San Francisco Bay Times - May 19, 2022 by San Francisco Bay Times

May 19–June 8, 2022 http://sfbaytimes.com

Carnaval San Francisco Colores de Amor

Featuring San Francisco Bay Times Volunteer Coordinator Juan R. Davila

PHOTO BY LETICIA LOPEZ/SPECIAL TO SAN FRANCISCO BAY TIMES

See pages 12–13

‘Injustice Anywhere Is a Threat to Justice Everywhere’

Photos by Rink

What Dubb Says MAYOR LONDON BREED/FACEBOOK

Carolyn Wysinger It’s May 2022 and there is a Black Lesbian who is also a famous basketball player named Brittney Griner who is still being detained in Russia. When will the federal government and President Biden make her release a priority? By now we have all read the “leaked” draft opinion from Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito that would effectively abolish Roe v. Wade. We are now days past the nationwide “Bans Off Our Bodies” movement that saw thousands of women and allies organized by local Women’s March chapters to marching for reproductive rights. The day after “The Leak,” I had the opportunity to chat with ABC7 News about the reverberating effects of a major move like reversing Roe v. Wade. To me it is very simple. During Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s SCOTUS hearing, he was asked about his feelings on a historic decision like Roe. His response was that he believes Roe to be “settled law.” Justice Amy Coney Barrett went so far as to state that they weren’t ruling on “the Law of Amy” and that laws couldn’t be undone simply by personal beliefs. However, given that this “draft” decision indicates they both voted in favor of a Roe reversal, the court has clearly become a partisan wasteland bent on reversing a right that women clawed and fought over for decades. So, what was the point of spending a whole day grilling Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson about being an “activist Judge”? The high court isn’t headed there. It has arrived there. It arrived there the exact moment that Mitch McConnell blocked Merrick Garland’s appointment. And if it can happen to Roe, it can happen to Obergefell v. Hodges (marriage equality), Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (racial segregation in schools), and every other settled landmark case that has provided basic human rights to marginalized people over the last 70 years. I’m no legal expert and am only a baby politico. So, I don’t have a lot of flowery language to tell you how dangerous this is. LGBTQ folks, y’all, we in trouble. That’s it. That’s the column. These are the reasons why you don’t sit back on your couch and relax when you get one little piece of rights or legislation. This is why you can’t sit back and get comfortable because a piece of law “doesn’t affect you.” You can’t wait until someone you love is in danger. If you are one of those people who was running around quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on MLK Day, then here is another for you: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” 2

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Women’s March San Francisco co-founder Sophia Andary (center with bullhorn) leading the march on Saturday, May 14

So, you need to fight! Fight like your rights are on the line too. Because, believe me, they are! Carolyn Wysinger is an LGBTQ author, activist, and President of the SF Pride Board of Directors. She has written for Autostraddle, Everyday Feminism, and Black Girl Dangerous. She can be found starting trouble on Instagram & Twitter @ CdubbTheHost

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BAY TIMES S

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

Photos courtesy of Jewelle Gomez

Roe v. Wade v. Me the “rhythm method” should have been a dance. The only lesbian movies I’d seen were The Children’s Hour and The Killing of Sister George, and my high school lover was making plans to abandon me and marry her boyfriend.

Leave Signs Jewelle Gomez It’s disturbing to think and write about my first girlfriend, my older male lover, and my teenaged abortion. I lived the complexity of being a teenaged lesbian in the 1960s without having any understanding of the context. I, like my secret high school lover, dated guys because it was what girls did back then. And I thought I was relatively safe going out with a guy who was almost 20 years older. He was charming, smart, working class (and working) in a poor Boston neighborhood that was in the grip of crime and urban decay. He took me to nightclubs where I was never carded, even though I was only 17. He introduced me to baseball and cocktails, and taught me to drive. My great grandmother who raised me was born in 1883 and wise about much of life. But she left my education about intimate things to the thin, inadequate pamphlets given out in high school. So, in my first year at college, as the Summer of Love launched, as the second wave of feminism was creating a disturbance, I was trusting and ignorant:

My emotional and hormonal maelstrom left me both bold and vulnerable, but when I found myself pregnant, the image of my future finally snapped into focus: I wanted to finish college—to have a career, not a baby. The crude, illegal abortion (before the Roe v Wade decision in 1973) was the most the horrific experience I’ve ever had. I won’t detail the hours of physical agony when I thought I’d die alone in a dark room. At the end, I was so weak I couldn’t walk and so sad it was almost unbearable. Then, hours later, unexpected pain sent me in panic, back to find the decrepit tenement where the abortionist lived to determine if, in fact, I was going to die. In the end, I told my boyfriend I would never go through that again; I was a lesbian and was going to be a writer. Some months later I sat with my female lover for hours as she endured the labor following her own illegal termination after discovering that her erstwhile fiancé was already married with four children. Even though we’d both thought of ourselves as mature for our age, neither of us had any experience or knowledge. We hadn’t yet learned about the larger world of women fighting our rights. The book Our Bodies, Ourselves hadn’t been published yet. We didn’t

know that, if we could have managed to travel to Chicago (unlikely), we might be saved by the brave underground collective there that performed abortions, Jane: https://tinyurl.com/563zr6tj We were just two raised poor, girls of color—one straight (as it turned out), the other not—who were stuck in the backwater of ignorance, religious oppression, and male manipulation of information. Each of us was willing to risk death in order to have the life we wanted. Despite being a recovering Catholic, I never felt guilty about making use of an abortionist as a path to living my meaningful life. I’m grateful that I was determined about that huge choice to terminate my unwanted pregnancy. It was okay to be sad; I recovered from it. The moral high ground that some take against women’s right to choose is just that: a place they stand rooted, demanding you stand there too. It’s a position, not a truth.

Jewelle Gomez, 1969

With conservatives taking a giant step backward, I’m afraid for the young, poor, adventurous girls (like me) who get trapped by their own desire along with the cultural and religious proscriptions that leave them unable to imagine a way out. Or more precisely: a way in to their own lives. Abortion is as old as time and never goes away—law or no law. The real shame is that this culture is still willing to risk the lives of girls and women in order to hold power over us. Jewelle Gomez is a lesbian/feminist activist, novelist, poet, and playwright. She’s written for “The Advocate,” “Ms. Magazine,” “Black Scholar,” “The San Francisco Chronicle,” “The New York Times,” and “The Village Voice.” Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @ VampyreVamp Photos by Rink

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M AY 19, 2022

GLBT Fortnight in Review Okay, GenZ! I am having a hard time getting the ball rolling this morning, so I figured I would begin with that admission. Why is this, you wonder? It’s because I am still inundated with news about how Alito’s draft abortion opinion undercuts our major gay rights victories, speculation that I think is understandable but wrong. And I also have numerous depressing stories about transgender rights under attack in state legislatures around the country. It’s like stories about climate change, endangered animals, or massive suffering in remote parts of the world. It makes me want to look at photos of cats stuck in small boxes or read about Johnny Depp. Surely, I tell myself, there’s a story out there about determined gay penguins trying to hatch a rock, or some crazed lesbian slashing her ex-girlfriend’s underwear with a razor. Then again, we’ve already been there and done that many times, have we not? We hunger for some new, but equally madcap, anecdotes involving our vibrant GLBTLMNOP community. Oh, but here’s something, compliments of a December article in The New York Times. It seems that a group of innovative GenZ-types have started a satiric group called “Birds Aren’t Real,” which aims to showcase the absurdity of modern conspiracy theories. Maybe I’m the only person who has never heard of this effort, but I have to say that I love it. Initiated by Peter McIndoe, 23, in 2017, the “Bird Brigade” now has “hundreds of thousands” of amused adherents, the Times reports, all insisting that birds are actually drones sent to spy on us. The Bird Brigade promotes its patently outrageous premise with bill-

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boards and a YouTube video featuring a faux ex-CIA agent (which has been viewed 20 million times) who explains the nefarious plot to replace all our feathered friends with insidious government-spawned surveillance technology. They have posted a complicated origin story online, and have attracted some seemingly serious press coverage from the more credulous members of the media. Brigade leaders are not too worried that some will actually believe the charade. As organizer Connor Gaydos observed: “If anyone believes birds aren’t real, we’re the last of their concerns, because then there’s probably no conspiracy they don’t believe.” Meanwhile, McIndoe is ready to propel the movement further. “I have a lot of excitement for what the future of this could be as an actual force for good,” he told the Times. “Yes, we have been intentionally spreading misinformation for the past four years, but it’s with a purpose. It’s about holding up a mirror to America in the internet age.” For some reason, this effort gives me hope. I’m becoming very fond of GenZ in my advancing age. Pervasive and Virulent AntiTrans Legislation I can’t pretend to grasp the full spectrum of the anti-trans legislation now pending in our various state capitals. We have bills to bar transwomen and girls from sports teams. We have bills to ban various levels of treatment for gender identity and transition. We have bans on books. We have bans on discussing gender and sexual orientation in schools. We have some bills that die in committee, some that are vetoed, some that breeze into law under the signature of a conservative governor. It’s pervasive and virulent.

By Ann Rostow One Mississippi politician tweeted last March: “Some of y’all want to try and find political compromise with those who want to groom our school age children and pretend men are women etc. I think they need to be lined up against wall (sic) before a firing squad and sent to an early judgment.” After Twitter deleted that post, former state rep Robert Foster then explained: “Transgendered people are merely victims, it’s their pedo groomers that are consumed by evil.” When subsequently asked for an interview by the Mississippi Free Press, Foster declined, but wrote: “The law should be changed so that anyone trying to sexually groom children and/ or advocating to put men pretending to be women in locker rooms and bathrooms with young women should receive the death penalty by firing squad.” This doesn’t even make sense from an anti-GLBT perspective. Is he saying that evil child molesters are victimizing adult transgender men and women? Or are they victimizing children in general? If so, what would that have to do with men in the ladies’ room? Check out the photo of this ridiculous man in the LA Blade if you want a laugh. Or a wry smirk. Rock Chalk Moving along, since I had not intended to sidetrack our discussion with Mr. Foster, one positive development emerged from Kansas, where the Democratic governor, Laura Kelly, vetoed a transgender sports ban along with a “Parents Bill of Rights” last month. The hard right lawmakers tried to override her vetoes, but recently failed by three votes. Good job, Jayhawk democrats! (continued on page 20)

#WeAreSacred: Equality Through Hózhó in the Navajo Nation and Beyond

Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis Many readers may be unaware that when the Supreme Court established marriage equality across the U.S. in its landmark 2015 Obergefell decision, the ruling did not automatically apply to the over 500 sovereign Native American nations. Today, many tribes have marriage equality, but the largest Native American nation, the Navajo Nation, does not. The Navajo LGBTIQ civil rights organization Diné Equality (Diné is the native term for Navajo) and its allies have launched a groundbreaking initiative this spring to change that. They face considerable challenges, but if they are successful, the breakthrough will not only benefit Two-Spirit and other LGBTIQ Diné but also inspire other tribes without equality to follow suit. And it goes beyond that. Diné Equality’s campaign gives all Americans the opportunity to awaken to the important historical context from which the current Navajo marriage equality ban derives and to learn from the distinctively Diné approach Diné Equality is taking to lift it.

For centuries before contact with Europeans, the Diné embodied Hózhó, as the Diné Equality website describes they “revered & honored our gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer & two-spirit family members” and assigned them “sacred roles many of us continue to hold today.” Navajo language and culture

European American colonization shattered that Hózhó and destroyed the Diné’s nuanced, nonbinary understanding of gender grounded in real life experience. As the author Trista Wilson describes, Europeans through conquest “imposed their own religion and social norms upon the tribes, resulting in ... the demise of two-spirit aspects of traditional Native American culture.” Sadly, many Navajo internalized conservative American Christianity and its attendant homophobia, resulting in far too many Navajo people today being unaware of centuries-long Diné embrace of diversity in gender and sexuality. As the Two-Spirit Diné activist Oriah Lee put it to NPR in 2019, the long-

BAAITS (Bay Area American Indian Two Spirits) members at a Pow Wow

Diné Equality describes how the discriminatory 2005 legislation disturbed Hózhó because it “divided our people & created deep community disharmony.” They now seek to restore the lost harmony by repealing the ban. In late March, Navajo Council Delegate Eugene Tso, an LGBTIQ ally, introduced legislation that would establish marriage equality in the Navajo Nation as well as strengthen women’s rights in marriage.

standing “tradition has disappeared because it is so Christianized here.” This internalization of Christian and other homophobic Western ideas into the modern Navajo mainstream and erasure of the understanding and memory of a very different inclusive tradition exacts a huge human cost on LGBTIQ Diné. A staggering 70 percent of LGBTIQ Navajo youth have attempted suicide, according to NPR, compared to the also unacceptably high rate of 23% otherwise in the U.S. As one Diné leader put it, the discriminatory legal framework and attitudes cause LGBTIQ to “feel like they are disposable.”

But anti-equality Christian forces within the Navajo Nation mobilized against the legislation, invoking the same type of rhetoric as their non-Native conservative Christian counterparts. Public comments on the marriage equality bill submitted before its first committee hearing favored marriage equality by a 58% to 42% margin. However, the first Council committee to hold hearings on the legislation voted against it 3–2, with the deciding vote cast by a Christian conservative. Tso recently withdrew the bill, promising to reintroduce it this summer after more research, refinements, and public education about its purpose.

And in 2005 amid a flurry of antimarriage equality measures sweeping across much of the U.S., the Navajo Nation banned LGBTIQ people from marriage and prohibited Navajo recognition of marriages of LGBTIQ people performed in American states.

Two Spirit couple, 1800s

LEGACY PROJECT CHICAGO

6/26 and Beyond

Hózhó is central to Diné life and culture and refers to an “all-encompassing beauty” that is “a product of striving for harmony in how one lives one’s life,” according to an Indiana University Online Exhibition of Navajo weavings. Hózhó values “health and goodness” and harmony with other people, the natural world, and the spiritual realm. Living in Hózhó and “walking in beauty” entails being “an active, ongoing force for good.” Every person “must determine how to realize it personally.”

have traditionally recognized at least four genders, with Nádleehi (often described as feminine males and intersex people) even playing a pivotal role in the Diné creation story.

BAAITS/FACEBOOK

The name of Diné Equality’s campaign to pass the legislation is “Equality Through Hózhó.” Hózhó is a Diné word meaning “balance and beauty.” The organization’s hashtag is #WeAreSacred.

The struggle will be difficult, but we love that Diné Equality’s self-affirming campaign is based on beauty and the fact that LGBTIQ Diné are sacred and had always been part of a community embracing harmony, balance, and belonging. Diné Equality is offering the Navajo Nation a unique opportunity to assert its sovereignty and traditions in a dynamic way by casting off colonial-based discriminatory dogma and reclaiming its own insightful understanding of (continued on page 20)

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M AY 19, 2022

History, Films, Party & More for Harvey Milk Day 2022 Meanwhile, the Castro Theatre will be showing not one, but two important films that day!

In Case You Missed It Joanie Juster Harvey Milk Day: Sunday, May 22 Harvey Milk’s birthday falls on a weekend this year, and Castro Street will be filled with events to celebrate what would have been his 92nd birthday. The Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, the Castro Community Benefit District, and the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza have planned a day of events honoring his legacy. With the LGBTQ+ community under increasingly frequent and vicious homophobic and transphobic attacks from state and local legislatures around the country, Harvey’s birthday is a perfect time to celebrate his work and learn more about his activism. The program on May 22 begins at noon at Harvey Milk Plaza with tributes from some of Harvey’s friends and colleagues, and queer community and elected officials. The community block party then kicks into high gear with beats provided by BAAAHS.

