Well I’ve been “docked” for two weeks and had to cancel my out-of-state speaking engagements. I will be saving my strength for my flight and stay in Washington, D.C. At least I can enjoy some weekends in sunny San Diego!

While the Gay & Lesbian Times remains one of the longest running GLBT publications on the West Coast and plans to be around for a long time, the media world is changing. We are about to launch a new, exciting, fresh and different media source for San Diego and everyone: GLTNewsNow.com. It will be your daily GLBT news source for San Diego County and beyond. The Web site will have up-to-date news and will cover political happenings all over San Diego with high profile and well known Washington, D.C., Sacramento, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco correspondents and contributors. We will also have a must-read social scene section with social columnists that will cover not only San Diego but also Hollywood, San Francisco and New York. They will give you the latest on everything from Fashion Week to the National Equality March. GLTNewsNow.com will “tell it like it is” with investigative stories with facts, not fiction. It will be all at your finger tips. Trust me, you will not be able to start or end your day without plugging into and getting your daily dose of GLTNewsNow.com. Randy Hope will be the editor, and I will be the editor-at-large, and we promise you more breaking news stories, scoops and exclusive interviews that no one will be able to match. Trust me, I’m going to use every IOU news source, contact, and yes, “deep throat,” that I have made over these last four decades locally, state-wide and nationally!

Keep your eyes open for next week’s editorial from GLT Associate Publisher, Todd Klein, who will give more details about the site.

The latest issue of Uptown News has put the spotlight on an old eyesore in Hillcrest history, the abandoned Pernicano’s Italian Restaurant and parking lot. It takes up more than a third of a block on 6th Avenue between University and Robinson Avenue. Journalist Dave Schwab did a great job covering the story about how this ugly restaurant has been closed for more than 25 years (it looks like a haunted house) and about its owner, old man George Pernicano (now in his 90s), who has refused to sell the property to anyone at any price. But Schwab missed a very big point in his two-page story, although did come close when he stated that the old man is “keeping it closed as a sign of his displeasure over how the character of the neighborhood has changed since he opened it in a different era in 1946.” Oh, please Mary, just come out and say what we all fellow old timers have known for decades: Pernicano is homophobic and has always been mad as hell that Hillcrest has turned “queer.” When I first arrived in San Diego, I would eat at Pernicano’s and Jimmy Wings in Hillcrest. I met and talked to George Pernicano several times. As Hillcrest started to become more gay, George got more upset about the area turning into a “homosexual neighborhood” as he put it. Needless to say, I stopped going to his restaurant. When he closed it, Pernicano made it very clear he wasn’t letting his property turn into a homo nightclub. What’s interesting is that about seven years ago, I met one of Pernicano’s grandsons, who is bisexual, use to dance at Bourbon St. and made a gay porno movie!

Unlike the older Pernicano, the grandson was nice and very handsome and obviously not homophobic. The great news is that in a conversation I had with Councilmember Todd Gloria a few days ago, he told me that the Pernicano building has become one of his top priorities in Hillcrest and is looking into ways to remove this little ghetto area from the neighborhood. Gloria also told me his concerns with the AT&T building across from Pernicano’s and how it too has become an eyesore in Hillcrest.

If your brothers, sisters, children, families living with HIV/AIDS ever needed you and your support, its now! HIV/AIDS organizations and agencies have had huge government grant cuts, and donations are down due to the economy. Basic resources that they provide like food, shelter, and clothing are in trouble. Our HIV/AIDS community, family and friends need everyone of us more than ever. Please show up this Sunday and bring your checks, money and love and support AIDS Walk 2009 in Balboa Park. Thank you.

September is Hispanic Heritage Month in the USA. As I’ve said many times, California, the golden state, is turning brown, like so many other states. Soon our state government, as well as our city and county governments, will have more Latino/a elected officials than ever before. I have always advocated for stronger outreach and bridge building to the Latino, Asian Pacific Islander (the second largest growing population in California) and the African American community. For me, an American of Mexican decent, it’s interesting how, in the true history of our country, the USA stole land from Mexico (the USA forced a war just to take the land) and now us Mexicans seem to be taking California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona back. Hmmm.

This month we also celebrate the 20th anniversary of Bienestar, one of the largest and most respected GLBT Latino organizations in the County. Founder and Bienestar Executive Director Oscar de la O deserves all of our praise, admiration and respect. Oscar has been a leader and fighter for his community and people. He is a true hero among us. Congratulations Bienestar and Oscar. Know that you are loved by your “familia.”

When AIDS came upon us in the early ’80s, San Diego, like the rest of the world, was not ready, and our community was alone. There were no big donors, corporate sponsors, red ribbon events etc. People with HIV/AIDS in the early ’80s died quickly. Many treated people living with HIV/AIDS like lepers, and everyone was afraid. Even reports came out that said you could get AIDS in the “air” or “by kissing.” I’ve always called this time the dark ages of AIDS. I will always remember the activists, leaders and true angels among us, many who are no longer with us.

A name that stands out is Terry Cunningham, now the director of San Diego County’s Office of AIDS Coordination. Townspeople will be presenting Terry Cunningham with a well deserved Lifetime Achievement Award at the nonprofit’s 25th anniversary celebration at the Prado at Balboa Park this coming Friday, Sept. 25. Our community and all people living with HIV/AIDS count on the leadership, compassion and dedication of Terry Cunningham, then and now. Thank you and God bless you Terry for all you have done and continue to do for so many people.