San Francisco Bay Times - May 19, 2016

May 19-June 8, 2016 | www.sfbaytimes.com

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In the News

Compiled by Dennis McMillan Legislation Introduced to Extend Rent Control Protections for Individuals Living with HIV/AIDS This week Supervisor Scott Wiener introduced legislation to extend rent control to people living with HIV/ AIDS who are part of a federal housing subsidy program known as HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS). Under the San Francisco Rent Ordinance, HOPWA recipients do not receive the same rent protections under rent control as someone living in the same building who does not receive a HOPWA subsidy. Specifically, HOPWA recipients have no protections against rent increases, which means that even if they live in a rent-controlled building, their rent can be increased to market rate at any time. If passed, the new legislation would end this exemption so that HOPWA recipients, many of whom are seniors and long-term HIV survivors, have the same rent control protections as anyone else. sfgov.org Alice to Hold Forum on Racism in Queer Community The Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club will present a discussion and testimonials on “Racism and White Privilege in the LGBT community.” The date has been rescheduled from April 18 to Monday, May 23, from 6:30 to 8 pm. The location is 518 Valencia at the Eric Quezada Center for Culture and Politics. alicebtoklas.org Mayor Lee Announces City’s New Department of Homelessness & Supportive Housing, Appoints Director Mayor Ed Lee last week announced the Department of Homelessness & Supportive Housing that the City will launch on July 1. He has appointed Hamilton Family Center Executive Director Jeff Kositsky to lead the new Department that aims to facilitate homeless residents permanently exiting the streets and moving into housing and services. It is hoped that the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing will help achieve Mayor Lee’s goal of helping at least 8,000 people out of homelessness forever through strategies that stabilize people’s lives via the City’s housing and support services and building a system that ends a person’s homelessness before it becomes chronic. sfgov.org NCLR Applauds Federal Guidance on Title IX and Transgender Students The United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the United States Department of Justice have issued guidance on Title IX and the right of transgender students to attend school free from discrimination based on sex. The guidance affirms that schools, colleges, and universities must, among other requirements, provide transgender students with a safe and supportive environment and must provide transgender students access to all of the school’s programs, activities, and facilities (i.e. restrooms, locker rooms, housing, and athletics) based on the student’s gender identity. “This is the boldest stance the federal government could take to support transgender students,” said San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights Transgender Youth Project Staff Attorney Asaf Orr. “This guidance could not be clearer: schools must treat transgender students with dignity and respect, providing them equal opportunities to succeed and thrive as they would any other student. We applaud this historic step, which sends the strongest possible message to transgender students and their families that they are valuable, equal and 6

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welcome members of our national community.” nclrights.org Coffee with Cops in the Castro Join Castro Community On Patrol, in association with the SFPD Chief ’s LGBT Community Advisory Forum and illy Café, at 2349 Market Street on Tuesday, May 31, from 6 to 9 pm for a discussion with some of the city’s LGBT cops. The SFPD Chief ’s LGBT Community Advisory Forum, established in 2010, is a voluntary forum comprised of unpaid community leaders, organizers and volunteers who provide a vital liaison between the citywide LGBT community and the Chief of the San Francisco Police Department. castro.nextdoor.com Sign Up for Updates on LGBT Senior Housing at 55 Laguna 55 Laguna, San Francisco’s first affordable, LGBT-welcoming housing, will open its doors to residents in Fall 2016. Openhouse is partnering with Mercy Housing to create a community at 55 Laguna where the lives, history and relationships of LGBT residents and all residents will be affirmed and celebrated. From their new on-site service center at 55 Laguna, Openhouse will provide support for San Francisco’s community of LGBT seniors, and will offer resources, services and community building activities to help all residents live healthy and independent lives. To receive updates, please fill out the form at surveymonkey.com/r/join55 Harvey Milk Day Celebration Planned Join community leaders as they celebrate Harvey Milk Day and honor Milk’s legacy. People can attend the event in Harvey Milk Plaza, Castro and Market Streets, Sunday, May 22 at 1 pm. Harvey Milk Day is organized by the Harvey Milk Foundation and is celebrated each year in memory of Harvey Milk, the noted gay rights activist assassinated in 1978. In California, Harvey Milk Day is recognized by the state’s government as a day of special significance for public schools. The day was established by the California legislature and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009 after a series of petitions led by gay rights activist Daren I. Ball and in the wake of the award-winning feature film Milk retracing Milk’s life. For more information, contact Adam Taylor at adam.taylor@sfgov.org or 415-5546968.

AIDS Housing Alliance/SF Becomes Q Foundation AIDS Housing Alliance/SF recently announced that its new name is Q Foundation, in recognition of the multiple services that the alliance provides. They report that 29% of the City’s population of people experiencing homelessness come from the LGBTQ communities. According to the San Francisco Board of Supervisor’s Comprehensive HIV/ AIDS Housing Plan, there are up to 2,500 homeless people with HIV/ AIDS in San Francisco and 13,000 with an unmet housing need. That means 14% of people with HIV/ AIDS are homeless at any given time.

In addition to the name change, Q Foundation also has a new online tool for case managers called Q:FAB, http://vouchers.ahasf.org/ Rotary International Gains Traction with New Castro/Noe Valley Club The Rotary Club of San Francisco is the second oldest Rotary chapter in the world, having been founded in (continued on page 22

Election Slates Wield Powerful Influence

Francis Tsang, I’ve seen the difference since 2012. Many folks feel like this year’s DCCC race will determine the direction of San Francisco politics and the city for the next 8 years, and that is why there is so much interest and investment.

Do Ask, Do Tell Zoe Dunning The California primary is coming up very soon, on June 7. Many people are talking about the presidential candidates, but it seems the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) race has been the hottest ticket in town.

There are 60 candidates running, and most are running as part of one of two “slates.” There is the “Reform Slate,” which you can loosely label the far left, Aaron Peskin/David Campos team; and the “Progress Slate,” which you can loosely label the Mary Jung/ Scott Wiener team. There have been many slates before in DCCC races, but they have typically been organized affiliations of like-minded candidates that pool a modest amount of resources to do joint literature and campaigning.

This year, both of the powerhouse slates are far more organized, with additional resources, field support, and multiple mail pieces. As a member of the Progress slate, alongside many great Democratic activists such as Rebecca Prozan, Alix Rosenthal, Leah Pimentel, Gary McCoy and

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Being part of a slate means you can expand your reach significantly. As a candidate, you are not just handing out your own literature, but are sharing the message about all of your fellow slate members, and they are doing the same for you. In elections where there are multiple seats, voters have to choose multiple names on their ballot, so it can be helpful for them to have a list of like-minded candidates at their fingertips.

I learned the power of a slate earlier this month when I ran to be a district delegate for Hillary Clinton. The selection of delegates was divided by gender, as the party desires to ensure there is gender equality in the selection process, so women run against each other for the women’s “slots” and the men run for the male “slots.”

There were 60 women running in my district (Leader Nancy Pelosi’s congressional district), and many applied because they are passionate about Hillary but had no experience “running” for a position that requires people to vote for you.

A few of us who have experience running in elections formed slates: two women and two men formed a slate of their own, and City College Trustee Amy Bacharach and I formed our own slate of four women. All five of the women’s delegate slots went to women on these two slates, and the two men were also elected. Cam(continued on page 22)

Farewell Eileen Hansen, Fighting Dems and City College Update

A San Francisco Kind of Democrat Rafael Mandelman Progressive San Francisco has been mourning the untimely death of Eileen Hansen on April 29. Her passing is a tremendous loss. AIDS activist and nonprofit leader, two-time Supervisor candidate, Ethics Commissioner, co-founder of Friends of Ethics, she brought boundless energy and integrity to every cause and fight. She was also kind. I relied on Eileen to explain local ethics issues and proposed reforms to me, but even more, I relied on her as an ethical compass generally. Eileen was one of the more principled people I have encountered during my years in San Francisco politics; on those few occasions when I found myself not agreeing with her on a candidate or issue, I knew that I needed to think carefully about how and why I had landed where I had.

I will miss Eileen’s counsel and her friendship. She was one of the best ones.

Were she still with us, I am pretty sure Eileen would be doing everything she could to elect the Reform Slate to the

Democratic County Central Committee, or DCCC. Already, as of this writing, the DCCC candidates have raised nearly $1,000,000 in what has turned into a pitched battle for control of the local Democratic Party. The DCCC, readers may recall, gets to decide the Democratic Party endorsements in local races, and in a presidential election year, that imprimatur actually matters quite a bit. And readers may also recall that since 2012, the more conservative faction of the local Party has had the upper hand on the Committee, a hand that has been strengthened as the pro-business majority has filled new vacancies with like-minded folks. Of course, this is San Francisco, and so the differences between the factions are usually minimal or non-existent on most social issues (police accountability would be a notable exception), but the differences on economic issues (e.g., housing, land use, taxation) are significant.

This year, both the progressives and the business Democrats are pulling out all the stops to elect their respective slates. The latter group have even dusted off and reused a theme that I thought was long-past resonance: in mailers and newspaper stories, the business Dems have taken to warning voters darkly about the return of the so-called “Peskin Machine.” Now the first problem with the message is that it’s just not true. I was there for many of the meetings where the Reform Slate came together, and so were a number of other folks, including Peskin. The Reform Slate isn’t Aaron’s any more than it’s Tom Ammiano’s or Jane Kim’s or David Campos’. But setting truthfulness aside (this is pol-

itics after all), I cannot imagine that the anti-Peskin message, which by the way was used against me in my race for Supervisor in 2010, is particularly salient today. After five years of landlords, developers and other industry types pretty much having the run of City Hall, I think a lot of San Franciscans were relieved to see Aaron heading back to the Board of Supervisors in January and have appreciated the independence of the new Board majority since he joined. Those voters may not hate the idea of a similarly independent Democratic Party. We’ll find out June 7.

I wish I had better news from City College. The faculty carried out a one-day strike on April 27, and as one would expect in a labor town like San Francisco, received significant support from elected leaders and everyday community folks alike. And yet … the two sides remain far apart on the core issue of compensation. The union is understandably focused on getting a fair deal for its members that allows them to survive in an increasingly unaffordable Bay Area. The administration is also correctly focused on saving the College and ensuring that it can survive the imminent allbut-certain loss of more than twenty million dollars in State funding.

That budgetary hit—the College’s very own fiscal cliff—results from the steep decline in enrollment since the accreditation crisis began in 2012 and the expiration of stabilization funding Mark Leno had secured to partially shield the College from the significant cuts that, but for his legislation, would already have hit. A fact-finding process begins later this month, and I (continued on page 22)

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A Checklist for Retiring Abroad

Can you keep your lifestyle in retirement?

Let’s talk.

415.623.2450 Brio Financial Group

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

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

you know others who have retired abroad, ask them about their experience making the transition overseas.

Determine what’s required to gain residency

Money Matters Brandon Miller Do you dream about retiring in another country? It is an intriguing option for some who feel like they are ready for a new experience to go with the freedom of retirement. Whether you’re looking for a favorable climate, less expensive living costs, or specific cultural or recreational opportunities, retiring abroad could be for you.

No matter what the inspiration may be, it is not a matter to be taken lightly. Do your homework and become as familiar as you can with your dream environment before making a final decision. Read on for a few things you’ll want to consider.

Get a true feel of what it will be like to live in a new country It is easy to become infatuated with a particular location as your future home when you visit on vacation. But there is a big difference between being a tourist and a resident. Think about how your day-to-day routine would change and what elements you’d like to stay the same, such as going to the gym or volunteering. If

If you are seeking to become a fulltime resident overseas, you will have to determine the requirements. Alternately, understand the laws of the country (and they vary) to be an American resident living in that country on a fulltime basis.

Consider your living options Will you want to buy a home or will renting be a better option? Renting may be wiser if you want to take some time to better acquaint yourself with your new surroundings before locking yourself into a purchase. Consider what happens as well if you purchase a home and then plans don’t work out and you decide to move back to the U.S. Learn about medical services As we grow older, the need for health care services tends to rise. While many countries have nationalized health care systems that cover residents, you may or may not be eligible to participate. Medicare won’t cover treatment overseas, so a separate insurance plan may be required. If you think you may return to live in the U.S. one day, you may want to keep paying Medicare premiums to maintain future eligibility for the program.

Also check on the quality of health care services in your intended new

home to determine if medical capabilities meet your expectations.

Review financial matters Determine how the currency exchange rate will affect your expenses. Keep in mind that your expenses may vary, particularly if you want to travel within your new region or rely on public transportation. You may want to transfer some money to a bank account in your new country, although electronic banking services today make it easy to access funds when you are outside the U.S. At the very least, you will need to continue filing a tax return in the U.S. and potentially paying U.S. taxes as well, though this can vary depending on your country of choice.

Choosing where to retire is a big decision. While thinking through the items above is a good place to start, consult the U.S. State Department’s website for more considerations. Visit www.travel.state.gov and search for the topic “retirement abroad.”

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

Two Extroverted Cars With Unmistakable Style

Auto Philip Ruth An extroverted look can come in many forms: a drag queen and a gym god both get lots of looks, for different reasons. Two cars I recently drove brought this to mind; both the Toyota Prius Eco Two and Nissan Maxima SR generated a lot of attention, and the expressions they received varied greatly. That’s because they both have strong expressions themselves.

The Prius was redesigned for 2016 with a radical new look. My social media friends had a field day with the pictures I posted. They called the new Prius everything from a pinched rodent to a modern-day Edsel. When driving it through the Castro, I noticed that it received lots of sidelong glances, where people weren’t necessarily enjoying what they saw, but they still engaged with it all the same.

The Prius needs that kind of attention these days, as low gas prices have depressed hybrid sales in general. And the Prius already has a loyal customer base, and so the styling is charged with bringing in new buyers. This redesign makes the Prius the first to ride on Toyota’s New Generation Architecture (TNGA), which lowers the Prius’ center of gravity to enhance the handling, and it seems to have done the trick–the Prius now is happi10

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Toyota Prius

er to hold your line t hrough cur ves, and the body is less likely to lean in turns.

Mea nwh i le, t he Prius’ usual virtues make it clear why ever y other U ber you climb into is one of them.

It ’s r o omy a nd comfortable, and the Prius has lots Nissan Maxima of ca rgo space, whether the rear seats are raised or folded. It’s less than 180 inches long, so the Prius is parkable, and it scores top ratings in crash tests. It is, of course, efficient, with the Prius Two Eco test car claiming 58 mpg in the EPA city test. I got in the mid to high 40s, which is typical in the way that San Francisco’s hills can f latten your own personal fuel mileage. Unlike the Three or Four trim levels, the Prius Two has few options available, and so our test car rang in at $26K. The Maxima SR, on the other hand, gets attention that is admiring, particularly from men. There’s a lot to take in with the Maxima–the U-shaped chrome grill bar, the floating roof, the f lowing contours–and people tended to like what they saw. Even better,

those I asked clearly saw it as a premium sedan, which means that Nissan has done its job in making the Maxima SR stand out from the many competitors at its $38K price point.

The Maxima SR debuted to ads in The Advocate and Out magazine. Our community is known for embracing outsized expressions, and Nissan sees LGBT as a likely fit for this look. As with the Prius, the Maxima won’t be mistaken for others.

So if it’s the funny frugality of the Prius or the aggressive angularity of the Maxima, the extroverts among us could probably find much to like in either one.

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

Celebrate Small Business Week May 21-28 Bank of San Francisco: A Decade of Supporting San Francisco Values

It is a fact that no one really wants to talk about because just the word “bank” can conjure up thoughts of corporate greed, the 2007–2008 financial crisis, and more. Good, supportive banking, however, is behind nearly every successful business. This can hold true whether the earner is a mom and pop store around the corner, or your favorite food truck. Here at the San Francisco Bay Times, members of our team rely upon both credit unions and trusted banks.

As we began to consider small businesses to profile for Small Business Week, we noticed that many use locally-owned Bank of San Francisco, which launched in 2005. We therefore thought telling this bank’s story might help to lift the veil off of what can be a mysterious and frequently challenging aspect to starting and properly maintaining a small business. Some of the bank’s practices—such as tech know how and community engagement—could apply to many other small businesses as well.

Bank of San Francisco was the first bank to open in the city in over 18 years. When the bank launched, its employees became its largest shareholder group, with the average investment per employee being approximately $85 thousand.

The bank’s Directors are the second largest shareholder group, and several are both members and supporters of the LGBT community.

The third largest shareholders are the bank’s Advisory Council members and clients. All of the shareholders are part of the Bay Area

community that the bank serves, and remarkably, no shareholder has a controlling interest. Bank of San Francisco is therefore a local bank owned by the local community.

