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THECONTENTS
FEATURES 12 SAVE THE CASTRO’S SECRET FAERIE TEMPLE KEEP SAN FRANCISCO QUEER
14 THE EDUCATION OF RACE BANNON
LEATHER, KINK & SEXUAL LIBERATION
17 TRANSFORMING OUR CULTURE
DEPARTMENTS
21 BEST CLAW EVER
08 10 13 18 20 27 30 32 34
FOLSOM STREET EVENTS PARTNERS WITH CLIVE BARKER CLEVELAND LEATHER ANNUAL WEEKEND
22 THE BEAT GOES ON
NICK WAFLE’S “MR. DRUMMER ’79”
24 FEMALE LONGING
PERFORMANCE ARTIST MATIA EMSELLEM
26 YES SIR
FISCHERSPOONER’S CASEY SPOONER
28 HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE
FEAR & LOATHING IN SAUDI ARABIA
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THE TALK LENA WAITHE THE CITY LOCAL NEWS THE NATION NATIONAL NEWS THE SPREAD DICKY KROLEWICZ THE SHARE LOCAL RECOVERY THE EPIDEMIC GENETIC BREAKTHROUGH THE ART DANYOL LEON THE EVENT BEARRACUDA THE CALENDAR THINGS TO DO
ON THE COVER RACE BANNON COVER PHOTO, TOC PHOTO AND FEATURE PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM LOCATION THE STUD STUDSF.COM
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Congratulating THE FIGHT On Its First San Francisco / Bay Area Issue!
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THEEDITOR
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Stanford Altamirano MANAGING EDITOR Mark Ariel ART DIRECTOR Nadeen Torio MARKETING CONSULTANTS Tom Pardoe Sean Galuszka Jacci Ybarra John Michael Gambam SOCIAL MEDIA Mark Ariel Sinan Shihabi WEBMASTER Nadeen Torio ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Sinan Shihabi EVENTS MANAGER Joseph Arellano
>> IN THIS ISSUE <<
In this premiere issue of THE FIGHT SF Gabriel Van Horne interviews columnist, author and leather titleholder Race Bannon about the evolution of kink, the golden age of gay sexual liberation and San Francisco as the beacon of light in the LGBTQ world (“The Education Of Race Bannon,” page 14). “I think leather and kink are naturally chunking into separate and overlapping camps of kink, scenes and social structures,” states Bannon. “Whereas once I would have quite comfortably pointed to a leather community and said yes, that’s us, now I’d point to a lot of different groups, identities and sexualities and say they’re all part of a more loosely affiliated whole that taken together we might call the leather or kink scene.” Bannon believes, however, even as the LGBTQ and leather communities splinter culturally, politically we’re increasingly united—galvanized by the threat Donald Trump poses to our liberties and our democratic system.
“If there’s any silver lining to the dumpster fire that is Trump it’s that he’s awakened a liberal and moderate beast that will no longer be silent.” Bannon, a columnist for the Bay Area Reporter, isn’t afraid to use his platform to push back against the tendency to judgmentalism and orthodoxy within the leather community. “I didn’t work so hard in the leather scene so younger kinksters would feel they have to copy me. I didn’t work so hard in HIV prevention so younger gay men would adopt the same fear of sex many of my generation had. I didn’t work so hard in the gay liberation movement so young LGBTQ people had to try and be and think like me. I didn’t work so hard in the polyamory movement so young people think my version of poly has to be their version. Change is natural and normal. Rigidity and sameness are not.”
STANFORD ALTAMIRANO Editor-In-Chief
Every month THE FIGHT SF donates a portion of its proceeds to an LGBTQ community organization. This month’s donation has been sent to Queer Land Trust, focusing on acquiring and protecting spaces for LGBTQ youth and elders, artists and activists, especially the low-income or historically underserved. For more info visit: queerlandtrust.org. www.thefightmag.com 6 T H E F I GH T S F | www.thefi ghtmag.com
CONTRIBUTORS Mark I. Chester Dusti Cunningham Gabriel van Horne Kian Kamataki Orly Lyonne Jesse Oliver Roxie Perkins Sinan Shihabi Paul V. Vitagliano GET THE FIGHT SF AT HOME Sent Via First Class Mail 12 Issues: $36 6 Issues: $24 Mail check or money order to: Third Step, LLC 611 S. Catalina St. Suite 307 Los Angeles, CA 90005 PUBLISHER Third Step, LLC DISTRIBUTION Pride In Media The Fight SF is published monthly by Third Step, LLC. 611 South Catalina Street, Suite 307 Los Angeles, CA 90005 Telephone (323) 297-4001 Fax (213) 281-9648 Email info@TheFightMag.com THE FIGHT MAGAZINE LEGAL CAVEATS By listing in The Fight SF, advertisers acknowledge that they do business in the spirit of cooperation, fairness and service, maintaining a high level of integrity and responsibility. Providers of products or services are fully and solely responsible for providing same as advertised. The Fight SF assumes no liability for improper or negligent business practices by advertisers. Advertisers and their agencies assume responsibility and liability for the content of their advertisements in The Fight SF. Publisher assumes no liability for safe-keeping or return of unsolicited art, manuscripts or other materials. The Fight SF reserves the right to edit all material for clarity, length and content. All contents © 2018 Third Step LLC. All rights reserved. Content may be reproduced with permission. The Fight SF assumes no liability for any claims or representations contained anywhere in this magazine and reserves the right to cancel or refuse advertising at publisher’s discretion. TheFightMag.com For Display Advertising, please call (323) 297-4001
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THETALK >> W H AT T H E Y ’ R E S AY I N G <<
BE UNAFRAID
“I remember making the choice to be unafraid… I made the choice to not care what others thought of who I was. I was going to be truly me.” —Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon upon receiving the Human Rights Campaign’s Visibility Award last month.
LENA WAITHE
ADAM RIPPON
CUT A PATH
“He has helped cut a path for young people to see that being your true self is the best way to live.” GUS KENWORTHY
—Olympian Gus Kenworthy, presenting the Human Rights Campaign’s Visibility Award to Adam Rippon, last month.
STARTS CONVERSATIONS “[My brother] came out around the same time we started filming… I think the strength of a film like this is that it starts conversations, and I hope that it can do that for more people.”
NICK ROBINSON
—Actor Nick Robinson, star of the gay coming of age film Love, Simon, in an interview on Ellen.
IDEA OF MYSELF
JOEY POLLARI
“A lot of the trouble was selfshame. I do believe a system of power, of patriarchy, of masculinity did impact me… The greatest difficulty I found was that it didn’t match my idea of myself.”
—Actor Joey Pollari (Love, Simon) on coming out, in an interview with The Advocate.
A POSITIVE THING
“The fact that this has a character whose gayness is way down the list of things that are most important about him is a positive thing.”
“Think about how many black people there are in Hollywood. It’s a nice little number, especially, we’re growing now… Think about how many out gay black people there are in Hollywood. You can count them on one or two hands. The numbers don’t add up.” —Writer and actress Lena Waithe, last month on The View, calling on fellow queer people in Hollywood who haven’t come out to step up and be visible.
I’M ALL DOWN ALAN CUMMING
—Actor Alan Cumming, the first openly gay lead character in a network drama, on CBS’ new series Instinct, in an interview with Seth Meyers on Late Night.
