Todd Glass and his cracked wit PAGE 15
Ben Carson, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz in a three-way tie for Creep of the Week PAGE 10
Family Portrait: Diane Matkowski has some healthy advice PAGE 23
Mayor number 99 ready for action PAGE 5 Jan. 8-14, 2016
Since 1976
PGN Philadelphia Gay News HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Vol. 40 No. 2
Venture Inn to close next week By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The curtain will officially close on Venture Inn Jan. 17. The longtime Gayborhood watering hole and restaurant is shuttering after more than 40 years as an LGBT establishment, and decades more as a venue friendly to LGBT clientele. General manager Henry Brinton said owners Bob and Linda Berkowitz recently finalized the sale of 1217 Spruce St., which encompasses Venture Inn. Details on the most recent sale and new owner were not yet publicly available. The Berkowitzes purchased the property in 2007 for $1.15 million. Brinton said the couple, who lives parttime in Florida, was looking to liquidate some of their assets as they aged. But, he said, they intended for Venture Inn to remain open after the sale. “Bob was negotiating with the new owners and that was part of the verbal agreement but halfway through the process, the new group changed their minds and said they were going to close the doors, and it was too late to get out of the deal at that point,” Brinton said. “But Bob and Linda tried their damnedest to keep it open. It broke their hearts that they couldn’t.” It is unclear what the new owner plans to do with the space occupied by Venture Inn, which stands in a former stable that dates to the 1830s. The building housed a number of establishments over the years, officially adopting the Venture Inn moniker and title as an LGBT establishment in 1973. Brinton was an employee for 10 years and GM for the past eight. “This wasn’t just a building; it was a home, a family, a community,” he said. “I’m happy I was able to have an effect personally on that community because it definitely affected me; I did a lot of growing up and learned a lot here.” Brinton will move on to Valanni. Every one of the other nine employees has secured employment at Gayborhood establishments, Brinton said. “Everybody has a job to go to when the PAGE 3 doors close. This staff
Hateful incidents mar Mummers Parade
The Mummers organization has said it will put in place new restrictions to curb bigotry in the annual parade after reports of racism, homophobia and transphobia in last week’s event. By Paige Cooperstein paige@epgn.com
LEADING THE CHARGE FOR CHANGE: Brittany Lynn and the Miss Fancy Brigade led the Philadelphia Mummers Parade down Broad Street Jan. 1. This marked the fourth year for the LGBT contingent, and the first in which it participated in the Philadelphia Division, a sector meant to foster diversity in the parade. This year’s event was marred by complaints of racism, homophobia and transphobia, including a skit by one brigade mocking Caitlyn Jenner. A member of that group was permanently banned from the parade after he was heard making antigay comments. The LGBT community has been among a number of groups calling for changes to the parade to foster inclusion. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Hearing continued in Gayborhood murder The preliminary hearing for a man accused of killing a psychiatrist in a Gayborhood hotel was continued until February. Manuel Baez, 27, is now scheduled for a hearing at 9 a.m. Feb. 10 in Room 306 of the Criminal Justice Center, 1301 Filbert St. He faces charges of criminal homicide, robbery and related offences in the death of Dr. Howard Baker, 75, in a room at the Rodeway Inn at 12th and Walnut streets. According to authorities, Baker, of Lower Merion Township, frequently stayed at the hotel, located a couple blocks from his practice in the 1400 block of Walnut Street. A housekeeper at the hotel discov-
ered Baker’s body Dec. 21. He was naked on the floor with a belt wrapped tightly around his neck. The cause of death was ruled strangulation, according to Officer Leeloni Palmiero, a Philadelphia police spokeswoman. Investigating officers determined Baker checked into the hotel Dec. 20. In the evening, two males visited Baker’s room separately. The second was seen leaving the room just after midnight with Baker’s wallet and backpack. Authorities contend this person was Baez. A motive is still being investigated. n — Paige Cooperstein
Members of the Miss Fancy Brigade, an LGBT group of local drag performers, had finished marching at the head of the annual Mummers Parade by early afternoon on New Year’s Day. They were sitting in Tabu watching the rest of the marchers on television when the Finnegan New Year Brigade appeared. “Everybody got kind of silent for a minute,” said Ian Morrison, who performs as Brittany Lynn and helped form the Miss Fancy Brigade. In the parade, one member of Finnegan was dressed as Bruce Jenner during the Olympic victory. As the Aerosmith song “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)” began playing, a marcher dressed as a woman emerged. A sign compared Jenner’s Wheaties cereal box with a box of Froot Loops featuring Jenner from the cover of the Vanity Fair magazine, which announced her coming out as transgender. “There’s always been satire,” Morrison said. “There was no intelligence whatsoever behind this.” “You had an LGBT group leading the parade and then they’re being made fun of in the parade,” he continued. “When the Caitlyn Jenner portion got paraded through the Gayborhood, it was a slap in the face. But I think this had to happen, so it could be talked about in the open and dealt with.” Morrison’s brigade marched with black and Latino brigades in the Philadelphia Division, which debuted this year in an attempt to showcase the diversity of the city. “With every step forward, there’s sometimes a step or two back,” he said. “There were some setbacks, but I try to focus on the positives.” Morrison said Mummers leaders called him soon after the parade to apologize. He said his brigade has been invited to march since 2013 and will continue to do so. The Mummers released a statement Jan. 2 in relation to the anti-LGBT incidents at the parade. A man from PAGE 13