PGN April 29 - May 5, 2016

pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976

Vol. 40 No. 18 Apr. 29 - May 5, 2016

A poignant story of love, military service and identity comes to life on stage PAGE 23

Law project calls for HIV decriminalization

HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM

• Alvarez to join Public Health • Ambler pushes for antibias bill PAGE 2

PAGE 29

Few surprises in Pennsylvania primary

By Paige Cooperstein paige@epgn.com

By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com Julie A. Graham, an HIV-positive Pennsylvania nurse, knows firsthand the devastating effects of HIV criminalization. In 2014, Graham was charged with two felonies and two misdemeanors for allegedly having sex with her boyfriend without disclosing her serostatus.

Graham recently completed a diversionary program and seeks to have her criminal record expunged. But the ordeal has taken its toll.

“The harassment I endured was extremely traumatizing,” Graham told PGN. “The charges also jeopardized my career. I had to pay $25,000 in fees to attorneys and Lebanon County. I also lost about $50,000 in wages and benefits. So obviously I’m a big supporter of HIV decriminalization.”

The AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, which provided assistance to Graham, recently issued a position paper calling for HIV decriminalization.

PAGE 17 To law-project staffers,

Family Portrait: Deborah Johnson is proud of Black Pride

WAITING FOR A WIN: Openly gay state Rep. Brian Sims mixed and mingled with constituents and supporters Jazz Gray-Sadler (left) and Jules Spencer at an Election Night watch party at Tavern on Camac Tuesday.

Sims won the Democratic nomination for re-election to the 182nd state House seat after facing three Democratic challengers in the primary election. Second-place finisher Ben Waxman called Sims shortly after the representative arrived at the watch party to concede. Democratic voters also backed the nominations of Hillary Clinton for president and Katie McGinty for U.S. Senate. Photo: Scott A. Drake

In a rematch for the Democratic nomination to represent an area of Northeast Philadelphia in the state House, Jared Solomon edged out incumbent Mark Cohen for victory with about 1,200 more votes. Solomon first challenged Cohen in 2014.

Cohen’s sister is a lesbian and he has been a strong supporter of LGBT rights. Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club and Equality Pennsylvania have both endorsed him.

Solomon, as a legislative assistant for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, has advised on policy for a number of things including LGBT rights, according to his LinkedIn page.

Besides this upset, the rest of the election went as expected.

Hillary Clinton bested Bernie Sanders by nearly 198,000 votes in Pennsylvania on the Democratic side for president.

Her margin of victory was even wider in Philadelphia.

Clinton has been endorsed by all the major LGBT-rights groups locally and nationally. Sanders is also a strong LGBT supporter.

On the Republican side, Donald Trump took Pennsylvania with almost 57 percent of the vote and looks likely to earn his party’s nomination for president. Despite saying he thinks marriage is between a man and a woman, he took a more tempered approach to transgender issues, saying at PAGE 17 a town hall this month that transgender

Trans student policies taking shape across Pennsylvania

By Paige Cooperstein paige@epgn.com

BRUNCH BUNCH: The courtyard at John C. Anderson Apartments was crowded last Saturday with about 150 revelers, who turned out for the third-annual I’m From Driftwood spring brunch. The event netted about $10,000 for the organization, which documents LGBT stories around the country. Donor pledges, which came to more than $3,500, will fund seven video stories to be filmed in Philly. “This year we not only raised more money than in previous years, we also consumed more alcohol too, a lot more!” said IFD board member Marquise Lee. With live jazz in the background, guests noshed on brunch items and polished off a total 48 bottles of champagne, 24 bottles of wine, 12 bottles of New Liberty Distillery vodka and a halfkeg of Yard’s Philadelphia Pale Ale. Photo: Scott A. Drake

Middle- and high-school teachers were dressed for Halloween on the October day that a representative from The Attic Youth Center visited the Springfield Township School District in Montgomery County to train them on supporting their transgender and gender-nonconforming students.

Six months later, Springfield schools were among the first in the state to pass a policy outlining privacy rights for trans students, the handling of academic records, proper incorporation into sex-segregated programs like athletics, restroom and locker-room access and general harassment and discrimination protections. The vote was unanimous.

“It’s more than simply symbolic,” Superintendent Dr. Nancy Hacker told PGN. “We had an

increasing number of trans students coming to us to support them and make some accommodations to help them. By more than a 2-to-1 margin of people I heard from in the district, they were overwhelmingly in support of the policy.”

Trans policy trend Just a day apart last week, two suburban Philadelphia school districts adopted policies for their trans students. Great Valley School District in Chester County passed its policy April 18, followed by Springfield April 19.

More are expected, especially in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Lower Merion School District introduced its trans student policy and has a vote scheduled May 16. The School District of Philadelphia has a draft policy working its way through admin-

istration that’s expected to reach the School Reform Commission over the summer, said Rachel Holzman, deputy chief of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities.

The Pittsburgh Public School Board also plans to introduce a trans student policy at its meeting next month.

“They’re happening with more frequency,” said Jason Landau Goodman, founding executive director of the Pennsylvania Youth Congress, whose organization has helped advocate for trans-affirming student policies for the last two years.

“We do certainly want to see this work taking off across the state,” he said. “We have 500 school districts and we have a huge student population. Trans students need their rights and opportunities codified into policies.”

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Ambler pursues LGBT-inclusive antibias bill

By Paige Cooperstein paige@epgn.com A Montgomery County borough introduced an ordinance last week that would establish a human-relations commission that recognizes 13 protected classes, including sexual orientation and gender identity.

Ambler Borough Council will vote on the ordinance at its May 17 meeting.

A council member and a few residents brought up the desire to create a local human-relations commission to protect people from discrimination in employment, housing, commercial property and public accommodation, said Borough Manager Mary Aversa.

“It was not brought up because of a problem,” she said. “We just wanted to be proactive.”

Aversa said Ambler is looking for five people to form part of the oversight committee that would handle discrimination claims brought to the human-relations commission. Each appointee, either a resident or business owner in the borough, would serve a three-year term on a volunteer basis, according to the ordinance draft.

The proposed ordinance says one committeeperson will receive the complaint and conduct an intake meeting. That person will not participate in further mediation. Instead, the remaining four members will vote on complaints brought to the commission.

Aversa said once borough council votes on the human-relations commission ordinance, the next step would be to pass a resolution calling on the state to enact the Pennsylvania Fairness Act, which would extend state-level protections against discrimination to LGBT people.

“An ordinance doesn’t have a ton of teeth when the state doesn’t have language to back it up,” Aversa said. n

Trans activist Deja Lynn Alvarez to join Public Health

By Paige Cooperstein paige@epgn.com The Philadelphia Department of Public Health has created new positions to help LGBT people link up with health services.

Trans activist Deja Lynn Alvarez has been hired to fill a role as assistant prevention navigator, starting May 2.

It’s part of the MSM of Color Demonstration, a four-year project funded by the grant that Public Health received in September from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help men of color with HIV. Alvarez is one of eight people hired as an assistant prevention navigator reporting to a prevention navigator.

“Given the high rates of HIV among [men who have sex with men] of color, we are excited with the hiring of navigation staff to begin this project,” said Jeff Moran, spokesman for Public Health. “We

hope to continue to make an impact on the HIV epidemic in Philadelphia.”