Bank of San Francisco is additionally known for being tech savvy, responsive, and modern. In starting the bank, the founding team’s vision was to provide high-touch, personalized banking solutions delivered with nimbleness and accountability. “Our initial market niche was serving Bay Area-based companies and non-profits, as well as entrepreneurs, professionals and families who valued a hands-on approach from their banking relationships,” Bank of San Francisco CEO Ed Obuchowski told the San Francisco Bay Times. “Ten years later, that’s still our focus.”

PHOTO BY ABBY ZIMBERG

San Francisco Small Business Week is May 21–28. As presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders has said, “Small business is the driving force of America’s economy … The backbone of a healthy economy is made up of small businesses on the ‘Main Streets’ of America, not giant corporations on Wall Street.”

If you look at such successful small businesses in the Bay Area and elsewhere, you will find that they usually have at least this in common: a supportive bank providing innovative and flexible solutions to problems at nearly every turn.

Building on a Decade of Community Investment Bank of San Francisco’s employees, directors and advisory council members reflect the Bay Area community’s diversity in terms of gender, income, demographics and sexual orientation. Many told us that they take pride in offering personal service provided by a highly experienced team of bankers who built their career s i n t he Bay Area and understand the challenges that growing businesses and nonprofits face. Combining a solutions-focused team with powerful, proven technology has allowed them to become a valued partner in helping their clients grow.

Bank of San Francisco wants to be the Bay Area’s “bank of choice” for small-to mid-sized businesses and nonprofits, as well as individuals and families who value personalized service complemented by the convenience of technology. Time and again we heard that their bankers are creative, nimble and competitive when addressing clients’ needs.

LGBT community members serving on the Bank of San Francisco Board of Directors include Roberta Achtenberg, Susan Lowenberg and Kelly McCown

They deliver exceptional service and take the long-term view in their approach to every client relationship.

We live and work in a dynamic community. Did you know that when compared to national econ-

omies, the Bay Area ranks 19th in the world with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $535 billion? Our region is a leader in global technology and in several key indicators of regional, global and national competitiveness. These can be challenging times, though, making the bank’s presence all the more important when attempting to chart a successful course.

Services Offered Bank of San Francisco offers a complete array of loan, depository, on-

line banking and treasury management products to serve its clients’ banking needs. Business clients include manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and service providers.

As a U.S. Small Business Administ r at ion (SBA) Preferred Lender, Bank of San Francisco has a lot of experience helping entrepreneurs purchase and grow their businesses, and has developed dee p expertise in multiple industry niches that range from dental, veterinary and other healthcare practices, to law firms and other professional service providers, nonprofits, and general contractors.

munity leader Roberta Achtenberg said. “Our clients and their growth are the focus of what we do. We develop long-lasting, meaningful relationships with our clients, and they know and appreciate that.”

Supporting the Community via Three Pillars The bank has enjoyed 10 years of success by concentrating on three growth pillars: creating a robust technology platform that provides financial services to its clients faster, building a core of outstanding bankers that develop creative, effective solutions to the f inancial needs of clients, and maintaining a laser focus on supporting the Bay Area community and nurturing its growth. They believe that doing well means doing good.

Embracing Technology

The bank’s relationship managers know how to get the job done.

They are committed to helping clients with tailored and flexible solutions to meet their needs. They go above and beyond. “We’re an integral part of the Bay Area community and are proud to serve it,” Vice Chair of the Board and LGBT com-

By continuing to invest in Bank of San Francisco’s technology platform, the bank is able to attract new clients and better serve existing ones.

Last year, the bank became completely paperless for all client-facing functions. Account documentation, deposit transactions, loan files and (continued on page 13)

Kelly McCown, Director

Panel. She has also been awarded the honor of “Super Lawyer”

by Law & Politics every year since 2004.

Meet Members of Bank of San Francisco’s Team Ed Obuchowski, Chief Executive Officer and Director Ed Obuchowski is a 30year career banker, havi ng worked h i s entire career in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Obuchowsk i for med Bank of San Francisco in 2005. In addition to his work in the San Francisco banking industry, Obuchowski is a past chairman and current board member of RAMS Inc., Richmond Area Multi-Services. RAMS Inc. is a nonprofit mental health agency with an emphasis on serving Asian & Pacific Islander Americans. He was previously on the board of Junior Achievement of Northern California, an organization dedicated to educating youth about financial literacy, workforce readiness and entrepreneurship.

Wendy Ross, President Wendy Ross has more than 35 years of international, commercial and private banking experience. Ross has

been with the Bank of San Francisco since it opened in 2005. In addition to her work in banking, Ross has been the recipient of the Emeryville Business and Professional Women’s Association annual “Woman of the Year” Award. She is a member of the Rotary Club of San Francisco and has served on the San Francisco Rotary Foundation Board. She also is a former board member of Women’s Initiative for Self Employment.

Ross was honored as one of the Bay Area’s most Inf luential Women in 2013 by the San Francisco Business Times.

Roberta Achtenberg, Director Vice Chair of the Board Roberta Achtenberg is the past chair of the Ca l ifor n ia State University Board of Trustees and is currently a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She serves as a corporate advisor in community development to

Lennar Urban, the master developer of the Shipyard and Candlestick Poi nt . A chtenber g was an elected member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and served in the Clinton Administrat ion as HUD Assistant Secretary. She was the f irst openly LGBT person to be nominated by a President and conf irmed by the U.S. Senate. Achtenberg also served on the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco.

Trained as a lawyer before becoming a public official, Achtenberg worked for more than 15 years as a civil rights attorney, non-profit director and legal educator. Her activity included co-founding the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR). She is a recipient of numerous awards including 1994’s GLAAD Visibility Award and the Public Administration Program Award for Public Service from San Francisco State University.

Kelly McCown is partner at McCown & Evans LLP, a San Franciscobased corporate immigration law f irm that she co-founded in 2003.

In her 22 years of practice as an immigration lawyer, McCown has worked with technology, engineering, professional service and financial institutions in all areas of business immigration law. An out lesbian, McCown joined the Board of Directors of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) in 2009, after many years as a volunteer attorney at NCLR’s legal clinic for LGBT immigrants. McCown has served as the NCLR Board co-chair since 2014. She is a past co-chair and board member of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom and in 2008, was honored by BALIF with its Minority Ban Coalition Unity Award. A passionate volunteer for LGBT organizations, McCown is also a pro bono attorney with the AIDS Legal Referral

Susan Lowenberg, Director Susan Lowenberg is president of Lowenberg Corporation, a leader in industrial real estate in the North Bay, East Bay and Napa County. Lowenberg serves as a cochair of the Horizons Foundation Now and Forever campaign, along with her wife, Joyce Newstat.

In addition to her work in the LGBT community, Lowenberg dedicates her time and philanthropy to the Jewish community. She is the incoming chair of the Board of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco and serves on the National Board of the American Jewish World Service (AJWS). The daughter of a Holocaust survivor, Lowenberg was appointed to the prestigious U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council by President Obama in 2012.

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Bank of San Francisco Clients Paying It Forward

Stebner and Associates

Founded in 1991, Stebner and Associates is an elder abuse litigation law firm focused on ensuring nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home health agencies and hospitals are held accountable for the appropriate care and respect of the elderly. Since its founding, the San Francisco-based firm has been committed to advocating for the protection of elderly rights. Before founding the firm, Kathryn Stebner was in private practice specializing in elder abuse and medical malpractice. In 1987, she f iled an elder abuse lawsuit, the first in California history.

A s pr i nc i p a l of Stebner and A ssociates, Stebner’s passion for ensuring the elderly are well taken care of stems from her own background, as she was partially raised by her grandparents. Believing in the valuable contributions elders have made to society, Stebner and Associates have dedicated their professional lives to advocating for them. They are committed to protecting the elderly from avoidable pain and neglect that can result in injury or death and are dedicated to increasing public awareness about elder abuse.

As a business owner who took a risk when opening a law practice, Stebner advises other business owners to stay focused and grounded.

“If you do what you love and keep your principles, you’re bound to find success,” she said.

Bank of San Francisco’s philosophy mirrors Stebner’s kind and compassionate approach to her clients, and it is one of the reasons she chose to work with the bank. “Bank of San Francisco treats each client as if it is a part of their family,” Stebner said. “Their hands-on personal approach mimics my own relationship with my elder abuse clients. It’s important that I practice what I preach and that I surround myself with other businesses that have the same principles.”

FineLine Construction Founded in 1980, FineLine Construction is a general contracting business proud to serve the San Francisco Bay Area. Specializing in non-profit and affordable housing, FineLine is known for its commitment to social responsibility and its ability to finish projects within budget, on time and with excellent craftsmanship. But that’s not all that sets the company apart; headed by mother-son duo Doree and Paolo Friedman, the business is an extension of their family and one that they are happy to continue growing, together.

FineLine has completed 15,000 units of occupied rehabs to date—projects where the work includes remodeling, modernization, full system upgrades and seismic upgrades, among other initiatives. As a union contracting company, giving back to the community and offering opportunities to a wide spectrum of Bay Area residents is a top priority for the Friedmans. “We mentor and build our staff up, providing employment opportunities for low-income residents in our community—opportunities they might not have otherwise,” CEO Doree Friedman said.

FineLine seeks to work with entities that understand their company mentality and approach to business, which is why Doree Friedman chose to work with the bank. “One

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Photos courtesy of the Bank of San Francisco

of the wonderful parts of going to a community bank is that they understand a growing small business like ours,” she said. “Bank of San Francisco has become a valued partner and key to our growth. We’ve even become investors in the bank, so that we all benefit from each other’s success.”

NCLR Board with Director Kate Kendell

O Olive Oil & Vinegar Founded in 1995, O Olive Oil & Vinegar Inc. is the premier producer of California specialty olive oils and wine vinegars. The company began when Greg Hinson, co-founder and president, combined his unusual passion for citrus and healthy eating by crushing whole organic citrus with fresh California Mission olives to create an unparalleled new product category—the extra virgin citrus olive oil.

During the past 20 years, O Olive Oil & Vinegar has grown exponentially—with products sold in gourmet, natural food and specialty stores in the United States, Canada, Europe and Latin America. In early 2015, the O Olive Oil & Vinegar team knew they were ready for the next phase of growth and began vetting several area banks to support them during their expansion; they finally found what they were looking for in Bank of San Francisco.

To help fund O Olive Oil & Vinegar’s growth, Bank of San Francisco took advantage of two programs from the Small Business Administration (SBA) intended to help banks provide capital to fast growing small businesses that would otherwise be unable to qualify for conventional bank loans. Bank of San Francisco used the SBA 7(a) primarily to fund O Olive Oil & Vinegar’s business expansion, while the Express Line of Credit is used for seasonal working capital.

O Olive Oil & Vinegar has been impressed by the level of participation the bank’s leadership team has shown during their time working together. “The active involvement of various players has been impressive,” said Mario Aranda, O Olive Oil & Vinegar’s vice president. “Early on, we were visited by senior officers, all of whom were good listeners. It became clear to us that they understood the needs of small businesses and could respond creatively. We look forward to a long and productive partnership.”

Warren and Associates LLC Warren and Associates LLC is a Bay Areabased political finance and treasury services firm specializing in campaign financial management, political compliance reporting, major donor services and accounting services for non-profit and tax exempt organizations.

Nancy Warren, principal of Warren and Associates, launched her business during the height of the San Francisco AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, when she began working with a host of AIDS organizations to better their accounting practices and create reporting systems that efficiently supported their grantwriting needs. Warren’s focus shifted in the mid ‘90s when a friend asked her to run for t r e a s u r e r of t he Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) in San Francisco. After a couple of San Franc i sco super v i sor s heard Warren was providing these services, they asked her

to take on their own campaigns. With few people having a political-finance skill set at the time, the treasury business skyrocketed and now represents 90 percent of Warren’s current book of clients.

ty bank that values our work and the diverse LGBT population that we serve is immeasurable—something that every organization should strive to find.”

“Bank of San Francisco worked hard to get my business, including asking for and using my input on how to better design their online account access to better serve my multi-client environment,” Warren said. “The bank’s hands-on approach to support my business has been awesome; I consider them to be one of the most important arrows in my company quiver.”

Warren’s success demonstrates that building a strong team to provide customer service is key, and constant communication with clients is crucial. In this tech-heavy world, it takes real creativity to maintain personal touch and to create a meaningful client experience. “It’s important to surround a business with people, not companies,” Warren said. “Work with institutions where dedicated people on their team know your business almost as well as you do. Small businesses have peaks and valleys, and these dedicated people will have the flexibility to help roll with the punches.”

NCLR The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) was founded in 1977 to advance the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families. Founded by Donna Hitchens, the NCLR has shaped the legal landscape for the LGBT community through litigation, legislation, policy and public education for more than 30 years.

Headquartered in San Francisco, it made sense for NCLR to work with a bank that understood the community they work with. “Bank of San Francisco is truly a neighborhood bank,” said Kate Kendell, NCLR executive director.

“They take time to understand our needs and to work with us to tailor the relationship in a way that supports our financial goals and needs. They deeply care about NCLR as an organization. Not to sound trite, but they, quite literally, made us feel like family.”

“From the start, Bank of San Francisco has made us feel important. Not only do they value us as a member of the community, but they support the fight for LGBT equality and justice that we work to achieve every day,” Kendell continued. “Working with a communi-

California Advocates For Nursing Home Reform

HendricksMurry HendricksMurry P.C. offers full-service legal representation to businesses, property owners and enterprises worldwide. The firm was founded with a single focus: to provide clients with the highest level of legal services from litigation to advice and counseling, and transactional support.

With off ices in the f inancial districts of San Francisco and, soon, London, HendricksMurry leverages more than 30 years of combined experience in all aspects of business, real estate and employment law to effectively deliver a full spectrum of legal services to clients.

To further its mission as an LGBT-inclusive law office, in April 2016 HendricksMurry announced its certification as an LGBT Business Enterprise (LGBTBE®) through the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) Supplier Diversity Initiative. The NGLCC is the nation’s exclusive certifying body for LGBT-owned and -operated businesses. With this designation, HendricksMurry is recognized nationally as a diverse supplier.

When HendricksMurry first opened its doors in 2009, it looked for a bank that could grow with it. “Bank of San Francisco has given HendricksMurry the confidence to build a business in the competitive San Francisco environment,” said John T. Hendricks, a founding partner of HendricksMurry, P.C. “The bank’s CEO and director, Ed Obuchowski, worked closely with us from the beginning of our relationship, giving us important, clear and candid advice that was vital for a firsttime entrepreneur.”

Seven years later, Bank of San Francisco remains a trusted partner for HendricksMurry. “Because of the solid financial foundation Bank of San Francisco helped us build, we have been able to fulfill our mission to ensure our individual clients and other small businesses we work with have exciting growth trajectories,” Hendricks said.

LGBT-Owned Equator Coffees & Teas Is 2016 National Small Business of the Year LGBT-owned Equator Coffees & Teas was recently named 2016 National Small Business of the Year. The San Rafael-based business previously was honored as being the 2016 California Small Business of the Year, making the coffee company the first LGBTowned business—certified as an LGBTBE by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce—to receive the awards.

Partners Helen Russell and Brooke McDonnell co-founded Equator Coffees & Teas, Inc. in 1995 in a small, Marin County garage. The company has since grown into a 5,500-square-foot f lagship roastery in San Rafael with a thriving wholesale business.

More than twenty years after its founding, Equator now has 90 employees, more than 350 wholesale customers, retail cafes at LinkedIn, micro-kitchens at Google, and three retail stores in Northern California with two more on the way. Their loyal wholesale customers include Thomas Keller’s Michelin-starred The French Laundry and Traci Des Jardin’s Jardinière.

“Brooke and Helen’s shared love for artisan coffee and a desire to have an impact on an industry with evolving social, economic and environmental issues is profound,” said Chef Thomas Keller, whose restaurants serve its own unique blend of Equator Coffee. “It is their commitment to forging personal relationships with farmers and hands-on approach that make them inspirational leaders and business owners; they are most deserving of this prestigious award.” Equator strives to be a high-impact coffee company focused on sustainability, quality, and social responsibility, committed to transparency and empowerment initiatives at every step of the coffee supply chain.

nered a Good Food Award for the first harvest that arrived this year.

