Modern Nature: Georgia O’Keeffe and Lake George Pages 13-16
March 20-April 2, 2014 | www.sfbaytimes.com
/SanFranciscoBayTimes
Georgia O’Keeffe, Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. 2, 1930. Oil on canvas. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington
/SFBayTimes
National News Briefs compiled by Dennis McMillan
Seattle, WA - Study Finds Two in Five Gay Men “Serosort” in an Attempt to Prevent HIV - 3.14
Springfield, MA - Anti-gay Gubernatorial Candidate Thumps Bible on St. Paddy’s Day - 3.16 Springfield-based anti-gay minister Scott Lively announced he proudly marched in Sunday’s Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which many politicians skipped because parade organizers have banned LGBTQ groups.
A Seattle study has found that about 40% of HIV-negative gay men restrict their sexual partners to those they perceive to share their serostatus in an attempt to prevent acquiring the virus, Aidsmap reports. Meanwhile, German researchers found that 10% of HIV-positive gay men consider themselves uninfectious if they have an undetectable viral load, and take this belief into account when making choices about sexual behavior.
Lively, a Shelburne Falls native who owns the Holy Grounds coffee shop in Springfield, is running as an independent candidate for governor. He said he marched with his new running mate Shelly Saunders, of Springfield, and a small contingent of supporters.
The Seattle researchers conducted two separate questionnaires with 1,902 gay men accessing a local HIV/ sexually transmitted infection clinic between February and August 2013. The first questionnaire asked about their recent sexual behavior, including use of condoms, HIV status of their partners and which role they played in sex. The second questionnaire asked about what strategies they used to reduce their risk of HIV acquisition.
Many other politicians, including Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Congressman Stephen Lynch, skipped the parade after they could not come to an agreement with organizers to allow gays and lesbians to march in the parade. Guinness, Heineken, and Sam Adams beer also withdrew support. “The LGBT bullies, including Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, are giving the St. Paddy’s Day Parade organizers a hard time for keeping the parade a family-friendly event, but [organizers] are standing strong for family values and not bowing to intimidation,” Lively blathered. “The media is predictably crying ‘discrimination,’ but thank God the United States Supreme Court has ruled that the parade organizers have the constitutional right to exclude anyone they please.” Whose God?
A total of 964 people completed both questionnaires, including 835 (87%) who were HIV negative and 129 (13%) who were HIV positive. Out of the HIV-negative men, 42% were “strict serosorters,” reporting only having sex, with or without condoms, with other HIV-negative men. A total of 6.5% engaged in “condom serosorting,” reporting only having sex without a condom with other HIV-negative men. And a total of 7.1% were “seropositioning,” saying they only had sex without a condom if they were the top), irrespective of the partner’s HIV status.
Lively said he was marching to represent all the voters who believe in “authentic marriage and the Biblical model of family.” Lively is no stranger to controversy. His crusade against the queer community has taken him around the world - and most recently to federal court. Based on his anti-gay talks in Uganda, where the anti-gay movement pushed a bill to passage that criminalizes homosexuality, Lively is accused of crimes against humanity in a lawsuit filed by human rights groups Sexual Minorities Uganda and New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights.
As for the HIV-positive men, 32% were strict serosorters, with 25% adopting this as a deliberate strategy. Eleven percent engaged in condom serosorting and 10% in seropositioning. In another study, German researchers questioned 269 gay men living with HIV about whether they considered themselves able to infect someone if they had an undetectable viral load. Ten percent reported believing themselves uninfectious with a fully suppressed virus and taking such a belief into consideration when making choices with regards to sex. A total of 57.5% of these “viral sorters” reported recent sex without a condom, compared with 36% of the men who were not viral sorters.
Lively also recently defended reality show Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson, who compared homosexuality to bestiality. Quack! Lively jumped into the 2014 Massachusetts governor’s race this fall as an independent candidate to “unapologetically articulate Biblical values without fear or compromise.” Ironically, Lively seems quite Deadly to me.
Source: aidsmeds.com
Source: masslive.com
Rapid City, SD - South Dakota Couple Prepares to Challenge Same-Sex Marriage Ban - 3.13
Houston, TX - In Ra re Case, Woman with HIV Infects Female Sex Partner, CDC Says - 3.14 The first confirmed case of lesbian transmission of HIV was reported on March 13 by federal health officials, who said the event was exceedingly rare, but nonetheless advised lesbian couples in which one partner is infected to take precautions. Genetic tests showed that the virus in both women was more than 98% identical, all but proving that one had infected the other, according to the “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In numerous previous studies of women who thought they might have been infected by other women, either no genetic testing was done or the newly infected women reported other activity that could have been the cause - such as recent sex with men, drug injection or transfusions. The women in the new case, both in their 40s, lived in Houston when the transmission took place in 2012. The infected partner had been on treatment for HIV from early 2009 to late 2010, but had stopped taking the drugs. The newly infected woman reported no other sex partners for six months before infection; she tested negative on an HIV antibody test when she sold blood plasma in March 2012. Ten days later, the woman went to a hospital emergency room with flulike symptoms that sometimes indicate an early HIV infection. She again was negative on an antibody test, and was given antibiotics on the assumption that she had a cold or the flu. Eighteen days later, again at a blood plasma center, she tested positive.
The road to challenging South Dakota’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage started Monday at the Pennington County Courthouse. At the Register of Deeds office, Nancy Robrahn and Jennie Rosenkranz, who have been together for more than 30 years, were denied a marriage license application. The Rapid City couple expects to challenge South Dakota’s constitutional amendment ban that was approved by voters in 2006. Once Robrahn and Rosenkranz get married - which they plan to do later this year in another state - they’ll return to South Dakota and file a lawsuit that will challenge the state for not recognizing their marriage certificate and the benefits that come with it. South Dakota and 33 other states do not recognize same-sex marriage. But that number has declined from just a year ago as judges in several states - including Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia and Texas - have struck down state bans as unconstitutional. A judge in Kentucky overturned part of that state’s ban; Kentucky must now recognize same-sex marriages from other states. Earlier this month, a lawsuit filed in Wyoming challenged that state’s gay marriage ban and refusal to recognize such marriages from other states. A Pew Research Center poll released this week stated that over 60% of Republicans under the age of 30 support gay marriage, while 30% of Republicans between 50 and 64 would like to see gays and lesbians have the right to marry. About 77% of Democrats under 30 favor gay marriage; two-thirds of Democrats between 50 and 64 favor it. Nationwide, about 54% of Americans favor gay marriage. In 2006, South Dakota voters approved banning gay marriage 52% to 48%. Pennington County voters approved it by an even slimmer margin, 51% to 49%.
While barrier methods for non-penile sex, such as dental dams, do exist, they are impractical for use with insertive toys and not popular for oral sex. In an editorial, CDC officials advised that all infected people having sex with uninfected people stay on daily antiretroviral drugs, which can reduce virus levels in blood and bodily fluids so much that transmission is highly unlikely.
The South Dakota Legislature earlier this year considered a bill that would have legally protected business owners who refused to serve LGBTQs. The bill died in committee. Before doing so, it prompted about 200 people to rally in downtown Rapid City for equal rights.
Source: nytimes.com
Source: rapidcityjournal.com
May Rapid City rapidly gain equal rights!
Jackson, MS - Religious Freedom (Discrimination) Act is Alive and Well in Mississippi - 3.13 The Mississippi House of Representatives voted to send the “religious discrimination” bill back to a committee for “further study.” This procedural move was a way to keep the bill alive, even though supporters of the bill knew they didn’t have the votes to pass it. The ACLU of Mississippi, which helped push back the bill, remains concerned that the status of Senate Bill 2681 continues to open the door to discrimination against any group based on religious objections. Although the House did strike section one of the proposed bill, removing all language related to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, it passed an amendment to establish an unnecessary Religious Freedoms Study Committee, which helps keep alive this potential license to discriminate against LGBTQ people and other minorities. The debate in the House was a powerful testament to the momentum that has been created against these unnecessary, unconstitutional and un-American “religious discrimination” bills. Again and again, lawmakers referenced the bill vetoed in Arizona and insisted that they didn’t want Mississippi to support the same kind of blanket discrimination that Arizona’s SB 1062 invoked. “There is much work still ahead, but it’s clear that we’re winning in this struggle,” said Heather Cronk, GetEQUAL co-director. “And GetEQUAL will continue to monitor these bills in other states where they have not yet come up for a final vote - states like Idaho, Kansas, Ohio, Virginia, and others. We must continue to be vigilant and to ensure that these bills don’t pass through legislatures in the dead of night, as opponents of equality realize that they must sneak these bills through, since public support for them is deteriorating.” She continued, “The bill in Mississippi isn’t dead yet. It will surface again, and supporters of the bill are relying on activists’ silence to get it through the legislature. We must not be silent or complacent, and we must not be complicit in allowing these bills to etch discrimination into state law!” Source: getequal.org
Local News Briefs LGBTQ Contingent Marches in SF St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Further Proof We’re Not in Kansas Any More: Rainbow Crosswalks!
Thousands of people went green for the 163rd St. Patrick’s Day Parade in San Francisco, including the green stripe in the rainbow flag.
Earlier this month, residents of the Castro district voted on four different designs for new decorative crosswalks at 18th and Castro Streets, with the results confirming that rainbows will further enhance the streets. The winning design was announced at the Castro Streetscape Improvement Project groundbreaking ceremony at Jane Warner Plaza. The other three options were a rainbow bandana paisley, a Castro theatre foyer tile-inspired print, and a Muni wire design.
Meanwhile, in New York, the ban on LGBTQ people marching openly in the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade and festivities continued, with a purposely missing Mayor Bill de Blasio protesting this discrimination. Bans like these hurt queer people and fall out of touch with Irish and American values. United Irish Societies of San Francisco President Diarmuid Philpott said the SF St. Patrick’s Parade was not only a celebration for the holiday, but also was a way to express the significance of family and friendship that help make the unions a close community: “We want to make this event a great day for everyone, and this year was a success. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. The sun is shining and everyone seems to be having a good time.” Bay Times columnist Heidi Beeler of the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band said, “The St. Patrick’s Day Parade has welcomed us since 1979. From day one, they were welcoming. It’s been a matter of timing. It’s been a couple of years…There was a period when we marched regularly. It goes through cycles.” She added, “The Parade has always been welcoming, but the crowd (attending the Parade) hasn’t always been. One year some kids through eggs at us.” This year’s SF St. Patrick’s Day Parade also included a first-time contingent from the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee. “Identifying as LGBT crosses all races, cultures and beliefs, so what is the harm of inclusion?” said SF Pride Board President Gary Virginia. “There are Irish LGBT people the world over, and non-Irish lovers of the holiday and parade, even in New York City and Boston where gays are still excluded.” The St. Patrick’s Day Parade celebrates and showcases the Irish community, culture and tradition in all its forms. In recent years, the SF St. Patrick’s Day Parade has grown to attract an estimated 100,000 people. Featured groups from throughout the Bay Area’s Irish community included schools, youth organizations, labor unions, equestrian and canine clubs, cultural groups, as well as the San Francisco Police and Fire Departments. In addition, many local political leaders proudly joined in the parade and marched up Market Street along with the Grand Marshals and the San Francisco Rose of Tralee. Story by Dennis McMillan (a fine Irish lad) 2
BAY TIMES MARCH 2 0 , 2 0 1 4
The Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District had earlier agreed to fund four decorative crosswalks on Castro Street as part of the Castro Street Improvement Project. Four distinct designs had been developed and approved by the City. The Benefit District sought the community’s input on selecting the design and on selecting exactly where the four crosswalks should be: either two on Castro Street at the intersections of 18th and 19th Streets or all four at the intersection of Castro and 18th Streets. Participants completed a short survey to find out their preferences. Other Castro streetscape improvements include widening sidewalks, new pavement, lighting, and street-side trees. Sidewalk improvements and crosswalk coloring are expected to be completed by October of this year. It has been promised that no matter where the construction is in progress, it will be cleaned up and ready for the annual San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade and Celebration in June and the yearly Castro Street Fair in October. Included in improvements are two blocks of cramped sidewalk along Castro Street to be swapping widths with the ampler roadway they run alongside. The $4 million project, funded through the 2011 road repaving and street safety bond that Supervisor Scott Wiener championed, is designed to mitigate crowding and create more space for residents, tourists and merchants. DPW’s contractor began work last week on the highly anticipated Castro Streetscape Improvement Project. Crews are scheduled to begin “potholing” work, excavating small holes along the project limits to determine as best as possible the exact location of underground utilities along Castro Street. Story by Dennis McMillan
March Madness season tickets for the Stanford women’s team. This is one of my favorite times of the year – March Madness.
Zoe Dunning I love basketball. When I was young, we lived in an older Victorian duplex in Milwaukee. There were no playgrounds or parks with basketball hoops anywhere nearby, so my sister and I literally nailed that week’s milk crate onto the back of the house and took turns sitting on a ladder retrieving the shots that others made with our red rubber four-square ball.
P HOTO SOURC E: J EM SBASK ET BAL L .ORG
Do Ask, Do Tell
This is when college teams find out whether they are selected for “the dance,” and make a run for the Final Four and possibly a national championship. I love the intensity of the players and coaches, the school spirit demonstrated by the fans, and the pre-game coverage g uessing what strategies each team will use against the next opponent. Everything they worked for all season long is wrapped up in one final competition. It also serves as an opportunity for work colleagues to participate in office betting pools to see whose bracket holds up the farthest. Folks who don’t even watch the regular season will join in the fun to show solidarity with their home team or alma mater.
The surface wasn’t paved, so we couldn’t dribble the ball very easily. We didn’t have the money to pave it, so our dad would drive us to the site of a recently demolished brick building and, with the owner’s permission, load up our wood-paneled station wagon full of different colored bricks until the back end was almost dragging. With those bricks, our dad made us a small b-ball court in our yard, including free throw line, and installed a real hoop. Of course, our mother was not too appreciative having a basketball banging off the back of the living room wall most summer days, but we were active, outdoors and safe, so she put up with it.
I hope to catch a game or two at HiTops on Market Street, and maybe I’ll see you there? For the record, I predict the UConn women will be national champions (not a reach, considering they are undefeated), and A rizona w ill w in the men’s (PAC-12 bias). Most of all, I hope for good officiating, fair play and no injuries.