“The idea is about preventative services and remodeling what prevention looks like,” Alvarez said. “Prevention is not just about giving out condoms anymore. It’s someone’s whole well-being.”

Alvarez will continue as director of Divine Light LGBTQ Wellness Center, for which she currently does not take a paycheck due to limited funding. She said staff would help her keep the center on track.

She also works with the Trans-Health Information Project at GALAEI: A Queer Latin@ Social Justice Organization.

Alvarez’s position with Public Health

will be full-time. She will maintain an office at the Municipal Services Building, 1401 John F. Kennedy Blvd. She said she’d meet with LGBT people, both remotely and in the office, and find out what their previous barriers to care have been before helping them set up appointments with providers or access other services.

“It’s kind of like what I’m already doing but just in an official capacity,” she said, noting the first thing she does with new residents at the Divine Light shelter is to assess their health needs.

Alvarez said she previously relied on contacts within city departments to help her navigate the system, but now she can work more efficiently as a representative of a city department.

“There won’t be a whole lot of waiting anymore,” she said. “It’s going to allow me to connect more people to resources.” n

40 years ago in PGN Ad campaign continues focus on Revolutionary women Adapted from reporting by Denise Keiller A Philadelphia savings and loan association debuted in the spring of 1976 its third ad featuring a Revolutionary woman.

Commissioned by Olney Federal Savings and Loan Association in celebration of the nation’s Bicentennial, the ad highlighted Mercy Otis Warren. She was a Revolutionary propagandist who ridiculed the British with satirical poems and plays.

“While Molly Pitcher was firing cannons at the British, Mercy Warren was firing words,” the ad said.

Ad agency Narcisso-Volz worked with a $100,000 budget to research and write the ads, which ran in community newspapers starting on July 4, 1975.

In total, the campaign featured six women: Deborah Sampson, who enlisted

in the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment under the name Robert Shurtleff; Margaret Dreier Robins, who battled for women’s rights in the labor movement of the 1900s; Warren; Margaret Cochran Corbin, who was wounded in the Battle of Fort Washington; Jane McCrea, whose slaying by Native American allies of the British inspired colonists at the Battle of Saratoga; and Lydia Barrington Darragh, a nurse who conveyed British battle information to George Washington.

U.S. poised to deport immigrants who persecuted gays under Nazis Adapted from reporting by PGN staff At the urging of the Gay Activists Alliance, a U.S. representative from Brooklyn agreed to add persecution based on sexual orientation to a bill she authored proposing the deportation of immigrants found to have persecuted oth-

ers during the Nazi period.

U.S. Rep. Elizabeth R. Holtzman, a Democrat, authored the bill that called for deportation of immigrants who had persecuted people because of race, religion, national origin or sexual orientation.

Holtzman responded to a January 1976 letter from Gay Activists Alliance President David Thorstad by saying she would add persecution based on sexual orientation as a basis for action by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

“It is now becoming increasingly understood that homosexuals were among the most persecuted of all groups under the Nazis,” Thorstad wrote in the letter. “As early as 1933, thousands were rounded up and herded into concentration camps.

Indeed, the ‘final solution’ to the Jews was first carried out against homosexuals.” n — compiled by Paige Cooperstein

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Weekly features

News&Opinion 8 — News Briefing 10 — Creep of the Week Editorial 11 — Mark My Words

Street Talk Transmissions 12 — Crime Watch

Creep of the Week: Tom Casperson thinks Michigan should make it illegal to use a locker or restroom that doesn’t match your birth gender.

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Classifieds 36 — Real Estate 38 — Personals 39 — Bulletin Board

CHECKMARK: Ann Archy Artist (aka Stephen Quick, from right) presented a donation check from Philadelphia AIDS Thrift to AIDS Fund executive director Robb Reichard during the organization’s GayBINGO! event Saturday at Gershman Y. With the check, PAT has now contributed more than $1.5 million to AIDS Fund. GayBINGO! was themed “Beauty School Dropout,” with Bingo-Verifying Divas and guests alike donning “Grease”-style attire. There are just two GayBINGO! events left in its 20th-anniversary season: “My Big Fat Gay Wedding” May 21 and an anniversary-themed celebration June 11. Photo: Scott A. Drake

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“People are more likely to want to stay in a place where they can live in peace and harmony. That leads to growth in the city.” ~ Councilman Mark Squilla, on the Independence Business Alliance and recruiting businesses from North Carolina, page 6 Naked magic? This is not an optical illusion.

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Jen Colletta, Scott A. Drake, Sean Dorn SOUTH FOR THE SPRING: It was a Monday Funday for about 50 LGBTs and allies this week at Jet Wine Bar. LGBTs and allies who live in and around the Graduate Hospital area turned out for the South of South LGBTQ Happy Hour, organized by South of South Neighborhood Association. This was the second in SOSNA’s new happy-hour series, which will bring together different community groups in the neighborhood every other month. Photo: Scott A. Drake

Prosecutors defend death sentence for killer of gay man

By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com In a recent legal pleading, Bucks County prosecutors vigorously defended the death sentence imposed on Richard R. Laird, who murdered gay artist Anthony V. Milano almost 30 years ago.

In 1987, Laird and Frank R. Chester kidnapped Milano to a wooded area in Bucks County and hacked out his throat with a box cutter. The case became a cause celebre because both men allegedly targeted Milano due to his sexual orientation.

In 1988, Chester and Laird were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. But federal judges overturned their first-degree murder convictions on the basis that they received unfair trials.

Laird was retried and reconvicted of first-degree murder in 2007 and remains on death row. But Laird wants a federal judge to pave the way for a third trial, claiming his 2007 retrial was unfair.

Last month, Chester was removed from death row after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and agreeing to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Prosecutors refuse to consider a similar deal for Laird, noting he wielded the box cutter that hacked out Milano’s throat.

In court papers, Laird claims he wasn’t capable of forming a specific intent to kill Milano due to excessive alcohol consumption, brain damage and mental disorders.

In a 146-page reply brief, prosecutors insist Laird was cogent enough to form a specific intent to kill Milano.

Laird claims childhood sexual abuse at the hands of his father contributed to his homophobia — culminating in Milano’s murder, when Laird was 24.

But prosecutors note that jurors heard about Laird’s alleged childhood abuse, yet still rendered a death-sentence verdict. They also refute Laird’s claim that jurors were unfairly denied expert testimony about the effects of father-son sex abuse. “[C]ounsel presented numerous witnesses and thoroughly explored [Laird’s] life history and mental health, in an effort to humanize him to the jury,” the prosecution’s brief states. “[Laird’s] claim that jurors would have weighed the evidence differently had trial counsel elicited another anecdote or two regarding his life — or heard from yet another expert why [Laird] murdered Anthony Milano — is little more than self-serving conjecture.”

The prosecution’s brief, filed April 19, also emphasizes that Laird’s 2007 trial didn’t suffer any constitutional defects.

“The jury’s verdict in this case was not a reflection on any alleged failings of counsel or the court,” the brief states. “[Laird] deserved the death sentence for this heinous and gruesome crime.”

In addition to claiming ineffective counsel, Laird also claims improper victim-impact information, improper jury instructions by the trial judge, excessive pre-trial publicity, lack of sentencing options for jurors and prosecutorial misconduct.

