San Francisco Bay Times - April 7, 2022 by San Francisco Bay Times

April 7–20, 2022 http://sfbaytimes.com

Iconic

Portraits

See pages 2–3

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama by Amy Sherald, oil on linen, 2018, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

Iconic Portraits The Obama Portraits Tour Includes Historic Work by Out Gay Artist A much-needed injection of hope will come to San Francisco this June when The Obama Portraits Tour opens at the de Young museum on June 18. The installation will feature the portraits of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama by artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald. Wiley and Sherald are the first Black artists selected to create presidential portraits, and Wiley is also the first out gay artist to earn this distinction. Hope refers not just to the word featured on former President Obama’s memorable first presidential campaign poster (designed by Shepard Fairey of the Shepard Fairey Equality Project benefiting LGBTQ rights), but also to significant shifts toward social justice marked by the Obama presidency and its legacy, as well as to Wiley and Sherald’s achievements. Portraits can sometimes reveal as much about their creators as they do about their subjects, evidenced by the visually striking paintings of the Obamas. Re-Envisioning Representations of Political Leaders Tom Campbell, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco says, “Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of former President Barack Obama and Amy Sherald’s portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama are groundbreaking American portraits that speak to the sense of hope and possibility that the Obamas inspire. Both Wiley and Sherald are artists who work within the genre of Western portraiture painting, while actively expanding, and critiquing artistic conventions that have traditionally defined representations of power. We are thrilled that Bay Area audiences will have the opportunity to experience these powerful, iconic paintings in person at the de Young museum.” “The Obama Portraits Tour is an opportunity to bring the power of portraiture to different audiences across the nation,” says Kim Sajet, Director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery that organized the tour. “Portraiture is incomplete without the viewer and these paintings have elicited responses that range from deep contemplation to pure joy. We are delighted to be able to extend this experience to San Francisco and Boston for a tour spanning eight cities with the nation’s capital included.” The paintings were commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery and unveiled on February 12, 2018, in the presence of the Obamas and the artists. Wiley and Sherald worked independently from each other. In painting these two portraits, however, they effectively re-envisioned the centurieslong tradition of representing political leaders. Before photography, painted portraits often served as the primary image of a U.S. president. Inclusions of Personal Significance to the Obamas The two paintings present a noted contrast to the formality of earlier presidential portraits and images of first ladies. Both artists worked in close consultation with their sitters and used photographs as working tools as they planned their compositions. Wiley placed a seated President Obama—gazing forward to capture the viewer’s attention—against a backdrop of flowers with special significance in the life of the former president and his family. Included are chrysanthemums as the official flower of Chicago; jasmine, which pays homage to the sitter’s birthplace and upbringing in Hawaii; and purple African lilies, which are native to Kenya. Sherald depicted the former First Lady against a light-blue background in a contemplative pose. Her dress, by Milly designer Michelle Smith, carries meaning as well, referring both to the modernist traditions of abstract art and to the traditional patterned quilts of the isolated, rural Gee’s Bend community in Alabama. Enslaved women began quilting there in the 19th century due to a physical need for warmth, yet even those earliest works hold artistic as well as historic and emotional meaning to viewers today. Through the presentation of these now-iconic works by Wiley and Sherald, the exhibition contemplates how portraiture has given visual form to ideas of power, identity, status, and legacy throughout history. At the de Young, the large portraits will be presented in a gallery adjacent to the museum’s American Art collection. The de Young’s holdings—one of the cornerstone collections of

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American art in the United States—include more than one-thousand paintings spanning from the 17th century to the present, and a number of portraits by historical artists. Images of Lasting Value, Inspiring Contemplation Another aspect of hope for us at the San Francisco Bay Times concerning The Obama Portraits Tour is that the paintings represent and contribute to the lasting importance of the Obamas, who are still active and influential leaders. The portraits, which will continue to draw widespread interest, will also hopefully encourage viewers of all generations to appreciate this artform and the quiet, meaningful contemplation it can inspire. In an era of here today, gone tomorrow Snapchat selfies, the Obama portraits provide a refreshing reminder that thoughtfully presented images can hold lasting importance and be of great value. We strive for at least the former with our biweekly publication and its team of designers, led by talented Beth Greene, and photography team led by legendary Rink. Wiley’s painting, which is a towering 84.1” x 58” oil on canvas work, presents the 44th president in near life-size form. Viewing it in person offers a palpable experience of magnitude in all respects. The painting promotes intense study to appreciate all of its details, from the bold to subtle. The same holds true for Sherald’s work, which is a 72.1” x 60.1” oil on linen. To further inform viewers and to add another sensory component, the installation will include an eight-minute-long video featuring the curator and artists discussing the historical and artistic significance of the portraits. About the Artists The first Black artists commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to paint official portraits of a president and first lady, Wiley and Sherald have throughout their careers consistently addressed the lacunae of Black representation in Western art history, using portraiture to explore complex issues of identity that transcend the individual pictured. The Obama Portraits are rendered in the artists’ signature styles. Amy Sherald Amy Sherald (b. 1973, Columbus, Georgia) is an artist based in the Greater New York area whose work documents contemporary African American experience in the United States through arresting, otherworldly portraits. Sherald subverts the medium of portraiture to tease out unexpected narratives, inviting viewers to engage in a more complex debate about accepted notions of race and representation, and to situate Black heritage centrally in the story of American art. In 2016, Sherald was the first woman and first African American to receive first prize in the triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition held by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Sherald has also received a 2019 Smithsonian Ingenuity Award. In addition to her painting practice, Sherald has worked for almost two decades alongside socially committed creative initiatives. In this capacity, she has taught art in prisons and developed art projects with teenagers. Kehinde Wiley Kehinde Wiley (b. 1977, Los Angeles) is a New York City and Senegal-based artist well known for creating vibrant, large-scale paintings of contemporary African Americans in the tradition of European portraiture. He earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Yale University School of Art in 2001 and gained national recognition when he was still in his twenties. The Brooklyn Museum presented Wiley’s first major museum exhibition in 2004, and in 2015, organized Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic, a mid-career retrospective that traveled to six cities nationwide. Wiley typically portrays people of color posing as famous figures in Western art. Through this practice, he challenges the visual rhetoric of power that is dominated by elite white men. In 2019, Wiley established Black Rock, a multidisciplinary artist-in-residence program in Dakar, Senegal. About the Tour The Obama Portraits are part of the National Portrait Gallery’s collection, which holds the nation’s only complete collection of portraits of U.S. presidents that is accessible to the public. The Portrait Gallery began commissioning presidential portraits in 1994, with George H.W. Bush. It commissioned its first portrait of a first lady in 2006, with Hillary Rodham Clinton. Originally a five-

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama by Amy Sherald, oil on linen, 2018, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

city endeavor, which commenced in Chicago on June 18, 2021, The Obama Portraits Tour was extended by popular demand to include two additional cities with presentations this year at the de Young here as well as at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. For more on the Portrait Gallery and the full tour schedule, visit https://tinyurl.com/2rx3hhjf The de Young is open Tuesday–Sunday, 9:30 am–5:15 pm. The Obama Portraits Tour, which, after its opening will run through August 14, will be included in general admission to the de Young museum, with free admission for San Francisco Bay Area residents every Saturday. https://deyoung.famsf.org/

Iconic Portraits

BAY TIMES S

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2022)

Revisiting a Portrait of ‘Betty’s List’ Founder Dr. Betty Sullivan

CHRIS STEWART/SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/POLARIS

GILMAN COLLECTION, PURCHASE, ANN TENENBAUM AND THOMAS H. LEE GIFT, 2005

By Jennifer Viegas

Oscar Wilde

Dr. Betty Sullivan

A decade after the creation of “Betty’s List,” its founder Dr. Betty Sullivan was profiled in the San Francisco Chronicle on June 21, 2006. Both the feature by Chronicle staff writer Patricia Yollin (who died in 2020) and the accompanying photos by Chris Stewart managed to capture an essence of Betty that, at least to me, rings true even now some sixteen years later. Yollin began the piece: “When it’s 5:30 am and she can hear the owner of a gay bar down the street dumping empty beer cans into the trash, even the highly nocturnal Betty Sullivan knows she’s been up too long. After all, she’s 53 now, several incarnations removed from the Ole Miss sorority girl, divorced single mother, Tennessee schoolteacher, and high-powered East Coast consultant that she used to be. It’s time to turn off the computer and go to bed. When Sullivan wakes up at the ‘crack of noon,’ as she likes to do, she can return to ‘Betty’s List’ again. And to her Web site. And to her blog. And to the events she stages. And to the cable TV show she appears on every week. In the world of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning San Francisco, Sullivan is ubiquitous.”

Elliot Page

Bayard Rustin

I should add that including these words and the portrait of Betty in the San Francisco Bay Times, which she co-publishes with me in addition to remaining at the helm of “Betty’s List,” was not at all her idea. It was solely mine, and for a few different reasons.

SERGIO GARCIA

LGBTQ Community Leader and Internet Visionary

Margaret Cho

The first requires going back in time to the early 1990s. British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee created the first website on August 6, 1991; it contained information about the World Wide Web Project. By 1992, when most consider the modern-day internet was born, there were just ten websites online. By the end of 1993, there were 623. In 1995, services such as eBay and craigslist—innovations at the time—launched. That same year, Betty in her own life was experiencing tremendous change, having relocated from Washington, D.C., to Santa Cruz for a relationship that did not last long. Yollin wrote: “Heartbroken, Sullivan moved to the city. ‘Here I was in the mecca of the gay world and I didn’t

know anybody,’ Sullivan recalled. That quickly changed. Sullivan had worked in the nation’s capital for eight years as director of education at the Newspaper Association of America. She had taught at Columbia University in New York, where she’d received a doctorate in linguistics. She’d traveled extensively—Brazil, South Africa, Sweden, Japan—showing how newspapers could be used as a classroom teaching tool. Her resume was hefty. It all added up to an enormous list of contacts and ‘data coming out the wazoo.’ And so, in late 1996, it made perfect sense to send out an e-mail to dozens of women about an upcoming lesbian dance. That’s how ‘Betty’s List,’ formerly the ‘Sullivan Communications Big List,’ got its start.” By 2006, thousands of individuals had joined “Betty’s List” or at least knew about it, but not everyone had a chance to meet Betty in person, much less realize that there is an actual Betty. This is understandable, given popular brands such as Betty Crocker stamped with a fictitious name and person. The Chronicle feature therefore highlighted an LGBTQ community leader and internet visionary while also revealing, in Wizard of Oz fashion, the humanity behind all of the virtual communications. Yollin and Stewart entered Betty’s self-described “cave” (office) and showed us the “Betty’s List” founder in all of her jock-attired realness. Betty was a star basketball player and softball ace. She enjoys hiking and going into nature, as hinted by her hoodie in the portrait purchased during one of her trips to Yosemite. Then and Now As for all photo portraits, the image of Betty by Stewart captured a particular moment in time. The photographer had nearly finished the session when Betty’s yellow tabby Louie the Great, curious about what was going on, stared at Stewart while still desiring Betty’s attention. In the split second that Betty swung around to pet Louie, the gesture was captured along with so much more: the buzz of her work space with multiple computer and TV screens; her penchant for postit notes and important documents neatly taped in full view; the mix of French Provincial, Victorian, and California Arts and Crafts decor; and, for keen-eyed viewers, her second cat at the time, calico Miss Frances.

Louie and Miss Frances sadly went over the rainbow bridge several years ago, but now there is tabby Detective Dickie Lou “Buddy” Bonks, otherwise known as the San Francisco Bay Times cat. The electronics have been upgraded, the space has shifted somewhat, and there is more elaborate decor, but overall, it is much the same and is still located in Betty’s beautiful and inviting Castro district Victorian home. She could have become a professional interior decorator, a skill that comes naturally to her. She is a talented cook as well. Her kitchen, with its heirloom cast iron pans and mix of vintage dishware and lighting, would look at home next to Julia Child’s kitchen, now commemorated at the Smithsonian. The Chronicle piece included another photo, offering a glimpse of Betty’s “fulltilt diva” look that she attributes to the Betty “character.” When she is in that mode, watch out, world! Check out this other image, and the rest of the Yollin piece, here: https://tinyurl.com/ynct9v9e A Joint Birthday Celebration What also inspired me to revisit the 2006 story and photo was the passing last month of Betty’s brother and only sibling, Stan. On an extended vacation in Florida, he had a bicycling accident and died due to complications from the injuries. I saw a lot of Betty in Stan, and vice versa, and liked him very much. Even in the ICU, he could flash a smile and crack a joke that would light up the room. His death came as a complete shock to me, and led to Betty traveling to and from the funeral in a difficult journey that included severe tornado threats and very long delays. During one phone call to me, I could hear airport personnel in the background calling for her and other passengers to move away from any windows and take shelter in the bathrooms. It goes without saying that life is short and uncertain. Meaningful portraits can open a floodgate of emotions and memories. Think of your own loved ones, and consider the image(s) that mean the most to you. Chances are that during an emergency, they will be among the few items you will want to take with you. The anniversary of my first meeting Betty is today, April 7. Some people think that we are married; we are not. As she once (continued on page 20)

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APR IL 7, 2022

Celebrating 20 Years of The SF LGBT Center’s Service to the Community

Photos courtesy of SF LGBT Center

munity. The goal was clear; build and maintain a 40,000 square foot world-class community center for future generations of LGBTQ+ San Franciscans. We did just that, and it was the first of its kind built from the ground up.

Social Philanthropreneur Derek Barnes It’s hard to believe that 20 years ago, San Francisco opened the doors to a new chapter: the creation of a new LGBT community center. Many people were involved in this project from the idea’s inception, which had already been in the works for over a decade before officially opening in 2002. Part of what drew me and many others to the project was a vision to connect the past and future of our community in a way that would continue our healing and progress. The Center’s mission was audacious, on the edge of almost being unattainable. The Center wanted to be the one place in San Francisco where all LGBTQ+ people could feel welcome regardless of gender, race, age, or socioeconomic status. Many naysayers questioned the relevance and need for such an institution in our community. Its promise threatened some nonprofit leaders. They were afraid that it would compete and ultimately consume other organizations providing critical services to advance the interests of, heal, and protect the city’s LGBTQ+ com-

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The challenges along the way were vast, and there are too many to mention in this column. Here are a few that stand out for me: conflicts with Nibbi Fine Line Construction; esthetics and issues integrating new construction with a 100-year-old Victorian structure (Fallon Building); a growing need for capital to fund an increasing project budget of $13M+; shifts in Executive Director leadership; debates naming of the building; operating economics that challenged the project in its first few years of operation; and the controversial color of the Victorian. The list from my recall is endless. Yet, the staff, board of directors, donors, City of San Francisco, and community were determined to fight for its existence. Like a sprout pushing up against its soil, earthly elements, and other unyielding forces, the doors finally opened in March 2002. When I joined The Center’s board in 2000, I didn’t know what to expect in terms of involvement. It was clear that the project needed a working board and committees of volunteers. I was relatively new to the city and had just moved from the East Coast. It was a blessing for me to have a cohort of friends I already knew who moved here at the same time I did. However, I didn’t know many people who were native to the Bay Area or who had been here for many years but were originally from other places. Some vital context was missing for

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me regarding how the city “worked” and how to navigate it. In many ways, I didn’t experience the isolation and non-connectedness of moving to a new place because I already had developed a strong network. For someone young or single, moving to a new city like San Francisco from a smaller town without having access to information, resources, activities, and guidance from others is extremely difficult. I’ve often said that San Francisco is a city filled with delightful irony. It is a relatively small and seemingly progressive town, but people can feel disconnected, isolated, and marginalized in it. It was my personal wake-up call to become more philanthropically involved. It became clear that The Center would be a vital place to start someone’s LGBTQ+ journey in San Francisco. In addition to creating an enduring legacy and institution for the community of San Francisco to share, I have received many gifts by being part of this tremendous undertaking. It allowed me to be deeply involved in the work of philanthropy in a way that I had never before. As Chair of The Center’s Finance

The Purple Building (2017)

Pride Party at SF LGBT Center (2011)

and Operations Committee, one of my more memorable achievements was finding this remarkably talented Director of Finance who would later become The Center’s Executive Director, Rebecca Rolfe, presiding since 2007. Along the way, I have met other remarkable people who remain close to me today. Many individuals were involved in creating this institutional pillar. The support of numerous community leaders is also extraordinary—Mayor Willie Brown, Senator Scott Wiener, Jody Cole, Mark Leno, Ken McNeely, and our own Betty Sullivan.

