Iraqi LGBT Accountant Ends Dialogue;
How to Get Answers?

The effort by Iraqi LGBT and its accountant to not share any info on their finances continues. Late last night this email, in response to some simple questions posed to the accountant, hit my in box:

From: josh@thedecopartnership.co.uk
Subject: RE: Questions re: Iraqi-LGBT and charity status

Hi Michael,

I have been asked by the CEO of Iraqi LGBT not to communicate with you anymore. Can I therefore suggest that you direct your questions directly to him?

Warmest regards.
Josh

Hmmm. So, my questions are to go to Ali Hili, the CEO, who hasn't replied to any of my emails in the past few weeks? And Josh will follow Hili's orders, and no longer dialogue with me.

Doesn't sound to me in the least, not after a month of runaround emails from Hili, that Iraqi LGBT and its agents will do a thing to clear up the matter of zero accountability.

They're apparently only interested in soliciting funds from around the world that are supposed to directly benefit gay Iraqis in Baghdad, never providing a basic summary or independently verified accounting of the funds, and cutting off all exchanges with activists who want answers.

Is this situation acceptable to you, or anyone in the global gay advocacy community?

One American journalist, Ann Rostow of San Francisco's Bay Times, had a look at what I've posted on this matter, and made some excellent observations in today's paper:

Reading Petrelis’s hectoring email string, posted on his blog, one first feels some sympathy for the beleaguered activist at the receiving end of Michael’s incessant demands for details. In the end, however, one starts to wonder why the hell Hili can’t get it together to send even a minimal report, particularly since Petrelis and other Bay Area activists raised some money for the cause themselves at a May 17 event ...

“Michael,” writes Hili on June 18, “your pushiness has gone too far. This is why i don’t want to give you any information because of your aggressive approach. Until you decide to change your approach i don’t believe i can communicate with you.”

Subsequently, Petrelis is informed that an accountant is working on a report, but that said accountant is busy with other things and that the report will take time. Another email says the accountant is waiting for some special software. Communication stops in late June, but not before Hili sends Petrelis an invitation to one of those scam photo sharing web sites, presumably an unrelated event ...

I don’t know how much money this group has raised, and certainly Congressman Polis’s donation, while generous, is not an exorbitant sum. Hili was under no obligation to provide a spreadsheet.

He could have just told Petrelis that he had raised, let’s say $100,000, spent $30K on securing safe houses, $20K on food and supplies, $15K on communications, or whatever!

But by providing no information whatsoever, the casual observer conjures up pictures of gay activists meeting over dinner and drinks at the Cinnamon Club and letting Polis and San Francisco pick up the tab. I’m sure this isn’t the case, but why not provide a little basic information, particularly if you are still soliciting funds, as is the case?

The plight of Iraqi gay men is one of the most blood chilling situations on the planet for our community, a story of torture, terror and courage in a war-torn climate where LGBT Iraq is evidently one of the few groups trying to protect gay citizens from violent death at the hands of religious fanatics.

Hili’s group deserves our emotional and financial support, which makes his cooperation with Petrelis all the more essential.

A big shout out to Ann Rostow for accurately summarizing the story up to now.

I'm not sure how to get a few basic answers out of Iraqi LGBT, but I'm not letting go of the issue simply because a representative of the group clams up.

Iraqi LGBT's Accountant in UK:
Report Coming Next Week

In response to my post on Monday regarding accountability issues with Ali Hili and his group Iraqi LGBT, I was contacted by an American gay activist, Jonathan Barnett.

He made me aware of his concerns with this group from the spring, and shared with me an email he received from Josh Botham, the UK-based accountant for Iraqi LGBT. Botham is a partner at the Deco Partnership tax firm, and this is what he said back in March:

Subject: FW: donation
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:09:07 +0100

Dear Jonathan Barnett,

Thank you for contacting Iraqi LGBT. Our organisation is a Non Government Organisation, we are not a charity as yet as our constitution does not allow for this. We do work with international organisations like HIVOS in the Netherlands who financially support our cause. The strategic management of Iraqi LGBT is based in the UK and the operational management is based locally, both in Iraq and its neighbouring countries. The day to day management consists of a solicitor, a chartered accountant [Josh Botham] and a member of the Iraqi LGBT board. We meet up around three times per month but we are in regular telephone contact. On top of this is a board consisting of only Iraqi nationals who meet twice per month in London. They decide upon the strategies of our organisation.

The organisation mainly consists of volunteers and only a few do charge a small fee for the work they undertake. I hope you understand that we cannot divulge too much information about our organisation, but given the views the Iraqi government has towards, Lesbians, Gays, Bi Sexuals and Trans Genders, we only disclose information on a need to know basis.