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THE NUMBERS
KENDALL JENNER
“I don’t think I have a bisexual or gay bone in my body, but I don’t know! Who knows?! I’m all down for experience—not against it whatsoever—but I’ve never been there before.”
—Kendall Jenner, daughter of Caitlyn and Kris, in an interview with Vogue last month.
need to blow off some steam?
2107 4th Street â&#x20AC;¢ Berkeley AP R I L 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 9
THECITY >> BY GABRIEL VAN HORNE <<
LONDON BREED
JANE KIM
MARK LENO
Historic Mayoral Race In Full Swing The untimely passing of Mayor Ed Lee in December has sent the City of San Francisco in mourning and simultaneously kicked the race for the Mayor’s office into full swing. What was originally planned to be a marathon ending in November of 2019 is now a sprint to June of this year. Each of the three frontrunners would represent a historic first for the City: Board of Supervisors London Breed and Jane Kim would be San Francisco’s first African-American female or Asian-American female to serve as Mayor, respectively. And Mark Leno— the first Gay man elected to the California Senate—would be the City’s first openly LGBTQ Mayor. San Francisco goes to the ballot June 5th, 2018.
MIA SATYA
ANOTHER FIRST: MIA SATYA Another member of San Francisco’s LGBTQ community seeking to make history, Mia Satya is running to be the first Trans woman to serve as a commissioner on the San Francisco Unified School District’s Board of Education. Satya is a Texas native who moved to California in search of community. She struggled with homelessness, employment discrimination, and violence but eventually found her home in San Francisco. Satya worked at a community health clinic, an after-school program, and various programs for homeless youth for over five years and saw, first hand, how hard it can be for people facing multiple barriers to success. She’s running for the Education Board to “ensure that each and every student has the support they need to succeed in the classroom, as members of our community, and as professionals in the 21st Century.” Learn more at MiaSatya.com.
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COMPTON’S CAFETERIA
QUEER SPACES PRESERVED Last year, as part of a movement to save Queer spaces and stem the tide of LGBTQ migration out of the City, San Francisco announced the creation of the Compton’s Transgender, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual (TLGB) District—the first legally recognized transgender district in the world. The District, named after the famous Trans-led riot against police harassment and abuse at the Compton’s Cafeteria in the Tenderloin, a neighborhood that has
>> NEWS <<
served as refuge to gender non-conforming individuals since before the Gold Rush. Now the City is considering the formation of two new LGBTQ-focused Historical Districts. A Leather historical District in the quickly gentrifying South of Market neighborhood, and a Gay and Lesbian Historical District in the Castro.
JUANITA MORE!
QUEERS SPACES REMEMBERED When San Francisco’s oldest continuously operating gay bar, The Gangway, closed its doors earlier last month, LGBTQ leaders, activists and community members gathered at the former site of The Gangway and march through Polk Gulch, laying black wreaths at the sites of former queer spaces in the historic LGBT district. Lead by the legendary Juanita More!, the marchers called on elected officials, foundations, and philanthropists, as well as residents and lovers of San Francisco, to both commemorate the city’s LGBTQ past and take active steps to sustain the city’s living queer heritage and culture. Beginning in the 1950s, Polk Street was a destination for the country’s LGBT community, and by the early 70s was the gayest street in San Francisco, according to the Citywide LGBTQ Historic Context Statement. There have been almost 80 queer bars and establishments within a 12 block stretch of Polk Street since that time. Very few remain. OAKLAND LGBTQ COMMUNITY CENTER
QUEER SPACES BORN This year Oakland opened the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center. Founded by Joe Hawkins (a founding member of Oakland Pride, and Jeff Myers (who also worked as a volunteer coordinator with Oakland Pride), the new Oakland Center aims to become Oakland’s premier network of programs and services for the LGBTQ community. Located at 3207 Lakeshore Ave., you can learn more at oaklandlgbtqcenter.org. AP R I L 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 11
>> COVER INTERVIEW <<
Save The Castro’s Secret
Faerie Temple Support our efforts to keep San Francisco queer. Visit: www.queerlandtrust.org. BY JESSE OLI VER
T
o stand at the corner of 18th and Castro is to stand at the center of a gay universe, surrounded by more rainbows than the eyes can count. Just up the block, in a classic Edwardian above a 50-year-old Italian restaurant, there’s a Radical Faerie collective house called Grand Central. It’s been my home for over a decade, and the day our landlord let us know he needed to sell, a chill went down my spine. In San Francisco, when a developer buys a building like ours, they evict its tenants, convert it to condos and sell them off piecemeal. That very thing had happened just a few years ago to the legendary 14th Street House, a 20-year Radical Faerie bastion in the Mission with a private garden, a twelve-person hot tub and even a fireman’s pole from the front hall into a massive basement dungeon. I’d gone to yoga, shared meals and holiday celebrations at the 14th Street House for years. Its loss had devastated our community.
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The Radical Faeries are my lovers, my teachers, my pack: a dizzyingly genderqueer, antiauthoritarian, earth-centric, sexpositive, potluck-throwing, cuddle-puddling extended family of ten thousand or so (and growing). We have roots in 1970s San Francisco and branches around the world. Our home at Grand Central, where I live, is not just a private residence but also an oasis and waystation for our community. To step inside is to visit a secret forest temple. Street noise fades away and everywhere is thick with greenery. Plants and mirrors abound. Clothing is often
optional. Art covers the walls: trippy, erotic, political, with faces everywhere, in all sizes, friends and family both dead and alive. In the kitchen are Wow and Sinn, busting out five gallons of soup. In the living room a couple travelers make out on the couch, while Moss, with his long brown hair, plays Strayhorn on the keys and Militia peers into her vanity, applying her face in advance of the evening’s show. They call me the White Witch, Echo, Oliver Klozoff and other, unprintable names. I’ve been a Radical Faerie scholar and organizer for nigh on two decades. At first I took just a social interest in the movement, and later, when I undertook fieldwork for my UC-Berkeley PhD, an academic one. Though the Bay Area Radical Faeries still number in the thousands, the relentless tech boom, high prices and consequent eviction crisis have severely eroded our presence in San Francisco. Grand Central is now one of only a half dozen or so remain-
THENATION > > THE RADICAL FAERIES < <
>> POWER TO THE PEOPLE <<
“THE RADICAL FAERIES ARE MY LOVERS, MY TEACHERS, MY PACK: A DIZZYINGLY GENDERQUEER, ANTIAUTHORITARIAN, EARTH-CENTRIC, SEX-POSITIVE, POTLUCK-THROWING, CUDDLEPUDDLING EXTENDED FAMILY OF TEN THOUSAND OR SO (AND GROWING).” ing “Faerie Houses,” collective homes that hold our history and offer hospitality and regular events for our community. It deserves to survive, and perhaps in this it holds the key to the survival of the Castro itself. Gayborhoods do not have a stellar track record of endurance. Unless ethnic neighborhoods, LGBT strongholds tend to fade out after twenty or thirty years. This poses serious problems. Our health care, especially when HIV-related, our elders and our youth all benefit from access to other LGBT people in safe and supportive environments. Without holding property for multiple generations in LGBT and queer families, we also miss out on a major opportunity to grow and prosper. In 1990, the Castro was perhaps 77% LGBT; today it is down to 50%. More than any other factor, the high price of housing is to blame. That’s why we created Queer Land Trust, an organization that is fundraising not just to make an offer on Grand Central, but to pioneer a new model of affordable collective housing for lower-income folks who wish to remain in San Francisco as it transforms. When Grand Central went on the market, we went public, calling for our building to be acquired by a non-profit land trust and protected from speculation. In a few short months, we’ve raised nearly half the price of a minimal downpayment, and while it is taking some time to raise the rest, we have been lucky to be granted reprieve. Though he received an offer that exceeded his asking price, our landlord turned it down, giving us a year or two in which to organize the funds to buy the place ourselves. There is magic and freedom in this town, a breath of enchantment. Here the shackles of common sense need not bind the dreamer, and those who would reinvent the world find a space to play. For LGBT and queer folks, San Francisco is in many ways the birthplace of our liberation. It was here that our trans ancestors fought back against the police at the Compton’s Cafeteria riot, four years before Stonewall. It was here that America elected its first out politician, Harvey Milk, and here he was assassinated, leading to the White Night Riots. It was here that Dennis Peron and Brownie Mary served medicinal desserts to AIDS patients and wound up legalizing marijuana. And more than anywhere else, it was here that gave the world the Radical Faeries. Learn more, and support our efforts to keep San Francisco queer, at www.queerlandtrust.org.
