San Francisco Bay Times - Sept 1 2016 - Art for Aids Cover

September 1-14, 2016 | www.sfbaytimes.com

Two Decades of

By Leslie Morgan Donated by Studio Gallery, Missing Partner, Printmaking, collage and oil stick on wood panel, 20�

About the Artist: Leslie Morgan was born and raised in the middle of a Texas desert where the nearest ocean was 600 miles away. As a kid, she dreamed of tropical islands, pirate boats, and sea creatures. The public pool served as her primary mode of escape and a therapy for childhood asthma.

Diving into the water was the birth of a lifetime obsession and joy with aquatic experiences. She spent her early professional years in Key West working as a psychologist during the day in hospitals, jails, nursing homes, and clinics. Her free time was spent anchored behind different islands on the boat she called home. Simultaneously, Morgan continued her love for photography and eventually dove into her current profession as an artist, left the field of psychology, and moved to San Francisco. For more about the artist: http://artforaids.org/portfolio/leslie-morgan/

/SF Bay Times

/SFBayTimes

Project Open Hand Weekend Declared Saturday & Sunday September 10-11 See pages 14-15

See Pages 16-17

2

SA N F RANCISCO BAY   T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

In the News Compiled by Dennis McMillan Finally, the Promised Castro at 18th Streets Repairs and Replacement Will Happen This Month After several delays to assure that the work is coordinated and then completed as fast as possible, San Francisco Department of Public Works is finally ready to repair drainage and other issues from last year’s Castro Street Sidewalks Widening Project, and to replace the Rainbow Crosswalks later unintentionally damaged by a film location crew—all at the Castro and 18th Streets intersection. Work is tentatively scheduled for the week of September 12, with an overnight work session on that Monday night. castromerchants.com 1015 Folsom Cancels Upcoming Performance by Anti-Gay Reggae Artist On September 23, controversial reggae artist Sizzla was set to perform at 1015 Folsom nightclub. However, 1015’s owner, Ira Sandler, recently announced that the show was canceled. Sizzla is known for “murder music,” a type of reggae whose lyrics incite violence against the LGBTQ community and glorify killing individuals who identify as gay. Sandler initially learned of Sizzla’s upcoming San Francisco show via an email from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. They heard about Sizzla from Todd Larsen of Queer Humboldt, who launched an awareness campaign about Sizzla’s anti-LGBTQ statements when he saw that Sizzla had been booked for shows in Humboldt County, at Petaluma’s Mystic Theatre, and at 1015 Folsom.

Sandler was deeply apologetic about the booking, explaining that in late July, when the show was booked, he had just suffered a heart attack and a double bypass. “We at 1015 have had a long love affair with the LGBTQ community, and will fight tirelessly for their equal rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” said Sandler.

“To that end, there was no hesitation in my heart to do the right thing and cancel this show.” hoodline.com Change at Our Family Coalition After over ten years at the helm of Our Family Coalition, Judy Appel will be concluding her time as Executive Director next month. She will join California School-Based Health Alliance as Executive Director, building on the educational equity she is so passionate about in her role on the Berkeley School Board. Renata Moreira-Bilella—Our Family Coalition’s Communications and Policy Director and last summer’s Acting Executive Director—has the Board of Directors’ unanimous endorsement as Interim Executive Director this fall, as the Board conducts a comprehensive search and review process for the next Executive Director. ourfamily.org Incarcerated Transgender Woman’s Lengthy Hunger Strike Ends with Her Release Athena Cadence, a transgender woman who had been incarcerated, went on a hunger strike beginning June 1. Cadence’s demands included that she be housed with other women in a San Francisco jail and searched only by women officers there. The hunger strike lasted 64 grueling days, earning headlines in outlets ranging from the San Francisco Examiner to Mother Jones, and ending only with Cadence’s recent release from custody. transgenderlawcenter.org Rainbow Honor Walk Salutes New Honorees and Amelia’s Lesbian Bar The Rainbow Honor Walk, which recently announced 24 new honorees saluting historical LGBT leaders, raised a glass—and funds—in honor of LGBT heroes with “One Night At Amelia’s.” The event was held at the Elbo Room, which was previously the lesbian bar Amelia’s from 1978–1991.

Amelia’s founder and owner, Rikki Streicher, is one of the newly selected Rainbow Walk honorees. Amelia’s was one of the last dedicated lesbian bars in America. Streicher is one of 24 newly selected Rainbow Honor Walk heroines to have plaques and photos installed on Castro Street sidewalks.

Donna Sachet emceed the evening. hoodline.com Opportunity Coming to Join Castro Community on Patrol Volunteering just three hours a month with Castro Community on Patrol improves the safety of the Castro neighborhood. Castro Patrol volunteers have been an active part of community safety since 2006, making a real difference. The next free volunteer workshop will be on Saturday, September 17, from 1 to 4 pm. Patrol Volunteer training is a combination of a written training manual that candidates must read, followed by a threehour practical certification class that was developed in cooperation with the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), San Francisco Safety Awareness For Everyone (SFSAFE.org) and officers of the Community Patrol Service USA (CPS-USA) organization.

After successful completion of the written and practical training, newly designated Trainee Patrollers must complete four supervised patrols with supervisory Patrollers in order to advance to full Patroller status. castropatrol.org San Francisco Secures $45 Million from State to Expand Muni Train Fleet Mayor Edwin M. Lee applauded the California State Transportation Agency for awarding $45 million in new cap-and-trade funds as part of the Transit and Intercity Rail Capacity Program (TIRCP) to allow for growth and modernization of San Francisco’s light rail vehicle (LRV) fleet. In addition to improving the system’s safety and reliability, decreasing crowding, and increasing integration with regional operators like BART and Caltrain, the full fleet of new LRVs is expected to deliver 963,000 tons of greenhouse gas reductions over the life of the vehicles. “This funding represents a key investment in San Francisco’s transit infrastructure as the city works to expand and replace its current light rail vehicle fleet, shorten travel times, and keep the system in a state of good repair,” said Mayor Lee. “The funding will also help to address current and future capacity needs, drive smart growth and development to the city’s rail corridors and increase transportation services for riders of all income levels.” sfgov.org Activists Oppose Reinstallation of ‘Transphobic, Fat-Shaming’ Naked Trump Statue Thousands of people flocked to the corner of Market and Castro to get a photo with the nude comic rendering of the Republican presidential hopeful.

Upon seeing the statue, a number of people took to social media to declare that the “political art,” which was installed in five cities around the U.S., revealed underlying fat and transphobic sentiments in our society. After the Trump statue was removed, District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener took to Twitter, saying that he was working to convince SF Public Works to allow Union Square pub Lefty O’Doul’s to display it until Election Day. “The Trump statue is political art, and different people view and interpret art differently,” Wiener noted. “I interpret the statue—as do many people—as exposing Trump for the fraud, racist and fascist he is. At no point have I said or suggested that we should make fun of the statue for the way Trump’s body is depicted.” hoodline.com (continued on page 30) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

3

Debra Walker I am so honored to be writing for the San Francisco Bay Times about this historic presidential campaign. As someone who has followed Hillary Clinton’s work for many years, and who is helping with both the local and national grassroots efforts to elect her, I would like to focus on The Clinton Foundation and its impact on our community and beyond.

empowerment of women and slashing of community investment in areas continually impoverished by global economic injustice—you can understand more clearly why the right wing critics continue to attack The Clinton Foundation. Leveraging private capital to fund governmental objectives is a win. The Clinton Foundation raises money to do good around the world, and they succeed in their goals. Not only have they been rated an A+ by Charity Watch and a Platinum (the highest) by Guidestar, the results are phenomenal. Consider that the following goals have been reached due, in large part, to the Foundation’s efforts:

Artwork by Debra Walker

More than 31,000 American schools are providing kids with healthy food choices in an effort to eradicate childhood obesity.

treatments for more than 11.5 million people across more than 70 countries.

If you look at the agenda of the right—specifically the attacks on equitable access to healthcare, the dis-

At least 105,000 farmers in Malawi, Rwanda, and Tanzania are benefiting from climate-smart agronomic training, higher yields, and increased market access.

President Bill Clinton visits the famous Mary Mac’s restaurant in Atlanta 4

SA N F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

PHOTO COURTESY OF HILLARY FOR AMERICA CAMPAIGN

Hillary with supporters in Reno, Nevada

Over 450,000 people have been impacted through market opportunities created by social enterprises in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia.

An estimated 85 million people in the U.S. will be reached through strategic health partnerships developed across industry sectors at both the local and national level.

Horror of horrors that The Clinton Foundation is actually making a positive difference.

Many of you might have read the Associated Press’ widespread article that attempted to be a big exposé, using State Department data to make some striking claims about Clinton’s schedule as secretary of state. If you did fall for that, I encourage you to read Matthew Yglesias’ Vox piece (http://www. vox.com/2016/8/24/12618446/apclinton-foundation-meeting) that reveals many of the piece’s falsehoods.

As Yglesias writes, “so little unethical conduct (was found by the authors of the AP article) that an enormous amount of space is taken up by a detailed recounting of the time Clinton tried to help a former Nobel Peace Prize winner who’s also the recipient of a Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom.”

Yglesias continued: “More than a year ago, Jon Allen wrote for Vox about the special ‘Clinton Rules’ that have governed much reporting on Bill and Hillary Clinton over the past 25 years. On the list are the notions that even the most ridiculous charges are worthy of massive investigation, that the Clintons’ bad faith will always be presumed, and that actions that would normally be deemed banal are newsworthy simply because the Clintons are involved.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF HILLARY FOR AMERICA CAMPAIGN

PHOTO COURTESY OF HILLARY FOR AMERICA CAMPAIGN

Greater than 33,500 tons of greenhouse gas emissions are being reduced annually across the United States.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEBRA WALKER

That year, only 200,000 people were receiving treatment for HIV/AIDS in low and middle income countries, with medicines that cost over $10,000 per person per year.

In a recent article in Fortune magazine that scrutinized the Foundation, it could not be ignored that CHAI has helped to negotiate HIV/AIDS therapy price cuts as high as 90%, thereby helping to ensure access to these

Debra Walker (front row center) with Bay Area volunteers

Scranton, Pennsylvania

The hyper focus on Hillary Clinton and the total ignoring of the lack of transparency of Donald Trump underline the double standard that is at play. Until the press

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEBRA WALKER

As we look at the Foundation’s stated initiatives, it becomes pretty clear why the extreme right is harping.

Most of the initiatives focus on empowering women, educating those most disenfranchised in our global economy, and providing much needed healthcare advances for child ren and fa m i l ies, especially in Africa and across Latin A merica. Work in the fight against HIV/AIDS is front and center in the Foundation’s Global Health program as part of the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), which was founded in 2002.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEBRA WALKER

A lot of ink has been invested in attacking the Clintons for the work the Foundation has engaged in, or more specifically, the Foundation’s ability to encourage investment in its worthy goals. Let’s then talk about those goals.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HILLARY FOR AMERICA CAMPAIGN

Hillary with Vice President Joe Biden in Scranton, Pennsylvania

PHOTO COURTESY OF HILLARY FOR AMERICA CAMPAIGN

The Clinton Foundation’s Impact on the Fight Against HIV/AIDS and More

demands the same disclosure from candidate Trump as is demanded of Clinton, the puffed up stories against her are but a symptom of the sexism inherent in our system.

Meanwhile, Trump has not shown us his tax returns, his medical records or any of his emails that might shed light on his relationship with Russian hackers who seem to be his only performing campaign consultants.

What are you hiding, Donnie?

Debra Walker is a Commissioner for the City and County of San Francisco Building Inspection Commission. A past president of the Commission, the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club and the San Francisco Arts Democratic Club, Walker is also an internationally recognized painter and printmaker. For more information: http:// www.debrawalker.com/

Charting a New Course for Equality

First Elected Out Lesbian Bishop of the United Methodist Church Braves Challenges

Assemblymember Phil Ting Choosing which public restroom to use can be a complicated proposition for transgender people who often face threats and violence for walking through the “wrong” door.

A 2013 study by the Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles found 70 percent of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals face serious threats when using gender-specific restrooms. These threats include being verbally harassed, denied access or physically assaulted.

This injustice must not continue.

Bathroom access is a basic biological need. I authored Assembly Bill (AB) 1732, which just passed out of the State Legislature, to ensure safe, fair and convenient bathroom access for everyone. If signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, it would establish the most progressive restroom access law in the country.

The bill requires single-occupancy restrooms in government buildings, businesses, and places of pub-

Compliance with AB 1732 is easy. It simply requires placement of gender nonspecific or inclusive restroom signs on single use restrooms by March 17 of next year. That is why businesses are supporting the bill, including many from the Bay Area such as PayPal, Salesforce, and the Golden Gate Restaurant Association.

Some critics believe men will leave restrooms too dirty, creating a nuisance for women. That misses the point of this bill, which is that all of us should get in and out of public restrooms on the same terms. Since most buildings have an inadequate number of restroom facilities for women, this bill will increase convenience and fairness for women who disproportionately wait to use a public restroom.

AB 1732 will also help parents and caretakers of oppositely gendered dependents who need help in the restroom. As a father of two girls, I know how this simple change would help parents on the run be parents.

This bill is not just about California.

If signed by Governor Brown, it will send a powerful message to the nation that everyone’s rights must be respected and protected. We have seen hundreds of efforts to curtail LGBT rights in statehouses across the coun(continued on page 30)

with Christian teaching.” This language and its resulting bans on LGBT clergy and same-sex wedd ings was to be reviewed last May at the 2016 General Conference, a once-every-4-years sort of Methodist doctrinal Olympics that gathers delegates from Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto around the world to “My hope is that we stop creating a discuss issues and update church law. wedge issue of homosexuality and A week before the 2016 conference, freely admit to the difference of the111 UMC leaders formally came out ology and culture,” Oliveto said duras LGBT in a “Love Letter” to the ing a phone interview on her drive to the Bishop’s residence in Denver, Council of Bishops to appeal for open CO. “Often what’s happened is this inclusion in the church and to supwedge issue is used as a way to threatport LGBT youth within the denomen schism in the church. We are difination. Oliveto was a lead author ferent theologically and culturally deof the letter. A second letter signed pending on where we live, and I don’t by nearly 1,600 ministers supported want LGBT people brought to the altheir LGBT colleagues. Facing them tar or our lives put at risk for the sake off were conservative delegates from of church unity.” regions in the South and Central Plains, from Asia, Eurasia and Afri- The cooling off period leaves LGBT ca, where the church is growing. It restrictions up in the air. Regionis generally acknowledged that with- al jurisdictions have begun to step out the international delegates, the in. Conferences in New York, New England, Desert Southwest, CaliforLGBT restrictions would fail. nia-Pacif ic, Pacif ic-Northwest and To sidestep a possible schism, the California-Nevada (San Francisco’s Council of Bishops voted to form a region) voted to set aside LGBT recommission charged with explor- strictions, opening the door for Oliveing over the next 2 years how UMC to’s election as bishop. In the Great members from various cultures can Plains Conference, though, a lesbirespectfully co-exist. While some del- an pastor in Kansas was just involegates were disappointed with the untarily removed from her post devote, Oliveto said allowing time for spite support from her congregants. members to come together was “a The Southern Georgia Conference (continued on page 30) very wise thing.”

