From housing transgender individuals and addressing LGBTQ health concerns to paving the way for a return of gay bathhouses and finding a permanent home for an LGBTQ history museum, San Francisco Mayor London Breed is leaving office with a long list of LGBTQ achievements. Her mayoral legacy is likely to produce benefits for the city's LGBTQ community for years to come.
"Whether it was my appointments or my investments or my policy changes or my willingness to stand up for the community as a whole in every turn, I am very proud that ... I have done some really transformative things to really support the LGBTQ community," Breed, the city's first Black female mayor, told the Bay Area Reporter during an editorial board meeting ahead of her leaving office on January 8.
She also expressed appreciation for the LGBTQ community, telling the B.A.R. that she felt supported by it during her time in Room 200 at City Hall over the past five and half years.
"I feel really proud and really honored that so much of what I did with the community has been respected and acknowledged and appreciated," said Breed, 50, who grew up in the city's predominantly African American Western Addition neighborhood. "I am really grateful for that, and I hope it only gets better and does not stop with what we have done but only gets better."
It is a stark bookend to her political career, to date, that began with her ousting from office the first bisexual person to serve on the Board of Supervisors, appointed District 5 supervisor Christina Olague, in the November election of 2012. At the time, Breed was executive director of the African American Art and Culture Complex bordering the Fillmore and Western Addition neighborhoods.
With Breed seen as the more moderate of the two, it raised questions among more progressive quarters of the LGBTQ community about what kind of elected leader she would be at City Hall. Yet, more than a decade later, Breed is leaving office having forged close ties with a number of former leaders of the more progressive Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club.
Record of accomplishment
One of her closest allies in recent years on the board has been gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the LGBTQ Castro District at City Hall. They worked together on securing a new home for the GLBT Historical Society and the purchase of a property for what will be the city's third affordable housing development aimed at its LGBTQ older adult population.
"I think she has an extraordinary record of accomplishment for the queer community," said Mandelman, a former Milk club president. "I think she is not only comfortable with queer people and has genuine relationships with lots of folks in the queer community, she took these issues on as a priority for her administration."
Martha Knutzen, a lesbian just reappointed to the city's Disability and Aging Services Commission, told the B.A.R. that since she led the Milk club in the mid-1990s, there have always been mayoral administrations supportive of the LGBTQ community. But Breed raised the bar, she said.
"We have never had a more supportive mayor, and that is amongst extremely supportive mayors," said Knutzen, who also serves on the Dignity Fund Oversight and Advisory Committee for the disbursement of local funds to support social services for older people, adults with disabilities, veterans, and caregivers. "I think that since the mid-1990s, we became part of the structure of government due to electing gay and lesbian, LGBT people into office. Because of that, we were always members and a much-needed part of the coalition a mayor needed to win an election. Mayor [Willie] Brown and everyone after that have been extremely supportive of the LGBT community."
While those various mayors "have been great," said Knutzen, to her mind "Breed pushed that bar even higher. I have been very gratified for what she did for us."
Michael Nguyen, a gay progressive member of the oversight body for the local Democratic Party, told the B.A.R. the biggest disappointment he had with Breed's time as mayor was her lack of support for social housing as called for by the Board of Supervisors following voters' approval of a luxury real estate tax in 2020 for affordable housing. Otherwise, he commended her leadership during the COVID health crisis and moves she made to support small businesses and reviving the city's commercial corridors post the global pandemic.
"I think she leaves a legacy of a lot of huge changes in San Francisco," said Nguyen, also known as drag queen Juicy Liu who advised Breed on her selection of Oasis nightclub owner D'Arcy Drollinger as the inaugural drag laureate.
While there were a few bumps with her selections for prominent city commissions, at times overlooking out applicants for the roles, Breed made a number of high-profile LGBTQ appointments, such as naming the world's first drag laureate. She also tapped Matt Dorsey, a gay man living with HIV and in recovery, two years ago for the vacant District 6 supervisor seat.
"I think history is going to reflect very kindly on Mayor Breed," said Dorsey, who went on to win a full term months later on the fall 2022 ballot.
He recalled a comment that gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) had made at a fundraiser held earlier this year in the Castro LGBTQ district for Breed's reelection campaign in the fall mayoral race, which she ultimately lost to Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie. Wiener, a former supervisor, had said that Breed "just gets us as a community."
"I think that is true," said Dorsey, who stepped in as acting mayor on December 21 through December 26. "She has been there, on funding for HIV-related priorities, which are obviously close to my heart, the GLBT museum and Harvey Milk Plaza projects, which I think is something that's important for LGBTQ-plus history and I think it is something people know San Francisco for."
