SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) — A San Francisco supervisor wants to keep a statue of naked Donald Trump in the city and a Union Square bar has offered it a home.
The statue appeared Thursday morning at the corner of Market and Castro streets, just outside Jane Warner Plaza, in San Francisco’s Eureka Valley/Dolores Heights neighborhood.
Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the Castro neighborhood, said the statue represents what a shyster and fraud Donald Trump is.
“This was a wonderful exercise of First Amendment rights,” Wiener said.
Crowds throughout the day on Thursday were amused and laughed at the statue, but Wiener said there’s more to it than meets the eye.
“There is a really serious undertone here,” he said. “Donald Trump has perpetuated a huge fraud on this country.”
The statue was moved from Castro and Market streets about 4 a.m. by the San Francisco Department of Public Works and turned over to police.
Police said Friday morning that it was erected without a permit and creating a safety hazard.
Wiener wants to have the statue moved to Lefty O’Doul’s, a proposal Lefty’s owner Nick Bovis has agreed to.
Wiener supports the statue’s display but has a controversial history with public nudity. The supervisor authored a citywide nudity ban that the Board of Supervisors passed by a 6-5 vote in December 2012.
He said he proposed the law after receiving complaints from residents and business owners in the area surrounding Castro Street. Hearings on the ordinance were frequently disrupted by protests.
Bovis said he is planning to put a fig leaf or something else covering Trump’s genitals when it’s displayed in the bar. The statue would be placed next to a statue of Marilyn Monroe at the back of Lefty O’Doul’s Replicas like the one in San Francisco appeared yesterday in New York, Cleveland, Seattle and Los Angeles.
All five have now been taken down, with San Francisco’s the last to fall, according to Wiener.
The statue is now in police custody pending possible charges of vandalism because the glue used to secure the statue to the sidewalk damaged the sidewalk. Police said it cost the city $4,000 to remove the statue and there could be additional fines.
Bovis said his restaurant is willing to pay the fines to get the statue from police. Spokesman for Lefty O’Doul’s Lee Houskeeper said Bovis will also need permission from the artist.
“We will do that expeditiously with all deliberate speed,” Houskeeper said.
Bovis said he wants to bring the statue to Lefty’s to show compassion for a man who was naked and afraid in a city known for accepting others.
American activist collective Indecline had the statue created by an artist known as Ginger. Ginger is known for realistic and grotesque art.