By David Woo, HANC Board
In June we have celebrated both Pride month and Juneteenth. While participating in or celebrating these events, we must connect them to ongoing struggles.
Pride Month
Pride month seeks to honor the LGBTQ+ community and the struggles for justice within the queer community. While Pride Month has been folded into the corporate mainstream divorcing it from the radical roots of the queer liberation movement - with Bank of America and SFPD floats at the SF Pride Parade - some of the current struggles for the queer community are more visible when viewed along class lines. A disproportionate number of homeless residents in San Francisco identify as LGBTQ+ (27% versus 12% citywide), and that is especially true for homeless youth (46% of homeless youth identified as LGBTQ+)*. With a historical presence of homeless youth in the Haight, it’s important to remember that being pro-LGBTQ ultimately means supporting and fighting for the rights, well-being, and dignity of our houseless neighbors.
Juneteenth
Juneteenth commemorates the day on June 19th, 1865 when Union troops entered Galveston, Texas and announced that slavery had ended. It recently became a federal holiday. The historical and ongoing displacement of the Black community in San Francisco serves as a reminder of how the struggle for justice for the Black community is ongoing. For past and current administrations in San Francisco, the city is being built for new wealthy and disproportionately white populations. While San Francisco is only 5-6% (or less) African American, African American’s make up 37% of the homeless population in the city (and 24% of homeless youth).
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*Data is from the 2019 SF Homeless Point in Time Count.