May 24, 2012 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

6

Campaign courts LGBT tourists

Venture Out with Kidlandia

ARTS

4

21

'Phantoms of Asia'

The

www.ebar.com

Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971

Vol. 42 • No. 21 • May 24-30, 2012

Obama campaign launches LGBT outreach

The duo Karmin will headline this year’s Pride festival.

by Matthew S. Bajko

P

resident Barack Obama’s re-election campaign launched its efforts to reach LGBT voters Wednesday, two weeks ahead of a major Los Angeles fundraiser targeted at gay donors that will kick off Pride Month.

Dubbed Obama Pride: LGBT Americans for Obama, the committee is launching with trainings, Rudy Lawidjaja phone banks, and house parties in a President number of states, Barack Obama including PennsylSee page 17 >>

Rick Gerharter

New plaque for Milk S

tuart Milk, the gay nephew of Harvey Milk, admired the replacement plaque honoring his late uncle in Harvey Milk Plaza on Castro Street. The plaque was dedicated during a small community celebration Saturday, May 19 that kicked off Har-

vey Milk Day observances in the city. The previous plaque was stolen several months and ago and has not been found. Harvey Milk would have turned 82 on May 22; he was assassinated along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone in 1978.

State Senate (San Francisco) Dist. 11: Mark Leno

Dist. 3: John Garamendi Dist. 5: Mike Thompson Dist. 11: George Miller Dist. 12: Nancy Pelosi Dist. 13: Barbara Lee Dist. 14: Jackie Speier Dist. 17: Mike Honda Dist. 18: Anna Eshoo Dist. 19: Zoe Lofgren

State Assembly (San Francisco) Dist. 17: Tom Ammiano Dist. 19: Phil Ting

Judges Alameda County Superior Court Seat 9: Tara Flanagan

State Senate (East Bay) Dist. 9: Loni Hancock

South Bay San Jose City Council Dist. 6: Steve Kline

State Assembly (Regional) Dist. 15: Nancy Skinner Dist. 18: Abel Guillen Dist. 24: Rich Gordon

SAN FRANCISCO PROPS Vote NO on A, B

U.S. Senate Dianne Feinstein

Congress (Bay Area) Dist. 2: Jared Huffman

CALIFORNIA PROPOSITIONS Vote YES on 28, 29

SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY CENTRAL COMMITTEES Democratic – District 17 David Campos, David Chiu, Matt Dorsey, Bevan Dufty, Zoe Dunning, Gabriel Robert Haaland, Leslie Katz, Rafael Mandelman, Hydra Mendoza, Carole Migden, Justin Morgan, Joaquin Torres, Christopher Vasquez, Scott Wiener Democratic – District 19 Kat Anderson, Kevin Bard, Kelly Dwyer, Tom Hsieh, Mary Jung, Susan (Siki) Kott, Meagan Levitan, Arlo Smith, Jim Weixel, Jason Wong Republican – District 17 Jason Clark Remember to vote on June 5!

by Seth Hemmelgarn

T

he band Karmin, known for songs like “Brokenhearted,” will be the headlining act Sunday, June 24 on the main stage at San Francisco Pride.

Getting Karmin to perform this year is a “big deal,” said Audrey Joseph, who booked performers for the stage.

See page 17 >>

Bridge guide Katy Olds described the bold and adventurous people who planned, designed, and built the Golden Gate Bridge during a recent tour of the landmark. Guided tours are part of the new “Visitor Experience” at the bridge, which also includes new souvenirs, an orientation center, and a “Photo Experience.”

B.A.R. election endorsements DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY President Barack Obama

Karmin’s coming to SF Pride

LGBTs ❤ the Golden Gate Bridge

by Matthew S. Bajko

T

he Bay Area’s LGBT community has been enthralled with the Golden Gate Bridge since its Art Deco towers debuted on the ocean’s edge 75 years ago.

The reasons why it has struck such a chord with LGBT people abound. Many point to the

{ FIRST OF TWO SECTIONS }

Rick Gerharter

suspension bridge’s International orange color and sublime design.

“I was seduced by the majesty of that bridge,” said gay state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), who served on the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District board for more than a decade. (The Bay See page 16 >>

<< Community News

2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

▼

Jane Philomen Cleland

A solemn AIDS vigil M

ike Shriver addressed a small group of people at the May 20 AIDS Candlelight Vigil that took place at Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro. The group later marched to the Harvey Milk branch of the public library. The vigil was organized by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

NAACP supports marriage equality

by Lisa Keen

S

aying that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has “always stood against laws that demean, dehumanize, and discriminate against people,” NAACP board Chairman Roslyn Brock formally announced Monday the board’s vote in favor of a resolution supporting marriage equality.

Joining Brock at a May 21 news conference at the group’s headquarters in Baltimore, NAACP President Ben Jealous noted that this is the first time the organization has taken a position on same-sex marriage generally, and not in the context of opposing a specific law or ballot measure, such as Proposition 8. The California chapter of the NAACP has been on record for marriage equality since 2005, when it supported the same-sex marriage bill by then-Assemblyman Mark Leno (DSan Francisco) that was ultimately vetoed by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

LGBT groups were understandably excited to hear the news because the announcement can be considered a major advancement in the general population’s support for marriage equality. Anti-gay activists have tried hard for years to drive a wedge between the black and gay movements for civil rights, and many polls have shown African Americans generally have shown less support for allowing gay couples to marry.

“We could not be more pleased with the NAACP’s history-making vote today,” said outgoing Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “It’s time the shameful myth that the African American community is somehow out of lockstep with the rest of the country on marriage equality is retired, once and for all.”

HRC recently released copies of internal memos it discovered from court documents, illustrating that the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage was deliberately trying to organize African American opposition to same-sex marriage.

Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called the NAACP board vote

Courtesy NAACP

NAACP President and CEO Ben Jealous

“a truly historic moment,” adding that NGLTF “couldn’t be more thrilled.”

Carey said her group is not surprised by the vote. Jealous had delivered a keynote address to NGLTF’s national conference this year, reminding attendees that famed civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who was gay, helped plan the historic 1963 civil rights march on Washington.

In his keynote, Jealous told the audience at NGLTF’s annual Creating Change conference, held in January in Baltimore, of a close friend he had since the age of 4. The friend has been like a brother to him.

Jealous shared how he and his friend – the only other black child his age in his Carmel, California, neighborhood – stuck together when being discriminated against because they were black. And Jealous also stood together with his friend when he was being bullied because he was gay.

Brendalyn Goodall, president of the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club, said in an email that she was “deeply touched” by the NAACP’s action.

“But just as the NAACP helped win legal and public acceptance of black Americans, today they are helping win acceptance of another part of who I am,” Goodall said. “It seems to me like a natural evolution, for a group of Freedom Fighters that keep on keeping on, and know ... that marriage equality is indeed a civil right as well.”

The NAACP announcement comes just 10 days after President

Barack Obama made headlines by affirming that he believes same-sex couples should be allowed to marry – a statement he has been reluctant to make since running for the White House.

The board of the 103-year-old civil rights organization passed a resolution stating: “The NAACP Constitution affirmatively states our objective to ensure the ‘political, educational, social, and economic equality’ of all people. Therefore, the NAACP has opposed and will continue to oppose any national, state, local policy or legislative initiative that seeks to codify discrimination or hatred into the law or to remove the Constitutional rights of LGBT citizens. We support marriage equality consistent with equal protection under the law provided under the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution. Further, we strongly affirm the religious freedoms of all people as protected by the First Amendment.”

In releasing the statement, Brock said that the NAACP’s mission “has always been to ensure the political, social and economic equality of all people.” And she promised the NAACP would “oppose efforts to codify discrimination into law.”

The New York Times reported that its sources indicated only two board members failed to support the resolution. The board includes 69 people.

The organization’s press release about the board’s vote explained that its support for marriage equality was “deeply rooted” in the constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the law. At Monday’s news conference, Jealous said the NAACP would “firmly oppose all efforts to restrict marriage equality,” including attempts to amend budgetary bills in Congress with language intended to exclude gay couples.

Asked whether he was concerned there might be a backlash against the NAACP by black churches, Jealous gave an emphatic response. He said some clergy might feel differently than the board, but that the NAACP does this work “because of our faith, not despite it.”

“This will not,” he said, “be used as a wedge issue in our own community.”▼

Read more online at www.ebar.com

May 24-30, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 3

4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

<< Travel

▼ SF revamps LGBT travel pitch

by Matthew S. Bajko

F

ive years after launching its first targeted campaign at LGBT tourists, San Francisco is revamping its pitch and urging them to “come out to SF. Waaaaay out.”

The new advertising slogan will appear in advertisements in major cities along the West Coast. The campaign also touts more than just the city’s gay Castro district as a reason why LGBT travelers should visit.

“San Francisco’s gay district is called ‘San Francisco,’” claim the ads, which are running in Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, and Portland.

The new $500,000 12-month campaign will also be targeted at Phoenix residents.

The campaign is built around attracting new LGBT visitors and giving those people that have been to San Francisco a reason to come back. It is aimed at showcasing new stores and restaurants that have opened in the Castro as well as in other neighborhoods.

“With these campaigns we want to remind people to come to San Francisco outside of big event weekends. Something new and amazing can happen on any day or weekend,” said Lynn Bruni, director of consumer marketing at the city’s convention and visitors bureau, which changed its name last summer to San Francisco Travel.

In 2007 the city’s LGBT tourism advertising debuted under the tagline “Only in San Francisco” and featured same-sex couples enjoying San Francisco sights.

The new tagline is “49 Hours of SF: Out and About.” One print ad depicts a young man at an overlook photographing the Golden Gate Bridge off in the distance.

Banner ads online also highlight the bridge, which is turning 75 this year, and depict the gay section of Dolores Park.

Visitors who go to the website www.sanfrancisco.travel/lgbt will find six different itineraries that highlight places not just in the Castro but locations in the Mission, Marina, Hayes Valley, and South of Market.

“LGBT travelers are not exclusively interested in the Castro. The Mission is very high on people’s interest list,” said Joe D’Alessandro, a gay man who is president and CEO of SF Travel.

The sextet of itineraries listed on the website are meant to feed certain interests. Groupings include suggestions for “the fabulous foodie,” “the fashionista,” or “the hardbody.”

It ties in to the larger “SF in 49 hours” campaign SF Travel launched last summer in conjunction with its name change. It is meant to suggest the city is so chock-o-block with sights to see that visitors need an extra hour than the normal 48-hour weekend to experience it all.

“We went through a major rebranding last year of everything we do. We didn’t rebrand our

Courtesy SF Travel

One of the ads San Francisco Travel has developed to lure LGBT visitors from along the West Coast to the city.

LGBT campaign at that point,” said D’Alessandro. “It is time to launch the LGBT campaign set to the new tone and new brand.”

With tourists making up a significant percentage of business at Castro stores and restaurants, at some places accounting for 50 percent or more of sales, business leaders in the city’s gayborhood are increasingly focused on drawing in more visitors. For the second year in a row they are organizing an event for hotel concierges to show off the neighborhood and continue to produce a guide map distributed at various hotels around the city.

Richard Shiu with pet supply store Best in Show said having SF Travel market the city and the Castro to LGBT visitors is critical for the bottom line of many merchants.

“I think it can only help us,” said Shiu, who is helping to organize the concierge visit June 5. “I wish we could do more.”

The new ad campaign also has several social media components to it. Visitors can use the website to create their own itineraries that they can then share via Twitter or Facebook.

SF Travel has also teamed up with GayCities, a presenting sponsor of the new campaign, to roll out a competition in the month of June.

The social media check-in challenge is being called “49 Places That Make Us Proud.”

Tourists and locals can check-in on GayCities, Facebook, or Foursquare to a list of 49 places spread throughout the city for a chance to win prizes, including a trip back to San Francisco. (The prize can be used to have a friend visit if won by a city resident.)

Scott Gatz, the founder and CEO of GayCities, said the citywide promotion is a first for his company. It is modeled after a check-in competition it did at the 2010 Castro Street Fair.

“With this it is really about getting people to experience all of San Francisco,” said Gatz. “If you check in at all 49 places you will have an amazing overview of the city.”

Despite the claims made by some national gay publications that San Francisco’s cachet as one of the country’s “gayest cities” is waning, surveys of LGBT travelers tell otherwise. This year San Francisco rated as being the best Pride city in a GayCities survey.

“San Francisco is always at the top,” Gatz said. “People love San Francisco.”

In 2010 SF Travel for the first time asked about sexual orientation in a hotel visitor survey it conducted.

Based on the results, the agency estimates that 5 percent of travelers to

Rick Gerharter

Joe D’Alessandro, president and CEO of SF Travel

San Francisco are LGBT. Last year the number of visitors to the city was up 3.5 percent for a total of about 18 million people.

But the city routinely competes with New York City and Las Vegas as the number one vacation destination for LGBT travelers. And it continues to face increased competition to attract LGBT visitors.

New York state is promoting itself as the place for same-sex couples looking to wed now that marriage equality is legal there.

Santa Fe, New Mexico launched its own effort to attract LGBT visitors this year. The southwest city’s tourism bureau has been touting that its “extensive gay and lesbian population is in every part of the city, throughout every business district, and fully integrated into Santa Fe life.”

It was seeing destinations like Philadelphia, Boston, and Miami spend money on LGBT-focused advertising that led gay business leaders in San Francisco to press the city’s tourism boosters to follow suit. After years of assuming the country’s “gay mecca” could take LGBT tourists for granted, the visitors bureau realized its lack of an LGBT campaign was taking a toll.

“We were losing market share to other destinations that were marketing directly to the community and San Francisco wasn’t,” said Bruni.

SF Travel is still hampered in what it can afford to do as its advertising budget is limited. Rather than do a one-time ad buy nationally, it is using its limited resources to focus solely on the West Coast.

“It allows us to target the LGBT community in places we know we get feeder markets for San Francisco,” said Bruni.▼ See related story, page 16.

Read more online at www.ebar.com

May 24-30, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

<< Business News

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

▼

A world of play is online at Kidlandia

by David Duran [Editor’s note: The following column is the first of what will be a monthly series highlighting a successful business within the LGBT community that has

had some involvement with the StartOut organization. StartOut strives to educate, inspire and support entrepreneurs. It fosters LGBT leadership in the business community through various methods including social programming opportunities, providing role models, connecting mentors, and promoting equality.]

B

rian Backus, president and CEO of www.Kidlandia.com had a very interesting childhood. Growing up, his aunt lived next door to Theodor Seuss Geisel, widely known as children’s book author Dr. Seuss. He was fortunate to have spent Sunday evenings with the author on a regular basis. This served as a huge inspiration throughout his life and with his business. Backus, who went on to become a biologist and studied evolutionary theory, later went to film school. The mixture of science and arts was something that always appealed to him. As a child,

having lived in northern Nigeria, he was always obsessed with maps and would draw what he referred to as “little monsters.”

His next stop was children’s digital media producer for Disney Interactive. His move to San Francisco in 1999 sparked him to indulge in his inner creative side and take art classes. That led him to create fantasy maps for children. The maps were completely personalized for each child and would become the inspiration for Kidlandia.

“This was the child’s family tree, represented as home decor,” said Backus. “The maps served as a fantasy kingdom where it flips the hierarchy and the child is actually the ‘king’ or ‘queen’ of their kingdom, but in a completely safe environment because they are surrounded by loved ones.”

Demand for his maps were more than he could keep up with because parents were excited and now had a context to bring a child in to the world of family history.

After his friends in Silicon Valley convinced him to develop his ideas into a software format, Backus’s idea really took shape.

Kidlandia launched in 2009.

“We built a platform around it and began to sell personalized goods and we always knew when kids got a hold of our software, they would just play, and play and play,” he said.

Backus, 47, came out while in college. He is single and raising fraternal twin boys, who are 7.

Backus has developed his business so that it can sell personalized products through places like Wal-Mart and Walgreens online.

Kidlandia also works with licensees such as Disney, Nickeldeon, and Pottery Barn since the concept is brand diagnostic. It works with any character and can be formatted to comfortably sell in any market.

By modeling their platform with his own characters, “it was easy to demonstrate to other potential partners how this could work for

David Duran

Kidlandia President and CEO Brian Backus shows off some of the company’s “kreechurs” that can be purchased online.

their own brand and character association, and really engage a child in the ‘story of you’ and do it with their brand,” said Backus.

The shopping portion of the website has been live since 2010 but the interactive game portion is in open beta, meaning it’s live and Kidlandia gets feedback. Backus expects the game to be out of beta in July. The website is now virtually a digital theme park.

It is chock full of educational games and others that are purely fun. A child can go on the site and personalize his or her own world.

With parental permission, a child can interact with online friends and their created worlds. Parental controls are extremely high on the site and parents can grant permission and also block access to certain features. Currently Kidlandia is made up of 12 full-time employees in San Francisco – five engineers, three to four artists/animators, and productand business-related personnel.

The company is a private, venture-backed C corporation. Backus raised capital first from “angels,” then from three venture firms, two

locally and one in Los Angeles. Its financial information is confidential.

“It took about four months to raise each round,” he said of the funding.

Kidlandia’s board consists of two investors, Backus, and two “observers,” he added.

StartOut has been a great support for Backus and Kidlandia from every aspect.

“From business development to funding to having a social network of like-minded people that provide support,” said Backus, noting he met his first angel investor at a Start Out event. “And they provide each other mentorship and each person has a different form of expertise. It’s a really incredible group of people.”

When asked about the importance of the LGBT aspect of Start Out, Backus said, the truth about Silicon Valley is that it’s an “old boy’s” network.”

“It’s not homophobic, but we don’t all play golf together,” he said.

“Having a group that is like you and like-minded is helpful. It’s important for our community to have a professional network.”

He also had some advice for would-be entrepreneurs.

“It’s very simple,” said Backus.

“Go to a StartOut event. There are people who just started companies, people who are starting their third or fourth company, people who have had very successful companies and are there because they want to support other people.”

Start-ups are all about obstacles, said Backus.

“The trick to surviving a startup is realizing that you are going to have great triumphs and great setbacks,” he said. “You can be lifted into the clouds with just a single event and tossed to the ground by a single event and you cannot let it affect your sense of well-being.

“No one really knows what they are doing when it comes to their first start-up, and the trick is taking action and doing it,” said Backus.

“To paraphrase, the secret to success is to fail quickly, often, and without a loss of enthusiasm.” ▼ For more information about Start Out, visit www.startout.org.

Burglars break into Lyon-Martin

by Seth Hemmelgarn

S

an Francisco police are investigating a recent break-in at LyonMartin Health Services, the clinic at 1748 Market Street that provides services to women and transgender patients.

According to a San Francisco Police Department synopsis, officers went to the clinic on Tuesday, May 15, the day of the incident.

“The office was secure when the employees left the night before,” police stated. “A stereo system, a coin jar, and prescription pads were stolen.”

The suspect or suspects fled the scene.

“We think that they got in off the fire escape,” Dr. Dawn Harbatkin, the clinic’s executive director and interim medical director, said in response to emailed questions.

However, she also said the front door to the building, which also houses other businesses, possibly hadn’t been latched securely.

Harbatkin said whoever committed the burglary turned off the building’s electricity at a fuse box, apparently thinking that would shut off the alarm system.

They “broke the glass window next to the door off of our fire escape entry and then opened our

Courtesy Dawn Harbatkin

Lyon-Martin Executive Director Dr. Dawn Harbatkin took this cell phone photo that shows her ransacked office after the agency was burglarized last week.

fire escape door – which set off the alarm” at 4:45 a.m., Harbatkin said.

“The alarm company sent the police, who found the front door secure and left,” she said.

The total value of the stolen items was $200, Harbatkin estimated.

“We are unsure if the two prescription pads were actually taken, but the controlled substance prescription pads were not taken,” she

said. “The place was a mess because they threw stuff around looking for easy valuables.” No medications or computers were taken, and the cash drawer remained locked, Harbatkin said.

She added that the staff had done “an excellent job of appropriately locking up their areas and setting alarms as per our closing procedures, which I think is what minimized our losses.”

Harbatkin said she didn’t believe any arrests were made.

As is their usual practice, the SFPD didn’t specifically identify Lyon-Martin in their summary of the incident. The inspector who’s been assigned to the case wasn’t available for comment.

Harbatkin, 44, who’s served for several years as the clinic’s medical director, has also recently had the role of interim executive director before becoming permanent executive director earlier this month. Her salary is $159,000.

Besides the burglary, Lyon-Martin has had other troubles in recent years. The nonprofit, which has a budget of $2.2 million and serves more than 2,000 people a year, almost closed in 2011 due to financial problems. Officials have been working to improve the clinic’s fiscal situation. ▼

▼

Politics >>

May 24-30, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

SF celebrates Milk, Sarria

by Matthew S. Bajko

S

an Francisco leaders celebrated two of the city’s gay luminaries this week by calling on the U.S. Navy to name a vessel after Harvey Milk and by designating Tuesday, May 22, as Jose Julio Sarria Day. At their meeting Tuesday the supervisors voted 9-2 in support of a resolution asking U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to designate a naval vessel after Milk, the city’s first gay elected leader who was assassinated in 1978. The vote came on what would have been Milk’s 82nd birthday and was celebrated as an unofficial state holiday in California.

As expected bisexual District 5 Supervisor Christina Olague voted against the measure, as did District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim. Olague had pointed to Milk’s speaking out against the Vietnam War as for why she did not support the proposal.

Gay District 9 Supervisor David Campos dropped his objections to the idea, however, after hearing from LGBT veterans about how meaningful it would be to have a navy ship carry an LGBT service member’s name. Milk was a diving instructor in the Navy in the 1950s and, for a time, was stationed in San Diego.

“I would love to live in a world where the military is no longer needed. But as long as we do have a military, LGBT veterans should be recognized,” Campos told the Bay Area Reporter after casting his vote.

Gay District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener, who introduced the measure, plans to send a letter to both Mabus and Congressman Bob Filner (D-San Diego), who is working

Rick Gerharter

Jose Sarria spoke to guests at the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club’s annual dinner Monday.

with the Harvey Milk Foundation in support of the idea, to let them know that San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors supports seeing a USS Harvey Milk.

“This sends a powerful message that San Francisco supports having a Milk vessel,” said Wiener.

Drag queen, political trailblazer gets his day Shortly after their Milk ship vote, the supervisors unanimously adopted the resolution designating a day for Sarria, a legendary drag queen in San Francisco who made history as the first openly gay person to seek political office in America when he ran for a supervisor seat in 1961.

Campos, who introduced the resolution, noted that Sarria was arrested for solicitation during a police sting at the city’s St. Francis

Hotel leading to his abandoning dreams of being a teacher. During his supervisor bid Sarria had to threaten to sue the local Democratic Party after it tried to keep him from running as a Democratic candidate.

