San Francisco Bay Times - August 4, 2016

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RIO PHOTO: OLYMPICS.ORG; KELLY GRIFFIN: USARUGBY.ORG

August 4-17, 2016 | www.sfbaytimes.com

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See Pages 15-17

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In the News Compiled by Dennis McMillan U.S. Navy to Name Ship After LGBT Rights Icon Harvey Milk The U.S. Navy plans to name a ship after the LGBT rights icon and former Naval officer, Harvey Milk.

According to a congressional notification signed by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus that was obtained

by USNI News, the Navy will name a planned Military Sealift Command fleet oiler USNS Harvey Milk. Milk came from a Navy family and commissioned in the service in 1951.

He served in San Diego during the Korean War on the submarine rescue ship Kittiwake as a diving officer until 1955. Milk was honorably discharged from the service as a lieutenant junior grade. Following his service, Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and was the first openly gay California politician to be elected to office. He was killed in office in 1978. When Milk was shot, he was wearing his U.S. Navy Master Diver belt buckle. militarypartners.org California Bill Would Prevent LGBT Discrimination at Religious Schools The conflict between religious freedom and gay rights has a new battleground—California‘s religious colleges and universities. A bill authored by Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) is moving through the Legislature to remove a longstanding exemption from anti-discrimination laws for religious institutions, potentially exposing the schools to civil rights lawsuits from students and employees. Some schools call the measure SB1146 an attack on their free exercise of religion and say the exemption allows them to craft campus policies in line with their faith. Currently, religious institutions can assign housing based on sex, not gender identity, and can discipline students for violating moral codes of conduct that can include anti-transgender or strict sexuality provisions.

The law faces an upcoming test in the state Assembly after passing the Senate. Bill supporters say it would be the first law of its kind in the nation and would create a safe space for LGBT students. lgbtqnation.com Castro’s Rainbow Crosswalks and Drainage to be Fixed The rainbow crosswalks at 18th and Castro will finally be replaced the week of September 12. The crosswalks were damaged when ABC was filming their new miniseries When We Rise. Originally intended to be replaced in time for Pride, delays occurred on the City’s end. Replacing the crosswalks entailed repaving the street and the City wanted Ghilotti Bros. to fix the drainage problem at Castro & 18th. The City wanted the regrading and the crosswalk installation to happen together. All four crosswalks will be replaced and the drainage problem will also be fixed.

The crosswalks are being paid for by ABC, and the necessary grading to fix the drainage problem is part of the sidewalk widening contract with Ghilotti Bros. castrocbd.org American Federation of Teachers Passes Resolution to Protect LGBTQ Students’ Educational Opportunities and Safety The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) passed a resolution that stands up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ students in all schools, but focuses heavily on transgender students’ rights. In this resolution, titled “School Safety and Educational Opportunity for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQ) Students,” the 1.6 million members of AFT recognized that providing transgender and other LGBQ students with necessary support will create a safer and more productive educational environment

for all children. It also affirms AFT affiliates will support the implementation of LGBTQ safety guidance established by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, encouraging schools to be inclusive of LGBTQ students, appropriately addressing transgender and gender nonconforming students by their chosen names and pronouns, and providing them access to the gendered facilities they identify with, among other suggestions. prideatwork.org Congressional Republicans Hold Hearing to Legalize LGBT Discrimination One month after the mass shooting in Orlando at a gay nightclub, Congressional Republicans held a committee hearing to discuss legalizing discrimination against LGBT people. Despite repeated calls from fellow lawmakers, activists and civil rights organizations, chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) refused to cancel or postpone the hearing. The hearing focused on the so-called “First Amendment Defense Act” that would allow businesses and individuals to discriminate against LGBT people if they cite their religious beliefs.

Conservative Christian organizations and activists have been clamoring for special exemptions from civil rights laws since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

“This hearing is nothing more than an election-year stunt to rally conservatives at the expense of LGBT Americans,” said Equality Act sponsor and LGBT Equality Caucus Co-Chair Rep. David Cicilline (RI-1).

“Let’s be clear—there is no religious basis to deny basic rights and liberties to someone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Period.”

Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, testified in front of the committee. lgbtqnation.com San Francisco Transgender Film Festival Calls for Entries The San Francisco Transgender Film Festival (SFTFF) seeks entries for their 2016 Festival (November 10–13, 2016). SFTFF accepts narrative, documentary, experimental, animated films and music videos. All work should be created by transgender/ genderqueer people. The San Francisco Transgender Film Festival was founded in 1997 as North America’s first transgender film festival. Deadline for entries is August 15, 2016, and early submissions are encouraged. There is no entry fee, and they do not provide screening fees. Films will be submitted via Vimeo or YouTube. sftff.org Camp Erin: Annual Youth Grief Weekend Offered Gratis Hosted by the nonprofit Hospice by the Bay with partial funding from the Moyer Foundation, the annual youth grief support weekend, Camp Erin Oakland/Bay Area, helps campers ages 6–17 express grief, build trust and self-esteem, and learn to cope with their loss through therapeutic activities, traditional camp fun and relaxation in the beautiful Sonoma County redwoods. This year’s Camp Erin retreat will be Friday through Sunday, August 12–14. There is no charge for this healing weekend retreat. Transportation to and from camp, meals, snacks and activities are all included. In addition to support groups and healing rituals, campers can enjoy swimming, hiking, games, sports, campfires and crafts. Parents join campers for short activities at drop-off and pick-up. hospicebythebay.org (continued on page 18) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 4, 2016

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Nissan Congratulates NAGAAA on 40th Gay Softball World Series

Nissan congratulates the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA) on the 40th anniversary of its Gay Softball World Series (GSWS)! The world-renowned LGBTQ sporting event is taking place Aug.15 to 20 in Austin, Texas.

“Sports is an incredible way to build community. And Nissan wanted to extend our well wishes to the NAGAAA family on bringing the LGBTQ co mmunity and allies together for 40 years and counting,” said Erich Marx, director, Marketing, and executive sponsor of Gay Straight Alliance at Nissan.

More than 185 teams from 43 cities across the United States and Canada are participating in this multi-day event, which includes opening ceremonies, a multi-division softball tournament, community activities and the closing ceremonies.

Established in 1977, the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance Open Division is a 501©(3) international sports organization comprised of men and women dedicated to promoting amateur athletics for the LGBTQ community. The organization was formed after the first GSWS in 1976.

For a second year, Nissan is a proud partner of the NAGAAA Gay Softball World Series, a six-day softball event that expects to draw more than 10,000 athletes, coaches and fans. NAGAAA’s local LGBTQ softball leagues are also partnering with Nissan at LGBTQ community events including, Long Beach Pride, LA Pride, Capital Pride, Nashville Pride, San Francisco Pride, NYC Pride, Atlanta Pride, Orlando Pride as well as Northalsted Market Days in Chicago. “With Nissan having the most diverse consumer base in the automotive industry and an engaged group of LGBTQ employees and allies, we’re well positioned to connect with the LGBTQ community,” said Marx.

Since 2013, Nissan has scored a perfect 100 in the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index for its LGBT-inclusive policies and commitment to the community. The company was among the fastest risers in the history of the index.

Inset: NAGAAA, the early years; Above, Long Beach/OC Surf & Sun Softball League players

“We are incredibly fortunate to at LA Pride have Nissan on our team,” said Chris Balton, NAGAAA Commissioner. “Nissan has been an outstanding partner at the national level and this year at the local level - leveraging our member cities for Pride activations across the nation.”

Nissan’s Gay Straight Alliance at Nissan (GSAN) is the driving force behind the company’s LGBTQ outreach efforts. Nissan also offers inclusive benefits and Championing Diversity workshops for employees, and a “Diversity and Inclusion” team works closely with advocacy groups such as the HRC to drive a culture of equality in the workplace.

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An Electrifying DNC as Hillary Clinton Makes History

Photos courtesy of Hillary for America Campaign

barrier falls in America, it clears the way for everyone. After all, when there are no ceilings, the sky’s the limit.”

Leslie R. Katz As one of the lucky individuals who was in the arena at the Democratic National Convention, I still cannot even begin to fully convey the electricity that was felt by almost everyone in the hall. There were few dry eyes as Hillary Clinton said, “I accept your nomination,” thereby becoming the first woman ever to be the nominee of a major party for the U.S. presidency.

An older woman next to me was openly sobbing, as she had only dreamt of such a moment in her lifetime.

Hillary Clinton captured the importance in her keynote speech: “Tonight, we’ve reached a milestone in our nation’s march toward a more perfect union: the first time that a major party has nominated a woman for president.

Standing here as my mother’s daughter, and my daughter’s mother, I’m so happy this day has come. I’m happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between. I’m happy for boys and men—because when any

The DNC convention featured people that look like this country: nearly all colors, religions and sexual orientations. It also included veterans, disabled individuals, immigrants who have given us all so much, those who are struggling economically, and so many more. In terms of our own community, over 11% of the delegates to the convention were LGBT, and at the LGBT caucus, it was so heartwarming to see the growth in the number of transgendered delegates to the Democratic Convention.

A picture was painted first by Michelle Obama (so impressive!) on what is at stake for our children and our country.

Then Bernie Saunders was gracious while telling his supporters to get behind Hillary because not only are the

Making history, Hillary Clinton and Senator Tim Kaine accept the nominations for President and Vice President of the United States at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Thursday, July 28.

stakes too high, but also he and Hillary are actually much closer on policy matters than the primary would have suggested. Bill Clinton described his decades long love and respect for Hillary. Biden, at his absolute best, described what issues are so important for us all and that clearly differentiate the two parties’ candidates.

President Obama showed us how lucky we were to have had him in the White House and steering the country. He acknowledged that Hillary is smart, steady, compassionate and better prepared for the role than anyone in our lifetime. Many then got to meet Tim Kaine for the first time. His warm and affable style was palpable in the hall, as was his commitment to social justice and his toughness and reserve in handling whatever comes his way.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LESLIE R. KATZ

Ready for Her

If you have read this far, I am sure you care at least a modicum about politics and are more than well aware of what has transpired with the conventions recently held by the respective parties.

I watched the Republican National Convention, aka Trump Show, on television and was beyond appalled by the hubris, ignorance and demagoguery on display. The DNC convention, by contrast, displayed a thoughtful, cohesive, sane approach to what we should look for in our next president, and also revealed what kind of person Hillary Clinton really is, as opposed to the caricature/fictionalized persona created by the radical right and bought into by far too many people.

Zoe Dunning, Leslie Katz and Dan Bernal at the DNC

Chelsea introduced her mother and, in doing so, showed that she too has that special quality of extraordinary intelligence and insight combined with a commitment to better the world. As Hillary spoke, it seems that the pundits were more interested in her clothes and tone of voice, listening little to her actual message and demonstrating the subtle and not-so-subtle misogyny that is still at play.

Hillary Clinton’s keynote speech, as well as the days of speakers who talked about what she is like in action, revealed a caring, thoughtful and measured person who is more progressive than many think and who has a real plan to keep us moving forward. She knows what the job entails and, as she has previously stated, will be ready to lead from

Visiting the Pulse nightclub memorial on July 22 6

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day one. In contrast to Trump, she is someone who loves this country, is hopeful, can keep us going in a positive direction, and will not turn her back on people traditionally left behind. She genuinely cares. Indeed, she has committed her whole life to helping those less fortunate.

One of many poignant moments of the final evening occurred when the Muslim parents of slain American Army Captain Humayun Khan spoke about their son, his sacrifice and experience as an American Muslim. Many of us watching were deeply affected by the words of Humayun’s father, Khizr Kham: “Donald Trump, you are asking Americans to trust you with our future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the U.S. Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy.

(He said, while whipping out his well-read copy from his jacket pocket.) In this document, look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law.’”

In sum, the contrast between the RNC and the DNC shows how stark the differences are between the parties’ candidates for the presidency. Even the Houston Chronicle, known for its conservatism, recently endorsed Hillary Clinton. The endorsement read, in part: “His (Trump’s) convention speech comment, ‘I alone can fix it,’ should make every American shudder.

He is, we believe, a danger to the Republic.” It went on to say, “These are unsettling times, even if they’re not the dark, dystopian end times that Trump lays out. They require a steady hand.

That’s not Donald Trump.”

Hillary Clinton is the clear choice. I am so with her!

Leslie R. Katz is a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, was the co-author of the City’s Equal Benefits Ordinance, has served on the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee (as Chair, and as a general member), and serves on the California Democratic Party’s Executive Board. She is an attorney with a government law, policy and strategy practice, with a focus on emerging technologies.

Planting Seeds in an LGBT Garden In countering Donald Trump’s rhetoric, Clinton wisely observed in her speech: “None of us can raise a family, build a business, heal a community or lift a country totally alone.”

No one knows this better than LGBT people. Making sure that no LGBT person grows up thinking they are the only one, fearing they are all alone, is foundational to our community.

6/26 and Beyond John Lewis & Stuart Gaffney At last week’s Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton urged Americans to aspire to what she viewed to be the highest of human intentions: “the selfless passion to build something better for all who follow.” Although at first blush this call may appear sentimental or idealistic, throughout our decades of participation in the LGBT community we have been struck by how this aspiration is woven—sometimes overtly, other times subtly—through the best of our movement and community.

Creating a world where LGBT people can live openly and proudly is central to everything else that follows in our movement. Facing the scourge of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, fighting breast cancer and supporting those affected by the disease, achieving marriage equality and other civil rights victories, and ensuring safety and dignity for transgender people—these are just a few examples of things our community has done, and continues to do together, which simply cannot be done alone. The connection born of shared life experience and the unique alchemy that can arise when LGBT come together are treasures of being LGBT that, by definition, can only be experienced in community.

Time after time, LGBT people have been motivated to work together to ensure that those who follow do not have to live through the challenges or suffering that we ourselves have faced. We want LGBT youth to be able to come out to an embracing world. We want no young people to live through anything resembling the horrors of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s and 90s. We want to identify and eliminate environmental causes of breast cancer and find effective treatments so that ultimately the disease afflicts no more women. We want people to be able to find connection, community, and belonging.

Like-minded motivations were on display at the Democratic Convention last week. In a previous column, we described the urgent plea to end hatred and ban assault weapons that Christine Leinonen, mother of Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, one of the 49 victims of the Orlando massacre, made on live television as she desperately sought word on the fate of her son just hours after the shootings. Last week, Christine addressed the convention and the nation, joined by two of Drew’s close LGBT friends, advocating “common-sense gun policy”

so that no other parent goes through what she did.

