Finding 2

HISTORY

Racism and discrimination have been ongoing issues among Philadelphia’s LGBTQ community for decades.  

For over thirty years, numerous coalitions, collectives, and activist groups have developed strategies, calls to action, and recommendations for addressing racism and discrimination in places of employment and public accommodation in what is now called the Gayborhood. Despite these efforts, the recommendations were never fully adopted or implemented. A strategic follow-up enforcement plan, (including enforcement of the Fair Practices Ordinance), as well as a public commitment by community leaders to hold places of employment and public accommodations accountable, is needed to reduce or eliminate racism and discrimination in the LGBTQ community.

  • “I have been in the community of Philadelphia for 25-plus years, and the racism in that Gayborhood and the discrimination in that Gayborhood has been going on since the first day I touched down in Philadelphia at about 15 years” DL Alvarez
  • “…why I don’t go out to the bars, to Woody’s and other places like that is from years of experience being uncomfortable in them.” R. White
  • “…diminished as a person of color by policies that were set up by Woody’s with a history, generational history of racism and prejudice and discrimination towards black and brown people in this community.”
  • “I also find it sad that those who underwent humiliation and harm themselves back when I was young in the early years, now turn around and inflict it on those who need their help and concern and respect.”