It’s hard to imagine San Francisco, the convening neighborhoods of The Castro, Hayes Valley, and SOMA, and the intersection of Octavia Blvd. and Market Street without the magnificent structure of The San Francisco LGBT Community Center. Over the last two decades, the development and revival within this part of town have been astonishing, including The Center’s own multi-million dollar renovation. The first place I owned in San Francisco was just blocks away and so it was (continued on page 20)

Election Day, April 19: Two Down, Two to Go

Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History Louise “Lou” Fischer As noted last year, 2022 is no ordinary year for elections, especially for the approximately 250,000 registered voters of Assembly District 17 (eastern side of San Francisco) who have a whopping four elections in one year. To review how we got here: corruption, resignations, and appointments that resulted in Dennis Herrera shifting from City Attorney to head of the Public Utilities Commission and Assemblyman David Chiu accepting Mayor Breed’s appointment to City Attorney. In one fell swoop (well, really two swoops,) Dennis does not have to run for office in 2023 (or ever again) and David can mercifully leave Sacramento, come back to San Francisco, live with his lovely wife, and raise his young son in person instead of over FaceTime. Since none of the four candidates for Assembly received a majority of votes in the first of the four elections (February 15), the April 19 election is the runoff between former District 9 Supervisor David Campos and current District 6 Supervisor Matt

If you are registered in Assembly District 17, you already received the shortest ballot in recent history— you only need to fill in one circle; it’ll take less time to vote than to lick the envelope. Save the included “I voted” sticker to wear proudly on Election Day and return the ballot by mail or in one of the many drop boxes throughout the city or bring it directly to City Hall on or before April 19. If you didn’t get a ballot, go to City Hall weekdays from 8 am to 5 pm, and during the two weekends leading up to Election Day, to vote in person. This is predicted to be a low turnout election; there’s nothing else on the ticket and half the electorate isn’t thrilled with either candidate. Let’s be realistic, Chiu’s supporters are happy that he “came home” to San Francisco, but many are secretly sitting shivah (mourning) for the gaping hole he left in Sacramento. While I did not speak directly with current State Senator Scott Wiener, his lack of endorsement in this and the February 15 race telegraphs an attitude of “I don’t like anybody but I’ll have to work with the winner, so, whatever happens, I’ll make it work.” Chiu’s accomplishments in housing/homelessness advocacy, civil and LGBTQ rights, healthcare, education, and economic justice are a tough act to follow; supporters of

Chiu are stuck choosing between the “least bad option.” Campos and Haney are allies from the same side of the “blue versus more-blue” political spectrum in San Francisco. Interactions between the two were expected to be polite banter similar to the Warner Brothers Goofy Gophers cartoon characters (“after you, no I insist, after you”) and not the usual “knife fight in a phone booth.” Instead, they have raised the bar from “knife fight” to “chainsaw fight” by attacking each other’s’ credentials and accomplishments (or lack thereof). Campos’ continued reference to Haney as “the Supervisor from the Tenderloin” is intended to spotlight the rampant problems of homelessness, drugs, and public safety in Haney’s district, while Haney maintains that Campos has not produced any meaningful improvements for the area in his role as Chief of Staff for current District Attorney Chesa Boudin (for which he is currently on leave, so that’s a specious argument). Detractors of Haney call him an over-educated (Stanford/Stanford) hypocritical chameleon in a suit, while Campos’ foes refer to him as an over-educated (Stanford/Harvard), anti-housing extremist in a suit (but with a snappy bow tie from his prodigious bow tie collection). So, who is predicted to win? This is Haney’s race to lose; while separated by only 726 votes (out of 93,778) in the February election, the other two candidates, Bilal Mahmood and Thea Selby accounted for 28% of the votes. Mahmood has already endorsed Haney, but this could go either way; a high proportion of his 20,895 votes may go to Haney or vot-

ers may be so indifferent and not vote at all. Both candidates have managed to trip over themselves and provoke voters. Haney canceled an Alice B. Toklassponsored debate that had already been scheduled and promoted because he Volunteer greeters welcomed voters arriving to vote using one of the official was already ballot drop boxes available outside SF City Hall. (2022) in the lead so and while I have supported many why should straight allies over LGBTQ candihe bother showing up for a debate dates in other races (specifically Chiu against an LGBTQ candidate in over Campos in 2014), I’m concerned front of an LGBTQ audience? That said, the Alice Membership endorsed about the lack of LGBTQ representation in elected office so I’m going him anyhow, but anecdotal evidence with the “gay guy.” implies that it was very close and more likely a result of Haney having Don’t forget to vote because “elecmore support among the more modtions have consequences.” erate Membership voters. Campos Louise (Lou) Fischer is a Former was recently criticized for comparing his underdog status to the situation in Co-Chair of the Board of Directors Ukraine, and while he explained that of the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club and has served as he was not minimizing the bloody an appointed and elected Delegate conflict in Europe, in politics, “if for the State Democratic Party. She you’re explaining you’re losing.” is a proud graduate of the Emerge I have had many ups and downs and California Women’s Democratic a few knife fights of my own with Leadership program, was a San Campos and I’ve had both good Francisco Commissioner, and has times and bad with Haney, but at the served in leadership positions in end of the day I’m voting for Campos multiple nonprofit and communityfor reasons of “heart versus head”— based organizations. he’s my neighbor in Bernal Heights, I have a soft-spot for underdogs,

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PHOTO BY RINK

Haney. While “to the victor go the spoils,” in this case, the spoils are limited and the winner will serve the remainder of Chiu’s term but must run again in the statewide June primary and November general elections to remain in office for the first full 2-year term. Assembly terms are only 2 years, so it’s a perpetual cycle of “campaign and run.”

GLBT Fortnight in Review From Bad to Worse I confess there was a time when I enjoyed watching GOP politicians like Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence position themselves to run for president in 2024 in defiance of Trump. Anything that undercuts Trump is a pleasure to savor, and while that is still true, the governor of Florida has now sunk to Trumpian levels. His no-mask Covid policies were bad enough, but his lavish embrace of anti-GLBT legislation is sickening to watch. And after Disney’s CEO finally came out strongly against the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law a week or so ago, DeSantis called for one of the company’s state tax incentives to be revoked—a combination of immaturity and macho bluster that once seemed exclusive to Trump himself. Trump did a great deal of damage to the GLBT community, in part by allowing evangelical factions led by people like Pence and Pompeo to infuse his administration with antigay and anti-trans policies, and also to a large extent by letting Mitch McConnell fill the federal bench with far-right radicals. He was passive, however. Not a particular Christian himself, he allowed us to be thrown under this bus and that train for the benefit of his White Protestant base, who liked that sort of thing. Now, we have men like DeSantis, and Texans like (governor) Abbot and (attorney general) Paxton, who seemingly thrive on homophobia, leading the charge against us. While Texas is teaching conservative states how to criminalize treatments for transgender teens and young adults, Florida is inspiring its brother Red States to campaign for “parental rights,” in public education, by

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banning progressive kids’ books and prohibiting discussion of gender and sexual orientation to elementary students. Under many circumstances, the law also forces teachers and staff to report gay and trans students of any age to their parents. And what’s wrong with letting parents introduce their children to delicate subjects? Nothing at all, of course. But by effectively prohibiting any reference to GLBT people, the law means kids will effectively be force fed a 1950s era image of family life. No one has to announce that two mothers or two fathers is a bad thing for that message to be sent loud and clear by silence itself. Elementary school kids are not “taught” about sex or sexual orientation. But it’s referenced every time they hear about moms and dads. And kids aren’t stupid. Speaking to a reporter from the Daily Beast, one Florida second-grader with lesbian parents said he overheard teachers talking about the new bill. “It’s something they’re not supposed to be talking about because when they’re talking about ‘Don’t Say Gay,’ they’re technically talking about gay,” said Sawyer Robbins astutely. When Sawyer heard about the “stupid” bill, he told the reporter, “The first thing I thought of was something that happened not long ago. I was telling my friend about my parents before this was a thing and he didn’t know what lesbian meant. So, I told him what it meant. I told him, ’It means when a girl marries a girl.’ He said, ‘That’s weird.’ I said, ‘It’s not their fault they fall in love.’” “But now if [a friend] doesn’t know what it is, I can’t tell him. I can’t even

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By Ann Rostow have the same conversation we were having because [of ] the Don’t Say Gay bill.” In fact, the law wouldn’t apply to Sawyer himself, only to his teachers. But he gets the picture, even at eight years old. As his sister’s teacher explained to her class, “Gay only means happy now.” Jesus Wouldn’t Pass Out Bracelets When I am about to judge something that involves the GLBT community or the Democratic Party, I first try to imagine what I would think if the Christian Right or the Republicans were in the same position. And vice versa. So how about the substitute teacher in Ohio who was just fired for handing out pride bracelets to his students? He wasn’t canned for announcing he was gay or for answering a generic gay question in class. Nor was he part of a school celebration of Pride, or a Day of Silence. And it seems he didn’t just make the bracelets available, say to GLBT or allied students in the class. He passed them out. I’d be pissed if my child came home with a “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelet, so I’m sure any uber Christian parents out there were annoyed when Junior came home with rainbows on his wrist. The teacher admitted that he “did technically, violate a policy,” to wit a policy that prohibits teachers from discussing personal political or religious views with the class. Oh, and teachers are also not allowed to distribute bracelets. So, what the hell, man? Incidents like these are promptly elaborated into legislative arguments about progressives who seek to indoctrinate children against

their parents’ will. This doesn’t help us. We’re not looking to transform all the kids into GLBT activists. We’re looking to teach them to think for themselves, to teach them about the world they live in, and to help them envision the future they want to create. Readers, I just broke my writing code and deleted a large section of ranting and railing, preaching to the choir and basically just boring us all to death with unoriginal tirades. I’m making slow progress today, and I kept stopping to reread what I’ve already written with dissatisfaction. Now that I’ve dropped a big chunk, I’m even further behind on my deadline than I was before, and I don’t even have a refreshingly new and fun topic to clear our path ahead. Instead, we must persevere through the dense thicket of anti-GLBT politics and nasty Republican posturing. Say it ain’t so! Bits and Pieces Speaking of the dense thicket, I could tell you about the Justice Department’s letter to state attorney generals, warning them to keep clear of discriminatory anti-transgender legal antics. A nice move by Kristen Clarke, head of the Civil Rights division, but will anything come of it? And the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a $120,000 jury award for transman Jesse Vroegh, who transitioned on the job and was relegated to a remote bathroom at the Mitchellville prison where he worked as a nurse. The high court also gave his lawyers a tidy sum, which I would look up for you if I had the energy and thought it was important—neither of which is the case.

Or perhaps you would like to hear about the Chick-fil-A lawsuit, an absurd case launched against San Antonio by conservatives after Alamo City refused to offer the notoriously bigoted fast-food chain a space at the airport. After the authorities rejected Chick-fil-A, the hapless state legislature passed the “Save Chick-fil-A” bill, a new law that forbids local governments from taking adverse action against a person for religious reasons. (Because these bozos have nothing better to do than to carom like pinballs from one pointless political ding-dong to the next whenever a suitable story pops into their narrow frame of reference.) The San Antonio Family Association then sued the city under this new law, even though the chicken franchise was rejected months before the law was passed. In fact, as is obvious from the ludicrous nickname, the airport decision is what inspired the law to begin with. Oh, and not only did San Antonio reject Chick-fil-A due to its antigay reputation, but they also did so because its restaurants are inconveniently not open on Sundays. The Texas Supreme Court, not exactly a bastion of liberalism, sent the case back to lower court to decide a couple of technical issues and to assess the argument by the plaintiffs that even though the restaurant was refused a concession prior to the law’s passage, the offense is “ongoing” as long as Chick-fil-A is not given a store at the airport. This despite the fact that the airport eventually said Chick-fil-A could reapply, but the chicken eatery declined the offer. Forgive me if I don’t delve further (continued on page 20)

Has Your Income Property Become a Mattress Stuffed with Cash? dle. The more you own, not owe, the less you have to deduct. And skyrocketing property values just add to the pile of money you’re sitting on that can’t be quickly accessed or invested in other opportunities. What’s more, depreciation write-offs eventually disappear on investment properties, making it less attractive to hold onto past a certain period.

Money Matters Brandon Miller A woman donated her grandfather’s footstool to Habitat for Humanity, not realizing there was over $43,000 stashed inside. Oops. Luckily, she was tracked down and reunited with the cash. Hiding money “under the mattress,” as it were, is an age-old habit. While having some cash in your earthquake/emergency kit is great, squirreling away stacks of it leaves you vulnerable to misfortune such as theft, fire, or your own forgetfulness. Without realizing it, you could have hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, that are sitting idle liked stashed cash if you have an income property purchased years ago that has shot up in value. Technically, your money is invested; maybe just not optimally invested anymore. Let me explain. The stock market has a history of outpacing real estate when it comes to rate of return. So, why do people invest in real estate? Because it can offer one huge advantage—leverage. Your investment amount may be used to borrow a greater sum, potentially increasing your return. Quick example: Invest $100k in a property that increases in value by 4% and you earn $4k. Or use that $100k to borrow $400k, and a 4% rate of return yields $20k on your half mil. Leverage makes real estate attractive, but borrowed money becomes less useful to investors over the life of the loan. Early on, most of the mortgage payment goes toward loan interest. As more gets applied toward principal, write-offs steadily dwin-

So, it might be time to question whether your highly appreciated investment property is still meeting your needs or if there’s a better option. The following strategies are just a few available options that can work alone or in any combination. Sell It. Selling provides access to all that equity locked up in your income property and gives you the freedom to do what you want with it. The down side is that you have to pay capital gains taxes on the increase in value from what you paid for the property. You also owe taxes on the amount you depreciated over the years. If you don’t want up to a third of your proceeds to go to taxes, try these options: Trade Up. Owning an income property puts a great tool at your disposal known as a 1031 exchange. Under current tax law, follow the rules and you can defer your tax bill by selling your property and investing all or a portion of that in another income property. (Remember, you might owe capital gains taxes on the amount you keep.) Investing in a bigger property with a bigger mortgage lets you start again with the write-offs and depreciation. Or you can get these same tax-deferral benefits—without the headaches of being a landlord—with a 1031 fund. Your money is pooled with other investors and managed by professionals, which can lead to greater returns than you might get from smaller property investments. Give It Away. This one always raises eyebrows. But there’s a way to benefit a favorite charity and yourself without paying capital gains taxes. With a charita-

ble trust, you name an IRS-approved charity to become trustee and owner of the property. They then pay an amount you specify—between 5% and 50% of the asset’s value—to you or someone you designate over a specified number of years. Let’s say, for example, that you have a rental house that’s valued at $750k and brings in $2,500 a month in rent. You could put it into a charitable trust and have the trust pay you $4,000 a month for the next 20 years. And you never have to take another late-night call from a renter about a broken pipe. My point is that wads of cash tied up in an income property that’s outlived many of its deductions might be put to better use. Perhaps it’s time to pull your money out from under the metaphorical mattress and invest it in other opportunities. For more insight, my firm is offering a free seminar titled “Property and Retirement: Leverage 101” on May 20. Find out more at https://www.briofg.com/upcoming-events

Brio does not provide tax or legal advice, and nothing contained in these materials should be taken as such. The opinions expressed in this article are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security. It is only intended to provide education about the financial industry. To determine which investments may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing. Any past performance discussed during this program is no guarantee of future results. Any indices referenced for comparison are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. As always please remember investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital; please seek advice from a licensed professional. Brio Financial Group is a registered investment adviser. SEC Registration does not constitute an endorsement of Brio by the SEC nor does it indicate that Brio has attained a particular level of skill or ability. Advisory services are only (continued on page 20)

Planning for Life Changes tional stress. These problems can be avoided with the following documents: Advance Health Care Directive

Trust Essentials Jay Greene, Esq., CPA Estate planning prepares us for the uncertain future of disability, incapacity, or death. A comprehensive estate plan includes a robust set of documents that ensures your wishes are honored, and your valuable assets are handled the way we want them to be. Without a proper estate plan, the courts may appoint a conservator to make financial and medical decisions on your behalf, and your assets will be subject to the probate laws of your state when you die. As a result, your assets may be distributed to people you don’t like, or it could cost your loved ones financial and emo8

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The Advance Health Care Directive is a document that specifies the type of medical care you would want should you lose the ability to make your own decisions, such as whether you want to be resuscitated or be kept on life support. This document also serves the important task of naming an agent to make medical decisions for you when you can’t. Durable Power of Attorney A Power of Attorney allows you to appoint someone to make financial and legal decisions on your behalf. The Durable Power of Attorney does not end if you become incapacitated. Trusts & Wills A Revocable Living Trust is a legal structure that allows you to avoid probate, and plan how your assets are handled during your lifetime and after your death. Certain Trusts can protect your assets from creditors and lawsuits. A Last Will and Testament also details how assets are distributed to avoid disputes over your estate, but unfortunately it does not avoid probate. Your Last Will can pour-over

into your Trust, so it’s an important portion of Trust planning. Want more information about our services? RSVP to our hybrid workshop, “Planning Ahead” on April 28, 2022. The event will be hosted via Zoom and will also be in-person at Coventry Place (1550 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94109). To attend in-person, please call 415-905-0215. To attend via Zoom, please visit our website

( www.assetprotectionbayarea.com )

or scan the QR code in our advertisement. See you there!

Statements In Compliance with California Rules of Professional Conduct: The materials in this article have been prepared by Jay Greene for educational purposes only and are not legal advice. This information does not create an attorney-client relationship. Individuals should consult with an estate planning and elder law attorney for up-to-date information for their individual plans. Jay Greene, Esq., CPA, is the founder of Greene Estate, Probate & Elder Law Firm based in San Francisco, and is focused on helping LGBT individuals, couples, and families plan for their future, protect their assets, and preserve their wealth. To learn more and to schedule an appointment, visit https://assetprotectionbayarea.com/

Message from Leadership By Terry Beswick So many industries experienced disruptions in the late 20th and early 21st centuries through tech booms and economic busts, but nothing has upturned virtually every business and consumer interaction like the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes in technology and innovation that were already underway were fasttracked, while some adaptations have been entirely new. And they just keep coming. As the worst of the pandemic seems to have passed (knock on wood), what are we left with? What changes do we want to keep and which do we want to toss out so we can return to business as usual? “Power Connect 2022: The New World of Business,” the Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA)’s annual signature event, is being reimagined in this transformative year to tackle these questions and more, with a particular focus on LGBTQ+ and ally-owned businesses. On Friday, June 17, at SOMArts in San Francisco, the daylong confab will bring together small business owners, corporations and public agencies, not only to network and explore possible business opportunities but also to take a hard look at the new landscape we find ourselves in. I’m reminded of the closing scene of Don’t Look Up on Netflix, when President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her entourage, having escaped the Earth’s annihilation, emerge from their spaceship onto a new

The Future Will Be Streamed on the Metaverse and interesting planet. Please don’t pet the Bronterocs! As we emerge from our long Covid routines, sometimes the outlook here can seem just as bleak. To be sure, in the last few weeks I’ve enjoyed attending in-person events and small dinners again, sans mask. There’s no replacement for seeing people in person and having those serendipitous encounters that make life tick. And lots of people are going through the same thing, feeling hope despite everything wrong in the world. But many people are struggling, here and abroad. Countless retail businesses have closed as the Bay Area’s economic recovery has lagged behind other major metropolitan areas. There is a huge surplus of office space, while most office workers continue to work from home at least a few days a week—and estimates are that about a third will continue to work entirely remotely for the foreseeable future. People have migrated out of the area for a lower cost of living and higher quality of life. The tourist industry is expected to take several years to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Retail theft and property crime are driving everyone nuts. The ripple effects of these shifts on everything from the tax base to public services are profound, but the implications for many small businesses can mean permanent closure—or new opportunities for growth. And at the same time, technological advances continue apace, demanding that we adopt new, more efficient, and cheaper

GGBA Member Spotlight

ways of doing everything. The only constant is change. Many businesses—both small and large—have learned that to compete, they need to adapt, while others get left behind. Driverless cars and security robots. Cryptocurrency and NFT’s. Metaverse economies. CRM’s. Online algorithms and TikTok influencers. Parklets and HVACs. Space tourism and corporate citizenship. Oh my. The growing economic divide and remedying racial and gender inequities. Lifting up our LGBTQ+ and other historically underrepresented business owners. Retraining our workforce. There’s a lot to talk about as we confront the New World of Business. At Power Connect 2022, GGBA member businesses will be creating unique experiences and samplings for participants to enjoy, creating a fun fair environment, while attending workshops on ways to build their businesses in the 2020’s and beyond. Through this and other programs throughout the year, the GGBA and our partners aim to give our members the tools and connections they need not only to survive the impacts of COVID-19, but also to embrace the changes that we see on the horizon today. To register or for more information, visit www.ggbapowerconnect.com To join the GGBA, visit https://ggba.com Terry Beswick is the Executive Director of the Golden Gate Business Association.