I played for many years through school and on local leagues, until I had torn my anterior cruciate ligaments on both knees. I figured that was a sign to give it up. But I still follow the sport closely, and hold
Speaking of fair play, I do have to rant about a recent development in the upcoming primary elections. There is a San Francisco ballot initiative, Prop B, which will be on the June ballot. It would, in effect,
require all development along our city’s extensive waterfront to go to the voters for any and all requests to exceed the current height limitations. There are arguments both for and against this measure, and I won’t go into them here. But you should be aware that when you get your voter’s guide and try to educate yourself about the measure, you’ll be surprised when you look at the published arg ument against it. What you will read actually is an argument for it. What?! You see, the proponents of the measure (specif ically, Jon Gollinger), through a clever manipulation of a voter guide loophole, managed to get the rights to author the against argument. They will use both spaces to convince you to vote for it. Legal? Probably, but it’s certainly not ethical in my mind. The basis for their entire proposition is to “let the voters decide” about waterfront developments. Yet, they don’t trust the voters enough to allow them to get both sides of the argument. It’s politics at its worst, and I for one find it reprehensible. In the end, the most important thing is that you vote. Please mark Tuesday, June 3, down on your calendar. Make your voice heard. There are many statewide offices up for election this year, and for the more contested race primaries—like Secretary of State and Controller—you will want to help decide who our leaders will be for the next four years. Until then, stay involved! Zoe Dunning is a retired Navy Commander and was a lead activist in the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. She currently serves as the 1st Vice Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and is Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club.
Shaping the Waterfront’s Future, CA Democrat Convention, Upcoming Soiree me as a wise move, but the Giants are pulling out all the stops to kill it.
A San Francisco Kind of Democrat Rafael Mandelman The San Francisco Democrat ic County Central Committee handed the developers a big win on March 12 when the Committee narrowly voted to oppose Proposition B on the June ballot. Conceived by the same folks who managed to stop the 8 Washington project in last November’s election, Prop B would require any developer seeking to raise height limits on the waterfront to submit their proposed project for a vote of the people. With the future of the waterfront at stake and three significant projects potentially immediately affected – the Warriors development at Piers 30-32, a Forest City mixed-use project at Pier 70, and a 3.6 million square foot mixed-use mega-project proposed by the Giants for Sea Wall Lot 337 near the ballpark – dozens of people turned out to speak in public comment on either side of the measure. Interestingly, both the Warriors and Forest City have officially pledged to stay neutral on Prop B, which strikes
Regular readers of this column will not be surprised to learn that I voted with the minority in favor of Prop B. Time will tell whether the opposition of the local Democratic Party will be fatal to campaign, but I tend to think not. The vote on 8 Washington made it clear that the voters don’t trust developers, nor at the moment do they trust City Hall to adequately protect the public interest from developers. Those sentiments seem as strong now as they were in November, maybe stronger. And the underlying principal behind Proposition B – that the voters should have a say before the City lifts long-established waterfront height limits to benefit particular developers – seems unassailable. Ironically, the local Democratic Party came out in opposition to Prop B on the very same day that the Chronicle reported that California’s Chief Democrat – State Party Chair and living legend John Burton – would be supporting it. Always good for a memorable quote, Burton explained: “I’m the guy who passed the original bill back in the 60s that turned the port over to the city, and it was never our intention to turn the waterfront into a goddamn real estate development.” The DCCC also took positions on two other less controversial items on the June ballot, supporting Proposition A, which would authorize $400,000,000 in bonds to earthquake-proof various public facilities and endorsing Daniel Flores for a vacant spot on the San Francisco Superior Court.
Meanwhile, in other Party news, California Democrats held our annual convention in Los Angeles over the weekend of March 7-9. As this is an election year, there were endorsement battles to be waged, with the two most competitive and hardest fought contests – the State Controller race between Assembly Speaker John Perez and Board of Equalization Member Betty Yee and the Secretary of State race between State Senators Alex Padilla of Los Angeles and Leland Yee of San Francisco – ending in no endorsement. These “no endorsements” represented significant victories for the two Yees, as Padilla and Perez hail from the more populous southern part of the State, had pushed hard in the weeks leading up to the convention and went in to the weekend favored to win. One queer highlight: Houston’s out lesbian mayor, Annise Parker, wowed and charmed the convention hall with a speech calling on the delegates to expand the reach of the Democratic Party even in seemingly unlikely places. Serving out her third and final term as mayor, we can only hope that Parker will find her next step up; I’m told she is looking at a statewide office. And how cool would that be? In Texas, no less?! Finally, I hope to see you all, each and every one, at the LGBT Center’s Soiree on April 5 at City View at the Metreon. Get your tickets today! Rafael Mandelman was elected to the San Francisco Community College Board of Trustees in 2012. He is a partner at Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP. BAY T IM ES M ARC H 20, 2014
3
4
BAY TIMES MARCH 2 0 , 2 0 1 4
BAY T IM ES M ARC H 20, 2014
5
6
BAY TIMES MARCH 2 0 , 2 0 1 4
BAY T IM ES M ARC H 20, 2014
7
Money and Finance Getting Down to Retirement Business When You’re Self-Employed
Money Matters Brandon Miller, CFP & Joanne Jordan, CFP If you call yourself a consultant, a freelancer or an independent contractor, you’re one of the growing numbers of Americans without an employersponsored retirement savings plan. As a solo entity, you’re left without the luxury of the “employer match,” which many use to help grow their retirement nest eggs. Meanwhile, the full retirement age for Social Security eligibility has been pushed out, making it more important than ever for self-employed individuals to put retirement planning strategies in place. Here are three tips to help you prepare financially for your retirement years. Max out your retirement savings As a self-employed worker, have you established a SEP IRA or Solo 401(k)? These retirement savings plans are not mutually exclusive, and you can contribute the maximum (as much as 25 percent of your adjusted growth income) to both plans to accelerate your savings in any given year. But, you don’t need to stop there. If you’re looking for more ways to save, consider a Roth IRA as a vehicle for accruing supplemental retirement savings.
With the Roth, your contributions are not tax deductible in the year in which you make them. Down the road, however, your withdrawals in retirement will be tax-free if you have met all the qualifications. Because the tax rates of the future are not entirely predictable, this is a plus. Since you can withdraw direct contributions from the Roth at any time, you needn’t worry about not being able to access the money for emergencies. Earnings in your Roth account can also be withdrawn tax- or penalty-free once you reach age 59 ½ (sooner if your eligibility changes due to disability) and have had the Roth for five years or more. For 2014, you can contribute up to $5,500 to your Roth IRA (if your income falls within certain income limits). If you are 50 or older, this maximum goes up to $6,500. The more you have working for your future security, and the more predictable your retirement income can be the better. Consult your financial advisor and visit IRS.gov for more complete rules on retirement savings plans. Budget for healthcare costs Nearly all of us will eventually need costly medical care at one time or another and that possibility rises in retirement. Evaluate income streams such as annuity or interest income that may help you defray eventual medical expenses. If you’re within five years of leaving the workforce, it’s a good idea to anticipate what your healthcare needs may be and how you will pay for those expenses. It’s important to know that, regardless of your work status, you must sign up for Medicare by age 65 to avoid potentially delaying your coverage and paying higher premiums. Visit Medicare.gov to familiarize yourself with
premium and deductible costs for hospital, general medical and prescription coverage offered by the government. Talk to your insurance broker to explore supplemental plans that can help you manage deductibles and pay for services not allowed by Medicare. By all means, do what you can to maintain your health, but don’t ignore the likelihood that you’ll need costly medical care at some point in retirement. Keep working if you’re able The amount of your monthly Social Security check is determined by how much you earned annually over your working life and your retirement date. This means delaying your retirement will result in a bigger monthly Social Security check. If you’re in good health and enjoy working, there’s no hard and fast rule that says you have to remove yourself from the workforce. These retirement planning tips are especially important for self-employed individuals, but they also have value for workers of every variety. As more employers retreat from the business of providing extensive retiree benefits, everyone in the workforce needs to be mindful of how they will manage the bills in retirement. At the end of the day, you’re the boss of your own retirement. Make your retirement finances a priority by working with a financial professional who can help you establish a solid retirement plan. Brandon Miller, CFP and Joanne Jordan, CFP are financial consultants at Jordan Miller & Associates, 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.
Round About — Bark & Whine Ball
Photos by Jo-Lynn Otto
Accompanied by family and friends to Fort Mason’s Festival Pavilion, 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver received the Champions of Compassion award at SF-SPCA’s 18th Annual Bark & Whine Ball. Guests, attending with their pets, enjoyed the cocktail reception, silent and live auctions, music and dancing-with-dogs. Bay Times co-publishers Betty Sullivan and Jennifer Viegas presented a framed Bay Times front page to Culliver in honor of his first interview with an LGBT newspaper reported in our March 6 edition. Culliver, along with 49ers teammates, will host the ABKC Dog Show on Saturday, April 5, Noon-8 pm at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, 344 Tully Rd, San Jose. For information, e-mail: TPalmer@CreativeEdgePR.com
8
BAY TIMES MARCH 2 0 , 2 0 1 4
The Lesbian Health & Research Center at UCSF
Aging in Community Ellen Haller, MD Many of you probably know, or can relate to, someone like Vivian. At aged 74, she is a lesbian who recently went to her regular doctor for a medical checkup. The doctor noted that Vivian was quieter than usual and that she had lost weight, wasn’t sleeping well, could not concentrate, no longer enjoyed gardening, had low energy and was tearful. He suspected depression, and referred her to a mental health specialist, but Vivian did not follow through. She later told a friend that she felt uncomfortable with the recommendation. Her partner of 30 years had recently passed away, but Vivian had never come out to her doctor and felt that “he’d never understand” what she was experiencing. LGBT elders like her face unique issues not shared with the rest of the population. Educating both ourselves and health care professionals about these issues is increasingly important. The Lesbian Health & Research Center at UCSF (LHRC) is focused on doing just that. LHRC (w w w. le sbi a n he a lt h i n fo. org) is dedicated to improving the health and well being of Lesbians, B i s e x u a l Women , Tr a n s g ender ( L BT ) people a nd ou r fa m i l ies. L H RC s t a f f me mb er s c onvene resou rce event s for t he gener a l publ ic a nd prov ide educ at iona l forums on L BT health issues for health care practitioners. In givi n g t he s e pr e s e nt at ion s , we’ve found that even the most progressive clinicians aren’t necessar ily aware of the unique mental health a nd ot her cha l lenges t hat older L B T p e ople m ay f a c e (s e e D r. Marcy Adelman’s inaug ura l Aging in Community column). For e x a mple, when older L B T people came of age, d iscr imina-
t ion a g a i n st t hem w a s rout i ne. In addition, they are more likely to l ive a lone t ha n heterosex ua l peer s a nd a re les s l i kely to access sen ior center s, housi ng a s sist a nce, mea l prog ra ms, a nd other resources. A lso, despite the many civ i l r ights advances, d iscrimination continues. It may be frightening for an older LBT person to consider bringing a potent ia l ly biased or host i le i n-home care aid into her home or to seek residential care and risk discrimin a t io n b y s t a f f a n d r e s id e nt s . LHRC is working to change lives. We aim to broaden awareness of t he impor tance of hea lt h for a l l of us. LHRC has three new initiatives towards that aim. Ask Us: The LHRC website has a new “A sk Us” feature t hrough which individuals from across the globe can send in health questions (w w w.lesbianhealthinfo.org/you/ a s k _ u s . a s p) . Vo l u n t e e r p h y s i cians with specialized knowledge i n L BT hea lt h, i nc lud i ng menta l hea lt h, answer t he quest ions con f ident ia l ly. Q uest ions cover a w ide va r iet y of topics such as depression recognition and treatment, refer ra ls to L BT-sensit ive primary care clinicians, informa-
t ion about sex ua l ly-t ra nsm it ted i n fe c t ion s , a nd e v a lu at ion a nd management of fatigue. Blog: A new blog is also now on our website. It covers general issues of interest to the L BT commu n it y ( lesbi a n hea lt h resea rchcenter.wordpres s.com). Aut hor s cover diverse topics including the impact of ag ing, and the experience of getting legally married.
Visibi l it y: T he new V isibi l it y Project is now on l ine to fur t her educate the general public about the importance of health issues. It includes short public ser v ice announcements aimed at encouraging all of us to take care of ourselves. These videos can be viewed a t w w w.y o u t u b e . c o m /u s e r/ LesbianHealth?feature=watch What about mental health? Older LBT people may view the mental hea lt h system as biased and unwelcoming due to their own past experiences. Many of these women may have received “treatment” i n t he pa st a i me d at c h a n g i n g their sexual or ientat ion. In contrast, appropr iate menta l hea lth treatment can make a signif icant d i f ference i n i mprov i ng overa l l quality of life. UC SF has a n L GBT Psych iat r y C l i n ic, st a f fed by L GBT c l i n i cians, which provides evaluation and treatment for mental health concer ns. (Ca l l 415 - 476 -750 0 to schedule an initial appointment; t he cl in ic is able to see pat ients covered by most insurance plans, including Medicare.) In addition, Gaylesta, the LGBT Psychotherapy A ssociat ion, (w w w.gaylest a. org) is an SF Bay Area organization that is a resource for LGBT individuals seeking therapy. Add it iona l loca l ment a l hea lt h resources include the Access Institute (w w w.accessinst.org), Queer L i fe Space ( ht t ps://w w w.queerlifespace.org/) and the UCSF A lliance Health Project (w w w.ucsfahp.org). T h rough ou r mu lt iple project s, t he L H RC at UC SF is reach ing out to people l i ke Viv ian to ensu re t he y receive t he c a re a nd suppor t t hey need. Cha nge w i l l come through increasing the visibi l it y of L BT sen ior s a nd educat i ng hea lt h ca re pract it ioners about the unique needs and exper iences of L BT older adults and seniors. Ellen Haller, M D, is a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at UCSF where she serves as a Co-Director of the Lesbian Health & Research Center and of the LGBT Psychiatry Clinic. In addition, she is the Director of Clinical Services for Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital & Clinics and Acting D irector of the Adult Psychiatry Clinic. She can be reached at ellen .haller @ucsf.edu . For additional information about the LHRC , email lhrc@ucsf.edu
Dr. Marcy Adelman oversees the new Bay Times Aging in Community column. For her summary of current LGBT senior challenges and opportunities, please go to: sf baytimes. com/challenges-and-opportunties
To learn more about the Lesbian Health & Research Center at UCSF, visit www.lesbianhealthinfo.org BAY T IM ES M ARC H 20, 2014
9
Holy Deadlock Kim Corsaro Publisher 1981-2011
2261 Market Street, No. 309 San Francisco CA 94114 Phone: 415-503-1375 525 Bellevue Avenue Oakland CA 94610 Phone: 510-504-9255 E-mail: editor@sfbaytimes.com www.sfbaytimes.com
Examined Life 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. Dr. Betty L. Sullivan Jennifer L. Viegas Co-Publishers & Co-Editors
Ayana Baltrip Balagas Design Direction & Production Abby Zimberg Design & Production
Kate Laws Business Manager Robert Fuggiti Calendar Editor
Kit Kennedy Poet-In-Residence J.H. Herren Technology Director Barbara Brust / Lucille Design Technical Adviser
Tom Moon, MFT In my last column I shared the startling finding, by couples researcher John Gottman, that fully 69% of the conflicts that couples have in relationships are never resolved. Relationships survive, not because the parties settle their differences, but because they learn to treat the areas where they disagree the way they would treat a bad back or allergies – as inconvenient realities to accept with grace, compassion and humor – rather than as zero-sum games in which someone must win and someone must lose. But many couples have differences that they can’t just take in stride,
and which can cause major gridlock if some workable compromise isn’t found. Gottman found that gridlock is almost always a sign that you have dreams for your life that aren’t being addressed or respected by your partner, and in some cases, by both of you. Dreams can operate at many levels. Some, like wanting a certain amount of savings, are practical, but others can be profound and deeply rooted in childhood experiences and lifelong values. We have to respect the power of each other’s dreams if our relationships are to work. For instance, Matt wants to get an advanced college degree. He has always wanted to teach in his field, and the degree would make that possible. His partner Rafael has an income that allows him to make Matt’s dream a reality. But Rafael longs to quit his high-stress corporate job to run his own landscaping business, where he can work outdoors and enjoy the freedom of being his own boss. They begin a process of discussion and negotiation. Maybe Rafael will decide to keep at the grind until Matt finishes school; or maybe Matt will go to school part-time, or suspend his studies for a while. The point is that they make their decisions with mutual respect for each other’s aspirations.
