The city of San Francisco has agreed to shut down a "guaranteed income" welfare program open only to people who are transgender, under a settlement with a conservative group who had sued the city over the allegedly illegal and discriminatory program.
On Jan. 17, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance settling the legal action brought against the city by Judicial Watch, the organization which filed suit on behalf of three named plaintiffs.
Under the settlement, the city agreed to end its funding and operation of the program known as GIFT, or Guaranteed Income for Transgender People.
"This settlement is a huge victory for taxpayers who oppose taxpayer-funded woke racism and transgender extremism," Judicial Watch said in a statement announcing the settlement and passage of the city ordinance.
"This settlement agreement puts a stop to the illegal use of taxpayer money to hand out free cash to transgender individuals based on race and sex in blatant violation of California’s constitution."
The city also agreed to pay Judicial Watch $3,250 in attorney fees and costs and to not create any similar program in the future to replace GIFT.
According to the complaint, participants were selected to receive funds by two local non-profit organizations, The Transgender District and Lyon-Martin Community Health Services, in conjunction with the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development, and other city offices.
According to the complaint, the program began paying out the funds in January 2023, and intended to reopen the application process for a new round of funding beginning in June 2024.
The complaint claimed the program illegally discriminated against non-transgender people by outright denying those who identify as their biological sex the opportunity to gain a share of the financial assistance.
Further, the lawsuit asserted the city discriminated on the basis of sex by intentionally prioritizing applicants who are biological males claiming to be female.
And the lawsuit claimed the city discriminated on the basis of race and ethnicity by intentionally prioritizing applications received from those who are black or Latino, creating a preference for those people over those of other races and ethnicities.
The program was created under former San Francisco Mayor London Breed. She was replaced by current Mayor Daniel Lurie, when he took office on Jan. 8. Lurie defeated Breed in November in the race for mayor.
Judicial Watch has said it forced the city to disclose the discriminatory practices in October 2023 through a demand for the public release of city records 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."
Judicial Watch filed suit in January 2024 on behalf of taxpayers who alleged the GIFT program violated the rights of San Francisco residents and taxpayers under the California state constitution's equal protection clause.
In an answer filed to the lawsuit, the city had asserted the case was meritless and the plaintiffs lacked standing. They had asked for the case to be dismissed.
A trial had been set for May 27. However, in that order, the judge had also directed the city and the taxpayers to meet in a mandatory settlement conference no later than six weeks before the trial date.
The judge had never ruled on an attempt by the city to dismiss the case.
As of Jan. 21, an online docket for the case did not yet reflect the settlement and end of the lawsuit.
The city was represented by attorneys from the office of San Francisco City Attorney David Chu.
Plaintiffs were represented by attorney Kathryn Blankenberg, of Judicial Watch, of Washington, D.C.