the next generation

Rooted in a decades-long tradition of promoting health and wellness in the queer community, the Kiki ball offshoot largely grew out of social gatherings hosted by LGBTQ organizations that connected young ball community members to health services.

Milan works as the social engagement and arts program manager at REACH LA, a youth organization founded in 1992 in response to a lack of HIV/AIDS prevention education for young people of color. In 2006, to better address the health disparities in underserved communities of color, Milan worked with the group to found the Ovahness Ball, now the longest-running and largest ball on the West Coast, he said.

LGBTQ young adults have a 120% higher chance of experiencing homelessness than their straight, cis peers, according to a 2017 University of Chicago report. Twenty percent of trans people have experienced homelessness at some point, the National Center for Transgender Equality indicates.

To address such issues, house parents split their time between preparing their â&#x20AC;&#x153;childrenâ&#x20AC;? for balls and helping them grow personally and professionally. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have a golden rule that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got to work, go to school, do some type of volunteering, because thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what our house is about,â&#x20AC;? Davis said of House of Prestige. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t only just walk balls, we try to be a community activist house also.â&#x20AC;?

As house mother to about 125 people at Philadelphiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s House of Prodigy, which was founded in 2002, Bowman said he aims to show them that ballroom extends beyond the runway. His goal is to â&#x20AC;&#x153;nurture and help developâ&#x20AC;? the kids to â&#x20AC;&#x153;make them be the best that they can be.â&#x20AC;? Having once been incarcerated for 10 months, he draws on his experiences to exemplify how to get through difficult times. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As young people that ... go through different things, they may experience homelessness or they may experience losing their job or losing a friend or losing a family member, they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see the light at the end of the tunnel,â&#x20AC;?

Bowman said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My primary job is just to make sure they see that light and help them get to that light.â&#x20AC;?

Ballroom is â&#x20AC;&#x153;a great teaching toolâ&#x20AC;? that prepares participants for other life experiences, Milan told PGN. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You prepare for the ball, you walk your category in front of judges and whatnot and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the same thing as you See page 9 >>

t

LGBTQ History Month >>

October 24-30, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 9

Artwork among items in society’s LGBT archives

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T

he GLBT Historical Society’s museum in the heart of San Francisco’s Castro district operates similarly to that of any art museum. It mounts special exhibitions in order to attract repeat visitors and over the years has refreshed what it puts on display in its main gallery space.

But the archival group doesn’t consider itself to be an art collecting institution. Nonetheless, among the stacks of its archives downtown are numerous works by various artists. Most of the pieces have never been shown in a public show, while those that have gone on view were incorporated into one of the museum’s limited-run exhibits.

“We don’t collect art for art’s sake,” said Kelsi Evans, director of the historical society’s Dr. John P. De Cecco Archives & Special Collections.

It is unknown just how many artworks are stored away in the historical society’s archive. Some of the pieces ended up in its possession because they came along with the artists’ personal collections that they or their loved ones had donated to the institution.

The nonprofit has been assessing its holdings in its art and artifacts collections using a $30,000 grant it received last year from the city. It expects to finish cataloging the thousands of items by the end of 2020.

As the archival group eyes one day opening a permanent museum in San Francisco, the Bay Area Reporter asked the historical society to select items from its collection to demonstrate the possibilities that would come from having its own building in which to show off its vast holdings documenting LGBT culture and history.

Alongside the various garments and political ephemera the society staff selected were two artworks by Jerome Caja, a celebrated visual artist and drag performer. They were acquired as part of the collection of gay former San Francisco Examiner art critic David Bonetti, who died last year. (The Smithsonian Institution has Caja’s personal papers and effects in its archives.)

The pair of untitled paintings by Caja showcase how he often worked

<<

Ballroom scene

From page 8

would do if you go to a job interview,” he added. “You have to prepare for the job interview, you may have four or five different interviews, you don’t know any of the people really who are judging you at the interview. So there are a lot of life skills that young people are actually able to learn in the ballroom scene, and they’re able to learn them as who they are, as opposed to what society says they should be.”

Entering the mainstream

A new wave of visibility has washed over ballroom culture in the era of social media.

Whereas “Paris is Burning” and Madonna’s song “Vogue” may have introduced ballroom to larger audiences, the culture has garnered mainstream attention in recent years with TV shows like “Pose” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” “[Before], you had to go to another ball to find out when the next one was, that’s how underground it was,” Davis said. “If you didn’t know

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Two paintings by Jerome Caja, donated by the late San Francisco Examiner art critic David Bonetti, are part of the collections at the GLBT Historical Society.

with found objects and items associated with femininity such as nail polish, lace, and glitter. For the artworks, he transformed 1960s dime-store-reproduction paintings of harlequins in plastic frames that he had bought. To each he affixed a bottle cap featuring a visage of his making.

“The artwork tells a story that is illustrative of a period in history,” said Evans.

Terry Beswick, the historical society’s executive director, would run into Caja at the End-Up’s longrunning dance party Club Uranus.

Caja had gained notoriety, recalled Beswick, as a performance artist with ACT UP during the height of the AIDS epidemic in the late 1980s.

He would die from complications of AIDS in 1995 at the age of 37.

“He was quite prolific as an artist. A lot of his work was in miniatures,” recalled Beswick. “His tastes went to the macabre, likely as a reaction to all the death and morbidity due to AIDS.” A recurring theme in his work was a dying clown figure. One such piece featured on the website http://www. thejeromeproject.com, which aims to protect and preserve Caja’s artistic legacy, is a 1988 artwork titled “Bozo Fucks Death,” created with nail polish and white-out on tip tray, depicting a clown with curly red hair naked except for his face makeup and red nose engaged in anal intercourse with a bent over skeleton he is holding by the neck.

“I don’t know if it was a symbol of protest for him or a bit of self expression,” said Beswick.

At some point Beswick recalled attending a show Caja had mounted of his bottle cap artwork held in a space

in the Castro. But the significance of what he saw back then didn’t register at the time.

“When he died, it felt like the end of an era for us in many ways,” said Beswick.

Caja was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1958 and was one of 11 sons reared by his Roman Catholic parents. He headed west to San Francisco when he enrolled in the San Francisco Art Institute, from which he graduated with a master’s of fine arts degree in 1986. He incorporated Greco-Roman and Catholic iconography into his art, which is internationally collected and in the collections of major museums, such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Nearly 120 of Caja’s artworks were included in this summer’s “About Face: Stonewall, Revolt and New Queer Art” show at the Wrightwood 659 art exhibition space in Chicago.

Writing about the show for the New York Times, Arthur Lubow remarked that Caja had conveyed the horrific absurdity of the AIDS epidemic in his art “with biting humor and Rabelaisian earthiness.”

The sexual liberty that Caja and other young gay men had “embraced as life-affirming,” noted Lubow, had also “marked them, seemingly at random, for hideous deaths. What else could he do but joke about it?”

It is an open question how the pieces owned by the historical society would be incorporated into its future museum in San Francisco.

“I don’t know if we would do a full show,” said Beswick. “But maybe we would install a small gallery dedicated to Jerome and his milieu.”t

somebody in ballroom, you might’ve seen people at the clubs voguing back in the day and didn’t know they were part of a house.”

In LaBoy’s eyes, “it’s about time” for the spotlight to shine on the ballroom scene, and not just within it.

“A lot of folks in ballroom are the ones doing your makeup, styling you, behind the camera. We’ve always been a part of mainstream pop culture, to say the least,” he said. “It’s been great to see it being presented in pop culture, but also honored as art.”

For Bowman, the recognition comes with drawbacks in the form of “culture vultures” preying on what has always been a “hidden jewel of talent.”

“During my 20 years of experience in ballroom, I’ve watched people come into our culture and steal from us and then take it and do it mainstream,” he said. “Then they get all the credit for it when they really got it from us.”

Milan echoed that some mainstream depictions “don’t really get the real essence” of ballroom, and present a “more appropriated version” that

misrepresents terminology and how the scene operates. Having people from the ball community collaborate on the shows is important, he said.

“Pose” made history by casting the largest number of trans actors – Indya Moore, Mj Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, Hailie Sahar, and Angelica Ross – to ever appear as series regulars on a scripted show. Billy Porter also became the first out gay black man to win an Emmy in the outstanding lead actor in a drama series category for his role in the show.

Davis said he’s primarily happy to see mainstream representations like “Pose” provide LGBTQ people with outlets for their acting, dancing or showcasing their lighting and choreography skills.

“It has opened up a lot of doors and opportunities for people,” he added. “especially trans women of color.”t Laura Smythe (laura@epgn.com) is a reporter at the Philadelphia Gay News.

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<< Obituaries

10 • Bay Area Reporter • October 24-30, 2019

t

Leather contest producer Vern Stewart dies

by Cynthia Laird

V

ern Stewart, a gay man who produced leather contests and was known for his photography, died September 26 at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 77.

Friends said that Mr. Stewart suffered a sudden stroke brought on by complications from peripheral vascular disease. In the end, Mr. Stewart was granted his wish to remain in his home, proudly independent just as he had lived his entire life.

For over 50 years, Mr. Stewart was a trailblazer, photojournalist, and mentor across the gay, leather, and African American communities. As a writer, columnist, and photographer, Mr. Stewart judged hundreds of leather men and women’s contests worldwide. He was a former co-producer of American Brotherhood Weekend, International Drummer Weekend, and the “Great Buns” calendar in San Francisco.

Mr. Stewart’s weekly column, and later blog, “Musings by Vern,” was enjoyed by readers worldwide. Mr. Stewart was a recipient of the Pantheon of Leather Lifetime Achievement award. In 2011, he was a judge for the International Mister Leather contest in Chicago. Mr. Stewart produced the Mr. New York Eagle contest until the time of his passing.

According to an obituary prepared by his friends, those who truly knew Mr. Stewart (affectionately named “The Wicked Witch of the East”) understood the impact he had in nurturing and developing future generations of leaders who carry on the legacy and history laid down by those who came before them.

“It is not an exaggeration to say

<<

Political Notebook

From page 5

city. Joining the lawmaker were LGBT advocates and Daniel Seeman, Newsom’s deputy cabinet secretary who advises him on criminal justice issues.

Newsom, noted Wiener, “has also shown a real commitment to working with us, for example, on the trans inmate bill.”

That bill and the several others held up in the Statehouse this year will be among the legislative issues discussed at the EQCA Institute’s fifth annual Fair Share for Equality convening being held in San Francisco Friday, October 25. A number of state lawmakers and community leaders are expected

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that Vern quietly mentored hundreds of leather community leaders across the world today,” close friend and confidant Paul Christensen said.

Together with his best friend, the late Bay Area Reporter leather columnist “Mister” Marcus Hernandez (“The Wicked Witch of the West”), Mr. Stewart would serve up the dish, call out names when wrongs needed to be made right, and keep the community on its toes laughing and fighting for our communities and for those in need, friends said.

“Vern’s passion for preserving our history was lifelong, dedicated, and unwavering,” Christensen said.

Mr. Stewart was a private person, but he did share his history with the few he held close. Born in Cleveland, Ohio on May 17, 1942, Mr. Stewart was raised in San Francisco, going to school in what was then the working-class Castro district, a neighborhood that would look very different

to address the daylong summit on the UCSF Mission Bay campus.

(The event is at capacity, but people interested in attending can sign up for waitlist registrations at http:// www.eqca.org/fairshare2019/.)

Come January, Wiener said he expects to have brokered consensus on how to move forward his legislation ensuring LGBT teens are treated the same as their heterosexual counterparts when faced with registering on the state’s sex offender registry. But he expects to face continued opposition to his bill limiting gender reassignment surgeries on intersex infants from medical lobbying groups.

“It is a righteous bill but it is a hard bill because the California Medical Association is fighting so hard against the bill,” said Wiener.

Should he get the bills to Newsom’s desk, Wiener expressed confidence in again seeing broad support from the governor for next year’s LGBT legislative package.

“He has shown a real commitment to work with our caucus and our community,” he said.

Zbur added that Newsom’s administration has signaled it is supportive of this year’s held-over bills.

<<

Power

From page 1

“I had this amazing platform of working for a president for whom this was a no-brainer: the idea that LGBT rights would be a part of our foreign policy,” Power said. “He gave me license to think as creatively as I could about how to productively promote LGBT rights on the global stage.”

Up to that point, the U.S., under the George W. Bush administration, hadn’t been on board at the U.N., or anywhere, with a declaration to decriminalize homosexuality around the world despite, she said, 66 countries, including all 27 European nations, signing onto the declaration.

“The Bush administration before

just a few decades later. Mr. Stewart remained close with his family over the years, visiting his mother, Lily Robinson, his uncles, and cousins in Chicago when time permitted.

Mr. Stewart loved travel and adventure, and as a young man he started his first job with Transamerica Airlines in San Francisco. A few years later, he seized an opportunity to move to New York City working for Saturn Airways – his first day of work happened to fall on Judy Garland’s death on June 22, 1969. Vern stood in line for five hours to see Garland lie in state. A few days later, as he was walking down the street in Greenwich Village, he heard a commotion and stopped to help a man who lay bleeding on the street until an ambulance could arrive. Little did he know the events that surrounded him that day would eventually be known as the Stonewall riots, a pivotal point in the modern gay rights movement.

Mr. Stewart left Saturn Airways for Ozark Airlines in Iowa, Chicago, and Philadelphia. At each new city, friends said, he developed lifelong friendships, but also experienced the hate of being an openly gay African American man. Fiercely independent, Mr. Stewart learned to challenge the world through his laughter, intelligence, and drive.

A new job with World Airways brought Mr. Stewart back to his beloved San Francisco, now with a vibrant and openly gay leather community where he found home. He secured an apartment back in the Castro – across the hall from the famous singer Sylvester. In his off hours, Mr. Stewart managed the Watering Hole bar in the South of Market neighborhood.

Mr. Stewart owned a motorcycle and loved to give friends rides across town. One of his regular passengers was his friend, Jose Sarria, the first openly gay person in the world to run for public office and who would later form the vast nonprofit Imperial Court system. Mr. Stewart would pick up Mr. Sarria from his day job at a print shop in the Mission district, deliver him to his night job as “the nightingale of Polk Street,” and then back home late at night.

Hernandez, who died in 2009, would later become the first emperor of the Imperial Court, and another friend, the late Bob Ross, who was the publisher of the B.A.R., would become the seventh emperor of the Imperial Court. Mr. Stewart became a member of the San Francisco GDI Motorcycle Club in 1982.

Using his connections at the airlines, Mr. Stewart arranged charter flights from San Francisco to Chicago for the first few years of the IML contest. It was through this that he met Chuck Renslow, the founder of IML, and their friendship continued until Renslow’s passing in 2017.

Mr. Stewart’s work eventually took him from San Francisco to Utica with BEX Airlines and then to American Airlines. His retirement from the airline industry brought him to Washington, D.C., where he lived for many years, supporting the local communities in the district; Baltimore; Rehoboth Beach, Delaware; Philadelphia; and New York City.