Sarah McBride became the first openly transgender person ever to address a major party convention.

She spoke about the fears she confronted when she came out as transgender as student body president of her college and the sadness she experienced when her spouse, who was also transgender, died of cancer just four days after they married.

But Sarah used these experiences to inspire herself to help make change.

She said her husband’s death taught her that “every day matters when it comes to building a world where every person can live their life to the fullest… . Today, in America, LGBTQ people are targeted by hate that lives in both laws and hearts.

Many still struggle just to get by. But I believe tomorrow can be different.

Tomorrow, we can be respected and protected … .”

Long-time LGBT ally and trailblazer, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, devoted much of his convention speech to illuminating discrimination against LGBT people.

He lambasted Trump for selecting

Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate. He described Pence as “America’s most anti-LGBT governor,” and explained how Pence “supported overt discrimination” and “advocated for diverting taxpayer dollars to so-called conversion therapy.” Newsom was emphatic: “Make no mistake. Conversion therapy is not about praying away the gay. It’s torture against our most innocent citizens, our children, telling them that to live they must lie about who they are and who they love. That is fundamentally un-American.”

As Clinton famously wrote, “it takes a village.” We and our allies are an LGBT village. As Clinton paraphrased the Broadway musical Hamilton last week, “we may not live to see the glory,” but “[l]et our legacy be about planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.”

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 nationwide grassroots organization Marriage Equality USA contributed in 2015 to making samesex marriage legal nationwide.

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The Ultimate Sacrifice

Alex Randolph, Trustee City College of San Francisco This past March 30, I had the incredible honor of attending and participating in the 148th Annual San Francisco Memorial Day Commemoration. It was my f irst time to attend this annual event at the Presidio Cemetery as an elected official.

Once again retired Lt. Col. Wallace Levin did a remarkable job organizing the event, allowing San Franciscans to pay our respects to those who died in combat and their families.

To top it all off, Senator and former Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders made a surprise visit to attend the ceremony while in town. It was truly emotional to see so many people come out to remember the fallen heroes and their “Yellow Star” families who made the ultimate sacrifice serving our country. Additionally, there are thousands of Veterans in the Bay Area that live among us. They are teachers, fire fighters, law enforcement officers, husbands, co-workers, nurses, tech workers, and students.

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To me, this event was particularly personal. As I have written about previously, my husband is currently an officer serving in the Navy Reserve. I was very glad that he was able to join me this year. Sadly, he is going to active duty shortly, and will be moving to a different city for at least a year. We both knew that this day would eventually come, but I am not sure how one can ever prepare for something like this. Whenever, I talk to or read about a Veteran, man or woman in uniform, or their families, I understand that their version of public service isn’t easy and can take a toll. Finding a way to make their lives a little easier might be my way to deal with what’s yet to come for my still fresh Navy family.

Service members, Veterans, and their families are an integral part of our lives in the United States. According to the latest Census report, there are currently over 21.8 million Veterans living in the U.S. and about 25,000 in San Francisco alone. That is why I am so proud that City College of San Francisco has a long tradition of serving our servicemen and women since its establishment in 1935.

I am very proud of our innovative and unique partnership with the San Francisco VA Medical Center, which provides critical mental health services and outreach to Veterans on campus. In 2011, we opened a newly modernized Veterans Resource Center, currently serving over 1,200 students who are Veterans, with a strong mission to ensure their suc-

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cessful transition from military life into civilian careers. Education, as always, plays a vital role in changing lives and allows people to achieve their full potential.

I am very proud to be a Navy spouse of an openly gay service member.

I was ner vous at f irst about meeting his colleagues and commanding off icers, but I have received nothing but support. Things have truly changed. A l l of us celebrated the announcement that the Navy will be naming a future ship Alex Randolph, fellow CCSF Trustee Thea Selby, and Randolph’s husband Trevor Nguyen after Harvey Milk. City College is truly a special place and allows me to serve our Vets and their families. Now is a perfect time to take a class, meet a Vet, and all of our incredible diverse students, given that the fall semester is about to start.

Enroll today at www.ccsf.edu Alex Randolph is a Trustee for City College of San Francisco. He previously served in President Obama’s administration and as an LGBT advisor for Mayor Newsom. He lives in the Castro with his partner Trevor. Follow him on social media: www.twitter.com/ad- Alex Randolph, his husband Trevor Nguyen, Supervisor Mark Farrell and family, Supervisor Scott randolph & www.facebook.com/Alex- Wiener, Board of Equalization Chair Fiona Ma and retired Commander Zoe Dunning at the Memorial Day Commemoration DRandolph

Fresh and Healthy Food for All the purchasing power for families participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—the federal food stamps program—when they buy fresh fruit and vegetables at local farmers markets. By expanding access to healthy choices, we can put nutrition back at the center of this nutrition benefit program.

Assemblymember Phil Ting California is the state with the richest agricultural diversity and greatest bounty, boasting more than 400 varieties of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and other commodities. Yet, nearly fifteen percent of our households face inadequate access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.

Despite today’s economic boom, nearly one-third of residents in my hometown of San Francisco face food insecurity. While income inequality and poverty are key factors, another challenge is that many parts of the city are food deserts—places where affordable, fresh produce are not accessible.

Recognizing that diet is the foundation for good health, I authored legislation last year to expand access to healthy food for low-income families by harnessing the power of our local farmers markets. My Assembly Bill (AB) 1321 established the California Nutrition Incentives Act. It doubles

I’m pleased to say that the 2016– 17 state budget includes $5 million to boost implementation of the new law and to compete for federal dollars geared for the same purpose.

Bay Area non-profit organizations pioneered food incentives through the Market Match program, which “matches” or doubles the amount of funds that SNAP families can spend at more than 250 farmers markets across California. Last year, the Market Match program allowed farmers to receive $2.5 million more in revenue and served more than 130,000 customers. Overall, the program has increased participation in nutrition benefit programs at participating markets up to 700 percent. As a result of the program, 69 percent of local farmers selling their produce at farmers markets report that they have new and loyal customers.

One of the most successful Market Match programs operates at the Heart of the City Farmers Market in downtown San Francisco. Since its launch of Market Match last June, more than $265,000 incentives to

purchase fresh fruits and vegetables have been distributed. Food stamp or SNAP-related sales have grown by 35 percent.

Other farmers markets taking advantage of this great program are the Mission Community Market in San Francisco, the Jack London Square Farmers Market in Oakland, and the Main Street Farmers Market in Richmond. The Market Match program is so in demand that, unfortunately, not everyone can take advantage of it because the available funding runs out. A program this great calls for a greater investment, and that’s why the state made a major investment in programs like Market Match.

By bringing healthy and nutritious food to neighborhoods with few grocery options, we can harness the power of California’s network of 700 certified farmers markets to get people excited to try new foods and to eat right. We would enable millions more Californians to shop at farmers markets, see healthier communities, and boost our local farming economies. That is an exciting path where California will continue to lead the nation.

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

Renter Protection on November Ballot

problems associated with our rental market, including homelessness and displacement of long-time Oakland residents. Policy leaders spoke to the importance of this measure, which gives Oakland residents the opportunity to vote in favor of lasting tenant protections and housing affordability.

Out of the Closet and into City Hall Oakland City Councilmember At-Large, Rebecca Kaplan Oakland has risen to become the fourth most expensive rental market in the nation. This affordable housing crisis is an affront to Oakland’s talent and diversity, which is why I authored the Renter Protection Act of 2016. I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to work with a broad coalition of community members to take this important step forward to help protect the Oakland community. Our hard work paid off—the Oakland City Council unanimously voted to place the measure on the November 2016 ballot.

The vote occurred in the early hours of July 20, after hundreds of speakers addressed the Council about the housing crisis in our city. Speakers from all walks of life shed light on the

Our city of Oakland has previously passed laws to protect tenants from excessive rent increases, but these laws did not go far enough. Among other improvements, the Act will require landlords to petition the Rent Adjustment Board for any annual rent increases above the Consumer Price Index, expand the Just Cause eviction ordinance to homes built before 1995 (the current law applies only to homes built before 1981), and require city staff to send out annual notices stating allowable rent increases and related laws. By passing the Renter Protection Act in November, we will help protect our vibrant community and encourage residents to continue to call Oakland home.

The measure will require a majority vote from Oakland voters in November to become law.

Oakland City Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan was elected in 2008 and was re-elected in 2012. She is working for safe neighborhoods, for local jobs and for a fresh start for Oakland. Councilmember Kaplan graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the Massachusetts Institute of Technolog y, obtained a master’s degree from Tufts University and a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School.

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SF Supervisors Pass LGBT Data Collection Ordinance tify and track the needs of San Francisco’s LGBT population.

This legislation was first proposed by the LGBT Aging Policy Task Force in 2014. The Department of Aging and Adult Services championed the proposed initiative. Supervisor Scott Wiener authored the legislation.

Aging in Community Marcy Adelman The lack of data on the health and well-being of LGBT individuals has been an impediment to providing effective and needed services to our community. Without such information, there has been a barrier preventing steps to end LGBT health disparities. But that is all about to change for the better.

On July 26, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the LGBT Data Collection Ordinance that requires five city departments– and contractors providing health and social services–to collect demographic data on sexual orientation and gender identity. The city departments are: the Department of Public Health; the Department of Aging and Adult Services; the Department of Human Services; the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families; and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development.

A client’s participation in responding to the questions is entirely voluntary. The city and LGBT-serving non-profits will now be able to quan-

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“For years we have heard stories about how programs and facilities could better serve our community, but so much evidence has been anecdotal,” said Supervisor Wiener. “This legislation will allow us to collect real data that can be analyzed to show us where our city departments and nonprof its are succeeding, and where they need improvement in meeting the diverse and significant needs of the LGBT community.”

The five agencies covered by the legislation are required to start collecting LGBT data by July 2017 and then will have two years to achieve compliance. The departments are required to analyze data, identify services and programs in which LGBT are underrepresented, and to develop plans to effectively increase accessibility to those services.

The legislation also includes that much researched guidelines be adopted by the city’s departments when asking sexual orientation and gender questions, and when analyzing data. These are the “Sex and Gender Guidelines: Principles for Collecting, Coding and Reporting Identity Data,” which were developed by the Department of Public Health and the Center for Excellence for Transgender Health at the University of California San Francisco.

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LGBT Resources for Seniors • Openhouse: 415-296-8995 openhouse-sf.org/ • Family Caregiver Alliance: 415-434-3388 www.caregiver.org

Black Brothers Esteem 20th Anniversary Photos by Rink

Founders and members of the SF AIDS Foundation program Black Brothers Esteem gathered at Strut to celebrate the group’s 20 years of service to African American men who are gay, bisexual and same gender loving. Visit sfaf.org/client-services/blackbrothers-esteem/

• Institute on Aging: 415-7504111, www.ioaging.org/ • National Resource Center on LGBT Aging www.lgbtagingcenter.org/ • Project Open Hand San Francisco: Nutrition Services, 415-447-2300 www.openhand.org/ • SAGE: 212-741-2247 www.sageusa.org/about/ • Shanti Project, Inc: HIV Services and Life Threatening Illnesses, 415-674-4700 www.shanti.org/ Alzheimer’s Association Programs and Services: • 24/7 Helpline: 1-800-2723900, www.alz.org/norcal/; Online Community: www.alzheimersblog.org/lgbt-forum • Memory Clinic, Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center: 408 -530-6900, mydoctor.kaiserpermanente. org/ncal/facilities/region/ santaclara/area_master/departments/memoryclinic/index.jsp The collection of comprehensive LGBT data is a huge step forward in making visible the lives of LGBT people. The information will enhance the capacity of the city, LGBT service providers and LGBT communities to

identify and address current needs, to more effectively target resources, and to strategically prepare for the future.

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

Celebrating 40 Years of Giving ‘Em Hope

On Thursday, August 11, the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club will celebrate and toast 40 years of queer progressive Democratic politics and activism in San Francisco. The club’s annual dinner and gayla gathers over 300 of San Francisco’s most influential LGBTQ politicians, community activists and grassroots organizers.

The 40 Anniversary Honorees are as follows: Hank Wilson Activist Award: Coalition on Homelessness Bill Kraus Leadership Award: Supervisor David Campos Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Award: Isa Noyola Sylvester Pride in the Arts Award: Galeria de la Raza Howard Wallace Labor Leadership Award: Kimberly Alvarenga Community Ally Award: Matt Haney and Lyndsey Schlax Harry Britt Lifetime Achievement Award: Sally Gearhart Eileen Hansen Social Justice Hero Award: Roma Guy For tickets, please go to: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/harvey-milk-lgbt-democratic-club-40th-anniversarydinner-gayla-tickets-26508898830 For more information about the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club: http://www.milkclub.org/about

Harvey Milk Club’s History of Allyship

By Lyndsey Schlax (Editor’s Note: San Francisco Bay Times columnist Lyndsey Schlax is a teacher at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts. Her groundbreaking LGBT Studies class, launched last year, will soon be expanding to other schools. She also teaches a popular Racial Studies class. We congratulate Schlax, who will receive a Harvey Milk Club Community Ally Award during the club’s upcoming 40th Anniversary Dinner & Gayla. Congratulations to the other honorees as well.)

A central tenet of my LGBTQ Studies class is that allyship is not an identity or a destination; it’s a set of actions, a commitment to beliefs, and the continued intent to seek out ways to work in solidarity with a person or a group of people towards their goals.

Most of the students who will take this class will be allied in some way with the LGBTQ community, so this is an important starting point for the work that we do together.

It’s a tricky concept though, and students have had many questions: “Can I still call myself an ally, if that’s not something a person can actually be?”

“If I am not an ally when I stand with trans youth and demand gender neutral bathrooms, when am I?” “If I am not an ally when I don’t speak on the

Honorees

National Day of Silence, what am I?” “How do I make clear my commitment to helping and standing with others, if it’s not a part of my identity?” “Can I be an ally and a queer person at the same time?”

As a teacher, I struggled as well. What examples and histories can I show students to help them understand this concept clearly? It’s hard enough to teach a new understanding of a wellknown word; adding in abstraction makes it even more challenging.

