San Francisco Bay Times - March 22, 2018

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2018) March 22–April 4, 2018 | sfbaytimes.com

In the News Compiled by Dennis McMillan Toni Atkins Makes History as First Woman and First LGBTQ Senate Leader in California San Diego Senator Toni Atkins made history on March 21 when she became the first woman and first out member of the LGBTQ community to hold the California Senate's top job. “Senator Toni Atkins is one of the LGBTQ community’s most respected and effective leaders and ... as the Senate President Pro Tem, breaks multiple glass ceilings," Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur said. “This follows on her historic career in the Assembly where she became the first lesbian Speaker." Atkins is taking over the post of Senate president pro tem from fellow Democrat Kevin de Leon. Zbur said electing role models like Senator Atkins is important to the LGBTQ community because it sends a clear message across the country, particularly to youth, that LGBTQ people can achieve anything. By having a seat at the table, LGBTQ elected officials can speak with their colleagues with authenticity and firsthand experience on issues that affect our community. In her legislative career, Senator Atkins has championed groundbreaking bills that have advanced LGBTQ civil rights such as SB 179 (Gender Recognition Act of 2017), SB 310 (Name and Dignity Act), AB 1577 (Respect After Death Act), AB 1211 (Transgender Name Changes, Birth and Death Certificates) among many others. In 2015, Equality California honored Senator Atkins with the Vanguard Leadership Award for her leadership and courage, which have inspired others to be more visible in their personal lives and active in their communities. Zbur concluded, “We look forward to working with the incoming Pro Tem to achieve a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people.” eqca.org Mayoral Candidate Mark Leno Rolls Out Plan to End Street Homelessness by 2020 Mark Leno, a candidate for mayor of San Francisco, staked the beginning of his policy proposal rollout on a commitment to end street homelessness in San Francisco by the end of 2020. “If you think that ending street homelessness can’t be done, then you support the status quo,” Leno said.

“I won’t accept that, and San Franciscans won’t accept that. San Francisco can’t afford another decade of the same failed policies on homelessness. It’s time we commit to tackling homelessness once and for all.” He acknowledged the challenges of homelessness as a mental health and housing issue and vowed that as mayor, he would immediateKin ly move at least 1,000 Folkz people off the streets and into vacant Single Room Occupancy units identified by the city’s Department of Building Inspection; establish a Mental Health Justice Center; and make use of the $100 million dollars he secured as state senator to create 400 units of permanent suppor t ive housi ng for mentally ill homeless ind iv idua ls. L eno confirmed his plan would be funded by a range of sources, including a regional housing and homelessness bond measure, as well as a top-tobottom audit of current homeless services to stop and prevent waste on ineffective solutions. Currently, the San Francisco Depar t-

ment of Public Works is spending $30 million annually to clean up human waste and needles, which is nearly half of the Department’s budget.

Leno also committed to implementing a zero-based budget process if elected, highlighting additional savings that would be used to fund his homelessness plan. As we were going to press, mayoral candidate London Breed also released her plan to end homelessness in San Francisco. It is at Medium (https://medium.com/@ LondonBreed/a-bold-approach-tohomelessness-a42121dc586c). Leno's complete plan is also online (http:// www.markleno.com/assets/EndingStreetHomelessness.pdf).

City College Transgender Students Now Allowed to Use Chosen Names Transgender students attending San Francisco City College will be able to use their chosen names for school emails, class rosters, online courses and student identification cards, instead of the names assigned to them at birth, according to both the College and the City’s Off ice of Transgender Initiatives. “In order for students to stay engaged in their education, they need to feel safe and supported by faculty and the administration, starting with being referred to by the correct name,” said Dr. Ardel Haefele-Thomas, Chair of the LGBTQ Studies Department at City College. “Our hope is that City College will next develop a chosen name system for faculty and staff, and fully implement all-gender restrooms throughout their facilities.”

Pau Crego, Director of Policy for the Off ice of Transgender Initiatives, said: “This is a significant accomplishment for City College and for trans and gender non-conforming communities in San Francisco. Accessing formal education often leads to safety concerns for our communities, and this policy is an important first step to address some of those concerns. It is crucial that educational institutions such as City College of San Francisco tackle barriers to education for our most vulnerable communities through both training and institutional change.” Data from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that 24 percent of college or vocational school students who were out or perceived to be trans were either verbally, sexually or physically assaulted. This new rule allows a place of safety and equality for transgender students on campus. sfgov.gov San Francisco Pride Announces 2018 Community Grand Marshals K in Folk z and the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band were both chosen by public vote to be Community Grand Marshals at the 2018 San Francisco Pride Parade on June 24. SF Pride’s membership also elected Brian “Chickpea” Busta as a Community Grand Marshal. Kin Folkz is an award-w inning educator, human rights activist, author, community catalyst, founder of the Oakland Pride Creative Arts & Film Fest, the founder of the Oakland Queer +Trans Open Mic, co-director of the Bay Brian Area Bisexual Net"Chickpea" work, a member of Busta Black L ives Matter Bay Area and Queer Black Lives Matter, and

is the CEO and co-founder of Spectrum Queer Media. The San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band (SFLGFB) is the first openly gay musical organization in the world, inspiring the formation of all other LGBT bands, choruses, and other groups around the globe. Locally, SFLGFB is the Official Band of San Francisco, having been given that honor by two different mayors. Founded in 1978

by Jon Sims, the Band first appeared when it marched up Market Street behind Harvey Milk’s car in the 1978 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. Brian “Chickpea” Busta, according to an SF Pride statement on social media, “has brought light, laughter, art, and music to San Francisco’s LGBTQ community for 30 years. He founded Gay Glow Street Theater, the Temple Whores drumming troupe, was Grand Duke of the Ducal Court, is the Creative Director of Comfort & Joy, and inspires audiences as the comic figure ‘Amber Alert.’” The San Francisco Bay Times congratulates all of the Community Grand Marshals and nominees. sfpride.org Rainbow Honor Walk Receives $10,000 Donation Kathy Amendola, owner of Castro Walking Tours, is known for her informative and passionate tours of San Francisco’s historic Castro District, including the iconic Rainbow Honor Walk of which she is a board member. After a recent tour, one of the attendees, Nathan Allen, approached her, moved by the history lesson he had just received. Allen, Co-Chair of the Walmart PRIDE Associate Resource Group, got to work. The result: a $10,000 donation for the allvolunteer nonprofit Rainbow Honor Walk. The donation was presented on Monday, March 12, during a reception at Catch Restaurant, adjacent to the Market Street segment of the Honor Walk. “I’m absolutely thrilled that our PRIDE Associate Resource Group could help make this grant possible for the Rainbow Honor Walk,” said Allen. “This is such a fantastic organization, in how it’s honoring notable LGBT community members throughout history with sidewalk plaques in our beloved Castro neighborhood. Our company and our PRIDE ARG are committed to giving back to the communities we serve, and we couldn’t be happier to support the work of the Rainbow Honor Walk.” All funds for manufacture of the Rainbow Honor Walk are raised privately, with each plaque costing approximately $7000. A major source of income comes from the San Francisco Human Rights Campaign Action Center and Store (575 Castro Street) through the sale of commemorative mugs, t-shirts and lapel pins. These sales have generated over $20,000 for the Rainbow Honor Walk. rainbowhonorwalk.org Dennis Peron Memorial and Celebration of Life Held in the Castro The many friends and family of Dennis Peron, affectionately called “The Father of Medical Marijauna,” put together a Memorial and Celebration of Life on Sunday, March 11, from 5 to 10 pm. Noe Street in the Castro was closed off, and a huge tent was erected to protect an altar for all to share a moment of connection with Peron. A video montage of photos, video clips, newspaper clippings and posters was screened on a wall, illustrating how Peron helped to save lives and forever changed our attitude about cannabis. There was music and a stage provided for passionate speakers to share stories and experiences about Peron.

Food and beverages were catered by Flore on Market, where so many LGBTQ, cannabis, and HIV/AIDS stories had been lived out. (continued on page 30) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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An Often Unspoken Reality Underlying America’s Aversion to Gun Control Tombstone? Okay. Tombstone the movie might be based on a “true story” of more folklore than fact, but it is ultimately fiction. I replied that it was good to hear from him and that I also thought Tombstone was a good movie, but preferred to stand with these children, their families, and communities who have lost thousands of friends and children in schools in the past decade to semi-automatic weapons of war. The good townspeople’s depravation of Smith & Wesson and Winchester shoot, reload, shoot, reload buckshot rifles in a western movie might have something of a point about vulnerability to black hat cowboys. muskets, bayonets, rif les, and pistols. But these are not the weapons at issue for mass shootings and slaughter of children in schools here in the 21st century. Semi-automatic weapons of war have no place in civil society.

vision screens via Cops and other new urban centered reality fare broadcasting increasingly militarized municipal police forces at work on the “war on drugs” (crack cocaine).

Along with him, I grew up in a rural, lower desert old western town way out in Riverside County. It was commonplace for households to have some sort of firearm on hand for sport, for scaring away loathsome critters like snakes and coyotes, and for protection against unwelcome intruders. Many kids had BB guns, and with not much else to do outside of tending to horses or small livestock as 4H members, target shooting at bottles was one way to while away idle hours. A firearm or two in the house was especially the case then, and I suspect remains so for dwellers staked out on acres of land in unincorporated areas where the nearest neighbors were Through the news, Twitter, Facebook one to two miles up a dusty road. and Instagram, we have heard the impassioned speeches and seen the Quite a few of my high school peers creative handmade signs. My favorite went on to serve in the armed forchas to be “Guns Have More Rights es, as did a parent, grandparent, than My Vagina,” which I saw dis- uncle, aunt, older brother or sister. played close to State Senator Scott The old March Air Force base was Wiener’s tweeted photo of his fifth- a major employer and lifeline for grade nephew back east leading the the broader community, foremost walkout from his elementary school. to our numerous active military Elsewhere there was a photo of a third families and veterans of the Vietgrader’s prepared “press packet” pen- nam, Korean, and World Wars. ciled into a tattered spiral notebook I grew up among a lot of pickamong the collage of throngs of traf- up truck-driving NRA members, fic stopping student protests. or wannabe members. Many pro-

A once-popular voice on the exploration of epidemic mass shootings, including the relationship between the projected anti-gun control message as extension of the inextricable relationship between race and guns in America that I also notice has been quite absent, is documentary filmmaker Michael Moore. He is a controversial, true lefty liberal who is steeped in labor politics and yet is a longtime NRA member. Moore’s Bowling for Columbine remains one of the most fascinating and revealing critiques of how and why guns are such a definitive part of American culture.

Cross Currents Andrea Shorter The March for Our Lives on Saturday, March 24, is just days and hours away. Our nation already owes the young people from Parkland, Florida, and beyond a tremendous thank you for not backing down and for fiercely leading the way towards sensible gun control measures. The recent #NationalWalkoutDay was inspired, with thousands of elementary to high schoolers staging well-coordinated protests across the country by walking out of what should be the sanctity of their classrooms to take it the streets, to the airwaves and to football fields to form marching band precision coordinated messages like #ENOUGH that were so large that they could be seen from hovering news helicopters, and everywhere outside of their classrooms. They amplif ied the ever-growing chorus of voices concerning the common cause: #NeverAgain.

As we watched or read the news of that day, debates regarding the politics of gun control and gun violence were on central display beyond the corridors of power, spilt over into what has become a national town square: Facebook. Well, it’s the town square now for many of us over 40 years of age. There’s nothing like posting one’s opinion or opus about where you stand on these vital issues that attracts divergence and dissent.

It’s been interesting to hear from old high school friends whom I’ve neither heard from nor seen hide or hair since my graduation day decades ago. One such acquaintance popped up to declare that “gun reform won’t make a difference in deaths. It is well documented that in areas where people are armed, there is less gun violence than in areas where there are gun free zones.” Had he stopped here, we might have been able to engage in some civil debate. However, he went on: “Didn’t you see Tombstone? When Sheriff Behan decidedly took away people’s right to carry guns in the streets of Tombstone? That’s when the ‘cowboys’ took over. Bad people with guns get stopped by good people with guns far more than is recognized.”

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claimed to have been Born Again Christians, and later loved the late Charlton “Moses” Heston as their association’s celebrity spokesperson in the late 90s. NRA, “Military,” and “Jesus Saves Fish” were the choice bumper stickers on Ford and Chevy truck bumpers.

Our community of barely 6,500 residents was obviously small and fairly diverse. The majority were white, then Latinos and then black folks, pretty much in that order.

It was a mixture of families who had been there for at least three to four generations, and there was an emergence of newcomers looking for better, quieter, safer lives after having fled Los Angeles urban and suburban environs.

Riverside County was the fastest developing and growing county in the late 80s–90s. Along with attractive job opportunities, affordable housing, and cleaner air, the fears of attracting “L.A. gang members” moving into the area was also of prominent and speculative concern. Of course, the term “gang members” or “bangers” was pointedly understood code for Mexican and Black youth and their families—subjects splashed across tele-

Many of these old settler families were likely the first in line to stock up at the gun emporiums and Walmarts soon after the election of Barack Obama as President, convinced that he would take away their guns and usher in the race wars and uprisings predicted since the slaves were freed.

As proud and humbled as I am at seeing and supporting the young people that are now organizing and working to lead us to sensible, lifesaving gun control, one of the definitive realities about the American politics of guns, gun violence, and gun control still remains largely unspoken: race.

On the matter of race, Moore addresses the inextricable relationship between the founding of the KKK and the NRA to keep guns out of the hands of freed slaves.

The fear of armed black uprisings and vengeance against the tyranny of a white majority served as basis for organizing, legislating for severe restrictions, consequences, and ordained terror. A memorable feature of the documentary is a 3-minute fast-forward animated brief history of the U.S. starting with the pilgrims' landing, slaughter of indigenous people, witch hunts, civil rights movement, and white f light to the suburbs.

Civil rights history further reminds us that the proximity of African Americans and other racial minorities to firearms in official capacities towards integrating our armed forces and police forces was not met without resistance. While the NRA and their affiliates tout their faithful adherence to upholding and preserving the Second Amendment without any yield to reflect the realities of modern day weapons of war technologies in civilian hands, it is hard to deny the historical fear of racial uprising and intrusion.

There is also an unspoken logic for maintaining the status quo for largely white gun-owning constituencies, gun manufacturers, and peddlers. The right of an individual and majority citizenry to bear arms to form a militia in the event of hostile foreign enemies, or as insurance against its own overreaching federal or state government in modern times, seems anachronistic and cover for staying armed against declared internal threats born of ingrained, unresolved, and implicit racial injustice. (continued on page 31)

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It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way: Marching for Our Lives where I grew up. When my great aunt was out of earshot, my grandmother told my family about a letter she had recently received from her nephew Jack, my great aunt’s son, who was like a brother to my dad. At the time, Jack was a colonel in the U.S. Army combat forces in Vietnam.

John Lewis When I learned about the upcoming “March for Our Lives” to end gun violence and shootings in schools, I ref lected back on when gun violence first affected me in any type of personal way. What came to mind was an evening in 1966 when I was 8 years old. My grandmother and my great aunt, who was like a second grandmother to me, were visiting our family in suburban Kansas City

The war in Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia and Laos resulted in the deaths of millions of civilians and military combatants. March 16 marked the 50th anniversary of the infamous My Lai massacre in which members of the American military murdered as many as 504 unarmed civilians in a village in South Vietnam.

Lowell High School students at San Francisco City Hall on March 14, National Anti-Gun School Walkout Day.

