Monday, Jan. 19, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in America. The GLBT rights movement and all civil rights movements were born from the black Civil Rights Movement. Coming up on May 22 will be the Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast, in the tradition of the annual King’s All People’s Breakfast and the Chavez’s Unity Breakfast. Happy MLK Day!

Word is that gay Republican and Pete Wilson loyalist, Andrew Poat, is thinking about taking on Toni Atkins for State Assembly as an “Independent.” I like Andrew and would like to see him run for an office one day – but this is not the race.

Many people are urging popular Supervisor Ron Roberts to run for re-election and I wholeheartedly agree.

My good friend, San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty, is looking more every day like he could be the first openly-gay mayor of the city by the bay.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein leads in all polling if she throws her hat in the ring to be our next governor.

Council members Ben Hueso, Sherri Lightner, Marti Emerald, Kevin Faulconer, Todd Gloria and Donna Frye lit up their city offices “blue” on Jan. 9-10 in support of marriage equality, and Lightner is the top “blue ribbon” winner for lighting up her entire office inside and out!

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis remains on top of a poll that asked San Diegans which public official they most respect – which is why many are urging her to run for mayor in 2012.

Councilmember DeMaio was asked by the Little Italy Association to light its huge annual Christmas tree, as DeMaio is the first Italian-American elected to local office in decades.

Bill Gore continues to lock up major endorsements to become our next sheriff.

People are already talking about the assistant city clerk and former Gay & Lesbian Times editor George Biagi being the next District 3 councilmember after Gloria terms out or moves up!

Word is the Milk movie consultant and main character in the film, Cleve Jones, will be the guest speaker at the first meeting of the San Diego Harvey Milk Democratic Club.

Sen. Christine Kehoe and Sen. Denise Ducheny and Rep. Bob Filner remain the top Democratic names mentioned for a possible bid for mayor.

Bravo to the San Diego Association of Realtors for moving its annual installation dinner from the Manchester Grand Hyatt to the U.S. Grant Hotel in support of GLBT equality. I attended the dinner last week, and among the VIPs in attendance were: Mayor Jerry Sanders, Rep. Susan Davis and Rep. Brian Bilbray, and Council members Gloria and DeMaio. Among the GLBT realtors, I spotted Jim Abbott, Mike Tristany, Rick O’Neil and Mike Acker. Congratulations to community member Karla Cohn, who was elected to the 2009 Board of Directors; and congratulations to community member Ivan Solis who was an award finalist.

This influential and politically powerful association has been in San Diego for more than 100 years and has about $500,000 in its political PAC. I was the guest of my fellow City Commissioner, Shonee Henry, president of the local chapter of the Asian Real Estate Association of America. Congratulations to the hard-working past SDAREAA popular president Lori Staehling, who received many awards for her outstanding leadership.

I received an invitation to attend the official installation of newly-elected Superior Court Judge Garry G. Haehnle, which was also held at the U.S. Grant, and what a wonderful event it was – his 85-year-old mother, a cancer survivor, and his 86-year-old father even flew in from out of state for the event. The rightfully proud parents recently celebrated their 60th anniversary. In his remarks, Judge Haehnle acknowledged his life partner of 12 years, Todd, who he recently married, and his close friend Gerald Smithson. He also thanked community leaders Bill Beck and David Huskey, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, and the man who talked him into running for office, popular Superior Court Judge David Rubin. Haehnle becomes the third openly gay judge elected to the bench, joining Rubin and Judge Ted Weathers.

Because of the overwhelming response for nominations, the 92103 Awards have been reset for Sunday March 1 at The San Diego LGBT Community Center, and nomination night will be held at The Flame on Monday, Jan. 26. Tickets for the 92103 Awards are $30 ($35 at the door) and $50 for VIPs. The people, bars, restaurants, businesses, etc. that have been nominated will receive their official notice next week. For tickets, table reservations or more information, call 619-602-8827 or 619-692-1967. You can nominate at www.mosuniverse.com or www.thecentersd.org.

For decades, wonderful straight women who befriend gay men and become close to them have been called “fag hags.” If you think about the word, it’s demeaning and a truly ugly way to describe a close friend. As our GLBT community continues to get more straight allies, we all need to re-think the negative term. “Fag hag” should be dropped from GLBT vocabulary – period.

Did you know every winter, only a half hour away in Tijuana, little babies and elderly seniors die from the cold? Yes, just from exposure to the cold weather, dozens of infants and elderly die every year. About a decade ago, San Diegans woke up to this reality and now, every year, ship blankets and clothing to those in need across the border. Years ago, I and the Imperial Court de San Diego started an annual Blanket Drive in the GLBT community. After the first three years we added veterans and homeless shelters as drop points for our blankets. One major supporter of the Blanket Drive is Ricky Walker (aka Empress Ophelia), who, every year, collects blankets at The Hole. Drop off blanket boxes are at The Center and various bars and businesses. Please support this effort. Thank you!