Womynsfest celebrates 12 years
Family Portrait: Eric Schellack
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The Marriage Issue: The latest on the legalities and help planning yours
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STARTING ON PAGE 7
March 2-8, 2012
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Vol. 36 No. 9
City: Scouts don’t merit legal fees By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com
RELATIONSHIP ADVICE: Stephen Williams (from left), Ricardo Bostic, D. Elijah Vanlue Jr. and Kim Kendrick prepared for their panel presentation, “We Love 2: The Black LGBT Experience,” Feb. 25 at Temple University. About 50 people attended the discussion, which was part of the daylong “Black Love Experience,” a relationship conference organized by The Philadelphia Sunday Sun and the NAACP. Photo: Scott A. Drake
After artist dustup, ’Nova calls for LGBT inclusion By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com About 200 members of the Villanova University community gathered Tuesday night to hear from the school’s president about his decision to cancel the performance series of an openly gay artist. According to members of the Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition, who were in attendance at this week’s meeting, the Rev. Peter Donohue apologized “to members of the community who felt offended. That was not our intent.” Donohue did not direct a specific apology to artist Tim Miller, who had been slated to facilitate a performance-art workshop series at the school in April. Miller is known for his edgy, envelopepushing techniques, but his series had been approved through PAGE 17
Attorneys for the city have asked a federal judge to reject the Boy Scouts’ latest request for more than $1 million in legal fees related to the dispute over their occupancy of a city-owned building. The Scouts want a total of $1,038,664.07 from the city for winning one of their claims in a federal civil-rights lawsuit to avoid eviction. Federal law allows the prevailing party in a civil-rights lawsuit to bill the other party for legal fees. But a Feb. 10 motion filed by the city suggests that the Scouts’ successful claim will ultimately prove to be meritless. Thus, the Scouts wouldn’t be entitled to any legal fees from the city. And if the claim isn’t tossed out on appeal, the Scouts would only be entitled to $302,327 from the city, according to the city’s motion. Between July 2010 and February 2012,
the Scouts claim they incurred $75,089 in legal fees — mostly while trying to reach a settlement with the city. However, the city’s Feb. 10 motion disputes that figure as well. According to the motion, the Scouts only incurred $33,744 in legal fees during that time period, if anything. In the beginning Since 2008, the city has been trying to evict the BSA Cradle of Liberty Council from 231-251 N. 22nd St., because the council won’t accept gays nor pay any rent. In response to the eviction notice, the Scouts sued the city in federal court. In 2010, a jury ruled that the city acted unconstitutionally when conditioning the Scouts’ rent-free occupancy of the property on compliance with antibias rules. The Scouts’ request for legal fees is based on winning that unconstitutionalcondition claim. The jury rejected two other Scouts’
claims against the city: viewpoint discrimination and equal-protection violations. The city disputes the amount of work done by the Scouts’ attorneys to bring about the winning claim. The city also contends the Scouts are trying to bill the city for legal work done on claims the Scouts lost. “Taxpayers are required to reimburse prevailing parties only for those fees and expenses actually needed to achieve the favorable result,” the city’s Feb. 10 motion states. “The [civil-rights] laws weren’t intended to provide a windfall for lawyers at the taxpayers’ expense.” But the Scouts say there’s overlap between the legal work done on the successful and unsuccessful claims. Thus, they’re entitled to bill the city for some work done on the unsuccessful claims if that work also contributed to the successful claim. The city’s Feb. 10 motion also faults the Scouts for allegedly trying to bill for too many attorneys doing PAGE 2
Health, community leaders talk strategy By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com Several-dozen LGBT and HIV/AIDS community leaders came together with city officials last week to discuss the local strategy to fight the epidemic. The Feb. 22 meeting, organized by several community activists, was precipitated by community concerns following funding cuts in a recent Centers for Disease Control award administered by the city. Among the topics discussed, representatives from the Health Department and the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office detailed the funding-award selection process for the recent High Impact HIV-Prevention Services awards, in particular the Resource Allocation Advisory Committee. Created in 1993, the 12-member group assists in setting city HIV funding priorities and reviews funding applications, making recommendations to the health commissioner for his final approval. The members, who are appointed by the commissioner, currently function in anonymity, which some attendees at the meetPAGE 23 ing took umbrage with,
TAKING TOUGH QUESTIONS: Donald Schwarz, Philadelphia’s out health commissioner and deputy mayor for health and opportunity, spoke with leaders in the LGBT and HIV/AIDS community Feb. 22 about the city’s plan to fight the epidemic. The meeting was organized by community activists to shed light on the processes behind the city’s HIV/AIDS strategy, following a funding announcement that left several agencies dissatisfied. Photo: Scott A. Drake