Jennifer Mullen Web Coordinator
Mario Ordonez Juan Ordonez Distribution
Writers Rink, Sister Dana Van Iquity, Ann Rostow, Kirsten Kruse, Kate Kendell, Pollo del Mar, Heidi Beeler, Gary M. Kramer, Dennis McMillan, Tom Moon, Paul E. Pratt, Terry Baum, Gypsy Love, Rafael Mandelman, Shelley MacKay, Kit Kennedy, Leslie Katz, Karen Williams, Gary Virginia, Stu Smith, Zoe Dunning, Jim Tibbs, Mark Penn, Marcy Adelman, Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis Brandon Miller & Joanne Jordan, Kippy Marks, Naomi Jay, John Wesley, Jamie Leno Zimron Thom Watson Photographers Rink, Dennis McMillan, Steven Underhill, Phyllis Costa, Cathy Blackstone, Robert Fuggiti, Bill Wilson, Jo-Lynn Otto
ADVERTISING Display Advertising Standard Rate Cards are available online at sfbaytimes.com or calling: 415-503-1375. Classified Advertising: Refer to the order form in The Classifieds section, which you may mail or fax in, or e-mail us at classifieds@sfbaytimes.com. Deadline is 3 p.m. the Thursday preceding publication. For display classified information, please call 415-601-2113. National Advertising: Contact Bay Times / San Francisco. Also represented by Rivendell Media., Mountainside, NJ 908-232-2021.
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.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR If you would like to write a letter to the editor with comment on an article or suggestions for the Bay Times, email us at editor@sfbaytimes.com. © 2014 Bay Times Media Company Co-owned by Betty L. Sullivan & Jennifer L. Viegas Reprints by permission only.
See more
Stories @sfbaytimes.com Twitter, and find us Facebook.
and follow us on on
10
BAY TIMES M ARC H 2 0 , 2 0 1 4
Matt and Rafael understand and respect each other’s dreams. But when either partner doesn’t fully understand the other’s dreams, gridlock is almost inevitable. It gets more complicated when the dream that is fueling the conf lict is hidden, that is, when either or both partners aren’t clear about what the deeper issue is. This happens when, for instance, you see your dreams or your partner’s as “childish” or “impractical.” But when you adjust to your relationship by burying a dream, it just resurfaces as resentment and gridlocked conf lict. Gottman believes that one good indicator that you’re wrestling with a hidden dream is that you see your partner as being the sole source of the problem. So the first step in resolving gridlock is to become what Gottman calls a “dream detective.” Become curious about your partner’s desires. If he or she says, “I’ve always wanted to get a pilot’s license,” don’t reply, “Well, we don’t have the time or the money for that.” Instead of crushing your partner’s dream, listen as a friend. Ask questions, not to criticize, but only to elicit more information. Explore together what the dream means to your partner. At this stage your purpose is not so much to find a way of reconcil-
ing conflicting dreams as to “declaw” the issue by understanding its roots. Look deeply, as well, into your own dreams so that you can better understand them and articulate them to your partner. It can be helpful to separate the issue into two categories. In the first category, place all the aspects of what you want where you can’t yield without violating your basic needs or core values. In the second category, put all aspects of the issue where you can be flexible. Try to make the first category as small as you can and the second as large as possible. When you are both clear about where you can be flexible and where you absolutely cannot, compromises that honor the dreams of both parties are more likely to arise. Learning to honor each other’s conf licting dreams is usually a difficult process, and it can be tempting to give up. But the research shows that couples who are demanding of their relationships are more likely to have deeply satisfying unions than those who lower their expectations. Tom Moon is a psychotherapist in San Francisco. His website is tommoon.net
Fortnight in Review By Ann Rostow Oh Oh Oh… It’s Madness! Don’t tell my editors, please, but I’m way behind on my column because I had to f ill out my billion-dollar March Madness bracket. All these decisions to make. Is Wichita State for real? Can Harvard make another run? Will Joel Embiid return in time for Kansas to beat New Mexico in the second round? And what do I do with my own struggling home team, the University of Texas, which everyone is picking to lose in an upset to Arizona State. My answers: yes and no; not this year; Kansas will win with or without him; and yes, Texas will beat Arizona State, but that’s as far as we go this year. Years ago, before I married into a family of college hoops fanatics, I used to dread this time of year when the sports channels were overrun with boring games between no-name schools. One time, however, I was watching Gonzaga play just after I had written a story about some bad anti-gay thing that happened at Gonzaga. Amazingly, I was fired up about the game, rooting hard for Gonzaga’s foe and I had a brainstorm. The following year I vowed to rank all 64 teams based on a gay factor. Was the team from a pro-gay state? Did the college have an antidiscrimination policy? Did gay groups on campus say the place was friendly, or not? After convincing my editors (at the Texas Triangle) to promote the big gay bracket issue, I dove into the project only to realize that it was insanely labor intensive. I wound up working for hours and hours and hours, and in keeping with my natural penchant for sloth over slog, I vowed never to do it again. Happily, given my conversion to college basketball, I no longer have a need for gimmicks. But I still root against Gonzaga on principle. They’re not even at the dance this year. Hah! As for my bracket, I had no choice but to get it done by today because as you may know, Warren Buffett is giving a billion dollars to anyone who correctly predicts the entire contest. That could be me! I think the odds are unbeatable. You’re more likely to hit four holes in one in a single round of golf, or be struck by lightning on the one-year anniversary of the day you were bitten by a shark. But still. Anything can happen right? There’s Something About Marriage It’s hard to admit, but I have also been avoiding this week’s column due to a certain marriage equality fatigue. Since marriage equality is the subject I have pursued relentlessly for nearly two decades, my sense of ennui is significant in some way. We have come so far that even a compulsive analyst of the fight for marriage can no longer wade through federal court briefs, or even track exactly how many cases are pending in federal courts. I think I read this week that five cases were just filed in Indiana alone. In another article, I read that three cases were filed in the Hoosier State. You know what? I’m not checking this out! It’s too much. I can’t give you the attention to detail that you deserve. In Tennessee, a judge has issued an immediate order to recognize three marriages, just the plaintiffs in one case, but still. In Virginia, where Olson and Boies just won a marriage case at the district level, Lambda and the ACLU have been allowed to intervene in the appeal before the Fourth Circuit. The big gay guns have their own Virginia case and the Team of Rivals had opposed their motion to intervene to no avail. Now, the Fourth Circuit has announced a fast schedule that competes with the Tenth Circuit cases of Utah and
Oklahoma. Basically, we will see appellate court arguments on marriage in early April at the Tenth Circuit, and early May at the Fourth Circuit. One or both of those appellate rulings will likely reach the High Court. There are also two major headlines out of the Ninth Circuit. First, we just learned that the huge ruling in the gay juror case will not be appealed. Not to the full Ninth Circuit, and not to the Supreme Court. That means that sexual orientation discrimination remains presumptively unconstitutional throughout the western United States. This is now binding law, period. Thank you, Abbot Labs, for keeping your powder dry, perhaps with us in mind. Second, the strange Nevada marriage case now on appeal to the Ninth Circuit has been shelved again, for no clear reason. This case, Sevcik v Sandoval, is the oldest federal marriage case on our community docket. For a time, it was combined with a case against Hawaii, but when the Island State legalized marriage, their case dropped off. The case against Nevada (which we lost in lower court) was put on hold while the Supreme Court considered the Prop 8 and Windsor cases. Then last summer, it resumed its sluggish progress. In late January, the Ninth Circuit’s aforementioned gay juror ruling reset the legal standards in evaluating antigay bias cases. Shortly thereafter, the state of Nevada admitted it could no longer defend its marriage ban, and it looked as if the Ninth Circuit would move forward towards a big victory for equality. Earlier this month, the court even set up a schedule for April arguments before postponing them “indefinitely” the other day. A procedural problem? Anyone out there know for sure? Oh, but there’s so much more: a case or two just filed in Florida, a divorce case for two lesbians moving up in Alabama, and a decision expected any day now in the Prop 8-style marriage trial in Michigan. Meanwhile, briefs are flying in both directions all over the country in the run up to a summer of explosive legal headlines. Keep in mind that all of these lawsuits are either sitting at a federal appellate court, or on their way to one. Unlike the state marriage suits we know and love, these rulings will use the force of federal law like a sledgehammer to smash the constitutional amendments that have barred our unions in over half the states. (Or not, of course, but I think most will.) At any rate, the Supreme Court will not be able to duck the central question of marriage equality once these appellate rulings hit their docket, a historic moment which will come sooner rather than later at this rate. I Heart SCOTUS Speaking of the Supreme Court, the justices have decided not to review the “I Heart Boobies” case out of the Third Circuit, a confrontation between a Pennsylvania school district and a bunch of middle school girls who wore the saucy slogan on pink bracelets ostensibly to raise awareness of breast cancer. The school took it all too seriously, banning the bracelets as the sort of provocative disruption that districts are allowed to mitigate without offending the constitutional rights of students. The Third Circuit disagreed, basically ruling that the bracelets weren’t that big of a deal. We were watching this case due to our communal interest in gay t-shirts and other student statements. We all know that kids do not leave their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate, but those rights are nonetheless diminished to some extent once the students give themselves up to school authority for the day. Just a few years ago, for example, the High Court
Professional Services ruled that a student could be disciplined for carrying a druggie poster (“Bong Hits for Jesus”) to an off campus event. So, can a school make you take off your “Day of Silence” shirt? More interestingly, can the principal ban antigay hate speech? What about a shirt with a quote from Leviticus? It remains murky, but we err on the side of the student as did the High Court last week. In other gay-related SCOTUS news, the justices are about to hear the Hobby Lobby case that asks to what extent a corporation can skirt the law through a claim of religious freedom. Many observers have now noticed the link between Hobby Lobby (whose owners don’t want to offer insurance that covers contraception) and the sort of antigay business owner who might not want to serve gay customers. But you heard the comparison here f irst, months ago when the High Court agreed to take the case. At issue are several questions, one being the constitutional rights of corporations versus individuals. Without diving fully back into the swamp of religious freedom where we have wallowed so often in the past, let me just note that once again, while everyone loves to discuss religious freedom, few are questioning whether and why hostility and prejudice towards gay men and women even qualifies as a legitimate tenet of religious faith in the first place. At any rate, arguments are scheduled for next week so it will be all over the press. The End of Days for Fred? So, we heard this week that our old pal Fred Phelps is in poor health, and living in some kind of medical facility. His estranged son Nathan says it’s a hospice and that the 84-year old man is close to death. Nathan also wrote that Phelps has been kicked out of the Westboro Baptist Church, which is hard to believe considering said “church” is nothing more than a collection of Phelps family members living on a compound in one of Topeka’s residential neighborhoods. Aha! Further research indicates that there was indeed a power struggle within the Phelps family this summer and that Fred lost. Also, in case some of you are hoping to go picket this lunatic’s funeral, his daughter announced that he won’t have one. Really? I bet they do something for the old buzzard. I noticed while looking into Fred’s status that some in our community are torn about celebrating a man’s death. But you know what? It’s not a zero sum game where you have to either celebrate or maintain some respect. This is a brutal, hateful and mentally deranged individual, who inadvertently advanced gay rights by personifying religious bigotry at its worst. His dying days will bring me a grim satisfaction, and his death will simply mark the end of the weird phenomenon that was Fred Phelps. I hope his “funeral,” or whatever ritual ensues, is a lonely affair. No protestors, no news media, no attention, no care whatsoever. Vox Unpopuli I have a few hundred words left. Just enough for the two lesbians murdered in Texas by an antigay dad, or maybe a recap of who did or did not march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parades, and which beer companies decided to boycott to show gay support (Guinness and Sam Adams, maybe others). Instead, how about contrarian gay writer, Brendon Ambrosino, a man who has stood out from the crowds on each side of the gay debate by deliberately taking the road no one else travels? (continued on page 26)
Read more @www.sfbaytimes.com and check us out on Twitter and Facebook. BAY T IM ES M ARC H 20, 2014
11
Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb From a Fun Nun
Sister Dana sez, “The latest polling on the U.S . Senate races is not good. Repugnicans need 6 seats to take control, and they’re easily within striking distance of pulling it off. If that happens, we can kiss the rest of Obama’s second term goodbye. To say nothing of the midterms.” M A RC H U E S T I S P RO D U C T IONS presented P U T TING ON THE R IT Z , a ga la celebrat ion of Ton y, G r a m m y, E m m y, Osca r w i n ner R I TA MOR E NO live in person at the Castro Theat r e. T he e v e n i n g w a s a f u nd ra iser for L ET’S K ICK A S S (A I DS Su r v ivor Sy nd rome), a grassroots movement of long-term survivors.
Prior to the movie, and before Ms Moreno’s appearance, Huestis had gathered f ilm clips from Moreno’s career in musical dance - showing her expertise in such movies as Pagan Love Song (1950), The Toast of New Orleans (1950), L atin L overs (1953), Garden of Evil (1954), T he Vagabond K ing (1956), Popi (19 69), her Os car w inning roles in T he K ing and I (1956), and West Side Story (1961), as wel l as d ramat ic roles in T hi s Rebel Breed (1960), Summer and Smoke (1961), The Night of the Following Day (19 63), a nd a s sex y “pen is wh is perer” in Carnal Knowledge (1971). She also won an Emmy for TV appearances on T he Electric Company and T he Muppet Show. She was the Jew ish mama in T V’s Happily D ivorced (2011-2013). She won the coveted Life Achievement Award from
Screen Actors Gu i ld t h is year at age 82, where she dropped an Fbomb on national TV. Upstairs in the mezzanine, Moreno was kind enough to take photos of attendees and gave me a small inter v iew in which I was sur pr ised to discover The Ritz was not f ilmed i n a n act ua l bat h house, but wa s a n elaborate mov ie set. She told me, “It was great fun f ilming with a fa nt ast ic cast a nd a ver y, ver y funny script.” She laughed when I confessed to her that the very f irst time I ever saw The Ritz, I was in an actual gay bathhouse wearing only a towel. On stage was our hostess, Bathhouse Betty ( played gorgeously by D’arcy Drollinger) reveali ng stor ies of bei ng fr iend s w it h Googie Gomez, and telling off-color jokes originally told by Sophie Tucker. Betty brought tap-happy Mat t hew Ma r t i n to dance and lip-synch superbly to “Putting on the Ritz.” Huestis interviewed Moreno, where she told many an amusing anecdote and commented on her self-t it led memoir, saying she wrote it to empower women and anyone who considered themselves an outsider, to “not eff ing give up!” She swore like a sailor but was always a lady. The
P HOTO B Y ST E VE N UN DE RH IL L
Cappi ng t he even i ng wa s a ra re screening of Terrence McNally’s hilarious 1976 comedy, The Ritz, a screwba l l farce ta k ing place in a gay bat h house. Moreno had recreated her Tony w inn ing per formance on stage as lovable, kooky Googie Gomez, queen of the baths - with her pur posely of f-key singing “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.” Hysterical! The studly Castro ushers appropriately wore nothing but white towels.
