Mission residents rally against vandalism of LGBT mural

Luciano Sagastume said he walks past the “Por Vida” mural on the exterior of Galeria de la Raza at 24th and Bryant streets in San Francisco every day, but the first time he saw it he stopped to take it in.

The mural, which depicts two queer couples on opposite ends of the wall-sized artwork with a transgender man in the middle, spoke to him.

“I had never seen a Latino trans man depicted before,” said Sagastume, a 28-year-old transgender Latino who lives just a few blocks from the gallery.

More than 150 members of the community — including politicians, artists, activists and religious leaders — rallied in the streets just outside the gallery Wednesday evening to support each other and send a message that the vandalism, which is being investigated as a hate crime, would not divide the Mission, especially coming on the heels of a joyous Pride weekend and the Supreme Court decision that gave federal recognition to same-sex marriage.

Three days after it went up, someone sprayed blue and red paint over the faces of the mural’s subjects, but gallery workers replaced the mural June 18 with a fresh print.

While the tenor of Wednesday’s rally had notes of sadness, fear and grief, the overall message was one of resolve and motivation to use the ugly incident to foster dialogue within the community.

“When I look through the layers,” Sagastume said, pointing to the original mural now exposed through the hole burned in its replacement.

The suspect in Monday’s arson is a male about 5 feet 9 and 160 pounds who wore a black sweatshirt, black pants, white tennis shoes and white gloves, with his face covered by a black cloth.