Luckily, San Francisco has many people and groups who actually have practiced allyship and advocacy for decades, and their history of taking action to help those who are marginalized creates a wonderful set of examples for us to look to. One of those storied groups has even advocated for our fledgling LGBTQ Studies course, taking the concept from academic to personal and relevant (and if you’ve ever talked to me about education, you know that relevancy is a cornerstone of my teaching).

The Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, founded in 1976 as the San Francisco Gay Democratic Club, has spent the last forty years backing progressive politicians and issues. They supported Harvey Milk when other clubs were reluctant, and renamed

themselves in his honor after his assassination in 1978. They have advocated for queer voices in San Francisco without apology, and with inclusion of many other identities and needs.

Their bylaws specifically lay out an intent to work in coalitions with racial and ethnic minorities and the Feminist Movement to move towards economic and social justice for all people.

Their history of allyship to students began early, with the creation of some of the first safe-sex educational materials. It continued with support of LGBT representation on the School Board, and now is found in their enthusiastic engagement with LGBTQ Studies in SFUSD. They sponsored us at film events, showed student work at the Castro Theatre, hosted panel discussions centering on outreach and continued support, and now are recognizing the work that has gone into this class by honoring Board President Matt Haney and I with their “Community Ally” award at their 40th Anniversary Gayla on August 11.

It is a distinct pleasure to know such committed and caring people, and to have such powerful advocates for our schools and students, most especially those who identify as LGBTQ+.

Thank you, Harvey Milk Club, for being a shining example of allyship as action.

Supervisor David Campos

Lyndsey Schlax

Sally Gearhart

Roma Guy

PHOTO BY RINK

Matt Haney

PHOTO BY RINK

Kimberly Alvarenga

Isa Noyola

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 4, 2016

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How Your Brain Lies to You: It Leaves You Wanting Roland Schembari and Bill Hartman, Co-Founders Randy Alfred, Founding News Editor 1978 Kim Corsaro Publisher 1981-2011

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

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

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

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

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Examined Life Tom Moon, MFT In the last issue I talked about the brain’s ‘negativity bias,’ the innate tendency of our primitive threat systems to focus on problems and dangers, both imagined and real. Our brains are additionally equipped with reward centers, also relatively primitive, which focus on short-term gratif ication and basic pleasures, such as eating, drinking, and having sex.

These centers routinely lie and mislead us about our desires in four ways.

First, they overestimate the amount of satisfaction we’ll derive from getting what we want. Second, they overestimate how much suffering and discomfort we’ll experience if we don’t

get it. Third, because they focus on short-term gratification, they routinely overestimate the costs of things that are good for you, such as: exercise, resisting the pull of addictions, or setting aside your own position to empathize with someone else’s. Fourth, they aren’t very good at distinguishing between needs and wants, so they create a sense of urgency indiscriminately about all sorts of things that don’t contribute to our survival or well-being, such as consuming sugar and intoxicants; acquiring the latest consumer goods; looking for love in all the wrong places; pounding home one’s point; or fighting to win every argument in a relationship.

present and constantly lean into the future. Even when we do get what we want, our satisfaction inevitably evaporates, because everything is in constant change. Consequently, we live with a background sense of frustration, dissatisfaction, and unease, and we’re prone to feel disappointed, thwarted, and driven.

Because we believe that pursuing what we want will relieve these pains, we crave and cling all the more, not understanding that these are the very habits that are causing our suffering in the first place. All of this is rooted in our biology. The pleasure and pain circuits of the brain evolved to manipulate our ancestors into doing things for their survival by overselling them about apparent sources of pleasure and overly alarming them about apparent risks. Your brain routinely lies to you, promising more pleasure and threatening more pain than you will actually experience.

We can say that the human brain functions unconsciously on the basic philosophical assumption of hedonism–that happiness results from gratifying our immediate desires.

What I find interesting here is that one point on which all of the world’s wisdom traditions seem to agree is that this common sense idea is completely wrong. They all say that the pursuit of happiness through gratifying desires is actually the greatest obstacle to finding it.

Fortunately, we aren’t condemned to be slaves of the wanting mind because we’ve also evolved a cerebral cortex that can observe and ref lect on the whole process and alter our responses to it. We loosen the grip of wanting by using our capacity for self-reflection to see through the brain’s distortions: to observe the ways in which desiring

It’s easy to see why this is true. When we are occupied all day long with pursuing our desires, we devalue the

itself feels subtly tense and uncomfortable; to notice the frequent discrepancy between the pleasures we expected to get from fulfilling a desire, and what it actually feels like to fulfill it.

We can reflect on the costs of pursuing the things we want, and the costs of trying to avoid some of the actually beneficial things we don’t want. Finally, we can remember that, since every pleasant experience must inevitably end, it isn’t possible to find permanent happiness through fulfilling wants.

The key to real happiness in life is to pursue life-affirming desires with enthusiasm and skill, but without falling into the trap of being driven by them– to pursue satisfactions without craving and clinging, without demanding that they continue, and without panicking or feeling victimized when we don’t get what we want. When we aren’t conned by the brain’s lies, it becomes possible to hold our wants more lightly. When we can do this, surprisingly, we find a sense of contentment and well-being that is always in the background of our experience, but which is subtle and easily overlooked when we’re preoccupied with the noise of the wanting mind.

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

In Memoriam

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Irving David Spivak

( January 3, 1934–April 13, 2016)

Thursday afternoon, July 21, 2016, Irving David Spivak peacefully died in his home surrounded by his friends. Zikhrono livrakha. May his memory be a blessing. Irv was born on June 4 in Upstate New York and immigrated to Israel in 1969, matriculated from high school, and then served in the Israeli Defense Forces. He fought in the Yom Kippur War as a Combat Medic.

William A. “Skip” Oakes was a devoted lover, partner, constant companion, soulmate and husband for 37 years to Richard W. Coddington. For three years he battled a chronic illness and was cared for by the amazing providers at the Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco. Skip was born the son of Claire and Myra Oakes, in Kassuth, Venango County, Pennsylvania.

After graduating from high school he joined the U.S. Army. He then moved to San Francisco, the city that he loved, during the 1960’s Haight Ashbury days. He worked for the San Francisco Housing authority and later owned and managed Capricorn, a French cookware store on Union Street. Additionally, he was part owner and manager of the apartment and store front building at the corner of 22nd and Guerrero Streets.

Skip was humble, generous, and lived his life with great integrity.

Together, Skip and Ricardo were proud of their home and felt the pride, joy and respect of their relationship. Their domestic partnership and marriage were chronicled on the front page of the San Francisco Bay Times.

He is preceded in death by his parents Claire and Myra Detar Oakes, brothers Dean and James L. Oakes, and sister Helen Crape.

He is survived by his husband Richard Coddington; sisters, Mrs. Arlene Myers of Cranberry, PA, and Mrs. Kay Hilyer of Hadley, PA.; along with numerous nieces and nephews. A private celebration of his life was held. Peace of Christ be with him.

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Following that he lived all over the world, worked for major airlines, small companies, and even founded his own telecommunications corporation with a partner. He eventually settled in San Francisco. Since 1997 he officiated over 75 weddings and then branched out to also do funerals, pet funerals, naming ceremonies and MC-ing events. Irv was proud of the fact that he has 30 reviews for his officiating business on Yelp and every one of them was five stars.

Irv served as President of the Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA) in 1998. Irv was a major supporter of LGBT businesses, causes and particularly of arts and culture in San Francisco. Man Dance Company and The Paulo Acosta Cuban Art Exhibit were two of his favorites. His last job was at San Francisco’s historic Payne Mansion, at which he curated rotating art exhibits.

He often said, “My friends are my greatest blessing. I value honesty, loyalty and friendship. I love making new friends.” Sixteen years ago, in a birthday note to all his friends, Irv wrote: “If I were to die today … I’d die the happiest man ever to have lived and loved for knowing you. It has never been about the material things for me. (Hell, I’ve lost everything twice.) It has always been about the memories of good times with each and every one of you.

Your footsteps are indelibly etched in my brain. You are all my personal angels and friends.”

A memorial service is being planned and the GGBA will provide details as soon as they are available.

San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

PHOTO BY RINK

© 2016 Bay Times Media Company Co-owned by Betty L. Sullivan & Jennifer L. Viegas

William A. Oakes

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S AU GU S T 4 , 2 0 1 6

In conjunction with the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival: 36, the Red Hot Chachkes klezmer band performed at the Festival’s opening party held at the Contemporary Jewish Museum on July 21.

PHOTO BY RINK

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

The Festival’s Jay Rosenblatt with director Adam Nimoy at the Jewish Film Festival Closing Night Party.

Nimoy’s documentary about his father, Star Trek star Leonard Nimoy, screened at the Castro Theatre on July 31.

GLBT Fortnight in Review

By Ann Rostow Terrorists: One, Cleveland Pride: Zero I’m ashamed to tell you that I always wanted Donald Trump to win the GOP nomination because (obviously!) his candidacy would ensure that my Democrats would win the general election. Now, I feel chagrined by this unpatriotic, politically motivated desire. How could I have wished for such a risky contest? All I can do is beg the Fates to intervene on behalf of reason, sanity and justice. Just this once, Fates!

After 1933, I think you owe us.

I’m writing this column a little early again. It’s vacation and I’m at the beach, if you must know. Well, I’m not there this minute because I am devoting my time and energy to you, dear readers. But I could be, were it not for my professional obligations.

Oh, did you hear that some Cleveland GLBT honchos cancelled their August 13 pride shebang this year because they decided it wasn’t safe enough after Orlando? Here’s another case of fear unnecessarily taking control over our lives, particularly given the fact that San Francisco and New York held their pride parades two weeks after Orlando without having fits of childlike trepidation. Some are calling for the head of Todd Saporito, CEO of Cleveland Pride, who issued the following rambling, nearly incoherent, excuse: “We have been entrusted by our community to create a secure parade and festival environment for our LGBTQ brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, friends and allies. Because of the changing social climate, Cleveland Pride did not have enough time to engage in the development of awareness programs and training that we believe is critical in today’s environment. Therefore, we regretfully cancelled our 28th annual parade, rally and festival this year.”

Say what, Todd? “Changing social climate?” “Awareness programs and training?” Really? It’s a parade. A festival. We’ve been conducting these events all over the country every year for decades. Granted, there was a nutcase killer in Orlando. But that’s all the more reason to stand together, honor those victims and celebrate our community’s pride and strength. By the way, police confirmed there were no credible threats to the city of Cleveland or to the GLBT community, and you might recall that Cleveland hosted the GOP convention with no problem two weeks ago.

I gather some other Cleveland gay leaders are planning to hold an event of some sort on August 13 without the help of the scaredy-cats at Cleveland Pride, so there’s that.

You’re Fired!

And what else is new, you ask? You’ll be excited to hear that we’ve finally gotten the ruling we’ve been waiting for in the lesbian workplace discrimination suit out of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Yes, I can hear your shout outs from here.

“At last!” “Tell us, Ann, what did they say? Does Title VII protect gays and lesbians from bias on the job?”

Um, actually I guess the answer is yes and no. According to the long-awaited opinion, the jurisprudence surrounding Title VII and gay civil rights is inconsistent and muddled and needs to be clarified pronto. On the other hand, the panel was hamstrung by prior case law in the Seventh Circuit, and was forced to rule against lesbian plaintiff Kimberly Hively, who was blocked from advancement in her job at a community college in Indiana.

This case was argued last September, so (count with me) the opinion spent ten months on the drafting table. The lengthy wait led some observers to wonder whether the panel was wrestling with a decision in our favor despite the fact that they were virtual-

ly obliged by precedent to rule against us. And I guess, in the end, they were wrestling. Two of the judges noted that the Supreme Court has ruled that marriage equality is mandated by the Constitution, yet in many states– as the now-trite observation goes–you can get married on Sunday and fired on Monday.

Adding to the illogic is the fact that the Supreme Court has ruled that sexual stereotyping is illegal under Title VII’s ban on sex discrimination in the workplace. You can’t fire a man for squealing, “Oh Snap!” or a woman for failing Makeup 101 (in theory), but if the worker is a lipstick lesbian or a manly gay man you can give them a pink slip in many states for no reason at all. Faced with this conundrum, courts have been all over the map to some extent on the scope of Title VII, while the federal government’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has said flatly that gays and lesbians should be covered under the 1964 law.

In short, the whole thing is a mess that should be rectified by the Supreme Court, or perhaps in this case, the full bench of the Seventh Circuit, which has the authority to overturn its previous precedents. The panel spokeswoman Judge Ilana Rovner wrote: “It seems illogical to entertain gender non-conformity claims under Title VII where the non-conformity involves style of dress or manner of speaking, but not when the gender non-conformity involves the sine qua non of gender stereotypes—with whom a person engages in sexual relationships. And we can see no rational reason to entertain sex discrimination claims for those who defy gender norms by looking or acting stereotypically gay or lesbian (even if they are not), but not for those who are openly gay but otherwise comply with gender norms.”

“We allow two women or two men to marry, but allow employers to terminate them for doing so. Perchance, in time, these inconsistencies will come to be seen as denying practical workability and will lead us to reconsider our precedent.”

What Is Art? Hey, I could go on, but I won’t. Let’s just say that adding gays and lesbians to federal civil rights laws may be the most important step in our communal public policy agenda. Whether it’s done through the Equality Act pending in Congress (unlikely) or the courts (more likely), our movement’s goals will not be accomplished until the laws that ban discrimination in the workplace, in education, in housing and elsewhere are expanded to include GLBT Americans.

Meanwhile, speaking of the courts, guess who’s taking us to the Supreme Court? None other than the guy who runs the Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, Jack Phillips.

You remember him, right? This bozo has been fighting the state of Colorado for years, arguing that he should have the right to refuse a bakery job for two gay grooms. So far, he’s been losing since Colorado is one of those states that protects us against discrimination in public accommodations.

Now, he’s telling the High Court that he has an artistic right of free speech and should not be required to use his, um, special gifts in the service of others. In our legal system, we balance competing interests. Colorado’s interest in protecting consumers from bias will trump a baker’s general dislike of gays or blacks. That’s why Philips is now reaching for a higher excuse, based either on piety or artistry, which he hopes will prevail.

