Residents and shopkepers of the Castro district are getting tired of tour buses full of “gawkers,” reports the Chronicle’s C.W. Nevius. It wouuld be one thing if they bought lunch, but a deli owner reported:

They come in here, 15 or 20 at a time. They look around, take a picture, and then they walk out. In the last three months I’ve sold one bottle of water. It is not worth having so much traffic.

Supervisor Bevan Dufty says the plague can be exorcised by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. But let’s not forget the famous response of the Summer of Love hippies on Haight St, as recalled by Mick Sinclair in his book San Francisco: A Cultural and Literary History:

On Haight St. some hippies responded to the busloads of gawping tourists by holding up mirrors, inviting the “straights” to look at themselves.

Neighbors of Dolores Park (the park, not the restaurant) are getting grouchy about the large crowds gathering there on nice weekend days. Like the thousand fans of The Breakfast Club, shown last weekend, or the crowds of gay sunbathers from up the hill.

Worlds collide in the 13.7 acre swath of green on the border between the Castro and Mission Districts and directly across the street from Mission High School.

Speaking of crowd scenes, UC Berkeley journalism professor and prolific magazine journalist Cynthia Gorney has a piece in tomorrow’s NYT Magazine about merging at freeway lane reductions, a subject near and dear to anyone who has approached the Bay Bridge on 101 in San Francisco or driven through the Caldicott Tunnel. The latter clusterfuck provides her main example. She writes about “sidezoomers” versus the benefits of feeling virtuous while choosing to wait in the “lineup” of cars that are already in the correct lane. The online version has many nifty multimedia graphics.

[Above, Harold Lloyd with a cute monkey, and Colleen Moore with a cute haircut. (The guy's not bad either.) All featured this weekend at the Castro Theatre.]

On Friday night the San Francisco Silent Film Festival will fire up the 35mm projectors once more for a solid weekend of film at the Castro, bringing forgotten (and often, formerly lost) works back to the big screen, with live musical accompaniment. On the second night last year, the line stretched around the block and way, way down the street. And it wasn’t even opening night! I had to ask myself: is this line really for a movie that was originally released in 1928? Yes, it was, and it was awesome. I expect that this year will be just as riotous, as opening night features none other than Harold Lloyd in The Kid Brother. In case you’ve never seen one of his films, let me explain something: he’s amazingly hilarious.

Another highlight of the festival is The Man Who Laughs, starring the principal from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari in the role that inspired the appearance of a certain creepy character from the Batman comics. And of course there are nine other films, all worth checking out, including one that may well have inspired Monty Python. Or not.

Tickets run from $14-$20; they’re a little cheaper for San Francisco Silent Film Society members. They also have festival passes for $140, if you’re determined to see every minute and hear every note. Get your tickets here.

Friend & restaurant owner Pamela Busch is having a fundraiser- 10% proceeds going to Equality, CA (eqca.org)- tomorrow from noon to 11PM at her restaurant, Cav Wine Bar. Check out the info on Upcoming.org. If you want to celebrate some very cool legislation and help the upcoming legal battles, stop by for a wine flight, or their mushroom-themed menu. I was there the day marriage was legalized and wow, the energy in the air was amazing. Cav was selected by Michael Bauer as one of the top 100 restaurants - so come by for a tasty nibble and support a cause! Open table is the best way to secure a spot: http://tinyurl.com/68djzk

Gavin Newsom was walking from bar to bar in the Castro district of San Francisco yesterday urging voters to vote YES on Prop. G. No on Prop. F.

Proponents of Prop. G say it will clean up the shipyard; make new housing, shops and park area available to San Franciscans. They also say the deal with Lennar Corp. to develop the area will not go through if Prop. F is passed.

Opponents of Prop. G say Prop. F will guarantee 50% of all developed housing be affordable to people who already live in the area. The proposed townhouses for the area would start at least $500,000, and be out of reach of the neighborhood families financially.

Whatever you choose, get out and vote on Tuesday!

The historic Castro Theater, which for decades has shown a mix of film festival fare, rep-house classics and prestigious European and Asian works, will step out of the past and show a summer blockbuster.

Judging from the widely-disseminated publicity photo (left), the film “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” has something to do with a rugged older man initiating a pretty young boy in a leather jacket into the mysteries of a deep, dark hole, making it perfect for the Castro.

