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CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2020)
All Politics Is Local
Board of Supervisors Recommendations and Spotlight on Two Great Women still win. District 7 is an open seat (Norman Yee is termed out) with a supposed “favorite,” but with ranked choice, this race is a toss-up. District 11 incumbent Ahsha Safai is running against a former supervisor who can’t resist Newton’s Second Law of Motion (centripetal force), to run again, or he just can’t get a job in the real world.
Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History Louise “Lou” Fischer While the rest of the world is focusing on the nail-biting drama of the upcoming federal election and wondering if we will keep the House, flip the Senate, and whether the current president will steal another election, we still have the entertaining spectacle of local elections on November 3. In San Francisco, the bluest county in California (and Trump’s favorite punching bag), county supervisor elections are less of an undercard and more of the main event; a referendum of choice between multiple shades of blue. In 2000, the city was segmented into eleven districts of (mostly) equal populations; elections are staggered every two years between odd and even districts. This year is an “odd” year—how appropriate given the current “unprecedented times,” so candidates representing Districts 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 will fill mailboxes with shiny printed literature. In the absence of door-to-door canvassing and mass gatherings, we’re limited to online meetings, fundraisers, and GOTV (get out the vote) events. I really miss in-person campaigns, but alas, “it is what it is.” In this year’s supervisor election, there are two “ho-hum” races and four that are contested. In Districts 3 and 9, Aaron Peskin and Hillary Ronen could go into the Witness Protection Program and they’d
Districts 1 and 5 have two fantastic women running; I’ve known and supported Marjan Philhour and Vallie Brown for years. Both candidates have long and storied careers in public service and ran in previous elections. Marjan lost the D1 (Richmond District) race in 2016 by a margin of 4% and Vallie’s D5 (Haight, Western Addition, Fillmore, and other areas) loss last year was by an agonizing 185 votes out of a total of 23,261 or a difference of a razor thin 0.80%. I had a chance to “email chat” with both of them and learn about their goals for their districts and the city (responses edited for brevity). Why are you running again? Marjan Philhour (D1): My husband Byron and I are raising our three children in the Richmond and I want them and our senior and immigrant communities to be able to stay in the neighborhood. The Richmond has had failed leadership for the last 20 years. I’m running to ensure that issues such as safe and clean streets, housing affordability, support for small businesses, and homelessness are actually addressed. Vallie Brown (D5): I believe that I’m the best candidate to help lead our city’s COVID-19 recovery. The issues facing this city, including homelessness, a housing shortage, overcrowded transportation, and restrictions on small businesses, have been exacerbated by the pandemic. We must build more housing at all levels and help small businesses recover. D5 needs a thoughtful, responsive leader with an actionable plan, and I believe I am that leader. What is the #1 issue for your district?
Marjan Philhour (D1): Homelessness will be my top priority; we have not seen real leadership on this issue. I will work to invest in mental health services, permanent supportive housing, and to strengthen conservatorship laws to provide help to individuals with severe mental illness. It is neither compassionate nor progressive to allow people to live on our streets, especially during a pandemic. Vallie Brown (D5): Homelessness is my number one issue in District 5; COVID-19 has made it an urgent and overwhelming disaster. We need sustainable solutions that provide services for people suffering from mental illness and substance abuse. I want to establish more supportive housing by expanding the Small Sites program to purchase private buildings. Currently, it costs $800K to build one affordable housing unit, but to purchase an existing building can cost as little as $450k. Other than homelessness, what is your top priority for the whole city? Marjan Philhour (D1): Supporting small businesses. We need to make it easier to open a business and we must give small businesses flexibility to thrive in a constantly changing business environment. We’re losing 10% of our small businesses every month. Vallie Brown (D5): The housing crisis and racial equity. I have a strong track record of pushing for policies that expand housing at all levels of affordability. I am committed to furthering racial equity and justice in community-led reforms of housing, education, policing, and healthcare. Louise Fischer: Vallie, that was 2 priorities, but D5 is a challenging district, so I’ll let it slide. What sets you apart from the other candidate(s)? Marjan Philhour (D1): I have government, business, and community organizing experience at the
Vallie Brown
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state, federal, and local levels of government and I’m very active as an organizer in my own neighborhood. I served in the SF Mayor’s office and have run two small businesses; I cofounded our local merchants association (Balboa Village Merchants Association). I take a hands-on approach to community work as well as in my professional work and would bring that same passion to the role of supervisor. Vallie Brown (D5): I’m a collaborative leader; even when I don’t agree with people, I work together to build bridges with communities and find a solution that benefits everyone. District 5 needs a leader who has the experience and inclination to unite our neighborhoods around the issues that divide them, not one who allows progressive vs. moderate politics to get in the way of real change. My Recommendations for the Other Districts District 3 - Danny Sauter - No, he won’t beat Peskin, but give a guy credit for trying. District 7 - This is a tough one. In this district, ranked choice is your friend. All of the three following candidates are good choices: openly-gay candidate Joel Engardio, former member of the Board of Education Emily Murase, and former Planning Commissioner Myrna Melgar. If you are an identity voter, Joel is gay, Myrna is Jewish, and Emily is Japanese American but also
a diminutive little ball of fire with an impressive hat collection. District 9 - There is no one running against Hillary Ronen; so much for ranked choice. I live in the district and even though we have ideological differences, I’m voting for Hillary. District 11 - Vote for Ahsha Safai. While recycling is good for the environment, it doesn’t apply to elected officials; no need to recycle former supervisors. Most importantly, just vote! This year, all registered voters in California will receive a ballot in the mail so you have no excuse. You can also safely vote in person in SF starting on October 5 (outdoors at Bill Graham Civic Center). If you are using a mail-in ballot, it’s probably best to drop it off at City Hall or at the 588 neighborhood polling locations on November 3—or as I call it “the most important Election Day of our lives.” 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 communitybased organizations.
Clear as the Living Daylights: Democracy vs. Demise important election of our time” or for “our generation,” or even for “this century.” While a complete dissolve of a democratic state never occurred, and the republic marched or limped on after each election cycle, history still proves critical results were born from critical elections.
Cross Currents Andrea Shorter From where I stand, there is no time to waste not to be definitive, clear, and cut to the chase about the choice before us in this presidential election year: authoritarianism or democracy. No build-ups, no message testing, and no soft pedaling to what should be clear and evident by now. We either give in to extend the present tyrannical leadership, or fight like hell for democracy. Cynical inclinations suggest that, lest we forget, this is not the first time in U.S. presidential election history that it has been said that “this is the most
Thomas Jefferson’s win over Aaron Burr in 1860 led to the addition of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, which changed the electoral process for president after a breakdown in the electoral college process, and also established a political power shift, exiting the Federalists and entering the Democratic and Republican parties. Abraham Lincoln’s narrow win in 1860 put into motion the fight to abolish slavery, the secession of 11 states from the union, and the dire must-win of a Civil War to restore and save the whole of the United States. Rutherford Hayes’ triumph over Samuel Tilden in 1876 proved the end of Reconstruction, ushering in the terror of Jim Crow laws. In the 20th century there was Franklin Roosevelt’s win for an unprecedented 4 terms as president during and through the Great Depression and World War II; John F. Kennedy’s narrow win ushered in
a post-war, baby-boomer era opening for civil rights and the space race; George W. Bush’s election over Al Gore as decided by the U.S. Supreme Court; and Barack Obama’s win expressed a critical turning point in America’s readiness for a non-white male as its commander-in-chief for two terms, empowered to do great things, including a hallmark achievement of healthcare reform. At each turn, these few fabled accounts of times past of the “most important elections of our time” have yet to face the date with the destiny we have before us now. No U.S. president of any party from Whigs, Democrats, Republicans, or Independents has so clearly expressed his desire, intent, and sheer will to enshrine himself as an authoritarian, tyrannical despot in the way Trump is doing now, right before our very eyes. No U.S. president appears to be under the thumb, tutelage, and umbrage of dangerous dictators, sworn adversaries to U.S. interests, and adversaries to democratic society. Every week if not every day, this president finds and sets to execute one more strike against the pillars and posts upon which our democratic institutions are founded, or rely
upon, bending, twisting, and contorting them towards his own selfserving ends, chiefly to maintain his presidency at all costs. The latest episodes are all but more in the daily gut punch from the Trump assault and full throttle attacks on America. None is more naked than his attempts to dismantle the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Why? According to an NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll, of the voters planning to vote for Trump, 15% plan to vote by mail, while Biden is projected to garner a whopping 78% of the vote by mail. Wait, there’s more. Of persons planning to vote early in person (when polling sites open in October), 25% are projected for Trump, and 68% for Biden. For those planning to vote at the polls on November 3, the projections are 63% for Trump and 30% for Biden. Add it up, and we are looking at an overall voter turnout of 50% for Biden, 41% for Trump. For the past four decades, Republican voters have been the overwhelming majority of voters by mail. While democratic and independent voters by mail have increased over the past decade, 78% for Biden is more likely an indication of the effects of the pandemic. While
voters might very well aim to vote as if their very lives depend on it in this election, no one wants to actually and unnecessarily risk their health and lives standing in line to cast their votes in this critical presidential race. So, registering and opting to vote by mail presents the most practical solution during a pandemic. The starkness of 78% to 15% explains Trump’s attempts to demolish the USPS mail delivery processes and systems to slow down, throw out, and delay a whopping overwhelming gale force of votes cast by mail so not likely in his favor. Yes, handing over command of the USPS to his major campaign contributor who has been on a longtime tear to tear down the USPS and reinvent it for profit was likely Trump’s initial interest. An added urgency to dismantle the USPS was likely fueled by the mid-August NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll results and similar indications that vote by mail is the pandemic inspired choice of Democrats, disaffected Republicans, and Independents eager to disinfect the White House of Trump.
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Supporting Small Businesses in the Castro & Beyond Photos by Juan R. Davila
Flower Corner
Corner of Market & 16th Streets 415-420-5109 reynosoduran@yahoo.com Contact: Juan Reynoso Owner/operator Juan Reynoso offers a surprising variety of fresh flowers and plants, including orchids and succulents, at this longstanding Castro small business on the corner of 16th and Market Streets. Offering delivery to any location in San Francisco, the shop specializes in flowers for weddings and other occasions, including birthdays and funerals. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Flower Corner has hand sanitizer available for customers. In addition to adjusting business hours, the shop encourages wearing masks and social distancing. Open Tuesday-Sunday 9am-6pm and closed on Monday.
Mail Access
2261 Market Street 415-626-2575 m_access@hotmail.com Owner/operator Ahmed Shalabi is ready to welcome you to Mail Access on Market Street next door to Philz Coffee Shop where you can rent a private mail box, mail your letters, or ship packages to anywhere in the world via FedEx or UPS. Tell Ahmed, “The Bay Times sent me!” In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mail Access has new sterilization procedures, requires masks, and has revised its hours to: 10am4pm Monday-Friday and 12pm-4pm Saturday.
Underglass Custom Picture Framing
2239 Market Street 415-252-9844 micha@underglassframing.com http://www.underglassframing.com Contact: Micah Ruiz Underglass Custom Picture Framing, recently relocated from its former Church Street location, is now open seven days a week 11am–5pm at its new location formerly the site of Sweet Inspiration cafe. The LGBT-owned business also operates from its Hayes Valley store at 524 Gough Street. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Underglass Custom Picture Framing maintains social distancing, has available masks and hand sanitizer, and offers virtual design consultations. Manager Micha Ruiz reports that business is good at the new Castro location and offers a 15% discount to SF Bay Times readers who mention this article.
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Message from Leadership
Passing the GGBA Leadership Baton to Michael Gunther Michael Gunther
By Gina Grahame In the 2016 summer Olympics, Japan stunned the world by beating Team USA and winning the 400-meter relay. Not a single man on Japan’s second place team made an individual sprint final at the Olympics. By contrast, Team USA, with the strongest individual runners, was considered to be a shoe-in. How did Japan win? What was the difference? They mastered the handoff: the seamless passing of the baton from one runner to the next. It is now September; my term as President of the GGBA is coming to a close and I happily prepare to hand the baton to Michael Gunther, President-elect. Many of you know Michael from his work on the Board over the past three years, or perhaps through his company, Collaboration Business Consulting, now celebrating 26 years in business. Michael is joined in leadership by his Executive Committee comprised of long-term, devoted, LGBTQ+ & allied talent in Dr. Krystal Drwencke as Vice-President, Tony Archuleta-Perkins as Treasurer, and Olga Garcia of CG Moving Company as Secretary. While I am stepping down, I am not stepping away and will remain on the Board as PastPresident.
Luis Zamora
Michael will lead an exceptionally talented Board of Directors that now, I am happy to say, includes two members: Luis A. Zamora and Andrea Stamps.
GGBA Member Spotlight GGBA member Debbie Chong is the Co-Founder and CEO of Lenos, a firm that since 1999 has provided innovative marketing automation software to easily design, manage, and analyze branded meeting and event marketing programs enterprise-wide for revenue generation and dramatic savings. Lenos solutions power engagement marketing programs for corporations, associations, nonprofits, marketing and event agencies worldwide.
Debbie Chong
GGBA: Please describe your business and its mission and values. Debbie Chong: The Lenos Event Cloud Platform powers virtual, in-person, and hybrid event marketing. Founded in 1999, Lenos Software’s innovative software is an all-in-one solution for seamless engagement marketing. A single source of truth for all events across the enterprise enables a disciplined approach to manage all event processes, and supply-chain to achieve measurable business objectives aligned with corporate strategic goals/vision, data governance, and branding guidelines. Lenos effortlessly handles small internal business meetings to powering sophisticated annual customer conferences and expos. An easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), drag and drop event-content management system eliminates the need for expensive and time-consuming coding. As part of a community that only recently won the right to get married, we know the trauma and life-changing experience of being gay in the U.S. when it was illegal. Based on our personal experiences, privacy controls are baked into Lenos. Our first decision was to determine to build an organization based on Privacy by Design/Default, a foundational principle of international privacy regulations. Trusted by 50 percent of Fortune 100 to power their event marketing engagement, Lenos solutions offer a full-featured native Privacy Consent module. Trust builds brand affinity with customers, partners, employees, and prospects. GGBA: Why did you decide to create your business? Debbie Chong: Back in 1999 and still today, we see an unmet market demand for software automation that is 100% branded, feature-rich, and enterprise class privacy respecting. Not to mention, we have a passion for event marketing and its impact on enterprise engagement for lead and revenue generation, customer/employee retention.
cial qualities that will benefit the GGBA and the Bay Area LGBTQ+ business community.
Luis A. Zamora, Chair of Public Policy, has a long history of devotion to public service to the LGBTQ+ community and San Francisco. He is the Ex-Officio Member to the California Democratic Party, Rules Committee, and is Co-President of the San Francisco Young Democrats. Luis has also served on the Board of Directors of the Spectra Project and was a Fellow at the Victory Fund & Institute. Luis’ extensive knowledge of, and experience with, the “levers of government” will be a tremendous asset to the entire community and will elevate the Public Policy role to greater heights and success than ever before. We are honored to have him join our Board.
2020 is, and has been, a challenging year for all of us and I’m proud of the work GGBA has done to help serve our members and community. When COVID-19 hit, we acted quicky to: • Place our programming and networking into the virtual realm; • Initiate a stay on renewal dues for all members who need one for the remainder of 2020; • Launch and graduate two cohorts of our new “High Performance Accelerator Program,” dedicated to helping members to become better CEOs. This nine-week program teaches business owners to effectively evaluate, strategize, and to pivot when necessary to maintain and grow their business. This program, overseen by the GGBA Foundation, has been 3 years in the making and was sponsored by Wells Fargo, Granite Solutions Groupe, and Moody’s Analytics. These sponsorships also eliminate the attendee cost, making the program reachable to every business owner in the GGBA; • Continue to attract new members, and actually have grown the Chamber by nearly 10% since January.
Andrea Stamps, Chair of Partnerships, comes to the GGBA after a career in fundraising, partnerships, and numerous Board positions as a representative of the Oakland Raiders and NFL Athletes. After retiring from the NFL, Andrea turned her focus to a personal passion: being a patient advocate in the palliative, hospice, and home healthcare space. There, she worked extensively with people across all demographics, including age, gender, and sexuality. Andrea’s first introduction to the GGBA came as an attendee of Power Lunch 2020: “I was drawn by the diversity within the organization,” she says. “Experiencing a platform that allowed everyone to share their true self, both organically and professionally, was so moving. After hearing the unanimous amazing reviews of current and former members, I knew GGBA was an organization I wanted to be part of.” Andrea’s commitment to being part of a team, to excellence, to leadership, and to the service of others evidences the spe-
Serving as President has been a true honor. I treasure each of you, and each interaction we have shared. Michael, the baton is yours. Gina Grahame is the President of GGBA. She is also the Founder/CEO of the Grahame Institute of Strategic Communication, which offers virtual and live training to help high-performing professionals to be more influential communicators. https://www.thegisc.com/
Debbie Chong of Lenos Software GGBA: Who are some of your role models, and especially those who helped to inf luence your business? Debbie Chong: There are many. The most impactful in my life is Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who has been my role model for 30 years. She has fought and will continue to fight for individual rights and liberties and will not accept anything less. Ann Cavoukian is a significant influence on our business philosophy. She is a former Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario who is credited with developing Privacy by design/default, a framework for systems engineering back in 1995, which is now a foundational principal of international privacy regulations. And Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce. He has taken the position that we should have a national privacy policy to protect personal data and ensure that an individual owns and controls the use of their data. At potential cost to his business, he also challenged political leaders in respect to LGBTQ rights. He has also made significant financial contributions to social causes.
sweat, and tears. It is reassuring to know that GGBA is a welcoming community to help you network. For more information about Lenos: https://lenos.com/Home
GGBA CALENDAR Workshop: Marketing Through a Pandemic September 10 12 pm–1:30 pm on Zoom (link sent 1 hour before the event starts) The event, the second of a two-part workshop, will focus on reviewing your business by analyzing, adapting, and activating: • Analyze: Continued review of business: timing of messaging, placement of messaging; • Adapt: Changes in business: products/services; • Activate: New strategic plan moving forward for postCOVID. Register at: https://bit.ly/3208SwM
GGBA: What other advice would you give to someone who is thinking of starting their own business?