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Harvey’s messages of hope, advocacy, equality, and activism are on full display in the groundbreaking, Oscarwinning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk. Directed by Robert Epstein and produced by Richard Schmiechen, the restored 35mm film was one of the first feature documentaries to address gay life. Its power has not diminished since its premiere—at the Castro Theatre—in 1984. An inspiring, heart-wrenching, eye-opening film, it features a remarkable trove of original documentary materials and archival footage that not only bring Harvey Milk’s life and work to life, but also provide a window into a very particular time and place in our history: the Castro in the 1970s. Bring tissues; I cry every time I watch this film. The second film showing at the Castro Theatre on May 22 is the premiere of The Ruth Brinker Story, a short documentary on the life of Project Open Hand founder and legendary AIDS activist Ruth Brinker. As the AIDS epidemic raged through San Francisco in the early 1980s, Brinker, a retired food-service worker, began cooking meals in her kitchen to deliver to friends and neighbors who were too ill to take care of themselves. Her goal: not only to provide food, but also to end the isolation that HIV/AIDS patients experienced. “Providing meals with love” became her mission and her byword. The work grew beyond Brinker’s kitchen, becoming Project Open Hand, the largest provider of nutrition to the HIV/AIDS community. Ruth Brinker’s legacy carries on today as Project Open Hand has once again joined the frontlines in fac-

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ing the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reading of Names

The May 22nd screenings of both films are free, ending with a Red Carpet Premiere Event at 6 pm that will including a panel discussion featuring filmmaker Apo W. Bazidi.

35th Anniversary AIDS Memorial Quilt Display Saturday, June 11 & Sunday, June 12 Golden Gate Park - Robin Williams Meadow 320 Bowling Green Drive

To register for your free tickets and to learn more about the VIP After Party: https://tinyurl.com/573xw63c

San Francisco Bay Times Readers, Friends & Supporters Reading - Saturday, June 11

Karine Jean-Pierre Steps Up to the Podium We’ve said it many times: Representation matters. And nothing says “representation” like stepping up to one of most visible and influential podiums in the world. On May 13, Karine Jean-Pierre became the new White House Press Secretary, making her the first Black woman, and the first openly LGBTQ+ person, to hold that office. A long-time advisor to President Biden, she has an impressive resume of experience in communication and political roles in both the Biden and Obama administrations handling political campaigns, advocacy and policy work, and teaching. She has big shoes to fill in following Jen Psaki as Press Secretary, but after serving under Psaki as Principal Deputy Press Secretary and Deputy Assistant to the President, Jean-Pierre is clearly up to the task, and understands the importance of her new role. In an article in The New York Times, she was quoted as saying: “I understand how important it is for so many people out there, so many different communities. That I stand on their shoulders, and I have been throughout my career.” The Power of Names When the AIDS Memorial Quilt was first created in 1987, a moving ritual

Contact: Publisher@sfbaytimes.com or Readers@aidsmemorial.org You are invited to join Team SF Bay Times on Saturday, June 11, to read names at the Quilt Display. Send your name, email address, and phone number to let us know you would like to participate. was created to accompany the first display of the Quilt in Washington, D.C.: throughout the display, the names from the Quilt were read aloud, providing an audio component that augmented the visual power of the Quilt. The reading of names has been an integral part of Quilt displays ever since. I have had the privilege of coordinating the reading of names at displays in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., since 1989, and will be doing it once again for the 35th anniversary display of the Quilt in Golden Gate Park on June 11 and 12. We are inviting the public to help us read the over 10,000 names that will be read that weekend. Each reader will be provided a list of about 30 names from the Quilt to read, to which you are invited to add the names of any friends or loved ones you have lost to AIDS. Reading names only takes a minute or two, but it can be a powerful and cathartic

experience. To sign up to read names: https://tinyurl.com/QP35Readers Swing Your Partner at Stompede

COVID forced many of our favorite events either to go on hiatus or go virtual. But the good news is that one of San Francisco’s most joyful events is coming back this month. Polish your boots and practice your steps, because Sundance Stompede returns on Memorial Day weekend. San Francisco’s annual country-western dance weekend for the LGBTQ+ community and its friends (continued on page 20)

Down Payment Help for First-Time Homebuyers

Getting Head Start and Wellness for Our Children

Assemblymember Phil Ting Home ownership plays a key role in strengthening communities. It also helps families, particularly families of color, build and pass on intergenerational wealth. But one of the challenges of buying a home in California is coming up with a down payment. As Assembly Budget Chair, I’m proud of our new effort to break the cycle of renting and instead boost home ownership. With $100 million in funding, the state just launched the Forgivable Equity Builder Loan program for first-time home buyers. It lets qualified, income-eligible Californians borrow up to 10 percent of the home’s purchase price interest-free. That’s right. Zero interest. Plus, if the resident lives in that home for at least five years, the loan is forgiven, helping the owner develop equity much faster.

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Oakland City Councilmember At-Large, Rebecca Kaplan As Oakland struggles with the fight against the closure of schools and Head Start centers in predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods, it becomes clear that innovative thought is needed to address the fact that educational opportunities are being taken from economically disadvantaged children.

I’m excited about this latest path to home ownership because the assistance targets working families who make enough money to pay a monthly mortgage, but lack the savings for a down payment. According to a recent California Forward report, of our state’s 555,858 home sales in 2021, more than 35 percent were purchased by first-time homebuyers.

On January 31, 2022, the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) revealed its plan to either close or merge 16 of the district’s 80 schools. The proposed closures have sent shockwaves throughout the community, galvanizing students, teachers, and families to oppose the proposed closures. We know school closures are a disinvestment within the neighborhoods they serve, removing central hubs for community-building, disrupting learning, and exacerbating decreasing enrollment rates.

I see an opportunity to grow those numbers under our new forgivable loan program. Owning a home provides stability, economic security, and a sense of belonging. Plus, homeowners tend to be more engaged on issues affecting their neighborhood and city.

In response to the threat of school closures, I coauthored, along with Council President Bas, President Pro Tem Thao, and Councilmember Fife, a resolution that called upon the state to eliminate OUSD’s outstanding state debt to prevent closures, and

(continued on page 20)

Out of the Closet and into City Hall

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Spring Fling 2022 Shireen McSpadden: Openhouse Adelman/Gurevitch Founders Award 2022

Aging in Community Dr. Marcy Adelman After a 2-year delay due to COVID, the Openhouse annual Spring Fling event is back and in-person and with it the presentation of the Openhouse Adelman/Gurevitch Founders Award. I initiated the award in 2008 to celebrate the city’s final approval to renovate and develop 55 Laguna, Openhouse’s hub of affordable housing and services, and to gratefully acknowledge those individuals who had made a significant contribution to Openhouse’s mission and LGBTQ older adults. Former Mayor Art Agnos, who had been a key advisor to Openhouse from its inception, was the inaugural awardee. The last awardee in 2019 was Kate Kendell, former Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, for her work in advancing the rights of LGBTQ seniors and her generous support of Openhouse. This year it is my honor and a privilege to present the Founders award to Shireen McSpadden, cur-

rent Executive Director of the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing and former Executive Director of the San Francisco Department of Disability and Aging (DAS). Shireen’s dedication to making life better for older adults and people with disabilities and her commitment to equity have been central to her more than 30 years of service.

As an advocate for more and better programs for LGBT older adults, I know the ongoing challenge of securing funding. There are never enough resources to provide all the programs and services our community needs. To be clear, it is a challenge to get most funding sources to include LGBTQ seniors at all. That makes Shireen’s achievement all the more remarkable.

Shireen is a woman of color and member of the LGBTQ community. She grew up in San Francisco in a family where religion mattered. She is the daughter of a Methodist minister. As a woman of color, she had many opportunities to experience and observe inequities. But her parents and her faith taught her to stand up to injustice. Shireen brings her full self to the work that she does and that brings insight other people don’t have.

I first had the opportunity to work with Shireen when I served on the LGBT Aging Policy Task Force. Shireen’s door was always open to anyone who wanted to talk. She is a thoughtful listener and quiet observer who takes in a lot of things before she speaks. She remembers everyone’s name, is quick to acknowledge people’s contribution, and believes in giving people the space to do what they do best.

During Shireen’s tenure as Executive Director, from 2016 through the current budget year, LGBTQ program funding increased exponentially, by 3 million dollars or 162 percent. Many people helped to make this significant step up in funding possible, but it never would have happened without Shireen’s leadership. Because of this increase in resources, Openhouse and other LGBTQ senior serving nonprofits have been able to reach hundreds and hundreds more people in our community.

The Task Force was one of the most successful city task forces with the implementation of 8 out of the task force’s 11 recommendations. One of the key factors in the task force’s success was its partnership with DAS and Shireen’s smart leadership. She deftly coordinated the relationship between the task force and the department by providing the task force with DAS staff who helped to keep us on track and significantly enhanced our operational capabilities. (continued on page 18)

Alegre Home Care is proud to support Dr. Marcy Adelman’s Aging in Community column in the San Francisco Bay Times.

Celebrate and Support LGBTQ Seniors at Openhouse Spring Fling on May 22 By Dr. Kathleen M. Sullivan Openhouse welcomes supporters and community members to our first in-person Spring Fling since 2019! This year our Pride theme is “Love is Ageless” and the love we feel for our community of supporters has never been higher. We honor Director, Shireen McSpadden, this year—a support and member of our community. Director McSpadden, while at DAS (Department of Disability and Aging Services) was a tireless champion for getting more services to LGBTQ elders and her work helped Openhouse expand to serving over 3,500 community members today. We also honor Horizons Foundation for their long-term support of LGBTQ seniors and, in particular, their support for Openhouse and other nonprofits in pivoting to provide services to seniors during the pandemic. Their support facilitated hundreds of seniors getting food and groceries delivered, life-saving prescriptions picked up at the pharmacy, and thousands of friendly supportive calls being made to community members. We also acknowledge that, as we celebrate, there are renewed attacks on the community: from the attack on women that seeks to strip away bodily sovereignty to over 200 legislative attacks on LGBTQ+ people, especially trans youth, across the country. The Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade and legislative attacks could have devastating ramifications for our community. Our community, though, remains vibrant and strong. While we have challenging times ahead, we also know how to come together and extend love and grace to one another. We are excited for Spring Fling and for Pride this year. Love is ageless and will keep us together in good and challenging times. Openhouse Spring Fling 11 am–2 pm, with Tea Dance to follow The Ritz Carleton, San Francisco https://tinyurl.com/mppvww8n Dr. Kathleen M. Sullivan is the Executive Director of Openhouse https://www.openhousesf.org/

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Pink Triangle/Photos by Gooch

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

2261 Market Street, No. 309 San Francisco CA 94114 Phone: 415-601-2113 525 Bellevue Avenue Oakland CA 94610 E-mail: editor@sfbaytimes.com www.sfbaytimes.com The Bay Times was the first newspaper in California, and among the first in the world, to be jointly and equally produced by lesbians and gay men. We honor our history and the paper’s ability to build and strengthen unity in our community. The Bay Times is proud to be the 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

Volunteers Needed for the 27th Annual Pink Triangle The 27th annual Pink Triangle of Twin Peaks needs a lot of volunteers in order to make it happen. Please help get the word out. SF Pride arrives early—this project is being set up in May, not June. We need volunteers to help on these days: • Tuesday, May 24, Wednesday, May 25, and Thursday, May 26, at 10 am to set up infrastructure including the poles, cable, ratchets, and tension straps for the lights and pink streamers; • Saturday, May 28 & Sunday, May 29, at 10 am, for the installation of shiny pink streamers and the 200-foot-long sailcloth borders around the display; • Wednesday, June 1, setup for the Pink Triangle Commemoration Ceremony on Twin Peaks. Setup starts are 5 pm and the ceremony starts at 8 pm; the lighting is at 9 pm. It will be preceded by the pink torch procession that will start at Oakland City Hall with Mayor Libby Schaaf and make its way escorted by members of Dykes on Bikes® to San Francisco Mayor London Breed atop Twin Peaks for the lighting. The procession will include assistance and special encouragement from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and CHEER SF, the city’s official cheerleading team. The San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band (official band of San Francisco) and cabaret singer Leanne Borghesi will be performing at the ceremony. Mayor Breed will hold the pink torch in one hand and push the giant pink triangular shaped button with the other to illuminate the display. Last year, House Speaker Pelosi joined Mayor Breed to hold the torch, push the button, and light up the display. • Site Ambassadors are needed in short shifts for a month to protect the display (as you may recall it was set on fire in 2009 by arsonists). The annual pink triangle installation atop San Francisco’s Twin Peaks is going to be a little different this year. Now that volunteers are allowed to congregate in larger groups again, the daytime presence of the pink triangle will be back, but it takes a lot of people to put it up. The daytime presence is being changed. Instead of the pink tarps that have traditionally been used, this year there will be more than 1 1/2 miles of bright shiny pink streamers that will be hung in rows below each of the 43 rows of LED light strands, as well as hung on the three sides of the triangle. The pink streamers won’t be flat on the ground; they will be up in the air. The layers of hanging 10-inch-long streamers may appear as fringe, like the Roaring 20s Art Deco fringe flapper dress. As the streamers blow in the wind, the shiny surface will lightly reflect and sparkle over the city. It’s an experiment this year that we hope will be dramatic and highly visible during the daytime. It should be dragalicious. The lights will take over as darkness descends on San Francisco, ensuring that the symbol remains

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visible day and night—for the entire month of June. Visibility is essential as the display is a giant in-your-face educational tool. It is a reminder and a warning of what can happen if hatred and bigotry are allowed to become law. The Pink Triangle was originally used to

brand suspected homosexuals in Nazi concentration camps. It was revived in the 1970s as a symbol of protest against homophobia, used in an inverted form as a rallying and protest symbol during the height of the AIDS crisis (Silence=Death), and has been used to symbolize LGBTQ+ Pride ever since. Part of appreciating and celebrating any Pride is understanding where we have been, and the Pink Triangle illustrates how bad things can get. Burning Man’s Velvet Cabal, a collective of LGBTQ camps at that event, will be helping to install the poles, steel cables, ratchets, and the LED lights. It will be illuminated again thanks to the masterminds behind the Bay Lights, the illumination of the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge, the arts nonprofit Illuminate and its Founder & Chief Visionary Officer Ben Davis. This is a community-building event. Here is a 2022 sign up link with many volunteer opportunities: https://tinyurl.com/nhbaxbsu Patrick Carney is the Founder of The Friends of the Pink Triangle. The group, with the help of many dedicated volunteers, constructs a gigantic pink triangle on Twin Peaks each year during the last weekend in June. Carney, who worked on the restoration of San Francisco City Hall, was appointed to the City Hall Preservation Advisory Commission in 2013.

By Patrick Carney

Bay to Breakers 2022 By Eduardo Morales, PhD Bay to Breakers occurred again on Sunday, May 15, 2022. It is a San Francisco tradition with a race that was first held on January 1, 1912, and intended as a precursor to the world-class athletic events planned for the 1915 Pan Pacific International Exposition. One of the largest footraces in the world, the Bay to Breakers 12K runs west through the city and finishes at the Great Highway along the Pacific Coast’s Ocean Beach. It isn’t just a race for serious runners. Thousands of costumed participants wear creative festive attire—or not much at all. Nicknamed “Straight Pride,” Bay to Breakers is a quintessential San Francisco experience with a true reflection of life between the breakers and the bay. Eduardo Morales, PhD, is of Puerto Rican decent and is one of the founders of AGUILAS, where he serves as Executive Director. He is also retired Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Alliant International University and is the current Past President of the National Latinx Psychological Association.

