Friday, Wayne: Moscone championing LGBT

Wayne Friday: I don’t know how Moscone became the champion of the underdog as much as he did. He was the first that I remember, and I moved out here when Alioto was mayor. I think that Speaker [Willie] Brown probably had it right that Moscone was the first. He was a local guy. He couldn’t care less what your background was or nothing. I actually don’t think he saw the color of your skin. I knew him pretty well, and we discussed politics a lot. When he ran for mayor, he called me and we talked and went to have lunch and asked me “Can I have your endorsement, Wayne because you know a lot of people in the community.” I said “My endorsement doesn’t mean anything.” He says “Yeah, but the Bay Area Reporter is, and you are the political editor of the Bay Area Reporter.” I said “Well unfortunately Senator, I’ve already endorsed Milton Marks in that race.” But I did everything behind the scenes I could to help George Moscone because he was a hell of a guy. He was a true champion. Prior to him life for gay and lesbians in San Francisco was not as good as it should have been, and I think because he was a local guy, he knew a lot of people, he knew everybody, he was friends with everybody, and I don’t that the guy had a racist bone in his body. He didn’t. Can’t say that for some of the other ones that followed him afterwards. A lot of them played politics, but George played it right down the middle. He was a good guy. I look back at him now, and I have a big picture of him in my house on what I lovingly call the “Harvey Milk Wall”. It’s a whole wall covered with photographs, and in the middle of the photos of Harvey is this big one of George. He meant every much to me as Harvey Milk