PGN March 29 - April 4, 2019

pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976

Vol. 43 No. 13 March 29-April 4, 2019

Family Portrait: Christina Anderson: Set to play PAGE 33

Studies: Fewer in U.S. believe there’s LGBT discrimination

PAGE 22

Amanda Palmer returns with new album, book and planned tour PAGE 29

HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM

Op-Ed: LGBTQ businesses need community support too PAGE 11

Trans attorney files appeal for Morris records

Challenges against dozens of primary candidates have been withdrawn

By Lenny Cohen PGN Contributor

By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com

Dozens of candidates running for City Council at-Large seats who had their nomination petitions challenged now have a clear path to the primary ballot.

The competitor who challenged them had a sudden illness that caused him to faint, and eventually have a change of heart.

There are 41 people running for seven City Council at-Large seats. They consist of 34 Democrats and seven Republicans.

On March 19, one of those Democrats — Devon Cade — challenged the petitions of 30 of his 33 opponents.

Two of the three LGBTQ candidates running for City Council DEVON CADE a t - L a r g e seats were affected: Adrian Rivera-Reyes, a cancer biologist and labor organizer; and transgender woman Deja Lynn Alvarez, who is a system navigator for the city’s Department of Health and a commissioner on the Mayor’s Commission of LGBT Affairs.

The third LGBTQ at-Large candidate is Sherrie Cohen, a tenants’-rights attorney and the daughter of late Philadelphia Councilman David Cohen. She was one of the three opponents of Cade who was not challenged, and told PGN she doesn’t know PAGE 12

Julie Chovanes, a Philadelphia-based transgender attorney, this week continued her year-long quest for records relating to the Nizah Morris case at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office by filing an appeal in Common Pleas Court.

Morris was a transgender woman of color found with a fatal head injury during the pre-dawn hours of Dec. 22, 2002, minutes after she received a “courtesy ride” in the Gayborhood from Philadelphia police.

She died 64 hours later, after her attending physician had her removed from life support at Jefferson University Hospital.

Her homicide remains unsolved.

On April 18, 2018, Chovanes filed a Right-to-Know Law request with the D.A. for a copy of all Morris records located at the office. The records include witness interviews and legal memos authored by prosecutors who investigated the case.

On March 1, after multiple continuances, the D.A. denied Chovanes’ request, citing state laws that render criminal-investigation records confidential. She filed the appeal on Tuesday, contending there’s no criminal investigation of Morris’s homicide at the D.A.’s Office. Thus, the records she’s seeking should be released to her.

“I’ve discussed the Morris case with D.A. Larry Krasner and others at the D.A.’s Office,” Chovanes told PGN. “D.A. Krasner said there is no investigation of the Morris case. So [my position is] there’s no reason to withhold the records I’m requesting.

I believe the records will tell us what happened to Nizah Morris.”

As of presstime, the D.A.’s Office hadn’t filed a response to Chovanes’ notice of appeal. A spokesperson for the office had no comment.

Officers Kenneth Novak, Elizabeth Skala and Thomas Berry responded to Morris on the morning that she was fatally injured. None has been charged with any criminal wrongdoing related to the case. But their version of events raised troubling questions that linger to this day.

For example, Skala told the Police Advisory Commission that she gave Morris a ride from Key West Bar near 13th and Walnut streets to 15th and Walnut, where she thought Morris lived.

But advocates for Morris noted the victim lived 3 miles away, in West Philadelphia. Moreover, the area of 15th and Walnut streets PAGE 12

ANOTHER OPENING: State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (right) made brief remarks at the opening of the 25th year for LGBTQ film festivals in Philadelphia as producer qFLIX Bill Egan (from left) and founders and producers Thom Cardwell and James Duggan look on. Moments before, Kenyatta was presented with the 2019 Harvey Milk Community Service Award. Kenyatta was also the focus of the world-premiere film short “Going Forward,” which shows him on Election Day as he becomes the first out LGBTQ man of color elected to the Pennsylvania State Assembly. Photo: Scott A. Drake

Tensions high at Trans Day flag-raising

By Lenny Cohen PGN Contributor It was supposed to be a celebration of the annual Trans Day of Visibility.

Philadelphians were to gather at City Hall at midday Tuesday to raise the Trans Pride Flag and hear speakers from the trans community.

But the ceremony took a different turn when an audience member verbally attacked one of two out transgender candidates running in the May 21 primary election, Deja Lynn Alvarez.

“You’re white! You’re white!” AbdulAliy Muhammad, the former campaign manager of rival candidate Sherry Cohen and co-founder of the Black & Brown Workers Co-op, screamed at Alvarez from the small audience.

Alvarez — a commissioner on the Mayor’s Commission of LGBT Affairs and a member on the Philadelphia Police Advisory Board — was behind the podium at the time, addressing attendees

and explaining how others have claimed that she changed her last name and is not Latinx.

She referred to those making the allegations as people who “prop themselves up under the guise of activism.”

“My very identity, my ethnicity, my name and my own father have been used in a Trumpian-style violent attack against me and my campaign,” Alvarez said, mentioning she had court documents from when she changed her name, with her dead name [a trans person’s assigned name at birth, used before they transition] on them, plus court records in her name when she sued the city of Philadelphia in 2001.

Alvarez accused Muhammad of “telling a transwoman she’s not who she is.”

Cohen said of the incident, “My former campaign manager, Abdul-Aliy Muhammad and Deja Lynn Alvarez have known each other for many years.

Every time that Abdul-Aliy has spoPAGE 17 ken about Deja, it has

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Resource listings

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

Legal resources • ACLU of Pennsylvania: 215-592-1513; aclupa.org • AIDS Law Project of PA: 215-587-9377; aidslawpa.org • AIDS Law Project of South Jersey: 856-784-8532; aidslawsnj.org/ • Equality PA: equalitypa. org; 215-731-1447

• Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations — Rue Landau: 215-686-4670 • Philadelphia Police Liaison Committee: 215-7603686; ppd.lgbt@gmail.com • SPARC — Statewide Pennsylvania Rights Coalition: 717-920-9537

• Office of LGBT Affairs — Amber Hikes: 215-686-0330; amber.hikes@phila.gov

Community centers • The Attic Youth Center; 255 S. 16th St.; 215-545-4331, atticyouthcenter.org. For LGBT and questioning youth and their friends and allies.

• LGBT Center at the University of Pennsylvania; 3907 Spruce

St.; 215-898-5044, center@dolphin.upenn.edu.

• Rainbow Room: Bucks County’s LGBTQ and Allies Youth Center

Salem UCC Education Building, 181 E. Court St., Doylestown; 215-957-7981 ext. 9065, rainbowroom@ppbucks.org.

• William Way LGBT Community Center 1315 Spruce St.; 215-732-2220, www.waygay.org.

Health and HIV testing • Action Wellness: 1216 Arch St.; 215981-0088, actionwellness.org • AIDS Healthcare Foundation: 1211 Chestnut St. #405 215971-2804; HIVcare.org • AIDS Library: 1233 Locust St.; aidslibrary.org/ • AIDS Treatment Fact line: 800-6626080 • Bebashi-Transition to Hope: 1235

Spring Garden St.; 215769-3561; bebashi.org • COLOURS: coloursorganization.org, 215832-0100 • Congreso de Latinos Unidos; 216 W. Somerset St.; 215-7638870 • GALAEI: 149 W. Susquehanna Ave.; 267-457-3912, galaei. org. Spanish/English • Health Center No. 2: 1720 S. Broad St.; 215-685-1821

• Mazzoni Center: 1348 Bainbridge St.; 215-563-0652, mazzonicenter.org • Philadelphia FIGHT: 1233 Locust St.; 215-985-4448, fight.org • Washington West Project of Mazzoni Center: 1201 Locust St.; 215985-9206 • Transgender Health Action Coalition: 215-732-1207

HIV service agency may close doors

By Gary L. Day PGN Contributor If a recently inaugurated crowd-funding effort doesn’t succeed in raising adequate capital, a local HIV-services agency will be forced to close its doors within two months.

The board of Siloam Wellness has initiated a GoFundMe campaign in an attempt to raise $500,000, which would give the agency enough money to continue operations for the next two years. The group is also trying to buy time to pursue plans aimed at stabilizing the beleaguered agency’s finances in the long term.

According to Siloam’s executive director, Sarina DiBianca, the agency’s funding difficulties have been a persistent problem for years.

“I’ve been here for two-and-a-half years, and the funding problems had been going on for years before I arrived,” she said.

“Siloam is at a disadvantage because we can’t get funding through normal governmental channels. We rely on our donor base and on grants to provide our operating funds.”

Those funding streams have been proving inadequate, and Siloam is rapidly running out of cash, said DiBianca.

The reason Siloam can’t access funding through normal governmental channels is because of the nature of the services it offers.

Siloam does not offer traditional clinical services like other agencies such as Mazzoni Center or Philadelphia FIGHT. Siloam offers holistic wellness programs that focus on psychological, nutritional, emotional and spiritual needs of persons living with HIV. In effect, Siloam picks up where the clinical agencies leave off.

“One of the things I have seen with people living with HIV,” said DiBianca, “is that isolation isn’t their biggest problem. We offer them a welcoming, non-judgmental environment, helping them deal with the multitude of issues faced by those living with HIV beyond the clinical.”

Siloam’s comprehensive wellness program, provided at no cost to those infected with HIV, includes counseling, support groups, a food pantry, educational seminars,and more.

Given that age group with the highest rate of HIV infection is 16- to 26-year-olds, the emotional and psychological needs of youth are a particular concern. In a press release, DiBianca stated, “Depression and suicide rates among young people with HIV are higher than normal, so the help we provide them is a real lifeline.”

However, holistic wellness services such as Siloam provides do not fall within the traditional parameters of accepted medical treatments. As such, Siloam doesn’t qualify for most standard sources of governmental funding. “If we offered clinical services, there’d be lots of funding,” DiBianca said. “But we don’t. So we don’t qualify.”

DiBianca related the response she got when she approached the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office, which coordinates much of the funding for Philadelphia’s AIDS service agencies. “I was told outright that there’s no money for holistic approaches.”

In an attempt to increase Siloam’s visibility, its work and its financial plight, volunteers have put together a short documentary film featuring interviews with Philadelphia residents who rely on the agency’s services.

The documentary will be shown during the qFLIX LGBT Film Festival, running through March 31.

DiBianca explained why it’s important that Siloam continue operating.

“I’ve seen so many people come through our doors, broken, who’ve gone on to recover their health and their lives,” said DiBianca.

“Some have gone on to get their degrees, become social workers, or in other ways have gone on to give back to their communities.

These are special people. They deserve our help.”

Those interested in supporting Siloam Wellness can donate to the GoFundMe page at SaveSiloam.com. n

Because Life Is More Than Just Gay News

Other • Independence Branch Library Barbara Gittings Gay and Lesbian Collection: 215-685-1633 • Independence Business Alliance; 215-557-0190, IndependenceBusinessAlliance.com

• LGBT Peer Counseling Services: 215-732-TALK • PFLAG: Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (Philadelphia): 215-572-1833 • Philly Pride Presents: 215-875-9288

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News Briefing

Volunteers who wish to participate in the march and/or the planning are asked to attend the next organizational meeting at 6 p.m. April 1 at Tabu Lounge, 254 S. 12th St. Everyone is welcome.

For more information, email PhillyBiVisibility@gmail.com or visit www.facebook.com/PhillyBiVisibility.

United Airlines to offer non-binary gender option

IBA looking for full-time operations coordinator

New Jersey’s largest airline provider said it will be the first U.S. airline to allow customers to select a non-binary gender option when booking flights and travel.

United Airlines accounts for roughly twothirds of all passengers at Newark Liberty International Airport.

“Airports are already stressful enough without having to worry if your boarding pass matches your gender identity, and United’s new policy is an important step forward to ensure all of their customers are treated with dignity and respect,” said Christian Fuscarino, executive director for Garden State Equality. “United is a central piece of Newark’s airport that millions of people in our state rely on every year, and inclusive policies that respect LGBTQ people and non-binary individuals will only serve to make our state more equal, more fair and more competitive.”

A new undesignated gender status in New Jersey for non-binary individuals via the Babs Siperstein law gave decision-makers at United the impetus for the change. The Babs Siperstein Law went into effect Feb. 1. Because of that law, New Jerseyans can update their birth certificates, and the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission is updating its policies to allow them to also update their gender marker on their driver’s licenses as well.

When flying United Airlines, customers now have the ability to identify themselves as M (male), F (female), U (undisclosed) or X (unspecified), corresponding with what is indicated on their passports or identification. Customers will also have the option to select the honorific title “Mx.” during booking.

The Independence Business Alliance, Greater Philadelphia’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce, has announced that a full-time operations-coordinator position is available for a highly motivated individual to support the work of the board of directors and its executive director. The position would report directly to the executive director.

The position includes high-level contact in the community and exposure to sensitive information, which will require considerable use of tact, diplomacy, discretion and judgment. There will also be a number of duties to accomplish independently. The duties require professionalism, accuracy and strong business communication and organizational skills. Attention to detail and the ability to multitask are mandatory.

Experience working in the nonprofit arena is preferable.

Interested applicants should submit a current resume and a cover letter in a single PDF document to: zach@thinkiba.com.

Applications will be accepted until 5 p.m.

April 8.

Bi at Pride Day Philly Bi Visibility is looking for bisexuals, their friends and allies to make the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots on this year’s Pride Day memorable.

A bisexual contingent is being formed to march in the parade and welcomes bisexuals of all sorts: cis and trans; single and partnered; pansexual and sexually fluid; aro-ace and polyamorous; gender-nonconforming and queer.

News & Opinion “Medically and scientifically, much has changed over this time, but the fundamental premise remains the same: provide everyone with the highest quality care and the utmost compassion.” ~ Dr. Jackie Gutmann on LGBTQ family health, page 6

PGN 505 S. Fourth St. Philadelphia, PA 19147-1506

New Pride wall aims to celebrate Stonewall Dirty Franks is hoping to “mark history and make the future” with its Pride month Off The Wall Gallery opening June 1.

Artwork will be judged through a lens of queerness as an act of resistance, though judges may prioritize submissions that generally speak to themes such as resistance, identity and empowerment.