The Democrats relented, but fearful that Sarria could win one of the six seats up for grabs that fall, party leaders recruited two-dozen people to enter the race. Sarria ended up in ninth place Election Night.

“I am sorry the city government didn’t treat you well and the police harassed you,” Campos told Sarria, who was seated in the ornate board chambers. “The city that didn’t treat you well at that time loves you and honors you today.”

Olague, noting she was born the year Sarria ran for supervisor, credited him with laying the groundwork for LGBT people to enter politics as out candidates.

“If you didn’t have the courage to lead the way, many of us would still be in the closet,” she said. “For that I am forever personally grateful to you.”

Sarria, 90, thanked the board for honoring him “while I am alive” and joked that as he listened to “all the fabulous things said about me” he wondered which of the supervisor chairs he would have sat in if he had won.

He added that he now believes it was a mistake for him not to run in the following election as he likely would have won. Winning, however, wasn’t his goal at that time.

“I wanted to prove I, as a citizen of San Francisco, had the right to help govern the city,” said Sarria, who now lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Once I achieved that, I moved on to the next problem. I think I made a mistake. Had I run again, I would have won.”

In an interview with the B.A.R. See page 17 >>

ebar.com

<< Open Forum

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

Volume 42, Number 21 May 24-30, 2012 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Thomas E. Horn Bob Ross (Founder, 1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko Seth Hemmelgarn Jim Provenzano CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan Aiello • Tavo Amador • Erin Blackwell Roger Brigham • Scott Brogan Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Chuck Colbert Richard Dodds • David Duran Raymond Flournoy • David Guarino Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell John F. Karr • Lisa Keen • Matthew Kennedy David Lamble • Michael McDonagh David-Elijah Nahmod • Elliot Owen Paul Parish • Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff Jim Piechota • Bob Roehr • Donna Sachet Adam Sandel • Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Ed Walsh • Sura Wood

ART DIRECTION Kurt Thomas PRODUCTION MANAGER T. Scott King PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland Marc Geller Rick Gerharter Lydia Gonzales Rudy K. Lawidjaja Steven Underhill Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge Christine Smith GENERAL MANAGER Michael M. Yamashita DISPLAY ADVERTISING Simma Baghbanbashi Colleen Small Scott Wazlowski NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

LEGAL COUNSEL Paul H. Melbostad

Best Bay Area Community Newspaper 2006 San Francisco Bay Area Publicity Club

BAY AREA REPORTER 395 Ninth Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 415.861.5019 www.ebar.com

News Editor • news@ebar.com Arts Editor • arts@ebar.com Out & About listings • events@ebar.com Advertising • advertising@ebar.com Letters • letters@ebar.com A division of Benro Enterprises, Inc. © 2012 Published weekly. Bay Area Reporter reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement which the publisher believes is in poor taste or which advertises illegal items which might result in legal action against Bay Area Reporter. Ads will not be rejected solely on the basis of politics, philosophy, religion, race, age, or sexual orientation.

Advertising rates available upon request.

Our list of subscribers and advertisers is confidential and is not sold. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, and writers published herein is neither inferred nor implied. We are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork.

▼

Obama’s marriage coattails I

n the two weeks since President Barack Obama went on national television and said that he personally believes same-sex couples “should be able to get married,” concrete action has been taken by politicians and organizations. Some of the reaction was immediate, some came in the last few days. It is apparent, however, that the president’s position, his final evolution on the subject, if you will, is making it more acceptable, even desirable, for others to join him.

One day after Obama’s May 9 interview with Robin Roberts on ABC News, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Mormon Democrat from Nevada, said that he, too, supports the legal right of gays to wed. Why? Because he now believes “people should be able to marry whomever they want, and it’s no business of mine if two men or two women want to get married.” Reid has been a strong supporter of LGBT rights over the years and despite our occasional quibble with him, he was a major factor in the Senate’s vote to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” during that lame duck session back in 2010, before the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives.

It’s been 12 years since Vermont created civil unions as a legal mechanism for same-sex couples. At the time, it was historic. And it was, in a way. Obama thought civil unions would be sufficient, as he said in his interview. But in the ensuing years, it was becoming clearer that civil unions and domestic partnerships do not convey the same meaning to people as marriage: everyone knows what you’re talking about when you say you’re married. And as polls have shown over the last decade, more people have come to support marriage equality, perhaps because after more knowledge and experience they see that same-sex couples are not destroying the institution of marriage.

Local news reports over the weekend after Obama’s statement showed that while African American pastors are both for and against marriage equality, they still support their president and it seems hopeful that there is room for sharing stories on the issue. Blacks have often been unfairly portrayed as being against samesex marriage, in part because of the stealth work done by the National Organization for Marriage that tried to drive a wedge between

the LGBT and African American communities. But as more African American same-sex couples come out and tell their stories – to their families, in their churches, and at work – acceptance and support often follow. Obama himself mentioned that knowing LGBTs on his staff and meeting their families was one of the significant factors in his decision to publicly support same-sex marriage.

And then last weekend there was another huge breakthrough – the board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, the most influential organization of and for African Americans, announced that it, too, was supporting marriage equality. This is a major development and could advance public opinion, which is already moving toward marriage equality. It appears that the NAACP’s 69-member board was pretty unified on the vote; only two members voted against the resolution, according to the New York Times.

The NAACP’s resolution is rooted in the constitutional guarantee of equal protection.

As such, the organization would oppose attempts to restrict marriage equality through

legislative language intended to exclude samesex couples.

Support for marriage equality is at an alltime high – 53 percent in a Washington PostABC News poll that came out Wednesday.

More significantly, opposition to same-sex marriage has fallen to its lowest level, with the poll finding just 39 percent think it should be illegal. The poll also found that 59 percent of African Americans say that they support samesex marriage, up from 41 percent, although the Post noted the sample size of blacks was small.

But the trend is moving in the right direction.

Obama’s statement endorsing same-sex marriage is one of those watershed moments in American politics. And the right-wingers who said he came out in support of marriage equality to score political points with his liberal base miss the point. Obama’s announcement was all the more courageous because it took place in the midst of his re-election campaign. And it could cost him some votes. We don’t think it will – and recent polls indicate it’s basically a wash. But if Obama wanted to play it safe, he would have waited until after the election to make his statement. It takes courage to do the right thing in the heat of a campaign, and that’s exactly what the president did two weeks ago.▼

Don’t buy Big Tobacco’s lies

by Tom Ammiano

O

n June 5, your vote can help save a life – and that doesn’t happen very often.

Proposition 29, on California’s primary ballot, adds $1 to the cost of a pack of cigarettes. That dollar will fund life-saving cancer research, keep youth from smoking, and just might help us find a cure.

Written by the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association and the American Heart Association, the initiative would raise $500 million every year for cancer research and tobacco cessation programs. It will also allow California to continue its historic leadership in reducing smoking, which, since 1988, has translated into a savings of over a million lives and billions of tax dollars.

So who would oppose such a worthy initiative? To no one’s surprise, all the funding for the opposition campaign – all the ads you are seeing on TV and the stuff filling your mailboxes – is coming from Big Tobacco. They will spend tens of millions of dollars, if not more, to try and confuse you about Prop 29.

Don’t buy Big Tobacco’s big lies.

They say that the state cannot afford this “big tax hike” in the midst of hard economic times. Don’t be fooled. The only people to pay this tax are those who purchase cigarettes. Prop 29 doesn’t affect any existing programs and the money doesn’t go into the general fund. In fact, Prop 29 will actually save the state money because as smoking prevalence drops the state will be spared more and more of the exorbitant costs of treating smoking-related diseases.

There are 32 states with higher cigarette taxes than California, which hasn’t increased its 87cent tax in over 10 years. More than 70 percent

Rick Gerharter

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano

of smokers say they wish they didn’t smoke, which explains why a majority of smokers support tobacco control measures: it makes it easier for them to quit. And unfortunately we aren’t doing a good job anymore of keeping our youth from taking up the habit. According to the latest U.S. Surgeon General’s report, one in five youth smoke, and the best way to get them to never start is to raise the cost of smoking.

But why should the LGBT community care so much about Prop 29? Firstly, because in our communities smoking prevalence is high, and it’s even higher among our youth. LGBT young people smoke at more than double the rate of all youth. This means more cancer and tobacco-related diseases in our future. We don’t want this to be the

next LGBT health crisis. We can prevent cancer from dominating our communities by helping people quit and making sure our youth never start.

Our community pioneered patient advocacy and involvement when the AIDS epidemic forced us to confront its terrible implications.

That, in turn, sparked greater awareness of higher rates of breast cancer among lesbian and bisexual women. And as we moved through the first years of HIV/AIDS we came to understand that HIV-positive smokers have a worse prognosis than HIV-positive non-smokers. Many immune-compromised people with HIV who no longer succumb to opportunistic infections associated with AIDS are still dying from tobacco-caused diseases. We can help stop this right now ... by voting Yes on 29.

And finally, let’s be honest, we are sick of the tobacco industry using the LGBT community as an easy target. As acceptance of the LGBT community has increased, Big Tobacco has targeted us. Beginning in the early 1990s, tobacco ads have appeared in our print media and sponsorship of LGBT community organizations and events has proliferated. Under the pretense of friendship, the industry is treating us and our youth as “equals,” welcoming our business as they addict us and potentially shorten our lives.

You can make a real difference in our community this June by voting Yes on 29. Let’s strike a blow against Big Tobacco and let’s take a stand for a healthier future for all of us. Don’t believe the lies of Big Tobacco – they don’t care about us – they only care about their profits. Join us, the National LGBT Cancer Network, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, Livestrong and so many others and Vote Yes on 29. ▼ Assemblyman Tom Ammiano represents the 13th Assembly District in San Francisco.

▼

Letters >>

May 24-30, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

What Harvey Milk Day means to me This year, we are again celebrating Harvey Milk Day in California. Milk is truly a gay icon and a political trailblazer. Equally important in my eyes was his commitment to labor issues, racial equality, seniors, women, and to fighting poverty. He was a consummate coalition builder who challenged the status quo by empowering community organizing on issues large and small.

As we celebrate Milk, I cannot help but thinking about all the history he should have been here to see.

I am bursting with pride that we have a president who not only ended “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” but has evolved to supporting marriage equality. Civil rights have frequently been won through protest, advocacy, and in the courts. Usually public opinion and politicians come along later. To have our highest elected official, President Barack Obama, affirm our equality gives me hope. He was affected by knowing openly LGBT people who worked for him, and by out parents of kids in school with his children. Milk pushed us to come out, and as we do, we are really touching the hearts of those we know.

Milk did not die in vain. As an African American myself, and as a woman, as a baby boomer, and a lesbian, Milk stood up for people like me. It is a beautiful testament to the evolution of our society that California now celebrates a day for Milk. I look forward to the day when America accepts marriage equality and celebrates Harvey Milk Day. In the meantime, let us all give ourselves and our friends encouragement to be the Harvey Milks of our generation, and support the upcoming Harvey Milks of this exciting time.

Brendalyn Goodall, President East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club Oakland, California

Gay Games, GLISA spat It’s hard to believe that there would be such dissension among the gay community in regard to Gay Games [“Talks for single LGBT sports event collapse,” May 17].

Certainly, money and/or power should not be motivating forces. For a person who has been a supporter of Gay Games for many years, it saddens me to read such things.

Dr. Tom Waddell, among others, began the Gay Olympics with the motto, “Winning is doing your best.” That statement has more to it than one might think, especially when it comes to sports. It doesn’t mean that one must be first, nor does it mean that to win one must bury your opponent. It is a statement that includes competing, but also resonates with the personal issues that we all have to deal with.

My history with the Gay Olympics, as they were first called, began in their offices on Castro Street in 1986, when I went to volunteer. Little did I know exactly how extraordinary the entire experience of the Gay Games would turn out to be. My husband, John, swam, and I was a media assistant in the 1986 Games. When we went to the 1990 Gay Games in Vancouver, John swam again and I ran (or jogged, let’s face it).

In 1994 I traveled with Darlene, who photographs for this newspaper, and we stayed with a friend of hers on the West Side of Manhattan. In one of the largest cities of the world Gay Games was the star. Full-page spreads in the New York Times every day, and congratulations for us everywhere we went. The event was timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. It was dazzling to experience the huge metropolis of Manhattan cheering us on in so many ways.

John and I did not compete in Amsterdam in 1998, but we went for solidarity and also to enjoy their beautiful, trés gay city. It is difficult to describe opening ceremonies, because you really have to be there. But if you can imagine laughing and crying at the same time, and getting this transcendental feeling of joy at seeing such a large group of gay people so happy, you can sort of get the picture. The big cities always have huge contingents, with matching outfits in some fabulous color, but it’s when you see one man walking alone in the march of athletes with a sign from a small African country that you begin to appreciate what the event means to people. You know what a terrible risk he may be taking, and you know what courage it took to come, and you can just imagine the money being collected for his journey, a little bit each time, by friends and family, for four years until this day.

I know one thing, and that is the gay community did not get where it is today by separating. It got to be one of the strongest and finest groups of people on this planet because of sticking together, through, as they say, “thick and thin.” Through unprincipled arrests, through personal heartbreak, and through the death and destruction of AIDS. I am obviously a fan of the Federation of Gay Games.

I admit it, I’m biased. I just hope that all concerned remember there is strength in numbers, and to keep the lines of communication open.

Mary Richards-Rocos Palm Springs, California

Thanks to LGBT center I am writing to thank the San Francisco LGBT Community Center for recently providing meeting space and Wi-Fi for our work to oppose North Carolina’s Amend-

ment One. The Human Rights Campaign’s San Francisco Bay Area Steering Committee organized a May 5 phone bank in coordination with the Coalition for All North Carolina Families. Our volunteers connected with more than 300 voters, providing information and encouraging voters to vote against the discriminatory amendment.

Despite the outcome of the election, we can report that North Carolina has a good number of ardent supporters for marriage equality and LGBT rights. We again thank the San Francisco LGBT Community Center for helping us take a stand against discrimination.

Heather Freyer, Political Co-Chair HRC Bay Area Steering Committee San Francisco

Late gay artist’s works on exhibit A Theophilus Brown memorial exhibition is now showing at the Thomas Reynolds Gallery (http://www.thomasreynolds.com) in San Francisco until May 26. Everything on display was in Brown’s condo and studio, including favorite works Paul Wonner and he had kept for themselves – even a Valentine painting Paul gave Theophilus when both were in their 80s.

Brown and Wonner were openly queer SF artists back when the Black Cat was being harassed by the SFPD and Joe McCarthy was cowering every free thinker in Hollywood (except feisty Lillian Hellman) for daring to speak truth to power. They were part of the now-acclaimed Bay Area Figurative Movement and shared a studio next to Richard Diebenkorn and drew portraits of Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. Later in L.A. they befriended Christopher Isherwood and David Hockney. The list kept growing until Brown died February 8 at the age of 92.

See this amazing show. Embrace our local history and LGBT talent. Our local culture flourishes only when we encourage our own local creatives, and know the history and mentors from which they come. Creating and supporting a strong local culture gives us all a valued sense of place within the larger world. Theophilus Brown lived this philosophy.

Eric Wallen Forestville, California

Alice Club founding member needs help “If it doesn’t happen in San Francisco, it doesn’t happen” seems to be the motto of many people in your beautiful city, especially those at the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, of which I was a founding member in 1972.

I served as president of the club in 1975 when George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein, and Milton Marks were all running for mayor.

I left San Francisco in 1976 because of a job offer and moved to Sacramento first and then to a suburb of Sacramento, called Roseville.

In the past 36 years since helping to found the Toklas Club, I have been active in Democratic Party and labor activities. I became the first out gay elected official in Sacramento, by being elected to the Robla Elementary School Board in 1987 and served almost 20 years. I became the first out gay elected official in Placer County, one of the most conservative counties in California, when I was elected to the Roseville City School Board in 2008. I am up for re-election this November and expecting a homophobic campaign against me.

Now one would think the Toklas Club would be very proud of one of their founding members and would at least mention me on the website along with other Toklas members who have been elected to public office. Go to their website and you will not see one word about this founding member and gay elected official.

Over a year ago, I contacted several club members about the possibility of making mention of this Toklas founding member. The response, for the most part, was silence. The person who wrote the history of Alice for the website said several times over the past year, he would “get to it.”

I even drove from Roseville to San Francisco (over 200 miles round trip) to attend a Toklas meeting to ask if I could be included in the list of Alice members who have been elected to public office. Instead of showing appreciation, I was told, as I started to speak, to “hurry up.” They had more important business than to hear from me.

Recently I wrote to the club requesting help in my bid for re-election. No response whatsoever.

At this point, I am ashamed to be a founding member of the club. I feel I have been treated very poorly by the very club I helped to found.

Gary Miller, President Roseville City School Board Roseville, California

Send letters to the Bay Area Reporter, 395 Ninth Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. Letters must be signed, and include an address and daytime phone number for verification purposes only. Unsigned or anonymous letters will not be published. E-mail letters are accepted at news@ebar.com. Please put “letter to the editor” in the subject line, and also include an address and phone number. Letters may be edited for space.

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

Read more online at www.ebar.com

May 24-30, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

Read more online at www.ebar.com

May 24-30, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

<< Community News

▼ Ex-Rutgers student gets 30 days in webcam case 14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

by Lisa Keen

A

New Jersey state judge Monday sentenced the former Rutgers student convicted of a bias crime in relation to the suicide death of his gay dorm roommate to 30 days in jail, 300 hours of community service, and a $10,000 fine.

A jury in New Brunswick in March found Dharun Ravi guilty of a bias crime against his gay roommate, Tyler Clementi, for using a webcam to spy on Clementi’s intimate encounters with another man. The jury also found Dharun Ravi guilty of a num-

ber of other charges, including invasion of privacy and witness tampering. The charges could have resulted in a sentence of up to 10 years.

But Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Glen Berman said he did not believe Ravi acted out of hate for a gay roommate. Instead, said Berman, he believed Dharun Ravi acted out of “colossal insensitivity.”

Berman ordered Dharun Ravi, 20, to report May 31 to an adult correctional facility in the county, but his attorneys said they plan to appeal the conviction and prosecutors said that they’ll appeal the sentence.

Berman also sentenced Dharun Ravi to three years probation and mandatory counseling programs about cyber bullying and what he termed “alternate lifestyles.” Berman did not recommend deportation for Ravi, who is in this country from his native India on a student visa.

Berman chastised Dharun Ravi for not apologizing for his actions, and he did not take an opportunity to make a statement to the court.

Tyler Clementi’s mother Jane Clementi, who was allowed to speak before the sentencing, recalled that Dharun Ravi had treated her son rudely when he arrived at his dorm room on the first day of school.

“He never even paused to acknowledge that Tyler was in the room,” said Jane Clementi, according to a video of the May 21 proceedings posted by ABC News. “He never stopped what he was doing, no greeting, no smile, no recognition, no nothing.” Tyler’s father thanked the court for refusing Dharun Ravi’s defense attorney’s “indecent effort” to gain access to Tyler Clementi’s computer and personal writings.

Dharun Ravi’s mother Sabitha Ravi spoke, too, tearfully explaining how her son was “devastated” by the media “ripping him apart” with “misleading facts” and “wrongful statements.” And his father, Ravi Pazhani, assured the judge that his was “not a homophobic family.”

Dharun Ravi was sentenced Monday to 30 days in jail.

“Dahrun was not raised to hate gays,” said Pazhani. The belief of many that his son acted out of bias against gays, he said, “is all in the imagination of people who want to further their agenda at any cost. ...”

Pazhani contended his son did apologize to Tyler Clementi, through an email, but “no one has ever accepted the apology.” He did not mention that police believe Tyler Clementi had already jumped off the George Washington Bridge minutes before Dharun Ravi sent his email apology.

Pazhani also said his family “tried to reach” Tyler Clementi’s family

“but the doors were shut on us.”

The New Jersey Star-Ledger reported that Dharun Ravi’s attorney, Steve Altman, blamed the gay community for having “demonized” Dharun Ravi.

But in fact, a number of LGBT leaders had hoped the court would impose a more lenient sentence that would avoid a lengthy prison term.

An op-ed in the Star-Ledger by former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, who famously came out as gay and resigned several years ago, advocated for something much less than the maximum sentence.

“The criminal justice system worked, this time for a gay victim,” McGreevey wrote. “But there was something disquieting about the prospect of retributive punishment being meted out on behalf of a gay young man.”

Steve Goldstein, the head of Garden State Equality, said in a statement that while his organization was against a lengthy prison sentence, it also opposed no jail time for Dharun Ravi.

“Today’s sentencing is closer to that extreme than the other,” Goldstein said. “This was not merely a childhood prank gone awry. This was not a crime without bias.”

Berman said the $10,000 fine would be directed into a state-sanctioned program to assist victims of bias crime.▼

Police release sketch of suspect compiled by Cynthia Laird

S

an Francisco police have released a sketch of a man suspected of recently trying to sexually assault another man in the Castro neighborhood.

Castro Community on Patrol Vice Chair Ken Craig said in an email

advisory that the incident occurred around 2 a.m., Wednesday, May 2 in the 3900 block of 17th Street. The suspect forced his way into the victim’s residence as the man was entering his front door.

The man tried to sexually assault the victim and physically assaulted him “causing serious head trauma,” according to Craig’s email, in which he cited the victim and the San Francisco Police Department.

The suspect stole a notebook computer and fled east on foot up 17th Street.

The man is described as black, approximately 32, with short hair, a “stocky build” and clean-shaven.

A few days after the incident, San Francisco police Inspector Thomas Maguire said the victim was in stable condition and was not in the hospital at that time.

Anyone with information on the case can contact Maguire at (415) 553-1753 or the SFPD’s Mission Station anonymous tip line at (415) 5524558. The case number is 120 347 194.

Press club recognizes B.A.R. Bay Area Reporter political columnist and assistant editor Matthew S. Bajko received a second-place award at the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club’s 35th annual Greater Bay Area

Courtesy SFPD

San Francisco police released a sketch of this suspect in a recent assault in the Castro neighborhood.

Journalism Awards May 19.

Bajko won for his Political Notebook column.

First place went to Robert Gammon of the East Bay Express.

B.A.R. publisher Thomas E. Horn praised Bajko.

“There is no greater recognition than to be honored by your peers,” Horn said in an email. “We are particularly proud when one of our own receives such recognition. Matthew certainly deserves it.”

See page 17 >>

Obituaries>>

▼ Disco icons Donna Summer and Robin Gibb die

by David-Elijah Nahmod

T

he disco era that was a part of the lives of so many gay men in the 1970s and early 1980s suffered a double loss in recent days with the deaths of singers Donna Summer and Robin Gibb, part of the Bee Gees group that stormed to popularity with the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack Summer, 63, died May 17 in Florida. The cause was cancer, her publicist Brian Edwards told the New York Times.