GGBA Annual Meeting September 15 5:30 pm–6:30 pm on Zoom (link sent 1 hour before the event starts) We are living in times of adversity between the COVID19 pandemic, the rising tide of social justice issues, and the inability to connect to build relationships. These times require strength of community, character, and creativity. Join us for our Annual Member Meeting: • to reflect on our past 12 months through the eyes of our outgoing President Gina Grahame; • to honor some legends within our organization who embody the ideals of the GGBA, presented by Vice President Krystal Drwencke; • to share our direction for the coming 12 months through the drive of Michael Gunther, incoming President, and the 2020/21 Board of Directors to support you in gaining the strength and resilience within yourself and your business; • and to meet new Board Members and cast your vote on updating the GGBA by-laws. Register at: https://bit.ly/3bCiQHV
Debbie Chong: Be prepared to ask for help and to offer help in return. Entrepreneurship can be very rewarding, but it also demands patience, dedication, tenacity, and blood,
For information on these events and more: https://ggba.com/
GGBA: Why did you decide to join the GGBA, and how long have you been a member? Debbie Chong: It’s great to have a community, a tribe where we belong and are accepted and can discuss common issues that LBGTQ businesses experience on a day-to-day basis. We’ve been members since 2016. GGBA: How has being a member of GGBA helped your business so far? Debbie Chong: The GGBA community is very welcoming and always helpful. If LBGTQ businesses are to make a positive impact on our society, then we must lean on each other to open doors that otherwise would be closed. Once a door is cracked open, then it is up to each business to make what they can of the opportunity.
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Making Schools and Workplaces Safer from Gun Violence
It makes sense to include our campus and work sites in this expansion, because those are the places where we spend the most time when we’re not at home. The people we see every day are likely to notice early warning signs, and red flag laws give them a way to intervene. To avert misuse, school employees must work with their administrative office, and co-workers are required to go through their human resources department, in order to file for a GVRO.
Assemblymember Phil Ting Since Stay-At-Home orders were issued this spring, we have rarely heard about mass shootings at schools and workplaces. Prior to COVID-19, however, the number of incidents was trending up for years, inspiring me to make our classrooms and jobs safer by strengthening our state’s red flag gun law. That effort is now becoming reality. My legislation, AB 61, which took effect on September 1, empowers more Californians with an effective tool that helps to prevent tragedies. School staff, employers, and coworkers will be able to use an existing court process to file what’s called a Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO). With a judge’s approval of that petition, someone’s firearms would be temporarily taken away if they pose a threat to themselves or others. The initial seizure is for 21 days, and the order can be extended for up to one year. Currently, only law enforcement and immediate family have access to this legal procedure.
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Since California’s original law began in 2016, courts have approved more than 1,700 GVROs—the bulk of them issued last year. San Francisco has also become more active in pursuing them in the last year, following education and outreach efforts undertaken by my office. A recent high-profile example close to home at a South Bay dealership illustrates the potential of GVROs and how one may have averted a shooting. In this case, a mechanic who was about to lose his job brought guns to work, threatening to kill his supervisor. Sunnyvale police did not have adequate evidence to charge the now-fired employee, but law enforcement did secure a GVRO. They not only took away those firearms brought to the workplace, but also rifles, high-capacity magazines, and more. Imagine what could have happened with no red flag law in place. Individuals like this man at the dealership were examined by UC Davis researchers, as they looked into the effectiveness of California’s GVRO law. They found that nobody in their sample pool was involved in subsequent gun-related violence after their weapons were removed. While the 2019 study cited how difficult it is to say how many incidents were prevented, it is reasonable to conclude our state’s GVRO law plays a role in reducing the chance of shootings. Reducing the chance of shootings. Those words resonate with me. If there’s a possibility to save lives, no matter how small, we should take advantage of it. Nineteen states, plus the District of Columbia, agree and have implemented similar GVRO or red flag laws. They, too, have had enough. Expanding California’s GVRO law is necessary because, at some point, we are going to be able to (continued on page 26)
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Oakland Police Commission and Why It Needs Your Vote in November Some in the administration, however, worked to undermine this independence. The previous city administrator, who had previously served as police chief, refused to allow the Police Commission to hire an independent inspector general, and demanded that the inspector general report within the same chain of command as the police department—undermining the ability to provide independence.
Out of the Closet and into City Hall Oakland City Councilmember At-Large, Rebecca Kaplan In November 2016, in the wake of abuse scandals, cover-ups, and poor management from a quick line of chiefs, 83.19% of Oakland voters decided that the time had come to have an independent, civilian police oversight commission. The City of Oakland has been in the grips of a federal court supervised Negotiated Settlement Agreement (“NSA”) since 2003, following the Riders case, due to the culture and actions of OPD that were not in keeping with constitutional policing, nor did the culture and practices of OPD reflect the ideals and values of the City of Oakland. The Oakland Police Commission was designed to address the tasks set out in the NSA, as well as other challenges to constitutional policing, and to provide independent oversight for misconduct issues, to help build accountability and trust.
Despite these challenges, the Police Commission worked on the assignments that they were given. Notably, during the investigation of the killing of Joshua Pawlik, the Police Commission, in keeping with its mandate, was called upon to create a discipline committee to review the botched investigation into the killing of Pawlik. The commission’s Discipline Committee was one of the few points in the investigation that functioned appropriately and objectively. In a recent official report, the compliance monitor working with the federal court shared vital information about the misconduct of the former police chief and administrative leaders, in covering up the conduct behind that police killing, and spreading false information in the press. The federal monitor report stated: “Chief Kirkpatrick prematurely assessed the shooting on the evening of its occurrence, when she told the Monitor that Mr. Pawlik had ‘pointed’ a firearm at the officers, and that the shooting ‘looks good.’ Her expressed predispositions of that evening never wavered, even as the investigations moved forward. The Department attempted to provide a justification for the shooting through its initial press releases describing the incident.” That same report also stated: “The Oakland Police Commission is an important voice for police reform at a time when it is clearer than ever that a police department cannot function without the support of, and oversight by, the community it is presumed to serve.” After months of negotiation and stakeholder input, we have worked together to place a measure on the November ballot, to ensure the ability to have an independent inspector general (and independent, unbiased legal counsel) so that the personnel working to oversee policing issues will be independent of the police department chain of command. (continued on page 26)
Finding Home and Safety in a Gay Men’s Chorus by Chris Verdugo
Coming Out Stories
Photos courtesy of Chris Verdugo
On a May evening in 1989 at my final high school chorus concert—a night filled with music, dancing, and the anticipation of our senior trip—I came out, or rather, I was forced out. I was not ready, even though I was quietly seeing a boy in another school. Being LatinX in a religious family while living in a Hispanic suburb of Miami didn’t foster openness or safety. At seventeen, I was unsure how I could or would control the narrative, so I made the decision to wait until college; it was only a few months away. Life had other plans. When I think back on that night, it always happens in slow motion. I can see the crowded auditorium lobby, my mother tearing away the chain around his neck. I can hear her muted screams telling him to “stay away from her son, you fag.” I can feel her rage, see her tears, feel her pain. It’s only now that I recognize the latter. In that moment, all I felt was betrayal. Not only had she betrayed me, but she had also spoiled the space where I felt most safe—chorus. Days later I left on my high school senior trip, but I don’t remember much of it. I was in my head and my heart was broken.
Chris (far right) welcomed Gay & Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA) executive directors from throughout the U.S. to the new home of SFGMC.
Soon after high school graduation, I moved out to downtown Miami, started college, and this naïve, brown, gay youngster from Hialeah began the journey to discover himself. In the first year, I found bars and clubs in South Beach, renowned book fairs where I would meet Armistead Maupin and Anne Rice, and found solace in a dance studio where I would meet my dance partners and dearest friends Emma and Christina. These two women embraced me for the man I was becoming and celebrated me. Something was still missing. I recall someone telling me about a chorus I might be interested in. Weeks later I found myself in a room of people singing—a familiar place, though it looked and sounded quite different than it had in
high school or college or anything I’d even known existed. It was the Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida. I was home. I was safe. I was with my tribe. That was 30 years ago this fall. Little did I know then how that time would shape me. How years later I would find myself on the board of directors of the Miami Beach Gay Men’s Chris Verdugo Chorus and then move to LA and join the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, eventually becoming the executive director. Or how, after the Pulse massacre, I would move to San Francisco and helm the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus four years ago. My personal journey and my life’s work entangled themselves at an early age. I experienced the power of music, of a tribe, to help heal a young heart and create a logical family. I discovered that a group of gay men who loved to make music could use their voices for more than just singing—they could protest, they could march in the streets, they could and would change the world—and, in due time, they could change a mother’s heart. Chris Verdugo joined the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus as Executive Director in the fall of 2016. Previously, Verdugo served as the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA). Before working with GMCLA, Verdugo founded his own production company, creating and producing major fundraising events and galas in Los Angeles for leading LGBT organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), GLAAD (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), GMCLA, and Beinestar.
Chris with Pete Buttigieg
people because it cuts at the core of our economic models, social contracts, and personal beliefs. The legendary activist Angela Davis reminds us that there is a strong correlation between capitalism and racism. The connection was devised by America’s earliest social architects, and then legislated over time into our democracy.
Social Philanthropreneur Derek Barnes In the wake of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19, police brutality, social unrest, and widening economic inequality, a good friend recently reached out and wanted direction on ways to help end “systemic racism.” What a thrilling and bold stance he’s taking on, I thought. Explicitly, he asked if I had any thoughts on how he could help or make a philanthropic contribution. Like so many people I know, he admittedly acknowledged his limited knowledge of historical context regarding racial disparities in the U.S. Understanding interconnected social issues is a critical step before knowing where to start or what to do that might help bring lasting change. In our exchange, we concluded that terms like “systemic racism” or “structural racism” are redundant. By definition, racism is a system or structure designed to perpetuate conditions that harm, disadvantage, under-resource, and devalue along dimensions of race or color— those who are not in, or who hold, majority power. A set of conditions must exist that intentionally targets a group through prejudice, privilege, and power. I realized that to answer my friend’s question, we must look at America’s economic and social practices that perpetuate racism. This is often a hard pill to swallow for many white 10
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To build early economies in America, the explicit goal was to extract as much value from inexpensive sources of labor (enslaved people who held little power) and then to distribute benefit through a hierarchical structure—a disproportionately greater benefit to a few who have the most power. Our models of modern capitalism still rely on this blueprint. However, philanthropy, Greek for “love of mankind,” can be the great equalizer to the rampant forms of capitalism we experience today. So, how did we get here? First, we must recognize that we’ve all been fed steady doses of mythologized history. Many people, including whites, were enslaved globally for thousands of years before Europeans “discovered” The Americas—already inhabited by indigenous people who built thriving civilizations. However, America began to enact laws to uphold slavery and inequality by race and color in the aftermath of “Bacon’s Rebellion” in 1676. This was America’s great innovation, which led to a civil war, and was exported around the world. To “fix” racism means that we must openly interrogate and reform our economic systems, as well as the executive, legislative, judicial, and political systems that support their coexistence with democracy. With all this in mind and to provide more context for my curious friend, I referred him to Joe Biden’s “Lift Every Voice” plan—named after a song from a poem written by James W. Johnson in 1899. The plan explicitly targets advancement in Black America, where philanthropic opportunities might help to focus my S E PT E MB E R 1 0 , 2 0 2 0
friend’s interest on an area of the plan that aligns with his passion. It’s also a best-kept secret that more people should be talking about. The stakes are so high in the upcoming election and heralding a plan like this could be a game-changer. In terms of a philanthropic agenda via policy, Biden’s programs offer a great deal of substance. And like so many previous activists already knew, when we lift and protect the most vulnerable in our society, we lift everyone. That’s how our humanity is tested. The plan is audacious and intricate— taking decades to ultimately fulfill its promise. I would categorize the essential areas into this five-point plan: • Advance economic mobility and close wealth and income gaps; • Strengthen America’s commitment to justice and equality; • Make far-reaching investments to end health disparities; • Address environmental justice and climate change; • Expand access to high-quality education that is affordable and equitable. When you take a more in-depth look at the plan details beyond all the policies and rhetoric, you’ll find various programs and resources that come together to address the harm caused by systems already in place. Biden’s “Lift Every Voice” plan is a mash-up of Booker, Buttigieg, Castro, Harris, and Warren’s plans for Black America ( https://joebiden.com/blackamerica/ ). It’s no accident that Biden’s plan also universally improves conditions for rural and metropolitan communities, the working and middle class, and the poor. Here are just a few program examples: • $100 billion Affordable Housing Fund and tax incentives to construct and upgrade housing stock; • $20 billion grant program to support criminal justice reform at the state and local level; • $1 billion per year in juvenile justice reform;
• Expand SBA programs and access to capital to start and grow businesses; • Forgive up to $10,000 a year in student debt for up to five years of public service; • $70 billion to HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs); • $50 billion in workforce training and reeducation; • Invest in community safety to reduce gun violence, hate crimes, and violence against transgender women of color; • Lower drug prices and expand access to mental health and reproductive health care; • Double the nation’s investment in community health centers; • Protect communities harmed by climate change and pollution with “green gentrification”; • and $1.3T to update and modernize infrastructure in underserved rural and metropolitan communities. Over the last six months, it has occurred to me that we blindly consume propaganda and mythical American history. We glorify atrocities and celebrate the undeserved victories of American patriarchs while undermining and dismissing others’ contributions. We’re shielded from our shared history, so engaging critical thinking and solving longstanding problems that plague us today is challenging. In a post-Civil Rights Movement era, we’ve also managed to obfuscate lingering racial issues and drive racist attitudes underground. Still, recent events have reopened old wounds and fueled more overt racial flames. Ending racism in America is a significant undertaking because it’s embedded in nearly every part of our
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The Embedded Philanthropy in Biden’s Plan for Black America
democracy and economy. Nothing has exposed these truths more than the impact of economic recessions, failing social safety nets, murders of unarmed Black people, and greater deaths due to poor access to quality healthcare. Everyone should support restorative and comprehensive policies at the local, state, and federal levels with their vote. New legislation and reform are certainly required. However, we also need to change enough hearts and minds of more people. Let’s convince them that it is in their best interest to finally level the playing field and reverse the harm that has been done. Racial justice and equality for all is not a zero-sum game. I’m excited that my good friend is choosing an empathetic path and a mission of reeducation to provide historical context about race in America. My greatest hope is that he is empowered to make the philanthropic choices that are most meaningful to him. I know his contributions will have a significant impact in achieving racial justice while he shares his new discoveries and knowledge with others. Derek Barnes is the Chief Operating Officer at g-dii Enterprises ( www.g-dii.com ) and a Senior Consultant at Ignition Point Consulting. He currently serves on the boards of Horizons Foundation and Homebridge CA. Follow him on Twitter @DerekBarnesSF or on Instagram at DerekBarnes.SF.
