San Francisco Bay Times - August 18, 2016

August 18-31, 2016 | www.sfbaytimes.com

Saturday, August 27

Electronic Dance Music Night Party Sunday, August 28

Parade & Festival

Details on Pages 16-17

/SF Bay Times

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In the News Compiled by Dennis McMillan Latest Poll Finds Young Americans Overwhelmingly Favor LGBT Rights Young people in America overwhelmingly support LGBT rights when it comes to policies on employment, health care and adoption, according to a new survey. The GenForward survey of Americans aged 18–30 found that support for those policies has increased over the past two years, especially among young whites. But relatively few of these young adults consider rights for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender to be among the top issues facing the United States. According to the findings, 92 percent of young adults support HIV and AIDS prevention, 90 percent support equal employment, and 80 percent support LGBT adoption. Across racial and ethnic groups, broad majorities support training police on transgender issues, government support for organizations for LGBT youth, and insurance coverage for transgender health issues. lgbtqnation.com SF Gay Men’s Chorus Perform for U.S. Navy’s Naming Ceremony Honoring Harvey Milk The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC), under the baton of Dr. Timothy Seelig, SFGMC Artistic Director, performed the National Anthem at the celebrated USNS Harvey Milk Naming Ceremony on August 16, held by the United States Navy. The event took place on Treasure Island at the Great Lawn in San Francisco. The week prior, USNI News reported that the Navy declared their intention to name a fleet oiler for Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California. The United States Navy’s decision to name a ship after a major gay rights activist comes only five years after President Barack Obama repealed the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, thus allowing gay, lesbian and bi-sexual members of the military to serve openly in the United States Armed Forces, and six weeks after the Pentagon ended the ban on military service by transgender Americans. SFGMC was joined at the ceremony by Mayor Ed Lee, U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, and members of the Harvey Milk Foundation. sfgmc.org Lone Star Saloon Among Nine Newly Named Legacy Businesses Nine businesses, including legendary San Francisco LGBT watering hole the Lone Star Saloon at 1354 Harrison Street, were recently named as “Legacy Businesses” by the city.

Each is now eligible to receive cityissued grants ranging from $500 (per full time employee per year) to $50,000. The other 8 businesses are as follows: Two Jacks Nik’s Place Seafood, Toy Boat Dessert Cafe, Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum Café, Precita Eyes Muralists Association, Pacific Cafe, Gilmans Kitchens and Baths, Community Boards, and Macchiarini Creative Design & Metalworks. A second set of 10 Legacy Businesses will be considered during a Small Business Commission meeting to be held on August 22. All of the named businesses have been in operation for 30 plus years and have contributed in some way to their respective neighborhood’s history. For more information about the Legacy Business Registry & Preservation Fund: http://www.sfheritage.org/legacy/legacy-business-registry-preservation-fund/

Castro Cares + FIX IT Working to Improve Life in the Castro After Mayor Lee’s pledge to “FIX IT!” launched a new program in May, it identified the Castro as one of the program’s priority neighborhoods.

The program, led by Sandra Zuniga, aims to improve residential and mixed use neighborhoods by reaching across all city departments to fix problems.

The Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District has asked Zuniga to help the CBD address particularly vexing challenges including: removing illegal food vendors on Castro Street, helping mentally ill and drug addicted people on the street, cleaning large tent encampments at Market & Octavia Streets, trimming trees on Market Streets, restoring Pink Alley, and replacing burnt out street lights as a start. CBD says the list seems to grow daily. Castro Cares is working closely with the FIX IT team to bring licensed, behavioral health providers to the Castro, providing additional assistance, support and training to the Castro Cares Homeless Outreach Team. castrocbd.org Gay Widower Sues KRON4 Pension Plan for Refusing to Provide Survivor Benefits The widower of a former KRON4 employee sued Young Broadcasting of San Francisco and the KRON/ IBEW Local 45 Pension Plan for refusing to provide him with a spousal pension benefit even though the couple were registered domestic partners.

David Reed and Donald Lee Gardner began dating in 1998. They quickly fell in love and committed themselves to caring for and protecting one another, including by becoming domestic partners in 2004. They were together for 16 years and were married for only five days before Donald lost his battle with a rare blood disease in 2014. Gardner was employed as technical director for KRON4 for more than 30 years before retiring in 2009. After he died, Reed sought a spousal survivor benefit under KRON4’s pension plan, which incorporates California law mandating that registered domestic partners have all of the same rights and responsibilities as those who are married. Even though the two were registered domestic partners and later married, the plan refuses to provide spousal benefits to Reed. Reed is represented

by Renaker Hasselman LLP and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. nclrights.org Maitri Seeking Executive Director Maitri, a nonprofit hospice and 24-hour care facility serving those with HIV/AIDS in San Francisco since 1987, is seeking an Executive Director. “Maitri” is a Sanskrit word that means “compassionate friendship.” In this 15-bed facility, skilled professionals and dedicated volunteers offer nursing and personal care as well as emotional and spiritual resources to help meet the special needs associated with HIV-related illness with an emphasis on end-of-life care. This nonprofit program is focused especially on those who might otherwise be without adequate resources or care, and is the only HIV/AIDS-specific hospice remaining in San Francisco. The ideal candidate will possess five or more years of experience as an executive director or in leading the finance or development arm of a complex organization. A (continued on page 30) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 18, 2016

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On the Precipice of Equality During the 96th Anniversary of Voting Rights for Women

By Debra Walker I am excited about the possibility that we will have a woman president come January, but I am even more excited that she is Hillary Rodham Clinton.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DEBRA WALKER

I supported Clinton, and then Obama, in 2008. Watching him win was both exhilarating and heartbreaking, but was made so much easier because of how gracefully Clinton handled the loss. Everyone I know moved quickly and without hesitation to support him. Full throttle, no looking back.

The Obama presidency has been history making in so many ways.

In the decades before the Civil War, during the 1820s and 30s, most states had extended the franchise to all white men, no matter their position in life. As time marched onwards, all sorts of reform groups activated across the U.S. They included temperance clubs, religious movements and moral-reform societies, anti-slavery organizations, and, in many of these, women were among the leaders.

Debra Walker (right) joins other volunteers at the Hillary for America call center Mission location.

ly with home and family. The suffragette movement expanded this narrow view, thereby contributing to a new way of thinking about what it meant to be a woman and a citizen of the United States. The suffragettes’ first victories were in helping to pave the way for expanding voting rights to the poor, and to all races. It required a 70year battle for them to gain the right to vote themselves.

Now, in 2016, we are still without The Equal Rights Amendment that was first introduced to Congress in 1923.

Women are still paid less than men.

Women still struggle to achieve leadership positions because they are women. Even when a woman is better qualified, the corporate ladder and that for other jobs is still harder for her to climb, given the inherent obstacles that she faces. It also goes without saying that, in our entire country’s history, we have never elected, or even had the choice to elect, a woman as our president … until now.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HILLARY FOR AMERICA CAMPAIGN

Numerous American women began to revolt against what historians called the “Cult of True Womanhood.” The idea held that the only “true” woman was a pious, submissive wife and mother concerned exclusive-

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DEBRA WALKER

Today, August 18, we celebrate 96 years to the day since the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution finally gave women in this country the right to vote. It came long after the 14th and 15th Amendments of the nineteenth century. The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, extends the Constitution’s protection to all citizens, while the 15th, ratified in 1870, guarantees black men the right to vote.

Hillary’s running mate Senator Tim Kaine in Fort Lauderdale on August 2

St. Petersburg, Florida, August 8

The election of Hillary Clinton to the presidency would symbolize the shattering of the glass ceiling. The cracks in that ceiling have been slowly building up, giving hope to what is possible come November. Clinton, who has for her entire life stood for increasing opportunities for women and girls and families, stands to lead us. She has long withstood the slings and arrows

of fear and misogyny, and is more than ready to lead our nation.

When I look around the excited crowds waiting for her to speak, I see hope in the faces of young and old alike that we are on the precipice of real equality. Foreseen is a new era when our daughters can truly have the same aspirations as our sons, and when we can raise the lives of women across our globe.

So join us today as we, in the San Francisco campaign to elect Hillary Clinton, celebrate the 96th anniversary of the 19th Amendment by beginning our major phone banking push into Nevada! For more information on this special effort, please go to: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/ events/view/Q6F2CHX56VVUNYNH/

Mojave Electric company’s staff welcomed Hillary to Las Vegas on August 4.

Hillary visited the Knotty Tie Company in Denver on August 3 where ties are made in America.

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We are aiming our efforts at women voters in Nevada, and have been working over the past few months to grow our volunteer base for phoning and traveling. This is history in the making, so please consider helping out today and in the days to come before the election. Go to www.hillaryclinton.com and see what events are happening every day and in every neighborhood. We truly are, now as in every significant advancement in our country’s history, #StrongerTogether. Join us!

Debra Walker is a Commissioner for the City and County of San Francisco Building Inspection Commission. A past president of the Commission, the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club and the San Francisco Arts Democratic Club, Walker is also an internationally recognized painter and printmaker. For more information: http://www.debrawalker.com/

What It’s Like to Attend the DNC: Raw Emotions, Exhilaration and Unforgettable Moments

Do Ask, Do Tell Zoe Dunning In my last column, I wrote about my plans to travel to Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention as a Hillary Clinton delegate. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I don’t believe I have felt that many emotions in one week–exhilaration, sorrow, anger, joy, curiosity, pride, impatience, exhaustion and love.

At the end of it all, I was definitely drained. I liken attending a political party’s national convention to attending an 8-hour Super Bowl game, four days in a row. You survive on adrenaline–shouting, cheering, crying, singing, and the occasional row with fellow spectators over seats, views, and which team is better.

Overall, the speakers and the program were amazing. I found myself crying numerous times, primarily during speeches by family members who lost loved ones to violence. The infamous line from Muslim-American Kizhr Kahn, the father of combat casualty CAPT Humayun Khan: “Don-

There were many other rousing speeches, but Dr. William Barber, the President of the North Carolina NAACP, brought the house down with his fiery call to action: “And now it’s our turn to be the moral defibrillators and to shock this nation with the power of love, justice and mercy.”

Overall the contrast between the dark and fearful Republican National Convention and the Democratic Convention messages of inclusion, diversity, love and togetherness was as stark as can be, and made me proud to be a Democrat.

That is not to say the convention was without controversy and contention, as those viewing on television saw.

When I first arrived at the Wells Fargo Center, I discovered the CA contingent was on the furthermost reaches to the left side of the stage (as you faced it). In fact, our seats were technically behind the stage. I then discovered New York and Virginia, Secretary Clinton and Governor Kaine’s home states, were front and center on the floor. Other swing states had prime seating. I wondered to myself, how could the largest state with the most delegates, the one that donates more to Democratic candidates than any other state, get slighted with the worst seats? The rumor was that the CA delegation was off to the side because of the large contingent of vocal

Bernie demonstrators, and the DNC wanted it all off camera.

The Bernie Sanders supporters came to Philadelphia pretty hurt and angry about the primary results and the recent DNC email revelations. Visible and vocal, many Bernie delegates (mostly from CA) were intent on leveraging an international television audience to get across their advocacy on issues important to them. They chanted and carried numerous signs asking for the end of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), no more war, and the banning of fracking (all issues I can agree with). In addition, there were attacks on Hillary Clinton herself–they hissed and booed whenever her name was mentioned, they shouted “Goldman Sachs” and modified the signage handed out so it would read “LIAR” rather than HILLARY, or instead of Love Trumps Hate, “Only Bernie Beats Trump.”

This caused a bit of a chanting war in the CA seats. Whenever the Bernie supporters behind me stood up to hold their signs and jeer and chant, we Hillary supporters would stand up, hold up the convention-provided signs, and start shouting “Hillary” over them until they quieted down.

During one of these incidents on the final day of the convention, when the Bernie delegates were shouting, “No More War,” and we Hillary people were shouting “Hillary” over them, I overheard the young woman behind me recording it on her phone, narrating her experience. She was very distraught that we could not all agree as Democrats to no more wars, and that they were being blocked and shouted

down. As I listened she became more and more inconsolable, heaving sobs while she shouted her sadness and anger into her phone.

I turned around to find a young woman, maybe in her early 20’s, wearing a POW/MIA cap. I reached out and offered my arms, as awkwardly as you can over a stadium seat, and she fell forward and melted into my arms. She sobbed on my shoulder for a good ten minutes, as I stroked her back and reassured her there are many Hillary supporters that want peace, particularly veterans like myself who are the ones put in harm’s way. I asked her a little about herself and learned she has a brother in the service. She lives in the Bay Area and I offered to connect her with veteran peace organizations if she wanted. I told her she could make a difference, that I myself had taken on the Pentagon with likeminded activists to defeat Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and won!

That seemed to encourage her and she calmed down. She thanked me numerous times and returned for a few more hugs. I gave her my card and asked her to get in touch after we got back.

I have many emotions when I think of this incident. For one, I think about why we Hillary supporters shut down people saying no more war. By that point, we were so emotionally raw and frankly annoyed with all of the interruptions and demonstrations that we felt we were protecting the speakers from disrespect. Secondly, I’m proud that I turned around and reached out to her. I had Michelle Obama’s statement (“When they go low, go high”) in

PHOTO COURTESY OF ZOE DUNNING

ald Trump … Let me ask you: Have you even read the U.S. Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy.” Or the mother of a Pulse nightclub shooting victim. Or the wife of a slain police officer. Or the daughter of the Principal at Sandy Hook Elementary.

Zoe Dunning at the DNC in Philadelphia

my mind, and the prior day’s Broadway performance of “What the World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love” ringing in my years. Corny but true.

I don’t kid myself that a single interaction is going to heal the rift between the Bernie and Hillary supporters, but I would like to think I touched that one woman’s heart and gave her hope.

I encourage everyone reading this to think about how they might make a difference in bridging the divide that exists between people now, whether it is over political issues or work or personal situations. Peace be with you.

Zoe Dunning is a retired Navy Commander and was a lead activist in the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. She served as CoChair of the Board of Directors for the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club and as an elected Delegate for the Democratic National Convention. She is a San Francisco Library Commissioner and is the former First Vice Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party.

