In response to the Bay Times’ failure to report on the Left OUT Party in last week’s issue, we’d like to share some important highlights.
The Left OUT Party was organized in response to the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) ongoing refusal to stand with the rest of the national LGBT community - PFLAG, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Lambda, GLAAD, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Transgender Law Center, and hundreds of others - in support of a trans-inclusive, federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).  Hosted by famed performance artist Annie Danger, the Left OUT Party featured a variety of speakers and performances, and ended with dancing in front of the Westin St. Francis on Powell Street.

The Left OUT Party’s diverse attendees - who numbered over 300 - confirmed that L, G, B, T, queer and straight persons express gender in a multitude of spectacular ways, many of them “non-conforming,” and we ALL deserve protection from losing our jobs as a result.

 Local elected officials and community leaders received “Human Rights Heroes” awards, rallying the crowd to press for an inclusive ENDA. Recipients included SF City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who filed San Francisco’s same-sex marriage case against the state of California; NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter, a transgender leader who argued the marriage case before the California Supreme Court; SF Police Commission President Theresa Sparks, a former recipient of HRC’s equality award (who returned the award after HRC supported excluding transgender people from ENDA); Assemblyman Mark Leno, who authored California’s inclusive employment non-discrimination act and twice led the California legislature to pass a same-sex marriage bill; SF Supervisor Bevan Dufty; and the San Francisco Labor Council, led by Executive Director Tim Paulson and UNITE HERE President Mike Casey, for their incredible support of workplace protections both locally and nationally.

These LGBT community leaders and allies have demonstrated great vision, integrity, and all-around fabulousness in the fight for marriage equality and the fight for inclusion and protection of all LGBTQ persons.

As for the Human Rights Campaign: just one day before their big SF gala, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa – the event’s slated keynote speaker – publicly declared his decision to stay home because of concerns about the Human Rights Campaign’s refusal to support a transgender-inclusive federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act. In a statement to the Associated Press, Villaraigosa noted, “As mayor of the largest city in California, I am committed to a world in which no member or group in society is denied full and equal rights. It is my hope that this time next year we will find us all united by victory in the fight [for marriage equality in California] and ever more determined to establish equal rights, with no exceptions, for every one of us.”

Likewise, only one SF elected official (himself, an HRC board member) is known to have attended the gala. The fact is, most San Franciscans know the truth: that HRC has flunked the moral leadership test. For an organization that draws millions of dollars from our community, in the name of equal rights, we expect more and better. Anyone who passed by Union Square Saturday evening saw a diverse group of hundreds chanting, dancing, and rallying for inclusion; they saw where real community leadership is coming from. In the words of one performer at the Left OUT Party, “Let’s get excited.”

The Left OUT Party was organized by Pride At Work, And Castro For All, the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, Trans March, SF Labor Council, Queer Youth Organizing Project, the Lou Sullivan Society, and FTM International.

Hale Thompson
Hunter Hargraves
John Newsome
Robert Haaland
Pride At Work
And Castro For All
Harvey Milk LGBT Demo Club.
San Francisco

Gay Rodeo Is Animal Cruelty
This is a heartfelt plea to the LBGT community - on behalf of animals (who have no voices of their own) - to not support the Gay Rodeo.
As an animal advocate (who also happens to be a local gay man), I am aware that animals used for rodeo are subject to unnecessary stress, fear, pain and danger, all for our entertainment. Normally docile animals are forced to buck by the use of painful “bucking straps” tightly cinched around their abdomens, and by digging spurs into their skin. They buck only to try to rid themselves of the extreme discomfort of those devices, and having a stranger on their backs. Some animals - including babies - run for their lives while being chased. Other animals are forced to the ground by having their heads violently twisted. The violence and high-speed running can also cause accidental injuries. Additionally, the transport, confinement, unfamiliar surroundings, and being forced into unnatural acts all cause stress and fear for the animals.

These activities would be unacceptable, and likely illegal, if dogs and cats were the subjects. All animals experience the same pain, suffering and emotions as our cherished pets, and should receive the same consideration and respect. Unfortunately for farm animals, their lot in life includes being exempt from most animal welfare laws due to cultural and financial reasons - similar to how gay people (and other oppressed peoples) have suffered from lack of legal protections. Though the Gay Rodeo is apparently less cruel than traditional rodeos, and has higher standards for its “animal welfare” rules, it is still cruel and unnecessary, and penalties for violations are insufficient. In traditional rodeos, rules are commonly flagrantly violated and not enforced – electric or wire prods and beatings are used to violently send the animals out of the chutes, caustic ointments or burrs in the flank straps are used to enhance bucking, and wounded animals often go without veterinary care - all well-documented by undercover investigations. I’m not personally familiar with the techniques used behind the scenes in the gay rodeos, but the potential for similar abuse is disturbing.

While I certainly understand the attraction of fetishizing the Western lifestyle, and turning a tradition from a largely homophobic culture into a gay celebration, I believe that we gay people should have more compassion toward others who are oppressed and abused. And we are certainly more than capable of using our creativity to find other ways to raise money for charity and entertain ourselves without harming others!

Andrew Zollman
San Francisco

Re-start 21st century?
Can we re-start this sorry century, After Bush?  Nevada Senator Harry Reid says that in “January 2009, the twenty-first century truly begins.” 
A Democratic Congress could pass Rep. Ellen Tauscher’s Military Readiness Enhancement Act, allowing queers to serve openly.  Obama would sign it.
Even if McCain becomes president, he’s gotta be better than CheneyBush.

Smiling queerly,
Tortuga Bi LIBERTY
San Francisco