the message is the lbgtq community is reflect in the our police department in san francisco. it sends a message that there are members of the department the police department, sheriff's department, fire department that are just like the people that we encounter in san francisco. and i think it sends a message of hope the more we honor the lbgtq community now, the stronger we can be in standing up against those that don't want our representation. [crowd noise] [music] >> [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish]. [music]

[drums] [crowd noise]xcedee that today. [crowd noise] [music] [music]

[sirens] [music] [crowd noise] whoa!

[music] [horns] wethat.

>> i'm excited for the parade never been to an actual pride parade. pretty pumped. [crowd noise] [music] i'm

excited celebrate with all of my queer people and to stand together in a hard time like we affirm each other and support each other. >> same, ditto. >> [laughter]. [music] [crowd noise]. you love who you want to love >> happy pride. >> happy pride! >> go san francisco! happy pride! happy pride. >> happy frigin pride, everybody. [music] [music] happy pride!

of [laughter] [music]

>> so the march started in 2004, there was a lot of action going on at the time against transgender people. so an email thread went around and everybody decided to meet here at the loweris park and really send out the message to the community that we're here

and just because the legislation does not validify who we are, we are still here and we deserve to be loved and empowered. >> so for me trans march is a safe place where i will not be quiet and i can be unapologetic against my trans siblings to be in the community and say okay, you can bring yourself to the safe places. we're normal human beings and we can exist.

>> this is one of the largest trans marches that happens in the world and this space is ours. we can at least have one day where we are seen and not over shadowed by the greater pride, hostilities everywhere. trans march means so much to me. but it means so much more for me and my community. >> we really felt it was important to have a special day just for transgender people where we can have our voices lifted up and specifically seen.

>> after coming, i feel so proud of this place and also this whole movement. this joy is strong. so maybe trans march that is a lot of joy. >> my partner is transgender and you know ,z we've been together for 25 years. and i learned a lot about trans generaleder and her what it means to be transgender. to give people pride of who they are they are beautiful and an important part of society and they should have equal rights.

>> for me being here is an act of celebrating myself and feeling okay in my own skin. >>ed we have a lot of momentum here at trans mart, we have a lot of community for support from our sponsor to our tal ept, everybody is happy to support this event because we all want to be together and after two years of not being able to be together this year, people were especially excited. [applause]

a city like no other, san francisco has been a beacon of hope, and an ally towards lgbtq equal rights. [♪♪] >> known as the gay capital of america, san francisco has been at the forefront fighting gay civil rights for decades

becoming a bedrock for the historical firsts. the first city with the first openly gay bar. the first pride parade. the first city to legalize gay marriage. the first place of the iconic gay pride flag. established to help cancel policy, programses, and initiatives to support trans and lgbtq communities in san francisco. >> we've created an opportunity to have a seat at the table. where trans can be part of city government and create more civic engagement through our trans advisory committee which advises our office and the mayor's office. we've also worked to really address where there's gaps across services to see where we can address things like housing and homelessness, low income,

access to small businesses and employment and education. so we really worked across the board as well as meeting overall policies. >> among the priorities, the office of transgender initiatives also works locally to track lgbtq across the country. >> especially our young trans kids and students. so we do a lot of work to make sure we're addressing and naming those anti-trans policies and doing what we can to combat them. >> trans communities often have not been included at the policy levels at really any level whether that's local government, state government. we've always had to fend for ourselves and figure out how to care for our own communities. so an office like this can really show and become a model

for the country on how to really help make sure that our entire community is served by the city and that we all get opportunities to participate because, in the end, our entire community is stronger. >> the pandemic underscored many of the inequities they experienced on a daily basis. nonetheless, this health crisis also highlighted the strength in the lgbtq and trans community. >> several of our team members were deployed as part of the work at the covid command center and they did incredit able work there both in terms of navigation and shelter-in-place hotels to other team members who led equity and lgbtq inclusion work to make sure we had pop-up testing and information sites across the city as well as making sure that data collection was happening.

we had statewide legislation that required that we collected information on sexual orientation and our team worked so closely with d.p.h. to make sure those questions were included at testing site but also throughout the whole network of care. part of the work i've had a privilege to be apart of was to work with o.t.i. and a community organization to work together to create a coalition that met monthly to make sure we worked together and coordinated as much as we could to lgbtq communities in the city. >> partnering with community organizations is key to the success of this office ensuring lgbtq and gender nonconforming people have access to a wide range of services and places to go where they will be respected. o.t.i.'s trans advisory committee is committed to being that voice. >> everybody

else. >> being part of the trans initiative has been just a great privilege for me and i feel so lucky to have been able to serve for it for so far over three years. it's the only office of its kind and i think it's a big opportunity for us to show the country or the world about things we can do when we really put a focus on transgender issues and transgender communities. and when you put transgender people in leadership positions. >> thank you, claire. and i just want to say to claire farly who is the leader of the office of transgender initiatives, she has really taken that role to a whole

other level and is currently a grand marshal for this year's s.f. prize. so congratulations, claire. >> my dream is to really look at where we want san francisco to be in the future. how can we have a place where we have transliberation, quality, and inclusion, and equity across san francisco? and so when i look five years from now, ten years from now, i want us to make sure that we're continuing to lead the country in being the best that we can be. not only are we working to make sure we have jobs and equal opportunity and pathways to education, employment, and advancement, but we're making sure we're taking care of our most impacted communities, our trans communities of color, trans women of color, and black trans women. and we're making sure we're addressing the barriers of the access to health care and

mental health services and we're supporting our seniors who've done the work and really be able to age in place and have access to the services and resources they deserve. so there's so much more work to do, but we're really proud of the work that we've done so far. [♪♪] good afternoon we're here today for a available 20u8 regarding an office involved shooting on

may 19th on the one hundred block before proceeding i'd like to announce for the viewing and listening have you had to town hall fraudulent both spanish and cantonese and a sex l for members of communities that speak those languages