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City College on the Ballot

A San Francisco Kind of Democrat Rafael Mandelman With 17 statewide measures, 24 local measures and a BART bond all coming before the voters in November, wading through the ballot, not to mention the voter handbook, promises to be quite a project. These measures run the gamut from necessary and important to foolish and ill-conceived, but there are two that matter a lot to City College. One would extend and modestly increase City College’s current parcel tax; the other would increase the City’s real property transfer tax on properties valued at more than $5 million, with the proceeds potentially funding Supervisor Jane Kim’s Free City College proposal.

The parcel tax measure would extend the tax from 2021, when it is currently schedule to expire, through 2032 and increase it from $79 per parcel to $99 per parcel. Readers may remember that in 2012, even after City College’s accreditor had sanctioned City College, the voters of San Francisco voted by more than 70% to establish the current parcel tax. That measure generates approximately $15 million per year for the College and has been essential to the College’s survival since 2012.

Notwithstanding that additional revenue, the past several years have, of course, been diff icult ones for the College. Although we remain open and accredited, the accreditation crisis has taken a terrible toll. Enrollment is dramatically down, with the College’s student headcount reduced from approximately 100,000 students in 2012 to approximately 60,000 today. Our count of full time equivalent students–the basis for most of the College’s funding from the State–has fallen from more than 35,000 four years ago to approximately 22,000 today.

The College has yet to feel the full financial impact of that loss of students, thanks to SB 860, legislation State Senator Mark Leno got passed back in 2014, which has provided tens of millions of dollars of so-called “stabilization funding” to partially offset the loss in revenue the College would have otherwise experienced.

Unfortunately, the Leno legislation, and the extra funding it brings, will end in July 2017, less than a year from now. At that point the College will confront a loss of more than $25 million from the College’s approximately $200 million annual budget.

In anticipation of that eventuality, the College has promulgated and begun to implement a six-year plan to reduce our class schedule to bring it in line with our reduced funding. We hope that we will be able to avoid some (ideally, most) of those reductions by increasing enrollment. However, that six-year plan assumes extension of the parcel tax beyond its currently scheduled termination in four years. For accreditation purposes, as well as sound financial planning, it would be enormously helpful to the College to know this year that we can count on that revenue stream continuing for the foreseeable future.

The proposed incremental increase will generate between $3 and 4 mil-

lion annually, not nearly enough to make up for our anticipated loss in State funding, but enough to allow the College to provide very modest salary increases for faculty who are still earning less than they were in 2012, and staff, who have also seen their wages stagnate during that time.

Those raises have been built into the tentative agreements negotiated with AFT 2121 (the faculty union) and SEIU 1021 (the classified staff union), but are conditioned on the parcel tax measure passing.

If it passes, the revenue from the increased transfer tax on properties selling for more than $5 million will go into the City’s general fund, but the Supervisors have indicated a desire to use some of the proceeds from the tax to fund Jane Kim’s Free City College proposal. I am a big fan of Free City College, partly because I philosophically support the idea, but more immediately, because making City College free could well help us with the all-important task of building enrollment in the years ahead.

There is also a trustee race on the ballot. Fellow San Francisco Bay Times columnist Alex Randolph and I are seeking re-election, and with AFT 2121 pushing hard to elect queer newcomers Shanell Williams and Tom Temprano, some have begun talking about a lavender sweep on the College Board. Incumbent Amy Bacharach may have other plans; Amy has been a solid member of the Board and won’t be going down without a fight, I’m sure. With five strong candidates running for four spots, it is anyone’s guess how this contest will turn out.

Whoever wins, the next Board is sure to be faced with some awfully tough decisions. Vote wisely, San Franciscans.

Rafael Mandelman is an attorney for the City of Oakland. He is also President of the City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees.

The Dignity Fund: Help Make San Francisco the Best It Can Be isolated LGBT seniors, people living with HIV/AIDS, veterans, people living with dementia, caregivers and adults of all ages living with disabilities. The in-home and community based services will include health and wellness programs, legal assistance, caregiver support, food and nutrition programs, in-home care assistance, and outreach and planning.

Aging in Community Marcy Adelman

LGBT Resources for Seniors • Openhouse: 415-296-8995 openhouse-sf.org/ • Family Caregiver Alliance: 415-434-3388 www.caregiver.org • Institute on Aging: 415-750-4111, www.ioaging.org/ • National Resource Center on LGBT Aging www.lgbtagingcenter.org/ • Project Open Hand San Francisco: Nutrition Services, 415-447-2300 www.openhand.org/ • SAGE: 212-741-2247 www.sageusa.org/about/ • Shanti Project, Inc: HIV Services and Life Threatening Illnesses, 415-674-4700 www.shanti.org/ Alzheimer’s Association Programs and Services: • 24/7 Helpline: 1-800-272-3900, www.alz.org/norcal/; Online Community: www.alzheimersblog.org/lgbt-forum • Memory Clinic, Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center: 408-530-6900, mydoctor. kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/facilities/region/santaclara/area_master/ departments/memoryclinic/index.jsp 6

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The Dignity Fund proposal to provide a sustained increase in dedicated funding for San Francisco’s seniors and adults living with disability has received the support of both the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors to appear on the November ballot. To succeed in November, the Dignity Fund needs your support, your endorsement and your vote.

The combination of reduced funding, increased longevity and a growing population of older residents has made it difficult to adequately provide support for San Francisco residents over the age of 60. Today, seniors comprise 24% of the city’s population, and that percentage is expected to increase to over 30% by 2030, according to the California Department of Finance. The Dignity Fund will ensure that there are adequate and stable resources for the city’s growing population of seniors.

The additional funding will target vulnerable low and middle income seniors who need services and support to continue to live in their homes and in their communities. These include

Helping individuals to age well in their homes and communities reduces costly visits to emergency rooms and delays and shortens stays in assisted living facilities and nursing homes.

This is a win win for the city’s fiscal health and the health and well-being of seniors and adults living with disabilities. The Dignity Fund ballot proposal would finance the additional funding with an annual set aside from the City’s General Fund. The Fund would be administered by the Department of Aging and Adult Services.

The budget timeline calls for a 6 million set aside this year, with incremental increases of 3 million for the next 9 years. After 9 years the additional annual amount will be determined by changes in the city revenues. The Fund is set to expire in 20 years, at which time it could be reviewed and reset in 2037. The Dignity Fund is the work of The Dignity Fund Coalition: an extraordinary effort by a group of senior advocates, senior community organizations and senior-serving non-profits that represents San Francisco’s rich diversity.

The coalition includes the following: AIDS Legal Referral Panel, Alzheimer’s Association, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, Bayview Hunters Point Multi-purpose Senior Services, Canon Kip Senior Center, Cath-

olic Charities, Centro Latino de San Francisco, Community Living Campaign, Curry Senior Center, Episcopal Community Services, Episcopal Senior Communities, Faith in Action Bay Area, Family Caregiver Alliance, Family Service Agency/Felton Institute, Filipino Community Center, HIV & Aging Work Group, Homebridge, HIV Long Term Survivors, Independent Living Resource Center, Institute on Aging, Jewish Family and Children’s Services, Kimochi, Inc., Lighthouse for the Blind, Little Brothers Friend of the Elderly, Meals on Wheels San Francisco, Northern California Presbyterian Homes and Services, On Lok, Inc., Openhouse, Pilipino Senior Resource Center, Project Openhand, Richmond Senior Center, San Francisco Village, Self-Help for the Elderly, Senior & Disability Action, Shanti Project, South of Market Community Action Network, Steppingstone, Swords to Plowshares, The ARC–SF, The Living Room, Veterans Equity Center, Westbay Filipino Center and YMCA of San Francisco (partial list).

Here is what you can do to help: Go to the Dignity Fund website, www.sfdignityfund.org, and lend your name as an endorser.

You can also facilitate your organization’s endorsement, and make a donation to fund the ballot campaign.

Be a part of making San Francisco the best it can be.

Marcy Adelman, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in private practice, is co-founder of the non-profit organization Openhouse and was a leading member of the San Francisco LGBT Aging Policy Task Force.

‘Gay Olympics’ or Gay Olympics?

John Lewis & Stuart Gaffney When the Olympic Games come around every two years, it always feels a bit bittersweet to us. We love the dazzling performances of extraordinary athletes like Simone Biles and Michael Phelps. However, the Olympics also bring back the sting of the United States Olympic Committee going to court back in 1982 to stop Dr. Tom Waddell and other organizers of the first ever competition for LGBT athletes from calling those games the “Gay Olympics.” The USOC sued Waddell and other LGBT organizers just weeks before the first games were to commence, fighting all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it won.

As a result, the LGBT athletic event would have to be known as the “Gay Games,” and organizers were forbidden from calling it the “Gay Olympics.” The USOC went so far as to put a lien (later withdrawn) on the home of Waddell–who was very ill with HIV/AIDS at the time–to recoup $96,000 in attorneys’ fees.

Adding salt to the wound, Vaughn Walker, a then closeted gay man who later became a federal judge and wrote the lower court decision striking down Proposition 8, represented the USOC in the litigation.

Waddell and the other organizers, represented by the legendary LGBT rights attorney Mary Dunlap, argued that the USOC’s not contesting the existence of the Special Olympics, Junior Olympics, Police Olympics, Eskimo Olympics, Rat Olympics, Frog Olympics, Cockroach Olympics, Tank Olympics, Beer Olympics … meant that the USOC’s purpose in trying to prevent the Gay Olympics from existing was clear: discrimination. Organizers explained that the Gay Olympics was intended not only to provide a venue for athletes from around the world to participate freely regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, but also to dismantle harmful stereotypes about LGBT people. The Gay Olympics would show the world that LGBT people could be athletes–indeed, champion athletes.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SF GAY MEN’S CHORUS

6/26 and Beyond

The USOC prevailed at the distr ict, appel late, and Supreme Court levels, with the court majorities never squarely addressing the issue of discrimination. But appellate judge Alex Kozinski, in dissent at the Ninth Circuit, largely The original poster before it was modified when the term “Olympic” had to be removed. agreed with the LGBT organizers, observing that “handicapped, juniors, police, Explorers, even dogs are allowed to carr y the Olympic torch, but homosexuals are not.”

Kozi nsk i noted that the USOC appeared to be trying to preserve “the very image of Rainbow balloons at Kesar Stadium for the first Gay Games in 1982 homosexuals that We also have strong memories of the [Waddell and other organizers] Attorney Mary Dunlap who argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court seek to combat” based on its view Caitlyn (then Bruce) Jenner leaving her competition literally in the of the lack of “wholesomeness” of dust, when she broke the world reLGBT people. cord winning the Gold Medal in Justices Brennan and Marshall in the men’s decathlon in 1976 Olymdissent at the Supreme Court con- pics. Jenner, who famously came out curred, observing that the LGBT as transgender and transitioned in organizers intended to use “the 2015, grabbed a fan’s American flag word ‘Olympic,’ to promote a real- and waved it during his victory lap istic image of homosexual men and back in 1976, creating a new Olymwomen that would help them move pic tradition that many now follow. into the mainstream of their communities.” The title “The Best and Although tennis great Billie Jean Most Accomplished Amateur Gay King was not out during much of Athletes Competition,” just doesn’t the time she reigned atop the womhave the same ring and doesn’t send en’s tennis world, she coached the the same message as “Gay Olym- 1996 women’s Olympic tennis team pics.” as an out lesbian. King, whom Sports Even though the USOC got its Illustrated magazine honored in way, LGBT athletes were not de- 1972 as “Sportsman of the Year,” terred, and have come out and ex- received the Presidential Medal of celled around the world. The Gay Freedom for her lifetime of accomGames and other LGBT athletic plishments, and President Obama events have been held for over 30 appointed her (along with openly years. The 1994 Gay Games, held gay ice hockey player Caitlin Cain New York in conjunction with the how) to the official American dele25th anniversary of Stonewall, drew gation to the 2014 Sochi Olympics nearly 11,000 athletes, greater than to demonstrate the very visibility of the number of competitors in the LGBT athletes that Waddell and 1992 Olympic Games themselves. his fellow organizers had envisioned Former Olympic champions–the three decades before. pride of the United States–who were The process of dismantling ancloseted when they competed years ti-LGBT prejudice that pervades ago, have subsequently come out sports and anti-LGBT attitudes in proudly. Olympic hero Greg Lougamany of the 207 countries that comnis, the only male diver to win both diving Gold Medals in consecutive pete in the Olympics has been slow.

Olympics, came out as gay in 1995. However, as the San Francisco Bay Dr. Tom Waddell, Gay Games Founder We’ll never forget his extraordi- Times reported in last edition’s covnary performance at the 1988 Seoul er story, a record number of open- We may not be able to have a “Gay Olympics,” but they can’t stop us making the Olympics that earned him the title ly LGBT athletes (at least 43), in- Olympics gay–and slowly but surely we are. of ABC’s Wide World of Sports 1988 cluding the Bay Area’s own Kelly “Athlete of the Year.” And when Griffin, are competing in the Rio John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, together for over three decades, were plaintiffs in the CaliforLouganis came out, he revealed he Olympics, with some estimates of nia case for equal marriage rights decided by the California Supreme Court in 2008. Their accomplished this exceptional feat the actual number of LGBT com- leadership in the nationwide grassroots organization Marriage Equality USA contributed in as a person living with HIV. petitors to be 500 or more.

2015 to making same-sex marriage legal nationwide.

Naming Ceremony for T-AO 206 USNS Harvey Milk

U.S. NAVY PHOTOS

U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Mayor Ed Lee and other elected officials led the ceremony at Treasure Island on Tuesday, August 16, announcing officially the U.S. Navy’s plans to name a ship in honor of Harvey Milk. The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, led by Dr. Tim Seelig, performed the “National Anthem” to open the ceremony and “Never Ever” from NakedMan at the closing.

The USNS Harvey Milk will be the second of a new class of ships named after civil and human rights leaders. They include ships named after Representative John Lewis of Georgia, Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, women’s rights activist Lucy Stone, and abolitionist Sojourner Truth.

Ensign Harvey Milk, U.S. Navy S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 18, 2016

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GGBA August Make Contact - August 9

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PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER DYDYK

GGBA, the Nation’s first LGBT Chamber of Commerce, met at the iconic Redwood Room at CLIFT Hotel on August 9 for their monthly Make Contact/Business Networking Event. Nearly 200 attendees shared in the presentation by Granite Solutions Group of a check for $40,000 as Granite Solutions became a “Chairperson Level” partner. Visit ggba.com for more photos.