Dennis McMillan and Rita Moreno book is also a tell-all about Hollywood over the years, and how diff icult it was back then for a Latina actor to get a good part. She had “ interest ing” t hings to say about genius producer, d irector, choreographer Jerome Robbins as “a ver y mean, sad ist ic, self-loathing Jew ish closeted homosexua l ( but never cr uel to Moreno). She a lso told tales about her “rival,” Chita R iver a , a nd t he d r u n ken Joa n Crawford. Finally, Moreno gifted us with a side-splitting song in her
deliciously broken English Googie voice. K R EW E DE K INQUE, a Mardi Gras t hemed socia l a nd cha r it able organization, held our annual M A R DI G R A S PA R T Y B U S & BAR CR AWL on Fat Tuesday (the t r a n s l at ion of M a rd i Gr a s f rom French language). A busload of revelers met at The Mix in the Castro to cocktail and jump onto the bus. Included on the bus were current reig n ing Emperor J P Soto and E mpre s s M i st y Blue, a s wel l as several former Kd K k ings and queens and all our friends. We had Jell-O shots and beers on the bus, along with delicious N’awlins Creole cuisine. First stop was Trax in t he H a ight , where Q ueen V I I I G a r z a p e r fo r m e d “ D o n’t Te l l Mama” and “I Don’t Care If t he Sun Don’t Shine,” and K ing V II John Weber sang “Disco Inferno” a nd bu r ned t h at mut h a h dow n , a nd t hen “ Tr e a s u r e” b y B r u no Mars! Then of f to 330 0 Club. At t he Edge, way past midnight, we held a Second L ine Parade, gleefu l ly march ing around t he joint, led by original founder and K ing I Gar y Virg inia. With the help of that party bus, we truly “Let the Good Times Roll!” CA L A MUS F ELLOWSHIP held a new ex per iment a l event, SER V IC E , a Beer Baccha na l a nd Revolutionary Faggot Worship S er v ice, at t he leg end a r y 14t h Street House, in the spirit of those beer busts famously orchest rated by the FEYBOY COLLECTIVE. Money donated went to Calamus, t he faer ie fel lowsh ip of t he Bay. “ We hold sex ua l it y, play f u l ness, and community as sacred - now we want to see what alchemizes from their mixing,” said organizer Feyboy Kyle. “We’re f lipping the idea of sex and celebration as sin. How will you choose to service your fellows? First we gathered on the top f loor for an abundant feast of “fruits for t he fr uits.” T hen we went dow nst a i r s to t he r it u a l r o om wher e Topsoil led us in meditation, having us ask: “What does queer spirituality mean to us?” and other inner examinations. We learned the meaning of “worship” is to “ hold wor t hy.” Sa m a k a Dr. M a n i fes to led us in rela xat ion a nd body awa reness exercises. T hen E d helped us give neck massages and event ua l ly fu l l body massages to changing partners. After that, the beer bust bacchanal began. Calamus hopes to regularly host these e n l i g ht e n i n g q u e e r s p i r it u a l it y events. Check out feyboy.com. MOMENTUM, the Annual Leade r s h i p C e lebr a t ion b y O U T & EQUA L was held at the Bently Reserve. Selisse Berry, founder and ch ief execut ive of f icer of Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, noted momentum towards achiev ing LGBTQ equa l it y is bui ld ing l i ke never before. We can now be marr ied in 17 states and in 18 countries around the world. But we can also be f ired for being queer in 29 states. Our work is far from over. (continued on page 26)
12
BAY TIMES M ARC H 2 0 , 2 0 1 4
Use the News Education Program
Georgia O’Keeffe, Lake George, 1922. Oil on canvas. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, gift of Charlotte Mack. © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Modern Nature: Georgia O’Keeffe and Lake George
Paul Strand, Georgia O’Keeffe, 1918. Photograph, platinum print. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Copyright © Aperture Foundation, Inc., PaulStrand Archive. Photo: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution / Art Resource, NY
American artist Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) seemed to have a lovehate relationship with feminism. She once exclaimed, “I am not a woman painter!” and yet the pro-suffrage National Women’s Party member also said, “I believe in women making their own living. It will be nice when women have equal opportunities and status with men so that it is taken as a matter of course.”
On behalf of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, it gives me great pleasure to introduce the special exhibition Modern Nature: Georgia O’Keeffe and Lake George, on view at the de Young in Golden Gate Park through May 11, 2014. Georgia O’Keeffe is one of the most renowned—and most loved—American artists, and many associate her with the mountains, deserts, and expansive skies of New Mexico, where she lived and worked during the second half of her life. In the coming months, however, visitors to the de Young will have an opportunity to explore an earlier and equally significant period of the artist’s career, the one during which Georgia O’Keeffe became the artist we admire today. From 1918 until the early 1930s, O’Keeffe spent part of each year in upstate New York, at the Lake George family home of Alfred Stieglitz, the pioneering photographer and art dealer whom she married in 1924. From spring to fall, O’Keeffe resided on the property in the Adirondack mountains for extended periods of time, experiencing the spectacular chromatic effects of the changing seasons and exploring its shorelines, hillsides, and panoramic vistas. At Lake George, O’Keeffe developed the subjects and themes that are considered essential to the evolution of her signature style of modernism. Spending time in nature gave the artist the experience of a different way of looking:
Nu mer ou s b o ok s c l a i m t h at O’Keeffe was bisexual, but this too falls into murky historical waters. What is clear is that many LGBT supporters and individuals—especially lesbians—relate to her art and legacy. Artist Judy Chicago, a longtime champion of gay rights who embraced feminism, included O’Keeffe in her own seminal work, “The Dinner Party,” which presents a veritable
pantheon of women artists, poets, novelists, rulers and goddesses. Flowers, which O’Keeffe beautifully and unforgettably painted, can themselves be bisexual. Most large, showy f lowers, such as lilies and roses, are bisexual, possessing both male and female reproductive structures. Artists infuse their works with their own particular energy and life’s experiences, so it’s fascinating to experience O’Keeffe’s tremendous
power through something as seemingly soft and non-threatening as a f lower, a lake or another aspect of nature. The images, for us, explode from their surfaces with captivating sensual energy. But perhaps you perceive something else in them. Whatever your personal response is, the images likely will lure you in like an ephemeral flower attracting desirous honeybees. Let your own imagination take flight.
close attention to detail paired with simplification of forms led her to depict landscapes, flowers, fruits, trees, leaves, and architecture in new ways. She strove to capture the spirit of the place without losing the connection to the specific things depicted. This innovative approach informed her work during the Lake George period, and laid the foundation for subsequent work in New Mexico. It is gratifying to host this pioneering survey of Georgia O’Keeffe’s Lake George–period works, as it also offers visitors greater understanding of one of the Museums’ most important American paintings, Petunias (1925). Featured in the exhibition, this composition is a highlight of our American modernist collection and is a true favorite during our annual Bouquets to Art celebration. This year, we look forward to welcoming more than 50,000 visitors to Bouquets to Art, for which floral designers craft inspired arrangements that are paired with works of art in our galleries. I trust that you will enjoy this special display, which will be on view for the limited time of March 18 through 23. I hope you will join us at the de Young to explore the extraordinary art and life of Georgia O’Keeffe, a great American modernist, and to celebrate the beauty of nature and art in Bouquets to Art. Colin B. Bailey Director of Museums Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Georgia O’Keeffe, Lake George with White Birch, 1921. Oil on canvas. Private collection. © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
BAY T IM ES M ARC H 20, 2014
13
Use the News Education Program
Georgia O’Keeffe, Petunias, 1925. Oil on board. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, museum purchase, gift of the M. H. de Young Family. © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
14
BAY TIMES M ARC H 2 0 , 2 0 1 4
BAY T IM ES M ARC H 20, 2014
15
Use the News Education Program Bouquets to Art 2014: Final Days! This year’s Bouquets to Art coincides with the O’Keeffe exhibition, creating a perfect match. For Bouquets to Art, gifted floral designers bring their imaginative interpretations to works in the de Young’s permanent collection. Whether quirky, stunning, or
simply beautiful, the designs are always captivating. This year marks 30 years of Bouquets to Art, which we highly recommend. Check it out soon because, like spring flowers, it won’t last long. The last day of the week-long event is March 23.
Michael Daigian Design & Jennifer Lato installation for 2013 Bouquets to Art at the de Young Museum, San Francisco. Photograph © Greg A. Lato / latoga photography
Georgia O’Keeffe, Petunias, 1925. Oil on hardboard. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, museum purchase, gift of the M. H. de Young Family. © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Floral design by Sunshine Flowers and Event Design. Photograph © Greg A. Lato / latoga photography
Q&A with Timothy Anglin Burgard, Ednah Root Curator in Charge of American Art, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Many art lovers associate Georgia O’Keef fe with the Southwest, yet the focal point of the de Young exhibition is Lake George, in upstate New York. How did O’Keeffe become associated with this area? The stunning natural topography of Lake George served as a source of inspiration for American artists from the 19th century onward. Following the Civil War, as the railroad made the region readily accessible from major urban centers, Lake George attracted numerous tourists, including the father of Alfred Stieglitz, who acquired property on the lake in the 1880s. Georgia O’Keeffe first visited Lake George in 1908, after winning a scholarship from the Art Students League in New York that allowed her to attend a summer retreat there. In 1918, soon after commencing a personal and professional relationship with Alfred Stieglitz, she returned to the lake, and from then until 1934 spent part of each year at his family’s estate. W hat k i nds of works d id O ’ K e e f fe c r ea t e a t L a ke George? Working in her Lake George studio, which she nicknamed the “shanty,” O’Keeffe created more than two hundred works—including images of landscapes, trees, leaves, flowers, fruit, and architecture—that earned her both critical and popular acclaim when they were exhibited in New York City. Oscillating between representation and abstraction—often within a single series of works such as the “Jack-in-the-Pulpit” suite—the artist sought to evoke not merely the outward appearances of her subjects but also their inner natures. Were O’Keeffe’s paintings essentially derived from precedents in nature? O’Keeffe was concerned more with the sensory experience of what she 16
BAY TIMES M ARC H 2 0 , 2 0 1 4
painted than with its literal representation, pointedly stating: “Nothing is less real than realism. Details are confusing. It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis, that we get at the real meaning of things.” Many of her now-iconic f lower paintings were created not from nature but from memory, either in her Lake George studio, or in her New York City apartment. O’Keeffe’s individual images are so convincing and compelling that we often overlook the intellectual component that is more apparent in series such as the Jack-in-the-Pulpit paintings, which progress from recognizable representation to near-abstraction. How will this exhibition resonate with California residents or visitors to this state? O’Keeffe’s idealized depictions of nature, perfected at Lake George, helped to promote a respect and reverence for the natural world that is shared by contemporary viewers— especially in California, home to Yosemite Valley, the Sierra Nevada, Lake Tahoe and many other natural wonders. O’Keeffe’s complex relationship with Alfred Stieglitz is legendary. What drew them together? O’Keeffe initially admired Stieglitz for his dual roles as both a pioneering photographer and a champion of European and American modernism. Even before their first meeting in 1916, O’Keeffe wrote, “I believe I would rather have Stieglitz like something—anything I had done— than anyone else I know.” Beginning in 1918, after Stieglitz convinced O’Keeffe to move to New York City, both artists felt that they had found a kindred spirit in one another, and their personal relationship blossomed. How did O’Keeffe and Stieglitz grow apart? A few years after the pair wed in 1924, the relationship suf fered
readings, fostered numerous sexual interpretations of O’Keeffe’s flowers.
from the stress of Stieglitz’s subsequent affair with a much younger woman. O’Keeffe later observed: “I believe it was the work that kept me with him though I loved him as a human being.” By the early 1930s, although the two remained married, O’Keeffe began spending more time in New Mexico, and her trips to Lake George diminished. However, in 1946, soon after Stieglitz died, O’Keeffe made one final trip to Lake George—to bury her husband’s ashes beneath a tree on the shore of the lake.
O’Keeffe rejected such reductive readings, stating, “I made you take time to look at what I saw, and when you took time to really notice my f lower, you hung all your associations with flowers on my flower, and you write about my f lower as if I think and see what you think and see—and I don’t.”
How does symbolism feature in the Lake George works?
Do these interpretations have any validity or relevance?
O’Keeffe may have intended certain works to serve not only as abstracted equivalents for her external experiences of nature but also as surrogates for her internal emotional states. The leaves in the heart-shaped composition titled Dark and Lavender Leaves (1931), created as the artist’s marriage was deteriorating, may reflect the relative ages of Stieglitz and O’Keeffe, who was much younger than her husband, as well as their respective roles as mentor and protégé. The small but vibrant young lavender leaf appears both protected and overshadowed by the much larger leaf, which is dark and decaying.
First, to state the obvious, f lowers contain the reproductive sexual organs of plants and therefore are, by definition, sexual. Like Picasso, who denied having been inf luenced by African art when this limiting line of questioning became annoying, O’Keeffe grew hostile to interpretations that suggested her paintings were essentially abstracted representations of human sexual organs. But O’Keeffe was rarely interested in such literal translations of form from nature to canvas. She sought to capture not merely how her subjects looked, but rather her emotional experience of them. As the French Symbolist poet Stephane Mallarme said, “describe not the object itself, but the effect it produces.” O’Keeffe’s letters strongly suggest that many of her physical and emotional experiences found lasting expression in her art.
O’Keeffe’s iconic flower paintings are frequently subject to speculations regarding their potential symbolism. How did these interpretations originate? When O’Keeffe commented on the origin of her f lower subjects, she spoke of using her enlarged and cropped formats to compel busy New York City urban dwellers to stop and appreciate the beauty of flowers, which, like other aspects of nature, had been marginalized in an increasingly technological age. Unfortunately, Stieglitz’s scandalous 1921 exhibition of nude photographs of O’Keeffe, combined with a popular vogue for Freudian psychology, which encouraged such metaphoric
What was O’Keeffe’s reaction to the psychological interpretations of her flower paintings?