The prosecution’s brief refutes those claims, stating: “[T]he trial court, the prosecution and [Laird’s] counsel proceeded thoughtfully, carefully and diligently to ensure that [Laird’s] retrial was fair and comported with constitutional mandates.”

Laird, 52, remains on death row pending the outcome of his request for a new trial.

As of presstime, the matter remained pending before U.S. District Judge Jan E. DuBois. n

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Two years after the Eighth Ward Democratic Committee urged the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office to refer the Nizah Morris case to the state Attorney General’s Office for review, neither agency has replied, according to committee members.

The Eighth Ward is a political subdivision — largely in Center City west of Broad — that serves as a conduit to party leadership. It’s also a source of information during campaigns and elections.

In 2002, Morris was found by passers-by in the Eighth Ward with a fatal head wound, shortly after a “courtesy ride” from Philadelphia police. Her homicide remains unsolved.

About 30 Eighth Ward committeepeople voted unanimously in March 2014 to support a state probe of Morris’ death. In May of that year, on behalf of the Eighth Ward, state Sen. Lawrence M. Farnese Jr. (D-First Dist.) sent a letter to D.A. Seth Williams and Attorney General Kathleen Kane, urging a state probe of the Morris case.

Farnese’s letter requested that Williams refer the Morris case to Kane, and that Kane accept the referral. But so far, neither agency has replied to Farnese’s letter.

“We are currently reviewing our correspondence records to determine what occurred regarding this letter,” said Jeffrey A. Johnson, a Kane spokesperson. “If we conclude that further action is necessary, we will take that step.”

Johnson said the A.G.’s Office in 2013 determined there wasn’t a need to become involved in the Morris case.

“It was determined that no conflict existed that would have required a referral of the case to our office,” Johnson said in an email. “Speaking generally, many of the [A.G.] office’s investigations are

neys throughout the commonwealth. We review each referral thoroughly as we decide the appropriate course of action.”

A spokesperson for Williams had no comment for this story.

Charles P. Goodwin, an Eighth Ward committeeperson, questioned whether it’s usual for a state senator’s letter to go unanswered.

“Are letters from state senators often neglected?” he posed.

Farnese’s letter encouraged cooperation between Williams and Kane.

“We urge the commonwealth to conduct a fair, thorough and outside investigation into the death of Nizah Morris,” the letter stated. “We urge D.A. Williams to request that investigation and to give his full support and cooperation to it.”

Farnese’s letter didn’t suggest that local officials engaged in any wrongdoing in the Morris case.

“We have full confidence in the police and District Attorney’s Office,” the letter noted. “Our confidence, however, is not shared by all. The concern of our fellow citizens, many in the LGBT community, prompts us to request further investigation.”

Other groups calling for a state probe of the Morris case include Jewish Social Policy Action Network, Mazzoni Center, Police Advisory Commission, American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Human Rights Campaign, GALAEI: A Latin@ Social Justice Organization, William Way LGBT Community Center, National Center for Transgender Equality, Philadelphia FIGHT, National LGBTQ Task Force, GLAAD, Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia, Equality Pennsylvania, Keystone Progress, LGBT Elder Initiative, Pennsylvania Youth Congress, PFLAG and National Organization for Women, state and local chapters. n

Philly has reached out to companies in North Carolina, Mississippi

By Paige Cooperstein paige@epgn.com The Philadelphia Commerce Department has reached out to PayPal inviting the online payment platform to the city, according to City Councilman Mark Squilla, who sponsored a resolution this month encouraging that company and other LGBTsupportive businesses to move to Philadelphia.

“I don’t know if that will correlate to them moving here,” Squilla told PGN. “We just thought, seeing what North Carolina had done and feeling we believe that’s a discriminatory act, we’d like to encourage companies to be aligned with a place that is more inclusive.”

Squilla said cities that promote inclusion tend to enjoy strong economies.

“Look at the LGBT chamber

of commerce here, which is a huge draw to our region,” he said in reference to the Independence Business Alliance. “It’s a major boost to our economy. People are more likely to want to stay in a place where they can live in peace and harmony. That leads to growth in the city.”

North Carolina held a special legislative session in March to pass a bill that prohibits municipalities from passing LGBTinclusive nondiscrimination ordinances and requires people to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender on their birth certificates. It also prohibits anyone from suing in state court for a discrimination claim.

In the wake of the law, PayPal withdrew its plan to open a global operations center in Charlotte.

The move would’ve brought 400 new jobs to the city, but PayPal said it would instead look outside

North Carolina for the expansion.

The office of Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney confirmed that the Commerce Department “has engaged with a number of companies in North Carolina and Mississippi that are considering relocating as a result of the legislation recently passed.”

The Mississippi law allows people to cite religious beliefs as a legal reason to fire gay or transgender people or deny them services.

The mayor’s office said discussions are in early stages with companies the city has engaged with.

“We cannot comment on specific companies or organizations in order to respect the confidentiality of the businesses and potential negotiations,” the mayor’s office wrote in an email to PGN. n

LOCAL PGN

Philly woman to help homeless across country

By Paige Cooperstein paige@epgn.com When Lolly Galvin sold her clothing boutiques last year, she set out to raise $500 to perform random acts of kindness around Philadelphia. She ended up meeting a homeless man along Broad Street and asked him if he would like to get lunch with her.

“He said sure and packed up all his stuff right away,” Galvin said.

“He did bring up a lot of issues with how hard it is. You can’t just walk into a place without an address and get a job.”

Since the beginning of the year, Galvin has been working on what she calls the Dignity Project. It’s now a nonprofit that focuses on assembling brown paper bags filled with necessities for homeless people: razors, nail clippers, hand warmers in the winter, socks,

toothpaste and toothbrushes, lotion, shampoo, cotton swabs, bandages and tampons.

She’s close to the $10,000 fundraising goal she set to take a Dignity Tour to 12 cities, starting in May. In addition to Philadelphia, the tour would visit Washington, D.C.; New Orleans; Austin; New York City; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Seattle; Portland; Billings, Mont.; Detroit and Flint, Mich.

To donate, visit www.gofundme. com/payitforwardlive. People can also drop off donated items to The Unforgotten Haven, 1451 New Jersey 38, Hainesport Township.

Galvin has spent time meeting LGBT homeless people. Often they’re young, she said. Galvin recalled one 19-year-old whose parents kicked her out when they found out she had a girlfriend.

“When your entire family says they’d rather see you on the streets

SCHOOLS from page 1

Official business

The Pennsylvania Youth Congress has reached out to the Pennsylvania School Board Association and state Department of Education for further support.

The school board association said it would continue monitoring the situation, but did not commit to a model policy for trans students. Many districts directly adopt model policies published by the association, which is why its support would be crucial, Landau Goodman said.

Officials from the state Department of Education are expected to meet with the Pennsylvania Youth Congress in the coming weeks. Landau Goodman said he’d like state education officials to establish guidance for how school districts should respond to the needs of their trans students. Two years ago, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance that trans students are protected from discrimination under Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs and services. Landau Goodman said it would also be helpful for Pennsylvania education officials to provide resources and a model policy for school districts that are interested.

The Pennsylvania Youth Congress has been working on an in-house model policy and Landau Goodman travels to districts across the state to talk about trans policies. His organization can be reached at 717-743-1035 or info@payouthcongress.org.

