Trevor Chandler, a longtime LGBTQ+ rights activist and a new public school teacher, is facing off against at least seven other candidates in his race for supervisor in San Francisco this November, a not-unheard-of number in the politically engaged Democratic stronghold.
District 9 on the east side of the city extends from the iconic Mission District in the north — steps away from the gay beach at Dolores Park, and Mission Dolores, where Jimmy Stewart searched in vain for the illusive Carlotta Valdez in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo — to Bernal Heights and the Portola District in the south. The food along Valencia and Mission Streets is some of the very best Latin American cuisine found anywhere in the country.
Chandler won his very first election in April when he landed a seat on the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, the kind of name that’s proved a perfect cudgel for conservatives and Fox News anchors to describe the unapologetically progressive city as a failed communist state.
The 37-year-old spent six years advocating for marriage equality and anti-discrimination measures for the Human Rights Campaign, and last year taught 3rd graders at a District 9 elementary school.
Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024
Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter.
I found the candidate working in his home office two blocks from “Calle 24” and Mission, the heart of the city’s Latino community.
“It’s a beautiful neighborhood,” Chandler told me. “I love living here.”
LGBTQ Nation: Let’s say someone is pitching your run for San Francisco supervisor as a Netflix series. What’s the log line?
Trevor Chandler: I’m an outsider who knows how the inside works. I joke that I want to be the most boring supervisor District 9 has ever had, because folks just want to get the job done, especially on safety. So what I’m offering is competence and experience without being a part of the machine.
San Francisco politics is famously, maybe even notoriously, rancorous. It’s a small town with a lot of outsized voices and personalities who all care about the World’s Most Beautiful City. Over the last few years with the pandemic and the fentanyl disaster and a widening wealth gap and a housing affordability crisis, a lot of fingers have been pointed looking for blame, maybe for partisan advantage. Is San Francisco really in a doom loop, and how would you describe the state of the city right now in the summer of 2024?
I always say, “San Francisco is not broken. City Hall is broken.” That’s the difference of what we see on Fox News versus what we’re living here. Because, especially in District 9 but all across the city, people say, “Trevor, we are fighting to bring back San Francisco. We believe in the city. We love the city. We’re not abandoning it, but it feels like City Hall is fighting us right back.”
So when we have small businesses that are paying rent on an empty storefront for a year while they navigate a broken permitting process, or we have folks that want to get their loved ones into recovery, or want to get into recovery with themselves, but they’re turned away at the door, that’s when I want to be the boring, competent candidate.
There’s this kind of conventional wisdom that because of all the problems we’re facing, San Francisco voters are becoming more moderate. I reject that. We’re just as progressive, we’re just as compassionate. San Franciscans are willing to spend whatever it takes to fix the very real problems we have, but what they’re fed up with is spending billions of dollars, seeing it go down a drain, and not seeing any results for it.
We have real problems, absolutely, but we are not the hellscape that Fox News tries to make us out to be.
You’re running to help govern a traditionally Latino and immigrant district where gentrification is a big concern. As an educated, cisgender gay white man, you’re like a poster child for that problem. How are you combating the stereotype?
That’s the reason I’m the candidate that’s knocked on the most doors. I’m the only candidate in the race right now that is endorsed by both Latino organizations and Asian organizations. We have an incredibly vibrant Latino community here that is part of the soul of the city, but what a lot of folks forget about District 9 is we also have an incredibly vibrant and robust Asian community. About 24% of the voters in District 9 are Hispanic, and about 24% are Asian.
So I’m very sensitive to gentrification. That’s why I’m the pro-housing candidate. So much of the exodus we’ve been seeing in District 9 of the folks who are born and raised here is because no one can afford to live here anymore, because we haven’t built the affordable housing necessary. I’m putting forth pro-housing solutions that will make sure that folks who are born and raised here can live here.
So I’m very aware of how I’m walking into these spaces, and I’m very aware of the fact that I’m not going into this with the lived experience of every community that I’m seeking to represent. But I am going into it with an incredible amount of self-awareness and saying I’m not pretending to have all the answers, but what I want to do is bring the answers that I’m hearing from the community to City Hall. I’m not looking to replace anyone’s voice. I’m looking to amplify them.
There have been lots of famous movers and shakers in San Francisco — forgive the earthquake allusion — from Emperor Norton to Harvey Milk and Nancy Pelosi and the late great drag queen Heklina. Who do you draw inspiration from?
I draw inspiration from José Saria.
Harvey rightfully gets a lot of flowers because of the space that he takes up in our echelon, not just here in San Francisco, but nationally, but José Saria was actually the first LGBT person to publicly run for office in San Francisco. He was a Latino drag queen who started the Imperial Court system, which spread across the country. He was way ahead of his time. Drag queens have always been on the front lines of our rights, and José was no different.
Who are you supporting in the San Francisco mayor’s race, and why?