I deal with the funding in general, speaking at overseas discussion panels etc. It goes without saying that our solicitor deals with all the legal issues, Human Rights, defending people who are in danger of being deported etc. We also have enlisted the help of the legal department of an American University who can help us to speed up the process of relocating refugees from the neighbouring countries to a Western country [typically, America, Sweden, UK or Holland]

All though we are not a charity as yet, we do follow the UK guidelines for registered charities. In your case if you donate for a specific cause, then I will ensure that this money is used for that purpose only. We do produce monthly reports of how the money has been spend and provided that your donation is of a sufficient size we have no objection to keep you informed.

If you wish to speak to a member of our organisation in person, then please contact me on +44 1323 638833 or on 07745 742457 and I am happy to answer any additional questions you may have.

Best wishes.
Josh Botham

Interesting that he claims Iraqi LGBT produces monthly reports, but information from the reports will only be shared if one makes a large donation. Why not just provide the info to the gay public?

Earlier today, Botham replied to a message I sent him yesterday, asking questions about when the group he keeps the books for would release a report about its accounts. This was his reply:

Sent: Tue, Jul 7, 2009 11:42 pm
Subject: RE: Iraqi LGBT and fiscal accountability request to Josh Botham

Hi Michael,

Thank you for your email. I am the accountant for Iraqi LGBT since October 2008. I took over from my predecessor who unfortunately was murdered whilst visiting Iraq. I am in the middle of compiling an annual report for the activities of the group for the period ending 31 May 2009. At present the group operates as a non profit making organisation and I am in the process of registering the group as a charity in the UK. As the organisation does not distribute any profits to its members but allocates it to the good causes it is not liable to any taxes and therefore it does not have to file accounts with the authorities.

As soon as the organisation is registered as a charity [which should be in place by the end of this month] it will be subject to review by the Charities Commissioner in the United Kingdom, it will have to file annual accounts both with the Charities Commissioner and the Companies House.

I intend to complete the annual accounts for the period ending 31 May 2009 by the end of next week and I am sure that you will have access to a copy of this.

Please bear with me till then.

Regards
Josh Botham

Botham's promise to produce some records in the very near future strongly echoes the unkept promise Ali Hili made to me in mid-June.

I shared Botham's note with a few activist colleagues in London, and one friend, who wishes to remain anonymous, sent questions to me that he hoped would be forwarded to Botham.

The questions were emailed to Botham and a response was again requested. Here are the questions:

Following on from that email Josh sent you, you might want to follow up with a few probing questions.

(1) On what to they base their current claim that they are tax-exempt on the basis that their group "does not distribute any profits to its members but allocates it to the good causes". Since when are "good causes" a legal concept understood by Inland Revenue? And how would they prove to Inland Revenue that the money had indeed gone to "a good cause" if they can't even prove it to you and me?

(2) If they currently believe they are tax-exempt on the above basis, why are they even bothering to seek charitable status?

(3a) If they will have to lodge their accounts with "Company's House", it means they're planning to become a Limited Company (which of course can be a charitable concern), but who will the directors be? Ali Hili is not even his real name, so how will Ali be a director (given that the identity of company directors is public domain information?) Who will the other directors be? Why is Josh neglecting to mention these not minor details?

(3b) If they have already started the ball rolling with the Charities Commission to register as a Charitable Company (they must have if they will be registered by the end of the month because it is not a fast process) where are their required "Articles of Association" and "Charitable Aims & Objectives". These documents have to be submitted with any application, and typically a lawyer would have helped draw them up. Who performed this service? Was it Josh?

(4) If it is taking so long to prepare "the books", what is a ballpark figure of income? It must be very high and there must be loads of transactions or else it would only take an evening or two to collate a few bank statements and printouts from PayPal. Not months. Surely?

(5) How do they manage to send tens of thousands of Pounds out of the UK and to Iraq seemingly without paperwork?

Lots of answers and reports are being requested from Iraqi LGBT and their UK accountant, and I hope to soon have some detailed info to share.

Polis Ignorant of How $10K To Iraqi LGBT Used;
Group Isn't Accountable

A month ago, I wrote to openly gay Congressman Jared Polis' communications director, asking if he received any accounting from Ali Hili and his Iraqi LGBT group in London. The very rich Polis last year gave $10,000 to the group, for their work with gay people in Iraq. It took a few contacts with his office, but eventually they gave me this answer:

Sent: Wed, Jun 10, 2009 2:16 pm
Subject: RE: Fiscal accounting from Iraqi LGBT?

Michael,

The Congressman does not know how his donation has been spent.