REP. JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III
TRUMP DECLINES TRANS
Officials with the Trump administration declined to meet with members of the Congressional Transgender Equality Task Force last month to discuss rollbacks to transgender rights. The request was sent via a letter from Massachusetts Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III, who serves as chair of the Congressional Transgender Equality Task Force.
NO PARADE FOR YOU Organizers of the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Staten Island have rejected an LGBTQ organization’s application to march. The parade’s president, Larry Cummings, defended the decision to the Irish Times. “Our parade is for Irish heritage and culture. It is not a political or sexual identification parade,” he said.
GENDER IDENTITY BILL The New Hampshire House of Representatives passed HB 1319 last month, a bill that would protect transgender people from discrimination. The bill adds “gender identity” to the state’s nondiscrimination laws.
CONVERSION THERAPY The Hawaii State Senate passed a bill banning conversion therapy on minors last month. The next step for the bill is to pass in the House of Representatives. If it does, the governor will receive the bill to sign it into law. Hawaii follows in the footsteps of other states outlawing this practice.
BANNING SEX BIAS A federal law banning sex bias in the workplace prohibits discrimination against transgender workers, a U.S. appeals court said last month, ruling in favor of a funeral director who was fired after telling her boss she planned to transition to female from male. Several federal appeals courts have said that discriminating against transgender workers is a form of unlawful sex bias. But the 6th Circuit was the first to consider a religious defense in such a case. n AP R I L 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 13
>> RACE BANNON <<
THE EDUCATION OF RACE BANNON Bay Area Reporter columnist, author and leather titleholder Race Bannon on separate and overlapping camps of kink, the golden age of gay sexual liberation and San Francisco as the beacon of light in the LGBTQ world. BY G A BRIEL VA N HORNE | PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNI NGHAM
R
ace Bannon was kinky before he knew what kinky was. As far back as eight or nine years old, Bannon got a thrill tying up the neighbor boys while playing cowboy in the Chicago suburb where he grew up. By the time he was 13 he had found himself a sub. “There was another 13-year old friend who would come over to my house weekly. We would hide in my basement kid-cave and get naked and I’d spank him. I have no idea how that even came about, but we both loved it and it continued for a couple of years,” reveals Bannon in an interview with THE FIGHT. Then Bannon stumbled upon the seedy and cruisy world of Chicago Leather bars. He was only 17, “but easily passing for older,” the first time he walked into the infamous Gold Coast—the walls lined with butch, leather-clad men, the air thick with sex. He knew instantly that he was home. “I distinctly remember that I went to the Gold Coast for 72 nights in a row. That’s how much I loved it. It was nirvana.”
SEXUAL TESTING GROUNDS In these formative days Bannon was lucky to encounter a number of more experienced men who took the aspiring young deviant under their wings. “They gave me advice, job leads, social skills coaching, and in one case even a roof over my head.” Of particular influence many years later was Tony DeBlase, an avid writer and publisher who created the Leather Pride Flag and would go on to become a founder of the Leather Archives and Museum. “He was one of the finest 1 4 T H E F IGH T S F | www.thefightmag.com
“IF THERE’S ANY SILVER LINING TO THE DUMPSTER FIRE THAT IS TRUMP IT’S THAT HE’S AWAKENED A LIBERAL AND MODERATE BEAST THAT WILL NO LONGER BE SILENT.” BDSM players I’ve ever had the privilege to witness. If there’s anyone in the leather world I would choose to emulate, it would be Tony. He was a good friend and more of a mentor than he ever realized.” In Chicago Bannon also discovered bathhouses, and they ended up being his sexual testing grounds, a space where he could explore a wide range of kink and erotic explorations. But it wasn’t until he moved to Los Angeles in 1980 that Bannon became more deeply involved with the more organized aspects of the Leather scene. “I ended up going to a BDSM play party at which I did a scene with a guy I’d never met. At one point I turned around and there was a small crowd watching. Afterward a guy walked up and asked me where I’d learned to do all that. I was surprised. It’s just what I’d done all my life.
I honed various interests and techniques that I’d gleaned from the countless men I’d played with or alongside over the years. They asked me if I’d be interested in teaching other guys what I knew, and my more public leather life was born.”
SENSE OF BELONGING The world of gay male Leather held up sex as sacred and central. Bannon immersed himself, and in doing so he found community, a sense of belonging, and an outlet for what was clearly an extremely sexualized identity. “Through something tangible like leather or kink we can ground and stabilize ourselves as we learn, make mistakes and grow.” In Leather, Bannon found not only kinky sex, but a deep camaraderie that gave a once lonely and introverted boy a mechanism by which he could break out of his shell and become more fully himself. It also gave him a title, Southern California Master 1991. “It’s a not-widely-known thing that I have a title, and my partner, Mike Pierce, who was my slave at the time, was Southern California Slave 1991 with me.” Nudged and harried by their friends, Pierce and Bannon entered the contest about 15 minutes before it began. They winged it, and they won. “That’s but one reason why I’ve honestly never taken the leather contest scene too seriously. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’ve got nothing against contests per se. I have an ex who is International Mr. Leather 1989, Guy Baldwin. Dozens of good friends are titleholders. I know
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>> RACE BANNON <<
many contest producers. I’ve attended and judged many contests. I just think they’ve been elevated too high in importance in our scene and to this day I’m not sure why.”
