PGN conducted interviews with candidates running in the May 19 municipal election about a wide range of LGBT issues, to inform our community about their positions and to form the basis for PGN’s endorsement decisions. We sent written surveys to all Democratic City Council candidates in contested races, and the summaries of their responses are included below.
Second District
Kenyatta Johnson
Second District City Councilman and former state lawmaker Kenyatta Johnson is running for reelection. Since taking office in 2012, he said he has focused on lowering taxes, enhancing education and preventing gun violence.
Johnson represents a diverse district including parts of South Philadelphia and employs several openly LGBT members on his staff. He said he will continue to surround himself with a diverse team to make sure he sees issues from all perspectives.
He voted in favor of the recent LGBT-inclusive hate-crimes bill and similar pro-LGBT legislation. He commended the police department for establishing relationships with the LGBT Police Liaison Committee.
Johnson said he would work with police to make sure acts of violence against transgender women of color are fully investigated.
Long involved in curbing violence in public schools, Johnson said he would support efforts to evaluate the climate of LGBT bullying in Philly schools as well as the necessary corrective measures. He said he supports laws that specifically ban bullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Johnson said Council must advocate for increased funding at the local, state and federal level for housing opportunities for people with HIV/AIDS. In the last three years, Johnson has supported the placement of more than 100 units of affordable, workforce and mixed-income housing in his district. He said he is open to working with LGBT advocates to locate land in the Second District to develop affordable housing for LGBT seniors.
Johnson has worked with Greater Philadelphia Health Action and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to bring two new health centers to his district, which will open soon.
He said LGBT-owned businesses should be included in city contracting requirements, which currently are open to other minority communities.
According to Johnson, anti-LGBT violence is the most pressing issue facing the community.
“Throughout my career, I have consistently supported legislation and other initiatives that aim to ensure equal rights for the LGBT community and prevent unfair treatment of LGBT individuals,” he said. “I will continue to advocate for policies that ensure that everyone feels welcome in Philadelphia.”
Ori Feibush
Ori Feibush, perhaps best know for kickstarting the redevelopment of the Point Breeze neighborhood, wants to take his passion for the Second District to City Council.
Feibush said that, if elected, he would continue the practices he used to build his campaign team, like selecting representatives from each of the neighborhoods in his district.
Feibush supports the recently passed LGBT-inclusive hate-crimes measure and other similar pieces of legislation. To increase security in his district, Feibush said he would like to install more lighting and security cameras.
To address the rising rates of violence against transgender women, Feibush would continue to facilitate meetings among law enforcement and LGBT community representatives. To combat bullying in public schools, Feibush would support enhanced outreach to parents and increased education about the city’s bullying hotline. Additionally, he said greater training for teachers and counselors is needed. He also supports laws that specifically ban bullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Feibush would work with community leaders and other groups that were part of the coalition to build the John C. Anderson Apartments in order to secure funding for housing for people living with HIV/AIDS.
His plan to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic includes fighting to increase funding for programs or institutions that focus on research, testing, health care and prevention education.
One of Feibush’s campaign platforms is ensuring all individuals have equal access to economic opportunities, including LGBTs. He has outlined several policy initiatives that aim to improve business development, remap commercial corridors and streamline the process for opening a small business.
Feibush said the same issues affecting LGBT people — public education, economic opportunity and safety and security — impact all Philadelphians.
“Unlike most elected officials in Philadelphia, I don’t have a background in politics,” Feibush noted. “Instead, I have a background and track record of creating local jobs, cleaning and improving the safety of my neighborhood, and helping our public schools. I have the real-world experience and perspective that is currently lacking from the politicians in City Hall.”
Third District
City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell
City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell is running for reelection this year to continue to represent the Third District — which covers West and Southwest Philly, including University City.
The Democrat has served on Council since 1992 and has been part of landmark LGBT legislation such as the recent LGBT-inclusive hate-crimes law that maximized municipal penalties for offenders.
Blackwell said she would continue her office’s efforts to hire people from diverse backgrounds and that all people are made to feel welcome in her office.
Blackwell believes transgender women of color, who she noted are disproportionately susceptible to violent crime, are entitled to the same rights and protections as any other citizen. She also wants to raise awareness among the trans community about the city’s “311” hotline.
