These are actual quotes taken from the www.turnleft.com website. (It claims to be the home of liberalism)
Right_on apologizes if you are offended by the content of this page. But, as a good conservative, and in an effort to be fair to all , I feel it is my duty to print comments from the liberal point of view.
...and another comment...
Voter registration:
60% registered Democrat
30% registered Undeclared
10% registered Republican
These numbers speak for themselves!
..and
another comment...
One of the coolest things is the
number of gay couples raising kids. You see it all around the Castro. We
sat in a coffee shop on 18th near Castro street and saw a male couple raising
a beautiful little girl...she seemed so happy; you could tell she was loved;
it is very heartwarming, a display of some real family values.
San Francisco is a very political
city, the most political of any place I have been outside of Washington
DC. It was a few weeks before a local election; they are having a referendum
on whether to use public money to build a new football stadium, and everywhere
you looked, there were signs "Yes to D&F" in favor, and claims that
"if they build it, you will pay" opposed. But this election side, politics
are everywhere...grafitti, posters stapled to telephone poles, neighborhood
newspapers, pamphleteers on street corners...very cool. The political spectrum
of the city ranges from "limousine liberal" to socialist. Conservatism
is not a factor in the city as far as I could tell. There are some economic
conservatives (pro-growth developers, etc), but everyone seems to be a
social liberal. Groups and coalitions are prevalent.
The gay community's politics seem
very diverse. There are many divisions within the community as a whole,
probably because it is so big and so un-threatened that there is time for
lots of factional in-fighting. There are various political groups, two
Democratic clubs, one more "radical" than the other, and many direct action
groups. ACT-UP still has a chapter here. Overall, the gay community is
very "loud and proud" - it is a big presence, powerful, politically active.
The rainbow flags of gay pride are everywhere...hanging from windows, in
front of businesses, on cars, on lamp posts...the feeling I got was that
"this is our city" ... a great feeling that is.
The acceptance of gays in the city
goes much further than laws, it is in people's attitudes. Gay couples are
taken for granted. I felt safe and natural walking down the street holding
my partner's hand, laying together in the park, and holding hands in any
restaurant. It is just seen as unremarkeable. And it is so nice seeing
others doing these things too. Everything is just so matter of fact. It
is true integration and freedom.
San Francisco has a ton of gay newspapers.
There is the Bay Area Reporter, which is a real newspaper, focusing on
politics, community news, entertainment, in short, a regular newspaper.
Then there is Bay Area Times (I think, I forget the exact title) which
has longer features stories, more national news, and more community even
listings. Then we have Frontiers, a glossy-cover magazine emphasizing feature-length
articles. Then there is Oblivion, which is a very detailed and well-written
guide to bars, clubs, and other places of entertainment. Finally, there
were a couple of pretty crappy bar rags whose names escape me. These are
just gay newspapers. There are also 2 big general-audience "alternative"
weeklies, and more neighborhood newspapers than I can count.
One thing that struck me constantly
about SF was how beautiful it was. The sky was an incredibly crisp blue,
the breezes fresh, and the sun never too hot, never too cold. Nights were
cold, but days were great. And the scenery was everywhere...houses on the
hilds, great views, that awesome skyline, the bay and ocean in the distance.
The whole place is just awesome to look at.
OK, the bad shit, just to let you
know I was paying attention. Lots of litter, some bad areas full of pawn
shops and peep show booths, and of course, lots of homeless people. No
two ways about it, there are a lot of them. Oh yeah, and the gas prices
are 30 cents higher than they should be.
The SF main library is a tour de
force. Brand new, totally wired, cool architecture with an atrium, neon,
and skylights, and special centers for many groups: Asians, Latinos, African
Americans, and gays. The gay reading room had a cool mural on the ceiling
with the names of famous gay people throughout history.
...and
another comment...
Firstly, I do love this town. Very
few places in the states are so consistently beautiful to look at. Now
let's scratch the surface. There is so much money being made here (by a
segment of the population, not everyone's rolling in it) that liberalism
takes a back seat to capital interests (yes, limo-liberals). In the past
year or two a boom hit the whole region that is actually threatening the
fabric of this place. Rents are astronomical, surpassing NYC, and don't
even dream of owning. We are ruled by an emporor, Willie Brown, who will
one day stand naked for all the back room wheeling and dealing with Home
Depot, The Stadium people, and every mega-anything that wants to hang a
shingle in this town. Meanwhile, we still have few public restrooms, fewer
beds for a growing number of homeless, and a transit system that is collapsing
before our eyes.
Oh, and all the talk about the Gay
Utopia...a friend of mine was bashed last week in the Castro, had his eye
bones smashed in and nearly blinded in one eye. Violence hovers in the
air of any major U.S. city, and this place is just as tense at times as
anywhere, despite the banners proclaiming this One Neat City.
How anyone manages to live a bohemian
or artistic life here astounds me, since the cost of living is so high
and the jobs are focused on the financial district, suits and ties...
Don't want to rain on any parades
(we just had a BIG one), but I wanted to temper the feelgood schtick with
a little reality. San Francisco isn't particularly "friendly," although
everyone's free to be whatever. However, Freedom from economic oppression
is not on the agenda.
...and
another comment...
I want to echo the previous writer's
comments about SF. Yes it's one of the best, most liberal places around.
However, the "Big Money" is making
it's presence felt, and this greed will eventually destroy what we have.
King Willie and his 49ers, big corporate chain stores muscling out small
stores, and the financial district. These are all ememies to liberalism,
both economic and social.
Other than that, SF is pretty close
to liberal paradise.
...and another comment...
There are ways people can afford
to live in SF if they choose the city lifestyle and are willing to make
some changes in their thinking. I pay $35 a month for unlimited transportation
costs, if you include car rentals (once a month) out of town train trips
and local taxis the total comes up to about $800 a year. Finding and having
a good person to share an apartment with is easy, which cuts living space
costs quite a bit. Many events center around low-cost alternatives. A couple
of classes in the gay studies branch of the community college will set
you back $100 for a quarter. If you've got a lower paying job that gives
you odd days off you can benefit by the numerous free admission days in
the city museums and other attractions. If you're able to pay about $35
a year you can have unlimited membership access to any one of those same
museums (that's less then the cost of five first run movies).
What about meeting people? Well
you certainly can visit a number of the cities bars (gay or straight) to
meet and possibly connect with other gay men, but that's not the only option.
In a city where gay men are everywhere, it only takes a nice smile to open
up a conversation with someone your standing next to in the library, grocery
store or local deli. Statistics show that most heterosexual relationships
stand the best chance of succeeding when the partners meet eachother around
a common center of interest, such as church, work or school. In San Francisco
the same options for meeting people are open to all.
If you only want your brand of diversity,
SF is not the place for you. Don't kid yourself into thinking the gay community
runs the city because there are too many free-thinking people here besides
gay men. The same attitude that celebrates diversity of relationships also
celebrates numerous cultural and situational diversities. In fact the little
joke awhile back was that we had finally elected our first true minority
to the city board of supervisors: a straight, white, married male.