PHOTO BY CHARMAINE ROBLEDO, MT. SKY EPISCOPAL AREA

lic accommodation to be universally accessible to all genders. Sponsored

by Equality California, the Transgender Law Center, and the California chapter of the National Organization of Women, AB 1732 would create restroom safety, fairness, and convenience for everyone.

East Side Stories Heidi Beeler You can dance in a hurricane, but only if you’re standing in the eye.

-Brandi Carlile, The Eye As a lesbian minister ordained in the United Methodist Church (UMC), Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto has been dancing in the eye of a hurricane with grace and humor her entire career.

This time the storm she’s headed for looks to be a category 5.

On July 15, Oliveto was elected to serve as bishop at the UMC Western Jurisdictional Conference in Scottsdale, AZ. Her election was unanimous, and she was consecrated the following day. This makes her the first lesbian bishop in the history of the United Methodist Church.

What makes her election a nail biter is that official UMC church doctrine hasn’t yet permitted openly LGBT people to serve as clergy. The 2012 Book of Discipline, the most recent edition of the UMC playbook, states that “homosexuality is incompatible

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

5

That’s probably one of the most frequently asked questions I get when meeting people. It is a fair question, to be honest. Most of our responsibilities on the Board of Trustees at City College concern governing by setting policies and priorities for the District.

The Chancellor is tasked with carrying out our directions and managing the institution. The majority of our “traditional” duties are carried out at our two monthly board meetings. Since joining the Board about 18 months ago, my goal from the beginning was to break out of the boardroom and to get into the streets.

Many of the students seen that day at Admissions and Records mostly had questions about class schedules and problems adding classes. I was surprised to observe how many students came in to adjust their residency status under AB540, which allows certain undocumented students to attend college in California and to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. It was very heartwarming to see that these students who dream of a better future now have access to affordable higher education.

I am proud that community colleges like City College provide a promising pathway for so many of them, as well as for other students looking for a better life.

To help achieve that goal, I meet with students, faculty, classified staff, and numerous community groups almost every week. Being accessible and visible in the community are very important aspects of my responsibilities.

Another thing that was very apparent was the state of the facilities and office space that our students, counselors, and staff work in every day. I am very grateful for what these individuals do to support our students, getting

To address that issue, City College is currently developing a 10-year facilities master plan. While it is important to identify facilities that need upgrading and improvement, it is equally essential to have the reAssemblyman David Chiu (right) looks on as Senator Mark Leno swears in Alex Randolph as a Trustee. sources necessary for such work. It is up to us, as voters in San Francisco, to enable the funding for infrastructure and facilities. This November, we have the opportunity to pass state measure Prop 51, which could bring such needed funding to upgrade our facilities and more.

(For more information about Prop 51, please go to: http://yeson51.co m/?gclid=CM3TzNLa584CFcNg fgod9oEIAg) Thank you to Dean MaryLou Ley- Trustee Alex Randolph with Admissions & Records Dean MaryLou Leyba and Adriana Rivera ba, Adriana Rivera, and Maria Salazar for hosting me during a very busy time at City College, and for providing me with the opportunity to roll-up my sleeves for one special day.

Alex Randolph is a Trustee for City College of San Francisco. He previously served in President Obama’s administration and as an LGBT advisor for Mayor Newsom. He lives in the Castro with his partner Trevor. Follow him on social media: www.twitter.com/adrandolph & Trustee Alex Randolph with Maria Salazar and counseling office staff www.facebook.com/AlexDRandolph

Help Is On the Way XXII - On the Red Carpet

Photos by Rink and Paul Margolis

Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation’s (REAF) Help is on the Way XXII, with the theme “On the Red Carpet - Idols & Icons,” was held on Sunday, August 21.

Supporters and friends of the organization mingled with performers and volunteers in the Green Room at the Herbst Theater prior to the show. Also attending were representatives of the beneficiaries, Meals on Wheels and the AIDS Legal Referral Panel.

SA N F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

PHOTO BY RINK PHOTO BY PAUL MARGOLIS

PHOTO BY PAUL MARGOLIS PHOTO BY PAUL MARGOLIS

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY PAUL MARGOLIS

The evening included a gala dinner and silent auction. Featuring the Broadway touring cast of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, entertainers also included a line-up of additional stars. Among these were Michael Walters as Dame Edna, Jason Brock, Carole Cook, Sally Struthers, Paula West, Tony Award winners Marissa Jaret Winokur and Donna McKechnie and more. Congratulations to Ken Henderson, Joe Seiler and the board and staff of REAF on another outstanding evening.

6

COURTESY OF ALEX RANDLOPH

“What does a Trustee do?”

them on a pathway for success. The buildings on Ocean Avenue that these workers are in, however, have been around for decades and are not in the best condition anymore.

COURTESY OF ALEX RANDLOPH

Alex Randolph, Trustee City College of San Francisco

Consequent ly, I was ver y excited when SEIU 1021, the union representing our classified staff at City College, invited me to participate in a “day in the shoes of” kind of shadow day during the first week of fall semester classes. I spent half the day at Admissions and Records and the other half at Counseling. It is one thing to read the reports and agenda packages about the hard work our classified staff do on any given day to support our students, and another to see first-hand what goes on behind the curtain.

CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO PHOTO

City College Shadow Day

San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women Honors Dr. Marcy Adelman All of us here at the San Francisco Bay Times congratulate columnist Dr. Marcy Adelman, who was recently recognized by the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women “for her tremendous contribution to older LGBT women in San Francisco and the Bay Area.”

The resolution cited Dr. Adelman’s groundbreaking and inf luential research on LGBT seniors. Her research determined that such individuals are more likely than heterosexuals of their own age to live alone, to not have children and to not be part-

nered. These findings contribute important demographic information to the understanding of potential challenges in the lives of LGBT seniors.

The Commission also acknowledged Dr. Adelman’s decades of advocacy and policy work on behalf of LGBT older adults and seniors, including her most recent efforts to reduce barriers to care for LGBT older adults living with dementia. The resolution additionally commended both Dr. Adelman and her late partner Jeanette Gurevitch for founding Openhouse, a San Francisco non-profit dedicat-

ed to securing LGBT-friendly senior housing and services to better meet the needs of older LGBT adults. Dr. Adelman’s current service as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Department of Aging and Adult Services was also recognized.

We are very proud of Dr. Adelman’s many achievements on behalf of our community, which are far too numerous to include here. She is a great role model, whose vital, ongoing work will benefit many generations now as well as in the years to come.

The End of August

Dr. Marcy Adelman When I was growing up in Massachusetts, the end of August was about looking forward to school, to cooler and more comfortable weather, to leaves turning bright red and golden yellow, and to the smell of apples in all stages of ripeness. August is also my birthday month. When I was young, I couldn’t wait to be older. Now that I am older, I take great pleasure in the age I have achieved.

This August, the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women recognized my years of service creating policies, services and programs to meet the needs of LGBT elders and older LGBT women, in particular.

I am deeply honored to be acknowledged by the Commission. There is something very special about being recognized by women leaders in the community.

I could have chosen to speak about data points and current and future needs of our aging community. Af-

Commission on the Status of Women Executive Director Dr. Emily Murase, Commission Member Olga A. Ryerson, Dr. Marcy Adelman, Commission President Andrea Shorter, Commission VicePresident Deborah Mesloh.

ter all, that is what I do.

We can, however, be so busy working for change and striving to further social justice and quality of life issues that we forget to celebrate our histories, our pioneers and how far we have come. I therefore chose to speak of the lesbians who came before us: the women of previous Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi congratulates Dr. Marcy generations who coura- Adelman geously loved other womtold by old lesbians, Long en and who lived lesbian Time Passing: Lives of Oldlives yet, out of necessity, er Lesbians (Alyson Books). had to hide their sexual It was deeply satisfying orientation or be vulnerto bring the lives of these able to losing custody of amazing women into the their children and losing Commission meeting so the support of their famthat they could be recogilies. nized and honored along with me.

When I started my LGBT advocacy work more than Marcy Adelman, Ph.D., a three decades ago, these clinical psychologist in private practice, is were the women whose stories I told, co-founder of the non-profit organization whose courage I admired and on Openhouse and was a leading member of the whose shoulders we stand. In 1986 San Francisco LGBT Aging Policy Task I edited a collection of life stories as Force.

PHOTO BY ALEX LAZAR

Aging in Community

Ageism in the LGBT Community tween 16th and 17th streets in San Francisco.

Aging in Community Michael Costa Ageism is an issue in American society in general, given a fundamental cultural preference for “young,” “new,” and “fresh.” Those who are “older” and “aging” face certain challenges: socially, professionally, and personally. Such challenges can be heightened among LGBT individuals because, in part, of our own community’s preference for young, fresh, and, of course, “pretty.”

The Alice B Toklas LGBT Democratic Club is hosting one of the first forums to discuss ageism in the LGBT community on September 12 from 6:30–8 pm. The panel will take place at the Eric Quezada Center for Culture and Politics, 518 Valencia St., be-

The public is invited to hear a distinguished panel discuss how ageism occurs in a wide range of areas, including employment, housing, and social services, and how ageism is experienced by LGBT elders on a personal and social level every day. The panel will also discuss how ageism can be addressed going forward, acknowledging that awareness is the prelude to action. Attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A period following the panel discussion.

Panelists include: •

Shireen McSpadden: Director of the San Francisco Department of Adult and Aging Services

•

Dr. Marcy Adelman, Ph.D.: Cofounder of Openhouse and a practicing clinical psychologist

•

•

Daniel Redman, JD: Elder Law Attorney at Springs and Associates, formerly at NCLR Sam Trevino, MSW: Faculty member at CSU Monterey Bay who focuses on ageism and how diversity influences the experience and perception of ageism

As a member of the San Francisco LGBT Aging Policy Taskforce and

a longtime Alice board member with 30 years’ work in social and health policy areas, I will be moderating the panel.

Alice Co-chair Lou Fischer summed up the spirit of the panel best: “I’ve been living and working in San Francisco for decades, and understand that sometimes our community fails to treat all of our community members with the compassion and respect that they deserve. This panel will look for ways to address these very real problems facing the LGBT community and San Francisco as a whole.”

Michael Costa, MPP, is a healthcare consultant focusing on the integration of health and social services for the aging population, including LGBT elders.

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

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

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

ASSURANCE

I

TAX

I

ADVISORY

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

7

Building a Healthier Bay Area

are issues that impact the whole Bay Area and will be better solved if each city isn’t left to try to figure it out separately.

Out of the Closet and into City Hall Oakland City Councilmember At-Large, Rebecca Kaplan When people talk about the different levels of government, they usually know about their local government, such as their City and/or County, and also that we have State and Federal governments. However, here in the Bay Area, we also have very important and powerful decisions being made at the Bay Area Regional level.

We have an agency, called the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), which has power over air pollution and related issues for our entire region. And, it makes sense to work on the Bay Area as a whole, because our region’s problems, like traffic congestion and air pollution, and even our housing crisis—

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) works on a range of important laws, programs, and grants to improve our health and the quality of our air for our region, such as the “cash for clunkers” program that helps take older, heavily-polluting cars off the road and gives people money to turn them in.

BAAQMD also has the power to pass laws to protect hard-hit communities from asthma and other health impacts caused by concentrations of air pollution, such as those around oil refineries.

For decades, our communities have been under-represented in this important level of government. While the Board of BAAQMD is made up of elected off icials from throughout the Bay Area, Oakland had not had a seat on this Board in 25 years, and our large and growing Bay Area LGBT community has been underrepresented. Now the good news: I have successfully been appointed as a member of this vital Board, and can help improve the air we breathe, better connect our public transit, reduce truck idling and traffic congestion, and help limit the toxins emitted by oil refineries.

By strengthening the representation of Oakland, of diverse communities, and of a positive vision for a healthy

future for our region, we can make a real difference in people’s lives. The position I won represents all the cities of Alameda County, and is chosen by the Alameda County Conference of Mayors.

I deeply appreciate the support and confidence of my colleagues—Mayors representing all the cities of Alameda County—to hold this role and work to improve our region. In my short time thus far on the Board, I have successfully moved forward efforts ranging from launching the work to cap refinery pollution, to funding the free Broadway Shuttle that connects vital regional transportation (ferry, BART, Amtrak and AC Transit) with growing centers in Jack London Square, downtown Oakland, and beyond.

We are advancing projects to get truck pollution out of hard-hit communities, and to reduce congestion on our freeways. The air we breathe, and the need for it to be healthy, can be part of what unites us as a region, as we work to build a better Bay Area.

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

We’re With You All the Way, Gavin riously voted for the stay, although he appears personally to have opposed it. In explaining his vote, he said he was doing it “as a courtesy” to the other four justices who had voted in favor of the stay, and because the Court was on summer recess.

6/26 and Beyond John Lewis & Stuart Gaffney “It’s been exhausting.” So explained transgender high school senior Gavin Grimm in a recent Washington Blade interview, describing his now years long fight simply to be able to use his school’s restrooms as all his classmates can. When Gavin prevailed at the 4th Circuit Federal Court of Appeal earlier this year, his Virginia school district couldn’t just let things be and allow Gavin to live in relative peace his senior year of high school.

Instead, the district took the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which earlier this month issued a stay of the appellate court’s order. As a result, Gavin is prohibited from using his school’s regular restrooms until the Supreme Court decides whether or not to take the case, and, if they take it, issues a final decision. That could be months from now.

Five of the nine Supreme Court Justices had to vote in favor of the stay for the Court to issue it. Predictably, Justices Roberts, Alito, and Thomas, consistent gay rights opponents at the Court, voted in favor. In a move that raised eyebrows, Justice Kennedy, who has written all of the Court’s landmark gay rights cases, voted in favor, too. However, his stay vote may not be predictive of his ultimate view of the case, and he may be concerned about other legal issues in the case unrelated to the underlying issue of transgender equality. Justices Ginsburg, Kagan, and Sotomayor, consistent LGBT rights supporters at the Court, opposed the stay. However, Justice Breyer, who has also always voted in favor of LGBT rights, cu8

SA N F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

Justice Breyer’s words broke our hearts. What about “courtesy,” moreover dignity and respect for Gavin, a vulnerable 17-year-old transgender student? While the Court waits months to receive legal briefs and to decide what to do with the case, Justice Breyer and his fellow Justices will take for granted their own use of public facilities. Meanwhile, Gavin’s school district will continue to deny him this basic human right, thereby isolating and stigmatizing him daily. As Gavin has articulated, this delay and denial carries a very real human cost. In Gavin’s Blade interview, he urged people to imagine how they would feel “if they were the only person forced to use the facility separate of that of their peers, especially when [the] decision was made in a public way that opened them up to the abuse… .”

A Texas federal trial court judge, already notorious for an anti-marriage equality ruling, dealt another blow to transgender kids last week when he issued a preliminary injunction striking down the U.S. Department of Education’s guidelines protecting transgender students from discrimination that the 4th Circuit had embraced in Gavin’s case. Judge Reed O’Connor’s order forbids the federal government from proceeding with any ongoing or future investigation of states or school districts for failing to comply with the guidelines and from otherwise enforcing the regulations through new lawsuits. Just days after the decision, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who brought the suit and also has a long record of hostility to LGBT people, filed a new lawsuit before Judge O’Connor, this time challenging new federal government regulations expanding transgender people’s access to medical treatment.

