By Sister Dana Van Iquity
SISTER DANA SEZ, “I AM REALLY EXCITED THAT THE NOTORIOUS AND GLORIOUS FOLSOM STREET FAIR IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER. GET OUT YOUR GEAR AND GET IT ON!”
THE HARVEY MILK LGBT DEMOCRATIC CLUB held its 41ST ANNUAL DINNER AND GAYLA at Gray Area/Grand Theater in the Mission. There we celebrated 41 years of queer progressive politics and activism in San Francisco. The annual dinner & gayla gathered more than 300 of San Francisco’s most influential LGBTQ politicians, community activists, and grassroots organizers. This is their primary fundraiser to support the club’s political agenda. For 2017–2018 their focus includes: resistance against the current regime; police accountability, reform and transparency; fighting for Trans lives; solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement; preserving our Sanctuary city; housing affordability; addressing the homelessness crisis; fighting for economic, social and environmental justice; and working with progressive elected officials to ensure our voices are heard and counted. This has been one of the most important years in the club’s history. The President’s Address was given by Co-Presidents Kimberly Alvarenga & Carolina Morales.
Keynote speaker was Yosimar Reyes, who gave an inspirational speech as well as several equally inspirational slam poetry sessions. 2017 Gayla Honorees were Bayard Rustin Award: SFILEN – San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network; Bill Kraus Leadership Award: CODEPINK; Community Ally Award: Hillary Ronen; Eileen Hansen Social Justice Hero Award: Kate Jessica Raphael; Hank Wilson Activist Award: Wendy M. Phillips; Harry Britt Lifetime Achievement Award: the late, great Gilbert Baker—accepted by veteran activist featured in the TV biopic, When We Rise, Ken Jones; Howard Wallace Labor Leadership Award: Josue Arguelles introduced by Harvey Milk Elder Statesman Allan Baird, who spoke of Wallace’s powerful coalition with Milk and his campaign; Jazzie Collins Award: Janetta Johnson and The Trans and Queer coalition who fought for The Compton’s Transgender, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual District; Sylvester Pride in the Arts: Honey Mahogany, who appeared out of drag; and Simeon White Volunteer of the Year Award: Jordan Davis.
Sculptures, vibrant colors, and textiles were exuberantly celebrated at Thomasina DeMaio‘s ART SAVES LIVES GALLERY at her Castro &18th Street showplace in the Castro. The gallery has been fostering an ongoing partnership with THE ARC SAN FRANCISCO, a nonprofit that aims to aid adults with developmental disabilities in living independent and enriched lives. The resulting collaboration was a reception and an awesome art show showcasing the work of developmentally disabled clients of The Arc: Lakesha King, Anne Slater, Ron Jacob Yap, Ron Ansley, Douglas Barllas, Leo Branham, Yukari Sakura, Karim Tulloch, Michael Broadhurst, Xavier Thompson, Lleana Ramirez, Sean Dempsy, Barbara Hales, Jennifer Villatore, Ines Villalobos, Sabine Altieri, Lisa O’Neill, and Cindy Lam. To help the artists develop a sense of entrepreneurship, half of the proceeds from the sale of each work went directly to the artist, while the other half will be returned to The Arc’s art programs. The Art Saves Lives Gallery is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12–6 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 12–4 pm. sfartslave.org and thearcsf.org
SAN FRANCISCO AIDS FOUNDATION celebrated TRIBUTE 35 in San Francisco City Hall—marking 35 years as they honored leaders in the response to HIV and united to face the challenges ahead. Tribute Celebration is an annual gala in support of education, advocacy, and direct services in communities most vulnerable to HIV. Co-chairs were Peter Borkon, Sean Livingston, and Megan Minkiewicz. Program host was Scott Nevins with entertainment by Heklina. Honorees presented by Daniel Franzese were Chevron with the Corporate Pillar Award, Diane Jones & Roma Guy with the Cleve Jones Award, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation with the Keystone Partner Award, and Syringe Access Collaborative with the Community Excellence Award.
