Tag Archives: Bruce Kraus

LGBTQ&A: Matt Merriman-Preston Believes Politics Can Make It Better

An occasional series where we pose some questions to local LGBTQ folks (and Allies) to learn more about their personal experiences with LGBTQ culture. Click here for a complete list of all LGBTQ&A profiles.

I can’t remember how/when I met Matt, but he is one of the first people to come to mind when I think of the words “ally” or “feminist.” Not kidding in the least – Matt embodies those concepts. Matt has directed some of the major progressive victories in this region and is currently spearheading Bill Peduto’s campaign for Mayor among others. What I really like about Matt is that he believes in a better Pittsburgh & he dedicates himself to that vision. And Matt is one of those rare people who can really laugh at himself – a great quality.

Name: Matt Merriman-Preston

Affiliation: Political Consultant / Principal, Ampersand Consulting

Matt and his sister.

Tell us about the very first LGBTQ person you met and what that meant for you. I was the first person in my family who my sister came out to. I was really honored that she trusted me in that way at a time when she was really uncertain about how the rest of the family would react. (They were supportive and quite loving through the whole process.) I had to teach myself how to rise up to the responsibility of being a loving and supporting older brother — was it better to show excitement or nonchalance? In the end, it came pretty naturally to continue to be a friend and to keep equality as a central part to my political identity.

How do you stay informed on LGBTQ issues? My twitter & facebook feeds are a constant stream of news and information that’s important to me, including local & worldwide news on issues important to the LGBTQ community.

What is the most important issue facing the LGBTQ community today? The fight for marriage equality and the rapidly increasing acceptance are going to be judged by history as one of the most important social movements of this time, but I still think that the most important immediate issues facing the LGBTQ community are bread and butter, pocketbook issues. There’s a continuing fight for workplace equality. Pennsylvania lags behind other states in terms of protection from housing discrimination. Young people who are LGBTQ-identified are at a much higher risk for homelessness and suicide. It’s hard to really narrow all of our needs down to one over-riding issue, but with each political victory that we gain, the next should be that much closer.

If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing in Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ community, what would it be? It shouldn’t be a shock, considering my profession, but I’d like to see more outright, grassroots activism in support of candidates who are good on our issues. I’d like to see more people voting & volunteering for and giving money to good candidates. I’d like to see real organizing within the LGBTQ community that supports elected officials — like Bill Peduto, Natalia Rudiak, Bruce Kraus, Erin Molchany, and others — who have a real and demonstrated commitment to equality. When I see leaders of LGBTQ-focused organizations supporting candidates who have been openly hostile to equality, it’s no wonder to me that real, significant organizing can seem like such an impossible task.

Past or present, favorite LGBTQ character in television, film or literature? I always really loved the way that Michael C. Hall’s character was portrayed in Six Feet Under. His struggles always felt more real to me than the caricatures that I was used to seeing.

What is one simple thing a reader can do to support the LGBTQ community? Vote in each and every election. Support candidates that support equality.

Learn more about Matt’s political consulting work at his website. You can also follow @MyCampaignology on Twitter.

If you know someone we should interview for LGBTQ&A, please email us pghlesbian at gmail.

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Do You Hear the People Sing? Pittsburgh’s Latest LGBTQ Rally

Yesterday, we attended a rally to support survivors of an alleged assault that took place at a bar on Pittsburgh’s South Side. A small group of queer women reported that they were at Margaritaville, accosted by a group of six men and two of them were physically assaulted. Their crime? Being self-identified “studs” which they believe threatens heterosexual men. The entire group was ejected from Margaritaville leaving the two women to be further assaulted. Both are recovering and police reports have been filed, according to information shared at the rally.

Around 60 people came out on a cold January afternoon to stand near Margaritaville and discuss what happened. They mounted the steps of the local branch of the Carnegie Library, under a sign that said “Free to the People” and spoke their pieces, turn by turn using a borrowed megaphone. They discussed this specific event and tied it to ongoing larger experiences of violence in our society – violence for being LGBTQ.

Some called for boycotts of businesses that aren’t more vigilant for the safety of their LGBTQ patrons, others reminded us that we should be able to patronize any business and not be subjected to violence. Some mentioned the ludicrous situation of being a professional businessperson having to worry about using a bathroom. Others mentioned being unable to find work because they live their lives openly.