Ashleigh Wilson of AuditMate Photos courtesy of Ashleigh Wilson

Most of us take elevators for granted, until they break down. The first electric elevator was invented in 1880, and they have been critical to building construction ever since. The world’s first commercial escalator made its appearance nearly 20 years later, in 1899. Building owners and managers devote necessary attention and budgeting to the installation and upkeep of elevators and escalators, which is where AuditMate comes in. Founder Ashleigh Wilson says, “The elevator business is all I’ve ever known; raised in a family of elevator mechanics, inspectors, and business managers. When I entered the industry in my early 20s, I was passionate about leading global change in an industry rich with history and innovation. I didn’t just see myself as a business manager, I saw myself as an advocate for customers.” GGBA: Please tell us about AudiMate. Ashleigh Wilson: AuditMate is the firstever elevator and escalator auditing software built to empower building owners and managers to get the full value of their elevator contracts.

Ashleigh Wilson

Ashleigh Wilson speaking at the Hustle 2x: Night of Storytelling

Building on our roots in the eleThe AuditMate team at the PepUp Tech Conference in New York City vator industry, our business will become the world’s most powerful importantly, a leading change agent example of a company that sucthroughout business at large. ceeds based on the strategy of doing right by others. In the future we are creating, all GGBA: What motivated you to creemployees and customers experience trust, ate AuditMate? transparency, and safety—both physical Ashleigh Wilson: AuditMate was creand psychological—in their interactions ated because I found that clients didn’t with businesses. As a result, AuditMate fully understand their elevator contracts will rise as the first fully sustainable, profdue to contracts being intentionally vague itable business in its category, but more and confusing and clients were only receiving 50% of the elevator and escalator services they were paying for. GGBA: Who are some of your role models, and especially those who helped to inf luence your business? Ashleigh Wilson: My role model is my step-dad and business partner, Joe Stumph. He started in the business as an elevator technician and climbed the ranks in the corporate elevator industry. Even with the malleable values and shift to a

The AuditMate team at the CREtech Reimagining Real Estate conference in New York City

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GGBA CALENDAR Tuesday, April 12 Make Contact In-Person 6 pm–7:30 pm New Conservatory Theatre Center 25 Van Ness Avenue, SF This is a free networking event for GGBA members and $5 for non-members. Light refreshments and beverages (beer & wine & nonalcoholic) will be served. https://tinyurl.com/5dmsem93 Wednesday, April 20 New Member Orientation 12:30 pm–1:15 pm Zoom link will be sent 1 hour prior to event start Whether you’re a brand-new member or a seasoned networker, you may attend this event! This session will help you: • learn more about the history of the GGBA; • introduce you to new members in your cohort; • and learn simple ways to get involved to grow your business and relationships. https://tinyurl.com/2p8zt4f5 Wednesday, April 27 New Ambassador Committee! Starts at 5:30 pm Vico Cavone 4248 18th Street, SF Join GGBA Board member Olga García and other members as we kick off our new Ambassador Committee. Ambassadors are GGBA members who support the mission of the GGBA: to champion opportunity, development, and advocacy for our LGBTQ+ & Allied business community. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to enhance your community connections and involvement while helping the GGBA uplift LGBTQ+ business owners. https://tinyurl.com/2ybn7rfh Tuesday, May 3 Intro to Pop-Ups & Grassroots Marketing 2 pm–3:30 pm Online event In this workshop, business owners will learn about how a pop-up can be beneficial to them and give them a path to do their first pop-up or improve their events presence. The workshop will be presented by the GGBA and the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, which is a nonprofit organization that for over 30 years has served people in the Bay Area who want to start or grow their business. https://tinyurl.com/y2b7tpn5 Thursday, May 5 Preparing to Pop-Up 2 pm–3:30 pm Join the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center and the GGBA for a virtual workshop that will teach you how to identify the tools and resources you need to Pop-Up while helping you navigate the necessary permits you must obtain. https://tinyurl.com/3ackanjw Friday, June 17 GGBA’s Annual Event: Power Connect 2022 9 am–4 pm SOMArts 934 Brannan Street, SF Everything is different in 2022, it seems, so we’ll be tackling big issues under the theme “The New World of Business,” with highly curated experiences centering on the interests and needs of our member businesses and corporate partners. Some of the new elements we are introducing are: • strategic networking with Business-toBusiness and Business-to-Corporation Matchmaking; • food and drink options hosted by our local members; • keynotes and workshops focused on supplier diversity, the challenges and opportunities of the future, and tools for success in the new world of business. Tickets: $95 for Members ($70 Early Bird Ends on May 17!); $125 for Non-Members https://tinyurl.com/bddwzwj6

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APR IL 7, 2022

DIVAS & DRINKS @ The Academy

March 24 Divas & Drin 'Standing with Ukraine

PHOTO BY RINK

Where are the women in the Castro? On Thursday, March bers of the LGBTQ community and allies for a memorable of $10,000 for the Rainbow World Fund’s emergency fund s profits in Ukraine: Fulcrum, one of the largest LGBTQ+ hu Ukraine; Insight, which has been helping transgender peop LGBTQ Association LIGA, Ukraine's oldest LGBTQ+ org

Emcee Donna Sachet and her close activist colleague Gary that included unique items such as a logo belt buckle and bo vided by Dykes on Bikes® (the wine sports DOB President K framed artwork depicting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rustin, contributed by the Bayard Rustin Coalition; decora produced in Ukraine shortly before the war broke out; a sele Ukraine; and beautiful boxes of chocolates and other sweets

San Francisco Bay Times volunteer coordinator Juan Davila an Vázquez sold raffle tickets and “egg prizes," and donations w ice Morticia of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Rainbow global projects and introduced special guests Leo Volobryns their Ukrainian heritage, how their families and friends in U from all attending.

For a complete list of those who contributed items for the "S Drinks @ The Academy, please see page 14.

Mark your calendars for when Divas & Drinks returns this m Birthdays of San Francisco Bay Times columnist (and much mo ty's List" Founder Dr. Betty Sullivan. To register, go to The

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PHOTO BY RINK PHOTO BY PATRICK CARNEY

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PHOTO BY PATRICK CARNEY

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PHOTO BY PATRICK CARNEY

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The evening culminated with the Divas & Drinks Name Tha and Donna Sachet. Competing teams included the returnin Myers and Lou Fischer, and challengers Team GGBA with Schmitz. Team GGBA prevailed and will return as champi

BAY TIMES S

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2022)

nks @ The Academy: e'

PHOTO BY RINK

Virginia led the live auction ottle of Nasty Woman Wine proKate Brown on the label!); a his key event organizer Bayard ative bottles of sparkling wine ection of beers produced in s from the now war-torn nation.

PHOTO BY PATRICK CARNEY

24, they joined with memevening that raised just short supporting LGBTQ nonuman rights organizations in ple in Ukraine for a decade; and ganization.

nd his associate Miguel were collected by Sister Chola and Novw World Fund’s Jeff Cotter explained the organization’s skyy and Polina Krasnova, who shared thoughts about Ukraine have been impacted, and gratitude for support

Standing with Ukraine” fundraising activities at Divas &

at Tune contest with DJ Rockaway, presented by Olivia, ng champions Team Village People with captain Amy captain Dr. Krystal Drwencke and BRIO’s Pamela ions competing at the next event.

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY PATRICK CARNEY

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY PATRICK CARNEY

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY PATRICK CARNEY

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY PATRICK CARNEY

PHOTO BY RINK

month on Thursday, April 28, for a Celebration of the ore!) Donna Sachet and Co-Publisher/Editor and "Bete Academy’s event page: https://tinyurl.com/yckmt499

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

APR IL 7, 2022

DIVAS & DRINKS @ The Academy DIVAS & DRINKS “Standing With Ukraine” The San Francisco Bay Times wishes to thank Divas & Drinks co-producer The Academy and our ongoing sponsors: Bacardi, Olivia Travel, Extreme Pizza, and the San Francisco Federal Credit Union. We are very grateful to every person, business, and organization that contributed items and services as prizes for the fundraising activities in support of Ukrainian LGBTQ people needing help. A special thanks to the Rainbow World Fund (RWF) and Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for helping to gather funds and make sure they reach those in need. RWF's LGBTQ+ Ukraine Emergency Fund: https://www.rainbowfund.org/

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BAY TIMES S

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2022)

“If I don’t pay my dues, they may send me back to Texas.” By Donna Sachet

– Charlotte Mailliard Shultz

any thanks to all those who attended the latest Divas & Drinks at The Academy, where your generosity helped us to raise nearly $10,000 for Ukrainian humanitarian relief. Partnering with the Rainbow World Fund, led by Jeff Cotter, we heard from Ukrainian Americans Leo Volobrynskyy and Polina Krasnova, to raise money for three different humanitarian organizations in Ukraine. Raff le tickets sold briskly, surprise Easter eggs containing mystery prizes also sold, Leandro Gonzales offered a generous contribution, and a lively auction conducted by Gary Virginia generated enthusiastic bids. Thanks to an anonymous supporter, all the money raised that night up to $5000 was matched. In other words, everything coalesced into a beautiful fundraiser. And even with all that happening, we once again partnered with Bacardi beverages, DJ Rockaway, Olivia Travel, and Extreme Pizza and managed to continue the Name That Tune game with a new champion, Golden Gate Business Association. Don’t miss the next Divas & Drinks on Thursday, April 28, when we’ll celebrate a couple of April birthday personalities! The Service of Remembrance and Celebration of Life for Charlotte Mailliard Shultz at Grace Cathedral last week was the most beautiful event of its kind we have ever witnessed. As Chief of Protocol for the City of San Francisco for over four decades and a diehard supporter of this place we call home, Charlotte not only leaves her mark with perfectly produced large memorable events, but also obviously indelibly touched many individuals with her warmth and humor. The steps leading up to the Cathedral were carpeted in her favorite shade of yellow and alphabetically labeled tables were fully staffed to assure a quick health check-in. Each attendee was presented with a tiny yellow rose enamel pin, a nod to Charlotte’s home State of Texas. Inside the grand structure, the first thing that hit us was a plethora of yellow roses, gathered by Stanlee Gatti in huge arrangements in ceremonial vases and decorating the ends of each pew. If there was another yellow rose anywhere in the State of California, we would be surprised. The crowd was substantial in number and significant in specifics, including a governor, several mayors, and numerous other elected officials.

Saturday, April 9 Soirée 2022 SF LGBT Community Center’s annual gala Co-Hosted by Sister Roma & Honey Mahogany Entertainment curated by Juanita MORE! City View at Metreon 5:30 pm $95–250 www.sfcenter.org Sunday, April 10 SF Imperial Court Investiture 57: Genesis: Dawn of the Ethereal Empire Formal start of the new reign of Emperor Brent & Empress Ehra The Midway, 900 Marin Street 5 pm $35–200 www.imperialcouncilsf.org

The formal program, overseen by the Right Rev. Dr. Marc Handley Andrus, Bishop of California, the Very Reverend Malcolm Clemens Young, Thd., Dean of Grace Cathedral, and the Right Rev. William E. Swing, Seventh Bishop of California, was full of gorgeous music, performed by the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, Boz Scaggs, Frederica von Stade, Caitlin McGinty Beanan, members of the SF Symphony, and others. Each speaker shared very personal memories of their friend, touches of humor, and painful loss. They included Mayors London Breed and Willie Brown and by audio projection, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and Former First Lady of California Maria Shriver. Not surprisingly, Mayor Brown amused the attendees most effectively with remarks about how Charlotte had planned the entire event and humorous references to her unrelenting spirit. The printed program also included written tributes by Thomas E. Horn, President of the Board of Trustees of then SF War Memorial & Performing Arts Center, Matthew Shilvock, General Director of the SF Opera, Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and Charlotte’s dear friend and Producer of Beach Blanket Babylon, Jo Shuman Silver.

Sunday, April 10 Voices Rising SF Gay Men’s Chorus Davies Symphony Hall Music curated by Andrew Lippa 7:30 pm $25–125 www.sfgmc.org Saturday, April 16 Joe Mac’s Infamous Easter Bonnet Sale Unbelievably creative concoctions 440 Castro Free!

After the ceremony, the crowd was ushered into the adjacent courtyard where bounteous food and drink were offered while a live musical ensemble performed. We were fortunate to chat briefly with Governor Gavin Newsom, City Treasurer José Cisneros, Willie Brown, Tom Horn, Dede Wilsey, David Perry & Alfredo Casuso, Michael Micael, Mathew Goudeau, Tony Bravo, Neil Figurelli, Lynne Winslow, and others. Each of them shared special memories of Charlotte as hundreds of people were briefly united in grief and affection. Our paths crossed periodically, ever more frequently in the past few years, and she showed us nothing but warmth and kindness. Regular readers of this column will remember the story of our visit to her legendary penthouse on Nob Hill and what a gracious hostess she was. If ever there were a perfect send-off for an irreplaceable San Franciscan, this was it.

Sunday, April 17 Easter in the Park with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Early children’s activities Hunky Jesus & Foxy Mary contests Dolores Park 10 am–4 pm Free! https://www.thesisters.org/ Thursday, April 28 Divas & Drinks Celebrating the birthdays of Betty Sullivan & Donna Sachet Guest emcees Gary Virginia and Carolyn Wysinger and many special guests, Bacardi drinks, Extreme Pizza, Name That Tune The Academy, 2166 Market Street $10 www.academy-sf.com

PHOTO BY RINK

Donna Sachet is a celebrated performer, fundraiser, activist, and philanthropist who has dedicated over two decades to the LGBTQ Community in San Francisco. Contact her at empsachet@gmail.com

PHOTO BY SHAWN NORTHCUTT

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

PHOTO BY RINK

On Friday, April 1, Donna joined Grubstake co-owners Jimmy Consos and Nick Pigott in hosting a community party at Grubstake in appreciation of supporters who joined in the “Save the Grubstake” campaign. Plans to renovate the restaurant and build housing units above it were approved by the San Francisco Planning Commission and subsequently by the Board of Supervisors on October 19. Additional coverage of the party will be included in the next issue of the San Francisco Bay Times coming out Thursday, April 21.

APR IL 7, 2022

Count Us, Include Us, Know Us

2261 Market Street, No. 309 San Francisco CA 94114 Phone: 415-601-2113 525 Bellevue Avenue Oakland CA 94610 E-mail: editor@sfbaytimes.com www.sfbaytimes.com The Bay Times was the first newspaper in California, and among the first in the world, to be jointly and equally produced by lesbians and gay men. We honor our history and the paper’s ability to build and strengthen unity in our community. The Bay Times is proud to be the first and only LGBTQ newspaper in San Francisco to be named a Legacy Business, recognizing that it is a longstanding, community-serving business that is a valuable cultural asset to the city. Dr. Betty L. Sullivan Jennifer L. Viegas Co-Publishers & Co-Editors

Beth Greene, Michael Delgado, John Signer, Abby Zimberg Design & Production

Kate Laws Business Manager Blake Dillon Calendar Editor

Kit Kennedy Poet-In-Residence J.H. Herren Technology Director Carla Ramos Web Coordinator Mario Ordonez Distribution

Juan R. Davila Volunteer Coordinator CONTRIBUTORS Writers Rink, Sister Dana Van Iquity, Ann Rostow, Patrick Carney, Carolyn Wysinger, Leslie Sbrocco, Heather Freyer, Kate Kendell, Heidi Beeler, Gary M. Kramer, Joanie Juster, Julie Peri, Jennifer Kroot, Robert Holgate, Eduardo Morales, Dennis McMillan, Tim Seelig, John Chen, Rafael Mandelman, Jewelle Gomez, Phil Ting, Rebecca Kaplan, Leslie Katz, Philip Ruth, Bill Lipsky, Elisa Quinzi, Liam Mayclem, Karen Williams, Donna Sachet, Gary Virginia, Zoe Dunning, Derek Barnes, Marcy Adelman, Jan Wahl, Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis Brandon Miller, Jamie Leno Zimron, Michele Karlsberg, Randy Coleman, Debra Walker, Howard Steiermann, Andrea Shorter, Lou Fischer, Brett Andrews, David Landis Photographers Rink, Phyllis Costa, Jane Higgins Paul Margolis, Chloe Jackman, Bill Wilson, Jo-Lynn Otto, Sandy Morris, Abby Zimberg, Joanie Juster, Darryl Pelletier, Vincent Marcel ADVERTISING Display Advertising Standard Rate Cards http://sfbaytimes.com/ or 415-503-1375 Custom ad sizes are available. Ads are reviewed by the publishers. National Advertising: Contact Bay Times / San Francisco. Represented by Rivendell Media: 908-232-2021 Circulation is verified by an independent agency Reprints by permission only. CALENDAR Submit events for consideration by e-mail to: calendar@sfbaytimes.com © 2022 Bay Times Media Company Co-owned by Betty L. Sullivan & Jennifer L. Viegas

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Out of Left Field Dr. Kathleen Sullivan California is a better place to live as an LGBTQ elder than in many states. We have policies enacted into law that protect LGBTQ elders and mandate training for those who provide care and services for older adults. Indeed, Senator Wiener introduced and passed a Bill of Rights for LGBTQ seniors living in nursing homes, assisted living, and residential care facilities (the Attorney General is currently fighting to fully protect the bill of rights, which was watered down by a Third Circuit Court decision in the past year). While our state has enacted many positive, supportive, and innovative policies, we still don’t have a clear understanding of the LGBTQ community, particularly elders. The stories of our community elders often fade to the ether because we are still a hidden population. That is why the state’s interest and commitment to collecting sexual orientation and

Without fully knowing the community, where we live, what our families look like, and what our needs, access points, and barriers to care and services are, we cannot adequately address issues of equity and justice. As Dr. Marcy Adelman asserts, “Without data there can be no true equality,” and I would add that we will not have true equity or be on the path to justice. The CDC, under the Biden administration, understands the importance of collecting SOGI data. They state on their website, “Without this information, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) patients and their specific health care needs cannot be identified, the health disparities they experience cannot be addressed, and important health care services may not be delivered.” For providers of services and care, that is the point. You cannot provide adequate let alone optimal care to your client or patient if you do not know who they are and who is in their support network. Uniformly collecting SOGI data throughout California will allow us to fully understand who resides in our state, the needs of the community, and who is and is not taking advantage of programs and services at the local and state level. Is there, for instance, a verifiable need to link transgender Californians to the CalFresh program? Are queer families receiving full familial protections, and are providers treating our BIPOC and API community members differently due to a combination of discrimination

based on race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, and gender identity? We have a feeling that the answer to that question is yes, but the data is lacking or spotty. Collecting SOGI data is an imperative, and I would like to add a small caveat. To collect this data in a sensitive way that respects our community, providers must be given training. If the state does decide to collect SOGI data, I would urge it to partner with local groups who have solid training programs to teach agency staff how to collect the data. Openhouse has a comprehensive Training and Transformation program that works with professional aging service and medical providers to ensure that they know how to ask the questions and how to respond in a respectful and safe manner. Providing this training will help to create a social environment where LGBTQ people feel safe, seen, and accepted. As part of an evidence-based training program I developed in Seattle, I filmed LGBTQ seniors and asked them to describe what it is like for them when they disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity to providers. Many said it took courage to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity, and that if the provider dismissed the disclosure or said the dreaded, “Oh, that’s ok; it doesn’t matter to me that you’re LGBTQ,” they felt hurt, shut PHOTO BY WILL ZANG

gender identity (SOGI) data is so important.

