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San Francisco, CA — The mayor's office in San Francisco is taking heat for issuing a laudatory proclamation in honor of a gay porn studio that's been in business for 40 years. 

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, conservative policy advocates nationwide belittled the city after Mayor Gavin Newsom's office declared Feb. 23 to be Colt Studio Day, honoring the 40th anniversary of a San Francisco movie company whose Web site invites visitors to "come inside to experience the hottest man-on-man action."

"San Francisco has proven yet again why they remain the mocked city of the country," said the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Anaheim-based Traditional Values Coalition, to the Associated Press. "No other major city in the nation has gone so far as to blatantly glorify a homosexual porn producer and company."

The Chronicle reports that the official document, bearing Newsom's name, was presented by a representative of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services to the company during its anniversary party. The Chronicle reports that it said Colt Studio "has produced movies that have entertained the gay community over the past 40 years" and has contributed to the city by bringing in "hundreds of millions of dollars in business" and "stimulating the job market and the local economy in general."

Newsom's office issues nearly 2,000 proclamations a year, most covering such innocuous topics as Australian Heritage Day and Graffiti Watch Day. They are typically issued by the Neighborhood Services Office without the mayor or his top aides reviewing their content, which was the case with the document honoring the gay porn studio, Newsom's spokesman said Friday. 

Talk show host Bill O'Reilly skewered the city and its leaders on "The O'Reilly Factor" Tuesday night after a political ally of Newsom's appeared on the program to say the mayor can't be responsible for every proclamation that goes out under his name. 

"There is not another city in the country that has ever had a 'gay porn day,'" O'Reilly said, reports the AP. "And you wonder why your city is looked upon as a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah?"

The proclamation came the night before the GAYVN Awards held in San Francisco's Castro District, the gay porn industry's answer to the Oscars. 

"If there are any questions about proclamations, they will be reviewed," said Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard. "There's just going to be a stricter review process from now on."

The Chronicle reports that Ballard stopped short of saying the administration had made a mistake in honoring Colt Studio, but said, "The mayor is concerned about it. And we've changed the policy to reflect that."

Written By Troy Espera

Photo: John Rutherford, Colt Studio president and creative director, holding the 3 controversial proclamations at the Colt Studio's 40th Anniversary held at the San Francisco War Memorial Building on February 23, 2007.
Photo By Frank Failing
Article provided in partnership with GayWebMonkey.com.

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