GLBT Fortnight in Review It’s A Holly Jolly Christmas! I was about to start this column with a victory in the Gavin Grimm case, which was sent back to square one by the Supreme Court at the start of the Trump administration. But that exciting news was displaced just now when I read that Kristen Stewart is starring in a lesbian Christmas romcom due out in November. I love Kristen Stewart, the subtlety of her acting, her range, her complicated good looks, the eclectic movies she chooses. And I love her even more for doing a Christmas movie, a predictable blur of trite seasonal shenanigans wrapped up with a heartwarming bow of happy holiday spirit. There’s even an image from the movie that features Stewart and her co-star at the ice-skating rink, one of the obligatory tropes of the genre. The movie is called Happiest Season, and is set in the small town where Abby and Harper grew up. The women go home for the holidays and Stewart’s character Abby plans to propose over Christmas. The drama involves Harper’s parents, conservatives who don’t know their daughter is gay. I’m guessing that they come around in the end. What do you think? I don’t know why I like these absurd movies. I’m not a fan of wasting screen time on pure trash, but I make a big exception for Christmas flicks, the more ridiculous the better. They’ve become a December ritual for me. Oh, and have any of you seen the old Saturday Night Live skit where Kristen Stewart seduces a housewife in the kitchen while the guys watch football? It’s one of SNL’s commercials for Totino’s pizza rolls, a product that I always thought was invented by SNL but apparently exists in real life. I recommend it. The skit, not the pizza rolls. He Persisted
So, Gavin Grimm! I can hear some of you from where I sit right now. “Ann ... it’s bad enough that you spend half this space laboriously recounting GLBT legal news, but do you have to burden us with updates from ancient history? Gavin Grimm must have high school children of his own by now.” “Ha, ha, very funny,” I reply, slightly wounded. You’re right that the case is an old one. But that’s why it deserves our attention. It’s been through years of ups and downs. It’s become more than a court case. It’s now an epic litigation saga of almost Homeric proportions. Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, perhaps. Back in 2015, Grimm was a transgender high school student in Virginia, when some parents realized he was using the boys’ facilities at Gloucester County High and complained. After some tense meetings, the school district came up with an anti-trans restroom policy, barring Grimm from the boys’ bathrooms. Grimm sued under Title IX’s ban on sex discrimination in public education (and the Equal Protection Clause), lost at district court, but won an appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Meanwhile, the Obama administration had weighed in on behalf of Grimm and other transgender students, formally agreeing that Title IX’s ban on sex discrimination protects transgender students from exactly the kind of bias Grimm endured. When considering the case, the Fourth Circuit relied exclusively on the official Obama policy as outlined by the Department of Education’s office of civil rights. The appellate panel noted that courts are expected to defer to an agency’s interpretation of law in cases like these. The school board appealed to the Supreme Court, and arguments were
By Ann Rostow scheduled for March 2017. Hmmm. Can you guess what happened to the trans friendly government policy in early 2017? Surprise! The Trump administration dropped, and subsequently reversed, the Obama policy, and the Grimm case never did make it to the High Court. Instead, the Court nullified his Fourth Circuit victory and sent the case back to the district court since Trump and company had now negated the rationale for the Fourth Circuit’s ruling. Adding to the setback was the fact that Grimm soon graduated from high school and had to convince the courts that he was still eligible to carry on the fight. (He was seeking punitive damages for one thing, and he also argued that he might wish to use the boys’ room as an alumnus on future visits to the school.) In the last three years or so, Grimm rehashed his case before the district court, won, and was then obliged to defend his lower court victory after the school board appealed to the Fourth Circuit. In addition to his original claim, Grimm was now asking the school authorities to put his correct name on his transcript, which the board had stubbornly issued in his old female name and refused to change. Then on August 26, as our last issue went to press, a 2–1 appellate panel ruled in his favor, relying in part on the High Court’s June ruling that gay and trans bias was inherently protected under rules against sex discrimination. As New York School of Law professor Art Leonard notes, the Fourth Circuit still features a majority of Democratic appointments, so the school board would not likely ask for a review by the entire Fourth Circuit bench. Their only hope now lies with the Supreme Court. After the Bostock decision in June, you’d think that they’d want to avoid the High Court as well and just fold
their cards at this point, but Justice Gorsuch made clear that Bostock was a matter of job discrimination under Title VII and did not involve bathroom issues and the like. And this is why this case remains so interesting. Will the High Court take the case if asked? And, if so, will they attempt to draw an artificial divide between sex discrimination in education and bias in the workplace? Watch this space! Hello? Is anyone still there? Waiting for President Biden I can’t keep up with the various tellall Trump books. I find it’s easier just to wait until they’re published and listen to the cable news commentators recount the juicy parts. But I’ve made an exception for Bob Woodward’s book Rage, which I’ve ordered for delivery September 15. I guess Trump and his circle gave Woodward full access, which is kind of bizarre after the veteran journalist published his previous Trump take-down, Fear. Indeed, according to CNN, Woodward interviewed Trump 17 times for this latest book, while Trump has lately called him a “social pretender” who “never has anything good to say.” Really? What would lead Trump to spend that much time talking to Woodward and what exactly did he expect? I’m guessing that he is so delusional, he believed he could make a positive impression on Woodward through sheer force of personality. Oh, and I loved his recent tweet, issued alongside the Woodward insult, where he said his niece “was never even liked by her kind and caring grandfather!” Call me crazy, but unless she’s a psychopath, part of the definition of being a “kind and caring grandfather” is liking your granddaughter.
Meanwhile, I know I’ve written about this before, but I’m annoyed by the dozens of people speculating on whether or not “Trump will leave office” if he loses the election. Come on, guys. Yes, Trump will leave office. It doesn’t matter what he says or tweets. The process will go on, starting with the official vote by the Electoral College in December. Biden and Harris will prepare for the transition, no doubt without any help from Trump, but then again, they don’t need his help. The inauguration will be funded and planned. The scaffolding will rise, and whether or not he attends the ceremony, at the stroke of noon on January 20, Trump will no longer be president. There’s nothing he can do about it. And no, he can’t just hang out in the White House after that. The Secret Service will be working for President Biden, not former president Trump. Before the inauguration, Trump can sue various states and demand recounts. But any or all of these cases will be fast-tracked to the High Court, where—conservative as they may be—the majority of justices are not inclined to overturn the legitimate results of state-run votes based on random complaints by Trumpian yes-men. Could Trump incite riots? Yes, I think to some extent he could. He could claim the election was stolen and call for his supporters to take to the streets. I think some of them might and it wouldn’t be pretty. But in the end, he will still be gone. And I, for one, do not believe Don Junior could engineer his own political future. There won’t be a Trump dynasty. It will be over. By the way, I could not believe my ears when Wolf Blitzer pointed out to Bill Barr that voting twice was against the law during a discussion of (continued on page 26)
Poland at a Crossroads with LGBTIQ People in the Crosshairs
6/26 and Beyond John Lewis On a warm summer evening in 1987, I found myself hanging out in the heart of the medieval main square of Krakow, Poland, with my three new East German friends I had met a few hours before. As we passed around a bottle of Bulgarian red wine, we conversed about our lives in America and behind the Iron Curtain. It was the perfect final evening of my trip to the Soviet-bloc, a place I had long wanted to visit having grown up during the Cold War. The next morning, I would board a train to Vienna. My East German friends were members of a theatre troupe and in town for an arts festival. They would return to East Berlin the next morning. Suddenly, one turned to me and said: “I would give anything to be with you on that train to Vienna tomorrow morning.” We all knew that the Eastern Bloc’s repressive travel restrictions forbid it.
What’s unique about the trumpeter’s call is that it stops abruptly midway through. Legend has it that centuries ago a trumpeter was announcing the closing of the gates to ward off an invading army, when an enemy soldier’s arrow pierced his throat and silenced him before he could complete the call. That evening, Krakow’s main square was nearly silent, save the trumpeter’s call and the sound of our voices. Poles were suffering through a period of severe government repression; restaurants, bars, and shops were closed at the time of the evening. Just two years later, Poland would find itself at a crossroads when the Cold War unexpectedly ended. Poland is now a member of the European Union and one of the largest recipients of the EU structural fund, but it once again stands at a crossroads. Poland’s far right Law & Justice Party is trying to establish an authoritarian, nationalist government based on their very conservative view of the values of the Roman Catholic Church and traditional Polish norms. They already control the presidency and the powerful lower house of Parliament. They have effectively seized control of the influential state
media and for the last few years have been doing the same with the judiciary, a move the EU declared “a clear risk” to “the rule of law in Poland.” This July, President Andrzej Duda’s successful re-election campaign demonized LGBTIQ people as its primary political weapon to attract and energize conservative voters. Duda invoked the virulent homophobia of deceased Pope (now Saint) John Paul II, who remains hugely popular in his native Poland. He quoted John Paul II’s declarations that being gay was an “intrinsic moral evil” and “objective disorder,” and same-sex marriage was “perhaps part of a new ideology of evil.” Duda slandered the LGBTIQ movement as being more dangerous than communism, claiming that LGBTIQ “are not people, but ideology.” Like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Duda is an authoritarian leader who foments homophobia for his political gain, linking it to nationalist values and inspiring further hatred. Indeed, some 100 Polish locales covering about one-third of the country have passed “LGBTfree” or “LGBT Ideology-free” zones, authorizing banning of LGBTIQ rights marches and other events. But Duda won re-election by a razor-thin 51% to 49% margin. And in response to Duda’s viciously homophobic campaign and policies, the LGBTIQ community and its allies have arisen in ways never seen
before. Despite extremist violence and police brutality and unwarranted arrests, many thousands of people have participated in pro-LGBTIQ marches and demonstrations, most recently fueled by the weeks-long pre-trial detention of nonbinary activist Margot Szutowicz.
CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-SHARE ALIKE 4.0
Moments later, the exquisite hourly call of a trumpeter, atop the highest tower of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, reverberated across the square. Trumpeters have been sounding such a call live since the 1300s when it then announced the opening or closing of the old city’s gates.
Equality March 2019 in Kraków On August 30, thousands of people gathered widespread, fearless, and outspofor Krakow’s 16th annual Equality ken activism in support of LGBTIQ March in the historic main square, people and democracy has led the same spot where my East some to term this summer’s events German friends and I conversed “Poland’s Stonewall.” late into the night 33 years earlier. Poland is at a crossroads with They did so even though Krakow LGBTIQ in the crosshairs. The itself is in a regional “LGBT-free zone.” Krakow trumpeter’s disrupted call warns of the threat of immiAs I reflect on events in Poland, I nent danger. We hope this sumrecall George W. Bush’s fomenting mer’s unprecedented outpouring anti-gay hysteria against marriage of support for LGBTIQ peoequality as a political tool in the ple and democracy leads to a day 2004 U.S. Presidential election. My when the trumpeter may complete mind also turns to the homophobic its call, heralding Poland’s open2008 Proposition 8 campaign that, ing its doors to LGBTIQ equality, like Duda’s reelection, prevailed by and indeed, the restoration of a free a narrow margin, 52% to 48%. society. After Prop. 8’s passage, someStuart Gaffney and John Lewis, thing completely unanticipated and together for over three decades, transformative took place. Across were plaintiffs in the California California and the nation, the case for equal marriage rights LGBTIQ community and a broad cross section of the public awakened decided by the California Supreme Court in 2008. Their leadership to rise, organize, and speak out in the grassroots organization against homophobia and hatred. Marriage Equality USA contribThe situation for many LGBTIQ uted in 2015 to making same-sex Poles seems dire today, and some marriage legal nationwide. are fleeing the country. Indeed, the future of Poland as a free state is on the line. But the awakening of S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES
S EPT EM BER 10, 2020
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There Is No Going Back us focused and fighting on what needs to be changed. In these chaotic times, when the Trump administration is undermining the Black Lives Matter movement and attempting to roll back the rights of LGBTQ+ people, especially the rights of transgender people, we can look to our history for both inspiration and wisdom.
Roland Schembari and Bill Hartman, Co-Founders Randy Alfred, Founding News Editor 1978 Kim Corsaro Publisher 1981-2011
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Aging in Community Dr. Marcy Adelman Mary Walsh and Beverly Nance are a lesbian couple in their late 60s and early 70s. They had been together for decades when they decided to marry in 2009. In 2016 they decided to move to the Friendship Village Sunset Hills in Missouri. But the retirement village denied them the right to live there because they are a lesbian couple. The village has a policy that only allows “marriage that is understood in the Bible.” The couple responded by filing a complaint in July 2018 in the 8th District Court. On July 15, 2019, Judge Jean Hamilton ruled against the couple. Sexual orientation is not protected in the 8th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals that covers 5 states: Missouri, Arkansas, North and South Dakota, and Nebraska. Mary and Beverly had the courage to stand up to discrimination. They weren’t successful with their complaint, but history teaches us that even when you don’t succeed, standing up to discrimination and injustice matters—it inspires us and keeps
Throughout the decades of the 1950s, 60s, and early 70s, legal and religious persecution was pervasive. Homosexuality was classified as a severe mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association. Police brutality, harassment, blackmail, and hate crimes were an everyday occurrence. Legal persecution was pervasive. In American cities across the country, there were Blue or Sabbath Laws that were established in the 1600s. These laws mandated attendance at church on Sunday and prohibited and criminalized whatever was thought of at the time to be immoral behavior, such as same sex dancing, sodomy between consenting adults, and public displays of homosexual feelings. These laws were used by police and local officials to harass gay bars and to humiliate and/or arrest queer people. In the 1950s there was an effort, known as the Lavender Scare, to remove LGBT people and perceived communists from working in the government. Thousands of LGBT employees were hunted down, outed as queer, and ousted. Once outed they not only lost their job, but they also were disowned by their families and lost custody of their children. LGBT people in the military were dishonorably discharged. Being fired
Aging Services Pioneer Hadley Dale Hall (1933–2020) San Francisco has lost a towering figure in aging services and a leader in the LGBTQ+ community with the death of Hadley Dale Hall, 87, who passed away August 10 following a short illness. Retired CEO of the Visiting Nurses and Hospice Program in San Francisco, Hall founded San Francisco Home Health Services, a nonprofit organization, where he developed the groundbreaking 30th Street Senior Center in 1976. He formed comprehensive programs for the elderly, such as home delivered meals, congregate meals, adult day health, and home care, all while advocating for living wages and better working conditions for home health aides and homemakers. He also created Coming Home Hospice, the first residential AIDS hospice in the country. The program provided care and support for people with AIDS and those with other terminal illnesses.
Without any legal protection, LGBT people were unwilling to disclose their sexual orientation to their family, their colleagues, their health care workers, their employer, or to their landlord. LGBT relationships were not honored or recognized. LGBT people did not have the right to marry or to adopt children. If your partner was ill in the hospital or died, you had no right to visit or make decisions for their care or their burial. When your life partner died, you were not entitled to survivor benefits or their pension. Living in the closet, non-disclosing of your sexual orientation, during the pre-civil rights movement decades was the only protection LGBT people had. The resilience of LGBT people was, and is, the ability to create supportive caring communities and to enjoy and celebrate loving, meaningful relationships. These relationships, families of choice, and communities made the closet a safe and nurturing harbor in the middle
Within the religious establishment there was no refuge. LGBT people were demonized as morally deficient and predatory. LGBT people were considered sinners who deserved to be shunned or punished if they did not renounce their sexual orientation. LGBT people of every faith were ostracized and vilified. It was a widespread religious belief that LGBT people chose to be queer, or more precisely, chose to be sinners and consequently could be counseled to turn away from and renounce a life of sin and become heterosexual. It is not known how many tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of LGBT people went through antigay Christian counseling and emotionally violent conversion therapy in the hopes of being saved. Support from the faith community did not surface until the mid-60s and early 70s. GLIDE Church and the Metropolitan Church, both in San Francisco in the 1960s, were the exception in creating welcoming congregations for LGBT people. It was not until the 1980s and the AIDS epidemic that the faith community began to view LGBT people in a more positive light. But it was the classification of homosexuality as a severe mental (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.
“Our organization and services reflect Hadley’s strength and spirit, and we pay tribute to his many hours of effort and selfless contributions toward the mission and success of Openhouse. We are so sorry we have lost Hadley. What a champion for seniors, LGBT people, and Openhouse,” said the Board Co-Presidents. Hall is survived by his husband of nearly 60 years, Warde Laidman, and a sister, Carmela Sanders, of Beaverton, OR, as well as many nieces and nephews. On Lok and Openhouse will observe a celebration of Hall’s life at the new Openhouse Community Center in 2021 after it is safe to gather socially. A bronze tribute already cast in his honor and planned for the new Openhouse Community Center now becomes a memorial, and will be unveiled at the celebration of Hall’s life, Dr. Skultety said. Dedicated LGBTQ Community Member and Realtor Cheryl Lazar (1948–2020) Cheryl Lazar passed away on Sunday, July 26, just 4 days before her 72nd birthday. Born in New York City, Lazar followed her heart and moved to San Francisco in 1983. It was in the City that she found the love of her life, Pam David, with whom she spent 34 wonderful years, and where she realized her passion for real estate.
His legacy includes major contributions to address ageism and homophobia in city services, especially those expressly designed for seniors. Since his retirement in 1986, Hall had been an active adviser and volunteer with nonprofit aging organizations On Lok and Openhouse, where he served as a long-time foundational board member. He was instrumental in bringing the dream of a LGBTQ+ senior community to life at the Openhouse campus on Laguna Street, according to Dr. Karyn Skultety, Openhouse Executive Director.
Lazar had an incredible talent for making friends—all of whom swore they were her best friend. What is true is that her love of life, her sense of humor, and her warmth drew people to her. She could also be demanding! When David suggested they get married in October, 2008 Lazar said she would if it included a party, a present in a light blue box, and if Mayor Newsom personally officiated. All conditions were gleefully met!
“Hadley was a beloved figure in the LGBTQ+ senior community in San Francisco, and his legacy lives on at Openhouse,” said Dr. Skultety. “He selflessly contributed his experience, grit, and determination to help LGBTQ+ seniors age comfortably at home rather than go back into the closet at often unwelcoming nursing homes.”
It took many career twists and turns before Lazar landed on work that engaged her fully. She began her work life as a teacher in New York City’s public schools and in the Bay Area, and then worked with flowers, plants, and interior landscaping in many ways and forms. Finally, after having wanted to be a real estate agent for years, she overcame her fear of tests and got her license. From day 1 there was no looking back.
Dr. Marcy Adelman and the late Jeanette Gurevitch founded Openhouse in 1998, providing housing, social services, and community for LGBTQ+ seniors. Hall became a board member in 2004, served on the board through 2017, and remained actively involved as a key advisor and board alumnus.
His passion to provide comprehensive senior services to the LGBTQ+ community and his selfless dedication to improving the lives of LGBTQ seniors continues to inspire and define the work at Openhouse, according to Tim Sweeney and Nanette Miller, Co-Presidents of the Openhouse Board of Directors. SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S
It was not uncommon for LGBT people to be blackmailed, attacked, beaten, or murdered. The attackers were not charged with a hate crime. Instead, the victim was invariably blamed. LGBT people had no legal protections, no recourse.
of time much harder than the one we live in now.
In Memoriam
“Hadley was an extraordinary advocate for seniors,” Dr. Adelman said. “He was a mentor, teacher and friend not only to me, but to all Openhouse board members and staff. As a leader, he was both generous and fierce—generous with his time, praise, and compassion, and fierce in his advocacy and drive to see that seniors receive the best care possible and then some. We loved him.”
