What if you’d placed a roommate ad on Sept. 10, 2001?
Family Portrait: Micah Mahjoubian
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Mayor Nutter to hear LGBT concerns regarding Boy Scouts building deal
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Mar. 4-10, 2011
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Vol. 35 No. 9
Gay priest denied Chestnut Hill teaching position Chestnut Hill College declined to offer the Rev. James St. George a teaching contract for the semester scheduled to start this week, citing his committed relationship with another man as the reason. By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com Just a few days before the Rev. James St. George was to start another semester of teaching at Chestnut Hill College, the openly gay pastor was informed his services were no longer required — a decision stemming from his sexual orientation. St. George, the pastor of St. Miriam in Blue Bell, taught several religion classes as an adjunct professor at the Roman Catholic college since January 2010 and was set to begin two more this week. On Feb. 21, however, he received a brief letter from dean of continuing studies Elaine Green, who wrote, without an explanation, that he would not be granted the two contracts he had been offered for a class on justice and one on religion and culture. “I opened that letter, and I just started crying,” St. George told PGN this week, saying he thought when he saw the envelope that it contained the contract agreements he was awaiting. Following intense media coverage, the college posted a statement to its website saying St. George was not offered a new contract “not because he is gay but because his recent public statements regarding his long-term, same-sex partnership are at odds with the beliefs and mission of Chestnut Hill College and the THE REV. JAMES Catholic Church.” ST. GEORGE The college asserted St. George referenced his longtime partner on his blog last week when he made a passing reference to a PGN article on him published last year, in which he talked about his relationship. St. George repeatedly tried contacting PAGE 18 Green and other college
CLOCK’S TICKING FOR BUDGET: ACT UP members converged on City Hall Feb. 24 to urge Mayor Nutter to include sufficient funding for HIV/AIDS causes in his coming budget proposal. About 20 activists participated in the demonstration, which centered on the need for funding for housing for people with HIV/AIDS. Nutter is scheduled to release his proposal March 3. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Maryland Senate approves marriage equality By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
TEAM HUDDLE: Team Philadelphia co-chair Kurt Douglass (second from left) speaks with the two-dozen local sports enthusiasts who turned out Feb. 27 at the Loews Hotel for the All-League Sports Summit, hosted by Team Philadelphia, the umbrella agency for the city’s LGBT sports teams. The event brought together representatives of the organization’s myriad LGBT sports clubs to examine opportunities for growth and upcoming events like the ASANA Softball World Series. Several guests in attendance expressed an interest in launching new clubs, such as basketball and track and field. Photo: Scott A. Drake
DOMA finding has symbolic, practical impact By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The Obama administration last week declared a portion of the federal samesex marriage ban unconstitutional, saying it will no longer defend the measure in court, a sudden about-face that sent waves throughout both LGBT and antigay circles. While the Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents federal marriage benefits from being bestowed upon same-sex couples who are legally married, will still
remain in place, Obama’s announcement dealt a major symbolic blow to the law — one that could also have vast logistical implications for marriage equality. Attorney General Eric Holder, the nation’s top lawyer, wrote last Wednesday that the administration determined that cases centering on discrimination based on sexual orientation deserve “heightened scrutiny,” a standard of review that compels the government to show that a law significantly advances a nondiscriminatory government interest — a PAGE 14
The marriage-equality bill in Maryland cleared a major hurdle when it gained final approval from the Senate last Thursday night, paving the way for Maryland to become the sixth state in the nation to sancPAGE 2 tion same-sex marriage.
PA anti-bullying bill in the works By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com State Rep. Mike O’Brien this week introduced a bill that seeks to strengthen the state’s anti-bullying law and is modeled after New Jersey’s recently adopted law, considered the toughest in the nation. O’Brien’s HB 879 was introduced March 1 and is still being circulated for cosponsorship. O’Brien noted that while the state enacted a 2008 anti-bullying law PAGE 22
Commission report
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