Now they will require all travelers to have a passport to enter our country, even to and from Canada and Mexico – so get your passports in order today!

This past week, longtime community activist Michael Clark died. Last year, activists Drew Mattison and David McWhirter also died.

In my many travels across our nation these past decades, I’ve visited numerous GLBT archives and libraries. I learned that to preserve GLBT history, they are videotaping or recording many of the longtime community activists so future generations will know how the community was built throughout the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, etc.

In San Diego, we have the Lambda Archives of San Diego, which does not get much attention or financial support from our community. This cannot go on. San Diego, wake up!

Everyday we lose our GLBT history and longtime activists/leaders who have stories to tell and experiences to share.

This coming Saturday at the “Prince and Princess’ Royale Ball,” the Imperial Court de San Diego will give the Lambda Archives a financial grant, earmarked to help it interview, record and videotape longtime GLBT community activists. Please help by donating to the Lambda Archives. Put this hardworking organization in your wills!

For more information, call (619) 260-1522, or log onto www.lamdaarchives.org.

Popular personality/activist Big Mike recently held his 50th birthday bash at the very grand US Grant Hotel. The event drew in hundreds of San Diegans. From politicians, public officials and business people to drag queens, youth and seniors – it was a very diverse crowd.

The food was fabulous (thanks to Baja Betty’s, Ono Sushi, Lei Lounge, Taste of Italy, Martinis Above Fourth, Ortega’s Mexican Bistro, Confidential and Taza Blanca), and the entertainment was great. Emmy Award winner Leslie Jordan was his usual witty self.

The US Grant looked so classy. What a looker it has become (thank you, Mark Dibella and Ed Kutch). More than $13,000 was raised for the Ben F. Dillingham Community Grant. A special thank you goes to Fernando Lara, Bart Johnson, Todd Gloria, Ed Miller and Mike Moorehart for all of their hard work.

It was great to see Senator Kehoe, City Councilmember Atkins and former state Assemblymember Tricia Hunter. And as they say, “Big Mike has a big heart!” The ballroom was full of love. Thank you and God bless you, Big Mike, for all you do and have done for so many … including little ol’ me!

Last week, I wrote about making sure that we have two San Diego community grand marshals, usually a gay man, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person. Well, Pride’s hardworking executive director, Ron deHarte, called to remind me that longtime lesbian activist Judy Reif was the 2006 community grand marshal.

What concerned me was that we had four grand marshals and only one was from San Diego. But Ron brought up a solid point, which is that the good people on our Pride board can only pick qualified individuals nominated by community members, and they don’t get many nominations. San Diego Pride goes all out and sends Pride nomination forms throughout our community, so do your part and nominate worthy individuals.

I remember in the 1970s, our community had only one event at a hotel, the Imperial Court’s Coronation Ball. Ninety-nine percent of the hotels did not want to have a “homosexual event” on their property. In the 1980s, there were only about four to six events a year held at hotels. Now dozens are held each year, and we have numerous events every week. Some weekends our personal calendars end up with three or four events spread across Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

What I’m trying to point out is that our community leaders and activists cannot attend all of these events, and many are now parents of children. For example, Delores Jacobs, Robert Gleason, and even our publisher Michael Portantino, are all new parents. These new parents and their life partners are now taking care of babies and “tiny tots,” and thus can’t attend every event like they used to. The reason I’m bringing this up is because many times I hear a comment like, “Why didn’t so-and-so show up?”

Well, first of all, there are too many events for anyone to attend all of them, and now with many of our leaders becoming parents and busy with family life, we should try to be more understanding. Remember, they’ve got personal lives outside of all the things they do for our community.

The community is invited to attend the annual “Prince and Princess Royale Ball” to be held at The Center this Saturday, Jan. 27, starting at 6:00 p.m. Come and congratulate Prince Jack and Princess Greta on three successful years of charity work. There are four candidates running for these two positions, and the election will be held that night. The event will include outstanding entertainment and food. Tickets are $20 for gallery seating, $25 for preferred seating and $30 for VIP seating. So come on down this Saturday and enjoy yourself. For more information, call (619) 387-6782.

Saturday, Jan. 27: “Military Madness Night” at Club Montage. Join more than 500 military, vets and fans (active military get a discount) for what has become San Diego’s hottest party! New York DJ DAC will be providing the music, and special guests will include video star Brent Everett and world-famous producer Chi Chi LaRue.

Thursday, Feb. 8: “The Edwards Twins” super show at the Lyceum Theater in Horton Plaza. The show features unbelievable impersonations of everyone from Elton John to Cher. For more information, call (619) 278-0777 ext. 103.

Friday, Feb. 9: America’s No. 1 gay comedian and television star, the infamous Ant, will appear with our own award-winning San Diego Men’s Chorus! The event is called “Our Love is Here to Stay.” I know I’m going. For more information, log onto www.sdmc.org.

Sunday, Feb. 18: Hide the children because film superstar and America’s sexiest comedian is coming to Martinis Above Fourth. Yes, Varla Jean Merman will be performing two shows, one at 7:00 p.m. and one at 9:00 p.m. These shows are going to sell out, so get your tickets today. For more information, call (619) 400-4500.

On the subject of “marking your calendars,” San Diego will join cities across America in “Dining Out for Life.” On this night, participating local restaurants will give 25 percent of their day’s food and liquor sales back to The Center’s HIV/AIDS programs. Already among the first to sign on for this event are Martinis Above Fourth, Lucky Bucks, Jimmy Carter’s, Baja Betty’s and Urban Mo’s. I urge everyone to attend and all restaurants to participate. For more information, call (619) 692-2077 ext. 204.

Kous Kous, located at 3940 4th Ave. in Hillcrest, features the type of Moroccan delicacies that you would have to fly halfway around the world for, and it’s located in our neck of the woods! Handsome owner Moumen Nouri brings his expertise to each and every dish, with an artful flair that will have you coming back for more. He has been winning rave reviews from critics and patrons alike. So if you haven’t given this excellent restaurant a try, you should check it out.