Tag Archives: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

My Big Idea for the New Mayor as Published in the Post-Gazette

I was recently asked to contribute to a compendium piece in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on “big ideas” for the next Mayor of Pittsburgh. Other contributors include economist Chris Briem, Cheryl Hall-Russell from Hill House Assocation, Jon Rubin from CMU and Leah Lizarondo of “The Brazen Kitchen” blog and more!

Image: Daniel Marsula, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Here’s what I submitted:

Emphasize equality

Sue Kerr, editor, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents

Address LGBTQ equality with standout reforms that protect everyone and create an inclusive workplace culture to attract new business development — reforms similar to those in Philadelphia and those found in the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index. These would include:

1) A tax credit to companies that provide domestic partner health insurance coverage. 2) A tax offset on city employees’ domestic partner health insurance which is currently counted as pre-tax income, unlike family coverage for married employees. 3) Reduced barriers for low-income LGBTQ families to join the domestic partner registry. 4) Gender-neutral bathrooms required for new construction or renovation of city facilities. 5) A new office of LGBTQ or diversity affairs. 6) LGBTQ community members recruited for public safety roles as well as board and council appointments.

The focus is on creating opportunity, not solely preventing discrimination or responding to discriminatory treatment.

These are not new-to-me ideas. I’ve come across a few in various articles, reports and white papers on municipal policy. While it is good to have local support for issues such as marriage equality, it is equally important to educate our municipal electeds about the many ways in which they can actually create a more equal society, not just support one.

In November 2013, the Human Rights Campaign will issue a follow-up “Municipal Equality Index” report which will not only include the three more densel LGBTQ populated regions in the state, but also the largest cities. So while Pittsburgh is *not* among the former, it should be part of the equation in 2013. That’s clearly too soon for the new Mayor to have an impact (he won’t even be the Mayor!) but it will set a clear benchmark for him – a chance to look critically at our equality issues as they are defined in 2013, not 1999.

We’ve reached a point where measuring a candidate’s stance on domestic partner benefits, non-discrimination laws and marriage equality are not sufficient for the local level. I was a little shocked to realize that Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ population was not large enough to include us in the 2012 edition of the index – we’ve lost LGBTQ residents. Nonetheless, we’ll now have something to start from and November allows both Steel City Stonewall and the Gertrude Stein Club ample time to revisit their candidate questionnaires for the primary in 2014.

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The Week in LGBTQ – April 14, 2013

A snippet of our most popular tweets from the previous week – follow us @PghLesbian24

Even if same-sex marriage is against your religion, we can’t ban every sin -Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://bit.ly/YXnOVt via @pittsburghpg

This does not include former PA Governor Ed Rendell - Which Politicians Supported Gay Marriage and When? http://bit.ly/17jeb74 via @MotherJones

Here’s a mom we all want to have (or be): ’Accept’ and ‘Tolerate’ My Gay Kid? That’s Not Good Enough http://huff.to/10HwWwY via @HuffPostGay

An immensely well-shared story - Africa’s First Traditional Gay Wedding? Tshepo Cameron Modisane And Thoba Calvin Sithole Tie The … http://huff.to/17n7MHT via @HuffPostGay

Behind the Candelabra Trailer (Matt Damon – Michael Douglas ):

“DC Comics Introduces a New Transgender Character”

Our friends at Mombian have an excellent parenting roundup post. “LGBT Parenting Roundup”

This story has been huge this week – very timely: Missouri man arrested at hospital for refusing to leave gay partner | The Raw Story

Excellent PA news - Trans Inclusive Bill Passes Through Philadelphia Council Committee : Keystone Student Voice

Pam Spaulding brought my attention to this immigration piece from Chris Geidner at BuzzFeed - http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/same-sex-couples-missing-from-immigration-debate-for-now

Last week was Meet Us On The Street: International Anti-Street Harassment Week

Now this is how to do a #giveaway (Hint: local politics + local restaurants.)

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Eco Wednesday: Do Green Values Drive Our Consumer Decisions?

The Post-Gazette ran a piece on Tuesday exploring economists predictions as to how our “green values” might shape our future shopping decisions.

The sharing trend that became popular with Zipcar is likely to expand to other industries such as tools and baby gear as consumers readjust their spending patterns to focus less on conspicuous consumption and more on making thoughtful choices with their money, says one leading social forecaster.

But another forecaster disagrees, stating that people are going to opt for price over everything else.

“While they can have the best intentions, it’s a stomach issue and a pocketbook issue. People are falling out of the middle class in huge numbers,” said Mr. Celente, who forecast the popularity of gourmet coffee years before Starbucks became a household name and bottled water decades before Coke and Pepsi got into the business.

Interesting that bottled water and gourmet coffee present many ethical dilemmas as well as typically being luxury items.

