Jan 04, 2008  JOHN SHIELDS | COMMENTS     

TACOMA PARK, Md. — Meeting Bruce Williams is like meeting one of your neighbors when walking to get milk or calling to ask for a cup of sugar.  

After 15 years in public office, Williams, who is gay, was elected mayor of Tacoma Park late last year. How have things changed in the 15 years since he’s been in public life? 

“Tuxedos,” he says, noting the more formal nature of being mayor.

 “When I was first elected as a city council person in 1993,” Williams says, “I wondered what it was going to be like running as an openly gay official. I was happy to find out in Takoma Park that it just wasn’t an issue.”

Telling one of his favorite stories, Williams recalls the time a local television reporter went to a house in his neighborhood when he was first elected. A woman, with her hair in curlers and a baby on each hip, answers the door.

Williams says the reporter asked if the woman knew her new councilman was gay.

“And?” Williams recalls as the woman’s “who-cares” reaction. 

When asked if being gay has affected him or his constituents, Williams says, “I don’t think it has. I think it is just one factor among many. What my constituents look at is my willingness to serve, my competence to serve, the fact that I show up, I listen and I try and make thoughtful decisions.”

Williams says the main concerns of his constituents are affordable housing, schools, immigration and taxes, but the right for same-sex couples to marry or form civil unions is also an issue.

“People want us and expect us to take that type of action, so one of the things I did was lobby to have a committee formed to look at family issues. I was chair of the committee and we went through the whole city code and fixed everything in the code to make it friendly to all kinds of families — domestic partnerships were established, health insurance benefits, those kinds of things.” 

At the time, the city insurance carrier did not offer domestic partnership benefits but Williams says the committee fought to offer them. The insurance group responded that if it offered them to Takoma Park, then it would have to offer them to every other jurisdiction in Maryland.

Williams responded, “Yes, and?”

With his guidance, Takoma Park convinced the Local Government Insurance Trust to offer domestic partnership benefits.

Williams and his partner, Geoffrey Burkhart, have been together 30 years.  

“At various times we have said ‘would we get married if we could?’ and we’ve never really forced the conclusion. I would say there have been times in my life where I would say ‘No, I don’t want to go there, that’s somebody else’s model’ but I think we would if we could.”

“My parents were comfortable with me on an individual basis, but it wasn’t something they would talk to other people about — it was kind of cordoned off a little bit,” he says. “After I got elected and was out and Geoffrey and I would ride in the Fourth of July parade, or something like that, at one point my parents said ‘You know, seeing how comfortable you are with your life and that you are proud and open, it makes it that much easier for us to feel proud of you and share that pride with other people.’” 

Williams says what has changed for him since becoming mayor is he gets a lot more attention and recognition representing Takoma Park, more so than as a council member.  

“More than I realized, and it’s nice to have that recognition, but with it comes added responsibility. I welcome that responsibility, but I also realize I need everyone’s help to continue making Takoma Park a great place to live.”

Williams says he’s especially proud of his city’s stance on immigration.

“We consciously made a decision to not allow our police department to look into the federal database to find convicted felons who have been deported. We have been a sanctuary city for more than 20 years and that would send exactly the wrong message to our community. The people most affected by criminals are the people that live in the community. If they aren’t willing ...