PHOTO BY RINK

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Jack’s letter described how his roommate had left their barracks to go eat dinner when a Viet Cong soldier had appeared out of nowhere, shot him dead, and then quickly disappeared into the night. My grandmother wanted to share with my dad how much danger Jack was in, and I’ll never forget her admonishing us: “Don’t you ever tell your great aunt because she will become overcome with worry.”

The A merican military initially misreported and covered up this mass murder.

Event ua l ly, General William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in the war in Vietnam from 19 6 4 –19 68 , ad m itted that it was, in fact, “the conscious massacre of defenseless babies, children, mothers, and old men in a kind of diabolical slow-mot ion n ightmare that went on for the better part of a

day, with a cold-blooded break for lunch.”

At the court martial of Lieutenant William Calley, the only person convicted for the massacre and who served only 3 and a half years under house arrest, Private Dennis Conti testified to part of what he witnessed. Private Conti described an incident in which Calley and another private “fired directly into” a group of unarmed Vietnamese civilians, who had been rounded up and pushed into a rice paddy.

“There were bursts and single shots for two minutes,” he said. “It was automatic. The people screamed and yelled and fell. I guess they tried to get up, too. They couldn’t ... . Lots of heads was (sic) shot off, pieces of heads and pieces of f lesh flew off the sides and arms ... . [The other private] fired a little bit and broke down. He was crying. He said he couldn’t do [it] anymore.”

The bloodbath only ended because three American soldiers not only refused to participate in it, but also stood up to stop it. Chief Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson and his two crew members, Glenn Andreotta and Lawrence Colburn, discovered the ongoing massacre as they were flying a helicopter reconnaissance mission in the area. Most dramatically, they landed the helicopter next to where American soldiers appeared ready to murder ten Vietnamese civilians, and Thompson ordered his crew to shoot any American soldiers who fired upon the civilians while Thompson and his crew rescued the civilians to safety.

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Thompson and his crew reported the massacre multiple times to officers in higher command. He tried to save as many people as he could and evacuated as many of the injured as possible to medical care. (continued on page 30)

‘I Believe That Children Are Our Future’ their anguish into action and ignited a movement that has galvanized the nation and just might break the decades-long stalemate on gun control reform.

Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History Louise “Lou” Fischer In November of 2017, I wrote a column entitled “Enough A lready, We Need Stricter Gun Control” (http://sfbaytimes.com/enough-already-need-stricter-gun-control/).

Last month, in response to the tragic mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, I again implored that our leaders tighten up regulations on gun ownership, particularly assault rif les (http://sf baytimes.com/another-mass-shooting-now-can-strictergun-control/). Since February 14, the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have turned

On Wednesday, March 14, instead of taking part in traditional Pi Day festivities such as eating pie and calculating π (Pi) to a quadrillion decimal places, students across the country participated in 17-minute acts of solidarity by walking out of school. The walkouts, representing both tribute and protest, were held at 10 am local time and lasted 17 minutes in recognition of the 17 recent lives lost.

The students’ demands are: a ban on assault weapons, universal background checks before gun sales, and a restraining order law that would allow courts to disarm people who display warning signs of violent behavior. Students are insisting that their elected representatives do something before another school is victimized by gun violence. It’s not left versus right, Republican versus Democrat. The kids are working together to effect positive change—something the adults haven’t been able to do since a certain “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” was elected President.

As a result of students’ coordinated efforts across the country, lawmakers are getting the clear message that this selfie-taking, Instagramposting, Snapchat-sharing generation not only demands change, but also will fight to make it happen.

Social change movements and activism on college campuses have a rich history in our country, from McCarthyism to Vietnam War protests to the recent clashes between Black Lives Matter and white nationalists. What is often overlooked is that some of the most inspirational acts of civil disobedience that led to landmark Supreme Court decisions have been driven by students of high school age or younger.

In 1957, nine black students attempted to enroll at formerly allwhite Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Their attendance was in response to the Brown v. Board of Education 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The “Little Rock Nine” defied the governor of Arkansas and the pictures of National Guard soldiers blocking the students from entering the school made national headlines (continued on page 31) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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Youth Power Movement Answers the Call to Action

By Lyndsey Schlax (Editor’s Note: Teacher Lyndsey Schlax of the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts launched the nation’s first on-site high school LGBT course in 2015. She still offers that groundbreaking class but is teaching Ethnic Studies this semester. The two subjects often intersect, so in this column her students share their thoughts about both Ethnic Studies and LGBT-related matters, including their concerns, what they have learned in class and more.

Here, ten students from AP Government, LGBTQ Studies and Ethnic Studies classes at Ruth Asawa reflect upon the recent national school walk-out over gun violence and the associated youth power movement that continues to grow and strengthen.)

1. On March 14, we got people’s attention in a way that I did not expect us to. Marching down the street in the middle of a crowd of students from across our district was beyond

empowering, and I had never felt so much connection with students from other schools in our district.

We made people listen to us, which means a lot to me because I am used to not being heard. I think a lot of youth share the experience of being accustomed to not being heard. This experience was different. We were listened to. We stopped traffic and we made the people in power listen. I have never been prouder of my identity as a student, and as a member of the youth power movement.

2. As a student, there are many things that I don’t have a choice in, but that is changing. It is easy to feel helpless about the state of our government and how they are not taking measures to protect students. There are school shootings almost every day, and nothing is being done about it. I am currently not able to vote and to change legislation the conventional way, but a new way has appeared and allows students to make a change themselves. On Wednesday, March 14t h, there was a school wide walkout to protest the lack of gun control. I am privileged to reside in San Francisco where this type of protest is accepted and even embraced. Ruth Asawa SOTA not only supported its students’ decisions, but it also held many different small performances to raise awareness of the importance of this issue. There

Photos courtesy of Lyndsey Schlax

STUDENT VOICES

were songs and poems read aloud, and we had a moment of silence to honor students killed during school shootings. Even before participating in the walkout, I felt a sense of community and solidarity with my fellow students as we all stood against gun violence. Every student and person who helped to make this event possible is changing our country and that makes me believe in our future. I am no longer powerless.

3. The recent protest was a watershed experience that showed our generation’s dedication toward making change and taking action to right the wrongs we see in our country today. This particular walkout was peaceful, but loud enough to draw needed attention from those who would silence us. In the future, we could use what we learned from this walkout to make future demonstra-

tions more focused and effective.

Many people say that this generation will be the one that actually makes a change in this country. Hopefully, those who participated in this movement will always remain a participant in political and community engagement.

4. Students of the San Francisco Unif ied School District (SFUSD) held a district-wide walkout against gun violence in the light of the recent school shooting in Florida. Students walked out at 10 am. At the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, students from the Vocal and Spoken Word departments displayed their views through musical performances. The interim Mayor Mark Farrell came out to show support. Newscasters and students documented the moving display of emotion surrounding the issue of gun control/

violence. Students then marched from the campus, downtown to City Hall with signs, shouting and chanting so that their voices may be heard through the havoc of the city. The unification of students, and the ability to form a cohesive voice that embodied the struggle of the younger generations, was a force to be reckoned with. I’m trying to think of more things to write ... civil disobedience, civil action. The idea that some schools threatened to suspend students for walking out only seemed to fuel the drive of the students to act (continued on page 9)

Teachers Take Action Against Gun Violence

By Lyndsey Schlax, Laura Nielsen and Sonya Mehta On February 15, 2018 , teachers across the country walked into their schools steeled for yet another day spent reassuring students that they are safe, knowing that they wouldn’t actually believe their own words.

Time and again, we ask students to trust us, to put aside their worries about safety, knowing full well that we can’t actually guarantee their protection from the violence in our communities, and that we can’t prevent that same outside violence from showing up in our schools over and over.

Across social media, as always, teachers expressed their sorrow, their worry, their sense of feeling both powerless to stop their students from being murdered and completely responsible for stopping this. And, as always, the same frustrated questions followed: What can we do? How do we talk to our students about this? How do we take action? How do we keep them safe?

This time, though, we had students in Florida and across the nation leading the way. They told us exactly what the young people in our classes would need to know, regardless of their age or where they lived—how to tell their stories, how to insist on the right to learn, how to work together for a common cause, how to speak up in the face of injustice, and how to apply classroom learning to solve real-world problems.

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Within 24 hours of the February 14th shooting, a small group of dedicated teachers in the Bay Area had established an online version of the in-person support we so often depend on, called Teachers Take Action Against Gu n V iolence (facebook .com/ groups/TeachersTakeAction/).

Within a week, that small circle of dedicated teachers had exploded to nearly 6,000 educators across the country. We suddenly had a wealth of inspiration, inf luence, and information being generated, exchanged, processed, challenged, multiplied and eventually published in the form of an educator’s toolkit (https:// drive.google.com/file/d/1S_SotsHKTb9WpPRnzybdIt2rt-OFcf9z/ view) to support students’ newfound passion for activism and an undeniable thirst for change.

As the refreshing, yet familiar, task of following our students’ lead began, we dedicated ourselves resolutely to providing teachers with the tools to support, listen to, and educate their students about the reality they are currently living. Every day they are uncertain of their safety and are dealing with pressures and anxieties that inhibit their ability to learn. For teachers to support their students effectively, they also need to be supported and feel confident in their abilities and resources. This support most often comes from within the community of educators, and the story of Teachers Take Action is no different.

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and responses; the ideas poured in.

Teachers applied the tools they use daily to collaborate and meet the demands of their profession. They created graphic organizers, lesson plans, discussion starters, and ideas for developmentally appropriate actions for students ranging from pre-K through higher education. They collaborated in person with colleagues at their school sites and electronically with fellow educators across the nation, and collectively, made these challenging materials and conversations accessible to their students.

As students called for marches, we marked our calendars, determined to plan the next month of classtime in a way that would set our students up for success as they set out to change our country.

The testimonials we heard from teachers across the nation who used our toolkit were inspiring. Teachers shared photos of their students engaging in walkouts and peace marches on campuses in rural and urban areas, in red states and blue states, and from preschool age to high school seniors. Using what they learned from each other, and with the support of teachers who believe in the power of young activists, students organized outside of state buildings, set up memorials and performed poignant original artistic pieces, registered (and pre-registered!) their classmates to vote, and met with elected officials to make their case for reform.

They shared examples of ways that they had used the curriculum guide with their students of all ages, and the feelings of empowerment that shone from their students’ faces. The work of teaching students about the world they will ultimately be in charge of is immensely complex, uncertain, powerful, beautiful, and terrifying. In this moment, we as educators are grappling with that complexity in unprecedented ways.

It’s a hard feeling, to be so inspired by young people, and at the same time be grieving so intensely for them; to be thrilled at the groundswell of hope that they are bringing our country, and furious that we have given them this massive problem to fix; to see the enormous power that they hold in solidarity with one another, and to know how many people will try to stand in their way. As our students take the reins in this movement to make our schools safer, more empowering places to learn, and to hold their leaders accountable, we will be right there, alongside them.

Lyndsey Schlax, Laura Nielsen, and Sonya Mehta are teacher leaders in the Bay Area. They are part

of the founding team of teachers who created Teachers Take Action Against Gun Violence in February 2018. You can find out more about their work, and download their curriculum and resource toolkit online (sites.google.com/view/ teacherstakeaction/home).

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2018)

(YOUTH POWER continued from page 8)

bating the worth of a walkout. High school students from all over the United States were weighing in on an issue that they were on the frontlines of. I live in the Bay Area, a place well known for its left-wing political activism. The walkout at my school received intense media coverage and even direct government support—police officers were specif ically assigned to public transit and our school for protection. Those online voiced different experiences. A number of the kids described their apathy to the event and their disdain for those who had participated, claiming that walkouts were foolish and pointless. A number of others grew defensive, but were clearly stifled in their responses, often replying that they were not walking out for gun control, which was largely what the events in the Bay Area consisted of, but in solidarity for those who were slain in the Parkland shooting.

on their views, regardless of the consequences.

5. In San Francisco, School of the Arts seniors wrote a gun violence proclamation for the SFUSD. A proclamation is similar to a non-action resolution because it doesn’t formulate actual policy. The proclamation was a formal statement that the whole of SFUSD urges students to lobby legislators and mobilize political actions. They also included that the administration will ensure that concerns regarding students who show “warning signs” will be seriously regarded. The proclamation was unanimously passed by the Board of Education during the recent March 15th meeting.

In Sacramento, Women’s March Oakland and Women’s March Sacramento supplied charter buses for students from Ruth Asawa School of the Arts and Academy SF at McAteer to be lobbyists in training. They were able to attend a rally about the issues of gun control against Congress and the NRA, while at the same time showing their respects to those who died in the Florida mass shooting. Then they attended a leg-

islative training session to learn how to express their ideas, while at the same time remaining respectful when they go to the Capitol building to discuss what changes they want to see made by the legislature, and to represent the voices of youth who need their voices to be heard. During their visit to the Capitol building, all of the students were able to talk to an assemblymember or senator who was willing to discuss further political action. Many had a conversation with Assemblymember David Chiu, who was also a District Supervisor of San Francisco.

The legislative action that was taken by students in both San Francisco and Sacramento shows that students are continuously fighting for political change, and are actively participating in legislation and lawmaking. While students walk the streets of their cities, sporting handmade signs and chanting, some students are working behinds the scenes on the political side of the issue. It is the perfect combination of both that ignites the spark of political change.

6. While online during the night of March 14th, I saw several posts de-

The point is, being at the walkout— regardless of its immeasurable impact, the media coverage, the political support of the government and the stopped cars—was exciting and felt important because of the smiling faces of those around me. Let us not debate what has happened, but what we can do to change the future.

7. I’m an artist, and the way I express my thoughts and my opinions is through art. In regard to the gun violence movement, the most powerful protests I’ve seen are through art. It is through artists that we as a society can connect to a movement, or an idea, or a perspective. So, this is a call to action.

For the past eight months, I was working on a play about gun violence. Loosely based on Antigone, the play told the story of a school shooting, and how the family of the perpetrator responded and felt about one of their own committing such a horrific act of violence. Every week of rehearsal, it seemed as though there was a new shooting to honor. A week before we opened, a student brought a gun on campus. We closed four days before Parkland.

Since the gun control movement’s eruption, I keep bringing myself back to that play. A large theme of The Burials is how everyone possesses humanity. As an actor, I am obligated to find humanity. At the walkout, I witnessed nothing but

humanity. It is our humanness that allows us to commit such horrible acts of v iolence. But it is that same humanness that allows us to respond. I w a nt p e o p l e to see that humanness. I feel not h ing but pa i n for t he st udent s a nd children who went through t he Park land shooting. But a part of me feels pain for Nicolas Cruz as well—how much pain must he have been in to commit such a horrific mass murder. How much rage was he carrying?

Perhaps it was cold, calculated and predetermined. I do not want to sympathize with Cruz. I do not think that we as a society should hold him to less scrutiny. He carries hate with him, hate so extreme it led him to take the lives of seventeen innocent people, but I do not want to forget about his humanity: that underneath the racism, the homophobia, and the rage, there is a soft underbelly; a soft underbelly that we all possess.

8. I was sick the day of the walkouts.

Instead of marching with my peers, I listlessly switched from my bed to the couch and back again. However, I kept up with the news online. I saw kids on the other side of the country pushing through heavy gates to use their voices, kids marching on Market Street, and I read about kids getting locked into their schools so that they wouldn’t be able to leave.

I saw my friends’ angry faces in SFGate, heard the cheers streaming out of my phone, and felt the winds of change blowing over the United States. I could not be prouder.

9. Conservatives believe that the student protests are pointless and that the youth have no power in government decisions. Many conservative news channels have been skeptical of the student walkout and if it truly is an independent youth-led event.

