Dixieland Dykes + 3

 
Dixieland Dykes + 3 

Snippets from last year's Pride Brunch hosted by Gary Virginia and Donna Sachet, benefiting Positive Resource Center.

Reasons To Go To the Show

 
Why should you come to the Dance-Along Nutcracker 2011?

Raymond Hong of Outlook Video spoke with audience members after the Dance-Along Nutcracker in 2009.

End of the World

Matt Alber - End of the World

I saw this video on Facebook last week, then just now found that Matt Alber's label posted the video to YouTube only this afternoon. So I suppose it's a newer video than I originally guessed.

Matt Alber is a former member of Chanticleer. He released his first solo album, "Hide Nothing," last year. His bio on his website says, "Jeff Crerie is an audio space cowboy with an intuition and musicianship unmatched. His studio, Utmosis (utmosis.net) is perched on a San Francisco hilltop overooking the Castro. After sitting side-by-side mixing and recording these songs (and savoring some of Jeff’s famous pancakes) I would walk home in the drizzling rain listening to what we’d just created out of thin air.

"I feel like I'm just scratching the surface with songwriting. I don’t have hundreds of songs. I don’t even have 25 songs. These are my first cracks. Maybe I’ll write some more."

His voice reminds me of Rufus Wainwright's (not a bad thing). And you don't see two men kissing each other in music videos very often.

LGBA

LGBA - 2009 Inaugural Parade

I figured it wouldn't take long for this to show up on YouTube....

Chapter IV, in which I become a threat to Christianity

An accountant, standing in front of an office supply store (Patrick & Co.), smiling and waving.

Yep, that image sure would make me quake in my boots.

Ordinarily, I would expect that a Christian anti-defamation commission who wished to instill fear in their followers would choose a picture of a drag queen in stiletto heels, fishnet stockings and full leather regalia, brandishing a whip over an ecstatic semi-nude figure wearing a George W. Bush mask. But, no, apparently an accountant in sunglasses will frighten people just as well.

Long story short, the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission has used this photo of me as one of the illustrations for their article, "Inaugural Warning: P for Perverse":

"To ensure no one misses the perversion, the Inaugural parade will include a homosexual marching band with their rainbow flags flying proud with millions of our nation’s children and Christians watching. This is the same band that proudly advertises that it will march in the homosexual Southern Decadence parade, known for its vulgarity and lewd acts in public. In 2003, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that it had 'become routine' for men to flash their genitals and perform public sex acts at the event, which bills itself as ‘the Gay Mardis Gras.’ Have fun explaining that to the little ones.

"Celebrating a person’s sin sends a message of approval.

"In order to be consistent in using this kind of reasoning, Obama ought to have a stripper lead off the inaugural parade followed by the Hell’s Angel’s Motorcycle Drill Team followed by the Crips Precision Handgun Corp. and the Transvestite Fashion Police. Just because something exists in society does not mean it is good and is to be paraded in front of everyone, especially children."

Fruit Fly

And here's the trailer for "Fruit Fly," the new musical from H.P. Mendoza, the writer of "Colma: the Musical."

Starring an ACT classmate of mine, Michael Curtis, who's moving to LA in a few days.

"Milk" Trailer

The trailer for Gus Van Sant's "Milk" (official movie site here) is available in several places:

(1) YouTube version (the link takes you to the one embedded here -- there are several different versions, but this one looks the best. You might consider going to YouTube and watching it in high quality);

(2) The Official trailer site (the "IPOD/IPHONE" link did not work for me, but you can watch an embedded QuickTime version of the trailer); and

(3) The iTunes store (go to the Movies store and then click on "Movie Trailers," it's currently featured in the "Exclusives" window and in the "Featured HD" window. You can also click on "Focus Features" and find it quickly. There are seven sizes: iPod, small, medium, large, HD 480p, HD 720p and HD1080p -- all the same trailer, just different resolutions.)

The trailer says it will be released in "November," but the trailer site says "November 26." Milk and Moscone were assassinated on November 27, 1978, so the opening is one day before the thirtieth anniversary. Not a coincidence, I assume.

