Family Portrait: Geri Mars, making space for the sisters PAGE 25
Cape May cop claims he was fired because of his sexual orientation PAGE 5
The desire to funk with Sylvester is “Mighty Real” PAGE 21
Attic dinners a wash-out after kitchen flood
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Mar. 27-Apr. 2, 2015
Since 1976
PGN Philadelphia Gay News HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Vol. 39 No. 13
Gayborhood to get rainbow crosswalks
Bill calls for permanent Office of LGBT Affairs By Ryan Kasley ryan@epgn.com City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown proposed a bill last Thursday that would make permanent the city’s Office of LGBT Affairs. The measure would essentially make the office immune to closure by any future mayoral administrations that are less LGBTfriendly than Mayor Michael Nutter, who established the office in 2008. “Philadelphia has an international reputation as a city that both celebrates diversity and has no tolerance for intolerance,” Reynolds Brown said. “This bill offers the LGBT community a permanent seat and voice at the table.” To permanently incorporate the office into city administration, Reynolds Brown’s legislation calls for the Home Rule Charter to be amended, which requires a public vote. If Council passes the bill and Nutter signs it, voters in the November general election would be PAGE 12
DINNER DIALOGUE: Out actor Stephen Wallem, who plays an openly gay character on “Nurse Jackie,” talked about the changing environment for LGBTs on the small screen and the role Human Rights Campaign has played in that evolution at the HRC Greater Philadelphia Gala. Held March 21 at Sheraton Downtown Philadelphia, the gala featured a keynote address by Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania’s acting physician general and the highest-ranking transgender individual in the state, who emphasized that her trans status wasn’t at all a factor in her nomination. “Gov. Wolf did not nominate me because I’m an openly transgender woman. Gov. Wolf did not not nominate me because I’m an openly transgender woman,” Levine told the cheering crowd. Photos: Brooke Lutz
D.A. to attend Morris forum By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com
NUMBERS GAME: Representatives of eight area organizations accepted checks from Philly AIDS Thrift totaling $73,000 last Saturday night at Gay BINGO!. This marks the first direct-grantmaking cycle for PAT, which typically donates proceeds from its sales to AIDS Fund, which then distributes the monies among area HIV/AIDS organizations. PAT will continue its AIDS Fund donations as well as its new grant program. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Philadelphia District Attorney R. Seth Williams will attend a panel discussion on the Nizah Morris case, it was announced this week. The event, entitled “Trans Lives Matter,” is sponsored by the Justice for Nizah committee and will be held 6-8 p.m. April 15 at the William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St. The event is free and open to the public. Former state Rep. Babette Josephs, a J4N member, will serve as moderator. “We’re very pleased that Seth Williams will be attending,” Josephs told PAGE 12
By Ryan Kasley ryan@epgn.com The Gayborhood is about to get a little more colorful, thanks to Philly Pride Presents and the City of Philadelphia. This summer, the city will paint permanent rainbow-colored crosswalks at two intersections — 12th and Locust and 13th and Locust streets. The crosswalks, eight in total, will be painted shortly after Pride and dedicated at the July 5 Annual Reminders Block Party, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first group LGBT-rights demonstrations in the nation. Philadelphia will join the ranks of other major cities like San Francisco, Austin and Toronto that have installed rainbow crosswalks. While each city’s rainbow crosswalks vary in design, Philly’s new crosswalks will most resemble Toronto’s, with six colors spanning the street horizontally from sidewalk to sidewalk. Philly Pride Presents executive director Franny Price thanked the city and the Streets and Public Property departments for bringing the idea to fruition. “We know that other cities have installed rainbow crosswalks, and we have been trying to do the same in Philadelphia for a long time,”
Price said. “It will add a little bounce to our steps as we walk the streets in the Gayborhood.” Philly Pride Presents senior advisor Chuck Volz said the crosswalks will be “a significant, permanent improvement to the Gayborhood. They’re going to be beautiful.” When talks began about two years ago, Philly Pride Presents was to be responsible for covering installation costs, which the city initially estimated at $26,000. “It just was too expensive for us to accomplish,” Volz said. As the conversation progressed, Philly Pride worked with city officials like John Herzins, deputy commissioner of the Department of Public Property, and recently Nellie Fitzpatrick, director of the Office of LGBT Affairs, to find a way to make the project a reality. “We eventually came to the solution that the city would cover the costs of installing the crosswalks, and we would be responsible for the maintenance,” said Volz. “It is not going to cost Philly Pride anything to install the crosswalks.” The initial estimate was reevaluated, and the actual installation cost was found to be significantly less expensive, Volz noted. A figure for the yearly maintenance was not available as of presstime. n