Santa Ana’s gay community has formed an organization called “Gay Neighbors, Families and Friends of Santa Ana,” (GNFFSA) and they are having a real impact in the city. From what I could tell searching the Internet, they have been actively engaged now for at least a couple of years.
Their latest email newsletter highlighted a few past and upcoming activities they are involved in, including:
- A Certificate of Recognition will be presented to Gay Neighbors, Families and Friends for helping to sponsor the Santa Ana Independence Day Celebration, on July 3.
- Santa Ana City Council approval of The Velvet Lounge’s request for a Conditional Use Permit (C.U.P.)., which is on the agenda for Monday evening’s meeting, on August 1.
The GNFFSA is concerned about the approval of the Conditional Use Permit for The Velvet Lounge is item 31B on the Consent Calendar for Monday night’s Council meeting. They hope that “the approval will sail through this time (as it should have last time).”
The GNFFSA promises that a “LGBT presence in the audience should nudge them in the right direction.”
The newsletter mentioned that during the Santa Ana Independence Day Celebration, some of their members took pictures with America’s first, or maybe second, gay President, Abe Lincoln, as seen above.
In ”The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln,” C. A. Tripp contends that Lincoln had erotic attractions and attachments to men throughout his life, from his youth to his presidency. He further argues that Lincoln’s relationships with women were either invented by biographers (his love of Ann Rutledge) or were desolate botches (his courtship of Mary Owens and his marriage to Mary Todd). Tripp is not the first to argue that Lincoln was homosexual — earlier writers have parsed his friendship with Joshua Speed, the young store owner he lived with after moving to Springfield, Ill. — but he assembles a mass of evidence and tries to make sense of it. (Source: New York Times).
The GNFFSA has also been involved in a few downtown beautification projects. A group of them watered and weeded the Spurgeon Street project (in French Park) and the Broadway project (between 4th and 5th) recently.
The GNFFSA had a busy week, capped off with the well-attended Men Alive Concert at the Festival Hall and reception in the plaza in front of the Yost Theater on Saturday.
The GNFFSA will be in action again at the next Downtown Concert series on Friday, August 5, from 5-9pm at the French Plaza, where they promise to have “another gay ole time.”
I could not find a website for the GNFFSA, however you may click here to send them an email.
The fellas down at the Knight’s of Columbus hall aren’t going to be very happy about this.
Exactly what I said was happening…GAYTRIFICATION
Mostly white and mostly childless, just how the usual suspects like them.
There are some appointments to commissions this week that would support this.
Good for Santa Ana.
WestFloral Park,
Appointments? Which appointments? I do not see them on the agenda.
[In ”The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln,” C. A. Tripp contends that Lincoln had erotic attractions and attachments to men throughout his life, from his youth to his presidency.]……. Hmmmmm
So must the city management and majority council if they are for The Velvet Lounge (aka Whorehouse) and not for Red-light District.
What a great idea of GNFFSA to put a face to the name of the gay community in a positive way – hopefully this will help erode existing stereotypes that are created out of ignorance and intolerance.
It was mentioned here in a Chismes post.
Well the chisme must be wrong, because there are no appointments on the agenda.
Must be wrong then!
My bad – the appointment I saw was part of the July 18 minutes. Disregard!
I understand that when some of the soccer organizations gathered downtown in support of the Latino businesses and the Fiesta Marketplace, Archer Alstaetter who was brought in to promote the socalled “East End” and the summer concert series got in the face of some of those in attendance.
From what I hear Archer did not approve of what these folks were there to say and he tried to intimidate them.
Does anyone have any more info about this?
Who the hell is Archer? The muscle for the gay mafia that is trying to gaytrify downtown?