It is Monday night, just 15 days before he officially becomes Mayor-elect, and Bill Peduto is hanging out at the Regent Square Theater where in a celebration of its 10th season barebones productions has just screened the cult classic, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” with a host of notable Pittsburgh characters performing scenes along with the film.
At 49, Peduto is old enough to remember the movie from the days of the old King’s Court Theater in Oakland where a midnight showing was a rite of passage for a generation who got its first taste of the rock-n-roll musical with its gender-bending themes.
That the city’s most visible elected official attended the event last month, smiling broadly in pictures while hobnobbing with the character of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the transsexual from Transylvania, and welcomed Facebook postings shouldn’t surprise anyone. And that is precisely Peduto’s objective if Pittsburgh wants to finally and forever shed its image as a city functioning in a time warp.
“Having a Mayor who is not afraid to be in those situations – at arts events, at social events – that helps to break down the barriers,” Peduto said. “In a town that’s been socially conservative, we’ve been slow to open our hearts to everyone. But once you get to know people, it’s hard to hate.”
Peduto is no stranger to the politics of gay rights in Pittsburgh, having started his career with former Councilman Dan Cohen, a champion for the LGBT community. As Cohen’s Chief of Staff, Peduto was in the middle of the fray in the 1990s when council members had to be pushed and prodded to offer benefits to same-sex couples.
The process began pre-Peduto when Cohen and his colleagues broadened the city’s diversity policy to include sexual orientation. Former Mayor Tom Murphy and his administration supported domestic partner benefits and then worked to provide them to union employees. Finally after several failed attempts, city council members agreed that all employees were entitled to the benefits.
“It took years to get to five (votes),” Peduto said recalling efforts to get the legislation to pass. “But we had to be a city that recognized people should be treated equally.”
These days much of the debate about LGBT rights is happening at the state and federal levels, and in courts around the country. Nonetheless, Peduto sees specific areas in which he can make a mark as Mayor once he takes office in January.
Foremost is making certain that diversity and fairness aren’t just concepts addressed by the Equal Opportunity Commission or the Human Relations commissions but a practical reality at every level of city government, including its boards, authorities and commissions.
What’s more Peduto sees the LGBT Community and the work it has already done as a tool in his economic development arsenal when talking to the business community, labor leaders and citizens. He talks of “opening minds beyond city government and government programs,” and he is practical and schooled enough to know that on the issue of gay rights there are those whose hearts and minds may never change.
But it’s hard to argue with success, and anyone who needs tangible proof that the gay community can be transformative need only to look to neighborhoods such as a Lawrenceville with its remodeled homes, thriving Butler Street Corridor, and developing arts scene to see positive change.
Finally, there are the visible efforts of support, and Peduto is no newcomer in that regard. He has a long association with Pittsburgh Pride dating back to its days on Ellsworth Avenue and several years ago, when other politicians skirted the issue of gay marriage, Peduto publicly offered his support.
For Peduto it’s a simple matter: justice and equality for everyone is a guiding philosophy that fits perfectly with his broader strategy to remake the city.
“We’re going to create a whole new model of how city government is run,” he says. “For decades we’ve operated under an old political machine and we’re going to dismantle it bolt by bolt.”
Peduto envisions a “talent city,” one in which the best and brightest are welcomed to the community to create a new Pittsburgh where the existing government structure isn’t improved, but rebuilt from the bottom up and driven by active engaged citizens.
The challenge, as he sees it, will be to transform Pittsburgh for years to come while maintaining the quirky character of its past and present. One only needs to look to the Peduto campaign commercial featuring Gus and Yiayia’s Ice Ball Stand and the Sax Man to know he has a deep understanding of the city and its love for tradition.
“Growing up is important. But how we grow up is more important.”
Above all else Peduto is an idea man, one ready to put into practice all that he’s learned over 30 years in government and politics. There is a steely resolve in his voice and his vision is clear as he has at stands at the precipice of his future and of the city’s.
“I’m not scared of what’s ahead, but I am anxious to get there.”