Thanks,
Lara Cottingham

At the same time, I began a fruitless conversation with Hili, and his supporters Peter Tatchell and Paul Canning in the UK, looking for any degree of accountability from Iraqi LGBT. A month after asking simple transparency questions of Hili, no fiscal accounting has been presented, and most communication with him has stopped.

He did send me a note last week asking that I join up with a pic-sharing service, one that requires lots of personal info before membership is granted. But he's provided no URL to any public accounting from his group, nor has he shared the name of anyone else in his London-based organization who could answer my questions.

Below are most of the exchanges I had with Hili, Tatchell and Canning over the past month, and I really hope other bloggers, gay and international reporters, and non-governmental organizations pose basic transparency questions to Iraqi LGBT.

A lot of money has been donated to Iraqi LGBT over the last four years, including the $10,000 from a U.S. Congressman, to help gays in Iraq. It's time for Iraqi LGBT to provide the public with an accounting.

Here are the emails:

-----Original Message-----
From: mpetrelis@aol. com
To: iraqilgbt@yahoo.co.uk
Sent: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 9:44 am
Subject: Fiscal accountability and Iraqi LGBT

Hello Ali,

I hope you are well and continuing with your good work on behalf of LGBT people in Iraq. I write to you today to ask some basic questions, about your group and fiscal accountability concerns.

First, who is your accountant and does he provide you with annual reports, that can be shared with donors and the gay public?

Second, can you provide me with a financial accounting of how much money Iraqi LGBT received in 2008, and where the donations were spent?

Third, have you provided U.S. Congressman Jared Polis with a financial accounting of how his $10,000 donation earlier this year was used to directly assist LGBT citizens of Iraq?

Fourth, who are the other persons in the Iraqi LGBT group and is it possible to communicate with any of them who live in London?

Please answer these important questions at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,
Michael

-0-

From: Paul Canning
To: mpetrelis@aol.com
Sent: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 9:32 am

Michael

A response is being prepared with the group's accountant and in conjunction with Peter Tatchell. It will address the issues you have raised as well as some other ones which we have on other issues which have arisen. As you may imagine I cannot say more at the moment.

Paul

-0-

Sent June 12, 2009

Hi Paul,

I write to you about my concerns regarding fiscal accountability and Iraqi LGBT for several reasons. One, you've done much public relations volunteer work and advocacy promotion for Ali Hili and Iraqi LGBT. And two, you're beating the drums again on several gay web sites, soliciting funds for Iraqi LGBT, claiming that money raised will go toward safe houses and expenses for the needs of LGBT citizens of Iraq.

As you can see, I've twice emailed Ali this week for some essential, basic info about his group and their fiscal accountability to the public. For whatever reasons, Ali has not written back and provided me any answers, nor has he told me of a contact of anyone else in his group who could give me the simple answers I'm requesting.

I believe you have a responsiblity to work with Ali to do this. If you're going to ask the gay public for contributions to support alleged safe house in Iraq and other needs of LGBT people in the country, the gay public should have standard fiscal reports about the how the donations have been used. Of course, bear in mind, I"m not asking for the release of any info that could in any way jeopardize the safety and security of LGTB people in Baghdad.

Please, between you and Ali, and whoever else may belong to Iraqi LGBT and serve as their accountant, address my concerns.

Michael

-0-

Sent June 19, 2009:

Hi Michael,

I think Ali should acknowledge your email, but I am assured by him that records and accounts will be presented. To transfer this mass of detailed information into a publicly presentable form takes time.

Iraqi LGBT's account and book-keeper is a volunteer. He cannot be reasonably expected to drop his full-time job and produce something instantly.

You are right to seek transparency but please give Iraqi LGBT a bit of time. I am sure from doing your own accounts and tax returns you know how fiddly and time-consuming this task can be.

Best wishes, Peter Tatchell

-0-

Sent June 15, 2009:

Dear Ali,

It's been almost a week since I first wrote to you asking for basic accountability, and I not heard back from you. I did receive a vague message, with no dates mentioned, from Paul Canning, saying a reply is being prepared.

I must ask when will you be releasing a fiscal accounting to the gay donors and the gay public? Also, will you be able to name anyone else who is in your group in the UK and can speak with the community?

Answers are very much needed, the sooner the better.

On your web site, http://iraqilgbtuk.blogspot.com/ , you've taken the liberty of including the video from our May 17 San Francisco action for gay Iraqis, and prominently placed it on your site. Of course, your site is also
making lots of requests for funds, and I am uncomfortable with our SF action and video assisting your fundraising efforts in any way.

I ask for a reply from you today.

