MAY 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 1
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THECONTENTS
FEATURES 12 THE SEX POLICE LGBTQ LIVES IN DANGER 13 COMMUNITY SERVICE FOLSOM STREET EVENTS BENEFICIARIES 14 IT‘S ABOUT TIME SF MAYORAL CANDIDATE MARK LENO 24 FORGING NEW PATHS DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER TAYLOR GREENTHAL 25 MY TRUTH FOREVER OLYMPIC DIVER ROBERT PÁEZ 27 DOCUMENT, PRESERVE & SHARE THE GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
DEPARTMENTS 08 THE TALK SARAH MCBRIDE 09 THE STATE EVAN LOW 10 THE CITY SIDEWALK SKIRMISH 13 THE NATION RONEN FARROW 18 THE SPREAD COLTON LONG 22 THE SHARE LOCAL RECOVERY 23 THE EPIDEMIC WEEKLY PILL 26 THE ART JUSTIN HALL 28 THE EVENT THE STUD, THE SISTERS 32 THE CALENDAR THINGS TO DO 34 THE FINAL FIGHT CHECHNYA GHTT SSFF || www.thefi www.thefightmag.com 44 TTHHEE FFIIGH ghtmag.com
ON THE COVER MARK LENO COVER PHOTO, TOC PHOTO AND FEATURE PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM
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Congratulating THE FIGHT On Its New San Francisco / Bay Area Edition!
MAY 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 5
THEEDITOR
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Stanford Altamirano MANAGING EDITOR Mark Ariel ART DIRECTOR Nadeen Torio MARKETING CONSULTANTS Tom Pardoe Sean Galuszka Jacci Ybarra SOCIAL MEDIA Mark Ariel Sinan Shihabi WEBMASTER Nadeen Torio ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Sinan Shihabi EVENTS MANAGER Joseph Arellano
>> IN THIS ISSUE <<
In this issue of THE FIGHT Leo Herrara interviews SF mayoral candidate Mark Leno (“It’s About Time,” pages 14-16). “After decades of living in the shadow of the assassination of Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk, who was heir apparent to be Mayor, the idea of this city having its first openly gay mayor is thrilling and overdue to many,” writes Herrara. When asked about identity politics Leno says he understands the significance of being the first openly gay person as mayor of the city. “I was asked by a reporter when I declared I was running, if I thought my sexual orientation was an issue in my campaign,” reveals Leno. “I told him I didn’t think it would be, but I’ll tell you in the queer community, it is a really big deal. It’s not why I’m running for mayor, clearly I’m running to address the issues in front of everyone in San Francisco, but yes it would be a significant accomplish-
ment at this time.” Especially, says Leno, “when Washington and the White House are spewing a lot of hate and upending a lot of lives.” Among other issues discussed in the interview, Leno talked about the housing crisis in the city. “I’m in this race to address the interlocking challenges of homelessness and housing affordability and doing what I can with the legislature… Step one is to keep those in a home in their home and to make sure that our rent control housing stock, which is our most valuable affordable housing stock because every unit we lose is irreplaceable. Step two is making sure we are building more affordable, below market-rate housing.” “We have a lot of work to do to make sure the status quo now is not something we ever look back upon as something good,” says Leno. “We have a lot of progress to make.”
STANFORD ALTAMIRANO Editor-In-Chief
Every month THE FIGHT donates a portion of its proceeds to an LGBTQ community organization. This month’s donation has been sent to Equality California. Equality California brings the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. For more info visit: eqca.org. www.thefightmag.com 6 T H E F I GH T S F | www.thefi ghtmag.com
CONTRIBUTORS Larry Buhl Dusti Cunningham Gabriel van Horne Kian Kamataki Orly Lyonne Ryan Page Tom Pardoe Roxie Perkins Sinan Shihabi 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
MAY 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 7
THETALK >> W H AT T H E Y ’ R E S AY I N G <<
JACK HARRISONQUINTANA
GOOD INTENTIONS
ERIC JON SCHMIDT
“I am 100% transparent. I have nothing but good intentions and I am not running against anyone, just their seats. I have nothing negative to say about the others and never will.”
—Eric Jon Schmidt, one of four challengers thus far for West Hollywood City Council, in an email to WEHOville last month, on photos and videos of him having sex on the website called DudesNude.com.
MOST TRUSTED
“From now on, HIV status data will be isolated from the rest of the information that we have, so that it’s inaccessible to even our most trusted partners who we work with every day.”
—Jack Harrison-Quintana, vice president of Social Impact at Grindr, in a video on Grindr.com last month, after BuzzFeed reported it was sharing the HIV statuses of its users with two third-party vendors.
STEP UP “For me, the election of Donald Trump was a real wake-up call… for women across the country that if we don’t CYNTHIA NIXON like the direction our government is going in, we have to step up and we have to get involved like never before. So that’s what I’m doing.” —Out New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon on The Wendy Williams Show last month.
EVERYONE ELSE “I wanted to make sure that people understood that behind this national conversation on trans rights are real people who love and laugh, hope and dream, fear and cry just like everyone else.” —Transgender activist and HRC National Press Secretary Sarah McBride on Late Night with Seth SARAH Meyers last month, promoting MCBRIDE her new book, Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality.
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THE SAME STROKE “This year we’ve seen a number of mainstream stories focusing on straight people’s relationship to queerness—which insist that queer people are “normal” and “just like you!”—rather than queer people’s relationship to their JOHN SHERMAN own identities,… The doubleedged sword of normalcy-as-value is that it is always including and excluding with the same stroke.” —Writer John Sherman in an op-ed on BuzzFeed, last month.
RECEIVE A KEY
“Honored to be the Grand Marshal at today’s Miami Beach Gay Pride and to receive a key to the city! Like... What?!” GUS KENWORTHY
—Olympian Gus Kenworthy, in a tweet last month, after he was been given a key to the Florida city during Miami Beach Gay Pride.
NEVER SAW MYSELF “For me, growing up as a queer AfroLatino from the Bronx, I never saw myself in film and television… This proliferation of work that is coming from diverse content creators is specifically coming from a space of wanting representation.”
STEVEN —Steven Canals, one of the creators and execCANALS utive producers of FX’s upcoming drama series Pose, which includes a groundbreaking number of transgender people, last month at at the first-ever “Creators Summit.” The summit, presented by GLAAD and the Creative Artists Agency, focused on the future of diversity, inclusivity and intersectionality in entertainment.
