Councilman-at-Large James Kenney this week wrote Mayor Nutter a letter asking him to reconsider his decision to keep Philadelphia affiliated with Russian Sister City Nizhny Novgorod despite the city’s and country’s anti-LGBT laws. Nutter’s spokesperson previously told PGN the mayor supported keeping that tie to help provide outreach to LGBT citizens in Russia. Last year, Nizhny Novgorod, the fifth-largest city in Russia, introduced an anti-LGBT propaganda law, which this summer was passed at the federal level. In his letter, Kenney encouraged the Nutter administration to sever the ties to show solidarity with Philadelphia’s LGBT citizens. “I would ask that you join me and other members of City Council in severing our Sister City relationship with Nizhny Novgorod as well as expressing Philadelphia’s opposition to this clear violation of the human rights of LGBTQ citizens throughout Russia,” he wrote. Kenney has said he may introduce a resolution this month calling on the mayor to take action on the issue.
— Angela Thomas
