The Pride Issue
Cecilia Chung, advocate: Serving on the city’s Health Commission, the senior strategist at the Transgender Law Center spearheaded efforts to get S.F. to start paying for gender confirmation surgeries for uninsured patients.
Joel Goodrich, realtor: The former iceskating prodigy has sold some of the most luxe penthouses in the city, most recently the $2.6 million top-floor pad at 8 Octavia.
Ken Fulk, designer: The golden boy of the Battery Club set crossed over into flyover country in 2015 with his own Pottery Barn line, to be followed this fall by a coffee-table book from Artisan.
Jana Rich, tech recruiter: Known as “the unicorn hunter,” she plucks tech talent out of obscurity and into major jobs with such clients as Twitter, Google, Dropbox, Uber, Square, and Eventbrite.
Alicia Garza, activist: Helped make Black Lives Matter more than just a trending hashtag by taking her Marinborn, Oakland-honed message to the lecture circuit—with a stop at the State of the Union address.
Russell Holt and Jon Retsky, event designers: The owners of Got Light have added all kinds of drama to such tech and high-society events as Instagram cofounder Kevin Systrom’s Napa wedding and this year’s S.F. Ballet opening gala.
Brian Basinger, housing advocate: The founder of the AIDS Housing Alliance is trying to secure fair-housing protections for LGBTQs with the Equality Act, which will pass in Congress only when, he says wryly, “the Dems are in charge.”
Geoffrey De Sousa, interior designer: Co-owner of the furniture showroom De Sousa Hughes, he is also the curator of Previously Owned by a Gay Man, a secondhand furniture site featuring, as Vogue puts it, “only furniture formerly owned by men who sleep with men.”
Gerard Koskovich, historian: The activist, lecturer, and GLBT Historical Society curator contributed a chapter on queer history from 1890 to 1990 for the National Park Service’s recent LGBTQ Heritage Initiative study.
BUSINESS
Dave Peterson, event producer: After converting the dilapidated Pier 70 into a massive party venue, the owner of Pier 70 Partners has similar visions for the Old Mint, which he leased in late 2015. Stanlee Gatti, event planner: This summer, the A-list party planner and former S.F. Arts Commission president is channeling all of that lavish taste into a new gourmet market in the Tenderloin. Amy Errett, entrepreneur: The founder and CEO of the natural beauty company Madison Reed also chairs the Glide Foundation’s board of trustees, currently developing a transition plan for a post–Cecil Williams future. Paul Dillinger, designer: The head of global product innovation at Levi Strauss & Co. has quarterbacked cutting-edge developments such as touch-sensitive textiles; he also serves on the board of directors at the Castro’s Queer LifeSpace. Jack Calhoun, fashion executive: One of the best dressers in town, the former global president at Banana Republic is credited with leading the effort to find a new director for the Fine Arts Museums. Richard Hunter, entrepreneur: This ringmaster has been cracking the whip at Mr. S Leather ever since he purchased the legendary fetish factory in 1991. Judy Dlugacz, travel entrepreneur: She redefined “gay cruising” after transforming Olivia, a record company she launched in 1973, into a successful travel operator for lesbian cruises.
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San Francisco | June 2016
Phyllis Lyon, activist: She and her partner, Del Martin, who died in 2008, were the first openly lesbian couple to join the National Organization for Women, as well as the first couple to get married at City Hall in 2004.
The LGBTQ 100
Ken McNeely, communications executive: AT&T California’s longestserving president was appointed to his position in 2005 after helping secure the company’s historic merger with SBC Communications.
Stephany Joy Ashley, activist: Calls the shots, so to speak, as executive director of the St. James Infirmary, a healthcare and social services center for sex workers.
Sister Roma, drag performer: In protest of Facebook’s “real name” policy, the longtime Sister of Perpetual Indulgence created the #MyNameIs campaign to protect those who no longer identify by their legal names. Don Romesburg, scholar: The erudite Sonoma State University professor is editing The Routledge History of Queer America, a scholarly work by approximately 30 academics that’s due out in 2017.
