Sister Dana sez, “Is everyone noticing the veritable ghost town EssEff is becoming during the Labor Day holidaze and the Burning Man exodus?! “
MARLENA’S LOVE ROAST: A CELEBRATION OF A SAN FRAN-CISCO ICON (2nd Annual José Sarria Community Celebration) was held in the Rainbow Room at the SF LGBT Community Center as a benefit for LGBT OPENHOUSE seniors. Through her service as Absolute Empress XXV, decades of charity events at his popular bar, and his sponsorship of the Mr. Hayes Valley Leather title, Marlena, José Sarria’s special friend and San Francisco icon, Garry McClain, a.k.a. Marlena the Magnificent – on the 25th anniversary of her reign. The program opened with Openhouse Director of Development and Marketing Joel Evans welcoming everyone and introducing Openhouse Board of Directors member Sonni Zambino, who spoke about Openhouse. For decades, thousands of LGBT people have flocked to San Francisco to find personal freedom and acceptance. Today, over 25,000 LGBT seniors call San Fran-cisco home. As older adults, many LGBT seniors feel pressure to go back into the closet to receive quality care and housing. Many face serious challenges in finding welcoming and affordable housing and must relocate, leaving their cherished city and dear friends behind. Openhouse will provide welcoming and affordable housing in the heart of San Francisco, along with services and resources to help LGBT seniors remain safe and comfortable in the community they spent a lifetime to build. With Planning Commission approval now secured, Openhouse and Mercy Housing California will work to put in place the local, state, and federal financing needed to construct the housing. Openhouse will undertake additional fundraising efforts to build its service offices and the community center. Construction is projected to be completed in phases over a 3-year period. All income-qualified seniors, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, will be welcome to apply to live at 55 Laguna. Individuals and couples who are 55 years and older whose household income does not exceed 50% of Area Median Income (AMI) will be eligible to live at 55 Laguna. Applicants will be selected by lottery until all the housing units are filled. See page 8 for photos from this event.
THE SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE, INC. held a GRANT DISTRIBUTION PARTY at SF Eagle to give out funds we raised this cycle. Grants Committee Chair Sister Jendra Uforian announced the grantees: Transgender Film Festival, the world’s first and longest-running transgender film festival. They build a strong and diverse community by supporting emerging and established trans filmmakers, providing opportunities for trans artists and audiences, fighting transphobic representation and under-representation of transpeople in film, and working for justice in media arts everywhere; The Center for Lao Studies, advancing knowledge and engagement in the field of Lao Studies through research, education, and information sharing. The funding will be used to translate LGBTQ materials into the Lao language; Bay Area Young Positives, helping young people (26 and under) with HIV/AIDS live longer, happier, healthier, more productive, and quality-filled lives; Detour Dance, a dance/theater performance company that creates and presents live work and film. They activate audiences, support artists, promote the visibility of queer people of color, and build community; Food Education Project, a team of health clinicians and educators that strive to prevent diabetes in children by teaching health through environmental awareness. Their schools are in the Castro, Mission, and Potrero Hill Districts at this time and are expanding all over; Healing Waters, with the mission to empower, inspire, and enrich the lives of people with HIV/AIDS through wilderness adventures; Bay Area American Indians Two-Spirits (BAAITS) existing to restore and recover the role of Two-Spirit people within the American Indian/First Nations community by creating a forum for the spiritual, cultural, and artistic expression of Two-Spirit people. Check out their amazing, gender-inclusive community powwow in February; Sojourn Chaplaincy, a multi-faith chaplaincy and spiritual care program at SF General Hospital, providing nonjudgmental spiritual and emotional care for patients and spiritual care education for the community; Groundswell Institute, creating visionary consciousness raising and environmental programs, and providing a gathering space for like-minded people to gather; API Equality, building LGBTQ API power and increasing visibility of their communities. They inspire and train leaders, establish intergenerational connections and documents, and disseminate their histories.
ACADEMY OF FRIENDS held a MEET and GREET COCKTAIL PARTY at the lower Haight home of board member Matthew Denckla for friends of AoF to meet the newest board members: John Ferver, Lila Green, John Marino, and Andrew Fitch. They are joined by the current board: Board Chair Gil Padia, Vice Chair Matthew Denckla, Treasurer Beth Feingold, Gala Chair Amanda Watson, Sec-retary Todd Creel, Todd O’leary, and David Flynn.
Academy of Friends has been in existence and evolving for nearly 35 years. Soon after the onset of the HIV epidemic, Academy of Friends dedicated themselves to the mission of working to ease the burden of this disease through the raising of funds in support of direct care for those with HIV/AIDS and educational programs to prevent infection. As the pandemic grew, so did their scope: to help “…where the need is greatest, until the crisis has passed.” Through their annual ACADEMY AWARDS NIGHT GALA, they have raised over $8,690,000 to support more than 73 HIV/AIDS service organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area.
This intrepid reporter attempted to find out the theme and beneficiaries of this February’s gala, but everyone remained quite tight-lipped. All I could find out is it will most likely be held at the Design Center. Stay tuned for the big upcoming reveal by AoF. academyoffriends.org
SAN FRANCISCO PRIDE held a party at Madame Tussauds for those who especially contributed to the 45th annual Celebration and Parade. George Ridgely, Executive Director, received a $15,000 check for the Parade from Hard Rock Cafe selling Parade merchandise. Gary Virginia, President, introduced the 60 diverse Community Partners receiving a grand total of $166,690.45 at the 2015 CHECK GRANTING PARTY. Marsha H. Levine, Vice President, announced the Absolutely Fabulous Overall Parade winner, Rhythm and Motion Dance Program and ODC School. sfpride.org
Coming Up!
“It’s better down where it’s wetter,” as they say in the song, “Under the Sea.” So take it from the GAY ASIAN PACIFIC ALLIANCE (GAPA) as it holds its 27TH ANNUAL MISTER PAGEANT on Saturday, September 12, at the Cowell Theater (Fort Mason Center). With its bayside location, there could not be any more of a perfect venue for Runway XXVII’s theme “UNDER THE SEA”! Hosted by Miss GAPA 2012 Jezebel Patel & Mister GAPA 2013 Sir Whitney Queers (Nguyen Pham), Runway XXVII will pick up anchor and set its course as this year’s Candydates find inspiration from the oceanic world to emerge from unknown depths; and, by the end of the evening, two very fortunate souls will rise with the foam like Aphrodite and be crowned our new Mister and Miss GAPA. Tix and info available at eventbrite.com/e/gapa-runway-27
BALONEY: FOLSOM is San Francisco’s Gay All-Male Revue, choreographed by Rory Davis, directed by Michael Phillis, starring Will Bedell, Rory Davis, Shaun Mullen, Simon Palczynski, Michael Phillis, Andrew Sheets, Andrew Slade, Alex Steinhaus, Tim Wingert & Nancy French. Baloney returns on Thursday September 17, Friday September 18, and Saturday September 19, doors 7pm, show 8pm at Oasis (298 11th Street at Folsom Street). Sister Dana sez, “Don’t miss this hot ticket!” Tickets at sfoasis.com
Sister Dana sez, “Presidential candidate and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie went against the grain of his fellow Republican candidates and conservatives stating that he believes businesses should not be allowed to discriminate against LGBT customers. Color me both shocked and delighted! But he still ain’t gonna be Prez!”
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