The film opens tomorrow, Thursday, May 22.

Many of you, like myself, have lots of questions regarding yesterday’s landmark decision regarding same-sex marriages. Equality California was kind enough to send out an email with a detailed FAQ. Check it out! New questions will be added, so be sure to check back on occasion. While you’re at it, join their mailing list and find out how to join or participate!

One thing that stood out is the fact that all this is riding on November’s ballot.

Could right-wing forces take away the freedom to marry at the ballot box in California?

Yes. Because the court based its decision on rights guaranteed by the California Constitution, right-wing groups are trying to amend our state Constitution to eliminate these fundamental constitutional protections and take away the basis for the decision.

These groups, which have received significant funding from out-of-state right-wing organizations, are placing an initiative on the November 2008 ballot that will ask voters to amend the California constitution to reverse the court’s decision and deny gay and lesbian couples the freedom to marry.

Already, many state leaders are expressing their opposition to this proposed constitutional amendment. For example, in a public statement on April 11, 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger stated that an initiative to amend the California Constitution to ban gay and lesbian couples from marriage was “a waste of time,” adding “I will always be there to fight against that. It will never happen.”

We agree with Governor Schwarzenegger that these outsiders are wasting their time and money trying to turn California into a state that would use its Constitution to take away civil rights and hurt families. But it will take every one of us to stop this antifamily initiative. For more information about how to get involved, contact Equality For All at www.EqualityForAll.com.

Even though yesterday is cause for celebration, it’s important to realize the fight is far from over! Go out there and educate your fellow Californians and Americans! I have hope that we will not let discrimination be written into our constitution.

Check out some images from last night’s impromptu celebration in the Castro after the jump!

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Here’s a thought-provoking story to wrap up the day… a Craigslist rant about a bit of reverse discrimination in The Castro:

You, the waiter in the castro……

So there we were, coming in to eat at your establishment. You, my oh-so perfect little queen waitron were almost but not quite able to hide your dismay at this odd group of people. I mean, really, at least three of us were clearly from somewhere in the midwest.

Given that three of us were also obviously dykes, or at least local weirdoes, you might have caught on that we were entertaining visitors.

But no, you struggled masterfully, albeit unsuccessfully, to hide your disdain for our friends from Ohio. Your undertone snide comments were not unnoticed, my friend. Next time, make those comments while you’re in the kitchen. Saying things like “you people are horrible” in a perky bright voice is bad form, to say the least. Fucking unforgivably rude is more like it.

For your information, miss i’m-too-young-to-remember-the-plague-years, that ancient (over 50) woman from Ohio who ordered too much food and was loud and annoying to you comes out here to meet up with us because we took care of her son while he was dying a dozen years ago. The same son she drove to New York so he could attend the first year of Harvey Milk High. The same son she came out to once he was 16.

The son who died a month before his 22nd birthday.

She’s been at the forefront of what passes for a gay rights movement in Ohio, and has stood up so that pathetic little twinks like you can walk down the street in your aberzombie and felch uniforms and hold hands.

And even with what you acted like, she still tipped you 20%, because she remembers her son working in a similar restaurant, and his struggles with money.

Next time someone who doesn’t fit your personal tastes comes into your restaurant, perhaps you might try some compassion, or even just some human respect. Remember the word diversity? It applies to you and your tiny narrow mind as well.

We like to think that we live in one of the most diverse and open-minded cities in the world, but things like this still do happen, unfortunately.

As seen on 17th Street on my way into work today.

Thursday night’s big literary event is the book party for Sex for America, the Stephen Elliott-edited anthology of fiction and nonfiction melding those two American obsessions, sex and politics.

Reading are Liz Henry and Michelle Richmond — both former bloggers on this site — Charlie Anders, Michelle Tea, Daphne Gottlieb, and Mistress Morgana. Click here for time, place and cost.

When I interviewed Stephen Elliott earlier this month about his Progressive Reading Series and he mentioned the Sex for America party, I asked him if Liz Henry would be reading the same piece about fucking in the Texas State Capitol that she read in 2005 at LitCrawl on the same program as me. He said “Oh my God, Liz’s story is so freaking good. That’s the one.”