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Liberty City, Equality PA back Sims over Josephs

With the municipal primary just weeks away, an openly gay candidate vying to represent Philadelphia’s Gayborhood in Harrisburg has picked up key LGBT endorsements.

Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club voted Tuesday night to endorse attorney Brian Sims for the 182nd District in the Pennsylvania House. Sims is challenging longtime incumbent and LGBT ally Rep. Babette Josephs (D-182nd Dist.).

Additionally, Equality Pennsylvania, of which Sims was formerly president, also endorsed him this week.

The Liberty City endorsement came after a lengthy debate that split the room at Gershman Y.

The endorsement committee, which makes recommendations to the general membership, backed Josephs for endorsement, but the membership voted down that recommendation, 24-14.

Supporters of both candidates took the floor in their favor in a discussion that endorsement committee chair Sara Jacobson said was “spirited but respectful.”

“People felt very strongly on both sides,” she said. “People spoke out in support of Babette and people spoke out in support of Brian, so there was a lot of support on both sides.”

The eventual endorsement was made in a 22-12 vote, Jacobson said.

Jacobson declined to specify why the committee was favoring an endorsement for Josephs, but said that decision was preceded by an involved and purposeful conversation.

“We spent a very long time talking about it, probably as long as we did talking about every other race on the ticket,” she said. “It was a very thoughtful discussion.”

A lot of attention was also given to the 188th District race, in which longtime incumbent James Roebuck is being challenged by bisexual candidate Fatimah Muhammad. The endorsement committee made no recommendation in that race, but the membership voted to endorse Muhammad following a debate that Jacobson noted had a different focus than that of the 182nd.

“The 182nd debate had more to do with the people involved, with people speaking out in support of Brian or Babette as a person, but the 188th debate was more philosophical,” Jacobson said. “The members talked about the idea of if Liberty City should support an out candidate or an incumbent who’s been in office for a while, and who’s been supportive of our issues.”

There was also some back and forth about Sen. Bob Casey. The committee recommended, and members voted to support, that the agency not make an endorsement in that race but instead will reconsider it in the fall.

Jacobson said that, while the senator has supported the community in many instances in the past, there were a number of issues that gave the organization “pause” — such as his lack of support for marriage equality and for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, as well as his recent backing of an anti-birth-control measure.

Endorsement committee member Jason Lewis said that, even if the lack of endorsement in the primary “moves the senator a centimeter” forward on LGBT issues, it would be successful.

Liberty City, as well as Equality PA, also endorsed President Obama for reelection, former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy for Attorney General and Eugene DePasquale for Auditor General.

Other state candidates endorsed by Liberty City were incumbent Sen. Larry Farnese (1st Dist.); incumbent Reps. Mike O’Brien (175th Dist.), Vanessa Lowry-Brown (190th Dist.), Cherelle Parker (200th Dist.) and Mark Cohen (202nd Dist.); challengers Andrew Kleeman (195th Dist.) and Malik Boyd (198th Dist.); and Steve McCarter (154th Dist.) and Jordan Harris (186th Dist.), who are seeking to fill recent vacancies.

Written by Jen Colletta for the Philadelphia Gay News on March 29, 2012.

Resolution calls for end to SEPTA gender markers

City Council is backing a resolution to urge the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority to cease its gender-marker system, which critics say is discriminatory against transgender and gender nonconforming riders.

Councilwoman-at-Large Blondell Reynolds Brown introduced the measure March 22 and it unanimously passed on its first reading.

The resolution may come up for public debate during the March 29 Council meeting, 10 a.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall.

LGBTs and allies have pushed in recent years for the removal of the stickers to avoid discrimination and public questioning of those who do not conform to gender norms. SEPTA has used gender markers on its transpasses for decades in an attempt to curb sharing of the passes. The transit system has said it is open to removing the stickers when it overhauls its fare system, although a timeline for that is unclear.

Reynolds Brown said her measure is meant to enhance understanding of the need for a gender-neutral fare system and take the city closer to that reality. “At the end of the process and debate, we want Philadelphians of all cultures, walks of life and backgrounds to get through each day without feeling discriminated against — without someone dimming their shine,” Reynolds Brown said. “We hope this resolution will move the needle further toward our goal.”

The councilwoman said she pledged to assist the Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club last year in any pro-LGBT endeavors and, when the club requested she work on this resolution, she eagerly complied.

“People listen to what we say, but ultimately, they watch what we do,” she said. “I commend the membership of Liberty City for paying attention and doing the necessary follow-through.”