The anniversary of Stonewall and Philly Pride at 31 is the focal point for the special event. It will be the 14th annual community juried show in the bar.

Send up to five works to offthewallgallery@gmail.com before midnight May 9 to be considered. Submissions may be of any media. For 3D works, they must fit into the display case at Dirty Franks, and 2D art cannot exceed dimensions totaling 48 inches. Entrants must provide title, media and price for each piece. Jury decisions will be announced the week of May 20. Accepted ready-to-hang artwork must be delivered June 1. n

PGN

Publisher Mark Segal (ext. 204) mark@epgn.com Office Manager/Distribution Don Pignolet (ext. 200) don@epgn.com

10 — Creep of the Week Editorial 11 — Mark My Words Op-Ed Street Talk

Columns

12 — Body U: Balancing your workouts

Arts & Culture

29 — Feature: Amanda Palmer’s new album and tour 35 — Scene in Philly 33 — Family Portrait 36 — Out & About 32 — Q Puzzle

Phone: 215-625-8501 Fax: 215-925-6437 E-mail: pgn@epgn.com Web: www.epgn.com

Art Director/Photographer Scott A. Drake (ext. 210) scott@epgn.com 267-736-6743 Graphic Artist Sean Dorn (ext. 211) sean@epgn.com

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Denise Fuhs (ext. 206) editor@epgn.com Staff Writer Larry Nichols (ext. 213) larry@epgn.com

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Published by Masco Communications Inc. © 1976-2019 Masco Communications Inc. ISSN-0742-5155

Philadelphia Gay News is a member of: The Associated Press Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Suburban Newspapers of America

Copyright © 1976 - 2019 Copyright(s) in all materials in these pages are either owned or licensed by Masco Communications Inc. or its subsidiaries or affiliate companies (Philadelphia Gay News, PGN, and its WWW sites.) All other reproduction, distribution, retransmission, modification, public display, and public performance of our materials is prohibited without the prior written consent of Masco Communications. To obtain such consent, email pgn@epgn.com

— compiled by Scott Drake

The views of PGN are expressed only in the unsigned “Editorial” column. Opinions expressed in bylined columns, stories and letters to the editor are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of PGN. The appearance of names or pictorial representations in PGN does not necessarily indicate the sexual orientation of that named or pictured person or persons.

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News Analysis

Women candidates are getting shut out of mainstream media coverage

By Victoria A. Brownworth PGN Contributor An Emerson poll out of Iowa March 24 has three white men leading the 2020 Democratic presidential primary: Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and South Bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who leads Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) by one point. There are currently 15 Democrats running — nine men and six women.

While 2016 was historic for the first woman nominee, 2020 is also historic: There has never been a presidential race with so many women candidates. Four of those women — Harris, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) — are among the smartest, most accomplished and most progressive to ever run.

And, yet mainstream media coverage of the candidates has been saturated with gendered-biased reporting despite the overwhelming wins by women in the 2018 midterm elections. Mainstream media is

rife with stories about Biden, who has yet to announce, and Sanders, who is running the same platform that failed to capture the 2016 nomination and lost Sanders the primary in a landslide of four million votes.

Biden, 76, and Sanders, 77, are the two oldest candidates to run for president and the 2020 nominee must be prepared to be the 2024 incumbent. Both men would be in their mid-80s, which argues strongly against a second term.

On the more youthful end, media hype has also surrounded former Texas congressman and failed Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke, who has been making news primarily for jumping on chairs and restaurant counters as he campaigns, while the women senators roll out policy after policy.

Buttigieg, the first out gay candidate running as a Democrat, at 37 is the youngest in the race. He has received increased media attention after his fundraising efforts got him into the debates. But as with O’Rourke, consistent gaffes suggest he’s not quite ready for the presidency.

Stories on O’Rourke and Buttigieg detail what they could PAGE 8

GAYBINGO! HEROES: AIDS Fund Executive Director Robb Reichard (left) poses with Black-tie GayBINGO! honorrees Dennis Fee and Stephen Carlino March 23 at Loews Philadelphia Hotel. The two Gayborhood bar owners received the Founder’s Award for their generousity and active roles in the LGBTQ community and specifically for their unwavering support fo HIV/AIDS programs. This was the 20th anniversary of the black tie event. Photo: Scott A. Drake

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

Health groups join forces to assist LGBTQ parental hopefuls

By A.D. Amorosi PGN Contributor

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With survey evidence that the LGBT population has grown, New York-based advocacy organization Family Equality Council has joined forces with Reproductive Medicine Associates to expand parenting opportunities for the community. “As the only national LGBTQ organization focused specifically on supporting LGBTQ families and those who seek to form them, Family Equality Council is uniquely positioned to assist RMA in its care of LGBTQ patients,� said The Rev. Stan J. Sloan, CEO of Family Equality Council, in a press statement.

Two of RMA’s longest-running clinics, Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey and Reproductive Medicine Associates of Philadelphia, have long-established programs for the LGBTQ community. The RMA network has expanded into additional markets including Orlando, San Francisco and Los Angeles, in addition to welcoming another local clinic in Allentown. “Over the last 25 years, I have had the privilege of helping members of Philadelphia’s and the Delaware Valley’s LGBTQ community build their families,� said Dr. Jackie Gutmann, a physician with RMA of Philadelphia who leads the clinic’s LGBTQ programs. “Medically and scien-

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tifically, much has changed over this time, but the fundamental premise remains the same: Provide everyone with the highest quality care and the utmost compassion.�

Family Equality Council soon will begin competency coursework training, which is expected to enhance employees’ ability to deliver an inclusive patient experience sensitive to LGBTQ patients. RMA staff members and patients also will have access to Family Equality Council’s wide array of family formation educational tools. “Most members of the LGBTQ community are not contending with an infertility diagnosis, but nevertheless need some assistance in fulfilling their dreams to become parents, and we are proud to help them on their path,� said Dr. Dan Kaser, an RMANJ physician who oversees the organization’s LGBTQ programs added that.

Melissa Drake, the communications director for RMA, summed it up in a phone interview by highlighting the legacy status of its Philly and New Jersey clinics, (“longer running than Los Angeles and Orlando�) and saying how, at the end of the day, families come in all shapes and sizes and the teaming of RMA with the FEC is a great match. “RMA is committed to our patients becoming parents, and is pleased to be working with Family Equality Council to do so.� n

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LOCAL PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

Thinking Queerly Kristina Furia

Thinking Queerly explores the psychological and social experiences of being LGBT in America and sheds light on the importance of LGBT community members prioritizing their mental health.

LOCAL PGN

MEDIA from page 5

accomplish rather than what they have accomplished. O’Rourke has a solidly centrist record from his six years in the State House. But his unremarkable tenure there stipulates to what feminists have long argued: Men are promoted according to their prospective promise while women must have long and impressive resumes to even be considered in the same role.

The women senators have impressive resumes. One of them should be our next president.

Harris, Warren, Gillibrand and Klobuchar have extensive histories of getting things done, both while in Congress and in their prior jobs. Both Harris and Klobuchar were prosecutors and Harris was the attorney general of California.

Gillibrand has a national reputation for her work for sexual-assault victims.

Warren has been the voice in Congress for consumers. She founded the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during the Obama Administration.

Warren and Gillibrand rank as the top two most progressive senators, with Harris in the top 10. Klobuchar ranks as more centrist, but is also known for crossing the aisle to get bipartisan legislation passed. No senator has passed more legislation than Klobuchar, according to the GovTrack.us. In 2016 alone she passed

more legislation than Sanders has in his entire career as a senator.

Yet the polls show that media hype has all gone to the men — even Andrew Yang, the venture capitalist candidate who ranks in the lower percentile of the race has gotten more media response than the four women senators who are literally pushing policy and reforms every day. Name recognition is one clear reason for Biden and Sanders leading in the polls. But without media attention, the women can’t become better known. It’s a vicious media cycle.

Women who run for office face unquestionable misogyny that puts them at an immediate disadvantage. But Hillary Clinton still won the 2016 nomination and also received more votes than any presidential candidate in U.S. history except Barack Obama in 2008. Clinton won the popular vote, receiving three million more votes than Donald Trump. A confluence of things kept her from the White House, but she still got the votes.

In 2018, women ran in historic numbers and there are now more women in the 116th Congress than ever in history.

Women have also led the resistance against Trump from the outset. The 2017 Women’s March was the largest protest in American history with more than three million marchers nationwide.

So there’s no substantive reason why a

woman can’t win 2020 — the gendered media presents the biggest impediment.

This week alone Harris, Gillibrand and Warren have all rolled out significant policy proposals and been met with few headlines, while on March 26 alone there were seven major stories about Biden.

The 2016 race aside — which was complicated by a number of factors — when women run, they win. There is no reason to think a woman can’t win the 2020 nomination or the presidency. In fact, the midterms argue for a woman winning 2020 and against a candidate like Biden rising.

Arguably one of the best-known winners of a 2018 race is Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez (D-NY) who trounced a 10-term Democratic incumbent who was remarkably similar to Biden. There were several such races and in each, an older white man was bested by a younger woman.

Why not 2020? Media argues that O’Rourke is a charismatic crowd-pleaser.

But Harris has an overflow of charisma and her opening rally was huge, with 30,000 attending, besting all the male candidates.

Each of these women offers what the well-hyped men do, and then some. The only thing standing in the way of a woman president may be media coverage, which needs to pay attention to the women as well as the men. n

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Commentary

Gay presidential candidate making a stir on the trail

Full-Time Writer Sought

By Lenny Cohen PGN Contributor He’s being called the newest rising star in the ever-growing Democratic field of candidates.

But what makes Pete Buttigieg unique?

It’s not just that he is an Afghanistan war veteran, Rhodes Scholar or mayor of South Bend, Ind. Those are great things, but other people have done them.

Buttigieg, 37, is also the country’s first openly gay Democratic candidate for president.

And, notably, he’s the first openly LGBTQ person to make it this far in a major political party’s nomination process for president.

“His campaign announced that the Indiana mayor has crossed the threshold needed to make it onto the Democratic presidential primary debate stage in June,” said MSNBC commentator Ali Velshi — subbing as host of “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.”

“The Democratic National Committee requires that candidates garner contributions from at least 65,000 people from at least 20 states. That makes Buttigieg the first millennial candidate to make it onto the DNC stage.”

Velshi actually led in by mentioning a Washington Post report that millennials, people born roughly between 1980 and 1996, displaced Baby Boomers as the country’s largest voting age group last year.

But age is one thing and actually voting is another.

We know older people are more likely to vote than younger ones, but Velshi added, “According to Pew Research, millennials will cast about the same percentage of votes in the United States as Baby Boomers, and slightly more than Gen Xers, in the 2020 election.

“And now, millennials have a better chance than ever of voting for one of their own,” he concluded.

There are roughly a dozen Democrats who have already thrown their hats into the ring for their party’s presidential nomination. There are others still considering it and could still do so.

Many Americans may spend the coming months reading up on Buttigieg, his Harvard education, the languages he can speak (more than the number of fingers on a hand), winning two terms as mayor or South bend with 74-percent and then 80-percent of the votes, remaining a lieutenant in the Navy Reserve, writing his book “Shortest Way Home,” marrying junior high humanities teacher Chasten Glezman, or learning the names of their two rescue dogs.

Many more may decide to do so after watching him debate in June, or think about him becoming our nation’s first LGBTQ president, which would also make him America’s youngest.

That said, one thing is now for sure: We haven’t heard the last from Pete Buttigieg. n

Philadelphia Gay News, the oldest LGBT newsweekly and the largest on the East Coast, is seeking a full-time writer for news and features assignments. Candidate should be outgoing, with a talent for telling interesting, relevant stories, which typically range from politics to crime to community events. Candidate must be willing to ask tough questions, understand the importance of community journalism, be deadline-driven and have strong writing skills.

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

EDITORIAL PGN EDITORIAL

Creep of the Week

D’Anne Witkowski

Brenton Harrison Tarrant

Editorial

Suicide is preventable, but awareness and outreach are imperative Three people associated with mass shootings died of apparent suicides in a little more than a week between March 17-25. Two were survivors of last year’s Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The third was the father of a 6-year-old student killed in the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

While it hasn’t been confirmed that all three took their own lives because they couldn’t cope with the aftermath of the tragedies in which they were connected, it is believed to have played a significant role.

Our hearts go out to the Parkland and Newtown communities as they deal with the devastation of these new deaths while still reeling from the huge losses already suffered.

That said, it presents an opportunity for all of us to think about and discuss suicide — especially in our own community.

It has been widely reported that gay, lesbian and bisexual teens are four to five times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual teens.

The transgender suicide rate is as much as nine times higher than that of the overall population, according to a 2015 survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality reported by Crisistextline.org.

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for LGBTQ individuals ages 10-24.

Now is the time to heighten awareness in our community. We need to educate ourselves about suicide in general, about who is most at risk among LGBTQ people. We must learn what we can do to reduce those risks. How can we identify those individuals and what should we do when we do?

We need to insist on more training for mental-health professionals and school and community leaders specifically on LGBTQ suicide risk and prevention.

It is the responsibility of our community as a whole to reach out to LGBT young people (or anyone) who may appear to be struggling or depressed or alone. Engage them and talk with them. Ask them how they are, how they are feeling, if they need someone to talk with.

If you are contemplating suicide, or know or suspect someone else is, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). If you need to talk with another trans-identifying individual, call the Trans Lifeline at 1-877-5658860.

The TrevorLifeline offers 24/7 support for LGBTQ youth in crisis, those feeling suicidal or those in need of a safe, judgment-free place to talk. Call TrevorLifeline at 1-866-488-7386.

Don’t stay silent. Suicide is preventable. Stronger community outreach not only will help, but also will likely save lives. n

“Let’s get this party started.” That’s how Brenton Harrison Tarrant kicked off his live-stream video of his massacre at the first of two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

I want to say this: “It goes without saying that Tarrant is a vile person deserving of universal condemnation.” But I can’t.

Because, in this world of ours, it sadly does not go without saying. There are plenty of people praising Tarrant and admiring his actions.

And wouldn’t you know it, if you made a Venn diagram of people who have contributed to the anti-Muslim hatred that enabled this attack and people I’ve called out as creeps in this very column over the years, well, there’d be overlap, to say the least.

First and foremost is Donald Trump, a man who stoked and encouraged racists his entire career and capitalized on his white-supremacy cred while running for president.