The root issue to which these and other federal lawsuits involving transgender rights pertain is whether fed-

eral statutes prohibiting sex discrimination apply to discrimination on the basis of gender identity. We take heart that four of the eleven federal circuit courts have already held that gender identity discrimination is unlawful sex discrimination under federal law. The Texas decision is just a single lower court judge’s ruling, not an appellate ruling, and serious questions exist as to whether the judge exceeded his authority in issuing such a broad order. Further, the Texas judge could not and did not prohibit the federal government from defending its guidelines and supporting transgender students in ongoing cases, such as Gavin’s case and litigation over North Carolina’s discriminatory legislation, known as HB2. Of course, the problem could be solved once and for all if voters elect Democratic majorities that are pro-equality in both the House and Senate and Hillary Clinton as President. Then, Congress could simply amend federal discrimination statutes to include gender identity and sexual orientation explicitly.

Meantime, the legal roller coaster for Gavin and other transgender people continues, and conservative antiLGBT interests use transgender people as political targets for fundraising and gaining political power. These interests have repeatedly targeted our community, most recently in the decade plus struggle for nationwide marriage equality. Our community is facing the current challenges with the same commitment and determination that we have in the past, and we must support each other as the struggle continues. We’re with you all the way, Gavin. We’re all in this together.

You can follow updates on all of these cases through Equality Case Files’ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EqualityCaseFiles/ John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, together for over three decades, were plaintiffs in the California case for equal marriage rights decided by the California Supreme Court in 2008. Their leadership in the nationwide grassroots organization Marriage Equality USA contributed in 2015 to making samesex marriage legal nationwide.

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY   T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

9

Longtime San Francisco Bay Times and “Betty’s List” supporter Vivien Gay is celebrating her birthday and her recent marriage. Vivien and Loretta Redd were married on August 21 at the Kunde Family Estate Vineyard in Kenwood, CA. Best wishes to this wonderful couple!

Vivien and Loretta on their wedding day

Wedding announcement in The New York Times

Bon voyage! Pink Triangle founder Patrick Carney and his husband Hossein are enjoying their well-deserved and much anticipated Summer 2016 vacation visiting historic European sites, including the Acropolis in Athens, the Vatican in Rome, French Riviera cities, Monte Carlo and more.

Athens, Greece

The Vatican

Hossein and Patrick traveling in First Class

Swiss Guard

Can you keep your lifestyle in retirement?

Let’s talk.

415.623.2450 Brio Financial Group

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

BrioFG.com

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

10

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

San Gimignano, Italy

Nice, France

Jonathan Lovitz, senior vice president of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and Steve Sosna, his beau of two years, are celebrating their engagement. Jonathan popped the question and Steve said “Yes!” during their recent stay at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa.

Jonathan pops “the question”!

Designing Men and Women

Faces from Our LGBT Past Dr. Bill Lipsky The groundbreaking, breathtaking contributions that designing LGBT men and women made to the world’s skyline deserve a place on any list of the g reat monuments.

Whether or not their work included a “queer sensibility,” they often cre- Pierre at e d a r c h it e c t u r a l Fontaine styles that were popular for decades.

During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Pierre Fontaine (1762– 1853) and Charles Percier (1764–1838) were the principle exponents and greatest champions of the neoclassical Directoire or Empire style, which rejected the old monarchist traditions for a new, fresh expression Charles of enlightenment.

Percier Na p o le on B on a p a r t e liked their work. In 1801 he named Fontaine his personal architect, a position that Fontaine insisted on sharing with Percier. Together the men refurbished the palaces at Fontainebleu, Strasbourg, and Versailles; renovated the Louvre; and built the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. Both became officers of la Légion d’honneur for their creative contributions to France.

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

Percier and Fontaine were both business and life partners. They met while students in Rome, where they swore “a pact of friendship founded on respect and confidence,” promising never to marry. When Percier died in 1838, Fontaine wrote to a colleague, “I have lost half of myself.”

He designed Percier’s mausoleum in Père Lachaise Cemetery and left instructions that, after his own passing, his body be interred with that of his life’s companion, and it was.

Philip Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut

secularism of modern civilization, became the most celebrated designer of churches and universities in America.

Few people suspected or appreciated the irony that it was a gay man who created the new campus of the U.S. Military Academy in 1902; the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York; the Princeton University Chapel; and the Doheny Library at the University of Southern California.

Adolf Loos’ entry in the Chicago Tribune headquarters building design competition

Unlike Cram, Emily Williams (1869–1942) worked for greater and more functional simplicit y. With a style vastly different than his—and at a time when very few women were able to join the profession—she became a pioneering architect in Northern California.

Williams was a teacher when she met Lillian Palmer around 1898.

Palmer encouraged Williams to follow her creative heart. In 1901, the two women moved to San Francisco, where Williams studied drafting at the California High School of Mechanical Arts. “Miss Williams’ houses,” noted the San Jose Mercury and Herald, in it s November 11, 1906, issue, “are not only beaut i fu l a nd artistic, but convenient, livable and planned to save steps and with places to put things.”

Emily Williams In 1908, the couple traveled to Vienna, where Emily studied architecture and Lillian metal work. When they returned, Palmer opened a successful metal art studio, but Williams struggled to receive commissions. Eventually she found support among prominent women, building a home for Anna Lukens, an early female physician, in Pacific Grove, and the Gertrude Austin House at 2728 Union Street in San Francisco. Her home for Arthur M. Free, 66 South Fourteenth Street, San Francisco, and the house she built for herself and Palmer at 1037 Broadway are now listed buildings.

Philip Johnson (1906– 2005) became one of arRalph Adams chitecture’s most influCram ential masters. He was

36 years old before he designed his first building: his residence, the now famous Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, done with an unobvious choice of materials for a gay man in 1949. Always an apostle of the modern, he f irst championed the sleek towers of the International Style, then turned to a more provocative elegance that combined Minimalism with Pop Art for something entirely new, often called Postmodernism.

For San Francisco, Johnson designed several buildings. The most controversial was the Neiman Marcus department store on Union Square, which speaker after speaker denounced at a Planning Commission hearing. His tower at 101 California Street was better received, although the 12 draped, faceless, hollow figures that adorned his building at 580 California Street were greeted with some disdain. Described as “The Corporate Goddesses” by Muriel Castanis, the figures that were sculpted by Johnson were, Johnson said privately, representations of the Board of Supervisors and the mayor.

Whether any of these architects or their works expressed a “queer sensibility,” it was a heterosexual designer who submitted plans for the most homoerotic building yet proposed for the United States. In 1922, when the Chicago Tribune announced a design competition for its new headquarters building, Adolf Loos put for wa rd a c ylindrical skyscraper crowned with a massive capstone.

Osca r Wi lde fou nd t he American urban landscape deplorable. “The fault,” he said during his visit to the United States in 1882, “is in an entire want of any definite concept of what style is suitable for your cities.” For Ralph Adams Cram (1863– 1942), the elegance of medieval public architecture was the answer and he became the preeminent advocate of the Gothic Revival Style in the United States.

Cram, who wanted buildings to communicate a spiritual value to balance the Ralph Adams Cram’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York

Loos’ design was not selected, but it did show how human anatomy could inspire a monumental creativity. The design was not a serious example of how “form follows function” in architecture, but it certainly followed Oscar Wilde’s advice that “one must always be a little improbable.”

Bill Lipsky, Ph.D., author of “Gay and Lesbian San Francisco” (2006), is a member of the Rainbow Honor Walk board of directors.

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

11

Understanding Sex Addiction When I discuss the subject of sex addiction with gay men, I usually hear some variation of these questions and comments, all of which reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of sexual compulsion.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Abby Zimberg Beth Greene

Design & Production

Kate Laws Business Manager Jennifer Mullen Calendar Editor

Kit Kennedy Poet-In-Residence J.H. Herren Technology Director Jennifer Mullen Web Coordinator

Mario Ordonez Juan Ordonez Distribution

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

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

National Advertising: Contact Bay Times / San Francisco.

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

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

12

Examined Life Tom Moon, MFT “I’ve always had a lot of casual and anonymous sex. Does that make me a sex addict?” “Isn’t the whole concept of sex addiction just another way of shaming gay men about their sexuality?” “Who says I’m addicted? Maybe I’m just a guy who likes to have a lot of sex!”

Recently I had the opportunity to discuss the issue of sex addiction with a man who knows a great deal about the complexities of the issue. Jim Fishman, LCSW, CGP, is a gay psychotherapist in private practice in San Francisco who has decades of experience treating many clients with sex addiction, and for many years ran a group for gay and bi-sexual men who felt at the mercy of their sexual impulses.

The f irst thing he emphasized in our conversation is that what makes someone a sex addict is not necessarily the kind nor the frequency of the person’s sexual behavior, but rather, the context and psychological issues involved.

donment or neglect; for others, violations of personal boundaries including sexual abuse are present, leaving the adult survivor equating intimacy with abandonment and/or violation of self-hood.” In the 8 years Jim facilitated a group for gay and bi-sexual men who identified as sex addicts, he found that about 90% of all the men who entered the group had suffered some kind of sexual trauma as children, or were made to hold a sexual ‘secret.’

“Anonymous and casual sex in and of themselves can be healthy, even affirmative, when psychologically uncomplicated,” he told me. In compulsive or addictive sex, on the other hand, sexual episodes are used to ward off, mask, deny, or manage overwhelming feelings—emotions such as depression, anxiety, emptiness, or shame. These emotions threaten to engulf a person who is emotionally fragile. In sex addiction, sex acquires a driven quality; lost in the adrenaline of the hunt, the “high” and the eventual “deflation,” the person suspends his or her conscious awareness of self and may lose track of time and place; may become negligent of personal safety, and personal and professional obligations.

“If a child has experienced being ‘used’ as an object for an older person’s pleasure, the sex act itself in adulthood may actually not be all that enjoyable, especially when the person has learned, early on, that his or her value is only for the other’s purposes at his or her own expense,” he said. “In fact, dissociation may be the way he or she copes if feeling re-traumatized. The eroticization of risk can lead some to re-enact—or hold an un(continued on page 30)

In his work, Jim found that sex addiction is frequently a symptom of deeper underlying conflicts involving unprocessed or untreated childhood trauma. He said, “For some, childhoods were shattered by profound aban-

In Memoriam: Joani Blank

By Dr. Carol Queen Joani Blank, who founded Good Vibrations in 1977, has died. She was 79 and had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just over two months before.

True to form for a woman who promoted her business with the phrase, “If you want something done right, do it yourself,” Joani died at home, with family and her beloved dog Bapu at her side, on her own schedule. Just a couple of months after California legalized physician-assisted suicide, Joani chose to treat her symptoms palliatively, but not the aggressive disease itself, whose poor prognosis and painful treatments would have curbed her ability to enjoy her last weeks of life. Her August 6 exit followed a month of tributes and time spent connecting with family and friends; she was proud to face death with the same degree of forthrightness and fearlessness she brought to discussions about sexuality.

Joani was already working to change society’s attitudes about sex, especially women’s sexuality, sexual health, and reproductive rights, when the idea to form Good Vibrations hit. Involved with San Francisco Sex Information in the early 1970s, she founded Down There Press in 1975 (its first project was her book about vibrators … in calligraphy!) and then began working with famed feminist sex therapist Lonnie Barbach’s project to support “pre-orgasmic” women, held at UC Medical Center.

of the Antique Vibrator Museum, of which I am today the proud curator.

I began working at Good Vibrations in 1990 after I’d met Joani a year or two before; we were both participants in one of Betty Dodson’s rare West Coast Bodysex workshops, which is a hell of a way to meet a future employer! But JB (as I called her) was more than that to me: she was a friend, a mentor, and an inspiration, supporting my growing role at Good Vibrations as well as my community projects and my solo work, including my writing. She published my first book, Exhibitionism for the Shy, and her edits and encouragement added a lot to its impact.

She did this for so many people, from helping Susie Bright launch her important Herotica series of womenauthored erotic fiction to helping produce Shar Rednour and Jackie Strano’s first film Bend Over Boyfriend, she also consulted with and supported many (maybe most) of the businesses that emerged in the 1990s and beyond to become GV’s “sister stores.” (The story of these, and Joani’s visionary role in their creation and growth, is the subject of our friend Lynn Comella’s forthcoming book from Duke University Press, Vibrator Nation: How Feminist Sex-Toy Stores Changed the Business of Pleasure. Joani was only the second U.S. woman entrepreneur to open a sex shop; the other, Dell Williams of NYC’s Eve’s Garden, died in early 2015.

It was there that Joani heard countless women, when recommended they try a vibrator, protest that they would never want to enter one of those places to get one. In what we called a “click” moment back then (like a light switch flipping on), Joani realized how much she could contribute by creating a very different kind of place. Touted as a “clean, well-lighted place for sex toys, books, and [later] videos,” Joani’s brainstorm did indeed immediately serve women––and everybody else, since people of every gender and identity, it turns out, needed a place that focused on comfortable communication, correct information, and goodquality sex-related products.

On July 14, many of the current core staff of Good Vibrations gathered to honor Joani’s role in our lives with more than two dozen past staff members, including important colleagues from the 1980s and ‘90s like Cathy Winks and Anne Semans, who formed the heart of Joani’s inner circle when I arrived at GV in 1990. Though rapidly organized, word spread far and wide, thanks to the energies of old-timers Shar Rednour, Deborah Mayer, and Samantha Miller. People who couldn’t make it from out of town, like Charlie Glickman and Roma Estevez, Skyped or FaceTimed in so they could participate. Also present were Joani’s daughter Amika and her sister Bobbie. Tributes, anecdotes and memories flowed.

In many ways, that’s still GV’s mission in a nutshell. Her first store was about the size of a postage stamp, but it made room for a shelf full of antique vibrators (so her customers would understand that these handy helpers had a much longer history than just as implements of the sexual revolution). This became the seed

“I will miss Joani very much and am deeply sad about her passing,” says Jackie Rednour-Bruckman, now Executive VP at Good Vibrations but originally a mid-1990s SESA. “She was so vital and so ready to do so much more before cancer took her way too fast and too soon. She was 79, but young at heart and still had

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

s o mu c h t o say about everything and was deeply involved in m a ny so c i a l justice issues.

I will treasure her friendship forever––we had a special bond and I am grateful forever to her loyalty and love and inspiration. I hope I have made her proud.”

All of Joani’s many communities came together on July 30 at The First Unitarian Church in Oakland to celebrate her life. Just down the street from her home in the Swan’s Market Cohousing community, this was JB’s own congregation, where she’d enjoyed singing in the choir and making connections. She sat to the side, happily engulfed in love and appreciation, as her beloved choir made music for her and speakers from many sides of her world spoke up in tribute. Other entities deeply important to Joani are cohousing; the Human Awareness Institute; and the UU Church (which isn’t surprising, given its own revolutionary track record on behalf of sex education)––and someone was on hand from each of these to talk about Joani’s participation and contributions there. I spoke up on behalf of Good Vibrations; David Steinberg, an old friend and publishing associate, spoke too, and JB’s sister Bobbie sent a letter about their family history, read by Joani’s cousin Susan Sugarman. Amika, with her three beautiful kids at her side, spoke movingly about her changing and deepening relationship with her mom, and how the social consciousness that Joani embodied in public had real meaning inside their family, too.

