Weekend Woof #20:
STR8 & Butch Queer & Dashing Daddy

What a crazy week I've had! Very thankful for all the pals and family standing strong with me as the legal hassle plays out. Much gratitude to all the attractive dudes - of all persuasions and identities - pleasing to my queer eye and for striking poses and smiles for my camera.

This dashing Daddy is my friend Ron, who frequently can be found during daylight hours at Cafe Flore writing in is journal or reading a book. A great conversationalist and raconteur, among his many gentlemanly talents. He's also the author of a memoir, "Once Removed", and you'll find more details about it here.

Did I really say, "My, what big hard earrings you have, young man!" before grabbing this photo of the new straight boy barista at Dolores Park Cafe? Oh, yeah.

Yesterday was my appointment at Castro Mission Health Center for my regular blood draw and Jarven, this youthful straight phlebotomist-in-training, had the privileges of draining my vein. He filled nine vials of my blood for lab work, when he wasn't cracking up at my bad jokes. Dig the plastic blood-sucking bats hanging over the doorway, speaking of silliness.

And who was training Jarven, but this fab and fine butch queer Jesse. We've known each other so long, I remember when he was a she and my t-cells were in the basement before starting a cocktail.

What a gorgeous couple. I made them laugh when I said something about dating myself talking about being so old I still read newspapers published on recycled tree.

"And why shouldn't I date myself? I'm a nice guy!" [Rimshot and groans followed. ]

Previous batches of woofy dudes are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

SF Supervisor Complains of 'Bullying'

During out bisexual Christina Olague's short tenure as supervisor representing the Haight and District 5, appointed by Mayor Ed Lee earlier this year to replace Ross Mirkarimi when he became sheriff, I worked with her and her staff on numerous occasions. From policies governing flags on city property to global queer activism, Olague, pictured, took an interest and made herself available for photo-ops.

I believe she had an unbelievably tough row to hoe on the board, often suffering as the target of character assassination from all political sides. She was quite the punching bag for many power-brokers and constituents, and was voted out of office in November.

Today, she's getting excellent attention in a Dan Schreiber story in the San Francisco Examiner and is quoted speaking much truth to power. Good for her and I hope she continues her truth-telling about City Hall and our elected officials in her remaining time in office and beyond.

Important history to bear in mind, reading the following excerpt. In his inaugural address back in January, Lee bragged:

I came in determined to bring a new level of civility to City Hall. And despite a few rough patches (it was an election year after all) for the most part, we worked in an atmosphere of mutual respect and civility [in 2011].

For key members of his staff, that civility exists only on the surface and quickly evaporates when they don't get their way.

From the Examiner:

Outgoing Supervisor Christina Olague unloaded some hard feelings Thursday in front of officials from the Department on the Status of Women, who listened to the supervisor complain that she was bullied by local victim advocates because of her race and politics . . .

The department officials were at a Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee hearing Thursday to discuss a proposed new workplace domestic violence policy for The City . . . But they got to hear about much more than that. 

“I think it’s too bad I have been scapegoated in this way,” Olague said, adding that it’s ironic The City would seek to protect victims from harm when she was aggressively chided by Mayor’s Office staff following her Mirkarimi vote. “It’s OK for the mayor’s staff to bully me? Some bullying is OK?” 

Tony Winnicker, one of Mayor Ed Lee’s top aides, texted Olague in disgust the night of the vote and called her “the most ungrateful and dishonorable person ever to serve on the board. You should resign in disgrace.” 

CDC Confirms 'Review' of NAPWA

Here's a bit of followup to my post over the weekend about the leadership and financial crises at the National Association of People With AIDS, based in Silver Springs, Maryland.

First, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Salina Cranor, emailed this terse confirmation to me yesterday:

CDC is aware of the allegations and is reviewing the use of CDC grant funds by the organization. That’s all of the information I have at this time.

I replied to her with questions about when the review is expected to end and if the public will soon learn what was uncovered, if anything, from the review.

Second, I've also heard from David Paulson, the spokesman for the Maryland Attorney General's office, about the NAPWA troubles and he replied:

We can neither confirm or deny the existence of an investigation.

I've also emailed Tyler TerMeer, the president of the NAPWA board, for a response to the crises at the nonprofit and so far have not heard back from him. Let's hope between NAPWA and the CDC that more details soon emerge about the review.

CityBeat: Journalist Petrelis
on His 'Troll' and Legal Problems

(Illustration by Adam Vieyra for San Diego's CityBeat.)

Do you remember the legal hassles I dealt with last year because of alleged violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act?

My blog was censored for a short while, until I received help from Art Neill and his terrific New Media Rights nonprofit, and the post that offended Tom McMasters, the hoaxer behind the phoney Gay Girl in Damascus blog, was fully restored and available for all to read.