Remembering Urvashi Vaid Urvashi Vaid (1958–2022) Renowned LGBTQ rights activist, lawyer, and writer Urvashi Vaid, longtime partner of former San Francisco Bay Times columnist and comedian Kate Clinton, died on May 14 following a bout with cancer. An expert in gender and sexuality law, she was a consultant in attaining specific goals of social justice and held leadership roles at the National LGBTQ Task Force, Arcus Foundation, Ford Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union, and more. She is the author of Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation (1995) and Irresistible Revolution: Confronting Race, Class and the Assumptions of LGBT Politics (2012). As LGBTQ activist, San Francisco AIDS Foundation Cofounder, and founding San Francisco Bay Times contributor Cleve Jones said, “She was a visionary and one of the architects of the modern LGBTQ movement.” The Arcus Foundation, among tributes from many others, shared: “Through her activism, leadership, writing, and research, Urvashi Vaid dedicated her life to speaking truth to power and realizing justice in all its dimensions.” In addition to Clinton, Vaid is survived by relative Alok Vaid-Menon, who is a gender non-conforming and transfeminine activist and performance artist.

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M AY 19, 2022

Carnaval San Francisco

PHOTO BY PAUL MARGOLIS

PHOTO BY RINK

San Francisco Bay Times volunteer coordinator Juan R. Davila organizes and volunteers for numerous LGBTQ+ community projects and events.

Juan R. Davila and volunteers at the Academy of Friends (2019)

Mabel Jimenez's image in the "Care in the Time of COVID-19" exhibit at SF City Hall (2021)

Photographer Mabel Jimenez's image of Juan R. Davila, delivering at the Mission Food Hub, was featured on the City of San Francisco's Market and Embarcadero Street kiosks. (2021)

Juan R. Davila with Ruth Asawa SF School of the Arts students at Warriors Pride Night (2017)

PHOTO BY CHLOE JACKMAN

Juan R. Davila and members of the SF Bay Times Pride Parade contingent (2019)

PHOTO BY MORGAN SHIDLER

Juan R. Davila and members of the AGUILAS contingent, SF Pride Parade 2010

Carnaval dancer (2015)

PHOTO BY RINK

Previous Years at Ca

Carnaval 2019

Queen Rosa Mohr and King R. Jefferson Joseph, Carnaval 2015 12

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Carnaval King R. Jefferson Joseph (center) and his husband Andrew Presley with a member of Grupo Tania Santiago (2015)

PHOTO COURTESY OF CARNAVALL 2019

PHOTO: MACROSANCHEZ.NET

Volunteers at Carnaval 2019

Carnaval Parade on Mission Street (2019)

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2022)

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Colores de Amor 2022

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Celebrate Carnival San Francisco May 28–29: Colores de Amor

Juan R. Davila at the People's March and Rally "United to Fight" (2021)

PHOTO BY RINK

CARNAVAL SAN FRANCISCO

Juan R. Davila with Juanita MORE! at Grubstake (2022)

PHOTO COURTESY OF JUAN R. DAVILA

Lent season. Parades and street fairs are common in Latin America and the Caribbean countries. San Francisco had its first celebration on February 25, 1979, and that day was a windy cold and rainy Sunday. It was later moved to the last Sunday of May when the weather tends to be more agreeable in San Francisco.

Nuestra Voz Eduardo Morales, Ph.D. Carnival San Francisco is the largest multicultural festival on the West Coast! This year it will be a two-day festival produced by CANA, a 501c3 organization that stands for Cultura y Arte Nativa de las Americas. The festivities will take place on May 28 and 29 with the grand parade on Mission Street on Sunday, May 29, and with festivities on Harrison Street between 16th and 24th Streets. The theme this year is observing and recognizing the Muxes of Oaxaca (sometimes known as third gender) and the spectrum of love and how Latinx exist through Colores de Amor or with colors of love. Carnival San Francisco is a multicultural celebration with music, dance, and artistry showcasing Latin American, Caribbean, and African diasporic cultures and the talents of Mission District residents. This is a celebration of people of all creeds, sexualities, gender identities, and abilities. Typically, Carnival is celebrated before Ash Wednesday and before the

This two-day festival was postponed due to the COVID pandemic, so there has been notable anticipation about the 2022 Carnival. There will be five main stages with music from over 50 local performing artists and over 400 vendors. The festival will include international food, dancing, and various booths for buying goods and obtaining information about numerous organizations. Carnival embraces an atmosphere of harmony and revelry for families, couples, and friends of all ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds. The grand parade on May 29 will start on 24th and Bryant streets and go west onto Mission Street until 15th Street. Expect to see a lot of glitter and feathers! The parade each year features the King and Queen who were selected among contestants in a competition to serve as the official Ambassadors of Carnival San Francisco for a one-year reign. Grand stand seating tickets are available on the internet starting $25: https://tinyurl.com/mupzy8f9 The event will be accessible through live-stream access and will be co-presented by KQED. Participants include bands like El Tigre del Norte and Bang Data along with dancers, DJs, and Mayor London Breed.

This is a true San Francisco event inclusive of family and its community. For more information: https://carnavalsanfrancisco.org/ AGUILAS June Retreat AGUILAS’ June Retreat will take place on Saturday, June 4, and again on Saturday, June 11, 2022, from 10 am to 4 pm. This two-day retreat will be for Latinx gay/bisexual men to have fun and learn about various ways to prevent HIV/AIDS and stay healthy. The theme of this year's retreat is Taking Action: for your Rights, Health, and Life. The retreat will include a mixture of workshops and fun activities to be held at the SF LGBT Center. Participants will be able to explore their identities, network with other participants, and celebrate! Each day of the retreat will start promptly at 10 am with a first round of workshops on the second floor of the SF LGBT Center followed by lunch and additional sessions. Funded by the California State Office of AIDS, this year's retreat is designed for and by Latinx gay and bisexual men. More information is at the AGUILAS website: www.sfaguilas.org 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.

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO COURTESY OF JUAN R. DAVILA

arnaval San Francisco

Drummers in Carnaval Parade (2019)

PHOTO BY RINK

Children in the Carnaval Parade (2019)

PHOTO BY RINK

Dancers at Carnaval (2019)

Kippy Marks performed at Carnaval 2019. S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

M AY 19, 2022

“One day, if I go to heaven ... I’ll look around and say, ‘It ain’t bad, but it isn’t San Francisco.’”

By Donna Sachet

– Herb Cain

ll signs continue to suggest a brighter future on the horizon, as the long, cold period of the pandemic fades into memory and lives begin to return to normal. We find ourselves frequently questioning how will things be different or will we simply slip back into a comfort zone? Personally, we have always tried to support local events, ideas, and individuals who passionately pursue their interests and demonstrate amazing talent. For example, we recently attended the book-signing of John Waters of his most recent book Liarmouth ... A Feel-Bad Romance. During an international book tour, Mr. Waters found himself on a Monday night in San Francisco, not at Herbst Theatre or the SF Main Library or some big national book chain, but in the third floor of the retail store of the over 100-year-old McRoskey Mattress Company. Directly across Market Street is The Green Arcade, where owner Patrick Marks specializes in “San Francisco & California history, the built & the natural environment, politics & social justice, cooking, food & Farming, select literature, noir, art, & children’s books, mostly new, some used.” Mr. Marks has developed a friendly relationship with the family of the mattress company and periodically partners with them for such book events. Could anything be more “San Francisco”? To spend an evening in the company of a national treasure, the creative and often shocking John Waters, in a comfortable, but humble setting made possible by a personal relationship between local business owners, both with obvious commitments to San Francisco, was a delight and a reminder of the unique qualities of this city we love. It was no surprise to see Peaches Christ, although not in costume, in the audience, nor was it surprising to be greeted by other friends and even to have no difficulty finding someone to take a quick photo after chatting in line and swapping stories of Castro memories. We can’t imagine a similar experience anywhere else. A week later, we attended another book-signing event, this time on Castro Street at Fabulosa Books with local writer Mark Abramson. Mark’s carefully kept journals over many years have enabled him to produce a number of books deeply rooted in the Castro Gay Community and filled with references to local personalities, happenings, and locations. The store was packed with his friends and supporters, including Linda Lee, Strange de Jim, Mark Leno, Joe Mac, Gordy Boe, and Sister Dana van Iquity, who relished his brief readings of passages from Arlene Francis and Me: Pandemic Diaries from Castro Street 2020 in the company of several mentioned therein. Afterwards, 440 Castro welcomed everyone for an open-air reception with delicious nibbles prepared and presented by Gary Virginia. It was another event hard to imagine happening anywhere else.

Friday, May 20 EQCA Annual Gala Exploratorium, Pier 15 7 pm $250 & up www.eqca.org/equality-awards/ Thursday, May 26 Divas & Drinks Featuring SF Pride Grand Marshals and SF Opera The Academy, 2166 Market Street 7–10 pm $10 www.academy-sf.com Wednesday, June 1 Pink Triangle Lighting Top of Twin Peaks ceremony Visible throughout San Francisco 8 pm Free! https://www.thepinktriangle.com/

During the previous weekend, we headed to Midnight Sun for a mid-afternoon drag show, primarily because our friend Alexis Miranda had informed us about it. This was evidently her first time to return to the stage in such a format for nearly two years, but her talent and love of performing shone through once again, adding immensely to the show, hosted by MGM Grande, another local talent. The enthusiasm of the small audience was contagious, enticing everyone present to tip the entire troupe of performers generously. Even with the tremendous success of RuPaul’s Drag Race and its many offshoots, it can be equally satisfying to watch talented friends entertain and create community within a safe and welcoming environment. Later that same day, the Cinch hosted a much greater number of Imperial titleholders and friends for a Cinco de Mayo celebration in honor of the late Emperor Fernando Robles, hosted by his Empress China Silk. It was one of those regrettably rare occasions when the Imperial Family puts aside differences and comes together in recognition of one of our own who died too soon. Even for an organization known for dramatic pageantry and formality, sometimes these smaller, more intimate events serve a distinct purpose, uniting a disparate family of likeminded people.

Thursday, June 2 Rainbow Flag Raising at City Hall Mayor’s Balcony 1 pm Free! Friday, June 10 Judy Garland’s 100th Birthday Celebrate this Gay icon with Connie Champagne & Donna Sachet The Academy, 2166 Market Street 7 pm $20 www.academy-sf.com

So, as your personal calendar begins to fill up, especially for the upcoming month of June, savor each event and take time to recognize its unique San Francisco qualities. Cherish the friendships that this incredible city has made possible for you. And get involved in your own way to perpetuate and add to the fabulous, ineffable thing that is San Francisco.

Saturday, June 11 Spotlight on Hollywood SF Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band directed by Dr. Dee Spencer Guests Donna Sachet & Renee Lubin Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 8 pm $50 & up www.sflgfb.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF DONNA SACHET

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

Donna Sachet with the legendary John Waters at a book signing event.

PHOTO BY SHAWN NORTHCUTT

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PHOTO BY RINK

Reigning Emperor Brent Marek, Donna Sachet (acting as MC), Terrill Grimes, and Brent's Imperial canine Lycan at the San Francisco Pride member drive and benefit at the Lookout Bar in the Castro. (March, 2022) M AY 19, 2022

Alone in a Crowd Photos Courtesy of Tim Seelig

TLC: Tears, Laughs and Conversation Dr. Tim Seelig In one of the many parts of my life, I am fortunate enough to speak to various groups across the country and now via Zoom. The topic is less about music and more about what I have learned from a life in music. When I turned 50, I began to develop a career as a motivational speaker in earnest. I even went to school for it. That “school” was a 6-month private coaching with an amazing speaker and author, Juanell Teague. Together, we tore my life apart and put it back together in ways that would be meaningful on speaker stages. I joined the National Speakers Association and, of course, got new head shots. One of the biggest lessons I learned was when someone asks, “What do you speak about?” never say, “Oh, I can speak about any number of things.” Or worse, “Anything you want.” You have to have a “specialty.” Through my coaching, we landed on the theme “Liberating Change.” The thrust was how I have used big life upheavals and disappointments and turned them into opportunities and successes. And there have been many of those speed bumps and barriers along the way.

Recently I was asked to give a keynote speech to a corporation during their mental health and wellness series. They were very aware of my work with the LGBTQ+ and AIDS communities for 35 years. I was eager to hear what they wanted me to speak about. Loneliness. I paused a nano-second and then jumped at the opportunity!

process, waiting to get tests done, then waiting for the test results, etc. It’s the middle of the night and the medical staff is stretched. You are quite literally alone with your thoughts and your wounds. Sure, you have your phone, but there are no bars and no reception in the emergency room, and who are you going to call at 3 am anyway?

First of all, I am hardly expert on loneliness from book learning, but I have plenty of life experience. They say spending 10,000 hours on a topic makes you an expert. That’s 13 months. Well, I’m 71; that’s 858 months. I’m definitely an expert.

The experience brought to mind the age-old description of “being alone in a crowd.” That’s kind of the crux of the whole topic, huh?

Before I launch into the topic of loneliness, stop reading and close your eyes. Think of a time when you have been lonely. Hold that thought; we’ll get back to it. You can open them now. Now it’s my turn. I closed my eyes and typed “loneliness” in the search bar of my brain. My first “alone in a crowd” started early when I was put up on the piano bench to perform for any and everybody who ventured near our house. The message was that my place was apart. Little Tim found his happy place on that tiny stage. He liked it. He really liked it. I’ll get back to some of my early memories of loneliness, but top of mind is my most recent first-hand experience. Two weeks ago, I took a little tumble. I’m fine; it required a trip to the emergency room that lasted for 6 hours from 11 pm to 5 am. This was a lesson in loneliness. First of all, as you know, they don’t allow anyone in with you. You are separated from others seeking help by a lovely, very thin curtain as if that would block out any noise or conversations. The medical staff visits occasionally. It’s a slow

I am surrounded by lots and lots of people all the time. Alone in a crowd and standing on the piano bench podium. When off the podium, my loneliness is most often brought about by my own choices to isolate, just stay home, and sometimes even throw a big old pity party for myself while I’m at it. Were you one of those middle school students for whom walking into the lunchroom alone was absolute torture? I was. It still persists today. You say, no way. Not you. I say, way. It has been my joy to work with 250+ people for years. I work with people across the entire spectrum from introvert to extrovert and back. We all have both sides of that equation in our own profile, of course. But one of those is akin to using your preferred hand. It’s just more comfortable. Being an introvert or extrovert is not about being loud or quiet—it is about where you derive your energy ... do you get it from being in a crowd, or alone? Are you energized when you are around groups of people or are you energized from being by yourself? In the workshops I do for choral directors across the country, I do a lot of work with Myers Briggs. It is an excellent tool. It is simple and

direct enough to be able to help in the choir setting. The first dichotomy is extrovert vs. introvert. Choir directors may automatically seem to be extroverts. That is not always the case. I like to take them back to the beginning of their education for a clue. In all music schools, there are things called practice rooms. They are meant for ... practice. There are students who walk in the practice room, put their music on the piano or stand, and they practice. Introverts. There are others who walk into the practice room, put their music on the piano or stand, and then look out the door to see if there is anyone out there, hanging around, to practice with. Extroverts. The first group are often pianists or other instrumentalists. The second are often singers or conductors! I learned much more about this when I moved to Switzerland as an opera singer. It sounds like a dream for an extrovert. Not so. While in school, you have a voice teacher, a language coach, a vocal coach, an opera director, and students are learning the opera together in opera class. Once you land on the job, none of those people are there. It’s just you. It means hours of study, practice, preparation—all on your own. Countless hours alone. When I got there, I looked out the practice room door for others who might want to hang out. No one was there. It is imperative to learn the skill of the introvert and learn to find energy there. As my Mother taught me to say, being an opera singer “was not my very favorite thing.” And that was after working for 16 years and four degrees to get there. In the end, it wasn’t for me. I had another dramatic period of loneliness coming my way. When I moved home, after my second extended time in Europe, my life changed completely. I came out. I was 35. I left wife, kids, church, and family. I lost everything. I was lonely and empty. I learned there was no one there but me. Alone in a room at a Motel 6. Cut off from the life and people I had known. I learned that the words so many had used before—that I had sung so often in church—were no longer soothing or encouraging. I had hurt before, but I had always been surrounded by people and lots of advice on what I should hang on to. This was my first time to be on empty. No one to even get me to the next station. Nope, just me, a vibrating bed, a pay-as-you-go television, and a few quarters. And yet, alone in that room, I slept well. For the first time, the heavy millstone of living a lie had been lifted from my shoulders. I knew very few gay people. I was as alone as I had ever been in my life. And then, the universe allowed me to start “waving my arms at the gays.” From the very first day, that included AIDS and HIV. Landing in the middle of the fight provided me with the equivalent of a master’s degree in loneliness. I saw it first hand in the young men who became sick, were thrown out of their families and their churches, and left to deal with their death sentences alone. There is no loneliness like that. In the early days, everyone was filled with fear. We thought isolation was the key. And yet, the disease itself required massive amounts of help for those affected—physical and emotional.

