San Francisco has long been a drag mecca. The stage was particularly set for men to use gender expression in performance due, in large part, to their prevalence in the city by the bay. Consider that when the pueblo of Yerba Buena officially was named San Francisco on January 26, 1847, the area’s total population at the time was said to be about 500 people: 321 men and 138 women. Two years later, the population jumped to 20,000, largely fueled by the Gold Rush in California that started on January 24, 1848. Some 40,000 immigrants arrived by ship in 1849; 700 were women and the rest were men.
While nearly all were seeking their fortunes, some were queer men looking for the companionship of other men. Added to that was the region’s already existing reputation for sexual exploits, a certain amount of lawlessness, and thirst for entertainment. Much of this hotbed of activity was centered around the Barbary Coast, a red-light district consisting of a nine-block area featuring dance halls, concert saloons, bars, jazz clubs, variety shows, and brothels. Sailors first coined the Barbary Coast term in the 1860s. The district included a three-block stretch of Pacific Street, now Pacific Avenue, between Montgomery and Stockton Streets. Pacific Street was the first street to cut through the hills of San Francisco, starting near Portsmouth Square and continuing east to the first shipping docks at Buena Vista Cove. While queer culture already percolated throughout the city and especially in the Barbary Coast district, it came more to the forefront after Prohibition was repealed in 1933. Market Street, Chinatown, the waterfront area, theater district, and additional places became destinations for LGBTQ cultures and communities. It was within such a backdrop that the ambitious Joseph “Joe” Finocchio opened his namesake Finocchio’s Club in 1936.
“The most interesting women are not women at all,” reads an early promotional pamphlet for Finocchio’s Club. “They are Finocchio’s accomplished female impersonators. That is why the show at Finocchio’s is always ‘tops’ in entertainment. At Finocchio’s you will see Woman—that miracle of divine contradictions—in all her prismatic gyrations. Woman ... whose step is music, whose voice is song. Woman ... whom Victor Hugo called ‘the enigma of the nineteenth century,’ whom Confucius called a Masterpiece, whom Tennyson called the lesser man, whom Crowley called ‘one of Nature’s agreeable blunders.’”
The now obvious misogyny was sometimes reflected in the drag shows at Finocchio’s— as it is sadly in some of today’s performances—but the more thoughtful and dedicated artists infused their work with much more than parody and impersonation.
Some early drag stars at Finocchio’s were Li-Kar, who also designed beautiful, elaborate costumes and sets; Frank Doran, who had previously been a headliner on the
Orpheum Circuit; Niles Marsh, who was a child prodigy with a remarkable soprano voice; Johnny Mangum, who was discovered by film star Mae West; Del LeRoy, who— disguised in drag—won a beauty contest for “most beautiful legs” and was the only male contestant; Freddie Renault, a comic who was one of Finocchio’s primary producers; Milton La Maire, a specialist in “South Sea Island native dancing”; Ray Francis, who began his life on the stage at age 12 at the old Empress Theatre on Market Street (later the St. Francis); John Lonas, who was so feminine that he was always cast in women’s roles during his long theatrical career; Jackie Maye, who was previously a member of the boys’ chorus at the Metropolitan Opera and had a strong operatic voice and corresponding diva looks; and Karyl Norman, aka “The Creole Fashion Plate.”
Given this cavalcade of drag artists, with many others not named here, and Finocchio’s memorable production numbers, the club became a catalyst for the art of drag. It closed in 1999, with its 63-year-run being one of the most successful for a club in San Francisco history. At least one of its stars, Holotta Tymes, is still actively performing to this day.
‘I Became the Black Cat’
A frequent patron of Finocchio’s was José Sarria. Born in San Francisco in 1922, Sarria stood just under 5 feet tall yet was determined to join the military following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Following his miliary service, Sarria returned to San Francisco, enrolled in college, and planned to become a teacher. He had always enjoyed
dressing in women’s clothing, something that even his family supported when he was a young boy. Because of this, and his already burgeoning queer life, he and his sister Teresa began to frequent not only Finocchio’s but also the Black Cat Bar (also called the Black Cat Café).
The Black Cat first opened in 1906 and by 1911 had become known for its vaudevillestyle acts. It closed in 1921, but re-opened in 1933 at 710 Montgomery Street under the proprietorship of Charles Ridley. An entrepreneur named Sol Stoumen purchased the bar in the 1940s, and it was under his ownership that it gained, first, a Beat and bohemian clientele, and then, after World War II, a largely LGBTQ following. The gay Beat poet Allen Ginsberg described the Black Cat as “the best gay bar in America. It was totally open, bohemian, San Francisco ... and everybody went there, het erosexual and homosexual ... . All the gay screaming queens would come, the heterosexual gray flan nel suit types, longshoremen. All the poets went there.”
And Sarria was there as well, even tually being hired after the own ers and staff heard him sing. He had a tenor voice and could reach high C even just while speaking. Since he took tap and ballet classes as a child, he could incorporate some impressive dance moves into his performances.
He later shared with Nan Alamilla Boyd, the author of Wide Open Town: A History of Queer San Francisco to 1965: “To work at the Black Cat, I had to be a little bit different, so I’d put on a little bit of makeup. Short hair was in style for women, not long hair, and I would dress in basic black and pearls. I wore men’s slacks, a leotard type of top, and I would borrow my mother’s earrings. They all were legitimate things. My mother always said if you’re going to wear jewelry, make sure it’s good. My eyebrows were plucked in those days. I didn’t look like a clown— I was neither there nor here. You could say I was a boy, you could say I was a girl. I was unique.”
Sarria added, “I began singing. I also used to cocktail wait, but soon there was no more cocktail waiting. I was the entertainer, and I, whether or not I knew it at the time or whether or not anyone else realized it, I changed the character of the Black Cat. I became the Black Cat.”
Synonymous with the bar, Sarria became known as “the Nightingale of Montgomery Street.” He sang not only
popular songs of the time but also parodies of well-known torch songs with a queer twist and full-blown parodic operas in his natural high tenor. In a reworking of Carmen, he sang of prowling through the then-popular cruising area of Union Square. The audience cheered “Carmen” on as she dodged the vice squad and made her escape.
Before the Black Cat’s closure in 1964, Sarria ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1961, becoming the first openly gay candidate for public office in the U.S. He later went on to found the Society for Individual Rights that, with the Tavern Guild, helped to advise LGBTQ people on what to do if they were harassed or arrested by the police. He was also crowned Queen of the Beaux Arts Ball in 1964 by the Tavern Guild. This and other balls for decades prior were showcases for drag artists. A year later, in 1965, came one of Sarria’s crowning achievements: the founding of the Imperial Court System.
Imperial and Ducal Courts
Sarria’s influence on drag, not just in San Francisco but the world over, cannot be understated. Through the Imperial Court System— with volunteer members bearing titles of nobility bestowed by yearly elected figurehead leaders of Emperor and Empress—he connected drag to fundraising for LGBTQ and other charitable causes. Through the Imperial Court System alone, millions of dollars have been raised for causes such as the fight against HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, domestic abuse, and homelessness. Over the past half century, the non-profit organization has grown to represent communities in 86 different locations across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
It helped to inspire the creation of drag houses, such as those documented in the popular film Paris Is Burning, and the Grand Ducal Council of San Francisco, which was formed in 1973 as a more camp-oriented response to the Imperial Court System. 2023 will mark the Grand Ducal Council’s 50th Anniversary, so the San Francisco Bay Times is now featuring a column by Grand Duke XL Kippy Marks documenting the Council’s own rich history.
Preconceived notions about drag were blown away by The Cockettes, an avant garde psychedelic hippie theater group founded by Hibiscus (George Edgerly
January 16, 2023, is an important date for drag artists in San Francisco, as it is the deadline for applications for the inaugural position of Drag Laureate of San Francisco. Both San Francisco and West Hollywood will be announcing their respective Drag Laureates early next year. Here in the Bay Area, the announcement of the forthcoming position was made jointly by the Office of Mayor London Breed, the City and County of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL), and the Human Rights Commission (HRC).
The selected individual “will lead the way for revolutionary new representation that uplifts and highlights the storied drag history of the City and County of San Francisco and the significant contributions of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and Two-Spirit + (LGBTQIA2S+) community,” according to the announcement.
The inaugural Drag Laureate will receive an honorarium of $55,000 to carry out 18 months of service in the role.
The SFPL and the HRC will administer the selection process. They will be collaborating with a vetting committee made up of various city agencies including the HRC, Library, Entertainment Commission, Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts (GFTA), Office of Transgender Initiatives, and the HRC LGBTQIA+ Advisory Committee. There are also community partners involved, including individuals affiliated with or part of the Transgender District, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Castro Cultural District, Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits, Grand Ducal Council of San Francisco, Imperial Court of San Francisco, Drag Story Hour, Rebel Kings of Oakland, GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance (GAPA), and more.
“San Francisco’s commitment to inclusivity and the arts are the foundation for who we are as a city,” said Mayor Breed. “Drag artists have helped pave the way for LGBTQ+ rights and representation across our city, and they are a part of what makes our city so special. Investing in programs that continue their legacies and create opportunities for the next generation of drag performers to thrive help us to celebrate our city and this community. I want to thank the drag community, Human Rights Commission, and Public Library for their work, and I look forward to crowning San Francisco’s first Drag Laureate.”
Some responsibilities of the Drag Laureate of San Francisco will include:
• helping develop and promote the role of the Drag Laureate;
• serving as spokesperson for the LGBTQ+ Community of San Francisco;
• participating in community-based drag programs and events that reflect and honor the diversity of San Francisco;
• partnering in an official capacity with various city agencies and community organizations throughout the full 18-month term, including during Pride Month;
• producing drag-centered events and programming centered on celebrating and supporting San Francisco’s dynamic and diverse LGBTQ+ community in collaboration with the SFPL, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, the San Francisco Arts Commission, and community partners;
• ensuring San Francisco’s rich drag history is shared, honored, and preserved;
• and helping promote and select the next Drag Laureate towards the completion of their 18-month term.
“San Francisco would not be the beacon for LGBTQ rights it is without drag artists,” said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, “This program is an appropriate recognition of the essential role drag plays in our queer cul-
ture, and I look forward to seeing who will be named our first Drag Laureate.”
In order to qualify, applicants must submit a written and video application and be able to demonstrate and meet the following requirements:
be a full-time resident of the City and County of San Francisco;
• be at least twenty-one years of age by the application deadline;
• have fundamental knowledge of San Francisco drag history; show enthusiasm and love for San Francisco and demonstrate the ability to serve as its ambassador;
• have a background in community activism, engagement, and philanthropy; have the ability to work collaboratively with a wide range of people from various backgrounds;
• and be able to organize, produce, and manage events/projects from start to finish.
“I can’t think of any other city with a drag community more talented, diverse, inclusive and exciting than San Francisco,” said Sister Roma. “As a member of the Drag Laureate vetting committee, I’m relying on my 35 years of experience as a drag activist, fundraiser, public speaker, event producer, and entertainer to present Mayor Breed with the very best candidates to represent our city.”
Sister Roma told the San Francisco Bay Times that Mayor Breed invited her to serve on the vetting committee. Doing so obviously excludes her—otherwise one of the most prominent candidates—from being considered for the position.
“I’m very excited for San Francisco to appoint our first Drag Laureate,” she added. “While vetting applicants, I am looking for someone with a deep love of San Francisco who possesses knowledge of our rich and storied drag history. Candidates with eloquence, style, creativity, passion, and experience performing and producing inclusive and unique events move to the front of the line.”
When asked if many hard-working drag artists have already served as unofficial drag laureates for San Francisco—fulfilling the stated obligations of their own volition—she agreed. What Sister Roma could not reveal were the names of the other vetting committee members. They were not provided by the Mayor’s Office and she was concerned about violating their privacy. As a result, it remains unknown if some of the city’s most well-known drag artists are eligible to apply. They include, but are definitely not limited to, individuals such as Juanita MORE!, D’Arcy Drollinger, Bebe Sweetbriar, Peaches Christ, Pollo Del Mar, Katya Smirnoff Skyy, and Khmera Rouge. (Heklina relocated to Palm Springs a few years ago.)
Drag kings such as Alex U. Inn, Fudgie Frottage, former San Francisco Bay Times columnist Kit Tapata, Fontaine Blue, and Madd Dogg may also be among the applicants, as could be bioqueens like Deana Dawn.
The Bay Times confirmed that Donna Sachet is an applicant. While many of us wish that more than one Laureate could be chosen for this inaugural year, reflecting the utmost uniqueness and diversity of drag that exists in the city, our team wholeheartedly endorses Sachet for the position that seems to describe the work she has already done for decades.
Sachet’s achievements include serving as Absolute Empress XXX of the Imperial Court of San Francisco, being the first drag performer to sing the National Anthem at the opening of a Major League Baseball game, serving as Grand Marshal in the SF Pride Parade, co-hosting the television broadcasts of the Parade for many years, hosting the
Finocchio’s inspired Sunday’s a Drag at the Starlight Room, producing and appearing in fundraisers that have raised millions of dollars for various LGBTQ causes, co-hosting important seasonal events in the Castro such as the lighting of the Holiday Tree and the opening of the Castro Farmers’ Market, serving on multiple boards (such as those for the SF LGBT Community Center, the AIDS Emergency Fund, PRC, Equality California, and the Imperial Council), and so much more. It is little wonder that former State Senator Mark Leno dubbed Sachet “the first lady of the Castro.” We hope that she becomes the first Drag Laureate of San Francisco.
As for how the Drag Laureate idea gained prominence in San Francisco, it stemmed from the city’s LGBTQ+ Cultural Heritage Strategy, a community-driven effort to honor the legacy, nurture the well-being, promote economic opportunity, and ensure the longevity of San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community. Then Supervisor Scott Wiener sponsored the ordinance to create the LGBTQ+ Cultural Heritage Task Force.
The task force identified the needs and concerns of the LGBTQ+ community, articulated critical goals to address these needs, and presented a set of recommended actions to be undertaken by the city and local organizations.
“San Francisco’s Drag Laureate program is a wonderful celebration of our drag queens,” said Senator Wiener. “Drag performers are an amazing representation of the LGBTQ community and they contribute so much to our city. I’m thrilled about the launch of this program, and excited to see who is crowned Drag Laureate.”
“As a drag performer myself, I know the transformative nature of this art form, unlocking power through finding a voice as an artist and mobilizing our LGBTQI+ community as an activist,” said Michael Nguyen, a member of the HRC LGBTQIA+ Advisory Committee
and chair emeritus of the GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance.
He added: “San Francisco has long been a place where queerdos have used drag as a platform to create international movements, from the International Imperial Court System and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. I am proud we are able to pay homage to our past, recognize a drag performer for their talents and impact, and build a future for even more drag activist spaces throughout San Francisco.”
Suggestions in the report included calling for innovative programming, such as “the creation and funding of LGBTQ+ artist residency opportunities or the development of City Drag Laureate positions to recognize the significant longstanding and ongoing contribution of drag artists to San Francisco’s culture.” Since the issuing of the report in August 2020, the HRC has reestablished its LGBTQI+ Advisory Committee. This working body has spearheaded the effort alongside Mayor Breed.
“It is great to live in a city that recognizes and celebrates diversity and awards and honors those differences,” said HRC Executive Director Dr. Sheryl Davis.
“I look forward to all that we will learn from the selected Drag Laureate.”
“I am excited to see this plan move forward to proclaim a Drag Laureate for San Francisco, an important recognition for our entire community, akin to our city’s Poet Laureate,” said City Librarian Michael Lambert. “San Francisco Public Library has always been at the forefront of collections, services, and celebrations for the LGBTQIA community, thanks to our groundbreaking Hormel LGBTQIA Center at the Main Library.”
Those wishing to obtain an application for Drag Laureate of San Francisco or to ask questions about the program are asked to send an email to: hrc-lgbtqi+ac@sfgov.org
Submissions are due no later than 6 pm PST on January 16, 2023.
Harris III) in 1969.
While the group, like Sarria, at first focused on parodies, they later became known for their all-original and oftenoutrageous staged performances frequently featuring men wearing glitter in their beards and exaggerated eye make-up. Divine, later made famous in films by John Waters, was a notable Cockette. In one show, Divine sang, “If there’s a crab on Uranus you know you’ve been loved” while dressed as a psychedelic crab queen.
While not exclusively focused on drag, The Cockettes’ shows often included drag queens as well as drag kings, who are mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male gender stereotypes.
Bioqueens—biologically female performance artists who perform in female drag—were also embraced by The Cockettes, as was racial diversity. Sylvester was one of the Cockettes’ earliest stars before he became a disco legend. Sylvester’s rendition of torch songs by the likes of Etta James, Shirley Bassey, Billie Holiday, and Lena Horne foreshadowed his becoming a prolific singer of international acclaim.
geousness of The Cockettes within its unique mix. The charity, protest, and street performance organization uses drag and religious imagery to call attention to sexual intolerance and satirizes issues of gender and morality. Prominent members today include Sister Roma and longtime San Francisco Bay Times columnist Sister Dana Van Iquity.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence remains one of the most successful drag-centric nonprofits in the city, with Sisters now in other U.S. cities, Canada, Australia, Europe, and South America.
As the LGBTQ community grew in prominence from the 1970s onwards, so too did drag in shows throughout the city. No longer relegated to a red-light district, drag artists were, and are, featured in shows targeting both locals as well as tourists. For many visitors to San Francisco, drag is an iconic if not still a bit racy aspect of the city that they wish to experience along with that hunk of sourdough bread and a drive over the Golden Gate Bridge.
drag establishment. The neighborhood at the time of McClain’s acquisition was one of the roughest in the city, positioned drearily near the Central Freeway overpass on Octavia Street. McClain told Hoodline: “[When I bought it] it was a little bar in a rundown neighborhood. The freeway was still up, the whores and drug dealers were working across the street. It was risky [to open a bar in this part of San Francisco].”
