Nothing excites Robert Bernardo more than dissecting a political candidate's electoral chances or ruminating over behind-the-scenes power plays at City Hall. Addicted to the Web site www.electionprojection.com, Bernardo regularly fields phone calls from political candidates seeking advice and is an aspiring politician himself.
Born in the Philippines he moved to the United States at the age of 2 and grew up on the Peninsula. In March 2005, Bernardo became the first openly gay, Jewish, Filipino commissioner in the city of South San Francisco where he serves on the city's personnel commission. He also serves on the San Mateo County Democratic County Central Committee.
"I have always loved politics," said Bernardo, 38, the individual grand marshal for Pride this year. "While other gay men in college went partying all the time, I wrote speeches for the mayor of Sacramento and was close friends with the mayor of Davis."
His passion for politics could be heard on his radio show "Robert's Political Corner" while a student at the University of California at Davis. His activism led him to help plan his campus' first National Coming Out Day event and work on political campaigns.
After graduating in 1991, the political junkie joined the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance and worked on its political outreach committee. Last July, he became a co-chair of the group. An investigator for former San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan, Bernardo went to work as a public information officer for the Port of Oakland in 2002. He serves as a board member for both the Alameda and San Leandro chambers of commerce.
Raised Catholic, Bernardo could not reconcile his faith with the antigay teachings of the church and decided to leave Catholicism behind. He set out to find "more meaning in my life" and set up numerous lunches with people of different faiths. His religious probing led him to decide to become a Jew and in March 2005 he completed a two-year process to convert to Judaism. A documentary film crew followed him for a year as he made the transition; the film is scheduled for a 2007 release.
His being grand marshal, while an honor, is also a reminder of the antigay policies the LGBT continues to face in this country. Though Bernardo met his boyfriend 14 years ago, he will walk the parade route alone this Sunday. His partner is a member of the military, and due to the armed service's ban on gay personnel, he must remain on the sidelines out of the public eye. If he took a more public role, he could lose his job.
"We actually met the day after Pride through friends," recalled Bernardo.
Bernardo dreams of someday serving on the South San Francisco City Council. But he seems hesitant to run until the day when the spotlight of a campaign would be of little consequence to his partner's career.
"I do hope to run. I have to look at the timing – both personally and what the political landscape would look like when I run," said Bernardo.