Personal trivia: Four of the five (or six [1]) scenes that I was an extra in are represented in the trailer in quick little snippets -- the parade, the post-parade speech, the "No on 6" victory party and the candlelight march.

---------------------------------------------

[1] Depending on whether you count a single shot of a crowd turning a corner as a "scene."

Sad news

The National Center for Lesbian Rights has reported that Del Martin (87) has passed away. A less detailed AP version of the story can be found here. The San Francisco Chronicle's article is also worth a look.

Quoting from her obituary:

It is difficult to separate Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon and write about only one of them. Their lives and their work have intertwined and their enduring dedication to social justice has been recognized many times. In 1979, local health care providers established a clinic to give lesbians in the San Francisco Bay area access to nonjudgmental, affordable health care and named it Lyon-Martin Health Services in their honor. In 1990, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California awarded the couple with its highest honor, the Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award. In 1995, Senator Dianne Feinstein named Martin, and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi named Lyon, as delegates to the White House Conference on Aging, where they made headlines by using their moment at the podium to remind the 125,000 attendees that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people grow old, too, and must be included explicitly in aging policies. The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality gave Martin and Lyon their Outstanding Public Service Award in 1996. They are among the most beloved figures in the LGBT community and have served as Grand Marshals at Pride marches across the nation and been honored by every major LGBT organization in the country.

Del Martin identified her own legacy in 1984 when she said that her most important contribution was "being able to help make changes in the way lesbians and gay men view themselves and how the larger society views lesbians and gay men." She had the courage to be true to herself when the world offered only condemnation for lesbians. Martin showed all of us how to have what she called “self-acceptance and a good sense of my own self-worth.” Del Martin never backed down from her insistence on full equality for all people and, even at 87 years old, she kept moving all of us closer to her ideal.

Gifts in lieu of flowers can be made to honor Del’s life and commitment and to defeat the California marriage ban through NCLR’s No On 8 PAC at www.nclrights.org/NoOn8.

A public memorial and tribute celebrating the life of Del Martin will be planned in the next several weeks.


Mayor Newsom has issued the following statement:

MAYOR GAVIN NEWSOM'S STATEMENT ON THE PASSING OF DEL MARTIN

Today, San Francisco lost a local and national leader, Del Martin.

For over half a century, Del Martin, along with her loving spouse, Phyllis Lyon, served as an activist for women's rights and the LGBT community. The marriage of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon on June 16, 2008, marked an historic milestone on our country's road to true freedom and equality. Del laid the groundwork for all those who want a life of dignity, and we are forever in her debt. The greatest way we can honor the life work of Del Martin, is to continue to fight and never give up, until we have achieved equality for all.

Our deepest sympathies go out to Del's family, her spouse, Phyllis, her daughter, Kendra, and all those who mourn the loss of this great and pioneering woman.

As a mark of respect for Del Martin, I have ordered the flags at City Hall and the LGBT Pride Flag on Market and Castro Streets to be flown at half-staff from now until sunset, on Thursday, August 28, 2008.

Separate toilet for transsexual students

A school in Thailand has established a separate toilet facility for transsexual students.

According to a BBC News story, "Between the girls' toilet and the boys', there is one signposted with a half-man, half-woman figure in blue and red.

"This is the transsexual toilet, and outside, in front of the mirrors, some decidedly girly-looking teenage boys preen their hair and apply face cream.

"The headteacher, Sitisak Sumontha, estimates that in any year between 10% and 20% of his boys consider themselves to be transgender - boys who would rather be girls.

"'They used to be teased every time they used the boys' toilets,' he said, 'so they started using the girls' toilets instead. But that made the girls feel uncomfortable. It made these boys unhappy, and started to affect their work.' . . .

"I asked the headmaster whether they were not too young to be making decisions about their gender.

"He said that, in his 35 years of working in the Thai education system, he had come across many boys like this, and they never changed. Many go on as adults to have sex-change surgery, while others will live as gay men, he said. . . .