THESTATE >> NEWS BRIEFS <<
FIERCE THINGS
ASSEMBLYMEMBER EVAN LOW (D-SAN JOSE)
BEGIN HERE AT PROTECTING LGBTQ CALIFORNIANS
Assembly passes bill that treats so-called “conversion therapy” like consumer fraud.
C
alifornia could make history as first in the nation to protect both children and adults from abusive, ineffective efforts by labeling them “consumer fraud.” Legislation to ban efforts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, sometimes called “conversion therapy” or “reparative therapy,” passed in the California Assembly last month with a bipartisan vote of 50-14. Assemblymember Evan Low’s AB 2943, cosponsored by Equality California and the Trevor Project, would make California the first state in the nation to ban these widely discredited practices from being performed on both children and adults. “So-called conversion therapy is a dangerous, ineffective solution in search of a nonexistent problem, and there’s no place for it in the State of California,” said Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur. “Once again, California legislators sent a clear, bipartisan message to the LGBTQ community across our state and around the world: ‘You belong.’ We look forward to the day when all LGBTQ Californians are protected from these dangerous, fraudulent practices.” AB 2943 would make clear in California law that claiming to be able to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity is a fraudulent business practice that misleads consumers and exposes LGBTQ people to damaging psychological abuse. The bill previously passed the Assembly Privacy Committee 8-2 and the Assembly Judiciary Committee 8-1, each time with bipartisan support. “The pain and fear suffered by those who have been subjected to conversion therapy is something that I can personally identify with,” said Assemblymember Evan Low (D-San Jose), author of AB 2943. “This legislation finally created accountability for those who claim to provide therapy but are in fact peddling an unfounded and destructive practice.” n
479 Castro Street , San Francisco • (415) 431-5365 • www.cliffsvariety.com Untitled-1 1
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THECITY >> BY GABRIEL VAN HORNE <<
SHARED SCOOTERS SIDEWALK SKIRMISH After a surge of complaints to 311, San Francisco’s litter removal hotline, hundreds of shared scooters have been scooped from the sidewalks of San Francisco. The mini motorized vehicles, which can be rented with an app, appeared in swarms all over the city, practically over
SCOTT WEINER
CONTROVERSIAL BILL DEAD ON ARRIVAL SB 827 has died in Committee. The controversial bill, authored by State Senator Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco), would have forcibly “upzoned,” (increased the height limit) of buildings near subway stations and frequently trafficked bus stops, allowing residential developers to ignore local rules about parking, density, and height. In its original version, the bill allowed the
night. And while they have found many ready users, they’ve also been the target of ire and frustration as scooters have been left haphazardly, blocking sidewalks. They even briefly trended on Twitter with the hashtag #ScootersBehavingBadly. The tech startups behind the controversy—Bird,
construction of new buildings up to eights stories and would have impacted 96% of San Francisco. It was supported by more than 120 Tech executives and self-described YIMBYs (an acronym for “Yes in My Back Yard”), as a solution to California’s housing crisis. It was opposed by nearly everyone else in the State, including community groups, nearly every candidate for governor, the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco, and (with the exception of Supervisor London Breed) all of the candidates for Mayor. All of whom decried giving up of local control of planning to Sacramento, the potential for displacing historically marginalized communities, and a give-away to developers. SB 827 did ignite a much needed debate about housing in California and made Senator Weiner a household name from Eureka to San Diego.
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Lime, and Spin—have each been fined $5,774 for the cost of confiscating the scooters. This month the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will consider a program to allow the scooters to operate legally at its Board of Directors meeting.
HONORING HARVEY MILK
HARVEY MILK
Terminal One at SFO is to be renamed after Harvey Milk, the first openly Gay elected official in California. The name change was proposed by D9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen and unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors in early April, and was signed into law by Mayor Mark Farrell on April 16. The move to honor Milk at SFO was first advanced in 2013 by Ronen’s predecessor on the Board, former Supervisor and current head of the San Francisco Democratic Party, David Campos, who received considerable pushback. San Franciscans can start flying out of Harvey Milk Terminal in 2022 after the completion of renovations.
THENATION >> NEWS <<
>> POWER TO THE PEOPLE <<
JEWELLE GOMEZ
HONORING JEWELLE GOMEZ The San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee has bestowed this year’s San Francisco Pride’s Lifetime Achievement Award on Jewelle Gomez. A champion for marriage equality, Gomez and her spouse, Diane Sabin, were plaintiffs in a lawsuit which helped bring same-sex marriage to California. She is also the author of several plays and seven books, including the Lambda Literary Award-winning Lesbian vampire novel, The Gilda Stories.
RONAN FARROW
RONAN FARROW’S PULTIZER Shortly after coming out as a member of the LGBT community, Ronan Farrow won a Pultizer prize last month for his groundbreaking reporting on Harvey Weinstein’s sexual predation. Farrow, whose stories ran in the New Yorker, shared the gold medal award for public service with two reporters from The New York Times, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohy.
TRANS BAN BLOCKED
A judge in Seattle has ordered President Donald Trump not to ban transgender troops from serving in the military, saying it’s unclear whether recent changes to his administration’s policy are constitutional. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman was one of four judges nationwide who blocked Trump late last year from overturning an Obama-era directive allowing transgender troops to serve openly.
HATEFUL MEASURE DEFEATED LYRIC’S SWEET MUSIC The Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center (LYRIC) celebrated its 30th anniversary on April 26. LYRIC is a creation of Donna Keiko Ozawa and Beth Kivel, who—seeing a major need in the community to invest and support young queer individuals—founded an ad hoc Committee for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth. Their first event was a dance held at the Women’s Building in 1988 and quickly grew into an important institution serving the needs of some of the LGBTQ community’s most vulnerable members. In 1993 LYRIC purchased the house at 127 Collingwood in the Castro and launched a national peer youth hotline and its first internship program. Today LYRIC engages in a number of programs to support LGBTQ young people, including educating and building allyship among students and teachers at local schools, help with housing applications and legal name and gender change documentation, and workforce development for young gender nonconforming and sexual minorities. n
Voters in Anchorage, Alaska last month defeated Proposition 1, a controversial measure which would have licensed and mandated discrimination against transgender people. The initiative was designed to dismantle a set of LGBTQ protections passed in 2015, carving out an exception that would ban transgender people from using bathrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity.
THE REAL MIKE PENCE The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has launched The Real Mike Pence, a comprehensive campaign—including a scathing report and microsite—exposing the vice president’s long history of anti-LGBTQ animus and shining a spotlight on the inordinate influence he and his inner circle wield in the administration. For more info visit: hrc.org/realmikepence.