And wouldn’t you know it, Tarrant, in a manifesto he published online before his murder spree, praised Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.”

Trump of course quickly condemned Tarrant’s murders in the strongest possible terms.

Just kidding. But he did tweet.

“My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the mosques,” Trump tweeted.

First of all, “best wishes?” Does he think he’s signing a birthday card?

Secondly, on the very same day Trump best-wished New Zealand, he issued his first veto against a bipartisan resolution against his make-believe crisis declaration to claw money for his border wall.

And during the veto “ceremony,” Trump used the same language as Tarrant, calling immigration “an invasion.”

“Congress’s vote to deny the crisis on the southern border is a vote against reality,” Trump said. “People hate the word ‘invasion,’ but that’s what it is. It’s an invasion of drugs, criminals, & people ... in some cases, they are killers.”

The only crisis at our southern border is one of the Trump administration’s own making and it is a humanitarian crisis.

There’s no large-scale invasion. Those who are seeking to enter the United States are, by and large, people seeking refugee status as they flee from violence and poverty.

Lots of them are women and kids.

So, did he call the New Zealand mosque shootings a terrorist attack? No. Despite the growing threat of white supremacist-fueled terrorism in the United States and internationally, Trump said, “I think it’s a

small group of people that have very, very serious problems.”

Serious problems, yes. But no matter what the size of the group (and it is undoubtedly larger than Trump is willing to acknowledge), Trump’s anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric have emboldened the people who hold these views and are most prone to violence.

Other folks called out as creeps in this column who have really shitty takes on the New Zealand massacre include: Dave Daubenmire, who used the word “fantastic” to refer to Tarrant’s video, said, “Please pay zero attention to the mosque shooting.” Because according to him, way more Christians are killed by Muslims than the other way around. So the news media trying to get us to pay attention to these Muslims is “the old bait-and-switch.”

Jesse Lee Peterson who said on his radio show, “In this country, the Muslims are treated better than the Christians and white people in America. We just saw where they allowed two Muslims to become congressmen in our government, and that is not good. Those two women hate Israel and they hate America.” Note: the two women he’s referring to do not hate America or Israel, though they have raised some very uncomfortable questions (albeit sometimes in clumsy ways).

Matt Barber, who tweeted, “Praying for #NewZealand & the families of the innocents murdered by evil, cold-blooded monsters.” And yet, Barber has a long and well-documented history of anti-Muslim rhetoric. He’s claimed that there’s no such thing as a “moderate Muslim” and that all Muslims want to murder Americans. He also wrote this line of hot trash: “Islam is the ‘religion of peace’ in the same way that rape is snuggling.”

Bryan Fischer, who took to his radio program to say that while he doesn’t condone shooting people, he said, “I hate Islam,” and agreed with Tarrant that “Islam is something that does need to be stopped.”

The list goes on. What these folks all have in common is hate. Against Muslims, against LGBTQ people, against anyone who doesn’t fit into their worldview. When hate goes unchecked it explodes. White supremacy is a cancer. The longer we ignore it, the harder it is to cure. Ignore it too long and it’s terminal. n D’Anne Witkowski is a poet, writer and comedian living in Michigan with her wife and son. She has been writing about LGBT politics for over a decade. Follow her on Twitter @MamaDWitkowski.

OP-ED PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

This historic year: 2019 This year is a major historic notch for have accomplished these 50 years. Maybe our community. It marks the 50th anniverthat last Sunday in June can be one day sary of Stonewall. If you weren’t already when we can unify and celebrate how far aware, within 60 days, not only we have come. you but everyone will begin to Now there are major probnotice leading up to that last lems in our community: ageSunday in June, since most of ism, racism, anti-Semitism and the TV networks and scores of many more. We have work to museums and cultural institudo on all of those fronts. In tions will unveil their ways of fact, we’ve been doing that commemorating Stonewall 50. since GLF. But look at the road People often ask me how we’ve taken … many days the Stonewall riots Fifty years ago, there weren’t endured, since most people any nondiscrimination laws know it wasn’t just one night. anywhere in this nation. Today, My answer is that it was 365 almost every major city and days. The spirit lasted throughmany states have them. out that year in the magic of Fifty years ago, same-sex Gay Liberation Front and culmarriage in some states could minated with the very first Gay you in jail, even walking Mark Segal land Pride, then labeled “Christopher down the streets holding hands.

Street Gay Liberation Day.” Fifty years ago, there was I cannot tell you how many times I’ve not one OUT elected official. Today, there been asked about Stonewall or GLF, but, as are governors, senators, mayors and even I think about these last 50 years I do have a judges.

Fifty years ago, not one company would message to our community. admit to having gay employees: more There are many people in our commulikely they’d fire them and do that legally, nity who have no appreciation of what we

Mark My Words

Op-Ed

Street Talk simply because they were LGBT. Not one company would sponsor that very first Pride, which is why, as a parade marshal then, I carried a donation can. That can has since been donated to the Smithsonian Institute.

Fifty years ago, it was unimaginable that there would be LGBT police, lawyers, doctors and journalist organizations.

Fifty years ago, we never dreamed that an executive director of an LGBT organization would have an annual salary of hundreds of thousands of dollars. There were no paid activists among us.

Fifty years ago, before Stonewall/GLF, no more than 100 people would be out at a public demonstration. Today, we’re in some places where a million people come out.

That’s only a partial list of what we have accomplished. But I do have a favorite not on that list. We’ve made it possible for many people to be out and proud, and that is an accomplishment we can all be proud of. n Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s mostaward-winning commentator in LGBT media. You can follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ MarkSegalPGN or Twitter at https://twitter.com/ PhilaGayNews.

Tony Doran

Let’s not forget LGBTQ business in our efforts to achieve full equality On March 4, 2019, Woodbury Community Pride held its first economic development/business-attraction program geared toward LGBTQ business owners and entrepreneurs.

It was the result of a two-year, intentional and purposeful effort driven by two core beliefs. First, LGBTQ people must be given the opportunity to participate in the economy to build wealth and influence in order to erase systemic marginalization.

Second, LGBTQ people must be allowed to be who they are, where they are.

I am talking about the kind of wealth that can be used to shape leaders, fund LGBTQ-driven innovation and support programs that lift up our community.

Wealth as a community gives us greater control over business and jobs. It increases our ability to access capital, attract talent and build influence.

And when I say influence, I mean becoming a constituency who cannot be ignored, forgotten or marginalized. If the homogenous white evangelicals who only comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population can do it, LGBTQ people who span every race, age, creed, nationality, sex, gender and ability can certainly do it better.

People have criticized me in the past saying we have more pressing issues than getting rich. And they are partially right; as a community, our plate is full. But this is not about getting rich. This is about creat-

ing a sustainable foundation to transform the lives of an entire community. I don’t pretend any of this is a luxury. With no federal protections for LGBTQ people in the workplace, the never-ending parade of policies intended to repeal years of progress and corporate giants like Chick-Fil-A contributing millions toward anti-LGBTQ causes, wealth and influence isn’t a luxury, it’s self-preservation.

Our entrepreneurs too frequently find the challenges of living authentically unmanageable in small towns.

They leave to find acceptance and protections in urban areas where the cost of living and doing business is higher.

It’s not as bleak an outlook as it once was. The list of players and their initiatives working to help our businesses participate in the economy to build community wealth

11

and influence is long. LGBTQ Chambers of Commerce like Independence Business Alliance and the NJ LGBT Chamber work hard to create opportunity, drive growth, and shape leaders for our business community. The national LGBTQ chamber (NGLCC) established the Certified LGBT Business Enterprise (LGBTBE) initiative to promote supply chain diversity. Even the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia got in with their CEO Access program that includes LGBTQ businesses. But it’s not just chambers of commerce; some businesses, like Comcast and Atlantic City Electric include certified LGBTBEs in their supplier diversity efforts. And more cities and state governments now include LGBTQ-owned businesses in their public contracting minority-owned business programs.

Remember I said LGBTQ people must be allowed to be who they are, where they are? Our entrepreneurs too frequently find the challenges of living authentically unmanageable in small towns. They leave to find acceptance and protections in urban areas where the cost of living and doing business is higher. These higher costs are prohibitive for LGBTQ entrepreneurs to realize their full potential. This is a casualty of systemic discrimination. There are a million reasons to pay a premium for location, but fear from discrimination should PAGE 19 not be one of them. By

How do you feel about religious freedom being used as a justification for discrimination?

“Your right to swing your fist stops at my face.”

Nathaniel Hammer Student Philadelphia

“I think organized religion in general has been detrimental and dangerous to marginalized comMitch Wiesen munities. I Freelancer think reliPhiladelphia gion can be a great source of community for some people, but it’s necessary to address the dangers it can bring to a lot of groups.”

“That’s f**ked up.

It’s not a justification for that sort of thing.”

Noah Miller Student Philadelphia

Correction In an article about drag queens and their growing role in the LGBT community, the surname of a bar owner was misspelled and his title was misstated. He is Jeffrey Sotland, not Scotland, and he is one of the owners of Tabu Lounge, not a manager.

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

PGN HEALTH

The ins and outs of a balanced exercise program Have you ever found yourself wondering whether it would be more effective doing resistance training or high-intensity interval training (HIIT)? Have you ever wondered if you should train with high repetitions or low repetitions? Should you lift heavy weights or light weights? Maybe you have wondered if you should superset your exercises.

Deciding on the right mode of exercise can be challenging and complex because none of these options are actually wrong. It's your goals and interests that will ultimately determine the right mode of exercise for you.

centage of calories at rest.

3. Improves cardiovascular health.

Strength training regularly helps blood-pressure levels and regulates triglyceride levels.

4. Lowers injury risks because strength training leads to better coordination and body function. Also, strength training builds collagen fibrils.

5. Increases muscular development both in size and strength

These are just a few benefits of resistance training. Much of culture around resistance Megan Niño the training and bodybuilding Resistance training revolve around gaining muscle and strength while minimizing fat, Resistance training is a form of exerwhich is also a product of a good diet. cise that is structured to improve muscular Depending on a person’s goals, a person strength and muscular endurance. Most may lift heavier weight with fewer repetipeople associate resistance training with tions or will lift less weight using higher bodybuilding. Although resistance trainrepetitions. Many times bodybuilders and ing plays a large role in improving body physique trainers will use the latter, but aesthetics, a person can also improve his/ again it depends on the end goal. If done her muscular strength, which doesn’t result right, a program will be progressive with different variations of high and low reps in getting bulky, but will give a lean look with the right program. Resistance training for maximal gains. For someone who just wants to be healthy, resistance training has many benefits such as: doesn’t need to be so detailed and com1. Improves intramuscular coordination or the ability of many muscles working together plex. Most people will get results using a to generate and control high levels of force. three-set, 10-repetition training program 2. Boosts our metabolism. The more as long as it is challenging. A challenging we build our muscles, whether in strength set of 10 repetitions can be gauged by how or size, the higher our metabolisms are much work you put into that set. If a perbecause muscles burn a much higher person struggles, but completes 10 repetitions

Body U

PEtITIONS from page 1

the reason.

Hearings on the challenges were scheduled to start on Friday, March 22, but were postponed until the morning of Monday, March 25.

The reason was posted publicly on Cade’s personal Facebook page on the afternoon of March 22 by someone in third-person: “Mr. Cade is hospitalized in serious condition @ after Fainting in during an election proceeding.

Please pray for him.”

Then, on morning of March 25, Cade withdrew all of his challenges in a handwritten note.

That afternoon, Cade posted on his same Facebook page for himself: “My announcement is that I withdrew my petition objections challenges once I saw the concern of fellow candidates that helped me in my time of need and disparity due to my collapse due to a [sic] extremely high blood pressure. I now have a deep rooted appreciation for those who aided me. They didn’t even hesitate to help me.

Please continue to pray for me.”

Five of the current seven at-Large City Council members are running for reelection. Longtime council members Blondell Reynolds Brown and Bill

Greenlee have said they will not seek reelection.

After the May 21 primary, the top five candidates from each party will move on to the November election. Then, they’ll compete against each other with the top seven vote-getters winning seats.

Meanwhile, challengers who sued over transgender lawyer Henry Sias’ judicial-nominating petition on March 19 withdrew their case on March 21.

Sias is hoping to win a judgeship on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

Those challengers were John Hanssens, Jr. and Brian Eddis, according to the Commonweath Court docket. Hanssens is the Democratic committeeperson for Ward 23, Div. 10, along with a John Hanssens III. Eddis is the Democratic leader of the entire 63rd Ward.

Sias told PGN that he could not speak about the challenge being withdrawn due to rules about commenting on litigation.

All of the candidates for City Council at-Large seats and judges on the Court of Common Pleas needed 1,000 Philadelphia voters from their party to sign their nominating petitions since they’re running citywide, according to the Philadelphia City Commissioners,

with good form then that is a good place to be.

High Intensity Interval Training High-intensity interval training is a different style of training that focuses more on large volume repetitions and longer rest. There is less of a focus on building bigger muscles and strength. HIIT is more cardio based using power and muscular endurance. It is recommended that HIIT be done two or three times a week to avoid overworking the body. HIIT is the type of workout for people looking to improve cardio and reduce fat. HIIT also has many benefits: 1. Build endurance.

2. Burn a large number of calories in a shorter amount of time.

3. Gain some muscle in the muscle groups used the most.

4. Improves oxygen consumption.

Oxygen consumption is important because it is the ability to deliver oxygen to the muscles for better performance.

5. Increases a person’s metabolism due to the increase of oxygen consumption.

6. Improves cardiovascular health.

HIIT workouts can last anywhere from 20-30 minutes, which means it is efficient for those who lack time to workout.

HIIT training can require a large amount of coordination, stamina, mobility and strength. Novice gym goers can be at risk of injury if they aren’t used to this style of exercise. acting as the County Board of Elections.

The petitions could only be circulated for three weeks, between the 13th Tuesday and the 10th Tuesday prior to the May 21 primary. That was from Feb. 19-March 12.

The Court of Common Pleas is a general trial jurisdiction court with 101 judges. Terms for judges are 10 years.

This year, 40 candidates are running for six open seats.

The lottery that randomly determined the order for names to go on the ballot took place last week. Position on the ballot is considered an especially important factor in races with many candidates, and judicial candidates are often lesser known to voters than candidates for offices like mayor and City Council.