Michael

-0-

Sent: Thu, Jun 18, 2009 1:56 pm

Dear friends and supporters of Iraqi lgbt,

Our team working with our accountant and bookkeeper on publishing and releasing our financial reports with a major news source to put it to the public.

We would really appreciate your patience, help and all your great support.

Kind regards
Ali

-0-

Date: Friday, 19 June, 2009, 2:37 AM

Hi Ali,

Thanks for FINALLY replying. I am very disappointed you don't give a date when you will produce fiscal accountability. You also don't give the names or contact info for either your bookkeeper and accountant, and you fail to name which major news outlet will receive your report.

But the day after San Francisco staged our May 17 action, you wasted no time asking how money was raised and when you would receive it. So when you want money you can write a letter real quick, but when potential donors request accountability, you are SILENT and give vague notes.

Until such time as you produce some valid fiscal accountability for the 3 -4 years you've been asking for money from the global gay community, I will ask people to withhold donating to your "group."

You really owe everyone a full transparent accounting. Here is your old email:

From: IRAQI LGBT
Date: 18 May 2009 18:53:17 BST
To: Jeff Cotter

Dear Jeff,

On behalf of IRAQI LGBT and myself, we would like to express our sincerest and deepest gratitude and thank you for your efforts in organising yesterday's event in San Francisco ...

As I'm sure you are aware. the fundraising is very important to us and will be immediately put to good use. We have launched an appeal for the safe houses project, details of this including a breakdown of the costs we are bearing can be found here.

Support the safe houses project for lgbt people in Iraq. We would like to let people know what was raised at the event, could you let us know?

For your information, it is also useful for our planning to know if funds can be expected. Could you please pass on our deepst appreciation to all those involved with the event. These efforts are truly helping save lives.

Once again, thank you Ali Hilli

-0-

Sent: Thu, Jun 18, 2009 3:47 pm
Subject: Re: Fiscal accountability and Iraqi LGBT

Michael your pushiness has gone too far , this is why i don't want to give you any information because of your aggressive approach.

Until you decide to change your approach i don't believe i can communicate with you.

Ali

-0-

Date: Friday, 19 June, 2009, 3:16 AM

Ali,

You should have provided fiscal accountability a long time ago. The problem you are facing is not me being pushy. The problem is you can't produce any accounting or anyone in your "group." Questions must be asked, by reporters who have covered you and your work, about how much money you have raised, has it reached the gays in Iraq or in refuge, and who else is in your group.

I beg you - get your books in order with your accountant, and provide the community with some real answers.

Michael

-0-

Sent: Thu, Jun 18, 2009 4:22 pm
Subject: Re: Fiscal accountability and Iraqi LGBT

Our accountant Mr Josh Botham is working very hard on this issue, i cannot pressure him anymore. He informed me today that the report might be ready on Tuesday or Wednesday.

We have to get the information from Syria, Iraq and forward this information to Josh after translating it.

Josh believes the reports will be ready next week; we cannot put more pressure on him as he is doing us a favour.

Ali

-0-

Date: Tuesday, 23 June, 2009, 9:18 PM

Hi Ali,

I am writing an update on this accountability issue for my blog. Last week, you said Josh Botham might have a fiscal report to release to the public and community today. Is the report ready for public inspection? Please inform of when it will be posted on the web.

Michael

-0-

Sent: Wed, Jun 24, 2009 7:10 am
Subject: Re: Fiscal accountability and Iraqi LGBT

Dear Michael ,

Thank you for your message, our bookkeeper and accountant Mr. Josh Botham has already finished the report and i believe he is awaiting a charities module for his accounting software which will allow him to compile the whole set of accounts together with the narratives and reports you are requesting.

Please bear with us for a few more days.

Warmest regards
Ali

-0-

Sent: Tue, Jun 30, 2009 8:35 pm
Subject: Re: Fiscal accountability and Iraqi LGBT

Hi Ali,

It's almost a week since you sent this email. What is your update for me? Is your accountant finally ready to release the report? Please respond and let me know when you can publicly share the report.

Michael

-0-

From: ali hili
To: michael@petrelisfiles.com
Sent: Mon, Jun 29, 2009 7:42 am
Subject: ali h has sent you a private message

http://www.flixster.com/user/iraqilgbt/connect

ali h

-0-

Hi Ali,

I do not join services like this, unless the sender, that's you, tells me what he has posted there. Have you posted your fiscal accounting and answers to my questions about Iraqi LGBT to Flixster? Please tell me what it is you have posted at the link.
If it is the requested accounting, I will join the service.

Michael

-0-

[There have been no further replies from Ali.]

