July 28, 2006
Castro Halloween Cancellation Update!
We've been closely following this strange attempt by Bevan & Friends to put a stop to Halloween parties in the Castro -- including private house parties. Check out the coverage of Bevan's Wednesday meeting on our Party-Party friends' site; party member Adam reports that the meeting was populated mostly by businesspeople, not residents, and that the primary complains were that revelers relieved themselves in locations other than restrooms, that hate crimes were possible (the evidence presented for this argument was that there were gay bashings at 2006's Pride), that house parties were too unruly and should be discouraged, and that the event wasn't gay enough. Yes that's right, people actually said that. Castro Halloween should be cancelled because there are too many straight people attending. Whereas gays, as we know, are all so terribly well-behaved. Next item on the agenda: cancelling the Fourth of July because someone saw some foreigners standing near an American flag.
Alix Rosenthal is running against Bevan this year for supervisorship of District 8, and we asked her to comment on this strange state of affairs. She replied to us that she opposed cancelling the parties: "First, I think that 'cancelling' the event will not work to dissuade people from coming there. Efforts to move it to Civic Center have failed in the past."
After the jump: more Alix! Plus, more pithy remarks from us, and we pose a query to you, the reader.
Alix continued, "I view Halloween in the Castro as a celebration of our wonderful, predominantly gay neighborhood. It is a gathering that has happened for decades, with or without official involvement. It is one of the events that has helped make the Castro what it is today - a creative and colorful place. It is a shame that a small number of outsiders have turned it into an outlet for destructive behavior. I have spoken with residents who fear a 'backlash' against the Castro if the City attempts to cancel Halloween, in the form of even more violence against residents. ... If we hold a substitute event, and stretch our emergency services too thin on Halloween night, it could be disastrous."
So, what does she propose to stem what violence and messiness does occur during the Halloween parties? "Capt. John Goldberg said [at Wednesday's meeting] that crowds get dangerous when no entertainment or direction is provided. ... If we provide adequate entertainment, or if we change it into a parade like the Village Halloween in New York, it will keep troublemakers distracted, or at least it will keep them from developing a following. ... We need to end the party at a specific time, probably midnight or 2am. Ways to end the party are street sweepers, stadium lights, mellow music from the stages."
She also recommends that it be a ticketed event. "I suggest a relatively low cost ($10-$15), but definitely a higher cost for those not in costume. At the meeting yesterday, everyone agreed that the troublemakers at Halloween in the Castro are the spectators, not the folks in costume. ... Also -- and this is very important -- the neighborhood residents and merchants should receive an ample supply of free tickets."
We find ourselves torn on this topic -- yeah, it sucks that people are peeing outside of the portapotties, and it's utterly bizarre and terrible that there are fights every year. Castro Halloween really isn't even our cup of tea; our idea of a good time is sitting down with a book and some chamber music, possibly while wearing an ascot, and we've been avoiding the yearly melee since we last attended in 2002.
But.
An awful lot of people seem to place an awful lot of importance on these parties. Like, thousands of people. And the same arguments have been employed to try to shut down Pride, and Dore Alley, and movie night in Delores Park, and jazz fests, and there's something about the whole "I don't mind people having fun, as long as they do it somewhere else" argument that makes us feel like we're listening to Bert on Sesame Street. Surely, there must be a way to Have a Safe, Clean Halloween. Hey, that rhymes! Looks like we just found ourselves a slogan.
SFist readers: what are your suggestions for making Halloween Safe & Clean?
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My suggestion?
Move it to a city that is less overwhelmingly run by xenophobes and professionally provincial gadflies.
Seriously, has there been a single large even this year that people havent tried to cancel?
The "democratic" process in SF is severly broken.
Why must there be one single party?
What if it were broken up into a few parties around the city? I'd think the upper haight could pull off a fun party. The idea of ticketing is interesting, but wouldn't that just discourage outsiders from coming?
The Party Party has seems to have made it their mission to "Dump Dufty" so I'd be wary of how they stated that home and business owner didn't think it was "gay enough" so much as it pretty much has no gay representation at all.
Last year nearly every business had a sign saying they would be closing early because of Halloween and for the last two years I've been invited to parties (by gays) outside the castro to escape the mayhem. The Castro does know how to throw a party and welcome everyone as evidenced by the huge out the saturday before halloween last year in the Halloween, which straights and gays seem to know was when to be there, without the need for barricades or police.
Those who want the Castro party = people who do not live permanently in the Castro/area. New to the city-Renters must love it.