I’m staying out of it. Going back decades, the District 9 supervisor has always had a very adversarial relationship with the mayor, whoever that is, and I think that’s resulted in less resources coming to the district. And so I made a decision that I want to be on the best terms possible with whoever is elected mayor — I told that to all of them — so I’m gonna stay out of it.
District 8 in San Francisco covers the Castro neighborhood, and it’s traditionally been the gay seat on the board of supervisors. Harvey Milk represented District 8 before his assassination, and now out Supervisor Raphael Mandelman represents it. Does San Francisco need another gay supervisor, and have you gotten Mandelman’s endorsement?
Yes, I’ve gotten both Rafi’s endorsement and I’ve got State Senator Scott Weiner’s endorsement, who represented the Castro before him. We’re at a point — and it’s only in San Francisco do we ask the question — do we need another LGBT representative? I think it’s great we hold ourselves to a higher standard — as we should, right? And I think it’s great that we’re asking the question.
Do we need another gay supervisor? I think that San Francisco voters are much more sophisticated than that, just saying, “Oh, we’re not just going to vote for the gay guy, or we want another gay person.” They’re more focused on the person that’s going to bring the change that we need to get results at City Hall. That’s my impression. They’re fed up with the status quo and they’re asking, “Are you going to be a part of that? Are you going to change it?”
There’s another candidate — running for national office — who’s had experience as a schoolteacher. What do you think your time in that vocation would bring to your work in your district and at City Hall?
I taught third grade for the past school year, and I had an incredible group of kids. I had kids from all backgrounds, and it was tough. Teachers have a tough job, and I already believed this, but I believe it even more now, that teachers should be paid as much as cops, if not more. Our school district has been horribly mismanaged by the school board, which is why I supported a recall of all the members, and I’m supporting a reform slate of school board candidates who are just going to focus on competency, getting the books in order and making sure we have a school system that’s world-class.
On a scale of one to ten, how excited are you for a Harris-Walz administration?
Oh, I’m so excited. An 11. I cannot wait. I don’t have a personal relationship with Vice President Harris, but I have so many friends who do. I am just over the moon how everything has worked out. And we have so much San Francisco talent that could be put on the national stage because of a Harris presidency. I’m very, very excited to see what that looks like.
One of your endorsements comes from the advocacy group Grow SF, whose most vocal supporter is a tech entrepreneur named Garry Tan, the well-known CEO of incubator Y Combinator. For San Francisco, Tan could be described as on the right, calling himself a “moderate Democrat” and advocating for more police, more development, and the recall of the entire San Francisco School Board. He also lives in an area, Noe Valley, that’s been transformed over the last 20 years from a largely working-class neighborhood to one of the most expensive in the city. You’ve called yourself both a “commonsense Democrat” and a progressive. Can you have it both ways?
Yes, and this is the nature of some of the silliness of San Francisco politics that Sen. Wiener talks about a lot. You know, he gets a lot of crap in Sacramento because he’s known as the most progressive member up there. He’s known as a fire-breathing progressive in Sacramento among all his Democratic colleagues. And he brings San Francisco newspapers to Sacramento that call him a moderate. And he’s like, look at this. You all think I’m crazy, but in San Francisco, they call me a moderate.
We have a lot of different shades of blue, and I don’t look at it as having it both ways. I am progressive. I’ve been on the cutting edge of some of the most impactful progressive legislation across this country, and I’ve also been on the cutting edge of defeating conservative Republicans across this country as a part of my work. And so if anyone wants to put their progressive resume against mine — on the field and not behind a keyboard — I’m happy to have that conversation.
In other boom times in San Francisco — like the Gold Rush and the Gilded Age — major contributions by the wealthy to civic life were a given. Why aren’t today’s tech billionaires throwing money at San Francisco’s problems and underfunded arts institutions and social ills like the well-heeled of the past?
I’m not super plugged into the uber-wealthy, so I don’t have a specific insight into their thinking. But I see things like the Benioffs, who are creating the Children’s Hospital and promoting campaigns for affordable housing. People are willing to spend the money to fix the problems, but if we don’t have a competent City Hall that can execute on it, then we’re just flushing money down the toilet. And there again, we’re compassionate people that are willing to spend what’s necessary to get the job done, but there’s just a complete lack of faith about where any of the money we’re spending is going.
The Supreme Court ruled recently to give local jurisdictions more authority to clear unhoused people from streets and parks. You were just attacked in late July on a street in your district by a man who screamed anti-LGBTQ+ slurs at you and may have been mentally ill — fortunately, you weren’t physically hurt. How are the two issues related?
They’re very related. I supported overturning the injunction that prevented us from moving the encampments of folks who refuse shelter and services. I think that’s incredibly important. I don’t support just shuffling people around and pushing people out and being cruel and inhumane. What we’ve had issues with in San Francisco is we’ve been leading with compassion and getting refused, and then there’s no recourse for us to do anything. And that’s where the frustration was, where we say, “Hey, here’s shelter. Here are services and a path to self-sufficiency,” and then we would be refused.