I don’t buy it, frankly. The sketcher who does portraits at the Denver street fair can’t pick and choose his clients and he or she is more of an artist than Jack Phillips, in my view. Further, if (continued on page 30) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 4, 2016

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San Francisco Bay Times contributor Howard Steiermann is on vacation and will return in our September 1st issue.

SF Benefit for Czech Marriage Equality Photos by Stano Murin courtesy of Willem van der Bas

T he b enef it e vent at P i lsner Inn was also a send off party for Czeslaw Walek, chairman of Prague Pride, and Sisters Roma and Vish who w i l l accompany Walek back to Prague.

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Larkin Street Youth Services Education Graduation 2016 Photos by Paul Margolis Larkin Street Youth Services clients receiving high school diplomas, GEDs, Associate degrees, Bachelors degrees and transfers to universities were celebrated at the organization’s annual Education Graduation held on Thursday, July 21. A featured speaker at the ceremony was Elizabeth Terry, a successful business woman and educator who was aided by Larkin Street many years ago. Larkin Street Services has helped homeless youth for more than 30 years.

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LGBT Visibility Matters on Sport’s Biggest Stage

The Barra Olympic Park is a cluster of nine sporting venues in Barra da Tijuca, in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that will be used for the 2016 Summer Olympics and the Summer Paralympics.

More out LGBT athletes than ever are competing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. Yet those athletes, numbering at least 43, represent just a fraction of all members of our community who will be going for the gold. Some estimates hold that 500 LGBT athletes will be competing at the games, and that figure could be on the low side.

The Olympic size of the closet might at first seem surprising, given how certain other media have indicated we have turned a corner concerning inclusivity in sports. After all, many major sports teams have LGBT nights. Organizations like the You Can Play Project work to improve the playing field in all respects for LGBT athletes.

Several well-known sports figures like Robbie Rogers, Jason Collins and Michael Sam have made headlines in recent years. Even the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Charter (https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/olympic_charter_en.pdf ) now includes the following as its sixth rule: “The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic Charter shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, color, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

So what is the problem?

“People will try to point to the fans,” Cyd Zeigler, a founder of Outsports.com told Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune. “Some people will try to point

to the coaches. Some will try to point to the front offices. Some will try to point to the media. But at the end of the day despite all those things, nobody has chosen to do it. Social change happens when somebody just decides to do it, and nobody decided do to it.”

Berkeley native Kelly Griffin

hard-fought gains, every step in the right direction is cause for celebration. We therefore honor many of Rio’s Team LGBT in this issue, starting with out and proud rugby great Kelly Griffin who was born and raised in Berkeley, where she went to Berkeley High School and played basketball and soccer. Griffin channeled her sports drive into rugby while a freshman at UCLA and has not looked back since.

“For me, I play rugby because I love the game and it has given me the most enjoyment, the best friends … it has made my life so much better than if I hadn’t found it,” she says. “The more people who play rugby, the more people will be able to experience that for themselves. It’s important for rugby to grow in this country so more people can experience what I’ve been able to experience.”

She also acknowledges the support that she’s received along the way.

The reasons why are complex and concern everything from gender stereotypes and expectations—such as what it means to be a ‘strong and tough man’—to concerns that being out could threaten sponsorships, fan reactions and even locker room dynamics. Bravery beyond the usual challenges of sports is required to face these and other related problems, particularly in Rio, given that Brazil has one of the world’s highest percentages of LGBT hate crimes.

Achieving LGBT equality in sports remains an ongoing struggle, yet like all of our community’s

“Fortunately, my wife (Ashley) has moved to Chula Vista with me,” she says, referring to the Olympic Training Center in that CA city. “I have a son who is one and a half years old … I get a lot of support at home.”

She adds, “I love to go home and be a parent. It’s something other than rugby that brings me a lot of joy.”

You can follow Griffin’s Olympic journey via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KellyGriffinRugby/

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LGBT Athletes Going for

Carl Hester (Great Britian, Equestrian)

Ian Matos (Brazil, Diving)

Steph Labbe (Canada, Soccer)

Tom Daley (Great Britain, Diving)

Mélanie Hénique (France, Swimming)

Robbie Manson (New Zealand, Rowing)

Larissa Franca (Brazil, Beach Volleyball)

Lisa Dahlkvist (Sweden, Soccer)

Susannah Townsend (Great Britain, Field Hockey)

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Brittney Griner (USA, Basketball)

Ari-Pekka Liukkonen (Finland, Swimming)

Nilla Fisher (Sweden, Soccer)

Edward Gal (Netherlands, Equestrian)

Michelle Heyman (Australia, Soccer)

Hedvig Lindahl (Sweden, Soccer)

Katie Duncan (New Zealand, Soccer)

Tom Bosworth (Great Britain, Walking)

Kelly Griffin (USA, Rugby)

Alexandra Lacrabère (France, Handball)

Carlien Dirkse-van-den-Heuvel (Netherlands, Field Hockey)

Nicola Adams (Great Britain, Boxing)

r Gold at Rio Games 2016

Seimone Augustus (USA, Basketball)

Mayssa Pessoa (Brazil, Handball)

Ashley Nee, (USA, Kayak Whitewater Slalom)

Nadine Müller (Germany, Discus)

Hans Peter Minderhoud (Netherlands, Equestrian)

Nicola Adams (Great Britain, Boxing)

Maartje Paumen (Netherlands, Field Hockey)

Angel McCoughtry (USA, Basketball)

Jillion Potter (USA, Rugby)

Caroline Seger (Sweden, Soccer)

Chand Dutee (India, Women’s 100 Meters)

Helen Richardson-Walsh (Great Britain, Field Hockey)

Megan Rapinoe (USA, Soccer)

Caster Semenya (South Africa, Track & Field)

Jeffrey Wammes (Netherlands, Gymnastics)

Marie-Ève Nault (Canada, Soccer)

Sunette Stella Viljoen (South Africa, Javelin)

Julia Vasconcelos (Brazil, Taekwondo)

Spencer Wilton (Great Britain, Equestrian)

Melissa Tancredi (Canada, Soccer)

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 4, 2016

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SF Sketch Randy Coleman

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

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

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HIV+ Men’s Support Group Seeking New Members Openhouse will facilitate an HIV Men’s Support group, meeting Wednesdays, 2:30–4 pm with intake interview required. This free support group welcomes HIV positive men age 55+ seeking social support in a therapeutic environment. This is a closed group and openings occur throughout the year. Topics include current experiences, trauma, stigma, and multiple losses—in conjunction with sharing life stories. All discussions are confidential and affirming.

Paul Williams, a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern with the California College of Integral Studies’ Clinic Without Walls, will facilitate the HIV Men’s Support group at Openhouse. openhouse-sf.org Jason Hoover Is the New Managing Director of the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre Palace of Fine Arts League announced the appointment of Jason Hoover as the new Managing Director of the historic Palace of Fine Arts Theatre. Located in San Francisco’s Marina District, the 962seat theatre is one of the Bay Area’s pre-eminent entertainment and performance venues. Hoover joined the Palace of the Fine Arts Theatre in June 2016 with a wealth of experience in theatre management. Since 2010, Hoover has served as the Artistic Director for Ray of Light Theatre in San Francisco.

Additionally, he was the Executive Director for Broadway by the Bay in Redwood City. He is an accomplished freelance theatre director who received his B.A. in Fine Arts at the University of California, Riverside.

Mayor Lee Signs City’s Balanced Budget for Fiscal Years 2016–17 & 2017–18 Mayor Edwin M. Lee signed the City’s two-year balanced budget for Fiscal Years 2016–17 and 2017–18.

The City’s two-year balanced budget for Fiscal Years 2016–17 and 2017– 18 is $9.6 and $9.7 billion, respectively. To deliver this two-year consensus budget proposal, Mayor Lee worked with the Board of Supervisors and heard directly from residents and community leaders throughout the City concerning issues such as homelessness, quality of life, police reform, violence prevention and public safety. sfgov.org Trans Employment Program Offered The SF LGBT Community Center’s Trans Employment Program is designed to help create inclusive workplaces and jobs for trans and gender nonconforming people. They provide help in conducting job searches and provide referrals to trans friendly employers in the Bay Area.

The program offers a wide range of services including career coaching, navigating being out at work, transitioning on the job, resume review, managing professional references, hiring and community events, mentoring, and legal services. The first step is to book an appointment. All their services are free. transemploymentprogram.org Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Call for 2016 Fall Grant Applications Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc., grants are typically $250 to $1,000.

The Sisters tend to give grants to

under-funded, small organizations and projects providing direct services to underserved communities. The majority of these organizations and projects receive little, if any, government or mainstream funding and may be in the early stages of development.

The Sisters are especially attracted to progressive grassroots projects that promote wellness, identity, tolerance and diversity within our communities.

They have a vision that encompasses diverse communities and groups that have a common interest in human rights, people of every gender, gender identity, race, class, age and sexual orientation. They favor projects that serve the Bay Area or particularly embattled communities in other locales around the country and the world. thesisters.org/grants Seattle Joins Growing Number of Jurisdictions Protecting LGBTQ Kids from Conversion Therapy The Seattle City Council unanimously voted to protect LGBTQ youth in the city from conversion therapy, making Seattle the 10th jurisdiction— along with California, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, New York, Vermont, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati, and Miami Beach, FL—to protect youth from this dangerous practice. The 9–0 vote protects LGBTQ youth from mental health providers attempting to change their sexual orientation or gender identity through practices that are linked to substance abuse, extreme depression, and suicide.

Providers who violate the ordinance will be fined $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for each additional offense. nclrights.org

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE DE YOUNG AND LEGION OF HONOR

A Gift of Artists’ Books from the Reva and David Logan Foundation Through October 23, 2016, at the Legion of Honor Rosenkrans Court, Special Exhibition Gallery F This single-gallery exhibition celebrates the recent gift of an extraordinary group of 33 artist-illustrated books and additional prints from the collection of the late Reva and David Logan. The Chicago-based couple assembled an important collection of deluxe artist books and donated approximately 300 of them to the Museums from 1998 to 2001.

Selections from that gift were featured in Artists’ Books in the Modern Era, 1870–2000, a major exhibition at the Legion of Honor in 2001, the same year that the Logan

Gallery of Illustrated Books was inaugurated as an exhibition space at the Legion. Additional artworks were given by the Logan Foundation in 2012.

The recent gift includes many great treasures, including Sonia Delaunay-Terk’s La prose du Transsibérien et de la petite Jehanne de France (1913); Divers poemes (1941) a unique manuscript by Paul Éluard illustrated in watercolors by Pablo Picasso; and a beautifully bound edition of Joan Miró’s Á toute épreuve (1958).

Pablo Picasso, “Visage (Face),” frontispiece in Picasso, by André Level (Paris: Les Éditions G. Crès and Cie, 1928). Lithograph in book, 8 1/2 x 5 9/16 inc. FAMSF, Gift of the Reva and David Logan Foundation, 2016.15.15. © 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

DESIGN BY DAN SULLIVAN

Catacomb of Veils: Unveiling the Spiritual at Burning Man 2016

East Side Stories Heidi Beeler On the weekend between the political fracases of red and blue presidential conventions, I was invited by a friend to spend a sunny afternoon with a tribe of Burners of a different sort. In San Francisco’s Dogpatch district down by Pier 70, surrounded by the sheet metal warehouses of an old shipyard, a group of volunteers hammered, sawed, hoisted and dyed the building blocks for a mountain of wood and silk to be constructed, explored and finally torched at 2016 Burning Man, August 28 to September 5.

Catacomb of the Veils will be the largest art installation at Nevada’s Black Rock Desert this year, and one of the largest projects ever in Burning Man’s 30-year history. Comprised of two overlapping pyramids 40 and 50 feet high, Catacomb covers an area almost 19,000 square feet, almost 4 football fields.

While Egypt’s pyramids may be a mystery, lead designer and profes-

sional architect Dan Sullivan knows exactly how Catacomb’s twin peaks will be constructed. Three hundred 8-foot-long wooden sections built of used Ikea pallets at the Pier 70 site will be carted to Nevada in a dozen semis and lifted into place by crane.

Its 500,000-pound structure is to be supported by concrete footings and secured with nails by the community builders in the desert. Although the installation is massive, the pyramids, covered in driftwood, are meant to blend in with the surrounding landscape and to echo the peaks of Black Rock Point.

“To me the Black Rock Desert is one of the most sublimely beautiful places I’ve ever been,” Sullivan wrote in an email interview. “So for me, the connection with the landscape is about a piece that works with its context rather than against. It’s also about playing with perception. From a distance, Catacomb will look like it could be geological or part of the landscape,

but that reading changes as you get closer as it looks more like a ruin from a previous civilization.”

Of course, the project is named “Catacomb of Veils,” not “Pyramid of Driftwood,” so you know the interior space is as significant as its impact on the skyline. Visitors climb a path around the exterior of the pyramids and enter near the top to descend down passageways softly lit and decorated with art pieces and offerings added by the Burning Man Community. The labyrinth culminates in the Sanctum of Veils, a room filled with silks dyed brilliant scarlet and saffron, sapphire and emerald. Wooden cubby holes above the door of the Sanctum provide a space for visitors to leave offerings and remembrances.

“The act of moving downward is about facilitating a particular kind of spiritual experience–one that is more (continued on page 30) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 4, 2016

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COMPTON’S CAFETERIA 50TH ANNIVERSARY

The Search for ‘Screaming Queens’: Remembering the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot “As near as we can tell at this late date, based on incomplete and contradictory information, on a weekend night in August 1966, the patrons of Compton’s Cafeteria in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco resisted a police raid on the establishment,” says historian Susan Stryker. The patrons included “drag queens and trans women, gay hustlers, runaway street youth,” she notes. Fed up with being pushed around by the cops, they responded with a riot—breaking windows, trashing a police car, setting a news kiosk aflame.

Fifty years later, the Compton’s uprising is recognized as a milestone for the history of transgender rights—yet it had vanished from public memory before Stryker began uncovering the traces in the archives of the GLBT Historical Society. Unlike the Stonewall Riots in New York City in 1969, the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot received no news coverage at the time—and unlike Stonewall, activists didn’t call for an annual parade to mark the anniversary of the event. As Compton’s disappeared into the shadows,

Fundraising Underway to Support Compton’s Cafeteria 50th Anniversary

“Compton’s Café” alongside Stonewa l l in his Pride Month declaration for June 2016.

