With Bruce Kraus' victory in the Democratic primary, today is an historic moment for Pittsburgh and all of Western Pennsylvania. Kraus is the first openly gay person to be headed for the hallowed halls of the City Council of Pittsburgh. In fact, he is the first openly gay elected official in Western Pennsylvania. Well, he will be after the General Election in November. But you know us Pittsburghers -- it is all primary, all the time for local races.
What does this mean for your everyday average queer? Puh-lenty.
First, it means that Pittsburghers are more progressive and openminded than the Allegheny County Democratic Committee and others would have you believe. A progressive gay man defeated the incumbent, party-endorsed candidate. Change can happen.
Second, it means that the rest of the elected officials are going to have to interact with a real live homosexual on a regular basis. I relish this because, in my experience, this kind of personal interaction is the best vehicle to break down prejudice and build understanding. We cannot underestimate the power of these relationships to bring about change for all Pittsburgh residents, gay and straight.
Third, it means we finally get to see someone who "looks" like us AND acknowledges he is "us" in a leadership position. Not another closeted wink, wink politico. Not someone we speculate about every so often. Rather, someone who is proud and confident enough in his identity to share this part of life with the entire electorate. Kraus told Pittsburgh's OUT newspaper that his campaign is about more than his sexuality (no weblink available). That's certainly true, thank goodness, but I think it is good for the regional LGBTQ community to savor this moment.
Finally, it means we get a progressive, energetic and dedicated member of city council to join our allies Bill Peduto and Doug Shields. Kraus campaigned on the loss of Community Development Block Grant monies for organization such as the Gay & Lesbian Community Center, Shepherd Wellness Center and Persad, the region's LGBTQ mental health provider. He wants to do something about the liquor license situation on the South Side. He has a proven record of community involvement and civic leadership. He won the endorsements of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Steel-City Stonewall Democrats and the Gertrude Stein Political Club of Pittsburgh. He garnered the support of the Victory Fund.
Bruce Kraus is our candidate. Soon he will be everyone's member of Council. Hallelujah!
One of the most bitter foes of the American gay community has died and I only feel sadness for him and his family. I'm sad because his legacy is permanently scarred by his unrelenting hatred and intolerance for people who are gay, feminist, foreign born, of color and otherwise different from his vision of a godly society. Falwell sowed dischord and hatred in the name of religion, a weapon he used to divide our nation.
Remember this?
> After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Falwell said on the 700 Club, "I
> really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the
> feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to
> make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American
> Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the
> finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen."
Should I cry for this man? Nope, but neither do I rejoice at his death. Instead, I mourn a life wasted, power abused and faith misplaced by millions of Americans. I guarantee the wingnuts are just looking for the slightest bit of glee from our side, just waiting for something to pounce upon to carry on his legacy of hate. From what I've seen, most people won't give them the satisfaction. Media outlets all over the nation are contacting prominent LGBT organizations and leaders for comment. I was thinking what I would say if a media outlet asked me (ha).
Statement by Matt Foreman, Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
?The death of a family member or friend is always a sad occasion and we express our condolences to all those who were close to the Rev. Jerry Falwell. Unfortunately, we will always remember him as a founder and leader of America?s anti-gay industry, someone who exacerbated the nation?s appalling response to the onslaught of the AIDS epidemic, someone who demonized and vilified us for political gain and someone who used religion to divide rather than unite our nation.?
NOTE: The first edition of this post switched the district races around. I apologize for the ridiculous mistake and can only claim that the lack of coffee made me do it. It goes to show that people ARE paying attention.
None received the ACDC endorsement so I didn't get to sing their praises in previous posts. But I should have because these three people running on a local level can make a tremendous difference for our community. Kraus is gay, Arnet and Dowd are not. But all are committed to a progressive fairness that bodes well for minority groups in the region.
