By Tom Temprano
OCTOBER 3, 2104 — I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again — the 11th commandment is ‘don’t fuck with drag queens.’ Case in point: Facebook’s unprecedented apology for, and commitment to change, its ‘real name’ policy – an apology and reversal that came after a group of local drag queens and community activists launched a crusade against the policy that has existed for years. I have to call this nothing short of a miracle.
Only a few weeks ago this policy was one that largely flew under the radar and had received much less criticism than it deserved. That was until someone decided to fuck with drag queens. As drag queen after drag queen had their profiles flagged for violating the policy they got angry, they organized and they fought back.
Fast forward to yesterday’s miracle – drag queens standing on the steps of City Hall alongside Supervisor David Campos, who negotiated on behalf of the community to change this policy, as Facebook’s Chief Product Officer Chris Cox apologized to the assembled drag community for how the policy had been used and laid out the company’s plans to fix everything from the way that profiles are flagged to the removal of the phrase ‘legal name’ from every nook and cranny of the website’s policies.
I have heard skepticism from members of the community who feel that Facebook has no plans to live up to its end of the bargain and I understand the skepticism. Users have had their accounts shut down for not using their real names for years – why would they expect it to change now?
As someone who was in the room at Wednesday’s meeting with Chris Cox and other executives at Facebook headquarters and who was also present at Thursday’s rally where Chris again apologized, I’m asking you to do what I’m doing (which is something I can’t believe I’m recommending of a large corporation like Facebook): trust them. That’s right, trust them.
The folks from Facebook in the room Wednesday apologized, listened earnestly, and affirmed their commitment to work hard to fix everything. Most responsible for my trust is the fact that I’ve had the chance to meet a number of gay, lesbian and transgender Facebook employees who have a passion to fix this policy that is unparalleled. They are the people who have been pushing their company to do right and they are the ones whom we should have the faith in to see this through.
Plus, if Facebook starts to shirk away from its commitments you can bet that the 11th Commandment will keep them honest.
As I noted in last week’s Tom’s Town, the Conway/Hoffman Independent Expenditure Express has again refueled – this time to the tune of $300,000. It comes as no surprise that already my Facebook feed is awash with the same disturbing ads that graced the ‘Hold Campos Accountable’ smear campaign that the two tech titans bankrolled during the primary. I ignored the ads for a day or two but finally my anger and curiosity got the best of me so I clicked through to see the comments. So today’s $300,000 question is just how many comments slamming your ads can $300,000 buy?
Here are a few of my favorites:
“Do you mean the same David Campos who is endorsed by the California National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood Action, San Francisco Women’s Political Committee (SFWPC)? The same David Campos who is working on the only localized equal pay for equal work legislation in the country, created strong laws to protect patients from harassment as they enter women’s clinics, helped to pass a domestic workers bill of rights to emulate Tom Ammiano’s bill in Sacramento, secured 2.1 million for the unaccompanied minors, closed the loophole where employers were stealing Healthy San Francisco money from their employees, secured funding for domestic violence services that are culturally sensitive to the needs of all women, among other legislation that helps women and families?
That David Campos? Oh, I’m totally holding him accountable this November, because I want a real champion for women in Sacramento.”
“Disgusting tactic from a candidate’s supporters who know they have no real issues to run on. Character counts. You can judge a candidate by the company he keeps. Chiu suffers by connection to these creeps.”
“Bull-to-the-SHIT. We see through you, you money hungry vultures !!!
CAMPOS FOR THE PEOPLE !!!!!”
And my favorite because it demonstrates how tactically useless these ads are:
“How?”
This Sunday marks 40 years since Harvey Milk started the Castro Street Fair. The fair, which by his own admission he founded to entertain himself, has certainly blossomed into something that far exceeded his initial vision but still bears quite a bit of his influence. Case and point the pie-tossing booth that we at the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club will be hosting all afternoon long.
Harvey loved for there to be games at the fair. Unfortunately, his favorite game – a dunk tank – would be a bit irresponsible in light of California’s drought so we’re going with an equally interactive and more water-conscious alternative that also happened to have the Harvey stamp of approval. From 11-6 you can line up to cream a list of folks that include local politcos (like David Campos and aspiring D10 Supervisor Tony Kelly), drag queens (such as newly crownded Duchess Roxy-Cotten Candy, Persia and Vivvyanne ForeverMORE) and of course yours truly.
