National marriage equality was by far the biggest LGBT newsmaker of 2015 but, locally, a number of folks made tremendous strides toward advancing LGBT equality in other areas. Here are just a few of our local leaders whose hard work, courage and dedication made Philadelphia a more fair and equal city this past year.
John Cunningham and Bob Skiba
Cunningham and Skiba both deserve recognition for their work spearheading the 50th-anniversary celebration of the Annual Reminder Days, one of the first LGBT-rights demonstrations in the country. It originally took place July 4, 1965, outside Independence Hall.
The anniversary event included community members — dressed up in slacks and skirts to harken back to 1960s civil disobedience — restaging the march. There was also an outdoor ceremony that featured comedian Wanda Sykes and a luncheon with Edie Windsor, the plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case that defeated the Defense of Marriage Act, and Judy Shepard, the mother of murdered gay college student Matthew Shepard.
Cunningham is a lifelong LGBT advocate and Skiba serves as an archivist at William Way LGBT Community Center. The community center took an active role in organizing the 50th-anniversary event.
William Way executive director Chris Bartlett this fall praised Cunningham for conceiving of “Speaking Out for Equality,” an exhibit at the National Constitution Center detailing the LGBT-rights movement’s history and intersection with the Constitution. Skiba curated the exhibit, which is populated with documents, photos and ephemera telling the story of Philadelphia’s role in the movement.
More than 23,000 people have toured the exhibit since its opening in the spring. “Speaking Out” closes Jan. 3.
Naiymah Sanchez
Sanchez is a force to be reckoned with in the local transgender community, expanding programs for the Trans-Health Information Project at GALAEI: A Queer Latin@ Social Justice Organization, leading the Trans* March and helping to procure a proper burial for slain trans woman Diamond Williams.
Williams was buried Nov. 14 at St. Miriam Parish in Flourtown, two years after her murder in Strawberry Mansion.
Helen Ubinas, a columnist with the Philadelphia Daily News, wrote about her quest to have Williams’ grandmother claim Williams’ cremated remains from the city Medical Examiner’s Office. Ubinas said she couldn’t convince any of Williams’ family members to claim the remains, so she turned to GALAEI.
“They reacted so fast, I barely beat Naiymah Sanchez to the Medical Examiner’s Office on University Avenue,” Ubinas wrote in October.
Sanchez claimed the remains and wrapped them in the transgender flag. Before the burial, which Sanchez took the lead on arranging, Williams’ ashes were stored on a mantel at GALAEI with photos of other transgender women who had died.
Sanchez remembered meeting Williams through the Trans-Health Information Project. She said the two became friends.
Sanchez was also influential in organizing this year’s Trans* March, the fifth-annual event, which saw its largest crowd yet.
Dr. Rachel Levine
Dr. Levine became the first transgender person appointed to a governor’s cabinet in Pennsylvania. Gov. Tom Wolf appointed her last year and the state Senate confirmed Levine to the post in June, making her the first transgender woman to serve as physician general.
In an interview at the time with PGN, Levine said, “The biggest health problem we have in our state is the opioid crisis.”
She signed a standing order in October that makes it possible for anyone in Pennsylvania to obtain naloxone, a medication that can reverse an overdose caused by an opioid drug.
“Dr. Levine has been a hugely important part of the Wolf administration,” said Jeff Sheridan, the governor’s press secretary. “She serves as a top advisor. We rely on Dr. Levine for many different areas.”
In addition to creating instruction for nurse practitioners, dentists and pharmacists among others regarding how to respond to patients who may be experiencing an overdose, Levine has traveled the state with officials from the Department of Health educating people on the importance of vaccinating children.
On World AIDS Day last month, she spoke about the state Health Department’s policy goals for HIV. She discussed issues that affect people living with HIV that Wolf has tackled since taking office, including eliminating the asset test to determine eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and increasing funding for the housing trust fund.
She also served as a grand marshal of the Philadelphia Pride parade in June.
Margie Winters
Winters became a focal point of the discussion on LGBTs in the Catholic Church this past summer.
In June, Winters was fired from her job as director of religious education at Waldron Mercy Academy in Lower Merion Township because she’s married to a woman, Andrea Vettori
The Catholic school knew of Winters’ marriage when she was hired, and it wasn’t until a parent complained to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that the school fired her.
Dozens of parents and students rallied around her, even starting a Facebook group called “Stand with Margie.” The page continues to post updates related to gay people who are fired from positions with Catholic institutions.
At a Papal Picnic held in September at the John C. Anderson Apartments in the Gayborhood, Winters and Vettori addressed a crowd of about 50.
“We recognize that we are standing on the shoulders of many of you who have fought this fight for many years,” Winters said. “We feel very humbled to be elevated at this time because we’re newcomers to this crowd. We thank all of you for all you’ve done throughout the years to allow this situation to have risen so high in this community and in the Catholic community. It could’ve just been a blip on the screen, but because of all of your struggle, it isn’t.”