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To give you an idea of how they think in SF, following is report from newspaper there. It is about the event she rose to praise in her speach. ....and you think the Wellstone memorial was an isolated event......

A death -- and new respect
By Allen White
Special to The Examiner

THE FUNERAL MASS for San Francisco Police Officer Jon Cook, and the procession that followed through the city's Castro district, were defining moments in The City's history. With his death, Officer Cook became the first openly gay member of the San Francisco Police Department to die in the line of duty.

Monday, San Francisco's greatness was again defined by its enormous capacity to share collective tears of joy and sadness. An extended family that spread across this city, through eyes moistened by emotion and pain, saw a historic drama unfold.

As Jared Strawderman walked behind his lover's casket into San Francisco's Roman Catholic Cathedral, the love between these two men was acknowledged with stark honesty and clarity.

Without question, Jon and Jared loved each other very, very much. It was a love not hidden. That reality was celebrated, not obscured.

The significance of San Francisco police officers, gay and straight, forming an honor guard with other law enforcement personnel must never be understated. By their presence, tears and statements, police officers clearly, and without ambiguity, identified Officer Cook as a good cop. Whether he was a gay cop or a cop who was gay no longer matters.

The directive of Police Chief Fred Lau for the body of Officer Cook to be taken through the Castro was an incredible human rights statement. Gay athletes had the opportunity to join with business people, lawyers, doctors, carpenters and even the homeless to mourn and celebrate their hero.

As police cars with sirens and red lights cleared Castro Street, every gay man, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered person on that street knew, without question or hesitation, that Officer Cook was their guy. There was also the sense that the walls of discrimination that stood for centuries were crumbling under the force of community love, respect and acceptance.

As San Franciscans reached out to share comfort and concern for Officer Cook's the family, Nicholas Ferrando, another good cop who struggles to stay alive, was not forgotten. More than a few have faith to believe healing will come to this 25-year-old. The other officers injured in last week's accident, David Lee, 22, and Michael Celis, 34, have been treated and released.

These four police officers, one gay and three straight, represent a new generation of law enforcement. They, like many San Franciscans, know little of past violence that contrasts so sharply with today's events.

In 1969, angry drag queens rioting against police harassment at Stonewall, a Greenwich Village bar, lit the spark fueling the contemporary gay movement. In 1978, Dan White, a former cop, assassinated Harvey Milk, San Francisco's first openly gay supervisor, and Mayor George Moscone. The following May 21, riots erupted as the verdict for two murders was reduced to manslaughter. That prompted police beatings in the Castro.

Together, these incidents caused the change from which emerged an international sexual liberation movement. Forces fell in place to end the fear that, without provocation, police could and would use their power to destroy anyone they perceived to be homosexual.

The election of George Moscone brought more change. Openly gay men and lesbians were appointed to city commissions.

Because of their numbers, lesbians, gay men and a transgendered police officers are now being taken for granted by some. They shouldn't be. Gay police haven't gained total community acceptance and homophobia, like racism, continues to surface in law enforcement agencies everywhere.

A meaningful option might be for the community to demand Officer Cook be honored as grand marshal of the 2002 San Francisco Pride Parade, that he be represented by his lover, Jared, and that every gay, lesbian or transgendered police officer in America be invited to join him to march down Market Street. That, in fact, would be the truest demonstration of gay pride.

Monday was a day for sadness because a person so appreciated and loved is dead; 38 is too young to die. Yet, the people of San Francisco witnessed a plateau of respect that is truly incredible. A police officer who gave his life in the line of duty also gave the gift of validation to a community who cares.

Thank you, Officer Cook.

Is, ummmm, Dirty Harry Callahan available to take over as Chief of SFPD and restore some semblance of order????

international sexual liberation movement.

Good find.

That was precisely the doctrine Marcuse advocated in his commie classice "Eros and Civilization".

Pelosi and a large number of folks in SF dream of a future in which private property is abolished, marriage is abolished, and the landscape is one big public bath house. Then we will all be "liberated".