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Heather MacAllister,
RevaLucian
February
25, 1968 - February 13, 2007
San
Francisco Funeral Services
Saturday,
2/24/07
7:00 pm
Goddess Rosary in memory of Heather MacAllister
HerChurch,
678 Portola Drive, San Francisco
This is a church that Heather used to
attend, specifically for the "goddess rosary" services. The minister remembered Heather and offered to do a special service
in her honor.
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Sunday, 2/25/07
1:30 pm: Funeral/Mourning/Goodbye ritual
Precita Park, corner of Folsom and Precita,
San Francisco
2:30 pm: Somber procession (walking and driving)
up Precita to El Rio
3:00 - 6:00 pm: Wake at El Rio, 3158
Mission St., story sharing, etc.
feel free to bring mementos, photos or other items for the temporary altar
Per
Heather's request, these are not "Celebration of Life" festivities, but moments for sadness and reflection.
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Please support Heather's
dream of the Fat Fashion College Scholarship Fund. Heather wanted very much to start a scholarship fund to provide small
scholarships for fat college students to buy clothing that would make them look and feel fabulous.
Justin
Kolling wrote the following about his experience at the Benefat. Thank you Justin.
I found my community on Saturday night - Fat-Bottom Mama's
Benefat
I went to have lunch with couple of friends, fellow transmen
and genderqueer folks, and afterwards my pal asked me what I was up to for the
night. I had no plans so he asked me to come with him to a benefit. It was for a person whose name I didn't recognize, but sometimes
I'm embarassingly out of the loop on things.
The event turned out to be Fat-Bottom Mama’s Benefat for
the Founder and Artistic Director of Big Burlesque and The Original Fat-Bottom
Revue, Heather MacAllister. We met up with a few more of our friends on the way. A lesbian couple who just got pregnant and are
so beautifully in love. A cute, brainy dyke who just moved here from the East
Coast and is on a courageous journey of pursuing her dreams.
When we got there, we recognized so many friendly faces.
The show itself was amazing. Spoken word, acapella, musical performances, comedy,
vaudeville, striptease, lip syncing, story telling, dancing, performance
art of all kinds done by beautiful people of all shapes, sizes, identities, backgrounds.
All connected in one central point - knowing and loving and
being a part of the community of Heather MacAllister. So many people were there,
we overflowed into a second room with closed circuit TVs of the show. No one minded. No one complained. We were so well
taken care of. Lady Monster, who (I believe) was the show's organizer, was the
most gracious hostess one could ever ask for.
It wasn't just the impressive list performers that made
the show so wonderful. Yes, there was Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens,
Carol Queen, Scarlot Harlot, Big Burlesque, Kitten on the Keys, Big Moves’
Phat Fly Girls – West Coast, Creamy Goodness, Jennifer Blowdryer,
the Diamond Daggers, Kelly Beardsley, Kelli Dunham, Lori Selke, Marilyn Wann,
Big Boys' Ink, TransFams, TransAms and appearances by The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. That was amazing but that alone wasn't
what made the night so magical. It wasn't even the performances themselves which
were charming, beautiful, inspiring, moving, funny, educational, uplifting, innovative, soul-stirring. The most precious
thing was the underlying feeling that swelled in the room, filled us up inside,
and overflowed much like the crowd overflowed into the hallways and adjacent rooms.
It was community. Our community. The one we kept hearing
about. It was real. We came together. The acronym was actually meaningful.
The Ls and the Gs and the Bs and the Ts and more than that. And we weren't off in our own clicks not talking like high school. We weren't
resenting one another for infringing on our space. We were smiling at one another
and laughing and crying together and hugging and putting our money together to help Heather in her fight against cancer.
Everywhere I looked, I saw shining eyes and full hearts.
I saw fears and judgments stripped away to reveal love and connection and cooperation.
This is where I found my community, on Saturday night, packed into
a room above Harrison Street in San Francisco. This is where I found a
space big enough to hold us all.
The evening seemed to climb and crescendo and climax until
the feeling was palpable in the room. Until we all looked as energized as we
did exhausted by all that we had witnessed and been a part of.
And then Heather was invited to the
stage and as she thanked us and expressed what the evening had meant to her,
her tears became our tears and her gratitude became our gratitude.
As she spoke, I felt that tingly feeling I get sometimes when I know a memory
is being made. A memory I'll reflect back on over the rest of my life and tell stories about. I'll remember the time I went to
the Fat-Bottom Mama’s Benefat for Heather MacAllister. I'll remember when
she got up at the end and said, "I know it's hard for us all to take care of
our bodies. It's especially hard with our medical care system
being what it is, but please, please, *please* take care of your bodies. It is
*so* important." And she went on to say, "I almost died six weeks ago. It is nothing short of a miracle that I stand here before you
tonight, and it's because of you that I'm still here." (I'm paraphrasing from
memory but this is what I remember her saying.)
