Please come out and support John and District 11!

JOHN AVALOS for DISTRICT 11 SUPERVISOR • Campaign Kick-Off Event:

Saturday, June 21st • 11am-1pm at Excelsior Playground (corner of Madrid and Excelsior Streets). For a map, visit http://www.mapquest.com/mq/10-tYtUHvGo

Arts and Crafts • Sno cones & Refreshments • Neighborhood Speakers • Music and more!

John is running in District 11 to bring his experience and vision to support San Francisco’s working families. He is a long-term community member, a father of public school children and partner to Karen Zapata, 3rd grade teacher at Monroe Elementary.

During the last couple of days, I frequently peeked in on the LGBT news blogs and the CBS and SFGate Websites. A happy smile frequently crossed my face as I gazed at footage and pictures of radiant couples up and down California having their relationships receive an important legal and social stamp of approval.

quelaco presents this week….

El Cuerpo Habla y

Ensegna a Vivir/

The Body Speaks

and Teaches One

to Live

Come celebrate the ancestral wisdom of our bodies. Explore with our
queer
Latin@ artists intimate experiences that tell of chronic and terminal
illnessess, Chicanismo, death, Mestizaje, Transgender issues, the
struggles
to survive, love and more!

Featured Artists: Amrah Salomon Johnson, Luis Gutierrez-Mock, Piel de
Canela, Jesus Guillen, Meliza Banales, Nico Dacumos, Mark
Peterson-Estrada,
Lucrecia Bermudez

{We will have music, beverages and free finger foods.}

Curated by: Maria Carolina Morales

Date VIERNES JUNIO 20
Place GALERIA DE LA RAZA, (24th St @ Bryant)
Time 7:30pm-9:30pm
Cost 8$ (no one turned away for lack of funds)

Today, Commissioner Jane Kim and Commissioner Norman Yee engineered a special meeting to vote to adopt JROTC with the condition that students could not use the credits for JROTC for their physical education requirements tonight after the community meeting on the budget.

Jane Kim’s and Norman Yee’s resolution would reinstate JROTC into SFUSD and voted to allow the resolution to become official on first reading.

Today is the first full day that same sex marriages can occur throughout California.

It was a happy, joyeous day in City Hall. One couple, David and Doug got married surrounded by a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter and their church family from San Francisco Unitarian Church. The minister noted that the couple has been together for 30 years, married in church in 2000, married during the wonderous days in February in San Francisco and now again on the first legal day of same-sex marraiges. The biggest laugh came when the minister read from his text, “Are you ready to be married?”

Budget Rally
Thursday, June 26th
4-6pm, City Hall Steps

Save the Date, Save City Services.

My old friend and literary rock star Andrew Sean Greer reads from his new book, The Story of a Marriage, this Thursday at the Main Library at 6:30. His previous novel, The Confessions of Max Tivoli, was one of the first books chosen as part of the SF Reads program.

Worth going to.

June 12, 2008 –

An open letter to the LGBT community & our allies, from the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club

After much consideration by our board and members, it is with regret that we write this letter announcing our decision to forgo this year’s Human Rights Campaign (HRC) dinner in San Francisco, scheduled for July 16, 2008. We also encourage others in the LGBT community and our allies to forgo HRC’s gala event this year, due to HRC’s ongoing refusal to advocate for federal legislation that protects all Americans from discrimination based on gender identity and expression – as well as sexual orientation.

This week the San Francisco Labor Council joined the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, Pride at Work, And Castro For All, the Lou Sullian Society (FTM SF), and the Trans March in boycotting the Human Rights Campaign Dinner next month. They also endorsed the counter-party that Pride at Work is organizing outside the dinner. Last year, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) decided to drop gender identity protections from a federal law (ENDA) that would have prohibited discrimination in the workplace. Over 350 state and local LGBT and civil rights organizations came out against this decision by HRC. The AFL-CIO also came out for version of ENDA that is gender identity inclusive.

The Eric Quezada for District 9 Supervisor campaign has put together a fundraiser this Saturday at 12 Galaxies. Should be a fun event.