On CNN, a representative of the Trump administration made the accusation that the protests were organized by George Soros and Michael Bloomberg. This shows the shamelessness and desperation of public officials, in which they are reduced to clowns spouting baseless conspiracy theories. If anyone says that certain protest movements are funded

by Soros or Bloomberg, they are using the red herring tactic to divert the conversation, as well as anti-Semitic dog whistles.

Another argument is that we, the youth, are too immature and inexperienced to be leading protest movements. Bear in mind that most great protest movements have had students and other youth activists working tirelessly. This generation of teenagers is privileged with hightech devices, which allow us to perform extensive research and to voice our opinions on politics. We are more connected and capable of organizing people together than any generation before us. The conservatives shouldn’t be ignorant to the plights expressed by young voices,

because we are more powerful now than we have ever been.

10. On Wednesday, March 14, an organized walkout took place throughout the United States. Here in San Francisco, at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, taking action was encouraged. In our first period classes, our principal and vice principal came in and informed us of what was to happen. At 10 am, students could walk out of their classes and into our quad. Throughout the day, there was an energetic buzz.

Everyone was prepared to leave. In our third period class, there were only seven students, all of whom left when ten o’clock rolled around.

We all filed outside. Teachers joined students in action. The mayor even showed up at our school and cheered us on, and classrooms sat totally empty for the rest of the day.

There was a real sense of community among our peers, with an incredible show of solidarity through performances and speeches by many different students. It felt as though the action being taken was not only supported, but also encouraged. We received no punishment for these actions, besides one trivial unexcused absence on our report card, and we were rewarded with the uplifting feeling that comes with uniting so many students.

During this period of taking action and speaking up for ourselves, the students in San Francisco and the wider Bay Area need to remember that we live in a bubble. In other parts of the country, students who walked out had very different experiences than us. At Park Hill High School in Kansas City, students were barred from returning to class after the walkout and were punished with detentions. At North Oldham County High School in Goshen, Kentucky, more than 100 students who walked out were also punished.

There were schools where students had to break down the gates to walk out, and schools where only one or two students took action, facing judgment from their peers and punishment from the administration.

In our bubble, we need to remember that the situations elsewhere are less supportive, and that we need to offer our support to those who are in such places. Along with standing up and speaking out for our rights, we need to reach out to others who are doing the same in more hostile areas, and to spread our solidarity.

For more information about the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, please visit www.sfsota.org/ Lyndsey Schlax has been a teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District since 2008. She is uniquely qualified to address multiple areas of LGBT studies, having also specialized in subjects such as Modern World History, Government, Economics and U.S. Politics. She is a National Board Certified Teacher, and earned her M.A. in Teaching at the University of San Francisco.

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

M ARC H 22, 2018

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Stop Trying to Meditate nothing was pure torture. His mind compensated by turning even his vacation into a project; and within an hour of arriving, he was already planning what he’d do when he went back to work.

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Tom Moon, MFT My friend Jack worked fifteen-hour days non-stop for months. What sustained him through this marathon was the thought of his planned trip to Hawaii at the end of the project, when he’d have nothing to do but lie on a beach for two weeks. When the day finally arrived and the job was done, he rushed to the airport, f lew across the ocean, dropped his suitcase at the hotel and hurried out to the beach. A couple of hours later he texted me: “Having a wonderful time. Wish I were here.” After having spent months in goal-directed, “doing mode,” when he finally had a few days to rest in “being mode,” he found that just lying around doing

On March 15, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) announced that after more than 22 years, Kate Kendell will be stepping down from her role as executive director at the end of this year. NCLR was the first lesbian-led national legal organization and has been fighting for equality for the full LGBTQ community for more than 40 years. Under Kendell’s leadership, NCLR has been central to the fight for LGBTQ equality, including marriage equality, protections for LGBTQ families and youth, and the ongoing fight to stop Trump’s transgender military ban.

In 2008, NCLR won the California marriage equality case and was later part of the team of attorneys to secure national marriage equality in the U.S. Supreme Court case Obergefell v.

Hodges. NCLR’s 2017 U.S. Supreme Court victory in Pavan v. Smith will ensure states cannot chip away at marriage equality protections for married same-sex parents. And together with GLAD, last year NCLR was f irst to file a federal lawsuit challenging Trump’s transgender military ban in August 2017 and to secure a nationwide preliminary injunction stopping the ban from moving forward while the case is heard in court.

During Kendell’s tenure, NCLR’s budget has grown from $500,000 to more than $5 million, the number of staff members has increased by five times. NCLR now has both West Coast and East Coast offices in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Here at the San Francisco Bay Times, we have repeatedly observed Kendell’s tremendous leadership skills, which both nurtured and ref lected the excellence of her entire team. Her years at the helm of NCLR will forever be remembered and admired. It is little wonder to us that over the years she has won, among other honors, the National LGBT Bar Association’s Dan Bradley Award, the Del Martin/Phyllis Lyon Marriage Equality Award, and was named one of California’s Top 100 Attorneys.

She and her wife Sandy Holmes continue to mentor and inspire others.

We thank them both, and the entire NCLR team, for their years of helping to advance the civil and human rights of LGBTQ people and all who are dedicated to continuing the fight against injustice related to race, gender, religion, age, national origin, and more. Much work still clearly needs to be done, but with passion and conviction, Kendell has deftly paved the way for the next generation of leaders within our community.

Below are statements that were issued with NCLR’s announcement:

Reprints by permission only.

Kate Kendell: “My time at NCLR has widened my vistas and laid open my hear t. I am honored to have held this position and privileged to have experienced the countless moments of joy and awe that have forever changed our lives as LGBTQ individuals. I’ve been at the center of enormous NCLR victories, four at the U.S. Supreme Court, including the freedom to marry, a fight that seemed impossible to many when I became executive director 22 years ago.

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Today, mindfulness practice is being sold as a “stress reduction” practice. It certainly can lower stress—dramatically. But when we try to make ourselves be still because we think it will be good for us, and not because we enjoy it, our minds and bodies resist the experience. We make sitting quietly and doing nothing into just another thing to do. We time it. We do it in uncomfortable postures. No wonder we say, “I can’t meditate.” We miss the point of the whole practice.

This simple practice provides a way to step out of automatic pilot mode, out of rumination or reactivity to strong emotion, and permits openness and reconnection to the present moment.

You can think of it as a course correction, away from grasping onto stress, and toward just resting for a few moments in the spaciousness of the present moment. A simple practice like this can become habit forming. There is nothing difficult about this, but the positive benefits are amazing.

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

NCLR’s Kate Kendell to Step Down After 22 Years of Successful Leadership

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This must be partly why so many people are talking about mindfulness these days. People describe this practice as meditation, which makes it sound like some painfully difficult technique that takes years to master. But it’s defined as just “a state of awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally, to things as they are.” In other words, “mindfulness” means being present.

What is now known as meditation probably began thousands of years ago when our ancestors discovered how to make fire. They probably spent many nights sitting in silence around a fire, just watching it.

Its many benefits as a practice—in promoting calm, clarity, and happiness—probably resulted, over the centuries, in the development of more systematized practices. But one of the attractions of camping for people even today is just this opportunity to sit quietly around a campfire at the end of the day and feel the deep tranquility and inner silence that the experience induces. We all know how to be “mindful.” Approached in the right spirit, nothing is easier.

A lot of people, in my experience, have more success if, instead of trying to “learn to meditate,” they focus instead on taking several “mindful pauses” during the day. To do this, just stop what you’re doing, relax, and drop your attention into your body. Feel your body from the inside.

Pay attention to your sensations and feelings, not by naming them, but by directly touching them with your awareness. Notice your “emotional weather.” Be aware of how you’re feeling, but don’t go into any mental stories about why you are feeling the way you are feeling. Take a few deep breaths and notice how breathing feels from inside your lungs.

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I feel enormous gratitude to have been a part of the NCLR legacy and part of the history of the fight—still ongoing—for justice for all LGBTQ people.

And under an administration committed to rolling back our rights, jeopardizing the lives of LGBTQ immigrants, failing to protect our youth, and committed to denying critical access to health care, NCLR has never been more important.

I am confident that a new generation of NCLR leadership, hand-in-hand with our dedicated staff, will chart a bold, fierce future for our community.”

NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter: “ Work i ng w it h a leader of such fierce intellect and unfailing compassion has been the g reatest privilege of my professional life. I speak for all of NCLR’s staff in saying that we are more dedicated than ever to fulfilling Kate’s vi- Daughter Arianna with her mothers Kate Kendell and Sandy Holmes at sion of a world in NCLR’s 39th Anniversary Dinner which no one is left am honored to call her a mentor and behind.” a friend. As leader of NCLR, she inNCLR Founder, the Honorable spires her team to reach new heights Donna Hitchens: and has helped push the movement “Kate Kendell’s char isma, pas- for LGBTQ equality further than sion and vision have resulted in many believed possible.”

NCLR becoming one of the most creative and effective advocacy or- Board Co-Chair Therese Lee: ganizations in this country. Every “Kate brought LGBTQ issues to the LGBTQ person has benefitted be- forefront of the national conversacause of her incredible leadership.” tion at a time when few others had the courage to do so, and anti-marriage equality sentiment was sweepBoard Co-Chair Lisa Cisneros: “I fell in love with NCLR nearly 12 ing the country. She has cemented her years ago. I was an intern, covering place and NCLR’s place in the histhe Help Desk as attorneys drove an tory of California and in the nation. incredible docket of cases that ranged I am proud to have worked alongfrom marriage equality to asylum cas- side Kate to nurture this organizaes. Kate’s passion and energy made tion, fight for equality for our most her a formidable force for change in vulnerable community members, and and outside of the LGBTQ move- help people realize the transformative ment, and we are all better off for it. I power of justice.”

PHOTO BY RINK

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.

Jack’s experience highlights a problem that seems to be getting worse for more and more of us—the difficulty that modern people have of simply staying present to what is happening right now. We seem to spend most of our waking moments leaning into the future. When we arrive at some goal, we may allow ourselves a brief moment of rest and satisfaction, but then we’re off and running again. The result is that we are always in a hurry, late, and pressed for time. We don’t live in a relaxed state because, in every waking hour of our lives, we’re trying to get somewhere else.

Paying attention. Being here. Now. Where we are. Already.

GLBT Fortnight in Review

By Ann Rostow

Send in the Clones At some point last week, I reached a cable news breaking point. I think I may have been watching Rachel. The details are sketchy. She was talking about Mueller, who may or may not have asked for certain documents from either the Trump campaign or the Trump organization. She started going down side streets even as her main news highway had already become too narrow for me to navigate, and I just lost it. I saw her lips move and I heard English words emanating from the TV, but they were unintelligible.

It’s starting to become a little dreamlike, don’t you think? Have you noticed that two men who have been f ired from the White House both looked like identical Ken dolls? Do you think that there are others like them in the West Wing? Because I had never seen those first two Ken doll guys before. What if there are six or seven of them? Where might they have come from with their wife beating and gambling addictions? Are they clones with genetic defects?

And why do cable news producers allow the people on their shows to speculate on top of speculation to the point where their fellow panelists are gravely nodding about whether or not Mike Pence might replace Jeff Sessions as Attorney General if Trump were to resign. Oh my God, dear Readers, I want to scream.

“And now we’re grateful to have GLBT news writer Ann Rostow here to discuss the latest West Wing staff shakeups. Ann has an interesting theory ... .”

“Yes, Mika, thanks for having me. I was thinking that some of these staffers might be clones, and that some of the clones might have problems, like the wife beating guy who looks like the other gambling addict.”

“Oh God, I hope not! Willie, what do you think?”

“Well, they did look alike.”

“And I saw a Star Trek episode where they cloned clones and eventually the clones had a number of defects.”

“Well, you can’t make this stuff up!

We really have to take a break. Ann Rostow, thank you very much!”

Rabbit Redux Before we start on serious GLBT news, I was reminded, speaking of Mike Pence, that John Oliver has published a book about Mike Pence’s family rabbit, Marlon Bundo. I gather that the Pences were poised to release their book, Marlon Bundo’s A Day in the Life of the Vice President, written

by Second Daughter Charlotte Pence and illustrated by Second Lady Karen “Mother” Pence. However, Oliver got the hop on the Veep-sters, and published his own A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo one day before the Pence release.

In Oliver’s book, the eponymous bunny sports a bow tie and is in love with another male rabbit. For a time, at least, the gay version topped Amazon best-sellers list, while the Pence book lagged at fourth. I just checked the list myself and noticed that Jim Comey’s book is listed at number two, even though it will not be released until mid-April. I also noticed that gay Marlon Bundo has over 3,000 reviews, while the Pence’s pet has just 64.

The proceeds of both books go to charity: the Pence profits to kids with cancer and a group that fights human trafficking; the Oliver receipts to the (anti-bullying) Trevor Project and an AIDS group. When asked for her re12

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action, Charlotte Pence graciously said the more money raised for these important causes the better.

EEOC Still on Our Side I have important subjects to discuss on a day when I’m in a silly mood.

Not only are they important, but they’re also confusing, which adds to my personal annoyance.

One concerns the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the hugely important federal civil rights agency, led by five members, appointed for five-year terms by the administration, with no more than three members representing the same political party. (I told you it was confusing!) Under Obama, the agency was a powerful champion of gay and trans rights so, of course, we fully expected the agency to turn sour, much as the Justice Department has predictably reversed itself on gay rights from Obama to Trump.

Interestingly, the EEOC was still on our side last fall when the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard arguments in the Title VII sex discrimination case brought by the estate of a dead gay skydiver.

You remember that case. Zarda! (Cue sound of slashing sword). We won a fantastic 10–3 victory a few weeks back when the appellate judges ruled that gay discrimination is inherently a form of illegal sex discrimination.

I remind you today only to point out that the EEOC argued in favor of the gay plaintiff, while the Justice Department entered the case to explain why sexual orientation is not covered by the federal statute. In other words, the government argued both sides of the debate, which did not go unnoticed by the court.

So, it turns out that we have had two vacancies on the Commission for some time, leaving the EEOC with a 2–1 Democratic slant, and without a permanent top litigator (General Counsel). To date, the Senate has declined to confirm the two Trump nominees, neither of whom has shown any friendliness to our community. I’m guessing that the craziness of this administration has hampered the ability of Congress to take regular action on regular things. You know what? I haven’t the slightest idea as to why the EEOC has remained Democratic over a year into the Trump administration. It’s just nice, that’s all.

On March 20, Trump nominated Sharon Fast Gustafson to become the General Counsel of the EEOC, an ominous development for the gay community, given what looks like her conservative bent. But until the Senate takes action, we still enjoy a progressive EEOC, one which just filed a friend of the court brief in favor of a gay Missouri man, Mark Horton, who claims his job offer was pulled on account of sexual orientation. That case, yet another Big Gay Title VII case at the federal appellate level, is pending at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Old Man Donald Had a Farm, Eeiiy EEOC Perhaps you skipped that last story.

Perhaps you think that the mindset of some federal agency doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Oh, but you’re so wrong. I was just reading, for example, about yet another federal appellate court ruling in our favor (they just don’t stop) and this one in a case that was actually filed by the EEOC itself. The case involves a transgender Michigan woman who was fired for transitioning at the funeral business where she was a director. And let me repeat, this case was filed by the EEOC, which lost at the district court level. The fired woman (continued on page 31)

Three Ways to Keep Your Financial Goals

Money Matters Brandon Miller Now that we are nearing the April tax season, many people are setting f inancial goals that they hope will help to improve their lives. Considering that over half of Americans have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, improving financial choices is critical. Yet, research shows that around 92% of people fail to achieve such goals. Changing habits is tough, and well-intended plans can derail for a variety of reasons—from having too many goals at once to giving up too early. But, with the right mindset and plan, you can accomplish even the most ambitious objectives.

