Congressional candidate and California state Sen. Scott Wiener, a distinguished homosexual Democrat who has spearheaded pro-transgender rights laws, was surrounded and berated by protesters at San Francisco’s annual Trans March on Friday as they accused him of supporting genocide in Gaza.
A video broadly shared on social media reveals Wiener, who is Jewish, strolling by Dolores Park as an individual movies and follows him, together with a number of different protesters berating Wiener over his place on Gaza.
“It breaks my heart that someone who wrote good legislation for queers is so f**king terrible on Gaza,” one protester says within the video.
Wiener doesn’t interact with the group as he tries to exit the park. Some protesters flash their center fingers and, at one level, accuse him of being “genocidal” and having “Zionist handlers.”
“Scott, do you have anything to say? How could you do this to San Francisco?” the particular person taking the video says whereas persevering with to observe Wiener. “You do not belong here anymore, Scott. I want to support someone who’s so positive on trans rights, but you’re a piece of sh*t on Gaza.”
Wiener, a candidate within the race to change retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi within the US House, issued an announcement Saturday, saying he had been on his manner to take part in a trans-led Pride Shabbat service linked to the march.
He stated the protesters touched him a number of instances and that he in the end determined to leave the park, believing he and his workers may very well be at risk.
“They were so physically and verbally aggressive that it was impossible for me to safely remain in the park,” Wiener stated within the assertion.
It was the primary time he didn’t take part within the march because it started in 2004, Wiener stated.
Wiener stated the incident at Dolores Park adopted one other confrontation two days earlier, when a person accosted him and his workers at a Mission District bar the place he was watching a World Cup sport.
“He screamed abuse at me and our staff before being ejected by the bar’s employees,” Wiener stated within the assertion, including that the person remained outdoors the bar, shouting his title and pounding on the wall for a number of minutes. Wiener stated the identical particular person had stalked him on a airplane and in an airport in December 2023.
“I have no objection whatsoever to anyone disagreeing with me, opposing me, or protesting me. All of that is core to democracy,” Wiener stated. “But when opposition and disagreement transition to harassment, including cornering me, touching me, or trying to physically bully me out of a public event, that crosses a line.”
California state Sen. Scott Wiener interview with NCS
Wiener instructed NCS on Monday he believed he had been singled out on the march as a result of he is Jewish, saying protesters made references to him having “Israeli handlers.”
“There were elected officials in that march who have not taken the positions that I’ve taken, and they were left alone. It was only me who was targeted,” Wiener stated. “So, was it antisemitic? Absolutely. And it’s really tragic.”
Wiener stated he had not heard from Pelosi or from his major opponent, San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, who has Pelosi’s endorsement. He stated he had as a substitute heard from “hundreds and hundreds” of San Francisco residents, together with members of the trans neighborhood, who he stated have been “horrified” by the incident.
“Most of the people at the trans march are not like that. They are welcoming, wonderful people, and this gave a black eye to the trans march,” he stated.
Wiener has turn out to be a distinguished determine within the pitched debates over transgender rights and US coverage towards Israel.
Wiener has stated he helps Israel’s proper to exist as a Jewish state and affirmed its proper to shield itself after the October 7, 2023, Hamas assaults. He has additionally been important of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s authorities and has known as for a two-state answer.
As he campaigns for Congress, Wiener has taken positions which have drawn criticism from supporters of Israel, together with opposing US army assist to Israel till its authorities demonstrates a dedication to peace, and describing Israel’s army motion in Gaza as a genocide, a place featured on his marketing campaign web site.
During a January debate, Wiener declined to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide. Days later, he stated he had hesitated to use the time period due to its significance for a lot of Jewish individuals however had concluded that Israel’s army marketing campaign in Gaza amounted to genocide.
In the NCS interview, Wiener pushed again on the suggestion that his shifting stance on Gaza had been pushed by political strain, saying he had been a critic of the Israeli authorities for years.
“I began opposing it in October of 2023, and I supported a ceasefire in November of 2023,” he stated. “So I’ve been opposed to Israel’s escalations in Gaza for a long time.”
Explaining his determination to name the battle a genocide, Wiener stated in an Instagram put up: “We all have eyes and we see the absolute devastation and catastrophic death toll in Gaza inflicted by the Israeli government, and we all have ears and we hear the genocidal statements by certain senior members of the Israeli government.”
“To me, the Israeli government has tried to destroy Gaza and to push Palestinians out, and that qualifies as a genocide,” he stated.
The Israeli authorities has strenuously denied that its army marketing campaign in Gaza constitutes genocide, calling such accusations baseless and pointing to its acknowledged efforts to evacuate civilians and goal Hamas militants. A rising variety of worldwide our bodies and human rights organizations, nonetheless, have concluded that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the authorized definition of genocide.