Everyone deserves a safe place to call home.
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco community organizations and leaders are celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility by casting a spotlight on one of most pressing issues of our day, homelessness and housing instability. Because everyone deserves a safe place to call home.
On this, the tenth anniversary of Transgender Day of Visibility—an internationally recognized annual day of action and celebration of Transgender and Gender Nonconforming people—we celebrate the many achievements we have won in San Francisco with respect to gender-affirming healthcare, increasing employment opportunities, access to legal support, youth services and so much more. Nevertheless, Trans and GNC people face an ever-increasing barrier solidified by rising housing costs and unrelenting systemic discrimination.
In a city with thousands of people living without shelter, our community faces homelessness at 18 times the rate of San Francisco’s general population. Half of Trans and GNC people in San Francisco report having experienced homelessness and more than 2 our of every 3 unhoused Trans and GNC San Franciscans have experienced mistreatment, harassment, or assault in shelters. Despite the staggering magnitude of this problem, we are undaunted.
Together we can fix this.
Today, community organizations and leaders are joining together to launch Our Trans Home SF—a coalition campaign to address the crisis of homelessness in our community. Join us by sharing the campaign video, signing a pledge to support Trans housing programs and share your own experience with accessing housing in the city.
The Office of Transgender Initiative’s Transgender Advisory Committee (TAC) will be meeting with San Francisco board of Supervisors this Thursday to tell our stories and make recommendations for Trans- and GNC-specific housing programs.
We applaud Mayor London Breed for honoring our community by hanging the Trans flag outside her office and for making the commitment to increase access to services and housing for Trans and GNC residents. We are energized by her continuing commitment to increasing access to housing and services for Trans and GNC community members, and for resisting the federal government’s efforts to erase the lived experiences of Trans and GNC San Franciscans.
On this Transgender Day of Visibility we recommit to raise the visibility of our community, the injustices that we face and our resilience in the face of adversity.