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

down, or they felt the need to take care of the provider’s feelings and suppress their own. Neutral or negative statements have the consequence of immediately marking the space as unsafe and I, like many in our community, simply stop seeing that provider. For others, it can be so traumatizing that they delay or refuse care, leading to both negative physical and mental health outcomes. So, no matter what organization does the training, it is imperative that the state has a plan to provide the skills and behavioral training to those collecting the data. There used to be a myth that older LGBTQ people do not want to be part of research. San Francisco has proven that wrong, as has the Caring and Aging with Pride research team. It is important to be counted, to fully know the needs of our community— only then can we fully advocate for the policies, services, and programs we need for all LGBTQ Californians to thrive. Dr. Kathleen M. Sullivan is the Executive Director of Openhouse https://www.openhousesf.org/

Out of Left Field is curated by designer Robert Holgate; a noted humanitarian, and awardwinning filmmaker Jennifer Kroot.

When Conservative Republicans Accidentally Tell the Truth Republican-dominated Supreme Court will adopt.

6/26 and Beyond Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis Late last month, Indiana Senator Mike Braun made a stunning revelation when he declared that he disagreed with the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1967 decision Loving v. Virginia, which struck down all state laws banning interracial marriage. At a March 22, 2022, press conference, Braun opined that it was not the role of the U.S. Supreme Court to dictate to states whether people of different races should be able to marry. It was up to each individual state to decide. “It’s a beauty of the system” of American federalism, and “differences among points of view in our 50 states ought to express themselves,” said the senator, apparently unaware of the ominous implications of his position. The question about interracial marriage arose after Braun expressed his hope that the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade in June, leaving states to be able to ban abortion and thus force pregnant women (as well as some nonbinary, intersex, and transgender people) to remain pregnant and give birth against their will even in cases of rape or incest. That itself should be a shocking position for a U.S. Senator to take, but sadly it’s currently the predominant Republican view that many observers believe that the A PR I L 7 , 2 0 2 2

The reporter at the press conference presumably was incredulous that Braun expressed a similar point of view on interracial marriage and gave him a chance to clarify. The senator’s further response was unambiguous: “Yes, I think that that’s something that if you’re not wanting the Supreme Court to weigh in on issues like that, you’re not going to be able to have your cake and eat it too. I think that’s hypocritical.” Within hours, Braun suddenly changed his position, claiming in a written statement that he actually believed that “the Constitution prohibits discrimination of any kind based on race.” But Braun’s press conference remarks illuminate the true extent to which arch conservatives like him appear willing to go to gut the Bill of Rights to intrude on individuals’ personal liberty and dignity for political gain—except when it comes to red meat political issues that excite their base, such as gun ownership or using religion as an excuse to justify discrimination. Only when confronted with how politically unpalatable it was to say that states should be able to deny the right to marry to interracial couples, like Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and his wife Elaine Chao, did Braun change his position. Thank goodness Braun does not sit on the Supreme Court. But it’s appalling that Braun, given his statements, has a vote on whether to confirm the Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who herself is married to a person of a different race. Braun’s words also recall another remarkable moment of candor on the part of a Republican Hoosier: former Indiana Senator and U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle. During

a 1992 appearance on CNN’s Larry King Live, Quayle, who supported a federal Constitutional amendment banning most types of abortions, praised a Pennsylvania law requiring minors to obtain parental consent before having an abortion. King then asked Quayle what he would tell his own teenage daughter if she had an unwanted pregnancy and came to him for advice. Quayle responded: “Obviously I would counsel her and talk to her and support her on whatever decision she made.” When King asked whether that included her choosing an abortion, the Vice President reiterated: “I’d support my daughter.” The next day, Quayle’s wife Marilyn declared that, in fact, their daughter would not have an abortion and instead “take the child to term.” The Vice President himself also partially reversed course, saying that his daughter would not be allowed to have an abortion as a teenager. But strikingly, the Vice President maintained that he would support whatever choice his daughter made as an adult, even if it meant breaking the law to obtain an abortion. A prominent Republican taking such a position today is unimaginable. Quayle’s words starkly betray the double standard that he and many of his fellow conservative Republicans live by. For political gain, they seek to enact draconian laws that they themselves don’t think should apply to them. Indeed, well-off Republicans in states with severe abortion restrictions like Texas and Mississippi can easily travel to other states to terminate pregnancies, while poor people who are disproportionately people of color lack the means to do so, and thus suffer the full consequences of the laws. Trying to do damage control back in 1992, senior Bush campaign advisor Charles Black himself

made a remarkable disclosure when he commented on what Quayle had said: “I thought it was a very human and personal and honest answer to the question that I would guess the majority of Americans could identify with.” Astonishingly, Black’s statement suggests that he and Quayle both actually believed in their Democratic opponents’ position on abortion, not their own, and thought that most Americans concurred. But to pander to their political base, Black and Quayle forsook their own values, knowing that abortion would always be available to their daughters. “Very human and personal and honest” responses to issues, not fearmongering demagoguery, is what we need more of from conservative Republicans and indeed all people in government and politics. We need people on all sides of the aisle not just to accidentally tell the truth, but to do so in the first place. John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, together for over three decades, were plaintiffs in the California case for equal marriage rights decided by the California Supreme Court in 2008. Their leadership in the grassroots organization Marriage Equality USA contributed in 2015 to making same-sex marriage legal nationwide.

Coming Out Stories From Adversity to Lobbying Congress and Now Leading Maitri Compassionate Care By Michael Armentrout

This question didn’t create a dilemma because telling our truth is our right and responsibility. “I’ve never lied to you and I never will. Yes, I’m gay. I’ve conducted my professional life and done the job you’ve asked me to do with total success. What goes on in my private life is private.” That’s when, in 1990, my managerial career in financial services came to an end. I was in the midst of a big promotion when I was outed by a former employee who had an axe to grind with me. It wasn’t that he knew I was gay, but rather that I kept social ties to other, also closeted, gay men in Wilmington, North Carolina. I was a Vice President in the investment division of one of

After months of grieving and therapy, I began to emerge from my depressed state of mind and turned my attention to pitching in on the fight for equality. I became a volunteer at the local AIDS Service Agency in Raleigh and began doing Michael Armentrout educational sessions in schools and workplaces on HIV/AIDS and how it is transmitted and how to protect oneself. I joined the board of North Carolina Pride, which is now Equality North Carolina. I dug

Michael Armentrout with Joanie Juster

America’s largest corporations. Surprisingly, the company had a clear policy of non-discrimination, but North Carolina is an employment-at-will state and I didn’t have any recourse. We’ve always known that you can be fired on trumped up charges and false allegations and it happens all of the time. I negotiated fiercely for weeks about my management track career and was assured that they weren’t discriminating against me. They’d be supportive of me managing “in New York or San Francisco where gay people live.” Eye rolling in its ignorance, isn’t it? When I’d answered the question honestly, my boss, an Executive Vice President, shared this information broadly across the company. Once you’re out at work, you have to be out everywhere. The questions come flying from family and friends about what happened and I was yet again in the position of truthtelling or lying. So, you tell the truth. It was devastating.

deeply into the work, first in North Carolina, and then at the national level on the Board of the Human Rights Campaign. From adversity, I immersed myself into lobbying Congress for the Employee NonDiscrimination Act (ENDA) and the Ryan White Care Act that provides billions a year in funding for HIV/ AIDS. It’s true— there are gay people in San Francisco. I moved here in 2007 with the plan to change my career from corporate

New Bear Republic team at AIDS/LifeCycle 18

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America to the nonprofit sector. I’ve worked for AIDS/Breast Cancer Emergency Funds, UCSF, as the president of a foundation, and now Executive Director of Maitri Compassionate Care. Maitri was founded in 1987 by a Buddhist monk, Issan Dorsey, at the Hartford Street Zen Center in the Castro. Issan took in a student who was dying with AIDS and had nowhere to go. Soon, Issan believed he could care for another person with AIDS and then another. Today, Maitri continues to provide hospice and palliative care for people in the last moments of their lives. We also provide respite care for people with HIV/AIDS who need assistance while we help them organize their lives to return to independent living. In a new initiative, Maitri, has created a pre-/ post-operative gender affirmation center for people in transition and in need of care. I’ve found the right place for me. Michael Armentrout is the Executive Director of Maitri Compassionate Care https://www.maitrisf.org/

Michael Armentrout and husband Steve on their wedding day, 2013

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“We’ve been told you’re gay. Are you?”

See and Be Seen

In Case You Missed It Joanie Juster One of the first lessons I learned as a budding activist so many years ago was the importance of visibility. In the late 1980s, a co-worker saw me marching in the annual candlelight march in memory of Harvey Milk and George Moscone. The next day he told me how he had been moved by seeing me—a straight woman— marching side-by-side with the gay community. He told me that seeing me marching inspired him to overcome his own fears and come out of the closet. And that’s when I realized that every pair of boots on the ground counts: you never know how your act of speaking out, standing up, marching, will make a difference to someone else. Visibility matters. TDOV: Not Just One Day, But Every Day The Transgender Day of Visibility is therefore still relevant because the need for visibility—to see trans people as fully human, as valued parts of our lives, our communities, our society, and our culture—is important every day, and not just on March 31. Celebrating and amplifying the lives and accomplishments of trans people

is particularly important right now in the face of an unprecedented barrage of legislative attacks on trans people, and on trans youth in particular. Just since January 1, at least 38 states have proposed or passed 196 laws that can only be described as hateful, and that stand to cause serious harm. By denying not just the civil rights but the very humanity of trans people, these legislatures are doing their best to erase trans people, and turn them into scapegoats for any perceived societal ills. And why? Simply to score cheap political points. On the Transgender Day of Visibility, Metro Weekly’s Randy Shulman published an excellent interview with Olivia Hunt, Policy Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, in which they emphasized the need for allies to speak out on behalf of trans people: “ ... one of the things that has driven a lot of this action over the past six years as these anti-trans bills have grown and grown is this belief lawmakers have that they can just get away with it because nobody cares. Showing them vocally that people do care is one of the most powerful things that we can do.” “When you’re one percent of the population, it’s easy to feel isolated and alone. And getting a broad range of support, especially from folks who are cisgender and heterosexual, and not just having support coming from within the LGBTQ community broadly, is really vital to showing that our lives are important and our lives matter.” Here in the Bay Area, we may not be able to cast a vote in the states that are churning out these heinous bills, but we can all stand up and speak out, as allies and friends, to support

trans people, and let them know we see them, and value them. Read the full article here, and at the end is a link to support NCTE’s fine work with a donation: https://tinyurl.com/TDOVally And Now for Some Good News on Trans Rights Just when we thought that seeing footage of Amy Schneider (the trans woman who recently skyrocketed to fame on Jeopardy!) speaking from the podium of the Press Room at the White House was just about the coolest thing to happen on TDOV, an email arrived from Olivia Hunt (yes, the same Olivia Hunt from the preceding item) of the National Center for Transgender Equality, celebrating that the Biden administration has announced major reforms in policy regarding passports, TSA, Social Security, and more, which will improve the lives of trans people in many ways. NCTE and others have been fighting for these reforms for years. https://tinyurl.com/TransVictory Taking It to the Streets After two years of pandemic-induced isolation, it is good to see people out and about again—not just at restaurants and in parks, but at protests and rallies. On March 21, HIV activists staged a Back-to-HIV Rally and Die-In on the steps of San Francisco City Hall to bring attention to the fact that HIV services had suffered during the two years that COVID has stretched our city’s healthcare system to its limits. Keynote speaker Dr. Monica Gandhi, the Medical Director of Ward 86, the HIV Clinic at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, brought attention to some

alarming setbacks in HIV during these past two years, including that HIV testing is down 44%, and clinic visits decreased, which interrupted testing and early treatment. Organizers are working to restore funding and services in the city’s budget. https://tinyurl.com/289f29dd And on March 27, housing activists and community members gathered at Harvey Milk Plaza to shine a light on the precarious situation so many San Francisco renters find themselves in, especially older tenants in rent-controlled buildings. While the original impetus for the rally was due to iconic LGBTQ activist Cleve Jones being forced out of his long-term Castro apartment by a new landlord who is trying to raise his rent over 117% (yes, you read that number correctly), speaker after speaker at the rally spoke of the need to reform existing laws that make it like the Ellis Act and Costa-Hawkins that make renters so vulnerable to eviction. Worried about your own housing situation? First step: Know your rights. There are resources available to renters; the SF Tenants Union, and their excellent tenants’ handbook, updated annually, is a great place to start, as well as Tenants Together and the San Francisco Community Tenants Union. Support for Ukraine While business and celebrations return to San Francisco, Ukraine is still undergoing horrific attacks, deprivation, and misery. In the face of such overwhelming need, it is heartening to see so many individuals and organizations stepping up to raise funds to help the Ukrainian people. Thank you to everyone: organizers, donors, and businesses that are donating space and goods

to make these fundraisers possible. While we’ve all been stretched thin by two years of pandemic, when the need is this dire, the community opens its hearts and wallets. Local nonprofit Rainbow World Fund has been raising significant funding to support the LGBTQ+ community in Ukraine. Their emergency fund helps already vulnerable LGBTQ+ Ukrainians, who are even more at risk to be further marginalized and scapegoated. They are funding their evacuations from Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other cities to Lviv and Poland. Funds are being used to provide for humanitarian needs related to the hardships of war—food, emergency supplies, medical, communication, transportation, etc. Because RWF is an all-volunteer organization, 100% of these donations will fund these life-saving actions. Specify “Ukraine” when you donate online here: https://tinyurl.com/346brm8m Easter with the Sisters Not like you could possibly have missed the news, but the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are bringing their world-infamous Easter celebration back to Mission Dolores on Easter Sunday, April 17. Come out and enjoy the fun, but while you’re at it, why not help the good Sisters by donating—or volunteering—or both? They would love to have your (continued on page 20)

Activist Cleve Jones Fighting Eviction Civic and political leaders, hosting activists, and media representatives crowded into Harvey Milk Plaza on Sunday, March 27, to support renowned activist and San Francisco Bay Times founding contributor Cleve Jones, who has launched a campaign to avoid being evicted from his long-term Castro apartment. District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, SF AIDS Foundation’s Tyler TerMeer, Castro Cultural District’s Levi Maxwell, Rev. Rodney Fong, Tenants Together’s Shanti Singh, Assembly candidate David Campos, writer Alison Wright, and housing rights activist Tommi Avicolli Mecca were among those speaking out at the event in support of Jones who is facing eviction, as have many older tenants who are tenants in rent-controlled apartments. The scenario frequently plays out when a new owner buys a building and seeks to use loopholes in the tenancy laws to force tenants out. Jones is facing a hearing before the City of San Francisco’s Rent Board. The date for the hearing has not yet been set.

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Joanie Juster, who also writes about the March & Rally for Housing Rights in her latest Bay Times column, served as Stage Manager for the rally.

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VIEGAS (continued from page 3)

ROSTOW (continued from page 6)

told the Bay Area Reporter, “I’m married to the community.” She added, in response to other questions, “Am I a lesbian? Well, I used to be, and in fact, I still am. But I am also—in the spirit of President John Kennedy’s famous quotation, ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’—a gay man, bisexual, transwoman, transman, intersex, questioning, drag queen, drag king, bio queen, and probably a few more if I knew what they were. I love them all.”

into the court’s considerations, but I think we’ve given this story enough ink.

Betty has a beloved daughter, Liz, with Liz’s other mother Audrey; son-inlaw John; and granddaughter Callie; but she continues to give so much of her life to the Bay Area LGBTQ community. I know that many of you love her in return. Please then consider attending a very special birthday celebration for both her and Donna Sachet on April 28 at The Academy in the Castro from 6 pm–10 pm. (Betty’s actual birthday is April 27; Donna’s is April 26.) Betty and Donna share a history together that goes well beyond my time knowing her. Donna truly is her First Lady of the Castro, I believe, as Donna is for countless others due to her own important life’s work. The birthdays are not milestones, but every year counts. Despite momentary reminiscing, living for today is on our minds now. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/2ks6z8mt Jennifer Viegas is a Co-Publisher of the “San Francisco Bay Times.”

BARNES (continued from page 4) easy to walk there for board meetings. The investment in this neighborhood has been unprecedented. It has truly become the city’s center that connects many different parts of the Bay Area and diverse parts of our community. This is precisely why The Center is so necessary. The future is bright, and there are numerous opportunities that lie ahead for The Center as it continues to evolve and reimagine its mission in service to the LGBT community. That’s why it is here and why it was built. As time passes and the evolving needs of the community change, so will The Center’s space, activities, services, and programs. It is a privilege and an honor to be part of such a worthy and ambitious endeavor. The monument of The Center stands on so many shoulders. Hundreds of thousands of people who have come through The LGBT Community Center’s doors over the last two decades have experiences, interactions, and engagement that they will not forget. We have all been touched deeply by our involvement in supporting a durable part of our community. Let’s all raise a glass to 20 years of success and many more years of possibility. Derek Barnes is the CEO of the East Bay Rental Housing Association ( www.EBRHA.com ). He currently serves on the boards of Horizons Foundation and Homebridge CA. Follow him on Twitter @DerekBarnesSF or on Instagram at DerekBarnes.SF

Bad Monkey Do you remember the North Carolina dog from last week who was sent to the animal shelter because his owner thought he was gay? Fezco, who was observed humping another male dog, was immediately adopted by a gay male couple, and renamed Oscar Wilde. Meanwhile, as I was reading about Oscar Wilde, nee Fezco, I saw a link to a (December 2021) story from India, where a band of monkeys had reportedly been dropping dozens of dogs and puppies off tall buildings after a dog killed a baby monkey. I checked Snopes and learned that, indeed, several dogs have been killed by these monkeys, but it’s not clear that the monkeys were acting out of anti-canine revenge. Some dogs in the village had been dragged up to the roof of tall buildings, but they had then generally died of starvation. It’s possible that the monkeys were looking for bugs on the dogs, took them to rooftops for inspection and left them there without food or water. All in all, it’s a depressing account. And finally, I’ve complained about this before, but it just happened again. I was scrolling around, bottom feeding on oddball headlines and links, when I encountered a close-up photograph of grotesque fingers with massive fungus encrusted beneath the nails! There should be censorship laws against these kinds of disgusting images popping up without warning. No one, I repeat no one, has thick slabs of fungus underneath their fingernails. The photo was deliberately generated to sell something. I ran away before I saw the product but I assume it was a nail fungus remedy. Nail fungus is usually manifested by yellowing or brittle nails (I just checked this) so there was no need for such an excessive presentation. Am I alone in my disgust? Truth or Consequences As I mentioned at the top, I enjoy reveling in Trump misfortunes, so I have been eagerly reading about the dismal failure of Truth Social, Trump’s incompetent effort to create a far-right version of Twitter. First of

all, he hired Devon Nunes, the dairy farmer turned Congressman who has absolutely zero experience in high tech corporate management. Then he apparently hired two people from his Apprentice reality show as executives. I’m not sure what their story was. And these guys managed to hire two tech guys who were both arch conservatives as well, although they have both just quit. The service was rolled out in late February, but it has yet to work. It’s not accessible to android phones, only Apple phones and iPads. It’s frequently down, and many users can’t even sign up without winding up on an endless wait list. Trump himself has only sent one “Truth,” and the rest of the content consists of bots and nonsense. Everyone hates it, and by “everyone” I‘m referring to MAGA people who usually love everything with a Trump connection. Trump himself is reportedly pissed off at everyone involved, and refuses to use it until everything is fixed, which sounds like never. The best part is that the service was supposed to be funded by an overarching Trump venture called the Trump Media and Technology Group. This company decided to go public through a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), a trendy vehicle that begins its life as a shell company, goes public and then merges with some other business operation. Strict rules dictate that a SPAC may not find a partner until after it goes public. This SPAC, however, called Digital World Acquisition Corp., held not so secret talks with Trump Media people well in advance of setting up this whole deal and is now under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which may well shut it down. Meanwhile, a bunch of dumb MAGA bros and others greedily bought up shares in Digital World, even though all those shares are about to be diluted in an institutional stock plan that will give most of the profits to Trump and his buddies. Either that, or they will be worthless, which would also leave Trump Media high and dry with no cash whatsoever. One of these days, this man’s stupidity has to bring him down. arostow@aol.com

JUSTER (continued from page 19)

MILLER (continued from page 8) offered to clients or prospective clients where Brio Financial Group and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. No advice may be rendered by Brio Financial Group unless a client service agreement is in place. Brandon Miller, CFP®, is a financial consultant at Brio Financial Group in San Francisco, specializing in helping LGBT individuals and families plan and achieve their financial goals.

help, since extravaganzas like this don’t just happen with the wave of a wand. Chip in, lend a hand, and enjoy one of San Francisco’s greatest traditions. You can give your time and/or money here: https://www.thesisters.org/ And one final reminder ... COVID-19 is still with us, friends. Keep up your vaccinations, keep washing your hands, keep protecting your health and the health of others. We all want to enjoy seeing each other again, but be sure you do it safely. Joanie Juster is a long-time community volunteer, activist, and ally.

