Everyone’s favorite crazy aunt is showing up in Media
Family Portrait: Alyesha Wise
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Philadelphia Black Gay Pride is ready to go with a few firsts
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April 19-25, 2013
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Vol. 37 No. 16
Sims to introduce first-ever partnership amendment
Pleas for transparency in Morris case renewed at PAC meeting
By Angela Thomas angela@epgn.com
By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com
State Rep. Brian Sims (D-182nd Dist.) plans to introduce an amendment that would allow those in domestic partnerships to apply for a rebate program after the death of a partner. Sims plans to submit Amendment 00701 to House Bill 468, also known as the Taxpayer Relief Act. The amendment would add domestic partners, both same- and oppositesex, to the list of family members qualified to apply for property tax and rent rebates on behalf of a deceased family member. Sims planned to submit the amendment earlier this month, but the legislation was dropped from consideration twice. He said he will offer it the next time it is on the table. “The bill won’t become law until the next time it is voted on and this could be days or weeks,” Sims explained. “If my amendment passes, then in the third consideration, it will hopefully be a part of the bill.” Sims said the amendment could affect countless Pennsylvanians. “This will create a pretty expansive definition of family members. This could lesson the burden on LGBT people and of all our heterosexual neighbors.” But, same-sex partners — currently excluded from the inheritance-tax exemption and other laws — are especially impacted. “Whether you recognize the sanctity of LGBT relationships or not, recognize they do exist,” Sims said. “Nowhere in Pennsylvania law do we define domestic partners. What we will have done for the first time in Pennsylvania history is include a definition of domestic partnership.” The current rebate program is designed for residents 65 and older, widows and widowers over 50 and people with disabilities over 18. It provides a rebate for homeowners and renters of between $500-$650. The income limit for homeowners is $35,000 and $15,000 for renters. ■
Pleas for transparency in the Nizah Morris case were renewed Monday at a Police Advisory Commission meeting at the William Way LGBT Community Center. Morris was a transgender woman who was found with a fatal head wound in December 2002, shortly after receiving a courtesy ride from Philadelphia police. The PAC issued an opinion earlier this month that recommends state and federal probes into her homicide, citing an inefficient local investigation. But efforts to secure the probes may be hindered, as the PAC is withholding numerous Morris investigative records from the public, citing a state
POLICE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEMBERS AT THE APRIL 15 MEETING ON THE NIZAH MORRIS REPORT Photo: Gloria Casarez
law that protects the confidentiality of open homicide cases. Advocates for Morris say the records should be released to help underscore the need for state and federal probes. “I think it’s both ironic and
tragic that a supposed matter of law that should protect an investigation is indeed inhibiting a more just and thorough investigation,” trans activist Ben Singer told PGN. After the meeting, PAC mem-
ber Chuck Volz said the commission’s Morris records would be released if a judge orders the agency to do so. “I’m all for transparency,” Volz told PGN. “If we get presented with a court order to divulge our Morris records, of course we’ll do it. I don’t see the big deal.” In May 2008, Common Pleas Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan signed an order requiring all city agencies to release their Morris investigative records to the public. The PAC has already released numerous Morris records due to the order, but it is unclear if it will release additional records. Volz recently penned an essay about the Morris case entitled “No More Sinning by Silence,” that will appear in 10,000 Pride PAGE 20 Guides.
Committee passes landmark LGBT-equality bill By Angela Thomas angela@epgn.com A committee of the Philadelphia City Council last Thursday unanimously approved a sweeping LGBT-reform bill that would include a number of firsts for both the city and the nation. After a public hearing, the Committee on Labor & Civil Service Committee backed Bill 130224, submitted last month by Councilman Jim Kenney, chair of the committee. The legislation is scheduled for a vote April 25 before the full council. It also was backed by Committeemembers Maria Quiñones-Sanchez, Mark Squilla, Bobby Henon, Cindy Bass and Brian O’Neill. The bill would implement a number of transgender-specific provisions — including the revamping of the city’s health-care plan to remove discrimination against nonunion transgender city employees. It would
the city’s nondiscrimination law would be amended to ban employment discrimination based on one’s gender presentation and mandate that public accommodations permit individuals to use a restroom in accordance with his or her gender identity. It would also require all city forms to be gender-neutral. The measure would also offer a tax-credit incentive that would urge businesses to offer an employee health plan that would treat life partners COUNCILMAN JIM KENNEY (CENTER) DURING THE and their children equal to COMMITTEE HEARING Photo: Scott A. Drake heterosexual families. This would also be the first time also instate a Transgender Health Tax Credit, which would allow companies that such a tax-credit program is offered in the offer transgender-specific health coverage a country. The bill would also clarify that life parttwo-year tax credit, the first such program in the nation. City buildings would be required ners have authority equal to heterosexual to provide gender-neutral bathrooms, and spouses in matters conPAGE 24