CHER LOVES ADAM
Gay Olympian medalist Adam Rippon has been included in Time magazine’s annual list of the year’s 100 Most Influential People. In an accompanying piece, Cher gushed over the athlete, writing, “He isn’t just a beautiful skater. He has humility, grace and an incredible sense of humor.” n MAY 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 11
>> SB1204 <<
THE SEX POLICE
New laws, on local, state and federal levels, are driving more sex workers into the streets, putting their lives at risk. BY LARRY BUHL
O
n April 17, a new California bill meant to expand the definition of “pandering,” which means solicitation and recruitment for prostitution, was tabled in the Senate Public Safety Committee after it receiving a lack of support in the committee—and after dozens of citizens spoke out against it for hours in the hearing. Critics said the language of the bill, SB 1204, introduced by Senator Pat Bates (R-Laguna Niguel), was too broad and ambiguous and instead of just curbing sex trafficking would have the unintended consequence of putting harm reduction advocates at risk. “(SB 1204) would leave it up to the cops to determine what ‘induce’ means,” said Kristin DiAngelo, a trafficking survivor and Executive Director of the Sacramento chapter of the Sex Workers Outreach Project, (SWOP) online at sacramentoswop.com. “Our group distributes condoms, lube, and lists of potential predators with the knowledge that sex workers will use them. But the new bill would say we are encouraging and inducing prostitution. It would make what we do illegal.” At press time it was not clear whether or when SB 1204 would come back. But sex worker advocates say that if such a bill could pass in supposedly liberal California, restrictions on their industry could happen anywhere. LIABLE FOR CONTENT In fact, a crackdown on sex work is happening at the local, state and federal levels. In March, President Trump signed into law a new bill—a combination of the Senate’s Stop Enabling Sex-Trafficking Act (SESTA) and the House’s Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA)—which makes online platforms liable for content uploaded by their users. Even before the president signed it, online platforms that sex workers used to advertise their services voluntarily blocked access from the United States or shut down completely. In April the website backpage.com was seized by the feds its founders were charged www.thefightmag.com 1 2 T H E F IGH T S F | www.thefi ghtmag.com
DANNY CRUZ
with 93 counts of money laundering and facilitating prostitution, although nobody was charged with human trafficking. Craigslist took its Personals section offline, saying it could not prevent postings of sex workers or possible sex traffickers on the site. SAFETY BARRIER Sex workers, particularly those who are LGBTQ, say they’re worried by these developments. “I went out to lunch with four trans sex workers after SB 1204 was pulled,” DiAngelo said. “They’re all frightened.” Frightened, she said, because the online sites being taken down were not only used for advertising and procuring sex services, they were a barrier between sex workers and clients. Tara Coccinelle, a trans woman and inactive sex worker who protested SB 1204, said that she worries that bill and FOSTA/SESTA will drive more sex workers into the streets. “For queer trans women of color, the risks of violence on the street are much higher,” she told THE FIGHT. Coccinelle noted that a new local law in Sacramento adds the danger of arrest to other threats by defining prostitution broadly.
“Now a cop can stop and search you for leaning into the window of a parked car. If you have more than two condoms on you, that’s justification for arresting you and charging you with manifesting prostitution. It punishes people for preventing transmission of STDs and HIV.” DiAngelo says SWOP has seen a significant increase in street-based sex work in the past month. And she points out that a large percentage of people working the streets had experienced rape and other forms of assault since moving from online to outside work. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT Danny Cruz, a sex worker in California who recently relocated to Texas, said he’s not working outdoors, but he’s seen a slowdown in business, which he attributes to the clampdown on advertising venues. “On the sites that are still up, they limit what you can say. You can’t display rates, for example, and you have to be called porn stars, not escorts. It takes ten more emails to get the negotiation settled because of all the things you can’t put in an ad.” Cruz added that there is fear among fellow sex workers that new sex laws could be used to go after workers and clients retroactively. “There is a lot of trepidation about what happens next.” Domina Elle, a Denver-based professional dominatrix and erotic service provider, says she believes the dangers to sex workers are a feature, not a bug, of so-called anti-trafficking laws. “They’ve been attacking the commercial sex trade for decades and they want to abolish the industry,” she said. Pointing to new legislation in Virginia, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act, which would require Virginians to pay $20 to unblock content on adult websites, Elle said wording of these bills often conflates prostitution with sex trafficking. And that’s by design, she said. “And so far the bills are getting bipartisan support. Because who could possibly be for sex trafficking?”
>> F O L S O M S T R E E T E V E N T S <<
COMMUNITY SERVICE Folsom Street Events announces major and supporting beneficiaries for 2018 events season. BY KIA N KA MATA KI
T
he Board of Directors of Folsom Street Events have chosen this year’s line up of its major and supporting beneficiaries. Net proceeds from eight key San Francisco leather and fetish events—Hog Wild, Bay of Pigs, Up Your Alley, ROUGH, LeatherWalk, Magnitude, Folsom Street Fair, and DEVIANTS Adult Arcade will be donated to local charities working in public health, human services, and the arts. Last year, Folsom Street Events donated over $320,000 to local and national charities in need. This year’s seven major beneficiaries are AIDS Legal Referral Panel, Berkeley Free Clinic, Castro Country Club, Frameline, National AIDS Memorial Grove, PRC, and SF LGBT Community Center. This year’s eight supporting beneficiaries are API Equality— Northern California, Dolores Street Community Services, Erotic Service Provider Legal Education and Research Project, GLBT Historical Society, LGBT Asylum Project, SF Lesbian / Gay Freedom Band, SF Suicide Prevention, and TurnOut. “Beneficiaries are the backbone of Folsom Street Events,” stated Patrick Finger, Executive Director. “They recruit the volunteers that help produce our one-of-a-kind street fairs and parties. We are excited, and honored, to be working with these exceptional organizations.” Edwin Morales, Board President, added, “One of the greatest parts of serving our community is partnering with our beneficiaries… This year, we are partnering with organizations that we know will improve and enrich the lives of so many people in our community.” 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. .