Supporters of the removal of the markers are encouraged to attend next week’s City Council session.

Written by Jen Coletta of the Philadelphia Gay News on March 22, 2012.

Leaders review, preview city’s LGBT issues

State of the City Panel Shortly after President Obama outlined where the nation stands in his State of the Union, Philadelphia’s LGBT leaders came together to delineate where the local LGBT community stands on a number of topics, and where it should focus its attention in the coming year.

Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club’s State of the City identified a number of areas of focus — including safe spaces for youth, LGBT homelessness, equal access to health care for transgender people and opportunities for economic development — that the local LGBT community can concentrate on in 2012.

The first-of-its-kind discussion, held Feb. 2 at The Church of St. Luke and The Epiphany, was moderated by Liberty City board member Sherrie Cohen and featured remarks from city director of LGBT affairs Gloria Casarez, former city LGBT liaison and founder of The Colours Organization Inc., Mike Hinson, former co-president of OutFront! Kathy Padilla and president of The Attic Youth Center’s Youth Planning Committee Ibrahim Vicks.

The panelists reviewed LGBT accomplishments in the city in the past year, including the progress that was made on the LGBT senior-housing project, the approval of a bill to mandate domestic-partner benefits for partners of employees of city contractors and Mayor Nutter’s vocal support for the national Mayors for the Freedom to Marry movement.

Casarez outlined federal efforts, such as the administration’s decision to end its legal support for the Defense of Marriage Act and the recent adoption by the Housing and Urban Development of LGBT nondiscrimination regulations, noting the impact that pro-LGBT policy changes could have in Philadelphia.

Locally, the city is on the cusp of launching the nation’s first residential treatment facility for transgender individuals, Casarez noted, and efforts have also been made by several city departments, especially those that work with youth and homeless populations, to educate staffers on LGBT issues.

While steps have been taken to support LGBT youth, more outreach and education is needed to ensure young people feel safe in city schools, Vicks said.

“LGBT youth need safer spaces in schools. I’ve had friends who have been really hurt by things people say and do in school,” Vicks said. “Students would say, ‘That’s so gay,’ in some classes and get away with it, but not in others, so the teachers really have to be responsible.”

Casarez added that the ongoing leadership transitions at the school district have hindered the city’s ability to adequately address LGBT youth issues in schools.

Padilla identified a number of aims for the coming year, including enhanced transparency in the Nizah Morris investigation, voter-protection efforts and the launch of an LGBT Community Development Center.

Removing exclusions from health-insurance coverage for transgender city employees, an effort that Padilla said has been underway for about a decade, should also be a community aim this year.

Other unresolved challenges the panelists referenced included the ongoing debate over the Boy Scouts building, SEPTA’s gender markers and unsolved homicides in the community, including that of Morris and Stacey Blahnik.

Despite the breadth of the issues and interests facing the community, Casarez suggested that collaboration could be integral this year.

“Our LGBT community is a community of communities. We’re not one, we’re not whole and we’re not of one particular mindset, need or interest. We as a collective should reject that notion that we are one group. We are many but we do have some points of unity,” she said. “It’s a broad landscape but I firmly believe it’s a great time to be alive, and it’s a really important time for us to be engaged.”

Just as unity is critical, Hinson also noted concrete action will be key to achieving progress this year.

“We have to be the change,” he said. “We have to be an action and not wait for action to take place. Real transformation requires an investment in being better, being more secure and more complete, and it requires absolute action. Our challenge is to be the change.”

Padilla hailed the event as an important conversation starter that could be a useful annual tool.

“It was a chance to look backward and see where we’ve come from and to look forward as a community,” she said. “I think it was really brilliant on Liberty City’s part, and I hope it becomes a tradition for them.”

Written by Jen Coletta of the Philadelphia Gay News on February 10, 2012.

Equal-benefits bill passes Council committee

A City Council committee this week unanimously approved a measure that would require some city contractors to offer domestic-partner benefits for the same-sex partners of their employees.

The measure would mandate that service contractors receiving more than $250,000 from the city must extend the same benefits they offer to heterosexual married partners of their employees to employees’ same-sex partners. The measure would apply only to companies that currently offer benefits plans.

Businesses that fail to comply could be suspended or barred from bidding on future contracts for up to three years.

“In the 21st century, the battle for equal rights needs to end with equality being the victor,” Reynolds Brown said in a statement. “We have an opportunity with this bill to take one more important step to ensure that all Philadelphians who are ‘created equal’ are treated equal. Judging one’s employment benefits due to gender of their life partner is not acceptable in this day and age. Period. We will change that standard through the Equal Benefits Bill.”

