Sobel leaves Equality Advocates

By Jen Colletta
PGN Staff Writer
© 2008 Philadelphia Gay News

Stacey Sobel, executive director of Equality Advocates Pennsylvania, the state’s only LGBT legal organization, announced Aug. 7 that she was resigning from her position, effective the following day.

Sobel, who took the helm of the organization seven years ago, said she stepped down in order to spend more time with her family and refocus her priorities.

Sobel said she will continue lobbying work on behalf of the local and statewide LGBT populations.

Pamela Leland took over as interim executive director beginning Aug. 11 and will serve until the board of directors finishes its national search for a permanent director, which board spokesperson Doug Metcalfe said could take up to nine months.

Sobel, 42, was working as the legal director at Servicemembers Legal Defense Network in 2001 when she was chosen from a national pool of candidates to take the post as executive director of Equality Advocates.

Sobel succeeded Andrew Park, who founded the group as the Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights in 1996 and served as its first executive director.

Park said Sobel immediately implemented several important changes that have contributed to the organization’s sustentation.

“When Stacey first arrived, she immediately did a few things to change the direction of the center,” Park said. “She increased the professionalism of the center by moving it into new offices, by formalizing the programs and by diversifying the sources of funding. I think those were very important to stabilize the center and to stabilize the issue of gay legal advocacy within the community.”

When Sobel came to Equality Advocates, there were only two full-time staff — herself and one other person; the organization now has seven full-time employees.

In the fiscal year prior to Sobel’s appointment as executive director, the organization brought in about $180,000 through fundraising and donations.

Since Sobel took over, Equality Advocates’ income more than tripled; she said the organization finished out the last fiscal year with an income of more than $600,000.

In addition to spearheading organizational improvements, Sobel also accumulated a long list of legislative accomplishments.

In 2001, Sobel wrote and helped push through an amendment that included sexual orientation and gender identity in the state hate-crimes legislation, which marked the first time Pennsylvania law recognized the LGBT community. The state Supreme Court recently overturned the amendment on procedural grounds.

Sobel co-founded the Value All Families Coalition — a collection of local LGBT organizations and activists — in 2004 in an effort to work against the passage of the more than 50 anti-LGBT amendments former Rep. Jerry Birmelin attached to adoption legislation.

The group was influential in defeating the amendments, and Sobel noted that the coalition is still an active and vital community organization.

Sobel was also instrumental in securing second-parent adoption rights for LGBT individuals; helped defeat constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage and other unions in 2006 and 2008; and has been a strong advocate for H.B. 1400, legislation currently in the House State Government Committee that seeks to prohibit discrimination against the LGBT community in the areas of employment, public accommodations and housing.

“She provided a lot of leadership throughout Pennsylvania on lobbying and legislative issues,” Metcalfe said. “I think that was her most substantial legacy.”

State Rep. Steven Nickol (R-193rd Dist.) said Sobel raised awareness about LGBT-rights issues among the entire Pennsylvania legislature, including across party lines.

“The quality of lobbying on LGBT issues increased considerably with Stacey’s involvement on Capitol Hill,” Nickol said. “She reached out and had access to not just Democrats from Philadelphia but many mid-state Democrats and Republicans who previously had never heard anything on LGBT issues.”

State Rep. Daylin Leach (D-149th Dist.) called Sobel “a good friend and one of the most effective lobbyists in Harrisburg,” adding “people who care about human rights in Pennsylvania will miss her terribly.”

Metcalfe said the organization will work to continue Sobel’s legislative efforts and doesn’t view her resignation as an impediment to passing pending legislation, such as H.B. 1400.

“Stacey’s strong point has always been the legislative agenda. We certainly don’t see [her departure] as a major concern as far as moving the legislative agenda forward for the organization,” he said. “We’re working to identify others to work with us to continue moving the agenda forward. We’re completely 110-percent committed to the policy-reform components of our mission and will continue to be very active on the legislative front, lobbying for positive LGBT legislation and lobbying against negative LGBT legislation.”

