Aria Sa’id

About Me

Aria Sa’id and her efforts have been featured in numerous media, including Forbes, CNN, Huffington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Vice, Out Magazine, SF Weekly, CBS, Daily Mail, KQED, The Advocate, The Daily Beast– and more.

Biography

Advocate, strategist, organizer

Aria Sa’id is a transgender advocate and award winning political strategist based in San Francisco Bay Area. She is a founder and the Executive Director of The Transgender District- the world’s first cultural district celebrating the resilience, culture, and presence of transgender people in San Francisco’s famed Tenderloin neighborhood. She is the founder of Kween Culture Initiative- a social and cultural empowerment project for Black transgender women. 

In addition to her efforts in community development, Ms. Sa’id has written and/or led numerous public policy efforts both in the City and County of San Francisco and at the California state legislature; most notably co-creating the United States’ first sex worker protection law, Prioritizing Safety for Sex Workers (San Francisco), and The Name and Dignity Act for Incarcerated Transgender People (Atkins- California). She has also supported legislation, such as SCR 110 (California) the first legislation in U.S. history to name the harms of non-consensual medical interventions on intersex people. She has also led and/or provided strategy to San Francisco legislation supporting cultural districts, access to gender neutral restrooms, and transgender latina violence prevention- and political strategy support to California state legislature policies that reduce barriers for transgender and non-binary individuals seeking affirming gender markers on state issued documents. 

Ms. Sa’id is the former appointed LGBT Policy Advisor to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, a municipal agency of the City and County of San Francisco. She is a  2016-2017 Policy Fellow alum of the Women’s Foundation of California, and 2016-2017 Sojourner Truth Leadership Fellow of the Auburn Theological Seminary in New York. 

Recognition

Awards & Honors

Civil Rights Award for the Compton's Transgender Cultural District

Alliance for a Better District 6

2019

Emerging Leader Award

San Francisco Transgender Day of Visibility

2017

Certificate of Honor

San Francisco Board of Supervisors

2018

2007 Scholar Award

Pride Foundation

2007

Certificate of Honor

California State Legislature Assembly

2018

Award for Public Service

Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Initiative

2007

Heritage of Pride Award

San Francisco Pride

2018

My Voice

Writings

Contact Me

Get In Touch

View more about Aria by exploring the site, or get in touch for bookings, workshops, or to contact The Transgender District.