San Francisco Bay Times - August 8, 2019

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2019)

Celebrating the

August 8–21, 2019 | http://sfbaytimes.com

Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation

Silver Anniversary

ONE NIGHT ONLY

KEN HENDERSON AND JOE SEILER

HELP IS ON THE WAY FOR THE HOLIDAYS 15

See Pages 15–17

HELP IS ON THE WAY 22

From City Hall Mayor Breed Proposes New SAFE Navigation Center in the Bayview Mayor London Breed, along with Supervisor Shamann Walton, on July 29 proposed building a new SAFE (Shelter and Access for Everyone) Navigation Center in the Bayview to serve people experiencing homelessness. The proposed SAFE Navigation Center is part of her efforts to open 1,000 new shelter beds by the end of 2020. San Francisco District 10, which includes the Bayview, has an especially urgent need for additional shelter beds. The 2019 Point-in-Time Count found 1,889 people experiencing homelessness in District 10, and only 455 emergency shelter beds.

The SAFE Navigation Center would provide approximately 200 beds for people experiencing homelessness and would include dormitories, offices and community space, along with laundry facilities, and medical and social services. The Center would replace the 125 overnight mats currently offered at Providence Church with beds, and would add 75 new beds.

“We have to continue to move quickly to build more shelters and housing throughout our City because there are too many people suffering on our streets,” Mayor Breed said.

“We especially need more shelters in neighborhoods like the Bayview where there aren’t currently enough resources to serve the people who need them. This SAFE Navigation Center will be a place where people can get the help they need to exit homelessness.”

Community Health Status Assessment data concerning the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood reveals that HIV/AIDS is one of the top causes of premature male death, with violence/assault and drug use disorders also being on the list. Homeless individuals can

be more susceptible to HIV/AIDS and other health problems, as well as becoming victims of crime, given their inherent lack of resources and protection, along with other factors.

As San Francisco Bay Times columnist Andrea Shorter reports in this issue, LGBTQ youth make up about half of the unsheltered youth population in San Francisco.

In terms of the proposed new navigation center, an advisory committee consisting of local residents, merchants, faith leaders and advocates is working with the City on the project.

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) is conducting at least two related public community meetings this month.

These will take place from 6–7:30 pm on Thursday, August 8, at 4301 3rd Street, and from 6–7:30 pm on Monday, August 19, at the Southeast Community Facility, located at 1800 Oakdale Avenue.

Zoning Changes Approved to Address Vacant Storefronts in Upper Market The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on July 30 unanimously passed an ordinance changing zoning along Market Street between Castro Street and Van Ness Avenue to make restaurants, arts activities and some nonprofit types principally permitted on ground floors.

The legislation, authored by District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, responded to concerns from residents and businesses about the growing number of storefront vacancies and a report from the city’s Budget and Legislative Analyst that showed the trend worsening.

“In a neighborhood struggling with vacancies, the city ought to be doing everything we can to attract busi-

nesses and help them to open as quickly as possible, and that is what we are hoping to achieve with this legislation,” said Mandelman, who represents the Castro on the Board of Supervisors. “This legislation envisions an Upper Market where new and delicious restaurants can serve local residents and draw visitors from around the city and the world; where nonprofits that have been priced out of their downtown office space can find a home and where local artists will fill galleries with their photography, paintings and ceramics.”

In March, a report by the Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Legislative Analyst found that between 2015 and 2017 vacancies in Upper Market increased from 8.5 to 12.9 percent, most of which were found on Market Street between Dolores and Castro.

The report suggested that among the reasons for Upper Market’s vacancies are the more restrictive Conditional Use requirements in effect there and not in other commercial corridors including nearby Valencia Street and Hayes Valley. According to the report, in Upper Market it took an average of 332 days from submission for an applicant to secure a Conditional Use authorization.

When combined with other permitting requirements, the entire process could take years.

“It shouldn’t take years to open a small business in San Francisco and I’ve heard from many current or aspiring small business owners whose aspirations of opening or expanding in Upper Market were deeply complicated by a nearly impossible set of regulatory hurdles,” Mandelman said. “The legislation won’t be a silver bullet for all of Upper Market’s vacancy concerns but it’s a meaningful attempt to help small businesses succeed in a neighborhood where we desperately need them to succeed.”

SAN FRANCISCO LGBT CENTER

Open House: Host Homes for LGBTQ Homeless Young Adults

Cross Currents Andrea Shorter As the still-too-early-to-tell Democratic presidential primary race heats up into a slug fest going into the third set of debates (September 12 and 13 in Houston), and low polling candidates begin to slough off the crowded debate stage while public and congressional sentiments to commence impeachment proceedings against the worst president in U.S. history begin to edge towards the “yes, please” column, let’s take a bit of a break. As they say, “We’ll resume our regularly scheduled programming after this short break.”

During this break, I want to introduce an idea and opportunity that could do some real good for some real people real soon, and for many, frankly not soon enough.

Homelessness in San Francisco has been roundly established as an overwhelming crisis and top priority 4

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urgency to be addressed by all residents. Recent point-in-time counts suggests that the homeless population has increased by nearly 2,000 more people over the last two years, bringing the estimate to nearly 10,000 homeless residents today. Of those homeless, approximately 20 percent are people under age 25. And of those young adults between 18–24 experiencing homelessness, at least half them identify as LGBTQ. As the SF LGBT Center noted: “Here in San Francisco, LGBTQ youth make up about half of the unsheltered youth population. This includes youth who are on the street or in shelters each night. Factors that contribute to youth being unsheltered include family rejection, conflict, poverty and abuse. Lack of community support can further drive homeless LGBTQ youth to migrate to San Francisco.”

Among the variety of efforts to provide shelter, housing and other much needed services to assist LGBTQ identified homeless young people provided by other organizations such as Larkin Street Youth Services in the Tenderloin and Haight Ashbury,

an innovative model and opportunity to engage concerned citizens has emerged: host homes.

Host homes is a model that has existed in San Francisco for several years, but has been grossly underutilized to assist LGBTQ identified youth. Cities including Minneapolis, Baltimore, Louisville, Seattle, Rochester, San Jose, Santa Cruz and others have led the way towards implementing a successful community response to youth homelessness.

A Call to Action Concerning Host Homes Host homes is a program for unsheltered LGBTQ 18–24 aged young adults placed within a community-based member’s residence for a period of three months to one year.

During this stay in a host’s home, youth receive wrap around and case management services.

Months prior to former Mayor Ed Lee’s untimely death, I had the honor of assisting him, the Mayor’s Office of Transgender Initiatives and other community leaders and service providers by marshaling the coordi(continued on page 28)

New Mantra: It’s Still Not OK not write this on behalf of any group or in any position I might hold. I simply write this from my heart and from my own viewpoint and experience as being one of those “other” folks.

The generally accepted definition of mass shooting is “any incident in which a person kills four or more random people.” CBS News says 2019 will be the first year in which we will have more mass shootings than there are days. As of August 4, which was the 216th day of the year, there have been 251 mass shootings in the U.S. It’s not OK.

TLC: Tears, Laughs and Conversation Dr. Tim Seelig It’s not OK. If you have been following my column over the past few years, you have been looking forward to a light, breezy, even funny article. This is not that.

I’m angry, as most of you are. Here are my thoughts.

On June 13, 2016, I posted a short article to Facebook titled “It’s not OK.” It was the day after the Orlando Pulse shooting. At that time, we were certain we would soon have our first woman president, an ally. We had the hope of continued progress in human and equal rights. In November, we were shocked and devastated when that did not happen.

There was a seed change in our country from the moment Mr. Trump announced his candidacy. Rather than his shocking comments causing an outcry, they woke up and bolstered an underbelly of our country, a white nationalist sentiment, while the rest of us remained silent. That may be unfair. We rallied and posted about our anger—but mostly to people who already agreed with us. Preaching to the choir.

Since becoming president, he has emboldened them every day with his consistent ideology of us vs. them. The new alt right finally has a cheerleader, or even leader! According to author Van Jones, it kindled a flame that had already been smoldering. Now, their leader holds the lighter fluid and uses it without shame or consequence.

These behaviors are the attributes of a narcissist with no empathy or moral compass. And it goes without saying that the majority of our elected leaders are in lock step for fear of losing money and thereby the next election.

That is all stating the obvious. Sorry. I just needed to say it.

I am not writing this article as an expert on anything other than my own reaction to what is going on. I do

These eight cities resonate on our tongues as we speak them.

Dayton, El Paso, Gilroy, Parkland, Las Vegas, Orlando, Sandy Hook and Columbine. But there have been well over 1,000 mass shootings in recent years alone. Our brothers and sisters died there, too. But because the number of fatalities was not big enough, there was little or no national news coverage. The sad truth is, we could never cover all of them.

My new mantra: It’s not OK. It’s not OK to sit idly by! Write letters, make phone calls, attend rallies, tell your elected official or your religious leader it’s not OK. Find out who is running for office and make damn sure they promise to do something. Post on FB (even if you think those who disagree with you have long fled friend status). To do less is not OK. It’s not OK for the president of the United States to foment hate toward anyone who is “other.” He is a racist. Period. And a long list of other “...ists and ...phobes.” His outright vilification of anyone who is not white, straight, cisgender male, Christian and rich is shocking. If you can’t check all of those boxes, he will come for you. If you are not frightened, you are not paying attention. It’s not OK. It’s not OK for anyone, other than military personnel, to own semi-automatic firearms. They need to be banned. No questions asked. Find them. Destroy them. “Bearing arms” in 1791 has nothing to do with carrying an assault weapon to a Walmart in 2019. It’s not OK. It’s not OK for our healthcare system to throw its hands up and say, “We don’t have the resources or the ability to address mental health as it relates to gun violence.” I’ve seen the memes: Rage is not a mental health issue. We’re going to have to agree to disagree. It’s not OK. It’s not OK to remain part of any organized group—church, social, political or other—that stands idly by allowing this to happen without proclaiming the real truth about who is responsible and how this can be stopped. If you choose to remain a member of a group not speaking out about injustice and bigotry, you are complicit. It’s not OK. It’s not OK to live in our bubbles, in warm beds, with more than we could ever need or use and not hurt deeply for those with less or who are seeking a better life. Those coming to America hoped to see open arms at the end of their arduous journey—not a stupid ass part of a wall or a militia with guns.

What happened to the “tired and poor”? Well, they are at our doorstep waiting for someone to open their hearts. If only the Christians in our country followed Christ’s teachings, we would not have poverty, homelessness, the sick, or elders dying alone in homes. “As you have done it unto the least of these ... .” It’s not OK. It’s not OK to ignore the elephant in the room tromping on the tulips. Most of us in the country are, in fact, “other” according to Donald Trump’s list. Almost ALL of us are immigrants. I am.

I’m proud of my German heritage and the courage my ancestors had to move here with nothing but a dream. I am proud of being “other.” When I came out, I also had little left but a dream. We must join together and stand proud and defiant against all of the abuse we are all receiving from this White House and congressional leaders. Maybe we’ll even yell about it. And, most certainly, sing about it.

It’s not OK to allow children to hear the incessant spew of regurgitation from our president and leaders. White supremacists were taught to hate. They didn’t just happen to turn out that way. Of course, I turn to showtunes (my substitute Bible). In 1949, Oscar Hammerstein penned these lyrics for the musical South Pacific: “You’ve got to be carefully taught. You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear.”

We must have a plan to protect our children so that they understand this is not the way we are or want them to be. Your compassion and kindness can be the antidote. In 1987, Stephen Sondheim wrote these lyrics in the musical Into the Woods: “How do you say to your child in the night nothing’s all black, but then nothing’s all white? How do you say it will all be all right. When you know that it might not be true?” He goes on to remind us that children will listen and see and learn. It’s Not OK to teach hate.

Yes, this post is preaching to the choir.

And, by posting this, I am holding myself accountable to try to make even more of a difference. Since I’m preaching, and we’ve had the “special music,” an offering will be taken. The proceeds will NOT be given to any candidate that supports the NRA or its puppets. It will not be given to any business of any kind

that supports the gun industry. I’ve done some research into companies and banks (!!!) that still fund the NRA or proliferation of guns. I’ve moved my bank accounts from one of the worst offenders on record. It’s beholden on us to follow the money. It’s not OK to support entities that then turn around and use your money for evil.

Today, I mourn those lost this week, from Gilroy to El Paso to Dayton to Chicago and all of the others who lost their lives.

I won’t be saying a rosary or chanting or praying or sending “thoughts and prayers.” I will mourn by repeating my new mantra over and over and over: It’s not OK. Not for me. Not for any of my logical or biological family members.

Not for our country damnit. It’s just not OK. Now repeat after me: It’s not OK. It’s not OK. It’s not OK. Now pick up the phone or write a letter.

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

Former President Barack Obama Comments on Recent Mass Shootings Michelle and I grieve with all the families in El Paso and Dayton who endured these latest mass shootings. Even if details are still emerging, there are a few things we already know to be true.

First, no other nation on Earth comes close to experiencing the frequency of mass shootings that we see in the United States. No other developed nation tolerates the levels of gun violence that we do. Every time this happens, we’re told that tougher gun laws won’t stop all murders; that they won’t stop every deranged individual from getting a weapon and shooting innocent people in public places. But the evidence shows that they can stop some killings. They can save some families from heartbreak.

We are not helpless here. And until all of us stand up and insist on holding public officials accountable for changing our gun laws, these tragedies will keep happening.

Second, while the motivations behind these shootings may not yet be fully known, there are indications that the El Paso shooting follows a dangerous trend: troubled individuals who embrace racist ideologies and see themselves obligated to act violently to preserve white supremacy. Like the followers of ISIS and other foreign terrorist organizations, these individuals may act alone,

but they’ve been radicalized by white nationalist websites that proliferate on the internet. That means that both law enforcement agencies and internet platforms need to come up with better strategies to reduce the influence of these hate groups.

But just as important, all of us have to send a clarion call and behave with the values of tolerance and diversity that should be the hallmark of our democracy.

We should soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racist sentiments; leaders who demonize those who don’t look like us, or suggest that other people, including immigrants, threaten our way of life, or refer to other people as sub-human, or imply that America belongs to just one certain type of people. Such language isn’t new—it’s been at the root of most human tragedy throughout history, here in America and around the world. It is at the root of slavery and Jim Crow, the Holocaust, the genocide in Rwanda and ethnic cleansing in the Balkans. It has no place in our politics and our public life. And it’s time for the overwhelming majority of Americans of goodwill, of every race and faith and political party, to say as much—clearly and unequivocally.

WHITE HOUSE PHOTO/LAWRENCE JACKSON

On August 5, former president Barack Obama posted the following via social media:

President Barack Obama wiped away tears during his statement from the White House Briefing Room on December 14, 2012, about the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIA0W69U2_Y

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GLBT Fortnight in Review Look Away I felt like one of the proverbial “good Germans” last night when I insisted that we turn off an MSNBC special on hate violence in favor of a Downton Abbey rerun. After days of news and commentary, I couldn’t take it anymore.

James Baldwin wrote: “White people in this country will have quite enough to do in learning how to accept and love themselves and each other, and when they have achieved this—which will not be tomorrow and may very well be never—the Negro problem will no longer exist, for it will no longer be needed.”

For “white people,” you can substitute “Anglo people,” “straight people,” and, ironically, even “people of color,” or “LGBT people.” We all differentiate ourselves from The Other, and project our insecurities outward; we just do it to a greater or lesser degree, with more or less selfawareness. I do it to Republicans, to Trump supporters, to the deplorables, to people who overcook steaks or go to church more than once a week or build McMansions. I have many such lists. It is human nature, which is part of the problem.

New subject. Have any of you noticed that the Trivago spokesman looks just like Jeffery Epstein? I can barely stand to watch those commercials now. I have Jeffery Epstein on one of my lists all by himself.

Sophomoric Speaking of hatred and insecurity, there’s a 14-year-old girl from Tiburon called “Soph,” who has been producing repellent antigay and anti-Muslim YouTube videos.

She was finally kicked off the site the other day after airing a piece called “Pride and Prejudice,” in which she called Pride month: “30 days of AIDS-carrying pedophile victims patting themselves on the back for their lifestyle,” and said gays were “hedonists, utterly unable to achieve the love that a married heterosexual couple can.”

Who wrote this script? It sure doesn’t sound like a 14-year-old who has zero experience of adult love and/or adult sentence structure. And what’s with her parents? According to press reports, they bought her the necessary technical equipment, although they didn’t appear to have monitored her little screeds. Before she was removed from YouTube, Soph had collected a million followers.

Oh, and she also threatened to murder YouTube CEO, Susan Wojcicki, claiming that she had Wojcicki’s home address and was about to get into an Uber with a handgun and go take her out. This announcement was reportedly protected by her constitutional right to free speech, although I thought direct threats were exceptions to the First Amendment.