“It is such an incredible honor to be recognized by the SBA as Small Business of the Year for the State of California, and we are grateful to the GGBA for advocating on our behalf, to Capital Access Group for nominating us for this prestigious award and to the NGLCC for being a champion for LGBTBE f irms at the national and international levels,” said Helen Russell. “As an entrepreneur, a womenowned business and a LGBTBE-certif ied business, I am proud to say that the SBA has been there for Equator at all stages of our growth over the last 21 years. The SBA knows that small businesses like Equator are creating quality jobs and driving our economy. The SBA has had our back at important milestones in our evolution. We celebrate this achievement Equator Coffees & Teas co-founders Helen Russell (left) and Brooke McDonnell (right) were joined by U.S. Small Business Administration with our employees, our part- Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet (third from left) and members of the staff to celebrate Equator’s selection as the National 2016 Small ners and our collective com- Business of the Year. Below: Brooke and Helen munities.”

“This celebrated recognition of Helen and Brooke’s outstanding work not only exemplifies what we know of women in business leadership; it also illuminates an answer to the challenge of our time, demonstrating that businesses can be both successful and sustainable,” said California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom. “Their example and their achievements set the standard for small businesses to follow and I congratulate them both on their contributions to the community and the state of California.”

Equator was the first American coffee company to become a certified B-Corporation, and was at the forefront of pioneering the direct trade model that focuses on building trusting relationships with coffee producers.

Equator finances social and environmental initiatives in coffee-producing countries and supports work in food security, community development, environmental stewardship, and women’s empowerment. The company planted a sustainably-planned high altitude coffee farm in Panama in 2008, and gar-

Equator earned its national honor earlier this month in Washington, D.C. For more information about this exceptional business: http://www.equatorcoffees.com/

BANK (continued from page 11) credit files are scanned and stored electronically. This initiative both improved efficiency and demonstrated the bank’s commitment to reducing the environmental impact of its operations. Added to its convenient app, online bill pay, and worldwide ATM network with full fee rebate, the bank can be everywhere clients need it to be.

Dedicated Bankers Its bankers are members of the community and are invested in serving our neighborhood businesses and individuals. Bank of San Francisco has become the employer of choice for creative, talented bankers with experience in the markets the bank serves. This experience, combined with a broad range of solutions, allows the bankers to work through even the most complex banking issues with clients. While other banks are consolidating, Bank of San Francisco is hiring “best in class” individuals and teams of bankers, who can further help the community prosper.

Community Engagement In addition to serving the community through its bankers and services, the bank has created deep local ties at the board, management and staff levels. The bank’s management team are strong believers in giving back to the communities they serve and encourage employees to serve as volunteers and board members of organizations of their choice. The bank is proud to support employees spending two half-day workdays each year volunteering at a banksponsored nonprofit event.

Bank of San Francisco’s president and 70 percent of the bank’s leadership team are women and people of color. The staff is enormously diverse and brimming with energy. The board is 30 percent women, all of whom are active in the LGBT community.

Bank of San Francisco is therefore truly a community bank, representing the best of San Francisco values. For more information, please visit: https://www.bankofsf.com/

San Francisco Small Business Week, May 21–28 San Francisco Small Business Week is a partnership formed to honor and support the more than 85,000 thousand small businesses and entrepreneurs that call San Francisco home. As part of National Small Business Week, San Francisco Small Business Week celebrates the contributions and achievements of small business owners by offering a series of educational and networking events designed to inspire, educate and connect the members of our business community.

The 12th Annual San Francisco Small Business Week is produced in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, The City and County of San Francisco, the Office of the Mayor, Office of Small Business, San Francisco Chamber

of Commerce, Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center & San Francisco Economic Development Alliance, San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce, Council of District Merchants Association, San Francisco Small Business Development Center, USF Gellert Family Business Resource Center, the Golden Gate Business Association, sf.citi and Straus Events.

For a list of related events and conferences, go to: http://www.sfsmallbusinessweek. com/events/

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Let’s Move Dignity Fund Forward Most elders want to stay in their homes and in their communities. Secure funding in these seven areas will help vulnerable elders age in community for as long as possible and as well as possible.

Aging in Community Marcy Adelman The Dignity Fund is a proposed amendment to the San Francisco Charter that would establish a setaside fund from 2% of property taxes to meet the current unmet and future needs of San Francisco’s most vulnerable seniors—veterans, homeless seniors, adults with disabilities, isolated LGBT seniors, people aging with HIV and people living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. It is hopefully headed for the November ballot, but first it must pass the Board of Supervisors to make it there.

In less than 15 years, San Francisco residents over the age of 65 will increase from 20% of San Francisco’s population to 30 % of the city’s population, an increase of almost 100,000 individuals. Funding for existing programs has barely kept pace, and without an infusion of financial resources, senior services and programs will not be able to meet the challenges ahead.

San Francisco needs to avert a crisis in senior care. The health and wellbeing of vulnerable elders is at risk.

A coalition of dedicated senior advocates, senior community organizations and non-profits has been tirelessly working to create this new legislation to secure stable and sustained funding for San Francisco’s growing population of seniors and adults living with disability. The legislation identifies seven areas in need of resources: 1. Home and Community-Based Long-Term Care and Support 2. Food and Nutrition Programs 3. Consumer and Caregiver Education, Empowerment and Support 4. Senior/Disabled Community and Service Centers 5. Empowerment, Self-Advocacy and Legal Services Programs 6. Health and Wellness

A vote of at least six members of the Board of Supervisors is required to place it on the November 2016 ballot.

Go to http://www.sfdignityfund.org/ to get the latest up-to-date news, and find out how you can support the coalition’s efforts to get on the November ballot.

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

PRIDE

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

LGBTQ CHRONICLED: 1933-2016

• 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

PHOTO BY RINK

7. Targeted Services

A few of the supporting Coalition members are: AIDS Legal Referral Panel, Alzheimer’s Association; Asian Pacif ic Islander Legal Outreach, Bayview Hunters Point MultiPurpose Senior Services, HIV Long Term Survivors, Project Openhand, Openhouse, San Francisco Village, Shanti Project and Swords to Plowshares.

San Francisco Bay Times readers will be celebrating Harvey Milk’s Birthday on May 22 with a visit to Harvey’s bar on Castro Street that is having its own celebration of the space renovation 20 years ago when the original Elephant Walk became the bar known as Harvey’s.

While visiting, be sure to have a close look at the historic images from 1977 that include original photos in black and white by legendary photographer Rink recently colorized by graphic artist Fran Fanucchi.

The photos by Rink include a campaign image showing Harvey speaking with boyfriends Dick Pabich and Steve Badeau; and a photo of Doug Perry, Harvey Milk, Eric Garber and Cleve Jones at Cleve’s birthday party on October 11, 1977, at the Elephant Walk (above).

Notice the “birthday cake” (donut with a candle) on the table.

Photos are from Saul Bromberger & Sandra Hoover Photography

Harvey Milk

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Generosity and Well-Being

work. The fourth group was instructed to do nothing out of the ordinary.

Before and after the six weeks, all participants filled out questionnaires to assess their psychological, emotional, and social well-being. They also self-reported their positive and negative emotions weekly throughout the study.

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

Examined Life Tom Moon, MFT

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

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

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

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

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Design & Production

Kate Laws Business Manager Jennifer Mullen Calendar Editor

Kit Kennedy

Poet-In-Residence

J.H. Herren Technology Director Jennifer Mullen

If you’re having a bad day, what is the best way to boost your mood? Will you be more likely to feel better if you do something to treat yourself, or will you feel better if you focus on doing something nice for others? Psychologists have actually researched this question, and have come up with some interesting results.

In a study published recently in the research journal Emotion, 473 volunteers were separated into four groups, and each group was instructed to complete different tasks over a sixweek period. One group was asked to perform acts of kindness to “improve the world,” such as picking up litter. The second group performed acts of kindness for specific other people. The third group performed acts of kindness for themselves, such as exercising more or taking a day off from

What the researchers found was that subjects who performed acts of kindness, whether those acts were for the world or for specif ic people, were more likely to report feeling happy or experience an improvement in mood than either those who treated themselves or those who did nothing different. Those assigned to treat themselves reported no improvement in their sense of well-being, and no increase in positive emotions.

These findings aren’t unique There is a growing body of evidence which shows that generosity and kindness toward others is positively correlated with both health and well-being. To give just a few examples: In a 2006 study researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Tennessee, people who provided social support to others had lower blood pressure than participants who didn’t, suggesting a direct physiological benefit to those who give of themselves. Research published in 2013 shows that seniors who volunteer, whether it be serving at a community soup kitchen or visiting nursing

homes, reduce their early mortality rate by 22 percent compared to those who don’t actively give back. And a fifty-year longitudinal study showed that people who are giving during their high school years have better physical and mental health throughout their lives than those who aren’t.

Other studies have shown that helping others has measurable health benefits to those with chronic illness, including HIV, multiple sclerosis, and heart problems.

Giving to others has also long been known to be helpful in recovery from addictions. A cornerstone of all twelve-step programs involves helping others through sponsorships, social support, and bringing meetings to hospitals and institutions. The experience of countless people in recovery shows that addicts and alcoholics increase the likelihood of their own success by being empathic, compassionate and generous toward others in recovery.

Research is also shedding light on the biochemistry of these findings. It appears that performing acts of kindness triggers the release of dopamine—a “feel good” hormone. Acts of kindness also appear to be linked to increases in oxytocin, a hormone (released during sex and breast feeding) that induces feelings of warmth, euphoria, and connection to others.

Psychology is re-discovering what other civilizations and all of the world’s

spiritual traditions have known for thousands of years—that we aren’t separate islands, like lizards in a desert, but social animals—hardwired for empathy, compassion, and connections with other people. Research on happiness consistently shows that the most important factors in human well-being are intimate and enduring relationships with others, and a sense of belonging to a community. But in our “me-oriented” culture, which extols personal fulfillment above virtually everything else; and which celebrates those who accumulate money, fame and power as the “winners” (and this must partly explain why the grotesque candidacy of Donald Trump has captured the imagination of so many millions of Americans), it is all too easy to forget this basic truth about human nature.

One consequence of our alienation from our authentic needs is the restless dissatisfaction that now seems ubiquitous in our culture: an estimated one tenth of the population, for instance, is currently taking anti-depressants. Maybe one of the reasons for our unhappiness is just that too many of us have forgotten how much we need to care for one another.

Tom Moon is a psychotherapist in San Francisco. For more information, please visit his website http://tommoon.net/ or phone him directly at 415-626-1346.

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Mario Ordonez Juan Ordonez Distribution

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

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

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

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

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We Can’t Believe We’re Alive already suffered far more than its fair share. This law provides no benefit to society—all it does is harm innocent Americans … This action is about a great deal more than just bathrooms. This is about the dignity and respect we accord our fellow citizens… .”

6/26 and Beyond John Lewis & Stuart Gaffney We were in the car recently and turned on the radio to catch the headlines on the five o’clock news.

We turned the volume up extra loud when we heard the lead story: the United States Department of Justice was suing the state of North Carolina for violating the civil rights of transgender Americans by denying them the right to use the bathroom that fit their gender identity.

We heard United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch name North Carolina’s notorious House Bill 2 (HB2) for what it is: unlawful discrimination against transgender people. Lynch did not mince words.

She explained how North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory and the state legislature “created state-sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals, who simply seek to engage in the most private of functions in a place of safety and security— a right taken for granted by most of us.” Lynch exposed the duplicity of HB2’s proponents, explaining that they had “invent[ed] a problem that doesn’t exist as a pretext for discrimination and harassment.” She explained that HB2 “inflict[s] further indignity on a population that has

We were moved when Lynch, the first African American woman to head the Justice Department and herself a North Carolinian, went on to relate HB2 and the struggle for LGBT freedom to civil rights struggles of the past. Lynch explained: “This is not the first time that we have seen discriminatory responses to historic moments of progress for our nation. We saw it in the Jim Crow laws that followed the Emancipation Proclamation. We saw it in fierce and widespread resistance to Brown v. Board of Education. And we saw it in the proliferation of state bans on same-sex unions intended to stifle any hope that gay and lesbian Americans might one day be afforded the right to marry. That right, of course, is now recognized as a guarantee embedded in our Constitution, and in the wake of that historic triumph, we have seen bill after bill in state after state taking aim at the LGBT community … [N]one of us can stand by when a state enters the business of legislating identity and insists that a person pretend to be something they are not… .” She reminded the nation that “[i]t was not so very long ago that states, including North Carolina, had signs above restrooms, water fountains and on public accommodations keeping people out based upon a distinction without a difference.”

Lynch impressed us further by speaking directly to the transgender community. She said: “Some of

you have lived freely for decades. Others of you are still wondering how you can possibly live the lives you were born to lead. But no matter how isolated or scared you may feel today, the Department of Justice and the entire Obama Administration wants you to know that we see you; we stand with you; and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward.”

actly the right thing by trying to stop these laws dead in their tracks.

We thought to ourselves: “We can’t believe we are alive.” The Attorney General of the United States is engaging the full force of the Executive Branch of the United States government to fight for the rights of transgender people. We’ve experienced similar feelings a few times over the last dozen years–when we married in San Francisco City Hall in February 2004, when Congress repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell by a supermajority, when the President came out for full marriage equality, and when the Supreme Court made it a reality.

Standing up boldly for civil rights is exactly what our government should be doing, and millions of LGBT Americans over decades have lived their lives openly and proudly and worked to make this day a reality.

As with many other LGBT struggles, crisis presents opportunity.

Over and over, when we have faced our greatest adversities, we have educated the nation about lives and ultimately about our common humanity and the universal human desire for safety and happiness. Attorney General Lynch in her remarks recognized how our nation’s advances in civil rights have not been “easy” and have come with “pain and suffering.” The current struggle sadly is no different. But we are very hopeful that what transgender Americans are doing in response to HB2 and other attacks—telling the truth of their lives—is educating Americans day by day. As this process unfolds, we are very glad that the United States Department of Justice is by our side.

As the marriage equality struggle made abundantly clear, great harm can occur when Americans’ civil rights are put up to a popular vote.

It’s déjà vu as legislatures and electorates are now putting transgender people’s dignity up to a vote. The Obama administration is doing ex-

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.

GLBT Fortnight in Review

By Ann Rostow Trans Bias Violates Federal Law. Who Knew? (We did!)

What just happened? Did President Obama just “decree” that gender identity discrimination was illegal?

Can he do that? Judging from the reaction from the right to a letter released by the Administration to that effect, you would think the apocalypse was nigh.

For most Americans, it seemed last week as if Obama pulled one of his famous executive orders out of his back pocket, banged a giant golden gavel on his desk and announced that transgender rights were now the law of the land. Wheee! Take that, North Carolina! I’ve only got a few months left in my presidency, so to Hell with courts and congresses. Executive power rules!

In fact, he did nothing of the sort. Instead, both the Justice Department and the Department of Education issued a letter providing “significant guidance” to employers and schools, many of whom are (not surprisingly) confused about the scope of federal civil rights law. No one disputes that sex discrimination is illegal under Title VII in the workplace and Title IX in public education. But does that automatically mean that discrimination on the basis of gender identity is also forbidden under these crucial laws?

The answer, says the administration, is yes.

You’d never know it from the crazed hoopla from our foes, but that answer did not come out of the blue, and it was not decided last week. It evolved out of court precedent, and it became administration policy for Title VII in 2012 and for Title IX the following year. (Both laws are interpreted under the same legal analysis, so it’s understood that what’s right for employment law is right for education law.)

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency empowered to adjudicate employment discrimination, ruled four years ago that gender identity is covered under Title VII’s ban on sex bias in the workplace. Likewise, the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, the agency that enforces Title IX, came to the same determination for public schools in 2014. Those conclusions evolved through a combination of case law, advocacy and political will.

So, you might ask, if it’s all been decided, what’s the fuss about? And here’s where some nuance enters the picture. For every case you can cite that favors transgender rights, you can easily find another that goes in the opposite direction, particularly when you start reaching back more than a decade or so into the archives.

Our adversaries then ask, short of the High Court, who’s to say what Title VII or Title IX actually means? How come, they continue, some civil rights agency here or there can just “decide” legal interpretations for itself, particularly when, by definition, the agency is under the direction of an elected partisan administration? How is that fair?

Well short of a crystal clear High Court precedent, this kind of interpretation is exactly what the EEOC and the Off ice of Civil Rights are supposed to provide. Three weeks ago, in a ruling that is absolutely crucial to the entire debate now roiling North Carolina and American politics, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit looked at the case of a trans student who was banned from the locker rooms in his Virginia school. Taking its cue from the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, the split panel ruled that Title IX did indeed cover gender identity and that, in an ambiguous con-

text, agency directives should guide the courts.

And here’s the clincher. On Monday, May 16, the Supreme Court decided to reject a completely separate case that had nothing to do with GLBT rights, but that centered on the question of whether and when courts must follow agency policies such as the ones we’re discussing now. Over the objection of Clarence Thomas, the justices let that case stand, effectively supporting the deference accorded to the Department of Education by the Fourth Circuit in its defense of transrights earlier this month.

