San Francisco did not show a lot of love for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and its sex-shaming CEO Michael Weinstein last week. I’ve used quite a bit of space in this column to highlight my personal disdain for an organization that spends more time guarding its profits and playing politics with porn and PrEP than serving the San Francisco community, but last week it seems like every else piled on.
Last Thursday, after years of debate (which I wrote about in May and June of 2014), the Planning Commission voted 4-1 against AHF’s attempts to expand its Castro pharmacy. Those who have previously spoken out against the expansion noted that the organization’s continued fight against the use of PrEP, which is a key part of San Francisco’s plan to get to zero new infections, made it a poor choice for the neighborhood and community.
Of equal if not greater significance was the action taken to oppose AHF’s 2016 condoms-in-porn ballot initiative by San Francisco’s local democratic party. Matt Dorsey, who is San Francisco’s only openly HIV-positive elected official, introduced a measure at last Wednesday’s DCCC meeting that strongly urged the California Democratic Party to oppose the Weinstein Adult Film Initiative.
Dorsey noted that the resolution, which was passed unanimously with the support of even the DCCC’s more moderate members, has as much to do with AHF’s un-scientific attack on PrEP as it does their ill-conceived ballot initiative:
“This isn’t simply referendum on condoms. It’s a dangerous over-reach that undermines public health and seeks to shut down the adult film industry. It’s also part of a dangerous narrative to stigmatize PrEP, and discredit the most important advance in HIV prevention we’ve seen in a generation. San Francisco is a globally-recognized leader on HIV/AIDS issues. This is a strong statement from San Francisco’s Democratic Party.”
This smackdown from two of the city’s most influential bodies clearly shows that if AHF wants to play ball in San Francisco, they better stop messing with two of our favorite P’s: PrEP and porn.
Speaking of playing ball in San Francisco, what else can the Super Bowl do to upset its “host” city? Right now it seems as if, as far as most San Franciscans are concerned, the only thing that the Super Bowl has going for it is that Tom Brady and his deflated balls won’t be one of the 1 million people coming into town.
From eminently defaceable statues to AirBnBs going for $40,000, to the Embaradero Trafficgeddon to supervisors asking for our money back, it would be hard to imagine anything more going awry before the big game. But there’s a week until the actual game so I’m sure that we’ve got at least a dozen snarky headlines left.
To me, the greatest annoyance about the entire thing is the fact that San Francisco is doing anything at all for a league and team that just walked out on us. For some reason, our city leaders lapped up the opportunity to host this year’s Super Bowl, despite it being played in a stadium 49 miles south of here that is owned by a team who spurned their home of more than 60 years for taxpayer-funded Peninsula digs in Santa Clara. That’s basically like your husband divorcing you and then you begging to host the wedding reception for his new nuptials a year later. WTF SF!?
While I didn’t mention it above, the city’s continued attack on homeless San Franciscans in an effort to put forth a squeaky clean image for Super Bowl cameras is easily the big game’s biggest tragedy. Recent sweeps to remove the tents that are keeping our homeless neighbors dry during the wettest winter in decades, and reports of encampments being doused with hoses at 3am are truly an expression of what is worst about our city. We’ve created a crisis where entire families are being forced onto the streets and now we’re even taking away the thin sheath of plastic that they use to stay dry at night. It’s reprehensible.
A small glimmer of hope has appeared, though, in the form of a Go Fund Me Campaign started by Shaun Osborn that in just a matter of days has raised over $15,000 to help purchase new tents to replace the ones that the city has taken away. Thus far nearly 500 San Franciscans have given $5, $10 or $20 to help put another roof over our less fortunate neighbors’ heads. These small act of selflessness and community cohesion are what San Francisco is all about and say far more about us than how big our Super Bowl fireworks display is.
