Petrelis Files

Castro Merchants & Wiener: Drop Dead Orlando Queer Victims

The defiance of the business owners and their City Hall patron, the heartless Scott Wiener, who control the rainbow flag on public property at Harvey Milk Plaza, in their hatred of me and my advocacy for community control of the flagpole reached a new low on Sunday.

After calls were made for the Castro Merchants to lower the plaza's rainbow flag to honor the victims and survivors of the Orlando massacre, they took to Facebook at 12:19 pm to declare they would never relent and lower the flag:

"On behalf of all LGBT people, and especially on behalf of all victims of anti-LGBT violence, including those murdered in Orlando this morning, the flag must continue to fly. It must fly today, tomorrow, the next day and all the days after. The Rainbow Flag must continue to fly in order to send a message to others who are motivated by anti-LGBT prejudice, so that they understand our community remains strong and proud today and will remain so tomorrow."

Earlier on Sunday, the LGBT folks of the Hillcrest gayborhood in San Diego who maintain their enormous rainbow flag on public property and use it to further heal our grieving community, said at 10:03 am:

"I wanted to let folks know that we will be lowering the flag to half staff today in honor of the victims of the mass shootings in Florida. It should be lowered around noon."

At 1:33 pm, this update from San Diego was shared:

"The Pride Flag is flying at half staff in Hillcrest over the Farmers Market today to honor those killed and injured in Florida this morning. Hillcrest and San Diego stands together with Orlando."

Comparing the San Francisco messages with those from San Diego reveal just how messed up the Castro Merchants are and their poor stewardship of the flag at Milk Plaza. In essence, the merchants and Wiener have told the Orlando victims and everyone to drop dead.

Very curiously, while San Diego and the owners of the SF Eagle bar were sharing comments and images of their lowering flags, showing how flagpoles are tools of grieving and messaging and healing, Scott Wiener said nothing on Sunday or since then on his Facebook page or Twitter feed about the flag at Milk Plaza.

Btw, on Sunday for a few measly hours, the Castro Merchants and Wiener took down the 30 foot version and hoisted a mini rainbow flag. Why the silence about doing the right thing?

While flags of all nations and the rainbow flag are flying at half-mast today and through Thursday, as requested by President Obama and out of simple human decency to show support and respect to the people of Orlando and the dead, the Castro Merchants and Wiener have quietly reinstalled the 30-foot flag and it's flying like normal.

Nothing but shame for the latest stupid moves by the Castro Merchants and Wiener.

From heaven, Harvey Milk weeps over the tremendous disrespect on display since Sunday in the plaza bearing his name.

Even the deaths and maiming of around 100 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied friends at the Pulse bar aren't enough for sanity to break out in the Castro regarding important public property.