Mayor Lurie heckled over budget cuts during Pride Month kickoff at City Hall

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie was momentarily drowned out by protesters at City Hall on Friday as city leaders kicked off Pride month. 

With Pride festivities getting underway throughout the city, LGBTQ+ leaders are also recognizing this as both a time for celebrating and for demonstrating. 

Pride is a protest 

"You want me to wait? Let them have their voice?" Lurie said, as protesters lined along a guardrail one level above where the mayor was speaking, chanted, booed and interrupted his speech. 

"Hey, this is San Francisco. We expect this," Lurie said. 

The Pride rainbow flag was raised at City Hall to commemorate the city's official recognition of Pride Month. 

Lurie continued his remarks as protesters chanted under the rotunda against budget cuts to community grants. The protesters are opposed to changes in funding in the fight against HIV and AIDS. 

Lurie pledged that even in a challenging budget landscape that the city will step up funding as the federal government slashes LGBTQ+ programs. 

"I understand deeply that there is anxiety about the budget," Lurie said. "That is why this year we made significant investments in health care, and we will continue to support the organizations doing critical work for the LGBTQ+ community.

The budget cuts 

Dig deeper:

We reported in April that San Francisco LGBTQ+ groups applied pressure on Mayor Lurie to reconsider his $17 million in proposed budget cuts to community-based organizations. Groups like San Francisco AIDS Foundation and LYRIC Center for LGBTQ+ Youth said the budget cuts would severely impact HIV screenings and youth job services. 

In March, the first look at the mayor's budget revealed about 100 staffing cuts to the city's health department. 

The other side:

Other speakers offered support for the mayor. 

"Let's recognize that we have enemies in the world and I don't see any of them here. Thank you, Mr. Mayor," said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the Castro District. 

"We know that across this country, the federal administration is actively targeting our community with unconstitutional policies, and blatant discrimination, for just being who we are," said Imani Rupert Gordon, president of the National Center for LGBT Rights. 

Honey Mahogany, head of the San Francisco Office of Transgender Initiatives, said nationwide there have been a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ initiatives. 

She said now is the time to recommit to the fight for equality. 

"We've always known how to fight, and we've always known how to win," said Mahogany. "We are in it for the fight. We're here to celebrate, but we're also here to remember that Pride started out as a protest." 

Pink Triangle

As the celebration was kicking off in City Hall, about 100 volunteers laid the outline for the giant Pink Triangle, the reclaimed symbol that has adorned Twin Peaks every Pride Month since 1995.

Organizer Patrick Carney from Friends of the Pink Triangle said the symbol was used by the Nazi's to target gay people. Now it's a powerful symbol of gay pride and resistance.  

"It's actually bigger, slightly bigger than ever before. So, we're very excited about that," Carney said. "Definitely it's a giant, in-your-face educational tool that you can see 20 miles away." 

Work continues on the Pink Triangle early Saturday morning as organizers welcome several hundred volunteers who will lend a hand. They will once again call on volunteers to take the triangle down at the end of Pride month.