“Whether school boards are ready or not for a codified policy is one thing,” he said. “But school administrators are recognizing their duty to make sure all students have equal access to education.”

From practice to policy Even without policies in place, many districts are already supporting their trans students in practice.

Holzman of Philadelphia schools said administrators and teachers work with students as they make them aware of new names and pronouns. A lawyer for the district, Holzman has guided officials on compliance with Title IX, including its applications

than have contact with you, emotionally I’m sure the toll is much different,” Galvin said of homeless LGBT people.

In Philadelphia, 40 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBT, according to Valley Youth House, an Allentown-based nonprofit that helps young people with stable housing and life skills.

“I hear a lot about the statistics, but actually seeing the people makes a difference,” Galvin said.

“People are very open to sharing.”

She added sometimes people ask her why she doesn’t typically take donations to homeless shelters. Galvin said shelters often have a problem with overcrowding, so she wanted to take her volunteering to the streets and help people on a one-on-one basis.

With LGBT people, they may not feel comfortable coming out in a homeless shelter, she said. n

for trans students. About a year ago, Holzman said conversations about a policy began with trans students, their parents and community stakeholders like The Attic Youth Center.

“It was absolutely time to codify that,” she said.

“We certainly are aware of our transgender students.

There are many more who may feel more comfortable coming out knowing there’s a policy in place that outlines their rights.”

Hacker from Springfield remembered one student who began identifying as female midway through high school. Students and teachers quickly adapted to her new name and pronoun. The only hiccup came at last year’s graduation day. The student’s parents wanted her old name on the diploma, while the student wanted her new name.

“We issued two diplomas,” Hacker said, “one to the student in her name, one to her parents in the original name. They were both very happy with that.”

Hacker said, going forward, staff can have Springfield’s policy in mind as a baseline while they continue training on trans and gender-nonconforming issues.

Kelly Kroehle, director of The Bryson Institute at The Attic Youth Center, performed the Springfield training in October. She said the teachers had a “collective commitment to be teachable.”

She added the school showed due diligence in the language included in the policy. Hacker asked Kroehle if “gender-nonconforming” represented a negative concept. Kroehle posted the question on her Facebook page and sent 10 reflections from transgender people back to Hacker.

“If we’re going to bring these words into policy, we’re going to have to do it thoughtfully,” Kroehle said. “We never want to teach a static identity.”

Since the Springfield policy has passed, Hacker said she’s begun meeting with teachers and administrators about how it will impact their work.

“When you have a staff, not everybody thinks the same way,” she said. “But what we’re saying is when you work here, this is who we are as a school district. Between the hours of eight and four, this is how you treat people.” n

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A “hugely entertaining production” – Opera News

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ICandy clarifies dress code Timberland boots are “absolutely permitted” at ICandy, general manager Jeff Sheehan told PGN. He said a miscommunication between management and a member of the door staff led some patrons to believe the boots were against the nightclub’s dress code.

The staff has been informed that the boots are allowed, Sheehan said.

“As we enter our busy spring and summer season, we’re re-emphasizing the existing dress code,” he wrote in an email to PGN. “… No changes to the substance of the original dress code have been made.”

Sheehan noted the dress code is clean, neat and casual. Prohibitions include no sweatpants after dark, no dirty or worn work boots and no “wife beater”-style tank tops.

“There are no brand-specific bans at all,” Sheehan wrote, noting Timberland boots are allowed as long as they are clean and neat.

ac a d e m y o f m u s i c

Five first-time drag kings will perform for the title of Mr. Philadelphia Drag King at the 21st-annual competition May 7. The show starts at 7 p.m. at William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St. The winner gets $200 and performs on a float at the Pride parade in June.

“This year we really wanted to focus on making sure it’s an amateur competition to take it back to the roots of the Dyke March,” said Tiffany Thompson, planning committee co-chair.

The competition is the biggest fundraiser for the Philadelphia Dyke March, an annual collection of queer women from the region.

This year’s event takes place at 3 p.m. June 11 at Kahn Park, 11th and Pine streets.

Tickets for the drag show cost $20 for VIP reserved seats or $10 for general admission in advance. They are $15 at the door. The money supports the fees associated with renting Kahn Park. It also helps cover the cost of audio-visual equipment and the stage at the march.

Competitors in Mr. Philadelphia Drag King perform in three categories: the introduction of their personas, lip-synching a song and formal wear with a question-and-answer session.

“It really brings out the genderqueer and dyke communities to have an event that’s by and for them,” Thompson said.

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Between each contender’s performance, previous winners of Mr. Philadelphia Drag King will take the stage, including Rough RydeHer, Rasta Boi Punany, Manny Tucker Lovett and Jimmy Two Fingas.

For tickets, visit bit.ly/mrpdk21.

Lesbian’s case against Cosby to move forward The Pennsylvania Superior Court denied the appeals of comedy icon Bill Cosby April 25, allowing the case against him, stemming from allegations of sexual assault of a lesbian, to proceed.

“We did not believe that the defense had a right to appeal at this stage and we are gratified that the court came to the same conclusion,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said in a statement. “We can now hold a preliminary hearing.”

The preliminary hearing, set for May 24, will determine if there is enough evidence to take the case to trial.

Cosby was scheduled to appear in court March 8, but the proceeding was delayed while his defense filed appeals after a twoday special hearing in February led a judge to rule that an oral agreement from 2005 not to prosecute Cosby did not hold up.

Cosby, 78, is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a lesbian former employee of Temple University, at his Cheltenham Township home in 2004.

Steele charged Cosby in December, just days before the 12-year statute of limitations on the incident was set to expire. He based his decision in part on Cosby’s deposition from Constand’s civil case against the comedian. The deposition was unsealed over the summer.

Cosby is free after posting 10 percent of his $1 million bail. Constand now lives in Toronto, Canada, near where she grew up.

— Paige Cooperstein

Gay inmate claims retaliation Kenneth J. Houck Jr., an openly gay federal inmate, says prison officials are retaliating against him for filing a personal-injury lawsuit by placing him in solitary confinement.

In 2011, Houck’s leg was fractured in multiple places due to an assault by other inmates at the federal center in Philadelphia. He’s seeking $1.8 million in damages.

In a recent letter, Houck said he’s in solitary confinement at the federal prison in Marion, Ill., which limits his access to the facility’s law library. As a result, he’s having difficulty litigating his case.

A prison spokesperson declined to comment for this story.

As of presstime, Houck’s lawsuit remained pending with U.S Magistrate Judge Kathleen M. Tafoya.

In 2011, Houck, 40, pleaded guilty to

one count of transporting child pornography. His scheduled release date is June 11, 2018.

Court date set in sex case Charles L. Cohen, a Center City musician charged with multiple sex offenses, is scheduled for a June court appearance.

Cohen was arrested Sept. 28 after traveling to a shopping complex in Upper Providence Township, where he allegedly intended to meet a 14-year-old boy for oral sex. Upon his arrival, Cohen was arrested by law-enforcement authorities engaged in a sting operation.

Cohen, 70, is charged with unlawful contact with a minor, criminal attempt of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child and criminal use of a communication facility. He posted $100,000 cash bail on Oct. 28, and he’s been free since then.

Cohen is scheduled to appear before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Gail A. Weilheimer at 9 a.m. June 15 in Courtroom 3 of the Montgomery County Court House in Norristown. “[Cohen] has the option of pleading guilty that day or having it scheduled for trial,” said prosecutor Sophia G. Polites.

