California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation today that would require state schools in include gay history in the curriculum. "The legislation, authored by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, was approved in the Legislature along party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. The governor's office announced this morning that Brown had signed the bill," reports Sacramento Bee. This would include queer studies, if you will, into social sciences along with education about "disabilities and members of other cultural groups." more ›

As the California Redistricting Commission prepares to release their first draft of the latest district lines for state senate seats, the Examiner is wringing their hands over what could become of our two San Francisco Senators. As you know, Leland Yee currently holds court over the western half of the city while Mark Leno claims the eastern portion along with parts of San Mateo, Marin and Sonoma counties. If the Redistricting Comission follows through on their proposal to consolidate San Francisco's two districts, we stand to lose a lot of sway in the state government. Or, to put it in terms of metropolitan rivalries: LA could have a dozen senators to San Francisco's single senate seat. more ›

Although difficult to make Rotel dip out of their top-drawer fromage, Senator Mark Leno will honor esteemed Cowgirl Creamery today as Senate District 3's Small Business of the Year. more ›

Many a wonk (and even your SFist editor, surprisingly!) have had an inkling that State Senator and former San Francisco Supervisor Mark Leno could throw his hat in the San Francisco mayoral ring. Or, at the very least, he's mulling it over right now. ''I'm looking at it at this point,'' Leno told SFGate. The Senator, it seems, received a "strong showing in a San Francisco Chamber of Commerce poll released last week," which could have prompted Leno's interest in returning to SF. more ›

On Sunday night, Gov. Schwarzenegger (finally!) signed Sen. Mark Leno's Harvey Milk bill, one that would create Harvey Milk Day. "He really saw this signing as a way to honor the gay community in California," spokesman Aaron McLear told CNN in an interview. Milk's "day of significance," however, would not close schools or state offices; but will, presumably, fill bars and clubs in the Castro next year. Harvey Milk Day will be officially celebrated on May 22, Milk's birthday. more ›

We were working on a post of images from last night's Mark Leno bash at Trigger in the Castro. But, lo and behold, Beth Spotswood beat us to it, doing an extraordinarily far better job with it than we could. Anyway, elections are on the horizon. Senator Mark Leno was in town. He talked about smart wonk stuff, he talked about smart important stuff. A lot. And in a good way. more ›

Yesterday, EQCA and Senator Mark Leno (D-SF) delivered somewhere around 40,000 petitions "with names of Californians from every part of the state," demanding Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to -- finally! -- sign into law the Leno's Harvey Milk Day Bill. Schwarznegger initially vetoed a similar bill after erroneously assuming that Harvey Milk was only important to a smattering of residents in San Francisco -- i.e., the gays in the Castro. (How very wrong he was.) more ›

Can you feel it? It runs thick in the air. The 2010 election is coming. And with that comes the deluded hopes and dreams of many a wonk who think that this next election will solve all of their problems. (See: Obama) But here's something most all of us can look forward to: the legalization of marijuana. According to NBC Bay Area, "State Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, introduced a resolution Monday urging the federal government to end medical marijuana raids in California." The measure, if passed, would also "let people 21 and older possess an ounce and grow plants as long as the 'garden' is no bigger than 5 by 5 feet." Counties would then be able to tax and regulate it. This comes on the heels of Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's bill to further legalize mary jane. Ammiano's office tells SFist that they hope to have the bill heard either later in the fall or at the beginning of next year. more ›

State Senator Mark Leno and Sean Penn plan to reintroduce a bill Tuesday to mark Harvey Milk's birthday as a "day of significance" across California. Originally vetoed by Arnold Schwarzenegger -- the lug said only people in San Francisco would care about it -- the success of Gus Van Sant's biopic about the former slain San Francisco supervisor at this year's Oscars has prompted the method acting, Marin resident to push for a holiday honoring the murdered gay rights activist. more ›

So, you've got nothing to do on a Tuesday? Well, Equality California has just the thing. Head on over to Sacramento to participate in 2009 Marriage Lobby Day, an opportunity for concerned citizens to nag their elected officials about fighting the good fight against Prop 8. more ›

Today's is Day Without a Gay. Are you without? How very sad for you. more ›

Senator Mark Leno and (new!) Assemblymember Tom Ammiano will introduce measures that prove Proposition 8 is "an improper revision of the California State Constitution," according to reports. The measure, which should be announced today during the second day of the 2009-20101 legislative session, is sponsored by Equality California and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Prop 8, if you recall, could ban same-same marriage, effectively altering the California constitution to allow discrimination. more ›

Noted San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno won the Democratic primary in the state Senate throne, taking it away from incumbent Carole Migden. With 81% of the precincts reporting, according to the Chronicle, Leno culled in an astounding 43% of the vote. (Whoa!) Nation and Migden took in in a dismal 29% and 28%, respectively. more ›

