CAMILLE O'GRADY: THIS IS THE END

san franciso legend camille o'grady passed away this morning amidst  world  collapse.

camille was an incredible singer, poet and visual artist. she became lovers with robert opel in the mid 70s. together they presented 

fey way studios: the first fetish- glbtq art gallery- ever!

fey way presented tom of finland, robert mapplethope, rex, the hun, entienne, and many fetish artists to the public for the first time.

camille was the only woman allowed at the leather bars/sex clubs throughout the 70s. mainly because she passed as a leatherman.  camille was present when robert opel was murdered at the gallery. the authorities called it a robbery gone wrong. camille and friends knew it was political retaliation from a police state era which was unhappy with the burgeoning gay scene and the blaming of  fellow cop dan white
 for harvey milk's murder.
camille went into hiding for many years after robert's murder. in the early 2000's camille took me to the original location of fey way studios. like an omen the space was open and availble for rent. camille was reunited with the guy that saved her life. an upstairs neighbor. 
yes, i have it all on film!

camille o'grady was an original spirit with original ideas. a truly one-of-a-kind person-

 rip  dear sorceress~

DOREY ALLEY~ CIRCA 2002

RICK CASTRO LIVE! WAY BACK IN 2005

here' an annoucment for 13 YEARS OF BONDAGE booksigning ~ different light books~ SF~
way back in 2004.
i remember like it was yesterday.

URBAN WATERFALL

FAGGOTS ARE FANTASTIC

FAGGOTS ARE FANTASTIC

is a photo shot by DANNY NICOLETTA during the castro street fair circa 1978.

the babes in the photo are ANTHONY ROGERS AKA HARMODIOUS & his friend HOTI.

anthony rogers was the boyfriend of ROBERT OPEL when he first opened

 FEY WAY STUDIOS during march 1978.

 

this male nude was shot by ROBERT OPEL for 

THE ADVOCATE MAGAZINE circa 1977.

robert worked as a freelance photographer in los angeles during 

1973 thru 1978.

this vintage print of artist~ THE HUN was featured @ FEY WAY STUDIOS during 1979.

this original artwork was created by artist~ ZACH way back in 1977 and was featured @

 FEY WAY STUDIOS during 1978.

this cute vintage poster by R. CRUMB~circa 1972 was  prominitely featured @

 FEYWAY STUDIOS TOILET.

these 70s gems and many others will be on display during february 14th thru march 22nd @

ROBERT OPEL: THE RES~ERECTION OF FEY WAY STUDIOS

opening night~ february 14th

6pm till 9pm

$10 cover

THE WHITE NIGHT RIOTS OF 1979

The White Night riots were a series of violent events sparked by an announcement of the lenient sentencing of Dan White, for the assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. The events took place on the night of May 21, 1979 (the night before what would have been Milk's 49th birthday) in San Francisco. Earlier that day, White had been convicted of voluntary manslaughter, the lightest possible conviction for his actions.  As absurd as it sounds, Dan White's denfense team claimed that because of his junk food diet and ingestion of twinkies, he was not of rational mind.

The gay community of San Francisco had a longstanding conflict with the San Francisco Police Department. White's status as a former police officer intensified the community's anger at the SFPD. Initial demonstrations took place as a peaceful march through the Castro district of San Francisco. After the crowd arrived at the San Francisco City Hall, violence began. The events caused hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of property damage to City Hall and the surrounding area, as well as injuries to police officers and rioters.

Several hours after the riot had been broken up, police made a retaliatory raid on a gay bar in San Francisco's Castro District. Many patrons were beaten by police in riot gear. Two dozen arrests were made during the course of the raid, and several people later sued the SFPD.

After nearly three hours of shouts from the angry crowd, officers moved in to quell the riot. Police reportedly covered their badges with black tape—preventing any identification—and attacked rioters. Dozens of police officers swept into the crowd, using tear gas to force protesters away from the building. Police were surprised at the resistance they faced from the protesters, who attempted to push them back using tree branches, chrome torn off city buses, and asphalt ripped from the street, as weapons. As one man ignited the last police car he shouted to a reporter "Make sure you put in the paper that I ate too many Twinkies." Sixty officers were injured, and about two dozen arrests were made.

(dan white gets away with murder using the "twinkie defense")

The second stage of the violence was a police raid/riot hours later in the predominantly gay Castro neighborhood, which vandalized the Elephant Walk bar and injured many of its occupants.  After order was restored at City Hall, SFPD cars carrying dozens of officers headed into the Castro District. Officers entered a gay bar called the Elephant Walk, despite their orders not to do so. They shouted "dirty cock suckers" and "sick faggots", shattered the large plate glass windows of the bar, and attacked patrons. After 15 minutes police withdrew from the bar and joined other officers who were indiscriminately attacking gays on the street. The incident lasted nearly two hours.

