Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect concerns from the Black and Brown Workers Collective. A quote from Abdul-Aliy Muhammad was not correctly transcribed from an audio recording of a public action at City Hall. It has been corrected. Other quotes arising from conversations that were not audio recorded have been removed, absent a method to double check their accuracy.
Diversity training with bar owners in the Gayborhood is not a good enough goal, said Shani Akilah Robin, a spokeswoman for the Black and Brown Workers Collective in Philadelphia. She said specific training on anti-black and anti-brown racism needs to take place. That way, people of color do not solely bear the weight of reporting discrimination.
Responding to limited action on a four-point anti-racism strategy developed by Philadelphia Black Pride after town hall meetings late last year, the Black and Brown Workers Collective delivered a letter Sept. 23 to Nellie Fitzpatrick, director of the Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs. The group set a deadline of one week for a response.
Fitzpatrick was not immediately available for comment.
City Hall action
Collective representatives and community members stood outside City Hall for an hour that afternoon and shared experiences with racism in the Gayborhood.
Abdul-Aliy Muhammad said people have recently been denied entry to ICandy for wearing Timberland boots and to Woody’s for wearing athletic pants.
“We know who those policies actually impact,” he said. “They impact black people and brown people disproportionately.”
“We want to hold the Office of LGBT Affairs accountable because this is about intersectionality, right?” Muhammad added. “Those most vulnerable need to be at the table to discuss anti-blackness when it pertains to the Gayborhood.”
Speaking a second time at the action, he said, “We know that any movement that’s a social justice movement, that’s a movement that is against oppression…needs to address the multiple identities that a person can hold.”
The collective demands to Fitzpatrick, which are paraphrased here, include:
1) The Office of LGBT Affairs must compensate black and brown LGBTQIA community members who are advising the office on issues of racism in the Gayborhood. Robin said the collective is not aware of any specific people of color currently consulting with the office. But members want a policy put in place that stipulates payment for those who share their experiences. Robin said it could be an hourly rate, but stressed people asked to give advice should be able to set their own wage, if they wish.
2) More stakeholders besides Philadelphia Black Pride need to participate in creating anti-racism strategies.
3) Black and brown LGBTQIA youth without stable housing, youth who engage in sex work and youth who are not represented in major organizations should be invited to offer input on anti-racism strategies.
4) The Office of LGBT Affairs should formally recognize intersectionality and the fact that it makes black and brown LGBTQIA people more vulnerable in LGBTQIA spaces.
Le Thomas, president of Philadelphia Black Pride, was not immediately available for comment.
D’Ontace Keyes, former chief creative officer with Philadelphia Black Pride, attended a portion of the City Hall action.
“People are activated for change and I’m in solidarity of that,” he wrote in an email to PGN after the action. “However, it’s challenging to support contention of strategies and resources when they should be leveraged to propel the agenda. Crafted communications have sensationalized the conversation and provoked a divide that is not proactive. I hope we can soon move from a reactionary agenda to one that navigates and disrupts the cycle.”
While Keyes is no longer involved in the daily operations of Philadelphia Black Pride, he helped lead last year’s town hall meetings. He said the organization’s mission includes building equity for LGBT people of color, and hoped collaboration among activists could be possible. Keyes and Robin spoke privately while walking toward the Gayborhood.
About two-dozen people marched to some LGBT bars after the Black and Brown Workers Collective delivered its letter to Fitzpatrick’s office. Muhammad said he also emailed the letter.
They walked down the center of 12th Street with some police presence in tow.
At ICandy, collective members left a pair of Timberland boots out front.
Putting a plan into action
Over the summer, Philadelphia received a $75,000 grant from the nonprofit Living Cities to improve racial equality in government operations. Robin brought the grant to PGN’s attention.
Ajeenah Amir, a spokeswoman from the mayor’s office, said in a Sept. 23 email to PGN that she would look into how that money is being spent or what the city’s plans are for any remaining funds.
As of that evening, information was not yet available about if or how the grant could be used to fund initiatives aimed at combatting racism in the Gayborhood. The city has some limits on how it can influence the operation of private businesses, officials have said.
Robin said Fitzpatrick should consider lobbying Philadelphia City Council for funds to hire a policy analyst for the Office of LGBT Affairs. That person could review city laws and make sure there are no loopholes that would make black and brown LGBT people vulnerable in public accommodations.
History repeating itself
Aaron Libson, who participated in a group that produced a 19-page report on racism in Gayborhood bars in 1986, called it disappointing that the same discrimination continues today.
The report made by the Coalition on Lesbian-Gay Bar Policies recommended that LGBT bars adopt a uniform policy on requesting identification. Libson said he’d seen African-American men in their 30s turned away from bars because they didn’t have identification, while white men were permitted to enter without proving their age.
He said the report was shared with representatives of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations. Libson said some of those officials participated in test groups to observe bar policies in practice.
It’s not clear if the human relations commission undertook further action as a result of the report. Rue Landau, executive director of the commission, was not immediately available for comment.
Libson said people could also try petitioning the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. If the board finds certain bar practices discriminatory, they could take steps to remove an establishment’s liquor license.
The liquor control board, in its “Identification Information” document says carding is not required and licensees are permitted to establish “certain house rules,” as long as they are not “based upon illegally discriminatory reasons, such as race, gender or religion.”
The board recommends “verifying the age of a patron by checking identification cards each and every time a patron is in the licensed establishment [to help] ensure that a licensee will not be in violation of the law,” meaning serving people under the age of 21.