I’d like to say a big “howdy” and welcome all of our out-of-town visitors to America’s Finest City! Please enjoy our great city and patronize our GLBT-owned and friendly businesses.

As one of the cofounders of San Diego LGBT Pride, along with the late Jess Jessop and attorney Tom Homann, I am proud to see how far we’ve come in 34 years. I’d like to extend thanks and all my gratitude to the current executive director, Ron deHarte, and the 2008 board of directors of San Diego Pride. Have a fabulous weekend! (I’ll be announcing the parade along with Robin Tyler at a reviewing stand where television cameras will be filming for a local cable network.)

This Pride weekend, San Diego will be hosting Sen.-elect Mark Leno of San Francisco, the author of the state’s marriage equality bill and the author of the Harvey Milk state holiday bill. Mark is a great, respected and loved public servant. (His beautiful sister lives here in San Diego.)

Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, the original plaintiffs in the marriage equality case the California Supreme Court ruled on and the first couple to be married in Los Angeles, will also be in town. Robin is a longtime activist and a historical figure in the GLBT community. They will be meeting, for the first time, San Diego’s first married couple, former Marine Sgt. Bob Lehman (founder of the Stonewall Citizens’ Patrol) and City Commissioner Tom Felkner. All of them will be at the rally Saturday after the parade.

I have tremendous respect for many of my longtime friends and leaders in San Francisco, but the recent anti-Human Rights Campaign (HRC) demonstrations have gone way too far. Now, some are using the symbol of our community’s unity, the rainbow flag, at demonstrations and events to separate the San Francisco community from the HRC organization in Washington, D.C.

Yes, I am a past national board member of the HRC, and yes, it has made some mistakes, but what the HRC has done to advance our civil rights these last decades is unmatchable … period. Not all of our national GLBT organizations are perfect, and many make mistakes, but the HRC does not deserve this divisive treatment.

The final results are in for District 3 City Council primary. The frontrunner in this race from the start, Todd Gloria, won 77 of the 86 neighborhood precincts in the entire district. Stephen Whitburn won in only five, I repeat only five, precincts, and John Hartley won in only four. Gloria, who came in first in the primary beating five other candidates, won every precinct in Hillcrest!

Gloria is on a roll with hundreds more volunteers joining his campaign, and endorsements rolling in from all over the district. Many of his campaign fund-raisers have already been set. In November, Gloria will make history as the first openly gay man elected from this district, and the first councilmember in city history of Filipino, Native-American and Puerto Rican descent.

For decades we have witnessed you give millions upon millions of dollars to the arts. Recently, you purchased another yacht, and now, you’ve just announced an $8 million gift to a museum that preserves costumes … yes, Hollywood costumes from film and television.

This is America and you, David Copley, publisher of the Copley Press, can give your millions to any cause you wish, but … what is your problem?

Everyone knows you are one big homo. In the past, I’ve tried to be nice, and I wished you the best after your heart attack (after all, we’re both getting to be old queens). But, I’ve had it with you.

During the worst and darkest of times when AIDS ravaged our community, you never made a contribution, and still haven’t. During the anti-gay Briggs and LaRouche initiatives, you never helped us. In fact, your paper, in the 60s, 70s and 80s was, at times, very anti-gay and ugly. Though things have changed at your paper, you haven’t when it comes to your community, the GLBT community. You don’t care about your brothers and sisters and their struggles. Yes, David, you have made some personal changes. You’ve stopped being the terrible drunk you were when you used to visit The Caliph and make scenes trying to pick up any young man who was breathing. And, you’ve stopped having those wild gay, orgy-like parties at your homes, like you did in the ’60s and ’70s. But you still don’t lift a finger to help your fellow GLBT brothers and sisters, even when they are dying. You don’t give help to stop state initiatives that would take away our rights, yet you give millions to save and preserve Hollywood movie dresses.

David, from one fat old queen to another fat old queen, I wonder what you’ll say to God when he asks you what you did to help those in need when you could.

Last week a local waiter left his job and was walking home when he was attacked by his ex lover, who tried to slash his throat and ended up, instead, slashing his face, leaving a six-inch scar. The ex lover had made many public threats that he was going to kill his ex partner. The news story will appear in next week’s issue of the Gay & Lesbian Times. There are a number of unanswered questions about the handling of the case. The police did not make an arrest until nearly a week later and now the ex lover is out on bail. This was an abusive relationship. Anyone in an abusive relationship needs to wake up and break it off. I feel something went very wrong with how the police handled this case, and many people are fearing for their friends’ lives. I’ve talked to the police chief’s and district attorney’s offices. The Gay & Lesbian Times will have all the details next week.

You can imagine my shock, as well as the shock of many other Americans, when I tuned in to watch the “Miss Universe Pageant” and discovered Donald Trump had chosen Communist Vietnam as the site for the pageant. The event took every opportunity to spotlight the country, including showing viewers every statue of Ho Chi Minh. It also showed all of the contestants, including Miss USA, visiting and paying respect to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum and spotlighted Ho Chi Minh City, which used to be named Saigon. Many of remember the 1960s and 70s and remember Ho Chi Minh as the Communist dictator and murderer he was. He killed millions of South Vietnamese, particularly those who had been friends with Americans. Most of all, we remember the torture of our American troops (including Sen. John McCain), and how many missing U.S. soldiers are still unaccounted for. Shame on you, Donald Trump, for allowing the pageant to be held in Vietnam. You’re a disgrace.