How does Stryker view the growing awareness of Compton’s as a seminal moment of resistance?

Stonewall was commemorated every year in Pride celebrations that spread worldwide.

A Discovery in the Archives “I first came across a mention of the Compton’s riot in the ephemera files of the GLBT Historical Society when I got involved there as a volunteer in 1991,” Stryker recalls.

“It was in a list of gay historical

Published with permission from the GLBT Historical Society.

Tenderloin Museum Presents the Historic District’s Fascinating Story

Compton’s Cafeteria 50th Anniversary Fund Committee members Felicia Elizondo, Andre Kingsley Jasmine Gee and Susan Englander are hoping to raise at least $50,000 or more in order to, as a letter from Elizondo mentions, “have a big Party at SF City Hall to celebrate all those who came before us. We would like to honor all who were in that era that started the Gay Movement in 1966 in San Francisco’s Tenderloin. We were Mexicans, Whites, Blacks and Asians.

We were all fighting for the same cause to be who we were meant to be. We were Queers, Queens, Hair Fairies, Sissies, Hotos, Hustlers, and female Impersonators. We were all a gay community.”

She continues that we must honor this historic event and to remember that the Tenderloin was a Gay Mecca in the 1960s. She also reminds how important it is to honor the ancestors of our LGBT community who paved the way for the present gains that we all enjoy now.

“Please donate any amount that you can,” Elizondo adds. “Any and all donations are appreciated.”

San Francisco Pride has partnered with the Compton’s Cafeteria 50th Fund. Funds and donations should therefore be made payable to the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Celebration Committee (San Francisco Pride, SF Pride) and delivered to: Thank you!

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events compiled several years earlier by Greg Pennington, one of the founders of the organization, that he had put together from reading lots and lots of gay and lesbian periodicals.” Tracking down the source of the reference proved to be daunting, but while doing research a few years later, Stryker finally found it in the program for San Francisco’s 1972 Pride Parade.

Those early glimpses inspired Stryker to uncover more details about the 1966 incident. Ultimately, she joined Victor Silverman in directing Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria. Released in 2006, the documentary appeared widely in film festivals and was broadcast on public television across the United States. In the ensuing decade, the story of the riot has increasingly entered the national conversation: President Obama even mentioned

“It’s a very positive development,” she says. “My constant worry, though, is that this knowledge simply gets folded into a progress narrative about how things are getting better and better for trans folks, when the reality is that a lot of us still struggle. Employment discrimination, housing discrimination, poor access to health care, high rates of HIV, incarceration, poverty, homelessness, familial rejection—these are very real challenges for many trans people. The same fierceness that led people to fight back in 1966 is still sorely needed today.”

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Located at the corner of Eddy and Levenworth Streets, the Tenderloin Museum is a project of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic that opened in June of 2015.

Since the opening, the Museum has welcomed visitors to view a combination of artifacts, ephemera and original graphics designed to tell the story and preserve the history of San Francisco’s district most known for vice, corruption and art.

As described by KRON reporter Molly Martinez, “The neighborhood, often overlooked as seedy and dangerous by visitors and locals alike, has served as a hotbed of controversial activity since the city was founded, ushering in the rise of speakeasies, the advent of pornography, and the establishment of brothels.”

The Tenderloin also has its own story, well represented at the museum, of gay and lesbian activities and activism that include the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot. Special thanks to Katie Conry, program manager at the Tenderloin Museum.

Calendar of Events for the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot 50th Anniversary The GLBT History Museum Cruising the Tenderloin in the 1960s: A Talk by Felicia Elizondo Thursday, August 4 7:00–9:00 pm Admission: $5.00; free for members Felicia Elizondo, a self-described “Mexican spitfire, screaming queen, pioneer, legend, icon, diva, 29-year survivor of AIDS and Vietnam veteran” was one of the transgender participants in the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria Riot. In 2015 she was named Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal of the San Francisco Pride Parade. In this special multimedia presentation, she explores San Francisco’s Tenderloin District in the 1960s to explain how the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot was a defining moment in the struggle by a diverse gay and trans community to claim public lives and become who they were meant to be, paving the way for future generations.

The GLBT History Museum Compton’s 50th Anniversary Art Launch & Artist Talk Tuesday, August 16 7:00–9:00 pm Admission: $5.00; free for members The event will be a launch party and artist conversation for Compton’s 50th anniversary works by ceramic artist Nicki Green and interdisciplinary artist Chris Vargas, commissioned by the GLBT Historical Society. Green is producing a limited-edition signature coffee mug referencing both Compton’s Cafeteria and the riot itself, while Vargas is hand-screening a numbered set of commemorative t-shirts from his own design.

In conversation, the artists will discuss their creative processes and the relationship between trans history and art. Both works will be available for a limited time exclusively at the GLBT History Museum and the Tenderloin Museum.

Green is a trans-disciplinary artist whose work focuses on craft processes that document history and create legacy for marginalized communities. She has exhibited her work nationally, notably at the Leslie-Lohman Museum in New York City and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Vargas is an artist whose work deploys humor and performance in conjunction with mainstream idioms to explore the complex ways that

queer and trans people negotiate spaces for themselves within historical and institutional memory and popular culture. Vargas also serves as executive director of MOTHA: The Museum of Transgender Hirstory and Art. Roxie Theater Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria Thursday, August 18 7:00–9:00 pm Tickets: $12 Cosponsored by the Tenderloin Museum and the GLBT History Museum, the event will feature a special 10th-anniversary showing of the Emmy Award-winning 2006 documentary Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria, followed by a Q&A with directors Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman. The film uncovered and popularized the then-forgotten 1966 riot at Compton’s.

Susan Stryker is associate professor of gender and women’s studies and former director of the Institute for LGBT Studies at the University of Arizona. A leader in the field of transgender studies, she is the author of many articles and several books on transgender and queer topics, most recently Transgender History (Seal Press 2008). She won a Lambda Literary Award for the anthology The Transgender Studies Reader (Routledge 2006).

Victor Silverman is an award-winning filmmaker, historian and author. His current film, Getting High, is a provocative, feature-length documentary about his family’s collision with drugs and alcohol set against a backdrop of American society’s bitter conflicts around the “war on drugs.” Silverman’s latest book, coauthored with poet Laurie Glover, is California: On the Road Histories (Interlink, 2012).

The GLBT History Museum Sex Work in the Tenderloin Then and Now Thursday, September 1 7:00–9:00 pm Admission: $5.00; free for members This panel discussion will explore how trans lives and sex work have changed in the last half-century in one of San Francisco’s most dynamic neighborhoods. Speakers include Tamara Ching, a Compton’s veteran and longtime advocate for trans and sex worker rights, and several advocates with St. James Infir-

mary, which since 1999 has provided free, confidential, nonjudgmental medical and social services for current and former sex workers of all genders.

The Tenderloin Museum Vanguard Revisited with Rev. Megan Rohrer Thursday, September 8 6:30 - 8:30 pm Admission: Free and open to the public In 2011, Megan Rohrer and historian Joey Plaster created a remarkable work of public history: Vanguard Revisited, which introduced the history of the 1960s radical queer-youth organization Vanguard to contemporary queer homeless youth, who created their own art and poetry zine in conversation with essays and themes from the original Vanguard newsletter. The new zine also featured archival materials, a historical narrative and writings from urban ministers and youth organizers.

For the 50th Anniversary Compton’s Commemoration, a second issue of the Vanguard Revisited zine will be released with new materials by the original authors and editors. For the Tenderloin Museum program, Rohrer will describe the initial process leading up to Vanguard Revisited and will discuss its legacy. Rohrer is the pastor of Grace Evangelical Lu- The GLBT History Museum: theran Church 4127 18th St. in the Castro District in San Francisco and is a nation- The Tenderloin Museum: ally recognized 398 Eddy St. in the Tenderloin District leader on issues of homelessness, The Roxie Theater: gender, sexuality 3117 16th St. in the Mission District and faith.

Event Locations

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From the Coming Up Events Calendar See page 28 Friday, August 5 - Marin Shakespeare Company’s Twelfth Night - 8:00 PM. Forest Meadows Amphitheater (890 Belle Avenue, San Rafael) marinshakespeare.org

Tuesday, August 16 - A.C.T. Young Conservatory’s Fields of Gold: The Music of Sting - 7:00 PM. The Strand Theater (1127 Market St.) tickets.act-sf.org

Summer Vacation

TLC: Tears, Laughs and Conversation Dr. Tim Seelig Here we are right in the middle of summer. We really do have the most glorious weather ever. Some of you are still planning your vacation. Some of us have already had ours. Planning is a huge part of the fun! Strangely, we look forward to summer as the time to “get away,” even though that is really only inf luenced by school days and summer break. As adults, we can vacate pretty much year round. But summer vacation just conjures up a myriad of memories and future hopes and dreams.

As part of our vacation dreaming, we make lists of places we might like to go—looking at brochures, web sites, talking to friends about where they have been. Let’s dream together of exotic, enticing locales: Foreign Countries. The Beach. The Mountains.

Camping. Glamping. Disneyland.

Focus on the Family World Headquarters.

What? That’s not on your list? Well, it’s on mine. OK, that may be a bit of a stretch, but it actually happened a few weeks ago! Seriously, what could Paris, Maui or Puerto Vallarta have on Colorado Springs, home and bedrock of the ultra-conservative clan (and I do mean clan)?

If you don’t know Focus on the Family, they are just precious. FOTF promotes abstinence-only sex education, creationism, school prayer, and traditional gender roles. They oppose abortion, divorce, gambling, LGBT r ights—includ ing marr iage and adoption, pornography, and pre-marital sex.

Bottom line—they are just a fun bunch. Who wouldn’t want to spend summer vacation with these folks?

OK, back to us. About 250 SFGMC singers chose to spend their summer vacation in Denver for the GALA Choruses Festival. GALA is an event that happens every four years, bringing together over 160 LGBTQ choruses from around the world. There

SFGMC performs at GALA 2016

were almost 7,000 singers and over 200 concerts across the five-day festival!

I think we represented San Francisco well. Very well. Back in 1978, SFGMC became the first chorus to openly identify as gay, and as such is known as the “granddaddy” of the now global LGBT choral movement. So, “Granddaddy” holds a huge place in the hearts of GALA Chorus members worldwide.

Our position in the movement carries with it lots of responsibility and very high expectations.

When the Festival ended, SFGMC stayed over a couple of days for a summer vacation extension tour to do what we have done for the past 38 years: 1. Raise money for worthy causes.

2. Break down barriers by being the “first.”

3. Make some waves while doing the other two—calling out discrimination where possible!

Brief ly, here are the three highlights of our summer vacation extension! No beaches were harmed.

First, we became the first gay chorus to perform at the absolutely breathtaking United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, joined by the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus and Out Loud: The Colorado Springs Men’s Chorus. Considering the troubled path our community has trod with both religion and the military, it was a very moving experience.

Second, the three choruses gave a benefit concert at the First Methodist

Church of Colorado Springs. 100% of the money raised was divided between a 25-year-old social services provider, the Citizens Project, and the Orlando Victims Fund.

Finally, our stealth appearance at the Focus on the Family World Headquarters capped it all off. We knew we would not exactly be welcome, so we pulled up, the guys literally poured out of our three buses and ran to the huge sign welcoming the world to the wonders of FOTF. We surrounded the sign and sang a brief excerpt from Avenue Q’s “If You Were Gay.” We ended with a verbal message from us to FOTF: “Love is stronger than hate,” and then sealed it with a kiss— kissing each other, of course.

As they say, it was delicious!

A nd for t h is recover i ng Southern Baptist, “Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.”

So, did we get to the beach?

Did we get to glamp? No, we didn’t. We did get to make a difference, though. And will this go down as one of the best summer vacations ever? You bet it will.

SFGMC visits the U.S. Air Force Academy

Next time, go with us!

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

This fall, SFGMC returns for a spectacular 39th Season. Each concert showcases the talent of the 300-strong San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, while highlighting wonderful collaborations with incredible guest artists.

Holiday - Dec. 9 + 10, 2016 • Spring - Mar 31 + Apr 1, 2017 • Summer - June 16 + 17, 2017 To learn more, visit sfgmc.org

SFGMC visits Focus on the Family S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 4, 2016

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Adult World Intrudes Upon Boyhood Friendship in Little Men

Film Gary M. Kramer Little Men, opening August 12 at the Clay Theatre, is out filmmaker Ira Sachs’ sly, gentle comedy of manners about Brian (Greg Kinnear), an actor, and his wife Kathy ( Jennifer Ehle) who move into his late father’s Brooklyn apartment with their sensitive teenage son, Jake (Theo Taplitz).

On the ground floor of the residence is a dress shop run by Leonor (Paulina Garcia). Leonor’s charismatic son Tony (Michael Barbieri), a wannabe actor, soon becomes fast friends with Jake. However, when Brian and his sister Audrey (Talia Balsam) want to raise Leonor’s rent, the relationship between the boys, as well as the adults, changes.

Sachs immerses viewers into the lives of these characters as they all try to get what they want. The strong bond between the boys is palpable and tender and provides the emotional heart of Sachs’ lovely film. The writer-director chatted with me recently for the San Francisco Bay Times about making Little Men. Gary M. Kramer: Little Men is a film about two young men, class, and sexuality. Can you discuss why these themes are of interest to you?

Ira Sachs: The issues of class, race, and sexuality speak to me. I’m in-

terested in those questions. Sexuality, race, and class define character as well as create drama. If you are attentive to the world with that particular viewpoint, those are the stories you find. The subject of the film is also about filmmaking in this time and as part of this system. I think that’s more relevant for gay people: How valuable are our stories?

Gary M. Kramer: What can you say about the dynamic between Tony and Jake?

Ira Sachs: I think Tony sees a friend, an artist, someone who has some of (continued on page 30)

By Sister Dana Van Iquity Sister Dana sez, “In addition to her long record as a champion for LGBTQ rights at home and around the globe, Hillary Clinton has proposed the most robust pro-LGBTQ equality agenda of any presidential candidate in history. She has called the Equality Act her ‘highest priority,’ and her policy platform specifically calls for outlawing dangerous ‘conversion therapy’ for minors, ending the epidemic of transgender violence, and supporting HIV prevention and affordable treatment. Meanwhile, disgusting Donald Trump dances between dangerous ignorance about the real challenges faced by LGBTQ Americans and outright antagonism toward our community, driven in part by his anti-LGBTQ running mate, Mike Pence.”