Gibb, 62, died May 20 in London. The cause was complications of cancer and intestinal surgery, his family said in a statement.

Summer’s death, in particular, touched gay men and brought back many memories.

“I remember a dark period of my life when I was at the Eagle really ready to give it up and this song (‘State of Independence’) came on,” recalled Marc Huestis, a film director and show promoter in San Francisco. “It was like a spiritual rebirth.”

Summer’s cover of the song was just one of her many hits.

“Much was said about her spirituality and Christianity, but I could feel the loving spirit in this song and it gave me the will to live,” said Huestis. “So I owe much to Donna Summer and this song.”

Summer’s now legendary, sexually charged “Love to Love You Baby” catapulted the fledgling musical theater actress to mega-stardom in 1976, the middle of the first decade in which LGBTs dared to shout their love from the rooftops. It was a wild

May 24-30, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 15

and free time, the “party before the plague,” as it’s been called. That first Summer hit, and the ones that followed, told many gay men, that yes, it really was okay to be gay.

Douglas Eames recalled hearing Summer’s “Hot Stuff” on the radio in 1979, when he was a mere lad of 14.

“An anthem for my new-found individuality,” Eames told the Bay Area Reporter. “Donna Summer’s music was part of the stuff that my adolescence was made of. Losing her was like losing a piece of me.”

Summer’s music also spoke to the women’s community, according to lesbian Max Ferman.

“Many of her songs were love songs that represented women from a strong, non-traditional, independent voice,” observed Ferman. “At a time when women started going after what and whom we wanted, her songs were often about empowering women to be less passive and more sexually aggressive. Donna Summer’s songs became anthemic, giving women permission to go ahead and take it! Protesting the objectification of women and telling us to take back our power.”

Ferman noted a Summer lyric that spoke profoundly to women: “She works hard for the money, so you better treat her right!”

Disco was a musical genre of which the primary purpose was to get people to dance, without putting much thought into the process.

With her extraordinary voice and her choice of material, Summer infused the genre with an emotional depth that was often missing from other disco hits. Like Gibb of the

Donna Summer had a string of best-selling albums in the 1970s and 1980s.

Robin Gibb performing on Dutch television in 1973.

Bee Gees, Summer’s music spoke to people and touched them on a deep, very personal level.

The Brothers Gibb, known as the Bee Gees (Barry, Robin, and Maurice), had achieved pop stardom in the 1960s with hits like “Holiday,” “To Love Somebody” and others.

But by 1978, their careers had floundered. Then came the chance of a lifetime. The brothers were to write and record the title track, and several other tunes, for Saturday Night Fever, a low budget film starring TV heartthrob John Travolta.

The film, about a disillusioned young man in blue collar Brooklyn dreaming of something better, became the Rebel Without A Cause of its day. Tony Manero (Travolta) expressed his frustrations by dancing his heart out at his local disco. Bee

Gees songs like “Night Fever” gave him the beats to display his fancy footwork. Other songs, like the iconic “Stayin’ Alive,” spoke to the anger of a generation. The mega-hit film spawned one of the biggest selling soundtrack albums in history.

Today these songs stand as a fine example of how disco pop could, at times, achieve heights of artistic excellence.

In spite of their successes, fate wasn’t kind to the Brothers Gibb.

Sibling Andy, who had a successful solo career, died of heart failure in 1988. He was 30 years old. Then, in 2003, Maurice Gibb died of an intestinal blockage.

In the 1980s, the Times reported, Summer alienated her gay fans after she was quoted as having described AIDS as divine punishment for an

immoral lifestyle. But, the paper added, she repeatedly denied making that statement. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation noted on its website that Summer, in a 2008 interview with PrideSource, noted that her career took off in large part because of her songs being played in gay clubs. In a 1989 interview with the Advocate, Summer said that she had lost “a lot of friends who have died of AIDS. I’m hurtin as much as anyone else at the amount of people who are gone.”

Summer and The Bee Gees were without question the defining icons of the disco music era. Their music worked on so many levels. You could rip your shirt off and dance wildly to their songs, or you could listen to the lyrics and find solace.

The impact of their music is perhaps best summed up by Carl Szulcynski. Once a homeless, bisexual-identified teen, Szulcynski now owns a home with his partner, where they live with their two sons.

The day before Gibb passed, Szulcynski shared his own thoughts on Summer.

“To the LGBT community, she was a ray of hope,” Szulcynski said.

“Even when the cake gets let out in the rain, you could hear her voice on the radio, and you knew that this time, your love was real. Her songs about love and heartbreak, and finding love again, helped me through some rough breakups and gave me hope for new love.”

Years later, Szulcynski, a.k.a. The Chazonator, got to spin Summer’s songs as a deejay on WRLR 98.3 in Illinois.▼

Oakland Occupiers’ hate crime, robbery charges dismissed

by Seth Hemmelgarn

H

ate crime and robbery charges against three Occupy Oakland protesters were dismissed this week.

In March, the Alameda County District Attorney’s office charged Michael Davis, 33; Nneka Crawford, 24; and Randolph Wilkins, 25, each with a felony count of second-degree robbery and a count of violation of civil rights “because of the victim’s status and perceived status as a homosexual.”

The district attorney’s office negotiated for Davis, 33, to plead guilty Monday, May 21, to a count of misdemeanor vandalism unrelated to the

alleged hate crime and robbery.

“The victim was part of the process and agreed to the terms and was happy with the outcome,” Rebecca Richardson, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said of the hate crime and robbery dismissals.

The charges stemmed from a February 22 incident in which, according to the Oakland Police Department, Occupy Oakland protesters battered the alleged victim and “yelled vulgar epithets regarding their perception of her sexual orientation.” Additionally, her wallet was stolen, police said.

Documents from the district attorney’s office say the defendants called

the woman a “’Dike’ [sic] and used additional derogatory slang terms for lesbians.” The Bay Area Reporter isn’t identifying the woman because she’s the victim of an alleged hate crime.

Soon after the case emerged, Yolanda Huang, the attorney who represented Davis, said that the woman had approached a group of protesters and “initiated a verbal altercation.”

She said that the woman “started using racial slurs, like the n-word,” and that the woman, who’d been told to leave, had also smacked people.

Huang said that after the woman used “the n-word,” one of the defendants said, “How would you feel if I

life with us. You will be truly missed by family, friends, co-workers, and especially by your partner, Mac. Love and God bless you, Johnnie Boy, you were a wonderful man.

Copenhagen in Denmark, which provided the base from which Mr. Jorasch could, along with some of his Fulbright friends, explore all of Scandinavia, most of Europe, St. Petersburg and Moscow, and the opportunity to visit most major art museums throughout Europe.

When Mr. Jorasch moved back to the U.S. he settled in San Francisco and became the lead designer for an architectural firm headed by Mario Ciampi.

Fortunately, he and Ciampi shared the same interest in integrating art into architecture and among Mr. Jorasch’s many design achievements while with this firm was his winning entry for the design of the University Art Museum in Berkeley. His design has since been reproduced in dozens of art and architecture books and magazines throughout the United States and abroad.

He later made a transition into photography. His photos were well received in San Francisco, having seven or eight exhibitions, and were featured in Drummer, a San Francisco-based international magazine that catered to the leather community. The editor, John Rowberry, wrote, “Richard Jorasch is the leader of the neo-classical San Francisco photographers.”

He later arrived at helix-generated paintings.

No services are planned at this time.

Biographical information is copyrighted and courtesy of WorldsBestArt.com,

Obituaries >> John Edward Ellefsen April 24, 1933 – May 12, 2012

John Edward Ellefsen (born John Edward Steen), husband, father, brother, and friend died Saturday morning, May 12, at home in San Francisco, after a courageous battle with colon cancer. He is survived by his loving partner of 17 years, Mac (married February 20, 2006 in Vancouver, B.C.); Jane, mother of his children; his children Sindee, Sean, and Michael; his sister Ruth; his grandchildren, Brandy, Barry and Lhotse; his stepdaughter Tammi; and his great-grandson Brayden. Primarily a Bay Area resident since 1952, John was a proud member of the Alameda County Leather Corps, Lavender Seniors of the East Bay, GLBT Historical Society, and the San Francisco Gay Men’s group. He was also an active member of two Bay Area writing groups. Earning his master’s degree, he was a career social worker in Orange and Alameda counties. Enjoying an early retirement, John focused on writing his autobiography, Penetralia, and taking time to read, drive, travel, and visit.

John, thank you for sharing your

Richard Jorasch September 15, 1936 – May 8, 2012

Richard Jorasch, an architect and artist who was a wellknown figure in the Polk Street gay scene, died May 8, friends reported.

Most notably, Mr. Jorasch designed the University Art Museum in Berkeley.

Born in Utica, New York, on September 15, 1936, Mr. Jorasch moved with his parents and brother to Maple Heights (Cleveland) Ohio when he was 10 years old.

Officially, Mr. Jorasch’s art career began while he was in high school and he was given the job as the art editor of the school’s yearbook. He entered Cornell University with a full scholarship, graduated at the top of his class in design, and after graduation moved to New York City.

A year later Mr. Jorasch enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves for six months and afterwards received a one-year Fulbright Grant to the Royal Academy of

called you a bull dyke?”

In an interview this week, Huang said the case had been “overcharged.”

“It wasn’t a hate crime, and it wasn’t a robbery,” Huang said.

John Viola, who’s representing Crawford, echoed those comments, saying, “There was never a hate crime that occurred.”

Viola, a volunteer attorney with the National Lawyers Guild, said the district attorney’s office and other officials had been “trying to chill the free speech of the Occupy movement.”

In an email, Joe Rogoway, Wilkins’s attorney, said, “Mr. Wilkins has always steadfastly maintained his innocence related to the robbery and hate crime allegations. Although the evidence

seemed conclusive in its exoneration of Mr. Wilkins, it took until the day set to begin trial for the district attorney’s office to dismiss the case.”

Davis still has a stay away order from the woman in the hate crime case, though not from her place of business. None of the three occupiers are in custody.

Crawford has a pending case related to resisting arrest that’s not associated with the hate crime and robbery charges.

The ongoing case, in which Viola is also representing Crawford, is from when she was participating at an Occupy encampment, he said. The trial involving that incident is set for August. There are a number of other defendants in the case.▼

<< Community News

16 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

▼

Beck heir upgrades family’s motor lodge

by Matthew S. Bajko

T

he granddaughter of the man responsible for the Castro’s iconic Beck’s Motor Lodge is preparing to give the motel a major overhaul next year.

Will Beck built the upper Market Street lodging in 1958. The original U-shaped structure features 48 rooms overlooking free off-street parking and a sundeck.

In 1973 an addition fronting 15th Street brought 10 larger rooms in a structure built at the rear of the property. Other than a gaudy salmon-colored repainting in 2001, the biggest change the motel has seen since opening to guests 54 years ago was an upgrade of the bathrooms in the 1980s.

“It is in need of a bigger facelift, which is why I am doing what I am doing,” Brittney Beck told the Bay Area Reporter during a recent interview. “We are in the process of working all the details out now.”

Beck, 30, bought the property two years ago for an undisclosed amount.

The motel and 18,457 square foot lot at 2222 Market Street is valued by the city at nearly $2.7 million.

The remodel could cost as much

as $5 million. If the necessary permits are secured this fall, construction would be done in phases starting in 2013. The bargain-priced motel, which caters to the gayborhood’s visitors and patients of nearby hospitals, is not taking reservations past December 31.

Local interior designer Shelly Amoroso is helping Beck with the project. Plans call for all new linens, furniture, and a color scheme of grays, whites, and blues.

As for the room interiors, Beck envisions reconfiguring some of the older units to enlarge the bathrooms, which will once again be given complete makeovers with more modern, eco-friendly amenities. Air conditioners will be added to all 58 rooms.

“It will be more neutral, very clean. But we also have to be true to the fashion of our building,” said Beck.

Since taking back control of her family’s motel from the management company that had run it for 30 years, Beck has slowly been imprinting her sensibilities on the property.

“I stayed here to see what it was like,” said Beck, who lives in Noe Valley with her husband. “A sense of

Rick Gerharter

Brittney Beck, manager and granddaughter of the original owner, talks about her renovation plans on the sun deck at the Beck’s Motor Lodge.

pride I don’t think was there.”

The motel’s large lighted sign, which should remain after the remodel, Beck had repaired so it works again. She added free Wi-Fi, a computerized reservation system and instituted a policy of requiring a credit card at check-in.

“That did make some people shy away from here,” said Beck. “It did

change the clientele, which I think was for the best. We have some of the best guests who have been staying here for 30 years.”

Another significant change she made was installing locked gates on stairways leading to the second and third floors. The change has cut down on the late night cruising the hotel was known for among gay

tourists and locals alike.

“Gated stairs has cut cruising traffic but Market Street is right out the front entrance,” noted one online review of the hotel from January.

But the motor lodge has yet to completely shed its reputation as being a place to find casual gay sex hookups. In February the local blog SFist referred to it as “a skeezy cruising spot where men go to anonymously bone.”

Cognizant of the issue, Beck said she believes the planned remodel will address it. The plan calls for nearly tripling the lobby space by extending it into the parking area along Market Street. A new seating area and fireplace would greet guests.

The current sundeck would be demolished and a new outdoor patio with fireplace would be built above the ground-level lobby extension. A gate would be installed adjacent to the new structure so that the motor lodge is fully enclosed from the street.

“That way anyone coming and going in to the parking lot are guests and guests have to walk in and out of the lobby where they can be greeted with a hello from the staff,” said Beck. ▼

CDC: Baby boomers should get hep C test

by Liz Highleyman

T

he Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week released a new recommendation that all baby boomers should get tested at least once for hepatitis C. The draft recommendation – announced in a conference call on the first-ever National Hepatitis Testing Day May 18 – applies to individuals born between 1945 and 1965, who are now 47 to 67 years old.

“There are a large number of people who have hepatitis C and don’t know it,” Brad Hare, medical director of the Positive Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital, told the Bay Area Reporter. “Our prior screening strategies haven’t completely worked to identify all of the cases, so this new direction by the CDC aims to find more people who are positive for hepatitis C and don’t yet know it.”

CDC officials also stressed the im-

<<

Golden Gate

From page 1

Area Reporter’s founding publisher, the late Bob Ross, also served on the bridge district board for many years, including a stint as president.)

Georgia Wright, a lesbian who works for the bridge district, called the Golden Gate “one of the wonders of the world.”

“The bridge is such an amazing structure. It represents the beautiful city we have,” added Wright, whose office is near the toll plaza on the San Francisco side of the bridge.

Peter Guthlein, a gay man who is the bridge district’s marketing director, said many people associate the Golden Gate Bridge with San Francisco’s reputation of being a tolerant and accepting city.

“Folks who don’t live in the area, they just are in awe of the fact I work for such an icon,” said Guthlein.

The architectural and engineering marvel, chiefly designed by Charles Alton Ellis, has long been conflated with the city’s reputation as a safe haven for LGBT people.

And like New York City’s Statue of Liberty, it has served as a beacon for people across the globe looking for a better life.

“For me the Golden Gate Bridge has always had a special significance

portance of testing.

“Identifying these hidden infections early will allow more Baby Boomers to receive care and treatment, before they develop life-threatening liver disease,” said Kevin Fenton, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and Tuberculosis Prevention.

Most don’t know status The CDC estimates that more than three million people in the U.S. have chronic hepatitis C, though some experts put the number as high as five million. Studies have shown that baby boomers account for more than threequarters of Americans with hepatitis C, and as many as one in thirty people in this age group are infected.

Most baby boomers with chronic hepatitis C were infected in their teens or 20s – before the hepatitis C virus was identified in 1989 – often through shared injection drug equipment or

in the sense that, being born in a foreign country, when you think of not just San Francisco and California but the United States, you often think about the Golden Gate Bridge and what it represents,” said gay San Francisco Supervisor David Campos, who in his youth illegally immigrated to America from Guatemala. “It really is a symbol of the American dream and of the American promise.”

Campos, who currently sits on the bridge district board, sees the bridge as a magnet drawing people to California and the Bay Area.

“I think within the LGBT community there are many of us who see the bridge as a symbol of the freedom and opportunities we have here,” he said.

Favorite for magazines Long before the birth of the modern gay rights movement, the bridge featured prominently in male muscle magazines. The GLBT Historical Society’s archives contain a trove of such images.

“It was a favorite of San Francisco physique photographers and appeared on the cover of numerous classic 1950s and 1960s homophile and early gay liberation publications,” noted Gerard Koskovich, who uploaded several examples to

Rick Gerharter

Dr. Brad Hare

blood transfusions. Because HCV is easily transmitted through bloodto-blood contact, occasional experimentation or even a single exposure is considered high-risk.

In addition, over the past decade sexually transmitted HCV has be-

the society’s Facebook page.

The bridge today figures in the logo for the Golden Gate Business Association, the country’s first LGBT chamber of commerce. And it is featured prominently in the city’s advertising campaigns geared at LGBT tourists.

“That is the strongest, most positive iconic image we have around the world,” said Joe D’Alessandro, a gay man who is president and CEO of SF Travel.

Raised in northern California, D’Alessandro still “gets a tingle” whenever he drives across the bridge.

“It is an amazing structure and we have it,” said D’Alessandro, who recalled eating at an Italian restaurant in Fort Lauderdale that had an image of the bridge on its wall. “It had no connection whatsoever to San Francisco, and yet there is the Golden Gate Bridge.”

Jeff Dion, a gay man who has worked in administration at the bridge district for nearly two decades, also tends to smile whenever he sees the bridge. As for why people feel such a strong connection to the Golden Gate, Dion believes it is because it has a romantic presence.

“I think it is because it has great physical beauty and its location. It really could have been an eyesore,”

come a growing epidemic among HIV-positive gay and bisexual men in large U.S. and European cities.

“Up to 30 percent of people with HIV also have hepatitis C,” said Hare.

“We are finding that gay men, particularly HIV-positive gay men, are getting infected with hepatitis C from sex at alarming rates.”

Hepatitis C may also be transmitted through tattooing and piercing without proper precautions, sharing personal items such as razors and toothbrushes, and from mother to baby during delivery. However, up to one-third of people with hepatitis C do not report any traditional risk factors and do not know how they became infected.

Over years or decades hepatitis C can lead to serious liver damage including cirrhosis and liver cancer, and it is a leading reason for liver transplants in the U.S. But acute infection often has no symptoms – or only mild

symptoms that resemble the flu – and many people do not realize they are infected until they develop advanced disease.

Experts estimate that around 75 percent of people with chronic hepatitis C are not aware they carry the virus, and therefore do not undergo monitoring for liver disease progression or receive treatment when needed.

A survey released last week by the American Gastroenterological Association found that more than 80 percent of baby boomers do not consider themselves, or their generation, to be at risk for hepatitis C, and 75 percent have either never been tested or are unsure. Further, about half are unaware that African Americans and Hispanics are significantly more likely to have hepatitis C compared with whites.▼

said Dion, whose partner, Michael Soo, also works for the bridge district. “But the Art Deco styling on it and choice of color really sets itself off and looks appropriate for the area for some strange reason. It looks like it belongs there.”

Ammiano fought to address the issue while he served on the bridge board and hopes to soon see a preventative net be installed along the span.

“It is still a wonderful, iconic structure and we should celebrate it. But the sobering part is it has been an apparatus for suicide for too many years,” said Ammiano. “Now we are hoping to remedy that.”

For the majority of people, however, the Golden Gate Bridge is associated with warmer memories.

“I think of home when I see it,” said Soo, a Hawaii native who has lived in the Bay Area for the past 30 years.

His views of the bridge have changed since first seeing it as a boy during visits with an uncle who lived in the North Bay. “At that time and age, I couldn’t understand my uncle when he would try to impress on me how iconic the bridge was. We don’t have any bridges in Hawaii of any note,” said Soo. “I do understand now. I see how people come here and that it does mean a lot to a lot of people from all over the world.”

A host of activities, including a fireworks show, are planned for this Sunday, May 27 to celebrate the Golden Gate Bridge’s diamond jubilee. For the full schedule, visit goldengatebridge75.org/celebrate/ golden-gate-festival.html.▼

Point of protest The bridge’s ability to capture the imagination and attention of people all over the globe was a key reason why AIDS activists staged a demonstration on the Golden Gate Bridge the morning of January 30, 1989. Organizers spent months planning their action; it was the first time protesters had shut down the bridge.

“We needed a very bold statement that would resonate nationally and internationally,” recalled Kate Raphael, who helped plan the Stop AIDS Now or Else blockage of the bridge. “The bridge is a legend and any group that could block it would become a legend. Not that we wanted to be famous. But we felt we needed to do something really, really bold. Something that would shake people awake.”

The bridge also has a darker side to its attractiveness. It is a magnet for the bereft, many of whom commit suicide, or attempt to, by jumping off the bridge.

Go to ebar.com for a longer version.

▼ <<

Community News>>

News Briefs

From page 14

The winners were selected from 440 entries from media professionals in the 11 greater Bay Area counties. Entries were judged by the press clubs of Bakersfield, Cleveland, Florida, Milwaukee, New Orleans, and San Diego.

GSA Network benefit coming up The Gay Straight Alliance Network will hold its benefit event Thursday, May 31 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the De Sousa Hughes Design Showroom at the San Francisco Design Center, 2 Henry Adams Street, Suite 220. A VIP reception precedes the event at 5:30.

The theme is “Fabulous by De-

<<

Karmin

From page 1

“She was an unknown a couple months ago, and she’s blowing up on all the charts,” Joseph said, referring to Karmin singer Amy Heidemann.

Karmin consists of Heidemann and Nick Noonan. According to the biography on the band’s website, they’re known for playing pop and hip-hop songs. In 2011, they garnered widespread attention “when they posted a cover of Chris Brown’s ‘Look At Me Now’ on YouTube,” their site says. Since then, they’ve appeared on Saturday Night Live.

San Francisco Pride Executive Director Brendan Behan said Karmin has “a natural appeal. I really think they’re up-and-coming, so it’s exciting to have them on our stage knowing that there’s such a viral

<<

Obama

From page 1

vania, Colorado, Nevada, Florida, and Michigan. It will also be holding voter registration drives at Pride events across the country.

“We will be making sure LGBT voices are heard at the ballot box in November,” said Jamie Citron, the Obama for America LGBT national vote director. “We will run robust LGBT vote programming in order to turn out LGBT voters in November.”

Obama is riding a wave of enthusiastic support among LGBT Americans following his endorsement of same-sex marriage in a television interview May 9. A June 6 fundraiser starring the singer Pink had to be relocated to a larger venue in L.A. in order to handle the demand for tickets.

Polls released this week have shown that the president’s backing marriage equality has not eroded his support. An Angus Reid Public Opinion survey found Obama’s ap-

<<

Political Notebook

From page 7

Sarria revealed that he has been diagnosed with a rare cancer in the adrenal glands. He refuses to undergo chemotherapy and said his doctors give him three months to live each time he sees them.

