A handful of gay activists descended on Tom Knox’s headquarters this afternoon to question him about his positions on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.
In an email press release this morning, the group called themselves an ad-hoc coalition of concerned gay voters. No one took credit for being the leader and it wasn’t clear who the driving force behind the effort was.
And only five people seemed concerned enough to actually protest. They met in LOVE Park and – accompanied by four reporters – made their way to Knox’s office on 17th and Arch streets where several Knox staffers agreed to meet with them.
The attendees said they were concerned that Knox had not attended two forums on LGBT issues and said they didn’t like his answers to a series of questions posed to all the candidates by the Philadelphia Gay News last week.
“He doesn’t sound like he’s as well versed as he might be,” said Ryan Bunch, 31, a member of Liberty City Democrats, who said he will likely support U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah for mayor.
In the interview, Knox said he didn’t need an advisor on gay issues and said he couldn’t speak about the real estate transfer tax because he didn’t understand it. He also said he had gay staffers and that “gays tend to be studious workers.
A Knox spokesman said yesterday that Knox would be an inclusive mayor and that he planned to continue to educate himself on LGBT issues.