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" ... waving my arms at the gays." –Dr. Tim Seelig Let’s fast forward from that pandemic to our second pandemic. Loneliness and isolation have reached new levels. During the AIDS pandemic, in spite of the fear, we were able to hold, touch, and love in person. Not so with COVID. We were forced to go through it alone—at least as far as physical presence was concerned. We are just now coming out of the COVID cocoon as we move from Zoom back to our in-person lives. Only time will tell what the psychological impact will be from two years of lack of touch. There is one more huge challenge headed my way. In about 50 days, I’ll retire after working non-stop for 57 years. I started work as a dishwasher at 14. I’ve been conducting LGBTQ+ choruses for 35 of those 57 years. I am moving to Portland, Oregon. I know a few people there. I have no job to do, no position, no choir, no crowd. I’ll have a piano bench, but no audience. Just me. Well, and my dog Tater Tot, of course. I already know one of the things I am going to have to fight against—all those things listed above. Isolating. Staying in my comfort zone rather than walking into the lunchroom alone. But knowing this is 1/2 the battle. I’m excited about this new challenge. I’m going to work on being alone without being lonely. My close friends and family are taking side bets on what Tim will be running in Portland in short order. Dog rescue is at the top of the list. A nonprofit helping homeless or youth or homeless youth. Beer taster. In the beginning, I asked you to close your eyes and think about your own experience with loneliness. We all need to ignore that little voice that says, “Just stay home.” Guess what? People out there want to know you. They want you to join them in what they are doing. They want to be your friend. I am preaching to myself here. I think we have to come to the conclusion that, sometimes, loneliness is a choice. Certainly, being alone is. In this next phase, I may be alone for a bit, but I will not be lonely. I’m taking a part of you all with me. And, the San Francisco Bay Times has asked me to keep writing! I am so grateful. So, you’ll be hearing stories from the Northwest every month! Stay tuned. Dr. Tim Seelig is the Artistic Director of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.

Photos courtesy of San Francisco Dykes on Bikes®

Melissa Cherry

Shireen also took the lead in supporting robust research both by the Task Force and in general by the department. During Shireen’s tenure as DAS Executive Director, the department has had the best record by far of collecting sexual orientation and gender identity data than any other city department. Shireen understands that data matters. It is essential to designing and funding effective programs. San Francisco Dykes on Bikes® bikers visited the scenic view site atop Mt. Hamilton.

Dykes on Bikes® Tales From Two Wheels “Are you with the Dykes on Bikes?” I ride what I consider a quintessential “biker’s bike.” It just has a certain look about it. It’s decidedly old school, no creature comforts, loud, and not very friendly looking at all. It looks like something, well ... it looks like something a certain kind of man would ride, and perhaps they would, but I’m not a man. I work at UCSF and I used to commute every day on my motorcycle from the Diablo Valley area, and at least a couple of times a year someone would ask if I belonged to the San Francisco Dykes on Bikes®. I would always say, “No, I’m not interested in joining any riding clubs but I am, in fact, a dyke, and I do ride a motorcycle, so, close enough, right?” That would always get a chuckle, and then I would forget all about it. One day, after one of these exchanges, I thought I’d at least like to ride in the San Francisco LGBTQ+ Pride Parade, so I looked

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On Saturday, April 2, while we were staging for an epic two-day ride to Paso Robles, I along with another Prospect (a sister for life now) were totally surprised when Kate (the President) pulled our patches out of her bag. I mean, I knew we were nearing the end of our two-year-long Prospect phase, (okay, not two years, but it felt like it) but I thought the patches would come at a Divas & Drinks event or something like that, not in the street in front of a coffee shop.

Melissa Cherry

up their website. It was 2017 when I signed up for my first Parade, but I missed it because I slept in that morning. I would have been a lot more upset if I’d only known what I missed. The next year I was up super early and was one of the first bikes to get lined up. The whole experience was amazing. I didn’t really get a chance to talk to any of the “Dykes” because, as you can imagine, they were all super busy, but I was hooked. I knew I would be there every year after that. Oddly, it never occurred to me to find out what the Dykes on Bikes did during the rest of the year. It wasn’t until the second summer of COVID in 2021 that I finally found and participated in a ride. Wow, that day completely changed how I felt about joining an organization like Dykes on Bikes®. It was an unusual ride because a series of events had us hanging out at Alice’s Restaurant far longer than they normally would have.

It was during that time that I decided I had to be a part of this organization. From that day forward, I was committed to earning my way in. The idea of being a Prospect was not something that ever appealed to me. I’m a 54-yearold professional, and my apprentice days are long behind me, but this group, these women, were so special, that I wanted to do whatever I had to do to be accepted as a member. This included humbling myself to be part of something so much bigger than me.

Anyhoo, the excitement I felt over being accepted into this group was beyond anything I thought I was capable of feeling at this place in my life. We get jaded, you know? Life wears us down and we get so distracted with the business of life that we totally forget about how much fun life can be. I love my job, and I love playing music, but now I have another love ... my club. Yes, indeed, I am a Dyke on a Bike. https://www.dykesonbikes.org/

A hallmark of Shireen’s tenure as DAS Executive Director was her practice of bringing consumers, community advocates, and nonprofit community organizations into the conversation. Two examples of this kind of partnership are the Reframing Aging Campaign and the San Francisco Interfaith Council Online Briefing for Faith Leadership. The Reframing Aging Campaign is a collaborative effort to increase awareness of ageism, disrupt negative stereotypes of aging, and connect San Franciscans to senior resources and supports. You have probably seen the campaign’s advertising at bus stops and on signs around the city. In 2020, Shireen was recognized for this anti-aging campaign by Time magazine and was named as one of 16 people and groups fighting for a more equitable America. As is always her practice, LGBTQ and BIPOC older adults are well represented in all aspects of this campaign. Another innovative partnership/collaboration is with the faith-based community. In 2016, Shireen had DAS reach out to the city’s faithbased organizations. The daughter of a Methodist minister, she knew that clergy are often the first individuals whom many people will reach out to about the challenges of taking care of a family member or to whom an older congregate will speak with about a health problem or concern. Shireen understood faith leaders could be of greater assistance to their congregation if they were more informed about the city’s affordable social, wellness, and nutritional programs and how to access them, and that the city, in turn, would be a more informed and better provider of services to address the issues and needs the clergy was seeing in their congregations. In an exchange of emails with me for the San Francisco Bay Times, Shireen wrote: “I feel fortunate for the opportunities I’ve had to learn from others, whether it’s the child welfare work I did in Baltimore, the direct service work I did with older adults in the Bayview, and the work I continue to do with LGBTQ+ and BIPOC led community organizations. Without centering the experiences of the people we’re serving, we’re not effective leaders, and ultimately, we are not successful.”

SF Sketch Randy Coleman Randy Coleman hails from New York, but has lived in San Francisco since 1975. “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.”

Our community and our city have been truly blessed by Shireen ‘s work on behalf of San Francisco’s older adults and adults with disabilities. Dr. Marcy Adelman, a psychologist and LGBTQ+ longevity advocate and policy adviser, oversees the Aging in Community column. She serves on the California Commission on Aging, the Board of the Alzheimer’s Association of Northern California, the California Master Plan on Aging Equity Advisory Committee, and the San Francisco Dignity Fund Oversight and Advisory Committee. She is the Co-Founder of Openhouse, the only San Francisco nonprofit exclusively focused on the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ older adults.

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TING (continued from page 8)

KAPLAN (continued from page 8)

JUSTER (continued from page 6)

To qualify, applicants must earn less than 80 percent of their county’s median income. In San Francisco, that limit is $106,880. For all Bay Area counties, the cap is below $120,000. The property can be a townhouse, single-family house, condo, or manufactured home in California, and must be a primary residence.

amend state law to revise the Average Daily Attendance formula to remove penalizing schools when children are sick.

has become the largest event of its kind anywhere in the world. Presented by the Sundance Association, an all-volunteer nonprofit that promotes country western dancing, Stompede features four nights of dance parties, three days of inspiring dance workshops teaching two-step, swing, line dances, and more, for all levels, plus dance performance exhibitions, and social events.

On top of that, people must go through homebuyer education counseling and obtain a certificate of completion through an authorized organization. Then, they must be approved for a mortgage. It’s best to work through a loan officer who is familiar with the Forgivable Equity Builder Loan program. Documents to have ready: • • • •

pay stubs bank statements employment history tax returns

More information, including a list of approved lenders, can be found on the California Housing Finance Agency’s website: https://tinyurl.com/5b6hs7bb I know it’s tough to break into the home buying market with housing prices and mortgage rates increasing. My colleagues and I in the Assembly know we must do more to boost home ownership rates. We’ve made progress on housing production and affordability over the years. But there are still gaps and barriers that current plans and programs do not address. More Californians deserve a chance to make their dream of home ownership a reality. We’re committed to creating more opportunities to take that first step. Phil Ting represents the 19th Assembly District, which includes the Westside of San Francisco along with the communities of Broadmoor, Colma, and Daly City.

Head Start/Early Head Start are early childhood education programs, which promote school readiness for children from birth to age five, and offer free early childhood education and family services. One of the primary goals of Head Start/Early Head Start is to improve educational and family outcomes and eliminate racial disparities for the community. Scientific research proves time and again that nurturing and educating children during ages zero through five has a significant impact on their development, growth, academic performance, and overall life success. Cuts to childcare and staff layoffs, therefore, undermine the quality of life. But this program has been struggling for financing and facilities. The challenges facing schools and Head Start create a unique opportunity. Rather than close and merge schools, which will leave those facilities vacant, there is another alternative. Instead, keep the schools open and rent out space in the schools for wellness and Head Start centers. The funding for the lease payments could come from the county and federal Head Start funding. It would be a good solution for our children to centralize the provision of wellness and education in one location. The lease payments could help a cash-strapped OUSD. This infusion of revenue may be enough to prevent school closures. This is an important need to be addressed because the demand for care of our students, especially the youngest children, doesn’t go away because of politics and budget cuts. We need to invest, not divest, in our children. They deserve our best and most innovative solutions. Their wellness and educational opportunities should be a community priority—they are our future. Councilmember At-Large and Council President Rebecca Kaplan, who is the Vice Mayor of Oakland, was elected in 2008 to serve as Oakland’s citywide Councilmember; she was re-elected in 2016 and 2020. She also serves on the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC). Follow Councilmember Kaplan on Twitter @Kaplan4Oakland ( https://twitter.com/Kaplan4Oakland ) and Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/Kaplan4Oakland/ ).

Stompede is only one of the Sundance Association’s events. Founded 25 years ago, the Association presents dance classes and dance events throughout the year. Ingu Yun, founder of the Sundance Association, told me that during COVID, when they couldn’t hold indoor dancing in their usual location in San Francisco, they found ways to bring people together safely by taking their dance classes outdoors to public locations where people could practice social distancing while dancing: Union Square, Golden Gate Park, Stern Grove, and even the Cruise Terminal Plaza at Pier 27. I’ve been volunteering at Stompede for many years. It is one of my favorite events: a festive celebration of dancing, but also of camaraderie, inclusion, and community. Come on down and join in the fun; tickets for one or all events here: https://www.stompede.com/events.html Save the Date: People’s March Returns for Pride Sunday When the COVID lockdown in 2020 forced the cancellation of the usual massive Pride events, activists Alex U. Inn and Juanita MORE! saw an opportunity to bring Pride back to its activist roots. They invited the community to take part in a “People’s March & Rally,” a reminder that the original Pride march was a protest.

Centering the focus of the event on people of color, and the queer and trans communities, their aim was to bring together people of all races, backgrounds, and sexual and gender identities in solidarity for racial justice, to call for an end to police violence, and to demand health care and unemployment relief for community members impacted by the virus. The community turned out enthusiastically to support the event in 2020, and again in 2021. The People’s March & Rally will return this year on Sunday, June 26, starting from Polk and Washington Streets. We will be bringing you more details as they are released. Elections Have Consequences If anyone still doubted that elections have consequences, here are two words: Supreme Court. There are others who can and will write more eloquently on this subject, but right now all I can say is vote! Vote as if your life and your rights depended on it, because it’s crystal clear now that they do. Get involved in campaigns. Donate to organizations that help voters get to the polls. Speak out. Hit the streets in protest. Make your voice heard, because this is not a drill: Every one of us has to do our part. Meanwhile, in Ukraine ... While San Francisco revels in the return of spring weather and beloved events, don’t forget that folks in Ukraine still need our support. Donate here to help LGBTQ+ Ukrainians, thanks to Rainbow World Fund: https://tinyurl.com/RWFUkr Joanie Juster is a long-time community volunteer, activist, and ally.

ROSTOW (continued from page 4) Before they managed that, however, one of the meaner GOP representatives, Cheryl Helmer, wrote a diatribe that targeted the state’s one and only transgender representative, Stephanie Byers of Wichita. “Now, personally I do not appreciate the huge transgender female who is now in our restrooms in the Capitol,” Helmer wrote. “It is quite uncomforting (sic.) I have asked the men if they would like a woman in their restroom and they freaked out. Just to make my point—I went into their restroom one day. They were all standing in a circle talking but they all in unison started screaming like girls, ‘Cheryl—you’re in the men’s restroom!’ It was quite apparent by their bright red faces that they were extremely embarrassed that I had entered ‘their territory.’” “But now we have a very unfair situation. We as women have humans that are much larger, stronger, more adrenaline and testosterone and therefore possibly more dangerous and we have to share our restrooms. Not only that but our wee little girls in elementary and middle and high school are having to be exposed and many have been raped, sodomized and beaten in the restrooms by these supposedly transgenders who may or may not be for real.” What the ... ? Many “wee little girls” have been “raped, sodomized and beaten” by transgender women? Why can’t we manage to confront these lunatics with their senseless violent blather? And what would Helmer do if a large, strong, testosterone-filled transman cruised into her precious women’s room as required by law? Why do none of these people understand that many “supposedly transgenders” were born female and are now bearded, muscular males who according to Helmer logic should be hanging in the ladies’ lounge? I have to add that my Kansan stepson, who lives in Topeka, noted that he has been going into men’s bathrooms for over four decades and has never once encountered other men 20

