Affirming SF Values

Since Jan. 20, we have seen outsized attacks on the values we hold dear as San Franciscans, including protections for our vulnerable communities, our immigrant community and our LGBTQ+ community, especially our transgender youth. I am proud of our San Francisco city and community leaders, who have come together to denounce these hateful policies and solidified our City’s commitment to protecting our vulnerable and marginalized communities.

We Are a Sanctuary City

San Francisco has long been a sanctuary city for immigrants and our LGBTQ communities, and it will continue to be. I am grateful for my colleague, Supervisor Jackie Fielder, for bringing forward a resolution affirming our sanctuary status. And I stand with our City Attorney David Chiu and our Attorney General Rob Bonta in their fights against the racist and xenophobic policies of the Trump administration. Additionally, last month I was joined by the community to introduce a resolution condemning the administration’s executive order to eliminate birthright citizenship, a right that was affirmed by the Supreme Court almost 125 years ago, based on a lawsuit brought by San Francisco resident, Wong Kim Ark.

Mr. Wong, despite being born in San Francisco, was denied reentry into the country after returning from visiting family in China and ordered to be deported under the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. Wong Kim Ark fought against the unlawful detention and pushed the lawsuit to the Supreme Court, where they ultimately ruled that birthright citizenship applied to all children born in the country as enshrined in the United States Constitution under the 14th Amendment

Protecting our Trans Youth and LGBTQ+ Communities

Last month I joined Sen. Scott Wiener, City Attorney Chiu, my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors, San Francisco Unified School District and the LGBTQ+ community in solidarity with trans youth against the harmful and hateful policies being proposed by the administration. I am grateful for Superintendent Maria Su’s work ensuring our schools remain safe and inclusive for our transgender youth. We will also continue to work together to ensure funding for our Richmond District schools to continue to serve all our students. Our schools must remain a safe and accessible space for all our youth to learn and thrive.

Moreover, I support Sen. Scott Wiener’s California Senate Bill 59, the Transgender Privacy Act, to protect the privacy of transgender and nonbinary people by automatically making all court records related to their gender transition confidential and thus reducing the risk that they will be outed and exposed to danger. We are committed to continuing to provide care, services and housing for our transgender community.

When San Francisco values are under attack, we will come together to fight back.

Connie Chan represents District 1 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.