I haven't done the Halloween at the Castro thing in years, but I remember that when you're young and just move to the city, Halloween at the Castro is THE thing to do. It was one of the things that made this city. I also remember it always being a hell of a lot of fun, although my, ahem, level of sobriety was not quite all there. I also realize that it's not quite the same as it was.
That being said, I also remember several attempts at banning it over the years and it never quite succeeding because people just did it anyways, they just did it without all the official fanfare. Something I always thought was pretty cool, actually.
You can't keep a good party down.
This post points out the dire need SFist has for a queer writer to gain any cred as a voice for San Francisco. This blog really should be called SFStraight. Maybe you should interview some QUEER CASTRO RESIDENTS for your inflammatory pieces rather than "Party Party" or a straight woman from Noe Valley. Partying friendly straights are certainly welcome, but let's not forget that it's a CASTRO (read QUEER) party and straights are basically guests. Look up the history of this event, if you need to.
I mean, if the crowd becomes primarily straight, non-costumed teens from Concord, then it is NO LONGER a CASTRO Halloween party. It's just a big street party on Halloween.. not fabulous anymore. And it's even less special if there are stabbings and assaults. I think most residents would agree that the idea of the party is great--- but it's not as fun as it used to be.
I don't want the fun to end either, but Bevan has a lot more cred on this issue than anyone in your article... I mean, talk about a fabulous partier! I hope you give him some equal time.
“Party member Adam” must have gone to a different meeting Wednesday night--everyone there was a resident or a resident businessperson. I sat right behind Alix Rosenthal (and had the unfortunate displeasure of having to look at her tattooed butt crack for an hour and a half) and she did not say one single word during the entire meeting--so much for her contribution to public health and safety. And for her understanding of how disconnected this “event” has become from the Castro and San Francisco.
Halloween in the Castro isn’t a “cultural event.” It’s hundreds of thousands of straights coming from outside San Francisco looking to get drunk and for trouble. The peeing, pooping, and vandalism is just the tip of the iceberg.
Pin a medal on Supervisor Dufty for finally realizing that’s it’s time to throw in the towel and put an end to this.
Pride, Dore Alley (and Folsom), movie night in Dolores Park, jazz fest—all these events have broad community support and are organized and supported by volunteers. Not so Halloween, unless you’re volunteering to come to the Castro and tear it down.
Stop the madness.
I object to the idea that the Castro belongs to "gays" (I'm sorry, but the Castro belongs to all SF residents. It doesn't belong to queers any more than the Marina belongs to straights. SF belongs to all of us. Get over yourself.)
HOWEVER, I also agree that the Castro Halloween, with its origins as predominately a gay event should be able to stay true to its roots while be relevant to the present. (A present in which, thankfully, gay folk don't need to live in a gay ghetto in order to be safe and enjoy their lives)
Currently, I agree that the Castro Halloween has devolved into a minor mayhem where lots of outsider suburbanites comes to get trashed and wind up trashing the neighborhood. It also seems to attract a small, but unfortunate, gay-bashing contingent, either from outside the City, or, quite frankly, from other parts of SF itself. (Its not just white suburban teens I've seen causing trouble; I've seen grounps of teens of color causing trouble as well.) And if Castro Halloween has become an event where the City's residents, including its gay resident, can no longer safely enjoy themselves, then yes, I think what Bevan is doing is appropriate.
And the above poster is right - Bevan is a LOT more popular in his district than SFist or SF Party Party believes.
For what it is worth, SFist comprises the blogging of lots of different people, some of whom are reputed homosexuals and all of whom have different opinions (or more frequently, lack thereof) regarding local political figures. So SFist itself doesn't have any ideas one way or the other about Bevan's popularity.
Dave makes an interesting point about the Castro belonging to straights just as much as gays. (And, it would follow, that the rest of the city belongs to gays just as much as straights.) That democratic spirit does seem in keeping with San Francisco's reputation for acceptance.
Did no one else ever read about the star bellied sneetches as a kid? Maybe you fell asleep before Mommy got to the end of the story?
I attended the meeting, I wrote up my impressions and also took photos. I didn't have a tape recorder but I heard "not gay enough" over and over from speakers AND Bevan Dufty. And I spoke up during the meeting about the "not gay enough" comments and Bevan even circled back around to address them. Some of the reader comments miss the real point of my objection just like meeting attendees did. Namely, intolerance or lack of acceptance based on sexuality hurts everyone, especially anyone in a minority grouping. So as soon as we entertain gays talking about Halloween being too straight, we are going to have to tolerate straights talking about too many gays at the Giants game. I mean as soon as Greg the gay sportscaster shows up and starts hooting and hollering for the hot men on the field, it destroys the character of the game. Right?!?! No, I do not think so. Anyone that can responsibly behave at a Giants game or Halloween in the Castro should be welcomed. Full stop, end of story.
