Miss Richfield 1981 Philadelphia sighting confirmed
Sexuality and spirituality up for discussion at WWCC PAGE 6
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Family Portrait: Sandy Smith: All the write stuff PAGE 29
“Stranger by the Lake” exposes all
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March 14-20, 2014
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Vol. 38 No. 11
City defends treatment of trans worker
LGBT youth home in the works By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com Two Philly transplants are looking to tackle the issue of LGBT youth homelessness head-on. Rusty Doll and Lisa Sipes are in the process of launching nonprofit Change Philly Today, which will focus on their efforts to open a residential space for homeless LGBT young people. The residence will be located in North Philadelphia, and the pair is planning to have its doors opened by early summer. Doll, 32, is a native of Iowa who moved to the area several years ago and currently works at a New Jersey-based mental-health facility. Sipes, also 32, a quilter, hails from Nebraska and came to Philly last summer, meeting Doll shortly after moving into her apartment building, where he is also a resident. Doll purchased the rowhome in 2012 with the intention of rehabbing and renting it out. “He was looking for financial backing to finish the building, and I was going to try my best to provide that backing,” Sipes said. “We started tossing ideas around about what to do with it when it was finished, and we both just have this need to help people. So we started talking about opening it as a shelter and then decided to do that and focus it on the people who needed it the most.” Sipes, a straight ally, said she and Doll, who is openly gay, saw a need for housing options for young LGBT people, whom she said may face harassment or discrimination at mainstream shelters, as was the experience of a young gay man they met, Charles. “The problem is that most shelters are religious-based, and so that automatically presents a certain dynamic,” Sipes said. “The inspiration behind our shelter is Charles. He is currently living in a shelter and dealing with discrimination, with hate speech, with being called names and harassed because he is gay. We want people to have a place to go where there is some sense of community, basically a family environment.” The shelter will be geared toward ages 1821, and youth 16-17 who are legally emancipated. The house has two bedrooms, and the shelter will accept up to eight residents at a time, for either crisis PAGE 19
By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com
COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN: Hundreds spent last Saturday night celebrating Human Rights Campaign’s work at the HRC Philadelphia Regional Gala Dinner at Loews Philadelphia Hotel. Guests included former Congressman Patrick Murphy (from left), wife Jennifer, Kevin Leigh, Kristina Furia, Angela Giampolo, Stephen Carlino, Frank Baer, Dennis Fee and Juan Hernandez. The dinner featured local and national speakers and performers. See more coverage, page 14. Photo: Scott A. Drake
No arrests in Gayborhood cases By Angela Thomas angela@epgn.com There are no new leads in three recent incidents involving firearms in the Gayborhood. No arrests have been made in a March 1 incident outside Woody’s Nightclub & Bar or in a Feb. 27 armed robbery at Spruce Street Video. There was also an armed robbery Monday at Scorpio Adult Boutique that police believe may be related to the video-store holdup. Shots were fired outside of Woody’s at 1:30 a.m. following an altercation inside the nightclub, at 202 S. 13th St. No one was injured in the shooting. The report, which was filed by two males who were initially involved in the fight, does not indicate who the alleged shooter was. The men said the altercation involved a 25-year-old Hispanic male in a gray tank top, but it
is not clear if that man was the shooter. Woody’s co-owner Michael Weiss told PGN last week that the club is working closely with police on the investigation. Public Affairs Officer Leeloni Palmiero said surveillance from inside the bar showed a disturbance involving the complainant and an unknown male, and outside video shows the crowd reacting to a gunshot. That camera was pointed away from the incident. No witnesses have come forward in the Woody’s or Spruce Street Video cases, which police say don’t appear to be connected. Spruce Street Video, 252 S. 12th St., was robbed at about 3:30 p.m. Feb. 27 by a light-skinned black male with a thick build, 6 feet, wearing brown sweatpants and a gray coat. The culprit got away with approximately $200 in cash, according to owner Franny Price. He also PAGE 19
City attorneys last week filed a lengthy brief denying any wrongdoing in the case of Bobbie E. Burnett, a transgender city employee who alleges pervasive workplace bias. Burnett, 58, is a city library assistant who says she began experiencing problems at work in 2001, shortly after transitioning to the opposite gender. She filed suit in 2009, citing violations of city, state and federal antibias laws that protect transgender individuals and ban gender stereotyping. Burnett’s attorneys want her case to go directly to a damages trial, contending they’ve already proven her allegations. But the city’s brief emphasizes that numerous factual disputes remain, and the case should be decided by a jury — if it isn’t tossed out before then. PAGE 19
GENERATIONS OF GIOVANNI’S ROOM: Current Giovanni’s Room owner Ed Hermance (from left) shared the stage with former owners Arleen Olshan, Pat Hill, Tom Wilson Weinberg and Dan Sherbo March 11 at William Way LGBT Community Center. The group led a discussion about the LGBT bookstore’s 40 years in existence at an anniversary celebration. About 100 supporters packed the Philadelphia Room to hear about the store’s evolution and accomplishments. Hermance announced last year that he plans to retire this year and sell the business and is in talks with potential buyers, although no final agreement has been made. Photo: Scott A. Drake