San Francisco Bay Times -- January 14, 2021

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2021) January 14–27, 2021 http://sfbaytimes.com

Presidential Inaugural 2021 Photographer Bill Wilson’s Special Feature on Covering the Career of Joe Biden since 1973 See pages 2–3

LGBTQ Photographer Has Chronicled Joe Biden’s Career Since 1973

Photos by Bill Wilson

William F. “Bill” Wilson is a familiar presence in San Francisco, and especially the Castro. Like Rink of the San Francisco Bay Times, he is a renowned photojournalist who has been working in the city for decades. Most of the time, as he writes, he is “documenting, with photographs, the LGBT struggle William F. “Bill” Wilson for civil rights and other events.”

Headshot of Joe Biden, mid-1970s

He has also been documenting the career of Presidentelect Joe Biden since 1973. From D.C. to San Francisco, Wilson was there with his camera to capture the moments. As Wilson shared with us, he is looking forward to viewing the presidential inaugural later this month. “I don’t know where I will be on January 20 at 12 pm Eastern time, but I know what I’ll be doing,” Wilson told the Bay Times. “I will be watching as Joseph R. Biden, Jr., is being sworn in as our 46th President of the Senator and Mrs. Hollings hosted a reception for Senator and Dr. Biden when they were married in United States. I have no doubt that there will be tears of 1977. joy streaming down my cheeks.” He explained: “The reason for those tears will not just be the relief that nearly 80 million of us will feel at the official end of the nightmare that the four years of Trump have been. They won’t come just because I realize that President Biden will probably be the last president during my lifetime who is older than me on the day they assume the presidency.” “All of those facts will be part of the emotion of the day,” he continued, “but what will stand out most for me is that Joe Biden is someone I have known since when he first came to the Senate in 1973. The photos I have taken of him span 48 years—from Senator to Vice President and now Presidentelect.” His work in photographing Biden had a fortuitous start, and perhaps evidences why it helps to forge friendships with neighbors.

Frank Biden, brother of President Joe Biden, talking with Senator Hubert Humphrey at a reception hosted by Senator and Mrs. Hollings in 1977.

Senator Joe Biden preparing to leave his office and catch the train back to Delaware (early 1970s)

Wilson said, “I became good friends with his personal secretary. We lived in the same apartment building for a time. She would tease me that she should get a 10% agents fee for all the times she alerted me to events I photographed. One such event was a reception that Senator and Mrs. Hollings hosted for Senator and Dr. Biden when they were married in 1977.” The moment solidified his already growing archive of Biden images, and he has continued to document the President-elect’s career ever since.

The Bay Times thanks Wilson for sharing a selection of his Biden images with us at this pre-inaugural time. When, as president, Biden next visits San Francisco, we can only hope that Wilson can be in the press corps nearby yet again, marking his nearly five decades of work covering this dedicated soon-to-be leader of our nation. For more information about Wilson: https://billwilsonphotos.com/

Senator Biden with Senator John Glenn during a hearing October 1977 Panama Canal Treaties hearing

Biden Photographer Says President-elect ‘Touched My Soul’ To some of those reading this, it might seem ancient history and it is. But it is my history and my explanation of why this vote is so important to me. I was born in 1950—which means I grew up in the 1950s when TV was a new medium, Jim Crow still existed in law as well as practice, and sexual matters were not considered a topic of polite conversation. It was quite easy for me to believe that I was the only gay person in the world because it was never mentioned or shown and I was never good at reading between the lines or figuring what that smirk was supposed to imply. The 1960s were like an explosion that rocked the very foundations of society, or so it seemed, and I found myself becoming aware that my feelings for people of the same sex weren’t the ones that society expected me to have. Going to college in Oregon for a year before transferring to the University of 2

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Utah meant that I was able to be on my own to discover what my path should be independent of family pressures. When I graduated from the University of Utah in 1972, I got a job working in Washington, D.C., for Senator Gaylord Nelson as a clerical assistant. I was still very firmly in the closet. I wasn’t even admitting to myself that I was gay, although gradually through exposure to gay newspapers and experiencing meeting other gay people I found my self-denial crumbling. This sounds so pathetic when I recount it now, but I truly believed that if people looked into my eyes, they would know I was gay. So, for many years, I would walk down the street or in the hallways of the Senate buildings with my head JA NUA RY 1 4 , 2 0 2 1

down not looking at anyone in the eye. I can tell you the exact spot in the hallway of the basement of the Russell Senate Office Building where I was when I realized I could lift my head up and not be afraid to look people in the eye. When Joe Biden was elected senator, he hired one of my co-workers to be on his staff. I discovered that

By William F. Wilson

Biden’s secretary lived in the same apartment building that I lived in. We became good friends and she encouraged me to take photos of the Senator. He signed one of those photos for me writing, “You have been a great help to us and a fine friend.” I remember at the time thinking if Senator Biden knew my secret—that I was gay—would he have been willing to call me a friend? That photo was signed in 1977. I didn’t come out until 1983. To make this writing an essay and not a book, I am going to fast forward a bit to 2014. During a speech to the Human Rights Campaign, then Vice President Biden spoke of his father telling him that everyone should be treated equally with dig-

nity. I happened upon a transcript of the speech when someone shared a link to it on their Facebook page. As I read the speech, the tears just started streaming down my face. Reading his description of what his father said to him and the kind of example his father set for him, I realized those many years later, that the answer to my question, “Would he have still called me friend?” was yes. He would have still called me friend. So, when President-elect Biden described the recent election as the battle for the soul of the nation, I knew that he was right. There was only one candidate who literally touched my soul and I was very proud to cast my vote for Biden. William “Bill” F. Wilson is a San Francisco-based photographer focusing on LGBT and civil rightsrelated events. He has been photographing President-elect Joe Biden for nearly five decades.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris: Throwback to 2003 Have you ever been invited to host a “House Party”? In the tool chest of every campaign manager for a local political race is the quintessential House Party. The gathering, bringing together neighbors and friends interested in finding out more about the candidate, join with others in coming to the home of the host where they may enjoy refreshments, take a look at campaign literature, ask questions, and hear some words from the featured guest. Then comes the candidate. During the fall of 2003, the knock on the door, at the home of San Francisco Bay Times co-publisher/editor Betty Sullivan, signaled the arrival of Kamala Harris, candidate for San Francisco District Attorney.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANN BIDERMAN

A house full of women and a few good men gave applause and cheers following candidate Harris’ remarks. Not one of them attending at the time could have predicted that some twenty years later they would await the swearing in of their candidate as the 46th Vice President of the United States and the first woman and person of color to hold the office. There is little doubt that every one of those who attended the House Party will be viewing the inaugural ceremony on Wednesday, January 20, either virtually or in person. Accompanying Harris to the party was then candidate for mayor Susan Leal. The reception was organized by Sullivan and presented and co-hosted by Ann Biderman.

Senator Biden during a 2008 appearance at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on September 5, 2008

PHOTO BY NOAH BERGER/UCSF

Joe Biden at the podium announcing his campaign for president in 1987

Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, during their visit to UCSF Mission Bay on Saturday, February 28, 2016, participated in a roundtable discussion on the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative. President Barack Obama announced the initiative during the State of the Union address and named Biden to head up the project with the goal of developing new approaches and novel therapies in cancer research.

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JANUARY 14, 2021

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Fierce Urgency to Remove Donald Trump From the Presidency

Photos by Rink

leaders should guarantee that this former president will not be allowed any access to such assets. Even the idea of his continued access or possession presents a grave and dangerous perpetual material and existential threat to our national security and sense of safety.

Cross Currents Andrea Shorter “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.” —Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The incoming Biden-Harris administration’s rally to Build Back Better in 2021 must be precluded with the actual removal of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States— now! Years prior to the January 6 mobdriven seditious coup attempt and insurrection led by impeached President Trump, there was mounting and ample cause for his actual removal—not just impeachment— from the presidency. Here are three more increasingly urgent national security related reasons that should be central to the cause of his removal: Classified Intelligence Former-President Trump cannot and should not be entrusted with any form of classified intelligence. His removal should ensure that he is barred from ever receiving any form of confidential or classified intelligence briefings afforded to former presidents. He has demonstrated repeatedly his inability to protect any single area of U.S. national security or interests over his own personal, political, or business interests, all of which are of singular accord as far as he is concerned. There should be no doubt that he will commodify any modicum or element of classified intelligence to sell, broker, or pilfer away to any adversarial foreign or corporate interests solely for his own benefit.

“The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility.” —Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. White Supremacists, White Nationalists Domestic Terrorism Removal of this president now would ideally work to mitigate the imminent risks he poses to further abuse his formal authority and bully pulpit as president to incite further destructive, violent, and deadly domestic terrorist actions before his term officially ends not soon enough on January 20. However, it will not likely work to fully mitigate, quash, or stop the violence and mayhem of brainwashed, hell-bent loyalists.

to connect, coalesce, organize, and mobilize with greater ease and speed through the invention of internet and social media tools. Since the time of the legitimate Civil War to end a slave-based and driven southern economies and empire building, the end of slavery, and the intended and derailed Reconstruction period into Jim Crow and cruel racial apartheid, white supremacists have been dreaming of, preparing for, and spoiling for the great, violent, and triumph blood in the street fight with Black, Brown, and other non-white people whom they are convinced are the primary source and cause of whatever troubles and unfairness are in their lives. Trump has virtually promised—not threatened—that he would deliver unto them the opportunity and pathway for such a final, glorious showdown.

We should be prepared that definitive, active motion towards his lawful and emergency removal from office prior to January 20 will incite white nationalist cult followers to further violence and insurrection in D.C. and around the country. The narratives for the described aggrieved, displaced white citizenry he and his enablers have constructed and reconstructed over the majority of his grossly failed one-term presidency suggesting his re-election loss as solely the intent and result of a rigged, conspired injustice against him and by extension to them, would warrant violent uprising, selfdeclared civil war on un-American and non-American foes are meant more of a promise than a threat. Trump fomented and weaponized the grievances, fears, hatred, and hostility among, ingrained, and trained within populations of a largely white nationalist minority of potentially dangerous extremists that has existed for decades. There is nothing new about the existence of this ilk other than their ability

SCREEN SHOTS: YOUTUBE.COM/NBCNEWS

The incoming president, the defense, and intelligence sector

Furthermore, and perhaps equally imperative, this publicly shared restriction will also signal to adversaries and bad actors that he has no such currency for illicit transactions or deals.

Following the Save America March in front of the White House on Wednesday, January 6, the crowd walked to the U.S. Capitol to take over the building and stop the Congressional certification of the election results already underway and presided over by Vice President Pence.

The mob of Trump supporters overran the Capitol Police line and entered carrying banners including the Confederate Battle Flag. 6

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As an African American, I see the clearly incited horrific reign of terror of violence and destruction visited upon our nation’s Capitol and the members of Congress as a half-delivered, in-lieu-of race war in the streets promise by Trump to a primed, pent-up mob. For too many of these people, January 6 was a warm up, rehearsal, or taste of such a bloody race war in the streets confrontation. It will have amounted to a premature ejaculatory moment. Until then, their urge remains unsatisfied, their ability to execute achingly impotent. Removing Trump as president will not end white supremacy or nationalism. And, there will always be more privileged predatory political and cultural actors more than willing to caress and arouse this deep, pathological phenomenon for their benefit—2024 presidential hopefuls and seditionists Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley are at the ready to shamelessly slither in as a Trump heir apparent. Trump is an over-privileged, spoiled, self-entitled white American. He is the leader of a white nationalist cult. Removing him from the presidency as a direct consequence of his direct role in inciting an insurrection of white nationalists towards a coup to overturn a presidential election result is important. If he is not removed before his term sunsets on January 20, his privilege and entitlement as a wealthy white man and golden calf in the eyes of his followers will have triumphed over what will be ultimately understood as a feckless, meaningless, and hollow bellowing about the

In response to the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, January 6, a local group of anti-Fascism activists held a non-violent protest with social distancing on Thursday, January 7. Following their rally in front of San Francisco City Hall, the group marched to Twitter headquarters on Market Street for a second round of protesting.

rule of law and order in a civil, democratic society he has so aggressively sought to dissolve. It will be an unforgivable, and insufferable fail and precedence not to remove Trump as president before January 20—or at least by Martin Luther King, Jr., Day on January 18. “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” —Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. COVID-19 Trump was overwhelmingly voted out of office by 82 million voters in large part because of his abject failure and neglect to lead a critical response against the deadly COVID19 pandemic. Nearly 400,000 Americans will have died from COVID-19 within less than a year, and by January 20. A month ago, I lost my grandmother to COVID-19. That her long and well-lived life came to end because of unavoidable effects of this pandemic is unbearable. So, yes, it is personal for me. I know in my heart and mind

that the justified removal of Trump for revenge will not bring back any of our grieving and injured families’ loved ones from the finality of death. No one could have foreseen that, had he been removed as he should have been at his impeachment two years ago, that perhaps thousands of lives would have been saved from an eventual pandemic. Still, the lawful and urgent forced removal of this careless, reckless, dangerous, and inhumane president before the official expiration of his destructive single term will bring hundreds of thousands of grieving American families and friends a tinge of karmic good at the start of this new year, and a new beginning to build back better from the carnage left by soon to be citizen Trump. Andrea Shorter is a Commissioner and the former President of the historic San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women. She is a longtime advocate for criminal and juvenile justice reform, voter rights and marriage equality. A Co-Founder of the Bayard Rustin LGBT Coalition, she was a 2009 David Bohnett LGBT Leadership Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

2020: The ‘Dumpster Fire’ Year in Review year? Where are we liberals going to focus our outrage?

Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History Louise “Lou” Fischer Welcome to 2021. If you said, “2021 will be better; it can’t be any worse,” I blame you for jinxing it, or as my Jewish grandmother would say, “Kinehora!” (Superstition). A lawless autocratic dictator inciting a riot to defile and plunder the greatest symbol of democracy in our country is pretty much the answer to the question of, “How could it be worse?” For the past four years, media companies have mused that as bad as Trump is for the country, he’s been “damn good copy” or as they said in the old days, “He sells papers.” While he has demeaned and disrespected journalists, he has also provided huge ratings and profits to TV, print, and internet news organizations. In the post-Trump era, how are 24-hour news channels going to survive without the daily “Trump bump”? What is going to happen to website traffic without the daily assault on the rule of law? How will we get by without the cacophony of content that flowed like Niagara Falls during a flood

I’m thrilled to stop covering the “Cheeto-in-Chief.” I plan to write about more substantive topics such as economic indicators (yawn), budget reconciliation (snore), or the International Monetary Fund (zzzzzz) while the rest of the news industry goes back to covering celebrity deaths, crime dramas, sex scandals, and whatever else attracts eyeballs. Journalists tend to focus on the present and predict what might happen next and are not known for looking back; that’s the job for historians. However, 2020 sure packed a wallop, or more appropriately, at least 20 years-worth of eye-raising (or “eyerolling”) history in only 12 months. So far, January of 2021 has already registered an “11” on the volume knob (if this reference is lost on you, do a web search on This is Spinal Tap). The year started out well; we celebrated the victories of the first African American and the first Jewish senators elected in the State of Georgia and, with it, the holy grail of Democratic control of the Senate with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tie-breaker. Unfortunately, the next day, a bunch of Trump-loving entitled white men staged their version of “Riot! At the Disco” but without a lightshow and pop punk soundtrack. So, without jinxing our future by calling 2020 the “supreme ruler of the worst awfulness ever,” here’s a look back at some of the biggest “dumpster fire” events. January - In Iowa, the most homogeneous demographic (90.6% white) representing a mere 1% of the coun-

ty’s population takes a break from eating fried food on a stick and gets first crack at choosing the next president. The Iowa Democratic Party opted to use a “state-of-the-art” app to tabulate votes that crashed so badly it made the 13-hour East Coast blackout of 1965 look like a minor inconvenience. In other news, a man in Wuhan, China, died of a mysterious virus. February - Trump gets impeached, but is acquitted by the majority Republican Senate so he can continue to tell the world not to worry about coronavirus because it is a mild flu and “one day—it’s like a miracle—it will disappear.” (Quoted Feb. 27, 2020.) March & April - The Democratic Party shows its love for old white men and narrows the field to Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. Mel Brooks’ 2,000 Year Old Man is thrilled that someone older than him will be president. Wow, this coronavirus stuff is real, the Olympics are postponed, hand sanitizer and toilet paper are more valuable than the Hope Diamond, the term “video chat” is replaced with “Zoom” (the management of Webex and GoToMeeting will forever suffer from “shoulda coulda woulda”), and we wash our hands incessantly, but stop taking showers or putting on pants for work. May - Red and blue states argue about wearing masks and opening the economy, and Trump withdraws the United States from the World Health Organization in the middle of the worst global pandemic in over 100 years because he knows more about “this coronavirus stuff” than anyone. People are rightfully horrified by the murder of George Floyd;

the lack of justice and obvious show of police force and inequality toward the Black community sparks protests all over the country. June - To prove that he wasn’t hiding out in a bunker, Trump breaks up a peaceful protest to hold up a Bible in front of St. John’s Church because Ivanka tricked him into thinking it was a copy of The Art of the Deal. In happy news, only 6,200 people show up for Trump’s MAGA superspreader rally in Tulsa instead of the “millions” that were expected. July - Trump sidelines the Centers for Disease Control by taking away responsibility for coronavirus data collection because having an outside, unbiased, science-based agency in charge of life-and-death that doesn’t answer directly to the president makes it harder to lie to the country. Major League Baseball returns, but no one notices other than the diehard fans who pay for selfie cardboard cutouts to be placed in the stands. August - California bursts into flames, public-safety-power-shutoffs by PG&E send the state back to the Stone Age, and Trump kneecaps the U.S. Postal Service. Why? “The better to sabotage mail-in voting, my dear.” September - The world sat shivah over the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg while Trump appointed her complete opposite to the Supreme Court. The New York Times has the scoop of the century; tax records show the President is not a successful businessman in real life and was only playing one on television. Claude Rains, who played

Kinehora is a contraction of three Yiddish words: kayn (not) hara (evil) ayin (eye).

Captain Renault in Casablanca, comes back from the grave to declare, “I am shocked, shocked.” October - COVID-19 hits the Oval Office and infects Trump, his wife, son, and about 25 other people in his orbit. Journalists, celebrities, and anyone with a social media account lie through their teeth and send “get well” wishes to the President and his family because it would be in poor taste to say things like, “You reap what you sow,” or, “Divine justice.” A fly lands on VP Pence’s head during the debate and the internet explodes. November - In the presidential election, 71 million people voted for Trump, so for fans of literature, there’s your foreshadowing of doom. Switching from the “dumpster fire” theme of this article so we can have one happy moment: after four days of nail-biting and over-indulgence of leftover Halloween candy, Joe Biden is declared the winner and people literally go dancing in the streets. December - In the “good news, bad news” department, the COVID-19 vaccines were released but the federal government didn’t order enough and the people in charge of distribution

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Treasuring Our LGBTIQ Community Amidst a Crisis in Democracy

6/26 and Beyond Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis As we began to settle from the shock of the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, we were surprised that one of our many reactions to the events of the day was to realize how much we treasured being part of the worldwide LGBTIQ community and civil rights movement. As the currently popular slogan goes, “Stonewall was a riot,” but unlike the January 6 mob insurrection, Stonewall was a riot for love, respect, common humanity, and the freedom to live as our authentic selves in community with others. Our movement is not based on delusion, denial of reality, white nationalism, violence, bullying, and conflict for its own sake. It is based on the genuine wish for LGBTIQ people to live freely, safely, and peacefully in a world that is better for everyone. By chance on the evening of the insurrection, a gay friend of ours who lives under Sharia law in one of the most anti-gay parts of the world, and therefore must keep his sexuality completely secret in his home country, happened to message us to say hello. He had not heard any news about what had gone on in Washington. When we explained it to him, he was astonished, especially since he thinks of the West as a place of greater freedom and stability.

Having lived through the entire AIDS pandemic, we can attest that Reagan’s government was indeed a huge part of the problem when it came to AIDS—actively denying the reality of the disease as it ravaged our communities. Reagan did not even publicly mention AIDS until four years into the pandemic, and nearly 90,000 Americans died of the disease under his watch. Reagan and then both Bush presidents as well as Trump have appointed all the Supreme Court justices who have tried to stand in the way of advancement of LGBTIQ rights. Their administrations and Congressional supporters have actively opposed LGBTIQ rights for decades. Many activists have rightfully called out the starkly different treatment federal law enforcement gave Black Lives Matter protestors last summer compared to the treatment given the white nationalist pro-Trump insurrectionists on January 6. We also remember back during the Reagan administration how the federal police were out in force with riot gear at the completely peaceful 1987 LGBTIQ demonstration outside the Supreme Court to protest the now infamous anti-LGBTIQ Bowers v. Hardwick decision. Clad with plastic yellow

We place responStuart Gaffney and John Lewis with LGBT leaders of Japan sibility for the cur- Taipei Pride Parade 2017 (photos above and below) rent crisis not only with Trump, but also with the myr- way some football fans root for their iad Republican leaders—from outteam simply out of going Senate Majority Leader a sense of tribalism. Mitch McConnell who refused for We are reminded of weeks to acknowledge the simple the degree to which fact that President-elect Biden had the anti-LGBTIQ won the election, to Senators Josh political movement Hawley, Ted Cruz, and over a hunhas been fueled by dred other members of Congress Republican and whose strategy to object to the elecconservative politition results on the 6th fueled the delusions of the mob and millions cal Christian interof other Americans who inexplicaests in raising bly reject the clear fact that Biden money and mobiwon the election. lizing political support by any means A right-wing joke circulating they can. January 6 on the internet read: “Big game at the Capitol today! As we conversed Patriots vs. the Stealers!” To many with our gay friend in the mob, was it all just a game? many thousands of A West Virginia state legislamiles away on the tor brazenly recorded himself on evening of January Facebook Live storming the Capitol 6, one of his first with the mob, providing video San Francisco Bay Times columnists John Lewis and Stuart questions for us evidence of himself committing Gaffney are known internationally for their activism and was whether we leadership. In 2017, Indian Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil granted numerous federal crimes. Others were personally them an exclusive interview during his visit to the Bay Area. proudly posted selfies of themsafe. His fears for They have also conducted speaking tours and participated in selves doing the same. Had these our safety that eve- international Pride celebrations. people so lost touch with the fact ning stood in stark Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis, their actions have consequences contrast to our usual interactions together for over three decades, that they thought they were living where we have extended our supwere plaintiffs in the California in a big reality TV show, just like port to him as he faces extraordicase for equal marriage rights Trump himself? Were they creatnary challenges living as a gay man decided by the California ing conflict simply for its own sake under Sharia law. His reaching out Supreme Court in 2008. Their and whipping themselves into a leadership in the grassroots orgahis hand across oceans to hold ours frenzy for no meaningful purpose nization Marriage Equality USA deeply touched us. It was a true act at all? of friendship and connection, a pal- contributed in 2015 to making same-sex marriage legal nationpable experience of the richness of Mitch McConnell’s placing winour LGBTIQ community for which wide. ning raw political power for its we are truly grateful. own sake above all else reflects the

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As we related the events of the day to him, we explained how deeply disturbing they were in and of them-

We see roots of the insurrection’s utter lack of respect for the democratic process in Ronald Reagan and the decades-long insidious Republican effort to destroy American’s respect for government. Reagan in his inaugural address 40 years ago famously declared: “Government is not the solution to our problem—government is the problem.”

gloves out of fear of AIDS, police arrested nearly 600 queer demonstrators and AIDS activists that day, compared to the mere handful of arrests on January 6, 2021.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF STUART GAFFNEY & JOHN LEWIS

selves. Further, the lawless efforts of the mob to keep Trump and Pence in power means supporting their anti-LGBTIQ policies and numerous judicial nominees hostile to LGBTIQ rights.

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Mark Leno on COVID-19, the Recall, and Kamala communication throughout the day, sharing positive experiences and good fortune with each other.”

Out of Left Field Robert Holgate & Jennifer Kroot After months and months of sheltering in place, we wanted to begin 2021 with a fresh perspective, so we had a good, old fashioned, socially-distant phone call with our friend, former California State Senator Mark Leno. Mark’s outlook is always broad and thoughtful—just the remedy! We asked him how he’s dealing with the lockdown. Mark describes his time at home as reflective. “The power of gratitude has served me well,” he told us for the San Francisco Bay Times. “There’s a Hebrew proverb I like to recite, ‘Blessed are you, creator of the universe, who has provided to me all of my needs.’ It reminds me, no, I’m not lacking anything. I have a roof over my head, safety, provisions, even an internet connection, basic stuff that not everyone has.” Mark finds solace with his two sisters. He said, “We’re each other’s best friends and there’s a lot of casual

Though Mark is grateful to be healthy and “connected” with family and friends, running his business, Budget Signs, has been challenging. “Like many small businesses,” Mark explained, “we’re barely hanging on. I’m very committed to our staff, and we’re getting as creative as possible. We make signs for a wide variety of business sectors, but the bottom is falling out from many of them.” Despite his business concerns, Mark assists local nonprofits with fundraising. He said, “With so much need and suffering, I do what I can. I’m a big fan of the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, Meals on Wheels, and Project Open Hand.” Mark’s political career grew out of his fundraising work during the AIDS crisis, and he prioritizes nonprofits that support people living with HIV and AIDS, including Shanti, the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, and the Positive Resource Center. Mark’s partner, Douglas Jackson, died in 1990 from complications related to AIDS. Mark noted a similarity between the pandemic and the AIDS crisis: “In both cases, we were ignored by the federal government.” Sharply critical of Trump’s hesitance to promote mask wearing, he asserted, “We know for a fact that thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of people died unnecessarily because of his willful ignorance and avoidance of the crisis.”

