On Wednesday, Sam Katz, Republican candidate for mayor of Philadelphia, came out in support of increased funding of services used by the gay community in the city. Under a Katz administration, he argued, gay residents of the Pennsylvania city would have greater access to the services and amenities which are lacking under the current administration of his opponent, Democrat John Street. More funding from city coffers as well as an active campaign by City Hall to attract and solicit funds from the state level as well as public-private partnerships and purely private sources would result in a greater availability of programs, a wider familiarity with such services, and a more open dialogue within the city about the de facto second-class status of these residents.

If you didn't catch it in the opening phrase, Mr. Katz is a Republican -- a Pennsylvania Republican, at that -- yet he is not the stereotypical Republican candidate on this matter. Mr. Katz's brazen attitude of acceptance is partly a result of his proximity to the life of a gay person and his recognition of the need for leadership on the matter a product of his own transformation. Katz's brother was gay and the two siblings struggled with issues of acceptance, tolerance, and unconditional "brotherly love". Much like a city must face and grow to understand its composite self, Katz's family emerged from ignorance and ultimately recognized the extreme difference of society treated one brother compared to the other.

Immediately asked how gay voters should react to the political paradox of a Republican candidate so openly supportive of gay rights, Katz demonstrated his ease with the issue and spoke with a confidence and conviction which revealed that this was not a constructed facade built by hordes of scheming strategists but a man seeking the opportunity to right past wrongs. It was one of those moments, more and more rare, in which a man who would be a public servant transcended the triviality of party affiliation and stereotypes -- both of others and of himself.

The impact of this scene was made even more powerful by the context. This did not happen in a race which is traditionally characterized by a lack of political partisanship and a transcendence of anything political. The race for mayor of Philadelphia is as close to blood, sweat, and Partisanship as one can find. Look only to the Molotov incident in the all-too-recent past for a prime example. But even more striking is its reflection on the history of the city. It was in this city that our national identity was formally constituted, an identity which valued inclusion and acceptance over persecution and an identity of "difference." Our nation as whole was once seen as "different." We bucked the system, challenging the established way of governance.

Therefore, Katz deserves credit and recognition for his efforts to bring together the disparate communities of Philadelphia and his recognition of personal triumph over an ignorance which is all-too-common among members of his party. It is his kind of "brotherly love" which may be the recipe for what ills the city which hangs its tri-cornered hat on its reputation as such.


- posted by C @ 2:34:00 PM