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The homeless Christmas day

By Andy Pope on
First-person   Opinion   YSA youth contributions
It looks as though we’re closing in on Christmas again, folks. That’s bad news in my book, and (I daresay) in the corporal book of homeless people everywhere. Take my holiday experience several years ago, for example. I spent Christmas Day stuck out in the rain, with services closed for those of my ilk, not to mention the usual five-in-the-morning “indoor resources” being closed (Starbucks, McDonald’s, etc.).

Out of the closet and onto the street

By Anthony Hackett on
Commentary   Features   YSA youth contributions
In the eyes of sixteen-year-old Hunter McLaughlin*, “coming out” would be a gateway to a new life. It would give him the opportunity to live more honestly and with a renewed sense of authenticity to his true self. But when he told his parents that he was transgender, the “new life” that awaited him was one plagued by emotional abuse, threats of violence, and seemingly endless conflict.

No more encampment evictions?

By Kheven LaGrone on
Commentary
On September 4, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that cities may not punish homeless people for sleeping outside in public spaces if they do not have access to shelter elsewhere. The case—Martin v. Boise—started way back in 2009, when six current and formerly homeless residents of Boise, Idaho sued the city for giving citations to people who were sleeping outside. The lawsuit rested on the notion that these citations violated the Eighth Amendment rights of Boise’s homeless residents, amounting to cruel and unusual punishment.

San Francisco’s safe injection sites: down but not out

By Robert Stanford on
Commentary   Opinion
Assembly Bill 186 would have provided safe injection sites for the intravenous drug-using population of San Francisco. It began its uphill battle three years ago. After years of trial and error, the bill finally passed the State Assembly and Senate in August, this time allowing just San Francisco to run three pilot safe injection sites for a trial period of three years.

The other side of tech in San Francisco

By Kheven LaGrone on
Commentary   Opinion
In his essay titled, “San Francisco, You’ll Miss Your Tech Bros If They Flee,” Bloomberg Opinion columnist Noah Smith writes that the tech bubble is a victim of outsiders’ antipathy towards them. The essay suggests that it is more important that San Francisco retain its tech bubble than its longtime and native residents.