Based on Sean Owens’ 2009 hit play of the same name, STALE MAGNOLIAS: THE MUSICAL is packed with all the Southern archetypes you know and love. So take another trip circa 1985 back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean!

Get one more chance to catch The Last Picture Show! Meet six Southern Belles suspected of Crimes of the Heart!

Featuring the drag talents of Marilynn Fowler (as C.C. Chesterfield), Jef Valentine (Raven Looney), Robert Molossi (Spuvina Fetlock), Michael Phillis (Sugar Sweetly), Drew Todd (Fanny Chaffer), and Jerry Navarro (Louisiana Morales), plus show-stopping wigs by Jordan L’Moore (the higher the hair, the closer to God). Two audience members nightly will be selected for a makeover, and a chance to appear in the show’s finale! Book and lyrics by Sean Owens, music

by Don Seaver, directed by Cora Values. Every time the name of a deceased person is mentioned, the entire cast crosses themselves in perfect Catholic synchronicity. Hysterical! Come visit this beauty shop in Rectal, Texas, (actually it’s the Oasis, 298 11th and Folsom Streets). Hurry, because this is your last chance 24

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Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, now through August 6 at 7 pm. Tickets are $25–$35. Advance tickets recommended, as seating is very limited. Git yer hair did, y’all, at the Last Chance Salon, where proprietor CC Chesterfield’s slogan is “Natural beauty is no excuse.”

Sister Dana with friends at San Francisco Pride 2016 sfoasis.com my faves are Antonio Lopez’s Mike I was fortunate to attend an adHaire 1 (1983) watercolor and pencil vance screening and VIP chamon paper; Kent’s The Mechanic (1992) pagne reception for ABSOLUTEacrylic and pencil on illustration LY FABULOUS: THE MOVIE at board; and David Martin’s Boxer Alamo DraftHouse—hosted by our (1980) graphite on paper.

EssEff homegrown Eddie (Terry SISTERS SPEAK! is a series of McLaughlin) and Pats (ChrisTHREE intimate evenings featurtian Heppinstall) who do vivid ing THE SISTERS OF PERPETlive stage interpretations to perfecUAL INDULGENCE. Spark Arts tion. Their next won’t happen until gallery, 4229 18th Street & CollinOctober. Squish squish. Appropriate gwood, presented the second in for their big screen debut, Edina and the series with SISTER HERA Patsy are still oozing glitz and glamSEES CANDY—who has a PhD in our, living the high life they are actranspersonal psychology—speakcustomed to; shopping, drinking and ing about gay spirituality and its efclubbing their way around London’s fects on gay culture. Even though she trendiest hotspots. Blamed for an achad already published an award-wincidental death of a supermodel at an ning coffee table book, HEATHuber fashionable launch party, they ER JACKS felt it was time for a become entangled in a media storm book—photographs, essays, and stoand are relentlessly pursued by the ries about the Sisters—to be availpaparazzi. Fleeing penniless to the able. Jacks has approximately 40 glamorous playground of the superhours of recorded audio interviews rich, the French Riviera, they hatch with 22 Sisters. Sisters Speaks! series a plan to make their escape permais a fundraiser trio toward making nent and live the high life forever that happen. Jacks is raising $25,000 more, sweetiedarling! to self-publish her book here in the AbsolutelyFabulousTheMovie.com Bay Area. The second series featured The staff and volunteers of THE all sorts of perks, including a VIP GLBT HISTORY MUSEUM swag bag, a flight of bourbon tasthave installed their latest exhibition, ings, wine, beer, water, canapés, and STROKE: FROM UNDER THE a birthday cake for Sister Maddie MATTRESSES TO THE MU‘bout You—shared with the guests.

SEUM WALL, a traveling show of August 25, 7 pm at Spark Arts you 1950s–1990s illustrative erotic art on will be privileged to hear SISTER loan from the Leslie-Lohman MuseROMA speak in the final third of um of Gay and Lesbian Art in New the series. Different foods paired with York City. The show opened with a beverages will be offered, as well as public reception and is now on disVIP bags. play for the general public. The exBLACK BROTHERS ESTEEM hibition not only explores the male celebrated their 20TH ANNIVERform, but also offers an examinaSARY GALA at Strut, the 470 Castion of erotic fantasies as experienced tro Street center for gay/bi men’s through publications that were availhealth and wellbeing. This was a celable at nearly every newsstand in ebration of BBE’s 20 years of work, America, but that men often hid unand recognizing the legacy of its der their mattresses for fear of being founding members. BBE Program discovered. The San Francisco show Manager Shawn Demmons welis its only scheduled West Coast apcomed everyone. We recited along pearance. The exhibit runs through with BBE Peer Leader Rickey October 16 at the museum at 4127 (continued on page 30) 18th and Castro Streets. Three of

Photo by Paul Margolis

Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun

Speaking to Your Soul TAURUS (April 20–May 20) Your craft might be writing. You might take pleasure in painting or sculpting. Show up to your canvas or clay as a discipline. Inspiration strikes while you are in the act of creating.

Astrology Elisa Quinzi Now is a time when we are encouraged to recover wasted energy, refrain from drama, and streamline our efforts so that pure life intelligence can more easily channel through us and allow us to be most efficiently effective.

ARIES (March 21–April 19) The celestial spotlight is on self-care and detail duty. Take care of business in every sense of the word: bills, doctor visits, diet and exercise. The mundane matters.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) You could be faced with an opportunity to draw a boundary with a family member. Being of service is an act of love so long as you are loving yourself while you’re doing it. Take care of yourself in order to be an example to loved ones.

CANCER ( June 21–July 22) You might be inspired to do some volunteer work in the neighborhood. Perhaps your local city council has a seat for you. Go for it now. The embers are hot.

LEO ( July 23–August 22) New income opportunities can come from writing, speaking, or teaching. Press that suit and put yourself out

there. Never stop developing your skills and your charisma will get you noticed.

VIRGO (August 23–Sept. 22) Maximize these moments with self-purification. Clear your mind, body, and emotions of hindrances so that you can best channel pure life intelligence and get on with your destiny unencumbered by the past.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Structure meditation and spiritual study into your routine. Stay open for direct downloads from the divine now.

Yoga, chanting, fasting, and automatic writing could bring benefit.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) You might consider giving back as a public servant. Planetary energies prompt you to make a difference in society. If there ever was a time that the community needed it, it’s now.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22–Dec. 21) Whatever your mission in life, these days provide a ripe atmosphere for

self-assessment and a comb-through of the details of your plans. Make necessary course corrections and adjustments.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22–Jan.19) We all have a paradigm—a set of beliefs from which we operate, largely unaware. It is wise to periodically intentionally sift through such beliefs to separate the wheat from the chaff. Now is the time to do just that. Let humility guide you.

AQUARIUS ( Jan. 20–Feb. 18) Your thought processes might be deeper than usual. You could even pierce through the veil to uncover important previously hidden truths. Deep discussions can lead to stronger bonds.

PISCES (Feb. 19–March 20) Be discerning in your relationships and with potential partners. Some analysis is healthy when considering commitments.

Existing partnerships could use some revitalization. “Grow or go” might be an appropriate mantra now.

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

As Heard on the Street . . .What’s your favorite Summer Olympics sport to watch? compiled by Rink

Sister Pansies

Jennifer Schuster

Sister Mae Joy

Win Pham

Mary Luong

“High diving”

“Diving”

“Men’s volleyball”

“Men’s diving”

“Swimming”

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Tsunami Water Polo: Fierce in the Pool, Sexy on the Bench

Fitness SF Trainer Tip of the Month Joey De Prospero Fitness Director at Fitness SF SOMA

PHOTO BY PAUL MARGOLIS

Most people sit at desks all day. We end up rounding our shoulders and having tight hips. This stretch helps to open up the chest and hips.

Sports John Chen After attending a few practices and interviewing a number of San Francisco Tsunami Water Polo (an LGBT non-profit) players, I came away with one major epiphany: water polo players, men or women, LGBT or straight, touch significantly more breasts than anyone on this planet!

“A ny woman water polo player will tell you she had her boobs felt, grabbed and touched,” one told me.

“I’ve had my boobs touched many, many times,” another said. This was followed by yet another admitting: “I’ve inadvertently touched a few boobs.”

In reality, breast touching in this context is no laughing matter. It is one of the more effective and necessary leverage and positioning skills used to gain a competitive advantage over opponents in the water. To the casual observer (or in our fantasies), water polo is a sexy sport played by physically appealing men and women thrusting their scantily covered bodies against one another in an attempt to score.

Although there is some truth to this, our perception is far from the actual sport. According to Matthew Johnson, Tsunami Vice-President, boob touching is a necessary evil. In a game, your eyes “are constantly following the ball and the only way to

know the positioning of your opponent is reaching out with your hand(s) and oops, there it is.” As Nathan Corbin, a 10-year Tsunami veteran poignantly puts it, “The only thing sexy is the players on the bench. In the pool and above water, all you see are elbows and hands coming at you.

There is nothing sexy about that!”

In 2000 a few members of the San Francisco Tsunami Aquatics Club started a Tsunami water polo team that eventually became its own freestanding organization. Today, Tsunami Water Polo is a healthy club of over 50 men and women (LGBT and non LGBT) complete with structured coaching and instruction, practices, scrimmages, a plethora of social gatherings and events, as well as competitive teams. Current President Nick Davidson works hard, as he said, to “improve the overall water polo experience for all Tsunami members,” bringing in the best coaches and ensuring the most welcoming, positive social and competitive environment.

Tsunami Secretary Michael Ducker is especially proud of the fact that their “LGBT identity is special and shows up in our club composition, in the way we market, the way we fundraise and the way we socialize.”

A player named Matthew, who hails from Oklahoma, never heard of water polo until seeing teams compete at the 2012 London Olympics on television. With a minimal swim-

ming background (basically splashing in the community pool growing up), Tsunami transformed him into a lean, mean, muscular water poloplaying machine! Now you can’t pry him out of the pool.

On the other end of the spectrum is Juli Monahan, who was a diminutive high school swimmer until one fateful day a male teammate opened his mouth and said girls shouldn’t play water polo. Juli went on not only to make the boy’s water polo team, but she also then competed for the University of California, Santa Barbara’s women’s team. One of the fiercest as well as funniest Tsunami water polo players, Juli was unabashed of the fact that some guys in the heat of the game, trying to gain an advantage over her, reach all the way in and down to the (censored) end of her suit.

Not to be outdone, Juli admitted that she has perhaps reached for a guy’s (censored) region, “but accidentally, and only once.”

Tsunami coach Erik Koland, who was a collegiate athlete, explained, “Water polo is an ultra-physically demanding sport where players must be fundamentally efficient and strong swimmers just to start.” Players then learn leverage, throwing, jousting, positioning and spacing in the water through various techniques. In fact, water polo combines numerous transferrable skills from other sports, according to Head Coach Jon Wiener.

Make Exercise Meaningful and Delightful keep doing it. When/if you achieve that mindset, then staying active and fit will be a breeze. That is the wonderful outcome available to you with Inside Out Fitness.

Inside Out Fitness Cinder Ernst If you have not been reading this column, the title of this article might surprise you. You might even think the author is out of her mind! Don’t worry, we will clear it up for you.

Inside Out Fitness is an unusual, and to some, a mind-boggling concept.

The premise is that when you listen to the physical cues from your body, you will know the perfect next step on your fitness journey. That’s pretty much it. With Inside Out Fitness, it does not matter what you look like or how much you weigh.

In order to make exercise meaningful and delightful, you really have to put down the worry of your appearance and weight. If you are always beating yourself up, or using exercise to punish yourself, there is no chance that you will find your happy exercise vibe.

The best thing about happy exercise, or finding it meaningful and delightful, is that when it feels good you will keep doing it. You may even want to 26

The f irst step in making exercise meaningful and delightful is to make it feel good in the moment by putting down self-f lagellation, and instead, only biting off a small mouthful. The next step is to hook it into something fun and important to you. I say “fun” because hooking it into a health outcome will not work for finding meaning and delight.

Here is an example: I have a client who, at 60 years old, adopted a 10-year-old sweet girl from an orphanage in Russia. That is reason enough to be fit, but she wanted to be able to travel and show her daughter wonderful things. Two of the exercises we always do together are Get Ups and Step Ups (both pretty much what they sound like). A few years ago on a trip to Amsterdam, my client was able to climb all of the stairs at the Anne Frank house. On the same trip there was a houseboat with a very low bed, and my client was able to get up because of the Get Ups we do together. Now, whenever we do Get Ups, it is meaningful to her and she delights in the strength and stamina she has to live her life.

How do you find your meaning and delight? Look at what you have coming up, or what you might like to do in the next 6 months. For instance, I have a big trip coming up during which I will be doing a lot of walking. Walking is not my best exercise because of lots of “leg drama.” Right

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S AU GU S T 4 , 2 0 1 6

now, in preparation, I’m finding ways to build strength and stamina that will improve my walking ability so that I can enjoy my trip. I always have the trip in mind as I’m doing small rehab exercises and taking walks. It lends an excitement to some pretty boring exercises, and makes my path meaningful and delightful.

Maybe you have a trip coming up, or one you’ve been putting off until you’re in better shape. Maybe you want to be able to take a class, or a class with your dog. Perhaps there is a special hike you’ve been thinking of, or you’ve been contemplating walking with friends or colleagues, enjoying strong and competent strides. You might have considered taking a yoga class, planting a garden, or something else.

For me, I often think of riding my motorcycle. There are a couple exercises I do every day so that I can ride my bike with relative ease. When I do them, I think of how wonderful it feels to be on my bike, and those exercise moments become meaningful and delightful.

Troy Macfarland of Fitness SF provides monthly tips he’s learned from his colleagues who are professional trainers at local gyms.

He can be reached at tmacfarland@fitnesssf.com

For example, baseball teaches the ability to throw, soccer instills the importance of collective spacing and movement, basketball ingrains the fundamentals of one-on-one defense, and wrestling impresses the use of physical leverage. Although barrier to entry is relatively high to play water polo successfully, Tsunami is equipped with excellent coaches, such as Erik and Jon, and strong organiza-

tional management for anyone interested in playing water polo to succeed!

