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Brian Sims

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Brian SimsMember of the from the districtAssumed office December 1, 2012Preceded byPersonal detailsBornBrian Kendall Sims September 16, 1978 , U.S.Political partyEducation () ()Brian Kendall Sims (born September 16, 1978) is a member of the in the 182nd district. Elected in 2012, Sims is also a lawyer and activist on . Sims is the first openly gay elected state legislator in Pennsylvania history. He won reelection on November 6, 2018.

Contents Early life and education[] Sims was born in , the son of two Army Lieutenant Colonels of Irish descent. Sims was raised in the but stopped attending church at the age of 16. Sims lived in seventeen states before settling in in the early 1990s. He later completed his undergraduate studies at , in in 2001. In 2000, Sims was the co-captain of the Bloomsburg University football team, and was recognized as a scholar athlete. During the 2000 season, the longest season in the school's history, Sims as gay to his teammates. In doing so, the regional All-American and team captain became the only openly gay college football captain in history.

In 2004, Sims earned a Degree in International and at the .

Activism[] Sims served as the President of , and as the Chairman of the Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of (GALLOP), until he stepped down from both positions in 2011. In 2009, Sims joined the faculty of the and the National Campaign Board of the . He was selected as one of the Top 40 LGBT Attorneys Under 40 in the United States by the in 2010.

Planned Parenthood confrontation[] Sims received attention in 2019 for videos he posted to social media confronting people protesting outside of a facility in Philadelphia. In April of that year, Sims offered $100 to anyone who could three teenage girls who were protesting by praying outside the facility. A few weeks later, in May, Sims posted another eight-minute video of himself confronting a woman who was protesting by praying with a outside the same facility. He suggested it was unchristian and racist to "shame" people engaging in a lawful activity. He encouraged his social media followers to dox her and protest outside her house. Sims also criticized Catholicism by referring to its record on child molestation.

Following the incidents, more than one thousand anti abortion activists rallied outside the facility, with many calling for Sims' resignation. He responded to calls for an apology or that he resign by calling critics bigoted, sexist, and misogynistic "Bible Bullies". Sims admitted to being "aggressive" in his confrontation.

Career[] Before assuming public office, Sims served as staff counsel for policy and planning at the Philadelphia Bar Association. During his time at the Bar Association, Sims worked with attorneys, legislators and community organizations on issues ranging from gender and pay inequity to environmental regulation.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives[] In 2011, Sims announced his intentions to run for representative of the 182nd Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Sims defeated , a 28-year incumbent, in the 2012 Democratic primary. He did not face a Republican challenger in the November general election and was elected.

Sims was the first openly gay person elected to the . Although he was not sworn in until January 1, 2013, because Pennsylvania state representatives' term of service and legislative duties officially begin on the first day of December following their election, Sims shares the designation of being its first openly gay member with Rep. (R–), who came out in a newspaper article published later that day.

In June 2013, after the had been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, Sims tried to make a speech in the Pennsylvania House supporting the decision, but was blocked by , among others, who called Sims' comments "open rebellion against God’s law."

Sims made national news on October 3, 2013, when he and fellow Democratic Rep. introduced legislation to legalize in Pennsylvania. Sims has also introduced a bill with fellow Democratic State Representative to help reduce and eliminate the gender gap in rate of pay as well as legislation to ban the practice of with Rep. .

Sims has also made efforts to work with federal legislators on issues of civil rights. On March 28, 2013, Sims penned an open letter to U.S. Senator and fellow Pennsylvania Democrat urging him to come out publicly in support of same-sex marriage. This, combined with many other calls, ultimately resulted in the senator voicing his support for the measure. Senator (R-PA) also chose to vote for the (ENDA) in the after Sims and a number of other activists wrote to him on the matter.

On November 11, 2013, Sims teamed with Republican State Representative to introduce a bill to replace Pennsylvania's system of electing judges with a merit-based system, which did not receive debate in the PA House.

Sims currently serves of the House Commerce, Game and Fish, Human Services, State Government, and Tourism and Recreation Committees. Sims serves as Democratic Chair of the Human Services Subcommittee on Mental Health.

Sims has served as the prime sponsor of 68 bills or resolutions, of these, one bill has progressed to be debated on the house floor, and nine resolutions have been passed.

After tweeted a cartoon portraying Trump and Putin as a gay couple, Sims said it's time to stop the jokes.

Congressional run[] In the 2016 elections, Sims was briefly a candidate for , but opted to run for re-election to the instead. Sims was challenged by Lou Lanni, Marni Snyder, and Ben Waxman in the Democratic primary, defeating all three. Sims did not face a Republican challenger in the November 2016 general election.

