What a great time to be gay in San Diego. We have the first lesbian mayor of the seventh largest city in the United States – Mayor Toni Atkins. Mayor Steve Padilla of Chula Vista publicly came out two weeks ago at the Pride festival. And don’t forget we have Mayor Ron Oden of Palm Springs. Over the Pride and Coronation weekends, I saw Her Honor a few times at different functions, and my jaw dropped every time I saw the “detail” person that follows her around. I guess one of the perks, and rightfully so, of the office is to have a good security person. But they are all super hot! So, Mayor Atkins, if you can spare “Jim” sometimes, I need a “detail” person of my own.

That is a famous line from the movie Network. The war in Iraq seems almost like a footnote these days. The special investigator for the CIA leak has spent almost two years investigating, and Carl Rove is still strutting alongside the president. Gas prices just went up to $2.73 at the corner of Washington and Pacific Coast Highway, the bombings in London have everyone on high alert, and the real threats – Iran and North Korea – go about their nuclear business. Are you as outraged as I am that this administration really has no clue and continues to mislead us? Are you as outraged as I am that the war casualties are reaching the 2,000 mark – at least 27 just last week – and they are not making the headlines anymore? Are you as outraged as I am that John Roberts will probably be approved to the Supreme Court, the way that the president snuck John Bolton into the United Nations?

I know this is a bit late, but this column comes out once every two weeks only. Despite all the controversy, I had a great time at Pride, and I hope you did, too. I emceed the parade with Nicole, and I’m happy to report that I did not see anyone in the marching contingents that were wearing rainbow spandex. Hurray!

I love the dykes on bikes, although they almost ran me over on my way to the parade. The floats were a lot of fun, especially those hunky boys from Rich’s and Bacchus House. I’m not a festival person, but I braved the sun in full daytime drag and visited many booths on the festival grounds, which is where I found this lovely man by the ID Lube booth, and I’m sharing a photo with you.

Saturday’s drag show at the main stage was also a lot of fun for me. Almost every drag titleholder was there to entertain, with Showqueen of the Year Justice Page Counce as the finale of the show, and she gave us a mean Tina Turner.

I wanted to especially thank the hundreds of volunteers who made the weekend possible for all of us to enjoy. These men and women, who are not involved in any type of politics, worked many hours to ensure our safety, our enjoyment and just making sure Pride happens.

I also attended a few of the dance parties in town, and love the space at the House of Blues. The only thing I did not enjoy was the army of security people hovering all over, and that they made you check your cameras – for $5. I didn’t hear of any report of health emergencies with any of the parties, so that’s a good thing. I did notice a few ambulances discreetly tucked away near the party sites, and that is a sad commentary of our times. Hopefully, we are all being more aware, educated and smart about partying.

This past weekend was coronation, and out-of-town royalties from 22 courts descended on San Diego to bid farewell and say thank you to Emperor Chris and Empress Lala for a job well done. Much kudos goes to Emperor Rick Ford, who produced one of the best Coronation balls in many years. Tickets to the ball were sold out two weeks before the event, which is a testament to the popularity of the reigning monarchs and the candidates.

Mayor Toni Atkins was elevated to the level of czarina, and Ben Dillingham III and San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty were elevated to czars. Alberto Cortez of Mama’s Kitchen, Kevin Tilden of The Center and David Huskey were also inducted into the Imperial family. Ono Sushi was given the Alma Vasic Business Award, Astray David was honored with the Empress Tawny Tann Award and AJ Davis of The Center was honored with the Queen Eddie Award. The emperor and empress were resplendent with four outfit changes, and the guests were teary eyed as they gave the hardworking couple a big sendoff.

On hand at the ball were the two mayoral candidates – Jerry Sanders and Donna Fry. Both spent some time chatting with well-wishers and were very gracious. Donna even made a bid at the silent auction, and Jerry was a good sport as Nicole made him walk down the runway to acknowledge the crowd.

Our guest of honor for the evening was the founder of the Imperial Court System – Empress Jose, The Widow Norton. Jose Sarria was the first openly gay candidate for public office (1965 – for supervisor of San Francisco). In a surprise proclamation, and in recognition of Nicole’s leadership and activism on behalf of the GLBT and court communities, Empress Jose proclaimed Empress Nicole as the Queen Mother of the International Court System.

The four aspirants to the throne are to be commended for their enthusiasm and for conducting dignified campaigns. Each presented a very entertaining production number at the ball and looked wonderful. Lola and Ophelia both did country western numbers, while Nathan Garcia brought a troop of 20 Polynesian dancers, and Robert Rodriguez was outstanding with a song from The Lion King.

Voting was held the night of the ball, with each candidate’s representatives present at the vote counting. I would have been happy with any of the candidates winning, and in the end Nathan Garcia and Ophelia emerged as the newly elected emperor and empress of the 34th reign. I wish them luck and Godspeed, as they have very large shoes to fill.

As ball chair, I want to especially thank Steve Miller for chairing the auction, which included a classic 1986 Jaguar donated by attorney Bruce Abrams. A big thank you also to Bacchus House, who was a sponsor, to the Gay & Lesbian Times for donating ad space, to all the donors for the auction, to advertisers in the program, and to all the volunteers for the event, who built the sets, staffed the doors, made frequent runs to the airport for pick-ups and did all the grunt work that goes into the production of a major event.

Now I shall go into hibernation for six months.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network brings back Momentum on the Midway on Oct. 1 aboard the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier, featuring DJ David Knapp. The dance starts at 8:00 p.m., with a VIP cocktail reception beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Because the Midway is like a floating museum, cameras are not allowed, so be forewarned.

You can get tickets and info about a full weekend of military-themed events by visiting this column at www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link the SLDN’s Web site. Be there and show your support to our GLBT service members, many of whom are still deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Over 3,000 gay and lesbian athletes will start arriving this weekend for the 2005 Gay Softball World Series. That means they will be prowling our bars and restaurants, and that’s great news. If you come across any lonely-looking muscular hunk, send them my way. And I’ve always wanted to say this: “Are you ready to rumbleeeee?”