School board endorsements
07
06
High-end cannabis beverages
SF STD cases, tests down
12
ARTS
04
Documenting Queer Lives
The
www.ebar.com
Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities since 1971
Courtesy Governor’s office
Russell S. Roeca
Newsom names gay lawyer to SF court seat by Matthew S. Bajko
G
overnor Gavin Newsom on August 28 is believed to have named his first LGBTQ appointment to a Superior Court judgeship. Sixteen months after the retirement of lesbian San Francisco Superior Court Judge Carol C. Yaggy, Newsom has appointed a gay attorney and former board member of the Human Rights Campaign to her vacant seat on the local bench. See page 10 >>
LGBTQ leaders sign on to drag stamp campaign by Matthew S. Bajko
N
early two-dozen LGBTQ leaders and advocates have signed on to the campaign to see the U.S. Postal Service issue stamps honoring three deceased drag icons who have become heroic figures within the LGBTQ community. Helping to co-chair the effort is Rea Carey, the executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force. The national campaign is pressing for the federal agency to create postage featuring José Julio Sarria, Marsha P. Johnson, and Sylvia Rivera. They would be the first such stamps issued in honor of drag performers. Among those serving as honorary co-chairs
Vol. 50 • No. 36 • September 3-9, 2020
Thomas Haller Buchanan
An artist’s rendering of proposed postage stamps honoring drag icons José Julio Sarria, Marsha P. Johnson, and Sylvia Rivera.
of the postal campaign are drag queens Sister Roma, with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence San Francisco chapter, Chad Michaels, who won the first season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars,” and CoCo LaChine, an empress with the Imperial Court of New York; Matthew Shepard Foundation founders Judy and Dennis Shepard; and Jack Thompson, the first trans person of color to be named International Mr. Leather. San Diego resident Nicole Murray Ramirez launched the campaign last month after the Bay Area Reporter contacted him for comment about several stamps issued to commemorate the 80th birthday of Bugs Bunny depicting the animated rabbit in drag. It is believed to be the first time drag has been featured on U.S. stamps.
Known as the Queen Mother I of the Americas and Nicole the Great within the Imperial Court System, Murray Ramirez leads the philanthropic organization within the drag community that Sarria launched 55 years ago. He shared an exclusive first look with the B.A.R. of mockups for what the trio of stamps could look like created by Denver-based artist and illustrator Thomas Haller Buchanan, a straight ally. Reaction to the drag stamp campaign has been “overwhelmingly positive,” said Murray Ramirez, a gay man who already had the Human Relations Commission of San Diego on which he serves vote in support of the drag stamps campaign. He expressed confidence the stamps See page 2 >>
Police clear gay man in viral video
Jane Philomen Cleland
Our Family Coalition marched in last year’s Oakland Pride parade.
Oakland readies for Pride week
by John Ferrannini
O
akland Pride is kicking off a week of virtual programming Sunday, September 6, consisting of over 32 total hours, according to Carlos Uribe, the co-chair of the organization’s board of directors. “We want to hit all the different areas of the community and have something for everyone,” Uribe said in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter August 31. As the B.A.R. previously reported, the in-person Oakland Pride parade and festival were to be held September 13 but went virtual due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The full lineup of events has not been announced on Oakland Pride’s website or Facebook page as of press time, but Uribe said that original programming will stream from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday, September 7, through Friday, September 11, and then from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, September 12-13, with all of Sunday being filled by main stage performances and DJ sets. The week will begin, however, with a stream of the final day of the Oaklash Bay Area All-Day Drag Festival from 12:30 to 10 p.m., inclusive. The events can be viewed mostly on Twitch, Uribe said, though there will be “community Zoom rooms for virtual hangouts, cruising, and community,” according to the Facebook page. “We’ll be highlighting different drag performers, doing interviews and content like that,” Uribe said. “A few of the highlights of each night will be hosted by a different drag performer each night. We have a variety of different performers on different stages all at once. We want to make sure we have something for everyone, just like with the physical vessel.” See page 2 >>
by John Ferrannini
A
gay man who became the unwitting star of a viral video last month before he was arrested for indecent exposure has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing, Campbell police told the Bay Area Reporter September 1. Hayward resident Timothy Gaskin (who has legally changed his name to Arthur Master), 53, was placed under citizen’s arrest by Anthony Zamora, 39, of Pacific Grove, at a Campbell Marshalls last month for allegedly indecently exposing himself. However, when police reviewed closed circuit television from inside the Marshalls, they determined Zamora’s claims to be “unfounded.” “The supposed victim was placed under arrest for filing a false police report,” Captain Ian White, the public information officer for Campbell police, told the B.A.R. Zamora was cited and then released pending a court date. Zamora was arrested August 25. Eight days earlier, on August 17, Gaskin was videotaped by Zamora telling Marshalls employees that he couldn’t wear a mask because of an ear condition that prevents the mask string from going around his ear lobe. He used homophobic and racial language during the video, which prompted the online outcry that Gaskin was the equivalent of a “Karen,” a pejorative term for an entitled, demanding or racist white woman. But Gaskin told the B.A.R. September 1 that he was only repeating back the language used by an individual harassing him and his boyfriend in the store. It was that individual who Gaskin identified as the man taking the video. “I’ve realized that people could be hurt by what they were watching and people have taken it in many different ways,” Gaskin said. “I apologize for reacting like that if they saw it.” Gaskin said that the man who took the video had told people he wanted to make a “Karen” video and he feels he was targeted for his sexual orientation. He characterized the videographer’s actions as a “hate crime.” “If you accuse a man who is gay of pulling out his penis, it must be true,” Gaskin sardonically said. “I was unaware for 24 hours that this went
Courtesy Twitter
Tim Gaskin has been exonerated after a video of him at a South Bay Marshalls went viral last month.
viral and the calls I got were from personal family and friends who were convinced at what they saw. My godson called crying about my behavior.” Gaskin said he pulled his zipper up and down to demonstrate that it had been up when he was accused of it being down. “The person who called my boyfriend and I ‘faggots’ said, ‘You look like you need new clothes.’ He said my zipper was down and he was making fun of my clothes,” Gaskin said. “[The zipper] was up and I zipped it up and down to show him it was up.” Gaskin said individuals on the internet and social media have been demanding he be fired for his conduct in the viral video. “When people say something went viral, you’re never sure, but people stop me on the street now and it’s humiliating,” Gaskin said. Marshalls did not respond to a request for comment. Zamora could not be reached for comment after attempts were made to find his telephone number. San Jose DJ Eddie House tweeted the video on the evening of August 17, stating at the time, “Today at Marshalls in Campbell, Ca this ‘Kevin’ didn’t want to wear a mask. Hurled offensive comments to the workers, my friends, to customers while exposing gestures to the public. I’m reaching out to y’all in the ether to expose this m’fer to the world!”
He stated the videographer was his friend. House’s Twitter account did not respond to a request for comment September 1. Gaskin may be familiar to some from his days as the host of “Open House,” a radio and television show about San Francisco real estate, in the 2000s. In 2004, he hosted “OUT Spoken” for Comcast public access television, a show centered on the LGBTQ community. Gaskin started the magazine Benefit about San Francisco’s philanthropic community and claims to be a co-founder of the LGBTQ magazine Gloss along with Bevin Shamel. Gloss publisher Cecil Russell, however, said Gaskin did not co-found the magazine but did contribute content for it in the past. Gaskin was recommended for the San Francisco Arts Task Force in 2006 by thenMayor Gavin Newsom. In 2006, Gaskin hired Ruby Rippey-Tourk as a producer for Benefit’s television and radio auxiliaries. Several years after Rippey-Tourk – whom Gaskin described as his best friend – had an affair with Newsom, Gaskin left the city and changed his name. Gaskin told the B.A.R. on September 1 that he’d wanted to focus more on his identity as an artist. t