He's looking at steps to make the police force fully hospitable to out gay and lesbian officers and is planning a specialized unit to serve the city's LGBT community. There's a long article in the Inquirer today by Gail Shister.

"My goal is to create an environment where officers don't feel intimidated in any way," Ramsey said in a recent interview. "If they want to acknowledge [their sexuality], they should feel comfortable doing it." ....

Over the next two to three years, Ramsey hopes to have all police employees take gay-sensitivity training. Currently, only new recruits do.

The commissioner insists there is zero tolerance for any kind of discrimination in his department of 6,700. He also acknowledges that unless the culture changes, gay men and lesbians will continue to be reluctant to become police officers.

"What people do in their personal lives is not important. . . . I just want good cops," Ramsey said.

And on the idea of a special unit:

Ramsey is considering launching a full-time unit dedicated to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

Modeled on the pioneering, award-winning detachment he created in Washington in 2000, it would include two or three officers and a base in Center City's "gayborhood," roughly bounded by 11th, Broad, Chestnut and Pine Streets.

Many say such a unit would improve the under-reporting of hate crimes and domestic disturbances by the city's LGBT residents.

"They don't have faith that the police will do something," Ramsey says. "We want to make sure they feel comfortable telling us about any issue that needs to be addressed. . . . We need to be very sensitive to that."

Ramsey is also considering new liaison units for Asians and Hispanics.

The quote from Ramsey is particularly heartening: it shows an awareness of the depth and extent of the problems caused by a police force that has not historically dealt well with gay crime victims or suspects (ranging from direct abuse to corrosive insensitivity).

On the west coast: Today, CA Supreme Court says that domestic partnerships laws for same-sex couple are not good enough. Ruling demands marriage laws be put in place which means Cali will become the second state in nation to offer same-sex marriage by year's end. More from LA Times here.

On the east coast: PA State Senate almost passes a same-sex marriage ban to state constitution. Only withdraws because of committee assignment in the house. Danger still lurks.

Even if the original Gay Liberation movement of the early 70's (which like its friends in Black Power and Feminist movements was trying to blow the lid off the white male patriarchy) would have thought this a hollow victory because of its assimilation-oriented tilt, I can't help but be happy for Cali LGBT folks.

Same-sex marriage won't solve all of my community's problems at all (universal or expanded access to healthcare for all--see below--would help just as many of us, if not more), but it's still a step in the right direction. And California's victory is definitely the cause of one of those "tell me why I live in Philadelphia again" moments.

Our state senate is currently debating SB 1250 that would amend our state constitution to read:

No union other than a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as marriage or the functional equivalent of marriage by the Commonwealth.

The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference was nice enough to send their attorney to testify at a hearing on the bill yesterday. According to their press release:

Citing the 2004 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision in Devlin v. City of Philadelphia (580 Pa. 564, 862 A.2d 1234), Connell said, "Essentially, the Court said that the City could grant health benefits and maintain domestic partnership status for those in its employ and that the
conferral of such benefits and the creation of the status was not the functional equivalent of marriage.

"The language means that the Pennsylvania courts or the General Assembly could not create a status just like marriage but by some other name, whether that might be a civil union or some other term not yet part of the popular vernacular. It does nothing more and nothing less."

Oh yeah, that's no big deal.

Now remember, PA already has a "baby DOMA" on the books (a state Defense of Marriage Act) which prohibits same-sex marriage. This bill would obviously take this a huge step further.

Two things (among many) really annoy me about this bill:

1. This is total Republican election-year hijinks, with no real agenda other than to turn out conservative voters for the Republican presidential nominee.
2. The drift of the One True Church away from its core mission, and into evangelical craziness and partisan politics (a la Rick Santorum) really bugs me.
   

First, the politics. Today's Inquirer contains a story about Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club' state senate forum last week (disclosure: a group I am the co-chair of). The article lays out the Democratic position on SB 1250, from the article:

The three candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo's seat are hoping to win the homosexual vote through a mix of personal connections and support for gay-friendly initiatives.

Their efforts, in turn, underscore the political influence of the gay community in the diverse First District, which stretches from Port Richmond to Philadelphia International Airport and includes Center City.

Two of the candidates - Anne Dicker and Larry Farnese - support gay marriage. John J. Dougherty says he is in favor of civil unions but would back legislation "to extend marriage to same-sex couples."

All three have promised to fight any effort to pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as existing only between a man and a woman and say they back legislation banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Their positions mirror those of Fumo, who has sponsored anti discrimination legislation and voted against measures seeking to ban same-sex marriage.

Thank God for the choice we have in all three of them, right? For the most part, Democrats are much better on LGBT issues, and certainly here in the city (though I wish Doc would support marriage too), than the Rs.

