pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976
Vol. 41 No. 10 March 10-16, 2017
Amtrak insists train operator involved in fatal incident disclose his home address PAGE 2
HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM Coming to theaters near you PAGE 39
Spring Wedding Issue PAGES 16-26
Spring forward: Daylight Saving Time begins 2 a.m. March 12
N.J. LGBT group hit by vandalism Gay restaurant By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com Garden State Equality executive director Christian Fuscarino was working in the organization’s Asbury Park office last weekend when he heard a loud crash. “It was close enough where it startled me,” he told PGN this week. “It was a loud sound that was really frightening at first.” Upon investigation, Fuscarino saw that someone had smashed the glass on the building’s front door and quickly called police. Fuscarino said he’s confident that the LGBT-rights organization was targeted. “We have every reason to believe this was a bias attack on the LGBT community,” he said. “There are about 20 or more panes of glass on the front our building and they hit exactly where the rainbow flag
hangs.” As of presstime no arrests had been made, but Fuscarino said police are utilizing security footage that showed two suspects in their investigation. The incident comes amid a spate of bias attacks nationwide, including those targeting LGBT agencies. On Monday, a driver fired more than a dozen pellet-gun shots at the Equality Center in Tulsa, Okla. Later that day, a man came into the building shouting antigay slurs. Last week, someone threw a brick through the front window of the Orlando office of Equality Florida. There has also been a wave of anti-Semitic incidents, including gravestones vandalized at Jewish cemeteries and bomb threats at Jewish community centers, as well as anti-Muslim attacks. After Fuscarino posted about the Garden State Equality inci-
worker files antibias suit By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com
dent on his and the agency’s social-media accounts, more than $1,500 in donations to replace the door poured in. He expects the new door to be installed this week. In the meantime, he placed a sign on the cracked window stating: “The LGBT community is much stronger than this pane of glass. We don’t crack
under attack. Let love into your life and keep hate out of New Jersey. Thanks.” Fuscarino said the outpouring of support from the community and elected officials has been encouraging. “As an organization that speaks out for LGBT individuals who face discrimination, PAGE 16 it’s been
A South Philadelphia gay man filed suit last week in federal court claiming pervasive anti-LGBT harassment forced him out of a restaurant job. Sebastian Cummings, 29, worked at a Fishtown eatery known as Loco Pez for about two months last year. He was a dishwasher and prepped food at the eatery, which caters to Latin-American patrons. According to Cummings’ lawsuit, which was filed March 1, he had no choice but to resign after the anti-LGBT harassment became intolerable. He’s seeking an unspecified amount in damages, and corrective measures at Loco Pez. Slurs hurled by some Loco Pez workers on a regular basis include “cock smokers,” “cock suckers,” “homos,” “faggots” and “girlfriends,” according to the suit. “[Cummings’] male colleagues regularly PAGE 16 said, ‘Oh, you’re gay
SCOTUS punts on trans student’s case By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The nation’s top court on Monday delivered a setback in the fight for equal access for transgender students. In a one-sentence order, the U.S. Supreme Court remanded Virginia teen Gavin Grimm’s case back to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing its previous decision to hear the case this term. The court did not comment on the move, but it comes weeks after the Trump administration lifted Obama-era guidance that interpreted Title IX to ban gender-identity discrimination and mandated students at federally funded institutions could use facilities consistent with their gender identity. Grimm, a transgender male, filed a federal suit in 2015 after his school enacted a policy mandating students use restrooms consistent with their biological sex, regardless of their gender identity. A district-court judge dismissed Grimm’s
Title IX claim, but a three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit overturned that ruling. In October, SCOTUS agreed to hear the case, which was widely predicted to be the bellwether case on trans-student rights. The top court was scheduled to hear oral arguments on the case at the end of the month. “The Supreme Court has missed an opportunity to end the painful discrimination currently faced by tens of thousands of transgender students nationwide,” GLSEN Executive Director Dr. Eliza Byard said in a statement. “The position previously taken by the Departments of Education and Justice lifted up best practices for K-12 schools to improve the lives of students and provide a clear path to opportunity. We remain confident the courts will ultimately stand with Gavin and other transgender students in seeking access to school facilities that correspond with their gender identity and determining their gender-affirming PAGE 16 name and pronouns, but
WOMEN WEDNESDAY: National Center for Transgender Equality Director of Policy Harper Jean Tobin spoke about women’s and transgender equality Wednesday morning at Drexel University. Tobin delivered the keynote address at the university’s Sex & Gender Research Forum. About 100 people attended the presentation, which was followed by a day of workshops, including several LGBT-focused sessions. The event coincided with International Women’s Day. Photo: Scott A. Drake