We’re still offering shelter, we’re still offering services, and if someone refuses that, then there’s escalating levels of enforcement available. Both Supervisor Mandelman and I support updating our conservatorship laws to make sure that those who have lost the ability to care for themselves can be taken care of and put on a path of self-sufficiency, not locked away like the old times.
But bringing in storm troopers or allowing anarchy in the streets is a false dichotomy that San Franciscans reject.
How much more do we know about your attacker a month later?
There was a preliminary hearing, and so I gave my testimony. I did not ask for this, but the DA’s office, upon seeing all the evidence, asked for a hate crimes distinction as well as a felony, but the judge in this case, for whatever reason, removed both the hate crimes and downgraded it to a misdemeanor.
I don’t know much more about him. I saw him in court. He is still being held in jail until another court appearance because he’s been seen as a safety risk. Clearly, there’s an acknowledgment by the court that this person has a certain level of danger to the public that he’s being held, given his mental state.
How do you view the anti-LGBTQ+ language in his verbal attack? Do you think it was personal, or a symptom of something more complicated or debilitating — and in that case, is it more or less worrying?
It’s worrying in either way, honestly. I am a public person who in all of my campaigning is very openly, proudly gay and married. My husband and I have walked by this person multiple times. So it is very feasible that this person knew that I was gay. One way or another, it’s unacceptable.
What’s the single most important thing the world should do to address the climate crisis?
Safe, clean, reliable public transportation.
Would you support mandatory national service for young people in the military, or some other form of public service of their choosing?
I like Pete Buttigieg’s idea about having a much broader and emboldened sort of AmeriCorps program or something like that would give kids or students a guarantee of two years of experience out of college, no matter what their economic conditions were. Something involving the military is always a little iffy for me, but a national service option that provides debt relief and lived experience I think would be beneficial.
You’ve been in long term recovery, by your description. What changed your life?
I wish I could say there was some nice, glowing end-of-the-tunnel moment, but for me, and for so many folks that are in recovery, it’s hitting rock bottom that changes our life. I destroyed a lot of my relationships. I destroyed a lot of my health. I had isolated from a lot of people around me. I just boiled in my own resentments and it just made me very toxic, internally. And that was what eventually made me realize that I had to turn my life around, because I was on my path to an early grave. If the drinking didn’t kill me, then just this poisoning of my soul with resentments would have killed me even faster. That was when I went to my first AA meeting.
It was the most stereotypical, depressing AA meeting you could have possibly imagined. It was in the basement of this house that was leaky. My first meeting had like five other guys there. I think two of them were drunk. One of them was crying, and I was just like, “Oh my God, what is this?” This is everything I’ve seen in the movies that’s about how horrible AA is. But thankfully, there was someone there who was leading the meeting, and when he found out it was my very first meeting ever, he was just horrified. He’s like, “No, there’s so many better meetings than this. Do not let this influence whether you come back.”
How long have you been in the program?
On November 8, it’ll be nine years.
You got married last year. What can you share about your husband, and who proposed to whom?
Yes, this is my second marriage. I joke that I fought so hard for marriage equality I wanted to enjoy it multiple times. Adrian, my husband, is just the light of my life. He works in tech. We balance each other perfectly. Even though I’m in politics, people assume I’m an extrovert. I’m more of an ambivert, more of an introverted extrovert, whereas he’s just a full-out extrovert, and he gets me. He knows exactly what I need at any given point in time, whether it’s to talk or be left alone, as introverts need. And he proposed to me.
I’ve got some rapid-fire San Francisco questions for you.
Alright!
Favorite San Francisco movie?
Can I change it to TV show? All the Murder She Wrote episodes in San Francisco, because Murder She Wrote is basically on 12 hours a day in our household and she went to San Francisco often, so there’s a ton of San Francisco storylines, and murders.
Favorite view?
From the top of Mission Dolores.
Favorite song?
I mean, Tony Bennett is always like the go-to, but “The Trolley Song,” I kind of adopt that for San Francisco.
Favorite beach?
Baker Beach.
Favorite park?
Mission Dolores.
Favorite bar?
Well, I don’t drink, but as far as bars go, I’d say El Rio. They have really good daytime parties there.
Favorite restaurant?
Taqueria El Buen Sabor on Valencia. My favorite burritos.
Favorite time of year?
Fall, it’s the perfect weather.
And a gimme: favorite neighborhood?
The Mission.
What are you most looking forward to if you’re elected supervisor from San Francisco’s District 9?
Constituent services. That’s my bread and butter. I love helping people with their problems. That was my first job as an intern for an elected official in New Hampshire during college, who was legendary for his constituent services. There’s a lot of policy that I’m excited to implement, but I’ve seen firsthand just how impactful constituent services can be.
Don't forget to share:
