Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Archives — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

Drag queens win, Facebook says “real name” changes coming

Erica Hanna

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October 1, 2014

Drag queens win, Facebook says “real name” changes coming

Put on your six-inch pumps and throw some glitter, the drag queens have won. After the newest round of negotiations with Facebook today, the social-media giant bowed to pressure and told Sup. David Campos, drag queens, and other activists it would change its controversial “real name” policy

“Drag queens spoke, and Facebook listened,” Campos told us in a phone interview just after the announcement was made.

As we’ve previously reported, the whole ball started rolling after prominent drag queen Sister Roma, of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, was notified her Facebook profile would be deleted if she did not begin using her “real” name (actually, her birth name). Sister Roma then led the charge to change Facebook’s policy of using birth names versus chosen names (and Facebook’s tendency to shut down profiles of those who don’t comply). Facebook maintained it was alerted by the community about use of pseudonyms, which is a policy the company said was to report users who are stalkers, or frauds, using fake accounts.

But then it was used to out drag queens and other people who use pseudonyms for safety, or privacy in dividing their personal and professional lives. Now that will change.

“They began the meeting by saying the policy has flaws, and they will work with us to take all necessary steps to right this wrong, and take technical steps to rectify the situation,” he said.

Whereas in the last meeting Campos, Sister Roma, and others met with low-level Facebook officials unable to make decisions on behalf of the company, this time they met Chris Cox, Facebook’s chief product officer. Cox is part of the “M-Team” that meets with founder Mark Zuckerberg regularly on the new direction of Facebook, according to TechCrunch. He’s said to be affable, and perhaps that’s why Campos left the talks with a rosy outlook on future negotiations.

“We had an incredible meeting with Facebook, which began with them apologizing to the group and the community with how they handled the situation,” Campos said. “For a big company like Facebook to take that step, we were grateful.”

A photo from today’s negotiations, courtesy of Tom Temprano.

But perhaps also the pressure was wraught by a combination of factors: heightened national news coverage over the names issue, and a mass migration of Facebook users to niche social-media site Ello.

Either way, the changes are coming.

Campos told us Facebook said it would restore some deleted Facebook profiles, and work in concert with drag queens, activists and Campos to make significant changes to its real name policy, although exactly those changes weren’t identified. Still, the direction discussed at the meeting made clear that the “real name” policy would end.

Facebook did indicate it would seek another solution to verify real profiles from fake ones, as spam accounts are a problem it has highlighted in the past.

Sister Roma, a member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and lead organizer of the meeting said, in a statement, “I always knew that Facebook would do the right thing. The people who work at Facebook live in San Francisco and are part of our community. You can’t be a San Franciscan and not love drag queens. I’m just happy I’ll have my name back.”

San Francisco drag queens Sister Roma, Heklina, BeBe Sweetbriar, and Lil Miss Hot Mess launched the hashtag #MyNameis to garner attention to the issue. Those performers still plan to hold a rally Thursday afternoon at San Francisco Civic Center to attend to expand awareness and give more details about the recent meeting.

As Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club co-President Tom Temprano told us when this issue started, “The 11th commandment is: Don’t fuck with drag queens.”

UPDATE 2:20: Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox issued an apology, via (of course) Facebook:

I want to apologize to the affected community of drag queens, drag kings, transgender, and extensive community of our friends, neighbors, and members of the LGBT community for the hardship that we’ve put you through in dealing with your Facebook accounts over the past few weeks.

In the two weeks since the real-name policy issues surfaced, we’ve had the chance to hear from many of you in these communities and understand the policy more clearly as you experience it. We’ve also come to understand how painful this has been. We owe you a better service and a better experience using Facebook, and we’re going to fix the way this policy gets handled so everyone affected here can go back to using Facebook as you were.

The way this happened took us off guard. An individual on Facebook decided to report several hundred of these accounts as fake. These reports were among the several hundred thousand fake name reports we process every single week, 99 percent of which are bad actors doing bad things: impersonation, bullying, trolling, domestic violence, scams, hate speech, and more — so we didn’t notice the pattern. The process we follow has been to ask the flagged accounts to verify they are using real names by submitting some form of ID — gym membership, library card, or piece of mail. We’ve had this policy for over 10 years, and until recently it’s done a good job of creating a safe community without inadvertently harming groups like what happened here.

Our policy has never been to require everyone on Facebook to use their legal name. The spirit of our policy is that everyone on Facebook uses the authentic name they use in real life. For Sister Roma, that’s Sister Roma. For Lil Miss Hot Mess, that’s Lil Miss Hot Mess. Part of what’s been so difficult about this conversation is that we support both of these individuals, and so many others affected by this, completely and utterly in how they use Facebook.

We believe this is the right policy for Facebook for two reasons. First, it’s part of what made Facebook special in the first place, by differentiating the service from the rest of the internet where pseudonymity, anonymity, or often random names were the social norm. Second, it’s the primary mechanism we have to protect millions of people every day, all around the world, from real harm. The stories of mass impersonation, trolling, domestic abuse, and higher rates of bullying and intolerance are oftentimes the result of people hiding behind fake names, and it’s both terrifying and sad. Our ability to successfully protect against them with this policy has borne out the reality that this policy, on balance, and when applied carefully, is a very powerful force for good.

All that said, we see through this event that there’s lots of room for improvement in the reporting and enforcement mechanisms, tools for understanding who’s real and who’s not, and the customer service for anyone who’s affected. These have not worked flawlessly and we need to fix that. With this input, we’re already underway building better tools for authenticating the Sister Romas of the world while not opening up Facebook to bad actors. And we’re taking measures to provide much more deliberate customer service to those accounts that get flagged so that we can manage these in a less abrupt and more thoughtful way. To everyone affected by this, thank you for working through this with us and helping us to improve the safety and authenticity of the Facebook experience for everyone.

Facebook talks delayed, drag queens plan to sass social media into the 21st century

Erica Hanna

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September 17, 2014

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Facebook talks delayed, drag queens plan to sass social media into the 21st century

A cadre of drag queens, LGBT rights supporters and politicos trekked in their glamorous best to Facebook HQ today, to negotiate the reinstatement of Facebook profiles for those who don’t use their legal or birth names.

What’d they get? Bupkiss, zip, zero, nada, nothing – for now. But in a twist of Harvey Milk’s famous recant, perhaps they were given hope.

“We were glad they were willing to listen to us,” Lil Miss Hot Mess wrote in a Facebook post about the negotiations, which she attended. But she was “disappointed that [Facebook] reps weren’t willing to agree that this ‘real name’ policy is *flawed* or agree to a timeline to discuss solutions.”

As Heklina added shortly after, “they firmly gave us a vague commitment to meet again.”

Facebook did agree to reinstate some of the profiles they had deleted for using what they consider “not real” names, but only for two weeks, which Sister Roma called a “hollow gesture.”

And though some Facebook representatives at the meeting were from the LGBT community, none were in a position to make any changes, according to our sources. Prominent drag queens like BeBe Sweetbriar, Sister Roma, Heklina, Lil Miss Hot Mess, and others, as well as political figures like Gabriel Haaland, Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club Co-President Tom Temprano and Supervisor David Campos all stormed Facebook in style (star studded!), but Facebook’s representatives at the meeting were not necessarily empowered to do anything but sit, smile, and nod prettily.

“When we began the discussion it was clear the people there did not have the authority to make a policy change,” Campos told us. “We asked Facebook to set up a meeting with whoever it is who has that authority. They said they’d get back to us, and it seems like they’re open to it, but we haven’t gotten that call.”

We have reached out to Facebook, but did not hear back from them before press time.

The negotiations centered around not only Facebook’s policy of using birth names versus chosen names (and to shut down profiles of those who don’t comply), but also the enforcement mechanism used to “out” drag queens, and others using nom de plumes. Facebook maintains it was alerted by the community about the pseudonyms, which is a policy the company said was to report users who are stalkers, or frauds, using fake accounts. But that policy is intended to protect Facebook users from bullying. Now it’s being used to target drag queens and others.

Of course, there’s a big difference between outing a transgender teacher, and outing a cyber-bully.

Many drag queens were reported to Facebook around the same time, leading some in the community to call it a “targeted sweep.”

“It is enabling the very type of bullying they meant to prevent,” Gabriel Haaland, who was present for the negotiations, told us. “It was our hope we could convey how damaging the policy was, not just emotionally, but economically.”

Many of those whose names were swiped (or wiped) by Facebook were at the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club’s meeting last night, including Lil Miss Hot Mess and Sister Roma.

Roma was nervous about the Facebook negotiations, she told us, and it’s easy to see why.

A few days ago her battle with Facebook was a personal one, she said. When the social media behemoth demanded she use her “real name” or delete her profile, Roma, a Sister of Perpetual Indulgence drag queen and fiercely vocal advocate for LGBT rights, knew what she was going to do: Rip the social media giant a new one.

But, she told the crowd of about 50 gathered at the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic club, things change.

Roma appeared in pants and a t-shirt, not Sister of Perpetual Indulgence habit and veil. She may not have been draped in her pseudo-religious garb, but she was nonetheless humble. “When I started this it was about my online ego,” Roma said to the crowd. “But when we got so many emails, I realized it impacted so many people. It’s not just about a bunch of drag queens bitching.”

Roma and her drag queens sounded the alarm, but soon discovered that the issue of safety via online anonymity affects large swaths of the world.

Sister Roma, left, tells the Milk Club how the Facebook battle started. Right, Tom Temprano emcees the night.

Community members who spoke had many reasons for anonymity, but many shared a common theme: The need for online safety.

In respect of that right, while discussing their stories, we will only name those that granted their permission.

The first person to speak said she catered to wealthy clients in her chosen profession, but “I’ve been on the fringe of society since I was five,” she said, with noticeable trembling in her voice.

“If they saw what my life was like on Facebook,” she said, “I’d be out of a business.” But one need not work with deep-pocketed customers to want to keep their lives private.

“I’m a high school math teacher, I can’t use my full name,” one woman said to the crowd, and to Roma. “It’s a pretty ordinary life, but I can’t have my name on Facebook. I can’t have my students see me drink and curse.”

Another man, a person of color, said finding a job with a “black name” is hard enough as it is. Even worse, “HR people look through Facebook for potential hires,” he said. “This is [policy] racist, and heteronormative.”

One woman said her father was from Oregon, a prominent government official who helped take down the state’s Klu Klux Klan. He “received death threats all my life,” she said, and uses a fake name to evade being tracked on Facebook. If someone reported him, he’d be ousted to those who wanted him dead.

The room was especially silent when one man, slender and tall, spoke about his need for a new identity.

“Aaron Barber was sexually molested from the ages of six to eighteen. Aaron Barber is who I am not,” he said, pointedly. “Element Eclipse is who I am. I wear high heels. I get bull whipped at Folsom (Street Fair). I am a freak, but we are all one.”

Element Eclipse took his new name when he became part of the Radical Faerie community, a group that recently suffered the death of one of its own: Feather, who was found beaten on Church street. Many suspect Feather’s death was a hate crime, heightening lingering fears in the Faerie and LGBT community.

The journey to equality is intertwined with safety, and neither are fully realized yet. That’s what Facebook heard from the community today, and if they do not respond to those needs, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are calling on the community to take to the streets to protest.

As Temprano told the Milk Club last night, “the 11th commandment is ‘don’t fuck with drag queens.'”

UPDATED Drag queens plan to protest Facebook over name-change policy

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September 14, 2014

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UPDATED Drag queens plan to protest Facebook over name-change policy

UPDATE: Sister Roma just posted this to her Facebook page:

“BREAKING: FACEBOOK AGREES TO FACE-TO-FACE MEETING. DEMONSTRATION CANCELED (for now)

Just got off the phone with Supervisor David Campos and representatives from Facebook. They have agreed to meet with us and members of the community for an open dialogue regarding their legal name policy. After the conversation I am more hopeful than ever that we can reach a solution. We’re working together to make change and I thank all of you for your support!”

ORIGINAL POST: Drag queens throughout San Francisco and the cyberverse are planning to protest at Facebook HQ on Tuesday at 9:30am, if a meeting between Facebook representatives and Sister Roma of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence tomorrow yields no favorable results.

At issue: a controversial new Facebook policy that is forcing performers to use their legal names (rather than drag or other professional names) on their personal profiles on the social media site.

“We are mobilizing. If Sister Roma’s talk with a Facebook rep tomorrow does not go as we hope, then the protest is full speed ahead,” T-Shack party founder Heklina told me over Facebook. “We are meeting in the Safeway on Church St. Parking lot, and doing a convoy to FB HQ in Menlo Park. The protest is set to begin at 11am, with members of David Campos’ staff, the Harvey Milk Club, the Sisters, and every drag queen we can mobilize.”

I’ll update this post as soon as protest organizers deliver word of the meeting’s results. Protest organizers are requesting participants dress in drag.

The protest plan came after a quickly called community meeting at Cafe Flore tonight. Sister Roma, now identified by a different name on Facebook, has been leading the charge against the policy, joining with others in saying that forcing drag and other performers to use their “real names” is uneducated, insulting, and potentially dangerous.

“I use this site to keep up with friends and simply don’t want employers or crazy stalker people to log on and search me,” Sister Roma told SFist.

A Facebook representative responded to queries about the new policy in the Wall Street Journal, “If people want to use an alternative name on Facebook, they have several different options available to them, including providing an alias under their name on their profile, or creating a Page specifically for that alternative persona.”

Presumably, the social media site is pushing this new policy to protect users from spam or scams emanating from fake profiles, but, as the Journal points out, “Facebook’s advertising product, which will bring in an estimated $12 billion in revenue this year, rests almost solely on its ability to gather detailed, accurate information about users.

Sup. David Campos was quick to denounce the policy in a press release, demanding that Facebook meet with performers: “Local drag personalities including Sister Roma, Heklina, BeBe Sweetbriar, Lady Bear, Anna Conda and others have had their Facebook accounts suspended in the past week until they comply with a policy requiring them to use their ‘legal name’ in their profile. Drag queens have expressed concern that not allowing them to use their stage name is a safety issue as it outs their real names and information.”

“Facebook may not be aware that for many members of the LGBT community the ability to self-identify is a matter of health and safety,” the release continued. “Not allowing drag performers, transgender people, and other members of our community to go by their chosen names can result in violence, stalking, violations of privacy and repercussions at work.”

Here is the Facebook event page for the protest. Stay tuned for updates.

Guardian Intelligence: July 30 – August 5, 2014

Michael Redmond

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July 29, 2014

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APP MAKERS = STARVING ARTISTS

Yes, techies are driving rents up. Yes, techies are driving the cost of living up, too. But the next time you meet a techie, or at least, an app developer, they may be poorer than you think. A study titled “Developer Economics: State of the Nation” surveyed more than 10,000 (holy crap!) app developers, and found that more than 50 percent of iOS developers and more than 64 percent of Android developers make less than $500 per app, per month. “The majority of app businesses are not sustainable at current revenue levels,” the study found. We’re not in a tech bubble, no siree. Now pass the Soylent.

BURNING ELEPHANT

Republicans on LSD? It’s about time! The Republican-libertarian puppeteer who has sometimes been called “the most powerful man in Washington,” anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, is headed to Burning Man. He made the announcement yesterday, via Twitter. “It’s official. Samah and I are off to ‘Burning Man’ this year. Scratch one from the Bucket List,” Norquist tweeted.

MORE MUNI MONEY

Muni buses regularly play a canned audio message: “Please pay your ‘fare share.'” It’s a silly pun, but it’ll be especially grating next month, when Muni fares are set to rise by a quarter. $2.25 is the official Muni fare starting September 1, and monthly passes will jump from $66 to $68. Muni fares rise with inflation. Now, if only Muni cleanliness rose with inflation: those bus seats would be clean enough to eat off.

PINK SATURDAY DEAD?

CastroBiscuit reported startling news: The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are mulling putting the kibosh on Pink Saturday, an annual celebration at Pride. The last few years have seen a spike in violence at the historically inclusive party, and the sisters plan to meet with Supervisor Scott Wiener, the SFPD, and the community to decide next steps. Sister Selma Soul told Castro Biscuit Editor Roy McKenzie: “Once we see how those discussions go the Sisters will be deciding whether we want to produce the event again, transition it to a third party, or recommend that the city cancel the event altogether.”

FETISH FROLIC

Packed gay leather street festival Up Your Alley Fair last Sunday was replete with all the joyous sexual expression and provocative sartorial choices we’ve come to suspect. But the above tropical normcore anti-surveillance fantasy outfit was a new one, even for us. Gay fetish: still thinking out of the box. PHOTO BY DARWIN BELL

JAILERS, POLITICIANS UNITE

Sup. Malia Cohen last week joined Board of Supervisors colleagues friendly with law enforcement and the Mayor’s Office — which still haven’t gotten over Ross Mirkarimi being elected Sheriff and surviving Lee’s attempt to remove him from office — in killing a proposal to let the Sheriff’s Department to have a little more say in letting poor, low-risk inmates out on electronic monitoring pending their trials. In Cohen’s District 10, with high poverty and incarceration rates, her question might have been: Why should only those who can afford bail be free? Instead, despite backing for the reform from the Probation Department and Public Defenders Office, she said, “All I’m hearing from are in opposition.” And then a few days later, she was feted and funded at a re-election event by the San Francisco Deputy Sheriff’s Association, whose job security relies on having more San Franciscans behind bars. Hmm.

ALL SHIPSHAPE

One of our favorite newish bars in the Mission, Virgil’s Sea Room, co-owned by Harvey Milk Democratic Club co-president Tom Temprano, is celebrating one year of great drinks, drag bingo, progressive politics, and naught cal puns (Fri/1, 9pm, free. 3152 Mission, SF. www.virgilssf.com). DJs Jamie Jams and Miss Pop, food by Wes Burger, and drink special will float anybody’s boat.

YOU WIN SOME

Members of the Arcade Fire, who hit the Shoreline Wed/30 with their Reflektor tour, were spotted earlier this week just chillin’ outside the Zetta hotel (just around the corner from the Bay Guardian‘s new mall-topping offices). Our tipster confirms: Win Butler is tall.

ROBESON REVISTED

The always enriching AfroSolo Arts Festival celebrates its 20th year Sat/2, 1pm-3pm, free at Yerba Buena Gardens in SF. This year, renowned baritone Anthony Brown, accompanied by pianist Dr. Carl Blake, present A Tribute to Paul Robeson, feting the legendary singer, activist, lawyer, and artist. Ring a picnic and listen to some spectacular singing. www.YBGFestival.org

Drop a house

Michael Redmond

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July 10, 2014

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SUPER EGO Some of us fabulous fairies caught flailing in the ratty-tutu-and-trucker-cap tornado of Pink Saturday, during this year’s Pride celebrations, were like, “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Castro, anymore.”

Indeed, the radical roots of the huge 24-year-old celebration — it began as an ACT-UP protest and party — seemed all but washed away in a sea of urine, puke, and shrieks at some points. And, while no one got shot like in 2009, violence tainted the roiling street affair: Even one of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the charitably benevolent gay nuns who host Pink Saturday, was physically attacked along with her husband.

(Alas, homophobic violence was everywhere that weekend: Two lesbians were beaten senseless in SoMa, and my friend in Nob Hill got jumped by an SUV-full of assholes. Gross.)

I adore our young allies — and I ain’t mad about straight dudes ripping off their shirts to show support, neither. ‘Mos before bros! I know they’re not all to blame for flooding the Castro’s streets with, er, pink. Hey, we invited them to join us. However. The bad outfits, the worse liquor, and the pushy elbowing need to be checked at the door. (Looking at you, too, mouthy gays.)

Has this year ruined it for everyone? Now that Pink Saturday seems out of control, will it go the way of Halloween in the Castro?

“The Sisters don’t get nearly enough credit for Pink Saturday,” Castro supervisor Scott Wiener told me over the phone. “They plan all year round, working closely with my office, the Police Department, and the Department of Public Works to try to make sure that it’s welcoming and safe. That said, I think we can acknowledge there were a lot of problems — and while the general level of violence was kept low, the attack on the Sister and the human waste issue were definite takeaways as we consider how to keep this event accessible in the future.

“The Sisters meet every year to vote on whether to put on this now-150,000-plus event every year,” Wiener continued. “Pink Saturday holds enormous importance for the LGBT community and raises tens of thousands of dollars in funds. Ten percent of the police force were assigned to it this year.

“But Castro residents put up with a lot. And I think we really noticed how the vibe changed after 9pm, after the Dyke March crowd had filtered away. I’ll be meeting with the Sisters and Police Chief Greg Suhr about viable plans for next year — and nothing’s being ruled out right now.”

NIGHTLIFE LIVE: WATER

The biennial Soundwave Fest sweeps over the bay with an awesome series of esoteric-cool sonic installations and head-trip voyages. (This year’s theme is “water,” very prescient in a time of drought.) Your aural-aqueous immersion kicks off at the Cal Academy’s Thursday Nightlife party, with performances by Rogue Wave and Kaycee Johansing and sonic installations throughout the museum. Submerged turntables! Underwater zither! Coral reef data-surfing! Full bar!

Thu/10, 6pm-10pm, $10–$12. California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr., SF. www.soundwavesf.com

BARDOT A GO GO

Can’t have a Bastille Day celebration without a little Swingin’ Sixties “ooh-la-la.” This insanely fun, 16-year-old annual soiree dazzles with Franco-groovy chic — and classic, decadent French pop tunes (Bardot, Gainsbourg, Dutronc, etc.) from DJs Pink Frankenstein, Brother Grimm, and Cali Kid. Plus, Peter Thomas Hair Design will be there 9pm-11pm to fluff your coiffure for free.

Fri/11, 9pm, $10. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF. www.bardotagogo.com

LAS CHICAS DE ESTA NOCHE

When gay bar Esta Noche closed in March after 40 years, it was a Latin drag tragedy. (The closure, not the bar itself.) In honor of the de Young Museum’s essential show of vintage ’70s photos Anthony Friedkin: The Gay Essay, the Esta Noche scene is being resurrected for a night, with comedian Marga Gomez hosting, classic Noche tunes and drag performances by Lulu Ramirez, Persia, and Vicky Jimenez — aka Las Chicas de Esta Noche — that will shake a few tailfeathers.

Fri/11, 6pm-9pm, free. de Young Museum, Golden Gate Park, SF. deyoung.famsf.com

THE WIZARD OF OZ

Drag doyenne of darkness Peaches Christ is hosting a screening of this classic at the Castro Theatre. But, as with all Peaches productions, you get an extravaganza. A live pre-show “Wizard of ODD” promises to be bananas, featuring the Tin Tran, The Scare-Ho, Glen or Glenda the Good Witch, and more. Bonus: Peaches herself playing “Peachy Gale” (aka Dorothy?) and one of the only RuPaul drag thingies I can remember the name of, Sharon Needles, as the Wicked Witch of the West. Don’t ask what happens to Toto.

Sat/12, 3pm and 8pm, $30 advance. Castro Theatre, 429 Castro, SF. www.peacheschrist.com

Pack it up

Michael Redmond

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June 24, 2014

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marke@sfbg.com

QUEER ISSUE It’s Pride month, so it’s time for me to come out of the closet. I’m one of those people. It used to be if I told certain folks that I was a queer, I’d fear getting shot. Now it’s this: 20 years ago this week, I moved to San Francisco with nothing but a backpack, a haircut, and a copy of James Merrill’s The Changing Light at Sandover — and within a few months I was comfortably situated in a grand, rent-controlled, shared three-bedroom apartment in Hayes Valley for $250 a month. It was awesome. I survived on a part-time bookstore job and spent the rest of my time either writing abstract poetry or partying my brains out. Don’t shoot!

That’s a situation so different from the one young queer people encounter today that every time I mention it I feel like I’m either lying, bragging, ancient, or crazy. I often have to refer to old pictures just to assure myself it was true.

Despite the to-die-for living arrangement, not everything was hippie-hunky-dory, of course. I was a Detroit kid with a bright punk streak who’d put himself though college by throwing raves in abandoned buildings. SF was really the last place I would have thought to move — I despised the Beats, never heard a Grateful Dead song, thought nature was flashy and embarrassing, and was mortified to hear that people here started their own raves with a prayer circle. Hoo boy.

Then there was the gay thing. Ever since I was an eighth-grade Boy George impersonator, assholes had told me to move my faggot self to San Francisco. Did actually moving here mean I was the butt of some cosmic joke? And then there was the gay gay thing. Everything about mainstream homosexual culture grossed me out, from the pink spandex-clad gym scene that seemed to be exploding everywhere to the horrid racism and misogyny — not to mention awful jock jams — of the typical Castro bars. (To be fair, the gay scene had absolutely no idea what to do with me, either.)

Oh yeah, and I moved here at the height of AIDS, when meth was taking off and even ACT-UP was admitting defeat. Good times.

But I’d found myself basically homeless back in Detroit, not to mention incredibly lonely, so when my bestie announced he’d bought us $44 train tickets to SF I jumped. Finally, more than three people to date! Maybe I would get published! Perhaps some dreamy queercore hip-hop Viking would swoop down on a Honda Hawk and carry me into the Pacific sunset! Who the hell knew what would happen, and wasn’t that the point. I’d fling myself west, into the arms of this strange, beautiful city and see what was up.

I arrived here on the blindingly sunny Solstice day after Pride, and the first thing I thought was, “Man, this joint is trashed.” The city looked like a drag queen apocalypse. False lashes, mismatched heels, wadded up denim booty shorts, and broken Zima bottles everywhere. We didn’t really have a Pride parade back in Detroit — instead, we celebrated venerable gay African American holiday Hotter Than July with a big picnic — so all this was tantalizingly new.

But I remember two Pride-related things immediately grabbed my self-obsessed attention, and made the world seem incredibly large. One was a huge picture of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence on the front page of the Chronicle, illustrating a recap of the festivities. I’d never seen the word “gay” written so big, not to mention fabulously charitable quasi-drag queens featured so prominently, in print, in pure celebration. (This was in weird contrast to the super-specific, fetish-heavy personal ads in the back of the Bay Area Reporter, which both excited me and scared me to death.)

The other: leftover flyers and stickers protesting then-governor Pete Wilson’s heinous Prop 187, which would deny undocumented immigrants healthcare, education, and social services. Like many young queers, AIDS and the recent Gulf War had radicalized me, but I was too young and isolated to really find my protest voice. Here was evidence of the politically expressive, multicultural gay community I was yearning to join.

Though there were some rough times ahead, I soon found a loving family twirling on the floor at the EndUp, running off zines at Kinko’s, protesting in the Mission, hustling the Polk, shelving books at Green Apple, singing along at the Fillmore, sleeping in Golden Gate Park. I said tragic goodbyes to a lot of friends, burned through a few bright loves, went to grad school, ran a bookstore, connected with my spiritual side, edited a famous gay dating site, wrote a book, got married…. Oh my god my life did become a Grateful Dead song after all.

