Fairness. Let's just start there. My parents taught me to shake hands with my uncles and kiss my aunts as a kid. They taught me how to be fair to people - by example. It drives me nuts when someone cuts the line in front of me at the grocery store or watching a politician climb their way up the political ladder by disregarding everyone they are stepping on to get there. I care so much about San Francisco and have watched it evolve over the years since coming out here as an East Bay teenager. Now, I'm totally down with change. It just has to be fair. Big money has rolled in faster than Karl the fog and, as a result, it has been so easy to see which politicians have sided with the dollar.
Why I choose Jane Kim over Scott Weiner can easily be revealed by relying on the facts. I know that Scott is a nice guy. He has saved many trees for homeowners in his district. He has also created a legacy for himself by criminalizing our homeless. This was best demonstrated through his closing of the parks at night, which was just a bullying extension of the "sit and lie" ordinance. Sweeping people aside around the city is not a solution - it is in fact cruel and only creates more problems. I ran my weekly party Booty Call Wednesdays in his District for 8 years and, in that time, I only saw the number of homeless grow. During my last year hosting BCW I started to see a bigger influx of queer and straight youth camping out directly in front of QBar - more than ever before. Long gone are the days when running off to our Gay Mecca meant you would be taken care of and looked after just for being queer. It has now become unaffordable here. I recently tried to help someone stay on their feet after running away from home and he ended up only lasting a little over a month.
On the other hand, Jane Kim is fighting for our homeless and for affordable housing. I am a huge supporter of the Q Foundation / AIDS Housing Alliance, which is located in her district. With donations raised through my annual Pride event they are now receiving a contract for the first ever rental subsidy program targeting LGBT senior or disabled folks. The majority of queer people trying to survive in San Francisco are artists. Our community is struggling to stay alive and Jane understands that. She is dedicated to preserving our history, queer nightlife and our future.
I consider the residents in our city my family whether they have places to live or not. Most homeless people in my neighborhood say hello to me more than the tenants in my building. Jane understands how complicated homelessness and affordable housing are right now and deals with these issues with urgency and common decency. She worked hard to pass stronger and bolder tenant protections to counter frivolous and profit-motivated evictions. Jane is a tenant candidate who will fight for reform in Sacramento. She will stand up to the big money developers and require more affordable housing out of them. That is fair, and precisely why I trust her.
Jane was also the first Supervisor to stand with the black and brown lives movements in San Francisco, while Scott's loyalties laid with Mayor Ed Lee and the rest of his pocketed establishment. The SFPD needs greater transparency and placing more police in our neighborhoods is not the answer. In my neighborhood alone the SFPD spends more time shuffling homeless people around then dealing with the blatant drug transactions happening right in front of the public's eyes.
2016 is the year of powerful women coming to the forefront in politics across our country. Here in San Francisco we have Sandra Lee Fewer, Hillary Ronen and Kimberly Alvarenga all running for District Supervisors and Jane Kim for State Senate. That's progress. After all, us ladies need to stick together.
I'm endorsing Jane Kim for State Senate. I'm in love with her for wearing heels just as high as mine and even more in love with her view on SF politics.