“I live day to day,” said Sarria, who also received the Harry Britt Lifetime Achievement Award from the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club at its annual gala Monday, May 21. “I feel good. I don’t have any pain.”

Sarria rose to fame performing in drag at the former Black Cat bar in North Beach. He beseeched the gay patrons to come out, imploring them that “united we stand, divided they catch us one by one.”

He co-founded the Tavern Guild, a business association for gay bar owners, and the Society for Individual Rights, one of the first gay rights

sign” and the benefit will feature beautiful design showrooms. Guests will enjoy hors d’oeuvres and drinks, and have the opportunity to hear from young leaders who have been involved with GSA Network.

There will be a silent auction featuring incredible vacation packages, gift certificates, and more.

Tickets are $75 general and $125 VIP and can be purchased online at www.gsanetwork.org/fabulous.

CCOP official to be honored by SF SAFE Ken Craig, the vice chair of Castro Community on Patrol, will be one of several local safe neighborhood advocates honored at the San Francisco Safety Awareness for Everyone benefit gala Thursday, May 31 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Fort Ma-

groundswell of attention around them.”

Joseph said she’s been provided with $25,000 to pay for talent at this year’s festival. She declined to say how much Karmin’s being paid but said she got “a super deal.”

“She’s doing it because she loves San Francisco Pride, supposedly,” Joseph said of Heidemann.

In an email exchange Monday, May 21, Karmin spokesman Joseph Carozza wouldn’t say how much the band is being paid, and said neither member was available for an interview.

The Pride Committee’s been working to pull itself out of debt and cut costs since a financial and leadership crisis that emerged in 2010.

Other main stage entertainment this year will include Gypsy Love and J.C. Jones.

May 24-30, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 17

son Conference Center.

The gala, One City, Many SAFE Neighborhoods, will honor community members and police officers who have made outstanding efforts in crime prevention and public safety.

In addition to Craig, the gala will honor Vicki Pate, Mark Connors, George Jurand, Captain Ann Mannix, Captain Paul Chignell, Officer John Cathey, and Officer David Sands.

Craig is the longest-serving CCOP board member and the only remaining original board member.

Tickets for the gala are $100 and can be purchased online at www.sfsafe.org/one-city/.▼ Seth Hemmelgarn contributed to this report.

The Pride Committee has also announced that Dot Jones, who’s appeared on the TV show Glee, will be a celebrity grand marshal. Comedian Sarah Silverman and Carmen Carerra, who’s appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race, have also been selected as celebrity grand marshals for 2012.

Joseph, Pride’s longtime main stage producer, said that she’s transitioning out of that role, but booked the talent and has been involved in other aspects of production this year.

“I’m main stage schlep and asshole,” she quipped.

Heidi Haddad is now the main stage producer.

The 42nd annual San Francisco Pride Parade and celebration is June 23-24. For more information, visit www.sfpride.org.▼

proval rating at nearly 50 percent.

Of the 1,012 American adults who took part in the survey, 49 percent approved of how Obama is handling his duties. That was an increase of 1 percent since March.

On the May 23 conference call with reporters Obama’s National Campaign Co-Chair Joe Solmonese, the outgoing president of the Human Rights Campaign, said a key component of the LGBT efforts will be contrasting Obama’s record on LGBT rights with the anti-gay positions that the presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney has taken.

While the president signed into law an LGBT hate crimes law and repealed the military’s anti-gay ban known as “Don’t Ask, Don’ Tell,” Solmonese noted that Romney has said he would not have repealed DADT and is in favor of seeing an amendment banning same-sex marriage be added to the U.S. Constitution.

“The choice we are facing could not be clearer. We can re-elect a

leader working with our community. Or we can sit back and watch Mitt Romney take us back to where we started,” said Solmonese.

In addition to its on-the-ground efforts, the Obama LGBT committee will be mobilizing supporters online through the website lgbt. barackobama.com.

There, backers of the president can buy Obama-branded LGBT merchandise, such as a $20 baby onesie or a $10 holder to keep canned beverages cold.

The site also can be used to search for LGBT-specific events by Zip code. As of Wednesday morning the only listing near San Francisco was for a pre-Pride weekend party Sunday, June 17 in Concord targeted at East Bay LGBT residents and their families.

“We cannot afford to sit on the sidelines,” said Solmonese. “We need to register voters and talk to our neighbors and family about all Obama has done. There is no better time than Pride month to begin.”▼

groups. He gave himself the titular title “Her Royal Majesty, Empress of San Francisco, Jose I, The Widow Norton,” in homage to Joshua Norton, a famous city resident who in 1859 declared himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.

In doing so Sarria laid the groundwork for the Imperial Court System, now an international charitable group that raises money through drag shows. Sarria, who has a portion of 16th Street in the Castro named after him, continues to call on LGBT people to work together in order to achieve full equality.

“Let’s put our differences aside,” Sarria said at the Milk gala. “You don’t have to love your neighbor.

You don’t have to sleep with the son of a bitch. But you have to work together.”▼

ebar.com Monday mornings at noon for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion.

This week’s column reported on the work of an LGBT housing panel in SF.

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check www.

Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ twitter.com/politicalnotes.

Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 861-5019 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

On the web Online content this week includes the Bay Area Reporter’s online column, Political Notes; the Jock Talk and Out in the World columns; an article on transgender advocacy day; and a photo of the new play area at Duboce Park. www.ebar.com.

Legal Notices>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC12-548629 In the matter of the application of: MARIA MICHELLE OLLILA for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MARIA MICHELLE OLLILA is requesting that his/her name be changed to TOIVO KALEVA OLLILA. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Rm. 514 on the 17th of July 2012 at 9:00 am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034299300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAYVIEW EMPLOYMENT AGENCY, 1650 Quesada Ave., SF, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed by Robert Davis.

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/25/12.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034290000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JOE88 CONSTRUCTION CO, 156 Dartmouth St., SF, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed by Joe Zu Qing Lin. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/20/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/20/12.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034303000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JENNIFER GUSTAFSON INTERIOR DESIGN, 785 Golden Gate Ave. #302, SF, CA 94102.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed by Jennifer Ann Gustafson. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/26/12.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034297000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SUREFIRE ONLINE MARKETING, 3487 16th St., SF, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed by Pamela H. Card. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/30/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/25/12.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034293900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SIN CHERRY, 1228 Grant Ave., SF, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed by Allam Bitar & Khaidoun Alsalti.

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/24/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/24/12.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034296900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DRINKBOX, 414 Brannan St., Hattery Labs, SF, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed by H2DP, Inc. (Delaware). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/24/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/25/12.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034295000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RCOMMUNITY RECYCLE CO., 1634 Alemany Blvd., SF, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed by Southpark Capital Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/24/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/24/12.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034294500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EASY BREEZY FROZEN YOGURT, 4437 20th St., SF, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed by Manitou Inc. (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/20/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/24/12.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034295200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CALIFORNIA MORTGAGE DIRECT; HOMETOWN LENDING, 100 California St. #1100, SF, CA 94111-4516. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed by Bay Equity LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/24/12.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034307900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BRIGHT FOG PHOTOGRAPHY, 564 Roosevelt Way, SF, CA 94114. This business is conducted by state or local registered domestic partners, and is signed by Laurence Peiperl & Charles G. Still.

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/27/12.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034313300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BERNARDA, 2522 Mission St., SF, CA 94110.

This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed by Bernarda LLC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/01/12.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034311800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: J&L AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR, 1634 Howard St., SF, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed by J&L Automotive Repair Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/10/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/30/12.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034273200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GYROTONIC PACIFIC HEIGHTS, 2999 Washington St., SF, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed by Trinity Fitness LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/06/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/13/12.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034312000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MAJOR PARKING, 155 Eddy St., SF, CA 94102.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed by Ilknur Civelek. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/30/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/30/12.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-032682800 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: VOLARE PIZZA, 456 Haight St., SF, CA 94117.

This business was conducted by an individual and signed by Mohamed Bouabibsa. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/01/10.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-029253400 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: DO UC US MOBILE CATERING, 2500 38th Ave., SF, CA 94116. This business was conducted by a general partnership and signed by Vladimir Goldfeld & Mark Kobzanets. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/09/06.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-030406500 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: J&L AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR, 1634 Howard St., SF, CA 94103. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by Xiao Szu Tang.

The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/20/07.

MAY 3, 10, 17, 24, 2012 NOTICE OF APPLICATION TO SELL ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES Dated 05/07/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: JEFFREY ZHIGUAN LI. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612 to sell alcoholic beverages at 1535 Franklin St., SF, CA 94109-4564. Type of license applied for

41 - ON-SALE BEER & WINE - EATING PLACE MAY 10, 17, 24, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-034321700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ARIA PROPERTIES, 4406 18th St. #B, SF, CA 9114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed by Masood Samereie.

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/03/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/03/12.

MAY 10, 17, 24, 31, 2012

ebar.com

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

18 • Bay Area Reporter • May 24-29, 2012

Classifieds

t

Legal Notices>>

The

Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034314100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE SCORPION COMPANY, 617 York St., SF, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed by Nathan S. DeSomber.

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/01/12.

MAY 10, 17, 24, 31, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034293300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BIG T’S INTERNET, 376 Ellis St., SF, CA 94102.

This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed by Orangevale Commons LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/23/12.

MAY 10, 17, 24, 31, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034320400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ALFIO BOUTIQUE ITALIANA, 526 Castro St., SF, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed by Aranciatamara Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/03/12.

MAY 10, 17, 24, 31, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034320100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SF ANTIQUE & DESIGN MALL, 1122 Howard St., SF, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed by Marmat Inc. (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/03/12.

MAY 10, 17, 24, 31, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034320200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SF ANTIQUE & DESIGN MALL, 538 Castro St., SF, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed by Marmat Inc. (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/03/12.

MAY 10, 17, 24, 31, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034330300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HEWN, 2423 Polk St., SF, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed by Jak Home LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/08/12.

MAY 10, 17, 24, 31, 2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name FILE A-030568500 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: COLE VALLEY FITNESS, 957 Cole St., SF, CA 94117.

This business was conducted by an individual and signed by Betty L. Doza. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/28/07.

MAY 10, 17, 24, 31, 2012 notice of application TO SELL alcoholic beverageS Dated 05/09/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: IBRAHIM ELIAS ALHAJ. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612 to sell alcoholic beverages at 2060 Fillmore St., SF, CA 94115-2709. Type of license applied for

41 - On-sale BEER & WINE - Eating place MAY 17, 24, 31, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034331800

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034326700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JOHN K ANDERSON DESIGN, 1510 35th Ave., SF, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed John K. Anderson. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/04/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/04/12.

MAY 17, 24, 31, June 7, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034340100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JJARDINE CATERING & EVENTS, 5235 Diamond Heights Blvd. #211, SF, CA 94131.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed James M.S. Jardine. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/15/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/11/12.

MAY 17, 24, 31, June 7, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034339700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KATERINA’S IMPORTS, 4150 17th St. #22, SF, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Katerina Zisman. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/20/01. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/11/12.

MAY 17, 24, 31, June 7, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034332300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SFADM/SFFLEAMARKET.COM, 1122 Howard St., SF, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Marmat Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/09/12.

MAY 17, 24, 31, JUNE 7, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034339000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: POPSUGAR MUST HAVE, 111 Sutter St., 15th Fl., SF, CA 94104. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Sugar Publishing Inc. (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/11/12.

MAY 17, 24, 31, JUNE 7, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034341000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CLUB 280, 280-284 7th St., SF, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed PPK Holdings Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/14/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/14/12.

MAY 17, 24, 31, JUNE 7, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034336100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ILANA CAFE, 2314 Clement St., SF, CA 94121.

This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Ilana Coffee, Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/10/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/10/12.

MAY 17, 24, 31, JUNE 7, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-032575700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SUPER DUPER, 783 Mission St., SF, CA 94103.

This business is conducted by a limited liability corporation, and is signed Metburger LLC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/10/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/10/12.

MAY 17, 24, 31, JUNE 7, 2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name FILE A-033655400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SF ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE, 101 Oakridge Dr., Daly City, CA 94014. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Julio L. Campos. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/08/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/08/12.

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: LOTUS CAFE, 1551 Mission St., SF, CA 94103. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by Suheir Michael. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/29/11.

MAY 17, 24, 31, June 7, 2012

MAY 17, 24, 31, JUNE 7, 2012

ebar.com

All the news that’s fit to post.

notice of application FOR CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP OF alcoholic beverage LICENSE Dated 05/08/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: MAGGIE HOANG, WILSON DIEU LU. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612 to sell alcoholic beverages at 914 Clement St., SF, CA 94118. Type of license applied for

41 - ON-SALE BEER & WINE - EATING PLACE MAY 24, 2012 notice of application FOR CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP OF alcoholic beverage LICENSE Dated 05/18/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: NEW JUMBO SEAFOOD RESTAURANT LLC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612 to sell alcoholic beverages at 1532 Noriega St., SF, CA 94122.

Type of license applied for

41 - ON-SALE BEER & WINE - EATING PLACE MAY 24, 2012 notice of application FOR CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP OF alcoholic beverage LICENSE

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034342700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KAREN’S MAINTENANCE, 4064 Westridge Ct., Antioch, CA 94509. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Karen Navarrete.

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/14/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/14/12.

MAY 24, 31, June 7, 14, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034300600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: H & S LIMOUSINE, 4681 Myrtle Dr., Dublin, CA 94568. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Naqibullah Sayed Saadat. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/25/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/25/12.

MAY 24, 31, June 7, 14, 2012

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034346700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JULIUS’ CASTLE RESTAURANT; JULIUS’ CASTLE, 302 Greenwich, SF, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Paul D. Scott. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/16/12.

MAY 24, 31, June 7, 14, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034345800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE INN SAN FRANCISCO, 943 South Van Ness Ave., SF, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Inn S.F. Enterprises Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/05/90. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/16/12.

MAY 24, 31, June 7, 14, 2012

Legal Services>> PATRICK MCMAHON

The Law Offices of

BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY We file Chapter 7 & Chapter 13 for individuals & small businesses who face: • WAGE GARNISHMENT • CREDITOR HARASSMENT • FORECLOSURE • TAXES • REPOSSESSION • STUDENT LOANS

• GOVERNMENT DEBTS

Bankruptcy may be the answer...

FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION (415) 543-9338

703 Market Street, Suite 1109 • San Francisco, CA 94103 www.bklawclinic.com • patrick@bklawclinic.com

Public Notice>>

Dated 05/10/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: ELLA’S RESTAUARANT, INC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612 to sell alcoholic beverages at 500-506 Presidio Ave., SF, CA 94115-2423. Type of license applied for

41 - ON-SALE BEER & WINE - EATING PLACE MAY 24, 2012 notice of application TO SELL alcoholic beverageS Dated 05/15/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: PRIME DIP LLC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612 to sell alcoholic beverages at 1515 Fillmore St., SF, CA 941153515. Type of license applied for

PRE-ARRANGED FUNERALS

41 - On-sale BEER & WINE - Eating place MAY 24, 31, June 7, 2012 notice of application TO SELL alcoholic beverageS

Pre-arranged cemetery & funeral services. Affordable payment plans. Call 415-713-8842

E19-22

Did you know Tom Burdick(1950-1993)?

Dated 04/10/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: J AVERY ENTERPRISES INC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612 to sell alcoholic beverages at San Francisco International Terminal 3, Boarding Area F, Gate 83, SF, CA 94128. Type of license applied for

No obituary was written, but he deserves to be remembered.

Seeking friends’ descriptions / memories of Tom plus a picture as an adult (with Bob?) to complete his life story.

E-mail: orygunwolf@yahoo.com

41 - On-sale BEER & WINE - Eating place MAY 24, 31, June 7, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034339500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ISABELLA ANTIQUES LTD., 210 Post St. #918, SF, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Robin Chesler. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/12/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/11/12.

MAY 24, 31, June 7, 14, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034348600

E49

ANDREW ROSE LCSW AFFORDABLE RATES 415-312-8427 truehealing.webs.com

E21-22

MACINTOSH HELP

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PURE SWEETS & SAVORY, 1448 Pine St. #204, SF, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Leonor R. Santos. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/17/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/17/12.

* home or office * 21 years exp * sfmacman.com

R ic k 41 5. 82 1 . 1 792

MAY 24, 31, June 7, 14, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034346900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MARIO LEGAL SERVICES, 868 Lassen St., Richmond, CA 94805. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Mario I. Gomez. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/17/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/17/12.

MAY 24, 31, June 7, 14, 2012

Tech Support>>

Flex your advertising muscle.

Call 415-861-5019 for details.

t

Read more online at www.ebar.com

Photography>>

May 24-29, 2012 • Bay Area Reporter • 19

Upkeep>>

Movers>>

LGBT WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY

Counseling>> Gaylesta2x2_0610CN

EAGLE M &

City Hall Ceremonies basic package $400. Digital photography. Including the ceremony, candid and group photos on C.D. Jane Philomen Cleland a lesbian professional photographer with 25 years experience weddings, events and…Published weekly in the B.A.R. since 1989 CALL 415-505-0559 janephilomencleland.com/

oving

S tor age , I nc .

Gay Owned and Operated Local & Long Distance Moves All Over SF & The Bay Area

415.404.7400 888.670.0840

415-729-3996

www.EagleMovingAndStorage.com

EIB

Real Estate>>

RICK GERHARTER PHOTOGRAPHY

Portraits, Events, Architecture 20 years experience. Dependable.

415-823-8716 rgerharter@igc.org www.rickgerharterphotos.com

EIB

Household Services>>

C & G Painting Interior • Exterior

Taking the Time to do it Right!!

Relapse Prevention Groups Forming

Curtis Lee • Gary Rahlf

Reasonable fees, free consultation with

415.225.1536

Steve Foster, LMFT

165 Corbett Ave San Francisco, CA 94114

Hauling>>

HOUSE FIXER

Carpentry repair & remodels, $35/ hr+ materials.

30yrs experience.

Jack816-810-4419, photos: cabinetmakerjack@yahoo.com

E21-21

Reliable & on time hauling $30/hr 2hr min Mike 415-577-7180 Brookline Electric 415-239-5393. Small Jobs Now.

Health Matters>> E21-30

Hauling 24/7 441-1054 Lg. Truck

E14-24

E18-22

Zacate Landscape Design Creating Urban Gardens Mario in Dogpatch 415-341-5383

(415) 412-0397 The Wellness Center, Dolores & 16th Sts.

Like us on facebook!

Wellness Massage 11-11pm www.rickoz2.com El Cerrito 510-932-5478

E18-23

Health & Fitness>>

WWW.GAYREALESTATE.COM Instant Free Database of San Francisco’s Top Gay Realtors

E14-21

Peaceful setting in the Oakland Hills. Exquisite entry with African Mahogany with Brazilian Cherry Finished flooring, soaring ceilings with artistic designed windows.

Custom stamped driveway and inlaid slate on every deck. Family room has unique dropped ceiling & custom colored lighting. Living Room with granite fireplace, built-in cabinets & views of the BAY. Gourmet kitchen w/ granite, Thermador 6 burner range w/ grill cook top, pot filler & natural cherry cabinets & MORE! CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT TO VIEW: Prudential Realty - 925.577.4911 / hildaelmore@gmail.com

Fax to

E21-21

395 Ninth StreetBusiness S.F. CA

Housecleaning since 1979.

Many original clients. All supplies.

HEPA Vac. Richard 415-255-0389

PHONE 415.861.5019

E21-22

E52

ESCAPE FROM THE ORDINARY

BAYAREAREPORTER

E15-20

Cleaning Professional 25 Years Exp (415) 794-4411 * Roger Miller

Fax fr

Opportunities>> FAX 861-8144

FOXY LADY BOUTIQUE

The

Classified Order Form

Deadline: NOON on MONDAY. Payment must accompany ad. If you have a question, call 415.861.5019.

Display advertising rates available upon request. Ads will appear in print and online.

Indicate Type Style Here

2 Studio “Below Market Rate” units available at 574 Natoma Street.

Fantastic design & roof terrace with pano city views. $199,000 $229,000. Buyers must qualify for income eligibility. Income max for apps are 1 person - $64,900, 2 persons $74,150. Units available through the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and are subject to resale controls, monitoring and other restrictions. Applications due by 5pm on June 4th. Please contact Brett van den Eikhof of Vanguard Properties for more information. 415.321.7020 Brett@vanguardsf.com

XBOLD and BOLD stop here

Auction>> Storage Lien Auction 06/04/2012 9am. 23 containers 5x7x7 household goods and furniture of customers: Lynn Martin, Paul Berini & Daryl Thurmond. At Celtic moving 1480 Donner ave SF, CA 94124. Containers not for sale individually all contents must be removed in 24hrs.

E20-21

Is Up For Sale Due to Health Reasons. Negotiate Price. Foxy Lady Boutique is San Francisco’s legendary apparel superstore. From formal dresses to lingerie and sexy costumes, it’s the place to shop for the latest fashions and sexiest items with the highest quality and the lowest prices. 2644 Mission St. San Francisco JANINE 650-992-3772 E15-15

Seeking Employment>> Australian experienced apartment manager looking for apartment or motel in Bay area to manage. Call Lindsay 559-367-5212

E20-E21

RATES for Newspaper and website: First line, Regular 10.00 All subsequent lines 5.00 BOLD double price X-BOLD triple price

PAYMENT:

Cash

Expiration Date Signature

Personal Check

Money Order

Contact Information Name Address Number of Issues

Mail with payment to: Bay Area Reporter 395 Ninth Street SF, CA 94103 OR FAX TO: 415.861.8144 OR E-MAIL: simma@ebar.com

Credit Card Payment Name Card Number

City Classification

Visa

MasterCard

AmEx

Telephone State

Zip

Reserve your ad space for June Pride NOW and SAVE 10%! (reserve by May 31st)

Call 415.861.5019

The

Amt. Enclosed The

31

Atlas shrugs

32

28

33

O&A Out & &About

Hunting, gathering

Will Horton comes out

The

Vol. 42 • No. 21 • May 24-30, 2012

www.ebar.com/arts “Dohatsu Shoten,”

by Hyon Gyon (Korea, 2010), satin on panel.

Courtesy g³/ gallery

‘‘Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past’ opens at the Asian Art Museum

by Sura Wood

P

hantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past, the big summer show that opened at the Asian Art Museum last weekend, does no less than ponder the nature and origins of the universe and the invisible forces that shape our lives. Through themes of cosmology and spirituality, it attempts to connect histories, cultures and religions of Asia, and explore the supernatural roots of the region’s art. You may already know the exhibition has landed if you’ve walked past Civic Center Plaza lately and seen “Breathing Flower,” an immense red lotus whose fabric petals open and close electronically. The work, by Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa, sits on its throne like a fabulous pasha, or the eighth wonder of the world w waiting to be admired.

