Brian Sims

I'm in love and I'm living with the person that I love. And those things are important. But I also, I not only work in politics, I work where politics meets civil rights. And here in the United States, those two things are colliding right now in ways that we've never seen before.

I'm in love and I'm living with the person that I love. And those things are important. But I also, I not only work in politics, I work where politics meets civil rights. And here in the United States, those two things are colliding right now in ways that we've never seen before.

I started my career as a lawyer in Philadelphia. I moved to Philadelphia after law school and practiced first disability law and civil rights law. I became what's called the in-house counsel for the Philadelphia Bar Association, the sort of collective of lawyers in Philadelphia, which still is the oldest in the country.

I started my career as a lawyer in Philadelphia. I moved to Philadelphia after law school and practiced first disability law and civil rights law. I became what's called the in-house counsel for the Philadelphia Bar Association, the sort of collective of lawyers in Philadelphia, which still is the oldest in the country.

and really began my career around lawyers, being a lawyer for lawyers, in addition to doing civil rights work. And as is often the case with people trying to pay off student debt and student loans, there was work I needed to do to earn an income, and there was work I needed to do to sleep well at night. And those two things happened. I had a day job and a

and really began my career around lawyers, being a lawyer for lawyers, in addition to doing civil rights work. And as is often the case with people trying to pay off student debt and student loans, there was work I needed to do to earn an income, and there was work I needed to do to sleep well at night. And those two things happened. I had a day job and a

the privilege or the benefit of being able to make a decision between doing work that was more morally important to me, that was more ethics and value driven than income driven. And I left my work as an attorney to run our LGBTQ equality organization in the state that I lived for some time. And in doing so was required to interact with the politics of my state.

the privilege or the benefit of being able to make a decision between doing work that was more morally important to me, that was more ethics and value driven than income driven. And I left my work as an attorney to run our LGBTQ equality organization in the state that I lived for some time. And in doing so was required to interact with the politics of my state.

I was living in a state that had very little civil rights for LGBTQ plus people like myself, even though I was living in a city that had almost all of the equality that we could ask of a municipal government.

I was living in a state that had very little civil rights for LGBTQ plus people like myself, even though I was living in a city that had almost all of the equality that we could ask of a municipal government.

And I existed in that space for a little while, trying to impact equality through an equality organization and hoping that we could have an impact on our elected officials, on our decision makers. And at some point, after being unable to change those minds, I decided I needed to change the people whose minds we're focusing on. I focused a little bit more on electoral politics for several years.

And I existed in that space for a little while, trying to impact equality through an equality organization and hoping that we could have an impact on our elected officials, on our decision makers. And at some point, after being unable to change those minds, I decided I needed to change the people whose minds we're focusing on. I focused a little bit more on electoral politics for several years.

And at some point, my close friend sat me down and said that I was the person that I had been looking for to run. And I ran for office when I was 31 years old. I ran against a 28-year incumbent. She had been in office since I was three years old. And I won my very first race on a very small margin, 233 votes.

And at some point, my close friend sat me down and said that I was the person that I had been looking for to run. And I ran for office when I was 31 years old. I ran against a 28-year incumbent. She had been in office since I was three years old. And I won my very first race on a very small margin, 233 votes.

And I was the first out LGBTQ person ever elected to my state legislature, which came with both a lot of responsibility and a ton of opportunities. And tried to avail myself of both of those as often as I could for the 10 years that I served in office. At the end of it, I retired from my seat in the House of Representatives and actually supported a close friend who ran for my seat.

And I was the first out LGBTQ person ever elected to my state legislature, which came with both a lot of responsibility and a ton of opportunities. And tried to avail myself of both of those as often as I could for the 10 years that I served in office. At the end of it, I retired from my seat in the House of Representatives and actually supported a close friend who ran for my seat.

I also ran for lieutenant governor of my state, a race that I was not successful in. I, during that whole time, I spent a lot of years teaching colleges and companies how to be active in LGBTQ equality and civil rights. And so I did that for my career for the first year that I was out of office, which is when we met.

I also ran for lieutenant governor of my state, a race that I was not successful in. I, during that whole time, I spent a lot of years teaching colleges and companies how to be active in LGBTQ equality and civil rights. And so I did that for my career for the first year that I was out of office, which is when we met.

And now for the last six months or so, I've run an organization that uses a lot of data and campaign information to focus on elected officials that are attacking civil rights the most and to try to knock them out of office.

And now for the last six months or so, I've run an organization that uses a lot of data and campaign information to focus on elected officials that are attacking civil rights the most and to try to knock them out of office.