“But one person in the federal government does care, Dr. Anthony Fauci,” affirmed Mark. Fauci received criticism from the LGBTQ community during the early days of AIDS, but learned from it. “Because of Fauci’s open mind and heart,” Mark reflected, “he came around to understand our community’s experience. He really changed the way medical research was conducted at the federal level. He became our champion after initially offending people.” Mark finds comfort in Fauci’s efforts to lead by example, “He didn’t spend the holidays with his adult daughters for the first time in a quarter century because it was too risky. I’m not going to do anything that he’s not going to do.” Mark also lauds the consistent messaging of Governor Newsom, but is troubled by the recall attempt. The French Laundry dinner was poor form, Mark agrees, but it is no reason to recall Newsom. “We Democratic voters need to pay attention to what’s going on,” he said. “When Newsom was one year into his term, after having won in a landslide, and prior to COVID, there were multiple recall efforts, purely political, nothing to do with anything that he did or didn’t do.” Mark emphatically explained the motive. “California has the fifth largest economy in the world, so any California governor has a presence in national politics. If Republicans can kneecap our Democratic governor, that’s one fewer potential national opponent they’ll have to face.”

We ended our conversation on an uplifting note. Like 90% of San Franciscans, Mark is eagerly anticipating January 20th—but not just to see Trump’s exit. He’s thrilled to see his longtime friend Kamala Harris make history. He met Harris in 1998, when he was a San Francisco Supervisor and she was an Assistant District Attorney. He joyfully recalled, “I was just dazzled when I met her.” Former California State Senator Mark Leno and Vice President-Elect

Kamala Harris have been colleagues since 1998 when Harris was an

He has been assistant district attorney. impressed with LGBTQ themed documentaries, Harris’ career including “The Untold Tales of ever since, and listed her many Armistead Maupin” and “To Be firsts: “San Francisco had never had Takei.” She studied filmmaking anything but straight, white district at the San Francisco Art Institute, attorneys, and California had never where she has also taught. She is a had anything but straight, white member of The Academy of Motion attorney generals—and now the Picture Arts and Sciences. same can be said for vice president.” “Kamala has great intellect, a great heart, and a great, personal life experience that will serve the moment extraordinarily well,” Mark continued. “Certainly, coming off of what we’ve had to endure the past four years, it’s going to be a breath of fresh air.” Jennifer Kroot is a filmmaker, known for her award-winning

A humanitarian, as well as a designer, Robert Holgate is dedicated to critical social issues. With his hands-on approach to philanthropy and social justice, he supports the advancement of local and national social causes. For more information: https://www.rhdsf.com/

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How Much Money Is Enough for You? the other emotional. Let’s tackle the financial side first since that’s the easiest.

Money Matters Brandon Miller Mercifully, 2020 has ended. Sadly, our lives continue to be upended. It’s hard not to shout, “Enough already.” We long to hug our friends. We crave a night on the town. We’re desperate for some live entertainment. Shoot, we just want to see people’s smiles again. But there are still months to go before this strange saga ends. So, even though we say we’ve had enough, we know we’ll go on. And that’s the problem with enough. It isn’t a finite concept or amount. Really, how much is enough? I ask this because it’s a difficult question that everyone faces when it comes to money. It’s particularly relevant these days when so many are questioning if their “free time versus more money” balance needs to be recalibrated. Putting in more hours to get ahead may not be as appealing as it once was, whereas spending time with loved ones or traveling to exotic lands might be more enticing than ever. How then do you go about determining how much money is “enough” for what you want to do? Start by realizing that there are two sides to this proverbial coin. One is financial and

There are plenty of retirement calculators and software that can give you a predictive figure for how much you need to stop working. Fill in the fields and voila, a magic number appears. You can play around with different scenarios, such as what if you stopped working two years earlier or reduced your income by half. A few clicks can show the impact these actions might have on your savings, and therefore your lifestyle. But the sum you’re given leads to a trickier question: Is that amount enough? Obviously, if your tally is three million and you only have thirty thousand saved, it’s not enough. But what if you’ve already passed the savings threshold? That’s where the emotions come in. Maybe you question if you can really trust a figure you got from some free, online tool. Valid (though many of these calculators are quite good), but I get clients questioning whether my math is correct, too. Because it’s not really about the numbers. It’s about fear of the unknown and feelings of letting go. Much like your first plunge into a pool of water was a scary leap of faith, jumping into retirement requires both courage and belief. It’s far easier to let yourself be held back by “what ifs.” What if I need more money than I thought I did? What if I become ill and require long-term care? What if the bottom drops out of the stock market? What if my daughter moves back in with her two kids? To overcome these mental roadblocks, start with a reality check. How likely is your fear to happen? If you think there is a high probability, see what you can do to compensate. If you’re worried about healthcare

expenses decimating your savings, for example, maybe you reduce your entertainment budget and use that money to buy long-term care insurance. You might also find that some tradeoffs are worth making, such as giving your daughter and grandkids a safe place to land rather than jetting off on world travels. In general, making more money means you have less time for yourself and for family, friends, and passions. Is that okay with you? Or would you rather forego that vacation house in Tahoe to retire two years earlier? For those who already have more than enough wealth socked away, why not spend the rest of your time enjoying your riches? Wouldn’t you prefer modernizing your kitchen or financing your grandkid’s college degree over dying with regrets and a pile of cash? Spend your money and enjoy it, even if that means giving it away. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s to prioritize what is most important in our all-too-short lives. Time will always be the most precious thing you possess. How you spend it defines your life. Why then not use a little of your time to put a concrete number on your dreams? It might help you view “enough already” in a whole new light. The opinions expressed in this article are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security. Brio does not provide tax or legal advice, and nothing contained in these materials should be taken as such. To determine which investments may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing. As always please remember (continued on page 24)

Two Practical Electric Cars don’t equal a month of the Model 3—and so it is logical that Chevrolet would move to grow the Bolt lineup, particularly with a focus on the everpopular crossover market.

Auto Philip Ruth The Chevy Bolt has been getting some press lately. A recall for battery fires has added another layer to the discussion of electric vehicle (EV) safety, even while it has been teased for the 2022 Bolt nameplate to include an SUV—oops, an “EUV”—Electric Utility Vehicle. Bolt sales volume is a fraction of the Tesla Model 3’s—a year of Bolt sales

The Nissan Leaf is a veteran in the EV field, and in December 2020, it passed 500,000 total sales since its introduction a decade prior. That cumulative achievement is tempered by the Leaf’s recent sales decline. This Nissan EV now represents less than 5% of the Model 3’s monthly take rate. Industry titans General Motors and Nissan being shown up by a Silicon Valley upstart is a story with enduring lessons. And, Model 3 buyers are generally satisfied. The market moves on, unless you are a practical purchaser who separates popularity from a product’s real-world merits, and especially when that product might be steeply discounted to move the metal ... and the batteries. “How far will it go on a charge?” is the first question EV prospects ask, and the Bolt was upgraded for 2020

Chevrolet Bolt

Nissan Leaf

to a longer range of 259 miles. That’s just below the Standard Range Plus Model 3’s 263 miles, though the Long Range grows that to 353 miles. The Leaf’s range starts lower at 149 miles for the base model. The Plus puts it over 200 miles: 226 miles for the Plus S and 215 for the fancier Plus SV and Plus SL trims. It is deficient by comparison, but if you are using your EV mostly for city errands, the base Leaf might be more than adequate. Over the road, both the Bolt and Leaf are blissfully quiet. By eliminating the thrash and grind of the piston engine, electric vehicles have democratized what was once a luxury experience, achieved after larding on hundreds of pounds of sound deadening to isolate the propulsion’s noise and friction. They couple the quiet with a smooth ride, smoother in the Leaf thanks to its softer suspension, but the Bolt’s firmer bearing helps it corner more eagerly. There’s not much road feel (continued on page 24)

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Message from Leadership

Lessons From 2020 & Hope for 2021

By Michael Gunther Well, what a year 2020 was! As I look back on our organization’s journey over last year, I’m grateful for many things, including all of the “firsts” we learned. It was the first time we had to operate in a pandemic. Between shelterin-place orders to economic ambiguities, along with COVID-19 preventive measures and recognizing the inequalities of the impact of COVID-19 on our communities, it truly was a year of transitions, stress, growth, and lessons. In hindsight, I think 2020 made us better businesspeople; this is something I have also seen with many of our clients and our members. It is through the struggle that we gained strength and innovation. It was the first time we had to navigate the GGBA through the social justice challenges and unrest that have been building up with our communities and organizations. It has been a path of learning, understanding, and empathy while determining how we, as business leaders, can help create more inclusive and diverse cultures and communities. It was the first time the concept of “less is more” was front and center. We had to navigate meeting remotely, streamlining our networking events, rethinking our services delivery, reevaluating the needs of our members ... that list could go on. We have been able to create more flexibility, agility, and outcomes by becoming a lean, mean fighting machine.

GGBA Member Spotlight Board Certified Family Physician Nasser Mohamed, MD, has a remarkable story to tell about how he started his successful business, Osra Medical, and about his life and work. We are proud that this caring physician is a member of the GGBA! GGBA: What do you strive to do at Osra Medical? Nasser Mohamed, MD: Osra Medical strives to offer personal primary care at a predictable cost in a fear-free environment to all. GGBA: Why did you decide to create this medical practice, and particularly here in San Francisco? Nasser Mohamed, MD: Initially on a path to be the first Qatari sports medicine physician and to be part of the medical team for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, I came out as a gay man after completing my medical training and sought asylum in the U.S. from my home country, Qatar. I am now the founder of Osra Medical, a direct primary care practice specializing in gay and bisexual men’s health and offer a multitude of services without the restrictions imposed by insurance. My interest in medicine began as me wanting to be a resource for my birth community; yet as a gay man, I understood the need for having gay-friendly doctors available to care for individuals in the LGBTQ+ community specifically. I’ve found owning and operating a direct primary care practice allows me to create a fear-free environment for people like myself who may find themselves unseen, unheard, and uncomfortable in a traditional healthcare setting. Ultimately. I found my passion in serving my “chosen” community rather than my birth community, and that’s why I founded Osra Medical. Oftentimes physicians in traditional settings see close to 4,000+ patients a year, which can make it difficult to develop an individualized treatment plan for each patient. As a direct primary care physician, I am considered an outof-network physician because I am not affiliated with a hospital setting or an insurance network. As such, I maintain a much lower patient population of under 500 patients. Patients at Osra Medical pay a monthly fee (similar to the cost of a phone bill) and, in turn, receive a multitude of health services at a predictable cost from a single provider. In essence, Osra Medical operates independently from the fee-for-service billing and the high patient turnover that accompany traditional primary care. Direct primary care physicians like myself can be seen as small business owners because we own and operate our private practice, giving us a sense of ownership over all aspects of the practice, including patient care. This autonomy allows me to develop a trusted doctor-patient rapport that is essential to addressing sensitive and complex medical concerns effectively. I felt called to practice in the direct primary care setting not just for its independence from the traditional healthcare system, but also for its aptitude of discretion. Osra Medical doesn’t accept insurance payments; thus, patients don’t have to worry about third party interference or influence in how their care is delivered and/or paid for. Additionally, because I am not affiliated with an insurance network, I am able to obtain medications, labs, and imaging at wholesale prices. These prices are often much more affordable to

It was the first time relationships were challenged by the lack of connectivity. We had to completely rethink how we build relationships and engagement with our families, members, and clients. We had to focus on the core elements that develop solid relationships and let go of the excess activities or gestures that were just creating noise. Throughout last year, I learned to value relationships more than ever while innovatively continuing to build and cultivate them with limited personal interaction. Now, in the first month of 2021, I am grateful for the challenging, emotional, stressed-filled, uplifting, adventurous, creative, and unique year 2020 was. It was a year I am sure we will tell stories about for years. It was a year of growth, increased knowledge, and finding new opportunities. I am thankful for our members, sponsors, and board who allowed us to become a better organization and stronger leaders. We look forward to supporting you in this new year. Michael Gunther is the President of GGBA. He is also the founder of Collaboration Business Consulting: https://tinyurl.com/y6eaqbne

Nasser Mohamed, MD, of Osra Medical

Photos courtesy of Nasser Mohamed

Nasser Mohamed, MD

patients than what would be required through insurance coverage, especially for illnesses that require longterm medication/ care. Osra Medical also helps support local queer artists and asylum seekers who may not have insurance coverage. With membership fees waived, the patients are able to benefit directly from the wholesale pricing on labs, medications, and imaging—allowing them access to essential primary care services that may not be otherwise available. Like many Middle Eastern queers, I have been estranged from not only my family but also my country after coming out. I am well aware of the void left in one’s life from this estrangement. This is why at the heart of my practice is the importance of not just family, but also community. “Osra” translates to “ family” in Arabic. My passion for medicine has evolved through my experiences in a way that allowed me to create a new type of family through my practice, becoming a resource for the community that I take pride in being a part of. GGBA: Who are some of your role models, and especially those who helped to inf luence your medical practice? Nasser Mohamed, MD: I have been lucky to meet many inspiring individuals on my journey. The ones who come to mind are the physicians who decided to break from a system, to take risk, and to create something that they felt patients did not have in their community. I was really very inspired by Thomas Lee, MD, (the founder of One Medical) when I worked at One soon after moving to San Francisco in 2015. Additionally, seeing other community physicians like Veronica Jow, MD, of Avid Sports Medicine, create something that is truly unique gave me the courage to go ahead and build a different model. GGBA: Why did you decide to join the GGBA, and how long have you been a member? Nasser Mohamed, MD: I have been a member of the GGBA since 2019 (the year I founded Osra Medical). I love being part of the GGBA because it is a like-minded community. We share the journey of being authentic and building local businesses. This sometimes-challenging journey has definitely been easier with them. GGBA: How has being a member of GGBA helped your practice so far? 
 Nasser Mohamed, MD: The periodic check-ins with the GGBA have been really helpful. It is good to hear about how other business owners are problem solving and dealing with some of the issues I face myself as a business owner.

