Wiener, a Democrat, will fill the House seat held for nearly 40 years by Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who is retiring. His opponent, Supervisor Connie Chan, conceded Wednesday, allowing Wiener to claim victory in the race to represent one of the nation's most liberal districts.

The win caps a political rise for Wiener, who has represented the Castro district on the Board of Supervisors and served a decade in the state Senate, where he authored numerous laws expanding LGBTQ protections. His election breaks a barrier in a city whose LGBTQ community has long been a powerful political force but had never sent one of its own to Congress.

"San Francisco has always loomed large in the national and international imagination of what queer people are," said Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, who is gay and supported Wiener. "Having a queer congressperson from San Francisco is an important statement."

Wiener defeated Chan, a fellow Democrat who ran to his left and secured Pelosi's endorsement, in a competitive race that highlighted the city's progressive divisions. Chan would have been the city's first Asian American congressperson.

In an interview, Wiener said he feels a "solemn responsibility" to defend marginalized communities, particularly as conservative states target transgender people and drag performers.

"When it comes to sticking up for marginalized people—including LGBTQ people, including trans people—if the representative of San Francisco isn't sticking up for these folks, then who the hell will?" Wiener said. "As a representative from San Francisco, you need to be willing to go to the mat to stick up for people who are under attack, even when it's hard. Even when there's a personal cost, such as an avalanche of death threats."

Wiener said his legislative priorities include passing the Equality Act, a federal bill that would expand civil rights protections to shield LGBTQ people from discrimination in housing, employment and other areas. He also vowed to fight for LGBTQ youth in foster care, push back against what he called "bigoted attacks" on transgender people, and expand access to HIV testing and preventive medication.

Such measures face steep odds with President Donald Trump in the White House, but Wiener said "we need to keep fighting" regardless.

The victory is the culmination of decades of LGBTQ political organizing in San Francisco. In 1977, Harvey Milk became the first openly gay person elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the Board of Supervisors. Milk was assassinated at City Hall in 1978, but his legacy has endured, with his name on an airport terminal, a public plaza and a library branch.

Milk's successor, gay former Supervisor Harry Britt, ran for the same House seat in 1987 but lost the Democratic nomination to Pelosi. The city has never had an openly gay mayor, though former state Sen. Mark Leno came close in 2018.

"Harvey opened the door, and it wasn't opening the door just for himself," said Anne Kronenberg, a former aide to Milk who supported Wiener. "Part of his legacy is all of the people who have come since him."

Wiener's campaign was not without controversy. He was confronted by protesters at the annual Trans March in Dolores Park over his views on Israel's war in Gaza, an incident that highlighted tensions within the city's progressive coalition. Wiener initially declined to call the war a genocide during a debate but later changed his position.

He has also faced years of attacks from right-wing figures, including commentator Tucker Carlson and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Wiener leaned into that opposition, devoting a section of his campaign website to his "MAGA Fan Club."

Mandelman said Wiener's resilience in the face of harassment sends a powerful message.

"A lot of gay kids are teased and harassed and somehow just learned to persevere and get through it, and I think it cultivates a kind of toughness that you see in Scott," Mandelman said. "It doesn't break him … he just keeps going."

For younger LGBTQ San Franciscans, Wiener's win is an inspiration. Chase Preston, a 19-year-old San Francisco State University student who organized for a Wiener-affiliated political action committee, said growing up in conservative Temecula he was moved to learn "there was a tall gay man fighting for gay people up north."

Preston knocked on thousands of doors for Wiener and said the victory was emotional.

"Scott has done a lot for our community," Preston said. "And his work is just getting started."