An Ode to a Local Fascist as the Big Ones Threaten War with San Francisco
"I invite the good people to submit to authority and humbly to solicit the comforts of slavery, even if I have to present it as true freedom."
I am distracted. I am disgusted.
Distracted from following the continued depravity of local SF government.
Disgusted by local SF government when I do tune in to their conservative rhetoric, fanatical power grabs. Grabby hands demanding more power over us, more destruction of our homes, of our freedom to be our authentic selves—all with those fake smiles and pleasing even tones in their duplicitous voices.
Dismayed and dejected by the public who just doesn’t care as much as they should that their representatives still are putting their ambitions for more power in this fascist as fuck system ahead of their constituents’ well-being and safety.
Delirious by the repetition of my voice pointing these things out over and over for years, paying high prices for negative returns.
Delusions shattering. I falsely believed people didn’t want fascism, but they do. The majority here do as long as it doesn’t negatively impact them. They cheer at the homeless being swept into the bay to drown rather than be housed. They clap for drones surveilling them at the behest of cryptobillionaires, all in the name of safety but really in an act of control. They find warmth in blaming people with substance use disorder for their suffering, jail or forced “recovery” for those who cannot afford better. They chastise trans folx for existing, eager to torture us into early graves or chase us to other countries. They cherish their perceived safety from ICE’s brutality. “Nothing I can do” the best excuse they have. “I love ICE” the worst. They champion their physical fitness over the disabled, incapable of extending a shred of care for their survival during this continuing COVID-19 pandemic. They caress their white skin. They comply with white supremacy.
They completely do not care.
I do not know what it is about myself. I do not know why I can recognize narcissists and fascists so easily, but I can. One time I worked in a lab and we interviewed a candidate for a job opening we had. Everyone liked this one particular man. I was the last to interview him. Afterwards I was trying to convince everyone including my boss to not hire this man. He was evasive with his answers. He greatly exaggerated his achievements. Upon digging into his resume we discovered he did some serious lying too. My women peers were convinced but my boss, also a woman, wasn’t. The candidate was a white man with a good resume who was great at sucking up to power, and so my boss hired him. Sooner or later, everyone but the male managers regretted him getting hired. He literally could not do the work required of him. He needed extra supervision. He simply could not be trusted nor relied upon. I later learned my boss spoke badly of myself with the other managers. I recognized a lying narcissist, tried to protect my team from him, and got nothing in return except punishment. This dynamic has played out multiple times in various aspects of my life, and it’s the same with SF government.
When former Mayor London Breed appointed Matt Dorsey as District 6’s Supervisor, I was immediately suspicious given his position as Director of Strategic Communications at SFPD. This is same type of suspicion I had about Daniel Lurie given his extremely wealthy status. For both men I paid close attention to their words, what they said and what they didn’t say. For both men I compared their words to their actions. I formed my public criticisms from my observations and how they were a direct contradiction to my morals, and, I thought, our shared San Franciscan values. They use their power to benefit the uber wealthy and powerful, criminalizing and denigrating the suffering poor and the suffering scapegoats of society. They cloak their fascist fantasies in terms like “drug-free sidewalks,” “public safety,” “family values” and “civic joy.” Hegemony over diversity, equity and inclusion.
What kind of coincidence is it that Matt Dorsey publicly praised two of my harassers, one in a SF Chronicle article and the other on a local news show? And that his staff refused to address it via email, only offering me an off-the-record phone call? What kind of coincidence is it that the first time I was targeted by another harasser, it was because I criticized Matt Dorsey online? Or what kind of coincidence is it that in my public comment against the removal of police commissioner Max Carter-Oberstone, that I was harassed in person and online over, I called for the police to be defunded, and GrowSF posted about Lurie’s replacement police commissioner, they emphasized that defunding the police is not the answer? What kind of coincidence is it when mine was the only public comment for Carter-Oberstone that mentioned defunding the police? And that a centimillionaire behind GrowSF regularly liked and reshared disparaging posts about me? What kind of coincidences are these?
The worst part was realizing multiple politicians who I thought were in opposition to fascists like Dorsey cared more about their career, their power, than about helping me defend myself against such immense power. Who was I to ask for so much from such powerful people? That’s the problem when you don’t care about other people’s power or status over you. I forgot that they care.
Still I must march on. I can’t publicly tear everyone down that has hurt me or I’d be alone on an island with these dangerous fascists. So I make obscure posts to my, in the grand scheme of things, small audience. I try to focus on our common goals of fighting back. I keep pointing out when SF Gov erases trans people, or the fact that Matt Dorsey called the people who boo’d Mayor Lurie out of the Trans March “the embarrassing fringe,” scapegoating us more and encouraging others to as well. The news and political clubs/parties will never give trans people the justice and care we deserve. So who cared? I did, and that’s enough for me. I care. I still care. And I fear I’ll always care.
“I invite the good people to submit to authority and humbly to solicit the comforts of slavery, even if I have to present it as true freedom.”
The Fall by Albert Camus
Matt Dorsey still desires to strip Sanctuary City status from “drug dealers.” I use quotations because we know if we give fascists an inch, they’ll take more. Any new exemptions will not stop at drug dealers.
Anti-science Matt Dorsey was successful making abstinence-only recovery San Francisco’s leading goal for people with substance use disorder, regressing our progress with compassion-led and data-backed harm reduction.
Anti-science Matt Dorsey backed San Francisco’s lawsuit against the EPA, a Supreme Court case, over water regulations. Environmentalists disagreed with Dorsey (and Mandelman’s) support for the lawsuit: “Several speakers expressed concern that San Francisco’s reputation as a liberal defender of the environment would be harmed through association with the lawsuit.” Unfortunately San Francisco won the lawsuit.
Matt Dorsey, along with the other cis white gay Supervisors Rafael Mandelman and (now recalled) Joel Engardio, stood with Mayor London Breed during a rally against homeless people. “Mayor London Breed speaks during a rally to demand the court overturn an injunction prohibiting the city from sweeping homeless encampments.”
Matt Dorsey kicked off 2025 with this request, “District 6 supervisor Matt Dorsey submitted a letter of inquiry on Friday, asking local agencies to report what’s needed to start “mass arrests” of drug users and dealers with a quota of at least 100 arrests a day.”
Matt Dorsey wants to repeal San Francisco’s Equal Benefit Ordinance at a time when gay marriage may very well be invalidated by the Supreme Court: “Gay activists went to gay then-supervisor Tom Ammiano with their idea to make companies doing business with San Francisco offer benefits to their employees in domestic partnerships if they provided those benefits to straight married couples. The thought was that domestic partners would be able to obtain health insurance and other benefits. The law, co-sponsored by lesbian then-supervisors Leslie Katz and Susan Leal, was groundbreaking.”
Matt Dorsey tried to change the city charter to “[retain] staff and [expedite] hiring for the city’s police force, his second attempt to fill vacancies in a department that some argue is short by more than 500 officers,” repeating SFPD’s theoretical, not historical, staffing level requirements…like a Director of Strategic Communications would.
These are a few examples off the top of my head of Dorsey living up to my assessment of his character and intentions as a Supervisor. I was surprised any self-professed progressive Democrat would want to work with him, be photographed with him, or sign off on his legislation. I no longer am.