All three LGBTQ candidates for judge on the Court of Common Pleas are Democrats endorsed by the Victory Fund.

Albert Wade will be listed 18th, Sias got the 26th position and Tiffany Palmer will be 30th. That could change since candidates have until March 27 to withdraw their names from the ballot.

The deadline to register to vote is April 22. You can register at https:// www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/Pages/ VoterRegistrationApplication.aspx. n

1. Start with resistance training and build a habit of going to the gym.

2. Practice the movements that are commonly done in HIIT training.

3. Strengthen the muscles around your joints to improve joint mobility and stability.

Both of these styles of training have their purpose and can lead to different outcomes, which is why it is important to identify which goals are most important to you — strength and muscle development or cardio. Choose resistance training if you want to gain and sustain strength and muscle while minimizing fat. Choose HIIT if you want to improve your muscular endurance and power, while burning more calories in a shorter amount of time. If you don’t have a preference, then combining the two modes can be effective. Doing two to three days of resistance training and two days of HIIT can lead to great muscle development, athleticism and improved cardiovascular health. Remember, before beginning any type of exercise program, consult with a doctor. For more guidance about what style of training is better for you, contact a personal trainer to assist you on your journey to becoming healthier and performing better. n Megan Niño is a kinesiologist and personal trainer through her business Vigor Vida Fitness & Wellness.

She is an energetic and positive person who prides herself on teaching others to find empowerment in their lives through fitness. She works out at Optimal Sport 1315 in Center City and Optimal Gym in Queens Village. She also offers in-home training in Philadelphia and on the Main Line.

MORRIS from page 1

isn’t residential, and wasn’t at the time of Morris’ death either.

Another puzzling aspect was a police report by Berry, the officer who responded to Morris at 16th and Walnut after she sustaned her head injury. Inexplicably, Berry’s report states that Morris was possibly “transexual [sic].” Such speculation in a police report about a hospital case is unusual, as the LGBT status of someone transported to a hospital is irrelevant.

Berry has never publicly explained why he speculated about Morris’ LGBT status in his police report.

Berry’s report also is perplexing because he went to Jefferson Hospital about two hours after medics transported Morris there.

The officer could have spoken to Morris’ attending physician, documented the severity of Morris’ wounds and reported her as a crime victim. But the available evidence suggests he did none of those things.

Instead, Novak assumed control of the investigation at Jefferson. It was Novak and Skala who spoke to Morris’ attending physician about her condition. Since neither Novak nor Skala wrote a police report, it’s unclear why they were questioning the doctor.

Efforts to interview the three officers for this article were unavailing. n

T:10.125”

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

13

T:11.35”

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

Sales Representative at PGN

PGN

International Australian man contracts HIV despite taking PrEP drug

Philadelphia Gay News (PGN) currently has immediate opening for advertising sales position available for an energetic, self-motivated individual with outstanding communication skills.

Our ideal candidate must have polished sales skills with experience in lead generation and cold calling, combined with a track record of closing the sale.

Qualifications: * Two years minimum of successful sales experience, former print and/or advertising sales are a plus * Strong verbal and writing skills * Excellent at relationship building * Ability to work independently and part of a team * Knowledge of local media market and LGBT community a plus * Computer literacy a must Salary/Benefits: Competitive Salary based on your past experience, plus commission. Our benefits package includes medical and dental insurance, paid holidays, vacation and a casual work environment.

Qualified individuals interested in applying are encouraged to send their résumé. to mark@epgn.com

*PGN is an equal opportunity employer

An Australian man has been diagnosed with HIV despite taking a pre-exposure prophylaxis medication known as PrEP. Steven Spencer, 27, from Sydney tested positive for HIV in December, despite diligently using PrEP “on demand” before and after sexual encounters in line with the advice of doctors.

He is believed to be the seventh person globally to be diagnosed with HIV while adhering to a PrEP regimen.

“I was in complete shock, as were my doctors,” Spencer said, knowing the chances were extremely rare.

Roughly half a million people worldwide take the medication, which is more than 99 per cent effective in preventing HIV when taken correctly.

The sexual health and gay community advocate has chosen to share his story to prevent misinformation that could devalue the effectiveness of PrEP. “What happened to me doesn’t change the fact that PrEP is still the most powerful HIV preventative we have ever had,” said Spencer, one of the first men in Australia to start taking the medication more than five years ago.

Multiple international clinical trials have demonstrated that PrEP effectively prevents HIV transmission.

“It is protecting hundreds of thousands of people from HIV in an empowering way, alongside effective treatment for people living with HIV,” Spencer said.

The PrEP drug Truvada has been available in Australia since April 2018. Thousands of gay men previously had access to the drug via clinical trials or by importing it from overseas.

Nicolas Parkhill, chief executive of ACON, a health promotion organization specializing in HIV prevention, said, “What we do not want to see happen is people doubting the effectiveness of PrEP in preventing HIV and stop taking their pills.”

Andrew Grulich, program head of HIV Epidemiology and Prevention at the University of NSW’s Kirby Institute, said PrEP had been a “game-changer for HIV prevention in Australia.”

Kirby Institute data showed HIV infections declined by almost one-third following the EPIC-NSW PrEP trial.

Grulich said most of the HIV seroconversion cases identified had involved a virus that is resistant to the anti-viral medication contained in PrEP. “PrEP only works if it is taken correctly, so non-adherence is certainly a factor in some cases,” he said.

Grulich said the extremely rare cases did not contradict the global scientific consensus

that PrEP was an extremely effective HIV prevention tool.

“Individuals should remain confident of PrEP’s effectiveness,” he said.

Spencer started HIV treatment immediately after diagnoses and within six weeks achieved an “undetectable viral load” meaning he cannot transmit HIV to anyone.

He said it was “one of the toughest periods of my life.”

Today Spencer lives “happily and healthily with HIV”, confident that he can protect others from the virus and safeguard his health for years to come.

Japan urged to stop requiring transgender sterilization Human Rights Watch is urging Japan to drop its requirement that transgender people be sterilized to have their gender changed on official documents.

A 2004 law states people wishing to register a gender change must have their original reproductive organs removed and have a body that “appears to have parts that resemble the genital organs” of the gender they want to register. The Supreme Court in January rejected an appeal by a transgender man who wanted legal recognition without undergoing surgery.

Human Rights Watch said the compulsory sterilization requirement is abusive and outdated. A report the international rights group released Wednesday said requiring invasive and irreversible medical procedures violates the rights of transgender people who want their gender identity legally recognized.

Kenya appeals court rejects bid to ban LGBT group registration The Kenya Court of Appeal has rejected a bid to block the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission from registering as an NGO (non-governmental organization).

Laws in Kenya require all nonprofit groups to register with the NGO Coordination Board, but the board had rejected the group’s application in 2015 because it caters to LGBT+ people.

In a ruling March 22, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal by the NGO Coordination Board, which sought to deny LGBT+ Kenyans the right to associate.

In a 3-2 decision, the appeals court found that LGBT+ people have a right to form an NGO, agreeing with an earlier High Court ruling that stated blocking them from doing so is a denial of their fundamental rights.

Justice Philip Waki told the court: “The issue of LGBT is rarely discussed in public. But it cannot be doubted that it is an emotive issue, the reality is that this group does exist and we can no longer deny that.

Let it go down that I will not be the first to throw a stone and harm them.” n — compiled by Larry Nichols

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Full-Time Graphic Artist Sought Philadelphia Gay News, the oldest LGBT newsweekly and the largest on the East Coast, is seeking a full-time graphic artist for design and layout of a weekly newspaper. Candidate should be outgoing, can collaborate or work independently as needed, has the skill to work through changing space and content and is committed to creating the look of end product. Local candidates who have a familiarity with LGBT issues are preferred. Diverse candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

DUTIES: Roughing out blanks based upon ad quantity.

Can create interesting house items (such as this ad) quickly with minimal spelling, grammar and content review.

Place ads, columns and stories in appropriate areas while maneuvering ads to accommodate different length stories.

Back up and archive work weekly and monthly.

Assist with website, email blasts, editorial content discussions and special resuest as needed.

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Ability to collaborate with others and yet think independently.

Familiarity with AP style a plus BENEFITS: Benefits package includes medical and dental insurance, paid holidays and vacation and a casual work environment.

Please send résumé, cover letter and three of your own designs from an assignment to mark@epgn.com. Applicants who do not send samples will not be considered.

PGN

Smollett charges dropped

by Victoria A. Brownworth PGN Contributor Chicago prosecutors dropped all charges on Tuesday in their case against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett.

In a case that has had more plot twists than the “Empire” TV drama, an emergency court hearing was held in Chicago on March 26, after which Smollett’s attorneys announced that “his record has been wiped clean of the filing of this tragic complaint against him.”

Smollett reported being the victim of a racist and homophobic hate crime attack on Jan. 29. On Feb. 21, he was charged with disorderly conduct and for lying to the police, who alleged he had lied about the assault. Smollett was charged on March 8 with 16 felony counts of lying to police, one count for each time he told his story.

He was held on $100,000 bail, the amount usually set for manslaughter.

Two brothers, Ola and Abel Osundairo, who had claimed Smollett paid them to stage the attack, recanted their original story on March 14, raising many questions about why they were never charged in the incident.

Smollett has always maintained his innocence and reiterated that in a statement to reporters outside the courtroom after Tuesday’s hearing.

The Cook County State’s Attorney Office released a statement saying, “After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollet’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case.”

Other than a DUI while he was in college, Smollett has never committed a crime or had any run- ins with police.

The State’s Attorney statement also said, “We stand by the Chicago Police Department’s investigation and our decision to approve charges in this case.” The office gave no explanation for the emergency element of the decision following weeks of inaction after the Osundairo brothers had changed their story.

Patricia Brown Holmes, an attorney for Smollett, said in a press statement, “Jussie was attacked by two people he was unable to identify on Jan. 29. He was a victim who was vilified and made to appear as a perpetrator as a result of false and inappropriate remarks made to the public, causing an inappropriate rush to judgment.”

Smollett told the Chicago police that he had been assaulted by two men who beat him, put a rope around his neck and poured an unknown chemical substance on him as they yelled racial and homophobic slurs. He later told authorities that the two alleged assailants also shouted the proTrump phrase, “This is MAGA country!”

The alleged incident outraged many, including prominent black politicians, actors and performers.

But while the case initially was deemed a “possible hate crime” by the CPD, the

police department later accused Smollett of staging the attack and paying the Osundairo brothers, one of whom had been a personal trainer for Smollett, to participate.

In what Smollett’s attorneys called a “trial by innuendo,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a Feb. 21 news conference, “This stunt was orchestrated by Smollett because he was dissatisfied with his [‘Empire’] salary.”

As PGN reported on March 14, Johnson seemed to have invented that narrative about Smollett. No evidence exists that Smollett ever spoke to anyone about wanting more money — not his agent, not any cast members, not any of the producers or the show’s creator, Philadelphian Lee Daniels, who like Smollett is an out gay black man.

On March 7, an investigation into leaks about the case from the CPD. There has been no comment from the Johnson or the CPD about the changing story from the Osundairo brothers or why Johnson circulated the narrative about Smollett wanting a higher salary.

In a news conference after the charges were dropped, Johnson was asked if he thought justice was served. “No,” Johnson said. “I think this city is still owed an apology.”

But it was outgoing Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel who attacked Smollett repeatedly. Emanuel, who has been castigated for backing the police in their twoyear cover-up of the Laquan McDonald shooting, doubled-down on Johnson’s story and said Smollett “did this all in the name of self-promotion.”

There is no evidence that Smollett was seeking more money from “Empire” or that he was unhappy with his storyline.

Emanuel also said, “You have a person using hate-crime laws that are on the books to protect people who are minorities from violence. To then turn around and use those laws to advance your career and your financial reward, is there no decency in this man? This is a whitewash of justice. Where is the accountability in the system?”

Emanuel continued to hold the actor accountable, saying, “Mr. Smollett is still saying he’s innocent. Still running down the Chicago Police Department. How dare he? This is a person now that has been let off scot-free with no sense of culpability.”

Smollett has never made any negative comments about the CPD. After his arrest, the executive producers of Fox’s “Empire” cut Smollett from the last two episodes of the season. After the charges against the actor were dropped, 20th Century Fox and Fox Entertainment issued a statement: “Jussie Smollett has always maintained his innocence and we are gratified that all charges against him have been dismissed.”

Smollett spoke to reporters after the court hearing. He said he had “been truthful and consistent on every single level” since he had first reported the alleged incident in January. “I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop

PGN

of what I was accused of,” he said. “I am a man of faith and I am a man that has knowledge of my history and I would not bring my family, our lives, or the movement through a fire like this, I just wouldn’t. I would like nothing more than to just get back to work and move on with my life,” Smollett said. “But make no mistakes: I will always continue to fight for the justice, equality and betterment of marginalized people everywhere.”

Asked for any comment regarding the Chicago Police Department, Smollett’s lawyer, Brown Holmes, told journalists during brief remarks, “We have nothing to say to the police department except to investigate charges and not try their cases in the press … not to jump ahead and utilize the press to convict people before they are tried in a court of law.”

When asked why the charges against Smollett were dropped, First Assistant

Cook County State’s Attorney Joseph Magats said, “Our priority is violent crimes and the drivers of violence. Jussie Smollett is neither one of those.” Magats also said, “I do not believe he is innocent.”

CNN’s Don Lemon, himself an out gay black man, had an exclusive interview with Smollett’s attorney on his prime-time program after the charges were dismissed.

Lemon asked Brown Holmes about rumors that former First Lady Michelle Obama had intervened on Smollett’s behalf.

Brown Holmes told Lemon there had been no intervention for Smollett. She said that Smollett was “a victim who was vilified and made to appear as a perpetrator, as a result of false and inappropriate remarks made to the public causing an inappropriate rush to judgment.” While legal pundits suggested that Smollett might sue the CPD for defamation, no such suit has been filed at press time. n

TENSION from page 1

my own father is not my father is violent and grotesque.”

Muhammad, who goes by the pronouns “they/them/their,” said in a message to PGN, “I don’t trust the PGN to report on this incident accurately, given the public statements on social media and within the PGN itself, from Publisher Mark Segal,” they said. “He is a known hater of the BBWC and has slanted the publication to a biased position on LGBTQ issues involving race and ethnicity.”