FOLSOM STREET EVENTS presented LEATHERWALK as the official kick-off for San Francisco’s Leather Week, which culminates one week later at the FOLSOM STREET FAIR. We walked together to celebrate leather, kink, family and community—all while raising funds for three great agencies, including Positive Resource Center. Each year, hundreds of LeatherWalkers take over Market Street and march from the Castro to SoMa. Our route included stops at some of San Francisco’s favorite watering holes, ending with the raising of the Leather Pride Flag at the SF Eagle. Each host venue showcased some amazing entertainment. Stops included Oasis, Powerhouse, Mr. S Leather, Lone Star, The Stud, and the SF Eagle.
KREWE DE KINQUE held our monthly BEER & SODA BUST benefit at The Edge for another fabulous third-Saturday afternoon in the Castro. Proceeds went towards our BAL MASQUE VX fund benefiting Larkin Street Youth Services. DJ Jack Rojo got us grooving, and our KDK club Members & Friends kept us entertained. The MC was the ever fabulous Cruzin D’Loo. There was also a surprise drop-in appearance of the three Ducal Court candidates.
SISTER DANA SEZ, “IF WE HAVEN’T ALREADY BEEN NUKED BY NORTH KOREA, DON’T MISS THESE UPCOMING EVENTS!”
ART SAVES LIVES CASTRO STUDIO & PERFORMANCE SPACE presents a reception for local artists and their works on display at 518 Castro Street on September 22, 6 pm to 9 pm. As usual, the reception is free and includes bevvies and food and live entertainment. Artists for ASL’s September show include Gregory Conover, Liam Peters, Kevin Harding-Toy, Suzanne Mailloux, Michael Staley, Ole Johnson II, Wanda Whitaker, Garesh, Franceco Cerminari, Bill Haught, Christine Costello, Jon Hearn, Jack Mattingly, Billy Douglas, David Loyd Wright, Scarlet Astrid, Jack Stelnicki, and Bob Burnside.
STRUT at 470 Castro Street is currently displaying the work of Karl Fjelstrom entitled “SCATTERED.” He is a San Francisco based artist who uses the traditional medium of oil paint on canvas and renders subjects in a photo-realistic style so the focus is taken off the technique and placed solely on the image. The artist says, “Scrambled or ‘Scattered’ porn is something you may have stumbled across during adolescence late at night. You couldn’t always see a clear picture, but you knew what was happening.” He continues, “My goal with this collection is to showcase the male physique by taking the normally objectified perspective of gay pornographic culture and elevating it to the point of fine art. The images are ‘creatively censored’ by dissecting, cropping, or blurring out various parts of the composition, much like that of watching scattered channels on a television.” My two faves are the very blurred out “Untitled 067” and “Untitled 068.” karlfjelstrom.com and strutsf.org
THE GRAND DUCAL COUNCIL, Board of Directors, College of Monarchs, and the Royal Society of Nobles invite you to CORONATION XLIV: “A NIGHT AT THE RUSSIAN DISKO” on Saturday, September 23. Hospitality: Hotel Whitcomb Lombard Room, Mezzanine Level, 11 am–2 pm. Coronation: Hotel Whitcomb Grand Ballroom, Cost $45, Doors 5 pm, Coronation 6 pm. The Grand Duke Peter Griggs and Grand Duchess Migitte Nielsen would love for everyone near and far to attend their coronation and to celebrate with them an end to a wonderful year and the beginning of the new monarchs being crowned!