SPECIFIC SUB-COMMUNITIES In 1992 Bannon wrote Learning The Ropes: A Basic Guide to Safe and Fun S/M Lovemaking, the first basic instructional book on SM sexuality catering to men and women of all orientations, and founded Daedalus Publishing, which specializes in publishing some of the most well respected non-fiction books in the realm of BDSM and Kink. Two years later Pierce and Bannon were ready for change, they left Southern California’s ambling sprawl for San Francisco’s density and depth of Leather History and Culture. Bannon began visiting the city when he moved to California in 1980, and he always loved it. “I’m quite comfortable in a world that basks in lots of raw gay male sexuality, especially if Kink is on the table as an option.” Those days were the golden age of gay sexual liberation—bars, bathhouses, sex clubs and play parties were plentiful and Leather culture was still in full swing. But by the time they moved to San Francisco the sun was setting on those glory day. AIDS changed everything. Still, San Francisco remained a remarkable city, a heartland of LGBT and Leather life, and—as evidenced by his many awards for leadership and community service, and the multitude of younger queers and kinksters who shine with gratitude when they talk about his guidance and mentorship—Bannon has become a cherished member of both communities over the last 24 years. And in that time both of those communities have undergone significant transformations. Bannon says the Leather community has in some ways homogenized the scene to its “lowest common denominator” in pursuit of the noble aim of being a home to all, and as a result he thinks there is less allure around Leather culture for those whose kinks run “deep and specific.” “That’s why I think Leather and Kink are naturally chunking into separate and overlapping camps of Kink, scenes and social structures. Whereas once I would have quite comfortably pointed to a Leather community and said yes, that’s us, now I’d point to a lot of different groups, identities and sexualities and say 1 6 T H E F IGH T S F | www.thefightmag.com
they’re all part of a more loosely affiliated whole that taken together we might call the Leather or Kink scene.” It’s a phenomenon familiar to anyone who has spent a decade or more participating in or observing any corner of the LGBTQ community—or rather “communities”—as its constituent bits split along lines of gender, lifestyle, and other more rarified concepts, fracturing into ever more specific sub-communities. But, Bannon believes, even as the LGBTQ and Leather communities splinter culturally, politically we’re increasingly united—galvanized by the threat Donald Trump poses to our liberties and our
“I DIDN’T WORK SO HARD IN THE POLYAMORY MOVEMENT SO YOUNG PEOPLE THINK MY VERSION OF POLY HAS TO BE THEIR VERSION. CHANGE IS NATURAL AND NORMAL. RIGIDITY AND SAMENESS ARE NOT.” democratic system. “If there’s any silver lining to the dumpster fire that is Trump it’s that he’s awakened a liberal and moderate beast that will no longer be silent.”
SUPPORTING MARK LENO Almost uniquely poised to stand in opposition to the populism and nationalism spewing for from D.C. is San Francisco. With its multiculturalism, progressive values, strong Sanctuary City laws, San Francisco will almost inevitably come into direct conflict with Trump. And San Francisco’s next Mayor will have to contend with standing strong against ICE raids and attempts to roll back Marriage Equality on one hand, and solving San Francisco’s twin crises of homelessness and affordability. And for that unenviable job, Bannon is supporting Mark Leno, a former CA State
Senator, who would be the first openly gay man to lead San Francisco. “I’ve known Mark since before he got into politics. I know he’d be a great Mayor. He’s always been the one to meditate, truly listen, and struggle with issues to learn about them and help improve lives impacted by those issues. And he loves San Francisco. Always has. That San Francisco, the beacon of light in the LGBTQ world, might have its first gay Mayor would not only be entirely appropriate for our city, but it would again send a message that LGBTQ people deserve their rightful place in the highest offices of government.”
PENETRATING THE VENEER Bannon exhibits a similar capacity for empathy and thoughtfulness in his role as Leather columnist for the Bay Area Reporter. “I was honored they asked me to take over the column from Scott Brogan who had taken it over from the column’s founder, the late Marcus Hernandez (Mr. Marcus). The column has a long history in the leather scene and I try to do justice to that. The Bay Area Reporter gives me tremendous latitude in what I write and allows me to have my own voice. I truly appreciate that freedom.” And Bannon uses that voice to celebrate those things the Leather community does well—like open its arms to those who might otherwise feel they don’t fit in. “If the kernel of being truly kinky is present, I think the Leather scene easily becomes home to many who haven’t succeeded well in penetrating the veneer of certain social circles and communities.” He also isn’t afraid to use his platform to push back against the tendency to judgmentalism and orthodoxy within the Leather community. “I didn’t work so hard in the Leather scene so younger kinksters would feel they have to copy me. I didn’t work so hard in HIV prevention so younger gay men would adopt the same fear of sex many of my generation had. I didn’t work so hard in the gay liberation movement so young LGBTQ people had to try and be and think like me. I didn’t work so hard in the polyamory movement so young people think my version of poly has to be their version. Change is natural and normal. Rigidity and sameness are not.” You can read Bannon’s column at ebar.com.
>> CLIVE BARKER <<
TRANSFORMING OUR CULTURE Folsom Street Events announces partnership with legendary artist Clive Barker. BY KI AN KA MATA KI
F
olsom Street Events announced last month that the 2018 Folsom Street Fair and Magnitude posters will feature original images by writer, film director, painter, and photographer, Clive Barker. The images have been selected from the never before seen photographic series titled Imagining Man. Clive Barker, one of the premiere names in horror and fantasy, started his career as a director, and playwright for a small theater group in London. In his spare time, Barker began writing short stories that were published in various magazines. These stories were then published as a three-volume set titled The Books of Blood. Eventually he began writing full-length novels. Their success enabled Barker to begin his film career as a writer and director. In 1987, Barker redefined the horror film genre with the release of Hellraiser. The film’s success lead to adaptations of his work Nightbreed, Candyman, and Lord of Illusions. He was also the executive producer on the Academy Award-winning film, Gods and Monsters.
Additionally, Barker is a gifted visual artist. Often illustrating his own books, Barker’s paintings are best viewed in his series, The Abarat Quintet. His paintings and illustrations have also been featured in galleries across the United States. The bulk of Barker’s ground breaking erotic photography has, before now, never been seen. “The organization’s Executive Director, and Board of Directors, has invited me to bring my art to Folsom,” says Clive Barker. “As an artist who has always played on the edge of public taste, I feel very comfortable in the company of the extraordinary people, especially LGBTQ individuals, who are living lives that are transforming our culture. I’m so proud of our community. Thank you to Folsom, my brothers, my sisters, and non-binary and gender non-conforming siblings. I love you.” Patrick Finger, Executive Director, says: “I saw Hellraiser during its original 1987 theatrical release. At 17 years old, with no sexual experience, a part of me understood the film’s underlying themes of BDSM. I have been a fan of Clive Barker’s work for years. This partnership has been a personal, and professional, dream come true. All of us at Folsom Street Events are honored to welcome Clive to our family.” Finger also adds: “The posters are just the beginning of our partnership with Clive Barker. We have much more in the works. Stay tuned!” Folsom Street Events 2018 Returning Sponsors are: PRESENTING Bud Light, RECON, Steamworks and Mr. S Leather; PREMIER Blow Buddies; CHARTER/ WEBSITE SF Eagle, Timoteo/CellBlock13; SUPPORTING Powerhouse, Orchid and Serpent Stores, Society of Janus, OASIS and Lone Star Saloon; MEDIA The Fight Magazine. Folsom Street Events receives support from Grants for the Arts for its stellar live music at Folsom Street Fair. Folsom Street Events, a 501©3 nonprofit organization, produces Hog Wild, Bay of Pigs™, Up Your Alley™, ROUGH, LeatherWalk™, Magnitude®, Folsom Street Fair™, DEVIANTS™, and more. The mission of Folsom Street Events is to unite the adult alternative lifestyle community with safe venues for selfexpression while raising critical funds for San Francisco-based and national charities. Gate donations at the fairs benefit local and national charities. For more information about Folsom Street Fair, please visit www.folsomstreetevents.org. A P R I L 2018 2 0 1 8 | THE TH E F I GH G H T S F 17 17 AP
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THESPREAD
CONTACT INFO: I keep my Instagram and Facebook for just close friends because too many strangers in far-off places started proposing marriage in the comments. If you’re in San Francisco, keep your ears open because you can hear me from a mile away. I’m easy to find.