Here are three tips to help you make your financial goals:

1. Be specific about what you want to accomplish. Achieving an imprecise goal is nearly impossible, because you can’t quantify your success. Rather than focusing on a vague ambition, like improving your financial health, pick a clear, tangible goal you want to achieve in the coming months. Maybe you want to pay off $10,000 of credit debt. Or you want to save 15% of your salary for retirement. The goal you choose depends on your unique financial life, so only you know what priority is most important. No matter your objective, make sure it is measurable, specific, and achievable.

2. Break down your goal into small steps. Big goals can feel overwhelming if you try to f inish them all at once. So, cut up your larger object ives into d igest ible chunks. For example, rather than focus on a $50,000 savings goal, aim to save $250 a week. From there, break down that goal even further: What steps can you take each week to save it? Maybe you’ll bring lunch from home, renegotiate your phone contract, or make other relatively easy changes. Before you know it, your small choices will add up to a big accomplishment.

3. Ask what “future you” would want you to do. Inevitably, you’ll face situations where you could easily

fall back on old habits or give into temptation. Unfortunately, willpower isn’t enough to get you through these challenges, because it may actually be a limited resource. Similar to a muscle that fatigues from overuse, relying on willpower too many times may deplete your ability to say “no.”

Instead of trying to power through temptation, ask yourself, “What choice would my ‘future self’ wish I’d made?” Reframing the situation in this way may help you to gain the perspective you need by causing you to stop and reflect. Instead of giving into impulses and immediate desires, you can make a choice that supports your specific, long-term goal.

Depending on when you read this, we still have over 9 months left of 2018.

When you look back at this year on December 31, what do you hope will be different than today? Start with that picture and follow the aforementioned steps. You just may be among the 8% of people who actually achieve their financial goals this year.

Brandon Miller, CFP ® is a financial consultant at Brio Financial Group in San F ranc isco, s pec ializing in helping LGBT individuals and families plan and achieve their financial goals.

Big Surprises in New Hybrids

Auto Philip Ruth Surprise! That’s the operative word in the U.S. these days, as we steadily push back against the grudge-match machinations of the federal government’s executive branch. Rising above that morass is the bravery of those who dare to protest—and in the case of the gun control debate, it’s the kids directly affected by school mass shootings who are cracking the NRA’s calcified grip on American politics. That’s the nice kind of surprise, which affirms your own humanity.

While listening to the Parkland shooting’s aftermath, I was experiencing an automotive version of that affirmation in a 2018 Camry Hybrid. Hybrids are the last vehicles in which you’d express your power. They’re bought to be quiet and to stay out of the way as they sip gas and settle into the right lane.

But this new Camry Hybrid is something else. I’ve never had to mind a

Kia Niro Plug-In

hybrid’s speed to keep it under 100 mph on I-280’s fastest stretches, but the Camry Hybrid’s digital speedometer kept showing me three digits.

The helper there was the Camry Hybrid’s Sport mode, which adjusts the accelerator’s response to issue a blast of power when you f loor it to pass.

Then it becomes addictive to slam the go-pedal whenever you’d like to dispatch the Prius blocking the left lane, or to scoot over to check out the classic Chevelle that’s been coming up on the right, or just to clear your head by hurling the Camry Hybrid into the ribbon of empty road ahead.

Performance cars usually encourage these kinds of amped-up dalliances, and I was slack-jawed with surprise that this Camry Hybrid sprinted and growled and generally did its best to enervate its driver. Extracting every last bit of this hybrid’s unexpected high-speed performance still returned 32 mpg.

Camry Hybrid 14

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The tested Kia Niro Plug-In had its own surprises. The Niro’s drowsy acceleration and conflicted transmission make Sport mode a must on San Franciso’s hills, and this crossover can feel plodding and heavy as you’re making your way through the neighborhoods. But the Niro mirrors the Camry Hybrid’s highway confidence with reserves of squirt under your right foot. Steering that Sport mode also has pleasantly firmed up. Persistent throttle trompings couldn’t kick the trip computer’s readout below 45 mpg.

Like the Camry Hybrid, the tested Niro Plug-In stayed impressively level over rutted and uneven pavement.

It used to be that you’d have to get spendy with an optional handling suspension to get the wide margin of handling error these two grant their users. Hybrids providing that is a nice surprise indeed.

Then it comes down to styling, and here the Niro Plug-In seems to have universal appeal. Its trim shape and apparent substance could just have easily come from Germany as South Korea. The Camry Hybrid stands apart, with a riot of lines carving up the sides and corrugating the front bumper. After a history of somnolence, the new Camry’s styling slices out the mid-sized sedan segment’s cutting edge, and that is probably the biggest surprise of all.

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

Bridge to Somewhere Those are the literal bridges, but there are so many more to consider. There are figurative bridges we may not ride across, walk on or take pictures of, but the ones we traverse in our daily lives: relationships.

Dr. Tim Seelig By their very nature and definition, bridges connect two things. The concept of bridges is one near and dear to Californians. In fact, our Governor wrote a message this month that said, “We build bridges, not walls!”

I’m pretty sure it fell on deaf ears at the other end of the line. Governor Brown’s message is one example of a Bridge to Nowhere.

This is not the only bridge that went nowhere. The most famous of these is in the San Gabriel Mountains. Built in 1938, it was designed to straddle the East Fork of the San Gabriel River. But it just never got connected.

You can hike to it, look at it, walk on it, and even bungee jump off of it. But it’s just not a bridge. It goes nowhere.

Another is in Alaska. Dubbed the “Bridge to Nowhere” thanks to Sarah Palin, it would have connected the town of Ketchikan (population 8,900) with its airport on the Island of Gravina (population 50) at a cost to federal taxpayers of $320 million.

Smarter heads prevailed and it was scrubbed. She was hoping to see Alaska from the bridge.

In the town from which I came—Dallas—they have two beautiful new suspension bridges. One is by the famous bridge designer Santiago Calatrava.

The bridges do connect two things.

There’s just one problem: there is nothing beneath them. No water. No canyon. No bay. Mostly just dirt. To be fair, there is a creek that sometimes floods. But, by definition, they qualify as bridges. There has been a 30-year plan to create a “river” beneath them, but the city council can’t agree on the plans for the water part, so they just built the bridges anyway.

Ouch. But they are bridges to somewhere!

Here in the Bay Area, we are surrounded by stunning bridges. In addition to being beautiful and romantic, they serve as literal lifelines for countless people on a daily basis. Without them, San Francisco would be a little isolated burg at the top of a peninsula.

And what would that do to our city’s

We all have those friends who expect you not only to build the bridge all the way over to them, but to do all of the work, and be perky upon arrival. Doing all of the work in a relationship is just exhausting. There are times when we build a bridge all the way across a chasm and find a wall. Advice—turn back! Don’t stay there banging your head against that wall. Let it go and run fast back across the bridge you built! Bridge to Nowhere.

There are times when we might be the ones sitting at home, expecting the other person to build the bridge all the way over and pondering why it is taking so long. Why haven’t they called, e-mailed, texted, tweeted, snapchatted? And you think, “I’ll show them. I won’t reach out until they do!” How did that work out for you? Bridge to Nowhere.

Then there are those that work perfectly. You “see someone across a crowded room and somehow you know, you know even then that somehow you’ll see him again and again.”

Sorry, I momentarily slipped into show tune mode. It was enchanting, though.

Hopefully, at some point, we all have experienced that BFF or spouse where things worked perfectly. You place a brick; they place a brick. You build toward each other—and voila—a magical bridge is built. It is thus with my husband. And we just keep adding support to our own side of the bridge, making it stronger every day.

That’s a Bridge to Somewhere.

My life has been all about bridges— the dry ones in Dallas all the way to the “most famous bridge in the world.” It’s also been about bridges to other people. Most of all, my entire life—OK, only since the age of three—has been about musical bridges. There is nothing like what happens when we open our ears and hearts to a song that touches us. Or, when we sing a song to someone, or to lots of someone elses.

Next week, SFGMC will present an entire concert titled “Bridges.” Why? Well, mostly because that’s what we

PHOTO BY DAVE EARL

TLC: Tears, Laughs and Conversation

Think of how many relationship bridges you cross in a day, making connections from Husbands Dan England and Tim Seelig enjoying a boat yourself to another person. ride on San Francisco Bay. The most important thing in relationship success is obviously that you build the bridge halfway and someone else builds their half back to you—meeting right in the middle.

PHOTO COURTESY OF TIM SEELIG

theme song?! We would have nothing golden to open.

Tim with Grace

do. It’s what we have been doing for almost 40 years. We build bridges to members of our community and from our community to our families, friends, and fans who hear us sing.

We are very excited about this concert. We will explore many types of bridges through our music: A Bridge Across the Bay Special Guests: Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir A Bridge to the South A deep look into last October’s Lavender Pen Tour A Bridge Across Divides California premiere of “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed” A Bridge to the Future OIGC Youth Chorus A Bridge to the Past Special Guest: Holly Near, who sang with SFGMC in November, 1978

Family taking

Care of family

Family of Choice Homecare, LLC offers compassionate inhome care that addresses the unique needs and concerns of LGBT older adults, and allows them to age authentically and with pride in their homes and communities for as long as they can.

We look forward to becoming your family of choice!

Kevin Pete & Kenneth Boozer, owners Call (510) 285-6484 FamilyofChoice.us

And those will not be the only ones.

Maybe you can join us, building bridges and tearing down walls with every note of every song.

Building bridges is what we all do every day. It is a risk. But living life to its fullest is always a risk. Only in taking risks do we learn, grow, feel and experience real joy.

Think about building a new bridge today. Think about adding a brick or two to support the one you value.

Note to self ... avoid Bridges to Nowhere!

Dr. Tim Seelig is the Artistic Director of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.

Rafael Mandelman’s Nightlife Meet & Greet

Photos by Bill Wilson

The evening of Sunday, March 11, found Rafael M a nde l m a n , c a nd id at e for San Francisco District 8 Supervisor, surrounded by supporters and friends at HiTops in the Castro.

The event, acknowledging Mandelman’s role as a friend of San Francisco nightlife and culture, was hosted by Hi Tops’ Jesse Woodward and representatives from the San Francisco Entertainment Commission and numerous bars and lounges, including Oasis, Virgil’s Sea Room, The Armory, Lookout, Finn Town, Gold Club and more. rafaelmandelman.com

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IMES TThrowback AYPhoto BRink S

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There were so many parties, art openings, film screenings and more activities to attend i keep up with Rink in the Castro, on Polk Street and all over town. Be sure to tell Rink he

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ohn, Christopher, Robert and Paul were flatmates in 1978 when this photo was taken. Their place was known in the gay community as the Bourgeoisie Palace.

Described by Rink as “a creative foursome,” the guys were known and appreciated for designing costumes, their love of disco dancing, encouraging emerging performers (singers, poets, dancers and show emcees), and for their generosity and hospitality.

The Bourgeoisie Palace was a four-bedroom brownstone flat on the northwest corner of Divisadero and 14th Street with a view overlooking Davies Hospital and out across to the East Bay.

The Irish P ing in the a

Steve Adams, Supervisor Jeff Sheehy and Donna Sachet led the ceremony re-opening the Castro Farmers’ Market for the new season.

Check it out for fresh foods every Wednesday at the intersection of Noe, 16th and Market next to Flore.

Deana Dawn, Gary Virginia, Diva D and Donna Sachet were on hand for Krewe De Kinque’s St. Patrick’s Day Celebration at Edge Bar where a check for $9000 from the Bal Masque benefit was presented to Larkin Street Services.

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“They had a 16 mm projector and were famous for screening Maria Montez films for her fans,” Rink reported. “They had an immense circle of friends and acquaintances, before the internet made that much easier to accomplish.

They were big promoters of the disco scene, and danced with friends at the I-Beam and Trocadero Transfer nightclubs, sometimes until dawn, then have breakfast, and then they would roller skate in Golden Gate Park, wearing dark glasses. They were fans of Robert Opel’s Fey-Way Studios in SOMA.” Three of the four men were lost to AIDSrelated illnesses, so only one survives. They were four good friends who shared just about everything with each other, except they were not boyfriends or lovers. We are glad that Rink captured their collective, warm spirit in this beautifully composed image.

Supervisor Livingston, Celebration

A large crowd was on hand for the Memorial and Celebration of Life for activist Dennis Peron held on March 11 at the intersection of Market, Noe and 16th Streets.

As Heard on the Street . . . The Castro Farmers’ Market is back!

What are your favorite fruits, nuts, and vegetables?

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Derek Smith of Bay Area American Indian Two Spirits (BAAITS) displays a copy of the San Francisco Bay Times at the Veterans Building during the Alexander Hamilton Post 448 Veterans and Native Two Spirits Peoples Living Legacy Celebration.

compiled by Rink

Barry Miles

Sara Bell

Gary Virginia

Robyn

Steph

“Almonds and peaches.”

“Asparagus, the thinner the better.”

“Strawberries, pecans, and heirloom tomatoes.”

“Raspberries, pistachios, and potatoes.”

“Cherries, pistachios, and potatoes.”

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in our community this past month! It’s been impossible to ello when you see him out and about.

CASTRO STREETCAM presented by

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Pipers Band marched in and joined the celebration at the Cinch Saloon on Polk Street after appearannual San Francisco St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Extreme Pizza’s Derrick Wiley, vice president of business development, displayed a savory pizza at the Fillmore Street location. He can also be found on site at Extreme Pizza’s other locations including Folsom Street, Union Street and Japantown.

items of the week

Fagor LUX LCD Multi Cooker

Candidate Mark Leno was welcomed to Oasis a and Juanita MORE! for the “Queens for Leno” March 14.

Fagor is a brand renowned for their product innovation, quality and performance. The Fagor LUX LCD Multi Cooker combines the speed of a pressure cooker with the convenience of a slow cooker while also offering rice cooking and yogurt making functions.

Dog Eared Books on Castro Street created a Women’s History Month window for March featuring both fiction and non-fiction books by and about women.

Historian Ruth Mahaney (left) with friends attended the Double Anniversary Party honoring the GLBT Historical Society’s 33rd year and its Museum’s 7th year.

FLYTE levitating lightbulb The Swedish designed FLYTE levitating lightbulb is an elegant combination of Art & Technology. The LED bulb is magnetically levitated and powered through the air from its wooden base.

Create a mini art installation in your home today with FLYTE.

r Jeff Sheehy (third from left) presented certificates of honor to (left to right) Ken Harper, Johnson , Morningstar Vancil, Jim McConnell and Randy Burns during “The Alexander Hamilton Post 448: A n of Two-Spirits” at the San Francisco War Memorial Building.

Co-hosts Joey Cain (far eft) and Tab Bucker (far right) welcomed Right to Counsel’s Jen Snyder and Tenants Together’s Dean Preston at a benefit for tenants’ rights in the Haight.

The Chinese New Year’s Parade brought over a million people to Chinatown to celebrate the Year of the Dog with firecrackers, floats, dragons and marching bands, including our own San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band.

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ur buyers have been going to trade shows and finding new, fun and sometimes even practical things to make these cold days worth leaving the house. Over the next couple of weeks, lots of new products will be popping up all over the store. We hope you will find something that you just can’t live without !

