San Francisco Settles Judicial Watch Taxpayer Lawsuit –Shuts Down Discriminatory Guaranteed-Income Program Limited to Transgender Individuals with Preference to Biological Black and Latino Men Who Identify as Women; Agrees to Pay $3,250 in Attorney’s Fees and Costs

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today the City of San Francisco, in a 7-3 vote by the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco, authorized a settlement agreement in a taxpayer lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch against the City, agreeing to discontinue its discriminatory guaranteed-income program funded by taxpayer money in favor of transgender individuals with a PREFERENCE for biological black and Latino men who identify as women. The agreement commits the city to pay $3,250 in attorney’s fees and costs and not to create a new guaranteed income program with the same eligibility criteria.

Ordinance No. 290-24 as passed by the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco states and signed by Mayor London Breed.

The [San Francisco] City Attorney is hereby authorized to settle the action entitled “Michael Phillips, et al., v. London Breed, et al.,” San Francisco Superior Court, Case No. CGC-24- 611915, on substantially the same terms as set forth in the Settlement Agreement.

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The Settlement Agreement provides: (1) payment of $3,250 in attorney’s fees and costs; and (2) injunctive relief agreeing that the City will not continue the guaranteed income program that Paul Wildes and Reed Sandberg alleged to be unlawful beyond September 2024 and an agreement that the City will not create a new guaranteed income program with the same eligibility criteria.

The settlement agreement comes in a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch on January 9, 2024, on behalf of taxpayers against San Francisco Mayor London Breed, City Treasurer Jose Cisneros, the director of the city’s Office of Transgender Initiatives, and City Administrator Carmen Chu for violating the Equal Protection Clause of the California Constitution (Phillips et al. v Breed et al. (No. 24-611915)). Mayor Breed announced the launch of the Guaranteed Income for Trans People (GIFT) program on November 16, 2022. The mayor’s office stated in a press release that the city would “provide low-income transgender San Franciscans with $1,200 each month, up to 18 months to help address financial insecurity within trans communities.”

“This settlement is a huge victory for taxpayers who oppose taxpayer-funded woke racism and transgender extremism,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “This settlement agreement puts a stop to the illegal use taxpayer money to hand out free cash to transgender individuals based on race and sex in blatant violation of California’s constitution.”

In October 2023, a Judicial Watch open records request forced the release of records from the City of San Francisco showing the city prioritized tax money for black and Latino transgenders (biological men) in the (GIFT) program, which also allowed illegal aliens to apply; allowed people who “engage in survival sex trades” to apply; and the use of the funds by participants was virtually unrestricted.

In May 2022, Judicial Watch won a court battle against California’s gender quota law for corporate boards. The verdict came after a 28-day trial. The verdict followed a similar ruling in Judicial Watch’s favor in April finding California’s race, ethnicity and LGBT quotas for corporate boards unconstitutional.

The City of Asheville, NC, in January 2022 settled a Judicial Watch federal civil rights lawsuit after agreeing to remove all racially discriminatory provisions in a city-funded scholarship program. Additionally, the city agreed to remove racially discriminatory eligibility provisions in a related program that provides grants to educators.

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