"A ratio of 10% to 20% of boys calling themselves transsexual in a provincial high school does seem very high, but Mr Sitisak assured me that in his experience it was not unusual. . . .

"'At that age it's good for them to have a specific place,' [Suttirat Simsiriwong, a campaigner for transgender rights] said.

"'But when they graduate from school or university, they will know how to have medical treatment. They won't want to go into a transgender toilet because they will want to be accepted as a woman - so they will go to the women's toilet.'"

The AP version of the same story is more dry and factual than the BBC story. The AP story is repeated pretty much without alteration at several news outlets like MSNBC, USA Today and Fox News.

Why is John Barrowman gay?

According to an article in the Guardian, BBC1 is airing a show entitled "The Making of Me," in which three celebrities allow themselves to be studied scientifically to determine where their "defining characteristics" come from.

Vanessa Mae will find out why she plays the violin well.

Colin Jackson will find out why he's fast.

And John Barrowman will find out why he's gay.

Now, personally, I would take issue with the very core idea: The "defining characteristic" of Vanessa Mae, the violinist, is that she plays the violin; the "defining characteristic" of Colin Jackson, a sprint and hurdling athlete, is that he can run fast; the "defining characteristic" of John Barrowman, an actor on "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood," is that he's an outstanding actor.

Oops. Wait. Strike that. John Barrowman is defined by his sexuality, not by his talent.

How silly of me to think that a gay man could ever do anything more important in his life than being gay.

But, apart from having issues with the "defining characteristic" of the television show, I would say that the article is a pleasant enough read.

MSNBC on Gaydar

From an MSNBC story last September, "Gay or straight? Watch his walk: New study suggests body movement gives clues to sexual orientation"


MSNBC's Caption on this video: "Researchers attached motion sensors to gay and straight volunteers to see if sexual orientation can be detected by the way people walk. Check out their footage. Can you tell a difference?"

In this specific clip, I can't really say that I can.

Overheard at Pride

#1: Overheard on MUNI between Castro and Civic Center on the way to the parade:

Gay tourist #1: That was when I was licking your nipple.

Gay tourist #2: I don't remember that.

Gay tourist #1: I have a picture of it somewhere.

(train gets too loud to hear for a few seconds)

Gay tourist #1 (indignant): Tell her that I do NOT want to see that turn up on YouTube. I'm running for supervisor, and I don't want any surprise Internet scandals.






#2: Overheard at Civic Center at the post-parade celebration:

Young thing #1: He is not gay!

Young thing #2: He is too!

Young thing #1: He is not!

Young thing #2: I'm telling you, I know for a fact that he is gay!

Young thing #1: Gavin?

San Francisco Pride Photos

This year I went to the parade and watched. This is probably the first time I've seen the parade from that perspective since 1991.

From 1992 until last year, I marched in the parade. For a wide variety of reasons (not the least of which is purely physical -- tendinitis in my shoulder, plus sore ankles from a rather athletic acting class I'm currently taking), I decided to sit this one out and just watch as a spectator instead.

It's a different experience just to go to the parade and watch. No getting up early, no dressing up, no checking off a "do I have everything?" list, no praying that MUNI is not so overcrowded as to be nearly useless, no schedules to keep, no pressures of any kind.

And when you march in the parade, you're pretty much just aware of the two or three entries in front of you and the two or three behind you. It becomes easy to forget that there are more than six or eight parade contingents.

The parade looks and feels very different from the outside than it does from inside.

So, yeah, if you're a habitual parade marcher, I heartily recommend taking a year off to see the whole event and get a better idea of the bigger picture.

In an odd way, seeing this parade makes me feel perhaps a little less jaded about the whole Gay Pride thing.

(P.S.: Some of these are also on the Chronicle's Pride 2008 Gallery as well.)

(P.S. again: The first photo is of Dustin Lance Black (screenwriter of "Milk") and Gus Van Sant (director of "Milk"), and that's Cleve Jones with his back to the camera. The car directly behind them carried three of the producers of "Milk," but no one seemed to be taking pictures of them.....)