Soph is noteworthy for her age and gender. We’re much more accustomed to toxicity from 20 or 30-something white men, depressed by their inability to earn a living or connect with women. How does a 14-year-old girl from an affluent Bay Area neighborhood reach this point?

A desperate need for attention? Inner voices?

I know. Let’s check in with the British aristocracy of the early 20th Century.

Once More into the Breach As our last issue went to press came word that a new petition has been filed with the Supreme Court, giving us one more thing to worry about once the High Court returns to work in late September. You may recall that the U.S. Court of Appeals for 6

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the Third Circuit recently ruled that the city of Philadelphia was within its rights to ban Catholic Social Services from placing foster children, given that group’s policy of discriminating against same-sex parents. That discrimination violates the city’s civil rights ordinances and, as the court said, religious sentiments are not enough to warrant a free pass.

This is the same issue that animates our antigay Christian friends at the bakeries and florist shops who would like to be able to skirt local and state gay rights laws in their quest for religious purity. It’s an issue that we have been able to avoid so far, as the High Court has sent two such cases back to lower courts for further review with virtually no comment.

Will we avoid it again?

Meanwhile, another one of these cases has been pending before the Arizona Supreme Court for over six months, for reasons unclear. Back in January, the justices considered whether or not a Christian-owned stationery store, Brush and Nib, would be obliged to provide wedding invitations for same-sex couples, and yet no decision has been forthcoming. What’s the hold up? The store is in Phoenix, where antigay discrimination in public accommodations is banned.

Coming to Modesto: Pathetic Sad Bored America I was sort of amused by the Straight Pride parade planned for Boston later this month, not because there’s anything funny about prejudice, but because it is being organized by a group calling itself “Super Happy Fun America,” and because it is theoretically open to everyone from all sexual orientations, as long as they are “happy and fun” people. Hey, I qualify!

In truth, I didn’t pay much attention to the story; I just approved of the organizational name that they picked for their possibly unpleasant event. That said, there’s another Straight Pride fest of some sort going on in Modesto on August 24 that is run by some really nasty types from the “National Straight Pride Coalition,” a four-month-old group started by the same guy who once operated something called “Citizens Against Perversion.” I can’t find any active website for the latter, but the National Straight Pride Coalition, which links to the “California” Straight Pride Coalition, is designed to prevent “the current and future generations of all races and colors from being destroyed by the inherent malevolence of the Homosexual Movement.”

Its founding principles revolve around homophobia and white supremacy, and indeed, the racist “Proud Boys” are scheduled to join the fun at the Mancini Bowl in Graceada Park when the time comes.

I guess someone has written a blank check to support a rival GLBT picnic or something in the same park on the same day, and other protests are planned. Last month, Don Grundmann, the 67-year-old nut job behind this “coalition,” protested a Drag Queen Story Time in Vallejo, managing to attract four people and 140 counter-protestors to the local library. I’m guessing his coming effort might produce a similar ratio.

Whatever happens, be careful out there.

Super Happy Fun Longyearben Coca-Cola has triggered a hoohaw in Budapest, where the company has posted billboard ads featuring gay couples kissing and drinking Coke, under slogans (and I translate) like “Zero Sugar, Zero Prejudice” and “Love is Love.” The campaign is timed with the Sziget Festival, not

By Ann Rostow a gay thing as far as I can tell, but a progressive music event that sounds like a Hungarian version of South by Southwest.

As conservatives called for a boycott, Coke said the company “strives for diversity, inclusion and equality in our business, and we support these rights in society as well.”

“As a long-standing supporter of the LGBTQI community, we believe everyone has the right to love the person they choose. The campaign currently running in Hungary reflects these values.”

And speaking of festivals, I was astonished to read that a Pride parade is planned for Longyearben, the northernmost inhabited town in the world (I think), just down from the North Pole on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. I encountered Longyearben last year at some point, and for some reason decided to put it on my weather app, along with the hometowns of various friends and family members. It’s always fun to see that the weather in (Your Town Here) is vastly superior to (Your Friend’s Town Here). And you can follow up on your meteorological advantage with a gloating message. Alternatively, you can play the reverse angle and issue a self-pitying mewl about the heat or the rain.

At any rate, Longyearben has served as a fascinating outlier on this list.

Cold, always dark or always light. I can tell you that sunrise has lately been around one am, just an hour or so after sunset. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the temperature higher than the 40s and my wife can attest that whatever the situation is at home, the weather is usually worse in Longyearben, as I like to observe out loud for her edification.

Who lives there? It reportedly has some coal mines. And I guess some GLBT people who are ready to party. Also, cats are not allowed on the island due to the protected bird population, and you are not allowed to be buried there, since it’s too cold for bodies to decompose. In the winter, the area remains dark for four months and everyone has a celebration at the “old hospital” on March 8 of every year when the sun returns.

Mommy Dearest Listen to this one. Arthur Leonard of the New York School of Law recently described a lawsuit out of Minnesota, where a woman named Anmarie Calgaro has been trying to convince a series of courts that she should have had control over her transgender daughter’s transition—or non-transition, as Calgaro would have preferred. Having failed to get her way at the district court level and at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the woman is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review her case, even as the young woman, known as EJK, has now turned 20.

Five years ago, EJK went to live with her father and later stayed with friends rather than return to her uncompromising mother.

Presenting herself as emancipated, EJK arranged treatment, signed up for government services and convinced her school to respect her gender identity. Her mother, who refers to her as her “son” and uses her male birth name, has sued everyone and anyone (including her daughter), insisting that EJK’s actions violated her rights as a parent under the Due Process Clause. Her lawsuit was dismissed by the trial court in May of 2017, in a decision that was upheld at the appellate level two years later.

It’s unclear why or how Calgaro can continue this litigation, let alone bring it to the High Court’s attention. One clue lies in the fact that (continued on page 28)

GGBA Letter From Leadership

GGBA CALENDAR

A New Era of Transition, Transformation and Energy for the GGBA

By John Henning Since joining the board of the Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA) three years ago, I have never been more excited about the direction and leadership of the chamber. As I am now reaching the end of my term on the board and looking forward to what’s next for me, I wanted to share my thoughts and perspectives on what the GGBA means to me, what it means for our community and how you can contribute to the future success of this great organization.

on our mission of economic empowerment, education and advocacy for the LGBTQ community. I believe now is the time for the GGBA to develop closer partnerships with other diverse segment leaders locally, regionally and nationally to unify the message of diversity and inclusion across all segments of diverseowned businesses. By working together to optimize delivery of programming and to reduce competition for scarce corporate sponsorship dollars, our collective voice can be stronger and more focused to defeat the powers of hate, the status-quo and ignorance.

I have been so proud to have served with my fellow board members, volunteers and corporate sponsors. Without their dedication, commitment and service, the GGBA simply would not exist. Every individual with whom I have had the privilege to work has contributed in their own unique way and given their time, money, love, passion and intellect to serve the membership and our corporate sponsors.

As the chamber enters its 45th year of service to the LGBTQ community, the baton of leadership is once again being passed to a new team of leaders, with our first trans woman presidentelect, Gina Grahame. This milestone represents a new era of transition, transformation and energy for the GGBA. Our current president, Audry deLucia, and her leadership team including Dr. Krystal Drwencke, Aaron Landers, Jay Greene, Lara Brecher and Tony Archuleta-Perkins, have done an amazing job this year laying the foundation for growth and change.

For me, the GGBA represents the unique intersection of San Francisco LGBTQ history, political and social transformation, and a force for innovation in support of the diverse segments of our city’s business community. The LGBTQ community has had incredible success over the past decade, largely in response to the courageous leaders from The City by the Bay and the partnerships developed between local, state and national government officials, the GGBA and local business owners throughout the country.

Meet GGBA’s Gina Grahame

In my opinion, every individual and business owner in our community, whether they be LGBTQ, Native American Indian, African American, Hispanic, Asian American, Women, Disabled, Veteran or Allied, has a duty to use whatever platform available to them to promote and defend equality and justice in their daily lives—both personally and professionally. We must all be sacred warriors and contribute what we can, whether it be time, money, intellectual capital or simply showing up at events, to show our support and to be part of the dialogue for change. I encourage you to reach out to the GGBA for more information about how you or your business can get involved and contribute in your own unique way.

We have come so far in the past 45 years and we are on the cusp of so many great things as we come together as one people, helping each other to succeed and grow. As the saying goes, “If you want to go fast, go alone ... . If you want to go far, go together.” I believe that we can, and will, go far.

Gina Grahame: Being a board member has given me the opportunity to meet and learn about so many individual members and their businesses. They’ve been very open to sharing what the GGBA means to them, what they get from being a member, and what they’d like to see the chamber do more of that would enhance their business life.

We encourage you to follow the work of Grahame, who is a dynamic speaker and LGBTQ community leader.

Additionally, being a board member has helped to make me a better team player. The Board is an all-volunteer, working board, meaning that every board member is just as passionate and focused as I am. To advance one’s personal agenda, you need to build consensus, to work together.

Gina Grahame: There are so many ways to answer that question. I’m a three-time entrepreneur with a professional history as a keynote and motivational speaker, B2B salesperson, actor, spokesperson and professional development coach. I’m transgender (transsexual, to be specific), and I’m happily involved in a lesbian relationship with my partner, Susan. And I’m just a kid from the North Side of Detroit who’s been lucky enough to live in San Francisco for 13 years now. All are equally true.

Magdalena Rodriquez: What made you run for the board of the GGBA? Why would others want to serve?

Gina Grahame: It’s a bit embarrassing to say now, but when I was first approached about joining the GGBA, my initial reaction was, “I don’t think it’s for me.” In my mind, I associated a chamber of commerce with The Elks Club or The Moose Lodge; something better suited to my dad in the 1960s. But then I learned about the organization and the important part it has, and continues to play, in the lives of LGBTQ small business owners and their allies. Understanding that, I was honored and excited to be considered for the board.

As to why others would want to serve, there are many reasons.

The best bookends would be for the personal satisfaction you’ll get from helping others in the community to achieve their business goals. And for the personal growth and expanded community you will become part of.

Magdalena Rodriquez: How has being a GGBA board member positioned you for the role as President-elect?

GGBA East Bay Make Contact GGBA will kick off Oakland Pride Weekend at this East Bay event.

September 5 Wooden Table Cafe 2300 Broadway, Oakland 6 pm–8 pm Free for Members; $25 for Non-Members https://bit.ly/2Zt1Htp GGBA 2019 Annual Member Meeting September 10 https://bit.ly/2YBdoNd John Henning is the CMO and Head of Professional Services at Granite Solutions Groupe, which provides financial services decision makers with effective people and solutions. For more information: https://www.granitesolutionsgroupe.com/

By Magdalena Rodriguez

Gina Grahame, the Founder and CEO of the Grahame Institute of Strategic Communication, was recently elected President of the Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA). When Grahame takes office next month, she will become the association’s first out transsexual president—a milestone in GGBA’s near 45-year history. Grahame also serves as a Communication Coach at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is a member of the Board of Advisors for the Transgender Advisory Committee of the City and County of San Francisco.

Magdalena Rodriquez: Please tell us about yourself.

Who is Gina Grahame?

GGBA August Make Contact August 13 Member-to-Member Speed Networking Spaces, 95 3rd Mission Street https://bit.ly/2YMEukR

transition, as female. This gives me understanding, insight and credibility with virtually every audience, regardless of professional title, age, gender and sexual identity.

Gina Grahame

Magdalena Rodriquez: Under your leadership, how will you achieve the GGBA’s goals during 2020?

Gina Grahame: I’ll strive to continue the strong leadership that I’ve experienced in the current and recent presidents, Audry deLucia and Dawn Ackerman, respectively. My overriding goal for the upcoming year is to make the chamber integral in the daily business lives of our members. Fortunately, this is a goal shared by the rest of the board as well.

Magdalena Rodriguez: Tell me about the Grahame Institute of Strategic Communication (GISC).

Gina Grahame: The GISC is focused on helping high-performing business professionals to be more effective communicators. We specialize in Biz Pitch coaching, Building Executive Presence and Storytelling as part of sales and leadership development. Services are delivered in 1:1 and Small Group sessions.

Key projects include my current roles as a Communications Coach at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and as the defacto trainer of Executive Presence at a top tier tech company.

The GISC is the culmination of my professional and personal experiences and aspirations. As a communications coach, I’m able to draw on my experiences as a keynote and motivational speaker, in B2B sales across a variety of verticals, as an actor on stage and film, as a spokesperson, and as an entrepreneur who’s pitched and received VC funding. My gender history is also a key asset as I accomplished most of these when male and again after

PHOTO BY LIZA HEIDER PHOTOGRAPHY

Now, as we look to the future of the GGBA, the chamber is focused on listening to our members, and collaborating with our corporate sponsors to develop new approaches to deliver

John Henning

Coffee with the President Each Friday through September 6, 2019, Audry deLucia and Gina Grahame— President and President-elect of GGBA— invite you to share your thoughts with them about GGBA and to learn more about the Association and LGBT business certification.

August 9, 16, 23, 30 September 6 7:30 am–8:30 am Equator Coffee LinkedIn building 222 2nd Street (at Howard) https://bit.ly/2LJm01E

Magdalena Rodriguez: Why was it important for you that the Grahame Institute of Strategic Communication is a member of the GGBA? How has it helped your business?

Gina Grahame: Because the GGBA has played such an integral part of its creation. I view my GGBA membership as a symbiotic relationship; I continue to learn from, and be inspired by, my fellow members. And I’ve also been able to give back to members by hosting a strategic communications workshop series based on a 20-lesson strategic communication program that I created called “Stand Up. Speak Out!” Our current President, Audry deLucia, is fond of saying: “The role of the GGBA is not to get you business; our goal is to make you a better businessperson so that you can get more business.” What I’ve learned at GGBA hosted seminars and informal networking events has expanded my vision and upped my professional game. The GGBA also opened the door of the NGLCC, the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Attending their annual conference—seeing nearly 1,000 certified LGBTBE’s (business enterprises), and so many top companies that were there to increase their supplier diversity pipeline—filled me with awe. I am proud to be an out LGBT businessowner, and I’m proud to be a member of the GGBA. For more information about the Grahame Institute of Strategic Communication: https://www.thegisc.com Magdalena Rodriguez is the Co-Founder and Director of GPSGAY Inc. mobile app and website—available in Spanish, English and Portuguese—for the LGBTQ community, www.gpsgay.com S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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Putting a Lid on Plastic Waste

Assemblymember Phil Ting When you put a plastic bottle in your recycling bin, you assume that it gets recycled into a new bottle or other plastic product. Unfortunately, many plastic beverage bottles now pile up in warehouses, or worse, landfills.

Why? Because there’s currently little demand for used plastic materials, and overseas markets have stopped buying our waste. Last year, for example, China established their National Sword policy, which bans importation of mixed paper and certain types of plastic.

In California alone, 12 billion plastic bottles are sold every year. More than one quarter of these are not recycled at all. By one estimate, if we don’t do something, there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans by 2050. In a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, 72 percent of Californians, including 70 percent of those living inland, say that plastic debris in the ocean is a big problem. We must find ways to keep and recycle materials here in California.

Our state has already established minimum recycled material requirements for other products, including glass containers, rigid plastic packaging containers, newsprint and trash bags. Additionally, many companies are already working to meet or exceed the requirements and timeline set by AB 792. For example, Nestle and Niagara water bottles are currently made up of almost 40 percent recycled material. Some companies have been going further or are on track to do so. Naked Juice Company has been using 100 percent post-consumer recycled content in its bottles since 2010, and all Evian water bottles will be made from 100 percent recycled plastic by 2025.

California should join the global effort on this issue. The European Union has already set a goal of 25 percent recycled content in plastic bottles by 2025 and 30 percent by 2030. Coca-Cola plans to use 50 percent recycled content in their plastic bottles by 2020 in the United Kingdom and 2025 in the European Union; however, the company doesn’t plan to reach that mark until 2030 here in the United States.

My bill would speed up that timeline.

California can lead the national con-

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That’s where my bill, Assembly Bill (AB) 792, comes in. It creates a market for used plastic by requiring CRV plastic bottle producers to use recycled materials. Starting in 2021, plastic bottles would be required to contain at least 15 percent recycled content; this would gradually rise to 25 percent in 2023, 35 percent in 2025, 50 percent in 2027 and 75 percent in 2030.

versation on our plastic use by passing AB 792.

AB 792 has already amassed a diverse array of supporters, from groups like Californians Against Waste, the Sierra Club and the Surfrider Foundation to Recology and the Association of California Recycling Industries. It is currently moving through the Legislature, building momentum and passing key committees. I’m working to get it to the Governor’s desk by the mid-September deadline so it can be signed into law in time for its first requirement to go into effect in 2021. I hope that you will join me in supporting this common sense piece of legislation.