“In my lifetime I have found precious few people who are truly down to earth – for real – no-bull type of people,” said longtime friend Queen Cougar, also known as Col-

leen Bogitini and who works in administration and advertising at the B.A.R. “Vern was the epitome of all that. You could always depend on him to give you the real deal of a story. Having people like Vern and his ‘older sister’ Marcus in our recent past seems cruel, as if our leather parents have left us all too soon.”

His friends said that Mr. Stewart’s number one goal was to make sure that future generations of leather men, women, boys, and girls were aware of their rich leather history.

He believed in telling it like it is in his “take no prisoners” style of training and educating those who will carry on the traditions and the leather lifestyle. Before his death, Mr. Stewart took steps to ensure that his legacy and life of photojournalism would be preserved for future generations.

In addition to many friends and chosen family, Mr. Stewart is survived by several cousins, including Haven Robinson, Jeannette Wooden, and Denise Robinson.

Per Mr. Stewart’s wishes, memorial celebrations will be held on both coasts. In San Francisco, a celebration of his life will be held Sunday, November 10, from noon to 3 p.m. at the SF Eagle, 298 12th Street.

In Washington, D.C., people will gather Sunday, December 8, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Almas Temple, 1315 K Street, NW. A memorial video is being prepared to celebrate Mr. Stewart’s abundant life and friendships worldwide. Friends are asking for any pictures to be emailed to be included in the presentation to msqcougar@comcast.net.t

“It is clear the governor has made advancing LGBTQ civil rights and social justice a high priority,” he said. “It really isn’t something that is a second priority set of issues for this governor.”

Engardio and his husband, Lionel Hsu, own a home in the Lake Merced neighborhood. He writes a regular column on city issues and local politics for the San Francisco Examiner and serves as vice president of Stop Crime SF, a grassroots group aiming to hold local law enforcement and judges accountable.

In an email to his supporters Tuesday, October 22, Engardio soft launched his supervisor bid, having pulled papers to run in September.

The move had long been expected, as Engardio has remained politically and publicly active since his campaign three years ago.

“Joel Engardio believes San Francisco’s best days are ahead, if we are willing to address today’s problems with equal doses of innovation and common sense. That’s why Joel is running for supervisor in 2020,” read his email, which also solicited donations to his campaign.

He told the B.A.R. that he plans to hold a formal campaign launch sometime in early 2020. According to the city’s ethics department, he is the first and only candidate so far to pull papers for the District 7 supervisor seat.

To learn more about his bio and platform stances, visit http://www. engardio.com/.

“When other governments are also working within international institutions to institutionalized homophobia, there is no neutrality,” Power said.

“In the face of that you either fight or you don’t fight.”

America wasn’t going to stay silent or “roll over,” she said, especially since it was American anti-gay right-wing activists who were “stoking vigilante violence.”

Power addresses LGBT rights and the importance of the issue and actions she took as a U.S. ambassador and steps taken by Obama and Clinton to bring LGBT rights to the forefront of human rights globally in the book.

One passage she read to the September 17 audience from her Post-it tagged book was a story about the then-newly painted rainbow crosswalk at the entrance to the U.N. on 1st Avenue in New York. Power had

Gay journo to run again for SF supe

Gay journalist Joel Engardio is hoping the third time is the charm for him winning the District 7 seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Having lost both his races in 2012 and 2016 against Supervisor Norman Yee, Engardio is once again running in 2020 to represent the neighborhoods west of Twin Peaks at City Hall.

With Yee termed out of office, his seat will be open come next November’s ballot. Currently serving as board president, Yee has reportedly urged his aide, Ivy Lee, to enter the race. She is running unopposed on next month’s ballot to serve on the city’s community college board through the end of 2020.

Lee, appointed last summer to her seat by Mayor London Breed, recently told the B.A.R. she does not plan to seek a full four-year term next year on the board overseeing City College of San Francisco. She also said that she has not decided if she will run for supervisor.

us had refused to recognize LGBT rights as human rights at the U.N. and elsewhere,” said Power. “What we inherited from the Bush administration was a human rights crisis.”

The first actions she took as an ambassador was for the U.S. to sign onto the declaration and to fight to retain sexual orientation in a resolution that would condemn extrajudicial killings.

“We had to fight just to get sexual orientation reentered into the resolution so that the world would be standing up saying, ‘Don’t murder people on the basis of sexual orientation,’” she said.

Other governments were working in opposition to LGBT rights to systematize homophobia on an international level at the U.N.

Propelled by events

Throughout the book she highlights significant LGBT events that propelled her, and the Obama administration, to stand up on behalf of LGBT people around the world. Two key things were the brutal murder of Ugandan gay activist David Kato in 2011 and the gruesome executions of suspected gay men by members of Islamic State and the Levant and spectators on the ground who stoned them to death in 2015.

Trump protest to hit Castro Saturday

The group Refuse Fascism is holding a nationwide protest against the Trump administration this Saturday, with a march planned in San Francisco that day. It will kick off at 1 p.m. at the plaza above the BART station at 24th and Mission streets and then wind its way to the city’s LGBT Castro district. A rally is planned for 3:30 p.m. at the intersection of Castro and Market streets.

For more information about the group, visit its website at http://www.

Refusefascism.org. t Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion, returns Monday, October 28.

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) 829-8836 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

See page 13 >>

Sports >>

t Gay Games needs to get serious about Hong Kong

October 24-30, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

by Roger Brigham

W

hen the Federation of Gay Games opens its annual meeting in exactly one week, the organizational members will be assembled in Guadalajara, Mexico, but their discussions will be bookended by the topic of demonstrations in Hong Kong and their potential impact on plans to hold the Gay Games there in 2022.

For much of the past two decades, these meetings have been virtually hijacked by the need to deal with the legacy of a past presumptive host – the defunct Gay and Lesbian International Sports Association – which broke off relations to create a rival event in an effort to co-opt the mission and destroy the Gay Games themselves.

This meeting will be different: not focused on the past, but on the impact of current, often violent, unrest in the former British colony, and the strategic decisions that need to be made to ensure a successful future.

When I previously wrote about what the current Hong Kong prodemocracy demonstrations meant for the 2022 Gay Games, FGG member organizations expressed support for Hong Kong 2022 organizers, but said they anticipated having difficulty recruiting participants to register; were concerned that changing political and economic conditions might force a late cancellation, which would badly impact registrants for this and any future quadrennial cycles; and that the FGG needed to plan an exit strategy if it seems it is going to have to relocate the event.

And that was before things got worse.

As many analysts anticipated, confrontational violence increased after the October 1 anniversary celebration by the communist party of its gaining control of mainland China, with some protesters and police using gasoline bombs, tear gas, water cannons, live ammunition, rubber bullets, and torrents of blue dye against each other. A seldom used emergency colonial-era law was invoked to ban wearing masks in public (many of the protesters have warn masks to thwart the ubiquitous facial recognition cameras); the import from the mainland of many items such as umbrellas and black clothing (extensively used by protesters) has been stopped; and transit stops, businesses, and government offices have been targeted by vandals, often triggered by suspicions of pro-Beijing leanings. News reports indicate many residents are selling their homes to pay for residency visas in other countries, and many demonstrators are writing farewell notes to friends and family, fearing they may be jailed or killed when they go to their next protest. Just last week, a

The planned Gay Games in Hong Kong will be a focus of the Federation of Gay Games annual meeting next week in Mexico.

mosque was hit with blue dye blasted from a water cannon when protesters were standing near it.

A journalist was blinded during a protest; other reporters have been beaten. Six people are believed to have died by suicide in anti-government protests since mid-June.

(On a side note, LGBT rights in Hong Kong took a couple of recent hits, when a court ruled against allowing recognition of same-sex marriage, and the housing authority refused to allow a gay man who had gotten married in London to live with his spouse because Hong Kong does not recognize same-sex marriages.)

The first two prodemocracy protests in Hong Kong took place in March and April, and then became almost daily in mid-June. Demands have included dropping a proposed deportation law (which has been done), investigating police conduct, and direct democratic elections. They come in a time when the communist government of China has been flexing its muscle to gain greater recognition of its claims over numerous lands, most notably Taiwan, and has been walking back some of the promises it made when it signed a handover agreement for Hong Kong with Britain in 1997.

The FGG board of directors will meet Wednesday, October 30, then the member assembly will begin the next day. The meeting agenda calls for a 90-minute discussion on the Hong Kong situation and member concerns at the end of the opening session on the first day, and a formal one-hour presentation by Hong Kong 2022 organizers late on the last day of the meeting, Saturday, November 2. The new board of directors will meet again the next day, and often when there is a major topic, individual delegates arrange to meet informally among themselves to discuss the issues. So there will be plenty of opportunities for Gay Games stakeholders to share concerns and develop a unified strategy going forward.

The membership will be counting on the board of directors to hear its

concerns and take its cues for action from the assembly.

One thing I have learned in my experiences working for non-profit organizations – from the FGG to the Animal Legal Defense Fund to Couples of the San Francisco Bay Area – is that a board can make the best damn decision in the world, but it won’t mean a thing if the membership does not agree. In the case of the Gay Games, the membership assembly is made up of the LGBT sports and cultural organizations that represent artists and athletes. They are the most important recruiters of potential registrants. They are the ones who will be most responsible for convincing individuals to register, regardless of whether the event remains in Hong Kong or is moved elsewhere.

I hate to say it, but when I process all I learn about the current situation and the recent track record of the Chinese government, I am pessimistic. I think deciding now to relocate the event to give a new host ample time to prepare is the safest choice to ensure the continued existence of the Gay Games. But I am not the “man in the arena” – the sports federations on the FGG are. I don’t have a vote – they do. So it doesn’t matter what I feel – it matters what they think and want to commit to.

A substantial number of those organizations have already said they are having trouble selling the Hong Kong Gay Games to their constituents and don’t see much hope conditions will change soon enough, and in the right direction, to make that task any easier.

Some would like to see the board lay out its options now, have a backup host selected, and a timeline of benchmarks to set any necessary relocation in enough time for a Gay Games, even if it is a scaled back event, to be organized by a new host. Currently, the 2022 Gay Games are set to be held in 36 months. Usually, hosts have five years to prepare for the event. Chicago 2006 stepped in a little more than two years before it held Gay Games VII, and an original host organization in Cleveland was dropped for another in the same city four years before the 2014 Gay Games.

San Francisco and numerous other cities, all but one in the United States,

Bullying reported at South Bay school

by Roger Brigham

S

anta Clara police and school officials said this week that they are investigating an alleged case of Adrian Wilcox High School football players bullying a male Wilcox cheerleader with homophobic taunts last week.

The incidents are alleged to have occurred Friday, October 18, at a Wilcox afternoon pep rally and the home game that evening against Milpitas High, which Wilcox won, 49-21. Wilcox is undefeated this season. Last season it won a state championship.

Captain Wahid Kazem of the

Santa Clara Police Department told reporters Wednesday the department had been asked by the Santa Clara Unified School District to investigate the alleged misconduct. Bullying is forbidden by school district policy and the police will investigate whether the behavior was criminal.

The police department and school district did not identify the 14-year-old cheerleader by name because of his age, and they gave no indication of what his sexual orientation is.

The boy’s father told the Mercury News his son and another cheerleader were also physically

threatened and added, “Even after everything that happened, he went back and faced it,” the man, who was not named, said. “He’s so courageous. He has a responsibility to his team and to the school.

He’s out there to cheer the football team and this is what they do.”

Fellow cheerleaders said the players called him “gay” and “fag.”

When the taunts continued, the cheerleader finally left the game with his sister.

By Wednesday morning, more than 5,000 people had signed an online petition at www.change.org calling for police and school investigations and actions. t

originally bid to host Gay Games XI. The two other finalists were two-time bidder Washington, D.C., and Guadalajara, the city in which this year’s annual meeting is being held.

In an ideal world, the Gay Games go forward in Hong Kong, LGBT sports and cultural groups are able to recruit eager participants, organizers work hand in hand with the various sports to embrace the modified Gay Games rules to fulfill the mission of inclusive participatory sports, and three years from now we’re all cheering 12,000 or so participants marching in to opening ceremonies.

In the real world, we must be prepared for, and act on, contingencies in a timely and effective, decisive manner rather than letting time flow past us and have outside circumstances overtake the situation.

The talks in Guadalajara need to be candid and thorough. They should not be about politics or protests or

promises. They should not be about wishes. They should be about dealing with realities to come.

Nigel Lee, who was a sports officer for the original Hong Kong bidders and is involved in the host organization, is listed on the agenda as a discussion leader.

When the delegates and board members meet, the talk should not be about taking sides. They should be about ensuring the continuation of the Gay Games sports movement at a time that other multi-sports events have faltered, casting skepticism in the LGBT sports community, and the challenges of doing it in a location where personal freedoms have been increasingly under attack. Hong Kong was chosen as host decisively in 2017.

Now the question that must be answered is whether that still makes sense once 2022 rolls around.t

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<< Community News

12 • Bay Area Reporter • October 24-30, 2019

<<

Meth task force

From page 1

hospital emergency rooms, in our jails and too often in the growing lists of San Franciscans dying from overdoses,” Mandelman said.

The data backs him up. There has been a 500% increase in meth overdose deaths within the past decade and 126 people in San Francisco died of a meth overdose in 2018, according to city statistics.

“Among homeless San Franciscans who have died on our streets, methamphetamine was the most commonly present substance – showing up in 47% of deaths,” Mandelman said.

The task force recommendations were organized under four goals: investing in care models to reduce

<<

<<

Farrow

Castro incidents

From page 2

chez streets, according to Officer Robert Rueca, a spokesman with the San Francisco Police Department. Another man was walking when people jumped out of a car after asking him a question. At least one of the men was wearing a mask and brandishing a baseball bat.

The victim, Matt Borg, discussed his experiences with NBC Bay Area Wednesday, October 16.

<<

they can call, an app they can [use] and they can get in real time an appropriate response that isn’t necessarily the police,” Mandelman said. “That is something that I think will change lives both for folks who are in crisis and for the communities they live in.”

In a news release, Breed said that a sobering center will help reduce visits to the psychiatric emergency services at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and hospital emergency rooms throughout the city, where people who are under the influence of drugs, but not in need of emergency medical or psychiatric services, often seek care.

The task force also recommended that the city expand the availability of treatment beds, and that the city add “more behavioral health resources to accompany police on calls regarding people in crisis,” according to the re-

From page 1

“courage and persistence” in fighting corruption.

“We need independent journalists,” he said.

Farrow, who recently won a Pulitzer Prize for pubic service for his New Yorker articles alleging sexual misconduct by powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, grew up hearing his sister Dylan’s accusations of sexual abuse by her stepfather, Woody Allen.