Server Diego Tobar and cake designer Randy Scorpio (not pictured) presented St Patrick’s Day-themed birthday cakes to Solange and Maurice Darwish for their joint celebration at the Cove on Castro restaurant.

The GLBT History Museum’s ongoing Fighting Back event series hosted a panel discussion entitled “Fighting Back: Finding the Bisexual in LGBT” with panelists Kuwaza Imara, Amara Santos, Cianna Stewart, Carol Queen and Juba Kalamka.

the Farmers’ Market, Farhad Noory holds up an example of a favorite spread mong those available from the East West Afghan Foods.

Berlin & Beyond Film Festival’s Sophoan Sorn was hoisted above the red carpet by filmmakers and actors at the Castro Theatre during the Opening Night of the festival.

Remember the Bay Times Personals?

Maria Davila displays artisan sausages and pupusas at the Farmers’ Market.

They’re back and better than ever!

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From the Coming Up Events Calendar See page 28 Wednesday, March 28 - Poetry Reading in Celebration of Muni Art 2018: Charif Shanahan @ SF Public Library North Beach Branch, 850 Columbus Avenue.

In celebration of Muni Art 2018, poet Charif Shanahan will present a reading. 6:30 – 8:00 PM. poetrysociety.org

Saturday, March 31 - Rhonda Benin’s “Just Like A Woman” @ Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley. Join the host, Oakland’s own Rhonda Benin, who will be joined

by Holly Near, Linda Tillery, Tammy Hall and more talented women for an outstanding evening. 8:00 PM. thefreight.org

About Us: A Bittersweet Gay Romance from Brazil

Film Gary M. Kramer About Us, now out on DVD, is a sexy, sweet—and bittersweet—romantic drama written, directed by, and starring out gay filmmaker Thiago Cazado. The film depicts the intimate relationship between Diego (Cazado), a photographer/filmmaker, and Matheus (Rodrigo Bittes) an architecture student. The couple is very much in love until a situation arises that threatens their happiness. Cazado’s low-budget debut may seem slight at first, but it becomes quite emotional as the lovers grapple with their possible separation.

you can’t say this character is bad or good. It’s mixed. I don’t want to make someone the villain. I wanted them to be human.”

discussion is: What do I prefer? Do I stay, and be in a relationship, and live as a couple? Or do I be on my own and live my life?”

One of the ways Cazado achieves this is by not giving the gay characters a struggle other than if they will stay together. There is no coming out angst or family drama, and no self-hatred or homophobia.

That said, the intimacy on screen between the two guys is palpable. Cazado described how he and his co-star got along on s c r e en . “ I don’t like to force things,” he said.

“I tell my actors not to ‘act,’ but to ‘be.’ I always tell them to do what they need to be present in t he moment. Do not force it. If you want to cry, you should cry. Be real— as much as you can; do not lie to the camera. Rodrigo and I just looked in each other’s eyes, and we were just there, living it.”

Cazado observed, “It’s common to watch gay-themed films on these topics. I wanted to make a film that did the opposite. I think making a film this way could change opinions. Here in Brazil, being gay has a stigma— they are a ‘dirty person.’ I wanted to show gays having a normal and happy life and being accepted. I wanted to get away from what you expect from a ’gay’ movie. It is a political way to do it.” He added, “We gay men still have troubles, though.”

The characters in About Us struggle in their relationship. This was important for the filmmaker to depict.

He explained, “I think being in a

Using his friend João as an interpreter, Cazado recently chatted via Skype with me for the San Francisco Bay Times.

Cazado said that he was prompted to make the f ilm because, “I have been an actor since I was a child. I’ve always liked to write. But being an actor for the theater, I played roles and characters that weren’t ‘mine.’

I was inspired to start writing my own ideas and characters, and I always liked gay movies.”

About Us is not about a specific relationship Cazado had, but it reflects the emotions he had from a past relationship. The beauty of his film is how he captures the romantic dynamic between Diego and Matheus.

Scenes such as Diego playfully teasing Matheus in the kitchen with a sponge, or Matheus’ dangerous act of hanging out a moving car’s window, came from Cazado’s life. But the film really reflects the difficulties of the filmmaker having a relationship because of his dedication to his work.

The closeness between Cazado and his co-star extends to the film’s sex scenes, which are quite erotic. The filmmaker deliberately included nude scenes for his character, because he thought they were “necessary.” He admitted, “It doesn’t make sense to create a film with that level of intimacy without the characters being naked. I think the nude scenes are really beautiful.” Moreover, they— ahem—help to flesh out the love story.

Cazado continued, “I am really proud of my body. I made a promise—I don’t know to whom—but I will be naked in every film I make!”

Then he demurred, “Just kidding!”

relationship with someone sometimes leads to a couple going in different directions. Sometimes, one person tries to hide it because they don’t know how to handle it. I believe this is the case with Matheus and Diego. They didn’t have the necessary conversation about their issues. Diego doesn’t have this courage. In the end, the

Nude or not, hopefully Cazado will make many more films. About Us is an auspicious queer feature debut that beautifully captures the Brazilian feeling on saudade, or feelings of longing, melancholy, and nostalgia. © 2018 Gary M. Kramer Gary M. Kramer is the author of “I n d e p e n d e n t Q u ee r C i n e m a : Reviews and Interviews,” and the co-editor of “Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.” Follow him on Twitter @garymkramer

Wisely, the f ilm’s drama does not point fingers at a “bad guy.” Cazado says this was a deliberate decision: “I don’t want you to judge anyone, or for me to judge anyone in the film. I wanted to concentrate on the beautiful things that this relationship gave me. That’s why I created a fictional [story] rather than one from real life.

To me, the movie is almost like a fairy tale. I took the best memories I had from a relationship and I tried not to focus on the bad things with my partner. When you watch the film,

KIT’N KITTY’S

QUEER POP QUIZ

IT’S ONLY NATURAL What term refers to the commonly shared belief among many Native American tribes that some individuals naturally possess and manifest both masculine and feminine spiritual qualities?

A) Ehpit B) Two-Spirit C) Hisei D) Yellow-Tail ANSWER ON PAGE 30

Karin Jaffie as Kitty Tapata hosts Miss Kitty’s Original Trivia Nights at The Wild Side West on Wednesday nights from 8 pm–11 pm, 424 Cortland Avenue in San Francisco. As Tapata says, “It’s free, fun and friendly! To play is to win!”

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The March to Remember and Reclaim Queer Space

Photos by Bill Wilson and Pax Ahimsa Gethen

PHOTO BY BILL WILSON

Hosting along with MORE! were activist Cleve Jones, Supervisor Aaron Peskin, and members of the GLBT Historical Society, SF LGBT Center, Lower Polk Neighbors, Middle Polk Neighborhood Association and others.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE DE YOUNG AND LEGION OF HONOR

Boatmen on the Missouri by George Caleb Bingham In the de Young Permanent Collection George Caleb Bingham’s Boatmen on the Missouri depicts what would have been a common sight for anyone traveling in the West during the mid-nineteenth century: men on a flatboat drifting silently downstream with a load of fuelwood. At that time, nearly all steamboats burned wood in their fireboxes to create the steam that turned their paddle wheels.

Steamboats usually only carried enough fuelwood to power the boat for about twelve hours. So, to meet demand en route, men called “woodhawks” sold chopped and corded wood from stations along the riverbank. Some entrepreneurial individuals established wood yards where steamboats could tie up, while others, such as those Bingham represented in this painting, f loated chopped wood out to passing steamboats.

George Caleb Bingham (American, 1811–1879). Boatmen on the Missouri, 1846. Oil on canvas. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd. 1979.7.15, FAMSF.

Although this painting represents a common scene on the Missouri River, the depiction is far from a documentary.

Given the nature of their work, woodhawks were typically filthy, and they were often perceived to be crude and unsavory characters. In preparation for his painting, Bingham did not sketch real boatmen, but rather asked his acquaintances to dress in the appropriate costume and posed them in a style similar to that found in Renaissance engravings.

Born in Augusta County, Virginia, George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879) moved with his family to Franklin, Missouri, as a young child. Bingham found early success as a portrait painter, but soon branched out into genre and landscape subjects. These paintings afforded him limited success until 1845, when the American Art-Union began to purchase his work, after which he became known as “the Missouri Artist.” Dedicated to stimulating public support for American artists, the American Art-Union ultimately purchased Boatmen on the Missouri for $100, the most Bingham had ever received for a genre painting. After its original purchase, the painting was lost for 120 years until it was discovered to wide acclaim in a California private collection in 1966. deyoungmuseum.org

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The event’s goal was to remember and reclaim gay space, and to encourage the preservation of historic LGBT sites in the Polk Gulch district. During the two-hour event, stops were made along the route in front of selected locations to talk about their history and to lay black wreaths bearing the former name of each one when it was part of the thriving gay neighborhood. The Brass Liberation Orchestra marching band was on hand to perform.

PHOTO BY BILL WILSON

On Saturday, March 10, a large group of LGBT leaders, elected off icials, activists, journalists, historians and communit y members gathered at the site of the recently closed The Gangway.

T he m a r c h , led by Juanita MOR E!, was billed as “A March to Remember and Reclaim Queer Space: LGBT Leaders Lay Wreaths in Front of Former Queer Establishments A long Polk Gulch.”

PHOTO BY BILL WILSON

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Before there was the Castro neighborhood as we know it, there was Polk Street, also known as “Polk Gulch.” From the 1950s–1970s, the once-thriving gay neighborhood along Polk Street was a major world-renowned destination point for the LGBT community.

Dan Ashley’s Rock the CASA with Melissa Etheridge Annual Walnut Creek Event Helps Youth in Need

Ashley, who also performed a rocking set with his namesake band, told the San Francisco Bay Times, “I am so delighted to report that Rock the CASA was such a huge success in its fourth year. Melissa Etheridge just brought the house down and was so supportive and fun. People had a truly special evening for a great cause.” He added, “Rock the CASA was a total sell-out—every seat taken. We’ve had a sell out for four straight years.” The event benefits Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA, cccocasa.org), Friends of Camp Concord (FOCC, friendsofcampconcord.org), and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area (bbbsba.org).

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROCK THE CASA

On March 3, a packed house at the Lesher Center for Performing Arts in Walnut Creek enjoyed an incredible benef it concert produced by A BC 7’s Dan Ashley and starring legendary rock icon Melissa Etheridge, who performed many of her hits as well as songs selected for the special occasion.

Both ticket sales and auction revenue were up this year, according to Ashley. Corporate sponsorship was also strong.

“We raised a lot of money for underserved children in need and I can’t wait to do it again next March,” A sh ley sa id, adding that Rock the CASA 2019 will be held on March 2 and will be the benefit concert’s fifth anniversary. “Year five is a big milestone for us and we will pull out all the stops when we announce the headliner for RTC5!”

For more information: rockthecasa.org

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Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun of Abomanatrix, Flora Goodthyme, Milk Queen, and a group photo entitled The Monster Show 2016 with Rock M Sakura, KaiKai Bee Michaels, Sue Casa, Justin Sam, Terri Twaught Waffle, K Color, Cruzin d’Loo, Redwood, and Bobby Barnaby. His exhibition is on display now through April 13. ravot-sf.com

Sister Dana sez, “So Trump has already launched his 2020 campaign with the slogan: ‘Keep America Great!’ including a big exclamation point. But shouldn’t it realistically end with a question mark?”

We were all Irish for the day and appropriately wore green to celebrate ST PATRICK’S DAY with San Francisco’s KREWE DE KINQUE Mardi Gras-themed fundraising social club on Saturday, March 17, at The Edge. We dug into our Pot ‘o Gold to present a BIG $9,000 CHECK to LARKIN STREET YOUTH SERVICES, our 2017– 18 “Bal Masque XV” beneficiary.

We also gave SF Bay Times a lovely plaque for being an ongoing media sponsor. Newly crowned KdK King & Queen XV Gareth Gooch & Miss Chief hosted and stirred up shenanigans at our $10 beer bust and open show with emcee KdK Queen II Deana O’Dawn. Patrons earned GREEN BEADS from Queen VII SisterO’Dana, enjoyed some great green cocktails, and competed for Best Costume. Lively performances were by Miss Chief, Deana Dawn, DivaD, Mark Paladini, Jon Weber, and Kelly ("Irish") Rose. DJ Jack Rojo had us dancing the Irish jig. No Blarney, it was a fine time for Erin Go Bragh: Ireland forever! By the way, good old St. Patrick is one of a surprising number of queer saints and martyrs in Christian history, giving us queers an extra excuse to enjoy his day.

SPARK ARTS in the Castro presented a CHARITY/BOOK LAUNCH PARTY hosted by Heather Jacks, who is an awardwinning author, Disco Loving Wine Ninja, diehard SF Giants fan, and Saint with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Jacks’ new book, My Headdress Is on Fire ... stories from a White Girl growing up on & off Indian Land ... is a series of deliciously skewed essays that travel the world from Indian Land to the Australian Outback, single parenting to the Empty Nest. Jacks’ full powers of smart wit are engaged as she unearths stories about an Indian Chief, Bozo the Clown, Kupa Piti, and David the Camel, with heart and candor. Ten percent of all book proceeds, including sales at the launch, were donated to Punks with Lunch, a not-for-profit harm reduction group providing food and other necessities to people experiencing homelessness. The festive event was free, but attendees were asked to bring a new health or toiletry item donation for Punks with Lunch. facebook.com/WriterJacks Belated big congratz to HMIM Empress Pollo Del Mar and HMIM Emperor Leandro Gonzales, who were crowned at San Francisco’s IMPERIAL CORONATION 53!

They will serve us well!

Sister Dana sez, “I am battling the terrible Bronchitis Demon, hacking up a lung, so I didn’t get out much. But here are some fun events I hope I am healed in time to enjoy with you.”

OPENHOUSE COMMUNITY, 55 Laguna Street, is offering the TRANSGENDER DAY OF VISIBILITY lunch on March 29, 12 pm.

Openhouse honors transgender elders. TDOV aims to bring attention to the accomplishments of trans people around the globe while fighting cissexism and transphobia. Join them for a special lunch honoring the transgender community on Thursday March 29 at Openhouse Bob Ross LGBT Senior Center. RSVP to Michelle at 415-728-0195 or email michelle@openhouse-sf.org

SMOKE + MIRRORS: Exploring Modern Drag is a window into the vibrant nightlife of San Francisco’s diverse drag community as seen through the lens of ever-present nightlife photographer GOOCH. An opening reception was held at the Ravot Gallery on 115 Clement Street. Gooch captures a spectrum of performance identity from drag queens, drag kings, faux queens, and club kids of diverse genders. All photographs were taken either in performance or on the sidelines of perART SAVES LIVES studio galformances rather than in studio. lery and show place at 518 Castro Born in the U.K., Gooch attendStreet will host the MARCH ARTed the prestigious Newport College IST RECEPTION on March 23, of Art and Design where he stud6–8:30 pm. Free for everyone. Nibied under British photographer Dablies and bevvies are also free. Artists vid Hurn, of the Magnum Photos include Liam Peters, Lisa Feldcollaborative. He worked in Lonman Keith, Brandy Harper, don for two decades, first apprenticing with important photography stu(continued on page 31) dios, and later having his own firm. The focus of his work in the last few years has been on documenting the disenfranchised subcultures of our time: the dynamism of street art and the artists who create it; the recent LGBT political struggle with marriage equality; and, as in this exhibition, the LGBT performing arts community. By doing this, he memorializes these fragments of society in what can be a Dennis McMillan (aka Sister Dana) shared a hug at the Academy of very transitory culture. Friends "Under the Big Top" Gala with Paul Margolis, founder of Some of my faves are OurTownSF.org 22

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By Sister Dana Van Iquity

Golden Gate Business Association Power Lunch

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The Glide Memorial Ensemble and Change Band kicked off GGBA’s 2018 Power Lunch held on Friday, March 16, at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero. The sellout crowd attending enjoyed a tasty lunch following welcomes by GGBA’s Dawn Ackerman, Equator Coffee’s Helen Russell, Graton Casino’s Greg Sarris and more. The spotlight of the program featured a lively interview by Hon. Mark Leno with Randy Boissonnnault, special advisor to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on LGBTQ2 issues. Congratulations to the GGBA organizers, including Paul Pendergast, past president, and the entire team of board members and volunteers on the success of the largest Power Lunch ever.

