and my deepest appreciation to deborah walker. without her support and leadership, this would have never happened. [applause] and finally, our next speaker for lending her support for this project, for championing the needs of h.i.v.-positive, the transgender, lesbian, gay bisexual communities, please help us welcome the one true queen of san francisco, our mayor, london breed. [applause] >> thank you so much, brian. and what an amazing story. it's great to hear. when i think about, you know, sadly some of the discriminatory practices that existed in our country for so many years, i definitely relate to those challenges and we all know the history of this country and how so many people, the african american community and the discrimination in housing, the lgbt community and discrimination as it relates to housing and that just shows us that we have work to do. because when we come together, when we come together for a common purpose, we can accomplish anything. and it also tells us that names make a difference. i mean, the rainbow

and then finally, i just want us to move forward as i see ken will be up here in a second and deborah walker and so many people that i know here. we're in a perilous moment. we all get that. we were in a toxic moment. we're in a dangerous moment. we're in a moment where so many communities are terrified. but you know what? this is an example of the muscle memory we have of how we get through a moment like this. san francisco has been through this before many, many times. we know how to traverse this and the way we traverse this is by locking arms and saying no way, mother [beep] you're not getting through them without coming through us. and that -- >> whew! >> that is what this moment demands and what typifies brian's leadership. i'm so happy you're all here. happy to look arms with you. thank you so much. [applause] >> so, the history of the closet did not let any light in. there was no light to illuminate our history. so much of it went unwritten. unrecorded, unacknowledged and unknown. our elders are our historians. they're the ones that keep the flame alive, that tell us how it was back