Gay Plaques of the Castro:
A Photo Essay

In the days leading up to Gay Pride, my friend Rick Gerharter, veteran photographer and community historian, and I were medicating on 420 and he asked me how many gay plaques or commemorations existed in our little gay district, the Castro. My mind was foggy and together we compiled a list of such places.

Rick inspired me to snap pics of all the commemorations, and with the help of my partner Mike Merrigan, who took the photos of the Mark Bingham plaques, we created this photo essay. I believe my montage is the most comprehensive pictorial of gay-related plaques in the Castro village.

Let's begin our tour with the highest elevated plaque, in the Pink Triangle Park, literally above the Castro on the high parcel of land between Market and 17 Streets heading up to Twin Peaks.

At the entrance to the triangular-shaped park is this plaque, with a photo of German homosexuals lining up in a concentration camp as a Nazi guard inspects them. The plaque describes the history of the pink triangle and the creation of the park. Notice that former Mayor Willie Brown's name appears in the middle, and in type almost as large as the plaque's title.


A walkway divides the pillars with pink triangles on top.


A prominent section of Harvey Milk Plaza is dedicated to celebrating his life and times.


There's a wonderful photo spread on the metal fence protecting the plaza's lower-level garden.


And this Milk plaque is near the subway entrance, and gives a basic introduction to his life.


This plaque honoring political animal Carole Migden is on the brick wall to the left of the fence with the Milk photos, and is high up and obscured by a thick row of bamboo plants. To view and read it, one has stand on the bent metal bench in front of the bamboo.


On the top level of the plaza is this plaque at the base of the enormous pole and rainbow flag, central to plaza's design. The plaque notes the history of the rainbow flag's creation by Gilbert Baker, and a lot of space is given to elected officials in office in the late 1990s when the pole and plaque erected. In the middle of the sign are the politicians' names, next to the title of the office they held.

At the Eureka Valley Recreation Center on Collingwood Street, a plaque hangs in the lobby near the gymnasium, honoring Mark Bingham, who was killed on 9/11 on United flight 93 when it crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.

Over the entrance to the gymnasium is this plaque.


Near the steps leading up to the Rikki Streicher Field on the recreation center's property, is a plaque commemorating the life of a legendary lesbian leader active in sports and gay politics, and owner of lesbian bars. She died in 1994.


On the fence bordering the steps up to the field is where you'll find this sign.


The cement wall under that green sign has this plaque in memory of Sean P. Garvey. I don't know who he was, or if he was gay, and I hope someone who did know him or why a plaque was created for him at the recreation center, can enlighten me to his life and contributions to the neighborhood.


On 19th and Collingwood Streets is the neighborhood's public grammar school, named in honor of Milk.


To the left of the academy's entrance are a number of mosaics, including one of Milk in his big moustache/long hair phase.


Near the curb in front of what was Milk's camera store on Castro Street, is this small almost-impossible to read plaque. One has to really be looking to notice it.


Above the entrance to the former camera store is a beautiful painting of Milk, looking down on his beloved Castro village. Unfortunately, the ego of Willie Brown mars the image. Notice that under the name of the artist who created it, Josef Norris, sponsorship credit is given to the former mayor.


Friends of gay military vet Leonard Matlovich created this fine plaque for him and it's on display on the 18th Street side of the large green apartment building at Castro and 18th Streets.


This sign marks the very small part of 16th Street, almost at Market Street, in front of the Eureka Valley public library, for drag performer and political activist Jose Sarria. Most people know him by his nom de drag - the Widow Norton - the surviving spouse of Emperor Norton, who in the 1860s proclaimed he was the ruler of America.

At the base of the street sign is a plaque featuring Widow Norton in drag, and details about her life and advocacy.

A plaque almost at sidewalk level on the entrance to Catch restaurant on Market Street, several feet under the menu display, marks the venue as the original site of the AIDS quilt workshop and storage space.

In Duboce Park is where you'll find the newly remodeled neighborhood arts and crafts center named for Milk.

Near the second floor entrance of the center is a colorful display of Milk photos.

I hope you like the photos and my effort to capture on film all of the plaques and commemorations in the Castro. Let me know if I missed any plaque(s) that should be included here.

Botched Circumcisions Kill 33 Boys in S. Africa

Male genital mutilation, also known as circumcision, is as horrific and sometimes deadly as female genital mutilation, and is frequently carried out against the personal wishes of young persons.

A high number of deaths from inept cutting of the penis foreskin on teenage males has been reported in the past few days out of South Africa, but not yet attracting USA media or blogger attention.

The 33 deaths are in themselves an outrage, and as this Deutsche Presse-Agentur story states, there are quite a few other similar deaths reported recently, along with high numbers hospitalized with infections and mutilated penises.

