Way out West
Christopher Hitchens
San Francisco
Gay politics in America are becoming recognised as a serious force. The homosexual constituency, which is concen- trated principally in New York, San Fran- cisco and Washington, can provide money, votes and propaganda on a scale which few aspiring candidates can afford to ignore. A recent Gay Rights fund-raising dinner in New York attracted the sponsorship of several famous politicians, including the former vice-president, Walter Mondale. None of the Senators actually showed up, disappointing the hordes of cameramen and gossip columnists who were waiting for them. But at the Democratic Convention it is a safe bet that the gay caucus will be im- portant and well-organised. These days, homophobia is at a discount.
Homosexuals tend to congregate in cer- tain well-defined areas, such as the West Village in New York City or the Castro district of San Francisco. Mostly, they are a boon to the inner city. If a couple are both Working, and have no child-rearing ex- penses or demands on the public school system, they can generate enough income to finance the renovation of old houses, the reopening of abandoned cinemas and theatres and the proliferation of little bars and restaurants. As a result, entire swathes of the American urban landscape have been saved from the developers, the demolition crews or the gruesome inner city wasteland. Add to this prosperity the inevitable esprit de corps of an embattled minority, and you have a considerable lobby. It must be said, though, that elements of the bizarre con- tinue to flourish alongside the new respect- ability and domestication. San Francisco is Currently undergoing a most extraordinary Political spasm. The story begins on 27 November 1978, when the mayor the the city, George Moscone, was shot dead by the county supervisor, one Dan White. Also slain (as the American papers always put it) was another supervisor named Harvey Milk. Milk was the first self-proclaimed homosex- ual to be elected to public office in San Francisco, and Moscone defended him from his detractors (of whom Dan White Was only the most violent). But the effect of the assassination was not to slow the pro- motions of gays in the life of the city. Moscone was succeeded by Ms Diane Fein- stein, a long-time runner-up in mayoral elections who got her coveted post by literally stepping into a dead man's job. She replaced the murdered Harvey Milk with Harry Britt, a cheerful and energetic fellow who is not only an open homosexual but, even more rare and strange, a socialist. Britt was able to engage in some nimble political
coalition-building. For instance, he fought a long duel with the gay-bashing Police Of- ficers' Association, who were prepared to resist the idea of a civilian complaints com- mission to the very last ditch. But when the POA in its turn demanded a pay increase, Britt artfully offered them his support in ex- change for a deal on the review of com- plaints.
Things were moving along fairly smoothly and San Francisco was living up to its reputation as an ultra-tolerant if rather freaky city. Until last month, when gay politics and main-stream politics flew apart again. It could only happen in California, but it now looks as if Diane Feinstein's liberal regime will be damaged, perhaps irreparably, because of homosex- ual opposition to gun control.
Local statutes provide for the recall of elected officials if enough people can be found to sign a petition for a recall election. The White Panther party, which many peo- ple thought had died at the end of the Six- ties, has succeeded in collecting enough names on a petition to recall Diane Fein- stein. It objects to her because she is the first city mayor in America to pass a law . banning the personal ownership of hand- guns. Borrowing the exact language of the ultra-right National Rifle Association, the White Panthers say this is unconstitutional. They go one better in saying that it is `totalitarian and misogynistic'. They claim that women should be allowed to carry guns to ward off rapists, and that homosexuals should be allowed to carry them for protec- tion against the police. Their leader, Tom Stevens, has three years in San Quentin to his credit for waving guns at the cops, and seems determined to practise what he preaches.
Some 35,000 people have signed the recall petition, and the most generous estimate of White Panther membership is 15. How to explain the swell of support for this loony initiative? The answer is that Ms Feinstein recently vetoed a measure which would have given homosexual couples the same tax and welfare benefits as married couples. As a result, the petition picked up thousands of signatures in the Castro district of town, where cropped heads and moustaches are de rigueur. To borrow a phrase from Warren Hinckle, the city's most famous radical journalist and the man who steered Ramparts magazine through the spicy and turbulent Sixties, San Fran- cisco is becoming 'a treehouse for adult delinquents'.
The cost t6 the city of this frivolous recall election will be nearly half a million dollars — extraordinary when one reflects that Ms Feinstein is in any case up for re-election in November. It is an open secret that she hopes to be the Democratic vice- presidential candidate next year, and con- servatives in California darkly allege that she is secretly pleased at this opportunity to take on the ultra-left. Some even hint that she may have colluded in the fiasco in order to give herself a more moderate and states- womanlike image.
A temporary truce is, however, in sight. This weekend the royal yacht Britannia will drop anchor on the West Coast, and every public figure, with the exception of the leader of the White Panthers, is fawning for an invitation.
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