THE FIGHT SF / BAY AREA LGBTQ MONTHY MAGAZINE JULY 2019

JULY 2019 | THE FIGHT SF 1

Please join us for an informative panel discussion: 

The San Francisco LGBT Center 

Saturday, May 11th, 2019 | 10:30am-1:00pm 

Those with Testes 

Saturday, August 17th, 2019 | 10:30am-1:00pm 

Those with Ovaries 

The LGBTQ Perinatal Wellness Center - Oakland 

Saturday, February 16th, 2019 | 10:30am-1:00pm 

Those with Ovaries 

Saturday, November 9th, 2019 | 10:30am-1:00pm 

Those with Testes 

To RSVP, please visit the RSC website, or the Eventbrite page: 

rscbayarea.eventbrite.com 

In House Egg Donor Program • 

Egg Bank • Financing Options • 

Excellent Success Rates • 

4 Bay Area Locations close 

to 3 International Airports 

2 THE FIGHT SF | www.thefightmag.com 

San Ramon I Orinda I Los Gatos I Foster City 

rscbayarea.com | 888-377-4483

Actual HIV patient 

It could be Hard Belly. Ask your healthcare provider. 

If you are living with HIV, and are struggling with fat in your abdomen that won’t go 

away, it could be Hard Belly. Learn the difference between regular fat and Hard Belly, 

so you can talk to your healthcare provider and be sure you’re heard. 

© 2019 Theratechnologies Inc. 

All rights reserved. 

Learn more at myHardBelly.com 

my 

HARD 

BELLY 


THECONTENTS 

ON THE COVER 

LEO HERRERA 

COVER PHOTO, CONTENTS 

PHOTO AND FEATURE PHOTO 

BY JOSE GUZMAN COLON 

FEATURES 

12 BEYOND SOUND BITES 

MOVING FORWARD ON 

TRANSGENDER RIGHTS 

14 THE DRAG KINGS OF 

SAN FRANCISCO 

FUDGIE FROTTAGE ON 

EQUALITY AND RECOGNITION 

4 THE FIGHT SF | www.thefightmag.com 

16 THE UNCOMPROMISING 

QUEER UTOPIA OF 

LEO HERRERA 

IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE 

AIDS NEVER HAPPENED 

20 HEART THROB 

THE SEVEN COLORS OF SEX 

22 GRATEFULLY GAY 

CONNOR JESSUP’S 

COMING OUT STORY 

24 PRIDE INSTITUTE 

RECOVERY DOESN’T 

JUST MEAN LIVING 

SUBSTANCE-FREE 

28 I’M FINE 

FINAL SEASON OF 

THE DEKKOO SERIES 

29 DON’T LET ME GO 

DARIO’S NEW SINGLE 

ON RELATIONSHIPS 

DEPARTMENTS 

06 THE EDITOR 

08 THE TALK 

10 THE CITY 

11 THE NATION 

26 THE ART 

30 THE CALENDAR

SINCE 1961 

Scuba Diving Lessons, Trips And Equipment 

CALL US NOW! 

San Francisco (415) 362-6694 Monterey Bay (831) 372-1685 

More info: www.bambooreef.com 


THEEDITOR 

Hello Gentle Reader, and welcome 

to THE FIGHT. 

I trust you all spent the 50th 

anniversary of Stonewall in riotous 

celebration. I myself spent the lion’s 

share of San Francisco Pride staffing 

THE FIGHT booth at the Civic Center. 

I haven’t been to the festival in years, 

because I tend to share in the prevailing 

SF prejudice that the official 

Pride celebration at the Civic Center 

being the providence of tourists and 

straight looky-lous—a place true San 

Franciscans avoid. But duty called, 

and instead of dancing my Pride away 

at Juanita MORE’s annual fundraiser, 

I spent approximately 26 hours deep 

in the thick of it. 

