SF’s Redrawn District Lines Raising Alarms in LGBTQ Communities
*UPDATED: 12:50pm 4/4/2022
Edward Wright, President, Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club informed us that, “the task force did reverse course over the weekend. On Saturday, after about 7 hours of public comment from 182 people, they voted 8-1 to move forward with a new draft map that keeps the TL and SOMA together in District 6.”
This means that due to community involvement the Tenderloin will remain in D6!
Every 10 years San Francisco redraws its district lines, and it’s been 10 years. The process to “rebalance” district populations is based on the 2021 Census, (that you definitely remembered to fill out).
New map versions are drawn by the San Francisco Redistricting Task Force, a 9-member body appointed by the Mayor, Department of Elections, and Board of Supervisors, with sole and final authority to determine the new District borders. under law, new lines must be decided and approved by April 15th.
So, what does that mean to you? It could be that your house will be in a new district next year, and you’ll have a new district supervisor. The process of redrawing our city’s districts is complicated, and many, many voices need to be heard during the process.
Current District Lines Est. 2012
The current SF Supervisorial District lines were set in 2012. And it appears they were drawn using the Windows 98 ‘paintbrush’.
The suggestions for new district lines are ‘all over the map’ so to speak, and the debate rages on as the deadline of April 15th approaches.
Currently the most controversial redistricting is happening in San Francisco’s largest District, ‘D6’, which is losing turf to other districts on all sides. Some of the new proposed district maps remove all of the Tenderloin, Hayes Valley, as well as parts of SOMA from D6.
Over the last 10 years, D6 has grown 30% larger than its fellow districts and a ‘rebalancing’ must occur in order to ensure that San Francisco’s districts all have roughly equal populations. But this has to be done carefully, these aren’t just lines on a map, communities exist within these lines, and remaining in the same district for them can be important.
Example Redrawn District Map by SF Task Force Removing the TL from D6
This is a preliminary version of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors districts and is not the final map of the Redistricting Task Force. This is a preliminary version, not a final draft.
Leaders from the Transgender District, the Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, the Alice B Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club, and the Tenderloin People’s Congress all came out against separating the Tenderloin from District 6.
The preliminary suggested map (above) takes the TL and Mid Market neighborhoods and adds them to Supervisor Dean Preson’s District 5 But this is just one suggested version of how the new map should look.
BrokeAssStuart.com spoke with Distirct 6 Supervisor Matt Haney and I asked him where he stood on removing the Tenderloin from D6, he said, “I fully support these organizations coming together to demand representation and unification of their communities, it would be disastrous to move the Tenderloin out of D6, the Tenderloin is connected to SOMA and it’s part of the historical and cultural home of the LGBTQ community.”
Sup. Haney also added, “there is no one in D5 or D6 calling for the movement of the Tenderloin out of SOMA, so I think it’s flat out wrong to make this move. The map doesn’t make sense, let’s not divide communities.”
SF Rising’s Community Unity Map suggests a different map redrawing, one that protects communities of interest and preserves SF neighborhoods:
SF Rising Map shows existing boundaries and the proposed new boundaries:
“This map (shown above) was created through a rigorous process. The Coalition reviewed feedback from over 74 different organizations representing a diverse network of communities all across San Francisco. We also held over 10 meetings for residents and leaders to give feedback on several versions of demonstration maps, before ultimately finalizing Version 1 of the Unity Map.” Said Matthias Mormino, Chinatown Community Development Center, Director of Policy
Jupiter Peraza, Director of Social Justice and Empowerment Initiatives at The Transgender District, wrote in a statement, “The process of redistricting has the potential to alter the fabric of our communities for the next decade – communities that are already crippling under intense pressure from development interests in the city. The Tenderloin represents one of the last vestiges of housing affordability, socio-economic and racial diversity, trans and queer cultural heritage, and a dense concentration of legacy businesses that have been long-lasting community centers for all of San Francisco. Keeping the Tenderloin and SOMA together in District 6 is an urgent and imperative matter – one that if not defended, could displace vulnerable communities that are already fleeing San Francisco at alarming rates,” said Jupiter Peraza, Director of Social Justice and Empowerment Initiatives at The Transgender District.”
Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang. “It is critical to unite and empower the dense LGBTQ+ populations in the Tenderloin and South of Market to allow LGBTQ+ San Franciscans to elect members of the community and allies responsive to their unique challenges and priorities.”
If you are interested in the redistricting process, you can read all about that here.
Redistricting Task Force meetings are happening all week, the next meeting is Monday, April 4, 2022 5:30 pm. Your voice can be heard.
To attend a meeting, watch them online, or to call in by phone visit: sf.gov/public-body/2020-census-redistricting-task-force/upcoming-meeting
*UPDATED: 12:50pm 4/4/2022
Edward Wright, President, Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club informed us that, “the task force did reverse course over the weekend. On Saturday, after about 7 hours of public comment from 182 people, they voted 8-1 to move forward with a new draft map that keeps the TL and SOMA together in District 6.”
