In the fight against Prop 8, religion has been a cornerstone. And it's not just the Mormon Church who took heat, but also conservative Catholics with a "traditional" definition of marriage. So anger toward them can be rationalized — vandalism, however, cannot. And such is the case of a church in San Francisco's Castro district, which was spraypainted with swastikas on Saturday night by Prop 8 foes. The kicker? That church happened to be gay-friendly. CONTINUED »
"Two men and two teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of gang-raping a woman last month in the San Francisco Bay area while taunting her for being a lesbian, the police said. Those arrested were Humberto H. Salvador, 31; Josue Gonzalez, 21; and a 15- and a 16-year-old whose names were not released. Detectives say the 28-year-old victim was attacked Dec. 13 after she got out of her car, which bore a rainbow gay pride sticker." [AP]
"A 22-year-old man advocating gay and lesbian rights was allegedly punched in the face in front of New Leaf Market in Felton [California] on Dec. 10 between 2:10 and 2:20 p.m. The man’s nose was bloodied, and he refused medical assistance on the scene. The suspect, a white man in his mid-20s estimated to be 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 220 pounds, reportedly fled the scene in a black pickup after the incident. Deputies are treating the incident as a felony battery and hate crime. “The victim is associated with a group that works for human rights to achieve gay and lesbian equality,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Mario Sulay." [Press Banner]
A sad story Queerty readers may be able to help with: Drag queen Anna Warhola was just finishing up her performance at the Charlie Horse in San Francisco when she suffered a heart-attack and respiratory arrest. Patrons did not immediately realize what had happened and thought it was all part of the act. Once they realized the horrible truth, they worked to provide CPR until paramedics arrived.
Anna Warhola, whose real name is Paul Brinegar, is currently in a coma at Californa Pacific Medical Center.
Anna Conda, a Charlie Horse hostess and friend of Brinegar is looking for his parents or twin brother and is asking anyone who has any information to email charliehorsecinch@yahoo.com.
As a service to our readers, Queerty is going to attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all the upcoming protests against Prop. 8 and other gay marriage bans across the country.
Since collectively, the you folks are smarter and more resourceful than me, I'm asking you to lend me a hand by listing this week's protests in the comments. To make this easier, please include a link, so we can confirm it.
If this sounds like we're advocating our readership to get out there and peacefully protest in acts of visible disobedience, that's because we are–angrily demanding equal rights is the new after-work cocktail, people.
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In what more than one protester has described as "the second Stonewall", Californians across the state have taken to the streets in spontaneous demonstrations to protest the passage of Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling in May that allowed it. Here's a brief rundown of the past five days:
Day One (Nov. 5th):
While the rest of the world celebrated the election of Barack Obama, opponents of Proposition 8 gathered in gay enclaves like West Hollywood and San Francisco to hold impromptu rallies. In Los Angeles, a group of approximately 1,500 people, mostly younger, left the rally while it was still ongoing and marched up to Sunset Boulevard, forcing street closures. Police managed to divide the group, keeping 2/3 within West Hollywood.
The remaining group marched to the CNN building in Hollywood and then up to Hollywood & Highland, L.A.'s version of Times Square, where police barricading the group from entering the intersection. A tense standoff ensued, with some protesters breaking through the police lines and two being beaten by the police with billy clubs.
In all, four separate groups, about 3,000 people total, marched throughout Hollywood, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood throughout the night, with protesters holding a sit down protest at Sunset and La Cienega til 2:30am. Seven people were arrested.
"A Bay Area elementary school got caught in the crossfire of a ballot initiative seeking to outlaw same-sex marriage in California on Tuesday after a kindergarten teacher asked her pupils to sign pledge cards promising not to use anti-gay slurs. ProtectMarriage.com, the coalition of social and religious conservative groups sponsoring Proposition 8, offered the episode at Faith Ringgold Elementary School in Hayward as proof for its claim that the measure is needed to prevent public schools from discussing gay unions with students." [Mercury News]
Is Yahoo! working for the right-wing? Maybe not, but the internet company this weekend ran what appears as "news" piece decrying a San Francisco schools' decision to take a first-grade class to their teacher's same-sex wedding opens with quite the anti-gay bang…
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San Francisco was just named the Best Gay City in the World, followed by Sydney, Australia. SF was chosen because of gay marriage and it's history of friendliness. NYC came in third. Other cities on the list include Berlin, a fantastic sexy city, and old-school London. Two of my favorite cities in the world, Moscow & Prague, didn't make the list.
It's a sad day for San Francisco and the generally gay bay area: long-running party Tranny Shack will have its last dance on August 23. [Heklina]
"When [Republicans] sort of use their winks and nods about San Francisco values, they are talking about the fact that we respect our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community." - Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi on anti-gay Sam Graves and other Republicans who trash her beloved Congressional district. [HuffPo, which has video.]
For some reason this got filed under "Weird But True:" "The San Francisco Fire Department is investigating one of its own after an off-duty firefighter was photographed wearing her badge while riding topless on a motorcycle. Sabine Balden appeared to be wearing her official badge while riding with the 'Dykes on Bikes' during the recent Gay Pride Parade. It was pinned to her bustier." [NY Post]
A gay marriage supported apparently fainted and later died during yesterday's celebrations outside San Francisco city hall, which spurred a oppositional activist to croon, "God killed him for loving fags." Tacky! [Bilerico]
Freedom fighting South African Archbishop Desmond appeared in San Francisco last night to speak at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission’s Celebration of Courage Awards Ceremony. The event was the first time gay champion Tutu has addressed an exclusively queer crowd. From the exuberant press release:
Comparing the importance of speaking up for human rights to the basic act of breathing, Archbishop Desmond Tutu gave an historic speech to the lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and intersex (LGBTI) community at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco last night. A crowd of 500 people heard the Nobel Peace Prize recipient condemn the persecution of LGBTI people, apologize on behalf of his Church for ostracizing gay people, and challenge China to improve its human rights record—all in the first ever direct address by the Archbishop to a large gathering of the LGBTI community in the United States.
Most miraculously, Tutu hit all those points in a scant thirty minutes. Astounding…
Gay spinsters take note: there's a search on for our nation's "Most Eligible Gay Bachelor." Don't sign us up! [KPIX]
