VIDEO: Jim Kenney Uses Papal Visit To Support Margie Winters and LGBT Catholics

At this afternoon’s LGBT Family Picnic at the John C. Anderson Apartments, mayoral candidate Jim Kenney made impassioned remarks about Margie Winters, the fired gay teacher from Waldron Mercy Academy, while also lending support to the Pope during his Philadelphia visit.

A portion of Kenney’s remarks were captured by a video shot by Philadelphia’s Director of LGBT Affairs, Nellie Fitzpatrick:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXp1iPLeEyQ

Kenney went on to say, “When it comes time to stand up for people rights… it’s pretty easy and it’s the right thing to do… I’ve taken these positions because they weren’t always politically beneficial but they were always right. We are all world citizens. We are all members of the human family and the human race. And we all have to take care of each other. We all have to stand up for each other because none of us can do this alone.”

Andrea Vettori, Nellie Fitzpatrick, and Margie Winters

Ms. Winters was also on hand at the festivities, and asked that “Pope Francis and the church hierarchy to listen and to hear about how much pain these situations [the firing of LGBT Catholic workers] have caused… The decision to exclude members of the [LGBT] community from ministry in the church impacts the integrity of the church as a whole. The LGBT community stands on the margins of the church yearning for and calling for wholeness, inclusion and justice.”

Also in attendance at the gathering, which served as an alternative to the World Meeting of Families and the Papal festivities, were representatives from Call to Action, Dignity Philadelphia, Believe Out Loud, Fortunate Families, OwningOurFaith, Mark Segal from the Philadelphia Gay News, and Sister Jeannie Gramick from New Ways Ministry.