On the way to San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi's monthly art party...
...we ran into a protest in front of City Hall.
There was a rap group singing away into a sound system...
...and a contingent from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence...
...along with strippers from local sex clubs...
...who were protesting the obscure but well-funded City Commission on the Status of Women...
...who had decided that "private booths" in sex clubs needed to be shut down to protect poor, defenseless sex workers.
Those same workers had been speaking in front of The Entertainment Commission, telling them that the proposed ordinance would seriously cut into their monthly income if it was passed.
The only person speaking for the ban was a former dancer who claims she was sexually abused inside the private rooms. In a quote in the Chronicle, she said, "I, as a dancer, was making fine money without a private booth. I have been sexually assaulted in these booths."
The former dancer's name, by the way, is Daisy Anarchy, which brought to mind the late, great Anna Russell's line, "I'm NOT making this up, you know."
Inside City Hall, the building was in a frenzy of preparation for a huge sit-down dinner party...
...for some corporation's fiftieth anniversary.
On the second floor, at Supervisor Mirkarimi's office...
...the art show was in progress...
...and it turned out to be kiddie art from the Booker T. Washington Summer Day Camp in Mirkarimi's District 5.
There were masks...
...and pretty pictures...
...and lots of kids clowning around.
On the way out of City Hall, we saw the remnants of the Sex Workers Protest jumping onto a motorized cable car...
...which was taking the group to their next stop, The Mitchell Brothers Adult Theatre on Polk and Geary.
What a microcosm of San Francisco.
ReplyDeletePersonally, at this point, I like the Kiddie Art best.
ReplyDeleteYou DO get around, Mike!
Hey Hi!
ReplyDeleteThose kid paintings-portraits are great! Speaking of nuns and 50th anniversaries, last night I attended exactly that celebration of my Catholic grammar school. Sister Incartnata, the principal from when I started grade one was present. No longer a nun, there is a Mr. Incarnata.
Some of those nuns were so smart and practical. They took Vatican II to heart and became radical enough that they broke away/ got sent away from the organization. I suspect they might have some more useful and interesting ideas about how to sort things out with SF sex workers than the commission.
That muralist is very wonderful! I take exception to your blanket put down of mission district murals though. There is fresh individual expression in there. Viva la diference, viva la derivation.
many x,
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As always, awesome pics. I read about the stripper protest in the SF Daily last night. In 2006, does SF need a "commission on the status of women"? And don't they have anything better to do than encourage strippers out of camera-monitored booths in managed clubs, and into unmonitored hotel rooms and parties?
ReplyDeleteSounds pretty scummy, but if the strippers want private booths, who are we to say no? I'm really not sure what to say. Legalize it? Sounds like SF might be ready.
ReplyDeleteDamn -- I want to come home. What a collage of local lunacy. Know Daisy. She's a real San Francisco regular.
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