Sometimes it is just a good laugh with colleagues that helps you go back to working hard and appreciating what you are doing. GGBA: Do you go to the GGBA monthly Make Contact networking events, now virtual? Have they benefited you and your business, and would you recommend them to others? Nasser Mohamed, MD: Yes, I have been attending the monthly make contact networking events and I do recommend them. I personally love hearing about what others are building and doing. Everyone I met so far has been incredibly helpful, open, and creative. I truly believe everyone I meet shapes me and my business. (continued on page 24)

GGBA CALENDAR GGBA New Member Orientation Wednesday, January 27 Noon–12:45 pm Zoom - Link sent 1 hour before the event starts Whether you’re a new member or a seasoned networker, you may attend this event! This session will help you: - Learn more about the history of the GGBA; - Introduce you to new members in your cohort; - Learn simple ways to get involved to grow your business and relationships. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/y52zreld February Make Contact: What Is B Corp Certification? Learn to Grow Your Business for Good Tuesday, February 9 5:30 pm–6:30 pm Are you B Corp curious? Do you care about people and the planet along with profit? Join the GGBA as we dive into B Corp certification with Carolina Miranda of Cultivating Capital. Carolina helps businesses like yours bring best practices for sustainability and social impact to your company at each stage of your journey. There will be networking and even a live assessment of a member business to determine if B Corp certification is a good fit. Be sure to fill out your own assessment before the event and come ready with questions! To do so, and to register, go to: https://tinyurl.com/yyq36k57

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Cleaning Up Some Housing Myths all. These decisions not only impact renters and residents, but also rental housing providers/owners, property management and maintenance services, real estate agents and brokers, mortgage holders, and other financial services. It cascades through the entire housing ecosystem.

Social Philanthropreneur Derek Barnes It’s no big secret that California and many of its major cities make it difficult for businesses to thrive and compete by operating within overly complex bureaucratic systems and legislating progressive tax policies. A raging pandemic has also magnified deep systemic issues of inequality, while businesses and governments (state and local) have had their struggle to keep providing services without tanking their budgets and operations. Many industries and people have been impacted as a result. One area hit particularly hard is housing, which was already in a state of crisis before the pandemic. By some estimates, California has a 3.5M–4M unit deficit. Housing is the largest expense for most people, consuming up to 40% of household income in some municipalities—even more for some minority groups. When people lose their jobs or a substantial portion of income, their decisions regarding housing are critical, often devasting: moving, vacating, rent nonpayment, and no shelter at

More to the point, housing providers deliver a valuable and essential service vital in Maslow’s hierarchy of need, providing shelter for hundreds of thousands of Bay Area residents. The vast majority are small owner/ operators or family businesses, not big corporations. They are often forgotten as casualties in this crisis. If people don’t have reliably available, safe, and affordable housing, then a foundational component of these hierarchical needs cannot be met. Invariably, the gap creates instability. The full expression of human potential cannot be realized, and all communities suffer. We’ve heard of battles between renters and housing providers, and many of us buy into the belief that one side is inherently bad or evil in this relationship. The clashes between “landlords and tenants” are historic and trace back to feudal systems and manorialism. Today, promoting this discord and division supports a narrative that serves those who either make the news or hold/ want power—like promulgating fights between Democrats and Republicans, progressives and conservatives, and the haves and have nots. There must be an enemy that shouldn’t have the same access or

freedoms. In reality, an intrinsic, insightful, and symbiotic relationship ensures there is balance, as well as fairness. Sustaining the ideals of balance and fairness seems to be at the core of good intentions from most legislators and community leaders when combating housing challenges. However, we must be mindful and not fall so easily into the trap of scarcity and zero-sum game mentality in our fixes—for someone else to have more, others have to have less. In the matters of housing, one stakeholder group’s needs shouldn’t come at the expense of others who make up our Bay Area housing ecosystem. There should be a profound understanding that what we contribute together, with great measure and intention, can create harmony, shared benefit, and success for everyone. We have all learned to adapt through a turbulent year and to a flurry of unimaginable conditions. There are myriad challenges still ahead of us, and none of this can be fixed overnight. Many stakeholders in the housing industry look forward to new legislative changes that support a Biden-Harris vision for America and a mission to restore and sustain an inclusive democracy, as well as our philanthropic values. As citizens in a shared democracy, we must also be more skeptical and critical of one-sided legislation introduced that potentially places a group(s) at a disadvantage. Knowing whom these policies and laws really help and whom they harm is critically important.

Derek Barnes is CEO of East Bay Rental Housing Association ( www.EBRHA.com ). He currently serves on the boards of Horizons Foundation and Homebridge CA. Follow him on Twitter @DerekBarnesSF or on Instagram at DerekBarnes.SF

Openhouse Executive Director Stepping Down Openhouse Executive Director, Dr. Karyn Skultety, announced on January 12 that she will be leaving the organization, as she and her family are moving to Colorado to fulfill family obligations. Her departure is slated for May 31, 2021, allowing ample time for a thoughtful and well-planned transition.

Dr. Karyn Skultety

“We are grateful for Karyn’s fierce and competent leadership over the past four years, which has ensured that the organization possesses the strength, self-sufficiency, and sustainable model of care to embrace this transition,” said Tim Sweeney, Openhouse Board of Directors Co-Chair. “While we are sad to see her leave our family and community, we fully support her need to focus on the changing needs of her immediate and extended family.”

Happy 40th Anniversary to Monica and Nancy! Time flies when you’re having fun–and even when you’re not.

Longtime San Francisco residents Monica Levin and Nancy Igdaloff have been together through thick and thin, in sickness and health, in good times and bad, since January 17, 1981. To top that off, they had the privilege of being married on December 3, 2013, in San Francisco City Hall by Scott Wiener, their supervisor at the time.

Founded in 1998 by Dr. Marcy Adelman—now a San Francisco Bay Times columnist—and her late partner, Jeanette Gurevitch, Openhouse has been helping LGBTQ+ seniors create safe, affordable housing, services, and community in San

M&N expect to continue to live happily ever after the pandemic since they feel they can weather anything together. 12

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“It has been my great honor to shepherd the Openhouse community into a new era, where we saw the dream of our founders come alive with the opening of the city’s first LGBTQwelcoming affordable senior housing at 55 and 95 Laguna,” said Skultety. “I look forward to welcoming a successor who will continue to center the voices and experiences of the LGBTQ+ seniors we serve. That leader will join a strong and committed Board, incredible staff, and a resilient community of LGBTQ+ seniors who are dedicated to this work and true leaders in our city.”

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Francisco for more than two decades. Skultety joined as Executive Director in February of 2017, as the organization’s partnership with Mercy Housing came to fruition with residents moving into the City’s first LGBTQ-welcoming senior housing, located at 55 Laguna Street.

The 1920s-era building, which once housed the San Francisco State Teacher College, was renovated to provide 40 affordable, accessible apartments housing 51 residents, 68% of whom identify as LGBTQ. The ground floor, designated as 65 Laguna Street, houses the Bob Ross LGBTQ Senior Center, which includes community meeting space and offices for Openhouse staff members. Skultety subsequently guided the organization in partnership with Mercy Housing through the construction of the Marcy Adelman and Jeanette Gurevitch Openhouse Community at 95 Laguna and the Openhouse Community Center at 75 Laguna. In 2019, 96 residents moved into the 79 new housing units at 95 Laguna, with over half of the occupants identifying as LGBTQ+. As the Openhouse housing came into reality, Skultety led the organization in expanding services to reach more than 3,500 seniors and creating new models of care for LGBTQ+ seniors. This included the formation of a partnership with On Lok to create Community Day Services, one of the nation’s first community-based adult day programs co-designed for and with the LGBTQ+ community. This innovative program, as well as the ongoing services at Openhouse, will eventually be held at the new

Openhouse Community Center at 75 Laguna. The grand opening has been delayed indefinitely by the COVID19 pandemic, but 10,000 square feet of service space await when it is safe to resume on-site services. In the meantime, the organization has continued to provide supportive social services for LGBTQ+ seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Openhouse team mobilized quickly to move classes and support groups online in March 2020. Staff made thousands of phone calls and ran hundreds of errands for community members. They even hosted a live, outdoor, socially-distanced drag show for residents to watch from their windows at 55 and 95 Laguna. “With the end of the COVID-19 crisis finally on the horizon, I hold hope that my final days as Executive Director in May will focus on planning a celebration to welcome residents, neighbors, and supporters to the long-awaited new Openhouse Community Center at 75 Laguna and resuming our on-site services,” said Skultety. “But no matter what happens over the new few months, I am confident that the innovative solutions we developed together to meet the unprecedented challenges of this pandemic will further ensure that our housing and programming will continue to serve as a model for LGBTQ aging.” The Board of Directors’ search for potential candidates to take the reins of the LGBTQ+ Senior Housing and Services organization will begin immediately, in consultation with Skultety, staff, and members of the Openhouse community. The Board hopes to have a new Executive Director ready to serve Openhouse by May 2021. https://www.openhousesf.org/

Supporting Small Businesses in the Castro & Beyond

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CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2021)

Photos by Juan R. Davila

Trestman Chiropractic Hours: Call for an appointment 550A Castro Street 415-861-1790 Contact: Dr. Julie Trestman drjulietrestman@hotmail.com http://www.trestmanchiropractic.com This highly touted and award-winning chiropractic office, opened in 2005, is one that readers tell us they will “swear by.” Dr. Julie Trestman’s team offers a full range of services, from adjustments and orthopedic acupuncture to massage therapy, nutritional counseling, posture and spiral screenings, corrective exercises, and lifestyle advice. Patient appointments available now are scheduled to adhere to social distancing etiquette. All surfaces and adjusting tables are thoroughly sanitized, and air is circulated with a Molekule purifier using PECO technology. Masks are required and hand sanitizer is available. Bay Times readers may request the 50% first visit “New Year’s Special” rate. Be sure to tell Dr. Julie, who’s a longtime Bay Times supporter, that we said “Hi!”

Jeffrey’s Natural Pet Foods 10 am–7 pm Monday–Saturday, 11 am–5 pm Sunday 284 Noe Street 415-864-1414 Contact: Anna Thiel dubocepark@jeffreyspets.com http://www.jeffreyspets.com Since its founding in 1999, Jeffrey’s has gained a loyal following of pet lovers who rely on this locally owned and operated small business for natural pet foods, healthy treats, locally produced goods, supplies, and information. Pet foods are prepared daily with fresh, raw, ranged meats free from hormones and antibiotics and with organic vegetables. A full line of accessories, apparel, toys, puzzles, grooming and cleaning supplies, and supplements are available. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeffrey’s is making it easy to order online or by phone, offering contactless pick-up and delivery, and extending its delivery options. There are virtual training courses and socially distanced classes and socials. Always committed to sanitization and veterinarian-grade cleaning products, Jeffery’s is providing disposable gloves and face masks for all staff members. Order online for pick-up or for delivery available seven days a week in San Francisco and on Tuesdays and Thursdays to the East Bay and Wednesdays to the South Bay. Check the website for details.

Sui Generis Consignment 11 am–6 pm Monday–Saturday, 11 am–5 pm Sunday 2231 Market Street 415-437-2231 Contact: Miguel Lopez miguel@suigenerisconsignment.com http://www.suigenerisconsignment.com The Castro’s own designer consignment shop Sui Generis has the goal that your visit will be “a personal shopping experience.” The business has received national praise and coverage as a curated store for men’s and women’s designer clothing, shoes, and accessories. The shop strives to make luxury clothing affordable. All items for sale are authenticated high-end brand fashions. Services include consignments and personalized fashion styling and advice. The Sui Generis team, headed by Miguel and Gabriel, is dedicated to helping clients look and feel their best. Be sure to read the fascinating story on their website of how this award-winning store has evolved since 2006. All COVID-19 guidelines are carefully followed. Shopping is available online or by appointment with limited capacity. Curbside pick-up and shipping are available and customized to meet your needs. The Winter Sale, offering 20–30% off, begins on MLK Weekend. .

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How an LGBT Youth Group Changed My Life By Joe Hollendoner, MSW

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE HOLLENDONER

The verbal and physical bullying I experienced at my all-boys Catholic high school in the suburbs of Chicago increased significantly. In fact, one day it hit a breaking point when a group of guys began physically attacking me in the hallways. After their punches stopped, I ran down to my school principal’s office in tears, demanding that he do something to help. The “help” he told me that he’d offer me was to pray for me.