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 18, 2016

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4 Ways a Budget Can Pay Off

Can you keep your lifestyle in retirement?

Let’s talk.

415.623.2450 Brio Financial Group

A private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Service, Inc. 44 Montgomery St, Ste 4210 San Francisco, CA 94104-4815 415-623-2450

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Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., Member FINRA and SIPC. © 2016 Ameriprise Financial, Inc., All rights reserved.

Money Matters Brandon Miller What comes to mind when you think of creating a budget? For many people, even the thought of putting one together is unappealing. However, there’s another more positive way to look at budgeting that may surprise you. Budgeting can be a way to gain more control of your f inances and empower you to do more of what you want to do in life. So while making a budget does require forethought and discipline–and may require you to reign in impulse purchases–it pays off by putting you in the driver’s seat.

Over time, a budget has the power to:

1. Let you decide. When you allocate dollars as part of a budget, you give yourself a chance to be thoughtful about where your money is going and to make adjustments, if needed.

For example, if you are shocked by how much you’re spending dining out or buying new clothes, you can curtail spending in those areas. Ultimately, knowing your spending patterns gives you the power to put your dollars toward the things that mean the most to you, and helps you reach your longterm goals.

2. Take the pain out of daily decisions. Daily temptations to overspend become easier to navigate when you have a framework and guidance in black and white. Setting a budget equips you with the power to say “yes” or “no” to a purchase without guilt. You’ll be able to see what’s within your price range and get a clear view of how each purchase will impact your savings plan. The more specific your budget is, the better.

3. Make it easier to see the value of every dollar. When you are cavalier about your spending, you are discounting the effort it takes to earn money. In contrast, when you consider everything that goes into earning

a paycheck, and the expenses you are incurring for your home, food, clothing, entertainment and so on, you will have a clearer picture of your daily financial life. It is also important to consider the potential long-term benefits of investing some of your hardearned savings. It is likely that this will bolster your resolve even more.

4. Help you make larger financial goals possible. Large purchases can seem out of reach when you are not tracking your spending patterns. Creating a budget gives you a roadmap to follow, making it clear what trade-offs are possible if you’d like to reach your goal sooner.

No matter what your net worth is, a budget can be a useful tool to help you be a good steward of your finances.

Your financial advisor can help you examine your spending and recommend investment strategies to keep you on track with your financial goals.

Brandon Miller, CFP is a financial consultant at Brio Financial Group, A Private Wealth Advisory Practice of Ameriprise Financial Inc. in San Francisco, specializing in helping LGBT individuals and families plan and achieve their financial goals.

Going Green Without Advertising It

Auto Philip Ruth

Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid

Buying a hybrid once meant making a distinct statement about being green. Driving a Toyota Prius or Honda Insight demonstrated its owner’s commitment to saving gas and the environment. But now, hybrids many times don’t look much different from the plain gas versions in the lineup. If we compare this all to drag: hybrids were peacock performers, but now they can also be the ones who hang up the stilettos and don a pair of Dockers for work.

Our two subjects this week are of the latter type. Both the Chevrolet Malibu hybrid and Ford Fusion Energi Platinum plug-in hybrid look remarkably similar to the Malibus and Fusions that run simply on gas, so they are not the ones to get if you want people to admire your car’s efficiency.

That is kind of a shame, because both of these mid-sized sedans positively sip gas. It takes a while to get used to driving these relatively large cars and noting that the needles on their gas gauges barely budge. The EPA pegs the overall Malibu Hybrid’s mileage at 46 mpg, and the plug-in Fusion Energi lands at 42 mpg on gas alone, which more than doubles to 97 mpg when the hybrid system is fully charged.

Both the Malibu Hybrid and Fusion Energi have expansively roomy interiors. The tested $31K Malibu was more sparsely equipped than the $36K Fusion Energi Platinum, and it was apparent. The Malibu’s black cloth upholstery was more sturdy than cozy, and the unrelenting dark12

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Ford Fusion Energi

ness of the dashboard and door panels had a downbeat vibe.

The Platinum trim level for the Fusion Energi, on the other hand, looked and felt sumptuous. In European markets, this decor group is known as the Vignale, and it lives up to that stylish name with diamond-stitched leather and rich textures. The instrument panel is the best part; you gaze out over a sea of stitched baseball-glove leather.

The Fusion Energi Platinum feels like a true luxury car inside, so much so that it is jarring to climb out and view the exterior’s relative anonymity. Looping back to the drag analogy, the Fusion Energi Platinum is like a navy sport jacket with a wildly colorful lining; it is just the ticket if you want to spoil yourself without advertising it.

While both of these more efficient versions of the Malibu and Fusion have much to recommend them,

there are a few caveats. Performance from both is strong enough to keep up with traffic, but both exhibit the occasionally maddening indirect feel endemic to hybrids. Sometimes they respond with a delay when you need more squirt. Trunks are smaller as they accommodate the hybrid battery pack, and, of course, these more ef f icient versions are more expensive than their standard brethren.

Buying the Fusion Energi also means missing the opportunity to buy the 2017 Fusion V6 Sport, with its allwheel drive and twin-turbocharged engine. Mileage drops to 20 mpg, but if you love to drive, then that is the drag outfit in which you would feel most at home.

Philip Ruth is a Castro-based automotive photojournalist and consultant at www.gaycarguy.com. Check out his automotive staging service at www.carstaging.com

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY   T IM ES AUGUS T 18, 2016

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After a Death, a Whole New Life

Weddings Reverend Elizabeth River I met Chuck Agler nearly 4 years ago when I was a hospice chaplain and his partner John Capin was dying of cancer. Chuck and John were devoted partners and had a rich and deeply satisfying life for 40 years.

Chuck, in his grief after John’s death, told me: “I was the one who was supposed to die first.” Chuck was 80 and John was only 65 when he died. After the memorial service, Chuck descended into sadness, depression and survivor’s guilt. He even considered suicide for a time, as he was not able to imagine love, joy and hope.

The miracle is that Chuck, a psychiatrist, always knew to get help. He saw a bereavement counselor. He attended grief groups at hospice, at the LGBT Center on Market Street, and at Kaiser. These last two were absolutely marvelous; not only were

they “mixed” (gender, age, economic group, race, education level) but also people really told their truth. Chuck said some of the stories of losses he heard were so terrible that he began to see that many people had suffered far more than he had. But, best of all, he had beloved friends and family members who paid attention to him, and made him promise to let them know if he ever got close to wanting to end the difficult period. Throughout the difficult period, Chuck felt loved and cared for during this difficult time.

Meanwhile, Chuck found he was getting tremendous support from the big dynamic grief group at The Center and kept going, gradually falling into a habit of dropping in at Twin Peaks Tavern after his sessions. Chuck, though shy, would sit with a bunch of guys who were completely welcoming. They listened with compassion to his story and made him a part of their group.

One of the men was Abel Santoyo, a warm friendly younger man who engaged him in conversation every time they met. After a trip to see family in Oregon, Abel picked Chuck up at SFO and took him to dinner at Anchor Oyster Bar. They had a fabulous time together and the rest, as they say, is history.

Chuck said his life now is a joyous surprise—beyond anything he could have imagined. Abel, a drywall contractor who loves his job, has tremendous energy and works

a lot, yet Chuck and Abel love what time they can spend together: alone or with friends, exploring new places, and just enjoying life. When Chuck expressed his concerns to Abel about their age difference, Abel told him, “You are what I was looking for.” Abel had taken care of his lover of 25 years, Richard, before he died, and Chuck knows Abel will take care of him when the time comes. Abel is warm, caring and very affectionate. He is the kind of guy people gravitate to because of his warmth and genuine interest in them.

Chuck told me he wants to tell people, “If you are old and lose your lover, don’t give up hope!” He wants to pass on what he has learned about how to get through the times when despair seems to be the only thing there is, and hope seems impossible: Stay close to friends who support you, find new ones, get help, and keep telling your story. Doing so will help others as much as it does you.

It is so beautiful to hear a story like that of Chuck and Abel. They both lost a beloved and then came to a place where they found someone new and built a new love and a whole new phase of life. What a blessing!

Rev. Elizabeth River is an interfaith minister who officiates both weddings and memorial services. Find her at www. marincoastweddings.com or phone 415669-9968.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE DE YOUNG AND LEGION OF HONOR

The Harald Wagner Collection of Teotihuacan Murals at the de Young

Mexico, Teotihuacan, Techinantitla Mural with Feathered Serpent and Flowering Trees, 600 - 750 Volcanic ash, lime, mineral pigment, and mud backing 23 1/4 x 159 1/2 x 2 1/4 (59.1 x 405.1 x 5.7 cm) Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Bequest of Harald J. Wagner, 1985.

The Harald Wagner collection of Teotihuacan murals is the largest and most important outside of Mexico.

The murals are remarkable for their quality, condition and iconographic breadth. Secretly removed from their site in the 1960s, they were left to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in a surprise bequest by Harald Wagner, an energetic San Francisco art lover who had spent years living in Mexico.

His gift created a tangle of legal and ethical issues that took the Museums, working with the Mexican government, years to sort out. The result was an agreement that stands as a model of institutional responsibility in the sensitive area of restoring lost cultural patrimony.

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Of equal dramatic interest is the story of the discovery of the murals’ provenance at Teotihuacan by René Millon, some twenty years after their looting. The murals are of extraordinary scholarly interest because of their subject matter and their place within the Teotihuacan stylistic canon. Although scholars have not yet been able to establish the existence of an organized system of writing for the city, many of the Wagner murals bear important glyphs that will provide new and valuable evidence.

For information about visiting the de Young, please visit: deyoung.famsf.org

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY   T IM ES AUGUS T 18, 2016

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Silicon Valley Pride • 2016

Welcome!

r supporting sincerely thank you fo we d an e, m lco we d, unity.

On behalf of the Boar diverse LGBT comm y’s lle Va e th d an ide Silicon Valley Pr CCESS. Y, INCLUSION, SU IT RS VE DI is ar ye Our theme this fun we have in store e entertainment and th t ou ab ed cit ex ely We are extrem Saturday for you. a night opening. On th wi ns tio ra leb ce e are starting th te with high-tech For the first time, we M night festival comple ED an ts en es pr 16 Pride 20 night, August 27, SV ing games and more. m last year. laser-light show, excit own significantly fro gr s ha ich wh , de ra m live bands, off with the pa electrifying music fro On Sunday, we start ng idi ov pr , ain ag ce ent for kids. s open on engaging entertainm d The festival ground an n fu as ll we as d Latino artists do. popular Jamaican an fallen victims of Orlan e th to te bu tri g yin bering and pa e must We will also be remem iminatory actions. W cr dis h rs ha to d cte ose subje look further than fight for justice for th life. For we need not of ct pe as We must continue to y er ev in struggle is real. diversity and inclusion be reminded that the to , do continue to push for lan Or in dy ge rolina, or the tra y and inMississippi, North Ca that embraces diversit ty cie so ir fa d an t a jus we believed in shaping Forty-one years ago, erse voices of clusion. ing the wonderfully div lud inc d an ing er th . For only through ga Today, we still believe ly achieve success. inclusive the Valley can we tru ore just, diverse and m a s rd wa to d, ar rw e us fo has the power to mov Believe, a word that society.

sure ething) as true; feel om (s pt ce ac 1. rb be·lieve be-lēv ve ve! join with us and belie We welcome you to Sincerely,

Thaddeus Campbell

16

Thaddeus Campbell CEO –President

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S AU GU S T 1 8 , 2 0 1 6

of the truth of.

Night Festival & EDM Rave Set for Silicon Valley Pride 2016

By Thaddeus Campbell

ey Silicon Vall

Pride 2015

This year we transform Silicon Valley Pride into a hot rave on the streets of San Jose. Get ready for an Electronic Dance Music (EDM) party and night festival on Saturday, August 27, from 6–11 pm. This will be our first ever night festival, so be sure not to miss it!

Complete with top DJs from around the country and the best laser light show the Bay Area has ever seen, our first EDM will go all out to please. Cosplay, games, Happy Hour cocktail prices, dancing under the stars and hooking up with long-lost friends … what more could you ask for?

JUJUBEE

From RuPaul’s Drag Race we will present Jujubee, Delta Work and Mayhem Miller. Our Main Stage, Latin Stage, live bands, sexy DJ’s, Salsa performers, and dance troupes are but a sliver of the entertainment package that awaits festival goers on Sunday.

Appearing on stage will be the wonderfully talented Diana King. King has been at the top of the U.S. Billboard, R&B and Reggae charts, and has also topped the charts in Japan and the DELTA WORK U.K., earning platinum and gold records respectively. What else is left? King’s musical talents led to her being on Billboard’s Top Reggae Albums list in the number 1 position.

On June 28, 2012, via her Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/notes/dianaking/yes-i-am-a-lesbian/10151076275753885/) King bravely declared to her fans, “Yes, I am a Lesbian.”

She is the first Jamaican artist to ever publicly come out. Jamaica is known for its extreme violence and intolerance towards the LGBT community.

If you are looking for diversity, talent and a musically mesmerizing experience, King will surly deliver.

MAYHEM MILLER DIANA KING

With songs topping the charts in Australia and the U.K., Inaya Day is guaranteed to rock Silicon Valley. Day also reached the number 2 spot on the Billboard charts here in the U.S., and will have those of us on the streets of San Jose begging for more.

Day has appeared with the likes of Michael Jackson, Big Daddy Kane and was a co-writer of Missy Elliott’s “Gossip Folks.” Day is a singer and songwriter you will not want to miss.

Caravanserai is the fourth studio album by Santana. It is also the name of an extremely talented band performing at this year’s festival. So well loved and appreciated from last year, this extraordinary group is being brought back for a repeat, and longer, engagement.

INAYA DAY

Lead guitarist Leo Herrera, through his painstaking care and keen skills, ensures that the guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, timbales and congas deliver and bring everyone to their feet.

Caravanserai is one of the best Bay Area bands around!

Houston native and singing powerhouse, Jeanie Tracy, is the proud and deserving recipient of prestigious awards and is an inductee into the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame.