Joani also aimed her activism at the world of money, and she invited her philanthropic advisor, “resourceful woman” Tracy Gary, to speak about JB’s history of giving and to encourage attendees to donate to causes close to Joani’s heart. (I’ve included those below for any readers who want to participate in honoring her in this way.) Early in Good Vibrations’s history, Joani was part of an alternative business philosophy called Briarpatch, which held that competition was not a threat and a rising tide would f loat all boats; this explains her willingness to consult with and support friendly competitors, since her vision of change involved empowering others to create businesses just as she had done. Joani believed in word of mouth over ads, and felt that community engagement was the most

Dr. Carol Queen with Joani Blank

significant way she could promote Good Vibrations and its message.

It was never primarily about money for her, but about the effect GV could have on the culture. I have such a unique career today because, really, she was right: The needs of individuals and communities are still to quash shame, find the right information and good-quality products that will enhance and support pleasure and self-exploration. From those seemingly simple things, a world of change and ever-developing identity can emerge. We can all be enormously grateful to Joani Blank and her pleasure-centric, culture-shifting vision.

Joani selected five organizations to which contributions may be made in her name: • • • • •

Human Awareness Institute (www.hai.org) Democracy at Work Institute (www.institute.coop) Center for Sex & Culture (www.sexandculture.org) Cohousing Association of the U.S. (www.cohousing.org) First Unitarian Church of Oakland (www.uuoakland.org)

Or support a nonprofit organization of your choice.

Joani is survived by her adopted daughter Amika (open adoption was another of the causes that benefited from her activism) and her grandchildren Milo, Soleil, and Blossom; constant canine companion Bapu; her sister Bobbie (aka Barbara Hauser) and other relatives; and countless friends, colleagues, and activist buddies whose lives were stretched in many ways thanks to Joani’s leadership, honesty, and immediacy. She will be deeply missed in many hearts and communities.

For more about JB, you can visit her website: http://joaniblank.com/ Dr. Carol Queen is a writer, speaker, educator and activist with a doctorate in sexolog y. For additional information: http:// www.carolqueen.com/

GLBT Fortnight in Review

By Ann Rostow

Send in The Penguins Remember a long time ago when North Carolina passed its antigay and anti-trans law “HB2?” That was roughly five months ago, and yes, I know, it’s extraordinary how time flies. (We must have been having fun, right?)

Well, one of the first things our community did in response to the passage of HB2 was to file a lawsuit in federal court. Leading the charge on behalf of two trans-men and a lesbian plaintiff were Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina and Equality North Carolina, all arguing that the law was unconstitutional and also violated Title IX, the federal ban on sex discrimination in publicly funded schools and colleges.

Now, the judge in that case has given the three plaintiffs a temporary injunction, freezing the application of HB2 for the duration of their lawsuit.

The injunction does not put a hold on the law for other residents of North Carolina, but Lambda has asked the judge to expand his injunction to cover everyone.

The three plaintiffs are all associated with the University of North Carolina system; one man is a student in Greensboro, another is an employee in Chapel Hill, and the lesbian plaintiff is a dean at NC Central Law School. In granting their injunction, Judge Thomas Schroeder said that the trio are likely to prevail on their Title IX claim, given that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has recently ruled that Title IX’s ban on sex bias implicitly covers transgender bias as well. The Fourth Circuit (and, by extension, Judge Schroeder) relied on the U.S. Department of Education’s interpretation of Title IX to reach their conclusions.

So, I can hear your reactions out there in Reader Land!

Several of you are pointing out that we seem to have dozens of related lawsuits circulating lazily in the ether. Every week or so, one or the other makes news as some judge responds to some preliminary motion here or there. “Ann,” you ask, “why can’t you make sense of these separate cases, clarify their relationships and report these developments plainly and in context? Instead you seem to provide little more than a senseless jumble of piecemeal legal news items.

What gives?”

Other readers are even less kind.

“Ann,” they say, “we are fed up with this barrage of transgender legal news. We can’t follow it and we’d prefer to read about Anthony Weiner’s latest sexting scandal or even some gay animal news. Frisky penguins.

Sexy swans. Naughty monkeys. You know what we want.”

Finally, there exists a tiny niche of gay law aficionados who are now wondering: “Hmmm. How could Judge Schroeder rely on the Fourth Circuit’s ruling in GG v Gloucester when the Supreme Court has just agreed to stay that decision pending appeal? Doesn’t the High Court’s action render this case moot for the time being?”

Hah! Good question. You remember that we spent quite a bit of our last column bemoaning the fact that the High Court stepped in to put a hold on a pro-transgender ruling out of the Fourth Circuit that was announced just days after North Carolina passed HB2. That timing was coincidental, but since North Carolina operates under the jurisdiction of the Fourth Circuit, it was as if the Tarheels passed HB2 and then, two days later, their governing federal appellate court ruled against the new law, skipping

the lower court and the two or three years of litigation that would normally have ensued. Take that, North Carolina Legislature! Naturally, the Fourth Circuit case and all the cases surrounding HB2 itself have now become intermingled from a news standpoint.

But back to your question! Judge Schroeder wrote that the Supreme Court simply issued a stay in GG v Gloucester. The justices did not overrule the Fourth Circuit’s decision itself, so the decision remains binding law on all federal courts under the Fourth Circuit’s jurisdiction.

Before I leave this subject, let me connect a few more dots. We have the aforementioned Fourth Circuit case, (a ruling on behalf of a trans student who sought to use the boys’ bathroom and locker rooms in his Virginia high school). Then we have several cases challenging or defending HB2, including the GLBT case discussed above. But we also have a third string of related cases: In the midst of all the hoopla, the Obama administration issued a letter stating that Title IX should be construed as a ban, not just on sex discrimination, but on transgender discrimination as well, and that public schools and colleges should, um, keep this in mind. Even though the letter had no specific legal power, a couple dozen states are now suing the administration, insisting that the executive branch has no business dictating the scope of an ambiguous statute. Texas leads one group (which recently won a motion before a very conservative judge) while Nebraska leads another group in a similar suit.

Oh, and there are a few other types of related cases that I can’t think of at present, so for all of you who would condemn me for my failure to tie up the current state of transgender litigation in a nice big bow—you try it!

This topic to be continued… .

Goodbye to the Canicular Doldrums September is a strange month, don’t you think? It’s the end of summer, but it’s still summer. I’m always surprised when September 20 arrives and everyone announces “the last day of summer” when school has already been in session for a month and we’ve gone through several weeks of college football. Summer’s been over for a while, folks!

As for the heat, here in central Texas it will be 70s and 80s for another three months. We’re just entering one of our best periods, the end of stifling humidity, the start of convertible weather. Neither summer nor fall, September will lead us through the transition.

I may have mentioned in previous years that Austin Pride is scheduled for different, seemingly random, weekends and I never can figure out when the damn celebration is supposed to occur. At first we moved from late June to sometime in September in order to beat the heat. That’s fine, but somehow we have moved it back to late August, which is far hotter than late June. We also have a nighttime parade, which helps, but again, we could have done that in June as well.

At any rate, Mel and I dutifully trekked over to the festival the other day, only to learn that we’d have to pay $20 each in order to wander aimlessly around collecting keychains and pens from our local real estate agents and financial planners. Oh, and let’s not forget signing up for “contests” that trigger a year or so of spam and winding up with a dozen fliers about lesbians who save gorillas or GLBT (continued on page 30) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

13

Project Open Hand Weekend: Saturday & Sunday, September 10-11

Giant Race + Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival

Project Open Hand Weekend Declared The San Francisco Giants, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company and Project Open Hand are proud to join forces on September 10–11, 2016, for “Project Open Hand Weekend,” a special two-day celebration benefitting Project Open Hand.

With both the Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival and the Giant Race falling on the same weekend this year, the two iconic San Francisco organizations are generously donating proceeds from the events to help raise awareness and funds for Project Open Hand. This month, Project Open Hand will serve its 19 millionth meal with love, and it is only with the help of the movers and shakers—not to mention runners and chocolate lovers—like you who continue to nourish and engage our community.

The best part is that whether you choose to donate to the Project Open Hand team in the Giant Race, or indulge for a cause at the chocolate festival, you will be supporting Project Open Hand’s mission to serve meals with love to our seniors and critically ill neighbors!

14

Donate to the Project Open Hand Giant Race team at: project.openhand. org/GiantRace2016/Donate Buy tickets to the Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival at: www.ghirardelli.com/ events/chocolate-festival To learn more about Project Open Hand, including its roots in our LGBT community, please see the April 21 issue of the San Francisco Bay Times: https://issuu.com/sfbt/docs/4.21bay_ times_pp1-40issuu2

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

Project Open Hand Weekend: Saturday & Sunday, September 10-11

Giant Race + Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival

CHOCOLATE in moderation, and especially dark chocolate, has been found in many studies to have health benefits. For more information, see this piece from Harvard Medical School: http://www.health.harvard.edu/ blog/sweet-dreams-eating-chocolate-prevents-heart-disease-201506168087)

Tumeka’s Story Second Chance at Project Open Hand Tumeka has faced neglect, depression, abuse, and addiction. She has survived some of the most extreme sorrows and losses this world could deliver, yet still completely embodies strength, grace, and resilience. Above all, Tumeka’s story is a reminder that right here in our community, there are lives at stake.

Tumeka was born in Martinez, California, to an abusively prejudiced family.

She was treated brutally, and was judged because her skin was darker than her relatives. Tumeka was pawned off to numerous institutions, camps, and relatives’ homes until she turned 18; at that time her mother gave her a $100-dollar bill and asked her to leave and not return.

Tumeka said, “I never had a childhood; I only tried to survive.”

Tumeka moved to San Francisco and adapted to her surroundings, but she had a difficult time finding a job because she is transgender. As a result, Tumeka began using her body, selling drugs, and doing whatever else she needed to do in order to make money and find a place where she felt she belonged.

“I just wanted to be loved and accepted, but I ended up constantly around people who used me,” Tumeka said. “I grew up with nobody loving me, so anything negative that happened to me throughout my life … I just figured I deserved it.”

She started experimenting with drugs, and was diagnosed with HIV shortly after.

Tumeka decided to reach out to the City of Refuge Church in Oakland. “I knew this life wasn’t for me,” she said, thinking back on that time. “I couldn’t do it anymore.” She was connected to a local recovery house designed for transgender people of color, and it served as a clean and sober facility for her as she began on her long road back from despair.

Tumeka began taking Nurse’s Assistant classes at City College, and quickly after landing an internship at St. James Infirmary, she was offered a full time job as Executive Assistant.

She said, “After being offered the job, I finally started feeling like I was part of the human race. I had a reason to live.”

Tumeka is currently an in-home care provider. She attends bible study daily, and jogs seven miles every morning. She said, “I remind myself who I am today so I never go back to who I used to be. Before, I was just existing. Today, I’m actually living.”

Project Open Hand has been a big step in her healing process and work toward a healthy reintegration into life. Tumeka admitted that she is still working every single day to feel completely healed. That

journey may be lengthy, but it is one that Tumeka, no doubt, has the strength for.

“Without Project Open Hand, I couldn’t have made it because no one else would help,” she said. “At one point in my life, I didn’t think about feeding myself; I only thought about feeding my addiction. I would have starved without POH. I’m so grateful for what they did for me; they gave me a second chance.”

Type 2 Diabetes, as well as high blood pressure, ran in Tumeka’s family, and once she was diagnosed with both, she was determined to find an alternate route to treatment; a route that didn’t include so much medication. In order to break the cycle of her family’s poor health history, she turned to Kim, a registered dietitian at Project Open Hand.

Tumeka said, “I don’t have diabetes anymore because of Kim. I’m on a quest of staying healthy, and Kim is the one who taught me how to eat right and exercise. The food at POH opened my eyes to an entirely new lifestyle. Now, I live a healthy life and treat my body with respect. I know my self-worth now.”

Tumeka concluded, “If someone were coming into POH for the first time, I would tell them, ‘Speak openly with staff and volunteers. Everyone is so understanding. Once you’re there, you’ll fully grasp the meals with love concept; they didn’t make the meal for the paycheck.’”

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

15

20 Years of Celebrating Community, Art and Honoring Those When Art for AIDS was first conceived two decades ago, effective HIV treatments began to turn the epidemic around, especially in the developing world. The following year, Art for AIDS partnered with the UCSF Alliance Health Project (AHP) and what began as a tiny community fundraiser, raising a few thousand dollars, has grown into the gala it is today—raising more than $2,000,000 since its inception.

Join the Alliance Health Project staff and volunteers on Friday, September 16, for the 20th annual Art for AIDS, starting at 6:00 pm at one of our favorite venues in San Francisco: City View at Metreon.

Energetic bidd i ng and spirited donations will ensure that folks at great-

est risk can take advantage of dramatic medical and policy advances. Peruse their website—artforaids.org—and discover amazing art, and learn why Art for AIDS is famous not only for the magnitude of its cause but also for the excellence of its brilliantly curated artworks.

Art for AIDS is famous for some other things too: great food, great wine, a beautiful view of the city and Yerba Buena Gardens, and the company of more than 800 supporters, art patrons, and community philanthropists.

Over the years, Art for AIDS has attracted renowned donations of the works of important artists such as Matthew Frederick, Jylian Gustlin, Hung Liu, Jock Sturges, Carolyn Meyer, Gustavo Ramos Rivera, Rex Ray, and John Waguespack, along with works from prominent Bay Area galleries and collectors.

This year, live and silent auctions include 186 artworks—painting, photography, mixed media, and sculpture by artists such as Frank Döring, Catherine Mackey, Fernando Reyes, Eric Rewitzer, Heather Wilcoxon, and Tim Yankosky.

Gourmet dishes include bites prepared by Bisou, Cardel Catering, Garabaldis, Melon’s Catering, and Precita Park Café, plus cocktails by

El Rio and wine from Maldonado Vineyards.

As always, the legendary silent auction features more than art, including luxury getaways, restaurant gift certificates, winery tours, and theater tickets.

In recognition of the 20th year of Art for AIDS, and the 32nd year of AHP’s existence, the event will feature portraits of AHP’s friends and colleagues who are living with HIV. Join us on September 16 to celebrate their lives and promote visibility for people living with HIV/AIDS. Since 1984, AHP has served the community with free HIV testing, education, counseling, and mental health services. During that time AHP has reached more than 250,000 LGBTQ and HIV-affected clients. Further, AHP has trained more than 80,000 health professionals, educators, and students to achieve the goals consistent with the Project’s mission: to support the mental health and wellness of the LGBTQ and HIV-affected communities in constructing healthy and meaningful lives.

Art for AIDS September 16 @ City View at Metreon, San Francisco Tickets: artforaids.org

Art for AIDS Has Become an Invaluable for HIV-Affected Clients at UCSF Allian By dk haas Art for AIDS began in 1996 as a small community event held by artists who felt powerless while watching their friends die of AIDS. The event was held at SOM Arts Cultural Center, and raised a few thousand dollars that was donated to the California AIDS Ride. Now, 20 years later, the auction has raised over 2.5 million, and has become an invaluable resource for the LGBTQ and HIV-affected clients at the UCSF Alliance Health Project (AHP).