Keith Baraka, firefighter: Revealed in a 2014 Examiner interview that he’d suffered antigay harassment during his time at Fire Station 6 in the Castro, prompting Mayor Ed Lee to appoint the fire department’s first-ever gay commissioner, Ken Cleaveland.
Janetta Johnson, activist: After being incarcerated in a men’s prison, Johnson went on to become executive director of TGI Justice, where she is the leading voice for #BlackTransLivesMatter. Roberto Ordeñana, activist: The director of development for the S.F. LGBT Center is also vice president of the S.F. Arts Commission, awarding grants and shaping cultural policies in the name of “enlivening the urban environment.”
From the guy who runs Apple to the queen who rules nightlife to the lady who coined #BlackLivesMatter, these are the Bay Area’s most influential non-straights. By Brock Keeling and Leilani Marie Labong
Terry Beswick, nonprofit director: After managing the Castro Country Club, the neighborhood’s dry LGBTQ social space, Beswick was announced as the new executive director of the GLBT Historical Society earlier this year.
ACTIVISM
Cleve Jones, activist: An original member of the Harvey Milk squad and cofounder of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, he’s working on a memoir, When We Rise, and consulting on an ABC miniseries of the same name.
Rick Welts, president of the Warriors: With over 40 years’ experience in the NBA, he is inarguably at the zenith of his career after helping build one of the greatest pro teams of all time.
SPORTS
James Nunemacher, realtor: The owner of Vanguard Properties, which has generated more than $10 billion in sales since 1986.
Ben Ospital, shop owner: San Francisco’s answer to Comme des Garçons, his pioneering MAC (Modern Appealing Clothing) stores in Hayes Valley and Dogpatch raised the city’s sartorial consciousness.
Brian Boitano, figure skater: Our resident Olympic legend, the 20-year Russian Hill dweller, cookbook author, and South Park muse won a gold medal at the 1988 Winter Games.
Ruth McFarlane, attorney: Director of development at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which advocates for LGBTQ equality and provides free legal assistance to the community. Peter Gallotta, activist: The president of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club also founded Mama G’s Thanksgiving Street Dinner, which feeds turkey dinner to 300 people each year.
Rebecca Prozan, political liaison: The manager of public policy and government affairs at Google balances her private sector interests with her civic duties on the Democratic County Central Committee. (She’s up for reelection this month.) Tom Ammiano, retired politician: Since being termed out of Sacramento, the outspoken former assemblyman—a proponent of marijuana legalization, universal healthcare, and living wages for city employees—has taken to writing a memoir and honing his stand-up routine.
Jennifer Azzi, basketball coach: The former Stanford great and current coach of the USF women’s basketball team won national raves when she announced this March that she had married Blair Hardiek, an assistant coach.
Nate Allbee, political consultant: A former apparatchik for David Campos, Aaron Peskin, and Stuart Schuffman (aka Broke-Ass Stuart), he will next toil behind the scenes for Dean Preston, who hopes to unseat District 5 supervisor London Breed.
Steve Kawa, mayoral chief of staff: The “Shadow Mayor” serves as the iron fist to Ed Lee’s velvet glove, negotiating many of the city’s complex deals behind the scenes, just as he did for Willie Brown and Gavin Newsom.
Mark Leno, state senator: The rumored future mayoral candidate is, among other things, responsible for authoring California’s new minimum wage law. More important, his table at the Alice B. Toklas Club Pride Breakfast is always closest to the stage.
David Campos, District 9 supervisor: The brashest of the city’s progressive lawmakers, he’s lately played aggressor to a reeling Ed Lee on the issues of homelessness, police abuse, and property crime.
Bevan Dufty, politician: The exsupervisor and avowed enemy of chain stores stepped down last year as the city’s first homeless czar, though he continues to rally for such reforms as wet houses and supervised injection sites.
GOVERNMENT
Scott Wiener, District 8 supervisor: The heir apparent to Mark Leno’s state senate seat (although fellow supe Jane Kim has other ideas), he most recently received some Twitter love from Hillary Clinton after authoring the nation’s most robust paidparental-leave law. Tom DeCaigny, civil servant: Appointed by Mayor Lee in 2012 to serve as the city’s director of cultural affairs, the former board cochair of the LGBTQQ youth advocacy organization LYRIC oversees policy and funding efforts for the city’s abundant public art. Laura Thomas, civil servant: A recent appointment to the public health seat on the Entertainment Commission syncs up with her role on the Cannabis State Legalization Task Force, which is drafting local policy for when/if marijuana is legalized this year.
José Cisneros, city treasurer: Appointed by Gavin Newsom in 2004, Cisneros has won every election cycle (he’s usually unopposed) since 2005. His work has resulted in the lowest property tax delinquency rate in San Francisco ever.
Great Gay Moments—in Haiku!
Timothy Papandreou, transportation strategist: The chief innovation officer at the MTA is preparing the city for the inevitability of self-driving cars, in lockstep with his work creating the trafficsafety policy Vision Zero.
1955: Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, along with three other couples, organize the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. The organization hosts social functions, providing alternatives to lesbian bars and clubs, which are often raided by the police.
Rebecca Kaplan, politician: Despite finishing second in Oakland’s 2014 mayoral race, the city councilwoman is still one of the most popular politicos in town.
“If our club name sounds like a disease, maybe cops won’t raid?” “Lez do it.”
Theresa Sparks, advocate: Once the president of the Police Commission and the CEO of Good Vibrations, the executive director of the Human Rights Commission became the first transgender commission appointee in city history.
Stanley James Rogers, MD: The UCSF associate professor and chief surgeon has many estimable titles, among them this fabulous gem: His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX Distinguished Professor of Global Surgery.
SCIENCE
John Major, software engineer/ DJ: By day, he heads up dry-lab operations at S.F.-based Invitae, writing software that will simplify genetic home testing for hereditary cancers and rare diseases; by night, he spins EDM music at the club night he cofounded, Polyglamorous.
Dan Bernal, congressional aide: As the president of AIDS Emergency Fund, Nancy Pelosi’s chief of staff created the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, which provides more than $2 million to low-income women.
JoAnne Keatley, health advocate: The director of the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health at UCSF, she has developed numerous programs for the transgender community, as well as several federally funded research and HIV-prevention projects.
Bill Barnes, project manager: The former campaign manager to Mayor Lee and onetime HIV policy adviser to Willie Brown is part of the San Francisco Social, a Gen X–millennial club that raises money for charities such as the St. James Infirmary. Miguel Bustos, bank executive: As Wells Fargo’s senior VP of government and community relations, this onetime adviser to Bill Clinton on HIV/AIDS issues is also on the board of directors at the Mexican Museum. Paul Henderson, deputy chief of staff: Raised in Bayview–Hunters Point, the former San Francisco district attorney’s chief of administration now advises Mayor Lee on public safety.
Kara Swisher, editor: The executive editor and cofounder of the tech news site Re/code, christened “Silicon Valley’s most powerful snoop” by New York magazine, is contemplating an S.F. mayoral bid…in 2023.
FOOD
Brooke McDonnell and Helen Russell, coffee roasters: The cofounders of Equator Coffee are as famous for partnering with Williams-Sonoma and chef Thomas Keller as they are for their crazily popular $15 (!) pour-over.
Cynthia Laird, journalist: Nothing happens in the Castro unless this Bay Area Reporter news editor, who has reported on everything from the AIDS crisis to the housing crisis, is aware of it. Henry Pickavet, editor: The trans editorial director of TechCrunch spends his spare time educating youth about homo- and transphobia as a volunteer and board member with the Genders and Sexualities Alliance Network.
Fernando Ventura and Greg Sherrell, radio hosts: In a format typically known for shock jocks, they are the first openly gay duo to host a morning show on American commercial radio, KMVQ-FM’s Fernando and Greg in the Morning.
Scott Gatz, publisher: As CEO of Q.Digital, an LGBTQ media company, the early Yahoo insider now covers gender expression and sexual identity across three online platforms, including the popular GayCities.
Liam Mayclem, media personality: The two-time Emmy-winning host for CBS 5’s Eye on the Bay made a successful foray into the food scene with Foodie Chap for KCBS All News.
Michael Bauer, food critic: The fourtime James Beard Award winner and 30-year Chronicle veteran wields his pen to make or break Bay Area restaurants, much to the dismay of some local chefs—and rival critics.
San Francisco | June 2016
Traci Des Jardins, chef and restaurateur: The chef-owner of six city restaurants, including a mini-monopoly in the Presidio (three eateries within a 500-yard radius), is also on the board of La Cocina, where she mentors lowincome food entrepreneurs.
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor: The S.F. Symphony’s 71-year-old living deity is keeping it funky with SoundBox, the experimental performance venue and late-night live-music series at the Davies. John Waters, filmmaker and writer: The delicately mustached Pope of Trash just closed his Home Improvements show at the Fraenkel Lab and now turns to Oakland’s Burger Boogaloo music festival, featuring Cry-Baby star Traci Lords. Peaches Christ, drag performer: The self-styled “cult-movie impresario” collaborates with the likes of Waters and Pam Grier while promoting the Shanti Project, which provides support for people with life-threatening illnesses.
Andrew Dudley, blogger: The onetime editor of Haighteration, a blog dedicated to the Lower Haight, formed a breakingnews network of neighborhood blogs called Hoodline, which raised $1.6 million in 2015.
1965: A police raid on a drag ball at California Hall on Polk Street is captured on film by television news crews, garnering much sympathy for the attendees and raising awareness of police harassment of gays. Extreme violence at last puts an end to cops being, well, a drag.
Marga Gomez, comedian: With a stamp of approval from Robin Williams, who dubbed her the “lesbian Lenny Bruce,” the New York transplant successfully pressured the Castro restaurant Bandidos to change its name to the less culturally offensive Hecho.
Jake Heggie, composer: Known for his operatic version of Dead Man Walking and his latest work, Out of Darkness, which premiered in Seattle and San Francisco last month. Collin Burry, designer: With more than 60 design awards for his softly modernist decor, he’s created interior looks for such tech mammoths as Apple, Samsung, Gallo, and Dolby. Mr. David, designer: Although one of his caftans caused his dismissal from RuPaul’s Drag Race, this local designer was recently the subject of a pop-up retrospective at the de Young Museum.
MicahTron, musician: The formerly homeless queer rapper with “old-school flow and new-school soul” has graced global stages from Berlin to Long Beach, where she performed at the Pride celebration last month. Juanita More, drag performer: The S.F. fashion plate—also a cancer survivor, DJ, and culinary doyenne (see page 82)— throws an annual philanthropic Pride bash that raises money for a worthy LGBTQ cause.
Keith Rabois, venture capitalist: The early Yelp, YouTube, and Airbnb investor is now a partner at Khosla Ventures, focused on “black swan” projects like smartphone-enabled first aid kits by CellScope. Peter Thiel, venture capitalist: The PayPal cofounder, early Facebook investor, and partner at the VC firm Founders Fund also bankrolls a form of truancy: two-year fellowships for budding entrepreneurs who want to “build new things instead of sitting in a classroom.”
TECH
Randall Mann, poet: The Lambda Literary Award finalist has been published in the Washington Post, the Paris Review, and the New Republic; his fourth collection of poetry will arrive in 2017.
Myles Thatcher, dancer: The 26-yearold has emerged as the rising star of San Francisco Ballet, choreographing pieces after a prestigious mentorship under the Bolshoi Ballet’s Alexei Ratmansky.