For those people who reject our case law, we can note that our case law is much stronger than theirs is (true).

For those who reject Obama’s right to set legal policy for his administration and its agencies, we can say it is part of his power (true). And for those who say the guidelines of government agencies shouldn’t count, we can say tough, they mean something (hah!).

Meanwhile, this is all about to be hashed out in a half dozen court cases. Keep in mind as well that the opinions of the Fourth Circuit, one rung down from the Supreme Court, are binding law throughout its jurisdiction—which happens to include North Carolina. That means that the aforementioned transrights victory will govern all these cases, and we will win them all.

In the main case, Carcano v McCrory, the ACLU, Lambda and ACLU of North Carolina are suing the Tobacco State for violations of Title IX and several constitutional claims. On May 17, the Carcano plaintiffs asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction preventing the Tobacco State from putting HB2 into effect while litigation proceeds, so I think we can expect HB2 to start collecting dust on the shelf for the duration.

Meanwhile, Governor McCrory has sued the Justice Department in a different federal district, and the Justice Department has sued North Carolina in the Middle District where Carcano was also filed. One Carcano plaintiff has also filed a Title VII claim with the EEOC. Some lawmakers have jumped into the fray with a stupid lawsuit of their own, and some other rightwing busybodies have filed their own case for whatever reason. It’s too much to keep up with, particularly when it’s clear that a) we will win and b) the law will likely become moot in the interim (maybe by the time you read this column).

Finally, we can’t cover trans law without noting that the High Court has arguably already decided the issue, ruling in 1989 that discrimination based on gender presentation was a form of sex discrimination. In the case of a woman denied partnership at Price Waterhouse because she was not feminine enough, the Supremes determined that imposing gender stereotypes violated Title VII. This precedent, which seemed to speak directly to transgender bias, was basically ignored by lower courts for a couple decades before our advocates gradually began to succeed in putting it to use. It’s a major legal weapon, but we will need a modern version of the Price Waterhouse ruling if we want to end debate on the subject once and for all.

The Truth Is Out There Speaking of ending debate, I could run through the rest of my word count with stories of North Carolina, discussions of lawsuits (there are two against Mississippi), and talk of transrights in general (the far right still can’t grasp that some transgender people are men). I could write a whole column on the significance of the stirring press conference given by Attorney General Loretta Lynch and

the historic impact of this administration’s unexpectedly full-throated defense of transmen and women.

But I’m tired after my discursive journey through the jurisprudence of gender. I’d like to mention instead that I gather Hillary Clinton, if elected, has promised to tell us what the government knows about aliens!

It’s true. I don’t know why this has not gotten more airtime, but apparently Clinton has always been somewhat curious about Area 51 and the other secrets shared by astronauts to small groups of men in black. And she’s told the press that she would make the information public—assuming, I imagine, that we’re not in danger of an invasion.

Hey, it’s about time! I personally don’t believe aliens have landed, but I think there are some mysteries in the government files. I also don’t blame the government for putting the lid on possible sightings of little green men.

For God’s sake, we had riots over a fictional radio show. Imagine what could have happened if we had released inconclusive, but scary-sounding, reports of extra terrestrial oddities! But, that said, I think it’s time that we all get to read the classified documents from the fifties and sixties.

We’re not scared anymore. Not after fifty years of Star Trek and seven years of the Kepler mission.

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

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

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I

ADVISORY

Speaking of Hillary, I am grossed out by my favorite political website, fivethirtyeight dot com, where the editors have decided to devote an entire week to stories about human digestion, with articles that include: “Everybody is Constipated, Nobody is Constipated,” and “What Your Poop Says About You.” Nate? Was this really necessary? Did you have to add graphics?

The Place For Politics I’ve been vaguely watching MS NBC with the sound low, as is my wont during a presidential election year, and I’d like to make a few pubic complaints. First, will people on TV stop interviewing random voters and drawing generalized conclusions from their meaningless comments?

Bill: “Donna, we’ve been talking about Hillary Clinton’s ‘likeability’ problem. I’m speaking to Jim Dennison who is leaning towards Trump…

Jim, what do you think of Hillary Clinton?”

Jim: “I don’t trust her.”

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Bill: “And is that why you think you might vote for Trump?”

Jim: “I think he knows what he’s doing.”

Bill: “There you have it, Donna. The Clinton campaign is battling a perception of dishonesty and she’s going to have to up her game to win over people like Jim here… .”

Donna: “Thanks, Bill. A lot to think about.”

Second, why is it that each new onehour segment features a new host who invariably presents some insipid exchange that aired an hour or so earlier as an actual news segment?

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New Host: “And now some breaking news from our own Bill Richards, who spoke to Jim Dennison, a Trump voter in western Kentucky earlier today…”

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Bill: “Jim, what do you think of Hillary Clinton?”

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Jim: “I don’t trust her.”

Third, I hate it when they go to commercial, air three minutes of ads, return for ten seconds and say, “Does Hillary have a trust issue? We’ll be

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Celebrating the Life of a Beloved

Weddings Reverend Elizabeth River In writing these articles for the “Weddings & Occasions” page in the San Francisco Bay Times, I so enjoy writing about weddings, including every aspect and detail of these thrilling, joyous events! It’s so pleasurable to write (and read and think about) love. Love is so powerful, and is possibly one of the most powerful states of being that we are capable of feeling and generating. Love really does conquer all.

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Never is this truer than when a relationship that began and endured in love finally reaches the point described in the marriage vows, “… until death do us part.” The consequences on the one left behind can be devastating. Grief is as powerful as love; it is, in fact, the other side of the coin. When the beloved is taken away, the love is transmuted into grief. One of the important things we do together as a community is to support those whom we love upon the death of their beloved partner. We do this in whatever way we can—with cards and visits, bringing food, sitting Shiva, offering words of comfort and reassurance: words of love.

We also gather in community for the ritual of farewell to the one who

Juliana Student, 12th Grade People’s names have a lot to do with their families, their cultural backgrounds, and their parents’ hopes for what their child will become. This idea became clear to me after our class watched the movie The Namesake. I began to dig into what my name means to me.

I am Juliana, but not Giulianna because my dad didn’t really care to maintain the cultural accuracy of the traditional Italian name. I am Juliana, but not pronounced the Spanish way because I am not Latina, although my name suggests to a lot of people that I am.

I am Juliana with one “n” because my parents are simplistic, straight and to BAY TIM ES MAY 1 9 , 2 0 1 6

When I was a hospice chaplain, I officiated many memorial services, typically called “celebrations of life.” A few years ago I had the honor of leading a celebration of life for a man I will call Bill, whose griefstricken spouse, Frank, was struggling desperately with his overwhelming sense of loss and even hopelessness. They had been together 43 years. Luckily, Frank and Bill’s two oldest friends Michael and Edward basically moved in with Frank for a few weeks, helping him get up and face each day. It was they, together with Frank, of course, who helped me put together a celebration of Bill’s life, which we held in their beautiful home for about 40 family members and friends. After the formal ceremony, when we all poured the wine and began the feast, the stories started to f low. We had the joy of watching Frank interrupt his weeping with bursts of laughter, sometimes unstoppable, as someone recalled a singular memory that was just so right! It was then that I knew the healing had begun.

There are many wonderful poems and rituals we use in funerals and celebrations of life. I am going to

share a meditation I use sometimes when the members of the congregation will be a mixed group of religious, non-religious, atheist, agnostic, skeptic—in other words, a typical mixed-bag of spiritual orientations. I wrote this meditation because I am called to help all of us overcome the fear of death and come into a friendly relationship with it. As an interfaith minister, it is not my job to tell people where I think we go when we leave our bodies. In this meditation I offer people the chance to go inside and create their own picture of where someone’s spirit has gone, and find peace within themselves with the loss of this person’s corporal presence on the earth and in their lives.

Meditation I invite you to close your eyes, and hold Bill in your heart, as if he were with you now. Each one of you, with everything that you have learned and felt and come to believe, may honor your own version of our journey beyond earthly life. Create a picture of Bill as he is now, in a kind of radiance, full of love, with his joy and enthusiasm for life. Hold him there with your heart and your imagination and your very best wishes and prayers for him. See him as you knew him—at his best, being who he really is. Feel the love and pleasure Bill brought to your life over the years and surround him with it now, as you hold him in your heart. Thank him for his gifts to you, to the world. And just breathe.

The bell rings.

Rev. Elizabeth River is an ordained interfaith minister and wedding officiant in the North Bay. Please visit www.marincoastweddings.com and, on Facebook, https:// www.facebook.com/Marin-Coast-Weddings-Rev-Elizabeth-River-Wedding-Officiant-841159955975880/?ref=aymt_ homepage_panel

Names & Identity; Myths Associated with Immigration (Editor’s Note: Teacher Lyndsey Schlax of the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts recently taught the nation’s first on-site high school LGBT course, according to district off icials. She will resume teaching that groundbreaking class next fall. This semester, she is teaching a new Ethnic Studies course. It is a popular elective among the school’s Social Science offerings. In this column, students from her class will be anonymously sharing with the San Francisco Bay Times their thoughts about related matters, and what they are learning.)

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died. We remember, honor, thank and bless that person while holding the surviving member of the couple in the strength of our love and support. This ritual has tremendous healing powers and can go a long way toward lifting the bereaved one out of the worst of the despair and “lost-ness” of feeling absolutely alone. This happens through the music and prayers, the poems and scriptures, the eulogies and rituals.

One of the most healing things of all is the part where friends and relatives share their personal memories and stories of the deceased individual, often evoking laughter—which is, in my opinion, one of God’s greatest gifts.

the point. As they would say: Why use an extra letter where you don’t need it? I am Juliana, like the queen from the movie The Quest for Camelot, which my sister named me after. She suggested “Kylie” at first, and I’m glad my parents didn’t go along with that one.

I am Juliana with one middle name and one last name, because my mom didn’t give me her maiden name like so many Filipino members of her family had done before her. She has five names, and I only have three. I am Juliana, and sometimes Julie, but you can only call me that if we’re close, because otherwise “Julie” makes me feel like a white lady soccer mom with a blonde bob.

I am Judy to my dad, who is always one to butcher names for the fun of it.

Because I “look like a Judy,” according to him. I am Juliana, as I proudly, rhythmically spelled out loud when I was six years old: “J-u-l-i-a-n-a,” with my voice growing louder as I approached the final letters. I am Juliana, commonly mistaken for Julia because, as opposed to six-year-old Juliana, I am quieter now and I guess my voice dies out when I say the last syllable.

I am Juliana, pronounced “Julionna” to some, and “Julianna” to others.

Whichever you prefer, I don’t mind.

I am Juliana.

Student Voices Immigration Education Student, 11th Grade Recently in my Ethnic Studies class, we were discussing immigration. We looked at common myths associated with immigration and the immigration system. This activity made it abundantly clear that we as a society have a lot of teaching to do about how the immigration system works.

I’m only a junior in high school and I haven’t taken any government classes yet. Many of my peers and I, however, feel that there has been a gaping hole in education surrounding this system that is so prevalent in all of our lives, especially here in California. As being faced in a few short months as being a functioning adult member of society, I am much more motivated to do my own research and gain my own knowledge about immigration because I have learned that I really don’t know too much. (continued on page 22)

Hospice Care in the LGBT Community: Interview with Pam Peirce, LCSW, of Hospice by the Bay

Pam Peirce: Hospice is specialized end-of-life care that addresses clients’ medical, emotional, and spiritual needs; eases their pain and symptoms; and, provides support to caregivers and loved ones. Our goal is to maintain the quality of life in one’s final days. Hospice is a concept of care, not a place. Hospice by the Bay services are provided at the bedside—wherever our clients call home.

Affiliated with UCSF and certified

by Medicare, we serve San Francisco and four other Bay Area counties and are a not-for-profit organization.

Hospice by the Bay also serves clients living in facilities such as Coming Home Hospice, Maitri, and the Zen Hospice Project Guest House. We often help arrange for clients to move into these facilities when they can no longer stay at home.

S a n Fr a nc i sc o Bay Ti me s: What’s unique about caring for members of the LGBT community? How does Hospice by the Bay work with LGBT clients?

Pa m Peirce: H istor ica l ly, t he LGBT community has been reluctant to seek health care from straight providers. Why? Lack of health insurance, stigma, and lack of safety in a mainstream healthcare environment.

The situation has greatly improved, but facing a terminal illness is hard enough without wondering if a team of healthcare workers will treat you with respect and dignity.

At our office, we have a sign posted with a rainbow triangle that says “safe space” to let members of the LBGT community know they are welcome.

When we enter the homes of our clients, we also offer this deep level of safety that goes beyond having a gay nurse or a lesbian social worker. All our staff, regardless of their own orientation or identity, provides highly skilled care suitable to an individual’s situation, without judgement.

Pam Peirce

The challenges of a life-threatening illness can be compounded by other issues: questions of reconciliation with families of origin when there has been harm done in the past; trauma and compassion fatigue from the multitude of deaths from HIV in the 1980s and 1990s; and, financial stress as a result of employment and housing discrimination. Members of the transgender community can suffer the most from this isolation and discrimination; their desire to die in their preferred gender is often disrespected.

Having an understanding of all of these dynamics helps us be better prepared to offer services to the LBGT community.

In many respects, our community is as diverse a population as the City is as a whole. We take pride in being open to individual needs and situations. Is the client transgender? Transitioning? Part of the leather community? Living with one partner, multiple partners, in a collective, or alone in an SRO? Every client situation is unique, and that’s what we have honored for the past 41 years.

San Francisco Bay Times: Isn’t end- of-life decision-making also a challenge?

Pam Peirce: Having a legal document that lays out your end-of-life wishes is particularly critical for our community. I’ve had an Advance Directive for years, as have many in the LGBT community.

But people forget. It can be very difficult if you don’t have a legal partner. Do you want family members whom you haven’t seen for years to make decisions for you or your family of choice?

I recall working with a gay couple who had been together over 40 years, but did not have an Advance Directive and were not registered domestic partners. The surviving partner lost the right to determine funeral plans after the death. No one wants that outcome.

It is important for all of us to have the conversation about end-of-life wishes while we are still healthy. Our website (www.hospicebythebay.org) has information about Advance Directives and how to “Start the Conversation.”

San Francisco Bay Times: What happens if someone cannot afford hospice care?

Pam Peirce: Hospice by the Bay never turns anyone away, regardless of health insurance status or ability to pay. Many of our clients are covered by private insurance, Medi-Cal or Medicare, but we provide care to those without insurance as well. Decisions about the care provided are independent of insurance status.

We have a unique program to fund caregiving for our lower income clients, beyond what is usually provided by insurance. As a non-profit, we are able to raise donations to support this program.

San Francisco Bay Times: Does the fact that you are a lesbian make a difference in your work?

Pam Peirce: On one level, it doesn’t.

All of my clients, their caregivers and friends get my full attention and support.

On another level, it makes a big difference. As a member of the LGBT community, it is a tremendous help when I am serving a client who has been marginalized or is not part of the dominant culture. I understand the significance of what they are going through in ways that a straight person might not. It’s not just about empathy—it’s about looking at life through a different lens.

The fact that I am a manager is also helpful because I can be an effective advocate. I am in a position to make sure that issues important to the LGBT community are factored into how we deliver care.

It is better to learn about hospice care before you really need it. We invite you to call Hospice of the Bay anytime, if only for your peace of mind 415-626-5900, or visit www.hospicebythebay.org

H OS PI C E BY TH E B AY

San Francisco Bay Times: What is hospice care?

We are also well aware that social isolation can be more pronounced. This can have devastating consequences when there are no caregivers who can help you stay at home. That is why we are so glad to work closely with facilities like Coming Home Hospice, which has historically served people living with HIV, but is now open to those with other illnesses.

C O URT ESY O F

It was an honor for us to sit down a few days ago with Pam Peirce, LCSW, at Hospice by the Bay, to learn about hospice care and the unique end-oflife issues facing the LGBT community. Peirce, who lives in San Francisco with her wife, has worked in hospice care for 20 years, providing psychosocial support to clients and their loved ones. She currently manages a team of hospice nurses, social workers and chaplains.

BAY T IM ES M AY 19, 2016

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DUNNING (continued from page 8)

NEWS (continued from page 6) November of 1908. But now the international service organization is launching a chapter in the Castro/ Noe Valley. “We were looking at the City, and we were trying to think of other areas that we could support,” said Danielle Lallement, charter president of the Rotary Club of San Francisco. “We looked at the Castro and Noe Valley and thought, ‘Why is this not supported?’ We started doing a lot of work in the area, asking people if they thought it would be a benefit here. That’s why we started to get the club off the ground.” Currently, the Castro/Noe Valley club meets at a member’s home. The group, however, would like to expand to the point where it can have regular meetings at another location in the neighborhood.

