As I’ve urged you before, please start taking care and watching out for each other. Get pepper spray from ACE Hardware and carry it with you. Hate crimes and robberies are nothing to ignore or dismiss. Take these crimes seriously… please!

The turnout for our community’s “stand against hate” rally was heartwarming and so beautiful to see from the stage. I thank The Center for organizing it and all of you who attended.

While I am most sincerely appreciative of all the countless positive comments and thanks for my establishing the new Hate Crime Reward Fund and the Lavender Citizens Patrol, as well as your kind words about my speech, let me please acknowledge people and businesses who made these ideas of mine possible… no one can do this alone. First of all, I want to thank Police Chief William Lansdowne, Police Lt. Margaret Schaufelberger, Ms. Sally Cox of Crime Stoppers, Dr. Delores Jacobs of The Center and Councilmember Toni Atkins for assisting and advising me on establishing this fund.

And thanks especially to those who made it possible for me to announce the establishment of this $35,000 fund: Hamburger Mary’s, Baja Betty’s, Tom Felkner and Bob Lehman, GLBT Vote 2006, the Imperial Court, Rick Ford, the San Diego chapter of American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER), Numbers, Rich’s, The Flame, Bourbon Street, Lei Lounge, Michael Portantino and the Gay & Lesbian Times, Bacchus House and a generous anonymous donor. Please thank these businesses and people for making this $35,000 beginning possible, as this new Hate Crime Reward Fund at Crime Stoppers will now put a bounty on the head of anyone who commits a hate crime against anyone in any community. To make a donation to the fund, make checks payable to Crime Stoppers and on the memo line write “Hate Crime Reward Fund.” Mail checks to Hate Crime Reward Fund, P.O. Box 33915, San Diego, CA 92163. For more information, phone (619) 692-1967.

To Bob Lehman, Ben Gomez and all the members of the San Diego chapter of AVER, thank you for stepping forward and agreeing to organize this citizens patrol for next year’s Pride week. For more information on the citizens patrol, phone (619) 850-8698.

And a big thank you to the San Diego Police Department for agreeing to assist and be a partner in the new Lavender Citizens Patrol. I am so very grateful for and humbled by all of your support, because without it these two announcements could not have been made.

Closeted lesbian actress Jodie Foster has disgraced herself and the GLBT community by rushing out to be one of the first major stars to defend Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic tirade. This man has also for years attacked GLAAD, the GLBT community and our “sex habits.” A strict traditionalist Catholic, Gibson also has refused to disagree with or condemn his father’s outrageous statements questioning whether or not the Holocaust ever happened. (Gibson has always refused to say anything about his father’s comments.)

Everyone knows Jodie Foster is a lesbian, and if she wants to stay in the closet, that’s her business. But to defend homophobic and anti-Semitic Gibson is a disgrace!

We have all learned that very few politicians and elected public officials keep their word or promises, but our community’s longtime friend County Supervisor Ron Roberts is one of the rare exceptions.

A while back, Bob Lehman of AVER and I met with Roberts in his office to discuss many issues, including the rise of “crystal mess” in our GLBT community. Ron and I had a serious discussion concerning this issue, and he made a commitment to launch an anti-crystal meth campaign aimed at our GLBT community.

So now he has, and you can see the new bus stop and billboard displays all over Hillcrest and North Park. This is only one apart of this most important campaign.

Our community owes much to Supervisor Roberts for taking the lead in this area as an elected official. I would also like to sincerely thank Terry Cunningham of the Health and Human Services Agency’s HIV, STD and Hepatitis Branch, Dr. Nancy Bowen and Ron’s chief of staff, Darren Pudgil, for their involvement in this issue and this campaign.

While I could not attend the press conference announcing this anti-crystal meth campaign, called “Crystal Mess,” I wish to most sincerely thank Supervisor Roberts for publicly talking about our discussions and meetings on this issue. I am proud to have played a part in this most important campaign. We all need to do our part.

Bob Lehman, chair of GLBT Vote 2006, and I had the pleasure of dining with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Rancho Santa Fe recently – and, yes, I personally thanked him for being the first Republican governor in the history of California to issue an official Pride proclamation.

The last time I had dinner with a California governor was with Gov. Gray Davis, and at that dinner I was seated right next to him. We had at least two hours worth of conversation, and at that time I began my campaign for him to appoint our first openly gay judge, which he did about a year later (that being Superior Court Judge Ted Weathers).

