A part of downtown San Francisco popular with the trans community is being touted as the world's first ever 'transgender cultural district'.

Compton's Transgender Cultural District is situated in Tenderloin and has received $215,000 in investment from the city, reports The Daily Beast.

The area is managed by Honey Mahogany, a former contestant on the TV show, RuPaul's Drag Race.

The name for the transgender cultural district comes from the now closed all-night diner, Gene Compton's Cafeteria, where a confrontation between a police officer and a trans woman in 1966 sparked the first transgender civil rights uprising in the United States.

It was once a mecca for gay bars before all but one - the drag queen favourite Aunt Charlie's - moved to Castro. But today, the Tenderloin is still home to many trans residents.

Curbed San Francisco reports that the investment into Compton's will be used to provide affordable housing for its trans residents.

San Francisco has some of the most expensive property prices in the world, with the average house within the city limits now costing an eye-watering $1.62m.

The city awarded the special status to Compton's after passing a motion in November to designate $3 million in funds for cultural districts.

Transgender rights have become a contentious issue in the US in the past few years, with the nation divided over access to restrooms and legal gender definitions.

In October, it was revealed that the Trump administration is seeking to amend the law to bring legal gender definitions in line with birth genitalia.

President Donald Trump's legal challenge to ban transgenders in the military was also back in the courts this week.

He has previously argued that allowing transgender men and women to serve in the military causes 'tremendous medical costs and disruption'.