Petrelis Files

2012-01-29T16:06:00.000-08:00

Zapping SF's Sheriff at Court:
'Resign, Ross, Resign!'

(Your humble blogger answering reporters' questions at the Hall of Justice, January 26. Credit: Luke A. Thomas, Fog City Journal.)

Ross Mirkarimi, San Francisco's recently sworn-in sheriff who's facing three misdemeanor charges related to an act of alleged domestic abuse with his wife, was in Superior Court before Judge Susan Breall on Thursday requesting amendments to the restraining order preventing him from having contact with his young son.

Breall rejected Mirkarimi's wish to have supervised contact with the child and his case suffered no delays, even with a new defense attorney hired by Mirkarimi just the day before the hearing.

I showed up with a "Resign, Ross, Resign!" poster and shouted at the sheriff as he entered and exited the court room. "Do the city a favor, Ross! Resign!" echoed off the marble walls, as I sent a message from my lips to the sheriff's ears.

My basic view of this case is that Eliana Lopez, Mirkarimi's wife, has told a lot of truth about her mistreatment at the hands of her husband, the same goes for former girlfriends stepping forward now, and that there are powerful political forces that don't like the new sheriff and a whole lot of folks who want to see him brought down.

However, I don't for a moment believe that district attorney George Gascon would press three serious charges in a matter that he certainly knows will attract intense scrutiny and demands to produce evidence that can sway a San Francisco jury, if he didn't have rock-solid proof backing up the charges.

I stand with the women's and anti domestic violence groups and leaders who have called on Mirkarimi to resign.

2012-01-27T15:58:00.000-08:00

Gary Virginia: Castro's Wiener
Must Post 2012 Meeting Schedule

(Gary Virginia on his phone. Credit: Bill Wilson.)

This past Monday, I attended the Land Use Committee hearing at City Hall regarding pending legislation related the public plazas in the Castro neighborhood. This was the first meeting where all interested parties were in the same room with Scott Wiener and everyone was allowed a chance to speak on the legislation.

Several speakers complained that Wiener held no meetings of his own, and that he appeared only before civic groups friendly to his agenda. At the end of the hearing, Wiener said he had appeared at neighborhood meetings, which is true but what he omitted is that some of those meetings were for members-only, or held at 9:00 am when lots of working folks couldn't attend, and not publicized.

My old friend Gary Virginia, a longtime Castro voter and indefatigable LGBT and AIDS community organizer and fundraiser, and an incredibly sweet guy, penned this essay rebutting Wiener's bogus claim that he did sufficient outreach before introducing his plaza proposal. I've been granted permission to share the essay here.

Virgnia's basic idea, that Wiener set and publish a schedule of when he'll hold his own open meetings in the district, should immediately be adopted by the supervisor. If Wiener were to heed Virginia's advice, such meetings would go a long way toward cooling the scorching divisions that diminish the Castro's vibrancy. Who could object to the supervisor expanding the number of constituents he hears from and bringing transparency to his style of leadership?

Here's Virginia's opinion column:

I see a continuing problem with local politics in District 8 (Castro, Noe Valley, Glen Park.) Supervisor Scott Wiener is following closely in the footsteps of his predecessor by not hosting community meetings but claiming he “has worked with stake holders” when voting and acting on issues of concern to all constituents.

The latest issue in this line of selective input, is Wiener’s justification for proposed legislation for Jane Warner and Harvey Milk plazas. A capacity crowd at the Jan. 23 Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee met to discuss his proposed legislation which has now been amended at least twice (one item changed due to input by the ACLU).

Excerpted from a change.org online petition that was submitted at the meeting:

“We oppose Supervisor Scott Wiener's proposed regulations for Harvey Milk and Jane Warner plazas in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood. There was no community process in coming up with these regulations. In fact, a local community group, QUEEN (Queers for Economic Equality Now) had proposed a community task force to address any concerns people had with the plazas and develop ways to make them welcoming to all people, including the homeless. That proposal was rejected by Castro Benefits District (CBD), a neighborhood group funded by the city, and Scott Wiener.

“Jane Warner, for whom the one plaza is named, cared a lot about homeless queer youth. As a Patrol Special officer, she worked tirelessly with homeless advocates in the neighborhood when they set up three separate homeless LGBT youth shelters in the late 90s.

“The plaza named after Harvey Milk, another fierce advocate for queer youth, has become a symbol worldwide of the freedom that LGBT people have been fighting for these past five decades. It has always been a place where all people can gather, rally, have fun, sit, cruise, give out literature, sell pamphlets, and generally enjoy public space. Putting unnecessary restrictions on our public space is not in keeping with the spirit of Harvey Milk or the LGBT community.”

The majority of public comments at the Jan. 23 hearing opposed the legislation including speakers from Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center (LYRIC), Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, Community United Against Violence, Homes Not Jails, QUEEN, Gays Without Borders/SF, Coalition on Homelessness, Pride at Work, Homeless Advocates for Youth, Gubbio Project (a daytime program for homeless people at Saint Boniface Church in the Tenderloin), as well as personal friends of Harvey Milk and Officer Jane Warner. Unfortunately, the legislation was passed out of committee (Sup. Carmen Chu & Scott Wiener in favor; Committee Chair Eric Mar opposed) so the legislation will be heard by the full Board on January 31.

Wiener prides himself on having worked with “stake holders” but this has been limited to business and residential neighborhood associations and the paid-for CBD. When you look at the neighborhood association memberships, many of the same people and officers belong to multiple associations, and the presidents and officers are skewed to million-dollar homeowners. Likewise, I doubt there are any LGBT youth, homeless, or vulnerable populations represented in the Merchants of Upper Market & Castro (MUMC) or CBD groups.

I have volunteered and donated thousands of hours of my time to MUMC, CBD, Castro After Dark (bar guild), Castro Farmers’ Market, and many activist, charitable, and neighborhood causes so I know from where I speak. Many issues are not black or white, but open dialogue results in the best solutions.

I also have personal friends who have been affected by the ill-conceived Care Not Cash program, the Sit/Lie ordinance, TIC and Ellis Act evictions and gentrification. One friend who came out at 52 years of age lost his life savings and has been living out of his car for two years. My former roommate who will be 80 this year got evicted due to a TIC sale 14 years ago and she’s been homeless since. Other friends who could not beat crystal meth

Victims of the economy, domestic violence, or homophobia often seek refuge in San Francisco due to our long-standing values of compassion and care. For LGBT folks, the Castro is perceived to be a beacon of hope, tolerance and often a last resort for help. To continually criminalize people and force them into a cycle of homelessness is not humane nor economically savvy for our city’s shrinking budget.

Here’s my challenge to Sup. Wiener: publish a 2012 schedule now (rotating days and times) for monthly community meetings in your district. Have the first item on the agenda be for public comment. Publish the minutes online. Simple, transparent, democratic.

The charade of “I have met with stake holders” is over. Many of your constituents don’t want to, or are unable to, join a neighborhood or merchant association. I have been a witness to how many of these groups control the agenda, and prearrange strategy, speakers and data to skew outcomes. They do not speak for me, nor your most vulnerable constituents. You were elected to represent the interests of ALL people who live, work, play or spend time in the Castro ... not just merchants, contracted benefit districts, and neighborhood associations.

There’s a reason a Facebook group was created named “Recall Scott Wiener Now!” As with the Occupy movement, average people are fed up with the “haves” controlling the destiny of the “have nots.”

2012-01-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

On My Second 64th Birthday, My First Will

In gay years, I am turning 64 (again) today.

That was the age I chose for myself last January 26 when I'd been thinking about my husbear Mike and our incredibly fabulous years together, and that old Beatles song "When I'm Sixty-Four".

Whatever my age, in either gay years or reality, 53, it's great to be alive and mostly thriving.

That said, allow me to share with you what present I gave myself this week: a notarized will and advance healthcare directive. With apologies to Stephen Sondheim, let me say, look, I made a will, where there never was a will.

I addressed the reasons why up till now I lacked these legal documents in my last column for the Let's Talk HIV series over at the Edge Network. Give it a read, and if you were like me, lacking a will, maybe my example could help you get your legal affairs in order. I'm pleased to say not only do I have the will and healthcare directive signed, I also have all the power of attorney and end of life wishes taken care of.

Here's my piece:

All of my adult life, I’ve had a psychological barrier stopping me from taking care of very important records that should have been addressed long ago. I am in the process of drafting my first will, advance healthcare directive (AHD), and other legal documents regarding my wishes when my health declines, and after I’ve passed away.

One of the first steps the Gay Men’s Health Crisis had me do after becoming a client was sit down with a counselor who had one piece of advice for me: draft a will.

That directive was at odds with my "fuck you, AIDS" attitude after receiving my diagnosis. My focus was totally unable to look at death as quickly approaching and all of my thinking was how to live as long as possible. Drafting a will would bring about my demise before I was ready to check out of this thing we call life, sums up my thinking back in the 1980s.

The GMHC counselor had no information about the limited drug trials taking place in New York or Paris or alternative healing community clinics, and explained that they couldn’t say a thing about such topics because it might be seen as an endorsement of the treatment. Our appointment ended expeditiously when it was made explicit that a will was not on my agenda at the time.

That’s changed and in recent months I’ve given much thought to all the reasons why I need two documents finalized, affixed with my signature and legal -- a will and the AHD.

After comforting a dying man with AIDS with singing on Christmas Eve at the Maitri hospice, glimpsing for a moment how end-of-life actually takes place today, I talked to my partner and folks I want to serve as my agents to discuss my latest thoughts about my end-of-life concerns. It felt good to articulate my wishes to my loved ones and again receive permission to make them my agents.

As if I needed a reminder about helping my agents and survivors carry out my wishes, and my always-challenging health, I suffered another episode of diverticulitis recently. The pain was excruciating enough to send me off to the emergency room at Davies Hospital. I’m now on a regimen of flagyl and cipro antibiotics and under orders to increase my fiber and roughage intake, which is already high, to calm the inflammation and heal my stomach.

If a medical crisis struck and my partner needed legal documents allowing him to make healthcare decisions on my behalf, right now he would lack those papers. It is unfair of me to burden him with any extra stress and hassles, should I suddenly take ill.

There is quite a large degree of self-satisfaction knowing that my end-of-life legal papers will be notarized and valid in the new year. It’s like making a resolution without realizing it and the resolution is kept.

There’s also the matter of the will taking care of my earthly possessions. The lawyer assisting me in this, who was recommended by the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, has sent me a clear and concise will spelling out my wishes. It needs some minor editing before finalizing next week.

The lawyer emailed a two-page disposition of remains document I have to fill out, explaining my cremation wishes, who is to arrange my funeral, the kind of service I’d like, and my favorite music, among other simple directions my survivors will need after I’ve kicked the bucket.

Legal issues aside, there are a few items of activist and personal nature that I wish to be part of my send off and legacy, and those wishes will be written down and shared with my trusted survivors.

One of my friends who’s agreed to serve as an agent for AHD requirements, and is almost a decade older than I with many tangible assets and financial resources, said he didn’t have a will and that one of his promises to himself in the coming year is to write one.

I laugh at myself being surprised he does not have a will, when I am in the same boat and think, well, I am a bit younger than he is and I lack his assets so I can cut myself some slack. Glass houses and stones come to mind.

Not that I planned these steps taking care of my will and AHD as 2011 would be coming to a close, but there is quite a large degree of self-satisfaction knowing that my end-of-life legal papers will be notarized and valid in the new year. It’s like making a resolution without realizing it and the resolution is kept.

What better way for me to welcome in the new year of 2012 than with my first will?

2012-01-22T22:59:00.000-08:00

Romney Gave $25,900 to CA's Whitman

I blogged earlier today about no direct donations from Mitt Romney to the Yes on Prop 8 campaign in 2008, and now wish to share what was located at the state level for any donations to candidates.

In 2009, Romney gave a robust $25,900 check to California Republican for governor Meg Whitman, who thankfully lost to Democrat Jerry Brown. Here's the screen grab from the Secretary of State's site showing the donation. Click to enlarge:

Must be nice to have that kind of money to drop on a fellow GOP politician running for office. I don't know any 99 percenters who have that kind of money sitting around waiting to be donated, do you? That's Romney's only donation in California.

2012-01-22T17:29:00.000-08:00

Romney Family's Donations
to Yes on Prop 8 Campaign?

This screen cap is from the San Francisco Chronicle's search engine of the California Secretary of State's records for all donors to the pro and con campaigns in 2008 over the gay marriage initiative Prop 8. Click to expand the chart.

The top name is Jennifer Romney who gave $1,000 to the Yes on 8 anti gay marriage effort, and she's married to Mitt Romney's son Tagg.

I couldn't locate proof that any other contributors with the last name Romney are related to Mitt, but allow me to point out that a private investor named Richard L. Romney of Rancho Santa Fe, California, coughed up $17,000 for the Yes on 8 side.

He also donated $750 in 2011 to Mitt's presidential bid, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's a relative of the GOP candidate. I'm blogging about Jennifer Romney and Richard Romney's Yes on 8 contributions to sunshine a small part of Mitt's network of donors.

The prod that got me poking around the Prop 8 donors' records was diary at DailyKos yesterday about Mitt's tax returns and their potential content. Let's see if he actually keeps his promise to release a return or two, and what they contain. Here's the pertinent section of the DailyKos diary titled "Will there be a Prop 8 bombshell hidden in Romney's tax returns?":

But a new report out from ABC News has LGBT Americans in particular buzzing about "Just how much did Mitt Romney spend to take away Californians' right to marry?" ABC accounts his donations, or tithing, at more than $4M over the last 5 years, although exact totals are not known. Release of the tax forms may reveal more still.

[The diarist reminds us of a New York Times story about the Yes on 8 side making an urgent push for fund in the days before the 2008 election, then asks a question.]

Was Gov. Romney one of the many who heeded the last minute "urgent appeal"? Of course, Mitt Romney's opposition to marriage equality is well known. Still, if it turns out Romney was particularly helpful in passing the marriage equality banning amendment, this might be particularly infuriating news to the LGBT community still smarting from that loss.

2012-01-21T17:25:00.000-08:00

GLAAD'S Corey Johnson Fired;
Running for NY City Council Seat?

(Johnson, left, posing with Chuck Wolfe, the head of the Victory Fund, a group devoted to electing Democratic LGBT people. Credit: Klaus Enrique.)

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is no stranger to LGBT politicians in need of employment.

Two of its executive directors, Neil Giuliano and Jarrett Barrios, ran the organization after their political careers ended, and there's also been aspiring elected official Corey Johnson using his perch at GLAAD to pretty much run a nascent campaign for New York City's City Council in 2013.

Yesterday, Johnson, along with ten other staffers at GLAAD, was fired because of severe budgetary problems. The Advocate is so far the only source of info on the firings and continuing fiscal troubles of GLAAD, but their story omits the names of who was laid off.

GLAAD's staff directory no longer lists Johnson as the deputy director for programs, and there is nothing posted about the shrinking of the staff.

My sources in NYC inform me that much of Johnson's time while on the GLAAD payroll was spent shoring up support for his next step up the political ladder, and that his advocacy for the group was all about promoting himself.

He currently serves as the board chair of Manhattan's Community Board 4, for the Clinton/Hell's Kitchen and Chelsea neighborhoods, a position he's held since July of 2011, and last summer spoke with the Chelsea Now paper and had this to say when asked about his interest in running for the City Council:

Q: There’s been lots of speculation, in the pages of our sister publication The Villager, for example, that you have ambitions for the District 3 City Council seat in 2013.

A: I think it’s flattering that people are talking about two years from now. But my only focus is to do the best job possible as Community Board 4 chair, and to continue the amazing, deliberative, engaged work that this Community Board does.

After months of hearing supposedly interim San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee say he would not seek a full term, only to see him run last November, I know dog whistle code when I hear it. My sources don't believe Johnson's coy protestations about no interest in becoming an elected Democratic gay officeholder, and I believe them.

They say Johnson is not solely focused on the Community Board, that he is campaigning already for 2013's race and spending lots of time on Facebook. Now that GLAAD has sent him packing, he'll plenty of time to work on his City Council campaign.

The larger picture, GLAAD laying off so many staffers, while it's terrible that LGBT folks are losing their jobs, is something that leaves me deeply untroubled. GLAAD is a bloodsucking leech upon the gay body politic and pocketbook, putting on an endless number of meaningless awards shows and getting all riled up about pathetic TV shows dying from their own stupidity.

When the day comes that GLAAD goes out of business, and make no mistake it is business first and foremost, it will be an excellent development for the LGBT community.

2012-01-20T21:26:00.000-08:00

SF Sheriff's Sites:
Mirkarimi MIA, Hennessy in Charge?

Nearly two-weeks ago Ross Mirkarimi was sworn in as San Francisco's sheriff, under a cloud of domestic abuse charges, and he's maintained that he can perform his official duties while also wrestling with a pending trial, hours of time consulting with his personal attorney and strategists, and the restraining order temporarily keeping his family broken and separated.

Well, here are two small pieces of evidence belying Mirkarimi's contention that his sheriff's department is functioning properly.

The official SFGOV.org one-page site for the sheriff that contains a link to the department's satellite web site, still features now-retired Michael Hennessy's visage. Click to enlarge:

Follow the link to the department's site, which is woefully out-of-date and lacking in many areas needing serious revising and updating, and you'll find this handsome profile photo of Hennessy on the sheriff's biographical page:

The organizational chart for the department also lists Hennessy as the boss. In non-Mirkarimi matters, the In the News page was last revised in January 2001. The Who We Are page lists staff titles, snail mail addresses, phone numbers and only one email address: Sheriff@sfgov.org.

It's clear that under Hennessy this city office didn't develop healthy and robust public engagement through the web, and Mirkarimi needs to immediately address the pathetic and anemic approach of his public information office, if only to update the department's two sites to reflect the fact that he is the new sheriff.

If Mirkarimi can't get his media office up and running, he's also unable to adequately delegate other authority and provide leadership for the department and the public. I just don't see how he can credibly maintain that all his personal legal woes are not negatively impacting how he carries out his duties.

2012-01-19T17:25:00.000-08:00

Mirkarimi Judge Gave to D.A.
When Both Worked for Hallinan

San Francisco's sheriff, Ross Mirkarimi, who's been on the job for only a few weeks and has been charged with three misdemeanors related to a possible domestic violence incident involving his wife Eliana Lopez and their son Theo, was arraigned this afternoon. He appeared before Superior Court Judge Susan Breall, pictured, and pleaded not guilty.

Because I believe all the political players in this sad drama should be intensely scrutinized, I searched for any donations made by Breall to Mirkarimi in either his campaigns for District 5 supervisor or sheriff.

The judge has made no such donations, however, during the 1999 race by then-district attorney Terence Hallian she gave his campaign $750. At the time, Mirkarimi worked in the DA's office and on his reelection campaign, while Breall also worked for Hallinan as chief of the criminal division.

Breall's other municipal donations show that she additionally gave Susan Leal $750 for her supervisorial and mayoral races, and $200 to Debra Walker's effort for District 6 supervisor.

On top of her $1,700 in local contributions, Breall also at the state level gave Gov. Gray Davis $1,500 in 2001. In the national political arena, Breall wrote a check for $500 in 2008 to the Democratic National Committee.

All this giving illustrates the genuine political biases of the judge, and in the interests of judicial impartiality for all, regardless of my thoughts about Mirkarimi and the charges he faces, I think someone has to say serious questions need raising about Breall's potential conflict of interest in this case.

2012-01-18T17:05:00.000-08:00

'Mysteries of Lisbon'
Tops My 10 Best Films of 2011 List

My list of the top-ten films for last year is a bit later than other such lists, but I operate on my own schedule and decided since the National Society of Film Critics only recently announced their picks for 2011, it's not too late to share my choices. The criteria I used in selecting these films was which ones gave me absolute pleasure when watching them in the theater, and were films I saw twice or would see again.

Let's start with my favorite at the top and the remaining nine films are listed alphabetically and not ranked.

1. An unquestionable masterpiece from world director Raul Ruiz, who passed away in August, "Mysteries of Lisbon" is a four-hour sumptuous delight from the opening credits to an incredibly satisfying ending. The story takes place in the 19th century and follows the complicated life of an orphan boy, jealous and scheming aristocrats and clerics, and is told with astounding cinematography. This is one glorious film where the camera is a character. I was enthralled and delighted watching every minute.

2. The Romanian documentary "The Autobiography of Nicolai Ceausescu" opens and closes with the final hours of the lives of the communist dictator and his wife Elena, and in between we witness Ceausescu's rise and fall. Using only historical film clips, including home movies of the Ceausescus frolicking at their private villa, there are no talking heads or commentary. An intelligent documentary that demands much from the viewer, showing that absolute power corrupted absolutely in Romania before the democratic revolution.

3. My tolerance for 3-D movies is low and the gimmick generally puts too much headache-inducing strain on my eyes, but Werner Herzog's "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" was a sheer pleasure to watch. The beauty of the cave paintings dazzled, and Herzog's patented eccentric narration kept me not only entertained but wishing the film was longer. How about a sequel? Nothing would please me more.

4. Iran's top director Abbas Kiarostami's first film made outside his native land, "Certified Copy", was set in Italy and starred Juliette Binoche and William Shimell. They may or may not be former lovers reconnecting, as they spend a day together driving and walking through scenic small towns. A delicate tale that takes it's swell, sweet time getting to a satisfying vague ending that asks viewers to decide if the characters were lovers or just very persuasive liars.

5. Who can keep up with all of the excellent movies Steven Soderbergh is turning out? His latest, "Contagion", follows a talented ensemble cast as mysterious, quick-killing virus spreads from a promiscuous woman into a global pandemic. Echoes of AIDS, anyone? But it wasn't just the plot and acting that kept me hooked. The top-notch production values, taut framing and crisp editing made the film one of Hollywood's best last year.

6. Woody Allen's been making some of his best movies in recent years, set outside his beloved Manhattan. His streak of winning film set in Europe continued this year with "Midnight in Paris", his most commercially successful film in his long career. What's not to love? A great screenplay, full of wit and humor, an international cast having a ball, charm to spare, and a shout-out to Luis Bunuel's classic "Exterminating Angel", are just a few morsels of pleasure this film gave me.

7. "The Mill and The Cross" captivated my senses with an abundance of fantastic visuals, both real and computer generated, as we watch a few of the characters in Pieter Bruegel's classic painting "The Way to Calvary" come to life. This is a work of art in its own right, and it whet my appetite to see more of director Lech Majewski's other films. Please catch this film in a theater with a decent size screen and give your eyes and ears a cinematic treat that will stick with you.

8. A marvelous anthropological look at a rural Italian village, a dying shepherd and his flock of goats, and the religious and social customs of the residents. Not quite a documentary, another slowly paced film breaking conventional story-telling rules, and a truly hilarious scene involving a dog, a parked truck and villagers staging an Easter rite. For such an off-beat art film, it enjoyed short runs in New York, San Francisco and other cities.

9. The "Tree of Life" is Terrence Malick's fifth feature in 40-years, and it pushes the envelope of contemporary mainstream moviemaking. Full of stunning images, we follow a 1950s Texas family and their interconnected relationships, as Malick contemplates spiritual themes, the beginning of life on earth and a sunny apocalypse. Told in a non-linear narrative, starring Brad Pitt in a commanding performance as an ideal father, with many scenes taking place at dusk suggesting a paradise about to be lost. This is one film to see only in theaters, to fully appreciate its palette of emotions and ideas.

10. "Silent Souls" is a wonderfully dark and somber film by first-time director Aleksei Fedorchenko, that runs only 75-minutes but packs much truth and honesty. A wealthy businessman's younger wife has died and he enlists the assistance of an employee to accompany him as he takes his wife's body back to her ancestral home. The dialogue is kept to a minimum, the takes are long and convey much of the story, with a New Age-y soundtrack. Should be out on DVD soon, so add it to your Netflix queue.

2012-01-17T17:17:00.000-08:00

The POZ 100:
Joe Sonnabend, Liz Taylor and Me

The editors over at POZ magazine recently released their list of 100 people, ideas and things they loved in 2011 and I was on the list, an honor that came out of the blue. Being on the POZ 100 list is a nice ego-stroking citation for my advocacy and this blog, but there is something else giving me much pleasure and that is appearing on any list with Dr. Joseph Sonnabend.

Sure, it's way cool that goddess-in-so-many-ways Liz Taylor is featured on the POZ cover and is the most glam name on the list, and I don't mind at all being in her company.

But making the list, or any list, with Joe's name on it humbles me. He was my first AIDS doctor and he's played a major role in keeping me alive, in so many ways I can't being to count. Click here to read my small tribute to this giant of sanity and progress in the early decades of the AIDS pandemic.

This is Joe's citation in POZ:

Sometimes it takes a doctor to diagnose the complicated research results from an HIV/AIDS study. A pioneering AIDS doc (and prolific POZ blogger), Sonnabend makes sense of complicated notions, reading between the lines to unearth implications others miss. He’s often so ahead of the curve that some question his wisdom. Until he proves prescient and correct. He’s never afraid to highlight an unpopular truth and to swim against the tide. Independent thinkers like Sonnabend are essential.

Permit me to repeat what I've said previously: Joe has not received the proper institutional honors and global gratitude for his courageous and pioneering work.

Never one to seek the limelight or get caught up in awards and prizes for humanitarian work, Joe would probably reject any such honors. It's probably enough to know he's helped keep people with AIDS from contracting deadly opportunistic illnesses and alive with dignity, assisted the creation of effective prevention efforts, changed Big Pharma practices and governmental programs, and lot of other great things.

Dear Joe, thanks for all you have done for PWAs and controlling the HIV epidemic.

Here's POZ's citation for myself:

Once called a “tiny terrorist” by POZ, San Francisco–based Petrelis is a significant voice on important issues affecting our community. As a gay man living with HIV, he and his activism go back decades for both LGBT and HIV/AIDS causes. In his blog “The Petrelis Files,” he calls out the powers that be and takes them to task like few others do. Lucikly, he remains relentless.

Thanks, POZ magazine editors!

(Credit for Sonnabend photo: Scott Morgan Photography.)

2012-01-16T22:03:00.000-08:00

Streep's Shout-out to 'Pariah'

Count me among the movie-lovers who have little tolerance and patience for hand-held, jerky-movement camerawork most keenly when it's accompanied by rapid-fast editing. Two such movies that drove me out of the theater before the first twenty-minutes were over were "District 9" and "Meloncholia", despite being engaged with the narrative and acting.

I almost walked out on the press screening of "Pariah", a powerful film about a black teenage lesbian named Alike growing up with a religious fundamentalist mother and understanding father in Brooklyn, because the first ten-minutes assaulted my eyeballs, but stayed and got caught up the movie once the camera settled down.