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standing in a circle and talking. That’s not quite true for the ladies’ rooms, in my experience, where I’d often find my high school classmates or work colleagues smoking cigarettes and exchanging personal information about whoever wasn’t around at the moment. Vive la difference, as we cis and trans women like to say. United States Sues Alabama Over Nasty Trans Law For those who think Merrick Garland and company proceed too cautiously in their prosecutorial decisions, I was pleased to see that the Justice Department has sued the state of Alabama over a new law that criminalizes medical professionals and others who treat transgender minors. Why did they sue Alabama, I wondered, when it seems as if every other red state has one or more of these horrible bills on the books? Well, it turns out that Alabama is unique in actually making it a felony to treat transgender teens, subject to up to ten years behind bars. A Trump-appointed judge, Liles Burke, ruled that the core elements of the law could not be enforced pending a legal challenge. He left in place a ban on transition surgery, which is not performed on minors in Alabama. He also retained a feature that requires public school staff to inform parents if their child thinks he or she is transgender. Those exceptions aside, in a wellreasoned 32-page opinion, Judge Burke ruled the state was usurping the fundamental rights of parents, and that the statute discriminated against transgender minors in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. Interestingly, Judge Burke approvingly cited Bostock v Clayton County, the 2020 gay rights victory that defined gay and transgender discrimination as a form of illegal sex discrimination under federal law. “Here, the Act prohibits transgender minors—and only transgender minors—from taking transitioning medications due to their gender nonconformity,” wrote Burke. “The Act therefore constitutes a sexMAY 1 9 , 2 0 2 2

based classification for purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Burke noted that Alabama’s main argument—that gender therapy was “experimental” and that the state was therefore within its rights to “protect children”—was not backed by the slightest evidence. Nor did the judge buy the state’s insistence that medical professionals were trying to strongarm patients into having gender treatments. On the contrary, he noted that standard therapies were accepted around the world, and that the medical community had safeguards in place to make sure therapies were not used inappropriately. All in all, he did not sound much like a Trump judge, so that was, um, interesting. I have a tendency to think the worst of Trump’s nominees, so I was pleasantly surprised. Last year, the ACLU filed suit against a transgender medical ban out of Arkansas, in a case that is now pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. A federal judge issued an injunction against the Arkansas law while that suit is pending, and the Justice Department weighed in on the side of the transgender plaintiffs in an amicus brief. I’m assuming that the Arkansas law did not involve felony criminal penalties for the doctors, which would explain why the Alabama case is considered unusual. Now, I can feel myself starting to grope through the vast “fog of anti-transgender state legislation coverage,” for further information. Are there other similar suits? Maybe, maybe not! What’s the specific difference between the Arkansas law and the Alabama law? What’s the status of other states in this area? I think I’m lost. Lassie? Go get help, girl. The Final Frontier Apropos of nothing, I see that a House panel just heard testimony on the latest UFO reports, which are referred to as “UAPs” (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) by the powers that be in the Pentagon. Is there some rea-

son we have to substitute pompous language for straightforward English words? The military has logged nearly 400 cases, up from 144 in a previous report released last year, but it’s thought that the increase reflects the fact that people are more comfortable discussing their unusual sightings. Of course, the experts all agree that just because these “UAPs” are unidentified doesn’t mean that they are from outer space. And, of course, I would agree. They could just as easily be time travelers from Earth’s future or ghost ships from a parallel universe. I’m always sad when I read respected scientists and astronomers who assure us that it would be impossible for us to contact intelligent life from elsewhere. Advanced civilizations are unlikely to survive long enough to develop the technology to travel faster than the speed of light. They will probably destroy their planet or get hit by a meteor or something before that happens. And that makes perfect sense. Do we honestly expect human life to

survive and evolve for another thousand years here? Two thousand? Then there are the downers like this from the late theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who insisted that any aliens who manage to find us are going to either be predators or profiteers. Oh, and they’ll be so advanced they can eradicate us in two seconds in order to mine the Earth for rare metals or whatever. Maybe they’ll put a few of us into a little habitat and use us for research projects. Or pets, if we’re lucky. It’s a little depressing that most of us probably won’t live long enough to unravel the mystery of dark energy, or figure out a Standard Model of Everything, let alone meet friendly aliens driving spaceships shaped like tic tacs and carving giant runways in the desert. Instead, we’re stuck with aerial phenomena that turn out to be drones or weather balloons, and every now and then we discover a stupid boson or see a nova. Big whoop. arostow@aol.com

LEWIS/GAFFNEY (continued from pg 5) gender, sexuality, and community that has existed for centuries and which courageous queer Diné people live out today. The broader American society has much to learn from what the Diné and many other Native American peoples have long understood about beauty, diversity, fluidity, and harmony. As Diné Equality puts it on its Facebook page: “It is important for us to hold true to our traditional ways and to honor the LGBTQ+ identities that make us one family ... . [W]e are all sacred beings and our community strengthens this Hózhó.” That wisdom applies not just to Diné but to all of us. 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.

The Best of Old and New One likeness between them showed itself in city driving, as both have exterior contours that rise up into your over-the-shoulder view. The MX-5 RF is a targa coupe, with flying buttresses that are in direct view when backing out to a busy street. The Ioniq 5’s thick C-pillars are typical with other crossover utility vehicles (CUVs) in having a similar effect.

Auto Philip Ruth Where has it been, and where is it going? The ever-changing auto industry is always coming up with new answers to those questions, as what seemed fancy and special just a few decades ago sometimes can hardly be seen on today’s roads. Meanwhile climate change is a primary propellant of current trends as its looming consequences reshape what we drive. Two cars that came back-to-back brought those differences into focus. The $36,015 Mazda MX-5 RF Grand Touring is the best of yesterday, with more than 30 years of refinement resulting in a sports car with few compromises and many satisfactions. Add $20,000 to the tested Mazda’s price, and you’d have a budget for one of tomorrow’s cars, the allelectric Hyundai Ioniq 5 Limited AWD. From its innovative styling to its 265-mile range—303 miles in front-wheel drive guise—the Ioniq 5 was an impressive debut for 2022, just as the MX-5 Miata’s was back in 1989.

Mazda MX-5 RF Grand Touring

Another similarity is front hip room; the MX-5 RF is six inches narrower than the Ioniq 5, which translates to a five-inch advantage in shoulder room. However, the hip room stats shrink that plus to two inches. This illustrates the Ioniq 5’s thickly-rendered interior furnishings, as opposed to the MX-5 RF’s dogged emphasis on minimalist functionality. The Ioniq 5 feels thick in general, with broad horizontal lines visually expanding things further. The MX-5 RF, in comparison, is a car you wear, with just enough room for a six-footer to feel comfortable. Weight is another fundamental difference between these two, as the MX-5 RF’s 2,500-pound curb weight is a testament to years of the just-enough approach to sports-car design. The top-tier Ioniq 5 I drove presses the scale with 4,700 pounds, which is normal for battery-packed electric cars. There’s no question about the differing philosophies, with the nippy MX-5 RF seemingly poised to run rings around the Ioniq 5. That changes once you get rolling. The Ioniq 5 AWD’s 446 lb-ft

Hyundai Ioniq 5 Limited AWD

of torque picks up the crossover’s ample mass and flings it like a fastball through traffic. Car magazines have measured its 0–60 mph time in the mid-four-second range, and the Ioniq 5 feels even faster than that. The MX-5 RF eschews this to provide a primo gas-engine experience. Its 151 lb-ft of torque requires revving up to 4,000 rpm to fully show itself, and the slick-shifting six-speed manual in my car made it much fun to get there. This Hyundai and Mazda are so appealing in their own ways that they seemed a perfect pairing for a two-car garage, where you’d have the best of old and new. Philip Ruth is a Castro-based automotive photojournalist and consultant with an automotive staging service.

Studios, 1, 2 & 3 Bedroom Affordable Housing Units for Individuals and Families/ Equal Housing Opportunity 681 Florida-Casa Adelante • 681 Florida Street San Francisco, CA 94110 44 Studios 12 One-Bedroom 24 Two-Bedroom 10 Three-Bedroom

$718-$1,883 per month $817-$2,148 per month $888-$2,387 per month $959-$2,624 per month

Households must have a minimum monthly income of two times the rent. Households must earn no more than the gross monthly income listed below: AMI%

1 Person

2 Person 3 Person

4 Person

5 Person

6 Person

7 Person

35%

$32,650

$37,300

$41,950

$46,600

$50,350

$54,100

$57,800

40%

$37,300

$42,600

$47,950

$53,300

$57,550

$61,800

$66,050

50%

$46,650

$53,300

$59,950

$66,600

$71,950

$77,250

$82,600

60%

$55,950

$63,950

$71,950

$79,900

$86,300

$92,700

$99,100

75%

$69,950

$79,900

$89,950

$99,900

$107,900

$115,900

$123,850

85%

$79,250

$90,550

$101,900

$113,200

$122,250

$131,350

$140,400

Building Amenities will include a ground floor community room with kitchen, fully accessible by two elevators, onsite property management, secured building access, front desk coverage, secured bicycle storage. Rent will include water, trash, and sewer. Application and preference information found on the SF Housing Portal - DAHLIA at housing. sfgov.org. Applications due by 5pm on May 30, 2022. Please contact Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation for building information at 415-358-3941 or ComplianceTeam@tndc.org. A lottery will be held on June 13, 2022. Results will be posted on housing.sfgov.org. Units available through the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development and are subject to monitoring and other restrictions. Visit www.sfmohcd.org for program information.

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M AY 19, 2022

San Francisco Legacy Business Reception Photos by Sarah Gonzalez at Finnegans Wake As part of its celebration of Small Business Week, the City of San Francisco’s Office of Small Business hosted an in-person networking reception, Our San Francisco Legacy, for Legacy Business program members. Mayor London Breed joined Katy Tang, Executive Director of the Office Small Business, and Supervisor Aaron Peskin in welcoming guests on Thursday, May 5, to Finnegans Wake. The location is familiar to many LGBTQ community members because it is the former site of the historic lesbian bar Maud’s. Tang’s predecessor, Regina Dick-Endrizzi, and her wife Irene were also present along with Legacy Business Program Manager Richard Kurylo and Program Manager Michelle Reynolds. Dr. Kathleen Kennedy and her team from the For Your Eyes Only Optometry on Castro Street, along with San Francisco Bay Times Co-Publishers Dr. Betty Sullivan and Jennifer Viegas, were among the LGBTQ-owned Legacy Businesses represented. In addition to the signature cocktails at Finnegans, guests enjoyed a variety of hors d’oeuvres from La Méditerranée and other Legacy Business restaurants. Thanks to the efforts of Kurylo and his team, the networking reception was so successful that Our San Francisco Legacy will be an annual event during Small Business Week. The purpose of the Legacy Business Program is to maintain San Francisco’s cultural identity and to foster civic engagement and pride by assisting long-operating businesses to remain in the city. The Legacy Business Registry was established to recognize longstanding, community-serving businesses that are valuable cultural assets of the city. Businesses operating for a minimum of thirty years may be eligible for membership. Legacy Business Registry: https://legacybusiness.org/registry

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GGBA Ambassadors Committee Kick-Off Party & Mega Make Contact

Photos by Rink

San Francisco Bay Times lead photographer Rink has been documenting activities of the Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA) since the organization’s founding in 1974. On April 27 he was at the GGBA Ambassadors Volunteer Kick-Off Party hosted by Head Ambassador and Board Member Olga Garcia. The gathering—held at Vico Cavone, the highly touted new Italian restaurant in the Castro on 18th Street—featured wine and chef’s menu selections. Vico Cavone owner Alessandro Raimondi joined GGBA members and staff for the gathering. Among those attending were Jasmine Rae Pomar, GGBA Executive Director Terry Beswick, GGBA Vice President Luis Zamora, and PG&E’s Alejandro Serrudo. The new Ambassador Committee provides support and assistance to Bay Area LGBTQ+ and allied small businesses.

GGBA’s Mega Make Contact 2022 event was hosted by Wells Fargo on Tuesday, May 3, at the bank’s 333 Market Street location. Wells Fargo’s Chris Galang welcomed GGBA members. Mega Make Contact is an annual special event in the year round Make Contact networking series. https://ggba.com

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M AY 19, 2022 23

BAY TIMES S

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

Castro Theatre to Mark 100th Birthday with Week of Classic Films June 3–12 Curated by Decade few remaining movie palaces from the 1920s that has been in continuous operation under same family ownership.

100 years ago next month, San Francisco’s Nasser family opened the Castro Theatre: an event that came to define an era and a neighborhood. A century on, it is the longest continually family-owned movie palace in the U.S. To mark the occasion, the Nasser Family in partnership with Another Planet Entertainment is scheduling a week of film screenings featuring iconic movies from each decade of the Castro’s history, June 3–12, some family and children’s programming, and a “Happy Birthday” special event on June 22—the actual date of the Castro’s opening day in 1922—with movies filmed in San Francisco. Concurrent with the centennial celebrations, the LGBTQ Frameline Film Festival will return after a two-year hiatus.

Below is the schedule of Castro Theatre 100th Special Film Screenings. Friday, June 3: Decade of the 1920s • Oh Doctor (2:45 pm) Reginald Denny & Mary Astor • The Mark of Zoro (4:30 pm) Douglas Fairbanks, Noah Beery, Marguerite De La Motte, Robert McKim • Across to Singapore (6 pm) Joan Crawford, Ramon Navarro, Ernst Torrence • The Lodger (7:45 pm) Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney, June Tripp, Malcolm Keen, Ivor Novello • Sunrise (9:45 pm) Janet Gaynor, George O’Brian, Margaret Livingston, Harold Schuster, Bodil Rosing Saturday, June 4: Decade of the 1930s • Bright Eyes (10:30 am) Shirley Temple • Pardon Us (1 pm) Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy • Thin Man (2:45 pm) William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O’Sullivan, Nat Pendleton • The Adventures of Robinhood (4:45 pm) Errol Flynn; Olivia de Havilland; Basil Rathbone; Claude Rains; Una O’Connor • The Women (7 pm) Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Norma Shearer, Joan Fontaine, Paulette Goddard

“It continues to be my family’s honor and privilege to own the Castro Theatre,” said Steve Nasser, of Bay Properties, Inc. “After two years of COVID-forced closures, it is such a joy and a pleasure to reopen and to work with the very best, and most sensitive local producers around, Another Planet Entertainment.” Steve and Elaine Nasser Padian are the third generation of this family to lead the company, founded by their grandfather Abraham and his sons having conceived and constructed the Castro Theatre in 1922.

(continued on page 36)

“The Castro is much more than a theatre,” said Mary Conde, Senior Vice President for Another Planet who oversees the overall Castro Theatre Project. “An LGBTQ touchstone, a film-lovers icon, a community landmark and an architectural gem, the Castro is unique. Another Planet is honored to restore, renovate, and revitalize the Castro as a home to everything we’ve come to love about the Castro, and expand its audience.”

While there are no vaccine or masking requirements for entry, all attendees are encouraged to have been fully vaccinated and boosted. Masking and adherence to social distancing and proper hygiene protocols are strongly encouraged.

JAMES R. MARSHALL COLLECTION

Tickets for the special week of screenings are $16 weekdays and $18 weekend with the morning youth programming at $10/adult $6/youth up to age 12 and may be purchased online at https://tinyurl.com/3denv6uv

Opening Night 1922

Another Planet Entertainment is partnering with Bay Properties, Inc., owners of the Castro Theatre, on an evolution and preservation of San Francisco’s world-renowned entertainment and LGBTQ community landmark. With a longstanding history of working to preserve and improve historic buildings such as the Fox Theater in Oakland, the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, Another Planet seeks to enhance the Castro Theatre by implementing significant improvements to the sound, lighting, production, HVAC, ADA access, and the theatre’s trademark marquee, among other facets of the building. The Nasser brothers got their start with a nickelodeon in 1908 in the Castro neighborhood. The Castro was designed by then-unknown architect Timothy Pflueger, who later designed the Paramount Theatre, the Pacific Cost Stock Exchange, the Pacific Telephone Building, and the Top of the Mark on Nob Hill. Pflueger chose an exterior design reminiscent of a Mexican cathedral. The large windows, the shape of the roof line of the front wall of the building, and the plaster wall decorations all combine to convey a look of grandeur in keeping with the large scale of many theatres built in the 1920s. Sound was installed in 1928. The marquee and the vertical neon sign are additions from the late 1930s, but the glazed tile street foyer, ornate tent-like box office, and the wooden doors are all from the early 1922. The Castro’s interior is very diverse. One can sense Spanish, Asian, and Italian influences. The auditorium seats over 1400 in a fantasy setting that is both lavish and intimate. Both side walls of the auditorium are covered with classic motif murals that were created in a wet plaster process called scrafitto. This type of wall decoration is rare. On either side of the stage and screen (the small original screen has long ago been replaced with a large screen) are large organ grills. The Art Deco chandelier dates from 1937 when a small electrical fire destroyed the original parchment fixture. It is one of the

QUEER POP QUIZ

MR. ALOHA

Esera Tavai Tuaolo, who sometimes goes by the nickname “Mr. Aloha,” is being honored by GLSEN for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. He was a defensive tackle in the National Football League for a decade. Tuaolo in 2002 made LGBTQ history by becoming: A) the first former NFL player to come out B) the second former NFL player to come out C) the third former NFL player to come out D) the fourth former NFL player to come out

ANSWER ON PAGE 36 S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

M AY 19, 2022

BAY TIMES S

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

Stuff Matters they are still my beloved treasures. And I am still addicted to the Antiques Roadshow, both the American and British versions.

