Politicians have been getting boo’d out of the Trans March for well over a decade.
I wrote this letter to Mission Local 10 years ago when Scott Weiner, Mayor Ed Lee, and by association, State Senator Mark Leno were boo’d off stage for their policies against houseless people and alliances with developers and landlords. Mark Leno publicly scolded the trans community when that happened. He was out of touch with us. The Trans March stopped allowing elected officials on stage after that year.
This. Is. Not. New.
Scott Weiner is now using Friday’s incident of getting shouted out of the Trans March as a fundraising opportunity, (he sent a fundraising email about it out today) saying NOTHING condemning the SFPD’s brutality against trans and queer people on Friday and Saturday night.
2016 letter:
Dear Senator Mark Leno,
I am writing to you as a trans Latinx person who has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 20 years. I’ve also been actively involved in Trans March in some capacity (both as a participant and a past organizer) since it first started. Yesterday I arrived at the Trans March just as you were being boo’d off stage. I was surprised, frankly: I was fully expecting Scott Wiener and Ed Lee to be heckled, but did not suspect that you would be met with that response, given your history with the Trans March.
That said, I was incredibly disappointed by your response and your lack of connection to today’s trans communities in San Francisco. When our community made it clear that they did not want to hear you speak, you stayed on stage and scolded the audience. I’m grateful that you have been a long-time supporter of the SF Trans March and the larger trans communities, however your response on Friday, and frankly, your endorsement of Scott Wiener tell me that you are not in touch with those most marginalized and targeted in our communities today.
In your own words, you say you were heckled by people who are “new people to the city who don’t know their history… who don’t even know who I am.” If that is true, then what is also true is that you don’t know them. And I’m betting they know more about our current struggles than you do.
And while some of those heckling you may not know you, many do. For instance, I know that at least one of the loudest hecklers was a trans elder who has been in community for years and was angry that you singled out Theresa Sparks as the person who started the Transgender Civil Rights Implementation Task Force, when it was actually started by several members of the trans community including Marcus Arana, Dominique Leslie, David Cameron, L.J. Irving, Shawna Virago, Veronica Fimbres, and Sarah Marshall. Other long time trans community members boo’d you because you endorse and align yourself with Scott Wiener, and I believe you were also called out because many of us are tired of politicians using us for photo ops and exposure.
Elected officials show up to a few trans events throughout the year to placate our communities with declarations from the city and state. We want more from you. If politicians really want to be our allies and show up and support, you would come to our events without expecting to, or even finding it appropriate to, get on our stages. You would show up, step back, and simply listen. Heckling politicians is as old as politics itself and is an opportunity for elected officials to step back and ask their constituents “What do you need?” “What can I/we be doing better?” It is not a time to become defensive and call a community that you are not a part of “disrespectful” for using their voices and expressing dissent. It is not a time to condescend and tell our community members that we are being irrational and that we should be ashamed of ourselves. Yes people were angry and screaming and cussing at you. That must be very hard. But it is part of your work as an elected official to recognize that emotional communication does not equal irrational thought, that people are angry and calling for your attention in the best way they can to pay attention to our dissent and our struggles.
People are being pushed out of San Francisco, mental health services are being cut, community service organizations are begging for scraps from the City budget so that they can continue to serve what’s left of our communities here in San Francisco.
Please understand that many in our community have had it with Scott Wiener and Ed Lee, whose policies are harming San Francisco’s homeless, many of whom are trans, lesbian, gay, and bisexual and many of whom are youth.
When community members boo’d you off stage for standing shoulder to shoulder with these politicians who have deeply harmed our communities yet demand space on our stage for a photo op, you could have used that moment to acknowledge that you heard that you were not welcome. You could have offered an invitation to meet with community members to gain a better understanding of our anger and frustration. You could have pledged to work with us to make things better. And then you could have left the stage graciously and with humility and invited Scott Wiener and Ed Lee to leave with you.
So many of us are fighting to make sure that all people in our trans communities are safe and thriving. Our outrage is a perfectly rational and appropriate response to city and state policies that prioritize commerce for an elite few and erode safety and well-being for the rest of us, and to politicians who are by course of their action and inaction killing us. We know who you are, and while we’ve valued your allyship in the past, perhaps it’s you who are new to this city. We’re fighting to survive here, and we’re shouting to be heard.
In solidarity with my fierce and beautiful community, who will never hesitate to tell you the truth,
StormMiguel Florez
SF District 8 Resident, Filmmaker, Artist
I wrote this letter to Mission Local 10 years ago when Scott Weiner, Mayor Ed Lee, and by association, State Senator Mark Leno were boo’d off stage for their policies against houseless people and alliances with developers and landlords. Mark Leno publicly scolded the trans community when that happened. He was out of touch with us. The Trans March stopped allowing elected officials on stage after that year.
This. Is. Not. New.
Scott Weiner is now using Friday’s incident of getting shouted out of the Trans March as a fundraising opportunity, (he sent a fundraising email about it out today) saying NOTHING condemning the SFPD’s brutality against trans and queer people on Friday and Saturday night.
2016 letter:
Dear Senator Mark Leno,
I am writing to you as a trans Latinx person who has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 20 years. I’ve also been actively involved in Trans March in some capacity (both as a participant and a past organizer) since it first started. Yesterday I arrived at the Trans March just as you were being boo’d off stage. I was surprised, frankly: I was fully expecting Scott Wiener and Ed Lee to be heckled, but did not suspect that you would be met with that response, given your history with the Trans March.
That said, I was incredibly disappointed by your response and your lack of connection to today’s trans communities in San Francisco. When our community made it clear that they did not want to hear you speak, you stayed on stage and scolded the audience. I’m grateful that you have been a long-time supporter of the SF Trans March and the larger trans communities, however your response on Friday, and frankly, your endorsement of Scott Wiener tell me that you are not in touch with those most marginalized and targeted in our communities today.
