After two years at the helm of the city’s Office of LGBT Affairs, Nellie Fitzpatrick may be stepping down.
Fitzpatrick did not respond to repeated requests for comment, nor did a spokesperson for Mayor Jim Kenney, but a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to PGN the identities of several individuals who had interviewed with the mayor for the position. Interviews started in early January, according to the source.
It is unclear what prompted Fitzpatrick’s potential departure.
She had been the target of criticism from some members of the LGBT community in recent months, particularly the Black & Brown Workers Collective, which contended her response to allegations of racism in the community was ineffective. The group had been calling for her resignation since the fall, a demand that was met by several statements of support for Fitzpatrick from Kenney.
Also in the fall, Kenney’s office announced the formation of the Mayor’s Commission on LGBT Affairs. The selected members were expected to be chosen by the end of 2016, but the final panel has yet to be publicly announced.
Previous administrations have utilized LGBT-advisory bodies, but this new commission will be the first established after the Office of LGBT Affairs became a permanent part of government; city voters approved that move in a ballot initiative in the fall of 2015.
Fitzpatrick was appointed to the position by outgoing Mayor Michael Nutter after the death of inaugural director Gloria Casarez in October 2014.