The Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club welcomed the New Year with two new board members and new plans for 2014.
Fifty people packed the William Way LGBT Community Center for the club’s annual meeting and board elections Jan. 29.
The club elected two new board members, Cameron Kline and Sara Kelly, as well as four incumbents.
Co-chair Gary Hines said Kline and Kelly will bring valuable experience to the organization.
“Cameron has political experience working with Sen. Larry Farnese,” Hines said. “Sara is a community-minded activist and she runs a public-relations firm. She is connected on different levels and hopes to step up her political activism.”
The group also reelected Angela Giampolo, Phil Gaskin, Lauren Vidas and Solaris Power.
Members also discussed plans for the organization’s 20th-anniversary gala in the fall and emphasized heightening the prominence of its seven committees: board development, fundraising, membership, endorsement, communications, policy and advocacy and GOTV, a committee dedicated to advocating for endorsed candidates.
The club, which currently has 95 paying members, did not vote on any new measures.
The meeting also included a panel discussion on the ongoing LGBT legal issues in Pennsylvania.
The panel included Montgomery County Register of Wills D. Bruce Hanes, who is being sued by the state for issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples; out American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania executive director Reggie Shuford; Jerner & Palmer P.C. associate Rebecca Levin; and Equality Pennsylvania organizing director Jane Slusser. Hines said the panelists represented various parts of the legislative process and centered their discussion around both marriage equality and LGBT nondiscrimination efforts in the state. “We had people from ACLU talk about the current cases they are involved with,” Hines said. “We spent some time discussing where those cases are and when they are going on trial and topics like that, and we had a civil-rights attorney speak on the specific cases that her firm is involved in. It was an excellent discussion. It was a good discussion between audience and panelists.”