The matter is now part of an excellent story by Dave Maass for the San Diego CityBeat weekly alternative that hit the web yesterday. It pleases me that Art and New Media Rights are receiving this flattering press coverage, and that they continue to help internet underdogs like myself.

From the CityBeat piece:

Let’s say you’re a citizen journalist who wakes up one morning to an alert from Google that, due to purported copyright infringement, it has removed one of your blog posts about [a straight male American] student in Scotland who’d been posing online as a Syrian lesbian to score a book deal. You know the copyright claim is crap, but what then?

“Yes, I’ll use the F-word: Frightening,” says gay-rights blogger Michael Petrelis, whose blog, The Petrelis Files, received such a “takedown notice” in August 2011. “To get that email from Google, I just knew, to keep my stress level down I was going to need expertise to challenge Google . . ."

During the last decade-and-a-half, major online communities—most notably Google’s Blogger.com and You- Tube—have instituted a largely automatic, frustratingly bureaucratic system of censor-first self-regulation when it comes to alleged copyright infringement. It’s easily, and often, abused and tends to favor aggressive “trolls,” who use the system as a weapon. These trolls are sometimes corporate legal teams; other times, they’re just independent bullies seeking to block critical content from release.

“I think he saw me as an easy target,” Petrelis says of his troll. “He’s certainly intelligent, smarty-pants enough that he knew how to lodge the right kind of complaint with Google.”

After talking to attorneys at Harvard University’s Citizen Media Law Project, Petrelis was referred to a San Diego legal clinic, New Media Rights, whose executive director, Art Neill, personally talked him through the process and helped him file a successful counter-claim.

Weekday Woof #1:
Straight Juice Boys at Rainbow Grocery

A shopping trip to Rainbow Grocery just isn't complete unless I try out the samples of organic foods or beverages on offer from friendly outside salespeople. While at the store this morning, two fine fellas were hawking Hawaiian Ola, a natural energy drink. I downed a few cups of it and liked the drink a lot.

Okay, I also adored the fellas and thought they were so cool I simply had to have photos of them. When I told them this blog features a Weekend Woof series of guys who please my queer eye, they requested that I link to Hawaiian Ola when sharing their images. Happy to oblige, dudes!

Since I make the rules around here, I'm starting a new occasional photo series - Weekday Woof. Why should I run these photos only on the weekends? Let's get on to the pix.

Say hello to Scott, who's wearing the cap, and Derek, the beefier one with the super sexy bald head. If you're wondering if they're gay or not, Scott and Derek said they are straight boys but very friendly and happy.

Thanks guys, for striking a few poses for my camera this morning.

My Film Debut,
'United in Anger's Berkeley Screening Wed Nite


The fantastic documentary produced and directed by my friends and colleagues Jim Hubbard and Sarah Schulman about ACT UP/New York and a supporting cast of thousands from a lotta of other chapters, "United in Anger", will screen on Wednesday, December 5.

My cherished cinema venue in Berkeley, the Pacific Film Archive, shows the film tomorrow at 7 PM as part of the PFA and Berkeley Art Museum's observance of Day Without Art.

I saw "United in Anger" when it played to an enthusiastic audience at Frameline up on the enormous Castro Theatre silver screen. That was the first and probably only time I was in a film at our beloved movie palace, and needless to say it was thrilling experience hearing the audience cheer during my performance at the infamous St. Patrick's Cathedral demonstration.

But the absolute real pleasure of the documentary was the insiders' take on ACT UP, our mission and emotions, and all of our dead and absent friends alive again on celluloid (okay, videotape) and being reminded our anger and advocacy saved countless lives.

The people of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power accomplished freaking miracles, and without any paid staffers or burdensome bureaucracy, miracles still resonating around the world today.

See what genuine grassroots activism was during the plague years - before there were computers, cell phones and the web. Get your ass to the PFA tomorrow night and see "United in Anger".

From the program notes:

Introduction by Jonathan Winters who is a founding member of ACT UP East Bay. He recently completed his History B.A. thesis at UC Berkeley, "ACTing UP by the Bay: a short history of AIDS Activisim in the San Francisco and East Bay Area." 

"As scrappy and passionate as the actions it documents."—NY Times 

The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power was founded in New York City within days of Larry’s Kramer’s 1987 warning that the gay community was dying. Jim Hubbard’s exhilarating and empowering film captures ACT UP in the act of invention. Loud and brash, inclusive and innovative, ACT UP used street protests and creative acts of civil disobedience to grab headlines and target pharmaceutical companies, the FDA, and the Catholic Church. Contemporary interviews, intercut with archival footage, reveal the lasting power of this grassroots movement that redefined activism and AIDS politics—and saved lives.

