San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed today joined City leaders and community members to raise the transgender flag at City Hall in honor of San Francisco’s Transgender History Month.
In San Francisco, the Tenderloin is home to The Transgender District, created in 2018 as Compton's Transgender Cultural District, the nation's first legally recognized district dedicated to the transgender, nonbinary, and intersex community.
“San Francisco has been, and always will be a place where we embrace our diverse communities to ensure everyone has the freedom to be who they are,” said Mayor Breed. “Last year we declared August Transgender History Month in San Francisco, making it the country’s first of its kind. We are proud of what this City stands for, and today and the entire month of August reflect the resilience of the transgender community and San Francisco’s commitment to supporting and protecting the rights of trans people.”
Transgender History Month honors the 57th anniversary of the Compton's Cafeteria Riots, which occurred in August 1966 in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, marking the beginning of transgender activism in San Francisco. A response to violent and constant police harassment, this incident was one of the first LGBTQ uprisings in United States history, preceding the better-known 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City.
“As we celebrate our second annual Transgender History Month in San Francisco, we honor the work, advocacy and history of trans community members and activists that paved the way for us to be here today,” said Pau Crego, Executive Director of the Office of Transgender Initiatives (OTI). “It is especially vital now more than ever to remember and celebrate the trans community’s history, at a time when there are over five hundred anti-trans bills being proposed nation-wide. San Francisco’s history is intertwined with trans liberation, and upholding dignity, safety and well-being for our transgender residents is an inherent part of our legacy. At the Office of Transgender Initiatives, we are thrilled to continue this important tradition of commemorating Transgender History Month with Mayor London Breed and The Transgender District.”
Last week, Mayor Breed signed San Francisco’s $14.6 billion Budget that includes investments to continue supporting residents, including TGNCI residents, who disproportionally face barriers to housing, services, and employment. In partnership with the Office of Transgender Initiatives, City departments are coordinating to ensure that Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, and Intersex People (TGNCI) people are not left behind.
These investments fund a citywide strategic goal, to include:
- The proposed budget leverages Our City, Our Home (OCOH) funding to support TGNCI residents exiting homelessness into permanent housing.
- The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) will assist vulnerable residents, including TGNCI residents, through its adult Flexible Housing Subsidy Program and federal emergency housing vouchers. Additionally, HSH will operate an approximately 50-unit PSH building to serve transitional aged youth.
- The Department of Public is investing approximately $1 million in continued annual funding for dedicated TGNCI behavioral health programming.
- The Mayor’s proposed FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 budget maintains $3 million ongoing General Fund investment to build capacity among nonprofit providers serving TGNCI residents and continues to fund short-term or shallow rental subsidies in partnership with Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development.
The Mayor’s proposed FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 budget also maintains funding for crucial programming, including the Castro Youth Housing Initiative and the Taimoon Booton Navigation Center.
With an estimated 400 TGNCI residents experiencing homelessness at any given time, the implementation of this plan will address the homelessness crisis within TGNCI communities, in particular as it affects Black, Indigenous, Latina and other trans women of color. The plan to end trans homelessness will build on the first TGNCI-focused housing program in the nation, which Mayor Breed founded in 2019.
"Transgender history should not be understated. Now, more than ever, it is imperative to lean into transgender history to understand the reemergence of extremist and violent anti-transgender rhetoric. It is rhetoric that is not new - in fact, it draws from the tumultuous decades of the 1970s and 1980s that led to the pathologization of transness which resulted in devastating consequences for the safety and livelihood of trans people,” said Jupiter Peraza, transgender activist and Manager at Statewide Coalition at Openhouse SF. “Our history is a vivid and captivating account of sacrifice, transformation, joy, and a journey towards personal liberation. There are a plethora of lessons and takeaways waiting to be discovered -- to teach us about who we are, where we come from, and how to create a future that is inclusive, kind, just, and equitable. We must learn from our past to guarantee a future defined by liberation."
For more information about San Francisco’s Office of Transgender Initiatives, please visit https://sf.gov/departments/city-administrator/office-transgender-initiatives and learn more about The Transgender District at https://www.transgenderdistrictsf.com/.
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