See also[] References[] External links[] Members of the [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1]Retrieved from "": Hidden categories: Philly lawmaker flips Pence the bird, stirring controversy ... Share This Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about

FacebookEmailState Rep. Brian Sims rips GOP members for silence after testing positive for COVID-19 State Rep. Brian Sims released a FB video calling out GOP members who had withheld information about positive COVID-19 cases in state capitol.

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, York Daily RecordPublished 10:13 a.m. ET May 28, 2020 | Updated 1:51 p.m. ET May 28, 2020CONNECTCOMMENTEMAILMOREA Pennsylvania state representative went on a profanity-laced tirade Wednesday against Republican House members who had tested positive for COVID-19 or came in contact with someone who had, and yet remained silent.

State Rep. Brian Sims, a Democrat out of the 182nd District in Philadelphia, released a near 12-minute long who have been pushing to re-open the state and downplaying the seriousness of the novel coronavirus.

"Every single day of this crisis this State Government Committee in Pennsylvania has met so that their members could line up one after one after one and explain that it was safe to go back to work," Sims said in the video. "During that time period they were testing positive. They were notifying one another. And they didn’t notify us."

Earlier this week and.

More:

In the video, Sims says that Democratic leadership became aware of at least one Republication member of the House of Representatives who had tested positive for COVID-19 and remained working in the capitol for at least one week.

Sims also criticized Rep. Russ Diamond of Lebanon County for self-quarantining without telling Democratic colleagues. and according to Sims, he has remained quarantined for weeks.

In a Tweet Wednesday night, Diamond said he "self-quarantined but didn't get tested after possible COVID 'contact.' " He said his doctor said there was no reason for him to get tested.

In his Facebook Live video, Sims said, "Of course he didn't explain that to any of us when he was in committee talking with us, walking up and down the aisle, bumping into us or letting us hold the door for him, " Sims said.

"I'm in a building surrounded by. members who cannot go back to their families," Sims said. "I need to know if it is safe for us to be back in this building."

On Wednesday, May 27, Rep. Kevin J. Boyle (D-Philadelphia) and Democratic Chair for the House State Government Committee cited that he and his colleagues had discovered that fellow committee member Rep. Andrew Lewis (R-Dauphin) tested positive for COVID-19.

In a Facebook video noting he began filling ill on Saturday, May 16. He tested positive on Wednesday, May 20 and was last at the Capitol Buion May 14, he said.

"In my mind the people that were exposed deserved a little bit of time because I have not have a public schedule and only had interactions with a few people. And I think those people deserved a little window of time to get tested and do their isolation," he said in the video. "I want to assure you throughout this whole thing I followed the isolation procedures, notified anyone I was in contact with and was in contact with the Department of Health on a daily basis."

, Boyle called for a formal investigation into the incident in which several Republican leadership members including Rep. Lewis, House Speaker Mike Turazi and House Majority Leader Brian Cutler failed to notify fellow committee and house members.

In the video Sims also calls for the Attorney General's office to launch an investigation on GOP members who tested positive and participated self-quarantining without notifying their Democratic colleagues.

Sims was elected to the House of Representatives in 2013 and was the first openly gay state representative in Pennsylvania.

Read Rep. Boyle's full letter to Attorney General Shapiro below:

> I serve as Democratic Chairperson of the House State Government Committee. Our body has met more often than any other standing committee in the Pennsylvania GeneralAssembly as it considers legislation pertaining to reopening the state. lt has also been the scene of several battles over how quickly to ease pandemic restrictions, with Democrats pushing for caution and Republicans encouraging a swifter reopening land my Democratic colleagues discovered today, May 27th, that Representative Andrew Lewis, a Republican member of the House State Government Committee, tested positive for COVID-19 on May 20th.

Both Representative Lewis and some of his Republican colleagues on the committee, including Representative Diamond, have reportedly been exposed to Covid-19 through contact with Representative Lewis and are presumed positive pending testing. Most Republican members have not been wearing masks in committee, including Representative Diamond. After learning that a House Republican member was infected with COVID-19 Representative Lewis and the House Republican Leadership, including Speaker Mike f urzai and Leader Brian Cutler, failed to notify Democratic members and staff as to the possible COVID-19 infection introduced in the House State Government Committee and to the House floor.

lf it was known on May 20th that member(s) were either positive or in quarantine, we needed to know that on May 20th. lnstead, we heard about it on May 27th from the Associated Press. we absolutely need to know more about what circumstances lead to this ill-advised decision by House Republican leadership. Why has it taken so long for House Republican leadership and Representative Lewis to notify exposed House members and staff? Why did Democratic members first hear about this from the Associated Press, rather than from Representative Lewis or House Republican leadership?