Off the Wahl Jan Wahl Look around your home. What is hanging or sitting there that means something special to you? I am sitting right now staring at a photo of me with a statue of Oscar Wilde. This was in Dublin, Ireland, from a few years back. The statue is at a small park across from the great Oscar’s alma mater of Trinity College. The photo brings back a few of his most famous bon mots: “I can resist everything except temptation,” “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance,” and my favorite: “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” I have been a Wilde fan since I was a young girl, and the more I found out about this courageous man, the more I fell in love with him. The best movie on his life is Wilde, with Stephen Fry and Jude Law. Catch it ... and get thee to Dublin, if possible, to pay homage at his statue. When I read that the Antiques Roadshow will be coming to this area in the summer, I did everything I could to get tickets. No luck. I sent two photos as requested of items for appraisal. One was a sheet movie poster (27” x 41”) of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ The Barkleys of Broadway. It’s gorgeous color with full-body shots of both of them plus a picture of inebriated costar Oscar Levant. Framed and unwrinkled, it brings to life their last pairing onscreen. The other is a one-of-a-kind candid photo of the amazing Louis Armstrong. He is sitting in a makeup chair and smiling right at the lens. Oh, my god, but I love this one. Both of the items were rejected from the Roadshow due to their “overwhelming submissions.” And I couldn’t get tickets. Phooey. But

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When my husband was in the Navy, he met a TV star on an aircraft carrier. Way into the bowels of the old ship (my honey was a Lieutenant mechanic) came a guy in a Hawaiian shirt. This was the late sixties. Usually stars like

Louis Armstrong

Bob Hope or John Wayne would just visit the bigshots on the bridge. But here was this guy climbing over steam vents and metal stairs. My sailor recognized him right away. “Hey ... you’re Raymond Burr.” Burr was sweet and they chatted a few minutes. Then he disappeared up the steps. Many years later I did the last TV interview with Burr before he passed away. By this time, he was out of the closet and had his lovely home up north. We were at the Hotel Nikko. I reminded Burr of the Navy meeting and he clearly remembered. He kindly signed a napkin I found there and I had it framed alongside a picture of him from Perry Mason. Sometimes a prized object can be personal. Some of you might remember an LBGTQ magazine from March 1999 called Frontiers. I was once lucky enough to grace the cover, holding up a giant Oscar with the caption “Some Like It Hollywood.” I framed that. It hangs next to a picture of me with the great Gloria Steinem. I emceed an event where Steinem spoke. Every woman there cried because she meant so much to us in the Woman’s Movement. I have framed two tickets and a newspaper photo of Ella Fitzgerald’s last concert at Davies Hall. I was there. Ella kept apologizing for having a cold. We were so busy applauding and crying out, “We love you, Ella!” that

few let it dampen their spirits. She sounded wonderful, as always. I’ve always been fascinated with eccentrics, especially those with incredible talent. So, I have a number of Mae West items. She’s my personal role model. (Please check out the American Masters documentary called Mae West: Dirty Blonde, co-produced by Bette Midler.) Another is Salvador Dali. I stare at a poster of Dali looking at me with those spooky eyes and fabulous mustache. I am rather obsessed with him, even going to his home in Spain. Both Miss Mae and Dali lived by their own rules. Bless them. I’ll end this tour with a tribute to my fantastic mother, my own Auntie Mame. Mom loved to travel and taught me to draw outside the lines. She was so full of life and individuality. I found a clock with Rosalind Russell’s face as Mame on it and her saying, “Life is a banquet.” It tells me more than the time. Objects can matter! 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

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

Slow Reveal

Melanie Mitzner

Words Michele Karlsberg Michele Karlsberg: As our world contracts through nationalism, narcissism, and self-righteousness, burdened by a pandemic, the inequality and political turmoil are echoed in the nuclear family at risk. While Slow Reveal is set in the 90s, the 2021 alternate universe perceived as truth reflects how we deceive ourselves and sabotage what we love most. Slow Reveal by Melanie Mitzner takes a deep dive into the personal lives of the characters and reveals the tenuousness of the nuclear family that vacillates between connection and alienation. Family dysfunction is a central theme in all of Melanie’s work. The opposing need to liberate oneself from the psychological entrapment of family history while yearning for more intimate relationships with your parents and siblings always drives her narratives. In Slow Reveal Melanie wanted to reflect on how this conundrum is further

complicated for the LGBTQ community and how the struggle one encounters with art—a messy, risky, unpredictable process mired in self-doubt—mirrors the interpersonal struggle for intimacy and love. Please enjoy the following excerpt from Slow Reveal: Naomi took a hot bath instead of a morning shower. Her body ached and her throat felt like seared sirloin. No small wonder after the snowy trek when she was practically flattened by a dump truck, weaving on a reckless descent down the cliffs surrounding the falls. For a while she couldn’t move, afraid she’d broken a bone and she’d be lying there frozen to death by the time someone found her. Lucky or in her opinion, unlucky. Now she had to endure a fever of 103 in the confines of a cabin in the middle of east bum f--k. The dead die hard, she thought, as she breathed into the aches and pains for relief. That’s what her acupuncturist told her. To

Top of your stack Love That Store (nonfiction/memoir - hardbound) by Jonathan Van Ness In Jonathan Van Ness’ New York Times bestselling memoir Over the Top, he showed readers how the incredibly difficult moments from his life (surviving sexual abuse and addiction, being diagnosed with HIV) have existed alongside great joy and positivity (landing a breakout role on Netflix’s Queer Eye, becoming an amateur figure skater and professional standup comedian, doting on his cats). In this candid and curious essay collection, Jonathan takes a thoughtful, in-depth look at timely topics through the lens of his own personal experience—instances that have required him to learn, grow, and back handspring layout to a better understanding of the world around him. He dives deeply and widely—from a poignant reflection on grief and embracing body neutrality to an examination of the HIV safety net and white privilege—to sharing the ways in which he has learned to embrace change.

The Town of Babylon (fiction- hardbound) by Alejandro Varela In this contemporary debut novel—an intimate portrait of queer, racial, and class identity— Andrés, a gay Latinx professor, returns to his suburban hometown in the wake of his husband’s infidelity. There he finds himself with no excuse not to attend his twenty-year high school reunion, and hesitantly begins to reconnect with people he used to call friends. Captivating and poignant; a modern coming-of-age story about the essential nature of community, The Town of Babylon is a page-turning novel about young love and a close examination of our social systems and the toll they take when they fail us.

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embrace the pain, ease into it. Once she tried to explain the concept to Katharine, who had ovarian cysts. “What a bunch of crap,” her lover replied, flinching, pressing her palm to that burning sensation in her pelvis. Naomi held her in her arms until she pulled away. After the surgery, a year of utter confusion followed, when Jonathan took responsibility for the kids while Katharine ran off to recuperate by seeking refuge in an extramarital affair that turned into a lifelong relationship. The word lifelong stuck in Naomi�s craw like a hook in a fish. That�s how she envisioned it, with or without the family Katharine had started. Never did she imagine being out of the picture completely. She couldn�t conceive of The End. Theirs was not a transactional love but one filled with passion and ardor. Like art, a creative process, the failures a means to success, the process an end unto itself. Something that over time would be realized, even though from the start it felt like it was complete.

Lit Snax Doubting Thomas by Matthew Clark Davison Vivid characters, strong prose, and deft handling of hot-button issues have won this debut novel rave reviews. Fabulosa will host a conversation between Davison and Alia Volz, author of Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and The Stoning of San Francisco, at 7 pm on June 1, 2022. Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder There’s no kinder book for kids and maybe even some grown-ups about the myriad ways our skin suits differ, and how each are worthy of love. Your Nostalgia Is Killing Me by John Weir These interlinked first-person stories follow a middle-aged gay man whose emotional life is circumscribed by fallout from his adolescence in homophobic 1970s New Jersey and losing his best friend to AIDS. Weir is extraordinarily attentive to emotional nuance and social complexity, but also writes with wit and style. https://www.fabulosabooks.com/

Hot water cascaded over the ankle she twisted in her acrobatic leap off the highway. The heat radiated from the cast iron stove, keeping the cabin exceptionally (continued on page 36)

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM BOOK PASSAGE

Outrages: Sex, Censorship and the Criminalization of Love (nonfiction- paperback) by Naomi Wolf From New York Times bestselling author Naomi Wolf, Outrages explores the history of state-sponsored censorship and violations of personal freedoms through the inspiring, forgotten history of one writer’s refusal to stay silenced. Outrages chronicles the struggle and eventual triumph of Symonds―who would become a poet, biographer, and critic―at a time in British history when even private letters that could be interpreted as homoerotic could be used as evidence in trials leading to harsh sentences under British law. Drawing on the work of a range of scholars of censorship and of LGBTQ+ legal history, Wolf depicts how state censorship, and state prosecution of same-sex sexuality, played out―decades before the infamous trial of Oscar Wilde―shadowing the lives of people who risked in new ways scrutiny by the criminal justice system. Upcoming Events Saturday, May 21 @ 1 pm (free, in-store/ Corte Madera) Obi Kaufman, author of The Coasts of California California’s coastline is world famous, an endless source of fascination and fantasy, but there is no book about it like this one. Obi Kaufmann, authorillustrator of The California Field Atlas and The Forests of California, now turns his attention to the 1,200 miles of the Golden State where the land meets the ocean. Bursting with color, The Coasts of California is in Kaufmann’s signature style, fusing science with art and pure poetic reverie. And much more than a survey of tourist spots, Coasts is a full immersion into the astonishingly varied natural worlds that hug California’s shoreline.

Monday, May 30 @ 6 pm (free online) Diana Goetsch, author of This Body I Wore This is a captivating memoir of one woman’s long journey to late transition, as the trans community emerges alongside her. Long before Laverne Cox appeared on the cover of Time, far removed from drag and ballroom culture, there were countless trans women living and dying as men, most of whom didn’t even know they were trans. Diana Goetsch’s This Body I Wore chronicles one woman’s long journey to coming out, a path that runs parallel to the emergence of the trans community over the past several decades. Goetsch has not written a transition memoir, but rather a full account of a trans life, one both unusually public and closeted. All too often trans lives are reduced to before-andafter photos, but what if that before photo lasted fifty years? Wednesday, June 1 @ 6 pm (ticketedonline) Eric Holder author of Our Unfinished March and in-conversation with Jelani Cobb Voting is our most important right as Americans, “the right that protects all the others,” as Lyndon Johnson famously said when he signed the Voting Rights Act—but it’s also the one most violently contested throughout U.S. history. Since the gutting of the act in the landmark Shelby County v. Holder case in 2013, many states have passed laws restricting the vote. After the 2020 election, President Trump’s effort to overturn the vote has evolved into a slow-motion coup, with many Republicans launching an all-out assault on our democracy. The vote seems to be in unprecedented peril. Full of surprising history, intensive analysis, and actionable plans for the future, Our Unfinished March is a powerful primer on our most urgent political struggle from one of the country’s leading advocates. https://www.bookpassage.com/

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

Mascarpone Is a Sweet Gay Romance main girls falls for, but he had this quality that he was sympathetic. Although Antonio can be perceived as weak, or unsympathetic, we needed an actor to bring sympathy to his character. Gary M. Kramer: How did you collaborate on filming, given that Alessandro was a seasoned filmmaker, and this is your debut, Matteo?

Film Gary M. Kramer The fabulous Italian confection Mascarpone, now out on VOD and DVD, has Antonio (Giancarlo Commare), bereft after breaking up with Lorenzo (Carlo Calderone), his husband of 12 years. Antonio soon moves in with Denis (Eduardo Valdarnini), who helps him get a job in Luca’s (Gianmarco Saurino) bakery. When Antonio falls for another guy, Thomas (Lorenzo Adorni), he must determine what he wants from love and life. Co-writer/directors Alessandro Guida and Matteo Pilati have served up a charming romance that, like the title ingredient in tiramisu, is both sweet and comforting. Pilati spoke with me for the San Francisco Bay Times about making Mascarpone.

Matteo Pilati: That was interesting. This film was borne out of pure desire to do a film. Giuseppe [Paternò Raddusa] and I started writing it when I was working for Global TV. When we had the first script, I approached Alessandro who had done some videos and commercials; he had experience to produce things on small budget. He said if we found money, he would direct it with me. We tried pitching it, but everyone said, “The characters are gay, and this film would only appeal to LGBTQ viewers. It doesn’t make commercial sense. We applaud your idea, but we are going to pass.” We decided to go ahead anyway. We had a small budget and shot in three weeks. But we had complete freedom to do whatever we wanted. Everyone, the actors, the art director, the costume designer, all gave 200% because they believed in the project. When we started filming, we didn’t know if we’d finish the film or get distribution. Gary M. Kramer: How did that do-ityourself approach impact your filmmaking?

Mascarpone

Gary M. Kramer: What inspired you to put a gay spin on An Unmarried Woman? Matteo Pilati: There’s a reference to that film in the end. In Italy, only 70-year-old critics got the reference. An Unmarried Woman is a film we really love. While we were writing, it popped into our mind, and because it is so Matteo Pilati similar, why not make an homage to Paul Mazursky? Gary M. Kramer: Antonio is naïve and vulnerable, lacking confidence, but he is also passionate and headstrong. Can you talk about developing his character? Matteo Pilati: We tried to convey it from Giancarlo Commare’s performance. He worked hard, imagining Antonio’s life by writing his character’s diary before shooting. In the beginning, he clings to everyone he comes in touch with; he talks using words that his husband uses, or Denis or Luca uses once he knows them. He’s like a chameleon. It was a chance for Giancarlo to play many different characters throughout the movie. We see his character develop through meeting other people. He conveys not just through dialogue but his performance and the way he moves and looks. We really liked Giancarlo after seeing him in the series SKAM Italia. He played the bad boy one of the 30

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Matteo Pilati: When we scouted for locations, we wanted small spaces because they gave the film authenticity. We customized the script to the actors, writing dialogue to keep it as real as possible. Luca was supposed to be someone who never falls in love, but [actor] Gianmarco Saurino said, “I think Luca could fall for Antonio and it would be interesting for me to explore that. Let me say the lines with that intention.” It added an extra layer to the story, and it worked perfectly. It made his character go from a slut to a romantic character. Luca’s jealousy and vulnerability [when Antonio falls for Thomas] is what Saurino brings to the film, and we were so thankful because the actors improved our film. Gary M. Kramer: What can you say about filming the food scenes, especially the sequence where Antonio, Denis, and Luca create quite a sexy mess? Matteo Pilati: I was commissioning editor for two global TV companies, and we did a lot of programs and reality shows about food. Flour and cakes needed to be prepared for every shot, but I knew how to make it work and help the set decorators; I kept it simple. It’s about the metaphor. I looked through blogs and recipes and found out that mascarpone can be made at home and not be bought. In the film, Antonio says that making mascarpone can be tricky, but it’s untrue; making mascarpone is very easy. (continued on page 36)