Kraus is running for City Council - Southside, Allentown, Knoxville, Beltzhoover, etc. He's taking on incumbent Jeff Koch. Koch is the guy who finagled the Redd Up crew into wearing his campaign tee shirts while on the job. Working for the city. Nice. He is feeling the heat. Email everyone you know in this district and tell 'em to vote for Kraus.
Heather Arnet is running for School Board in District 2 (Lawrenceville, Highland Park). The lesbians love Heather. She is progressive, fair and a visionary. Her commitment to girls has been amply demonstrated by her wonderful work with the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Heather has been endorsed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Gertude Stein Club as well as highly recommended by the Steel-City Stonewall Democrats. Vote for Heather on Tuesday. Tell your friends in her district to vote for her. Email them right now. Don't wait.
This is definitely our guy. A proven progressive while on the School Board, Dowd has run an excellent campaign. His opponent is incumbent Len Bodack - Highland Park, Polish Hill, Stanton Heights, Lawrenceville, Bloomfield. Bodack came to a LGBT forum and said he is opposed to gay marriage because of his religious beliefs. Classic old school politics -- why would we vote for someone like that?
The opponents of all three of these individuals have NOTHING to offer the gay community in terms of policy or innovations to serve our families. We need to be part of the change that is going to move Pittsburgh forward. The status quo is not sufficient.
Email your friends in these areas. Call your mother, your sister, your best friend and ask them to vote for candidates that respect and value the LGBT community.
Saturday night, Ledcat and I sat down to talk with Lance Friedman, co-chair of the Steel City Stonewall Democrats which is the local chapter of the national gay democratic network. Friedman has been co-leading the group since January 2007 after the unexpected departure of Steel-City's controversial co-chair Scott Safier.
Since then Friedman and co-chair Tara Reynolds have been working with a small but dedicated board to rejuvenate the organization. Of late, Friedman's energies have been wholeheartedly focused on the May 15 primary, dedicating countless hours to turning out the gay vote and working for candidates such as openly gay Bruce Kraus' campaign for city council.
"Elections are about turnout," says Friedman, a three year Pittsburgh resident originally from Michigan. "A small group of gay voters can make a difference in this election." The May 15 election is not expected to generate a large turnout.
Friedman and his partner, a University of Pittsburgh researcher, relocated to Pittsburgh from New Jersey. They have been together for nearly 10 years and Friedman, a history major, has been politically active the entire time.
When he arrived in Pittsburgh, he became involved with the Gertrude Stein Club and Steel City, eventually joining the Steel-City board. With the departure of Safier, Friedman has been actively reaching out to former board members asking them to reconnect with the organization. He says that several have indicated a willingness to get involved and perhaps rejoin the board.
In the interest of full disclosure, I must say that I was a board member of Steel-City and resigned over the antics of Safier in my pre-blog days. Any hint of criticism that seeps through this post is solely my own. Friedman spoke not a single ill-word about the man.
The current board includes 4 people, all of whom are juggling a lot of competing interests and are self-proclaimed political junkies (h/t to David and Maria). Friedman and Reynolds are looking for fresh blood to keep the organization moving forward.
Friedman says frankly that he doesn't perceive himself as a leader. "I took the co-chair job because no one else wanted it," he explains. He envisions recruiting new leadership and being able to step down from the executive committee to a typical board role.
Friedman's modesty about his leadership talent is unwarranted. The organization recently hosted an endorsement party, drawing a good sized crowd of both candidates and community members. Friedman had his concerns that the turnout would be gay-lite and candidate-heavy, so he got on the phone and contacted every gay person he could think of and encouraged them to attend the event. It worked. Ledcat and I rolled in around 3:30 and rolled out an hour later laden with stickers, flyers and postcards and a fresh look at the candidates.
Others noticed as well, including the Allegheny County Democratic Committee (ACDC) which was planning their own LGBT forum with their endorsed candidates. They wanted to partner with Steel City to turn out the gays, but Friedman acknowledges that the timing was a bit dicey as the event was scheduled for the day after the Steel City endorsement. The ACDC and Steel City groups did not achieve endorsement parity, but did cooperate in the event planning.