Is this kind of life-defining SF experience available to young queers now? Those of us who lived through AIDS know, survivor guilt is very real. I feel it coming on now from being able to hold on so long in San Francisco. Everytime I hit up my Facebook or duck into a bar, I learn someone else, another vital spirit, is fleeing this hyper-expensive town for somewhere with a diversified job market that can support creative growth and personal exploration. When I see a young person arrive full of hope, even one with a job at Google, it’s hard not to react cynically — up to a third of our homeless population is LGBT, and that includes hundreds of youth. Our arts and music scene is undergoing profound transformation, and the tech world has turned away from freaks and geeks toward slick Ivy League degrees.

But then I’ll see someone post something that makes me cry with joy. “Fuck that noise about moving. I’m not giving up that easy, San Francisco. I still believe in you!” Right on, sister. We all need to fight for that dream.

Marke B. is the publisher of the Bay Guardian

Ketchup

Michael Redmond

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April 22, 2014

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marke@sfbg.com

SUPER EGO Whoever decided to pack Disclosure (charging $50 for a DJ set!), the adorable Martinez Brothers, Easter with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, 420 in the Park, two insane undergrounds, and 200 bottomless mimosa brunches into one blurred weekend deserves to be packed into a giant pastel plastic egg and rolled down Mt. Tam. My head feels like a gargantuan green Bunnyzilla hopped upon a ketchup packet, not cute. So here are some brief items of interest before I lay down for just a minute.

Stylish Portrero-ish club and gallery Project One is no more. Longtime party people Sean and Isabel Manchester of Wish, Mighty, and Chambers have snatched it up, rejiggered it with a chic vibe, programmed lots of Bay-favorite DJs, and christened it Mercer (251 Rhode Island, SF. www.mercer-sf.com), a lounge and “micro-club” named for the famous street in their beloved native Soho, NYC. The space is still bumping the Turbosound system inherited from 222 Hyde (RIP) Check it out.

Time to cue up — the 2014 DMC San Francisco Regional DJ Battle and Scratch Competition (Sat/26, noon-7pm, $15 advance, $20. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.mighty119.com) will fill Mighty all day long with epic pyrotechnics. The Bay Area holds intimate acquaintance with the all-powerful DMC World DJ Championship title: We’ve won it several times in the past 30 years — once, in fact, with this year’s host, DJ Apollo. This is the first time in three decades that there will be “test run” of a separate scratch competition (scratching was introduced to the DMC in 1986), so I’m itching to see who steps up.

Two new killer fancy cocktails for your face. SF’s been exploding with mezcal bars and

classic Negroni cocktails — combine the two for a knockout mescal Negroni ($11) at the awesome Lolo (3230 22nd St, SF. www.lolosf.com). And, at my new favorite Thai spot, downtown’s Kin Khao (55 Cyril Magnin, SF. www.kinkhao.com), grab the zesty, incredible Kathoey Collins, a.k.a. the “ladyboy” ($12). Flavored with traditional Thai blue flowers, it changes color before your very eyes to a lovely lavender, “for something you don’t quite expect,” says jovial owner Pim Techamuanvivit.

SHLOHMO

Aw, known this LA bass-head darling since he was a wee glitcher, chopping up slabs of raw atmosphere and layering on pretty discombobulations. Now he and his sound are all blown up, coming straight from Coachella for two days at Great American. With Purple, Jim-E Stack, and Chad Salty.

Wed/23 and Thur/24, 8pm doors, 9pm show, $20–$25. Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell, SF. www.gamh.com

#TURNUP

We love our hometown queer hip-hop heroes and their party crowd of radiant children. Rump-pumping duo Double Duchess will take the floor at this throwdown, with Guardian cover star Micahtron motormouthing on the mic.

Fri/25, 10pm, $10. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com

FEATHERS AND FEDORAS

The Guardian’s hosting a roaring ’20s evening knees up at the de Young Museum, grab your favorite flapper and hightail it over. With live Parisian speakeasy band Trio Zincalo, Decobelles dance troupe, our very own astrologer Jessica Lanyadoo giving live readings, a full bar, and oodles more.

Fri/25, 6pm-8:30pm, free. De Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., Golden Gate Park, SF. www.tinyurl.com/SFBGfeathers

EDU IMBERNON

So excited to hear Edu again. Valencian hero of Spanish techno, he added some much-needed swing to the Berlin sound of the late 2000s with the classic “”El Baile Alema” (along with another Spanish favorite, Coyu). He easily slips crowds under his spell.

Sat/26, 10pm-late, $10. Audio, 316 11th St., SF. www.audiosf.com

6TH BOROUGH PROJECT

Craig Smith and Graeme Clark (a.k.a. The Revenge) are quality re-edit hypnotists from the UK, introducing new audiences to very deep soulful disco, Latin funk, and deliciously strange grooves via their quick-handed cut-and-pastes.

Sat/26, 9:30pm-3am, $10–$15. Monarch, 101 Sixth St, SF. www.monarchsf.com

FELIX DA HOUSECAT

The sweet, eccentric Chicagoan may still be revered here mostly for his sassy electroclash output in the early 2000s, but he really does have banging house running through his veins. With the funky pastiche-master Todd Edwards and Australian Tornado Wallace (whose beard rivals our own Jason Kendig’s).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzR0q1jvstg

Sat/26, 9pm-late, $15–$20. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com

JUS’ DANCE

Kenny Dope and Mr. V’s beloved NYC party debuts in SF — and will surely show us some masters at work, bopping from soulful house to disco classics, funky hip-hop to Latin jazz and beyond.

Sat/26, 10pm-late, $15–$20. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.mighty119.com

Hunky Jesus, Foxy Mary, and Easter bonnets to make your eggs spin

Peter Cohen

-

April 21, 2014

1

Hunky Jesus, Foxy Mary, and Easter bonnets to make your eggs spin

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence held their 35th anniversary Easter party — an “Emerald Jubilee” — at Golden Gate Park’s Hellman Hollow on Sunday. The annual event once again featured an Easter bonnet competition and a Hunky Jesus contest, plus a brand-new Foxy Mary pageant. Several Pope lookalikes graced the crowd, and a Little Bo Peep burlesque show rounded out the scheduled entertainment.

All photos by Amanda Rhoades.

Events: April 16 – 22, 2014

Michael Redmond

-

April 15, 2014

0

Listings are compiled by Guardian staff. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Selector.

WEDNESDAY 16

“Globular Clusters of the Milky Way” Randall Museum, 199 Museum Way, SF; www.randallmuseum.org. 7:30pm, free. Calling all Cosmos fans: UC Santa Cruz Professor of Astronomy Graeme Smith delivers this talk as part of the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers’ 2014 lecture series.

Myra McPherson Green Arcade, 1680 Market, SF; www.thegreenarcade.com. 7pm, free. The author discusses The Scarlet Sisters: Sex, Suffrage, and Scandal in the Gilded Age.

Elizabeth Scarboro and Louise Aronson Booksmith, 1644 Haight, SF; www.booksmith.com. 7:30pm, free. The authors read from My Foreign Cities and A History of the Present Illness, respectively.

“Smack Dab” Magnet, 4122 18th St, SF; www.magnetsf.org. 8pm, free. Open mic for writers and musicians, with featured performer Blair Hansen.

Kevin Young City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus, SF; www.citylights.com. 7pm, free. The poet reads from his new collection, Book of Hours.

THURSDAY 17

Kaya Press 20th Anniversary City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus, SF; www.citylights.com. 7pm, free. With Sesshu Foster, Gene Oishi, Amamath Rawa, and Shailja Patel.

“The Natural and Cultural History of Yerba Buena Island” Randall Museum, 199 Museum Wy, SF; www.randallmuseum.org. 7:30pm, free. The 2014 SF Natural History Lecture Series continues with this talk about Yerba Buena Island’s ecological secrets by Ruth Gravanis.

FRIDAY 18

“Birding the Hill” Corona Heights Park, behind Randall Museum, 199 Museum Way, SF; www.randallmuseum.org. 8am, free. Beginning birders are welcome to this 2.5 hour walk scouting the park’s avian inhabitants.

SATURDAY 19

Emil DeAndreis Green Apple Books, 506 Clement, SF; www.greenapplebooks.com. 6pm, free. The author reads from Beyond Folly.

Earth Day Bay Area Discovery Museum, Fort Baker, 447 McReynolds, Sausalito; www.baykidsmuseum.org. 9am-5pm, $11. Live music, hands-on craft projects using recycled materials, storytelling, and more for kids and their families.

Earth Day SF UN Plaza, Civic Center, SF; www.earthdaysf.org. 10am-6pm, free. This year’s theme is “A Call to Action,” so look for speakers and booths addressing climate change, green activism, and other social-justice topics. Of course, there will also be plenty of music (by headliners New Monsoon and the Earth Day All Star Band, among others), dance performances, an eco fashion show, a sustainable chef showcase, and more.

“Earth Day on the Bay” Marine Science Institute, 500 Discovery Pkwy, Redwood City; www.sfbaymsi.org. 10am-5pm, free. The Institute opens to the public just once a year, and today’s the day. Families are invited for hands-on science fun (touch a shark!).

“Eggstravaganza 2014” Sharon Meadow, Golden Gate Park, SF; www.sfrecpark.org. 11am-3pm, $8. Egg hunts, carnival rides, games, live entertainment, and a barbecue competition between city agencies highlight this family-friendly Easter event.

“Great Egg Hunt” Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakl; www.dunsmuir-hellman.com. Noon-3pm, $3-5. Oakland’s largest egg hunt (also on tap: a petting zoo, face painting, crafts, and more) covers the grounds of the 1899 mansion.

Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival Japantown, SF; www.sfcherryblossom.org. Times and prices vary. Through Sun/20. Celebrate Japanese culture and the Japanese American community at this 47th annual street fair, boasting food booths, live music, martial arts demonstrations, and more.

“Party for the Planet” Oakland Zoo, 9777 Golf Links Rd, Oakl; www.oaklandzoo.org. 10am-3pm, $11.75-15.75. 50 local environmental organizations participate in this zoo bash, which will feature over 50 “interactive Earth Stations” throughout the facility. Plus: live animal presentations, live music, and more.

“SuperAwesome: Art and Giant Robot” and “Vinyl: The Sound and Culture of Records” Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak, Oakl; www.museumca.org. 11am-5pm, $6-20. Through July 27. Two new exhibits open today at OMCA: the first highlighting 15 artists associated with Asian and Asian American pop culture-focused magazine Giant Robot, and the second exploring “the social and cultural phenomenon of listening to, collecting, and sharing records.”

SUNDAY 20

“Easter in Golden Gate Park” Hellman Hollow, Golden Gate Park, SF; www.thesisters.org. Children’s Easter, 10am; main event, noon. Free. Hunky Jesus has risen! And this year, he’s got Foxy Mary with him! It’s the 35th year for the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’s flamboyant Easter festivities. Crucial info: the theme is “The Emerald Jubilee, A ‘Trip” to Oz;” and since Dolores Park is temporarily closed, it all goes down in Golden Gate Park.

Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics 40th Anniversary Party City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus, SF; www.citylights.com. 5pm, free. Andrea Rexillus hosts readings by Robert Gluck, Juliana Spahr, Cedar Sigo, Eric Baus, Michelle Naka Pierce, and Chris Pusateri.

“The Szyk Haggadah” Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission, SF; www.thecjm.org. 1-2pm, free with museum admission ($10-12). Also April 27, 3-4pm. The Arthur Szyk scholar discusses the artist’s masterwork in this gallery talk.

Union Street Easter Parade and Spring Celebration Union between Gough and Fillmore, SF; www.sresproductions.com. 10am-5pm, free. A parade, an Easter bonnet contest, live entertainment, and lots of kid-friendly fun highlight this 23rd annual event.

TUESDAY 22

Doug Fine Booksmith, 1644 Haight, SF; www.booksmith.com. 7:30pm, free. Celebrate Earth Day with this reading by the author of Hemp Bound: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Next Agricultural Revolution.

Sixteen Rivers Press reading City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus, SF; www.citylights.com. 7pm. With poetry readings by Beverly Burch and Murray Silverstein. *

This Week’s Picks: December 11 – 17, 2013

Michael Redmond

-

December 10, 2013

0

Make the yuletide gay!

WEDNESDAY 12/11

Jagwar Ma

Discussing the lead track off Howlin’, Jagwar Ma’s Jono Ma has described time spent in two Berlin clubs: Club Bassy, which “only played vinyl from the 40s, 50s, 60s,” and Panorama Bar, the oft-mentioned, house-dominated portion of ultra-hip Berghain. It’s a nice hat-tip to Jagwar Ma’s influences, which have inspired clear-voiced pop and soul vocals that follow a swirl of programmed beats and sequenced arpeggios, with enough looseness in the groove to engender no shortage of Happy Mondays references. This sound — part Madchester acid trip and part Balearic episode — has fittingly led to remixes by Andrew Weatherall, Matthew Dear, and Pachanga Boys. (Ryan Prendiville)

With Fascinator

8pm, $15

Independent

628 Divisadero, SF

www.theindependentsf.com

THURSDAY 12/12

“Holiday Bazaar NightLife”

There is a science to holiday gift shopping. Like most experiments, it begins with an unsettling question: What should I get for Ma? And Pa? Olivia? Your hypothesis states that some friends will like their gifts, and some will fake it. But when more than 40 local merchants gather for NightLife at the Academy and set up stalls full of treasures curated by Bazaar Bizarre (think handmade ceramics, silk-screened T-shirts, letterpress stationery, and superhero bowties), the chances of expected yield matching actual yield of purchases are high. Add principal elements to the equation, such as bass music collective Slayers Club, DJ Mark Farina, and spiked snow cones (NightLife is a 21-and-over event), and the chemical reaction creates an explosion greater than the Earthquake planetarium show. (Kaylen Baker)

6pm, $12

California Academy of Sciences

55 Music Concourse, Golden Gate Park, SF

www.calacademy.org

“Drag Queens On Ice: An Eleganza Extravaganza!”

