When gay and allied supporters converge on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. next month for the National Equality March, President Barack Obama, whom they are focusing on in their call for equal rights, might very well be in San Francisco.

Obama, along with former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, has been invited to San Francisco for the Presidents Cup golf tournament, which takes place at Harding Park Golf Course October 6-11.

The National Equality March takes place October 11, which is National Coming Out Day.

In a Tuesday, September 15 phone interview, Tom Clark, the Presidents Cup executive director, confirmed that Obama, Clinton, and Bush have been invited, but he couldn't say whether they would attend the tournament.

"Normally, we don't hear anything until days before. ... We have not received confirmation from anyone yet," said Clark.

Previous Presidents Cup tournaments have featured appearances by the sitting president. This year's event marks the first time the biennial tournament is taking place on a public golf course.

Last week, tournament team captains Greg Norman and Fred Couples and PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem met with Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office. Obama is the honorary chairman of this year's Presidents Cup.

Shin Inouye, Obama's director of specialty media, would neither confirm nor deny the presidential visit to San Francisco.

"His schedule for October is still not set," Inouye said this week.

Last week, Mayor Gavin Newsom was in Washington, D.C. to attend Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on health care.

The Bay Area Reporter sent an e-mail to Nathan Ballard, the mayor's communications director, to ask whether, during his trip, Newsom had spoken to Obama about his upcoming visit to San Francisco.

Ballard immediately replied, "No."

According to a statement posted on Newsom's gubernatorial campaign Web site, he and Clinton will participate in two events together in Los Angeles on October 5.

One event will be a fundraiser to benefit Newsom's primary campaign for governor, according to the statement.

Staff at Clinton's foundation did not respond to a request for comment on the possible San Francisco trip by press time. Staff at Bush's presidential library and museum referred the B.A.R. to another contact, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DC march update

Kip Williams, a lead organizer for the equality march, said that the possibility of a presidential visit detracting attention from the march "doesn't really concern me," but said if Obama and the two former presidents are in San Francisco, "I want to make sure there's some genuine activism that's happening locally."

"I want to be clear that I don't believe we should protest Obama, certainly, but show up to speak up for our rights and hold him accountable. ," Williams said.

Williams noted that marriage supporters organized by Marriage Equality USA would march the span of the Golden Gate Bridge on October 11. MEUSA has also walked the span of the bridge in previous years. However, banners and signs are not allowed to be carried on the bridge, making it a less visible event. People attending the bridge march will be wearing T-shirts supporting marriage equality, said MEUSA spokeswoman Molly McKay.

McKay also said that there are plans for after the bridge march. She said they'll head to the golf course area with signs that say things like "Fore equality" and "Equality is par for the course."

Also, "if given the opportunity, we'd love to deliver tens of thousands of postcards to Obama," said McKay, who said she expects at least 1,000 people for this year's bridge march. She said people have been filling out postcards that explain why they believe in marriage equality.

Big pledge

Gay blogs were abuzz this week with the news about gay software developer and Utah philanthropist Bruce Bastian's $100,000 pledge to the D.C. march.

Bastian, who plans to attend the march, told the B.A.R. that he made the pledge in July and has so far contributed $70,000.

The march has been controversial, with some people expressing doubts about the wisdom of devoting money and energy to such an event with other battles looming, such as the November ballot fights over marriage equality in Maine and domestic partner rights in Washington state.

But Bastian said that he sees the march as "a great opportunity to engage everyone and to push Congress to act" on the inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act legislation, repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on gays serving openly in the military, and overturning the Defense of Marriage Act.

Williams, one of the organizers, has said participants will be marching for "full federal equality in all matters governed by civil law," rather than marriage equality, DADT repeal, or ENDA.

Bastian acknowledged that, but said, "The only way we're going to have change is to get more people involved and get people understanding how laws are changed in this country. ... The right wing has been very successful in pushing their agenda because they get so many people lobbying their congressional representatives. There's no reason we can't do the same, and I believe that's what the march is about, really."

He said he's contributed at least $10,000 toward the marriage fight in Maine. Bastian said the march and other causes such as what's going on in Maine "are integrated."

"I don't believe there's a limit on what we can do," said Bastian. "I don't believe there's a limit on what we can raise."

Besides the march, the plan is for the weekend to also include training sessions and an HIV/AIDS rally.

Robert Polzoni, march spokesman, said in an e-mail that $171,000 had been raised as of Monday, September 14. He said the "day-of" budget is $200,000 and the total fundraising goal is $250,000.

Will the presidents show?

Clark, the Presidents Cup executive director, could not say whether the current and former presidents were coming or when they might appear.

"It's strictly up to their schedule," he said.

"It's highly unlikely" that Obama and the former presidents would appear at the same time, said Clark, "but it has happened in the past."

He said when a president comes, "he'll stay and enjoy part of the day and meet some of the players."

Clark said that the last time a president did not appear at the Presidents Cup was around the time of Hurricane Katrina, which was in 2005. The Presidents Cup takes place every other year. The last event was in Montreal in 2007.

Lisa Seitz Gruwell, of the San Francisco Park and Recreation Department, which oversees Harding Park, didn't respond to requests for comment by press time.