More on Badlands-These Personal Attacks Must End
Breaking News:
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors today passed a unanimous resolution condemning discrimination at SFBadlands bar in the Castro, per the SF Human Rights Commission's April Finding, and urging City and State agencies to impose penalties on discriminatory bar owner Les Natali to the fullest extent of the law.
Click here to read an AP story about the Board's vote.
I was incredibly disappointed to read the quote from the Badlands attorney, Paul Melbostad. Needless to say, I understand that Paul is simply doing his job by representing his client Les Natali. And let me just say that Paul is an old friend who I have a lot of respect for because he has done a lot of good work, but I disagree that the supervisors voted for this resolution out of fear of being called a racist. I also disagree that the organizers behind this effort, And Castro for All, are on the take of another bar owner. Unless Paul has evidence that specifically proves either of these points, then he should apologize and retract these statements.
Maligning the motives of the organizers and second guessing what the motives are of the supervisors looks like and smells like a personal attack meant to undermine the legitimacy of what people are saying and doing. This is a disservice to our discourse on this subject and a disservice to our discourse in San Francisco. He has launched these accusations in several venues over the last couple of months and I believe these statements have simply added fuel to the fire and have worsened the conflict. No one is perfect in this regard, especially in San Francisco, but we must try and we can do better. An apology is a step in the right direction.
For more information about the Badlands case, or to join the movement for greater inclusion within the Bay Area LGBT community, please visit www.andcastroforall.org
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors today passed a unanimous resolution condemning discrimination at SFBadlands bar in the Castro, per the SF Human Rights Commission's April Finding, and urging City and State agencies to impose penalties on discriminatory bar owner Les Natali to the fullest extent of the law.
Click here to read an AP story about the Board's vote.
I was incredibly disappointed to read the quote from the Badlands attorney, Paul Melbostad. Needless to say, I understand that Paul is simply doing his job by representing his client Les Natali. And let me just say that Paul is an old friend who I have a lot of respect for because he has done a lot of good work, but I disagree that the supervisors voted for this resolution out of fear of being called a racist. I also disagree that the organizers behind this effort, And Castro for All, are on the take of another bar owner. Unless Paul has evidence that specifically proves either of these points, then he should apologize and retract these statements.
Maligning the motives of the organizers and second guessing what the motives are of the supervisors looks like and smells like a personal attack meant to undermine the legitimacy of what people are saying and doing. This is a disservice to our discourse on this subject and a disservice to our discourse in San Francisco. He has launched these accusations in several venues over the last couple of months and I believe these statements have simply added fuel to the fire and have worsened the conflict. No one is perfect in this regard, especially in San Francisco, but we must try and we can do better. An apology is a step in the right direction.
For more information about the Badlands case, or to join the movement for greater inclusion within the Bay Area LGBT community, please visit www.andcastroforall.org
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