GGBA (continued from page 9) profit focus in the industry, he stuck firm to his beliefs of doing proper maintenance and being a customer advocate. He never wavered in putting people first, even when times were tough and the company was pushing for more profit. He believed that when we do right, we will do well. This is one of AuditMate’s core values. When we are people first, everyone wins. GGBA: Why did you decide to join the GGBA, and how long have you been a member? Ashleigh Wilson: I joined GGBA because of the vision of an economically empowered San Francisco Bay Area LGBTQ business community that inspires others. This vision is closely aligned with my vision of putting people first and leading by example. I too, want to be a champion of representation of empowered LGBT businesses and founders, to help others become empowered. GGBA: How has being a member of GGBA helped your business so far? Ashleigh Wilson: [I have valued] being witness to other businesses and entrepreneurs who are successful in their own fields while helping others succeed. Representation is so important and constantly inspires me. GGBA: Do you go to the GGBA monthly Make Contact networking events? Have they benefited you and your business, and would you recommend them to others? Ashleigh Wilson: With COVID-19, I haven’t been to as many in-person networking events as I would like, but I am excited to rejoin the IRL (in real life) world. I am a major advocate of connecting with people in our community; I believe those connections are imperative to our success as LGBT individuals. GGBA: What other advice would you give to someone who is thinking of starting their own business? Ashleigh Wilson: Be the role model you need. There are thousands of reasons not to start a business, but taking the risk and putting your dream first not only benefits you but it also empowers others to chase their dreams. The road will be long and hard but our community is brave, smart, and full of risk takers. By taking the leap and putting yourself out there, you will find your community. I am grateful to the GGBA that is bringing together community and resources. This road of entrepreneurship as an LGBT entrepreneur is our own, but no one succeeds alone. https://auditmate.com/ 20

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Castro Theatre Burglarized Twice in a Week On March 29 at approximately 6:30 am, a police officer patrolling the 400 block of Castro Street noticed broken windows, missing signage, and a man inside the Castro Theatre along with two others. The suspects, Gary Marx, 38, and the two additional men were arrested on suspicion of breaking into the century-old theatre, and Marx was also booked on suspicion of burglary. At some point between that Tuesday and the following Friday, Marx was released, because he was re-arrested at the Castro Theatre on April 1 at around 4:45 pm and booked on charges of “attempted burglary, vandalism, and possession of burglary tools.” “This is both heartbreaking and galling,” said Mary Conde, Vice President of Another Planet Entertainment. “Why this individual was allowed on the streets again is beyond my understanding and should be unacceptable. We are so grateful to the San Francisco Police for their continued vigilance and for again arresting this person. However, our system is failing us.”

“We have tried to avoid installing a metal security gate across the front of the Castro’s iconic entrance, but I don’t believe we are now left with any choice,” said Conde.

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According to Conde, an additional $15,000 worth of damage was done in Friday’s incident adding to the previous $30,000 from the previous incident. Additionally, the expensive leaded glass on the iconic freestanding box office has been broken five times since January.

According to Conde, who is overseeing the renovation of the historic Castro Theatre, such a gate would be costly. In January of this year, Another Planet took over management of the LGBTQ community and film landmark that is celebrating its centennial in June. Opened in 1922, the registered San Francisco landmark is still owned by the local Nasser family who built it.

SF Pride Announces Return to In-Person Celebration for 52nd Annual Parade and More

“San Francisco Pride’s return to an in-person celebration this June will be a historic moment in our fight for inclusion, acceptance, and equality for all LGBTQ+ people,” says Suzanne Ford, SF Pride Interim Executive Director. “Pride gives us the opportunity to come together in solidarity to celebrate the progress that has been made, but also allows us to respond with love, activism, and radical inclusion against discriminatory laws that are being enacted across the country at an alarming rate.” Featuring over 200 parade contingents and exhibitors, and more than 20 community-run stages and venues, the SF Pride Celebration and Parade remains the largest gathering of the LGBTQ+ community and allies in the nation. The 2022 Community stages will include the Urban Global Village Stage, produced by Christiana Remmington; the API LGBT Stage, produced by Nicki Calma and SF Community Health Center; the Homo Hip-Hip, produced by Ronnie and Erika Jones; the Latin Stage, produced by Jamie Awad; the Sober Drag Show, produced by Castro Country Club; the Soul of Pride, produced by Lisa Williams; the Trans Stage, produced by Maniac Films; and the Women’s Stage, produced

by Christie James and Jolene Linsangan. “As we prepare to come together to celebrate San Francisco Pride this year, I’m looking forward to honoring the diversity and resiliency of our LGBTQ+ community,” said Senator Alex Padilla. “Every person deserves to live and love as their authentic self every day of the year. Pride is an important opportunity to honor the progress we’ve made and recommit ourselves to the continued fight for equality.” SF Pride remains committed to its mission of bringing connection and visibility to the LGBTQ+ communities. As a world leader in the global Pride movement and a part of the fabric of Pride events around the world, SF Pride works to educate, commemorate, and continue the struggle for true liberation, both through its events and by raising much-needed funds for nonprofits across the Bay Area. Financial support through membership and donations ensure that SF Pride will be able to thrive into SF Pride Interim Executive Director Suzanne Ford and Pride President Carolyn Wysinger the future. Awardees, will be announced in the “Pride is a vibrant celebration of the history and victories of the LGBTQ+ near future. A brand-new SF Pride app will be available in May, The community. The staff and board of San Francisco Pride have worked dil- Official Guide to SF Pride, granting attendees access to stage lineups, an igently to ensure we can return to a event map, vendor and artist inforsafe and inclusive in-person celebramation, and more. tion this year,” said Senator Scott Wiener. “Being together once again Safety and wellbeing remain a focus will also provide a space for our comfor #SFPride52, and to ensure the munity to rally against the chaltwo-day celebration is safe and wellenges we continue to face as we work coming for all our communities, SF toward equality for all.” Pride will be operating in line with “We are looking forward to celecity and state guidelines. brating with the entire city in June. Sponsors for Pride 52 include We are welcoming thousands of Alaska Airlines, Bank of the LGBTQ+ family members from West, Nordstrom, US Bank, across our diverse communities to and Safeway. Media sponsors dance, sing, and love each other include ABC7 Bay Area and the San like never before,” said Carolyn Francisco Bay Times. Corporate partWysinger, President of SF Pride’s nerships allow SF Pride to build the Board of Directors and a San event’s extensive infrastructure, and Francisco Bay Times columnist. “We help to bring funds to nonprofits that have waited a long time and now it is directly serve LGBTQ communifinally here!” ties, via the Community Affiliates A full lineup of events and activProgram. ities for Pride 52, as well as 2022 https://sfpride.org/ Community Grand Marshals and

PHOTO BY RINK

The Board of Directors of San Francisco Pride on April 4 announced the return to an in-person celebration for the 52nd annual San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Celebration and Parade (Pride 52) taking place on Saturday and Sunday, June 25–26, 2022. With the theme of “Love Will Keep Us Together,” this year’s festivities will include a twoday Celebration and Rally scheduled from noon to 6 pm on Saturday, June 25, and from 11 am to 6 pm on Sunday, June 26, at Civic Center Plaza and the surrounding neighborhood. The legendary Parade will take place Sunday, June 26, beginning at 10:30 am in the heart of downtown San Francisco. Additional SF Pride events will take place throughout the month of June and the remainder of 2022.

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PHOTO BY BILL WILSON

Largest Display of AIDS Memorial Quilt in SF Planned for June 11–12 in Golden Gate Park

The National AIDS Memorial will mark the 35th anniversary of the AIDS Memorial Quilt with an historic outdoor display in Golden Gate Park that will feature nearly 3,000 hand-stitched panels of the Quilt. The free public event will take place on June 11 & 12 from 10 am–5 pm each day in Robin Williams Meadow and in the National AIDS Memorial Grove. Expected to draw thousands of people, the display will be the largest display of the Quilt in over a decade and the largest-ever in San Francisco history. “This year’s historic community display will be a beautiful celebration of life and a recognition of the power of the Quilt today as a teaching tool for health and social justice,” said National AIDS Memorial CEO John Cunningham. “The Quilt is an important reminder that the HIV/ AIDS crisis is still not over and there is much work to be done, particularly in communities of color, where HIV is on the rise in many parts of the country.” The two-day 35th Anniversary event, presented by Gilead Sciences, will feature 350 12’x12’ blocks of the Quilt laid out on the ground, each consisting of eight 3’x 6’ individually sewn panels that honor and remember the names and stories of loved ones lost to AIDS. Visitors will be able to walk through the display to experience each panel, remember the names, and see first-hand the stories sewn into each of them. Featured Quilt blocks will include many of the original panels made during the darkest days of the pandemic and panels made in recent years, a solemn reminder that the AIDS crisis is still not over. “The Quilt remains an important symbol of hope, activism, and remembrance that reaches millions of people each year, opening hearts and minds,” said Alex Kalomparis, Senior Vice President, Gilead Sciences, a long-time partner of the Quilt and its programs. The company provided a $2.4 million grant to the National AIDS Memorial in 2019 to relocate the Quilt from Atlanta back to San Francisco. “Through community displays such as this, the Quilt is connecting the story of HIV/AIDS to the issues faced by many people today, touching their lives in a very personal, compelling way.” An opening ceremony and traditional Quilt unfolding will start at 9:30 am on the 11th, followed by the continuous reading of names of lives 22

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lost to AIDS aloud by volunteers, dignitaries, and the public on both days. There will be panel-making workshops, community information booths, stories behind the Quilt, displays of memorabilia, and the ability for the public to share their personal Quilt stories. Volunteer opportunities and community/corporate partnerships are available. The public is also invited to bring new panels that can be displayed in a special area to become part of the Quilt. More than 100 new panels will be seen for the first time at the San Francisco display. Many of them were made through the Memorial’s Call My Name panel-making program, which helps raise greater awareness about the impact of HIV/ AIDS in communities of color, particularly in the South, where HIV rates are on the rise today. Panelmaking workshops are organized around the country, working with church groups, quilting guilds, and AIDS service organizations to continue the Quilt’s 35-year legacy of bringing people together and to serve as a catalyst for education and action by pulling the thread from then to now for justice. “The AIDS Quilt has always been an important part of Glide Memorial Church and many Black churches around the country. Throughout the years, we have made panels and displayed them from the pulpit as a backdrop to worship, with parishioners calling, singing, and preaching their names,” said Marvin White, Minister of Celebration at Glide. “We are honored to be a community partner of this historic display, to celebrate their lives and to share their stories so future generations always remember.” According to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, while new HIV infections in the U.S. fell about 8% from 2015 to 2019, Black and Latino communities—particularly gay and bisexual men within those groups—continue to be disproportionately affected. In 2019, 26% of new HIV infections were among Black gay and bisexual men, 23% among Latino gay and bisexual men, and 45% among gay and bisexual men under the age of 35. African American and Hispanics/Latinos account for the largest increases in new HIV diagnoses, 42% and 27% respectively. Disparities also persist among women. Black women’s HIV infection rate is 11 times that of white women and four times that of Latina

women. Racism, HIV stigma, homophobia, poverty, and barriers to health care continue to drive these disparities. The first panels of the Quilt were created in June of 1987 when a group of strangers, led by gay rights activist Cleve Jones, gathered in a San Francisco storefront to document the lives they feared history would forget. This meeting of devoted friends, lovers, and activists would serve as the foundation for The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. Each panel made was the size of a human grave and they saw the Quilt as an activist tool to push the government into taking action to end the epidemic. “What started as a protest to demand action turned into a national movement that served as a wake-up call to the nation that thousands upon thousands of people were dying,” said Jones. “Today, the Quilt is just as relevant and even more important, particularly in the wake of COVID-19, and the fact that the struggles we face today that result from health and social inequities are the issues we will face again in the future if we don’t learn from the lessons of the past.” That year, the nearly 2,000 panels of the Quilt traveled to Washington, D.C., for its first display on the National Mall. It then traveled to several cities, including a large display at the Moscone Center in San Francisco to raise funds for AIDS service organizations. Today, the Quilt, considered the largest community arts project in the world, is under the stewardship of the National AIDS Memorial and has surpassed 50,000 individually sewn panels with more than 110,000 names stitched into its 54 tons of fabric. The Quilt continues to connect the history of the AIDS pandemic to the ongoing fight against stigma and prejudice through hundreds of community displays around the country and educational programs that reach millions of people each year. In 2021, an outdoor Quilt display system was constructed in the National AIDS Memorial Grove, located in Golden Gate Park, which allows for regular outdoor displays. “Golden Gate Park has long been a place where history is made and where people come together for change, to heal, and express themselves,” said Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the San Francisco (continued on page 36)

40th Anniversary of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: The Current State in San Francisco

Nuestra Voz Eduardo Morales, Ph.D. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first reported the initial cases of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. during June of 1981. In the recent release of the 2020 Annual Report by the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH), gradual declines in new HIV/AIDS cases were noted. The data, however, was compromised by the lack of public access to HIV testing during the COVID-19 pandemic. A rally was held on the steps of SF City Hall on Monday, March 21, and called on San Francisco leaders to take back HIV as a major priority. San Francisco employed strategies to respond to COVID-19 built upon novel comprehensive approaches used for HIV/ AIDS. Meanwhile, the SFDPH 2020 Annual Report notes important differences by ethnicity and race. According to the U.S. Census Bureau as of April 1, 2020, the San Francisco population (N=873,965) estimates are 52.8% White alone with 40.2% being White alone, not Hispanic or Latinx; 36.0% Asian alone; 15.2% Hispanic or Latinx; 5.6% Black or African American alone; 4.5%

two or more races; and 1.2% being of other ethnicities and races. In sharp contrast, the 2020 Annual Report notes newly diagnosed HIV cases (N=131) were reported to be 37% Latinx, 28% White, 21% Black/African American, 11% Asian/Pacific Islander, 2% Native American, and 1% were other/ unknown race and ethnicity. For Black/African Americans, this is more than triple the population estimate of 5.6%. Meanwhile, for Latinxs, this is more than double the San Francisco population estimate of 15.2% Latinx persons. When examining data of those living with HIV in 2020 (N=15,811), 57% are White, 21% are Latinx, 12% are Black/African American, 4% are Asian/Pacific Islander, 3% are other/unknown race and ethnicity, and less than 1% are Native American. Here again, Black/ African Americans are more than double while Latinxs are higher than the expected 15.2% when compared to the U.S. Census data. Persons diagnosed with HIV/AIDS were more likely to be men. In 2020 in San Francisco, newly diagnosed persons had higher proportions of women, Black/African Americans, Latinx, Asian/Pacific Islanders, trans women who have sex with men, persons who inject drugs, and heterosexuals. Data for California in 2019 in this report noted more dramatic differences by race and ethnicity. For newly diagnosed cases in California (N=4,396), 48% were Latinx, 25% were White, 18% were Black/ African American, 6% were Asian/ Pacific Islander, 3% were other/ unknown, and less than 1% were

Native American. For those living with HIV in California (N=137,785), 38% were Latinx, 37% were White, 17% were Black/African American, 4% were Asian/Pacific Islander, 3% were other/unknown, and less than 1% were Native American. Overall, in the past decade, Latinx persons in San Francisco were reported to have had the largest proportional increases of newly diagnosed cases while the proportion of new diagnosed cases among Whites declined. For years 2011 through 2020, most of the newly diagnosed HIV cases were men who have sex with men. By age groups, those who were 30–39 years old accounted for the highest proportion of diagnosed cases each year, while in 2019 and 2020, individuals diagnosed at ages 50 and older increased. No children below the age of 13 were diagnosed with HIV during 2011 to 2020. However, as of 12/31/2020, Latinx adolescents and young adults accounted for 41% of young adults living with HIV in San Francisco. HIV among trans women (N=96) from 2011 to 2020 accounted for 3% of all new HIV diagnoses with 43% of these being Latinx, 26% being Black/African American, 15% being White, 10% being Asian/ Pacific Islander, and 6% being other/unknown. Among the 420 trans women living with HIV in San Francisco, 37% were Latinx and 30% were Black/African Americans. The SFDPH 2020 Annual Report on HIV Epidemiology contains much more detailed information and is accessible to download from the department’s website: https://tinyurl.com/2p9fcj8u

In examining the HIV/AIDS epidemic in San Francisco and throughout California, interventions must be culturally specific and linguistically diverse. The effect of medications used to prevent infection commonly referred to as PrEP vary due to inconsistencies in taking these medications to prevent infection across California, according to newly funded state grantees. Also, PEP medications are available if one suspects to have been infected within a 72-hour window. While those with HIV and taking HIV medications are less likely to infect others, the use of condoms continues to be recommended as well as not sharing needles. There are numer-

ous cofactors affecting the spread of HIV. This report by SFDPH provides good, comprehensive information. Throughout California and the U.S., however, HIV/AIDS needs more attention, especially given the complications of COVID-19 and other unforeseen diseases that can impact our general health. Eduardo Morales, PhD, is one of the founders of AGUILAS, where he serves as Executive Director. He is also a retired Distinguished Professor at Alliant International University and is the current Past President of the National Latinx Psychological Association.