Scott A. Harper, an attorney for Cohen, blasted his client’s arrest and prosecution.

“It’s terrible that the police had to entrap my client and take advantage of a weak senior citizen that was having issues with his Parkinson’s medications,” Harper told PGN. “There are many ways to con seniors by using the Internet to lure them into a trap and the police managed to do just that.

They are the ones that should be ashamed of their conduct. Tricking and conning seniors inflicted with the complications of Parkinson’s Disease and the medications that go along with it is despicable and shocks the conscious of a reasonable and rational observer.”

Alleged killer of trans woman awaits competency evaluation Charles N. Sargent continues to await a mental-competency evaluation prior to standing trial for the brutal murder of local transgender woman Diamond Williams.

Sargent allegedly stabbed to death Williams in July 2013, after a sexual encounter in Sargent’s Strawberry Mansion home. Then, Sargent allegedly dismembered Williams’ body with an ax and deposited her body parts in a nearby vacant lot.

According to court records, Sargent retains permission to serve as his own attorney, pending the outcome of a competency evaluation. His multiple requests to be released from jail remain pending.

The next hearing for Sargent is scheduled for 10 a.m. May 19 in Courtroom 807 of the Criminal Justice Center, 1315 Filbert St. Sargent, 46, remains incarcerated at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Northeast Philadelphia. n — Timothy Cwiek

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

9

10

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

EDITORIAL PGN

Creep of the Week

D’Anne Witkowski

Tom Casperson

Editorial

Trans-parency The Pennsylvania primary is finally behind us. Whether your candidates won or lost, we can likely all agree that we can use a respite from the barrage of televised election commercials, fliers and social-media postings. Until the fall!

In that time, there are a number of issues the community can turn its attention to, namely the ongoing fight to restrict the rights of transgender citizens.

Our neighbors to the South continue to be burdened with having to fend off the impacts of ignorance. LGBTs and allies facing so-called “religious-freedom” or “bathroom” bills are tasked with educating the public about equal access, which should be a basic tenet of our society.

Locally, Philadelphia has come out strong against such trends and, as of yet, the state legislature has not made any moves to restrict LGBT access. State lawmakers have, however, advanced a measure that would limit access to information regarding 911 calls.

With HB 1310, which the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee approved earlier this spring, “identifying information” about 911 callers could not be released to the public. The bill includes such information as the caller’s name, phone number and location.

On its face, the measure may seem to protect victims’ rights — but that is an erroneous assumption. Names, addresses and more are routinely broadcast across police blotters, rendering that portion of the bill relatively useless.

However, HB 1310 is more than superfluous. It would restrict the public’s right to access information such as police time-response logs — a tool to hold emergency responders accountable. It is imperative that emergency response times are not only tracked but transparent; the public has a right to know if there are discrepancies and opportunities for improvement.

This is an issue with particular relevance for PGN and the LGBT community. For nearly 14 years, we have sought transparency in the homicide investigation of Nizah Morris, a local trans woman who was killed shortly after receiving a police courtesy ride. Police-response logs have been integral to this case, as they can provide verifiable information about officers’ locations and assignments. We continue to push for open access to information in this case and others; efforts that would be stymied by HB 1310.

We urge the LGBT community to contact your state lawmakers and urge them to vote no on HB 1310. n

We want to know!

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.

sent, and that they Recently a friend of a friend posted a link on Facebook to an article in The should be barred Advocate about a woman being kicked from using bathout of a women’s restroom at Fishbone’s rooms that don’t restaurant in Detroit because she looked match their birth like a man. She wasn’t a man. She was certificate.” a cisgender woman with short hair who Making trans apparently liked comfy clothes. A security students use staff guard allegedly assaulted her, throwing her restrooms (or even out onto the street. a bathroom of their The person who posted it made a comvery own!) might ment somewhere along the lines of, “Is seem like no biganyone surprised to see this happening gie. But the key here is “only with parennow?” She was referring to the rabid antital consent.” For some trans students, trans climate nationwide spurred on by the school is their safe space. Some aren’t out so-called bathroom bills that are seeking to to their parents or have parents who don’t keep trans men and women out of public accept their identity. All that aside, howrestrooms. These bills stoke the fears of ever, it is blatantly discriminatory to make people who don’t understand what transtrans students use segregated restrooms. gender means and/or think being trans is Casperson was pretty clear about what some kind of perverted sin against God. he thinks of trans students. “Maybe, Following the link to there’s something there State Sen. Tom the article, I noticed it that’s just not normal,” was from June 2015 and Casperson (R) is one he told the Free Press.

“And normal’s not the felt compelled to point of those people with right word. Maybe out the date. I thought something there it important that this visions of sexual devi- there’s that’s just not right, event occurred nearly a year ago, when antiants dancing through where we’re mixing these kids together.” trans bathroom polichis head. He thinks I’d be very curious to ing wasn’t quite at the know who Casperson hysterical point it is Michigan should thinks “these kids” are today. The incident at make it illegal to use and if he’s ever met Fishbone’s is, I pointed out, a harbinger of a locker or rest room and spoken with a trans student. Then again, what’s to come. that doesn’t match Because an antiit’s hard to imagine that LGBTQ law like the Casperson would be your birth gender. ones passed in states interested in such an like North Carolina and audience considering he Mississippi could be coming to Michigan. has already dismissed them as people.

Being debated right now in Michigan is State Board of Education President John Austin told the Free Press that the a draft by the State Board of Education on guidance for creating “Safe and Supportive “guidelines were prompted in part to Learning Environments for Lesbian, Gay, make sure Michigan schools comply with Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning federal civil-rights law.” In other words, these guidelines didn’t just come out of (LGBTQ) Students.”

My first thought when I heard about this: nowhere, demanded by a cabal of powerIt’s about time. ful transplants (see what I did there?) on Unfortunately, the first thought a lot of the board. States who pass discriminatory other people had was of boys putting on laws face the possibility of billions of dollars in federal funding being cut. Because dresses so they could use the girls’ locker federal civil-rights law is not messing room to look at titties. This is not only around. ridiculous, but it’s insulting to the trans or Casperson doesn’t care. Better to gender-fluid students who face the posaddress the false problem of trans predasibility of harassment and even violence tors in toilet stalls than the very real probevery time they have to pee or change for lems of trans students’ high rates of being gym.

State Sen. Tom Casperson (R) is one of bullied and of depression and suicide. those people with visions of sexual deviCasperson would likely argue that they ants dancing through his head. He thinks brought it on themselves by choosing not Michigan should make it illegal to use a to be “normal.” n locker or restroom that doesn’t match your D’Anne Witkowski has been gay for pay since birth gender. Which is totally stupid.

