Sister Dana Van Iquity would like to wish a belated Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers and muthah-fukkahs out there!

Some mothers are lesbians, so it’s only right to talk about the NATIONAL CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS (NCLR) and their 35th anniversary at Westin St. Francis on Cinco de Mayo. Emcee Kate Clinton wished everyone, “Happy Lezbo de Mayo,” and credited Sec. of State Hillary Clinton for saying gay rights are human rights. Executive Director Kate Kendell said, “The love in this room is palpable, and that’s what our struggle is about: love,” and presented an award to Glee’s Jane Lynch, saying, “What Jane does for the community is even more important than her acting.” Jane thanked NCLR for all the org does, in addition to hooking her up with her wife, Lara Embry, at an NCLR dinner three years ago.

Dogs are mothers, too: the bitches! So PAWS (Pets Are Wonderful Support) held a fundraiser at the Palace Hotel with four-legged guests and owners attending “Petchitecture 17,” where architects competed in designing distinctive dog houses to be auctioned off. PAWS is a volunteer-based organization that provides for the comprehensive needs of companion animals for low-income seniors and people with HIV/AIDS and other disabling illnesses. PAWS Prez Kevin Kosik thanked the 550 volunteers who serve clients with pet care and feeding. The winning habitat was “Pugs in a Barrel” made by William Duff Architects. (Donate or volunteer at pawssf.org).

I joined JB (John Bellemore), his partner Carl Peters and JUANITA MORE for the bus ride of a lifetime! A tricked-out private bus held 36 partay peeps to ride around EssEff, to the ocean and across the GGBridge to East Bay spots, boozin’ & cruisin’. We began and ended at QBar. Juanita brought the beats for this fun fundraiser for JB and Carl’s AIDS Lifecycle ride to LA. The Saturday before the ALC ride, QBar will host another fundraiser. And this year for JM’s June 24 Pride JB and Carl’s fundraising for Aids/LifecycleParty, the bus will haul our drunk asses from place to place. Stay tuned.

I attended a music, wine tasting & hors d’oeuvres party to benefit the San Francisco LESBIAN/GAY FREEDOM BAND in the Pacific Heights home of band member Marti Phillips. Band President Julie Williamson promised there will be more of these lovely soirees. Marti’s daughter Carter sang the hell outta “At Last,” and SFLGFB members formed four ensembles providing more entertainment: Dixieland Dykes +3 gave us New Orleans Mardi Gras music. Norton Imperial Flute Ensemble played classical as well as “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”

The Foghorns played outdoors in the fog to “Tijuana Taxi” and other peppy horn tunes. Clarinet Buffet’s ten different clarinets tooted everything from Candide to Bach to “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies” (reminding me of the annual “Dance-Along Nutcracker” by the Band on Dec. 8th & 9th). Before that, the Band is “On the Road Again” June 3rd at Oakland’s Lake Merritt Bandstand near Children’s Fairyland for free! Donate to keep the music alive at sflgfb.org.

DANCES FROM THE HEART featured Bay Area Dancers United to Fight AIDS in the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation benefit, produced by Exec Direx Joe Seiler and Ken Henderson at Fort Mason Center. It raised awareness about, and funds for, HIV/AIDS prevention and care while promoting the art of dance in the SF Bay Area. This first-time ever, collaborative evening of dance featured performances from 10 prominent Bay Area dance companies: ODC dance, Smuin Ballet, Ballet San Jose, Company C Contemporary Ballet, Christy Cote Argentine Tango, Diablo Ballet, Na Lei Hulu, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, Post:Ballet, and White Tree Fine Art. The choreography was simply stunning!

HARVEY MILK DAY is May 22nd! Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and veteran activist Cleve Jones (founder of the NAMES project AIDS Memorial Quilt) will speak at the screening of MILK, the movie at the Castro Theatre in honor of the slain supervisor and gay activist’s 82nd birthday. The event includes a VIP reception prior to the screening. Proceeds benefit the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, a small public elementary school in the Castro District with the mission to empower student learning by teaching tolerance and nonviolence, celebrating our diversity, achieving academic excellence and fostering strong family-school-community connections.

Tickets available at brownpapertickets.com/event/233452 or at the Human Rights Campaign store, 575 Castro Street, Milk’s old camera store.

AMERICA’S MOST UNWANTED, from award-winning filmmaker Shani Heckman, reveals untold stories of homophobia in the foster care system in the country’s most gay-friendly state: California. LGBTQ foster youth are often kicked out of their homes for identifying as LGBTQ and then enter state-sanctioned homes that treat them even worse. May 17, 7pm at the LGBT Community Center. Interactive Q&A with foster youth from the film. Food and beverage provided. Tickets at tiny.cc/AMU_TIXS. 

FLASHDANCE SF is the best from the ‘80s: come and get your Fixx of artists like Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Yaz, Prince, Michael Jackson, Wham!, Madonna, Eurythmics, Human League, Sylvester, Tom Tom Club, Cyndi Lauper, and more. DJ Rotten Robbie’s pulling on his leg warmers, snapping his sweat band into place and bringing us the raddest, bitchinest ‘80s dance music evah! Event benefits Under One Roof’s HIV & AIDS service agencies. May 20, 6pm - 2am, City Nights (formerly Dreamland) 715 Harrison at 3rd Street. Tix: flashdancesf.com.

BLOOM is celebrating Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center’s 25th anniversary and commemorating the 8th annual A&PI HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on May 17, 6pm with amazing Asian cuisine and delectable drinks at the Galleria at SF Design Center. Our first Asian-American mayor and Tita Aida are being honored. Tita has worked at A&PI Wellness Center and its predecessor organization, Asian AIDS Project, for over 18 years! Her life has been dedicated to raising HIV awareness in our communities, at AsiaSF, and at the many events she organizes and emcees. Browse apiwellness.org for info and tix.  

Have you hugged your POTUS lately? Big thanx to Obama who’s da bomb on queer rights!!!