New adviser named on transgender issues
Prominent transgender advocate Clair Farley has been appointed to be San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee’s senior adviser on transgender initiatives, the mayor’s office announced Monday.
Farley, currently director of economic development at the San Francisco LGBT Center, will replace Theresa Sparks, who’s retiring at the end of the year after working for the city in various capacities for two decades.
“Clair Farley has been an inspirational leader in our city on LGBTQ economic and social rights issues,” Lee said in a statement. “In her new role, she will carry on the important work that Theresa Sparks set in motion and will assure that San Francisco continues to pioneer policies and programming that inspire the rest of the country to follow suit.”
Farley, who is stepping down from her LGBT Center post, will earn $132,000 a year. Her appointment to her city position is effective Dec. 4.
Last year, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to create a position dedicated to creating policies advancing the rights of transgender individuals. Sparks, who was the first person to serve in the advisory role, called Farley “the perfect person for this job,” due in large part to the broad set of connections she’s made in her time as an LGBTQ advocate.
In her work at the LGBT Center, Farley has focused primarily on crafting policies to help low- and moderateincome LGBTQ people overcome economic barriers and workplace discrimination.
“In having such a focus on workforce development, I’ve had the opportunity to work with businesses and train organizations on how to be more inclusive and look at workplace bias,” Farley said. “In doing that, I’ve built up a lot of partnerships.” Once she steps into her new role next month, Farley will also assemble an advisory committee to help inform her policy work and the advice she gives to the mayor on LGBTQ issues and to “share ideas about what’s coming up in the community,” she said.
“We need to look at all areas in government to make sure that every program is working in collaboration with us and my office to make sure they have the resources they need to serve people well,” Farley said.