I wonder how many instances of male and female deaths from circumcision occur and are not recorded by health authorities or make the news.

In my view, genital circumcision on either young or adolescent males or females should be outlawed unless full consent is granted, when they are adults.

A BBC report from May 2009 said,

Eight boys have died and three are in hospital after botched circumcisions in the South African province of Mpumalanga, officials say.

The teenagers were at an initiation school in the town of Kwamhlanga.

One of the initiates died in hospital and the seven others were found by health officials dead at the school.

Further back, in December 2003, a frightening article appeared in the South African Mail and Guardian, reporting a figure in the triple-digits for number of male circumcision deaths since the mid-1990s:

Department spokesperson Kupelo said the department has no intention of interfering with traditional customs, and is merely trying to prevent unnecessary deaths, of which there have been more than 250 since 1995.

Excerpts from the German press agency's report today:

Thirty-three South African boys have died following botched circumcisions in the country’s Eastern Cape province, radio reports said Sunday ...

The group procedure is usually carried out in winter. Each year brings its share of fatalities, which are usually blamed on the use of blunt, unsterilised instruments ...

The Department of Health has expressed alarm at the death toll, which has steadily climbed in recent days and said it was sending additional health workers to the area to carry out an audit.

A health spokesman pointed the finger at local communities for the deaths, accusing them of covering up for illegal initiation schools and hiding injured boys until it was too late to save them.

The commonest causes of death are septicaemia from infected wounds, and dehydration, which happens when initiates are denied water by their handlers.

Many more youths are hospitalised each year with infected or mutilated penises ...

BBC Airs 'Gay Life After Saddam' on July 5;
Includes White House Reaction

The producer of this radio documentary alerted me today that the BBC will broadcast the important story on Sunday. I intend to listen to it and hope lots of gays and human rights activists around the world also tune in.

Producer Ashley Byrne says to try this BBC link for the one-hour program, and the show may also be accessed at this link, after it airs.

I'm particularly interested in learning what the White House had to say about the torture and murder of gay Iraqis. Just one of many good reasons to hear what the BBC has to report.

Excerpts from the news release:

In Gay Life After Saddam, Aasmah Mir finds out how life for the country's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community (LGBT) has got much worse since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Human rights campaigners claim hundreds of LGBT people have been killed or tortured while others have fled the country fearing for their safety since Saddam was toppled from power six years ago ...

Producer Ashley Byrne says: "The programme includes an interview with a gay Iraqi who was kidnapped and raped before fleeing the country, we hear from a young man who fled to Paris after being tortured and we get exclusive access to a so-called 'safe house' harbouring vulnerable LGBT Iraqis on the outskirts of Baghdad." ...

Co-Producer Gail Champion says: ... "What surprised me more than anything was how much life was easier for LGBT people under Saddam Hussein." ...

Throughout, the programme asks what the West should do and it includes reaction from the White House and the Foreign Office in London ...

Gay Life After Saddam, BBC Radio 5 Live, 7.00-8.00pm, Sunday 5 July 2009

Gay Judge for Boies/Olson Prop 8 Lawsuit?

(U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker. Photo credit: Rick Gerharter Photography.)

Before the security guards let me into the hearing in Judge Vaughn Walker's packed courtroom on the 17th floor of the federal building on Golden Gate Avenue yesterday morning, I read the Bay Area Reporter's story on the case out in the hallway. The point of the hearing was to settle case management issues related to the federal lawsuit challenging Prop 8 filed by superstar lawyers David Boies and Ted Olson, and took less than an hour to conclude.

The moment I saw the photo of Walker in the BAR, my gaydar's bells and whistles went off. Once I was allowed into the courtroom, took a seat and observed Walker in action, I was convinced the judge was a gay man.

His chipper demeanor, and low-key humor that several times set off loud laughter from lawyers and spectators, gave me the feeling Walker would make an excellent entertainer at a gay piano bar for refined mature gentlemen.

Not only that, I also had an incredible sense of elation, being an eyewitness to homo-history in the making and because the bold and radical lawsuit, if successful, would be a giant leap forward for the gay community. For an excellent report on the hearing, read the BAR account.

While I lack solid proof Walker is indeed gay, there are other factors leading me to believe he's gay. I've heard from two respected veteran LGBT community reporters that he is considered "family". One reporter said it in an email, the other mentioned it as fact over the phone.

There's also the matter of none of his biographical info online says anything about a wife. Heck, the SF Chronicle story in 2004 when he ascended to his current position, omitted any reference to his marital status. The omission of marital status is not evidence of gayness, of course, but it sure raises rainbow flags, in my mind, that an unmarried man of his age and stature could be gay.