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or dishonorably discharged for being queer followed LGBT people wherever they went, severely limiting their opportunities to start over.
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In addition to her spouse, Lazar leaves behind her loving sister, Linda Smith, and Smith’s husband Robert, and her adored niece and nephew, Kira Frank and Joshua Frank, and Joshua’s wife Julia. Lazar was embraced and loved by three generations of in-laws, including Marianne and Joel Paine, Robin David, Andy and Celia David, Kate Kelly, Cassidy, Paul and Maggie Stachowicz, Allison, Kushal and Lia Paine Chakrabarti, and Peter David and Chitra Panjabi. She will also be missed by her godchildren, Halli and Cassidy, her puppy, Ruby, and her legions of friends and colleagues, who all loved her dearly. Donations in her memory may be made to either or both of the following: The Rabbi-in-Residence at the University of San Francisco, Swig program in Jewish Studies and Social Justice. Please comment that this gift is in loving memory of Cheryl Lazar. This honors the spiritual support Rabbi Angel has provided to her and David over these past 2 years, and to recognize the importance of interfaith work for social justice ( https://tinyurl.com/yyro8nq3 ). Muttville, to celebrate Lazar’s love of all things canine ( https://muttville.org/donate ).
LGBTQ+ F
San Francisco-based Brio Finan during the firm’s 20th Annivers was selected as a finalist for the gious InvestmentNews’ Excellence sity & Inclusion Awards. Judges honor shared that Brio was cho of its “success in spreading the w the importance of diversity and and how those efforts have insp from diverse backgrounds to su financial advice profession.”
Brio team of volunteers at Marin Food Bank
Establish Brio exc dling the and unc tional fin uations t affect LG viduals, and fam team me quick to ever, tha have to b complica accepted or as par prestigio
During this year, when the figh justice and equality has renewed and importance, Brio’s work ov two decades appears all the mor breaking. Ethics, equity, and so are not always at the forefront o much less the world of finance. bravely gone against that tide, i numerous others to do the same
Brio supports Our Family Coalition
Brandon J. Miller, a Private We sor/Founder at Brio, is a longtim nist for the San Francisco Bay Tim “Money Matters” column has p readers with helpful information out the roller coaster of LGBTQ ties, unprecedented problems fa this pandemic era, and more.
Brio supports Marin Food Bank
Brio is an annual sponsor for Horizons Foundation's Golf Fore Good Tournament.
Miller co-founded Brio with Joa dan, a former ICU nurse who, a years, decided to leave health ca sue another career. Shortly befo retirement party in 2014, she to knew I wanted to do something challenge me and (so that I coul closely with people. It’s always b tant to me to do something that ers and, after much thought and searching, a career as a financia was the perfect fit.”
Brio is now one of the nation’s la pendent private wealth firms. W ulate Brio’s team on their succes being selected as a finalist for th Excellence in Diversity & Inclus and share the following recent i with Miller and Jordan.
San Francisco Bay Times: H you two first meet?
Brio team members Shannon, Allie & Gene
The Brio team celebrating Halloween
Joanne Jordan: We met at an Express Financial Advisors (me and just liked each other. We ha kind of philosophy and were sim way we approached our work an both really cared about people. kind of a “capitalist with a socia attitude. We wanted to help peo similar values, so we really conn that of level.
San Francisco Bay Times: W inspired you to launch your financial group?
Joanne Jordan: We both wan flexibility and options than we c within the employee structure. W to call our own shots and it beca and more obvious that wasn’t go pen unless we went out on our o
Brio staff making friends with "Lou Seal" 16
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Brio's Brandon Miller cheering for the SF Giants S E PT E MB E R 1 0 , 2 0 2 0
Brandon Miller: We wanted to put clients first. It was clear v on that we did not fit the financ sor mold of straight, white, 60-y from Topeka or wherever. In or to do what made sense for us, w
Photos Courtesy of Brio Financial Group
Financial Services Firm Honored for 20 Years of Diversity & Inclusion
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our own thing. We weren’t going to be able to play by the normal rules because we personally weren’t “normal.” Since the industry was not set up for LGBTQ people, we had to change our little, tiny little slice of it and figure out a way to make it more about our friends and clients, who weren’t “normal” either. Joanne Jordan: So, in 2001, we wrote our mission statement and made the leap. It was really, really thrilling. Scary, but thrilling. When we got our first fax, we jumped around and literally ran down the hall going, “We’re getting a fax!” San Francisco Bay Times: Was your firm always LGBTQ focused? Has that been an important part of your mission from the very beginning? Brandon Miller: Yes, it has been. Back then, there wasn’t any kind of marriage equality. A big part of what we were always trying to do was to figure out what works for the gays, right? Especially from the legal, insurance, and tax perspective, there were hurdles. We had to learn all the rules and then figure out workarounds. Because of that, I think we ended up with a more academic focus than a lot of our peers. We had to approach financial planning more holistically. Also, by virtue of being gay, we had a better understanding of what that meant for folks. Even something as simple as cash flow is different in Gayville because people handle their money differently when they’re not married. Plus, it was all of our friends who were the people who had faith in us to begin with. And so those were the people whom we had to figure out solutions for. Joanne Jordan: It was also really important to me to work with women. When I was still a nurse, before I got into financial planning, I didn’t like the way I was treated as a woman in regard to my investments. I felt intimidated. So, I wanted to work with women to educate them and make sure they felt comfortable asking lots and lots of questions before making decisions. I think women make decisions differently than men. It’s a big reason why I wanted to go into the business in the first place. Not just to become a planner, but to work for gays and lesbians, and women in general. San Francisco Bay Times: How did you go from being a nurse to a financial planner? Joanne Jordan: I had been an intensive care nurse for 20 years and was ready for a change, so I started exploring different options. I knew I needed to work with people, helping people. I always liked finance and I love planning. So, I interviewed and got a job. It was one of the scariest—and best—decisions I ever made. In nursing in the hospital, repeat visits were not good. But when people came back to me in financial planning, they were getting financially healthier. I really liked how that was a flip. San Francisco Bay Times: When you two first started your business, what challenges facing the LGBTQ community did you have to contend with? Joanne Jordan: There was so much we couldn’t do because we couldn’t legally marry. Every single piece of planning was affected. Things many straight people take for granted needed to be addressed differently for our LGBTQ clients. First, when you’re gay, there is no pre-conceived path to follow, no “right” way to handle your money. I always told my straight clients the same thing: There’s no right way to do this; we need to find the right way for you. A lot of estate planning, like setting up wills and trusts, was very challenging and unique. And vital because nothing was going to just go to your spouse naturally by order of law. The whole parenting piece was huge. How do you adopt a child together, or if one
partner is going to have the child, how will the other person have legal parental rights? Brandon Miller: There were literally over a thousand different things that change when you can marry. But those were just the technical hurdles. There were also lifestyle things we had to navigate. Think about people who lost all their friends to AIDS. Or those who got disowned by their parents. Or people who are HIV+ positive and spent all their money before the cocktails came out, and now they might live for 40 more years! There were all kinds of different impacts that being part of the community allowed us to understand where our clients were coming from. We were going through the same issues and battles, the same fears or worries or whatever. And that’s part of what builds trust. I think it’s also part of why we’ve been so successful for so long. We can relate to people whose life priorities are kind of different. San Francisco Bay Times: How then did marriage equality change your approach? Brandon Miller: We used to think of ourselves as this gay financial planning firm. Not that it was ever exclusively gay, but that was so much of the focus. Once there was marriage equality, we broadened our view, thinking of ourselves more as a firm for people who are nontraditional. Because basically, if you’re not straight and married with 2.4 children, you’re not traditional in the financial planning world. San Francisco Bay Times: How else has your firm evolved over the years? Joanne Jordan: We’ve certainly grown a lot over time, bringing on other advisors and creating this whole path for them within the firm. We’ve brought people in, had them start as an assistant, and helped to mentor them and educate them so they could move into different roles. That was one of the pieces of our initial vision. The two of us sat down at the beginning and said, what do we want the firm to look like in 10 years, in 20 years? And, we’ve been pretty true to that vision, growing and mentoring and helping people, and incorporating charitable giving into our business. Brandon Miller: And having a lot of fun along the way! That was part of the vision, too. You have a great point about the mentoring, JoJo. If you’re in this world where it’s all straight white males, how do you ever get diversity into the equation? I think we’ve always been really good about educating and mentoring and bringing up people who are not, frankly, straight white males. I don’t know how conscious it was in a certain way, but we’ve always done that from the very beginning. We’ve been willing to make sure that those are the people we’ve been nurturing and growing. And we’ve ended up with a much more diverse and better crew because of that. I really think part of our strength as a company is, and always has been, that we have so many different world views. It really helps strengthen the advice that we’re able to give to people because we see it collectively through a lot of different lenses. The case strategy work that we always do together allows all of us to bring our own thoughts and viewpoints into the room to come up with the best possible solution for the client. San Francisco Bay Times: Do you have any advice for other financial groups, or your industry as a whole, that could help them to achieve greater diversity and inclusion? Brandon Miller: Well, clearly, we have a long way to go. Non-Hispanic whites
make up 61% of the population, yet 86% of financial planners are white. Also 77% of financial planners are male. That’s a pretty big disconnect. Joanne Jordan: As far as advice, it’s always an ongoing learning curve for people who are not different not to assume so much about others. I remember being at an industry conference and they asked how many people were married. I raised my hand and they came around and said, “Oh, what does your husband do?” I said, “Well, my spouse is female.” I would like people in other firms to be a little bit more cognizant and aware, to not make so many big assumptions. Especially because some people are not comfortable bringing it up. Brio founders Brandon Miller and Joanne Jordan But if you ask questions in the So, it feels really good to stay connected right way, then people realize that they can and involved and continue to build the culbring it up. You can’t make assumptions ture that Brandon and I started when it was about clients’ lifestyles if you’re going to just the two of us. create a plan that works for them. San Francisco Bay Times: Brandon, in your column for this paper, you share valuable financial advice. Any tips for staying financially af loat and healthy during this pandemic and economic crisis? Brandon Miller: Number one, wear a mask. That’s the healthy part. Mostly we’re counseling clients to stay calm, this too will pass. If you’ve been laid off, file for unemployment right away. Spend within your means, which might be easier since we can’t travel or eat out these days. Or maybe you find eBay and Amazon too tempting. If you’ve had to dip into your cash reserve, build it back up as soon as you can. Keep the long-term picture in mind. If your investment plan is based on your goals and your goals haven’t changed, keep doing what you’re doing. San Francisco Bay Times: Joanne, as a retiree, any advice for the rest of us? Joanne Jordan: Retirement is the bomb! My best advice is to retire to something, not just from something. I’m still a part of Brio, even though I’m no longer there day to day. Brandon and I weren’t just business partners; we’re family and that continues. My relationship with Brio and everyone who works there is really important to me. I never saw it as a job. It was a calling, like nursing was a calling for me.
PHOTO BY JESSE PRECIADO COURTESY OF BRIO FINANCIAL GROUP
ncial Group, sary year, prestie in Divers for the osen because word about d inclusion pired others ucceed in the
San Francisco Bay Times: Your team has already achieved so much. What are your future plans and what goals would you still like to meet? Brandon Miller: This is going to sound totally hokey, but I think about McDonald’s with their “over 100 gazillion served” sign. Brio is all about how many households can we impact. Onboarding more advisors means we can have more clients and help more people move further ahead in their lives, whatever that means to them. Because a lot of times it’s not just about having more money. Very rarely is that really the answer. The goal is trying to have more people achieving whatever their life dreams are. At the highest level, that’s what we care about. And I see us continuing to grow because I think the way we approach money at Brio is really cool and different. For most financial firms, their primary focus is to accumulate money. Our primary focus will always be to make sure that people are living their best lives. If that means taking money away from us to go buy a vacation home, go do it. Maybe that’s a little bit of the gay thinking. That, and not ever taking ourselves too seriously. For More Information Brio: https://www.briofg.com/ 2020 Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion: https://www.dandiin.com/
Brandon Miller’s 5 Tips for Staying Financially Sane Now Money worries are natural during this pandemic and economic crisis, but Brandon Miller, private wealth advisor, a founder of Brio Financial Group, and a San Francisco Bay Times columnist, has some suggestions.
1. Wear a mask. Stay healthy so you can actually enjoy your money. 2. File for unemployment if you get laid off. Don’t let pride get in your way. 3. Spend within your means. If you’re earning less now, figure out ways to spend less. 4. If you’ve dipped into your cash reserve, build it back up as soon as you can. 5. Keep the long-term in mind. If your investment plan is based on your goals and your goals haven’t changed, keep doing what you’re doing.
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By Donna Sachet
“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” –William Arthur Ward
We recently found ourselves at a posh waterfront restaurant with an out of town friend. Everyone wore masks until seated, tables were sufficiently distanced, and we prepared for a delicious meal. Please note: this pandemic should not be used as the excuse for every reduction in customer service! Can’t a waiter make menu suggestions? Can’t they ask about drinking water preferences? Can’t they check on the guests at their tables regularly? Amid the many challenges of continuing fine dining, let’s not sacrifice the most basic niceties. By the time our main courses had arrived, the cold wind had become so intolerable that the merlot was unnecessarily chilled, the tablecloth and other items had to be anchored down, and we found ourselves huddling for warmth. Finally, and only after requesting, we were relocated to a table closer to the inside with a portable heater to have our dessert. Come on, San Francisco, we can do better. In addition to dining al fresco, we are seeing a modest return of drag and other performances in the safer setting of outdoors. 18th Street, between Castro and Hartford, is becoming a hub of activity in front of Midnight Sun and Poesia restaurant across the street, where Cockatielia runs her popular mask shop. We were recently able to grab a bite to eat, a drink to sip, and a drag show to enjoy. On the other end of 18th Street, we have Harvey’s and The Edge luring their loyal clientele to curbside tables for food and drinks. And in front of The Cove and 440 Castro, newly completed construction offers comfortable seating, and last Sunday, a drag show in the window of Knobs retail store. Kudos to performers Alexis Miranda, Olivia Hart, Vannessa Bousay, and so many brave drag queens who ignore the discomfort of face masks on top of make-up, high heels on pavement, and minimal sound systems to keep drag shows alive! Another establishment that is pivoting during this health crisis is Oasis, where weekend nights find Darcy Drollinger hosting drag extravaganzas on the street and up on their outdoor roof. Given the choice between packing up our drag or finding new ways to express it, some persistent performers refuse to give up! In addition to several online options, we are beginning to see the re-emergence of live inperson shows once again, albeit in a totally new format. Last Friday’s online viewing of Mark Paladini’s Who Murdered Donna Sachet… Again? was a rousing success. For those unaware, Mark has an extensive theatre background and wrote and produced an original play way back in 1999 called Who Murdered Donna Sachet? Cast with community members and designed as a fundraiser for Positive Resource Center, its success led to the 2002 production of Who Murdered Donna Sachet… Again? When Mark discovered that footage from that second production existed, he converted it to a more modern format and presented it last Friday for a group viewing that drew nearly 100 viewers and $500 for his chosen beneficiary, The Trevor Project. The film was preceded by brief interviews with cast members Scott Brogan, Snatch, and Dan & Darryl Alexander. The hilarious cast also included Alexis Miranda, Tiger Lily, Bob Brunson, Cher a Little, Robert Davolt, Adam Reeves, Mama Sandy Reinhart, Briggs Hawley, and Lenny Broberg. We won’t reveal the ending for fear of spoiling future viewers’ experience, but suffice it to say, laughter abounded. We described this film as a historic and hysterical document, since the reception afterwards included footage of key individuals from our community who have since died, including Alan Selby, Suzie Wong, and Fernando Robles. Many commented afterwards that the experience reminded them of the importance of friendships, the power of unity, and the fun of innovative creations. Thank you, Mark, and all who participated. Please use the calendar herein to guide you to enjoyable online events around the corner. Horizons Foundation is embellishing the typical virtual gala by adding a resource on their website that includes a music track, specialty cocktail menus, and backgrounds for your virtual photos, all designed to enhance your gala experience. As with most events of this kind, contributions of any kind are welcomed. EQCA’s virtual gala is combining the resources of Sacramento, San Diego, Palm Springs, Los Angeles, and San Francisco to make this event truly memorable. That means more diverse awards, more celebrity guests, and more excitement all around. Make a contribution and join their annual gala.
PHOTO BY PAUL MARGOLIS
hose much talked about warm days of September, our traditional San Francisco summertime, have certainly arrived! So, while some may find reasons to complain, why not take advantage of these rare warm nights to explore the many new outdoor dining opportunities? The Castro neighborhood is bustling with parklets of all descriptions, offering some semblance of social activity within safe guidelines. Let’s face it, evenings in San Francisco that are pleasant enough to dine outdoors are few and far between, so grab them while you can. Granted, the list of rules and regulations often dwarf the menu, but such are the times in which we find ourselves.
Hosted by Donna and writer/director/producer Mark Paladini, a screening and viewing party benefit of the live production Who Murdered Donna Sachet ... Again? was presented via Facebook Live on Friday, September 4. Originally written for PRC, the show’s return benefited The Trevor Project. Along with Donna, a lineup of LGBT community personalities appeared, including Mama Sandy Reinhardt, Briggs Hawley, Alexis Miranda, Alan Selby, Dennis McMillan and Snatch.