To advance its thesis of the cross-cultural interplay between past and present, which it does with varying degrees of success, Phantom toms juxtaposes 80 traditional art objects from the permanent collectio lection with over 60 contemporary works. The organizing principle serves a dual purpose: it showcases the museum’s strong suit in antiquities, and potentially attracts a younger generation of visitors whose supcruc to the survival and vitality of the institution. port is crucial See page 26 >>

Endless love

by David-Elijah Nahmod

Diana Ross, Live in Central Park (Shout Factory DVD)

E

arth to Shout Factory: We want more Miss Ross! On New Year’s Day 1990, CNN ran a montage of some of the most memorable moments from the 1980s. One clip stood out above all: Diana Ross on an outdoor stage, singing her heart out while a torrential downpour drenched her to the bone.

Ross was performing for a huge crowd on the Great Lawn in Central Park.

When the rain began, she simply continued singing. The incident made headlines, and became one of her extraordinary career’s most iconic moments.

About 45 minutes into her 90-minute set, the concert was forced to stop. There were safety concerns regarding the heavy rains, lightning, and the electrical equipment that served the show. The following night, Ross returned to the great lawn, citing an obligation to her fans. She performed her show in its entirety, from the beginning. Now Shout Factor offers that legendary concert on DVD. Originally taped for Showtime, it hasn’t been seen in years.

Through no fault of Miss Ross, the disc is a slight disappointment. Showtime filmed both nights of Ross’ appearance, rain or shine. Part one of the disc promises the “complete rain-shortened

concert” as per Shout Factor’s box cover.

Actually, all we get are a few brief clips of that extraordinary night, followed by various news reports from WPIX-TV and WNBC-TV, both local stations in the New York area. Attention, Shout Factory: we don’t want to watch the news, we want to see our idol Miss Ross. She performed for 45 minutes that first night. It would have been nice to see all of that.

Fortunately, that editorial faux pax doesn’t detract from the pleasure of watching the second night. Ross, then in her late 30s, was at the peak of her performing powers. Extraordinarily beautiful, sexy, and possessing a riveting stage See page 26 >>

{ SECOND OF TWO SECTIONS }

<< Out There

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

▼

Sounds like summer

by Roberto Friedman

W

e’re rounding up on June, aren’t we? That means a million and one Pride events, which we’ll get to in time. It also means the start of the summer San Francisco Opera season, more on which below. But for Out There, the month really kicks off on Sat., June 2, with San Francisco’s biggest biannual fundraising affair, the San Francisco Symphony’s 2012 Black & White Ball.

At Davies Symphony Hall, start-

ing at 8 p.m., headliner Paul Simon will play with the San Francisco Symphony, as well as his own band.

Throughout the War Memorial Performing Arts Complex, from 9 p.m. on, 10 bands on five stages include Grammy-winning band The Wallflowers co-headlining the outdoor party stage, with pop superstar Cyndi Lauper; cybersoul songstress Janelle Monáe; doo wop/R&B royalty The Drifters; DJ Masonic (aka composer Mason Bates), recently featured in SFS’ American Mavericks fest; retro jazz

outfit The Brenna Whitaker Little Big Band; Neil Diamond-inspired dance band Super Diamond; 13-piece salsa ensemble Avance; funk troupe Scott Carter and New Breed; “80s and more” dance-party rock show Notorious; and the Dr. Bobby Rodriguez Latin Jazz Group. We’re also promised a rollicking surprise at Midnight: we’ve heard that before.

Out There loves the B&W Ball almost as much as we love our good black suit. We’ve been to the open bar in the toniest cabana. The sound of Tony Bennett and k.d. lang harmonizing in their Davies duet is burned into our memory banks.

And since we live between Jardiniere and the Boxing Room, the whole she-bang happens around us, in the immortal words of Current-TV star Gavin Newsom, whether we “like it or not.”

The B&W Ball supports the Symphony’s music education programs, which provide inspirational connections to music and music-making to over 75,000 Bay Area children each year, a very worthy cause.

Tickets are on sale for all B&W Ball experiences: Party Pass ($250); Paul Simon and the SFS Concert + Party Pass ($300-$375); Symphonix Bash ($400-$750); Supper Club ($450$800); and Patrons’ Dinner ($1,250$5,000). Tickets by phone, (415) 864-6000, or visit www.sfsymphony. org/ball.

Oye, opera Summer opera season is almost upon us. The three attractions on offer are the Bay Area premiere of Nixon in China by John Adams and Alice Goodman (opens June 8); the San Francisco Opera/ Teatro alla Scala co-production of Verdi’s Attila led by Nicola Luisotti (opens June 12); and a new production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute designed by Jun Kaneko (premieres June 13). SFO invited a small group of journalos including Out There to the opera house last week to talk about the latter two operas, lest they get lost in all the excitement about finally having Adams’ masterpiece Nixon here.

Maestro Luisotti, who had flown in direct from having directed Tosca at La Scala, imparted his considerable enthusiasm for Attila. Stage director (and leading Italian stage actor) Gabriele Lavia described his vision for the production, in remarks translated

Kevin Berne

Baritone Nathan Gunn will play Papageno in the new San Francisco Opera production of the Jun Kaneko-designed The Magic Flute.

by Italian diction coach Alessandra Cattani. His Attila functions on three levels, he explained, as historical personage, mythical figure, and metaphor for the invasion of Austrians into Northern Italy. Set designer Alessandro Camera discussed how he made Lavia’s ideas concrete, and showed stage pictures of all three acts. The production looks dynamic, impressive, truly grand opera in an Italian way. OT was glad we had worn our Dolce Vita shades to the presser.

Then SFO general director David Gockley and director of production Greg Weber waxed enticingly about their new Magic Flute, an opera that has been famously designed by such artists as David Hockney, William Kentridge and the late Maurice Sendak. Gockley tasked Japanese-American painter and ceramic artist Jun Kaneko with devising a new Flute, and boy does it look a beaut. The opera will be fully staged accompanied by multiply projected animations in vibrant colors. These stage paintings function as “sets,” while Jun’s equally colorful costumes take on sculptural forms.

Based on the excerpts we saw, the visual experience should prove a knock-out. Gockley himself translated the libretto from German into English, as Mozart intended that the audience experience the piece in its own vernacular. This looks like a production for Flute neophyte and old friend alike.

As for Nixon in China, it’s been 20 years since the opera’s premiere, and 40 years since the groundbreaking diplomatic initiative it portrays.

Time for San Francisco to finally see it in all its glory! Tickets to all three operas are available at (415) 8643330 or www.SFOpera.com.

Art attack Also last week, no fewer than three major art fairs transpired in San Francisco at once: artMRKT San Francisco offered contemporary and modern art at the Concourse Exhibition Center; ArtPad was the self-described “fun fair” at the iconic Phoenix Hotel; and the SF Fine Art Fair, “the international show,” took place at Fort Mason Center. A recent New Yorker article described how important these art fairs have become in the art market; galleries feel compelled to participate in them, despite their costs and logistics, because they are responsible for such a large part of their sales. It was interesting to stroll among the offerings at artMRKT’s VIP opening night; to see some truly great contemporary work as well as a certain amount of schlock; and to greet gallerists we know as old friends. By chance, the work we featured on last week’s Arts cover, “Lucca Luna” by photographer Tom Chambers, was on display and on offer from Modernbook Gallery at the fair. Lots of art, lots of heart, lots of collectors stimulating the economy.

Did we mention that we sat right behind preternaturally gorgeous Glee star Darren Criss at last week’s ACT opening? He was snogging with his equally attractive girlfriend, who brought a gift in Gump’s packaging for his parents, sitting right beside them. We were much too discreet to ask to see it unwrapped.

Finally, from the department of “Press releases we never read past the first line”: “EpicMealTime is pleased to announce the launch of whiskeylube, the world’s first bourbon-flavored personal lubricant.

You’re welcome.” Unthank you. ▼

Courtesy Skidmore Contemporary Art, Santa Monica

“California Theater,” an oil on canvas (2012) by Dennis Ziemienski, was on offer at artMRKT San Francisco.

Read more online at www.ebar.com

May 24-30, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 23

<< Theatre

24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

▼

Life’s a bitch, and then you die

by Richard Dodds

E

xistence per Samuel Beckett’s Endgame makes life in Waiting for Godot seem like a picnic, a walk in the park, a trip to the moon on gossamer wings. But amidst the spiritual desolation that oppresses the characters in Endgame, now at ACT, there are the occasional tips on better living despite the enveloping darkness.

“You must learn to suffer better than that if you want them to weary of punishing you,” says the servant to an imperious paraplegic master sitting on a kind of makeshift throne on wheels. Unfortunately, this pearl of wisdom comes rather late in the game, inasmuch as there’s not much sign of any “them” visible through two tiny windows that offer glimpses of an apparently post-apocalyptic world.

The bickering, co-dependent Hamm, the master, and Clov, the servant, may or may not be the last two people on Earth, information gleaned anecdotally rather than expositionally. Well, not quite the last two. The bunker-like dwelling also houses two trash bins from which periodically pop the heads of Hamm’s elderly mother and father.

The elders’ extended experiences at life have brought further insights with even bleaker ramifications. “Nothing is funnier than unhappiness,” says

Kevin Berne

Bill Irwin, left, and Nick Gabriel play a bickering, co-dependent master and servant in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, directed by Carey Perloff at ACT.

Hamm’s bin-bound mother. “We laugh – but it’s always the same thing.

It’s like the funny story we have heard too often – we still find it funny, but we don’t laugh anymore.”

Nihilism can, indeed, be funny, but the absurdist lines and situations parcel out only mild connections in

director Carey Perloff’s somewhat muddy production. Energies don’t quite mesh as they should, and the contrarian exchanges between master Hamm and servant Clov don’t find the rhythms of comic duos possessed of an easy synchronicity.

The production comes with the

star power of Bill Irwin as Hamm, but despite Irwin’s renown as a physical comic, he must remain largely immobile over the course of the 85-minute play. Irwin proved his acting chops in the revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, for which he won a Tony Award, but the facets, depths, and pas-

sions he found in Albee don’t clearly translate into his work as Hamm. Nor do his exchanges with his servant find much traction, at least partly because Nick Gabriel as Clov doesn’t create a character of much flavor. As Hamm’s parents, the estimable Giles Havergal and Barbara Oliver poke up their heads from their respective trash bins to deliver brief bits of sorrowful observations.

The three actors in Beckett’s Play, the 20-minute curtain-raiser for Endgame, also only get to display their heads. They are entombed in pod-like giant urns, and they spend their brief moment upon the stage bickering amongst themselves. There is a husband (Anthony Fusco), his wife (Rene Augesen), and his mistress (Annie Purcell). His affections waver between the two women, and much of the fun comes in the precise moves required of the spotlight operator, who must be in synchronicity with the quick-flying bursts of dialogue that shuttle among the actors. This trio is an unhappy lot, but they do have a leg up on the characters in Endgame who long for death as the only balm for the pains of existence. In Play, the balm has already been applied.▼ Endgame and Play will run at ACT through June 3. Tickets are $10-$95. Call 749-2228 or go to www.act-sf.org.

Hands-off character

by Richard Dodds

I

n the opening seconds of Martin McDonagh’s A Behanding in Spokane, a sullen man in a shabby hotel room fires a gun into a closet from which groans are heard, and then makes a phone call that begins

with a cheery, “Hi, Mom.” Oh, and said man is noticeably missing a left hand.

In the 2010 Broadway production, this mystery man was played

by Christopher Walken, an actor whose famously ultra-creepy persona doesn’t provide much room for

surprises. At SF Playhouse, where the latest play by the author of Beauty Queen of Leenane and The Lieutenant of Inishmore is having its regional premiere, Rod Gnapp as the behanded Carmichael gives the audience the opportunity of discovery. It’s a blank slate that over the

Jessica Palopoli

Rod Gnapp (center) plays a mysterious man in search of his missing hand, and Daveed Diggs and Melissa Quine are characters who may have the severed appendage, in A Behanding in Spokane, now playing at SF Playhouse.

course of the 90-minute play Gnapp fills in with intriguingly idiosyncratic detail. It’s a wonderful performance that somehow manages to be both understated and over the top.

For those familiar with McDonagh’s plays, Spokane still has surprises, even though we are in the playwright’s signature world of grotesquery that continuously elbows its way into hilarity. This is a story of a single-minded quest.

Carmichael wants to find the hand that was severed 27 years ago, even though he knows the shriveled appendage can be no more than a symbolic triumph over the sadistic “hillbillies” who blithely occasioned the amputation.

The reward that Carmichael offers has brought forth dozens of opportunists with hands in hand, and the play unfolds as a pair of smalltime scammers tries to convince Carmichael that they have what he wants. When it quickly becomes obvious that they don’t, a perverse burlesque begins that includes racial and homophobic epithets, handcuffs, sob stories, absurd banter, a tank of gasoline, and a hotel receptionist whose passions waver be-

tween freeing all gibbons from zoos and being a hero in a Columbinetype massacre.

Behanding may not be as complex or nuanced as McDonagh’s earlier plays, but it is still a queasily enjoyable thrill ride. Director Susi Damilano’s production (on Bill English’s expertly seedy set) captures the veering tones and emotions that come with a McDonagh script, and in addition to Gnapp, the cast is sharply filled in its three other roles. Daveed Diggs and Melissa Quine play a kind of biracial poor-man’s Bonnie and Clyde, who humorously (and at times disturbingly) bumble their misbegotten foray into larceny. Alex Hurt is the seemingly dimwitted hotel clerk who still manages to hold his own in the company of con artists.

A Behanding in Spokane actually comes with something of a happy ending, but also with the message that a dream realized is also a dream that has ended. Sometimes one hand is actually better than two.▼ A Behanding in Spokane will run through June 30 at SF Playhouse.

Tickets are $20-$70. Call 677-9596 or go to www.sfplayhouse.org.

▼

Film >>

May 24-30, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 25

Worldwide working girls

by David Lamble

A

powerful new documentary opening Friday completely upends every sexual tenet in the Motion Picture of America’s movie ratings playbook. Whores’ Glory begins with a quote from a most unlikely source: “God is indeed a jealous god –/He can not bear to see/That we had rather not with Him/But with each other play.” – Emily Dickinson.

In this no-holds-barred depiction of the lot of female sex workers in three distinct environments – “The Fishtank,” a high-end brothel in Bangkok, Thailand; “The City of Joy,” an urban slum in Faridpur, Bangladesh; and “The Zone” of auto-cruising johns in Reynosa, Mexico – Austrian doc-maker Michael Glawogger makes no effort to indulge romantic illusions or any of Hollywood’s curdled fables about whores with hearts of gold.

The third film in a “globalization trilogy” (following 2000’s Megacities and 2005’s Workingman’s Death), Whores’ Glory is, like its predecessors, an expensively shot, narration-free examination of an exotic profession from the point of view of its practitioners, with sidebar commentaries, in this case from male clients.

The first segment opens with shots of young Thai women arriving for work on Bangkok’s motorcycle taxis, breezily punching in (yes, a brothel with a time clock) at the employee entrance to the Fishtank. The women are chatting about diets, the competition, “Wow, lots of girls here today,” and possibilities for advancement. A lunchtime discussion concerns the high cost of massage training, and whether that work is or is not sex-optional. The atmosphere is upbeat, the workers a bit cheeky, at times snapping their gum.

Radiantly filmed, the segment exudes a kind of Buddhist sang-froid.

There is a sassy moment where three friends pause just before clocking in to say a little prayer. “Give us money, luck, and all things good and beautiful.” Then East meets West as the Fishtank’s managerial team takes over, ensuring that every “guilt-free” act is properly compensated with American-style plastic.

Director Glawogger unobtrusively frames the whore/client selection process so that it appears that the women, separated from their nerdy “love boys”

by Plexiglas, are dangling in front of the men like the human contents of a prostitute vending machine. Just say the number, “210,” and the woman of your dreams comes bouncing out as if just unwrapped from hygienic plastic.

Then we swipe your Visa card, and it’s off to an elevator. I could almost hear Spaulding Gray’s classic monologue Swimming to Cambodia: “[The Thais] know how to have fun, and, perhaps due to their very permissive strain of Buddhism, they don’t have to suffer for it after they have it.”

Act II in the shadowy gloom of a fetid slum in Bangladesh gets off with a far less optimistic tone. Here the young women (a misleading euphemism, as some are clearly underage) are supervised by veteran madams who have purchased the girls’ services from a relative or trafficker. The madams drive a hard bargain. In one scene, a madam informs a clearly scared recruit fresh from the countryside that she will be expected to serve in the brothel for a year, until her “dowry” has been paid off.

Glawogger skips around town getting young male clients to explain why “The City of Joy” works for them. A young barber talks bluntly while shaving a customer. “When I have a break, I go to the bazaar and fuck, to enjoy myself. It’s all I think about. Without the Faridpur brothel district, women couldn’t go out on the street without being molested. Without those women, men would be screwing cows and goats.” Or each other? No, in this

A working girl in Mexico, in director Michael Glawogger’s Whores’ Glory: a Wild West culture.

proper Muslim society, that subject is not broached.

The third and truly sublime act unfolds in “The Zone” in Reynosa, Mexico. After Thai Buddhist “sanug” and Muslim circumspection, we are

finally confronted with something resembling our own culture, or rather a funhouse mirror of same. Here the whores are grizzled veterans, the clients are youngish studs with wheels who are sassy and profane about

what they’re out for. A car full of buddies laughs about their desires, as if they delight in shocking the gringos.

“Sometimes I pay to watch them masturbate. It gets me hot so I feel like fucking them.”

There is an honesty to the raunchy banter that informs us that we’re in close approximation to a Wild West culture. Gradually we come to realize that the women have power which they gleefully exercise. One rent girl pulls the plug on one young guy when his money runs out. “Come back with more money, and I’ll do whatever you want.”

Later the same woman gets together with a close friend, sharing war stories, affection and a crack pipe.

She discusses her personal saint as if she were a lover. “She appeared to me that day, and no one has harassed me since. If she were here, I’d eat her pussy. She helps you die a good death.

She takes you by the hand. But she brings you back too, even from the Devil himself.”

At its most intense, Michael Glawogger’s Whores’ Glory slips the bonds of preachy doc-land, and achieves a sweaty poetry of sexuality on screen. Glawogger earns the trust of his subjects, and trusts his audiences to connect the dots on what Whores’ Glory says about the plight of underclass working women. It’s a pity the director didn’t see fit to include a queer male perspective. For a queer view, rent Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato’s 101 Rent Boys.▼

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

<<

ebar.com

Phantoms of Asia

From page 21

In the past, the curators have appeared more sure-footed in the ancient world, but the contemporary works here by a crop of 31 youngish artists are stronger and more interesting than those in the Shanghai exhibition, the Asian’s unsteady lunge toward modernity in 2010. This time around, the choices are often astute, provocative and occasionally stunning, like New York-based Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto’s outstanding, austere, shrine-like installation. In “Five Elements,” an illuminated white projection screen covers an expansive wall of a darkened gallery, and seven identical wooden posts are lined up in front of it like sentinels, several feet away. Atop each post rests a tiny pagoda-shaped crystal jar containing a black-and-white film image of a seascape. The pagodas represent the Five Universals of the cosmos: earth, water, fire, wind and emptiness. The installation is startling in its simplicity and purity, dramatic and reverent in its silence. With his work’s cool detachment and sleek minimalism, it’s not surprising to learn that Sugimoto is also an architect.

Raqib Shaw’s paintings, with their ornate depictions of fantastical alternate universes, are on the opposite end of the aesthetic spectrum. “Ode to the Lost Moon of the Lesser Himalayas on the Banks of the Lidder,” a haunting trio of emerald green panels decorated in rhinestones, glitter and enamel, materials applied with a porcupine quill, portrays an otherworldly, animistic realm prowled by hybrid creatures. One with a plumed headdress has climbed to the edge of a precipitous cliff; with oblivion below and mile-high, giant pines above, it howls at the full moon and starry skies. Blending Kashmiri and Western motifs, “Absence of God VII,” a large canvas by the same artist, is an action-packed, psychedelic explosion of flowers, plants, mythic creatures and architectural ruins floating in the heavens. Red and gold-striped colonnades of once great architectural wonders are tilted and adrift, and a dragon with wings emerges full-blown from a cloud of phantasmagoric flora.

Although in some instances, the art can be fussy or self-conscious, the first-floor exhibits make the most convincing case linking the old and new, and establishing consistent themes. Motohiko Odani’s malformed lacquer faces, expressing distorted psyches and ailing spirits, are a modern take on traditional Japanese Noh masks, while across the room hangs an assembly of theater and animal masks, some with large, bulbous eyes and jagged-toothed jaws, spanning 600 years of religious and secular practice in Tibet, India and Japan.

Believed to bridge human and sacred worlds, masks were sometimes worn during dances calculated to ward off evil, bring good luck and transcend fear, hatred, desire and death.

Other objects are simply fascinating. Take an amazing chambered stoneware oil lamp from the 5th century, which has five oval cups clustered without an inch to spare on a small pedestal or the 1,000-year-old Chinese circular bronze mirrors; one

<<

▼

Todd-White Art Photography, courtesy White Cube, London

“Absence of God VII,” by Raqib Shaw (India, 2008), acrylic, glitter, enamel and rhinestones on board.

Courtesy Nature Morte, New Delhi, and Frey Norris Contemporary & Modern, San Francisco

“The Cult of Survival II” (detail), by Jagannath Panda (India, 2011), plastic pipe, auto paint, acrylic, fabric, glue, rexine and plastic flowers.

side is decorated with symbols diagramming the universe, the other reflects the viewer’s image, offering an opportunity, perhaps, to pause and question one’s place in the cosmos.

But where the show excels is in its installations, which are plentiful.

Hemon Chong’s “Calendars (20202096)” imagines a future of anomie and alienation through 1,001 images of empty spaces. The prints, shot in Singapore during a six-year period starting in 2004, paper the gallery from floor to ceiling. Sun K. Kwak spent two weeks toiling in the central court, sculpting it with swirling filigree produced by applying black masking tape and vinyl to walls and columns. At the far end of the space, there’s the invisible army of “Anno Domini,” a surreal ghost story that’s the brainchild of Indonesian musician-turned-artist Jompet. He arranged a group of bodiless soldiers suspended in the

Live in Central Park

From page 21

presence that’s impossible to look away from, she sang her heart out, and danced. Whether performing older standards like “Baby Love” or newer hits such as “I’m Coming Out,” the star works the crowd into a joyous frenzy.

There are reflective moments, as when Ross performs a heartfelt rendition of the Billie Holiday classic “God Bless the Child.” Ross was, of course, nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Holiday in the film Lady Sings the Blues (1972). Always the diva, she asks the audience to remain quiet during this quieter song.