Tracy, having sung background vocals with Martha Wash and Izora Armstead, better known as Two Tons of Fun, has captured the attention of audiences around the world.

Billboard is no stranger to her talents and skills.

The entertainment for Silicon Valley Pride Festival 2016 is simply the best in many years.

JEANIE TRACY

The line-up represents and embodies true diversity and inclusion.

Visit our website www.svpride.com for the latest entertainment updates and additions.

Thaddeus Campbell is the CEO and President of Silicon Valley Pride.

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 18, 2016

17

Bad Attitudes essary suffering he saw in his psychotherapy patients. They are:

Roland Schembari and Bill Hartman, Co-Founders Randy Alfred, Founding News Editor 1978

1. “I absolutely must be thoroughly competent, adequate, achieving, and lovable at all times, or else I am an incompetent, worthless person.”

Kim Corsaro Publisher 1981-2011

2261 Market Street, No. 309 San Francisco CA 94114 Phone: 415-601-2113 525 Bellevue Avenue Oakland CA 94610 E-mail: editor@sfbaytimes.com www.sfbaytimes.com

The Bay Times was the first newspaper in California, and among the first in the world, to be jointly and equally produced by lesbians and gay men.

We honor our history and the paper’s ability to build and strengthen unity in our community.

The Bay Times is proud to be the only 100% LGBT funded and owned newspaper for the LGBT community in San Francisco.

Dr. Betty L. Sullivan Jennifer L. Viegas Co-Publishers & Co-Editors

Abby Zimberg Beth Greene

Design & Production

Kate Laws Business Manager Jennifer Mullen Calendar Editor

Kit Kennedy

Poet-In-Residence

J.H. Herren Technology Director

Examined Life Tom Moon, MFT One of the great secrets of life, and a central insight of cognitive therapy, was summed up in a simple way two thousand years ago by the Stoic philosopher, Epictetus: “Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.” Most of us assume, most of the time, that when we’re unhappy, the causes are outside of ourselves, in the painful and disappointing things that happen to us.

But, to a surprising degree, according to cognitive therapy, our suffering is the result, not of events themselves, but of the attitudes we have about the events.

Several decades ago, Albert Ellis, one of the early pioneers of this approach, identified three basic ideas that he believed were behind most of the unnec-

Jennifer Mullen Web Coordinator

Mario Ordonez Juan Ordonez Distribution

CONTRIBUTORS Writers Rink, Sister Dana Van Iquity, Ann Rostow, Kirsten Kruse, Kate Kendell, Alex Randolph, Heidi Beeler, Gary M. Kramer, Dennis McMillan, Tom Moon, Tim Seelig, Cinder Ernst. John Chen Rafael Mandelman, Kit Kennedy, Phil Ting, Rebecca Kaplan, Leslie Katz, Philip Ruth, Bill Lipsky, Karen Williams, Donna Sachet, Gary Virginia, Zoe Dunning, Marcy Adelman, Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis Brandon Miller, Jamie Leno Zimron Thom Watson, Courtney Lake, Michele Karlsberg Photographers Rink, Phyllis Costa, Jane Higgins Paul Margolis, Chloe Jackman, Bill Wilson, Jo-Lynn Otto, Sandy Morris, Abby Zimberg

ADVERTISING Display Advertising Standard Rate Cards are available online at sfbaytimes.com or calling: 415-503-1375 Custom ad sizes are available. Please inquire! The Bay Times reserves the right to reject any advertising at the discretion of the publishers.

National Advertising: Contact Bay Times / San Francisco.

Represented by Rivendell Media: 908-232-2021 Circulation is verified by an independent agency Reprints by permission only.

CALENDAR Event listings for consideration to be included in the Bay Times online or print Calendar section should be sent by e-mail to: calendar@sfbaytimes.com. © 2016 Bay Times Media Company Co-owned by Betty L. Sullivan & Jennifer L. Viegas

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The fact that we are all imperfect and fallible, and that we inevitably fail and make mistakes, is too threatening for many of us to admit because we’re afraid that, if anyone sees our imperfections, then we will be exposed as worthless and unlovable. Related to this expectation of perfection is the idea that we must have complete and perfect control over everything that happens in our lives, rather than acknowledge that the world is full of accidents and surprises and that we can still enjoy life in spite of its unpredictability. Refusal to accept this basic uncertainty inevitably leads to feelings of anxiety, panic, depression, despair, and worthlessness.

Some people focus on one area of perfection in order to cut down on the number of areas of life they have to master, in the hope that if they have one specific kind of perfection, all the good things in life will follow. A common example of this among some gay men is the relentless pursuit of the absolutely perfect, gym toned body, a pursuit based on the belief that if I’m completely hot then I will also

be completely loved. But we all know that sexual attraction and love are different things, and that being the object of lust in no way guarantees being respected or loved.

2. “Other significant people in my life absolutely must treat me kindly and fairly at all times, or else I can’t stand it, and they are bad, rotten, and evil persons who should be severely blamed, damned, and vindictively punished for their horrible treatment of me.”

When we demand unconditional love from others–instead of accepting that, no matter what we do, some people will love us imperfectly, and some won’t at all–we set ourselves up for inordinate dependence and for a passive focus on being loved by significant others for almost everything that we do instead of concentrating on living by our own values, earning our self-respect, and focusing on loving rather than being loved. Paradoxically, the demand for unconditional love inevitably makes us less lovable, because it is a sense of entitlement that leads to indignation, rage and vindictiveness.

3. “Things and conditions absolutely must be the way I want them to be and should never be too difficult or frustrating. Otherwise, life is awful,

terrible, horrible, catastrophic and unbearable.”

A related belief is the idea that if something may be dangerous or scary we should be upset and endlessly worry about it rather than understand that we are better off if we face it and remove the danger, or, when that is not possible, accept what we cannot change. Another related belief is the idea that it is easier to avoid than to face life’s difficulties and personal responsibilities rather than to understand that the so-called easy way is usually much harder in the long run.

Believing that things must always go my way leads to low-frustration tolerance, self-pity, anger, and depression; and to behaviors such as procrastination, avoidance, and inaction.

These three ideas–I must be perfect; I must always be loved; things must always go my way–are recipes for keeping us frustrated, unhappy, disappointed, and immature, because these are the expectations of children.

Let’s admit it, we can all be childish sometimes. But to the degree that we hold onto these unrealistic expectations, we put ourselves at odds with life, and whenever we fight with life, we lose.

Tom Moon is a psychotherapist in San Francisco. For more information, please visit his website http://tommoon.net/

GLBT Fortnight in Review

By Ann Rostow Thanks for Nothing, Justice Breyer!

As the last issue went to press came the extraordinary news that the U.S. Supreme Court effectively reversed the Fourth Circuit’s ruling in favor of a transgender high school student— albeit temporarily. We’ve talked a lot about this significant case, so I’m sure you recall that the student, Gavin Grimm, had successfully fought for the right to use the boy’s restroom and locker room at his high school in Gloucester, Virginia. The decision in his favor by the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit was appealed to the full appellate court, which refused to reconsider the case.

Subsequently, the school district appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and asked the Fourth Circuit to hold off its ruling by issuing an injunction pending this appeal. Again the Fourth Circuit refused (yay!) and the school district scurried off to ask the High Court for an injunction while the justices think about whether or not to take the appeal.

And the High Court said yes!

Did Antonin Scalia rise from the grave, you ask? He might as well have, because Justice Breyer decided to side with the four conservatives as a matter of “courtesy,” to keep the status quo in place while the underlying issue was examined.

I simply can’t tell you how annoying this is.

First, the “status quo,” if you will, was that Gavin had used the boys’ facilities without any problem until a parent complained and the school banned him from the john and the locker room. Gavin sued, won, and the school policy was deemed to violate Title IX, the federal law that guarantees gender equity in public schools. The status quo was restored.

But by putting a hold on the Fourth Circuit’s decision, the school is once again given the right to bar Gavin from using the male bathrooms. Justice Breyer’s decision implies that he thinks this is the default situation, and that while Gavin’s use of the boy’s room might be required by law, it still presents a departure from the norm.

Unless you want to force transgender boys to use the girl’s rooms, the opposite is true.

Second, an injunction against a ruling is issued when harm will befall the other side if the ruling is enforced.

As noted above, Gavin used the boy’s rooms without incident up until the time that the parent complained. I’m not sure how long that was, but his continued use is innocuous.

Third, an injunction is issued when the party that requests it is likely to win on the merits of the underlying case. Here, the opposite is true, as even Breyer basically admits when he characterizes his vote as a “courtesy” to his colleagues on the right. I’m not saying that the case is a slam dunk in favor of transrights before the Supreme Court. But if any side is “likely” to win, it’s ours.

Finally, the previous practice of donating a “courtesy vote” to the Court’s minority came in the context of executions, where theoretically the Court could agree to hear someone’s case (which takes four votes) but not agree to stay his or her execution (which takes five). Nobody’s life is at stake here, however, so many of us find Breyer’s gesture quite rude indeed.

tlemanly b.s., and I was already in a state because my Facebook account just sent around a fake friend request to all my friends. I tried to warn people, but the ones who clicked “yes” are now receiving strange messages, ostensibly from me! I feel badly about this for several reasons.

But you know what? I reported it. I told my friends. I changed my password. And there’s nothing else I can do about it, so I may as well focus on our shared passion for GLBT news.

I gather there are about 50 openly gay athletes competing in the Rio Olympics, but considering there are over 11,000 in total, I think we can assume that a few of our closeted brothers and sisters are participating in the Games as well. Many of the countries represented in the Olympics either ban homosexual activity outright, or call for the death penalty. Suffice to say that we Americans are in no position to question a decision to stay in the closet by an athlete from one of these barbaric lands.

No wonder there was Hell to pay after Daily Beast London editor Nico Hines filed a story about online cruising in the Olympic Village. The heterosexual reporter tried his hand with Tinder and Grindr, and according to press reports he managed to out several closeted athletes by including identifying details in a glib article. The story was pulled fairly quickly, so I did not read it. But the outcry from the gay community and allies was fast and furious. Hines left Rio in a storm of condemnation, while the Daily Beast apologized and the International Olympic Committee called the reportage “unacceptable.”

No Harm, No Suit By rights, I should have followed the lead story in this column with other stories about the many other federal lawsuits that revolve around the interpretation of “sex” in various civil rights laws. This stuff is complicated enough without flitting from one piece of legal news to something about the Olympics and then back to another piece of legal news on the exact same subject as the first!

But I just wanted to highlight that one story–I wanted to emphasize the perfidy of Justice Breyer!–and I didn’t want his foul decision, disguised as it was as an act of “courtesy,” to go unnoticed.

Now that I’ve suggested that we’re in for a thorny round of complex legal news, let me simplify it. Back in May, after North Carolina passed its antitrans law and we began a national debate on where transgender men and women should relieve themselves, the Obama administration issued a policy statement on the scope of Title IX, reminding public schools and colleges that the administration believes Title IX prohibits trans-discrimination.

This triggered two similar multi-state lawsuits; one led by Texas and one led

by Nebraska. The Texas case was just argued before a district court judge in the Houston area on August 12, and here’s the problem: You can’t just file a lawsuit because you don’t like something. Someone must suffer actual harm. There has to be a specific problem.

Grindr Games

Texas and a dozen or so other states claim that the government’s position puts their federal education funding in doubt because the states don’t agree that Title IX should cover the trans community. It’s true that failure to follow Title IX can jeopardize federal funding, but that’s a hypothetical dilemma, not a real one. Why file suit when that has yet to occur?

I have gotten myself quite angry by writing about Justice Breyer’s gen-

They also claimed in court, for example, that public schools would have

the expense of changing all the signs on all the bathrooms, but it’s unclear exactly why new signs would be required. I tried to look up the transcript of that exchange, but failed.

Was Texas planning on adding a transgender stick figure to the bathroom doors? What would that have looked like, and why would they have deemed that necessary?

So anyway, those lawsuits are going on. I’m not sure why Nebraska and the dozen or so states that went with the Huskers need their own suit, but they have it. Meanwhile, there are two or three lawsuits centered on North Carolina’s anti-trans bill, HB2, (and at least one in Mississippi, where a federal court has struck that state’s anti-gay “religious freedom” bill).

At issue in much of this litigation is not simply whether or not Title IX’s ban on sex discrimination includes anti-trans bias. The sides are also contesting the relative power of federal agencies like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. In the Fourth Circuit case that now heads to the High Court, the 2–1 majority ruled that the Education Department’s transfriendly interpretation of Title IX should govern the courts, given that the law’s scope was unclear.

But does that go too far, some wonder? After all, these agencies represent political, not judicial, assessments. Switch Obama with Trump and the Education Department’s view of Title IX might suddenly become very different. On the other hand, why should courts substitute their judgment in ambiguous situations for that of the agencies that are charged with enforcing these laws?

We are proud to be nationally recognized by our peers and the media as the first national firm to launch a LGBT practice ‒ we make it our business to understand our clients’ unique needs.

www.marcumllp.com Nanette Lee Miller 415.432.6200 I nanettelee.miller@marcumllp.com International Member of Leading Edge Alliance

ASSURANCE

I

TAX

I

ADVISORY

I just reread this section. I like it a lot.

Others might find it tedious, but what do they know?

Do the Hustle!

Let’s move on, shall we? I love the story of the GLBT love-in protest at a British grocery store the other day.

Two men were told to stop holding hands at a Sainsbury store in East London by a security guard who told them it was inappropriate.

And you know the rest of the story, right?

Once the community heard the news, the small grocery was inundated with gay and lesbian couples, kissing and “dancing to music by Diana Ross and Donna Summer,” the Daily Mail reports. Naturally, a Sainsbury spokesperson apologized and said they’d investigate the guard.

I’ve always wondered why we’re still obsessed with Bach and Mozart to the exclusion of many modern composers. Now I wonder whether our community will, for all time, remain fixated on pre-AIDS disco music. I hope so. Can you hear it in your mind now?

“The Hustle” by Van McCoy? Close your eyes and line dance with me.

Breyer! (Shaking fist at the sky) Open your eyes! Open your eyes! I want you to be able to read. Oh, there you are. I thought I’d lost you.

