Petrelis Files

Arab TV, Italian Press: San Francisco Protests
Iraqi Gay Murders With Funeral

Something was lost in the translation. Let's go over the known facts about Monday's action in San Francisco designating the base of the rainbow flag at Harvey Milk Plaza as the Tomb of the Unknown Gay.

There were 15 gay advocates who attended a short press conference, laying down of flowers and lighting of candles. Our local member of the Board of Supervisors said the board would send a letter to the State Department requesting an investigation into the recent murder of gays in Baghdad.

We didn't hold a funeral, nor did we say anything remotely about wanting a "vendetta" against anyone, but that is what's been reported by the APCOM news wire in Italy today:

La tv satellitare al Arabiya riporta oggi una manifestazione di protesta avvenute ieri a San Francisco, dove il movimento gay locale ha tenuto un "funerale simbolico per i loro compagni uccisi in Iraq", chiedendo al governo del loro paese "vendetta".

As translated by Google, here's what was (erroneously) reported:

The Arabiya satellite television reported today in a protest demonstration that took place yesterday in San Francisco, where the local gay movement has had a "symbolic funeral for their comrades killed in Iraq," calling on the government of their country "revenge."

A much more accurate short news piece appears in today's edition of Corriere della Sera paper in Milan. Unfortunately, the paper didn't post the photo and article on their site, but the reporter, Viviana Mazza, sent me a PDF version, which a good friend converted into a JPG for me.

Here is the JPG, followed by the Italian text, and then an English translation:


Monta la rabbia negli Usa per la "caccia all'omosessuale" a Bahdad: nel quartiere scitta di Sadr City, 6 uomini sono stati trovati morti nelle ultime settimane (25 negli ultimi 2 mesi il New York Times) perche sospettati d'essere gay (trovate sui corpi scritte come "pervertito".

Per protesta, l'altro ieri il movimento gay di San Francisco ha tenuto un funerale simbolico per le vittime: i manifestanti hanno deposto fiori e ceri davanti a un "Monumento al Gay Ignoto" (foto).

L'organizzatore Bevan Dufty ha detto: pensavamo di portare la democrazia in Iraq.

The English translation came from using Google's translation service:

Mounting anger in the U.S. for "hunting to homosexuality" in Bahdad: scitta district of Sadr City, 6 men were found dead in recent weeks (25 in the last 2 months, said the New York Times) because suspected of being gay ( are written on the bodies as "pervert").

To protest the day before yesterday the gay movement in San Francisco held a symbolic funeral for the victims: the demonstrators have laid flowers and candles in front of a "Monument to the Unknown Gay" (photo).

The organizer Bevan Dufty said, we thought of bringing democracy to Iraq.