We watch Alike as she takes in the dancing and cruising lesbians in dark bar, showing both shyness and a beautiful almost-blinding smile. After closing time, she gets on a bus home and changes out of her butch drag and into more femme attire, before arriving home and putting on a straight act for her waiting mom.

"Pariah" is an honest look at a young lesbian of color emerging into her sexuality and forging an educational path into adulthood, with a knock-out performance by the talented Adepero Oduye in the lead. It's a shame she has not received best actress accolades and award nominations, that she more than deserves.

While Oduye may not be receiving the attention from the likes of the Golden Globe nominating committee, but she got a shout-out from acting goddess Meryl Streep in her acceptance speech last night at the Globes, who also praised "Pariah".

The film's creator, out black lesbian Dee Rees, has written and directed a gritty, urban contemporary coming out story that stays true to its Brooklyn setting, and she's delivered a few universal truths many of us went through to step out of the closet regarding of our skin color or where we were raised.

She doesn't hit the audience over the head the joys of Alike finding intimacy or dealing with her parents' conflicts about her declaring her lesbian status. Rees is a new talent on the American indie film scene, with new films in development and I'm expecting more engaging stories from her, stories that reach my heart.

In San Francisco, "Pariah" is playing at the Embarcadero Cinema. Click here for info on tickets and showtimes. Go here to visit the film's official web site. And be sure to catch this movie.

2012-01-16T12:09:00.000-08:00

Bain: $66 Billion in Assets;
Firm's Charity Got $1.6 Million

Discovering that there was a nonprofit arm to Bain Capital, the venture capital consulting firm where Mitt Romney earned a lot of coin when he worked there, came as a surprise. Who knew there was any philanthropic component to the firm?

The Wiki entry for Bain Capital says that at the start of 2012, they are managing around $66 billion of "investor capital across its various investment platforms." Over at the Vault's company profile, the claim is made that the firm's "current assets under management total $78 billion", contradicting the Wiki amount. Regardless of the $12 billion difference, it's clear they've got an ample pile of cash on hand.

The Bain Capital Children's Charity was founded in 1997, and I'm not sure if Romney was ever an officer. Looking over the IRS 990 filings for the charity from 2002 through 2010, Romney's name does not show up. He left Bain Capital in 1999 and IRS returns for that year or 1998 and 1997.

The charity's annual grants totaled $1.2 million in 2002 and 2003, $1.3 million in 2004, $1.6 million in 2005, $1.9 million in 2006, $2.1 million in 2007, $1.5 million in 2008, $1.6 million in 2009 and $1.3 million in 2010.

From 2002 through 2010 Bain Capital Children's Charity donated $13.7 million primarily to Boston area nonprofits working with kids. Seems a paltry sum considering how many billions they rake in annually, and I would expect since they have a charity that it would be much more generous in its philanthropic work.

By the way, here's how they describe their "exempt purpose achievements" in all of their IRS 990 filings:

"Bain Capital Children's Charity, Ltd, conducts golf and other informal fundraising events to benefit various charitable organizations which support the general welfare of children and young adults."

Frankly, I wouldn't expect Bain Capital to have nonprofit attached to the firm because they're not in the business of helping humanity. Their goal is making profits, regardless of social consequences. Why should they give a damn about the less fortunate 99 percent and engage in big-time philanthropy?

2012-01-12T16:16:00.000-08:00

KGO Vid: Longtime SF Pot Club
Shuttered by US Dept of Justice

The presser at the Federal Building on Golden Gate Avenue on Monday attracted a crowd of about 50 clients and workers of the Market Street Coop, along with a good number of media folks looking for a story.

I'm proud to have been a member of this medical marijuana dispensary that is the fifth such operation in the city forced to close because of President Obama's Department of Justice threatening landlords.

Our news conference to tell U.S. prosecutor Melinda Haag was the first protest over the recent dispensary closures across California, and I don't expect it to be the last.

There was also an emotionally-charged love-in and rally at the coop's headquarters on Market near Laguna, as they sold their final bag of medicinal herb on Monday evening.

The clip above is from one of the TV newscasts on the closure and is the one most pleasing to the coop's former workers, so I'm sharing it at their request. Kudos to KGO-TV for their report.

2012-01-11T16:20:00.000-08:00

SF Mayor Lee:
No Paid AIDS Czar Needed

The Bay Area Reporter last week covered Mayor Ed Lee's plan for gay and HIV concerns, as he begins his first year as the elected chief executive of the city, and I was pleased to see this news:

During the campaign Lee said he saw no need to hire an AIDS czar but would appoint someone within his administration to be a point person on HIV issues. He is still deciding who that person will be as he prepares to make several changes to city leadership. "We are going through an internal re-organization, if you will, and will bring in new people," said Lee.

We've been through a few such czars and there was no direct benefit to people with AIDS or significant impact on care or prevention programs. The redundancy of a czar in San Francisco was tolerated when the city was awash with so much federal and local AIDS funding, they could waste dollars on the position.

No other disease, as far as I am aware of, ever had several paid mayoral assistants at City Hall, even though other diseases have bigger or equal impact on the local population. Just another example of AIDS exceptionalism.

Mayor Lee should seek the counsel of the Department of Public Health's director Barbara Garcia or chief of HIV prevention services, who also know a heck of a lot about treatment services, or other DPH experts, and if he wants the advice of two community panels and their co-chairs and members, many of whom are people living with HIV, he can request it from the Ryan White CARE Council and the HIV Prevention Planning Council.

2012-01-10T20:56:00.000-08:00

My One-Night Stand with Spalding Gray

Here is another essay I wrote last month for the Edge Network's Living with HIV blogging series. Two wonderful comments were posted at location and I've copied them into the comments section of this post. I like being among the folks who met this amazing man and remember him with much endearment. Check out the Spalding Gray memorial and celebration site here. My essay:

The year was 1990. I had moved to Washington, D.C., to start organizing a chapter of ACT UP, in a city where we surely needed an in-your-face, AIDS-specific activist group.

A month after I arrived, an acquaintance from ACT UP/New York put me in touch with the monologist/actor/writer Spalding Gray. He was looking for a diverse cross-section of people with AIDS to appear on stage with him at George Washington University for a one-night discussion about living with HIV.

My acquaintance thought I’d be perfect as the angry PWA activist of the evening, and I soon received a call from Gray, who the next day came to my apartment for a brief chat. He was talking to everyone who would appear with him on stage, to get to know us a little bit so we weren’t total strangers meeting for the first time before an audience.

After answering Gray’s questions, he said I was free to ask him anything since he was after all going to be posing personal and political questions to me at the university. He wanted an honest exchange with each of the PWAs, not a situation where he was the interviewer directing the dialogue.

Feeling provocative, knowing he was straight, married and had kids, I asked Gray if he’d ever had a sexual experience with another man. The question surprised and pleased him.

"No, I haven’t and it’s because I’ve never gotten in touch with the feminine side of my sexuality," he said.

Before he left, we chatted a bit more about the federal government’s abysmal commitment to PWAs, treatment development, and science-based prevention targeting gay men and injection drug users.

Two nights later, a sold-out crowd packed a large university auditorium. The audience consisted mainly of young college students with a healthy smattering of Washington’s artists and musicians, all ready to participate in a night of frank political words and emotions.

Gray brought up two single gay men living with AIDS and the sweetest most loving sero-discordant couple, Frederick Nunley and George Guarino. I can only recall them and not the others because after the event they were among the founders of ACT UP/DC.

Nunley was negative and Guarino had been diagnosed with full-blown AIDS, and Gray inquired about their sex life and how they managed to find mutual pleasures without Nunley contracting the virus. They spoke plainly about the joy of anal sex with condoms.

Guarino brought forward the most appreciative wave of love and support when he said it was sexy to change top and bottom roles, depending on the mood and deciding who would wield the riding crop when they wanted to whip up some fun.
The larger issues framing the discussion were homosexuals and our lives at that moment in time, and how the larger culture was coming to terms with our fierceness and fabulousness.

AIDS claimed Guarino after a long and valiant fight, and Nunley is still among the living.

I was the last speaker of the evening and Gray’s queries to me were about controlling my anger and channeling it into the activist realm. The evening was officially about AIDS, but the larger issues framing the discussion were homosexuals and our lives at that moment in time, and how the larger culture was coming to terms with our fierceness and fabulousness. Recruiting for the nascent ACT UP chapter was my final point.

Then Gray asked me the closing question posed to all speakers. "Do you have a question for me?"

Looking directly into a very friendly set of understanding eyes, I said, "Yes, Spalding, I do."

A gale of laughter and clapping erupted at my line and serious delivery. The rush of being an actor before an audience that is ready to eat you up was enthralling. I knew from the twinkle in Gray’s eyes he was making a form of theatrical love with me. His happiness anticipating my question was a pleasure to see up close.

"When you came to my apartment and told me you’d never had a male-on-male sexual encounter, you claimed it was because you hadn’t explored the feminine part of your sexuality," I said. He nodded his head and licked a lip, waiting for my question.

"Well, why do you think it wouldn’t be your masculine side that would lead you to have sex with another guy? Gay sex is not so limited just to two sides of anything."

Smiling broadly, Gray said until that very moment it just hadn’t crossed his mind to think like that about his sexual interests, but it sure was fun to be asked such personal matters before an adoring audience that all wanted a cure for AIDS, or at least a federal government that gave a damn.

He thanked everyone for joining him on his quest for better understanding by the American public about the AIDS crisis. There was much hugging after the show and ACT UP/DC quickly got organized, angry, and into the streets.

Sadly, decades of mental anguish and chronic physical pain led Gray to take his own life in 2004.

I’ll always remember him as someone who played a small part in 1990 in boosting our local ACT UP chapter, helped educate college kids, and provided a platform for PWA voices.

2012-01-09T14:52:00.000-08:00

Moscone's 'Ghost Light':
2 Endings Too Many; My 2-Word Cameo

Big Mike and I were admiring the sculptured busts of Bay Area theatrical luminaries in the windows of the public parking lot opposite the Berkeley Rep's two theaters last night before taking in "Ghost Light". The creator and director of the dramedy, Jonathan Moscone, came walking along and I struck up a conversation with him. He's so down-to-earth, and a handsome bear to boot!

Moscone commented on Mike's Gayville Hall hat, and they shared a bear-to-bear moment, while I readied my camera for photo-snapping. That's Mike on the right, Moscone in the middle, and me. We exchanged pleasantries, I said we looked forward to a good play, but little did any of know I would have a two-line cameo in the evening's performance.

"Ghost Light" is an emotionally-charged mix of serious drama about the assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and some of the impact it had on his son Jonathan, leavened with humor that elicit hearty laughs.

We're introduced to the adult Jonathan character while he listens to messages left on his answering machine, including one from a gay candy-maker who wants to produce and sell a candy-bar named for his father called "By George!" Moscone, the co-creator of the work with Berkeley Rep honcho Tony Taccone, excels at poking fun at himself throughout the play.

Also coming on the receiving end of wicked satirizing is Gus Van Sant, a pretentious radical queer artiste simply named Film Director in the cast credits, during the making of the Harvey Milk bio picture "Milk" that reduced Mayor Moscone to little more than a Post-It note.

During the first act, Jonathan, played by the charming and equally infuriating Christopher Liam Moore, conducts an acting class with the audience and all the house lights turned up. He came out in the audience, stood at the end of my row and barked out a question. Did anyone in the class really know the feelings of our fellow students?

"No," I called out. Moore lit up hearing my voice, quickly agreed with my answer, then asked for my name. "Michael," I said. "Michael, you get an A," Moore replied, as people chuckled and my two-word cameo participation was over.

The drama is quite effective showing a complex gay man thrust into the historical limelight at an early age, confronting a few ghosts in his life and career, with a few relevant contemporary political issues like Prop 8 and a reference to Rick Santorum getting laughs, but there's a major problem.

There are two-endings, stretching the running time just past two-hours and thirty-minutes. I thought the play was wrapping up when the adult Jonathan is addressing his demons and the audience, as George Moscone steps onto the stage as flickers of thousands of candle-lights, evocative of the march down Market Street the night Moscone and Milk were assassinated, are projected on the scrim behind them.

Tony Bennett crooning "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" fills the theater, and the play goes on when it should have concluded at that point. Instead, minutes drag by as Moscone and Taccone bring us to The End. Trimming the closing to a single ending would elevate this play to even more greatness than it already possesses in abundance.

Tickets for the remaining performances are going fast and if you don't act soon, you'll miss a chance to see this important American play linked to a revolutionary moment in our country's history. "Ghost Light" has its final performance on February 19. Click here to purchase tickets at Berkeley Rep.

2012-01-06T22:50:00.000-08:00

Fab S.F. Poster:
Medical Cannabis Is Not A Crime

There's a fire sale going over at the Market Street Coop, located at 1884 Market near Laguna, in anticipation of the medical marijuana dispensary being forced to shutter on January 9th because of harassment from federal prosecutor Melinda Haag, at the direction of the Obama administration.

(Forget a bang. The Market Street Coop is going out with a bong, and they're doing everything in their powers to end in a way that honors their long-held philosophy: affordable medical cannabis for all!)

A soon-to-be-unemployed coop worker, Matt Knoth, created this fab poster for the press conference and protest on Monday at 11 AM at the federal building on Golden Gate Avenue. Permission is granted for folks to spread and share the poster, and don't forget to show at the action.

The key reason for the pending closure is due to the coop's proximity to a school two-blocks away at the Baptist church on Waller Street. I believe the dispensary was in operation before this private school began operations, but I'm checking on that. It would be interesting to learn what the principal has to say about the dispensary, which does not allow children to just wander into the place and buy weed.

Another dispensary that was forced to shift to a delivery service was featured in a recent Bay Guardian piece about the federal prosecutor's bullying, had a great relationship with a school nearby, according to the principal. Sounds like this place was not a problem for the school. A good reason to rethink this widening attack on access to pot.

From the Bay Guardian:

The dispensary was compelled to close its doors on 1933 Mission Street after a Sept. 28 letter from Department of Justice attorney Melinda Haag threatened its landlord with jail time if Medithrive didn't cease operations in the space within 45 days. ...

The feds' given reason was Medithrive's proximity to Marshall Elementary School, located a 745-foot walk (according to Google Maps) from the dispensary door.

But Marshall's principal Peter Avila wasn't consulted on the matter. When called for comment by the Guardian, he said that he had bigger safety concerns.

"Right next door to Medithrive is a liquor store," Avila said, adding that there is also a methadone clinic across the street from his school. "We have to deal with people passed out on the property, people smoking — those are more the issues than people buying medical marijuana."

The principal says he patrols Marshall's immediate neighborhood three to four times a day, dealing with drug addicts, people with mental problems, and the Mission's homeless population. He called the dispensary "discreet" and never saw any cannabis usage by dispensary patients.

2012-01-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

Tenderloin Health AIDS Clinic Closing;
Does Sup. Kim Have Anything to Say?

Well, that was fast.

Just yesterday the Bay Area Reporter covered the horrible fiscal mess at the Tenderloin Health organization, a longtime AIDS service provider in one of San Francisco's poorest and densest neighborhoods serving thousands of people with AIDS or those at-risk of contracting HIV, all of whom have multiple drug and healthcare needs.

The BAR reported that the head of the Department of Public Health, Barbara Garcia, would be meeting with David Fernandez who is executive director of Tenderloin Health to discuss righting the financial problems at the organization. Has anyone heard from Supervisor Jane Kim, in whose district the agency is headquartered?

This morning's San Francisco Chronicle was on the story, from the angle that the organization is closing. From troubled to going-out-of-business literally overnight. Sheesh.

In recent years, we've seen the New Leaf mental health agency close, the Lyon-Martin Health Center announce an overnight closure that was averted after the lesbian and trans communities mobilized to save it, the disappearance of the Eagle Tavern and A Different Light book store, the Academy of Friends almost go under, a meltdown at the SF Pride committee and Equality California and many institutions experiencing hard economic times.

And I'm hard-pressed to think of which institutions came to the community before a crisis or closure happened. New Leaf did, and before they locked the doors and turned out the lights for the last time, they took a few months to wrap things up.

In my view, it's not just the monetary issues that afflict these institutions but a general lack of regular, respectful engagement and transparency with the clients receiving services. We should keep this in mind as Tenderloin Health shutters.

From today's Chron:

Tenderloin Health [...] will close due to financial problems, the center's board of directors announced Thursday.

Existing debt, the poor economy and the loss of federal funds led to the decision to close, said David Fernandez, the chief executive officer of Tenderloin Health since 2009.

Tenderloin Health was created by the 2006 merger of two long-term health providers, Continuum HIV Day Services and the Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center. ...

Fernandez said he expects Tenderloin Health to close within months, but not before new providers are found for the existing clients. "The whole goal of this transition plan is to make sure there's no interruption in their service," he said.

2012-01-04T20:22:00.000-08:00

Anti-Pot US Prosecutor Haag
Gave to CA AG Harris, EQCA/No on 8

(U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder with Melinda Haag. Credit: AP photo.)

You can't make this stuff up.

Melinda Haag, before President Obama appointed her to serve as federal prosecutor for the Northern District of California, was a proud political animal happy to make donations to candidates and causes she believes.

Even though the donations were made before becoming part of the Obama administration, they illustrate her political engagement as a liberal Democratic partisan donor and the contributions were remembered when appointment time came. My duty is to sunshine those donations and raise the specter of a conflict of interest with California attorney general Kamala Harris, who's received $600 over her career from Haag and who is doing a lousy job of getting the feds to back off the dispensaries.

Haag's been cracking down on long-established medical marijuana dispensaries the past few months, jeopardizing the health of hundreds of patients and putting dozens of people out of work. Some reelection strategy for Obama.

When she was in private practice at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP, in San Francisco, Haag wrote out a robust number of checks at the all levels of elective office, so let's start from the top, her federal giving.

FEC records show a total of $12,200 from Haag, of which $9,700 went to Obama and two of his related presidential campaign PACs, and the remainder went to the likes of Barbara Boxer, Evan Bayh, John Kerry, Christopher Dodd and the DNC.

At the California state level, Haag's $5,930 in donations is broken down thus: $250 to Kamala Harris for attorney general, $1,680 to her law firm's PAC, $2,000 split among Carole Migden, Phil Angelides and Janice Hahn, and her biggest single contribution in California went to Equality California and the No on 8 campaign in the amount of $2,000.

Great. She's pro-gay marriage and anti-medical marijuana. How messed up is that?

And finally, in San Francisco races she gave all of $550. Kamala Harris received $350, Susan Leal got $100 as did some guy named Larry Kane.

Let's tally up Haag's federal, state and municipal giving. It comes to $18,680. A robust chunk of change, greasing her climb up the legal political ladder.

Over the course of Harris' career, Haag has given her $600, a small amount in the grand scheme of electoral fundraising, but it's enough to demand a few questions be raised about Haag's motivations carrying out the dispensary closures and conflict of interest with the state attorney general.

If there was mainstream press scrutiny of her donations at the time Obama appointed her to the federal prosecutor's chair in Northern California, I missed it. Typical of coverage was the San Francisco Chronicle story by Bob Egelko which omitted Haag's many checks written out to politicians, including the guy who nominated her to the top ranks of the Department of Justice.

Please join the protest on Monday, January 9 at 11 am at the federal building at 450 Golden Gate Avenue, and tell Haag to cease and desist with shutting our medical marijuana dispensaries.

2012-01-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

January 9 at 11 AM;
Pot Protest at S.F. Federal Building

(450 Golden Gate Avenue entrance to the Federal Building.)

After a few days of meetings and listening to their clients, the leaders of the Market Street Coop have decided to stage a protest and presser at the office of the federal prosecutor who is forcing them to go out of business. As far as I know, this is the first public action taking place protesting the recent harassment and closure of several California medical marijuana dispensaries by the Obama administration. Please spread the word about Monday's demonstration and join us.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 9, 2012

Medical Cannabis Patients Protest Closure of SF Dispensary

Patients and supporters of one of San Francisco's longest running dispensaries will hold a press conference and rally in front of the Federal Building located at 450 Golden Gate Avenue at 11 a.m. on Monday, January 9, to protest its closure due to federal pressure on the dispensary's landlord.

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Melinda Haag sent a letter to Market Street Cooperative's landlord, threatening to forfeit their building and rent money received unless the dispensary ceased operations by January 9, 2012. Haag's action stands in stark contrast to the Obama administration's promise to leave dispensaries alone, so long as they abided by state and local laws.

Announcement of the dispensary's closure came as a huge surprise to the thousands of patients it serves. The cooperative has long been renowned for its low cost medical cannabis and other free services it offers to its patients, including free yoga, acupuncture, and chair massage.

"We offer some of the lowest cost medical cannabis in San Francisco. We have seriously ill patient members who are unsure of what to do and panicked that they may not be able to access their medicine at an affordable price," said Tate Swindell, the cooperative's spokesperson.

"We went through great lengths to obtain city permits, pay taxes, employ staff at a living wage with benefits, donate to community and non-profit organizations, and provide free and low cost medical cannabis and alternative health therapies to our patients. Instead of embracing the transparency that lawful dispensaries offer, the feds are denying patients access and forcing them into a costly and unsafe black market," noted Tate Swindell.

"As a longtime person living with AIDS, I take a daily cocktail of pills and in 2011 my total drug costs were $48,000 and the side-effects of the cocktail were lessened because I had access to affordable, organic medicinal cannabis from the Market Street Coop. My health was balanced and my spirits were upbeat, thanks to the healing herb prescribed by my physician at the SF Department of Public Health. Federal prosecutor Melinda Haag is jeopardizing my ability to legally obtain medical cannabis that is helping to keep me alive. I hold President Obama responsible for the shameful closures of jobs-generating, tax-paying dispensaries. This is no way to save lives and win votes from California voters," said Michael Petrelis, a member of the coop for more than a decade.

A dispensary has been operating at the location (1884 Market Street) since September of 1998. Market Street Cooperative opened its doors in July 2007.

Contact: Tate Swindell (415) 685-7262

2012-01-03T19:17:00.000-08:00

Is Wiener Doing a Damn
Thing Over Castro Sobriety Club?

(At the emergency April meeting at the neighborhood sobriety center, Wiener is second from left. Credit: BAR.)

The very large clean and sober crowd of the Castro, which encompasses stakeholders who live in the district and those who don't, has been busy over the holidays debating the fate of the Castro Country Club and its cafe and meeting rooms helping many people kick their addictions.

Matthew Bajko of the Bay Area Reporter last week wrote that the CCC's current fiscal sponsor Baker Places, will be exiting its agreement and that a new fiscal sponsor is needed, while a deal to sell the property that houses the CCC collapsed. The comments there, and at the CCC's Facebook page, not to mention another Facebook page created by lots of folks upset with the management team headed by Terry Beswick, have been barbed and dishy.

This is one Castro community controversy where I don't have a stake because I'm not in AA or a related sobriety program, but I am friends with Beswick and part of the Occupy the Castro crew that showed up at the CCC in early December to protest the then-pending sale of the building.

And as all this public drama played out, with much more kvetching and criticism taking place off-line or in private emails some of which I'm privy to, one name never comes up as a stakeholder working to find a solution unless I ask about him: Supervisor Scott Wiener.

He got his mugshot in the BAR in the spring because he was somewhat engaged at that point in the CCC's troubles, and it would be good to learn what he's done since and lately. His policy of not responding to my emails and not engaging with me is why I didn't bother to contact about this.

However, I asked Bajko why Wiener's name was omitted from his story and he replied:

City officials and the CCC is a different angle to the first story I wrote. This is an ongoing story and just can't get everything into one article. Will be doing follow up pieces in the weeks to come.

Still, an integral and embattled district institution is on rocky shores, and I would expect a hands-on politicians with deep community roots to be included in all big BAR pieces such as what they ran on Thursday. Looking forward to future BAR articles and seeing what Wiener has to offer at that point. I also asked Beswick about his knowledge of what the supervisor has done about the club. Here's his reply:

Scott has attended a number of community meetings and events to lend moral support for the CCC. He also has met with me and other constituents in his office about the CCC. He has recently offered to meet a group of CCC reps again. A number of ideas were discussed concerning how Scott's office could be of assistance, but I cannot say that anything has come of these ideas to date.

Obviously, Scott cannot direct city funds on his own. This would require cooperation from the entire board and/or the mayor. Scott has repeatedly cautioned us that the City budget is in the red and it would be an uphill battle to get funds to help the CCC. We have not asked for city funds for operating expenses, but have only discussed securing city assistance with financing of the building purchase for the CCC. So far, these conversations have not been fruitful, but we are hopeful that something will come of it.

Right now, we have raised enough funds for a downpayment and we are bringing in enough to make mortgage payments. What we don't have and what we need help with is the financing or someone to co-sign a mortgage.

More power to the CCC that their supervisor is not totally missing in action on their behalf. I'd like to be surprised and see Wiener more fully develop a public engagement role in the club, and the enormous community who depend on it for sobriety, starting with addressing the many issues about saving the club on the two Facebook pages.

2012-01-02T16:59:00.000-08:00

NYT: Romney Avoids Iowa Pizza Ranch
Over Founder's Male-on-Male Sex Crimes

I hope everyone had a healthy and happy welcoming of the new years. Mike and I did, and now it's back to politics and blogging.

This is an interesting news nugget, about why Mitt Romney avoids a central gathering spot for candidates and Iowa caucus-goers, from yesterday's New York Times. I wonder if the Romney campaign avoids appearing at any venue where an executive has been convicted of a crime. It's also noteworthy that there is a male-on-male sexual aspect to this info.

From the NYT:

Every candidate for the Republican nomination has campaigned at Pizza Ranch, a beloved restaurant chain in Iowa with strong ties to the Christian right.

Every candidate except Mr. Romney. His campaign prides itself on a vigilance and meticulousness bordering on the obsessive. So before Mr. Romney appears at a campaign stop or accepts an endorsement, his staff conducts sometimes painstaking vetting to avoid potentially embarrassing disclosures.

A founder of Pizza Ranch, it turned out, spent time in prison on charges of sexually abusing male employees. “There is not a lot of room for mistakes,” said David Kochel, Mr. Romney’s top strategist in Iowa.

2011-12-30T14:38:00.000-08:00

Wash Post: 'Gay Damascus Girl'
Hoaxer Among 2011's Memorable Faces

(MacMaster, left, and Jelena Lecic, who is not the lesbian Syrian at the center of an international controversy. Credit: Julius Just, via the Post.)