Young Joe Hollendoner with friends

Joe Hollendoner (center) at the Santa Village set up for SFAF’s Santa Skivvies Run (2018)

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY RINK

I knew at that moment that I could either sink into a depression or find support. So, thanks to the new thing called the world wide Joe Hollendoner with Cleve Jones web, I disat SFAF’s Tribute Celebration covered an (2019)

LGBT youth group not far from my home. I eventually summoned the courage to attend the group and doing so changed my life forever. I remember the first image I saw was a group of other young people sitting under a rainbow flag and laughing. In that instant, I Joe Hollendoner knew that I had found my community; I was safe, and, most importantly, I could be myself. Because of the transformational experience I had, I knew that I wanted to give back to my community everything that I had been given. I learned about the profession of social work as it was a social worker who staffed the group I attended, and knew that I wanted to pursue a career in the field. After receiving my bachelor and master degrees in social work, and after a long history of working within the field of HIV/AIDS, which was also inspired by an adult volunteer I met at that group, I joined the staff of San Francisco AIDS Foundation in May 2016. San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) is an organization that has been there since the start of the AIDS crisis and will be here for our community until the epidemic is over. That’s one reason I am proud to be part of SFAF. It means I get to work alongside people of incredible talent and dedica-

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Coming Out Stories

After surviving a childhood during which I was regularly made fun of for being effeminate, I suppressed my feelings of being different because the homophobia that I was surrounded by caused me to think being gay was a bad thing. At the age of 16, however, I could no longer deny my true identity and found the courage to come out as gay. Although I felt a great amount of relief after finally accepting who I was, life, unfortunately, didn’t get any easier for me.

tion. As we work to dismantle oppression and advocate for health justice and race equity, we remain committed to providing essential services even during the COVID-19 pandemic because we know that people living with and affected by HIV need us now more than ever. A full schedule of services that are available, including PrEP, PEP, HIV clinical care for sexually-transmitted infections, and the provision of harm reduction supplies is available at https://tinyurl.com/y4s5ty7q Joe Hollendoner, MSW, is the Chief Executive Officer at San Francisco AIDS Foundation. He has spent the last two decades as a leader in community health, previously serving as First Deputy Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, the nation’s third-largest health department, and in executive leadership roles at AIDS Foundation of Chicago, and at Howard Brown Health. He lives in San Francisco with his husband Bill and two pups, Bolt and Thor.

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Carolyn Tyler, Ken Henderson, Leslie Katz, Jeremy Pelkey and Sean Livingston Photos by Mark Rhoades In June 2020, LGBT community leader and PR strategist Mark Rhoades contacted popular artist fnnch and suggested that he paint rainbow honey bears all over the Castro. Fnnch loved the idea, and added that he would like to honor Pride by painting one specific wall, with one dynamic focus: the SF LGBT Center. Rebecca Rolfe and Roberto Ordeñana of the Center approved the mural, which is dedicated to fnnch’s late gay uncle. Now Rhoades is taking photos of LGBT leaders, well-known artists, and others in order to support the Center. In this column the San Francisco Bay Times is featuring highlights from the colorful collection of images that will be exhibited at the Center for SF Pride 2021. For More Information Mark Rhoades PR https://www.markrhoadespr.com/ fnnch https://fnnch.com/ SF LGBT Center https://www.sfcenter.org/

Leslie Katz, Attorney, Government Affairs Specialist, Former San Francisco City Supervisor

Carolyn Tyler, Television News Anchor

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Jeremy Pelkey, Garrett, and Sean Livingston

Poetry and Palliative Care 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 only newspaper for the LGBT community in San Francisco that is 100% owned and operated by LGBT individuals. Dr. Betty L. Sullivan Jennifer L. Viegas Co-Publishers & Co-Editors

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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

CONTRIBUTORS Writers Rink, Sister Dana Van Iquity, Ann Rostow, Patrick Carney, Kate Kendell, Alex Randolph, Heidi Beeler, Gary M. Kramer, Jennifer Kroot, Robert Holgate, Dennis McMillan, Tom Moon, Tim Seelig, Cinder Ernst, John Chen Rafael Mandelman, Jewelle Gomez, Phil Ting, Rebecca Kaplan, Kin Folkz, Leslie Katz, Philip Ruth, Peter Gallotta, Bill Lipsky, Elisa Quinzi, Liam Mayclem, Karen Williams, Donna Sachet, Gary Virginia, Zoe Dunning, Derek Barnes, Marcy Adelman, Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis Brandon Miller, Jamie Leno Zimron Michele Karlsberg Lyndsey Schlax, Randy Coleman, Debra Walker, Howard Steiermann, Andrea Shorter, Lou Fischer, Karin Jaffie, Brett Andrews, Karen E. Bardsley, David Landis, Jan Wahl Photographers Rink, Phyllis Costa, Jane Higgins Paul Margolis, Chloe Jackman, Bill Wilson, Jo-Lynn Otto, Sandy Morris, Abby Zimberg, Deborah Svoboda, Devlin Shand, Kristopher Acevedo, Morgan Shidler, JP Lor 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 © 2021 Bay Times Media Company Co-owned by Betty L. Sullivan & Jennifer L. Viegas

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Aging in Community Dr. Marcy Adelman An email announcing a poetry writing workshop from the UCSF MERI (Making Education Relevant and Integrated) Center caught my eye. Intrigued, I reached out to the Center for the San Francisco Bay Times to find out more about the workshop and the work of MERI. The poetry workshop, in which participants both listen to and write poems, is a new program initiated by Redwing Keyssar, RN, the Center’s Director of Patient and Caregiver Education. Two different sessions are offered online weekly. One is called “Loss, Losing and Loosening” and is specifically for people dealing with issues of grief and loss. The other is called “Food for Thought” and is focused more on resilience in general. MERI provides palliative care support and education for clinicians, staff at UCSF, and for the community at large. I asked Keyssar to describe palliative care and how she came to work in this area. She told me for the Bay Times, “Palliative care is a type of care that focuses on relieving the symptoms and stress of

any serious illness or loss. The goal of palliative care is to improve quality of life. Many people, unfortunately, think that palliative care is the same as hospice, and is only for those at the end of life. That is not the case. Palliative care can be utilized at any time during the continuum of a serious illness. Hospice typically provides palliative care during the last six months of life, but other palliative care teams can provide support for many years.” She continued: “When I became a nurse 30 years ago, I saw myself as a ‘midwife to the dying’ in order to support and witness people, and their loved ones, at the end of life. Early in my nursing career, I chose to work with people with serious illness— in oncology and critical care. As my professional life evolved, I began working more exclusively in palliative care, which addresses suffering long before the end of life. When you have a serious illness, it affects everything in your life. This work is about reducing a person’s suffering and improving their quality of life. It includes the wellbeing of the whole person. When you address the psychological, physical, and spiritual suffering that people are experiencing, people do better.” I then asked how she decided to include a poetry workshop in her program. “To me, poetry is a path of healing and another way to relieve suffering,” she said. “Poetry has always been an import part of my life. Several years ago, I studied with John Fox, a poet and founder of the Institute for Poetic Medicine. He guides people to use poetry as a modality of change, as a healing modality. Poetry touches more than just the intellectual part

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JUDITH REDWING

Roland Schembari and Bill Hartman, Co-Founders Randy Alfred, Founding News Editor 1978

Redwing Keyssar

of the brain. It is a way to access emotions and express in words things we cannot express in any other way.” “This year I had hoped to set up Poetry Cafés as in-person groups,” she added. “But once COVID became a reality, we went virtual. We started with one group for one hour once a week. Because we are virtual, our participant base expanded. We quickly realized we needed to offer more than one group. We have group members from all over the world. The response has been surprising and gratifying. Through the Art for Recovery program in the UCSF Cancer Center, there has been a request for an LGBT specific group as well as a group to focus on end-oflife issues through poem-making.” Those groups are set to start soon, as of this writing.

At the beginning of each session, Keyssar reads a poem and asks the group members to respond by simply stating what resonates for them. Then a prompt is offered and people create their own poems and, if willing, read them out loud. She asks them to write about what resonates for them and what touches their heart. This is all done in a 5-minute writing session. “The poems that come through people are remarkable,” she said. “We don’t need to know the specifics of a person’s loss. We are just there to hear and acknowledge and support the feelings that come through their poetry.” Keyssar shared that “one gay man who recently lost his partner of 35 years told me he hadn’t written a poem since he was in grade school. Writing poems in the workshop enabled him to outwardly express his (continued on page 26)

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

In Memoriam Lenn Keller, Founder of the Bay Area Lesbian Archives 1951–2020 Curator, photographer, and filmmaker Lenn Keller, who founded the Bay Area Lesbian Archives (BALA) in 2014, has died of cancer. In creating BALA, she “recognized the critical need for Bay Area lesbian history to be preserved,” according to her team at the nonprofit: Rebecca Silverstein, Sharon Davenport, and Nancy Rupprecht. “Lenn’s vision was a physical and online archives dedicated to the preservation of the richly diverse lesbian history of the Bay Area—an archives where anyone could access materials about a community that contributed so much to the Bay Area,” they added. Sharing this vision, the core group of women with Keller helped to make the Oakland-based archives a reality. Keller, who was born and raised in Illinois, moved to San Francisco in 1975. She later attended Mills College in Oakland in the 1980s and began filmmaking. Her films include the award-winning short LFE and the groundbreaking documentary Persistent Desire about lesbian identity and culture. The grassroots, community-run BALA, with its remarkable archive, is a fitting legacy to Keller’s life and work. The nonprofit is committed to building community, fostering intergenerational dialogue, and keeping a culture of activism vibrant in the lesbian community. BALA’s many offerings over the years have included an author series, a variety of cultural events, archiving workshops, presentations to community organizations, mobile exhibits, oral history interviews, and community meetings. JA NUA RY 1 4 , 2 0 2 1

Keller’s photography recently was shown in exhibits at the Oakland Museum and the Richmond Art Center. “As a photographer she chronicled vital lesbian and activist communities, especially those that included Black, Indigenous and people of color lesbians in the Bay Area in the 1980s and ’90s,” said curator Christina Linden. “Beyond this important work, she was a passionate member of these communities, an activist, and an archivist.” Keller, who received the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal award from SF Pride, was also honored by LGBTQ and civil rights activist Alex U. Inn during Kwanzaa. U. Inn at that time wrote, in part: “It’s gratifying that Lenn is being recognized for the work she’s done—over forty years of volunteering in LGBTQ organizations on speakers’ bureaus, facilitating support groups, doing HIV prevention and harm reduction work, documenting the Pride parades and LGBTQ life in her films and thousands of photos, producing lesbian and lesbian of color events, and founding BALA in 2014.” Keller is survived by her daughter, Nakiya. An online memorial will be held on January 31. Details will be announced soon at the BALA Facebook page, https://tinyurl.com/y29skdj9 BALA is planning a slide show containing photographs of Keller. If you would like to share a favorite photograph of Keller for the slide show, please send it as a jpeg to balezarchives@gmail.com To make a donation to BALA in Keller’s honor: https://bit.ly/3i74nqB

Jorge Sánchez, Ethnographer, AGUILAS Volunteer, Cause Collective Co-Founder 1970–2020 Ethnographer Jorge Sánchez, who dedicated much of his life and work to the LGBTQ Latinx community, died in December. Dr. Eduardo Morales, Director of AGUILAS: El Ambiente, at that time wrote: “It is with the greatest sadness, shock, and surprise when we receive the information that our dear friend, colleague, and AGUILAS team [member] Jorge Sánchez, M.A., has passed away. The cause of death is currently unknown.” Sánchez, who was born in Bogotá, Colombia, attended the American School in London before moving to California. Since his father, Jorge Fernando Sánchez Mallarino, was a diplomat, the family was widely traveled, spending time in places such as Amsterdam and Africa. Sánchez ventured to New York to attend Hunter College, but finished his degree in anthropology at UC Berkeley. The Bay Area as of the 1990s then became his home. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Sánchez “investigated LGBTQ wellbeing with the Cesar Chavez Institute and the Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality at San Francisco State University, and created an HIV prevention organization in Cartagena, Colombia, later adopted by the local health department. As part of his lead role in the Family Acceptance Project, he worked with ethnically, racially and religiously diverse families to help them learn to support their LGBTQ children.” Sánchez also co-founded the public art group Cause Collective, the Chronicle reported, and helped to create the Truth Booth, “a giant traveling inflatable video recording booth asking people in cities across the world to finish the sentence, ‘The truth is ... .’” Sánchez is survived by his partner José “Miguel” Vázquez, his mother who lives in Colombia, and siblings. As Morales concluded, “We at AGUILAS offer our greatest and deepest condolences to his family and friends, and to his longtime companion. As everyone knows, Jorge has contributed a lot to our community over decades of service. He was a highly valued worker at AGUILAS. His most recent written contribution was the Latinx 2020 Report to End the HIV/HCV/SDI Epidemic for the San Francisco Office of AIDS to incorporate the findings into its overall HIV 2020 Plan. He will be sorely missed.”