Phil Ting represents the 19th Assembly District, which includes the Westside of San Francisco along with the communities of Broadmoor, Colma and Daly City.

The Arctic is on fire. It’s hard not to wonder what we can do to sustain life on Earth in the face of such incredible acceleration of global climate change. This crisis threatens food production, and ultimately, human survival.

Out of the Closet and into City Hall Oakland City Councilmember At-Large, Rebecca Kaplan This is now the hottest summer on record. In recent weeks, we have seen triple digit temperatures in Europe.

The Bay Area is a Mediterranean climate, which means that we have the ability, if we take the right actions, to grow food here. As an elected leader in the Bay Area, I intend to continue the work we started to do just that.

In the recently passed budget, we secured funding for community gardens, added funding for trash capture devices to protect our water, set aside funding for emergency resources in city buildings, and extended our hours in the Planning and Building

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Sustainability of Human Life on Earth

department to make it easier for residents to make sustainable improvements to their property. We also added funding for emergency services planning grants and additional funding for vegetation management to assist in reducing the risk of extensive fire damage.

There is much work to do. Recently we attended the Equitable Climate Action Plan (ECAP) community workshop, where there was an amazing exchange of ideas and accomplishments. We need to continue to work collaboratively with organizations and individuals because this is not something we can solve alone.

Upcoming this fall, I will be bringing legislation that helps to ensure local actions. We need a green transportation transformation. We must plant community gardens and Food Forests, and we should work on water reclamation and land remediation.

Climate action is an urgent need and I look forward to working with the community and my colleagues to ensure that we build a viable future.

Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan was elected in 2008 to serve as Oakland’s citywide Councilmember; she was re-elected in 2016. She also serves on the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC). Follow Councilmember Kaplan on Twitter @Kaplan4Oakland ( https://twitter.com/ Kaplan4Oakland ) and Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/ Kaplan4Oakland/ ).

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The Kansas City Blues and Women’s Reproductive Freedom wondered what in the world Ginsberg could find poetic about Troost Street.

I soon found out.

It seems that while my mother was drilling her students on Latin conjugations, Allen and his lover were enjoying conjugal delights of their own down the street.

6/26 and Beyond John Lewis When I was rummaging through old boxes from my childhood home recently, I came upon a decades-old newspaper that piqued my interest, not only because of its portrayal of an earlier time, but also because of its relevance today. It was the 1972 inaugural edition of The Symposium News, a free publication edited by Ken Kesey and published by the University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC) in conjunction with a student organized political symposium. I grew up in Kansas City, where both of my parents were college professors: my dad at UMKC, my mother at Rockhurst College.

My dad had likely picked up the paper on campus.

As I flipped through the paper, I did a double-take when I came upon a poem written by Allen Ginsberg entitled “Troost Street Blues.”

Troost Street?! That’s the location of Rockhurst, where my mother taught classical languages and history. I

However, the pair’s Troost Street lovemaking was a crime under state law. Missouri’s law criminalizing sex between two people of the same gender was overturned only in 2003 when the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated all such laws across the country.

I recently learned that upon orders from a university administrator, UMKC police had confiscated the paper from newsstands shortly after its publication because of Ginsberg’s explicit description of illicit homoerotic activities. It turns out that my dad had been very lucky to have grabbed a copy before the papers were whisked away.

Rally Against Hate

Photos by Rink

A rally was held at Harvey Milk Plaza on Thursday, August 1, to draw attention to threatened LGBTQ individuals around the globe. In particular, the event protested hateful acts in Russia, including the murder of Russian gay rights activist Yelena Grigoryeva. She vocally opposed the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and was named on a “gay-hunting” website just days before her murder on July 21 in St. Petersburg.

Three days before she was killed, she posted about the threat to her and to other LGBTQ people, given the website (“Saw Against LGBT,” based on the Saw horror movie franchise) and the hate group’s claimed purging of gays in Chechnya.

Speakers at the San Francisco event featured local activists and civic leaders, such as Carly McCarthy, Jeffrey Kwong and Tom Temprano. Sister Dana Van Iquity and fellow Sisters Kitty Catalyst and Golda Lox also participated, as Sister Dana shares in this issue.

Something else was illegal in Missouri in 1972: a woman’s right to make her own decisions regarding reproduction. Missouri banned all abortions; the U.S. Supreme Court did not overturn such bans until the next year, 1973.

Indeed, the newspaper devoted a 3-page spread to coverage of feminist activist and writer Robin Morgan’s participation in the conference. As Morgan aptly put it: “ ... going one step further than the old Marxist dictum that workers must seize the means of production, we say women must seize the means of reproduction.”

She observed that “[t]he history books tend to be written by white, straight males,” and that women “have been oppressed longer than any oppressed group and, dig it, we are not the minority—we are the majority of the entire species.”

I was appalled to learn recently that today there’s nowhere in my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, (continued on page 28)

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For Vanguard’s Dave Earl, ‘Volunteer Day’ Is Every Day Dave Earl, Marketing Manager at Vanguard Properties in San Francisco, juggles his full-time job with volunteering for the Shanti Project and serving as a member of the Board of Directors for the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. While most of us become swamped with career, school, and/or family obligations, Dave demonstrates that with time, dedication and some calendar juggling, it is possible to fit meaningful volunteering into an already packed schedule.

He also recently told the San Francisco Bay Times, “I’m looking forward to Vanguard Properties Volunteer Day on August 21st. I participated last year, when we helped out at Urban Sprouts Community Gardens.”

Vanguard’s annual Volunteer Day is facilitated by HandsOn Bay Area, a

Dave Earl

community needs including education and literacy, youth development, health and aging, homelessness, the environment and more.

Dave shared, “Our company is volunteering in the three regions where we have offices: San Francisco, Marin County and Sonoma County.”

nonprofit that connects companies and people with high-quality volunteer projects through the organization’s extensive network of local nonprofits and schools in need.

In 2017 alone, HandsOn Bay Area mobilized over 25,000 volunteers, resulting in more than 76,000 hours of service to more than 280 schools, parks and nonprofits across the region. The projects helped to meet critical

Whether volunteering or tackling work at the office, Dave brings his unique skillset that includes experience as a realtor, web developer, digital marketing manager, graphic designer, photographer and an avid chef to family and friends. He held his realtor’s license in Idaho and Utah, where he managed over 180 properties. He has lived in San Francisco for 8 years after escaping the constant heat/cold of his hometown of Boise. (continued on page 28)

Vanguard’s Volunteer Day

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

AUGUS T 8, 2019

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My Avoidant Boyfriend it, but I’m wondering what I can do to help him not be so cautious about being close with me.

Roland Schembari and Bill Hartman, Co-Founders Randy Alfred, Founding News Editor 1978 Kim Corsaro Publisher 1981-2011

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

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

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

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CONTRIBUTORS Writers Rink, Sister Dana Van Iquity, Ann Rostow, Patrick Carney, Kate Kendell, Alex Randolph, Heidi Beeler, Gary M. Kramer, Dennis McMillan, Tom Moon, Tim Seelig, Cinder Ernst, John Chen Rafael Mandelman, Jewelle Gomez, Phil Ting, Rebecca Kaplan, Kin Folkz, Leslie Katz, Philip Ruth, Peter Gallotta, Bill Lipsky, Karen Williams, Donna Sachet, Gary Virginia, Zoe Dunning, Marcy Adelman, Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis Brandon Miller, Jamie Leno Zimron Michele Karlsberg Lyndsey Schlax, Randy Coleman, Debra Walker, Howard Steiermann, Andrea Shorter, Lou Fischer, Karin Jaffie, Brett Andrews, Karen E. Bardsley, David Landis Photographers Rink, Phyllis Costa, Jane Higgins Paul Margolis, Chloe Jackman, Bill Wilson, Jo-Lynn Otto, Sandy Morris, Abby Zimberg, Morgan Shidler, JP Lor ADVERTISING Display Advertising Standard Rate Cards http://sfbaytimes.com/ or 415-503-1375 Custom ad sizes are available. Ads are reviewed by the publishers.

National Advertising: Contact Bay Times / San Francisco.

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

CALENDAR Submit events for consideration by e-mail to: calendar@sfbaytimes.com © 2019 Bay Times Media Company Co-owned by Betty L. Sullivan & Jennifer L. Viegas

Examined Life Tom Moon, MFT Q: When I read your columns on attachment theory (3/2/2019, 4/07/2019 and 4/18/2019 issues), I realized that your description of the avoidant attachment style fits my boyfriend exactly. I completely love him, but I do have to put up with his “time outs,” and his need for “space,” and the fact that he’ll sometimes take days to respond to a text.

He’s also real guarded about telling me any information about himself, as if he’s afraid that it will give me ammunition to use against him.

I know he loves me as much as I love him, but he needs to hold me at arm’s length in so many ways. I’m a fairly “secure” type, so I think I can handle

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I think that what anyone in your situation needs to do first is to think honestly about whether or not they really can handle the challenges of being in a relationship with an avoidant type.

Many avoidant types tend to get lost in their heads and overthink things, so when you’re with him, focus on doing activities together, such as hiking or going to sports events. Sharing experiences together will make it more likely that you’ll both be in the present, and that, in turn, may help him to be able to relax and to be available to connect with you.

Since you love your boyfriend and have already come to the conclusion that you’re up for the challenges of being in a relationship with him, the main thing to remember is that the same qualities of respect, honesty and kindness are just as important here as they are in any relationship.

You may have to put special emphasis on patience.

The good news is that our attachment styles aren’t unchangeable.

When avoidant types get into relationships with secure types, over time they can begin to realize that they’re safe in the relationship and that intimacy will not cause them the same pain they experienced as children.

When that happens, their attachment systems can begin to rewire themselves and they can move in a more secure direction.

When he withdraws, don’t turn that into a fight. Don’t argue with him about his need for space; instead, remind yourself that it doesn’t mean he’s not interested; it’s just that his wiring is different from yours. He wants to be loved, respected and understood just as much as you do.

The basic motive for his distancing behavior isn’t lack of love, but fear— fear that he may not even be aware

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

In Memoriam Toni Morrison (1931–2019) Acclaimed author Toni Morrison, born Chloe Ardelia Wofford, died peacefully at age 88 this week following a short illness, according to her publisher Knopf. She was best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved, but wrote many other influential novels, such as Jazz and Paradise. For her extraordinary body of work, Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993, making her the first black woman ever to earn this prestigious honor.

be a more thorough undertaking of her life’s accomplishments than the hazy rumination of one queer black girl about the summer of 2013. The thing is, Toni Morrison helped save my life. Today I wanted to make sure that she knew that.”

Her portrayals of black women would, at times, have feminist and/or homoerotic undertones. As Autostraddle writer Carmen Phillips wrote this week, after sharing how Morrison’s books helped her to overcome self-hate and depression: “Toni Morrison laid bare the kind of secrets that we barely even whispered to each other, the shames that we buried underneath our quick tongues and sisterhood hugs and fashion slays. She wrote for black women, and for that she is ours. There are going to be countless eulogies and write ups about the author and Nobel laureate. I assume that most of them will

There is little doubt that Morrison’s unparalleled legacy will live on. She ended her Nobel Prize address with: “We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” https://www.tonimorrisonsociety.org/

Reid Pierre Condit (1940–2019) Longtime LGBTQ grassroots activist Reid Pierre Condit died on July 10. Over the past several weeks, this largely unsung member of our community has been celebrated by fellow activists and friends, such as Ken Jones.

Jones shared that Condit “dedicated his life to serving the LGBT community of San Francisco. Reid was one of the first volunteers I worked with on Parade Day distributing our day-of publication, On Parade.” He added that Reid served as the “Recording Secretary and Corresponding Secretary for

dozens and dozens and dozens of grassroots movements in the San Francisco Bay Area. A frontline worker bee, and the keeper of a WORLD of Minutes of our grassroots organizing in the 70s and 80s. Minutes, T-shirts, buttons, our story.”

Outside of his significant volunteering, Condit worked as a writer at EHDD Architecture on the Embarcadero. A Stanford graduate (class of 1962), he served in the Army and learned several languages. According to the Bay Area Reporter, “he was assigned to spy on

the Russians” during his time in the military.

Condit later became known as a bathhouse proponent, due to his championing these spaces, particularly in the early to mid 1980s. At the time, due to fear of HIV/AIDS spread, the San Francisco Health Department asked courts to close gay bathhouses in the city. When the closures happened, Condit and others attempted to have the bathhouses reopened. Condit remained actively involved with this issue over the decades, as evidenced by existing letters to the editor—even

as recent as five years ago—that he wrote to the San Francisco Chronicle and other publications.

Jones, however, said that Condit “was so much more than a bathhouse proponent.” Announcing his death, Jones wrote, “I worked with Reid for a couple of decades with Pride, and on the Pat Norman Campaigns for Supervisor. Reid has the largest collection of ‘leftover’ merchandise and memorabilia ... newspapers ... buttons ... minutes. I trust they will find their way into the LGBTQ Archives.”

David Tessler (1943–2019) Steven “David” Tessler, a Castro landlord who for a number of years also owned the popular clothing boutique City Island Dry Goods formerly at 598 Castro Street, passed on July 9 after suffering a stroke several months prior. San Francisco Bay Times photographer Rink attended Tessler’s memorial service on July 28 at the San Francisco Central Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

“One guest spoke about how he and his husband lost everything in Hurricane Katrina and David gave them a refuge in his Castro Street apartment building (at 577 Castro Street), ahead of dozens of better qualified renters,” Rink said. “A church member spoke about David

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As a result, avoiders develop a compulsively self-reliant orientation to life. In reality, they want intimate relationships just as much as everyone else, but they self-protectively suppress their attachment needs because they see great danger in getting too close to others. They fear rejection, abandonment and betrayal; or, because their original caregivers repeatedly violated their boundaries, they fear that they’ll be engulfed, smothered and robbed of their freedom.

that he feels. Don’t do anything that will make him more fearful: don’t push or pressure him. Don’t make demands or lash out in anger.

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giving shoes to shoeless people on the street, from his frequent garage sales. The emotional minister and church members, and his nieces, spoke about his seemingly endless generosity.”

Born in New York, Tessler attended the prestigious LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts prior to his family moving to Miami, Florida. He served two years in the Navy before moving to San Francisco in the late 1960s—the same time that Rink also arrived in the city. Tessler immediately fell in love with San Francisco and decided to make it his permanent home.

His newfound sense of freedom here was reflected in the fashions sold at his clothing store. As he was quoted by author John Polvin in the book Giorgio Armani: Empire of the Senses: “People today are willing to be comfortable, both physically and socially. They have no use for constraints or formality.”

As Rink indicated, though, Kessler is most remembered for his generosity.

At great personal and financial expense, he provided compassionate end of life care to his partner of twenty years, Tom Mullan, and to his beloved aunt Fay Simon and sister Toby Tessler. He is survived by his other sister, Naomi Fine Sloan, along with numerous nieces, grandnieces and grandA beautiful cake from Schubert’s Bakery was shared nephews. at the memorial service held for David Tessler.

PHOTO BY RINK

E-mail: editor@sfbaytimes.com www.sfbaytimes.com

A: The “attachment system” in our brains is our internal working model of what we can expect in our relationships with others. There are three primary attachment “styles”: secure, avoidant and anxious. People with an avoidant attachment style typically grew up with parents who were invasive and controlling, and who were emotionally unavailable or unresponsive to them most of the time.

If your partner’s need for distance triggers intense fears of rejection or abandonment in you, then you may have to accept that the difficulties are too daunting, and that it may be wiser to look for a partner with whom you can feel more secure. On the other hand, about 25 percent of the population have avoidant styles, and a great many are able to be in relationships that work for both partners, so there’s no need to see the situation as inherently unworkable.

Hoarding Behavior in the LGBTQ Community

Fairley Parson, LCSW I believe that hoarding disproportionally impacts LGBTQ older adults. Unfortunately, we don’t have research that reports on hoarding behavior in the LGBTQ community.

Still, given available research and my clinical experience as a psychotherapist working in the community, I propose that LGBTQ older adults are at higher risk for developing and maintaining hoarding behaviors, while also facing unique barriers to receiving help.

Clinically, hoarding disorder is characterized by difficulty discarding possessions—a perceived need to save items and marked discomfort with discarding them. Hoarding results in the accumulation of objects that congest living space and cause significant distress or impairment in functioning.

Many people casually throw around the term “hoarder” with self-deprecating humor—for example, saying things like, “Oh my god, I’m such a hoarder!”—but without significant distress, you’re not. In fact, due to pervasive stigma and popular misunderstandings about hoarding, many who exhibit hoarding behaviors prefer other descriptors such as “difficulties with stuff.” Advocates, and people who hoard, often caution against using the word “hoarder” because it is stigmatizing and labels the person and not the behavior.