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2022)

LGBTQ+ Favorite Sean Dorsey Dance Performs April 8–10 in San Francisco Award-winning LGBTQ+ dance company Sean Dorsey Dance will soon return to the stage after more than two years! The company will perform in San Francisco for oneweekend-only, offering 5 limited-seating performances April 8 through 10 at Z Space in San Francisco. “We’re thrilled to be performing an exclusive sneak peek of our new show,” explained Artistic Director Sean Dorsey. “It’s an ‘insider’ view of our creative process—we’re performing a work-in-progress of some allnew dances!” Dorsey is celebrated nationally as a trailblazing choreographer and dancer—praised for his luscious, intricate and deeply human dances. Dorsey continues to make history as an openly transgender and queer dancemaker who has toured his company’s works to more than 30 cities across the U.S. and around the world.

Sean Dorsey Dance will be performing sections-in-progress of their new/upcoming show The Lost Art Of Dreaming, which invites audiences into expansive thinking and imagination, especially about our futures.

breaking notes of a string quartet, to virtuosic cello compositions.”

The movement will be created and performed by Sean Dorsey, Héctor Jaime, Tajh Malik, and longtime Sean Dorsey Dance favorite Nol Simonse (now dancing a 15th season with the company).

While tickets to the performances are free, audiences must register for tickets in advance (for COVID safety) and so are encouraged to register early. “We are just doing 5 performances, with very limited seating,” explained Dorsey. “So, we definitely recommend registering for your tickets today!” The event lasts for about 40 minutes.

The performances also include the premiere of new music compositions, which have been composed and recorded as part of the soundscore. The dancers will dance to new music by Anomie Belle, Alex Kelly, Frida Ibarra, Jesse Olsen Bay, and others.

On top of very limited seating and distancing, COVID safety protocols for the event include: all audience members must show proof of vaccination and booster, and all audience members will be given a KN95 mask (which they must wear at all times inside the theater). The theater is wheelchair accessible and has allgender bathrooms.

“I am in love with the new music created by our team of composers for this new work,” Dorsey said. “It has an incredible range—from the driving pulse of the club, to the heart-

PHOTO BY SHAWNA VIRAGO

“Who knew I’d be making a show about expansive futures during a global pandemic!” said Dorsey. “But I actually see now that these ideas and themes are incredibly timely. We all need imagination, expansive thinking, and expansive loving right now ... more than ever.”

Sean Dorsey Dance (2022) left to right: Sean Dorsey, Héctor Jaime, Nol Simonse, Tajh Stallworth

Sean Dorsey Dance (2022) left to right: Héctor Jaime, Nol Simonse, Tajh Stallworth, Sean Dorsey

QUEER POP QUIZ

Immediately after the performances, audiences will be treated to the launch of Sean Dorsey Dance’s project Postcards from the Future ( https:// tinyurl.com/2w7bawv3 ). Dorsey explained, “We commissioned 4 brilliant trans/gender-nonconforming visual artists to create a new piece inspired by the theme of expansive futures and imagination. Then we printed their gorgeous artworks onto full-color postcards. Audiences will take them home for free! The back has space for them to write a message from the future, and send to a friend.” The event’s organizers also understand that some communities cannot be vaccinated due to illness or disability, and that communities who are immune suppressed or compromised may not feel safe attending

PHOTO BY KEGAN MARLING

“We are an all-trans/non-binary/ gender-nonconforming/and queer company,” enthused Dorsey. “So many LGBTQ+ dancers have to ‘play straight’ onstage—but not us! We intentionally uplift the beauty and power of trans and queer bodies, aesthetics, and experience. This is gender-nonconforming and queer movement, partnering, costuming ... everything!”

PHOTO BY KEGAN MARLING

(For more information about Dorsey: https://tinyurl.com/yeary9zw )

Sean Dorsey Dance (2022) left to right: Nol Simonse and Tajh Stallworth

in-person. “That’s why we’re filming the performances and making a video available for folks who sign up to watch it.” ASL Interpretation will be provided by Pilar Marsh at both Sunday April 10 performances (a 2 pm matinee and 7 pm performance).

Sean Dorsey Dance - 2022 Home Season April 8–10 Z Space (450 Florida Street between 17th Street & Mariposa, San Francisco, 94110)

Friday, April 8: 7 pm Saturday, April 9: 2 pm + 7 pm Sunday, April 10: 2 pm + 7 pm (both with ASL) Tickets/info: https://tinyurl.com/3wbe5bn3

LIL NAS X AT THE 64TH GRAMMYS For the 2022 Grammys, ultra-out rapper and singer Lil Nas X was nominated for Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Melodic Rap Performance, and Best Music Video ... and then this happened: A) He won in all of these categories. C) He boycotted the event.

B) He lost in all of these categories. D) He sang a duet with Lady Gaga. S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2022)

SF Film Festival Features Four Worthwhile LGBTQ Films returns home. In between there are several films with LGBTQ themes or by queer filmmakers. Here are four particularly notable films to catch at the fest.

Film Gary M. Kramer The 65th San Francisco International Film Festival has announced their lineup for this year’s program, being held April 21–May 1 at venues around the Bay Area. Actress Michelle Yeoh will be honored with a tribute, as will comedian Jenny Slate. The festival opens with the North American Premiere of Stay Awake, a drama about the opioid epidemic, and it closes with 892, about a veteran who has difficulties after he

One of the highlights is Benediction by out gay writer/director Terence Davies. This elegant, elegiac biopic of the gay British poet Siegfried Sassoon ( Jack Lowden plays him as a young man; Peter Capaldi takes over the role in his later years) is exquisitely filmed. As one expects from a Davies’ period piece, every frame belongs in a museum. The filmmaker juxtaposes backgrounds, changes time periods (sometimes in a single shot), and intersperses footage from the Great War as Sassoon’s poetry is read in melancholic voiceover. Benediction traces Sassoon’s life starting from the time he was a soldier and protested the war—which lands him in the care of Dr. Rivers (out gay actor Ben Daniels). It is in hospital that

Mars One

Sassoon meets Wilfred Owen (Matthew Tennyson) and falls in love. However, Owen gets sent back off to fight. Sassoon later has relationships with Ivor Novello ( Jeremy Irvine), Glen Byam Shaw (Tom Blyth), and Stephen Tennant (Calam Lynch) before marrying Hester (Kate Phillips) and having a son. Benediction chronicles all of this and more, with gorgeous costumes and music (a Davies trademark), as well as plenty of witty dialogue. This classy, tasteful film is a magnificent tribute to the poet. Two Latin American films are worthwhile. Mars One is an involving drama that depicts the dignity of a lower middle-class Black Brazilian family. Wellington (Carlos Francisco) is the patriarch, who works at a luxury apartment building. He is underpaid but he engenders respect with the manager and his coworkers. His wife, Tércia (Rejane Faria), cleans houses, but she has had a hard time finding work of late. Her troubles are compounded after she is in a café where a bomb goes off. Surviving the attack, she feels she is bringing bad luck on everyone around her. Meanwhile, their daughter Eunice (Camilla Damião) is coming to terms with her sexuality, and is planning to move in with her girlfriend, Joana (Ana Hilario). They have been “looking” at apartments and having sex in the empty spaces. Her brother, Deivinho (Cícero Lucas), plays soccer— Wellington wants him to be a star— but he would rather study astrophysics. How their lives and storylines play out in this modest film is interesting; a scene of the girls hold-

Being BeBe Documentary at the Roxie + BeBe Zahara Benet in Concert at Oasis

Photos by Vincent Martini Marcel

Being BeBe: The BeBe Zahara Benet Documentary opened in San Francisco at the Roxie on March 31. Producer Marc Smolowitz was there for a Meet and Greet along with star BeBe, who was the first ever RuPaul’s Drag Race winner, Director Emily Branham, and Co-Producer Diego Wyatt. Oakland-based filmmaker Robert Philipson was one of several other artists who attended. The event was co-presented by Frameline, BraveMaker, and Rainbow Railroad, a leading organization that works to advance international LGBTQ+ safety and civil rights. Then on April 1, Smolowitz partnered with D’Arcy Drollinger and Oasis to present BeBe live-in-concert with a 6-person band. After the show he posted: “Music, love, community, inclusion, diversity, and celebration! Another truly magical night.” https://beingbebemovie.com/

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ing hands when Joana is introduced to Eunice’s parents is both sweet and prickly. But the love this family feels for one another through the difficulties they experience resonates. The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future is a lyrical domestic drama with a supernatural twist. Magdelena (Mía Maestro) emerges from the water, returning after a long absence—she

Neptune Frost

died years ago. Her husband Enrique (Alfredo Castro) is shocked when he sees her and ends up in the hospital. Their son Bernardo (Marcial Tagle) calls his sister Cecilia (Leonor Varela), who arrives with her son Tomas (Enzo Ferrada Rosati), who is transitioning to female, and her young daughter Alma (Laura del Rio). Magdelena’s presence isn’t the

only disruption on the family’s dairy farm; the bees have gone, and the river may be polluted— fish are dying in large quantities. Moreover, there is something going on with the cows. It is all wrapped up in the past, and as the truth plays out, strange things happen. Director/ cowriter Francisca Alegria creates more atmosphere than drama, which forces viewers to create meaning, but Tomas’ storyline is nicely and sensitively handled. Original does not even begin to describe Neptune Frost, a heady, (continued on page 36)

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2022)

EMEFREETHINKER/CREATIVE COMMONS WIKIMEDIA

The Slap Heard Round the World

Off the Wahl Jan Wahl

Jessica Chastain won her best Actress Oscar as Tammy Faye and said: “We’re facing bigoted and discriminatory legislation, with the goal of further dividing us.” Supporting Actress winner Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) reminded us in my favorite acceptance speech, “I am the first openly queer Afro Latina to win this award.” Suck on it, Florida. My favorite movie in years is CODA. The world is now going to finally see this movie that has changed so much for deaf people and their families. By declaring it Best Picture, voters really went with their hearts. It’s a small picture big on humor, heart, and the importance of having each other’s backs. CODA stands for Children of Deaf Adults, and this movie is changing legislature and awareness everywhere. There were waving hands all over the auditorium and in Oscar viewing parties everywhere, the deaf applause.

WWW.OSCARS.ORG

It should’ve been a wonderful night. And in many ways, it was. The Oscars this year was full of fine ideas, a love of all thing cinematic, and fun entertainment. The three women hosts, Any Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall, were in sync, with Amy beginning with, “They got three women for the price of one man.” Wanda chimed in, “Hey Florida, tonight we’re having a gay night,” with the other two women and the audience cheering.

the stage and slapped Rock in the face. Then Smith went back to his seat and yelled, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f---in’ mouth.”

Best Picture. “I got you,” said Gaga to the obviously weak Liza. “I know,” said our Liza. The “In Memoriam” segment was a celebration of life and of the careers of those we now miss. I was very moved with the way they used gospel and rock numbers.

When Smith won the Oscar a few minutes later for Best Actor, he was nakedly emotional and eventually in tears. The most important part for me was when he quoted Denzel Washington telling him, “At your highest moment, be careful. That’s when the devil comes for you.”

“Okay, Jan,” I hear you saying. “You are burying the lead.” No, I am attempting to appreciate terrific moments that came beforehand. It was a good Oscar show ... and then time stopped. It will now be known as the Oscars that talked love and showed violence. Comedian Chris Rock came out to present Best Documentary feature. He made some jokes, including a completely tasteless one about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair, a condition she has publicly explained is due to alopecia. In a sudden outburst of anger, Will Smith marched onto

Smith apologized to everyone but Rock, claiming he was protecting his family as his character does in King Richard. As much as I dislike Rock for his disgusting joke, Smith could’ve simply taken the microphone from him and made a statement, or dealt with him after the show. Big mistake, Will Smith, and a bad career move. Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences days later. Academy president David Rubin responded, in part: “We will continue to move forward with our disciplinary proceedings against Mr. Smith for violations of the Academy’s Standards of Conduct, in advance of our next scheduled board meeting on April 18.”

It was terrific to have production numbers back, with Beyoncé and her group from Compton singing and dancing leading the way. Stunning colors were evident everywhere on the Red Carpet, with hands waving for DeBose’s red, Chastain’s pink gold, Zendaya’s Valentino, Kristen Stewart’s custom Chanel, and Timothée Chalemet’s Vuitton with no shirt. As usual with the divine Lady Gaga, she supported her co-star Liza in presenting

YOUTUBE SCREEN SHOT

Lady Gaga and Liza Minnelli

This unfortunate incident has now clouded everything in what could have been that rarity: a fabulous Oscar night. Fortunately, the great expressions and wins for women, LBGTQ, people of color, and people who love movies will remain with many of us. .Jan Wahl is a Hollywood historian, film critic on various broadcast outlets, and has her own YouTube channel series, “Jan Wahl Showbiz.” She has two Emmys and many awards for her longtime work on behalf of film buffs and the LGBTQ community. Contact her at www.janwahl.com S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2022)

Madame and Wayland: Tarts and Flowers

Faces from Our LGBT Past Dr. Bill Lipsky She was the original cougar, long before the concept existed. She was one of very few women to host her own television show. Of unknown but seemingly advanced years, she often shocked the faint of heart with her tart, acerbic, acrimonious, and often venomous comments. She thrilled members of the gay community with a persona and a cleverness that spoke directly to them at a time when few celebrities did. She was Madame. During the 1970s and 1980s, she was everywhere.

found the response funny in itself. Gays certainly did, but for totally different reasons: their insider knowledge, their shock of hearing it on TV, and the rare pleasure of someone speaking directly to them. Unlike many performers then, she was never coy about herself, although she believed the stories about her sex life were exaggerated. “I have only three things to say about sex,” she said. “Yes, when, and where.” She freely admitted that she’d had ten husbands: six of her own and four of her friends. Not all of her romantic experiences were happy, however, and she ended her relationship with her last boyfriend when she found out he was 27. “He told me he was 19,” she explained. Madame’s great friend and constant companion was the openly gay Wayland Flowers. Born in Dawson, Geor-

Cousin Charley: I passed your house the other day. You must have been sunbathing on the patio. Vultures were circling overhead. Madame: Oh yes. I do remember you swooping and swirling on your broomstick spelling out the words, “Surrender Dorothy.”

Panelists on the proGloria Swanson, Madame, and Wayland Flowers gram typically answered the questions they were asked first with a clever comment—not always successfully—then with a serious one. Madame’s responses almost always came from a gay campiness, a true redundancy, and were not exactly subtle. Asked, “Is it true that people who smoke get rear-ended more often?” she replied, “Hi sailor, got a light?” The number of images that come to mind, depending on who you believe is actually speaking, is a sheer delight.

Madame never stopped. After Marshall told her, “Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Strauss lived in the same place,” and then asked, “Where did they all live?” Her answer: “At the YMCA!” Viewers with no knowledge of the Y’s storied reputation within the gay community may have 28

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Reading like it has the plot of a sketch from an LGBT fundraiser, Episode 35, which premiered on November 5, 1982, is actually typical. According to one synopsis, “Madame is paid a visit by her black sheep cousin Charley [played by drag immortal Charles Pierce], who transforms into Bette Davis whenever he hears the word ‘trash.’” Not gay enough? “When vacationing Pinkerton [the butler] returns to the mansion, he falls for Charley in drag.” At the time, no other television program would have attempted such an episode.

The summary simply cannot convey the camp humor of the dialogue, with its affected, faux catty delivery and its gay Madame and Wayland Flowers cultural references:

More colorful than a paint store after an earthquake, as potty mouthed as she was potty minded, Madame let loose with memorable quips that could burn through the newsprint if Madame they were printed here. Even on television, she let both her erotic enthusiasms and her gay sensibilities shine through. When asked by Peter Marshall, host of Hollywood Squares, “Do most women think a gambling casino is a good place to meet a man?” she answered, “I’ll lay ya eight to five ... or ten to midnight.”

The most openly gay sensibility on television after Paul Lynde, whom she followed into the prized Center Square after Lynde left the show, Madame and her comments and quips usually left no doubt where her mind was: “Men, drinking, entertaining, and entertaining men who have been drinking.” Some believed her public persona was based upon silent film star Norma Desmond, as portrayed by Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard. During an interview on Madame’s Place in 1982, Swanson denied it. Madame did, too.

never appeared on Madame’s Place, her syndicated television show, which ran five nights a week from September 20, 1982, to February 23, 1983, although Debbie Reynolds, Betty White, William Shatner, Arsenio Hall, Pee Wee Herman, Charles Nelson Reilly, Phyllis Diller, and Eva Gabor did, among others.

gia, on November 26, 1939, he began working with and creating marionettes as a child. After graduating from college, he moved to New York to pursue an acting career, but soon was designing puppets for local troupes and programs, including Captain Kangaroo. He debuted his own show, Kumquats, “the world’s first erotic puppet show,” in 1971. The next year Madame appeared in a solo lounge act in Provincetown to immediate success. Flowers may have been out of the closet, but he was deep in the shadows. “I’m right out there on stage beside Madame, but within two or three minutes it seems that I disappear,” he said in an interview. He

Cousin Charley: Darling, that joke has been around since 1776. And so have you. Why, you gave Minute-Men a whole new meaning. Madame: How amusing coming from someone who’s seen more ceilings than Michelangelo. Madame retired after Flowers died of complications from AIDSrelated Kaposi’s sarcoma on October 11, 1988, but remained wellremembered for glorifying the kind of brittle banter, witty putdowns, and camp cultural references that gays had enjoyed for years. Her ancient one liners and bawdy jokes, double entendres that left nothing to the imagination, and her tart responses brought their humor to a wider audience that was not expecting it and may not always have understood it, but certainly came to appreciate it, knowing its source or not. Although many of Madame’s quips now sound overworked and all too obvious, part of the reason for their familiarity is simply that they have been repeated endlessly for the last 40 years. She endures as one of the indelible personalities of the century. Flowers, for all the time he spent in Madame’s shadow, remains one of the most visible puppeteers in current memory. Bill Lipsky, Ph.D., author of “Gay and Lesbian San Francisco” (2006), is a member of the Rainbow Honor Walk board of directors.

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2022)

BANDALOOP Celebrates 30 Years with Free Vertical Dance Performances BANDALOOP’s LOOM:FIELD will be unveiled to the public with free outdoor shows 8 pm, Friday, April 15, and 5 pm & 8 pm, Saturday April 16, 2022. Coinciding with BANDALOOP’s 30th anniversary celebration, these shows will transform the side of the Breuner Building in uptown Oakland into a breathtaking giant loom where stories and dance interlace, exploring the textile industry and its effects on our planet. The street below will be closed to traffic, offering seated and picnic viewing areas, and guests are invited to bring blankets and camping chairs to enjoy the performances.

