pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976
Vol. 42 No. 10 March 9-15, 2018
Family Portrait: Steve Sosna takes the heat for inclement weather PAGE 35
HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
IBA announces scholarship changes PAGE 2
Thinking Queerly: Managing expectations to reduce your wedding planning stress
PAGES 12-25
Cosby to be retried next month
Killer of trans woman convicted of first-degree murder
By Brittany M. Wehner brittany@epgn.com
By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com After deliberating only 28 minutes, a Philadelphia jury handed down a first-degree murder conviction for Charles N. Sargent, who brutally murdered trans woman Diamond Williams five years ago. The verdict was rendered March 6, on the seventh day of Sargent’s murder trial at the Criminal Justice Center. Common Pleas Court Judge Diana L. Anhalt sentenced Sargent, 48, to life imprisonment plus six-12 years for related crimes. “Your crime was so egregious and horrible,” Anhalt told Sargent. “Diamond Williams was an important and valuable part of the world. And you wiped her away. I hope I don’t remember you, but I will always remember her.” Sargent brought Williams to his Strawberry Mansion home in July 2013, punctured her cranium with a s c r e w d r i v e r, dismembered her corpse with an axe, then scattered her body parts in a vacant lot and in the Schuylkill River. The defendant insisted he acted in self-defense after Williams became violent during a sexual encounter inside his home, but jurors apparently rejected his story. “I’m very glad the jurors were able to give justice to Diamond and to give her a voice in death that the defendant silenced in life,” prosecutor Kristen J. Kemp told PGN. PAGE 19 Benjamin
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Sping Wedding Issue
SAGE ADVICE: Former Bucks County Congressman Patrick Murphy spoke to a crowd of about 50 at the SAGE and friends gathering March 1 at the Comcast Center. Hosted by the Montgomery County LGBT Business Council, SAGE is the country’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults.Photo: Scott A. Drake
Protests continue to surround FIGHT By Brittany M. Wehner and Jeremy Rodriguez brittany@epgn.com, jeremy@epgn.com Representatives from Philadelphia FIGHT, an HIV/AIDS-services nonprofit, last week met with the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations. Members of the nonprofit’s board and staff aimed to discuss its status on PCHR’s report on Gayborhood racism. FIGHT was among the organizations named in PCHR’s January 2017 report, “Inform, Monitor, Enforce: Addressing Racism and Discrimination in Philadelphia’s LGBTQ Community.” This report stemmed from an October 2016 public hearing where community members spoke on their experiences with racism and discrimination in the Gayborhood. In the report, the agency mandated that FIGHT undergo racial-bias and sensitivity training. While the nonprofit complied, representatives believe FIGHT should be removed from the report, calling it “outdated,” since FIGHT “improved” one year later.
PCHR Communications Director Rachel Hooper confirmed to PGN in a statement that the agency’s leadership met with four representatives from FIGHT on March 1. “FIGHT’s initial requests were that we take down our January 2017 report on racism and discrimination in the LGBTQ community from our website, and that we tour their organization’s operations. We informed them that we stand by our report, which is a product of many community voices through our public-hearing process and other submitted testimony. The report will remain on our website, along with our subsequent October 2017 progress report, PAGE 8 which shows full
Comedian and actor Bill Cosby, who was back in court this week, is expected to return April 2 for the retrial of his sexual-assault case. Cosby, 80, was accused of sexually assaulting women after drugging them at Pennsylvania suburban home. The allegations trace back to 2004. Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill declared a mistrial in June because jurors were unable to decide on a verdict. The deliberation lasted more than 50 hours. The jury was comprised of seven men and five women. Cosby’s attorneys are fighting to set a limit on how many women can testify against him in the retrial. Attorney Tom Mesereau is defending Cosby, who was charged with three counts of aggravated indecent sexual assault. Among his accusers is Andrea Constand, a former Temple University professor and an out lesbian. Constand is also a former basketball coach at the North Philadelphia university. She was at Cosby’s house in 2004 when, she has alleged, he gave her pills to relax, resulting in her becoming incapacitated. Cosby is accused of sexually assaulting her while she was incapable of moving or speaking. Constand has testified that she and Cosby had a friendship at one time but that he made “suggestive” advances, which she rebuked. She alleged that he was counseling her about changes in her career when he offered her the “herbal” pills. Constand took the stand in 2017 at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown in a trial that lasted six days. She filed charges and sued Cosby in 2005. Defense attorneys have argued that there were inconsistencies in Constand’s story. More than 50 other women also came forward with similar allegations against Cosby, but Constand’s was the only one that led to criminal charges. While Cosby’s attorneys are requesting a limit on the number of women testifying against him in the retrial, prosecutors contend it’s important to secure Constand’s credibility in the case. In the first trial, only she was permitted to testify, despite the prosecutors’ request to allow 13 women. Other allegations came from witnesses dating back to 1956, 1990 and 1996. Cosby claims any sexual encounters were consensual. Prosecutors are requesting that at least 19 accusers be permitted to take the witness stand. O’Neill denied requests to dismiss the case. Cosby has pleaded not guilty to his charges and was released on $1-million bail. n