SOMETHING NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT YOU: I think lying or keeping things to myself is a waste of energy so I’m pretty much an open book. Who wants to waste energy remembering what’s been said to whom? Not me. I’ve got high kicks to do.
YOUR BEST AND WORST QUALITY: My best quality is my sense of humor, I think. Humor has gotten me through a lot in life. I’m terrible at scheduling, cleaning, and keeping earworms to myself.
HOBBIES: I’ve been a bar and club DJ for the past 13 years as a hobby. I grew up as a competitive tap, jazz and ballet dancer from age 7-18, so it’s the closest thing I have to performing on stage that doesn’t require rehearsals.
PET PEEVE: The sounds of chewing. Misophonia, I think it’s called. Drives me absolutely CRAZY.
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Partnered for 12 years.
CHILDHOOD CRUSH: King Triton from The Little Mermaid and the Dad (Alex Karras) from Webster. I have a type.
CURRENT AND PAST OCCUPATIONS: Tobacco Field worker, Ice Cream Scooper, Cake Decorator, Toy Store Manager, Animator, Director of Animation for a production company. In that order.
SELF IDENTIFY AS: A silly and fabulous Unicorn Monster.
HOMETOWN: San Francisco, but originally from Connecticut.
AGE: 35
PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM
DICKY KROLEWICZ AP RAP I L R2018 | THE F IEGH SF I L 2016 | TH F ITGH T 19
THESHARE >> BY TOM PARDOE <<
BEING OF SERVICE
We asked a few local clean and sober folks what being of service means to them. MISS SHUGANA/ JODI G.
FOREVER GRATEFUL
“Over the last 5 years years, I have had many opportunities to practice and grow my art. Being a female, sober drag queen has become a very important part of my service in sobriety! I believe in my soul that drag is my super power and it is truly a gift to be able to use it for good. I am sure to many people, this all sounds really crazy, but that doesn’t matter to me! My current service position of Grand Duchess of San Francisco gives me the opportunity to reach the sober community and beyond. I get to lead and inspire others to get involved and make a difference. This work often brings me into establishments such as bars and clubs. It is not for everyone, but I really appreciate having a purpose for being there—whether raising funds or entertaining, or being a sober safe zone for the other sober people at the event. A lot of my service takes place one on one in confidentiality and I am forever grateful for the sense of purpose all of this gives me.” —Miss Shugana/Jodi G.
PURE JOY
SHAH E SMOAK
“Being of service often times is more challenging to do than the obvious rewards. I hadn’t considered ‘being of service’ as something people did without monetary rewards but I’ve come to realize that the best gifts really are free. There are two types of spiritual service, tangible and intangible. Tangible service happens when you donate clothes to your local hospital emergency room for their homeless patients or you
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take a friend to the airport. The physical action serves a purpose to other people, you know like helping your friends clean up after a birthday party. The inconvenience is minimal and you just don’t mind being thought of as a ‘giver.’ I enjoy that title as much as anybody. But I find that the tangible service is generally convenient and on my timeline. It keeps me connected to friends, family and pretty content without much effort. Intangible service is what gives me pure joy. When you listen to a friend plan a wedding and tell you about all the complications to being in love. Or when I go with a friend to the doctor so that they’re not by themselves. My presence is my service work. Listening to someone talk about how much they hate/love their job without giving an opinion or solution to their woes. Taking your newly single friend out to dance and making the entire night about them (without telling them that’s what you’re doing.) My being of service has developed from setting up chairs for a meeting, greeting strangers at the entrance of meetings to becoming a man that gives of his time/effort in order to make a larger contribution to a world that needs all it can get. I’m too young to be a hippie but those cats were on to something.” —Shah E Smoak
BONDAGE OF SELF “Being of service looks like, on a broad scale, showing up and being present on a regular basis for my life. Breaking it down, it looks like, showing up at work early. BASIL GREEN Making sure the shop is clean, and ready to run smoothly for the day. It looks like taking a few minutes to listen to a friend from the gym whom appears to be going through a rough patch. It looks like donating time or money to a group that is trying to feed the less fortunate. It looks like listening to a client who is contemplating sobriety and sharing my experience, strength and hope with him. All that said.... I in no way do that perfect. What do I get out of all this? A sense of belonging to my community. Less time thinking about ‘me.’ I get ‘relief from the bondage of self.’” —Basil Green
FIERCE THINGS
>> C L A W <<
BEGIN HERE AT
BEST CLAW EVER
479 Castro Street , San Francisco • (415) 431-5365 • www.cliffsvariety.com Untitled-1 1
COMMENTS? SUGGESTIONS? CRITICISM?
3/9/18 1:51 PM
Dozens of parties, kink, fetish, BDSM and much more. Expect your life to change.
C
leveland Leather Annual Weekend (CLAW), the national leather charity, takes place next month, April 26-29, 2018. This year, states President and Executive Director Bob Miller, will be the “best CLAW ever, with more than 225 events and exhibitors included with the CLAW package. We expect 2,5003,000 leather men to fill three big, beautiful downtown hotels in leather friendly and liberal Cleveland Ohio—a great American city halfway between Chicago and New York.” Some highlights, reveals Miller, include: huge vendor mart, men’s BDSM play parties, 110 different skills and education sessions, dozens of parties, including sex parties at FLEX Spa and Hotel, naked pool parties, fetish bar parties, speed dating, silent auctions, the best cigar deck anywhere and a killer music and comedy cabaret finale. “Expect your life to change. Expect miraculous encounters and experiences every day. Expect to be happier than you’ve ever been.” n
For more info visit: clawinfo.org.
NT A W WE HEAR TO OM FR U! YO Email your Letter To The Editor to: editor@thefightmag.com AP R I L 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 21
>> COVER INTERVIEW <<
Nick Wafle’s “Mr. Drummer ’79” parties pay tribute to the classic leather bars of years gone by. B Y M A R K A R IEL | PHOTO BY MARK I. CHESTER
“Wearing leather is a form of sexual expression and rebellion that is still relevant in this new conservative era,” says Nick Wafle, the founder of “Mr. Drummer ’79”—producers of parties at various venues celebrating the classic manly fetish bars of the past. “The men that came out and dove into the California leather scene of the 60s and 70s were radical pioneers that enabled us to live more freely today. Many of them were lost to AIDS. We owe it to this lost generation to
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remember and celebrate the badass leather scene that they created,” says Wafle in an interview with THE FIGHT. Originally from Fredericksburg, Virginia a small historic town outside of Washington, DC., Wafle’s fascination with Drummer magazine, an iconic gay leather publication founded in Los Angeles in 1975, started with a visit to Mr. S Leather, after he moved to San Francisco. “When I first got to San Francisco, every time you spent 100 bucks at Mr. S Leather you would receive a free bun-
“THE MEN THAT CAME OUT AND DOVE INTO THE CALIFORNIA LEATHER SCENE OF THE 60S & 70S WERE RADICAL PIONEERS THAT ENABLED US TO LIVE MORE FREELY TODAY.”
