So, Pelosi’s all set to become Speaker of the House. And conservatives like Bill O’Reilly and Newt Gingrich have tried to use “San Francisco values” as a derisive term. And lots of pundits are being all nice about what they think San Francisco values are, citing pot clubs and immigrants and the environment.
In this week’s Chronicle/SFGate column Open Source Sex: San Francisco Values, I cut into the conversation and tell you what they really mean when they use the term “San Francisco values” as dirty words: sex. Specifically, San Francisco sex. So, I explain exactly what that is, and detail what makes San Francisco so sexually different than the rest of the nation, from dildos to sex workers to HIV and assless chaps. Kudos to the Chronicle for having the purity of conviction to run the piece. Plus, I just love looking at SFGate’s front page and seeing my line, “We all know Bill O’Reilly is the reason ball gags were invented.” Snip:
“What’s different about sex in San Francisco is that we’re honest about it. We understand that accepting — even celebrating — sexual diversity goes hand in hand with keeping people healthy. It’s that simple. The first diagnosis of Kaposi’s sarcoma occurred on April 9, 1981, in San Francisco; in 1984 the San Francisco AIDS Foundation debuted the first-ever safer-sex poster and campaign. Thousands were dying, but in 1984 people with AIDS were still unable to find services outside San Francisco. Only in 1987 did then-President Ronald Reagan first mention the word AIDS (death toll: over 20,000 Americans), while San Franciscans were living through the horror of an entire population nearly eradicated by AIDS. You better bet we have different values here.
[My pal, Dr. Carol] Queen concurs: ‘Caring for people with AIDS is a San Francisco value that, at the height of the epidemic here, consumed almost the entire city. So while the Republicans have tried to off-load social services onto the private sector, I believe San Franciscans proved we could do it first and better. The only remotely comparable situation I can think of — Hurricane Katrina relief was done similarly in the face of great government neglect; by citizens, friends and lovers of a town everyone looks to as a refuge from the rest of the country’s values.'” Link.
I woke up to a flooded inbox, all about this piece — I rant about my email after the jump.
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The positive mail is overwhelming — thank you! This piece is close to my heart, and the compliments make my chilly SF-Victorian apartment much warmer! There are too many to put here, yaaayyyyyy!!!!
I’ve received three unhappy emails. One defends Rev. Haggard and attacks Andrea Dworkin (um, who?) and cites Wikipedia to support his argument (mmmmkay…).
Another tells me to “stick to sex columns” because talking about politics with sex will only “make it worse”, saying “By simplifying the accusation for our enemies, you actually worsen our stance by identifying SF values by the sex they imply. Tactical error of the highest sort. You engage in the accusation on its terms.” Yeah, being afraid to confront the suggested meaning in someone’s accusations is a great ploy, it’s worked so well so far… I wonder, when we finally get a politician or public pundit who’s not afraid to talk about sex without running for cover or hiding behind stereotypes or god, how on earth will they keep their power over us?
This guy also said, “Are you really a San Franciscan, or do you only know the white people?” I don’t take this douchey rhetoric too seriously, but what I do find funny is that the inspiration for this piece came from a conversation I had with Mark last friday. We were doing some rewiring and crawling around the SRL warehouse, talking about politics and San Francisco values. About how they really mean sex but how no one understands how fierce we are about it here because we’re all survivors. And also how SF values come from all these different kind of people moving to SF from all these different countries and walks of life, and even though everyone’s a different race and religion, we all somehow learn to live together as a community, valuing each other’s differences. Plus, I grew up here, so fuck off with that ‘real San Franciscan’ crap. We’re all real San Franciscans.
My favorite email — subject: Bill O’Reilly is a fine man! Text: YOU are the reason that Beer and Birth Control were invented!!
Well, considering how much beer and birth control I’ve consumed in my lifetime, this statement is entirely possible, though I’d hate to take credit for all the fun. I forwarded it to Hacker Boy and he replied, “No wonder you have so many fans! Like beer and birth control rock!”