Figure skaters and drag queens have a lot in common: a flair for performing, an affection for sequins, a deep love of cheesy music. Now in its fourth year, “Drag Queens on Ice” makes the most of these shared affections by bringing hostess Donna Sachet and a bevy of costumed, skate-wearing divas to Union Square’s Holiday Ice Rink. Spreading even more cheer, event presenter Visit Mendocino County partners with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence this year to benefit the Sisters’ partner charities, matching donations made by skate fans who get their picture taken with the Order’s own Sister Roma. (Cheryl Eddy)

8-9:30pm, $7-$11 (skate rentals, $5; rink hours, 10am-11:30pm daily)

Holiday Ice Rink

Union Square, SF

www.unionsquareicerink.com

FRIDAY 12/13

X and The Blasters

The members of legendary Los Angeles punk rockers X have always distinguished themselves from other bands of their time and genre, with the rock-solid drumming of DJ Bonebrake, the guitar virtuosity of Billy Zoom, and the poetic lyrics and intimate vocal interplay of John Doe and Exene Cervenka. The iconic group, whose early catalog was recently released in deluxe digital sets via Rhino Records, is hitting the West Coast this month for a special “X-mas 2013” tour with friends the Blasters. Fans of both outstanding acts won’t want to miss this rare chance to see the two groups together at one sensational show. (Sean McCourt)

9pm, $35

Fillmore

1805 Geary, SF

www.thefillmore.com

Asomnia

Sixty hours, no winks, of continual performance are what Mugwumpin promises, beginning 9am Friday and running (or wobbling) nonstop until 9pm Sunday. The 10-year-old company, needless to say, refuses to slow down, and looks to be keeping pace with the times, as it embarks on the three-day marathon as research into its yearlong exploration of exhaustion (to culminate in a final performance in 2014). The performers will make themselves available along the way to guest choreographers Laura Arrington (Sun, 2pm) and Erika Chong Shuch (Sat, 2pm). Crazy? Probably, yeah. But having consulted with at least one herbalist (Sheila Devitt, who offers a primer on herbal adaptogens as part of the proceedings), the members of the intrepid theater company are going into this, anyway, with their eyes open. (Robert Avila)

Starts today, 9am; ends Sun/15, 9pm, $10-$30 (weekend pass, $40)

CIIS’s Area 5

1453 Mission, SF

www.mugwumpin.org

El Ten Eleven

Silver Lake’s El Ten Eleven defies the odds. Its music is instrumental, but starkly unpretentious. Its musicianship and songwriting is mind-bogglingly complex, but extremely listenable. It consists of only two people, but creates a full band’s worth of sound, with the insanely gifted Kristian Dunn often playing the guitar and bass lines on his double-necked instrument simultaneously. The music the band creates is not just technically impressive, it’s also graceful, intensely melodic, and deeply emotional. El Ten Eleven’s talent and intricate songwriting translate beautifully to its live presence, where the duo will loop, vamp, shred, and cymbal-crash its way right into your heart. (Haley Zaremba)

With Slow Magic

9pm, $16

Slim’s

333 11th St, SF

www.slimspresents.com

“Two Evenings of Deborah Hay Solo Adaptations”

Deborah Hay has never stopped rethinking the dancing body, a practice she started as a member of the Judson Dance Theater in the 1960s. She has become something of shaman for choreographer-performers, who experience her workshops as a stripping-away of preconceptions about their own work. For each residency, Hay creates one solo — actually a series of written instructions and descriptions — which the artists gradually make their own by continuing to work on it for at least three months. It’s a process which is both disciplined and freeing. “Two Evenings of Deborah Hay Solo Adaptations” presents five artists and their versions of these solos: Aura Fischbeck and Gry Bech-Hanssen with pieces from 2012; Manfred Fischbeck from 2011; and Megan Nicely and Ronja VerAura from 2010. (Rita Felciano)

Fri/13-Sat/14, 7pm, $15

NOHspace

2840 Mariposa, SF

www.brownpapertickets.com

SATURDAY 12/14

“An Unnerving Look at the Holidays”

Lemony Snicket, the grief-stricken satirist of the best-selling A Series of Unfortunate Events, would warn you not to attend this family-oriented holiday jazz concert. He’d say that Christmas, with all its blaring jingle, is an atrocious way to celebrate the uncomfortable birth of a man cursed with the inexplicable talent of curing sickness and doomed to youthful death by jealous townsmen and very heavy planks. He’d mention that Marcus Shelby’s mesmerizing jazz music is a gloomy reminder that all merriment must end, and that the earnest chords of the SFJazz High School All-Stars will make you cry. He’d add that Snicket himself has no knowledge of jazz, lacks the joy to cheer children, and will probably sport an unflattering disguise. Luckily, I’m not Lemony, and I’m telling you not to miss “An Unnerving Look at the Holidays.” (Baker)

11am, $5-$15

SFJazz Center

201 Franklin, SF

www.sfjazz.org

SUNDAY 12/15

Homo for the Holidays

Procrastinating your holiday shopping could pay off this year: El Rio’s Homo for the Holidays queer craft bonanza is your one-stop shop for gifts for all your friends, plus plenty of goodies and entertainment for yourself, too! The back patio hosts more than a dozen crafters selling all sorts of adorable creations: upcycled bike tire jewelry, stick and poke tattoo kits, queer home décor, and more. Shop to the tunes of performers GAYmous, Thunder Thighs, and DJ Jerry Lee, as well as words by the Lady Ms. Vagina Jenkins and dance performances by the Tartletts and the emFATic Dancers. Door proceeds go to the Larkin Street Youth’s holiday gift drive; bring an unwrapped gift for the drive and receive raffle tickets to win prizes from featured vendors. Get your photo taken in the “Sleazy Santa” photo booth, and make the yuletide gay! (Kirstie Haruta)

3-8pm, $5

El Rio

3158 Mission, SF

www.elriosf.com

MONDAY 12/16

Andrew Bird’s Gezelligheid

Andrew Bird reprises his special holiday shows, expanding his run for the first time to the best coast. The title Gezelligheid is a Dutch word that translates to coziness or togetherness, and in order to live up to the name, Bird is hosting his two-night performance inside of Congregation Sherith Israel, one of the city’s most breathtaking places of worship. Playing with special guest Tift Merritt, Gezelligheid will mostly consist of Bird’s spectacular violin pieces, amplified through his trademarked Victoria horns. Designed, in Bird’s words, for the audience to be “lifted and comforted as we head into another cold and dark winter,” the show promises to be a unique, enchanting experience. (Zaremba)

Mon/16-Tue/17, 8pm, $45

Congregation Sherith Israel

2266 California, SF

www.sherithisrael.org

TUESDAY 12/17

“Historic Libations”

San Franciscans have long enjoyed a romance with alcohol — from the debauchery of the Barbary Coast era to the modern renaissance of the craft cocktail, the city by the bay knows how to knock ’em back. Celebrate this high-proof history at “Historic Libations,” a party inspired by the drinking culture of yesteryear, where revelers will be able to sample a variety of uniquely San Francisco cocktails, including the Pisco Sour and the Martinez. The price of admission to the fete will include drinks, hors d’oeuvres and dancing to live music from The Cosmo Alleycats — and don’t forget to check out the always fascinating exhibits on display. (McCourt)

6-9 p.m., $30-$75 California Historical Society 678 Mission, SF facebook.com/californiahistoricalsociety

Mantra from the Milk/Moscone memorial march: “Fight back!”

Michael Redmond

-

December 3, 2013

10

Hundreds of activists and progressive San Franciscans marked the 35th anniversary of the Mayor George Moscone and Sup. Harvey Milk assassinations on Wednesday night in the Castro with fiery speeches urging the crowd to “fight back!” against displacement and gentrification, conjuring the words and spirit of those slain leftist leaders.

“Gotta have hope just to stay alive,” the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus sang of Milk and his message on the 35th anniversary of that chorus’ first performance, on the steps of City Hall on the day of the tragedy, belting out the refrain, “Gotta give ’em hope.”

Despite the onslaught of evictions triggered by real estate speculators and the city’s current economic development policies, such as the tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks extended to Twitter alone, the defiant message from this podium did have an undercurrent of hope.

But that hope was predicated on people’s willingness to organize and engage in “a fight they started,” Tom Temprano, president of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, said of Milk and Moscone, “a fight against gentrification and displacement.”

Yet Temprano also said that people have to feel stable and secure to really have hope: “You can’t have hope without a roof over your head. You can’t have hope without affordable housing. And that’s why we’re marching today.”

Temprano then played an old news clip of Milk talking about his own eviction from the camera store and apartment where he lived on Castro Street, the result of similar economic forces that are overtaking the city today.

Milk explained how San Francisco’s economy relies on local residents being able to earn a living wage and not pay too much of their incomes in rents. But when landlords gouge their tenants, they have less to spend in local businesses, “and sooner or later, that’s going to crunch the economy locally.”

One of the more fiery speeches of the evening came from Brian Basinger of the AIDS Housing Alliance, who used one of Milk’s signature lines when he said, “I’m Brian Basinger and I’m here to recruit you. I’m here to recruit you into a movement for housing justice that goes back decades.”

He cited the recent successes of that movement, from suing to stop CitiApartments from abusing and exploiting its tenants to stopping the 8 Washington luxury condo project when the voters overwhelmingly defeated Props. B&C this month.

“Housing rights are human rights,” Basinger said.

Housing activist Tony Robles, a board member of the Manilatown Heritage Foundation, recalled being a student at Mission High School when the news of the assassinations was announced, an event that profoundly affected him. He said they represented “the spirit of community and the spirit of fighting for what is right.”

Robles called out Sup. Scott Wiener, a Milk successor representing the Castro, calling Wiener unworthy of that legacy, citing his legislation allowing more apartments to be converted to condos and with closing the parks at night. “You were no Harvey Milk when you made that move, brother,” Robles said, closing with this hope: “Let the poetry of Harvey Milk’s struggle live on in the streets of San Francisco.”

Wiener and other politicians, including Mayor Ed Lee, Sen. Mark Leno, Board President David Chiu, and state Democratic Party head John Burton, spoke earlier in the day at a City Hall memorial. But they pointedly weren’t invited to the more raucous evening event (although Sup. David Campos, whose Assembly race against Chiu the Milk Club has endorsed, did show up to offer his silent support).

“Fuck you, we are staying!” was the message Shannell Williams, a San Francisco native and a rising young activist who came from the Save City College movement, had for the city’s landlords and those who say low and middle income earners should just move to Oakland.

She and others recalled the message of love and inclusion that were hallmarks of Milk and Moscone’s political philosophy, as well as their belief in building coalitions to defeat powerful economic interests.

Tommi Avicolli Mecca of the SF Housing Rights Committee cited recent successes the movement has had in fighting back against evictions and said, “It’s because of the power we have as tenants when we unite and we fight back.”

He said that was Milk’s central message: “If we unite and fight, we can win.” And Mecca said San Francisco “doesn’t belong to greedy landlords, it belongs to all of us.”

Cleve Jones, an longtime LGBT activist who was an intern for Milk at the time of the assassinations, noted, “There are some who will question our desire to raise political points tonight,” recognizing this occasion has usually been a solemn memorial march.

But he said that using this occasion as a vehicle for political organizing is the best way to honor the legacy of Milk and Moscone, who Jones said would be appalled by what’s happening in this city. Jones told the story of an aging gay activist who was recently depressed about being displaced from the city, and Jones tried to comfort him by saying, “It’s hard to get old in this town and see all the changes.”

It didn’t help: Days later, Jones said his friend committed suicide by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge.

“It’s not rhetoric and it’s not hyperbole. This destroys lives,” Jones said. It was a message repeated on a large banner carried by those leading the march to City Hall, which read, “Eviction=Death.”

The rally was closed out by members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who cited a long list of “weird, kooky artistic innovators” from San Francisco’s past, and said, “They never could have afforded to live here today.”

Then the Sisters offered an invocation they called the “Rosary of Housing Evils,” asking the crowd to repeat the mantra “Save us from the speculators” between each of their prayers and observations for the city, which included:

“Harvey Milk was evicted from his home.”

“Extend rent control to all residential and commercial units.”

“Forty percent of queer seniors cannot afford their rents.”

“Rent has risen 21 percent this year.”

“We all need to stay together or they’ll pick us off one by one.”

Mantra from the Milk/Moscone memorial march: “Fight back!”

Sasha Cuttler

-

November 29, 2013

146

Mantra from the Milk/Moscone memorial march: “Fight back!”

Hundreds of activists and progressive San Franciscans marked the 35^th anniversary of the Mayor George Moscone and Sup. Harvey Milk assassinations on Wednesday night in the Castro with fiery speeches urging the crowd to “fight back!” against displacement and gentrification, conjuring the words and spirit of those slain leftist leaders.