I guess a group in Arkansas is going to put a gigantic three-ton Ten Commandments monument on the Capitol grounds under the terms of some new state law that I haven’t read or researched. All I know is that this seemingly unconstitutional green light shines thanks to Justice Stephen Breyer, who ruled ten years ago that a similar abomination that now graces the Capitol grounds in Austin was just fine because it had a secular purpose in addition to its religious character. I assume that the Arkansas command(continued on page 30) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 18, 2016

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SA N FRANCISCO BAY   T I ME S AU GU S T 1 8 , 2 0 1 6

From the Coming Up Events Calendar See page 28 Friday, August 19 - Controversy A Prince Tribute - 9 PM. The Public Works SF (161 Erie St) facebook.com/ events/1770802306471132

Thursday, August 25 - The Golden Age of Physique Photography (1945-1969) - 7 PM. GLBT Historical Society (4127 18th St) glbthistory.org/events

Stylish Front Cover Offers Gay Asian Twist to Romantic Comedy-Drama low in the hierarchy. So growing up as an Asian in the West you have to act as white as possible.

Gary M. Kramer: Can you talk about Front Cover‘s equal emphasis on national identity and sexual identity?

Gary M. Kramer In writer/director Ray Yeung’s fabulous Front Cover,” opening August 19 at Lee Neighborhood’s Four Star Theatre, Ryan (the charming Jake Choi) is an American-born Chinese fashion stylist who is proud of being gay, but feels ashamed about being Asian.

He is assigned to work with Ning (the sexy James Chen), a proud Chinese actor promoting his new film in New York. The two men are “like fire and water,” with Ning telling Ryan “not to show his homo side.” Of course, as the guys grow closer, an attraction develops that changes both of their perspectives on sexuality and ethnicity.

Yeung spoke with me via Skype for the San Francisco Bay Times about the themes at work and play in his terrific romantic comedy-drama.

Gary M. Kramer: What prompted you to come up with this film and to tell this story?

Ray Yeung: Basically, there are not that many gay Asian films out there.

There’s a lack of diversity. The story to me is interesting because a lot of the Asians who live in the West try to live in a way that suppresses their ethnic heritage. In the gay scene, Asians are

Ray Yeung: Ryan is noticing a sexy Asian body and all that skin and smoothness surprises him. Asians are rarely sexy in Ryan’s mind, so when he looks at Ning, he thinks he’s sexy.

Gary M. Kramer: Which is good, because when the guys have sex, it’s ambiguous whose body is being shown.

Ray Yeung: The lovemaking scene is not through a [single] person’s point of view; it’s more about the union and passion that they have. I was trying to shoot the emotion that is between them, rather than individual bodies.

Gary M. Kramer: You have some pointed comments in your film about how Asian men are rarely seen as sex symbols or leading men. How do you want Front Cover to contribute to that conversation?

Gary M. Kramer: Do you feel there is a bias, or even a stereotype, to portraying gay Asian characters?

Ray Yeung: Asians are rarely seen modeling or selling perfume. We see a lot of Caucasians with sexy and virile images. Latin men, sure, but Asian men are seen as nerdy, feminine, or weak. Asian men when they are masculine are gangsters. They aren’t seen as sexy. Hollywood movies never have an Asian man as a romantic lead.

Asians are computer experts, or family men on TV, which is one of the best representations. But they are never sexy.

Ray Yeung: Gay movies are trying to fight the stereotypes so much that they move the characters away from gay guys who are camp. I think it’s more about trying to get the essence of the character. It’s dignity. Ryan is proud of what he has achieved and what he does, and how he looks, even though he has shame about his heritage. The characters all have a confidence within themselves. A lot of Asian characters in film are two-dimensional: good or bad; they have nothing to give to

Gary M. Kramer: Your camera lingers on Ning when he is shirtless …

James Chen

James Chen, the American born Chinese star of fashion-set romance Front Cover, is looking effortlessly arty, dressed in jeans, boots, and a long sleeve black shirt as he waits for an early morning flight to New York at LAX. In the film, Chen plays Ning, a proud Chinese actor who arrives in New York to promote his new film, which is expected to make him a breakout star.

Ning meets with Ryan ( Jake Choi), an openly gay fashion stylist, who will help craft his image for American audiences. Of course, the pair come into conflict before coming together.

“As Ryan and Ning develop trust, they have more professional anxiety and obstacles in their careers, so they need to lean on each other,” Chen explained over Skype.

PHOTO BY DAVID ZHENG

Film

Ray Yeung: There’s an inverted racism when you grow up where you not just suppress–but look down on–people of your own race. There is inherent racism for all ethnic minorities. To me, that issue is important. I grew up in Hong Kong, a British colony, so I looked up to things that are Western and white, and suppressed my own heritage. I’ve been struggling with that all my life. Those things become important as Ryan is trying to fit in. Fashion is about putting up a front.

That’s why I made Ryan a stylist. He can hide his insecurities and change his image.

In one of the film’s key scenes, Ryan dresses Ning in silk pajamas for a photo shoot to show how sexy Asian men can be. The scene is notable not just because Ryan—who rejects Asian men and his Chinese heritage—finds the shirtless Ning attractive, but also

the audience other than that one function. I created a real character with different emotions and feelings, rather than trying to check boxes to make sure gay Asians are represented in a particular way.

Gary M. Kramer: Now that we’ve talked sexuality, what can you say about the characters’ nationality?

Gary M. Kramer: The film is very stylish, visually and with the clothes and such. How would you describe your personal style?

Ray Yeung: The two characters see something the other is proud of, which is something they are ashamed of. When we detest others it’s because they are doing something we are ashamed of in ourselves. We bring in stereotypes, but when you get to know them, you understand why they do something. Ryan looks down on his Chinese culture, his parents, and the social value he puts on things–the association of anything Chinese is something he detests. Through his relationship with Ning he learns to respect Chinese culture. Ning says it’s nothing to be ashamed of. The slow curve Ryan goes through has him accepting his parents more.

Ray Yeung: Oh, my God. [Laughs].

I don’t really have a style. I put the film in the fashion world because it’s about changing someone’s image; to present them to the world is an interesting idea. It fit the story and the characters. I’m casual, and aware of what looks good, but I don’t follow fashion much. In general, I go out and I think I look good.

because some racist comments by the crew on the shoot prompt Ryan and Ning to bond.

as much dimension to the writing as possible.”

“I am proud of that scene because it addresses an Asian, masculine image,” Chen says, admitting he did extra crunches to work on his abs for the shoot. “I think we need more!

[Laughs].”

The actor relishes playing an Asian man who is neither a computer geek nor a gangster, but a three-dimensional character–even if it means being that rare Asian man who is objectified as a sex symbol.

What the actor does not want to play is a stereotypical Asian character.

“I’ve never been in a situation as awful or racist as the scene in Front Cover. No job is worth your dignity in that respect. Actors have the power of saying no.”

He continues, “Being an actor, I identify with and empathize and sympathize with actors getting work. It’s hard to be judgmental of actors taking stereotype roles. If anyone does this role, let it be me, so I can bring

© 2016 Gary M. Kramer Gary M. Kramer is the author of “Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews,” and the co-editor of “Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.” Follow him on Twitter @garymkramer

A recent New York Times Sunday arts cover story addressed the lack of Asian visibility in Hollywood.

Hashtags, such as #whitewashedout, #starring johncho and #myyellowfacestory, have raised the point on social media.

Chen acknowledges the challenges of being an Asian actor: “I’ve been in the game, and it’s been rewarding, but it’s hard–I won’t lie to you. But what it has done is inspired an activism I didn’t know I had. Most people don’t know that they have activist bones in them until they become marginalized and fight for equality. Every minority has its struggle.”

He cites Daniel Dae Kim, Constance Wu, and the openly gay George Takai as actors becoming more vocal about Asian American diversity in Hollywood, stating, “We haven’t had a critical mass of performers in the industry.”

With his exposure in Front Cover, hopefully Chen will change that.

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 18, 2016

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Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun

The Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation Presents

are elaborately constructed, layered, and complex–making use of images collected from newspapers, magazines, and photographs–all purposely covering up faces in every instance.

This is Shafi’s first queer-focused art show and first show in the United States. Among my faves are “Blissed Out Bombshell,” sort of a drag queen; “Pot Heads,” with the witty pun illustrated by three figures having heads made of pots; “Teddy Fancy Pants,” just because of the rainbow phallic imagery; and “Psycho Bitches on Poppers.” Those are just four of 17 amazing pieces, not counting the many Inkjet prints.

HELP IS ON THE WAY XXII

On the Red Carpet

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Idols & Icons

Silent Auction: 4pm, main lobby VIP Gala Dinner: 5pm, Green Room H Performance: 7:30pm CLUB REAF After Party with the Cast: 9:30pm, Green Room with music by GoBANG!

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Concert & Gala Benefiting Meals On Wheels of San Francisco and AIDS Legal Referral Panel

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Herbst Theater & Green Room

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By Sister Dana Van Iquity

TICKETS & INFO AT WWW.REAF.ORG Featuring tributes to Prince, David Bowie, Natalie Cole, Stephen Sondheim Whitney Houston, Carole King and more

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The cast of the Broadway touring cast of

BEAUTIFUL

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Performance Featuring

(the Carole King story)

Tony-nominated/American Idol Star CONSTANTINE MAROULIS American Idol/Recording Stars

Directed by DAVID GALLIGAN Musical Director MICHAEL ORLAND

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KIMBERLEY LOCKE, LA TOYA LONDON & MELINDA DOOLITTLE Tony Award-winning (Hairspray) actress MARISSA JARET WINOKUR Tony Award-winning (A Chorus Line) actress DONNA McKECHNIE Comedienne/Broadway Star CAROLE COOK TV (All in the Family, Gilmore Girls) star SALLY STRUTHERS Emmy Award-winning Broadway/TV Star JAI RODRIGUEZ Award-winning celebrity impersonator Michael Walters as DAME EDNA America’s Got Talent finalist BRANDEN JAMES, with cellist JAMES CLARK X-Factor/Cabaret Star JASON BROCK Cabaret/Jazz Stars PAULA WEST Cabaret/Jazz Stars SONY HOLLAND 14 Year-Old Concert Cellist TRISTAN BOURGADE,

Sister Dana sez, “Someone please tell me why in our electoral system we have so-called ‘battleground states.’ And for that matter, why have an electoral college? Have these people even graduated high school–let alone college? Oh yeah, and why should Florida decide the race? And finally, when are we ever going to have ‘one person: one vote’?!”

The SAN FRANCISCO BAY TIMES, FEINSTEIN’S SF and cabaret star LEANNE BORGHESI invited Bay Times staff and friends to a reception at Feinstein’s stylish Kanpai Lounge within elegant Hotel Nikko for a champagne toast to thank us for our support and to celebrate the new Bay Times/”Betty’s List”/Feinstein’s music series. Joining us were distinguished members of our Pride Parade contingent as well as Borghesi, the bi-coastal cabaret star who has sold out shows in both San Francisco and NYC. We were also offered complimentary tickets to Borghesi’s new show, BDSM: BEAUTIFUL DIRTY SEXY ME, which I would have snapped up–having been to many a Borghesi performance as a big fan–but my date had broken his hand and sprained wrist that day, and I just didn’t feel like seeing a show.

But I know she absolutely blew the roof off the place! Do catch her when she next appears in EssEff!

THOMASINA DE MAIO presented VIBRANT VISIONS, new works by the ARC SAN FRANCISCO artists at DeMaio’s ARTSAVESLIVES GALLERY in the Castro. The mission of The Arc San Francisco is to serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities by promoting self-determination, dignity, and quality of life. The name, once an acronym for the Association of Retarded Citizens, now represents The Arc of Achievement.

With the right support, and over time, people with developmental disabilities can fulfill their highest potential, achieving personal goals and lifelong success, however it is personally defined. Their vision is a community where disability is a distinction without a difference. The gallery was filled with Arc artists’ artwork.

My faves are “Story Pieces” by Robert Garcia–taking his inspiration from “mysterious things,” like about a zillion tiny images of space ships; a gigantic depiction of various skulls on wood by Xavier Thompson; “Famous Things,” various different boards pasted with cut-out letters listing famous people, places, and things

by Cindy Lam; and filling the room with large mixed media sculptures are works by Karim Pullock, also displayed in the gallery window. Live entertainment was provided by The Arc Unstoppables’ Damien aka drag queen Serena Jackson doing “I Knew You Were Trouble” by Taylor Swift, and by Access SFUSD’s teacher–Miss Faux Queen 2014 Linty doing the bizarre “Folding Chair” by Regina Spektor. Watch for a new category of artists’ works coming to ArtSavesLives Gallery in latter August.

STRUT, the gay/bi/trans men’s Castro center for health and wellbeing, is currently displaying artwork

by MOHSIN SHAFI entitled ONE DOES NOT LOOK THROUGH A WINDOW UNPUNISHED. Shafi is a visiting artist from Lahore, Pakistan. He describes his series as a multidimensional collection of art capturing the struggle of developing a queer identity in a hetero-normative world. As a gay man who grew up in a country intolerant to LGBTQ people, Shafi and his art explore themes of restriction, repression, and intolerance. His mixed-media compositions

PHOTO BY SANDY MORRIS

SPONSORED BY

Dennis McMillan (aka Sister Dana) shares a toast with entertainer Leanne Borghesi during the San Francisco Bay Times Reception at Feinstein’s at the Nikko.

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SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S AU GU S T 1 8 , 2 0 1 6

HARVEY MILK LGBT DEMOCRATIC CLUB held its historic 40TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER & GAYLA at SOMArts in the Mission. Harvey Milk founded the Club in 1976 to politically mobilize San Francisco’s queer progressives.

Today, the Club continues Harvey’s legacy through political activism, electoral organizing, and building progressive power across communities and issues in San Francisco. The keynote speaker was Bao Nguyen, Mayor of Garden Grove, CA, and candidate for California’s 46th Congressional District in the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress.

