Subject: Report on SF Coors dump
From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 18:27:22 EST

November 16, 1998
San Francisco, CA

Dear friends,

The Coors dump at noon today featuring Allan Baird, a straight retired
Teamster and pal of Harvey Milk's, went off beautifully.  Baird explained to
the assembled horde of media people and Castro neighborhood residents his role
in approaching Milk in 1974 to expand the Coors boycott from being just a
protest against the brewery's anti-union policies and to one that also was
about Coors' anti-gay beliefs.  The only other speaker was Jerry Sloan of
Project Tocsin, an organization that monitors right wing groups and their IRS
990 tax returns.  Sloan asked the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to
return the $110,000 donation it accepted from Coors last month.

We then shook up the six pack of Coors beers, stood over the sewer hole at
Castro and 18th Streets, the proverbial heart of urban gay America, and poured
foaming Coors into the gutter amid chants of "Drink Milk, Dump Coors!"  The
dumping was cheerfully recorded by the reporters and photographers, then a few
questions were asked of the protesters.  The entire event was twenty minutes
long and was blessed with a perfect sunny fall San Francisco day.

We apologize for the purchase of Coors, which we obviously needed as a prop,
and wish to let folks know we have donated $20.00, more than double the cost
of the beer, to a homeless meals program in the Castro.

The following press people were present and if you are a news editor who needs
a photo, video footage, audio tapes, or a news story about the Coors dump,
please contact these outlets or resources directly.  KRON-TV, KCBS All News
Radio, the SF Examiner, Sande Mack of CheapTV, Bruce Merkin of SF Bay Times,
Tim Kingston of SF Frontiers, Rick Gerharter, Jane Philomen Cleland and Rink
Foto freelance photographers, and Paul Barwick, a freelance video maker were
all there.  Also, Shadow Radio Broadcasting in SF and the KSRO radio station
in Santa Rosa conducted phone interviews with protesters but were able to
attend in person.

If you wish to speak with Jerry Sloan, contact him at [email-masked] or
call him at 916-381-3115.  Allan Baird is available to speak with reporters,
but asks that you contact him through me.

Finally, the November 15 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the following
excerpt about the Ad Hoc Committee for an Open Process regarding the
Millennium March satellite conference prior to the Creating Change conference:

"Some say it's simply grassroots, bottom-up, multi-issue politics versus
corporate-model, hierarchical single-issue politics. 

"What exactly are we fighting for?" asked longtime lesbian activist Leslie
Cagan of New York. "A lot of us are concerned that the thrust of our
movement has been watered down." 

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation accepted money from Coors,
the beer company that has been boycotted in the past for homophobic,
racist, anti- union policies and for funding right-wing organizations such
as the Heritage Foundation. 

"What does it mean that we're taking money from an organization that's
funding our opposition?" Cagan asked. 

During the conference, the ad hoc committee has been circulating petitions
calling for a more open planning process for the march. There has been
talk of a boycott and a possible counter event. Others want to shut it
down. Some are considering starting a progressive network that's more
responsive to the concerns of grassroots gay and lesbian groups." 

On this day when my thoughts have floated about my departed friend Stephen J.
Smith, it was good for me to know the Coors boycott is alive and well at the
local and national level.  I also am optimistic that a real revived Coors
boycott is possible with little effort.  BOYCOTT COORS!

--Michael Petrelis