Mission Local is publishing a daily campaign dispatch for each of the major contenders in the mayorโs race, alternating among candidates weekly until November. This week: Aaron Peskin. Read earlier dispatches here.
The Harvey MIlk LGBTQ Democratic Club began working on its endorsements for the November election in April. The members, who are all volunteers, sent out questionnaires to all of the candidates and posted the results on the club’s website. They interviewed candidates and posted those on YouTube. They held a public forum featuring the five major mayoral candidates. They meet twice a month, with one meeting dedicated to just voting on endorsements (decided by a majority vote, except in cases where it isnโt). Theyโll be doing this until right before the election. The ballot measures are when things get really intense, said Reid Coggins, vice president of political action for the club. โThey donโt begin to campaign for those until late in the cycle.”
But on Thursday night of Pride week, it was time to party โย and raise money for the clubโs political action committee to spend on projects like printing mailers with the clubโs endorsements.ย Nearly all of the donors to the clubโs 48th annual “Gayla” were local labor organizations and political campaigns. Many of those donors are endorsed by the club (Aaron Peskin for mayor, Nancy Pelosi for Congress, Edward Wright for BART board), but not all. Daniel Lurie, a Gayla sponsor, was there smiling and shaking hands with anyone within hand-shaking radius, without having gotten an endorsement or even filling out his mayoral questionnaire more than halfway.ย
The partygoer aesthetic ranged from standard city government/nonprofit formalwear to unapologetic queer maximalism: Rhinestone brooches, drippy lace collars, glittery platform boots, suit with bolo tie and pearl necklace. The Gaylaโs emcee, Harvey Milk Democratic Club President Jeffrey Kwong, kept disappearing and rejoining the crowd in a different outfit, each more spectacular than the last. โIโm trying to find a husband!โ he said emphatically when this was pointed out.
โLet me tell you something about Jeffrey Kwong,โ said Peskin, over the buffet line (cheese cubes, grapes, egg rolls). Peskin met Kwong in 2000, when Kwong was a 14-year-old volunteer in the District 3 supervisorial campaign for Rose Chung, founder of the Miss Asian Global Pageant. When Chung dropped out of the race and endorsed Peskin, Kwong joined Peskinโs campaign, and later became one of his first legislative aides, along with Chung.ย At the time, Kwong was fond of telling people that he was a Republican.
โI told him, ‘You donโt know shit, kid,’โ said Peskin. โYou arenโt even old enough to vote yet.โ Kwong went on to go to Harvard, intern at the Bush White House, come out as gay, and get a Ph.D. in international relations before coming back to the Bay Area to build a career in education.
โHeโs terrifyingly smart,โ Peskin added.
โAaron taught me my first swear word,โ Kwong said later to the assembled crowd of politicians, labor leaders, activists, nonprofit workers, drag queens, and various combinations of all of the above. โI’m not gonna repeat it tonight. But give me a few more drinks.โ
The mood was convivial, nerdy, earnest, rowdy. Nearly everyone here knows each other from the long grind of political organizing, and there are more than a few legends here, like lesbian civil-rights activist Gwenn Craig, who shared a table with the Peskin campaign crew for most of the evening. The room felt imbued with the determination to make the world a better place, and also to cut loose in the company of people who appreciate both a good drag performance and giving awards to community groups.ย Attendees sighed over keynote speaker Schuyler Bailarโs genuine and funny talk about becoming the first openly transgender NCAA Division I swimmer, and the shape of Bailarโs Division I-level butt in his well-tailored suit.
After the awards and speeches were over, Kwong took the mic again. โDoes anyone like shrimp cocktail!โ he yelled into the microphone. โI have four platters of shrimp cocktail that we were unable to serve due to venue restrictions! So please come to the back and get a tray of $39.99 Costco shrimp cocktail! Which I do not want! Please follow me!โ
โDid you see the debate?โ one attendee said quietly to another, as the crowd began to drift out. The first Trump/Biden debate was taking place during the gala, and itโs clear a few people were sneaking out to check the progress on their phones.
โSo depressing,โ said the other.
โIโm glad we were here tonight,โ says the first. โThese people. They give me hope.โ