Vertical dance company BANDALOOP will take to the skies high above uptown Oakland to celebrate its 30th anniversary with a new work, LOOM:FIELD. Free performances can be seen on the side of the Breuner Building, Grand & Broadway, Oakland, April 15 & 16, 2022. Pictured: BANDALOOP performing in Atlanta last October.

BROOKE ANDERSON

LOOM:FIELD is the centerpiece of BANDALOOP’s LOOM trilogy, a multi-year initiative bringing together a collective of performing artists, climate scientists, regenerative textile artists, a visual technologist, and creative riggers to create performances that deepen and challenge perspectives on the art and industry of textiles.

BROOKE ANDERSON

The 5 pm family-friendly performance of LOOM:FIELD on Saturday, April 16, will offer an audio description provided by Gravity Access Services, made possible by a generous grant from the Ford Foundation. ASL will also be provided. A Haptic Access Tour will begin at 4 pm— please call 760-957-5564 to pre-register and reserve a headset.

A 45-minute vertical dance perforThe result of this multi-layered collaboration is an evening of dance theater featuring spoken word, vertical dance, fabric manipulation, film segments, and origmance set to original live music that inal music. fuses intricate choreography and climbing technology, LOOM:FIELD After its hometown premiere in Oakland, LOOM:FIELD will tour nationally through the spring of 2023. For more information, visit https://www.bandaloop.org/loom offers a narrative of ancestral weaving stories and techniques, the ecological and social impacts of a globalized textile industry, and the influence of technology. Although this industry is one of the largest polluters in the world, the impact of clothing and fashion is often overlooked in modern consumer lifestyles. Fraught with devastating globalized labor and farming practices, the fallout of textile consumption will be dealt with for generations to come. LOOM:FIELD juxtaposes this largescale ecological crisis with the timeless power of fabric to hold, comfort, adorn, and sanctify across cultures. The choreography for LOOM:FIELD was developed by BANDALOOP Artistic Director Melecio Estrella and the company’s dancers. Collaborators for the production include ninth-generation Nigerian weaver and costume designer IB Bayo, theater artist Chibueze Crouch, composer Ben Juodvalkis, and lighting designer Jim French. S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2022)

The Cockettes Exhibit at the Hormel LGBTQIA Center Photos by Rink

Lit Snax

The James C. Hormel Center at the San Francisco Public Library is featuring an exhibit on the mysterious and outrageous theater troupe known as The Cockettes. The exhibit, entitled The Cockettes: Acid Drag & Sexual Anaarchy, was celebrated at its Opening Reception on Thursday, March 17. Co-creators Fayette Hauser and Jim Van Buskirk discussed the exhibit’s multifaceted resources documenting and showcasing the avant-garde culture of the groundbreaking, experimental genderbending theater troupe. The exhibit will continue through August 11.

Sugar Town by Hazel Newlevant This is an utterly charming graphic novel about a bisexual polyamorous woman pursuing romances.

Frank: Sonnets by Diane Seuss Not your high school English teacher’s crusty old sonnets, Frank: Sonnets is an engaging reinvention, and a memoir turned on its head.

Queer Cocktails: 50 Cocktail Recipes Celebrating Gay Icons and Queer Culture by Lewis Laney LGBTQ+ history is the garnish of choice for these mouthwatering concoctions.

https://www.fabulosabooks.com/

Top of your stack

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM BOOK PASSAGE

A Ballad of Love and Glory (historical fiction - hardbound) by Reyna Grande Ximena Salomé is a gifted Mexican healer who dreams of building a family with the man she loves on the coveted land she calls home. But when Texas Rangers storm her ranch and shoot her husband dead, her dreams are burned to ashes. Vowing to honor her husband’s memory and defend her country, Ximena uses her healing skills as a nurse on the frontlines of the ravaging war.

Meanwhile, John Riley, an Irish immigrant in the Yankee army desperate to help his family escape the famine devastating his homeland, is sickened by the unjust war and the unspeakable atrocities against his countrymen by nativist officers. In a bold act of defiance, he swims across the Río Grande and joins the Mexican Army—a desertion punishable by execution. He forms the St. Patrick’s Battalion, a band of Irish soldiers willing to fight to the death for México’s freedom. April is National Poetry Month and Book Passage has a robust and varied collection of poetry books and poets to recommend. Here are a couple: Boomerang/Bumeran (poetry - paperback) by Achy Obejas This is a unique and inspiriting bilingual collection of lyrical poetry written in a bold, mostly gender-free English and Spanish that addresses immigration, displacement, love, and activism. The book is divided into 3 sections: first, poems addressing immigration and displacement; secondly, those addressing love, lost and found, and finally, verses focusing on action, on ways of addressing injustice, and repairing the world. The volume will be both inspiration and support for readers living with marginalized identities and those who love and stand with them. Call Us What We Carry (poetry- paperback) by Amanda Gorman The luminous poetry collection by #1 New York Times bestselling author and presidential inaugural poet Amanda

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Gorman captures a shipwrecked moment in time and transforms it into a lyric of hope and healing. In Call Us What We Carry, Gorman explores history, language, identity, and erasure through an imaginative and intimate collage. Harnessing the collective grief of a global pandemic, this beautifully designed volume features poems in many inventive styles and structures and shines a light on a moment of reckoning. Upcoming Events Thursday, April 14 @ 5:30 pm (free-online) Rabih Alameddine, Elizabeth Crane, Susan Perabo, Jess Walter, and Hannah Tintirik Larson, authors of Small Odysseys Some of the thirty-five literary luminaries who came together for the stunning collection Small Odysseys will be present for this virtual event. The collection is a must-have for any lover of literature as it sweeps the reader into the landscape of the contemporary short story. Monday, April 18 @ 7 pm (ticketed, in-Person at Dominican University) Valerie Biden Owens, author of Growing Up Biden Valerie Biden Owens is Joe Biden’s younger sister, trusted confidante, and lifelong campaign manager. She will speak about what it was like being one of the first female campaign managers in U.S. history, and of her family, faith, and the fate in shaping her life, and the power of empathy and kindness in the face of turmoil and division. Growing Up Biden details her decades-long professional career in politics, and the central role she played in her brother’s life as an insightful adviser, an ever-loyal advocate, and best friend. https://www.bookpassage.com/

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2022)

Are You Two Sisters? Several years ago, as I stepped out of a bar in a small desert town in New Mexico, a man followed me out and called after me, “Are you two sisters?” He had seen me with my partner Hannah inside the bar where she was now settling our lunch bill. As I walked with my guide dog toward our car across a dusty parking lot, the man tagged after me and called again in a challenging tone, “Are you two sisters?” I felt unnerved and did not respond, but his question stayed with me. Why did he ask? Why did he need to know? And why was it so hard for me to answer him? When Hannah came out and we drove off, I told her what the man had said. “What did you tell him?” she asked. “I didn’t say,” I replied. She reassured me that was all right. But I was uncertain. I knew I had felt a need to protect myself in this isolated town surrounded only by dry desert fields and mountains. But I also felt, “I should have had the nerve to speak.” By then, I had begun working on a book exploring the intimacies of a lesbian couple. The man’s question called my attention to how lesbians were viewed in the outside world—that just as Hannah and I were always relating to each other, we were also constantly navigating our boundaries with others around us, needing to protect ourselves and often not knowing quite how to do it. I subsequently decided to title my new book Are You Two Sisters? because that is a question lesbians are often asked when others seek to know us, and because it suggests our own inti-

By Susan Krieger

San Francisco Pride Member Drive & Benefit Photos by. Rink

mate self-questioning: Who are we? How am I different from others, and how am I the same? It also suggests feelings of vulnerability about Susan Krieger our boundaries—the sense that one can easily be assaulted simply walking out the door. In Are You Two Sisters? I trace the life of a lesbian couple over time, beginning in the 1980s with a meeting on a university campus, and through the several decades that follow as the two women become increasingly intimate with each other and share adventures in the larger world. Throughout, I raise the question: What difference does it make that the two women are lesbian? What makes them similar to others? What makes them different? What can be learned from following in the steps of these two women and considering their self-other dilemmas? Especially, I ask, why does lesbianism remain so often invisible? I first examined issues of lesbian identity in my 1980s study The Mirror Dance: Identity in a Women’s Community. The book focused on a sixty-member social group in which individuals sought a sense of themselves apart from the straight world. In Are You Two Sisters? I explore similar dilemmas of self and other, but this time, I focus more intimately on a lesbian couple.

Current and past leaders of SF Pride hosted a Membership Drive Party & Benefit on Tuesday, March 29, at the Lookout. San Francisco Bay Times columnist Donna Sachet served as emcee and speakers included Carolyn Wysinger, Board President; and Suzanne Ford, Interim Executive Director. New member Ben Rifleman was the highest bidder on the Easter Basket auctioned by former Pride President Gary Virginia.

Using a lively novelistic and autoethnographic approach that toggles back and forth in time, this new book addresses not only questions of gender and sexuality, but also of disability, as it explores how the couple adapts to the author’s increasing blindness. I hope that Are You Two Sisters? like The Mirror Dance, may have a mirroring function and that others with different forms of intimate relationships may gain insights from the experiences described. Susan Krieger is a Research Fellow at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research, Stanford University, and the author of “Are You Two Sisters?: The Journey of a Lesbian Couple,” just published by Temple University Press. She will be speaking at the Book Passage Bookstore in Corte Madera on Saturday, April 23, at 1 pm.

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Carmel-by-the-Sea: An Enchanted Oasis

The Gay Gourmet David Landis When one thinks of that lovely town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, one conjures up visions of fairytale cottages, undiscovered alleys and courtyards, beautiful white sand beaches, and Mediterranean-inspired architecture. It’s an easy 2-hour drive from San Francisco, but it’s a world away. The Gay Gourmet has visited this wonderful town for years. Known as one of California’s most dogfriendly hamlets, Carmel is just north of picturesque Point Lobos and Big Sur, as well as home to the historic Carmel Mission, many wineries and tasting rooms, and numerous art galleries. Iconic actress and animal activist Doris Day resided there for years. While still alive, she opened one of the country’s first dog-friendly luxury boutique hotels, Carmel’s famed Cypress Inn. Actor and former Carmel Mayor Clint Eastwood still resides in this burg. There are many reasons to visit this charming village. But, sad to say, one doesn’t always think of “great food” when one visits Carmel. Luckily for Bay Area visitors, that’s beginning to change. The Gay Gourmet visited Carmel several times during the pandemic and has come up with a Baker’s Dozen of places to dine in style. Best of all, you can take your dogs! La Balena - In The Gay Gourmet’s humble opinion, this is Carmel’s best restaurant. Owner Emanuele Bartolini hails from Florence, but trained with some of the best chefs in Manhattan: at Le Cirque and also with Mario Batali and Alain Ducasse. Homemade pastas, a carefully curated Italian wine list, and a stunning outdoor courtyard make dining at this neighborhood, rustic Italian spot truly special. Cultura Comida Y Bebida - Believe it or not, Carmel plays host to some of the best Oaxacaninspired Mexican food on the Monterey Peninsula. Cultura boasts an extensive, top shelf tequila, mezcal and margarita bar, a full bar, and a splendid courtyard to boot. Smoked pork cheeks with mole, yam enchiladas, and crispy chapulines (grasshoppers) are just some of the unique offerings. For a more typical meal, try the tres tacos (choose from chicken, carnitas, barbacoa, and plantain): they’re crispy, tasty, and filling, with just the right amount of spice. Tarpy’s Roadhouse - This is a true, old-style California roadhouse, situated in the pathway of the planes landing at the Monterey airport. But no matter, this charming offthe-beaten track culinary destination offers such California standbys as a grilled Castroville artichoke, olallieberry pie, and hearty portions 32

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Anton & Michel - More French than France, this charmer’s outdoor setting is centered around a gorgeous reflecting pool in Carmel’s “Court of the Fountains.” Favorites include classic French onion soup, panko-crusted sand dabs, duck liver pate, and crab cakes with pineapple coconut arugula salad and wild berry vinaigrette. Great French wine list, too!

Folktale Provisions and Winery folks. It is an informal patisserie and pizzeria located next to Carmel Plaza downtown and surprises with some of Carmel’s best pastries, sandwiches, salads, and Italian-style pizzas. Portabella - Right on Ocean Avenue in downtown Carmel, this quaint English-style cottage has one of the best mushroom soups anywhere, delicious pastas, a terrific European and Californian wine list, and inviting indoor as

Nepenthe - This throwback to the 70s has an outdoor terrace with a Big Sur view that’s even better than Italy’s Amalfi coast. The famous “Ambrosia burger” is a thing of beauty, especially while sipping a wonderful French Bandol rosé wine from the extensive wine list. You can while the Schooners day away admiring the panoramic coastline vista. (But, alas, no reservations, so get there early.) Terry’s Lounge - Located at the late Doris Day’s Cypress Inn, this great dog-friendly bar and restaurant has one of the loveliest live jazz Sunday brunches around. Of special note is Doris Day’s famed chicken salad (with grapes) and hotfrom-the-oven popovers. Great wine list and an authentic Trader Vic’s mai tai as well! Schooner’s - Right on Monterey Bay at Cannery Row in Monterey, Schooner’s is perched just above the water with waves crashing below. You can’t go wrong with oysters, the New England-style clam chowder, and the crispy fried chicken sandwich with Castroville artichoke tapenade, aioli, fennel kraut, and arugula-seasoned fries. Go for lunch to take in the spectacular view on the sunny deck. Passionfish - Primarily known for its seafood, this Monterey eatery brings innovative fusion style to a variety of gems from the sea. The menu features fresh, sustainable seafood, slow-cooked meats, local produce from small farms, and interesting wines from all over the world. It’s also the first area restaurant to be designated a green business. The black beangoat cheese fritters are a tasty start and the Dungeness crab salad with spicy ginger (in season) is a winner. Rise + Roam This is a modern, craft bakery from the A PR I L 7 , 2 0 2 2

Stillwater Bar & Grille

Cultura Comida Y Bebida

Portabella

well as parklet dining. Stillwater Bar & Grill - On the 18th hole at Pebble Beach, this is another perfect place for “lunch with a view.” Great salads, seafood, and cocktails (along with a varied wine list) and you can watch all the golfers miss their shots while admiring the ocean view. After lunch, be

Passionfish

PHOTO BY PEBBLE BEACH COMPANY/SHERMAN CHU

in an historic stone building with a gorge smash burger, and a varied wine list that goes beyond the predictable California offerings. Don’t miss the haystack-style onion rings!

Bay Times Dines

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2022)

PHOTO BY KODIAK GREENWOOD

sure to drive the nearby, scenic 17-Mile Drive.

Bits and Bites

a winner of this year’s Taste Award for Best City or Regional Program for her Plates and Places show on PBS. On April 20 from 8–10 pm, the Taste Awards will present a gourmet dinner screening of selected award-nominated short films and features at San Francisco’s Foreign Cinema restaurant. Outdoor patio dinner reservations are highly recommended; when booking please note that you are attending for both the film screening + dinner. The Taste Awards are being broadcast throughout April on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings). For more than a decade, the Taste Awards have been the premiere awards celebrating the year’s best in food, fashion, health, travel, and lifestyle programs in film, television, online & streaming video, podcasts, radio and photography.

Taste Awards Update: As readers of this column know, yours truly was delighted to be a judge for this year’s Taste Awards. Here’s a quick update: Local chef Joanne Weir is

San Francisco’s Old Skool Café celebrates 10 years with a gala celebration event at 6 pm on April 12 in Mendell Plaza in the Bayview. This youth-run supper club provides hospitality vocational training for at-risk youth and proceeds from the event will help continue to fund these much-needed programs. Watch this space for an upcoming feature about this terrific organization.

Sierra Mar - This is a special occasion, fine dining restaurant at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, situated 500 feet above the ocean with spectacular views. The food is exquisite and served artfully on individual Annie

Sierra Mar

Tarpy’s Roadhouse

Glass hand-blown creations.

Nepenthe

La Balena: https://www.labalenacarmel.com/ Cultura Comida Y Bebida: https://www.culturacarmel.com/ Tarpy’s Roadhouse: https://www.tarpys.com/ Corkscrew Café: http://www.corkscrewcafe.com/ Anton & Michel: https://www.antonandmichel.com/ Nepenthe: https://www.nepenthe.com/ Terry’s Lounge: https://www.carmelterrys.com/ Schooners: https://schoonersmonterey.com/ Passionfish: https://www.passionfish.net/ Rise + Roam: https://riseandroambakery.com/ Portabella: https://www.portabellacarmel.com/ Stillwater Bar & Grill: https://tinyurl.com/2fumd9tf Sierra Mar: https://tinyurl.com/e72cusjr Taste Awards Screening at Foreign Cinema: http://foreigncinema.com/ Visit Carmel: https://www.carmelcalifornia.com/ Old Skool Café: https://www.oldskoolcafe.org/ David Landis, aka “The Gay Gourmet,” is a foodie, a freelance writer, and a retired PR maven. Follow him on Instagram @GayGourmetSF or email him at: davidlandissf@ gmail.com Or visit him online at: www.gaygourmetsf.com

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“How luscious lies the pea within the pod.” —Emily Dickinson Fresh peas are calling to us this spring with their gorgeous color and crisp sweet taste. The season for peas is upon us and that means snap peas, English peas, pea shoots, and snow peas are appearing at your local farmers’ market. To get the best flavor from your peas, freshness is important when selecting them. All peas develop sweetness as they grow to maturity, but if left on the plant for too long, those sugars are converted into starches so the peas become fibrous and tough with less sweet flavor. That’s why the farmers’ market is a great place to purchase them. They come to the market freshly picked, at just the right ripeness, directly from the farm to you!

By Debra Morris Peas are members of the legume family of plants and are divided into two categories: those with and those without edible pods. The peas we know as the garden pea or English pea fall into the latter category. They’re also called shelling peas. “Petit pois” is not a variety of pea, but merely green peas that have been picked before full maturity. Thus, they are just smaller than fully ripe green peas—and just as sweet and tender.

with strings don’t necessarily need to be stringed before cooking.

Snap peas look like mini versions of the pods of green peas. The difference is that these pods are edible. Sugar Snap and Sugar Daddy are the two varieties of sugar snap peas, the latter being a cross between the green pea and the snow pea. In addition, the Sugar Daddy is stringless. However, even sugar snaps

The farmers’ market also offers young pea shoots, sometimes called pea greens, as a specialty product. You won’t find them in the grocery store! These delicious edible stems, leaves, and curly tendrils of pea plants have a delicate texture and subtle flavor that make them worth trying.