“Gotta have hope just to stay alive,” the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus sang of Milk and his message on the 35^th anniversary of that chorus’ first performance, on the steps of City Hall on the day of the tragedy, belting out the refrain, “Gotta give ‘em hope.”

Despite the onslaught of evictions triggered by real estate speculators and the city’s current economic development policies, such as the tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks extended to Twitter alone, the defiant message from this podium did have an undercurrent of hope.

But that hope was predicated on people’s willingness to organize and engage in “a fight they started,” Tom Temprano, president of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, said of Milk and Moscone, “a fight against gentrification and displacement.”

Yet Temprano also said that people have to feel stable and secure to really have hope: “You can’t have hope without a roof over your head. You can’t have hope without affordable housing. And that’s why we’re marching today.”

Temprano then played an old news clip of Milk talking about his own eviction from the camera store and apartment where he lived on Castro Street, the result of similar economic forces that are overtaking the city today.

Milk explained how San Francisco’s economy relies on local residents being able to earn a living wage and not pay too much of their incomes in rents. But when landlords gouge their tenants, they have less to spend in local businesses, “and sooner or later, that’s going to crunch the economy locally.”

One of the more fiery speeches of the evening came from Brian Basinger of the AIDS Housing Alliance, who used one of Milk’s signature lines when he said, “I’m Brian Basinger and I’m here to recruit you. I’m here to recruit you into a movement for housing justice that goes back decades.”

He cited the recent successes of that movement, from suing to stop CitiApartments from abusing and exploiting its tenants to stopping the 8 Washington luxury condo project when the voters overwhelmingly defeated Props. B&C this month.

“Housing rights are human rights,” Basinger said.

Housing activist Tony Robles, a board member of the Manilatown Heritage Foundation, recalled being a student at Mission High School when the news of the assassinations was announced, an event that profoundly affected him. He said they represented “the spirit of community and the spirit of fighting for what is right.”

Robles called out Sup. Scott Wiener, a Milk successor representing the Castro, calling Wiener unworthy of that legacy, citing Wiener’s legislation allowing more apartments to be converted to condos and with closing the parks at night. “You were no Harvey Milk when you made that move, brother,” Robles said, closing with this hope: “Let the poetry of Harvey Milk’s struggle live on in the streets of San Francisco.”

Wiener and other politicians, including Mayor Ed Lee, Sen. Mark Leno, Board President David Chiu, and state Democratic Party head John Burton, spoke earlier in the day at a City Hall memorial. But they pointedly weren’t invited to the more raucous evening event (although Sup. David Campos, whose Assembly race against Chiu the Milk Club has endorsed, did show up to offer his silent support).

“Fuck you, we are staying!” was the message Shannell Williams, a San Francisco native and a rising young activist who came from the Save City College movement, had for city’s landlords and those who say low and middle income earners should just move to Oakland.

She and others recalled the message of love and inclusion that were hallmarks of Milk and Moscone’s political philosophy, as well as their belief in building coalitions to defeat powerful economic interests.

Tommi Avicolli Mecca of the SF Housing Rights Committee cited recent successes the movement has had in fighting back against evictions and said, “It’s because of the power we have as tenants when we unite and we fight back.”

He said that was Milk’s central message: “If we unite and fight, we can win.” And Mecca said San Francisco “doesn’t belong to greedy landlords, it belongs to all of us.”

Cleve Jones, an longtime LGBT activist who was an intern for Milk at the time of the assassinations, noted that, “There are some who will question our desire to raise political points tonight,” recognizing this occasion has usually been a solemn memorial march.

But he said that using this occasion as a vehicle for political organizing is the best way to honor the legacy of Milk and Moscone, who Jones said would be appalled by what’s happening in this city. Jones told the story of an aging gay activist who was recently depressed about being displaced from the city, and Jones tried to comfort him by saying, “It’s hard to get old in this town and see all the changes.”

It didn’t help: Days later, Jones said his friend committed suicide by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge.

“It’s not rhetoric and it’s not hyperbole. This destroys lives,” Jones said. It was a message repeated on a large banner carried by those leading the march to City Hall, which read, “Eviction=Death.”

The rally was closed out by members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who cited a long list of “weird, kooky artistic innovators” from San Francisco’s past, and said that, “They never could have afforded to live here today.”

Then the Sisters offered an invocation they called the “Rosary of Housing Evils,” asking the crowd to repeat the mantra “Save us from the speculators” between each of their prayers and observations for the city, which included:

“Harvey Milk was evicted from his home.”

“Extend rent control to all residential and commercial units.”

“Forty percent of queer seniors cannot afford their rents.”

“Rent has risen 21 percent this year.”

“We all need to stay together or they’ll pick us off one by one.”

Stage Listings Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 2013

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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October 29, 2013

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Stage listings are compiled by Guardian staff. Performance times may change; call venues to confirm. Reviewers are Robert Avila, Rita Felciano, and Nicole Gluckstern. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com.

THEATER

OPENING

Driving Miss Daisy Buriel Clay Theater at the African American Art and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton, SF; www.african-americanshakes.org. $12.50-37.50. Opens Sat/2, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 3pm. Through Nov 17. African-American Shakespeare Company performs Alfred Uhry’s Pulitzer-winning drama.

I Married an Angel Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson, SF; www.42ndstmoon.org. $25-75. Previews Wed/30-Thu/31, 7pm; Fri/1, 8pm. Opens Sat/2, 6pm. Runs Wed-Thu, 7pm; Fri, 8pm; Sat, 6pm (also Nov 9, 1pm), Sun, 3pm. Through Nov 17. 42nd Street Moon performs the Rodgers and Hart classic.

The Jewelry Box: A Genuine Christmas Story The Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-40. Opens Fri/1, 8pm. Runs Fri, 8pm; Sat, 5pm. Brian Copeland performs the world premiere of his new, holiday-themed work, an Oakland-set autobiographical tale that’s a prequel to his popular Not a Genuine Black Man.

Peter and the Starcatcher Curran Theatre, 445 Geary, SF; www.shnsf.com. $40-160. Opens Tue/5, 8pm. Runs Tue-Sat, 8pm (also Wed and Sat, 2pm; no show Nov 28); Sun, 2pm. Through Dec 1. Fanciful, Tony-winning prequel to Peter Pan.

BAY AREA

A King’s Legacy Pear Avenue Theatre, 1220 Pear, Mtn View; www.thepear.org. $10-35. Previews Thu/31, 8pm. Opens Fri/1, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Nov 24. Pear Avenue Theatre performs Elyce Melmon’s world premiere, a drama about King James VI of Scotland.

A Little Princess Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College, Berk; www.berkeleyplayhouse.org. $17-60. Previews Thu/30, 7pm and Sat/2, 1pm. Opens Sat/2, 6pm. Runs Thu-Fri, 7pm (Nov 28, shows at 1 and 6pm); Sat, 1 and 6pm; Sun, noon and 5pm (no 5pm show Dec 1). Through Dec 8. Berkeley Playhouse opens its sixth season with Brian Crawley and Andrew Lippa’s musical adaptation of the Frances Hodgson Burnett story.

Social Security Muriel Watkin Gallery, 1050 Crespi Drive, Pacifica; (650) 359-8002. $10-25. Opens Fri/1, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Nov 24. Pacifica Spindrift Players performs Andrew Bergman’s classic comedy.

ONGOING

The Barbary Coast Revue Stud Bar, 399 Ninth St, SF; eventbrite.com/org/4730361353. $10-40. Wed, 9pm (no show Nov 27). Through Dec 18. Blake Wiers’ new “live history musical experience” features Mark Twain as a tour guide through San Francisco’s wild past.

Bengal Tiger at the Bagdad Zoo SF Playhouse, 450 Post, SF; www.sfplayhouse.org. $30-100. Tue-Thu, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 3pm). Through Nov 16. In Rajiv Joseph’s Pulitzer-nominated Bengal Tiger at the Bagdad Zoo, the dead quickly outnumber the living, and soon the stage is littered with monologist ghosts lost in transition. In Joseph’s world, at least, death is but another phase of consciousness, a plane of existence where a man-eating tiger might experience a crisis of conscience, and a brash young soldier with a learning disability might suddenly find himself contemplating algebraic equations and speaking Arabic —knowledge that had eluded his comprehension in life. Will Marchetti’s portrayal of the titular tiger is on the static side, though his wry intelligence and philosophical awakening comes as a welcome contrast to the willfully obtuse world view of the American soldiers (Gabriel Marin and Craig Marker) guarding him. But it’s Musa (Kuros Charney), a translator for the Americans and a former gardener and topiary “artist,” who eventually emerges as the play’s most fully realized character and also the most tragic, becoming that which he dreads the most, a beast in a lawless land, egged on by the ghost of his former employer, the notoriously sadistic Uday Hussein (Pomme Koch). At times, director Bill English’s staging feels too understated and contained for a play that’s so muscular and expansive (an understatement not carried over into Steven Klems’ appropriately jarring sound design) focused less on its metaphysical implications than on its mundane surface, but however imperfect the production and daunting the script, it remains a fascinating response to an unwinnable war — the war against our own animal natures. (Gluckstern)

BoomerAging: From LSD to OMG Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Tue, 8pm. Extended through Dec 17. Will Durst’s hit solo show looks at baby boomers grappling with life in the 21st century.

Carrie: The Musical Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St, SF; www.rayoflighttheatre.com. $25-36. Wed/30-Sat/2, 8pm (also Sat/2, 2pm). Teen bullying is très topical at the moment, making Stephen King’s terrifying tale of a telekinetic girl pushed to the breaking point by her unsympathetic classmates ripe for revival. Although it flopped on Broadway in 1988, Carrie: The Musical has aged more gracefully than you might expect, thanks to the timeliness of its overarching theme and a judicious 2012 facelift of its script and score. In Ray of Light Theatre’s slam-dunk production, Carrie unfolds a bit like an after-school special on scapegoating, except with show tunes and, of course, the stratospheric consequences of the final, tragic revenge sequence. The songs themselves are mainly forgettable in terms of hooks and lyrics, but the vibrant young cast makes the most of them, with excellent harmonizing and powerful range. Amanda Folena’s tight choreography borrows the sinuous hip rolls and stomp of a Janet Jackson routine and just a touch of twerk, while Joe D’Emilio’s lighting and Erik Scanlon’s video design work in unholy symbiosis to create the supernaturally charged ambience of Carrie’s world. As Carrie, Cristina Ann Oeschger really shines, embodying the heartbreaking fragility of a lonely outcast whose optimism has not yet been entirely crushed, while Heather Orth as her frighteningly pious mother, Margaret White, reveals the vulnerability of her equally lonely character that many portrayals miss altogether. Standouts among the solid supporting cast include Jessica Coker as a compassionate gym teacher and Riley Krull as the ultimate mean girl. (Gluckstern)

Dirty Little Showtunes New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness, SF; www.nctcsf.org. $25-45. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Nov 10. Lyricist-performer Tom Orr and director F. Allen Sawyer’s sassy but loving remix of iconic Broadway songs returns in another iteration, this one at the New Conservatory Theatre Center, complete with a willing and able cast of five (Rotimi Agbabiaka, David Bicha, Jesse Cortez, Randy Noak, Orr), piano accompaniment by musical director Scrumbly Koldewyn, and some rudimentary if evocative choreography by Jayne Zaban. Truly silly, sometimes inspired, the show mixes favorite parodies from past productions with some new ones. Orr’s wit shines throughout, even if it does not necessarily outshine every borrowed theme. Gilbert and Sullivan, for example, are hardly upstaged as much as celebrated with Bicha belting out, “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Homosexual.” More sentimental numbers about T cell counts or gay marriage, while an understandable part of the landscape of gay life explored here, can feel a little strained in the context of the generally ribald. But the high-spirited nature of this whimsical show makes pardonable even the less-dirty parts. (Avila)

Drowning Ophelia Mojo Theatre Space, 2940 16th St, #217, SF; www.repurposedtheatre.com. $20. Thu/31-Sat/2, 8pm. Jane (Katharine Otis) is a young woman teetering on the verge of a breakdown who plays period dress-up with would-be suitor Edmund (Will Trichon) but can’t avoid the character at her back: Hamlet‘s Ophelia (Kirsten Dwyer), chiding and chilling from her bathtub in the middle of the room. As Jane’s attention gets drawn back to her alter ego, scenes from the past with recently deceased brother Adam (Ryan Hayes) replay themselves with Ophelia as her stand-in. These go from innocent to menacing, as meanwhile Jane’s almost endlessly patient boyfriend finally seems to have had enough of the clash between their playful pretending and the unforeseen visitors in Jane’s head. While a promising gambit from newcomer Repurposed Theatre, the world premiere of Pennsylvania-based playwright Rachel Luann Strayer’s slightly unwieldy play makes less of this intriguing situation than one might hope. The literary and theatrical bent to Jane’s split personhood is apt on more than one level — she’s not only desperate to secure a sense of order for her disordered mind, but a scripted basis for a romantic ideal forever tarnished by her relationship with her brother (vaguely creepy in his boyish confidence in Hayes’s alert performance). But there’s little sense of a larger psychosocial reality — whether of patriarchal misogyny, or violence more generally — and, as a result, little to be gained from the too-obvious and too emphatic incest-madness theme, outside of an impressive performance from Otis, whose somewhat hampered character is nevertheless a powerful presence throughout. Capable supporting turns, including Dwyer’s intense and vital Ophelia, and director Ellery Schaar’s generally sharp staging (under Julien Elstob’s moody lighting) contribute to making a nicely atmospheric production. (Avila)

First Stage Werx, 446 Valencia, SF; www.firsttheplay.com. $25-35. Thu/31-Sat/2, 8pm; Sun/3, 2pm. Altair Productions, the Aluminous Collective, and PlayGround present the world premiere of Evelyn Jean Pine’s play, which imagines a 20-year-old Bill Gates’ experiences at a 1976 personal computer conference.