For more information about Folsom Street Fair, please visit www.folsomstreetevents.org. MAY 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 13
>> MARK LENO <<
IT’S ABOUT TIME
California’s first gay state senator leads the pack to be SF’s next mayor. Leo Herrera interviews Mark Leno. BY LEO H ERRERA | PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNI NGHAM
T
he first time I saw Mark Leno, he might as well have been a gay unicorn. I was 22 and had just arrived to San Francisco from Phoenix, AZ, one of the most conservative places in America. The thought of an openly gay politician was something that was not ever in the realm of possibility where I came from. I would see Mark around the tiny city, in a leather harness at some Folsom event or presenting an award of recognition to a drag queen at an underground event. It was one of the things that let me know I had moved into a true queer mecca. The first time I met him, I came up to him and very nervously introduced myself, I muttered something about him being a big inspiration. He was very gracious but I walked away wishing I had been cooler. As I became more educated in the history of the city, I discovered that Mark was part of a long lineage of politicians that dated to Harvey Milk, who encouraged all queer men running for office to celebrate their LGBT roots. I’m 36 now, and since that first meeting, I have seen so many queer politicians in SF. From Tom Ammiano, to Bevan Dufty, Kim Alveranga to Tom Temprano.
MONEY VERSUS CULTURE This is a city that demands an authenticity from its political figures that I haven’t seen anywhere. Last year, I worked as a campaign manager for Tempranos’ successful election, I saw how the sausage is made in SF politics, which is accurately described as a “knife fight in a phone booth.” 1 4 T H E F IGH T S F | www.thefightmag.com
“WASHINGTON AND THE WHITE HOUSE ARE SPEWING A LOT OF HATE AND UPENDING A LOT OF LIVES… SO THE FACT THAT I WOULD BE THE FIRST OPENLY GAY PERSON AS MAYOR … IS A DIRECT REBUKE OF OUR PRESIDENT.” The city is small, currently drowning in wealth and homelessness, and with a history of the war of money versus culture. This mayoral race is a result and symbol of this everlasting war. The race was kicked into overdrive when the controversial mayor Ed Lee passed away suddenly, a somewhat tragic figure who started off as a fierce housing advocate and ended his career universally blamed for selling the city. After decades of living in the shadow of the assassination of Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk, who was heir apparent to be Mayor, the idea of this city having its first openly gay mayor is thrilling and overdue to many. I thought of what a 20 year old from a conservative town would feel to
move here and see a queer man holding such a high position of power. I was more than a bit nervous for the interview, but even in the frantic energy of his palatial headquarters in the heart of the Castro, Mark was once again gracious and calm, a man whose political career speaks for itself and who is aware of his position as a symbol to many.
IDENTITY POLITICS Identity Politics have played a very strong role in this election, not always for the best. It seems like some of your opponents take many chances to point out your white cis-gender privilege as “more of the same.” As a QPOC, even I find this exhausting. In what ways can identity politics be good? How can seeing an openly gay political figure still affect queer kids in places far away? So this is all happening at a time when Washington and the White House are spewing a lot of hate and upending a lot of lives. I’m thinking of the trans folks in military and who aspire to be in the military. Numbers of hate crimes against our community. So the fact that I would be the first openly gay person as mayor has great symbolic value and is a direct rebuke of our president. Don’t say his name. I don’t say it (laughs). So I get it has significant importance. In fact I was asked by a reporter when I declared I was running, if I thought my sexual orientation was an issue in my campaign. I told him I didn’t think it would be, but I’ll tell you in the queer com-
MAY 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 15
>> MARK LENO <<
munity, it is a really big deal. It’s not why I’m running for mayor, clearly I’m running to address the issues in front of everyone in San Francisco, but yes it would be a significant accomplishment at this time. Historically, the queer movement has mostly been viewed through the lens of gay men and lesbians. Our trans family has often been left behind, many times because of our own oversight or ignorance. What is something that you’ve learned from or about the trans community in the last 5 years that you’d like to share with them now? I was very fortunate when I was on the board of Supervisors twenty years ago, to have met some folks who inspired me to create a Transgender Civil Rights Implementation Task Force, and I underscore the word implementation. Because the Human Rights Commision in SF had held some hearings on the needs and challenges of the trans community in the 90s and reported on the incredible challenges they faced in access to education, housing, employment and healthcare. It was a lovely profound report that was put on a shelf and nothing was done with it. We took it off the shelf and we had this task force review it and make a recommendation to my offices to what we should be attending to and the task force recommendation became the first ordinance of its kind anywhere in the country: equal access to the county’s health plan to what I think was 17 transgender employees out of a force of 28,000. It was an ordinance that impacted a few dozen people but since then really change the way that health policies are written. I don’t know that there is at this time any private health insurance policies that still have what was very common then: transgender exclusion, anything trans related will not be covered by this health plan. Because of our local ordinance that changed. So that was a very empowering experience to work with the community and to change the way health plans were written. So subsequently when I went to Sacramento I had the opportunity to author a bill 2003 that added gender identity to our Fair Employment Housing Act and got to work with the community again and was successful and that amendment made it illegal in CA to discriminate against gender identity, and that can impact anyone gender non-conforming. It’s been a real honor to work with the trans community. 1 6 T H E F IGH T S F | www.thefightmag.com
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY One of the largest losses of the current housing market is the ability for very young people to move here without needing to have an astronomically well paying job. What would you like to tell that 16 year old from a small town who dreams of moving here in a few years? It won’t be anything original but I’m reminded of Harvey’s comment of giving hope. That’s why I’m in this race, to address the interlocking challenges of homelessness and housing affordability and doing what I can with the legislature and hopes of being Mayor to put an end
“[WE NEED TO BE] BUILDING MORE AFFORDABLE, BELOW MARKETRATE HOUSING. ONLY 10 PERCENT OF SF CAN AFFORD TO BUY AND ONLY 16 PERCENT CAN AFFORD TO RENT MARKET RATE HOUSING. SO WHEN WE’RE TALKING ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING, WE’RE TALKING ABOUT ALL OF US.” to no-cause eviction. Step one is to keep those in a home in their home and to make sure that our rent control housing stock, which is our most valuable affordable housing stock because every unit we lose is irreplaceable. Step two is making sure we are building more affordable, below market-rate housing. Only 10 percent of SF can afford to buy and only 16 percent can afford to rent market rate housing. So when we’re talking about affordable housing, we’re talking about all of us. Have hope, do what you can to stay in school because it’s the most important key to future success.
