Family Portrait: John A. Del Rossi
I Y NY PAGE 29
FABULOUS! PAGES 19-22
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APRIL 12-18, 2013
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Vol. 37 No. 15
City agency calls for state, federal probes of Morris case
Civilian-oversight committee asks for state and federal investigations into the 2002 homicide of transwoman Nizah Morris, citing an ineffective police investigation — a sharp reversal from its earlier position. By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com Citing an “appalling” investigation by local officials, the city’s Police Advisory Commission is urging state and federal officials to investigate the killing of Nizah Morris. “The [PAC] believes that justice can only be achieved by a further review of the Nizah Morris matter by an agency other than the police,” the agency stated in a blistering opinion issued this week. The call for state and federal probes comes more than five years after an earlier PAC opinion assured the LGBT community that the police investigation into Morris’ death was “fair and proper.” “Police records were ‘lost’ for eight years,” the new opinion states. “Records were redacted or altered. Police procedures, with respect to hospital cases and intoxicated persons, were not followed. Police procedures regarding record-keeping and the logging of information were not followed. Official police business may have been conducted on private cell phones and therefore ‘off the record.’ Discrepancies in records were not followed up. Records are still missing. And the testimony is so inconsistent that we believe perjury might have been committed.” Morris was a transwoman who was inebriated outside a Center City bar and transported several blocks by police to an area where Morris supposedly said she lived. Within minutes, she was spotted by passing motorists with a fatal head injury, and her homicide remains unsolved. Officers Elizabeth Skala and Thomas Berry are the last known individuals to have seen Morris prior to her head injury. Skala gave the “courtesy ride” and told investigators it ended on Walnut Street, near 15th or 16th streets. Because the ride morphed into an “offPAGE 17 the-record” police activ-
LEADING THE WAY: Eric Paulukonis (from left), Louis Ortiz and Abdul-Aliy Abdullah Muhammad helped organize Saturday’s LEAD conference at the Science Leadership Academy. Staged by Mazzoni Center’s Ally Safe Schools program, the event brought together about 50 current and prospective high-school gay-straight alliance members, as well as parents, teachers and administrators to discuss making local schools safer for LGBT students. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Republicans to help lead nondiscrimination bills By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com LIFE, LIBERTY AND LGBT RIGHTS: Supporters of LGBT equality readied their rainbow gear for a rally Saturday outside the Liberty Bell. The effort, led by Temple University student Emily Srader (center) and her classmates, mobilized tourists and passersby to wear pro-LGBT stickers and carry equality-themed posters when getting their photo taken with Philly’s iconic bell. The photos will be amassed on the Philly Supports Liberty Facebook page and under the Twitter handle #PhillySupportsLiberty. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Report: LGBT seniors see health-care, housing challenges By Angela Thomas angela@epgn.com The Public Health Management Corporation last week released a wideranging, first-of-its-kind report on the needs of local LGBT seniors. “Health and Service Needs of LGBT Older Adults in Philadelphia,” prepared by PHMC’s Research and Evaluation Group, was released April 3 and looks at everything from health-care access to social ser-
vices, housing and other issues of concern for the LGBT older-adult population. The state-funded report is based on focus groups and interviews with 49 LGBTs 55 and older, as well as on in-depth surveys completed by more than 200 people. PHMC associate researcher Lee Carson said the agency undertook the study because there was a lack of information regarding the health and well-being of LGBT older adults, as well as about their PAGE 18 access to health-pro-
Measures to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s nondiscrimination law will soon be back before state lawmakers, this time with new bipartisan support. For the first time, the bills will be led in both the state House and Senate by two coprime sponsors — one Democrat and one Republican in each chamber Reps. Dan Frankel (D-23rd Dist.) and Chris Ross (R-158th Dist.) will lead the House bill, while Sens. Larry Farnese (DFirst Dist.) and Pat Browne (R-16th Dist.) will take the lead on the Senate bill. All four have individually introduced the measure in the past few years, but this marks the first time a Democrat and a Republican will join as co-prime sponsors. “After years of discussing this issue and having long conversations about nondiscrimination, people in both parties are realizing why this is important — not only for fairness but also for Pennsylvania to be seen as a place where employment is based on real merit, and not on PAGE 24