Crucially, we also need to know if any state laws or ethics rules were violated, and why CDC and Department of Health rules were not adhered to. There needs to be transparency about this. Without this notification, testing and contact tracing is beginning a week late - and exposed members are already potentially contagious and able to spread COVID-19 to members on the floor, family, and constituents in their districts.

I am writing today to request an investigation into the actions of Representative Lewis, Representative Diamond, House Republican Leadership, and any other potentially infected House Republican members who failed to duly notify Members and staff as required by the Department of Health and CDC.

This is a developing story check back for updates.

Neil Strebig is a journalist for the York Daily Record and curator for the . He can be reached at nstrebig@ydr.com, 717-825-6582 or via Twitter .

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More News: May 28, 2020

Rep. Andrew Lewis last was in the Capitol on May 14; he was tested for the coronavirus May 18 and announced his positive results May 27 By PhillyVoice Staff from Brian Sims/Facebook Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Sims has called for an investigation into Republican leaders in Harrisburg, claiming they covered up the COVID-19 diagnosis of Rep. Andrew Lewis by only telling their own party members of his positive test.

Democratic Pennsylvania State Rep. Brian Sims unleashed on Republican leadership Wednesday, accusing the party of covering up COVID-19 diagnosis of a lawmaker who continued to work at the capitol building in Harrisburg.

Sims, who represents the 182nd district in Philadelphia, released a 12-minute video detailing the accusations against GOP leaders after Rep. Andrew Lewis (R-Dauphin) announced Wednesday he had on May 20.





"I just spent the better part of 11 weeks sitting across the room from people who would eventually test positive (for COVID-19) and decided not to tell us," Sims said. He also revealed that in January, Sims had donated a kidney to person suffering from renal failure. The procedure means the lawmaker is immunocompromised and is more susceptible to serious complications from the coronavirus.

While some GOP legislators were quarantining and contact tracing, Sims said they did not inform Democrats in Harrisburg. He singled out Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon) for quarantining during the past week without telling colleagues across the aisle, even as he vociferously downplayed the seriousness of the COVID-19 crisis.

"Russ Diamond, apparently, many of you know as the person that has led the charge to open up the legislature, screaming every single day in committee about how we were safe and how there wasn't a risk, has apparently been quarantining himself for weeks. Of course he didn't explain that to any of us when he was in committee, talking with us or walking up and down the aisles, or bumping into us, or letting us hold the door open for him."

Sims pointed to Democratic colleagues who have children or family members who are immunocompromised, potentially putting them at greater risk.

"One of the (Republican) members put out a statement saying, 'I was looking out for my family,'" Sims said. "Well, you were exposing our families!"

Rep. Kevin Boyle, a Democrat representing the 172nd District in Northeast Philly and Montgomvery County, chairs a committee on which Lewis sits. Boyle on Wednesday called for the resignation of anyone who knew about this conduct.

“Whoever knew this in the Republican leadership and did not inform the broader membership and staff, they need to resign immediately," . "This is outrageous and immoral."

He added that many GOP legislators have declined to wear face masks while at the capitol.

House GOP spokesperson Mike Straub defended the actions taken by Republican lawmakers, saying they followed CDC guidelines and HIPPA regulations.

“Absolutely anyone, from anywhere in the Capitol, who may have been exposed within those guidelines was notified,” Straub said. “We followed data and science, implementing the guidelines from the CDC and Pennsylvania Department of Health, in line with exactly what Gov. Wolf requires from any business that wishes to operate.”

Lewis, in a statement, also claimed he followed the guidelines and notified everyone he needed to about his COVID-19 diagnosis.

"We worked together and followed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s workplace exposure guidelines to determine exactly who I may have been in contact with, and who I may have possibly exposed to the virus," Lewis said. "I can confirm every member or staff member who met the criteria for exposure was immediately contacted and required to self-isolate for 14 days from their date of possible exposure."

Other Democratic lawmakers, including Malcolm Kenyatta, who represents the 181st District in North Philadelphia, also slammed Republican colleagues.





"The hypocrisy of it is glaring, as they've been calling for weeks to lift the governor's mitigation efforts with no plan for how to ensure workers go back safely," Kenyatta said. "We aren't even safe where we work in the Pennsylvania state capitol."

Sims is calling for the resignation of Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Mike Turzai and any other Republican leaders who were aware of positive COVID-19 tests and did not notify all colleagues who were potentially exposed. He has requested an investigation by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

PhillyVoice Staff



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