Civil liberties at SF Pride 2006

At SF Pride 2006, an anti-Israel group was prevented from handing out satirical masks.
Second, a nude picketer was told to cover up,
even while police ignored other nudes
and other picketers
[ please see letter in SF Bay Times, 29 June 2006 ].
Third, two independent journalists were denied press credentials.
Taken together, these three incidents show that Pride needs to
re-affirm its dedication to civil and personal liberties,
including free expression by means of nudity
and/or satire;
needs to discourage police from censoring queers at Pride events;
and needs to clarify and publicize its criteria for credentialling journalists.
-- SUN

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DETAILS of these incidents, with commentary:
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INDYBAY
[ http://www.indybay.org/lgbtqi/ ]
says:

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Estee Slaughter and Nudist Denied
Freedom of Speech at SF Pride


" Estee Slaughter (ES) is a division of Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT!).
Its distributors, who were wearing the ES logo on t-shirts, gave away thousands of
“RealityfoldTM” sleep masks at SF Pride.
The black mask, which is emblazoned in gold with the ES logo and “Make the Occupation Disappear,” bears this text on its flip side:
“Going to Jerusalem for World Pride? Worried the sight of so many Walls and Checkpoints
will keep you from getting your beauty rest? Estee Slaughter’s Realityfolds will protect you
from the harsh glow of Occupation so you can party in virtual peace."
The text goes on to detail the relationship between Estee Lauder and illegal zionist settlements
on Palestinian land, and it explains Estee Slaughter's opposition to World Pride,
which will be held in Jerusalem [in 2006],
near where Israeli bulldozers are demolishing homes of Palestinians.
Estee Slaughter's distributors had scarcely begun their giveaway on Sunday, June 25th [2006]
when parade security monitors descended and [reportedly] told them they could not distribute the masks
at the festival because they had not paid for a booth.
The ES reps responded that they were engaging in free speech activity
and that they were not disrupting the event.
Soon thereafter, the police arrived and [reportedly] said that they work for the parade committee,
and that the parade committee, by acquiring a permit for the event, had managed to make
the entire ten-block area of the festival “private property”
and the unauthorized distribution had to stop.
Policewomen [reportedly] told one ES member that the problem was that rival company Estee Lauder had a booth at the event and
festival organizers were afraid the similarity in products would cause some confusion.
The group eventually agreed to leave, because police were threatening to confiscate the remaining masks. They attempted to locate someone in charge of deciding which queers can hand out what literature
at the festival.
They were repeatedly told to go to the “free speech area,” which they never were able to find.
One activist wondered, “Do you think anyone at Stonewall paid for a permit?”

Senior Unlimited Nudes activist Tortuga Bi Liberty reports that police officers told him
to "cover up"
when he was handing out peace leaflets in the buff on Sunday [ June 25 ]. "
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[ Note: For details of genitaphobia at Pride,
please see letter in SF Bay Times, 29 June 2006;
or
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/06/25/18282821.php ].
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[ Comments by Tortuga Bi Liberty,
on censorship of QUIT :

(A) I don't agree with the views of QUIT ( aka "Estee Slaughter" ), and I dislike their attitude;
but I fully defend their right to free expression,
including expression by means of satire.

(B) If dissent were restricted to a so-called
"free speech area",
it would be seen by very few persons.
Perhaps such a segregated corral MIGHT be appropriate for virulently homophobic counter-demonstrators,
such as neo-Nazis, fundi Muslims, fundi Christians, etc., (who counter-demonstrated against marriage in 2004 at SF City Hall). However, there were no such homophobes demonstrating in SF during June 2006, so far as I know.
Most of the demonstrators were queers themselves (including me, as my middle name indicates).

(C) I didn't see the QUIT group on Sunday; but I did notice a few individuals carrying signs in the festival area. Some signs promoted political candidates for the November California elections; some had various slogans (mostly queer); etc. And, as usual at SF's free outdoor events, there was a picketer seeking democracy in "the 12 galaxies". Various wandering picketers didn't detract from the festival at all;
nor did the various naked men and bare-breasted women who were wandering around without signs.

(D) The festival area certainly ISN'T "private property". And even on privately-owned shopping malls, U.S. citizens still have free-speech rights; so the property-versus-speech argument is absurd.

(E) I doubt that any literate adult would confuse satirical masks with real ones; but if the real Estee Lauder company has legal objections (copyright, trademark, defamation, etc.), it can sue in civil courts, seeking court orders and/or damages. Pride shouldn't pre-judge such civil claims, nor intermeddle in a civil dispute which isn't even about queerness.

(F) As for the SF Police Department, they aren't the servants of Pride nor of any other group
or business. Their loyalty should be to the people, to S.F., and to California. ]

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INDYBAY
[ http://www.indybay.org/lgbtqi/ ]
says:


" Local Indy Journalists Find Themselves Without Press Passes at Pride.


Are Independent Journalists Valued by SF Pride?


Dina Boyer is a photographer and videographer who frequently posts media to Indybay, and covers LGBT and police brutality-related issues. Ms. Boyer reports, "For the last 8 years I have been covering the Pride celebration in San Francisco... every year I obtained media passes." After having applied months in advance for her official press passes, she was denied her passes on Saturday.
She feels that she was discriminated against, and that her First Amendment rights as a journalist were violated. She feels that her presence as a transgendered woman and a journalist will not be missed
when she does not cover Pride events next year.
The press credentials of Allen White, who wrote a story critical of the corporate nature of SF Pride
for Beyond Chron, were also lifted. "


[ Comments by Tortuga Bi Liberty:
Denial of press passes is a common method of tryimg to silence critics.
On the other hand, Pride can't be required to give a pass to absolutely everyone and anyone.
The cases of Dina Boyer and Allen White should be investigated,
by some established and impartial group of journalists;
to see if they were rejected on the basis of their opinions.
Also they should seek help from civil-liberties attorneys, and/or the ACLU.
And, instead of giving up, Boyer and White should re-apply for 2007 Pride, soonest.
( Disclaimer: I don't know their views; and of course I'm not endorsing them.) ]

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