By Ramy Eletreby

California Marriage Case Headed for State Supreme Court

On Nov. 6, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco refused to reconsider its Oct. 5 ruling that gays and lesbians have no right to marry under the California Constitution. According to Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which represents 12 same-sex couples whose 2004 marriages at San Francisco City Hall were nullified, the case now heads to the state Supreme Court.

“We believe the California Supreme Court will take the case, since the issue is so important,” Minter told IN Los Angeles magazine. “We are very hopeful that the California Supreme Court will do the right thing and hold that lesbian and gay couples must be permitted to marry. The Court of Appeal essentially ducked the issue by holding that there is no California precedent on this issue, which is of course true since this is the first case in which same-sex couples in California have sought the right to marry. As the highest state court, however, the California Supreme Court will have the final word on whether our state constitution permits the government to bar an entire class of people from such an important right.” - Karen Ocamb

Harrison’s Peace March Draws Thousands

On Oct. 28, openly gay KTLK AM-1150 radio host Harrison of Harrison on the Edge lead a Parade for World Peace: One Human Family through Hollywood to West Hollywood’s Plummer Park. Marching alongside Harrison, who organized the event, was Arun Gandhi, the 72-year-old grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Also participating were celebrities including Levar Burton, David Arquette, Darryl Hannah, Sally Kirkland and peace mom Cindy Sheehan. “Our Harrison’s Hollywood Peace Parade was beyond our dreams,” Harrison told IN. “Interestingly, this peace walk has now turned into a growing worldwide movement through the United Nations.”

Leslie Jordan Uninvited to Promote Del Shores’ Plays on Tennessee TV Show

After inviting Tennessee native Leslie Jordan and Delta Burke to appear on Nashville’s Talk of the Town Nov. 10 to promote the touring productions of Del Shores’ Southern Baptist Sissies and Sordid Lives, producer Tuwanda Coleman rescinded the invitation.

“Sorry, but after closely reviewing the subject matter of the two plays written and directed by Del Shores I have decided that it would not be in the best interest of Talk of the Town to have an actor come on the show to discuss the plays. We are dealing with a very conservative viewership who I feel would be offended by the show's titles and their topics,” Coleman wrote in an e-mail to Shores’ publicist on Oct 20.

“My plays are about finding strength in who you are and there is no way I can come to town and hide, pretending this did not occur,” said Shores in a statement. “If Tyler Perry’s stars were uninvited on a talk show due to the ‘black’ subject matter of his plays, people would be screaming racism so fast your head would spin. But somehow, it's still okay to discriminate against gays. This is blatant homophobia!”

L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center Launches Latest Campaign at Awards Dinner

The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center unveiled ads from the latest phase of its successful HIV Stops With Me campaign with a launch party at the first annual Make a Difference awards on Nov. 9 at The Village at Ed Gould Plaza.

The new I Am the Cure ads are the third phase within the praised HIV Stops With Me campaign and are less controversial than the HIV Is a Gay Disease campaign. The I Am the Cure ads feature HIV-positive people speaking candidly about their roles and responsibilities in ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. They are real people who live in the L.A. area and represent the unique challenges, hopes, fears and successes in preventing the further spread of HIV. Through the campaign, the spokespeople share their diverse experiences and opinions about living with HIV and how they are leading the effort to end new infections. The campaign will include billboards, ads on buses and in local gay publications, and posters in clubs, bars and restaurants throughout the L.A. area.

The Make a Difference event was hosted by out actor and Center board member Peter Paige (Queer as Folk), and paid tribute to five LGBT advocates in the L.A. area for their contributions to the community. Awards went to West Hollywood City Councilmember John Duran, actor Chad Allen, Strength in Numbers founder Bryan Levinson, Black AIDS Institute founder Phill Wilson and Karina Samala, current Empress of the local Imperial Court. For more information, see www.hivstopswithme.org.

