Trans Awareness Month: Standing for Trans Rights and Investing in Trans Lives
By: San Francisco Office Of Transgender Initiatives
Tags: Transgender, San Francisco, Equality, Equity, LGBTQ

A photo of San Francisco City Hall lit in the pink, white, and blue colors of the Trans Pride flag, with the words “Trans Awareness Month: San Francisco Celebrates the Transgender Community” superimposed.

This month we joined Mayor London N. Breed and community partners in recognizing November as Trans Awareness Month in San Francisco.

Although this year’s Trans Awareness Month events looked different due to COVID, we still came together virtually to build community, awareness, and develop community actions to end the violence and discrimination against trans people.

Event highlights this month included the annual San Francisco Trans Film Festival, virtual Trans Month Talks, International Trans Day of Remembrance, and more! Check out all of the community events here.

Please check out a special video message from Mayor Breed in honor of the month.

Mayor London Breed’s video message for Trans Awareness Month.

Raising the Trans Pride Flag at San Francisco City Hall, 2018.

Building an Inclusive City and Investing in Our Future

This Trans Awareness Month as we raised the Trans Flag over San Francisco City Hall, we reaffirmed our continued commitment in the fight for trans rights and LGBTQ equality not just in words, but in actions. As Director of the Office of Transgender Initiatives, I am grateful to serve our community and to work with such an incredible team. I am proud of what we have achieved over the last three years, and we are committed to the work we have ahead.

In partnership with community organizations we developed and launched the Our Trans Home SF campaign and housing project, which provides low income trans residents housing case management, emergency rental assistance, and transitional housing services. Furthermore, we increased funding and investments into critical LGBTQ community services citywide. (See more details below)

We have prioritized leadership development in supporting pathways to civic engagement, education, and economic mobility through our Transgender Advisory Committee (TAC) and our LGBTQ Immigrant Fellowship program, EmergeSF.

Our programs and policy team worked with other City departments to create more inclusive workplaces. Over the last year we have trained over a thousand employees on trans and LGBTQ workplace inclusion. We also continued implementation of sexual orientation and gender identity data collection across City departments, and tracked 12X legislation that bans City travel or contracting with states that pass anti-LGBTQ legislation.

Addressed local and national LGBTQ policy efforts including the Mayor’s Executive Directive to expand gender inclusive options across all city forms, implemented Trans Inclusion Policy with the City’s Department of Human Resources, partnered on Mayors Against Discrimination policy efforts against the ongoing federal attacks on trans rights, as well as partnered with the City Attorney’s Office to submit formal oppositions to several proposed Federal Rules that promote discrimination in healthcare, housing, and the workplace.

Hosted a virtual Transgender Advocacy Week in July 2020 in partnership with our TAC, transgender community leaders and members of the Board of Supervisors. As well as supported and hosted dozens of community events reaching thousands of residents, including supporting Census- specific events and outreach to LGBTQ residents.

Now more than ever we need to come together to build towards a more inclusive and equitable San Francisco. As the first and only trans-led city government office we are working every day to advance policies, programs, and equity for transgender, gender nonconforming, and LGBQ communities in the City and County of San Francisco.

Together, we can continue the progress we have made in San Francisco and continue to be a model for the rest of the country. We are committed to continuing to create a more equitable and inclusive San Francisco.

Investing in Trans Lives

In October, Mayor London Breed signed her balanced budget for Fiscal Year 2020–21 and 2021–21, prioritizing essential services and resources for our communities most impacted by the pandemic. This included a historic annual investment of over $5 million in critical and lifesaving services for trans and gender nonconforming community members.

Our priorities include new and ongoing investment into trans housing, employment, education, violence prevention, arts and culture, health and wellness programs. In July, our Trans Advisory Committee (TAC) shared these community priorities in meetings with members of the Board of Supervisors during our annual Trans Advocacy Week that convened virtually.

We are grateful for the TAC’s ongoing leadership and guidance in addressing gaps with innovative community-led solutions.

Image of a blue sky with sparse white clouds, with the words “Trans Wellness San Francisco” and #TransWellnessSF. A brown hand holds a pink and white sign reading “Trans Rights are Human Rights”, over the words TransWellnessSF.org.

Trans Health and Wellness

San Francisco is committed to supporting the health and wellness of all San Franciscans. That is why we have led the country in our COVID response, and continue to take every precaution to keep our communities safe. That is why it is essential that we continue to follow public health guidance to keep ourselves and each other safe. Learn more and get more information on testing here.

The pandemic has amplified existing health disparities and has had a huge impact on our daily lives, including rising unemployment rates, homelessness and housing insecurity, business closures, impacts on our mental health and overall wellness. Furthermore, Black and Latinx trans people continue to be disproportionately impacted by the virus, with increased need for inclusive community health and wellness programs.