Moreover, the Steel City candidate questionaires were the primary source of information for the ACDC forum. Friedman was rather pleased with this event and views it as a step forward for the LGBT community. Here's my take on the event.
The dynamic co-chair seems to understand the challenges of turning out the gay vote while remaining delightfully optimistic about the opportunity. "I'd like to think gay people are voting even if they aren't politically active," he offers. He chalks up the lack of political activity to the subtle, but widespread oppression LGBT individuals face in Western Pennsylvan's political climate (heavy on the Catholic conservatism).
Friedman believes the election of Bruce Kraus could change that. Seating an openly gay individual on City Council would demostrate how open-minded Pittsburgh can be. He believes it would play a major step in breaking down homophobia by creating opportunities for other elected officials and the public to interact with a real gay person rather than just an image from the media or as painted by anti-gay activists. According to Friedman, Kraus is ready to wear the "gay mantle" should he win Tuesdays election.
Kraus deserves the support of the entire LGBT community. Just this weekend, local businesses endorsing Kraus had their property vandalized. Two separate businesses. Kraus' campaign also reports more than 18 signs have been stolen which seems to be a lot for a city council race.
Meanwhile, Friedman and his small but dedicated group will continue to grow their organization in a new direction. He sees endless possibilities for collaboration with the ACDC, the Gertrude Stein Club, LGBT business owners including the tavern guild, and the elected officials themselves. While frank in his assessment of the gay friendliness of any particular candidate, Friedman remains positive on the possibility for the gay community to change their attitudes and welcoming to anyone who wants to join his group.
And that truly marks the dawn of a new gay in Pittsburgh.
You can help make a change in Pittsburgh. Check out the Steel City webpage for more information.
On May 11th and 12th, the Renaissance City Men and Women's Choirs will perform their spring concert at the Hazlett Theater downtown. The repertoire includes tributes to famous Pittsburghers, including Stephen Foster, Mimi Lerner, Andy Warhol, Lilian Russel, Erroll Garner, Thomas Mellon, and others. For more information on the program, visit here. For those who have never seen the choirs, which are comprised of all volunteer GLBT and GLBT-friendly singers, they offer an impressive performance sure to please everyone. Please come and support a great organization offering an outstanding musical program!
When: May 11 & 12, 8pm Where: Hazlett Theater, North Shore Who: The Renaissance City Choirs Prices: $7 student, $15 general admission, $50 patron, which includes a $25 dinner with each ticket For Tickets: The RCC Office 412-362-9484, individual choir and board members, A Pleasant Present in Squirrel Hill, or go to the website www.rccpittsburgh.org AND AT THE DOOR!!
Bloggings favorite mystery woman, Agent Ska, will be managing the stage. I have to work late Friday and have a previously scheduled PghLesbian interview set for Saturday so I will miss the good times AND meeting Agent Ska. Drat.
CALL OUT FOR SUPPORT TO DEMAND JUSTICE FOR ERICA KEEL
THIS FRIDAY, MAY 11TH, 4pm, at 12O1 LOCUST ST OPEN PLANNING MEETING
On March 22nd of this year, Erica Keel, a 20-yr-old African American trans woman, was fatally run over at Broad and Thompson streets in North Philadelphia. According to witness accounts, the driver in question intentionally ran over Erica four times after ejecting her from his car. A medical examiner's report supports these accounts. However, the police have ruled Erica's death an accident and have refused to conduct an investigation. The driver, Roland Button, fled the scene but was later apprehended by police. He has yet to face criminal charges, including "hit and run." When friends of Erica, who are themselves trans, questioned police officials about the classification of Erica's death as an "accident," they were asked to disclose their "birth" names and were told they were "trying to make something out of nothing."