Farrow, 31, the child of Allen and his former longtime partner Mia Farrow, is touring the country to promote “Catch and Kill,” which expands on his magazine work to discuss the pattern of powerful men, who, like Weinstein, have been trying to silence the women who’ve come forward with allegations of abuse.

The book also takes a devastating look at NBC News, which killed Farrow’s Weinstein project, leading him to take it to the New Yorker. Five days before it was published, a pair of New York Times reporters broke open the Weinstein story on that paper’s front page. Farrow shared his Pulitzer with Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey.

“Catch and Kill,” published October 18 and already in its third printing, details accusations of cover-ups of many allegations against prominent men, including several who worked with Farrow at NBC, where Farrow was an investigative reporter and, for a year, had his own daily program on MSNBC. All those accused have denied Farrow’s accusations.

The book takes its title from a practice used by tabloids whereby they prevent, usually by payment, an individual from publicly revealing information damaging to a third party.

Monday’s San Francisco event was a conversation with Mother Jones editor-in-chief Clara Jeffery, held at the Calvary Presbyterian Church and co-sponsored by Book Passage and the Curran Theatre.

harm, improving access to treatment and housing, building capacity of staff and services for meth users, and strengthening coordination of city services and systems, according to a copy of the report.

One way the city will seek to coordinate services and systems is by finding ways other than police intervention to deal with individuals having mental health and/or drug-related episodes.

“I hear almost every day from constituents who are seeing folks in distress – folks in psychosis – pretty much every day and they have no idea what to do, who to call, how to get a response,” Mandelman said. “They feel nervous about calling the police.

“What (we) will be moving forward (with) are other responses so that San Franciscans who are seeing neighbors in distress have a number

News Briefs

From page 6

The Pride center is a program of StarVista in collaboration with Daly City Partnership, Outlet Adolescent Counseling Services, and Peninsula Family Service.

For more information, visit http://www.sanmateopride.org.

“We need independent journalists.”

–Ronan Farrow, Author of “Catch and Kill”

t

lease from the mayor’s office.

The release pointed out that the city is making progress on that recommendation and the mayor’s goal of adding 1,000 shelter beds, and has opened 346 new shelter beds, with 444 either in construction or in the pipeline. Breed also recently announced the addition of 14 new Hummingbird psychiatric respite beds, in partnership with Tipping Point Community.

Mandelman said he hoped that the city’s response to meth can serve as a model in much the same way that the San Francisco model of AIDS care was emulated elsewhere.

Mike Discepola, the senior director of behavioral health services for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which operates Strut, also spoke at the announcement. He had been one of the 22 members of the task force.

“At the San Francisco AIDS Foundation we love drug and alcohol users, including meth users,” Discepola said. “We value community ideals that offer compassion and dignity to our lovers, families, friends, and community members.

“I believe when we accept drug users without stigma or shame and welcome them high, low, crashing, and in all states of mental health and substance use and misuse, we have nothing to gain but vast improvements in serving all residents with substance use concerns in their health and functioning,” he added.t

Convinced NBC was not about to change its mind, Farrow said, “I went across the street” to the New Yorker with the story, where editors greeted him with open arms. On October 10, 2017, the magazine published the first story online. (It ran in the October 23 print edition.) The first Times story was published October 5, 2017.

Farrow left the network, but not before realizing that its dismissal of the story might involve accusations against a handful of NBC big shots, including former “Today Show” host Matt Lauer, who was later fired for inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.

Lauer and the network have both denied a claim of rape that is in Farrow’s book. Farrow also uncovered evidence that the network has made financial settlements with a number of the women who filed complaints, although the network continues to deny that the payments were part of a cover-up.

The story gained momentum as both the New Yorker and the Times broke a series of articles detailing accusations by dozens of women who claim to have been victims of powerful men in the entertainment industry who went to great lengths to both silence the women as well as the journalists trying to tell their stories.

Farrow and the Times reporters – Kantor and Twohey – landed book contracts, each taking different approaches to tell the stories the helped form the backbone of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements building across the country. Kantor and Twohey’s book, “She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement,” was published last month.

As far as his engagement to Lovett, Farrow said that the couple “hasn’t set a date,” noting that both men have “hectic schedules.”

As for future stories, Farrow said that he hopes to continue to have “brave sources” who will come forward to trust him with their stories.

He’s open to covering additional stories about the abuse of power by powerful men “if they can expand the conversation” on the topic.

“Of course I would take a look at” any tips that came his way, “and be sure that if I was unable to work on the story, I’d be sure it got into the hands of other reporters,” he said.

During his onstage conversation with Jeffery both shared a number of juicy nuggets with the enthusiastic audience, which gave the two a standing ovation at the beginning and end of the presentation: • When Farrow described NBC’s many excuses for refusing to broadcast his meticulously researched story on women abused by Weinstein, Jeffrey said the network’s excuses were “a lot of bullshit.”

• When Farrow’s NBC producer working with him on the story “wouldn’t stop speaking up” about the importance of covering the topic, the producer lost his job. Network executives had “ordered him to cancel interviews with rape victims,” Farrow said.

• In explaining their reasoning for not broadcasting the story, an NBC executive told Farrow that “it’s sometimes better to let others go first” in breaking stories, a laughable concept in the competitive field of journalism.

• The New Yorker, a “much smaller” company than NBC, retained an attorney to represent Farrow when the journalist was threatened with lawsuits by Weinstein. “They pulled out all the stops to go into battle for a tough story,” he said.

• Farrow discovered that NBC had hired a Wikipedia “scrubber” to whitewash the online profiles of its executives. “To this day, Wikipedia is stripped of references” about the controversy, he said.

• Writing the book offered a number of lessons to Farrow. One, he said, is about the “fragility” of the news business. “Thank God we have outlets willing to go into battle,” he said. t

To read the report, visit https:// www.sfdph.org/dph/files/MethTaskForce/Meth%20Task%20 Force%20Final%20Report_FULL. pdf.

Although much of the new book is “very dark,” Farrow said it is ultimately an “optimistic” story of “women who risked everything to expose the truth

and spark a global movement” protesting abusive treatment of women.

The book details Farrow’s two-year journey researching and writing it, including what he called the “tactics of surveillance and intimidation” deployed by wealthy and connected men to “threaten journalists and silence victims of abuse.” During his investigation, Farrow said he was followed by private investigators hired by Weinstein.

The Weinstein story began when Farrow was working as an investigative journalist for NBC News, when he first heard the allegations of abuse from Hollywood actresses, who claimed Weinstein had sexually assaulted them. Farrow slowly gained the confidence of a handful of them, and compiled a package of evidence that he hoped would be broadcast on the network. But the brass at NBC repeatedly turned down his pitches and suggested he “just forget about” the topic, giving a variety of explanations why it wasn’t a “good story” to broadcast, he said.

“It was pretty clear to me early on” that the negative response of many NBC editors and executives must have had had a broader explanation, he said, since he had presented a meticulously researched proposal with a number of women willing to go public with their stories.

“It was devastating,” said Farrow, “to be sitting on evidence of crimes and know that people were getting hurt” and be told his employer was not interested in the story.

“It was a huge burden,” he said, to have taped confessions that might never be aired.

“No arrests have been made and these incidents remain open and active investigations,” Rueca wrote in an email to the B.A.R. Gregory Carey, a gay man who is the chief of patrol for Castro Community on Patrol, wrote in an email to the B.A.R. that he has “heard of a few serious assaults in the Castro (not so much Noe Valley) in the past few months, but cannot attribute them to hate motives.”

“The ones we’ve investigated are more connected to people experiencing severe mental illness, and hate lan-

guage or other signs of hate motives have not been brought to our attention,” he wrote.

That said, Carey added that hate crimes are underreported and that the LGBT/SFPD Forum, a group of police and community leaders that meets regularly, is in the process of planning a workshop “to discuss hate crimes and to encourage people who believe they were victims to file appropriate police reports.”

With Halloween approaching, Castro regulars may remember that the huge street party that used to shut

down traffic in the neighborhood was canceled in perpetuity after nine people were shot in 2006 in what was believed to be a gang-related incident.

The need for heightened security costs also aided in the 2016 demise of the Pink Saturday street party, which used to be held the day before the San Francisco LGBT Pride parade, according to Carey.

Carey urged members of the general public to call 911 in case of an emergency, ask the call-taker for the computer aided dispatch, or CAD, number to make it easier to follow up

with a subsequent investigation, and contact Castro Community on Patrol if someone is uncomfortable working with the police or the district attorney’s office.

“We cannot provide legal advice, but can help with the sometimes difficult conversation with authorities,” he wrote. t

DPH says get your flu shot

es the chance of hospitalization.

“The flu vaccine is the best form of prevention against the influenza virus,” Dr. Juliet Stoltey, DPH communicable disease control and prevention director, said in a news release. “Getting vaccinated every year will help you, your family, and your community stay healthy.”

Flu symptoms include fever, chills, fatigue, headache, body

aches, cough, and sore throat.

Many people with flu also have a runny or stuffy nose, but with flu, people feel sicker than with the common cold. Health officials said that people with symptoms should stay home for at least 24 hours after their fever goes away to prevent spreading the infection to others.

A person with the flu may be contagious and infect others before

they even feel sick.

For a list of San Francisco locations that offer free or low-cost flu vaccinations, visit www.sfcdcp. org/immunizations/where-to-getimmunized.

In Alameda County, people can check the Public Health Department’s website at https://bit. ly/33JGWeF for information on where to get a flu shot. t

In his interview with the B.A.R., Farrow discussed the book as well as other highlights of his busy life, including his recent engagement to Jonathan (Jon) Lovett, 37, a former Obama speechwriter and creator of the NBC sitcom, “1600 Penn.” Lovett also was a founder of Crooked Media, which hosts 10 podcasts, including “Pod Save America.”

Farrow spent two years researching and writing the 448-page book, published by Little, Brown and Company. In the midst of his exhausting work, “meticulously checking every fact,” Farrow took time off to fly to the United Kingdom, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in political science from Oxford University, where he had been a Rhodes scholar, he said.

“It’s been busy,” he added.

Busy indeed. Farrow is also a graduate of Yale Law School (and a member of the bar in New York, where he lives) and before his career in journalism, served as a State Department official in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He’s also the author of the New York Times bestseller, “War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence.” He is currently a contributing writer for the New Yorker, where he broke a story last month on MIT Media Labs financial ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Farrow also recently signed a deal with Home Box Office to produce documentaries, he said.

Dark, yet optimistic

The San Francisco Department of Public Health urges everyone age 6 months and older to get their yearly flu vaccine during this flu season. Officials said that the vaccine protects everyone’s health – it prevents individuals from getting sick, limits the spread of influenza from person to person, and reduc-

For more information on Castro Community on Patrol, visit https:// www.castropatrol.org/.

t

Travel>>

October 24-30, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 13

Put kink in your next LGBTQ cruise

by Ivan Quintanilla

Polyamorous and Kink.”

As VACAYA co-founder Patrick Gunn said, “If you believe love is love, you belong on our vacations.”

And we did. Though the largest percentage of guests was by far men, they were men of all ages, shapes and sizes – another coup for inclusivity. And from my conversations with the topless ladies splashing in the pool and my new friends from East Lansing, Michigan, Jennifer and Johanna, who I met at the ship’s ice cream parlor, all shared in the

joyous excitement. (Guests interviewed for this article preferred to use only their first names.)

To coincide with the Black Party the ship’s basketball court was designated as a puppy pen (not the ASPCA type). Every other night the basketball court, located in a secluded part of the ship, was renamed the Red Light District and welcomed exhibitionists to double dribble all day and night in VACAYA’s sexual play area (condoms, lube, and towels were freely provided). During

as pedestrians can use the crosswalk.

“It’s also really bad in the other crosswalk where there’s not a camera,” Enfinger said, referring to the stretch of Castro Street that crosses Market. “You’re not supposed to make a left on Market but a lot of people do every single day.”

Tom Temprano, a gay man who is an aide for Mandelman, said in a phone interview with the B.A.R. that the supervisor has been coordinating with SFMTA on the Upper Market Safety Project, which SFMTA notes is “a substantial, multi-phased effort to improve the

safety and comfort of Market Street between Octavia Boulevard and Castro Street for all roadway users.”

“It’s moving pretty quickly,” Temprano said. “But any (SF)MTA fix is a long fix.”

Temprano said that most of the work heretofore discussed for the intersection had been on the northwest corner.

Ben Barnett, a spokesman for SFMTA, said, “The Upper Market Safety Project plans to create a new crosswalk and curb ramps between the intersection and Pink Triangle Park.” Additionally, he wrote in an

email that “a revised lane configuration will slow westbound vehicles turning off of Market onto westbound 17th Street.”

While the city of San Francisco is in the midst of a 10-year plan to eliminate traffic-related fatalities, 22 people have died on the city’s streets as of August 31 – the most recent date for which data provided by the SFMTA to the B.A.R. is available (the city is not counting freeway fatalities in its official tally, though this would bump the number up to 28).

Of the 22 deaths, 15 were pedes-

trians, one was on a motorcycle, and six were inside motor vehicles.

This number is more than the total for 2017 and is one less than the total for 2018, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The number of severe pedestrian injuries, however, was down on August 31 from that date last year.

From January 1-August 31, 2019, there were 33 severe pedestrian injuries, compared with 49 for those same dates in 2018 and 38 for those same dates in 2017, according to data provided by the SFMTA. t

in a very frontal way on LGBT rights around the world that could cause very homophobic leaders demagoguing ... on this issue to render the issue of LGBT rights as a kind of imperial plot.”

She saw the U.N. as the solution to empower LGBT activists around the world.

“It is far harder for the leader of a country that has criminalized LGBT status to taint advocacy on behalf of LGBT people in their midst as Western because it is the law of the world,” said Power, pointing out that if a resolution passes through the General Assembly or the Human Rights Council, “It gives us a much sturdier leg to stand on.”

Power explained that she and her team, headed up by David Pressman, a gay man who was the American ambassador to the U.N. for special political affairs, were highly aware of the fact that there would be a backlash. Pressman built a team of U.N. experts, many of whom were LGBT, to gain international legal protections and materials created at the U.N. that activists on the ground could use in their fight for equality in their countries.

The tools included empowering U.S. embassies around the world to protect and support local LGBT communities, prioritizing processing LGBT asylum seekers and refugee applications, and creating an LGBT rapporteur at the U.N. to help LGBT people work to achieve rights.

Most importantly, she said, it was critical for LGBT activists to be backed by the Obama administration.

“To throw the weight of the U.S. government behind their efforts, I think, that is something that once

done can’t be undone,” said Power, even in the current climate under Trump’s administration where “many of those individuals on the frontline feel dauntingly alone.”

Critical of Trump, Power flatly stated in response to his tweet that he would decriminalize homosexuality around the world this year, “One tweet does not a policy make.