State Rep. Josh Shapiro (D-153rd Dist.) said the LGBT allies in the House will also continue to support the community.

“Stacey has been a champion for civil rights, for human rights and for what is right,” Shapiro said. “Her absence from Equality Advocates will be felt, but I have no doubt she will continue to make significant contributions to better the lives of gay Americans and the many others who depend on her for leadership. There are many of us in the House who will continue to be strong advocates for the organization and the community.”

Larry Frankel, American Civil Liberties Union State Legislative Counsel for Washington, D.C., and former Pennsylvania ACLU legislative director, noted the far-reaching effects of Sobel’s presence at Equality Advocates.

“I think Stacey has really helped bring the organization forward, both in terms of its presence in the legislative arena in Harrisburg and in helping advance LGBT equality in ways that [were] not happening before she came to the organization,” Frankel said. “She helped create a very effective legal organization that serves the needs of the LGBT community in ways it wasn’t doing before she came.”

One of Sobel’s final accomplishments as the director of Equality Advocates was the creation a new 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization Equality Action, which will have expanded lobbying ability; because Equality Advocates is a 501(c)(3) organization, it has limited lobbying powers.

Metcalfe said Equality Action is in its final planning stages and is set to continue as planned.

Perry Monastero, executive director of the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund, which hosted a lawyers’ breakfast last month to announce the launching of Equality Action, said that in addition to her legislative accomplishments, Sobel was a leader within the Philadelphia LGBT community.

“Locally, Stacey has brought together new donors and allies, including straight allies — she’s been amazing at doing that — to support the effort to achieve LGBT equality in the state of Pennsylvania,” Monastero said. “I’ve been in awe of the work she’s been doing for the past seven years. We were lucky to have had her. Whoever comes in next will have big shoes to fill.”

Sobel said she’s now planning to use her lobbying background to provide much-needed services for a variety of local nonprofits.

“I am in the process of talking to a wide variety of nonprofit organizations about lobbying for them. It looks like I will be setting up my own lobbying entity to do government affairs work for nonprofit organizations,” she said. “The bottom line is that there are very few nonprofits in Philadelphia that can afford to have a very experienced person do government affairs work for them. With my expertise, I’ll be able to assist these organizations and provide services they may not otherwise have, but that are very critical to their mission.”

Sobel said her main focus now, however, will be on her family — her partner, Michelle, and her 17-month-old daughter, Rebecca.

“When I first started, the board asked me to make a two-year commitment, which I think I more than fulfilled. I’ve been in this position for almost seven-and-a-half years, and I felt like this was a good time for me to do something new. I don’t think anyone ever thought I was going to be there forever,” she said. “I now have a toddler and I wanted to think about what made sense for me and my career. For the last seven years I’ve put the organization first, and now I’m taking a step back and putting my personal life and my work life into a different perspective.”

Steve Glassman, chair of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, said he is looking forward to continuing to work closely with Sobel on issues affecting the state’s LGBT communities.

“Stacey has been an extraordinary leader with vision, dedication and talent, and has brought a heightened sense of awareness of the value and contributions of LGBT people in the state of Pennsylvania,” Glassman said. “She will be sorely missed by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and many others. Equality Advocates has been an extremely important partner of the state Human Relations Commission in the passage of local nondiscrimination ordinances throughout Pennsylvania, and we hope to continue expanding these civil-rights ordinances with Stacey’s advice and counsel.”

Sobel noted that she’s optimistic that Equality Advocates will continue to play an active role in the local LGBT community.

“The organization has done just incredible, incredible work since I got there. The staff, volunteers and everyone who has been involved with it should be very proud of the work that’s been done,” she said. “In general, it’s a normal healthy cycle for organizations to have new people and new ideas and so, in the long run, I think it’s both good for me and for the organization.”

Jen Colletta can be reached at jen@epgn.com.