Having just appeared with Breed in his district to announce a new facility for the Bay FC women's soccer team on Treasure Island, Dorsey said, "I think there is a lot of legacies that she is going to leave that are very positive for the city."
Wiener told the B.A.R. that Breed, whom he ended up dual endorsing along with gay former legislator and supervisor Mark Leno in the 2018 special mayoral election she won, has always been a "staunch supporter of LGBTQ people and she gets it; she understands our issues. We don't have to explain anything to her because she understands and is very connected to the community."
Gay District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio called Breed "a champion of LGBTQ issues and our community."
He also told the B.A.R. that, "History will be kind to her for all the good work she did as mayor leading San Francisco through tumultuous times. Mayor Breed planted many seeds that will be realized as our city comes roaring back."
Transgender initiative milestones
Breed told the B.A.R. that she hopes to see the Lurie administration maintain the commitment she made in 2022 to end transgender homelessness by 2027. According to a recent update from the city's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, it provided $800,000 to transition earlier this year the Taimon Booton Navigation Center under the management of the San Francisco Community Health Center, ensuring it "can continue to provide safe and affirming shelter to TGNCI+ individuals."
The city is also working to open in 2025 a permanent supportive housing site for TGNCI+ youth. Along with housing, the residents will have access to a wide array of services, from case management and education to employment assistance and health care.
"Even though we made these investments and we made some significant changes, the fact is that again our trans community, in particular, will be under fierce attack, especially children," said Breed, referring to the expected assault on trans rights under the incoming Trump administration. "It is going to take a lot of courage and a lot more investments to defend that, especially in a place like San Francisco where we will be targeted."
Looking back at the various wins for the LGBTQ community during her mayoralty, Breed said the one she is most personally proudest of is securing a permanent home for what will be the country's first freestanding LGBTQ history museum. The GLBT Historical Society is expected to relocate its exhibits now housed in a small storefront on 18th Street into the second floor of the Market & Noe Center by 2027.
"It absolutely was overdue," said Breed, and "necessary."
In a move that even surprised officials with the nonprofit preservation group, Breed allocated $12 million in the city's budget in 2021 to acquire a property for a larger museum and archival center. As the B.A.R. was first to report in September, it led to the city's acquisition of the shopping center at 2280 Market Street at Noe Street.
Finalized last month, it will now be up to the Lurie administration to hammer out a lease with the historical society and another arts group that will help manage the property until the LGBTQ archival nonprofit can take possession of the 14,640 square foot parcel.
"San Francisco is an iconic city. And it always bothered me that, you know, the museum, the historical society in particular, they work really hard to maintain the history and to really elevate the conversation," said Breed. "And when people come to San Francisco, they come to the Castro and they need to understand the history differently."
Having overseen a cultural facility to tell the stories of the city's African American community, Breed said she felt it was important for the LGBTQ community to have its own such home to tell its stories. It is why she sought to include the planned renovation of Harvey Milk Plaza in the bond measure on the November ballot, as it also ties in to telling the story of the city's place in LGBTQ history.
"As much as I love going to restaurants and bars, it's not just about going to restaurants and bars. It is about the movement and what it has meant to open doors and to create opportunities and why San Francisco is that place," said Breed. "It always bothered me that the stories have been told, some of the books have been written, but you don't get the experience and understand it the way you should be able to understand it when you come to San Francisco unless someone did maybe an exhibit or something like that."
Breed added that also of importance to her, "and this is another reason going back to the Harvey Milk Plaza and the need to finish that project because that will too tell the story, but it was so important to me that there was a place to tell the story so when you do come to the Castro and to San Francisco this museum will be a testament for why San Francisco is that place and why it is so important to honor that history, to talk about that history and to showcase that history like never before."
With the city having considered a number of properties over the years for the new LGBTQ museum, "it has been a struggle," Breed acknowledged. "I am so happy I got it done. I look forward to the day that it opens."
Never miss a story! Keep up to date on the latest news, arts, politics, entertainment, and nightlife.
Sign up for the Bay Area Reporter's free weekday email newsletter. You'll receive our newsletters and special offers from our community partners.
Support California's largest LGBTQ newsroom. Your one-time, monthly, or annual contribution advocates for LGBTQ communities. Amplify a trusted voice providing news, information, and cultural coverage to all members of our community, regardless of their ability to pay -- Donate today!