> > LEO HERRERA, COLUMBINE DEMERS, BRENDEN SCHUCART < <
dle of back issues of Drummer magazine. I became fascinated by the leather scene of our recent past and began collecting back issues from vintage magazine shops,” reveals Wafle. “Issues from the late 70s contained robust
guides to dozens of leather bars & shops, sex clubs & bathhouses, restaurants and places to stay San Francisco and Los Angeles. So the [Mr Drummer ’79] parties stem from a desire to recreate one of those long lost spaces even if just for
one night. So far parties have paid tribute to The Tool Box (SF 19621971), Fe-Be’s (SF 1966-1986), The SF Eagle (1981-present) and Stud Los Angeles (1974-1988).” Wafle’s next Mr. Drummer ’79 party will take place on Thursday July 26, to kick off Dore Alley weekend. For more info (and iconic imagery from the Drummer era) visit instagram @ mrdrummer79. AP R I L 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 23
PHOTO BY MARK I. CHESTER
NICK WAFLE
>> COVER INTERVIEW <<
An interview with radical drag and performance artist Matia Emsellem.
Female LONGING BY ROXI E PERKI NS
M
atia Emsellem, aka Gerl Props, a gender non conforming, Bay Area artist, explores queer sexuality through the art of drag and lip sync. In an interview with THE FIGHT Emsellem talks about RuPaul’s Drag Race, inclusivity and knowing your validity as a performer. Tell us about your work. I create characters and either write music and manifestos for them to perform to - or showcase them in the form of a lip sync. The majority of the characters I create are inspired by female longing, emotion, and adolescence as well as character archetypes I have seen growing up in the Bay Area. What makes the Bay Area drag and performance art community different than
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other cities? Do you find that in the Bay Area bio/non binary drag performers are welcome in the predominantly cis, gay male drag scene as a whole or is the drag scene bifurcated? I find that out of all of the places I have lived, the Bay Area presents the most welcoming environment for bio/non-binary drag performers to perform. I think that the history of the Bay Area is inherently very queer and radical so there are still so many genuine freaks in the performance scene. There are spaces I have found in the Bay Area where I feel very at home showcasing what I have been working on as a gender non-conforming performer on the same bill as cis gay men. However, I think it is important to note that there are trans and gender non conforming friends of mine who still do not feel comfortable
performing in drag spaces and I understand that as well, because there is still a lot of misogyny, transmisogyny, and racism in the male-dominated drag world. In a moment where RuPaul’s Drag Race is reaching its peak fame and more people are doing drag than ever, does the drag culture in the Bay Area feel different or reflective of the type of drag being seen on television? I like to think that drag culture in the Bay Area feels different than the types of drag being shown on Rupaul’s Drag Race. Firstly, there are a lot of amazing queens in the Bay Area who have been doing drag way before Drag Race was on TV, so there is a long tradition there. I also think that RuPaul himself has created such a capitalist and transphobic definition of drag, so I don’t view her as the
e G
> > M AT I A E M S E L L E M < <
holy mother of all drag or anything like that. I think that it is safe to say that Drag Race has inspired so many young people to start attending shows, but I find drag in the Bay generally to be more experimental than what is shown on TV. I would be lying if I said there weren’t wig and makeup trends I see from Drag Race though. Why are gender variance and diversity important to have in a drag scene? It is important because the history of drag has never just included gay cis men. Trans women have been performing in drag settings since the beginning and that history has been overwritten. In my eyes, drag is gendered performance art and should be inclusive to the queer community. If drag is all about poking fun at gender, than why not invite the whole gender spectrum to come play? My friend recently send me a Facebook status written by a NYC-based performer named Charlene regarding transphobic comments that RuPaul has made about what a drag queen is and I would like to include part of that status here:
“THERE IS STILL A LOT OF MISOGYNY, TRANSMISOGYNY, AND RACISM IN THE MALE-DOMINATED DRAG WORLD.” “The notion that a drag queen is actually a man is one that RuPaul created and established into the zeitgeist with her show. By drawing a distinction between queens by whether the silicone bags hanging from their chest are on the outside or inside of their bodies, and by withholding her spotlight from people who literally aren’t man enough, he is erasing not only present day trans queens from the history of drag, but abandoning the centuries-long opinion that a drag queen is someone who you get to worship and see perform, and anything further was not your business.” What would you say to a woman, non-
binary, or trans person that wants to try drag but feels like it might not be welcoming to them because of their identity? This is a very complicated question for me to answer. I wouldn’t really feel comfortable giving advice to trans women about performing in drag spaces because I am not qualified to do that. To a non-binary/GNC [gender non-conforming]/female performer I can only speak from my own experience. I have found that it is very important to me to be completely prepared when I perform in drag bars or shows. I make sure I know every word, I make sure my character is on point, I make sure that I know exactly what my concept is and that I am rehearsed. I know that my validity as a performer in a drag setting is threatened because of the body that I inhabit, so I make sure that my work is strong and something that I feel proud of. I think that if you are able to find a place to perform where you feel safe, be confident in the space you take up and give them life and a really good show. More of “Gerl Props” work can be see on Matia’s instagram at: @gerlprops.
AP R I L 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 25
YES SIR
>> NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION <<
Fischerspooner’s Casey Spooner on gay sexuality, his relationship with Michael Stipe and the erotic potential of anonymity. BY PAU L V. V I TA G L I A N O | P H O TO B Y JER EM Y AY ER S
N
ew York duo Fischerspooner (musician Warren Fischer and video-artist and theater performer Casey Spooner) emerged on the music scene in 2001 with their debut album #1 and soon became the kings of the shortlived but beloved “electroclash” genre through the mid-2000s. Through three albums and their flamboyant, over-the-top live shows that married performance art, fashion, visuals and pansexuality to the music, their flagrant influences are now felt all around us. Yes, I’m talking to you, Lady Gaga! Their just-released new album Sir was well worth the 9-year wait, and they’re performing two rare live shows in Southern California this month: March 15th at The Fonda Theatre in Hollywood and March 16th at The Observatory in Santa Ana. I chatted with the affable Mr. Spooner about their fabulously infectious, danceable, and wholly queer new record. Listening to Sir I feel like it literally speaks to me and my experiences directly, as a longtime, out gay man. There’s nothing veiled, no pronouns changed, and there’s explicit themes about cruising and having gay sex etc. I assume that was your goal with the record? Indeed it was. I knew when we started writing that I wanted to make a queer record, and I wanted to clearly represent my experiences as honestly as I could. It’s really hard to write about sex or sexuality and not have it sound trite and stupid. I also wanted it to be respectful of gay culture, and to express that not all our relationships are about monogamy or happily ever after. A profound sexual experience can be a one night stand, or not even a whole night! (laughs). We are living in very scary times politically. Did you feel a need to be extra loud, extra queer, and extra sex positive in such an oppressive environment now? Yes, absolutely! That is the point. Some of my family is very conservative, and I recently said to them, “Listen, y’all voted for Trump. So you go that way, and I’m going this way!’ And if everything is headed towards Neo-Naziism and hyper conservatism, then I have to be mega hyper super “Fuck you!” and be as queer as humanly possible! Bravo! Speaking of which,“Discreet” sounds like the most salacious Grindr profile come to life. What inspired that? It’s me trying to reflect on those M4M cliches, and the dichotomy between wanting a real connection vs. the erotic potential of anonymity. So there’s a little bit of this push and pull, and how when you’re anonymous, you can kind of be any thing for any one. www.thefightmag.com 2 6 T H E F IGH T S F | www.thefi ghtmag.com
THEEPIDEMIC >> CASEY SPOONER <<
> > C R O T O N Y L AT I O N < <
Tell us about your personal and professional relationship with Michael Stipe, who co-wrote and co-produced the album. We met on the dance floor at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA in 1988. I was 18 and he was my first gay lover. I was very nervous and inexperienced, and he’s very proud that he took my virginity! (laughs). It was also a very creative relationship, and he gave me the confidence to pursue being an artist, too. But he was an ascending rock star and I was young and romantic, so it was very tumultuous. But we’ve remained friends and we’re ‘family’ at this point.
