Organizers of the Trans March are not apologizing for the treatment that state Senator and congressional candidate Scott Wiener received last Friday as he passed through the pre-march rally in Dolores Park.

After Scott Wiener was shouted down and, he says, physically intimidated in Dolores Park as trans community members and their allies gathered ahead of Friday's annual Trans March, Wiener issued a statement saying "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."

In the video, you can hear at least one person repeatedly yelling, "You piece of shit!" and "We fucking hate you!" Several people can be seen following Wiener as he walks down the center path in the park, crosses Dolores Street, and continues walking down 19th Street.

Dozens of local political leaders, including House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Supervisor Connie Chan, whom Pelosi has endorsed in the race for her seat over Wiener, have signed on to a letter this week condemning the aggressive treatment of Wiener at the event. The letter said, in part, "This kind of intimidation and harassment is what leads to more extreme acts of political violence, something that San Francisco has painful history with and a responsibility to never repeat."

Now, organizers of the Trans March are doubling down on what occurred, suggesting that Wiener should expect some pushback from the community, and that the incident is being used by Wiener for political gain.

In a statement posted to Instagram Tuesday, organizers say that participants "verbally confronted" Wiener about his policies, and "Scott Wiener was at no point in danger."

"Historically, the public has expressed their opinions to politicians at [the] Trans March, as is their right," the organizers say. "In fact, Trans March has not featured politicians in our programming as a matter of policy since 2016, when Scott Wiener himself was criticized over housing, homelessness, and development issues... Trans March participants holding politicians accountable is nothing new."

The statement goes on to note that "instead of engaging Trans March directly to resolve his concerns, Scott Wiener's campaign went to social media and used the confrontation in fundraising communications." The organizers also say they are "particularly disappointed" that Wiener has continued to "amplify this incident from Friday in national press interviews," and "failed to address the harm and disproportionate response from SFPD" against march participants — some of whom were accused of vandalism and five were arrested.

In a statement to the Chronicle, a spokesperson for Wiener rejected the march organizers' characterization of the incident, noting that Wiener "had no security detail with him" and saying the organizers are "lying to do damage control after all the bad publicity they have received."

While Wiener has not been popular with progressives in the queer community for much of his political career, beginning in his time as SF supervisor as noted in the organizers' statement, as the Chronicle notes, those shouting at Wiener on Friday seemed primarily concerned with his previous refusal to call Israel's war in Palestine a "genocide."

Wiener was notably booed while on stage at a debate with fellow candidates for Congress in January for declining to affirm that a genocide was occurring, only to reverse his stance a week later — something that led to his stepping down from a leadership role in the state legislature's Jewish Caucus.

Per the Chronicle, one protester on Friday yelled, "You do not belong here anymore, Scott. It breaks my heart that someone who wrote good legislation for queers is so fucking terrible on Gaza."

StormMiguel Florez, a community member quoted in a statement by Trans March organizers, says that Wiener's "very recent shift to finally admitting there is a genocide in Gaza holds no water without accountability for the harm he has caused regarding censorship around Palestine."

Wiener has said that while he does not object to public confrontations about his policies, "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."

Wiener said in an interview with CNN that he felt he was targeted for being Jewish, not because of his policies, per se.

On X, Wiener has reposted the video clip below from Pod Save America, in which the podcast hosts discuss Friday's incident. One of the hosts, Jon Lovett, argues that if you are screaming hatefully at a pro-gay, pro-trans Jewish politician like Wiener who has publicly called Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide, then you are a being anti-Semitic.

"That is as pure anti-Semitism as you can see, and it is corrosive," Lovett says.

Previously: Scott Wiener Booed At Dolores Park, 5 Arrested Following Protests During SF Trans March