Al Watson

Miss Diana Ross.

air in loose formation and equipped them with Hindu, Western and Islamic headgear, lace-up boots and body armor.

The exhibition occupies almost the entire museum, including its open public spaces, and because it’s so spread out, it feels larger than it actually is. More than one visit may be needed to take it all in, but a show whose premise is cosmic interconnectedness would have benefited from consolidation. It loses focus, and visitors may lose steam as it stretches onto the second and third floors. Upstairs, the exhibition’s objects, denoted with yellow labels, are intermingled with the rest of the museum’s extensive collection. Finding and identifying the artworks is a confusing and exhausting process that begins to feel like a treasure hunt. As with a treasure hunt, one needs comfortable shoes, lots of time and an equal amount of patience.▼

They comply.

There’s also a little skin. Ross was, at the time, enjoying a hit with the Michael Jackson-penned song “Muscles.” As she performs this hot little number, she invites men in the audience to show off their pecs.

More than a few willing hotties let us see what they’ve got.

Ross’ costumes include several skin-tight body suits. She wears them well. Her energy levels never falter.

Performing is her life’s work, and she gives her all every step of the way.

Diana Ross: Live in Central Park was an extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime event. We should give thanks that it was preserved for posterity. ▼

▼

Music>>

May 24-30, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 27

Kristen Loken

Pianist Anton Nel performs with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony in Barbary Coast & Beyond: Music from the Gold Rush to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition.

Barbary con brio

by Philip Campbell

T

MEDIA NETWORK

he San Francisco Symphony’s 100th anniversary season may be headed towards the finish line in June, but that has only seemed to increase the energy level at Davies Symphony Hall. Concerts in recent weeks have demonstrated the orchestra’s tireless commitment and good-natured sense of fun, and no could ever say Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas is showing any signs of fatigue.

Barbary Coast and Beyond: Music from the Gold Rush to the PanamaPacific Exposition was ambitiously planned as an elaborate highlight of the ongoing celebration, another promising example of a programming formula the organization has perfected with time.

Pulling off big-concept concerts devoted to musical epochs and adding a touch of show-biz flair has become an SFS trademark. Just the right ticket for the centennial celebration, and guaranteed to remind us how lucky we are to live as neighbors with an orchestra as tenacious and fabled as the old town itself.

Getting so much back-story onstage, from the rip-roaring days of the Barbary Coast through the big quake and beyond, must have been daunting to the intrepid crew, but the work only seemed obvious by the sheer heft of the performance. It proved a lot of territory to cover if the music of the era was to be presented in unabridged excerpts. In true San Francisco style, a capacity crowd was charged up and ready for fun. If the concert bogged down a few times or went on a tad too long, no one seemed to care.

Well-loved local star Val Diamond (sans headdress) acted as narrator, with MTT occasionally joining her as announcer and engaging raconteur. Together they kept the grandiose pageant afloat, maintaining a decent speed and cohesion.

Video designer Jeffrey Elias Teeter deserves special recognition for his delightful and atmospheric projections. Ranging from historic sights of the old city to biographical portraits of the era’s famous entertainers provided a special treat for dedicated San Franciscophiles.

Soprano Laura Claycomb, resplendent in many attractive gowns complementing her mane of copperpenny hair, portrayed the great divas of the day. Nods to Adelina Patti and especially Luisa Tetrazzini were given, with Claycomb delivering a ravishing “Caro nome” from Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Violinist Vadim Guzman and pianist Anton Nel appeared in dazzling turns memorializing the great instrumental virtuosos of the early days.

Organist Carleton Carpenter was a bizarre interpreter of his own arrangement of Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever, and Carolyn McCaskey was surprisingly appealing in her performance on the musical saw!

Throw in a banjo trio, the United States Air Force Band of the Golden West, and an unending stream of big, showy orchestral pieces (thrillingly played), and the evening turned out as a fitting tribute to the SFS and the City by the Bay. If you want more historical detail, Larry Rothe’s excellent chronicle of the orchestra, Music for a City, Music for the World, remains available.

Last week brought more usual fare back to DSH, but the inclusion of Alfred Schnittke’s rather amazing Violin Concerto No. 4, in a wonderful performance by SFS Concertmaster Alexander Barantschik, was also typical of the clever and strategic programming of the SFS. I recently called Schnittke a crazy Russian composer, but I meant it with affection and honor. He was an Ethnic German son of a Jewish father living in the troubled world of the old Soviet Russia. His life was filled with political and artistic challenges. His later years brought tremendous health problems, but he managed to produce a huge output of complex, involving musical works, and even evolved his unique poly-stylistic sound. That’s crazy as in, “Crazy, man!”

The Fourth Concerto is a perfect example of the composer’s melding of disparate musical styles and eras with his own anguished and heartfelt humanity. There is a lot of wit and humor on hand, too. Barantschik stepped into the spotlight well, with a performance equal to the score’s strenuous demands. His obvious affinity for the Concerto’s meaning and his superb technical control combined in a moving and thoughtful performance.

The Schnittke was bookended by the occasionally unearthed Blumine

by Mahler and the lovely Beethoven Symphony No. 6, Pastoral. The Mahler was a pleasing if slight curtainraiser. The Beethoven was a perfect break from the complicated world of Schnittke. I’m not too convinced by MTT’s current stance on Beethoven (big, smooth and controlled), but the performance was undeniably beautiful, and it further illustrated the maestro’s continuing explorations.▼

FIND YOURS AT

COAST TO COAST..

WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED!

CITIE ES AND COUNT C CO COU OUNT NTIIN NG!

edgeonthenet.com JOIN THE CONVERSATION ON FACEBOOK: EDGE MEDIA NETWORK AND ON TWITTER: @EDGEontheNet

<< Out&About

28 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

O&A

Thu 24>>

Colla Voce @ ODC Theatre A cappella ensemble performs a concert benefit for The Family Link (housing for hospitalized patients’ loved ones). $20-$25.

7pm. 3153 17th St. at Shotwell. www.thefamilylink.com www.odcdance.org

We built this city

by Jim Provenzano

A

rchitectural wonders and natural disasters are a large part of the history of San Francisco. Several outdoor performances and indoor theatrics celebrate our anniversaries, and warn us about the future.

Friday, May 25, the opening party for Earthquake, a major new exhibit and planetarium show at the California Academy of Sciences, includes various live, interactive and installed exhibits about our ever-shifting earth.

The party runs from 7pm-12am.

21+. $50-$200. Reg exhibit admission, $20-$30. Mon-Sat 9:30am-5pm.

Sun 11am-5pm. 55 Music Concourse Earthquake Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. www.calacademy.org It happened in nearby San Bruno, but gas pipelines have a nasty habit of creaking, cracking and exploding. Shotgun Players’ production of The Great Divide, Adam Chanzit’s timely play about a community divided over a gas pipeline’s economic and health effects in their town, isn’t set here, but has happened here, and could again. $20$30. Wed & Thu 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 5pm. Thru June 24. Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org What happens when disaster strikes The Great Divide right in your own yard? Find out in Crevice, Lauren Yee’s dark comedy about a family shaken by a sinkhole that appears in their home, unveiling a strange alternative world. $10$20. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru June 9. La Val’s Subterranean, Berkeley. 1834 Euclid Ave. www.impacttheatre.com Celebrate Union Square’s iconic status with Push Dance Company. Choreographer/director Raissa Simpson’s Bitter Crevice Melon, a site-specific work with projections and music themed upon cultural histories of African American and Filipino communities, takes place at 8pm (around sundown) nightly May 25 through May 28. Union square, Geary & OPowell streets. www.pushdance.org Get a view of our skyline from afar when you board ferries to Angel Island for We Players’ amusing production of The Odyssey.

The Homerian ancient Greek adventure tale, performed at locations on scenic and historic Angel Island, tells the story through the eyes The Odyssey Tracy Martin of Odysseus’ son, whose adventures take audiences around the scenic isle. $40-$78. $10 lunches available. Fri-Sun 10:30am-4pm (not including ferry travel times). Thru July 1. 547-0189. www.weplayers.org The big anniversary this week is the daylong celebration of the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th anniversary, Sunday, May 27, with events taking place throughout the day at north shore locations from the Bridge itself, at Fort Point, along Crissy Field, all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf, with dance, demos, music, vintage car show, boat sails, and 9:30pm fireworks.

Golden Gate Bridge 75th www.goldengatebridge75.org

Choose Paint! Choose Abstraction! @ MOAD

Bruja @ Magic Theatre

Local activist discusses her new book, Revolution, A Love Story. $5-$10.

Potluck 6:30; talk 7pm. 1924 Cedar at Bonita, Berkeley. (510) 841-4824. www.bfuu.org

Matt Haber

Annual parade and street fair with a Brazilian theme, with live bands, craft, food and beer booths and other entertainment. 10am-6pm.

Harrison St. between 16th & 23rd. Parade May 27, 9:30am www.sfcarnaval.org

Double feature of films set in bars, starring Mickey Rourke (7pm) and Patrick Swayze (9pm). $7.50-$10. 429 Castro St. 621-6120. www.castrotheatre.com

Cindy Sheehan @ Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists’ Hall

Push Dance Company

Carnival Festival @ South of Market

Barfly, Roadhouse @ Castro Theatre

Luis Alfaro’s modern take on Euripides’ Medea stirs up a haunting story about the modern immigrant experience; directed by Loretta Greco, with scenic design by Andrew Boyce (The Lily’s Revenge). $22-$62. Tue 7pm. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2:30pm. Thru June 24. Fort Mason Center, Building D, 3rd floor.

Marina Blvd at Buchanan. 441-8822. www.magictheatre.org

Exhibit of abstract art by African American artists. Special lectures and programs thru exhibit run. Museum of the African Diaspora, 685 Mission St. 358-7200. www.moadsf.org

Fri 25 Slipping @ New Conservatory Theatre Center Daniel Talbott’s drama about two high school students, and how one troubled gay teen and a charismatic athlete’s lives come together. $18-$32. Wed-Sat 8pm.

Sun 2pm. Thru June 10. 25 Van Ness Ave. www.nctcsf.org

Pride Night @ Great America, Santa Clara LGBT night at the East Bay amusement park. $45. 6pm-2am. 4701 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara www.cagreatamerica.com

Hot Draw @ Mark I. Chester Studio

Rosie’s Big Bash @ Craneway Pavilion, Richmond

Drawing group for gay male artists of all skill levels, with a a male model doing erotic, nude and fetish poses. Donations. Reserve space day of. 6:30-9:30pm. 1229 Folsom St. www.markichester.com

Big band 1940s party celebrating the Rosie the Riveter campaign and new exhibit documenting the historic icon. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy band performs. 5pm VIP cocktails, 6pm VIP dinner, 7pm swing dance lessons, 8pm concert. $20-$250. 1414 Harbour Way South, Richmond. (510) 215-6000. www.craneway.com

Fri 25>> Classical Music Recitals @ SF Conservatory of Music Nightly free concerts of performances by students and faculty. Check schedule online.

50 Oak St. 503-6265. www.sfcm.edu

Team Starkid @ Masonic Hall Musical theatre troupe (A Very Potter Musical), cofounded by Glee star Darren Criss, perform live (without Criss). Charlene Kaye opens. $30-$42. 7:30pm. 1111 California St. www.teamstarkid.com

Endgame, Play @ A.C.T.

David Ford, Jeri Lynn Cohen and Charlie Varon’s comic play about the foibles of Internetruled living. $20-$50. Thu 8pm, Sat 8:30pm, Sun 7pm. Thru June 10. 1062 Valencia St. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Jean Paul Gaultier @ de Young Museum The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, the first exhibition devoted to the gay French fashion designer (previously shown in Montreal and Dallas), includes film and stage costumes and haute couture, prints, video clips and more. Also, Arthur Tress: San Francisco 1964.

The Sculpture of Stephen De Staebler, whose figurative clay work draws inspiration from primitive cultures and artifacts; thru April 22. The Art of the Anatolian Kilim: Highlights from the McCoy Jones Collection. $6-$20.

Tue-Sun 9:30am-5:15pm. Friday night special events 5:30pm-8:45pm. Thru Aug. 19. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park. 750-3600. www.famsf.org

Marga Gomez @ The Marsh, Berkeley The lesbian comic returns with Not Getting Any Younger, her witty solo show about ‘coming of middle age’. $15-$35, $50. Fri 8pm. Sat 5pm. Extended thru June 30.

2120 Allston Way off Shattuck. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Marilyn Pittman @ The Marsh The veteran lesbian comic gets a little more serious in her solo show about her parents’ tragic murder-suicide. $15-$35-$50. Thu 8pm, Sat 8:30pm, Sun 7pm. Extended thru May 27. Studio Theater, 1062 Valencia St. (800) 838-3006. www.themarsh.org

Subtitled The Victorian Avante-Garde, 18601900, this new exhibit focuses on the British Aesthetic Movement; paintings, architecture and decorative arts by Gabriel Rossetti, James McNeill Whistler, Edward Burne-Jones, E.W. Godwin, William Morris, Christopher Dresser and others. Free-$20. Tue-Sun 9:30am-5:15pm. Thru June 17. Lincoln Park, 100 34th Ave. 750-3620. www.famsf.org

The Dick Show @ Center for Sex & Culture Group exhibit celebrating the male penis, with works by Michael Rosen, Mariah Carle, Mark Garrett, Katie Gilmartin, Justin Time, Mitcho, Dwoo, Jesse Williams and Jack Davis.

Thru May. 1349 Mission St. at 9th. www.sexandculture.org

Dionysian Festival @ Mary Sano Studio Concert of dances celebrating the 135th anniversary of modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan’s birth, featuring live music and the Mary Sano Duncan Dancers. $16-$18. 8pm.

May 27, 6pm. 245 5th St. #314 at Howard.

357-1817. www.duncandance.org

Ethel Merman, Katya Smirnoff-Skyy, John Cavellini @ Martuni’s Three talented local singers perform at a benefit of AIDS Life/Cylce participants Team UnPopular. Donations. 7pm. 4 Valencia St. www.sfaf.org

Modern Cartoonist: The Art of Daniel Clowes @ Oakland Museum

Phantoms of Asia @ Asian Art Museum New exhibit of bold contemporary art with perspective on life, death, nature and other themes. $12-$15. 200 Larkin st. 581-3500. www.asianart.org

Friday Nights @ de Young Museum

Fwd: Life Gone Viral @ The Marsh

The Cult of Beauty @ Legion of Honor

Exhibit of original art by the Oakland graphic novel illustrator and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter (Ghost World). Free-$12.

Wed-Sun 11am-5pm. Thru Aug. 12. 1000 Oak St. (510) 318-8400. www.museumca.org

Tony Award winner Bill Irwin stars in American Conservatory Theatre’s production of two Samuel Beckett one-act plays, directed

by Carey Perloff. Special post-show performance on May 24 with Killing My Lobster; Beckett Design Contest, too. Out With ACT LGBT night May 30. $10-$95. Tue-Sat 8pm.

Wed, Sat & Sun 2pm. Thru June 3. 415 Geary St. 749-2228. www.act-sf.org

Weekly parties, live performances and quick art installations, paired with current shows, including the Jean Paul Gaultier couture/costume exhibit. Free-$18 (tickets required for exhibit entry). 5:30pm-8:30pm. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park. www.deyoung.famsf.org

▼

Sun 27 John McLaughlin @ Café DuNord Pop-rock cutie sings new and favorite songs from his three CDs. $15-$17. 21+. 8pm. 2170 Market St. 861-5016. www.jonmcl.com www.cafedunord.com

The Waiting Period @ The Marsh Brian Copeland’s popular solo show about his struggle with depression. $25-$50. Fri 8pm, Sat 5pm. Thru July 7. 1062 Valencia St. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Xanadu @ Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek Center Repertory Company’s production of the stage adaptation of the wacky 80s roller disco movie. $40-$47. Tue & Wed 7:30pm.

Thu-Sat 8pm. Sat & Sun 2:30pm. Thru June 23. 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek.

(925) 943-7469. www.CenterREP.org

Sat 26>> Audience as Subject @ YBCA Mark Bradford (found material sculptures) and Audience as Subject, Part 2, (big photos of fans at soccer matches and rock concerts), plus other exhibits. Thru May 27. 701 Mission St. 978-2787. www.ybca.org

Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi Musical comedy revue, now in its 35th year, with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs.

Reg: $25-$130. Wed, Thu, Fri at 8pm. Sat 6:30, 9:30pm. Sun 2pm, 5pm. (Beer/wine served; cash only). 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd (Green St.). 421-4222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com

Photography in Mexico @ SF Museum of Modern Art New group exhibit of historic prints documenting Mexican life and culture since 1920.

Also, The Utopian Impulse: Buckminster Fuller and the Bay Area, and a new mural by Dutch artist Parra. Thru July 29. Also, Golden Gate Bridge visual art and event celebrations May 27. Also, Los Jaichackers perform in a night of experimental Mexico-inspired music, May 31, 6pm-9:45pm. Free-$18. Open daily (except Wednesdays) 11am-5:45pm.; open late Thursdays, until 8:45pm. 131 Third St. 357-4000. www.sfmoma.org

A Raisin in the Sun @ Buriel Clay Theater African American Shakespeare Company’s production of Lorraine Hansberry’s timeless play about a 1950s-era Chicago family longing for a better life. $10-$30. 8pm. Sat 8pm and Sun 3pm Thru May 27. African American Art & Culture Complex, 762 Fulton St. at Webster. (800) 838-3006. www.African-AmericanShakes.org

SF Hiking Club @ Round Valley Join GLBT hikers for a 10-mile hike near Mt. Diablo in Round Valley Regional Preserve on the Hardy Canyon Trail and Miwok Trail to Los Vaqueros Reservoir. Carpool meets 9:15 at Safeway sign, Market & Dolores. 3785612. www.sfhiking.com

Show Choir! The Musical @ Children’s Creativity Museum American Conservatory Theater’s Young Conservatory actor-students perform Mark McDaniels and Donald Garverick’s lively comic “mockumentary” musical about a teenage glee club. $20.50. Thru June 9.

221 4th St. 749-2228. www.act-sf.org

Tino Rodriguez, Virgo Paraiso @ Modern Eden Gallery Pagan Poetry, a duo exhibit of fantastic and vibrant paintings by the two artists. Wed-Sun 11am-7pm. Thru June 10. 403 Francisco St. 956-3303. www.moderneden.com

▼

Out&About >>

May 24-30, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 29

Sun 27>>

Nancy Pelosi @ Fairmont Hotel Speaker of the House of Representatives in conversation with Dr. Gloria Duffy, CEO and President of The Commonwealth Club. $7$45. 12pm. 950 Mason St. 597-6705. www.commonwealthclub.org

Do Not Destroy @ Contemp. Jewish Museum Trees, Art and Jewish Thought, a group exhibit exploring the tree in Jewish tradition; thru May 28. $5-$12. Thu-Tue 11am-5pm.

736 Mission St. at 3rd. 655-7800. www.thecjm.org

Radically Gay: The Life of Harry Hay @ SF Public Library New exhibition that celebrates the remarkable life and work of activist Harry Hay, who laid the foundation for the modern lesbian and gay rights movement. Free. Thru July 29. Jewitt Gallery, lower level, 100 Larkin St. 557-4400. www.sfpl.org

Memorial Day Weekend Party @ Club 21, Oakland Shangela (RuPaul’s Drag Race) guest-hosts the Latin dance night, with multiple bars, dance floors, hotty gogos and drink specials. $15. 9pm-2am. 2111 Franklin St. www.valentinopresents.com

Nature @ Castro Country Club Group photography exhibit of nature scenes.

Thru June 30. 4058 18th St. www.castrocountryclub.org

Sunday’s a Drag @ Starlight Room Donna Sachet and Harry Denton host the weekly fabulous brunch and drag show. $45. 11am, show at noon; 1:30pm, show at 2:30pm. 450 Powell St. in Union Square.

395-8595. www.harrydenton.com

Tammy Hall Trio @ The Rrazz Room Local band known for great back-up instrumentation performs their own concert. $25.

7pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (800) 380-3095. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Trannyshack @ DNA Lounge Enjoy a Memorial Day Weekend Madonna drag tribute, with hostess Heklina, Raya Light, dance troupe Exhibit Q, Bea Dazzler, Elijah Minnelli, Cookie Dough, Ambrosia Salad, The House of Glitter, Lindsay Slowhands, Miss Rahni, Fauxnique and more. $15$20. 9:30pm-3am. Show promptly at 11pm.

375 11th st. at Harrison. www.trannyshack. com www.dnalounge.com

Mon 28>> Are We There Yet? @ Creativity Explored Group exhibition of transportation-themed artwork made by developmentally different teens and adults. 7pm-9pm. Thru June 13.

Daily 10am-3pm (12pm-5pm weekends).

3245 16th St. 863-2108. www.creativityexplored.org

High-Heeled Drag Race @ Castro Country Club Hilarious quick fundraiser of high-heeled contestants in a race, with a barbeque afterwards. 11am. 4058 18th St. 552-6102. www.castrocountryclub.org

Life & Death in Black & White @ GLBT History Museum AIDS Direct Action in San Francisco, 1985– 1990, focuses on the work of Jane Philomen Cleland, Patrick Clifton, Marc Geller, Rick Gerharter and Daniel Nicoletta, five gay & lesbian photographers who documented the emergence of militant AIDS activism in San Francisco through the medium of black-andwhite film. Selection of other LGBT historic items also on display. $5. New expanded hours: Mon-Sat 11am-7pm. Sun 12pm-5pm.

4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Matthew Hines @ Magnet Exhibit of modern mythological imagery.

Free. 8pm-10pm. Thru May. 4122 18th St. 581-1613. www.magnetsf.org

Piano Bar 101 @ Martuni’s Sing-along night with talented locals, and charming accompanist Joe Wicht (aka Trauma Flintstone). 9pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market. www.dragatmartunis.com

Tue 29 Barbara Cook @ The Rrazz Room Broadway icon performs an intimate concert of classic songs. $50-$60. 8pm. Thru June 10; various times. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (800) 3803095. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Royal Families of the Americas @ SF Public Library, Harvey Milk/Eureka Valley Exhibit of photographs by Karen Massing of four years of pageantry and royalty in the LGBT International Court System. Thru Sept.15. 1 Jose Sarria Court at 16th St. www.karenmassingpix.com www.sfpl.org

Ten Percent @ Comcast 104 David Perry’s talk show about LGBT people and issues. This week: Belinda DronkersLaureta, Director of API Family Pride , and Sister Ruth Hall of The Family Link. Mon-Fri 11:30am & 10:30pm. Sat & Sun 10:30pm. www.comcasthometown.com

Tue 29>> The Art of Dr. Seuss @ Dennis Rae Fine Art Fascinating exhibit of rarely seen prints, paintings, sculptures and a few of the more known drawings by Theodor Geisel, the author/illustrator of the immensely popular children’s books. Ongoing, with updates and new items. 351A Geary St. 391-1948. www.dennisraefineart.com

Dorothea Lange @ Scott Nichols Gallery Exhibit of prints by the acclaimed 20thcentury photographer. Thru June 30. Tue-Sat 11am-5:30pm. 49 Geary St. 4th fl. 788-4641. www.scottnicholsgallery.com

The Drag Show @ Various Channels Stu Smith’s weekly LGBT variety show features local talents, and not just drag artistes.