Art for AIDS provides AHP with critical operating resources to serve more than 6,500 clients annually at their Market Street clinic. Today, the LGBTQ and HIV-affected clients

at AHP are coping with aging, isolation, income frailty, substance use, psychiatric disorders and homelessness.

A HP Community Advisory Board member Emily Conley, PhD, reminded us all that there is still work to be done.

“The 20th Art for AIDS gives us the opportunity to celebrate the progress we’ve made,” she said, “but also focuses on the real needs that still exist within the community. HIV testing and key mental health services for the LGBTQ community will be supported by the funds that are raised at Art for AIDS.” This year, 186 works of art were generously donated and carefully selected by a volunteer jury. The same holds true for all of the hors d’oeuvres, wine, cocktails and silent auction certificates. The generosity of the community in putting together the event is unequaled.

According to Executive Director James Dilley, MD, “Art for AIDS has played a central role in AHP’s ability to respond

Erika Meriaux 16

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

to the needs of the people who have come to us for help for two decades. It stands not only as our most important fundraiser, but also as a tribute to the arts community that has both been directly affected by the epidemic and as a testimony to the generosity of Bay Area artists. We couldn’t be more grateful to them for their support!”

A HP Community Advisory Board member, Brad Hare, MD, conjures the generosity. Hare said, “Art for AIDS is a chance for our family of supporters to come together and celebrate the resilient and creative spirit of the LGBT and HIV-affected communities in the Bay Area and to sustain the impactful work done every day by the staff of the Alliance Health Project.” dk haas is an artist as well as the Community Liaison at UCSF Alliance Health Project. For more information about the Project, please visit http://www.ucsf-ahp.org/ To learn more about haas’ artwork, go to http:// www.dkhaas.com/

e Living with HIV/AIDS

dk haas

Catherine Palmer

e Resource nce Health Project

Heidi McDowell

Ira-Kahn

Jhina Alvarado Lucky Rapp Jean-Michel Basquiat

Gustavo Ramos Rivera

Frank Van Duerm

Carmine Acconcia S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY   T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

17

Bubbles

Photos courtesy of Dr. Tim Seelig

TLC: Tears, Laughs and Conversation Dr. Tim Seelig Yup, that’s the title of this month’s column. A number of things probably popped into your head. Maybe bubble bath, bubble butt or bubble gum, specifically Bubbliscious. Maybe the word brought to mind champagne or songs such as Lawrence Welk’s “Bubbles in the Wine,” of Don Ho singing “Tiny Bubbles.” (You may need to Google Mr. Welk and Mr. Ho.) Those are all good answers, but they are not the theme of this missive (although readership would probably soar with an article about bubble butts). This one is about a man given the name “Bubbles” and the little girl who changed it. More than that, it’s about this amazing bubble in which we live—seen through the eyes of a child.

It is often said that no one who currently lives in San Francisco was actually born here. It’s true that most residents are from places f lung far and wide across the planet. This story is about someone who was, indeed, born here. For a moment, put yourself in her shoes, small as they are, and just imagine how your own life would be had you had anything akin to the f irst six years of Miss Clara Skye.

There are lessons to be learned.

On November 28, 2010, a bouncing, bubbly baby girl was born at UCSF Parnassus. She spent the first day of her life in a room with a breathtaking, expansive view of the Golden Gate Bridge! She has never lost her fascination with that bridge. This week, she starts Kindergarten right here in San Francisco. Those six formative years were filled with wonder, as you will soon see.

Allow me to digress a moment. When my daughter became “great with child,” she decided that I couldn’t possibly be Papaw or Peepaw. She decided on Bubbles! Seriously. Bubbles. As Clara grew into her toddlerhood, try as she might, Bubbles just wasn’t going to happen. Thus, I am now proudly known as “Bop Bop.” I dodged the “Bubbles” bullet. Because of the repetition, my husband is Dan Dan to Clara.

I offer a brief highlight reel of Clara’s San Francisco. It may be yours as well. At least the lessons therein.

•

•

At seven months, Clara attended her first SF Gay Pride Parade!

She began marching at the age of three.

She has spent every Easter with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and the Hunky Jesus Contest.

•

Her favorite television star is not Dora the Explorer, but RuPaul.

•

Ch r ist ma s Eve is spent at church, of course. The church is better known as the Castro Theatre, where she listens to Bop Bop’s choir.

•

She was the f lower girl at her Granddads’ wedding.

•

She helped her fat her a nd Granddads buy stilettos, makeup and stuff their bras with birdseed in order to raise money for

18

the SFGMC scholarship fund!

Her assistance was invaluable in the creation of the D’Lish Triplets. She learned it from watching RuPaul!

•

Her favorite color is the Rainbow Flag. She insisted on dressing as a rainbow this past Halloween.

•

Her day care was filled with children from every continent. She has no clue that they are not all the same. She is completely colorblind to the world.

•

She looks at the homeless with compassion and empathy, not disdain.

•

She lives one block from Golden Gate Park and thinks of it as a “backyard with museums.” Her backyard.

Needless to say, none of that would have happened had her parents and Bop Bop stayed in Dallas. It wouldn’t have happened had her Dad, a brilliant physician and oncolog y researcher, and Mom, a pediatric oncology nurse, accepted the offers they have had in cities that provided more compensation, but less magic, for Clara.

What would life have been like for that same six-year-old in Dallas, or Cincinnati or Atlanta? Fewer drag queens (including her Father!), no Sisters, a different Easter Jesus, less green (more malls), less diversity, less gay pride, less gay chorus, less Rainbow Flag, less gay in general. And definitely less fabulosity!

How lucky is she? Lucky beyond words, actually. And so are we!

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

Now, don’t get me wrong; Clara is a typical little girl in many ways. She loved Frozen more than life itself. (Bop Bop is ready to “Let It Go.”) She loves her menagerie of pets. She loves her family and understands that it extends far, far beyond her nuclear family. As our friend Armistead Maupin says, she loves both her biological and logical families equally.

What she did not learn is the narrowly defined existence many of us had foisted on us. She did not grow up with a sense or fear of “other” or “different.” There will be no artificial, arbitrary boundaries because someone does not look like her, talk like her, pray like her or have the luxuries of life she enjoys. She will continue to grow up without bigotry, religious constraints or judgments.

She’s just Clara. Just like Rice-ARoni, a San Francisco treat! My little San Francisco treat. We plan to

celebrate the completion of her first week of Kindergarten right back at her church (Castro Theatre) with the sing-along Little Mermaid.

She will no doubt grow to be a magnificent woman with the indelible imprint of this fabulous city and environment firmly stamped on her very soul.

Please join me, on this first day of Clara’s Kindergarten, in raising a glass of non-alcoholic bubbly in honor of our amazing city, all of its lucky children and the lucky adults who share in it.

May the lessons we learn from the children be ones that we carr y throughout our lives. May we now honor and embrace those lessons, even if they took 60+ years to learn.

May we walk through our streets with a smile on our faces, savoring our city and delighting in its eccentricities.

There is no place on earth like this, especially as seen through eyes wide with wonder, the eyes of Clara Skye.

Amen.

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

SFGMC Featured at Naming Ceremony for the USNS Harvey Milk Photos by Gareth Gooch Photography The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus was among the memorable participants at the U.S. Navy naming ceremony for the USNS Harvey Milk. The historymaking event took place at Treasure Island on Tuesday, August 16.

“It was such an honor to be a part of this ceremony!” read a post at the SFGMC Facebook page.

“We opened the event with the ‘National Anthem’ and closed it with ‘Never Ever,’ from 1996’s NakedMan. Thank you for having us, United States Navy!”

Whether watching in person or via the live Internet streaming that took place,

onlookers were very moved by the music and ceremony, which provided poignant reminders of Milk’s legacy, and how far we have come since the days when Milk was in the Navy (1951–1955).

Milk was honorably discharged from the service as a lieutenant junior grade before launching his life and work in San Francisco.

Congratulations to Dr. Tim Seelig, conductor and artistic director, and the entire SFGMC membership on this important honor that will no doubt become one of the legendary moments in the organization’s storied timeline dating from its founding in 1978.

Ensign Harvey Milk, U.S. Navy

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

19

20

SA N FRANCISCO BAY   T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

From the Coming Up Events Calendar See page 28 Saturday, September 8 - GLAAD San Francisco 2016 Gala - 5:30 PM @ City View at Metreon, 135 4th Street. glaadorg/sf

Wednesday, September 14 - Rebecca Kaplan’s Birthday Party - 5:30 PM @ Everett & Jones BBQ, 126 Broadway, Jack London Square, Oakland. facebook.com/ events/512105838995943/

Christiana Remington-Jones Is the Talented Visionary Behind Oakland Pride’s Womyn’s Stage Oakland Pride is Sunday, September 11, and one of its cannot-miss attractions is the Womyn’s Stage.

Inspired by requests from the East Bay LGBT women’s communit y, the Womyn’s Stage has been a crucial part of Oakland’s Pride celebration for many years. Behind the scenes is Christiana Remington-Jones, who, with her dedicated team, makes all of the magic happen.

San Leandro and Berkeley native Remington-Jones and her crew are committed to highlighting LGBT women’s creativity and passions within the larger Oakland Pride event.

They say that this year, the Womyn’s Stage will feature “electrifying talent on-stage including musicians, vocalists and dancers showcasing an array of entertainment styles, as well as female DJs highlighting a diverse range of musical genres, and special guest appearances by lesbian-identified and LGBTQ friendly celebrities and performers.”

Given that past entertainment on the Womyn’s Stage has included everyone from legendary DJ Page Hodel to hip hop faves Breathless aka Honey B, expect to be swept away by the grooves when Pride Sunday in Oakland finally arrives.

A star for us is Remington-Jones herself, whose work in the local LGBT music scene merits more recognition, in our view. Yet another incredibly talented woman—actress/author/ writer/poet Venus Jones (https://www.venus-

jones.com/)—recently interviewed Remington-Jones on behalf of the San Francisco Bay Times. The two share not only a last name, but also a love for our community and Oakland Pride. Let’s listen/ read in on their conversation…

OAKLAND PRlDE • SUNDAY SEPT 11

Christiana Remington-Jones: I am the Executive Producer of the Womyn’s Stage.

About two years in, Oakland Pride contacted me about the Womyn’s Stage. I then became the Executive Producer of the Womyn’s Stage for Oakland Pride, a title that I have held over the last five years. This year, I am still producing the Womyn’s Stage, yet I made some changes and created the Womyn’s Stage Collaborative. The Collaborative includes Christie James, Stage Manager; (you!) Venus I. Jones, Back Stage Manager; and Elana Bolds, Parade Manager.

Venus Jones: How long have you been the Executive Producer?

Venus Jones: How about your personal life?

Christiana Remington-Jones: I have been the Executive Producer for the last 6 years with Oakland Pride.

Christiana Remington-Jones: I am a wife, a mother of six children and three step children. I have four wonderful grandchildren.

I like to spend as much time with my lil’ ones as I am able to. I am a real community person; I always have been. I am a big believer in making sure women are represented no matter where we go, and women of color specifically.

val?

Venus Jones: What exactly is your role with the Womyn’s Stage at the Oakland Pride Festi-

Venus Jones: How did you get started producing the Womyn’s Stage?

Christiana Remington-Jones: Here is a little “herstory” first. I originally produced a party for lesbian women of color named Butta in Oakland. Butta ran for 10 years with great success and SHE is now retired. I enjoyed being able to create a safe space for women of color. About 8 years ago I was offered a chance to volunteer for the Soul of Pride Stage with San Francisco Pride. I saw this as an opportunity to learn, grow and enhance my skills. I became the co-producer of the San Francisco Soul of Pride Stage. I loved it! I enjoy recruiting local talent and showcasing women artists.

Christiana Remington-Jones

Venus Jones: What are your future goals? You don’t have to give away any secrets.

Christiana Remington-Jones: I always have big goals, but one in particular will be my legacy! Coming 2017.

For more information on Oakland Pride, including the full entertainment lineup, please go to: http://www. oaklandpride.org/

Christiana and Blou Jae

OAKLAND PRIDE ENTERTAINERS

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

21

Two Intimate, Poignant Films Now Available on DVD: Beautiful Something and The Royal Road

Gary M. Kramer Two San Francisco-based filmmakers have films out on DVD. Writer/ director Joseph Graham’s intimate, affecting drama Beautiful Something chronicles four characters whose lives overlap over the course of a night.

Brian (Brian Sheppard) is a poet looking for love and inspiration; Jim (Zack Ryan) is an actor who, he says, “goes where my body takes me;” Drew (Colman Domingo) is a famous artist and Jim’s lover; and Bob ( John Lescault) is an older man craving companionship.

The stories, which address love and longing, are melancholy slices of life.

Graham chatted with me for the San Francisco Bay Times about making Beautiful Something.

Gary M. Kramer: How did you develop the characters and storylines for Beautiful Something?

Joseph Graham: The characters all pretty much came from me. I developed them from my own past experiences and by bringing the actors in and exploring things with them.

That’s how they blossomed. I worked with the actors to create the characters, open them up and see who they were.

Gary M. Kramer: Brian Sheppard is fantastic in the film; he makes you believe he falls in love with every guy he meets.

Matthew Rios steals his few scenes as Sergio, a pivotal character who flirts with Brian. Can you talk about the casting?

Joseph Graham: I think there is enormous strength in Brian’s portrayal and transformation. It’s his talent and craft, and his wit, and intelligence. Without that, the character would have been weak. Matthew was a really lucky find for us. He came in late to casting. What was wonderful is that he pushed his way right into Brian’s face as they were reading, and we knew he was the guy. He had trouble with the bicycle his character rides— he didn’t know how to ride it! He got what the character was there for in terms of the function of the story. Tying into that gave him the ease and confidence to play things as easily as he did.

Gary M. Kramer: Why did you set and shoot Beautiful Something in Philadelphia?

Joseph Graham: Philadelphia is a city that has been so wonderful to me over the past ten years. My films Vanilla and Strapped screened there, and I made friends there. I consider it a second home. Shooting there afforded us the opportunity to make the film grittier, and give it a stronger backdrop than doing it in San Francisco where I live. It gave it a stronger edge.

Gary M. Kramer: What decisions did you make in what you showed in the film? The sex is explicit, but not erotic.

Joseph Graham: There are parts that people feel are erotic, but I can 22

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

Joseph Graham

Gary M. Kramer: Beautiful Something has a real melancholic feel to it, but there is also something quite moving about it.

Jo s e p h G r a h a m : The melancholy quality and the loneliness and the feel of the style of the lighting and the sound, that’s just me.

There wasn’t planning with that; it just felt right.

There is an aching, a longing, and it’s so ephemeral. It’s impossible for them to put into words. I like a Hopper- esque mood. ________________________ Another local mood piece, San Francisco-based Jenni Olsen’s The Royal Road, is out on DVD September 6. An affecting cinematic journey, Olsen’s eloquent documentary consists of gorgeous still shots of empty streets, bridges, and buildings—many of which have a Hopper-esque quality— and her poignant voiceover obser vat ions. She chronicles the history of the El Camino Real, while waxing poetically about the “pure industrial beauty” of the Oakland port.

She traces Spain’s colonization of California and provides a brief, but cogent, history lesson about manifest destiny, the territorial expansion of the U.S., and the Mexican-American War. And Olsen discusses nostalgia and love and loss, as well as her f lirtations with potential girlfriends (that never quite seem to work out).

