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August 12, 2006
And Castro for Us, not Them
I'm sorry, I'm down to us versus them.
If you haven't heard about the straight guy who moved to the Castro and then got lambasted for calling it too gay, well... you need to.
Check the video here: http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/latenight/2006/07/13/gayborhood/index.html (Mark Welsh rocks!)
Now maybe Jeremy Paul never complained about any of the window displays, but other people did. He agreed to be their poster boy for the Daily Show, and he's gotten a lot of grief for it. Too bad so many of the actual complainers don't have the guts to be public about their drama.
And when he says stupid things like, "I'm happy people can enjoy a lifestyle that's denied to them back home in Kansas, but there are appropriate standards of behavior, regardless of your sexual orientation," I have to say he deserves all the flak he's getting and more.
Next, read this article on similar problems in recent history: http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=336
Finally, my open letter to Supervisor Dufty weighing in on the issue:
Hi Bevan,
I got around to reading the actual article at http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=336 after hearing about Jeremy Paul raising issues around Rock Hard and other stores' window displays. I knew about the penis statue drama, but had never actually read the facts.
And now I'm livid reading about Lisa Bennett, who wrote you an email saying that her "patience" with trying to avoid porn in storefronts "is growing very thin". I can tell you, my patience with people like her never existed.
I pay an awful lot of money to live here, and for a reason. If I wanted to live in the ambience of heteronormative values, I could do it for a fraction of the "gay tax" I pay to live in the Castro.
This issue is ridiculous. The fact that gay people are raising children doesn't mean anything. Just because one is a parent doesn't make one immediately mainstream like Bennett. Honestly, she should move. So should Jeremey Paul (without a doubt, he's not even gay).
Now, the woman that I saw at Dore Alley fair one year... she had a kid in a stroller, and when a 40 year old man in a dog outfit trotted up on all fours on the end of some Daddy's leash, she showed her daughter how to pet the "puppy" on his head... SHE can live in my neighborhood.
These people can live ANYWHERE ELSE in the country. I can't. And when they start trying to impose their values on our neighborhood, it begins to feel like I can't even live here. The question to ask about all of these window displays is, If not in the Castro, where?
I don't envy the position you're in, and don't expect a politician worth his salt to take a definite, open position on it. I just want you to know where this voter stands. And Castro for Us!
-Josh
You know, I had this crazy, relevant dream a few weeks ago... in it, this group of rich gay men started buying up the real estate on Castro Street, and renting it at sub-market rates to select businesses. The purpose was to reclaim the neighborhood.
The only thing I remember was a new restaurant that had a dress code: you had to look gay. And just like those fancy places that have jackets you can borrow if you forget yours, they too had dinner wear for you. If you came from the marina looking like a dumb straight guy with your blond girlfriend and forgot to dress gay, it was sequins and feather boas for you, or you didn't get in.
I think this is an excellent idea. We just need a few wealthy gay guys who want our neighborhood back to make it happen.
BTW, looks like Bennett did or planned to move: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-castro21apr21,0,4320735.story?coll=la-home-headlines says After failing to persuade merchants to post suggestive ads above the line of sight of small children, the mother, who asked not to be identified, said she plans to move from the Castro.
Honestly, good riddance. I suppose I fall under their label of "equally militant gay residents", although I intend much more than "equally".
I think the inimitable barber Joe said it best:
We're not going to neuter ourselves for anybody," said Joe Gallagher, a gay barber who often runs raunchy ads featuring muscular men in the local gay press. "We're not going to jump just because these people complain. The rest of the country isn't big enough? They've got to try and take over the Castro as well?"
Woo! No neutering! Time to go jogging in nothin' but our jockstraps.
Posted by Josh A. at August 12, 2006 10:47 PM