Channels 29 & 76 on Comcast; 99 on AT&T and 30 on Astound. www.thedragshow.org

Elect to Laugh @ The Marsh Will Durst welcomes comic commentator pals to a weekly political humor night. $15-$50.

8pm. Thru Nov 6. 1062 Valencia St. at 21st.

282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Funny Tuesdays @ Harvey’s Ronn Vigh hosts the weekly LGBT and gayfriendly comedy night. One drink or menu item minimum. 9pm. 500 Castro St. at 18th.

431-HARV. www.harveyssf.com

Mary Poppins @ San Jose Performing Arts Center Touring production of the 2006 Broadway hit musical based on the classic Disney musical film. Tue 7:30pm. Thru June 10. 255 Almaden Blvd. (866) 395-2929. www.broadwaysanjose.com

Wed 30>> Black N Blue Boys/Broken Men @ Berkeley Repertory World premiere of Dael Orlandersmith’s drama about urban families fractured by abuse. $10-$73. Tue, Thu-Sat 8pm. Wed & Sun 7pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Thru June 24.

Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. (510) 6472949. www.berkeleyrep.org

The Dinner Party @ Verdi Club Fundraiser for the Roxie Theater; a one-ofa-kind culinary experience, with dinner by food-based artist and chef Leif Hedendal; with live music by “chamber jazz Duchess” Gini Wilson, auction items and more. $175 (single) to $400 (couples). 6:30-8:30pm.

2424 Mariposa St. www.roxie.com

Nancy Alonzo, Mirta Yáñez @ SF Public Library Two Cuban lesbian authors discuss their poetry and life in Cuba; Voices Lesbian Choral Ensemble also performs. 6pm. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center, 3rd floor. 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

Saints and Sinners @ Visual Aid Exhibit of colorful multimedia works by David Faulk and Michael Johnstone in a site-specific installation. 5:30-7:30pm. 57 Post St. #905. www.visualaid.org

Thu 31>> 100 Saints You Should Know @ Thick House Theatre Rhinoceros’ production of Kate Fodor’s play about family love, homosexuality and teenage life. $15-$30 (‘pay what you can’ previews May 31 & June 1). Wed & Thu 7:30pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 3pm. Thru June 17. 1695 18th St. (800) 838-3006. www.therhino.org

Comedy Bodega @ Esta Nocha The weekly LGBT and indie comic stand-up night. This week, Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, Shawn Robbins, Simone Campbell, Marga Gomez, Jesse Elias. 8pm-9:30pm. 3079 16th St. at Mission. www.comedybodega.com

The Full Monty @ Eureka Theatre Ray of Light’s new production of the Broadway musical hit (music/lyrics: David Yazbeck; book: Terrence McNally) based on the popular U.K. film about unemployed working-class men who decide to form an amatuer strip act. $25-$36. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Thru June 30. 215 Jackson St. at Battery. www.roltheatre.com

Liz Fain Dance @ Z Space The Water is Clear and Still, dances based on the short stories of Jamaica Kincaid, incorporates the full length of the space in an immersive sound-theatre experience. $25.

8pm. Thru June 3 (at 2pm). 450 Florida St. (800) 838-3006. www.lizfaindance.org

Savage Jazz Dance Company @ Laney College Theater

DJ Danny Verde at Hero

Oakland dance company with a vibrant energy performs new and repertory works by Reginald Ray-Savage; special guest Menlowe Ballet Company. $5-$15. 8pm. Thru June 3 (at 3pm). 900 Fallon St., Oakland. www.savagejazz.org

Will Durst @ The Commonwealth Club Local political satirist offers The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Just a Few Minor Exaggerations. $7-$20. 6pm. The Blue Room, 595 Market St. 2nd floor. 597-6705. www.commonwealthclub.org

Sun 27 Hero @ Ruby Skye New monthly tea dance, with guest DJs UK producer Cahill in his SF debut, and Italy’s Danny Verde; also, locals Jamie J and Luke Johnstone. $25. 6pm-12am. 420 Mason St. www.industrysf.com

To submit event listings, email jim@ebar.com.

Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication.

For more bar and nightlife events, go to www.bartabsf.com

www.ebar.com

<< Society

30 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

▼

Applause, applause!

by Donna Sachet

F

or 10 years now, Sean Ray has tirelessly organized a cabaret benefiting various AIDS-related charities, and last Monday and Tuesday saw the best yet! Both nights featured a skilled trio of instrumentalists and the incredible vocal talents of a group of his friends, singing humorous Broadway show tunes, country classics, obscure gems, and cabaret ballads. Generous raffle prizes were awarded to capacity audiences, including Ron Jenkins, Tim Seelig, Shawn Northcutt, Richard Sablatura, Jeff Doney, Ken Henderson, David Rice, Jared Scherer, and Thom Vindiola, who applauded with abandon as thousands of dollars were raised for Project Open Hand. More proof that a single idea, born of one individual, can grow into a powerhouse fundraiser!

On Wednesday night, we had the privilege of welcoming Bravo TV’s Andy Cohen to the Castro Theatre. A thousand people crammed into the theatre, including 300 VIP guests who joined a reception upstairs. Andy’s first appearance was greeted with shrieks and applause!

This king of modern pop culture has quite a following in the Bay Area, and each wanted a moment with their hero. Following a stirring organ performance by David Hegarty, an on-stage interview was conducted by George Dobbins, Vice President of Programming at the Commonwealth Club of California. Referring frequently to his recently released book Most Talkative, which we heartily recommend, Andy delighted the audience with his irreverent stories and celebrity revelations. In the crowd we spotted Sister Roma, Cassandra Cass, Stephen Kling, Gary Virginia, and Gregory Marks. Afterwards, the lines to purchase a book or have one signed snaked out the door, leading us to think that Andy’s evening ended much later than ours.

The following night, we celebrated Asian Pacific Islander Wellness

Steven Underhill

Donna Sachet with the Sean Ray troupe at their 10-year anniversary show, benefiting Project Open Hand.

Center’s 25 years of service at Bloom with a gaggle of Imperials, including Emperors John Carrillo and Steven Dorsey and Empresses Remy Martin, Cher a Little, China Silk, and Tiger Lily. The décor at the Galleria Design Center was simple but strikingly beautiful, and the guest list was a veritable Who’s Who of the SF LGBT community, notably John Cunningham, Rebecca Rolfe, Mike Smith, Kaushik Roy, Dana Van Gorder, Kevin Klinge, Cecelia Chung, Frank Woo & Sheldon Sloan, and Diane Sabin & Jewelle Gomez. Executive Director Lance Toma kept the evening moving briskly, Velocity Circus and AsiaSF provided great entertainment, and awards were presented to Tita Aida and Mayor Ed Lee, the latter by Mayor Willie Brown, Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal of this year’s Pride Parade.

Afterwards, Ray McKenzie led us to the Asian Art Museum for opening night of Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past. This gorgeously remodeled building buzzed with attendees and overflowed with unusual contemporary displays. The huge floating lotus blossom outside the museum is sure to be a focal photo spot during upcoming Pride activi-

ties. With so many cultural attractions in the city, it is easy to overlook this gem in Civic Center, but don’t miss this current exhibit!

Fritz Lambandrake and Anne Kronenberg hosted a unique celebration of Harvey Milk Day with a fashion show and competition at Infusion Lounge on Sunday night.

Fashions were created by artists of different backgrounds using a unique print which features Harvey Milk campaign buttons. Judges included Project Runway’s Christopher Collins, Supervisor Scott Wiener, and Puck, long-time friend of Harvey’s. After the lively fashion show, which included a video premiere by Sean Chapin, guests adjourned to the bar, where awards were presented, a new discount membership card benefiting the Harvey Milk Foundation was introduced by Steve Harris, and Lenny Broberg auctioned off the featured garments. Attendees included State Senator Mark Leno, Supervisor David Campos, Tom Horn, Wayne Friday, Anna Damiani, Patrik Gallineaux, and Frank Robinson.

If you find yourself in the Castro on Friday afternoon, swing by Twin Peaks for high tea around 3 p.m. with Jose Sarria, founder of the International Court System and first openly gay man to run for public See page 31 >>

Coming up in leather and kink Thu., May 24: Koktail Club Happy Hour at Kok Bar (1225 Folsom). 5-10 p.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Sister Mary Ralph and Sister Tuna, proceeds go to SF Night Ministry. Go to Facebook.

Thu., May 24: Blood Draws and Blood Play, an advanced class with Stefanos and Shay at the SF Citadel (363 6th St.), 8 p.m. Doors open at 7:30. $20, $5 fee per supply kit. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Sat., May 26: Stallion Saturdays at Rebel Bar (1760 Market). Revolving DJs, afterhours fun. 9 p.m.-4 a.m. Go to: www.stallionsaturdays.com.

Thu., May 24: Underwear Night at The Powerhouse.

Strip down for drink specials. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Thu.-Mon., May 24-28: International Mr. Leather weekend in Chicago. San Francisco Party at the host hotel (the Hyatt Regency Chicago) on Friday night.

See who will win International Mr. Leather 2012 on Sunday. Go to: www.imrl.com.

Fri., May 25: Joe’s Barbershop Reopening (2150 Market). Stop in and show your support! Go to: www.joesbarbershop.com.

Fri., May 25: Monthly Strip at Kok Bar. Free clothes check, contest at 1 a.m. Strip down and get drink specials! 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Fri., May 25: Monthly Steam Party at The Powerhouse. Join in the Power Shower, $1/min massage. $8 benefits the LGBT Center. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Fri., May 25: Truck Wash at Truck (1900 Folsom).

10 p.m.-close. Live shower boys. Go to: www.trucksf. com.

Fri., May 25: 15 Association Men’s Dungeon Party at Mr. S Playspace (385A 8th St.). $15 members, $20 guests. Volunteers get $10 discount. Doors open at 8 p.m., close at 11 p.m. Play until 1 a.m. Go to: www.15sf.org.

Sat., May 26: All Beef Saturday Nights at The Lone Star (1354 Harrison). 9 p.m.-close. Go to: www. facebook.com/lonestarsf.

Sat., May 26: Furbomb! at The Powerhouse. Join

Sun., May 27: Truck Bust Sundays at Truck. $1 beer bust. 4-8 p.m. Go to: www.trucksf.com.

Sun., May 27: Jockstrap Beer Bust at Kok Bar. Jockstraps: You know the drill! 3-7 p.m. Go to: www. kokbarsf.com.

Sun., May 27: USO Canteen at The Powerhouse.

Come in military uniform. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Mon., May 28: Trivia Night with host Casey Ley at Truck. 8-10 p.m. Go to: www.trucksf.com.

Tue., May 29: Safeword: 12-Step Kink Recovery Group at SF Citadel. 6:30 p.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel. org.

Tue., May 29: Lock and Load: Extreme Tease and Denial through Milking, Forced and Ruined Orgasms and Chastity Training at the SF Citadel.

Presented by Eve Minix. 8 p.m. $20. Go to: www. sfcitadel.org.

Tue., May 29: Ink & Metal at The Powerhouse. 9 p.m. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Tue., May 29: Kok Block at Kok Bar. Happy hour prices all night. Pool tournament 7 p.m. Go to: www. kokbarsf.com.

Wed., May 30: Leathermen’s Discussion Group at the Mr. S Playspace (385A 8th St.). The Valley of the Kings presented by leather historian Gayle Rubin.

7:30 p.m. Go to: www.sfldg.org.

Wed., May 30: Bear Buddies at Blow Buddies (933 Harrison), a male-only club. Doors open 8 p.m.-12 a.m. Play till late. Go to: www.blowbuddies.com.

▼

Karrnal >>

May 24-30, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 31

Top heavy

by John F. Karr

M

aybe I should have approached Raging Stallion’s Built Tough with lowered expectations. That usually makes things better. But I was thinking it was gonna be the end-all Zeb Atlas movie. I mean, in two separate scenes he’s partnered with Landon Conrad and Micah Brandt. And you know I adore Zeb. He’s kind of my ultimate muscle fantasy (even though he’s gotten waaay overbuilt up top – I like big, but this is ungainly big).

Curious, then, that I was a little disappointed.

First, I recommend you search www.eBAR.com for issues dated March 22 & 29 of this year, where you’ll find lengthy discussion of two topics I’ll skip now: Zeb’s G4P status, which I’ve accepted with lascivious ease, and the basic splendor of his charmer personality, expansive physique, and his penis. Above all, his big, meaty and beautifully formed penis; it’s a wonder-wand.

I’m sure Zeb was a mighty expensive hire. So the movie’s set is an economic one. It’s Raging Stallion’s own studio, barely disguised.

In front of the red-brick back wall, there’s a scattering of scaffolding, tools, and sawdust, with a pickup truck to one side. Similarly, the script didn’t cost anything, because there isn’t one. Just a premise: construction workers gratefully and with great zeal cave in before the boss’ mighty rod. And here’s how things go in Zeb’s two scenes.

Wham! Bang! Crash! Thunder and Earthquake and Donner und Blitzen (oh, wait, those last two aren’t Armageddon, they’re Santa’s reindeers. I think I meant Earthquake and Blitzkrieg). The kissing is beyond hot, and when Zeb crushes Landon in an embrace, it’s thrilling. Zeb’s ardor is like his physique, blown up really big, but you won’t think for a moment that he’s faking it. And you just might blow when Zeb rams his face down on Landon’s cock. Man, whatta cocksucker! He’s much better than Landon at a practice that’s at least a little foreign to him. And oh man, he knows how to stroke with his hand while he sucks. If I was Landon, I’d have exploded right then and so hard there’d be little bits of me all over the place, bone and blood and semen splattered from the brick back wall to the skylight way overhead. Because when Zeb sucks cock, he drools, he’s a mess of saliva, he deep throats, he gags, and his cock is hard as rock, which wasn’t the case when Landon was sucking him.

There’s a perfect close-up of Zeb’s cock slicing into Landon’s ass, and a wow of a sequence showcasing Zeb’s facial contortions as he fucks – you know that mix of effort, agony, and

<<

Raging Stallion

Zeb Atlas in Raging Stallion’s Built Tough.

ecstasy. And of course I love that Zeb fucks the cum outta Landon – fie on that solo JO that lamely ends so many film-fucks.

The scene with creamily cocoacolored Micah Brandt is pretty much the same. It even has a bit of context: foreman Zeb barks, “This is how it’s gonna be” to employee Brandt, rips off his clothes, pushes him onto his knees, and grinds the lad’s face into his crotch. A fab insertion shot sometime later brought up my admiration for any artist, however elaborately pre-stretched (or whatever warm-up it is that a porn star practices), who can take a thick dick like Zeb’s in one strong stroke of insertion. Yikes.

That’s what you see, and here’s how I reacted. Since the movie’s basic approach is brazen melee, it’s hard for the scenes to go anywhere, for the action to escalate. They begin in midstream, without foreplay, and eliminate connecting elements to jump-cut into each further activity. So the potential for performer chemistry is blown away in the on-going detonation. Some of the sights are eyeball scorchers, sure, but the final result is less movie than loop. If I wonder why director Chris Ward couldn’t include a more organic approach with the unrelenting butch assault, I appreciate the straight-on framing of the action he elicits from his videographers (Tony Dimarco, Steve Cruz and Elliott McAllister), and

Raging Stallion

Landon Conrad’s leaking the goods in this portrait from Raging Stallion’s Built Tough.

the crisp, widescreen image.

The movie’s two other scenes?

Tom Wolfe tops furry cub Jason Michaels quite well in one, and the scene I liked best (better than Zeb’s!) sees blond Billy Berlin taking all the heat imaginable from blackhaired Morgan Black in an exciting, well-constructed episode that builds from kissing and cock-fondling in and then out of jeans, to an escalating menu of activity. I always find Billy a transfixing vision, with his white body and porcelain cock that tops its pale shaft with a bulbed head. And Morgan? He’s handsome and slam-happy. ▼ www.RagingStallion.com

On the Town

From page 30

office way back in the 1960s! He is visiting from New Mexico and always delights his companions with remembrances of the past, sage advice for the present, and remarkable insight into the future.

Sunday night, you’ll find us at the highly anticipated Hero, a new monthly tea dance at Ruby Skye. And on June 1, head to Bimbo’s in North Beach for Bingo with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, benefiting Family House, providing safe lodging for families with children undergoing serious medical treatment at area hospitals. We’ll be hosting this unusual event in this gorgeous, historic club, and we’d love to see each and every one of you there!▼

Steven Underhill

Donna with some Imperials at the Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center’s 25th anniversary gala Bloom at the Galleria Design Center.

<< TV

32 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

▼

Tale of two queers

by Victoria A. Brownworth

N

othing makes us happier than a whole lot of queer on the tube.

It just makes us feel, well, included in the TV landscape. So when we had not one, not two, but three coming out moments on the tube in one week, what a frisson we felt!

The Will Horton storyline has been dragging along on Days of Our Lives for a year or two or three.

Endlessly. Dragging to such a degree that we keep forgetting it’s a storyline. But no more.

On May 16, it leapt onto the front burner, where it will clearly remain for some time. Will is a scion of the Horton family.

He’s Salem royalty. So when he finally decided to tell his parents in the final minute of the episode, “I’m gay!,” it was bound to send Salem reeling. The next day the fallout began.

Will’s parents are estranged, and he’s been trying to get them back together forever. But Sami (Alison Sweeney), the devious diva of Salem, and Lucas, the erstwhile suffering son of the equally devious Kate, are not getting back together. This revelation, or at least their response to it, might tear them even further apart.

Will, played with a torn-up, conflicted sweetness by Chandler Massey, really just wants everyone to get along. Many queer viewers will recognize his halting, heart-pounding, gut-churning exchange with his parents. We sure did. Will, looking frightened but determined, blurts out, “I’m gay. I’ve been wanting to tell you guys for awhile. I was afraid, and I didn’t know how.”

His mother looks like someone slapped her, hard (which many people have done over the course of her tenure on Days). Sami says, “I don’t understand. Why would you say that you’re gay? I’m your mother, I would know.” Talk about verisimilitude. We remember our own father noting at our high school coming out, “But you’re pretty, and boys like you.”

Then Sami sums it up: “You have some crazy idea in your head that you’re gay,” and goes on to inform

Will that he is “going through some confusion.” Father knows best, however, and Lucas tells Sami with a finality that clearly shocks her, because he has a domineering diva mother himself, “He’s not confused.

He’s trying to tell us the truth about himself.”

It’s interesting to us that coming out on TV always seems to hit the mother hardest. When Bianca came out on All My Children, her mother, Erica (again, a diva), found it impossible to believe and said similar things to Bianca.

And when Luke came out on As the World Turns, his mother, Lily, was the one who tried to put him in reparative therapy, while his father, Holden, was accepting of his son’s sexual orientation.

Classically, Sami makes Will’s revelation all about her, and without even looking at her son tells him, “I just can’t deal with this right now,” and walks out. Lucas, however, isn’t about to abandon his son. The two discuss Will’s feelings, and Lucas asks if Will is sure he’s gay. He asks about Will’s exgirlfriends and if these were covers, and Will tells him, quite anguished, that he was trying desperately to be straight. Lucas says he had a feeling Will was gay, then Lucas looks at him, hugs him and says he’s so sorry that Will had to go through all of this alone. Teachable moment for the bigots out there. Love your queer children.

Meanwhile, it turns out Sami has run away from her own bad parenting, not from the son she adores.

She winds up talking to Will’s mentor, her other ex-husband, EJ. Sami spills her guts to EJ and tells him she feels like “the worst mother in the world right now,” that her not knowing this about her own son is just proof of what a failure she is, and that if she had been a better mother, he wouldn’t be gay. This is where things got especially interesting, since the jury of public and even scientific opinion still seems to be out on whether or not we are, as Gaga says, born this way.

EJ gives Sami the talking-to she needs. In his marvelous British accent, he tells her, “This is not about

you. This is about William right now. He needs you.” And then he tells Sami, “Go to William, Samantha, and listen to him. Listen.” Another teachable moment: When your kids are queer, it’s about them, not you.

But Sami can’t be deflected from her self-absorption: it’s all her fault!

EJ thinks otherwise: “Don’t be absurd. People are born gay. You can’t control whether they’re attracted to a man or a woman.”

The coup de grace, of course, is when he tells Sami that her motherin-law from hell, Kate, is the world’s worst mother, and of course Lucas is anything but queer. (Plus, Sami is currently in the throes of a storyline involving Kate and corporate espionage that is incredibly intense, so it’s going to get way more so.) EJ tells her flat-out, “If poor mothering led to children being gay, then all of Kate’s children would be running around waving rainbow flags at pride festivals.” Loved it.

It’s taken Days forever to get on the queer storyline bandwagon, but with this one, they’ve really hit the mother lode, as it were. And they’ve done what AMC and ATWT did with their queer-kid storylines, made the characters central figures in the town’s landscape so that they couldn’t be shunted off, as was the case in the queer storylines on One Life to Live in 2009-10. Will, like Bianca and Luke, had been on the canvas for years prior to coming out, and their parents and extended family are central to the cast. Will’s other grandmother is Marlena (Diedre Hall), the show’s biggest star for years. Now Sami has been the top diva for a decade. This is a storyline that took a long time to come to fruition, but now it is right where it should be. It’s deeply moving and right on time for the summer influx of teens to daytime TV.

Bold moves Meanwhile, over on Bold & Beautiful, the soap about several warring fashion-industry families that has never had a single queer character in its entire 25 years of being on the tube, previewed its first queer family on May 18. The storyline has been building in the shadows, which is, just like other queer storylines, the way to link it to the key characters.

Caroline Spencer joined the cast over a month ago as the daughter of Karen Spencer (Joanna Johnson), sister of fashion magnate Bill Spencer. Caroline was tossed into a triangle between Thomas and Eric, Jr., both Forresters. Caroline was named for Thomas’ father Ridge’s first wife, Caroline (also played by Joanna Johnson, back in the early days of the soap, in the late 1980s), who died very young of cancer.

Karen brought Caroline to LA to Forrester Creations both to get acquainted with her cousin Liam, Bill’s son, and to intern in the fashion house. Fast-forward to May 16, when Caroline calls her mother, who has just moved to LA and rented a beach house in Malibu. The two talk, and it’s apparent that Karen is a wonderful mother. And that there’s a family secret they are hiding.

