By Liam P. Mayclem –
From her fist legislative act in 1987 and every single day since, Nancy Pelosi has been a champion and fighter for the LGBTQ+ community. Anyone who has lived here in San Francisco for as many years has had a chance to see her, meet her, or even dine with her at a community breakfast, luncheon, or dinner. She shows up for everyone, everywhere when she is home in the Bay Area.
Speaker Pelosi’s first speech on the House floor in 1987, as then-freshman Congresswoman Pelosi, called for action from President Reagan to mitigate the ongoing HIV & AIDS epidemic and helped secure the permits for the AIDS Memorial Quilt to appear at the National Mall for the first time.
I have had the privilege of performing as Auctioneer or MC on stages alongside her at fundraising events big and small to fund everything from the AIDS Memorial Grove to HRC, Project Open Hand to Stern Grove, and many more. In my many years on television (QTV, KRON4 & KPIX) covering the San Francisco Pride Parade and Festival (1994–2019), Speaker Pelosi was there in the parade along Market Street greeted by a roar of nonstop cheers and applause, like a homecoming queen returning to her hometown year after year. It was always a joy to interview her over some twenty-five years.
“This is the highlight of my year, every year being home in San Francisco and seeing the city, the entire community, come together. The bright smiles and cheers are nice too, but we still have lots of work to do,” she told me on the Pride Parade route along Market in 2016.
As the most powerful woman in American politics as Speaker of the House, she made every person she spoke to feel seen and heard and special. Speaker Emerita Pelosi is remarkable at remembering names and it is quite something to see her work a room in person as she meets and greets and often includes an anecdote or reference point of connection.
I salute Speaker Emerita Pelosi for always showing up and always delivering on promises made to the LGBTQ+ community. She really is a hero to each and every one of us, fighting for what is right, steering legislation that makes our lives better from the Affordable Care Act to Marriage Equality, LQBTQ+ workers’ rights, and more.
Thank you, Nancy Pelosi, for your steadfast commitment, your nonstop fight for us all. We are forever indebted and really can’t thank you enough.
Radio and television personality Liam P. Mayclem is the Principal of Liam Mayclem Productions, Inc., and is a former “San Francisco Bay Times” columnist. https://www.bookliam.com/
Thank You, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi
Published on November 20, 2025
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