New SF Transgender District murals celebrate trans history, culture 

San Francisco’s Tenderloin has six new large, colorful, impossible-to-miss artworks painted on the archways of a parking garage at 64 Golden Gate Ave. They all celebrate transgender history, culture and resilience. 

Completed on June 22, the mural was commissioned by the Transgender District, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the city’s transgender history and community. It was created by queer and nonbinary artists Nathaniel Bice, S. Apollo Fisher, Rebekah Rose, Tanya Wischerath, Mars Wright, Juan Manuel Carmona and Simon Malvaez.  

The mural, the newest visual addition to the district (the only legally recognized organization of its kind), joins trans pride wraparounds painted on utility poles, banners reading “We are preserving our history” and trans pride-colored crosswalks at Turk and Taylor streets, where the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, one of the first acts of organized LGBTQ resistance, took place in 1966.  

Wischerath’s arch features portraits of the district’s founders — Honey Mahogany, Janetta Johnson and Aria Sa’id — emerging from purple, pink and orange flowers. 

“It’s about both the phrasing ‘to give someone their flowers,’ so it’s like they are giving the flowers to the district and the history of the district, and they’re also being given their flowers by being represented and being shown as blossoming figures,” she says.  

Wischerath also has painted Johnson in a mural honoring trans sex worker activists in San Francisco in Clarion Alley in the Mission. 

The new mural was the first time shepainted Johnson with Mahogany and Sa’id. She says, “It felt like a full circle to be able to honor her in the district that she founded — I was really excited about that.”  

A San Francisco native, she grew up taking in many public murals; she wanted to create them herself to become part of the city’s landscape and culture. 

“The murals in San Francisco feel so much about building the story of the city, building [its] identity through who is represented in the artwork,” she says. 

She is pleased contribute to the story of the Tenderloin’s history as a trans and queer sanctuary while focusing on the individuals who made the Trans District a reality: “Black trans women have repeatedly made spaces that are spaces of safety and possibility for others, and the mural feels like a way of acknowledging that. The more that we can do celebratory depictions of the leaders and the builders of community, the better,” she says.  

Mahogany, director of the San Francisco Office of Transgender Initiatives, calls Wischerath “an incredibly talented and well-respected artist in our community” and says she is honored to be featured alongside Johnson and Sa’id.  

“There is so much darkness in the world being amplified and reflected right now, and I’m grateful for efforts like these that remind us that trans people everywhere deserve joy, dignity and respect. I think it’s important that this is happening right here in San Francisco, in the district, a place that holds so much of our history and is so special to so many people in our community all over the world,” Mahogany says.  

Wright, a trans artist who’s based in Los Angeles, created a mural bearing a phrase he coined in 2020: “Trans Joy Is Resistance.” 

“I said that to myself when I was in a really, really tough spot in my life,” he says.  

The phrase has since become both a way of being and a source of inspiration.  

“You cannot stop me from waking up in the morning, dancing with my friends and smiling at the sunset. I will continue to have joy in spite of all the bulls— and I will resist,” he says. 

“I think of ‘hope’ as a verb — as something we have to actively work at — and so that’s what keeps me going,” he adds. 

Wright’s archway also features one of the Martians he is known for. They, too, are meant to bring joy while also serving as a nod to the LGBTQ+ community’s “transcestors” (transgender ancestors). 

He’s been drawing the sweet-looking creatures and otherworldly scenes since his youth as a way to explore his emotions and conjure a safe, welcoming space. 

“I thought about what it would be like to live in this cool utopia, where there’s no gender binary, there’s no homophobia, there’s no transphobia, and everybody just gets to live in peace and be as weird as they want,” he says. 

He purposely painted the Martian low enough that people can stand near and feel comforted. The Martian’s arms are spread wide; one three-fingered hand holds a pink and blue heart. 

“I would hope you would get that feeling of a hug from this transcestor and the power of the people that came before me, before us,” he says, adding, “I hope trans people see it and know that they belong and that they’re in community.” 

Wright and Wischerath say that painting alongside other LGBTQ+ artists was unlike any project they worked on before. 

“The way that everyone ended up representing the subject that they had chosen felt so personal to them and was such an expression of their own queerness and transness and the way that they’re navigating their own lives,” says Wischerath. 

Both were met with overwhelming support and compliments from numerous passersby. Wright also pointed out that negative reactions to the mural project simply don’t make sense. 

“Why would you hate joy, you know? And if you’re cis[gender] and having a positive reaction to this, how are you uplifting the trans people in your life so that they’re thriving and not just getting only the basic needs met? It’s about us being able to really, really exist and live our lives fully,” he says.