Court Appearance
on December 5 at 9 AM 

My first court appearance for allegedly violating Section 647(j)(1) of the California Penal Code is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, December 5.

The hearing starts at 9 AM down at the Hall of Justice, 850 Bryant Street. Check the court docket to see which judge is hearing the matter and for the courtroom number. Supporters are welcome to show up and observe the proceeding.

UPDATE:
I will appear before Judge Donna Little in Department 17, on the second floor of the Hall of Justice.

DPW News Racks' Rep
Attending Tonight's Castro Meeting

(Before I and others complained to DPW, there were two news racks at the entrance to the Muni station at Castro and Market Streets . . . )

(. . . and after the complaints persuaded DPW to remove one of the news racks.)

The Castro Benefit District's committee for streetscape matters meets from 6 PM to 7 PM tonight at the Coldwell Banker office at 2355 Market near Castro, and an issue of longstanding concern for me is on the agenda - news racks.

After seeing that no representative from the Department of Public Works, the agency responsible for installing, maintaining and when necessary removing pedmounts, I asked the department's spokesperson Rachel Gordon if they had plans to send someone to answer questions.

She replied: We will plan on having John Kwong, head of DPW permitting, attend the meeting. He can discuss the news racks.

This is fabulous news because for more than a year, there has been too much confusing information about the pedmounts and what precisely is the process for deleting all the empty ones cluttering up the Castro's pedestrian-crowded public sidewalks.

It's my hope that with John Kwong in attendance at this public meeting, many Castro stakeholders will get the same information and clarity can reign about DPW plans to hopefully remove more pedmounts. Click here to read my report about my successful campaign to have a pedmount removed from Harvey Milk Plaza last month.

NAPWA Collapsing?
People With AIDS Need New Group

The utmost thing to remember about the National Association of People With AIDS is that it is a front-group for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Gilead drug company and OraSure HIV testing giant. NAPWA is not a community-based organization and its IRS 990s bear this out, when you look at where their funding comes from

Their 2011 tax return is not on their site, but can be read at GuideStar.org and shows that NAPWA received $928,000 in government grants, $448,000 in private contributions and only $47,000 in "membership dues", (see page 9).

The nonprofit is going through another of its well-known fiscal and lack of leadership crises. Let's start at the top of the executive team.

On October 10, NAPWA announced that longtime executive director Frank Oldham would be stepping down on December 31, 2012, to pursue other professional and personal endeavors. As of mid November he left and is no longer listed on the staff directory. NAPWA has not said a thing, about his early departure.

I've also heard disturbing news from a reliable source showing the nonprofit could be collapsing.

Other troubles potentially include a criminal investigation by the Maryland Attorney General's office (NAPWA is headquartered in Silver Spring, MD), because of fiscal irregularities such as Oldham using NAPWAs credit card to pay his personal rent, the books are a mess and two sets were kept, the CDC is aware of the investigation and remains mum about it. Debt is pegged at $500,000.

 A number of board members have stepped down, current board president Tyler TerMeer (who has extensive experience operating a second-hand store) is said to want the ED job, locks have been changed. Really sad situation, but not a surprise considering how useless, untransparent and unaccountable they've been.

By the way, NAPWA was never known for advancing causes like people with AIDS in top jobs at AIDS service organizations or on the boards, controlling excessive ED salaries, or engaging the infected-community about a national agenda.

What NAPWA was good at was raking in federal and private grants to push HIV negatives to get tested, and during its annual AIDS Watch lobbying effort in Washington exclusively pushing for more funds to nonprofits. I've never understood nor accepted that an organization ostensibly established for folks who already know their status or have full-blown AIDS should be overwhelmingly dedicated to the testing needs of negatives.

Pushing for tighter anti-discrimination laws, battling the growing problem of criminalizing people with HIV and AIDS, or creating programs addressing the debilitating effects of stigma among PWAs?

Please, NAPWA's staff and board members were too busy attending government and corporate junkets to bother with those items.

I'd like to see NAPWA close up and stop taking up room and oxygen as _the _ national voice of PWAs, and a new genuine community-based organization truly committed to the needs of PWAs formed to replace it.

Weekend Woof #19:
'I've Got Your Back'

As you've heard, I am facing legal troubles, and one positive development that happened this week was that friends, family members and acquaintances have expressed their support for me. Many have said, "I've got your back" and that means a lot to me. I am totally grateful for such support.

Hearing that phrase repeatedly reminded me I have a few photos of attractive men, featuring their backs and super-sexy calf muscles. What can I say? I adore the male body - the faces, the chests, the top and bottom parts.

Here are recent pix of guys on the streets of San Francisco, captured on my camera.

Previous batches of woofy dudes are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.