Can they talk? Can they ever!
Family Portrait: Karen Cornell PAGE 17
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Ugandan gay-rights activist found murdered in his home
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Philadelphia Gay News
Feb. 4-10, 2011
Honesty Integrity Professionalism
Vol. 35 No. 5
Council to consider bill on domesticpartner benefits for city contractors By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
City Council will soon consider expanding its city contracting rules to allow for equal benefits for LGBT workers and their partners. The law would apply to service contracts that amount to at least $250,000. Councilwoman-at-Large Blondell Reynolds-Brown was scheduled Thursday to introduce an ordinance that would require certain city contractors to offer domesticpartner benefits to their employees that are equal to the plans they offer heterosexual married couples.
Reynolds-Brown explained that such contracts could likely apply to agencies offering janitorial, security or similar services. San Francisco was the first city to institute a law that mandated city contractors offer domestic-partner benefits in 1996, and several others, including Seattle, Los Angeles, Miami and Atlanta, have since followed. In 2006, a New York appeals court overturned a similar law passed by the New York City Council. Reynolds-Brown noted that in 2008, the Liberty City Democratic Club conducted a survey in which its members expressed
considerable interest in this issue. “We thankfully had access to that information and we, as legislators, looked to where we might be able to have the opportunity to make a difference — because that’s why we’re supposed to be here — in the lives of different citizens,” ReynoldsBrown said. “So we knew there was an interest in this raised by members of the LGBT community, so it became an issue of importance for us to look around and research this issue.” Reynolds-Brown said she learned of the several other jurisdictions that already adopted such a law and was eager for “Philadelphia to get in PAGE 6
Greenlee to offer human-relations law changes
PRIMARY POLITICKING: About 150 community members packed the William Way LGBT Community Center ballroom Jan. 31 for a meeting with local politicos on the upcoming primary election. Politics 101, organized annually by the Liberty City Democratic Club, featured John Dougherty (from left), Andrew Chirls, Abbe Fletman and Sam Katz, as well as former Mayor John Street (not pictured). Photo: Scott A. Drake
By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
A measure that City Council expected to introduce this week seeks to give the city’s nondiscrimination law a major facelift and set up tougher enforcement measures against those who violate the LGBT-inclusive legislation. City Councilman-at-Large Bill Greenlee (D) planned to introduce a measure Thursday that would revise and tighten the language in the city’s Fair Practices Ordinance, which prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and the delivery of city services based on sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as several other characteristics. “It’s basically updating the language, a total rewrite that keeps it consistent with federal and state regulations,” Greenlee said. The councilman has been working with the city’s Human Relations Commission, which enforces the law, for about a year to reevaluate what changes are needed. Commission chair Rue Landau noted the law hasn’t been vastly overhauled in about 50 years, although amendments have been added. She noted that changes have been made in a “piecemeal” fashion that has left the legislation lacking PAGE 13
LAPPING UP DONATIONS: Members of the Fins Aquatic Club pushed off from the side of the pool at Friends Select School during the club’s annual Postal Swim Jan. 30. The event marked the first Postal Swim for Lane 5 swimmer Adam Straga, who completed 54 laps in one hour, raising $220. Proceeds from the fundraising event will be split between the Fins and The Attic Youth Center. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Former AACO head joins FIGHT board By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
JOHN CELLA
The board of HIV/ AIDS service organization Philadelphia FIGHT last month welcomed its newest board member — one who has nearly two decades of
experience working with the city’s HIV/ AIDS communities. FIGHT’s board elected John Cella, the retired director of the city’s AIDS Activities Coordinating Office, to the panel at its Jan. 5 meeting. Also at the meeting, members approved Marné Castillo as the board secretary, who filled the vacancy left by Susan Daniluk, who had to resign due to a work conflict. PAGE 8
Illinois guv signs civil-unions law By Tammy Webber The Associated Press CHICAGO — Gov. Pat Quinn, saying it was a “day of history,” signed legislation Monday legalizing civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, making Illinois one of about a dozen states that extend significant legal protections to same-sex couples. About 1,000 people crowded into the Chicago Cultural Center to watch Quinn, a Democrat, sign the measure that supporters call a matter of basic fairness and opponents decry as a threat to the sanctity of traditional marriage. “We believe in civil rights and we believe in civil unions,” PAGE 8