On Sunday afternoon, about 50 people gathered in front of a gas station on the corner of Market and Castro Streets.

They wore skimpy silver outfits, stuffed boa constrictors, schoolgirl outfits and shirts that advertised the reason for the rally and, in a nutshell, said “Free Britney”.

The #FreeBritney movement has gained momentum in recent years as the public has increasingly protested against pop star Britney Spears’ conservatories. In 2008, Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, was named her conservator after she was hospitalized twice for involuntary psychiatric exams and enduring a series of visible fights that raised concerns for her physical and mental well-being.

Spears, 39, wants the conservatories to end immediately, according to confidential court records in the New York Times, which made a documentary about the #FreeBritney movement that received international attention.

Jamie Legasa, center, meets fellow Britney Spears fans for a Free Britney rally on Market and Castro streets in San Francisco on July 25, 2021. The Free Britney Movement seeks to end Britney Spears Conservatories and raise awareness of Conservatory abuse.

Douglas Zimmerman / SFGATE

In June, Spears made a rare public comment about the conservatories in a 24-minute statement before a private judge in Los Angeles. Your comments were shocking.

“I’m traumatized,” she said during the livestream hearing. “I just want my life back.” She called for an end to the “abusive” conservatories. She spoke so quickly and urgently that the judge told her to slow down.

In the statement, Spears said she was forced to continue performing despite the desire. She said she cannot remove her IUD even though she wants to have more children.

“I deserve to have a life,” she said. “I’ve worked all my life.”

Spears rose to pop superstar in 1998 with the release of her album “… Baby One More Time”. Since then she has released seven more albums, the last of which was released in 2016.

Jamie Legasa holds up a Britney Spears doll with a sign with the hashtag #FreeBritney. Free Britney supporters held a rally on Market and Castro streets in San Francisco on July 25, 2021. The Free Britney Movement seeks to end Britney Spears Conservatories and raise awareness of Conservatory abuse.

Douglas Zimmerman / SFGATE

Since beginning her conservatory in 2008, Spears has toured several times, held a Las Vegas residency, served as a judge on “The X Factor,” and released four albums.

“I’ve been a huge Britney fan since 1998 and I just sympathize with her,” said Lynda Conlan, who took part in the Sunday rally, dressed in a Britney shirt and leggings. She was accompanied by her two sons 7 and 10 and emphasized the importance of exposure to the #FreeBritney movement.

“You listened to them when they were in my stomach!” She said. “She was a big part of my life and you know it. … I want to teach my children to just love everything, whether it’s music for boys or girls or whatever. ”

The boys also proudly wore Britney shirts. At one point someone held a sign that said “Fk Jaime Spears”.

Tom Hood holds up a sign at a Free Britney rally on Market and Castro Streets in San Francisco on July 25, 2021. The Free Britney Movement seeks to end Britney Spears Conservatories and raise awareness of Conservatory abuse.

Douglas Zimmerman / SFGATE

Kristin Turner, a political activist and executive director of Pro Life SF, was also in attendance on Sunday. She said the #FreeBritney movement is about more than a person’s life, but about issues with monument laws in general.

“A lot of my work is for people who have no voice or freedom of choice in their lives,” she said. “I just want everyone to know that no one should be able to unduly control your body and that you should be able to live your life to the fullest.”

Sterling Wolper, a dance teacher in San Francisco, is the woman behind the #FreeBritney rally in San Francisco.

She said she was inspired to host her own meeting after seeing an online rally in Los Angeles.

Drag performer Iman, Center, performs at a Free Britney rally on Market and Castro streets in San Francisco on July 25, 2021. The Free Britney Movement seeks to end Britney Spears Conservatories and raise awareness of Conservatory abuse.

Douglas Zimmerman / SFGATE

“I saw nothing happening in San Francisco, so I started an Instagram page to see if anyone was ready to show up,” she said. They are. The site has more than 590 followers today.

A longtime Spears fan, Wolper, who wore a silver “Oops! … I Did It Again” -inspired outfit and performed “(You Drive Me) Crazy”, has organized dance evenings and Miss Pacifica pageants, but nothing like rallies .

She emphasized, like many of those present, that the rally was about much more than Spears.

“That’s a bigger problem,” said Wolper. “Millions of Americans are abused by conservatories. It’s a women’s rights issue, a human rights issue, the list goes on. ”

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Almost two years after approving a conservatory program for mentally ill residents with drug addictions who live on the city streets, San Francisco has only now brought the first person to justice.