And I’m glad I did, because most 

of the folks I met fell into one of two 

camps: older LGBTQ folks who once 

called the city home, and have been 

priced out and forced to move to the 

suburbs; Or young Queers, mostly 

from the Central Valley, who made the 

long drive to San Francisco with stars 

in their eyes to spend just a few hours 

with a tacky rainbow flag tied around 

their neck in a place where they 

thought they could be themselves. I 

spent two days hearing stories about 

how the city used to be, or listening 

>> IN THIS ISSUE

HEIDI 

MACHEN 

LICENSED 

CALIFORNIA 

ATTORNEY 

~SINCE 1996~ 

• EMPLOYMENT (WRONGFUL TERMINATION, 

DISCRIMINATION, WHISTLEBLOWER, 

WAGE/HOUR, CONTRACT REVIEW) 

• ADMINISTRATIVE (PROFESSIONAL LICENSES 

AND PERMITS, HEARINGS, ETC.) 

HEIDIMACHEN@MACHENLAW.COM 

PH: 415-626-1140 | WWW.MACHENLAW.COM 

AVAILABLE FOR BAY AREA REPRESENTATION FREE HALF HOUR CONSULT 

The closest hotels to Folsom St. Fair 

www.carriageinnsf.com www.americaniahotel.com www.thegoodhotel.com 

book now +1.800.736.3766 

10% OFF Let us be your host in San Francisco 

Promo code: FIGHT19 


THETALK 

>> WHAT THEY’RE SAYING


THECITY 

>> BY BRENDEN SHUCART

THENATION 

>> NEWS BRIEFS

BEYOND 

SOUND 

BITES 

BY ORLY LYONNE 

AT LEAST ELEVEN 

BLACK TRANS 

WOMEN HAVE 

BEEN KILLED THIS 

YEAR. MEANWHILE 

THE TRUMP 

ADMINISTRATION 

IS TRYING TO GIVE 

MEDICAL PROVIDERS 

AND INSURANCE 

COMPANIES LICENSE 

TO DISCRIMINATE 

AGAINST TRANS 

PEOPLE. 

In 

a historic moment, Democratic 

presidential hopeful Julián Castro 

used the televised debate stage 

last month to support civil rights for transgender 

people, reports Sony Salzman at 

www.rewire.news. 

His comments were echoed later by 

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who called for 

justice for black trans women. Of the 20 

candidates invited to the debate stage 

across two nights, Castro and Booker 

were the only two to specifically mention 

transgender rights. 

A spokesperson for media watchdog 

group Media Matters for America noted 

that Castro and Booker’s comments are 

likely “the first time that trans rights were 

mentioned in an affirming way.” 

This discussion of transgender rights on 

a presidential debate stage may signal the 

Democratic Party’s willingness to embrace 

broader civil rights and social justice platforms 

amid a shifting national conversation 

around LGBTQ rights, writes Salzman. 

In 2008, not a single Democratic candidate 

endorsed marriage equality. But 

by 2016, the official Democratic platform 

included a section affirming that “LGBT 

rights are human rights and that American 

foreign policy should advance the ability 

of all persons to live with dignity, security, 

and respect, regardless of who they are or 

who they love.” 

Though historic, Castro and Booker’s 

comments reminded advocates how marginalized 

and misunderstood the transgender 

community remains, reported www. 

rewire.news. 

“It seems both Julián Castro and Cory 

Booker are ready to fight for [transgender/gender 

non-conforming] people,” 

said Cecilia Chung, senior director of 

strategic initiatives and evaluation at the 

Transgender Law Center. 

“However, for their comments to move 

beyond sound bites, they need to take 

action,” she said. For example, “Neither 

of them mentioned how they would seek 

input from trans communities, and this 

should be a focus for all the candidates.” 

“In my opinion, trans rights were not 

talked about,” said Lourdes Ashley 

Hunter, executive director of the Trans 

Women of Color Collective. “There was a 

mention of trans people … [but] they were 

mentioned as a ploy to pander to marginalized 

communities.” 

Chung noted that at least eleven 

black trans women have been killed this 

year. Meanwhile, she said, “the Trump 

Administration is trying to give medical 

providers and insurance companies license 

to discriminate against trans people, which 

would disproportionately impact Black trans 

people and trans people living with HIV.” 

And for Hunter, it’s not enough to mention 

these deaths in passing. 

“We can talk about murders, but we 

need to talk about how that is manifesting,” 

Hunter said, noting that structural 

issues enabling violence against trans 

women go much deeper than military bans 

and health-care issues, and include fundamental 

services that many in the United 

States take for granted, such as the ability 

to use a public restroom and get a driver’s 

license that matches their gender identity. 