However, Muhammad posted at various times on Facebook, “I stand by everything I’ve said about Deja. … Using transphobia as a catch-all when your [sic] challenged about racial or ethnic identity is hella violent. Most of the people who are calling you out sis are AfroLatinx transwomen and Black transwomen. To conflate transphobic attacks with that is such a lazy way to avoid being accountable.”

They added, “I don’t believe her when she says she is Mexican-American, this is not the first iteration of her ethnic identity. I believe the Black and AfroLatinx transwomen who have known you as white Deja.”

Alvarez wrote after the incident, “I’m so appreciative of all the love and support. However, my heart is heavy. There is so much hate and bigotry that we face as members of the LBTQ community.

When we fight with each other we are letting them win. We are doing the work for them.”

The Trans Pride Flag will remain at City Hall until April 5. n

been solely in Abdul-Aliy’s individual capacity and absolutely not on behalf of myself or my campaign for City Council at-Large.”

Cohen said Muhammad left her campaign last week and added, “I am sorry for the hurt or confusion that has resulted from statements by AbdulAliy Muhammad regarding Deja Lynn Alvarez. And I also regret the pain caused to Deja and to everyone in attendance.

“I am thrilled that there is long overdue representation of the trans community in the race for City Council and I wish Deja every success in her campaign,” Cohen concluded.

It was unclear at press time who would replace Muhammad as Cohen’s campaign manager. Cohen said Wednesday that she and staff members were discussing possible candidates for the position.

Alvarez later posted on Facebook of the accusations about her heritage, “I am a Mexican-American woman. My father is Mexican. My grandfather’s name is Carlos Alvarez. I was born in Chicago, Illinois, to my parents, Peter George Alvarez and Marie Theresa Reeder. I was raised in Delaware. I moved to Philadelphia in the early 1990s, and legally changed my first name to Deja to reflect my gender identity as a transgender woman.”

As for the encounter outside City Hall she said, “I can’t believe as a transwoman I had to even address an attack on my identity, last name, heritage, and who my father is. The fact someone would claim

Tell us what you think Send letters and opinion column submissions to: pgn@epgn.com; PGN, 505 S. Fourth St., Philadelphia, PA 19147; fax: 215-925-6437.

Please include a daytime phone number.

Letters may be edited for clarity, style and space con­sid­er­ations.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

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Media Trail Justices reject B&B owner who denied room to gay couple The Supreme Court is rejecting an appeal from a Hawaii bed and breakfast that wouldn’t rent a room to a lesbian couple, The Washington Post reported.

The justices on March 18 decided to leave in place state-court rulings that found the Aloha Bed & Breakfast in Honolulu violated Hawaii’s anti-discrimination law by turning the couple away.

Owner Phyllis Young had argued she should be allowed to turn away gay couples because of her religious beliefs.

Event to highlight LGBTQ history in American South An event will highlight the history of LGBTQ people in the American South, according to the Tuscaloosa News.

What organizers are calling the inaugural Queer History South Conference is scheduled to open March 28 in Birmingham, Ala. More than 115 people are expected to attend from the South and elsewhere.

The two-day conference will focus on collecting, researching, preserving and sharing items to document the stories of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender people and queer people in the South.

It’s being staged by Invisible Histories Project, a nonprofit organization which began in 2016 in Birmingham.

Organizers from five states are involved, and the program includes presentations from speakers including universities and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Sponsors of the event include the city of Birmingham and the University of Alabama’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Michigan settles adoption suit to stop LGBT discrimination The Michigan attorney general’s office has settled a lawsuit by same-sex couples who say their rights have been violated by faith-based adoption agencies that don’t want to work with gays and lesbians, Fox 2 Detroit reported.

Under the settlement announced March 22, the state says it will enforce non-discrimination provisions in its foster care and adoption agency contracts.

Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel initiated settlement talks upon

taking office. She said discrimination in foster care and adoption services is “illegal, no matter the rationale.”

Groups such as Catholic Charities and Bethany Christian Services are paid by the state to place children from troubled families with new families.

The suit filed by two lesbian couples doesn’t directly challenge a 2015 Republican-backed law that says child-placement agencies aren’t required to provide services that conflict with their beliefs.

Assistant principal accused of harassing trans boy loses job An assistant principal accused of harassing a transgender student will be out of his job at the end of the current school year, according to The Charleston Gazette-Mail.

The board of education in Harrison County, W.Va., voted to not renew a probationary contract for Lee Livengood, who allegedly followed a teenager into the boys’ bathroom at Liberty High School and said, “You freak me out.”

Superintendent Mark Manchin initially tried to extend Livengood’s contract. Manchin said the March 19 board vote to end his employment on June 30 was unanimous.

A 15-year-old student said Livengood also ordered him in November to prove his gender by using a urinal. Livengood was suspended without pay before returning to Liberty High.

The American Civil Liberties Union said 1,100 people signed a petition demanding the board take action.

Alabama Senate approves bill to change marriage licenses The Alabama Senate has approved a bill to abolish judge-signed marriage licenses as some conservative probate judges continue to object to giving marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the Tuscaloosa News reported.

Senators unanimously approved the bill March 21 by a 26-0 vote. It now moves to the Alabama House of Representatives.

Under the bill, couples would still get a form at the local courthouse to get married, but it would not be called a license.

A few Alabama probate judges for years have refused to issue marriage licenses to anyone so they do not have to give them to gay couples.

Republican Sen. Greg Albritton of Range, who has worked on the bill for several years, said he is trying to reach a compromise so marriage licenses can be issued in all counties. n — compiled by Larry Nichols

PGN OP-ED from page 11

the way, if you want that government contract, or certification, or opportunity to be paired with a titan of industry, you need to have capital, adequate accounting systems and a history of growth.

So we need to focus on getting our businesses there, and I believe the answer lies in small towns. The NGLCC reports the highest concentration of certified LGBTBEs exist in the consulting, marketing and professional services sectors. This thing called the internet revolutionized accessibility, making it easier for these types of businesses to operate outside of the urban areas. Right now, small towns need us, and some, like Woodbury, N.J., put protections and resources in place to welcome LGBTQ-owned businesses. This creates an opportunity to get our businesses in on the ground floor of growing economies to not just be part of the upward trajectory, but also to help stimulate it. This way we are maximizing returns getting in

on the low end of the market and shaping an economy. Imagine if every small town’s economy was built on inclusion.

I blew past my 500 words a while ago, but I contend the topic warrants further discussion. We hear so much about how we need full equality. Well, our business community is not just part of that, but a driving force to help us realize that goal. Before I close, I don’t want to miss the most obvious way to help our businesses build community wealth and influence. I’ll say it loud enough for the people in the back: Support LGBTQ owned businesses! Our businesses span every sector of the economy and they deserve consideration and support from us. n Tony Doran is a Woodbury native who has come home after 25 years with his husband Rick and dog Moxie. Tony has a deep love for LGBTQ people and culture, which inspired him to start Woodbury Community Pride in 2017. The organization’s collaboration with the city, recently earned Woodbury a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Municipal Equality Index.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

Grant helps Action Wellness get clients to appointments A Philadelphia nonprofit that helps thousands of people deal with chronic illnesses just got a big reward so it can help even more.

Action Wellness received a Penn Medicine CAREs grant for $1,800 that executive director Kevin Burns said would be used to cover some “transportation expenses for clients who are unable to use public transportation to get to urgent or emergency medical and social service appointments.”

Burns said Penn Medicine employees nominate programs and in the case of Action Wellness, that person is one of their buddy volunteers, Jessica Tang.

When Tang isn’t working at Penn, she gives clients emotional support, companionship and some help with the tasks of daily living.

This is the first Penn CAREs grant Action Wellness has received. The organization started as Action AIDS in 1986. Thirty years later, it broadened its scope and changed its name.

Action Wellness has five offices and more than 30 host sites. It helps more than 4,000 clients of all ages living with chronic illnesses every year.

Penn Medicine started its CAREs Grant program to support people and community organizations that work to improve the health and wellbeing of others. n — Lenny Cohen

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News Analysis

New studies show fewer Americans think LGBT people face discrimination

By Victoria A. Brownworth PGN Contributor As the Equality Act fails to move forward in Congress yet again, a new Pew Research study and a new Gallup poll show that a majority of Americans don’t think LGBT people face discrimination. Among young adults, the demographic traditionally most supportive of LGBT rights, perceptions of discrimination against gay and lesbian people dropped by 16 points.

According to the poll, only 55 percent of Americans believe that gay and lesbian people face discrimination in the United States, down from 68 percent in 2013. Noticeable in the polling is that it did not reference bisexual or transgender people. None of the questions in the polling related to discrimination in employment, housing, education or healthcare — the areas in which most LGBT people face discrimination. Nor is there any reference to violence or hate crimes.

What the data suggests is that when lesbian and gay people won the fight for marriage equality in 2015, non-LGBT people thought anti-LGBT discrimination ended.

In 1996, the first year Gallup polled the question, only 27 percent of Americans supported marriage equality. In 2019, 67 percent support allowing gay and lesbian people to marry. However, as shown by the continued hate crimes reported in the news, LGBT discrimination has not ended, despite what the poll participants may think.

According to Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) polling, this attitude toward LGBT people is the opposite of what polls indicate about other minority groups. In every instance, Americans say discrimination against groups like Muslims, Jews, women and blacks has increased. The numbers of Americans who believe LGBT people may have over-stepped their claims of discrimination has also risen. PRRI found that recent U.S. Supreme Court cases in

which lesbian and gay couples cited discrimination over wedding cakes, florists and public accommodations, saw an increase in support for religion-based refusal to serve lesbian and gay couples.

Following the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court cases, nearly half (46 percent) of Americans believe that the owners of wedding-based businesses, such as caterers, florists and bakers, should be allowed to refuse to serve same-sex couples if serving them violates their own religious beliefs. Nearly the same number (48 percent) said these types of businesses should be required to serve samesex couples. But a year earlier, before the SCOTUS cases, a majority (53 percent) of the public said wedding-based businesses should be required to serve gay and lesbian couples, while 40 percent said they should not.

A 2019 Gallup poll shows that most Americans think LGBT people are no longer being discriminated against, while the

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overwhelming majority polled said they are “totally satisfied” with the level of acceptance LGBT people have at present and believe the fight for gay rights is “increasingly unnecessary.” Slightly less than half (46 percent) of Americans said new laws — like the Equality Act — are not necessary to reduce discrimination against gay and lesbian people. The PRRI survey found that nearly the same percentage — including 81 percent of Republicans — believe the country has made the changes needed to give gay and lesbian people equal rights.

Other details show lesbian and gay rights have never been a priority for the average voter, even during the peak fight over marriage equality between 2004, when it was legalized in Massachusetts, and the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. On a list of 16 issues, a Pew poll found that the treatment of LGBT people ranked last in the percentage of people who said it was important to their vote in the 2018 election, even though

PGN

a record number of LGBT people were running for Congress.

Yet LGBT people have reported rising instances of harassment and discrimination in all areas of their lives. A 2017 Harvard study found that a majority of self-identified LGBT people reported facing slurs or offensive comments. LGBT people having received threats because of sexual and/ or gender identity as well as being sexual harassed were also widely reported in the study. The Harvard study results parallel a 2013 Pew Research Study that found a nearly identical number (58 percent) of LGBT people said they had been subjected to slurs or jokes based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Added to this unchanging experience of discrimination

by LGBT people is government data showing that violence against LGBT people is increasing.

The Gallup poll asked if gay and lesbian sexual relations should be legal and 28 percent of respondents said no. While this number was double in 1979 when the question

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

was first asked, it’s stunning that this is both still a debatable question and that so many Americans still object.

One in three polled said lesbian and gay relationships are “morally wrong” and 42 percent of those who regularly attend religious services said their clergy mentions “homosexuality” as morally wrong.

These and other details in polling and studies should signal concern for both LGBT people and LGBT rights organizations. The message that LGBT people still face not just discrimination but actual physical violence based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity is not reaching the general population, even among people 35 and under. With nearly two more years of the Trump administration’s repressively anti-gay and anti-trans policies, it’s critical that this misconception be addressed by key organizations like HRC (Human Rights Campaign) and that pressure be placed on legislators to recognize the actual facts of LGBT discrimination and pass legislation to address the problem. n

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entertainment Outspoken artist returns with a ‘Intermission’ statement

By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com It’s been a while since we’ve gotten a significant amount of music or art to consume from Amanda Palmer. Now she’s back in action with a new album, “There Will Be No Intermission,” and an international tour and book release.

The bisexual singer-songwriter, author and performance artist made a name for herself as half of the gothic/punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls before pursuing a solo career.

She released her debut record, “Who Killed Amanda Palmer,” in 2007, and a follow-up, “Theater is Evil Album,” in 2012. Palmer then pulled back from recording and touring, appearing occasionally on c o l l a b o r a t ive studio albums and brief reunion performances with the Dresden Dolls.

It was a noticeable absence for such a prolific artist and performer. As we prepared to ask her about the seven-year gap between solo albums, perusing “There Will Be No Intermission” answered a lot of our questions in great detail.

“That was not my intention,” Palmer said.

“Now I think I should put out a giant book primer for every record I release. Then we can get to the good stuff and skip over the bullshit questions.”

The new album and book cover deeply emotional ground for Palmer, who spent the last seven years adjusting to motherhood, settling into married life with fiction novelist Neil Gaiman, getting used to rural home

Dining Out Family Portrait Out & About

living, and dealing with death and a miscarriage along the way. She admits this is a melancholy album. But, with the polarization of 2019’s America, there are also songs that delve into the state of the world today.

Would the album have turned out differently if the 2016 election had gone in a different direction?

“These songs stretch back in origin as far as 2012 in a pre-Trump world,” she said, “but I don’t think that ‘Drowning in the Sound’ and ‘The Ride’ and ‘ Vo i c e m a i l for Jill’ would have necessarily appeared.

They may have.

But there’s been a very frightening feeling in the air and the album captures that.

“The album is a really weird combination of hyper-personal and generally universal, sometimes within the same song.