We have tendency to look back at the “Golden Age,” “Things were better before…” What is something about San Francisco that is much better now than when you first moved here and what aspect of our present will be seen as a Golden Age for a future generation? We have clearly made a lot of progress since I arrived in 1977 which is the year Harvey was elected and then of course a year later the tragedy of his assassination along with Mayor Moscone. It was the 70s—I was a part of a massive wave of queer immigration so it was liberating, thrilling, empowering and invigorating. I was 25 at the time and then running right into the epidemic. We had to save ourselves and put in place lifesaving community-based organizations that came to support everyone going through the epidemic. We were getting virtually nothing from the federal government or the president at the time who didn’t recognize AIDS until 25,000 of us had died so it was a very maddening time and we had to rise to the occasion. So many decades later—we now have institutions that we built ourselves and sustain ourselves along with our allies. High points are the LGBT Center here in SF that did not exist. I had the privilege and opportunity to be an early board member and took on the task of raising the early money for it as chair of the capital campaign, so I value and treasure and am very protective of that Center. It’s too critically important to let it slip through our fingers. We can never take it for granted. Also the accomplishment of the organization called Open House—to build affordable housing for our seniors as we age. Our seniors face additional challenges, because of our inability to marry and create families, we’re just catching up—our community has so many needs. But—back to your previous question— I want to make sure that we make progress on issues of homelessness and housing affordability. I don’t want to look back 10-20 years from now and think “Oh those were the good days… we only had 3500 people living on our streets and our income and wealth disparity was only that bad.” We have a lot of work to do to make sure the status quo now is not something we ever look back upon as something good. We have a lot of progress to make.
.com
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THESPREAD Title: Mr. SF Eagle 2018 Age: 29 Hometown: Truckee, CA. Self identify as: Metalhead. Current and past occupations: Illustrator, performer, bartender. Childhood crush: Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein. Relationship status: Partnered. Pet peeve: Dishonesty. I hate it when your virgin sacrifice is impure. Hobbies: Drawing, eating, weightlifting, comics, horror films, tarot, medical marijuana. Your best and worst quality: My best quality is my legs and my worst quality is caring too much what other people think... of my legs. Something no one knows about you: I like pineapple on pizza. Contact info: Instagram @aspleepyreaper for art. @teddy_bryce if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re thirsty. Facebook.com/coltonsauce
2018 | THE F I GH T S F 19 MAY 2016
PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM
COLTON LONG
2018
Celebrating 35 YEARS of our remarkable festival and parade!
JUSSIE SMOLLETT
SHEILA E.
ANA BARBARA
AMARA LA NEGRA
DANILEIGH
BRANDON STANSELL
DJ LEZLEE
For tickets & info visit longbeachpride.com
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DJ IRENE
FESTIVAL
PARADE
TEEN PRIDE
MAIN STAGE FIESTA CALIENTE | URBAN SOUL | COUNTRY | DANCE LEATHER TENT | FAMILY FUN ZONE
TICKETS MORE INFO
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@ @ @ MAY 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 21
THESHARE >> BY TOM PARDOE <<
ROCK BOTTOM
We asked a few local clean and sober folks what “rock bottom” looked like to them and how it impacts their daily life today. TRACEY HELTON
EMOTIONAL SCARS
“I’ve often said that I don’t believe in ‘rock bottom.’ I believe there still could have been much worse, even in my case, where the bottom was very low. In my darkest days which extended into years, I was completely homeless, hooked on a variety of substances including heroin and meth. I would spend my time tweaking my brains out on a blanket or a piece of cardboard in between two shopping carts. I would be dopesick fishing for a vein, sometimes for hours, or talking to the shadow people. This was my existence. I ignored my health completely for many years. This resulted in 34 abscesses, Hep C, rotten teeth, and nerve damage to my feet. While now sober over twenty years, I have significant scarring on my extremities. My teeth have been redone. I cleared the Hep C virus. My overall physical well being is in a good place. I also deal with the emotional scars of knowing I traded my family, my future, and my soul for whatever I could fit into a syringe. I have repaired most my wreckage but there will always be the unanswered question of how I could have let myself get to such a state PETER MCQUAID before seeking help.” —Tracey Helton
GOING NOWHERE “My rock bottom was so mundane I almost missed it… I was 24, and living in New York. It was the early eighties and I was bored, with my job, my social life, and with being broke all the time. I was young, (relatively)
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healthy and living in the most exciting neighborhood (the East Village) in one of the most exciting cities in the world, and going nowhere, slowly. And all around me were extraordinary people creating extraordinary lives for themselves and doing extraordinary things, and I desperately wanted in. Something had to change. I made a list of things I could change about my situation and those I couldn’t. The only thing on that list I could change was my drug intake. Simple enough, right? Not for me, I had started drinking and smoking weed at 12, using chemicals and pills at 14, and graduated to hard drug use at 19. I had been high half my life. Changing was a huge amount of work. Today, with 33 years of abstinence from drugs and alcohol, when something isn’t working in my life, I still make lists. I call them inventories and they’re more detailed than that first one, but they’re invaluable at helping me get my head screwed back on, and for figuring out what to do (or not do). Ironically, the one thing I haven’t been since I got sober is bored. Not ever. Not even for a minute.” —Peter McQuaid
PERSONAL INTEGRITY “Rock bottom to me was not a single moment of time; instead, it was the culmination of a collection of very painful events in my life. It encompassed deep and agonizing isolation, multiple surgeries and hospitalizations as a direct result of my addiction, complete disconnection and a lack of any BILL spirituality, numerous D OR ERF WEATH financial and professional consequences, and most of all a loss of all personal integrity and dignity. Today, my life is centered around recovery and the principles of 12-step recovery. Most days, I exchange gratitude lists with around 15-20 friends. These lists keep me present and accountable to others—two things which were completely absent in my addiction. My life today is filled with genuine and loving friendships and true personal integrity which keeps me ‘showing up’ for others and being of service.” —Bill Weatherford
THEEPIDEMIC >> A NEW DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM <<
STUDY AUTHOR GIOVANNI TRAVERSO
ALTERNATIVE ADDICTION TREATMENT
ONCE A WEEK PILL
Replacing daily pills with a weekly regimen could help patients stick to their dosing schedule.