Hoarding, on the other hand, is a behavior that can be changed. Or, as one of my clients quipped, “I’m simply an exemplar of ‘queer excess!’”

His smile led to a long pause before he said, “Okay, I don’t want to say I’m a hoarder, but it’s a lot.”

At the same time, some have reclaimed the word. Said one client: “I am a hoarder! Coming out as a hoarder was scarier than coming out as lesbian. I felt more shame about my apartment than I ever felt for my sex life, but I am a hoarder! Naming it is my first step through the shame.”

Shame can be a primary obstacle to seeking help. Hoarding isolates.

While physical objects may serve as an emotional touchstone to those we have loved, “stuff” can also serve as a physical and emotional barrier to connection. Our stuff may also represent unrealized pursuits, creative imaginings and possibility. Unfortunately, the sheer amount of stuff can preclude such possibility. Still, for many who hoard, giving up stuff can feel like giving up on dreams for the future and connection to the past. Stuff feels protective and familiar. It can feel safe while presenting real danger.

Depending on severity, hoarding behaviors can present profound health risks for older adults, from increased risk of falls, accidents and injuries, to homelessness and eviction. It is also positively correlated with anxiety and depression. But why

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Aging in Community

would LGBTQ older adults be at higher risk for hoarding than their straight or cisgender or younger counterparts? It may help to consider that hoarding is a progressive problem, positively associated with advanced age.

Other risk factors include: • living alone; • having experienced economic scarcity and/or long periods of unemployment; • living with a disability, and/or challenges with functional impairments in mobility; • living with or having experienced chronic medical conditions; • experiencing trauma and/or grief.

Research shows that LGBTQ older adults are more likely to meet each one of these characteristics than their straight and cisgender counterparts.

LGBTQ older adults are also less likely to have children to pass things down to or to receive help from, and are more likely to be estranged from their biological families. This, of course, includes survivors of the AIDS crisis, many of whom lost most, if not all, of their friends and chosen family. It is understandable that such survivors may feel particularly attached to the physical objects of those who passed. It may be all that they have left, belying clear-cut strategies like, “If you don’t use it, get rid of it.”

People who hoard need help from people who acknowledge the gravity of their losses, and their attachments.

While people with hoarding behaviors are characteristically reluctant to let others into their homes, many LGBTQ clients also fear maltreatment based on their LGBTQ identity. They risk being doubly stigmatized by providers—as people who hoard, and as LGBTQ. As one client shared, “I don’t want a total stranger to see my totally gay apartment; they might flip (out) on me!”

There are no wide-scale studies on LGBTQ older adults and hoarding. Fortunately, that may change. In 2015, California passed the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Disparities Reduction Act. It requires government agencies to collect voluntarily provided sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data when collecting demographic information. Implementing this bill continues to take time as ongoing trainings across agencies statewide teach staff on how respectfully to ask SOGI questions. I am hopeful that this data may lead to a better understanding of hoarding behavior in the LGBTQ community.

In recent years, San Francisco agencies like Adult Protective Services (APS) have rolled out short-term interagency pilot programs to serve those at risk for eviction due to hoarding. Such initiatives have proven to be effective, but they are

resource-intensive and have specific eligibility criterion.

The Mental Health Association of San Francisco (MHASF) has also continued to be a key player in advocating for and serving people who hoard. Programs include trainings, treatment groups, peer-led groups and a peer-run warm line. A biweekly LGBTQ-focused group has been facilitated at Openhouse in San Francisco for several years. It’s dropin and free.

The complex nature of hoarding calls for such community-based interventions. One-shot massive deep-cleans have been widely found to be ineffective. Recent research out of UCSF in collaboration with MHASF showed peer-facilitated treatment groups to be as effective as therapist-led groups. While Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is considered standard clinical treatment, recent trials suggest that Compassion-Focused therapy may be more effective than CBT alone. Most clinicians and advocates now favor approaches wherein clinicians collaborate with clients to jointly set incremental goals and assess readiness for change.

In my practice, we work not only on behavioral change, but also on the client’s grief, loss and trauma, as well as their strengths and aspirations. We talk about the gifts that they still want to give, or the art that they still want to make. Together, we imagine what change could look like.

Step into the story... and become art Portraiture, Fine Art, Event Photography 415.481.5185 www.exlightstudio.com

People who “struggle with stuff” make up a more significant part of the LGBTQ community than we might imagine. We need to stop stigmatizing and shaming them. They are our friends and neighbors and they need our collective support.

The author received permission for all quotes used herein.

Identifying information has been omitted to protect client privacy.

Fairley Parson, LCSW, is a psychotherapist in private practice in San Francisco. She can be reached at fairley@ fairleyparsontherapy.com or on the web at https://bit.ly/2M3amjk

Alegre Home Care is proud to support Dr. Marcy Adelman’s Aging in Community column in the San Francisco Bay Times.

Dr. Marcy Adelman oversees the Aging in Community column. For her summary of current LGBT senior challenges and opportunities, please go to: http://sf baytimes.com/challenges-and-opportunties/

ENJOY THE VIEW! CASTRO STREET CAM Live-streaming 24/7 http://sfbaytimes.com/castro-street-cam/ S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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Donna’s Chronicles

“I think being Gay is a blessing, and it’s something I’m thankful for every single day.”

By Donna Sachet

–Anderson Cooper

s much as we hate to begin a column with an apology, we regret missing this past weekend’s activities, by and large, due to a minor, but painful, foot accident. Yes, even drag queens are susceptible to injury! Sorry if we missed one of your favorite events.

Nevertheless, life goes on and injuries mend, so you can fully expect to see us at the many events listed on this issue’s calendar!

Our recent visit to the AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park for Flagging in the Park was the perfect remedy to lift our spirits! Imagine descending the winding path into the Grove as the throb of dance music swells and suddenly seeing colorful fabric whipping in the wind, hundreds of participants sprawled on blankets or dancing in the grass, and beaming smiles on every face surrounded by nature! The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for this periodic celebration of flagging, originated and lovingly perpetuated by Xavier Caylor and other devotees. Visiting DJ Dawna Montell kept the favorites coming and the only interruption was a brief program thanking all of the organizers and recognizing this event’s beneficiary, the AIDS Memorial Grove. It was an afternoon of reunions with friends of all kinds, including Race Bannon, Julian Marshburn, Rusty Best, Steven Satyricon, Leo Frappier & Jeffrey Goins, Bruce Beaudette and Diana Wheeler. We even brought our little four-legged companion Peanut along for her first Golden Gate Park experience! Needless to say, she had an incredibly busy day of sniffing. All in all, we were reminded of the beauty and significance of the AIDS Memorial Grove, recaptured by the dramatic flair of flagging, and captured by the welcoming atmosphere of this legendary city park.

Our only foray into all things Up Your Alley related was Sunday’s Play T-Dance, a Brian Kent Production at City Nights. This raucous event lived up to its original concept by P. Tyrone with hundreds of frisky dancing kinksters twirling on the dance floor to the music of DJ Russ Rich with partial proceeds going to the Grass Roots Gay Rights Foundation. And when you see Sister Roma and BeBe Sweetbriar at a party, you know you are in the right place! Outstanding San Francisco iconic decor, fantastic lighting and other special effects, and a venue with multiple levels and spaces, combined to create a memorable finale to the weekend!

Last Wednesday, we joined Gary Virginia at Lookout to thank our loyal group of volunteers and media sponsor San Francisco Bay Times who ensured the success of the 21st annual Pride Brunch in June. Guests included Ken Henderson, Deana Dawn, Jim Gatteau, Colby Michaels, Karin Jaffie & Lori Howes, Jim Oerther, Susan Fahey, Joanie Juster and Veronica Guevera & Wendy McPherson; and they enjoyed hot hors d’oeuvres from Lookout’s kitchen, complimentary raffle prizes, step-andrepeat banner for photos and gratitude all around. When an event generates over $45,000 for PRC, a celebration is in order! Of particular note was a brief reflection from Joe Mac, who has attended every one of the twentyone Pride Brunches, starting at Stars restaurant, through many years at Hotel Whitcomb, and this year at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in Union Square. He shared three specific memories, one very funny and two deeply touching. This is why Pride Brunch has become such a beloved event and why we continue to do the hard work required each year to perpetuate it. Grand Marshals and Honorees of the San Francisco Pride Parade have a few minutes to share personal remarks that frequently amuse, often inspire, and sometimes genuinely pull the heart strings. We hope to share this very special and personal project with you next year for SF Pride’s 50th anniversary celebration on the Saturday morning of Pride Weekend.

With so many events listed on our calendar this time, we want to highlight a few of particular importance. We proudly serve on the Board of Directors of the Rainbow Honor Walk and can’t wait to see eight new bronze plaques join the others embedded in the sidewalks of the Castro neighborhood. Thanks to generous cooperation with the San Francisco Department of Public Works, up and down Market Street from Castro to 15th Street, we’ll be honoring Freddie Mercury, Maria Equi, Chavela Vargas, Lou Sullivan, W. H. Auden, Gerry Studds, Alvin Ailey and Josephine Baker. No other city gives such wonderful visible recognition to LGBTQ individuals who have significantly contributed to the world we live in today!

We’ve attended nearly every one of Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation’s annual Help is on the Way musical benefits and their twenty-fifth celebration on Sunday, The annual Pride Brunch Benefit Appreciation Party, held at the Lookout on July 31, celebrated the largest amount ever raised at a Pride Brunch in SF. Co-hosts Donna Sachet and Gary Virginia enjoyed the party with Julian Marshburn, Griff Young and Joanie Juster.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DONNA SACHET

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Every Sunday Sunday’s a Drag!

The Starlight Room Sir Francis Drake Hotel 10:30 am Brunch, 11:30 am Show $75 inclusive https://starlightroomsf.com/sundays-a-drag Friday, August 9 Rainbow Honor Walk Plaque Installation New historic plaques will be placed up and down Market Street 10:30 am Free! http://rainbowhonorwalk.org/ Sunday, August 11 Vanessa Bousay I’ve Gotta Be Me! with Tom Shaw, Steven Satyricon, Roberta Drake Oasis, 298 Eleventh Street 7 pm $25 https://sfoasis.com/ Thursday, August 15 Drunk Drag Dizney Hilarious musical variety show Thursday–Saturday for 2 weeks Oasis, 298 Eleventh Street 7 pm $25–$50 https://sfoasis.com/ Saturday, August 17 Daytime Diva’s T-Dance w/80s & 90s music, DJ Wayne G Virgin Hotel Rooftop Deck, 250 Fourth Street 1–6 pm $25 https://briankentproductions.com/ Saturday, August 17 Empress Show Misty Blue hosts this all-Empress show Benefiting the José Sarria International Scholarship Beaux, 2344 Market Street 4–7 pm Free! http://www.imperialcouncilsf.org/ Sunday, August 18 Help is on the Way XXV: Celebrating Broadway Silver Anniversary Gala Herbst Theatre, War Memorial Building 7 pm $150 & up https://www.reaf-sf.org/ Saturday, August 24 Cirque du Runway GAPA’s annual extravaganza Herbst Theatre, War Memorial Building 7 pm $25–$50 https://www.cityboxoffice.com/

August 18, will be spectacular. Confirmed performers include Tyne Daly, Sharon Gless, Constantine Maroulis, Lisa Vroman, Sam Harris, Franc D’Ambrosio, Kimberley Locke, Bruce Vilanch, Paula West, Del Shores, Eileen Blum and Lea Bourgade. We could not be more thrilled that Carole Cook will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. Hers has been a colorful life on stage and screen and a PHOTO BY SHAWN NORTHCUTT

Calendar a/la Sachet

Thursday August 29–31 Star Trek Live Drag Kings parody the popular TV show Oasis, 298 Eleventh Street 7 pm $27.50–$50 https://sfoasis.com/ Saturday, August 31 & Sunday, Sept. 1 Veronika Klaus & Tammy Hall Trio Popular chanteuse returns to SF for 4 shows Martuni’s, 4 Valencia Street 4 pm & 7 pm $40 https://www.brownpapertickets.com/

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Celebrating the Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation Silver Anniversary

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The Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation Commemorates 25 Years of Supporting the Community

PHOTOS COURTESY OF REAF

REAF’s Help is On The Way benefits conclude with a finale moment when cast members gather on stage. The finale of Help Is on the Way XXII in 2016, held at the Herbst Theatre, featured stars, including Carole Cook, Sally Struthers, Paula West, Michael Walters as Dame Edna and more.

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How a Benefit Was Born

wenty-five years ago, two mothers who each suffered through losing their only sons to AIDS decided to take action and to do something positive with their grief.

Shortly after the moms moved in together, Barbara’s son John became very sick and Peggy became her primary support as she watched her son—and many of his friends—die. Following John’s death in 1990, Barbara and many of John’s performer friends decided to put on a benefit to raise funds for Coming Home Hospice, the agency that provided home care for John when he passed. The event was called “Close to Home,” and nearly the entire local theater and cabaret community turned out to perform and support it.

Barbara Richmond and Peggy Ermet were lifelong friends whose mothers were friends before they were born. The lives of these women, both native San Franciscans, had intertwined many times over the years both as children growing up together and later as married couples who socialized and had children.

Peggy’s son Doug grew up to become an Emmy Award-winning television writer and producer, while Barbara’s son John nurtured his artistic side as a set designer, costume designer, interior decorator and supporter of the local theater community. Barbara’s daughter Jeannie married, had a son of her own and moved to Woodside to be with her family.

When Peggy’s husband died, she decided that she wanted to be closer to her son, who was by then living in San Francisco and working at Macy’s in charge of Employee Communications. This move gave the two lifelong friends a chance to reunite; they decided to move in together and share an apartment. By then, both of their sons had been diagnosed with HIV.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF REAF

Peggy eventually moved with her husband to Sacramento, where she raised her only son, Doug. Barbara remained in San Francisco and eventually divorced her husband, raising her two small children, John and Jeannie, on her own. Throughout this time, the two women remained good friends, visiting whenever the opportunities arose.

Barbara Richmond and Peggy Ermet Doug Ermet

Four years later, when Peggy’s son Doug also became very ill, Barbara became Peggy’s support system along with Doug’s close friend Joe Seiler, whom Doug had met working at Macy’s, and his partner Ken Henderson. After Doug’s death in 1994, the two moms called Joe and Ken and said they wanted to put on another benefit to honor Peggy’s son, as they had done for John, and asked if they would help. The answer was an immediate, “Yes!” Joe was a former singer and performer in New York before moving to San Francisco and had worked on previous benefit shows. Ken, in turn, had worked with many HIV/AIDS organizations as a graphic designer. He gained a sense of how the nonprofits fundraised through event production so, combining these skills and interest, Ken and Joe took on helming their first benefit, “Help is on the Way: San Francisco Cares,” at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater on Mother’s Day in 1995.

Inspiration from Nancy LaMott This first event featured the stars of the long-running hit Broadway show The Phantom of the Opera (Lisa Vroman and Franc D’Ambrosio), stars from “Beach Blanket Babylon,” dancers from San Francisco Ballet, an ensemble from the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and other prominent cabaret stars. This first benefit also featured one of Doug’s long-time friends, Nancy LaMott, who had been living in New York and was on a steady rise towards stardom, having performed at the White House several times and gaining great popularity in the cabaret world.

The song “Help is on the Way’ was written for Nancy by singer/songwriter David Friedman and was also one of Doug’s favorite songs. What Nancy didn’t tell Joe and Ken when she

John Richmond

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Nancy LaMott

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Celebrating the Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation Silver Anniversary (continued from page 15)

Expanding REAF’s Programs

Meeting Fundraising Challenges

came to perform in this first benefit was that she had been diagnosed with uterine cancer a few months earlier. While Nancy was here for the benefit, she attended a performance of Angels in America, met the man playing Roy Cohen, fell in love and, six months later, married him on her deathbed.

In 1999, REAF decided it was time to expand their programing and produce a similar holidaythemed benefit show that they named “Help is on the Way for the Holidays,” which also gained great popularity. They began to work with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in New York to produce a series of special “One Night Only” benefit cabaret performances with touring Broadway Casts. These shows also became very popular and are now planned throughout the year as tours are announced and as schedules permit.

In REAF’s early years, getting funding through sponsorships was relatively easy. Companies were losing valued employees to the epidemic and individuals were losing family members and loved ones. Almost no one in the Bay Area had been untouched by the AIDS epidemic.

However, with advances in treatment and people now living with the disease, combined with the events of 9/11 and numerous natural disasters around the world, funding was becoming increasingly more difficult. Giving priorities for many corporations were changing, and HIV/AIDS was becoming more and more difficult to find funding for.

