So what do the pope, the Democrats and the LGBT community have in common? Stay with me on this.
As this column appears, the pope will be about to arrive in Philadelphia. Welcome, your holiness. We hope and pray your stay is successful. Your LGBT Catholic family from across the nation is here in the city ready to greet you, if you wish to speak with them.
However, your local archdiocese has not been very welcoming to them. They even evicted them from your Church. But we have found space for them Sept. 26 at the John C. Anderson LGBT-friendly senior affordable apartment building, where they will be welcomed and free to celebrate as a faithful family.
But the pope’s visit is short, a mere 48 hours. And then he will be gone. But as he exits, the Democrats begin to plan their national convention for July. And where is it? Philadelphia.
But there is a major difference between these two large-scale events. While the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was discriminatory towards the LGBT community, the Democrats want LGBT people to know that they are not only welcomed, but they want our participation in the event. They want this to be the most diversified Democratic National Convention in the nation’s history, and that involves LGBT inclusion.
There are many ways you can be a part of this major experience coming to Philadelphia and share your pride in your city and community. You can be a volunteer or vendor, your organization can host an event or you can help plan events for our LGBT delegates, which is set to be the largest LGBT contingent in DNC history.
If you hear the pride in my words, you might guess that I’ve been on the planning committee, and now I want to invite you to join me on one of many subcommittees to make our delegates and our media welcomed here in Philadelphia.
Here are the basics for now.
If you are an LGBT business, you can register to be a vendor for the convention. Registered vendors will be added to our 2016 Vendor Directory that will be used by the host committee and DNC Committee to help find suppliers and services for their respective needs. The directory will also be given to third parties interested in holding events affiliated with the convention. Visit www.phldnc.com/philadelphia-2016-vendor-form/ for more information or to register.
If you’d like to be a volunteer, and we will need thousands of them, follow this link: www.phldnc.com/help-make-history/.
This is just the beginning. But a great beginning it is.