Brian Sims

For example, it deeply frustrates me that we weren't able to pass the Marriage Equality Act in Pennsylvania. That is not a personal failing of mine. It's something that began 80 years before me. I can draw a direct line from the Mattachine Society and from Stonewall and from... women and men serving in World War I and World War II to marriage equality in the United States.

For example, it deeply frustrates me that we weren't able to pass the Marriage Equality Act in Pennsylvania. That is not a personal failing of mine. It's something that began 80 years before me. I can draw a direct line from the Mattachine Society and from Stonewall and from... women and men serving in World War I and World War II to marriage equality in the United States.

And so the fact that I wasn't able to pass a bill doesn't mean that I failed. It means that I'm a part of a tapestry of people that I respect and some that I will never know, and they'll never know me, that worked on a thing because it was the right thing to do, and it will happen. I'm pretty optimistic when it comes to civil rights.

And so the fact that I wasn't able to pass a bill doesn't mean that I failed. It means that I'm a part of a tapestry of people that I respect and some that I will never know, and they'll never know me, that worked on a thing because it was the right thing to do, and it will happen. I'm pretty optimistic when it comes to civil rights.

I think that history teaches us that civil rights wins in the end. And that we didn't accomplish many of the things that I wanted to accomplish while I was fighting for them. In the moment, I felt like a failure. In the moment, I felt like I needed to keep changing up the strategy and eventually I would find something that hit. And when I couldn't, it was about me. And that's arrogance.

I think that history teaches us that civil rights wins in the end. And that we didn't accomplish many of the things that I wanted to accomplish while I was fighting for them. In the moment, I felt like a failure. In the moment, I felt like I needed to keep changing up the strategy and eventually I would find something that hit. And when I couldn't, it was about me. And that's arrogance.

And I think that was one of the really important lessons is for a lot of my time in office, I was the only person of my kind doing work that no one else was doing and garnering tons of attention for it. And I had the mistaken belief that meant that everything I was doing was right. What I was saying was right. If I thought it and I did it, it was the right thing to think and the right thing to do.

And I think that was one of the really important lessons is for a lot of my time in office, I was the only person of my kind doing work that no one else was doing and garnering tons of attention for it. And I had the mistaken belief that meant that everything I was doing was right. What I was saying was right. If I thought it and I did it, it was the right thing to think and the right thing to do.

And that is not true. And it's not a good approach. And there are lots of people that aren't put in those situations that amplify or create more arrogance in them, but I was. And it didn't help me. It did help some of the causes that I was fighting for, that I was bigger, bolder, and brasher, but it didn't help me. And ultimately, there's the balance.

And that is not true. And it's not a good approach. And there are lots of people that aren't put in those situations that amplify or create more arrogance in them, but I was. And it didn't help me. It did help some of the causes that I was fighting for, that I was bigger, bolder, and brasher, but it didn't help me. And ultimately, there's the balance.

And I wasn't living a very balanced life and a very balanced approach. And I very much had to teach myself to remove myself from so much of the things that I work on in a way. Because it was arrogant for me to place myself where I did in them.

And I wasn't living a very balanced life and a very balanced approach. And I very much had to teach myself to remove myself from so much of the things that I work on in a way. Because it was arrogant for me to place myself where I did in them.

I no longer do because I learned to surround myself with people who do a lot of this work in similar ways. And I'll give you a really good example. My four or five closest friends also do LGBTQ plus political work. They do it from different angles. One is a black man that worked at the White House. One is a trans Latina that has worked in everything from civil rights to transportation.

I no longer do because I learned to surround myself with people who do a lot of this work in similar ways. And I'll give you a really good example. My four or five closest friends also do LGBTQ plus political work. They do it from different angles. One is a black man that worked at the White House. One is a trans Latina that has worked in everything from civil rights to transportation.

One of them is a Latino who is one of the most successful recruiters of LGBTQ people in executive government history in the United States. They all face more challenges than I face. They all deal with those challenges differently than I have dealt with my challenges. And we all learn from each other's, the way that each other's approached challenges and opportunities.

One of them is a Latino who is one of the most successful recruiters of LGBTQ people in executive government history in the United States. They all face more challenges than I face. They all deal with those challenges differently than I have dealt with my challenges. And we all learn from each other's, the way that each other's approached challenges and opportunities.

I didn't have them when I started. I knew who they were and I respected them, but we weren't friends, we were colleagues. And I've made them and they've made me friends. And that has had such a profound impact on my ability to keep doing this work. And I'm grateful doesn't fully encapsulate how I feel about them.

I didn't have them when I started. I knew who they were and I respected them, but we weren't friends, we were colleagues. And I've made them and they've made me friends. And that has had such a profound impact on my ability to keep doing this work. And I'm grateful doesn't fully encapsulate how I feel about them.

I'd like to think I do it. I think I'm trying to do it in two ways. The first is collaboratively. I do not think that anybody who behaves like an island lasts very long in this work or lots of complicated areas. Maybe there are other fields that I've never been in where being solitary and being solo is the path to success, but it is not where I come from. I believe in collaboration.

I'd like to think I do it. I think I'm trying to do it in two ways. The first is collaboratively. I do not think that anybody who behaves like an island lasts very long in this work or lots of complicated areas. Maybe there are other fields that I've never been in where being solitary and being solo is the path to success, but it is not where I come from. I believe in collaboration.