August Is Transgender Historical past Month San Francisco
S.An Francisco is synonymous with queerness and gay rights activism. The crossing of the two cemented the city’s role as a pioneer in advancing the needle for LGBTQI + people – with representation and recognition being the cornerstones of this development.
On Tuesday, San Francisco declared August the month of transgender history and helped promote transgender advocacy past, present, and future.
The country’s first transgender story month honors the 55th anniversary of the Compton Cafeteria Riots, held in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood in August 1966, which marked the beginning of transgender activism in San Francisco. In response to violent and constant harassment by the police, this incident was one of the first LGBTQ riots in United States history, preceding the more well-known Stonewall riots of 1969 in New York City.
“I am honored to join the transgender community today to declare August in San Francisco the month of transgender history,” said Mayor Breed yesterday, flanked by local, particularly queer icons such as the drag queen Sister Romana, who himself crowned “most photographed nun in the world. Honey Mahogany, a local activist and chairman of the San Francisco Democratic County’s Central Committee – making it the first black and first trans person to chair the committee – was also there to make comments.
“Our transgender community has a rich cultural history in this city and is so important to our diverse identity,” added Breed in a press release on the historic announcement. “San Francisco was and always will be a place where everyone can find refuge, refuge and safety. Today we celebrate both the pride of our city and the transgender community. “
SF’s Tenderloin neighborhood is home to the city’s Transgender District, founded in 2018 as Compton’s Transgender Cultural District. it also became the first legally recognized district in the country dedicated to the transgender, non-binary and intersex communities. The Compton’s Cafeteria riot, a riot considered the stone wall of transactivism, occurred in Tenderloin in August 1966 – the riot was a response to the violent and constant harassment of drag queens and trans people, especially trans women.
In addition to proclaiming Transgender History Month in San Francisco in August, Mayor Breed also announced that San Francisco would allocate funds from its citywide household budget to several critical trans and LGBTQI + community investments, including improved access to mental health and other medical care Services; Support of housing initiatives for young people at risk; Measures to curb violence against transgender people, especially those belonging to the BIPOC communities.
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