In your own words, you say you were heckled by people who are “new people to the city who don’t know their history… who don’t even know who I am.” If that is true, then what is also true is that you don’t know them. And I’m betting they know more about our current struggles than you do.
And while some of those heckling you may not know you, many do. For instance, I know that at least one of the loudest hecklers was a trans elder who has been in community for years and was angry that you singled out Theresa Sparks as the person who started the Transgender Civil Rights Implementation Task Force, when it was actually started by several members of the trans community including Marcus Arana, Dominique Leslie, David Cameron, L.J. Irving, Shawna Virago, Veronica Fimbres, and Sarah Marshall. Other long time trans community members boo’d you because you endorse and align yourself with Scott Wiener, and I believe you were also called out because many of us are tired of politicians using us for photo ops and exposure.
Elected officials show up to a few trans events throughout the year to placate our communities with declarations from the city and state. We want more from you. If politicians really want to be our allies and show up and support, you would come to our events without expecting to, or even finding it appropriate to, get on our stages. You would show up, step back, and simply listen. Heckling politicians is as old as politics itself and is an opportunity for elected officials to step back and ask their constituents “What do you need?” “What can I/we be doing better?” It is not a time to become defensive and call a community that you are not a part of “disrespectful” for using their voices and expressing dissent. It is not a time to condescend and tell our community members that we are being irrational and that we should be ashamed of ourselves. Yes people were angry and screaming and cussing at you. That must be very hard. But it is part of your work as an elected official to recognize that emotional communication does not equal irrational thought, that people are angry and calling for your attention in the best way they can to pay attention to our dissent and our struggles.
People are being pushed out of San Francisco, mental health services are being cut, community service organizations are begging for scraps from the City budget so that they can continue to serve what’s left of our communities here in San Francisco.
Please understand that many in our community have had it with Scott Wiener and Ed Lee, whose policies are harming San Francisco’s homeless, many of whom are trans, lesbian, gay, and bisexual and many of whom are youth.
When community members boo’d you off stage for standing shoulder to shoulder with these politicians who have deeply harmed our communities yet demand space on our stage for a photo op, you could have used that moment to acknowledge that you heard that you were not welcome. You could have offered an invitation to meet with community members to gain a better understanding of our anger and frustration. You could have pledged to work with us to make things better. And then you could have left the stage graciously and with humility and invited Scott Wiener and Ed Lee to leave with you.
So many of us are fighting to make sure that all people in our trans communities are safe and thriving. Our outrage is a perfectly rational and appropriate response to city and state policies that prioritize commerce for an elite few and erode safety and well-being for the rest of us, and to politicians who are by course of their action and inaction killing us. We know who you are, and while we’ve valued your allyship in the past, perhaps it’s you who are new to this city. We’re fighting to survive here, and we’re shouting to be heard.
In solidarity with my fierce and beautiful community, who will never hesitate to tell you the truth,
StormMiguel Florez
SF District 8 Resident, Filmmaker, Artist
Image Description: Mission Local Logo
Text:
"Mayor Ed Lee and Scott Wiener arrived and they and other political leaders were were promptly booed off the stage before being able to speak to the crowd."
Photo of Ed Lee, Scott Weiner, and Mark Leno surrounded by security detail walking down a ramp off the Trans March stage"
Lev White, a Black Trans March organizer wearing a purple t-shirt stands watching with his arms crossed. A non-white person in a grey t-shirt stands on the stage holding a clipboard to their chest.
Text under photo: "Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor Scott Weiner booed off stage. Photo by Lola M. Chavez"
Image Description:
Text headline: "Community Letter: Disappointed by Mark Leno
by COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTOR
June 28, 2016, 10:00 am"
Photo: A group of trans people march holding signs and a Mexican rainbow flag. Black trans (now ancestor), Jazzie Collins holds a sign that says 'Trans is Here.'
Text below Pic:
"Photo by Lola M. Chavez
NUESTRAS VOCES NUESTRO FUTURO
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«TransformA
StormMiguel Florez is a filmmaker and artist who wrote this open letter to State Senator Mark Leno in response to the Senator's remarks at Friday's Trans March, where he and other politicians were shouted off stage."
Scott Weiner's fundraising email exploiting trans people for political gain
Image Description: Screen shot of an email blast sent out by Scott Weiner: This weekend, The New York Times reported on something that should concern every one of us.
Scott Wiener, one of the country's most outspoken champions for transgender rights, was surrounded and chased out of San Francisco's annual Trans March after a group of protesters followed him through the event shouting insults and accusations.
Scott said it was the first Trans March he had missed since attending the very first one in 2004.
Here's what stood out to me: The Times didn't just cover what happened.
They reminded readers why Scott was there in the first place.
For years, Scott has been one of California's strongest advocates for LGBTQ equality. He authored landmark legislation protecting transgender Californians, fought to expand civil rights protections, and has never backed away from defending the LGBTQ community, even when doing so made him a target.
In fact, the article notes that Scott has received threats over his support for transgender rights from the far right, while now facing harassment from activists on the left as well.
That's what leadership looks like. Scott doesn't change his values depending on who's yelling the loudest.
He keeps showing up.
Now he's running to become the first openly LGBTQ person ever elected to represent San Francisco in Congress. It's a historic opportunity to send one of the nation's most effective champions for equality to Washington.
Our end-of-quarter fundraising deadline is almost here, and every contribution helps show that this campaign is powered by people who believe courage and conviction still matter. Will you chip in $10 today to help elect Scott Wiener to Congress?
DONATE $10
Thank you,
Team Scott