When Police Chief Charles Gain heard about the unauthorized Elephant Walk raid, he immediately went to the location and ordered his men to leave. Later that night, freelance reporter Michael Weiss saw a group of police officers celebrating at a downtown bar. "We were at City Hall the day [the killings] happened and we were smiling then," one officer explained. "We were there tonight and we're still smiling."

At least 61 police officers and an estimated 100 members of the public were hospitalized in the course of the riot. A civil grand jury convened to find out who ordered the attack, but it ended inconclusively with a settlement covering personal injury claims and damage

In the following days, gay leaders refused to apologize for the events of that night. This led to increased political power in the gay community, which culminated in the election of Mayor Dianne Feinstein to a full term, the following November. In response to a campaign promise, Feinstein appointed a pro-gay Chief of Police, which increased recruitment of gay people in the police force and eased tensions.

Deeply affected by the Milk/Moscone murders and the light sentence given to Dan White, Robert Oppel staged a  play entitled AMERICA BUSTED.

premireing on july 4th, 1979, the play had music, satire and costumes deploring the verdicts and the "twinkie defense."

He also did a parody mock trial called THE EXECUTION OF DAN WHITE
 depicting himself as Dan White asking the question~

"what would happen to a queer~gay~homosexual~pervert~cock sucker~faggot who shot and killed an ex-cop? would he get away with murder?" 

Two days later robert opel was murdered at his gallery~ FEY WAY.

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View these original artworks and many more from ROBERT OPEL & FEY WAY STUDIOS 
circa 1978 & 79 @                   
                                                           ANTEBELLUM HOLLYWOOD.

OPENING NITE~ VALENTINE'S DAY~ FEBRUARY 14TH~ 

6PM TILL 9PM

$10 COVER

FEY WAY INHABITS ANTEBELLUM HOLLYWOOD

FEY WAY IS NOW INHABITING ANTEBELLUM HOLLYWOOD!

some of the original art that once hung @ fey way studios in san francisco circa 1978~ 79.
owned by gay rights activist, photographer, artist, revolutionist, nudist~
ROBERT OPEL

FEY WAY was originally located @ 1287 howard st., SF. during an exciting one year, ( march 78 thru july 79), robert presented some of the most original homoerotic/fetish artists who at the time had little recognition~ TOM OF FINLAND, ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE, ETIENNE, REX, CAMILLE O'GRADY,  BUD LAWSEN, CHARLIE AIRWAVES, DIVINE and numerous others.

Robert Opel was murdered on the night of July 7, 1979, during a robbery of fey way studio, 

by Robert E. Kelly and Maurice Keenan. some think it was a drug related crime, while many others, including robert's close friends believe it was political retribution against robert's performance criticizing the DAN WHITE VERDICT for the murders of HARVEY MILK & MAYOR MOSCONE.

robert performed a stage play entitled AMERICAN BUSTED, and a live performance @ the sf gay pride parade of that year~ where he portrayed dan white. 
robert presented the question~

"what would happen to a queer~gay~homosexual~pervert~cock sucker~faggot 
who shot and killed an ex-cop? would he get away with murder?" 
Two days later robert opel was murdered.

ROBERT OPEL: 

THE RES~ERECTION OF FEY WAY STUDIOS

opens february 14th~ valentine's day~ 

6pm till 9pm

live performances by

ROBERT OPPEL

CLOWNALYN MONROE

MAXDARLING

CASEY LARIOS

DJ~ UND3AD ALI3N

$10 cover

    (ROBERT OPPEL(NEPHEW TO ROBERT OPEL) & CURATOR RICK CASTRO)

photo courtesy~ dave naz~ beverly hills/antebellum correspondent

ROBERT OPEL WAS MY UNCLE

(SF- legend camille o'grady & robert opel, nephew to robert oppel)

Robert Opel was the San Francisco erotic gallery owner, (FEY WAY GALLERY) and photographer who streaked the 1975 Academy Awards, and his nephew Robert Oppel created an incredible and unusual documentary about him, Uncle Bob, shown June 26 at the Roxie Theater- SF, in which the nephew channels his uncle in a performance that makes for a new type of documentary art form.

He satirizes public appearances, talk shows, performance art, and huge celebrity egos and their compulsively exposed personal lives, and he is on screen doing it naked. This journalist, (Rink) knew Opel the gallery owner and the film captures his creativity, generous party-hosting, and promotion of artists and photographers. Opel would be proud of his nephew the filmmaker.
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