Actor James Brolin, star of the upcoming films Milk, based on the life of Harvey Milk, and W. based on the presidency of George W. Bush, joined Cleve Jones, founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, and City Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez at the Beverly Hills Hotel for a National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Los Angeles luncheon.

The San Diego HIV Health Services Planning Council is seeking consumers, persons living with HIV/AIDS, to get involved in the planning process.

The council is responsible for Ryan White Program services for people living with HIV/AIDS in San Diego County. Specifically, it is responsible for allocating funds for these services, under the federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act of 2006.

The goal is to ensure that decisions made include the voices of people living with HIV/AIDS. Council members value consumer input, especially in the annual priority setting and budget allocations process.

The Planning Council meets the fourth Wednesday of each month at the County Health Services Complex and all meetings are open to the general public. Spanish interpretation is also available upon request, and requests must be made 72 hours in advance.

For a link to The San Diego HIV Health Services Planning Council Web site, information on becoming a member of the council, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com.links.

La Prensa San Diego, a bilingual weekly newspaper, has endorsed incumbent Michael Aguirre for San Diego City Attorney.

The Spanish-English publication wrote in its endorsement, “Mike Aguirre has delivered on his campaign promises and brought about change.” La Prensa also praised Aguirre for his frequent press conferences, which other elected officials and members of the media have criticized. The newspaper said Aguirre’s commitment is to transparency in city government.

“Aguirre acts as another check and balance on a City Council that has demonstrated a need for checks and balances and adherence to the rules,” the endorsement said.

Aguirre is locked in a run-off election with Judge Jan Goldsmith, who secured 32 percent of the vote in the June Primary election. Aguirre earned 29 percent.

Voters will decide whether to re-elect Aguirre or elect Goldsmith in the general election on Nov. 4.

The Southwest Region of Scouting for All will host its annual rally and protest in front of the local Boy Scout headquarters on Sunday, Oct. 5, from 11 a.m. to noon. The purpose of the rally is to protest and bring attention to what Scouting for All calls the Boy Scouts of America’s (BSA) exclusionary policies.

Scouting for All is assembling a diverse group of speakers from the GLBT, straight, non-theist and faith-based communities to protest the BSA’s policies of exclusion. Current BSA national policy specifically excludes youth who are gay, atheist or agnostic. Additionally, the BSA excludes youth who are the children of GLBT or non-theist parents. Scouting for All seeks to persuade the public to exert influence on the BSA so that all children and adults are once again welcome participants in the scouting program.

The mission of Scouting for All is to advocate on behalf of its members and supporters for unbiased values of scouting as expressed and embodied in the Scout Oath and the Scout Law, and to influence the BSA to serve and include as participating members all youth and adult leaders, regardless of their spiritual belief, gender, or sexual orientation.

The community is encouraged to attend and participate in the protest.

For more information, including the address of the event location, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com/links.

As part of the Binational Health Week celebration, the Vista Community Clinic is organizing a health and community resource fair. The event will take place on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Vista Community Clinic’s Health Promotion Center.

The event will provide the community with basic health screenings and information on a variety of community resources.

Spaces for nonprofit service providers to host a booth at the event are still available. Participating agencies can provide information and services to participants at the fair. A table and two chairs will be provided, and participants are welcome to bring their own canopy.

For more information, including the address of the event location, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com/links.

The 2008-2009 San Diego Hoops season is approaching, and San Diego Hoops will be celebrating its tenth year of organized basketball for the GLBT community and its allies. All skill levels are welcome to join. To qualify for the early individual registration fee, $60, all registrations must be postmarked no later than Oct. 8. There will be no exceptions. All registrations postmarked after Oct. 8 are $75. The league encourages all players to register early.

There will be two coaches scrimmages on Wednesday, Oct. 15 and Wednesday, Oct. 22 from 7-9 p.m. All players who plan to play in the 2008-2009 season must attend one of the two scrimmages in order for the coaches to evaluate the players before the draft party. The draft party will be Sunday, Oct. 26 at Urban Mo’s from 3-5 p.m.

For more information, including phone numbers and mailing addresses for registration information, and the league’s Web site, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com/links.

Delta Lambda Phi, a national social fraternity for gay, bisexual and progressive men, is beginning its fall 2008 rush process. While the current membership of the group is comprised of mostly students from San Diego State University (SDSU) and the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), students from any college or university in the San Diego region are welcome to rush, as the group is a multi-campus chapter.

Rush activities for the San Diego chapter, officially chartered as the Alpha Delta Chapter, began on Sunday, Sept. 14 and will continue through Monday, Oct. 6. Rush events will be held at various locations near SDSU, UCSD and in Hillcrest.

For more information, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com/links.

October is The Month of the Animal in honor of St. Francis Assisi, the Patron Saint of all animals. To honor all animal companions, VISION is holding its first Blessing of the Animals and Festival on Sunday, Oct. 5 from noon to 3 p.m. Each animal will receive an individual blessing by founding senior minister Rev. Patti Paris and a prayer certificate. In addition to the blessings, the festival will also include information and retail booths. Some of the groups in attendance will include the San Diego Humane Society, City Dog, Friends of the Humane Society de Tijuana, Baja Animal Sanctuary, Animal Protection League and Lab Rescue. VISION is committed to advocate and educate on behalf of all animals and encourage loving, responsible stewardship.

VISION will present the Animal Visionary of the Year Award to the San Diego Police Department’s Canine Corp for the courage its members display by putting themselves in harms way to protect and serve the citizens of San Diego. VISION’s sister charity, Friends of the Human Society de Tijuana will also be honored for the work it does in raising awareness for the human treatment of animals in Mexico.

The festival will be held at the VISION sanctuary.

For more information, including the address of the event location, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com/links.