How do you account for the fact that O’Keeffe has achieved nearly iconic status? First and foremost, O’Keeffe’s works are exceptional examples of early American modernism. Second, O’Keeffe also earned the financial and critical support of Alfred Stieglitz, America’s most inf luential art arbiter in the first half of the 20th century. Third, her best-known works became nearly synonymous with a place—the American South-
west—that retains a romantic frontier aura of both historical and cultural authenticity. Fourth, feminists embraced O’Keeffe as a role model, even though she resisted being typecast as a “woman artist.” Fifth, she is one of the few American artists to have a museum devoted to preserving and promoting her work. Finally, O’Keeffe’s embrace of nature as the primary focus of her art, and her creation of idealized images that achieve a kind of platonic perfection, reaffirm our perennial ties to nature in an increasingly technological age. Has O’Keeffe’s fame helped or hindered an appreciation of her work? Like Andy Warhol, O’Keeffe is associated with a public persona that has threatened to obscure her artistic achievements. In part, this phenomenon may be traced to the fact that O’Keeffe was likely the most photographed artist in history. Alfred Stieglitz’s extended photographic portrait of his partner spanned two decades and numbered more than 300 photographs. Some of the earliest portraits, in which Stieglitz posed the artist in front of her artworks, commenced a process in which the artist and her works were conflated, or even seen as interchangeable. However, as with Warhol, nearly three decades have passed since O’Keeffe’s death, in 1986—a span that enables us to perceive her artistic achievements more clearly. Modern Nature: Georgia O’Keeffe and Lake George, the first exhibition devoted to a critical period in the artist’s life and work, will play an important role not only in setting the New York and Lake George period on equal footing with the Southwest period but also in reaffirming O’Keeffe’s stature as one of the greatest American modernists. For tickets and more information about the exhibit, please visit deyoungmuseum.org
Ch-ch-ch-changes personal revolution you currently need the courage to face. Make it your mantra to release your grip, and focus your heart on the highest possible outcome for everyone involved. Remember, Dorothy never would have had the grace of her awakening heart if she and Toto would have made it safely into the cellar.
ARIES (March 21 – April 19) Every flock needs a bold bird to fly point. It is your evolutionary intent to do this as often as possible. Keeping the perspective of your relationship to the entire flock, it is now time for you to reinvent the way you spread your wings. Don’t be afraid to forge fiercely ahead on unconventional flight patterns. Just be sure your motives are pure.
Astrology Linda Amburgey
better.
(Editor’s Note: In this issue, we welcome intuitive astrology consultant Linda Amburgey to the “Bay Times.” Both she and Gypsy Love will be reading the stars for you in their own insightful and spiritual ways. Many of you probably already know Linda, who owns the popular store Crystal Way in the Castro. It’s really more than a store, serving as a warm and beautiful metaphysical center right in our own neighborhood. Crystal Way features high quality crystals and gemstones from around the world, along with other fantastic one-of-a-kind gifts. Linda is perhaps its greatest gem, though! She earned an M.A. in Holistic Ministry from the American Institute of Holistic Theology, and has over 15 years of experience in counseling clients in their pursuit toward self-actualization. We are honored that Linda is now part of the “Bay Times” family.) Krishnamurti said that those who seek truth in relationships must be free of the destructive and limiting desire to be safe and secure. We waste massive amounts of precious life force energy when we are delusional about our ability to control our lives. We don’t create reality, but we can create our response to it. The prevailing Cosmic winds are blowing ferociously, and the one certain outcome is change. Be intentional and participate by asking what
TAURUS (April 20 – May 20) You may feel a spontaneous urge to hide behind the veil this month. Rest assured that the fantasies you are having are a result of your current attunement to the warriors, ancestors, and aliens that exist in a simultaneous reality. You are now in direct dialogue with divine consciousness. Be prepared for sudden insights that will seed your future.
GEMINI (May 21 – June 20) I know you like to go from moment to moment, and your attention is usually scattered in a zillion directions, but now the currents are aligning you to your long-range hopes. Break free from old stories, friends, and habits that mirror what is now behind you. Look to the future and demand something different for yourself. CANCER (June 21 – July 22) If you are prone to motion sickness, take your ginger tea with you to work this month because your boats gonna be rockin’
on the job. The rapids are strong, unpredictable, and change is inevitable. Coworkers, bosses and partners may push you over the edge, so initiate the leap yourself. LEO (July 23 – August 22) Being timid and taking no risks will only have you wandering aimlessly and leave you increasingly phobic. Your moral compass may swing wildly, and true North may prove to be false. Great! That means you’re on the right path. Go fiercely forward with your newfound faith and all will be well as you find meaning again.
VIRGO (August 23 – September 22) As one of the zodiacs constant worry warts, your concerns will be directed toward finances for a bit. Do not overindulge in parties and pleasures for now, as they will certainly give you a shock in the pocket book. Intimate others hold the remote control to your shock therapy. Prepare to do some shadow work as a result.
LIBRA (September 23 – October 22) Inner stability? Nope. Relationship harmony? Nope. Balanced self ? Nope. Work opportunities? Maybe, but not without some disorientation. All areas of your life are subject to uncertainty and change right now. It will serve you to remember two of your strong points: adjustment and compromise.
SCORPIO (October 23 – November 21) Presumably, electroshock therapy resets the brain functions. Your body may be electrified as it assimilates the shocks that your environment is producing. This is necessary to loosen any mental concepts that have become fixed and rigid. You might even enjoy those sudden jolts!
SAGITTARIUS (November 22 – December 21) It is your birthright to be philosophically restless. It is now imperative that you channel all this pent up energy into a creative project. This will prevent you from overpowering those around you with your own personal values and truths..
CAPRICORN (December 22 – January 19) Normally time well spent for you is time invested in your ambitions and accomplishments. However, you will currently spend more time responding to sudden and unexpected chaos in your home. Do not expect to maintain your normal clarity and rationality as the ground within you shifts rapidly. Liberating your emotional world will give you the foundation necessary to build your future empire.
AQUARIUS (January 20 – February 18) You have cosmic permission to blurt those shocking insights that consistently reside on the tip of your tongue. If you can remove your ego from the scene, you could potentially deliver the deeper truth that liberates the collective consciousness.
PISCES (February 19 – March 20) As the pressures of your long-term goals continue to push you to your edge, remember to return to your values. Fiercely stick to your unique and creative otherworldly ways, but remember the saying that those who move mountains start by carrying small stones.
Linda Amburgey offers intuitive and astrological readings, counseling, consciousness groups, and astrology classes and workshops. For more information: www.crystalway.com/pages/linda-amburgey
As Heard on the Street . . .
compiled by Rink
AL L PHOTOS BY RIN K
What, in your opinion, is the sexiest flower?
Deana Dawn
Jim Oerther
Tony Wilkins
Nikos Diaman
Randy
“Gardenia. Classically sweet and sexy like Billie Holiday.”
“Bird of Paradise. It is phallic and it presents a sense of strength and masculinity.”
“A white rose”
“Calla lillies”
“Sunflowers, because they turn to the sun.”
BAY T IM ES M ARC H 20, 2014
17
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our Weddings, Anniversaries & Occasions section. Inquire how your social announcement can appear free of charge, or how your wedding services ad can be included at a special rate: Publisher@sfbaytimes.com or 415-601-2113.
The Guest List Dilemma nothing in between. If yes, consider whether you will provide childcare, and what that might cost. If there are to be no children, address your invitation only to the parents and ask your wedding party to help spread the word.
Weddings are stressful enough without having to worry about how to handle your guest list. That goes for any bride, but for my same sex couples, the guest list can be a source of major anxiety. I’ve heard my share of complaints from couples, and while we are progressing as a culture, lifestyle choice issues still pop up at wedding time. I give all my couples the same advice, which is never to feel obligated to invite anyone who makes you feel uncomfortable about your wedding or lifestyle. A wedding is an intimate occasion during which emotions tend to be fragile. Respect that some family members may not support your decision to wed, but don’t allow that to spoil your day.
Elements of Style Chanda Monique Eddens for catering, venues and flowers, all of which tend to be the most costly.
Here are some guidelines and etiquette for deciding whom, and whom not, to invite:
2. Set some rules. Decide together if you’ll allow people to bring a guest. Family members that have been dating someone for over a year should be allowed a plus one, if it fits the budget. Do what’s best for your situation.
1. Your guest list will depend heavily on the budget. Be aware of prices
3. Decide if you want children at your wedding. It’s either yes or no, and
4. Separate your lists. Create four lists numbered 1 through 4, with one being most important. Place the names of people who must be at the wedding on list number one. On list 2, mention those who should be there. On lists 3 and 4, mention those whom you and your partner would like to attend. Ideally, you will be able to invite everyone on all of the lists, but the process will help you to trim the possibilities, if necessary. Chanda Monique Eddens is the executive designer and owner of A Monique Affair. Chanda aims to provide a beautiful and memorable experience, delivering an event that will enchant both you and your guests. http://www.amoniqueaffair.com/
PHOTOS BY STEVEN UN D ERHIL L
Bay Times photographer Steven Underhill observed marriage ceremonies underway recently at SF City Hall on a busy afternoon. With tourists snapping cameras and students on a field trip looking on, he wondered how couples could maintain any privacy during their weddings at this favorite location.
Interfaith Ministry and Ordination Vows Interfaith is not a religion. It walks among the religions. Interfaith begins when we create a bridge between one set of beliefs and traditions and another. We start by listening to one another, and to the humanity in all of us. – Rev. Susanna Stefanachi Macomb Interfaith is a way of being in the world, in relationship to all people and all that is. It is not a static thing. It is more of a verb, a way of living and of being alert to the sacred everywhere and honoring it in any of its forms. An interfaith minister ideally is one who turns toward all, regardless of their beliefs or practices, with an open heart and mind, offering them a mirror to their own wholeness and their own divinity. These are just two of many definitions, or explanations, of interfaith ministry. I have always felt that all people at their core have a deep personal spirituality that is unique to them. Those who live the most meaningful lives are the ones who find ways to express their deepest truths through their work and relationships. When I attended The Chaplaincy Institute (www.chaplaincyinstitute. org), I found that I wanted to support people during their biggest transitions, such when they married (or divorced), when they changed careers or lifestyles, or when the end of life was near. I strive to help others rediscover the deepest truths about themselves and then to be faithful to those truths. I am enormously blessed now with a ministry of marrying people, and acting as a hospice chaplain. At the end of our time in seminary, our ordination class went on retreat 18
BAY TIMES M ARC H 2 0 , 2 0 1 4
get through the day without getting a speeding ticket! But it’s good to turn back to the below vows every now and then to remind myself of what I have committed to following. I encourage you, after your wedding, to do the same.
Weddings Reverend Elizabeth River for the specific purpose of writing vows that we would follow for the rest of our lives, both in our ministry and in everyday life. We did come up with vows that all of us agreed on and that we all attempt to live by, one day at a time. I share this story because many couples choose to create vows for their marriage. I often suggest that they take a weekend retreat for this very significant endeavor. I advise that they should not stop until they both are in complete accord about what they are committing to for life. Saying vows to one another is the central ritual in a wedding. Whatever your spirituality is, this moment is probably the most deeply sacred part of the wedding ceremony. Our vows were certainly the most deeply sacred part of our ordination in 2004. I would love to say that I have been true to them ever since, but as you might have guessed, I am one of your ordinary, everyday humans living a messy and imperfect life. In everyday life, I forget anything so lofty as vows and just try to
Ordination Vows of the August 2004 ordination class of The Chaplaincy Institute: 1. I vow to have faith in, and be guided by, the unknowable Mystery of the Divine. 2. I vow to be faithful to the Truth of who I am; I will nourish and care for myself with tenderness, mindful that I am a vessel of Spirit. 3. I vow to seek the Sacred in all beings and serve as a bridge between the world’s spiritual traditions. 4. I vow to serve others with wisdom, love and an open heart. 5. I vow to live in sacred relationship with all of Creation, recognizing the interdependence of all that is. 6. I vow to do no harm: physical, psychological, emotional, sexual, spiritual. 7. I vow to act in service of peace building, justice and human rights, and to affirm and uphold the inherent dignity of all people. Rev. Elizabeth River is an ordained Interfaith Minister based in the North Bay. For more information, please visit www. marincoastweddings.com.
Pride Bursting Out at the California Democratic Convention Earlier this month, we spoke at the California Democratic Convention celebration of the tenth anniversary of San Francisco’s “Winter of Love,” when over 4,000 same-sex couples from all over the world married at San Francisco City Hall. The celebration was an exhilarating event that hundreds of convention goers attended. At many times, the convention itself resembled a Pride fest. Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom rocked the house at the Winter of Love celebration, and in his speech to the convention at large praised LGBT activists who were not politicians for paving the way for the successes we see today. Indeed, now over ten governors and state attorneys general, including some from such unexpected places as Kentucky and Virginia – as well as President Barack Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder – have refused to defend laws that discriminate against LGBT people in marriage. Ten years ago, San Francisco Mayor Newsom and City Attorney Dennis Herrera set the example for others to follow by recognizing that the Constitution demanded equality and should prevail over discriminatory state statutes. The power and inf luence of the LGBT community in state government was also on display at the convention. The California Legislative LGBT Caucus boasts its
ership from the LGBT community is a marker of how far our community has come politically.
Marriage Equality Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis, Marriage Equality USA highest number of elected officials ever with eight members, including twelve-year member Mark Leno, Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, and Assembly Public Safety Committee Chair, Tom Ammiano, a member for six years. The Caucus meeting at the Convention was so packed with LGBT and allied people that the crowd f lowed out into the hallway. John Perez, the f irst openly gay man to serve as Speaker of the California Assembly, will pass the torch to Toni Atkins, the current Assembly Majority Leader, who will become the first openly lesbian Speaker of the Assembly. Never before in American history has a state legislature had consecutive LGBT Speakers. The fact that California, the most populous and one of the most diverse states in the nation, will have unbroken legislative lead-
The number of LGBT-supportive California statewide officer holders, such as Governor Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris, who refused to defend Proposition 8, and state legislative leaders such as Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett, who chaired the first state legislative committee in American history to pass a marriage equality bill, are too numerous to mention. The Convention also attracted Annise Parker, the openly lesbian may of Houston, Texas, America’s fourth largest city, and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, who signed that state’s marriage equality bill in 2012. In terms of legislation, convention goers celebrated the failure of the anti-equality effort to gather signatures to repeal the state’s landmark legislation to protect transgender students. With an upcoming legislative agenda that Equality California describes as improving the lives of LGBT Californians “from cradle to grave,” we say: Onward! John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, together for nearly three decades, were plaintiffs in the California case for equal marriage rights decided by the California Supreme Court in 2008. They are leaders in the nationwide grassroots organization Marriage Equality USA.
Sonya Richardson and Prez De Leon were married with Hon. John Avalos officiating.
Denni Harp and wife Moira Wilmes celebrating their union on a stroll near the SF waterfront.
Carol Koback and Sarah LG are celebrating Jack, their newborn.
Alan Morrell is celebrating his first anniversary at Neiman Marcus San Francisco.