Over at the Blog Post of the Washington Post, Elizabeth Flock today writes about the year's most memorable faces and among them is Tom MacMaster, the hoaxer behind the phony Gay Girl in Damascus blog. Flock provides an excellent update on where he is now using the file I pried loose using FOIA laws across the pond, and also informs us about the BBC including the young woman whose photo was used by MacMaster to carry out his sham. From the Washington Post:

Using documents released by the University of Edinburgh under the U.K.’s Freedom of Information Act, San Francisco activist and blogger Michael Petrelis found that MacMaster was allowed to stay on as a student at the university under two conditions. One, he promised not to create any more fictitious personas online, and two, he vowed not to discuss the Gay Girl in Damascus hoax with the media or public.

MacMaster’s words, from the documents:

The documents include a letter sent to MacMaster from the University of Edinburgh’s Vice Principal for Equality and Diversity Professor Lorraine Waterhouse and Chief Information Officer Jeff Haywood. In the letter, they ask that MacMaster not engage in any more hoaxes. MacMaster replies:

I will not engage in any further actions of this kind whilst a student of the university.

Petrelis writes: “If there was a genuine effort to deliver authentic accountability over MacMaster’s links to the university and the hoax, it’s missing from the file released.”

As for Jelena Lecic, the unsuspecting London-based Croatian woman whose photo MacMaster used to pretend to be Amina Arraf, she has been staying out of the limelight ever since the hoax. On Wednesday, however, BBC chose her as one of the women in their list “Faces of the Year: 2011.”

2011-12-30T12:40:00.000-08:00

SF AIDS Exec: Pipe Ban
Needed to End Meth Abuse

This column of mine appeared last week as part of the Edge Network's Let's Talk HIV blogging project. At a time when a local politician has roiled the local community with a rush to increase nanny-ish legislation of highly dubious merit, the last thing we need is an AIDS executive director pushing for a glass pipe prohibition.

ENDING METH USE

A tragic death took place on San Francisco’s Castro Street on December 8, in broad daylight. Pedro Villamore was found dead in a doorway on the busy street, and facts about his death and life before he became homeless have poured forth from friends and family members.

What we know is that Villamore was 44, a person living with AIDS, lacked housing and used speed. A former partner, David Kilgore, stayed on friendly terms with him after they separated, but soon after they broke up Villamore began a downward spiral according to the Bay Area Reporter. The paper also reported:

Villamore spent a year living in a Marin park, Kilgore said. After he returned, Kilgore and another friend convinced Villamore to go to a treatment center so that he could get housing, even though Villamore wouldn’t acknowledge his drug use, Kilgore said.

He said that eventually Villamore’s T-cells dropped to 20 or 30, and he started getting $1,300 a month in Social Security Disability Insurance. Kilgore bought a condo in the South of Market neighborhood for Villamore and was his landlord for two years. He appeared to quit drugs, but started again after a year, Kilgore said.

Before we go any further, I wish to disclose that I used meth three times in the late 1970s and it was three times too many. Meth gave me incredible energy and a hunger for sex, and I comprehended its allure, but the crash when coming down from meth brought on suicidal thoughts.

The depth of the mental anguish as the meth high wore off cured me of any thought to do it again. Having used meth thrice, I have a very small window into the motives and mindset of my gay brothers who have been or are caught now in meth’s grip, but lack enough knowledge to suggest ways of helping gay men get off meth.

But there is one thing of which I am certain and that is stopping the sale of glass pipes isn’t going to do a damn thing to address the meth destruction in our community.

The executive director of the AIDS Housing Alliance, Brian Basinger, made this comment in response to the BAR’s latest story on Villamore’s death:

Every time I walk by those businesses in the Castro that sell drug pushing paraphernalia, I’m reminded of what those people are doing to our community. Supervisor Scott Wiener should push legislation banning the sale of crack pipes.

What meth users need are counseling services, stays in rehab facilities, affordable healthcare, their own personal commitment to helping themselves stay clean, and decent-paying jobs.

Can we talk misguided and harmful public policy ideas regarding drug use among gays, please?

Before considering Basinger’s pipe prohibition proposal, take into account that amyl nitrates are banned by federal law and you’ll find plenty of shops peddling that product on Castro Street. Oh, and meth is also banned from being sold openly -- and a lot of good that does.

I just don’t see how a pipe prohibition would in any way have kept Villamore off drugs, clean and sober, on his AIDS cocktail, and taking care of himself. There were a multiplicity of factors that pushed Villamore into his years of self-destructive behavior and he apparently made no effort to avail himself of services to address his many needs.

For all we know, Villamore could have injected meth or other drugs into his veins, using a syringe provided by a needle exchange program or purchased over the counter at the nearby Walgreen’s drug store. Should we then use this face to champion ending access to clean needles for all? I say no.

Alcohol prohibition didn’t work, closing the San Francisco baths didn’t stop HIV transmissions, and outlawing marijuana from being grown, distributed, and smoked doesn’t keep people from enjoying their weed.

What meth users need are counseling services, stays in rehab facilities, affordable healthcare, their own personal commitment to helping themselves stay clean, and decent-paying jobs. They must also hear safe sex messages and develop practices that keep them either HIV negative or, if positive, from transmitting the virus or other diseases.

Maintaining existing services and outreach agencies for those among us on hard drugs or alcohol or maintaining sobriety is a constant battle and as with so many health-related organizations, there are more funding cuts expected from governmental and private donors. Adding to the agencies’ burden is that with so many folks out of work or losing their homes or insurance, there’s a growing pool of at-risk individuals tempted by meth or getting hooked on it, increasing demand for ever-shrinking services.

It’s going to take our collective will power and creativity to confront the harmful destruction and deaths meth causes. Reaching community consensus about effective control and decrease of speed use requires long-term thinking and solutions.

Drug paraphernalia prohibition suggestions are not helpful to the discussion we as a community are having in the wake of Villamore’s demise.

The cause of death has not been released by the city’s medical examiner.

2011-12-29T16:47:00.000-08:00

Feds Force Closure of One of
SF's Oldest Pot Clubs on Jan 9

The leaders of one of San Francisco oldest and best medical marijuana dispensaries have announced they'll be closing up shop early in the new year, because of the federal Department of Justice's crackdown on landlords who rent to the dispensaries.

The Market Street Cooperative has been in operation for more than a decade, meeting the needs of its diverse clientele with high quality products at affordable prices. Why it is all of a sudden a target for the feds, as are so many other dispensaries, is quite mysterious and many suspect has a lot to do with President Barack Obama's reelection next year.

Services such as drop-in acupuncture and chair massages were offered, along with small packets of free medicine with people lacking funds. And when the Lyon-Martin Health Clinic was about to go out of business earlier this year, the coop was among the first businesses to step up and make a robust donation to keep it open.

I have been a member of the club pretty much since it first opened it doors, and I am sad and furious that it will soon be gone. To everyone at the coop, allow me to say thank you for years of service to the medical marijuana community. You will be dearly missed.

More info on the coop is here, and this is their letter about the upcoming closure:

Dear Market Street Cooperative Members and Supporters,

With much regret we must announce that we will be closing the doors of our dispensary and client services space at 7:00 pm on January 9, 2012. After years of providing affordable medical cannabis and other health services to our community, we are being forced to close after a San Francisco Assistant United States Attorney threatened our landlords with property forfeiture if the cooperative does not stop dispensing cannabis at our current location.

We apologize for the short notice to our members. Unfortunately, we were just notified that our landlords received the forfeiture letter from the feds and had to act fast.

In an effort to assist our members while they locate a new cooperative or collective to obtain their cannabis and other services, we will be offering a 15% discount on all medicine until we close starting January 1.

This discount cannot be combined with any other discount.

Our hope is that our closure is temporary. At the present moment we do not have plans to offer delivery services. We hope that our current federal administration will reconsider its attack on California's medical cannabis patients and caregivers and stick to its promise to allow law abiding cooperatives, such as Market Street Cooperative, to again provide affordable medical cannabis.

Market Street Cooperative has always strived to be a leader in our community by not only providing low cost medical cannabis, but also providing information and free health services to our membership, by donating to community and non-profit organizations, and our commitment to a mission of helping our community, humanity, animals, and the planet.

Unfortunately, the federal government would like to see an end to medical cannabis in California and the additional contributions to the community it offers. We hope they do not succeed.

Thank you for your support over the years. We will continue to keep our membership updated as we know more.

In Solidarity,
Market Street Cooperative

2011-12-29T10:31:00.000-08:00

Edinburgh U's 55-Page 'Gay Damascus'
File Omits Results of Investigations

The Records Manager for Edinburgh University on December 23 emailed me a two-page letter and fifty-three-page file in response to my Freedom of Information request, seeking the results of their two investigations into the Gay Girl in Damascus hoax perpetrated by their student Tom MacMaster (pictured), and what is clear from the records is that the institution was never committed to releasing the results.

Emails between university officials shows an overriding effort to avoid creating an email or paper trail, with the preferred method of any communication about the matter being personal chats, and a full understanding of FOI requirements regarding destruction of records to better cover the institution's ass.

If there was a genuine effort to deliver authentic accountability over MacMaster's links to the university and the hoax, it's missing from the file released.

When the press office announced two investigations into whether MacMaster, a visiting student from the United States, had violated computer rules or ethical guidelines the officials knew full well they would never reveal the results of the probes.

Privacy sections of United Kingdom FOI laws allow schools to withhold confidential information pertaining to students and their conduct, and the university conveniently omitted this important fact when they issued a statement regarding the probes. Student privacy is why the results of the investigation have not been made public.

It's also why the letter from MacMaster, who is still a student at Edinburgh University, to one of the investigators responding to their charges is 99 percent redacted. That letter is page 30 of the 55-page file, all of which is available here:

Edinburgh University Reply

After receiving the university's file, I contacted Benjamin Doherty of the Electronic Intifada site and shared the file with him. Back in June when MacMaster's hoax was unraveling, it was all due to the diligent research of Doherty and his colleague Ali Abunimah, and their evidence was presented here.

Doherty provides these helpful background details::

MacMaster’s blog, “Gay Girl in Damascus,” featured a character named Amina Arraf who was a US citizen, lesbian, literate and leftist. Tom had written Amina Arraf before, but this time his work would achieve international notoriety and similarly earn him international scorn.

The “Gay Girl in Damascus” was written to appeal directly to liberal, English-speaking readers. Moreover, Syria has been in a state of near media blackout especially since the breakout of revolts there in March.

In June before going on vacation to Turkey with his wife Britta Froelicher, MacMaster introduced a plot twist: Amina Arraf was mysteriously seized from the streets of Damascus. This led to genuine and global concern that a real person had been seized and faced imminent harm at a time when activists and bloggers were facing repression by Syrian authorities.

Doherty goes on to note the small acts of accountability carried out by the university investigators:

The first evidence of discipline is the University’s official statement on 13 June 2011, the day after the hoax was exposed:

The University will investigate whether the student has breached University computing regulations. The Principal has directed Vice Principal Knowledge Management and Chief Information Officer [CIO] Jeff Haywood to suspend the student’s computing privileges pending the outcome of the investigation.

Finally a letter written by Vice Principal for Equality and Diversity, Professor Lorraine Waterhouse and CIO Jeff Haywood (28 June 2011 on page 29) demands of MacMaster:

You must give, in writing, an unequivocal assurance that you will not engage in any further actions of this kind whilst a student of this university.

MacMaster responded on 1 July 2011 in a letter (page 30) that says in part:

I will not engage in any further actions of this kind whilst a student of the university.

And that is the extent of the public accountability from Edinburgh University over this sordid affair. In my view, the university was shamefully lax in holding MacMaster to account and was all too willing to keep the public in the dark about the results of the investigation, which are omitted from the 55-page file.

Thanks to the UK's FOI laws, both MacMaster and Edinburgh University have been subjected to a small degree of additional accountability.

2011-12-28T16:51:00.000-08:00

BAR: Transparency Needed
on Castro's Rainbow Flag

(Leather folks receive special rights from MUMC every year when they are allowed to raise their flag on city property, while the rest of us are denied equal access to the flagpole. The black-and-blue kink flag flying during September 2010 Leather Week. Credit: Bill Wilson.)

Last week, I was surprised to see the Bay Area Reporter's editorial about Supervisor Scott Wiener, who received their endorsement in 2010, delved into the rainbow flag controversy that's been alternately raging and simmer over the eleven-months since I launched a campaign to bring public control to the public flagpole on city property.

While the SF Chronicle, on the front-page no less, SF Weekly, Bay City News (whose story via the KPIX-TV site was linked to by the Drudge Report), the Castro Courier, SFist, the SF Appeal and a good number of personal blogs, all ran stories about the iron-handed control of the flagpole, the BAR has not covered the controversy in its print edition, and their February 3 blog post about efforts to lower the flag for murdered gay Ugandan David Kato should have been the topic of a followup piece.

The BAR blog in February said:

[Steve] Adams pledged to have MUMC’s board address the community complaints about the flag policy. “I am open to dialogue. There may be a compromise between the activists and MUMC,” said Adams. ...

“The bottom line is a lot of it is tourists. They want to see that flag up,” said Adams, who plans to bring up the matter with his board. “It is not my decision; it is a board decision.” He said based on the phone calls he has had this week with board members, the majority support keeping the status quo.

“I am open to dialogue though,” said Adams. “They may not get what they want, but I am open to talk about it. That is a democracy.”

What richness. A banker who acts like a banana republic despot lecturing everyone about democracy. Lemme know when democratic engagement takes root in the Castro.

Twice it's stated MUMC would have open dialogue with activists and the larger community, and as the BAR staff wells know, every effort made at the Castro Benefit District, Department of Public Works, MUMC and through the City Administrator's office have been killed either by Adams or Patrick Batt of MUMC, Wiener, or a combination of those three.

The BAR could do the community a huge favor and simply write about the current status of the controversy, and how we got to the point where one bully at a bank is the sole controlling agent for an important piece of LGBT property that belongs to the city? Report on the killed meetings, why they never happened and get the victims of Adams and Wiener's bullying to go on the record about the crap Adams and Wiener have done over the months?

Very odd of the editor to lament Wiener's silence on the flagpole, when her own paper has been silent too and they could have broken that silence simply by putting a reporter on the story. It's not too late to do that, in the name of ethical, community journalism. From the BAR last week:

One issue people do seem to want addressed is control of the flagpole in Harvey Milk Plaza, and on that topic Wiener has been mostly silent.

While the flagpole itself is on city property, the city had passed off management of it to the Castro merchants' group.

This year alone, several people have requested that the flag be lowered to half-staff in memory of a murdered gay activist (David Kato), an icon's death (Elizabeth Taylor), or due to national import (the 10-year anniversary of 9/11), with mixed results.

There ought to be some sort of process – rules! – so that the public can make a request and it can be quickly vetted. No one's going to understand why the flag was lowered weeks after someone's passing.

Or, if it's decided that the flag will never be lowered, as is the case now, then the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro should stop complaining and be prepared to deal with the requests and criticism that will inevitably come.

2011-12-27T12:01:00.000-08:00

NYT: Larry Kramer
is 2011's Most Resilient Gadfly

(Larry on the left, with Joe Mantello who played Ned Weeks in the Broadway revival of "The Normal Heart". Credit: Walter MacBride, Retna.)

My old friend and political inspiration Larry Kramer received a fabulous accolade from the Gray Lady on Sunday. One of the New York Times' theater correspondents, Patrick Healy, on Christmas Day had a look back at 2011's notable theatrical productions and people and Larry was singled out for his persistence:

MOST RESILIENT GADFLY Larry Kramer, the 76-year-old gay activist, who marked his long-awaited Broadway debut — the critically acclaimed production of “The Normal Heart” — by handing out letters to theatergoers after performances, imploring them to keep pushing for government action on H.I.V. and AIDS.

Congratulations, Larry! No need to say "keep it up" since we all know there is no chance of Larry going silent or inactive. And exactly what did he have to say in his message as folks left the theater? Here's the full text of the note:

Please know that everything in The Normal Heart happened. These were and are real people who lived and spoke and died, and are presented here as best I could. Several more have died since, including Bruce, whose name was Paul Popham, and Tommy, whose name was Rodger McFarlane and who become my best friend, and Emma, whose name was Dr. Linda Laubenstein. She died after a return bout of polio and another trip to an iron lung. Rodger, after building three gay/AIDS agencies from the ground up, committed suicide in despair. On his deathbed at Memorial, Paul called me (we'd not spoken since our last fight in this play) and told me to never stop fighting.

Four members of the original cast died as well, including my dear sweet friend Brad Davis, the original Ned, whom I knew from practically the moment he got off the bus from Florida, a shy kid so very intent on become a fine actor, which he did.

Please know that AIDS is a worldwide plague.

Please know that no country in the world, including this one, especially this one, has ever called it a plague or acknowledged it as a plague, or dealt with it as a plague.

Please know that there is no cure.

Please know that after all this time the amount of money being spent to find a cure is still miniscule, still almost invisible, still impossible to locate in any national health budget, and still totally uncoordinated.

Please know that here in America, case numbers continue to rise in every category. In much of the rest of the world - Russia, India, Southeast Asia, Africa - the numbers of the infected and the dying are so grotesquely high that they are rarely acknowledged.

Please know that all efforts at prevention and education continue their unending record of abject failure.

Please know that there is no one in charge of this plague. This is a war for which there is no general and for which there has never been a general. How can you win a war with no one in charge?

Please know that beginning with Ronald Reagan (who would not say the word 'AIDS' publicly for seven years), every single president has said nothing and done nothing, or in the case of the current president, says the right things and then doesn't do them.

Please know that most medications for HIV/AIDS are inhumanly expensive and that government funding for the poor to obtain them is dwindling and often unavailable.

Please know that the pharmaceutical companies are among the most evil and greedy nightmares ever loosed on humankind. What 'research' they embark upon is calculated only toward finding newer drugs to keep us, just barely, from dying, but not to make us better or, god forbid, cured.

Please know that an awful lot of people have needlessly died and will continue to needlessly die because of any and all of the above.

Please know that the world has suffered at the very least some 75 million infections and 35 million deaths. When the action of the play that you have just seen begins, there were 41.

I have never seen such wrongs as this plague, in all its guises, represents, and continues to say about us all.

2011-12-24T16:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve in Jail
With the Terrible Tenors

You've heard of the Three Tenors, opera singers Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo, right? Well, this tale is not about them.

Ten-years ago on Christmas Eve, I was locked up at the San Francisco county jail, pictured, with David Pasquarelli because of charges stemming from our over-the-top AIDS accountability campaign that included phone calls at midnight. We each had half-million dollar bail hanging over us, as we waited for the preliminary phase of our case to be heard before a judge.

Neither one had that kind of money sitting in the bank, so our 2001 holiday season was spent in the county lock-up. It's depressing being in jail at anytime, being in the slammer on Christmas Eve can really bring on mental troubles. We simply had to make the best of our bad situation.

After dinner on Christmas Eve, the mood in the pod where were incarcerated was subdued and everyone, including the sheriff's deputies, wanted to be anywhere but inside a jail. Most of the inmates were watching a holiday special on the TV, a few were playing cards or chess, and I was on my power-walk trying to exercise away the blues.

From the sheriff's perch overlooking the pod, one of the deputies demanded everyone's attention. He announced that an inmate, a 20-ish Asian guy charged with shoplifting, wanted to sing for us. The Asian guy sang some of "Jingle Bells" and the TV volume was muted so we could hear him, until he started laughing so hard from who-knows-what he had to end the singing. That brought much-needed good cheer to the pod.

Another inmate, a dark-haired and naturally built straight white guy in his forties (who reminded me of Jim Eigo, a hero of mine from ACT UP/New York), facing auto theft charges walked up to the perch and asked the guard if he could sing.

He sang all of "Silent Night" and brought a feeling of contemplation to many of us, stuck in jail on that cold, dark night. The applause for him may have been not as hardy as for the first inmate, but it was because the mood was quite sad.

"Hey, what about me? I wanna sing too," soon came a voice from the upper level of the pod where the transgender inmates had their segregated section (for their own protection after several of them were sexually groped by horny inmates). The voice belonged to a 40-ish black transgender woman finishing off a sentence for drug use and parole violations.

Try as she did to imitate Eartha Kitt performing "Santa Baby", the sounds out of her mouth were very male, but we all cheered her on even when she couldn't remember all the lyrics. She gave us all a genuine reason to laugh.

After she left the stage, er, sheriff's perch, the deputies said we were getting an extra hour out of our cells because it was Christmas Eve and since all inmates were on their best behavior. This news made us inmates happy and everyone got back to what they were doing before the singing started.

In that bleak situation, the free gifts of song and laughter and extra time to exercise sure brightened my mood, and all because the Terrible Tenors, as I dubbed them, simply had to sing for the inmates and guards. We were all stuck in the Gray Bar Hotel, away from loved ones on the outside, but for a short time that Christmas Eve there was genuine good cheer in our pod.

If you're reading this, count your blessings that you're not in the county lockup! Merry Christmas to all!

2011-12-24T09:29:00.000-08:00

Season's Greetings From Mike + Mike

We decided to get a Christmas photo card printed on recycled tree, so we could send out holiday greetings the old-fashioned way - via snail mail. This fabulous photo was snapped at San Francisco's Union Square with the most colorful street performer posing with us. Best wishes to everyone for a joyous, happy and healthy holiday season, from Mike + Mike!

2011-12-23T17:06:00.000-08:00

SF DPH: Dramatic Declines
of Opportunistic Illnesses for PWAs

This is another column of mine for the Edge Network's Let's Talk HIV series. There's incredibly uplifting news regarding infections among the AIDS population of SF and I sure hope the stats are mirrored around the country for other PWAs:

Dramatic Declines of OIs in San Francisco

A recently released HIV/AIDS epidemiology report from the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SF DPH) described a continuing general decline of opportunistic illnesses (OIs) among those newly diagnosed and the aging population of people with AIDS (PWAs).

For AIDS cases in the early years of the epidemic, individuals were frequently diagnosed with CD4 cell counts under 200 and an OI such as Candidiasis, Kaposi’s sarcoma, pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP), and wasting syndrome.

However, the health officials observe the following positive development:

--In the most recent years, more than 80% of (AIDS) cases were diagnosed by CD4 levels alone.

--This means newly-infected individuals are not as ill when receiving an AIDS diagnosis, giving them better chances of maintaining wellness and a robust immune system.

This 2010 annual report provides background about the history of tracking OIs:

The SF DPH has collected the initial and subsequent occurrence of AIDS opportunistic illnesses since AIDS surveillance began 1981. To our knowledge, the SF DPH is the only health department in the country to have done so. This provides us with a comprehensive understanding of the spectrum of opportunistic illnesses over time.

Possessing decades of collected data gives the epidemiologists data from which an invaluable picture of OI trends emerges. The section for OIs contains much good news regarding the falling frequency of incidences:

--Declines in opportunistic illnesses can be attributed to prophylaxis and improved antiretroviral therapy and to earlier diagnosis of HIV infection.

[A chart illustrating] the incidence rate of eight major opportunistic illnesses between 1993 and 2008... [shows] dramatic declines in the most frequently occurring illnesses. Though more difficult to appreciate, there have also been declines in the less frequently occurring illnesses occurring over this time period.)

The decline in PCP in the early to mid-1990s can be attributed to widespread use of PCP prophylaxis. Declines in Mycobacterium Avium Complex (MAC) are likely due to use of prophylaxis as well, although this is more difficult to observe because of their small numbers.

Improved care, including HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy), is likely to be responsible for most of the decline.

In other words, AIDS cocktails are directly boosting the immune function of PWAs who are contracting fewer OIs and statistical trends show steady rates or drops, with no OIs on the rise.

The report examined OIs in three time-periods: pre-HAART (1993-1996), early HAART (1996-2000) and late HAART (2001-2010), and the following declines were recorded for the ten most-frequent OIs:

OIs by year..........’93-’96...’96-’00...’01’10

PCP .....................559.........410........343
Kaposi’s sarcoma.....226.........155........131
Wasting syndrome....176..........107.......69
Candidiasis ...........113...........91.........81
Recurrent bacterial....77............80.........31
pneumonia
Cryptosporidiosis......74...........35.........16
Pulmonary
tuberculosis.............74...........44.........50
HIV encephalopathy.....60.........37.......28
Cryptococcosis.........56...........35.........51
MAC.....................36...........27.........23

Dr. Grant Colfax, the SF DPH director of HIV and OI prevention, said the numbers are motivations for treatment adherence and regular visits to the doctor. Asked to interpret the data and what lessons the aging PWA population should learn, Colfax said:

--Recognize that aging is part of the natural life process, though there’s evidence that HIV (especially untreated) accelerates this process. Stay active, exercise, maintain a strong social network, don’t use tobacco and drink only in moderation, if at all.

--Diet and a healthy weight are also important. Eat meat in moderation, lots of fruits and vegetables, avoid processed foods.

--Plan for longer-term needs including the possibility of long-term medical care. Write a living will with clear instructions regarding life support.

Colfax’s best practices suggestions for PWAs as they age are echoed by Gary Virginia, a Castro neighborhood resident living with AIDS since the late 1980s, who describes himself as "a survivor and thriver."

Virginia says he’s maintained wellness through simple health habits, and offers these recommendations:

--It’s critical for newly infected and long-term HIV survivors to have regular lab work (every six months minimum) to monitor viral load and CD4/T-cell counts (immune system health). Baseline figures and changes alert your healthcare provider to whether or not you should start or change your HIV medications.

--The newer drugs have fewer side effects and often are more effective and stay in the blood system longer which helps fight drug resistance. Trouble with drug adherence should be discussed because many drugs are now combined to reduce pill count or frequency in taking them.

--Many HIV meds can cause dry mouth, which affects dental health, so it’s important to stay on top of routine dentist visits and use products to prevent decay.

Both Colfax and Virginia emphasize that OIs are preventable for the most part if you keep a low or an undetectable viral load and a stable CD4 cell count over 200.

The benefits of AIDS medicines are clearly measurable and through the years have directly contributed to people living with HIV infection and averting OIs that once disfigured bodies, ravaged compromised immune systems, and all-too-quickly lead to death and funerals.

What cannot be measured are the years of extended lives, all the holidays and birthdays, the vast numbers political and medical advances and setbacks for the gay and AIDS communities, myriad laughs and tears of modern life, and so many additional facets of living that PWAs have lived to witness and experience.

It is frequently said by public health experts that AIDS trends seen in San Francisco over time are replicated in other American urban areas. Thomas J. Coates of the University of California is one such HIV prevention expert and he maintains that, "what happens in the HIV epidemic usually happens here first."

Many hope those words will apply to OI rates outside of San Francisco.