But the Republicans (and a few anti-gay idealouge Dems) in Harrisburg aren't just bad on LGBT issues, they actually see my community, and our needs, as an opportunity to create a wedge issue that they can use in the fall general election.

Any amendment to the state constitution must be brought before the voters after it passes both the house and the senate in the state assembly. And what better issue to draw McCain-timid Republicans to the polls than some good, old-fashioned lavender-baiting?

On the religion side: I got the Irish-Catholic and the Italian-Catholic in me. I am no practicing Catholic for sure, but I am a cultural catholic if you will. And like with my passing interest in the Eagles or SEPTA(as a very culturally Philadelphia), I sure wish the church would straighten up and fly right.

In the city of Philadelphia alone, 1/3 of all residents live in poverty. That really would have pissed JC off. There was a time (and maybe not for a long time, but a time) when fighting poverty was a priority at the Vatican.

And in fact, I used to know a staffer for the PA Catholic Conference (the group mentioned above) from my time as a welfare rights organizer. I traveled to Harrisburg monthly for a meeting of the PA Welfare Coalition which was fighting, at that time, to get the Republican-headed Department of Public Welfare to do a better job helping Pennsylvanians on cash assistance and Medicaid to get through the system.

The PA Catholic Conference then saw it as a priority to help fix welfare and address poverty: when did carrying the water against gays for Republicans become a bigger priority?

There's nowhere for a rant like this to go but down from here, but as someone who currently relies on the benefits reaped as a City employee domestic partner, and someone who wants the same rights as to be accessible to me as friggin' Brittany Spears gets, I must state for the record that SB 1250 is just not fair...and leaving aside all of our consternation about progressive issues in Philadelphia, the debate on this bill highlights the importance of statewide progressive (and even plain old Democratic party) organizing.

[Speaking of which, Kudos to Brady and everyone else who helped get the House to pass the health insurance bill yesterday!]

CORRECTION 3/19: Above, I say that one purpose of this bill is to get an anti-gay rights question on the ballot for the fall. That's wrong. This won't be something voters get to decide until 2009. Sorry for bad info.

On Tuesday, Liberty City LGBT Democratic club launched a petition addressed to Rep. Bill Keller of South Philadelphia. At that point, he was the only Philadelphia Democrat who had not agreed to co-sponsor House Bill 1400 (which will protect LGBT Pennsylvanians from discrimination in employment and housing).

Within 24 hours of the petition going out, Keller's office emailed us to let us know he would sign on as a co-sponsor of the bill. Here's what a staffer from his office had to say:

It has been brought to our attention that a petition will be circulating regarding HB 1400. Please know that the Representative has every intention of supporting the bill. Unfortunately, due to his hectic schedule he has been unable to go through all of the proposed bills. The Representative has gladly added his name to the bill and is now a co-sponsor of HB 1400.

Wow. This was a major victory for our all-volunteer group.

Right now, it is perfectly legal for an employer to decide not to hire you, or to fire you for being lesbian, gay, bi, or trans. Even though cities like Philadelphia have laws on the book that prevent employment and housing discrimination, there is no state-wide law. That means that 79% of Pennsylvanians do not have any protection against this kind of discrimination.

House Bill 1400 would protect LGBT people against discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. And, it is worth noting, that there are no states in the country that have legalized same-sex marriage or civil unions, without first passing a basic non-discrimination bill like HB 1400.

Before Tuesday, every member of the Philadelphia Democratic delegation to the state House had signed on as a co-sponsor of this bill--months ago--except Representative Bill Keller. We figured if we couldn't convince all of the Democrats from Philadelphia to support this bill, it'd be tough to pass in Harrisburg.

So we decided to target Keller, and get him to co-sponsor the bill too. And, apparently, it worked.

The bill has strong momentum statewide with over 77 co-sponsors (78 including Keller), and it will hopefully be voted on, and passed into law this session. However, as great as it will be when passed, the road to full legal rights for LGBT Pennsylvanians is still quite long even with HB 1400 as law.

That's why we've invited Representative Keller to attend our candidate's night next week. There are many other issues that matter to the LGBT community--like improving the options for LGBT foster kids, creating better healthcare options for our community, providing services to queer seniors, securing same-sex marriage, and more. Keller is facing a primary opponent in his South Philadelphia district, and we'd like to know where he--and his opponent--stand on these issues.

In fact, we have invited all of the candidates running in contested state house races to speak before Liberty City, to tell us what they plan to do for the LGBT community in Philadelphia if elected. If you'd like to join us at our State House Candidate night, click here to RSVP.

In the meantime, I am proud that our Liberty City petition had an impact largely because I think it is really important that every single one of us be able to effect meaningful change. Our democracy is supposed to be owned by all of us. But it does not always feel like our individual voices matter. It may be on a small scale, but this petition is some proof that the collective voices of the grassroots can be powerful.

