What’s a pregnant gal to do?

In a disgraceful bow to political correctness and chilling slap across the face of free speech, the 11-member San Francisco Board of Supervisors today passed a unanimous resolution condemning “discriminatory comments,” and reaffirming its “commitment to eradicating discrimination and intolerance in all its forms pursuant to the policy of City and County of San Francisco.”

The resolution sponsored by President Aaron Peskin resulted from an April 4 Building Inspection Commission hearing in which Joe O'Donoghue, the head of the Residential Builders Association questioned whether Amy Lee, acting director of the Department of Building Inspection, was fit to run a department.

He also referred to Peskin as “an angry dwarf.” The resolution also included reference to a poem in which O'Donoghue questioned the sexual orientation of San Francisco’s mayor, Gavin Newsom.

While a resolution condemning certain speech doesn’t really accomplish anything in terms of punishment or consequence (yet), the peculiar resolution includes the love poem from O’Dongahue to Newsom and singles out individuals.

Dear Gavin, this ditty as sent to you
is out of a love that is deep and true ..
Rumors about you they rise and swell,
better you show if too shy to tell ..
The question now on everyone's lips,
From what the glass you amorously sip?
Are you or are you are you not,
And if so, for whom are you hot? ..
You like a batter who hides a bunt
Different behind from what's up front,
To every group you have sex appeal.
Toward whom now do your favors weal? ..
Spun you a folklore around your acts,
Please separate now the fiction from facts

What exactly does “discriminatory” speech entail? Peskin told the San Francisco Chronicle that “discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, weight, height or place of birth will not be tolerated in San Francisco city government."

While the resolution somehow frames O'Donoghue’s comments regarding Lee’s pregnancy within the context of the weight and misogyny provisions presumably, it is evident that his comments pertain more to potential morning sickness clouding judgment, calling her “pregnant brain”. Whether morning sickness is presumed to be a disability remains unclear by the resolution.

Michael Petrelis, a long-time activist who has had his own run-ins with the Board of Supervisors was not surprised but not pleased either. “This is protected speech. It’s not making threats on people. For the Supervisors to go to these great lengths and to single him [O'Donoghue] out in the resolution is sending a very chilling message,” said Petrelis in a phone conversation with me. “We’re going down a dangerous road. I’m concerned that this shit is going down in SF of all cities.”

Gavin Newsom’s communications chief, Peter Ragone, agreed that a balance between free speech and the condemnation of certain speech needed to be achieved, although admitted that the Mayor had not studied the specifics of the resolution itself. “We’ve made it clear that the Mayor condemns sexist and homophobic remarks,” he told me and advised me to look at the video on the web, which he thought I would find “entertaining.” (Boring perhaps, if I could find the correct one on the SFG indexed site...the April 4th video seems to have been removed. Others may have more time or luck!)