Calendar
a/la Sachet Saturday, September 12 Horizons Foundation 40th Anniversary Virtual Gala 6 pm Matching grant from James Hormel & Michael Nguyen Contributions encouraged 6 pm www.horizonsfoundation.org Sunday, September 13 EQCA Virtual Gala 6 pm Equality Trailblazer Award – Pete & Chasten Buttigieg Equality Visibility Award – Disclosure, Netflix Original Documentary Vanguard Leadership Award – Fiona Ma & Evan Low $100 & up www.eqca.org Tuesday, September 15 Queer Nightlife Talks: What Makes a Party Inclusive? 7 pm–9 pm Hosted by Bay Area Queer Nightlife Fund Facilitated by Beatrice Thomas & Angel Garfold https://tinyurl.com/yxta45vy
Donna Sachet is a celebrated performer, fundraiser, activist, and philanthropist who has dedicated over two decades to the LGBTQ Community in San Francisco. Contact her at empsachet@gmail.com
PHOTO BY SHAWN NORTHCUTT
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Highlights of Frameline 44
Film Gary M. Kramer The 44th edition of the Frameline Film Festival will take place virtually September 17–27 this year. The festival opens with a screening of S--t and Champagne, about San Francisco’s drag queen D’Arcy Drollinger, at the West Wind Solano Drive-in in Concord, CA. Over the next 10 days, there are dozens of features, documentaries, and shorts from 23 countries that showcase LGBTQ life. Here is a rundown of 10 features and 6 shorts playing at this year’s fest. Based on Patricia Cotter’s play, Beautiful Dreamer (September 18, 6:30 pm) is an engaging, if stagy, drama about Margaret (Erin Daniels), a lesbian in San Francisco, whose best friend Billy (Louis Ozawa Changchien) is moving to Oakland. He and his wife Sara ( Jennifer Mudge) are having a second child with a surrogate, Crystal (Tate Moore). Margaret is also struggling with writer’s block, but luckily has a patient and supportive girlfriend, Jen (Kathryn Smith-McGlynn). Things get complicated, however, when Crystal moves in temporarily with Margaret and Jen after Sara’s judgmental mother, Rita (Wendie Malick), arrives. Beautiful Dreamer creates drama as these characters grapple with the meaning of family as well as their expectations and reality—as when Margaret and Jen are asked to be guardians for Billy and Sara’s children. And while the dynamic between Margaret and Crystal is initially awkward, they soon become closer, which creates a conflict. The story is a bit overstuffed, with multiple financial and interpersonal issues defining the characters, but the film benefits from its ensemble cast creating warm,
No Hard Feelings
Cicada
credible relationships. Daniels and Changchien are immensely likable and have an easygoing rapport. In support, Malick plays her prickly part well, and Smith-McGlynn’s is terrific as the no-nonsense Jen who grounds the film whenever it gets too manic.
Rialto (September 19, 9 pm) is an intense character study about Colm (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor), whose life is coming apart. His father passed away a month ago, his job is in peril, and he’s becoming increasingly more distant towards his wife Claire (Monica Dolan) and kids, Shane (Scott Graham) and Kerry (Sophie Jo Wasson). The only person he seems to care about is Jay (Tom Glynn-Carney), a teenager who has sex on the down low with Colm for money. The film, directed by Peter Mackie Burns and written by Mark O’Halloran (who adapted his play Trade), is claustrophobic as Colm spirals out of control. Vaughan-Lawlor’s performance rises (or lowers) to the occasion. The way he looks hungrily, pleadingly, at Jay expresses so much desire and self-loathing. But it is his coiled body language that really conveys his internal pain and self-destruction. A drunken speech he gives at one of his lowest points is particularly affecting. Rialto is a heavy, relentless drama, but it is also riveting.
The German import, No Hard Feelings (September 18, 9 pm), chronicles the relationship that develops between Parvis (Benny Radjaipour), a gay Iranian who was raised in Germany, and the siblings Bana (Banafshe Hourmazdi) and Amon (Eiden Jalali), whom he befriends in a detention center where he works. Parvis begins a romantic relationship with Amon, but Amon wants to keep things secret. Meanwhile, Bana is concerned about deportation. Director/co-writer Faraz Shariat’s film, which won the Teddy award at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, features salient points about immigrant and parental sacrifice, as well as questions of belonging and identity. However, Bana’s story is more interesting than Parvis and Amon’s relationship. Her character injects the film with its verve, which makes No Hard Feelings a bit uneven. The attractive cast provides a strong sense of what life is like for these characters living in limbo, but the film ultimately should have greater impact. Actor, writer, codirector, and producer Matthew Fifer makes an auspicious feature film debut with the potent romantic drama Cicada (September 19, 4 pm). “Based on true events,” the film has Ben (Fifer) haunted by a childhood trauma, embarking on a relationship with Sam (Sheldon D. Brown), a handsome and closeted African American guy who has his own complicated backstory. How things progress in their lives and relationship create this absorbing film’s drama.
Beautiful Dreamer
Hey)—meeting on a rooftop and finding common ground. Well shot and nicely performed, the short is slight but predictable. Encounter, from Mexico, is a slow, touching drama about Arcelia (Magda Vizcaino), an aging lesbian, who meets Julian (Hoze Meléndez), a gay teen, during a critical time in her life. The emotional connection these strangers have is the key to this subtle film. Rounding out the program is The Name of the Son, from Argentina, a heartfelt short about a father (Daniel Cabot) and his transgender teenage son, Lucho (Tristán Miranda), during a trip to the beach. Their relationship, which is fraught with tension, culminates in a quietly powerful moment. Gossamer Folds (September 20, 1:30 pm) is an earnest, well-meaning drama about Tate ( Jackson Robert Scott), a 10-year-old boy who moves to suburban Kansas City with his parents, Frannie (Sprague Grayden) and Billy (Shane West). Tate is a curious kid; he carries a pocket dictionary to look up words in a cute, precocious affectation. His parents, however, immediately become concerned about Tate befriending their transgender neighbor Gossamer (Alexandra Grey). Of course, the noble Gossamer is more helpful than harmful, and she looks after Tate when childcare becomes an issue for Frannie. Gossamer Folds imparts obvious life lessons about how to treat transpeople that Tate instinctively knows—and most of the adult characters, including Gossamer’s father (Franklin Ojeda Smith), need to learn. The film allows Grey a nice showcase, but her kindness, sass, and common sense are used to smooth
Rialto
KIT’N KITTY’S
QUEER POP QUIZ 20
Encounters: International Short Dramas (September 20, 11 am) is an outstanding program of six LBGTQ films about acceptance. The program opens with the excellent Tribunal, in which Javad (Mansoor Noor), an Afghani, is seeking asylum in Australia. His fate may lie in the hands of his sympathetic interpreter, Azar (Shideh Faramand). In the Danish import Babydyke, Frede (Anna Zerbib Streitz) just wants to meet a girl she fancies. However, her efforts to connect are complicated by her big sister Natasja (Levi Eja Roepstorff), whose teasing is unappreciated. Soup, from Russia, chronicles a pivotal moment between a father and son (Andrey Mihhalev and Nikolay Kozak) over a bowl of soup. What is not said is as critical as what is. The French entry, The Edge, may be the weakest in the lineup, because it does nothing new with its familiar premise of two opposites—Malik (Aïmen Derriachi), an Arab, and the queer Jules (Yuming
Gossamer Folds
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A CUNNING LINGUIST In 2018, The New York Times published this cruciverbalist’s first crossword puzzle, in collaboration with playwright Joe DiPietro. A) Lea DeLaria B) Rachel Maddow C) Cynthia Nixon D) Jane Lynch ANSWER ON PAGE 26
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over the film’s many rough patches. Storylines, such as Frannie’s job situation, are dropped, while one, about a trans friend of Gossamer’s being attacked, arise out of nowhere. It is fine that this melodramatic film occasionally lapses into flights of fantasy, but Gossamer Folds, which is set in 1986, plays up tired, decades-old clichés. Cue Bronski Beat’s “Small Town Boy” on the soundtrack. Killing Patient Zero (September 20, 4 pm) is a nimble documentary that uses talking heads—including critic B. Ruby Rich, writer Fran Lebowitz, and filmmaker John Grayson—as well as archival footage, newspaper clips, and photographs to humanize Gaetan Dugas, who was dubbed, “The man who brought AIDS to North America.” The film, directed by Laurie Lynd, initially traces how society went from criminalizing homosexuality to the era of gay liberation before AIDS decimated the community. The uncertainty, discrimination, and shame of the disease, especially in its early years, created social and moral dilemmas. Killing Patient Zero contrasts President Reagan’s silence on AIDS with the publicity generated by Randy Shilts naming Dugas in his landmark book And the Band Played On. As friends and family recall Dugas’ friendly personality, AIDS researchers and medical experts doing contact tracing champion his willingness to share information about his partners and provide blood samples. While the documentary raises the negative point that Dugas was resistant to changing his behavior until proof could show transmission occurred through sex, Lynd’s compelling film also acknowledges the impact of Dugas being demonized.
Killing Patient Zero
Karin Jaffie, aka Kit/Kitty Tapata, won the title of Mr. Gay San Francisco in 2011 and has earned many other honors since. Connect with Jaffie via Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ktapata
Pier Kids
Writer/director Elegance Bratton’s eye-opening documentary Pier Kids (September 21, 7:30 pm) chronicles life as it is lived on New York City streets by a secret society of homeless queer and trans youth. As Krystal, DeSean, and Casper, among others, tell their personal stories to Bratton’s unflinching camera, Pier Kids shows the close-knit community these homeless youths create—and the support they have for each other. Forgotten Roads (September 22, 6:30 pm) is a poignant drama from Chile about Claudina (Rosa Ramírez), a widow who moves in with her daughter, Alejandra (Gabriela Arancibia), after her husband dies. When Claudina hears Alejandra’s neighbor Elsa (Romana Satt) singing, she investigates, and befriends her. When Claudina confesses to loving another woman when she was a teenager in high school, Elsa kisses her, and awakens her spirits much to Alejandra’s chagrin. Forgotten Roads traces Claudina’s liberation, which includes learning to drive—Elsa teaches her—and going to a gay club, “El Porvenir,” run by Facundo (Raúl Lopen Leiton). But can her happiness last? Forgotten Roads is a simple, but charming film, full of lovely scenes, such as Elsa and Claudina dancing, as well as strange moments—there are regular UFO sightings—but this mix of realism and fantasy, which starts out slow, is quite enchanting. Writer/director Hong Khaou’s Monsoon (September 22, 8:30 pm) is a gentle, reflective drama about the gay Kit (Henry Golding) returning to Vietnam after three decades abroad. The reason for his journey becomes clear as Kit talks about family, war, and history with his cousin (David Tran), an American he starts dating (Parker Sawyers), and others. Exquisitely filmed, Monsoon is full of quiet moments that let the impact of the characters’ memories and emotions resonate. Minyan (September 23, 8:30 pm) by out gay filmmaker Eric Steel— he made the documentary The Bridge, about suicide attempts off the Golden Gate bridge—is set in 1986 Brooklyn. David (Samuel H. Levine) is a teenager in the tight-knit Russian Jewish community. After his grandfather Josef (Ron Rifkin) moves into a retirement home, David befriends Josef’s neighbors, Itzik (Mark Margolis) and Herschel (Christopher McCann), two widowers who are now a discreet couple. David is also
Forgotten Roads
Minyan
covertly exploring his own homosexuality, sneaking into a gay bar, and eventually becoming intimate with the sexy bartender (Alex Hurt). Minyan, however, is not a coming out story as much as it is a meandering drama that shows how David reconciles being both Jewish and gay. While the film boasts an impressive, internal performance by Levine, and strong support from the ensemble cast, the plotting is often elliptical, the pacing is slow, and the emotions arguably too subdued. Minyan will be a challenge for some viewers, but it does have an unerring sense of time and place and a feeling for the insular communities it depicts. © 2020 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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Off the Wahl Jan Wahl Movies that satirize, examine, or even celebrate politics have always been on the cinematic scene, from Citizen Kane to Seven Days in May to The Kingmaker to Michael Moore’s Where Do We Invade Next? But there are a few that are so relevant to right now that I vote for a repeat or new viewing. Google to find out where these treasures can be found. The Contender (2000) tells the story of a Senator ( Joan Allen) being confirmed after the death of her predecessor. Attacks on her personal life as well as past comments and allegations of all sorts threaten to derail her possibilities. Writer/Director Rod Lurie said he wrote the part expressly for Allen, but she plays it as any person
caught in the corruption of the system. Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, and Sam Elliott costar in a powerful and under-rated film. Get Me Roger Stone (2017) is the life and career of political strategist and lobbyist Roger Stone, who is demystified in this excellent documentary. We get insight on how he planted the seeds that allow his friends, wealthy businessmen, and moguls to enter the arena of power and upend the Establishment. Is it due to narcissistic ability or loyalty to his tribe? Follow this one up with 2019’s Where’s My Roy Cohn? Then call a therapist. One of my favorite films ever made is 1957’s A Face in the Crowd. You
will never look at Andy of Mayberry the same as Andy Griffith makes his film debut as the ruthless, nightmarish Lonesome Rhodes. He’s an Arkansas drifter who becomes a media sensation, diving into egomaniacal madness. Written by Budd Schulberg and directed by Elia Kazan, the film follows fame to political power, using celebrity to mold the American mind. Even the most frustrated of us need to lighten up through smart, witty movies about politics. One of the best is 1997’s Wag the Dog. These days I seem to view this one at least every few months. A spin doctor and a Hollywood producer fabricate a war to distract Americans from a presi-
dential scandal. Politics and showbiz meet in a brilliant comedy so outrageous it could be true! Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Anne Heche, and Willie Nelson are part of the remarkable cast. There is no way we do not include the strong, unforgettable Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). When an earnest young man is appointed to fill a vacancy in the Senate, he collides with dark and detailed political corruption. From government lackeys to thugs to the destruction of ideals, how much hardball is needed to play with the big boys? James Stewart as Jefferson Smith completely captures patriotism to despair, fighting the bullies to filibus-
ter. This is a Frank Capra film that everyone should see at least once. The Candidate, Bulworth, Lincoln, JFK, Milk, Suffragette, and others are to be included here. But start with the aforementioned and buckle up for some bumpy months ahead. Emmy Award-winner Jan Wahl is a renowned entertainment reporter, producer, and teacher. A member of the prestigious Directors Guild of America, she is regularly featured on KPIX television (every Monday morning starting at 6:15 am) and on KCBS AM & FM and other media outlets. To read and listen to her reviews for KCBS, go to: https://bit.ly/343yt9N
Bodies and Barriers: Queer Activists on Health for LGBT people of all ages. From informed consent for intersex children, to social service navigation for the LGBT community, to caregiving concerns for LGBT older adults, the book is comprehensive and relevant for these scary times we are living through.
Words Michele Karlsberg Bodies and Barriers: Queer Activists on Health (PM Press), edited by Adrian Shanker, is considered to be the first book of the new decade that is a must have. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed conversations of health equity back at the forefront of our lives. The emergence of a new virus that quickly swept the world and has taken more than 189,000 American lives as of this writing has caused many of us to think about the importance of accessing healthcare when we need it. The release of the critically-acclaimed new anthology is therefore timely. This book includes essays by 26 queer activists from around the world. Contributing authors write about barriers to affirming health care 22
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As Rea Carey, Executive Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, said, “Now, more than ever, we need Bodies and Barriers to shine a spotlight on how and why good health care for LGBTQ people and our families is such a challenge. Bodies and Barriers provides a roadmap for all who are ready to fight for health equity—in the doctor’s office, in the halls of government, or in the streets.” The following is a clip from the Introduction by Adrian Shanker followed by the afterword to Bodies and Barriers by Kate Kendell. Adrian Shanker: “Those who survive our unfair landscape persevere through barriers at every step of the way—barriers created by the government, by the medical establishment, by the pharmaceutical industry, and by insurance companies. We live with increased tobacco, alcohol, and other drug usage. We live with increased risk for obesity and diabetes. We live with increased risk for chronic diseases, including HIV and cancer. We live with increased disS E PT E MB E R 1 0 , 2 0 2 0
crimination, violence, harassment, and bullying. We live with family rejection and minority stress. And we are demanding that our health care systems respond to our lived experiences with culturally appropriate care at all stages of our lives. This book is arranged to follow the lifespan— youth, young adults, middle-age adults, and older adults. Every health care professional can benefit from this book. From those who work in labor and delivery to those who provide hospice care. From primary care clinicians to specialists in every health field. From surgeons and family doctors to nurse, counselors, social workers, and pharmacists. Every person providing care for humans is providing care for LGBT humans.” Kate Kendell: “Throughout my career, I’ve been involved with some of the LGBT movement’s greatest fights: marriage equality, nondiscrimination in the workplace, parenting rights, inclusion in sports, ending conversion therapy, protecting youth, elders, and LGBT families. The common thread that links all these issues is health and well-being. It is not possible to be a healthy, vital person if you are under assault for who you are. Precisely because so many LGBT individuals struggle with stigma, safety, acceptance, and belonging, many in our community still struggle
Adrian Shanker
with high rates of mental and physical health challenges. Despite the odds, our movement for LGBT liberation has come far. In my twenty-two years leading the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), I had a front-row seat to our national progress. Out of nothing and in the face of hostility from our own government, we built the HIV/AIDS infrastructure in the 1980s to fight back and save our men and everyone impacted by the pandemic. When I started at the NCLR in the 1990s, LGBT parents routinely lost custody of their children as they came out of heterosexual marriages. Now, sexual orientation is not a basis for losing custody. In the early 2000s, many openly wondered if we should fight for the freedom to marry or if such a fight would be successful in their lifetimes. In 2015, we won marriage nationwide at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kate Kendell
We’ve come a long way from the time when LGBT people were dying left and right from a treatable virus to witnessing some of those early AIDS activists marrying longtime partners. But the LGBT community still experiences open hostility and disregard from health care professionals, some LGBT health needs are still not covered equitably by health insurers, and policy makers still sometimes lack the political will to advocate for equitable policies for our community. From obstetricians refusing to treat lesbians, to gay men being ridiculed for wanting a prescription for preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), health care professionals can do better. Policy makers can do better. All of us can do better. Our movement for equality, for liberation, has been breathtaking in its gains. But we still fight for our humanity, our health, and our happiness. The priority for a new (continued on page 30)
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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2019)
Guerneville Recovery
Photos courtesy of Liam Mayclem
Liam Mayclem: This had to be particularly tough personally, as I know your co-workers are like family.