I find that Trump has galvanized me in the same strange, unexpected way that having a miscarriage galvanized me. I feel like he has made me and many female artists and contemporaries very brave and very strong because of their sense of urgency, and we just don’t have any time to waste at the moment. If you’re a minority or a woman or anyone who does not belong to the class of Trump-approved beings, there’s a fire lit beneath you to stand up and grab back the narrative because you don’t really have a choice.”

Given how much the music industry has changed over the last decade, with people consuming their music digitally in small doses, you don’t see many established art-

Page 31 Page 33 Page 36

Q Puzzle Scene in Philly

ists putting 20 tracks on an album, especially with an optional book filled with exposition, lyrics, stories and art to accompany and augment the experience.

Palmer said that while she was content to release individual songs when inspiration would hit her over the last few years, she realized something was missing by not giving fans an entire album to digest.

“As a busy new mother, I was only engaging with my favorite artists when they put out an album and it reached me through the tangle of the media jungle,” she said.

“I think there’s something more relevant to the conversation about an album and the size and the length of it. There’s something important about sitting down with an artist for a span of time, which is also why novelists don’t just publish 10-page short stories and The New York Times doesn’t just give news via Twitter.

There’s something to be said for having a hefty conversation with an artist and, if the metaphor is modern communication instead of just occasionally texting with your artist, actually having dinner and a bottle of wine with them, which is what this album feels like to me. I think that that exists outside of the technological conversation.”

In 2012-13, Palmer got a lot of criticism in the press for crowd-funding her albums, books and tours — a necessity for an artist who had creative and business-oriented disputes with her then-record label. These days everyone from independent to established artists use crowd-funding for various creative pursuits.

So it turns out Palmer was just an artist ahead of her time.

“I don’t really feel vindicated as much as I feel proud to have kicked the door down for other artists. I still deal with a fair amount of criticism for the way I practice my business, and I’ve had to just get used to the fact that it is part and parcel of working and crowd-funding. The longer I work at this job of being a songwriter and exploring art and emotions and connecting with human beings, the less I care about what is and isn’t approved. It just doesn’t matter anymore to me.

“What matters is that the material connects with people. And if the material connects with people, the criticisms about my delivery system are absolutely ignorable and

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New line from out fashion designer PAGE 30

inane. The wonderful thing about Patreon [a website that allows artists to crowd-fun d their artistic pursuits] is that I’m now in a committed relationship with 15,000 people who believe that what I have to say may be worthwhile. I’ve got 15,000 people betting on me, that my voice may be relevant. As a woman in 2019 who has been told by various factions on the Internet, in the media and music journalism that my voice is annoying and irrelevant and no one wants to hear about my feelings, that is vindicating.”

A potential perk of crowd-funding Palmer is that, at a certain donation level, she will come to your home and perform a house party concert for you. Palmer said that performing in a fan’s living room is mutually beneficial.

“When I play a small house party, I feel incredibly PAGE 30

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

PGN

Non-binary artist making beautiful Out celebrity fashion designer music for new production debuts his latest line

By A.D. Amorosi PGN Contributor

great effect.

“Non-binary theatre artists are a vibrant part of Philly’s arts community, and we’ve When it became clear to Philadelphia- made great strides in visibility and underbased playwright and dramaturg Jacqueline standing in recent years,” noted Ressler.

Goldfinger that her newest play, “Click,” was “We’re committed to making space for going to be produced, she knew whose sound non-binary people, but we’re also looking for people to operate in solidarity with us. would make it whole.

“I immediately thought of Pax to create the We hope that our friends, theater artists and music and soundscape, as their deep knowl- institutions — almost all run by cisgender edge of both traditional theater music and people — will advocate for us, and follow other forms — including opera, cabaret and our lead in making change for transgender chorale — have been enormously import- and non-binary people.” ant in creating the complex on-and-offline Ressler, who has worked as a composer for locals such as Nichole Canuso Dance worlds of the play,” Goldfinger said.

Company, Arden Theatre and The Bearded Ladies, is renowned for a musical sensibility that is both oldworld and ragingly futuristic, and decidedly diverse.

“I often describe myself as a neoclassical and choral composer, but I write for whatever the project demands.

In the past few months, I’ve written country-gospel, sacred, electronic and ambient music for projects. I’ve had to stretch myself as a composer and experiment with new sounds for each new piece.”

Most recently, Ressler developed a collaborative relationship with Philadelphia’s University of the Arts.

Not only is “Click” a co-production between Simpatico (at the Drake) and U-Arts, but Ressler also was the music director for the colorful “Marie In PAX RESSLER Tomorrowland.”

“I feel lucky to have worked with Pax is Pax Ressler, the non-binary UArts students on ‘Marie in Tomorrowland’ Philadelphia theater multi-hyphenate whose in the Polyphone Festival,” said Ressler. compositional soundscapes surround and “The students I met are incredibly skilled infest “Click” like a virus and move like a and collaborative artists. This piece lived or died by the cohesion of the ensemble, and tech-savvy monolith.

“The sound in this show is a character their commitment to supporting and being unto itself,” said Ressler, who goes by generous with each other onstage really the pronouns “they/them/their,” during a spoke volumes to me. It felt rare and special to have over 25 female and non-binary lengthy rehearsal.

They reflected on the wealth that is artists performing onstage in the cast and “Click,” a complex theater piece that finds band. It’s the first time I’ve been on a projGoldfinger writing in bleakly humorous ect where men weren’t onstage.” fashion about disasters gone viral (college For, now, however Ressler remains students in a frat rape) and the future-for- focused on “Click,” moving quickly, furiously and darkly through what Goldfinger ward consequences that follow.

“While evolving technology is part of described as a story of “virtual-reality what violates a character such as Fresh’s identities blurring time and space” in relaconsent in the first place, technology is also tion to a crime and questions of consent. how Fresh harnesses her power and connects “I’m really compelled by the dark, to her world,” said Ressler. “I really love Black Mirror-esque world that Jackie has the duality that Jackie has written into this created and was sonically inspired by script, which echoes my own feelings about what she’s written,” said Ressler. “The technology in my life: an incredible tool, sound in this show is a character unto itself — it embodies a lot of the ‘invisible and an isolating cage.”

There are no cages for Ressler, who is a tech’ of the world, including high-tech living, breathing participant in how Philly motion-activated screens. Using sound to theater accepts non-binary participants, be it help the audience ‘see’ this futuristic tech the newly changed gender-neutral Barrymore truly feels like the magic of theater.” n Awards or last autumn’s Shakespeare in Clark “Click” premieres at Simpatico Theatre at 850 S. Park’s non-binary production of “Twelfth Second St, Philadelphia, this week and runs through Night” where ze/zir pronouns were used to April 14.

By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com

rities, but I bring my sense of flair to it.”

As a high-profile, young and out figure in the fashion world, Sarafa said he makes time to serve as a role model to aspiring young creative people who reach out to him looking for advice. In 2016, when Sarafa was applying to colleges, he made headlines when he called

Out fashion designer, style guru and media influencer Matt Sarafa, who became one of the youngest designers to show at both New York and Paris Fashion Week, is launching a new line.

After taking a break to regroup after his initial success on TV shows “Project Runway Junior” and “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” Sarafa, 21, is set to take things to the next level with Ri¢h, which recently hit the catwalks during Los Angeles Fashion Week.

“This is my re-debut back on the scene,” Sarafa said. “I sat out the past two seasons to really focus on getting my money right and running with the success of the ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ exposure. This line is inspired by the red faux fur that started this whole journey. You’re going to see a lot of red in the collection. It’s edgy street wear. It’s going to be really hot, and I can’t wait for you to see it.”

Sarafa said the initial exposure from reality-TV shows has given him an edge when dealing with MATT SARAFA (CENTER) Photo: Matt Sarafa the pressure of trying to make a name for himself in the competitive out a Brown University interviewer for homophobic comments. world of fashion at such a young age.

“The fashion industry is definitely cut- “I’d like to think that everything I do is throat. I try to stay in my lane as much inspiring for younger people, especially as possible. ‘Project Runway’ got me young gay boys,” he said. “When I was comfortable with the time crunches and growing up, I didn’t have someone like all the drama of the fashion world. That’s myself to look up to. So I’m trying to be as authentically myself as I can be. I get a great asset that I have under my belt.”

His designs have already attracted the [direct messages] on a daily basis from attention of celebrities and fashion icons. young LGBT kids who have seen me on Sarafa said his clients are enamored with TV and on social media. So that is always his clothing, so he keeps his aesthetic good to know that what you’re doing is having a meaningful impact, especially consistent to keep them happy.

“They reach out because they enjoy and on the youth.” n appreciate my own personal style,” he said. “We did looks for Tyra Banks at the For more information on Matt Sarafa, visit http:// end of last year. I cater towards the celeb- mattsarafa.com.

PALMER from page 29

connected and supported. It barely feels like I have to work or perform,” Palmer said. “And of course I’m working and performing. When I’m at a house party, I’m in an incredibly safe open space.

I can fuck up as much as I want. I can say whatever I want. There are no curfews. There’s no security outside the door. There are no outside X-factors.

If someone breaks down crying in the middle of one of my songs and I want to stop what I’m doing and talk to them about what’s going on, I’m at liberty to do that. Those moments of community and feeling like I’m amongst my tribe and amongst a bunch of friends are still

really important to me.

“And as proud as I am to be going out on this North American tour and playing 2,000- and 3,000-seat venues, which I’ve never done before and is a real jump up for me, that’s not the only way to do it. It’s the difference between having an intimate one-on-one dinner with a friend and going to a giant disco party. They’re both really fun, but a diet of only one would leave you anemic in the other department.” n “There Will Be No Intermission” is available now.

Amanda Palmer performs 7:30 p.m. April 6 at Temple Performing Arts Center, 1837 N. Broad St. For more information or tickets, call 215-204-9860 or visit http://amandapalmer.net.

PGNOUT DINING

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Co-opting temptation at West Phila. brunch spot tempts with brunch

By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com

student with Red Bull coursing through his veins. (And we mean that in the most complimentary way possible.)

The tater-tot poutine ($10) had all the If you step into the stylish and casually irresistible and guilt-inducing food groups refined confines of West Philly’s CO-OP in one bowl: fried potatoes, meat, cheese for brunch, there’s a pretty good chance and gravy. Two perfectly over-easy fried that any diet is going out the window. eggs stare into your soul like they know Sure, there’s a significant portion of the your hopes, dreams and inner-workings. brunch menu that keeps it light (parfaits, fruit bowls, veggie bowls, salads), but they Beneath them is a steaming hot pile of just can’t compete with the classic comfort house-made tater tots smothered in sausage gravy, scallions and melted cheese foods — which are made even more appecurds, just waiting for you to crack open tizing here. the yolks so you can get this breakfast orgy Think upscale chef creations filtered started. You’ll hate yourself later but it’s through the appetite of a stoned college so, so good going down.

Slightly less decadent, but only slightly, is the brunch burger ($18): a Sunday-morning monolith comprised of a robust hamburger patty, red-eye bacon jam, a fried egg and cheese surrounded by a toasted everything bagel.

There are a couple items on the menu that are sure to make your inner child have a full on Disneyland-freakout-throw-any-dietaryrestraint-out-the- window: BREAKFAST BURGER the Oreo pancakes ($14)

If you go CO-OP 20 S. 33rd St. 215-398-1874 www.coopphilly.com Brunch: Sat.-Sun. starting at 10 a.m.

TATER-TOT POUTINE and the cereal-crusted French toast ($14).

Our kryptonite was the latter. French toast on its own is sinful to begin with, and these Willy Wonka-ass evil geniuses in the kitchen decided to crust the bread, generously with Fruity Pebbles and top the whole shebang with a scoop of malted milk ice cream.

OK, that’s just ridiculous. I’m not going to … GIMME THE F%&KING FRENCH

Photos: Larry Nichols

TOAST! Who said that?

Shameful? Yes. Decadent? Hell yes!

It was better than it had any right to be for a sensible adult, and we’ll desperately try not to drive by that restaurant on a Saturday or Sunday morning until after summer ends.

Damn it!

Yeah, so … back to the gym. n

New Old City pasta restaurant brings tears of joy

By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com Wife-husband restaurateurs and chefs Bridget Foy and Paul Rodriguez have bounced back from the fire that destroyed Foy’s namesake restaurant on South Street in 2017 with the recently opened Cry Baby Pasta. And you just might weep if you can’t get a reservation.

The cozy and elegant space was packed on a Wednesday night and we soon found out why. The menu is simple and concise — but the menu items are executed to perfection.

To start, focus on the more complex offerings on their bruschetta menu.

The chicken-liver bruschetta ($8) was topped with a silky chicken mousse and bright, acidic balsamic onions. Even more exciting was the grilled-sardine bruschetta ($8), another colorful dish that was vibrant with chilled roasted red and green peppers resting beneath the fresh sardines.

Another starter that set the mood was the fritto misto ($13), a generous selection of expertly fried and crispy rock shrimp, smelts and calamari, elevated by little details like the charred lemon half and the excellent house-made

and elegant as well, with a nice selection of sorbet and gelatos. But it was the chocolate panna cotta ($7) that got our full attention.

The panna cotta itself was surCry Baby Pasta prisingly, but not 627 S. Third St. unpleasantly, sub267-534-3076 dued in the sweethttp://crybabypasta.com ness department Tues.-Thurs. and Sun.: and the balsamic 5-10 p.m. caramel that glazed Fri.-Sat.: 5-11 p.m. the top of the dish steered the flavor profile into an interesting, almost citrusy, direction. It played well with the GRILLED-SARDINE BRUSCHETTA textural flourishes of the biscotti crumlemon dill sauce.

The campanelle ($19) had the perfect rusble and the hazel Pasta isn’t the only entree selection tic scampi feel, buttery and hearty with nuts that added crunch to the smooth airy here but, when in Rome ... The spaghetti garlic and shrimp carrying a lot to entice feel of the treat. cacio pepe ($12) is textbook example of the senses. Side dishes like the light-and All things considered, Bridget Foy a simple, uncomplicated dish in presenta- tasty meatballs ($9) and the bold crispy hasn’t missed a beat and is still at the top tion that delivered big flavor. The housepotatoes ($7) with basil pesto, rounded of her game with the new venture and made spaghetti had a remarkable chew out the meal nicely. location. You’ll definitely get emotional if and the sauce was a creamy, rich delight.

