The City of West Hollywood and Frontiers hosted a panel discussion of openly gay U.S. mayors last night, led by our own News Editor Karen Ocamb. Upon taking office this spring, WeHo Mayor John D’Amico promised to convene the event during this year’s Pride celebration. In addition to D’Amico, other mayors included Ron Strouse of Doylestown, Penn., a progressive city on the outskirts of Philadelphia; Rich Waterman of the Silicon Valley town of Campbell, Calif.; and Jerry Pierce, the openly gay mayor of the Texas bible belt town of Valley Mills, just West of Waco.
“I have a reputation of being out, open and in fact quite loud,” said Pierce, discussing how he refused to keep his sexuality hidden despite the Southern Baptist roots of his town’s 1,200 constituents. “But I also have to get in a ditch and fix a water main myself when it breaks.” In fact, this dual sense of responsibility ran through the entire discussion. All four mayors agreed they need to be positive role models by being out, but also felt just as heavy a responsibility to deliver on the routine things all mayors are expected to do, like fixing potholes and sidewalks.
D’Amico said he asks himself before he goes to bed each night, “how did I do today?” In addition to his priorities of cementing WeHo’s reputation as a “creative city” that influences culture globally, he focuses on very pragmatic problems like providing for an aging population, both in WeHo’s LGBT and Russian communities. “Aging in place,” he says, is a new challenge for WeHo. D’Amico also hit a reflective tone when talking about the challenge of trying to meet his own high expectations. “I’m fascinated by my ability to forgive myself when I wake up every day.”
Mayor Strouse agreed that he had a responsibility to be out, but talked about how rapidly the acceptance of the LGBT community has changed just over the last decade or so. “I ran for Congress 12 years ago, and my first interview was all about how I was the first openly gay man running.” He compared that experience to his recent mayoral election when the issue didn’t even come up. But Strouse also says now that marriage equality is becoming a reality (just over two weeks ago Pennsylvania’s ban was overturned by the courts), a whole other set of issues will now arise. He cited the example of a teacher in his state who was fired because he planned to marry his partner.
Watterman, who works as a full time CPA since his mayoral duties come without pay, said marriage equality also brings a whole set of practical considerations. Over 200 of his clients are LGBT, and those who are married are now able to take advantage of the same financial benefits and incentives long enjoyed by heterosexual married couples. Watterman also said that although his Silicon Valley town is socially progressive, he still faces the challenge of losing LGBT residents to nearby San Francisco now that reverse commuting among techies has become much easier.
Most striking, however, may be the cultural diversity among the four mayors. Though all four are white men, they come from four corners of the country, and reflect, in both tone and message, the towns they represent. When asked by Ocamb to give a parting message to young LGBT folks in their communities, D’Amico said “Have as much sex as possible. Safely. And go out and invent the world.” Pierce, on the other hand, whose measured Texas drawl and polite demeanor reflect his more conservative surroundings, said “The fight is still being fought today. Young people need to educate themselves, because in Texas, ignorance is bliss. But you need to continue to fight. It will get better. It does get better.”
Last night’s mayors panel discussion was but one of the many events Frontiers is a part of during L.A. Pride weekend. The magazine has also partnered with Tom Whitman, Flip and Masterbeat to present Saturday’s SpLAash Pool Party at the Andaz Hotel, Out at Universal, Wonderland and Sunday’s Pride Tea, taking place at Avalon Hollywood. All of this follows the first-ever LGBT supplement delivered inside The L.A. Times, which can be found at this weekend’s Wonderland events and at Frontiers’ L.A. Pride festival booth.