As the evening wrapped up, we all milled about and embraced
and talked about what we'd just seen. How important and hard it is for each of
us with our lesbian bodies, gay bodies, trans bodies, fat bodies, differently abled bodies, bodies that don't look like the
stereotypical image of so-called beauty, bodies that we've been taught to be
ashamed of or that we have been taught must look a certain way... how important it is for us to learn to love the bodies we live
in, and to truly occupy them, and to take good, good care of them.
Thank you Heather MacAllister for being so courageous and
sharing your bright spirit with us. Thank you Lady Monster for organizing the
show and being such a gracious hostess. Thank you to all the performers for putting your heart and soul into your art in order to support
Heather in her fight against cancer. Thank you to all who worked on the show
to make it such a success. Thank you to everyone who showed up and added your love and support to the event. Thank you to my community,
for existing, for being everything I ever hoped you would be and more, for giving
us all a place to come home to, to fit into, to feel accepted and embraced in. Thank you for being right where we all needed
you. Let's not forget we can do this.
In the midst of our arguing and fear
and debates about who belongs where or what it means if someone changes this
or calls themselves that or has a body that looks like this
or that, let's remember we can lay aside those differences long enough to come
together and perform miracles.
Fat-Bottom Mama’s Benefat
A benefit for the Founder and Artistic Director of Big Burlesque and The Original Fat-Bottom Revue, Heather MacAllister.
UPDATE: The Benefat raised nearly $5,000 for Heather MacAllister. I cannot thank all
of the supporters, volunteers and performers enough for such an incredible event. If you were not able to attend, or
want to give another donation, please use my PayPal account or send the money to Carole Cullum at the address listed below.
THANK YOU AGAIN EVERYONE!
On Saturday, January 14th at the Center For Sex and Culture (at 398 11th Street
@ Harrison in San Francisco), a benefit will be held at 8pm to raise money for Heather MacAllister.
Battling ovarian cancer for over two years, this young Detroit fat and queer activist
needs the support of her community at large.
She is also the founder of the Venus Group, a social and support network other fat artists
and activists.
Performing under the name, RevaLucian, she brought her passions to San Francisco, and
onto the burlesque stage. She created the world’s only touring plus-sized burlesque troupe (The Original Fat Bottom
Revue).
Appearing at the Benefat will include those in the Bay Area that have supported and performed
with Heather in the past – including burlesque, dance, spoken word and song performances. On the list to date are: Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens, Carol Queen, Scarlot Harlot, Big Burlesque, Kitten on the Keys, Big Moves’ Phat Fly Girls – West Coast, Creamy Goodness, Jennifer Blowdryer, the Diamond Daggers, Kelly Beardsley, Kelli Dunham, Lori Selke, Marilyn Wann, Big Boys' Ink, TransFams, TransAms and appearances by The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. There will also be various donated items up for auction.
In 2005 Big Burlesque traveled the country-wide. A smash-hit East Coast tour, a Southwestern
swing with Candye Kane (including knocking off the
celebs socks at the infamous Brown Derby in LA), elegance-extraordinaire at Tease-O-Rama, and our flabulous production,
`Hot Summer Nights` at Theater Rhino, PanTease II, and performances at the following
events: Dyke March, NoLose Conference, NAAFA Conference, Exotic Erotic Ball and many other shows, including
our usual frolicy fun at The Dark Room.
Big Burlesque has also had a great deal of amazing press from being featured in Leonard Nimoy`s photographic series, “Maximum Beauty”. This includes the following
magazines in international circulation: Time, New Yorker, Bizarre, and Juxtapoz, and several newspapers. These
photographs were also featured on the Style network in an interview special
with Leonard Nimoy. AND, we hope you caught the KQED SPARK episode that featured Big Burlesque.
In the November 2005 issue of Bizarre Heather says, “Any time
there is a fat person onstage as anything besides the butt of a joke, it’s political. Add physical movement, then dance,
then sexuality and you have a revolutionary act.”
The Bare Facts
What: Fat-Bottom
Mama's Benefat
When: Saturday,
Jan. 14th. 8 – 11pm
Where: Center for Sex and Culture, 398 11th Street (@ Harrison), SF
Who: Fat activists
and artists come together for burlesque, dance, song and spoken word performances in honor of the founder of Big Burlesque
and the Venus Group, Heather MacAllister (aka RevaLucian). (www.bigburlesque.com)
How Much: $15-20
sliding scale. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Volunteer work exchange acceptable.
This is a "dry" event. No alcohol will be permitted on the premises.
Viva La RevaLucian!
To
make a donation:
Make
checks payable:
“Cullum
Trust Account-Heather MacAllister"
Send
to: Carole Cullum,
1390
Market St., Suite 818, San Francisco, CA 94102
For
credit card (mastercard or visa): call 415 863 5300
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