Another year has come and gone, as this is the last Political Notebook of 2008. Before 2009 is ushered in next week, the Notebook wanted to tie up some loose ends from stories the Bay Area Reporter covered this past year, as well as clean out the notepad of scribbles that have yet to make it into print.

Vietnam trip postponed

Coming off the successful sister-city exchanges between San Francisco and Sydney, Australia this year, Mayor Gavin Newsom had asked Supervisor Bevan Dufty to lead a delegation to visit Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam after the November elections. Dufty co-led the Sydney trip in February, and in August, had begun planning the visit to Southeast Asia.

In 1995, San Francisco became the first American city to form sister city ties with a Vietnamese city. The trip was to have focused on AIDS issues – Ho Chi Minh has a thriving gay community and is battling its own HIV epidemic – as well as job training programs.

But due to the downturn in the economy and many LGBT people being hit up for funds for the battle against Proposition 8, Dufty said a decision was made to nix the trip this year and postpone it to the fall of 2009.

"Really, during the No on 8 fight it just seemed ludicrous to try to raise money at the same time. Given the economic downturn, it felt like it should be pushed back," said Dufty.

Dufty has met with local Vietnamese officials and is hopeful the trip will occur next year. Unlike the Sydney visit, which was timed to that city's Pride parade, there is no such date requirement in visiting Ho Chi Minh.

"This is more open-ended," said Dufty. "I think we will have a more meaningful trip by postponing it."

Same-sex marriage was good for the national parks

As was reported in last week's story about the Presidio's gay beach area, the LGBT community is a big backer financially of the National Park Service and the Golden Gate National Recreational Area. And this year the park saw a windfall due to same-sex marriages.

Same-sex couples flocked to the park looking for scenic spots to exchange their vows, from the chapel at Fort Mason to outdoor locales like Muir Woods in Marin and the Cliff House and Sutro Heights Park in the city. Of the 300 weddings booked at the park, officials estimate between 200 and 225 were same-sex ceremonies.

Rich Weideman, a spokesman for the park service, said normally the park will see between 50 and 70 weddings a year. The banner year brought $90,000 into the park's operational budget, he said.

"Pre-Prop 8, it definitely has been a revenue source for the parks," said Weideman of the same-sex weddings.

Mayor's gay aide to remain

Steve Kawa, the openly gay man who returned to his old job as Newsom's chief of staff in August, isn't leaving City Hall anytime soon. Initially, Kawa agreed to come back and work for the mayor on a six-month basis.

After Phil Ginsburg resigned as the chief of staff in order to spend more time with his family, Human Services Agency Director Trent Rhorer had been offered the job. But Rhorer informed the mayor this summer that he needed to postpone taking over due to personal reasons. In a pinch, Newsom called Kawa.

Kawa has been on a leave of absence as executive director of the Willie L. Brown Jr. Leadership Center at San Francisco State University. It had been thought he would return to the post in early 2009, but he is staying put at Room 200 in City Hall for now.

"Steve has offered to work for the administration as long as he is needed," Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard told the B.A.R .

Pelosi receives some gay homework

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) received some gay homework when she helped unveil the new Harvey Milk bust at the federal building renaming in honor of the slain gay politician last month.

As Pelosi was leaving the Treasure Island event, she was handed a copy of a report looking at the problems LGBT binational couples face in trying to immigrate to the United States. The report was done by Human Rights Watch and is called "Family Unvalued: Discrimination, Denial, and the Fate of Binational Same-Sex Couples under US Law." [A copy can be found at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/us0506/.]

Fremont resident Belinda Ryan handed Pelosi the report as she was getting into her SUV to leave the event. Ryan is the president of Out For Immigration, a group set up to advocate for LGBT binational couples faced with having to leave the country because the non-American partner cannot obtain U.S. citizenship.

Ryan is from Britain and married her American partner, Wendy Daw, this year. She has repeatedly faced the threat of deportation because the federal government does not recognize her relationship. She said she gave Pelosi the report, which includes her family's story, in hopes of seeing Congress enact a law making it easier for binational couples to remain together in the U.S.

"She has such a powerful position. She can make something happen now in Congress," said a visibly emotional Ryan after speaking briefly with Pelosi. "I said to her a lot of lesbian and gay Americans are living in exile. I said this affects my family and we are in the report."

Pelosi has sponsored the bill in the past, and it has 100 co-sponsors so far in the House. But it has yet to be voted on, as it lacked enough support to pass it and was not supported by President Bush.

As for whether Pelosi read the report, a spokesman did not respond to a request for comment last week.

The Monday morning Political Notes, the notebook's online companion, is taking a break for the holidays.  The weekly column will return Monday, January 12.

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Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 861-5019 or e-mail mailto:.