The last official meeting featured a speaker from the Trevor Project discussing teen bullying and the issues facing LGBT youth. clubrunner.ca/50155 Lambda Legal Announces Appointment of Rachel B. Tiven as CEO The Board of Directors of Lambda Legal—one of the nation’s oldest legal organizations fighting for equality on behalf of LGBT people and those living with HIV—announced that it has voted unanimously to appoint Rachel B. Tiven as the organization’s new Chief Executive Officer. Tiven will succeed Kevin Cathcart, who led Lambda Legal as its Executive Director for 24 years.

Under his leadership, the organization grew exponentially and won numerous civil rights victories in courtrooms and communities around the country. “Rachel’s track record of strengthening and growing missiondriven organizations into national forces for legal, political and social change made her the clear choice to lead Lambda Legal going forward,” said Tracey Wallace and Stephen

Winters, co-chairs, Lambda Legal Board of Directors. “The list of victories yet to be won is long, and requires a leader who can ensure equality and dignity for our community, our families and all our loved ones. We’re confident Rachel is the leader to take us forward.” lambdalegal.org UC Launches First in Nation Research on HIV Prevention Pill for Transgenders The California HIV/AIDS Research Program of the University of California has awarded grants totaling $9.4 million to three teams of investigators to provide and evaluate PrEP, the HIV prevention pill, among transgender persons at risk for HIV acquisition in California. This is the first PrEP demonstration project in the U.S. to focus exclusively on transgender persons. Three research teams, one in San Diego and Los Angeles and two in the San Francisco Bay Area, will offer PrEP to an estimated 700 transgender women and men, with a special focus on transgender persons of color, over the next four years. Researchers will design and implement unique and targeted interventions to increase access, uptake and adherence in the transgender community. As part of this work, the research team will also investigate potential drug interactions between PrEP and hormone use. californiaaidsresearch.org SF Pride Encourages Participants in Annual Carnaval San Francisco San Francisco Pride will premiere its 2016 Pride Parade float at Carnaval San Francisco on Sunday, May 29, 9:30 am, promoting their theme, “For Racial & Economic Justice.” People are invited to march with their 30-foot, beautifully designed float, a rotating rainbow wheel under a huge rainbow. Assemble near the parade

MANDELMAN (from page 8)

ROSTOW (continued from page 19)

think everyone is hoping that a neutral fact-f inder can move the two sides together, as it seems to have done in the CSU situation. One thing most everyone agrees on: continued labor strife will be bad for the College. It will depress enrollment in the critical 16–17 year that will establish the new base for State funding, it will make it harder to pass a parcel tax measure on the November ballot and it will continue to divert the institution’s attention and resources from a number of other urgent needs.

discussing it next,” and then go to another three minutes of ads. Come on!

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

Round About Photos by Rink

Artist Leda Swan and her painting “Erica” at the women’s art show opening at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) 22

BAY TIM ES MAY 1 9 , 2 0 1 6

Oh yes, there’s a fourth and a fifth, but I’m not going to belabor the point.

The bottom line is that I’m addicted to an extremely annoying genre of cable news, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I have to have my fix.

The Girl Who Cried Bigot What else is new?

Thumbs up to the Massachusetts senate for passing a transrights bill that now heads to the house. Partial congratulations to couples in Italy who finally won the right to get some kind of domestic partnership thing. The Canadian government has introduced a proposal to add gender identity to federal civil rights laws, a proposal that I think has a good shot at passage. Because it’s Canada! And Mexico’s president will introduce a national legislative package that includes the freedom to marry. At pres-

Rainbow Bay to Breakes runners at Justin Hermann Plaza, on May 15

start at 24th and Bryant streets. The Carnaval theme this year is “¡Viva La Madre Tierra!/Long Live Mother Earth!” so wear attire that fits the Mother Earth or Carnaval theme, or Rainbow LGBTQ Pride themed costumes/attire. More info about the Carnaval SF Parade: carnavalsanfrancisco.org/parade Travel Ban and All-Gender Restroom Bills Clear CA Assembly Two Equality California-sponsored bills advancing the civil rights of LGBT people in California and across the country were approved by the California Assembly. Assembly Bill (AB) 1887 was approved by a vote of 54–21 and AB 1732 passed by 55–19. AB 1887, authored by openly gay Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), would prohibit statefunded or sponsored travel to a state that, after June 26, 2015, has enacted a law that voids or repeals existing state or local protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, or has enacted a law that authorizes or requires discrimination against same-sex couples or their families on those bases. AB 1887 is cosponsored by Equality California and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. AB 1732, authored by Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) would enact the most progressive statewide restroom access policy in the nation, requiring all single-occupancy restrooms in businesses, government buildings and places of public accommodation to be available to everyone. The bill is co-sponsored by Equality California, the Transgender Law Center and California NOW. edgemedianetwork.com

ent, although the Mexican Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality last year, marriage law still has to be litigated state by state and is only available in certain areas. A national bill would speed things up down south.

Do you remember the story about how someone at Whole Foods in Austin wrote “fag” on a cake? Even at the time, the story seemed odd, given the fact that the bakery clerk was gay and that Whole Foods came out with an angry defense. The customer, a gay pastor, held a press conference and sued our favorite over-priced but politically correct grocery chain, but Whole Foods hit back, counter-suing the pastor for whatever it would be that you counter-sue for under the circumstances.

Now, the pastor has apologized and withdrawn his legal complaint. He didn’t actually cop to an extortion charge, but clearly that’s what he was

Dustin Lance Black in the Castro during evening filming of “When We Rise”

paigning as a team almost always results in greater success.

One of the downsides of the slate strategy is that those who are not “insiders,” or are not on a slate, have a tremendous disadvantage. The sixteen DCCC candidates not on either the Progress or Reform slates have to really hustle. One candidate I have tremendous respect for is Shaun Haines, who did not end up on either slate but is working it every day. I see him actively seeking Democratic Club endorsements, doing visibility at transit stops, and getting his name and his story out there on social media. These candidates have to rely more on the Democratic Clubs to endorse them and include them in their club slates and mailers. In Shaun’s case, being highlighted on the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club slate will help him tremendously.

Another downside to the slate process, as I see it, is that it continues to drive a wedge between the “two shades of blue” we have in this crazy city. To survive you sort of have to pick a team and pick a side. Those who want to be more independent have almost insurmountable odds of getting elected. This Reform vs.

Progress slate battle drives an even deeper us vs. them mentality. When I first ran four years ago, often the first questions from a voter or a donor was, “Are you a Progressive or a Moderate?” When I tried to def lect the assumption, and state that I consider myself more solutions-driven than ideology-driven, I was often met with frustration. Some elected officials have tried to navigate these waters and stay uncommitted to any one side. London Breed and David Chiu certainly have done it while serving as President of the Board of Supervisors, but it is not easy.

So look for more mail, more candidates at transit stops, and more volunteers knocking on your door asking

trying to do, the rat. This time, the con job failed, although it still leaves a smudge on our community, doesn’t it?

I recall an incident where some rightwing people left a mean note on a restaurant bill with no tip for a gay server, and I think the publicity inspired some readers to send a few bucks to the waiter. But not too long after that came a similar incident that turned out to be a false story contrived by a lesbian New York waitress, who eventually ended up with two or three grand in her scheming pocket.

You know where this goes, right? The next time we hear about a slur painted here or a Bible verse written on the back of the dinner check, we’ll be wondering: Did that really happen?

Most of the time, the answer’s yes, but we still let a little of our compassion dissipate while suspicion takes a turn around our heads. That’s thank to people like you, lyin’ pastor. arostow@aol.com

Activist Cleve Jones led actor Guy Pearce (“Memento” amd “LA Confidentail”) in front of Harvey’s on a Castro Street tour during the SF scheduled filming of “When We Rise” on April 25. The tour included a vist to recently renovated Harvey’s bar and restaurant, to view the newly colored Harvey Milk photographs.

for your vote in unprecedented numbers for this DCCC race. It is going to be a fierce campaign season!

In closing, I’d like to share one story from the campaign trail. When doing visibility at a transit stop or farmers market, I usually ask people as they pass by, “Are you a San Francisco voter?” to determine whether to hand them a campaign flyer. Many say yes, some say they live elsewhere in the Bay Area, and some say they are not citizens and can’t vote. Twice now, however, I’ve had young men tell me they can’t vote because they have been convicted of a felony. There is confusion out there over what the rules are, so when the first young man asked, we looked it up on my phone together. In California, a felon can’t vote if they are incarcerated or on parole. If they are neither, they are indeed eligible to vote in the state, even for federal office races such as President and Senator.

In both cases I was able to give these young men the good news that they can, in fact, register to vote. I even provided a voter registration card for one right on the spot. It’s important to reintegrate these young men and women after they have served their debt to society, and not continue to punish them by denying them a voice in our government. Not all states agree, but I am proud that California has evolved to this philosophy and policy.

It’s these situations—meeting people and hearing their stories—that keep me going strong throughout this campaign. I hope you vote on or before June 7, because this election is important for so many reasons.

Zoe Dunning is a retired Navy Commander and was a lead activist in the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. She served as Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club. She currently serves as the First Vice Chair of the San STUDENT VOICES (continued from page 20) Often times in schools, I feel that social politics present in the school system can get in the way of students maximizing their learning experience and picking up important pieces of information about how the world works. This can be shown in this current presidential election. Some of the candidates are in favor of an education that is laced with ideals pertaining to religion and conservative culture. The fact of the matter is that whether a person considers themselves to be liberal or conservative politically, or regardless of where they stand on one social issue or another, it is undeniable that immigration exists in this country and it is essential that the youth be taught the truth about it. This way, we can put a stop to the spread of some of the outrageous myths that have been circling our society for years.

For more information about the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, please visit http://www.sfsota.org/ Lyndsey Schlax has been a teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District since 2008.

She is uniquely qualified to address multiple areas of LGBT studies, having also specialized in subjects such as Modern World History, Government, Economics and U.S. Politics. She is a National Board Certified Teacher, and earned her M.A. in Teaching at the University of San Francisco.

BAY T IM ES M AY 19, 2016

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From the Coming Up Events Calendar See page 36 Sunday, May 22 - The Times of Harvey Milk. 3 PM. Castro Theatre (429 Castro Street) event.com/e/the-times-of-harveymilk-birthday-screening-the-castrotheatre-thickets-25012714703

Wednesday, May 25 thru June 18 Bernstein’s On The Town. 8 PM. San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall (201 Van Ness Avenue) Facebook.com/events/943366975783449

Photos courtesy of Montclair Women’s Big Band

Montclair Women’s Big Band to Launch New Women’s Music Series at Feinstein’s The San Francisco Bay Times and “Betty’s List” are proud to present a new women’s music series at Feinstein’s. The first show kicks off Pride month in grand style with a performance by the Montclair Women’s Big Band on June 2. Founded in 1997 by veteran trumpeter Ellen Seeling and her wife, saxophonist Jean Fineberg, the group is an alliance of some of our region’s most formidable jazz women.

Forging a singular blues-drenched sound with a deep Latin pocket and captivating original material, the Montclair Women’s Big Band impresses audiences with its electrifying powerhouse ensemble. The band’s addictive grooves and inspired solos round out the mix. This extraordinary swing machine will blow you away!

We recently had a great time catching up with Seeling, whose music you probably know, even if her name doesn’t yet ring a bell. Over the years she has performed with Luther Vandross, Laura Nyro, The Temptations, Joe Cocker, Ben E. King, Martha Reeves, Patti LaBelle and many more. Seeling and Fineberg also released many great CDs as the band Deuce, and started the Jazzschool Girls Jazz and Blues Camp, as well as a similar camp for adult women. Seeling additionally teaches music at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the Jazzschool in Berkeley.

San Francisco Bay Times: You are a true groundbreaker, starting from your early years as the first woman to earn a degree in Jazz Studies from Indiana University. How were you introduced to the trumpet, and who were some of your early role models, both personally and professionally?

Ellen Seeling: We always had music around the house when I was a kid in Wisconsin. I sang in the church choir with 3 of my sisters, and we all sang with my mom at home just for fun. When I was about 10, my parents got one of the first stereo phonographs on the market. They also bought a bunch of great records … big bands, musical soundtracks, Fantasia, Scheherazade, Stravinsky, and some Latin music. We listened around the house all the time. I loved the sound and look of the trumpet, and my dad had been a trumpet player in high school. I loved the Basie band, Ellington, Woody Herman, Dizzy Gillespie, all that stuff. So when my little Catholic school decided to start a band when I was in 7th grade, I wanted to play trumpet.

My mom took me to the music store and told the sales guy I wanted a trumpet. He told her trumpet would be bad for me as a girl, because it would deform my lips later in life and the boys wouldn’t like that. My mom told him she didn’t care and wanted a trumpet for me right away. Ha! Good

for mom! I had no role models really, except the guys I heard on recordings. I never saw another girl or woman play trumpet until I went to college. But I loved Miles Davis, Harry James, Dizzy Gillespie and the big bands.

San Francisco Bay Times: What led to your moving to New York, and what was life like there in the early 70s for you, as a female jazz musician?

Ellen Seeling: My plan was always to go to New York after college, because that’s where you go if you want to make it as a musician. But I was lucky because I had been hired by some New York bands before I finished school. I got my degree, but before I finished it, I worked with one of the first women’s rock bands, Isis, in the summer, and did their second recording in New Orleans with Allen Toussaint. This was about 1974.

And while working on my grad degree at Indiana University, Laura Nyro called me and Jean Fineberg to be her horn section on her Season of Lights comeback tour and recording. That band was incredible, and I couldn’t believe I was getting to play with famous jazz musicians I had listened to as a student–Richard Davis, (continued on page 26)

Ellen Seeling, Band Director BAY T IM ES M AY 19, 2016

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Performing at The Kennedy Center

“Jazz is a male chauvinist pig sty.”

Mike Maineri, John Tropea, and, of course, Laura. Life was great while I was a member of those bands. After being Laura’s horn section, Jean and I had developed a reputation, and we went on to be the horn section for Chic, Latin Fever, Sister Sledge, Martha Reeves, and others. I did run into a lot of discrimination in other situations, like the Broadway pits, some of the big bands, stuff like that. But, for about 10 years, I was able to make a living and also freelanced with many other artists and bands: Machito, Ray Barretto, Larry Elgart, Cornell Dupree. Lots of others. But I had a fabulous support system of the women in Isis and Latin Fever, and they were instrumental in helping me survive and thrive in New York.

San Francisco Bay Times: How did you and Jean first meet?

Ellen Seeling: We met in New Orleans when Isis hired me from Indiana University to come down over Christmas break to do their second recording with Allen Toussaint. They could not find a pro woman trumpet player in the New York area, and so heard about me at Indiana University through the grapevine. They called me, and sight unseen offered me the recording date, so I got on a plane, for the first time, when I was about 24, and met the band when I got off the plane in New Orleans. What an amazing bunch of women; I’m still close with most of them. That’s when I met Jeanie.

San Francisco Bay Times: So you and Jean worked together right away, shortly after you met?

Ellen Seeling: We worked together in Isis immediately starting with the New Orleans session. I went back to school after the recording and finished up my undergrad degree a month early because I wanted to go on the road with Isis in May for the summer. When that tour ended in September, Jean decided to join me when I went back to Bloomington to start my grad degree. She was auditing classes in the jazz department and living with me at Indiana University when Laura Nyro called us and asked us to join her band, go on the road for a year, and make a live album. So we said goodbye to Bloomington, and became the horn section for many bands around New York City for about 10 years. We formed Deuce in 1980.

San Francisco Bay Times: We recently read that “Millennials really hate feminism” and many seem to believe that women have full equality now.

Have the social justice gains over the years really made life 26

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all that easier for women in professions such as yours? Put another way: Has the glass ceiling been shattered yet for women in jazz?

Ellen Seeling: Bwahahaha! We have full equality now?! OMG. Well, all I can say is these Millenials will be singing a different tune in about 10– 15 years after they’ve gotten slammed around in the real world. That is, if they actually recognize what’s happening to them and are not in complete denial about why the guys are getting all the good jobs, more money, more access, more credit, more visibility, more contacts, etc., and the women are moving laterally, not up. Hell, we don’t even have equal rights legally in this country–pass the ERA now! I am also supporting Hillary Clinton for President, and believe she is, by far, the best-qualified candidate. The glass ceiling in jazz is as bad, or worse, than it is in the most sexist businesses in the private sector: investment banking, tech, science, politics, you name it. Jazz is a male chauvinist pig sty.