“An announcement is not policy,” she added, referring to his statement before the U.N. General Assembly in September. “There’s no follow through at all at our embassies.”

That’s unlike when Obama condemned Kato’s murder and the killings of five LGBT Honduran activists in 2011. Back then, U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Lisa Kubiske followed up with Honduran officials who created a special unit to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of hate crimes against LGBT people in the country, Power noted in her book.

“There is no credibility for this administration to follow through on one tweet by the president that was then contradicted by what the administration as a whole is doing,” she said, in terms of stripping LGBT people of their rights here in the U.S. As far as other critics, “I’ve seen some of the criticisms, but none of the criticisms I’ve seen do a before and after comparison,” she said.

“Demigods are going to do what demigods do, but from our conversations with the frontline activists it was actions at the U.N. that were greatly coveted,” she added, because they gave the activists, “a tool to use on their own invoking a sense of a higher law or at least a parallel law which had moved to a very different or a more progressive place than national law.”

The Obama administration’s legacy at the U.N. protecting LGBT rights can be used by LGBT activists to fight for their own rights no matter who is in power in the U.S., she expressed.

“It is a tool - an imperfect one for sure, but - that people who are being discriminated against or abused can invoke, and they didn’t have that tool before. They only had their voices,” said Power, pointing out that it’s going to take more than one administration to bring about equality for

LGBT people around the world.

To Power, promoting LGBT rights around the world is an important and lasting part of U.S. diplomacy.

“We’ve laid down a marker, which I hope will be embraced by our future administration,” she said. t

A

s I crossed the gangway to board the Celebrity Cruises’ Summit for VACAYA’s maiden voyage this summer, the Scissor Sisters serenading over the speakers reassured me that “a kiki is a party for calming all your nerves.” I took it as welcome foreshadowing that the first large-scale LGBTQ+ travel company to launch in decades had taken the initiative to musically score my journey from the moment I boarded. Yes, h-h-honey, they were serving and working and turning out VACAYA’s inaugural kiki.

I instantly became giddy with anticipation. This was my first gay cruise. Somehow, I’d made it this long – a seasoned gay man in his 40s – without ever specifically sailing with my community.

What was different now? VACAYA (https://www.myvacaya. com) is setting out to change the existing model of queer travel. From its inception, it set the lofty goal of serving the entire LGBTQIAPK community. On its website it clearly explains and creates an alphabet soup utopia that welcomes (in its words): “Lesbian, Gay, Transgender/ Transsexual, Questioning/Queer, Intersex, Asexual/Ally, Pansexual/

<<

Pedestrian hits

From page 2

at approximately 8:30 p.m., was an apparent hit-and-run.

“I’m honestly concerned nothing is going to happen until someone is killed at the intersection of Castro and Market,” Enfinger said October 15. He added that he reached out to people who work for the supervisor to little avail.

Enfinger said that a major issue is the fact that the light is green for cars turning from Market Street onto Castro Street at the same time

<<

Power

From page 10

worked with a committee and the city to have the sidewalk installed near the end of her tenure in 2016. At her last U.N. General Assembly dinner, she invited a friend, who was an unnamed foreign minister, to see the crosswalk after the meal. Despite their friendship she never asked him about his personal life, she read. It was in the middle of the night, without speaking the truth that they both knew and “what he could not advertise in his own country,” she wrote. She described the look on his face when he came into the light as he crossed the street coming toward her, “It combined relief, delight, and deep calm. It was the look of someone being fully himself.”

The moment demonstrated that the rainbow path leading to the U.N. may appear to be decorative, but it was much more than something pretty to walk across. It was a symbol of freedom and equality so many LGBT people around the world cannot live in due to harassment, violence, and even death from their family and neighbors to government officials.

A ‘fine line’

However, in her book Power recognized the path she embarked on promoting LGBT rights around the world was a “fine line” to walk and one she consistently questioned.

At times she expressed uncertainty about the best way to handle situations.

“It’s one thing to decide that you are going to do your best to promote LGBT rights around the world,” Power said in the interview. “I was sensitive to the risk that by leading

“Enjoy fisting? There’s no shame in that. We create an environment where people can openly embrace each and every side of their desires and personalities without judgment.”

Though the company is still in the planning stages of expanding its programming, its sex-positive commitment extends beyond a refurbished cruise ship basketball court.

“It’s our goal to one day offer a sexually-focused cruise – one where people can explore their deepest desires in a completely open and safe way,” said Roper. “We’re working with other kink-focused community members – both gay and straight – to build off their successes and offer our guests something entirely new. It’s our passion to play a big part in ending sexual repression. With the exception of our asexual community members, sex is a commonality for all us – no matter your age, race or predilections. There shouldn’t be any shame in enjoying what you enjoy.”t

days at sea, they even had a clothingoptional sundeck for those averse to tan lines or confining swimsuits.

“I love that VACAYA thought about so many different types of people in our community and featured areas for everyone to be comfortable, get to know each other and relax. I’ve never felt so comfortable on a cruise before,” said Dan from Connecticut, as he disrobed and meticulously folded his boardshorts and polo shirt by his lounge chair.

“Having a safe place to be naked on the ship is amazing. And I especially enjoy that it isn’t a small area hidden away. I’d never had this experience on a cruise before. The entire area is fun, lively, and totally judgment-free.

It’s pretty great!”

The company’s CEO explained how the allLGBTQ+ inclusive travel company came to so openly embrace a community, operating outside traditional lines.

“From leather and fetish-wear to puppy play and everything in between, we’ve tried to create a sexpositive space for those who enjoy the darker arts. Like group play? There’s nothing wrong with that,” VACAYA founder and CEO Randle Roper said.

Courtesy Gabriel Goldberg/VACAYA

Guests enjoyed the VACAYA inaugural cruise.

For a longer version of this article, visit ebar.com.

ot international LGBT news tips?

Call or send them to Heather Cassell at WhatsApp: 415-517-7239, or Skype: heather.cassell, or oitwnews@gmail.com.

NOTICE OF ENTRY OF JUDGMENT ON SISTER-STATE JUDGMENT CASE NUMBER: 34-2018-00233034 Sacramento County Superior Court 720 9th Street Sacramento, CA 95814 Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse Plaintiff: San Tan Heights Homeowners Association, an Arizona nonprofit corporation Defendant: Kyle Stamper, Jr. and Jane Doe Stamper, husband and wife 1. TO JUDGMENT DEBTOR: Kyle Stamper, Jr. and Jane Doe Stamper, husband and wife 2. YOU ARE NOTIFIED a. Upon application of the judgment creditor, a judgment against you has been entered in this court as follows: (1) Judgment creditor: San Tan Heights Homeowners Association, an Arizona nonprofit corporation (2) Amount of judgment entered in this court $7,488.09 b. This judgment was entered based upon a sister-state judgment previously entered against you as follows: (1) Sister state: Arizona (2) Sister-state court: Apache Junction Justice Court, 575 N. Idaho Rd., Apache Junction, AZ; transferred to Pinal County Superior Court, 971 Jason Lopez Cir. Florence, AZ 85132 (3) Judgment entered in sister state on May 26, 2016 (4) Title of case and case number: San Tan Heights Homeowners Association v. Kyle Stamper, Jr. and Jane Doe Stamper; CV2015-1851; CV2016-01724 A SISTER-STATE JUDGMENT HAS BEEN ENTERED AGAINST YOU IN A CALIFORNIA COURT. UNLESS YOU FILE A MOTION TO VACATE THE JUDGMENT IN THIS COURT WITHIN 30 DAYS AFTER SERVICE OF THIS NOTICE, THIS JUDGMENT WILL BE FINAL. THIS COURT MAY ORDER THAT A WRIT OF EXECUTION OR OTHER ENFORCEMENT MAY ISSUE. YOUR WAGES, MONEY, AND PROPERTY COULD BE TAKEN WITHOUT FURTHER WARNING FROM THE COURT. IF ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES HAVE ALREADY BEEN ISSUED, THE PROPERTY LEVIED ON WILL NOT BE DISTRIBUTED UNTIL 30 DAYS AFTER YOU ARE SERVED WITH THIS NOTICE. Date: May 10, 2018

by K. MADDEN, Deputy NOTICE TO THE PERSON SERVED: You are served as an individual judgement debtor.

Attorney or party without attorney B. Austin Baillio, Esq. (SBN 274535) Maxwell & Morgan, P.C. 4854 East Baseline Rd, Suite 104 Mesa, Arizona 85206 Attorney for San Tan Heights Homeowners Association Telephone No: 480-833-1001 10/24, 10/31, 11/7, 11/14/19 CNS-3301124# BAY AREA REPORTER

<< Classifieds

14 • Bay Area Reporter • October 24-30, 2019

t

Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038787200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EMILY JENKS PHOTOGRAPHY, 1258 12TH AVE #2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EMILY JENKS. 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 09/05/19.

OCT 03, 10, 17, 24, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038787700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BACK TO SPORTS FITNESS & THERAPY, 342 WEST PORTAL AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DARRON P. BADONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/03/97. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/05/19.

OCT 03, 10, 17, 24, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038805100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LOMBARD PSYCHIC, 1628 LOMBARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARIO ADAMS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/23/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/23/19.

OCT 3, 10, 17, 24, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038806800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PRECIOUS FUR, 1540 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed 8086 SITTING CORP. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/24/19.

OCT 03, 10, 17, 24, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038807100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GANT PROPERTIES, 350 RHODE ISLAND ST #240, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GANT ENTERPRISE INC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/24/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/25/19.

OCT 03, 10, 17, 24, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038796300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WAX SUITE AND BEAUTY, 4 EMBARCADERO CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed WAX SUITE AND BEAUTY (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/15/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/16/19.

OCT 03, 10, 17, 24, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038818700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RODGERS + DEITERS, 2211 POST ST #300, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ERIK DEITERS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/13/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/07/19.

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038816800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LOVE THROUGH THE STORM, 742 48TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SEAN TRAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/04/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/04/19.

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038812600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NIPPON GOLDFISH SERVICING, 520 SILLIMAN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KIEN LAM. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/31/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/02/19.

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038813900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EUGENIA OLVERA ART, 16 PUTNAM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EUGENIA O. RAPHAEL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/02/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/02/19.

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038818000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BICYCLE COMMUTER SERVICES, 38 EL SERENO CT, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ELBERT C. HILL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/23/04. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/07/19.

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038816300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GREAT ADVENTURES, 2830 A GOLDEN GATE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GAIL MATTHEWS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/04/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/04/19.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038805500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SL THERAPY, 414 GOUGH ST #6, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SHEENING LIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/28/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/23/19.

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038814200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INDIGO X, 18 BARTOL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JIN HAO CHUA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/02/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/02/19.

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038808300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PALM FINE JEWELRY, 1410 POLK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a general partnership and is signed TESSA ORTON & SAMUEL BILLS. 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 09/26/19.

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038817000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LITTLE HOLLYWOOD CAFE, 2155 BAYSHORE BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed MARIBEL CHAVARRI & MICHAEL CHAVARRI. 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 10/04/19.

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038812800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FOLSOM STREET DENTAL, 1130 FOLSOM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SETIA DENTAL 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 10/02/19.

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038817100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DJI INVESTMENTS, INC., 2230 RIVERA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed DJI INVESTMENTS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/08/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/04/19.

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038818300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CASE FOR MAKING, 4037 JUDAH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CASE FOR MAKING, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/07/19.

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038792900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GATSBYSF, 795 VALENCIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GATSBY 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 09/11/19.

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038799200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LOOP SUPPORT, 1201 TENNESSEE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed PANEL NINJA, INC. (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/22/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/18/19

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038812900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BEIT RIMA, 86 CARL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed BEIT RIMA LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/02/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/02/19.

OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038815700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: YUMMY HOME PLATE, 177 TOWNSEND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HOME PLATE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/03/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/03/19.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555285

In the matter of the application of: CHARLES RAMIRO SAENZ, 1336 SOUTH VAN NESS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner CHARLES RAMIRO SAENZ, is requesting that the name CHARLES RAMIRO SAENZ, be changed to RAMIRO SAENZ TEJADA. 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 3rd of December 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

OCT 17, 24, 31, NOV 07, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555166

In the matter of the application of: TEREZA LEMOS WILLIS, 201 8TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner TEREZA LEMOS WILLIS, is requesting that the name TEREZA LEMOS WILLIS AKA TEREZA ASSIS LEMOS AKA TEREZA ASSIS WILLIS AKA TEREZA LEMOS, be changed to JULIANA DEMICAEL. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, on the 3rd of December 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

OCT 17, 24, 31, NOV 07, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555281

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OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019

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FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038824500

OCT 17, 24, 31, NOV 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038811500

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038815200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EPIC AUTOMOTIVE, 341 10TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed WT MANAGEMENT INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/10/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/10/19.

OCT 17, 24, 31, NOV 07, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555282

In the matter of the application of: CURTIS HAPGOOD TONGUE, 2524 FRANKLIN ST #4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner CURTIS HAPGOOD TONGUE, is requesting that the name CURTIS HAPGOOD TONGUE, be changed to CURTIS TONGUE HAPGOOD. 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 26th of November 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

OCT 17, 24, 31, NOV 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038820400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HARD HITTING CLEANING SERVICES, 820 PRESIDIO AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARCUS GAINES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/09/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/09/19.

OCT 17, 24, 31, NOV 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038820700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ADVANCED AQUATICS 888, 140 ANZA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JERAD LEONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/08/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/09/19.

OCT 17, 24, 31, NOV 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038799000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HAPI FEET, 2477 CHESTNUT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JANELLE TATE GREEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/13/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/18/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHINATOWN PRETTY, 1314 FULTON ST #B, SAN FRANCISCO CA 94117. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed ANDRIA LO & VALERIE LUU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/03/19.

OCT 17, 24, 31, NOV 07, 2019 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-038449000

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038825500

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: ALLEY HOUSE, 3751 GEARY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by GS RIVERSIDE GRILL (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/28/18.

OCT 17, 24, 31, NOV 07, 2019 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-032194300

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: PLAIN & SIMPLE, 149 ADDISON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by MELVINA M. HILL. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/13/09.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555303

In the matter of the application of: KRYSTAL KOBASIC BJUHR, 3626 25TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner KRYSTAL KOBASIC BJUHR, is requesting that the name KRYSTAL KOBASIC BJUHR AKA KRYSTAL CAROL KOBASIC, be changed to KRYSTAL CAROL KOBASIC. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, on the 17th of December 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038829400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DIVIS REFEXOLOGY MASSAGE AND SPA, 773 DIVISADERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LINH AI DUONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/18/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/18/19.

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038829900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INCMEDIA; BALBOA BUSINESS CENTER; INQ; INQMEDIA; ONE CHOICE TRAVEL; AZN EVENTS; ZENNHA; INQCOM, 3739 BALBOA ST #164, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed IVAN T. NGUYENVU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/09/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/18/19.

