Don’t forget the spring fashion show for Family Matters this Sunday, March 26, at the Abbey!

Personally, I am glad to see the anti-war protests, marches and rallies growing bigger in the United States, especially now that more religious leaders are involved. We must bring our troops home now. The fact is that we cannot force democracy on every country in the Middle East. We cannot stop a civil war among its people, and, trust me, when our troops do leave, the radical Muslims will take over. Every poll of the people of Iraq tells us they want us to leave. Too many have died already in this war. I continue to support our troops while they are in Iraq, but it’s time to bring them home… period.

Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla is facing two strong opponents in his re-election campaign. One opponent is a fellow Latino who is a City Council member, and the other, word has it, will be the wife of powerful County Supervisor Greg Cox. Recently, this popular and hard-working mayor has received a lot of negative press – everything from the transportation costs to his bodyguard and an accusation of a developers’ sweetheart deal with some of his friends. All these stories have made headlines in the San Diego Union-Tribune, and two stories actually ran on separate pages in the same issue. What’s going on here, a witch hunt? Since this Latino mayor has announced he is gay, it seems to me that the press has been like the CIA, seemingly hunting him down and trying to destroy his reputation. The truth is that the Chula Vista Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office did state that threats were made against Mayor Padilla, so he did need protection, as there are some real, crazy, homophobic and anti-Latino nuts in this conservative city. Let us hope that all these issues clear up quickly, and that Mayor Steve Padilla receives fair and balanced media coverage, rather than what seems to me to be relentless and biased media coverage.

With the solid support of Mayor Jerry Sanders, Sheriff Bill Kolender, four members of the County Board of Supervisors (including Ron Roberts) and almost every law enforcement organization, super-popular District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis – to no one’s surprise – will face no opposition in her bid for a second term. Dumanis’ attack on street gangs, the big drop in crime while she’s been in office and her leadership in bringing the District Attorney’s Office back together after years of this office being divided, dysfunctional and a total embarrassment and disgrace has many political leaders predicting a statewide office for this successful and effective public servant. District Attorney Dumanis’ office has a 94-percent conviction rate – yes, among the highest in California.

Know your community, city and county are proud of you, Bonnie, and we wish you continuing success.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has endorsed former county supervisor and Congress member Brian Bilbray for the open 50th Congressional District seat once held by the disgraced Randy “Duke” Cunningham. This district has always been a solid Republican one, and I don’t know if a Democrat could ever keep this seat. I’ve worked with Bilbray before on health issues such as AIDS, and helped establish an AIDS advisory board for Bilbray when he was a Congress member.

This Sunday, March 26, the Metropolitan Community Church of San Diego will be honoring and saying thank you to its retiring senior pastor, the Rev. Tony Freeman. Rev. Tony has been much more than just a pastor of this church, he has also been an important and articulate leader in our community, and has been a bridge builder to other churches and communities in the city of San Diego. At times, Rev. Tony has been the conscience of our community and a strong moral compass for us to follow… a true Christian in every sense of the word. Many of us have grown to not only respect but love him, and we will miss him. I and many grateful San Diegans will be in his church this Sunday!

The election may be in 2008, but the fact is that Todd Gloria and Michael Portantino are emerging as the two major front-runners to replace Councilmember Toni Atkins. In all due respect to my friends Robert Gleason (who still has not made a decision to run) and Stephen Whitburn (whose pre-campaign has not “caught fire”), both Gloria and Portantino remain the major names and the talk of the residents of City Council District 3. Community and business leaders are already making endorsements and commitments to these two men, but in the end only one must run if we are to keep this seat in progressive hands.

Over the years, San Diego’s GLBT leather community has at times been ignored or dismissed as the viable and generous community that it is and has been for decades. The leather community, its leaders, organizations and bars have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars these last decades to countless GLBT, AIDS and health care organizations and agencies. Especially during the early, dark years of our AIDS crisis, the leather community stood tall and pitched in when many others would not. This past weekend was Leather Pride, and, as usual, this annual event raised big money for AIDS organizations. I for one am very proud of our leather community, and I most sincerely thank them for all they have done and continue to do for our community. Bravo to them all!