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Nancy Pelosi International Airport

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An Open Letter to Mayor Daniel LurieRe: Renaming San Francisco International Airport in Honor of Nancy Pelosi

Dear Mayor Lurie:

Firstly, congratulations and thank you for your kind and appropriate words about Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. Few names are as synonymous with San Francisco’s values, vision, and voice as hers. For decades, she has embodied the very ideals that define our City by the Bay — compassion, courage, and an unyielding belief in equality and progress.

In a city that has long been a haven for the L.G.B.T.Q. community, Speaker Pelosi devoted herself to advancing gay rights and confronting the AIDS epidemic that devastated our neighborhoods. Among her enduring legacies is the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park, a place of remembrance and renewal that she helped bring to life. Through her decades of public service — from the streets of North Beach to the halls of Congress — she has always represented truly “San Francisco values”: compassion, courage, and pragmatism in service to both. And, of course, without her vision and leadership we would not have the Presidio to enjoy as an incomparable public space.

It is time we honor her — in her lifetime— with a gesture equal to her impact: renaming San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in her honor.

Nancy Pelosi International Airport would stand as a fitting tribute to a leader who has carried San Francisco’s spirit to the world. For travelers arriving and departing, her name would signal the city’s enduring commitment to justice, inclusion, and humanity.

There is precedent for such a present day homage. The official SF Bay Bridge bears the name of former California Speaker and SF Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr and San Jose’s Airport was named in honor of Norman Y. Mineta while he was still alive. 

At the same time, we must also acknowledge the profound contributions of the late Senator Dianne Feinstein, whose steady leadership, august career and grace under pressure helped define San Francisco’s resilience and growth for generations. If consensus favors a broader commemoration, then Feinstein–Pelosi International Airport would serve beautifully — two progressive, pioneering women, side by side, representing the best of our city and our nation — a country whose population is over half by percentage women.

Together, their names would mark the gateway to a place they both loved deeply — San Francisco — and remind all who pass through that ours is a city built by strong women, guided by empathy, and forever proud of its legacy of leadership.

Respectfully,

David Eugene Perry
San Francisco