We are continuing to prioritize Trans Wellness as a core part of our work in response to COVID and beyond to assure that trans and gender nonconforming communities have safe and inclusive access to healthcare and wellness services. Learn more at transwellnesssf.org.

Some of our program highlights include:

This year with the support of Mayor Breed, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, and our TAC, San Francisco expanded our investment in affordable and inclusive trans health and mental health services by investing over $2 million in Lyon-Martin Health Services.

Our office partnered with local community organizations to launch the SF Bay Area LGBTQ COVID Relief Coalition in response to the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on the community, and launched an education campaign, website with community- specific resources, food relief, and mutual aid efforts. Learn more and get support!

We joined the TransLatin@ Coalition and partners in advocating that California #InvestInTransLives. The coalition’s advocacy lead to passage of the country’s first Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund, AB 2218, authored by Assemblymember Miguel Santiago. On September 26th, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the legislation into law. Learn more here.

Despite ongoing Federal funding cuts, San Francisco continues to invest in critical funding for HIV prevention and critical community services, including housing support services and emergency rental subsidies for community members who are HIV positive.

As City employees our team was deployed to support the COVID emergency response citywide, including advising the Department of Public Health on the inclusion of data collection during testing and contract trancing. Learn more about this work here.

Our trans and LGBTQ seniors and adults with disabilities have been greatly impacted by the pandemic. We partnered with LGBTQ senior and allied organizations to launch the City’s Senior Volunteer Match Program. The program matches community members with volunteers to deliver groceries, prescriptions, and support virtual calls. To date the program has enrolled thousands of volunteers and supported seniors across the Bay Area.

Mayor London Breed, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, and members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence distribute face coverings in Dolores Park.

Ending Anti-Trans Violence

Overhead view of the words Black Trans Lives Matter painted at an intersection in the Transgender District. Photo by Garaje Gooch.

Sadly, this year our country has faced an epidemic of anti-trans violence, and passed a grim milestone with a record of over 37 trans lives lost. It is clear that fatal violence disproportionately affects trans women of color, especially Black trans women. This hate and violence must end. Together, we need to stand up and take action to create a safer and more inclusive world.

This month we also honored the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) on November 20th. TDOR was founded in San Francisco over 20 years ago, and is now recognized around the world. The event brings visibility to those we have lost too soon, and is a call to action to end the ongoing violence against trans people.

To achieve this, we need community-specific solutions and must reject anti-transgender legislation on the state and federal level. This crisis of violence and discrimination requires all of us to dig deep and address the transphobia and intolerance. We can do this by educating ourselves, our loved ones, and communities.

Also, over the next two years the City will invest over $121 million back into the San Francisco Black community, neighborhoods, and organizations. The San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC) has conducted a comprehensive community process and listening sessions to identify community priorities, including mental health and homelessness, education and youth development, and economic justice. The priorities also include supporting Black LGBTQ organizations and residents.

Keeping Our Communities Housed and Thriving

Toni Newman, London Breed, and Clair Farley cut the ribbon at the first Our Trans Home SF site.

Last year, I joined the community in launching Our Trans Home SF. The initiative is the first housing program of its kind in the country for transgender and gender nonconforming adults. The program supports low-income trans community members to find and keep their housing through rental subsidies, transitional housing and navigation, and case management.

The City made a historic investment of over $1 million annually to support Our Trans Home SF to address homelessness and housing insecurity in the trans community. One out of every two transgender San Franciscans have experienced homelessness, and trans people are 18 times more likely to experience homelessness than cisgender residents due to economic barriers, discrimination, lack of family support and resources.

Since the program’s services started in December 2019, Our Trans Home has provided one-time emergency and ongoing rental subsidies for 87 trans community members, and housing navigation to over 100 participants. We are proud to continue this vital investment to prevent eviction and stabilize housing for some of our most vulnerable residents, who continue to be greatly impacted by the global pandemic and economic crisis.

Also, we continue to build towards a stronger future through the City’s recovery plan by investing in trans and LGBTQ workforce development and small business services. Learn more about supporting small businesses during the pandemic and beyond. Also, in spite of the economic downturn we are committed to continuing to support the heart of San Francisco through investments into our arts and culture programs.

Akira Jackson speaks into a microphone. Photo by Pax Ahimsa Gethen.

“With this continued investment, we can make sure our community members most impacted by transphobic discrimination and violence have equitable access to safe and supportive housing with wraparound medical and mental health services during the pandemic and beyond.”

– Akira Jackson, Director of TAJA’s Coalition and Consultant on the Our Trans Home SF housing project at St. James Infirmary.

Learn more at ourtranshomesf.org.

Together, we can continue the progress we have made in San Francisco and continue to be a model for the rest of the country. I know that there is a lot a work ahead, but I have faith we will continue to build towards a stronger, healthier, and more inclusive future.

For more information and resources visit our website.

Clair Farley (she, her, they)

Director, Office of Transgender Initiatives