A San Francisco official running for re-election was recently targeted with a series of racist and homophobic flyers pasted over his campaign posters.
Supervisor Gordon Mar, a Chinese American currently serving San Francisco’s District 4, shared images of the flyers via a Twitter thread on Tuesday.
“Over the weekend and under the cover of darkness, someone decided to paste these flyers over our window signs in small businesses across the Sunset,” Mar wrote.
One flyer called Mar a “communist” and “pedophile.” Another claimed he stood for “more drugs” and “more homelessness,” and accused him of “grooming children” and giving “free money to crackheads.” Another line from the flyer said: “Kick out the Chinese, bring in Gangs.”
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According to Mar, this was “not the first time I’ve been targeted with reactionary, ridiculous smears,” noting how they resembled flyers that appeared in his district last year after he supported bringing affordable housing to the Sunset District for low-income families.
Mar added that the flyers even went “a step further” by implying that his support for San Francisco’s LGTBQ community makes him a “pedophile” and a “groomer.”
“This is a disturbing, dangerous smear that’s emerged from the fringes of the right-wing, used to attack the LGBTQ community and their allies,” he wrote. “It’s a tired trope, but it does real damage.”
Mar told The Chronicle in an interview that the owners of the establishments where the flyers were posted were already reviewing and forwarding surveillance video to local authorities.
“The flyers were obviously outrageous and hateful and their inflammatory language is anti-LGBTQ, classist and racist,” he was quoted as saying.
In an interview with SFGate, Mar said that while he has “thick skin” and can take the attacks, he “shouldn’t have to.”
“What concerns me more is that the trans kids, the queer kids, the Black and brown kids, and the poor kids and families who will see this message posted across Sunset and wonder if they’re really welcome here,” he said.
In his Twitter thread, Mar expressed his continued support for San Francisco’s LGTBQ community amid homophobic attacks against those defending gay rights.
“I will continue to be a voice for progress, for queer & trans equality, affordable housing, compassionate solutions to homelessness, & for moving forward,” he said in a tweet. “I invite everyone to join me in condemning these hateful attacks, & in the work solving the real problems facing this City.”
Featured Image via Gordon Mar