The Lexington Club is celebrating its 17th Anniversary with a party on Saturday, March 29, featuring popular DJs Jenna Riot and Rapid Fire.
Luke Klipp and Bryant Edwards were married at Casa Hoover in Los Angeles. BAY T IM ES M ARC H 20, 2014
19
Tom Waddell: The True Olympian Alan Turing: The Father of Theoretical Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Bill Lipsky Alan Turing, according to Winston Churchill, made the single greatest contribution to the Allied victory in World War II. Churchill’s colleagues agreed. Without Turing, one stated, “I and many people are convinced that we would have lost the war.” Turing’s design for a computing device that could decipher enemy messages, written in the Nazi’s “unbreakable” Enigma codes, gave the Allies detailed, timely, and continuous access to German military plans, orders, and movements. What the Allies learned shortened the European conflict by at least two years, and possibly more, saving hundreds of thousands of lives — on both sides of the conflict — from still more battles, bombings, and the death camps of the Final Solution.
Turing was the first to conceptualize a machine that could compute anything that is computable simply by altering or changing its software instead of reworking its hardware or wiring. He envisioned a “universal programmable computer,” now called a mainframe or a desktop computer, a laptop, tablet or smartphone. To understand his contribution, just imagine our world without these devices and everything their programming provides. The Internet, online commerce, blogging, GPS, instant messaging, Angry Birds, Grindr, Grand Theft Auto and so much more share the basic concept. No wonder so many of Turing’s peers consider him to be the father of theoretical computer science and modern computing. After the war, Turing’s contributions to the template of the modern world continued. In 1946, he was the first to detail the design of a stored-program
computer. Two years later, he invented the LU decomposition method, used today to solve matrix equations and linear equations. In 1952, he predicted oscillating chemical reactions, not observed until the 1960s. The same year, he published his pioneering concepts of artificial intelligence. He provided a simple method, now known as the Turing Test, to determine whether or not a machine was “intelligent.” A break-in at his home, also in 1952, ended his remarkable career. Turing reported the crime to the police, telling them the burglar might be an acquaintance of a young man with whom he was having an affair. At a time when convictions for homosexuality meant long jail sentences, professional ruin, and social ostracism, it was a grievous mistake. Given the more scandalous and salacious prospect of prosecuting an upstanding academic for his sex life, the police lost all interest in pursuing a petty criminal. Instead, they arrested Turing for “gross indecency,” the same charge that sent Oscar Wilde to Reading Gaol in 1895. BAY TIMES M ARC H 2 0 , 2 0 1 4
Alan Turing During his trial, Turing pleaded guilty to multiple counts of indecent acts. His defense? He saw nothing wrong with loving another man. Wilde received a brutalizing jail sentence, but the court gave Turing a choice: prison or probation after consenting to be castrated. Naturally wishing to avoid imprisonment, he agreed to be sterilized through a series of estrogen injections intended to “beef up his masculine urges and suppress his homosexuality.” Not surprisingly, the treatment ruined his health and his life, causing major damage to his nervous system. He suffered from waves of depression and despair. His security clearance was revoked, although the government never explained how foreign agents could blackmail a publicly known homosexual into giving them state secrets by threatening to reveal his homosexuality. Turing tried to continue his research, but instead entered “a slow, sad descent into grief and madness” until his death two years later on June 7, 1954, sixteen days before his 42nd birthday. In 2009, fifty-seven years after castrating Turing for being a gay man, Her Britannic Majesty’s Government apologized for what it did to him. Prime Minister Gordon Brown acknowledged that Turing’s treatment “was of course utterly unfair,” but also excused it, stating he “was dealt with under the law of the time.” No apology was made to the more than 50,000 other men convicted of same-sex intimacy with a consenting adult or to those who were terrorized, harassed, and humiliated for being gay and whose lives were ruined simply because they could not be themselves.
Bay Times is proud to support the Rainbow Honor Walk rainbowhonorwalk.org
20
P HOTOS C OURT ESY OF RAIN BOW HON O R WAL K
Rainbow Honor Walk
Often considered to be the father of both modern computing and the study of artificial intelligence, Turing, born in England on June 23, 1912, simply was one of the most brilliant and original minds of the last hundred years. There were a few computing devices before he published his seminal paper “On Computable Numbers” in 1936. These devices included the abacus, Babbage’s difference engine, and Hollerith’s tabulating machine. None of them, however, could perform more than one computational task at a time.
After a high-profile campaign supported by tens of thousands of people who believed that a mere apology was not enough, Turing was pardoned in 2013 under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy. Since 1945, only three other people in England and Wales have received such exoneration, granted because they were shown to be “conclusively innocent” of their convicted offense. Turing was not. The British government, for the first time, waived this requirement because of the “exceptional nature of Alan Turing’s achievements.” From a legal perspective, Turing’s conviction still stands. Debate continues over how the conviction could be overturned, but there is no debate in our minds that Turing merits inclusion on the Rainbow Honor Walk. (Editor’s Note: Last week, a biology theory Turing formulated 60 years ago was validated by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Brandeis University. His remarkable accomplishments continue to grow and to influence modern science and numerous other fields.) Bill Lipsky, Ph.D., author of “Gay and Lesbian San Francisco” (2006), is a member of the Rainbow Honor Walk board of directors.
History Happens
News from the GLBT Historical Society & The GLBT History Museum
W hat’s i mpor ta nt about t he g r a nt f r o m t he C ou n c i l o n Library and Information Resources? T he g r a nt , wh ic h we r e c e i ve d i n col labor at ion w it h t he ON E A r c h i v e s a t t h e Un i v e r s it y o f Southern California, comes from CLIR’s “Cataloging Hidden Spec i a l C ol lec t ion s a nd A rch ives” i n it iat ive. Our project , ent it led “Out West,” is desig ned to preser ve and prov ide access to over 10 0 col lec t ion s a nd 8 0 0 l i nea r feet of h istor ica l records i n our archives. At the end of the t woyear project, we’l l be able make available an enormous number of col lect ions t hat were prev iously unknown to scholars.
What’s involved in processing a collection? A rchival processing refers to the act of ar rang ing and descr ibing t he pap er s of a n i nd iv idu a l or t he recor d s of a n or g a n i zat ion so t hey w i l l be accessible to researchers, curators and other users. Each collection is unique, so the archiv ist needs to assess the level of processing required. Considerat ions include what k ind of orig inal order the papers are in, conservation issues, and the likely i nterest i n t he col lect ion. Once the papers are arranged, the archiv ist creates a g uide known as a f inding aid. The f inal step is to prov ide a d ig it a l ver sion of t he f inding aid to the public v ia the Online Archive of California. W hat a re some pa r t icu la rly i nt er e st i n g c ol le c t ion s you have processed? I have been fortunate to work on the papers of two fascinating San Francisco activists. First was José Julio Sarria, who passed away at age 9 0 la st yea r. Sa r r ia ra n for t he San Fra ncisco Board of Super v isors in 1961; he is believed to be the f irst openly gay candidate for public of f ice. In his own words, he was “a gay activist who used entertaining to get my message out.” The collection includes c or r e s p o n d e n c e , ph o t o g r a ph s , ephemera, artifacts and costumes documenting his career as an en-
P HOTO C OURT ESY OF GL BT HISTORIC AL SOC IET Y ( SAN F RAN C ISC O )
The archives of the GLBT Historical Societ y hold thousands of boxes of irreplaceable historical materials. Ever wonder what’s involved in making the contents available to researchers? Juliet Demeter is just the person to ask. As a project archivist, she has been processing collections at the Historical Society since 2012. A resident of West Oakland, just across the bay from San Francisco, Demeter received a master’s deg ree in librar y and information systems at Simmons Col lege i n Boston a nd for merly worked at t he Ba ncroft L ibra r y at t he Un iver sit y of Ca l i for n ia, Berkeley. Her current work is supported by a grant from the Counci l on L ibra r y a nd I n for mat ion Resources (CLIR).
tertainer and activist over half a century. Now I’m work ing on t he papers of Hank Wilson, a longtime gayr i g ht s a nd A I D S a c t i v i s t w ho d ie d i n 2 0 0 8 . He he lp e d for m many wel l-k now n organ izat ions i n Sa n Fr a nc i sco i nc lud i ng t he Gay Teachers Coalition; the San Francisco Gay Democratic Club, wh ich beca me t he Har vey M i l k L G B T D e m o c r a t i c C l u b; a n d AC T U P/G olden Gate. W i l son a l so wa s k now n for h i s cont ro versia l bel ief t hat poppers were a cofactor i n H I V t ra nsm ission and he worked t irelessly to help get t hem banned from bars and bathhouses.
Sarria’s papers are available to r es e a r c her s now. We’r e put t i n g f i n i s h i n g t ou c h e s on t he f ind ing a id pend ing some ex pected add it ions coming from his estate. And I hope to have Wilson’s papers completed by the end of the summer. T he GL BT H i stor y Mu se u m: 4127 18t h St reet , Sa n F r a n c i s c o ; 415 - 6 21-110 7; w w w. g l b t h i s t o r y m u s e u m . org. GL B T H i st or ic a l S o c iet y : 6 57 M i s s ion S t r e et , S u it e 3 0 0 , S a n Fr a n c i s c o; 415 777- 5 4 5 5 , e x t . 3 # ; w w w. glbthistory.org.
BAY T IM ES M ARC H 20, 2014
21
Arts&Entertainment Dreamy Convergence: Ann Hampton Callaway and the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus Music Whoever paired multiplatinum-selling singer and composer Ann Hampton Callaway with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC) gets our heartfelt gratitude. Swoon! To set the mood for what’s ahead, do yourself a favor by putting on a Callaway song now. We’re playing “Blues in the Night” from the Broadway musical Swing! starring the fierce and fabulous Callaway. Her intelligence, radiant stage presence and command of the material are so evident. She will be performing with the always superb SFGMC in the program “LUSTER–An American Songbook” at Davies Symphony Hall on Tuesday, March 25 and Wednesday, March 26. They will be presenting timeless classics from George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington and Irving Berlin. The performance will also include the world premiere of Tyler’s Suite, a multi-movement work created by top American composers of this century and presented in collaboration with the Tyler Clementi Foundation. Callaway is a master at performing works from The Great American Songbook, in part, because she is such a gifted writer herself. Her music and lyrics have been performed and recorded by Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, Michael Feinstein, Blossom Dearie, Peter Nero, Karrin Allyson, Donna McKechnie, Harvey Fierstein, Lillias White, Barbara Carrol, Amanda McBroom, Liz Callaway and Carole King. She composed “At the Same Time” for Barbra Streisand and that recording, Higher Ground, debuted nationally at #1, giving Callaway her first of three platinum records. We could continue raving about her (not to mention the SFGMC), but it’s time that you get to know Callaway in her own words. We were thrilled to interview her for the Bay Times. Bay Times: When you write songs, do you sometimes have a particular singer in mind and, if so, how does that affect your process? Conversely, when you sing songs associated with certain artists, such as Ella and Streisand, do those pre-existing associations influence your own approach to the material?
Ann Hampton Callaway: Most of the songs I write come from my heart and are pieces that reflect where I am in my life, what I am feeling and what interests me. Sometimes I finish a song and think, this would be perfect for so and so. I might fine tune it for them if I want to pitch it. When you are writing something for a particular singer like Barbra Streisand, it is so important to know their range, their stylistic preferences and, most importantly, their personality and what their views are about love and life. When I am singing songs associated with Ella and Streisand, I try to do two things- reflect what they taught me and put my own stamp on the song. My arrangements are a big part of singing for me. They reflect my point of view about the lyrics and help me tell the story in an engaging and fresh way that shares something personal and conveys something universal. BT: How do you characterize The Great American Songbook, and what distinguishes it from other forms of popular music? Why do you think it’s important to keep such material alive and thriving? AHC: I have dedicated much of my life to The Great American Songbook because it is our nation’s legacy and contains timeless masterpieces that express and illuminate the most profound experiences of our lives. Europe has given the world the enduring beauty of classical music, and they have done so well to keep their legacy alive. We are in danger of losing our identity if we forget the best of our artistry. Writers like Gershwin, Kern, Porter, Rodgers and Arlen have given all of us songs that say, “I love you,” better than we can. They are poetic and yet conversational. They plumb the depths of the soul in unique and powerful ways that anyone can relate to and be uplifted by. I sing all over the world and the response to the quality of this music is always extraordinary. BT: Please tell us a bit about your formative years, growing up with so much talent in your family. Was there a particular moment when you knew that you wanted to be a performer and songwriter? AHC: When I was born, the doctor didn’t say, “It’s a girl.” He said, “It’s a baby diva!” Growing up with such a talented mom who sang gorgeously, played everything on the
piano, and taught voice was the perfect inspiration for me and my sister Liz. The funny thing is that I didn’t know I had talent until 3rd grade when Miss Lawrence told me I had a pretty voice. I thought everyone sang and that music was just a part of life. Our dad was a famous journalist in Chicago and gave me my love for writing. He gave me his old rhyming dictionary when I was ten, and I immediately started writing poems and songs. When I played Mame junior year at New Trier East High School that pretty much sealed the deal. It was a thrilling experience that I was not expecting. I had thought I might become an opera singer, but that role and what I learned about myself started me on my way and opened “a new window.” BT: From among your many experiences in live performances on Broadway and in other settings, do you have any particular moments or special memories you would like to tell us about? Favorite occasions or programs or projects? AHC: When I moved from Chicago to NY, I dreamed of being on Broadway. I had no idea it would take 21 years to become an overnight sensation! Starring in Swing! was an incredible experience. I got to create my role, select my songs, arrange them, and work with a wonderful family of talented and interesting people. Singing in Carnegie Hall tributes is always a thrill. Working with stars I admire like Liza Minnelli, who was my guest on my TV pilot Singer’s Spotlight, was amazing. And any time I get to sing
with my dazzling sister, Liz Callaway, it is a joy because of the love and history we share. And I am so happy to be working with The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. My work with gay choruses through the years has been inspiring, because music is the most powerful way of celebrating our identity and journey and knocking down barriers in society to get to the real ways we humans are all connected. BT: You have a long track record of volunteerism and philanthropy. Please tell us a bit about these efforts and why and how you have participated in them. AHC: Being the daughter of a journalist shaped who I am and my sense of responsibility for the many challenges we have in our lives. When I learn of a crisis or a tragedy, I write a song. It’s too hard to sit and be sad and do nothing. Music calls to me and I respond. I’ve written songs about AIDS, gay pride, 9/11, the Tsunami, Katrina, world peace and now bullying. I used to think I was just an idealist and that writing these songs wouldn’t make a difference. But when President Gorbachev wept at my song “At the Same Time,” and Governor Mario Cuomo woke me up at 8 in the morning to thank me for writing it, I got that people do listen and can be touched in their hearts when it comes from yours. BT: We are really looking forward to your upcoming performance here in San Francisco with the SF Gay Men’s Chorus. How did you become con-
nected with the Chorus, and what are your thoughts about the upcoming concert here with them? AHC: I was excited when Tim Seelig shared the news about Tyler’s Suite and that I had been selected by the great Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz to compose music to honor the young gay man who took his life after being bullied on the Internet. I loved the lyric that Pamela Stewart wrote after interviewing Tyler’s mother, Jane. The song “I Love You More” is such a personal and tender way to celebrate what can never be taken: the love between a mother and her son. When I was rehearsing the song with Tim and the extraordinary Chorus, it felt so healing and uplifting, as did the entire work. Tim is a great conductor and has led choruses like this one to great things. I know that our celebration of The Great American Songbook in Act One and Tyler’s Suite in Act Two will be unforgettable. The talent and heart that these 300 men makes for a giant love fest. BT: What are some of your favorite places to visit, and things to do, in San Francisco? Have any of them inspired your work? AHC: My first out of town job as a singer in my early 20’s was a month at the top of The Hyatt where I met my first female partner, so this city will always remind me of that special time. I love singing for Marilyn Levinson’s cabaret series and at Yoshi’s. And years ago, I had a wonderful time at The (continued on page 26)
Geography Club Plays Out All the Dramas of Queer Teen Life
Film
Geography Club, a gay student group. The club, a secret gay-straight alliance, is named “something boring” to protect the queer kids and prevent other students from joining.
the issues surrounding peer pressure and self-expression credible despite the supporting characters being underdeveloped and the film being somewhat haphazardly constructed.