San Francisco Bay Times: How did you come up with the idea to form the Montclair Women’s Big Band? Was it the first big band of its kind? Maybe it still is?

Ellen Seeling: I had a women’s big band in New York City for several years. After we moved here and had a certain amount of success with Deuce, we sort of hit the wall in terms of where a fusion band playing all original music could go. We couldn’t get on the charts after we did our second album. Clear Channel, the corporation that owned almost all of the smooth jazz stations in the U.S., passed on the CD because it “didn’t sound like background music.” We were angry and frustrated that we couldn’t get onto the big festivals, and we couldn’t do casuals playing original music. And frankly, we had a hard time finding other women players for our band in the Bay Area. The pool of women fusion players was just small compared to New York. So (music producer) Barbara “Boo” Price floated the idea of an all woman big band, and I decided to go for it. Jean has always been our Assistant Director, as she wasn’t in love with big bands like I was, so Boo and I formed a partnership, and we were off. There was a golden age of women’s big bands during the World War II years, as all the guys were overseas.

Dozens of women’s big bands toured the country and did all the dances, events, concerts, etc. that the guys’ bands had done before the war. But when the guys came home it was over

– Ellen Seeling

An outdoor benefit concert, Berkeley

Early promo photo of the band

for the women’s bands, just like it was for women’s baseball. I don’t think there was another women’s band until Ann Patterson organized her band in Los Angeles, Maiden Voyage, in the 70s, I think. Then I had a big band in New York for a few years, and after we moved to the Bay Area in ‘89, Sherrie Maricle formed DIVA in New York City about two years before we formed the Montclair Women’s Big Band.

I specifically wanted to lead a women’s big band for my own personal activist purposes to address the gender discrimination in jazz. I wanted to provide opportunities for women jazz players: visibility, community, networking, income, moral support, musical experience, etc. I figured if I could put together a really good big band of women and get them up on a stage somewhere, people would pay attention, and girls would have role models. And I believe we’ve done that.

San Francisco Bay Times: The Montclair Women’s Big Band includes both gay and straight players, as well as younger and older musicians. Was that mix intentional, or did it just evolve organically?

Ellen Seeling: It just evolved, of course, because the goal here is to have the best musicians possible in the band. And that means ability first, not some other criterion. My biggest regret is that we don’t have any African American women in the band right now. We’ve had many over the years, especially vocalists. But the pool of African American women who were lucky enough to have big bands in their school music program is small. I’m always looking for African American women instrumentalists (we don’t have a vocalist any more). So, if anyone sees this and is a player themselves, or knows of a pro level black player, please contact me!

San Francisco Bay Times: We love this description of Montclair Women’s Big Band music, as written by Jack Bowers: “premium-grade jazz, rigorously blended for high mileage and maximum pleasure.” Tell us a bit about what guests can expect to hear at your upcoming show at Feinstein’s.

Ellen Seeling: Well, the first thing guests who have never heard us should expect is to be absolutely astonished.

I’m serious, and I don’t mean this in a self-aggrandizing way, but the big

Jean Fineberg (left) and the sax section

band is unlike anything most people have ever seen or heard live. They will be literally blown away by the power, sound, expertise and precision of the ensemble, the outstanding level of the soloists, and the dramatic visuals of seeing women play like we do.

Really. You have to see it to believe it.

And we will perform a wide variety of styles with ease: jazz, swing, Latin, R&B, ballads, you name it.

San Francisco Bay Times: Your show at Feinstein’s launches a new Women’s Music series there, and right at the start of Pride. You and Jean both have much to be proud about, given your many achievements, but what are some goals that you would still like to accomplish, in terms of your career?

Ellen Seeling: Personally I would like to help women and men realize that serious gender discrimination in jazz ruins women’s lives, and that we must do something about it. I have founded a new nonprofit, JazzWomen and Girls Advocates, and when I slow down as a player I will devote more energy to fighting this discrimination. I want to provide girls with opportunities and the confidence to pursue a career in any kind of music they want, but my area of expertise is jazz. There is no reason girls should be afraid to be in their school bands, and be deprived of same gender role models at every level in this art form. That’s why Jean and I, with

the help of Susan Muscarella at the Jazzschool, have founded the first and only jazz camp for girls in the country, with an all woman faculty. The Jazzschool Girls Jazz and Blues Camp will celebrate its 8th year of operation in August with about 70 girls attending. We have also founded a camp for women based on the same model, the Jazzschool Women’s Jazz and Blues Camp, which runs at the Jazzschool in Berkeley every March.

Lastly I’d like to thank our supporters here in the Bay Area like local journalists, local radio stations, the Jazzschool, Barbara Price, Melanie Berzon and KCSM, our producer Leslie Ann Jones from Skywalker Sound, my partner in crime and jazz activist Sara Sanderson, and all our loyal fans. I’d also like to thank my amazing band, some of whom have been with the group for almost 20 years. And my wife Jeanie Fineberg. Thank you so much! We love you madly.

To purchase tickets for the Montclair Women’s Big Band show at Feinstein’s, go to: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/ event/1151623?_ga=1.235784390.61240 3963.1463414334&__utma=1.1325364 083.1463414334.1463414334.14634143 34.1&__utmb=1.0.10.1463414334&__ utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.14634 14334.1.1.utmcsr=hotelnikkosf.com|utmcc n=%28referral%29|utmcmd=referral|ut mcct=/feinsteins.aspx&__utmv=-&__ utmk=265534991

San Francisco Bay Times and “Betty’s List” are proud to partner with Feinstein’s for the new Feinstein’s Women Series!

On June 2, the mighty Montclair Women’s Big Band, under the direction of trumpet player Ellen Seeling, will blow the house down with their addictive grooves, powerhouse arrangements, and inspired solos.

On August 5 and 6, Leanne Borghesi returns to Feinstein’s. Richard Connema of “Talkin’ Broadway” said of Borghesi: “This first-class talent takes on the music of legendary divas such as Bette Midler, Judy Garland, Ethel Merman, Barbra Streisand and Patti LuPone in a very stylish revue…Leanne has terrific vocal chops that blend marvelous strength, tremendous musicianship and gorgeous tonality.”

On September 22 and 23, pop/jazz/blues phenom Suede takes the stage! From astounding a cappella, incredibly intimate ballads to “bring down the house” belting blues, Suede delivers it all with warmth, wit and musical artistry.

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Wright on Hockney

Film Gary M. Kramer Randall Wright’s marvelous documentary Hockney, opening May 27, is a profound appreciation of the celebrated gay artist. The f ilm captures its subject through a melange of quotes by Hockney, anecdotes by friends, and outstanding archival footage and photographs. Then there is the artwork itself. Wright emphasizes the painter’s unique way of seeing in his paintings, which is tied to his emotions. The director spoke via Skype with me for the San Francisco Bay Times about his fabulous documentary.

Gary M. Kramer: What image comes first to mind when you think of David Hockney?

R a n d a l l Wr i g h t : “A B i g g er Splash.” It’s a powerful image. It took a while for me to register the source of his power. It’s warm, it’s a swimming pool, yet at the same time, there’s a

detachment, a suspen s ion of t i me.

The diver isn’t going to come up–he’s beneath the water.

There’s something complex and paradoxical about his playfulness.

Gary M. Kramer: Yes, there is a real melancholy in his work, even though it’s bright and colorful. Why do you think that is?

Randall Wright: He’s criticized for dwelling on the optimistic. However, in his work, there’s more anguish– not anger, not depression. That’s what makes his painting extraordinary. And he’s a great draftsman.

He has an emotional response. The painting of his mother with amazing blue eyes–he sees a beautiful human

being. He represents people without judgment. He was able to reproduce images without embarrassment that represent his sexuality. That’s what I wanted to do in the film.

Gary M. Kramer: Hockney presents an intimate portrait of the artist, and less about his (continued on page 38)

Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun

By Sister Dana Van Iquity Sister Dana sez, “Dangerous Donald Trump continues to give me nightmares.

I am concerned that frustrated and burned Bernie fans will stay home out of spite and thus help usher in this monstrous mercurial megalomaniac. Please, Democrats, get out the vote!”

Sister Dana was a very busy nun last Friday night, covering not one, not two, but THREE different art gallery receptions. Beginning with the 518 Castro Street ARTSAVESLIVES STUDIO AND GALLERY in the AIDS Healthcare Foundation building, there was the WOMEN’S ART SHOW curated by well known artist THOMASINA DEMAIO featuring two dozen different artists’ works (with three being men) on display. My three favorite artists were BILL BOWERS and his gorgeous fashion display of wearable art, as well as decorated framed photos (one being of Sister Dana and the late, great Sister Mysteria of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence sitting on a car as some of the Grand Marshals for the Gay Pride Parade years ago; YUKARI SHAKURA with “Self Portrait with a Dog and Animals of the Dream,” acrylic on wood, a large white dog surrounded by various beasts including a cat, turtle, snail, frog, bumblebee, butterfly, hummingbird, rabbit riding a swan, and more all by the seaside; and NIC GRIFFIN with his “GRRR,” charcoal on paper of a fierce wolf baring his fangs and ready to pounce.

An ongoing feature of DeMaio’s art receptions are the highly entertain28

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ing pop-up live shows by talented performance artists. This evening began with DEBBIE DORISAL reading her original poem, “Deal Me Out,” a highly charged diatribe against “robotic attitudes toward life”; “True Friends,” a definition; “This Man Is Mad” about unfair incarcerations; and other slammin’ jams. Then LAY-SI LUNA, a lovely lady in dazzling red gown danced to 1930s French chanteuse Edith Piaf’s emotional “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” (“No, I Regret Nothing”), then stripped down naked except for a sequined thong, next slipped into silk pants, dramatically wiped off all her makeup, put on a man’s top coat to flatten her breasts to become a male! Stunning gender-bending! The next performer was poet RACHEL JANINE reciting her long poem, “Four Walls,” about the metaphoric walls we put up to keep from communicating with one another. Professional masseuse, large and in charge MAGNOLIAH BLACK in cobalt blue hair belted out live the tres tres torchy “Cry Me A River” made famous by 50s singer Julie London. The voluptuous MEGHAN EASON acted as femcee (and is the stage manager for these lively diverse shows), and also did a striking performance piece to “Feel Blind,” blindfolded, wearing a fake white fur splattered in fake blood, “staring” into a hand mirror inscribed “Who Are You?” on the back, stripping down to copper colored panties, biting into an apple and spitting out pieces into the audience. DeMaio joked to me, “The Castro hasn’t seen this much bare boob in a long time!” Agreed. A trio of women (GIGI D’AMORE, AVA LANCHE, & LAVENDER HUNNY), known collectively as Lust Designs, had two seductive ladies in black latex “crucifying” a woman in flesh-tinted translucent latex–the victim’s arms outstretched on a crosslike pole, each hand clutching a bouquet of red roses–while a punk rock medley played. The duo smeared lube all over the woman’s body and bound her in black leather ribbons

to become a human maypole, then knelt down and worshipped her, eventually ripping up the roses and strewing petals everywhere. The final performance was by the small, but big on energy and strength, KYOKO UCHIDA dancing to the jazz number, “Compared To What,” executing acrobatics, dance, splits, tricks, and impressive hand stands on poles–including an amazing onehanded stand. Astonishing! What an incredible night of entertainment!!!

Next Sister Dana walked up the street to STRUT, the Castro health and wellbeing center for gay, bi, and trans men at 470 Castro Street, to check out the May month-long exhibition of DUANE WAKEHAM DRAWS GAY MEN’S SKETCH, 1987-2016. On the second floor of Strut, from left to right, Wakeham displays different sessions, starting with quick gesture drawings (30 seconds to four minute sessions), figure sketches (20 minute sessions), portraits in Prismacolor pencil, and pastel nude studies (20 minutes), and 20 minute pencil drawings with impressive shadowing and shading. Also in the show are several dozen artists all depicting Wakeman in their interpretations through various mediums. My favorite of them is by KEVIN WOODSON, who is exhibiting his glorious floral watercolor paintings, “Peace Within Chaos,” June 1 through July 30 at Joyce Gordon Gallery, 406 14th Street, downtown Oakland, with reception on June 3, 6–9 pm.

Join GAY MEN’S SKETCH on Sunday, May 22, for the GAY MEN’S SKETCH MARATHON, a Benefit for Gay Men’s Sketch.

It’s a drawing group for gay men.

MARK I. CHESTER, the founder of the group, has been hosting the sessions in his studio in SOMA for the past 29 years. This year Gay Men’s Sketch is doing an exhibit at Strut for the month of May to celebrate Duane Wakeham, their second longest attending member. As part of the festivities they are hosting a (continued on page 38)

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE DE YOUNG AND LEGION OF HONOR

California BookWorks

From May 7–October 16, 2016, the Legion of Honor will feature California BookWorks in the Reva and David Logan Gallery of Illustrated Books.

The exhibit reminds that California presents myriad realities, from its natural splendors to its sprawling suburbs. Long considered a site of new opportunities and unlimited potential, the Golden State also contends with a complicated and constantly changing identity.

Raymond Pettibon and Cristin Sheehan Sullivan, cover of Scream at the Librarian: Sketches of Our Patrons in Downtown Los Angeles, text by Joel J. Rane (Brooklyn: Booklyn Artists Alliance, 2007). FAMSF, museum purchase, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts Endowment Fund, 2011.7.1

The modern and contemporary artists’ books and portfolios on view in California BookWorks feature California subjects and provide visitors with the opportunity to see views of the state through the eyes of a range of artists. Some works reflect the historical promise of California as a land of plenty, while others foreground the experience of living in some of its largest cities. Most of the books selected for the exhibition were made in California-based print workshops and are testaments to the vitality here of this engaging art form.

For tickets, please visit: http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/exhibitions/california-bookworks

The Future of the Past: Mummies and Medicine Through August 26, 2018, at the Legion of Honor Ancient Egypt meets modern medicine in this exhibition that makes use of stateof-the-art scientific techniques to explore two of the Fine Arts Museums’ mummies. An interdisciplinary team of scientists, Egyptologists, physicians, and museum curators and conservators has learned more about how these embalmed individuals lived, died, and were prepared for eternity.

Rebecca Fahrig and Kerstin Müller of Stanford University Medical School’s department of radiology have conducted high-resolution, three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) scans of the mummies, revealing long-held secrets.

The resulting data have been studied by Jonathan Elias of the Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium, who offered much of the interpretation seen in the exhibition.

One of the mummies investigated is that of Irethorrou, a priest from an impor-

tant family living in Akhmim in middle Egypt about 2,600 years ago. The Future of the Past includes information that has been gleaned about Irethorrou’s lifestyle, the society in which he lived, his religion, and the funerary beliefs of his time. The second mummy, perhaps 500 years older, is that of a woman traditionally known as “Hatason.” Neither her mummy nor her coffin has fared as well as those of Irethorrou, and they present a stark contrast to Irethorrou’s perfectly preserved body.

Visitors can examine both mummies by means of an interactive virtual dissection table supplied by Anatomage, a San Jose medical solutions company. Hauntingly beautiful amulets and tomb furnishings are also displayed.

For more information and to purchase tickets: http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/exhibitions/future-past-mummies-and-medicine

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R. Ruth Linden, Ph.D. Coffin of Irethorrou, Egyptian, Akhmim, ca. 500 BC. Wood with polychrome. FAMSF, gift of First Federal Trust Company (from the Estate of Jeremiah Lynch)

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Words Michele Karlsberg Michele Karlsberg: When writing your book, did you draw from your own painful experiences and emotions? Was it hard for you to incorporate them?

James Magruder: As with all of my fiction, Love Slaves of Helen Hadley Hall comes from a very autobiographical place. Like several of my love slaves, I entered a PhD program in French Lit at Yale in September of 1983. I too lived in Hadley Hall, on the third floor, and AIDS was the monster under the bed. I don’t know whether I say this with pride or embarrassment but with two exceptions, every character in the novel–and there are scads–is based on someone I knew, met, took classes with, ate meals with, and/or slept with back in the day.

Though the book took nineteen years to complete, I found it easier this time to channel my past because I had already wrestled my mother and my father to the ground in previous, less overtly, comic novels. Love Slaves is

about the crazy families you make with your friends when you’re young, clueless, and hot to trot. And the mistakes we all make in confusing sex with love. Because I came late to fiction–in my early forties, a fully forged man, for better and worse–I have no shame in ransacking my past for pain and humiliation. I think I use the act of writing fiction to understand what those past versions of myself were about. It’s an act of recuperation, analysis, and then, letting go.