Cries for “a zero tolerance policy against violence against LGBTQ people” echoed through the crowd. A lot of whistles of appreciation and applause when City Councilman Bruce Kraus addressed the group and simply said “This is a new day. Our President stands with us. We all have the right to live violence free.”

For more information on upcoming events, visit the Facebook event page which remains active. JourDyn and Emprez are healing, thankfully. People are organizing and you can get invoved if you are interested.

How can you not be? This isn’t about two women at a bar. They didn’t do anything wrong. And they did everything right – reporting the crime, telling the community. They aren’t alone – this happens to each of us, this violence. We all know – it gets better, but it is still there and it still threatens us. We all live in a state with not a single statewide right for us – if I could have said anything yesterday, I would have wanted to try to clarify the legal mismash of bad information that was floating around. But it is very complicated. And we don’t have anyone on the ground synthesizing this for us.

We deserve to live our lives free from violence. As I watched Emprez slowly make her way up the steps to speak, I could see the effort it took – she was really hurting.

What will you do today – this week – to speak out against this violence?

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Do You Believe Stonewall Democrats Are Relevant to Political Discourse?

Stonewall Democrats – national – is in dire straights financially. This is deplorable. I don’t agree with their positions on all things, but I agree very much with this particular statement:

In far too many places, the Democratic Party structures at the state and local level maintain a less than hospitable attitude toward LGBT equality and they are holding us back. In places where there are few openly LGBT elected officials and/or party leaders, stagnation and intransigence has taken hold.

Take a look around and see for yourself that Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania are among these areas.

In the past 6 years, Democrats have voted or expressed support for a “marriage protection” amendment and many of them are from our region.
We have one Democrat in the US House of Representatives from all of Western Pennsylvania.
Soon to be former Congressman Mark Critz – D voted against every single LGBT piece of legislation. His successor is a Tea Party Republican so that won’t change.
Pittsburgh did not even register on the Municipal Equality Rankings of the Human Rights Campaign.
IMHO, there’s a witchhunt against openly gay City Councilor Bruce Kraus.
City Councilor Ricky Burgess continues to refuse to support Pittsburgh PrideFest because he thinks its too sexualized. Well, I don’t believe that rationalization for a minute – he’s acting from homophobia. That’s a serious problem.
It took until 2012 for Allegheny County employees to be offered domestic partner benefits and it could be years before that’s negotiated with each union.
In the City of Pittsburgh, the Firefighters and Paramedic unions do not offer domestic partner benefits even though they’ve been available for nearly 20 years.
and more

Yes, good things have happened, but the above list is reason why we need to maintain a strong independent voice in the Democratic Party. I urge you to consider a modest donation.

For Immediate Release

View Online: http://lgbtde.ms/11ErkEM

December 5, 2012

Contact: Jerame Davis

202-625-1382 or 317-213-4148

jdavis@stonewalldemocrats.org

National Stonewall Democrats Facing Serious Budget Gap; May Be Forced to Close Doors

Today, National Stonewall Democrats sent an email to their members and supporters detailing a more than $30,000 budget gap for the year and the danger that the deficit may force the organization to close its doors. The text of the email, authored by NSD Executive Director Jerame Davis, is included below. Mr. Davis is available for comment as well at 317-213-4148 orjdavis@stonewalldemocrats.org

————————————————————

Friend,

This has been an amazing year, hasn’t it? A record number of LGBT people were elected to Congress as well as state and local positions. The first lesbian US Senator, the first bisexual, and the first gay person of color in Congress were all major milestones on our journey toward full equality. The biggest milestone, of course, was the reelection of President Obama – the first president to support full marriage equality.

National Stonewall Democrats has been at the forefront of these advances since 1998 when Congressman Barney Frank and LGBT activists founded our organization. Since that time, we’ve helped lead the Democratic Party to support for full LGBT equality – including the freedom to marry – culminating in a record 550 LGBT delegates at this year’s Democratic National Convention. It has truly been a banner year for the LGBT community.