Mr. Nguyen is the first Vietnamese Democratic mayor in the United States, and the first openly gay elected mayor in Orange County. For 40 years, the Harvey Milk Club has continued Harvey’s legacy of political activism. The Club’s 2016 political agenda includes: electing queer and progressive candidates to local and state elected office; police accountability, reform and transparency; solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement; housing affordability; addressing the homelessness crisis; and fighting for economic and environmental justice. Several awards were given: Hank Wilson Activist Award to Coalition on Homelessness, AntiHomelessness Activist Organization; Bill Kraus Leadership Award to David Campos, SF District 9 Supervisor; Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Award to Isa Noyola, Program Director, Transgender Law Center; Sylvester Pride in the Arts Award to Galería de la Raza, Nonprofit Art Gallery in the Mission; Howard Wallace Labor Leadership Award to Kimberly Alvarenga, Political Director, SEIU Local 1021; Community Ally Award to Matt Haney (President) and Lyndsey Schlax (Teacher and fellow San Francisco Bay Times columnist), SFUSD; Harry Britt Lifetime Achievement Award to Sally Gearhart, Pioneering Radical Feminist & Activist; and Eileen Hansen Social Justice Hero Award to Roma Guy, Co-founder of The Women’s Building. (continued on page 30)

Logic or Intuition cause even a low production day of less than a thousand words gets me closer to being finished. Some books are planned from beginning to end; others I have an idea and a character I want to write about and I just see where it goes.

Words Michele Karlsberg

M ichele K a rlsberg: Do you write more by logic or intuition, or some combination of the two?

Greg Herren: My writing process varies from book to book, but the most important thing is doing the work. Even when I don’t want to write anything, when I am not in the mood, when everything I am typing feels forced, I make myself do it—be-

I wrote my two series very differently.

The Chanse books were planned and outlined; the Scotty books were always organic—I would just start with a scene and go from there. Both processes are equally difficult. Now that I’ve written over thirty books, I don’t really need to sit down and actually write out an outline—it’s there in my head and if I get stuck somewhere, I just go back and start revising from the beginning again until my mind unlocks and I can move forward.

The young adult books are also different for me. I usually know how it starts and I know how it ends, but I have no idea when I started them how to get from one to the other. I keep trying to find a way that will make it all easier, but have yet to hit on anything that doesn’t end up arduous in one way or another.

Greg Herren is the award-winning author of over thirty novels. His next novel, “Garden District Gothic” (the seventh Scotty Bradley mystery), will be released in September and is available for preorder now.

Jessie Chandler: Initially I begin my writing process logically.

I gather colored pens, florescent markers, and buy an awesome new notebook. There’s something about the ritualistic nature of doing this that centers me and helps me focus on the bits and pieces that make up the whole. Maybe I savor this time because I know the real work is coming up fast!

Then, again thinking logically, I brainstorm with writerly friends. By bouncing ideas back and forth it not only energizes and inspires me, but also gives me something concrete to work with. Once the brainstorming is done, I do a rough but pretty much logic-based, outline in my happy notebook, mostly on a scene-byscene basis.

Once I’ve refined the outline a couple times, I hit the computer, and that’s

the magic moment intuition overshadows logic. As I follow the rough outline I’ve constructed, intuition reigns. My outline gives me a logical map, or pathway, scene to scene, from the beginning to the end of the novel, and also allows me freedom to veer off the prescribed path and do a little flying by the seat of my pants. For me, it’s the perfect mash-up of logic and intuition, and I love the process!

Jessie Chandler is the award-winning author of the Shay O’Hanlon Caper Series.

“Blood Money Murder,” the fifth in the series, was released in June.

Michele Karlsberg Marketing and Management specializes in publicity for the LGBT community. This year, Karlsberg celebrates twenty-seven years of successful book campaigns.

Harvey Milk Club 40th Anniversary August 11 - Somarts Cultural Center

Former SF City Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, Keith Baraka and candidate Paul Henderson

Peter Gallotta, Milk Club president, with activist Cleve Jones

Photos by Rink

Tom Ammiano, former assemblyman; Randy Alfred, San Francisco Bay Times founding editor; and Jane Morrison, former Democratic Central Committee chair

San Francisco Bay Times contributor Assemblyman Phil Ting with candidate Sandra Lee and Roscoe Mapps

Supervisor Jane Kim and Bevan Dufty, former SF City Supervisor S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 18, 2016

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Speaking to Your Soul TAURUS (April 20–May 20) Facing your fears around sexuality and intimacy triggers mystical awakening. Now is the perfect time to explore tantric sex.

VIRGO (August 23–Sept. 22) You’ve been weeding the garden of your past conditioning, and by now you are able to see that you are deeply rooted to mother earth. This same source of sustenance that provides for you, provides for everyone. Build bridges with this knowing, rather than pedestals.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) The distance between you and another is actually the distance between you and the center of your being.

Bridge the gap by going within to discover the source of real security.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Update your body of knowledge.

Taking a language or computer class, for instance, will help you to sharpen the skills you are meant to offer in service to others.

which reinforces your faith. Apply discipline to letting go.

Astrology Elisa Quinzi The universe is calling for each of us to seriously apply our efforts now for the good of the whole. No matter what circumstances appear, by sustaining momentum, the collective benefits. Trust that the f lapping of the butterf ly’s wings in California does indeed affect the weather in Syria.

ARIES (March 21–April 19) Breaking through limitations of personal beliefs can help you access pure spirit,

CANCER ( June 21–July 22) Sustained focus–on the details of work, self-care, and creating order in your surroundings–invites divine intervention into your life.

LEO ( July 23–August 22) Now is a real opportunity for you to gain the autonomy your soul seeks. Fall back on yourself and know the true connection of all things.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Now is the time to take inventory of your finances and your values. Preparing for the future by means of a spending plan, and aligning that plan to your values, can give you the confidence and inspiration to go out and apply yourself in the world.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22–Dec. 21) Your rebirth has been a long time coming, and your head pops out of

the cocoon now. Value this new self you have been creating. Value this time and each of the experiences you are consciously choosing now.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22–Jan.19) Some version of meditation or spiritual discipline, such as kundalini yoga, can produce a sudden awakening now. Communicate your experiences with those around you to start conversations that matter.

AQUARIUS ( Jan. 20–Feb. 18) You should know by now that you are here to help society evolve. This is a period of particular relevance regarding such matters. Realign your personal mission with what the world needs now. You will experience an uplift in doing so.

PISCES (Feb. 19–March 20) The world is ready now for what you bring. Apply faith in your authentic self to sustained actions and your mission will reveal itself.

Elisa has been enjoying the art of astrological counseling since earning professional certification many years ago. In addition to astrological knowledge, she brings a high degree of conscious presence to her work, and creates a safe, comfortable atmosphere for sessions to unfold organically. Contact her at futureselfnow@gmail.com or 818-530-3366 or visit www.ElisaQuinzi.com

As Heard on the Street . . . What is your favorite electronic gadget?

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compiled by Rink

Sue Englander

Nicole Jackson

Calvin Lum

Akaash Saini

Luiz Netto

“My DVD player”

“My iPhone”

“My iPhone”

“My phone”

“My cell phone”

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S AU GU S T 1 8 , 2 0 1 6

O Pioneers! The Story of Chamberlain and Chaffe

Faces from Our LGBT Past Dr. Bill Lipsky On January 23, 1849, Jason Chamberlain, a 27-year-old carpenter, and James Chaffee, 25, a wheelwright, boarded the ship Capitol at anchor in Boston Harbor. They had met and become dear friends in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1846. Now the two bachelors joined some 250 other men–and two women, both married– for a voyage of more than 15,000 miles around Cape Horn to San Francisco and the gold fields of the Sierras. They remained in California– and remained a couple–for the next 54 years.

Their journey around Cape Horn took 162 days, including stops at Rio de Janeiro and Valparaiso. They arrived on July 20, “in such a dense fog that we cannot see a mile from us,” the captain noted in his ship’s log.

There were “hearty cheers” when “that old mud hook went down” into the waters of the bay, he wrote, adding, “May God deliver us from having to make the ocean our home so long again.” For many of his passengers, however, their adventure was just beginning.

The Argonauts entered a city of men, “by not a few looked upon as a Sodom of wickedness,” according to the Alta California. It was a place, one visitor wrote, “lit by the glare of its hells.”

More than 90% of the residents were men. Ladies, usually married, were so few that to see one “walking along the streets of San Francisco was more of a sight than an elephant or giraffe would be today.” There were somewhat more women–as opposed to ladies–but they were expensive. Most of the men found companionship with each other.

Chamberlain and Chaffee carried their worldly possessions onto one of the sand hills of Happy Valley, a few hundred feet from the site of today’s Palace Hotel, where they pitched their tent. Both quickly found work, earning $16.00 a day. In a short time, however, the lure of great fortune in the Sierra foothills became too compelling, and they left for the gold fields of Calaveras County.

Their luck was good for a while, but they never did unearth Solomon’s gold mine. Eventually they settled at Second Garrotte in Toulumne County. They built a house, meant to last a hundred years (which it did), took up

farming, grew vegetables, cultivated apples, and manufactured cider and vinegar. In time they opened a way station for visitors traveling to the Yosemite Valley. Except for those few occasions when Chaffe, ever hopeful, went off prospecting, the two men were together every day for the rest of their lives.

Chamberlain and Chaffe embodied the archety pe of the ‘49ers described by Hubert Howe Bancroft in volume XXIII of his Histor y of Califor nia, published in 1888.

“Sacred like the marr i a g e b ond s ,” he wrote of the prospectors, “were the ties which oft united united men …, yoking them together.” These “unions of two,” he added, presented “the heroic possibilities of a Damon or Patroclus.”

Few of his readers, educated in the class i c s , w ou l d h av e missed his allusion to two of the ancient world’s most famous same-sex couples.

Friends and neighbors, who saw the same special relationship between the men, considered them a couple in every way. Theirs was the only double biography in the History of Toulumne County, published in 1882, which described them as “an example of lifelong friendship between men, that is as interesting as it is rare.” Since their arrival in California, the author explained, “they have never since been separated.” Twenty years later the Illustrated History of Toulumne County (1901) pronounced them “bosom companions and partners.”

They were “the first citizens of Second Garrote.”

Were they intimate in all ways? Some of their guests thought so. “The artistic inclination of these gentlemen,” one wrote in their guestbook, using a

code term for lovers of their own gender, “is quite apparent, though which one is the ‘ladies man’ we could not discover, each modestly declining the honor.” Another commented upon “the wedded bachelors” and a third upon their “attachment to each other,” which “has the true ‘Damon and Pythias’ ring.” To another, they were “men after my own Heart.”

Given the spirit of the age a nd it s ret icence to d iscuss all things s e x u a l , d et e r mining after more than a century who

were couples in every sense is difficult. Even those who sought same-sex unions did not necessarily have them with the men they lived with. Whether sexual or not, Chamberlain and Chaffe had a deep and loving relationship.

Chaffee died in July 1903. Chamberlain, by himself for the first time in more than half a century, could not be comforted. “As to being alone,” he wrote to an old friend, “there is none that can fill the place left vacant

by Chaffee.” After six weeks without him, he chose to join his partner in eternity. They had been together, inseparable, for 57 years.

Bill Lipsky, Ph.D., author of “Gay and Lesbian San Francisco” (2006), is a member of the Rainbow Honor Walk board of directors.

Cliff’s Variety Celebrates 80th Anniversary Cliff’s Variety, everybody’s favorite store for everything anyone could ever need, is celebrating its 80th Anniversary this year. As profiled in the San Francisco Bay Times November 27, 2014, issue, Cliff’s has a long history in the Castro neighborhood dating back to its founding in 1936 by Hilario DeBaca, who named the store after his youngest son Clifford. Be sure to stop by and say hello to Terry Austin Bennett, Rich Bennett and the entire staff. Read our timeline and overview: https://issuu. om/sfbt/docs/newbt_11.27pp1-28.issu Photos by Rink S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 18, 2016

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Exercise Makes Everything Better

Inside Out Fitness Cinder Ernst Inside Out Fitness is not about what you look like. Most people exercise from the outside, from an outside motivation. They exercise to change or maintain the way they look. That is kind of like being on a hamster wheel of feeling bad about yourself and then using exercise as a punishment or an “or else.” Can you think of anyone you know like that? Or maybe you’ve experienced it yourself.

When you are exercising on the hamster wheel, you absolutely need motivation. Because it is not a natural path that feels good, you have to force yourself into action. That’s what motivation is–you forcing yourself to take an action. At Inside Out Fitness we tread a different path. We teach you how to find a good feeling place and then do a bit of exercise. You can build an inspired exercise practice instead of one that needs motivation.

When you follow Inside Out Fitness instructions, you will find the way to ease into exercise and well-being.

The standard exercise motivation topics are weight loss, body shaping and health outcomes. I put health out-

comes on this side because everyone knows that exercise improves your health, but using that as motivation does not come from a good feeling place. It’s like this: Let’s say you are worried about diabetes, so you want to exercise and lose some weight.

When you exercise from a place of worry, you will never experience ease about it. Without having ease, you will never find the inspired place of well-being. Even though exercise does improve health outcomes, using that as motivation does not feel good and so is not sustainable.

This is the point where some people will say, “Get over yourself and get moving, already.” Like the Nike “ just do it” campaign. We want to say to them, “We’re doing it, but are just taking a different approach.” That’s all this is: a different approach. Once you get a foothold here you will never be stuck again. You will not need motivation because you will naturally follow your body’s cues and inspirations. Your well-being is assured.

Let’s look at some outcomes from exercise that do not directly affect your size or shape. For example, when you exercise you sleep better, and you don’t have to exhaust yourself for this to be true. Even a bit of exercise during the day will help you to sleep better. This is really important to me as my sleep patterns change as I get older. Also, if you are prone to cramps at night, a few simple stretches before you get into bed can really help. I’ll give you my favorite one at the end of the column.

Better sex is another positive outcome!

Exercise improves your sex life because increased blood flow helps you to be ready. Exercise also improves

your energy, and energy is obviously good for sex. Here’s a funny thing: When you work up a bit of a sweat and rosy cheeks, you can be mistaken for someone who has just had sex!

I often feel sexy when I’m exercising.

I feel really sexy when I’m in my body and fully present. You cannot be fully present in your body if you are beating yourself up, or feeling lousy.

Exercise improves your mood. It works in the moment. If you are stressed out, take a breath, focus your thoughts to something nice, and then squeeze your butt 10 times. I’m serious; don’t knock it until you have tried it. Exercise improves your mood overall, as well as in the moment.