S.F. Mayor Considers Canceling Halloween in Castro

On Halloween in San Francisco, nine revelers were shot and one suffered head injuries after a fight broke out in the famed Castro district. According to Sgt. Neville Gittens of the San Francisco Police Department, the altercation happened shortly after 10:30 p.m. when two groups of about 30 teenagers and young adults clashed, the Los Angeles Times reported. After one person was hit over the head with a bottle, another pulled out a handgun and started shooting.

This is not the first time the Halloween festival has seen such a dispute. At the 2002 celebration, four people were stabbed, 30 were arrested, and a reveler even brought a chain saw to the party. Though security has been increasingly tightened since 2002, last July Supervisor Bevan Duffy recommended that the celebration be canceled due to safety concerns. Now, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is considering the same thing.

“What was once very much a community event has changed. That needs to be considered when planning. But when you have a single bad actor in a crowd of over 200,000 people, something bad is bound to happen,” said Jennifer Petrucione, spokeswoman for Newsom.

San Francisco School Board Poised to End JROTC Program

Four members of the seven-member San Francisco Board of Education are seeking to end the district’s relationship with the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC), citing as reasons the U.S. Military’s persecution of gays and a desire to keep armed forces out of schools. “I don't think the military should be involved in civilian life,” said board member Dan Kelly, who served two years in prison for resisting the Vietnam War draft.

Seven high schools participate, including one for the Navy and six for the Army, in the JROTC program, attracting about 10 percent of students. According to an annual Army survey, about 30 seniors in the district’s programs become interested in pursuing military service after high school.

The program costs nearly $1.6 million per year. The military pays half the salaries of 15 instructors ($586,000), who are retired military personnel rather than certified teachers, while the district pays the other half of salaries and an extra $394,000 in benefits.

The proposal is set to go before the board on Nov. 14 and would phase out the 1,600-student program after two years, with no new cadets added after this semester.

WeHo Launches End Hunger Campaign

On Nov. 6, the West Hollywood City Council kicked off a Campaign to End Hunger and Food Insecurity in West Hollywood, a public-private sector collaboration.

Part of the campaign is “feeding the homeless and making sure that no child goes to school hungry,” Project Angel Food Executive Director John Gile told IN. Project Angel Food serves about 1,300 people with life-threatening illnesses a day, about 100 of whom live within the boundaries of West Hollywood. “It’s a very noble challenge and we think we can accomplish this.”

The Rev. Mark Stuart of St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church/Hollywood told IN that the parish began responding to the needs of the hungry 10 years ago with a feeding program, with funding assistance from the city. “We are a small program, but pleased to be collaborating with other agencies that are fighting hunger,” Stuart said.

Meanwhile, AIDS Project Los Angeles is commemorating the 20th anniversary of its vital Necessities of Life Program (NOLP), APLA’s Justin Burke told IN. The program provides more than 100,000 free bags of groceries per year through nine locations around L.A. County. NOLP clients receive bilingual nutrition education, counseling on their drug regimens, and advice on how to advocate for themselves with health-care providers.

For more information on the End Hunger Campaign, call Mayor John Heilman’s office at (323) 848- 6460. For Project Angel Food call (323) 845-1800 or visit www.projectangelfood.org. For St. Thomas, call (323) 876-2102 or www.saintthomashollywood.org. For NOLP, call (213) 201-1600 or visit www.apla.org/programs/nolp.html.

Publicist Kim Garfield Dead at 72

Beloved publicist Kim Garfield died Oct. 31 after complications from surgery, Playbill reported. She was 72. Known for her smoker’s voice and deep love for entertainers, Garfield worked as a press agent, Outfest publicity director (1989-1993), a freelance writer, and a PR/advocate for small theaters such as The Fountain Theatre, Deaf West Theatre, Interact Theatre Company and A Noise Within, for which the L.A. Weekly gave Garfield its Queen of the Angels Award in 2001. A memorial will be held at the Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave, Hollywood on Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. For more information, call (323) 663-2235.