R
esearchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed a capsule that can deliver a week’s worth of HIV drugs in a single dose. This advancement could make it much easier for patients to adhere to the strict schedule of dosing required for the drug cocktails used to fight the virus, the researchers say. The new capsule is designed so that patients can take it just once a week, and the drug will release gradually throughout the week. This type of delivery system could not only improve patients’ adherence to their treatment schedule but also be used by people at risk of HIV exposure to help prevent them from becoming infected, the researchers say. “One of the main barriers to treating and preventing HIV is adherence,” says Giovanni Traverso, a research affiliate at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and a gastroenterologist and biomedical engineer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “The ability to make doses less frequent stands to improve adherence and make a significant impact at the patient level.” Traverso and Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT, are the senior authors of the study, which appears in a recent issue of Nature Communications. MIT postdoc Ameya Kirtane and visiting scholar Omar Abouzid are the lead authors of the paper. Scientists from Lyndra, a company that was launched to develop this technology, also contributed to the study. Lyndra is now working toward performing a clinical trial using this delivery system. “We are all very excited about how this new drug-delivery system can potentially help patients with HIV/AIDS, as well as many other diseases,” Langer says. n
ZEN RECOVERY PATH seamlessly weaves traditional Eastern Philosophy (martial arts/healing arts/ Chinese Medicine) and Western Philosophy (clinical addiction therapy, counseling, psychotherapy) into a cohesive pattern of healing that is unique to every student we serve. Human suffering comes in so many varieties. Thus, the methods we utilize reach back in time to ancient ways as well to the future for modern ways to live serenely. Through spiritual guidance, friendship, holistic methods, innovative clinical treatment interventions and transitional services, we guide both men and women of all ages, races, colors and creeds on their personalized path to recovery. IOP | PHP | MOST PPO INSURANCE ACCEPTED | PRIVATE
zenrecoverypath.com
Located in the coastal community of Costa Mesa, CA 92627 800.759.1930 MAY 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 23
ZEN_RECOVERY_AD_1/2.indd 1
11/17/17 9:31 PM
>> TAYLOR GREETHAL <<
FORGING NEW PATHS
Theatre director and producer Taylor Greenthal on how the Bay area promotes community-based art. BY RO XIE PERKIN S
T
aylor Greenthal, a queer Bay Area-raised director and producer, pulls on her experiences in multiple mediums to create interdisciplinary events that showcase LGBTQ artists and provide safe, intersectional spaces for the community. In an interview with THE FIGHT Greenthal talks about the vulnerability and closeness that’s required to make honest work, community-based art and finding your voice. The relationship between the queer community and theater community has always been prevalent. Why do you think so many queer kids get into theater? Theater was invaluable in my journey as a queer artist and person not only because of the work I was making but because of the other people I was meeting. I’ve met some of the most caring, passionate, and fearless people in the theater world. I think there’s something about the collaborative nature of theater—the vulnerability and closeness that’s required to make honest work—that inevitably leads to a community, a built-in family. I think queer kids are drawn to that creative, supportive energy. And in a world that is not always so kind to outsiders, there’s something incredibly alluring about creating a new world and escaping this one for a few hours every day. Plus all the glitter doesn’t hurt either.
“WHILE THE THEATER SCENE HAS CERTAINLY CHANGED AS THE BAY HAS DEVELOPED AND GENTRIFIED, THERE’S A SOUL THAT IS STILL INTACT AND I PRAY NEVER DIES.” such a community-oriented place. We care about our history, our neighbors, our environment. It’s certainly not perfect, but there’s a mindfulness that makes art, especially community-based art, flourish. While the theater scene has certainly changed as the Bay has developed and gentrified, there’s a soul that is still intact and I pray never dies. What are some of your favorite theaters in the Bay that speak to the queer community? Crowded Fire Theatre, Shotgun Players, Theatre Rhinoceros, Campo Santo, Magic Theatre, Beach Blanket Babylon, San Francisco Mime Troupe, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Oasis… there’s a lot. What brought you to theater? I was really lucky to find the Berkeley Repertory School of Theater as a teenager. It was the first place that not only provided an outlet for my creative endeavors, but also treated me as a valued individual with a perspective that mattered. The school’s Teen Council, pioneered by my mentor and idol, Rachel Fink, gave me the space to find my voice as both an artist and a person.
Directing is a profession notoriously overrun by hetero, cis, white men. As a queer woman of color what has your experience of being a director been like? It is hard to have so few models to follow. Most of my mentors throughout high school and college were straight, white, cis men (not to mention most directing curricula is written by that demographic as well), and while I’m so grateful for everything I learned from these people, I often feel like I am forging a completely new path. I am so inspired by the queer, femme, non-dude leaders in the theater world because I know they’ve had to make it up as they go along, too. I find a lot of strength in watching their determination and successes.
What advice would you give to other femme people that want to direct but might not think it’s a career available to them? Whenever I feel like there is no place for me, it only makes me realize how important it is that I keep going. I want to do the work so that one day, other femmes won’t feel so left out. Our stories matter and deserve to be told.
What do you think makes the Bay Area theater scene unique? I owe so much of who I am to the Bay Area scene. I think it’s special because the Bay is
More of Taylor’s work can be seen on her instagram: @kungpao_kitty.
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>> ROBERT PÁEZ <<
“ACCEPTING OURSELVES AND RESPECTING OURSELVES ARE BIG FIRST STEPS. LIFE IS TOO BEAUTIFUL TO BE HIDDEN IN A CLOSET.”
MY TRUTH FOREVER
Olympic Diver Robert Páez: “It was up to me whether I lived in happiness, or sank and lived in a lie that never would be.”
R
obert Páez, 23, a professional diver from Venezuela, who represented his country in the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, came out publicly last month in a moving op-ed at outsports.com. “I’ve been in sports since I was 7 years old. Growing up in Venezuela, I knew from a very young age that I was different, despite not knowing what exactly that meant,” wrote Páez. “It’s a difficult road, to know at a young age that we feel something that makes us
believe we are not ‘right’ in the eyes of society. Yet the truth is that if I was born that way, it was because God created me and he wanted it that way. When I finally came to believe that, that’s when I understood that I should accept with pride and courage what others called ‘mariconería.’” “I understood that this was and would be my truth forever, and my own self-acceptance was only in my hands,” wrote Páez. “It was up to me whether I lived in happiness, or sank and lived in a lie that never would be.” “Accepting ourselves and respecting ourselves are big first steps. Life is too beautiful to be hidden in a closet,” writes Páez. Read the full op-ed at outsports.com. MAY 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 25
THEART >>
LGBTQ ARTISTS
<<
JUSTIN HALL
T
he creator of the comics series Hard to Swallow (with Dave Davenport), True Travel Tales, and Glamazonia, Justin Hallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work also appears in the Houghton Mifflin Best American Comics, Best Erotic Comics, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Hall is the editor of No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics, which won a Lambda Literary Award, received an Eisner Award nomination, and is now being made into a documentary film. He is an Associate Professor of Comics at the California College of the Arts and a Fulbright Scholar. n Contact info: Twitter: @justincomics web: www.cca.edu/academics/faculty/jhall film: nostraightlinesthefilm.com/
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>> GERARD KOSKOVIC <<
small museum opening in the Castro in 2011. The GLBT Historical Society is now prepared to go even further. They plan on opening a full-scale museum which will allow for expanded exhibitions and programs that will both increase understanding of our community and advance social justice.