GLBT Fortnight in Review The Horror When we last communed, Dear Readers, we thought the worst was over, the new year beckoned, and we had at least a shot at winning the Senate. There was no need for lengthy political or legal discussions between us. It was time instead for our amusing annual news quiz, full of fun facts and absurd reminders of last year’s GLBT pratfalls. On January 5 came the twin Georgia Senate victories, which felt almost miraculous. In our house, the champagne would have flowed once more, if only we had not carelessly allowed ourselves to consume our inventory. Then came January 6, an afternoon when even the most cynical and disgusted Trump despisers found themselves watching in disbelief as his fan-mob laid siege to the Capitol interior for hours without serious intervention from law enforcement. And although the backlash against rioters and their leader has given me some grim satisfaction, it seems more violence may await us in the days ahead. I might exhale a month into the Biden administration assuming no further tragedies, but don’t hold me to that. Until then, I hold my breath with the rest of the country. Mel and I watched Hillbilly Eleg y the other day, the film version of J.D. Vance’s best-selling memoir that was hailed in 2017 as the Ivy Leaguer’s introduction to the world of Trump’s winning coalition. It was important, everyone said at the time, to understand the mindset of these underserved American voters; impoverished, uneducated white men who have wound up on the nation’s scrapheap through no fault of their own. Maybe Democrats should pay more attention to these sad sacks,

By Ann Rostow

we were told. Denied the American dream of a lifelong manual job that paid enough to buy a home and send their kids to college, these human castoffs of globalism and technology were ignored in favor of people of color and immigrants. What infuriates me at this moment is that at least some Democrats have bandied this notion around as if it had merit. Women won the 2018 midterms. African Americans won control of the Senate. Democratic coalitions have stood for a diverse society, fighting to level the playing field for those playing catchup to straight white men. And there are multitudes of straight white men fighting for the same thing, by the way. But I’m done with the rest of these jackasses. I’m done with the racist Halloween party we saw on January 6. The guy with horns who lives with his mother and purports to be a freelance voiceover artist. The sleazebag sitting at Nancy Pelosi’s outer office. The little boys dressed up in military garb hanging from the walls, the ones who defecated in the halls or urinated in people’s offices. These are the dregs of America—these mindless yahoos fresh off their video games and, by all means, the crazy women who joined them. As for their notions of stolen elections or child molesters, they have deliberately chosen to live in a fantasy world rather than face the reality of their own failures. Debts, drugs, lost jobs, or whatever their problems, I don’t care. As for Trump, I have assumed that he has been manipulating his “base” in order to keep himself in the spotlight, raise money for his post-presidency, and consolidate his grip on a vital Republican election bloc in

order to retain some power. I now think I’ve been wrong, and I think the man is truly deranged. I don’t know about you, but Mel and I listened to the full hour of his call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and it was clear that Trump honestly believed in dozens of separate voter fraud theories, even as Raffensperger explained he was misinformed. Trump was condemned for asking Raffensperger to “find” 11,780 votes. But that wasn’t exactly what he meant. In Trump’s mind, the Georgia election was riddled with fraud. Thousands of dead people voted. False ballots were smuggled into the counting centers. Thousands of Biden ballots were recorded three or more times. The voting machines were hacked to switch votes from Trump to Biden. Trump voters were turned away from the polls, thousands of them, and told they had already voted by mail even though they had not done so. Ballots were shredded. Trump wasn’t asking Raffensperger to find 11,780 votes. He was telling him that there were hundreds of thousands of invalid votes out there, but that Raffensperger only had to confirm a small number of them. Trump wasn’t throwing things at the wall to see what stuck. He actually believed that all these violations were true. He further believed that completely separate shenanigans occurred in the other states he lost by close margins. This man is simply crazy. And I don’t mean crazy like a fox, I mean crazy like a guy in a padded room ranting about aliens. From what we’ve read, it seems Trump was initially depressed at losing the election, but gradu-

ally devolved into his current state of manic denial. He is indeed as damaged as we’ve always thought. But more so, something that I would have thought not possible. And given this situation, his family and his aides are even more culpable, as are Senators Cruz and Hawley. I’m not sure how to say this, but Trump’s mental capacity is so limited at this point that it was really up to Ivanka or Mark Meadows or Melania or whomever to control him over these last weeks. If necessary, they should have arranged for someone to give him a shot of something. A tranquilizer. Once out of office, I am afraid for what he still might be able to destroy. Ahead to the Past I have lost track of the antigay and anti-trans policies installed in various Trump cabinet departments throughout the last four years, although I will note one of the most recent ones. Just a day or two before she resigned, Betsy DeVos sent a lengthy memo to the head of the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, reiterating that transgender men and women are not protected against discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Thanks for that, Bets. There’s also a policy greenlighting GLBT discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act just formalized at Health and Human Services. There’s Mike Pompeo’s new definition of human rights (hint: we’re not included anymore!) and many, many more. I’m not going to dig up the rest of the dirty dozens, because I’m just going to wait a few more days and let the Biden administration get to work.

I assume that my columns will soon be filled with one headline after another detailing the latest executive order or revised cabinet policy that returns us to the GLBT-friendly language of the Obama administration. Considering that we’ve watched this language gradually deconstructed over the last four years, it’s clear that we need Congressional action in order to avoid a future reversal. The Equality Act will ensure that GLBT rights are embedded in law, and are not dependent on who controls the White House. But for now, I’m just going to ignore the whole subject. Listen, everyone. We can now count the duration of the Trump administration in hours. They will be gone. Out of the White House, out of the west wing, out of the executive branch. Gone, gone, gone. We will rebuild. Only in Denmark Let’s change our frame of mind, okay? My favorite cousin has come through for us again with a story about a children’s TV show out of Denmark featuring a heroic figure, John Dillermand, who is endowed with a giant prehensile penis. (Diller is slang for penis in Danish.) The show first aired on January 3, and although it got some flak from Danish parents, it has been generally well received. “John Dillermand is generally different and it can be both difficult and embarrassing to be. But it turns out to be a gift when you dare to stand by yourself and your mistakes. And that is exactly what John Dillermand does time and time again when he gets into trouble,” explained Niels (continued on page 24)

THANK YOU to all our healthcare heroes

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Michael Dillon: First Among Men

Faces from Our LGBT Past Dr. Bill Lipsky Had he wanted the attention, Michael Dillon could have become one of the world’s most famous physicians—not for developing a new medical procedure or discovering an unknown scientif ic principle, but for being the first person to use plastic surgery to change his outward physical appearance as a woman to correspond with his self-knowledge and emotional awareness as a man. Instead, he sought anonymity and the right to live his life as himself, without any glaring notoriety or mocking curiosity seekers. The second child of the heir to the baronetcy of Lismullen, Ireland, and christened Laura Maud, Dillon was born 1915. Growing up, he sensed that he was “a man trapped in a woman’s body,” but in the early decades of the 20th century, terms like transsexual and transgender did not exist; there was no information that explained his feelings, no professional support or role models. Until he graduated from St. Anne’s College at Oxford University in 1938, Dillon essentially was alone in his search to become himself. Eventually Dillon found a surgeon at the Royal Infirmary in Bristol who both understood his situation and supported his objectives. Knowing that a diagnosis of hypospadias had enabled several categorized “female” patients to revise their birth certif icates to state they actually were male, he wrote out a note for Dillon. The clerk at the local Labor Exchange, a lso sympathetic, accepted the information and changed t he gender from female to male on his registry documents. Dillon now had official papers stating he was a man. In 1943, Dillon met with the pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies, possibly the only person in the United Kingdom who truly could help him. Gillies saw Dillon’s situation the same way as he did: he was a man with a woman’s body. Gillies agreed to work with him, but not until the war ended. In the meantime, inspired by the man and his work, Dillon decided to become a physician himself. His academic records, however, were an obstacle—not because of his grades, but because they identified him as Laura Maud Dillon and showed he had attended an all-women’s college. The problem was solved, amazingly, when a former tutor at Oxford convinced the university registrar first to replace his birth name with L. M. Dillon on all his documents, and then to change his alma mater to Brasenose College, an allmen’s school. Dillon then applied to 18

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Michael Dillon when he was a ship’s physician

Trinity College, Dublin, where he received his medical degree in 1951. Officially diagnosed with acute hypospadias to hide the fact that he was undergoing sex-reassignment surgery, Dillon endured at least thirteen operations between 1946 and 1949. They made up Britain’s first true gender alignment procedures, which at the time almost no one believed were possible and many believed were illegal. A few years later, Dillon became the physician on board a merchant ship. At last, he felt welcomed as an equal into the company of men, who asked no questions about his life history. Dillon continued to fret about his years as Laura becoming known, but by now he had found many friends who, even when t hey lear ned more about Dillon, on ly saw the man in front of them. So, in 1953—the same year that Christine Jorgensen made headlines around the world—he contacted the editor of Debrett’s Peerage, a reference book that listed the well-born of t he Un ited K ingdom a nd Ireland, to revise his family’s entry. After presenting his revised birth certificate and other documents and then explaining his history, Dillon asked that the entry about his family include him as a man, not, as it did currently, as a woman. The editor not only agreed, but he also stated that he would support Dillon as the legal heir to the baronetcy. “I have always been of the opinion,” he stated later, “that a person has all rights and privileges of the sex that is, at a given moment, recognized.” Dillon believed that Burke’s Peerage, a similar publication by a different firm, also would change its information about him, but it continued to list him as Laura. No one noticed the discrepancy between the two reference books until 1958. Then newspaper after newspaper reported the story. Although his ship’s captain and crew protected him from reporters when they were in port, Dillon JA NUA RY 1 4 , 2 0 2 1

chose to reestablish his anonymity by escaping to India, where he embraced Buddhism. He died there in 1962, 47 years old. Dillon wrote two books about the knowledge he had acquired from his journey to personal understanding. Self, published in 1946, was one of the earliest works to present a classif ication system for gender identity Michael Dillon, ca. 1940, with his aunt and sexual desire. Dillon argued that true gender identity had nothing to do with outward physical appearance. A core human characteristic, the sense of being male or female, he wrote, was the result of “psychological build.” The only way to determine an individual’s true gender? Ask the individual. Why, he wondered, should transgender people be forced to make their minds fit their bodies when, in fact, they needed their bodies to “be made to fit [their] mind.” It was the body, not the mind, that did not fit. Give patients the body they wanted, he asserted. Give them their options and let them decide. Patients, not doctors, should have the final say about who they are and how they look. Seventyfive years ago, all this was revolutionary thinking. Dillon’s second book, Out of the Ordinary, his autobiography, was completed in 1962, the year he died, but remained unpublished until 2017. In many ways the story of the anxieties, burdens, and barriers faced by transgender people during his lifetime, it also was something more: the account of an individual continuously seeking to discover and understand his true nature—physical, emotional, and spiritual—and the “fierce will,” as the historian Susan Stryker wrote, “to make real for others the inner reality that trans people experience of themselves.” Bill Lipsky, Ph.D., author of “Gay and Lesbian San Francisco” (2006), is a member of the Rainbow Honor Walk board of directors.

Michael Dillon when still known as Laura Dillon

SFGMC’s (At) Home for the Holidays Photos by Paul Margolis

The Castro Theatre was quiet on Thursday evening, December 24, due to COVID-19 restrictions, but even a pandemic could not stop the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. Artistic Director and Conductor (and San Francisco Bay Times columnist) Dr. Tim Seelig welcomed the large online audience to (At) Home for the Holidays, a virtual adaptation of the traditional holiday show performed on Christmas Eve. The 2020 event marked the 32nd year for this SFGMC favorite. Executive Director Chris Verdugo, along with members of the Chorus, welcomed viewers and expressed thanks to all for the extra creative efforts devoted to producing the show. The program included a combination of new songs and special arrangements performed for 2020, along with a selection of favorite concert segments from previous years. Special guest performers included Laura Benanti, Bianca Del Rio, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, Matt Nathanson, Jessica Bejarano and the San Francisco Philharmonic, and SFGMC’s Homophonics and Lollipop Guild ensembles. The San Francisco Bay Times is proud to serve as a media sponsor for SFGMC and to be a supporter of the Chorus since 1994. SFGMC online: https://www.sfgmc.org/welcome/

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This Month at the Castro Farmers’ Market

Make It a Healthy New Year Our health is of utmost concern right now. Fueling your body with healthy nutritious foods that improve your immune system and give you more energy and stamina will help you feel better and ward off illness. Fresh local produce from your farmers’ market will give you the fuel your body needs to work in your garden, handle your errands, work a full day at your job, and take care of the kids without wilting. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and protein will give your body the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and energy for all kinds of tasks throughout the day. The farmers’ market is a better choice for better health because you know where your food is coming from.

By Debra Morris

CELERY & ORANGE SALAD 2–3 orange varieties, peeled and sliced into rounds 3 full slices of red onion, 1/8 inch thick 1 tablespoon grapefruit juice 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted 1 full celery stalk, plus all stalks with leaves from the celery center, sliced Salt and pepper Place the celery, oranges, onions and walnuts in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Dress with grapefruit juice and extra virgin olive oil, toss, and serve. More recipes: https://www.pcfma.org/eat

Energy Boosters Carbohydrates like whole grain pastas and breads, oats, fresh fruits and vegetables, and local honey will give you energy. Carbs are the body’s preferred source of fuel. They also raise serotonin levels, keeping your mood even. The body absorbs whole grains and beans slowly because they are full of healthy fiber, stabilizing blood sugar and energy levels and giving you sustainable energy. Keeping You Well Your immune system benefits from a variety of whole fresh foods like antioxidant-rich berries, dark leafy greens, garlic, onions, oranges, root vegetables, and beans. Yogurt helps your digestive tract and salmon has the much-touted omega-3 fatty acids. It is also advisable to drink plenty of water. A body doesn’t work as well when it is dehydrated. You’ll find all the ingredients you need to keep you healthy and energized throughout the day— and through the year—at your Divisadero Farmers’ Market. Visit Allard Farms from Westley for juicy citrus, J&M Farms in

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Gilroy with leafy greens and root vegetables, Great Valley Poultry in Manteca with fresh eggs, Stepladder Creamery from Cambria with artisan goat cheeses, and Dragon Baby Seafood out of Santa Cruz for the freshest seafood. Your farmers bring the best they can grow, and harvest their produce just before bringing it to market to ensure it has the highest nutrient content and best flavor. To keep your interest in eating fresh and wholesome produce throughout the year, the farmers’ market offers a wide selection of produce and with different and unique varieties that you won’t find anywhere else. Importantly, you’re also help-

ing small family farms keep on farming! Thank you for supporting your local farmers and farmers’ markets this past year! Please note: The Castro Farmers’ Market is closed for the season. Until we return in the spring, please visit the nearby Divisadero Farmers’ Market at the DMV parking lot, 1375 Fell St., SF. Debra Morris is a spokesperson for the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association (PCFMA). Check out the PCFMA website for recipes, information about farmers’ markets throughout the region and for much more: https:// www.pcfma.org/

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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2021)

Hot, Liberated, and 1813: Bridgerton!

