[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 3, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  30 YEARS OF JOURNALISTIC LEADERSHIP

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                          HON. ROBERT A. BRADY

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 3, 2006

  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of myself and my 
colleagues, the gentlewoman from Wisconsin, Ms. Baldwin, and the 
gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr. Frank, I submit these remarks 
commemorating a very important anniversary in the historic struggle of 
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people for equal treatment under 
the law.
  Thirty years ago, in 1976, the notion of organized activity to combat 
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity was an 
extremely controversial one. Nowhere in America did lesbian, gay or 
bisexual people have any legal protections against being dismissed or 
otherwise disadvantaged in the job market. Eleven years before that, 
when Congress passed what was generally considered to be a 
liberalization of U.S. immigration law, that law included on the 
recommendation of Democratic Presidents and adopted without dissent in 
a Democratic Congress a tightening on the prohibition against gay or 
lesbian people even being tourists in the United States. Here in the 
Congress, no serious effort was underway to deal with the severe legal 
and other handicaps that were imposed on our fellow gay, lesbian, 
bisexual and transgender citizens.
  But the stirrings of change were apparent for those who look closely. 
One of the most important examples of this was an event little noticed 
at the time, but which has turned out to be of great significance in 
the ongoing battle against homophobia. On January 26, 1976, a 
courageous, thoughtful, committed young gay man named Mark Segal 
presided over the publication of the first issue of the Philadelphia 
Gay News.
  PGN is now widely known for its leadership role in one of the great 
fights for social justice that has marked recent American history. It 
was started in a rundown building at 13th and Locust Streets in 
Philadelphia, a building which lacked plumbing and electricity. What it 
did not lack was heart and brains. From the outset, under the 
leadership of Mark Segal, PGN has been a strong force for fairness in 
our society.
  It was under PGN's auspices that the first mayoral forum was held in 
Philadelphia where all of the candidates for that office spoke to the 
issues facing the LGBT community. Later PGN organized the first AIDS 
awareness day in the city, and it has grown both in size and influence 
throughout its history.
  Mark Segal deserves congratulations for his role as the sole owner 
and publisher of PGN for 30 uninterrupted years--a longevity record for 
LGBT newspapers, and an admirable record for any media outlet in these 
days of increasing corporatization and the diminution of journalistic 
independence.
  The work of Mark Segal and PGN has been honored by a wide range of 
organizations, including LGBT advocacy groups, and professional 
journalistic associations. They include the Gay and Lesbian Alliance 
Against Defamation; the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association; The Society 
for News Design; and The Society for Professional Journalists.
  Emblematic of Mark Segal's refusal to accept anything less than 
equality for himself and members of the LGBT community is the fact that 
he now sits on the Board of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, 
which for 15 years had refused to allow PGN even to join. Mr. Speaker, 
as the Member of the House in whose district PGN is published, I speak 
from personal experience of its importance as a respected and 
invaluable source of information, much of which would otherwise go 
unpublished. And I know that my colleagues from Wisconsin and 
Massachusetts share my high opinion of the extraordinary important role 
that PGN plays in our fight against prejudice.
  Mr. Speaker, for 30 years, in the face of a good deal of initial 
hostility and subsequent indifference at best, Mark Segal and PGN have 
shone the light on sexual orientation and gender identity prejudice not 
just in the United States but in the world, and have helped to diminish 
it--although we obviously have a long way to go. I am very proud to be 
able to salute this important pioneer in the fight for social justice, 
and to express my confidence, and that of my colleagues from Wisconsin 
and Massachusetts, that as long as there is a need to combat 
homophobia, we will be able to count on PGN's leadership role.




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