“IF EVERYTHING IS HEADED TOWARDS NEO NAZIISM AND HYPER CONSERVATISM, THEN I HAVE TO BE MEGA HYPER SUPER ‘FUCK YOU!’ AND BE AS QUEER AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE!” What did Michael bring to the making of the album? I’d spent almost two years writing this record, and it was Michael that really pushed me to take a different lyrical approach. I was really focused on the sexuality and Michael was really focused on the emotionality. Add in some personal relationship drama that was going on with me at the time, and it all just kind of gelled perfectly. I really admire your very strong sense of melody and song structure. Who were some of your musical idols or influences? I would name Grace Jones, Les Rita Mitsouko, Madonna. Or it could be David Bowie one day and Ariana Grande the next day! And that sometimes makes Warren cringe. He’s such a music aficionado, and I’m more democratic about all types of music. I also spent a lot of time on Fire Island while making the record as part of my “gay research” to understand how gay men connect to female artists and diva archetypes. So I’m also trying to create male archetypes who can be as expressive as women. Do you or Warren feel any pressure from your earliest fans to continue to carry the electroclash torch? There is a certain kind of pressure to try to satisfy that audience, but all I do is focus on the present and try to evolve our core aesthetic ideas. One of the big goals of Fischerspooner was this element of us imitating entertainment while participating in it. And nowadays, Instagram is our “entertainment” so you really have to embrace digital culture. What can people expect during your short US tour? It’s going to be like the show we did at Brooklyn Steel recently. Great lighting, great sound, a range in the set list of old and new, and an exciting and sexy queer cast! Keep tabs on Fischerspooner at Fischerspooner.com.
SATYA DANDEKAR, PHD
DISRUPTING HIV
The goal is to force the virus to be expressed so it is visible to the immune system. BY ORLY LYONNE
N
ew research published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation suggests that an epigenetic mechanism that controls gene expression may draw HIV out of hiding and make it vulnerable to antiretroviral therapy (ART), reports Specialty Pharmacy Times. “We have been working on mechanisms that could be used to disrupt HIV latency,” said senior author Satya Dandekar, PhD. “The goal is to force the virus to be expressed so it is visible to the immune system and can be targeted through immuno-therapeutics. This is the first study to identify histone crotonylation as a driver for HIV transcription and de-crotonylation of histone as an epigenetic marker for HIV silencing.” In the new study, the researchers focused on crotonylation in hopes that it could hold the key to curing HIV. This mechanism modifies the protein that packages DNA, which affects gene expression. To gain a more in-depth understanding of the crotonylation, the authors investigated the ACSS2 enzyme, which plays a role in fatty acid metabolism in the gut. This enzyme may be an important target, as HIV has been linked to impaired lipid metabolism, according to the study. “We examined well-characterized cell models of HIV latency and immune cells from HIV patients who had been undergoing antiretroviral therapy and had undetectable viral loads,” Dr Dandekar said. “In those samples, we were able to disrupt the HIV silencing by inducing histone crotonylation.” Interestingly, increasing histone crotonylation was found to work synergistically with other anti-HIV latency treatments, which suggests a combination therapy could help target latent cells, according to the study. n
AP R I L 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 27
>> GAY IN SAUDI ARABIA <<
HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE Excerpts from a series of online chats with Zayed, a gay Muslim man, living in Saudi Arabia. BY MARK ARI EL
I
wake up every morning and think to myself today will be my last day on this earth. I think to myself there is absolutely no way I can live another day, with this burden, this heartache, this guilt, and I beg for God’s forgiveness. But Allah, blessed be His name, ignores me. And I realize I must go on. Even though this life is so unbearable I pray for death. • • •
At work there is this guy. He came to the office a few months ago. He is average height, skinny, like me, with beautiful eyes and lips. And a beautiful smile. When he smiles I feel like my whole world lights up. I can’t stop staring at him. I try not to be obvious. One day he looked up and saw me staring and I quickly turned away, my heart beating like a hammer. I felt myself burning up, my face must have been very red. I got up and went to the bathroom, my hands holding onto the sink, my whole body trembling… In my fantasy mind he follows me to the bathroom and tells me it is okay, do not be afraid and he holds me until the shaking stops. But in real life that doesn’t happen. I wash my face and go back to my desk. He is not there—he went out for a meeting and I feel relieved. • • • I chatted online with this American guy. He told me about his boyfriend and his family and how his parents realized he was gay at a young age and how they totally accepted him and his boyfriend. I told him how lucky he was—but inside—I am ashamed 2 8 T H E F IGH T S F | www.thefightmag.com
“IT JUST SEEMS SO UNFAIR THAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE EVERYTHING AND CAN LIVE OPENLY AND LOVE OPENLY AND BE HAPPY —WHILE OTHERS HAVE TO STAY IN THE SHADOWS.” now to tell you—I was angry. I was angry that I do not have his life. You cannot choose your life or where you are born—I know that. It just seems so unfair that some people have everything and can live openly and love openly and be happy—while others have to stay in the shadows, living in a society that looks down upon you, spits upon you, makes jokes about you and maybe get you arrested if you are not careful. ••• I was maybe 4 or 5 years old and Ricky Martin was on the television singing La Vida Loca. I was so excited to see him and I told my mother that I love him and that he is so handsome. And she laughed and said yes he is handsome but you do not love him. Men do not love men. Men love women. And I said if I was a woman I would want to marry him and love him forever. She gave me a funny look and
then she hugged me and whispered in my ear to never to say that again… I think she understood me and wanted to protect me. ••• My only way to live my real life is in this online chat—but even that is becoming dangerous because they say now that the police are monitoring the internet. So I never meet anyone because I don’t know if they are real or just trying to get me arrested… Nobody knows the real me. I have never been with a man. Not in real life. But in my dreams my husband and I live in a small house close to the ocean. Every morning we walk on the beach, holding hands. Sometimes we go into the sea, splashing water on each other, laughing. Like couples do. ••• I tried getting a visa to Germany to study engineering and get a better life but I wasn’t approved and I didn’t have enough money anyway. I thought about USA because my English is good from all the television I used to watch—but right now— even if I saved up the money—I don’t think it is possible for a Muslim to get visa… Sometimes, when I think about my future, having to live a lie for the rest of my life, I get so depressed I want to die… When I feel this way there is a poem I read that makes me happy. It is by Kahlil Gibran. One moment and I will find translation for you… here it is: “For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.”
> > LEO HERRERA, COLUMBINE DEMERS, BRENDEN SCHUCART < <
AP R I L 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 29
THEART >>
LGBTQ ARTISTS
<<
DANYOL LEON
DANYOL LEON
Exploring intersectional identity and the inconsistencies in our social fabric.
