Metro Philadelphia LGBTQ+ Power Players 2022

Dr. Danna Bodenheimer (she/her), founder and director of the Walnut Psychotherapy Center, has worked in the field of mental health for over 15 years. Her expertise is mostly centered around working with the LGBTQ+ population. She takes cutting-edge approaches to thinking about and treating individual and organizational trauma. She has also long studied the impacts of dual marginalizations and intersecting forms of oppression on the psyches of individuals in treatment.

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
I don’t have strong positive feelings towards Pride month. I have found its commercialization, over time, to feel increasingly dehumanizing. That said, I am incredibly proud of the success of the more inclusive pride flag that Amber Hikes introduced in Philadelphia and is now used internationally. Amber’s bravery shifted how representation occurs in such a powerful way.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
I follow the teachings and writings of Audré Lorde most closely. She was able to write about intersectional identity and the functioning of oppression in ways that are always with me. She also truly speaks to the personal as political, which feels like it is at the heart of my queer identity. I also happen to love Jeopardy Amy and how cool and smart she is.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
The attacks on LGBTQ+ rights are unrelenting and increasingly scary. On a basic level: every workplace should focus on offering gender neutral bathrooms, normalizing the sharing of pronouns, and changing all paperwork to decentralize the gender binary. My biggest fear is the evolving laws that criminalize gender affirming treatment for children. These need to be seen as the dog whistles to conservative organizing that they are. Much discourse around trans youth appears benign at first glance, but is wracked with the transphobia upon deconstruction of it. Think critically about everything you read and see.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
Start by asking your queer employees for their input in central decision making processes. Elevate queer staff to have power in the organizations that they are a part of. Make sure that not all rules and guidelines have been designed by cis-gendered or straight people, who might not see the harmful impact of these policies on the queer population.

Ted Bordelon (he/him) is a communications strategist and consultant. He has advised candidates, elected officials, and PACs for the better part of a decade. Born, raised, and based in Philadelphia, Ted has worked with candidates in the City of Brotherly Love and also nationally at almost all levels of public office. Ted serves on the campaign’s board for the LGBTQ Victory Fund and the board of Liberty City Democratic Club. He is the principal of the boutique media relations firm Norris Strategies. 

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
The PHL Pride Collective did a great job this year reimagining Pride events in Philly, and Liberty City Democratic Club was proud to table during the event. I wish the Collective continued success. Beyond that event, my favorite experience during Pride month has been taking the time to reflect on the progress that’s been made on LGBTQ+ rights even within my lifetime while also taking stock of the work that still needs to be done.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
National heroes from history like Harvey Milk, Marsha P. Johnson, and Eleanor Roosevelt, but also living icons and activists like Annise Parker, Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Danica Roem, as well as those who call Philadelphia home, like Reps. Brian Sims and Malcolm Kenyatta, Chris Bartlett, Ali Perelman, Deja Alvarez, Tariem Burroughs, Rue Landau, Rafael Álvarez Febo, Mark Segal and my personal favorite, because I had the honor of running his campaign and elect Philly’s first Black, gay judge, the honorable Judge Gregory Yorgey Girdy. There are many more but there’s a word count!

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
Support and help elect LGBTQ+ people and our allies to public office. The fight for LGBTQ+ equality didn’t end with marriage, and with Roe v Wade being overturned, there will be more and more threats to LGBTQ+ people’s rights coming down the pipeline on a range of issues including discrimination, education, and privacy. Electing pro-LGBTQ+ people and our allies not only at the federal level but at the state and municipal levels continues to be one of the only ways to ensure protections for our community.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
For starters, companies should engage with the LGBTQ+ community more than just during Pride month. But beyond that, they should ensure that their company policies are crystal clear about protecting LGBTQ+ employees and customers. I highly recommend reading Independence Business Alliance Executive Director Zachary Wilcha’s LinkedIn article “Make Your Workplace One Where Coming Out Is Easy Everyday.” It’s just a google search away.

Liz Bradbury (she/her) co-founded PA-GALA in 1994, leading the effort to pass the first Pennsylvania municipal civil rights law inclusion of gender identity in 2002. She published the Valley Gay Press Newspaper for 18 years. She also founded and led the Pennsylvania Diversity Network until it became Allentown’s Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in 2014. Liz now serves as director of the BSC’s training institute, where she’s trained hundreds of organizations on LGBTQ+ equity issues.

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
Our Lehigh Valley Pride Festival will be in its 30th year next year, and our Bradbury-Sullivan Center is the organizer of it, but it has been held in August for decades. So, the events in June that are my favorite are all the dozens of other Pride happenings all over our community, from the raising of the inclusive pride flag by our supportive mayor at Allentown City Hall, to all the special events in the community, to the rainbow billboards of local corporations, to our center’s LGBTQ+ youth group’s outdoor prom, which rocked closed streets around our center on prom night!

