Love and Hate: My 51 Years Living in the “Fillmoe”

by Queennandi

Originally published in Poor Magazine

I was born in the Western Addition aka Fillmoe in the early 70’s, and my spirit has been residing here ever since. In the earlier years it was a beautifully diverse community with Asian, African, Filipino, Latina and Pacific Islander families, with a few sprinkles of European immigrants. The community got along well amongst those who called Fillmore home.

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Mayor Lurie’s RV Plan Proposes Displacement and Criminalization Amidst Burgeoning Housing Crisis

Mayor Daniel Lurie announced legislation to ban RVs and enforce a citywide two-hour parking restriction for large vehicles, leading to fines, towing, displacement and eviction of those vulnerable San Franciscans experiencing poverty and homelessness. The plan falls significantly short in ensuring those living in RVs have the dignity of a home.  

Mayor Lurie’s plan, part of the “Breaking the Cycle” initiative, leads with enforcement, imposing a two-hour parking limit on large vehicles citywide.

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SF City Budget Raids Prop. C Homeless Family Funds. What’s Next?

by Lupe Velez

Mayor Daniel Lurie unveiled a proposal for San Francisco’s city budget for the next two fiscal years in a May 30 video statement

While funding for the San Francisco Police, Sheriff and Fire departments and the District Attorney’s office is preserved—or even increased—nonprofits with City contracts face $200 million in cuts in the next two years. These include several groups that deliver services like homelessness prevention,

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A Day in the Life of a Psychiatric Patient

by Jack Bragen

The treatment system has always been a “frenemy” to me as a mental health treatment recipient. I need these services, partly because of how the socioeconomic part of our infrastructure functions. I could not live without having money from Social Security, and having my medical care and psychiatric treatment paid for. In a “utopian” society, this might not be the case, but unfortunately we don’t live in Utopia. 

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Compton’s

by Cal Lerchi

Do my shoes soak in Trans Magic

At the intersection of Turk + Taylor?

Spirits of queens, queers, outcasts

Throwing shit at pigs who try to police our joy

Try to extinguish our flames that burn together

More radiant than the sun

Does trans magic last?

When the building that used to nourish glorious queers

Is now owned by a massive for-profit corporation

And it is not a coincidence

That GEO Group also imprisons our kin

Along the U.S.-Mexico border

To steamroll over trans history—

Our transcestors

With this disgusting corporation—GEO Group …

Will we support this?

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“I Could See Pieces of the Puzzle But Not the Big Picture”

By Adriane Dietrich

Lea’s transition began four years ago. After more than four decades, it had become clear to her what had been bubbling under the surface all that time. She offers insights into her own development and society’s responsibility towards members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Trott-war: I’m very excited to hear what you have to say. Before we get started, a simple but very important question: How are you?

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Notes from a Texas Prison: Billy’s Story

by Billy Thomas

EDITOR’S NOTE: Street Sheet is reprinting this piece from the 2024 Pride issue. Billy Thomas, an inmate at the John Wynne Unit of Texas State Prison in Huntsville sent multiple letters to ABO Comix in Oakland, California throughout 2022 and 2023. Street Sheet adapted these letters into a single piece, editing for brevity and clarity.

I am a 51-year-old person, a two-spirited transgender. I am a survivor of mental and sexual abuse from my time in the care of Texas Child Protective Services,

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Sober Living in Permanent Supportive Housing: How Exactly Does That Work?

by Jordan Wasilewski

In springtime of 2025, the conversation around sober and recovery housing continues from San Francisco to Sacramento. Matt Haney’s Assembly Bill 255 allows cities and counties to set aside up to 25% of state homelessness funds for sober living quarters. The set-aside is not required: It’s merely an ask for permission to allocate funding for up to 25% of permanent supportive housing units of funds for sober living,

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Talk to Me

by Tatiana Lyulkin

It’s not a good time

To bring up the things

We’ve lost-

A cup of black coffee

And a hug

Are all I need.

When the night

Grows silent and cold

And no one

Remembers our names

Or what we used to be

Knowing that you’re real

And you truly care

Gives me the strength

To survive another day. 

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