(The 2010 SF DPH Annual HIV/AIDS Report can be read here:
http://www.sfdph.org/dph/files/reports/RptsHIVAIDS/AnnualReport2010_2.pdf. Data on OIs was extracted from pages 32-34.)

2011-12-22T21:50:00.000-08:00

TB or Not TB:
An Antibody Positive Freakout

I'm cross-posting more of my columns from the Let's Talk HIV series over the Edge Network site, and today I'm sharing an abbreviated essay about testing positive for TB. You can read all of the posts in this 60-day blogging project from myself and the two other writers, River Huston and Earl Plante, at this link. My column:

Don't Mess With TB

As I approached my fiftieth birthday, it was time for me to get several regular tests, including one for tuberculosis. It used to be that I was pricked in a forearm and had to wait a few days before returning to see my doctor, so he could look at the prick marks and see if they indicated a positive reaction.

But that all changed with the development of a blood test for TB antibodies, one that was much better at detecting positivity. I was pleased that, instead of four pricks, only one prick in my vein would be necessary - a relief when I also had a blood draw for T-cells, HIV viral load, and related tests.

Less than a week after the draw, my primary care physician left me a voice mail saying my TB antibody test came back positive and that I needed to immediately start taking drugs to treat it. A nurse from the TB clinic at San Francisco General Hospital also called, urging me to come to the drop-in clinic the next day.

Thus began my crash course in the world of TB issues. I freaked out, thinking the result meant I was infected and would soon experience symptoms, and that my partner and husbear Mike may have been infected by me. He spoke with his doctor, took the test and we were relieved he was negative.

Two possible drug regimens were presented to me, the first being five-months on ribavirin, a drug with a mediocre success rate among patients, versus nine-months on isoniazid, or INH for short, and a much better track record of preventing the development of full-blown TB. After reading up on the disease and clinical research involving INH, and asking my doctor lots of questions, I quickly began treatment with INH.

Every month I dropped in at the TB clinic, where plenty of fans were always in use, keeping the air well-ventilated, and visitors who had coughs were encouraged to wear masks. The nurses drew blood, took chest x-rays, asked how I was coping, and gave me a month’s supply of INH.

They told alarming stories about patients not adhering to the regimen, going off INH and feeling better for a short while, only to receive a diagnosis of active or drug-resistant TB, requiring more difficult-to-tolerate medicines and additional medical problems.

All of a sudden, I went from living with AIDS to living with TB antibodies and contending with the side effects of the new drug I added to my daily cocktail.

Two times every week I sought out acupuncture treatments at a low-cost community clinic, getting physical and mental relief from all the additional stress. Acupuncture has long been a favorite healing modality, and during the nine months of INH, nothing quite relaxed me like the needles working the right points.

I also increased my daily exercise routine and tried drinking more water, because both things gave me a sense of being in greater control of my health during this period. There were times when my mental health was so negatively impacted by the INH, I fully understood why some patients stopped taking it.

My level of newfound fear of TB led me to open windows at political meetings when there was too much hot air and no circulation. At cafes, in movie theaters, and on public transit systems, when someone nearby coughed hard or more than once, I moved away and found another place to sit.

Why risk more exposure from potentially infected TB people in closed quarters?

Ageing with AIDS is complex and challenging enough just dealing with HIV, existing infections, and side effects of my regular cocktail. Throwing TB into the personal medical mix was certainly a bummer, but it was crucial to remember the benefits of the routine testing for TB antibodies. Better to fight off just the antibodies and not come down with a case of active TB.

At the end of the nine months of treatment with INH, I patted myself on the back and sought praise from my traditional medical health-care providers and alternative healing practitioners, for completing the course.

This story and advice is shared with readers to remind other persons with AIDS to regularly test for exposure to TB antibodies, quickly determine a treatment plan if positive to antibodies, and develop a plan to counter the side effects.

Don’t mess around with TB.

2011-12-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

S.F.'s Last Working Telephone Booth?

Yesterday was my follow up eye exam at the California Pacific Medical Center over at their Pacific Heights campus. As I walked past the parking lot at Webster and Clay Streets, my eyes noticed the top of a Pacific Bell telephone booth inside the gated lot.

My first thought was that the booth was an empty relic from bygone days, with a two-piece door, but lo there was a working phone inside, a metal shelf and underneath it a recent phone book inside a thick, plastic cover.

Googling for relevant info turned up a February 2008 report and photo at the SFist site about a phone booth on Treasure Island, and June post and picture at the SF Citizen pertaining to a cluster of phones on Market and 6th Streets, but they're of the bare-bones variety without booths.

I'm not sure if the phone booth at Webster and Clay Streets is the last operational one on the streets of San Francisco, so if you know of another, please let me know.

2011-12-18T16:52:00.000-08:00

Edinburgh U's 'Gay Damascus Girl'
Hoax Investigations: Results When?

After Tom MacMaster (pictured), a straight American scholar studying at the University of Edinburgh was revealed in June to be the creator of the hoax Gay Girl in Damascus blog, the press office for the university promised not one, but two investigations would be conducted. In November, unable to find a shred of evidence that the investigations actually happened and produced transparent results, I submitted a request for information to the press office:

Readers of my blog have asked me what ever happened to the University of Edinburgh's investigations into Tom MacMaster potentially misusing university computer equipment or violating equality and diversity policies. The answer, of course, is I don't know and that is why I write to you today.

I have followed your institution's online paper trail on these serious matters of international importance related to MacMaster and his Gay Girl in Damascus blog hoax, and found this scrap of information from June 24 on your site:

The University of Edinburgh is very concerned about recent reports relating to the activities of postgraduate student Tom MacMaster.

His use of University computing facilities has been suspended while Vice Principal Knowledge Management and Chief Information Officer Professor Jeff Haywood conducts an investigation into possible misuse.

The Vice Principal for Equality and Diversity, Professor Lorraine Waterhouse has also been asked to investigate the matter in the context of the University's Dignity and Respect Policy and list of Disciplinary Offences.

Let's get to the questions. Have the investigations concluded? If they have, how has the university conveyed the findings to the general public? Where on the web is your paper explaining if MacMaster violated your rules and regulations? Should the investigations be ongoing, why are they taking five-months to conduct and when do you expect them to conclude?

Please provide me with the status of the university's accountability to the global human rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights communities and the date of when you will publicly produce the results of the MacMaster investigations.

When Rob Tomlinson, the head of media and communications for the university, replied with a terse and vague note, I got pushy for specifics about when substantive results would be released. Tomlinson wrote:

Rest assured, we will be in touch just as soon as we possibly can. The University is a large, complex and diverse organisation with almost 30,000 students and around 8,000 staff and there are a number of individuals who have to be consulted on such matters. I'm sure you understand that within a university community, the people that one sometimes needs to consult with are not always immediately available, particularly those senior members of academic staff who are sometimes on long periods of sabbatical leave, often overseas, for research purposes etc. As I said, we will be in touch once we are satisfied that we have all the information with which it is possible to supply you.

Not sure what the heck the high numbers of students and faculty have to do with producing accountability from Haywood and Waterhouse, the investigators, taking so many months to examine the evidence and issue a report. I nudged the university in a followup note for a details about the investigation, which I believe should have already conclude. Tomlinson sent this reply last week:

The University is treating all your requests for information as Freedom of Information requests which means that you will receive a response within the statutory 20 working days of your initial request.

Never one to take a single route when searching for answers, on top of contacting the press officials, I also filed a separate Freedom of Information request with the university's records management office, which sent me this reply signed by Sara Cranston:

Thank you for your email of 29 November requesting information about MacMaster investigations. I am writing to let you know that we have received your request and will process it as soon as possible, and certainly within 20 working days of the day we received the request. You will hear back from us by 29 December at the latest.

The University of Edinburgh should be ashamed for not acting responsibly and informing the global public about the end results of its two investigations, within a reasonable amount of time and six-months should be sufficient to conduct a responsible inquiry. Sad to imagine that this institution announced the investigations at the height of the hoax's controversy, to better appease the wide calls for Macmaster to be held to account, and was all too happy to let everyone's attention go on to other international LGBT and Syrian concerns.

In my latest email to Tomlinson and other press officials, I thanked them for preparing to release files responsive to my requests, and also wanted to know where on the university web site they would post the investigations' full results. It's not enough to provide me with the files and accountability. The university must be transparent with the results and prominently share them on their extensive site, while also issuing a news release once the results are finalized and ready for public inspection.

I hope the university delivers the public accountability they promised regarding MacMaster, his phoney blog and the international firestorms he ignited.

2011-12-17T18:38:00.000-08:00

100s Hear Occupy the Castro's
General Assembly Plea: Recall Wiener

The first General Assembly of Occupy the Castro today shared Harvey Milk Plaza with the Western Star Dancers, who were swinging their partners round and getting warmed up for a neighborhood outing spreading holiday cheer when we arrived. Nice to have music and dancing serve as a prelude to our Occupy work.

The GA ran over an hour and attracted 60-70 participants and speakers, while hundreds of people either exited the Muni underground trains, waited for a bus, rode by on bikes or in cars, or just walking past Castro and Market Street.

Among those who showed up or spoke were Milk Club member Rafael Mandelman, lesbian Middle East peace activist Kate Raphael, person with AIDS and Gays Without Borders organizer Gary Virginia, transgender labor advocate Denise D'Anne, housing rights activist Tommi Avicolli Mecca, bisexual vegan and animal rights organizer Nadia Winsted, formerly homeless queer youth The Fabulous Christopher, public nudist practitioner Mitch Hightower and others whose names I didn't catch but who contributed to the fabulous day.

We interrupt this report to present a gratuitous photo of a young slab of beef who stopped by for a few moments to check out the GA.

Folks made their own signs and decided what messages were important for them. Mitch Hightower made stickers and hand-held fans out of Clinton Fein's Recall Scott Wiener images, that were a hit with the crowd. All anti-Wiener talk was greeted with cheers. One marijuana activist found a piece of cardboard to denounce the Supreme Court's United Citizens decision recognizing corporations as people.

The man on the left live-streamed the GA on his smartphone and our wonderful main cheerleader speaker was Gary Virginia, who knows hows to use a bull horn.

We wrapped butcher paper around one of the public (and generally empty) news racks, then taped a box of markers to a corner for people to use to leave messages and drawings. It was our Comment Wall and one more way for everybody to make a statement.

After the GA, a handful of us walked down to the next block of Castro Street to the spot where Pedro Villamore, a homeless gay man, died on the street in the middle of day. His family had placed flowers there in remembrance of Pedro and we wanted to pay our respects. We left a Recall Scott Wiener sticker with the flowers.

I simply had to be photographed wearing and holding anti-Wiener messages! Big thanks and hugs to everyone who joined our first Occupy the Castro GA, or heard our message and expressed solidarity, wrote notes on the Comment Wall or simple made the Castro fabulous today.

(Credit for all pix: Petrelis Files.)

2011-12-16T13:10:00.000-08:00

Homeless Person Dies on Castro Street;
Sup. Wiener Remains Silent and MIA

I just read this tragic story from yesterday's Bay Area Reporter, which curiously reported nothing about trying to contact Supervisor Scott Wiener or whether he's made a comment about this death on the streets of his district. Just one more example of the BAR not subjecting Wiener to any accountability, who received the paper's endorsement in 2010?

Doubtless, Harvey Milk would not only have spoken up about the death but would have also told the community how he will will help the homeless folks in his district, but Wiener ain't no Milk.

Neither Wiener's Facebook page nor his Twitter feed say one word about this death that happened more than a week ago. The Castro's supervisor does mention several times his dog-walking legislation and his work on that important issue, but nothing about our homeless brothers and sisters living and dying on the district's streets.

If he's said or done anything about the homeless population in our midst and how he's helping them, I missed it.

From the BAR:

A homeless man died in a doorway on Castro Street last week, in the middle of the day.

The San Francisco Medical Examiner's office has identified him as Pedro Villamore Jr., 44. He had no fixed address, and the cause of death hasn't been determined.

His passing, likely not the only one of its kind in San Francisco as the days get colder, came just before National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day, which is Wednesday, December 21.

Villamore's death on Thursday, December 8 also occurred at a time local and state leaders are working to address homelessness, particularly regarding LGBTs, although it is not known how Villamore identified.

San Francisco Police Sergeant Chuck Limbert, the LGBT liaison to Mission Station, said there were no signs of foul play in Villamore's death.

Eddie Lundeen, 44, is one of the owners of Mudpuppy's Tub and Scrub, a dog-washing service at 536 Castro Street, near where Villamore died.

He had seen Villamore in the doorway and had been buying him coffee and food for a couple weeks. Lundeen last saw Villamore alive last Thursday morning.

Thursday night Lundeen hung a sign in the doorway where Villamore died that mentioned the "simple gifts" he'd given the man in the previous weeks.

"My one wish is that I would have taken a moment to get to know him better," the sign read. Lundeen also placed candles and silver Christmas decorations in the spot. ...

Pedro will be remembered tomorrow, Saturday, December 17, at the Occupy the Castro General Assembly that starts at noon at Harvey Milk Plaza. Please join us!

2011-12-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

SF Ex: 'Recall Scott Wiener'
Campaign Starts on Facebook

Nice of our local daily tabloid to write up a news note about this political development. From today's San Francisco Examiner:

Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the Castro district, among other neighborhoods, is the target of a Facebook campaign to recall him from office. The Petrelis Files blog reported that Castro resident and attorney Stephen Zollman created the page, which had more than 50 supporters as of Wednesday night. Wiener was elected to the board in 2010.

Click here to visit the Recall Scott Wiener Now page on Facebook.

It's my hope that at this Saturday's Occupy the Castro General Assembly, that there are folks who address the many reasons why Wiener is such a bad Supervisor and should face a recall vote. The assembly begins at noon at Harvey Milk Plaza. Come speak out and voice your concerns about all issues related to the Castro and the larger LGBT community.

(Image credit: Clinton Fein.)

2011-12-15T11:13:00.000-08:00

Laura Truffaut Introduces
'Bride Wore Black' on Friday at SF Film Society

About three years ago, Laura Truffaut, one of Francois Truffaut's daughters who lives in Berkeley, spoke after a screening of her father's classic film "The Wild Child" at the Opera Plaza Cinema. It had been newly restored and was beginning a successful limited run back in theaters.

The screening was packed, with maybe a third of audience comprised of film buffs under thirty, and Laura shared behind-the-scenes tales of the making of "The Wild Child" and its cultural impact in France when first released. The young film buffs showed off their knowledge of Truffaut's body of work, asking terrific questions about his career.

I asked Laura if she thought necessary to start a foundation dedicated to preserving, restoring and exhibiting her father's films, along the lines of what the Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Pier Paolo Pasolini foundations were doing. I said such a foundation might help get more Truffaut films shown theatrically again, especially "The Bride Wore Black", which I'd only seen once but wanted to see again on the big screen.

She didn't think a Truffaut foundation was needed because enough of his work continues to be shown at rep houses and film archives. Regarding "The Bride Wore Black", she said it wasn't a film her father was very satisfied with.

Thanks to Laura's engaging conversation, the audience experienced a most entertaining conversation exploring the joys Truffaut's many terrific films and how he made them.

This Friday, the San Francisco Film Society begins a five-day run of a new print of "The Bride Wore Black" at their theatre in Japantown, and Laura will be at the 7 pm screening to introduce the film. Joining her will be Eddie Muller of the Film Noir Foundation.

Truffaut's homage to Alfred Hitchcock didn't receive a warm reception from either critics or audience, and when I saw it at New York's old Thalia Theatre it left me unimpressed and wondering why it was a misfire for the director. I'm thankful to have another opportunity to see this film on the big screen with an audience and hope to make it to the 7 pm showing tomorrow night.

Click here for more information on showtimes and tickets at the San Francisco Film Society Cinema, located at 1746 Post Street near Webster. Here's the original trailer for "The Bride Wore Black":

Finally, in other Truffaut news today from San Francisco, the Castro Theatre today is showing two of his other films from the early 1960s, "The Soft Skin" and "Shoot the Piano Player". Click here for programming notes and showtimes.

What a treat for Bay Area cineastes to have the chance to catch three Truffaut film!

2011-12-14T13:38:00.000-08:00

'Recall Scott Wiener' Facebook Group
Launched by Castro Attorney Zollman

I'm not a Facebook person, so I have not seen the page created by Castro resident and attorney Stephen Zollman to recall Supervisor Scott Wiener, but if you're on Facebook you can check out the page here.

The last I heard, over fifty people had joined the Recall Scott Wiener effort and I wish them the best of luck.

Local political artist and activist Clinton Fein has created the two images you see posted here, and if you use his artwork be sure to give him proper credit.

I've invited Zollman to speak about his recall organizing on December 17 at noon in Harvey Milk Plaza, during the latest Occupy the Castro effort and our first General Assembly. Come join the GA in the Castro on Saturday!

2011-12-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

HRC's Solidarity with Queer 99%?
Will They Be at Castro's General Assembly?

The Advocate's web site earlier this week got around to posting an article and video about the Occupy the Castro neighborhood tour in early December, and our stop at the Human Rights Campaign's tee-shirt and housewares shop. We had a message for the local branches of CitiBank and Bank of America, and HRC's employees: Address the economic inequality of ordinary gays.

HRC's spokesman Michael Cole-Schwartz told the Advocate that the group agrees with us protesters:

We understand and share the concerns over the unmet needs of our community — particularly among those most vulnerable. Every day the Human Rights Campaign works to make better the lives of LGBT people and we will continue to work to erase discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

If HRC's agenda includes working on the unmet basic needs of average lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, needs like healthcare, jobs and housing that are out of our reach because of economic injustice not anti-gay discrimination, I've not seen proof of their work for low-income LGBT people.

Did I miss HRC's statements endorsing calls to make banks pay for public health and education, and for 1 percenters to be taxed more?

HRC enjoys long-term partnerships with the likes of Wells Fargo, Bank of America, CitiBank, Nationwide Insurance, Prudential, British Petroleum, Chevron, Chase, Morgan Stanley, Met Life and Goldman Sachs, and has said and done nothing to curb Wall Street greed or advocate for economic equality for 99 percenters.

When it comes to their corporate sponsors, HRC has tunnel vision and only looks at how their sponsors treat LGBT workers. While there is much good in rating corporations for their gay employment protections, that is not the only standard upon which they should be judged.

In March, Goldman Sachs won HRC's Workplace Equality Innovation Award for 2011. Together, the financial services giant and the Democratic gay organization created this video,which focuses solely on workplace issues for LGBT people, with economic justice issues omitted:

This Saturday, December 17 starting at noon in San Francisco's Harvey Milk Plaza, two blocks from HRC's souvenir store, there will be another Occupy the Castro action and this time it's a General Assembly.

Will HRC executives or members show up on Saturday and tell us what they're doing about addressing economic inequality, or how they're moving their corporate partners to pay more taxes? It's one thing for HRC's spokesman to give a nice-sounding quote to the Advocate about how they supposedly are in solidarity with the queer Occupy the Castro effort. Quite another story to have HRC actually do something tangible to back up their claim.

Let's see if anyone from HRC speaks at the Castro's General Assembly on December 17. There will be an open mike, should they care to address the crowd.

2011-12-12T21:04:00.000-08:00

Cute Mormon Teens Resist My
Recruiting Them for the Gay Life

In recent years I've developed a routine of approaching young and handsome male recruiters from the Mormon religion prowling the streets of San Francisco for converts, chatting them up and snapping a few pix of them. The boys are well-trained to deal with all sorts of unique people and situations, and I try not to disappoint them for a few brief moments.

After introducing myself and making sure they're genuine Mormons, not just cute dudes satirizing Mormons, my second question is are they recruiting for Jesus Christ and their particular beliefs. They speak of their mission and ask for my time. I've performed this routine previously here and here and here and here.

Tonight these two nineteen-year-olds, Elder Lai, born in Singapore, left, and Elder Wilson who hails from the South, showed up at our door wanting to preach their religion to me.
It was hard for them to get a word in edgewise, as I snapped away and peppered them with questions about joining the gay life, and keeping their religion if they wanted to.

Lai made a valiant attempt to speak about God, but I derailed him by asking where he got acquired his adorable smile and accent. Wilson spoke of guys with "same-gender attraction", and impressed with use of the phrase, who worship at their San Francisco congregation.

Told them to get with accepting gay people and go way beyond tolerance, and to preach that message at their local congregation and wherever they go next as part of their missionary duties.

When asked if they were gay, both said no in most friendly way. I sent them on their way with advice to wear a hat and avoid getting a cold. Ah, the pleasures of giving a lesson or two to young Mormons who need exposure and engagement on all levels.

Why not talk to a these guys the next time you see them? They are quite ready to have conversations with people who don't agree with them.

2011-12-11T12:56:00.000-08:00

Avalos & Dufty Break Promises to Help
Reclaim Castro's Public Rainbow Flag

Supervisor John Avalos and former supervisor Bevan Dufty may occupy different points on the San Francisco political spectrum, but there is one area where they have much in common. Both men promised in writing to work on reclaiming the iconic rainbow flagpole that supposedly belongs to the public at Harvey Milk Plaza.

(Smooth talker Avalos has trouble keeping an important gay commitment. Credit: SF Gate.)

This is what Avalos wrote to me at the end of September:

Several months ago, I said that I am interested in reclaiming public space at the plaza. My staff has been stonewalled in this effort ... After the election in whatever capacity I serve, you have my commitment to bring people to the table to share views and hopefully work out more flexible use of the public space at the plaza.

Despite seeing him at his campaign office a few days after the election, and hearing with my own big ears from Avalos to contact him at his City Hall office, which I did via telephone and email, because he would keep his promise, it's a month later and Avalos and his staff have not contacted me. If they've done anything to keep his commitment, I'm not aware of it.

With conservative Supervisor Scott Wiener proposing sweeping changes at Harvey Milk Plaza, now would be an ideal time for Avalos to step up to the plate and finally make good on his promise. I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen, but if Avalos find his backbone on the flag issue, I'll be the first to laud him.

(When it comes to promise-keeping, Dufty should hold a NO card. Credit: SF Gate.)

Also in September, Dufty shared this written promise with me:

Thanks for entreating me to become involved in the issue around control of the Rainbow flag at Harvey Milk Plaza. ... After November 8th I will revisit the situation.

After receiving that note, my activist colleague Bill Wilson and met with Dufty at his campaign office and he told both of us to our faces that once the election was over, he'd meet with us and other flagpole activists. Dufty he'd give us the full behind-the-scenes machinations over the rainbow and work to make it more community-controlled.

In early November, via emails and phone chats, Dufty reiterated his promises, and he's not kept them. He's not replying to my emails anymore. So much for Dufty's hot air.

With Dufty, I always thought he'd find a way to wiggle out of his commitment, what with him needing the financial and political support of the bully who now single-handed controls the flagpole, Steve Adams, the VP of Sterling Bank and head of the Merchants of Upper Market/Castro. Adams endorsed Dufty and MUMC ran ads for his campaign.

My sense is that Dufty knew he wouldn't keep his promises after he lost the election, but he said what he did just to keep me out of his hair.

However, I expected Avalos to be a different kind of San Francisco politician, what with his progressive beliefs and all. Sorry to say this, Avalos is just one more politician who talks a great line when running for office, and when it comes time to deliver on a promise disappears into the woodwork.

Avalos the progressive and Dufty the moderate. On the matter of returning the public's rainbow flag at Harvey Milk Plaza back to the at-large lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgeneder community and general public, they both have not kept their word. Political b.s. as usual in Ess Eff.

2011-12-10T15:31:00.000-08:00

Union Leader Breaks Promise to Occupy San Francisco

Mayor Ed Lee finally evicted the Occupy San Francisco encampment at Justin Herman Plaza earlier this week, and the media coverage of the early morning raid and clean up was moderate compared to other Occupy evictions. I checked a lot of the independent and corporate news attention paid to the raid and saw no mentions about hundreds, or even dozens, of union members present or arrested.

Back in November, the Bay Guardian's blog posted a laudatory piece about the alleged commitment of unionists when the eviction was imminent and a huge promise was made:

Tim Paulson, director of the San Francisco Labor Council, just told me that he's got as many as 500 union members on alert to stand with the OccupySF encampment if the city attempts to evict the protesters. The Labor Council has put together a communications system to let members who have volunteered to help know when a showdown with the police is coming, and the volunteers are ready to spend as much as 24 hours at Justin Herman Plaza, and if necessary, in jail.

"We mobilized for last night, but nothing happened," he said. "We're in a state of constant vigilance." ...

I was a tad skeptical reading how Paulson (pictured) and his members were going to be able to decide for themselves how long they would be incarcerated. Somehow they, not their jailers or judges, would say if they were to be held for four or twenty-four or longer hours for their civil disobedience.

What happened to that promise of hundreds of union supporters on behalf of Occupy San Francisco? The Bay Guardian has done no followup about Paulson boast and I hope the alternative weekly gives readers a report about why the Labor Council broke its commitment.

2011-12-10T11:38:00.000-08:00

Occupy the Castro General Assembly;
12/17 at Noon in Harvey Milk Plaza

Next Saturday, December 17, marks the three-month of anniversary of Occupy Wall Street's launch and Occupy the Castro (OTC) organizers will honor the occasion with our first General Assembly.

We will gather on December 17 at noon at Harvey Milk Plaza under the iconic rainbow flag and invite all interested activists to come out and speak out. There will be a comment wall of paper where comments and artwork and political demands can be left.

The lack of respectful, civic democratic engagement by neighborhood institutions including the Merchants of Upper Market/Castro, the Castro Benefit District and Supervisor Scott Wiener, is just one motivating factor pushing the OTC organizing efforts. Those institutions need to understand they do not own our gayborhood and that we are tired of being left out of the decision making process regarding public spaces and policies.

Tommi Avicolli Mecca and I are spearheading bringing folks together for OTC's first General Assembly next Saturday, but we are not in charge of what will be on the agenda. That will be decided by everyone who shows up at noon to participate. Tommi's bringing the chalk to draw a soap box space on the plaza's sidewalk where speakers will stand, and I'm bringing the bull horn.

He and I will give brief reports on OTC's successful actions a week ago. Then it is open mike time and we invite all of you to attend. Bring your anger, creative ideas, political acumen, posters expressing your demands, a couple of friends and pitch in to make the Castro's initial General Assembly fabulous.

2011-12-09T19:31:00.000-08:00

Castro Theatre's Deep Throat Revealed

(An extreme example of what goes wrong if you don't see films in theaters. When was the last time you saw a movie at the Castro Theatre?)

Bill Longen, who formerly worked at America's cherished Castro Theatre in many capacities from programmer to technical director, deserves cheers for starting a long-needed public discussion about the future of this movie palace. He is the Deep Throat for my post on Tuesday about changes comes to the Castro.

Before getting to the statement he emailed me today, I wish to point out we were all reminded this week about the national and global affection folks have for the theatre, and the concerns about its future.

Our cultural and civic landscape has been altered by the demise of single-screen cinemas and rep art houses. I'm old enough to recall getting film fixes at the Park Theatre in my hometown Caldwell, New Jersey, New York City's Bleecker Street Cinema, the Regency and Thalia, Center for Living Cinema and Theatre 80 St. Marks, and San Francisco's Cento Cedar, Surf, Strand, York and the recently shuttered Red Vic.

It was never too early to sound an alarm about the problems of dwindling attendance and profits at those lost venues.

I spoke with friends about my ideas to enhance the Castro's engagement with its audience in the new year, and asked for their suggestions to present to the Nasser family. Here a short list of ideas:

1. The Nassers should speak directly to concerned supporters at an open forum. They would also hear the concerns and ideas of people who see movies at the theatre, and what better place to hold such an open dialogue but at the Castro! Let the forum be the first step of an expanded outreach effort. The Nassers need to step up providing constant communication.

2. There is a new booker/general manager coming on board and he should take this opportunity to introduce himself to us. Tell us what his plans are for upcoming shows, both cinematic and live performances, and hear how he plans to work with audience and give us what we want.

3. Let's start a Castro Film Society and hold salons in the upper lobby on the mezzanine. Invite Bay Area film scholars,critics and bloggers, movie buffs to facilitate chats bringing forward words expressing cinema love. Get three film queens in a room, get nine opinions. Offer memberships and include benefits like salons, a discount on tickets and at the candy counter.

4. Regardless of membership, find ways to reward frequent patrons. Might also have a separate discount card like the Roxie offers, for people who don't want to join the society.

5. Start merchandising the famous marquee on clothing, mugs, hats, etc. Not only would this bring in revenue, having lots of people wearing Castro apparel equals free advertising and reminds everyone to see a flick at the venue. Create a glossy booklet on the Casto's history, ask Armistead Maupin to write an introduction. Hire someone to run a movable lobby stand hawking the booklet and Castro kitsch, just like at Broadway shows.

6. Collaborate with our wonderful local historic preservation and cultural experts to create dynamic weekly tours of the Castro Theatre. Charge a few bucks, educate locals and tourists about its history and significance.

7. Pick a night when the audience gets to decide on what will be shown. Select a slow night, announce the choice of two films, say, "The Last Picture Show" or a recent new film, and have everyone vote on which one they would come and see.

8. Can something be done about structural issues beyond redesigning the stage areas? The current bathrooms are inadequate to the needs of patrons, particularly when Frameline or the San Francisco Film Society or the Silent Film Festival are thronged with movie mad people. A single disabled toilet that also serves as a women's toilet is not enough to meet the needs of our disable and senior patrons. I'd love to hear from architects about ways in which they would improve the number of toilets and urinals, and access to them.

9. Castro Street is so windy and standing in front of the theatre when one needs to herbally medicate can be near impossible. How about a 420 smoking area in the alley next to the parking lot?

10. I extend my deepest cineaste gratitude to the Nassers for their stewardship of this phenomenal gift - the Castro Theatre. It is the living embodiment of diverse audiences who adore the place and have saved it as an operational venue. Beyond keeping the doors open, on most nights, I'm not aware of how the Nassers give back to the community, and I'm sure they do. In whatever form they are involved with the neighborhood and our very diverse constituencies, details about their giving back and civic engagement should be explained on the Castro's site.

And now, Deep Throat Bill Longen's message:

Let me try to clear up the issues before everyone's head explodes into atoms.

I came on board the Castro in early 2005 and worked with a small group of dedicated professionals. Through creative programming and lots of hard work we brought the theatre from a money hemorrhaging mess to the peak of success, with 2009 and 2011 having the biggest incomes in the 90 year history of the theatre. I am very proud to have been involved.

The facts are:

As technical director/community liaison of the Castro Theatre, over the last 18 months, at Mr. Nasser's request I initiated many meetings, some including Mr. Nasser. Topics discussed included sound design and installation, stage lighting and design, and structural engineering.

I spoke with a restoration specialist, the Taylor family (owners of the Wurlitzer organ) and theatre equipment installation companies, about converting the Castro stage for live entertainment use.

This involved removing the screen, speakers, moving organ pipes and structural reinforcing. I participated in many weekly meetings where future live stage events were discussed at length. The Castro Theatre was designed and built to show movies and at the time small vaudeville acts, it was never intended for large stage presentations.

Major changes in management brings with it major changes in programming and the way of doing business. Mr. Nasser should take this opportunity to step forward and explain in detail to the community, his plans for future programming at the Castro.

The Castro Theatre should do what it does best and what it was built for: movies. The best screen presentations possible, that was my job and what I continually attempted to achieve.

A ten dollar double feature evening of classic films at the Castro Theatre is a joy, for all lovers of movies, don't let that experience disappear!

The Castro Theatre building may belong to the Nasser's, but the Castro Movie Theatre belongs to all of us!

I am off to other challenging movie theatre restorations.

I hope this blog has rattled a few heads and caused some rethinking. If it has, then my work is done.

2011-12-06T19:22:00.000-08:00

Castro Theatre:
Live Acts Replacing All Movie Shows

[UPDATES: See below, please.]

[UPDATE No. 3: My Deep Throat source is revealed here.]

Ladies and gentlemen, it is with deep sadness that I inform you of an era coming to an end in San Francisco. The venerable Castro theatre at the end of this year will no longer regularly show films and many staffers were fired this week.

After catching the press screening this afternoon of "A Separation", an excellent Iranian drama that is the Islamic Republic's official entry for the foreign language Academy Award, a local film industry source spilled the bad news about the Castro theatre. For professional reasons, the source has requested confidentiality.

Here are details of the bad news for our cherished single-screen movie palace, owned and managed by Don Nasser.

Come January regular movie programming will be a thing of the past. No more almost-daily films shown. Word is that the enormous screen will shrink for an occasional film festival, but nothing is firm about the screen or a solid commitment to festivals.

The Castro will transform itself into a live performance venue, that is supposed to bring in more profits for the owner than movie showings. To better accommodate the needs of musicians, singers, comedians and the like, the small backstage area along with the stage and screen will undergo significant redesigning.

Most of the theatre's management and consulting teams have been let go, and not one gay person remains in a senior position.

Listening, slack-jawed I might add, to the source deliver the depressing news it crossed my mind to ask if there was hope Supervisor Scott Wiener might help restore and save the movie-going component to the Castro.

My source scoffed at the notion Wiener would sweat over the loss of the theatre as we now know it. We didn't go near the third-rail subject of the psychological blow to the area. There will be time for that in the future.

Seems to me turning the Castro from a low-priced film temple into a higher-priced live performance venue would equal fewer folks coming to the gayborhood. Reducing reasons for visiting the area will diminish its already-battered vibrancy and displease the struggling merchants.

I am so sorry my gut fear has proved true. Back in April when I blogged about the Castro being shuttered eight-nights that month, hope was that it was an aberration, but in August the sad sequel, another eight-nights of darkness were on the calender. The fear was that so many closed nights could lead to no more regular almost-daily movies.

I didn't have the heart to write about the December Castro calendar, with the third month of eight-nights of no movies, when it was announced because I recalled other months this year when the theatre was shut just four or five nights.

The coming soon page for the Castro usually has a couple of items listed for the following month's highlights, but not today as witnessed in the screen grab above.

If Don Nasser has different information than what I was told today, I'd be happy to hear it and write that what I heard was wrong.

[UPDATE #1: Folks have written to me to say what I was told was incorrect information, and I have emailed and left voice mail for my source, asking the source for clarification. Hope to have a response from the source this morning and will update/amend this post.]

[UPDATE #2: I've conferred with my source and they stand by the changes reported last night that will eventually take place over the next year or so at the Castro. The source maintains the owner is headed in a live performance direction and stands by the information shared with me. The source's identity will be made public at the appropriate time. I have also reached out to Walt Von Haufe, the publicist for the theatre and hope to hear back from him soon.]

2011-12-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

Fein Slams Wiener's Proposed
Anti-Occupy Regs for Castro's Plazas

Over at the New Civil Rights Movement, my good buddy Clinton Fein, a longtime First Amendment advocate and artist, has unpacked the latest conservative proposal from Supervisor Wiener related to quality of life issues in the Castro gayborhood.

As with his unnecessary and useless ordinance regarding nudity in restaurants and cafes, that was supposed to address complaints over naked men on the streets, Wiener has failed to hold a single community meeting about his proposed new law. Is Wiener, like his mentor state Sen. Mark Leno, so scared of hearing directly from constituents who are not donors that he will never hold any town halls in his district?

Wiener, who is not even trying to live up to Harvey Milk's ideals as a supervisor, was elected a year ago and he's not held a single open forum. Sure, he's attended meetings civic groups have put on, but that is not the same as organizing his own town halls as many members of Congress and President Obama do.

And speaking of nudity in the Castro, Wiener's towel law has had no impact on naked people in the area. Indeed, on Saturday afternoon I saw something new: a woman without any clothes on posing for an art class. Many gay men walked past the scene above and paid the naked woman and the sketchers no mind, so did practically everyone else. Nice to see an expansion of nudity to now include women.

Here are excerpts from Fein's essay and I encourage you to read the entire piece here:

Against this backdrop [of Occupy raids and crackdowns], San Francisco District 8, Castro Supervisor, Scott Wiener, perhaps the most insipid and uninspiring in the colorful seat’s history, is proposing an ordinance that would have Mike Bloomberg wet-dreaming, were he to get his hands on it. Wiener’s biggest claim to fame, to date, has been to save San Francisco from nudists without towels to place between their butts and public seating. Seriously.

His latest attempt, however, is a lot more alarming. A stupefying, muddled, impossible to follow or enforce, unconstitutionally vague piece of garbage that hands over any control over, or responsibility for the district he was elected to serve, and gives it to to the Director of the Department of Public Works. ...

A local fight over control of the giant rainbow flag that flies over the Castro, located in Harvey Milk Plaza, has been simmering for ten months between activists and the politically powerful Merchants of Upper Market and Castro (MUMC), over an alleged “agreement” with the city’s DPW, unable to be produced by either party in spite of he city’s powerful Sunshine laws. A meeting between activists and DPW scheduled for October 26, 2011 at City Hall was abruptly cancelled at Wiener’s behest. What seems local and petty on the surface offers a sobering view of what happens when representation of corporate interests trumps the desire of citizens to express themselves legally.

Wiener’s behavior, and bizarre release of an ordinance in search of a problem has done little other than actually precipitate an Occupy Castro demonstration. ...

2011-12-05T15:29:00.000-08:00

Back Story on
Occupy HRC San Francisco

(Credit: MayaMediated.)

A few weeks back, my old queer radical pal Tommi Avicolli Mecca were chatting on the phone about the December 3 Occupy the Castro, which was to address how the majority of LBGT are a constituency within the 99% of average Americans getting sold out while the banks get bailed out.

We tossed around several ideas for targets on our economic injustice tour of the Castro. Start at Sterling Bank on Market and Church where Steve Adams, the vice president for the branch and bully of Merchants of Upper Market/Castro who illegitimately controls the key to the flagpole at the public Harvey Milk Plaza, works and send him another message to end his dictatorial tactics on the flagpole and larger Castro economic issues.

The all-but-invisible headquarters of Equality California on Market but closer to Castro Street was also considered, but we rejected stopping at Sterling Bank and EQCA this time because we anticipated a robust crowd for Occupy The Castro, and better to assemble at Harvey Milk Plaza at noon.

Over the course of ninety-minutes we chanted, spoke out, marched in the streets without a permit, distributed flyers, went into CitiBank's branch on Castro with a bawling baby and dozens of us surrounding a banker as a letter was read to him demanding that his and all banks start paying for public health and education while ceasing evictions and foreclosures.

We waved at our friends and neighbors and tourists who cheered us on, or gave raised,clenched fist salutes, as about ten uniformed police officers from the Mission station generally kept their hands off us, except when they blocked activists from entering the Bank of American branch near 18th Street and Herth Realty on Castro.

Because the Human Rights Campaign is still the Worst. Gay. Rights. Group. Ever., riddled with Democratic gay 1 percenters, has sold out transgendered folks over employment and other protections and sucked up hundreds of millions of gay dollars keeping their merchandising operation in business with so few tangible changes for ordinary working LGBT people, they received a visit from us.

This note was read to the sales clerks and a hard copy was left to be distributed to all HRC executives, employees and members:

Whereas 40% of SF’s homeless youth identify as queer, and 20-40% of homeless youth nationally (according to an NGLTF and National Coalition on Homelessness study) say that they’re LGBT;

Whereas 40% of people with AIDS in SF are either homeless or inadequately housed, and being evicted is the number one reason people with AIDS cite as why they became homeless;

Whereas a Williams Institute study shows that the queer community is as poor as, and in some instances poorer than, any other community;

Whereas 75% of transgender people in the Bay Area are unemployed or only employed part-time;

Whereas people with AIDS are constantly facing cuts in their benefits, forcing them to live on less and less;

Whereas affordable senior housing is a crucial need within our community all over the country and the units that have built are too few to meet the need;

Whereas queer neighborhoods throughout the country have been hit with speculation and gentrification, displacing lower-income LGBT folks;

Therefore we call on the Human Rights Campaign to make affordable housing, living wage jobs, the maintenance of benefits, and healthcare for all priorities that it pushes on both the local and national level. Never has it been more critical for our national organizations to stand up for bread-and-butter issues that affect the 99% of us who struggle to make ends meet every day.

(Occupy HRC, December 3, Castro Street clothing outlet. That's me with the bull horn. Credit: Rick Gerharter.)

Many thanks to everyone who participated in any part of our fantastic queer tour of the Castro on Saturday. Greatly empowering to be among allies inside HRC's space telling the organization, "HRC, don't speak for me!" and "We're a movement, not a market!" I can't wait till we return to the Castro neighborhood and HRC's store for additional actions over the holidays and in the new year.

2011-12-04T20:52:00.000-08:00

PWAs Omitted From Obama's
World AIDS Day Event

I'm participating in the 60-day blogging project Let's Talk HIV for the Edge network, along with two other persons living with AIDS, River Huston a writer living in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Earl Plante who works at the Latino AIDS Commission in New York City. Happy to be among esteemed company and fellow self-empowered PWAs, surviving and thriving with HIV.

Winnie McCroy is the editor for the project and has given us free rein to write on issues of our own choosing. My pieces are a mix of personal and political essays, with my most recent on the shameful lack of a living person with HIV at the big event with the president and other luminaries on World AIDS Day.

Here's are excerpts:

The current executive in the White House and his two immediate predecessors collaborating on December 1 to bring more attention to HIV, those of us living with it and at-risk of contracting the virus; what’s not to like?

Plenty, starting with the participants -- or rather I should say who wasn’t invited to participate: not a single publicly identified PWA. ...

There is no excuse in Year 30 of the AIDS epidemic not to have a person or two living with AIDS joining with Obama and the other invited speakers to observe WAD.

Our omission at this crucial event that attracted global media coverage, added to the stigma PWAs face, and told us loud and clear that we’re not on the radars of the RED, ONE, and White House organizers when it comes to including PWAs before a worldwide audience.

Read the entire piece here, and if you give a damn about PWA empowerment and reducing the stigma we face, make some noise about Obama omitting a PWA from his WAD event with the likes of Bill Clinton and Bono. Rendering us invisible is quite a disservice to fighting AIDS.

2011-12-01T13:04:00.000-08:00

Gays w/o Borders Deplores
Nigeria's Anti-LGBT Bill

The following letter was sent to every email address I could locate at the Nigerian embassy's site. More information about the problems of a nasty homophobic bill under consideration in Nigeria can be found the Nigerian LGBTI in Diaspora's web site.

Please use this email list and contact the embassy officials today. Feel free to take this letter, use it as the basis for your own note and let the Nigerian embassy in Washington hear from you.

hm@nigeriaembassyusa.org, ajadif@nigeriaembassyusa.org, agbonlahor@nigeriaembassy.org, funky@nigeriaembassyusa.org, sakasalami@nigeriaembassyusa.org, onadipe@nigeriaembassyusa.org, akin@nigeriaembassyusa.org, agev@nigeriaembassyusa.org, bimadedeji@nigeriaembassyusa.org, nuhu@nigeriaembassyusa.org, ibidapoobe@nigeriaembassyusa.org, martha@nigeriaembassyusa.org, dorisb@nigeriaembassyusa.org, adeolaa@nigeriaembassyusa.org, iykeozoms@nigeriaembassyusa.org, zango@nigeriaembassyusa.org, vivianokeke@nigeriaembassyusa.org, asuquo@nigeriaembassyusa.org, bukar@nigeriaembassyusa.org, mafeadewunmi@nigeriaembassyusa.org, hadizamustapha@nigeriaembassyusa.org, stevebaba@nigeriaembassyusa.org, agbello@nigeriaembassyusa.org, maikano1@nigeriaembassyusa.org, nwokokingsley@nigeriaembassyusa.org, maikano2@nigeriaembassyusa.org,

December 1, 2011

Nigerian Embassy
Washington, DC

Dear Ambassador Prof. Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye and Colleagues,

On behalf of Gays Without Borders, I write to you expressing our group's deep concern for the human rights of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens of Nigeria.

We wish to register with dismay our worries over the proposed bill titled “An Act to Prohibit Marriage Between Persons of Same Gender, Solemnization of Same and for Other Matters Related Therewith” sponsored by Senator Domingo Obende. This bill contradicts fundamental human rights under Nigeria's constitution, international and regional human rights law and standards including:

- Nigerian Constitution Section 42 which prohibits discrimination against any person on the basis of sex or membership of a group. Also, Section 34 guarantees the right to the dignity of the human person. It states “Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person, and accordingly no person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment;”

- The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. This regional law affirms the equality of all people. Article 2 of the law states: "Every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in the present Charter without distinction of any kind such as race, ethnic group, color, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status."

- Article 26 of the law prescribes that "Every individual shall have the duty to respect and consider his fellow beings without discrimination, and to maintain relations aimed at promoting, safeguarding and reinforcing mutual respect and tolerance."

- The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which affirms the equality of all people before the law and the right to freedom from discrimination.

- The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. Article 5 of this declaration affirms that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels: a) to meet or assemble peacefully; b) to form, join and participate in non-governmental organizations, associations or groups."

The Nigerian sodomy law is a relic from British colonization. The British parliament and many of its former colonies e.g. Canada, Australia, South Africa and India have repealed the law. Why is Nigeria clinging and seeking to strengthen this antiquated law through the proposed anti-same sex relationship bill?

The argument that any sexual act or relationship that deviates from the standard heterosexual norm is against African culture is using “culture” to sanction the erasure of dialogue about alternative sexualities and to condone homophobia, therefore constituting a form of cultural violence.

All members of Gays Without Borders urge you and your government to do the following:

- Say no to the passage of this bill.

- Repeal all sodomy laws and other criminal provisions against consensual same-sex relationships.

- Protect and uphold the human rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders and their human rights defenders in Nigeria.

I hope you agree with Gays Without Borders that the government of Nigeria should be responsible for respecting, protecting and enabling human rights, and not the limitation and violation of human rights of its citizens.

Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis
Community Organizer
Gays Without Borders
San Francisco, California, USA

2011-12-01T10:40:00.000-08:00

Home Movies of the Romanovs,
Tonight at the PFA

The extensive retrospective of films created by Russian director/writer/editor Dziga Vertov and his associates at the Pacific Film Archive, concludes tonight with a screening of "The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty" at 7 pm. For Western audiences his most familiar work is "The Man With the Movie Camera", a classic Soviet avant-garde film.

I regret to say that due to the PFA's location on the Cal campus and being a BART ride away, my schedule has not allowed for time to catch the other films in this series, but I'll be there tonight.

From the PFA program notes:

A devastating chronicle of Tsarist Russia from the eve of World War I until its brutal demise in the revolutions of February and October 1917, The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty comprises hundreds of films that Esfir Shub unearthed and rescued from damp cellars and other neglected corners of the Soviet Union, including newsreels and home movies taken by the Tsar’s own cameramen. Using the film splice as a cudgel, Shub contrasts the Imperial Family in opulent ballrooms, regal processions, and garden tea parties with the backbreaking toil of the masses, a bitter satire that makes the Revolution seem both historically inevitable and triumphant.

This silent film will have live music performed by Judith Rosenberg on the piano. Click here for more information.

2011-11-29T12:06:00.000-08:00

The Nation's vanden Heuvel =
$291K Democratic Party Donor

The San Francisco Chronicle on Monday turned over its entire op-ed space to The Nation's editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel, to push sales of her new book via a press release masked as opinion:

My new book, "The Change I Believe In," reflects how I've navigated the Obama era - as an editor and journalist, a woman, a citizen of conscience and a small "d" democrat. I believe my journey is similar to that of millions of Americans - from the exhilaration engendered by Obama's historic election and the first months of his presidency, through the disappointments.

Let's unpack some of this statement. First off, vanden Heuvel is a small "d" democrat and also a Big "D" Democrat as evidenced by her federal and New York state donations. More about the donations below.

Second, while her journey regarding Obama's campaign and parts of his presidency does resemble what millions of Americans have experienced, she is unlike the majority of those millions in one very important way. She's part of the 1%, able to contribute robust amounts of money to Democratic politicians and causes.

The Federal Election Commission files for vanden Heuvel reveal since 1984 she has written checks totaling $221,500, and all of it went to Democratic Party candidates or affiliated PACs such as EMILY's List. Her most recent contributions were a $25,000 to EMILY's List and $10,000 to the Working Families Party of New York.

At the federal level, vanden Heuvel's donations to the WFP come to $13,500. In New York, she's given an additional $28,500 to the WFP. Her total amount to them equals $42,000.

Another way to look at her giving to Democrats and their causes is to add up her federal contributions, $221,500, and the New York state donations, $36,500, along with the $33,350 she's doled out in various New York City races to see these three slices of her largesse come to $291,350.

If writing checks in the hundreds of thousands doesn't qualify one as a Democrat and 1%er, what does? How many 99%ers do you know who can drop this sort of serious coin on political causes?

Contributions from vanden Heuvel to the WFP were not disclosed in this piece she wrote about them in a gushing column for The Nation in October 2010. This is the closest she came to full transparency to readers:

The Nation has not only covered the WFP's advances and progress over these last twelve years, but also played a small but significant role in the party's birth. We mobilized our readers and community through editorials and outreach to help the party reach the 50,000 votes needed in 1998 to secure a line on the New York State ballot.

Um, you've also given the party $42,000, a significant sum, Katrina, and it should be disclosed when you write about them.

I will not be attending her chat tomorrow at the Commonwealth Club where she'll be chatting about her new book with Chronicle editor in chief Phil Bronstein.

(Photo credit: C-SPAN.)

2011-11-27T21:01:00.000-08:00

Got $1,500?
EQCA Will Give You Inside Gay Dope

If you're among the gay 1%, you can afford the prices Equality California and its chief strategy consultant (translation: interim executive director) Joan Garry (pictured) are charging to attend two early December Southern California fundraisers to learn about the group's agenda and plans for this state's LGBT community.

Prices start at $50 for non-Capitol Club members, and climb as high as $1,500 for new or renewing club members, and at that four-figure cost you'll get four-tickets to both parties with Garry, who once served as the executive director of GLAAD. Besides being led by Garry however briefly, GLAAD and EQCA also share something else in common: lack of democratic engagement with ordinary gays.

During her years at GLAAD, Garry couldn't be bothered with pesky matters like free, regular town hall meetings or direct community input in the group's agenda and board decisions. One could always donate big bucks and enjoy the illusion of access to gay power brokers (ha!), but the tiered donor approach employed by GLAAD was nothing more than an empty status ranking for wealthy gays.

That same approach is EQCA and Garry's. Heck, it is the methodology of all Gay Inc organizations, but I digress.

EQCA has announced its Seasons of Giving parties featuring Garry at the private homes of EQCA's wealthy donors, and the locations are hush-hush, divulged only when money is coughed up. Every aspect of this effort reeks of elitism and the biggest prize dangled in front of potential donors is insider dope about the group's agenda in the coming year.

That information should be shared with all LGBT Californians, if Garry and her crew are serious about doing business differently with the larger community. She and whatever staffers remain, along with board members should make themselves available to all folks in the community regardless of income levels.

The underlying message of the fundraising invitations is clear. EQCA will do only one kind of outreach - the kind that brings in money. Cost-free public discussions where the location can be announced in advance and for-profit cocktail parties? Do two approaches at the same time? That appears to beyond the capabilities of Garry and whomever is running EQCA these days.

The fundraisers on December 2 and 3 may rake in some decent dough, but money alone will not make EQCA magically relevant to the 99% of LGBT folks in California who are struggling financially and/or over EQCA.

Here's a radical idea for Garry and EQCA to think over. If you won't dismantle the group and close up shop, please at least officially become a Democratic Party group for A-gays with nothing more on your agenda other than monitoring governmental affairs in Sacramento.

2011-11-23T22:22:00.000-08:00

Activists Fein, Virginia Oppose
Wiener's New Milk Plaza Restrictions

Two of my old friends and activist associates, artist Clinton Fein and fundraiser Gary Virginia, looked over District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener's misguided proposed legislation to solve public space disputes in the Castro and grew concerned about what is under consideration. I first reported on this legislation yesterday, generating a blog post from one of the SF Chronicle's many conservative writers, Debra Saunders, who scoffs at Wiener's move.

Here is what Clinton Fein had to say:

I’m not sure what problem currently exists that Supervisor Wiener’s ordinance seeks to address, other than a blatant fear that the plazas may be occupied.

It certainly fails to take into account any of the recent issues regarding use of the flagpole as a community resource or address the murkiness governing its administration – an agreement that purportedly exists between MUMC and DPW that neither has been able nor willing to reproduce or make available.

Given the actual ten-month controversy swirling around control of the flagpole and the lack of any transparent, consistent policy governing the ability of the community to utilize lowering the flag to draw attention to important issues, it seems like this ordinance is tone-deaf at best.

Who, other than the Castro Community Benefit District did the Supervisor work closely with to come up with this ordinance, what other “neighborhood stakeholders” were included, and how committed are they to First Amendment issues?

The Supervisor can’t claim to be unaware of the simmering flagpole control issues, which may appear petty and local on the surface, but speak to a much larger First Amendment issue in San Francisco.

