Director John Cameron Mitchell discusses his new film with the B.A.R.
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Census figures show that San Francisco is likely to lose a state Senate seat.
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Falling down a ‘Rabbit Hole’
– ut e s. in al ko n l on ec r o ers Ch rte p po nd Re , a a s re fied y A ssi Ba cla he ts, s t ar It’ s, w ne
Reshuffling legislative districts
see Arts
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BAYAREAREPORTER
Vol. 40
. No. 51 . 23 December 2010
Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
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Retired Navy Commander Zoe Dunning, second from left, and former Marine Staff Sergeant Eric Alva look on as President Barack Obama signs the bill repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Wednesday morning.
Patsy Lynch
DdDdD Making spirits bright
atrick Carney and Hossein Sepas decorate the leafless bushes surrounding the Circle of Remembrance in the National AIDS Memorial Grove as part of a public holiday tree decorating party. The December 18 event included caroling by members of the St. Francis Lutheran Church choir.
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by Lisa Keen ollowing a dramatic and eloquent speech, President Barack Obama on December 22 signed the legislation that will launch the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a 17-year-old law that prohibits gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. “This is done,” Obama said, looking up and
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slapping his hand on the table. The crowded auditorium in an Interior Department building in Washington, D.C., erupted with cheers and applause. And while repeal of the anti-gay DADT policy is not immediate by Wednesday’s bill signing, it is the culmination of legislative action required for the policy to be dismantled.
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Rick Gerharter
Obama signs DADT repeal bill
Milk’s nephew files trademarks City for famous relative’s name report blasts T SF Pride blistering assessment of San Francisco’s LGBT Pride Celebration Committee emerged from the city controller’s office this week, showing that the organization’s board failed to act in a “timely” Nikki Calma manner as a debt of $225,000 mounted, and that it now has “inadequate” operating reserves. “Despite substantial negative balances on profit and loss statements as well as repeated treasurer’s report statements on tight cash flow, board members did not recognize the financial problems of the organization and therefore did not take timely action,” the office of Controller Ben Rosenfield said in a report released Tuesday, December 21. The report came in the form of a seven-page memorandum. Among other things, the controller’s office recommends that Pride repay its debt and rebuild reserves; Pride’s board should be responsible for meeting yearly fundraising goals and get training to gain better fi-
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Rick Gerharter
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Gabriel Haaland speaks about the failure of the Human Rights Campaign to include transgender protections in their lobbying efforts for a non-discrimination employee rights law during a protest at the site of Harvey Milk’s camera store and organizing center in the 1970s. The December 18 demonstration was held to protest the implementation of San Francisco’s new sit/lie ordinance and the planned relocation of the Human Rights Campaign action center and store to the site.
wanted to ensure that the sale of Milk merchandise would benefit the Harvey B. Milk Foundation, which he helped form last year. “In terms of the personality rights, the family controls that. But it varies in the United States by every state. So each state has different laws on how long the personality right lasts,” said Milk. “What we have done, in terms of the family, we have done the extra step of trademarking Harvey Milk’s name and image.” Milk, who lives in Wilton Manors, Florida, has retained the services of Ava K. Doppelt, a Florida board certified intellectual property law attorney, to help him with the trademark process. He is only seeking trademarks for Milk’s name and has not tried to trademark his famous
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quote “You gotta give ‘em hope.” “Harvey Milk has been dead a long time. There is a lot of stuff out there already. What we are going to try to do is rein it back in,” said Doppelt. “People see that and think it has something to do with the foundation and it doesn’t. We want to make sure anyone who uses the name or image of Harvey Milk is doing it with our knowledge, approval and, ultimately, control.” Doppelt added that it would clear up any confusion among consumers of who is benefiting when they buy Milk merchandise. “The effort here is to make sure nobody is misled or confused about who stands behind the Harvey Milk name,” she said.
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by Seth Hemmelgarn
he fracas over the Human Rights Campaign’s plan to move into the late Supervisor Harvey Milk’s old camera shop in the Castro has raised questions about who owns the gay rights leader’s legacy three decades after his rise to power in San Francisco. It has also brought to the fore who holds the copyright to Milk’s name and image, for HRC plans to sell Milk branded merchandise and donate portions of the proceeds to several local groups. Who can claim they are carrying on the work started by Milk, the first openly gay person elected to public office in a major U.S. city, in the mid-1970s will likely be an ongoing argument for as long as there is an LGBT movement. As for who can legally profit off of his memory, that question has a more finite answer. Milk’s openly gay nephew, Lawrence Stuart Milk, who generally goes by his middle name, filed trademarks on March 24 with the United States Patent and Trademark office to control the use of Milk’s name on alcoholic products and various articles of clothing, from shirts and swimwear to underwear and lingerie. According to the trademark office, the period for opposition to the application is now closed. The office has issued what is known as a Notice of Allowance to Stuart Milk, who has six months to file a statement of use with the trademark office. Until that document is received, the trademark will not be officially registered. Harvey Milk’s family has also filed for trademark rights with the European Union. It already controls the publicity or personality rights to his name for commercial uses on a state-by-state basis. And under U.S. trademark law, the family already has the right to make trademark claims on the use of Milk’s name. In a recent interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Stuart Milk said he decided to pursue the federal trademarks to secure greater protection over the use of his famous uncle’s name. He also
Rick Gerharter
by Matthew S. Bajko