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0388 14300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAFEWAY GLOBAL EDUCATION, 2309 NORIEGA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LEI LI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/02/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/02/19.

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038829100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PEW PEW GAMES, 460 BRANNAN ST #77744, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LUYI ZHANG. 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 10/18/19.

OCT 17, 24, 31, NOV 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038808900

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038829200

OCT 17, 24, 31, NOV 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038816900

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038827500

OCT 17, 24, 31, NOV 07, 2019

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BOOGIE DAWG, 1888 GENEVA AVE #1712, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SHEILA K. LANG. 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 09/26/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CLEAN BAY AREA, 3661 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EDUARDO ISAAC DUTSON-GUTIERREZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/30/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/04/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHOROS CHARAS-DESTINATION, 1427 24TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SWATHI LAKSHMANAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/15/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/15/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WEI GUO HOUSE, 3751 GEARY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GS RIVERSIDE GRILL (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/01/19.

OCT 17, 24, 31, NOV 07, 2019

In the matter of the application of: MEGAN E. INTOCCIA, 2524 FRANKLIN ST #4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MEGAN E. INTOCCIA is requesting that the name MEGAN E. INTOCCIA, be changed to MEGAN INTOCCIA HAPGOOD. 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 26th of November 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

Classifieds OCT 10, 17, 24, 31, 2019

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038821900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PEW PEW GAMES, 1 BLUXOME ST #214, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LUYI ZHANG. 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 10/18/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BLOOM BLOW DRY BAR, 819 ULLOA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BC BEAUTY SERVICES GROUP INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/15/19.

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038824200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE NINES, 2509 POLK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed FROM GIRLS, FOR GIRLS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/14/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/15/19.

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038824400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: A TABLE, 4843 GEARY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed A TABLE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/15/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/15/19.

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038828800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ACTIVE ASCENSIONS, 236 WEST PORTAL AVE #192, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ACTIVE ASCENSION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/30/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/17/19.

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038823100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: YASMIN, 799 VALENCIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ELTAWIL BROTHERS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/03/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/11/19.

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038831500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MATCHA CAFE MAIKO, 756 GRANT AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TMC VENTURES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/31/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/21/19.

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038831400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MATCHA CAFE MAIKO, 3251 20TH AVE #250K, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TMC VENTURES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/31/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/21/19.

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038831200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MATCHA CAFE MAIKO, 1581 WEBSTER ST #175, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TMC VENTURES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/31/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/21/19.

OCT 24, 31, NOV 07, 14, 2019

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ZAD ACUPUNCTURE, 2211 POST ST #204, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SHAHLA HASHEMIZAD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/16/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/17/19.

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Vol. 49 • No. 43 • October 24-30, 2019

Rick Gerharter

www.ebar.com/arts

James Tissot's frisson of fashion & faith

by Sura Wood

T

he 19th-century French painter James Tissot may be the greatest artist many people know next to nothing about. Despite being a successful international art-star in his day, and his friendships with Monet, Manet and Degas, he is nowhere near as well-known as his contemporaries are today. “James Tissot: Fashion & Faith,” an original, six years-inthe-making exhibition now at the Legion of Honor, means to change that and triumphs in the process.

See page 21 >>

Manolo Pavón, Courtesy Sony Pictures Classics

Sarah Kleiner, a paintings conservator at the Fine Arts Museums, discusses painting techniques of James Tissot’s “Self Portrait,” part of the exhibit “James Tissot: Fashion & Faith” at the Legion of Honor

History of cinema in Almodovar's films

by David Lamble

I

n “Pain and Glory” (“Dolor y Gloria”), gay Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar returns with one of his favorite male leads, Antonio Banderas, as aging film director Salvador Mallo, in the throes of a creative slump as he reflects back on a 40-year career behind the camera.

See page 21 >>

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

Antonio Banderas as Salvador in Almodovar’s “Pain and Glory.”

<< Out There

16 • Bay Area Reporter • October 24-30, 2019

Dame Olivia’s smockery fetches big $

by Roberto Friedman

T

he Chicago fine art auction house Hindman announced the results of its Haute Couture and Luxury Fall Fashion auction last month. The highlight was a collection of 37 Parisian haute couture and Hollywood designs worn by Dame Olivia de Havilland from 1954-89. Dame Olivia is still alive and kicking at 103.

“All of the 37 lots sold, exceeding estimates and realizing a total of $85,000,” according to Hindman.

“The collection was popular with private collectors and museums alike, with Dior Heritage, the archive of the fashion house of Christian Dior in Paris, taking home nearly all of the lots. The top-selling highlight from the sale, a Christian Dior by Marc Bohan haute couture dress, inner bodice and shoes, Spring-Summer 1964, worn by de Havilland in the 1964 movie ‘Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte,’ surpassed its presale estimate of $2,000-

$3,000, selling for $8,125.

“Another highlight from the auction was a Christian Dior by Marc Bohan haute couture ensemble, Spring-Summer 1961, worn by de Havilland in the photograph on the cover of her 1961 book ‘Every Frenchman Has One’ and for the press reception in March 1961 in Atlanta for the special showing of ‘Gone with the Wind’ in honor of the Centennial of the Commencement of the Civil War. The ensemble sold for $6,250 against a presale estimate of $1,000-$1,500.”

Other sales surpassing presale estimates include a Christian Dior by Yves Saint Laurent haute couture dress and shoes, Spring-Summer 1958, which realized $5,000 against a presale estimate of $1,200-$1,800; and a Christian Dior by Marc Bohan haute couture ensemble, Spring-Summer 1961, worn by de Havilland in the 1962 movie “Light in the Piazza” that sold for $5,500 against a presale estimate of $1,500-$2,500.

Courtesy Hindman

Dame Olivia de Havilland, many years ago, wearing a Christian Dior by Marc Bohan haute couture dress that sold at auction for $8,125.

Hindman Director and Senior Specialist in Couture Timothy Long said, “It was an absolute pleasure to work with Dame Olivia de Havilland on this exciting collection. The compelling provenance connected to many items gave the garments a broader historical and cultural dimension, attracting major museums and collectors from around the globe. It is thrilling to know that a majority of the

items are going back to their ‘birthplace’ at Dior in Paris.”

A Dior coat was worn for her role in the Broadway production of “A Gift of Time” (1961), while other Dior designs were worn by de Havilland to the premieres of her movies “Proud Rebel” (1958) and “Lady in a Cage” (1964).

Andy does Joni

Star of stage and screen Andy

t

Mientus’ cabaret show at Feinstein’s at the Nikko a few weekends back was everything it promised to be, a faithful reenactment of Joni Mitchell’s classic album “Ladies of the Canyon” from start to finish. Mientus was backed up by two female singers, piano and guitar, but put his own gay male spin on the material, effortlessly singing Joni’s vulnerable lyrics to male lovers and putting his own brilliant spin on the songs. Suddenly the lights dimmed, and a recording of a familiar voice came over the sound system.

It was youth activist Greta Thunberg’s instantly famous speech at the U.N. Climate Action Summit: “This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!

“You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”

The cabaret players then segued seamlessly into Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” proving that the ancient album still speaks to our debased times, and that Joni was the Greta Thunberg of her time, calling out environmental destruction and capitalist greed even in the days when they weren’t glaringly obvious. “Don’t it always seem to go,/that you don’t know what you got til it’s gone? They paved Paradise, and put up a parking lot!” t

Love on the docks

by Jim Piechota

Professional headshots / profile pics Weddings / Events

StevenUnderhill 415 370 7152 • StevenUnderhill.com

Pier Groups: Art and Sex Along the New York Waterfront

by Jonathan Weinberg; Pennsylvania State University Press, $34.95

A

far cry from the sanitized, homogenized, tourist-friendly locale it is today, the area around New York City’s West Village piers in the 1970s was a hidden, secretive enclave where anonymous gay sexual activity was rampant, nude sunbathing was celebrated, and offbeat, radical works of queer art were created and appreciated.

Jonathan Weinberg, an instructor at the Yale School of Art and the Rhode Island School of Design, commingles vintage photography, anecdotes, interviews, and commentary into “Pier Groups: Art and Sex Along the New York Waterfront,” an art history book deceptively engrossing and undeniably haunting.

Weinberg, who met his husband at the long-defunct Bijou gay porn theater in NYC’s East Village 30 years ago, is no prude. He gleefully exposes a little-known facet of gay Manhattan history in these pages, suffused with photographs, original artwork, and film stills, all representative of the artistic and promiscuous community who transformed the ramshackle structures of Pier 34 into a gallery of creativity and a haven of anonymous intercourse.

First conceived in 2002 when Weinberg was an artist-in-residence at the Getty Research Institute, the book is the culmination of 16 years of research, inspired by several art exhibitions focused on the New York waterfront and Pier 34 specifically.

Weinberg’s own experiences shape the direction of the book’s narrative.

The author admits to being “a denizen of the waterfront and a member of the queer subculture” in the late 1970s. “In my late teens,” he confesses, “I began to frequent the gay bars lining Christopher Street and leading down to the docks. I sketched and made paintings

based on the very same crumbling piers.” Though it appealed mainly to gay men, this was a place for a certain type of sexual person, since “finding sexual partners along the waterfront was highly competitive and often frustrating, dangerous, and dispiriting.” Physically, the location didn’t amount to an orgasmic utopia, either.

“Writing and photographs, no matter how vivid, cannot convey the stench of excrement and garbage on a hot, humid July afternoon on the piers.”

While the pier scene was liberating for some and dehumanizing desperation for others, for him, “it was both abject and exhilarating.”

His book spotlights many enterprising artists like Gordon MattaClark, whose art installations reflected the beauty of abandoned spaces like the piers and captured the desire and the community of the men who frequented their collapsing buildings and warped wooden pilings. And there are many others who found themselves inspired by the sexual freedom experienced on the waterfront.

Authors like Samuel Delany describe an “initiation” that must occur for gay men to lose their inhibitions and fully embrace and enjoy the moments of “instant sex” that took place on the piers. Also featured are artists David Wo j n a r o w i c z (AIDS activist, performer, painter) and Tava (a.k.a.

Gustav Von Will), who spraypainted phrases and graffiti across the dilapidated walls of Pier 46, including a two-story-high painting of nude men grabbing their erect penis-

es. Moments of levity include an interview with photographer Arthur Tress, who recalls trying to chat with men cruising the docks for his work, only to be met with irritation since these guys weren’t there “to talk to people.”

Also frequented by the cruising gay men of the waterfront were the meatpacking trucks that parked in long lines and emptied out at dusk, which were then discreetly turned into shadowy locations for spontaneous sex.

There is much more included in these pages: visuals and stimulating text that will be a fascinating surprise to younger readers unaware of the activity in 1970s gay Manhattan.

For older readers who remember this era of danger, sex, desire, and public cruising, the book is a time capsule from a bygone era where on the fringes of a vibrant city thrived a microcosm of the gay community where sex and art reigned supreme.

Though the dockings and piers are decades gone, the memory of what used to be remains, when significant, celebratory books like Weinberg’s pay homage to it. t

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<< Theatre

18 • Bay Area Reporter • October 24-30, 2019

t

Theatre Rhino charges ahead in new season

by Jim Gladstone

“T

here’s a huge community out there looking to see narratives about themselves, to hear stories that represent them as something other than caricatures,” says director Ely Orquiza, discussing “Driven,” the play he’s currently rehearsing for its October 31 debut.

Decades ago, it would be reasonable to assume the topic at hand was queer theater. But Theatre Rhinoceros, which is mounting the premiere of this warm comic drama by playwright Boni Alvarez, has showcased LGBTQthemed productions for over four decades; the New Conservatory Theatre Company is dedicated to queer work; and other Bay Area companies now regularly incorporate gay and lesbian stories in their programming.

What Orquiza is observing is a dual dearth of productions about Filipino Americans and about the Asian American queer experience. His perspective is shared by the prolific Alvarez, most of whose dozen-plus scripts center on the Filipino diaspora and also feature gay characters.

Vince Thomas

Alan Quismorio (Arnel), Earl Alfred Paus (Danny), and Stephen Minor (Qulie) in “Driven” by Boni Alvarez, directed by Ely Sonny Orquiza, coming to Theatre Rhinoceros at Spark Arts

“I feel like it’s my responsibility as a Filipino playwright,” says the gay East Palo Alto native currently based in Los Angeles, where he teaches at USC, his M.F.A. alma mater, and is a writing resident at the Geffen Playhouse. “It may limit my appeal a bit to theaters in some parts of the country. Nationally, Filipinos tend to

congregate in cities like New York, LA, San Francisco and Chicago, and my plays tend to have large casts. I’ve had artistic directors tell me that they love the scripts, but that they’re not feasible given local talent pools.” But even in the Bay Area, last year’s Magic Theater production of “Gangster of Love” and A.C.T.’s 2015 “Monstress” are rare ex-

amples of Filipino-focused work.

“Driven”, with a cast of just three, is an exception, making it a potential break-out play for Alvarez and an ideal choice for Theatre Rhinoceros’ first full production in the intimate 45-seat Spark Arts Gallery in the Castro, where the company has previously presented readings and pop-up events. It’s a father-son story that stood out to director Orquiza when he first read it because it directly addresses some of the struggles faced by Asian American performers.

The gay main character, Danny, who comes from a working-class Filipino family, has studied acting at Yale and Julliard, and moves to Hollywood with big dreams. He finds himself soul-sapped by the industry’s stereotype-based casting decisions, and considers giving up his performing career. His father, Arnel, who struggles with addiction and lives vicariously through his son, urges Danny to press on. “‘Driven’ really resonated with me

because this Filipino father character is supportive of his son’s passion for the arts, and accepts his queerness,” says Orquiza. “It’s a very particular story, and it shows that there are alternatives to the culture of silence about homosexuality that’s often represented as the only attitude in Asian American households.”

Aesthetically, Orquiza delights in the way Alvarez’s writing captures the cadences of Filipinoaccented English and the bits of Tagalog that pepper the characters’ speech. “I think that a lot of literary managers at theater companies around the country don’t necessarily have the cultural competence to appreciate Boni’s scripts on paper.

There’s a musicality to the language that comes to life on stage.” t Driven, Oct. 31-Nov. 17, Theatre Rhinoceros at Spark Arts, 4229 18th St., SF. Tickets ($25-$30): (800) 338-3006, www.therhino.org

‘Chinese Lady’ resists representation

by Jim Gladstone

A

fong Moy was the first Chinese woman to ever set foot in the United States. She arrived as chattel, a 14-year-old girl leased out for a tidy sum by her already well-to-do father. The Carne brothers, two American importers of Asian home furnishings, used Afong as a cross between a billboard and a zoo animal. They charged curious New Yorkers to observe the costumed girl as she demonstrated chopsticks and tea service in a vitrine-like diorama decorated with fans, vases, folding screens and other ersatz Orientalia that the brothers sold as fashionably exotic décor.