Foodies! The Musical Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter, SF; www.foodiesthemusical.com. $32-34. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Open-ended. AWAT Productions presents Morris Bobrow’s musical comedy revue all about food.

444 Days Z Below, 470 Florida, SF; www.goldenthread.org. $10-45. Thu/31-Sat/2, 8pm (also Sat/2, 3pm); Sun/3, 3pm. Golden Thread Productions presents the world premiere of founding artistic director Torange Yeghiazarian’s drama about the reunion between a former Iranian revolutionary, Laleh (Jeri Lynn Cohen), and a former American diplomat from the American embassy in Tehran, Harry (Michael Shipley) — her captive in more ways than one during the 444 days of the 1979-81 Iran hostage crisis. Some 25 years after this international “affair,” Laleh and Harry meet again at the bedside of their critically ill and comatose daughter, Hadyeh (Olivia Rosaldo-Pratt), whose non-biological father Amin (an offstage character) is Laleh’s longtime comrade and another of the onetime hostage takers. If it sounds like a politically loaded situation, it is, which is as much a problem as a virtue in director Bella Warda’s production. Yeghiazarian laces her dialogue with light humor, irony, and romance throughout, but the play allows little room for its characters to really breathe — indeed, Laleh’s first words to Harry after 25 years are, unlikely enough, a well-rehearsed screed. In the contortions its characters must speak (to which a friendly nurse, played by Sheila Collins, adds something like the average American’s perspective), the play remains too intent on delivering a political message about the intractable relationship, then and now, between the US and Iran — and the unnatural sacrifice of the generation that has come up since the severing of US-Iranian diplomatic ties after the revolution of 1979. (Avila)

Gruesome Playground Injuries Tides Theatre, 533 Sutter, SF; www.tidestheatre.org. $20-40. Wed-Sat, 8pm. Through Nov 9. Tides Theatre performs Rajiv Joseph’s drama about two people who first meet as eight-year-olds in the school nurse’s office.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch Boxcar Theatre, 505 Natoma, SF; www.boxcartheatre.org. $27-43. Thu-Sat, 8pm. Open-ended. John Cameron Mitchell’s cult musical comes to life with director Nick A. Olivero’s ever-rotating cast.

Lovebirds Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-100. Thu-Fri, 8pm; Sat, 8:30pm. Through Nov 9. Workshop performances of Marga Gomez’s 10th solo show, about different characters seeking romance in the 1970s.

Randy Roberts Live! Alcove Theatre, 414 Mason, SF; www.randyroberts.net. $40. Thu/31-Sat/2, 9pm. The famed female impersonator performs.

Shakespeare Night at the Blackfriars (London Idol 1610) Phoenix Arts Association Annex Theatre, 414 Mason, SF; www.subshakes.com. $20-25. Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through Nov 17. Subterranean Shakespeare performs George Crowe’s comedy about a playwriting contest between Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, Francis Beaumont, and the ghost of Christopher Marlowe.

“Shocktoberfest 14: Jack the Ripper” Hypnodrome, 575 10th St, SF; www.thrillpeddlers.com. $25-35. Thu-Sat and Wed/30, 8pm. Through Nov 23. It’s lucky 14 for the Thrillpeddlers’ annual Halloween-tide Shocktoberfest, and while there are few surprises in this year’s lineup, there’s plenty of reliable material to chew on. Opening with A Visit to Mrs. Birch and the Young Ladies of the Academy, a ribald Victorian-era “spanking drama,” the fare soon turns towards darker appetites with a joint Andre De Lorde-Pierre Chaine work, Jack the Ripper. Works by De Lorde — sometimes referred to as the “Prince of Fear” — have graced the Hypnodrome stage over the years, and this tense Victorian drama, though penned in the 30s, is suitably atmospheric. Although it becomes pretty evident early on who dunnit, it’s the why that lies at the heart of this grim drama, and in the course of that discovery, the play’s beleaguered lawmen reveal themselves to be no less ruthless than the titular Ripper (John Flaw) in pursuit of their quarry. Norman Macleod as Inspector Smithson particularly embodies this unwholesome dichotomy, and Bruna Palmeiro excels as his spirited yet doomed bait. Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s Salome, the Thrillpeddlers’ piece by the same name is perhaps the weak link in the program, despite being penned by the ever-clever Scrumbly Koldewyn, and danced with wanton abandon by Noah Haydon. Longtime Thrillpeddlers’ collaborator Rob Keefe ties together the evening’s disparate threads under one sprawling big top media circus of murder, sex, ghosts, and sensationalism with his somewhat tongue-in-cheek, San Francisco-centric The Wrong Ripper. (Gluckstern)

Sidewinders Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor, SF; www.cuttingball.com. $10-50. Thu, 7:30pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 5pm. Through Nov 17. Cutting Ball opens its 15th season with the world premiere of Basil Kreimendahl’s absurdist romp through gender queerness. In a cartoonish, desolate wasteland (designed by Michael Locher), Dakota (Sara Moore), a bleached-blonde gunslinger in buckskin fringes, and Bailey (DavEnd), a possibly AWOL soldier rocking high-heeled boots and a single drop earring, wrestle with the conundrum of what to call their respective genitals. And more to the point, what to do with them after they figure it out. Or as Bailey bluntly puts it, “Who am I supposed to fuck?” But there’s more to being stranded in the uncharted wilderness at stake than “organ confusion,” and soon they must channel their uncommon alliance into finding a way back out. What they find instead include a regal figure of indeterminate gender possessed of extra limbs (Donald Currie), a suicidal servant with surgical skills (Norman Muñoz), and a growing realization that wilderness, like identity, is relative. Moore and DavEnd make a good comedic team, their endless banter, circular logic and exaggerated facial gymnastics giving them the philosophical gravitas of a Looney Tunes episode, while Currie’s turn as mutated muse is unexpectedly moving. Recent winner of the prestigious Rella Lossy award, this intriguing world premiere marks playwright Basil Kreimendahl’s first professional production, though it seems safe to say that it won’t be the last. (Gluckstern)

BAY AREA

Can You Dig It? Back Down East 14th — the 60s and Beyond Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 7pm. Extended through Dec 15. Don Reed’s new show offers more stories from his colorful upbringing in East Oakland in the 1960s and ’70s. More hilarious and heartfelt depictions of his exceptional parents, independent siblings, and his mostly African American but ethnically mixed working-class community — punctuated with period pop, Motown, and funk classics, to which Reed shimmies and spins with effortless grace. And of course there’s more too of the expert physical comedy and charm that made long-running hits of Reed’s last two solo shows, East 14th and The Kipling Hotel (both launched, like this newest, at the Marsh). Can You Dig It? reaches, for the most part, into the “early” early years, Reed’s grammar-school days, before the events depicted in East 14th or Kipling Hotel came to pass. But in nearly two hours of material, not all of it of equal value or impact, there’s inevitably some overlap and indeed some recycling. Reed, who also directs the show, may start whittling it down as the run continues. But, as is, there are at least 20 unnecessary minutes diluting the overall impact of the piece, which is thin on plot already — much more a series of often very enjoyable vignettes and some painful but largely unexplored observations, wrapped up at the end in a sentimental moral that, while sincere, feels rushed and inadequate. (Avila)

Don’t Dress For Dinner Center REPertory Company, 1601 Civic, Walnut Creek; www.centerrep.org. $33-52. Wed, 7:30pm; Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Nov 23, 2:30pm); Sun, 2:30pm. Through Nov 23. Center REP performs Marc Camoletti’s sequel to his classic farce Boeing-Boeing.

I and You Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller, Mill Valley; www.marintheatre.org. $37-58. Wed/30, 7:30pm; Thu/31-Sat/2, 8pm (also Sat/2, 2pm); Sun/3, 2 and 7pm. Lauren Gunderson’s world premiere explores how Walt Whitman’s words affect the lives of two teenagers.

Lettice and Lovage Hillbarn Theatre, 1285 East Hillsdale, Foster City; www.hillbarntheatre.org. $23-38. Thu/31-Sat/2, 8pm; Sun/3, 2pm. Hillbarn Theatre, now in its 73rd season, performs Peter Shaffer’s raucous comedy.

Metamorphoses South Berkeley Community Church, 1802 Fairview, Berk; www.infernotheatre.org. $10-25. Thu and Sat-Sun, 8pm; Fri, 9pm (no show Nov 9). Through Nov 23. Additional performance Nov 9, 8pm, $5-20, Laney College, 900 Fallon, Oakl. Inferno Theatre performs a multimedia, contemporary adaptation of Ovid’s classic.

The Pianist of Willesden Lane Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Thrust Theatre, 2015 Addison, Berk; www.berkeleyrep.org. $29-89. Opens Wed/30, 8pm. Runs Tue and Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Nov 7, Dec 5, and Sat, 2pm; no matinee Nov 9; no show Nov 28); Wed and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm). Through Dec 8. Mona Golabek stars in this solo performance inspired by her mother, a Jewish pianist whose dreams and life were threatened by the Nazi regime.

Red Virgin, Louise Michel and the Paris Commune of 1871 Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant, Berk; www.centralworks.org. $15-28. Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through Nov 24. Central Works presents a new play (with live music) by Gary Graves about the Paris Commune uprising.

Rich and Famous Dragon Theatre, 2120 Broadway, Redwood City; www.dragonproductions.net. $15-35. Thu/31-Sat/2, 8pm; Sun/3, 2pm. Dragon Theatre performs John Guare’s surreal musical comedy.

strangers, babies Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby, Berk; www.shotgunplayers.org. $20-35. Wed-Thu, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through Nov 17. Shotgun Players present Linda McLean’s drama about a woman confronting her past.

Swing Shift Onboard the SS Red Oak Victory, 1337 Canal, Berth 6A, Richmond; www.galateanplayers.com. $18-20. Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 3pm. Through Nov 10. Galatean Players Ensemble Theatre perform Kathryn G. McCarty’s adaptation of Joseph Fabry’s novel, performed aboard a ship in the yards where Fabry once worked.

Warrior Class Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro, Mtn View; www.theatreworks.org. $19-73. Wed/30, 7:30pm; Thu/31-Sat/2, 8pm (also Sat/2, 2pm); Sun/3, 2 and 7pm. TheatreWorks performs Kenneth Lin’s incisive political drama.

PERFORMANCE/DANCE

Alonzo King LINES Ballet Fall Home Season 2013 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Lam Research Theater, 700 Howard, SF; www.linesballet.org. Wed/30-Thu/31, 7:30pm; Fri/1-Sat/2, 8pm; Sun/3, 5pm. $30-65. Featuring the SF premiere of Writing Ground, a collaboration with writer Colum McCann, and a world-premiere new work set to Bach.

“Best of the 2013 San Francisco Fringe Festival” Exit Studio, 156 Eddy, SF; www.theexit.org. Fri/1-Sat/2, 8pm. $15-25. This week: Genie and Audrey’s Dream Show! (“Best of” series continues through Nov. 23)

“Broadway Bingo” Feinstein’s at the Nikko, Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason, SF; www.feinsteinssf.com. Wed, 7-9pm. Ongoing. Free. Countess Katya Smirnoff-Skyy and Joe Wicht host this Broadway-flavored night of games and performance.

CounterPULSE 1310 Mission, SF; www.counterpulse.org. This week: “After the Tone,” performed by Cara Rose DeFabio, Sat/2-Sun/3, 8pm, $20. “Beware the Band of Lions (They’re Dandy Lions),” with Bandelion, Sun/3, Nov 10, and 17, 3pm, free (reservations required as space is extremely limited; to request an invitation, email info@dandeliondancetheater.org).

“Crones Meet Bride of Lesbostein” Garage, 715 Bryant, SF; www.crackpotcrones.com. Wed/30-Thu/31, 8pm. $18. Crackpot Crones perform.

“An Evening with Hal Holbrook” Jewish Community Center of SF, 3200 California, SF; www.jccsf.org. Thu/31, 7pm. $25-35. The veteran actor discusses his memoir, Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain.

Feinstein’s at the Nikko Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason, SF; www.feinsteinssf.com. This week: “An Evening with Rita Wilson,” Thu/31-Fri/1, 8pm; Sat/2, 7pm, $40-60.

“Grand Guignol” Z Space, 450 Florida, SF; www.grandguignolsf.com. Wed/30-Sat/2, 7 and 10pm; Sun/3, 2pm. $15-195. Horror play inspired by Paris’ legendary splatterhouse Theatre du Grand Guignol.

“The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St, SF; www.dancemission.com. Fri/1, 9pm; Sat/2, 9:30pm; Sun/3, 7pm. Free. SF State’s Rainbow Theatre performs a stage adaptation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s short story.

“Layla Means Night” ODC Theater, 3153 17th St, SF; www.odctheater.org. Wed/30-Sun/3, 7 and 9pm. $35-50. Rosanna Gamson/World Wide’s dance theater work transforms the ODC building into a 1,001 Arabian Nights-inspired fantasyland.