Once the overpass was demolished, the neighborhood sprung to new life. Much of the buzz centered around Marlena’s and its charismatic owner. The club, the only gay-focused one in Hayes Valley, offered free admission and a show, plus reasonably priced drinks. On weekends it was the place to be for drag extravaganzas. As a patron wrote on Yelp in 2007: “The drag shows are a sight to behold, with every subculture of the gay community showing up to represent. I saw leathers and bears and crossdressing, oh my!” During the week, Marlena’s took on a homier touch, with a pool table, Monday Night Football, and other pursuits for guests.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, founded in 1979, has the camp of the Ducal Court and the outra-
In 1990, drag artist Garry “Marlena” McClain took over what would become Marlena’s Bar at 488 Hayes Street in the heart of Hayes Valley. For the next 23 years, he turned it into the city’s premiere
Adding to the drag scene in 2006 was Harry Denton’s Starlight Room, which started a drag show called Sunday’s a Drag modeled after the performances at Finocchio’s. Its host was legendary drag artist and San Francisco Bay Times columnist Donna Sachet. It was a loss to the
LGBTQ community and more when Marlena’s closed in 2013 and, recently, the pandemic led to the end—at least for now—of Sunday’s a Drag
More Powerful Than Ever Looking beyond San Francisco, the television series RuPaul’s Drag Race —which first ran on February 2, 2009—has helped to popularize drag by literally bringing it into living rooms across America. The series has become the highest-rated television program on Logo TV. It airs internationally, including in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and Israel. It has earned the brilliant RuPaul six consecutive Emmys (2016 to 2021) for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program.
Is drag then now considered mainstream? That depends on whom you ask, because with drag’s growth in popularity has come a dangerous backlash against how and where this art form is practiced. Author Michelle Tea, then the executive director of the nonprofit Radar Productions, created in San Francisco in 2015 the first Drag Story Hour geared for children. Her goals were to promote reading and diversity. Various versions of the event have popped up all over the country since then.
In recent years, protests against these events have become more
versions of then-popular torch songs, telling stories, chatting with people in the audience, reading them the paper, and commenting about reports of police harassment of the gay community, always wearing his signature high heels.
On such serendipity can the fates of peoples and nations be decided. José Sarria, whose 100th birthday we celebrate this December, had not planned to be either a performer or an activist.
On a fateful afternoon, when Hazel, the pianist at The Black Cat in San Francisco’s North Beach, was playing arias from Carmen, one of the waiters began singing along in a strong tenor voice as he brought his customers their drinks. Soon he was performing four times a night, singing camp
He wanted to be a teacher, but that ambition ended during a visit to the Oak Room of the St. Francis Hotel, possibly the only gay bar in San Francisco history whose manager did not know he was gay. So, instead he became the drag queen who changed the city’s LGBT communities and politics forever.
An elegant and discrete gathering place “for men only,” the Oak Room was advertised as having “an atmosphere designed for masculine comfort.” It boasted wood-paneled walls, a hand-painted ceiling, and a white marble floor, but the actual facility for masculine comfort was down the hall. One evening on a visit there, José was arrested, then convicted and heavily fined on a morals charge. He knew that a teaching career now was impossible. He turned to entertaining professionally “because I needed something to do.”
Soon known as “the Nightingale of Montgomery Street,” he continued to croon arias from Carmen that evolved into a Sunday afternoon extravaganza, one of his famous series of parody operas. Madama Butterfly was the first, but he also lampooned many others, including Aida, Tosca, and even My Fair Lady. Rewritten for a gay audience, they also highlighted some of the serious issues of discrimination and harassment it faced.
Carmen, for example, now scrambled through the brambles of Union Square, not Seville, to avoid being arrested for cruising.
Overcapacity crowds adored these performances, even when José had in mind giving them more than a good laugh. At a time when the “experts” were telling them—and they believed—that they were mentally ill perverts, he wanted them to be proud of who they were and to stand up for their rights. He also shared some advice: “If you get tapped on the shoulder by a big blue star,” his
Carmen told them, “say, ‘I’m not guilty and I want a trial by jury.’”
To forge both a sense of pride and a sense of community among the people in his audience, he had them stand up at the end of his performances, hold hands and sing:
“God save us nelly queens, God save us nelly queens, God save us queens, and lesbians, too.
From every mountain high Long may we live and thrive, God save us nelly queens, God save us queens.”
frequent, and threatening. Some protestors have arrived bearing arms. Still others have stormed events and hurled verbal abuse against the drag artists and event organizers. Some have threatened to kill the drag hosts. Just a few days ago in Manhattan, protestors against Drag Story Hour were confronted by a man hoping to stave off the threats, but he then allegedly got into a tussle with a police officer monitoring the demonstration. A flurry of expletives followed and then the man’s arrest. The Drag Story Hour event had to be shut down early.
In June, members of the extremist group Proud Boys disrupted a similar happening in San Lorenzo, CA. The event was hosted by well-known local drag queen Panda Dulce. In an Instagram post, Dulce wrote, “No words can appropriately capture the immediacy and terror u feel when u realize there is no buffer between u and these men. That they are likely armed and you are utterly defenseless.” Dulce managed to ease the situation before the police arrived, preventing it from escalating.
Drag as an art form clearly has not lost any of its power to elicit emotions. Whether drag has always been political, or got pulled into politics, it is often now center stage as an act of rebellion against gender and other norms. Drag’s evergrowing fame has brought with it a powerful platform that has yet to be fully realized.
As the days grow shorter, it’s clear there isn’t enough time in the day to stay on top of all the news. From post-election drama to the legal woes of the former-temporary-residentof-the-White-House, from natural disasters to the horrors of man-made wars, it’s ... a lot. Add the joys (and stresses) of the busy holiday season, and I hope you will forgive me for not covering or commenting on everything. At the moment, I’m grateful to have seen the Respect for Marriage Act passed, and a couple of months ahead without an election looming over us. In the meantime, here are a few items you might have missed.
On December 1, World AIDS Day commemorations were held throughout the world to raise awareness of the continued need to raise funds and provide support. This is all good; attention must be paid, help must be provided, and a worldwide commemoration is helpful in achieving both.
But as activist Rebecca Denison wrote, “It’s World AIDS Day. And for millions of us, tomorrow will be,
too.” In other words, when the TV cameras have gone away, and the journalists have moved on, those living with HIV and AIDS will still be there, and still need our attention, our funding, our support. This isn’t a one-day-a-year event for them.
At the AIDS Memorial Grove, the National AIDS Memorial showed the newly released film The Black Community & AIDS, the latest chapter in the multi-year documentary project about the impact of the AIDS epidemic on various communities in the U.S. The new mini-documentary and individual interview segments feature advocates and survivors who share their personal stories about why HIV/AIDS continues to disproportionately impact Black communities.
The program featured many powerful speakers. Activist Cleve Jones, who had been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Grove the night before, brought the audience to its feet, cheering, as he urged us all to view these causes—HIV, racism, LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, economic injustice—as interconnected, and all part of one global struggle.
You can watch the National AIDS Memorial’s World AIDS Day program here: https://tinyurl.com/mvb3urf4
It has been a busy year for the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District. Their popular Second Saturdays events have grown and thrived, building community and providing support for vendors, stores, restaurants, and artisans throughout the Leather District. New murals
provide vibrancy and visibility to the neighborhood. They are fulfilling their mission of building ties and strengthening their community.
One of their most important projects, however, may not be as visible to the public. Their nine-week Entrepreneur Training Program allows up to ten new entrepreneurs from new or existing businesses serving the leather and kink communities to work as a cohort in a mutually supportive environment to develop their respective businesses from the ground up. The first cohort of this program graduated in September of 2022; the second cohort will begin on Thursday, January 26, 2023.
All participants who complete the program will receive a $500 stipend to help with their startup costs. The program is led by Eddie Tang, a seasoned business consultant in San Francisco who has supported hundreds of small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area. Questions? Write to business@sflcd.org
Holiday Gaiety at the San Francisco Symphony
Holiday Gaiety is the appropriate title for San Francisco Symphony’s festive holiday celebration of all things merry and gay. With Peaches Christ as Co-Emcee, and local icons Sister Roma and Marga Gomez, how can you miss? Featuring performances by drag artists Monet X-Change and Jimmie Herrod, and dancers Stacey
Stokes and Jocquese Whitfield, you’ve got a great show. But add in stunning non-binary opera singer and aerialist Nikola Printz on the trapeze, and you’ve got a must-see event. Hurry if you don’t already have tickets because it’s tonight, Thursday, December 15: https://tinyurl.com/SFSGaiety
Happy Birthday, Roma!
San Francisco’s beloved Sister Roma celebrated a Big Birthday on December 14, and it seems that the entire world was at Oasis to help celebrate, and raise funds for the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Besides being The Most Photographed Nun in the World, Roma’s talents and good works in the community are the stuff of legend. Event host, activist, fundraiser, dragnun, mentor— Roma’s influence has spread far beyond San Francisco, as they are invited to appear at events around the world to raise awareness and funds, as well as raising the level of
fun at any event lucky enough to have them.
Happy Birthday, dear Roma! Can’t wait to see what adventures await you.
The Transgender District and LyonMartin Community Health Services have begun enrollment in the City of San Francisco’s recently announced Guaranteed Income Program for Transgender people (G.I.F.T.), a pilot program that provides $1,200 per month in guaranteed income to 55 people for 18 months. To celebrate the launch of GIFT, they will be making holiday baskets for all 55 participants—and they need our help.
The pilot program is designed to assist people living in abject poverty (under $600 per month), and prioritizes enrollment of Transgender, Non-Binary, Gender
which only serve them, not pedestrians. I’m glad we’re starting to re-evaluate our streets and prioritizing walkers. Virginia already prohibits officers from stopping a pedestrian just for jaywalking. And in Nevada, it’s no longer considered a misdemeanor.
Next, AB 2594, seeks to reform the way late fees and penalties are assessed for bridge and road tolls. When the system completely removed cash toll takers and moved to 100 percent FasTrak at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it left unbanked individuals with very few options to pay without a credit or debit card. The added late fees and penalties to unpaid balances grew exponentially. In one instance, an East Bay driver’s balance reached more than $30,000. Only $2,500 of that was in actual toll fees.
effort, I have proposed a resolution that highlights Oakland’s leadership in hydrogen adoption, requests that Oakland be considered as a location for a potential statewide clean hydrogen hub, and declares the city’s intent to enter into a memorandum of commitment to join ARCHES. Participation in ARCHES would allow Oakland to build a healthier future and create local quality green jobs while reducing pollution impacts and transitioning to clean locally produced energy.
It’s hard to believe that 2022 is almost over. As we get ready to start a new year, I wanted to let you know about a few state laws that I championed taking effect on January 1.
At the top of the list are two bills that aim to bring more fairness and equity in the way some of our traffic violations are handled. The most significant is how jaywalking will be enforced throughout California. AB 2147/The Freedom To Walk Act allows people to safely cross the street outside of an intersection when the roadway is clear of moving vehicles. Law enforcement will still be able to issue a citation, if the pedestrian is causing a hazard.
Jaywalking tickets have been disproportionately given to people of color. Sometimes such police encounters can turn deadly or lead to serious injury. These consequences are just too great. In addition, the fines are ridiculous and can total hundreds of dollars, severely hurting the budgets of lower income families.
Crossing the street shouldn’t be a crime. The auto industry pushed jaywalking laws nearly a century ago,
Starting January 1, agencies must notify violators of a new program coming this summer that allows late fees and penalties to be waived, if drivers settle their toll balances. They must also create in-person payment opportunities. In addition, the DMV must notify customers changing their driver license address to also do so on their vehicle registration, so that notices go to the right place.
On the environmental front, consumers will see safer fast-food packaging in the new year. AB 1200 bans PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, from to-go containers and wrappers that are often used to keep grease and other liquids from leaking out. It was passed in 2021, but companies were given until 2023 to comply.
PFAS is a class of roughly 9,000 man-made chemicals linked to health problems, including cancer, hormone disruption, thyroid disease, and vaccine interference. When they come into contact with food, consumers ingest them. McDonalds, Taco Bell, Chipotle, Panera Bread, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s are already phasing out PFAS-laced wrappers, boxes, and other similar products, or have committed to the goal. New York, Washington, and Maine have enacted a similar law prohibiting the use of PFAS in food packaging.
I was just sworn-in for my sixth and final twoyear term and will continue to prioritize making
Oakland City Councilmember At-Large, Rebecca Kaplan
As communities in parts of Oakland for decades have been disproportionately impacted by air pollution and higher rates of asthma and cancer, we must lead in adopting zero-emission technology, including for trucks and other sources of diesel emissions that are a major cause of these problems. Oakland and the East Bay regionally have been the site of major leadership in embracing zero-emission vehicle technology, including heavy-duty trucks and buses, which we seek to expand.
Through collaboration with government, industry, non-governmental organizations, research institutions, and communities, ARCHES aims to establish a federally co-funded renewable hydrogen hub in California, and create an economically sustainable and expanding, renewable hydrogen market. ARCHES will submit California’s state-wide application for federal hydrogen hub funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill (BIL), which made available $8 billion for six to ten hubs nationally.
On December 7, 2022, I announced my resolution asking the State of California to select the City of Oakland as a Hydrogen Hub for the statewide ARCHES, to help reduce the deadly and harmful air pollution caused by emissions, especially diesel particulate emissions from trucks, which have disproportionately caused harm to African American and lower income communities in East Oakland and West Oakland.
I have long championed successful legislation and partnerships to make Oakland a leader in hydrogen adoption. The City of Oakland has demonstrated its commitment to the adoption, across sectors and industries’ collaboration for hydrogen delivery, storage, and end-uses, developing and implementing policies that scale up early markets, and centering the voices from communities directly impacted by the harmful effects of mobile source emissions, and as I recently presented at the 2022 Mobility Innovators Forum, what is possible for public-private partnerships to accomplish with green transportation.
For more than 20 years, the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) has been a leader in adopting and advancing zero-emission technology, mandating its entire bus fleet’s transition to zeroemission by 2040. AC Transit has expanded its (continued on page 20) (continued on page 20)
This past fall, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) announced the formation of the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES), a shared notfor-profit LLC public-private partnership designed to accelerate hydrogen’s contribution to decarbonizing the economy in California. To ensure the City of Oakland is an active collaborator in the state’s
Board Member and our friend Kate Maeder.
‘Tis the season and all that stuff; I am so excited to go into the holiday season! It’s the time of year for conferences, galas, and swearing ins. As you read this, election season is officially over, even for those cities that had to endure pesky recounts. Congrats to all those who won, including meeeeeee! Thank you for your support.
A few weeks ago, I attended the yearly LGBTQ Leaders Conference hosted by the Victory Fund in Washington, D.C. FYI, the Victory Find is the only national organization dedicated to electing openly LGBTQ people who can further equality at all levels of government. The Fund’s mission is to work to achieve equality for LGBTQ Americans by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ officials at all levels of government. At this conference you had out elected and appointed officials, political consultants, activists, and other leaders from across the nation. From right here in San Francisco I got to spend time with our own Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, Tom Temprano, Alex Randolph, as well as Victory
I would also like to shout out the National Black Justice Coalition that hosted its Good Trouble Network dinner for Black LGBTQ elected officials and the Victory Fund’s Black Leaders Caucus that held space for Black electeds and leaders. Both groups are very intentional about holding space to support Black LGBTQ electeds and building the bench for future Black leaders. Who knew we had so many Black LGBTQ elected and appointed officials in so many large cities and important roles across the U.S.?! We really have a lot of work to do here in the Bay Area.
But that wasn’t it! Before my seat on the plane was even cold, I was running over to the historic John’s Grill here in San Francisco where Mayor London Breed and former Mayor Willie Brown hosted a fundraiser for the most notable Black LGBTQ elected official in the country, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. It was truly an honor to be asked to help with this major event. As a Black masculine of center woman, it was a great honor to meet Mayor Lightfoot and hear her speak about the challenges in Chicago.
Check out the pics from these events and have a happy holi-gay season, everyone!
Carolyn Wysinger was elected in 2022 to serve on the El Cerrito City Council. She is an LGBTQ author, activist, and former president of the SF Pride Board of Directors. She can be found on Instagram & Twitter @ CdubbTheHost
Tenderloin Tessie’s Free Christmas Dinner will be on Sunday, December 25, 2022. All are welcome, but guests are asked to bring their ID and proof of vaccination. The meal will be served from 1–4 pm at the First Unitarian Church at 1187 Franklin Street @ Geary Boulevard, San Francisco.
Volunteers will be needed on Saturday, December 24; Christmas Day; and on Tuesday, December 27:
• December 24
From 10:30–3 pm, volunteers will be needed to load a truck with groceries and to handle some other tasks.
• December 25
To help out with the meal setup, service, and cleanup, volunteer shifts will be from 9 am–12 pm, 12–4 pm, and 3–6 pm.