The few recorded details of Afong’s true story serve as inspiration for playwright Lloyd Suh’s “The Chinese Lady,” at the Magic Theater through Nov. 3, which begins as an insightful dramatization of her early days in America, then billows forward in an effort to encompass the grand sweep of history.

This is an admirably overambi-

Jennifer Reiley

Rinabeth Apostol as Afong Moy in “The Chinese Lady” at the Magic Theatre.

tious piece, and while Suh and director Mina Morita get a bit blurry trying to hybridize history play, social justice argument and meta-narrative experiment

in a scant, intermissionless 90 minutes, Rinabeth Apostol’s sly, remarkably focused performance as Afong goes a long way to keep the proceedings from floating into abstraction.

Even when she delivers a line like “My entire life is a performance. These words that you hear are not my own. These clothes that I wear are not my own. This body that I occupy is not my own. I am intended to be representative of the Chinese Lady,” Apostol refuses to let her character disappear into stereotype, theory or symbolism.

With a full arsenal of precise sideeye glances, knowing smiles, and gently ironic inflections, Apostol makes us understand Afong as a very specific and very cheeky teen who gradually ages into disillusionment but never fully relinquishes her essential optimism.

Will Dao has less to work with in the play’s only other role, Atung, an attendant and English interpreter, but he also manages to create a singular, nuanced individual within a play that’s fundamentally driven by ideas more than

More vinyl love

by Gregg Shapiro

A

posthumously released musical love letter-compilationhomage to Paul McCartney’s late wife and musical mate Linda McCartney, the 16-track “Wide Prairie” (MPL/Capitol), bowing on 180-gram audiophile black vinyl for the first time (remastered at Abbey Road Studios), is a cornucopia of sounds and styles. First released on CD in 1998, “Wide Prairie” is comprised of songs from 1972 through the late 90s, and if an album can be described as the sound of someone having a good time, it would be this one.

Songs “New Orleans,” the buoyant “Seaside Woman,” the title track, “Cook of the House” and “Cow” (an experimental number that puts her in Yoko Ono territory) are the sound of someone with nothing to lose, singing her heart out.

Making its first appearance on

vinyl (old-fashioned black vinyl at that!), “Shrek: Music from the Original Motion Picture” from 2001 (Geffen/UMe) is notable for a few reasons. It’s the first soundtrack from the animated film series that introduced us to the lovable but disgusting title ogre (voiced by Mike Myers), his faithful sidekick Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and the girl of his dreams Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz).

The soundtrack was a showcase for artists on DreamWorks-associated labels, including Dana Glover, Leslie Carter and Eels. Gay singersongwriter Rufus Wainwright, one of the biggest DreamWorks acts, steals the show with his legendary rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” Coming in a close second, Smash Mouth’s hit single “All Star” and their rendition of Neil Diamond’s “I’m a Believer” increased the Shrek stock.

If you’re in the market for something that rocks the room

and looks damn cool on your turntable while it does, look no further than “Flower of the Cosmos” (Lightyear/Silver Sleeve) by Brooklyn hard rock outfit The Giraffes. A collection of love songs that “quickly went dark,” the 10 songs, including “Dorito Dreams” and “Raising Kids in the End Times,” spin out at 33 RPM on lavender marble vinyl.

“Tender Beats” (conradmercedmusic.com) by electro-folk artist Conrad Merced is a powerful and personal musical statement. Created following the sudden death of his mother, the songs feel like something Elliott Smith might have recorded if he’d been Midwestern. There’s much to admire here in songs about the brutality of Chicago winters (“The Bitterness”) and gathering the strength to overcome adversity (“Against the Grain”). t

by characters. Through subtle shifts in posture, gait, and facial expression, he conveys simultaneous urges to protect and ridicule Afong when, in youthful naivete, she perceives her captivity and self-caricature as an opportunity to promote “greater understanding and goodwill between all of the peoples of the world!”

Dao is a tour de force in the show’s pivotal scene, Atung and Afong’s reenactment of their meeting with Andrew Jackson in the White House. Dao plays not only Atung, but also Atungplaying-the drawling-Southernpresident. Translating for both Afong and Jackson, Atung effectively rewrites their dialogue, trying to deny Jackson her fawning admiration while shielding Afong from the president’s demeaning objectification.

Until this point halfway through the play, time moves slowly and steadily. As Afong ages from 14 to 17, she gradually begins to recognize her exploitation. Suh’s witty dialogue is highly stylized, but there’s a sense of organic charac-

ter development. Then suddenly, the evening shifts gear, hurtling 15 times faster through 65 years of the Gold Rush and Transcontinental Railway Construction and Sinophobia and Chinese Exclusion Act. Afong catalogs these infamous milestones in a flood of verbiage that carries her through age 82 and into the afterlife. But beyond a sense of solidarity with other Chinese immigrants, she seems disconnected from these events, which she briefly describes but doesn’t seem to have participated in. After chronicling three years in rich, distinctive detail, playwright Suh gives us very little understanding of anything that went on in the subsequent decades of Afong’s life. What started as a richly drawn character is gradually reduced to a representative lecturer: “The Chinese-American Studies Professor.” t The Chinese Lady, through Nov. 3. Magic Theatre, Fort Mason, Building D. Tickets ($15-$75): (415) 441-8822, www.magictheatre.org.

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<< Music

20 • Bay Area Reporter • October 24-30, 2019

Headline goes Celebrating a neglected right herecomposer

t

by Philip Campbell

B

ard Music Festival, the muchadmired summer concerts event of Bard College in New York’s Hudson Valley, has explored the life, influences, and music of a single composer annually since 1990. Bard Music West (BMW), the enterprising California offshoot project, has used a similar template since 2017 to excite, inform and entertain. BMW’s recent weekend “The World of Grazyna Bacewicz” at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco expanded the formula, adding a narrative element in three emceed shows presenting a fascinating portrait of a unique and neglected composer.

During a trip to Poland, pianist Allegra Chapman, Co-artistic Director and Executive Director of BMW, and cellist Laura Gaynon, Co-artistic Director and Associate Director, discovered the music of Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-69). Immediately intrigued, they researched her life, music, and contemporaries.

They determined to share a mutual conviction: Bacewicz is one of the most significant composers of the 20th century. Her music still resonates and proves genius is above gender and cultural stereotypes.

Surviving war and political tyranny, the Polish composer and violin and piano virtuoso wrote hundreds of scores, building a distinctive style influenced by everything from folk music to the avantgarde. Popular as a performer and praised for her compositions, Bacewicz inexplicably faded from the ranks of regularly performed composers. Being a woman is the most glaring reason. Chapman and Gaynon begin to right that wrong by entrusting talented young musicians and colleagues to breathe new life into a vivid sampling of Bacewicz’s wealth of overlooked masterworks.

Courtesy the subject and BMW

Violinist and composer Melanie Clapies performed with Bard Music West at Noe Valley Ministry.

Surrounding thrilling revelations with music by other writers of the period, readings from the composer’s letters (idiomatically voiced in recordings by Anna Samborska), and a welcoming host, Mona Tsay, given to endearingly corny puns, Program 1: “A Rising Star” quickly engrossed a receptive audience.

The concert, covering Bacewicz’s early career in Paris, showed influences from her native Poland, neoclassicism, and legendary teacher Nadia Boulanger.

The String Quartet No. 1 (1938), performed convincingly

by Melanie Clapies and YuEun Kim, violins; Jessica Chang, viola; and Laura Gaynon, cello, showed a remarkably self-confident young composer, favorably comparable to Bartok. Excellent program notes by Benjamin Pesetsky added interesting context and insight.

Pianist Jeffrey LaDeur followed with a strong set, which included tangy Szymanowski Mazurkas, a dreamy Nocturne by Paderewski, two Debussy Etudes, and Nadia Boulanger’s impressive “Vers la vie

nouvelle” (“Toward the New Life”).

The young singers of EQV, drawn from esteemed California vocal ensembles, performed three Monteverdi Madrigals to show Boulanger’s respect for Renaissance music and her encouragement of pupils to study and analyze it.

Bill Kalinkos, clarinet, essayed Stravinsky’s Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet (1918), displaying the strong-lined minimalist attraction of Neoclassicism for composers leaving behind the upholstered world of Romanticism. Bacewicz’s Piano Quintet No. 1 (1952) stands with a foot on both sides of WWII, and has undeniable whiffs of nostalgia for the most Romantic of chamber ensembles. Allegra Chapman joined the quartet of string players who opened the concert at the piano, in an inspired performance of the startlingly original and involving score. The program annotator’s observation that here is where comparisons end summed it up nicely. The Piano Quintet firmly determines recognition of Bacewicz “as a composer who really

Donald Allison

Luosha Fang with both of her instruments, violin and viola.

sounds most like herself.”

The Saturday matinee Program 2: “From War to Warsaw Autumn” covered more post-WWII compositions, and included the world premiere of a 2019 BMW commission, Melanie Clapies’ “Remains: Trio for Strings.” Violinist Clapies earnestly introduced her new piece, but it didn’t require much explanation. Jessica Chang, viola, and Laura Gaynon, cello, joined her, barefooted, to add physical stomping to the work’s stark conclusion.

They also added wordless voice to the keening dirge of mourning mothers and memories of war.

Relatively brief but full of powerful episodes, “Remains” brings to mind Penderecki’s String Trio and was complementary with Bacewicz’s frequent impassioned outbursts.

Clapies is a performer who also writes music and fiction. Among her staggering list of achievements, Bacewicz actually found time to write murder mysteries!

She also wrote art songs, and soprano Sara LeMesh, fresh from her triumph in the starring role of

West Edge Opera’s production of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s “Breaking the Waves,” delivered two examples. Accompanied by Allegra Chapman, she affirmed her incredible range with a bluesy cabaret number, “I’m Not Expecting Anybody” by Witold Lutoslawski of all people, an anthem and vocalises

by Panufnik, and some ditties by Tadeusz Baird.

Luosha Fang and Allegra Chapman finished the first half with Bacewicz’s highly contrasted Partita for Violin and Piano (1955). Chapman opened the second half with the virtuosic Piano Sonata No. 2 (1953), representative of the composer’s complete grasp of form and expression. I wondered how such a work could languish for so long outside the standard repertoire.

Tesla Quartet ended the concert with a rollicking, mercurial rendition of the moody but essentially good-natured String Quartet No. 4 (1951). It was a fine and satisfying conclusion, but I still can’t forget the impact of that wonderful Sonata. t

No room for haters in ‘Jojo Rabbit’

by David Lamble

N

ew Zealand-born filmmaker Taika Waititi’s brilliant, humane and daring black comedy “Jojo Rabbit” opens Friday.

An imaginative and deeply lonely 10-year-old German lad (Jojo), in a tour de force from 11-year-old newcomer Roman Griffin Davis, tries to be an upstanding member of his chapter of the Hitler Youth, whose members are encouraged to spy on their parents and neighbors and turn them in to the Nazi secret police for violating Adolph Hitler’s racist agenda. The group appeals to the young Jojo for its snazzy uniforms, martial spirit and seeming pathway to successful WWII-era German adulthood.

But to his dismay, Jojo learns that his single mom (Scarlett Johansson) is concealing a young Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic. Assisted by his imaginary pal Hitler (deftly played by writer-director Taika Waititi), Jojo needs to face down his blind

Karpel Group

Scene from director Taika Waititi’s “Jojo Rabbit.”

allegiance to Hitler and the Nazi cause. To complicate things fur-

ther, Jojo is developing a crush on the Jewish girl in the attic, who bluntly informs him, “You’re not a Nazi, Jojo. You’re a 10-year-old kid who likes dressing up in a funny uniform and wants to be part of a club.”

Replies a thoroughly confused Jojo Betzler, “Nothing makes sense anymore.” To which his chubby best childhood friend Yorki chimes in, “Yeah, I know. Definitely not a good time to be a Nazi.”

One of director Waititi’s real achievements is balancing his orchestration of this fantastical fable with the need to make periodic

guest appearances as Adolph. In one such scene, the leader, not known for his empathy or ability to display vulnerability, confesses to a growing jealousy for Jojo’s budding feelings for the Jewish girl in his attic. “You two seem to be getting on well!”

Jojo: “She doesn’t seem like a bad person.”

“Jojo Rabbit” gets very dark by the third act, when American GIs parachute into our hero’s little village. We go from black-humor fable to a scaled-down version of “Saving Private Ryan” in which Jojo must reject Adolph and all his

baggage. The scene where the kid stays in the picture on the side of the angels is witty and succinct.

Endings matter, and “Jojo Rabbit” has a jolly good one.

It’s hardly a coincidence that “Jojo Rabbit” arrives at a time when strong men are again preaching the gospel of hate. Speaking to NPR, Waititi asserted, “In 2019, do I really have to make a film whose message is, you shouldn’t be a Nazi? At the end of WWII, there was a really simple rule: If you’re a Nazi you go to jail, because there’s no room in this world for you and those ideas. Now, sadly, in America, the law now is, if you’re a Nazi, feel free to go to the town square and have a little rally, because you’re protected by freedom of speech.”

Waititi comes from New Zealand, a country that fought beside the British in WWII. He warns, “Today we’re living in a world where leaders are very happy to promote ideas that were prevalent in the 1930s.”t

On the web This week, find Victoria A, Brownworth’s Lavender Tube column, “Uncovering a culture of harassment,” online at www. ebar.com

t Fine Arts>> <<

James Tissot

From page 15

Sophisticated, technically accomplished and with a gracious, unerring eye for beauty, costume and theatrical settings, Tissot takes the viewer into heightened scenes with a cinematic flair that has influenced filmmakers from D.W. Griffith, William Wyler and Steven Spielberg to Martin Scorsese, who decorated the mansions of New York’s elite with Tissot reproductions in “The Age of Innocence.”

Whether it’s a glittering ballroom with exquisitely appointed society women adorned in layers of plush fabrics (a Tissot signature); a picnic in the park with a lively coterie of friends, whose bonhomie recalls Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party”; or a bridesmaid in a smart, robin’s-egg blue suit bidding adieu to a bride nestled inside a carriage on a bustling city street, his paintings inspire an uncanny “I am there” feeling.