Since their first show in early 2000, REAF has worked with over 60 touring Broadway shows to present this series of performances. However, sadly, 2000 was also the year that Peggy passed, which devastated Barbara once again. Barbara and Peggy had become quite the pair, always at each other’s side and always serving as each other’s primary support. Barbara once reflected, “We’re not lesbians, but I guess we really are domestic partners.”

But Barbara, Ken and Joe, along with a dedicated team of board and committee members, continued to fundraise and produce events.

REAF was fortunate to have had several companies that continued to support them over the years including Charles Schwab and Co, which was REAF’s very first sponsor and helped to make their first event possible; and Wells Fargo, which has provided funding every year since REAF’s second year.

Nancy passed in late November of 1995.

However, all of this led Barbara and Peggy, with their friends Ken and Joe, to continue to try and raise funds to provide support for local HIV/AIDS services. Barbara once said, “I can’t take care of any more dying boys, but this is something I can do. I don’t have much money to donate myself, but I can help raise money for those agencies who do take of these boys.”

Songwriter David Friedman

In ensuing years, REAF produced many other benefits including “Dances from the Heart” for two years featuring many top Bay Area modern and ballet dance companies, a Valentine’s themed concert called “All You Need is Love” for two years, “Divas & Dames,” “Comedy Kabaret” (combining stand-up and musical comedy acts), “My Big Gay Comedy Show,” and, more recently, “Donna Sachet’s Big Gay Comedy Extravaganza.” https://bit.ly/2TcssA3

So, the Richmond/ Ermet Fund, operating under the umbrella of California Pacific Medical Center, incorporated and became an official 501 (c)(3) agency and the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation producing one of San Francisco’s largest annual benefit concert and galas, “Help is on the Way,” as an all-volunteer agency.

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REAF also benefited from other events such as “Dancing with the Dragstars,” produced by REAF board member Patrik Gallineaux, and from many Kimpton Pride Parties as well as Celebrity Cruises’ “Soirée on the Bay” last year. The latter event will take place again in November of this year. To date, REAF has provided well over $3 million to 34 different direct service agencies.

As other funding continued to decrease, though, REAF faced a decision, with Ken, Joe and their team asking themselves: Do we do what so many other agencies are doing and close our doors, or do we expand what we support to include other causes and, if so, what causes?

Where could our support also have an impact on the local community?

Ken told the San Francisco Bay Times, “The answers were clear when we met to discuss our options.

What do we see everywhere we go in the Bay Area?

Homelessness and hunger. So, in 2015, REAF redefined our mission ‘to provide aid for HIV, hunger and homeless youth programs’ and to select beneficiaries for each major event to support those causes.”

He added, “This year we are proud to support Meals on Wheels San Francisco and Raphael House for our summer ‘Help is on the Way XXV: Celebrating Broadway’ gala on August 18 at the Herbst Theater and Project Open Hand and AGUILAS for our ‘Help is on the Way for the Holidays XVIII’ gala on December 9 at the Marines’ Memorial Theater.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF BETH SCHNITZER

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PHOTO BY RINK PHOTO COURTESY OF REAF

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REAF’S

PHOTO COURTESY OF REAF

PHOTO COURTESY OF REAF

PHOTO BY RINK

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REAF benefits often include both a VIP Reception and an After Party where celebrities, cast members and guests enjoy socializing and celebrating.

25th Anniversary Gala

REAF will be presenting their Silver Anniversary Gala, “Help is on the Way XXV: Celebrating Broadway,” on Sunday, August 18. It will be held at the Herbst Theater and Green Room of San Francisco.

This event will celebrate Broadway’s best with Tony Award-winning and nominated singers, songs and casts. The entertainers will include the San Francisco touring cast of Hamilton.

The concert at 7 pm will be preceded by a VIP party at 5 pm in the Green Room upstairs from the theater and will be followed by a nightclub-themed after party with the cast for higher priced tickets. REAF’s Grand Diva, Carole Cook, will also be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her 95th birthday and many, many performances for REAF. REAF is also grateful for their newest presenting sponsor, Delta Dental, without whose support the Gala show would not be possible.

For a listing of the event’s full cast and for other details, please visit https://www.reaf-sf.org/

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Spivy: ‘The Last of the Fleur de Levys’

Photos courtesy of Dr. Bill Lipsky

engagement was a brief one, as was his second and last in 1943.

Faces from Our LGBT Past Dr. Bill Lipsky Presenting Spivy Le Voe: chanteuse, composer and nightclub owner, whose songs lampooned “the socially prominent and insufferably snobbish,” the very patrons she sought.

During the 1940s, Spivy’s Roof, her place, and, of course, the lady herself were “must sees” on any elegant pub crawl of Manhattan. It was there, during her twice nightly performances, when James Gavin wrote that “the sophisticated [i.e., risqué] song finally became sophisticated.”

Spivy was born Bertha Levine in Brooklyn in 1906. Writer Ignacio Schwartz described her as “a plump lady” who “wore her hair in a tight pompadour with a white streak down the middle. She would place a tall glass of what was probably chilled gin on the piano before her ... . Her singing—her low, throaty voice— would always be perfect.” She never tried to conceal her lesbianism or her lovers, although, as propriety then dictated, she was discrete about both.

Legendary for her intense frugality, Spivy tended to hire performers who were either on their way up or their way down. In 1941, when she booked him, Walter (né Wladziu) Liberace (1919–1987), before he had a single name or a single candelabra, was at the beginning of his career. The

As Broadway composer and musical director Buster Davis told Gavin, “One night he was up there playing and Spivy’s fans were getting restless for her to go on. [Someone] came over and said, ‘Spivy, are you ready?’

She answered in that booming voice, ‘Oh, tell the fairy to keep playing. I’ll be right there.’ Liberace heard her, as did half the room.” Whether she was being serious or saucy, the pianist, who always denied he was gay, quit soon after.

Despite such occasional outbursts, Spivy’s was a club where gay men felt welcome and enjoyed each other’s company without fear of police raids. “It was the place in those days,” Davis said, “especially for men,” who adored her. Women did too, including her current lover, usually seated at the bar, and friends such as Tallulah Bankhead and Patsy Kelly, whom she entertained at specially reserved tables.

Impressionist Sheila Barrett (1909–1980)

Impressionist Sheila Barrett (1909– 1980), “the nightclub Bernhardt,” was on her way down. A headliner in the 1930s, often receiving more than $2,000 a week, she had even performed for President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt at a Cabinet Dinner. Her personal life, just as impressive, included intimate relationships with Cissy Patterson, who owned the Washington Times-Herald, and Evalyn Walsh McLean, owner of the Hope Diamond.

Broadway lyricist John Latouche (1914–1956)

Barrett did not simply do voice impressions of celebrated people. She famously performed both roles in an episode from an imagined production of Hamlet that starred Bert Lahr as the Melancholy Dane and Lynne Fontanne as Ophelia; and a scene from Gone with the Wind had it been cast with Fanny Brice as Scarlett O’Hara and W. C. Fields as Rhett Butler. Her last appearance for Spivy was in 1948.

Spivy mostly performed her own material—songs that typically lampooned the people and preoccupations of New York City’s so-called upper-class society. Many were written with Broadway lyricist John Latouche (1914–1956), including “The Last of the Fleur de Levys,” the story of a society matron whose time had passed.

Often described as “The Female Noel Coward”—as was he—she brought a gay sensibility to both her performances and to her audience.

Latouche had his first Broadway triumph in 1940, the year Spivy’s Roof opened, with the musical Cabin in the Sky starring Ethel Waters. His next success came in 1946, when he collaborated with composer Duke Ellington on the critically acclaimed Beggar’s Holiday, a contemporary, interracial version of John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera. Gore Vidal thought him “probably the best lyricist in the history of the American musical.”

In 1954, Latouche wrote the book and lyrics for The Golden Apple.

Although it received the New York Drama Critics’ Circle award as best musical of the year, it lasted only 125 performances on Broadway. Writing 40 years later, Ken Mandelbaum called it “a near-perfect piece,” the “most neglected masterwork of the American musical theatre.”

Latouche died suddenly in 1956, only 41 years old, exactly one month after the world premiere of The

Spivy Le Voe

Ballad of Baby Doe, for which he wrote the libretto and lyrics; it was one of the few American operas to have joined the standard repertoire. Long divorced from Connecticut heiress Theodora Griffis after a brief marriage, he was survived by poet Kenward Elmslie, his life partner, a grandson of publisher Joseph Pulitzer.

After her nightclub closed in 1951, Spivy toured Europe, but her style and wit now seemed of a different time. She turned to theatre, portraying Mother Burnside in Auntie Mame on Broadway in 1957. When it closed in 1958, she joined the national touring company, and then moved on to character parts in film and television.

Spivy’s motion picture career was brief, but she made an indelible impression in the small parts she took. She was Ruby Lightfoot in The Fugitive Kind (1960), which starred Marlon Brando; Ma Greeny, the vicious gang leader in Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962); and Comrade Berezovo as seen by the brainwashed

Spivy and Robert Morley on Alfred Hitchcock Presents

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American soldiers in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), among other roles.

Perhaps her most famous performance was in a 1959 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, as the suave, sinister, gender ambiguous owner of Spirro’s, an exclusive restaurant that was about to serve up Mr. Laffler, played by Robert Morley, as the “Specialty of the House.” She died in 1971. Now sadly neglected, hers remains one of the fabulous personalities and majestic faces from our LGBT past.

Spivy recorded two albums during the 1940s. Neither has ever been rereleased, but some of her best recordings may be heard at JD Doyle’s wonderful Queer Music Heritage site: http://www.queermusicheritage.com/ Bill Lipsky, Ph.D., author of “Gay and Lesbian San Francisco” (2006), is a member of the Rainbow Honor Walk board of directors.

An evening with Spivy album cover

Hidden Gems for Summer Nature Getaways

Photos courtesy of John Chen

light on the other side. It is rumored that an unidentified and never seen creature, much like the Loch Ness monster, resides in the deep dark waters.

Sports John Chen Summer is in full swim, I mean swing, and the temperature is only going to get hotter. Many of you, like me, are on the lookout for fun, outdoor hiking and swimming adventures to beat the heat, but don’t want to fight crowds of tourists and selfie takers. We want to enjoy the great outdoors and all of its beauty, glory, serenity and tranquility in peace and quiet. Fear not, I am here to share with you a few stunningly beautiful hidden gems that only locals know.

Coyote Creek Cave This beautiful destination is located in Calaveras County at the foot of the Sierras where Coyote Creek runs through a limestone cave full of mystery and intrigue. Locals enjoy swimming or floating into the dark cave where the water is pristine and cool, but pitch black until they reach day-

Last year we took a day trip to swim in the cave and perhaps to shed some light on this mystery swim hole.

Armed with a couple of floaties, dry bags full of food, drinks and towels, and, of course, my camera, we proceeded to the one-mile Natural Bridge Trail from the trail head to Coyote Creek. Just as the locals had described, the cave was beautiful even in dim lighting. The water was cool and crystal clear, but dark with the depth unknown. And just as importantly, we did not encounter any mysterious creature lurking in the dark water.

Opal Pool (Opal Creek Trail) True to the name, Opal Creek and Pools in Oregon are crystal opal in color and breathtaking! This nearly eight-mile, easy-to-moderate roundtrip hike alongside the creek is full of natural swimming holes and a few waterfalls. The trail also takes you through an ancient rainforest as well as an historic, but now defunct, mining town called Jawbone Flats. At the end of the trail, you are rewarded with a beautiful opal babbling creek running through a narrow gorge cascading into a calm, deep opal pool. Here, locals jump from several heights as high as 30

Coyote Creek Cave at the end of Natural Bridges Trail

Take Me Home with You! Ziggy

Sawmill Falls along Opal Creek Trail

feet into the pristine and somewhat cold pool. For the jumpers and swimmers, the trip is very much worth it.

And I wholeheartedly agree because we recently made the journey, swam and jumped into Opal Pool.

Although it is located 30 miles east of Salem, Oregon, Opal Creek Trail and Pool is an excellent and drivable destination choice for those looking for a more lush and exotic location.

Yuba River Yuba River swim holes are fairly well known to Northern Californians, but I am including these beautiful places because there are secluded natural pools for those willing to hike and scale rocks. Located approximately 70 miles northeast of Sacramento, Yuba River has three major swim holes located at three different bridge crossings: Hwy 49, Purdon and Edwards. Each crossing has roadside parking and either stairs or trails leading down to the large pools immediately under the bridges.

While the vast majority of the people, especially families with small children, are stationed right at the bridges, those who are more adventurous and looking for privacy can hike either upstream or downstream and discover a plethora of large jumping rocks, clear emerald pools and natural water slides.

Jumper at Opal Pool, with Opal Creek Gorge in the background

River and the jewellike swim hole beneath the bridge, then proceeded to hike one mile to a lesser well-known and clothing-optional pool at Hoyt Crossing.

Hoyt Crossing is mainly for adults and has an easy access open shallow swim hole followed by a larger, more spectacular and deeper granite rock pool just Edwards Crossing swim hole at Yuba River around the river bend. drated, burnt, hungry and seeing A little bit more upstream where we trash that other people left behind. had to swim to lies a series of natu2. Get to your destinations relatively ral water slides for the more advenearly, no later than 11 am, due turous. to limited parking, especially on weekends.

Plan for Your Trip 3. There is no cell service, so make Since all three locations are eassure that someone knows where ily searchable, just Google them for you are going. directions. In the case of Opal Pool 4. Be careful of poison oak along the Trail, please note that you should get trails.

5. A dry bag is recommended to keep a parking permit online a few days all of your essentials from getting before your trip. wet.

When traveling to all three destina6. Water shoes are recommended due tions: to slippery rocks.

1. Make sure that you pack lots of water, sunscreen, bug spray, sustenance and a trash bag. Nothing ruins a trip more than being dehy-

John Chen, a UCLA alumnus and an avid sports fan, has competed as well as coached tennis, volleyball, softball and football teams.

At Hwy 49 Crossing, we took a minute to admire the beauty of Yuba

Fitness SF Trainer Tip of the Month

Tony & Taylor- Fitness SF SoMa “There are so many benefits to incorporating lunges into your workouts. These exercises improve your balance, challenge your core muscles, and they are great for building your glutes! Begin doing lunges with just your body weight. Then, once you are comfortable with stability, add in the free weights.”

Floaters and swimmer at Yuba River Hoyt Crossing Swim Hole

“I’m a big, energetic fella who’s built as solid as they come! If you have a surplus of treats, we’ll be good friends in no time. My favorite pastimes are slow walks, cuddle sessions and belly rubs!

I’ve been called a social butterfly, and I think it’s fitting. I love meeting new people, so don’t be shy about stopping by the shelter, introducing yourself and giving me a big ol’ belly rub!”

Ziggy 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 Ziggy.

To meet Ziggy, as well as other pets seeking their forever homes, please visit: San Francisco SPCA Mission Campus 250 Florida Street San Francisco, CA 94103 415-522-3500

Dr. Jennifer Scarlett and Pup

Aside from major holidays, the Mission Campus 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!

Tore Kelly, Director of Creative & Social Media for Fitness SF, provides monthly tips that he has learned from professional trainers. For more information: https://fitnesssf.com/

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Say Cheese!

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Laura Werlin’s Guide to San Francisco’s Best Fromage

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interest in American cheese began in the late 90s, prompted by chef Alice Waters as well as the farmers’ markets, where you could meet the farmers and cheesemongers—and taste those cheeses firsthand.”

The Gay Gourmet David Landis One of the first things that you will notice when you meet cheese connoisseur Laura Werlin in person is her ingratiating smile. Perhaps it’s because she says “cheese” all day long?

I was lucky enough to work with the James Beard award-winning author, speaker and cheese expert years ago at KPIX-TV (CBS, San Francisco).

We caught up the other day in her beautiful Pacific Heights home over—no less—a plate of delicious cheeses (a Wisconsin Montamore cheddar and a French Pyrenees goat/sheep cheese called L’Adarre Reserve, to be precise).

The Gay Gourmet wanted to know: Where does one go to buy the best cheese in town, and what restaurants serve destination-worthy cheese plates? Always happy to provide guidance, Werlin willingly obliged, while taking the mystery out of the world of cheese in the process.

How did she become the cheese queen? “I like to say, cheese found me,” Werlin explains with a laugh.

“Essentially, I got into cheese because cheese got into me as a young child.

Years ago, I went to the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) conference and was inspired by the cookbook awards. I thought to myself, ‘If I were to write a book, what would it be?’ The answer was cheese, specifically American cheese.”

“I was excited by the new cheeses coming out of America,” Werlin continues. “In 2000, I published my first book, The New American Cheese [which pays tribute to the cheese renaissance in the U.S.]. A renewed

Laura Werlin’s first book, The New American Cheese, published in 2000.