• December 27
Volunteers are needed to unload a truck on this day. All volunteers must show their ID and proof of vaccination. If you can help out with this annual important event that means so much to those who attend, please call Michael at 415-584-3252 (landline, no text) or email TenderloinTessie@yahoo.com https://www.tenderlointessie.com/
The National AIDS Memorial hosted the 2022 Light in the Grove on the eve of World AIDS Day, Wednesday, November 30. With the theme “Changing the Pattern for a Future Without AIDS,” the gala and fundraiser—with all proceeds directly supporting the mission and programs of the National AIDS Memorial—was attended by more than 600 participants. The program featured a moving candlelit visit to the Circle of Friends memorial followed by a walk through the illuminated Redwood Grove leading to a large warm tent area for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.
Cleve Jones, founder of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, was honored for his long career as an activist for justice. Former San Francisco
The program was moderated by ABC7 anchor Reggie Aqui and included Breanna Sinclairé, soprano vocalist; Michael Pappas, San Francisco Interfaith Council; John Cunningham, National AIDS Memorial; Mayor London Breed; Supervisor Matt Dorsey; and more.
To view a television news report on this year’s Light in the Grove: https://tinyurl.com/2p8t5pr9 https://www.aidsmemorial.org/litg2022
Each year on December 1, the National AIDS Memorial hosts a program for World AIDS Day that is both reflective and informative as featured guests join participants for a conversation about the epidemic from a national perspective.
Moderated by ABC7 news anchor Reggie Aqui, this year’s program included the reading of names and remarks by featured speakers. The participants included Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D., San Francisco AIDS Foundation; Diane Havlir, M.D., Chief of the HIV/AIDS Division at UCSF; Scott Wiener, California State Senator; and LS Jones, Prevention Access Campaign Mississippi. https://www.worldaidsday.org/
This past weekend’s torrential rain downpours did not diminish spirits at the 2022 Santa Skivvies that took place on Sunday, December 11. The annual holiday underwear fun run/walk and fundraiser benefits the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. The event’s route weaves throughout the streets of the Castro, starting and ending at Lookout on Noe and 16th.
Those who signed up for the run received a free pair of the iconic red Santa Skivvies underwear, so many participants sported them as they walked, ran, scootered, skipped, or skated their way through the one-mile course. As the organizers said, “We have you covered ... well, almost!”
Juan Davila of the San Francisco Bay Times came dressed as the Grinch and, despite his mean green look, brought good vibes to the fundraiser—so much so that he won the “Most Spirited” award! Another winner was Tom Peters, who was named the “Top Fundraiser.” As of this writing, Peters has raised well over $4000. Other top fundraisers included Fredo Silva, Gary Shannon, Kevin Atkinson, and Sai-Wing Chan.
Top teams included the Mistle Bros, Naughty List, Sugar & Sporty Spice, The Nutcrackers, and Santa’s Boys.
https://santaskivvies.donordrive.com/
A few weeks ago, I was with hundreds of other LGBTIQ people and supporters outside the Tokyo District Court building awaiting the court’s decision in an historic Japanese marriage equality lawsuit when I received astonishing marriage equality news from nearly 7,000 miles away. The U.S. Senate cleared the way for passage of the Respect for Marriage Act with a super-majority that included an astounding twelve Republican senators.
Passage of the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA) is an extraordinary achievement for the American marriage equality movement after years of struggle and continual hard work. We remember how incensed we were 26 years ago in September 1996 when Congress overwhelmingly passed the notorious Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and President Bill Clinton signed it into law in an act of political cowardice.
Republicans sponsored DOMA as a cynical political ploy in a presidential election year to put President Clinton and other Democrats in the hot seat. All Republicans save one and a majority of Democrats, including liberal stalwarts such as Senators Paul Wellstone, Patrick Leahy, and Carl Levin, as well as then-Senator Joe Biden, voted in favor. It felt as if virtually no one was truly on our side.
Eight years later, it got worse. President George W. Bush and many of his fellow Republicans proposed a federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage nationwide, again as part of political tactics to stoke homophobic fears and gain Republican votes in a presidential election year. Over time, Republicans introduced various versions of the anti-equality amendment. A 2005 Senate version had 33 sponsors, and a 2006 House one had 135 sponsors.
From 2004–2008, 31 states voted against marriage equality in statewide referenda, sponsored by conversative political forces to raise money and gain power on the backs of queer couples. The Proposition 8 campaign to take away the freedom to marry in California alone raised $22 million dollars, nearly
40% of it from members of the Mormon Church.
In light of this history, passage of RFMA, although not perfect legislation, marks an enormous
San Francisco Bay Area LGBT community leaders A. Sparks, Julie Dorf, and Deb Kinney were among the participants at the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) Asia conference held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from November 28–December 2, 2022.
ILGA, founded in 1978, has 1869 member organizations representing 169 nations around the globe and works closely with the United Nations.
The conference included sessions on multiple topics, including matters related to interfaith, humanitarian, and labor practices, as well as topics concerning women, youths, those who are non-binary, research, marriage, and more.
ILGA made headlines recently due to the Association submitting an open letter on the Qatar World Cup to FIFA president Gianni Infantino protesting sanctions imposed regarding LGBTQ-supporting OneLove armbands.
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Ph.D.On Wednesday, December 7, 2022, at 5:30 pm, the official unveiling of the San Francisco Pulse Memorial was held on the second floor of the SF LGBT Center. The event was well attended, with participants honoring the victims of one of the deadliest mass shootings by a single gunman in U.S. history.
On the night of June 12, 2016, at around 2 am EST, 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded. Most of the victims were Latinx LGBTQ+ individuals who were at the Pulse club in Orlando, Florida, where attendees expected to have an evening of dancing and gathering with friends at a special “Latin Night” event. 29-year-old Omar Mateen began shooting those in the club during a performance. After many attempts to engage with Mateen, he was found dead. The incident was deemed a terrorist attack by FBI investigators.
The memorial unveiling this month began with a moment of silence to honor the Pulse victims. One of the
presenters of the evening, AGUILAS Program Director Renato Talhadas, M.F.T., A.P.C.C., M.A.D.C., shared how he visited Pulse the night before the incident. He recalled the community who frequented Pulse, mentioning how important it was to them as a welcoming place for comradery and strengthening friendships.
Sadly, since that fateful June 2016 tragedy, violence toward LGBTQ+ people has continued. The most recent major occurrence was at Club Q in Colorado Springs, where five victims were killed just before midnight on November 19, 2022. Such tragedies make memorials for the victims of them all the more important.
In terms of the San Francisco Pulse Memorial, it was years in the making. In 2017, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors allocated $10,000 to creating a memorial in memory of the victims at Pulse. Since no one was designated to oversee the execution of this intent, AGUILAS staff quickly took the lead to ensure that the memorial could be realized. Our team asked members of the Latinx LGBTQ+ community what kind of memorial they would like to see. Using this community feedback, a call for proposing a design for the memorial was initiated.
Brazilian artist Wilson Ferreira was selected to design the plans. Three vendors bid on the construction of the memorial and the company Priority Graphics was selected. The Castro LGBTQ Cultural District was given the funds by the SF City and County to manage the project. It is fitting that the San Francisco LGBT Center decided to house and maintain the SF Pulse Memorial.
In partnership with AGUILAS, the Center allowed planning to proceed and the date for the official unveiling was decided. In attendance at the unveiling were members of the community and representatives from several media outlets.
The SF Pulse Memorial is a shield in a chevron shape with 49 indentations in a row together with 49 columns to commemorate those who died as a result of the Pulse massacre. Behind the shield is a rainbow-colored backdrop that ties together the LGBTQ+ association. One can say that the shield symbolizes the strength of resistance in the LGBTQ+ community. Of significant historical note is that this is the first time a Brazilian artist was selected to design a memorial in San Francisco.
I strongly suggest you take the time view this inspirational work while paying respect to the victims of the largest LGBTQ+ massacre in U.S. history. The collaboration to complete this project was extraordinary and is a tribute to San Francisco as a city that supports issues of social justice. You can view the memorial during the open hours of the SF LGBT Center.
Eduardo Morales, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus, retired Distinguished Professor, and current adjunct professor at Alliant International University. He is also a licensed psychologist and a founder and current Executive Director of AGUILAS, an award-winning program for Latinx LGBTQ+. Of Puerto Rican decent, he has received numerous distinguished awards and citations, including being named a Fellow of 12 divisions of the American Psychological Association.
Randy Coleman hails from New York, but has lived in San Francisco since 1975. Coleman shares that before moving to the Bay Area, he studied Art History and Architecture at Boston University while working as a resident artist for architectural rendering at a Massachusetts historical society. “All of my life I’ve been an artist,” Coleman says. “To know me is to know that I have a passion for art and architecture. I love this project for the San Francisco Bay Times, and hope that you enjoy my sketches.”
The hanukkiah, the special menorah for the Hanukkah holiday, displays eight candles of equal height, one for each night of the celebration. But the ninth candle, the “shamash,” stands a bit higher and is used as a helper to light each of the eight. This candle doesn’t get its own night of the holiday—yet without it, we would have no light at all.
Hopefully at some point in your life, you have been lifted up by someone who acted as a shamash for you, and you have likely had the opportunity to be the shamash for someone else, whether you realize it or not.
This season, how can each of us be a shamash? The month of December brings joy to many, while it is the most difficult time of year for others: those who are lonely, exacerbated by the isolation of the pandemic; those feeling the effects of discrimination against LGBTQI people, racism, and antisemitism; those who face mental health challenges; those who are in recovery from addiction; those who have suffered the loss of loved ones; those who have been displaced or evicted; those feeling despair about our world.
Take a moment, right now, to think of someone in your community, in our Bay
Area LGBTQI community, who could be having a rough season. You might ask yourself:
What is a strength of mine that I can offer them, or something I can offer my community?
What is one thing I can do to include them?
What is an issue facing our community (like one of those aforementioned) where I could get involved?
What is one thing I can do to make someone feel celebrated?
Call them. Text them. Email them. Visit them. Listen.
A Jewish sage, the Sfat Emet, reinterpreted the Hanukkah candles as the light by which we search out our inner selves. Perhaps the internal work of this holiday is to see ourselves as a shamash, to recognize that our own spiritual
development is deepened when we are in profound connection with another human being. Whether or not you observe any particular holiday this season, perhaps the symbol of the hanukkiah can serve as an inspiration and reminder to be a shamash to someone in your life.
For more great resources about Judaism and mental health, check out https://thebluedovefoundation.org/
Rabbi Mychal Copeland is the spiritual leader of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco, the Bay Area’s progressive synagogue rooted in the LGBTQI community. https://shaarzahav.org/
On December 2, 2022, July Andrea Muñoz passed away unexpectedly at the youthful age of 40+-none-of-yourbusiness. Originally from Colombia, July made her way across the U.S. after immigrating to the country at the age of 12. Everywhere she went—from New Jersey to Houston (where she graduated from the Art Institute of Houston), Sacramento, and Chicago—July brought her fiery spirit and warmth. She moved to San Francisco in 2006 and was regarded as a passionate member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Earlier in life, July worked for Marriott, Starbucks (as a manager in Manhattan), Continental Airlines, and as a makeup artist for MAC cosmetics, Estée Lauder, Chanel, and Laura Mercier. In San Francisco, she launched into the scene as a bartender at Trigger (now Beaux), where she quickly became known as the fastest and sassiest bartender in town.
She was incredibly creative, especially when it came to making jewelry, costumes, and party/holiday decorations. July had a love for beauty and the world of fashion. Ultimately, that love came into fruition when she graduated from the Marinello School of Beauty in 2015 and started her own hair salon, AfterJuly Hair Creative, in 2016. She was also highly regarded as an event promoter and for creating vibrant community space as the Director of She Said SF (a queer women, trans, and BIPOC-inclusive event series founded in 2010). July was known for her avant garde style, iconic productions, and powerful energy. She was a strong force, which was only further demonstrated as she became a pillar of the Queer community. July was strikingly beautiful, confident, charismatic, fiercely protective, and loyal to the people she loved.
Outside of the nightlife scene, July enjoyed meditation, journaling, and silent retreats. Close friends were privileged to quieter moments with July and benefited from her adept listening skills and excellent advice. In that space, she was incredibly down-to-earth and had a softness that can only be described as a genuine-kind aura. With her wildly contagious laugh, July would make people feel like the funniest person in the room. She also had a way of making people feel their most beautiful and had a drive to bring out her clients' and friends' most beautiful selves.
July had a passion for travel and loved exploring new cities and sites; she made friends wherever she went. Her adventurous spirit led to joyous exploits, such as convincing a garbage man in Brooklyn to let her drive their truck, or sharing humorous anecdotes like how she went to kindergarten with Shakira.
July’s love for the Queer community extended through her generosity and charitable nature. She was known for donating proceeds from She Said events to Bay Area LGBTQ+ non-profits, and independently gave to organizations like the San Francisco LGBT Center, Transgender Law Center, and NCLR. Beyond creating space for the community to come together, she constantly championed DJs, artists, and other folks in nightlife. She had a special place in her heart for go-go dancers and supported them generously with her tips.
July’s chosen-family extends far and wide! She is survived by her BFF Pam Rolon in Chicago; former flames such as Claire Frix in Sacramento and Taylor Perry in Los Angeles; and beloved friends including Andy Poole in Seattle, Sierra Eads in San Diego, and Sasha Dekelaita in San Francisco. Her friendship with A. Sparks in San Francisco, in particular, was described as “next level.”
Sparks and July affectionately called each other “Guapo” and “Macha.” Sparks shares: “July once asked me what I wanted in life. I told her, ‘Macha, I want to make a difference in the world. I want to be important.' She took that to heart, always made me feel important to her, and believed in me. July was playfully fun, adventurous, and complex. Her unfiltered and unapologetic demeanor was shocking at times but, ultimately, made me love her even more. She inspired me to be courageous and always, without exception, showed up when I needed her most. My life was 1000% better for having her in it and I will always cherish the time we had together.”
July will be terribly missed by family members she loved including her brother, Alex Castiglione, a resident of San Francisco, and many relatives, including her aunt, cousins, and grandmother in Colombia. Her energy inspired so many to be passionate, to go “full force,” and to create something new and beautiful in the world. She is leaving a lasting legacy with the community she created, her chosen and biological family, and her loving wife, Qui Nguyen. Qui has described July as the “Love of [her] life” and the person she “would be with to the end of time.” She notes that July “celebrated me from the moment we met to her last breath. She loved me unconditionally
is to help promote July's dream of strengthening the lives of LGBTQ+ people through courage, community-building, and creativity. To donate, please visit: www.horizonsfoundation.org/donate
Click the “other button,” and add “July Muñoz Spirit Award” in the notes. You can also send checks to Horizons Foundation at 155 Sansome Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94104, with “July Muñoz Spirit Award” noted in the memo section.
On Thursday, December 22, 2022, July’s chosen-family will be hosting a public celebration of her life and amazing legacy with a farewell party, “She Said: Celebrate Life! - A Tribute to July Muñoz.”
Folks who attend are encouraged to bring memories and photos of July and we will all toast to her birthday (December 23) at midnight. The event will take place at Curio (775 Valencia Street, San Francisco) from 9 pm-1 am and will be free, with donations gladly accepted for the July Muñoz Spirit Award.
I can’t remember a time when motorcycles weren’t a part of my life. Since I was 5 years old, I’ve been on a minibike, go-kart, or on the back of a bike with one of my parents. We spent summers going to weekend motorcycle rallies around the Midwest.
The summer before 4th grade, I had my most incredible adventure going 2500 miles from Painesville, Ohio, to Prineville, Oregon, on the back of my mom’s BMW R100RT for the BMWMOA (Motorcycle Owners of America) National rally. It was my first time seeing the Pacific Ocean. As a 10 year old, I found many ways to entertain myself ... getting truckers to blow their horns (which scared my mom— oops), playing airplane (another one that annoyed my mom), reading books, and even sleeping (there were some bungee cords involved with that and my legs wrapped around my mom with my feet on the tank). This was back before kids wore seatbelts in the back seat. But what wasn’t so obvious to me grow-
ing up in Ohio was the fact that I was not living as my true self; I was what they call a late bloomer. I moved out to San Francisco in 1998, in part, following my sister out here and also to work in advertising for high tech. The Bay Area is a special place in many ways, and I was able to embrace who I really was through the people I met in the community. In my early 30s, I had my first girlfriend, but it took me some time to accept I was a lesbian. Chalk that up to years growing up in a Republican family, I guess.
My first LGBTQ+ Pride Parade was in 2008. My girlfriend at the time, Angie, convinced me we should ride with the San Francisco Dykes on Bikes® in the parade. I was skeptical as I was not “out.” I did not want to be on TV or the internet, but the Pride Parade is such a special event that when you
are there, those thoughts just melt away and you get caught up in the diversity, acceptance, love, and fun.
We both rode motorcycles so we each wanted to ride our own bikes and took a couple friends with us as passengers. It was an experience unlike any other. I felt like a true celebrity with a million people lining Market Street to cheer on the gay community. And I even ended up on the front page of the SF Gate website during my first year riding.
In 2011, after a few years of riding in the parade as a participant, I decided I wanted to get more involved in the community and volunteered with the Dykes on Bikes® to line up bikes for the parade. Ranell, the chair for the Road
Captains, was the first Dykes on Bikes® member I got to know. She made volunteering such a positive experience that I haven’t missed being a road captain for Dykes on Bikes® since 2020, when the parade was suspended for COVID.
During the COVID years, I went on a few rides with Dykes on Bikes® and it was a great way to get know some of the members better. In 2021, Dykes on Bikes® kicked off San Francisco Pride’s “Pride Movie Night at Oracle Park” (the alternative to another suspended Pride Parade) with a once-in-a-lifetime ride around the San Francisco Giants ballpark outfield track. Even though I wasn’t an official patchholding member at the time, Dykes on Bikes® President Kate Brown included me in this small group of
riders. This is when I knew I really wanted to make it official.
