GALAEI taps board prez as interim ED PAGE 2
Love in Bloom: Spring Wedding Issue PAGES 12-13, 31
Day in the Life of: PA Horticultural Society president Matt Rader, at the Philadelphia Flower Show PAGE 21 Mar. 4-10, 2016
Since 1976
PGN Philadelphia Gay News HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Vol. 40 No. 10
One arrest, more expected in Maya Young murder By Paige Cooperstein paige@epgn.com
ANNIVERSARY EVE: LGBTs and friends gathered at Plenty Feb. 22 for the monthly South Philly social Queers on the Ave, which featured deeply discounted food and drinks. The group will hold its seventh anniversary bash March 10 at Paradiso Restaurant, which offers an outdoor seating area — sure to come in handy, as temperatures that day are forecast near 70. Photo: Scott A. Drake
No other details were available Wednesday evening regarding the identity of the 24-yearold woman police arrested March 1 in last month’s fatal stabbing of Maya Young, a transgender woman of color. Philadelphia police said the name of the person in custody is not releasable at this time, but she is charged with murder and conspiracy. Additional arrests are expected, police said. Officer Christine O’Brien, police spokesperson, told PGN she couldn’t release further information because it’s an active investigation. Asked if authorities think Young was targeted because she was transgender, O’Brien said police could not speculate on a motive. She said all the evidence police have gath-
Judge to consider resentencing Knott
Judge denies name change for trans youth By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com
A Montgomery County judge has denied a name-change petition filed on behalf of a trans boy, even though both of the boy’s parents support the name change. The youth, identified by his mother as “Aidan,” was 16 in September when Common Pleas Judge Bernard A. Moore denied the name-change petition. Moore couldn’t be reached for comment. Due to a state Supreme Court ruling about
20 years ago, Pennsylvania judges cannot deny a name-change petition filed by a trans adult simply on the basis that the judge is anti-transgender. However, when Pennsylvania judges consider whether to approve a name-change petition filed on behalf of a trans youth under 18, they have more discretion in determining what’s in the “best interest” of the youth. In a one-sentence ruling issued in September, Moore denied Aidan’s namechange petition without PAGE 24
Killer of gay man to be released from death row By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com Frank R. Chester, convicted of the grisly slaying of gay artist Anthony Milano, is scheduled to be released from death row later this month. Chester has been on death row for 28 years, making him one of the longest-serving death-row inmates in the state. In a deal announced Feb 29, Chester will plead guilty to first-degree murder for his
role in Milano’s death in exchange for a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. Chester and Richard R. Laird were sentenced to death in July 1988, after kidnapping Milano to a wooded area in Bucks County and hacking out his throat. But federal judges overturned their first-degree murder convictions, citing faulty jury instructions by the trial judge on accomplice liability. Rather than attempting to reinstate Chester’s first-degree PAGE 24
ered is turned over to the District Attorney’s office. “All information on investigations goes to the District Attorney’s office,” O’Brien said. “The District Attorney’s office determines if something will get hate-crime charges.” A spokesperson for the District Attorney declined to comment. According to authorities, police responded to the report of a “stabbing on the highway” near 4900 Griscom St. around 11:50 p.m. Feb. 20. When officers arrived, they found Young suffering from several stab wounds to the neck and chest. They transported her to Aria Health Frankford, where officials pronounced her dead at 12:21 a.m. Feb. 21. Friends of Young, 25, said she moved to Frankford with a roommate in 2011. She was originally from Vineland, N.J., according to a Facebook page apparently belonging to her. n
By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
THE MAN BEHIND MARRIAGE: Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case that brought marriage equality nationwide, mixed and mingled with locals, including director of LGBT Affairs Nellie Fitzpatrick, at last Saturday’s HRC Philadelphia Gala. Held at the Marriott Hotel, the event drew about 500 guests to support the work of the national LGBT-rights organization. In addition to Obergefell, guests heard remarks from HRC president Chad Griffin and other staffers and board members, as well as “The L Word” star and Philadelphia native Katherine Moennig. Photo: Scott A. Drake
The Court of Common Pleas judge who last month sentenced Kathryn Knott to prison time has agreed to hear arguments from her attorney on why she should lighten the sentence. Judge Roxanne Covington on Tuesday agreed to a resentencing hearing in Knott’s case, set for 9 a.m. March 8. Knott’s new defense attorney, Bill Brennan, filed the resentencing request 10 days after Knott received a prison sentence of five to 10 months. She is currently incarcerated at Riverside Correctional Facility. The hearing does not mean that Covington will necessarily lighten Knott’s sentence; rather, it will be an opportunity for Brennan to extrapolate on the arguments he made in his resentencing motion and for prosecutors, who had asked Covington to deny the PAGE 22