Thursday, September 18, 2014

Rainbow Burqa Boy & KGO at Zuckerberg Mansion
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

(Cross posted from our campaign site.)


The #ILikeMikeSF team arrived at noon at the mansion of Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, in District 8's Dolores Heights neighborhood, just as dozens of construction workers were going on their lunch break.

We soon were joined by a big and beefy private security guard named Marcus, who was quite friendly and always had his camera-phone in hand and running when dealing with us.

The dozens workers of expanding and rehabbing the $10 million home were very curious why were at the location and wearing a rainbow burqa, and none of them were familiar with the controversy of Facebook requiring drag queens and performers and everyone else to use their real names on their personal pages.

Many of the construction guys smiled or chuckled at Michael in his rainbow Burqa Boy outfit, and the most talkative worker asked if we had a comedy or dance routine to perform. We told them about the #MyNameIs social media effort.

A cameraman from KGO-TV filmed us in front of the mansion, then asked us a few questions before Marcus came over and filmed the cameraman taping us holding up the letter for Zuckerberg.

Marcus took our letter and said it would be passed along to the Facebook PR team, and we gave out our campaign cards and asked the folks who live in District 8 to vote for us. Bill Wilson snapped lots of great photos and Todd Swindell looked smart and stylish in a campaign tee shirt.

This was a fun political action, we enjoyed engaging with the construction dudes, taking in the spectacular views from atop the hill where the mansion is situated and Michael was happy to remove the rainbow burqa because it's not made with fabric that breathes.

Oh, the dilemmas and dramas of being a drag princess!

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