While Russell finds himself first observing and then participating in Geography Club, Kevin wants to keep his sexuality secret. Geography Club plays out all the dramas of teen life, from Russell’s anxiety about being asked to date a girl to a bullying incident and Kevin’s angst about coming out. The film makes
In a recent Skype session, Cameron Deane Stewart spoke about playing Russell and making Geography Club.
Gary M. Kramer Geography Club, now out on DVD, is a loose adaptation of Brent Hartinger’s fine young adult book about gay teen Russell Middlebrook (the appealing Cameron Deane Stewart) navigating high school and his sexual identity. Russell has a secret relationship going with school quarterback Kevin ( Justin Deeley). The relationship is evolving at the right speed for both boys. However, after Min (Ally Maki) spies the guys kissing one night, she invites them to join 22
Gary M. Kramer: What were you like as a teen? Cameron Deane Stewart: Oh, boy! I’m 22 now. A couple years ago, I was in high school myself. I was the kid who was friends with everyone, but I didn’t really have a group that I felt I fit into. I was athletic, but didn’t play sports in high school. GMK : W hat appealed to you about Russell?
Cameron Deane Stewart
BAY TIMES M ARC H 2 0 , 2 0 1 4
CDS: Russell is mature for his age. He is strong-hearted and strong-willed. I guess I fell in love with his vulnerability. I felt there were so many positives that could come from playing him. The ultimate goal is for people to see Russell as the character he is.
GMK: How did you identify with him?
isn’t (a stereotype) in the novel or in the film.
CDS: Everyone struggled with something in high school. I came from a pretty conservative place in Texas. I watched kids in high school get bullied, or they didn’t come out, or were stereotyped as the gay kid. This film was an opportunity for me to send a message to the youth that love is universal and that there is group out there that is going through exactly what you are.
GMK: Do you feel pressure playing a character that has become a favorite of readers?
GMK: What do you think about Russell being a role model? CDS: So many times, in TV and movies, the gay characters are—I don’t want to say stereotyped—but they centralize on one idea of what that person may be. Russell breaks that mold. He’s average. A guy’s guy, in some sense. I wanted him to be relatable and I wanted to show a different aspect of a kid struggling with his (identity). I wanted him to be an everyman, not extraordinary or out of the ordinary. I wanted him to be relatable emotionally, and break the (gay) stereotypes as much as I could—not a caricature of what the gay kid might be. He
CDS: Sure! He’s not quite Harry Potter, but it is fantastic to have such a built-in following. The goal from the beginning was to show an honest portrayal of a kid struggling in high school. I had not read the books prior to filming, and so I based the character off the script. But I wanted it to be as truthful as possible to what novelist Brent Hartinger and screenwriter Edmund Entin wrote, and bring it to life. GMK: How did you approach the character? CDS: The best way I can describe it is taking experiences from people I saw who struggled to come out, or tried to find a group they fit into. Everyone has been in a situation where they don’t fit in. You take that and mold that to fit the character. I guess I never felt in with the Jocks. I was athletic, but there’s that period where I felt like an outcast, and (continued on page 26)
Soprano Saxophonist Tony Bragano Lulls Listeners Into Sweet Surrender Tony Bragano: Since I’ve taken on music as a full time career, I have released 2 albums: Take It Easy and Escape. I have connected with many fans by playing all over the Bay Area. KM: How does your work represent, or otherwise connect with, the LGBT community?
Gems of The Bay Kippy Marks
TB: Even now, in today’s world, ‘LGBT’ is somewhat of a black sheep, in that you have to stand up for uniqueness and not succumb to the judgments of others. As an artist, you have to have the same courage to deal with these circumstances. It’s the only way real art will live and survive in the world.
N IC OL E F ON G
KM: How did you get started in your career, and who were some of the people who inspired and/ or mentored you?
Tony Bragano As a performing artist in the wonderful city of San Francisco and the Bay Area, I get the ultimate pleasure to meet and perform with many extremely talented individuals. There is one artist in particular that I would love to tell you about. His name is Tony Bragano, and his instrument of passion is the soprano saxophone. I first saw Tony at the world- renowned Ghirardelli Square, where we share the stage in front of an international audience. I was wowed! His style of performance is expressive, passionate and quite enjoyable to experience. Kippy Marks: Tony, please tell us about your work and achievements.
TB: After graduating business school in 2008 (the University of San Francisco), I decided to pursue a full-time career in music, primarily playing the soprano saxophone and smooth jazz. One of my mentors is a man known as Mr. Natural, who operates a local music school in the Haight area. He truly inspired me. I am blessed to have met many friends along the way who make a living by expressing themselves as unique individuals and artists. Their unique stories and experiences of how they continue to spread their art are always a wonderful source of inspiration to me. KM: What are your career goals for the future? TB: Currently I perform a lot of solo gigs in the San Francisco and Bay Area. My main focus is original songs. My goal is to be able to expand my operation into a full band and richer experience for the audience, and then to take this on tour nationally and internationally to connect with the world.
KM: What else would you like SF Bay Times readers to know about you and your work? TB: (Tony thinks a minute, before sharing two concepts that are infused into his performances.) Magic – The out of body experience, and the ‘being in the zone feeling’ you get when you’re in a state of “flow.” It’s as if the saxophone is playing you, as opposed to you playing it. There is a direct link to the imagination and not thinking; it is subconscious. This is where Magic happens, and you accomplish what you thought was impossible. Fruits of Labor – When you want to get to a certain playing ability (having more control over the instrument), you work hours and hours to develop this. And then finally one day it happens. You have developed more strength and control over the instrument and she then takes you to another world. Being able to jump into these zones is what fulfills me and is why I play the saxophone. Tony will be performing at the Gems of the Bay concert series at Martuni’s on April 17 from 7-8:30 pm. Tickets are $10 www.brownpapertickets.com/ event/582820 To find out more about Tony Bragano, please visit www.tonybragano. com and www.facebook.com/tonybragano. To listen to Tony’s music, check out www.cdbaby.com/Artist/ TonyBragano, www.jango.com/music/ Tony+Bragano and itunes.apple.com/ us/album/take-it-easy/id525261004 Violinist Kippy Marks entertains audiences worldwide with his inspirational compositions and lively performances that draw from classical, jazz, blues and dance. www.kippy marks.us
Round About — “The Rugby Player” at Cinaquest Photos by Jo-Lynn Otto
San Jose’s Cinequest Film Festival 2014 included screenings at the California Theater of the multiple award-winning film The Rugby Player, a documentary on the story of Mark Bingham, hero of United Flight 93 on 9/11, and his mother, Alice Hoagland, a former United Airlines flight attendant. Bingham was a gay man, a Cal Berkeley alum who loved playing rugby. Using footage shot by Bingham himself, the film presents a stirring portrait of how a son’s heroism can inspire a nation and how a mother’s love can turn profound loss into unshakable resolve. Hoagland, along with Emmy award winning director Scott Gracheff, appeared at the event and answered questions on stage following a standing ovation from the audience. View the film’s official trailer at youtube.com/watch?v=3IhSM3)MZ-o
BAY T IM ES M ARC H 20, 2014
23
See many more Calendar items @ www.sfbaytimes.com
compiled by Robert Fuggiti
Basics of Alzheimer’s and Dementia – Openhouse. Free. 2 pm to 3 pm. (Online webinar) www.webinar.kintera.org/LGBT2. The Alzheimer’s Association presents Basics of Alzheimer’s and Dementia for LGBT Care Partners. Cinderella – SF War Memorial Opera House. $22+. 8 pm. (301 S. Van Ness) www.sfballet.org. Following an enormously successful run in 2013, Christopher Wheeldon’s magical production of Cinderella is back. Vampire Lesbians of Sodom – Virago Theatre Company. $28. 8 pm. (1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley) www. viragotheatre.org. One of the longest running shows in Off-Broadway history, Charles Busch’s outrageous comedy tells the saga of two fatally seductive vampiresses.
Aging As A Spiritual Practice – Point Reyes Presbyterian Church. Donation based. 1 pm. (11445 Highway 1, Point Reyes Station) www.ptreyesbooks.com. Share your journey of aging with a small, caring community of others on the same path. The Klipptones – The Palace Hotel. Free. 8 pm. (2 New Montgomery) www.joshuaklipp. com. The Klipptones are the Bay Area’s hottest new swing jazz crossover band, specializing in Sinatra-era classics mashed up with Billboard-topping pop. Untethered – Drawing with Scissors. Mapworks by SF Artist Mark M Garrett. (Dogpatch Gallery - 2295 3rd St @ 20th St.).Opening
PHOTO BY C ARL STUDNA
“The Million Dollar Piano” opens at Century San Francisco Centre on March 26. Reception 6:00 - 8:00 pm. Free Open to the Public. Cafe & Gallery Hours: 7:00 am - 6:00 pm Daily. www.dogpatchcafe.com/exhibitions. html, www.markmgarrett.com Chelsea Handler – Davies Symphony Hall. $50-$75. 7 pm. (201 Van Ness Ave.) www.chelseahandler.com. The late night talk show host comes to the Bay Area for a hilarious night of stand-up comedy.
Vintage Fashion Expo – San Francisco Design Center. $12. 11 am. (685 Eighth St.) www.vintageexpo.com. The Vintage Fashion Expo will feature vintage dealers from across the country. A Gay Old Time – St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church. $25. 8 pm. (101 Gold Mine Dr.) www.staidan.org. Enjoy an evening of queer friendly comedy to benefit St. Aidan’s Church. Club Rimshot – Bench and Bar. $5. 9 pm. (510 17th St.) www. bench-and-bar.com. A weekly hiphop party at the Bay Area’s largest LGBT nightclub.
A Conversation with Jane Clementi and Dr. Timothy Seelig – Gresham Hall at Grace Cathedral. Free. 9:30 am to 10:30 am. (1100 California St.) www. gracecathedral.org. Join Dr. Jane Shaw, Dean of Grace Cathedral, for a conversation with Jane Clementi and Dr. Timothy Seelig on empathy, music and music’s power to change hearts and minds.
Nature: Georgia O’Keeffe and Lake George, organized by The Hyde Collection with the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Through May 11. Wanted – Q Bar. Free. 10 pm to 2 am. (456 Castro St.) www.sfwanted.com. Enjoy a night of dance and electronic music along with $2 drink specials. Mahogany Mondays – Midnight Sun. Free. 8 pm. (4067 18th St.) www.midnightsunsf.com. A live drag variety show with $5 drink specials all evening.
LUSTER: An American Songbook – Davies Symphony Hall. $25-$75. 8 pm. (201 Van Ness Ave.) www.sfgmc.org. The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus along with special guest Ann Hampton Callaway sing timeless classics. Beach Blanket Babylon – Club Fugazi. $25-$130. 8 pm. (678 Green St.) www.beachblanketbabylon.com. Enjoy Steve Silver’s famous musical revue packed with hilarious pop culture and political antics. Switch – Q Bar. $5. 10 pm to 2 am. (456 Castro St.) www.qbarsf. com. A weekly lesbian dance party.
The Million Dollar Piano – Century San Francisco Centre. Check prices. 7 pm. (845 Market St.) www.fathomevents.com. Captured live from his residency at The Coliseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, The Million Dollar Piano features Elton John greatest hits. Lorde – Fox Theater. $80+. 8 pm. (1807 Telegraph Ave.) www. thefoxoakland.com. The captivating young artist, Lorde, comes to the Bay Area for one night only. Queer Salsa Dancing – Beatbox. Free. 8 pm. (314 11th St.) www.beatboxsf.com. A weekly queer friendly salsa dance hosted by Lantin City Nights.
Annual Social – Castro CBD. Free. 6 pm to 8 pm. (531 Castro St.) www.castrocbd.org. Meet the CBD Board of Directors, city officials and your neighbors for a social evening of wine and hors d’oeuvres. Every Direction Band – El Rio. $5-$20. 9 pm. (3158 Mission St.) www.sfwham.org. Join the Bay’s favorite ‘boi’ band, Every Direction,
Treasure Island Flea – Treasure Island. $3. 10 am to 4 pm. (Treasure Island) www.treasureislandflea.com. Shop art, antiques, clothes, furniture and more at this popular monthly flea market. Jock – Lookout. $2. 3 pm to 9 pm. (3600 16th St.) www.lookoutsf. com. A weekly fundraising party for Bay Area LGBT sports groups.
Georgia O’Keeffe and Lake George – de Young Museum. $25. 9:30 am to 5:15 pm. (50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr.) www.deyoungmuseum.org. Presenting Modern 24
BAY TIMES M ARC H 2 0 , 2 0 1 4
Drawing with Scissors: “Mapworks” by SF artist Mark M. Garrett opens March 21 at Dogpatch Gallery.
for a feel-good night of drag and dancing to benefit Lyon-Martin Health Services. Mommy Queerest – Exit Theatre. $15-$25. 8 pm. (165 Eddy St.) www.divafest.com. Mommy Queerest is a comedic, autobiographical, one-woman show written and performed by Kat Evasco.
LGBTQ Night Out – Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. $20$75. 7 pm to 9 pm. (700 Howard St.) www.ybca.org. Join Juanita More! and friends for a spectacular evening at YBCA celebrating ODC’s 43rd season. Liza Minnelli – Davies Symphony Hall. $75+. 8 pm. (201 Van Ness) www.sfsymphony.com. For just one night, the one and only Liza Minnelli comes to Davies Symphony Hall. WOM MOM – Underground SF. Free. 10 pm to 2 am. (424 Haight St.) www.undergroundsf.com. A dance party with resident DJ Sissyslap playing high energy beats all night long.
