Meet Our Scholars

Shawn Demmons was born and raised in Los Angeles. In 2000, Shawn moved to San Francisco to avoid discrimination based on sexual identity and enrolled in San Francisco State University (SFSU). At the university, Shawn became co-editor of SFSU's Black Studies Journal and graduated at graduated at the top of the class earning a Bachelor of Arts in Black Studies. As an African American queer activist, Shawn is committed to ending social injustice perpetrated against people of color and queer communities. Shawn currently works for the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Psychiatry helping formerly homeless people in San Francisco's Tenderloin and Mission Districts obtain access to primary medical and mental health services. Shawn volunteers as the Outreach Coordinator for the California Coalition for Women Prisoners and advocates for incarcerated queer African American women to have access to culturally relevant health care and to give voice to the violence and discrimination some endure based on their sexual identity. Shawn graduated from San Francisco State University with a Masters degree in public health. Shawn plans to use his education to continue to address health disparities that disproportionately impact people of color and queer communities.