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Pen Points
Letters to Gay Today |
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San Francisco's Finest
Running as a last-minute write-in candidate as a result of that almost unheard-of creature in American politics, a genuine popular draft, Ammiano got over 25% of the vote despite spending less than $20,000. His opponents spent millions. I've known Tom for 8 years and he is the real thing. He's honest, courageous and genuine. He's the only person in city government to consistently stand up for ordinary working people, tenants, consumers, victims of police misconduct--and yes, gays and lesbians. After four years of a city government run by backroom deals, leaving a feeling that every day pieces of San Francisco are being sold off to the highest bidder, the spontaneous outpouring of support for Ammiano was breathtaking to behold. Today San Francisco feels like East Berlin must have felt when the wall began to come down, and that is not an exaggeration. This is a true people's crusade, unlike anything I've ever seen in American politics. Polls indicate that TOM CAN WIN, but it will be an uphill fight. He will be outspent heavily by Brown and his backers, including the Chamber of Commerce, other big business interests and the city's entrenched and out-of-touch Democratic Party establishment. Please help us make history in San Francisco. For more information, go to www.ammiano4mayor.com where you'll find information on the campaign, links to a number of newspaper articles about the race and (of course) the address to send donations. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for lending us a hand. This is not an ordinary campaign; this is ordinary people taking back our city. Please help us if you can, and please pass this along to anyone who might be interested.
Sincerely,
The Sun Shines Bright on the Old Kentucky Home
Kentucky in many ways is a bellwether state for the South. The University of Kentucky was the first in the South to integrate (albeit after a lawsuit) in 1949: nearly fifteen years before most other Southern universities. The public schools in Louisville integrated peacefully in 1955: two years before Little Rock went through its traumatic experience. Lexington was one of the first cities in the South to pass a comprehensive civil rights law for African-Americans, in 1963. Kentucky itself was the first southern state to pass a statewide civil rights law for African-Americans, before many other states both North and South. So although Kentucky is often portrayed as a socially conservative state (OK, yeah, I know what you're thinking: hillbillies, rednecks, and good ol' boys), in many political, social and cultural ways it has been a progressive bastion for the South. It's the culmination of 150 years of history, centered around the Civil War, when brother literally fought against brother over the issue of slavery. I can't even begin to discuss all those complexities at this point. I think that, if you look at the progress gays and lesbians have made in Kentucky over the past year, you should be aware that other southern states may soon fall in line. I'd look for northern Tennessee (i.e., Nashville) to be the next hot bed of activity within the next three years, and most certainly Virginia. Surprisingly, I'd also suspect North Carolina doing some good things in the not too distant future; Jesse Helms is history. Louisiana will also do us well. Mississippi and Alabama....well, there's always hope! Just my own personal observations at this point in time.
David Williams, Editor NGL Withdraws from the AOL Controversy
As of today, November 3, NationalGayLobby.Org (NGL) has heard nothing
official from anyone or any organization, including AOL, regarding a
proposed AOL hosted meeting with GLBT community representatives on
November 9 to discuss gay community concerns about AOL's Terms of
Service policy or its enforcement.
We have learned that such a meeting will be held, and will be attended by representatives from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), PlanetOut, Wired Strategies and other organizations. Although we are greatly concerned by the conflict of interest inherent in the participation of PlanetOut, in which we believe AOL holds an ownership position, in such a meeting, NGL welcomes AOL's willingness to meet with the representatives of our community. In recent days it has come to our attention that numerous conversations have taken place between AOL and various national GLBT organizations since NGL issued its call on October 17 or a meeting with AOL. This, coupled with conflicting statements made to us and to the media by representatives of some of the organizations involved and NGL's exclusion from the proposed November 9 meeting, has led us to conclude that a deal has already been cut, or is in the process of being cut, between GLAAD and other national organizations, and AOL. This being the case, NationalGayLobby.Org will not seek to attend, and if invited will not attend, the AOL hosted November 9 meeting. Further, since we believe that it is not possible for our community's concerns to be addressed fully and openly in the current environment, NGL is immediately terminating its involvement in the matter of AOL's treatment of its gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender subscribers. Our continued participation would grossly violate NGL's belief that all GLBT organizations should represent our community's interests in an open, public and honest manner.
Michael Romanello
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San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown (left) faces a run-off for his job from Board of Supervisors President Tom Ammiano. The openly-gay Ammiano won a place in the run-off as a write-in candidate 
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