“I hope the next president would appoint 

trans people to their team as well as 

to the judicial branch, so that we can be 

more than just an afterthought to campaigns, 

but instead front and center having 

our needs represented,” said Chung. 

12 THE FIGHT SF | www.thefightmag.com

The democratic 

debates briefly 

spotlight transgender 

rights, hopefully 

signaling the party 

is willing to embrace 

broader civil rights 

and social justice 

platforms. 


INTERVIEW

FUDGIE FROTTAGE

COVER FEATURE


LEO HERRERA

Come this weekend. Come 

next weekend. Stay the 

week. Forward your mail. 

Just move in already. We got 

you. It’s a prismatic paradise 

with free wifi, morning yoga, 

desert cruiser bikes, a 

buzzing pool scene with 

boozy frozen drinks, and 

weekend DJ sets. 

Come get wet. 

20% off your stay at 

The Saguaro Hotel with 

CODE: PSPRIDE 

SOME RESTRICTIONS APPLY 

www.thesaguaro.com/pspride 


HEART 

THROB 

The seven 

colors of sex. 

LEON 

FOX 

BY LEON FOX | PHOTO BY ELANA RATTI 

For about seven years now, I’ve 

majored in the gay erotic arts, 

via escorting, adult film acting, 

sex and intimacy coaching, etc; 

and if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s 

that we’ve been programmed to believe 

that there is only one kind of sex worth 

having: the pornographic, reptilian, and 

carnal. It’s the kind of sex that inundates 

porn sites, that popular dating and 

hookup apps extol, and what we most 

commonly imitate in the bedroom. 

This is what I call “red sex.” And 

don’t get me wrong; I love red, both as a 

color, and as a kind of intimate interaction, 

but when it’s the only pigment you 

see when you pull back the sheets, it 

can get boring and repetitive—especially 

when there’s a full spectrum available 

to us in our bedroom adventures. 

Which is why I’ve written this guide! 

To show you all the hues that can use to 

make your sensual moments burst with 

technicolor! Sex can do so much more 

for the fulfilling than simply using it to 

scratch that solitary itch, over and over 

again (woof!). 

For the sake of structure, I’ll be using 

the seven chakras in the body—each 

with its traditionally associated color— 

to pinpoint the physical place from 

which these shades of sex metaphysically 

emanate. 


LEON FOX

CONNOR JESSUP

Hookups = 

Visit www.squirt.org to hook up today 


ADDICTION & MENTAL HEALTH

One Treatment Center 

Does Not Fit All 

Exclusively Serving the LGBTQ+ Community 

Located in the Minneapolis Metro area of Minnesota, we specialize in: 

• Drug & Alcohol Abuse 

• Specializing in Crystal Meth and Sexual Compulsivity 

• Residential & Intensive Outpatient Programs 

• Exclusively providing the LGBT community a comfortable safe 

alternative to traditional treatment programs for 30 years. 

The Pride Institute accepts insurances from: 

· Blue Cross Blue Shield · Cigna 

· Health Parters 

· United 

· Preferred One 

· UBH/Medica 

· United 

· MN Medicaid 

· Aetna 

Brighten your future - contact us today. 

www.pride-institute.com I 952.934.7554/ 800.547.7433 


THEART 

>> LGBTQ ARTISTS

QUEER EYES

I’M FINE

DARIO

THECALENDAR 

>> THINGS TO DO


RECLAIM YOUR CONFIDENCE 

A breakthrough solution for 

men seeking better erections and 

Optimal Sexual Performance 

• Enhances Erections 

• Improves Sexual Performance 

• Increases Sensation 

• Treats ED & Peyronie’s Disease 

The GAINSWave is a drug & surgery free non-invasive technique 

that uses pulse waves to improve sexual performance. 

As you get older, the blood vessels that supply blood to 

your penis begin to collapse or break down. Good blood 

flow is essential to erectile function. The GAINSWave improves 

blood flow by opening existing blood vessels and 

stimulating the growth of new blood vessels. 

Fog City Urology 

45 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114 

RAUL HERNANDEZ, MD & BRIAN GRADY, MD 

REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT 415.861.0600

THE FIGHT SF / BAY AREA LGBTQ MONTHY MAGAZINE JULY 2019

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?