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Committee forwards measure asking city contractors to seek voluntary sexual-orientation and gender-identity data
Summary
The Government and Oversight Committee voted to forward an ordinance requiring city departments and health/social-service contractors to seek voluntary collection of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data; sponsors said the change will help target services and funding, while some speakers noted employment data and youth confidentiality raise separate issues.
Supervisor Scott Wiener on Thursday asked the Government and Oversight Committee to forward an ordinance that would require city departments and contractors providing health care and social services to seek, collect and analyze voluntary data on clients’ sexual orientation and gender identity. Wiener said the change is necessary “because without data, we cannot fully be part of society.”
The measure, which the sponsor said implements recommendations from the LGBT Aging Policy Task Force, would apply to the Department of Public Health, Department of Human Services, Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, Department of Aging and Adult Services and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development. Wiener said clients would retain the right to decline to provide the information and departments would have 24 months from the ordinance’s operative date to submit a report to the City Administrator analyzing the data and identifying services where LGBT people are underrepresented.
Dr. Marcy Adleman, a member of the LGBT Aging Policy Task Force, told the committee the task force found that city datasets were too sparse to guide policy and recommended citywide SOGI collection rather than siloed, senior-only reporting so policymakers could craft “smart policy and programs.” Tom Nolan of the Department of Aging and Adult Services said DAS supports the ordinance and that simply asking the questions can signal welcome and improve culturally appropriate services.
Katie Arbona, representing Assemblymember David Chiu, said the proposal mirrors state-level work and cited AB 959 (the LGBT Disparities Reduction Act) as precedent for voluntary, aggregated SOGI collection to better allocate government resources.
Speakers during public comment supported the ordinance. Ashley Macumber, executive director of Meals on Wheels of San Francisco, said her organization did not previously know how many LGBT clients it served and supported the measure as a way to build trust and improve service delivery. Keith Baracca, a San Francisco Fire Department recruiter, urged the city also collect employment data for public safety departments; the sponsor and staff clarified this ordinance focuses on service recipients and does not require employment data collection, which Wiener said is an important but separate policy area that could be pursued separately.
Supervisor Wiener moved to forward the ordinance to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation; the chair called for objections, none were raised, and the motion passed by unanimous/no-objection consent. The ordinance will next be considered by the full Board.