But how does one know where to go to find the top-quality cheeses and what to purchase? “The best way to buy cheese without intimidation,” says Werlin, “is to go to a cheese shop that provides tastes.

I call it, ‘try before you buy.’ The cheesemonger will assist in the process and help expand your cheese horizons. As a result, you will get bolder in cheese choices.” As far as where to go to buy your cheese?

“Choose a place because it’s convenient,” Werlin notes. “Having a relationship with your cheesemonger is helpful. They get to know you and they can recommend things you like.”

Where are some of her favorite cheese shops in San Francisco? “I love Cheese Plus on Polk St. Their cheesemonger, Ray Bain, is loquacious [that’s a compliment], knows everything and will point you in all the right directions. Gordon Edgar at Rainbow Grocery also is a great authority and has written a couple of cheese books.”

Some of her other favorites include Cowgirl Creamery in the Ferry Building (and in Point Reyes), Say Cheese in Cole Valley, Gus’ Community Market (four locations: the Haight, Mission Bay, the Mission District and the outer Sunset), Mollie Stone’s in Pacific Heights, Little Vine on Grant Avenue in North Beach, and The Cheese School of San Francisco at Ghirardelli Square (where Werlin teaches), a place she dubs, “Cheese with a view.”

She adds that farmers’ markets are always a good choice as well because “you meet the cheesemaker and can buy direct.” Farther afield, Werlin suggests visiting the Tomales Farmstead Creamery, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company, the Nicasio Valley Cheese Company, Achadinha in Petaluma, and Marin French Cheese Company, which started in 1865 and is America’s oldest continuing operating cheese operation.

And if you’re headed out to a restaurant, what are the best places for a quality cheese offering? Among Werlin’s favorites are: Mission Cheese on Valencia, Amelie on Polk Street, she’s heard good things about High Treason on Clement Street and Wine Kitchen in Nopa, Birba (which boasts a gem of a courtyard) and Absinthe Brasserie & Bar, both in Hayes Valley.

There’s also the San Francisco Wine and Cheese in the same neighborhood. Werlin says it is at the top of her “have-to-try-list.”

On the high end, Werlin recommends: Gary Danko near Ghirardelli Square (which made

Camembert and comtė with mushrooms sandwich 20

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Laura Werlin, author of The All-American Cheese & Wine Book.

a name with its outstanding cheese course); Acquerello, a quiet Michelin-starred enclave on Upper Polk St. with an extensive, all-Italian cheese cart; and Perbacco, a go-to financial district destination with all northern Italian cheeses. And, there’s always the classic—Zuni Café. Zuni approaches its cheese plate differently, offering one cheese and a perfect accompaniment.

“Sometimes,” explains Werlin, “focusing on one great cheese and a complementary condiment is as memorable, if not more so.”

What wines pair well with cheese?

“I’ve written a book, The AllAmerican Cheese & Wine Book, which helps people figure it out,” says Werlin. “The Cheese School of San Francisco also has classes that teach you how to pair wines appropriately with cheese. I like to say there are some basic guidelines—and pairing textures of cheese and wine is important. Sparkling wines tend to go well with all styles of cheese— it’s a great ‘go-to’ wine for cheese. A classic pairing is a light white wine, like a Sauvignon Blanc, with goat cheese. This higher acid wine pairs well with goat cheeses, which are lemony on the palate. Another classic combination is a Sauterne with a bleu cheese like Roquefort. The contrast of a salty cheese with a sweet wine works well because salt and sweet love each other.”

I’m doing with the YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization). I call myself an ‘edu-tainer.’ We have fun at offsites and conferences, where I educate people about cheese and wine pairings. In September, I’m headed to the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta, where I’ll speak about ‘creamy cheeses and the wines that love them,’ and ask the proverbial question, ‘To brie or not to brie?’”

Finally, what advice does Werlin have for the cheese novice? “Have faith in yourself. In America, because we don’t grow up with cheese as a stand-alone food, we have fear. I encourage people not to be afraid. Try new cheeses. 99 times out of 100, you’ll make new discoveries that will make you happy.”

A Few of Laura Werlin’s Cheese Tips

• You’ll know if brie cheese has gone bad because it will smell like ammonia; it will be soggy and gray.

• If your cheese develops mold, you can cut that away and still eat the rest of the cheese.

For further information about Laura Werlin, visit: https://www.laurawerlin.com/ You can also follow Laura on Instagram @CheezeLady or as “Laura Werlin” on Facebook.

Laura Werlin’s books about cheese are available via https://www.amazon.com/ For information about cheesemongers and cheese producers in California, visit: http://cheesetrail.org/

• An atypical, but recommended, grilled cheese sandwich?

Cheddar, chorizo, apples and pickled onions on Ciabatta.

David Landis, aka “The Gay Gourmet,” is a foodie, a freelance writer and a PR executive. Follow him: @david_landis, email him at: david@landispr.com or visit online at: www.gaygourmetsf.com

Chimney Rock cheese (top) and Devil’s Gulch cheese (bottom) from Cowgirl Creamery

California Cheese Wheel Cake from The Cheese School of San Francisco

Does she have a favorite cheese?

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” jokes Werlin. “My cheese tastes vary. But Harbison made by Jaspar Hill Farms & Cellars in Vermont is a cheese I have never failed to love every time I taste it. It’s the 2018 Best of Show winner from the American Cheese Society Annual Conference.”

What’s next for Werlin? “I love doing corporate work, like some of the speaking engagements

Cheese and wine sampler plate at a Laura Werlin event

Artisan cheese plate from The Cheese School of San Francisco

Secrets to the Enduring Success of

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Greens Restaurant and Chez Panisse

AIRFRANCE.COM

As part of its star chef-studded 40th Anniversary Dinner Series, Greens Restaurant recently featured Alice Waters of Chez Panisse, a restaurant that is in its 48th year. There are many reasons behind the inarguable success of these two venerable restaurants, but we would like to offer one that is not often mentioned: trees.

Chez Panisse’s Bunya Chez Panisse is dominated by a member of one of Earth’s oldest tree families: the Araucariacieae. Guests walk under a massive Araucaria bidwillii (aka Bunya pine), which practically cradles those who sit in the porches of the downstairs restaurant and upstairs Café. It is both comforting and awe-inspiring to sit underneath its long branches, something that Native Americans and other populations did under similar trees in centuries past.

40th Anniversary

View from the windows at Greens

sion, Waters and her team state, “is to build and share a national edible education curriculum for pre-kindergarten through high school. This vision includes gardens and kitchens as interactive classrooms for all academic subjects, and a sustainable, delicious, and free lunch for every student.”

Greens’ Redwood Monolith

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TRIPADVISOR.COM

But it is Greens that is more on our minds now, given the Anniversary celebrations taking place through year’s end. The restaurant is literally grounded by late craftsman JB Blunk’s (1926–2002) vertical redwood monolith, simply titled “Greens.” Blunk’s daughter Mariah Nielson told the San Francisco Bay Times that her father created the piece “from a single 22-foot diameter stump of a fallen redwood from Mendocino.”

It begins with a giant tangle of burls skillfully carved on one side to create a partial arch. From that, in a near complete circle, juts a series of rustic tables and chairs—all handcrafted by Blunk from the warm-hued redwood. Should you be lucky enough to dine at those particular tables, you will become a liv- Mariah Nielson (left) with Bruce Mitchell, who worked as an apprentice under Nielson’s father JB Blunk. They are standing under the ing part of the masterwork. arch portion of Blunk’s redwood masterwork “Greens.”

Blunk’s apprentice, Bruce Mitchell, explained that as a near first step in the creation of the restaurant, “Greens” the monolith was bolted into the substrate before the concrete foundation was poured. That helps to explain why the hefty piece has not buckled the floor. Its open shape is inviting and promotes a sense of community in what could otherwise be a nondescript industrial space.

Two Earth Mothers +

ple, in the American Masters documentary about her life and achievements. When she feels the inexplicable “something,” her guests often do, too.

Greens, in turn, has been led by nationally acclaimed chef and author Annie Somerville.

A pioneer in working directly with local, organic farmers (including Greens’ own Green Gulch Farm in Marin County), she and her team select the freshest and most delicious seasonal produce to bring to the table. Somerville first came to Greens in 1981, when she trained under Greens’ original chef Deborah Madison, and has served as Executive Chef since 1985.

Relatively new to Greens is Chef de Cuisine Denise St. Onge, who was brought in after Somerville announced her “semi-retirement.”

St. Onge, who is half-Thai, was raised as a

The stated core values of Greens are “Generosity, Patience, Virtue, Energy, Focus and Connection.” This might all seem too woo-woo for these fast-paced, fast food times, but for those who surrender to the lull of the Bay water as it laps near the windows of Greens and then slow their schedules for the restaurant’s unrushed meals, the potential rewards are many.

Greens’ Anniversary Dinner Series

Buddhist and grew up both in the Bay Area and in Thailand. She told 7x7 earlier this year that she and her family came to Greens a lot when she was growing up: “I always thought it was a really beautiful restaurant and institution, and a very peaceful place.”

Waters (and her team from the Chez Panisse Café) was the guest chef at Greens on August 5. She was preceded by Reem Assil of Reem’s California on July 9.

A Feast for the Senses

• Suzette Gresham of Acquerello on Wednesday, September 11; • Kim Alter of Nightbird on Monday, October 7; • Tanya Holland of Brown Sugar Kitchen on Monday, November 4; • and Pam Mazzola of Prospect on Wednesday, December 11.

St. Onge’s sentiment is shared by many others, especially given that Greens opened in 1979 as part of the San Francisco Zen Center, which includes not only Green Gulch Farm but also the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.

Located at historic Fort Mason Center in a former machine shop, Greens overlooks the San Francisco Marina with sweeping views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands.

During the Waters’ guest night, heavy fog blanketing much of the Bay Area parted over the Golden Gate Bridge just in time for a spectacular sunset. It is little wonder that countless couples have fallen in love both at and with Greens.

Upcoming guest chefs are the following:

To make a reservation, please go to: https://bit.ly/2GSzbdp For More Information JB Blunk: https://www.jbblunk.com/About Chez Panisse: https://bit.ly/2MISz0g The Edible Schoolyard Project: https://edibleschoolyard.org/berkeley

In 1996, Waters established the Chez Panisse Foundation, later renamed the Edible Schoolyard Project. The organization’s mis-

Permanent Collection (Nielson’s business with Waters’ daughter Fanny Singer; it is a line of clothing, accessories and objects based on historical and contemporary originals): https://permanentcollection.com/

The main course: grilled eggplant and sweet peppers over saffron rice and cranberry beans with an herb sauce

Dessert: strawberry sherbet with peaches, raspberries and a langue de chat

Core Values

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Food activist Waters has been a champion of local, sustainable agriculture for over four decades. Whether readying her restaurant for a special night or signing an autograph as a favor for an ailing Bay Times family member, she works to live in the present and to engage her emotions and senses. “When I come in (to Chez Panisse), if I don’t feel something, I burn rosemary,” she said, for exam-

PHOTO BY BEV SYKES

Alice Waters (middle) with Chez Panisse Café Chefs Nathan Alderson and Beth Wells at Greens on August 5

PHOTO COURTESY OF GREENS

Less visionary restauranteurs would have cut the tree down, but Waters and Chez Panisse’s founders left it in place and did not just work around it, but designed the entry and other areas with the tree’s space and other needs in mind. All the more remarkable is that the restaurant is located on a busy urban street not far from UC Berkeley.

Interior of Greens

The first course at the Alice Waters dinner at Greens: an heirloom tomato salad with basil and aioli

Second course: green fettuccine with chanterelle mushrooms and gremolata

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2019)

From the Coming Up Events Calendar See page 26 Tuesday, August 13 - The Lavender Spirit: Gay Men Reclaiming Spirituality @ Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street. A conversation with Finn Deerhart, Jude Harmon and Darren Main on the spirituality being discovered by gay men everywhere. 7:45pm. http://labyrinthyoga.com

Wednesday, August 14 - GLBT Book Club: No Ashes in The Fire @ Dog Eared Books Castro, 489 Castro Street.

Meet author Darnell L. Moore. 7pm. http://dogearened books.com/castro

Consequences Is the First Narrative Queer Film from Slovenia pin’s respect. Soon, Zele, Niko and Andrej are spending their weekend in Ljubljana. They drink, do drugs and participate in some criminal behavior.

Film Gary M. Kramer The absorbing drama Consequences, now available on iTunes, Amazon and other outlets, is billed as the “first narrative queer film from Slovenia.” Written and directed by Darko Stante, it concerns Andrej (Matej Zemljic), a handsome, closeted 18-year-old.

Andrej is first seen at a party, where he can’t get it up for a girl angling to have sex with him. At home, he fights with his domineering mother, Milena (Rosana Hribar), while his milquetoast father (Dejan Spasic) tries to keep the peace. Andrej’s difficult behavior has caused his mother to involve the courts, and he is soon sent to a juvenile detention center, where most of the film unfolds.

(Alas, the film asks viewers to take Milena’s word for Andrej’s criminal behavior—at least from the film’s onset. At first, he doesn’t seem like such a bad kid!)

Consequences shows how Andrej adapts to, and navigates his way through, the toxic male hierarchy of the center. He befriends Luka (Lovro Zafred), his passive roommate, but has a tense encounter with Zele (Timon Sturbej), a hotheaded alpha male who has a penchant for blackmail. When Andrej wins a fight against Niko (Gasper Markun), one of Zele’s flunkies, he proves himself to be a tough guy. And when Zele puts a challenge to Andrej in the gym, he gains the center’s king-

However, Andrej is uneasy about robbing people—he is concerned about the police. He goes along because he is attracted to the magnetic and dangerous Zele. He makes his feelings known to Zele when they are dancing, with their arms around one another, and Andrej puts his hand down the back of Zele’s pants. While Zele, like Andrej, is drunk and/or high at the time, the guys do soon kiss. They later hook up in a hotel room with Miki (Dominik Vodopivec) participating as well.

But the next morning, neither youth talks about what transpired. Andrej may be falling in love, or finally acting on his pent-up same-sex desires, but Zele has a girlfriend, Svetlana (Lea Cok). He is more interested in what Andrej can do for him, not with him.

As such, Consequences comes to pivot on how Andrej’s attraction will prompt him to do Zele’s dirty work, shaking down Luka or Mitar (Urban Kuntaric), another youth at the detention center, for money.

Andrej’s actions also get him deeper into trouble. He rebels against the center’s authorities. He breaks into his parents’ home and the police are called. Things come to a head when Zele convinces Andrej to help him get money so they can go to Amsterdam together.

Stante does not provide much in the way of surprises with what happens.

Moreover, a subplot involving Andrej rescuing his pet rat from his parent’s house leads to the logical conclusion as it provides a heavy-handed symbol for the protagonist’s own entrapment.

But Consequences, Stante’s feature debut, is so compelling that one can forgive some of the contrivances.

Even as Andrej makes a series of bad decisions, he is sympathetic, in part because Zemljic is captivating as the troubled youth. His transformation is realistic because the actor expresses Andrej’s internal struggle through his body language and expressions, as well as acts of tenderness and violence.

because he has nowhere else to stay. The film avoids making generalizations about queer Curiously, the film does not do much youth, but it does suggest the social condito examine Andrej’s sexuality; it tions that impact teens serves as an excuse for his behavior who are questioning or to some degree, and Stante uses it to hint at his inner turmoil. Andrej looks struggling with their sexuality. For this reaon with fascination and shame as Zele harasses Mitar in the detention son, Consequences has center, humiliating the youth with value. homoerotic horseplay. And Andrej Stante’s drama is filled rejects the advances of a young girl one night, so as not to jeopardize his with both sensitivity and brutality. The imagined romance with Zele. film is aided by Zemljic’s emotional turn. Watching him breakdown during a Yet beyond these scenes, or moments “coming out” scene is quietly powerful. Consequences may not be very original, of the youths taunting one another but it is worthwhile. with the word “faggot,” Stante connects the dots of Andrej’s situation to homeless queer youth. Given that his relationship with his parents is splintered, Andrej spends several nights sleeping outdoors in Ljubljana

KIT’N KITTY’S

QUEER POP QUIZ

© 2019 Gary M. Kramer Gary M. Kramer is the author of “Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews,” and the co-editor of “Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.” Follow him on Twitter @garymkramer

HE’S A PLAYER

A) Jason Collins Who was the first active male athlete from one B) Billy Bean of the four major North American professional C) Michael Sam D) Greg Louganis team sports to publicly come out as gay?

ANSWER ON PAGE 28

Karin Jaffie, aka Kit/Kitty Tapata, won the title of Mr. Gay San Francisco in 2011 and has earned many other honors since.

