Opponents of a proposed sit-lie ordinance in San Francisco are staging protests across the city Saturday to encourage the Board of Supervisors to reject the legislation, according to event organizers.
The demonstrations will be hosted by a decentralized group called Sidewalks are for People, and will include art, music, food and a drag show.
The events are in response to an ordinance proposed by Mayo Gavin Newsom and Police Chief George Gascon that would prohibit sitting and lying on sidewalks.
The ordinance is meant to give police a tool for targeting intimidating street denizens, particularly in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, but members of Sidewalks are for People argue it would violate civil liberties and San Francisco culture.
Demonstrations will include a day laborer sit-in on Cesar Chavez Street between Mission and South Van Ness streets starting at 9 a.m.; a 2 p.m. drag show at 631 O’Farrell St. in the Tenderloin neighborhood; musicians playing in Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro District starting at noon; and a 2 p.m. poetry workshop on Florida Street between 23rd and 24th streets in the Mission District.
Workers will also give a news conference at noon at the San Francisco Day Labor program at 3358 Cesar Chavez St. to explain how the sit-lie ordinance would affect day laborers.
