Committee recommends Castro LGBTQ CHEST report to full board, citing housing and heritage strategies

The Land Use and Transportation Committee on Jan. 27 voted to recommend to the full Board of Supervisors a resolution adopting the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District’s CHEST report (Cultural History, Housing and Economic Sustainability Strategies). The committee’s agenda listed the resolution under Administrative Code Section 107.5. Committee members moved to forward the resolution with a positive recommendation; the clerk recorded two ayes and Supervisor Cheyenne Chen excused.

Grace Lee, cultural-district manager at the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD), told the panel that the cultural-district program was established by the Board in 2018 and that MOHCD provides baseline operational funding, supported by Proposition E hotel-tax revenue. Tina Aguirre, director of the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, said the CHEST report is intended as a community-driven roadmap to preserve and strengthen the Castro’s LGBTQIA+ heritage and to guide housing, economic and cultural strategies. Presenters said the district conducted 11 focus groups reaching more than 130 people and used primary and secondary sources to prepare the report.

The report’s strategies highlighted at the hearing included: small-business and workforce support (the district reported distributing more than $135,000 to 14 businesses, including $33,000 to a business called Healing Cuts), tenant protections and the development of affordable, culturally competent housing (the district cited collaboration with a local nonprofit planning housing for low-income LGBTQ elders but said the project is not fully funded), placekeeping and placemaking that centers LGBTQIA+ communities and cultural humility training for merchants and service providers. The district also outlined arts-and-heritage strategies, including the Living Lesbian Legends project and collaboration with Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza to ensure memorial and interpretive elements reflect racial, gender and queer diversity.

Public commenters representing other cultural districts and neighborhood organizations voiced support. Dr. Emily Murase Sheehy, director of the Japantown Cultural District, called the report “crucial.” Mario De Nura of SoMa Pilipinas, Ben Chavez Gilliam of the GLBT Historical Society, Roberto Ordana of the GLBT Historical Society Museum and Archives, Bridal Springfield of Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza, and Jennifer J. Waggoner of the Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association also spoke in support, emphasizing the report’s research, community engagement and potential to guide policy and budget decisions.

Presenters and public commenters urged the city to fund and sustain the report’s activities during upcoming budget decisions; the GLBT Historical Society and the castro district asked the city to back programs that advance tenant protections, affordable housing for elders and small-business grants. The committee’s action was limited to forwarding the resolution for Board consideration; the report itself and related funding will require next-step approvals during the city’s budget and program processes.