This ordinance barely recognizes the plazas as bastions of freedom of expression, deserving of the highest First Amendment protection.

What we need is an ordinance designed to advance and protect freedom of expression and clarify to activists, celebrants, the general public, and anyone seeking to enjoy their rights to free expression, or to peaceably assemble how to best do so. And instructions for law enforcement that balance public safety with free speech. That, however, would have required leadership.

Clinton is wise to point out the dearth of political leadership in the Castro and to look at the flagpole wrestling in a free speech context. I expect Clinton will address this and other matters at the December 3 Occupy the Castro protest starting at noon at Milk Plaza.

These cogent thoughts and questions that require direct answers are from Gary Virginia, who's lived, worked, rabble-roused, voted, and loved in the Castro since 1987:

I have read the proposed ordinance by Scott Wiener and I have many problems with it, not limited to the following:

1. What problems exist currently that can not be solved otherwise without creating more legislation, especially when it gives vague power/discretion to the Director of the Department of Public Works of when the plazas may be closed for general sitting and congregating?

2. I don't consider these two areas as just "public parks." They existed first and primarily as traffic thoroughfares and still do. I would bet that 99% of the people who walk through these "plazas" are trying to get from point A to point B with no other easy alternative to do so without endangering their lives by crossing through active car, bus, street car, cab, bicycle and pedestrian traffic. But they all will be subject to this ordinance as they pass through.

3. I am very concerned about the broad and vague language with the section on peddling. I have organized many rallies and fundraisers at Castro and Market Streets where money was exchanged for worthy gay and HIV community nonprofits. Girl Scouts have sold cookies there. There have also been rescue pet adoption efforts set up there. There is plenty of room for pedestrians to traverse the area and have tables or people there doing the aforementioned.

4. Regarding the wheeled equipment prohibition, I again don't like giving broad authority to whomever happens to be the Director of DPW as this position is often politically selected. There is a long-standing tradition of Tricycle Races on Memorial Day weekend which builds community, attracts visitors and consumers to the neighborhood? What happens when fees start getting assessed for these permits, if not already required?

5. I don't like the hours being restricted. Many people work past 9pm and come into or leave the neighborhood on their commute and would like to sit down to take a break or see the sights. What if an artist wants to set up a chair and easel before 7am in the plazas? Want to discuss the movie you just saw at the Castro that got out after 9pm? We need to enhance reasons for folks to hang out in the plazas.

I also feel these regulations are being set in place to be able to control any Occupy SF actions should they occur in the most relevant part of the Castro for such an action. We have already witnessed the violence and oppression of freedom of assembly and speech by police and politicians in New York City, Oakland, CA, and elsewhere. We don't need to give the government of San Francisco more power to do the same.

I oppose this entire ordinance. It is creating legislation and bureaucracy where no real problem exists that could not be remedied with common sense and laws already in place. The devil is in the details of how this ordinance could be used "by discretion" or in its vagueness.

I'm counting on Gary to not only speak out at Occupy the Castro, but to also share his concerns with all members of the Board of Supervisors when the legislation is debated at the Land Use Committee.

2011-11-23T12:06:00.000-08:00

Blade Omits Socarides Pay,
Equality Matters Fiscal Info

The self-proclaimed gay "war room" Equality Matters was established almost one-year ago, to great fanfare and was part of the Media Matters for America operation based in Washington, DC. Its top leaders were longtime gay Clintonista hack Richard Socarides and the former Advocate reporter of mediocre skills Kerry Eleveld.

The purpose of Equality Matters seem to be promoting Socarides as an official national gay spokesman, even though he lacks a constituency within the LGBT movement beyond other Democratic Party operatives. Gay marriage was a key launching issue for Equality Matters, as if we don't already have enough groups devoted to that concern.

I never understood why this group existed and it's had dubious and negligible positive impact on ordinary gays. If it had major accomplishments in the past year, I missed that news.

Phil Reese of the Washington Blade reported yesterday that Socarides and Eleveld are leaving the group and that's it is nearly defunct. Oh, well. This is no loss for LGBT Americans and actually is a gain for the community, seeing this worthless organization go down the drain.

Reese's story stays focused on the personalities involved at Equality Matters and the parent organization run by David Brock, while totally ignoring a few basic questions any decent journalist would have addressed starting with what was the budget for the group, who were the big donors to it, and how much compensation was paid to Socarides and Eleveld.

I attempted to post a comment at the Blade page for the story, asking why fiscal transparency and accountability were omitted but my comment was rejected by the moderator. FYI, Reese's article can best be described in three words: Equality Matters said. No criticism of the organizations or its leaders was included in the one-side article.

The Blade could do us all a big favor and assign a different reporter to look at the monetary questions that need to be raised about Equality Matters.

2011-11-23T11:24:00.000-08:00

Occupy the Castro: 12/3: Milk Plaza:
Protest Evictions, Big Banks, Gay Inc

My old friend Tommi Avicolli Mecca, a stalwart of many social justice causes, is a key organizer in the upcoming Occupy the Castro protest and I'm helping spread the word about it. The basic info from Tommi:

There's going to be an Occupy the Castro action on Saturday, December 3 as part of a day-long protest organized by Occupy SF and tenant groups, taking place in several San Francisco neighborhoods.

We'll meet at noon at Harvey Milk Plaza then go on a walk through the gayborhood to call attention to our concerns.

We'll be demonstrating against the greed of the banks and realtors, the foreclosure and eviction epidemics, and the failure of Gay Inc to address economic justice for low-income LGBT people.

At the Human Rights Campaign store we'll present a demand letter asking that they start making jobs, housing, healthcare for all and town hall meetings top priorities. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are doing an ATM card-cutting outside Citi Bank. We'll also be hitting the Bank of America branch at Castro and 18th Streets.

Come join us!

I'll share more info about the December 3 Occupy the Castro action, as it becomes available. Please share the above poster on your Facebook page, blog or web site. Spread the word throughout your social networks.

2011-11-22T18:44:00.000-08:00

Dufty's $1.3M Audition for a
Job in Mayor Lee's Administration

Former District 8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who came in seventh in the race for mayor, raised $1.3 million according to the Bay Citizen analysis of campaign records. That amount included $682,108 in public financing reported by the San Francisco Ethics Commission.

I contend that Bevan essentially auditioned for a plum appointment in Mayor Ed Lee's administration, or will otherwise be rewarded with employment from Lee's powerbroker pals Willie Brown and Rose Pak, and that he used public coin and private gay donations to do so.

During the election Bevan made the following promise to me in September, regarding the controversy over the rainbow flag in Harvey Milk Plaza:

On occasions I have contacted MUMC leaders to support flagpole flexibility to recognize major events involving our community. From reading the BAR, it appears there has been movement in this direction.

After November 8th I will revisit the situation.

Well, first off, MUMC has made no moves on flexibility and control, and second, November 8 has come and gone, and so has Bevan. His promise to activist Bill Wilson and myself that he would meet with us after the election is gone with the wind, like the money he spent to place seventh.

Right after November 8, I followed up and pushed Bevan to agree to a time and place for the promised-meeting. He said it would happen last week, and it didn't. Three emails and two phone calls to him have not produced a response.

What I believe went down here was Bevan just wanted to string us along till after the election, not jeopardize his political and monetary support from the Merchants of Upper Market Castro, and with the election over, and him having played Mr. Super Nice Guy to Mayor Lee during the race, the last thing he wants to do is risk a payback from the mayor and moneyed Castro circle that backed his campaign.

These shenanigans and basic dishonesty are among the reasons why Bevan received none of my three votes. He was a good supervisor and a pleasure to work with on so many important global LGBT issues, and he's a pal, but his attempt to become mayor was quite misguided.

In all honesty, I can't see what the electorate or the local gay community gained from Bevan's $1.3 million effort. There are better ways to spend that kind of money than on a losing political quest.

2011-11-22T10:43:00.000-08:00

Wiener's Proposed Regs for Milk Plaza
Prevent 'Occupy the Castro' Encampment

Last week, District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener introduced an ordinance pertaining to management and control issues for Harvey Milk and Jane Warner Plazas. He explains some of his proposal at his official site:

Our City's parks are governed by the Parks Code, but these plazas are not covered by those rules. This legislation will set basic standards for the plazas so that everyone can enjoy them. For example, the legislation will extend the ban on smoking that's already in existence in parks and other public spaces, will ban camping (as already banned in parks), and will prevent large shopping carts from coming into the plaza.

Since the legislation has not yet been agendized by the Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee, it therefore is not posted for public inspection. However, an assistant clerk of the board has shared the four-page legislation with me and if you'd like to read it, please send me an email and I'll forward it.

The ordinance reads, in part:

Both plazas play a vital role in the Castro community and act as gathering places for the public and visitors to the neighborhood. With the extensive use of both plazas, the Board has determined that special regulations should apply to the use of these plazas.

While I agree about the role of the plazas for the Castro and larger LGBT community of San Francisco, special unwritten rules already are in place for Milk Plaza regarding use of the flagpole. The Merchants of Upper Market/Castro control that important public structure without a written, transparent process in place that allow for equal access to the flagpole.

Since the flagpole controversy erupted in February, MUMC and the Castro Benefits District have expended much time and resources into solidifying their control and influence over the plazas. Wiener's ordinance, I fear, will move more control of the public plazas out of the hands of the public and give it to MUMC and the CBD through the Department of Public Works.

There's a section of the ordinance that seems to have sprung from City Hall's problems with and disapproval of the Occupy SF encampment at Justin Herman Plaza at the foot of Market Street. I read this and hear fear on the part of Wiener, MUMC and the CBD that an Occupy the Castro encampment could take root at the top of Market Street:

No person shall construct or maintain or inhabit any structure, tent, or similar shelter in either the Harvey Milk Plaza or Jane Warner Plaza that may be used for housing accommodations or camping, nor shall any person construct or maintain any device that can be used for cooking.

As if the specific new regs are not sweeping enough, Wiener also proposes the following, bolding added:

The Board of Supervisors urges the Director of DPW to adopt a DPW Order that includes the regulations set forth in this Ordinance and any additional regulations that the Department deems appropriate and necessary for the proper management and use of the aforementioned plazas, such as the posting of signage setting forth the regulations. Such DPW Order shall be adopted after a public hearing and thereafter made available to any member of the public that requests such Order.

Whoa, I'm nervous about granting DPW the power to create "any additional regulations" even with the proviso that they hold a public hearing first. It's terrible enough now with MUMC illegitimately controlling the public flagpole, I shudder to think of how more control will slip from the public and come under private domain.

Mark my word, if this ordinance becomes law, the DPW folks will go through the motions of a public hearing, taking comments from citizens, but the decision will have already been made behind closed doors.

Let's all keep tabs on this bad and unnecessary legislation from Wiener, as it moves through the Land Use Committee before going to the full Board of Supervisors for a final vote.

2011-11-21T21:12:00.000-08:00

Sterling Bank 'Owns' Castro Rainbow Flag;
Request Process Coming Soon?

For all intents and purposes, iconic rainbow flagpole at Harvey Milk Plaza is owned by the Castro branch of Sterling Bank and the president of it, Steve Adams, pictured, on the right. If you want to request a flag lowering or in some other way make use of the flagpole, you must either send an email to Adams' email address at the bank or call him there. It is in his Sterling Bank capacity that he possesses the key to the control box of the flagpole, making him owner of it.

Regardless of the fact that every square inch of this important public plaza is municipal property, the president of the local branch of a bank is the controller and gatekeeper of the flagpole. This alone should be of concern to all queers who are part of the Occupy SF movement, because it is another example of how a bank has remove public real estate from the at-large LGBT community's access.

Oh, and forget the b.s. about equality for all as a crucial component of the Gay Agenda in the Castro, when it comes to equal access to the public flagpole. Should Sterling Bank's branch president not like your politics or personality, he'll deny your request for access and use of the enormous rainbow flag flying on city space.

In the past week, two community members have informed me of their conversations with Adams and his renewed claims that he's developing a written process for making requests related to the flag and pole. He's said this for more than six-months. Would be great for him to finally keep this promise, or for the community and city to stand up to him and take possession of the control box key, and return the people's property back to the people.

One would think, given all the money he has access to, that Adams would have hired a web maintenance outfit to take his alleged text explaining how to make a request. How complicated or expensive is it to write up the process and post it, for all the world to see?

This continued lack of transparency is so in keeping with Big Banking, and making it impossible for the customer or member of the public to simply have rules plainly and clearly spelled out, and easy to find. Check out the Merchants of Upper Market's web site to see that Adams hasn't shared a word about his embracing of transparency.

The situation with the public flagpole and ownership by Sterling Bank's Adams makes a mockery of any semblance of equality for all LGBT persons in the Castro and San Francisco.

2011-11-21T12:14:00.000-08:00

NYT: Joan Crawford Ephemera,
Including Padded Hangers, at Auction

One reason why I still read the New York Times on recycled tree has to do with flipping the pages of each section for a glance at headlines and photos, seeing things that I wouldn't normally check out through lots of clicks on the Gray Lady's site, and I certainly wouldn't visit their antiques page.

But last Friday's print version of the Times' antiques page is a good example of the occasional payoff from this reading habit of mine.

The page featured the photo above of the late great actress Joan Crawford, that caught my queer eye. The photo will soon be on the auction block, along with other pictures and personal items that belonged to her. Click here for more images and details of what will be auctioned off next month at Doyle's.

From the Times, bolding added:

Ephemera from Joan Crawford’s career and complicated love life ended up in files at the home of one of her adopted daughters, Cathy LaLonde. On Dec. 7, Doyle New York will offer 77 lots from the family’s memorabilia collection, including honeymoon snapshots, scrapbooks, film reels and clothing.

Although the paperwork is tattered here and there, the LaLondes took good care of the iridescent sequined shirts and mink stoles, in keeping with Crawford’s legendarily strict standards for closets. The clothing lots (with estimates between $100 and $1,000 each) come with the family’s padded velvet coat hangers. ...

Let the wire hanger jokes begin! Who can forget this memorable scene from the film "Mommie Dearest"?

2011-11-20T14:31:00.000-08:00

Bay Citizen, NYT Partner, Posts IRS 990;
$11M Revenue, CEO's Pay = $456K

I've twice blogged about following the money flowing through the Bay Citizen, a nonprofit news operation that partners with the New York Times online and in print, and my requests to the BC for their IRS 990 return. Previous posts are here and here.

Founded in 2009 with millions of dollars from investor and philanthropist Warren Hellman, well-endowed foundations including the Haas Jr Fund, and Bay Area powerbrokers, the BC has provided local news and analysis filling a void for regional readers. It also shares some of its extensive coverage with the NY Times on Fridays and Sundays.

The BC says it has raised more than $17 million, and now with the release last week of their first IRS 990 return, we can follow some of that funding.

The 2010 tax filing reports $11,268,490 in revenue and just over $8 million is assets, quite a robust nest egg to be sitting on during these hard times for all media outlets. Here's the list of top BC employees and how much compensation they received:

Lisa Frazier, President and CEO:
$456,918

Jonathan Weber, Editor in chief:
$261,330

Brian Kelley, Technology chief:
$160,941

Rose Roll, Secretary:
$138,687

Steven Fainaru, Managing editor:
$114,732

I wonder how those salaries compare with executives and editors at for-profit, corporate news operations in the Bay Area. On the surface, compensation of top BC staff is generous, and may be the industry norm. FYI, both Frazier and Weber stepped down from their positions in the fall.

Omitted from the BC's filing, as with returns from all charities, are details about the big donors, but the BC volunteers names and amounts of major individual and foundation funders here, and corporate and banking sponsors here.

Kudos to the BC for quickly posting their 2010 tax return, in addition to providing other instruments of fiscal transparency.

2011-11-18T12:39:00.000-08:00

Pix of Gay Youths Dead from Bullying
Redacted from Jennings' Slides by the Feds

(Click to enlarge. Credit: U.S. Department of Education.)

A year ago this month, when he was still the Department of Education's safe schools czar, Kevin Jennings delivered a powerful speech in Portland, Oregon, about the harmful and sometimes deadly consequences of bullying among youths. The Oregonian's piece about Jennings' presentation opened with a focus on a key component of his talk:

A slide showed 11-year-old Carl Joseph Walker Hoover on one knee, grinning in his football uniform. The text below created a disturbing contrast: "Death by hanging."

The next slide showed another smiling youth. Then another was added, then another -- seven in all. All suicides since 2009 of young people who were bullied.

To drive the point home about the importance of the slides, the story closed with an emphasis on them and the dead gay youths in the photos:

At the end of Jennings' talk, the images of the seven suicide victims lingered on the screen. Jennings broke the silence:

"I used to have more photos on this slide, but I ran out of room."

That slide of the deceased teenagers, shown above, was released to me recently in response to a Freedom of Information Act request I filed with the Department of Education. You'll notice all images of the dead are redacted. This redacting was done by the department, citing privacy exemptions of FOIA.

It's all quite odd given that Jennings, who has retired from the department, was allowed by his superiors to include the photos in his slide presentation, but when a member of the public requests copies of the slides those photos are whited-out.

If the images can be shown while giving a federally-sanctioned talk about combating bullying, then the Department of Education should also show them when FOIA requests are made for the slides used by Jennings.

2011-11-18T11:21:00.000-08:00

Italian Film Festival's Closing Weekend;
Thumbs Up for 'Quiet Life' & 'Habemus Papam'

The latest edition of the San Francisco Film Society's annual survey of new Italian cinema concludes this weekend, and I have some advice regarding three of the films. All films are being shown down at the Embarcadero Cinema.

This evening "A Quiet Life" screens at 6:30, and it's a taut crime thriller highlighted by a terrific performance from Toni Servillo in the lead role of Rosario. Two youthful, quick-tempered Italian criminals show up at the elegant lodge and restaurant in Germany where Rosario works, and they lie about their true intentions.

Rosario keeps them at arms-length because of his own past full of secrets, and tensions mount as the young criminals plan and carry out a murder against a local businessman. Desperate to hold on to his new identity, wife and son, and the comfortable life he's made for himself, Rosario schemes to prevent the criminals from ruining his life and harming his family.

I was on the edge of my seat throughout, as the motivations and true identities of the male leads are gradually revealed. One narrative distraction is a subplot involving a waitress at the restaurant, but it doesn't take up much screen time. The cinematography stands out in its virtuosity, with an excellent tracking shot early in the film at the lodge and a crane shot showing the isolation of the more hot-headed young Mafiosi enhancing the the story.

A very satisfying film, one I highly recommend.

Also showing tonight is "20 Cigarettes" at 9:30, and it receives thumbs-down from me and I need to disclose I didn't watch all of it.

Starting in Rome in a comedic vein, we are introduced to Aureliano, a young cameraman and political activist hanging out with his pot-smoking college buddies, as he prepares for what he expects to be a fun-filled gig working on a documentary in Iraq. Once in the war-torn country, the reality of armed conflict rears its ugly head and Aureliano is seriously wounded in an attack by insurgents.

Using a hand-held camera we're shown Aureliano's bloody and torn body, as he cries out for help to stop his bleeding and intense pain. I watched the film on DVD and had to fast-forward past these gruesome scenes, and quickly lost interest as the storyline shifted back to a lighter tone and stopped watching the movie.

"20 Cigarettes" was not my cup of cappuccino.

The closing night film "Habemus Papam" ("We Have a Pope"), plays on Sunday at 6:30 and 9:15, starring Michel Piccoli as a new pope questioning his faith and ability to serve as head of the Catholic church.

Mixing some laugh-out-loud comic situations with dramatic internal Vatican political power plays, the film takes a few confusing turns but the acting by Piccoli and writer/director Nanni Moretti as the psychiatrist brought in to help the pope is beautifully constrained and enjoyable to watch.

The lavish sets and gorgeous costumes are top-notch, providing a fabulous eye-pleasing backdrop to the film. All of the subplots are not plausibly resolved by the end, but getting there is much fun.

Despite its flaws, "Habemus Papam" is quite entertaining and recommended.

Click here for information on tickets to these and the other Italian films playing at the Embarcadero Cinema today, tomorrow and Sunday.

(All photos courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society.)

2011-11-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

Andy Humm to Mixner:
Disassociate Yourself from Bloomberg

(Andy and Ann. Credit: Bill Bahlman.)

Democratic gay consultant David Mixner's post about Tuesday's assault on Zuccotti Park, in which he fails to mention Mayor Michael Bloomberg and deplore him by name for the raid and trampling on the First Amendment, today has a wonderful comment from a reader.

Andy Humm, who's an old friend and veteran LGBT/AIDS/progressive activist in New York City, and co-host with Ann Northrop for Gay USA, had this to say to Mixner:

Please accept responsibility for helping put Bloomberg back in office and condemn his fascist tactics in trying to stop OWS--brutality against the demonstrators, clearing their camp in the dead of night, throwing their library into a dumpster, and barring the press from covering it. You endorsed him for his outrageous grab at a third term. It is not too late to disassociate yourself from him.

Thanks so much, Andy, for pushing Mixner to do the right thing and speak out against Bloomberg's dangerous political maneuvers in recent days. So far, Mixner has not responded to Andy's comments, a situation that I hope changes. Silence about Bloomberg is quite lame.

My previous post on Mixner and other LGBT Bloomberg backers not publicly condemning the mayor is here.

2011-11-17T11:36:00.000-08:00

SF Chron: Students Say Bank of SF
Lesbian Achtenberg is Part of 1%

Longtime Democratic lesbian Roberta Achtenberg, pictured, has never pretended to be a grassrooter. Her Wiki entry provides details about her work in the nonprofit and educational worlds, serving as a member of the Board of Supervisors before being appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve at Housing and Urban Development as a special assistant and lots of other facts.

She has in recent years served as a trustee of the California State University system and yesterday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, she was ignored pleas from students to not raise tuition at a contentious meeting of trustees:

"We have an institution to run here, and we have an obligation to run it well," said Trustee Roberta Achtenberg, who voted for the increase.

Because she also sits on the board of the Bank of San Francisco, Achtenberg has been identified by protesters as among the "1 percent" who should make banks and corporations pay more in taxes to help public education.

That's news to me, her position with the bank, which certainly adds credence to the charge that Actenberg is part of the 1% not working on behalf of folks who comprise the 99%. It doesn't help matters that she cast a yea vote raising tuition at state universities.

According to the San Francisco Examiner account of yesterday's meeting, she had this say to her colleagues and angry students, bolding added:

“This is the last thing in the world that I want to do. You can respect that or disrespect that. I couldn't care less.”

Achtenberg didn't win any points among the 99% for that comment dismissing the deep concerns of students and their families. Let's hope she eventually comes around to showing some leadership in addressing the great divide between the 1% of folks like her running the banks, and the vast number of ordinary people suffering countless hardships during these recessionary times.

2011-11-16T21:17:00.000-08:00

NYT, NY Review: ACT UPer Bill Dobbs,
Spokesman for Occupy Wall Street

My friend from the old dark and deadly early years of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, Bill Dobbs, has been an instrumental public advocate on nobody's payroll for decades in the gay, AIDS and progressive movements. He's been active on the ground at Zuccotti Park since it began and he's been my eyes and ears about the Occupy Wall Street movement from its inception.

Bill received excellent attention in an article published last month by Michael Greenberg in the New York Review of Books, as he articulated some basic truths about OWS and American democracy. Have a read:

Seeing me take notes, a tall, elegant, rather knowing man who looked to be in his late forties approached me. He surprised me by introducing himself with his full name—Bill Dobbs. (His e-mail address was “duchamp,” a clue to his mindset.) He told me he had been an AIDS activist in the late 1980s, and for Occupy Wall Street he was involved in “outreach to the press.” When I asked him to characterize the protest, he answered, “It’s an outcry, pure and simple, an outcry that has cut through miles of cynicism.” He knew, he said, that in the absence of identifiable leaders, I could talk to anyone in the movement and that they, in turn, could represent themselves in any way they wished without accountability. This worried him, but only slightly. It was one of the drawbacks of direct democracy, which, “as you can see for yourself works beautifully here on the whole.” I mentioned Proposition 8 in California, an instance of direct democracy that overturned a state supreme court ruling that had legalized same sex marriage.

Bill nodded bleakly. He seemed unexcited about the union support. For years the unions had been organizing demonstrations that both the news media and the government yawningly ignored. The unions stood to benefit from the publicity at least as much as Occupy Wall Street. That this might in some way help the hospital workers, for example, did not seem something he had considered.

He seemed particularly scornful of the Democratic Party, elements of which were currently courting the movement. Paraphrasing Gore Vidal, he said, “There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party, and it has two right wings, Republicans and Democrats.” How, with this view, he expected to get people into positions of power he did not say. He insisted that the only way to run an honest movement was to staff it strictly with volunteers. “As soon as you have not-for-profit organizations their main concern becomes how to keep themselves going. For us, it’s different. No grants, no donors, no worries.”

Thanks Bill, reminding OWS participants and supports of the incredible dangers of going the nonprofit route when agitating for social justice and democratic changes.

He was also quoted in today's New York Times about Bloomberg's ousting of the campers on Tuesday and curbing First Amendment rights:

“Occupy Wall Street can only grow,” said Bill Dobbs, a spokesman for the group.

And if you click here, you'll see the extent of his work explaining the status of OWS, plans for civil protests in New York City tomorrow and showing the world OWS has a functioning press committee.

Good job, and keep it up, Bill!

(The photo of Bill accompanied a glowing profile of his work for the anti-Iraq war movement that appeared in the New York Times in August 2004.)

2011-11-16T17:54:00.000-08:00

Bloomberg Backers Mixner, Socarides
Silent on Trampling of the First Amendment

One excellent recap of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's outright trampling of the First Amendment as his police force evicted the Occupy Wall Street protesters earlier this week from Zuccotti Park, was written by Barbara Morrill for the DailyKos site.

Morrill's post was titled "A media blackout on Michael Bloomberg's raid on Zuccotti Park", making it clear from the get-go that the mayor wasn't much concerned with the First Amendment. She cited statements from mainstream reporters kept from practicing journalism during the raid, bolding added:

New York Observer Politics Reporter Hunter Walker: I was blocked from viewing nypd raid at #occupywallstreet along with reporters from cnbc, nbc, cbs, wsj and reuters #mediablackout

New York Times Reporter Brian Stelter: I'm w/ a NY Post reporter who says he was roughed up by riot police as Zuccotti was cleared. He thinks violence was "completely deliberate."

Everyone seems have received the meme that Bloomberg was the person responsible for the raid on Zuccotti Park, after weeks of strenuously rejecting the argument of Occupy Wall Street protesters and supporters, except Democratic gay consultant David Mixner. He was the key organizer in 2009 of enlisting numerous bold-names from the LGBT community to endorse Bloomberg's bid to buy himself a third-term as Hizzoner.