James Magruder is a playwright and translator, as well as the author of “Sugarless and Let Me See It.” He lives in Baltimore and teaches theatre at Swarthmore College.

Kellen Kaiser: San Francisco has a unique relationship to pain. As one of the American cities most associated with kink, we have an awareness that others don’t when it comes to the potential benefits of discomfort. For some folks, pain can be pleasurable, transformative, something worth seeking out. That’s how I justify my decision to publish a very personal book—exploring what happened when the daughter of four lesbians (me) fell in love with a man serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. I can’t help but cringe knowing that I am putting my business out into the world. I must be some sort of emotional masoch-

ist. What am I thinking exposing so many of my character flaws?

In a more positive light, though, memoir can be seen as a medium for redemption, justice and truth telling. Memoir can be cathartic. As you write, you begin to process. You work on the narrative and the narrative works on you. So maybe writing is excusable, but why insist on making it public? Memoirists have been accused of being liars, manipulators, splaying themselves for cheap and brief attention. And writing coaches counsel that it must be more than therapy to have shelf appeal.

In the sharing though, the real work of art begins. Vulnerability becomes assistant, touches others. The specific becomes universal. A great deal of art comes from pain. Pain is fodder and fuel. It is an expert of alchemy, turning sorrow to gold. One person’s agony becomes a legacy that may save another person’s life.

“Queerspawn in Love” is Kellen Kaiser’s first book. More of her writing can be found at KellenKaiser.com Michele Karlsberg Marketing and Management specializes in publicity for the LGBT community. This year, Karlsberg celebrates twenty-seven years of successful book campaigns.

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Speaking to Your Soul Currently we are encouraged to pull back focus to see the broader view, and courageously follow the call of our convictions without making others wrong while we do so.

Astrology Elisa Quinzi

ARIES (March 21–April 19) There are strong implications that, like King Arthur had, you’d lost sight of the Holy Grail. But you’ve also been given an opportunity to reach for it again.

Don’t give up the quest and you shall drink from the cup. And like King Arthur did, you will be born again.

TAURUS (April 20–May 20) How have you been holding your sexuality hostage? You’re being called to explore your wild side and step with courage toward more freedom in intimacy. Shared enthusiasm over ideas can spark chemistry.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) As spring is birthing a new, more autonomous version of you, so is the season presenting an invitation to renew your

faith in love. It’s the perfect time to go ahead and make that list of qualities you dream of in an ideal partner(ship).

CANCER ( June 21–July 22) Are the tasks in your daily routine aligned with the ultimate vision for your life? If your step lacks buoyancy, it’s time to regain sight of what you’re working toward. Make necessary course corrections.

LEO ( July 23–August 22) Romance is highlighted, whether you get out on some dates with a variety of different people, or rekindle an ongoing love. The point is to play and have fun. You are being called to experience more joie de vivre.

VIRGO (August 23–Sept. 22) If you’re reading this, some part of you believes in an intelligent order to the Universe. As such, the pieces of your past are purposeful. There is meaning to it all. Even if you don’t know the why of it, you can inhale and exhale a resilient “yes.”

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) You’re inclined to speak your mind right now and share ideas with the people around you. While it behooves you to guard against self-righteousness, it is an excellent time to engage in meaningful conversations and pick up clues for later discoveries.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) It’s likely you’ve been underestimating yourself.

Boost your self-esteem by taking a risk on your own behalf. Have more faith in yourself, and in your gifts, and life will reward you.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22–Dec. 21) Easy does it. You don’t wa nt to be over zea lous while the Universe is surging through you. That said, your freedom is essential right now for further expansion of self. Your intuition is on point. Follow it, engaging all your senses.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22–Jan.19) Whatever your model of the forces that shape and guide the Universe, it’s time to expand it. If you aren’t taking any adventurous risks, perhaps you lack enough faith. You’ve grown with time; so should your understanding of the Divine.

AQUARIUS ( Jan. 20–Feb. 18) If you haven’t felt much enthusiasm for your future, plan for bigger dreams. You have ideas that inspire people. Consider that you might need a bit more freedom to fully contribute to life.

PISCES (Feb. 19–March 20) This week your assignment is to make yourself sit down and write a first draft of a mission statement for your life. You can search online how to do so if need be. Once you see your real values on paper, only then can you take steps toward accurate goals to achieve a life of purpose and meaning.

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

As Heard on the Street . . . If you could start a small business in San Francisco, what would it be?

compiled by Rink

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Peter Kouzmov

Patrice Mustaafaa

Saralie Penington

Tom Herz

“a personal match-making business that is not online”

“a non-profit arts center for youth, especially LGBT youth”

“I would like to open a flower shop.”

“a shoe repair shop”

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National Center of Lesbian Rights - 2016 Anniversary Celebration

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More than 2000 attendees participated in the 2016 National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) Anniversary Celebration on Saturday evening, May 7. A highlight was a video message to the organization from Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The annual dinner also included a special recognition of executive director Kate Kendell’s twenty years of service and leadership. Honorees included Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza and her colleagues who received NCLR’s Justice Award.

Ryland Whittington and his family received the Courage Award for Ryland’s support, with encouragement from his parents, on transgender issues. Tiara and Sheena Yates, recipients of the NCLR Liberty Award, were assisted by the organization during a custody challenge from their sperm donor. The evening continued following the dinner with a well-attended party held the at City View at Metreon. Thanks to our photographers Rink, Phyllis Costa, Jo-Lynn Otto and NCLR’s Trish Tunney.

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LGBT Night at AT&T Park - Friday, June 24 The San Francisco Bay Times / “Betty’s List” group attending SF Giants Night Out 2016 invites you to come and join the fun. This year’s special package includes your ticket to the game, admission to the pre-game LGBT Night Party in Seals Plaza from 5-7 PM, and a special LGBTthemed Giants baseball cap.

For ticket information, send your e-mail with “Giants Tickets’ in the subject line and your name and phone number in the body of your message to: Publisher@sfbaytimes.com. Photos courtesy of “Betty’s List”

Richmond Ermet Aid Foundation (REAF) board member Beth Schnitzer, founder and president of SPRITZ Marketing, joined Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry at Madame Tussauds for the recent unveiling of Curry’s wax figure depicting the superstar’s dribbling pose. Curry was named unanimously last week, for a second consecutive year, as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. During his visit to Madame Tussauds, Curry talked about one of his first dates with his wife to a wax museum in L.A. on Hollywood Boulevard. The figurine of Curry can be viewed 365 days a year at the museum’s Fisherman’s Wharf location, 143 Jefferson Street, San Francisco. Watch the video of Steph’s visit with the Museum’s artisans for measurements: youtube.com/watch?v=qcD3QX1uSN8

Do This First

Take Me Home with You!

Inside Out Fitness Cinder Ernst We’ve covered a lot of Inside Out Fitness information in the last couple of months. This fresh approach all comes down to taking small steps and listening to your body for guidance along the way. Small steps can string together to get you big fitness results.

We defined fitness results as having the strength and energy to live the life you want … not losing weight or body shaping. Isn’t that a relief, knowing that your size and shape do not determine your fitness level?!

I hope that you are beginning to see that looking at exercise the Inside Out Fitness way takes the fear and discomfort out of exercise.

But you do have to exercise to improve your fitness. What if you’re still feeling stuck or just not doing it?

Today I’m going to give you my best set up system for being successful at fitness. Remember, we are defining successful fitness as: “Doing what I said I would do about exercise, consistently and without struggle.”

Let’s say you have chosen to start your Inside Out Fitness path with one of the best small steps ever, the Get Up. That’s getting up and down in your chair. You’ve decided you will do 10 Get Ups each morning this week so you can practice “doing what I said I would do about exercise, consistently and without struggle.” You know it’s not about running a marathon; you 34

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are simply willing to try a new approach to this thing (exercising) that has had you frustrated.

You have chosen “what I said I would do”: 10 Get Ups. Next, choose the time and place where you will do them. I suggest first thing in the morning when possible. As you begin, consider doing a small step with your morning coffee or tea or breakfast. 10 Get Ups literally takes just a minute. Doing it first thing is very freeing because it’s done and you don’t have to think about it for the rest of the day. Remember, this is just the first step on the Inside Out Fitness path.

This is how you create the “consistently” part. Do it first thing and hook it into something you already do regularly, such as while you’re waiting for the water to boil or even in between sips of coffee.

Now let’s address the “without struggle” aspect of Inside Out Fitness.

You’ve chosen an appropriate small step and you’ve decided when/where you will do it. To really lay a new foundation, when it comes to exercise, you need to get your mindset in an empowering place. This may mean also that you need to circumvent some memories of past attempts/failures and make a fresh start.

My best secret for taking the struggle out of exercising is to anchor a posi-

tive mindset before you begin. I have a system for doing just that called AAA. The best thing about using a system is that it is clear and repeatable. I tell my clients that if they follow my instructions, after my 6-month program they will never be stuck or frustrated about exercise for the rest of their lives! Can you imagine that? Well, it comes down to the AAA system. Here’s how it works: The f irst A stands for Alignment.

This means you tune your mindset to an empowering mode. You do that tuning by thinking a good feeling thought. The easiest way to accomplish this is to bring to mind someone whom is easy to love. I often think about my dog, so easy to love. I think about how I love seeing his head hanging out the car window when I glance in my side view mirror. I’m smiling as I write this. You will know when you have achieved alignment because your heart will relax for a moment.

Then you go to the second A. The second A stands for Action. This is where your small step belongs.

When you do your small exercise step (10 Get Ups) from a place of feeling good, you are building the foundation for being successful with fitness for the rest of your life. This system is repeatable. Alignment then Action, always in that order.

The third A stands for Appreciation.

This is how I teach my clients to be

“Hello there, I’m Noble!

Although my name hints at royalty, I am actually a very Noble easygoing kind of guy. For example, I love a good romp around the dog park with the canine commoners. If I did have a butler, we would spend the entire day playing fetch, breaking only for biscuits and belly rubs. For now, I’ll have to settle for daydreams as I await the perfect home… .”

Noble 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 Noble.

To see Noble, and other pets seeking their forever homes, please visit: San Francisco SPCA Pacific Heights Campus Dr. Jennifer Scarlett and Pup 2343 Fillmore Street 415-522-3500 Aside from major holidays, the adoption center is open Monday–Friday: 1–6 pm and Saturday–Sunday: 10 am–5 pm. Free parking is available for SPCA visitors hoping to adopt.

For more info about Noble, who has already been at the shelter for a few months and is eager to meet his human bestie, please visit: https://www.sfspca.org/adoptions/pet-details/31149118 accountable to themselves. Appreciate every accomplishment, no matter how small. Appreciation tunes you to being easy on yourself. Appreciation from a place of alignment feels really good. Can you see how using AAA regularly would change your experience of exercise? Can you imagine building this new path? It’s especially lovely to do the appreciation with someone who is supporting your efforts.

Would it be OK with you if this exercise thing turned out to be easier and sweeter than you ever thought possible?

As always, if you’d like some help with this, or have a question, email coach@ cindernst.com Cinder Ernst, Medical Exercise Specialist and Life Coach Extraordinaraire, helps reluctant exercisers get moving with safe, effective and fun programs. Find out more at cinderernst.com

Professional Services

N ewPer spec ti ves Center for Counseling

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See many more Calendar items @ www.sfbaytimes.com

compiled by Jennifer Mullen

• 19 : T HURSDAY

Academy of Friends Beneficiary Check Presentation - Room and Board.

Free. 6:30 pm. (685 7th Street).

Academy of Friends presents Bay Area HIV/AIDS agencies funds raised and honors volunteers and beneficiaries. facebook.com/ events/464308800434863/ Dishing “Daughters of a Riot”: Comptons, Courts, Nuns & Punk - GLBT Historical Society. $5. 7 pm. A sneak-peek at the oral histories and artistic processes involved in creating “Daughters of a Riot” at the Brava Theater.

Third week of Gene Russo Teaches OutWest Dance Classes - Near Dutton Ave. in Santa Rosa (address provided upon registration).6:30-7:45 pm Beginning Swing Class, 7:15-8:30 pm Intermediate Swing Class Dance. $45 for series of four, May 5-26. outwestdance.org

• 20 : F RIDAY

Mighty Reels: White Night Fright - GLBT Historical Society. $5. 7-8:30pm. LGBT Journalist Hallof-Famer and San Francisco Bay Times founding editor Randy Alfred is special guest for the 37th anniversary of the night of unprecedented violence which followed the surprise verdict in the trial of Dan White.

Robin Roth with the West Coast Blues Revue - The Saloon.(1232 Grant Street). 9:30 pm. Drummer Robin Roth plays

Harvey Milk Day Celebration honoring Harvey’s legacy: May 22nd, Harvey Milk Plaza, Castro and Market Streets. with the West Coast Blues Revue.

• 21 : S ATURDAY

Preview of Noël Coward’s Present Laughter - Eureka Theater (215 Jackson St.) $15 - $35.

3 pm. Garry Essendine thinks the world of himself and so do his girlfriends and boyfriends. Opening Night is Friday, May 27. brownpapertickets.com/event/2524729 Krewe de Kinque Mardi Gras - The Edge. (4149 18th Street). $10.

4-7 pm. The $10 Beer Bust includes

unlimited beer/soda refills 4-7pm.

Every third Saturday at the Edge. facebook.com/ events/825210104279716/ “Teens and Queens” - James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center in the Koret Auditorium, Main Library. The 20th Anniversary of the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center Exhibition. Exhibit takes place in four library venues and includes an online exhibition. Through Aug. 7. facebook.com/James-C-Hormellgbtqia-Center-of-San-FranciscoPublic-Library-146487331384/

• 22 : S UNDAY

Lesbian Gay Chorus of SF Brunch Fundraiser - hosted by Dale Danley and Michael Halequist.

2-5 pm. (2088 Golden Gate Ave.) Funds support the commission for “Was it the Wind”.

RSVP to secretar@lgsf.org

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Harvey Milk Day Celebration - Harvey Milk Plaza, Castro and Market Streets. 1pm.

Community celebration honoring Harvey’s legacy. Information: adam. taylor@sfgov.org or (415) 5546968.

Special showing of The Times of Harvey Milk - Castro Theater.$10 - $40. 3pm. (429 Castro Street). eventbrite.com/e/ the-times-of-harvey-milk-birthdayscreening-the-castro-theatre-tickets-25012714703

• 23 : M ONDAY

Racism and White Priviledge in the LGBT Community 518 Valenica: The Eric Quezada Center for Culture and Politics.

6:30-8 pm. Join Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club for a discussion and testimonials on Racism and White Privilege in the LGBT community.

facebook.com/ events/1301209366574178/

• 24 : T UESDAY

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

5–7 pm. (1300 Market St.) Youth Meal Night is a safe space to meet friends, have a free dinner and more. facebook.com/sfcenteryouth?_ rdr=p

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

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

• 26 : T HURSDAY

The Homobiles with Year of the First - The Eagle. 8:30 pm.

(398 12th Stree) facebook.com/ events/460923910784932

Opening Night of Noël Coward’s Present Laughter - Eureka Theater (215 Jackson St.) $15 - $35. 3 pm.

Garry Essendine thinks the world of himself. And so do his girlfriends and boyfriends. brownpapertickets. com/event/2524729 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 honoring performers who died due to HIV/AIDS. dancerswelost.org/exhibit/ Through August 7. facebook.com/ events/570571539782901/

PHOTO BY CHARLES MARTIN, 2014.

• 27 : F RIDAY

• 28 : S ATURDAY

Drag Queens of Comedy Castro Theater. $45-$400. 6 and 10 pm(429 Castro. St.). Featuring 10 of the most outrageous and famous drag queens to date. thedragqueensofcomedy.com/ tickets.html Geoff Hoyle’s newest solo show Lear’s Shadow - The Marsh. $25-35 sliding scale, $55$100 reserved. 5 pm. (2120 Allston Way, Berkeley). Lear’s Shadow tells a fool’s story in a solo performance.

Also on Thursdays at 7:30 pm.

Through June 18. themarsh.org

• 29 : S UNDAY

Sanctuary - 3rd annual Memorial Day Weekend Military Ball - Boot Camp! - 1015 Folsom Street. 10 pm.

