By Honey Mahogany–
(Editor’s Note: The San Francisco Bay Times is proud to launch a new column in this issue: “Trans Action With Honey Mahogany.” Jupiter Peraza, transgender advocate and Statewide Coalition Manager at Openhouse, expressed well the thoughts of many when she said, “Honey Mahogany is an exceptionally talented and brilliant force of nature.” Peraza added, “She possesses the skill, poise, and forethought required to lead the Office of Transgender Initiatives (OTI) amidst unprecedented times for the transgender community across the country and in San Francisco.”
Born and raised in San Francisco, Mahogany has advocated for justice and equity for the LGBTQ+ community for more than two decades, many as a community activist. As a social worker, she has championed initiatives to address the needs of people living with HIV, people of color, youth, and the unhoused.
As part of her work in benefit of the trans community, she served trans and gender nonconforming youth as an outreach worker in residential settings and organized trans community members in the creation of the San Francisco Transgender District. She also co-organized the Drag Up!, Fight Back! march, and mentored and appointed trans leaders during her time as Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party.
Mahogany is also a founding queen of Drag Story Hour and, recently, played a critical role in saving The Stud, an iconic gay bar in San Francisco, of which she is a co-owner, co-founder of the Stud Collective, and an active member of its board.
Mahogany’s experience in government and the nonprofit sector includes serving as Community Mental Health Director at Contra Costa County’s Rainbow Community Center and her work as outreach and residential counselor for Larkin Street Youth Services. More recently, she worked for State Assemblymember Matt Haney as District Director and as Chief of Staff when he was a San Francisco Supervisor.
The San Francisco Bay Times is also grateful to Mahagony’s team, including OTI Manager of Communications Asri Wulandari, for making this new column possible. Look for “Trans Action With Honey Mahogany” in every issue.)
August is Trans History Month here in San Francisco and across the State of California. It is a time to honor and acknowledge the tremendous accomplishments of our community despite the odds and to reaffirm that we have always been here—whether certain people want to acknowledge it or not.
At this point we’ve heard it a thousand times, and yet it bears repeating: the LGBTQ community is facing an unprecedented level of attacks from state legislatures across the country, and the trans community is bearing the brunt of these attacks.
While San Francisco is a Sanctuary City within a Sanctuary State for the Transgender community, the reality is that even here in California we have seen the introduction of anti-trans bills and the right-wing takeover of school boards in places like Temecula, Huntington Beach, the Inland Empire, and more. We have also seen right-wing groups file lawsuits against equity programs and anything that remotely resembles affirmative action.
If we know our history, then we know that this has happened before. We saw a similar line of attack from the right with Anita Bryant’s “Save Our Children” campaign in the late 1970s. We also saw the banning and burning of books and the demonization of trans and queer people during the 1930s and 40s during the rise of the Nazis and fascism in Europe.
So, why is this happening again, and how do we fight back this current wave of anti-queer, anti-trans rhetoric? At the core of this discrimination and fear mongering is a lack of familiarity with trans people. Less than 2% of the U.S. population is trans, and less than half of Americans claim to personally know a trans person. These statistics are being exploited by those whose goal is to use the trans community as convenient political scapegoats to cover for their inability to deliver real results for their constituents. One proven way we can combat this is through awareness, education, and outreach, and establishing a Transgender History Month helps us do just that.
A guiding principle in many social movements is that through education, knowledge, and history we build bridges of understanding and solidarity. Taking the month of August to highlight the long history of transgender and gender-expansive people is essential to combating the rise in violent, transphobic rhetoric. We must learn from our history to build a future that protects and empowers all Americans including trans people and their families.
The original Transgender History Month proclamation was the brainchild of activist Jupiter Peraza, and was signed by Mayor London Breed on August 24th, 2021. The proclamation drew on San Francisco’s rich transgender history—most notably, the Compton’s Cafeteria Riots of 1966—largely known as the first officially documented large-scale act of resistance of trans and queer individuals in the United States. Shortly thereafter, Santa Clara County also designated August as Transgender History Month, and now San Diego and the State of California have all followed suit.
As a state, California boasts an extensive history of transgender and gender-expansive activism that we should be proud of, and it’s time that we let the world know. Transgender History Month is an opportunity to educate people about everything from the Cooper Do-Nut Riot in Los Angeles, to the Compton’s Cafeteria Riots in San Francisco; from Sir Lady Java’s historic anti-discrimination lawsuit, to Reed Erickson’s pioneering work expanding transgender medical resources; incredible thought leaders like Sandy Stone and Janet Mock, to artists and writers like Silas Howard and Wendy Carlos, and so many more outstanding history-making and genre-defining people who have given so much to all of us.
Transgender History Month here in San Francisco is just 3 years old, but word is already spreading. As more cities and states jump on board with Trans History Month—as more news channels and radio stations and newspapers and social media figures highlight trans people, trans stories, and trans history in their broadcasts, columns, and feeds—we will continue to reach people, to change minds, and to give people hope. And perhaps that last part is the most important part of Transgender History Month. It is an opportunity to remind ourselves of how far we have come, what is possible, and to give ourselves hope for the future.
Honey Mahogany, a San Francisco native with a Master’s in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley, is a performer, small business owner, and activist. Her work has earned recognition from the City of San Francisco and various organizations. Mahogany co-founded the San Francisco Transgender District, is a founding queen of Drag Story Hour, co-owner of the Stud Bar, and a singer with nu-metal group Commando. She currently serves as Director of the Office of Trans Initiatives, Chair-Emerita of the San Francisco Democratic Party, and Delegate to the Democratic National Committee.
Trans Action
Published on August 22, 2024
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