Romy and Michelle's Town Hall(oween)

Warning: This is going to be one of the most disjointed postings ever.

See, I just attended a town hall meeting about Halloween, which is a major issue in the Castro district of San Francisco this year.

But I'm also watching Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion while writing this post. So, expect deep political conversation while occasionally dropping into the goofy "I'm the Mary and you're the Rhoda" interjections.

So, Halloween has traditionally been a crazy, wild time in the Castro. I mean, the Castro is the one place in the city where people are uninhibited all year round, so when the holiday comes around that's defined by losing your inhibitions and becoming whatever you want to be for a night, where else would you want to go?

For years -- decades, even -- the party has been a blast. People who live here in the neighborhood and around the City would come together and frolic and play in an amazing celebration of everything strange that we all love about life here. Everyone used to stick together like glue.

"Well, ordinarily when you make glue, first you need to thremoset your resin. And then, after it cools, you have to mix in an epoxide, which is really just a fancy-schmanzty word for any simple oxygenated adhesive, right? Then I thought maybe -- just maybe -- you could raise the viscosity by adding a glucose derivative during the emulsification process. And it turned out I was right."

Trouble is, over the past few years, the general tone of Halloween has changed. What used to be a party where everyone participated -- ranging from someone taking off all his clothes and covering himself in glitter to the most elaborate drag dresses that looked like they were made of Tara Plantation curtains (rods and all) -- became a gawk-fest. Folks started coming in from all over the bay area, not to dress up and have fun, but to watch and make fun. And then it became less a tone of making fun and more of making trouble.

Last year there was violence. A shooting. It wasn't a gay bashing -- in fact the victim of the shooting was a pregnant teenager. So, clearly it wasn't folks coming in to cause trouble with the faggots (a phrase I can use given the fact that I am one); it was just people coming in to cause trouble. And in the aftermath of the shooting, a number of people were injured as the crowd broke and ran.

Romy sums up what I think of the people who came here and ruined the fun: "You're a bad person with an ugly heart. And we don't give a flying fuck about what you think."

Unfortunately, we do have to give a flying fuck about what these people do.

So, this year, the City is trying to cancel the Halloween celebration in the Castro. They have a plan. They will have police poised at the ready to swoop in and clamp down on illegal activity. And they are ready to do whatever it takes to protect the public. I just hope they can do whatever it takes to protect the public.

San Francisco has a history of, shall we say, civil disobedience. Are they ready if 250,000 civilly disobedient folks descend upon the Castro? I doubt it. But we'll see.

After the meeting I had a brief word with City Supervisor Bevan Dufty. I thanked him for all he's tried to do and then said, "I hope it works." He put his hand on my arm and said, "I hope so, too. And if it doesn't, we have a lot of work to do before next year."

I really do hope it works.

And one more quote from Romy and Michelle. This one has nothing to do with the post, but I just love it. After they make up for their fight, Michelle says to Romy, "You're as cute as me. You are. And in some cultures, even cuter."

I wish I could come up with some profound way to link that quote to the discussion about Halloween, but I'm not a good enough writer.