A
San Francisco-based multidisciplinary Latinx artist Danyol Leon has been active in the Bay Area arts community for over 14 years. His saccharine, pop-influenced mixed media art utilizes bright colors and cartoon-like figures to explore intersectional identity and the inconsistencies in our social fabric. Leon has hosted over 30 solo exhibitions at venues like SF AIDS Foundation’s Strut, The W Hotel, San Francisco, Counterpulse and Nickelodeon Studios; and has participated in extensive group shows at venues like SOMArts Cultural Center, 111 Minna, and The Center for Sex and Culture. His work was included in 1800 Tequila’s Essential Artist Series and he was named a featured artist by Redbull in 2007. Leon is also an active musician in the bands Adonisaurus and Muñecas and performs in San Francisco and LA as drag queen Tamale Ringwald. n Contact info: www.facebook.com/iheartdanyol, www.danyol.com, IG @Danyolleon.
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Master Sponsors
18 April 26-29, 2018
Cleveland, Ohio | clawinfo.org Sustaining Sponsors
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CLAW Yapp code: CLAW
I L 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 31 Westin Downtown: Fully Booked. Hampton Inn or Double Tree $149/night.AP RBook Now at clawinfo.org.
Main Photo by Tankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Takes. International Mr. Leather 2017 and CLAW 18 Featured Performer Ralph Bruneau.
CLAW has donated over $800,000 to community charities.
THEEVENT >> PHOTOS BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM <<
Bearracuda, the largest attended bear dance party in the U.S.—and now in 60 cities across the world—returned to the SF Eagle for the 500th event worldwide. Very special guest from The Needle Exchange—Tommy Cornelis played all night. For more info on Bearracuda visit bearracuda.com. For more info on events at SF Eagle visit sf-eagle.com.
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>> PHOTOS BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM <<
AP R I L 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 33
THECALENDAR >> THINGS TO DO << JANET MOCK. SEE MONDAY, APRIL 30.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 4
WAS PHOEBE HEARST CALIFORNIA’S FIRST “FAG HAG?”
The GLBT History Museum, 4127 18th St., San Francisco, 7pm-9pm. Tickets & Info: goo.gl/TXskrG Although Phoebe Apperson Hearst (1842-1919) had a successful son in California newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, he was a tough businessman like his father. Pheobe found a tender, artistic soul in painter Orrin Peck (18601921), who is believed to have been gay. They were so close that Peck referred to her as “my other mum.” Drawing on their correspondence and on Peck’s papers, art historian Ladislav Zikmund-Lender goes to the heart of the matter in this illustrated talk: Was Phoebe A. Hearst, a progressive 19th-century woman, aware of Peck’s sexuality and if so, what role did that knowledge play in her friendship with Peck? Or as the scholar rephrases the question in old-school gay slang, “Was Phoebe Hearst California’s first fag hag?” FRIDAY, APRIL 6
CHRISTEENE
Oasis, 298 11th St, San Francisco, 10pm-2am. Christeene & the Boyz return to San Francisco and take over the Oasis for one night only with a showcase of raw new material off the highly anticipated upcoming album. Delve deep into the back rooms, busted dreams, and burnt offerings of this talented and visionary nightmare.
IT’S ALL IN THE JEANS: ART OPENING FOR DANYOL LEON Strut, 470 Castro St, San Francisco, 6pm.
Exhibiting the work of Danyol Leon. Come celebrate and support queer artists. SATURDAY, APRIL 7
TEAM MARIN MARAUDERS AIDS/ LIFECYCLE BEER BUST ·
Beaux Bar and Dance Club, 2344 Market St, San Francisco, 4pm-7pm. Come grab a drink or jello shots to support Team Marin Marauders and help raise funds in support of HIV/AIDS research and prevention. SUNDAY, APRIL 8
POLESEXUAL PRESENTS—NEON FAIRYTALES!
The Stud, 399 9th St., San Francisco, 10pm-2am. What happens when you mix black lights with fairytales, drag queens and poledancers?? Pure magic is what happens and you get to watch the spectacle unfold. MONDAY, APRIL 9
HATERS ROAST—THE SHADY TOUR 2018
Palace Of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon St, San Francisco, 8pm-10pm. Tickets & Info: www.DragFans.com Starring Trixie Mattel, Latrice Royale, Trinity Taylor, Eureka O’Hara, Aja, Thorgy Thor, Willam, and hosted by Ginger Minj from RuPaul’s Drag Race on VH1. It’s an evening of outrageous reads, slams, jabs, stingers and zingers with your favorite comedy queens live on stage. Doors at 7pm, show at 8pm. There will be a 20-minute intermission.
Francisco, 9pm-4am. DJ Edu Quintas propels us into hyperspace while you support a great cause. $10 from every ticket helps our AIDS/LifeCycle rider hosts reach their fundraising goals. SUNDAY, APRIL 15
¡AY BENDITO! A FUNDRAISER FOR PUERTO RICO
Oasis, 298 11th St , San Francisco, 4pm-8pm. Fresh latino beats along with the DJ stylings of Griffin Longstreth and Brian Urmanita. All proceeds will go to Unidos por Puerto Rico.
Mezzanine, 444 Jessie St, San
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The Russian Center, San Francisco, 2460 Sutter St, San Francisco, 8pm-10:30pm. The Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation presents: Donna Sachet’s “Songs For No Reason: The Big Gay Comedy Extravaganza,” a blend of stand-up and musical comedy. Benefiting Positive Resource Center/AIDS Emergency Fund and Richmond/ Ermet Aid Foundation. SATURDAY, APRIL 21
THE OFFICIAL SAN FRANCISCO DYKE MARCH BENEFIT
Strut, 470 Castro St, San Francisco, 7pm-9pm. An evening with Josh Alexander where using the tool of constellations he will lead an exploration of homophobia from a systemic perspective.
Folsom Street Foundry, 1425 Folsom Street, San Francisco, 3pm-8pm. Brought to you by all your favorite Bay Area queer promoters, organizations and artists all under one roof at Folsom Street Foundry! The mission of the San Francisco Dyke March is to bring the dyke community together to celebrate our unity, raise our consciousness and be visible.
BOYS IN TROUBLE: SEAN DORSEY DANCE
MONDAY, APRIL 30
THURSDAY, APRIL 19
SAFE TO BE: DISSOLVING HOMOPHOBIA
Z Space, 450 Florida Street @ 17th Street, San Francisco, 8:00pm.Tickets & Info: seandorseydance.com/boys-in-troubleworld-premiere/ Trailblazing transgender choreographer Sean Dorsey returns to the stage with a new evening of dances that unpack masculinity with unflinching honesty—from unapologetically trans and queer perspectives.
SATURDAY, APRIL 14
SHIFT
NO REASON”
FRIDAY, APRIL 20
DONNA SACHET’S “SONGS FOR
JANET MOCK
Nourse Theater, 275 Hayes St, San Francisco, 7:30pm-9:30pm. Janet Mock is a writer, TV host, and advocate tackling stigma through storytelling. Janet was a featured speaker at the historic Women’s March on Washington. She is the author of Surpassing Certainty and the New York Times bestseller Redefining Realness. This program is a benefit for the Transgender, Gender Variant, Intersex Justice Project.
Hookups =
Visit www.squirt.org to hook up today AP R I L 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 35
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