National politics debated during Philadelphia celebrations by Tracy Baim, Windy City Times 2015-07-02
This article shared 4547 times since Thu Jul 2, 2015
There was a discussion of LGBT politics July 2, 2015 in Philadelphia as part of the 50th Anniversary of the city's Reminder Day events, 1965-1969. The discussion was held in the historic Congress Hall, where the U.S. House of Representatives met from 1790 to 1800.
On the panel were Kirk Fordham, executive director, Gill Action Fund; Kate Kendell, executive director, National Center for Lesbian Rights; Stacey Long Simmons, director of public policy and government affairs, National LGBTQ Task Force; Malcolm Lazin, chair of the 50th anniversary celebration; and moderator Kevin Naff of the Washington Blade.
Kendell started the program with a discussion of the regional and national strategy on marriage equality, saying that the state-by-state work soon eclipsed the national plans, thus causing a shift in the work. She lauded the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing marriage across the country, but said there is still much work to be done on a wide range of LGBT issues.
Simmons, who is a former Chicagoan, discussed the importance of working with and on other social justice organizations and issues including voting rights, immigration, #BlackLivesMatter and racially motivated police targeting of minority communities.
Fordham said there is a need to still focus on political races, pushing both Democrats and Republicans on LGBT issues, at a local and national level.
This article shared 4547 times since Thu Jul 2, 2015
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