You don't believe me that the group was older and more established than what I perceive to be the primary demographic of Halloween? Take a look at this pic and tell me if you are surprised these folks own businesses, homes and are no longer interested in dressing up to party with strangers in the streets. Strangers that might be wondering if they could be gay. Or strangers that might be thinking "hey, all this trash about gays is just that, I'm having a great time with great people".
http://www.pbase.com/adamaufdencamp/image/64161717
Again, anyone making assumptions about my sexuality or anyone elses as relevant for commenting on this issue is tremendously misguided. Do you need to accompany me to Dore Alley tomorrow before I'm allowed to comment on Castro Halloween? That's preposterous.
In direct response to Mike's comments. I was there. You heard me object to the notion that gays and straights should stick to their own neighborhoods and you heard me begin my comments by saying I moved to SF because of it's reputation for tolerance and diversity. Furthermore, I WILL BE at the SOMA community meeting when NIMBY residents there that own $900,000 one bedroom condos have had enough of watching naked gay men walk past their front door and want to shut it down. And I'll be fighting for the right of Folsom to exist and flourish then just like Halloween now.
If Bevan is so concerned about the incident he witnessed at Pride, why wasn't the meeting about CANCELLING PRIDE? Oh, it's still gay enough. There aren't too many bi's or transexuals attending yet to warrant shutting it down.
Halloween 2005 was 9 months ago. Why were there no hastily called "community" meetings 8 or 9 months ago to address such a serious problem? Where are the statistics on arrests for the major events in SF along with attendance figures to decide just which other events need to be cancelled?
Line up with your money and make sure you are in the group with the "right" label.
http://www.uulongview.com/sermons/bellies_with_stars.html
Bit of a double standard here, eh: Older/established = bad. Not the message from Dr. Suess exactly....
Talk the talk, walk the walk.
And there were neighborhood meetings with Supervisor Dufty last November and December about Halloween. Even the old, white farts would like to save it were it salvageable. It isn't. Alas.
QueerBoy
I was at a party in the mission last week and I believe a gay person was there. Does that mean they were a "guest" in the mission. Get serious.
Bevan Dufty's efforts to kill Halloween will put a nail in the coffin for every other public event in SF, including Pride, Folsom, Dore, North Beach Jazz Fest.... and on and on.
The SF Party Party will fight any nimby neighbors who try to shut down these other SF institutions, just as we will fight Bevan Dufty as he trys to cancel Halloween.
If the event is so dangerous, why is Bevan throwing around one incident that happened 5 years ago. Where are the stats/trends: citations, arrests, SF General activity. How does Halloween compare to other major events. Why is this discussion happening only now, right before an election where Dufty has lined up with the Nimbys.
This is just like Michela Alito-Pier killing a city college branch because "students will cause traffic"
Its no different than bitchy nimby neighbors getting the city to pull the alcohol permit
from North Beach Jazz Fest after 12 successful years
Its all the same discussion a vibrant city vs Nimby Sensibilities. If we let Dufty Kill halloween in the Castro, we wont be able to stop some yuppie dot comers from killing Folsom Street fair using every single same argument. The precedent here is putting suburbanite ideals over the priority of a healthy vibrant city.
Halloween is one night a year. It is a San Francisco legend. Lets make it fun and safe. And as queer as possible. Scaring off legitimate partiers with all of this hysterical rhetoric in the service of suburban nimby sensibilities will hurt us all in the long run.
Rock on
The San Francisco Party Party
-- like the green party, without the weird smell
---- like the democratic party, but without all that money
PS - yes, we do think that "Dumping Dufty" is priority number one. He has been consistently anti renter. In fact, voters overruled his vote to sustain Newsoms veto of eviction disclosure. He withheld the vote that would have over ridden Mayor Newsom's veto on a six month trial of car free space in Golden Gate Park. He opposed downtown residential parking reform. He has been on the wrong side of ALL FIVE of Newsom's vetos of progressive legislation. Dufty is a nice guy, but he is a disaster as a legislator. He is beholden to downtown interests and is NIMBY Panderer #1. Playing the humble castro shop keep is a distraction from the fact that he has completely turned his leglisative agenda over to downtown interests.
Halloween is just one more example of Bevan Dufty's efforts to suburbanize San Francisco.
Hmmmmmm: Dr. Suess seemed to leave out the part in which the fair-haired young Sneetch would have nothing to do with the gray-haired sort.
Sniff and snort.
