Family Portrait:
The great Miss Pumpkin celebrates 25 years in the New Hope patch
Commemorating and commenting on over 500 profiles in 10 years
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Philly DA taps LGBT person for communications director Sick-leave bill primed to pass
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Feb. 13-19, 2015
Since 1976
PGN Philadelphia Gay News HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Vol. 39 No. 7
Milano’s killer continues pursuit for freedom By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com Frank R. Chester, who’s convicted of the grisly murder of Anthony V. Milano almost 30 years ago, is continuing his quest for freedom. Last week, Chester asked the entire Third Circuit Court of Appeals to consider voiding his convictions in the Milano case. Last month, a three-judge panel of the appeals court rejected Chester’s request to void his convictions. But Chester wants all 13 judges on the court to review the panel’s decision. In December 1987, Chester and Richard R. Laird escorted Milano out of a Bucks County tavern and kidnapped him to a nearby wooded area. Upon their arrival, Chester kicked and pushed Milano. Then Laird hacked out Milano’s throat with a box cutter, according to court records. Milano was gay, and prosecutors called it an antigay hate crime, though there were no hate-crime protections in place for the LGBT community. In 1988, Chester and Laird were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. But Chester’s first-degree murder conviction was voided in 2011, due to improper jury instructions by the trial judge. Chester wants his remaining convictions voided — including second-degree murder and kidnapping charges — on the basis that his trial attorney had a conflict of interest. Chester’s trial attorney, Thomas F. Edwards Jr., denies having had a conflict of interest in the case. The conflict-of-interest claim stems from a pending DUI charge against Edwards in Bucks County, at the time of Chester’s 1988 trial. In a 15-page PAGE 20
Exclusive: Mazzoni to make big move The LGBT center has signed a contract to consolidate its services into one building. The Bainbridge Street property is expected to open in 2017. By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com Huge changes are coming to Mazzoni Center in the next two years: The LGBT health and wellness facility plans to consolidate its locations, move and considerably expand its operations. In an exclusive interview with PGN, Mazzoni Center CEO Nurit Shein announced that the agency has inked a contract to move its two Gayborhood locations — fusing its medical practice, case-management and other services — into one shared space, at 1328-38 Bainbridge St. The move is expected to happen in 2017. The new building, at the corner of Broad and Bainbridge streets, is currently empty —
after the state welfare office vacated several years ago— and will undergo extensive renovations before the move. The medical practice, currently located at 809 Locust St., along with the adjoining Walgreen’s pharmacy will make the move, as will all of the operations currently housed at Mazzoni’s 21 S. 12th St. location. The Washington West Project will remain at its current location. “This is streamlining everything into a one-stop shop,” Shein said. “Patients can come get legal help, case management, medical or behavioral-health services, all in one place.” The entire project, being done in partnership with developer Alterra Property Group, LLC, is expected to cost between $13-$14
THE NEW MAZZONI SITE AT 1328-38 BAINBRIDGE ST.
million. Shein described the building agreement as a “hybrid of a lease and investment.” “It will lower the rent PAGE 12
Hate crimes, trans and conversion-therapy bills intro’d By Ryan Kasley ryan@epgn.com Legislators in Harrisburg have begun delivering on promises to introduce LGBT-inclusive legislation this session, including bills to combat hate crimes and conversion therapy and two to advance transgender rights. Gabe Spece, chief of staff for state Rep. Dan Frankel (D-23rd Dist.), said House Bill 300, the long-stalled statewide anti-discrimination bill, will likely be introduced in March, as Frankel and his colleagues are still working on rounding up cosponsors in both the House and Senate. Hate crimes
THE EL WORD: Neal Santos (left) and Andrew Olson cut their wedding cake from Cakes by Maryellen at their Feb. 8 wedding reception at Loews. The pair was the first same-sex couple to marry aboard the Love Train, a privately chartered, slow-speed tour of works of the Mural Arts Program aboard the Market-Frankford El. The couple was married by the Hon. Dan Anders, the city’s first openly gay male judge, surrounded by friends and family. A couple has wed during the event the last four years, and organizers sought a same-sex couple for the 2015 edition to celebration the legalization of same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania. The couple, who own Farm 51 in West Philadelphia, and their supporters headed to Barbuzzo for a reception after-party. Photo: Scott A. Drake
A statewide LGBT-inclusive hate-crimes bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, following its introduction by state Reps. Kevin Boyle (D-172nd Dist.) and Thomas Murt (R-152nd Dist.) late last month. HB 218, previously introduced by Boyle’s brother, former Rep. Brendan Boyle, last year as HB 177, made significant progress when it was approved by the Judiciary Committee in October, but stalled before being brought to the House floor. The bill would expand the offense of ethnic intimidation to include actual or perceived ancestry, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity — and close the legal loophole between the municipal law here in Philadelphia and the hard-to-implement Matthew Shepherd Act federal bill to protect PAGE 17