FACETS OF SAN FRANCISCO QUEER LIFE FROM THE GOLD RUSH TO TODAY. PHOTO MONTAGE COURTESY OF THE GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
DOCUMENT, PRESERVE & SHARE
The GLBT Historical Society’s Gerard Koskovic: “Our elders need to know that their long lives of work and love and struggle will be honored and remembered.” BY RYA N PA G E
O
ur Queer history has often times been lost on us. We might be able to piece together some aspects but most of us have grown up in environments that largely ignored or scorned our humanity. For these reasons and more—the importance of adequately documenting LGBT history cannot be understated. At the GLBT Historical Society, Communications Director Gerard Koskovich helps to do just that. “Our young people need to know that they’re GERARD carrying on a living heritage, that they have a KOSKOVICH place in the flow of time from past to future,” says Koskovich in an interview with THE FIGHT. “Our elders need to know that their long lives of work and love and struggle will be honored and remembered. And our society needs to know that LGBTQ people have always been a part of the greater whole that make up our families, our cities, our countries and our world.” Founded in 1985, the GLBT Historical Society seeks to document, preserve, and share the stories of LGBTQ people. Over the past three decades this educational non-profit organization has gained international notoriety culminating with a
SUSTAIN THE HERITAGE Our LGBTQ neighborhoods have served as places to find love, organize, party, mourn, and thrive. It is no secret that many Queer blocks have been transformed over time so it is important that we document that history and also preserve what we can. One of the exciting developments in San Francisco are all the potential Cultural District ideas popping up. There already is a new Transgender Historical District in the Tenderloin and LGBTQ Historical Districts may be coming to SOMA and the Castro too. “LGBTQ cultural districts mobilize resources from the city, foundations, organizations, and residents to sustain the heritage of our queer neighborhoods,” says Koskovich. “Such districts don’t just look to preserve LGBTQ historic sites. They also provide direct support to sustain living expressions of LGBTQ community such as legacy businesses, arts and culture nonprofits, local festivals, and celebrations. In addition, such districts offer one more tool for addressing the economic issues that often drive displacement.” OUR QUEER SPACES LGBTQ Historical Districts offer us an opportunity to help offset the displacement of our community and keep LGBTQ establishments open. The Castro and SOMA are definitely becoming less Queer. We need only look at Polk Street, the Mission, the Haight, and the Tenderloin to recognize that many LGBT enclaves are no longer with us. There is considerable debate in our community and beyond as to whether or not the increased acceptance of LGBTQ people means our LGBTQ neighborhoods will continue to fade. We should be heartened by the fact that so many people have come around but we must also fight to maintain our Queer spaces and blocks for they provide our community with important resources, connections, and voting power. The GLBT Historical Society is located at 4127 18th Street in the Castro. For more information visit: www.glbthistory.org. MAY 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 27
THEEVENT >> PHOTOS BY SHOT IN THE CITY PHOTOGRAPHY <<
DESPERATE
LIVING AT THE STUD
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April’s edition of Desperate Living took place last month at The STUD. Hosted by: LOL McFiercen (Kevin Seaman). Performances by: Venus Soleil, GOD’S LIL PRINCESS (Clark Alexander), Mary Vice. Live Set by Muñecas, FILTHY WILD GOGO’S HOLLOW EVE (Caitlin Crandall) & ICON AND LEGEND U-Phoria. Guest DJ: Tamale Ringwald (MUÑECAS). And a special guest DJ set by John Cameron Mitchell.
>> PHOTOS BY SHOT IN THE CITY PHOTOGRAPHY <<
MAY 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 29
THEEVENT >> PHOTOS BY GOOCH <<
SACRED
JESTERS AND WISE FOOLS
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San Francisco’s Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence continues its
tradition of community building through irreverent fun with the annual Easter celebration, this year themed “Sacred Jesters and Wise Fools” to mark the coincidence of April Fool’s Day and Easter Sunday which took place on April 1 at Golden Gate Park. This year included the now world-famous Hunky Jesus Contest, hosted by Sister Roma and Sister Dana. The winner— Puerto Rican RefuJesus who recently escaped the hurricane—performed a sexy trip tease and then began pelting the crowd with rolls of paper towels. For more about the Sisters visit: www.thesisters.org
>> PHOTOS BY GOOCH <<
MAY 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 31
THECALENDAR >> THINGS TO DO << WEDNESDAY, MAY 2
SUNDAY, MAY 13
GLBT HISTORY MUSEUM FREE FIRST WEDNESDAYS
HOT ROD!
Powerhouse Bar,1347 Folsom Street, San Francisco, California 94103. 8pm-2am. Hosted by LADY BEAR with DIRTY KNEES. A Queer Rock-nRoll Hangout. Every 2nd Sunday at the Powerhouse.
The GLBT Historical Society, 4127 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94114. The GLBT Historical Society collects, preserves, exhibits and makes accessible to the public materials and knowledge to support and promote understanding of LGBTQ history, culture and arts. First Wednesday of Every Month: Free for all visitors.
TOM GOSS. PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM. SATURDAY, MAY 19 SEE SATURDAY, TOM GOSS MAY 19. The Hotel Rex, 562 Sutter St,
San Francisco, CA. 7pm. Tom Goss returns to San Francisco with a brandnew show that traces his strange journey from college wrestler to Catholic seminarian to one of the country’s most beloved gay singersongwriters.
THURSDAY, MAY 3
EXTRA! EXTRA!
The Stud, 399 9th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. 7pm. A political drag night as weird as the news. FREE. A game as ruthless of politics Real news that’s really real.
OAKLASH
FRIDAY, MAY 4
BEAR TRAP
Lone Star Saloon, 1354 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. 9pm-2am. Come and celebrate their 1st birthday! Three amazing DJs to keep your ass shaking all night.
STANK
Powerhouse Bar, 1347 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. 10pm-2am. Leon Fox & Powerhouse presents: STANK. RIPE PIT Contest, Shirts-off specials! Sweaty Go-Gos. Every first FRIDAY at the Powerhouse. $5 Cover.