We Must Bridge the Gap

At this point in our organization’s history, however, National Stonewall Democrats is facing one of the biggest challenges to date. It’s no secret that we’ve struggled with fundraising over the past few years, but today we are at a crossroads and we’re turning to you – our members and supporters.

For the second year in a row, our income has not met expectations. In 2011, we were able to offset the downturn by cutting costs – staff, services, programs; we cut everything to the bare essentials. We saw an uptick in funding at the beginning of 2012 as our renewed messaging and mission focus invigorated new and former donors, but as the campaigns heated up, donors were pulled in many directions and we felt the impact.

As the year closes, we’re facing a budget deficit of over $30,000 and if we do not bridge this gap, we will likely be forced to close our doors.

We didn’t come to this conclusion lightly or quickly. When the board appointed me as executive director a year ago, we took a long, hard look at the entire organization and we realized that, although the political landscape had changed dramatically since our founding in 1998, our organization hadn’t changed much. We set out to fix that.

In addition to trimming our budget to the essentials, we revisited our mission and purpose and we have great plans for the future. We retooled our messaging to be more bold and direct. We rekindled old partnerships and started building new ones to expand our coalition of pro-LGBT allies. We re-engaged with our chapters and helped start new ones in places where none had previously existed. Even with reduced staffing and funding, we have had a year full of progress.

Our Work is Essential

National Stonewall Democrats has a unique position in our movement as an integral part of the Democratic Party’s social justice coalition. In order to fulfill that role, the nature of our work must change to adapt to the political realities we face. Our success in traditionally progressive states – the “blue states” – has led us to many victories, but the less progressive states – the “red states” – have lagged behind.

In far too many places, the Democratic Party structures at the state and local level maintain a less than hospitable attitude toward LGBT equality and they are holding us back. In places where there are few openly LGBT elected officials and/or party leaders, stagnation and intransigence has taken hold. These “red states” are where Stonewall Democrats are needed most and can have the most impact.

Our goals are simple:

Expand into the 22 states where there are no Stonewall Democrats affiliates while growing our existing membership
Grow the ranks of pro-equality Democrats in elected and appointed positions by recruiting, positioning, and supporting LGBT leaders who run for elective office or who seek appointments within the Democratic Party
Assist new leaders to be effective organizers and operatives through training, coaching, and leveraging our network in support of their efforts

All of this work will revolve around three essential core functions for which we are uniquely qualified and positioned to carry out:

Communications – Developing and disseminating strong messaging and communications in support of pro-equality Democrats
Advocacy – Lobbying, educating, and advising Democrats regarding issues important to LGBT people and holding the Party and its members accountable to the ideals laid out in the party platform
Coalition Building – continuing to build and strengthen our relationships with other Democratic Party constituencies, such as labor, immigration, and women

Our Future is Up to YouWe will never be a huge multi-million dollar organization - and we don’t need to be - but we do need the resources to complete this important work.

That’s where you come in. If everyone receiving this email contributed just $5, we could retire our debt and have a nice cushion going into the new year. If everyone gave $10, we could pay off the debt and have nearly 3/4 of our 2013 operating budget covered too.

You have stepped up in the past and we’re asking you to do so again. Please show your support by contributing any amount you can today - $5, $50, $500, even $5000. Every penny counts.

The decision on whether or not National Stonewall Democrats continues operations is in your hands.

Thank you for all you do and have done for Stonewall Democrats.

Jerame
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National Stonewall Democrats is the national voice of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied Democrats, with more than 80 local affiliates across the nation. Stonewall Democrats works to elect more pro-equality Democrats regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity – and to improve the Democratic Party on issues important to LGBT Democrats.

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Pennsylvania Elects First Openly Gay State Representative; Other Election News

Congratulations to Brian Sims who won the Democrat primary to run for State House in District 182 (Philly). Brian faces no challenger in November and is on course to be the first openly gay person elected to statewide office in Pennsylvania. From GayPolitics.com.

Brian Sims tonight has won a decisive Democratic primary in his Philadelphia district and will become Pennsylvania’s first openly gay state representative. Sims defeated a longtime incumbent to capture the Democratic nomination in the heavily Democratic District 182, and will face no Republican opponent this November.

