San Francisco LGBTQ advocates protest proposed budget cuts to public health services

At the SF LGBT Center in the Castro, LGBTQ advocates said Mayor Daniel Lurie’s proposed $17 million cut to public health would hit the city where it hurts most, at the HIV screening desk, the trans-health intake line, the syringe pickup counter and the case managers who keep young people connected to care.

The rally drew people from the Harvey Milk LGBTQ+ Democratic Club and the People’s Budget Coalition, along with clients and staff from community groups that depend on city contracts. Organizers said the cuts would not be absorbed evenly. They warned that organizations such as the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the San Francisco Community Health Center and Lyon-Martin Community Health Services could all face tighter budgets for services that many queer residents use every day.

Gael Lala-Chavez, executive director of LYRIC Center for LGBTQ Youth, said the organization stood to lose close to $300,000 tied to workforce development and case management. That money helps young people hold jobs, handle basic needs and stay linked to supportive adults and services, a lifeline for youth who are already navigating housing instability, family rejection or health care gaps.

The protest sharpened a broader question around City Hall: why these programs, and why now? Lurie is trying to close a budget hole reported at more than $870 million, and he is proposing roughly $400 million in spending cuts overall. Board of Supervisors budget materials describe a deficit closer to $1 billion, underscoring the scale of the fiscal squeeze facing the city. San Francisco passed a roughly $15.9 billion budget in July 2025, but this year’s fight has quickly turned into a test of which services the city is willing to protect.

City budget rules give Lurie until June 1 to submit his proposal to the Board of Supervisors, with final approval expected at the end of July. Department budget proposals were due by February 21 and had to reach the mayor and supervisors by March 1, which means the April 30 rally was only one step in a much longer battle over what gets funded from July 1 through the next two fiscal years.

The cuts are not new to public health workers. A January memo from the San Francisco Department of Public Health said the fiscal 2026-27 budget already included a $17 million reduction for community-based organizations contracted with the department, and the Health Commission later approved the cuts unanimously. By March and April, city health officials were also being asked to find another $40 million in savings over two years, including 121 full-time staff positions, deepening fears that the squeeze on HIV prevention, counseling and youth services could widen further.

At Jane Warner Plaza, protesters filled out postcards describing their San Francisco stories and naming the queer groups that had helped them. In a city built on neighborhood organizing, that message was clear: the budget is no longer just a spreadsheet. It is a decision about which communities will be asked to carry the cost.