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
I love queer history, so Gertrude Stein, Edie Windsor, Frida Kahlo, Barbara Jordan, Nina Otero Warren, Josephine Baker, Francis Perkins, Urvashi Vaid… And so many more of the LGBTQ+ women who were so brave about being out, making art, and fighting for rights. I love and am inspired by the comedians too: Wanda Sykes, Rosie O’Donnell, Kate Clinton… all of them!

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
Have strong, extensive, fully inclusive enumerated non-discrimination policies, and extend those requirements to the vendors they work with. Demand that government strongly protect equity rights for LGBTQ+ people, and publicly refuse to support any candidate that does not fully support equality and inclusion.

Dr. K. Ashley Brandt (she/they) is a queer surgeon and one of the first fellowship trained gender-affirming surgeons in the country. She completed her fellowship at Hahnemann Hospital, and is now the director of the Tower Health Gender-Affirming Medical and Surgical program at Reading Hospital, where she offers a full range of surgical procedures for all gender diverse patients. She is also a passionate LGBTQ+ rights advocate, activist, writer, and DJ. Presently, she pens a bi-monthly column and lectures nationally on transgender care and medicine. She currently resides in Lancaster with her wife.       

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
I enjoy Pride festivals, whether they are hosted in Philadelphia, DC, or even in my new home in Lancaster. Before COVID, I used to DJ a variety of Pride celebrations in Philadelphia, which was always fun. Pride festivals contain a certain level of energy and an increased sense of community–a type that you don’t typically find in any other kind of event. It has been reassuring to see Pride events making more concerted efforts (although we still have a long way to go) to include gender diverse and BIPOC individuals, particularly since they were largely responsible for championing the LGBTQ+ movement.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
Marsha P. Johnson, RuPaul, Laverne Cox, Christine Jorgensen, Dan Levy, Evan Rachel Wood, Billy Porter, and Dr. Marci Bowers.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
While it is pretty fantastic seeing major companies and corporations acknowledging Pride, they need to go above the commodification of a particular month for our community and step up in situations where it really matters. Companies need to improve diversity, inclusion, education, and nondiscrimination policies. Both people and companies alike should not vote for or contribute funds to politicians with anti-LGBTQ+ platforms, and should speak up and out against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
As I mentioned previously, businesses can adopt universal and explicit non-discrimination policies protecting LGBTQ+ individuals. At least where I live in Lancaster, having a small Pride flag or trans flag in a window or in the building or office can help signal a welcoming space. And of course making sure staff is educated, respectful of all LGBTQ+ individuals, identities, and pronouns, and will defend employees or patrons who experience any form of discrimination.

A seasoned communications professional and Temple University alumni with an array of entertainment and nonprofit experience, Tracy Buchholz (she/her) brings passion and sincerity to her dynamic media relations efforts. She has shared best practices with audiences at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, Temple University, Tech in the Commons, and the University of Pennsylvania. Her photography has been published in Philly Current magazine, PhillyVoice, and Smoky Mountain Living. 

Kevin J. Burns (he/him) is the executive director of Action Wellness.  He received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from DeSales University in 1978, and a master’s Degree in Social Work from Rutgers University in 1990. He is a licensed clinical social worker in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers.  Prior to professional work in the HIV and AIDS communities, his practice was in the area of mental health, developmental disabilities, and as an adjunct professor of Social Work at the Rutgers University School of Social Work. Kevin maintained a private psychotherapy practice from 1993 through 2002, specializing in the LGBTQ+ community. 

Kevin began his work with HIV and AIDS in 1986, as a volunteer at Buddy for Action Wellness.  He started his professional career at Action Wellness as a medical case manager in 1989.  Since 1989, he has held a number of positions at Action Wellness, including medical case manager, case management coordinator, assistant director of client services, director of client services, and deputy executive director. He was promoted to his current position as executive director of Action Wellness in 2005. 

Kevin is currently a board member and secretary of Communities Advocating for Emergency AIDS Relief Coalition, a national advocacy group working for adequate funding for AIDS services across the country. He also serves on the Board of Directors of The CAEAR Foundation.

Kevin has served on a number of boards over the years, including board of directors of Dining Out For Life International, chair of the Circle of Care Advisor Board, board of directors of the Pennsylvania AIDS Law Project, The Pennsylvania Coalition for AIDS Service Organizations and the board of directors of the AIDS Fund. Kevin served on the Philadelphia Ryan White Planning Council from 2002 until 2018.

Tariem Burroughs (he/him) is the board co-chair of the Liberty City Democratic Club and the vice-chair of the SEPTA Citizen Advisory Committee. Throughout his career, Tariem has worked at the intersection of health, education, and community relations, and is currently the director of career services and experiential learning at Drexel’s School of Public Health. Tariem is passionate about making and advocating for sustainable programs and innovative practices that provide communities with the resources that they need to thrive.