On May 18, Caroline brings her date Thomas to her mother’s house for dinner. Also on hand are Danielle (Crystal Chapell, who played the late-blooming lesbian Olivia Spencer on Guiding Light in 2009-10, in one of the most fabulous queer storylines on the tube) and their friend, fashion writer Jared, who has always seemed to be a middle-aged queen when he’s appeared in his recurrent role at fashion shows. It’s apparent to any queer watching that Karen and Dani are partners.

As the evening progresses, Caroline takes her mother aside and tells her she wants to tell Thomas, but

Chandler Massey plays Will Horton on Days of Our Lives.

Karen says no. Meanwhile, Thomas seems to think that he’s done something wrong, but Jared assures him that’s not the case. Enter the dropin guest (a perennial feature on TV, even though everyone has a cell phone and could call first), Karen’s brother Bill. It’s a tense few minutes as he walks around perusing everything, notably photos of Karen and Dani together on various vacations. His parting comment is, “Two women in a beach house. You know what people will think.”

When he leaves, Karen turns to Caroline and says this is why she doesn’t want to tell anyone, and adds, “Being judged is stressful, and feeling that way in your own home is even worse.”

But Dani thinks it’s time, so Karen explains, with Caroline, that she and Dani are Caroline’s parents, and have been together for a long time. She says she knows it might be confusing for Thomas, since she had dated his father many years ago (Ridge was obsessed with Karen because she looked like Caroline).

Thomas is silent, and all three women (plus Jared) think they’ve made a huge mistake. Then Thomas says that he’s sorry for making them feel like they had to hide who they were.

One more teachable moment.

The down side, however, is that Bill goes home to wife Katie, and tells her about the visit and meeting Dani, and how weird it is that his sister (who is 50, after all) has a roommate. Katie thinks it’s nice that Karen brought her friend out here to keep her company, implication being that Katie knows more than she’s saying.

The reveal about Karen Spencer was a huge step into the 20th century for B&B, which is hugely popular in Europe – it’s the most broadcast soap worldwide. It’s been inexplicable to us for the 25 years we’ve been watching (notably because we fell in love with Johnson on Day One) how there can be no queers in the fashion industry in Los Angeles. Talk about suspension of disbelief!

But now we have queers on the show, and Karen Spencer’s reveal was made all the more poignant because Johnson used it as a platform for her own coming out three days before her character comes out on the show. She announced that she herself is a lesbian and has a wife.

This makes Johnson the first out queer on a soap, and one of the few out actors on the tube at all. (Susan Flannery, one of the original cast members of B&B, who also directs many of the episodes, has long been rumored to be a lesbian, but has not formally come out.)

We’re happy about this storyline for many reasons, not the least of which being we had almost given up watching since the entire show and every single character have been revolving around the tedious Hope/ Liam/Steffy triangle for months. We were beginning to wonder if B&B was really the same show that, this time last year, was doing groundbreaking cinema verite with the homeless on the streets of LA. Now

we’re sure the show is back on track.

We applaud the storyline. We applaud the straight Chappell for playing queer yet again (this time as an obvious butch), since after she did her stint on GL, right up until the show ended after being the longest-running soap ever, she played another lesbian character on the online soap Venice. And may we say, she makes a magnificent lesbian.

We also applaud Johnson for letting art imitate life imitate art. Johnson has spent most of her time between stints on B&B as a producer and director. We love that she has made it clear that you can be a gorgeous and talented woman and also be an out queer.

Smash ending Speaking of out queers, the Smash season finale brought tears to our eyes. We love the gayness, but we have to ask: Karen as Marilyn instead of Ivy? Really? We like Karen’s character, but we just do not get how she is a better Marilyn than the curvy, sexy Ivy, since both can sing the pants on everyone else.

Debra Messing (Julia) did a spot right after the finale urging viewers to follow Smash on Facebook over the summer. The Smash CD drops June 1, and since the music is fantastic, you might want to pick that up. (Also on iTunes.) The Messing spot made us a little nervous that Smash might not return come September, even though we know it got renewed. Unlike, alas, one of the best shows on the tube, Awake, the season (and now series) finale of which is May 24. How is it possible that NBC finally gets a show that’s smart and engaging, gets a full spread in The New Yorker because it’s so complex, and cancels it? The network can only have one good series at a time, and Smash is it? Fie. Speaking of season finales, if Grey’s Anatomy kills off Arizona, half of the best lesbian couple on the tube, in this horrifying plane crash, we will be incredibly upset.

The May 17 season finale left things wildly in flux, with lots of blood and screaming. Plus, series creator Shonda Rhimes said weeks ago that “someone will die.” Yikes.

Speaking of yikes, if you missed Mick Jagger on the season finale of SNL on May 19, or Lady Gaga on the season finale of The Simpsons, that’s why Al Gore invented the Internet, so you can check it out. SNL on NBC.com, Her Royal Monsterness on Fox.com. These were mustsee. Also: This season of Dancing with the Stars was the best ever. We loved every contestant, all of them could dance, all of them were nice.

This is great competitive TV. So too is the new season of America’s Got Talent that premiered May 14. The best competition on the tube, it added Howard Stern as a judge, replacing bitter Brit Piers Morgan. Who knew what a nice, charming, funny guy the shock-jock is in real time. So worth watching.

Which just proves our point about TV: you really must stay tuned. ▼

▼

Read more online at www.ebar.com

May 24-30, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 33

Film >>

Hunky Scandinavian man caper

by David Lamble

The Dictator No one is likely to accuse British-born comic Sacha Baron Cohen of being clean in any fashion. The brash performer is back with an all-star schlock-fest

that spares little time in offending whoever is left to offend in our global village. Imagine if the Three Stooges were allowed to restage Chaplin’s The Great Dictator as a witless series of stereotype-laden pratfalls. The only thing lacking in this puerile stab at political satire is John Waters’ Odorama scratch-nsniff gimmick from the comparatively tasteful Polyester.

The bad-taste gags and one-liners didn’t bother me – some stunts like Cohen’s Middle East tyrant’s throatslicing gesture each time he wants someone in his retinue executed are funny until they’ve been repeated 900 times. It’s just that Cohen no longer possesses the courage of his once savagely funny assault on political correctness. He apparently just sees 3,000 coast-to-coast multiplex cinemas full of easily amused chumps.

It was just six years ago that Cohen burst onto the scene with two brave, brazen attacks on American small-minded, homophobic, xenophobic bullshit. With both Borat: Cultural Learning of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan and the gloriously queer sequel Bruno, Cohen fearlessly stuck his head into the bear cage to bait, belittle and bother American Neanderthals, from ravenously racist Southern football fans to wolverine-violent Gotham subway riders.

Bruno was especially daring because the writer/performer used his own mortal (and rather gorgeous) vessel to seriously bother some anxious straight guys. A highlight was Bruno’s outlandish elder assault on a flummoxed Ron Paul.

The Dictator dispenses with wit, charm and courage to deliver a corrosive stink-bomb comedy that clearly delighted a small Berkeley audience on a recent Thursday. I do wonder what Cohen co-star Sir Ben Kingsley thinks when he dusts his Gandhi Oscar after stooping to temp work like this.▼

K (Anthony Perkins) and tell him he will be going on trial for a crime.

They don’t tell him what crime he has allegedly committed. He insists on his innocence, but they are unmoved. Every official refuses to answer his questions or assist him in any way. His nightmare intensifies as he confronts a faceless bureaucracy.

Welles is splendid as the shrewd, cor-

rupt Advocate, to whom the desperate Joseph K turns for guidance. With Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, and Welles regular Akim Tamioroff, all at their impressive best. A haunted, handsome Perkins gives the performance of his career, evoking Joseph K’s terror of persecution and the fear that his own secrets will be discovered.

The latter may have been a reflection of his tortured feelings about being homosexual. Welles wrote the screenplay. The dazzling black-and-white cinematography is officially credited to Edmond Richard, but only Welles could have planned those fluid camera movements. He also (uncredited) had a hand in editing.

Welles and William Vance co-directed Hearts of Age, a macabre tale set in colonial America. This allegory of Death (Welles) features an old lady astride a bell, a man in black face wearing a wig and livery, and an elderly man dressed as a dandy.

Welles wrote the screenplay. Even at 19, he understood that visual possibilities were what made motion pictures the great art-form of the 20th century.

As critic David Thomson points out, Citizen Kane is less about William Randolph Hearst than it is a painfully accurate vision of who and what Welles would become.

But even during his long, often selfinflicted and self-parodying decline, he was an artist, one who continued to surprise viewers.▼

H

ow’s this for a three-in-one treat: Headhunters (now in theatres) is a new Scandinavian thriller that has some ghoulish fun at the expense of our paranoia about the ever-shrinking job market; reminds us why Nordic movies were so popular before today’s glut of Internet porn; and presents a hard test as to whether a sophisticated art-house crowd can be pleasured by the same sort of icky cheap thrills that fuel the teen slasher market.

I have a friend, a pillar of a local MCC congregation, who shows just how entertaining the job of supermarket checkout cashier can be in the right hands. A native of Norway, my buddy has a late-night TV monologue full of risibly bad jokes about the high cost of American junk food in today’s Norway. “That can of Diet Pepsi: with all the local taxes, five bucks in Oslo.” I was thinking of my pal as the credits rolled on this Norwegian man caper.

Headhunters begins as a diverting spoof on how the beautiful (and totally unscrupulous) people pay for their big-ticket guilty pleasures. Aksel Hennie, a scrumptious if heightchallenged leading man, is diverting as a married Oslo executive who pulls in a good living recruiting CEOs for high-flying businesses, while moonlighting as a cat burglar/ art thief. Hennie’s Roger Brown, with the help of a gun and Russian prostitute-obsessed partner, uses the intelligence he skims from headhunter interviews to target ambitious guys with high-priced art collections. Roger and buddy case the joint, substitute skillful forgeries for the good stuff, and fence their loot on the European art market.

All’s well until Roger meets his match in a Dutch-born manly smoothie, Clas Greve (Game of Thrones co-star Nikolaj CosterWaldau), who plays hard-to-get job-wise, but whose rare paintings

Courtesy of Magnet Releasing

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Headhunters: he plays hard-to-get, but his art collection is irresistible.

Roger simply can’t resist. At this point, director Morten Tyldum (with writers Lars Gudmestad, Uff Ryberg and Jo Nesbe, based on his bestseller) pulls a series of jumpcut narrative switcheroos that confound your expectations about the kind of escapist fluff you’re watching. Then the film gives a jolt of pleasure to fans of hunky Scandinavian guys who literally go through a whole lot of shit – Roger’s full submersion in a backyard privy will be a deal-breaker for some.

Rising Norwegian star Hennie, winner of his country’s Oscar and a onetime celebrity for being the first

kid in the country to confess to being an illegal graffiti artist, would make an excellent James Bond if short Norwegian guys were eligible: his blonde good looks (resembling the cuddly former Giants infielder Mike Fontenot) go well with a cheeky narrator-in-peril role. Look for a nude rear shot of Hennie after disrobing, about 45 minutes in.

This comes just before he learns his hair contains a tracking gizmo, leading to a thorough haircut. Fans of gay softcore features will recognize some cheap tricks designed to position the hero as both morally compromised and stark naked.

There’s nothing remotely redeeming about the wayward trajectory of Roger Brown, but a few plot jumps are delicious, especially if you’re fond of dead buddies springing back to life after their bodies have been dumped into the nearest fjord. This brutal thriller does reinforce just how violently Americanized the once squeaky-clean Nordic hero has become.

DVD >>

Beyond Kane

by Tavo Amador

O

rson Welles (1915-85) peaked early. His greatest full-length film was his first, and the shadow Citizen Kane (1941) cast was so great that his subsequent movies, both as an actor and director, inevitably suffered in comparison, which is unfair. The Magnificent Ambersons (42), despite RKO’s tacked-on studio ending, is gripping. His acting and directing in The Lady from Shanghai (47) and Touch of Evil (58) are never less than compelling.

His performances as Rochester opposite Joan Fontaine’s Jane Eyre (43) and as Harry Lime in Sir Carol Reed’s The Third Man (49) are riveting. His uneven ventures into Shakespeare, Macbeth (48), Othello (52), and Chimes at Midnight (65), are imaginative and daring. Two of his lesser-known but equally mesmerizing pictures, The Stranger (46) and The Trial (62), have been released on a DVD set called Citizen Welles. It also includes a rarity, an eight-minute short, Hearts of Age (34), that he co-directed.

In 1963, Hannah Arendt published her landmark analysis of Nazi Adolph Eichmann’s criminal trial in Jerusalem, The Banality of Evil.

In The Stranger, Welles anticipated the possibility of a monster blandly masquerading as an ordinary member of society. In a tony Connecticut town, Professor Charles Rankin

(Welles), a highly regarded academic, is engaged to beautiful, charming Mary Longstreet (Loretta Young), the daughter of a prominent judge (Philip Merivale). Although WWII has just ended, they and their neighbors are understandably eager to put the horrors of that bloody conflict behind them. Their complacency and emotional security are challenged by the arrival of the nondescript Mr. Wilson (Edward G. Robinson), a government agent trailing a Nazi. Unexpectedly, the Nazi is found dead. Who killed him? Why? Welles’ direction is suspenseful.

His evocation of a comfortable, upper-middle class world is flawless. His acting captures the arrogance of a well-bred intellectual.

Young, one of classic Hollywood’s loveliest stars, brings her innate elegance and charm to a part that in less glamorous hands would be forgettable. Robinson, the studio era’s greatest gangster, was also its most memorable enforcer of justice. As he proved in Double Indemnity (44), he may appear coarse and naive, but he’s neither. Merivale’s dismissive sense of entitlement is perfect. With Richard Long, years before TV’s Big Valley.

The outstanding black-and-white cinematography is by Russell Mattey. Anthony Veiller wrote the terrific screenplay, with uncredited bits from Welles and John Huston. The finale, set in a looming clock tower, is thrilling, and perhaps influenced Alfred

Hitchcock’s Vertigo (58).

Franz Kafka’s prescient 1925 novel The Trial anticipated the hallucinatory world of the modern totalitarian state, perfected by Hitler and Stalin, in which individuals are so fearful for their own safety that they sever ties with family, friends, neighbors, and their community. One morning, the police wake up Joseph

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

34 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 24-30, 2012

▼

Personals The

Massage>>

Andreas Knapp

Director Peter Sellars conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, a transfixing performance now out on DVD.

Music >>

Matthew as marvel verall, the roll-your-own trend in symphony orchestra recording has been one of the happier developments in today’s classical music world.

The Berlin Philharmonic – along with the London Symphony, arguably the least endangered of the 3B Big Bands – has only very recently entered the field, but with a characteristically large splash: a two-DVD set of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in the Peter Sellars “ritualization,” the point of which, fittingly, was at least as much visual as aural.

In spring 2010, the spunky, porcupine-coiffed gay director, who has made some of the greatest opera productions I’ve seen (the Chicago Tannhaeuser) and some of the most misguided (the San Francisco Doctor Atomic), but whose work with Bach has been consistently inspired, made a show of this greatest of Passion settings not by staging it in the usual sense, but by drawing out its already patent drama in what he has called a meditation and a prayer. This time, the words are not overblown.

It played first at that year’s Salzburg Easter Festival (where it was hailed in the name of its conductor, Berlin’s music director Simon Rattle, as “Rattle’s Easter miracle”) and then repaired to the orchestra’s home base, Berlin’s Philharmonie, whose unique, exemplary performing space was itself one of Sellars’ inspirations. The transfixing performance captured on DVD was the final one, on April 11.

It was the fame of this production alone that drew me and I suspect many others to the Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall (www.berlinerphilharmoniker.de), where it has held pride of place since the orchestra established it. In it you can catch the BP’s entire season as it unfolds, both live and in an ever-expanding archive that now includes video of some legendary Berlin performances of the past. BP fans will need to know little more. To draw just the top card from the deck, I’ll be getting up at 1 a.m. tonight to hear the live broadcast of this week’s concert, with soloists Anne Sofie von Otter and Isabelle Faust joining emeritus music director Claudio Abbado in a mouth-watering program of Berg and Schumann, and I’ll likely be visiting the archive for encores.

The marvel of Sellars’ vision of the St. Matthew is that it only enhances and not even once detracts from the penetration of the music. His fingerprints are all over the stylized, ritualized action he devises for – and draws

Model/Escorts>>

CHILANGOSEXY.COM

O

out of – the musicians, but this time it’s entirely free from mannerism. Best of all, it leads you directly and deeply into the marvels of the text.

With the exception of Jesus (sung austerely by Christian Gerhaher), who surveys the action from above the stage, the vocal soloists – as fine an ensemble as could be assembled today: Camilla Tilling, Magdalena Kozena, Topi Lehtipuu, and Thomas Quasthoff, all in peak form – interact with the instrumentalists with whom they share their arias as well as with each other and the choristers. And they don’t merely move around the stage but throughout the Philharmonie, sometimes even engaging the live audience. A verbal description alone makes it sound cluttered and busy, when the opposite is the case.

In Sellars’ St. Matthew, the Evangelist (an inspired, almost frighteningly concentrated, searingly intense Mark Padmore, giving the performance of a lifetime) is not just the narrator of events – though he’s that, too – but a player in them, as often as not doubling for Jesus himself. It’s a layering of character that counter-intuitively involves rather than distances.

Sellars doesn’t stint on the pivot point of the Passion story, Jesus’ betrayal by Judas with a kiss. No more has his Evangelist sung that Judas kisses Jesus, but his Judas (Jorg Schneider; not, I think, accidentally handsome) kisses the Evangelist-as-Jesus full on the lips. It’s a moment of tremendous charge, yet not a volt of it registers as sensationalist or, for that matter, expressly erotic.

The whole of Part Two is all but unbearably intense. Kozena is electrifying in its first number, in which the death of Jesus – yet to take place “onstage” – is foreshadowed in the single word “gone” (in German hin). Over the course of the next two hours, both Padmore and Kozena actually cry, and no wonder. It looks and feels anything but staged or stagey.

It was said that the Chicago Tannhaeuser choruses were riveting because the choristers, to a one, knew who they were. The same holds true in Berlin, where Simon Halsey’s Berlin Radio Chorus and the Berlin State Cathedral Choir boys fill the stage with convincingly real people. Rattle leads what is not merely a historically informed St. Matthew but a fluid, free, and deeply felt one. He guides the performance so surely that in the arias he doesn’t “conduct” per se at all, and his pacing of the chorales alone is music-making at its most potent and refined.▼

EDUARDO

by Tim Pfaff

415-374-4439

Tall Blond CMT nr Dolores Park with strong skilled hands.

Specialty massages $85-$200 415-706-9740 E21-21

Therapeutic Deep Tissue or Swedish Massage10am-10pm daily. Quiet central Castro location. Call for rates and availability 415-685-1915

Fremont, Jim CMT * Great Hands * Mature $40/hr 510-651-2217 E20-E24

Wanna Melt? Castro $50 Jim 415-621-4517 E17-28

HAIRY MASSEUR Erotic Relaxing Full Body Massage by hairy Irish/Portugese guy.

All Bay Area.

(510) 912-8812 late nights ok.

E21-21

E21-21

Asian CMT In Sunnyvale. In -$50, Out-$70 Michael 408-400-9088 or 408-893-1966

SEXY ASIAN $60 Jim 269-5707

E18-22

E18-21

Massage W/Release 7 Days A Week. In/Out 415-350-0968 E21-21

Pelvis – Hips – Thighs - Low Back Jeff Gibson 415-626-7095

COREMASSAGE4MEN.COM E18-23

“Dr. BLISS” is IN! I love touching men and it shows! Massage is my art form. 415.706.6549 http://bodymagicsf.blogspot.com E21-21

www.sfgaymassage.com E06-18

Edgy Escort For Xtreme Clients

HOT*CKSR*24HRS

Out* 860-5468*$150 Hr* E21-21

STR8 IN THE HAIGHT I kick back and watch Str8 porn.

You feed. That’s all I do. I don’t top. I don’t play with your nipples.

I kick back. $80 415-504-0742 John. Host or travel.

E19-22

BE SAFE! s 53% #/.$/-3 s EVERY TIME! E52

t

Read more online at www.ebar.com

May 24-30, 2012 • Bay Area Reporter • 35

“Ahhh. A man with a sharp wit. Someone ought to take it away from him before he cuts himself.”

-Peter da Silva

Model/Escorts>>

JeffAllen_2x5

People>>

Men MEET Men...

Right Now

M M M

VISA/MC/AMEX - as low as $1.00 per day!

MrN

Connnect Now on the Bay Area’s hottest chatline!

FREE 415-707-2400 Try it for

408-539-2400 510-281-2400 650-870-2500

People>> www.kinkycoach.com Learn new fetish or masturbation techniques, create deeper intimacy, or expand you erotic potential. Paul 415-336-3117

707-582-2400 831-789-2400 925-955-2000

a r

origin_Communications_2x2_3910

ai r q

E21-22

E52

HOT LOCAL MEN & WOMEN Listen to Ads & Reply FREE! SF - 415-430-1199 East Bay - 510-343-1122 Use FREE Code 5931, 18+ CLB

Right Now VISA/MC - as low as $1.00 per day!

ebar.com

E52

The

Classified Order Form

Deadline: NOON on MONDAY. Payment must accompany ad. If you have a question, call 415.861.5019.

Display advertising rates available upon request. Ads will appear in print and online.

Indicate Type Style Here

M M M

Men MEET Men...

sfmanscaping.com Look your best this holiday season! Body groom / trim services.

Please book through www.sfmanscaping.com -- Gil

MEET

L A REMEN! MrN

Connnect Now on the Bay Area’s hottest chatline!

San Francisco

XBOLD and BOLD stop here

Try it for FREE 415.430.1199

415-707-2400

Oakland

510.343.1122 408-539-2400 San Jose

831-789-2400 510-281-2400 408.514.1111 925-955-2000 650-870-2500 FREE CODE: REPORTER 707-582-2400

ai rq

Other local numbers:

1-888-634-2628

RATES for Newspaper and website: First line, Regular 10.00 All subsequent lines 5.00 BOLD double price X-BOLD triple price

PAYMENT:

Cash

Personal Check

Money Order

Contact Information Name Address Number of Issues

Mail with payment to: Bay Area Reporter 395 Ninth Street SF, CA 94103 OR FAX TO: 415.861.8144 OR E-MAIL: simma@ebar.com

Credit Card Payment Name Card Number Expiration Date Signature

City Classification

Visa

MasterCard

AmEx

Telephone State Amt. Enclosed

E FRtoEListen

Tell-AFriend

REWARDS

& Reply to Ads!

1-888-MegaMatesTM

24/7 Friendly Customer Care 1(888)MegaMates 18+

Zip

©2012 PC LLC

2117

a r