Off the Wahl Jan Wahl What is it with Netflix? From Prom to Hollywood, from The Queen’s Gambit to Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, they are the go-to channel when we need to be entertained or just escape out of the real world. It is as if the mantle of 1930s through the 50s MGM and other studios has been passed along to the imaginative and artistically courageous people at Netflix. Hey, I don’t work for Netflix ... I’m just saying that my favorites in 2020 seemed to come from this source. I know it is an investment to those without it, but this is one of the few times I would say it is worth it. Of course, there were other channels delivering this year, especially the creatives behind Mae West: Dirty Blonde (co-produced by Bette Midler, American Masters) and Critical Thinking, an uplifting true story about chess champions in the inner city directed by and starring John Leguizamo. YouTube kept me interested with its short clips from Mel Brooks, Chuck Berry, and classic Hollywood stars on What’s My Line? My own YouTube channel started late this year, under Jan Wahl Showbiz, with fun snippets from my balcony highlighting showbiz objects, books, and movies. It’s fun, and we need that these days. There is another romp with a TV series on Netflix. I don’t even want to binge it since I find it to be savored and studied, especially the cast, period storyline, clothes, and jewelry. It is set in Regency, England, circa 1813, among mostly the upper classes; a kind of Downton Abbey meets Sex and the City. It is called Bridgerton. Based on Julia Quinn’s novels, the series introduces us to siblings, parents, godparents, hunky guys, and outspoken girls. The brilliant cast is multi-racial, something show creator Shonda Rhimes (Scandal) insisted on and got just right. We follow elite families as they search for perspective husbands and wives as if it is an Olympic event. The brooding Duke of Hastings and determined Daphne Bridgeton are at the center, but the characters surrounding them are remarkable. There’s feminism, smoking, drinking, and all kinds of sexu-

ality. Forget the blushing virgins of some period dramas; there’s an air here of power and lust. I do classes and talks on Hollywood costumes and jewelry. If you want to add that to your enjoyment of Bridgerton, it is right there as costume designer Ellen Mirojnick (Behind the Candelabra, a wonderful film with Michael Douglas as Liberace) developed 7500 costumes for this series. There are not only detailed, colorful ensembles, but also wild hats (no bonnets!) and jewels for both the men and women in the series. Men were dandies at this time, holding their own with the sumptuous females. There’s a fiery actress, Adjoa Andoh, and a very funny young woman played by Nichola Coughland; they keep turning up to steal every scene they are in. The charismatic, hunky Regé-Jean Page and vulnerable Phoebe Dynevor keep us rooting during the chaos of their adventures. I am so glad to see a series with important roles for all ages and body types, as well as ethnic representation. But all said, it is the fun, glamour, characters, extravagance, and joy of storytelling that take this period series and make it great in 2021.

QUEER POP QUIZ

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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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FIRST NATIONALLY-TELEVISED LGBTQ DOCUMENTARY What was the title of the first ever nationally-televised documentary about homosexuality? A) The Neglected

B) The Rejected

C) The Collected

D) The Dejected

ANSWER ON PAGE 24

Out Argentine Director’s Latest Is His First Gay Film

Film Gary M. Kramer A Skeleton in the Closet, out January 12 on DVD, is out gay Argentine filmmaker Nicolás Teté’s poignant drama about Manuel (Facundo Gambandé), a gay man who has been living in Buenos Aires, where he is studying architecture and dating Maximo (Ramiro Delgado). When he returns to his hometown of Mercedes for his parent’s wedding anniversary, however, his mood changes. He has not felt comfortable with his parents, Clara (María Fernanda Callejón) and Luis (Diego De Paula), since coming out last Christmas. Moreover, Maximo soon breaks up with him. To cope, Manuel begins seeing Martín (Lucas Ferraro), his former teacher, and tries to find some happiness. In a recent interview via WhatsApp for the San Francisco Bay Times, Teté talked about A Skeleton in the Closet. Gary M. Kramer: How autobiographical is this film? Nicolás Teté: The most biographical thing is the house, because it is my parents’ house. The bedroom is my childhood bedroom. I am gay, like Manuel, but I made the drama fictional. All people have a difficult time with their parents when they come out as gay, but this story is not my life. I think it’s boring to write about my life. I never had a sexy teacher! Gary M. Kramer: The film depicts attitudes towards homosexuality. Can you talk about how life is in places like Mercedes for LGBT folks? Nicolás Teté: It is very difficult. When I was a teenager and I started to think about my sexuality, I didn’t have options. If I am gay, my family will hate me; this town is not for me. When I was a teenager, I didn’t know other gay people in the city. The only gay people in the city had problems. They were hairdressers, and people thought and talked about [homosexuality] like it was a bad thing. But in Buenos Aires I can have a gay life and it’s not a problem. But when you go home for holidays, it’s a problem again. In the last few years, I recognized that Mercedes has a little LGBT life. The new generation is

more open. I see that in cultural events. It’s a little better for gay people in the town. It’s difficult for families, because of Catholicism. And we’ve had many cases of homophobic attacks in the streets for gay couples who hold hands or kiss in the street. We have gay marriage, but some stuff hasn’t changed. Gary M. Kramer: What can you say about the film’s themes of secrets and lies? The characters are all in various states of denial. Nicolás Teté: I didn’t want to make a film that [stated] the problem was Manuel was gay. During the film we can see that Manuel has other problems, and that the family has other problems. But the real problem is that Manuel doesn’t know what to do with his life, and the family problem is that the family doesn’t know how to have a good relationship with Manuel. The secrets make things difficult. When I was in the closet, my relationship with my parents was very hard because I had a secret, and it made me angry because I had to keep that secret. Gary M. Kramer: You cast a gay actor in the lead role. How important is it for you to make gay cinema with gay talent? Nicolás Teté: It’s important for me, and it’s important that Facundo is gay and not from Buenos Aires, but from Cordoba, another [rural] town. When we first met, three years ago, we started to talk about personal things and I knew he was perfect, because he lived similar things that Manuel and I lived, so he had an understanding of the character. The film is Manuel’s face, so I needed a good actor who understood the film. I always thought I’d cast a gay actor for the role. Gary M. Kramer: Likewise, the film is loving, but not overly sexy. Do you feel pressure to cater to a gay audience? Nicolás Teté: No, it’s my first gay film. I have made three other films. One had some gay themes, but I was in the closet when I shot that film (The Last Family Holidays). I don’t want to make big gay films. This is my first gaythemed film. I wanted to make a feel-good movie. It’s a good gay film

Nicolás Teté

for people who are not gay. It’s about feelings and family, so it’s good to watch with your mother or father. It’s not a movie for homophobic people. It starts showing his gay life. Gary M. Kramer: The film is about the characters finding happiness. What makes you happy? Nicolás Teté: Making films. I am happy being on set. And I am happy with my boyfriend and our dog. Watching films, writing. And spending time with my family. © 2021 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

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FISCHER (continued from page 7)

MILLER (continued from page 10)

RUTH (continued from page 10)

are so incompetent that unless you work in a hospital, you won’t be getting one until the Jewish babies born today are studying for their bar or bat mitzvah.

investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital; please seek advice from a licensed professional.

in their steering, but neither has many surprises in their handling. Silent and obedient are they.

Thankfully, in six days we will replace the unhinged, deranged nihilist in the White House and “kinehora” keeps me from jinxing it, so all I’ll say is, “Welcome, Joe & Dr. Jill and Kamala & Doug. We’re so happy to see you.” Louise (Lou) Fischer is a Former Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club and has served as an appointed and elected Delegate for the State Democratic Party. She is a proud graduate of the Emerge California Women’s Democratic Leadership program, was a San Francisco Commissioner, and has served in leadership positions in multiple nonprofit and community-based organizations.

Brio Financial Group is a registered investment adviser. SEC Registration does not constitute an endorsement of Brio by the SEC nor does it indicate that Brio has attained a particular level of skill or ability. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Brio Financial Group and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. No advice may be rendered by Brio Financial Group unless a client service agreement is in place. Brandon Miller, CFP®, is a financial consultant at Brio Financial Group in San Francisco, specializing in helping LGBT individuals and families plan and achieve their financial goals.

QUEER POP QUIZ ANSWER (Question on pg 22)

B) The Rejected Produced by KQED and introduced by KQED’s then General Manager James Day, The Rejected debuted on September 11, 1961. The hourlong documentary was described at the time as “a frank and outspoken appraisal of homosexuality in modern society.” It included interviews with anthropologist Dr. Margaret Mead, religious leaders, early gay rights activists, and others.

One-pedal driving is offered on both, and it’s not as odd as it sounds. Shrinking the functions from two pedals to one makes the process more fluid, once you get the hang of it, which for me took only a few blocks. The seamlessness it encourages ends up as another EV nicety. Otherwise, the Leaf has Nissan’s Zero Gravity seats, the Bolt has better outward visibility, and both are capacious, with 30 cubic feet available in the Leaf and 57 cubic feet in the Bolt. Both are good at their jobs, and they’re going cheap. Philip Ruth is a Castro-based automotive photojournalist and consultant with an automotive staging service.

GGBA (continued from page 11) GGBA: What other advice would you give to someone who is thinking of starting their own business? Nasser Mohamed, MD: Building my business around my “why” and sense of purpose has definitely helped me stay strong through all the adversity. Building something with a sense of purpose would give some natural resilience to the owner. I would also say to work on your personal relationships and invest in them early and before opening your business. My partner, Tommy Sunderland, has been incredibly supportive and present in my journey and is definitely helping make all of it possible. GGBA: Is there anything else that you would like to share? Nasser Mohamed, MD: I would love to hear from anyone who has unique thoughts about outpatient primary care design, patients who do not know how to access care, and/or local LGBT advocates who have thoughts on what our community is missing. I am reachable and love discussing opportunities to innovate and evolve my practice! For more information about Osra Medical: https://www.osramedical.com/

ROSTOW (continued from page 17) Lindberg, head of the Ramasjang TV station. This sounded a bit surreal, even for Scandinavians, but when you check it out, the penis is not a giant erection, as I had feared. It’s a striped expandable hose-like appendage that looks like a cartoon tiger tail or something. Still, I could only imagine what the gang over at One Million Moms would make of this type of programming, should it appear on American cable. Speaking of the Moms, their latest outrage concerns the Match commercial that shows the devil getting together with the year 2020 through their dating service. The couple enjoys movies, stealing toilet paper, and many other Covid-inspired antics, but despite the good-natured humor of the spot, Million Moms has called it “satanic” and insists that it’s dangerous to show Satan as a figure of fun. Fore! Moving right along, some of you may not care that Justin Thomas called himself a “faggot” under his breath after missing a putt the other day. Amazingly, some of you may not even know who Thomas is even though he’s only one of the top five golfers in the world and one of my personal favorites. Thomas was quick to apologize: “There’s just no excuse. I’m an adult, I’m a grown man. There’s absolutely no reason for me to say anything like that. It’s terrible. I’m extremely embarrassed. It’s not who I am. It’s not the kind of person that I am. “I’m speechless. It’s bad. There’s no other way to put it,” Thomas continued. “I need to do better. I need to be better. It’s definitely a learning experience. I deeply apologize to everybody and anybody who I offended and I’ll be better because of it.” I told you I liked the guy! But seriously, I thought that apology was pretty good but I thought the episode also revealed the innate, instinctive nature of homophobia, which like racism, embeds itself in many who consider themselves free of such dark instincts. Could I myself, for example, harbor racist malignancies deep within through a lifetime spent in a prejudiced society? 24