Join over 1500 of the hottest soldiers and corporals, all dressed in Army / Navy / Air Force / Marines Circuit Party gear. facebook.com/ events/193286227715430 Make Out! With Thorgy Thor - SF Oasis. 3pm. Memorial Day Weekend party hosted by LOL McFiercen and Sue Casa. sfoasis. com/event.cfm?cart&id=165735

• 30 : M ONDAY

HoeIsLife- El Rio.8 pm. $3 with password Carmen Miranda. (3158 Mission St.) With Djs Sailor Saturn and Laterbby. facebook.com/ events/721335847968762

• 24 : T UESDAY

Girls Will Be Boys: CrossDressed Women, Lesbians & American Cinema - GLBT Historical Society. $5. 7 pm. Author Laura Horak will discuss her work with Jenni Olson, filmmaker, author and LGBTQ cinema expert. Copies of the book will be available for signing by the author, with sales benefiting the GLBT History Museum.

The Doctor is In: CROI Update - Strut. Free. 6:30-8:30 pm. (470 Castro St.) The Doctor Is In offers twice-monthly opportunities to ask for guidance from HIV specialist Dr. Joanna Eveland of Mission Neighborhood Health Center, the Positive Force co-facilitator, and members of your community. Email pforce@sfaf.org to RSVP. strutsf.org/event/the-doctoris-in-croi-update/?instance_id=5611

Read more online

at sfbaytimes.com and SF Bay Times on Facebook and Twitter BAY T IM ES M AY 19, 2016

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KRAMER (continued from page 28) importance or success. Can you discuss why you took this approach?

Randall Wright: I find those condensed biographies very unsatisfying.

There’s a kind of paradoxical intimacy in Hockney. It’s a diary of his life, and it’s intimate and revealing, but it’s what David’s chosen to show us. There is a great deal more we don’t see. The montage in this film was very carefully considered. We go from emotion to emotion; each one is associated with a particular phase of his work. The “Blue Guitar” stage is interesting. It’s incredibly creative, and occurs after Peter [Schlesinger, Hockney’s lover] leaves him. But it’s also intellectual. I wanted to compartmentalize his work, from his analytical asking of

what a picture is, to what he feels, to his making a picture that’s transparent to his emotions. I think his most creative art–“Mulholland Drive,” “A Bigger Splash”–is what happens when all that comes together.

Gary M. Kramer: His emotions are very much on display in the film. Where do you think that sensitivity comes from?

about art, but not saying what they feel. David’s enjoyment of life is contrasted with the difficulty of finding love or friendship or artistic direction.

I wanted to tease out how much of his personality and art is from his upbringing in the north of England, the idealism of the post WWII era, the age of AIDS, or not finding a simple love or home.

Randall Wright: One of David’s gifts is to give us the deepest, deepest feeling of something. David has a very strong connection with humanist cinema. David was attached to cinema because artists were making emotional connection through bodies. It’s why he went to Hollywood. In contrast, conceptual artists are talking

Gary M. Kramer: Home is a key element in Hockney’s life and work. Your film traces him as a child in Bradford, Yorkshire, then brief ly in New York, before moving to Los Angeles. Where do you think he was most comfortable and creative?

Randall Wright: His great achievement was to be in LA. When he painted his early gray east Yorkshire landscapes, he was doing it from memory in LA. He left Bradford, a cold place where he was inhibited, where his sexuality would cast a shadow, to L.A. where his life had a liberal dimension, a bohemia. It was a warm place for him to reinvent himself. The journey of his life is to come back home, but David isn’t like that—he is always searching.

is lonely, and his art is a gift to us.

Whatever happens, he keeps making the pictures, and is hopeful. That sounds sentimental, and he is sentimental, but it is surprising that someone so successful and who has lots of friends is a bit isolated. It has something of him being a romantic artist who is caught in a postmodern, cynical world. He has an innocence about him. My film is an attempt to make a picture of him. It’s not definitive, but you fall in love with his way of seeing.

Gary M. Kramer: Given your knowledge of Hockney, what surprised you in the process of making the film?

© 2016 Gary M. Kramer

Randall Wright: What surprised me was the degree to which David

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 @garykramer

SISTER DANA (continued from page 28) drawing marathon at Strut from 2–5 pm. Bring your sketch book, your pencils, erasers, and grab a seat to join the fun and help raise money for this long-running gay organization.

The drawings from the session will be for sale for a donation of $20. If you would like to volunteer to model for Gay Men’s Sketch, feel free to email Mark I. Chester at sfphotou@ yahoo.com The third reception was at 111 Minna Gallery. Pop artist JASON MECIER delivers a continuation of his one of a kind and outrageous mosaic portraits with his latest body of work titled, “CELEBRITY TRASH,” an extension in his “Celebrity Junk Drawer” series. With current pop subjects such as Pamela Anderson’s laundry, Amy Schumer’s dental dams, and Lindsay Lohan trash, he is well known to meticulously fabricate anybody from anything. From Kevin Bacon out of bacon, to Honey Boo Boo out of 25 lbs. of trash, you can be assured that what is seen, is not what it seems. You can only grasp the humorous irony behind the objects used to compose the subjects by getting up close and allowing your eyes to scan the many depths present in defining the portraits. Among my faves were Amy Sedaris made out of bits and pieces from her craft drawer and Florence Henderson made with empty bottles of her sponsors of Brady Bunch, Polident and Wesson Oil. Mecier’s artwork has been featured everywhere from Entertainment Weekly to The New York Times, on TV shows like Glee, Rachael Ray and TMZ, as well as in music videos by Pink and Pitbull. His portraits are hanging in Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museums, countless celebrity homes, and even in The Playboy Mansion! 111 Minna (Street) Gallery is open weekdays 8 until 5 pm, so be trashy and go see! jasonmecier.com PROJECT OPEN HAND held its signature benefit, TASTE OF THE CITY, its second annual gala as an exciting culinary experience that brought those with an appetite for philanthropy to some of San Francisco’s finest chefs’ tables. The once yearly event celebrated the 31st anniversary of Open Hand, which has provided more than 18 million nutritious meals. The funds raised by this event helped Project Open Hand provide meals with love to seniors and critically ill neighbors. The reception began with an inspirational program and live auction at San Francisco City Hall, and was followed by complimentary transportation of parties of ten to dinner at a top San Francisco restaurant. Hosting the City Hall portion were two

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drag queen celebutantes: Miss MGM Grande, who was marvelous in magenta lip-synching “Glory,” and Pollo Del Mar sans wig with bald head sprayed silver performing “When You’re Good to Mama” from the musical Chicago. CEO Mark Ryle produced a video with some of the clients giving their thankful testimonies. He introduced special guest William Dean, POH client to speak live about his experience with the service. After the reception, my group boarded a special bus to Starbelly in the Castro for a lovely meal with wine. Tasty!

We joined the SAN FRANCISCO LESBIAN/GAY FREEDOM BAND for a fun-filled audience participation concert at the beautiful Sir Francis Drake Hotel. We took our shower-time operatic renditions to the next level as we belted out some of Broadway’s most beloved show tunes from throughout the decades in this super sing-along concert! Artistic Director PETE NOWLEN led the fun as the Band musically transported us to the bright lights of Broadway with tunes from classics such as Grease, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, La Cage Aux Folles, to name a few. Special guest artists DONNA SACHET and LEANNE BORGHESI emceed the evening and sang some of our favorite tunes.

I had the privilege of sitting next to Reigning SF Emperor Salvador Tovar at the ROCKY HORROR SHOW table, where we executed a flawless “Time Warp” dance and dueted delightfully on many B’way hit tunes.

SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS (SFGMC) and the SFGMC DIVAS held their 5th Annual DRAGATHON event at The Café, raising much-needed funds for the SFGMC Financial Assistance Network (FAN).

“Five years ago, the idea of “Dragathon” was born at a Chorus member’s birthday party,” said SFGMC Divas leader, Richie Perez. “The Divas banded together to figure out how we could turn it around to benefit the Chorus. Our inaugural event launched in 2011, and it has grown in both size and funds raised every year!” This year’s Dragathon theme, DRAGATHON IS BURNING, came from Jennie Livingston’s legendary 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning, which focused on ball culture in New York City in the mid-to-late 1980s. The film is a vital chapter in LGBTQ history. Dragathon is a five-week crowd-funding campaign where individuals compete for the “coveted” title of Ms. Dragathon 2016–starting with Round One with 5 categories: First Time in

Drag (and I am more than thrilled that my dear friend Edwin aka Miss Ammy Thyst (dressed in purple in honor of her hero Prince) took First Place; but that’s not all: she was also Highest Fundraiser having raised $9,225, and wait, there’s more: Ms. Dragathon 2nd Runner Up (I am so proud!); Femme Queen; Butch Queen Up in Pumps; Banjee Realness; and Sh’Free for All. Since Dragathon’s inception, the SFGMC Divas have raised over $102,000 for the Chorus’ FAN network. Nice job, DQs! THE WOMEN’S BUILDING of San Francisco, the first womenowned and operated community center in the country, celebrated their 45TH ANNIVERSARY in their building at 3543 18th Street. Since 1971, they have housed 170 emerging women’s organizations, opened their doors to more than 1,000,000 women, and have served as a beacon of hope and stability for San Francisco’s diverse community. Emceeing the fundraiser festivities were The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Entertainment was provided by Circulo Cultural, Rhythm & Motion, and Sweet Can Productions.

We celebrated the KICK OFF OF SAN FRANCISCO PRIDE SEASON with members & donors at Lookout bar & lounge. Emcees were SISTER ROMA & DJ SERGIO FEDASZ introducing a long list of talented performers including Cheer SF, Donna Sachet, Deana Dawn, Leanne Borghesi, Emma Peel, Aja Monet-Ashton, Sable Jones, Kippy Marks, and more. Gary Virginia was Event Chair. We got to meet Grand Marshals, honorees, and LGBTQ movers & shakers. This was also INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA, TRANSPHOBIA & BIPHOBIA, with over 600 events happening worldwide. The acronym used to be called IDAHO, until more contingents joined in.

OUR FAMILY COALITION, advancing equity for LGBTQ families with children through support, education, and advocacy, presented their 20th anniversary NIGHT OUT 2016 at InterContinental San Francisco. It was co-hosted by Senator Mark Leno & Bishop Evette Flunder with emcee Micia Mosley. Executive Director Judy Appel spoke of the many triumphs of OFC and LGBTQ people in general.

Honoree Miss Major received the Groundbreaker Award for her decades of activism. Jonathan Logan and Cheryl Deaner received Legacy Awards. Entertainment was by

American Idol finalist MK Nobilette singing and playing guitar. ourfamily.org OPENHOUSE, providing housing, services and community for LGBT seniors, presented their annual SPRING FLING at 5 Embarcadero Center in the Grand Ballroom as their biggest and most popular event ever. Some 600 civic leaders, business people, corporate sponsors, donors, and community members came together to honor long distance swimmer Diana Nyad with the Trailblazer Award presented by Seth Kilbourn and the Adelman/ Gurevitch Founders Award presented by Dr. Marcy Adelman to philanthropic leader Roger Doughty. Also honored were Den Reno & Molly Reno with Service Awards presented by Director of Programs Michelle Alcedo. Spring Fling CoChairs were Tracy Gary and David Wabel. Event Hosts included Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader; Mayor Ed Lee; Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr.; Mayor Art Agnos; California Assemblymember David Chiu; City Attorney Dennis Herrera; Treasurer Jose Cisneros; and the Board of Supervisors. Executive Director Seth Kilborn spoke about the many victories for LGBTQ seniors and announced that “in just a few weeks, applications for the Openhouse senior community at 55 Laguna will be available.”

WHAT’S HAPPENING, SISTER DANA? Sister Dana sez, “These are events you won’t want to miss.”

Andrew Fisher, Thomasina DeMaio, Brian Moore, Matt Pipes, Morris Taylor, Elliott C Nathan, James Swainson, and other artists will proudly display their magnificent pieces when 611 Hyde Street is transformed from now to June 30 into PRIDE ART SHOW. Presented by RENÉ CAPONE and curated by MISS KAREN IMPERIAL of The Bryant Street Gallery in Palo Alto, artists will reflect their vision of “Pride, Ritual, Independence, Determination & Endurance.” Opening reception: June 2, First Thursday’s Art Walk, 6 pm–10 pm; Open: Mondays through Saturdays 1 am–7 pm.

Open during Pride weekend & the GLBT Pride Parade Special Screening of original Cockette Rumi Missabu’s hysterical 1972 Drag Cult Classic, Elevator Girls in Bondage.

Dragalicious!

PAWS (PETS ARE WONDERFUL SUPPORT) Program, a pro-

gram of the SHANTI PROJECT, is San Francisco’s only program dedicated to preserving the human-animal bond. PETCHITECTURE is the signature annual fundraiser for PAWS. Funds raised comprise a key source of support for companion animal support services for low-income seniors and people living with HIV, cancer, or other disabling illnesses in San Francisco. Wednesday, May 25, 6 pm. Reception and Silent Auction followed by Program at the historic Fairmont Hotel. Woof & meow! shanti.org SASHA SOPRANO presents The DRAG QUEENS OF COMEDY 2016 on Saturday, May 28, 6 and 10 pm at the Castro Theatre. Featuring 10 of the Most Outrageous & Hilarious Drag Artistes, Hosted by BIANCA DEL RIO– RuPaul’s Drag Race Winner–Season 6, starring: Coco Peru, Varla Jean Merman, Lady Bunny, Alyssa Edwards, Trixie Mattel, Bob The Drag Queen, Heklina & Peaches And Sasha Soprano. For information call 415-254-3362, facebook. com/Thedragqueensofcomedy THEATRE RHINOCEROS presents PRESENT LAUGHTER by NOËL COWARD May 21 through June 18 at Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson Street. Present Laughter is one of Coward’s most personal and wittiest comedies. Present Laughter premiered in 1942 during the Second World War just as the upper classes were threatened with fundamental social change. This semi-autobiographical comedy follows a self-obsessed actor in the midst of a mid-life crisis who freely indulges his considerable appetite for wine, women, men, and sleeping late. At the center of his own universe sits matinee idol Garry Essendine: suave, hedonistic and too old, says his wife, to be having numerous affairs. Just before he escapes on tour to Africa, the full extent of his misdemeanors is discovered. And all hell breaks loose. therhino.org Sister Dana sez, “Contrary to decades of right-wing misinformation, we do NOT have a Social Security crisis. But we DO have a retirement crisis, caused by rising inequality, stagnating wages, and the failure of 401Ks to replace vanishing defined benefit pension plans. Social Security is the only part of our retirement system that is still working–and it works great! The only problem? Benefits are far too low!”

Round About - All Over Town Smack Dab at Strut - April 20

Smack Dab co-emcee Dana Hopkins welcomes Strut’s new director of community engagement Ace Robinson

Photos by RINK

Earth Day Fair in the Mission - April 23

Photographer Anastasia Kuba (left) with models and co-emcee Dana Hopkins

Musician Evan George performing at Smack Dab’s April gathering

Booth mates welcoming guests

San Francisco Police Department officers on hand for the Earth Day Fair

Greeters at the Cacoco Chocolate Company booth

Bare Chest Calendar Finals at DNA Lounge - April 24

Positive Resource Center executive director Brett Andrews (left) with friends, including AIDS Emergency Fund/Breast Cancer Emergency Fund executive director Sandra Nathan (second from left) and AEF’s Cal Callahan (right)

Emcees Mr. Pam and Mark Paladini on stage with the 2017 Bare Chest Calendar Men

Dining Out for Life Benefitting SF AIDS Foundation - April 26 Poesia restaurant server Veronica De Nitto

Brandon Castro and Mary O’Neal sharing a toast at the Cove on Castro

Sisters Dinah Might, Guard N O’Pansies, Mary May Himm and MaeJoy at the Cove on Castro restaurant with manager Dakota and server Diego

Ed Matthews, a two-time calendar man (second from left) and friends

MC Mr Pam with friends enjoying the fun at the event supporting PRC and AEF

Imperial Court Cinco de Mayo Celebration Cinch Bar on Polk Street April 30

Javier holding his birthday cake with his boyfriend Ramiro

Musician performing at Cinch Bar on Polk Street

Juanita Valdez, Galilea and tiger Liily

Academy of Friends Art & Wine Auction at Clift Hotel - April 27

AOF board members Todd Creel and Todd O’Leary

AOF board member and Project Inform executive director Dana Van Gorder

Terry King and Ryan Liar from UpOut.com

Greeters Jason Urso, Lee Johnson, Andrews Fitch and Gil Padia

AOF’s Matthew Denckla (left) and Gil Padia (right) with Drew and Katherine Wescott (center)

LYRIC’s Annual Open House Party - April 28

Participants enjoying the party Greeters welcoming guests

Executive director Jodi Schwartz was honored for 10 years of service to LYRIC

LYRIC executive director Jodi Schwartz with DJ Kanoa

LYRIC’s shrine in memory of transgender and queer people of color who have been murdered

Emcees Rosie and Abigale at the microphone BAY T IM ES M AY 19, 2016

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