The Castro Lions Crab Feed – St. Anne of the Sunset. $50. 6 pm. (850 Judah St.) www.brownpapertickets.com. The Castro and Park Presidio-Sunset Lions Clubs present the second annual crab feed, benefitting a host of different charities. 50’s Rock Sing Along Show – Take 5 Café. Free. 7 pm to 9 pm. (3130 Sacramento St.) www.take5cafe.net. J. Althea & The Graceland Girls will be doing their 50’s Rock Sing-Along in Berkeley at the new Lesbian owned Take 5 Cafe. Celebratory Concert – Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Club. $25. 7 pm. (1650 Mountain Blvd., Oakland) www.brownpapertickets.com. Join for a celebration of community spirit that has brought so many women together.
The Threepenny Opera – The Stage. $17.50-$35. 2 pm. (490 S. 1st St.) www.thestage.org. A powerful and evocative musical written by Bertolt Brecht.
www.cafesf.com. Enjoy drink specials during the day and drag performances through the evening. Beer Bust – 440. $8. 3 pm to 8 pm. (440 Castro St.) www.the440. com. An afternoon beer bust happening every Sunday.
Chicks with Shticks Exhibit – San Francisco Main Library. Free. 10 am to 6 pm. (100 Larkin St.) www. sfpl.org. Now for the first time, Kinsey Sicks artifacts— scripts, sheet music, costumes, photos and other memorabilia—are gathered in one place. Monday Night Bluegrass – Amnesia. Free. 6 pm. (853 Valencia St.) www.amnesiathebar.com. Enjoy a night of Bluegrass music every Monday night. Piano Bar 101 – Martuni’s. Free. 9 pm. (4 Valencia St.) www.dragatmartunis.com. Sing along to your favorite songs with friends.
Mama Mia! – Orpheum Theatre. $60+. 8 pm. (1192 Market St.) www.shnsf.com. The story-telling magic of ABBA’s timeless songs
propels this enchanting tale of love, laughter and friendship Funny Tuesdays – Harvey’s. Free. 9 pm. (500 Castro St.) www. harveyssf.com. Ronn Vigh hosts an LGBT comedy night. Trivia Night – Hi Tops. Free. 10 pm. (2247 Market St.) www.hitopssf. com. Test your trivia knowledge at this Castro sports bar.
Beyond Living Trusts – Beck Law Group. Free. 6 pm to 7:30 pm. (2825 Diamond St.) www.becklawgroup.com. A seminar to cover Beneficiary Controlled Trusts, Special Needs Trusts and other planning tools to protect beneficiaries. Castro Farmers’ Market – Noe St. Free. 4 pm to 8 pm. (Noe St. between Market and Beaver St.) www.pcfma.com. The popular Castro Farmers’ Market features Northern California’s freshest fruits and vegetables, live music, and fun. Smack Dab Open Mic Night – Magnet. Free. 8 pm. (4122 18th St.) www.magnetsf.org. Larry-bob Roberts hosts an open mic night for all.
Glamazone – The Café. Free. 9 pm to 2 am. (2369 Market St.)
BAY T IM ES M ARC H 20, 2014
25
(ROSTOW continued from page 11) There’s a reason no one travels these roads. Most gay journalists don’t think being gay is fundamentally a choice, don’t have much sympathy for far right leaders like Jerry Falwell, and don’t believe that gay activists are bullies when they confront discrimination or bigotry. Ambrosino, whose columns inspire sputtering fury from the rest of the gay writing cohort, has just been hired as a gay voice for Vox, a new online venture run by clueless Ezra Klein, who admitted he wasn’t really up to date on Ambrosino’s body of work, but said he liked
writers who didn’t say the same thing as everyone else. You know, everyone likes a fresh viewpoint. But although many aspects of gay civil rights are up for debate, that debate is marked by some bright lines that can’t be crossed by any serious writer. And yet, they can be crossed by someone like Brendon Albrosino! They can be crossed by someone who wants to be noticed on that lonely road to nowhere and who doesn’t have the mental agility to ex-
(SISTER DANA continued from page 12) We honored plaintiffs K ris Perry by t he S A N F R A NCISCO G AY a nd S a ndy St ier for t hei r suc- M E N’S C HORU S a s a celebr acessful challenge to Proposition 8. t ion of 20 t h C ent u r y A mer ic a n Their case went all the way to the music, featuring accomplished jazz Supreme Cour t and resulted in a voca list/song w r iter A n n Ha mp la nd mark v ictor y for Ca l i for n ia. ton Ca l laway (see inter v iew on Their courage, and the courage of page 22), t he iconic songs of A rEdie Windsor in challenging the len, Berlin, Ellington, GershDefense of Marr iage Act, forever win, Porter, Rodgers & Hart, changed the landscape of marriage Waller, and the world premiere of equality in the United States. Ber- the new choral work, Tyler’s Suite. r y concluded, “Out & Equa l w i l l The concert is March 25 and 26, continue to work tirelessly until ev- 8 pm i n Dav ies Sy mphony H a l l . eryone is judged by the work they sfgmc.org. do, and never by their sexual orientation or gender identit y.” Em- THEATRE RHINOCEROS prescee comic Kate Clinton and jazz ents THE HABIT OF ART, A Very voca list Pau la West entertained Br itish Comedy by A la n Benus. Note: the 2014 OUT&EQUAL net t (T h e Hi st o r y B o ys) d i r ec t ed WOR K P L ACE SUM MIT is No - by John Fisher in this Bay A rea vember 3 – 6 in San Francisco. out- premiere - 14 per formances only, March 27 – April 13, Wednesdays andequal.org. Saturdays, 8pm and Sundays, 3pm P E A C H E S C H R I S T P R O - at Z Below Theatre, 470 F lor ida, DUCT ION S pr oud ly pr e s ent e d between 17th & 18th Streets. Thea ‘ 9 0 s - i n s p i r e d p r e - s h o w o f Rhino.org. hyster ica l, hi lar ious propor t ions, GET A CLUE, written and direct- Get ready to laugh your a$$ off when ed by Peaches Christ, w ith the R I C H M O N D/ E R M E T A I D S super-t a lented W i l l a m (of N ip/ FOUNDATION presents THE BIG Tuck and RuPaul’s Drag Race fame) as GAY COMEDY SHOW, an evening Cher, to screen in the Castro The- of outrageous stand up and musiater and celebrate in honor of the cal comedy, April 13, 7;30pm, Ma‘9 0 s A my Heckerl i ng’s CLUE - rines’ Memorial Theater, 609 Sutter LESS. WhatEVAR! Joining Peach- Street, with comics Bruce Vilanch, es and Wi l la m Bel l i on st age for Shawn Ryan, Shann Carr, Marthe show were several of EssEf f ’s ga Gomez, Ali Fame Mafi, Katya br i g ht e s t d r a g s t a r s , i n c lu d i n g Smirnoff-Sky, Kitty Tapata, and Becky Motorlodge, Lady Bear, B.O.O.B.S! It’s a fundraiser for Bay Pegg y L’eggs, and special g uest Area AIDS organizations. Info and Mah lae Ba lenciaga as Dionne. tix: (415) 273-1620. helpisontheway. As the fractured movie motto goes: org. “ W ig s , Fa ke B oobs , Padd i ng. I s there a problem here?!” As if. Ab- T he a r t of ROL A N DO B. RO SL ER is on d isplay a l l March in solutely not! Flawless! Magnet’s art gallery. Rosler’s work w it h pastels is amazing. His love CUMMING UP! for colors, the lines, the actions of L U S T E R , A N A M E R I C A N creating a piece of work with just a SONGBOOK is the latest concert small piece of chalk or pastel never (MUSIC continued from page 22) Fairmont. I think Northern California has some of the most inspiring beauty, perfect for a songwriter, and anytime by the ocean there has given me the peace to connect to my creative spirit. And, as a lover of wine, I love getting away to Napa and Sonoma for vineyard splendor. Wherever grapes are happy, I’m happy! BT: So much of The Great American Songbook and related works are connected to the LGBT community. Even Neil Patrick Harris, when hosting the Tony’s, sang “50 Shades of Gay.” Why do you think this affinity might exist, and what role might groups like the SF Gay Men’s Chorus play in preserving such acclaimed songs? AHC: Well, some of its greatest creators were gay, like Cole Porter and Lawrence Hart, and expressed not only the poignant side of it all, but also the colorful and wry sensibility that has kept people smiling through the challenges. Show tunes tend to be larger than life and entice people to come (FILM continued from page 22) didn’t quite fit in, so I pull from those emotions. GMK: Do you play football? CDS: (Laughs) I’m not good at football. I played soccer for eleven years. I played football in middle school, but once I hit high school, it fizzled out. I remember that last day of shooting, the football game was our final scene. I was so winded running up and down the field. Exercising is the last thing on my to do list. I still do it as minimally as I can. 26
BAY TIMES M ARC H 2 0 , 2 0 1 4
out of their cocoons and closets and shine their own light. When groups as talented and charming as the SFGMC sing these classics, they bring a context that gives fresh meaning to the lyrics. Who can’t fall in love all over with these songs with all these handsome men in tuxedos wooing you with that full, virile sound? BT: What are your thoughts about the changes in the LGBT community over the past year or so? How have you and Kari (Callaway’s partner) chosen to celebrate your relationship of many years? And please tell us about Muffin Louise Callaway (cat) too! AHC: It is, as Dickens wrote, “The best of times and the worst of times.” The huge strides made nationally for gay marriage is progress that I never would have dreamed possible in our lifetime. Kari and I are planning on getting married this year and are overjoyed to get to be part of history, legalizing our devotion to one another. At the same time, it is heart wrenching to know that laws
plore the nuanced complexities along the side streets that intersect our common path. There are a lot of people on those side streets and they’re not going to be noticed by conventional editors who are fundamentally unversed in the gay rights movement. Not unless they’re really good, which Brandon Albrosino is not. Ergo, he’s a contrarian—which is almost always a euphemism for a simplistic publicity seeker posing as a thinker. arostow@aol.com
ceases to delight. Rosler is a member of the Gay Men’s Sketch group in San Francisco. His show is entitled HEADS & FIGUR ES, with 30 gorgeous pieces to showcase at Magnet, the 18th and Castro Street social wellbeing and health hub. PORNUCOPIA: f lick pick for the week is INTO DAR K NESS, RagingStallion.com. Teaser: THE SISTERS OF PERP E T UA L I N DU L G E N C E w i l l hold our 35th A nniversar y Easter in Golden Gate Park, THE EM ER ALD JUBILEE, A “TRIP” TO OZ on Sunday 4/20, 12 noon; Chi ldren’s Easter, 10am. Dolores Park is being renovated, so we’re having our party in Hellman Hollow (formerly Speedway Meadow). More details next issue. PE A R L S OV ER SHA NGHA I returns to the Hy pnodrome courtesy of the THRILLPEDDLERS. Opens Thursday March 27, 8pm. Sa n Fr a nc i sco’s longest-r u n n i ng Cockettes “all singing, all dancing, all cardboard” musical hit is back for a f ifth anniversary revival production. It’s a comic mock-operetta about white slaver y, opium dens, and miscegenation set in the color ful world of 1937 Shangha i. Thursdays, Fr idays, Saturdays at 8pm, 575 10th Street. 800 - (838 3006). thrillpeddlers.com. S i st e r D ana sez , “A g r icult ure S ecretary Tom V ilsack has refused to delay the food stamp cuts, which makes it all th e more urge nt th at st at es - including California - take immediate action t o re ve rse th e a wf ul food st a mp c ut s passed by Congress last month. Sorry, RepubliC A N ’Ts, but poor people need to eat.”
are being passed and enforced that say that homosexuality is a crime punishable by life imprisonment or even the death penalty in many nations. The recent legislation passed in Uganda was much inspired by American fundamentalist Christians. Our community has made great progress, but there still is so much work to be done for equality and justice. As for Muffin Louise Callaway, since becoming an angel a year ago, she has me channeling her and helping her write a book called The Power of Paw-sitive Thinking. We miss her always, but are happy to have two new babies: our rescue cat Schubert and his sister Sophia, who wish us all a purr-fect show in San Francisco. If you are a Callaway virgin, feel free to go my website, www.annhamptoncallaway. com, and check out song and video links. And please don’t miss this historic concert at Davies Hall! It’s going to be a night to remember!
GMK: Russell is described as a romantic. Are you romantic, or are you more of a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy?
understanding of himself by the end, and there’s no use in being with anyone else if you don’t know who you are.
CDS: I’m a romantic. I can’t lie. I’m a sucker for rom-coms.
© 2014 Gary M. Kramer
GMK: Russell risks everything to define himself. Do you think he makes the right choices? CDS: Yes, 100%. I think there is no reward without risk. He has a complete
Gary M. Kramer is the author of “Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews,” and the co-editor of “Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.” You can follow him on Twitter @ garymkramer.
Lawrence Shorter joined his sister Andrea Shorter and partner Lubov Smith at the Out & Equal Momentum Celebration at the Bentley Reserve.
“Straight Jacket” writer Alisha Diego Klatt and director Chirstine Liang with “The Worlds of Bernice Bing” director Madeleine Lim at CAAMFEST
Bebe Sweetbriar and James Leahigh at the Nitey Awards held at the Castro Theatre
Popular entertainer Cockatelia performing on stage at the Nitey Awards
PHOTO BY RIN K
PHOTO BY RIN K
Sophoan Sorn, Alex Randolph, Trevor Nguyen and Ben Leong enjoying the CAAMFEST (Asian American Film Festival) Opening Night Gala at the Asian Art Museum
PHOTO BY RIN K
PHOTO BY RIN K
REAF’s Ken Henderson (center) was surrounded in the Castro Theatre’s lobby area at the Nitey Awards.
P HOTO BY RIN K
P HOTO BY ST EVEN UN DERHIL L
Bay Times contributors Leslie Katz and Zoe Dunning surround Houston Mayor Annise Parker at the California Democratic Party’s annual convention held in Los Angeles.
P HOTO B Y RIN K
Nitey Awards attendees enjoying the Red Carpet area at the Castro Theatre
P HOTO BY RIN K
P H OTO B Y ST E VE N UN DE R H I LL
Round About – All Over Town
Monica Davis and Colleen Ryan surround CAAMFEST Board Chair Monica Davis at the Opening Night Gala
Frameline’s Daniel Balugay with Brandon Young at CAAMFEST
Round About —
P HOTO BY S TE VEN UN DER HI LL
PHOTO BY RI N K
PHOTO BY RI N K
PH OTO B Y ST EVE N U NDE RH I LL
PHOTO BY R INK PH OTO B Y R IN K
PH OTO B Y ST EVE N UNDE R H IL L
PHOTO BY R INK
From parties to pub crawls to the 163rd Annual Parade, LGBT community members participated in St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Bay Times columnist Heidi Beeler reports that the SF Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band has marched in the SF St. Patrick’s Day Parade periodically since 1979. However, this year was the first year for an appearance by a contingent from the SF Pride Committee. LGBT politicians and organizational leaders were also visible.
PHOTO BY S TEVE N UNDERHI LL
St. Patrick’s Day 2014
BAY T IM ES M ARC H 20, 2014
27