As community members and allies, we are asking for your support in challenging police injustice by demanding a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding Erica's death. Our efforts to demand justice for Erica are part of building a larger strategy to address state violence against trans youth of color in Philadelphia.
Please join us THIS FRIDAY at 4pm at the Washington West Project, 1201 Locust St., to help plan a demonstration. For more information contact Savannah: 267-879-1339 n_hornback@yahoo.com
Be sure to read the comments. It would be great to see this kind of dialogue happening in Pittsburgh, but instead we have a candidate for Sheriff and former Pittsburgh Police Officer who sees no real law enforcement issues with the LGBTQ community. Ahem. I guess that stuff just happens in Philly?
I had a hard day and only just now realized that it has been 48 hours without fresh content. So here's what I've come up with ... from John McIntire's column in the City Paper:
Should I really be afraid? When Dina McGreevy started making the talk-show rounds to promote her new book -- in which she writes about discovering she was married to the gay governor of New Jersey -- I did a phone poll. "How do you know if you're married to a homo?" I asked. Bad taste? Yes. Am I attempting to encourage homophobia? Absolutely not. Will I be hoisted on my own petard if I continue to throw caution to the wind?
I'd like to know the results of that phone poll.
Bad taste? Of course. Funny? So-so. Homophobic? Not so much. Maybe I'm biased because I know John isn't a homophobe, but is willing to exploit society's latent homophobia for his own amusement (and career). Maybe I'm biased because he invented the Lesbian Correspondent shtick.
Here's where we disagree.
As snotty newspaper executives like Chris Potter of the City Paper will tell you, everybody needs an editor. But could we please all get a grip? We've got much bigger problems than edgy radio. Like, you know, the war and stuff.sdf
Tis true that the way is a bigger problem than edgy radio. But for those of us on the short end of the hate stick, Imus and ilk are a real problem. Even some of John's stuff can be problematic precisely because there are yinzers out there who wouldn't know irony if it kicked them in the ass and bought them an IC Light. Does that mean we should censor John or give Gab a bigger dump button? Not necessarily. But shock jocks have to take some responsibility for their words and their medium. Being provocative carries some responsibility.
Let's be fair -- edgy radio is commodity and when people stop buyin', things change. Imus and John and Gab have the right to express themselves as much as they please. There is no right to get paid for it.
I hope John and Gab keep throwing caution to the wind b/c, frankly, radio can be really boring in Pittsburgh. And people who think Johnny Mac rocks need to realize that he loves him some homos (not that there's anything wrong with that), black people, women and even homeless people. Forcing people to take a look at their own prejudice is a good thing. Ridiculing and demeaning any group of people because they are gay, female, black, disabled, etc is not okay.
Thin line, huh? I'm glad I just wrestle with social problems in a more clean cut human servicy kind of way.
According to the comments section of the The Burgh Report, Post-Gazette advice columnist is the daughter of Acting City Solicitor George Specter. The commenter wonders if there is a connection between that relationship and the PG's coverage of the Solicitor.
I wonder the opposite. Did it have something to do with Cat Specter landing a column with no experience and no real qualifications? Is that how she met her champion, Tony Norman?
Can we blame George Specter for the unleashing of Cattitude all over Pittsburgh?
So, are they related? And what does that mean for patronage purposes? Are there any patronage purposes? Most importantly, can he spay and/or neuter the Cattitude?
The Beaver County Times has taken a stand on the expansion of the federal hate crime laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity as motivations for attacks. In their estimation, hate crimes laws punish thoughts not deeds.
Please understand that we in no way condone the vitriol that spews out of the mouths of bigots. The anti-homosexual hatred of some people does create a hostile environment that can lead to violence. However, criminals should be punished and convicted for what they do, not what they think.
That's great. And what do you do when that vitriol and its underlying bigotry is connected to crime? When someone is attached because they are gay or appear gay? How can you neatly separate the word from the act in that case?
I just don't get why people are so opposed to this legislation. Sigh.
