Lesbian confab needs new home
Thank you for your editorial regarding the Lesbians Who Tech & Allies Summit held in the Castro the last several years ["Lesbian tech confab has outgrown Castro," November 2]. This started in the parking lot behind Walgreens around five years ago. Then it spread up and down Castro, 18th Street, and beyond. Two years ago many agreed the event had outgrown our business district.
Last year was impossible as much commerce stopped for four business days. Traffic and parking were a mess. Merchants lost money. Everyone thought it had now really outgrown the Castro. Suggestions to move to a more suitable place like the Mission Armory or Bill Graham Civic Auditorium were rejected by the group, which insisted in order to raise funds for its private organization it needed the prestige address of Castro Street.
Organizers constantly made promises they had no intention of keeping. And now, this year was even worse. On the Thursday afternoon of the event I took photos inside the lecture tent in front of Walgreens at 11:30 a.m., where a woman was giving a lecture to approximately 12 people. For this the neighborhood was basically shut down!
I wrote to the Castro Merchants Association last year and was told Lesbians Who Tech had somehow gotten approval. Please, now that we have enough time, let's stop this from happening again. They need to find a new home.
Mike O'Connor
San Francisco
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