FOLSOM STREET EVENTS, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, produces the annual FOLSOM STREET FAIR—this year on September 24, noon to six in the SOMA. FSE also produces Hog Wild, Bay of Pigs, Up Your Alley, ROUGH, LeatherWalk, Magnitude, DEVIANTS, and more. The mission of Folsom Street Events is to unite the adult alternative lifestyle community with safe venues for self-expression while raising critical funds for San Francisco-based and national charities. Gate donations at the fairs benefit local and national charities. Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and friends will be at the gates looking for bucks bounced into their buckets. For more information about Folsom Street Fair, please visit folsomstreetevents.org
THE OFFICIAL 2017 FOLSOM STREET FAIR PROGRAM GUIDE is now available for free at 440 Castro, Badlands, Beaux, Blow Buddies, Chaps, The Cinch Saloon, Dog Eared Books, Eros, Folsom Gulch, Gangway, Leather Etc, The Lone Star Saloon, Midnight Sun, Moby Dick, Mr. S Leather, Nob Hill Theater, Oakland LGBT Center, Oasis, Orphan Andy’s, Phantom, Powerhouse, QBar, SF Eagle, Steamworks (Berkeley), Toad Hall, The Bolt (Sacramento), SF LGBT Center, The Stud, The Watergarden (San Jose), and Whatever Store.
SHANTI PROJECT will present COMPASSION IS UNIVERSAL on Thursday, September 28 at The Palace Hotel, 2 New Montgomery Street, 6 pm Reception and Silent Auction, 7:30 pm Formal Program and Dinner. Co-chairs are Monica and Adam Mosseri, and Honorary Co-chairs are The Honorable James C. Hormel and Mr. Michael P. Nguyen.
BLOOMINGDALE’S and RICHMOND/ERMET AID FOUNDATION (REAF) invite you to a special One Day Shopping Event to benefit REAF and Celebrate Men’s Style on Thursday, October 5. Private Party, 6 to 8 pm Men’s Store on 4 with complimentary cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Shop in any department all day and just turn your duplicate receipt in to the concierge on Level 1, or bring it to the party in the Men’s Department that night for the private party from 6 to 8 pm. 10% of all tracked sales will be donated back to REAF. Hosted by Mark Rhoades. There is no admission, but please RSVP to rsvp@richmondermet.org or call 415-273-1620 with your name and the names of those in your party. Special Guest DJ: Juanita More.
The GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY will celebrate another exciting year of preserving, protecting, and displaying the history of the LGBTQ community in all its diversity. LIVING COLORS will be held in the War Memorial Green Room on Saturday, October 14, 6 pm. Guests will be welcomed by co-chairs and hosts Alex U. Inn of Momma’s Boyz and KINGDOM! and Marke Bieschke of 48 Hills and The Stud. Renowned transgender opera singer Breanna Sinclairé and special guest Honey Mahogany of RuPaul’s Drag Race will provide entertainment. This year’s gala honors the memory of artist and community activist Gilbert Baker (1951–2017), best known for his creation of the rainbow flag that has come to symbolize the LGBTQ community throughout the world. The GLBT Historical Society is proud to announce its acquisition of Baker’s artwork, memorabilia, and personal papers—an invaluable addition to the institution’s archives and museum. Gala guests will receive a preview of the acquisition. The society is naming Baker the posthumous recipient of its annual History Maker Award, granted “for artistry and contributions to LGBTQ history and culture.” In addition, the society will honor historian and GLBT History Museum cofounder Amy Sueyoshi with the Clio Award “for advancing understanding of LGBTQ history” and Emily Rosenberg and Darlene Darlene DeManincor with the Founders Award “for steadfast support, philanthropy and leadership.” glbthistory.org
SISTER DANA SEZ, “TRUMP HAS FAILED TO FAITHFULLY EXECUTE HIS DUTIES AS PRESIDENT. HE HAS VIOLATED THE CONSTITUTION. HE HAS ATTEMPTED TO OBSTRUCT AN INVESTIGATION INTO POTENTIAL WRONGDOING BY HIS CAMPAIGN. HE HAS ERODED AMERICA’S LEADERSHIP IN THE WORLD. AND THAT WAS JUST IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF HIS FOUR-YEAR TERM. THE LEGAL CASE FOR IMPEACHING T-RUMP HAS NEVER BEEN CLEARER!”
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