Bay Times Dines

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

Old Skool Café: Making a Difference

The Gay Gourmet David Landis San Francisco is reputed to have more restaurants per capita than perhaps anywhere in the world. But there’s one culinary institution— now celebrating 10 years—that’s a standout for how it’s helping our community’s most vulnerable youth. That place: the Old Skool Café in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunter’s Point. The brainchild of founder/ CEO Teresa Goines, the organization describes itself as “a faithbased, violence prevention program that provides job training, employment and a second chance at life by way of a 1920’s speakeasy, jazz restaurant run by at-risk, formerly incarcerated and foster care youth ages 16–22.” I had the pleasure of visiting this restaurant/club/social justice changer pre-pandemic for a delicious jazz brunch on their plaza. Sadly, the restaurant closed during COVID. What better way to remind us of their good works than now, following its re-opening and during its milestone anniversary year? The following is my preCOVID conversation with Old Skool Café’s dynamic Director of Communications, Becca Eliasen—talking about how the café came to be, what its goals are, and what you can expect when you visit. Gay Gourmet: How did Old Skool Café come into existence? Becca Eliasen: Founder Teresa Goines worked as a juvenile probationary officer and at a boys’ camp. She would see youth get motivated, but they would keep coming back. She took time to listen to them to learn what would it take to help them. What they said was, “We

Teresa Goines

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feel the pressure from family members to participate in this lifestyle (and gangs). What we need are jobs and money.” She wanted to replicate the structure of jobs that pay real money—have a team and community with healthy relationships. She decided on restaurants because they are available in every town. Teresa had no restaurant experience before this. This is a hard industry to break into, but she knew it would be the vehicle to provide transformation for young people. We run it like a family. A restaurant is a pressure cooker. It’s a safe place for young people to learn skills. It’s in the middle of the community where most of our young people live. We want to stay in the community because we want the talent to stay in the Bayview, but we welcome people from all over the Bay Area—people who may never interact with the community. We want to show each other the community. It’s good for our youth and for our guests. 2005 was the official nonprofit start date for Old Skool Cafe. We began with pop-ups, we did networking events, and we created Thanksgiving baskets and dropped them off. We worked with restaurants around the city like Farmer Brown and did a pop-up brunch, as well as catered events. In 2011, we opened our brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Bayview. Gay Gourmet: What are some of Old Skool Café’s best success stories? Becca Eliasen: For a lot of our youth, this is the first time they thought about college. A requirement is that they need to be attending and caught up in school. Since they’re on the payroll, it’s a great motivator for them to stay in school. One of our youth, Isaac, is now taking classes at City College. Bon Appetit Management Company is one of our partners and they run a lot of the large cafeterias for universities and companies—they often hire our apprentices. We were able to open a kiosk at Chase Center. Our youth are between the ages of 16 and 22. They are first trainees, in a 12-week bootcamp program; then they are hired on as apprentices (that’s the 2-year part of the program); at the end, they’ll be placed in an externship with one of our partner programs like Michael Mina or Bon Appetit. Then they have the tools they need to apply for a job or go back to school.

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We don’t do job placement, but they work with job coaches throughout their time with us. Apprentices are involved in every aspect of what we’re doing—many of the dishes come from their own background. That’s important to us, to bring people together with comfort food from around the world. So, for instance, we showcase Jordan’s fried chicken, Daniel’s gumbo, and a

Tongan ceviche from Tammy and her mom. The youth and their family teach everyone about the dish and why it’s important to them. We offer these as a special for a month. Isaac and his mother taught everyone how to make pozole. What makes our menu so wonderful is it pulls in all these cultures and showcases dishes you might not find anywhere else. When it comes to the food (and service), the Gay Gourmet concurs. Having visited Old Skool Café pre-pandemic, I can vouch for the tasty shrimp ‘n’ grits. The servers are well-trained and welcoming. The live jazz with a talented trio adds the right element of upbeat music. (Please note: the Old Skool Café currently is open Thursdays– Saturdays for dinner only.) Gay Gourmet: You’re celebrating your 10th anniversary. That’s quite an accomplishment! Becca Eliasen: Yes. Our founder, Teresa, sums it up nicely: “Our hearts are full of gratitude for our incredible community of support, who have made this 10-year anniversary possible. From our faithful diners to donors to collaborative partners and volunteers, it’s this loving Old Skool village that has provided our youth an opportunity to heal and thrive!” Gay Gourmet: How has COVID affected your operations? Becca Eliasen: We are being nimble and this pandemic has propelled us to innovate what we’re doing and try new revenue streams. COVID has been a catalyst for that. It’s been hard, but it’s been great for innovation. We’ve had the support of our community, donors, and volunteers. Yes, we want to invest in young people of color and be part of that empowerment right now. We are sowing the seeds—and we will see the harvest at the other end of this. We will have a wonderful future.

Gay Gourmet: How do kids get into the program? Jordan’s Chicken Becca Eliasen: It’s a self-selecting process. We get referrals from probation officers, judges, schools—a young person may be coming up against obstacles. The primary demographic are at-risk, formerly incarcerated, youth aging out of foster care; anyone facing challenges in school and the workplace. Sometimes a sibling or a friend will refer someone. We ask a lot of our youth and there’s great reward at the end. Some youth may not believe the program is for them, but then they may come back six months or 2 years later to the program.

Gay Gourmet: How many kids does Old Skool Cafe serve? Becca Eliasen: There are 3 trainee cohorts a year (10–15 in a cohort), so about 40 to 50 youth in the program. There are about 20–30 in what we call our “entertainment track.” We present live jazz every day we’re open. All are youth entertainers. They do not have to have an at-risk background, but they need to be younger than 22 and excellent musicians. We offer them paid gigs, an opportunity to develop their repertoire, have a stage where they get exposure and make money. They get excited about what we’re doing and giving back to the community. As an example, trumpet player Ben donates what he makes at Old Skool back to our organization. Gay Gourmet: What other programs do you offer? Becca Eliasen: Everyone in the restaurant program does life skills classes with coaches once a week. These include such topics as emotional regulation, writing a resume, registering to vote, and using their voice in public. Individually, they also meet with life coaches at least once a week, but they have access to coaches every day.

Gay Gourmet: What about housing and food? Becca Eliasen: When COVID first started, we worked with a lot of community therapists. We partner with other organizations that complement our services. We were able to work with Sunset Food Services and Ajani to drop off food boxes if youth needed it; or work with partner organizations like the Stand Together Foundation that helped our youth get a cash grant if their family lost a job; or assist with housing through organizations like Huckleberry Youth Programs and Larkin Street Youth Services, especially if they’re not in a safe environment. Gay Gourmet: What’s the future for Old Skool Cafe? Becca Eliasen: We’d like to have an Old Skool Café restaurant in every city in the America. We want youth to be thriving. We have a great program to help them grow and shine and be healthy adults in the community. That’s our big goal. People are so welcome at Old Skool. Every time you dine at Old Skool you’re making a huge impact on youth in the city and we’re grateful for all of our guests. Come and see what it’s all about. Bits and Bites Some new happenings in the Castro: I’ve heard good things about the sophisticated new Lobby Bar at the Hotel Castro (on 18th Street), run by Jesse Woodward and Blake Seely, the partners behind the always-packed Hi-Tops bar on Market. I’ll visit and report back soon. The Academy on Market Street is always doing something innovative and fun, including wine tastings, live jazz, and, especially for women, the popular Divas and Drinks series. Drag brunches are (continued on page 36)

Bay Times Dines

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Cocktails With Heather Heather Freyer

LIME & SODA 1 1/2 ounces Bacardí Lime Flavored Rum 3 ounces club soda squeeze of lime

Fill a highball glass with cubed ice. Pour in the Bacardí Lime Flavored Rum followed by the club soda. Stir gently. Garnish with a lime wheel.

lime wheel for garnish

https://www.bacardi.com/us/en/where-to-buy/

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.

Castro Farmer’s Market

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

For a clean, crisp cocktail, try a Bacardí Lime & Soda. Ice-cold sparkling club soda provides the perfect base from which to appreciate the zestiness of the Bacardí Lime flavor.

Allard Farms

Berrylicious

Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun “California unequivocally stands for the right to an abortion, no matter what the rightwing zealots on the Supreme Court say. We will fight hard to expand abortion access, here and in other states!”

By Sister Dana Van Iquity Sister Dana sez, “Happy HARVEY MILK DAY (May 22), a hero upon whose shoulders we stand for the fight for LGBTQ EQUALITY!” Join Castro Merchants, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, the Castro Community Benefit District, and the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza as they celebrate Harvey Milk Day May 22, 12–5 pm with speakers, DJs, music special guests in Jane Warner Plaza, and a screening of The Times of Harvey Milk at the Castro Theatre. OPENHOUSE’s SPRING FLING Brunch & Tea Dance is on HARVEY MILK DAY, Sunday, May 22, 11 am–2 pm, The Ritz-Carlton, 600 Stockton Street with Tea Dance to follow. Founded in 1998, Openhouse works to center the voices and experiences of LGBTQ older adults by providing opportunities to make social connections, building community, and bridging the generations together to support lifesaving programs and services. https://www.openhousesf.org/ Five Bay Area mural artists are creating a new work at 298 11th Street on the exterior of the OASIS nightclub. The official unveiling will happen at the beginning of SF PRIDE MONTH on Thursday, June 2, 3 pm, with a celebration later that evening at Oasis from 9 pm–2 am, hosted by the artists and supporters. Designed by Serge Gay Jr., Elliott C. Nathan, J Manuel Carmona, Simon Malvaez, and Christopher McCutcheon, the mural, titled “SHOWTIME,” will incorporate aspects of Oasis, SOMA, and the queer SF community at large; including LGBTQ nightlife, cabaret, disco, theater, drag, and leather culture. The mural is supported by the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District, us Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the San Francisco Arts Commission, and Oasis Arts. In 1969, The Cockettes debuted at the Palace Theater in San Francisco with their midnight sensation the NOCTURNAL DREAM SHOW starring a genderbending, glitter-encrusted, druginduced theater troupe who took drag and old Hollywood musicals and turned them inside out and upside down. Now, DJ Dank is bringing a colorful, multimedia, musical revue, COCKETTES: ETERNAL EMISSIONS, to Oasis, 298 11th Street, June 2–4. Musical director and original Cockette, Scrumbly Koldewyn helped create this revue. Featured performers include Lisa Shepard Appleyard, Andy Arcade, Vanta Black, Bruxa, John Flaw, Noah Haydon, Kitten on the Keys, Scrumbly Koldewyn, Carl Linkhart, Steven Satyricon, Maya Songbird, Sunshine, Jef Valentine, Jason Wade, Birdie Bob Watt, Diogo Zavadzki, and more. https://www.sfoasis.com/ The Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark 1973 ROE V. WADE decision, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and leaked. Sister Dana sez, “We knew this was coming. And same-sex marriage is next on the chopping block!” And Senator Scott Wiener says,

President Joe Biden warned that “this MAGA crowd” is “the most extreme political organization ... in recent American history” and could be planning to keep LGBTQ students out of classrooms. “What happens,” he Sister Dana, Mother Theresa Nervina and Sister Vish Knew said, if “a state changes the law saying that children who (1980s) are LGBTQ can’t be in classAs more states criminalize genrooms with other children? Is that der-affirming care for transgenlegit under the way the decision is der youth, LGBTQ lawmakers in 19 written?” states are working to establish their states as safe harbors for transgender Sister Dana sez, “Senator Josh kids and families persecuted by such Hawley wants to force women to laws. THE LGBTQ VICTORY have babies and make adoption INSTITUTE—an organization easier ... just not for gay people!” that supports LGBTQ political candidates—announced a plan that will Congress has yet to successfully take have LGBTQ lawmakers in 19 states meaningful action to enact safeintroduce legislation that explicitly guards to protect abortion when Roe protects trans youth’s right to access falls. The House of Representatives medical care, such as puberty blockpassed the WOMEN’S HEALTH ers, hormone treatment, and mediPROTECTION ACT on September cal procedures. The legislation would 24, 2021, which would codify Roe be modeled after a bill proposed and strike down insidious barriers in March by our California State to care; but it did not pass in the Senator Scott Wiener, whose bill Senate. On May 11, voting again would block any out-of-state efforts to for WHPA failed in the Senate. investigate, prosecute, or apprehend Every Republican senator voted individuals who help trans youth against it; Every Democrat senator access gender-affirming care in refbut one voted for it. And once again uge states. Democrat Senator Manchin voted against it! We will not forget this act Sister Dana sez, “I can’t wait of betrayal! for the January 6th Committee Sister Dana sez, “Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin have previously hinted that they will NOT vote to abolish the filibuster. But now that the Supreme Court is voting to overturn Roe v. Wade, we have to fight even harder to make sure our agenda is passed!”

A mind-boggling POP UP ART SHOW & STAGED READING was held at Spark Arts Gallery in the Castro on May 6 and 7. The May 7 evening featured excerpts from Dr. Sé Sullivan’s shocking childhood medical transcripts at UCLA Gender Identity Clinic 1970, “Blood on the Page,” that shed light on their unique traumatic journey with transgender conversion therapy including reparative therapy of self-loathing. Dramatically reading from these “blood-stained” papers were Glodean Champion, Emer Martin, Susan Stryker, Sister MaryMae Hymn, and Sullivan. These will be filmed for a documentary entitled, “WE JUST WANT TO BE.” Special host/emcee was Sister Roma of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Displayed in the gallery were photos of Sullivan as a child, a small closet that one could go in and come out from, as well as dozens of Sullivan’s t-shirts with activism themes boldly emblazoned hung from a clothesline. I proudly wore my shirt from the “SF AIDS Candlelight Vigil, Sunday May 16, 1999”—which we Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence co-sponsored with ACT UP/Golden Gate. In the latest installment of the Right’s culture war, Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas is demanding changes to television ratings to warn parents about LGBTQ representation in shows. The current guidelines address sexual situations, as well as violence and coarse language. Marshall’s proposed change would put the very existence of queer people on par with these categories. The letter was co-signed by fellow GOP Senators Steve Daines (Montana), Mike Braun (Indiana), Mike Lee (Utah), and Kevin Cramer (North Dakota), and asks the TV PARENTAL GUIDELINES MONITORING BOARD for an in-person meeting to discuss changing its guidelines.

Hearings to begin in June. Let’s just hope this isn’t a re-run of the twice-failed Impeachment Hearings! Although those should have received an Emmy or two for the dramatic plot twists!”