Liam’s LGBTQI List Liam P. Mayclem For decades, Guerneville, Sonoma— the little blink and you’ll miss it town nestled among the redwoods, ninety minutes north of San Francisco— has been an LGBTQi summer holiday haven and year-round weekend getaway. Lazy days on the sun-kissed River, poolside fun at the RRR, Boon dinners with friends, camping under the stars, Sundance parties; these are my fondest memories of Guerneville. But more recently floods, a pandemic, and wildfires are top of mind. Crista Luedtke is an out, proud hotelier & restauranteur who, for more than a decade, has poured her heart and soul into the community she loves and calls home, Guerneville. She has four businesses in town: Boon Hotel, Boon Eat+Drink, Brot—a Bavarian inspired brew pub & restaurant—and a bar El Barrio. These recent months have been really tough, says the ever-optimistic entrepreneur. “Unfortunately, I have had to scale back considerably,” Luedtke told me for the San Francisco Bay Times. “All of my services at my restaurant Boon Eat+Drink, where I used to do six dinners and five lunches, I’m now doing five dinners and three lunches. My bar El Barrio is currently closed. It just doesn’t make sense to only have two tables out back and do takeout cocktails. I’ve taken my newest baby Brot down to four dinner services. It’s just really tricky. I’m trying to be smart. I’m trying to make sure I keep my staff employed and making money as well. But this year post floods, then COVID, then the threat of fires—it has been the hardest and most challenging time ever.”
Crista Luedtke: That’s the stressful part, just trying to figure out as the season slows down, I have to make cutbacks and how do I do that? And how do I do it fairly? And so, these are difficult decisions for any small business owner, but particularly for me in that my team, these guys are my family and many have been with me for several years. I can’t even explain how devastating it is financially now. I did receive some government assistance with PPP funding as well as some economic disaster loan, so that will hopefully get me over the hump. But where is over the hump? That’s the big question. Liam Mayclem: Resilience! Floods, a pandemic, and then wildfires would be enough to bring most people and most communities to their knees, but not Guerneville, this resilient little town. Crista Luedtke: Bay Area folks are coming back to support us, which feels great at a time like this. I mean, it was devastating being evacuated for eight days and at the final big push of Liam with Crista Luedtke at Boon Hotel in Guerneville our season. We only have about five weeks left of the big summer push. To come to a dead stop with the fires and then to worry about this little hamlet of a town possibly being no more was just terrifying, to say the least. But today there are blue skies, it’s a nice, beautiful, warm day. People—locals and visitors—are happy they’re out and about and moving around. I feel grateful. The town is grateful. Liam Mayclem: Guerneville escaped the ravages of the LNU complex fire: the thirty-nine fire crews and more than fifteen hundred personnel made sure of that. The community is beyond grateful to the first responders, to CAL FIRE, and to you and fellow chefs who expressed their gratitude with warm, hearty meals for those on the front lines. Crista Luedtke: What we do is feed people, and we can say thank you through a meal. It’s also a nice distraction from all the chaos to be able to just dive in, and for a moment in time, forget about all the other stuff and just cook and know that you’re touching people and thanking them through food. Plus, there’s the camaraderie with other chefs. We’re in the same boat, and just to be together, it feels really good. And, in fact, gives you that hug that we’re all missing without being able to be close with one another right now and that fills me up, lifts your spirit, and allows you to carry on and keep doing what you do. Liam Mayclem: Guerneville, the mighty resilient hamlet among the redwoods, which 4500 plus people call home, is open for business again. COVID-19 is still in the driving seat, but the fires are in the rearview mirror. Crista Luedtke: Stay at the properties here. Eat at the restaurants, order takeout and buy gift certificates, and do whatever you can to really support these small businesses because we don’t want them to go away. We need this little town, this little community. That’s what we need now more than ever, your support.
For More Information Boon Eat + Drink https://eatatboon.com/ Boon Hotel https://boonhotels.com/ Brot https://www.brotguerneville.com/ Big Bottom Market https://www.bigbottommarket.com/ Farmhouse Inn https://www.farmhouseinn.com/ Russian River Rentals http://www.russianriverrentals.com
Liam Mayclem: Come wine, dine, play, and stay along the Russian River—it’s a great getaway with the perfect union of natural beauty and small-town charm. See you soon, Guerneville. Note: The interview was conducted over Labor Day weekend, and as we filed the story, tbe LNU complex fire was 91% contained.
Guests enjoying the socially distanced outdoor dining at Boon
Emmy Award-winning radio and television personality Liam Mayclem is regularly featured on KPIX as well as KCBS, where he is the popular Foodie Chap. Born in London, Mayclem is now at home in the Bay Area, where he lives with his husband, photographer Rick Camargo. For more information: https://www.bookliam.com/
Boon Hotel & Spa https://boonhotels.com S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES
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Five Pantry Upgrades to Instantly Elevate Quarantine Cooking
The Gay Gourmet David Landis Let’s face it. Seven months into the pandemic and we’re all going stir crazy. Don’t get me wrong. I love my husband (we just celebrated 31 years together); and I love Gaston and Alphonse, our adorable pound pups, who are having the time of their lives with us. It’s just—well— it’s A LOT of together time. And I really miss the restaurants. I miss the camaraderie, the social gettogethers, and the first-rate, innovative cooking. It’s just not the same at the Landis/Dowdall household. So, I decided it was time to upgrade. And lucky for me, I heard from food connoisseur and promoter Kim Elwell (The James Collective) that it’s really not that hard—with a few quality ingredients—to make your quarantine dinners sing. So, here are 5 great ingredients that are readily available to help:
Premium salts: Jacobsen Salt pure flake finishing sea salt https://jacobsensalt.com/ Gourmet chocolate: Guittard https://www.guittard.com/ With that in mind, I asked Kim and her colleagues for some advice. Here goes: Why should people upgrade their pantry ingredients (especially now, during a pandemic)? “Upgrading your pantry ingredients is a great way to add value, versatility, and flavor to your kitchen and cooking. With the current health situation we’re experiencing, it’s important to stock up ahead of time and be prepared no matter how current shelter-in-place orders change—while having everything on hand to make easy and delicious meals at home without unnecessary trips to the grocery store. A wellstocked pantry (with quality ingredients) also helps us eat healthy right now.” —Vincent Ricchiuti, Enzo Olive Oil
Certified organic, estate-grown olive oil from California’s Central Valley – Enzo Olive Oil http://enzooliveoil.com/
“Keeping staples such as Maille mustard and quality olive oil like Enzo on hand means you’ll always have what you need for quick and easy marinades, salad dressings and more.” —Devinne Zadravec, The James Collective
Classic phyllo dough + shells - Athens https://bit.ly/35hcYTl
Does quality really matter? Why?
Premium French mustards: Maille https://bit.ly/329IL6D
“Quality definitely matters when it comes to your pantry goods. It can be the difference between an average meal and a fantastic one. When we’re spending so much time in our kitchens, cooking for ourselves and our families, using quality ingredients in simple meals is a way to make our daily routine feel more special and really elevate any meal.” —Vincent Ricchiuti
lutely moist and delicious—but we recommend leaving out the garlic) and the Athens phyllo dough for a tasty spanakopita that made us think we actually were dining at a fine San Francisco restaurant again.
Will these ingredients cost more?
Recipe from The Mediterranean Dish https://bit.ly/3ibZjAG
“Premium ingredients plus small pantry upgrades may cost a little more, but it’s worth it. For our family, it’s important to know where our food comes from. So, we’re happy to pay a little more to support farmers and makers who care about the process, their products, and the land.” —Kim Elwell, The James Collective
Spinach and Feta Filling 16 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained 2 bunches flat-leaf parsley, stems trimmed, finely chopped 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 tablespoons Enzo extra virgin olive oil 4 eggs 10.5 ounces quality feta cheese, crumbled 2 teaspoons dried dill weed Freshly-ground black pepper
I’m not a great cook, can I still make these recipes? “These recipes are user-friendly and don’t require hours or advanced kitchen skills to make. With quality ingredients and key pantry staples, you can’t go wrong!” —Kim Elwell So, here are some great recipes that use these premium upgrades. With these ingredients, you have a complete dinner: an appetizer (spanakopita); two entrée choices (chicken and flatbread); a side dish (slaw); and dessert (chocolate). The Gay Gourmet and his husband tried both the sheet pan chicken (abso-
And Gaston and Alphonse did get some tasty leftovers. Greek Spanakopita from Scratch (Appetizer)
Crust Athens phyllo dough Sheets (recommended by The Gay Gourmet), properly thawed 1 cup Enzo extra virgin olive oil (recommended by The Gay Gourmet), more if needed Instructions 1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. 2. Before you begin mixing the filling, be sure the spinach is very well
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Are you finding it hard to keep busy while isolating at home during the age of COVID-19? With the ongoing pandemic, many people are learning how to bake, how to grow their own vegetables, how to repair their homes, and how to cook. Why not add home canning to your to-learn list? Now is the perfect time to rediscover the fun and flavor of home canning because September at your farmers’ market offers the best of summer’s peaches, corn, peppers, and cucumbers while also giving you a glimpse of fall with apples, pears, Brussels sprouts, and more. At the Castro market, pick some succulent peaches from Allard Farms in Westley and Ken’s Top Notch in Fresno for canning peaches or jam, berries from BerryLicious Farm in Gilroy for strawberry jam, apples from Rainbow Orchards in Camino for applesauce or apple butter, or pickling cucumbers from Valley Bee Farm in Fresno for your very own homemade dill pickles! Pick up a book or two on home canning like the Ball Blue Book, a longtime favorite. We also recommend that you stick with reputable canning websites like Fresh Preserving ( https://www.freshpreserving.com/ ) or the National Center for Home Food Preservation ( https://nchfp.uga.edu/ ). Food in Jars is another website for safe canning recipes ( https://foodinjars.com/ ), where you’ll find safe and tested recipes. Consider joining a Facebook group that offers recipes and information for canners. Whichever way you decide to learn, be sure to learn how to preserve and can safely while self-isolating at home! Your bulk purchases will greatly help your local farmers during this difficult time. With months of pandemic restrictions—and now threatened with wildfires and smoke—farmers are being hit hard on all sides. Local farmers’ markets are one of the few remaining outlets where farmers can sell their fruits and vegetables directly to consumers. All the purchases you make will help to keep them farming and feeding their own families, so please help your local farmers by visiting a nearby farmers’ market and purchase as much produce as you can. Local farmers are depending on you!
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3. To make the filling: In a mixing bowl, add the spinach and the remaining filling ingredients. Stir until all is well-combined. 4. Unroll Athens phyllo sheets and place them between two slightly damp kitchen cloths. Prepare a 9 1/2″ x 13” baking dish. Brush the bottom and sides of the dish with olive oil. 5. To assemble the spanakopita: Line the baking dish with two sheets of phyllo, letting them cover the sides of the dish. Brush with olive oil. Add two more sheets in the same manner, and brush them with olive oil. Repeat until two-thirds of the phyllo is used up. 6. Now, evenly spread the spinach and feta filling over the phyllo crust. Top with two more sheets, and brush with olive oil. Continue to layer the phyllo sheets, two-at-atime, brushing with olive oil, until you have used up all the sheets. Brush the very top layer with olive oil, and sprinkle with just a few drops of water. 7. Fold the flaps or excess from the sides (you can crumble them a little). Brush the folded sides well with olive oil. Cut spanakopita only partway through into squares, or leave the cutting to later.
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DILL PICKLE S 16 to 18 good si zed pickling cucu mbers, washed 2 cups apple cid er vinegar 2 cups distilled white vinegar 4 cups water 5 tablespoons pi ckling salt 16 garlic cloves, 2 per jar 16 small sprigs fr esh dill, 2 per ja r 4 teaspoons mix ed pickling spices 4 dried chili pep pers, seeded (o ptional), 1/2 for 8 pint canning ja each jar rs, lids, and ring s In a large pot, co mbine water, vi negars, and salt Sterilize 8 pint .B jars in boiling w ater for a few m ring to a simmer. the counter an inutes. Arrange d evenly divide on spices, garlic, an pers in each jar. d optional chili Slice off blosso p e pm ends of each into halves or q pickle. Slice pic uarters. Keep o kles n ice until read y to stuff jars. Firmly pack pic kles into each ja r, leaving ½-inch pour hot vineg headspace. Car ar m efully jar. Use a butter ixture into each jar up to 1/2 inch below rim knife and slide of it down the insi remove any air de of each jar to bubbles. Add st erilized lids and boiling water fo rings and proce r 10 minutes in ss in a water bath ca canner and let nner. Remove fr cool on the co o u m n ter. Listen for th in a cool, dark e lids to pop. St cupboard for u p to 9 months. ore
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/ S E PT E MB E R 1 0 , 2 0 2 0
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drained, and squeeze out any excess liquid by hand.
The Castro Farmers’ Market is open every Wednesday, 2:30 pm to 7 pm, through November 18th, Noe at Market Street. The first hour of the market is for seniors and those most at risk for coronavirus.
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Farmers’ markets continue to be an essential part of our local food system, and while safety guidelines remain in place, we will continue to offer an outlet for farmers, customers, and the community to enjoy fresh local produce. We thank you for supporting your local farmers’ market because you, the community, are an essential part of our local food system. Your support keeps our farmers’ markets running and our farmers farming!
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This Month at the Castro Farmers’ Market Rediscover Home Canning By Debra Morris
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The Extremely Busy Woman’s Guide to Self-Care By Suzanne Falter (Editor’s Note: Lesbian author and podcaster Suzanne Falter is an expert at getting others “Back to Happy.” That is the title of her new podcast— available at iTunes and Spotify—that helps anyone to feel good about life again, no matter what is of concern. For most of us, that is a lot these pandemic days, what with additional health and financial troubles on top of the usual worries. Self-care is always important, but is even more so these uncertain days. Falter therefore shares the following excerpt from her best-selling book, The Extremely Busy Woman’s Guide to Self-Care (Sourcebooks, 2019). And, yes, extremely busy men can benefit from its thoughtful advice too!) Why Making Time for SelfCare Is Not About Time Management I used to think all of my problems could be solved with more time. I imagined an extra weekend ought to do it. If I could only find the space to breathe, my difficult relationship, my hectic career and the strange, lonely emptiness I kept experiencing would finally settle down. Then I’d be happy again, I told myself. Finally, I’d be able to relax. Or so I thought. True deep, delicious self-care isn’t about time management, taking the weekend off, or getting a regular massage, though those things can certainly help. Nor is it about working to the point of exhaustion, and then retreating to a spa for an afternoon. Or using meditation, Chardonnay, and TV binges to zone out after yet another toxic fight with your loved one. It’s about creating a better life overall—one that’s aligned with your values and who you actually are. It’s about honoring the still, small voice within that guides you, impeccably, to become your best self. And it’s about having the courage to make changes that truly reflect you, and what your beautiful, sensitive, beating heart desires more than anything. To do this, you begin by tuning into yourself, and listening to your body—and this can be hard at first. You may observe your dreams, and write them down. Perhaps you journal, as well. Maybe when you tune in you hear nothing at first. Or maybe you just notice sudden thoughts while you’re taking a shower. One way or another, once you commit to the path of self-care and you begin to listen in earnest, a pronounced trail of breadcrumbs shows up as life reveals what’s really next
for you. You may know what I’m talking about because your body and soul are already talking to you—quite loudly, even. They may, in fact, be telling you to slow down. And that thought can be downright scary. Yet, here is the truth about our life in the 21st century: Most of us do far more than we need to. We live in a culture that favors doing over being, and intensity over serenity. We are taught to overproduce at an early age— ever stepping up our games to become higher and higher achievers who learn how to compete, push, and drive ourselves into the ground. And yet … what if all that “overproduction” was actually unnecessary? What if we just showed up and did a good-enough, adequate job instead of one that is mind-blowingly superb? What if we earned enough money, and had enough stuff, instead of needing to rake in ever more dough and drive an ever-spiffier car? Would that actually be enough for us? Could we live with ourselves if we didn’t live up to the hype that resonates through our culture? Could we settle for “perfectly fine” instead of “extraordinary”? If this concept seems foreign or downright wrong, consider this. You and I have little perspective about our lives. Or at least we don’t until the bottom drops out and everything falls apart. Then the view is glaringly clear. You may read this and think I’m down on human achievement. Hey, I love achievement! Without it, we wouldn’t be where we are today. And yet … a steady diet of over-achievement leaves us with broken bodies and stressful empty lives that are devoid of meaning. I’m suggesting there is a time and place for each of us to stop and reflect on what we’re doing with these beautiful lives we’ve been given. And then to make changes where necessary. Only when you take a clear, unflinching look at your life, and really see exactly where you’re at, can you begin to take better care of yourself. And that’s when life gets really good. What’s on the other side of all that personal discovery and self-care is true, unequivocal happiness. That much I can promise you. You may have to make a few changes first, or at least develop a few new habits. That can mean stepping out of your comfort zone for a while.
