The gay and lesbian community can be proud of its history of political involvement and activism: from our victory in electing Harvey Milk in San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors back in the 1970s to our more recent support of San Diego’s first openly gay councilmember, Christine Kehoe, locally.

When we talk about the history of gay and lesbian political and community activism, we can’t have the conversation without mentioning our community bars. Before there was Bank of America and Miller Lite and a GSDBA, the community bars were the ones that stepped up to the plate to host vigils, marathons and fund-raisers in support of AIDS services and community organizations. The AIDS Assistance Fund that first looked after people with AIDS in the 1980s, when everyone else was backing away in fear, as well as community organizations like The Center, might not have been created without the help of the community bar owners’ fund-raisers. Pick up any issue of this paper on any given week, and you can see clear examples of how that tradition of giving continues.

But when elections draw near, the gay-baiters come out with distortions that can lead all of us to question this history. Just before the Mar. 2 primaries, several of our community bar owners hosted a fund-raiser for city attorney candidate Mike Aguirre. Following this fund-raiser, an AM talk-radio show hosted by Rick Roberts focused two programs on the comments of an anti-gay caller named James Hartline. On a program that aired on Mon., Mar. 1, the day before elections, caller Hartline criticized Aguirre for accepting financial contributions from a business associated with porn stars. (Hartline has a right to an opinion, but because of his very public, anti-gay views even the most mainstream of journalistic sources would most likely decline to give him major consideration.) On air, Roberts checked out and confirmed that indeed adult-video stars were doing promotions for the community establishment in question. (It happens to be a nice, neighborhood bar where we like to go for drinks – and which happens to advertise in this paper.)

That the words “gay” and “porn” are still associated in some people’s minds is annoying but perhaps of little surprise – and that a right-wing talk-radio show would devote two programs to this is even less surprising. What was a surprise was that current City Attorney Casey Gwinn, who supposedly knows the difference between legal and illegal campaign contributions, joined the fray by questioning whether Aguirre’s new-found association with – in his opinion – an adult entertainment business would lead him to relax adult-entertainment laws.

Gwinn, whose job is not to judge but to defend legitimate businesses, may not realize that in addition to contributing to Mike Aguirre’s campaign, our community bar owners have also contributed, and in some cases hosted fund-raisers for, current Mayor Dick Murphy, Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe, County Supervisor and mayoral candidate Ron Roberts and Deputy Mayor Toni Atkins, along with an entire history of local gay, straight, Republican and Democratic candidates. We suspect that talk-show host Rick Roberts didn’t realize this when he dedicated so much air time to singling out Mike Aguirre.

More importantly, one thing that we in the gay community – a group that now encompasses Democrats, Republicans, professionals, conservatives, accountants, ministers, teachers, artists and, yes, video stars – need to bear in mind is that any legitimate business and any citizen operating within legal boundaries has a right to participate in the democratic process, and in fact should be encouraged to do so. Of course there are many conservative gays and lesbians who care nothing about seeing a porn star at their neighborhood pub. But they should be assured that – in spite of the mileage it gives Rick Roberts who inflates issues and hits the panic button in order to stay in business – it’s no more unethical for a politician to accept contributions from a gay-bar owner who does promotions with video stars than it is for a candidate to accept contributions from a Christian conservative, a rabbi, a rock star, a priest, a doctor at Planned Parenthood, a lap dancer – or anyone else you may have mixed feelings about.

Unlike San Diego’s recent stripper-gate involving city council members’ allowing adult entertainment businesses to gain too much influence by “bunching” campaign contributions, which is illegal, our bar owners seek to legally and legitimately support gay and lesbian causes. Conservative activists and radio talk-show hosts know that when uninformed citizens hear the word “porn” they hit the panic button. We should know better.

Another person who should know better is Mike Aguirre, who backed down under pressure and publicly returned four checks he received at the fund-raiser in question. As a prosecuting attorney who has fought for Latino rights and stood up for gay and lesbian rights for more than two decades, we hope Mike Aguirre realizes that the city attorney’s job is to defend the rights of legal, legitimate citizens and businesses, and to maintain an objective distance – even more so than other political candidates – from the divisive rhetoric predictably used by activists, of all stripes, and talk-show hosts.

And as for you, Rick Roberts: gay people aren’t any more likely to enjoy adult videos (porn!) than you are. And our senior reporter, Travis Bone, who you apparently baited on air as having a “porn name,” is nothing more than a good, solid reporter and rather nice guy.

Sorry to disappoint you.