At the recent dinner with Gov. Schwarzenegger, Bob and I were seated at table 2. The governor’s table was table 1. I did get “face time” with the governor because of event organizer Karolyn Dorsee, who is a good friend of mine.

At the dinner, Bob and I also chatted with District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, Supervisor Ron Roberts, Sheriff Bill Kolender and talk-show personality and former mayor Roger Hedgecock. Yes, I and many gay leaders were strong and loyal supporters of then-Mayor Hedgecock, and Hedgecock and I were cordial to each other at the dinner. I asked him about his wife and grownup sons.

The dinner was a very nice affair, and Bob Lehman and I had a nice time. My table partners this time were Bertrand himself of the world-renowned restaurant Bertrand at Mister A’s and his beautiful wife.

A lawsuit was filed recently to toss out the election of Congressmember Brian Bilbray to the 50th District. Bilbray beat Francine Busby in this heavily Republican district.

GLBT Vote 2006 endorsed Bilbray for the Republican primary (and Busby for the Democratic primary), and Bilbray and Busby will face off again on Nov. 7.

But even Francine Busby said, “I have no reason to question the legitimacy of the election or the results of it.” She has distanced herself and is not a party to the lawsuit – and good for her. The fact is Brian Bilbray won the election fair and square, and let’s move on. I support his leadership on the Mount Soledad cross issue.

San Diego’s 35th anniversary monarchs, Robi Cox and Norma, were elected at the annual Imperial Court Coronation that took place last Saturday. More than 300 people packed The Center for the event, which made history by ending at 9:10 p.m.!

The baby sons and daughters of parents Robert Gleason and Mark Matys (Maxwell Adam Matys-Gleason), and Dr. Delores Jacobs and Dr. Heather Berberet (Ryan Mackenzie Berberet) were officially proclaimed “the Double Eagle Dauphine and Dauphiness de San Diego and heirs to the thrones of San Diego.”

The Imperial Court made financial contributions to The Center, the Live and Let Live Alano Club, Latin Pride, the new Hate Crime Reward Fund at Crime Stoppers and the Institute for Judaism and Sexual Orientation.

Among those honored with some of the Imperial Court’s highest community awards were: Dr. Greg Scott, Carlos Silva, the Rob Benzon Foundation, Todd Kaufman, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Chris Horton and Lala.

This past year’s 34th reign was a most difficult one, but our new monarchs are off to an outstanding and popular reign. Everyone in the GLBT community and straight friends are invited to the first court meeting next Wednesday, Aug. 16, at 7:30 p.m. at The Center. For more information, phone (619) 218-6464.

A big thank you to the Imperial Court of New York, which pledged $13,000 to the San Diego Imperial Court’s Tijuana AIDS Fund. Also to the Imperial Court of Sacramento, which pledged $4,000.

The San Diego chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will celebrate their first anniversary throughout this weekend. For further information, phone Sister Amanda at (858)-395-7171.

The Sisters have now become a permanent and very visible charity organization in San Diego, with approximately 20 members who go around our bars and clubs passing out condoms and raising money for local charities, including the annual Toys for Kids drive and the GLBT Community Children’s Easter Egg Hunt.

The San Diego Sisters were recently honored with the annual Queen Eddie Community Service Award.

Though I have and probably still will at times have differences of opinion with the Sisters, I sincerely congratulate them and thank them for their charity work in San Diego.

San Diego personality Coco LaChine is moving to Los Angeles this weekend for a new job.

She will be greatly missed by many of us. Coco has become one of our most popular emcees, from co-emceeing the Pride parade to fund-raisers, awards shows and hosting the It’s Raining Men wet underwear contest every Thursday night at Bacchus House.

Coco and I have been close friends for more than a decade, and I will miss her very much, along with her biweekly column in this paper.

Come say goodbye to her Thursday, Aug. 10, at Bacchus House.

The good news is she will visit San Diego from time to time.

God bless you, Coco, and be happy and healthy in Los Angeles.

Check out Hamburger Mary’s/Kickers’ newest night, SKIN, on Friday, Aug. 11. The party featuring DJ Taj and guest DJs spinning from 9:00 p.m. ’til close will take place every second Friday of the month. Show a little skin – but get your minds out of the gutter! Hamburger Mary’s/Kickers is located at 308 University Ave. (619) 491-0400.