Many of the new members thought I was already a patch-holder since I had been around for so many years. I made it official this past spring by prospecting and was so excited to be presented with my official patch this summer at “Diabla Casita,” the unofficial Dykes on Bikes® East Bay hangout of fellow patch-holder, and my mentor, Melissa. I’m excited to have been elected as a member of the Board of Directors and to see what the club takes on in 2023.
Our membership has grown during COVID with amazing women who are combining their talent and passions with the women who have built Dykes on Bikes® from the early years, and every one of us has a strong commitment to serving our community.
https://www.dykesonbikes.org/
Returning for its 13th year at the Union Square Ice Rink, Drag Queens on Ice has been called “the most popular holiday event in San Francisco.” San Francisco Bay Times columnist Donna Sachet returned again this year as emcee, sharing the duties with Robert Keith.
On the evening of Thursday, December 1, Mayor London Breed arrived just in time to welcome all, thank the performers, and urge guests to shop in San Francisco this holiday season.
A troupe of at least eight drag queens, of diverse backgrounds and styles, along with assistants thrilled the large crowd of spectators. Among those skating this year were Jubilee, Mahlae Balenciaga, Jota Mercury, Khmera Rouge, Tara Lipsyncki, Princess Poppy, and Dusty Pörn who skated with Luccia Panelli.
View Pörn and Panelli’s performance: https://tinyurl.com/2a868caf
The AIDS Memorial Grove marked the eve of World AIDS Day with a beautiful night under the stars, but protected by a huge translucent tent, offering over 500 guests a delicious buffet and full bar as The Klipptones provided rich music. The highlight of the program was when CEO John Cunningham introduced Mayor Art Agnos to present the Lifetime of Commitment Award to Cleve Jones. Never have we heard Cleve speak with such emotion, inspiration, and power! It was impossible to leave this very special place without a clear sense of where we have been and powerful hope for the future. Drag Queens on Ice was another smashing success in Union Square at the Safeway Holiday Ice Rink, surrounded by twinkling decor and the massive Macy’s tree. Our returning co-emcee, Robert Keith, was in great form as our straight man, adding wonderful energy to the event. Skaters included Jota Mercury, Princess Poppy, Tara Lipsyncki, Jubilee, Dusty Porn along with her young friend Luccia Panelli, Mahlae Balenciaga, and Khmera Rouge and they demonstrated a wide variety of skills, stage presence, and drag realness, as a crowd three and four deep gathered around the rink and onlookers stared from surrounding hotel rooms, offices, and Macy’s. Even Mayor London Breed came by, staying for the entire show. This is one of those truly “only in San Francisco” events! Afterwards, all the skaters, their companions, and the staff coordinating the event adjourned to CityScape Bar & Lounge at the Hilton for cocktails and nibbles. More excitement awaits at the Safeway Holiday Ice Rink on New Year’s Day when the brave and daring don their bathing suits or holiday attire for Polar Bear Skate
Emperor William Bulkley produced a wonderful tribute to the late José Sarria, who would have been 100 this year. From rotating celebrity emcees and historic slides as a backdrop to entertaining performances and video and live speeches of significant importance, this event brought the memory of this iconic pioneer to life! Oasis was packed with generations of José supporters, friends, and associates. Occasional audio recordings of José himself hauntingly reminded us of his leadership, humor, and talent. This once-in-a-lifetime event was closed out beautifully by the Honorable Mark Leno with personal memories of José’s significance and how important his role was in everything we do today. It was truly an event that will long be remembered and José was an individual who will long be cherished!
We returned to Grace Cathedral for the official lighting of the stately, origami decorated Rainbow World Fund (RWF) Tree of Hope. Although he was called away on a family emergency, Founder Jeff Cotter assembled a strong program and entrusted it to us to host. The San Francisco Boys’ Chorus opened with a short concert, followed by comments by RWF Board member Karen Kai and origami expert Linda Mihara. Additional music came from angelic soprano Leberta Loral, pianist and singer Tammy Lynne Hall, and popular drag performer Dulce de Leche. Honey Mahogany, Reigning Emperor Brent Daddy Munro, and Reigning Empress Ehra Amaya shared their thoughts on hope and we read some of the hopes written on the origami decorations with students Carmen Iwamiya and Hana Cornish. Bishop Marc Andrus also spoke about hope before exchanging origami cranes with Ayae Yoshimoto from the Consul General of Japan. Finally, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence blessed the tree, ending with a countdown and the dramatic lighting. The description here hardly does justice to this event and the wonderful feeling of hope it generates. Some recent immigrants from Saudi Arabia put it well by saying, “I could have never guessed a year ago that I would be in San Francisco, surrounded by every letter of the LGBTQI ... . This level of acceptance and love is hard to grasp.” Welcome to San Francisco!
The following two nights, Songs of the Season, presented by Brian Kent, came to Feinstein’s at Hotel Nikko. This event, which we created as a holiday cabaret benefiting PRC, is now in its 30th year! The lovely, intimate room was packed with supporters both nights to hear music and comedy from Brian, this columnist (ably assisted by visiting Drew Cutler), Leanne Borghesi, Kenny Nelson, Effie Passero, Charles Jones, Kippy Marks, Sister Roma, and instrumentalists Russell Deason, Roberta Blake, Victor Serda, and Michael Grossman. Both audiences roared with laughter, applauded with vigor, and melted with nostalgia as this very talented cast gave them their all. As they gathered on stage for the finale, the holiday season truly began.
We rounded out our holiday events with the SF Ballet’s Opening Night of Nutcracker, Golden Girls LIVE , and Holiday Benefit for SF Knockers. Nutcracker was nothing short of spectacular with glorious music, elaborate staging and costumes, and incredibly talented dancers. As Act I ended, gentle snow fell on the delicate ballerinas, a spectacle both precarious and mesmerizing. You simply must include this production in your holiday schedule! Heklina, Holotta Tymes, D’Arcy Drollinger, and Matthew Martin at the Victoria Theatre once again brought the Golden Girls to life with great sets, costumes, characterizations, and unexpected surprises. Truly a unique San Francisco experience! And Sunday’s Knockers benefit returned us to the Castro and some of the best drag performers dazzling the crowd at Beaux.
When we wrote in our last column that the holiday schedule looked daunting, but welcome, we were right! With a couple of weeks still to go, get out of the house and experience some holiday cheer with your friends! Check out the adjacent calendar for upcoming opportunities and make these weeks special by sharing events with your loved ones. After years of pandemic caution, political turmoil, and civic uncertainty, we all need a little holiday cheer!
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
Saturday, December 17
Nice or Naughty Holiday Party Fun with friends, sexy elves Russell Deason on piano & Donna Sachet hosting The Academy, 2166 Market Street 7 pm $40 www.academy-sf.com
Saturday & Sunday, December 17 & 18
Dance Along Nutcracker: Snowbound SF Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band’s fabulous Nutcracker
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street 3 & 7 pm Saturday, 11 am & 3 pm Sunday $25 & up
Sunday, December 18
Bill Graham Menorah Lighting Union Square 4:45 pm Lighting 2–6 pm Dreidel House Crafts, Children’s entertainment, SHAMATI www.billgrahammenorah.org
Wednesday, December 21
Empresses’ Bake Sale
Holiday treats from the kitchens of SF Empresses & friends Benefiting the Empresses’ Fund Lookout, 3600 16th Street 6–9 pm Free! www.imperialcouncilsf.org
Saturday, December 24
Holiday Spectacular
SF Gay Men’s Chorus concerts Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street 5, 7, 9 pm $40–50 www.sfgmc.org
“If you’re bored in San Francisco, you’re not trying hard enough.”
– William Saroyan
Grand Duke IV Don Baker
Colors: Blue and Silver
Symbol: The Double Eagle
A favorite line of Don’s: “I’ll show you a Wild Goose.”
Coronation Theme: “A Royal Russian Silver Ball”
Oak. After Nicole the Great was christened by José Sarria as Queen Mother, Fred was a constant supporter of the newly christened Nicole. Fred was a crafter and the many banners that are displayed at coronation were made by him. Fred served in the ICS Parliament and as an heir to the throne. In 2017, he became King Father II of all California.
When a candidate campaigns to become a Grand Duke or Grand Duchess, there is always a representation of colors that allows voters to know whom they are voting for. In most cases, candidates will also have a “catchphrase” and a coronation theme for their step-down. Here is a look back at what those were from 1977–1981:
1977–1978
The Fifth Royal House of The Double Eagle and the Black Orchard
Grand Duchess V Tanya (deceased 1995)
Grand Duke IV Don Baker (deceased 1983)
Grand Duchess V Tanya
Colors: Black and Silver
Symbol: The Black Orchard
Tanya often asked, “If I don’t shave, can I wear a veil at coronation?”
Grand Duke IV Don Baker was the owner of a local establishment, The Wild Goose bar. Don chose to base his reign on the Romanov Grand Duchy of Moscow. The Double Eagle represented his title and reign. He incorporated the symbols of Office and created the Ring of Office, which would carry over to all future reigns. He was responsible for modeling our court after that of the Russian Empire. In his honor, the court created the annual Don Baker Memorial Humanitarian Award.
1978–1979
The Sixth Royal House of The Royal Oak and The Blue Boar
Grand Duchess VI Frau Schneider (deceased 1991)
Grand Duke V Fred Townson (deceased 2021)
Grand Duke V Fred Townson
Colors: Black and Red
Symbol: The Oak Tree
Grand Duchess VI Frau Schneider
Colors: Gold, and Purple
Symbol: Blue Boar
Frau was known for saying, “Buy me a drink. Do you have a cigarette?”
Coronation theme: “A Russian Summer Ball”
The Briggs Initiative, the Mass Suicide at Jonestown, and the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk all happened during the reign of Grand Duke V Fred Townson. Fred, being a Navy veteran, took it standing much like his title of the Royal
1979–1980
The Seventh Royal House of The Scorpion and The Silver Rose
Grand Duke VI Peter Lockett (deceased)
Grand Duke Regent I Rick Thompson (deceased 2020)
Grand Duchess VII Kelly (deceased)
Grand Duke VI Peter Lockett Colors: Black and White Symbol: The Scorpion Favorite quote: “I just got back in town and want to step-down as Grand Duke.”
Grand Duke Regent I Rick Thompson Colors: Black and Silver Symbol: The Royal Panda Rick would always say: “Where’s Fred?”
Grand Duchess VII Kelly Colors: Red, Gold, and Purple Symbol: Silver Rose Kelly would always say, “Where’s Rick?”
Coronation theme: “A Russian Bistro 1910–1918”
OK, hear ye! hear ye! This 7th Royal House had a very interesting reign. Here’s the scoop. Peter Lockett won the election but then he moved to Alaska, but he was never invested as Grand Duke. Enter Rick Thompson, Rick was crowned Regent I Grand Duke and carried out the duties of Grand Duke of San Francisco. Then a month before the Ducal Ball, Peter moved back to San Francisco and announced
that he intended to step-down as the reigning Grand Duke. At this time, there were no rules established on how the Council should handle such a situation, but in the end, a compromise was reached and both Peter and Rick would step-down together. The following year, Rick ran for Grand Duke and he lost the election, but then the winning candidate left town and Rick was again elevated to reigning Grand Duke.
The Eighth Royal House of The Royal Panda and The Royal Topaz
Grand Duke VII Rick Thompson (deceased)
Colors: Black and White Symbol: The Royal Panda
Grand Duchess VIII Edie (deceased)
Colors: Brown and Gold Symbol: Tiara
Coronation theme: “A Russian Winter Ball”
On September 22, 2023, the Grand Ducal Council of San Francisco will celebrate 50 years of camp and fundraising. The celebration will take place at the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Please consider becoming a sponsor.
Inquiries: 50thanniversary@sfducal.org
Tickets ($80) will go on sale from March 1, 2023–August 25, 2023, with a hard stop on that final date. Save the dates then both for your ticket purchases and for this once-in-a-lifetime historic event!
https://www.sfducal.org/
Kippy Marks is Grand Duke XL of The Grand Ducal Council of San Francisco. He is the first ever elected African-American Grand Duke.
The World Tree of Hope—presented by The Rainbow World Fund led by Jeff Cotter, in collaboration with Linda Mihara of Paper Tree—
is the largest origami decorated holiday tree in the world. The tree stands over 23 feet tall and is decorated this year with more than 18,000 hand-folded origami cranes. Each crane carries on its wings inscribed wishes of peace and hope for the future.
Created annually as a symbol of global unity and world peace, the tree is a gift from members of the San Francisco LGBTQ+ and Japanese American communities to the world—given to inspire hope, love, and humanitarian action.
For 2022, the 17th Annual World Tree of Hope Celebration was held on Monday, December 5, at Grace Cathedral. Joining emcee Donna Sachet were The Right Reverend Marc Andrus, Bishop of California; The Very Rev. Malcolm Young; Ayae Yoshimoto of the Consulate General of Japan; and origami artist Mihara. Participants also included Honey Mahogany, Dulce de Leche, Emperor Brent Daddy Munro, Empress Ehra Amaya, Tammy Lynne Hall, Leberta Lorál, and the San Francisco Boys Choir.
Members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, including San Francisco Bay Times columnist Sister Dana Van Iquity, blessed the tree, which will be on display through January 7, 2023.
https://www.rainbowfund.org/
Non-Conforming, and Intersex (TGI) people who are also Black, Indigenous, or People of Color, experiencing homelessness, living with disabilities and chronic illnesses, youth and elders, monolingual Spanish-speakers, and those who are legally vulnerable such as TGI people who are undocumented, engaging in survival sex trades, or are formerly incarcerated.
The guaranteed income will be a welcome boost for the recipients, but with cold winter weather now here, every extra bit of comfort is welcome to help folks who are barely getting by. Gift baskets will feature necessities like blankets, bedding, toiletries, and warm clothing.
Share the warmth by donating here: https://tinyurl.com/TDLMGifts
Looking for community on Christmas Day? Join the good folks at the Castro Country Club for their annual Holiday Potluck Lunch, followed by a special All-Fellowship Gratitude Meeting at 4 pm. CCC will provide turkeys and ham; guests are asked to bring holiday cheer, a healthy appetite, and, if you can, a dish or dessert to share. There is a sign-up sheet at the CCC café counter, or you can post on their Facebook event page if you are bringing something.
All CCC friends, family, and fellows are welcome. And if you can volunteer to help, even better! Volunteers are needed for set-up, buffet table maintenance, and clean-up.
More info: https://tinyurl.com/CCC1225
‘Tis
I was perusing photos from December 2019 the other day—photos brimming with festivity and love, as friends and family gathered to share the holiday season. Little did we know that just weeks later our world would change forever.
We are now gathering again, the joy of getting together tempered by the struggles and losses we endured over the past three years. We are even more aware of the fragile nature of life, and the need to enjoy what we have while we have it.
COVID is still with us, so as tempting as it may be to ditch the masks and party like it’s 2019, let’s keep our masks handy and stay safe. And with or without the threat of COVID, many people struggle during the holidays, dealing with loss, sorrow, depression. There is a very reasonable amount of fear in the air, as extremists step up their threats and attacks against the LGBTQ+ community. It is easy to despair.
But this holiday season, let’s choose hope over despair, joy over sorrow. Let’s choose to be kind, to spread joy, to share whatever blessings we have with others who need a hand. Be a friend to those whose spirits need a boost. Bring some light into the world.
I am looking forward to the new year, and a fresh start. See you all in January. In the meantime, happy holidays!
Joanie Juster is a long-time community volunteer, activist, and ally.
TING (continued from pg 6)
California a better state for everyone. I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season and a great 2023.
Phil Ting represents the 19th Assembly District, which includes the Westside of San Francisco and portions of South San Francisco along with the communities of Broadmoor, Colma, and Daly City.
“I sang the song as a kind of anthem, to get them realizing that we had to work together,” he told Gorman. “We could change the laws if we weren’t always hiding.” For many, including future activist George Mendenhall, Sarria’s message to be proud of who you are was “the beginning of my awareness of my rights as a gay person.”
In 1961, out and proud, José became a candidate for the city’s Board of Supervisors. He had no problem raising the $25 filing fee, but getting 25 signatures for his nominating petition was difficult. “Nobody wanted to sign any paper helping or saying that they were going to back a homosexual,” he remembered. He finally found either some “very bold queens” or some “closet queens who [I] had a little dirt on”—the story varied over time—and he was off and running.
Although he lost the election, José won some 6,000 votes, confirming his claim that the LGBT communities would come together for someone willing to fight for them. He also showed that there were enough votes in the LGBT community to swing an election to one candidate or cause or another in a close contest. He was the first openly gay man to run for public office anywhere, and his candidacy changed local politics forever. “From that day, at every election, the politicians have talked to us.”
The year José ran for supervisor he also co-founded the League for Civil Education, paying the startup costs for the new non-profit himself. The group survived for only two years, but the Society for Individual Rights, which followed it, lasted for almost two decades. Neither apologetic nor assimilationist, like some earlier homophile organizations, it opened a community center, sponsored social clubs, dances, candidates’ nights and theatrical
LEWIS (continued from page 11)milestone. RFMA represents bipartisan Congressional affirmation of the principles of LGBTIQ equality and freedom at the heart of the Supreme Court’s landmark Windsor and Obergefell marriage equality decisions. RFMA wipes DOMA off the books once and for all, and it stipulates that the federal government and states must recognize marriages of LGBTIQ couples that were valid wherever they were performed even if the Supreme Court were to reverse its marriage equality landmarks—something extreme conservatives on the Court currently lack the votes to do. And in a dramatic reversal, the Mormon Church even supported the bill, claiming it did so because RFMA contains religious exemptions that, in fact, are already generally established in law.
