By Mayor London Breed–
I am London Breed and I am proud to be your Mayor. I love this job and I love this City.
Pride is one of my favorite times of the year in San Francisco. This celebration of the resilience, the determination, and the beauty of the LGBTQ community brings our entire city together for the month of June, culminating in an only in San Francisco moment with the Pride Parade on Market Street.
Right now, at this moment in our city’s history, the LGBTQ community is showing us the path to our economic and cultural revitalization, bringing joy to our streets with drag queens dancing at Downtown block parties and new bars and restaurants opening in the Castro. While other states are banning books, our local businesses are sending books to LGBTQ people all over. That’s who we are.
People continue to come here from all over the world to experience what this community has created here in San Francisco. It’s time we build a better future for you and the city we all love. That’s what I plan to do if re-elected for another four years.
The last several years have not been easy. When we experienced the COVID pandemic and led the nation in our public health response, we relied on our city’s history of responding to the HIV pandemic as a model. At that time, our community led the way in working to build trust and save lives—when forces of fear wouldn’t even say the word AIDS out loud. It was a dark time, but also a time when the light of compassion of this community shone the brightest. And when COVID came for us, we relied on that light and experience to save thousands of lives.
Now, as we put those dark days of COVID behind us, San Francisco celebrates Pride month by recognizing the strength and resilience of its LGBTQ leaders and residents, and through continued investments to support this community. Despite a significant budget deficit and ongoing economic challenges, my newly proposed budget continues to prioritize LGTBQ programs and services in a number of ways, including investment in HIV services and backfilling the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.
My proposed budget also adds new operating funds for SF Pride and restores funding to flagship transitional age youth support programs including LYRIC and Larkin Street, as well as continued investment for the SF LGBT Center’s community building.
This year, Pride will bring a renewed level of excitement for San Francisco, as the community will officially welcome Honey Mahogany as the newly appointed Director of the Office of Transgender Initiatives (OTI). I selected Honey to lead the department just last month.
In May, I joined several members of the Board of Supervisors, including Supervisors Rafael Mandelman, Matt Dorsey, and Joel Engardio, to introduce a $390 million bond for the November ballot that will support a healthy, vibrant San Francisco, funding key health and public space improvements, among many other initiatives.
One key part of this bond is to fund the redesign of Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro, so we can make this an even more iconic and incredible public gathering space that supports the community and welcomes visitors from all over the world. We are also funding the acquisition of a new site for City Clinic, which sits as a trusted source for sexual-health services and information, and is known for experienced professionals delivering compassionate, high-quality care for over 100 years.
These investments represent my commitment to supporting the critical services and programs that lift up this community, and honor its history. San Francisco has been and will always be a beacon of love and hope for the LGBTQ community. Even during a difficult budget year, I will ensure our budget represents our values, including investing in LGBTQ community health care and our organizations that serve LGBTQ youth.
I have served as Mayor during unprecedented crises and I have met our challenges head on. And I’m proud to say that San Francisco is on the rise!
Crime and homelessness are down, and businesses are coming back. In the next four years, we will:
• Reimagine Downtown with 30,000 new residents and students by 2030.
• Continue arresting drug dealers, bring crime down even further, and make people feel safer.
• Build homes in every neighborhood.
• Support small businesses.
• And make our streets safer and our transit even better.
This election is a simple choice: The guys running against me want you to feel bad about our city and move us backwards.
I want us to be proud of what we’ve achieved and optimistic for our future.
Do you want to go backwards, or do you want to move forward together?
I am proud to be your Mayor! I am proud to represent the LGBTQ community each and every day—and, I would be honored to have your support this November.
https://www.londonformayor.com/
Published on June 27, 2024
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