(P.S. one last time: Click on the photos to view larger, more detailed views.)

SFGate Pride 2008 Gallery

I submitted three photos to the SF Chronicle's Pride 2008 Gallery. I already posted two of them here last night. The third one is this picture of Vicki and Nancy.

My three Pink Saturday pictures are here, here and here (though, frankly, since all three are right here on this page (and when you click on them, they're larger than the ones shown at the Chronicle), there's not a lot of reason to go see them at sfgate).

Submit your own Pride photos to the Chronicle here.

Anyhow, the parade starts at 10:30, so we're heading out the door soon.

Happy Gay Pride to all.

Pink Saturday

For those of you who don't live in San Francisco:

For the last fifteen years or so, the night before the Pride Parade in San Francisco has been referred to as "Pink Saturday."

In the early 1990's, "Pink Saturday" was the name of an official event sponsored by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The Sisters scheduled entertainment, local performers mostly, on two or three stages on or near Castro Street between Market and 19th, but otherwise it was just a huge crowd of people milling around and dancing in the street -- a lot like Halloween in the Castro, just with fewer people wearing costumes. After a year or two, it became more or less an open party without any organized activities or any scheduled stage shows -- just very, very loud sound systems booming out dance music.

The Sisters still charge $5 to get onto Castro Street, and the event is still known informally as "Pink Saturday."

Gay Pride at the Onion

It looks like The Onion is doing primarily gay-themed stories this week:

Sample headlines:

Newly Out Gay Man Overdoing It (illustration, left)

Gay Couple Had Banal Sex

Where Do Homosexuals Get All Their Energy?

Even "American Voices" is going gay this week:

Straight Men, Gay Women Have Similar Brains

Alcohol with which to celebrate diversity

From today's SF Chronicle wine section (today, that's Section F).

There's an article today called "10 ways to drink in summer" (and, yes, it is illustrated with the photo on the right) wherein "...instead of matching wine, beer and spirits with meals, we decided to match them with the Bay Area's diverse summer events." The events include Shakespeare in the Park, Gay Pride Parade, Political Conventions, "June weddings," Baseball games, the Olympics and Burning Man.

Here's what they recommend for the Folsom Street Fair:

San Francisco's annual leather fetish festival falls on Sept. 28 (11 a.m.-6 p.m., Folsom Street, between Seventh and 12th streets). Its unique appeal demands an equally distinctive drink.

We decided to commission catering company Fork & Spoon Productions, which seems to have a flair for kinky. Jennifer Spiegel and her crew came up with the Luscious Lothario (see recipe, F4), a concoction of dark rum, citrus juice and Cock 'n Bull ginger beer (we do not make this stuff up, folks) available at Trader Joe's and Beverages & More.

"It's a really refreshing drink," says Spiegel. "It has a very outdoorsy, very summery feel. And it's not so strong that you're going to get drunk after one drink."

Luscious Lothario

Makes 1 drink

Created for the Folsom Street Fair by San Francisco's Fork & Spoon Productions catering company.

• 2 ounces dark rum
• 2 ounces fresh orange juice
• 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
• 4 ounces ginger beer
• -- Orange wedge to garnish

Instructions: Place rum, orange and lime juice and plenty of ice in a shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into a tall glass filled with ice. Top with ginger beer and garnish with an orange wedge.

LGBT Programming on KQED

I just got back from KQED's LGBT Local Hero presentation (Dixieland Dykes closed the program).

As part of the program, they showed clips from several shows that they will be airing during June for Gay Pride. There were several I'd already heard of or already seen part or all of, but there were a few I'd not heard of that looked extremely interesting, even to a jaded old sod like myself.

Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life - Have I heard of this one before? Or was that another documentary about Billy Strayhorn?

Anyone and Everyone - Interviews with the a wide variety of families recalling when their son or daughter or sibling came out to them.

It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in Schools - Pretty self-explanatory title. Fascinating trailer intercutting footage of a Republican Congressman railing against even mentioning the word "homosexuality" to kids with footage of grade-school kids saying things like "What's the big whoop?"