Marie Nemeth and Vanessa Hamill-Meeriyakerd: Fostering Inclusion for the LGBTQ+ Community in SF

LGBTQ+ Pride Month is underway! The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer community along with supporters have celebrated the month of June as Pride Month to honor the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York’s Greenwich Village.

Marie Nemeth (they/them) and Vanessa Hamill-Meeriyakerd (she/her) are the Digital Peer Navigators for the TAMHS PROJECT with the Mental Health Association of San Francisco. Their mission is to assist with overcoming technological barriers blocking access to mental health care, focusing on LGBTQ+ community members. Nemeth is a California-raised San Francisco transplant from Australia, where Nemeth provided peer support to LGBTQIA2S+ victim-survivors of family violence. Vanessa Hamill-Meeriyakerd is a proud San Francisco State University alum and long-time LGBTQ+ advocate, rocking the university’s history of supporting radical views to include others in the mosh-pit for equity.

San Francisco Pride Parade, 1970

Pride Commemorates LGBTQ+ Historical EventsAt the forefront of the LGBTQ+ equal rights movement since 1970, Pride celebrations offer historic significance in the journey toward equality. Marie Nemeth and Vanessa Hamill-Meeriyakerd agree that Pride month provides an opportunity to commemorate LGBTQ+ shared history; however, the two also encourage pride to extend throughout the year. “Having something tangible, like Pride, is monumental, especially because a lot of queerness was met with so much violence,” said Hamill-Meeriyakerd. For example, here in San Francisco, there were the 1966 Compton Cafeteria Riots in the Tenderloin, preceding the 1969 Stonewall Riots. The Compton Cafeteria Riots responded to the violent and constant police harassment of drag queens and trans people, particularly trans women.

Hamill-Meeriyakerd reported, “Most people don’t know about this event because usually, only people talk about the Stonewall Riots when San Francisco also has a colorful history that is radical and something to be proud of,” and while the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement has performed in such a way that all people benefit from it, “[We’re] still far from freedom, and we need to keep pushing for greater equity,” said Nemeth. Good reasons why we should never forget where and how Pride celebrations started or where the LGBT equal rights began in San Francisco.

Pride Celebrates LGBTQ+ Accomplishments

As a community, LGBTQ+ people have much to be grateful for this year: January 25, 2021 – President Joe Biden signs an executive order repealing the 2019 Trump-era ban on most transgender Americans joining the military. “This is reinstating a position that the previous commanders and, as well as the secretaries, have supported. And what I’m doing is enabling all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform,” Biden said, speaking from the Oval Office moments before signing the executive order. February 2, 2021 – Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg becomes the first openly gay Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate. March 24, 2021 – Dr. Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services, becomes the first transgender federal official  confirmed by the Senate. April 27, 2021 – President Biden nominates Gina Ortiz Jones as Undersecretary of the United States Air Force. Jones is an out lesbian Filipino-American who served in the Air Force, and she would become the first woman of color undersecretary, if confirmed.  May 19, 2021 – U.S. expands birthright citizenship of babies born abroad to same-sex couples, in an effort to recognize the U.S. citizenship of babies born abroad to same-sex couples, regardless of whether an American parent is biologically related.   For more information on pro-LGBTQ+ protections issued under the Biden administration, check out the Human Rights Campaign website. Furthermore, 2021 is slated to break records in terms of anti-LGBTQ+ state legislature introduced and filed.

Pride Permits LGBTQ+ to Celebrate Their Sexual and Gender Identities in Public

Pride creates so many opportunities to bolster community and connection. “[Pride] demonstrates the possibility of what can be, what needs to be, and is a hopeful celebration of all identities,” said Nemeth. Through storytelling, LGBTQ+ [communities] celebrate the past and inform the plan for a better future. Hamill-Meeriyakerd stated that “[Pride month] is the liberation of celebrating sexuality and gender.”  The 2013 Pew Research Center surveyed 1,197 LGBT adults and revealed the many ways LGBT adults felt stigmatized by society. About 39% say they were, at some point in their lives, rejected by a family member or close friend because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. 30% say they have been physically attacked or threatened; 29% say they have been made to feel unwelcome in a place of worship, and 21% say an employer has mistreated them. Approximately 58% say they’ve been the target of slurs or jokes.  “As a young out queer of color, it was really important for me to be in community with other LGBTQ people and for us to find [our] people and find [our] helpers to stand together in our power as an LGBTQ+ community,” said Hamill-Meeriyakerd. 

San Francisco Pride Parade, 2018

Pride Is a Sobering Reminder That LGBTQ+ and Allies Still Have a Long Way to Go

“Pride month is important to draw attention to because LGBTQ+ people have been historically marginalized,” said Nemeth. “Queerness is subversive and challenges power structures and systems.” Social hierarchies underscore the multiple social identities of peoples’ lived experiences. Therefore, LGBTQ+ rights are not just for LGBTQ+ people but rather they extend to many different people. “Pride is the intersection of all liberation movements. The goal of Pride is not to be accepted into the mainstream, but to challenge the construction of a mainstream by dominant cultures and to fight for equity and justice for all,” Nemeth explains.  For example, older people who identify as LGBT have multiple social identities, including: age, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity. This array creates complex, multifaceted identities throughout communities. While the U.S. census does not actively measure how many LGBT people live within its borders, it is estimated that there are around three million LGBT adults over age 50—LGBT older people are prime examples of intersectional identities. According to SAGE – Advocacy & Services for LGBT Elders, an advocacy and services organization for LGBT elders, there are LGBT older people thriving across the United States and worldwide, setting meaningful examples for the younger LGBTQ+ generations! “Generation before [mine] died by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and now [I] get to see what it is like to live, love, and thrive,” expressed Nemeth. “It’s important to remember our queer ancestors,” Hamill-Meeriyakerd said.    Having intersectional identities often generates a feeling that someone does not entirely belong in one group or another and can lead to mental health issues. But Pride is becoming the ideal time to remember the past while recognizing the long road ahead.

For More Information on San Francisco-Based Resources, Check Out the Following:

Queer Ancestors Project Queer Cultual Center San Francisco AIDS Foundation: STRUT San Francisco Community Health Center: Trans Thrives Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence The Trevor Project 

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