Across the Pacific Ocean in Tokyo, the court issued a decidedly timid and ambiguous decision in the historic marriage equality lawsuit brought by Japanese queer couples. It ruled that the lack of a legal system in Japan that recognized same sex couples as family violated the Japanese Constitution’s guarantees of “individual dignity and the right to equality.” But it also held that the nation’s constitution excluded same-sex couples from marriage. The Court made no comment on how a future court should rule if the Japanese Parliament (known as the Diet) continues to sit on its hands and do nothing, leaving same-sex couples with no rights or protections under Japanese law.
The Tokyo decision was just a lower court decision with additional decisions from other district and appellate courts and the Japanese Supreme Court yet to come. A lot of political organizing and lobbying in the very conservative Diet remains to be done as well.
The concurrent passage of RFMA and the recent Tokyo marriage equality decision left us pondering many things. RFMA is a great victory, but it came over a quarter century since passage of DOMA and 18 years
(continued from pg 6)
productions, including its annual Sirlebrity Capades, at which José sang everything from arias to Edith Piaf.
In 1964, the recently formed Tavern Guild—the first LGBT business association in the United States— named José queen of its annual Beaux Arts Ball.
Announcing that he was already a queen, he proclaimed himself Empress José Norton the First, in homage to San Franciscan Joshua Norton, who declared himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico in 1859. His first official appearance was a week later when he officiated at the opening of the Ice Follies.
A year later, Sarria founded the Imperial Court System, now the second largest LGBT organization in the world, with more than 65 chapters in the North America alone.
As Her Royal Majesty, Empress de San Francisco, José I The Widow Norton, he remained active in the organization until 2007, then abdicated in favor of his heir apparent. When he died six years later, more than 1000 mourners attended his imperial drag-themed funeral at Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill, which he once had picketed.
José had been proven right. Affirming LGBT identity, inspiring pride, creating community, and building political visibility and strength were the means to effect change. Throughout his life as a performer and an activist, he made two truths clear to the LGBT communities. The first, “There’s nothing wrong with being gay—the crime is getting caught,” he said consistently until the anti-sex laws finally were repealed. The second, “United we stand, divided they catch us one by one,” carved on his tombstone, remains sage counsel to remember always.
Bill Lipsky, Ph.D., author of “Gay and Lesbian San Francisco” (2006), is a member of the Rainbow Honor Walk board of directors.
after San Francisco’s glorious Winter of Love. Was that a short or very long time, or both?
Why did the Mormon Church put us through the nightmare of Prop. 8, just to turn around and support nationwide marriage equality 14 years later? Sadly, the Mormon Church’s official statement supporting RFMA took no responsibility for the harm they caused millions of LGBTIQ people, their children, family, and friends.
The Japanese courts and legislators often speak of gradual change taking place in Japanese society and the need for careful consideration going forward. But public support for marriage equality in Japan is already strong, and time ran out for one of the plaintiffs in the Tokyo case who died last year. Another plaintiff, who gave extremely forthcoming testimony in the case— something requiring exceptional courage in Japan—was dismayed with the court’s recent decision, wondering aloud why he and his fiancé went through it all if this was the result. The entrenched conservative politicians, who lead the governing Jiminto party and are likely still influenced by the Unification Church and other rightwing interest groups, appear to be the real roadblocks to equality in Japan.
What sustains us most going forward in the global movement for LGBTIQ equality is the many times we feel genuine connection and mutual support with others in the movement. Those moments give us profound conviction about and confidence in the inherent worth and goodness of the LGBTIQ movement and the queer community at its best. Happy holidays, everyone, and onward together in 2023!
John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, together for over three decades, were plaintiffs in the California case for equal marriage rights decided by the California Supreme Court in 2008. Their leadership in the grassroots organization Marriage Equality USA contributed in 2015 to making same-sex marriage legal nationwide.
hydrogen fueling capacity to serve up to 78 buses between its Oakland and Emeryville divisions and has also secured funding to expand its hydrogen fueling capacity to 130 buses at the Oakland division.
In 2021, the Center for Transportation and the Environment, in partnership with the City of Oakland and 15 other public and private organizations, secured $54 million to build and deploy 30 fuel cell hydrogen trucks and a supporting hydrogen fueling station at the East Bay Municipal Utility (EBMUD) property, adjacent to the Port of Oakland. The NorCal ZERO project is the largest commercial deployment of Class 8 Fuel Cell Electric Trucks in North America, highlighting Oakland’s leading efforts to embrace hydrogen technology and help reduce pollution and health impacts from trucks.
Oakland has been bringing hydrogen energy online for years. Now, with the resources and green jobs that ARCHES would bring, the City of Oakland can continue to center on hydrogen fuel use and deployment and continue to lead in the zero-emission sector.
Councilmember At-Large and Council President Rebecca Kaplan, who is the Vice Mayor of Oakland, was elected in 2008 to serve as Oakland’s citywide Councilmember; she was re-elected in 2016 and 2020. She also serves on the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC). Follow Councilmember Kaplan on Twitter @Kaplan4Oakland ( https://tinyurl.com/2p974fmk ) and Facebook ( https://tinyurl.com/34c3zkrv )
I’ve competed in various sports throughout my life, beginning with little league baseball, then junior tennis tournaments and league, followed by high school varsity and college intramurals. For me, playing sports was more about the fun than the competition. I guess that’s why I never got good enough to play at the intercollegiate level, especially at an
elite athletic school like UCLA (my alma mater).
As a young adult, trying to find where I fit into the world, I struggled with my own identity, particularly as a double minority: a person of color and a gay one at that. When I was 10 years old, my relatives once drove the big family to see “the freaks” in San Francisco on Polk Street. They pointed, laughed, gasped, and screamed. I imprinted their reactions, but didn’t understand what was so “freakish” about the seemingly normal people going about their business.
The intent of that day stuck with me until I realized that I am the “freak” we ridiculed. This was very hard to accept and I, in the most deliberate and calculating fashion, masqueraded my identity much like a spy in all those Hollywood blockbusters.
Playing sports had been my refuge, and it was the best cover. I learned how to talk the talk and walk the
walk. Although I am not an elite athlete, I was a pretty good recreational one. All of my closest friends were sports buddies and that was alright with me. It was good to be one of the guys.
But something was missing. There was an emptiness within that I couldn’t explain or express, and yet I knew what it was. Should I risk “normalcy” and pursue what the heart wants?
I woke up one morning in my mid 20s and had one of those “wow, I could’ve had a V8” moments. (Crap, I just realized you have to be of a certain age to remember that V8 phrase ... sigh.) I immediately logged into AOL, yes AOL, waited through that awful attempting to connect screech and squeal, and entered one of the many Sports M4M chat rooms. There, I found several local gay sports groups and leagues, such as tennis and softball. Even though I competed in many sports, I chose volleyball, a sport I only played recreationally because the group played on Venice Beach, which had that total Southern California vibe!
The unconditional acceptance and friendships I made from the Venice Beach volleyball group greatly helped my mental health as I adjusted to being a gay Asian male who happens to be a sports nut. Ultimately, the LGBTQ+ sports community positively improved my
“My name is Nala! I am a seven-yearold, female, shepherd terrier, pit bull mix looking for my forever family! I come from Tulare County and in the words of my foster folks, ‘Nala is a lovely houseguest! Very polite, easy-going, well-mannered, and delightful.’ I do not want to share my humans with other canine companions, but who can blame me? I think it’s a great game to attack the Swiffers and hose attachments as they are the most dangerous indigenous critters in the home. If you need some help pre-washing your dishes, call me. I am available for adoption, so let’s meet!”
Check out Nala playing with a garden water hose spray: https://tinyurl.com/49p439j9
The San Francisco Bay Times previously featured Nala, who has been up for adoption for a while. We hope that one of you reading now can adopt this fun-loving furry pal. To sweeten the deal, for the month of December, all adult dogs’ (5+ months) adoption fees are waived!
If you wish to meet Nala, you can do so virtually before choosing to adopt. For more information, please email adoptions@sfspca.org
Nala is presented to San Francisco Bay Times readers by Dr. Jennifer Scarlett, the SF SPCA’s CEO. Our thanks also go to Paradise Osorio for helping to get the word out about lovable pets like Nala.
To meet Nala in person, visit the SF SPCA Mission Campus @ 201 Alabama Street. It is open for appointments from 10 am–6 pm (Monday–Wednesday, Friday–Sunday) and 1 pm–6 pm on Thursdays.
For more information: https://www.sfspca.org/adoptions/
self-image and confidence. It also didn’t hurt that I was one of the strongest and youngest and prettiest players. At least that’s what I envisioned myself.
Fast forward to today and looking back, I know that joining that gay volleyball group gave me a sense of identity, purpose, and pride, and empowered me to embrace who I am as well as our LGBTQ+ culture. I went from “please don’t touch me” to “hugs and kisses” mandatory.
For everything the LGBTQ+ sports community gave me, I wanted to give back, which led me to coach, manage, and govern teams and leagues over a span of 20 years. And, of course, write this column for all of you readers.
Whether you are a budding athlete, an accomplished athlete, or a self-proclaimed klutz, it is with great hope that you are inspired by my personal experience and columns here in the San Francisco Bay Times And that you will participate in an LGBTQ+ sports event, social, group, league and/or tournament. Maybe you’ll make it your new year’s resolution for 2023 to get involved and learn a sport or two. And if you see me, please say hello! Happy holidays and have a great new year!
John Chen, a UCLA alumnus and an avid sports fan, has competed as well as coached tennis, volleyball, softball, and football teams.
“Always
Every year I review all my columns in order to compose this quiz, and invariably I notice bad habits that make me wince. This year, I began a lot of columns by meandering about how I was procrastinating, and described my irrelevant diversions in pointless detail. Who cares? This is supposed to be a news column, so why not just start with a news story? I will do better in the future.
I also have a tendency to end with a discussion of cocktails. I sound like a distracted alcoholic putting in time until happy hour. To be honest, I don’t even drink the damn cocktails most of the time. I just write about them in order to maintain a whimsical fun-loving image. I’m going to stop this also.
I will, however, bring back my imaginary household staff, Myrtille and Pierre, who did not get mentioned in 2022. They took a long ski holiday and spent most of the summer in Juan-Les-Pins, so perhaps that’s why I never wrote about them.
Now, on to the quiz!
Question One:
True or False?
a) This year, we discussed a randy male dolphin who was observed trying to have sex with a whale in its blowhole.
b) The echidna, a hedgehog with four-headed penises, only uses two of them at a time.
c) The female “blanket octopus” spans up to six feet, while the male is just two centimeters and dies after sex, which makes sense, I suppose.
d) The animal most likely to kill you in Oklahoma is a tiger.
e) Monkeys in India offer their mates guacamole, which they make out of ripe avocados, as a courting gesture.
Question Two:
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of religious actors in all but two of these cases. Which two?
a) The Bremerton, Washington, public high school football coach who wanted to pray on the fifty-yard line after games.
b) The Colorado web designer who wanted to limit her wedding sites to straight couples.
c) The Maine parents who wanted to send their kids to strict Biblical schools using tax payer dollars under a state subsidy program.
d) The religious group in Boston that wanted to fly its flag on one of the three flagpoles in front of City Hall.
e) The New York-based university that refused to recognize a GLBT student organization on religious grounds.
Question Three:
We wrote about Whitney Chewston this year because ...
a) He sat on a Vitamix blender box for three months and refused to move.
b) His homophobic owner took him to the pound because he humped another male dog.
c) He stars on an Instagram site where he expresses his disdain for his two gay owners.
d) He defended his lesbian owners from a bear attack in a North Dakota state park.
Question Four:
Was this in Ohio? Or Oklahoma?
a) A cemetery worker removed a headstone and sanded off a reference to a same-sex marriage.
b) A judge removed a lesbian exwife from her son’s birth certificate because she hadn’t adopted the child, even though she was married to his mother at the time of his birth.
c) A professor went to court and won the right to use male names and pronouns for his transwoman student. Plus, he picked up $400,000 in damages from his college.
d) A candidate for the state legislature reminded voters that the Bible calls for gays to be put to death, adding, “I’m largely libertarian, but ignoring as a nation things that are worthy of death is very remiss.”
e) The state required a “gender oath” to play sports, swearing to one’s sex at birth.
Which loony foreigner was not featured in this year’s columns?
a) James McDougall, the mentally deficient British sperm donor with the “Fragile X” genetic flaw, who advertised for lesbians and wound up siring 15 children before being ordered to stop by a judge.
b) Yang, the 24-year-old Taiwanese lesbian who paid two men to abduct her girlfriend and drive her to the marriage office as a romantic gesture, but who ran away after the girlfriend escaped from the trunk of a car and waved down police.
c) Doug Ramsey, the Australian corporate CEO who bit off a man’s nose during a road rage altercation in the parking lot of a sports arena.
d) Andreas David Niederbichler, the German plastic surgeon who accidentally killed his lover with an overdose by putting coke on his penis before oral sex.
Can you match these quotes from “One Million Moms” to their subjects?
a) “It is outrageous that a [company] is marketing and normalizing gender dysphoria to young children.”
b) “[Product ad] specifically mentions lady bits, testicles, chesticles, buttcracks, and sweaty backs.”
c) “As if that wasn’t enough vulgarity, crotch-grabbing and gyrating all over the stage platform were also included—all while children watched.”
d) “[Character] is now boldly glorifying gay marriage.”
e) “These ads are so suggestive and disgraceful in their attempt to normalize the discussion of [Subject] on primetime television ... . Can you imagine what goes through the mind of a child when he or she sees these ads? And we all know children repeat what they hear. [Company] should be ashamed!”
f) “Make sure to share this information with your friends and family to guarantee they are not blindsided by this drastic twist ... .”
z) Gillette razor ad features singing pubic hair.
y) Mattel introduces transgender Barbie.
x) Scoobie Doo character Velma comes out.
w) Super Bowl halftime show.
v) Lume deodorant ad.
u) Lesbian polar bears appear on Peppa Pig
Question Seven:
What’s the deal in Charter Day School v Peltier?
a) A federal judge ordered the administration to reinstate a lesbian teacher.
b) A preschool teacher is suing for damages after she was allegedly forced to read aloud from a gayfriendly children’s book.
c) The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled against a strict dress code.
d) Conservative parents have asked a federal court to enforce anti-trans bathroom policies.
e) None of these.
Question Eight:
This year, researchers made which two of the following observations?
a) Eating mold “can produce poisonous toxins and make you sick,” or it can be just fine.
b) The military has logged nearly 400 cases of “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena,” of which less than a dozen exhibit signs of an extra-terrestrial origin.
c) Gay men do better in school than straight men or women in general; over half of gay men have a college degree, versus 35 percent of straight men and women in general.
d) Female dolphins have clitorises and are known to cavort with one another.
e) Birds aren’t real.
Question Nine: Ryan Utterback made the news this year because ...
a) He admitted throwing American mathematician Scott Johnson off a Sydney cliff in 1988.
b) He’s been in court after being charged with sexually assaulting a child under 12 and showing porn to a four-year-old child. Last year, he testified in opposition to gay library books at a Kansas City school board meeting, where he demanded parental rights.
c) He was ordered to write a 25-page essay on the Pulse shootings after defacing a Pride exhibit in Del Ray Beach.
d) He insisted at a city council meeting that schools were putting litter boxes in the bathrooms in order to serve kids who identified as cats.
e) He created an anti-gay cryptocurrency called “maricoin.”
f) He started a petition to replace a statue of Catherine the Great in Odessa with a statue of the late porn star, Billy Herrington.
Question Ten:
In 2023, would you rather ...
a) See a conservative justice resign? Or see a GOP senator resign from a state with a Democratic governor?
b) Learn another language? Or learn an instrument?
c) See three main GOP candidates for President? Or a dozen in a freefor-all?
d) Get in better shape? Or make more money?
e) See Biden run again? Or see a different Democrat?
f) Spend two weeks in France? Or spend two months in Aspen?
g) See Trump indicted for misuse of classified documents? Or see him indicted for seditious conspiracy?
h) Quit your worst habit? Or have a really good time all year?
Answer One: a) T, b) T, c) T, d) We were told this was true, but we don’t believe that, so F, e) F, Of course this isn’t true!
Answer Two: b), and e). The Court has not yet ruled on the Colorado case, but the conservatives seemed to favor the web designer at oral arguments in December. As for Yeshiva University, they tried to use the Court as a shortcut to overturn a preliminary injunction, but Roberts and Kavanaugh weren’t buying it. Yeshiva wound up cancelling all club recognition until the gay case could be litigated.
Answer Three: b) He is adorable, often posing near a large glass of red wine, musing that he’s “tired of the gays.”
Answer Four: a) Ohio, b) Oklahoma, c) Ohio, d) Oklahoma, f) Oklahoma
Answer Five: c) Trick question! Doug Ramsey is not a foreigner. He was the COO of Beyond Meat, who assaulted another man at a University of Arkansas football game. And for the record, Yang convinced the police that the whole thing was a prank gone awry, so it was all good.
Answer Six: a)y), b)v), c)w), d)u), e) z), f)x)
Answer Seven: Another trick question! The answer is e). In Peltier v Charter Day School, the Fourth Circuit
indeed ruled against a school that forced girls into skirts in order to be ladylike. In Charter Day School v Peltier, however, the school is petitioning the High Court to review that case; Charter Day becomes the petitioner, listed first, and Peltier becomes the respondent, listed second. Note that Charter Day is publicly funded.