Snow peas used to be seen as part of Asian cuisine in stir fry and noodle dishes. Now they’re more common and available everywhere. The pale green, edible pods are flat and wide with little bulges— the immature peas inside—rippling throughout the pod. Snow peas are also called sugar peas, China peas, and in French, mangetout, meaning “eat all.”

Cocktails With Heather Heather Freyer With April being the month of Donna Sachet’s birthday (Betty Sullivan’s too), consider making this cocktail with a Sachet-red hue and toasting to Donna’s good health, Betty’s, and yours as well. Cranberry juice, a key ingredient, is rich in antioxidants and can be dressed up by itself the next morning with a splash of orange, mango, and/or pineapple juice.

RED PUNCH

1/2 ounce Bacardí Combine the first six Raspberry Flavored Rum ingredients and serve over 1/4 ounce grendadine cubed ice in a chilled rock glass. 1/2 ounce Bacardí Superior Rum Garnish with a mint sprig and 1 1/4 ounce sweet and sour mix lime wheel. If making a larger batch, the ingredients can be 1/2 ounce Bacardí Limón Flavored Rum added to a chilled punch bowl 1/4 ounce cranberry juice that has a ladle. mint sprig https://www.bacardi.com/us/en/where-to-buy/ lime wheel

Heather Freyer is a beverage expert who is the Vice President and General Manager for Open West States at Bacardí USA. Previously she was with Trinchero Wine Estates, Castle Rock Winery, Cost Plus World Market, and more. innovative viticultural approach that encompasses its regional roots, Adelaida is a name to know and a star among the top wineries of California.

Sbrocco Sips Leslie Sbrocco 2019 Adelaida ‘Anna’s Estate Vineyard’ Counoise, Adelaida District, Paso Robles, California $40 https://www.adelaida.com/ If you aren’t familiar with the excellent wines of Paso Robles, here’s one that captures the quality and uniqueness of this historic central California growing region. Originally founded in 1971 as a retreat for the Van Steenwyk family, the organically farmed property now known as Adelaida Vineyards is iconic in the Paso Robles area. With an 34

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All of Adelaida’s wines, from recognized reds like Zinfandel and Syrah to adventurous whites such as Grenache Blanc and Roussanne, are stellar. I’ve chosen to highlight an esoteric wine, Counoise, which Adelaida makes into a simply delectable red. Originally hailing from the southern Rhone Valley of France, the grape is rarely planted in California. This version captures the vibrancy and zestiness of the variety. The wine is ruby in color, saturated with red berry flavors and sporting spicy succulence. Medium-bodied and elegant, it’s ideal for lovers of styles such as Pinot Noir or Gamay. Drink by itself for a refreshing sip (don’t be afraid to pop it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes) or pair alongside an evening cheese omelet, barbeque chicken legs, or a juicy burger. Author, speaker, wine consultant, and television A PR I L 7 , 2 0 2 2

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2022)

This Month at the Castro Farmers’ Market Peas Aplenty

host Leslie Sbrocco is known for her entertaining approach to wine and food. She has won multiple Emmy Awards for her work on PBS, which includes hosting the series “Check, Please! Bay Area” and “100 Days, Drinks, Dishes & Destinations.” www.LeslieSbrocco.com

You’ll find fresh green peas at your Castro Farmers’ Market from Fifth Crow Farms out of Pescadero. Stop by and pick up one of spring’s most delicious vegetables! Debra Morris is a spokesperson for the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association (PCFMA). Check out the PCFMA website for recipes, information about farmers’ markets throughout the region and for much more: https://www.pcfma.org/

Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun

By Sister Dana Van Iquity

Another triumph for the LGBTQs at Oscars was when Ariana DeBose as Anita in West Side Story won for Best Supporting Actress—becoming the first Afro-Latina and openly LGBTQ actor to win in the category. She proudly said, “You see a queer, openly queer woman of color and Afro-Latina who found her strength in life through art.” Kudos! And finally, a win for queers was Jessica Chastain taking the Oscar for Best Actress in the title role of The Eyes of Tammy Faye, while fearlessly addressing the bigoted and discriminatory anti-LGBTQ legislation that is sweeping the nation and dividing the country. I’m thrilled to report that billboards boldly emblazoned with just the gigantic word “GAY” or the huge two-word slogan “SAY GAY”’ are going up around Florida. The signs are in response to the state recently passing HB 1557, “The Parental Rights in Education” bill, and Governor DeSantis signing it into law. More commonly dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, it tries to ban the discussion of LGBTQ topics in school. The billboards are the initiative of the super PAC, SOUTHERN PROGRESS, promoting progressive legislation and lawmakers in southern states. SP says it is erecting the first signs in Tallahassee, Orlando, and Jacksonville for a month. I say, “YAY!” On March 24 at The Academy in San Francisco, LGBTQ Ukrainians and their friends attended the RAINBOW WORLD FUND fundraiser for Ukraine highlighting particular challenges facing the war-torn nation’s queer community both at home and abroad. Among those attending was Leo Volobrynskyy—now a San Francisco resident and recipient of the Mayor’s Good Samaritan Award. Volobrynskyy is an LGBTQ activist from Odessa who is also a labor union leader supporting nurses. Also at the fundraiser was Polina Krasnova—born and raised in Cherkasy and since the beginning of the war serving as an interpreter—an LGBTQ activist who has also been working to combat climate change and threats to sovereignty and personal freedom. Jeff Cotter is the Executive Director of Rainbow World Fund, which has been aiding LGBTQ Ukrainians through the Ukrainebased organizations, FULCRUM, INSIGHT, and LIGA. Fulcrum was co-founded by Tymur Levchuk, who with his husband was the first gay couple to marry in Ukraine. As usual with Academy fundraisers sponsored by San Francisco Bay Times at the Academy, the always delightful Donna Sachet emceed and DJ Rockaway spun tunes. According to LGBTQ NATION, the Biden administration has

PHOTO BY PAUL MARGOLIS

Sister Dana sez, “I absolutely love how Oscar Night opened with co-host Wanda Sykes saying: ‘We’re gonna have a great night tonight. And for you people in Florida, we’re gonna have a Gay night!’ And the two other co-hosts gloriously chimed in along with ‘Gay! Gay! GAY!!!’” Sister Dana enjoyed the evening during a Rainbow World Fund event with Terry Beswick, GGBA Executive Director, at the GLBT Historical Society Museum where Beswick was on staff at the time. (2016)

announced it will expedite the resettlement of LGBTQ Ukrainian refugees in the United States. It’s not clear if the refugees will be granted permanent or temporary status. The Biden Administration believes most will want to return home and thus will not need permanent resettlement. They also believe that due to this desire, most refugees will choose to stay in Europe. While Ukraine still has a long way to go when it comes to LGBTQ rights, the country has come a lot farther than Russia, where LGBTQ people continue to be actively persecuted. Sister Dana sez, “Senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Lindsey Graham, and Tom Cotton really put on quite an outrageous and egregious show at the Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings for Judge Jackson! Those went way beyond mere dog whistles; those were monstrous wolf megaphones!” And by the way ... soft on crime? Eight of 10 states with the highest murder rates were red Republican states and voted for Trump. SF LGBT CENTER will present its 20TH ANNUAL SOIRÉE on Saturday, April 9, 5:30 pm at City View Metreon, 135 4th Street. This promises to be an evening of celebration—starting with reception with a raffle, dinner program with a live auction, hosted by the amazing duo of Sister Roma and Honey Mahogany, open bar and snacks with entertainment by Juanita MORE!, and after-party dancing with DJ Lady Ryan. As they usher in 20 years of service to our LGBTQ community, help them raise $300,000 to ensure continued services for LGBTQ folks most in need. https://www.sfcenter.org/ Sister Dana sez, “As the de facto head of the Republican Party, Trump is conspiring with the enemy and thereby committing treason. Wake up, Republicans!” When world-renowned LGBTQ and Human Rights Activist Cleve Jones was evicted from his long-time home in San Francisco’s Castro District, the Community gathered in support of him. The new landlord had bought the building and more than doubled rent—a situation that all too often shines the spotlight on the vulnerability of San Francisco tenants. THE RALLY FOR HOUSING RIGHTS was then held at Harvey Milk Plaza, 17th & Castro Streets on March 27. Among the many speakers were Dr. Tyler TerMeer, CEO of San Francisco AIDS Foundation; Anand Singh, President of UNITE HERE Local 2; District 8 Supervisor

Rafael Mandelman; District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston; and David Campos, CADEM Party Vice-Chair. Cleve said he would survive all right, but such would not be the case with many older tenants whose limited income depended upon rent control to keep them safely housed. On TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE, March 31, TRANSGENDER LAW CENTER said it best: “Trans people come from a long lineage of powerful and accomplished activists, our spirits divinely imbued with their strength and resilience. Throughout history, our transcestors have risen up and fought back in the face of oppression, winning progress even when their fight seemed unwinnable.” 420 MURAL UNVEILING is on 4/20 at 4:20 pm at Flore Dispensary, 258 Noe. What’s on the wall? https://floredispensary.com/ SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS will present VOICES RISING at Davies Symphony Hall on April 10, 7:30 pm. In the early part of the 20th century, San Francisco adopted the rising phoenix as a symbol of having overcome city-wide challenges. It is only fitting that this groundbreaking evening includes Songs of the Phoenix. Tony Award-nominated Broadway composer Andrew Lippa has curated an incredible group of 13 composers and lyricists representing an extraordinary diversity of voices including Ty Defoe, Alexandra Elle, Siedah Garrett, Joriah Kwamé, Patrick and Daniel Lazour, Melissa Li, Ingrid Michaelson, Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, Diana Syrse, and Kit Yan. The concert will also include highlights from two of SFGMC’s most significant commissions including Andrew Lippa’s Unbreakable and Julian Hornik’s @queerz, which was originally scheduled to have its world premiere with SFGMC in Spring 2020, as well as feature a 10th anniversary performance of Testimony, written by threetime Academy Award and four-time Grammy Award-winning composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz. The evening will also pay tribute to the late Stephen Sondheim with a selection of his beloved works. https://www.sfgmc.org/ We SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE are happy to announce that we are bringing our annual Easter Celebration back to Dolores Park on Sunday, April 17, after a two-year hiatus due to (continued on page 36) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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QUILT (continued from page 22)

SISTER DANA (continued from page 35)

Recreation and Park Department. “The National AIDS Memorial is an important part of that history, and we are honored to be part of this event that will bring thousands of people to our beloved park to honor a national treasure.”

the pandemic. Free, but donations are always welcomed and appreciated. The 43rd-anniversary celebration kicks off with Children’s Easter from 10 to noon, followed by the main event from noon to 4 pm. The theme for this year is “BACK TO OUR OLD HABITS,” celebrating our return to an in-person Easter party, following all the current CDC guidelines for outdoor events. On display will be larger-than-life Sister 3-D paintings readily available for selfies, as well as various “holy relics” to take home from the “exoneration station.”

A special web page has been created for the public to plan their visit to see the display that will be updated regularly with the latest details and information about this historic event: www.aidsmemorial.org KRAMER (continued from page 26) visually stimulating, sci-fi musical extravaganza from Rwanda about gender and economic inequality, as well as the exploitation of mines (and miners) among other political topics. (One sample lyric: “Underscore the overpaid.”) The encrypted plot involves Neptune (played by both Cheryl Isheja and Elvis Ngabo), and Matalusa (Bertrand Ninteretse aka Kaya Free), and a coltan miner, inspiring revolution and resistance. Neptune has an interesting encounter with a man named Innocent (Dorcy Rugamba), who discovers they are intersex, while another storyline involves the promotion of MartyrLoserKing (a play on Matalusa and MLK). Neptune Frost pulsates to a rhythmic beat and the musical sequences are fabulous. So too, are the makeup and costumes (one character sports a jacket made from a disassembled computer keyboard). It may be overwhelming, but take in Neptune Frost, and absorb its messages about belonging and dissonance, as well as power and how to wield it. For tickets and more information, visit https://sffilm.org/ © 2022 Gary M. Kramer Gary M. Kramer is the author of “Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews,” and the co-editor of “Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.” Follow him on Twitter @garymkramer

The day begins with an Easter Egg Hunt, story time, and other fun activities for the kiddies at 10 am—proving that we nuns also have so-called traditional family values. Starting at noon, celebrity guest emcee, San Francisco’s iconic Peaches Christ, will host an exciting adult variety show featuring drag, live entertainment, and miracles as only the Sisters can perform. This year’s lineup includes Kitten on the Keys, Carly Ozard, Kippy Marks, a high-energy set featuring Nicki Jizz & the stars of Reparations, Oakland’s Rebel Kings, Alex U Inn, Katya SmirnoffSkyy, star of The Voice and Misfit Cabaret Kat Robichaud, and many many more! Throughout the day the audience will take center stage as they show off their Easter spirit competing in the colorful EASTER BONNET CONTEST, THE FOXY MARY CONTEST, and the highly anticipated HUNKY JESUS CONTEST—all audaciously administered by Sister Roma and Sister Dana. The contests are open to one and all! Contestants are encouraged to show up wearing their bonnet or Foxy/Hunky look and line up backstage when the contest is announced. There will be an initial screening, so be clever and creative! Since their first appearance in San Francisco on Easter Weekend, 1979, the Sisters have devoted themselves to community service, outreach to those on the edges, and promoting human rights, respect for diversity, and spiritual enlightenment. The nonprofit organization has raised millions of dollars for those in need, and everything goes back to the community. Sister Dana Van Iquity has proudly & loudly been with the Order since SF Gay Pride 1985. Sister Dana sez, “I never thought I would give props to Arnold Schwarzenegger, but I sure have to thank him for his extremely effective message reaching millions of Russians concerning Putin’s horrifying War against Ukraine!”

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

SF Sketch Randy Coleman

QUEER

POP QUIZ

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S

ANSWER (Question on pg 25)

B) He lost in all of these categories. After the awards ceremony, Lil Nas X tweeted: “can’t believe i lost all my grammys. i am now no longer gay!” This was followed by a wordless tweet with emojis showing the general prohibition sign (red circle with a slash through it) and the rainbow flag. Just 12 minutes later, though, he tweeted: “i change my mind i want to be slutted out tonight.” While we don’t know if that happened, he did take the stage during the Grammy Awards and performed a crowd-pleasing medley of “Dead Right Now,” “Montero (Call Me by Your Name),” and “Industry Baby.”

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Take Me Home with You! Fitness SF Trainer Tip of the Month

“My name is Avery! I’m a ninemonth-old boy who is ready for a second chance. My favorite pastimes include enthusiastically chasing wand toys, indulging in long afternoon cat naps, and showing off my handsome mane. I recently arrived in San Francisco from Stockton and I can’t wait to start my new life here. My ideal adopter would be someone who will give me lots of love, attention, and playtime. Maybe you!?”

Avery

Steven Luibrand at Fitness SF Mid-Market “Walking is the most underrated form of exercise. It’s the only activity that counts as both exercise and active recovery! Walking = Exercise + Rest”

Avery is presented to San Francisco Bay Times readers by Dr. Jennifer Scarlett, the SF SPCA’s Co-President. Our thanks also go to Krista Maloney for helping to get the word out about lovable pets like Avery. To meet Avery, visit the SF SPCA Dr. Jennifer Scarlett and Pup Mission Campus @ 201 Alabama Street. It is open for appointments from 8 am–6 pm daily. For more information: https://www.sfspca.org/adoptions/

Tore Kelly, Director of Creative & Social Media for Fitness SF, provides monthly tips that he has learned from professional trainers. For more information: https://fitnesssf.com/

As Heard on the Street . . . What is the best thing that happened to you today? compiled by Rink

Ilosa Miguel

Moxie Penn

Lawrence Shine

Karen Bardsley

Erin Lavery

“Living in these times of war and the virus, waking up healthy and happy was the best thing that happened to me today”

“I got a bonus from one client, and a dinner in my honor from another”

“After visiting my mother, I drove the scenic journey from Vallejo to San Francisco”

“Seeing Betty Sullivan in person for the first time since 2000”

“I was approved for rent relief today!”

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Movie Critic and Historian Jan Wahl @ The Academy

Photos by Rink

San Francisco Bay Times contributor Jan Wahl was the featured guest at The Academy for a special pre-Academy Awards presentation for Academy members and guests: Reel Fabulous: A Hollywood Conversation with Jan Wahl. Accompanied by her niece Lisa Miranda, Wahl gave a rousing presentation that captivated guests with her deep knowledge, appreciation and enthusiasm for films. Read Jan Wahl’s column in every issue of the San Francisco Bay Times. Rink was on hand for Wahl’s presentation and while there also visited with accomplished barber David Honf in The Academy’s Salon and server Cristina Chavez, who displayed a bottle of Diver Wine.

Round About - All Over Town

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Photos by Rink

Activist Barry Hermanson joined candidate David Campos at the corner of Polk and California Streets campaigning with a sign in multiple languages.

The Mariposa Baking Company stop at the Ferry Building

An array of cheddar cheese samples and jars of hot garlic spread were offered to potential customers at a table set up in front of the Cheese Plus store on Russian Hill.

A line of waiting customers stood out front at the popular Palmer’s Tavern located on upper Fillmore Street.

Round About - All Over Town

Photos by Rink

CASTRO STREETCAM presented by

http://sfbaytimes.com/ Upcider gastropub on Lower Polk Street is flying the Ukrainian flag in a show of solidarity and support. The Love Blooms in San Francisco project featured a selection of flower sculptures at the Ferry Building as part of Mayor London Breed’s Downtown Recovery Plan and “Welcome Back to SF” program.

We’ve received a fresh shipment of Momma Pots from San Diego. These gemstone cylinders are in stock in four sizes and many colors, including these electroplated gold beauties! Starting at $23.99. The Love Blooms in San Francisco project’s flower sculptures were featured at Union Square and other locations, March 27-April 3.

The Walgreens located on Polk Street in the Nob Hill neighborhood is featuring an Easter display in the front windows.

Not enough light for a real plant? Buy yourself or someone you love a paper bouquet! These oversized 3D cards from FreshCut Paper will brighten any room. $10.99 per bunch.

ince our founding in 1936, Cliff’s Variety has been constantly growing and evolving in response to the needs of our customers. Our buyers strive to keep our selection fresh, on-trend and competitive.

We carry the best of everything from hardware & tools to cookware, garden supplies, toys, crafts, and gifts. We also offer re-keying and lock repair, knife sharpening, glass, acrylic & wood cutting. Light fabrication, pipe threading, and cable crimping are among the many other services we offer at Cliff’s Variety. If your project has gone a little beyond your abilities, we’re here to help.

The Love Letters to San Francisco project of Shine on SF, installed at the Powell and Market Street Cable Car Turnaround, included responses, presented on gold cards, to the question: What makes San Francisco shine? The responses were collected from thousands of SF citizens and visitors and included replies of many lengths in multiple languages expressing emotions from funny and hopeful to angry, earnest and wise.

Opening Day, April 1, of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service on Van Ness Avenue found SF Bay Times readers and team members using the new service. S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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