A North Philly ward leader running against Malcolm Kenyatta is under scrutiny for comments about LGBTQ people

The culture wars over LGBTQ education and medical care for transgender kids that have fueled bitter partisan divides nationwide recently caused controversy in an unlikely place: a Democratic ward in North Philadelphia.

Now, the ward leader — who is running for a seat in the Pennsylvania House against a gay incumbent — is under scrutiny by the head of the party for his comments about LGBTQ people.

The episode centers on ward leader Lewis Nash Sr. and has rocked the city’s 47th ward, with Nash recently threatening to expel a member of the Democratic City Committee for refusing to back his candidacy. And it could portend trouble for Nash’s political future as he tries for the second time to secure a seat in Harrisburg by challenging State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, a former Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate who has been called a rising star in the party.

In August, Nash led a ward meeting with more than a dozen committeepeople, the elected foot soldiers of the Democratic Party who coordinate voter education and advocate for the party’s endorsed candidates. During the gathering, he expressed concerns about public policy involving LGBTQ children, and he espoused multiple debunked theories that have been popularized in largely right-wing circles.

According to an audio recording of the meeting obtained by The Inquirer, Nash told committee members that they should consider voting for the Republican nominee for mayor, that some elected officials are encouraging children to seek gender reassignment surgery, and that members should not “vote for a president that’s going to [support] the mutilation of kids.”

He also expressed concern about teachers telling children “they got two mommies,” and said elected officials should not tell his child that “she can go have an abortion without my permission.”

And he said an unidentified politician told him in 2018 that Harrisburg Democrats would support his bid for office if he agreed to support legislation allowing the state’s Children’s Healthcare Insurance Program to fund gender reassignment surgery and hormone therapy for kids. House Democratic Majority Leader Jordan Harris categorically denied the allegation.

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In an interview, Nash said he strongly supports party leaders, including President Joe Biden, and that he was not referring to Biden during the August meeting. He also said he doesn’t discriminate against LGBTQ people, and that he was trying to communicate that parents should have a say in their children’s medical and mental health care.

“They want to use the card that I don’t have love for every single person that I represent, and that’s hurting me,” he said. “I’ve been a pastor for 24 years, and we all have individuals in our families that chose an alternative lifestyle, and I never discriminated against them.”

Nash said his comments are being “misinterpreted” and were made public as part of an effort orchestrated by Kenyatta to sink his political career.

Kenyatta said he played “zero role in orchestrating the hate, bigotry, and misogyny that flows so freely from his mouth.”

“That’s a question he needs to deal with internally, and he should stop projecting those decisions he’s made onto others,” Kenyatta said. “Those hateful comments have no place in the Democratic Party.”

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, chair of the Democratic City Committee, said Nash’s comments were “totally disgraceful.”

“We don’t want anybody in our party with that kind of talk like that. That’s absolutely absurd,” Brady said. “I’ve never had this before in all my years. Everybody’s disgusted about it.”

Kenyatta is seeking reelection to his state House seat at the same time he’s running for auditor general, which is allowed under state law. He was first elected to the House representing the 181st district in 2018, after defeating Nash and several other Democrats in the primary.

Opposition to Nash within his own ward bubbled over last week during another meeting, when he threatened to have one committeeperson expelled from the party for refusing to support his bid for a state House seat.

Nash said that committeepeople are required to support the person the ward endorses, and that the majority agreed to back his candidacy.

Brady said it’s not against the rules for a member to back another Democrat. Members can be expelled for supporting political candidates from other parties, a rule that became controversial late last year when the party threatened to kick out committeepeople who backed progressive third-party City Council candidates.

But, Brady said, “they can’t be kicked off for supporting another Democrat.”