Curated by the Fine Arts Museums’ Melissa Buron, the scholarly, superbly installed show, organized mostly along thematic lines, reveals aspects of the artist’s fascinating biography, a story underpinned by the tragic loss of the love of his life, a devastating blow that would haunt him and his work. It also covers his early Medievalist period, his remunerative reign as a high society painter in London and Paris, his experiments with etching and cloisonné, self-portraits as both an older and younger man, and a selection from over 700 emotionally stirring Biblical illustrations, 350 of which are watercolors. The latter, reportedly so moving some viewers knelt and wept at the sight of them, were

<<

October 24-30, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 21

Courtesy FAMSF

James Tissot, “La Femme à Paris: The Artists’ Wives” (1885). Oil on canvas. Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk.

created during his final two decades, when he all but sequestered himself at his father’s estate in France. The tour of his religious works, which stretched from Europe to U.S. shores, brought him even more acclaim than he had achieved addressing secular

subjects. Tissot’s turn toward spiritualism, which involved visions and pilgrimages to the Holy Land, followed the death of Kathleen Newton, his muse, and lover, who succumbed to tuberculosis at the age of 28 in 1882. Eighteen years his junior, she was divorced

Pain & Glory

From page 15

A man who has in many ways lived to work now finds himself begging his estranged former leading man to help him pick up the pieces of a career that began with a fey young boy’s dreams of a life in film. The reunion is fraught with harsh memories, accusations and some heavy drug use. Hanging over this deft expose of an aging man desperately reaching out for redemption are classic themes, the perils of an unexamined life vs. the distortions introduced when the examination comes via powerful, mind-altering drugs.

“Pain and Glory” re-introduces Bay Area filmgoers to a towering film genius long associated with the creative burst of freedom that erupted in Spain following the 1975 death of Fascist dictator Francisco Franco. The movie bodes well for a new burst of leftwing filmmaking at a time when right-wing demagogues seem to dominate the airwaves and big screens. Almodovar has treaded carefully across the landmines of Spanish history, in the process creating a unique body of work that allows previously unimagined freedom for women and queer men. He taught himself cinematic storytelling with a Super 8 camera, purchased while working for the phone company.

Almodovar’s American reputation kicked off with the deliciously anarchic “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” Almodovar diva Carmen Maura played a methaddicted Madrid housewife whose taxi-driving lout of a husband is not only cheating and failing to support her, but has collaborated with a German mistress to forge a book of counterfeit Hitler diaries.

The film left American audiences nonplussed with its non-moralizing approach to a mother paying for orthodontist work by agreeing to have her teenage son adopted by

Courtesy Sony Pictures Classics

Gael Garcia Bernal plays a femme fatale in Almodovar’s “Bad Education.”

a boy-loving dentist.

Two years later in “Law of Desire,” Maura starred as the transsexual sister of an openly gay filmmaker. In my favorite Pedro moment, Tina is walking down a sultry Madrid street with her brother and a young girl they have rescued from the clutches of her self-absorbed mother. Overcome by the heat, Tina spots a municipal street-cleaner hosing down

the cobblestones, and demands that he turn the hose on her. The scene has a new, queer-style family united in an orgasmic episode that rhymes with the extraordinary scene when Marcello Mastroianni tumbles into a Roman fountain in Federico Fellini’s pioneering “La Dolce Vita.”

Almodovar’s distinguishing skill is his ability to mix genres with outlandish humor that leaves

with children; according to the mores of the period, they couldn’t marry, though they lived together in London for 12 years. Griefstricken and bereft after she died, Tissot promptly returned to Paris.

Dubbed “La Mysterieuse” because tantalizingly little was known about her, Newton is the subject of 10 paintings here. One can witness the course of her physical decline, but in “October” (1877), the first painting visitors will encounter, she’s still an exuberant, lovely young woman. Dressed in a stylish black ensemble and matching broad-brimmed hat, a book snugly tucked under her arm, she momentarily glances back as she’s about to gallivant into a veil of bright autumn leaves. Elsewhere, she’s a vision in head-to-toe yellow, ensconced in cascading rows of ruffles and satin ribbons; a woman as daffodil, yet very much her own person, venturing warily into the fray in “Evening,” aka “The Ball” (1878).

The show opens with one of its most enchanting sections, “La Femme a Paris.” Tissot only completed 15 of this projected series of large-scale, sumptuous paintings of glamorous Parisian women, five of which are on view. Among them is “Provincial Woman” (1883-85), where a socialite in a ruched, pale pink, formal dress, with an elaborate pleated train, chats with friends at a gala soiree, festivities made luminous by Tissot’s textured, virtuosic brushwork. “The Gallery of HMS Calcutta (Portsmouth)” (ca. 1876) is equally incandescent, especially the glistening, intricate white bodice of a dress, partially sheer in the back, worn by a reveler leaning on the ship’s latticed metal railing. The

artist also evinces a gift for psychological detail in works such as “Melancholy” (ca. 1869), in which a forlorn woman with her head in her hands is watched over by her faithful pup. He sits on the hem of her flowing skirt in case her private reverie is interrupted or she tries to make a run for it.

An elusive figure ahead of his time, unconventional in matters of the heart and art, and unattached to any particular movement – he declined an invitation from Degas to participate in the inaugural Impressionist exhibition in 1874 – Tissot was attuned to the inner lives and outer beauty of women, an unusual trait in a man of his era. Undeniably gorgeous, graceful creatures in splendid gowns and fashionable clothing inhabit the rarified world of his paintings.

(Tissot grew up in and around his mother’s millinery shop; his father was a drapery dealer.) More complex than their pampered surfaces suggest, they’re personages with agency moving through modern society, projecting hauteur, intelligence and self-assurance like the chic attendee of a museum garden party, casting a knowing smile over her shoulder in “The Artists’ Wives” (ca. 1883-85).

Tissot, the wry mischief-maker, is on display in “The Thames” (1875), one of several scenes set on or near bodies of water. Controversial when initially exhibited, it depicts a man, two female companions and three bottles of champagne on a river excursion, giving new meaning to rocking the boat. t

would-be critics of his sexual politics speechless. In 2004’s “Bad Education,” Mexican star Gael Garcia Bernal is brilliantly showcased in Almodovar’s cinema of men behaving badly. It’s a triple-barreled homage to Hitchcock, Billy Wilder and the filmmaker himself.

Inspired by a scene in “Law of Desire” where Tina has an awkward reunion with a priest who’d abused her as a child, “Bad Education” sizzles with an electric Bernal, beautiful and deadly as both a Barbara Stanwyck-like femme fatale and a boyish enfant terrible actor looking for a killer part.

In “All About My Mother,” a beautiful teenager celebrates his 17th birthday with a note begging his mother to allow him to meet his absent father. “I don’t care who he is or how he treated my mother.

No one can take that right away from me.” That night, Esteban is hit by a car, prompting his mother to take a painful journey through her own unsettling adolescence to inform a transsexual, Lola, that the son she never knew reserved his last written words for her. A tender yet resolutely unsentimental meditation about family born and chosen, “All About My Mother” prompted film historian David Thomson to gush, “A sweeping tribute to women, one of those films to make you wonder if God didn’t mean movies to be Gay.” With the 2002 buddy film “Talk to Her,” Almodovar reinvented the genre around the premise of two guys caring for two comatose women, one gored in a bull ring.

A silent film-within-a-film neatly balances sincerity with parody, sort of “The Incredible Shrinking Man” meets “The Vagina Monologues.”

In “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” (1988), the director achieved a commercial breakthrough with a screwball comedy. A woman (Carmen Maura) is so angry at her disappearing boyfriend that she practically erupts into flames – indeed,

her bed does ignite. Inspired by a Jean Cocteau play, “Women” features some memorable comic misadventures, including the interference with a police investigation when two cops are served drug-laced gazpacho.

In 1997’s “Live Flesh,” the birth of a baby boy on a Madrid bus kicks off decades of strange karma for two cops, two gals and the now-grown baby. With the oddest “happy ending” since Almodovar’s “Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down,” he wrote the script based on a novel

by Ruth Rendell.

His ability to spoof Spain’s most popular sporting event is evident in 1986’s “Matador,” in which a pair of bullfighters, male and female, develop an obsessive and deadly attraction for each other.

In 1995’s “Flower of My Secret,” a romance novelist tries to kick her bad habits, both literary and carnal, with surprisingly good results after the usual run of Almodovar pratfalls, including a very tight pair of boots. Executed with a touch of Douglas Sirk.

In short, Pedro Almodovar has, over more than four decades, ripped the scabs off some of his ancient and traditionally conservative country’s most perilous divisions, in the process providing a banner around which subsequent generations can rally.

“Pain and Glory” not only shows a brilliant artist still operating at the peak of his creative powers, but also reunites him with his most important male lead. That actor, Antonio Banderas, makes a deft return to Spanish-language cinema after a long and profitable English-speaking detour in Hollywood with both artful turns (“Interview with a Vampire”) and pure money-making silliness (“Spy Kids”). Luckiest of all, you and I get to relish a film, the Winner of the Cannes Best Actor Award, that is a sure shot at Best Foreign Language Film nominee.

Now playing. t

Through Feb. 9, 2020. www.famsf. org.

26

Leather www.ebar.com

27

Shining Stars Vol. 49 • No. 43 • October 24-30, 2019

Margaret Cho

Award-winning comic at A.C.T.’s ‘Rocky Horror’-themed gala

by Jim Provenzano

M

argaret Cho is a Magenta.

“At least I know I have that costume somewhere, so I’ll probably be Magenta.”

The Emmy-nominated, Grammy-nominated stand-up comic and actor will host American Conservatory Theater’s fundraiser gala at The Hibernia on Nov 2. The gala’s Rocky Horror theme coincides with their October 31 open auditions for their 2020 production of the musical.

As a fellow Rocky Horror Picture Show fan, in a phone interview, we shared early experiences with the transgressive and rather queer cinematic adaptation that swept the U.S. (and a few other countries) during the 1980s with participatory midnight screenings of the campfest that featured “transvestite transsexual” aliens.

One point of difference and commonality is which character fans identify with, or have dressed up as for screenings or Halloween.

“I could also be Columbia, with the top hat and tails,” said Cho. “But I have a legit Magenta costume at home. I would be better as Eddie, since I have all the tattoos.”

See page 23 >>

Dot

Spooktacular!

Halloween Events around the Bay Area

by David-Elijah Nahmod

H

alloween-themed happenings take place in theaters, nightclubs, parks and even at the Old Mint. Enjoy costumed and casual parties for families with kids, and those for adults-only.

See page 22 >>

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

Sat 16 Glow in the Streets

t <<

Comedy >>

Margaret Cho

From page 22

I could definitely carry off a Stone Butch moment.”

A native San Franciscan, Cho first saw the film at The Coronet Theatre [on Geary St, now closed].

“They would have midnight shows,” she said. “It was a very big deal. I remember walking home through Golden Gate Park in the middle of the night, in 1980?”

Cho also convinced her parents to see the sequel, Shock Treatment, with her.

“That was at The Parkside Theatre, where people would pass joints. They seemed sort of okay with that.”

Mother

Of course, Margaret Cho’s Korean parents are part of her material. Her mother, who ran a bookstore when Cho was younger, is now famous for her reaction to adult magazines that were stocked at her shop. The now-famous “Ass Master” routine locked Cho into gut-busting comedy gold history.

Since then, the multi-talent, who began doing comedy routines at age 16, has appeared in her own short-lived sitcom, multiple filmed comedy shows, competed on Dancing With the Stars, and even won an Emmy nomination on 30 Rock as North Korean dicta-

October 24-30, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 23

tor Kim Yung Il and his son, Un. Cho’s 1999 Off-Broadway hit show I’m the One That I Want cemented her legacy as a comedy star, and after taking control of her own DVD distribution and sales, as an entrepreneur as well. Six DVDs later, she kicked it up campy as “Poodle” on last season’s The Masked Singer, and had a cameo in the campy disaster flick Sharknado 5, among other projects, including a more serious Margaret when she guest-stars on Law & Order: SVU on November 7.

California fans can catch Cho live in Los Angeles Nov. 8, with East Coast gigs later on in November. Locally, she’ll be part of Sketchfest at The Chapel in 2020.

“It never really ends,” said Cho. “I’m always on some sort of tour, but I usually come home in between shows.”

Although she was not a Conservatory student, Cho did recall taking a few improv classes at Fort Mason with revered A.C.T. instructor Michael McShane.

Asked how she develops comedy these days, when our real political landscape far surpasses the absurd, Cho said, “There has never been a worse time for politics. It’s sickening to see all the progress we made being reversed. One good thing is that it’s mobilized people toward change.”

As to performing with her usual

a challenge but a skill as a writer that I have to keep up. We have an opportunity as artists to use what’s at hand. We need to stay visible.”

Another deft skill Cho possesses is knowing how to ‘read a room.’

At the A.C.T. gala, will she taper her political jokes for wealthy patrons who may support Trump?

“Oh, I’ve done shows in the Marina and Pacific Heights,” she replied. “It’s like a supper club or The Starlight Room when Bobbie Short was alive. This is a chance for guests to feel dangerous. They want to buy into queerness and danger, so I get away with more, actually. It’s important to hang on to our queerness. Never forget, never take it for granted, never leave it behind.”

Cho wrapped up our chat with a fun future vision.

“I love to see the older ladies with their young gay escorts at these kind of events. When I get old, I want to have my wheelchair pushed by some beautiful gay twinks.” t

Luke Fontana

Margaret Cho.

political edge, Cho sees a longer perspective.

“You have to look at it like comedians said about Nero or Cal-

igula. He [Trump] is playing the fiddle while Rome is burning. It feels almost like end times, but there is also a new beginning. It’s

Glow in the Streets @ Market & Noe

Oct 24 - Nov 2

<<

Halloween

From page 22

Oct 24-Nov 9

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Live @ Oasis D’Arcy Drollinger presents Michael Phillis and a talented crew of drag queens/kings who perform a wacky version of a script from the hit TV vampire show. $27-$50. Thu-Sat 7pm.

Thru Nov 9. 298 11th St. sfoasis.com

Oct 24-Nov 2 The Rocky Horror Show @ Victoria Theater Let’s do the time warp again as Ray of Light’s smash Halloween event returns for its fifth and final year. Starring drag icon D’Arcy Drollinger as the mad Dr. Frank N. Furter, and featuring those wild and crazy Transsexual Transylvanians. $30-$40, 2961 16th St. Show times vary. rayoflighttheatre.com

D’Arcy Drollinger (right) stars in The Rocky Horror Show @ Victoria Theater

Oct 24-Nov 3 Terror Vault @ SF Mint Join Peaches Christ, Mama Celeste, Raya Light and others for San Francisco’s premiere haunted attraction. A bigger and all new immersive experience. Take a tour of the San Francisco Mint where you’ll come face to face with the despicable horrors that plague this secret prison.

Tour lasts 45 minutes. 21+ on Friday and Saturday nights, 18+ other nights. $62, 88 5th St. Times vary. www.showclix.com/event/terrorvault

Friday 25 HustlaBall SF @ Club Six Brian Kent Productions brings another ‘Funhouse’ wild and sexy dance party with plenty of sexy play space, plus porn stud stage performances; DJs Casey Alva, Aason Elvis. $45-$55.