2003. She’s a freelance writer and poet (believe According to the Detroit Free Press, it!). When she’s not taking on the creeps of “Casperson said transgender students the world, she reviews rock and roll shows in should be able to use staff facilities or their Detroit with her twin sister and teaches writing at the University of Michigan. own bathrooms only with parental con-

OP-ED PGN

Historic honors Before I get to the meat of what this Washington, D.C., in June to pick up the column is about, I’d like to offer an award. The first was an investigative award opportunity to anyone who’d like to go to for Tim Cwiek’s almost-14-year odyssey to the Democratic National Convention in find the truth behind the homicide of Nizah Philadelphia this July. But it comes with Morris, a category we shared with the Wall strings, a lot of fun and a little work. Oh, Street Journal. Last year was for a sports and you have to change your photo by Scott Drake — yes, name … and do it in the next an LGBT newspaper won best 90 days. sports photo from a mainstream Fun fact of the day: It journalist association. This latseems when voters went into est award for Scott, Jen Colletta their voting machines in one and Sean Dorn makes clear that, Congressional district to even on deadline, the staff at vote for their delegates to the PGN will get the news to you DNC, they discovered among fast and accurately. Like many the list “Removed by Court of you, on June 26, the day the Order.” Well “Removed by SCOTUS ruling came down, Court Order” won a delegate we were in a haze of joy, but we spot. So, if you live in the First also had a responsibility to you, Congressional District, change our readers, to work now and your name and claim that that celebrate later.

This award comes as we celvictory is yours. It’s likely there’s no one else in the entire Mark Segal ebrate our 40th anniversary and look at PGN’s place in history, world named “Removed by how we help to change the Court Order” …

Now to what for me is the real news of world just a little. Forty years ago, our very the week and a very prideful moment. name was controversial; putting “gay” on Last week, this newspaper was informed the front page was unheard of. Other pubthat, for the third year in a row, we have lications around the country were titled won a Society of Professional Journalists The Advocate, The Blade, B.A.R., but we Sigma Delta Chi Award. This time it was proudly put who we were right there on for our staff’s coverage of last year’s that front page.

Supreme Court ruling on marriage equal On a personal note, I’m the luckiest man ity. The award is given for deadline reportalive since I get to work with the most committed professionals in the news busiing of a major story: how the staff covered ness every day. n the issue, how that coverage affected readers — essentially, that the publication gets Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s the basic of reporting and does so well, and most-award-winning commentator in LGBT on a deadline. media. You can follow him on Facebook at For the third year running, PGN will www.facebook.com/MarkSegalPGN or Twitter head to The National Press Club in at https://twitter.com/PhilaGayNews.

Mark My Words

Transmissions

Gwendolyn Ann Smith

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

11

Street Talk Will you avoid traveling to North Carolina due to its new anti-LGBT law?

"Yes. I'd consciously avoid giving them any commerce, to the extent that's possible.

It's totally outrageous Molly Braverman what the theater manager lawmakers Bella Vista did. If we can't appeal to their better instincts, we can influence them with our dollars."

"Yes, I'm very supportive of the LGBT movement.

My mother is a lesbian.

I think it's awful what happened in North Halle Ballard Carolina. I student used to go Gayborhood there every year for a vacation with my mother. We're looking into Fire Island."

"No. I think it's very wrong what they did but I have to go to North Carolina to play the organ for a dear Wesley Parrott professor's organist funeral. He Gayborhood was 98 years old. He was a great mentor.

It's a great honor to be invited to play. I simply can't miss it."

"Yes. I told my niece who lives there that I can't visit her until the law is repealed. It's draconian, repulsive and evil. I won't David Morris step foot in Episcopal priest that state, Bensalem even though I love my niece dearly. We'll communicate in other ways."

North Carolina: The cost In a special session, the North Carolina state legislature pushed through House Bill 2, delivering it to Gov. Pat McCrory in roughly 12 hours. The governor signed the bill nearly as soon as it could hit his desk, wasting no time to enact what must have been a vital piece of legislation to be enacted this quickly.

The “Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act” is, on its surface, a reaction to the passage of anti-discrimination protections passed earlier this year in Charlotte, N.C. That ordinance added citywide protections based on both sexual orientation and gender identity. But it goes much further than nullifying Charlotte’s law. It removes any protections from local hands across the state, requiring localities to rely on state protections that do not cover LGBT individuals. It also repeals protections for other groups in other municipalities, such as veterans and others. The only explicitly covered classes

in North Carolina are race, religion, color, national origin, biological sex and, in some cases, age and disability.

As expected, House Bill 2 prohibits the use of restrooms at schools and public institutions by anyone whose gender does not match their birth certificate. It does not clarify how one would challenge a person in a restroom, or how that person would respond. One has to presume this “privacy” act does not extend to the privacy of transgender residents of North Carolina, who are now expected to answer to any challenge to their gender. Or, of course, people who are not transgender but who may still be challenged because someone else decides they are not masculine or feminine enough for a particular set of facilities.

House Bill 2 also removed the ability of people to bring a civil discrimination suit, even if such an act does fall within the categories banned under the bill. Oh, and for whatever reason, the bill also prohibits “all

local ordinances, regulations or resolutions imposing any requirements on employers pertaining to compensation of employees.”

This is broad-reaching, affecting minimum-wage fights, leave, benefits and even rights involving minors in the workplace.

To push this bill through, the state spent approximately $42,000 to hold a special one-day session. Adding insult to injury, state Sen. Tom Apodaca is pressing to have Charlotte cover the bill for the special session — perhaps by taking the cost out of appropriations or other state funds the city would be expecting from the state.

But the final tally on the passage of House Bill 2 does not end with the cost of this one-day session.

Institutions across the country have spoken out on the bill, and the bad press prompted the governor to present an overly cheery assessment dressed up as a “Myths vs. Facts” release. The release does an amazing job of answering only the ques-

tions it presents, in couched language.

While the state has tried to limit who can sue, this will not stop legal challenges.

The ACLU of North Carolina and Equality North Carolina have filed the first suit in U.S. District Court. This will be a further financial drain on the state.

The cost of this bill, in the end, is not one of currency, and it is not a cost that will be borne by North Carolina, let alone taken out of funds intended for the city of Charlotte. The cost will come out of transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals in North Carolina, now forced into further second-class-citizen status, and declined even the most basic right to use a restroom appropriate to their presentation — and ultimately, I fear the cost will be measured in lives lost, not dollars spent. n Gwen Smith has her North Carolina friends in her heart and mind. You can find her at www.gwensmith.com.

12

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

LOCAL PGN

Gayborhood Crime Watch The following incidents in the Midtown Village and Washington Square West areas were reported to the Sixth Police District between April 11-17. Information is courtesy of Sixth District Capt. Brian Korn; Stacy Irving, senior director, Crime Prevention Service; Center City District; the Police Liaison Committee and Midtown Village Merchants Association.

To report crime tips, visit www.phillypolice.com or call 215-686-TIPS. INCIDENTS — Between April 2-11, someone stole laptops from an office at 1315 Walnut St. There was no forced entry into the building or office. Security video showed the suspect to be a 6-foot black man in his 20s, thin, with a beard and wearing a black jacket, white sneakers and black knit cap, carrying a backpack.

— At 2:25 a.m. April 15, while on patrol in the 200 block of South Fawn Street, Sixth District bike-patrol officers encountered a man calling out for help. He reported

voluntarily accompanying a man to the alley to engage in oral sex. Once there, the man produced a handgun and forced the victim to engage in other sexual activity by compulsion. The suspect was described as black, in his late 20s, about 6 feet, with a medium build and medium complexion, wearing a black hoodie and black pants.

— Between 9:45 p.m. April 12 and 4:50 a.m. April 13, someone ransacked Starbucks, 337 S. Broad St., and stole a bag of clothes and a key. There was no forced entry. Central Detectives processed the scene for evidence.

