Bay Area Reporter - February 5, 2009
Matthew S. Bajko, m.bajko@ebar.com

The paid advertisements plug the Department of Public Health's research into whether Truvada, an HIV medication, can keep HIV-negative men from contracting the virus. Dufty, who is openly gay and single, appears in one version of the ads dressed in a shirt and tie, sans jacket, but is not identified by name.

That hasn't stopped his critics, or mere pranksters, from defacing the posters by writing in black marker "I'm easy" or "I killed Halloween," referring to Dufty's helping to scuttle the annual street party in the Castro on Halloween night in order to end the violence that has marred the event in past years.

The vandalism is a taste for what may be in store for Dufty should he follow through with his plans to run for mayor in 2011. For his part, Dufty has taken the graffiti critiques in stride, laughing when asked about the tagging by the Bay Area Reporter.

"Someone gave me a bow tie on one," noted Dufty, who explains why he decided to participate in the study in this week's guest opinion. [See page 4.] "People have been e-mailing me alerts about how badly the posters have been tagged. They are replacing them at a fast and furious pace, which I am not asking for."

The posters have been up for several months inside the Church, Castro, Forest Hill and West Portal Muni stations. Because BART owns the underground tunnels and stations, it is in charge of the upkeep and placement of the advertising inside them and on the Muni platforms.

Of the eight ads found at the Church and Castro stations, which serve the city's gay neighborhood, five had to be replaced due to tagging last month, according to BART officials. As of January 23, BART crews had replaced 27 posters in all four stations that had been vandalized.

After being contacted by the B.A.R. about the ads, BART spokesman Linton Johnson said the transit agency made the decision to relocate Dufty's posters.

"We were recently made aware of the situation involving Supervisor Dufty's HIV campaign and the tagging of those posters. Apparently it had been an ongoing problem, which is being addressed by relocating the display frames to an area within line of sight of the station agents booths," wrote Johnson in an e-mail.

LGBT leaders to meet in SF

Dufty will be able to commiserate about the anonymous ribbing with LGBT leaders from around the globe when the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute holds its 25th annual conference for international LGBT leaders in San Francisco in December. It marks the first time the institute, which is part of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, will hold its annual confab in the city.

More than 600 out officials are expected to descend on San Francisco for three days of workshops, networking, and sightseeing. Local leaders met this week to begin planning for the conference.

An invite has already gone out to Iceland Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, who was sworn-in last Sunday as the country's first openly gay and first female head of government. She is the first gay person to be chosen for a full term as a country's head of state.

Registration for the conference, which will take place December 3-6, is already available online at https://www.glli.org/home.

Gay poet jumps into D6 race

The ever-expanding field of candidates wanting to replace District 6 Supervisor Chris Daly, who will be termed out in 2010, is now up to five, with a majority being out contenders. The latest gay person to seek the seat is poet Mark Schwartz.

Schwartz, 54, said he entered the race in order to highlight homelessness and mental health issues. Also pulling papers to run so far have been Jim Meko, an openly gay man on the Entertainment Commission, and out lesbian Debra Walker , a member of the Building Inspection Commission.

Community organizer David James Villa-Lobos also intends to run for the seat, as does John Markham, an activist for residents in single room occupancy hotels.

Walgreens seeks pharmacy expansion vote

Walgreens officials will go before the city's Planning Commission this afternoon (Thursday, February 5) with their controversial proposal to expand the pharmacy on 18th Street in the heart of the Castro into an adjacent vacant storefront.

The national chain has tried, in vain, to win approval of its expansion plans since the spring of 2007. Community groups in the gay neighborhood have been divided on whether to support the project, and Walgreens received a chilly reception at first from area merchants still upset with the store's taking over three former storefronts on Castro Street.

But the local merchant group ultimately voted to support the project. Stung by critiques it was stingy with its local giving, Walgreens agreed to pay for upgrading a meeting space in the Castro overseen by a board member and former president of the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro.

Nevertheless, planning staff has recommended that the commission reject Walgreens' application. And some Castro officials suspect the company is seeking the vote knowing the plan will not pass so it can back out of its lease for the space.

The meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. in Room 400 at City Hall.

Ammiano holds open house

Next Thursday, February 12, state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) is holding an open house at his local 13th Assembly District offices to meet with constituents. The freshman state lawmaker won election to the Legislature last November.

The open house will be from 4 to 6 p.m. inside suite 14300 at the state office building, 455 Golden Gate Avenue. To RSVP, call (415) 557-3013.

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings around 10 a.m. for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column offers up postscripts to stories on cutbacks at gay papers and the state's LGBT community centers.

Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes.

Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 861-5019 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

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