“Mission Position Live” Cinecave, 1034 Valencia, SF; www.missionpositionlive.com. Thu, 8pm. Ongoing. $10. Stand-up comedy with rotating performers.

“Okeanos Intimate” Aquarium of the Bay, Pier 39, SF; www.capacitor.org. Sat, 4:30 and 7pm. $20-30 (free aquarium ticket with show ticket). Extended through Dec 28. Choreographer Jodi Lomask and her company, Capacitor, revive 2012’s Okeanos — a cirque-dance piece exploring the wonder and fragility of our innate connection to the world’s oceans — in a special “intimate” version designed for the mid-size theater at Pier 39’s Aquarium of the Bay. The show, developed in collaboration with scientists and engineers, comes preceded by a short talk by a guest expert — for a recent Saturday performance it was a down-to-earth and truly fascinating local ecological history lesson by the Bay Institute’s Marc Holmes. In addition to its Cirque du Soleil-like blend of quasi-representational modern dance and circus acrobatics — powered by a synth-heavy blend of atmospheric pop music — Okeanos makes use of some stunning underwater photography and an intermittent narrative that includes testimonials from the likes of marine biologist and filmmaker Dr. Tierney Thys. The performers, including contortionists, also interact with some original physical properties hanging from the flies — a swirling vortex and a spherical shell — as they wrap and warp their bodies in a kind of metamorphic homage to the capacity and resiliency of evolution, the varied ingenuity of all life forms. If the movement vocabulary can seem limited at times, and too derivative, the show also feels a little cramped on the Aquarium Theater stage, whose proscenium arrangement does the piece few favors aesthetically. Nevertheless, the family-oriented Okeanos Intimate spurs a conversation with the ocean that is nothing if not urgent. (Avila)

“Point Break Live!” DNA Lounge, 373 11th St, SF; www.dnalounge.com. Fri/1, Dec 6, and Jan 3, 7:30 and 11pm. $25-50. Interactive interpretation of Kathryn Bigelow’s 1991 classic. (Some tickets include meatball sandwiches!)

“Project Nunway V: Dissident Futures” Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, SF; www.ybca.org. Sat/2, 8pm. $15-99.99. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’s annual gala benefits local nonprofits and features high-fashion looks crafted from recycled materials. Related events (check website for details) include an altar project, “Angel of the Future Dead;” an after-party; and a screening of 1983’s Yentl.

“The Romane Event Comedy Show” Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St, SF; www.pacoromane.com. Wed/30, 7:30pm. $10. Special Halloween edition of Paco Romane’s popular monthly stand-up showcase.

“San Francisco Magic Parlor” Chancellor Hotel Union Square, 433 Powell, SF; www.sfmagicparlor.com. Thu-Sat, 8pm. Ongoing. $40. Magic vignettes with conjurer and storyteller Walt Anthony. Seasonal alert: the show takes on a “spook-tacular” bent this week, with special shows Thu/31-Sat/2, 8pm.

13th Floor Dance Theater Studio B at ODC Dance Commons, 351 Shotwell, SF; www.13thfloordance.org. Sat/2, 8pm. $18-23. Jenny McAllister’s company performs the world premiere of Being Raymond Chandler.

Zaccho Dance Theatre Zaccho Studio, 1777 Yosemite, Studio 330, SF; www.zaccho.org. Fri/1-Sun/3, 1-5pm. Free. The company performs Joanna Haigood’s Between Me and the Other World, a performance installation exploring W.E.B. Dubois’ concept of double consciousness.

Zhukov Dance Theatre SFJazz Center, 201 Franklin, SF; www.zhukovdance.org. Wed/30, 8pm. $25-55. The company marks its sixth annual season, “Product 06,” with world premieres by Yuri Zhukov and guest choreographer Idan Sharabi.

“What Stays” Turquoise Yantra Grotto, 32 Turquoise Way, SF; www.performancelab.org. Fri/1-Sat/2, 8pm. $20-50. Home-theater performance by Right Brain Performancelab. Visit website for information on Nov 8-9 shows at a private home in Oakland.

BAY AREA

Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán Zellerbach Hall, Bancroft at Telegraph, UC Berkeley, Berk; www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. Sun/3, 7pm. $18-48. Celebrate Day of the Dead with the veteran Mexican folk ensemble’s traditional and popular tunes. Show up early (5-7pm) for free face painting and folkloric dance performances outside the venue, in Lower Sproul Plaza.

“Rapunzel” Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller, Mill Valley; www.marintheatre.org. Sat-Sun, 10am and 12:30pm. $15-20. Through Nov 10. Marin Theatre Company performs a fairy-tale play for all ages.

Shanghai Ballet Zellerbach Hall, Bancroft at Telegraph, UC Berkeley, Berk; www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. Fri/1-Sat/2, 8pm. $30-92. The company performs The Butterfly Lovers, choreographed by Xin Lili. *

Among the archived

Sasha Cuttler

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October 29, 2013

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marke@sfbg.com

DEATH ISSUE The first one I land on, incredibly, is Paul Lynde. The lisping, bescarved Hollywood Squares comedian didn’t die of AIDS (heart attack, supposedly). But it was 1982, and rumors on the gay underground flew. Also, everybody was panicking. The obituaries editor at the Bay Area Reporter evidently thought a little cheering up was in order. So under the heading “Gay Favorite Paul Lynde Dies,” several of his signature risque quips are listed. Q: What’s the largest use of leather in this country? A: Party favors. Q: Is there any state in the Union where flogging is still used as a punishment? A: Oh God, I hope so!

A good laugh at a bad joke seems an inappropriate way to dive into the B.A.R. and the GLBT Historical Society’s great Online Searchable Obituary Database (obit.glbthistory.org). The database, launched on World AIDS Day, December 1 in 2009, by valiant volunteer Tom Burtch, archives scans of every obituary that’s appeared in the gay-serving newspaper roughly since 1980, which means the crux of the AIDS years. But if you hit the “view random obituary” button enough times — the faces, names, dates, stories, details, tributes touching or angry or awkward or all three whizzing past — you get a glimpse of the horrible cosmic joke that was AIDS, and the vibrant, heroic riposte that was the power of the local community in the face of almost 20,000 deaths. (The database contains thousands of obituaries. Don’t read them all at once.)

In those early years of the epidemic — I miraculously survived them — obituaries were the gay news. Outside of intimate friendships or gossipy bar-talk, there was no other way to learn the actual, true-life stories of other gay people: no shrugged-at gay storylines on reality TV or coming out applause on talk shows and gossip sites, no oversharing on Facebook, no breathless same-sex wedding announcements in the Times detailing the power-brides’ family lineage and corporate achievement. Back then we could barely shoehorn a drag queen into a sitcom.

It was often only in the brief paragraphs (and between the lines) marking a death that you learned life-defining, deeply human personal details about people around you, like you: this one trained as a classical oboist in Tallahassee, that one came from a long line of car mechanics, this one had three children in Hayward, that one broke up with his lover of 24 years right before he passed. Whose family stuck with them as they withered away. Who just ended it themselves. What medications may not be working anymore. What new disease to be afraid you would contract, too. Who might not have had any friends left to write more than the shortest sentence about their life.

Even though the obits archive also includes people who didn’t die of AIDS, it’s a glowing repository of the San Francisco gay-and-friends community’s stories, encompassing an age range from 19 to 95, from all walks of life. And, oh, what stories! Doris “Dori” Jennings, in her signature oversized glasses, ran Club Dori, the longest-running gay bar on Presidio, and dressed as a nurse every New Year’s Day to “help mend hangovers and break resolutions.” “A rave-head to the end,” Ralph McGee “was wildly gyrating, shiny black with sweat, at Come-Unity days before he died.” Albert Lee Little was survived by “master Bill, daddies Scott and Cliff, wife Starrly, sons Cale and Michael, and daughters Griffin and Sabine.”

Jay Freezer invented poppers. Jerry Jacks started the first gay and lesbian science fiction fan club, the Urania Society. Colin David Groom was Sister Unity-Harmony of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Jack Caster, who managed the AIDS Quilt tour, “loved opera and couldn’t carry a tune.” George “Gigi” Hanson “blew that one-horse town” of Idaho Falls. “Big Mama” McGowan has “taken his place at God’s right hand.” Adrien Keel died just before the 49ers game, wishing they would win — and they did.

Back when you could move here with only a backpack and a cute smile and make a new life for yourself, however short, the city was full of such characters. Of course it still is, if you look. And despite the waning of AIDS (it’s still with us!) I think many gay men still approach each others’ death with the same voracious curiosity about the details of their lives. The minute we hear from a friend of a friend’s feed about someone dying — especially in this time of skyrocketing LGBT suicide rates — we race to their Facebook page to glean what details we can. And if that person’s wall is set to public, we watch a dizzying, digital monument erected before our very eyes by a mish-mash of people from the deceased’s various stages of life. In the end, though, those monuments always look so similar, bristling islands of anguished and loving posts floating forever in cyberspace — just as final emails from loved ones linger like talking ghosts in our saved folders.

“What if there’d been Facebook during AIDS?” I’ve often wondered. Tom Burtch has said that he hopes his monumental project grows to become more interactive, where friends could upload photos and memories, “like a Facebook page for each person.”

But then, in the archive, you might hit upon an obituary written by the deceased himself, that tells you all you really need to know. Donald Boyd, born 1956, died 2006 of AIDS-related cancer: “This picture was taken about 10 years ago, when I was at my happiest, in the summer, in the sun, naked, by the water, with very good friends. I had a lot of good in my life, but I also had my share of bad. I look forward to eternal peace or even better, a reunion with lost friends and family.”

Maybe, in the end, the best stories are the ones we tell about ourselves.

Sister looks explode: Project Nunway V kicks fashion into “Dissident Futures”

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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October 22, 2013

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Sister looks explode: Project Nunway V kicks fashion into “Dissident Futures”

You want looks? Here’s looks.

For the fifth year, Sister Baba Ganesh and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will put on their eye-popping, charitable fashion show Project Nunway — an extravaganza seriously not to be missed if you want some only-in-SF flavor. Or, as head sis Sister Roma puts it: “In my 25-plus years of being a sister this is one of the most amazing, jawdroppingly beautiful events we’ve ever produced.”

On Nov. 2 at YBCA, the big Sisters event will delve into the realm of Big Brother, with the theme “Dissident Futures.” Expect chills!Here are a couple behind the scenes looks at the preparations, with press release below.

San Francisco’s preeminent Order of irreverently irreligious nuns returns to YBCA for a spectacular extravaganza of the haute-est couture. Project Nunway V: Dissident Futures brings the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’s annual gala back to the place of its glorious birth in the grandest fashion, featuring mistresses of ceremonies Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Gos, and Sister Roma, the Grand Marshal of San Francisco Pride 2012 and guest judge, Pandora Boxx of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Bay Area funketeers, Planet Booty, Honey Mahogany, and SpacEKrafT will provide the soundtrack as the Sisters turn out their best sashay and shantay, bedecked in original high-fashion (and high-concept) looks created from recycled materials in collaboration with local designers. Futuristic fierceness is the new black this year, so bring your Big Brother because it will be a night of glamour, drama—and, of course, cocktails—that you won’t want to miss.

Project Nunway V: Dissident Futures

Sat, Nov 2, 7pm

YBCA Forum

701 Mission, SF

www.ybca.org/project-nunway

HOT PINK LIST 2013: Faetopians

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June 26, 2013

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Once a year, a mystical gathering of artists, musicians, cultural visionaries, political agitators, sexual explorers, spiritual travelers, and just plain magickal beings gathers to share knowledge and intertwine in giant spontaneous puppy piles at Faetopia (www.faetopia.org). A collaboration between the radical faerie Feyboy Collective, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Calamus Fellowship, Comfort and Joy Burning Man Camp, and more, the week-long extravaganza, now through Fri/28) presents everything from ritual drum circles and wild, neon-lit dance performances to workshops devoted to the history of gay porn and “Hastening the Post-Capitalist Post-Patriarchy through Post-Monogamous Practice.” Its a wonderfully woolly queer freak happening, a necessary complement to Pride’s relatively straight-laced affairs.

Some Faetopians: Pinkfeather, Dino, Kyle DeVries, Ian MacKinnon, Jon Ginoli, Javier Rocabado artwork, Miss Rahni, Justin Morrison

Pride on fire: This year’s must-do events

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June 26, 2013

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Pride on fire: This year’s must-do events

Strap on that rainbow jetpack — there’s a heckuva lot of stuff going down at Pride. Here are our pinkiest, proudest picks.

ONGOING

Faetopia 2286 Market, SF. www.faetopia.com. Through Fri/28, noon-midnight, (event times vary), $10 suggested donation. What’s a radical queer to do in this season of commercialized sexual identity? Fill it with blithe faggotry and faerie magick. The crew behind Faetopia is organizing nights of queer cinema, ecology and history classes, drag musicals, skillshares, and much more — do drop in.

Frameline37 Various venues, SF and Berk; www.frameline.org. Most shows $12. Wed/26-Sun/30. There’s still much to see at the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, including the ever-popular “Fun in Girls Shorts” and “Fun in Boys Shorts” short-film programs, plus closing-night high-school comedy G.B.F.

“From Heather’s Mommies to Tango’s Daddies” San Francisco Public Library Main Branch, 100 Larkin, SF; through August 1 during library hours, free, www.sfpl.org. This exhibit traces “the evolution of family affirming literature” through Randall Tarpey-Schwed’s collection of more than 70 same-sex family friendly children’s books published since the 1970s. Also, on the main branch’s second floor, in the Fisher Children’s Collection, the “10,000 Dresses” highlights the first transgender book written for children.