The Royal Road is also a nuanced essay/memory piece about movies. Olsen describes the impact f ilms such as Sunset Boulevard, The Children’s Hour, Vertigo, and Roman Holiday have had on her outlook on life. She explains how films provided an escape for her growing up as a tomboy in the Midwest, and how the catharsis of narrative continues to inform her life in San Francisco, where “self-discovery is a civic value.” The Royal Road is very much a trip worth taking.

Jenni Olsen

© 2016 Gary M. Kramer Gary M. Kramer is the author of “Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews,” and the co-editor of “Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.” Follow him on Twitter @garymkramer

PHOTO BY RINK

Film

see where others don’t.

It wasn’t going to be about nudity. This isn’t a Cinemax gay movie. There had to be many layers of emotion, connection, vulnerability and loss and intensity and aggressiveness. Those milliseconds where you feel connected and suddenly it’s lost. What’s really played up is that the sex means one thing to one person, and something completely different to the other. When Brian is with Chris [a hookup] it’s passion for Brian, and just carnal need for Chris. Between Zack and Drew, sex is very complex.

But when Brian and Jim are kissing in the warehouse, there’s a moment of recognition, but then it is lost.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE DE YOUNG AND LEGION OF HONOR

A Ceiling from the Palacio de Altamira, Spain Prior to Columbus’ explorations to the New World, Spain’s diverse cultures—Jews, Catholics, and Muslims—all lived together in a state of relative peace. From 711 to 1492, Moorish caliphates occupied the southern Iberian Peninsula while Catholic monarchs ruled the north, during what has been deemed the convivencia, or coexistence. During this time, the free exchange of ideas among Spain’s inhabitants resulted in both scientific and artistic advances, as well as general religious tolerance. Medieval Spanish architecture remains a lasting testament to this unique period in history and tells a tale of cultural vitality and wealth.

This spectacular painted and gilded wooden ceiling was made in the late 15th century and installed in one of the four towers of the Palacio de Altamira outside of Toledo, in central Spain. The ceiling’s elaborate geometric patterning is Islamic in origin, but Christian motifs are also present. This combination of Moorish and Christian architectural and design tropes is known as the Mudéjar style.

At the center of each wall panel is a coat of arms for the aristocratic Maqueda family, important members of the court of Isabella, a Catholic who—along with her husband, Ferdinand—ultimately commissioned Columbus’s westward expedition.

Another set of coat of arms belongs to Don Gutierre de Cárdenas and his wife, Doña Teresa Enríquez. Doña Teresa’s piety is likely referenced in the row of gilt scallop shells that top each wall panel. Shells are associated with Christian pilgrimages, particularly those made to the shrine of Saint James at Santiago de Compostela, a pilgrimage route that remains popular today.

Surprisingly, the Legion of Honor’s Spanish ceiling is not the only one of its kind in the Bay Area. Another ceiling extracted from the Palacio de Altamira, donated by William Randolph Hearst, currently hangs in San Francisco’s Cannery. Hearst was an avid collector of these stunning architectural remnants and included more than thirty Spanish ceilings in his roaming castle on the hill in San Simeon.

So, the next time you’re at the Legion of Honor, don’t forget to look up!

J O H N S T O N, K I N N E Y & Z U L A I C A LLP

(top) Anonymous maker, Ceiling from the Palacio de Altamira, Spanish 1482– 1503. Painted, gilded, and composed wood. Gift of Mrs. Richard Ely Danielson and Mrs. Chauncey McCormick.

46.16

With nine attorneys in two locations, we serve the LGBT community with expertise, experience and sensitivity.

We offer services in: • LGBT Families

• Tax Planning

• Estate Planning

• Family Law

• Trust & Probate Administration

• Elder Law & Benefits

• Beneficiary Representation

Gallery 3, featuring the ceiling (1482-1503) from the Palacio de Altamira in Torrijos, Spain. Photograph by Richard Barnes ©Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

• Entity Formation & Real Estate

SAN FRANCISCO

SANTA ROSA

415.693.0550

707.237.7371

www.jkzllp.com | www.jkzllp.com/español

SF Sketch Randy Coleman Randy Coleman hails from New York, but has lived in San Francisco since 1975. Coleman shares that before moving to the Bay Area, he studied Art History and Architecture at Boston University while working as a resident artist for architectural rendering at a Massachusetts historical society. “All of my life I’ve been an artist,” Coleman says. “To know me is to know that I have a passion for art and architecture. I love this project for the San Francisco Bay Times, and hope that you enjoy my sketches.” © Randy Coleman, 2016

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

23

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

Astrology Elisa Quinzi The atmosphere has bred much in the way of fear and concern for the future, which we all feel, to some extent. But now is a powerful period of breaking free from fear. The planets urge us to strain the sediment from the spiritual waters of self, and to clean house both internally and externally. Make way for good, joy, and love to rise to the surface and make themselves known as the primary forces in the universe.

TAURUS (April 20–May 20) Let go of perfectionism and the need to please others. Humbly assess your strengths and build upon them. A portal opens for you to be more naturally and radiantly you.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Weed the garden of self. Pull out dead roots and anything that chokes your connection to spirit. Tend to the soil with proper water, nutrients, and light.

You are cultivating good things to come.

CANCER ( June 21–July 22) Your mind is especially stimulated now. Take classes to update your skill set. Engage in discussions. Write your book. You receive information from divine sources if you listen.

LEO ( July 23–August 22) You are meant to shine, but without self-love, you seek validation in all

the wrong places. Boost your self-esteem by humbly admitting what actions you can take on your behalf and in service to others. Taking such actions will bring the sense of security you crave.

VIRGO (August 23–Sept. 22) The celestial spotlight is on you right now. Rebirth is both desirable and inevitable. Give yourself the space and freedom to transform and to experience all that you have denied yourself.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) You might feel you are losing something of value, but know that loss creates space for new energy and experiences to come in. The ending of a cycle means a new one is about to begin.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) For those Scorpio readers of this column who do not yet consider themselves wise elders, make strategic plans now for achieving future goals. Those of you who are wise elders, what hard-won life wisdom can you give away? You have much to offer, and the community needs your gifts.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22–Dec. 21) Discipline, goals, hard work, and practical reality have been up for you, and are at a crescendo pitch right now. While many a sag would rather be drinking on a secluded beach in Thailand, now is the time for the blood, sweat, and tears that will get you there.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22–Jan.19) You might decide to go back to college now. You might choose to go travel the world. Either way, you are to gain a fresh perspective, perhaps needing to let go of a longcherished belief in the process. Expand your mind. Expand your world.

AQUARIUS ( Jan. 20–Feb. 18) Partnerships and joint ventures thrive when you do what is best for the whole.

Take your personal fears out of the equation, give up some control, and allow for the mystery to unfold.

PISCES (Feb. 19–March 20) To get out of your own way, be of service to others. Practice self-care and taking care of responsibilities as a means of opening to the powers of the universe. You will be guided toward how to be of greatest benefit to the world.

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

As Heard on the Street . . .Who is your favorite artist?

24

compiled by Rink

Juliana Delgado Lupera

Lenore Chinn

Thom Grexa Phillips

Mary Sager

Jeremy Prince

“Drita Indiana”

“Bernice Bing, Yayoi Kusana, Carrie Mae Weems”

“Hubert Jay Stowitts”

“Adele Goodman Clark”

“Caravaggio”

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun

draiser produced by HEATHER JACKS to help fund her latest photo/essay coffee table book about THE SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE. After mingling during cocktail hour, we witnessed Sister Roma giving an eventful biographical tour of her life. Before the event began, she had asked audience members to write one word on cards to inspire her talk. The word “Violence” inspired her to address her and other Sisters having co-founded the “Stop the Violence! Stop Hate!” campaign ten years ago. It still continues, with “This is a Safe Place” pink triangle placards distributed in business windows and neighbors’ homes. The word “Fundraising” was her cue to speak of the first syllable, “fun,” illustrating how The Sisters go about fundraising.

By Sister Dana Van Iquity Sister Dana sez, “September 5th is Labor Day, which means it’s Burning Man Weekend, which means a mass exodus from the Bay Area to the Black Rock Desert.

Leaving EssEff an utter ghost town. Alas, Sister Dana is just too old now to sleep in a tent in the dust.”

King 13 Sergio Fedasz & Queen 13 China Silk produced the EVERY THIRD SATURDAY FUNDRAISER for KREWE DE KINQUE’s beneficiary HOMOBILIES at The Edge Bar. Krewe de Kinque is a Mardi Gras-themed fundraising society. We raised $648 that day. King 1 Gary Virginia, King 2 Mark Paladini, Queen 4 Joan Crawford Texas, Jimmy M Strano & Queen 11 Li’l Kim Chee, Don Ho were guest hosts & emcees. King 7 John Weber and Mark Paladini sang live. Queen 9 BeBe Sweetbriar also sang live. Queen 7 Sister Dana Van Iquity worked the door. King 11 Joseph Nunez provided the Jell-o shots. King 12 Joe Prince Wolfe hosted the fundraising spanking part of the fundraiser.

Coy Meza hosted the “cock fight.”

Offering lip-synching talent were Li’l Kim Chee, Joan Crawford Texas, Uma Dixon, Marcy Playground, Arther, Tyler Nelson, Sable Jones, and Lady Couture.

See you all on the Third Saturday in September, 4–7 pm at the Edge! KdK is always open to new members. Just ask Sister Dana, who will do the door once more. sfkinque.com

Friends and members of the SF DUCAL COURT came to Aunt Charlies Lounge to toast special anniversaries of ducals’ titledom: the Grand Duchess3 Charlie on her 40th anniversary, Grand Duchess 18 Davida Ashton on her 25th, Grand Duke 22 Don Woods & Grand Duchess 23 Renita Valdez on their 20th,Grand Duchess 33 Collette Le Grande Ashton on her 10th, and Grand Duke 37 Jason Husted on his 5th. The event was emceed by Royal Princess Kenya Pfister. This was not a fundraiser, but a celebration.

Their Most Imperial Majesties, Emperor Salvador Tovar and Empress Emma Peel, in conjunction with the IMPERIAL COUNCIL OF SAN FRANCISCO Inc., and THE SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE, Inc. presented “PROJECT GENDER BLUR,” at Beaux nightclub as an artistic commentary on the “bathroom laws” touching a huge variety of people who are not being discussed (trans men and women, gender queers, nonconforming, intersex, feminine men, masculine women, drag queens, etc.).

This project seeks to highlight these individuals through a documentary and collection of portraits and stories. By shining a light on those who are actually being placed into danger, Gender Blur hopes to spark a conversation about necessary changes in how we think about gender, public bathrooms, and each other. Portraits and documentary were shot at the event, a combination Photo shoot/ Fundraiser with net proceeds benefiting the SF LGBT Center’s Trans Employment Program. Emcees were Miz Eva & Sister Hera See’s Candy. There were performances

by Sable Jones, Patrice Salmek, Pearl Teese, Mary Wannah, Piper McGroin, Alexis Miranda, Sadie Ladie, and more—with DJ Jim Collins spinning tunes. transemploymentprogram.org

Castro Street ARTSAVESLIVES STUDIO AND GALLERY, 518 Castro Street, invited the public to “CASTRO STREET LOCAL ARTISTS” art work curated by studio owner THOMASINA DE MAIO featuring exhibitions by Rene Capone, Andrew Fisher, Thomasina DeMaio, Peggy Sue Ward, Mike Staley, and the late Morris Taylor. The art-packed evening included artful performances by comic Marga Gomez, dancers Scarlet Astrid, Grace Towers, and Nandi, as well as belt-out songs by Alotte Butte. Studio resident DeMaio always comes through with promises of plenty of wine, beer, food, performance, and incredible art. She offers weekly studio sessions with live models for sketching, sculpting, and painting. artspan.org/artist/thomasina

WHAT’S UP, SISTER DANA?

The final “SISTER SPEAKS” of three lecture events was entitled “AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH SISTER ROMA” at Spark Arts in the Castro. We got to partake in amazing treats, including a professionally hosted beer tasting by 21st Amendment brewery, Hagafen Wine, Ice Cream Bar creamery, and a lovely garden area catered by LUGO. The event was a festive fun-

PHOTO BY DARRYL PELLETIER

Sister Dana sez, “Take a Day off from Labor and enjoy these upcoming events!”

Sister Dana (left) with Sister Roma and Heather Jacks at the Sisters Speak! An Intimate Evening with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence: Sister Roma, held at Sparks Arts Gallery on Thursday, August 25.

The GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY is featuring an exhibit, “THROUGH KNOWLEDGE TO JUSTICE: THE SEXUAL WORLD OF DR. MAGNUS HIRSCHFELD (1868–1935),” at the GLBT History Museum (4127 18th Street & Castro). “Through Knowledge to Justice” offers an introduction to the German physician’s life, work, and legacy through first editions, vintage periodicals, and ephemera largely drawn from the collection assembled by curator GERARD KOSKOVICH over the past three decades. In addition, the exhibition includes historic film documenting Hirschfeld’s impact and the fate of his work. “Through Knowledge to Justice” opened August 19th and runs through December at the GLBT History Museum.

While in the museum, you can also enjoy “STROKE: FROM UNDER (continued on page 30) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

25

Straight Plays Gay in and Around San Francisco what he learned playing alongside a team of gay men: “[They] took great risks to be true to themselves and who they want to be. It takes great courage and inner strength to go against the grain and weather blatant discrimination and behind the back whispers.” For these reasons, Michele has great respect for gay men and women, as well as for the struggles of the LGBT community.

Sports John Chen Even today, more often than not, we read and hear about LGBT people being physically harmed, blatantly discriminated against and religiously condemned by those who fear and don’t understand us. The injustice helps to fuel our collective fire and courage to fight for equal rights, treatment and respect as fellow human beings. I’d like to take this opportunity to bring light to how local gay sports positively break down negative stereotypes of LGBT people, and help our straight counterparts to understand that we are not so different from them after all.

For the past eight months I’ve covered numerous gay sports teams, leagues and organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area on the fields and on the courts, in the pools and in the rinks.

For each sport, I’ve interviewed several non LGBT players, competitors and members. In each interview, I learned that through their participation in gay sports, straight players gained deeper understandings of LGBT people: who we really are and our struggles. We share with them similar humanly goals, dreams and desires, such as wanting happiness, wanting to compete and hopefully win, wanting to be loved, and wanting to be accepted.

Michele Cervantes, a straight member of Spike’s Soccer Club, described

Straight, married and with children, Sean Moore didn’t know what to expect when he first started playing football in the San Francisco Gay Flag Football League, but he knew he loved to play football. Halfway through his first season, Sean excitedly invited many of his “bros” to come watch him play, citing how competitive and fun the gay league is and how skilled and athletic many of the LGBT players are. To Sean it’s not about gay or straight; it’s about playing football with quality people.

With an ice hockey pedigree, Dan Hagerty didn’t even know the team he competed on (Goaldiggers) was a predominately LGBT team because his teammates were tough, physical, hard nose players. Dan was also impressed by how organized and cohesive the team was off the ice, something that was often lacking in his previous teams. “No way!” Dan remembered saying, the day he found out that he was on a gay team. Dan chuckled when his teammates asked him how in the world he had not noticed the bright pink skate laces.