“Tonight we’re celebrating a historic victory for Pennsylvania and for Brian,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund, which endorsed Sims. ”LGBT Pennsylvanians will finally have a voice in their state legislature, and what a strong and unyielding voice it will be. We are thrilled for Brian, who ran a remarkable campaign.”

Sims, a former member of the Victory Campaign Board, is a distinguished policy attorney and civil rights advocate from Center City Philadelphia. The former Staff Counsel for Policy and Planning at the Philadelphia Bar Association, he recently stepped down as the President of the Board of Directors of Equality Pennsylvania.

This is a very interesting turn of events. This district – previously represented by a progressive veteran Babette Josephs – is an interesting turn of events. While Josephs has been a supporter and ally, its an unusual situation for me to be celebrating the defeat of a female legislator by a white gay male. An interesting situation. It parallels the battle in which Kathleen Kane defeated Patrick Murphy for State Attorney General. Many people that I personally know were very torn in what seemed to be a battle of equals.

Sims could have company. Openly gay Chris Deitz ran unopposed in the Democrat primary to unseat incumbent Republican Sue Helm in the PA 104th House District.

Here in Western Pennsylvania, progressive Erin Molchany won the primary for the Pennsylvania 22nd House District. In an interesting twist, decidedly unprogressive Marty Schmotzer will fill out the term of former Representative Chelsa Wagner who stepped down to assume a new role as County Controller. Schmotzer will hold office until 2013 when Molchaney is sworn in. Molchany had strong endorsements from Western PA progressive stalwarts including Stonewall Democrats, Gertrude Stein Club as well as environmental and labor groups.

Ed Gainey unseated long-term Democrat Joe Preston in Pittsburgh’s heavily East End House seat. One time LGBT ally Jason Altmire conceded to Mark Critz in a battle for a US Congressional District. IMHO, neither has a leg to stand on when it comes to LGBT support or support for women – Critz’ support for labor is pretty much his only progressive credibility.

What does this all mean? Pennsylvania is by no means a solid blue or solid red state. (Ironic that lavendar might be the best description?) Progressive women lose to gay white men. African-American man unseats white Democrat. Blue dog Democrat loses to relatively inexperienced somewhat more palatable Democrat. White woman with solid credentials defeats popular (also qualified) white male who is perhaps the bravest ally of the LGBT community nationwide.

Wow. This is actually pretty exciting.

From the LGBT perspective, I’m quite eager to see where the dialogue goes … will there be a rallying cry for marriage equality? will the east and the west sit down with the middle to start working out a serious platform we can all support? will folks recognize that the situation at Pitt with regard to no formal policy on transgender issues is untenable and something that marriage equality can’t resolve? will someone take a closer look at the current TEN pieces of gay positive legislation sitting in the PA General Assembly and help us sort that out?

If I had my druthers, here’s what I’d like to see happen

Leaders like Sims, Bruce Kraus, Geraldine Delevich, John Campbell, Elinor Warner, and others who identify as LGBT and hold office start or continue or publicize the dialogue.
No more claims as to who started the great East-West dialogue. Start another one and make sure that people who can’t fly to Philly for a $1,000 fundraiser are at the table. I’d love to see more dialogue with on the grounds grassroots groups working on trans safety issues and other concerns that are not part of the “marriage equality” debate.
No more marriage equality debate. For at least two years. Build momentum behind the scenes. But let’s trust allies like Dan Frankel and respected LGBT leaders like Sue Frietsche among others that we need to put our support, money and time into HB 300.
Ensure Pitt enacts a comprehensive policy regarding their trans community.
Educate the public about the status quo. The suburban soccer moms living in Cranberry Township have no protection other than the color of their skin and their bank account. And neither do their kids. Its time to develop educational campaigns that break through this mindset.

I’m looking forward to candidates Molchany and Gainey meeting with Brian Sims. And if you try to say I don’t have a voice in that request because of my previously stated concerns about my district, you missed the entire point. I don’t lose my right to speak my mind because I have doubts. Was it six years ago we were all excited about electing Chelsa Wagner? That didn’t lead to much for Manchester. I have no doubt Erin will vote well on LGBT issues, but almost every piece of campaign literature has referenced her South Hills districts. I’m looking forward to what she’s going to do here in the City.

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