By incorporating community outreach and engagement efforts during all phases of the Plaza’s development, we have always aimed to foster feelings of ownership and belonging in members of the community. We are working to embed ownership of the Plaza into the LGBTQ+ community now, so that the Plaza will be integrated into the community’s imagination well before the day it opens. We believe this will amplify the Plaza’s ability to remain an active, vibrant and well-utilized public space with great meaning to all members of the worldwide LGBTQ+ community. By embracing equity and power sharing now, we believe others will come to experience in the Plaza what Harvey experienced when he arrived in the Castro–a sense of belonging, an elevated feeling of self-worth, a realization of personal power, and a call to do more on behalf of those who remain marginalized, targeted, or vulnerable.

By including everyone in this effort to celebrate Harvey and the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement, we aim to strengthen the community, and empower each member to lift up not only themselves but to also lift up others. At the historic intersection of Castro & Market Streets, the political crossroads of the City of San Francisco and the spiritual crossroads of the worldwide LGBTQ+ community, we will create a catalyst for positive change–a place where hope will live forever.