As a straight coach for Tsunami Water Polo Club, Jon Wiener wasn’t sure if the players would accept a non-LGBT coach or if the team even wanted a straight coach. Jon said, “I was a bit unsure at first, but I soon learned the club was extremely welcoming, no matter my background. I learned that the gay community is very accepting of people because they understand what it’s like to be on the outside looking in.” Today, Jon has

a co-coach: his best friend Erik Koland, who is also straight. Erik intimated the main difference between his past straight teams and his current gay team is that, for Tsunami, winning is not the only goal. Players truly want to learn and improve their skills, foster a positive and healthy competitive environment, and, of course, socialize.

Brian Bussiere (known for his big, bushy red beard) and his wife Jessica have been playing softball in the San Francisco Gay Softball League for the past four years. The number one thing Brian noticed playing in a gay league is the camaraderie and the support the teams and players have for one another. “Together, the LGBT community is strong and proud,” he said. Brian also noted that many straight people don’t know how to handle being viewed as sex objects by gays. But that certainly is not the case for Brian and Jessica. In fact, you can find this happy-go-lucky couple at the Lone Star and a few un-named street fairs dressed in a thong and corset, (I am going to let you conclude who wears the thong and who wears the corset) educating people about acceptance and fundraising for their respective gay teams. Along the way, Brian relishes all of the amazing hugs he gets from men and women alike.

My good friend Matt Flora, a former collegiate volleyball player, is no stranger to the LGBT community, considering that his former competitive club volleyball coaches were gay. Matt respected his gay coaches like any other and responded with, “Yes sir.” Now, at the ripe old age of let’s say 30, (I think Matt would kill me if I documented his true age, as for most aging gay men I know) Matt plays on gay teams mainly for fun and entertainment. He explained, “There is never a dull moment in gay sports.

The pageantries are over the top spectacular, and not a game goes by without some sort of diva award-winning performance.”

Reduce Knee, Back and Hip Pain es create strength and flexibility that can help bring your body into better balance, which can help reduce joint pain.

Inside Out Fitness Cinder Ernst The right exercise, done with the right attitude, makes everything better.

Let’s talk about attitude. We’re all about that here at Inside Out Fitness. As the name implies, we teach you how to find your way with exercise and fitness by what feels good and right to you from the inside out. It’s really a process, because most of us have been brainwashed by the diet and fitness industry to think that fitness is hard and that your body is not OK the way it is.

When you start with the premise that there is something wrong with you and/or your physical apparatus, you will always be at a disadvantage. Add all the crazy fitness ideas to that, and no one would blame you for not getting started. There are some great columns in the archives here at the San Francisco Bay Times if you’d like to learn more about how to think differently about your body and your fitness.

What I want to talk about today is that exercise can reduce joint pain. Small strengthening or stretching exercis26

One of the problems is that, when you think fitness is hard, you never get to it. At Inside Out Fitness we are famous for our super effective, small step exercises that are easy to do, so you will do them. You get stronger in the most important places, then you feel better.

You have less pain. You move more.

It’s a good momentum to have going.

A little bit goes a long way.

One of my favorite strengthening exercises for the reluctant exerciser is called the Tush Tilt. I’ll explain how to do it after I tell you how and why it works.

The Tush Tilt strengthens your butt muscles or glutes. Weak butt muscles contribute to knee, back and hip pain. You can see why getting and keeping those muscles strong would be important. One of the problems with strengthening the butt muscle is that particular focus can sometimes exacerbate back pain. The “Tilt” in the Tush Tilt takes care of this problem because it is a stabilizing position for your back while you focus on your butt. The best part is that, not only does the tilt protect your back, but it also does so with a move that strengthens your abdominal muscles and produces core strength.

The Tush Tilt therefore strengthens your butt and core safely, easily and efficiently. It’s designed to be done in a chair in less than a minute a day. This ease and efficiency is the perfect route for a reluctant exerciser. A client told me this week that after 6 days of doing 10 Tush Tilts each day, her sciatica felt better!

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

Fitness SF Trainer Tip of the Month Kevin Chungchootairong Fitness SF Fillmore

Instead of doing a regular plank, try using a stability ball to challenge your mind and core. Put your elbows/forearms on the ball and rotate clockwise, then counter-clockwise.

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

He can be reached at tmacfarland@fitnesssf.com

You see, through sports our straight friends have learned a lot about us. We are strong, tough, courageous, every bit of an athlete, fun, social, playful, huggable, entertaining, welcoming and accepting. (OK, I may have accidentally omitted dramatic.) In the process, many of them have become our biggest fans, supporters, allies and advocates. It is with great hope that in our long march towards equality, acceptance and respect, we remember to stop and thank, and hug, those straight friends marching along our sides.

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

Take Me Home with You!

Little Phelps

Here’s how to do a Tush Tilt. Try it now with me. You can do it in any chair you f ind yourself in. If you have wheels, make sure your chair is snugged up against something. Sit in good posture, feet flat on the floor.

Have your legs in the 90-degree position, which means that your ankles are positioned directly under your knees.

First we’re going to try the Tilt. Imagine the curve of your low back. The object of the Tilt is to straighten that curve. You do it by trying to press your navel towards the back of the chair.

The mechanics of this is that your abdominal muscles shorten, which requires your lower back muscles to lengthen and so the curve straightens out. Try it now. It can be a little weird at first. You might feel “something” in your lower back when you do this. If it’s sharp or painful, stop. If it feels like “motion is lotion,” then you’re on the right track.

Get a feel for the Tilt. Do a few. Remember to breathe.

To add in the Tush, you will be squeezing your butt. Check your sitting posture and foot position and try it now.

Squeeze your butt! You are now ready for a Tush Tilt. Do the Tilt first and then add the butt squeeze. Release, re-

“My name is Little Phelps, not to be confused with Michael Phelps. Although I do share a lot in common with the famous athlete— our energ y levels are about the same! If I were to enter the Olympics, my chosen sport would be running laps around the dog park. Or chasing squirrels. I’m looking for a buddy who likes to play as much as I do. Let’s go for a walk and see if we click!”

Little Phelps is presented to San Francisco Bay Times readers by Dr. Jennifer Scarlett, the SF SPCA’s Co-President. Our thanks also go to Krista Maloney for helping to get the word out about lovable pets like Little Phelps.

To see Little Phelps and other pets seeking their forever homes, please visit: San Francisco SPCA Mission Campus 250 Florida Street San Francisco, CA 94103 415-522-3500

Dr. Jennifer Scarlett and Pup

Aside from major holidays, the adoption center is open Mon–Fri: 1–6 pm and Sat–Sun: 10 am–5 pm. Free parking is available for those wishing to adopt! For more info, please visit sfspca.org/adopt lax and repeat. You can find a video tutorial for this exercise on YouTube. Just search for the Tush Tilt or follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDQBv-rYhL8 Try 5 Tush Tilts today and work up to 10 each day. This exercise is much more effective if you grin while you do it!

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

Professional Services

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

FONTS

COLORS

Julius Sans One Quattrocento PMS 7533 U

PMS 557 U

PMS 660 U

PMS 652 U

NewPer specti ves Center for Counseling

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY   T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

27

See many more Calendar items @ www.sfbaytimes.com

• 1 Thursday

•2

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical – Runs through September 18 at SHN Orpheum Theatre @ 1192 Market Street, SF. This musical full of hit tunes tells the inspiring true story of King’s rise to stardom. www.shnsf.com

Ebabes TGIF – 6 pm @ The Terrace Room, Lake Merritt Hotel, 800 Madison St., Oakland. Monthly mixer every 1st Friday for lesbians 30+. eastbaylesbiantgif@yahoo.com

Sex Work in the Tenderloin Then & Now – 7 pm, GLBT History Museum @ 4127 18th St, SF. Panel discussion exploring how trans lives and sex work have changed in the last 50 years in the tenderloin. glbthistory.org

La Cage Aux Folles – Runs through September 11, 7 pm, Woodminister Amphitheater @ 3300 Joaquin Miller Rd, Oakland.

The classic farce by Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman based on the play by Jean Poiret. woodminister.com 6 pm

•3

Saturday

Free Rapid HIV Testing – 5 pm @ UCSF Alliance Health Project, 1930 Market @ Duboce.

Every Tuesday free testing. ucsf-ahp. org/hiv/hcat/make-your-appointment/

PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES FOR GLAAD

Lesbians of Color Discussion Group at the Pacific Center – 7–8:30 pm, 2712 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. The racially diverse group talks about “everything.” www.pacificcenter.org

Friday

GLAAD San Francsico’s 2016 Gala, to be held Thursday, September 8 at City View at Metreon, features actor Wilson Cruz as a special guest.

Skip the Needle and The Sherrie Phillips Band – 8 pm, Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse @ 2020 Addison, Berkeley. Live music and socializing for lesbians of all ages. thefreight.org/skip-needle Redwood City Ladies Dance Party – 8 pm, Back Yard Café @ 965 Brewster Ave., Redwood City.

Monthly every 1st Saturday, featuring DJ Raya.

•4

Sunday

RWC / Rainbow Skate – 7 pm @ Redwood Roller Rink, 1303 Main Street, Redwood City. Skating for LGBT community and friends.

Rainbowskate.net/specials.html Hella Saucey Queer Dance Party – 8 pm @ Q Bar, 456 Castro Street. Mixed crowd at a favorite Castro bar.

Summer Round Up – 5 pm, Sundance Saloon @ 550 Barneveld Avenue. Men & women ages 21 to 99 gather for dancing or to hang out at the best LGBT countrywestern dance club in the world. sundancesaloon.org

Mincing Words with Tom Ammiano – Thru October 15 @ The Marsh, 1062 Valencia. Political insider and comedian Ammiano dishing on the wacky world of Sacramento politics and more. themarsh.org

Monday

Elle Rio’s Calico Queens Labor Dance Party – 2 pm, El Rio @ 3158 Mission Street. 14th Annual Labor Day Party featuring bands on the Patio. 21+. facebook. com/events/1606479902983945 Sacred Cocktails: Spilling the ‘T’ on Transgender – 6:30 pm @ Lookout Bar, 3600 16th Street.

Conversation about supporting the health and spirituality of transgenders. Hosted by Rev. Daniel Borysewicq. Repeats Monthly. lookoutsf.com

• 6 Tuesday

The Doctor Is In: Mental Health & Self-Care – 6:30 pm, Strut @ 470 Castro Street, 3rd Floor. HIV-positive guys discuss health concerns and personal issues. pforce@sfaf.org Rhino in the Castro: Whale Riding Weather – 7 pm @ GLBT Historical Society Museum, 4127 18th Street. A Pinteresque play by Bryden Macdonald about three men in an apartment. glbthistory.org SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

Wednesday Gay Bingo Night – 6:30 pm @ Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Center, 938 The Alameda, San Jose.

Gay Bingo every Wednesday, open to all, featuring “Drag Me to Bingo” every 3rd Wednesday. defrank.org

Sunday’s A Drag – 11:30 am & 2:00 pm, The Starlight Room @ Sir Francis Drake Hotel, 450 Powell Street. SF’s favorite drag show hosted by Donna Sachet every Sunday.

Starlightroomsf.com/Sunday-a-s-adrag/the-show

•5

28

• 7 Wednesday

• 8 Thursday

Vanguard Revisited with Rev. Megan Rohrer – 6 pm @ The Tenderloin Museum, 398 Eddy Street. Compton’s Cafeteria 50th Anniversary Series event discussing the Vanguard and its legacy. glbthistory.org GLAAD Annual Gala – 5:30 pm @ City View at Metreon, 135 4th Street. Annual SF gala of the longstanding LGBT advocacy organization. glaad.org/sf

•9

Friday

Get Low Oakland Pride Kick Off Party! – 9 pm @ Starline Social Club, 2236 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. An all star line-up of entertainers kicks off Oakland Pride.

Awaiting the Podiatrist with Terry Baum – Through September 24 @ EXIT Stage Left, 156 Eddy Street. A solo show with music written and preformed by Baum accompanied by J. Althea. sffringe.org A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams – Through October 2 @ Novato Theater Company, 5420 Nave Drive, Novato.

Famous play launches Novato

Theater Company’s new season.

• 10

Saturday

HerSheBar T-Dance – 3 pm @ Whiskey Tip!, 1910 Sebastopol Road, Santa Rosa. A party for women who love to dance with resident DJs. northbaylscene.com

PHOTO BY CHARLES MARTIN, 2014.

Writers with Drinks! – 7:30 PM @ The Make Out Room, 3225 22nd Street. The on-going reader/ performer event welcomes this month’s author Anuradha Roy, author of Sleeping on Jupiter. charlieanders2@gmail.com San Leandro Pot Luck with Lavender Seniors of the East Bay – All Saints Episcopal Church Parish Room. Featured guest Stey Taal will perform short classical piano pieces. lavenderseniors.org 19th Annual Duboce Park Tag Sale – 9 am @ Duboce Park between Steiner & Scott Streets.

Annual community get together for shopping and socializing, benefits Friends of Duboce Park. friendsofdubocepark.org/events-activities/tag-sale

• 11

Sunday

Follow the Faun – 8 pm @ Oasis, 298 11th Street. An interactive dance adventure led by a gender-bending mythical creature. thefaun.com Kicking Facebook with Margery Kreitman – Through September 23 @ EXIT Stage Left, 156 Eddy Street. Serio-comic solo performance about a love/hate relationship with social media. theexit.org

• 12

Monday

Perfectly Queer: Two Generations – 7 pm @ Dog Eared Books Castro, 489 Castro.

Author Edmund Azgorin reads from The Face of Our Town:The Life of a Millennial Techie; and Daniel Curzon presents How to Cyberbully Your Teacher. Facebook.com/ events/923574211078104 Gay Asian Pacific Men’s Chorus – Rehearsal and Welcoming of Potential New Members – 7 pm @ Mom’s House.

Inquire for location: gapachorus@ aol.com or meetup.com/Gay-AsianPacific-Mens-Chorus/events/ 233549406/

• 13 Tuesday

Fabulosa – Sept 13-18 @ Daisy Belle Farm and Retreat (near Coulterville). Fundraiser and camping party for women and their feminist-minded loved ones of all ages and genders. fabulosa.org The Senior Vote Counts – 10 am @ CA Endowment/Oakland Conference Center, 1111 Broadway, Oakland. Town hall forum presented by California Alliance of Retired Americans.

Meow Mix Cabaret Variety Show – 11 pm @ The Stud, 399 9th Street. A wacky show every Tuesday. studsf.com

• 14 Wednesday Bridgemen Monthly Meetup – 7 pm @ The Lookout, 3600 16th Street. Every 2nd Wednesday with free food and camaraderie in the Castro for new and returning members. meetup.com/bridgemen

Rebecca Kaplan’s Birthday Party – 5:30 pm @ Everett & Jones BBQ, 126 Broadway, Jack London Square, Oakland. Join Councilmember Kaplan for her 46th birthday celebration and fund-

raiser supporting her campaign for re-election. facebook.com/events/ 512105838995943/

Read more online at sfbaytimes.com and at issuu/sfbt S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

29

NEWS (continued from page 3) Ace Portis Joins TLC as Director of Development Transgender Law Center welcomes Ace Portis as the organization’s new Director of Development. Portis is a professional fundraiser with a passion for philanthropy, and most recently served as the Major Gifts Officer at the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR). Portis brings several years of fundraising, project management and event logistics/management experience. She has committed her life to philanthropic service, spending hundreds of volunteer and board work hours in various capacities. At NCLR, she stewarded all individual donor programs and functions, successfully managing the major giving campaign which raises over $2 million annually.

