Mark Segal Gives Jim Kenney an Early Endorsement for Mayor [UPDATED]

Though he hasn’t technically announced his candidacy for mayor yet, Jim Kenney’s resignation from City Council this afternoon is a sure sign that he’s putting his hat in the ring. There are already folks coming out of the woodwork to sing his praises, including, in the interest of G Philly readers, Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal. He released this statement earlier today:

All things must come to an end, and they need to be followed by progress. So it is with the resignation of Jim Kenney from Philadelphia’s City Council and his expected announcement next week. Kenney has been a friend of the LGBT community and its struggle for equality for over 25 years, and has sponsored, co-sponsored or supported every LGBT equality measure in Council for the last 23 years. So it is a sad day to see that part of his public service end.

“And with his resignation we look forward to the next step in his efforts to create progressive policy’s that move Philadelphia in the right direction for not only Philadelphia’s citizens of today, but makes Philadelphia a city for the next generation.

“We in the LGBT community welcome the next chapter in Jim Kenney’s life of public service.”

G Philly’s nowhere near ready to do any endorsing, but it is worth mentioning that Kenney has been behind some of the major LGBT movements in Philadelphia over the past few years, including the groundbreaking LGBT Equality Bill that passed Council in 2013, and he and Council member Blondell Reynolds Brown championed the citywide LGBT-specific hate crimes legislation that passed in 2014.

UPDATE: Philadelphia Gay News (PGN) editor Jen Colletta emailed to clarify that this is not an official endorsement from PGN or its publisher Mark Segal.