Connect with Jaffie via Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ktapata

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By Sister Dana Van Iquity Sister Dana sez, “Okay, so at his testimony to Congress, Robert Mueller wasn’t exactly a knight in shining armor; but at least he did get in several deadly stabs at the obsequious Orange Ogre!”

Race Bannon, Jared T Hemming, Alex Ray and STRUT invited us to MAGNEKINK, a social event for San Francisco’s queer leather/fetish/kink community held on July 22 at Strut HQ, 470 Castro Street in the heart of the Castro. The event was free, and all were welcome. This was their 6th annual event, and was held in honor of UP YOUR ALLEY FAIR weekend. Before we jumped into that busy weekend of leatheriffic events, we got to join these fine folks to socialize with our fellow enthusiasts. This was a great chance to catch up with old friends, meet some new ones, and to square up our plans for the weekend festivities. This year’s event featured a live DJ, raffle prizes, complimentary refreshments and a clothes check. We wished veteran leatherman Race a happy birthday—complete with that stupid HBD song sung always out of key. I hugged Race. We enjoyed chocolate cake. By the way, if you’re interested in keeping South of Market kinky, help manage SF’s new LEATHER AND LGBTQ CULTURAL DISTRICT. More info is at https://bit.ly/2MHqCpB Sister Dana sez, “Whenever I hear Trump rage on TV, I am reminded of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth,’ Act V: It is a tale.

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing!

Thanks, William, you summed it all up perfectly!”

UP YOUR ALLEY FAIR was Sunday, July 28. It was just hot enough to show a whole lotta exposed flesh! Prudes did not dig nudes. And if you weren’t properly outfitted, there were plenty of booths selling appropriate leather and kink gear and toys, including the OFFICIAL FOLSOM STREET clothing spot and MR. S LEATHER. A few of my fave t-shirts spotted: “Alcohol you later!” “Luv to Flip!” and “Very stable genius,” as an insult to T-rump. I always look forward to STEAMWORKS BATHS and their naked Twister game: “Right hand/red!” Another favorite of mine is the 2020 BARE CHEST CALENDAR booth benefiting PRC with bare-chested calendar men signing their particular month and offering bear hugs. A big stage on the street provided live music and other entertainment. There was a dearth of drag queens this year, unless you count some of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence greeting the fairgoers. Someone said they saw Juanita MORE!, but alas I did not run into her. My friend Troy Brunet told me about a monthly cruise ship event, DAYBREAKER SF, which sounded like a fun time. After the fair, I delighted in the GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS party hosted on the nearby Natoma Street cul-de-sac by my buddies Steve Pi, Tamale Ringwald and Dylan Peet. It was truly a delight, and I hope they offer it again after the FOLSOM STREET FAIR on September 29.

Well, that’s the report from Dore Alley by this leather nun.

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THE HARVEY MILK LBGTQ DEMOCRATIC CLUB presented their 43RD ANNUAL DINNER AND GAYLA on July 29 in the San Francisco War Memorial Green Room. Founded in 1976 as the San Francisco Gay Democratic Club, it was the City’s first Democratic club with the word “gay” in its name. The club was renamed for Supervisor Harvey Milk after his assassination in 1978. The event opened with a special performance by DQ Dee Jae Galaxy, followed by the President’s Address in which Sister Dana and Garaje Gooch enjoyed “striking a pose” at Milk Club President the Krewe de Kinque benefit held at The Edge on July 20.

Kevin Bard brilliantly spoke of the past, the present Sister Dana sez, “Here are some and the future of the Club. Three difaugust August activities to ferent awards were given. The “Bill check out!”

Kraus Leadership Award” was presented to OUR TRANS HOME SF, THE CASTRO ART WALK was a coalition campaign calling for City (as usual on every first Thursday) leaders to address the crisis of transon August 1. But you can still go gender homelessness and housing to the venues listed at the end here instability in SF. The “Jazzie Collins and enjoy the art displayed all Award” was given to Aria Sa’id, a month long. My first stop was ART transgender advocate, award-winATTACK, 2358 Market Street, ning Bay Area political strategist, where painter Ariel Gold is feaexecutive director of the Compton’s tured with 20 lovely acrylic on canTransgender Cultural District, and vas modern art pieces. My second founder of Kween Culture Initiative choice is the four spraypaint faces on for Black trans women. And the oil canvas pieces by David Puck.

“Community Ally Award” was Last but not least are four glass mosaaccepted by former SF Supervisor ics on wood created by Ramona for District 6, Jane Kim—mostly Minjoe—three having a musical theme. At DOG-EARED for her tireless work to save and BOOKS I enjoyed the paint on strengthen City College. The Gayla wood whimsical pictures by Mr. closed with a special performance Wylie. I was thrilled to find my

by Per Sia. friend, Sister Golda Lox, whom I Sister Dana sez, “Republiintroduced to the Art Walk; she had can’t Senators deserve their purchased two of these delightful August recess, after all the work drawings. My final stop was SPARK they have NOT accomplished!

ARTS, 4229 18th Street, where artSpecial (dis)credit to ‘Moscow ists Jenny Feinberg and Jen Mitch’ who just blocked two Meyer have come together for their vital election security bills!” first joint exhibition. Their modern art, BLOOM, has been defined as RALLY AGAINST ANTI-LGBTQ “a state or time of beauty, freshand FAITH-BASED HATE was ness and vigor; high development of held in Harvey Milk Plaza on August achievement; to mature one’s poten1 at 6 pm. The rally honored murtial; to shine out or become more dered Russian LGBTQ activfully expressed; or to occur unexist Yelena Grigoryeva, who was pectedly or in a remarkable quantity killed in St. Petersburg, Russia, on or degree.” These definitions loosely July 21 of this year. Grigoryeva had point to an outcome while inviting been the target of numerous death the audience to relate their own jourthreats, and found her name on a ney to the works. Meanwhile check Russian snuff website that encourout these venues for art on display all aged the killings of queer people in August: exchange for money all over Eastern Europe. A vigil took place in honor of https://www.castroartwalk.com/

her life on August 1 with local activists such as Carly McCarthy and invited elected politicians such as Tom Temprano, legislative aide to Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and the Vice-President of the City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees; Farris Peale, a representative for Senator Scott Wiener; and Milk Club Board Member Jeffery Kwong to speak. Closing the event, three of us Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence performed an exorcism with audience participation against anti-LGBTQ violence and hatred.

Speakers addressed the fact that hate groups led by The World Congress of Families, and its shell game of players under various group names, have been exporting faith-based hate, and specifically anti-LGBTQ hate, to Africa, Eastern-Europe and other regions under the guise of “family values.” They’ve done so largely because their efforts to stop gays in the military and queer marriages in the U.S. have utterly failed as equal rights for LGBTQ Americans have taken hold. Americans realize that hate is not a family value. Neither is using the internet to hunt and kill LGBTQ people. One of the demands noted at the rally was to call on the Russian government to step in and shut down such horrifying websites.

For more info about these hateful sites, see https://bit.ly/2KkJLMw

For the month of August, the STRUT gallery is exhibiting the woodcuts of artist BEARPAD. The Art Opening was on August 2 at 470 Castro Street. In gay bars around the world there has been a tradition of erotic woodcut artwork—usually made from industrial subflooring or rough plywood, depicting fellas in various states of play and arousal.

These artifacts of queer history have purpose: to set the scene, the mood and a standard by which the patrons might strive. The majority of these dudes tend to be cis, white and ripped, so their relate-ability is limited to an unrealistic (and, for most folks, impossible) standard. This collection of work proposes an alternative—of diversity in many forms and tenderness not usually seen in the format. It is a celebration of beautiful round imperfect bodies and the potential for love and acceptance that our greater queer community should be striving for. These new figures reach towards an evolving cultural identity within the subculture of “bears” that began as a refuge for those not fitting the norm. Created in that dusky watering hole tradition, this art was cut and carved by hand from loose sketches on high quality plywood, painted, sealed for durability and ready to hang. Each is named after a color. Of these ten cartoon “adorable erotica,” my three faves are (continued on page 28)

PHOTO BY GARETH GOOCH

Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun

Mayor Pete in San Francisco

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The first openly gay presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, Pete Buttigieg, visited the Bay Area on Wednesday, July 24. An event was held in Menlo Park: a private, invitation-only fundraiser hosted by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. There was also an event in San Francisco’s Dog Patch neighborhood: a large gathering with a crowd estimated at 1800 and described as “grassroots” and also offering outreach to the tech community. Among the topics addressed were climate change, social justice and the changing role of California in the primary season. Video clips may be viewed online at San Francisco for Pete Buttigieg on Facebook.

GHOST MEDIA INC.

Buttigieg, who is also the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has one of the Democratic Party’s most diverse presidential campaign teams. According to his Campaign Manager Mike Schmuhl, the campaign currently employs 240 staffers; 37 percent of whom are people of color while 28 percent are LGBTQ. A majority are women.

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COMING UP

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Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back Again @ San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third Street. Special evenings featuring Warhol-themed food and drinks at Cafe 5 and In Situ on Thursdays and Saturdays through September 2. http://www.sfmoma.org NightLilfe LIVE @ California Academy of Sciences, 55 Concourse Drive. The second of four live shows to be held in the West Garden, this event features The Marías with Amo Amo. Presented in partnership with Outside Lands Music Festival, DoTheBay, Deeb Eddy Vodka and artist-in-residence Maggie West.

6-10pm. http://www.calacademy.org The Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria Film Screening @ Tenderloin Museum, 398 Eddy Street. The film,

by Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman, tells the story of the first collective act of militant resistance to the social oppression of queer people in the US. 7pm. http://www.tenderloinmuseum.org Who’s Your Mami with Marga Gomez @ Brava’s Cabaret, 2773 24th Street. One in a series of ongoing monthly comedy events, the program includes headliner Gomez plus Bernadette Luckett, Dominique Gelin, Jesús U. BettaWork and Josiah Luis Alderete. 8pm. http://www.brava.org

9 Friday Poetry Reading with Jan Steckel & Thomas Stanton @ El Cerrito location provided with RSVP. The event is part of the Last Word Reading Series and includes a light potluck and open reading. 7pm.

RSVP to 510-527-9905 Rainbow Rice: Intersecting Justice for LGBTQ Asian and Pacific Islander Americans @ GLBT History Museum, 4127 18th Street. A panel discussion on the challenges faced by queer and trans APIA people in the Bay Area, featuring Mohammed Shaik Hussain Ali,

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2019)

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS http://sfbaytimes.com/

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Compiled by Blake Dillon

Crystal Jang, Nick Large, Amy Sueyoshi, Neo Vavea, Sammie Ablaza Wills and moderator Michael Nguyen. 7-9pm. http://www.glbthistory.org Francesca Bell & Judy Grahn Book Reading @ Alley Cat Books, 3036 24th Street. A feminist poetry reading will be presented by Red Hen authors Bell and Grahn.

7-9pm. http://alleycatbookshop.com Billy Elliot @ Woodminister Amphitheater, 3540 Sanborn Drive, Oakland. The award-winning musical will be presented as part of the Summer Musicals programpresented

by Oakland’s Broadway in the Redwoods. Check performance times through August 11. http:// www.woodminister.com

10 Saturday Live! in the Castro @ Jane Warner Plaza, 17th and Castro.

Castro/Upper Market CBD presents its summer schedule of live performances featuring on this date Alpha Rhythm Kings. 1pm. http://www.castrocbd.org Works in Progress @ Fireside Room, Plymouth United Church of Christ, 424 Monte Vista, Oakland. An open mic event for women. 6:3010:15pm. Call Linda: 510-701-1022

11 Sunday Dot’s Sunday Hoedown @ The Ivy Room, 860 San Pablo Avenue, Albany. This edition of the ongoing event named in honor of the Ivy Room’s owner will feature Beckylin & Her Druthers, Kate Burkart Band, Sean O’Brien and His Dirty Hands. 4pm. http://www.theivyroom.com Smack Dab Queer Open Mic @ Manny’s, 3092 16th Street. The long-running LGBTQIA open mic event, hosted by Larry-bob Roberts and Dana Hopkins, offers a five minute slot to share whatever you want to share: stories, poems, a song, dance or other work. 5-7pm. http://www.welcometomannys.com

12 Monday Queering Familias: Building Resilience and Hope @ GLBT History Museum, 4127 18th Street. An intergenerational panel discussion on the roles of LGBTQ Latinx people in the Bay Area, featuring Foxxy Blue Orchid, Karen Aguilar, Luis Gutierrez-Mock, Jesse James Johns and moderator Shane Zaldivar 7-9pm. http://www.glbthistory.org

13 Tuesday Harvey Milk Democratic Club August PAC Meeting @ San Francisco LGBT Center, 1800 Market Street. Members of the Club will discuss upcoming PAC endorsement recommendations. 7-9pm. http://www.milkclub.org The Lavender Spirit: Gay Men Reclaiming Spirituality @ Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street. Speakers Finn Deerhart, Jude Harmon and Darren Main will present a lighthearted conversation exploring the diverse, welcoming and compassionate spirituality being discovered by gay men everywhere.

7:45pm. http://labyrinthyoga.com

14 Wednesday Intergenerational Collaboration: Chip Conley and the Modern Elders @ Manny’s, 3092 15th Street. Hear from LGBT entrepreneur and New York Times best-selling author Chip Conley . 2pm. http://www.welcometomannys.com GLBT Book Club: No Ashes in The Fire @ Dog Eared Books Castro, 489 Castro Street. Author Darnell L. Moore’s book will be the focus of discussion. 7pm. http://dogearened books.com/castro Drugs in the Tenderloin (1966) @ The Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street. The Tenderloin Museum hosts a one night only screening of this historic documentary, first screened on KQED in 1966, that captures the Tenderloin transforming into a center for young queens and drug users. 7pm. http://www.tenderloinmuseum.org

15 Thursday Butch Voices 10th Anniversary Conference @ Oakstop, 1721 Broadway, Oakland.

The conference will include workshops, performances, networking, community building and creating positive visibility to empower the wellbeing of self-identified masculine of center individuals. Continuing August 16-18. http://www.butchvoices.com A Conversation with US Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson @ Manny’s, 3092 15th Street. One in a series of events that will feature candidates who are running for President in the 2020 election. 6pm. http://www.welcometomannys.com

16 Friday Uhaul SF DJ Kream @ Jolene’s Bar and Restaurant, 2700 16th Street. A favorite ongoing dance party for women. 10pm-2am. http://www.jolenessf.com 26

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17 Saturday He to She: The Challenge of Gender Change in Lurid 1950s60s Pulp Cover Art @ American Bookbinders Museum, 355 Clementina Street. As one in the “Coming in the Queer Voices” lecture series, the event will present trans author Natasha Dennerstein who will discuss “transvestite” and early trans pulp novels and their cover art. 1-2pm. http://www.bookbindersmuseum.org Live! in the Castro @ Jane Warner Plaza, 17th and Castro.

Castro/Upper Market CBD presents its summer schedule of live performances featuring on this date Sundance Saloon. 1pm. http://www.castrocbd.org B-52’s Night @ Cat Club, 1190 Folsom Street. The event, celebrating the 40-year anniversary of the group’s debut album, is presented

by New Wave City 80s Dance Party.

9pm. http://www.newwavecity.com

18 Sunday Elvis in Vegas Tribute Night @ Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd Street. Elvis Herselvis and a lineup of performers will pay tribute to “The King.” 7pm. http://wwwmakeoutroom.com

19 Monday Pubquiz at Virgil’s Sea Room @ The Big Queer Pubzquiz, 3152 Mission Street. This 90-minute quiz, based on current events and general knowledge with a special theme round, includes five rounds in ninety minutes with free drinks and weird prizes every Monday night. 7:309:30pm. nosportstrivai@gmail.com SF Eagle Karaoke @ SF Eagle, 398 12th Street. Hosting will be Dulce De Leche, Eduardo “Wagz” Wagar, Thee Pristine Condition and Patty Daniel. 9pm. http://www.sfeagle.com

20 Tuesday Thanks to Hank Film Screening @ Tenderloin Museum, 398 Eddy Street. The new documentary film on one of SF’s most preeminent LGBTQ activists, Hank Wilson, featuring a Q&A with producer, director, writer and editor Bob Ostertag. 7pm. http://www.tenderloinmusuem.org La Más Draga Weekly Viewing Party @ Flore, 2298 Market Street. The event is known as Mexico’s Drag Race where, every Tuesday, sisters in CDMX compete.

