Happy Harvey Milk Day! You can still join 1,000 San Diegans this Friday morning (May 21) for our second annual Milk Diversity Breakfast. Tickets are $40. Please call 619-692-2077, ext. 204. A big welcome goes to Stuart Milk and Ugandan Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo. Welcome to our city and happy 80th birthday to Harvey.

Needless to say, my phone has been ringing off the hook over all the community chatter concerning San Diego’s longest running GLBT publication, the Gay & Lesbian Times.

First of all, the economy has affected all businesses, especially the straight and gay publishing world. The GLT has been here for more than two decades and it will be here for another twenty years. Our publisher is not perfect, and I don’t agree with him or our editorials many times but he and this paper have supported GLBT benefits and civil rights causes to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars in advertising (plus major promotions). Our community has seen countless gay publications come and go, and the GLT is here to stay. I wish all GLBT media the best and the very best of luck to Gay San Diego, a bi-weekly that will soon be launched. Hey, can’t we all get along? By the way, I’ve been writing a weekly column since 1974 and don’t have any plans to stop!

Yes, you read right. Coming in July (Pride month) will be the official unveiling of a mural of Harvey Milk on University Avenue. The wall is in the 92103 district, and it will be painted by internationally renowned artist Ruben Seja, whose breathtaking murals can be seen all over the world. I met with Seja, and he is very excited about this commission and especially that Harvey’s nephew, Stuart Milk, who will be attending the unveiling and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

I urge your support of “Yes on D,” which would not only mean continuing with our strong mayoral government but would finally create a ninth council district for one of the largest cities in the nation, San Diego. I hope that this new council seat and district will include our Asian Pacific Islander communities. San Diego is the home of the largest Filipino population outside of Manila! The beauty of our city is its diversity.

I left our state capitol on an Amtrak train heading to Fresno. Along the way I noticed numerous tent city-like camps lining the fields, and it was painful to see little children living in such conditions. As the fifth largest city in the state, Fresno and all of central California are unique places to visit, with countless farms and factories. Fresno is also at the base of three wonderful national parks. Fresno’s growing population is more than 60 percent Latino.

My tour involved four days of speeches, conferences and meetings for me, and boy was it hot! Fresno’s GLBT community is well organized and has about four major bars/nightclubs. Fresno is also the home of the new national GLBT organization GET-EQUAL.

Thanks to First Lady of California Maria Shriver, the California State Museum was the site of the official state-wide kick-off of our state’s first Harvey Milk Day. Among the many VIPs at this event were Stuart Milk; Assembly Speaker John Perez; Senators Mark Leno and Chris Kehoe; State Assemblymembers Tom Ammiano, Anthony Portantino and Lorie Saldana; former San Jose Mayor John Laird; Academy Award winning producer Bruce Cohen (movies: Milk, American Beauty); actors Chad Allen, Jeremy Glazer and Daniela Sea; Harvey’s campaign manager Anne Kronenberg and many more.

It was great to spend time with Geoffrey Kors of Equality California. I had the honor to be asked to address the stellar crowd, and it was one great night of pride and celebration. This weekend, I’ll be attending Milk Day events with Stuart Milk in San Francisco and Hollywood and have been asked to speak at both cities.

Hey, this Saturday night head on over to the Sheraton Mission Valley for the first Wii Olympics for competitions in bowling, baseball, golf and tennis from 2-7 p.m. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Toni Atkins Lesbian Health Fund and the Golden State Gay Rodeo Association.

This coming Friday night (May 21), the Alano Club will be holding its annual dinner, including outstanding entertainment – the East West Jazz Quartet – from 6-9 p.m. You’re all invited, and I urge your support of our recovery community. Tickets are only $50, and this inspiring event will be held at the San Diego LGBT Community Center. For more information, call 619-298-8008. The Alano Club has long been in our community helping those addicted to drugs and alcohol to change their lives. Thank you to the Alano Club for being there for anyone who needs support.

Just follow the dancing crowds to Rich’s this coming Saturday night (May 22) when it will host the official Harvey Milk Day Celebration from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. All California will be celebrating this first official day in honor of the first openly gay citizen to be elected to public office, and Rich’s is rolling out its major party vibe with DJ Nikno and a high “VOLTAGE” theme. At 11 p.m. there will be a special cake-cutting ceremony with former deputy mayor Toni Atkins and Councilmembers Todd Gloria and Carl DeMaio. And guess what – 100 percent of the door charge will go to the Harvey Milk Foundation. For more information, visit www.richssandiego.com.

For more exciting, breaking news, gossip, politics and all the gay news that’s fit to print including Editor at Large Nicole Murray-Ramirez’s People Opinions & Politics, Stampp Corbin’s The Oracle and much more daily news and happenings, visit www.GLTNewsNow.com. Mark us in your favorites and stay informed daily!