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Photos by Rink & Juan Davila

LGBT Economic Agenda 2018 Summit Opening Reception Photos by Rink and Paul Margolis

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San Francisco City Hall was the setting for the Opening Reception, hosted by the Golden Gate Business Association, held on Thursday evening, March 15. Dignitaries welcomed representatives from more than 25 cities, states and other nations who traveled to San Francisco to attend the Western Business Alliance LGBT Economic Agenda Summit & Conference held on Friday, March 16.

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Gertrude Stein Comes of Age moted in the local press of his many destinations.

Words Michele Karlsberg Michele Karlsberg: For this issue of the San Francisco Bay Times, I present an excerpt from So Famous and So Gay: The Fabulous Potency of Truman Capote and Ger tr ud e Stein by Jeff Solomon.

In 1895, Gertrude Stein was a twenty-one-year-old sophomore at Radcliffe College interested in philosophy and psychology who had begun to write fiction. By all accounts, Stein had not yet had sexual encounters, though she was exposed to the constant pressure—acute in Jewish families—for women her age to be married. The year 1895 also brought the Oscar Wilde trial, which changed the public discourse of homosexuality. At a time of life when lesbians were likely to gain same-sexual experience, Stein was swamped with proof of its danger.

Wilde had been a mass-market celebrity in the United States since 1882, when Richard D’Oyly Carte, the Gilbert and Sullivan impresario, booked Wilde on tour. Carte hoped for symbiotic marketing with the tour of the comic opera Patience, which satirized aestheticism in general and Wilde in particular. Wilde ran three separate rounds through the United States and Canada—140 lectures in 260 days. His fame soaked the nation as Wilde was pro-

Wilde’s fame was bolstered by The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was published in 1891 in both England and the United States, and by the successful London runs of his plays.

When Wilde sued his lover’s father for libel, he earned even more media attention: he had moved from “entertainment” to “news.” When Wilde lost, he was prosecuted for public indecency. The Importance of Being Earnest sold out throughout both trials, which lasted from April 3 to May 25, 1895, and kept Wilde in the news. If Wilde had won either lawsuit, the two suits might now be seen as a brilliant publicity stunt.

The entire affair must have impressed upon young Stein (and everyone else who read newspapers) that even private displays of homosexuality, once publicly known, could sentence even rich, powerful celebrities to years of hard labor breaking rocks. Though public reactions to male and to female homosexuality cannot be conflated, Stein still had ample reason to fear her desire. Fifty years later, in Wars I Have Seen, Stein wrote of her realization that she was not “free” but that her homosexuality, as well as her Jewishness, put her at risk: There is no doubt that everyone really wants to be free, at least to feel free, they may like to give orders or even to take them, but they like to feel free, oh yes, they do like to feel free, and so Oscar Wilde and the Ballad of Reading Gaol was the first thing that made me realize that it could happen, being in prison. And then the next thing was the Dreyfus affair, that is anti-Semitism.

Stein’s fears from the trial and its aftermath may explain why she did not engage in the appreciable culture of female same-sex passion at Radcliffe that was typical for women’s colleges of the time. Stein did not come of lesbian age until 1900,

Gertrude Stein

Jeff Solomon

when, as a twenty-six-year-old in medical school, she became involved with the lover of a classmate.

Published by the University of Minnesota Press. Copyright 2017 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota. Used by permission (www.upress.umn.edu).

Jeff Solomon is assistant professor of English and Women, Gender, and Sexuality studies at Wake Forest University. He is the author of “So Famous, So Gay: The Fabulous Potency of Truman Capote and Gertrude Stein.” For more information about the book, visit its University of Minnesota Press page (https://www.upress.umn.edu/ book-division/books/so-famousand-so-gay).

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

Spotlight on Writers for Women’s History Month Kathleen Archambeau L -R) Author Kathleen A rchambeau with community activist Carole Beu and Maori MP Louise Wall, author of the 2013 New Zealand Marriage Amendment Act. As part of Auckland Pride 2018, Bay Area author Archambeau presented an event about her book Pride and Joy: LGBTQ Artists, Icons and Everyday Heroes, at The Women’s Bookstore in Auckland. kathleenarchambeau.com

Elana Dykewoman East Bay-based writer Elana Dykewoman’s novel Riverfinger Women (1974) has been selected

by The Golden Crown Literacy Society as the 2018 Lee Lynch Classic Award recipient.

Considered a classic in the lesbian novel genre, the book is included on The Publishing Triangle’s list of 100 best lesbian and gay novels.

First presented in 2012, the Lee Lynch Classic Award honors a specific book, selected by a panel of judges, as “timeless.”

Renata Stendhal L oca l wr iter Renata Stendhal, who is well-known i n t he L GBTQ l iter a r y world for her work s on the life of Gertrude Stein, lesbian relationships and lesbian romance, has been nominated to receive the Lambda L iterar y Award (known as the Lammy) for her latest book Kiss Me Again, Paris. The awards will be presented in New York City on June 4, and will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Lambda Awards. You can comment in support of Stendhal’s nomination at #lammys on Twitter.

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Time to March ... and Walk!

The KiAi Way Jamie Leno Zimron While it’s March and we’re on the march, it seems like a great time to write about walking! For most of us lucky enough to have both our legs, in working condition, walking is akin to breathing and eating—one of the most natural and closest parts of our daily existence. While it’s easy to take these basics of life for granted, engaging in them consciously can bring amazing rewards.

If you’re temporarily unable to walk due to injury, you probably miss it and can hardly wait to heal up. If, somehow, you’ve lost or don’t have your ability to walk, you probably use and enjoy every other way(s) you have to move your body and to get around in the world. We really need to keep it moving, as much as possible and every way we can.

Before extolling the virtues of daily walks, here’s a little of my story. In my 20s and 30s, I was a running fiend and ungrateful snob about walking, which I judged as boring, un-athletic and of little health value. I’d jog at least 6 miles every day, almost never taking time off to let my body rest. At least I had the good sense to stretch first, and a sixth sense for finding dirt trails, even in cities, to somewhat minimize the pounding on my joints while maximizing getting outside into nature. I still love running, but after 20 nonstop years of wear & tear—plus martial arts, rafting rivers, playing golf, and climbing a few mountains—my back, hips and knees just said no!

When it hurt to roll over in bed, or get up in the morning, was when I was forced to quit everything. Fortunately healing happens and I got better. But it took more than a year of feeling sad on the sidelines, a lot of rest and rehab, good nutrition and bodywork—and transitioning from Runner to Walker!

I became such a full-f ledged convert that my wife laughingly calls walking my “religion.”

When I was a runner, the pavement was just too hard on my back and knees, so I had to search and drive to where I could run on a softer dirt trail.

With walking, I’ve been thrilled to just pop out the door and take off—rain, snow or shine—from home or wherever I might be in the world. Walking is refreshing, low impact, takes no special athletic skills or training—and it’s free!

You don’t need a gym, fitness trainer, or any special equipment beyond comfortable walking shoes and perhaps a pair of orthotics for proper foot support (either from a drugstore or sporting goods store, or fitted for you by a podiatrist or chiropractor).

A walk can help you cheer up or calm down. It gives you time to think and im-

proves mood, mental clarity, balance, and coordination. Walking boosts your nervous system and immune function.

It reduces body fat, firms your glutes, quads, and butt. It prevents muscle atrophy and falls, and so is important for older people and as we all age. Walking increases oxygenation, respiration and circulation. It helps with digestion and regularity and supports good sleep. It improves body awareness, self-esteem, sex drive, and overall energy. It can tone muscles that prevent miscarriages in pregnant women. The list of benefits is long and goes on!

For weight loss, the calorie-burn may not be impressive, but daily walks definitely help to control weight. Studies show that overweight people who go on regular walks do trim down, even without changing any other habits, and walkers maintain a healthy weight over time far better than their sedentary counterparts. Research is also scientifically demonstrating that 30–60 minutes of daily walking effectively: • reduces ailments from depression to osteoporosis, to incidence of the common cold, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes; • statistically lowers risk and incidence of breast, colon, liver and other cancers—even better than other types of exercise; • lowered the risk of heart disease by 82% in a 10-year study of 229 postmenopausal women who walked a mile every day, compared to a control group who didn’t; • supports brain function, activates the genes that control cognition, lowers cortisol that shrinks the hippocampus and reduces the risk of dementia.

How cool is it that the parts of the brain in charge of thinking and memory have actually been shown to be larger in people who walk and exercise regularly?!

Our mother suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for over a decade. While her decline was sad and steady, it seems like a lot of walking and love (plus the drug Aricept) helped to slow things down and keep her quality of life up. Memories of walking with Mom through the mall and around the block are many and priceless, and she remained mobile almost until her last days at age 91.

The new recommended goal for walking is 10,000 steps, or about 5 miles/8 kilometers, a day. A portion of that accumulates from simply walking around doing your day, with the rest coming from walks. It’s fun to park a little further than closer, take the stairs instead of elevators, and build up to 10,000.

Fitbits are the rage for good reason, and apps like MapMyWalk are free and work great for tracking steps and other fitness stats.

Who doesn’t need to de-stress these days? Taking leisurely walks is a wonderful way to de-pressurize from the daily rat-race and news cycles, and to re-connect with the basics of natural moving and breathing. It’s all the better if grass and trees and sky are a part of your walk.

Meditating and creative thinking often happen naturally as you walk. Conscious Walking Meditation is a beautiful Buddhist practice, for example.

Sometimes strolling with a friend is the best therapy, or listening to the birds or music you love, or just being quiet. I walk at least an hour every day and admit to loving “walk-n-talks,” where I double-purpose the time and relieve work-stress by getting phone meetings in or handling business while cruising along.

Try walking backwards every now and then. Just turn around and walk, carefully so you don’t trip or bump into anything! It makes you think and works your postur(continued on page 30) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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Take Me Home with You!

Find Your Flexibility

Easy Fitness Cinder Ernst Broccoli

“Hello there, my name is Broccoli!

Yes, you read that right—Broccoli.

And even if you’re not a big vegetable person, I bet I can win your heart. I’m a master of warming laps and there’s nothing I enjoy more than a good chin scratch. I’m just one year old and still have a lot of kitten energ y, so my ideal person would be someone who enjoys playtime as much as I do! But after a good romp around the house, I love a cuddle session and catnap.”

Broccoli 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 Broccoli.

To meet Broccoli, as well as other pets seeking their forever homes, please visit: San Francisco SPCA Mission Campus 250 Florida Street San Francisco 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!

Dr. Jennifer Scarlett and Pup

For more information: sfspca.org/adoptions/cats

During my thirty years of being a personal fitness trainer, I have noticed most people fall into three categories of flexibility. These categories are anecdotal observations coupled with my Medical Exercise Specialist training.

I am reminded of Goldilocks and the Three Bears whenever I teach this. In the simplest terms, most people are 1) overly flexible, commonly termed hyper-mobile; 2) stiff and/or tight; or 3) just right. Knowing where you fall on the scale will help you to avoid injury so that you can keep moving and have more fun.

The most hyper-mobile people are working for Cirque du Soleil. Picture the circus acrobat. The ligaments and tendons that normally stabilize the joints are not doing their job properly, so they can literally put their foot behind their ear. In more everyday folks, you might simply notice that when you straighten or lock your knees and elbows, they bow backwards. Maybe you have always been able just to flop over and touch your toes with no problem. If you sit on the f loor with your legs straight, knees locked and your heels come off the floor, you are probably hyper-mobile.

Hyper-mobile folks are more prone to injury and arthritis. I am hypermobile. Things move around easily on my skeleton. What I have noticed

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, 2018

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through the years, t ho u g h , i s w he n something goes out, it will go back too.

There are lots of selfcorrecting exercises that I have learned so I can help myself.

What I didn’t know years ago when I was an avid weight lifter was that I should never really be lifting heavy weights.

The best exercises for me are exercises that force the joints to stabilize, like standing on one leg or doing push-ups on a stability ball.

If you are hyper-mobile, be careful when you stretch. My motto is “ just because you can, doesn’t mean you ought to.” Whenever I would try yoga, I would hurt myself. I would always go too far. You have to anchor your own joints before you stretch.

That usually entails engaging your abdominal, thigh, glutes, core or shoulder blade muscles and then proceeding with your stretch. For instance, squeeze your shoulder blades back and down and keep them there before you lift your arms over your head. Or squeeze your quad muscles without bowing your knee before you stretch your hamstrings.

“Tight” folks are definitely not working in the circus. Try the “sit and reach” test. Sit on the floor with your legs straight (knees locked) in front of you and reach for your toes. If you cannot touch your toes, you are probably on the tight side of the scale. It is important that you keep your joints moving in the full range of motion.

The good news is that your joints are pretty safe if you work on normal stretching. Try a yoga class. Keep your focus on the belly or the middle of the muscle you are stretching. Find a way to build stretching into your everyday activities.

Try sitting up tall on the edge of your chair and straighten your leg, with your heel staying on the f loor. You probably feel a stretch in your calf and/or hamstring muscle. Before you lift heavy weights, always make sure that the joints involved have a full range of motion. Tight folks are prone to shoulder injuries from doing incline chest exercises and overhead pressing exercises.

I have had one client for many years who is right in the middle. Her hamstrings are a little short anatomically, but she does not injure easily. A good balance of smart strength training, stability work and stretching has kept her dancing, boxing, and hiking well into her 60s. She also takes great care of herself and gets help right away when she notices a problem.

The bottom line is that a shift in your exercise program to accommodate your degree of f lexibility will make you less prone to injury.

Cinder Ernst, Medical Exercise Specialist and Life Coach Extraordinaire, helps reluctant exercisers get moving with safe, effective and fun programs. Her book, “Easy Fitness for the Reluctant Exerciser” (cinderernst.com/easy-fitness-book/), is available in paperback and eBook.

She specializes in fitness and rehab for plus-size clients, but her stressfree approach is suitable for all. Find out more at cinderernst.com

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BAY TIMES S

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2018)

COMING UP

Compiled by Blake Dillon

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS sfbaytimes.com

22 : Thursday

23: Friday

21st Annual Sonoma International Film Festival @ Multiple locations. The Festival continues through March 25 with more than 100 films and culinary extravaganzas. sonomafilmfest.org

Marga Gomez’s Latin Standards @ Brava Theater Center, 2781 24th Street. Gomez brings her twelfth and final solo show back to Brava for nine performances through April 1. Fridays & Saturdays, 8pm; Sundays, 7pm. brava.org

Castro Merchants Members Mixer @ Spark Arts, 4229 18th Street. Members and friends are invited to the organization’s first quarterly mixer for networking with local business owners, managers and staff. 6–8pm.

NightLife Spotlight @ California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, 55 Music Concourse Drive. “Robot NightLife” is the theme for an evening saluting all things robotic. Misty Robotics, Otherlab, PureRockets and Bot Bash experts will be on hand with demos.

