McCoy touts neighborhood connections in D8 race
Gay candidate Gary McCoy is leveraging his long records in public service and as a Castro denizen in his bid to represent District 8, including his LGBTQ neighborhood, on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. If elected to the board, he would become the second person in recovery and the third known to be living with HIV to serve on it.
“I have a deep love for public service,” McCoy told the Bay Area Reporter during a July 14 merchant walk through the Castro. “I want to make sure that we have opportunities for our most vulnerable in San Francisco, and I want to make sure that people don't forget that San Francisco is and has always been a service industry town.
“There are so many people that can't afford to live in San Francisco that have been the backbone of San Francisco, from the early days of the gold rush to medical research and advancement to the tech bubbles, the tech booms, and I just want to make sure that everybody has an opportunity like I had when I got sober,” McCoy added.
McCoy, 48, moved to San Francisco in 2002, and shortly thereafter fell back into a life of addiction and found himself homeless.
“My thinking was I thought I would start fresh in a new place, change my lifestyle, and work on getting sober and work on getting my act together,” McCoy previously told the B.A.R.
Yet, within three weeks of arriving in California, McCoy began using again, was arrested at 16th and Mission streets, then learned he was living with HIV. He quit his job rather than face being fired from it.
Eventually, he moved into Ferguson Place, a small residential treatment program for people who are HIV-positive and dealing with mental health and substance abuse issues. Operated by the nonprofit PRC, it is housed in an old Victorian in the city’s Fillmore neighborhood.
McCoy entered San Francisco politics first as a legislative aide to then-supervisor Scott Wiener before he was hired by Congressmember Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), for whom he has worked in various capacities since, including in her district office. Several weeks ago, he left Pelosi’s Save Our Health Care campaign to become a full-time candidate for the supervisor seat.
Pelosi, the outgoing congressional representative for most of the city, has endorsed McCoy in one of this fall’s most closely watched, and contested, supervisorial races. All of the board’s even-numbered seats are on the November 3 ballot.
“Gary McCoy is a trusted, tested advocate who will bring thoughtful leadership and deep experience to the Board of Supervisors,” stated Pelosi. “Gary is well prepared to help San Francisco address key challenges – jobs, affordability, housing and health care. The people in District 8 will be well served by Gary's steady hand and fierce advocacy at City Hall.”
In addition to the Castro, the seat includes Noe Valley, Diamond Heights, Glen Park, Twin Peaks, Duboce Triangle, Corona Heights, and a part of Cole Valley. Also running are Emanuel “Manny” Yekutiel, a gay man and former city commissioner who owns the eponymous Mission district cafe; Michael Trung Nguyen, a gay patent attorney whose drag persona is Juicy Liu; and Darshini Patel, a bi queer woman who is an alum of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. The B.A.R. has been on merchant walks with each in recent months.
