In recent years, more and more members of the LGBTQ+ community have been running for public office, and many have been elected. In 2022, Pennsylvania is home to over 61 LGBTQ elected officials. LGBTQ Pennsylvanians are state representatives, mayors, judges, commissioners, council members and school board directors.
In 2005, Judge Ann Butchart was the first out LGBTQ person to be elected in Pennsylvania when she won her race for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. In 2021, numerous LGBTQ candidates across the state won election, including in Philadelphia and its surrounding areas. Here is a look at the 22 currently serving LGBTQ elected officials in the Philadelphia region.
State Representatives
Malcolm Kenyatta, Pa. House of Representatives, District 181
Currently running for the U.S. Senate, Kenyatta won his seat in the Pennsylvania House in 2018. Before being elected, he taught performance art to youth through the organization Mighty Writers while working a job at Hahnemann Hospital, and he served as a member of Equality PA and Liberty City Democratic Club. During his time as state representative, Kenyatta has fought for diversity, equity and inclusion for all minority demographics, including people of color and LGBTQ+ communities.
Brian Sims, Pa. House of Representatives, District 182
Sims, who is running for Lt. Governor this year, was elected to the state house in 2012. He previously worked for the Philadelphia Bar Association and served as chairman of the Philadelphia LGBTQ Bar Association and president of Equality Pennsylvania. During his time as state legislator, Sims’ efforts include authoring a sex education bill, lobbying against gerrmandering in Pennsylvania, and co-drafting Pennsylvania’s Marriage Equality Act.
Mayors
Franny DiCicco, Mayor of Folcroft
Before being sworn in as mayor of Folcroft in January 2022, DiCicco worked as executive director of Philly Pride Presents for roughly 30 years. In that role, she spearheaded the planning of Philadelphia’s annual Pride celebration and OutFest celebration. In a recent interview with PGN, DiCicco said, “I’ve always been about unifying. I’m going to be inclusive and I am community-conscious.”
Council Members
David Bria, Yardley Borough Council
Bria took office in 2017 and became council president in 2020. His accomplishments in office include helping to pass an ordinance protecting LGBTQ people from employment discrimination as well as a new floodplain ordinance.
Tim Hayes, Dublin Borough Council
According to Hayes’ Twitter account, he is a veteran working toward his Masters in Public Administration, and he has a B.A. in history. Hayes’ campaign Facebook account indicates that his priorities as member of the council include enhancing Dublin’s infrastructure, making environmentally conscious decisions and maintaining the health of small businesses.
Alex Myers, Hatboro Borough Council
Before joining the Hatboro Council in 2022, Myers worked with the Hatboro Fall Fun Festival, with the Union Library of Hatboro, as an EMT-Basic with Second Alarmer’s Association and Rescue Squad and served a term on the Vacancy Board of Hatboro Council. Professionally, he worked as a Korean linguist for the U.S. Army in California and as an intelligence analyst at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station. In addition to serving on the council, he is currently president of Hatboro’s Elm Street Philanthropic Board, a member of Rotary International and serves on the board of The Welcome Project, PA.
Anne Pavone, West Norriton Township Board of Commissioners
An application engineer and troubleshooter at a healthcare software company, Pavone assumed office in 2020 and is described on the West Norriton Township website as “a tenacious problem solver and team player.” Her political priorities include local and large-scale environmental issues and maintaining fairness in government.
Lori Schreiber, Abington Township Board of Commissioners and Montgomery County Clerk of Courts
As a commissioner since 2006, Schreiber places importance on economic development and public safety. She has been a member of numerous revitalization and economic development committees, and has sponsored street fairs that have helped drive traffic to businesses in the Roslyn business district. She became the first openly LGBTQ row officer in the state when she was elected Clerk of Courts in 2019.
Robert Szwajkos, Borough of Newton Council
Szwajkos was elected in 2019, and he has been active in the local LGBTQ community for many years. He has been a participant in the Gay Games, a guest conductor for Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus and, as an attorney, counsel for LGBTQ organizations and HIV/AIDS groups. He previously ran Team Philadelphia — the umbrella organization for the region’s 11 LGBT sports organizations and 1,200 participants.
School Board Members
Meredith Hegg, Upper Darby School Board Director
Prior to her election to the school board in 2018, Hegg taught high school math in North Philadelphia and college math at Harvard University. She currently works as a math instructor at Temple University, and volunteers with Citizens Climate Lobby and PennEnvironment.
David Neill, Upper Darby School Board Director
In addition to serving as school board director, Neill teaches middle school computer science in the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District, and previously taught in Philadelphia and other suburban towns. As school board director, he fights for fair funding in the state legislature, works to secure more support for early childhood education opportunities in the district, and advocates for all children to be able to access quality facilities and technologies.
