Bevan Dufty (born February 27, 1955) is an American politician and Director of HOPE (Housing Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagement) for the City and County of San Francisco. In 2012, Dufty was elected to serve as a Member of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee. Previously, he was a Member of the

San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco. Government and politics The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a c ...

, and was elected in 2002 to represent the City's 8th District, succeeding Mark Leno. Dufty was re-elected as Supervisor in 2006 and was termed out in 2011.

Early life

Dufty is the son of the writer William Dufty and Maely Bartholomew, who had lost most of her family in the Holocaust. Dufty was raised in Harlem,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

where his mother befriended jazz musician Billie Holiday, who would later become his godmother. His voice can be heard on a recording made in the Dufty household where Holiday makes jokes about his red underpants. After moving from Harlem to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

at age 16, Dufty finished high school at Menlo-Atherton High School, south of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. Dufty graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where he was a student body co-president and earned a degree in Political Science.

Political career

Dufty served as Senior

Legislative Assistant A legislative assistant (LA) or legislative analyst is a person who works for a legislator as a legislative staffer, a government agency as a legislative affairs professional, or in the government relations and regulatory affairs industry by monitor ...

for Education in the office of New York Rep. Shirley Chisholm. Later, he served as Chief Legislative Aide to Rep. Julian Dixon, a post in which he helped craft legislation that created the

Los Angeles Metro Rail The Los Angeles Metro Rail is an urban rail transit system serving Los Angeles County, California, United States. It consists of seven lines, including five light rail lines (the A Line (Los Angeles Metro), A, C Line (Los Angeles Metro), C, E Li ...

system. In San Francisco, he worked for former Supervisor

Susan Leal Susan Leal (born October 11, 1949) is an American water utility consultant and the co-author of the book ''Running Out of Water''. Formerly, she was the General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, San Francisco Treasurer, and ...

, served as a Senior Advisor for Mayor Willie Brown and as Director of Neighborhood Services. A Democrat, Dufty was elected a supervisor from the city's eighth district in 2002 before being re-elected in 2006. He served as Chair of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, Chair of the City Operations & Neighborhood Services Committee as well as a Representative on the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District Board.

Personal life

Dufty is openly gay. His election campaigns have often won the backing of the

Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund The LGBTQ Victory Fund (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund), commonly shortened to Victory Fund, is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBTQ public officials in the United States. Victory F ...

. In 2006, Dufty and lesbian friend Rebecca Goldfader (an Ob/Gyn nurse practitioner and Pilates instructor) had a child, Sidney.

References

External links

Campaign websiteUnsolicited Yelp review (of Golden Gate Transit) incorporating a letter from Bevan Dufty
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dufty, Bevan Gay politicians Jewish American state legislators in California LGBT Jews Living people San Francisco Board of Supervisors members 1955 births LGBT city councillors from the United States LGBT people from the San Francisco Bay Area Place of birth missing (living people) People from Harlem University of California, Berkeley alumni LGBT people from New York (state) 21st-century American Jews 21st-century LGBT people