A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
by Jack Bragen
For 99% of human beings, rejection is a painful experience. It might not matter whether it’s actual or imagined, or if it’s intentional or incidental. In all of its forms, rejection undoubtedly hurts. And it’s the same for unhoused people.
For some reason, many affluent people don’t get this. They may feel they can treat those less fortunate any way they want, and that it has no impact—but it does.
by Akir Jackson
Each morning I wake up invisible, just another faceless black body people avoid seeing on San Francisco’s streets. As a transgender homeless man who hasn’t medically transitioned, the world interacts with the gender assigned to me at birth, not my true male identity. This erasure compounded with anti-Blackness leaves me dehumanized and rejected by all sides.
When seeking shelter, I’m turned away from men’s quarters and told to sleep with women based on my sex assigned at birth.
by Jordan Davis
As you might already know, I write mostly about permanent supportive housing and how San Francisco’s government stands in the way of delivering effective services on time, under budget, and in a manner that works for everybody. I don’t like to talk much about my past, but since it’s Pride month, I’d like to share how being a neurodivergent, non-binary trans femme who began transitioning nine years ago has impacted me,
by Billy Thomas
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is adapted from multiple pieces of correspondence by Billy Thomas, an inmate at the John Wynne Unit of Texas State Prison in Huntsville to A.B.O. Comix in Oakland, California throughout 2022 and 2023. It has been edited 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,
by Tatiana Lyulkin
Your eyes
Are the color of the sea
After the storm.
You and I,
Explorers and fearless voyagers
At one
With the nature and the night,
Seeking safety and comfort
In each other’s arms.
We share
What little we have
With each other
And with the world.