Heklina, drag entertainer: In 2014 the Iceland-born creator of Mother (née Trannyshack) opened Oasis nightclub and cabaret, where Hamilton singalongs, Man Francisco stripteases, and Beyoncé tributes happen nightly.
Great Gay Moments—in Haiku!
David Harness, DJ: Partly to blame for the deep house music explosion of the ’90s, the former host of KMEL-FM’s show Your Mama’s House still spins at various clubs around the Bay.
ARTS
Annalee Newitz, journalist: The former editor-in-chief of Gizmodo and io9 and author of the 2013 book Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction is now the tech-culture editor at Ars Technica.
MEDIA
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Gary Danko, chef: In a sea of tattooed chefs sporting topknots, Danko, a James Beard Award winner and onetime Top Chef Masters contender, stands out with his signature grace and his society-beloved eponymous restaurant.
Sam Altman, venture capitalist: The president of the powerful tech incubator Y Combinator is also cochair, along with Tesla’s Elon Musk, of OpenAI, the new nonprofit that’s developing opensource-friendly artificial intelligence.
Jesse Woodward (pictured) and Dana Gleim, restaurateurs: Their wildly popular gay sports bar Hi Tops landed them in the pages of Sports Illustrated.
Marke Bieschke, journalist: The publisher, with business partner Tim Redmond, of the local independent news and culture site 48 Hills keeps proudly waving the progressive flag.
Francis Tsang, civil servant: The mayor’s body man and press handler was appointed to fill David Chiu’s seat on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and is currently running for reelection with topbrass endorsements from Lee, Newsom, and Pelosi. Alex Randolph, civic wonk: The former Obama appointee to the General Services Administration was elected last year to the City College of San Francisco board of trustees.
David Lerman, media entrepreneur: The Yale alum cofounded S.F.-based Say Media in 2010, which we have to thank for xoJane, Remodelista, and pet lovers’ networks Dogster and Catster.
Dominique Crenn, chef: The modernist chef behind Atelier Crenn and Petit Crenn is currently developing a line of baby food for infants with discriminating palates, and is soon to star in season two of the Netflix docu-series Chef’s Table.
Kevin Sessums, journalist: The Vanity Fair veteran and self-proclaimed Mississippi Sissy mines his celebrity Rolodex (Courtney Love, Jonathan Groff) as the editor at large for the Curran theater.
Jewelle Gomez, poet: The double Lambda Literary Award–winning author made a name for herself with the influential novel The Gilda Stories, which was released in a 25th-anniversary edition this year by City Lights Publishers.
Stanley Saitowitz, architect: From the “finned” 8 Octavia, the polarizing residential building in Hayes Valley, to the Beth Sholom synagogue in the Richmond district, with its masonry ode to a menorah, his grayscale modern architecture brings a welcome contrast to our city’s Victorian twee.
Jessica Silverman, gallerist: In addition to owning her eponymous gallery in the Tenderloin, as an arts commissioner she’s part of the effort to bring Node, Roxy Paine’s 110-foot sculpture, to the Central Subway in 2019.
Wendy MacNaughton, artist: Her whimsical cartooning has appeared in the New York Times, Juxtapoz, and most recently The Gutsy Girl, a memoir/field guide to female bravery written by her ex-firefighter partner, Caroline Paul.
Tim Cook, CEO: The Apple chief became corporate America’s highest-profile gay person when he came out in an October 2014 op-ed for Bloomberg Businessweek in which he stated, “I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.” Leanne Pittsford, tech entrepreneur: The founder of Lesbians Who Tech recently launched a nonprofit branch that will fund Bring a Lesbian to Work Day 2016 and a coding scholarship for queer women. Kathy Levinson, investor: Based in Silicon Valley, the onetime Charles Schwab VP is now the managing director of the Golden Seeds angel investment network, germinating female- and LGBTQ-owned companies.