10pm-4am. 60 6th St. hustlaball.com/san-fran

Speakeasy: All Hallow’s Eve @ Palace Theater The ‘secret’ 1920s-themed interactive entertainment & cocktails night gets spooky with haunted tales and ghosts. $90-$125. Oct. 25, 26, 31; Nov 1 & 2. 644 Broadway. boxcartheatre.org

Saturday 26 Drippy Wet Halloween @ Club BNB, Oakland Costume contest, sexiest, scariest and most unique, plus other categories.

Twerk contest, prizes. Drink specials, table service available. Male and female Go-Go dancers. $15-$20, 2120 Broadway, Oakland. 9pm-4am. club-bnb.com

Freaks & Fetish Fright Ball @ SF Eagle Rogue and Tribe kink groups cohost a Halloween costume and kink party. $5-$10. 9pm-2am. 398 12th St. sf-eagle.com

Join Comfort and Joy on HalloweenSamhain weekend for their most dazzling Castro Block Party yet at the third annual Glow in the Streets, with fabulous music from DJs DJ Denise, Val G, Hil Huerta, and Aili Chu; stage acts co-hosted by the fabulous Mama Dora and SirJoQ. Performers include drag and burlesque star Otter Chaos, and a triage of cosmic talent from Liam Ocean, Vertel Jackson, and Llano River Blue, plus a special performance from GayGlo Guerrilla Theater. Noe Street between Market and Beaver, $10-$25, 2298 Market Street.

4pm-9:30pm. www.playajoy.org

Haunted Horse Halloween @ White Horse Inn, Oakland Live DJs, drink specials, dancing and a costume contest with prizes at the oldest gay bar in the USA. Also Oct. 31. 6551 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, 8pm-2am. www.whitehorsebar.com

Horror Story: Dark Matter @ Space 500 Mystopia and Polyglamorous’ space and scifi-themed Halloween dance party; space/scifi costumes suggested.

DJs Chicago superstar Colette, Bottom Forty’s Sappho and Nark, and local SF legend Rolo, with support from Chuck Gunn, JMxJM (Josette Melchor & John Major), DJ Brian, Bradley P, and Ed Aten. $15-$60. 9:30pm-3am. 550 Barneveld Ave. www.space550sf.com

Pre-Code Horror @ Cartoon Art Museum EC Comics reception and Halloween party, with exhibits of naughty adult terror comic art, cash bar, caricatures for sale and a comic-themed costume contest. $5. 6:30pm-8:30pm. 781 Beach St. www.cartoonart.org

Margaret Cho hosts A.C.T.’s Fall gala, which takes on a ‘Rocky Horror’ theme, with custom VIP costume packages, gourmet dinner, performances and special guests. ‘Camp chic’ attire suggested. $1500 and up. Saturday, November 2. 7pm. 1 Jones St. margaretcho.com act-sf.org/gala

Madhouse SF: Queer Halloween Party @ Penthouse Club

The ‘gentleman’s club’ hosts their second annual bash at Penthouse, the #1 strip club in the Bay Area. We’re not sure what they mean by ‘queer,’ though, since it features topless female dancers, sexy gogos, and celebrity guest Raven-Symone. Music by Cristy Lawrence and San Francisco native DJ China G., with a costume contest. $13, 412 Broadway,10pm-2am. www.penthousesf.com

Saints and Spinners @ Spin SF Spin With The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence; hosted and by drag icon and DJ Juanita MORE! Play unlimited ping-pong all night long and dance your ass off to Juanita’s electrifying tunes.

Enjoy Sister themed cocktail specials, compete in the costume contest to win big prizes, and see pop-up drag numbers from San Francisco’s most iconic queens. $20-$50, 690 Folsom St. 8pm-2am. www.thesisters.org

Monster Mash Halloween Bash For LGBTQ Families @ Embarcadero YMCA Join Our Family Coalition for swampy swimming, spooky dancing, creepy crafts, and tasty treats at the. Fun activities for all ages. 169 Steuart St., 1pm-4pm. www.ourfamily.org

Sunday 27 Spellbound @ The Stud Witchy gothy raunchy night with DJs Infinite Jess and Siobhan Aluvalot. 9pm2am. 299 9th St. at Harrison studsf.com

See page 24 >>

Thu 31

Heklina hosts Creatures of the Nightlife @ California Academy of Sciences

Fri 25

HustlaBall SF @ Club Six

<< Events

24 • Bay Area Reporter • October 24-30, 2019

<<

Halloween

From page 23

Monday 28 Vamp Halloween Mixer @ Beaux

Thu 31

The LGBT National Help Center is throwing a Halloween Bash at SoMa StrEAT Food Park in the Magic Bus with pumpkin decorations, fortune telling, costumes, scary story telling and more.

Learn about the work the hotline does, meet the organization, and learn about volunteer opportunities. 428 11th St. 6-9pm. www.glbthotline.org

is a costume night with Nerd Nite, Awesome Orchestra, and Odd Salon.

6pm-10pm. $20. Pier 15, Embarcadero at Green St. www.exploratorium.edu/

Thursday 31

Club Papi @ Club 21, Oakland

After Dark @ Exploratorium Enjoy cocktails and science demos at the hands-on museum. Oct. 31

Erasure-esque. $10 (in costume) $15 (not). 8pm-2am. 155 Fell St. www. rickshawstop.com

Drag Me to Hell @ Virgin Hotel

Oct 31-Nov 3

Juanita MORE! Halloween Block Party @ Fern Alley

Wednesday 30 Halloween Party @ StrEAT Food Park

Plus monster mash dancing from DJ Omar Perez. 21+ only. 55 Music Concourse Drive in GG Park, 6pm-10pm. calacademy.org

Juanita MORE! hosts a new Halloween multi-area party at a new stylish venue, with party fun all through the hotel! Enjoy ‘all you can eat drink’ food, drinks and entertainment.

Costumed attire, please. Book a room! $120-$175. 8pm-2am. 250 4th St. https://virginhotels.com/san-francisco/ offers/halloween/

Beaux’s cocktail soiree for queer and trans folks celebrates Halloween. With DJs Saint-Hills and Olga T, dancers RedBone and Sass, bartenders Taylor Whitehouse and Lauren Raquel, and your host Niko Storment. 2344 Market St, 9pm-2am. www.beauxsf.com

Juanita MORE! hosts Drag Me to Hell @ Virgin Hotel and a Halloween Block Party @ Fern Alley

Huge Halloween and Latin music dance party with Kimora Blac, gogo studs in and out of costumes,

costume contest with cash prizes. $15.

9:30pm-2:30am. 2111 Franklin St. www.clubpapi.com

Creatures of the Nightlife @ CA Academy of Sciences The creatures come out at night as the Academy transforms into a spine-tingling and outrageous celebration of supernatural science on the spookiest night of the year. Heklina hosts the Academy’s annual Halloween drag show and costume contest outside on the West Garden stage.

Performances by Loma Prietta, Landa Lakes and Elsa Touche. Plus spooky movie clips in African Hall hosted by Lord Blood-Rah, a costume contest, and creepy ghost stories.

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Drag icon MORE! teams up with the Lower Polk Community Benefit District to host a Halloween party that will pay homage to Polk Street’s past as an LGBT community destination; featuring live music by IndiviDuo, courtesy of Music City. Enjoy dancing, food, drink, a costume contest, prizes and a photo booth. Fern Alley, 99 Fern St, 7-10pm. www.juanitamore.com

Sundance Stompede @ 3 Venues For a change of pace and a hootin’ good time, San Francisco’s Country Western Dance weekend for the LGBT community and friends draw 100s of participants, with dance workshops, four dance events, social events, exhibitions, entertainment and more. Events take place at Holiday Inn (1500 Van Ness Ave), Regency Ballroom (1300 Van Ness Ave) and Sundance Saloon (550 Barneveld Ave). Proceeds to benefit PRC, Larkin Street Youth Services, and the Sundance Association for Country Western Dancing. sundancesaloon.org

Friday 1 Ror-Shok @ SF Eagle

Halloween party with DJs Keenan Orr and Eich King, plus a drag show. $5$10. 9pm-2am. 299 9th St. at Harrison www.studsf.com

The day after Halloween, the dead rise again and ramble onto the stage of the SF Eagle. Hosted by Johnny Rockitt and Rita Dambook.

Performances by Kat Robichaud, Loma Prietta and Sabrina Slayer, plus go-go dancers. 21+. $10. 398 12th St, 8pm. www.sf-eagle.com

PopScream @ Rickshaw Stop

For full nightlife listings, visit www.ebar.com

Nightmare on 9th Street @ The Stud

‘80s Halloween party features live music by The Cure and Erasure cover bands Bloodflowers and

David Da Silva

Arts Events Oct. 24-31, 2019

Fri 25

AXIS Dance @ Z Space

Seasons of change, museums and literary haunts, plus some spooky Halloween-themed events, make up our arts claendar. See it all online at www.ebar.com

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<< Leather

26 • Bay Area Reporter • October 24-30, 2019

Fantasy costumes as kink

by Race Bannon

I

t’s no secret that the kinky crowd likes their fetish wear. Leather, rubber and certain uniforms have served as ubiquitous standard fare for a long time. They remain core scene aesthetics. I don’t see that changing dramatically anytime soon.

However, since we’re approaching Halloween, when many kinksters meld the erotic with what they wear in unique and alternative ways, this holiday gives many of us the opportunity to delve deeper into donning a wider range of sexual fantasy representations.

There are some who cringe when the word ‘costume’ is used to describe anything a kinkster might wear.

Certain serious leatherfolk, BDSM practitioners and others will decry costume as a derision. It’s not. You can be deep into traditional leather and kink and still find new ways to express your sexuality through what you wear.

Perhaps the costume of yesteryear becomes the mainstream fetish of the future. Might not the first pup hood worn have been seen as a costume by some even if the wearer felt it best represented his sexual insides?

Quite likely.

Cultures, including sexual cultures, change over time and appropriate (I know that’s a loaded word for some, but it’s apt here) how they dress from any source that resonates, consciously or subconsciously. Does anyone think formal leather dress emerged out of thin air? It emerged from sources such as military, police

and other uniformed groups blended with the rebel biker look to create something new. Most everything we wear is a mashup of something else.

Kinksters also appropriate imagery and personas they see in movies, television shows and comics. The recent uptick in superhero fetishism is a good example of that.

I asked local kinkster Chris Prottas what types of costumes he connects to erotically. While he certainly likes superheroes, his interests include other characters.

“When it comes to the types of costumes that resonate with my sexuality and kink, I lean most towards superheroes and to certain video game characters,” said Prottas.

“I also have a penchant for historical garb. When it comes to heroes and game characters, I think what resonates most for me is the stories behind the characters. I’m drawn most to those who have a pretty rough or mysterious origin, because it reflects strength of character and the ability to fight against all odds and win.

“To me, it is sexy and empowering as someone who is both an immigrant as well as someone who didn’t have an easy upbringing,” Prottas added. “The ownership of one’s destiny that those characters accept wholeheartedly, and their willingness to sacrifice everything for a cause, is inspiring and powerful.”

When I started to discuss the topic of this column with a few friends, there was one name that kept being mentioned, Shawn Kinnear. Shawn has been a long-time aficionado of a large swath of fetish and kink cloth-

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Shawn Kinnear

Shawn Kinnear dressed as one of his favorite characters, Gambit.

ing from classic leather and uniforms to superheroes and other media-inspired characters.

Shawn had this to say about the types of fetish costumes that work for him.

“There are many. Spandex-type costumes have that sexy feel specifically because of the material.

Usually hero-type characters with some super-abilities are my pick.

I think because of their inherent strength and power I’m attracted to them. But then again, I have done villains that make me feel sexy too.

The materials and style of costume also draw me in. Some are leather or spandex, even rubber. Seeing as most characters are animated, it’s easy to make them out of any material that you’re attracted to – leather, rubber, spandex, even modified uniforms.”

Shawn feels that an array of looks has always been seen as fetish, but social media and the connectedness of the internet has made it easier to discover fellow such fetishists.

Fred Colmenares, Mr. Bolt Leather 2017, is another guy who embraces many fetish looks. He believes the scene has expanded to include certain costumes as erotic. With the world of geekiness becoming more of the norm, Fred thinks the scene has shifted to make a place for those geek kinksters.

For a lot of folks like Fred, those heroes were their first sexual sensations experienced through the character’s costumes, physiques, art style, or personality. Seeing those things now becoming more visible and accepted is affirmation that such interests are viewed with a more welcome attitude.

This Halloween, you may be meeting some people’s inner superhero costume fetish.

Local Rubber Titles

While I don’t typically categorize rubber as costume, the range of rubber gear I saw on display at the San Francisco Bay Area Title Elections event at the SF Eagle this past Saturday was certainly diverse and often quite colorful and playful.

I’m newer to hanging out with the rubber crowd, and I have to say they’re generally an extremely friendly bunch who embrace their kink readily; great commuChris Prottas nity.

Chris Prottas as Green Lantern, The selection process was a one of the superhero personas that combination of judges’ scores, he enjoys portraying. audience vote and additional points for certain volunteer efforts by the candidates.

Unlike many contests, this one was playful, irreverent, overtly erotic, and focused clearly on fun more than anything.

The new local 2020 rubber titleholders are: Brock, San Francisco Fetish Pet; Eleven, Mx. Rubber San Francisco; Bianca, Ms. Rubber San Francisco; and AJ, Mr. Rubber San Francisco.

If you haven’t had a chance to connect with the San Francisco photo Bay Area Rubber crowd, seek them out. They’re fun people who fully understand kink and fetish are ultimately supposed to be about having fun. t

Race Bannon is a local author, blogger and activist. www.bannon.com

Fred Colmenares, Mr. Bolt Leather 2017, enjoying one of his costume pleasures, Japanese live action cosplay, also known as Toku.

Timothy Parker

A new team of rubber 2020 titleholders were selected at the recent San Francisco Bay Area Rubber Title Elections event at the SF Eagle. Left to right: Brock, San Francisco Fetish Pet; Eleven, Mx. Rubber San Francisco; Bianca, Ms. Rubber San Francisco; and AJ, Mr. Rubber San Francisco.

t

Shining Stars>>

October 24-30, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 27

Shining Stars Steven Underhill Photos by

GLBT Historical Society Gala @ Salesforce Ohana Floor

T

he GLBT Historical Society’s annual gala took to the skies at the Salesforce Tower’s leafy scenic 360-degree 61st-floor event space. Juanita MORE’s entertainment stars included Katya Smirnoff-Skyy, Leigh Crow, Lambert Moss, pianist Tammy Hall and Dulce De Leche. Betty Zlatchin Catering’s ample array of food and drinks were delicious. Senator Scott Weiner presented Cornelius Van Aalst with the Clio Award, SF Mayor London Breed expressed support for the planned bigger LGBT History Museum, and all guests enjoyed the amazing views. www.glbthistory.org See more nightlife photos on BARtab’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife.

For more of Steven Underhill’s photos, visit www.StevenUnderhill.com.

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For headshots, portraits or to arrange your wedding photos

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