PASSAGES SPRING CONCERT | LESBIAN/GAY CHORUS OF SAN FRANCISCO
Saint Ignatius Church, 650 Parker Ave, San Francisco, CA 94118. 8pm. A one-night-only musical exploration of different stages of life featuring a massed choir performance. SATURDAY, MAY 5
PEACHES CHRIST‘S “STEEL DRAGNOLIAS“ W/ ALASKA, COCO PERU, & OTHERS
The Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St, San Francisco, CA. 3pm-10pm. An unforgiving, Southern fried parody of the stage & screen classic “Steel Magnolias.” Starring the inimitable hair, nails and talents of SIX(!) of the country’s greatest Queens. Followed by a screening of the 1989 classic film “Steel Magnolias.”
SUCIA: LA REVOLUCIÓN
El Rio, 3158 Mission St., San
Francisco, CA. 2pm-8pm. Tickets: https://sucialarevolucion.eventbrite. com. A Queer Dance Pary.
THE ANNUAL CINCO DE MEOW
PARTICIPATION!
The Cinch Saloon, 1723 Polk St. San Francisco, CA. 4pm-7pm. Emperor 32 After Norton Fernando’s Annual Cinco De Meow Fundraiser benefiting the Brotherhood of Emperors San Francisco. Open Show, Raffle, Grab Bags, The Crowning of the new Chico and Chika Chulo 2018. Hosted by Absolute Empress 49 China Silk.
The Center SF, 548 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA. 11am-10pm. An all-day, queer-centered educational, artistic, and social urban retreat. Queer-focused play-shops in the daytime: think cerebral, social, historic, community building, sexual, physical, artistic, and more. With options to chill, create, and play all day ending with a delicious community dinner theatre.
SUNDAY, MAY 6
MONDAY, MAY 7
AGE, SURVIVE, AND THRIVE WITH HIV/AIDS ART EXHIBITION
MY MIND IS A DANGEROUS NEIGHBORHOOD
Castro Street Art SavesLives Studio and Gallery, 518 Castro St, San Francisco, CA. 1pm-5pm. A remarkable exhibit showcasing drawings and poems by longterm survivors of HIV/AIDS, will open with a reception then Poetry Performance starts promptly 2pm-4pm.
ANTHEM | GOLDEN GATE MEN’S CHORUS
Mission Dolores Basilica, 3321 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. 8pm. Their spring program, with guests The San Francisco Boy’s Chorus. SUNDAY, MAY 6
QUEERICULUM: CALL FOR
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Oasis, 298 11th St, San Francisco, CA. 8pm. Bob The Drag Queen explores her sanity in this lip synch cabaret extravaganza. Thru July 16, 2018. SATURDAY, MAY 12
CARNIVAL IN THE CITY
Club BNB—Bench and Bar, 2120 Broadway, Oakland, CA. 5pm-9pm. Your Hostesses Absolute Empress 2, Lady Carla & Absolute Empress 28, Jessica Avalon are bringing to you “Carnival in the City.” Enter to win the Mr. & Ms. Carnival Contest. Special Group Performances and Brazilian Dance Team. Food, Costumes, and a Silent Auction. Benefiting local charities.
Classic Cars West, 411 26th St, Oakland. 4pm10pm. oaklash. com. The first ever festival of Bay Area drag and queer performance. This one day festival will feature six hours of nonstop DRAG including live performance, local vendors, DJs, and more! MONDAY, MAY 21
THE PREPARED RENTER
SF LGBT Center, 1800 Market Street, San Francisco CA 94102. 6:30 pm 8:30 pm. Covering what affordable rental options are available in the city, what it takes to qualify for these opportunities, and how to apply. WEDNESDAY, MAY 30
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL Info: www.sfiaf.org. The 2018 Festival is dedicated to 50 years of Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy. This year 40 artists from the Bay Area and 7 other countries will share their work on the Festival’s stages. Thru June 3. THURSDAY, MAY 31
QUEERING MY LOBSTER
Piano Fight,144 Taylor St, San Francisco, CA. 8pm. Straight people getting you down? Bored with the binary? Come see our gay agenda, live on stage! It’s Killing My Lobster, now with more pride. Thru June 9.
MAY 2018 | THE F I GH T S F 33
THEFINALFIGHT >>
NO JUSTICE FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN MURDERED IN CHECHNYA
<<
PRISONERS WERE HELD IN APPALLING CONDITIONS: STARVED, HUMILIATED, BEATEN AND SUBJECTED TO EXTREME TORTURE. SOME WHO WERE ROUNDED UP DID NOT GET OUT ALIVE.
ZELIM BAKAEV
NEVER AGAIN (AGAIN) Over a year later—and still no justice for gay and bisexual men murdered in Chechnya. B Y MATT BEA RD , EXECU TIVE D IRECTO R, ALLOUT. ORG
O
ne year ago last month, news broke of a wave of terrifying, state-sponsored violence in Chechnya against men perceived to be gay or bisexual. In scenes that would not have been out of place in Nazi Germany, innocent men were rounded up and removed to illegal detention centers. Men like Maxim Lapunov, who spent 12 days in a KADYROV PUTIN blood-soaked cell just because he is gay, but who today is bravely speaking out for justice. Men like the pop singer Zelim Bakaev, who disappeared last August during the round-ups and has not been seen since. Prisoners were held in appalling conditions: starved, humiliated, beaten and subjected to extreme torture. Some who were rounded up did not get out alive. The authorities also outed many of the men to their families, directly inciting relatives to carry out honor killings
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against their sons, brothers and fathers. Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, has both denied the existence of LGBT people in his country and said that gay people should move to Canada “to purify our blood”. But it is Vladimir Putin and the Russian government who have the final say on what happens in Chechnya. Russia has failed to conduct any meaningful investigations into the appalling abuses that took place. Nobody has been brought to justice. This is unacceptable. On Saturday, April 7, All Out, its members and partners came together outside the Russian embassy in London and in cities around the world to honor our gay and bisexual brothers murdered in Chechnya. We stand in solidarity with men like Maxim who survived the torture camps. We will make sure the world does not forget about what happened in Chechnya. We will tell the Russian government “we are watching you.” We won’t rest until we get justice for Maxim, for Zelim and for the dozens of other men who were tortured and murdered in Chechnya. n Ed. Note: In related news—Belgium said last month it has given humanitarian visas to five gay men from Chechnya who face persecution for their sexual orientation in their native region in Russia’s North Caucasus. Belgian State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Theo Francken added that more humanitarian visas may be issued to LGBT people from Chechnya in the future. Help save LGBTQ lives. Go to: www.rainbowrailroad.com.
Hookups =
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