These outcomes–better sleep, sex and mood–will make you more productive at work, and happier and easier to be around at home. None of these outcomes require you to lose a pound.

If you are exercising regularly, look for ways in which your practice feels good in your life. If you are not moving much, that is no real barrier because you can just start your new path gently and happily. Look for some great beginning exercises by searching YouTube for Cinder Ernst.

Take Me Home with You!

“ROOOAR! My name is Maya, which is Latin for ‘great’ or ‘larger.’

It’s an appropriate name, because I’ve been told that I have a larger- Maya than-life personality! I’m very outgoing and get along with everyone I meet. In my past home I made friends with the entire pride–dogs, cats, and even kids. After 11 years there I’m now looking for a new savannah to roam. Come meet me; I’d love to chat!”

Maya is presented to San Francisco Bay Times readers by Dr. Jennifer Scarlett, the SF SPCA’s Co-President. Our thanks also go to Krista Maloney for helping to get the word out about lovable pets like Maya.

To see Maya and other pets seeking their forever homes, please visit: San Francisco SPCA Mission Campus 250 Florida Street Dr. Jennifer Scarlett and Pup San Francisco, CA 94103 415-522-3500 Aside from major holidays, the adoption center is open Mon–Fri: 1–6 pm and Sat–Sun: 10 am–5 pm. Free parking is available for those wishing to adopt!

For more info about Maya: https://www.sfspca.org/adoptions/pet-details/5749122 If your calves cramp at night, try this stretch before you get into bed. It’s called the f lop over hamstring/calf stretch. Stand in front of your bed, legs straight, front of thighs touching the edge of the bed. Bend forward from the waist and f lop your upper body onto the bed. You should feel a stretch in the back of your thighs and

in your calves. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds. If you have a cat or dog on the bed, you can increase your well-being by petting them while you stretch!

Cinder Ernst, Medical Exercise Specialist and Life Coach Extraordinaire, helps reluctant exercisers get moving with safe, effective and fun programs. Find out more at http:// cinderernst.com

Randy Coleman hails from New York, but has lived in San Francisco since 1975. Coleman shares that before moving to the Bay Area, he studied Art History and Architecture at Boston University while working as a resident artist for architectural rendering at a Massachusetts historical society. “All of my life I’ve been an artist,” Coleman says. “To know me is to know that I have a passion for art and architecture. I love this project for the San Francisco Bay Times, and hope that you enjoy my sketches.”

SF Sketch Randy Coleman

© Randy Coleman, 2016 26

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Professional Services

LAW OFFICES OF MILES & TORRES Estate Planning 1393 Noe Street, San Francisco, CA 94131 (415) 308-2307 www.milestorreslaw.com

NewPer specti ves Center for Counseling

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See many more Calendar items @ www.sfbaytimes.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF FELICIA ELIZONDO

compiled by Jennifer Mullen

Friday, August 26, 8 PM, Othello at Forest Meadows Amphitheatre, Dominican University of California

• 18 Thursday

Comedy Returns to El Rio. $7-$20. 8-9:30 pm. (3158 Mission St.) This month’s line up features Marga Gomez, Eloisa Bravo, Justin Lucas, Priyanka Wali, and Lisa Geduldig. Every third Thursday. brownpapertickets.com/ event/2586908

Larkin Street Performing Arts Night – Larkin Street Youth Services. Free, but donations gladly accepted. 6-8:30 pm. (491 Post St.) Talented members of Larkin Street Youth Services to entertain guests with music, comedy, theater, and more. eventbrite.com/e/2016-larkin-streetperforming-arts-night-registration24750894592?aff=erelexpmlt

Hearts of Palm Extended – Berkeley City Club. $15-$30. 8 pm (5 pm on Sunday)(2315 Durant Ave.) A small Southeast Asian island is visited by a corporate team intent on expanding a palm oil plantation.

Through August 21. centralworks.org

• 19

Friday

Controversy: A Prince Tribute – The Loft Inside Public Works. $10. 9 pm. (161 Eerie St.) A DJ tribute party celebrating the life and music of Prince. facebook.com/ events/1770802306471132 Ovarian Psychos – Roxie Theater.

6 pm. (3117 16th St.) A film based in East LA, depicting a crew of women bicycling with purpose, recruiting women to stand up to misogyny and racism. Through August 25. roxie.com/ai1ec_event/comingsoon-ovarian-psycos/?instance_id Through Knowledge to Justice: The Sexual World of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935) – GLBT Historical Society. $5. 7-9 pm. (4127 18th St.) 85th anniversary of a visit to SF by Magnus Hirsch­feld, a physician who made groundbreaking assertions about sexual and gender diversity. facebook.com/events/87668062 9128784

• 21

Saturday

3rd Annual Gathering for José Julio Sarria – Twin Peaks Tavern. 6 pm. (401 Castro St.) Monarchs of SF and Imperial Family to host a memorial honoring the three year passing of Jose Julio Sarria. facebook.com/ events/1585815658379812 Colette: Uncensored – The Marsh. $20. 8 pm. (2120 Allston Way, 28

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Berkeley). The author of Gigi and Cheri presents a play with excerpts from her new book, Shipwrecked on a Traffic Island and Other Previously Untranslated Gems.eventbrite.com/e/ colette-uncensored-with-lorri-holttickets-26383856826?aff=erelexpmlt Last Night of Showgirls The Musical: Presented by Peaches Christ – Victoria Theater. $32+ (2961 16th St.) Peaches stars as Cristal in this production of Showgirls. Through August 20th. facebook.com/events/830 280830438303 Mother: Trannyshack Perspective – Oasis. $10. 10 pm.

(298 11th St.) This fundraiser for The Stud is now a weekly series. sfoasis.com/eventcfm?cart&id =167185

• 21

Sunday

Beer Bust for Rafael Mandelman – Mix. $10. 3-7 pm.

(4086 18th St.) A fundraiser to reelect Rafael to the CCSF Board of Trustees. facebook.com/ events/310809872590605

and Na’amen Gobert Tialhun foster a space celebrating queer black artists. facebook.com/events/183848 8523045804 Conversation with the Queer Tribe with HR Bremner – Flesh and Spirit Community. 5 pm. (924 Valencia St.) A therapist, sex educator and community organizer counsels on sexual development and trauma. qt.fleshandspirit.org/index.php/12series3/39-h-r-bremner

• 23 Tuesday

August Queer Reading Series – SF Public Library. Free.

5:45 pm (sharp!) (100 Larkin St.) Anna Pulley, Mira Gonzalez, Amber Flame, and Fin Lee read from their new works; followed by a Q & A, and cookie! facebook.com/ events/1077783205642510 Butch Stud - Drop-in group for people who identify as Butch, Stud, Masculine-of-Center, Boi, Genderqueer and more. Email: butch-studgroup@pacificcenter.org

Harlequeen Nights - Oasis. $15. 7 pm. (298 11th St.) Vinsantos will present his latest solo work to his Bay Area family after moving to New Orleans in 2010. sfoasis.com/ event.cfm?id=170487

Queer Youth Meal Night LGBT Center, Rainbow Room. Free.

5–7 pm. (1300 Market St.) A safe space to meet LGBTQIA friends, have a free dinner and more. facebook.com/sfcenteryouth?_rdr=p

REAF’s Help is on the Way 22 – Herbst Theater. $175. 4 pm.

(401 Van Ness Ave.) Featuring tributes to Stephen Sondheim, Carole King, David Bowie, Natalie Cole, Prince and more. Tickets at reaf.org

• 24 Wednesday

• 22

Monday

Black Love – Strut. Free. 8-10 pm. (470 Castro St.) Hosts Beatrice Thomas aka Black Benatar

HRCSF Summer Organizing Fling – Virgil’s Sea Room. $10-$20 donation. 6-9 pm. (3152 Mission St.) A happy-hour fundraiser to help ensure that HRCSF is well equipped to fight displacement during the busiest eviction time of year. facebook.com/events/1585631038 405322

Floor 21: More and Rudy Present a New Downtown Happy Hour - Starlight Room.

Free. 5 pm. (450 Powell St.) Every Wednesday.

• 25 Thursday

PHOTO BY CHARLES MARTIN, 2014.

ARRVLS – Tenderloin Museum.

Free. 6:30 – 9 pm. (398 Eddy St.).

The first installation of an audio documentary program telling the story of changing neighborhoods; first episode is about the Tenderloin. facebook.com/ events/807041976097765/ Talk: The Golden Age of Physique Photography (19451969) – GLBT Historical Society. $5. 7-9 pm. (4127 18th St.) An illustrated talk by collector John Fagundes on the great photographers of the physique tradition. facebook.com/events/ 1059851730748057 Shapeshifting: The artwork of Yolanda Ramirez and Evelyn Reyes – Free. 7-9 pm.

Creativity Explored, a nonprofit visual art gallery and studio for artists with developmental disabilities, presents Shapeshifting. Through Sept. 7. creativityexplored.org/ press-room/3320/shapeshifting

• 26

Friday

Camp Shenanigans – Oasis. $7-$10. 10 pm. (298 11th St.) A camp-themed party with beats from Juan Garcia and Adam Kraft. facebook.com/events/ 208792536190482 Othello - Forest Meadows Amphitheatre at Dominican University of California. $10-$35. 8 pm. (890 Belle Ave., San Rafael) Outdoor showings Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Former California State Prison inmate Dameion Brown makes his stage debut in the title role. marinshakespeare.org/tickets/ Reception for Imaginary Mechanical Instruments Historical and Contemporary Prints - The Window Gallery. Free. 7 pm (55 Taylor St.) At the reception, explore multi-touch applications by Ian Saxton, followed by a new music open mic. facebook.com/ events/1188841277834953 Gay Bingo – Billy DeFrank LCBTQ Community Center. 6:30 pm. (938 The Alameda, San Jose).

Help DeFrank’s fundraiser (DeFrank earns the $5 per coupon) by buying $5 coupons for 25% off Macy’s merchandise, through August 28. defrankcenter.orog

• 27

Saturday

Silicon Valley Pride – San Jose.

(1346 The Alameda, #7) 6 pm.

Parade starts on Market Street – Festival to follow on Sunday. More details at svpride.com/.facebook. com/events/1114790431905217 Zine Sale - Center for Sex and Culture. Free. 12-4 pm. (1349 Mission St.) CSC will sell selections from their zine collection and library; an array of side attractions are also planned. sexandculture.org Last Night of Fields of Gold: The Music of Sting – The Strand Theater. (1127 Market St.) The A.C.T. Young Conservatory presents 30 years of music from Sting, interwoven with a unique story concerning a group of Amish and non-Amish youth coming of age in the American heartland. act-sf.org

• 28

Sunday

Theater Unplugged with Monique Jenkinson – ODC Theater Commons. $20. 6 pm. (351 Shotwell) Features an interdisciplinary performing artist whose work uses drag to consider the performance of femininity as a subversive act. odcdance.org/tickets Beer Bust Fundraiser for From Baghdad to the Bay Beaux Bar and Dance Club. $10.

4-7 pm. (2344 Market St.) Party with the filmmakers and support LGBT and human rights. Proceeds from the Beer Bust will be doubled by a grant provided by the East Bay Community Foundation. facebook. com/events/202315100171164 The Wizard of Oz - Castro Theatre. 1:30 & 8:00 pm. (429 Castro St.) Doubleheader with Gone with the Wind at 3:30 pm only. www.castrotheatre.com

• 29

Monday

Strut Book Club Reads A Single Man – Strut. 7 pm. (470 Castro St.) Lead character George is a gay middle-aged English professor, adjusting to solitude after the tragic death of his young partner. facebook.com/events/ 349052028759172 Last Night of Pint-Sized Plays Festival – San Francisco Theater Pub. Free. 8 pm. (144 Taylor St.) Short plays by Bay Area playwrights that take place in a bar and involve characters drinking beer. facebook.com/ events/1776401399310666

• 30 Tuesday

Last Night for Wine and Movie Night – Top of the Mark.

Free. 5:30 pm tasting and 7 pm movie. (1 Nob Hill). sf.funcheap. com/wine-movie-night-vertigo-topmark/ The Doctor is In: CROI Update - Strut. Free. 6:30-8:30 pm. (470 Castro St.) Twice-monthly opportunities to ask for guidance from HIV specialist Dr. Joanna Eveland and community members.

Email pforce@sfaf.org to RSVP. strutsf.org/event/the-doctor-is-incroi-update/?instance_id=5611

• 31 Wednesday 2016 Mix, Mingle and Give Fogo de Chao. $25. 5:30-8 pm. (201 3rd St, Ste 100). Join San Francisco Bay Area Out & Equal Regional Affiliate in a fundraiser for Larkin Street Youth Services. facebook. com/events/221401598257462 Kiss Me Deadly - Castro Theatre. 8 pm. (429 Castro St.) Mickey Spillane character Mike Hammer in a film noir set in L.A. www.castrotheatre.com

Read more online at sfbaytimes.com “Like” us on Facebook!

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SISTER DANA (continued from page 22) The GAY ASIAN PACIFIC ALLIANCE (GAPA) FOUNDATION’s RUNWAY XXVIII: INTERGALACTIC made a crash landing into the newly renovated San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre. GAPA Foundation is a grassroots philanthropic organization that provides funds and leverages resources to empower the Asian/ Pacific Islander LGBTQ community. Hosted by Miss GAPA 2012 Jezebel Patel and Mister GAPA 2013 Whitney Queers, five Miss GAPA candidates and six Mr. GAPA candidates vied for the coveted titles.

