Left In SF » A few of the best moments from 2006

Best Grassroots Activism: Si se puede!

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants hit the streets around the nation in a series of rallies, parades and street protests to fight changes in immigration laws that would make things even tougher for immigrants.

The protests began in response to proposed legislation known as H.R. 4437, (The Border Protection, Anti terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005) which raised penalties for illegal immigration and classify unauthorized immigrants and anyone who helped them enter or remain in the US as felons.

In Phoenix, 10,000 demonstrators marched to the office of Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, co-sponsor of a bill that would give illegal immigrants up to five years to leave the country.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, said the demonstrations show “how entrenched the illegal alien lobby has become.” Right.

Credit for driving the protests has been given to Spanish-language media outlets, in particular Univision, Telemundo, Azteca America and various Spanish-language radio stations across the country. Eduardo Sotelo, a Spanish-language radio host known also as El Piolín, convinced other Spanish-language radio stations based in Los Angeles to also rally listeners.

Best Community Event: Compton Cafeteria Riot Commemoration

In 1966, a group of drag queens, gay street hustlers, and transgender folks fought back against police oppression at a cafeteria in the Tenderloin called the Compton’s Cafeteria, three years prior to the Stonewall riots, the first known collective resistance by queers against institutional oppression. Moments like these, riots like this, whether it is the Stonewall riots in New York or in Compton’s Cafeteria riots in San Francisco, profoundly affect our community. People fight back because they must. They have no choice. And yet we must honor them, honor their courage, their guts, and the sheer audacity of gay and transgender hustlers, and drag queens, mostly women of color, from the Tenderloin, smashing cops with their purses, kicking cops with their high heel shoes, burning down a newspaper stand, and vandalizing a police car after years and years of constant harassment.

Best San Franciscan ever: Sue Bierman

She was my hero. Her activism, her deep involvement in politics, her decency and kindness, and her brand of loyalty, are all qualities that I want to cultivate in myself. And she wasn’t afraid of tilting at windmills. She didn’t mind being the one vote against six at the Planning Commission. But she also knew when to cut the deal to move an issue. I watched her at the Board of Sups and more recently at the DCCC for the last five years. She was much more calculating than people knew. Some said Sue was getting senile, but they were wrong. I remember towards the end we had a drink after some meeting and we were hanging out at Martuni’s Bar on Market and Valencia. I won’t say who she was talking about, but she had seen through someone and read her as an opportunist who could care less about the issues. She was, of course, right.

Sue was a San Francisco kind of Democrat, the kind I want to be. Sue, Ajar Jaicks, and Jane Morrision make me proud to say that I am a Democrat, not something I say lightly. And I am proud and honored to have known Sue. Thank you Sue for all that you have done for San Francisco. I miss you. We all miss you.

Best New San Franciscan: Sidney Goldfader-Dufty

Sidney Goldfader-Dufty, daughter of Rebecca Goldfader and Bevan Dufty, was born on the sunset on Yom Kippur. Congratulations Rebecca and Bevan and hello Sidney!

She is incredibly cute.

The most well-known secret is that I was fortunate to be Rebecca’s roommate when she had Sidney. Rebecca is an amazing mother and Bevan is an incredible father.

Best slash

Last year, while I was visiting New York, Bex, a friend of mine, educated me about a whole phenomenon that I have somehow missed that some call fan literature. I’m mostly interested in/fascinated with a subset of this literature that is sometimes called “slash” literature. Slash is homoerotica between male fictional characters, like Kirk and Spock or cultural or political figures. We all knew about Robin and Batman, but Harry Potter and Snape? Superman and Joey? And yes. Luke Skywalker is gay. But who knew about John Kerry and John Edwards. Oh. My. God. All that touching and hugging. I should have known. I have good gaydar. How come I didn’t figure it out?
Here is an excerpt of the best slash I have read this year coming from our very own Rita from SFIST.

An excerpt from our torrid San Francisco romance novel, “One Carlton B. Goodlett Hall, Room 200.” Chapter LXVIII: That’s The Way I Roll:

Spent, Chris ran his fingers through Gavin’s hair. I need a napkin now, Chris thought. He pushed that thought away. He and Gavin looked so good together, spooned together on that plush Oriental rug. Why were they fighting again? He couldn’t remember. How could he remember the nice details of a budget spat, when Gavin smelled so good?
“Chris,” Gavin rasped. “Chris. I can’t believe it’s been two years since we’ve talked. I miss you. I miss your big strong arms holding me.”
Inwardly, Chris sighed. Was it always going to be like this between them? Hate turning to love, which then so rapidly turned back into hate? Well, at least the love would taste that much better as a result. “You didn’t tell me. I didn’t know you needed that money for the police academy. You never tell me anything.”
Chris felt Gavin’s body tense. “You’re the one that never talks to me! Come by anytime! I told you, I have an open door policy with supervisors. Chris, please! Open the door!”
Chris smiled and leaned over. “Oh, I’ll use your open door policy.”
How were relations between Chris and Gavin that day? “Cordial, yes. Productive? It remains to be seen.”

Best Christmas Caroling: The GGRA Holiday party sing-in with SF People’s Organization

Best Movie: V for Vendetta

The author of the book, Alan Moore, distanced himself from the movie because in his mind it went from being a commentary on fascism and anarchism to as he put it, a story about “current American neo-conservatism vs. current American liberalism.” The Wachowski brothers (are they brothers though?) argued that Moore’s story was a reaction to Prime Minister Thatcher and that they were simply updating it to make it more politically relevant. There are constant references to the war, or the war America started. There are also actual footage from the Iraq war, an allusion to torture when black bags worn by prisoners at Larkhill that recall the black bags worn by prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, and most think the British Television Network, the propaganda machine for the administration, is actually Fox News.

Best local victory for workers: Local 2 wins their fight with the M.E.G.

Mike Casey, President of Local 2, at a labor rally