San Francisco Shouldn’t Homeport Iowa or Feinstein

Feinstein’s history as an enemy of progressives is no secret. Her unwillingness to seriously address homelessness by declaring the problem “temporary” throughout her stint as the city’s mayor - advocating for ‘hotline hotel’ programs rather than permanent housing - perhaps best illustrates her conservative tendencies. Feinstein also played an instrumental role in the Manhattanization of downtown San Francisco, working in concert with Planning Commissioner Dean Macris to lure a variety of big developers and major corporations to the heart of the city. Also acting as San Francisco’s mayor, Feinstein vetoed the first Domestic Partnerships Act and didn’t march in a single pride parade throughout the 80s.

Now, Feinstein claims the recent 8-3 decision by the Board of Supervisors to prevent the USS reflects the fact that “This isn’t the San Francisco that I’ve known…” This could very easily be because Feinstein doesn’t know the real San Francisco.

Supervisors Tom Ammiano and Bevan Dufty have already pointed out one of the most obvious and morally sound reasons for city-wide opposition to keeping the warship out of San Francisco. The Iowa would represent the US Navy, an institution with a long history of brutal anti-gay discrimination. Even now, after supposedly addressing this past, the Navy has a “don’t ask, don’t tell policy.” This policy represents the only law in America that authorizes the firing of someone simply for being gay, and serves as state-endorsed way of punishing gay people for coming out.

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