Mixner's post today, "The Assault on Occupy Wall Street", about the raid and attendant issues omits Bloomberg's name and responsibility for that assault. After singling out Oakland Mayor Jean Quan for a lashing, Mixner deplores the raid and media blackout:

To see squads of police in riot gear move into these encampments late at night or early in the morning to avoid press and witnesses is outrageous. Press were kept at a distance so they could not record the movements and actions of the police. Many members of the press in different cities were arrested with the protesters for attempting to monitor the actions of the police. In many cases, including New York, the police went in with a vengeance. The pictures of some policemen assaulting those peacefully resisting arrest was disturbing.

Nice of him to use words like outrageous and disturbing about the NYPD keeping the press from witnessing the ousting of protesters, and deploring cops bashing activists, but where the hell is Mixner naming the man responsible for it all - Mayor Bloomberg? Says a lot about Mixner that he didn't name Bloomberg in his post.

Mixner and the Bloomberg campaign in 2009 compiled a list of notable gay leaders who backed his reelection bid, and included on the list were Richard Socarides of Equality Matters, Oscar-winner Dustin Lance Black, GLAAD employee and candidate for NYC's City Council Corey Johnson, Truth Wins Out's Wayne Besen, activist and restauranteur Florent Morellet, actress Cherry Jones, former Congressman Michael Huffington, ex-GLAAD executive director Neil Guiliano, and furniture designer Mitchell Gold, among others.

I found that list in an essay written by gay Bloomberg critic and longtime NYC activist Allen Roskoff, who detailed what was wrong with Bloomberg on LGBT and AIDS issues, along with enumerating civil liberty problems with the mayor. Thanks Allen, for archiving who supported Bloomberg in 2009.

If I were advising anyone on that list, I'd tell them to quickly release a statement deploring Bloomberg's despicable raid, the assaults on protesters and the curtailing of the First Amendment. Since the LGBT endorsers lent their good name to help reelection Bloomberg, I believe they have a duty now to condemn the mayor and actions.

A search of Socarides' Equality Matters site failed to turn up any denunciation of Bloomberg's b.s. this week. Click here to read a bit about the years of Bloomberg butt-kissing by Socarides' lying lips.

Why have I singled out Socarides and his group? It has to do with how this sack of shit has instant access to mainstream TV, print and online news outlets, and if he wanted to take his buddy Bloomberg to task for trampling on activists and free speech, he'd have many venues to broadcast his criticism.

The silence of Mixner and Socarides regarding Bloomberg's tactics in recent days says a lot about their allegiance to the mayor.

2011-11-14T22:20:00.000-08:00

Corporate Ads Colonize
the Ceilings of Muni Buses

It's like a 1950s low-budget science fiction movie, in glorious black and white with jumpy music wailing on the soundtrack.

I'm talking about the further disappearance of public space in San Francisco, space slowing and methodically taken over by Corporate America and their ceaseless need to capture more consumer eyeballs.

You've read my posts railing against the empty news racks cluttering up key pedestrian intersections, and that they're nothing more than Clear Channel advertising spaces bringing in a minimal return for the city's coffers. One element to this scary urban tale.

Other San Francisco bloggers and public space advocates, whom I can count using only my two hands, have bemoaned the cylindrical kiosks sitting along Market Street, lit up at night with three enormous ads vying for attention. Not enough voices speaking up over the encroaching commercialization of our beautiful city, which I fear will be even more prevalent during four-years of Mayor Ed Lee running City Hall. Ugh.

There's also the relatively new, at least to me, four-panel V-shaped stands hitting the sidewalks around town, taking up more of the ever-diminishing public space.

Don't forget about the additional advertising space at bus stops and throughout our regional public transit systems, and on the sides of the squat-shaped public toilets around town taking up more room for Big Banking or Corporate America advertising.

More public space has been taken away from average folks, this time on Muni buses. During the inclement weather on Friday, I was forced to ride Muni and while cruising a handsome man at the back of the 22 Fillmore bus, my eyes followed him when he stood up and above his cute head was the ad you see in the photo.

That was the first I'd seen of such advertising. I missed the notice from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency before they sold off the ceilings of our bus fleet.

What should we call this terrible eating away of the public space and transit vehicles? Does "Invasion of the Public Space Snatchers" work?

The better question to pose is, how do we reclaim our collective space back from the corporations and politicians who have auctioned off the public property and retain what is left of it?

San Francisco's unique cityscape is harmed with all this commercial crap and no matter how much public space is sold off to the highest bidder, it won't solve our budgetary shortfalls.

2011-11-14T14:34:00.000-08:00

Wiener Mute on Muni Probe
3-Months After Castro Pedestrian Death

Back in August, I blogged about the death of Emily Dunn, a young pedestrian killed after a Muni bus struck her on a street in the Castro district. Supervisor Scott Wiener was notably quiet about this tragic accident in his district, and in his September newsletter to constituents he mentioned the San Francisco transit agency's probe into the accident:

On September 13, at my request, the Board of Supervisors adjourned in [memory of two pedestrians recently killed in vehicle-involved deaths]. Muni's investigation into Ms. Dunn's death is ongoing, and I am looking forward to finding out exactly what happened and how it will be prevented in the future.

Today, almost three-months after Dunn died and Muni started an investigation, I emailed Wiener and his two staffers requesting an update on the investigation, hoping that he was completed and that the supervisor would provide some all-important follow-up.

Unfortunately, as with too much of Wiener and his office's engagement with Castro stakeholders, they have chosen to remain mute and not respond to my request. IMHO, Wiener should be offering folks a status report about Muni's investigation and where it stands.

The reason why the investigation is on my radar today is because last night, another pedestrian who was hit by a Muni bus passed away from his injuries, according to the Bay City News via the SF Appeal. The dead man has been identified as 71-year-old Manuel Tomaneng and he was struck on Mission Street near 5th.

We need all supervisors staying on top of Muni operations and all investigations they conduct. I hope that Wiener soon shares info on Muni's probe into the factors that led to the demise of Dunn in August.

2011-11-13T18:16:00.000-08:00

Castro's Top Vote-Getter: Avalos;
Dufty was 4th in Gay District

This electoral analysis in Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle makes me wonder how District 8 voters, who twice elected out and moderate Bevan Dufty to serve on the Board of Supervisors but in 2010 selected out and conservative (by SF standards), Scott Wiener to be the new Supervisor, voted overwhelmingly for straight and progress Supervisor John Avalos on Tuesday.

Dufty has not been out of office a full-year, and I'm surprised he did so poorly in his own district. At the same time, Wiener backed Herrera and it didn't seem to have a big impact on Castro voters deciding who was their top mayoral pick.

Quite a bit of political swinging - from the center then more to the right ending at the very left of the spectrum.

There's also the matter of straight and center Dennis Herrera, the City Attorney who's quite pro-gay marriage and stress that in his campaign, coming in third in the Castro. Raises the question of why more gay voters didn't pick the candidate with the best track record on gay marriage.

Are they more concerned with affordable housing, standing up to Big Banking and taxing the wealthy, key Avalos issues, than with gay marriage as a reason to vote for someone?

From the Chron:

In the vote-rich Castro and Upper Market neighborhoods, the traditional power center of the city's gay community, Avalos came out on top, followed by Lee.

Herrera, whose office has been waging a vigorous legal battle on behalf of the city advocating for same-sex marriage rights, placed third.

Former Supervisor Bevan Dufty, the only major gay mayoral candidate who served as the district's representative for eight years, came in fourth there - an outcome that offered one of the few surprises in the analysis of how neighborhoods voted.

2011-11-13T12:58:00.000-08:00

VicTorie Osborn Royally Pissed at EQCA;
Burbank Blogger Slams Her Ego

(Osborn, in a screen grab from the vid she made in 2009 for Rick Jacobs' political group, the Courage Campaign.)

Longtime lesbian nonprofit executive and consultant who also fancies herself a grassrooter, Torie Osborn, is running for an Assembly seat in a newly carved-out district. She didn't get the endorsement of Equality California recently and she and her supporters have been kvetching over the gay group backing a straight politician.

Allow me to digress, to point out that EQCA is one sorely messed up organization and the last thing they ought to be doing is pissing off any quarter of the Los Angeles gay crowd, if they have any reasonable expectation of somehow bouncing back to previous levels of funding and A-Gay support.

From Saturday's SF Chronicle:

It's a three-way fight for the newly formed district that stretches from Malibu to West Hollywood and the contenders include current Assemblywoman Betsy Butler, who represents the 53rd Assembly District and has moved to the newly drawn district; Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom; and Torie Osborn, a lesbian and longtime leader in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

This week, the state's largest LGBT political organization, Equality California, endorsed Butler, who is heterosexual. Osborn was, to put it lightly, displeased. Butler is "a straight carpetbagger who has never lived in the district," said Osborn ...

"She's not the incumbent in this district. There is no incumbent in this district," Osborn said, adding that, "this is precisely why people are frustrated with this insider, incumbency-protection racket in Sacramento."

It's no big deal if one less Democratic lesbian is not elected to office. We have plenty of them already and Osborn is no great shakes. A competent enough bureaucrat. Let her stay in the nonprofit world. She's not spoken up or done a damn thing about the EQCA racket until now, when she wanted their meager and basically inconsequential support. Maybe she didn't get the memo about EQCA's meltdown.

Osborn in the three years since EQCA led the disastrous No on 8 campaign, as the group has steadfastly refused to implement basic democratic engagement principles, has not piped up about the myriad problems at EQCA.

The Burbank Blogger, who doesn't identify herself or himself, is another critic of Osborn and really zings it to her in this post from Friday:

Case study number 2 [of special interest races] comes a little south of Burbank, where a candidate named Torie Osborn is challenging Betsy Butler for Assembly.

We polled our fellow Democratic activists: On ALL the major issues: LGBT, labor, immigrants, choice, the environment, etc, there is not one iota of difference between Torie Osborn and Betsy Butler. NOT ONE DIFFERENCE. Thus, excuse us for concluding that this stupid internecine challenge is all about Torie's monumental ego and her personal ambition.

Excuse me, but those are NOT good reasons to get in politics.

(As of press time, Torie's camp would not confirm that her campaign slogan will be, "Torie: It's About Me." We did confirm however that she really does punctuate emails with a call to VicTorie. No kidding...)

Nice to see effective use of snark, but I wasn't sure the Burbank Blogger was speaking the truth about the "VicTorie" branding of Osborn and her campaign, so I checked out her site. Lo, and behold, she indeed is using VicTorie throughout her site and messaging, for which I salute her. Creative reworking of her name and victory, and it's so upbeat too, that even this critic gives her props.

BTW, Osborn's campaign is not just about her moving up the gay political ladder and becoming another LGBT elected official. It's peddling a better life to backers, according to the promo for her Camp VicTorie last month:

Gimme a break on this touchy-feely stuff. Electing Osborn to any office would in no significant way advance LGBT liberation.

2011-11-12T12:17:00.000-08:00

Wiener Roasted:
67% of SF Voters Reject Gay Supe's Prop E

The Castro's gay member on the Board of Supervisors, Scott Wiener, saw his signature ballot proposition this week go down in flames. A whopping 67% of San Franciscans who cast votes soundly rejected Prop E, that would have allowed the Supervisors and the Mayor to amend future ballot props and opened up a can of worms ready to eat away at our local democratic system.

In August, Wiener penned a column for the Huffington Post making big claims about what the citizenry was supposedly concerned with this election cycle:

Two of the most common questions I'm asked as an elected official are "Why do you make us vote on so many things?" and "Why doesn't the Board of Supervisors do its job and pass legislation without asking us to pass it for you?"

Folks are losing their jobs and healthcare insurance, rents are climbing and banks are foreclosing on properties in Wiener's district and across the city, municipal services are being curtailed, and lots of other bad economic news are hitting ordinary people, and Wiener would like us to believe the issue he most heard about was our alleged broken prop system.

What planet is Wiener living on? Sure as heck isn't the same one where struggling San Francisco citizens reside.

Recent filings by the Yes on E campaign show the committees donating to the effort were from real estate and downtown business groups, hardly a grassroots-backed campaign here.

Wiener's Huff Post essay boasted the following:

This proposal won't fix our ballot measure system in one fell swoop, but it starts us in the right direction. I look forward to a robust discussion this fall and beyond.

Seems clear to me the proposal's overwhelming rejection went completely against the direction Wiener was hoping for. His claim of welcoming a healthy discussion apparently stopped on Election Day, because he's not said a thing about Prop E's defeat on his Facebook page nor has he tweeted about it.

If he is genuine about that discussion he's going to have to put some sweat and energy into making it happen, but his track record about public talks is shoddy at best.

Back in the spring, the BAR reported on Wiener calling for public discussion about merging the gay parade committee with the community center, an idea worth debating. Only trouble was he didn't speak with the parties involved:

He also said he hasn't proposed the [merger] idea to Pride officials. Asked about the LGBT Community Center being a [possible partner in a merger], Wiener said that "certainly would be an option. ..."

[...] Wiener said, "I think it's terrific that we have people who are getting involved and making sure the organization stays viable, and making sure the parade is a success. But it doesn't avoid the need for a conversation about where Pride needs to go in the long run, and what kind of organizational structure the parade needs."

He wouldn't say whether he'd talked to Rebecca Rolfe, the center's executive director, about the idea.

So, he wanted public discussion about a potential merger and he blabbed to the BAR about it all, only he didn't take the time to speak with the head of the center. Four months later, the gay paper again asked him about consolidating the SF Pride committee with another nonprofit and there was no indication that in the intervening time he brought about the discussions he called for. More talk about talk from Wiener:

As far as Pride merging with anyone, Wiener said, "I think we need to have a frank discussion about the future of Pride."

What is needed from Wiener is him delivering on his many calls for public discussions about ballot props, the SF Pride committee and other issues. We'll see if he's willing to take responsibility and organize the open chats we need.

I hope the 67% figure is enough to wake him up about the wrong direction of some of his efforts.

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

Sister None-of-the-Above
Wins 60% of Votes for S.F. Mayor

Breaking news from the Baron von Munchausen wire:

The San Francisco Comical
November 11, 2011

Miraculous Upset in Mayor's Race
by I.M. Biased and Count de Monet

The latest novitiate to join the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Sister None-of-the-Above, has been declared the winner of Tuesday's mayoral race, a shocking result for the political and business establishments, and nothing more than a yawn for the largest bloc of voters.

Pundit and university professor Corey Cooking-Uppa-Quote explained the importance of the electoral upset, seen by the Sisters and their myriad supporters as divine intervention. "This means years of future work for me and fielding calls from the media that will maintain my high profile," he said.

With practically all of the votes counted (7,000 outstanding), and twelves rounds of reallocating votes under ranked choice voting rules, Sister None-of-the-Above has been elected mayor with 60% of vote according to the latest tallies from the Department of Elections.

"I'm thrilled that of all registered voters in this overwhelming liberal and progressive city, just under 60% stayed home or didn't bother to use their mail-in ballots," said Sister None-of-the-Above to her backers in each of the municipality's eleven supervisorial districts. "Being on the bottom of the ballot listing really paid off for my butt!"

Sister None-of-the-Above, whose birth name was Dick Hertz before it was legally changed, promised her first order of business would be to ask all mayoral losers who accepted public funding to refund The City the cost of a single vote paid for with municipal money.

For City Assessor Phil Ting the amount would equal a robust $383 at the top of the losers' list, while for Supervisor John Avalos' refund would amount to a paltry $17.

"At a time when San Francisco's vital services have been drastically reduced because of budgetary cuts, we need politicians who were publicly-funded to show symbolic sympathy with the city and give back a portion of the taxpayer dollars they spent - even if it means from their own personal bank accounts," the mayor-elect Sister said from her convent in the Castro district.

Interim Mayor Ed Lee, who came in second, was shocked at his loss to the political novice who bested him. "Gosh, with Willie Brown and Rose Pak pulling my strings and all the stops out, I fully expected to prevail and keep on representing downtown business interests from Room 200 at City Hall. Why didn't all those independent expenditure groups deliver a better voter turnout for me?"

At 4:00 pm on Friday, the Department of Elections will release the latest, and possibly last, ranked-choice vote tallies. Click here for more information.

2011-11-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

Hates Crimes Law Turns Two;
HRC & Gay Inc Silent on Anniversary

(From the left: David M. Smith, Cathy Nelson, Joe Solmonese and Elizabeth Birch, on October 28, 2009. Credit: Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.)

For a solid twenty years, the Human Rights Campaign raised and spent millions of dollars and expended countless words to pass a federal hate crimes law. Check out their timeline, which stops in October 2009, here.

Practically every act of violence or assault against a gay person during those years was used by HRC and lots of Gay Inc groups, pushing Congress to enact legislation against hate crimes against LGBT people and other minorities.

When the murder of Matthew Shepard shocked the nation in 1998, the perfect young and innocent martyr was created and HRC used his tragic death, and his mother Judy, to raise millions and awareness asking Members of Congress to pass the hate crimes law.

The political and social stars finally aligned for Congressional approval of the legislation, which was titled and sold as a prevention tool at the local and national level, and on October 28, 2009, President Obama signed the legislation into law. HRC led the LGBT community in heralding these developments as monumental achievements of great benefit to us.

The two-year anniversary of that signing came and went a little more than two weeks ago, and as far as I can tell, HRC and Gay Inc remained silent about the occasion. HRC's well-oiled and publicity machine didn't even bother to issue a release. It was probably naive of me to expect professional LGBT advocacy organizations to educate the community and the media about the law's impact two years hence.

Has the federal hate crimes law made a dent in preventing gay bashings? In what specific ways, if any, has it improved the safety and security of gays? Where are the statistics and analyses illustrating the impact two years after enactment?

Follow up regarding the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hates Crimes Prevention Act is needed from HRC and Gay Inc, and my questions should be addressed by the groups who invested so much in the act.

2011-11-08T11:01:00.000-08:00

ACLU: No Comment on Resolution
of Gay ED Romero's Drunk Driving Arrest

In August, I blogged about the out gay executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, Anthony Romero (pictured), and his legal and ethical troubles stemming from a drunk driving arrest in late June in East Hampton, NY. Romero faced allegations that he covered up the arrest, and Newsday reported he would appear in court on October 6 as the matter worked its way toward a resolution.

Seeing no follow up stories on the web, at the end of October I started calling and emailing the East Hampton Justice Court, seeking details about the October 6 hearing. I never reached a live person, and none of my voice mails or emails elicited a response from the court.

Yesterday I sent a query to the ACLU's national press office, requesting info as to the legal resolution of Romero's arrest. Press rep Molly Kaplan replied:

Thanks for reaching out to us on this. We don’t have any further information on this, but have you tried the East Hampton Town Court?

How odd that the ACLU couldn't shed any light on the ED's arrest and if the legal proceedings had been resolved, not to mention the group pushing me to contact the court, instead of simply asking Romero to answer my few questions. I wrote back to Kaplan, copying the note to Romero, stating I had indeed reached out to the court and received no reply, and again requested the ACLU to explain the status of the case.

Receiving no reply from Kaplan or Romero, I sent them another email this morning, pleading for an update. Steven Gosset, whose email identified him as the manager of media relations, shared this response:

In regards to your inquiry, neither Mr. Romero nor the ACLU will have any comment on this matter. If you seek further information regarding the proceedings in connection with this matter, I would suggest you contact the East Hampton Justice Court.

I am sorry I cannot be of further assistance.

What utter nonsense, that the mighty ACLU can't comment on the relatively minor legal infraction of its executive director and whether they matter has been resolved. Pushing me off to the court for some details is quite uncooperative and just doesn't smell right.

Why all the secrecy on the ACLU's part, especially considering the organization in July railed against secrecy and its poisonous effect on democracy? They should be doing every thing in their power, through their press office, to get the facts out there before the public about Romero's arrest and possible resolution of the matter.

The ACLU needs to come clean about Romero's October 6 hearing before the court, and fully explain the legal situation of his arrest.

2011-11-07T11:35:00.000-08:00

SF Chronicle: Mail-in Ballots:
Chinatown = 79% vs Castro = 6%

Some very interesting numbers presented today about mail-in voting patterns thus far in the election process. The San Francisco Chronicle reports an incredibly high percentage for early voting by mail in Chinatown and a surprisingly low number for the Castro.

The LGBT voters of the Castro generally have one of the largest voter turnouts in the city, and while the mail-in votes are quote low, there could be a surge of in-person ballot-casting tomorrow. It will be curious to see the analysis of the LGBT vote after Tuesday and how that bloc was split among the dozens of candidates.

My prediction in the mayoral race is that Mayor Ed Lee will be elected to a full-four year term, and the greasy Willie Brown and Rose Pak machine will grind on, to the detriment of the city. A depressing thought, but one we may have to get used to after all the ballots are counted.

From the Chronicle:

An analysis by Redistricting Partners, a Sacramento political consulting firm, found that as of last week, 79 percent of expected mail-in voters in Chinatown had turned in their ballots - 32 percentage points above the citywide average return at this time during two earlier election cycles.

Visitacion Valley, which has turned heavily Asian in recent years, is showing an 18 percentage point surge, followed by new immigrant areas like the Excelsior (12 percentage points) and the Sunset and Bayview (both five percentage points). ...

In Bernal Heights, only 38 percent of expected ballots had been returned, nine percentage points below the citywide average. The numbers were almost identical in the Haight.

Likewise, Potrero Hill was running four percentage points below average, the Mission seven percentage points and the Castro 6 percentage points.

2011-11-07T10:22:00.000-08:00

My BF Went to Gayville, SD,
& All I Got Was This Fabulous Photo

The great state of South Dakota is home to Mount Rushmore, a number of Native American tribes, my husbear and partner Mike, and the town of Gayville. Sure, you thought the Castro and Chelsea urban districts were Gayvilles, but you're wrong. The real Gayville is located in America's rural heartland.

Mike was back home recently visiting with family and friends, and one day his brother Nick and his wife Mary took him on a drive through the Gayville area. They stopped in the town of 407 people for a bite to eat and a stroll around the place, then took a fabulous photo of Mike standing in front of the local music hall.

The town proclaims itself the Hay Capital of the World. Okay, that's one claim to fame. However, with the right kind of branding and marketing, Gayville could make a pretty penny selling merchandise branded with their town's fine name to gay people around the country.

Hey Gayville, South Dakota, thanks for showing my partner and in-laws a fun time during their brief visit, and for a having a great enormous mock postcard made for picture-snapping.

2011-11-06T19:21:00.000-08:00

November is 3rd Month in 2011
the Castro Theatre is Shut 8-Nites

(The Castro's calender for November. Click here for info on programs, tickets and showtimes.)

It is never too early to express concern that an iconic still-functioning single-screen movie theatre may be ailing and not getting the audience it needs to stay in business, operating seven-days a week.

You'll recall I blogged about the Castro Theatre being closed eight-nights in April, while in August I wrote about the eight dark night that month.

November is the third month in 2011 our cherished picture show palace won't be showing a film or hosting a live event.

I didn't pay close attention to the January and February Castro calendars, and they're not online, so I don't I know if either month was closed for just over a week or close to it, as happened for April, August and November. I hope they weren't months where the Castro was shut for just over a week; bad enough with three such months.

For my part to help keep the Castro surviving and thriving, I plan to catch at least three films on the new schedule. Give the calendar a glance, print it out, post it on your refrigerator door and make it this theatre in the near future for a film or two.

2011-11-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

EQCA + Haas Fdtn's $1.1M =
Waste. Toilet. Flush.

They all look and think the same to me. The Gay Inc folks who cycle in and out of jobs at Gay Foundation Inc or Gay Advocacy Inc or crossover from AIDS Inc and Gay Democratic Party Inc or Non-Profit Inc. You know who I'm talking about.

Let's start with Matt Foreman, who has been the executive director at a few organizations including Empire State Pride Agenda and NGLTF, and is now doling out the big dollars at the Haas Jr Foundation in San Francisco. Hundreds of thousands of dollars flow from Haas, which is non-transparent and holds no public meetings, to Equality California and Matt just flushed a few more bucks down this toilet.

Then there's Joan Garry, who when she headed GLAAD adhered to a strict non-transparency policy and was at one point the highest paid Gay Inc executive around, and is now advising EQCA. Hard to tell the difference between her and Matt regarding their elitist and secretive approaches to running "community" organizations.

We can't forget that another GLAAD executive, Julie Anderson, who handled development matters for the group when she worked with Joan, will also be offering advice to EQCA.

They all have to deal with the disastrous tenure of Roland Palencia, who came from a nonprofit network of community clinics and departed after barely three-months as executive director of EQCA.

Roland may be a Latino, unlike Matt, Joan and Julie who are white, but they're all cut from the same damn cloth of fearing the community, refusing to have regular democratic engagement with the grassroots, chasing corporate and banking industry support and keeping the at-large community under tight control. There is no fresh air or ideas with crew of Gay Inc types.

EQCA's gushing news release detailing Matt giving more Haas money so the group can hire Joan and Julie and transition the whole shebang into a viable and relevant entity, says nothing about grassroots community engagement during the time the consultants will be diagnosing the group's strengths and weakness. Yes, the same old wasting of a crisis by Gay Inc where the last development the same old elitist executives want it democratic engagement with the grassroots, is happening at EQCA.

BTW, the Haas Foundation's search engine goes back only to 2006 and since then EQCA has received at least $1.1 million, showing how tight Gay Foundation Inc and Gay Advocacy Inc are. Given the meltdown of EQCA this year, I'd say a lot of those Haas dollars went down the toilet leaving EQCA without a statewide grassroots network of engaged, committed supporters.

New Haas money is funding EQCA's "breakthrough conversation" program, whatever it may be. It's not been fully developed yet, but it's supposed to help LGBT California speak to families and friends about our lives. Whatever.

In the past two months, without a single consultant or big bucks spent, the nation has witnessed hundreds of General Assemblies at various Occupy encampments and protests, with lots of gay people speaking up and participating in Occupy actions.

Can you imagine Matt, Joan, Julie and their ilk seeing the handwriting on the wall at the Occupy protests and General Assemblies, and incorporate the genuine grassroots, democratic engagement tactics and strategies of that movement into their Gay Inc agenda? I certainly can't.

2011-11-04T20:49:00.000-07:00

Dutch PM Holds Moscow Meeting
With Russian Lesbian Leader

(Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, left, with open hands meets activists in Moscow. Polina Savchenko, a lesbian leader with Coming Out, is on the right side of the conference table wearing a white jacket. Click to enlarge. Credit: Coming Out.)

