As is tradition, the Milk Club hosted the Harvey Milk altar and vigil at Jane Warner Plaza again this year on the anniversary of Harvey Milk and George Moscone's assassinations. This year the public gathered at City Hall (hosted by the Harvey Milk Foundation) and marched up Market Street by candlelight to the vigil. Speakers at the vigil included Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, Supervisors David Campos and Christina Olague, activist Cyd Nova, and Milk Club President Anna Conda. A procession led by the Brass Liberation Orchestra led the vigil to Harvey Milk's old camera shop. Thanks to everyone who came out for a for this beautiful and very important memorial. Here are some photos and articles from the evening. 

Mission Local: http://missionlocal.org/2012/11/celebrating-the-life-of-harvey-milk-on-34th-anniversary-of-his-death-2/

Castro Biscuit: http://castrobiscuit.com/tag/harvey-milk-democratic-club/#

Procession from City Hall to the Castro:

 Cleve Jones and friend:

Brass Liberation Orchestra:

Photo by Daniel Michael Filipkowski:

Other coverage included:

CBS5 — SF Vigil Marks 34 Years Since Milk, Moscone Assassinations

KTVU — Assassinated SF mayor, supervisor remembered at vigil, candlelit walk 

KGO-ABC7 — Vigil held to mark Moscone, Milk assassinations

By Glendon “Anna Conda” Hyde

The election is over and we have piles of mail as a reminder of the cost. After all, we did just witness insane spending by people who “care” deeply about us. Every year my inner environmentalist goes out of her mind. No wonder we beat F into the ground and blame it for the deaths of baby seals. I love radical environmental ideas, but with the American public still sucking up plastics and gas, we are just a tad selfish to hear the message. Prop 35, which criminalizes associates of sex workers more than actually doing anything to protect legitimate workers and catch bad guys, was passed into legislation. This just shows that propositions are often a really bad way to have these conversations. People do not take the time to educate themselves and rhetoric can be very deceiving. 

As President of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, a chartered Democratic organization, I am exposed to all the players and playing of politics on a local level. Endorsements are a place where true colors are shown and players truly exert influence and manipulation. For the past two years, I have seen endorsement processes willfully manipulated by straight men to control an outcome in their favor. Even with the implementation of a new system of voting called score voting, which ranks each candidate and prevents stacking the club with voters to get the endorsement, we still had behind the scenes Tom foolery. Most candidates are people with integrity and we are lucky that many of them won.

Nationally I knew what would happen all along. I mean come on. I was so certain when I went to bed early Romney was ahead and I was still sure he would not win. I am amazed that all the states did not go for Obama, but that fear slinging does have an effect. It is great to have new lesbian Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin. First ever. We re-elected local heroes Ammiano, Leno, Spier and Kaplan, as well as electing Phil Ting to Assembly. My focus this year as President of the Milk Club and as a not-so-secret socialist (I voted Green for President), was local elections, and there was plenty to concentrate on. 

EMERGENCY MEETING ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, LGBT CENTER, Ceremonial Room, 7-9pm.

• The Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club will hold an Emergency General Membership Meeting Monday, October 22 to discuss and vote on the reconsideration of the Milk Club’s endorsement of Julian Davis for District 5 Supervisor. This was proposal was moved and seconded at the October 17 General Membership Meeting and carried by more than a 2/3 vote.

• A second motion was made to suspend the bylaws tonight in order to vote on the process for Monday night. This motion suspended Article 8, letter B: single seat multi-choice races. The motion was carried by more than a 2/3 vote.

•  A final motion was then made to do an unranked endorsement of Christine Olague, John Rizzo and Thea Selby as a slate endorsement to be voted on Monday, Oct. 22. Carried by more than a 2/3 vote. 

Decisions will take place by ballot vote. The ballot will contain the following questions:

• Shall the club rescind its endorsement of Julian Davis for District 5 Supervisor?

YES/NO

• If the club rescinds this endorsement, should the club approve an unrnanked triple endorsemnt of Christina Olague/John Rizzo/Thea Shelby?