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Nah! Oh, by the way. I read that Trump was “gutted” over the PGA’s excellent decision to strip the 2022 PGA Championship from Trump’s Bedminster golf course. On Monday, January 11, the organizers of the British Open also said Trump’s Scottish golf course was off the list. “We had no plans to stage any of our championships at Turnberry and will not do so in the foreseeable future,” they said. You may recall that Trump pressured his U.K. Ambassador, Woody Johnson, to convince Britain’s golf authorities to stage the Championship at Turnberry, to no avail. The PGA decision comes as America’s golf organizations are reconsidering their relationship to the President, owner of some 17 courses including some of the finest in the world. Most, if not all, of these courses are managing to lose money under the Trump organization’s management. Not surprised. We’re Here, We’re Queer, We’re Storming the Capitol Lastly, don’t think our community has not been represented in the goon squad that stormed the Capitol. Check out “adorable deplorable,” a gay hairdresser from Huntington Beach, California, who posted numerous belligerent videos about occupying Congress and routing police. Kristopher Dreww is singing a different tune now that he’s back home waiting for a knock on the door from the FBI. Um, turns out he now insists he stayed outside the building watching the scene on the lawn with a nurse and a teacher. Now, he regrets that he didn’t “do my research.” “I am proud we took back our house, but I thought we took it back peacefully,” he told the Orange County Register. Oh, and the guy with the horns, Jake Angeli? He’s refusing the food on offer in his Phoenix jail cell because it’s not organic. “He gets very sick if he doesn’t eat organic food,” his mother told the Arizona Republic. “He needs to eat.” arostow@aol.com

Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun

Sister Dana sez, "Regarding the vaccine, as the Pat Benatar song goes: 'Hit me with your best shot!'" As a welcomed break from all those endless holiday, family-friendly, sickeningly saccharine shows, Bianca Del Rio and Peaches Christ screened online their classic 2015 archival play, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BIANCA DEL RIO? This was yet another of Peaches’ perfect parodies of cult movies. It was an extremely clever drag comedy send-up written and directed by Peaches on Bette Davis & Joan Crawford in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? To this day, I still treasure my tiny tin of mints they handed out at the VIP showing in 2015 with their pictures and the inscription: "Enjoy some mints for after you eat your DIN DIN.” As part of the live interview, the delicious drag duo hinted at a coming parody of The Devil Wears Prada. I cannot wait! Please support PEACHES CHRIST PRODUCTIONS and keep these comedies going! https://bit.ly/3bCxHUI Sister Dana sez, "Also regarding the vaccine, as the song goes in ‘Hamilton’: ‘I am not throwin’ away my shot!’” The LGBTQ community made a major impact on the outcomes of the 2020 election season. Analysis of data revealed that without LGBTQ voters in key states, Trump likely would have won reelection, for example. Singer, actor, activist Billy Porter doesn’t want us to forget. He’s working with GLAAD to remind everyone that LGBTQ voters, organizers, and groups like GLAAD made the difference in what was considered the most pivotal election of our time. https://bit.ly/3brBmVr Following the first invasion of our nation’s Capitol since the War of 1812—an attack that left five dead and countless more injured— congressional Republicans still objected to the certification of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ win in November. They did this knowing full well that their actions were being cheered on by the very terrorists who had stormed the Capitol complex only hours earlier. Senator Scott Wiener released the following statement on January

Sister Dana sez, "Thank you, TWITTER, for permanently suspending tRump’s account! Sweet tweet relief!” On a happy note, once again the witty, funny Randy Rainbow has his clever parody on sedition to the tune of “Tradition” from Fiddler on the Roof. https://tinyurl.com/y6pqlvqt On January 7, a nonviolent, masked, socially distanced protest at City Hall was sponsored by SF REFUSE FASCISM responding to the attempted violent, deadly coup the night before in Washington, D.C. Among the protest placards were four words demanding: “Trump/Pence Out Now!” LOCKDOWN COMEDY is a fun monthly (every 3rd Thursday of the month, 7 pm PST) virtual comedy show taking place on Zoom. The next show on Thursday, January 21, (the day after the Inauguration) features Los Angeles-based political comedian Greg Proops (TV's Whose Line Is It, Anyway?), from NY Ophira Eisenberg (NPR's “Ask Me Another”), from LA Sandra Valls (Showtime›s Latin Divas of Comedy), and from Florida Lisa Geduldig and her 89-year-old mother Arline Geduldig. https://bit.ly/2LETzUL Songwriter Alida McKeon performs her newly-written song, “HOPE” for the NATIONAL AIDS MEMORIAL. Enjoy the beautiful words, music, and hope the song offers as we look to the future for a better world filled with love, goodness, and compassion. https://tinyurl.com/ydgpb7yf GLAAD’s TRUMP ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT has been tracking the Trump administration’s attacks against the LGBTQ community—181 and counting in negative policies and dangerous rhetoric over the last four years, and a (continued on page 27)

Happy Birthday to the “Birthday Boy”! In addition to serving as a longstanding columnist for the San Francisco Bay Times, Sister Dana (aka Dennis McMillan) is famous, or infamous as the case may be, for many things. He is, after all, our official New Year’s Day “Birthday Boy” since his birthday is January 1.

PHOTOS BY RINK

By Sister Dana Van Iquity

6, still very timely, regarding armed rioters having entered the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.: "What’s happening in our nation’s Capitol is nothing short of terrifying, and is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in this country. President Trump and his Republican sycophant enablers are responsible for this armed mob storming the Capitol. They’re responsible for the shutting down of our democratic process and for putting members of Congress, their staff, journalists, and other Capitol employees in physical danger. The people who enabled this mob violence must be held accountable and recognized as perpetrators.” He noted that as a Senator, he has experienced the legislative process being disrupted by violence. He said he has been sequestered by Capitol security due to violence. He concluded, “This cannot continue, and we must have accountability.”

Among his annual appearances are co-emceeing the Hunky Jesus and other contests on Easter Sunday with Sister Roma, blessing the Castro Holiday Tree, and volunteering with Gary Virginia at the Krewe de Kinque Bal Masque. Also included here (top right) is an historic throwback photo from 1987 showing Sister Dana (left) and Sister Vicious (right) and others protesting the Pope’s visit to San Francisco with, as the backdrop, a banner celebrating the life of Harvey Milk. S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY   T IM ES

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SISTER DANA (continued from page 25) number of them happening on social media. Sister Dana sez, "However are we going to put America back together again when Humpty

Trumpty keeps trying to make it fall?!” Thanks to the repeal of DON’T ASK DON’T TELL, lesbian, gay, and bisexual service members have served openly and proudly over the past

decade in the Armed Forces without fear of being dismissed because of who they are or whom they love. Let us celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the repeal of DADT. https://modernmilitary.org/ Rest in Peace and Power, my dear friend Jorge Sánchez. I am utterly heartbroken over this loss of a great man, perfect party pal, and incredible activist. We had made big plans to drink to excess of our favorite bourbon when we could once again gather in person after COVID-19 was over. I raise my forlorn glass to you, sweet Jorge, in a toast beyond the veil! Representatives Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torres were sworn in as America’s first Black out LGBTQ members of Congress! And now that they’ve officially taken their seats in the U.S. House, we can celebrate another milestone: the most out members of Congress ever! The House has adopted new rules for 2021 that remove gendered language in official settings, replacing gendered terms like “Chairman” or “Chairwoman” with gender-neutral terms like “Chair.” “Through months of consultation across our caucus and Congress, we have developed a rules package that makes the People’s House more accountable and responsive to all Americans,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said in a statement in support of the rules, adding that they express “the views and values of the full range of our historically diverse House Democratic Majority.” Sister Dana sez, "I know I've been harping a lot on the issue of vaccination, but here's hoping America becomes the 'VACCINE NATION'!"

Take Me Home with You!

KREWE DE KINQUE King & Queen XVII Omar Kubian & Diana Wheeler invited us KDK Members to the annual TWELFTH NIGHT PARTY on January 9 via Zoom. This was a festive kickoff for Mardi Gras happening on February 16 this year. KDK is a Mardi Gras themed social and charitable organization. Members wore beads, masks, and costumes. KDK Founder & King I Gary Virginia welcomed us. We toasted the reigning King Omar and Queen Diana. We honored our deceased Kings and Queens of the past—as well as our friends who passed this year. We also revealed the incoming royalty (which remains a secret until announced at our annual Bal Masque). Of course, members gave fabulous command performances (from their homes). https://bit.ly/3qgxbzL RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE Season 13, episode 1 was full of surprises. It featured the very first trans male contestant doing female drag. It was also the latest update to gender politically correctness in that RuPaul did not say, “Gentlemen start your engines!” but rather, “Racers start your engines!” And the “Lip-synch for your Lives” category was held at each competitors’ very first appearance doing duo queens (and one trio) fighting to stay alive and not immediately eliminated. Then for the next shocker, all unlucky 13 of the eliminated girls in a group got to vote to “give the chop” to one another. RuPaul keepin’ it fresh, honey! THEATRE RHINOCEROS presents the third show of its season, THE REVIEW, OR HOW TO EAT YOUR OPPOSITION—live and online. A naïve yet self-righteous art critic questions the artistic integrity of an iconic visual artist. The artist contacts her critic, and the stage is set for

a sexy, emotional, and intellectual game involving art, hearts, and bodies. This fascinating play runs January 22–31. http://therhino.org/ Sister Dana sez, "So Congress Republican’ts agreed on a stimulus deal that gave measly $600 checks to Americans and provided small funds for small businesses and vaccine distribution. Are we supposed to cheer them for finally compromising on a deal that was proposed six months ago? Well, yippee to you misers for almost doing your job. Now bring on the trilliondollar legislation!” Here are just six victories for the LGBTQ community that came in 2020: THE SUPREME COURT said anti-LGBTQ employment discrimination is illegal; Utah and Virginia banned conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth; three states and the District of Columbia banned the gay and trans panic defenses; Virginia passed several Pro-Equality Bills; America voted for a rainbow wave of elected officials (more than ever before); and President-Elect Joe Biden promised to advance LGBTQ protections in office. A goal of the CASTRO STREET CAM is to help those who are isolated for any reason to be able to see the vibrant Castro neighborhood and enjoy the views. Visit the four cams 24/7 to see what’s going on. Check out the views up and down Castro Street, in Harvey Milk Plaza, and Jane Warner Plaza! http://sfbaytimes.com/castro-street-cam/ Sister Dana sez, "I think the new goodbye these Covid days should be: ‘Vaccine ya later!’”

ADELMAN (continued from page 16) sadness, his deep grief and missing of his partner, and also helped him see his own strengths and abilities to accept the impermanence of this life. His healing process has been transformational.” He told Keyssar that when people ask him, “How are you able to do so well in your grief?” he replies, “By writing poems.”

“My name is Rory! I’m a 4-year-old Husky mix from Fresno. I’m looking for a friend who will explore the Bay Area with me! I love meeting new people when I’m out and about. My favorite days involve adventures like beach outings, long walks through the city, and hikes. If that sounds like fun to you, let’s meet! I promise to keep you smiling while we’re adventuring together!”

Rory

For more information: https://MERI.ucsf.edu

Rory 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 Rory. To apply to meet Rory, visit https://www.sfspca.org/adoptions/

She concluded, “We now have a waiting list for this winter’s groups. We are looking into a train the trainer program so that other people and organizations could use this format as a healing modality as well. Clearly there is a greater need than we can provide ourselves, but we at the MERI Center are so grateful and honored to be part of this poem-making community that has been able to offer some hope and sustenance in these ever-so-difficult times.”

Dr. Jennifer Scarlett and Pup

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 Governor’s Alzheimer’s Prevention and Preparedness Task Force, the Board of the Alzheimer’s Association of Northern California, 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.

As Heard on the Street . . . Which vocal artist should perform at the January 20th

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inauguration ceremony?

compiled by Rink

Raymond Hong

J.B. Higgins

David Cannon

Joey Montano

John Goldsmith

“Cher!”

“Barbra Streisand!”

“The person who has consistently held my attention through this slugfest is the one and only Cher!”

“The Queen of Latin Pop, Thalia”

“Joni Mitchell”

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CASTRO

Round About - All Over Town Photos by Rink

STREETCAM presented by

“Happy New Year!” was the theme at the Russian Hill Upholstery-Decor store on Polk Street where the window display featured a bottle of champagne and an album by Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians big band. “All I Want 4 Xmas” was the message on a politicallythemed holiday mural found on a building in the Nob Hill neighborhood.

The New Year’s message welcoming 2021 in the window at Lotta’s Bakery and Sweet Antiques on Polk Street featured an Uncle (or Aunt) Sam mannequin and a Biden/Harris campaign sign.

http://sfbaytimes.com/

Stealing the show in the annual Macy’s Holiday Windows was a star canine wearing antlers. The Windows are a joint project with SFSPCA encouraging adoption of pets during the Holiday Season.

The legendary Tommy’s Joynt restaurant was open on Christmas Eve and continues to offer takeout service. Arrive early for lunch, as this remains a popular dining destination.

The demand for donuts, at the famous Bob’s Donut and Pastry Shop on Polk Street, was evident based on the line of socially distanced customers waiting for service.

The former CVS Pharmacy site located at 1285 Van Ness has been converted into a COVID-19 Testing Center where tests are available by appointment. For information: http://www.cvs.com

Everyone goes to Cliff’s Variety now and then, so be sure to allow some extra time when you do.

MCC Church is holding their regular services online live via their Facebook page. Past services are available at https://mccsf.org/sermons/

Socially distanced lines are also frequent at Walgreens located at Castro and 18th Streets.

PO Plus has posted a sign urging all to, “Stay Home Stay Proud.”

Swirl On Castro now offers Heroic Italian artisan sandwiches and salads in addition to their selection of wine and spirits. S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY   T IM ES

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