Bread & Roses Community Fund, which supports local social-change advocates, is honoring two LGBT pioneers the community lost in the past year.
During its Tribute to Change Awards Sept. 28, Bread & Roses will present Legacy Awards posthumously to Larry Frankel and Walter Lear, openly gay leaders who worked both in Philadelphia and on a national level for civil rights for LGBTs and other marginalized communities.
“Both Walter and Larry were people who were out there fighting on the front lines,” said Casey Cook, Bread & Roses executive director. “They recently passed, and they were really powerful figures in the gay-rights movement.”
Lear, who died in May, served as Philadelphia’s deputy health commissioner in the 1960s and later as the commissioner of health services for the Philadelphia metropolitan region for the state Department of Health. He came out in 1975 and worked as the community’s most visible out physician. Lear was instrumental in the founding of many of the city’s current LGBT agencies, such as the William Way LGBT Community Center and the Mazzoni Center.
“He was one of the originals of the LGBT-liberation movement in Philadelphia and in the nation,” said William Way executive director Chris Bartlett, a friend of Lear since the 1970s. “He was a great activist for healthcare for all, and a voice for the most disenfranchised LGBT citizens. He inspired a whole new generation of activists to carry on his work.”
Frankel, who died in August 2009, is also remembered as an inspiration for current LGBT activists.
He served as legislative director for the Pennsylvania ACLU from 1992-2008 — and as the agency’s executive director from 1996-2001 — before moving to Washington, D.C., as state legislative counsel of ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office.
State Rep. Babette Josephs (D-182nd Dist.) said that throughout his time in Pennsylvania, Frankel became known as a successful and accomplished advocate for a vast array of civil-rights issues.
“Larry Frankel was the best lobbyist in Harrisburg, not only because he was passionate about preserving and enhancing civil rights, but also because he understood the process and he understood human nature,” Josephs said. “Most of all, Larry was kind. He knew that positions he wanted elected officials to take were, by the very nature of his request, difficult and unpopular, so he would often suggest another strategy to pursue or a different bill to introduce.”
Cook said both men’s commitment to advocating for a broad spectrum of social issues exemplifies Bread & Roses’ mission.
“The one thing that ties them to the rest of the people being honored at Tribute to Change is that, beyond LGBT issues, they also fought for other things like healthcare reform, reproductive justice, criminal justice and racial discrimination,” she said. “Even though the honorees represent very diverse areas and issues that are important to progressives, they’re all fighting for justice and equality.”
This year’s Paul Robeson Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Dr. Carmen Febo-San Miguel, executive director of Taller Puertorriqueño, which seeks to promote the arts in Latino communities.
Other honorees include Phil Straus, Dorothy Johnson-Speight, Blanca Pacheco, Scribe Video Center and Jonathan Schmidt.
The Tribute to Change Awards will be held from 6-8:30 p.m. Sept. 28 at the Franklin Institute, 220 N. 20th St.
Tickets are $60 and proceeds benefit Bread & Roses’ funding of local social-justice groups.
For more information, visit www.breadrosesfund.org. Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].