Well, we’ve made it through another year. Was your year full of excitement, joy, friendship? Or was it a year of disappointment and hardship? Whichever it was, it’s over and, while there are issues we might want to look back at, it always seems to me that Jan. 1 starts a clean slate.
But what would a good New Year’s column be without a look back at last year, and especially our very special community? If I were to rate last year (and I’m writing this column a week before the big day and from that date), I’d have to rate this not a good year but a great year for equality.
Last year at this time, the U.S. Congress and President Obama finally tossed out “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” paving the way for gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. Continuing on the national path, we saw the government seriously looking at the problems of our youth and our seniors as well as our health needs for the first time. If that were not enough, the U.S. led the way in the U.N. to create a study on the condition of LGBTs globally. That report, just issued, called for reforms in 75 countries, five of which literally call for the death penalty for LGBT people. The year ended with both the president and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Human Rights Day stating that the U.S. would not fund countries that violate human rights, which include LGBT rights.
On a state level, it wasn’t a great year in Harrisburg — but statewide, more and more municipalities are beginning to see the shortcomings of Harrisburg and adopting their own antidiscrimination or domestic-partner laws. We surpassed 25 this year, with more on the way.
Philadelphia has always been a beacon on LGBT issues, from 1965 onward. Our first attempt at a gay-rights bill was long before San Francisco and Harvey Milk, in 1975. Our domestic-partners bill was long before most cities or states had even heard the term before. Our registry was the first in the nation to offer tax benefits. So Philadelphians of every stripe accept Philly’s LGBT community as equal partners in a growing city. So it should be no surprise that when Blondell Reynolds Brown introduced a bill that would enhance our domestic-partner bill to include companies that do business with the city, not one person testified against it. Then when Council voted, it was unanimous. Does that happen in any other city? By the way, Philadelphia’s enhancement of domestic-partner law to include city contracts was only the 13th passed in the nation.
Happy New Year to everyone. Together, we’ll make more news and progress for our community and city in 2012.
Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s most-award-winning commentator in LGBT media. He can be reached at [email protected] .