The dessert menu was just as simple you can get a table at Cry Baby Pasta. n

If you go

32

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

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- and check out our archive of past reviews on epgn.com.

1 Part of a vacuum cleaner that sucks 5 Hibernate with the bears 10 Change partners 14 Organic compound 15 Reinaldo Arenas’ Peter 16 Like an unbelievable tale 17 Boob tube warrior 18 Medium for Frasier Crane 19 “Cunt” author Muscio 20 Trump said he wishes he could run against her again 23 Alternative to smoking 24 Objectivist Rand 25 Gawk like a chicken hawk 26 Like enhanced briefs 28 Cole Porter’s Indiana hometown 31 Some, on the Somme 32 Hit the books hard 33 Transplant King Richard’s heart?

36 Start of the response of 20-Across (from

“Mean Girls”) 39 Film showers 40 Able to bend over 43 Econ. total 46 Diddles the expense account 47 Took part in the Blue Wave of 2018 48 Make erect 50 Cole Porter’s “___ Gigolo” 52 Hypotheticals 53 End of the response 58 Mall bag 59 Calvin of underwear 60 Brings to light 62 Hurry along 63 Triangle sign 64 Objectifies, sexually 65 Northern capital 66 At the crack of dawn 67 Tommy’s gun

Down

1 Put the whammy on 2 Robin Williams’ ” ___ Photo” 3 Husband, to his husband’s parent 4 Airline to Ben Gurion 5 Do a facial, e.g.

6 Get smart 7 Swirl around three men in a tub 8 “Spamalot” writer Idle 9 Drag queen Gene ___

10 Time on the job 11 It may show an opening 12 Popular vote winner of 2000 13 Earhart vehicles 21 Of the congregation 22 Mazda competitor 23 Network of “Will & Grace” 27 AIDS org.

28 Hart Crane works 29 Irish pop singer 30 Rivera’s rivers 33 Chloe’s “Boys Don’t Cry” role 34 Teed off 35 Canadian oil company 37 “Blow me down!”

38 Cock-eyed Nellie in “South

Pacific” 41 WNBA employee 42 Stat for Esera Tuaolo 43 Small cavern 44 Pyle player 45 Gay rodeo accessory 47 Brewing tank 49 Care for 50 “___ Survive” 51 Pam Dawber’s role with Robin Williams 54 Actress Ione 55 Film director Kazan 56 Santa’s team, e.g.

57 Dwelling, to the von Trapps 61 1040 ID

PROFILE PGN

Family Portrait

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

33

Suzi Nash

Christina Anderson: Not in Kansas anymore Last week, I briefly stepped into the Suzanne Roberts Theatre with playwright Christina Anderson to check out the set for her play, “How To Catch Creation.” The Jason Sherwood design is a revolving set with an impressive representation of the Golden Gate Bridge. It allows the scenes to shift quickly from era to era.

Anderson, who originally hails from the Midwest, is in town for the Philadelphia Theatre Company production of her show, which runs through April 14. She’s known for tackling heavy subject matter and infusing it with a little bit of humor.

PGN: How does a brown queer girl get along growing up in Kansas City, Kansas?

CA: [Laughs] Oh wow, in general?

PGN: Did you spend your formative years there?

CA: Yes. I was born and raised there. I didn’t leave until I left to go to college. I went to Brown, and it was my first time living away from home. But I’ve been on the East Coast mostly since about 1999.

I did a residency for one year in San Francisco at Magic Theatre Company in 2011. The play is based off of my experiences living there. ’Cause, you know, I was a landlocked baby, and then there was the East Coast, but the West Coast had a completely different energy.

PGN: Tell me a little more about growing up in Kansas City.

CA: Yeah, yeah, you know it was cool.

I had a lot of family there. I’m an only child between my parents, but I had a lot of cousins from both sides of the family nearby. I was a big nerd and liked school a lot. I was into English and the arts. I did a lot of drama in high school. When I was a freshman, I got into a playwriting roundtable for young playwrights and that’s where I got hooked on writing shows. It stayed with me all through my life. Even as a kid, I was always writing stories.

PGN: Do you remember what your first story was about?

CA: It was in kindergarten, and at that age I was better at telling stories than writing them. But the first one I can remember is about a little girl who had a ball, and when she bounced the ball it grew wings and flew away and she had to run after it. That’s the earliest one I remember. But my mother says that before I was able to write properly, when I was 3 or 4, I always had a story to tell.

I would attempt to write them down in my little chicken scratch that no one else could read [in a child’s voice]: “These are letters and these are words that make up my stories, and I’m going to tell them to you now.”

PGN: Wow. The flying ball sounds like the Snitch from Harry Potter, was J.K. Rowling deciphering your chicken scratch?

CA: Oh yeah, now that you mention it!

[Laughing] See, if I’d stuck with it, I’d be making that J.K. money now!

PGN: Were you always behind the scenes or did you act as well?

CA: I did a little acting, mainly in my Introduction to theater classes. I’ve also done some spoken word, so I’m comfortable on a stage. In high school, I played Mrs. Hannagan in “Annie.” I started to get gigs performing, but I really wanted to be a playwright, so I decided to chill on the performing and focus on the writing.

PGN: What made you choose playwriting as opposed to becoming a novelist or screenwriter?

CA: When I was a freshman in high school I went to this all-day, intensive introduction to playwriting. At that time, I knew there were playwrights, but I just assumed they were all dead! [Laughs] It didn’t even occur to me that I could write something and it could be immediately staged. It really opened the gateway. I could write something and perform it, or have my friends perform it immediately.

It was such an empowering feeling that I could take the stories that I wanted to tell and the things that I observed, and people would come and watch it. I loved the immediacy of it.

PGN: It’s amazing what can happen when people are exposed to the arts. It created a whole career for you.

CA: Right? Just one class made such a difference.

PGN: So it was just you and your mom?

CA: No. Her sister and my three cousins lived with us. Since I grew up with them, they felt more like siblings to me. I had a lot of relatives from my father’s side of the family nearby as well. A lot of them went to the same church too, so it was great having family around. On the other hand, I was also ready to get out of Kansas City when it came time to pick a school!

the next year, Yale had a queer peopleof-color conference that I went to. I met people that I’m still friends with. I took a class with Elmo Terry-Morgan about queer black theater. We’d read different plays and talk about them. And I wrote a play based on Loraine Hansberry and her juggling her identities as a queer woman and a playwright while trying to be a civil-rights activist.

PGN: I know nothing about KC. CA: I grew up in Wyandotte County, which is where Janelle Monáe grew up.

She’s a little bit younger than me, but she lived about 10 blocks away. There are two Kansas Cities: Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas. [Kansas City, Kansas] is like the stepchild of the Kansas Cities. Where I grew up was fairly suburban, a lot of working-class families.

Church was about it for the arts: preaching, playing instruments or singing in the choir.

PGN: When did you go from, “That’s really interesting” to “Woah, that’s me!”

CA: That’s a great question. Probably not until my junior year. I was a late bloomer!

I was surrounded by queer people. But I still was never, “Oh that’s me,” until later.

I was such a nerd! I was just all about the studying. I love to read. When Dr. Seuss died, I was devastated because I thought he and I were going to write together. That was my plan. I liked reading and watching old MGM movies, especially the musicals. I’d learn all the dance routines and practice them.

I fell in love with Judy Garland when I was 12.

PGN: Fast forward: How did you meet your partner?

CA: A friend from college worked at the ACLU and he invited me to march with them at the New York Pride Parade. He also invited her and then put us together.

We ended up talking the entire march and by the end that was it. And we’ve been together ever since. It’s been about 10 years.

PGN: Did you make the shot?

CA: Of course not!

PGN: What was the first big show of your work?

CA: I had a show produced at a Playhouse in New York, and it was the first big show for me. It was a show that I had written in grad school. It did not go well.

It got ripped in the reviews.

It was a good experience overall, though. My family came to see it. [Laughing] Photo: Suzi Nash Fortunately I was living in New Haven, so I didn’t But at home, I took a lot of lessons — have to walk the streets of New York in piano and drawing, so there were artistic things in my life. But it wasn’t until I went pain! The funny thing is, Crowded Fire Theater in Chicago is going to produce it to high school and then to a children’s this fall! I’d put it in a drawer never to be group called the Coterie Theatre that I cut seen again. my teeth as an artist.

PGN: [Laughing] You’re a bad lesbian! So what did your folks do for a living?

CA: My mom ran an intensive-care unit.

She’s retired now, but she did that for years. My dad died when I was 3, but he was a jack-of-all-trades.

PGN: When did you first come out?

CA: [Laughs] It wasn’t until college.

That’s when I started figuring out who I was. Seeing black and brown queer people who were out, proud and fierce.

Folks took me under their wing. And then

PGN: What things were you into before you discovered theater?

CA: I did debate. I did forensics, which is like … comedic solo performances, monologues, duo scenes, etc. I had a very short stint as a basketball player in the seventh grade, but that did not go well.

PGN: What happened?

CA: There was a big game that came down to a buzzer shot in the final seconds and somehow the ball ended up in my hands.

I immediately was like, OK, I do not like this feeling or want this responsibility. So that was the end of sports for me.

PGN: What are some of the discrimination challenges you’ve faced?

CA: Oh, I’ve had 60-year-old white dudes tell me that because they didn’t understand it that no one would get my plays. I used to get told all the time that PAGE 37

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PGN LISTINGS

Annual Women’s FEST coming to Rehoboth Beach

By Fay Jacobs PGN Contributor Celebrating 19 years of music, speakers, sports, dancing and fun, CAMP Rehoboth’s 2019 Women’s FEST will be held April 11-14 in downtown Rehoboth Beach.

Growing larger every year, FEST, an event primarily geared toward lesbians, brings several hundred of mid-Atlantic women together for the best in national and regional entertainment and special events.

All-access FEST passes are sold out, but there are plenty of individual tickets remaining for the hefty schedule of events at camprehoboth.com. Along with the official FEST events, many of which are free, a number of Rehoboth restaurants and bars also will have women’s events and performers on stage.

The FEST is anchored by a Friday night double-header of headliners, singer/musician Ruthie Foster and the group BETTY. Foster performs with Olivia Travel, has done duets with Bonnie Raitt, played with the Allman Brothers, recorded six studio or live albums, has been Grammynominated and has won a slew of blues music awards.

BETTY, comprised of Alyson Palmer and sisters Amy and Elizabeth Ziff, is a group known for its vibrant harmonies, energy and pizazz, having provided the theme song and numerous appearances on the original “The L-Word” TV series.

The young singing/songwriting duo The Mouths of Babes takes the stage along with comic Karen Williams, who will give one performance only. Ty Greenstein and Ingrid Elizabeth, who make up Mouths of Babes, have more than a dozen albums and over a thousand shows between them and have toured with the Indigo Girls. As a new team, they have distilled the very best of their songwriting, musicianship and humor into a unique contemporary folk duo.

As for Williams, she’s one of today’s hottest comedy stars, known for her quick repartee and sharp perspective. A comic craft master, she has a “healing with humor philosophy” that takes on hot topics and leaves audience members clutching their sides in laughter. She’s played nightclubs from

Hollywood to P-Town, on Olivia cruises, on LOGO TV, and her peers call her “the comic’s comic.”

Presenting sponsor Olivia Travel makes much of this possible, along with a long roster of local and regional sponsors.

Alongside all of the entertainment choices, Women’s FEST presents special

BETTY

speakers with an eye on current events, lesbian history and more. The keynote speaker is Pamela Stewart, vice president of retail sales for Coca-Cola North America and board chair of the nonprofit GLAAD. Blanche Wiesen Cook, noted historian and biographer, will take part in a dialogue with author Marcia Gallo to discuss First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Roosevelt’s long relationship with journalist Lenora Hickok.

Part of Women’s FEST in an all-day book fair April 12. Publishers Bold Strokes Books and Bywater Books, along with the Golden Crown Literary Society, are sponsoring readings, panels and book sales with a host of well-known authors. Scheduled to participate are popular and award-winning lesbian authors including Gallo, Roslyn Bane, Jackie D., Carol Anne Douglas, Cheryl Head, Ann McMan, B. Proud and Rachael Spangler. The book fair is free and open to all.

Added to the inspiring sessions will be young activist Mei-Ling Ho-Shing, a survivor of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Ho-Shing, like many of her classmates, became an activist after the shooting. In the wake of the tragedy, Ho-Shing called for more than gun law reform alone, demanding an intersectional approach to the #NeverAgain movement.

FEST will also feature a Ladies 2000 dance party at the Convention Center on Saturday night.

On Sunday, the popular Broadwalk on the Boardwalk event will take place as a fundraiser to fight cancer. Part stroll-through-town and part meet-up on the boardwalk and the sand, it’s a sea of pink shirts, boas, hats and fun. Wellbehaved pooches are welcome, RUTHIE FOSTER (LEFT) AND KAREN WILLIAMS along with PAGE 37

Theater & Arts Arte Povera: Homage to Amalfi ’68 Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition recreating one artist’s reactionary exhibition against minimalism and pop art, through July, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-763-8100.

Celtic Woman: Ancient Land The Kimmel Center presents the show celebrating Ireland’s rich musical heritage, 7:30 p.m. April 4 at Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St.; 215-893-1999.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Walnut Street Theatre presents the adventure focused on a teenage sleuth, through April 28, 825 Walnut St.; 215-574-3550.

Dieter Rams: Principled Design Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition surveying the designer’s prolific body of work — from radios, clocks and cameras to kitchen appliances and furniture, through April 14, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215763-8100.

Hannibal Healing Tones The Philadelphia Orchestra performs with the composerin-residence, through March 30 at Kimmel’s Verizon Hall, 300 S. Broad St.; 215893-1999.

DANCING IN THE DARK: Blaqk Audio, the synth-pop/ EDM side project by AFI members Davey Havok and Jade Puget, gets a gothic groove on with a tour in support of its latest album, “Only Thing We Love,” which hits Philly 8 p.m. March 30 at Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St. For more information or tickets, call 215-627-1332.

How To Catch Creation Philadelphia Theatre Company presents the story of four artists and intellectuals in San Francisco who are struggling to nurture creative impulses and establish a legacy in their professional and personal lives, through April 14 at Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St.; 215985-0420.