Additionally, she crafted donor centric messaging and communications to support the development functions of the organization. transgenderlawcenter.org LGBT Center Welcomes Newest Member to Economic Development Team The latest addition to the San Francisco LGBT Community Center is Carissa Avalos. She joins the Center MOON (continued from page 12) conscious wish to heal from—early traumatic abuse.”

If you believe that you may be suffering from sex addiction, what can you do about it? While the issues are complex, Jim told me that he has seen many people work through them and free themselves from sexual addiction, provided that they were willing to invest the considerable amount of time and energy that is required.

He is a strong believer in the efficacy of twelve-step programs like Sex Addicts Anonymous; but because so many emotional issues are involved,

TING (continued from page 5) as the new Economic Development Associate and will work with Employment Services, Trans Employment Services, Financial and Small Business services. Originally from Sacramento, Avalos moved to New York City to pursue her degree at Fordham University. While in New York, she worked in nonprofits focused on connecting low-income individuals to resources in the community. In 2014, she co-founded IgnatianQ: The Jesuit University LGBTQ & Ally Conference. sfcenter.org Target to Spend $20 Million Adding Gender-Neutral Restrooms to Stores Target Corp. said it will spend $20 million to add a private bathroom to each of its stores by next year, after customer protests of its policy allowing transgender individuals to use whichever restroom corresponds with their gender identity. Most of Target’s 1,797 locations already have single-occupancy or unisex restrooms, but it will add the option to 277 stores by November and to about 20 remaining stores by March 2017, the company said to Wall Street Journal. Target’s finance chief Cathy Smith said the move is a

he also strongly recommends psychotherapy. Both individual and group therapy have strengths. Groups can act as a corrective “safe” family environment, and help members learn better to express their feelings rather than to act them out. Individual therapy, on the other hand, allows for an internally focused level of self-exploration. Concurrent individual and group therapy, Jim found, is optimal for clients. “Change and healing are gradual; there are no quick fixes,” he emphasized.

If you or someone you know would like to explore the issues raised in this col-

response to feedback from customers voicing displeasure over the company’s bathroom policy. wsj.com EQCA Endorses Proposition 63, Gun Safety Initiative Equality California (EQCA) announced that it has endorsed Proposition 63, the “Safety for All” ballot initiative backed by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. Following the shootings in June at an Orlando LGBT nightclub, a spike in homicides of LGBT people and an ongoing worldwide epidemic of murders of transgender women, Equality California has made enacting gun safety measures a key part of its program and advocacy work. Proposition 63, representing the strongest set of gun laws that have been proposed in the state of California, will appear on the 2016 November California ballot with the following provisions: “Keeping Guns from Dangerous Criminals: Provides a clear firearms relinquishment process for those convicted of a felony or a violent misdemeanor, and clarifies the law to ensure that theft of a gun—of any value—is a felony, which prohibits the thief from owning firearms.” edgemedianetwork.com

umn with an individual therapist, I can think of no better referral than Jim Fishman. He can be reached at 415359-1407. While he isn’t currently facilitating groups, a twelve-week group for men of any and all sexual orientations who are dealing with problematic sexual behaviors is currently forming at the Golden Gate Integral Counseling Center. For more information, call 415-255-2602.

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

ROSTOW (continued from page 13) projects in Appalachia—all of which are great, by the way, but hello? Don’t they want people to attend in order to make it worthwhile for the people who buy booth space? Am I crazy, or wouldn’t you expect to pay five dollars or maximum ten in order to enter a pride festival? It’s not as if some fabulous entertainment was lurking within.

Hey, I’ve been to enough of these for one lifetime, and we’re happy to support the community, but this was extortion. We left on principle, and since we saved $40 we had some oysters and a couple of glasses of wine for “free.”

I’ve just noticed that a running theme in my descriptions of pride weekends in Austin over the years is our inevitable retreat to a restaurant and/or bar. I’m not sure what this says about our pride spirit. Like I said, it’s usually very hot and refreshments are essential.

Let’s Get Sirius You may have noticed in the previous headline, my annual use of the word “canicular,” an adjective describing the heavy summer days under the dog star from mid-July to early September. It’s one of those words that you can only use in a highly specific context and that you can’t use more than, say, once a year without being pretentious. So there it is, another year come and gone. Poof!

What now, my friends? Shall we talk about the prospects for marriage equality in Australia?

It’s complicated, but we may soon see an effort to pass an equality bill through the Parliament. It’s unlikely to pass, but if it does, the story’s over and the complications disappear.

There’s a parallel effort to initiate a non-binding public vote on the subject; some say the vote is a necessary preliminary to finally force Parlia30

ment to act; others call it a useless distraction that could harm the GLBT community and the fight for marriage by triggering a nasty campaign. Not only might they lose, marriage activists say, but even if they win, the vote is non-binding, so why bother with it?

Like the straight yes or no vote, the vote to call a referendum is also not likely to pass. And if nothing passes, who knows what happens? Maybe another few years of … nothing.

Have any of you ever been to Australia? I’ve always wanted to go. I’d like to barbecue some shrimp.

O Say Can You See? I guess Colin Kaepernick has every right to keep his seat for the national anthem. Indeed, that kind of freedom is intrinsic to what it means to be an American, much as burning the flag is protected by the core principles that the flag itself represents. I’m not a big fan of either form of protest. They seem to condemn the entire country with all its citizens and institutions and history in a single hopeless gesture of rejection, rather than contribute to progress in any way. Plus, I think there’s more than a hint of egotism in dramatic statements of this sort. Again, that said, he has every right to choose his posture.

I mention this because I was just reading about a big hate speech lawsuit filed in Canada against a guy who passed around some antigay fliers at Toronto Pride. According to the activist Christopher Hudspeth, the $104 million (Canadian) lawsuit against William Whatcott is to put an end to Whatcott spreading his “hateful and disgusting message.” Hudspeth’s lawyer says they seek an injunction to prevent Whatcott and company from “further distribution of hate speech and from attempting to participate in any future pride parades anywhere in Canada.”

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S S E PT E MB E R 1 , 2 0 1 6

Every time I read about hate speech laws in Canada or Britain or wherever, I am reminded of how some American values are so deeply ingrained that you don’t even think about them until you see some contrasting viewpoint. We protect hate speech. It’s what the First Amendment is really all about, because no one really needs to protect nice acceptable speech. We need to protect the Nazi rally in Skokie and the antigay guy with the f liers who might try to make trouble at the San Francisco Pride Parade.

Let him try. It’s not illegal, but free speech brings its own repercussions— the contrary free speech of those who oppose you.

Likewise, as our community continues its ongoing legal and political “discussion,” shall we say, on the nature of religious freedom in our Constitution, I think all Americans look to the shores of the Cote d’Azur with some astonishment as the French police seek to force Muslim women to remove their beach burqas, while taking no action against Catholic nuns in the same situation. I know a French court has finally put an end to the ugly enforcement of the burqini ban, but the French still outlaw the hijab in schools and elsewhere in a vain effort to jam round pegs into square holes.

Assimilation happens or it doesn’t. It can’t be enacted.

We don’t do things like this. We don’t criminalize speech or religious attire. It’s simply un-American, which is why I stand up for the anthem even as I agree that there are tons of problems for our country to fix.

By the way, I wish we had a more melodic anthem—every time the Olympics comes around, I am reminded that the Russians have the most beautiful anthem of all. I called it up on YouTube and made Mel listen to it the other day to prove this point. arostow@aol.com

try ever since the U.S. Supreme Court declared marriage equality to be the law of the land. Access to public bathrooms has become the new battleground of discrimination. The most notorious of all occurred in North Carolina, which requires people to use public restrooms consistent with their gender at birth, and Mississippi, which allows anti-LGBT discrimination on the basis of religion.

California is ahead of the curve on these issues. In 2013, we enacted the transgender student bill of rights to ensure that transgender students at public schools may access restrooms and locker rooms corresponding with

their gender identify. A public outcry ensued but, fortunately, referendum efforts failed dramatically.

By signing AB 1732, Governor Brown can set an alternative example of expanded equality for the nation. He has until the end of September to act on the bill. Please join us in this movement for change by urging him to sign it. You can contact Governor Brown through his website at www.gov.ca.gov Phil Ting represents the 19th Assembly District, which includes the Westside of San Francisco along with the communities of Broadmoor, Colma, Daly City, and South San Francisco.

BEELER (continued from page 5) formally requested that its bishop uphold the 2012 Book of Discipline.

Oliveto’s election itself is under review.

A member of the South Central Conference questioned the legitimacy of her election (“even before I was elected, actually”) as a “self-avowed” married lesbian. What’s interesting is the Judicial Council, the UMC supreme court, refused to expedite the request, stating it would be reviewed in spring 2017. This gives Oliveto time to participate in the fall meeting of the Council of Bishops and to begin outreach to the churches of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah and Idaho that make up the Mountain Sky Area where she’s been sent to serve starting September 1.

“I’m going to hit the ground running,” Oliveto said. “I know that getting to know people is going to be really important. This is a new region for me.

So I’ve told the district superintendent … I want you to take me to the margins first, to the people who are overlooked and forgotten, and I want to visit every church. I want to hear what every church is doing to do the work of the church and what they need to do it better.”

“This region requested me, and I am so excited about serving here,” she continued. “There is theological diversity here, and there are some churches that are struggling with my election and appointment, and you know, I need to hear from them. I need to hear how they’re angry and upset, but my commitment is to stay in relationship with them. But by and large, the welcome has been wide and warm.”

Although Oliveto has struggled with UMC’s position on LGBT issues her whole career, she was raised Methodist and felt called to its ministry at the age of 11. So leaving the church has never been an option.

“No human institution is perfect,” Oliveto said, “but what I love that is uniquely Methodist is we say we’re moving on to perfection and that we shall be made perfect in love in this life. And so yeah, it’s not perfect, but there is something powerful about a community that exists to better the world. And that’s why I stay. It helps me know God and it helps me love people better.”

Although Oliveto is leaving San Francisco, where she’s served as Senior Pastor of Glide Church since 2008, she said her 25 years serving in the Bay Area prepared her to face the challenges ahead.

“I was a pastor in the Bay Area from 1989,” Oliveto said, “so I grew up vocationally there in many ways. I learned so much from the activist community. I learned so much from a city where diversity is highly valued. And especially the LGBT community that allowed me to be a person of faith that was trusted by the LGBT community. I will take those gifts with me here.”

Journalist Heidi Beeler is also a talented musician who has been a member of the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band since 1991. She is additionally a founding member of the Dixieland Dykes +3. For more information, please visit www.sflg fb.org or www.facebook.com/sflg fb

SISTER DANA (continued from page 25) THE MATTRESSES TO THE MUSEUM WALL,” a traveling show of 1950s–1990s illustrative erotic art on loan from the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York City. The show opened with a public reception and is now on display for the general public. The exhibition not only explores the male form, but also offers an examination of erotic fantasies as experienced through publications that were available at nearly every newsstand in America, but that men often hid under their mattresses for fear of being discovered. This exhibit runs through October 16. glbthistory.org You’re invited to an evening of beauty at The Epi Center MedSpa. At “PASSPORT TO BEAUTY” you will have first-class access into luxurious aesthetic treatments to relax, restore, and rejuvenate the skin. Enjoy light bites, drinks, and entertainment, plus silent auction, raffles, and giveaways. Proceeds benefit ACADEMY OF FRIENDS and their 2017 Beneficiary Partners who will be announced during this party on Thursday, September 15, 6:30–8:30 pm, The Epi Center MedSpa, 450 Sutter St, # 800. Must be 21+. Save the date for their 37th Annual Academy of Friends Oscar Night Gala on February 26, 2017! Funds raised at their Annual Academy Awards Night Gala have helped thousands of people with HIV/AIDS by supporting direct care and educational programs. Tix at

eventbrite.com/e/passport-to-beauty-tickets BACK TO THE PICTURE gallery at 934 Valencia Street at 20th, presents an opening reception Saturday, September 17, 7–10 pm for A PASSION FOR THE FIGURE, paintings & sculptures by Six Bay Area Artists depicting the Beauty, Strength, and Sensuality of the Human Form. Art will be on display through October 16. backtothepicture.com LEATHERWALK is the official kick-off of SAN FRANCISCO LEATHER WEEK that culminates one week later at FOLSOM STREET FAIR. LeatherWalk raises awareness and visibility and helps to build community. “Keep San Francisco Kinky” is the theme for this year’s walk. LeatherWalk takes place on Sunday, September 18. On-site registration and check-in begins at 10 am at 440 Castro. Check in at the bar to get your collectible LeatherWalk pin. Entertainment starts at 11:30 am at Jane Warner Plaza. The walk itself plans to start moving at 12:15 pm from the plaza.

Sister Dana sez, “I know Ctrl+Alt+Del is a computer keyboard command on IBM PC computers—invoked by pressing the Delete key while holding the Control and Alt keys to generally interrupt or facilitate interrupting a function; but where can I find an Alt+Right+Delete key to disrupt Trump and his radically right-wing people?!”

Round About - All Over Town

Photos by RINK

Arc of San Francisco Art Show at AIDS Healthcare Foundation Art Space - August 5

28th Gay Asian Pacific Alliance (GAPA) Runway Pageant - August 13

Winners Miss GAPA Juicy Liu and Mr GAPA Jeffrey with runners up Labyah Minerva, Orlando, Vincent and Miss Moli Hua

Art space coordinator Thomasina DeMaio and lesbian comic Marga Gomez

Art teacher Mark LeGrande Trotter

Afro Solo Jazz Festival at Yerba Buena Gardens - August 6

Event judge Khmera Rouge, GAPA Foundation’s Danny Pham, Mr GAPA 2015 Dez Kwok and Miss GAPA 2015 D’Lady Ito

Stage view at the Afro Solo Jazz Festival

Mr GAPA candidate Orlando

Linda Kay Ricketts and her Family Band

Afro Solo executive director Thomas Simpson (second from left) with featured performers (left to right) Calvin Keys, Linda Kay Ricketts, George Spencer, Leon Joyce and Mark Williams

Dog Eared Bookstore on Castro - LGBT Event - August 8 Hosts Sir Whitney Queers and Jezebel Patel with winners Miss GAPA 2016 Juicy Liu and Mr GAPA 2016 Jeffrey

Featured speaker Willy Wilkinson, transgender activist and author of Born on the Edge of Race and Gender

Cheer SF / Fog Rugby Benefit - August 14

Cheer SF’s Win Pham, Sadie Lady and Jennay Godden

Judges Robynn Takayama from KPFA, filmmaker H.P. Mendoza, and Sean Howell of Hornet Gay Social Network

Miss GAPA candidate Labyah Minerva

Community College Board members Lawrence Wong (left) and San Francisco Bay Times contributor Alex Randolph (right) with event judge Khmera Rouge and Donna Sachet S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES S EPT EM BER 1, 2016

31