In June 2019, the Board approved the controversial Housing Conservatorship pilot program, permitted under Senate Act 1045, approved earlier that year. However, the challenges of implementing the program, sponsored by Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, have so far prevented anyone from staying. The pilot expires on January 1, 2024.

“It’s been almost two years since the board of directors debated fiercely and ultimately decided on SB 1045,” Mandelman said at a public safety and neighborhood services committee hearing on Thursday. “I said at the time that even if SB 1045 only helped one person, I believed it was worth doing. And I still believe that, but I didn’t think it would literally be just one person. “

He said the “purpose was to meet the needs of a relatively small population of unhodged people who cycle repeatedly through mental emergencies, our other emergency rooms, the prison, back on the road and again without ever having the longer-term assistance and support.” Get the care they need. “

Under the program, an individual with a mental illness and substance use disorder from The City can apply for a court-approved conservatory if they have a mental illness and substance use disorder for up to 72 hours for an emergency psychiatric evaluation.

Early last year city officials blamed the difficult process of establishing legal forms in the courts for the new program as the reason for the delay in implementation.

“In June 2020, the forms were finalized by the local courts so we could continue working on the cases,” Angelica Almeida, who oversees the health ministry’s outpatient treatment program and SB 1045 pilots, told the committee. “We weren’t able to move the cases forward until June 2020.”

Almeida said that by the end of January they had identified 63 people with double illnesses who had at least five 5150 in the past 12 months, of whom 16 had at least 8 and one was preserved.

She said she anticipated The City would eventually get “at least a handful more people” under the pilot.

Mandelman said SB 1045 was originally suggested as a solution to a certain type of problematic behavior he sees in his district.

“I know a number of these named people in my district who commit crimes, not because they are bad people, but because they have a mental illness associated with a substance problem, who are 5150 years old, maybe not eight times. but a lot, ‘said Mandelman. “One such person lit a fire in my district that burned three people from their homes last week.”

Jill Nielsen, assistant program director for the disability and elderly services department that oversees regulators, said the “eligibility criteria are way too tight” to get someone under the pilot. She noted that SB 1045 was originally introduced to allow a conservatory if a person had three 5150s within 12 months, not 8.

However, critics of the law have called for stricter protections against the conservatory under the pilot, including The City, which is doing more to provide volunteer services and housing “before we take away civil liberties.”

Nielsen said it remains to be seen what will happen if there is a controversial conservatory, but that the prosecutor “believes that a future controversial case could be quite complex and lengthy because of the” extensive requirements contained in the law ” .

“While we knew the housing conservation program would only serve a small number of people, it remains disappointing that we were unable to serve more vulnerable people at the time,” said Nielsen. “We are absolutely determined to expand the program and we remain committed to implementation and innovation to do whatever we can to ensure we use this tool.”

However, critics said the approach was still wrong.

“We know there are big problems with the Conservatory,” said Jessica Lehman, executive director of Senior and Disability Action. “It’s a major deprivation of civil liberties. We need to offer people housing and volunteer services sooner instead of having people in crisis for years and then say they haven’t made rational decisions.”

It refuted the characterization of 1045 supporters that the opponents of the bill had succeeded in making changes that made the pilot overly complex.

“It’s great that we have as many safeguards as we do,” said Lehman. “The people who have had multiple 5150s are disproportionately African-American men, and the city needs to work out a plan to eliminate these racial differences before proceeding.”

Dr. Grant Colfax, Head of the Department of Health, acknowledged the “multiple challenges” involved in implementing the pilot project, but stood behind them.

“DPH will continue to support the Housing Protection Agency,” said Colfax. “We need all the tools we have to help the most vulnerable in San Francisco.”

He promised improvements to the overall care system through Mental Health SF, a multi-year effort to reshape the city’s behavioral health system. The department recently appointed Dr. Hillary Kunins hired to lead the Mental Health SF.

“Our care system is expanding, lowering treatment barriers, and making it easier to access and move through the system,” said Colfax.

Mandelman said, however, that “expectations of SF mental health are very high” and he remains concerned that the city is “orders of magnitude away from responding to the fairly serious behavioral health and substance use problems on the street.”

jsabatini@sfexaminer.com

Bay Area NewsHousing and HomelessnessPoliticssan Francisco News

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