Out Gay Philadelphia Judge

Ian Johnson, Out Now
October 11, 2007

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TOPICS: Legal news. Gay community marketing. National Coming Out Day. Lesbian and gay marketing. Lesbian and gay US market. Gay community. Philadelphia Judge leads by example of smashing through the pink ceiling on National Coming Out Day to take to the bench of the Philadelphia courts.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has an encouraging story about the appointment today of the first out gay judge in Philadelphia.

Judge Daniel Anders is to become the first gay man on the Philadelphia Bench of the Common Pleas Court.

This is good to see, and will hopefully be the first of many more such appointments in Philadelphia and across the US legal system.

To Judge Anders, congratulations, and to everyone else out or not in the workplace, best wishes today for National Coming Out Day.

Here is an extract of the Philadelphia Inquirer article:

He's here, he's queer, call him Your Honor.

Anders, a serious poker player, says it's no bluff that the timing is purely coincidental. He didn't even know the significance of the date (of his appointment being National Coming Out Day) until a friend pointed it out, he says.

In the big picture, it's immaterial, anyway. To Anders - former Eagle Scout, 4-H Club member and son of a Catholic deacon - every day is Coming Out Day.

"Though lots of people know I'm gay, the coming-out process really doesn't end," says Anders, 39, who was raised in Lancaster. "It's important to be who you are and to be happy with yourself.

"Many other courageous people came out before me. Being gay doesn't define who I am or impact my job in any tangible way, but maybe I can be a role model for some gay kid or inspire someone to get involved in politics."

It's also a huge deal that Anders, a Democrat, was confirmed unanimously by the Republican-dominated state Senate, says Andrew Chirls, 51, the first openly gay chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association and a partner at Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen.

"That we got somebody through the legislature . . . without anybody squawking about him being gay is a sign of social change.

"The fact that it's not a big deal is a big deal."

Assigned to Family Court (not his first choice, but he's a good soldier), Anders began hearing cases in mid-August. He is the youngest of 93 judges in Common Pleas.

Family Court Judge Ann Butchart, 56, an open lesbian elected to the bench in 2005, agrees that Anders' appointment is another step in the assimilation of gays here and elsewhere. "We're getting to the day when gay becomes an adjective like Irish or Jewish," she says. Anders' naming "is a huge tribute to the fact that we're certainly seen as a significant voting group."

In (Dan Anders') world, public service trumps money. He donates so many of his services to the gay community that he jokingly refers to it as "pro homo pro bono."

Off the bench, Anders appears to be your typical Macho Guy, aside from his fondness for Wonder Woman. ("She has the lasso of truth, and she's a pretty snappy dresser.")

He pumps iron. He drinks beer (well, ale). He plays poker. He also likes poker TV shows - a habit that doesn't sit well with his partner, Brian Moss. "If I really throw a fit, we can usually agree on Antiques Roadshow," says Moss, 26, the extroverted yin to Anders' self-contained yang.

Ian Johnson, CEO of Out Now Consulting, is gay marketing specialist business editor of Citizendium, the world's most credible online source of expert-edited reference information.

If you would like to use leading edge gay marketing insight to reach the gay and lesbian market, Out Now has a wealth of gay and lesbian marketing experience.

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