But trust me on this. You are really, really going to like where you wind up, because it will be the most deliciously free, authentic, in-flow place you can imagine. This is what happens when you listen to your inner longings. Now, you could be reading this thinking none of this applies to you. You know you are just too damn busy to ever consider taking time off. But I’m not advocating that you do. I’m simply advocating for a pause to reflect.
Take Me Home with You! Carson
And I’m providing another perspective on how to get underneath your current state of busy-ness, so you can dig into what you need and even actively crave in your life. It could be that this book triggers some new ideas for you about how to manage your busy-ness. Or it encourages you to ask for support you never realized you needed. Or it opens your mind to adding some new creative meanderings to your day. Whatever it does for you, may it free that inner spirit who longs to speak to you. And may it empower you to listen to her well. From “The Extremely Busy Woman’s Guide to Self-Care” by Suzanne Falter. She is the host of the “SelfCare for Extremely Busy Women Podcast,” “Back to Happy,” and keeps a blog at https://suzannefalter.com/
“My name is Carson! I’m a 4-year-old country boy who is new to the big city and still learning my way around. I’m looking for a quiet home with an adopter who will help me to settle into my new life here. I’m a big boy (70 lbs!) with a big heart, and I’ve got a lot of love to give to someone special. If you’re looking for a best friend and loyal companion, I’d love to meet you.”
PHOTOS BY RINK
Carson 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 Carson. To apply to meet Carson, visit www.sfspca.org/adopt For more information: https://www.sfspca.org/adoptions
Dr. Jennifer Scarlett and Pup
Sister Roma and members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence joined Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and Mayor London Breed at Dolores Park on Friday, September 4 to launch a new campaign, in conjunction with the City's Diverse Communities project, encouraging wearing masks. S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES
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SHORTER (continued from page 3)
resume our pre-pandemic lives, attending classes and working in an office. We need the people who see us the most, outside family—school officials, employers, and co-workers—to have opportunities to step in before tragedy strikes. For more information on how GVROs work or how to obtain one, please visit: https://speakforsafety.org/
Unless he can lie, cheat, and steal his way to re-election, he is going to lose, and lose bigly.
Phil Ting represents the 19th Assembly District, which includes the Westside of San Francisco along with the communities of Broadmoor, Colma, and Daly City. KAPLAN (continued from page 8) In the wake of the OPD use of tear gas and other dangerous projectiles against peaceful demonstrators, there was a surge in complaints as well. It will be the Oakland Police Commission who will review the use of teargas and violations of the OPD crowd control policy. As the City of Oakland begins the process of reimagining public safety, there needs to be a body overseeing what is happening—looking out for our civil rights and constitutional protections. The full document of the latest monitor report, along with earlier such reports, is at: https://tinyurl.com/y5olpurc Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan was elected in 2008 to serve as Oakland’s citywide Councilmember; she was re-elected in 2016. She also serves on the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC). Follow Councilmember Kaplan on Twitter @Kaplan4Oakland ( https://twitter.com/Kaplan4Oakland ) and Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/Kaplan4Oakland/ ).
If it takes destroying the postal service that Benjamin Franklin gifted to a relatively nascent nation 250 years ago, then so be it. Destruction and disruption of the USPS might very well prove to be the most demonstrable act of voter suppression and interference in the 21st Century—and as instructed by a sitting president to boot. One would hope that this strike against the USPS alone is enough to give any thinking person pause about the extremes this man will go to win, and to maintain the penultimate seat of political power. There should be no doubt that this is the most important election of our lifetime, possibly for the future life of our democracy. What’s not on the ballot? Anyone’s 100%, all-in enthusiasm for the Democratic ticket. OK, Biden might not thrill some folks. But comparatively much less thrilling? Another four years of a Trump reign of authoritarianism, and tyranny. Which is not to mention that, historically, authoritarians and dictator-
ships never work out well for LGBTQ people. Just sayin’. I am all for the light versus dark, love versus hate mantras put before us by the Biden-Harris ticket. What the world needs now is love sweet love, yes, indeed. It always does. However, as much as I love such well-intentioned, calming sentiment as originally expressed by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, the sheer forcefulness of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries easily drowns out empathetic, dulcet tones, tentativeness for calling things out as they are. We are running against a wannabe dictator, an authoritarian. Take a deep breath. Say it with me. Similarly, I am all for continuing to prosecute the case against Trump, and for his ouster. However, as we prosecute, he simply executes; he just does. He just marches on, and intends to along with a Wagner soundtrack for a very, very long time. Trump might be bending the levers of our democracy to near breaking points. But he hasn’t broken our democracy— not yet. Trump knows that only true democracy can stop him. That is why he
is hell bent on its destruction. Democracy can and must fight back, and win. It is our only hope. We are our best and only hope. As we run into the light, let’s also make sure to be very clear about why this time it is most important than ever that we knock the living daylights out of any possibility of Trump’s re-election: no on tyranny, yes on democracy. As the new mantra goes, Plan Your Vote. If you can, vote early. Make sure your friends and family are registered to vote. Booting Trump out of the White House aided by an avalanche of counted voteby-mail ballots? Poetic justice. 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.
ROSTOW (continued from page 11) Trump’s bizarre suggestion that people give that a try. Barr assumed his puffy, jowly, serious face and intoned that he wasn’t up to date on the laws of every state, as if what? As if some states might have some peculiar laws that allow residents to vote twice? This is the Attorney General of the United States speaking! He Can’t Be Sworn in Soon Enough I see that I have a number of important news items yet to discuss, but I’m not in the mood for many of them. A federal judge struck down a Health and Human Services policy that allows health care providers to discriminate against transgender patients based on religion. Hey, it’s great news but I’m focused on January 21, when the whole house of cards can be swept aside in one glorious gesture.
Take the next item that I plan to avoid. Do you remember that several binational gay and lesbian couples have had trouble acquiring citizenship for their kids? They’ve had to sue the government for what would be routine paperwork for any straight couple in the same situation. Last June, a federal court ordered the State Department to issue a passport to a little girl, born in Canada to two dads. Her parents are both Americans and married, but their daughter was considered born out of wedlock through a surrogate and ineligible for automatic citizenship. Now, in a similar case, a federal judge in Georgia has also ruled against the government, ordering citizenship for a girl born in England through a British woman surrogate. The judge ruled that, since her two dads were married, the girl was not
born “out of wedlock,” surrogate or no surrogate. She was thus entitled to natural born citizenship. Astonishingly, Trump and the noxious Mike Pompeo are appealing the ruling in that first case, and I guess they’ll appeal this latest ruling as well. For God’s sake why? What is wrong with these people? With any luck, these appeals will be dropped January 21. Every Dog’s Death Diminishes Us Finally, Ruth Marcus, high on my list of favorite columnists, wrote recently about the sudden death of her 12-year-old family dog Tank. Marcus, who like all anti-Trump commentators has been on the receiving end of nasty commentary, was touched and surprised by the overwhelming sympathy she received
on her normally toxic Twitter feed. She was reminded, she wrote, of a story about homeless people and their dogs living under a bridge on Christmas. Most of the reactions, she remembered, expressed concern for the dogs. I have noted with chagrin that I can breeze through articles about people, actual human beings, dying in a ferry disaster somewhere, but will be hit with pangs of anguish by distressing news of an injured pet. Of all the stories I’ve covered, I’m still haunted by the arsonist who set fire to the stables of two gay men and killed all their horses. And lately, I’ve been avoiding the details of the boat sinking that drowned thousands of cows because it’s too sad. Dead cows, I ask myself? Hello? How about the refugees dying in the Mediterranean? How about
Americans going hungry, sick seniors, lost Black lives? What’s wrong with me? I have no problem watching the fundraising ad for starving Russian holocaust victims, but I have to mute the one with the scraggly stray dogs. Part of what Marcus had to say was that the corrosive divide in American politics seemed to vanish with Tank’s death. Domestic pets, with their unconditional love and trust, rely on the protection of human beings, so 95 percent of us internalize their suffering. Our fellow humans, by contrast, must earn our love as individuals. It’s instructive that serial killers torture animals as children and that Donald Trump has no pets. arostow@aol.com
ADELMAN (continued from page 14) disorder by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 1952 that increased religious and legal persecution and increased antiqueer discrimination to a whole new level. Homosexuality was classified as a sociopathic personality disorder. Countless numbers of men and women were incarcerated and institutionalized. Many more struggled for decades with the stigma of being labeled morally and mentally deficient. The trauma and harm done to LGBT people by faithbased communities and the APA is a very dark and painful chapter of American history.
across the country. They offered help to people who had been arrested or lost their jobs, supported academic research on homosexuality, and sought non-queer allies to speak in their defense.
The LGBT community responded to this escalation of injustice by organizing. In the 1950s, homophile organizations sprang up in cities
In 1957, Evelyn Hooker published the first study to empirically test the assumption that homosexuals were mentally ill. Her study found no dif-
The Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), founded in 1955 by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, was one of those organizations. DOB started out as an alternative to the bars. It was a social club where lesbians could come together, support each other, and build community. Over time, DOB became increasingly more focused on civil rights issues and supporting academic research.
KIT’N KITTY’S
QUEER POP QUIZ B) Rachel Maddow
On the eve of its publication, Rachel Maddow said: “This is kind of it, like there will never be a baby, but there’s this freaking crossword puzzle, and I am very, very excited about it.”
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In the 1960s, the civil rights movement emboldened lesbian and gay advocates to take more direct and aggressive tactics. DOB was one such organization and the Mattachine Society, a gay male organization, was another. The Mattachine Society, under the leadership of Frank Kameny, organized the first gay protest in front of the White House. By the end of the 1960s, LGBT advocates and civil rights groups had laid the groundwork for the reclassification of homosexuality as a normal and healthy lifestyle. Then, at the end of the decade, in the summer of 1969, a spark was lit.
The Stonewall riots of 1969 are considered to be the birth of the modern LGBT rights movement. Police were conducting a typical raid at the Stonewall, a bar in the West Village in New York, when something unexpected happened. Instead of filing out of the bar and into waiting police vans, transgender women of color and LGB patrons rioted. They fought back and refused to be intimidated and harassed.
In the darkest, most homophobic decades, when there was no protection and few allies, LGBT people stood up, came out, and put everything on the line to support each other and oppose discrimination and injustice. History and our elders teach us to believe in ourselves and each other, to never give up, and to remember we are defined by how well we live and love, and how we respond to injustices and the challenging moments of our lives.
In 1973, with the spirit of Stonewall at their backs, almost two decades of academic research that shattered the myth of mental illness and an increasingly aggressive strategy of “out” advocacy, queer organizations, and activists were successful in advocating for the removal of homosexuality as a mental disorder in the DSM. It was replaced with “sexual orientation disturbance for people in conflict with their sexual orientation.” It would take 14 more years for homosexuality to be completely eliminated from the DSM.
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.
ENJOY THE VIEW! CASTRO STREET CAM
ANSWER (Question on pg 20)
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ferences between homosexual and heterosexual participants. A new era in “gay” academic research began. Over time a body of research was published that eventually dismantled the myth of homosexual men and lesbians as mentally and emotionally deficient and was instrumental in putting pressure on the APA to delist homosexuality from the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM).
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STAY SAFE WEAR A MASK
Jean Malin: Broadway’s Queen of Queens Photos courtesy of Bill Lipsky, PhD
Faces from Our LGBT Past Dr. Bill Lipsky Some years after it happened, the nationally syndicated columnist Dorothy Kilgallen told her readers about a fight in a Greenwich Village club in 1928 or 1929. “Jean walked into Hot Feet late one morning and a tipsy group of men made some loud comments on his blondined hair. Jean picked up a champagne bottle by the neck, broke the bottom off on a table and went to work. The fracas lasted for an hour and two dozen men went to a hospital.” Jean was Jean Malin, soon to be a master of ceremonies in tony Broadway and Hollywood night clubs and the most famous personality of the short-lived “pansy craze” of the late 1920s and early 1930s. In another version of the story, he was in drag when he entered the club, which caused the comments that started the brawl. He won in that account, too, concerned only with “the disgraceful state my gown is in” when it was over. However the details differed from one story to another, the import was always the same. Here was something new, something different: a gay man standing up for himself in public, defending himself and the right to be himself against all comers—and winning the confrontation. Being six feet tall and weighing 200 pounds, Malin was no one’s idea of a stereotypical swishy, nelly queen, although he could swish with the best of them.
(Top) Jean Malin in Double Harness. (Left) Jean Malin (center) with Coleen Moore and Bessie Love (Right) Jean Malin dressed in Mae West drag in Arizona to Broadway
The audience often became part of the show. When guests talked back to the performers, heckling them, taunting them, Malin responded with searing wise cracks—his speciality—that always put them in their place. As the columnist Arthur Pollock noted, “Perhaps those men in the audience who jeered at him were merely plants ... but if his tart retorts were spontaneous, he is a smart fellow.” This queen kept his dignity always. He simply would not be dissed. Many commentators disapproved of homosexuality’s new overtness with barely coded language. Vanity Fair referred to the “lavender mist” that surrounded the show and the syndicated gossip columnist Gilbert Swan wrote of the “tremendous vogue among the night lifers for young men who walk with four fingers at their hips.” He could not understand the popularity of a master of ceremonies “who just a few years ago was just another shrinking violet.” Malin laughed all the way to the bank.
(Above) Jean Malin at the Club Abbey (Right) Donald McGill postcard, ca. 1930’s
Malin moved on to Hollywood, opening at the Club New Yorker, a block from the Chinese Theater, in 1932. Variety thought “his wise cracks and flip remarks, especially to noisy guests,” would “hit strong with the smart mob, particularly the picture crowd,” but would leave the “home boys and girls wondering what it was all about.” The publication described Malin as “a class entertainer” who “shows most of the local café performers how it should be done.” They did not need the instruction. During 1932, La Boheme starred the renowned Karyl Norman, “The Creole Fashion Plate,” famous for his gowns, mostly sewn by his mother. Clarke’s showcased Francis Renault, née Antonio Auriemma, praised for his Lillian Russell impression, and Jimmie’s Backyard featured Rae Bourbon in his revue “Boys Will be Girls.” If not a golden age, it certainly was a magical year. Malin closed at the Club New Yorker in May 1933, then moved across the street to perform in the Chinese Theater’s live prologue to Warner Brothers’ Gold Diggers of 1933. His own experience with the movie studios was very brief. His one onscreen appearance, in an uncredited part, was as a Mae West imitator in Arizona to Broadway (1933); typical of Malin, when one of the mob running the theater disrespects him, his character, in full drag, floors him with a single right hook.
Born Victor Eugene James Malinovsky on June 30, 1908, in Brooklyn, New York, Malin knew who he was at an early age. He was working as a drag performer at the Rubaiyat in Greenwich Village as Imogene “Bubbles” Wilson—also the name of a famous Ziegfeld Follies showgirl—when Louis Schwartz, one of the owners of an uptown, upscale club (the notorious gangster “Dutch” Schultz allegedly was another) saw him perform and offered him a job. Schwartz wanted Malin to emcee a show that would “give Broadway its first glimpse into pansy night life.” Wearing elegant evening clothes, Malin opened at the Club Abbey in the Spring of 1930, just as the “pansy craze” was sweeping New York. “Making no bones about earning his living as a ‘professional pansy,’” he “strolled through the club, delighting, astonishing, and occasionally infuriating a mostly heterosexual audience with his camp wit.”
to move against the other “pansy clubs.” In a few years, all were gone.