Earlier tonight, I attended the wedding of Ryan Bunch and Micah Majoubian at City Hall. As I walked up to the building before the ceremomy, I was pretty surprised to see about 20 protesters. Apparently these crazies can read, and had seen the front page Inky article about the wedding earlier this week.

The article detailed Mayor Street's role officiating this ceremony. The Mayor had said he would not sign a marriage certificate, but was simply officiating a non-legally binding ceremony as a friend of Micah's.

The protesters felt that the Mayor's participation was inappropriate so they threw some signs in their trunks, with sayings like "Homosexuality is a Sin" and quotations from Corinthians and Leviticus, and came downtown to protest.

Boy is that First Amendment pesky.

I don't dispute these folks' right to protest, but I gotta tell you, I was shocked by their disrespect. There's a Bridezilla lurking inside of me, so even though this wasn't my wedding, all I could think was "leave them alone, it's their SPECIAL DAY!"

In all seriousness, who would protest a wedding? Well, obviously the radical right would. These protesters were from Repent America, the group that has made a nuisance of itself protesting Philly gay pride events. Their brethren in [the perversion of] Christ, like God Hates Fags, have been perfectly happy to protest at funerals in the past. Tacky.

So anyway, I see all these protesters. And I gotta tell you it hurt my feelings some. I don't know if I mentioned this before, But I'm gay. And as much as I know homophobia exists in the abstract, it's always upsetting when it hits you in the face. Joel, my boyfriend, acts fast. He grabs my hand and we walk past a phalanx of protesters and police into City Hall.

The ceremony itself was great. The Mayor did a great job, and as much as he made point to the Inquirer that this was not going to be a marriage ceremony, save the marriage certificate, that's exactly what it was.

After the service we all troop outside to blow bubbles and send Micah and Ryan off to the reception in CarShare Mini Cooper. We've all done the blowing bubbles/throwing rice thing before right? Ever try it with 20 right-wing nut job protesters?

My intention in this post (at which I may be failing) is not to lecture about the need for LGBT rights. That should be obvious. And for the record, I get that Mayor Street officiating at a wedding at City Hall opened the door for a private event to be publicly protested. However, today's events do inspire me to share is that the issues we talk about here are real.

I mean I guess that's obvious right, but to see protesters today at a private event (not Outfest or Equality Forum) is a reminder to me that there are no polite battle lines. And not just on LGBT issues either.

It may not be customary to see protesters at the homes of low-income Philadelphians with signs that say "you deserve to be poor," but the assault by predatory lenders, gentrifiers, the gun lobby, insurance companies, and others is just as personal.

More simply put, the lack of progressivity in our local, state, and national laws is no accident. Sometimes it's because of incompetence and laziness and petty politics and/or corruption. But sometimes our lack of progressivity is because of plain old selfishness and greed and wrong-headedness.

I know politics is personal, but sometimes I forget how personal. Today was a good opportunity to reaffirm that.

UPDATE, 2:53PM: In a vote of 27-21, the HELP committee has passed a non-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act. A full floor vote is next. Only four Democrats voted against this non-inclusive bill: Reps. Yvette Clark, Loretta Sanchez, Rush Holt and Dennis Kucinich. I don't know what Sestak's rationale for voting for a non-inclusive bill is yet. It must be tough for him with the speaker and other House Dem leaders pushing for this bill. However, a non-inclusive bill does not do anything to address the core problems inherent to LGBT workplace discrimination. I'll provide more of an update on next steps when it becomes clear what they are

Dear Congressman,

A lot of us here in Philadelphia vocally supported you last fall. You were a hero on this and other local blogs, and local grassroots groups like Philly for Change and Liberty City endorsed you, and helped your campaign. That's why it's exciting to me that your vote on the markup of a bill today could make a big difference.

Today, your committee (the House Education and Labor committee) will meet at 10 AM and vote to mark up a bill called ENDA to extend employment rights to lesbians and gays. Currently there is no federal law protecting non-heterosexuals from being fired for having sex, in non-working hours, with someone else of the same sex.

Passage of this bill would be a big step forward in establishing, under law, a set of rights and a class of protection for gays and lesbians. However, some members of the queer community have never been able to get or keep jobs, not because of who they sleep with, but because of who they are.

That's right, I am talking about nellies, sissies, butches, genderqueer, and transgender people. Some of these folks identify as a different gender than the sex they were born with, and some identify fully as the sex they were born with--they're just more feminine or masculine than the norm.

These are the people who face the most discrimination in the workplace, and yet some of your colleagues want to remove protections from ENDA that would designate gender identity and gender presentation as protected classes under the law.