8pm. http://www.flore415.com

21 Wednesday Ma Rainey’s Back Bottom @ The Costume Shop, 1117 Market Street.The comedy/drama by August Wilson, about Ma Rainey and her band, stars Susie Butler. 8pm W-Sat; 2pm Sun. through September 1. http://www.wehavemet.org

22 Thursday Amazon Hiring Event @ San Francsico LGBT Center, 1800 Market Street. Job-seekers interested in working at Amazon will have the opportunity to interview onthe-spot, and counselors from SF LGBT Center will be on hand to assist with applications. 3-4:30pm. http://www.sfcenter.org

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SHORTER (continued from page 4)

ROSTOW (continued from page 6)

nation of a coalition of community-based organizations to develop a host homes initiative in San Francisco for LGBTQ homeless young adults. After a successful application through the SF Department on Homelessness and Supportive Housing for funding from HUD and other city resources, the San Francisco LGBT Community Center (the Center) is now set to lead this pilot program model.

passion and urgency. Host homes is not intended as a primary source or avenue towards engaging community residents to help our most vulnerable. It is one way, one promising model, which is proving to be successful across the country.

I am humbled to have been a small part of helping to actualize this effort. I truly believe that it can work, and that it will help. On behalf of those unsheltered youth in need, thank you in advance to those who will respond to this call to action.

The Center provides weekly orientations for prospective hosts to learn more about Host Homes. Interested parties can find out more about the host homes program, orientation and how to apply at https://bit.ly/2Ki5C7j

Andrea Shorter is a Commissioner and the former 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 Co-Founder of the Bayard Rustin LGBT Coalition, she was a 2009 David Bohnett LGBT Leadership Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

You can also email: hosthomes@sfcenter.org One of the overwhelming challenges regarding homelessness is the feeling of helplessness, frustration and impatience that many concerned individuals experience. How do I help? How can I meaning fully contribute to solutions? The LGBTQ liberation movement has risen to the occasions of community crises with innovation, com-

she is represented by the far-right Thomas More Society, which is presumably trying to establish the primacy of religious parents versus schools, clinics and government agencies. EJK, in turn, is represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

It Follows What else is new? How about the 62-year-old Florida “minister,” Frederic Sterry Smith, who left nothing for his waiter at a St. Augustine restaurant, writing “if he wasn’t gay” on the slip. The restaurant manager followed Smith out into the parking lot and confronted him, at which point he jammed the receipt down the front of her shirt, touching her breast in the process. This little gesture earned him a trip to jail and a $500 fine for battery.

Smith claims to run the “Servant’s Heart Disaster Relief Fund,” an “evangelical hands-on ministry devoted to helping hurricane victims in North America and the Caribbean.” The nonprofit has assets of just over $2,000 so I’m guessing that word “fund” in its name is aspirational.

Finally, I know you’ve probably already read about Candice Keller, the Ohio State Representative who blamed the mass shootings on the breakdown of the American family, which in turn was

JOHN LEWIS (continued from page 10) where a woman can legally have an abortion—46 years after it became legal. Indeed, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is trying to shut down the state’s lone abortion clinic, located in St. Louis, as part of what Planned Parenthood considers a broader effort led by Missouri’s Republican Governor Mike Parson to restrict abortion.

Missouri is one of 6 states with only one clinic where women can fully exercise their reproductive freedom. In May of this year, Governor Parson signed legislation outlawing abortion in Missouri after the eighth week of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest and an exception for medical emergencies only when a physician can prove that such an emergency existed.

Ginsberg’s poem “Troost Street Blues” is actually a lament because it, in fact, describes a return trip

I meant to write about her outburst, but I feel as if it already received more attention than it really deserved.

And before I go, listen to this. I was on Nextdoor the other day, listlessly reading about lost pets and people stealing packages and wondering how someone decides to sell used clothes hangers.

(They were wooden and in good condition, but still!) All of a sudden, I read that one of my neighbors, two doors down, had seen a man in a clown mask walking down our street at eight pm, carrying a baseball bat. Another neighbor on my street replied that she too had seen the same clown, and that police were in the area, but said that the clown wasn’t breaking any laws.

My respect for Nextdoor as a source of valuable information has risen significantly. But, oh my God! arostow@aol.com

DAVE EARL (continued from page 11) he made to Kansas City, this time after his lover had died—his beloved “belly’s in an ash urn.” Ginsberg is “back in Kansas City ... Alone with my Alone.”

Ginsberg’s vocabulary in the poem often invokes his love of Kansas City’s rich African American musical heritage, which he had experienced in some of the community’s local jazz clubs. And he also observes that “[t]here’s frightened deafed white folks in Kansas City” and analogizes his personal loss to political ones, assessing: “Kansas City got the blues.”

Kansas City certainly has got the blues today when it comes to women’s reproductive freedom. Too many women find themselves “alone with their alone.”

But last month, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU sued to block Missouri’s new abortion law, which

has not yet gone into effect. The St. Louis clinic is fighting to stay open.

The masthead of the 1972 symposium newspaper reads, “Press On. ...

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Forty-seven years later, we must continue to press on in the face of huge challenges that confront us now.

When I return to Kansas City next, I hope to come back to a place where women have more freedom than they do today. I hope to be singing a happier tune than the Troost Street Blues.

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.

DONNA SACHET (continued from page 14) deeply caring life in response to the AIDS epidemic. And somehow, she has shown us how to laugh along the way.

What a remarkable woman!

And finally, the captivating voice and presence of Veronika Klaus returns to San Francisco for two days and four shows at Martuni’s at the end of the month.

After sharing her talents here for decades, Veronika moved back to the East Coast to pursue a personal goal of reviving an unusual property into a bed and breakfast with room for musical performances and diverse camaraderie. She definitely left her mark on San Francisco and we look forward to seeing and hearing her here again.

Oh, and congratulations to lovely Linda Lee on her recent feature article in the San Francisco Chronicle Style section! Not only has Linda become one of the most frequently seen people at events across the City, but she adds to any gathering with her smile, her wit and her everpresent camera.

So, get out of the house and support the many events around the corner! You’ll be glad that you did and we’ll be happy to see you!

Donna Sachet is a celebrated performer, fundraiser, activist and philanthropist who has dedicated over two decades to the LGBTQ Community in San Francisco. Contact her at empsachet@gmail.com

KIT’N KITTY’S

QUEER POP QUIZ ANSWER (Question on page 23)

A) Jason Collins After playing for the Boston Celtics and at the end of the 2012–2013 NBA season, Collins came out as gay in an article published in the May 6, 2013, issue of Sports Illustrated. He wrote: “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.” He added that he wished to maintain his privacy in regard to specific details of his personal life, and that he was not in a relationship at the time. Collins also said a “notorious antigay hate crime,” the murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998, led him to choose “98” for his jersey number in Shepard’s honor. Collins called the number “a statement to myself, my family and my friends.” Collins, who continues to work towards LGBTQ inclusion in professional sports, retired from the NBA five years ago.

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thanks to transgender people, drag queen advocates and same-sex marriage. She had many other culprits, from video games to absent fathers, from marijuana to the Democratic Congress. Basically, she unleashed an absurd rant that was picked up by many in the press and presented as a senseless attack on the GLBT community.

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Dave has 9 years of experience in web development, digital marketing, branding, art direction, photography and new media. He is the former web developer and digital marketing manager for TEDxBlackRockCity. He served as web developer for the Amador Four Fires and Barbera Festival, and the Statewide Healthcare Innovation Plan for the State of Idaho. A former branding consultant and web developer at Mercer and Kehko, he was the primary website developer for the GLBT Historical Society.

“I am a proud member of the queer community,” he said, helping to explain his desire to give back to LGBTQ-related causes and nonprofits, in particular.

Even for those with busy schedules like Dave’s, downtime is essential. He loves to spend time with his partner and their dog Mica, often heading out to local beaches and going on adventures around the globe. He is proof that it is possible to live a full, and fulfilling, life without sacrificing career, community and family goals.

HandsOn Bay Area is always on the lookout for individual, company and other group volunteers. Learn more at: https://bit.ly/2OFnMnL.

SISTER DANA (continued from page 24) “Tutti Frutti” four-way, “Grape” with three bears hugging, and “Rhu Barb” with two kissing bears.

A graphic designer and casual carpenter by trade, BEARPAD has spent the last 5 years drawing cuddly fuzzy fellows on the side and has slowly grown into a self-run brand of shirts and queer accessories sold ‘round the world.

Born and raised in Southern California, he makes art in a big dusty backyard in Vallejo. http://www.shopbearpad.com/ THE RICHMOND/ERMET AID FOUNDATION presents “HELP IS ON THE WAY XX: CELEBRATING BROADWAY,” their Silver Anniversary concert & gala featuring many, many Broadway stars in concert. Sunday, August 18, Herbst Theater & Green Room of San Francisco.

VIP reception: 5 pm, Green Room; Performance: 7 pm, Herbst Theater; “CLUB REAF” after party with cast: 9:30 pm, Green Room. There are way too many stars to mention here (hint = Hamilton plus a dozen), so I strongly suggest those who are not “veteran REAF attenders” like myself to check out https://bit.ly/2OJc2AC Join the TENDERLOIN MUSEUM for a screening of a tremendous documentary film on one of the City’s most preeminent LGBTQ activists, Hank Wilson. THANKS TO HANK” is Bob Ostertag’s first feature film, for which he is the producer, director, writer and editor. The film tells the story of the life and work of Hank, an extraordinary gay leader with whom Bob and myself were very close. The Tenderloin Museum hosted a fundraiser for Thanks to Hank last November featuring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Cleve Jones; the film successfully debuted at Frameline in June. But now with added footage, it will screen on August 20 at 398 Eddy Street. Doors at 6:30 pm, screening at 7 pm. Q&A with Bob immediately following the film. $10 suggested donation; no one turned away for lack of funds. https://bit.ly/2Kt5h0m An ad hoc group of a half dozen Bay Area activists is organizing the MONTH OF MOMENTUM, 30 DAYS OF ACTIONS TO CLOSE THE CAMPS, a month-long protest outside ICE, 630 Sansome Street in downtown San Francisco, organized through word of mouth, networking, and social media, every day from noon to 1 pm by a different sector, group or organization ranging from librarians to lawyers. Stop immigration discrimination! https://bit.ly/2ZAd3fj Come to this year’s RUNWAY 31, GAPA Foundation's annual drag competition and entertainment extravaganza, CIRQUE DU RUNWAY! Watch contestants vie for the titles of Mr. GAPA and Miss GAPA 2019 through an exciting series of fashion, talent and Q&A before a panel of API & LGBTQ+ community leader judges. Returning as co-hosts are Mr. GAPA 2013 Nguyen “Sir Whitney Queers” Pham and Miss GAPA 2012 Jezebel Patel. Saturday, August 24, 5 pm, Herbst Theatre. https://bit.ly/2GQhhIg Sister Dana sez, “Stop gun violence! We know our Democratic Congress people are fighting for sensible gun control. But until the useless, heartless Repugnican CongressMEN grow a pair, we just have to suffer along with every other person with a heart that is bleeding.”

Professional Services

N ewPer spec ti ves Center for Counseling

A full service catering company serving the greater Bay Area

PHOTO BY SANDY MORRIS

• Weddings, Commitment Ceremonies, Anniversaries and many other social occasions and corporate events • We offer Custom-Designed Menus in various cuisines with vegetarian, vegan and multi-cultural food options • Full Service Event Management 415.308.4555 www.cheatalittle.com We Give You Something To Talk About!

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Rink Photo Throwback ) CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2018

Round About - All Over Town - Mid Summer Photos by Rink

2006

A sign at the Edge bar on Castro proclaimed that all are welcome!

San Francisco Bay Times reader Linda Lee (second from left) celebrated, with friends Lizzi Dierkin, Jessica Felix and Annie Van Buren, at The Cove restaurant, the San Francisco Chronicle Style section feature declaring her to be “Queen of the Night.”

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emocratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris was the 27th District Attorney of San Francisco when this 2006 photo was taken during a party held in October of that year. Standing before San Francisco Bay Times photographer Rink were, from left to right, Dennis Herrera, Harris, Wayne Friday, Jim Rivaldo and Bevan Dufty.

Friday, a political editor for the Bay Area Reporter, and Rivaldo, who was a key campaign manager for Harvey Milk, are no longer with us. Rivaldo died just a year after this photo was taken, and Friday passed in 2016. Herrera remains the City Attorney of San Francisco, a position that he assumed in late 2001.

Dufty, then a San Francisco Supervisor for District 8, is now President of the BART Board of Directors.

The extensive work of Harris, who is the junior U.S. Senator from California, often evidences her Bay Area roots and ties to members of the LGBTQ community here. As California Attorney General, for example, she declined to defend in court the state’s former ban on same-sex marriage. She supported the Obama administration’s guidance concerning transgender rights. More recently, she co-sponsored the Equality Act that would amend the Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and more. The bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on May 17 and is now under consideration by the Senate.

Annie Van Buren, who has worked at The Cove restaurant for more than twenty years, served guests an ice cream sundae.

Artist Jenny Feinberg, gallery owner Aviva Kanoff and artist Jen Meyer at Spark Arts Gallery on August 1, during the Castro Art Walk

Sister Golda Lox, wearing her grandfather’s pajamas, displayed a painting by Mr. Wylie during the Castro Art Walk on August 1.

DJ EhV and hip hop performer Taydamada at Spark Arts Gallery on August 1 during the Castro Art Walk

https://kamalaharris.org/

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Artist Ariel Gold at the opening of her art exhibit at Art Attack SF Gallery during the Castro Art Walk on August 1

Chocolatier Michael Benner presented his desserts at the Local Take gift shop during the Castro Art Walk on August 1.

The evolving space at 2223 Castro Street will change once again with the recent closure of Izakaya Sushi Ran restaurant that was the third tenant to occupy the space since the closure of 2223 Restaurant (No Name Restaurant) in late 2011 after sixteen successful years at the location.

The retail space at 463 Castro Street is evolving with the closure of Outfit clothing store. Like members of the San Francisco Bay Times team, you may recall this as the location occupied for more than thirty years by All American Boy.

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2019)

CASTRO STREETCAM presented by

San Francisco Bay Times columnist Donna Sachet and Gary Keener were guests at the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund’s “This Old Bag” Preview Party held at the Clift Hotel’s Redwood Room on July 24. The annual “This Old Bag: The Power of the Purse” will be held on October 25 at the Fairmont San Francisco.

This nature-inspired purse, on display at the “This Old Bag” Preview Party, will be for sale at the October 25 benefit at the Fairmont San Francisco.

A bag contributed by actress Sharon Stone was a star attraction at the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund’s “This Old Bag” Preview Party.

http://sfbaytimes.com/

Publicist David Perry was co-host and emcee at the “This Old Bag” Preview Party at the Redwood Room on July 24. BECF’s annual “This Old Bag” benefit will be held on October 25.

items of the week

Connor Alexander (right) with a backpack contributed by Governor Gavin Newsom and Cynthia Lu with a cake created in the image of a purse at the “This Old Bag” Preview Party at The Clift Hotel’s Redwood Room

Crocodile Creek eco KIDS What better way to go back to school than sporting unicorns and rainbows!

The eco KIDS lunch collection includes insulated lunch box, BPA & Phthalate Free water bottle and Stainless Steel insulated food jar. If unicorns aren’t your thing that’s OK, there are many other styles to choose from.

Co-host Duchess MGM Grand performed at a benefit for the Imperial Monarchs Charity Fund held at Beaux lounge on July 27.

FCTRY Action Figures As the field narrows, it’s time to choose your favorite Democratic candidate. Will it be the home town girl, the father you should have listened to years ago or the scrappy street fighter?

Reigning Emperor Terrill Grimes, Brent Marek and cohost Mimi Osa, who currently holds the Miss Golden Gate title, at the Monarchs Charity Fund benefit held at Beaux lounge on July 27.

Empress Emma Peel welcomed guests at the benefit held at Beaux lounge on July 27.

Donna Sachet welcomed out of town guests at the Imperial Monarchs Charity Fund benefit at Beaux lounge on July 27.

DJ Tim, who is a Bare Chest Calendar Man, was spinning tunes at the Big Muscle Party benefit for PRC at the DNA lounge.

A long line of guests waited to enter the DNA lounge on July 27 for the Big Muscle Party benefit for PRC held during Dore Alley weekend.

As Heard on the Street . . .

What is your dream team for the 2020 presidential election?

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ugust is such a crazy time of year for us at Cliff’s.

Behind the scenes we are busy recieving and organizing all of the Halloween and Christmas merchandise rolling in, while out on the floor we are playing with all of the fun back to school items and pulling together your Burning Man essentials.

compiled by Rink

Lizzi Dierken

Dee Spencer

Jessica Felix

Gary Keener

Corey Tong

“Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders”

“Kamala Harris, and no VP choice”

“Bernie Sanders with Elizabeth Warren, since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is too young to run”

“Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris, interchangeable”

“Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, or Pete Buttigieg.

For vice president, Andrew Yang or Julian Casrto”

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 8, 2019

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