Mayor London Breed has appointed Matt Dorsey to serve on the SF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, making him the first self-identified member of the substance use disorder recovery community to serve on the Board in a generation. The appointment comes at a time when San Francisco is experiencing an addiction and overdose crisis that is impacting many neighborhoods, including District 6. Dorsey is an out gay man living with AIDS who will join Supervisor Rafael Mandelman as the Board’s second LGBTQ member. Sister Dana sez, “Senator Joe Manchin says he is ‘particularly concerned’ about attacks on voting rights, but it›s Joe who›s standing in the way of a new voting rights bill because he refuses to consider changes to the filibuster. Bust the filibuster, Joe!” HARVEY MILK PHOTO CENTER, 50 Scott Street, is now exhibiting TERRA CIBUS, the photography of Caren Alpert. She has combined her three favorite topics: food, technology, and art—by shooting with an electron microscope. These extreme close-up photos reveal the hidden landscapes of ordinary foods, from salt to coffee bean; but my faves are shrimp tail (looking like a bunch of feathers), celery leaf (with its deep shades of green), and cake sprinkles (a rainbow color of round shapes).

https://www.harveymilkphotocenter.org/

Join KREWE DE KINQUE Mardi Gras club for our monthly benefit at the Midnight Sun, 4067 18th Street (every 3rd Saturday.) This month we present ALL THINGS UNIFORM! Memorial Day is just around the corner, so we’re gearing up and hosting an Open Show & Uniform Contest from 4–7 pm. May 21. Unlimited beer/soda bust for $10. SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS presents its two ensembles (continued on page 36) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

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CASTRO THEATRE (continued from page 25)

KARLSBERG (continued from page 28) warm. She would sweat out the fever under a pile of blankets while she worked on her poem “Animal Magnetism.” The object of the urge the urge of desire ... The desire to object. Her words were empty vessels from which she drank the pressed fruit. Nothing left but the hollow darkness and the dank smell of sour wine. She could blame it on the fever that blanketed her thoughts with ellipses, those three lazy dots conveniently poised after a phrase to suggest something one couldn’t articulate, something incapable of defining, more often meaning less than one intended. Entombed by the woolen comforter, she lay on the tattered couch in front of the plate glass window and looked past the gulch that dipped then soared in a dramatic display of forest pines planted along the cliffs skirting the falls. The sky peeked over the mountain range with a show of storm clouds waiting to happen. Another snowfall on the horizon. That much she knew, or in other words, nothing much at all. An Edward Albee Fellow and fiction grant recipient, Melanie Mitzner is the author of “Slow Reveal” and a finalist in four fiction and screenwriting competitions. She lives with her partner, artist Nicke Gorney, in Montréal and New York. For more information: https://www.melaniemitzner.com Michele Karlsberg Marketing and Management specializes in publicity for the LGBTQ+ community. This year, Karlsberg celebrates 33 years of successful marketing campaigns. For more information: https://www.michelekarlsberg.com SISTER DANA (continued from page 35) in FABULOUS & FORBIDDEN BROADWAY. This hilarious and heart-stopping Broadway-themed concert is performed by the Chorus’ beloved HomoPhonics and The Lollipop Guild. Enjoy Broadway classics including Les Misérables, The Lion King, Wicked, Avenue Q , Dear Evan Hansen, and many more. Saturday, May 21, 7 pm, Calvary Presbyterian Church, 2515 Fillmore Street. https://sfgmc.org/ We joined the GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM on May 14, as Catherine Martin TD, Ireland’s Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, officially launched OUT IN THE WORLD, an exhibition that currently showcases the untold history of Ireland’s LGBTQ+ Diaspora. Created by historian Dr. Maurice Casey, who studies social movements in modern Ireland and abroad, “Out in the World” weaves twelve compelling stories from the vast history of Ireland’s queer Diaspora. Standing out to this particularly proud Irish nun was John O’Brien, Irish participant in the STONEWALL REBELLION, who was born in New York 1949 and raised by Irish parents. Already active in the Civil Rights Movement of the Summer of ‘69, O’Brien was present on the first night of the riot at the Stonewall Inn. Speakers at Saturday’s launch were GLBTHS Interim Co-Executive Director Andrew Shaffer, Senator Scott Wiener, Consul General of Ireland Robert O’Driscoll, and Catherin Martin. https://www.glbthistory.org/ Sister Dana sez, “After nearly a year and a half as White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki has stepped down, and history is being made with congratulations to Karine Jean-Pierre taking over that title as the first ever Black and openly LGBTQ person to do so!”

• Night at the Opera (9:30 pm) Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Kitty Carlisle Sunday, June 5: Decade of the 1940s & Special Family Feature • Lion King (10:30 am) The Disney children’s classic, not 1940s • Philadelphia Story (2:30 pm) Cary Grant; Katharine Hepburn; James Stewart; Ruth Hussey • The Lady from Shanghai (5 pm) Orson Wells, Rita Hayworth, Everette Sloan, Glen Anders, Erskine Sanford • Mildred Pierce (7 pm) Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Eve Arden, Zachary Scott, Ann Blyth • Casablanca (9:30 pm) Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Peter Lorrie, Paul Henreid, Madeleine LeBeau Monday, June 6: Decade of the 1950s • From Here to Eternity (4 pm) Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra • Some Like it Hot (6:30 pm) Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon • All About Eve (9:15 pm) Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Marilyn Monroe, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Thelma Ritter, Hugh Marlow Tuesday, June 7: Decade of the 1960s • Butch Cassidy & Sundance Kid (2 pm) Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katherine Ross • The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (4:30 pm) John Wayne, James Steward, Lee Marvin, Andy Devine, Vera Miles • Breakfast at Tiffany’s (7 pm) Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam, Mickey Rooney • The Magnificent 7 (9:30 pm) Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Eli Wallach, Charles Bronson Wednesday, June 8: Decade of the 1970s • Star Wars: A New Hope (4 pm) Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guiness • Chinatown (6:30 pm) Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Diane Ladd • The Godfather (9:20 pm) Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, Diane Keaton Thursday, June 9: Decade of the 1980s • Raiders of the Lost Ark (4 pm) Harrison Ford; Karen Allen; Paul Freeman; Ronald Lacey; John RhysDavies; Denholm Elliott

• Amadeus (6:30 pm) F. Murray Abraham, Tom Huice, Elizabeth Berridge, Simon Callow, Ry Dotrice, Christine Ebersole, Jeffrey Jones, Charles Kay • Blade Runner (9:20 pm) Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos Friday, June 10: Decade of the 1990s • Casino (1 pm) Robert De Niro; Sharon Stone; Joe Pesci; Don Rickles; Kevin Pollak; James Woods • Rush Hour (4:30 pm) Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Julia Hsu, Elizabeth Pena, Ken Leung, Clifton Powell • American Beauty (6:45 pm) Kevin Spacey; Annette Benning; Thora Birch; Mena Suvari; Wes Bentley; Allison Janney; Peter Gallagher; Chris Cooper • The Bird Cage (9:30 pm) Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, Dianne Wiest Saturday, June 11: Decade of the 2000s • Ironman (1 pm) Robert Downey Jr. Terrence Howard; Jeff Bridges; Shaun Toub; Gwyneth Paltrow • The Royal Tenenbaums (4 pm) Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelica Huston • No Country for Old Men (7 pm) Tommy Lee Jones; Javier Bardem; Josh Brolin Sunday, June 12: Decade of 2010s • Black Panther (1 pm) Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman • A Star is Born (3:50 pm) Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliott, Anthony Ramos • Bohemian Rhapsody (6:30 pm) Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joe Mazzello, Aidan Gillen, Tom Hollander, Mike Myers • Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (9:15 pm) Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch, Margaret Qualley Wednesday June 22: Actual Opening Date in 1922, Movies Filmed in San Francisco • San Francisco (10:30 am) Clark Gable, Janette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy • Mrs. Doubtfire (1 pm) Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein • Dirty Harry (3:30 pm), Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino • Sudden Fear (6 pm) Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Graham • Bullitt (8:15 pm) Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn https://apeconcerts.com/venues/castro-theatre/

KRAMER (continued from page 30) Gary M. Kramer: What are your thoughts about mascarpone? Do you enjoy it? Do you make it? Or is it not to your taste? Matteo Pilati: I don’t make it. I love to eat tiramisu. I am good in the kitchen [but] I don’t make desserts. It’s not my thing. It’s better if I stick to making movies, not cooking. © 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

LANDIS (continued from page 32) back at Harvey’s and they’re a hoot! And one of my favorites, Poesia, is opening its new downstairs casual breakfast/lunch eatery. The design is gorgeous and owner Francesco has built a new stairway to get to the upstairs courtyard so you don’t have to traipse through the kitchen anymore.

QUEER

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In other news, I was lucky enough to tour the new luxury senior residences on Van Ness called the Coterie Cathedral Hill. These all-rental units are stunning (but pricey), beautifully designed—and some have terrific views. But the best part is that the Coterie has a swanky lounge, plus two fabulous restaurants: one more casual and one more upscale (unfortunately, only open to residents and guests). Under the direction of consulting chef David Lawrence (whom some may remember from his popular 1300 Fillmore restaurant), the food shines. Our lunch started with a glass of light, dry Albariño and a crisp Sauvignon Blanc (yes, Blanche, they have a great wine list!). From there we sampled fresh, pickled shrimp, an innovative kale salad, a delicious cheeseburger, a bouillabaisse brimming with seafood (including lobster!) and delicate but flavorful tempura fried chicken and waffles. So, when you’re getting ready for that next chapter of your life, check out Coterie!

ANSWER (Question on pg 25)

C) the third former NFL player to come out Tuaolo, who is of Samoan descent, came out as gay on HBO’s Real Sports. Running back David Kopay was the first former NFL player to come out. Kopay did so in 1975, making him one of the first pro athletes—of any sport—to come out. The late Roy Simmons (1956– 2014), who played as a guard for the NFL and who also disclosed that he was HIV positive, was the second former NFL player to come out as gay.

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We don’t know exactly when, but in the next few months, the massive new Italian food hall, Eataly at the Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose, opens its 45,000 square foot, three-story emporium to the Bay Area. Stay tuned for details! Old Skool Café: https://www.oldskoolcafe.org/ Lobby Bar: https://thehotelcastro.com/eat-drinks/ The Academy: https://www.academy-sf.com/ Harvey’s: https://harveyssf.com/ Poesia: https://www.poesiasf.com/ Coterie Cathedral Hill: https://tinyurl.com/yw4d86t6 Eataly at Westfield Valley Fair: https://tinyurl.com/4rh45vze 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

Speaking to Your Soul

Astrology Elisa Quinzi June is a cocktail party where you and I meet to talk about the higher mind. The playground must be stretched wider. The game, more inclusive. If we keep our borders closed, we imprison ourselves. Every one of us has a piece of the puzzle, and by coming together we see the big picture. We’ve relied on baby talk for far too long now. It’s time to use our words to tell a new story, and take responsibility for the life we signed up for. *If you’ve been enjoying this column, take advantage of half-price readings from now until summer solstice! See contact info on this page.

ARIES (March 21–April 19) Confidence is high, and your charisma is an asset in making new connections and starting new ventures on the right foot. Initiate conversations that will leave people feeling hopeful.

LIBRA (September 23–October 22) You can meet someone who shows you a bigger perspective. A field of study may become compelling. Keep your mind open and listen for messages and signs so as to allow your world to open up.

TAURUS (April 20–May 20) You are attuned to nature, to silence, and to the mindboggling perfection of life in all its forms. Because of your sign’s connection with the throat chakra, it seems clear you’ve come here to express how beautiful life on Earth is. You’ve come to show us how rich both soil and stillness are, and that nothing extra is needed to experience harmony.

SCORPIO (October 23–November 21) Go ahead and bring up death. Bring it closer to us. You add depth to our lives, and you often are the most interesting soul in the room for your wisdom in the dark. You are made of ancient particles for whom time is a joke.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Consider starting this new cycle on a new plane of thought. As the gatekeeper, you can edit the flow of information. As the shaman, you pass back and forth between two worlds, and tell us what you’ve seen. Language is your superpower, so be intentional about what you are creating with your words. CANCER ( June 21–July 22) Flashes of insight are not only possible but also probable now. Trust and openness to receive higher guidance magnetizes it to you. Realign or reignite your mission according to such guidance.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22–December 21) Listen to what people close to you are telling you. Allow yourself to be impacted by them. You become a better teacher as your own picture of reality expands. CAPRICORN (December 22–January 19) You do well to humbly listen to the feedback of others. As the goat, you achieve plenty all on your own, but it serves your goals to use feedback from the environment, and make necessary course corrections. Doing so changes your karma. AQUARIUS ( January 20–February 18) Be bold and engage the people you cross paths with throughout the day. Your soul needs to express itself. A calling emerges from within you.

LEO ( July 23–August 22) Be on the lookout for people who seem different than you, who might prove to share ideals with you. As you venture outside your comfort zone, you connect with your soul tribe. As you speak what you know, you’ll draw in those who vibe with you. VIRGO (August 23–September 22) You are given the courage to leap; to put yourself out there. Don’t be discouraged by any setbacks or seeming roadblocks, as they may test your resolve. This is the place on the path where you slay your dragons, and forge onward.

PISCES (February 19–March 20) Go within for the information you seek. Trust yourself. Trust the earth. Trust your instincts. Stay curious. Stay Light.

Elisa Quinzi is a certified professional astrologer who brings a strong spiritual perspective, as well as over 20 years of experience, to her work with clients. Contact her at futureselfnow@gmail.com or at 818-530-3366 with your exact birth time to schedule or to ask questions.

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

“My name is Bell! I’m a tiny but mighty 4-year-old Chihuahua who is looking for a lifelong companion and best friend. I cherish friendships and want my special someone to be by my side as often as possible—I really hate being alone—so my ideal adopter would have a flexible schedule or work from home. If that sounds like you and you’d like a new canine best friend by your side, I would love to meet you.”

Steven Luibrand at Fitness SF Mid-Market “For all you pleasure seekers out there: sleep is the most underrated pleasurable activity.”

Bell 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 Bell. To meet Bell, 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/

Bell

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 Pride event are you looking forward to?

compiled by Rink

Nicole Duminie

Andrew Hirst

China Silk

Armin Lendegger

Todd Hotty

“The Kool-Aid party at the End Up bar ”

“The Phoenix Hotel poolside party”

“I love that Pride brings together all parts of the community.”

“My favorite event is the official Pride party at City Hall on Pride Sunday.”

“Dolores Park on Pride Saturday, with one of the largest gatherings of queer women, non-binary, trans feminine, and inclusive people in a safe space”

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CASTRO

Raffle at Cliff’s Variety Benefiting AIDS/LifeCycle Team

STREETCAM

On display in the front window at Cliff’s Variety is a Bargello quilt created by Martha Asten, mother of general manager Terry Asten Bennett. The quilt is offered as the prize in a raffle supporting the Cliff’s Variety AIDS/LifeCycle team. Tickets may be purchased at the register at Cliff’s for $5 each or 5 for $20. The winning raffle ticket will be drawn on Monday, May 30.

PHOTO BY RINK

presented by

Round About - All Over Town

Photos by Rink

http://sfbaytimes.com/

A MUNI bus stop graphic celebrating AAPI Heritage Month acknowledging U.S Senator & Veteran Tammy Duckworth

A Mother’s Day display in a window at Cliff’s Variety on Castro Street

A couple stood arm in arm at the Castro and Market intersection.

A mystical window display at the Love on Haight Tie-Dye Emporium at Haight & Ashbury where a collective of 150 artists offer their creations and products

Vibrant. Inspired. Empowered. Infinite She is the new ultra-lush skin care line from Margot Elena and we have it in stock and ready for Spring gifting. Body Lotion $32 Shower Gel $16. Visit the Cliff’s Annex to explore the entire lineup!

My Heart by Sirron Norris and Leave Your Heart in San Francisco by artist Beka Brayer, on display at the Wells Fargo Bank located at 3333 Market Street, are among the latest in the Heart Sculpture series benefiting the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation.

Rink Remembers

Photos by Rink

Robert Mainardi (1946-2021) A long-term survivor of HIV/AIDS for over three decades, Mainardi was admired for his shop, The Magazine, which specialized in vintage magazines and other ephemera, and his support for the GLBT Historical Society and other LGBTQ community organizations. A celebration of life event was held on May 4 at the store location on Larkin Street. Mainardi is survived by his partner of 50 years, Trent Dunphy.

MEMORIAL PHOTOGRAPH

Donations in his memory may be made to the Tyler Clementi Foundation: https://tylerclementi.org/ and to Larkin Street Youth Services: https://larkinstreetyouth.org/

We are now carrying the new Stasher Bowls! With a flat bottom and a seal that stays open on its own, you can lunch prep in one step.

ainbows are everywhere at Cliff’s Variety now. Happy Pride 2022—it’s almost here!. https://cliffsvariety.com/

Rick Stokes (1935–2022) A lawyer and businessman who co-founded the gay bathhouse Steamworks, Rick Stokes is widely remembered for having run against Harvey Milk for San Francisco Supervisor in 1977. In addition to his work for legal reform through the State Bar Association, Stokes is also noted for having served as the first president of the Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA). Additionally, he is credited with having other leadership roles with key organizations, civic agencies, and additional community groups in the early gay rights movement. He often provided financial support to such groups as well. He was preceded in death by his longtime partner David Clayton and is survived by Alex Kiforenko, his husband. Stokes and Clayton are among the couples featured in the 1977 groundbreaking documentary Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives. The film was among the first to profile LGBTQ individuals and couples, sharing their personal stories.

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