The Very First Transgender District

San Francisco's Tenderloin has long been an important place in the transgender community, home to the nation's first trans demonstration (the 1966 Compton's Cafeteria riot, predating Stonewall) and now The Transgender District, a six-block radius within the neighborhood. Founded by three black trans women in 2017, the world's first legally recognized transgender district works tirelessly to facilitate the healing, economic empowerment, and cultural enrichment of trans people in the Tenderloin. One of its founders, Aria Sa’id, shares the neighborhood's story through her own, tracing her path from being the only trans teen in her hometown to an agent of change in San Francisco and beyond.