Petrelis Files

Trans Police Panel Prez Joins May 17
IDAHO for Gay Iraqis in SF

At last Saturday's meeting of the San Francisco chapter of Gays Without Borders at Cafe Flore, Theresa Sparks stopped by and spoke with us. Theresa is president of the San Francisco Police Commission and is an experienced and dedicated civil rights advocate for many communities.

Leather community organizer Gary Virginia told her about our plans for May 17 IDAHO rally at 12 noon at Harvey Milk Plaza. The International Day Against Homophobia is a global day of gay solidarity and this year the theme is fighting transphobia, and our local action will focus on that and the murders of gays in Iraq.

After listening to our pleas to make a keynote speech on May 17, Theresa not only said yes, she'd be there, but she also promised to bring a few of her tranny friends and colleagues.

Gary's been contacting a number of political and social organizations, enlisting their support for making San Francisco's IDAHO the absolute fabulous action it needs to be, expressing solidarity with LGBT Iraqis. He's also cooking up ways to raise funds for their gay underground network of various kinds of support for LGBT persons in Iraq.

Once we hear back from other individuals and concerned advocacy organizations, we'll spread the word about their support.

In the meantime, Gays Without Borders will be meeting for the next three Saturdays at Cafe Flore. We'll be meeting from 1 - 3 pm. All are welcome to join us. Cafe Flore is located at Market and Noe Streets.

[Photo credit: Luke Thomas, Fog City Journal. Theresa Sparks at a Police Commission hearing last year, before she was elevated to the president's chair.]