For more information on Tsunami Water Polo: tsunamipolo.org or San Francisco Tsunami Water Polo on Facebook.

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

Take Me Home with You!

“Yeehaw! My name is ArArchie chie, and I’m 86 pounds of hunky, husky love! I’m an outdoorsy, country dog at heart, and I’m hankerin’ to get back to my roots. My ideal home is somewhere outside of the city, where we can run, hike, and swim ‘til the cows come home. If that sounds like your idea of a good time, I’d love to meet you!”

Archie 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 Archie.

To see Archie and other pets seeking their forever homes, please visit: San Francisco SPCA Mission Campus Dr. Jennifer Scarlett and Pup 201 Alabama Street San Francisco, CA 94103 415-522-3500 Aside from major holidays, the adoption center is open Mon–Fri: 1–6 pm and Sat–Sun: 10 am–5 pm. Free parking is available for those wishing to adopt!

For more info about Archie: http://bit.ly/AdoptArchieSFSPCA The next time we’ll look at some really cool outcomes from even just moderate exercise. In the meantime, savor a relaxing walk, do some Get Ups or squeeze your butt 10 times in your chair while you think about an upcoming trip or another activity that

may benefit from your added exercise effort.

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

Professional Services

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

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S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY   T IM ES AUGUS T 4, 2016

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See many more Calendar items @ www.sfbaytimes.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF FELICIA ELIZONDO

compiled by Jennifer Mullen

Felicia Elizondo discusses the Tenderloin in the 1960s at the GLBT History Museum on August 4.

• 4 : T HURSDAY

Where Art Lives – Tenderloin Museum. 5-7 pm. (398 Eddy St.) Showcasing the works of young artists from United Playaz, Boys & Girls Club, and Glide. facebook. com/events/1738739283041157 Cruising the Tenderloin in the 1960s: A Talk by – GLBT

History Museum. $5. 7-9 pm. (4127 18th St.) Elizondo explores the Tenderloin in the ‘60s via a multimedia presentation.

Tenderloinmuseum.org Stale Magnolias: The Musical – Oasis. $25-$35. 7 pm. (298 11th St.) A sequel to “Steel Magnolias,” a lost season of “Designing Women,” and a second helping of “Fried Green Tomatoes” all rolled into

one. Through Aug. 6. sfoasis.com The Black Woman Is God – SOMArts. Free. (934 Brannan St.) Co-curated by Karen Seneferu and Melorra Green, The Black Woman is God celebrates the Black female presence in the highest spiritual form. Gallery hours: Tuesday–Friday 12–7pm & Saturday 12–5pm.

Through August 27. somarts.org/ theblackwomanisgodopening/

• 5 : F RIDAY

Polyglamorous August – Oasis. $7-$10. 9 pm. (298 11th St.) Special guest Sappho, as well as Stormy Vigil (Stranger Disco) who also hails from Portland, along with NY’s SPRKLBB (Ostbanhof). sfoasis. com/event.cfm?cart&id=168017 Invisible Fortress – Grace Cathedral. $15-$20. 7-10 pm. (1100 California St.) Artists and ensembles explore the interconnections between built structures, the communities that inhabit them and the dualities that lie within. eventbrite. com/e/invisible-fortress-tickets-25561812068 Marin Shakespeare presents Twelfth Night – Forest Meadows Amphitheater. $10-$35. 8 pm. (890 Belle Avenue, San Rafael).

A story about the residents of the Island of Illyria with music, poetry, mischief and mirth. Through Aug. 12. marinshakespeare.org

• 6 : S ATURDAY

The Tenderloin: Tell Your Story! Theatrical Workshop from Campo Maldito – The Tenderloin Museum. $40. 5:30-7 pm.

Join playwright Bennett Fisher and director Jesca Prudencio for a 90-minute theatrical workshop based on the ideas at the core of 28

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S AU GU S T 4 , 2 0 1 6

Campo Maldito. eventbrite.com/e/ the-tenderloin-tell-your-story-theatrical-workshop-from-campo-maldito-tickets-26730790514 Powerblouse: Juanita MORE! and Glamamore with Jesse Oberst – Powerhouse. 12 pm.

(1347 Folsom St.) The hosts invite one lucky person to the stage for a full-fantasy drag makeover. facebook.com/events/ 1012521355464034 Teens and Queens - Koret Auditorium, Main Library. 20th Anniversary of the Center. Through Aug. 7. facebook.com/James-CHormel-lgbtqia-Center-of-SanFrancisco-PublicLibrary-146487331384/

• 7 : S UNDAY

End of the Season Party for the SF Gay Softball League – SOMArts Cultural Center. $15 (But no one turned away for lack of funds). 2-5 pm. (934 Brannan St.) Awards presentation and send off as the teams head to Austin, TX, for the 2016 Gay Softball World Series. sfgsl.org/products/5172-eos-foodtickets---2016 Sonoma Wine Country Pool Party for Princeton LGBT Alumni – Home of Bryan Hancock ’77. $30. 1-6 pm.

Admission includes an open bar with the host’s favorite bikini-clad bartender, lunch/snacks, in-pool volleyball, hot tub and shower facilities. btgala.tigernet.princeton. edu/160807NoCal Save the Date: Leatherwalk Beer Bust – SF Eagle. 3-6 pm.

(398 12th St.) A beer bust to start fundraising towards a goal of raising over $5,000 this year. facebook. com/events/1244266358920148 Last day for Dancers We Lost:

Honoring Performers Lost to HIV/AIDS Photo Exhibit GLBT History Museum. $5 donation. 7–9 pm. (4127 18th St.) Photographs and more presented in a dance-history project..

Perfectly Queer: Award Winning Authors for August – Dog Eared Books.7-8 pm. (489 Castro St.) Vincent Meis and Willy Wilkinson, two award-winning authors, read from their most recent works. facebook.com/ events/1741912596068410 Sacred Table at Café Flore: Bullying Among Us. Free. 6:307:30 pm. (2298 Market St.) A place to discuss and share stories of bullying in the LGBT community. facebook.com/events/ 1229156730441314 Conversation with the Queer Tribe with HR Bremner – Flesh and Spirit Community. 5 pm. (924 Valencia St.) A therapist, sex educator and community organizer counsels on sexual development and trauma. fleshandspirit.org/index.php/ 12-series3/39-h-r-bremner

• 9 : T UESDAY

Auditions for Theatre Rhinoceros – Theater Rhino. 4-7 pm. (1 Sansome St., #3500) Performers of all ages, ethnicities, and sexualities are encouraged to audition with two 90-second contrasting monologues. therhino.org/ auditions/auditions.html.

Butch Stud - Drop-in group for people who identify as Butch, Stud, Masculine-of-Center, Boi, Genderqueer and more. Email: butchstudgroup@pacificcenter.org Queer Youth Meal Night LGBT Center, Rainbow Room. Free.

5–7 pm. (1300 Market St.) A safe

space to meet LGBTQIA friends. facebook.com/sfcenteryouth?_ rdr=p

• 10 : W EDNESDAY

PHOTO BY CHARLES MARTIN, 2014.

Showgirls The Musical: Presented by Peaches Christ – Victoria Theater. $32+ (2961 16th St.) Peaches stars as Cristal in this production of Showgirls. Through August 20th. facebook.com/ events/830280830438303 Floor 21: More and Rudy Present a New Downtown Happy Hour - Starlight Room.

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

• 11 : T HURSDAY

Castro Benefit District Board of Directors Meeting – Free. 6 pm. (501 Castro St., 2nd floor). All CBD meetings are open to the public. ww.castrocbd.org Opening Night of Desi Fest 2016 – Cobb’s Comedy Club. $30.

8 pm. (915 Columbus Ave.) The South Asian Comedy festival’s third year. concerts.livenation.com/ event/1C0050D5D8B35C75 Shapeshifting: The artwork of Yolanda Ramirez and Evelyn Reyes – Creativity Explored. Free. 7-9 pm. Creativity Explored, a nonprofit visual art gallery and studio for artists with developmental disabilities, presents Shapeshifting. Through Sept. 7. creativityexplored.org/pressroom/3320/shapeshifting

• 12 : F RIDAY

Broad City Comedy Show – Brainwash Café. Free. 8 pm. (112 Folsom St.) An all-female line up showcases some of the best Bay Area comediennes. facebook.com/ events/1168607179856229 The Grand Duke’s Monthly Bar Crawl – Cinch Saloon.

6-10:30 pm. (1723 Polk St.) Stops include: The Cinch, Divas, Gangway, and Club OMG. Proceeds to benefit Success Center SF. facebook. com/events/1252175038140675 SF Gamer Night – The Eagle.

Free. 8 pm. (398 12th St.) Lots of games available to play. facebook. com/events/532843640234689/

Pound Puppy - The Eagle. $10. 9 pm. (398 12th St.) Mike Gushansky deejays in his style of Pych Disco and Deep House. facebook.com/ events/1045924192159615

Beer Bust Benefit for SF AIDS Foundation – Mix. 3-7 pm. (4086 18th St.) Raises money for the SF AIDS Foundation as part of Team SQREAM for the Santa Skivvies Run in December. tofighthiv.org/site/TR/ GreaterThanOneEvent/SFAFGener al?px=3196775&pg=personal&fr_ id=1980

Qwocmap Dance Party; a World Famous Dance Party – Turf Club. $10-$20. 9:30 pm-1 am.

(22519 Main St., Hayward). Polish your dancing shoes or “tennies” for this Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project Benefit Dance event. facebook.com/events/ 169519286796052/

Reunion and Benefit to Save the Stud. – 4 pm. (399 9th St.) Various queer punk bands at a fundraiser to save the historic club dedicated to queer punk, queer art, community, and grrrrls taking control and speaking out through music and spoken word. facebook. com/events/1824061041160557

• 13 : S ATURDAY

SF Sketchfest Presents The Benson Movie Interruption of The Rock – The Castro Theater. 4:20 pm. $20. (429 Castro St.) Doug Benson and friends rip on Michael Bay’s sophomoric film for one afternoon only. facebook. com/events/1114790431905217

• 14 : S UNDAY

SF Dyke March Presents: Still Queer – Beauty Bar. (2299 Mission St.) $5-$500. No one turned away for a lack of funds. 3 pm. 100% of the proceeds help keep the Dyke March radical, inclusive, and community-driven. facebook.com/events/

• 15 : M ONDAY

Pint-Sized Plays Festival – San Francisco Theater Pub. Free. 8 pm. (144 Taylor St.) Short plays by Bay Area playwrights that take place in a bar and involve characters drinking beer. Through August 29. facebook.com/events/ 1776401399310666 HOEisCOVEN – El Rio. 8 pm.

(3158 Mission St.) A witch-themed night. Say “Carmen Miranda” at the door to get in for $3. facebook. com/events/250484138659778

• 16 : T UESDAY

Fields of Gold: The music of Sting – The Strand Theater. (1127 Market St.) The A.C.T.Young Conservatory presents 30 years of music from Sting, interwoven with a unique story concerning a group of Amish and non-Amish youth coming of age in the American heartland. Through August 27.

Wine and Movie Night: Vertigo – Top of the Mark. Free.

5:30 pm tasting and 7 pm movie. (1 Nob Hill) Every Tuesday through August 30. sf.funcheap.com/winemovie-night-vertigo-top-mark/ The Doctor is In: CROI Update - Strut. Free. 6:30-8:30 pm. (470 Castro St.) Twice-monthly opportunities for guidance from HIV specialist Dr. Joanna Eveland and community members. Email pforce@sfaf.org or RSVP.strutsf. org/event/the-doctor-is-in-croiupdate/?instance_id=5611

• 17 : W EDNESDAY Nippon Nights: Battle Royale – Roxie Theater. $12. 9:15 pm.

(3117 16th St.). See this famous Japanese movie on the big screen. facebook.com/events/ 1043195145794654

Pop Up Art Fair: The Castro Bazaar – Jane Warner Plaza.

Free. 4-6 pm. (Castro and Market).

See the work of local artists. castrocbd.org/live-in-the-castroS AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 4, 2016

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ROSTOW (continued from page 13) a baker is an artist, then so is a catering crew or almost any other wedding purveyor. Indeed, we saw a New Mexican wedding photographer attempt to make this argument in a case that the Supreme Court declined to review a year or so ago. We’ll see if the Court likes this case better since it also contains a religious freedom claim.

Husker Rep in Sex Tape Trouble I’m back from the beach, where I took a short break for a little wine and a sandwich. I’m in the dog house because two nights ago, I accidentally poured Mel a small glass of citronella mosquito repellant that someone put in the fridge. It comes in a big plastic bottle and looks just like water, so the confusion was hardly my fault. Nonetheless, I have been taking heat for this mishap for the last 48 hours even though she basically took one teeny tiny sip before spitting it out, so as the saying goes, no harm no foul.

At any rate, there was some discussion just now over whether or not Mel still needed something to get the taste of mosquito repellant out of her mouth, which was basically an excuse to suck down another inch or two of my Bandol rosé. We are just a few miles east of that famed wine town and it is my personal goal to consume as much as humanly possible before we leave.

But, if you haven’t noticed, I digress. I was just listening to some commentary from Nebraska state senator Bill Kintner, who was explaining his opposition to a statewide GLBT civil rights law.

What if, Kintner mused on radio (and I paraphrase), you had an employee named Joe who was always late to work and never finished a task, and you took him aside and said, “Joe, you’d better improve or you’re not going to have a job here any longer!” Well, with this proposed law, Joe could come in the next day and say, “You know what? I think I feel like a woman,” and he could put on a dress and then basically you’d be stuck because you couldn’t fire him without violating his civil rights!

Also, Kintner added, you never really know who’s gay and who’s not, so anyone can take advantage of what’s essentially a get out of jail free card for dissolute employees by announcing they are gay or lesbian in order to avoid living up to employer standards.

I couldn’t listen to any more of Kintner’s interview, but I wanted to give you some sense of the man, a conservative Christian, because you guessed it! He’s in trouble because some have found an explicit sex video (of him) on his state computer. It’s heterosexual, l I should add, but still. These moralistic morons are so often the sleaziest sickos in the sock drawer. And, hello? If you don’t want to be embarrassed in the year 2016 and beyond, do not make digital records of your intimate moments, period. Because unless you’re a complete nobody–and even then, in many cases–they will be shared online.