Broadway Brevities, 3/14/1932
According to the tabloid Broadway Brevities, New York’s “pansies hailed La Malin as their queen” and he became a darling of the city’s café society. He was out of a job in less than a year, however. After a gangland shooting at the club in January 1931, the police shut it down—it was, of course, selling liquor illegally during Prohibition—and began
Other studio experiences were less satisfying. He filmed “a violetty part” as dress-shop owner Bruno in Double Harness (1933), but his scenes were reshot with a so-called “less effeminate” actor before the movie was released. Studio president B.B. Kahane later told his staff, “I do not think we ought to have this man on the lot on any picture—shorts or features.” The scenes he filmed for Dancing Lady (1933), starring Clark Gable and Joan Crawford, were only seen on the cutting room floor. An automobile accident ended Marlin’s career and his life on the night of August 10th, 1933. After a “farewell appearance” at the Ship Café on Venice Pier, he and his “close friend” Jimmy Forlenza and screen comedienne Patsy Kelly left for a party at the Hollywood Barn Café on Sunset Boulevard. Malin accidentally put car the car into reverse and it careered backwards off the pier into the ocean. His two guests survived the disaster, but Malin did not. He was barely 25 years old. Bill Lipsky, Ph.D., author of “Gay and Lesbian San Francisco” (2006), is a member of the Rainbow Honor Walk board of directors. S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES
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Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Sister Dana sez, “Not surprising at all, the Republican National Convention did not feature LGBTQ people—let alone issues of importance to our community!” “Leading up to the RNC, Richard Grenell [out gay Republican former ambassador to Germany] engaged in desperate acts of fanfare to spread lies about the Trump Administration’s anti-LGBTQ record, and tonight he did not utter a mention of LGBTQ people on the main stage,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “He unequivocally does not speak for the vast majority of LGBTQ Americans and allies who see through the Trump Administration’s lies about its abysmal LGBTQ record.” A state park in New York has been renamed in honor of legendary trans activist Marsha P. Johnson. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on what would have been Johnson’s 75th birthday that the East River State Park in Brooklyn will now officially be known as the MARSHA P. JOHNSON STATE PARK. This is the first state park in New York to honor an LGBTQ person and will reflect “Marsha’s style and colors.” 54TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF COMPTON’S CAFETERIA RIOTS screened on August 28 on the TRANSGENDER DISTRICT’s Facebook page and on ZOOM. It was flawlessly femceed by San Francisco LGBT icons Roma Roma of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and drag artist and Transgender District co-founder, Honey Mahogany. In addition to music and performance festivi-
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The fabulous DJ Juanita MORE! spun tunes of the 1966 era, which were my jams way back in senior high school. Incredible opera singer Breanna Sinclairé sang the hell out of "Summertime" from Porg y & Bess. Illusionist and reality television star Bionka Simone of AsiaSF and Transcendent gave us sizzling lip-sync. Highly acclaimed rapper and producer Wazi Maret mesmerized. Experimental musician Tyler Holmes and singer/ songwriter StormMiguel Flo rez sang and strummed on their guitars. Latinx DQ Rexy gave us scintillating lip-sync. Transgender drag performers Black Benatar, Sprung T Black, and SnowFlake Towers gave powerful poetry of their experiences, as did several trans people regarding their journeys to authenticity. The sensational night of information and entertainment closed with Juanita spinning more sixties stuff to my personal delight! SFGMC joins good friends and collaborators at the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir for this uplifting virtual co-choir performance of BETTER, featuring soloist Terrance Kelly. And while on this site, enjoy three dozen more different shows by SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS. https://www.sfgmc.org/in-concert FRAMELINE, the world’s longest-running and largest showcase of queer cinema, pres-
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ents FRAMELINE44 FESTIVAL to be held virtually September 17–27. Following Frameline’s successful Pride Showcase, the Frameline44 Festival will be more than double the size of the June event, featuring 35+ films spanning narratives, documentaries, and shorts. Additional programming highlights of the 11-day event include panels and Q&A’s with filmmakers and celebrity guests, the Frameline Award Night on Saturday, September 26, a silent auction, and more. https://www.frameline.org/ Sister Dana sez, “This person noted that at no time before have voters faced a clearer choice ‘between two parties, two visions, two philosophies, or two agendas.’ Who said this? Surprise! It was Trump at the RNC. And we couldn’t agree more!” 2020 marks 40 years in community by HORIZONS FOUNDATION: a momentous milestone for the world’s first community foundation of, by, and for LGBTQ people. Since 1980, they have awarded over $49.2 million to over 2100 organizations, including $641,500 in emergency grants to Bay Area LGBTQ organizations in response to the pandemic. This VIRTUAL GALA 40 is Saturday, September 12, 6 pm PST. Discover special guests and join with any donation at https://tinyurl.com/y54yvb5n Join EQUALITY CALIFORNIA EQCA on Sunday, September 13, as they celebrate community achievements and honor the inspirational leaders whose selfless work helps create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people, at the first-ever statewide virtual celebration, the GOLDEN STATE EQUALITY AWARDS. This gala will start with regional pre-show programs celebrating LGBTQ+ and allied communities in Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Palm Springs. Then they will bring everyone together from across California (and beyond) to highlight pro-equality champions throughout the state and to enjoy exclusive performances. https://tinyurl.com/yxlg28fz On September 1, musical diva Cher headlined an LGBTQ virtual fundraiser for Joe Biden that drew about 500 viewers and raised about $2 million. During the event—which featured out politicians like Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), and former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg—Biden appeared and promised to sign the EQUALITY ACT within his first 100 days as president. The Equality Act would add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes
under federal civil rights legislation. Sister Dana sez, “Let’s tell Mitch McConnell that it’s time to pass the Equality Act and give the LGBTQ+ community the legal protections they des erve!”
PHOTO BY PAUL MARGOLIS
ties, it featured keynote speaker, Dr. Susan Stryker—historian, professor, and Emmy Award winning filmmaker—who shared with us how she discovered the rich history of transgender and queer resilience that nearly vanished from public memory. She noted that the site that was Compton’s Cafeteria is now a halfway house for recently released incarcerated individuals, which is good news; but the bad news is that it is run by a for-profit industrialized prison complex working closely with ICE. I really enjoyed the dramatic reading by actors in the COMPTON’S CAFETERIA RIOT play, written by Donna Personna, Collette LeGrande, and Mark Nassar. Unfortunately, it could not properly open because of the damn virus.
The family of Elizabeth, New Jersey, native and Dennis McMillan (aka Sister Dana) was one among the feaLGBTQ+ Civil Rights tured LGBT community personalities included in Who Murdered Donna Sachet … Again? which was presented via activist Marsha P. Facebook Live on Friday, September 4, benefiting The Johnson has announced Trevor Project. the future site of a public monument on Freedom Kirshen, and Sampson Trail in the City of Elizabeth in McCormick; and from Johnson’s honor. The monument Florida, Lisa and her 89-year-old is anticipated to be the first pubmother, the budding comedian, lic monument in the State of New Arline Geduldig, as the monthly Jersey to honor an LGBTQ+ perspecial guest. Lisa is a San Franciscoson and transgender woman of based comedian and comedy procolor. They will host a series of ducer who is most known for her events during LGBTQ HISTORY annual comedy tradition, KUNG MONTH (October 2020) to engage PAO KOSHER COMEDY, hilariwith the community and the public ous Jewish comedy on Christmas in a to participate in the planning and Chinese Restaurant, which celebrates creating of the historic project. its 28th year this December (albeit https://tinyurl.com/y2wwqdof this year in Cyberspace). Before the pandemic, Lisa had been running a Senator Scott Wiener’s legislation, SB 132, has passed the state leg- monthly decade-long comedy show at El Rio in San Francisco where her islature and will now move onto the comedy career began 30 years ago. Governor’s desk for final approval. https://tinyurl.com/y4zrjhk79 It passed the Assembly by a vote of 43–13, and passed the Senate on a concurrence vote. SB 132 requires that incarcerated transgender, nonbinary, and intersex individuals in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) be classified by their gender identity and housed based on their stated health and safety needs (absent specific security or management concerns). It will now move on to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk for him to sign into law.
GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY presents MIGHTY REAL: A CELEBRATION OF SYLVESTER, an online forum on September 16, 6–7:30 pm. To celebrate the birthday of the iconic San Francisco disco diva Sylvester (1947– 1988), this event will highlight the GLBT Historical Society’s archival holdings documenting the singer’s life and times. In a recorded video, the society’s registrar Ramón Silvestre will present some of the Sylvester-related objects in the Art and Artifacts Collection. Footage features some moving clips of Sylvester performing sentimental standards backed by a jazz band. https://bit.ly/3f8IZ1e Lisa Geduldig presents LOCKDOWN COMEDY every 3rd Thursday of the month. The Thursday, September 17, 7 pm PST show will feature three Los Angeles-based comedians: Wendy Liebman, Matt
“REIGNING QUEENS: THE LOST PHOTOS OF ROZ JOSEPH,” presents evocative photographs of San Francisco’s epic drag and costume balls of the mid-1970s. The color images were created by noted photographer Roz Joseph, whose dragqueen series was rediscovered after she donated the work to the GLBT Historical Society. The online exhibition will be launched on September 21. https://tinyurl.com/yyzguyht Mayor London N. Breed and City Administrator Naomi M. Kelly have announced approximately $12.8 million in general operating support grants to fund 227 arts and cultural organizations that enhance the City’s cultural vibrancy. This year’s GRANTS FOR THE ARTS (GFTA) funding comes after an internal review of the City’s grantmaking to better support organizations embedded in and serving San Francisco’s diverse com munities. Trump suggested voting twice, once by mail and once in person. The Presi-dense encouraged voters to cast ballots twice to ensure their vote was counted. Note that intentionally voting twice is illegal, and in many states, including North Carolina, it is a felony. Sister Dana sez, “Tell me, Commander-in-Thief, will our mail-in ballots count or not?!”
Carnaval SF 2020 - Latino COVID-19 Healing & Recovery
Photos courtesy of Carnaval San Francisco
San Francisco’s Carnaval organization adapted its annual event this year to feature a two-day festival, held on Harrison Street between 18th and 20th Streets. In keeping with the selected theme, Latino COVID-19 Healing and Recovery, the event included the offering of educational materials, health testing, employment information, and free groceries. San Francisco Bay Times’ own Juan Davila was dressed up for the event sporting his new costume, created with designer Jamie Botello, complete with a colorful mask, wings, headdress, boots, and more. A photo of him, by photographer Annika Hammerschlag, was the predominant image on the San Francisco Chronicle’s “Bay Area” section front page for the September 7 issue. Thanks to Juan and Leticia López for their hard work as volunteers at the event and for representing the San Francisco Bay Times. http://www.carnavalsanfrancisco.org/
LANDIS (continued from page 24) 8. Bake in the 325 degrees F heated oven for 1 hour, or until the phyllo crust is crisp and golden brown. Remove from the oven. Finish cutting into squares and serve. Enjoy! Tips for Working with Phyllo: Remember that phyllo is paper thin and will break as you are working with it. For best results, place phyllo dough sheets in between two very slightly damp kitchen towels before you start working with it (unless you think you will work fast enough that the phyllo will not dry out.) Also, be sure to brush each layer with oil; don’t skimp. Make Ahead Tips: You can make spanakopita the evening before. Follow up to step #7, cover, and refrigerate. When you are ready, go ahead and bake according to step #8. Leftover Storing and Freezing Tips: Already cooked spanakopita will keep well if properly stored in the fridge for 2 to 3 evenings. Heat in a mediumheated oven until warmed through. You can also portion cooked leftover spanakopita and freeze for a later time. Warm in the oven; there is no need to thaw it in advance. Recommended for this Recipe (by the Gay Gourmet): Athens phyllo dough Sheets and Enzo extra virgin olive oil Mustard Glazed Sheet Pan Chicken (Entrée) Recipe by Cathy Roma of What Should I Make For... https://bit.ly/333ZDeo 1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed
1 bunch whole young carrots with tops, peeled and tops trimmed 1 bunch scallions, ends trimmed 1 lb. baby potatoes, halved 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed (The Gay Gourmet thinks this could be optional) 1/4 cup extra virgin Enzo olive oil Jacobsen’s gourmet salt 1/3 cup Maille Rich Country Mustard 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed 2 tablespoons honey 2 1/2 lbs. chicken thighs, bone-in, skin on 10 sprigs fresh thyme Pepper Preparation Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Scatter the asparagus, carrots, scallions, potatoes, and garlic (optional) evenly on the tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl whisk together the mustard, brown sugar, honey, and a pinch of salt. Nestle the chicken thighs on the sheet pan and season them with kosher salt and pepper. Brush the chicken liberally with the mustard glaze and drizzle a little glaze over the vegetables as well. Scatter the thyme sprigs over the vegetables and the chicken. Roast for 30–35 mins, rotating the pan occasionally to be sure the vegetables roast evenly. Remove when the chicken is cooked through (an instant-read thermometer should read 160 degrees F) and the skin is browned and crispy. Serve immediately.
Notes: Line that sheet pan! Parchment paper or nonstick foil are ideal to prevent sticking and for easier clean-up. Skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs are recommended for optimal flavor. Skinless or boneless can be substituted, if you prefer. The look of whole carrots, scallions, and asparagus is a great visual, but they can be chopped into 1–2” pieces if you prefer. Be sure to drizzle a little glaze over the vegetables for added flavor. If you’re not sure when the chicken is cooked through, use an instant-read thermometer to check for doneness. Greek Phyllo Flatbread Pizza (Entrée) Recipe by Gavin & Karen from A Couple in the Kitchen blog https://bit.ly/2GyN4jw 16 sheets Athens® Phyllo Dough (9″ x 14″ ), thawed Olive oil spray (Use Enzo Olive Oil) 1 cup mozzarella cheese ¼ cup crumbled feta 6 kalamata olives, halved 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 small tomatoes, thinly sliced 2 pieces of roasted red pepper, sliced Spinach & artichoke dip Salt and pepper, to taste Fresh thyme, for garnish
Directions Start by removing one roll of Athens® Phyllo Dough from the freezer to thaw, following thawing instructions on the package. Unroll and cover phyllo sheets with plastic wrap and then a slightly damp towel to prevent drying out. Preheat your grill or oven to 375°F and spritz a baking sheet with olive oil spray, preferably using Enzo Olive Oil. Lay a sheet of phyllo dough onto the baking sheet, lightly spritz with olive oil, then top with another sheet of phyllo dough. Repeat this with 16 sheets of phyllo dough, spraying the top of each sheet with olive oil. Place the baking sheet on the grill or in the oven and cook for 5 minutes until the phyllo dough begins to crisp up and turn a light golden-brown color. Remove from the grill or oven. Spoon a number of dollops of spinach & artichoke dip on the crust and gently spread it evenly. Next, top with garlic, cheese, roasted red pepper, tomato, and olives. Return to the grill or oven for another 15 minutes until golden brown. The tomatoes should be softened and the cheese should be melted. Season with salt, pepper, and thyme. Then, slice and devour! Tips: If using a grill, carefully grill the phyllo crust on indirect heat to ensure it doesn’t burn. If you have a
traditional gas grill, consider turning on one burner to medium-low heat and placing the pizza onto a baking sheet on the grates that are set to “off.” This will heat the grill without the risk of burning. The temperature gauge on your grill will act as your guide. Dijon Slaw (Side dish) Recipe by Chef Brandon Collins, Mustard Sommelier, Maille 1/3 cup Maille dijon mustard 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup sherry vinegar 1/4 cup avocado oil 1 red onion sliced Salt and freshly ground pepper 1 head large fennel, sliced thin 1 large celery root knob, julienned ¼ cup chopped chives Directions Mix everything except for the fennel and celery root—set aside. Put fennel and celery root in a separate bowl. Mix fennel and celery root with desired amount of dressing and serve. David Landis, aka “The Gay Gourmet,” is a foodie, a freelance writer, and a PR executive. Follow him on Instagram @GayGourmetSF, on Twitter @david_landis, email him at: david@landispr.com or visit him online at: www.gaygourmetsf.com
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Round About - Late Summer 2020 in SF Photos by Rink
Swan Oyster Depot on Polk Street
National Ice Cream Day at The Castro Fountain
National Hot Dog Day at the Golden Grill
Eric Berchtold, Manager of The Cinch Saloon
Sidewalk service at The Cinch Saloon on Polk Street
Russian Hill Bookstore Co-Owner Jess Tsang
Street art on Russian Hill
Fillmore mural featuring an image of transgender actress and activist Laverne Cox
KARLSBERG (continued from page 22) generation must be the health of every one of us and the promise of a long, healthy, fully embraced life. Adrian Shanker (He, Him, His) is an award-winning activist and organizer whose career has centered on advancing progress for the LGBT community. He has worked as an arts fundraiser, labor organizer, marketing manager, and served as President of Equality Pennsylvania for three years before founding BradburySullivan LGBT Community Center, Allentown, Pennsylvania’s LGBT Community Center, where he serves as Executive Director. “San Francisco Bay Times” columnist Kate Kendell, Esq., is the former Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and now works with Take Back the Court and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Shout-Out to Bay Area Publisher - PM Press 30
SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S
S E PT E MB E R 1 0 , 2 0 2 0
PM Press is an independent, radical publisher of books and media to educate, entertain, and inspire. Founded in 2007 by a small group of people with decades of publishing, media, and organizing experience, PM Press amplifies the voices of radical authors, artists, and activists. Their aim is to deliver bold political ideas and vital stories to all walks of life and arm the dreamers to demand the impossible. They have sold millions of copies of books, most often one at a time, face to face. They’re old enough to know what they are doing and young enough to know what’s at stake. https://www.pmpress.org/ Michele Karlsberg Marketing and Management specializes in publicity for the LGBTQ+ community. This year, Karlsberg celebrates 32 years of successful book campaigns. For more information: https://www.michelekarlsberg.com
Round About - Outdoor Dining in the Castro Photos by Rink
STREETCAM
Restaurants and bars throughout the Castro neighborhood are adapting to pandemic regulations by offering service at tables on the sidewalks. “Parklets” are popping up on Market, Castro, and 18th Streets, and the “Shared Spaces” program at 18th Street between Castro and Hartford continues to grow in popularity while still allowing for safe, socially-distanced shopping, dining, and more. Small business owners and staff are welcoming customers and sending thank you messages for patronage and support as restrictions continue to have dramatic effects.
presented by
Vanessa Bousay performed in the window of the Cove on Castro.
Cove on Castro
CASTRO
http://sfbaytimes.com/
Sidewalk table dining at the Cove on Castro
Midnight Sun
44 Bar
Fable’s outdoor dining
The Edge bar
The Edge bar
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Hi Tops
Lark
Red Dress Party
Harvey’s
As Heard on the Street . . . What are you going to miss most about the Castro Street Fair this year? compiled by Rink
John Weber
Lizzi Dierken
Llano River Blue
Jokie X Wilson
Philippe Gosselin
“It has always been a center point of the community for me. Given the pandemic, we need community more than ever.”
“Frolicking and dancing in the streets of our hood with my family and neighbors.”
“I loved being a midway carnival barker last year, and am still bummed that I cannot take that concept further this year.”
“I will miss hanging out with the Radical Faeries at Grand Central Station and dancing with them to Cardi B’s ‘WAP’ song!”
“After the craziness of Pride and Folsom, I love coming together to celebrate our neighborhood and community, with plenty of flirting. I miss that.”
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