Music and a variety of food and beverage options will be available.

6–10pm. calacademy.org

Stephanie Teel Band @ Redwood Cafe, 8240 Old Redwood Hwy, Cotati. The popular band leader and her mates will present a rocking dance party in celebration of Sonoma Pride. 8-11pm. stephanieteel.com

24: Saturday March for Our Lives - Taking Action on Gun Control @ More than 800 locations will host a march in response to the recent Parkland, Florida, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Events are planned in San Francisco, Oakland, Alameda, Pacifica and more Bay Area

locations. For a list of cities and details, visit marchforourlives.com Sinister Wisdom Presents: Sister Love Book Launch @ Laurel Bookstore, 1423 Broadway, Oakland. Sinister Wisdom will host a program of invited readers presenting Sister Love: The Letters of Audre Lord and Pat Parker (1974–1989).

Discussion and Q&A will be included. 7pm. laurelbookstore.com X-Factor’s Jason Brock Goes Gospel: “Recovering Christian” @ Martuni’s Piano Bar, 4 Valencia Street. With Dr. Dee Spencer on the piano, Brock will sing and talk about how Christianity and Christian music affected his life. 7pm.

Also on March 25 and 31. 7pm. jasonbrockvocals.com

25: Sunday Book Talk & Signing with Marie Cartier @ Laurel Bookstore, 1423 Broadway, Oakland. Bay Area Lesbian Archives will host the author of Baby You Are My Religion: Women, Gay Bars and Theology Before Stonewall. 3pm. laurelbookstore.com Cris Williamson, Barbara Higbie, Teresa Trull: The Reunion Tour @ Freight and Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley. The “power trio” of women’s music has teamed up to present a memorable program of iconic songs. 7pm. thefreight.org

26: Monday Photosynthesis: Love for All Seasons @ San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, 100 JF Kennedy Drive. The series of artistic illuminations are presented nightly through Spring. Sundown to midnight. conservatoryofflowers.org

27: Tuesday Women’s History Celebration @ Sebastopol Grange. 600 Sebastopol Avenue, Hwy 12, Sebastopol. The event includes a meeting, potluck, screening of two films (Women’s March and video concerning the local One Billion Rising Flash Mob) and discussion led

by Rock the Congress’ Linda Herman. 6pm/potluck & 7pm/screening. sebastopolgrange.org

28: Wednesday

Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers with Councilwoman Sophie Hahn @North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst, Berkeley. Honoring Women’s History Month, the group will welcome newly elected Berkeley City Councilwoman Sophie Hahn who will speak on “how far we have left to go in politics” 1:30pm. graypanthersberk@aol.com Castro Farmers’ Market @ 16th and Beaver Streets. The Castro neighborhood’s Farmers Market has 28

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begun a new season with fresh veggies, fruits, crafts and artisan-made goodies. 4–8pm. Castro Farmers Market on Facebook Poetry Reading in Celebration of Muni Art 2018: Charif Shanahan @ SF Public Library North Beach Branch, 850 Columbus Avenue. In celebration of Muni Art 2018, poet and award-winning author Charif Shanahan will present a reading co-sponsored by the SF Public Library, San Francisco Beautiful, SF Municipal Transportation Agency and the Poetry Society of America. 6:30–8pm. poetrysociety.org

SAVE THESE DATES SUNDAY, APRIL 8

Openhouse Spring Fling SATURDAY, APRIL 15

LGBT Community Center Soiree FRIDAY, APRIL 20

Donna Sachet’s Songs for No Reason

Perfectly Queer East Bay Reading “Lesbian Romance Novels” @ Laurel Bookstore, 1423 Broadway, Oakland. Four authors reading from new books.

7–8pm. laurelbookstore.com

SATURDAY, APRIL 21

29: Thursday

FRIDAY, MAY 11

GGBA East Bay Make Contact @ Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union, 2001 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley. An evening of networking in the East Bay hosted by the world’s first LGBT Chamber of Commerce. 6–8pm. ggba.com Glori Simmons: Author of Carry You @ Laurel Bookstore, 1423 Broadway, Oakland. The award-winning author, who has taught throughout the Bay Area and is now the director of the Thacher Gallery at USF will present her new book. 7pm. laurelbookstore.com NightLife Spotlight @ California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, 55 Music Concourse Drive. “Women’s History Month” is the theme for the evening as the Academy’s ongoing Thursday NightLife series turns its focus to women in the sciences. Speakers will include women from the Academy’s staff and other Bay Area institutions delivering a crash course on topics from a dozen scientific fields.

Plus music and a variety of food and beverage options are available including special cocktails. 6–10pm. calacademy.org San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus: Bridges @ Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Avenue. Dr. Tim Seelig and the Chorus will present music from the historic Lavender Pen Tour with special guests Hollly Near and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir.

8pm. sfgmc.org

30: Friday Good Friday - Dr. King and the Cloud Protest and Worship @ Livermore Nuclear Weapons Laboratory. Participants will gather at Vasco and Patterson Pass Roads in Livermore for a procession to the gate, music, dance and nonviolent acts of witness. 6:30am. epicalc.org Julie Goldman @ The Laugh Cellar, 5755 Mountain Hawk Drive, Santa Rosa. The Los Angeles-based lesbian comedian, along with comedian

APIOWTC Annual Lunar New Year Banquet SUNDAY, MAY 6

Maitri’s BLISS Our Family Coalition Gala SATURDAY, MAY 19

NCLR Anniversary Celebration SATURDAY, JUNE 23

Pride Brunch SUNDAY, JUNE 24

SF Pride Parade SUNDAY, JULY 15

AIDS Walk AUGUST 2-5

Lazy Bear Weekend SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6

Horizons Annual Gala SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7

Castro Street Fair FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12

Mighty Real Gala Belinda Carroll, will present an evening of laughter in Santa Rosa. 7pm. crushersofcomedy.com/box-office. html An Evening with Chelsea Manning @ Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness. The CIIS Public Programs presents the event with Manning speaking on artificial intelligence, consciousness and trans identity.

7:30pm. cityboxoffice.com HRC-SF March Happy Hour @ Lookout, 3600 16th Street.

Lookout hosts a monthly happy hour where $2 of drink costs goes to support HRC. 6:30–8:30pm. lookoutsf.com

31: Saturday San Francisco Bay Chapter Gay & Lesbian Sierrans - Tennessee Valley Loop @ Meet at End of Tennessee Valley Road, Mill Valley. Check out this group’s array of offerings varying from beginner to intermediate to advanced. glshikes.org

Rhonda Benin’s “Just Like A Woman” @ Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley. Join the host, Oakland’s own Rhonda Benin, who will be joined by Holly Near, Linda Tillery, Tammy Hall and more talented women for an outstanding evening. 8pm. thefreight.org

APRIL

1: Sunday Easter with the Sisters! 39th Anniversary, Hunky Jesus and More! @ Hellman Hollow, Golden Gate Park, 800 John F. Kennedy Drive. The fun will begin at 10am with the Children’s Easter Egg Hunt, followed by the Easter Bonnet Contest at 12:30pm and the Foxy Mary and Hunky Jesus Contests at 3pm. thesisters.org Mt. Tam Views and Redwoods @ Designated meeting points. A walking tour of the south face of Mt. Tam with amazing views and a stop at the historic West Point Inn for refreshments. Ramblers Hiking Tours offers a full schedule of outings that will get you moving every day of the week except Wednesdays. 9:30am– 3:30pm. sf-redwoodramblers.com Recording Artist Christina LaRocca @ Hotel Utah, 500 4th Street. Having recently completed 14 original compositions for an audio version of Chelsea Clinton’s book for children, La Rocca will appear with artists EllaHarp, David Pollack and Garth. 8pm. hotelutah.com

2: Monday 40 Plus Men’s Group @ Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, 3207 Lakeshore Avenue, Oakland.

A new monthly (1st Monday) multiethnic support group for men 40 and over. 7–8:30pm. oaklandlgbtqcenter.org Madam President: An Open Letter to the Women Who Will Run the World @ The Commonwealth Club, 110 The Embarcadero. Political operative Jennifer Palmieri, a veteran of both the Obama and Clinton administrations, will discuss the path to a female presidency that is yet to be clearly drawn. 6:30–7:45pm. commonwealthclub.org Mister Sister Mondays @ Midnight Sun, 4067 18th Street.

Rupaul’s Drag Race RUviewing Party.

9pm–2am. midnightsunsf.com

3: Tuesday Castro Rotary Club @ The Sausage Factory, 517 Castro Street. Join LGBT Rotarians on 1st and 3rd Tuesdays to learn about current projects and volunteer opportunities. 6:30– 8pm. portal.clubrunner.ca/13807

4: Wednesday Jenn Polish: Author of Lunav @ Laurel Bookstore, 1423 Broadway, Oakland. Polish will present her debut novel, a lesbian faerie tale with dragons that grow on trees.

6:30pm. laurelbookstore.com Tapata Trivia Round UP! @ Wild Side West, 424 Courtland Avenue. Kit Tapata hosts the weeklyon-Wednesdays trivia competition mixed with music and live improv at the popular Bernal Heights location.

7–9pm. tapatatwins.com “My Other Mum”: Was Phoebe Hearst California’s First “Fag Hag”? @ GLBT History Museum, 4127 18th Street.

Art historian and scholar Ladislav Zikmund-Lender will present an illustrated talk addressing the question of Phoebe Hearst’s awareness of her friend Orrin Peck’s sexuality and if so, the role that might have played in their friendship. 7–9pm. glbthsitory.org

Check Out the New Personals Section for LGBTQ Singles: BayTimesDating.com S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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NEWS (continued from page 5) The Late Stephen Hawking Supported Gay Rights Visionary physicist Stephen Hawking died on March 14 in his home in Cambridge at the age of 76. He is known for his best-selling book, A Brief History of Time, and for his studies on quantum mechanics, general relativity, and black holes. But he is also recognized for his liberal stances, including signing a letter asking the British government to pardon gay mathematician Alan Turing. In 1952, Turing had been found guilty of homosexuality and was punished with chemical castration and committed suicide shortly after that. He wrote to the government, saying, “We urge the Prime Minister formally to forgive this British hero, to whom we owe so much as a nation, and whose pioneering contribution to computer sciences remains relevant even today. It is time his reputation was unblemished.” lgbtqnation.com Senate Committee Approves Bill to Extend Alcohol Sales to 4 AM On March 13, the Senate Governmental Organization Committee approved Senator Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) bill to allow—but not require— cities to extend sales of alcohol at bars, nightclubs, and restaurants (but not liquor stores) to as late as 4 am. The bill now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee. The new 5-year pilot program version of the LOCAL Act, which stands for Let Our Communities Adjust Late-Night, preserves complete local control in terms of decision-making and applies only to the six cities whose Mayors have expressed interest in pursuing later hours: San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Sacramento, West Hollywood, and Long Beach. “Nightlife is vital to many of our cities throughout California, and we need to do more to let these cities find ways to promote and support nightlife,” said Senator Wiener. “This bill gives cities the ability to extend hours wherever and however it works best for them, whether that’s in limited neighborhoods, certain nights a week, or only on a few nights a year. By taking this nuanced approach to empower—but not require—local communities to extend alcohol sales hours, we can support nightlife in California.” sen.ca.gov California at Forefront of Supporting Intersex Infants and Families Senator Scott Wiener also recently announced the introduction of a resolution that would put California at the forefront in supporting intersex individuals and their families. Senate Concurrent Resolution 110 calls on the medical community to stop performing nonconsensual and

LEWIS (continued from page 7) often irreparably harmful sex assignment and genital “normalization” surgeries on intersex infants at birth. Instead, Senator Wiener and others hold that “medically unnecessary surgery” should be delayed until the intersex individual can decide for themselves whether to pursue surgery at all, at an age when informed consent is possible. SCR 110 is sponsored

by Equality California and interACT, an organization that advocates for the human rights of children born with intersex traits. In conjunction with the resolution, Senator Wiener’s office hosted a briefing with interACT in the capitol titled “Unnecessary Intersex Infant Sex Assignment Surgeries.” Approximately one in every two thousand individuals is born intersex, meaning that their genitals do not appear typically male or female. A much larger number are born with intersex features that go unnoticed, such as internal testicles. Although intersex infants occasionally require immediate medical attention, the vast majority are born perfectly healthy and are able to live rich, fulfilling lives without any modification to their genitals. sen.ca.gov San Francisco and Amsterdam Set Goals Concerning HIV/AIDS San Francisco and Amsterdam are members of the Fast-Track cities, a global partnership between the City of Paris, International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, and the United Nations Human Settlements Program in collaboration with local, national, regional, and international partners and stakeholders. The goal of most members is to attain 90-90-90 targets, referring to ensuring that at least 90% of HIV+ people know their status, access to treatment is improved by 90%, and that 90% of patients already on treatment have an undetectable viral load. San Francisco and Amsterdam have set an even higher goal of 100% for each of those targets.

Supervisor Jeff Sheehy of San Francisco and Deputy Mayor Eric van der Burg of Amsterdam urged other cities to join them in their aim of “getting to zero.” “I am proud to participate in this historic announcement of the 100-100-100 goals

by San Francisco and Amsterdam,” said Supervisor Sheehy. “These goals ensure that everyone who is HIV positive will know their status and be successfully treated. Realizing these new targets will guarantee better health and longer lives for people living with HIV.” The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has confirmed that people with HIV whose virus is reduced to undetectable levels in their blood are unable to transmit to partners.

“Attaining our 100-100-100 aims will also significantly advance our joint objective of zero new infections,” he added. sfgov.org

My cousin Jack survived the war and returned home, but he witnessed so much carnage in Vietnam that, for the rest of his life, he could not bear to witness any living being, including a small animal, suffering in physical pain. In the early 1980s, I worked with Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees from the war and listened to numerous survivors tell of the violent deaths of their loved ones at the hands of guns and other weapons.

Of course, gun violence has destroyed countless lives on American soil as well. Varnado Simpson, who admitted to murdering Vietnamese civilians at My Lai, including a 2-year-old child, returned home to Jackson, Mississippi, after the war. In 1977, Simpson’s own 10-year-old son was killed in random gun violence while he was playing outside of his house. Simpson recalled, “He died in my arms. And when I looked at him, his face was like the same face of the child that I had killed.” Simpson shot himself to death 20 years later after suffering for years with PTSD. In my most recent personal connection to gun violence, a neighbor who lives a block and a half from us in San Francisco was shot in front of his house in the middle of the afternoon three weeks ago in a drive-by shooting.

It doesn’t have to be this way. In 2014, a total of 33,599 Americans died in gun violence. In Japan, the total for the entire year was just six. In the U.S., there are an estimated 101 guns per 100 residents; in Japan, the number is 0.6.

Hugh Thompson and his crew were initially vilified for their efforts to stop the mass murder at My Lai 50 years ago. It took 30 years for the American military to give Thompson and his crew (one posthumously) appropriate credit for their leadership in stopping the killing. Thompson later counseled, “Don’t do the right thing looking for a reward, because it might not come.”

Today, high school students are on the forefront of a movement to end gun violence. Like Thompson, they are doing the right thing, not for a reward, but to save lives. We look forward to joining them at the March 24 “March for Our Lives” and beyond.

John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, together for over three decades, were plaintiffs in the California case for equal marriage rights decided by the California Supreme Court in 2008. Their leadership in the grassroots organization Marriage Equality USA contributed in 2015 to making same-sex marriage legal nationwide.

