It’s great to get one project over with and move on to the next. In writing my memoir (which is officially published next week), I have seen that this is something I seem to have done my entire life.
Last week, we finished up a yearlong campaign of attempting to bring the message to Pope Francis that LGBT people in the Catholic Church deserve respect and freedom from discrimination. That message was capped in Philadelphia at his last U.S. stop for the World Meeting of Families.
To accomplish our goal, we worked with over a dozen Catholic organizations seeking LGBT equality in the Church to hold an LGBT Catholic Families Picnic at the John C. Anderson Apartments, the LGBT-friendly affordable senior-living building. The event brought LGBT activists from around the nation under one roof, and included an address by Democratic nominee for mayor Jim Kenney.
Kenney’s earlier statements suggested that Mayor Michael Nutter speak to Pope Francis on the subject of LGBT rights.
And Nutter did us proud. Speaking at Independence Hall before the pope’s address on Saturday, the mayor said, “In America, everyone has rights. Our lesbian, gay and bisexual citizens continue to fight for equality.”
“Keep fighting for your rights,” he added. “It’s a collective fight. And there are many others fighting with you.”
This was the only time we know of during the pope’s U.S. visit where the issue was publicly and formally addressed.
Now that the papal visit is over, for me it’s on to the next project — and that will be the release of “And Then I Danced,” publishing Oct. 6. You can get a copy at your local bookstore or online.
I’m overwhelmed and downright humbled by the great reviews my book has received, already hitting the number-one spot of new LGBT releases on Amazon.com. I’ll be setting off on a book tour that will span the next two months and next week we’ll make a little history with the book-launch parties.
And that’s my tease for next week’s column.