Family Portrait: Maureen Nolan on diversifying Drexel PAGE 25
Winter woes for pets PAGE 8
B-boys between the covers
Penn lecture looks at murder of gender-nonconforming student
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Feb 21-27, 2014
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Vol. 37 No. 8
Community mourns loss of Jaci Adams
Sen. Casey poses for NoH8 By Angela Thomas angela@epgn.com Following the passage of California’s ban on same-sex marriage in 2008, the NoH8 photo campaign launched to organize and showcase LGBT supporters — and Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D) was among a group of lawmakers who took part in a NoH8 shoot. Casey and four other senators, as well as 15 Congressmembers, were featured in the Feb. 14 #NoH8onTheHill campaign, which adds legislative voices to the chorus of celebrities, athletes and LGBTs and allies who stand for LGBT rights and against bullying. This is the third incarnation of the #NoH8onTheHill; Pennsylvania Congressmembers Chaka Fattah (D) and Matt Cartwright (D) participated in the 2012 and 2013 sessions, respectively. Casey is no stranger to LGBT support: He backs the Employment Non-Discrimination Act; is the lead sponsor of the LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying Safe Schools Improvement Act; and last spring announced his support for same-sex marriage. “Everyone deserves equal rights, and I’m proud to support equality for all, no matter who they are or whom they love,” Casey said. “I’m proud to work with NoH8 in an effort to make discrimination and injustice history.” NoH8 founders Adam Bouska and Jeff Parshley said in a joint statement that the #NoH8onTheHill release was dedicated to LGBTs in Russia, who are facing increased antigay persecution from their government. “Today we show our gratitude for those in government who use their platform to speak out for the rights of all people.” For more information, www.noh8campaign. com. ■
By Angela Thomas angela@epgn.com
UNLICENSED LOVE: Bob (left) and Bill Sullivan applied for, and were denied, a marriage license Feb. 18 at Philadelphia City Hall. The couple applied for the document in Register of Wills Robert Donatucci’s office; staffers told the pair that, while Donatucci was personally sympathetic, his office would not issue licenses to same-sex couples until a court rules on Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage. The Sullivans are legally married in Vermont and have been together for more than two decades. The action was organized by the Philadelphia chapter of Marriage Equality USA and had been rescheduled from Valentine’s Day because of last week’s snowstorm. Photo: Scott A. Drake
“Somebody like Jaci, they come along once in a lifetime. To me, she is a part of everything.” — Franny Price Pioneering LGBT and HIV/ AIDS activist Jaci Adams died Feb. 15 at the Keystone House in Wyndmoor from complications of cancer. She was 56. Plans for a memorial had not been finalized as of presstime. Adams spent decades advocating for policy changes, mentoring LGBT young people and using her own diverse experiences to press for social-justice reforms. Adams was born in Beckly, W. Va., and eventually moved to North Philadelphia, where she grew up in a rough environment with an abusive father. She spent years battling drug addiction and turned to prostitution and crime before pulling herself through to recovery. She grew into the activist career she is now known for following the murder of her friend, Nizah Morris.
“I feel like she has always been around, always a presence,” said AIDS Law Project executive director Ronda Goldfein. “When do you first notice something that is everywhere?” Adams was a founding member of the Temple University Community Advisory Board, sat on the planning committee for the PAGE 16 Philadelphia
Coming home: Meet the residents of JCAA By Angela Thomas and Jen Colletta angela@epgn.com, jen@epgn.com After years of planning, the John C. Anderson Apartments will celebrate its ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 24. The LGBTfriendly senior apartment building is home to 56 units, and is only the third of its kind in the nation — and the largest-ever LGBT building project that is fully publicly funded. While the project is historic in nature, it’s the stories of its inaugural residents that are even more remarkable. Here, we present some of their histories.
Elizabeth Coffey Williams “What does this project mean to me? It wasn’t just life-changing, it was kind of life-saving.” Colorful handmade quilts adorn Elizabeth Coffey Williams’ new JCAA residence, a testament to one of the many skills she honed during more than two decades living in the Midwest — an experience that came to an abrupt end in 2012, plunging her into homelessness. Coffey Williams, 65, a native of Brooklyn, grew up in Philadelphia and
then lived in New Orleans, San Francisco, New York City and Baltimore after being thrown out of her parents’ home when she told them she was transgender at age 18. “I graduated from high school, a National Merit Scholar, and that afternoon came out to my parents, thinking, How could they not know? I wasn’t very good at being anyone other than who I am,” she said. “But that afternoon I was homeless. Literally.” It took six years for her parents, who have since died, to welcome her back home, although she said her four younger siblings were wholly accepting. PAGE 17
“Day in the Life of” is a new monthly feature that tells the unique, day-to-day stories of local LGBT community members. Meet this month’s subject: Johnny Columbo. PAGE 18