Oh man. Like... wow. This is entertaining, exciting stuff. more ›

Before entering a voguing competition (we can only assume) to the sounds of Seal at Saturday night's Black & White Ball, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced her endorsement for Assemblyman Mark Leno. Much to no one's surprise. more ›

Mark Leno and Carole Migden, please step forward. more ›

San Francisco Bay Guardian--who, you may recall, endorsed Mark Leno in the "Carole Migden-Mark Leno-Joe Nation faceoff," effectively pissing off SF Progressive mafia Don Chris Daly--is having a poll. And Carole Migden, as of noon today, seems to be winning by a little more than 40 votes. Exciting stuff, folks. more ›

This is for all your political fetishists out there: why is Mark Leno donating this sum of cash to his own campaign? (Go here, type "leno" in "Name of Filer," "10000" or so in the "Contribution Amount" minimum box, and then click the search button to generate the above info.) more ›

Hurt feelings have translated into a gruff Bay Guardian op-ed piece over last week's endorsement of Mark Leno over Carole Migden in the Third Senate District race. Penned by top-tier progressives (and then some) Bill Barnes, Chris Daly, Michael Goldstein, Robert Haaland, Joe Julian, Eric Mar, Rafael Mandelman, Eric Quezada, and Debra Walker (we can only imagine who was fucking dying to get mentioned on that clique list), the letter tells the SFBG that they fucked up and have single handedly sent the city of San Francisco into a death-spiral, or something like that. more ›

After much hair-pulling, open letters, and Cathy-trying-on-a-bikini hysterics, SF Bay Guardian decided to endorse Mark Leno in the Third Senate District race. This goes against SF Supervisor Chris Daly's expresses wishes that the Guardian endorse Carole Migden. more ›

SF city supervisor Chris Daly penned an open letter to the folks over at SFBG today, asking them to endorse la Migden for reelection. more ›

Somewhere Mark Leno is giggling, quietly. more ›

After Carole Migden won the endorsement of the Harvey Milk Club, things were looking grim for Assemblyman Mark Leno. But today Gavin Newsom shined his megawatt charm over in Leno's direction today, endorsing his bid for a state Senate seat. According to the B.A.R., " Newsom [is] expected to publicly endorse Leno Wednesday night at the Herbst Theatre during a special screening of Pursuit of Equality..." more ›

Remember the bedlam over at that local homo political clique last year? You know, that time when Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) "stole" the vote from Mark Leno? And then gay-on-gay hair-pulling violence erupted? Well, it looks like the vote for Carole is going to stick. Now that Rafael Mandelman has been elected president of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, the lcoal group, according to the B.A.R., "is Carole Migden's club." And that, it seems, is that. more ›

Even though we're too vile to appear on screen in a film about his life, legacy, and popper sniffing -- no, we will not let it go, but thank you for asking -- we will honor the guy who was once known as the Mayor of Castro Street: former San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. Sure, some of the Castro's sex shops have removed phallic symbols from their storefront windows in order to protect the... more ›

Although we were much too busy with failed attempts at bit-part stardom to care about our civic duty this weekend -- a mistake we'll never make again -- we have read some interesting tidbits covering Saturday's Leno/Migden/some other candidate district 3 dance-off, or whatever. Ahem: -- San Francisco Blog claims that "Senator Carole Migden...took the high road and chose not to engage in dirty politics." Well, that's no fun. And...skewed perhaps. Also, it seems... more ›

The airtight smiles. Awesome. For those of you somehow not tempted into becoming a part of Van Santian art -- or, you know, if you sport a vagina -- might we suggest catching round II of the Leno vs. Migden smackdown? Sponsored by the Harvey Milk Club, this meeting is sure to ruffle a few plumes and have local politicos affectedly scratching their chins for days to come. That's right, kids, it's on. It is... more ›

After paying up last year for disclosure violations, Senator Carole Migden is once again under investigation for not disclosing or itemizing credit card charges that total $397,000. According to the LA Times, she faces $60,000 in administrative fines if she's in breach, our Miss Migden has investigators looking all up in her credit card charging for over the past seven years. Yikes. The main cause of concern for not keeping tidy books is that... more ›

“I was shocked,” said Board of Supervisors Prez Aaron Peskin after being asked about Gavin Newsom's whereabouts this past weekend. Same here. Word is that Gavin was in Hawaii this past weekend, kicking in the sand and surf. Has senioritis kicked in already, Mayor? Not that you could've mopped up the oil singlehandedly, but still, you should have been here. We're a sensitive lot, us SF babies. more ›

We could also use a Dunkin' Donuts. Failing that, the makers of Raweos could always set up shop next door.
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