If you’re going to talk the talk, walk the walk.
Supervisor Dufty also held community meetings in November/December about last Halloween.
Mike's comments have proven, again, that the message is being missed by him. A community meeting on cancelling Halloween in the Castro called with less than 48 hours notice that only includes older established business owners and home owners complaining that it's not gay enough is NOT representative of the San Francisco community. Nice try on the older=bad, it ain't working.
Oh, previous meetings were held on Halloween?
1) Why was the general tone, "we're throwing our hands in the hair and should just cancel things because it's around the corner and we don't know what else to do"? Previous meetings would imply to me that proposals had been discussed, researched and facts and plans would be on the table. No such approach was in evidence at that meeting. December to July is a big stretch, where are the accomplishments from that elapsed period of time?
2) I sat there with everyone else and heard Supervisor Dufty say that it was a Pride incident that pushed him over the edge. And he went on to describe that Pride incident. And he called out a police officer in attendance with a black eye from a Pride event. So I'll ask again, why wasn't the meeting about cancelling Pride? Headlines saying "Dufty Cancels Pride" wouldn't play as well because it is gay enough (for now). And yes, I'm 100% against cancelling Pride.
3) If Halloween is so dangerous, pushing it out of the Castro onto Embarcadero doesn't solve the problem.
I said it before and will say it again, where are the statistics from the SFPD that put this event into proper context? Is 4th of July more or less dangerous when you look at arrests per 1,000 attendees? I don't know just which large city events should be modified or cancelled because they are too dangerous. What I can tell you without question is that not a single event in the city should be on the chopping block because it's not gay enough or not straight enough.
You people are missing the point. Its not about gay or not gay. Its about neighbors killing fun.
Castro neighbors choose to tolerate gay events. Chinatown neighbors choose to tolerate chinese events. Thats not news.
The issue is what happens when neighbors dont want to tolerate something. What ever his reasons are Bevan Dufty is supporting the rights of the few over the rights of the many. This trend killed the ski jump in Pacific Heights. It may kill Halloween. And may one day kill pride, if straights decide its not worth the traffic hassle and enough 'been there seen that' gays don't care enough to step up and save the event.
These public events contribute to the character of San Francisco. One by one, they are under attack and thats too bad.
The only side Bevan Dufty is taking is the side he has always taken: the side of the people with money and power.
It has nothing to do, where he is concerned, with being gay or straight. Besides, he has his DOG, his BABY, his BABY'S MAMA, his HUSBAND, his EXPENSIVE HOUSE, and probably some chits to cash in after he leaves office, so why be surprised if he acts like every other white, NIMBY, upper middle class, square west of Twin Peaks?
Besides, what reason does any queer (or straight person for that matter) have to go to the Castro anymore?
There are (way) better clubs, bars, shopping, and restaurants in other parts of the city. Actually, when I think about it, there has always been...Hmmm.
Frankly, I've never met a cool anyone in the Castro - only tweakers, runaways, chickenhawks, poodles, sweater queens, and tourists.
Maybe that's why I never go myself.
Kevin's right that the Castro has it's problems. But to the neighborhood's credit, it's one of the most walkable places in the city, houses some very pleasant people, and is generally very tidy.
I don't generally enjoy serving compliments, but the negative tone of the comments has left me feeling obliged to make some positive statements. It does get a bit old, reading complaint after complaint without any constructive suggestions.
Queerboy,
Does that mean straight residents of the Castro are only guests? The Castro does not belong to the LGBT community. It is a symbol of gayness, but not a gay ghetto where straights are only "guests." Otherwise beware, this kind of closed-minded behavior could backlash, and soon enough the Gay Pride Parade will only be allowed to go through the Castro and Twin Peaks.
Get real, will you?
Some history here might be important.
The Castro became a gay enclave for middle-class Queers that were hoping to mainstream their way out of the older gay ghettos of Polk and South of Market. The gayborhood of the Castro (separate from the surrounding Eureka Valley area) is born of the bourgeois tendencies of one segment of the gay community that has existed since before Stonewall.
The main reason that Castro has survived is the reality that HIV hit the poorer (and marginalized) gay communities of Polk and South of Market disproportionately.
When the dust began to settle with the availability of combination therapy (or any therapy, actually) -- the Castro was the last group standing. These are the consequences of class and access to medical care.
From what I know, the Halloween party itself has moved and was original in the Polk. The rise of the movement to declare the Castro as the one and only gayborhood of SF seems to be a byproduct of the 90s, and was (and is) ignorant of 30 year plus previous history of gays in SF.