LENO (continued from page 25) al and movement muscles opposite from their usual, which expands function and resilience both physically and mentally. Walking backwards downhill gives a great stretch to your Achilles and adds interesting sensations and views! Something really fun, and challenging, is to converse face-to-face with a friend as one of you walks forward while the other is stepping back.

strider.com). It was amazing to introduce the poles to my 90-something Dad, and a group of seniors in Balance Class. Most were on walkers, which was causing slumping and shuffling, while the poles instantly engaged their postural and walking muscles and seemed to remind their brains and bodies how to stand and walk naturally again.

There are many ways to turn walking into a more strenuous workout if you want, which also adds variety and costs little to nothing. Here’s a good list of ideas:

Walking itself is a weight-bearing and balance-inducing activity, building bone and muscle. It’s also lungsand heart-healthy, yielding mild to sweaty aerobic exercise. Just 5–10 minutes of walking warms me up, and I enjoy the challenges of hills and cool windy weather as much as the pleasures of easy strolls. After being used to intense sports and workouts, I’m constantly surprised and grateful to see how relatively mild walks and exercises keep me in fine shape. Many walkers attest to having better post-surgical and injury recoveries, thanks to having maintained a regular level of physical fitness—and being ready and willing to embark on rehab regimens when necessary.

• Walk at a brisk pace or do the power-walking thing.

• Mix up your pace with intervals (e.g. interspersing 1–3 minutes speed or power walking with a more regular or leisurely pace). Use your phone or count steps to track each interval.

• Add weights to your belt or ankles, or hold in your hands. Wear a backpack with weight inside.

• Add exercises along your way. For example, raise and lower your arms (as in jumping jacks) as you walk.

Do occasional series of long deep-lunging steps. Do 5–10 series of 10 high knee-raise steps. Clasp your hands behind your back, pulling your shoulders up and back, walking with your upper chest open, abdominals firm, and breathing deeply. Add clapping your hands together behind your back as you move along.

• Mix up the terrain, including hills and elevation changes in your route.

• Walk with a buddy, each taking turns setting the pace and changing things up with intervals, exercises, hills, etc.

• Try “Total Body Nordic Walking”: Use walking poles to add an upper-body and cardio workout. The poles also reduce pressure and wear & tear on your ankles, back, neck, knees and hips. (The gear is available at Dick’s or other sporting goods stores, or Exer-

While I’ll always prefer a lovely trail in a park or the countryside, and I always pay attention to the safety factor of where I’m walking, it’s fantastically freeing to have a form of exercise that isn’t dependent on special equipment, places, or affordability. All you need is your own willingness, or your dog or a friend’s dog who has to go out a couple times every day and will leap for joy for their W-A-L-K even when you’re not. It’s really not hard to get hooked on fresh air and some daily time to yourself in the great outdoors. It’s free and keeps you looking good, feeling good, and living longer.

Walking is a simple, but great, and profound pleasure.

Eat, pray, love. Bike, swim, run. Use it or lose it. And walk, walk, walk!

Jamie Leno Zimron is a Corporate Speaker, Executive Trainer, LPGA Golf Pro, and 6th Degree Aikido Black Belt. Check out her website: thekiaiway.com

KIT’N KITTY’S

QUEER POP QUIZ ANSWER (Question on pg 21) B) Two-Spirit

Native American tribal societies traditionally acknowledged three to five gender roles: Female, Male, Two Spirit Female, Two Spirit Male and Transgendered. Of all of the life ways such societies held, one of the first that the Europeans targeted for elimination was the Two Spirit tradition among Native American cultures. It continued on, however, and is celebrated each year at the Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits Powwow.

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FISCHER (continued from page 7)

ROSTOW (continued from page 12)

and polarized the nation. The event was considered the seminal moment in the battle for school desegregation.

was given permission to intervene as a coplaintiff during the appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

In 1965, Mary Beth Tinker, a 13-year-old junior high school student in Des Moines, Iowa, organized a group of friends to wear black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War. The students were told that they could not attend school until they removed their armbands. They protested by wearing black clothing for the remainder of the school year. With representation by the ACLU, the families fought a four-year court battle that resulted in the landmark Supreme Court decision Tinker v. Des Moines. In 1969 the Court ruled that students in public schools do have First Amendment rights and do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

The current protests can make a difference. The passion of the students of Parkland has already spread to a national level and created conversations about gun control and student safety. The pressure to force congress to introduce gun reform laws has garnered substantial media attention and can no longer be ignored.

It is only fitting that the following quote was penned by the namesake of the school itself: “Be a nuisance when it counts. Do your part to inform and stimulate the public to join your action. Be depressed, discouraged, and disappointed at failure and the disheartening effects of ignorance, greed, corruption and bad politics—but never give up.”

Marjory Stoneman Douglas Take Part in the ‘March for Our Lives’ Movement The actions of March 14 were part of a greater movement spurred by survivors of the Parkland shooting.

On Saturday, March 24, a larger demonstration will be held in Washington, D.C. For more information, see the main website (https://marchforourlives.com/).

If you can’t get to Washington, consider attending a local march in the Bay Area. Oakland will start us off at 10 am at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, followed by San Francisco’s rally and march starting at 1 pm at Civic Center Plaza. Come out and walk for change so that no one should ever have to run for their lives from another mass shooting event ever again.

Do any of you think Sharon Gustafson, or either of Trump’s two EEOC nominees, are likely to take it upon themselves to file suit on behalf of a transgender employee? Correct answer: No. In this case, which could well be petitioned to the Supreme Court, the funeral home tried to wave the flag of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

(I like to pronounce it Scooby Doo-style.

“Ruhf Roooow!”) You may remember that our friends at Hobby Lobby relied on the Ruhf Rooow! in their unfortunate High Court victory over the Obama Administration, successfully arguing that the U.S. government had overstepped in forcing an organization owned by people of faith to facilitate access to contraception.

Here, the unanimous three-judge panel ruled first, that transgender discrimination is not simply impermissible gender stereotyping, but it is also inherently a form of sex discrimination—and ergo illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. As for the RFRA (Ruhf Rooow!) it does not protect a religious actor against a law that is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest. Title VII’s civil rights guarantee is not only compelling, said the court, but it is also precise.

In the Hobby Lobby case, Justice Alito ruled that the Obama Administration had made an exception for religious employers and should grant the same exception to closely held companies with religious owners. But there’s no special version of Title VII for religious people who own companies.

Keep Your Clothes On, Pal

Louise “Lou” Fischer is the Immediate Past CoChair of the Board of Directors for the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club and has served as an appointed and elected Delegate for the State Democratic Party. She is a San Francisco Commissioner and has served in leadership positions in multiple non-profit and community-based organizations.

My attention was just caught by a link to Towleroad, that read: “19-Year-Old Gay City Councilman’s Nude Grindr Photos Mailed to City Hall in Shaming Attempt: WATCH.” Turns out our young politician, Cross Coburn, a councilman in Groves, Texas, has a profile on Grindr and has been grinding around for dates. Nothing wrong with that, except when your nude selfies and penis shots are sent to the local press, along

SHORTER (continued from page 6)

SISTER DANA (continued from page 22)

In addition to, and as an intrinsic implication of, the powerful NRA lobby, this long-time, deeply rooted variable is a critical barrier that has so far disallowed for the replication or adoption of sensible gun control policies referenced from other countries. Few, if any, countries exist that were formed without similar racial or ethnic strife, and a history of oppression. Still—no matter the constitutional, governance, and other structural differences—proposals to adopt gun policies from European, Scandinavian, and Asian countries that are historically and remain largely culturally and racially homogeneous are circumvented and road-blocked by the challenges and remnants of American racial injustice and severe race-based policies.

Paisha Rochlin, Vincent Escareno, Cass Alecs Leung, Jacqui Ray, Brett Vanhorn, Grasson, Star Mott, Jim Knosp, Michael Fasanella, and curator Thomasina DeMaio. Entertainment will be provided by Tribal Baroque, Penny McClish, and Kitten on the Keys. It’s a delightful evening of art and performance and friends who love that!

So, perhaps this isn’t the time to have an unabashedly, northern liberal voice such as Michael Moore’s at the forefront of today’s gun control movement.

Possibly one of the reasons the youth-led #NeverAgain movement has gained the traction it has is because it is being powered by diverse youth from a southern state.

As new generation southerners appearing to reject old notions of gun culture as synonymous with deep south culture, maybe just maybe they can either directly or indirectly, intentionally or not, help to further break through a paralyzing existential societal ill that prevents both sensible gun control measures and transcend underpinning racial fears that hold us back from moving forward as a truly civil society.

Actually, I think they are already doing just that and more.

See y’all on March 24.

Andrea Shorter is President of the historic San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women. She is a longtime advocate for criminal and juvenile justice reform, voter rights, and marriage equality. A Cofounder of the Bayard Rustin LGBT Coalition, she was a 2009 David Bohnett LGBT Leadership Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

THE SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE once again are throwing a big Easter party in Golden Gate Park on April first (April Fools’ Day), entitled SACRED JESTERS, WISE FOOLS. It’s our annual 39th Anniversary celebration in Hellman Hollow area. The day kicks off with the family-friendly Children’s Easter (which includes an egg hunt, games, and face painting for the little ones) from 10 am to 12 noon; followed by the main event from 12 noon to 4 pm. Starting at noon, the PG-13 fun begins with the Easter Bonnet Contest, followed by some amazing performances, live music acts, drag shows, nun vows, saintings, and grants, and everyone’s favorite Easter traditions in San Francisco: the Foxy Mary and the Hunky Jesus contests emceed by Sister Roma and Sister Dana! Appearances and performances will be by Kat Robichaud (The Voice); Honey Mahogany; Carlotta Sue Kay; Rachel Lark; Gooferman; Juanita More!; The SF Imperial, Krewe de Kinque and Ducal Courts; Breanna Sinclaire; Tribal Baroque; Sugah Betes; The Monster Show; Electric Spectrum Circus; and many more!

Bring your blanket, picnic supplies, and join us for a wonderful afternoon of irreverence and fun.

GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY is now promoting ILLUMINATING ARTIFACTS, a 33-day crowd-funding cam-

with your sexty messages about how horny you are.

The gay press might call that a “shaming attempt,” but I call it par for the course if you make yourself a public figure, if you run for office, and if you ask to represent people on a city council. It’s a nasty thing to do to the average man about the town. But if you want to be a politician, you simply have to keep your junk out of cyberspace. You can’t have it both ways.

The photos were sent anonymously, with a note that said: “Is this in any way proper behavior of a councilman to represent himself online or a ‘dating’ app? I felt the city council should be made aware of the situation.”

You know what? If this anonymous citizen had taken secret pictures or stalked Mr. Coburn, or followed him into the bars with an iPhone, that would be one thing. But Coburn posted these images in what everyone must admit today is a public space. Is that any way a councilman should represent himself online? Actually, no.

Kate!

Finally, Kate Kendell, head of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, just announced she will leave the organization at the end of the year after more than two decades of leadership. Oh, my. (See the related story on page 10.)

I’m not sad. It’s like the tennis champion waving to the crowd after her 22nd grand slam title. The four-term senator stepping down to write novels or travel the world.

The Fortune 50 CEO turning over the reins after tripling the stock price and quadrupling revenues. Kate, we were lucky to have you as long as we did, and most importantly—when we did.

After a couple of years as Legal Director, Kendell became Executive Director of NCLR in 1996, just in time to help our community make the shift from defense to offense.

Remember that back then, over two dozen states still considered us criminals; indeed, the Supreme Court had upheld the right to criminalize gay unions just ten years earlier.

We had been fighting an epidemic for years.

paign launched at their 33rd anniversary celebration on March 16 to preserve the GLBT Historical Society’s Art & Artifacts Collection. Sometimes poignant, often naughty, and always emblematic of the diversity of the queer community, these materials need to be properly documented, stored and displayed. From Gilbert Baker’s rhinestone tambourines to Sylvester’s glove collection, from Phyllis Abry Kaplan’s World War II scrapbooks to leatherclad teddy bears, the Art & Artifacts Collection contains thousands of banners, pins, buttons, costumes, sculptures, paintings, t-shirts, historic business signs, theatrical props, and everything in between. You can donate in any amount. Share this link everywhere: glbthistory.org/artifacts JASON BROCK (X-Factor finalist) returns to Martuni’s, 4 Valencia Street, in a solo show! This time singing gospel/Christian songs that he loves (but finds conflict with since he is no longer a Christian himself). Between songs, he’ll tell stories about how Christianity and Christian music affected his life (including his fundamentalist Christian mother who rejects him because he’s gay and bases it on her religion). It’s going to be fun, funny, touching, and will warm your heart (and body if you’re drinking). SFSU Jazz Department Founder and esteemed composer/performer, Dee Spencer, will be on the piano. Saturday, March 24, 7 pm; Sunday, March 25, 7 pm; Saturday, March 31, 7 pm. jasonbrockvocals.com THE SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS (SFGMC) under the leadership of Dr. Timothy Seelig, Artistic Director, and Christopher Verdugo, Executive Director, continues Season 40 with BRIDGES, a one-night-only homecom-

Our relationships were extra-legal and vulnerable to a wide range of tragic turns: we were denied hospital visitation, kicked out of our homes when a partner died, separated from our children by a hostile ex. We were forced into the closet by a pervasive shroud of antigay sentiment that still hung over much of the country. We were on defense.

Not only were we on defense, but it suited us. Many of our allies saw us as a mistreated minority, deserving of a hand up, a little fair play. During the 1996 fight against the Defense of Marriage Act, the Human Rights Campaign’s Elizabeth Birch told lawmakers that gay people didn’t even want marriage rights; and we just wanted to be treated fairly, we wanted to be free from discrimination. The ban on same-sex marriage, she argued, was a solution to a problem that didn’t exist.

Readers, I can’t tell you how infuriating it was to see our national spokespeople sidestep the question of whether gay people deserved marriage equality. Yes, it was politically dicey at that time. But that’s exactly when you need courage, diplomacy, leadership, talent and grace. We didn’t have that at the HRC, but we had that in San Francisco when Kate Kendell took charge. Kendell helped to lead us through some of our darkest days, the days when we lost something like 32 antigay state ballot measures in a row. She never played the victim card.

She and the effective organization she built worked strategically, cooperatively, pragmatically and relentlessly—always with their eyes on the prize.

Finally, what I really admire is that while she was busy saving the world for GLBT rights, Kate Kendell managed to create a major organization. I remember the little wine and cheese fundraiser I attended at the NCLR offices in the pre-Kendell 1990s. A couple dozen women milling about. Someone taking checks, someone saying a few words. I don’t have to tell San Francisco Bay Times readers what the NCLR has since become. A powerhouse of integrity and purpose.

Good luck to whomever takes over. arostow@aol.com

ing concert centered around music’s ability to move hearts and minds and catalyze momentous change. Presented by the John C. Kish Foundation, “Bridges” will take place at Davies Symphony Hall (201 Van Ness Avenue) on Thursday, March 29, at 8 pm.

Tickets range in price from $25–$125 and are available by calling City Box Office at 415-392-4400 or visiting sfgmc.org Sister Dana sez, “Shortly after firing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for speaking out against Vladimir Putin, DarnOld Trump nominated CIA chief Mike Pompeo for the nation’s top diplomatic post. Pompeo is a xenophobic, pro-torture, climate changedenying war hawk. If the Senate confirms him, it will be disastrous and undermine progress on multiple continents for years!”

Sister Dana also sez, “On top of that, Andrew McCabe, Deputy Director of the FBI, was vindictively fired just 26 hours before his retirement by Trump. As McCabe put it: ‘This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally. It is part of this Administration’s ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel’s work.’ Can I get an AMEN?!”

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

M ARC H 22, 2018

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