Regardless of his sexual orientation, I expect Walker will be fair to both sides of this important lawsuit, and will continue to be a judge of scrupulous impartiality.

By the way, if Walker is gay as I believe he is, he wouldn't be the first, or second, gay judge in California to rule on gay marriages.

The first judge was Superior Court Judge James L. Warren, who handled the case of gay marriages performed in San Francisco during 2004, and is grandson of Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. He was outed as gay in a June 2002 article in San Francisco Magazine.

The second gay jurist to rule on gay marriages was California Supreme Court Justice Carol Corrigan, who was outed in 2006 in the LA Daily News and the Gay and Lesbian Times of San Diego.

When the history of the gay marriage battle in California is written, I expect the role of gay judges to be addressed honestly and without prejudice.

And that history book could be written much sooner than Gay Inc leaders expected, if Boies and Olson are successful in their legal challenge, a success I see as very possible.

Veteran syndicated gay journalist Rex Wockner recently posted a wonderful rant to his blog recently, summarizing the thoughts of many gays, about this bold lawsuit, and fears of Gay Inc:

I've only been saying this (that not letting gays marry violates the U.S. Constitution) to every major gay-rights lawyer that will listen to me for, like, 5 years ...

But the gay-rights lawyers were all like: "Uh, oh no! Time not right! Bad idea. Bad bad bad!" Well, now it's gonna happen anyway ...

Go Olson & Boies. When you win this thing, the entire gay-rights legal establishment is gonna have some explaining to do on why they were such wusses ...

If we lose, which I don't think we will, we just go back again. We lost the SCOTUS sodomy thing the first time, then won it the second time ...

Gays are still getting crapped on. Getting crapped on is not right. Don't sit around and wring your hands about when is the right time to object. Object continuously. You wanna change the world or not?

There's never any time like the present.

The Boies and Olson lawsuit is a real game-changer, and we gays should be thankful for this.

2 SF AIDS Execs Hit $250K Salary Milestone?
PWAs Facing Drug Cocktail Cuts

[UPDATE: Nolan has replied and his email is below.]

Over the course of 2007 and 2008, direct services for people with AIDS funded by local and federal dollars were reduced because of budget shortfalls. In the past few months, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed decimating the AIDS drug assistance program that keeps PWAs alive and healthy.

And while these cutbacks were implemented or proposed, one thing didn't change - increasing AIDS executives' compensation packages in San Francisco.

The most recent IRS 990 tax reports for fiscal year 2007/2008 for two of the top HIV service organizations here show the executive directors and their colleagues managed to find money in their budgets to give them raises.

At Project Open Hand, a hot meals and food pantry agency, the leader, Tom Nolan, had a compensation package totaling $248,200. The budget last year was $10.2 million.

While Nolan is the head of this agency, he spends a great deal of time performing the myriad and complex duties required of him as the chairman of the board of the SF Municipal Transportation Agency. My estimate for numbers of hours Nolan puts in on the SFMTA chairman's responsibilities per week is 20.

Judson True, spokesperson for SFMTA, after five hours of checking into an estimate, even after I pointed out that the agency surely can tell potential board members how much time in a given week they're expect to work on very complicated transit matters, he was unable to give me even a ballpark figure. If True finally gets me an estimate, I'll update.

Over at the SF AIDS Foundation, their executive director, Mark Cloutier, took home $236,797 during the last fiscal year, when the organization's revenue was $24.1 million.

And Cloutier was not alone in receiving such a large salary at the foundation. The IRS 990 shows the chief financial officer, Marty Low, earned $206,239, and Steve Tierney, director of programs, took home $201,227. The director of science policy, Judy Auerbach, was compensated $195,004, and the development director, Barbara Kimport, received $193,180.

Allow me to digress for a moment, and point out that Rep. Nancy Pelosi's district director, Dan Bernal, is a member of the foundation's board of directors. Not that there is anything wrong with that ... is there?

In looking over the three years' worth of recent tax reports for Project Open Hand and SF AIDS Foundation, the salary trend for the executives is going up, up, up, something I expect continues into the current fiscal year's budgets. Sure, I'd like to think a miracle has happened and the agencies have curbed the salary increases, but so far this year, neither agency has announced any executive compensation stabilization or decreases.

How do the salaries of Nolan and Cloutier compare to that of Dr. Mitch Katz, the director of the Department of Public Health?

According to city records in the SF Chronicle's data base, Katz earned $254,227 in 2008. DPH spokesperson Eileen Shields said today that, "in 08-09 our total budget was $1,575,922,495." One point five billion is a figure vastly larger than that of either AIDS service agency, but Katz, with more programs and dollars to worry over, is clearly not compensated based on the size of his budget.