— There was one theft of a bicycle reported April 11-17: outside 1100 Market St. NON-SUMMARY ARRESTS — At 12:20 a.m. April 14, an employee of ICandy, 254 S. 12th St., ejected a patron for attempting to steal liquor. The suspect returned, broke a window and punched and bit the employee. The 23-year-old with an Atlanta, Ga., address was arrested by Sixth

District Officer Wang and charged with aggravated assault and related offenses.

suspect, a 64-year-old South Philadelphia man, was charged with assault.

— At 3:30 a.m. April 14, Sixth District Officer McCauley was alerted to a secured bicycle being stolen from the 200 block of South Juniper Street. The supect was apprehended near 10th and Chestnut streets, and the bicycle was recovered. The 52-year-old suspect with a Port Richmond address was charged with theft.

SUMMARY ARRESTS

— At 8:40 p.m. April 14, someone stole an unattended laptop from inside Bru Bar, 1316 Chestnut St. Security video showed two men taking the item. At 9:45 p.m., the same two returned to the location and staff called police. Sixth District Officers Ferrero and Grant apprehended the 49and 54-year-old suspects, and both were charged with theft.

— At 3:40 a.m. April 16, a Center City District officer escorted a man out of the Wawa, 201 S. Broad St., for creating a disturbance. The man punched the officer and ripped his equipment from his belt. The

— At 9:30 p.m. April 12, Sixth District officers issued three citations for summary offenses outside 201 S. Broad St. — On April 13, Sixth District officers issued citations for summary offenses at 1:40 a.m. outside 1300 Walnut St. and 3:55 a.m. outside 200 S. 13th St. — At 7:10 p.m. April 15, Sixth District officers issued a citation for a summary offense outside 1302 Walnut St. — On April 16, Sixth District officers issued a citation for a summary offense at 12:50 a.m. outside 1200 Chancellor St., 12:55 a.m. outside 200 S. 12th St. and 10:25 p.m. outside 1312 Walnut St. — At 3:50 a.m. April 17, Sixth District officers issued a citation for a summary offense outside 1300 Chancellor St. n

Philadelphia Gay Pride Our Pride Issue is our largest issue of the year, with a readership of 50,000, plus an additional 5,000 copies distributed at Gay Pride June 12 at Penn’s Landing.

Issue date: June 10 Ad deadline: June 3

Reserve your space today— greg@epgn.com 215-625-8501 ext. 201

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PGN PRIMARIES from page 1

people should “use the bathroom they feel is appropriate.”

Katie McGinty earned the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate with about 150,000 more votes than Joe Sestak, a former Congressman from Delaware County who was considered her biggest competition.

Liberty City spent the most time at its endorsement meeting in March deciding between these two contenders, ultimately deciding on McGinty because she had stronger ideas on transgender issues. McGinty will face incumbent Sen. Pat Toomey in November.

Brian Sims, the first elected openly gay state lawmaker, retained his hold on representing Center City, including the Gayborhood, in the state House.

The race was close among four Democrats, but Sims held 700 votes over his closest challenger, Ben Waxman. Lou Lanni, another openly gay contender, got the least votes. Sims is the presumptive winner in the November general election; no Republicans filed for the primary.

HIV from page 1

clients and supporters, criminalizing people with HIV is the embodiment of HIV discrimination.

“HIV criminalization is a bad idea everywhere,” said Ronda B. Goldfein, the law project’s executive director. “A person’s virus should not be an element of the criminal-justice process.”

Adrian M. Lowe, a staff attorney at the law project, echoed Goldfein’s sentiments.

“HIV criminalization is one of the many manifestations of HIV discrimination,” Lowe said.

“Treating someone differently because of their HIV status is the very definition of HIV discrimination.”

Many states have laws specifically targeting HIV-positive people who engage in sex without disclosing their serostatus. Some states prosecute HIV-positive people for other reasons, including biting or spitting on someone.

Pennsylvania doesn’t have a criminal statute that specifically criminalizes HIV-positive people who engage in sex without disclosing their serostatus. But prosecutors throughout the state have charged HIV-positive people under other criminal statutes, such as sexual assault, simple assault, aggravated assault or reckless endangerment.

Goldfein would like to see that practice end.

“We’ve assisted approximately 12 people in the past two years who were facing criminal charges related to their HIV status,” Goldfein said. “Our goal in all of these cases is to take HIV out of the equation.”

She questioned why HIVdisclosure issues should be the concern of law-enforcement authorities.

“Why does it have to be the role

Dwight Evans won the Democratic nomination to represent parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery counties in Congress. He had a comfortable lead of more than 13,000 votes over Chaka Fattah, who was indicted over the summer on charges of racketeering and related crimes. When Evans unsuccessfully ran for Philadelphia mayor in 2007, he came out in support of the LGBT community and said he would encourage openly gay and transgender candidates to run for city offices. Evans will face Republican James Jones, who ran unopposed in the primary, in the November election for Congress.

Josh Shapiro, the chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and a strong supporter of LGBT rights, took the Democratic nomination for attorney general, beating Stephen Zappala, his closest competitor, by nearly 157,000 votes.

Shapiro will face Republican John C. Rafferty Jr., a Montgomery County state senator, in the November election. Rafferty easily beat Joseph C. Peters in the primary with almost 350,000 more votes. n

of law enforcement to monitor the conversations between sex partners?” Goldfein posed.

She said HIV shouldn’t be a factor when decisions are made about charging a person with a crime, nor the length of a prison sentence if an HIV-positive person is convicted.

The law project’s 13-page report, entitled “All Pain, No Gain,” was partially funded by a $10,000 grant by private donors.

The report notes that HIV crim-

“We want to have a real conversation about risk and transmission and that penalties should be related to the real risk and real harm.” inalization may actually worsen the health crisis.

“Criminalization may exacerbate instead of reducing HIV transmission because it places the entire burden on the person living with HIV to disclose their status and adjust their sexual activity accordingly,” the report states.

HIV criminalization also provides a disincentive for people to learn their HIV status, for fear of “the potential criminal liability that accompanies awareness of one’s HIV status,” according to the report.

Goldfein hopes law-enforcement officials will consider the report’s findings with an open mind.

“Our goal is to talk to police and prosecutors and discuss that HIV should never be a factor in charging,” said Goldfein. “We want to have a real conversation about risk and transmission and that penalties should be related

to the real risk and real harm.

Decisions should be made on the basis of real science, not knee-jerk fear and stigma.”

She said Pennsylvanians could be designated as sex offenders simply because they had sex while HIV-positive, and be required to report their address to state police every year.

“AIDS discrimination and stigma is alive and well in Pennsylvania,” she noted.

Still, Goldfein expressed optimism that “All Pain, No Gain” will find a receptive audience throughout the state.

“I think it’s an uphill battle to decriminalize HIV,” Goldfein continued. “But every medical development that shrinks the risk of transmission supports the reform of HIV criminalization.”

She also pointed to recent medications that help HIV-people maintain undetectable viral loads.

“The research that we’ve cited in the report has not found a case of transmission from the person who’s undetectable. Reform seems even that much more crucial considering the unlikelihood of transmission.”

Goldfein, Lowe and Graham plan to attend a national conference next month in Alabama, focusing on the subject of HIV decriminalization.