In terms of making the party more safe for the residents, (and I for one was someone that regularly found the safety of private parties much preferable to the chaos on the streets) SF could follow the more controlled lead of the Greenwhich Village halloween party and parade, which has much more clearly defined entrances and exists and is very closely monitored by a heavy police presence. My thinking is that this would probably not be in the spirit of San Francisco. And so in that way of thinking, if it can't be the ideal then it should be eliminated.
Unfortunately, that is probably about right.
Starchild asked me to post this comment for him, since he was getting an error message when he tried:
There are a lot of good comments being made here. Particularly this one
from Johnny:
"You people are missing the point. Its not about gay or not gay. Its about neighbors killing fun. Castro neighbors choose to tolerate gay events. Chinatown neighbors choose to tolerate chinese events. Thats not news. The issue is what happens when neighbors dont want to tolerate something. What ever his reasons are Bevan Dufty is supporting the rights of the few over the rights of the many. This trend killed the ski jump in Pacific Heights. It may kill Halloween. And may one day kill pride, if straights decide its not worth the traffic hassle and enough 'been there seen that' gays don't care enough to step up and save the event. These public events contribute to the character of San Francisco. One by one, they are under attack and thats too bad."
And this from Adam raises some very important questions:
"Why was the general tone [of a public meeting about the Halloween event], "we're throwing our hands in the hair and should just cancel things because it's around the corner and we don't know what else to do"? Previous meetings would imply to me that proposals had been discussed, researched and facts and plans would be on the table. No such approach was in evidence at that meeting. December to July is a big stretch, where are the accomplishments from that elapsed period of time? I sat there with everyone else and heard Supervisor Dufty say that it was a Pride incident that pushed him over the edge. And he went on to describe that Pride incident. And he called out a police officer in attendance with a black eye from a Pride event. So I'll ask again, why wasn't the meeting about cancelling Pride? Headlines saying "Dufty Cancels Pride" wouldn't play as well because it is gay enough (for now). And yes, I'm 100% against cancelling Pride. If Halloween is so dangerous, pushing it out of the Castro onto Embarcadero doesn't solve the problem. I said it before and will say it again, where are the statistics from the SFPD that put this event into proper context? Is 4th of July more or less dangerous when you look at arrests per 1,000 attendees? I don't know just which large city events should be modified or cancelled because they are too dangerous. What I can tell you without question is that not a single event in the city should be on the chopping block because it's not gay enough or not straight enough."
I also share Joe's eloquently expressed frustration at how San Francisco sometimes appears to be run by "xenophobes" and the "professionally provincial." (I differ slightly in that I would not call them gadflies, for the simple unfortunate reason that they constitute the political establishment.)
It is plain to see that the thousands of people who enjoy the Halloween party in the Castro every year, the overwhelming majority of whom do so responsibly, are under-represented in this so-called public process.
In the race for D8 Supervisor, incumbent Bevan Dufty is openly siding with those who are waging "war on fun" by seeking to shut down the event at 10:30 p.m.
Meanwhile Alix Rosenthal doesn't want to shut it down, but she wants those not fortunate enough to be in the politically privileged group who would get her free tickets to have to pay $10 or $15 each toattend, which she describes as a "relatively low cost." For her as a former self-described "highly paid corporate attorney" that may be true, but for many lower income people it is just another tax increase they cannot afford. For a street party held on public streets already paid for with taxpayer money, that is an outrageous price to have to pay.
If extending hospitality and a friendly welcome to those who live outside the Castro is important to you, and you don't want to spoil Halloween night for thousands because of the behavior of a few troublemakers, please consider making me your first choice vote for Supervisor.
[And just to reiterate: this was written by Starchild, not by me. --SFist_MattyMatt]
Send this to your city's reps. I no longer live in San Francisco, but make a point to gather friends and travel to the city for events such as Castro's Halloween. I was horrified to see that this year we may not be spending our tourist money in the city this year because of these absurd city officials. Boo. I have never been so scared of Halloween events!
Saturday was a blast in the castro, gay straight, young old, black/white yellow, all having fun, about 20,000 or so visitors, residents, renters home owners etc, but tuesday will not be like that, this thing has gotten too big. The person who said that gay people do not show up any more was probably trying to illustrate that the neighborhood basically heads for the hills. I am not sure that Bevans plans are going to work this year, but thankyou bevan for trying. All I here from Alix is "when I was at burningman" well Alix honey, so was I and it was a zillion miles form anywhere. It is easy to find fault with anything, but Alix and her crew are void of any serious ideas. I love to party but lets get serious, things cannot continue as is in the castro and Bevan is the only one doing anything about it.