Responsible and effective LGBT leaders in Russia from the Coming Out group, made a significant advance in elevating their issues in recent weeks with a foreign government Kremlin politicians very much want to have good diplomatic relations with.

I've cribbed details from the rough Google Russian-to-English translation of an account from Coming Out and a Dutch news site to cobble together this story of that advance for Russia's gay movement:

In October, at the invitation of the President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mr. Mark Rutte visited Russia on an official visit. Rutte made it a public priority of highlighting human rights issues in Russia for the Netherlands. In order to gain a more complete picture of the situation on the eve of his talks with Medvedev, Rutte met with representatives of the human rights movement in Russia, including a leading lesbian advocate.

At the October 19 meeting in Moscow with Rutte at the Dutch embassy were Alexei Navalny (a transparency blogger), Elena Panfilova (Transparency International), Tatyana Lokshina (Human Rights Watch) and Polina Savchenko (General Manager of the social service and advocacy LGBT organization Coming Out). Among the topics discussed were the fight against corruption, the North Caucasus region and the rights of LGBT citizens - all of which the Netherlands considers important issues in relations with Russia.

After the meeting, Polina shared her impressions on the Coming Out site :

"The Prime Minister was sympathetic to the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Russia. He asked many questions: Why did we choose to become activists? How many individual are involved in our transparency and LGBT groups? Is the Russian government doing enough to protest the human rights LGBT Russians?"

Polina added:

"The discussion was very lively, and all of us who met with Mr. Rutte expressed our thanks for engaging with us. The main purpose of the meeting for the Prime Minister was to understand how the Netherlands can contribute to human rights defenders and what questions should be raised in talks with Medvedev and Putin."

From San Francisco on behalf of Gays Without Borders, I extend deep respect and gratitude to Prime Minister Rutte for showcasing LGBT Russian people and their issues as integral to the Dutch foreign political engagement with Russian leaders.

And big, warm congratulations to the activists with Coming Out of St. Petersburg for scoring this coup of a meeting with an important trading and diplomatic partner, one willing to publicly pressure Russian leaders to improve their record on human rights protections for LGBT citizens.

By the way, I wish to point out that the day after the October 19 meeting, at which he was not present, Russia's most prominent and wealthiest globetrotting gay advocate, Nikolai Alexseev, resigned as leader of Gay Russia. Readers may recall that when he grandly exited the global gay stage on October 20, Nikolai told the UK Gay News that he simply couldn't provide any details why he was retiring from the movement.

Do I think he was angry to not be at the meeting with the Dutch Prime Minister and that his apparent non-invitation contributed to his retirement? Very much, yes. Could diva Nikolai accept that another LGBT Russian leader went to the meeting and he wasn't given any role to play? No, never.

I could be wrong, of course, but the timing of the meeting and resignation are quite curious.

Again, Gays Without Borders in San Francisco salutes our good friends at Coming Out in St. Petersburg on their success with the Dutch government, and we look forward to continued progress with their incredible advocacy work and social services for LGBT Russians!

2011-11-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

Antonioni & Kiarostami
Double-Bill Plays the PFA on Saturday

(Monica Vitti in "Red Desert". Courtesy photo.)

The Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley this Saturday launches a mini-retrospective of Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami movies and the first film in that series, "Where is the Friend's Home?", plays with a new print of Michelangelo Antonioni's first film in color, "Red Desert".

There are five films in the Kiarostami series, only one of which I've seen, "Taste of Cherry", and I hope to have the time to see this excellent film again along with the other works including "And Life Goes On ... " and "Through the Olive Trees".

Kiarostami's latest film "Certified Copy" enjoyed a healthy run on the art house circuit earlier this year, which I thoroughly enjoyed and whetted my appetite to become more familiar with his entire body of work.

And I simply have to see "Red Desert" as it was meant to be seen, in a theater and with a crisp print projected on the big screen. Back in the late 1970s I saw the film at the Bleecker Street Cinema and the print was horribly faded, and I remember the manager standing at the box office explaining to patrons that the print we were about to see was in bad shape.

Thanks to the PFA programmers, I'll have the chance this weekend to watch "Red Desert" and fully appreciate its bleak artistry.

Click here for more info on the PFA shows and to purchase advance tickets.

2011-11-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

Avalos & Herrera
Hold Summit at Delessio Cafe

We're into the home stretch of San Francisco's mayoral race, with six days to go before election day and all of the candidates are prowling the city looking for votes, but two of them were caught by my camera trying to have semi-private conversation at the Delessio Cafe and they weren't pestering folks over the election.

Before sitting down for lunch, I saw John Avalos and Dennis Herrera at an outside table engaged in chat and no handlers or supporters around. Playing the role of Paparazzo from Fellini's "La Dolce Vita", with camera ready for shooting, I approached John and Dennis and ribbed them for being caught holding a "Delessio summit".

What could they do but smile for the birdie, laugh at my comment and worry that I might sit down at the table next to theirs and listen in on their campaign talk. Frankly, I was more interested having lunch and reading the NY Times inside the cafe, so I left them alone - for a short while.

After eating, I stopped again at their table, this time sitting next to them and peppering them with questions about their summit.

Dennis went first and said, "We're just talking about baseball." My face registered a "yeah, sure" look. Avalos then piped up saying, "The San Francisco Giants were all we spoke about."

Not being much of an athletic supporter, but an admirer of some beefcake dudes who play professional sports especially when sporting jockstraps in locker room pix, even I knew the season was over.

A word of advice to fellow activists and voters of San Francisco. Don't leave home without a camera in the coming days. Be ready to capture images on still or video cameras of candidates campaigning or hanging out, or election-related activities. There can't be too many cameras watchdogging the candidates and their surrogates.

(Disclosure: Avalos gets my first choice vote and I'm considering Herrera as my second or third option.)

2011-11-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

Two Movies to Catch Tonight
at French Cinema Now

Today is your last opportunity to catch the San Francisco Film Society's 2011 edition of its annual survey of new French films, and I have two recommendations for your viewing consideration tonight.

The first is at 5 pm and it's the very entertaining, and rather too-brief at barely 80-minutes, "The Screen Illusion", directed by actor and budding director Mathieu Amalric. He has taken the 17th-century play "L'illusion comique" and the original text, and transposed it to the current day.

Set in the sumptuous Hotel du Louvre, with all of its old-world charm providing the backdrop, the basic narrative of a father trying to find his son with the help of an all-seeing magician unfolds.

Amalric indulges his actors with lots of tight close ups and not much editing when they speak, and given that the excellent performers are from the legendary Comedie Francaise and at the top of their game, the indulgences of the director are well-deserved.

The second film I recommend is the somber "Angele and Tony", written and helmed by a new female auteur Alix Delaporte, screening at 9 pm this evening. Set in a small fishing community, the story concerns Angele trying to rebuild her life after a prison sentence for a crime never clearly specified that led to the death of her husband.

She meets Tony through a personals ad, and at first they don't get long with each other, while his mother has no problem expressing her suspicions toward Angele about her past and what her motives may be for wanting a relationship with him. Through believable plot turns with her parole officer and desire to win custody of her young son, and Tony realizing he desires Angele, their once-hostile interactions slowing melt.

Delaporte delivers imperfect characters attempting to keep job security, a place to live and create happiness out of their tough situation, that kept me concerned with how Angele and Tony resolve their many problems. Delaporte is an auteur worth paying attention to and she's at work on her second feature, that I hope eventually screens here.

Both "The Screen Illusion" and "Angele and Tony" play this evening the New People Cinema located at 1746 Post Street, near Webster. Tickets are available for both movies. Click here for info on purchasing tickets in advance.

(Photo credits: San Francisco Film Society.)

2011-11-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

11-11-11: Castro to Fly Old Glory
for Gay Vets & Peace Advocates?

Rumors have been circulating in the Castro that the bully of the neighborhood, Steve Adams who serves as president of the local Sterling Bank and head of the Merchants of Upper Market Castro, has again been spreading hot-air about finally creating a transparent process for flagpole requests and posting the rules on the MUMC site.

As with so much Adams claims about the flagpole, his latest promise has not turned into reality. The MUMC site lacks even an iota of info about their control of this piece of public property and nothing is posted about requests to use the flagpole for educational purposes.

For these and other reasons, I have submitted the following request to Supervisor Scott Wiener. I hope he will not only respond to this request within 48-hours, but that he also exerts resources to hoisting the Stars and Stripes in the Castro on 11-11-11. Here is my request to him:

Dear Supervisor Wiener,

November 11 is Veterans' Day and I am asking you to direct MUMC and the Department of Public Works to honor both gay servicemembers and peace advocates on this day, by flying the American flag at Harvey Milk Plaza. Let me make it clear: I am not asking you to fly two flags on that day. Just Old Glory without the gay flag, for 24-hours.

As you know, the Castro neighborhood quickly mobilized in 2-days' time back in 2003 lowering the rainbow flag and flew the American flag, after the Supreme Court ruled in our favor on the Lawrence v Texas case.

I believe we have more than enough time to locate an appropriately-sized American flag to run up the Castro's public flagpole on Veterans' Day this year, especially if you are amenable to carrying out this simple, cost-free patriotic act that would pay respect to gays who serve in the military and gays who work for peace.

Will you grant my request and direct MUMC and DPW to collaborate to guarantee that our public flagpole at Market and Castro Streets properly commemorates Veterans' Day, by flying the Stars & Stripes that day?

A reply within two-days is requested.

Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis

2011-11-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

Best Location? Herrera at Milk Plaza;
Occupy SF at Herman Plaza

(Herrera at the mike. Credit: Bill Wilson.)

Last Thursday, gay supporters of City Attorney Dennis Herrera and a few of his competitors in the race to become San Francisco's next mayor, staged a rally and presser at Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro to protest an article in the previous day's Chronicle slurring him as not fully favoring gay marriages in 2004.

A friend back east asked why the presser was held so far away from the institution - the Chronicle - that triggered the protest. He pointed out that Herrera and his backers would have been smart to register their anger at Mission and Fifth Streets, the headquarters for the publication.

I mentioned no TV cameras were at the Milk Plaza rally and said it might have attracted TV coverage if the protesters had the SF Chronicle behind them, instead of a banner for a local LGBT Democratic political club. Seems to me an opportunity was missed to challenge shoddy journalism, by not bringing the protest to the paper's front door.

Several rally speakers deplored the Chronicle's anonymously sourced story about meetings 7-years ago, with state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano succinctly expressing the sentiment of many protesters by asking the simple question, "WTF, Chronicle?" But the paper's editorial team was downtown, not within earshot of Ammiano.

I contacted Herrera's spokesperson Matt Dorsey about the choice of Milk Plaza and not Mission and 5th. His response:

For us, it's not about the Chronicle. I don't make editorial decisions for publications, and I'm uncomfortable faulting any news organization for what they decide to cover. Public slander is an occupational hazard for politicians, and I'm frankly glad to live in a democracy where that's the case. So long as we have the chance to respond proportionally and substantively, that's fair enough for me. I have no hard feelings about the Chronicle.

If it's not about the Chronicle, then why was the publication denounced by practically all speakers at the rally? Something's not quite right.

That being said, permit me to disclose that Herrera may get my second or third vote on November 8. Except for my first choice for mayor, John Avalos, my mind is weighing who should get my two other votes.

And speaking of optimal targets and locations for demonstrations, I'd like to know why the Occupy SF encampment is at Justin Herman Plaza at the foot of Market Street, far away from City Hall, the State Building and the two federal buildings. Yes, I know the local Occupy effort began a block-and-a-half from Justin Herman Plaza at the Federal Reserve Bank and when the police raided the original encampment protesters settled on the nearby plaza.

But that location, while certainly attracting the concerns of the mayor, supervisors and municipal health and safety agencies and lots of media, just seems to be lacking in terms of having a bigger impact if the encampment was located like the Occupy Oakland protest, in a public plaza abutting a government building.

(Credit: SF MOMA blog.)

What would be so wrong about setting up camp at the Federal Building on Mission and 7th Streets, with its spacious courtyard? A post the the SF MOMA blog in 2009 by Adrienne Skye Roberts, This Land Wasn't Made for You and Me, provides fodder arguing for establishing an Occupy presence there:

[The land the courtyard occupies] is owned by the federal government and therefore the government of San Francisco (let alone its residents or SOMA neighbors) had no say in the design or use of the space. An explanatory text on the website assures that the building was designed to empower the “local and regional community with a sense of ownership” of this federal property. This text continues, stating that the San Francisco federal building is “a functional and symbolic manifestation of government that people sustain through exercising their freedom to physically take control of it.”

Sounds fine with me, this sense of ownership and encouraging the people to take control of our federal property and land.

In the real estate world, the wise mantra is location, location, location. The Herrera campaign and Occupy SF, two wildly divergent entities, would be smart to rethink where they stage their public actions and learn a key lesson from realtors, and co-opt that lesson for greater impact.

2011-10-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

FBI: No File on Frank Kameny

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is getting better with its response time to FOIA requesters. It's not been even a month since gay icon and pioneer Frank Kameny passed away, and my Freedom of Information Act request for any and all materials the agency may have on him was submitted, triggering a search of FBI archives and the apparent lack of a file.

This letter arrived on Saturday, informing me of the following details:

Based on the information you provided, we conducted a search of the Central Records System. We were unable to identify main file records responsive to the FOIA. If you have additional information pertaining to the subject that you believe was of investigative interest to the Bureau, please provide us the details and we will conduct an additional search.

It strikes me as very odd the FBI says it has no file on Kameny - a man who picketed the White House in October 1965 and engaged in many other actions and protests that I would think caught the attention of the agency.

As Frank's survivors sort out his personal papers, I hope they keep an eye out for any indication Frank requested his own FBI file or information about why the agency may have put him under surveillance or subjected to an investigation. There may be reason for me to request further searching of the FBI archive.

Here's the FBI letter:

2011-10-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

Mixner Calls for HRC Town Halls;
No Forums for his March on Washington

(David Mixner addressing the October 9, 2009, gay rally at the U.S. Capitol. Credit: Broadway.com.)

What's good for the goose ought to be good for the gander, except in some sectors of the gay movement.

Back in 2009, longtime Democratic and gay leader David Mixner was involved in mobilizing the LGBT community to attend the National March for Equality in Washington, DC, in October. Many accountability types, myself included, asked Mixner and his colleagues Cleve Jones, Robin McGehee and Kip Williams to organize geographically diverse open meetings.

We wanted full transparency over the march and the key people behind it, simply because sunshine is crucial to viable, sustaining and effective grassroots organizing. Unfortunately, Mixner and colleagues refused to hold a single public meeting about their efforts, and when it was all over, the promised network of 435 Congressional district captains and other promises were unkept.

Recently, Mixner called for the Human Rights Campaign to hold six town halls across the country before they choose their next executive director:

However wouldn't it be both really smart and also genuinely a right move if they held town meetings where anyone can come and express where they think the organization needs to go at this stage of history? They could pick out six locations that would be sure to be reflective of all segments of the community from rural areas to large cities.

Yes, I know that at times it will require enormous patience for the panel listening to the suggestions. There are those who'll attend the town meeting to simply express anger. Also there will be a significant number of people eager to express their needs, constructive frustrations and some with amazing ideas. Listening is not hard ...

Great advice, and I wish Mixner had followed it in 2009 leading up the march on DC. Today I wrote to him asking a few questions. Why didn't he and his colleagues hold town halls, does he regret not doing so, what's his reaction if HRC cites his lack of town halls as part of their rejection argument, has HRC responded, does he understand why it seems hypocritical to ask something of HRC that the march organizers themselves never delivered, and would he hold his own town halls at the NYC gay community center.

Mixner has not responded, which I find curious since his I'm sure he issued his call to HRC hoping to generate community discussion about his idea and he won't dialogue with me about these concerns.

Down in Los Angeles, veteran reporter Karen Ocamb picked up on Mixner's town hall suggestion for Frontiers LA, but omitted anything about the 2009 march's lack of open meetings. However, Ocamb expanded the idea of forums to another Gay Inc component:

This suggestion might be a good one for the board of Equality California as well, as they undertake a search for a new executive director to replace Roland Palencia.

You may recall that as EQCA searched high and low for a new leader, spent thousands of dollars finding a three-month executive director, they never held a public meeting anywhere in California about their search with grassroots folks. And they wonder why the grassroots and others are over EQCA's elitist methods.

On the east coast, experienced reporter Paul Schindler of Gay City News plugged Mixner's suggestion:

Longtime activist David Mixner last week suggested that the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign (HRC) hold a series of town hall meetings nationwide as it undergoes its search process to replace its president, Joe Solmonese, who leaves early next year.

Good of Schindler to give the town halls a mention, but he too missed the opportunity to nudge Mixner to hold a public forum of his own and show HRC how it's done.

As someone who has for many years demanded regular democratic engagement through open board meetings and public forums with Gay Inc and AIDS Inc advocacy organizations, I wish to clearly state what I see as the essential problem why our groups are undemocratic.

The likes of our top groups and powerbrokers fear open forums because they fear hearing directly from average constituents and they don't want to give us any opportunity to genuinely mobilize the grassroots beyond check-writing or phone banking.

Witnessing the general assemblies of the Occupy movement, we see how all sorts of regular and not-so-normal folks come together to speak their voices and have their words fall on receptive ears. The general assemblies are beautiful street town halls and there should be a few of them taking place outside HRC's headquarters in Washington, or their store on Castro Street.

Let me state my 100% support for Mixner's town halls for HRC suggestion, while again requesting that he hold a meeting or two at the NYC gay community center.

2011-10-28T23:00:00.000-07:00

Why Did Injured Occupy Oakland
Vet Enlist in Bush's Iraq War?

It's beyond tragic that the Oakland, California, police and mayor made terrible decisions regarding the Occupy encampment in front of their City Hall that led to the serious bodily injuries upon a protester on Tuesday night.

Scott Olsen, who was at the wrong place at the very wrong time on the streets of Oakland, remains hospitalized and faces months of medical issues including assorted rehab care services. I wish Olsen all the best in recovering from his police-initiated injuries, and hope he's got decent health insurance coverage.

However, I also want to raise questions about his military service and motives for volunteering to fight in President George W. Bush's war for Iraqi oil, to get a better understanding of this young man. An article in the SF Chronicle provides the basics of Olsen's service:

Olsen joined the Marines in 2006, served two tours in Iraq and was discharged in 2010, according to Iraq Veterans Against the War. Now a systems administrator at San Francisco software firm OPSWAT Inc., he had spent most nights during the last few weeks at the Occupy SF camp, said his roommate, Keith Shannon.

Why did this young man, several years into the Iraq war and much exposure of the flat-out lies, subterfuges and overt manipulation of intelligence, not to mention complaints from peace activists and others over the billions of American dollars spent executing the war, and the tens of thousands of Iraqi civilian deaths and rising death toll for U.S. soldiers decide to sign up to fight in Dubya's war?

Since Olsen was harmed with a cop-tossed projectile and made international news, his friends and Occupy supporters have rightfully rallied to his cause and highlighted his status as a former Marine. At yesterday's Oakland vigil, among the enlarged photos displayed was one of Olsen in Marine uniform bedecked with medals and another as a smiling civilian.

Showing public concern for his well-being and illustrating the fullness of Olsen's short life, personalizes a small piece of the Occupy movement and is beneficial to the national dialogue.

In the coming days, I hope to hear from any and all Iraqi vets, especially those in the veterans' group opposed to the Iraq war, and learn why they risked life and limb for Bush's lies. My brain can't wrap around the idea of why any young American would step up and willingly, without a draft, go off to war for Dubya and his criminal co-conspirators.

That is why I hope as Olsen heals, that the words of the Occupy Iraq war vets speak up about how they traveled from volunteering for Uncle Sam to camping out on urban public space to right a lot of social wrongs, including the Iraq war.

(Photo: Occupy Oakland's October 27 vigil for Scott Olsen. Credit: Occupy Oakland.)

2011-10-27T18:18:00.000-07:00

ABEL = Anyone But Ed Lee

(L-to-R: Rose Pak, Gavin Newsom & Willie Brown. The puppet-masters pulling Ed Lee's strings. Image credit: Bay Citizen.)

The race for Room 200 at San Francisco's City Hall took a weird and sleazy turn the other day when the SF Chronicle ran a front-page, above-the-fold hit-piece about City Attorney and mayoral wannabe Dennis Herrera.

Before going any further, permit to state that I am voting for John Avalos as my first choice, and my second and third choices will be determined closer to election day.

Strangely enough, the Hearst-owned paper has endorsed Board of Supervisors president David Chui, but their Herrera story carried the water for Mayor Ed Lee via proxies for his predecessor Gavin Newsom.

Based on the word of all anonymous sources, the Chronicle reported that Herrera in 2004 allegedly was not 100 percent pro-gay marriage, in his professional capacity as attorney for the city. The unnamed sources claim that almost eight-years ago Herrera presented a number of legal arguments about why Newsom's gay marriage push might fail in the courts.
In other words, Herrera was doing his job. Imagine that.

Reading the Chronicle's article I wondered why the sources waited so many years to bring their concerns to the paper, and why the heck the paper decided to give the allegations from so long ago such prominent attention.

The answers, IMO, lead back to the two sleazy powerbrokers who first installed Ed Lee back in January as the supposed interim mayor: Willie Brown and Rose Pak. They were aided and abetted by Newsom and his former minions, all of whom are desperate to maintain the status quo at City Hall.

A vote, either as first or second or third choice, for Ed Lee is actually a vote for the Brown/Pak/Newsom machine, a secretive and greasy machine out to crush any populist developments or politicians that they think threaten their hold on the levers of municipal power.

If it weren't already clear enough before the Chronicle debased its credibility with their anonymous Newsom sources that Ed Lee and his backers will do anything to retain their grip on Room 200 at City Hall, it should be easy to see what sleaze this crew is made of.

My advice for San Francisco voters is the ABEL philosophy: Anyone But Ed Lee.

2011-10-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

French Cinema Now
Series Starts Tonight

The San Francisco Film Society's annual survey of contemporary French films kicks off tonight, with screenings taking place until November 2 at either the Embarcadero Cinema or the SFFS | New People Cinema. Click here for all the info on the films, showtimes and tickets.

Eleven new films are on the schedule and I have seen just one, "The Kid with a Bike", and it's fantastic, but then again, it's the latest work from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne so there is no question it's of high cinematic quality.

"The Kid with a Bike" follows a young teenage boy named Cyril abandoned by his selfish father to a government-run foster care program, determined to win back the attention and care of his parent. Combining influences of Cassavetes-like social realism and Bressonian sympathy for characters on the edge, we follow Cyril on his bike getting into trouble with a local thug and the cops.

He eventually is befriended by a kind no-nonsense hairdresser, Samantha, who allows Cyril to spend weekends with her before she agrees to serve as his foster parent. Samantha love and attention are initially not strong enough to set Cyril on the right path and he wanders into committing a crime involving assault and robbery.

As in all films by the Dardenne brothers, the situations faced by their characters are bleak and full of despair, and this new work is no different except for the first time they use music on the soundtrack, a mournful snippet from Beethoven that conveys a flicker of hope for Cyril.

There were scenes between Cyril and Samantha that had me on the verge of tears, because of the emotional rawness on the screen and the understated performances. It's never made clear why she endures all the constant grief, pain and expenses associated with caring for the boy.

Is Samantha acting on her maternal instincts, or does she help Cyril out of some primal urge to help a younger person deeply in need of adult supervision and love? That is a question to think about when I catch this excellent film a second time, during its commercial run early in 2012.

You can see "The Kid with a Bike" during the French Cinema Now mini-festival on October 28 at 7 pm and also on October 30 at 4:30 pm. Both showings are at the New People Cinema on Post Street near Webster. More info is available here.

(Photo illustration: Thomas Doret and Cecile de France riding bikes in a scene from the film. Credit: San Francisco Film Society.)

2011-10-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

PFA Screens 1978 'J. Edgar Hoover',
Rohmer Films, Mostel in 'Godot'

Quite an eclectic and bold choice of old movies to catch this week at the Pacific Film Archive on the Cal Berkeley campus, but first, a word about a contemporary movie soon to open in theaters.

Clint Eastwood's annual Oscar-bait film this year is "J. Edgar", as in Hoover, the former tyrannical boss of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Written by Oscar-winning and openly gay screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, "J. Edgar" opens in early November and stars dreamboat Leonardio DiCaprio as Hoover. This movie oozes high-quality, big budget and A-list production values.

The same cannot be said of Larry Cohen's 1978 exploitation B-picture "The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover", starring Broderick Crawford, Celeste Holm and Jose Ferrer, it barely received a limited release in theaters.

Cohen's bio-pic was shown in the summer at New York's downtown temple of art cinema, the Anthology Film Archives, and contemporary critics urged readers to catch the rare screenings. Bay Area film lovers have only chance to see it up on the big screen, when it shows tomorrow, October 27, at 7 pm at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley.

Let's compare trailers for the dueling Hoover bio-pics. First up is the one for Eastwood's version:

All that gloss and the intensity of DiCaprio should make for a memorable experience, even if I find DiCaprio way too fine-looking to make me forget about the bull-dog appearance of Hoover throughout his life.

Next up, the 1978 trailer showcasing that version's grindhouse approach to the story and look. "J. Edgar Hoover", if it played on the pre-Disney 42nd Street strip would have found an audience and some profit:

The PFA reverts to more expect fare on Saturday with two 1980s films by French auteur Eric Rohmer. From 1986, "Summer", about a lonely female Parisian secretary seeking companionship and maybe love while on vacation. I saw when it played stateside and enjoyed it tremendously, very much appreciating its quiet humor.

"Summer" shows on October 29 at 6:30 pm and also on October 30 at 4:00 pm.

Another Rohmer film, one that I have not seen, plays on October 29 at 8:30 pm, "Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle". Some details about it from the PFA program notes:

Four episodes in the relationship between a naive but talented painter from the provinces and a worldly Parisian student. . . . Working a sophisticated variation on the country mouse/city mouse theme.

Finally, on Sunday at 6:00 pm, a restored print of the late 1950s TV version of "Waiting for Godot" with the great Zero Mostel unspools. The listing says sheds light on the production:

Premiering in 1959 on WNTA-TV in New York, the ambitious experiment Play of the Week [presented a variety of works] ... Thanks to progressive casting decisions by producers such as David Susskind, actor Zero Mostel, who suffered years of unemployment for refusing to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, enjoyed a comeback after being selected for Samuel Beckett’s absurdist masterpiece, Waiting for Godot.

I'm hoping to watch all of these films in the coming days, and enjoy the Cal campus' trees and scenery as fall begins. Click here for more info on all of the PFA's film programs.