A study conducted by the SF LGBT Center has found that as many as 81 percent of San Francisco's gay, transgender and queer community have experienced harassment or physical violence.
“When people say homophobia isn’t a problem here in San Francisco, it is very hard to refute that,” Rebecca Rolfe, executive director of the SF LGBT Center, said in an interview with Buzzfeed. “We continue to come up against a lack of data and a mistaken belief that homophobia and transphobia are no longer a problem.”
The study, aided by funding from the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, discovered that 48 percent of respondents reported sexual violence, 68 percent had endured physical violence and 81 percent had been harrassed.
"Our queer and transgender communities, particularly communities of color, have known and felt the impact of these findings first hand for many years," Isa Noyola, program manager at Transgender Law Center in San Francisco, told NBC Bay Area. "We have been sharing these messages with city leaders, city departments, SFUSD, community based organizations, and SFPD. The inactions of all these leaders and entities to truly address the disproportionate amounts of violence our communities faces is no longer acceptable."
Transgender people reported the highest levels of violence, with 65 percent saying they've experienced sexual violence and 79 percent reporting physical violence.
"Our city leaders and executive directors of large community based organizations can no longer ignore the recommendations and concrete demands that our San Francisco residents have been demanding for years," said Noyola. "It is time to see resources materialize and for violence prevention programs to fully be funded and supported."