Answer Eight: c), and d). The mold observation is not new, and of course none of the 400 “UPA” observations had any signs of extra-terrestrial origins. The dolphin news was “discovered” by a team from Mount Holyoke (Hello!) but seems kind of obvious to some of us. The idea that birds aren’t real is a movement designed to illustrate the stupidity of absurd conspiracy theories. We love it.
Answer Nine: b) I tried to find an update on this guy’s case, but had no luck.
Answer Ten: a) I’d take the justice, b) Hmm. Maybe the language, c) The free-for-all even if it would be better for Trump, d) Get in shape, e) Biden, although I reserve the right to change my mind later, f) France, g) Classified documents because it’s easier to prosecute, h) Good times all year sounds pretty nice, and I’ll need all my bad habits for that.
See you next year!
arostow@aol.com
Looking back at the year in queer film, there were some outstanding LGBTQ films—as well as some duds—featuring queer talent in front of and behind the camera. Here is a rundown of 25 films that made strong impressions in 2022.
The best film of the year is arguably Tár, showcasing a tour de force performance by Cate Blanchett as a lesbian conductor who manipulates everyone around her before she gets her comeuppance.
Similarly, The Conductor was an excellent documentary about the lesbian conductor Marin Alsop. It is a different, celebratory film, but equally worthwhile.
Lesbian horror was prominent in 2022 with films like the period thriller The Last Thing Mary Saw,
a troubled teen, grappling with her depressed mom, Angela (Carolyn Bracken), who goes missing and then appears—changed. It was an interesting film about otherness and Char realizes she is a bit different from her classmates.
Do Revenge wasn’t a horror film per se, as it had two teenage girls, Eleanor (Maya Hawke), a lesbian, and Drea (Camila Mendes), trade places to get payback from exes who wronged them. It doesn’t all work, but this candy-colored film had its moments.
Gay male horror films also trended in 2022 with Hypochondriac, out gay writer/director Addison Heimann’s auspicious feature directorial debut “based on a real breakdown” that he
gave an impressive performance in the gay horror film Swallowed that screened on the festival circuit this year.
Dramas in 2022 featured some magnificent acting. Brendan Fraser delivered a comeback performance as a severely obese gay man in The Whale, director Darren Aronofsky’s stagey screen adaptation of the play by out gay writer Samuel D. Hunter. Better was Jeremy Pope’s remarkable, internal performance in The Inspection, as Ellis French, a young gay homeless man who enters boot camp to become a marine in this tough but rewarding film.
One of the best films of the year was Benediction by out gay writer/ director Terence Davies. This elegant, elegiac biopic of the gay British poet Siegfried Sassoon was exquisite and emotional. In contrast, The Laureate was a bland, ambitious biographical drama about bisexual poet Robert Graves (Tom Hughes) and his “modern relationship” with two women in the late 1920s: his feminist wife, Nancy Nicholson (Laura Haddock), and Laura Riding (Dianna Agron), an American poet who comes to live with them in Islip, Oxfordshire.
There was an exciting crop of foreign films this year. Highlights include Compartment No. 6, about Laura (Seidi Haarla) a Finnish lesbian grad student, travelling by train from Moscow to Murmansk, who meets Ljoha (Yuriy Borisov), a young Russian man. The film beautifully shows how these two lonely strangers make an unexpected connection.
Likewise, the Finnish coming of age film Girl Picture sensitively portrayed the romance between Mimmi (Aamu Milonoff), an acerbic lesbian, who lets her guard down when she meets Emma (Linnea Leino), a figure skater.
The Brazilian romance Private Desert was a gritty and powerful queer drama about a cop who is romantically involved with Sara, a woman who is revealed, around the film’s midpoint, to be Robson (nonbinary actor Pedro Fasanaro, in a star-making performance).
2023 will get off to a strong start with the release of Close, out gay Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont’s sensitive and moving drama about Léo (Eden Dambrine), a thirteen-year-old boy in Belgium whose best friend is Rémi (Gustav De Waele).
Here’s to more great queer films in 2023.
about two lovers in 1843 New York. Mary (Stefanie Scott) and Eleanor (Isabelle Fuhrman) have “sinful affections” that get them punished, prompting them to exact revenge.
The flinty slow-burn folk horror film You Are Not My Mother, by queer writer/director Kate Dolan, had Char (Hazel Doupe),
himself experienced. Will (Zach Villa) jeopardizes his own mental and physical health, as well as his relationship with his boyfriend, Luke (Devon Graye), when his dangerous mother reappears in his life.
So Vam, written and directed by 17-year-old transgender filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay, was a low-budget horror film about Kurt (Xai), a
Likewise, the fusty British drama My Policeman depicted a love triangle four decades apart between two men and one woman in Brighton, England, that began in 1957. The film was most notable for actor Harry Styles playing a repressed gay man. The film fails to jerk tears, but Spoiler Alert did so with its poignant tale about Michael (Jim Parsons) caring for his boyfriend Kit (Ben Aldridge), who is diagnosed with cancer.
Queer comedy in 2022 consisted of the charming Fire Island, a riff on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, written by Joel Kim Booster, who plays Noah, a gay man who unexpectedly falls for Will (Conrad Ricamora) during his week summering in the gay mecca.
Bros, the first studio gay romcom, got more press for flopping at the box office, but the film was a very funny comedy that features two characters—Bobby Leiber (co-writer Billy Eichner) and Aaron Shepard (Luke Macfarlane)—who keep love at arms’ length. They could be perfect together if they just got out of their own way. Hopefully the film will find an audience now that it is available for home viewing.
Out gay actor Billy Porter brought verve and style to his upbeat directorial debut Anything’s Possible, a romantic comedy-drama about a trans teenager Kelsa (trans actress Eva Reign), who falls in love with her classmate, Khal (Abubakr Ali).
Lastly, Peter Van Kant was out gay director François Ozon’s fabulous and clever gender reworking of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra Van Kant, featuring Denis Menochet’s stunning turn as the title character—a version of Fassbinder.
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
bullied gay high school student in Australia who wants to be a drag queen. When he is “changed” by Landon (Chris Asimos), who feeds on outcasts, Kurt becomes a vampire.
They/Them was a fabulous queer horror film that had a dozen teens sent to a conversion therapy camp where they try to stay alive— because a killer is on the loose.
Cooper Koch distinguished himself as one the gay teens. Koch also
Documentaries this year include several strong entries. Framing Agnes was out trans filmmaker Chase Joynt’s fantastic and fascinating documentary, which deftly unpacks the legacy of Agnes and five other transpeople who were interviewed about their lives and experiences by UCLA professor Harold Garfinkel. Stay on Board chronicled the life of trans skater Leo Baker, while Loving Highsmith provides a superficial portrait of queer writer Patricia Highsmith.
menacing about a man in a dress?!”
By Sister Dana Van Iquity
Sister Dana sez, “Happy HoliDaze to all, and please try to keep the Spirit of the Season rather than being too overwhelmed with shopping frenzy!”
The mission of the NATIONAL AIDS MEMORIAL is to share the story of the struggle against HIV/ AIDS and to remember in perpetuity the lives lost, offer healing and hope to survivors, and inspire new generations of activists in the fight against stigma, denial, and hate for a just future. The NATIONAL AIDS MEMORIAL commemorated WORLD AIDS DAY on December 1 in the Grove in Golden Gate Park with a powerful event as the community came together to remember and celebrate those lost to HIV/AIDS and all who are surviving and thriving today. The Grove was majestic and magical, being specially lighted for the occasion. We were given lit candles to place on the CIRCLE OF FRIENDS with an opportunity to see and honor the names of those who passed away from AIDS. We then travelled down a path beside a “river” of lights over rocks to hear meditative music and witness people gracefully performing ballet among the boulders. We made our way into the warmth of a heated tent to eat and drink among friends. The band KLIPPTONES played music to dance to. AIDS Memorial CEO John Cunningham warmly welcomed us. The programming focused on “Changing the Pattern for a Future without AIDS.” Cleve Jones, founder of the AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT and an advocate for health, social, and LGBTQ rights, was honored with the “National AIDS Memorial Lifetime of Commitment Award.” Jones inspired us with the activism of the late Supervisor Harvey Milk and his words of “hope, courage, and the ability to fight.”
The CENTER FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION has found that since Elon Musk has taken over Twitter, racial slurs have been on a dramatic rise: use of the N-Word is up 500% and anti-LGBTQ language up 885%. Also, hundreds of QAnon, far-right accounts have returned.
Sister Dana sez, “Free speech is not hate speech! Musk must be muzzled!”
A record 124 incidents of threats and violence targeting drag events were reported so far this year across 47 U.S. states. GLAAD’s data did not include the Club Q massacre in Colorado Springs, pending an official declaration of motive. Extremist groups like the Proud Boys, Patriot Front, and local white supremacist chapters were involved in several incidents. In Texas and Arizona, bills would ban minors from attending drag performances. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis announced a similar proposal. In Tennessee, a bill aims to ban all drag performances in public, while Michigan lawmakers announced a plan to ban drag shows from schools, despite no such events taking place.
Sister Dana sez, “What is so
I caught the final night of the fabulous COCKETTES—live, singing, acting, tap-dancing, and flashing— in ETERNAL EMISSIONS at PianoFight in Oakland on December 4. The performers (alphabetically) included Birdie Bob Watt, Bonni Suval, Carl Linkhart, Christian Heppenstahl, Corey Gogo Pup, Diogo Zavadzki, Ellie Stokes, Kitten on the Keys, Matt Bratko, Maxine Hall, Noah Haydon, Scrumbly Koldewyn (original Cockette, on piano/acting/Music Director), Steven Satyricon, and Sunshine. They took us on a joyful journey through the songs Scrumbly wrote for the legendary, psychedelic, pansexual, theatrical troupe who began their notorious midnight shows in 1969.
THE RAINBOW WORLD FUND (RWF) WORLD TREE OF HOPE is the largest origami decorated holiday tree in the world, standing over 23 feet tall and decorated with over 17,000 origami cranes and stars—each hand folded and inscribed with wishes for the future of the world. The RWF World Tree of Hope is created each year as a symbol of global unity to promote peace, love, and humanitarianism. The tree is created by Rainbow World Fund as a gift from the LGBTQ and friends community to the world. The tree was displayed at San Francisco City Hall for eleven years. 2022 is the sixth year that the tree is displayed at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. The 17TH ANNUAL TREE LIGHTING CELEBRATION was on December 5. Wishes written on folded white cranes from world leaders to school children, from San Francisco to Sir Lanka, make the RWF World Tree of Hope a powerful expression of people coming together to create a better world. Notable wish contributors included: President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Dame Jane Goodall, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.
The Grammy-winning San Francisco Boys Chorus sang. Our Emcee was the delightful Donna Sachet. Appearing were: Honey Mahogany, Dulce de Leche, Emperor Brent Daddy Munro, Empress Ehra Amaya, The Rt. Rev. Dr. Marc Andrus, Bishop of California, Leberta Lorál, Tammy Lynne Hall, Origami Artist Linda Mihara, RWF Founder Jeff Cotter, and some of us members of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc.,
blessed the Tree of Hope. The tree will be on display at Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street, from now to January 7, 2023.
SONGS OF THE SEASON was back and lively for 2022 at Feinstein’s at the Nikko. This was a magical, merry, and mirthful evening celebrating the holiday season with sass on December 6 (there was a second show on December 7). Now in its 30th year, this benefit supporting PRC returned with star-studded talent, curated and emceed by Billboard Recording Artist Brian Kent, who opened the show singing the humorous song “Sugar and Booze.” Donna Sachet gave us the sentimental “Just in Time for Christmas.” Leanne Borghesi was an angry Mrs. Claus about to divorce her husband with “Surabaya Santa.” Kenny Nelson gave St. Nick a reminder to his gay boyfriend, “Santa Baby,” to remember him at Christmastime with expensive gifts. Effie Passero took us to the opera with her coloratura soprano of “Oh Holy Night.” Charles Jones jazzed it up on the piano singing “The Christmas Song.” Kippy Marks amazed us on his electric violin with “Psalms of the Season.” Donna closed Act One, reading her “Letter to Billy Ray,” a funny take on the famous letter, “Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus;” but changing it to: “Yes, Billy Ray, There Is a Donna Sachet.”
Act Two began with Brian’s kinda sad but sweet regret, “Lonely Jew at Christmas.” Leanne belted out “Zat You Santa.” But I have to mention that backstage before the second act, Leanne gave me a makeup makeover of lipstick, eye shadow, and rouge to make this man become Sister Dana! Moving along now. Kenny’s tender tenor explained “What Christmas Means.” Sister Roma first presented a memoriam of all the show people we lost this year, but then broke into stellar standup comedy with holiday jokes, some of which were a roast of her fellow performers that night. Effie returned with an emotional “Ave Maria.” Charles did Mariah Carey proud with his version of “This Christmas.” Kippy’s violin was “Beating the Odds,” and I was reminded of his recent successful liver transplant. Donna bombarded us with “Christmas Clichés.” Sister Dana sez, “Because if it weren’t for Jesus, HOWEVER would Hallmark Cards have SURVIVED?!” Then Lianne and Effie dueted in “Happy Days Are Here Again,” reminiscent of the renowned duo of Streisand and Garland’s team-up years ago. And bringing it all home was the whole cast in the grand finale getting us to
of her films, Patricia Clarkson, this is a feature film that I hope will be up for Oscar gold. The two reporters changed the world, and this movie can, too.
Here’s a film that has been promoted for months and is actually worth the wait: The Fabelmans In this semi-autographical coming of age story, we meet the young
I wouldn’t steer you wrong. Four films, as well as one miniseries, are so good that they will have you caroling showbiz thanks. When I see a disappointing movie, which is constantly, I like to remember a few very satisfying, fun, innovative, and sometimes spectacular ones. Here are a few of those:
Remember All the President’s Men, starring hunky Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as two Washington Post reporters busting open the Watergate scandal? Now it’s The New York Times in She Said. Two reporters—played by Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan—are determined to end the silence about sexual harassment and assault. The film, beautifully directed by Maria Schrader, shows every detail of journalistic life and the hard work of the characters as they dive deep into the world of Harvey Weinstein and his victims. Costarring an actress I follow in all
Steven Spielberg, in love with movies as soon as he sees his first.
Armed with his camera, he begins the complicated process of becoming a filmmaker. I must love seeing the work process because this movie, like She Said, shows the painstaking physical details along the career journey. Produced and cowritten by
Spielberg and remarkable Tony Kushner, this is one of those rare films that has a riveting plot and compelling characters who lead viewers to laugh and cheer as well as possibly shed a tear. Michelle Williams as Spielberg’s incandescent mother will hopefully get an Oscar nod, along with Spielberg as the director telling his own heartfelt story. If he took some liberties, it doesn’t matter. You will be glad you saw the film.
Now let’s get silly. Who here, like me, admits to enjoying Bad Santa and Blazing Saddles? In that vein is The Estate, which is rollicking fun with its movie madness and bad taste laughs. Two sisters—played by Toni Collette and Anna Faris, who are
Barbara Higbie and I have known each other since she was 22 years old. She has toured the world, played in multiple groups, recorded with Windham Hill and Olivia, and garnered multiple awards. We had a chance to discuss her new CD just before she left to perform in Germany.
Irene Young: Barbara, how would you describe your new album?
Barbara Higbie: The music is inspired by nature and the healing power of music. It is called Presence, and is the final part of an instrumental trilogy, or “Chillogy,” as some are calling it. The first album in the series, Resonance, was released in 2019, then Murmuration in 2021, and now Presence in 2022.
Irene Young: You have played such a variety of genres during your career, from bluegrass to jazz to new age and everything in between. What inspired you to revisit your Windham Hill roots and compose healing music?
Barbara Higbie: The series came about to fulfill a bodyworker’s request for music to play during her sessions with clients. I set about making an album with healers in mind: melodic and spontaneous, played by fine musicians on great instruments in a great studio. The first album in the series, Resonance, became quite a hit. I heard from people all over the country who were playing it on constant replay. A sequel was called for, and during the making of that second album
Murmuration, I had a creative burst, and composed the third album, entitled Presence
Irene Young: Did you self-produce this Chillogy, or work with a producer?
Barbara Higbie: I credit my co-producer, Lisa Vogel, with coaxing all three albums out of me. She also played a major role in the recording studio.
Irene Young: Will the show at The Freight on December 18 be solo or with a band?
By Irene YoungBarbara Higbie: I will be performing with an amazing, all-star quintet! The great Vicki Randle, guitar and vocals; Seattle-based cello star, Jami Sieber; the brilliant world music percussionist, Michaelle Goerlitz; and bass legend, Dewayne Pate. It’s a dream band of my very favorite musicians!
Irene Young: Oh, yes. I am familiar with each of them, and every member is a master musician. Any other Bay Area gigs lined up?
Barbara Higbie: We warm up for The Freight’s December 18 show with a December 17 show at the Occidental Center for the Arts in Occidental.
Irene Young: Will you be showcasing the new album?
Barbara Higbie: The show will be a mix of new, seasonal, and original high energy music. We will be celebrating the first night of Hanukkah, the season, the new release, and the pure joy of making music together.
Irene Young: Since meeting you, your life in music has been very constant and full. Barbara, how the heck did all this begin at such a young age?
