Candidates running for even-numbered Supervisory District seats in San Francisco this fall told the Bay Area Reporter that they support a myriad of proposals to preserve and promote San Francisco’s LGBTQ cultural heritage. Their ideas ranged from turning LGBTQ historic sites into landmarks to financially supporting LGBTQ entrepreneurs and small business owners.
It’s been four years since the city first unveiled a draft city-wide LGBTQ+ cultural heritage strategy that offers more than 50 suggestions on how the city hall can thrive and sustain the local queer community and its culture. I was. In July, the Board of Supervisors held its first committee hearing on his 56-page report. At the time of the report’s publication, he needed an estimate of $10.2 million to $15.7 million to fully implement.
As BAR previously reported, many of the ideas presented in the document are funded or enacted by the city. London Breed Mayor, for example, has budgeted $12 million towards the purchase of a new sprawling LGBTQ history museum and archive center site. Meanwhile, her administration is working to nominate the city’s first drag winner, tasked with promoting LGBTQ nightlife and her local drug scene.
The Cultural Strategy is intended to be a living document and advisory guide for use by city officials, and the BAR, in a survey of this year’s managerial candidates, said they would be more likely to implement it if they won the Nov. 8 race. I asked for a suggestion for a transfer report. Representing District 10 and its historic black neighborhood Hunters His Point and Bayview, board chairman Shaman Walton will increase the number of LGBTQ urban landmarks and fund economic development programs aimed at the LGBTQ community. expressed support for providing
A straight supporter and the first black man to wield the presidential gavel on the board, Walton said his neighborhood, which runs along the city’s eastern coastline, has more people than other neighborhoods that have historically been LGBTQ neighborhoods. also pointed out that there was an influx of LGBTQ residents whose prices were lowered, such as the Castro and the southwestern part of the market. As such, he said he worked to foster a sense of community among his LGBTQ voters during his first term.
“D10 has a growing LGBTQ+ community and I have supported cultural engagements with the community through things like D10 Pride and D10 Pride Pride,” said Walton.
Raphael Mandelman, supervisor of the gay district’s 8th district, which represents Castro at City Hall, called and attended a public hearing on the city’s LGBTQ cultural strategy this summer. () He urged his constituency, Breed and Gay State Senator Scott Wiener, who previously held the D8 seat, to find a permanent location to house the museum and archives of the GLBT Historical Society. He pointed out to BAR that he worked with (D-San Francisco). State funding secured by Wiener now raises $17 million for him to purchase real estate for nonprofits.
The Queer Preservation Group has leased a small Castro storefront on 18th Street for use as the site of its current museum, and has also rented space in a downtown office building to house its extensive archive collection. increase. For years, he has been looking for a place, preferably in Castro, to call home, a variety of businesses he could fit under one roof.
“The GLBT Historical Society’s funding for a new, larger, and more permanent museum is one of the hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional annual funding we are able to secure in the city’s budget,” Mandelman said. increase. Expand the variety of LGBTQ+ friendly services offered by nonprofits. ”
He also pointed out the need to mark LGBTQ landmarks. For example, with the support of LGBTQ advocates and conservationists, he instigated the home of pioneering lesbian couples, Del He Martin and Phyllis He Noé of Lyon. He now supports renewing his Castro Theater landmark status to protect the interior space, and the late Harvey His Milk’s former camera shop and campaign headquarters at 575 Castro Street will be relocated to the Commonwealth. We hope to be granted National Monument status by the park system. .
“We want to find a way to safely bring back Castro Halloween and Pink Saturday. The festival has been an iconic cultural experience for queer people from around the Bay Area,” said Identity.
Kate Stoyre, an attorney and heterosexual mother who has opposed Mandelman, told BAR, “I’m going to hire an LGBTQ adviser or set of advisers on this matter.”
Joel Engardio, a gay and married former journalist who became a community organizer at odds with District 4 supervisor Gordon Ma, had a similar reaction to Stoia.
“We will work with leaders and residents in the LGBTQ community to ask for their input on what they want to prioritize,” Engardio wrote.
When asked about the reaction at an editorial board meeting with BAR, where it was noted that the LGBTQ Advocates Advisory Board worked with city leaders to draft a cultural strategy, Engardio said he said that He admitted that he was unaware of the creation or had not read the document.
For March, a key component of his focus strategy will be supporting the preservation of LGBTQ+ cultural districts and LGBTQ+ historic sites, and providing access to affordable housing and workspaces for LGBTQ+ artists. I told BAR that it is to increase.