Defenders of high six-figure pay rates for AIDS directors frequently point to the large budgets, and stewardship of the revenue, as partial reason for such good salaries.

But the leader of DPH doesn't make all that much more than the top executives at Project Open Hand or SF AIDS Foundation, even though his responsibilities are greater.

Technically speaking, Nolan and Cloutier are not making quarter-million dollars salaries, but I wager that when we learn their compensation for 2009, we will see they're at that milestone.

Finally, be sure to read the comments from an AIDS community leader and person with AIDS, making additional points about the salaries' issue.

UPDATE

Here's a reply from Nolan, who apparently doesn't spend very many hours at all working on SFMTA business:

Hi Michael,

In response to your message:

1. The SFMTA generally meets twice a month, averaging about 3 hours per meeting; upon occasion I am asked to represent the Board at community and city government functions. In addition, I typically have a once a month meeting with the SFMTA Executive Director over lunch before one of the Board meetings. Typically the Board package arrives on Thursday afternoon and I read it over the weekend. Generally that takes about an hour on Saturday or Sunday.

2. The nature of my job as Executive Director of Project Open Hand is decidedly not restricted to 9 to 5 days. In fact the position requires significant evening and weekend time, a fact the Project Open Hand Board fully understands and supports.

Sincerely,

Tom Nolan

TABC: 'Saddened' Over Head Injury to Gay Man
During Ft Worth Bar Raid

This release hit my in-box a short while ago, and while I'm pleased the administrator expresses mild regret over the injury caused to Chad Gibson during the raid, I am furious the TABC folks expend just a single sentence on the suffering of this gay man.

Let us also not forget it's taken 2-3 days for the TABC to issue any sort of public statement about the hospitalization of Gibson, demonstrating real concern for him and his health status. Did it take so many days to say anything about Gibson's injury because TABC needed time to put the best possible spin on their raid?

You can follow the reaction of gay Texans and their response to the raid, including a vigil for Gibson tonight, at the Dallas Voice's blog.

Finally, if anyone knows of a fund being established to help Gibson and his family deal with his medical expenses, please let me know about it and I'll promote it.

Here are excerpts from the TABC release:

At the Rainbow Lounge, TABC agents placed one individual under arrest, Chad Gibson who was injured while in the agents’ custody. Mr. Gibson was released to paramedics for treatment of alcohol poisoning and a head injury and transported to a local hospital.

“We are saddened that this incident occurred and extend our sincere hope that Mr. Gibson recovers quickly,” said TABC Administrator Alan Steen. “I have initiated an internal affairs investigation to answer questions about how these locations were chosen, to review the agents’ actions, and specifically to establish the facts surrounding Mr. Gibson’s injury."

[Deleted positive self-serving spin on the alleged great work of TABC because I'm not their mouthpiece.]

SF's Central YMCA Has Closed

There was much sadness at the city's Central YMCA on Golden Gate Avenue in the Tenderloin during it's last hour of operations today. I'm going to miss this place.

The building, opened way back in 1910 to replace the facility destroyed in the fire after the 1906 earthquake, has been sold to a nonprofit housing corporation that will transform it into affordable housing for low-income seniors.

I've heard talk that the Y wants to build another facility in the same neighborhood in the next few years, but given the state of the local economy, I don't really expect that project to break ground before the first Obama term is over.

Besides missing the convenience of the location, healthy exercising and sweating, the affordability, the total lack of music on the 5th floor workout room so one could hold a conversation without shouting, and all the sexy guys, one thing I'm really to going to miss are the diverse people who went there.

How diverse was it? Well, in the first week I was a member, I saw gay millionaire Jim Hormel, who could easily afford a gym in his mansion, working out next to a friend of mine who lived in a local homeless shelter. A genuine cross-section of folks - all colors, ages, shapes and weights, orientations - from all parts of the city and wider Bay Area, used this Y.

Like many others, I'll be transferring to the Embarcadero Y, and hope to see familiar faces, and bodies, down there. And in disco heaven, the Village People are singing their classic gay anthem tonight with a degree of sadness.

Here are a few pics from the last hour of business at this YMCA:

Ah, the fabulous men and fun activities I saw in the steam room and sauna.

The empty shower annex in the basement.

From the rafters of the 5th floor basketball, well-hung banners proclaiming financial donations from members such as former gay leader and businessman Rick Stokes, and the gay bathhouse of the East Bay.

The banner in honor the Spam heir.

The triangular sign over the entrance, which used to be lit up in pink neon.