By Mayor London Breed–
I believe my administration has done more to uplift the LGBTQ community than any in city history. I am proud of our record together and excited for where we go from here. San Francisco has never rested on its laurels and neither will we.
In my next term, I will build on our work to: elevate LGBTQ leaders across the board; defend and celebrate the transgender community; end trans homelessness; protect LGTBQ youth; serve LGBTQ seniors; Get to Zero; complete major improvements in the Castro; and cement the city’s role as the global leader in gay culture.
I am proud to have appointed LGBTQ leaders, including the heads of our Departments of Public Health, Human Resources, Fire, Homelessness and Supportive Housing, the Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni), and more. I’ve appointed gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey and more than 100 LGBTQ city commissioners. And over half of my own policy staff identify as LGBTQ. I will always ensure LGBTQ people are part of city leadership.
Sadly, the most pressing fight these days is for the basic human rights of our transgender siblings. I’ve been fighting beside you for years and will stay beside you for the next four years.
I have worked hand-in-hand with the Office of Transgender Initiatives (OTI), the first trans-serving and trans-led government office in the nation. I recently appointed Honey Mahogany to lead the office, the first trans Black woman to hold this position.
We became the first city in the country to declare August Transgender History Month. We launched a guaranteed income program for transgender women of color, the first of its kind in the country. The program helped ease the financial insecurity faced by those who suffer some of the worst discrimination. With Honey at the helm, we’ll continue developing new and innovative solutions like this, unafraid to try new approaches. And I am dedicated to ending trans homelessness by 2027.
We opened the first shelter in the nation specifically for trans women. We launched Our Trans Home SF, the first rental subsidy program specifically for transgender individuals. We’ve already invested over $10 million and housed hundreds of people, many of them seniors and people of color. About 40% of transgender individuals in San Francisco face housing instability. I intend to bring that to zero.
We will continue our work to protect LGBTQ youth and the organizations that serve them, both of which, sadly, face disproportionate rates of threats and violence. And we will keep fighting LGBTQ youth homelessness, which is disproportionately high. LGBTQ kids have often been rejected by their community, disavowed by their church, even kicked out by their parents. The City of Saint Francis should always welcome them.
We’ve acquired a site for supportive housing for homeless LGBTQ youth. It will provide shelter and comprehensive services, like mental health care and job training. We are on track to open it in my next term.
On the other end, my administration will keep supporting LGBTQ seniors. We will create more innovative solutions like the senior tele-mental health program we established with Openhouse during Covid to provide support during a period of isolation.
We will continue not just funding Getting to Zero, but working to actually get to zero new HIV infections. My administration always has and always will offset federal funding cuts to HIV services, ensuring accessible services for those living with HIV. I was proud to be the first mayor in over 12 years to create new rental subsidies for people living with HIV, because we know that housing security is part of getting to zero.
Our efforts are working! New HIV infections are at an all-time low, dropping by almost a quarter last year and almost in half among the Latino community.
We will continue our work to solidify the Castro as a beautiful, welcoming gay neighborhood. I’ve implemented a number of laws to help our small businesses and activate vacant spaces, and I want the businesses in the Castro/Upper Market succeeding and vacancies going down.
I also placed a measure on the November ballot to provide tens of millions of dollars to rebuild Harvey Milk Plaza, transforming it into a proper monument to him and a great community gathering space. The measure will also invest in City Clinic, to continue meeting the health needs of our LGTBQ community.
Lastly, I intend to continue cementing San Francisco’s role as the global LGBTQ cultural leader. We’ve invested over $12 million locally and secured another $5 million thanks to Senator Scott Wiener to build the nation’s first LGBTQ history museum. And we created the first ever Drag Laureate in the world, standing firmly against efforts to curtail LGBTQ expression.
We will end trans homelessness in my next term. We will rebuild Harvey Milk Plaza. We will open the doors to the first LGBTQ history museum. We will finally meet our goal of getting to zero new HIV infections.
And we won’t stop there.
Other candidates in this election offer empty promises, or a blank stare when asked to name a gay advisor or drag queen. I offer my decades of work side-by-side with the LGBTQ community, the countless successes we’ve shared together, the losses we’ve overcome together, the love and support we have for one other, and the hope for an even stronger future. I am London Breed and I am always proud to serve as your mayor.
London Breed is the 45th Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco. https://www.londonformayor.com/
Election 2024
Published on September 19, 2024