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
The performances and musical headliners! I’m big into concerts and other than enjoying the music, it’s just always great to see everyone in the streets dancing, singing, and moving along to the same tune. To me, these are powerful moments where everyone is on the same wavelength and just enjoying themselves.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
Originally, I was going to say “Northstar,” the first person to officially come out as gay in the Marvel Comics. As a young man who was (and still am) big into comics, it was great to see representation in a major comic book. As I’ve grown older, I would have to say Bayard Rustin, who lived unapologetically black and gay. Rustin, known for organizing the March on Washington, was outspoken, intelligent, and understood that we must continue to come together if we are going to have any impact on this world.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
We must move past just raising rainbow flags and tweeting. Though visibility is important, we need to move past being performative. People and corporations must genuinely give back to the community by investing in areas like LGBTQ+ education, specifically around history. So many notable figures have been lost to time but have made great impacts in not only the public sector, but the business sector as well. There needs to be greater investments in events around this all year, and not just at Pride, because we as a community don’t shine bright for one month, we shine all year long.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
Businesses can create more inclusive environments by making employees and patrons feel like they actually belong there, are part of the process, and be genuine about it. Employees must be treated as contributing members of the team and their patrons need to be able to see that. Diversity is a start, inclusion is an idea, but belongingness is an action. And what businesses need is genuine actions to show that they care.

Bryan Buttler’s (he/him) media relations firm manages public relations for a wide variety of entertainment clients, including Kimmel Cultural Campus’ Broadway series and Cirque du Soleil (in conjunction with CJM Public Relations), Visit Valley Forge, Theatre Horizon, FringeArts, and others. An advocate for social issues, Bryan has provided PR support for We Make Events #RedAlert, a national initiative to raise awareness of the impact of COVID-19 on live events workers. He has led diversity training initiatives, and has become a respected facilitator and LGBTQ+ workplace policy consultant. Bryan also teaches communications.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
As someone who thought I knew about LGBTQ+ history, I was shocked that I did not know about the Compton’s riots, which took place in 1966, three years before Stonewall. The riot took place at a popular diner in San Francisco, and was a response to the violent police harassment against trans women and drag queens. These individuals had everything to lose, and I find it inspiring to know that not only did they fight back, but they won. The aftermath of the riot changed city policy, and San Francisco implemented a new network of support services for trans individuals.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
Now, more than ever, corporations need to look at what company they keep when it comes to making political donations. There are a series of radical anti-LGBTQ+ laws that are being proposed and, in some cases, passed in states. If an organization is donating funds to the politicians who are creating and voting for these laws, it is not only a bad ethical decision, it is also bad business. LGBTQ+ customers and their allies are paying close attention to companies who support these anti-LGBTQ+ politicians and will take their business elsewhere.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
It is all about creating environments for employees that not only “talk the talk” of inclusivity, but are living it. This many times includes a radical reexamining of human resource policies and extensive training of all employees. So often, those in managerial or human resource functions have great ideas for LGBTQ+ inclusion, but it’s critical that every single front line worker understands what it means to be a front-facing representative of the company’s values.

Tiffany Byrd (she/her) is a board member of Philadelphia Family Pride, a nonprofit that aims to build community for LGBTQ+ parents, grandparents, prospective parents, and kids of all ages, and serves as a resource for education and advocacy. She is also a director of permanency with A Second Chance, Inc. Tiffany has over six years of experience working in child welfare and permanency. 

Susie M. Cirilli (she/her) is a business attorney with a focus on labor and employment, and assists clients with general business and employee issues. She often advises employers on day to day employment matters, and aids her clients on employee issues such as hiring and terminations, which includes drafting and negotiating separation agreements. Susie has experience drafting and revising employment agreements, employee handbooks, non-compete and non-solicitation agreements. Susie is admitted in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Vermont, the Middle District and Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the Federal Court for the District of New Jersey.

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
The San Francisco Dyke March. A few years back, I was in San Francisco for work. The trip happened to be the same week as the San Francisco Pride. My dear friends from law school invited me to go to the Dyke March with them and their crew. The energy at Dolores Park was unlike anything I had experienced before. It was an epic day. I hopped on a return flight to Philadelphia feeling inspired and comforted by the people and energy at Dolores Park!

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
Eleanor Roosevelt. She was born into privilege, but experienced grave misfortune at such an early age. From being saved via lifeboat from the Britannic collision at two years old, to both her parents passing before she turned 10 years old. Despite being a bit of an orphan, she rallied to live an extraordinary life. Eleanor Roosevelt’s sexuality does not matter much to me. She did so much, for so many. That is why I named my dog after her.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
It is not enough to hire diverse talent. Employers must support that talent upon hire. It is crucial for businesses to have a qualified and diverse workforce. With that being said, companies must ensure that all of their employees, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, are supported with the tools they need to be successful. Companies must set their employees up to grow professionally and thereby benefit the company at large.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
Employers must break away the heteronormative company culture. From bridal and baby showers in the conference rooms, to gender dress code announcements for company parties, employers must ditch these gendered “traditions.” Employers must embrace the cultural norm of professionalism. The heteronormative culture that still permeates companies is isolating for many employees. In some instances, it is unlawful. Businesses can celebrate employee and company milestones in a way that makes everyone feel as if they belong.