SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Last week, three elected officials wrote statements honoring the 40th anniversary of gay porn production house Colt Studio, according to the Associated Press, statements that are now drawing reprisals from religious figures and conservative pundits both inside and outside of California.Mayor Gavin Newsom, still recovering from the political damage wrought by the recent revelation that he had an extramarital affair with the wife of his campaign manager, is now facing scorn over the fact that he declared last Friday “Colt Studio Day” in honor of Colt’s landmark anniversary.
“San Francisco has proven yet again why they remain the mocked city of the country,” said Reverend Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, based in Anaheim, CA. “No other major city in the nation has gone so far as to blatantly glorify a homosexual porn producer and company.”
In addition to Newsom’s proclamation of Colt Studio Day, California Assemblyman Mark Leno and San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros also issued proclamations honoring Colt last week.
At least one city official also attended the recent GayVN awards at the Casto Theatre; according to the San Francisco Chronicle, City Supervisor Bevan Dufty “worked the crowd” in the lobby of the theater prior to the show.
Conservative talk show host – and alleged participant in unusual and unwanted phone sex conversations with a female former coworker – Bill O’Reilly took exception to Colt Studio Day on his Fox television show, The O’Reilly Factor, after a supporter of Newsom’s appeared on the show stating that the mayor cannot be held responsible for every proclamation that is issued under his name, according to the AP.
“There is not another city in the country that has ever had a ‘gay porn day,’” O’Reilly said. “And you wonder why your city is looked upon as a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah?”
Suggesting that Newsom might be less “pro-porn” than he is merely cognizant of the political power of San Francisco’s gay community, Newsom also recently stated opposition to Kink.com’s acquisition of a historic local National Guard armory.
