A very big welcome to all of our tens of thousands of out of town visitors to our 30th anniversary celebration of San Diego LGBT Pride… as always we love you; play safe; spend a lot of money and take care of each other… you are now in “America’s Finest City”

So come on up and say ‘Hi’ to me and my mom and thank you all for this great honor… but it is more so to share this day with my fellow Pride 2004 honorees: my “daughter” Dr. Pat Washington; my fellow Golden Girls cast member and a gay pioneer, Dr. Al Best and his hard-working companion, Eduardo; a man many of us would like to see run for San Diego City Council in District 2, a true leader and gentleman, Kevin Tilden; one of the women I most respect and actually listen and take advice from, our beloved Dr. Delores Jacobs; my Latina sister and a true civil rights leader, Gracia Molina de Pick; Linda Pennington, a great neighbor and good civic activist; the paper I used to write a column for and is the longest running GLBT paper in town, Update, and its publisher, Tom Ellerbrook; a fighter and a winner for transsexual equality, Amanda Watson; and when you think of true family values, you think of Marci Bair of Family Matters. It is I who am honored to be with these outstanding citizens, so when their cars drive by give them all a standing ovation!

Julia Ashley Legaspi is one or our community’s most respected and loved personalities and activists… she is a member of the Asian Pacific Islander community, a member of St. Joseph Catholic Cathedral, past member of the executive Lions Club, co-founder of APICAP, member of the Filipino American Association of North County, past member of the board of directors of The Center, Empress XX of San Diego, chair of the annual community Toys for Kids Holiday Drive, a Democrat, executive board member of the Imperial Court and a member of GLBT Vote 2004….

Julia Legaspi is also only the second transgender person to be appointed a city commissioner in the entire United States…. usually our District 3 Councilmember and Deputy Mayor, Toni Atkins, introduces Mayor Dick Murphy every year at the Spirit of Stonewall Rally but this year the popular Atkins is at Harvard University and will not be in San Diego until our parade Saturday.

So Mayor Murphy has asked his good friend and our community’s most admired transsexual to introduce him… this is an honor to our community, the transgender community and the Asian Pacific Islander community… and talking to our Deputy Mayor Atkins, she is also proud that Julia Legaspi has been chosen to fill in for her.

A few years ago, popular County Supervisor Ron Roberts made a historic appointment of former Marine Sgt. Bob Lehman (then president of AVER) as the first gay appointee to the San Diego County Veterans Board. Bob did an outstanding job, organizing a GLBT contingent in the annual Veterans Day parade, working with the board and getting about a dozen wheelchairs for the Veterans Home, and going to our state capital and testifying before the State Assembly. Now, as we all know, Bob Lehman and his partner Tom Felkner have moved to Indiana to be with their family.

Ron Roberts has informed me that he will be submitting the name of former Marine officer and one of our community’s most respected leaders, Ben F. Dillingham, to replace Bob on the prestigious board. Congratulations, Ben, and word is that Assemblymember Christine Kehoe will be submitting Ben Dillingham’s name to the Governor for an appointment on the soon to be established State Commission on Veteran Memorials.

Our popular District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, the first GLBT elected to this office in the nation, has endorsed Phil Thalheimer for San Diego City Council along with other GLBT leaders like Big Mike Philips (board member at The Center), City Commissioner Julia Legaspi and many others.

This past Monday, I had a meeting with Phil Thalheimer at City Deli and let me tell you, all those rumors and stories about Phil being anti-gay, aligned with the Christian right, etc. are all completely false. I found Phil Thalheimer to be very down to earth, blunt and honest and just really a nice guy. Thalheimer supports the use of marijuana for cancer and AIDS patients when prescribed by their doctors. He has come out against the federal marriage amendment, he believes that the Boy Scouts organization should be paying the fair market value for rent in Balboa Park, and he supports the AIDS needle exchange program and study that is now going on in our city…. Phil Thalheimer’s grandparents are Holocaust survivors; he understands oppression, hate and bigotry. Phil Thalheimer will be making an outreach effort to the GLBT community and I urge you all to get to know him and ask him questions… he will be in our parade and have a booth in our festival. By the way, one of Phil Thalheimer’s highest-ranking executives in his company is a transsexual!

The race is on to succeed our Chris Kehoe in the State Assembly as she moves up to the State Senate. A major GLBT reception in honor of popular nurse and community activist Tricia Hunter will take place on Aug. 24 at the beautiful home of Dr. Greg Scott and Robi Cox… a who’s who of GLBT leaders and business people are on the host list, with the honorary chair our District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. This will be an invitation-only reception and there will be others. Tricia came out strongly against the marriage amendment and, like presidential candidate John Kerry, strongly supports GLBT civil unions. Tricia has committed to establishing a GLBT advisory board when she is elected…. Wave to her this Saturday during our Pride parade: car 174.

The long-anticipated opening of San Diego’s newest and best-designed dance club, The Flame, is now open. Last Friday, The Flame opened just for a day for a pre-party, and let me tell you, it blew me away… I predict it will become one of the top nightclubs on the West Coast.

The new Flame is two dance clubs under one roof. There are four rooms, three great-looking bars and two fabulous dance floors… Congratulations to Nicholas, Butch and Richard for bringing San Diego a nightclub on the cutting edge… The Flame has now lifted the bar, as it were, and set the standard for all future nightclubs.

Club Montage is kicking off Pride with two boat cruises this Friday, July 30 – one for Levi/leather and one with superstar DJ Kimberly S. After that, it’s partying until afterhours all weekend, ending on Sunday with sexy Bret Hendrichsen spinning until 4:00 a.m. Call (619) 294-9590 for details.