Gay marriage is finally happening. It’s full circle on something that I’ve been working on since 2004 when I worked on the Georgian’s Against Discrimination campaign in Georgia. I have to thank all the people who fought long and hard for it here in California. After 2004 I was rather burned out on gay marriage… well, politics in general really. I told myself that I didn’t believe in marriage anyway, but now that it’s here… the excitement in the air sparkles. Brian and I are thinking about tying the knot before November.
Jeff Parker and his partner Jim are my first wedding clients, getting married on 8th of July at Frank Lloyd Wrights Marin County Center. Exciting!
For those of you who did not get a chance to see the announcement, I have a few pictures from San Francisco City Hall.
I was also down there on Monday to take pictures of the first few couples getting hitched. It was nowhere near the madhouse that it was in 2004, when hundreds of couples tried to squeeze through city hall before the state revoked their marriage licenses. Monday was well scripted and well prepared for. Marriages were by appointment only: 8 every half-hour. There was a fleet of judges were on duty all day to speed up the process. There was only one Fred-Phelps-like Christian protester across the street. Practically every wide-open space in city hall was being used in some part of the marriage process. I was totally surprised by how many couples brought children with them.
Below is a collection of my flickr photos of the first few couples getting hitched.
A few stories that I loved where:
Kory O’Rourke and Kate Sheppard were at city hall four years ago, and #2 in line. This time they’ve got a little more of a handful with Keaton and Korbyn in tow.
David Bowers and Brucie Ivie are finally tying the knot. They met at Badlands 27 years and 3 months ago… found an apartment together 7 days later. And they’re not even lesbians!
Some of my photos got into Reuters YouWitness photos of the week. Not sure how long the link will work, but here it is.
A small gaggle of pro-war teenagers stood at the Civic Center grounds while thousands protested the 5th Anniversary of the Iraq War. The group eventually had to move across the street to avoid confrontation; but not before I caught the boys in mid-kiss.
And Cindy Sheehan was there as well, in a campaign to oust Nancy Pelosi.
Link to Cindy’s Campaign.
Also seen was a pot-smoking Santa, a cop who seems to have had his head replaced by a frowny-face… and other protest characters…
Link to location on Google Maps.
My camera died while taking photos at Trannyshack. Really bummed, cause I can’t afford a new one.
If you’ve enjoyed my photos in the past and would like to help me buy a new camera, enjoy the gift of generosity and donate to my paypal account.
KumaSF highlights the IBR weekend with
SugarKrash. Dj’s were
DJ Rotten Robbie, 50pound Note,
Freddie: King of Pants, Bun-D,
Agent Adam,
DJ Dann Edomond,
LUVSIK,
DJ Boyshapedbox and DJ Medic.
The highlight of the evening, of course was Tiffany.
Tiffany, Tiffany, Tiffany… You showed up in a room full(mostly) of
KumaSF bears, and sang your heart out. I was particularly tickled when you entreated the audience to ”Sing Along!” to a song in which no one knew the words. You were a treat to photograph, and such a good sport. And I will never forget those pants.
And when you left the building, I was happy that there was a drag-queen replica of you to act as a stand-in for fan photos.
Thank goodness everyone looked queer as hell in the receiving line.
The links you’ve all been looking for:
Gallery of the whole nights festivities (or
slideshow).
For those of you not acquainted with Tiffany, I found an amazing fan(I think) site. There are some crazy ass quotes in the quotes section on Tiffany.org
This was sooo f’ing true. Glad the last day is today!
Once again I set up a photo booth at
Bearracuda at Le
Deco Lounge. A pot of smokies, frosted animal crackers, cheap drinks, wall to wall man-fur, and a sure-thing basement.
Smoooooooshface pictures were completely inspired by
Fred-the-Plummer and
Jonno.
Link to the entire gallery of images from that night. (or a
slideshow)
Cute little Dylan (
Livejournal page )
And who could have a Bearracuda without Dickie (his
livejournal, and
boyshapedbox.com)
Large speakers were set up at the corner of Market Street and Castro to broadcast
Gus Van Sant’s voice, directing another scene from “Milk”. There were a large number of extra’s on the street as both Sean Penn and Emile Hirsch hopped up on a box, yelling over the crowd with a megaphone. Gus’s voice continually boomed, “More pantomime!”, “Less Pantomime”, “could the drag queen in the front please lower her hair”, while set workers moved through the crowd removing misspelled signs.
Sean Penn
(IMBD LINK) with megaphone playing Harvey Milk.
Emile Hirsch
(IMDB LINK) as Cleve Jones. Aside from being Harvey Milk’s intern, Cleve is known for conceiving the NAMES project AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Clevejones.com
And the two talking between takes.
Link to my Flickr Set “OMG: They’re making a movie in the Castro”
Link to photos tagged with “Harvey Milk Movie”
Some great background information from Towleroad
Link
Coverage from Slashfilm.com
Link
Oh the fun that can be had with a piece of plexiglass! Especially when you have cute little cubs and bears to smoosh against it. Thanks to
Fred-the-Plumber for the idea, and
Jonno D’Adario for the word “smoooosh” (expandable with infinite o’s). I’ll be at Bearracuda next Saturday for IBR doing the same thing. Thanks to everyone who participated.
Full-sized
gallery of Smooooshfaces.
iPhone-sized Gallery (320pix X 480pix)
Latest Entries
- Gay Marriage at the Capitol
- Teenage Pro-War Hawks Protest the Protest… and then turn gay
- Viagra ascii art
- 30
- Tiffany works a crowd of Kuma Bears: KumaSF IBR2008 SugarKrash
- LOLplanet
- Another Bearracuda, another crockpot of smokies gone - IBR 2008 weekend
- Gus Van Sant’s voice looms over the castro like the Wizard of Oz
- Smoooooshface: Bearracuda iPhone shots
- San Francisco from above at Kite Hill