“I Am UndocuQueer!” Galería de la Raza, 2857 24th St, SF; www.galeriadelaraza.org. Through July 1. The latest installment of the gallery’s Digital Mural Project features the work of undocumented queer activist Julio Salgado. His billboard aims to illuminate the intersection between — and foster open dialogue between — the immigrant and LGBT communities.

National Queer Arts Festival Various venues, SF; queerculturalcenter.org/NQAF. The 16th annual performance fest wraps up with Terry Baum’s HICK, a love story about Eleanor Roosevelt (Wed/26-Thu/27 at the Garage), and multi-media performance Girl Talk, with Gina de Vries, Elena Rose, and Julia Serano (Thu/27, African American Arts and Cultural Center).

WEDNESDAY 26

“Dream Queens Revue Pride Show” Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF; www.dreamqueensrevue.com. 9:30-11:30pm, free. Eye-popping Pride drag with experts Collette LeGrand, Diva LaFever, Sophilya Leggz, and more.

“The Guardian and Hard French Present: Pullin’ Pork for Pride” Pilsner Inn, 225 Church, SF; www.sfbg.com. 6-9pm, free. Gather ’round for the ninth annual incarnation of this happy hour tradition, with host Lil Miss Hot Mess and performances by Dick Van Dick, Tara Wrist, and Rotimi Agbabiaka, plus Hard French DJs Carnita and Brown Amy. And, of course … pulled pork sandwiches, with options for vegetarians this time! Plus: BYO dark-colored t-shirt for Bradley Manning screen printing.

“Harvey Milk 2013” Nourse Theatre, 201-299 Hayes, SF; www.sfgmc.org. Wed/26-Fri/28, 8pm. $25-60. The peppy and game San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus presents its 35th anniversary celebration concert, featuring the world premiere of Andrew Lippa’s new choral work I Am Harvey Milk.

“OH! Pride” Powerhouse, 1347 Folsom, SF; 10pm-2am, $5 benefitting AIDS Emergency Fund Dandy young gentlemen of perversion gather monthly at the Powerhouse to twirl their mustaches, bare their chests, and dance hotly to magical sex tunes.

“What?! Pride” Lookout, 3600 16th St., SF. 7pm-10pm, free. Fun dance tunes and good times with a relaxed crowd of cuties, featuring local composer Samuelroy and friends.

THURSDAY 27

Camp Wild Beaver Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF; www.lexingtonclub.com. 9pm, free. The sexy Lex dyke bar kicks off a wild weekend of events with this camp-themed gem, featuring DJs Pony Mane and Zoccocks, plus campfire go-gos, lumberjackin’ hotties, and more.

Folsom Pride Public Works, 161 Erie, SF; www.publicsf.com. 9pm-2am, $25 advance. The naughty team behind Folsom Street Fair and Up Your Alley bring in electro-hotties Bright Light Bright Light and Slow Knights for a raucous dance party (and probably more than a little yummy leather cruising).

“Love: A Deeper Pride” Abada Capoeira Center, 3221 22nd St., SF; loveandpride.brownpapertickets.com. 10 p.m., $10 advance. A vogueing exravaganza brought to you by Vogue and Tone, The A, Miss Beth, Abada Capoeira, and Sandra Navarro, plus music by Gehno Aviance and Go Bang! DJs. Work the runway, mop the floor.

Mykki Blanco Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF; www.mezzaninesf.com. Multi-gendered, aggressively experimental rap from the artist everyone’s talking about? Yes.

Pepperspray SF Eagle, 398 12th St., SF; www.sf-eagle.com. 9pm-midnite, $10. If you weren’t hip to this actually legendary all-drag queen rock band when the first time around (in the early 00s), here’s your chance to EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC. The fearsome foursome will be heshing their wigs off for the first time in a decade, supported like pantyhose by She-L-O (Electric Light Orchestra tribute band!). Pepperspray hits the stage at 10 sharp — no drag time please!

“Pride NightLife” California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse, Golden Gate Park, SF; www.calacademy.org. 6-10pm, $12. This year’s incarnation of the popular annual science museum event includes a “transpecies” costume contest with drag stars Glamamore, Heklina, Juanita More, and Peaches Christ; talks by reps from the Center for Sex and Culture’; music from DJs Carnita and Brown Amy of Hard French vs. DJs Pink Lightning and Rapid Fire of Stay Gold. And more. Seriously, what other Pride event will teach you about sea slugs?

The Tubesteak Connection Aunt Charlie’s, 133 turk, SF; www.auntcharlieslounge.com. 10pm-2am, $5. A quintessential gay SF experience, DJ Bus Station John’s weekly club transports us back to the good ol’ cruisy bathhouse days with soulful disco and Hi-NRG tunes, plus some special Pride surprises. No cell phones, please!

“Vintage Queer San Francisco” Oddball Films, 275 Capp, SF; www.oddballfilms.com, 8pm, $10. Amazing film clips and fascinating video snippets of queer life in Oz over the last century.

FRIDAY 28

Bearracuda Public Works, 161 Erie, SF; www.bearracuda.com. 9pm-3am, $12 advance. Are you big? Fat? Hairy? Hot? Male-identified? If you answered “yes” to at least two of those, this is where you need to be. Honey Soundsystem DJs guest. Otters welcome.

Mr. Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF; www.monarchsf.com. 9pm-late, $15. Borrow a mustache — or hey, grow your own — for this great party put on by Fag Fridays and Beatbox Events. (Last year’s was a real hoot.) With quality house music from DJs David Harness and Jeno plus cute boys.

“Some Thing is Really Gay” The Stud, 399 Ninth St. SF; www.studsf.com. 10pm-4am, $8. Watch in awe as the city’s most artistically-inclined drag performers deconstruct, reconstruct, and just plain strut with Pride’s many goofy tropes. Oh, and much dancing and carrying on to fun music.

Trans March Dolores Park, Dolores at 19th, SF; www.transmarch.org. Speakers and music 3pm; march (to Civic Center) 6pm, free. The 10th annual Trans March aims to inspire “all trans and gender non-conforming people to realize a world where we are safe, loved, and empowered.” Check out the event’s website for info on post-march parties for youth and adults.

“Unofficial: Trans March After Party” Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF; www.elbo.com. 10pm-2am, $10. For the fourth year in a row, Amos Mac and Rocco Katastrophe of the world’s hottest FTM magazine Original Plumbing get wild with you after the march. With DJs Rapid Fire and Average Joe and a boatload of hot trans go-gos.

SATURDAY 29

“Bondage A Go Go: Pervert’s Pride” Cat Club, 1190 Folsom, SF; www.sfcatclub.com. 9:30pm, $10-$20. Polymorphous pansexual explorers and friends of all genders converge for this titillating night of fun and fur cuffs.

“Cockblock: The Seventh Annual Dyke March After-Party” Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF; www.cockblocksf.com DJ Nuxx and friends’ Cockblock party is always good times for hot girls on the prowl to swirly electro- and hip-pop tunes.

“Dark Room: Pink Party After-Party” Cafe Du Nord, 2170 Market, SF; www.facebook.com/DarkRoomSF. $10 before 11 $15 after. A night of dark electro, industrial, freestyle and more. Guest DJ Heklina and Believe on stage live, with Host Lady Bear and her dark dolls performing, and the debut of Daddies Plastik’s new single, “Google Google Apps Apps.”

Dyke March Dolores Park, Dolores at 19th St, SF; www.thedykemarch.org. Music at noon; march at 6pm, free. This year’s theme is “Dykepocalypse: Our Feminist Awakening,” about which organizers say: “We recognize that there is an opportunity to educate others on the roots of feminism and collectively embrace our strength as we step into our own power.” To which we say: Amen!

“House of Babes SF Dyke March After Party” Public Works, 151 Erie, SF; www.thehouseofbabes.com. 7pm, $15-30. If you thought the Dyke March was a workout, check this out: eight hours of DJs (Rapid Fire and Pink Lightning of Stay Gold; Da Vo and Boyfriend of Swagger Like Us; Jenna Riot and Andre of Fix Yr Hair; and more!), plus live performances by local queer hip-hop superstars Double Duchess, Micahtron, and others. Watch your hydration.

The Juan Maclean and Kim Ann Foxman Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF; www.monarchsf.com. 9pm, $10-$20. This most excellent NYC twosome are at the forefront of the old-school late ’80s house sound revival, full of melodic hooks and catchy bass lines. Dare you not to dance.

Pink Mammoth Block Party Mighty, 119 Utah, SF; www.pinkmammoth.org. Noon-4am, $25-$45. Not to be confused with the Pink Party (see below) this all-day and all-night outdoor rager from the beloved Burning Man crew will get push your funky house and techno buttons. With, like, 1000 DJs, including Audiofly and Marques Wyatt.

Pink Saturday Celebration Castro and Market Streets, SF; www.thesisters.org. 5pm-10pm, free (donation requested). The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence host their annual blast, filling the castro with music, cuties, and rainbow rings a-plenty.

Pink Triangle installation and commemoration Twin Peaks Vista Overlook, SF. www.thepinktriangle.com. Installation, 7am; ceremony, 10:30am, free. Volunteers needed to help install this important, instantly-recognizable Pride symbol; help out and get donuts, coffee, and a Pink Triangle t-shirt. (Also needed: volunteers to help take it down, Sun/30, 5-7pm).

Pride in Style Sui Generis 2231 Market, SF. Facebook invite. Noon-4pm, free. A fantastic — annual stylish — Pride welcome gathering in the much-loved mens’ clothing store. With DJs Jason Kendig and Two Dudes in Love, plus all the handsome gentlemen you want to meet.

SF Pre-Parade Pride Celebration Civic Center, SF; www.sfpride.org. Free. The 43rd annual Pride celebration is themed “Embrace, Encourage, Empower.” You can em-party down with multiple music stages — including 23 community-run stages and venues — exhibitor and food booths, and much more.

SUNDAY 30

Big Freedia Public Works, 161 Erie, SF; www.publicsf.com. 6:30pm-1am, $20-$30 All hail the queen diva of Nola bounce as she pops your sissy booty and works it down the middle. With rapper Lady Tragik, filthy club sensation Brooke Candy, and — best of all — Motown’s king of booty bass, DJ Assault. Nice one.

The Cinch Saloon Turns 40! Cinch Saloon, 1723 Polk, SF; www.cinchsf.com. 4pm-10pm, free. Awww, spend some quality time with the beloved (and only remaining) Polk Street gay bar, as a slew of only-in-SF drag personalities pays tribute all day long.

Drippin’ and Droppin’ Poolside Pride Party Phoenix Hotel, 601 Eddy, SF; drippin.eventbrite.com. noon-7pm, $10-$20. All the soulful house lovers will be soaking up the sunshine(?) and good vibes(!) as two of SF’s legendary DJs, David Harness and Ruben Mancias, reunite for this lovely affair.

“Hard French Hearts Los Homos Pride 2013” Roccapulco, 3140 Mission, SF; hardfrenchpride2013.eventbrite.com. 4-11pm, $20-65. Don’t get soft: SF’s queer soul party tickles your lips and dives right in at this enlarged version of its annual queerific celebration. With DJs Carnita and Brown Amy, the Hard French Jiggalicious Drag Babes, and live performances by THEESatisfation, Magic Mouth, Midtown Social, and more. 2 cute 2 miss.

Honey Soundsystem Extended Pride Edition Holy Cow, 1535 Folsom, SF; www.honeysoundsystem.com. 10pm-4am, $5 before 11pm, $10 after. The best gay weekly underground techno party in the city goes long for your enjoyment, with sharp-eared residents Josh Cheon, Jason Kendig, Robot Hustle, and P-Play handling the big decks.

Juanita More Pride Party Jones, 620 Jones, SF; www.juanitamore.com. noon-midnight, $35. An absolute Pride party must, drag goddess Juanita’s huge affair is sold out online, but there will be 100 tickets at the door — line up early to experience a huge art installation by Desi Santiago, DJs Severino of Horse Meat Disco, Kim Ann Foxman, and more, the Cougar Cadet drum troupe, and acres of glamour and debauchery. Benefitting OutLoud queer youth radio.

Magda Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF; www.monarchsf.com. 9pm-late, $20. The Detroit-via-Berlin ace has already conquered the international underground techno scene. Her more introspective, soulful recent sounds will perfectly dance you out of Pride.

Nina Sky Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com, 8pm-2am, $15 advance. Queens-bred, Puerto Rican descended sisters Nicole and Natalie are kind of the Tegan and Sara of catchy R&B with reggaeton roots. Sexy!

Queerly Beloved El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF; queerlybeloved.brownpapertickets.com. 3pm-9pm, $8. A patio full of awesomeness — El Rio explodes with queer porn princess Courtney Trouble’s annual shindig, this year with live electro duo Icy Lites, DJs Jenna Riot, Chelsea Starr, and Portland’s Automaton. Plus: a “queer porn circus.” Rrowr.

SF Pride Parade and Celebration Civic Center, SF; www.sfpride.org. 11am-6:30pm, free. Today’s the parade, with celebrity Grand Marshalls including Tabatha Coffey, Roger Ross Williams, Cheyenne Jackson, and Mondo Guerra. The whole shebang starts at Market and Beale and ends at Market and Eighth St, with Civic Center festivities to follow.

Pride on fire

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June 26, 2013

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See this list all on one page here.