I suspect what they are getting at is that the middle class and those with disposable income are changing their patterns and this will spread as the suppliers adjust their production. But green is not just luxury value – people are becoming more aware of how environmental racism and similar trends disproportionately impact low-income communities and looking for tools to take ownership of their environment: rural, suburban and urban.

That was an aspect of The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project I tried to emphasize – that providing tote bags wasn’t simply about reuse, it was about empowerment by putting real green tools in the hands of people who need them. The same is true of other items we distributed – water bottles & travel mugs are transportable as well as useful. And when you don’t have a lot of dollars, the $.10-$.30 discount for using your own mug can make a huge difference.

The key is that green values themselves are not limited to middle class families or people who are situationally poor (like students who hopefully will move into the middle class when they find work.) The values are being taught in school, at church, communicated by social and traditional media and being embraced as advocacy and social justice values. As the values solidify in our identities, the decisions make more sense – we think about our consumption.

The problem might be barriers constructed by the middle and upper classes – do we established businesses with green values in communities that are accessible by low income families? I mean who owns the grocery store after all? Do we as a public demand that tax payer subsidized farmer’s markets bring locally grown fruits and vegetables into spaces that are accessible? Access can be a barrier.

Another barrier? There are so many green “swag” items we take for granted – how many reusable water bottles are in your home? Get them out where they can be used – and they wil be used. I just opened a drawer this moring to retrieve a certain bowl and realized there were 4 unused water bottles crammed into the drawer – what kind of green value is that? It is great that I use my two regular water bottles, but obviously there is some work I need to do to get the items out of the drawer and into use somewhere. (That’s both green and anti-consumerism.)

So there are opportunities on both the systemic level (advocacy) and the individual level (our “stuff”) to make consumer decisions that benefit the larger community.

There’s some comparison between this and LGBTQ-driven consumer behavior. I’ll explore that in another post.

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Use of “Homosexuals” Not Helping Gay Boy Scouts

I’m fairly certain the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial board is not being ironic when it opines:

In facing up to its own legacy of bias, the Boy Scouts of America is considering a less than all-American remedy. After years of outside criticism and withdrawn financial support, the organization announced Monday that it might allow individual troops and troop sponsors to accept homosexuals as scouts and leaders. The change could come as early as next week.

Although many who believe in equality applauded the news, this incremental improvement is only modest progress for an organization that otherwise espouses laudable values.

This is the proverbial pot calling the kettle “homosexua.l” So let’s review.

The word “homosexual” is not an “All-American remedy” to providing solid coveage of the LGBTQ community – it puts the Post-Gazette squarely in the late 1980′s to early 1990s in terms of accuracy and fairness. And that’s being generous.

The Post-Gazette (rightly) criticizes the Boy Scouts for taking a baby step where a total leap is needed to put the organization on the path of the American way. The PG argues:

The policy change reflects “semi-acceptance of gays” at best because it allows the option for ongoing discrimination at the local level.
The motivation was not doing the right thing, but “declining enrollment, loss of dollars and widespread scorn”

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette insistance on using ‘homosexual” and “gays” to describe human beings impacted by this story is almost as bad.

Semi-acceptance of gays seems rather apt for a media outlet that refuses to acknowledge that the term “homosexual” is inaccurate and biased. What is the Post-Gazette policy on language when covering LGBTQ issues? At best, we can say they are inconsistent without the wild ratings gab approaches of the local television stations when face with a too-good-to-resist story involving a biological male, a dress and an outraged member of society.
The Post-Gazette isn’t concerned with doing the right thing. They are well aware of the existence of the GLAAD Media Guide. I suppose declining subscriptions and advertisers coupled with the region’s shift to the red side might be a factor? Am I off base?

The Boy Scouts half-assed policy change is what it is, but a mainstream reputable media outlet refusing to stop using “homosexual” is in no position to cast stones.

Let me explain. The Boy Scouts discriminate against the LGBTQ community – not just homosexuals. Does any rational person believe that bisexual boys and adults feel validated or safe in the Scouts? And the policy change isn’t going to cover trans boys and adults – did you read what our Trish shared about her own experiences in the Scouts? There’s also the fact that the policy impacts girls and women – lesbian den mothers like our own Jen Tyrrell, for example.

So “homosexual” doesn’t suffice in this story.

As for “gays” while less offensive, it is still not what I expect from the Post-Gazette. It is what I expect from a lesbian blog using a deliberately casual tone (ahem) … not a professional journalist.

We are gay people, bisexual people, transgender people. Millions of people read this paper each and every day – milions of people influenced and educated and made aware by what is allegedly a liberally leaning publication using outdated and offensive terminology for some unfathomable reason. The impact of the Post-Gazette (and most of Pittsburgh’s media outlets) language has a much more significant impact on MY life and the lives of LGBTQ youth in this region than a Boy Scout policy.

This incremental improvement in fair and accurate reporting on LGBTQ issues is “only modest progress for an organization that otherwise espouses laudable values.”

’nuff said.

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