Barbara Higbie: As the youngest of 6 kids from a very musical family, I played from age 4. My family moved from Indiana to Ghana when I was 13. I experienced a profound cultural awakening. Later, attending Mills College, then the Sorbonne and being
both totally committed to the insanity—portray sisters hoping to get into their aunt’s will. That aunt is played by a wild Kathleen Turner. Other relatives show up, including smarmy David Duchovny. The movie is over the top, but I laughed so much that it made the ride well worth it.
that shows the courage and intellect of the divers. It is remarkable to once more be transported by a great film.
The Offer blew my mind. I read everything I could about the making of the iconic movie The Godfather, from the mobsters to the filmmakers. This 10-episode TV series is Albert Ruddy’s (played by Miles Teller) story about his experience producing, going through mob quicksand, casting, and releasing 1972’s The Godfather. I was lucky enough to know the real Robert Evans, the head of Paramount who oversaw this dangerous production. Matthew Goode is perfect casting as the flamboyant Evans, with Burn Gorman also a scene stealer as the persnickety mogul of Gulf and Western, Charles Bluhdorn. Every frame works and it is a cinematic lesson on how one gets an impossible movie made.
If these productions are any indication of showbiz in 2023, we will be blessed by the movie gods and goddesses. Happy new year one and all!
Back to the real world with Ron Howard’s searing 13 Lives. We follow the rescue of Thai boys and their soccer coach from a treacherous cave. It is flooding and their time is running out. The film is based completely on a true story, and we might know the outcome from the news stories of the time, but you won’t mind. This is strong, exciting storytelling
Jan Wahl is a Hollywood historian, film critic on various broadcast outlets, and has her own YouTube channel series, “Jan Wahl Showbiz.” She has two Emmys and many awards for her longtime work on behalf of film buffs and the LGBTQ community. Contact her at www.janwahl.com
a musician in Paris, I started composing. At 22, I became the first female instrumentalist signed to the Windham Hill label.
Irene Young: You must have quite the discography by now. How many album projects have there been throughout your career?
Barbara Higbie: 9 solo, 9 group, and 15 compilations.
Irene Young: Wow! Fun Fact #1: You introduced Windham Hill to my photography, which resulted in a long-lasting gig photographing their artists. Fun Fact #2: I introduced you to Teresa Trull and told you two that you should play together.
Barbara Higbie: Yes! I began recording for Olivia Records as a duo with the great singer-songwriter Teresa Trull. We toured with Cris Williamson, Ferron, Holly Near,
Irene Young: Barbara, thank you for taking the time to do this interview right before you head for Germany to perform on an Olivia travel riverboat cruise. I’ll see you at The Freight on December 18!
Barbara Higbie and her All-Star Band will be performing at the Freight & Salvage on Sunday, December 18, 7 pm.
For tickets and more information: https://thefreight.org/ Photographer and videographer Irene Young has over 600 CD covers and thousands of promo photos to her credit. Her upcoming book, “Something About the Women: Five Decades of Seeing by Irene Young,” will be available in early 2023.
I’ve been trying to come up with thoughtful, end-of-year things to write about and, as is often the case, I’m drawing a blank. I’m not a Christmas person for a lot of reasons, none of which mean I’m Scrooge. I was never able to give credit to a bearded white guy flying through space for the sacrifice my family made to buy me a surprise pair of ice skates. And there’s even a logical explanation for “Jane the Virgen.” However, I do love celebrating Solstice—the more lights (blue for Hanukkah) the merrier!
I turn on the television to relax during this calendar lull, and instead I get a cinematic sugar overload. I did, however, successfully re-watch Single All the Way (who can resist the evergreen, I mean evergay, Michael
Urie?) with no bad health effects. Ditto Love Actually, and yes, I do fantasize about jumping into the screen to comfort Emma Thompson after her husband cheats on her!
The universe, though, had some good news to share.
Raphael Warnock became the first African American from Georgia (or any state in the former Confederacy) to win a seat for a full term in Congress. As embarrassing as that is for Georgia, I want to individually praise the 1,816,096 people who voted for him. And solicit volunteer emotional help and education for the 1,719,483 people who voted for the other guy, who, himself, was a sad embarrassment.
And Warnock isn’t just Black; he takes progressive stands on women’s rights and queer rights, and is anti antisemitism. It is spiritually uplifting to listen to him speak and feel he’s being honest. That’s what I need for the holidays.
Then news that the Senate voted to pass (61/33) the Respect for Marriage Act (that’s us, this time) is thrilling! I came of age in the wild lesbian/feminist 1970s, so I don’t believe marriage is for everyone. The suspicion cast on people, especially women, who want to remain single is untenable. But rights for one should be rights for all.
And the icing on the cake of holiday spirit is the release of basketball phenom Brittney Griner, who was detained by Russian police and sentenced to 9 years for a minor drug offence. If the WNBA paid women a fair wage, Griner and other women in the league wouldn’t play in repressive countries; they could relax in luxury like the male players for the NBA.
But the release details are so delicious: the image of Griner walking to her homebound plane towering at least a head above her military escort is astonishing. President Biden, who negotiated her release, announced
the
Michele Karlsberg: This year, Gerard Cabrera is celebrating the publication of his debut novel Homo Novus It tells the story of a young man and the Catholic priest who seduced him when he was an adolescent.
As the publisher’s description of the book reads: “Piety, compassion, lust, love ... feelings all the more potent when you are a Catholic priest confined to your hospital bed by an AIDS diagnosis, being comforted by the seminarian you sexually abused as an adolescent. It’s Holy Week 1987. The priest is Fr. Linus Fitzgerald, the young seminarian is Orlando Rosario. Both are shocked and shaken as they reflect on their desires and dreams, secrets and sins, hopes and faith, and the paths that brought them together. In Homo Novus, Gerard Cabrera illuminates with deep empathy and stark emotional honesty the journey these two men take separately and together— a journey that began with a violation of trust and leads them to places, sacred and profane, that they never imagined.”
Recently, I had a chance to speak with Cabrera about his book.
Michele Karlsberg: How did you choose the title of your novel?
Gerard Cabrera: The title was suggested to me by my friend, Philippe Masanet. In the Roman Republic, upon being elected to the Senate, you became homo novus, a new man. Only patrician males could become Senators at first, but when the office was extended to plebeian males, they, too, became new men. Saint Paul, who was a Roman citizen and familiar with Roman civic life, adapted and applied the term as a way to erase hierarchies among converts, to establish a sense of equality among all new Christians. Of course, there is also a play on the use of “homo,” a slur for gay men that the characters all hope to transform into something new and more valuable.
Michele Karlsberg: Should I think of Homo Novus as a story about transformations?
Gerard Cabrera: That’s a terrific question. Certainly, the three main characters in Homo Novus wish to transform themselves. And at the heart of the Catholic mass is the act of transubstantiation, where the bread and wine become literally the body and blood of Jesus. Linus, who is from a white ethnic workingclass family, a mix of Irish and other European descent, wants to be an elite, and he wants to overcome his humble roots. The priesthood is a way for him to serve God but also to gain social status and financial security. Orlando is a Puerto Rican kid from a poor family. Likewise, the allure of the priesthood for him is a way to achieve an American dream: success in the eyes of his family and community as well as a shield against racial and ethnic bigotry. Eric, on the other hand, is already an elite, and for him it is about climbing down from his unearned privilege, to become a hero for the dispossessed, with all the pitfalls and rewards that accompany his type of youthful downwardly mobility.
Michele Karlsberg: Let’s talk about sex. Sexual violation, public sex, drunk sex, revenge sex. What was it like to write about it?
Gerard Cabrera: First of all, Homo Novus is about the body as both means and ends—God’s body, the church as the head of the body of Christ, or the body that belongs to Linus, Orlando, or Eric. And so, what I wanted to convey most of all in the sex scenes was the sense of bodies in the moment: surprise, pain, violation, excitement, fulfillment, happiness, love. I wanted to describe the scene as plainly as possible from each character’s center. I felt that if I could do this, I would be doing enough—to watch them watch themselves and then describe their thoughts and feelings at the time.
I do love random stories of neighbors banding together to take care of an elderly acquaintance, or hearing about the 135,000 children adopted in the U.S. (Although another 100,000 are still waiting.) Or the kid
Jewelle Gomez is a lesbian/feminist activist, novelist, poet, and playwright. She’s written for “The Advocate,” “Ms. Magazine,” “Black Scholar,” “The San Francisco Chronicle,” “The New York Times,” and “The Village Voice.” Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @ VampyreVamp
Michele Karlsberg: Thank you, Gerard. To you and to all here: happy holidays and New Year’s greetings. May 2023 be filled with love, peace, and happiness
Gerard Cabrera’s fiction has appeared in numerous online and print literary journals. He has attended the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, The Writers Studio, and was awarded a Bread Loaf Camargo Foundation Fellow in Cassis, France. Gerard’s story, “Disorder Under Heaven: The
Situation is Excellent,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Apricity Press (Issue 6) in 2021. Gerard earned a degree in English and American Literature at Brandeis University, his Master’s Degree in Public Health from Hunter College, and his law degree from Northeastern University School of Law. He is a Massarican from Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace of Dr. Seuss, Dr. Timothy Leary, Absorbine, Jr., basketball, and the first American dictionary. He lives and works in New York City.
https://www.gerardcabrera.com
Michele Karlsberg Marketing and Management specializes in publicity for the LGBTQ+ community. This year, Karlsberg celebrates 33 years of successful marketing campaigns. For more information: https://www.michelekarlsberg.com
Then, I moved over to a bigger church, the 1st Baptist Church of Houston. Their pageant was legendary. They did 12 performances with approximately 30,000 attendees. The choir had 300 members, full orchestra, huge bell choirs, fabulous décor, and multiple costume changes—for everyone! My wife and kids were stars of the shows, too.
In my now semi-retired state, the holidays are so much different than the last 70 years. I was on stage non-stop for holiday shows, productions, concerts, or church services. For the first time, I’m getting to go hear others do the holidays from a comfortable seat in the audience!
We know we are destined to repeat the sins of the past. My childhood holiday memories are all about being busy. My mother was a professional singer and would run from singing the solos in a Messiah one night to donning the costume of a poor Biblical era woman for the opera Amahl, and the Night Visitors My brother and I had church youth choir and I was in orchestra. That is why I have always squeezed in way too much each holiday. I didn’t know any better.
There was one big difference from my first 35 years to the next 35 years: Jesus, “the reason for the season.” Even the Radio City Christmas Spectacular team can’t help themselves. The Rockettes rush breathlessly to the dressing rooms to throw on Biblical era robes over their costumes and voila: shepherds! Apparently, the shepherds in Bethlehem were all petite and wore heavy makeup and stylish dance shoes instead of sandals. Regardless, the incognito santas, elves, and toy soldiers all join in worshipping the newborn king.
Putting on a show like that at Radio City is the dream of any musical impresario. They are lying if they say it’s not. I never got to do anything on that scale, but I was certainly a part of some whopper productions in the two churches I “served.” I first worked at the 2nd Baptist Church of Houston, “Fellowship of Excitement.” It was a mega church. They claimed to have the world’s largest living Christmas tree. Some 200 singers would climb up into the 40+ foot tree and sing. It did look like Muppet heads. It wasn’t enough, however, to deliver the gospel with the gusto needed. They added a huge Living Bible next to the tree. Characters from the Bible would literally walk out of the pages and tell their stories, encouraging the attendees to repent and turn from their wicked ways. Merry Christmas.
Much like Radio City, we made a magically smooth transition from Santa, “the other reason for the season,” to Jesus. The manger processional was out of this world. They set up a little farm area in one of the parking lots for the live donkeys, camels, and sheep. Church members found their ministry was picking up camel poop! Bless their hearts. The shepherds shepherded the sheep. Mary rode the ass. The camels joined the outrageously costumed kings and entourages. Each group was festooned in ruby, amethyst, or emerald color palettes. There were ample robes, headdresses, gift bearers, jewels, and even ostrich feathers. It was much gayer than anything I ever did with the gays!
Once everyone got to the manger, the ruby king scared the Bejesus out of a live baby by lifting him or her up like Kunta Kinte. The baby was lily white and about 3 months old. Never mind that the wise men probably didn’t arrive until Jesus was a toddler and he most definitely was not white.
We then segued into one other Bible story. My big solo piece was “Rejoice, Rejoice, my son is coming home again.” I played the Prodigal Son returning to the fold after a life of debauchery. I’m pretty sure folks who remember still hope that I’ll put on a robe and sandals and head back for the fatted calf they have waiting for my return. That’s another whole article.
Suddenly, behind the scrim were 3 men hanging on crosses. In loin cloths. Small loin cloths. Merry Christmas. It was before the days of spray tans, so an entire station was set up to smear them, head-totoe with Egyptian body makeup.
I wanted to volunteer for that job.
The man who played Jesus was one of my good friends. In a “you can’t make this up,” he dated my ex-wife after the divorce. My kids and I had some fun with their mom dating Jesus, whom we had all seen in his a tighty whitey loin cloth.
Then came the big climax. The incredible internationally renowned set designer Peter Wolf built a plexiglass diving board-like structure coming out of the baptismal pool above the choir loft. When it came time for Jesus to resurrect, there were smoke and lasers. Yes, lasers.
So, when Jesus walked out on the clear diving board, it appeared as if he was floating in air.
Both churches spent incredible amounts of money to create these extravaganzas. One such set of shows far exceeded the annual budget of most gay choruses. But it was
always rationalized as bringing people to church who might join or needed to be saved. The hundreds of thousands of dollars spent were worth it “if just one person” responded in either of the options.
When I started conducting a gay men’s chorus in 1987, I found a mentor in Dennis Coleman, the Artistic Director of the iconic Seattle Men’s Chorus. He, too, had been a Baptist minister of music before coming out. His advice to me was to make the holiday concert the “not to be missed” event for the community. He basically gave me permission to be big and outrageous. The agenda was to gather our larger family together at the holidays. We wanted to get every-
one in a room to feel the warmth and acceptance and celebration of who we are.
Queer choruses are incredibly lucky that people love what we do—especially at the holidays. They are experiencing huge crowds and sold-out shows. In San Francisco, the chorus welcomes around 10,000 people to its holiday festivities—over 4,000 at the three shows on Christmas Eve at the iconic Castro Theater. That number represents 10k friends, family, fans, allies, and lots of first timers—many of whom walked in not having a clue what they would see. They wouldn’t leave strangers after
the huge musical holiday hug they got from the singers on stage.
As I said at the beginning, I am seeing holidays from a new perspective. It’s the perspective you all experience every season. I’m getting to see five queer chorus concerts this season and am having so much fun. I now know why you all show up! I am eternally grateful that you do. Wherever you are, support your local LGBTQ+ choruses. They need and deserve your support—and not just at the holidays.
Dr. Tim Seelig is the Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. http://www.timseelig.com/
They say life is a cabaret. But it was anything but a typical cabaret night December 4 when Broadway star Bobby Conte took the stage—literally by storm—at the Live at the Orinda series in the East Bay.
It was the first Bay Area appearance in a long time for this “local boy made good.” In the meantime, he has made a big name for himself on the Great White Way. He just completed a starring role with Patti LuPone in Stephen Sondheim’s Company on Broadway. That followed on the heels of the lead role in Broadway’s musical version of A Bronx Tale, directed by veterans Robert De Niro and Jerry Zaks. And just before arriving in the Bay Area, he had a one-man show at New York’s esteemed jazz and cabaret venue, Birdland.
I’ve been lucky enough to have followed this talented young man (he only just turned 30) and his career since he won the local Bay Area Cabaret Teen Idol contest over a decade ago. That’s when, in his late teens, he made his debut at the venerable Venetian Room in San Francisco. Here’s what I have to say: keep your eye on this entertainer—he is a rising star of colossal proportions. As my friend Kip quipped, “Think Mandy Patinkin in dress casual or early Bette Midler. He’s someone to watch.”
It’s not just that he can sing. And dance. And act. His storytelling is so gripping that you never quite know if it’s real or, as they say, if it’s Memorex.
In Bobby’s performance, fearlessness and raw intensity combine with a voice that can be as mellifluous as Frank Sinatra. Just when you think you’re lulled into a sense of lyrical beauty, he belts it out like Barbra Streisand. And then, he delivers the challenging lyrics of Sondheim’s “Another Hundred People” with articulated ease.
On the surface, the show replicates many of the songs on this performer’s new CD, Along the Way. But this was no concert lip synch. This was a show of surprises, where a performer of great power and musical genius grabbed the bull by the horns, taking the audience along for a singular theatrical ride.
Some standouts: his rendition of Pasek & Paul’s “Along the Way” (the title track from his CD), which starts out humorously and then leads the audience into the quandary of responsibility, fatherhood, and how to cope. Despite the challenges, “Things will be ok,” says the song’s teaching mantra. That segues brilliantly into “Time Heals Everything,” with Conte’s interpretation rivalling that of Bernadette Peters. He brings down the house with a heartfelt, poignant, and
brassy “Me and Mrs. Jones.” Then, the mood shifts noticeably into a quietly soft version of “Here, There, and Everywhere” and Sondheim’s “What Can You Lose?” An upbeat “She Loves Me” is a knockout, but the medley of “That’s Life” and “Vienna” is unspeakably profound.
Conte’s band included locals Daniel Fabricant on bass and David Rokeach on drums, delivering the best of the Bay Area’s musical talent. Music Director James Sampliner, who also performs with such big names as Billy Porter, Patina Miller, and Norm Lewis, was the phenomenal pianist, making the 3-piece band sound like a dozen.
Perhaps the best part of this evening? Conte’s storytelling, which gives the evening a theatrical arc too often not present in cabaret. The story brings Conte’s own personal life to light (“I’m the kid with his heart on his sleeve,” quips Conte). But, endearingly, it’s also a love letter to his mother, Lisa Conte. She, too, is from San Francisco and was in the audience that night. As a single mom, she clearly raised this young man to bring great music into the world.