Reynolds Brown was not able to be present for the vote because of a family emergency.

Voting in favor of the measure were committee chair Councilman Bill Greenlee and Councilmen Frank DiCicco, W. Wilson Goode Jr., Bill Green and Jack Kelly. Committee vice chair James Kenney was absent.

Greenlee, DiCicco and Kenney are cosponsors.

The Councilmembers held a public hearing before the vote, with all testimony in favor of passage. Witnesses included Equality Pennsylvania board president Adrian Shanker, Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations executive director Rue Landau, Liberty City Endorsement Committee chair Sara Jacobson, Mazzoni Center executive director Nurit Shein and attorney and former City Council candidate Sherrie Cohen.

Shanker encouraged the councilmembers to consider the basic tenets addressed in the bill.

“We are talking about partner-based employee benefits such as access to medical coverage, FMLA [Family and Medical Leave Act] and bereavement leave,” he testified. “While good people may disagree on national social issues, I think it is pretty non-controversial to suggest that these benefits should be required for large city contractors to provide to same-sex partners of their employees. If we start with the basic idea that all people deserve equal treatment, equal benefits and in fact equal rights, then there is no rational reason to oppose the Equal Benefits Bill.”

Landau also addressed the theme of equality.

“The purpose of this law is simple: equal treatment,” she said. “This truly is an issue of equal pay for equal work.”

Jacobson urged the lawmakers to remember the promises many of them made to Liberty City membership to support the LGBT community when asking for the club’s endorsement in this year’s election.

Shein noted that about 35 percent of Mazzoni’s clients are uninsured, and that expanding benefits opportunities for LGBTs in the area makes both economic sense for the city and can foster a better and more loyal workforce.

The first law of this nature was instituted in San Francisco in 1996, and Cohen noted that 14,000 companies in the city have since complied, representing a combined workforce of about 2 million people. The enrollment rate in the domestic-partner program is very minimal — between 1 and 3 percent — Cohen said, and has had an “almost negligible” financial impact on the companies.

No testimony was offered in opposition, and the councilmembers posed no questions for the witnesses — which, noted Greenlee, demonstrates the “long way” the city has come on LGBT issues.

Written by Jen Colletta for the Philadelphia Gay News on November 17, 2011.

Gay group endorses council, judicial candidates

The Liberty City Democratic Club held its endorsement meeting last week, lending its support to a number of pro-LGBT candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.

About 30 members came together for the endorsement meeting Oct. 6 at the William Way LGBT Community Center, where they heard about the platforms and plans of a number of candidates in attendance.

Liberty City co-chair Lee Carson said membership turnout was lower than usual for an endorsement meeting, but that, given the city’s overwhelming Democratic majority that often makes the spring primary the deciding election, it was expected.

Leading the club’s slate of endorsements is Mayor Nutter for reelection, along with a reelection nod for Councilwoman Maria Quiñones Sánchez. The group endorsed 1st District Council candidate Mark Squilla, running unopposed in the district that includes the Gayborhood; 2nd District hopeful state Rep. Kenyatta Johnson and 8th District candidate Cindy Bass, who have a Republican and Green Party challenger, respectively.

Liberty City endorsed four Democratic at-Large Council candidates — incumbent Councilmembers Blondell Reynolds Brown, Bill Green, Bill Greenlee and James Kenney — but did not support a fifth incumbent, Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr., who Carson said was unable to attend a Liberty City meeting, a prerequisite for endorsement.

The group didn’t endorse Greenlee in the municipal primary, Carson said, but after further discussion decided to back him in this election.

The club endorsed Stephanie Singer for city commissioner, who will square off with a Republican and Democratic incumbent and a Republican challenger for one of the three commissioner positions.

In the judicial races, Liberty City is supporting Kathryn Boockvar for Commonwealth Court, and Diana Anhalt, Jonathan Irvine, Angelo Foglietta, Carolyn Nichols and Barbara McDermott, an open lesbian, for Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. The club also endorsed Keith Collins for Delaware County Council.

The membership decided against endorsing judicial candidates up for retention.

Liberty City will host its fall fundraiser from 6-8 p.m. Nov. 1 at Stir, 1705 Chancellor St., with proceeds going to support the club’s voter mobilization for the spring primary.

Written by Jen Colletta for the Philadelphia Gay News on October 13, 2011.

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