Sherrie Cohen to announce City Council bid
Sherrie Cohen hopes to bring her progressive agenda to City Hall in the spring.
The lesbian Philadelphia City Council-at-Large candidate will hold a press conference and campaign kickoff event at the William Way Community Center on Wednesday, Dec. 15. Her father, David Cohen, served as a councilman for more than 25 years and played a crucial role in advancing the rights of African Americans on a local and national level. A strong opponent of segregation, he marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Selma, Ala., in 1965.
Cohen, a Democrat, told EDGE her father would have fully supported her in her goal of LGBT equality if he were still alive.
"To give you an example of how supportive my parents have been of the LGBTQ community-even before I came out as a lesbian, my mother in the late 1960s, then the president of the citywide liberal New Democratic Coalition, introduced me to Barbara Gittings, the renowned gay activist who she was meeting with in our home," she said. "So, yes, I believe my father would support my agenda."
Cohen isn't the first openly gay politician to run for office in Philadelphia. Ann Butchart won her race to become a Common Pleas Court judge in 2005, followed by Daniel Anders in 2007.
Winning a seat on the City Council, however, would also mark a personal turning point for Cohen.
"My election would be historic," she said. "In the 1970s, I protested for what was then known as the gay rights bill and was brutally escorted out of City Council chambers and kicked down four flights of stairs in City Hall by security personnel and police. My election would show how far our movement has come-from being kicked out of City Council, to walking into Council as an elected out and proud LGBTQ member."
Cohen is initiating a grassroots campaign asking LGBT Philadelphians and their allies to participate in canvassing, phone banking, and mass mailings. She plans to reach out to every neighborhood in the city by going door to door and attending community events. Supporting working families and small businesses, LGBT equality and addressing poverty top Cohen's agenda.
"I will demand full equality, social justice and dignity for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of all colors," she said. "I will campaign to secure the health and safety of our youth who are at high risk of homelessness, suicide, and substance abuse. I will campaign to end the bullying and harassment in our schools and the violence arising from homophobia and transphobia in our streets, the discrimination faced by transgender people in employment and health care, the raging epidemic of HIV/AIDS in African-American men who have sex with men, and the health disparities we face."
While Cohen supports President Obama, she would like to see him become a "stronger fighter" for LGBT rights. If the Senate does not pass "don't ask, don't tell", she said will urge her supporters to demand the commander-in-chief issue a stop-loss order to prevent further discharges under the policy.
"I am confident that we are on the way to winning full equality," said Cohen. "As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said, 'the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.' The swing in votes towards republicans in the midterm elections will delay full equality, but will not deny it. Our movement for LGBTQ equality is on the right side of history. We must keep organizing."