The good news? Bobby will be coming back to the Bay Area in February at The Strand, a coproduction of Feinstein’s at the Nikko and the American Conservatory Theatre. Get your tickets now.
As for the rest of the season at the Orinda Theatre, producers Derek Zemrak and Michael Williams have captured some great talent: Wicked’ s Sam Gravitte on January 29, America’s Got Talent star Jimmie Herrod on February 19, The Light in the Piazza’s David Burnham on March 5, Broadway queen Karen Mason on March 26, cabaret veteran Christine Andreas on April 23, and rising local talent Ava Nicole Frances on May 21.
David Landis studied piano at Northwestern University, worked at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and Ravinia Festival, and also at the San Francisco Symphony. He even once played Lysander in Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” A lifelong theatre and cabaret enthusiast, he spends his spare time playing Sondheim songs for himself at home. In his other life, he writes The Gay Gourmet column for the “San Francisco Bay Times.”
to SFMOMA.
Ariza’s series I Am Very Lucky, Very Lucky to Be Trans will consist of HD dye-infused prints with frames, custom benches, light filters, acrylic paint, vinyl, and single-channel video projection with sound lasting nearly 4 hours. The Bay Area trans leaders to be honored in it include Adam Reyes, Adela Vázquez, Alexis Jiménez, Anjali Rimi, Arianna Salinas, Aubrey Davis, Boo Parker, Cecilia Chung, Celine Seno, Donna Personna, Ebony Ava Harper, Esteban Rodriguez, Honey Mahogany, Ivory Smith, Joaquin Remora, Julián Delgado Lopera, Jupiter Peraza, Kiesha Lambino, Lana Patel, Lashai Williams, L’Oreal Earle, Natasha Tansey, Nicole Santamaria, Pau Crego, Porshay Taylor, Rocky Davis, Sage Hapke, Sam Favela, Sathya Baskaran, Shane Zaldivar, Sofía Sabina Ríos Dorantes, Tina Aguirre, and Victoria Castro. The recorded segments in “We Are the Ones” by Freddie and produced by Tim Vickers (Grandbankss) spotlight Mahogany, Santamaria, Peraza, Rimi & Patel, Davis, Personna & Zaldivar, Aguirre, Harper, Crego & Rodriguez, Chung, Ríos Dorantes & Castro, and Remora.
For their help and support the artist thanks California TRANScends, the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, Dimensions Queer Youth Clinic, El/La Para TransLatinas, Our Trans Home SF, Parivar Bay Area, the San Francisco Office of Transgender Initiatives, St. James Infirmary, the Transgender District, and the Transgender Law Center.
SFMOMA will offer free admission to the museum’s galleries on Floor 2—including the 2022 SECA Art Award Exhibition—for the run of this show.
https://tinyurl.com/2p8bty6k
On Friday, December 9, Project Open Hand celebrated the 30th annual Hand to Hand fundraiser at The Hibernia in San Francisco. The event included multi levels of entertainment, including performances by recording artists Spencer Day and Joe Wicht along with DJ Airsun. Shawn Ryan served as emcee and auctioneer. Participants enjoyed sampling chef-inspired menu items at multiple food stations and also perusing and bidding on items in the silent auction and raffle.
Honorees included Bill Hirsh, Ruth Brinker Visionary Award; Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation and Bau Ky, Most Outstanding Community Partner Award; Google, Most Outstanding Corporate Supporter Award; and Kaiser Permanente, Community Advocate Award.
Soleil type show, our featured performers included Stephanie, a belly dancer whose movements reminded us of Gumby; Joey the Tiger, a fit, athletic acrobat with to-die-for sequined pants; and Queen of the Chains, Viva the Glam (yup, her name says it all). One of the evening’s highlights was when Heather asked everyone in the audience for a personal tidbit and wove that into a song created especially for the show. The Gay Gourmet gives Berber’s show 5 stars!
bacon, blue cheese dressing with real blue cheese, and the black olives with ripe, cherry tomatoes accompanying the salad.
David LandisOne of the great appeals of San Francisco is that when restaurant hopping, you can travel the world all within our city’s compact 49 square miles.
So it happened that within a couple of weeks recently, I navigated (culinarily speaking) to Morocco and back to a midwestern, upscale American-style steakhouse. And still, I stayed within the confines of San Francisco.
Let’s start with Morocco. When it comes to fine dining, who doesn’t love a good deal? How about a Michelin-star restaurant and a show in San Francisco starting at only $95?
At Berber, near Polk and Broadway, a tasty, affordable dinner with a highflying show is a fun-filled reality.
When you enter the contemporary designed space at Berber, you know you’re in for a treat. A hip, modern bar lines the left side of the lofty, high-ceilinged dining area, all accented with Moroccan lighting. But when you’re there for the show, you proceed to the intimate and private, cabaret-style back room.
A Moroccan drummer sets the stage (literally) as you are seated, providing an ambience that lets you know you’ll be travelling to North Africa. Ginger and rose water tea greets you, along with marinated olives—and that’s before you even get to your three-course dinner. A kesrah semolina bread course follows with three different spreads: carrot, red pepper dip, and yogurt. What came next was absolutely scrumptious and best described by my able husband as a “Moroccan minestrone soup with African spices.”
You can either opt for a wine pairing (a reasonable $35 extra) or order cocktails or wine by the glass. We opted for glasses, including a Lebanese white wine called Ksara; LVE, a sparkling rosé from France; and La Ferme Rouge, a Moroccan Sauvignon Blanc. The next course was a deliciously fresh, mixed green salad with pomegranate, almond, and tahini vinaigrette. The main course featured an authentic lamb tagine and couscous with prunes, Turkish apricot, saffron, and sesame seeds. To top it all, the dessert was a lighter-than-air baklava with Madagascar vanilla ice cream. We were appreciative of the fact that the portions didn’t overwhelm; we felt satisfied without being stuffed. I also want to give a shout-out to server extraordinaire Ciarrai, who was knowledgeable, friendly, and always there when we needed her.
Interspersed between courses is the three-act show, all moderated by a lovely jazz chanteuse named Heather. Reminiscent of a Cirque du
You can also dine without the show at Berber and the menu looks delectable: duck bastilla, shakshuka, zaalouk, and more round out unique, Moroccaninspired offerings.
If you’re looking for a fun, delicious, and entertaining kind of evening out in the city, look no further than Berber.
Travelling just a few blocks—but a culinary world away—is Harris’ Restaurant, a tried-and-true San Francisco steakhouse. It is one of my favorites that we have enjoyed over the years. We visited recently, but it must have been an off-night. So, we returned, and I’m happy to report that all is back on track.
One of my favorite things about Harris’ is that it feels like a throwback to an elegant, 50s-style steakhouse. It’s complete with a musicfilled lounge (where they also serve food), a butcher counter (where they sell their steaks to-go), murals by a local artist, and the ambience of a long-ago era. In the main dining room, all the tables are candle-lit booths clad in leather. Despite the impressively high ceilings, this affords a welcome respite of privacy.
Another treat? The cocktail service at Harris’. You don’t just get a martini (or in my case, a Negroni). You get a carafe of liquor in a mini-tub of ice, all served with stylish barware— so your cocktail is what many of us love to call “a heavy pour.”
The wine list includes a great selection of California varietals, but some nice foreign wines from Italy, France, and even Hungary. Another pleasant surprise is the offerings of good wines by the glass; gladly, they don’t break the bank. We chose a French Chablis and a Bandol Rosé for the starters, and then switched to a Tenuta di Arceno Chianti and a Clementine Bordeaux for our mains.
Our starters included a tender, lightly smoked salmon with whipped sour cream and chives, and homemade bruschetta-style croutons. We also couldn’t resist the famous Harris’ fried onion rings and fried mushrooms, served with a deliciously-different sesame seed soy sauce.
Another welcome surprise? Having parsley on the plate, just like the old days! Next up, we opted for the often-ordered wedge iceberg salad. This one stood out with its crispy
Since we were at a steakhouse, we had to sample the filet mignon. One of the things I prefer about Harris’ meat is that it’s corn-fed, not grassfed. This delivers a flavor profile that is creamier, tastier, and more complex than the grass-fed version so common on menus now. The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare, and our sides included mashed potatoes that melted in our mouths as well as green beans and carrots. For dessert, we sampled a creative pumpkin baked Alaska, chocolate profiter-
oles, and a pistachio crème brûlée that may have been one of the best crème brûlées I’ve ever tasted.
The piece de resistance with our dessert? In honor of my husband’s mother, Marie, we ordered a Grasshopper (her drink of choice). Although our request was out-of-theordinary, the bartender happily concocted one that packed a punch!
Service is always professional, welcoming, and helpful at Harris’. Our server Lucy was attentive, smart, and welcoming. So, when you’re looking for a great steak with a continental retro atmosphere, you can count on Harris’ Restaurant.
https://www.thetasteawards.com/
And when you’re looking for any kind of a different cuisine, there’s always a restaurant to satisfy your whims in San Francisco.
Growing up in Chicago, I’ve always been a sucker for a good cheesecake. Unfortunately, they seldom meet my expectations. So, when I heard about the East Coast’s Lilac & Crème, I was skeptical. But I wanted to give their New York-style cheesecake a try. It’s easy to order online, and when it arrived, I invited my discerning New York transplants Tony and Kip (who now live in San Francisco) to taste test it with me.
First off, the packaging is gorgeous and elegant, making for a nice holiday treat or hostess gift. I liked the fact that the company uses locally sourced eggs and real cream cheese. The verdict? This cheesecake is first-rate. It sports a creamy but dense melt-in-your-mouth goodness, with a true, buttery, hand-made graham cracker crust. It has a bit more of a vanilla aftertaste, but that doesn’t dominate. The company also makes a caramel-top cheesecake, cookies n’ crème cheesecake, pecan cheesecake, and more. If you’re
Celebrate the Holidays with an Out-of-This World Wine 2014 Iron Horse Vineyards Stargazing Cuvée Brut Sparkling Wine, Green Valley of Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, California ($195 in magnum) https://tinyurl.com/2wczhucj
Looking for an out-of-this-world wine experience? What better way to celebrate the holidays in style than by drinking stars. To do just that, splurge on this magnum (the equivalent of two bottles) from the iconic California winery, Iron Horse.
The label art on the impressive, limited-release bottling is an aweinspiring image from the James Webb Space Telescope. According
gin and sherry combo) and the eggnog-infused Buddy’s Nutty Buddy.
Our friends at San Jose’s new Eataly were nice enough to send me a Muzzi Tommaso panettone with orange cream and chocolate chips. While I haven’t yet tried it, the producers say it pairs well with berries and whipped cream. Also, I love that this confection has a long shelf life. The beautifully designed packaging makes for a perfect present, and who doesn’t love panettone, especially during the holidays?
to the winery, the image “shows the Cosmic Cliffs of the Carina Nebula. The scientists say it unveils the earliest, never seen before, rapid phases of star formation.”
Brimming with beautiful bubbles, the Stargazing Cuvée offers enjoyment that is like sipping vinous stars. The sparkler is rich and lush on the palate, wrapped with exotic notes of persimmon and spice. Give it as a special gift or uncork it with family and friends. You can then toast the splendor of a star’s birth while awaiting the beginnings of a bright new year. Cheers!
www.LeslieSbrocco.com
Another new celebrity chef in town: Dennis Efthymiou is the new Chef de Cuisine at Luce in the InterContinental SF, located south of Market. With an impressive pedigree, Chef Dennis has worked at the famed Central in Lima, the UK’s iconic The Fat Duck, and Wicked Jane in New York.
then looking for the perfect holiday cake, try Lilac & Crème. The Gay Gourmet gives this cheesecake a “high five.”
The dazzling “Winter Wonderland” has returned to the outdoor Vault Garden at San Francisco’s Bank of America plaza for the holiday season. With a covered and expansive, twinkling view of the plaza’s beautifully decorated multi-story holiday tree, guests can expect special holiday drinks such as Kris’ Jingle (a
It’s fun for the whole family at the annual Teddy Bear Teas at the Ritz Carlton, San Francisco. Every kid aged 2–11 gets a free teddy bear, and what could be better than that? The high tea menu includes: hot chocolate, scones, tea cakes, teddy bear sweet treats, and assorted sandwiches including classic egg salad, winter spiced apple butter with pickled pink lady apple, and one with smoked salmon mouse, wild Alaskan salmon roe, cornichons, and dill. It’s a benefit for Make-A-Wish and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. These popular teas are available through December 23.
Here’s another reason to visit the wine country. Now open in downtown Napa is the new Morimoto Asia Napa, helmed by celebrity Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. The restaurant features upscale Asian and Western dining with Napa’s only sake and Japanese whisky bar.
Finally, Apartment Guide’s latest survey just named San Francisco the #1 city for sandwiches. Yay, us! According to the Guide, “One of San Francisco’s (best) is Freddie’s Sandwiches, an institution for nearly a century (with) a long line of celebrity fans. But there are plenty of other beloved sandwiches to experience, including the Turkey Butta at Le Beau Market, Black Forest ham and Swiss on popular Dutch Crunch at Molinari, Mortadella at Lucinda’s Deli, and The Ron at Deli Board.”
Happy holidays to all and here’s to 2023!
Berber: https://www.berbersf.com/ Harris’ Restaurant: https://www.harrisrestaurant.com/ Lilac & Crème: https://lilacandcreme.com/ The Vault Garden: https://www.thevault555.com/
Eataly Silicon Valley: https://tinyurl.com/2ak4fnkh Muzzi Tommaso at Eataly: https://tinyurl.com/4vk7b6nf
Teddy Bear Teas at the Ritz Carlton San Francisco: https://tinyurl.com/336e72rk
Morimoto Asia Napa: www.morimotoasianapa.com Luce: https://tinyurl.com/3p8zj3zf
Apartment Guide: https://tinyurl.com/58m6fm4u
David Landis, aka “The Gay Gourmet,” is a foodie, a freelance writer, and a retired PR maven. Follow him on Instagram @ GayGourmetSF or email him at: davidlandissf@gmail.com Or visit him online at: www.gaygourmetsf.com
sing along with “White Christmas” and the wishes for the New Year with “Auld Lang Syne.” I felt perfectly properly prepared for Two Thousand Twenty-Three!
PROJECT OPEN HAND celebrated 30 YEARS OF HAND TO HAND on December 9 at The Hibernia. Among the honors given were the “Ruth Brinker Visionary Award” to Bill Hirsh and “Most Outstanding Community Partner Award” to an organization, Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation (REAF), and an individual, Bau Ky, serving more than a million meals. Emcee was the delightful Shawn Ryan. Musical guests were Spencer Day, DJ Airsun, and Joe Wicht. Open Hand’s mission is to improve health outcomes and quality of life by providing nutritious meals to the sick and vulnerable in SF and Alameda counties. Every
day they prepare 2,500 nutritious meals and 200 bags of healthy groceries to help sustain their clients as they battle serious illnesses, isolation, or the health challenges of aging.
On December 10, Mayor Breed, Senator Scott Wiener, Supervisor Matt Dorsey, SFPD Command Staff, and United Playaz Leaders held this year’s GUN BUY BACK EVENT, providing a place for people to turn in their weapons, no questions asked, and get guns off the streets and out of communities. The Gun Buy-Back program has operated since 2014 and has collected nearly 2,500 guns. People can turn in their guns in exchange for $100 for a handgun and $200 for assault weapons. Funding for the gun buy-back was provided by philanthropic donations and a grant from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development.
Sister Dana sez, “Unfortunately they did not want Sister Dana’s water pistol!”
We celebrated at The Academy on December 13 as we came together with the San Francisco Bay Times and the Golden Gate Business Association with a gorgeous holiday event, TOAST TO THE SEASON, featuring media personalities and philanthropists Liam Mayclem and Donna Sachet as emcees, with music by DJ Rockaway and DJ Christie James presented by Olivia. Internationally-known performing artist Kippy Marks gave us electric violin. We were welcomed by GGBA Board President Tony Archuleta-Perkins and Ambassador Olga García
It is amazing that the landmark bill protecting same-sex marriage rights cleared Congress after it received bipartisan approval in the House. House lawmakers passed the bill with a vote of 258–169. And we know for sure President Biden will gladly sign it into law! So, take THAT, Supremes!
Part comedy musical, part dance-ityourself ballet, and part symphonic concert, the SAN FRANCISCO LESBIAN/GAY
FREEDOM BAND’s DANCEALONG NUTCRACKER features the holiday fun and tradition you’ve come to expect from this San Francisco favorite. You’ll waltz! You’ll march! You’ll pirouette! You’ll sing along! You’ll enjoy music from The Nutcracker ballet, performed live by the 75-piece Official Band of SF! December 17, 18. https://www.sflgfb.org/ LOCKDOWN COMEDY is on hiatus in December and will return in January. But the 30th Anniversary of KUNG PAO KOSHER COMEDY™ will be live—in-person and virtually on YouTube Live—on Dec 23–25. https://www.koshercomedy.com/
The GOP has been on a RAMPAGE to eliminate LGBTQ history from textbooks and ban LGBTQ authors from library shelves. There’s been a record-breaking 238 anti-LGBTQ bills filed in 2022 so far. Sister Dana sez, “We MUST pass the Equality Act!”
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http://www.sfgmc.org
Lit Christmas tree sculptures at Urban Outfitters near the Powell Street cable car turnaround
STREET CAM
What was a favorite meal in 2022?
compiled by Rink
