Welcome from LGBTQ Elected Officials

WIENER CISNEROS MANDELMAN WILLIAMS TEMPRANO

SCOTT WIENER STATE SENATOR, CALIFORNIA SENATE DISTRICT 11 “Welcome to the 50th anniversary celebration of San Francisco Pride. As the Chair of the California Legislative Caucus and a Castro resident for more than twenty years, I am deeply devoted to the mission of SF Pride. I look forward to joining the many virtual events offered this year. I will miss marching along Market – but I applaud the efforts made by San Francisco to flatten the COVID-19 curve and the remarkable work of Pride organizers to move the celebration forward. Our community is marked by resilience, and we will make it through this. As we celebrate “Generations of Hope” and fifty years of Pride in this age of uncertainty, I am taking this time remember and honor the sacrifices and struggles of those who came before us and upon whose shoulders we stand. Thank you to everyone who has made SF Pride one of the largest and longest-running Pride celebrations in the world. Happy Pride!”

JOSÉ CISNEROS TREASURER, CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO “Pride unofficially began when transgender women of color led patrons of the Compton Cafeteria and the Stonewall Inn to stand up against police harassment and brutality. Today we show our Pride by fighting in solidarity with the Black community, united against racism and transphobia. Black Trans Lives Matter. Black Queer Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter”

RAFAEL MANDELMAN SUPERVISOR, CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO - DISTRICT 8 “Pride has always been about community coming together – from San Francisco’s first gay rights march down Polk Street in 1970, to last year’s celebration, which drew over 700,000 people to downtown San Francisco. We are all disappointed not to be able to celebrate SF Pride’s 50th anniversary in person, but we surely shall celebrate this year, together apart. I hope that you will partake in virtual versions of Pride Weekend’s signature events including Trans March, Frameline, and Gary Virginia and Donna Sachet’s Pride Brunch, as well as bold new takes on Pride classics like Illuminate the Pink Triangle. And make sure to support the many LGBTQ bars, restaurants, small businesses, and performers who will be working hard to queer San Francisco under challenging circumstances this month. Our LGBTQ community is stronger than any virus, and we will survive this. Please be kind to each other, wash your hands, wear your masks, enjoy happy Pride 2020, and be here for Pride 2021!”

SHANELL WILLIAMS PRESIDENT, BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO MEMBER, SAN FRANCISCO DEMOCRATIC COUNTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE “Happy 50th Pride! This has been a challenging year for all of us and I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. We are saddened that due to the COVID-19 global pandemic we will not have our historic Pride 2020 parade and festivities. I know this year has pushed us in ways beyond

RANDOLPH DUFTY LI SANCHEZ

our imagination. We are in a deep recession and many are living with uncertainty and thinking about how to make it day to day. The crisis has pushed us to examine the systems we live within and the path forward that improves upon our current conditions. Showing your “pride” goes beyond attending the amazing events happening during this time but is about continuing the fight for equality and justice. Now is the time to show solidarity with our Black community and say loud and proud that Black Lives Matter and to stop unjust police violence and terror. Our LGBTQ community knows what it's like to be subjected to state violence for being who we are. I encourage everyone to find creative ways to lift up this message of solidarity during this time of celebration for our community." “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.”― Assata Shakur

TOM TEMPRANO VICE PRESIDENT, BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO “2020 has been quite a year…and it’s only June! None of us could have predicted the challenges that we would face as a world, a country, and a queer community during these last six months. As LGBTQ people, however, we know that challenges only serve to bring us together and make us stronger. We can look back on the generations before us and be assured that we can get through this President, get through this pandemic, and come out even more resilient on the other side. We may not be able to partake in this 50th San Francisco Pride in the same way we have before, but we can still creatively come together, celebrate our community, and be even stronger for it. Happy online and sociallydistanced Pride, everyone!”

ALEX RANDOLPH MEMBER, BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO “This has been a tough year, particularly for our brothers and sisters on the margins. As one of the few openly gay Black queers elected to office, the recent brutal murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and too many countless others have struck a particular chord with me. Yes, I am exhausted – but we can change anything if we work together and push our allies. Rioting and protest is nothing new to us. In 2018 we celebrated Generations of Strength and last year we remembered Generations of Resistance. The San Francisco Gay Liberation March and Christopher Street Riots were a protest against police brutality and rampant discrimination. We owe Pride to Black and Latinx transgender women like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, who threw the first bricks and screamed, “Enough!” I have hope that our current and future generation will take our resistance and fight for equality to the next level. Generations of Hope is a perfect culmination of the past fifty years. Let's make this energy count. Come together this Pride Month, organize, vote, and achieve drastic change this November the world has never seen before. Onward!”

BEVAN DUFTY MEMBER, BART BOARD OF DIRECTORS “The 50th anniversary of Pride will forever coincide with the watershed international movement to end America's racism, police violence, and economic injustice. #BlackLivesMatter #BlackTransLivesMatter #BlackQueerLivesMatter All of us in the LGBTQ community must take action to support this fight. #Pride50 #GeorgeFloyd”

JANICE LI MEMBER, BART BOARD OF DIRECTORS “To have hope during this time is an act of courage and an act of love. More than ever, this year's theme resonates with me as we look to dismantle the long history of oppression – of Black lives, of trans lives, of our broad and beautiful LGBTQ community – as the only path to recovery from this pandemic. So I hope you'll join me and San Francisco Pride in celebrating virtually to bring our communities together. Hold onto the hope that we can still experience irresistible pride, joy, and pleasure during this time. Happy Pride!”

MARK SANCHEZ PRESIDENT, SAN FRANCISCO BOARD OF EDUCATION “We owe it to ourselves to take some time to appreciate our successes and our collective strength. We come together to celebrate Generations of Hope — and believe me, there's never been a more apt time to reflect on how we've come so far. And now, more than ever, we must stand together and join forces to pull ourselves from the precipice of societal collapse. It's that serious. Black Lives Matter! Be safe, stay strong, and fight back.”

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