Gay Homeless In San Francisco

A while back, we republished 2 posts, entitled Drug Resistant TB   and  It's Here. Those 2 posts contained our prediction that Tuberculosis would make a comeback in the Western "gay community" and that the breeding grounds would be gay saunas and homeless shelters.  We said this was due to falling living standards in the West, high amounts of personal debt and chronically compromised immune systems.  We specifically mentioned London and San Francisco.

We appear to have been right on target.........

We quote the following: "Rise in gay homeless people threatens San Francisco's name as gay-friendly mecca", The Independent, 1 July 2013. (underlining by FuelMix):

But as the city recovers from its 43rd gay Pride festival at the weekend, attended by more than 1.5 million people, it must confront an uncomfortable issue. The streets through which about 200 colourful parades – from drag queens to the motorcycle-riding Dykes on Bikes – travelled, are also home to increasing numbers of gay homeless people, many of whom are exceptionally vulnerable to prejudice and violence.Research produced by the Human Services Agency of San Francisco  (SF-HSA) has revealed that 29 per cent of the city’s homeless population are from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

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Of the 6,436 people the SF-HSA counted sleeping rough in the city, more than half of those do not stay in shelters. Earlier this month, the city authorities finally began steps to set up San Francisco’s first shelter for LGBT homeless, large numbers of whom have mental health issues. Some of San Francisco’s gay rough sleepers are young people from other parts of America or the world who have fled violence and discrimination at home in search of safety in San Francisco. Others are elderly survivors of the worst ravages of the Aids epidemic who now find themselves unable to cope financially in a city where rents have been driven sky high by gentrification and the booming economy of nearby Silicon Valley. They end up living in doorways and parking lots.

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The number of people in the Valley reliant on food stamps (federal financial assistance to low-income families to help them buy food) reached a  10-year high this year, and the number of homeless people has grown by  20 per cent since 2011.

At the Coalition on Homelessness in the Tenderloin district, a steady stream of mostly elderly people arrive to collect copies of Street Sheet, a newspaper which they sell for donations. In the surrounding streets, hotel staff hose down the streets. Shops display signs warning “No Loitering”.

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Gay homeless people often required specialist medical care, “particularly those who are HIV positive”, she said. “There’s still a ton of homophobia and transphobia in the shelters. It’s coming from the staff – their levels of compassion get burned out.”

The full article makes 3 fundamental points that are worth highlighting.

1. The enormous wealth gap caused by the proximity of Silicon Valley and the elitist mentality that it creates, at the expense of the most vulnerable;
2. (Surprising for San Francisco) is that to date, there are no homeless shelters dedicated towards LGBT. There's been talk, but that's about it;
3. The victimization and harassment specifically directed at homeless LGBT;

Other than a reference that gay homeless people often required specialist medical care, the article does not specifically mention the emergence of TB in San Francisco. We stand by our prediction that it is only a matter of time that TB emerges in San Francisco, first in the gay homeless and then into the wider "gay community".  We also expect to see this in other Western cities.

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