Guest judges were Tita Aida, Associate Director, API Wellness Center; Khmera Rouge, Absolute Empress 50, Imperial Council of San Francisco; Carol Gillespie, Executive Director, Asian American Donor Program; Robynn Takayama, Producer, APEX Express on KPFA radio; H.P. Mendoza, Filmmaker; and Sean Howell, Founder & Chairman, Hornet Gay Social Network. The candidates were Mr. Danoobae, Miss Aniah Le’Shon, Mr. Gilbert; Miss Juicy Liu; Mr. Jeffry Arcam; Miss Labyah Minerva; Mr. Neo Dalas; Miss MoLi Hua; Mr. Orlando; Miss Verizon Lijarde; and Mr. Vincent Gatdula. Among my favorite talent moments were when Juicy sang live; Jeffry’s solving a Rubik’s Cube right before our eyes; Orlando’s moving tribute to the Orlando shooting victims; and Verizon’s gorgeous, elegant, golden angel wings performance arts dance. The audience voted: Boy Next Door was Jeffry and Girl Next Door was Juicy. Favorite Fantasy was Jeffry; and Most Photogenic Mister was Orlando and Miss Photogenic was Juicy. Congeniality Award (voted by contestants) was a tie between Jeffry and Juicy–but they both decided to give the trophy to Miss MoLi. The judges returned with the final three ladies resulting in Second Princess MoLi, First Princess Labyah, and Miss GAPA 2016 is Juicy Liu! The final three men were Second Prince Vincent, First Prince Orlando, and Mister GAPA 2016 is Jeffry. For their final walk, Mr. GAPA 2015 Dez Kwok gave a truly inspirational speech about achieving unity under the rainbow flag, and Miss GAPA 2015 D’Lady Ito sang

live an emotional “I Am Changing” from Dreamgirls–and towards the end of her song, lit up her gown in glowing red lights. The perfect finale!

WHAT’S COMING UP, SISTER DANA? Sister Dana sez, “Checking the medal count, USA is utterly CRUSHING IT in the Olympics! Winning first place! Here follow some other winning events.”

SHOWGIRLS! THE MUSICAL! is making its West Coast premiere at San Francisco’s Victoria Theatre (2961 16th Street). Originally scheduled to close on Sunday, August 20, tickets are now on sale through Saturday, August 27. Performances are Wednesdays–Saturdays at 8 pm. Tickets range in price from $32–$45 and are available at the Victoria Theatre box office or by visiting peacheschrist.com Based on the 1995 so-bad-it’s-good “cinematic masterpiece,” SHOWGIRLS! THE MUSICAL! tells the story of the beautiful drifter, Nomi Malone, as she goes from stripper to showgirl in Las Vegas. Catching the glittery eye of Stardust Casino’s superstar stripper, Cristal Connors, Nomi sees an opportunity for her desire to become real. But there is only room for one star on the marquee as the battle of the showgirls begins. Starring APRIL KIDWELL–direct from the New York engagement– as Nomi Malone (who can dance up a storm and work the stripper pole like a pro) and legendary drag queen PEACHES CHRIST as Cristal Connors, SHOWGIRLS! The Musical! will have audiences singing, dancing … and thrusting in their seats! Written and directed by composing team Bob and Tobly McSmith, SHOWGIRLS! The Musical! made its debut in New York City in 2013–where the critical and audience response was overwhelmingly positive. This off-off Broadway spoof of the 1995 film that won seven Razzie Awards, including Worst Actress (Elizabeth Berkley), Worst Director (Paul Verhoeven), Worst Screenplay, and Worst Screen Couple, stays true to the unintentionally campy nature of the film. Under the direction of Joshua Granell (Peaches Christ), also in the cast are Marcus Deison as

both Molly and the fabulous dancer James (from the original off-Broadway show), Tim Wagner as handsome Kyle MacLachlan, Bobby “Barnaby” Bryce as Gay the really really gay dance instructor, Raya Light as villainous Andrew Rapersoon, Rori Nogee as Labia, and Anna Muravitskaya as Mittens— bare breasted backup dancers. The creative team for SHOWGIRLS! The Musical! includes Peter Fogel (Music Director), Ric Ray (Set Designer), Amie Sarazan (Costume Designer), Sharon Boggs (Sound Designer) and Rory Davis (Choreographer).

This makes the 19th Peaches production of Showgirls, and I think I have seen every single one—from the old days during her Midnight Mass at the Bridge Theatre to those in the Castro Theatre. But this ain’t your Castro drag show. The only drag queen is Peaches, and the entire cast are excellent dancers. The show contains bare boobs, strong language, and mature themes. It is age restricted to 18+ only. No exceptions.

Castro Street ARTSAVESLIVES STUDIO AND GALLERY, 518 Castro Street, invites the public to CASTRO STREET LOCAL ARTISTS art work by Rene Capone, Andrew Fisher, Thomasina DeMaio, Peg Sue Ward, Mike Staley, and the late Morris Taylor. The evening includes performances by Scarlet Astrid, Grace Towers, Alotte Butte, and Nandi–emceed by the always flawless and fabulous comic extraordinaire, my dear pal, Marga Gomez. Studio resident DeMaio always promises wine, beer, food, performance, and incredible art.

Set in 1940s New York, FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS is the delightful movie telling the true story of the legendary New York heiress and socialite (played to perfection by Meryl Streep) who obsessively pursued her dream of becoming a great singer.

The voice she heard in her head was beautiful, but to everyone else it was hilariously awful. Her “husband” and manager, St. Clair Bayfield (acted superbly by Hugh Grant), an aristocratic English actor, was determined to protect his beloved Florence from the truth. But when Florence decid-

NEWS (continued from page 3) graduate degree in human services, public/business administration, nonprofit management, or closely related field is preferred, but not mandatory.

For more information see maitrisf.org National LGBT Organizations Urge Big 12 Conference to Skip BYU Athlete Ally, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) in San Francisco, and more than 20 leading LGBT organizations submitted a letter to the Big 12 Conference and its member schools urging it not to consider Brigham Young University (BYU) as a potential new conference member because of the school’s express policy of discriminating against same-sex couples and LGBTQ students. The Big 12 Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletic conference consisting of 10 Division I colleges and universities. Member schools are located in Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia.

Recently, there has been public discussion that the Big 12 is seeking to expand, with BYU as a leading candidate for inclusion. BYU is located in Provo, Utah, and is considered the sixth worst school for LGBTQ students in the nation. Its policies requiring discrimination against LGBT students include its Honor Code, which prohibits “homosexual behavior” by students and staff. This “includes not only sexual relations between members of the same sex, but all forms of physical intimacy that give expression to homosexual feelings.” nclrights.org 30

ed to give a public concert at Carnegie Hall, St. Clair knew he faced his greatest challenge. Sister Dana sez, “Don’t miss this beautiful movie. It brought me to both tears of laughter and tears of sadness!” Florence Foster Jenkins opened in theaters August 12.

The summer’s biggest benefit show produced by RICHMOND/ERMET AID FOUNDATION benefiting AIDS LEGAL REFERRAL PANEL and MEALS ON WHEELS OF SAN FRANCISCO is taking place on Sunday, August 21, at the Herbst Theater and Green Room. Tickets are on sale through the website at reaf.org or by phone at 415-273-1620. While the overall event theme is “On the Red Carpet,” the actual show theme will be “Idols & Icons” and will pay tribute to a number of entertainment icons including Prince, David Bowie, Natalie Cole, Stephen Sondheim, Whitney Houston, and more. They will have almost the entire cast of BEAUTIFUL (the Carole King musical) joining this year’s lineup. Four fabulous American Idol alums will be returning including Tony nominated Constantine Maroulis, Kimberley Locke, La Toya London and Melinda Doolittle. They will be joined by Donna McKechnie–TONY award-winner (A Chorus Line), Emmy awardwinner Jai Rodriguez, the grand diva Carole Cook, as well as Sally Struthers paying tribute to All in the Family, the TV show she co-starred in as Archie and Edith Bunker’s daughter Gloria. Michael Walters as the unstoppable Dame Edna will add his comic touch as well. Star Search Grand Champion Jake Simpson and Branden James, a finalist on America’s Got Talent, will perform with his husband James Clark. Local favorites in the cast include X-Factor finalist Jason Brock, jazz divas Paula West and Sony Holland, and 14-year-old concert cellist, Tristan Bourgade, whose sister Lea performed for REAF last year. Michael Orland (musical director on American Idol) will be returning as musical director, and David Galligan will be returning as director. reaf.org Join the GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY board of directors and staff

for a special VIP opening reception of the new Community Gallery exhibit “THROUGH KNOWLEDGE TO JUSTICE: THE SEXUAL WORLD OF DR. MAGNUS HIRSCHFELD (1868-1935),” Friday, August 19 from 6–7 pm at the GLBT History Museum (4127 18th Street). Wine, refreshments, and horsd’oeuvres will be served. “Through Knowledge to Justice” offers an introduction to the German physician’s life, work, and legacy through first editions, vintage periodicals and ephemera largely drawn from the collection assembled by curator Gerard Koskovich over the past three decades. In addition, the exhibition will include historic film documenting Hirschfeld’s impact and the fate of his work. “Through Knowledge to Justice” runs through November 23 at the GLBT History Museum. glbthistory.org Have a ball with KREWE DE KINQUE Mardi Gras Club every THIRD SATURDAY OF THE MONTH FUNDRAISER at The Edge Bar, 4149 18th Street, from 4–7 pm! Let The Good Times Roll with KdK. Your Hosts & Emcees for August 20 will be Queen 4 Joan Crawford Texas & Queen 11 L’il Kim Chee, with Beer/Soda Bust, Jello Shots, Live performances & many more surprises! Queen VII Sister Dana will take your $$$ at the door.

From Broadway to Magic to Standup Comedy, ZSAZSA LUFTHANSA & FRIENDS will thrill you with powerful singing, stinging comedy, and spellbinding magic starring ZsaZsa, Terry McLaughlin, comedian Nick Leonard, magician Bradmagic, and Ryan Engstrom–with the ZsaZsa Lufhthansa Orchestra. All this happens on Saturday, August 27, 7–8:30 pm at Martuni’s, 4 Valencia Street. rbct.us Sister Dana sez, “Those who say something bad about Trump? Hit them. Those who protest against Trump? Torture them. Those who dare to run against Trump? Kill them.

Is this in any way presidential?!

ROSTOW (continued from page 19) Polls Show LGBTs Voting for Hillary Clinton The LGBT voting bloc overwhelmingly goes to the Democratic Party, which has shown more support for LGBT rights and concerns than has the Republican Party as a whole. A Gallup survey conducted during the last presidential campaign in 2012 found that just 13 percent of LGBT voters identified as Republican, compared with 44 percent identifying as Democratic and 43 percent as Independent. Non-LGBT voters in that same poll identified as 30 percent Republican, 32 percent Democratic and 39 percent Independent. Exit polling from that election found that 76 percent of the LGBT vote went to Obama, with just 16 percent going to Romney. A recent study by Whitman Insight Strategies found that of the 338 likely voters who identified as LGBT, 84 percent backed Hillary Clinton compared to 16 who said they support Donald Trump. edgemedianetwork.com CA Lawmaker Gives Up Attempt to End Exemptions for Religious Schools Democratic State Senator Ricardo Lara of Bell Gardens announced he is removing a contentious provision of his bill that would have allowed LGBT students to more easily sue religious schools for discrimination, conceding defeat to religious colleges that had launched a campaign against it. The measure would have eliminated a longstanding exemption from state anti-discrimination laws for reli-

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gious institutions, potentially opening them to civil rights lawsuits from students and employees. Many religious schools heavily opposed removing the exemption and called the bill an attack on their free exercise of religion. A weaker version of the bill, which Lara said he would submit, still mandates that institutions disclose exemptions from federal Title IX rules against discrimination. It would also require universities to report if a student has been expelled for violating a school’s “moral code of conduct,” which is often tied to religious beliefs and can include anti-transgender or strict sexuality provisions. The expulsion reporting would allow lawmakers to track how often such dismissals occur. The bill must pass the Assembly Appropriations Committee to stay alive. lgbtqnation.com Auditions Begin for SFGMC’s 39th Season San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus is holding auditions to welcome a new class of singers into their ranks this fall. If you are interested in joining SFGMC as a singing member, now is the time, as they will not be holding auditions again until January. If you want to audition for SFGMC, join them first for an open rehearsal on Monday, August 29, 7–10 pm, and then come to an audition on Tuesday, August 30. Auditions will be held at the Kanbar Center, 44 Page Street, San Francisco. For more information: sfgmc.org/audition

ment people have gussied up their display with some token non-Christian ornamentation. Maybe a hog or two.

Who knows? I’m just mad at Breyer today. I read that a satanic cult is also going to ask the authorities for permission to erect a monument to the Devil on the grounds in Little Rock.

Seriously. Now all we need is an application from my own faith community–the church of the flying spaghetti monster. (I am ordained. Cost me $20.)

And finally, here’s a happy ending to a disturbing episode. You may remember that the head of Pride Cleveland, Todd Saporito, abruptly cancelled August pride celebrations due to vague security concerns in the wake of the Orlando massacre. This despite the fact that major cities like L.A., San Francisco and New York had managed to hold parades and festivals just two weeks after Orlando.

But soon after this oddball made the surprise announcement, Cleveland activists and leaders got together and organized a pride festival from scratch, in under two weeks.

The event, Pride in the CLE, went off without a hitch on August 13, and I guess Saporito was nowhere to be found. As one of the organizers, Nickie Antonio, pointed out: “Of course we are always concerned about safety, but that’s why we’ve been doing Pride for all these years in the first place… That’s the whole point, that people in the LGBT community, going back 30 years, did not feel safe. That’s why Pride was so important. It’s a day to be in public, to gather with each other and our allies and say: ‘We’re gay, we’re proud of that, and we are going to walk together in solidarity to stand up to anybody who has a problem with that.”

Exactly. arostow@aol.com

California’s donkey from Philadelphia’s DNC Donkeys Around Town project

PHOTO BY ZOE DUNNING

San Francisco Bay Times - Feinstein’s at The Nikko Photos by Rink, Sandy Morris and Jane Higgins

PHOTO BY JANE HIGGINS PHOTO BY RINK PHOTO BY RINK PHOTO BY JANE HIGGINS

PHOTO BY JANE HIGGINS

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY SANDY MORRIS

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY JANE HIGGINS

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY JANE HIGGINS

PHOTO BY SANDY MORRIS

A champagne toast was hosted by co-publishers Dr. Betty Sullivan and Jennifer Viegas in honor of the San Francisco Bay Times Pride 2016 contingent. Leading the toast with remarks were columnist Rafael Mandelman and SF Pride Vice President Gary Virginia.Leanne Borghesi, featured performer at Feinstein’s at The Nikko, welcomed guests to the evening and presented the second of two consecutive sold out shows.

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