A San Francisco Board of Supervisors committee forwarded a critical report about the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District to the full board. The report focuses on what the district's vision for the neighborhood is and how that should continue to be implemented.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Land Use and Transportation Committee voted 2-0 to advance the CHHESS Report (Cultural History, Housing, and Economic Sustainability Strategies) for approval by the full board. (District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen was absent.)
Committee Chair District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar and committee member District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood voted to approve the report following a presentation.
The 133-page report was finished last year after years of work. It contains some 30 recommendations listed under six policy areas.
Castro LGBTQ Cultural District Manager Tina Aguirre, a genderqueer Latinx person, stated at the committee meeting, "The CHHESS Report is a plan for preserving and strengthening our community in the Castro district."
"We desire racial, gender, and queer equity in this district and in this city," Aguirre continued. "Accordingly, this requires the intentional support of all of us, especially those of us who have been historically marginalized: lesbians and queer women, transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals" and people of color.
The first of the six policy areas, Aguirre said, was gentrification.
"Gentrification in San Francisco has placed financial strains on queer and trans people in the Castro," Aguirre stated. "We need to increase support for those of us facing economic inequities. We also need local businesses to lean in and demonstrate LGBTQIA+ cultural competency."
To that end, the district has distributed $136,275 to 14 businesses since Fiscal Year 2021-2022, Aguirre told the Bay Area Reporter. Last fall, the B.A.R. reported on how the Taboo salon at 2350 Market Street was able to open through this program.
The second area is tenant protections.
"We need to increase access to neighborhood housing to reduce LGBTQIA+ displacement, particularly for people with low incomes and older adults," Aguirre continued. "We need to ensure the neighborhood's residents reflect the diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community, and this requires increasing affordable and culturally competent housing options."
As an example of this, Aguirre brought up a successful effort to stop evictions near Mission Dolores Park that the B.A.R. reported on a couple of years ago. The Mission Economic Development Agency purchased a building through MOEWD from landlords who'd been trying to evict tenants through the Ellis Act.
Jen Reck, a queer person who is the advisory board executive co-chair of the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, presented the next two policy areas. The first was placekeeping and placemaking. Reck said that land use policies should focus on "community access" rather than "wealth accumulation," and gave as an example the city's work with Openhouse, which provides housing and services to LGBTQ seniors.
The fourth area is "cultural humility and cultural competence." Reck said that "encouraging cultural humility and enhancing cultural competence in the Castro will help further establish and sustain the neighborhood as a place of respect."
The report suggests encouraging neighborhood businesses to adopt diversity, equity, and inclusion training, and reducing "overdependence on police intervention in the Castro and to develop proposals and funding for establishing community-based public safety and officer-training programs."
Gerard Koskovich, a queer public historian who is a founding member of the GLBT Historical Society, introduced the final two areas, the first being arts and culture.
The Living Lesbians Project, "an initiative to honor women who've made contributions to the Castro and to the wider community," as Koskovich phrased it, is seeking to showcase public art featuring historically-underrepresented populations within the LGBTQ community.
"Living Legends" was the subject of an exhibit at Queer Arts Featured in Harvey Milk's old camera shop space late last year.
The report "calls for the district to collaborate with nonprofits and private entities to display the work of LGBTQIA+ artists in public spaces and vacant shop fronts," he said.
Finally, the report discusses heritage recognition and preservation. Koskovich said the district's work with the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza to create an improved public space to honor the late supervisor and gay civil rights leader fits with this priority area.
Roberto Ordeñana, a gay man who is the executive director of the GLBT Historical Society, urged the supervisors to support the CHHESS Report.
"Diversity, equity, and inclusion are important now more than ever, and I also want to share how I think it is vital some of the strategies and ideas listed in this report continue to be held in high regard as the city continues to make difficult choices in the upcoming budget planning," Ordeñana, a former arts commissioner, said during the public comment portion of the meeting. "We urge the city not only to support this report, but the actions actually in there."
Grace Lee, who manages cultural districts as part of her work with the Mayor's Office of Community Development, said, "The CHHESS Report is a cultural legacy document, a snapshot of the cultural community, and a strategic plan that provides a roadmap for community stabilization within the district."
Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, a gay man who represents District 8, which includes the Castro neighborhood, told the B.A.R. January 27 that "I was glad to sponsor the creation of the cultural district in the first place. They've been doing a lot of work the last few years and it's exciting they have much to show for their work."
Updated, 1/28/25 This article has been updated with comments from Rafael Mandelman.
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