Blackwell said she takes a hard line against bullying in Philly public schools. She said a coordinated effort among teachers, administrators, parents and volunteers is key to monitoring and addressing the issue at school and other places like on the Internet.
Blackwell supports funding for housing opportunities for people with HIV/AIDS. Her district has extremely high rates of the diseases and she said she has worked over the years to ensure that city dollars have been invested in her neighborhood to help affected individuals.
As a member of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, Blackwell has long advocated for financing and technical assistance to minority-owned enterprises.
She said ensuring equal rights and access to opportunities are the most pressing issues facing the local LGBT community.
Blackwell said she continues to strive to emulate her late husband, former Congressman and City Councilman Lucien Blackwell.
“He introduced the first human-rights bill in the city and I have followed in his footsteps and supported equality,” she said.
Seventh District
Maria Quiñones-Sánchez
Maria Quiñones-Sánchez may not have received the Democratic Party endorsement, but she did earn the Liberty City Democratic Club’s vote of confidence. And throughout her time as Councilwoman representing the Seventh District, she said she has consistently shown strong support for LGBT legislation.
Quiñones-Sánchez said she employs people from all religions, races, gender identities and sexual orientations, noting diversity creates strong, dynamic workplaces.
She voted in favor of the recent LGBT-inclusive hate-crimes bill and said that understanding systemic minority abuse is critical to creating better policies for Philly’s LGBT community.
To combat the rising rates of violence against trans women of color, Sanchez said programs must be in place that empower these individuals and show them how to protect themselves. She also strongly supports sensitivity training for law enforcement.
Quiñones-Sánchez sees schools as the greatest opportunity to eradicate homophobia. She fully supports programs like Restorative Practices, which holds people accountable while also supporting their growth.
Quiñones-Sánchez said she would continue to work with the Housing Trust Fund to identify LGBT-specific housing needs and work with her colleagues to implement a strategic plan. She also supports the expansion of programs that seek to educate and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS as well as underutilized prevention methods like PreP. She also has actively supported funding for health-service providers Prevention Point and Philly FIGHT to expand in her district.
Quiñones-Sánchez has made small-business tax reform a large part of her legislative record. She led successful legislation that reduced the businesses’ use and occupancy fee and another that exempted businesses from their first $100,000 of gross receipts. She said she would push to see more LGBT-owned businesses operating across the city.
Quiñones-Sánchez said discrimination is the most pressing issue facing the LGBT community in Philadelphia, and that she will continue to urge the state legislature and the governor’s office to adopt a statewide LGBT nondiscrimination measure.
“I have fought tirelessly for all those who have felt disenfranchised and forgotten,” she said. “My record shows that I have consistently supported the LGBT community throughout Philadelphia and my district.”
Eighth District
Michael Galganski
In 2012, Michael Galganski founded an independent political party based on dignitarian ideology, the Free Dominion Party, under which he is currently running. The self-starter Germantown resident and teacher at Philadelphia University is making his first attempt at a seat on City Council.
Galganski said persecution of any group is unacceptable but that he wants a municipal resolution that advocates for hiring based on equitable and entrepreneurial ideals, rather than diversity quotas.
Galganski said he does not support criminal prosecution based “solely on positive or negative disposition or laws that discriminate between social groups concerning malevolent intent.” Instead, he thinks such cases should be litigated on ethical principles such as “sanctifying vested property, currency, corporality, sovereignty, philosophy and spirituality.”
He believes that “individual rights are bestowed by a Creator, rather than being granted through collective personhood such as age, ethnicity, gender or sexuality.”
As for addressing bullying, Galganski said offenders should be punished but that it is not realistic to completely eradicate youth bullying. He said he does not advocate for laws that discriminate among social groups.
To fund housing opportunities for people living with HIV/AIDS, Galganski would like to see such funding supported by charitable organizations rather than the city.
If elected, Galganski said, he would propose public trusts to which individuals could endow whichever type of chapter within the trust they believe has value. Funds from this system would go towards addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic within the city and other issues.
Galganski said his platform “aims to align with principled and free public citizenry from imposed preconceptions, while corroborating with justice to dutifully guard undeliberated innocence.”