California state Sen. Scott Wiener, the Democrat who advanced this month to the November general election for the seat held by retiring former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said Saturday that he was “harassed, threatened, and physically intimidated” while attending a transgender rights march in San Francisco the day before.
In a lengthy statement posted on X, Wiener described the incident at Dolores Park, where he had gone to participate in a trans-led Pride Shabbat service linked to the march. “A group of people began screaming at me, ran up to me, surrounded me, and began harassing me, both verbally and physically, including physical contact,” he wrote.
A video circulating online, viewed more than 6 million times, shows Wiener walking through the park as a crowd shouts profanities, makes obscene gestures, and accuses him of betraying queer people over his position on Gaza. One protester can be heard yelling, “You stopped being queer the moment you started supporting Israel, you piece of s—.”
Wiener, who is Jewish and openly gay, said the group also made comments about his “Israeli handlers” and other statements he described as “inaccurate, extreme, and vile.” He said the aggression made it impossible to stay safely in the park, forcing him to leave and miss the trans march for the first time.
The incident follows a separate confrontation at a popular San Francisco dive bar, where Wiener said a man who had accosted him years earlier screamed abuse at him and his staff before being ejected while they watched a World Cup match.
Wiener acknowledged that disagreement and protest are part of democracy but drew a line at harassment. “When opposition and disagreement transition to harassment, including cornering me, touching me, or trying to physically bully me out of a public event, that crosses a line,” he wrote.
Wiener is running against San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan in the race to succeed Pelosi. Both advanced from the June 2 primary to a November runoff for the seat representing California’s 11th Congressional District. Wiener is a key figure in the “Yes in My Backyard” housing movement, which has put him at odds with some farther-left Democrats.
His stance on Gaza has become a flashpoint. Earlier this year, he hesitated to call the war a “genocide” during a candidate forum but later reversed course. “For many Jews, associating the word genocide with the Jewish state of Israel is deeply painful and frankly traumatic, but despite that pain and that trauma, we all have eyes … and we all have ears,” he said in a video. “To me, the Israeli government has tried to destroy Gaza and to push Palestinians out, and that qualifies as genocide.”
The Israel-Gaza conflict has become a litmus test among Democrats, splitting the party between democratic socialists and more moderate members in primaries across the country. Wiener’s campaign website supports Palestinian statehood and describes Israeli actions in Gaza as genocide.
