Today the PG reports that Mayor Ravenstahl is "ketchin up" on his job by appointing 23 people to 10 different boards. 

The nominations need City Council approval. There's lots of wrangling about people with expired terms doing a fine job in their current positions.  Funny how that never comes up when it comes to City Council elections.  Daniel Lavelle, for example, didn't say Tonya Payne was doing a fine job.  But I guess it is different when we are discussing unelected positions that have potential allegiance to their City Council liaison.  Nothing like transparency.

Of course, Luke dropped the ball (imagine my shock!) by waiting this long to fulfill this job requirement. Expecting City Council to hurry up and do their end of due diligence on 23 appointments is pretty typical tyranical (or bratty tantrum prone) behavior.

But here's my question.  How many of these 23 folks are openly gay?  The Mayor has set up his committee, sponsored Pridefest repeatedly, kept the dykes from being run down ... lots of stuff.  But board appointments, that's key to saying he values the input of the LGBT community in an official capacity. 

Yes, my expectations are high. I want continued progress, not anyone resting on their laurels and none of this behind the scenes pink-washed good old boy campaign donor "trust us we've got it' crap.  We need equality and we need to keep up the pressure on young leaders to do the right thing, continuously. 

Addendum:  This is irony. There is no such thing as a swipe button.  I officially think we should elect Dan Onorato as Governor. He has my blessing.  (Also irony in case that doesn't translate from written word.)

A few days ago, I wrote a little chastisement of Reverend Burgess' vote for regulating the drilling for natural gas within the City in lieu of standing against it.  I received an off the record email from a Burgess supporter explaining the nuances of the law and the Council's ability to defend citizens in this matter.  I was amazed that the writer commented that City Council should be putting on a united front instead of inner-squabbling.

Seriously?  Reverend Burgess wasn't that concerned about "unity" when it came to LGBTQ equal rights so it is incredible now to try to persuade me that he's the voice of unity.  He bitch slapped us by refusing to have his picture in magazine, incredibly sad since he should have familiarity with the challenges LGBTQ people are facing in his district and the African-American community.  It was a magazine for God's sake. 

I'm waiting for some feedback on the legal arguments from the Councilors who want me to have clean drinking water, not those who do not practice what they preach.

Tis tempting to tap into the oh-so-easy comparison of the Furry convention and the "National Right to Life" convention which winds up tomorrow. 

The PG mentions a long-term pro-choice activist who is among the longest term attendees at this conference and has a mutually supportive 'right to protest' relationship with an anti-choice priest.  Good stuff.

To my knowledge, the conference attendees did not engage in activities to support Pittsburgh's living children who are living in poverty, poor health or on the adoption rolls.  Just saying.