Kate The Unexamined Life Walnut Street Theatre presents at production examining the life of Hollywood legend Katharine Hepburn, through April 7 at Independence Studio on 3, 825 Walnut St.; 215574-3550.

Long Light Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition featuring the photography of David Lebe, through May 5, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215763-8100.

Mimi Imfurst Presents Drag Diva Brunch Mimi Imfurst and special guests perform 11 a.m.2 p.m. March 30 at Punch Line Philly, 33 E. Laurel St.; 215606-6555.

Miss Saigon Broadway Philadelphia presents the legendary musical through March 31 at Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St.; 215893-1999.

New Chinese Galleries Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition exploring 4,000 years of Chinese art, through summer, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215763-8100.

Pinkalicious: The Musical Walnut Street Theatre presents the kids musical about eating too many cupcakes, March 29-April 14, 825 Walnut St.; 215-574-3550.

Romeo and Juliet The Philadelphia Orchestra performs Prokofiev’s three suites, April 4-6 at Kimmel’s Verizon Hall, 300 S. Broad St.; 215-893-1999.

Treasure Island Arden Theatre Company presents the swashbuckling pirate tale, April 3-June 2, 40 N. Second St.; https:// ardentheatre.org.

Whitman, Alabama Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition which

Notices Send notices at least one week in advance to: Out & About Listings, PGN, 505 S. Fourth St., Philadelphia, PA 19147 fax: 215-925-6437; or e-mail: listings@epgn.com.

Notices cannot be taken over the phone.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PGN LISTINGS

Outta Town Disenchanted!

Storybook heroines tell it like it is in this musical comedy that turns fairy tales upside down, March 29-April 6 at Bootless Stageworks, 1301 N. Broom St., Wilmington, Del.; 302-887-9300.

Los Lobos The Latin rock band performs 7:30 p.m. March 29 at Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave., Glenside; 215572-7650. …TO THE WIND: R&B/pop diva and acclaimed songbird Mariah Carey gets up close and personal when she brings her eagerly anticipated Caution World Tour to town 8 p.m.

April 3 at The Met, 858 N. Broad St. For more information or tickets, visit themetphilly.com.

brings Walt Whitman’s poem, “song of Myself” to life through the voices of Alabama residents, through June 9, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-763-8100.

Music KISS The rock band performs 8 p.m.

March 29 at Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St.; 215-389-9543.

Gary Clarke, Jr. The acclaimed blues guitarist performs 8:30 p.m. March 29 at The Met, 858 N. Broad St.; info@ TheMetPhilly.com.

Fleetwood Mac The classic rock band performs 8 p.m. April 5 at Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St.; 215389-9543.

Trey Anastasio The jam-rock icon performs 8 p.m. April 5 at

The Met, 858 N. Broad St.; info@ TheMetPhilly.com.

Havana Nights A celebration of Cuban music and food, 9 p.m.

April 5 at World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St.; 215222-1400.

Nightlife Daddy and Friends The monthly boylesque showcase, 7 p.m.

March 29 at L’Etage, 624 S. Sixth St.; 215592-0656.

Ariana Grande vs. Carly Rae Jepsen DJs spin the latest pop divas, 10 p.m.-2 a.m.

March 29 at Tabu, 254 S. 12th St.; 215-964-9675.

Hot Damn!

The burlesque showcase heats up 8 p.m. March 30 at Franky Bradley’s, 1320 Chancellor St.; 215-735-0735.

Glow Up: A Mr. Philly Leather Bar Night Join Mr. Philadelphia Leather 2019 for his first bar night, 10 p.m.-2 a.m.

March 30 at The Bike Stop, 206 S. Quince St.; 215627-1662.

Envoute The magic and burlesque showcase returns, 7-11 p.m. March 31 at L’Etage, 624 S. Sixth St.; 215592-0656.

Comedy Shoe Gates A variety comedy showcase featuring musical acts, standup, improv, sketch, storytellers and more, 7:30 p.m. April 5 at L’Etage, 624 S. Sixth St.; 215592-0656.

Happy Bear A bear-themed happy hour, 5-9 p.m. April 5 at Tabu, 254 S. 12th St.; 215-964-9675.

Indigo Girls The out acoustic duo performs 8 p.m.

March 29 at Scottish Rite Auditorium, 315 White Horse Pike, Collingswood, N.J.; 856-858-1000.

Ruben Studdard sings Luther Vandross The R&B singer and “American Idol” winner performs 8 p.m. March 31 at Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave., Glenside; 215572-7650.

One Night of Queen The Queen tribute band performs 8 p.m. April 5 at Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave., Glenside; 215572-7650.

Alien The classic scifi horror film is screened, 9:45 p.m. April 5 at The Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville; 610917-1228.

HAIR The countercultural musical is staged April 5-13 at Rowan University’s Tohill Theatre, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, N.J.; 856256-4545. n

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

PORTRAIT from page 33

I needed to “behave” if I wanted to be successful. Weirdly, it would be things like if people gave me feedback and I didn’t take notes, I was yelled at and told that I should talk to other artists of color who knew how to behave. That doesn’t happen anymore, but it was pretty regular in the beginning.

PGN: I keep forgetting that you don’t direct the shows. That’s got to be scary, that you are basically taking your baby and giving it to someone else to raise.

CA: Yeah, but I’m a big believer in collaboration. When I first started, I kept a tighter grip but I’m more relaxed now. I’ve learned to trust the people I work with.

Often the actors and directors will bring things to the table I haven’t considered.

And the success we’ve had bears it out. I just told the actors in this show, “Once we open, it’s your play. You should have fun in your parts and the audience is like another company member.” So I’ve been able to let my babies go!

PGN: Has there ever been a time when you saw the staging and thought, What are they doing?

CA: [Laughing] There have been a couple of times that were close. But, knock on wood, there haven’t been any total disasters. I’ve had some colleagues that had to pull their shows, when they were so bad they had to say, “You can’t do this, it has my name on it.” For me, if I can still see the story, I’m OK, but if you stray too far from the essence of the story, that’s when I get concerned. But so far, there’s not been anything disastrous. And in cases like this production, you can be happily surprised. It was just in Chicago, but we have a completely new designer and cast and set, etc., here in Philly. They’ve done an amazing job, the set looks awesome and the cast is great!

PGN: Is your writing very political?

CA: Yes, I’m interested in how we navigate systems, like oppression and economical and political situations, the legal system and violence. This play is a little lighter, there’s more joy in this one than usual for me, but there are still political elements.

It’s a play for everyone. The themes are universal. For me every play starts with a question. Right now I’m doing research on black Republicans. I don’t know what I’ll do with it yet.

PGN: [Laughing] I guess the question to start with there would be “Why?” You are FEST from page 36

everyone who wants to join in to remember loved ones, support survivors and raise funds to fight cancer.

FEST will also include a chance to enter a raffle to win a cruise for two donated by Olivia Travel. The trip, Gems of the Italian and French Riviera Luxury Cruise, has an estimated value of more than $11,000. The raffle tickets cost $20 each (six tickets for

37

so jovial. Does that humor get into your writing as well?

CA: Oh yeah, I write about heavy things sometimes and often people don’t see it until we get to a table read and then they’re like, Oh wow, that’s funny out loud. I grew up in a household that dealt with some tough things, but there was always warmth and openness and laughter through it all.

PGN: Random questions: Favorite pair of shoes?

CA: Easy. Jordon, J3’s. I’ve got them on now.

PGN: Last time you did something for the first time?

CA: I was in New Hampshire and I was in pure moonlight for the first time. There were no manmade lights around and there was a full moon and no clouds and it was magnificent. All of a sudden every Shakespeare poem and songs I’d ever heard about the moon made complete sense. It was unlike anything I’d experienced before. it was magical.

PGN: Other than you partner, who would you call to bail you out of jail.

CA: Paula Vogel. I think she’d come get me, yeah.

PGN: Best concert?

CA: I finally saw Barbra Streisand after years of wanting to see her but never being able to afford it. And I saw Janet Jackson, I’m going to see her get inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’m super excited about that.

PGN: What’s the most fun?

CA: Karaoke! I’m a mean karaoke party thrower and singer. I throw down on Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” I love music and dancing.

PGN: One of the things that I read about your play, that we’re starting to slowly see in Hollywood, is that it’s a show, written and produced and starring people of color, but appeals to everyone because of the universal themes.

CA: Yes, it’s awesome. The audiences in Chicago were made up of all sorts of people and it was wonderful to see everyone embrace the characters that I created and love. They make mistakes and do things they probably shouldn’t, but I still root for them and it’s been great to see audiences embrace them as well. I can’t wait for the Philadelphia audiences to see them as well. n $100) and only 600 tickets will be sold for the Oct. 5-12 cruise.

Raffle tickets are on sale now at www. camprehoboth.com and will be sold throughout FEST. The winning ticket will be drawn April 14 at the Broadwalk on the Boardwalk.

You need not be present to win. n For more information and tickets, visit camprehoboth.com.

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

The

Guide to the Gayborhood

The Philadelphia Gayborhood is roughly centered at Locust and Camac streets. Look for the rainbow street signs at intersections and remember to be aware of your surroundings wherever you go.

Boxers

1330 Walnut St. facebook.com/ boxersphl Sports bar with a TVs, pool table, brick pizza oven, sports specials

Voyeur

Toasted Walnut Woody’s 1316 Walnut St. 215.546.8888 Festively lit women-owned bar complete with a “beer” pong table

1221 St. James St. 215.735.5772 voyeurnightclub.com After-hours private club; membership required

202 S. 13th St. 215.545.1893 woodysbar.com Includes attached Walnut Street bars Rosewood and GloBar

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❍ <—

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St. James St.

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AWARDS CO-HOSTED BY

SPECIAL GUEST

JENNY LEE STERN RICK WILLIAMS

SEAN GREEN JR.

Broadway’s Rocky A Christmas Story Forbidden Broadway

Hamilton, Broadway and Chicago companies

Locust St.

:

FOR TICKETS TICKETS && MORE MORE INFO: INFO WWW.INDEPENDENCEAWARDS.COM WWW.INDEPENDENCEAWARDS.COM FOR

MAY 2019 May 20th, 20, 2019 Showtime - 7pm 7pm Showtime:

11th St.

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Quince St.

Manning St.

Spruce St.

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Pa. bars close at 2 a.m. unless they have a private-club license. Please drink responsibly.

Cypress St.

Writer’s Block Rehab William Way 1342 Cypress St. 267.603.6960 A cozy, comfortable bar and lounge perfect for escaping the norm

LGBT Community Center 1315 Spruce St. 215.732.2220 waygay.org A resource for all things LGBT

1320 Chancellor St. 215-735-0735 Resaturant, dance club, live performers and entertainment

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FOR HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL THEATER

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Frankie Bradley’s 6abc Action News Anchor

Latimer St.

12th St.

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Camac St.

13th St.

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PHILADELPHIA INDEPENDENCE

206 S Quince St. 215.627.1662 Levi Leather men’s bar; pool tables, second floor sports; basement has enforced dress code

Chancellor St.

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The Bike Stop

Walnut St.

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Juniper St.

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1220 Locust St. 215.546.6660 Relaxing corner bar, easy-going crowd, popular for happy hour and window watching

Tavern on Camac

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West of Broad Street The Attic Youth 1705 Chancellor St. Center Stir Lounge

215.732.2700 stirphilly.com Fun two-bar lounge, DJ in the back, regular poker games and specials

U Bar

255 S. 16th St. 215.545.4331 atticyouthcenter.org Safe space and programs for LGBTs age 16-23 weekday afternoons and evenings

255 S. Camac St. 215.545.8731 Piano lounge with upstairs dance floor; Tavern restaurant below is open late.

Knock

225 S. 12th St. 215.925.1166 knockphilly.com Fine-dining restaurant and bar, outdoor seating, piano in back room

Tabu

254 S. 12th St. 215.964.9675 tabuphilly.com Three floors with a dance floor,, drag shows, lounge and rootop deck.

Bar X 255 S. Camac St. Bar and dancefloor

PGN

Classifieds All real-estate advertising is subject to Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), as amended. Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), as amended, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18), and handicap (disability). PGN will not knowingly accept any realestate advertising that is in violation of any applicable law.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

House Share PGN does not accept advertising that is unlawful, false, misleading, harmful, threatening, abusive, invasive of another’s privacy, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, hateful or racially or otherwise objectionable, including without limitation material of any kind or nature that encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, provincial, national or international law or regulation, or encourage the use of controlled substances.

ROOM FOR RENT BREWERYTOWN W/D, A/C, deck. $600/mo. + security. Available now. Bill, 215-763-2019. ________________________________________43-13

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CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance 877-207-0345. ________________________________________43-13 A PLACE FOR MOM The nation’s Largest senior living referral service. Contact our trusted, local experts today! Our service is FREE/no obligation. CALL 1-855-400-1032. ________________________________________43-13 MobileHelp, America’s Premier Mobile Medical Alert System. Whether You’re Home or Away. For Safety and Peace of Mind. No Long Term Contracts! Free Brochure!

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Friends Men

pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976

HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM

WM, NE Phila. If you’re looking for hot action, call 215-934-5309. No calls after 11 PM. ________________________________________43-15 BiWM, 51, 4 M, especially LEO. D&A&DF. 717-315-0876. ________________________________________43-13 WANTED TRANSGENDER FEMALE Black or white. Looking for a good time. Call 215-795-0448.

Will provide transportation. _____________________________________________43-13 Lonely single WM ISO WM to talk to in return I’ll take care of you with my mouth. Please call Walt, 856-625-9195. _____________________________________________43-15

Massage For guys who take care of their bodies, treat yourself to a relaxing massge. Deep tissue or Swedish. Discretion always honored. Call for appt., 609-203-1156. _____________________________________________43-13

SERVICES & HOME IMPROVEMENT DIRECTORY

John Wissinger Inc.

HARDWOOD FLOORS Old Floors, Sanded & Finished Floors Stained New Floors Laid Steps Scraped (215) 335-4472 (215) 887-2899 Cell: (215) 816-4472 Free Estimates

Advertise your business in our directories for only $25 per week when you run for a minimum of 8 weeks.

Getting married?

If you are celebrating an anniversary, engagement, wedding, adoption or other life event, we would be happy to help you announce it to the community.

Send your contact information and a brief description of the event to editor@epgn.com.

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com March 29-April 4, 2019

PGN