Remember to celebrate our victories, strengths and our imperfections and have a great year.

Love, Robert

Unsung Heroes
A partial and imperfect list of organizations and people that did great stuff this year and are some of my unsung heroes…

Over and over again, people in San Francisco step up to the plate and do great things. And as most know, since no good deed goes unpunished, they usually don’t get much in return…There are so many people and so many organizations that did great things over the last year that to highlight some does an injustice to the work done by others, but I still want to give a shout out to some amazing folks.

My Transgender Hero: I get kind of goofy when I talk about my heroes. The truth is there are no perfect people in this world. But there are some pretty courageous people out there. People who faced the world head on with all of its struggles and pain. And if you were to ask me for my top five heroes, heroes because of their courage, Cecilia Chung would be one of them. And if you met her and got to know her, she would be one of your heroes too.

And she was my hero before I learned about how she turned her life around and became clean and sober. Born in Hong Kong, she immigrated here with her family in 1984. Like most, CC was able to numb some of the “shame” with drugs. After years on the street, she turned her life around and has spent the last 10 years in service to her community.

Cecilia is a lynch pin in the support systems of the trans community and we really do need real support systems. The high violence rate, the suicide rate (about 1/3 of the community has attempted suicide), and the 70% unemployment rate can really, really get you down.

Lots of love and props to you Cecilia. I love you more…

Cecilia Chung

New Progressive Organization: League of Pissed Off Voters

Over the course of the last six months, I have been truly impressed with the work that they have been doing. I went to get-togethers that they sponsored at bars and saw true engagement with young voters, a sight that I rarely see these days. Over and over again, I would be somewhere doing something and the League would be there handing out their voting recommendations and reminding people that there was an election.

But they did more than just hand out their slate cards at bars and events. They also did the nuts and bolts electoral work of identifying and then turning out voters in fifteen precincts in the Haight on election day. And just to further prove their dexterity, they followed up with a strong community organizing effort after the election. When most were getting ready for the holidays, the League of Pissed Off Voters was working to turn out voters to a hearing at the Ethics Commission to argue for Public Financing in the Mayor’s race. Their efforts were successful. They turned out nearly 150 people to a Commission hearing a week before Christmas. After hearing their testimony, the Commission voted unanimously to support Public Financing, striking a blow against patronage and corruption in government and for increased voter confidence and engagement.

Being a Great Ally: For those of us who are out as trans and in particular for those of us who are not out, we need support and allies politically, socially, and legally. On the political side, Assemblymember Mark Leno has been an amazing ally pushing for health care benefits and protections from discrimination in employment and housing. But my absolutely favorite new non-transgender ally is Chris Daley, that’s Daley with an e, from the Transgender Law Center. Chris is the founder of the organization and has helped create an amazing and strong infrastructure for trans folks, the kind of help that makes you literally feel physically safer in the world. So a big shout out to Chris. Yep. You don’t have to be transgender to work on trans issues or be supportive. You are all always welcome in our small but ever growing tent. We may even make you an honorary trannie like Chris…

Chris Daley (far left) and the crew from the Transgender Law Center

Best New Supervisor

As most remember, I unsuccessfully ran for Supervisor last year. I’m happy to report that the fellow who won, Ross Mirkarimi, has done a stand-up job and deserves much praise for a great first year. There are many styles of being a progressive leader and different times require different styles and sometimes even different styles from the same people… But to compare Ross to the former Supervisor of that District, Matt Gonzalez, does a disservice to both of them. Matt is definitely missed and was a great legislator, but Ross has broken new ground as a progressive leader and as a legislator. Props to him and we are all stronger for it.

Best New Local Political Writer

As you can probably guess, I read a lot over the net. I read a alot. Maybe too much.

But mostly, I love reading very smart, funny writers who comment on politics and culture. One of my favorites is a local writer at SFist named Rita. She writes one “column” called political junkie and another called “we read the weeklies.”

This week when I read her column, I literally busted out laughing. She was rehashing the whole drama between Supervisor Chris Daly and Pat Murphy from the San Francisco Sentinel as well as the new drama between Alex Clemens and Pat. My favorite line was, “Or did we just lose the copy of the memo announcing its Everyone Hates Pat Month?” I have to admit, I had been wondering if I missed the memo too. Seems like everybody is dumping on the guy.

Of course, the memo will identify someone new next month I’m sure.

But what I love most is that she comments on political life in a really funny (and did I say smart?) way without getting nasty or personal, something we could all aspire to do. She doesn’t tread too lightly either though. For that she deserves tons of props.

Labor organization: We all know that the Hotel Worker’s Union HERE UNITE Local 2 rocks the house and that SEIU kicked some butt this year. Truth is that there are a bunch of organizations within the Labor Council that do tons of great work, and one of my favorites is the A. Philip Randolph Institute, named after a famous African American Labor Leader. APRI is a group that has been doing get out the vote work in the Bayview a primarily African American neighborhood for countless years. Most of the members are residents of Housing Developments in the Bayview. James Bryant, the President, reaches out to Housing Development residents, helps to train them and get jobs. That alone is enough in my book to make him a hero but there is more.

James Bryant, President of APRI and David Turner at the APRI dinner

For those of you who follow SF politics, you are probably thinking that James and I are pretty unlikely friends. And you would be right. Over the years, we have been on the opposite side of most campaigns. In fact, we went toe to toe in 1999 when he was doing a massive voter registration drive in the Bayview, a neighborhood that was almost unanimously supportive of Mayor Brown and I was part of the voter registration on the Ammiano for Mayor campaign. Between both campaigns, we probably registered at least 25,000 people.
But James and I ended up talking, and becoming good friends. In fact, I would call him my brother and if he ever needs me, I’ve got his back. And I know he has mine. Something I have come to really value, especially if you get your toes wet occasionally in SF politics.
James and I frequently talk about going into business together. He brings years of organizing and work in the Bayview and I would bring some knowledge of LGBT organizing. We would certainly be an unlikely pair to some. But they would be people who don’t know James and people who don’t know me. The A. Philip Randolph Institute members are dynamite too. They didn’t even blink when they met me. When I became a member, they accepted me into the family.
When I got involved with the And Castro For All group that was doing anti-racism work in a gay neighborhood, they came out and joined our picket lines. A.Philip Randolph is a solid, talented crew of folks who make great stuff happen while having a lot of fun. And yes, they were some of the unsung heroes of the November campaign in San Francisco.

And Castro For All picketing outside Badlands

APRI outside of Badlands

To say that they were heroes during the November campaign does not diminish the work that dozens of other groups did. That was the great thing about that campaign. No one group was responsible for our victory. No one person was responsible for our victory. That campaign was a collection of dynamite community groups and dynamite community people who dedicated their lives to defeating Arnold.

But at the end of the day, A.Philip Randolph Institute rocked the house. David Binder, a respected pollster predicted 36% turnout in San Francisco last summer. Why? Because voters come out for candidates, not for initiatives. What was the turnout in the Bayview? 40% plus. I haven’t seen turnout like that since Mayor Brown was on the ballot.
So a big shout out to James Bryant and to my brothers and sisters in the A. Philip Randolph Institute. Not only did you rock the house on Election Day. You were the back bone of the campaign for weeks prior to the election, showing up to phone bank every night and walk every weekend. We couldn’t have done it with out you.