I just reread this paragraph and was reminded of a French comedy about a loser guy who was about to be laid off in a cost cutting move by his company. He realizes this, and a buddy of his suggests that he should pretend to be gay so that the company would think twice about adding him to the lay-off list.

Sure enough, he keeps his job and, in fact, the company bends over backwards in politically correct style to make sure he feels safe and welcome.

Then, all the attractive women who never gave him the time of day become his best friends and ask him advice on everything from romance to fashion. He becomes incredibly popular and starts dressing to kill and looking like a hundred bucks. I forget how it ends, but I do recall that, at some point, the homophobic bully in the workplace secretly comes out to him.

At any rate, it has a happy ending, but now that I think about it, it sort of proves Mr. Kintner’s point.

It does so, that is, if you think the Nebraska economy operates like a French romantic comedy.

I just found it. It’s called Le Placard, or The Closet. I recommend it.

Finally, the Navy is naming a ship after Harvey Milk, which is nice, I think. And you may already have read that the NBA is removing next year’s All Star Game from North Carolina to protest the anti-gay and anti-trans HB2. So take that, Tarheels. There goes some $100 million in economic activity, amazingly enough. Who knew the All Star Game was that popular? arostow@aol.com

SISTER DANA (continued from page 24) Beard “The Brothers Pledge,” nine and did not dare risk being brandstanzas, including: “We will treat ed a [shriek!] tourist! Since Folsom each other with profound respect and Street Events (sponsoring both love; there is already too much hate leather fairs and parties) first began, the organization has donated nearly and anger in the world.” There was $5.5 million to San Francisco-based a Spiritual Evocation by DREAAM and national charities. Volunteers (LGBTQQI African American men who give their time to help these between 18 and 30) Program Manevents run smoothly are the biggest ager Tony Bradford. The evening reason that they are able to give included awards presented by Stanaway as much as they do. SISTERS ley Allison and Rickey Beard for OF PERPETUAL INDULsix founding members, recognition GENCE from around the world and of BBE’s work in the community, caother volunteers staffed the gates to tered refreshments, a live DJ, and fun. BBE is the only program focused collect donations for the UYA Fair charities. My traditional favorite solely on Black same-gender loving game there is always Naked Twistmen in San Francisco and providing er hosted by Steamworks. But can public health awareness, communianyone tell this jaded nun (who has ty engagement, and HIV/AIDS preworked every leather fair since incepvention for gay, bisexual, same-gention in August 1985 as RINGOLD der loving (SGL), gender-variant, ALLEY FAIR, when Sister Mysteand transgender individuals of Afriria and I asked for donations to fight can descent. sfaf.org,facebook.com/ AIDS to take pictures with us two BlackBrothersEsteem leather nuns) if there is ANYTHING UP YOUR ALLEY FAIR was new under the sun?! folsomstreeteFolsom Street Fair’s naughty little vents.org brother—smaller and therefore more WHAT’S COMING UP, SISTER intimate than Folsom Fair. A lovely DANA? sunny day brought out plenty of pervy peeps crowded nuts-ta-butts. Also Sister Dana sez, “Don’t miss these fine known back in the day as DORE events supporting the queer community and ALLEY FAIR, UYA is always locatelsewhere!” ed on Dore Alley between Howard and Folsom, continuing on Folsom LEANNE BORGHESI is BDSM from 9th to Juniper and the adjoin(BEAUTIFUL DIRTY SEXY ME) ing block of 10th Street. During the at Feinstein’s at the Nikko, 222 Malast Sunday in July, 11 am–6 pm, son Street, August 5 and 6. The we celebrated folks wearing leather, sumptuously talented Leanne Borfeather, rubber, furry, animal, kink, ghesi returns to Feinstein’s at the fetish, costume, or other fun wear— Nikko with her all-new comedic 30

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S AU GU S T 4 , 2 0 1 6

BEELER (continued from page 19) introverted and reflective,” Sullivan wrote.

Creating spaces for spirituality in the desert has been appealing to Sullivan. He met all his core crew for Catacomb as lead architect for David Best’s 2014 Temple of Grace. In fact, the inspiration for Catacomb came from a friend, who had to leave partway through building the Temple of Grace because she lost a family member to suicide. She later told Sullivan about the sudden shock of her loss, saying it felt like only a veil separated their worlds. He noted that as a gay man, creating spiritual space for people who felt alienated by religion was particularly poignant for him.

“The significance in creating spiritual space at Burning Man as it relates to the LGBTQ community is that orga-

nized religions have typically pushed the queer community out,” Sullivan said. “Projects like this are a way of bringing people in, and providing a space for human rituals that are unattached to a particular religion.”

Talk to any crew member at the construction site and they’ll tell you about the community these projects build. More than 100 volunteers have helped construct the wooden panels and hand dye the silks. There is a reluctance to assign specific meaning to the project, because its meaning will come from the individuals who experience it, whether that is for remembrance or self-reflection or practical jokes.

“What makes this project different is that it is the simultaneous creation of both the project and the communi-

ty,” Sullivan wrote. “I think the most beautiful thing about this is the group of individuals who pour themselves into giving this gift to the larger community.”

The Catacomb of Veils has raised $70,000 of its $90,000 IndieGoGo campaign. All funds raised go to materials, rent, transportation, physical burn requirements and camp supplies for the on playa build prior to gates opening. To support the Catacomb, go to https://www.indiegogo.com/ projects/catacomb-of-veils-burningman-2016-architecture#/ Trumpet player Heidi Beeler has been a member of the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band since 1991. She is also a founding member of the Dixieland Dykes +3. For more information, please visit www. sflg fb.org or www.facebook.com/sflg fb

KRAMER (continued from page 24) what he wants: a playmate, a mentee—someone he can teach. Jake has a life that looks good to Tony. And I think Tony is like Tony Manero: You judge him on the surface, but he’s a very good actor. He has a real sensitivity, and it comes from understanding people. Theo said that Tony gives Jake access to all these worlds. He’s an inherently curious boy.

Gary M. Kramer: Can you talk about the contrast between the adults vs. the boys?

Ira Sachs: There’s conflict between the adults, but the drama is when the adult world intrudes on the kids.

Their openness is taken away from them by the element of money, difference, class, judgment—all these things get in the way of something that is quite pure between these two boys.

Gary M. Kramer: What are your thoughts on parent/child relationships?

Ira Sachs: I think each character in the film is trying to be who they want to be in the eyes of other; Tony, Brian, and Leonor. Each of them fails in their expectations for themselves.

In the last act, they become closest to whom they are most essentially, and more comfortably. Brian is a lit-

show, BDSM (Beautiful Dirty Sexy Me).

After her sold-out appearances last Fall with the smash-hit show, LUSH, Borghesi returns with a twist … whipping her strengths, truths, fears, and desires into shape with a daring new solo show! Under the direction of Nicolas Minas, this powerhouse femme leads the audience through songs from prim and proper to sexy from the 20’s–40’s, Broadway, jazz and pop, with significant focus on the original Red Hot Mama Sophie Tucker. Tickets range in price from $25–$45 and are available by calling 866-663-1063 or visiting feinsteinsatthenikko.com HARVEY MILK LGBT DEMOCRATIC CLUB presents 40th ANNIVERSARY DINNER & GAYLA on Thursday, August 11, at SOMArts Cultural Center, 6:30– 9:30 pm. (See page 11 for more information.) The honor of your presence is requested as the Milk Club celebrates 40 years of queer progressive Democratic politics and activism in San Francisco. The annual dinner & gayla gathers over 300 of San Francisco’s most influential LGBTQ politicians, community activists, and grassroots organizers for a Night of Merryment. 6:30 pm: VIP Reception/Cocktail Hour; 7:30 pm: Dinner, Keynote Address & Awards Ceremony with a Night of Notables. Keynote Speakers include Bao Nguyen, Mayor, City of Garden Grove, CA, the first Vietnamese Democratic mayor in the Unit-

tle man who becomes a bigger man.

How we feel against our parents is very key to gay men, who may feel they disappoint their parents. Being gay has altered their parents’ perspectives. Children inherently disappoint their parents, and parents disappoint their kids.

Gary M. Kramer: Can you talk about your approach to the material?

Ira Sachs: I’m the filmmaker, and this is a queer film to me. The eye of the filmmaker is a gay man and that is specific to me. Letting go comes with maturity. You trust instincts and systems more than you maybe trust ideas. People respond to the maturity around how the story is told. There’s a rigor, but it’s more relaxed.

Gary M. Kramer: Can you talk about codes of masculinity in Little Men? Ira Sachs: I guess those things were so important to me as a 12–13-yearold who went from an all-girls school to an all-boys school. It was traumatic for me, a gay kid who grew up in a family of women. How do I feel as a gay man in a heterosexual film industry? There’s an alienation that one feels whatever identity you have. I’m interested in liberating those things,

ed States and first directly elected openly gay mayor in Orange County.

The Milk Club will acknowledge and honor the incredible work of eight organizations and individuals. For tickets, visit milkclub.org GAPA RUNWAY 28: INTERGALATIC lands on Planet Earth on August 13! Get ready to uncover all the fabulousness in the universe as the GAY ASIAN PACIFIC ALLIANCE (GAPA) Foundation’s Runway XXVIII: Intergalactic makes a crash landing onto San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness. Hosted by Miss GAPA 2012 Jezebel Patel and Mister GAPA 2013 Whitney Queers, this annual beauty pageant kicks into light speed and launches into a galaxy far, far away as a group of other-worldly Candydates battle for this year’s title of Mister and Miss GAPA. There’ll be guest judges, a talent competition and, of course, an opportunity to see these contestants harness the power of the FIERCE to strut their stuff on the runway.

Don’t miss out on this unforgettable night of empowerment as proceeds benefit GAPA Foundation’s STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP AND COMMUNITY GRANTS PROGRAMS. May the FIERCE be with YOU! Show starts at 7 pm. Please arrive accordingly. To purchase and reserve your seats to Runway 28, visit City Box Office, located at 180 Redwood Street, Suite 100, San Francisco; online at cityboxoffice.com/ eventperformances.asp?evt=2204;

and in this world I did that through theater. I was involved in children’s theatre in Memphis and I was free there. The kids were black and white, gay and straight, rich and poor. I felt more alive in that world—which is hard to replicate.

Gary M. Kramer: This film is almost obliquely queer. You seem to alternate between making films with queer content and telling stories that are sensitive, but not sexual. Can you talk about that thread of your work?

Ira Sachs: I think it’s complicated, what I respond to, what I feel, and what stories I’m interested in. I’m not attuned to the market forces. Individually I’ve spent half my life creating opportunities for LGBT artists to make work that is not for profit.

Queer Art. Capitalism doesn’t value our stories. That means you have to find other reasons and possibilities. © 2016 Gary M. Kramer Gary M. Kramer is the author of “Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews,” and the co-editor of “Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.” Follow him on Twitter @garymkramer

phoning 415-392-4400 or at the door 90 minutes prior to performance through 1/2 hour after 7 pm curtain. gapafoundation.org The 1995 movie Showgirls, written by Joe Eszterhas and directed by Paul Verhoeven, followed on the heels of their mega-successful thriller Basic Instinct and promised to make a star out of ingénue Elizabeth Berkley as innocent wannabe dancer Nomi Malone. Instead, the film crashed at the box office and stalled Berkley’s career. But the legend of Showgirls flew like a phoenix from the ashes, spawning what so many epic flops do—a cult classic that inspired Rocky Horror-esque midnight screenings. Now, PEACHES CHRIST PRODUCTIONS brings SHOWGIRLS! THE MUSICAL!—the hilarious show that dazzled New York—to lascivious life on stage at the Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th Street, for its San Francisco premiere. This all-singing, all-dancing, all-thrusting adult parody starring April Kidwell and Peaches Christ is sure to be an utterly outrageous experience. Shows begin August 10.

Sister Dana sez, “I was truly upset to hear rude booing from the Bernie Sanders contingent on the first day of the Democratic National Convention, and to quote actress/ activist Sarah Silverman, ‘To the Bernie or Bust people, you’re being ridiculous!’ So true! Now get over yerselves and be STRONGER TOGETHER!”

Round About - All Over Town

Photos by RINK

Castro Farmers Market - Wednesday - July 6

Lola and Stephane at the Feel Good Bakery Booth

Customers shopping at the Fifth Crow Farm of Pescadero Booth

AIDS Health Foundation Art Space Opening - Friday, July 8

Javier at the Berry Licious of Gilroy Booth

Sarav Human and his pup

“Stoke: From Under the Mattress to Museum Walls” Exhibit Opening at the GLBT Historical Society Museum

Leslie Lohman Gallery director Hunter O’Hanian speaking at the opening

Exhibition curator and artist Robert W. Richards welcoming guests to the show that originated at the Leslie Lohman L/G Gallery and Archive in New York City

Historical Society volunteer Alexandra Carlson (left) and Crystal Cervantes

Models Chris Harris (left) and Daniel Cherry (right) with a friend

Dive Bar Party at GLBT Historical Society Museum - Friday, July 22

GLBT Historical Society executive director Terry Beswick opening the exhibit as curator/artist Robert W. Richards looks on DJ Mark O’Brian, GLBT Historical Society’s Marke Bieschke and a friend at the Dive Bar Party

Grand Duchess Olivia Hart served as emcee for the Party

Show curator Robert W Richards and Leslie Lohman Gallery director Hunter O’Hanian

San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 38

The Castro Theatre marquee announcing the appearance of TV producer Norman Lear who received the Festival’s Freedom of Expression Award on Sunday, July 24 Norman Lear greeted friends and family at the Castro Theatre

Servers at the Dive Bar Party

Guests Rik Lee and Bruce Beaudette

Flaggers at Jane Warner Plaza - Wednesday, July 27

Coordinator Xavier Caylor flagging with his crew

Jeffrey Doney (right) joined his partner, flagging coordinator Xavier Caylor, at Jane Warner Plaza

Flaggers displaying their skills at Jane Warner Plaza

Festival executive director Lexi Leban, honoree Norman Lear and program director Jay Rosenblatt during the reception following the screening of “Norman Lear: Another Version of You”

Pokemon Go!

A woman in a Panda costume led hundreds of Pokemon Go followers on Market Street on Wednesday, July 20 S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES AUGUS T 4, 2016

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