Damien Warsavage, Upper Darby School District Board of Directors
Warsavage took office in 2019, and he previously worked as site leader for Young People in Recovery’s E.P.I.C. program, and he later went on to serve as the organization’s national program partnership coordinator. He fights for equitable funding for Upper Darby public schools, LGBTQ+ youth rights and boosting access to substance abuse recovery support services in the school district.
Election Officials
Jeffrey Scher, Philadelphia Judge of Election
Scher was elected in 2021. As a Judge of Election, Scher is “responsible for overseeing the entire election process and voter activities for his Division. Each Judge is charged with conducting the Division’s polling place in accordance with Federal and State election laws.”
Judges
Daniel Anders, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas
Before becoming a judge in 2007, Anders spent nine years as a litigator for Pepper Hamilton LLP, where he devoted hundreds of hours to doing pro bono legal counsel for LGBTQ individuals and organizations. He was president of the International Association of LGBTQ+ Judges from 2017-2020. Anders previously worked in the civil, criminal and family divisions of the court before being promoted to Supervising Judge of the Civil Division in 2020. His main responsibility is to lead roughly 30 trial judges through civil cases in a range of areas, from medical malpractice claims to tax and zoning appeals.
Ann Butchart, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas
Prior to her tenure as judge, Butchart worked as a lawyer in her own private practice, where she practiced civil law in the areas of Social Security Disability, personal bankruptcy, employee benefit claims, estate administration and zoning for nonprofit community groups. As an activist, she founded the Kensington South Community Development Corporation, and has served on the board of Liberty City LGBTQ+ Democratic Club. She has been a member of the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Chapter of Dignity.
Dan Clifford, Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas
Before taking the bench in 2016, Clifford worked as managing partner at the law firms Weber Gallagher, LLP and Wolf Block. He specialized in family and domestic law while practicing privately. His involvement in the legal community includes serving as a member of the Montgomery County Bar Association and chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section. He has also served on the boards of Adoptions From the Heart and the Equality Forum, and on the advisory board of Office of Children and Youth.
Abbe Fletman, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas
In the years preceding her judicial appointment in 2014, Fletman practiced law privately and at the law firms Wolf Block and Flaster Greenberg. In her private practice, she focused on complex litigation and commercial disputes. She helped launch the LGBT Litigator Committee in the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association, served as co-chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Legal Rights of Lesbians and Gay Men Committee and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Legal Intelligencer.
Idee Fox, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas
Fox became a judge in 1995 and was elected President Judge in 2018, a job that entails carrying out court rules, assigning newly elected or appointed judges to a division of the court and supervising Election Court to ensure that all citizens can express their right to vote. At the start of her judicial career, she worked in the Domestic Relations Section of the Family Court Division for over a decade, and served as supervising judge for four years of her tenure there. Before entering the Court of Common Pleas, Fox worked in private practice in a variety of legal areas.
Chris Mallios, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas
Before being elected as judge in 2015, Mallios worked as assistant district attorney in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, where he became head of the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Unit. He later worked for the company Aequitas, where he educated law enforcement and criminal justice professionals around the U.S. on how to correctly handle sexual violence cases. He also worked as the sexual-violence investigative officer for the University of Pennsylvania.
Barbara McDermott, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas
Before becoming a judge in 2012, McDermott began working in the field of law as special deputy attorney general for the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, where she worked in the Toxic Waste Investigation and Prosecution Unit. She later worked as an assistant district attorney in the homicide unit. In 2001, she started her own practice as a sole practitioner. She has been a member of the Philadelphia Prisoners’ Family Welfare Association and served on the board of the Urban Redevelopment Corporation.
Tiffany Palmer, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas
Prior to becoming a judge in 2020, Palmer co-founded and practiced at the law firm Jerner & Palmer, P.C. in 2003, which focuses on adoption, family law, assisted reproductive technology law, estate planning and estate administration. Through her work at the firm, Palmer helped further the legal rights of LGBTQ+ families in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Gregory Yorgey-Girdy, Philadelphia Municipal Court
Leading up to his election in 2021, Yorgey-Girdy worked as an attorney specializing in litigation, conflicts and compliance. As an advocate and activist, he co-chaired Liberty City LGBTQ Democratic Club, played a lead role in organizing 2020’s Philly Queer March for Black Lives and served on the board of Philadelphia Family Pride. As a judge, Yorgey-Girdy prioritizes instilling public trust in the justice system, promoting an environment of fairness and making Philadelphia’s courts accessible to all communities.