Philadelphia’s LGBT Democratic club held its annual meeting last week at the William Way LGBT Community Center, at which its members elected new board members and held a panel discussion on hate crimes, which included testimony from elected city, state and federal officials.
The 2015 board nominees approved at the Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club’s annual meeting include: Rhone Fraser, who earned a Ph.D. in African American studies from Temple University and is a broadcast journalist, blogger and college English and history professor; Mason Lane, chief of staff to state Rep. Brian Sims (D-182nd Dist.); Andy Spiers, a therapist with Morris Home, a program of Resources for Human Development, which supports trans and gender-variant individuals, and an adjunct professor of sociology at Harcum College; and Anne Wakabayasho, campaign manager for Anne Lazarus for Supreme Court.
They will join returning board members Wade Albert, Tony Campisi, David Feldman, Stephanie Haynes, Sara Jacobson, Malcolm Kenyatta and April Murdock.
After the board nominations were confirmed, a panel of elected officials discussed the status of hate-crimes legislation. Pennsylvania lacks LGBT-specific protections under the current statewide hate-crimes law. Legislators have so far been unsuccessful in bringing an LGBT-inclusive bill to a vote, despite the momentum gained on the issue after the Sept. 11 gay-bashing incident in Philadelphia.
“Last year’s panel was about marriage equality, but with that pretty much settled, Liberty City wanted to focus on hate crimes,” said Campisi. “Not only because of what happened in Philly in September, but because of multiple instances across the state and country.”
The panel included Lane; Kyle Wherrity, legislative assistant to Congressman Bob Brady; and Nellie Fitzpatrick, Philadelphia’s director of LGBT affairs.
This fall, Philadelphia adopted a law that instates fines and jail time for individuals whose crimes are motivated by a victim’s sexual orientation, gender identity or disability — classes not protected by state law. Campisi said the panel discussion illustrated that the state needs to close that gap.
“I think the message was that there is work to be done,” said Campisi. “At the city level, it’s clear that everything that can be done from a policy and legislative point of view has. Any further advancements on the issue have to be done at the state level.”
Campisi noted that state Republicans — with the exception of a few — have not been open to considering the issue in the past two legislative sessions. The panel recognized the need to win over more colleagues from the other side of the aisle.
“We have to be actively reaching out and talking to representatives at the state and federal level, telling them why hate-crimes protections are important,” said Campisi. “Especially at the state level where there is almost a knee-jerk reaction from the other side of the aisle to get the issue passed.”
Over the next few months, Liberty City will undergo its process to endorse candidates for Philadelphia’s spring primary election. The club encourages all candidates seeking an endorsement to fill out the endorsement questionnaire on its website.
For more information, visit www.libertycity.org.