YES/NO

Please come to this vital meeting to receive an update on the current situation and to participate in carrying the will of the Milk Club forward. Remember that you MUST be a member in good standing to vote! Please read the section on Membership, Dues and Voting in Article III of our by-laws for this information:

CLICK HERE FOR BY-LAWS

Here are the P.A.C. recommendations for the upcoming election. Please keep in mind that the full membership will be voting this Tuesday to finalize our endorsements, so these recommendations are not necessarily set in stone. On Tuesday, please consider scoring ALL the candidates so that we fill out our November slate.

There will be a brief presentation on PAC recommendation results and the new voting system before ballots are handed out at our Tuesday, September 18, General Membership Endorsement meeting.

D1 Supervisor: Eric Mar
D3 Supervisor: David Chiu
D5 Supervisor: Julian Davis
D7 Supervisor: No Position
D9 Supervisor: David Campos
D11 Supervisor: John Avalos

Oakland At-Large City Councilmember: Rebecca Kaplan

D7 BART Board: Maria Alegria
D9 BART Board: Tom Radulovich

School Board: Gladys Soto

Community College Board: Chris Jackson & Rafael Mandelman

Prop 30: Yes
Prop 31: No Position
Prop 32: No
Prop 33: No
Prop 34: Yes
Prop 35: No
Prop 36: Yes
Prop 37: Yes
Prop 38: No
Prop 39: Yes
Prop 40: Yes

Measure A: Yes
Measure B: No Position
Measure C: Yes
Measure D: No Position
Measure E: Yes
Measure F: No Position
Measure G: Yes

Sunshine Task Force Appeal from our own Bruce Wolfe:

I call on you again for support on my reappointment to the Sunshine Task Force. The Board of Supervisors Rules Committee may commence this appointment as early as the first week in September.

As you may remember, I was the only LGBT disabled member of the public seeking (re)appointment to the Sunshine Task Force back in May but was passed over by one vote of the Board of Supervisors. This was due to superficial ambiguities that a couple of supervisors chose to exploit in a smear campaign against me and others also seeking reappointment, all whom are honest, ethical and with integrity.

=> => Please call your respective District Supervisor, especially, if you live in Districts 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10. The more calls, emails and fax will certainly make a difference. http://sfbos.org (If you wish to provide your support and do not live in SF, call or email anyway. It can’t hurt to have too much support.)

SAVE CITY COLLEGE! September 4 Rally at City Hall

Join us on the steps of City Hall to kick-off the campaign to pass Prop A and Save Our City College.

Prop A helps City College save vital classes and programs by raising a local $79 per parcel tax under local oversight and control. If City College is to  survive and maintain accessibility, educational quality and the mission of serving low-income and underrepresented students with the best educators and staff, we must pass Prop A.

Join Us To Kick-Off the Campaign on September 4th

Who:   Students, Teachers, College Staff, and San Franciscans  from every neighborhood
What:  Rally to Save Our City College
Where:   City Hall  - Polk St. Steps
When:   Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Time:   12:00 PM Sharp

RSVP by emailing [email protected] or call 415-562-7993 for more info

MILK CLUB LETTER ON THE EAGLE CLUB’S SALE
[Sign the online petition here]

It has recently come to our attention that a non-LGBT group of entrepreneurs has entered into a purchase agreement for the former EagleTavern. This comes as a shock to many in the LGBT community as there was no outreach done or notice given about this historical community space despite the fact that many LGBT San Franciscans had expressed much interest in the building’s future. Furthermore our community had previously heard that there were queer entrepreneurs in negotiation to take over this space; buyers who intended to return it to a place that would continue to serve as a center to those who previously patronized the Eagle and enjoyed it as a LGBT-friendly space.

Resolution in Support of Justice for Eliana Lopez, Ross Mirkarimi, and Theo Mirkarimi
by the Harvey Milk Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Democratic Club
Passed 7/17/12

Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi’s removal from office has triggered a serious discussion on issues ranging from a political figure’s legal accountability for his or her transgressions, to unscrupulous dismissals, political opportunism, and female disempowerment. We at the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club are committed to justice for Eliana Lopez, Ross Mirkarimi, and their son Theo Mirkarimi. The current process as it stands now gives us no confidence that this will take place: Over the past several months, Eliana Lopez’s wishes have been blatantly disregarded, and opportunities for Ross Mirkarimi to come to terms with his behavior and the after-effects of his actions have been compromised at the altar of political spectacle.