SF Mayor Lee among politicians booed off stage at Pride Trans March

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - San Francisco’s Mayor Ed Lee was among the local political leaders who received the cold shoulder at Dolores Park’s annual Trans March, part of the city’s Pride festivities, which ramped up Friday night.

“We're a city of diversity and our trans-community needs a city that's welcoming,” Lee told KTVU.
But the crowd wasn’t so welcoming to the Mayor and other elected officials who were there to wish the crowd well.

“You guys come here, do a little soundbyte, try to look like you have a heart. You don't have a heart. You're not protecting the people,” said Ashely Love from Los Angeles.

As State Senator Mark Leno was on stage, the crowd turned against him, demanding that he and the others leave.

Before the mayor could say a word, he was escorted off the stage and rushed to his car. Supervisor Scott Wiener was among those who were ill received.

“I'm a trans woman who has a lot of trans friends, who are homeless and I'm tired of people using our community as a political prop,” Love added.

“It doesn't surprise me because the community is angry and they're angry at everyone. Not just the mayor, not just the city. They're angry at everyone,” said Theresa Sparks with the Human Rights Commission. Sparks was just appointed last week by Mayor Lee as the senior advisor on transgender initiatives.

Politics aside, the Trans March went off without a hitch and earlier in the day dozens of volunteers helped set up the pink triangle atop Twin Peaks.

People are still mourning the 49 people who were killed earlier this month in Orlando’s mass shooting at a gay nightclub.

Some say out of that tragedy came something good— a sense of community and love from people they never knew.

“I feel like we were under attack. I feel like as a community we became closer as a family,” said Baruc Zarazua from Santa Cruz. 

San Francisco officers are out in force to help those in the city feel safer this Pride weekend, although Black Lives Matters withdrew from Pride as grand marshals on Friday due to the increased police presence.

Added security measures include metal detectors, SWAT presence and bag restrictions.