“I am already working on similar initiatives with the Sunset Chinese Cultural District and other District 4 stakeholders and am excited about the opportunity to build linkages with our LGBTQ cultural heritage strategy.”
District 6 Supervisor Candidate Honey Mahogany, who served as Chief of Staff when Matt Haney held the seat, has made a strong commitment to LGBTQ residents, from young and old to artists and nightlife workers. Mahogany, who is part of an ownership group seeking to reopen a stud queer nightclub somewhere in the city, served as director of the Tenderloin’s transgender district. It provided early input for the development of a cultural strategy.
“In all our conversations, one of the most pressing issues was housing. Many of my colleagues, friends, artists, performers, bartenders, and working-class people couldn’t afford to live in San Francisco. “Many of them moved east first. Out on the Bay before moving to Austin or New Orleans or even New York,” Mahogany wrote. Not only do we need to build more housing faster, we also need to invest in social housing and community land trusts.”
Mahogany said he helped create the San Francisco Queer Land Trust and the San Francisco Community Land Trust early on. If elected the city’s first transgender supervisor, she told her BAR that she would direct city funds toward government-owned housing and community-owned housing for working-class people.
“As someone who was part of the effort to save Stud (don’t worry, we’re working to get it back!), I know the power of cooperatives too,” Mahogany wrote. “I want to work with organizations like NoBAWC (Bay Area Workers Cooperative Network) to support people who want to start cooperatives, especially those who want to preserve legacy businesses or move to San Francisco. or preserve some of the rich history and cultural institutions that make it so special.”
Increasing the city’s investment in nightlife is another priority for Mahogany.
“For the LGBTQ community, nightlife is where many of us first come out, feel safe and find ourselves,” wrote Mahogany, who will become San Francisco’s first drag queen elected supervisor. I’m here. “Nightlife is also a big draw for San Francisco’s biggest industry, tourism, and it drives a large part of our economy, including transportation, restaurants, theaters, etc. We have a vibrant nightlife scene that makes us want to come and hopefully keep people here.”
Gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey was appointed to fill the vacancy left when Haney left for state legislature in the spring, securing a record amount of city funding for LGBTQI+ To do so, he noted how he partnered with Mandelman and his board colleagues during recent budget negotiations. services and programs. As BAR previously reported, he was allocated more than $17 million for various LGBTQ needs.
The fund funds services and housing assistance for transgender individuals and people living with HIV, as well as providing financial support to the city’s Pride Commission and queer arts organizations. Much of the funding is related to the 50 proposals included in the Cultural Strategy.
“The LGBTQ Culture Strategy was developed following comprehensive stakeholder engagement and research. We have to do everything we can,” writes Dorsey, the second person living with HIV. .
If he remains D6 supervisor, Dorsey told BAR he will continue to lobby the city to enact a cultural strategy. It promised to create a “physical community hub” for the American community, streamlining and eliminating the “bureaucracy” that minority- and queer-owned businesses and entrepreneurs face in the city. hole.
Dorsey’s top priority is helping the city meet its state-mandated goal of building 82,000 new homes by 2030.
Dorsey, a former spokesperson for San Francisco Police Chief William Scott, said, “If the housing price crisis continues to worsen, we will lose our diverse queer and transgender communities to other cities and states.
Finally, Katherine Stephanie, District 2 supervisor who has a gay sister and is not against re-election, said, “San Francisco’s association with LGBTQ culture is central to our city’s identity, and it’s what we do to the nation. It serves as a beacon for When Stephanie served as a city employee, she oversaw the hundreds of same-sex marriages that took place at City Hall and ensured that each couple was treated with respect by staff.
“The best way to preserve LGBTQ culture is for San Francisco to remain a city where LGBTQ people can thrive,” Stefani wrote. “I voted to support all previous LGBTQ cultural districts and histories and to expand medical services for LGBTQ people. Specifically, we have allocated additional funds to sustain Freshmeat: Dance Festivals.
She also voiced her support for funding and establishing a permanent museum of LGBTQ+ history and culture in the city.
“I am a co-sponsor of Proposition F, which expands the Library Preservation Fund for another 25 years. Today, when politicians ban books and ban knowledge and history, our libraries are more important than ever. ‘ writes Stefani. “It would be great if San Francisco was the first museum in America to tell the history of LGBTQ+ people.”
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