City officials said Friday that Feb. 23 was named “COLT Studio Day” without Newsom’s knowledge. The official proclamation, bearing Newsom’s name, said COLT 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 spokesman Nathan Ballard said there now would be a stricter review process of potentially controversial proclamations and only the chief of staff or the director of governmental affairs may approve them.
Neither California Assemblyman Mark Leno nor San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros, the two other officials responsible for COLT’s proclamation, expressed regret.
Conservative pundits have repeatedly chastised the city since, declaring its reputation has been marred by “glorifying” gay porn.
Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, said the event “has proven yet again why [San Francisco remains] the mocked city of the country.”
Bill O’Reilly bashed the city on his talk show, “The O’Reilly Factor,” saying, “There is not another city in the country that has ever had a ‘gay porn day.’ And you wonder why your city is looked upon as the modern day Sodom and Gomorrah?”
COLT President John Rutherford had been invited to appear in that episode but declined, stating later in his online blog that he was not interested.
When asked for his perspective on the past week’s events, COLT President John Rutherford said simply, “I hope it’s all put to bed now.”