NEW ZEALAND: American DOMA Refugee Named Head Of National Gay Magazine

Two years ago I told you about my longtime dear friend Leif Wauters (above left), who was forced to move from San Francisco to New Zealand in order to stay with his Kiwi husband, who had to leave the United States due to DOMA. In a brighter turn of events, Leif has just been named the editor of New Zealand's LGBT magazine, Express, who announced the news today on their website.

Leif has an extensive history in and passion for GLBT community engagement, having worked for two years as director of operations at the original BEAR magazine in the mid-1990s, a year-long support role for the now-defunct San Francisco arm of the LA-based GLBT community magazine called Frontiers, and over three years as director of operations at landmark gay porn company Hot House Entertainment. Outside of his business experience, Leif says it’s his volunteer work within the community that has really brought joy to his life. “My volunteer work includes two years producing the infamous Folsom Street Fair, ten years helping to run the Leather Market at IML (International Mister Leather), and generally lending support to various community events and fundraisers over the years. Oh, I almost forgot… six years on the Working Group and Board of Grass Roots Gay Right West (GRGR/West), producers of REAL BAD."

When I lived in San Francisco, Leif was the busiest man I knew, always with a dozen fundraisers and volunteer events on his schedule. He also seemed to know every single man in the city by name, an invaluable resource for me back when I was just a Fog City newbie. I'd wager that Express readers can expect some aggressive work from Leif as New Zealand's marriage vote draws near. That said, I still want Leif and Mo to come home.

NEW ZEALAND: A Man May Not Marry...

My pal Leif Wauters points out New Zealand's rather exhaustive and confusing list of who a man may not marry. Daughter's son's wife? Wait, what? Same-sex marriages don't appear on the banned list, possibly because New Zealand offers civil unions. Leif and his husband were forced to emigrate to New Zealand last year because of DOMA. They are watching the developments on that front very closely.

LAUNCHED: DJ Neil Lewis Podcasts

My pal Leif Wauters is spearheading an effort to post the sets of the late and legendary DJ Neil Lewis, whose epic work is considered by many to represent a pinnacle of San Francisco nightlife.

Welcome to the premier podcast of Neil's recorded sets from his nights at Pleasuredome. Each release represents both sides of an audio cassette tape recording that has recently been digitised. Although I'm not an audio engineer, I have done my best to remove any gaps and to generally beef up with quality of the recordings but some unavoidable warbling and glitches remain. Please allow these imperfections to remind you that this is simply an attempt to share the joy of Neil Lewis' music what was adored by dancers, flaggers and other DJs around the world until he took his life in 2004. Please share these podcasts far and wide as they represent what some would consider the best of a golden age in dance music. There will be a new release roughly every couple of weeks until the collection has been completely shared. If you enjoy what you hear, please consider making a donation to San Francisco Suicide Prevention as a "Friend of Neil Lewis" so they can continue the critical work of keeping our troubled loved-ones amongst us.

I made most of my San Francisco friends on Neil's dance floor and even just a few minutes into this podcast, I'm flashing back to people I haven't thought about in many years. Appropriately, this first posting begins with Chicane, the gloriously serene trance act that came to represent Neil's unique style. Bookmarked.

Love Exiles: Leif & Mo

Part of the reason for my trip to San Francisco is to see off my dear friend Leif, who is being forced to emigrate to New Zealand on Tuesday because the United States won't recognize his relationship with his husband, Mo. New Zealand, however, had no problem admitting Leif as Mo's partner. They suggest you visit Love Exiles, where binational couples discuss the fight for immigration equality in the United States.

Proclamation

At my birthday dinner in the Castro last night, in the presence of about 25 dear friends from around the country, my loyal companion Aaron stood and delivered a lovely speech, after which San Franciscan Leif Wauters unveiled a plaque from Mayor Gavin Newsom declaring October 10th as "Joe Jervis Day in San Francisco."

::thud::

As those who know me would expect, I was a teary mess by the end of it, but I told the crowd, "I'm not ashamed to cry in front of you, you've all seen me cry over the years." It was an impossibly perfect evening. Lots of (probably embarrassing) video and photos were taken - I'll get some of that up here when I get it from the guys.

UPDATE: Here's a shot by Father Tony.

Blowoff San Francisco Photo Recap

Here's a slideshow of last night's sweaty shenanigans. Go here for full-screen versions of the shots. If you don't want your photo included here, please email me.

First Impressions

Castro Street, Saturday, 12:30 PM

Leif and I are walking up the crowded Castro Street sidewalk when he calls out to a handsome bearded cub.

Leif: Andy, you sexy motherfucker!

Andy : Oh, hi....Leif....uh, these are my parents.

Introductions were made to Andy's tiny elderly parents who politely pretended not to have heard. I didn't catch their names because I was hiding in a storefront, cracking up. Good times.

Real Bad Donates $160K

The staff of the 20th anniversary Real Bad party held their check presentation ceremony last night where they donated a record-setting $160,000 to five LGBT charities: AIDS Legal Referral Panel, GLBT Historical Society, Dimensions Clinic, openhouse, and The Positive Care Center at UCSF. Real Bad is the fantastic closing night party of the Folsom Street Fair put on by Grass Root Gay Rights/West, an all volunteer organization headed this year by my dear friend Leif Wauters (pictured at far right). Congrations to Leif and crew! [Photo Credit: Eric Neilson]