“We’ve seen a negative approach to people with HIV,” Goldfein continued. “In response, there’s been a huge call for reform.”

Lowe said the law project serves as a resource for law-enforcement authorities who wish to learn more about the subject.

“We’re hoping the report will be read by district attorneys, police chiefs and judges across the state,” Lowe concluded. “And we want to make ourselves a resource to discuss this subject further.” n

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

17

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SPRING INTO SUMMER IN BALTIMORE. With outdoor concerts, park celebrations, historic trails and an unforgettable day at the track, Baltimore is in full bloom.

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Family Portrait Out & About Q Puzzle Scene in Philly

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The Road to Chelsea

Whistleblower’s stage story comes to Philly for American premiere

By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com

A new play takes audiences inside the mind and life of a controversial modern-day figure when Inis Nua Theatre Company presents the American premiere of “The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning,” through May 15.

Written by Tim Price, this Welsh play tells the story of the young Army intelligence analyst who leaked the largest amount of classified documents in U.S. history. Chelsea Manning, who in 2010 was known to the world as Pfc. Bradley Manning, downloaded and shared with WikiLeaks more than 700,000 government files on

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Some of the videos showed airstrikes where U . S . forces

opened fire on groups of individuals believed to be insurgents. Ultimately, the dead were found to have included children and journalists. Manning was arrested and held in solitary confinement for three years before being sentenced to 35 years in military prison in 2013. She is eligible for parole in 2020.

Director Tom Reing said the play is a fictionalized biography written while Manning was awaiting trial.

“The playwright, Tim Price, did his homework,” he said about how close to the real story the play is. “The play was written at a time when Manning was on trial, before the announcement that she wanted to be referred to as Chelsea. That hadn’t been said but it was kind of in the play already. So I don’t know where he got his info from. But it does have this character that looks like they are in transition at times. Both the writing and way we’re producing the play is very stylized and ensemble-driven. It’s almost heightened realism and that means all the emo-

tions go to the extreme. But we feel like that’s the best way to tell the story in an interesting and engaging way.”

Reing added that the play takes the position that Manning may have had a problem following orders, but her actions ignited a firestorm of important and challenging questions.

“The play and my viewpoint is that Chelsea is wrongly imprisoned and was a whistleblower,” he said. “We as citizens need to know about these things that are done in our name. I hope that Chelsea will be granted clemency when [President] Obama goes out of office. I think Chelsea feels that she was dealt a bad hand in a number of ways.”

Reing explained some of the obstacles Manning faced in her early years: Her father bullied and then left her and her mother. Her mother took her to Wales for her teenage years and, without financial support for post-secondary education, she enlisted in the Army — at just 5-foot-2 and 105 pounds.

“The deck was stacked against her,” Reing said. “She was constantly being picked on and bullied for who she was, and while this was going on she had the struggle with her identity that finally came to form after her sentencing.

What we learn about her character is she occasionally lashes out but the lashing out is ineffective. Her downloading of Army PAGE 24

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FEATURE PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

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CHELSEA from page 23

information to WikiLeaks is impulsive but I think it was her first deliberate effective attack, as it were. She saw something that she felt was wrong and thought people needed to know. So she did it.”

Reing surmised that Manning may not have predicted the consequences that came from that action.

“I think she may have thought that she would expose it and no real consequence would come from it. She was already going to get an unfavorable discharge at this point. But I don’t think she knew she could be imprisoned for 35 years when she did what she did. But now that she is, she has taken on this mantle of being someone who is one for human rights and the knowledge of what your government does, as well as the rights for transgender people.”

Reing added that Manning’s struggles with her identity and acceptance weren’t the reason for her actions, but they were somewhat of a catalyst.

“A person that is struggling with who they are, that comes to a point where it is an added tension to their life,” he said.

“So I think she felt even more oppressed and abused and picked on.”

Reing said Manning is still facing abuse in the military prison system because of her transgender status.

“For Chelsea’s purposes, she’s still being held in a male prison,” he said.

“She’s not allowed to have any surgery for transitioning. She can take hormones for it but she’s not allowed a total transition. She also still has to maintain a male haircut. I think the games that the Army plays are a way to frustrate and humiliate a person that they see as an enemy.”

Reing said that Manning is not involved with the writing or production of this play but that she does know her story is being told on stage.

“She is aware of it,” he said. “The playwright, Tim Price, has also said

her legal team is aware of it. In fact, we’ve been Tweeting about the play and they’ve been picked up by Free Chelsea Manning organizations.”

Reing knows that most people will already have strong opinions about Manning and her actions going into the play, one way or another, but said he hopes the show will keep her story fresh in people’s mind — especially as most tend to forget important issues as soon as something else occupies their attention.

“They should take the knowledge of what happened,” Reing said about what he hopes audiences take away from seeing the play. “Americans have a short memory and we’ve already moved on, and yet Chelsea is still in prison and won’t get paroled for another seven years and, conceivably, she could serve out the whole 35 years. I think people should be aware of what she did and examine it and see if they feel if it was just, which I don’t think it was.”

Reing added that other countries are far more supportive of Manning and her story.

“I don’t want her to go away,” he said.

“There’s a bigger push in Wales to take ownership of her. The school that she went to constantly has choir recital benefits for her defense fund. There are organizations in America that are like that but it took a Welsh playwright to tell her story. That’s something to me that more people should know about. She writes for The Guardian as a columnist. She doesn’t write for an American newspaper. That’s an example of another culture essentially adopting and supporting her, but in America it is not that strong and I want to see that change.” n Inis Nua Theatre Company presents “The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning” through May 15 at The Proscenium Theatre at Drake, 203 S. Hicks St. For more information or tickets, call 215-454-9776 or visit www.inisnuatheatre.org.

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

WORLD PREMIERE

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Michael Krajewski, conductor Cirque de la Symphonie, aerial flyers & acrobats There’s an all-new circus in town! For the first time ever, Maestro Michael Krajewski and The Philly POPS will present a world premiere pops program featuring Cirque’s aweinspiring physical feats of power and beauty paired with the music from blockbuster movie classics, including Star Wars, Harry Potter, Titanic, Mission Impossible, James Bond, and more. Thrill to the spectacle of acrobats, jugglers, and aerial flyers soaring high above the heads of The Philly POPS as they perform on stage. DC Metro Theater Arts describes this traveling Cirque troupe as “nothing short of breathtaking”!

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THEATER PGN

Out director on laughs and ‘Love’ in comic opera

By A.D. Amorosi PGN Contributor

Scott A. Drake Photos 267-736-6743

Never let it be said that conventional opera cannot be outrageously fun, especially when it comes to Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti’s legendarily comic opera (or melodramma giocoso) “L’Elisir d’Amore.”

For English-speaking audiences, that’s “The Elixir of Love,” a bel canto opera that premiered in 1832 in Milan and touched upon issues of love and romance, poverty and wealth, honor and hubris — all in a tiny village in the Basque country at the tail end of the 18th century.

That setting, however, is not the case for Opera Philadelphia, which will close out its season with the show, running at Academy of Music April 29-May 8. Under the leadership of director Stephen Lawless, the company has re-conceptualized the opera to take place during World War II, with all of its requisite time-period accouterments intact.

To complicate matters, this week tenor Dimitri Pittas had to step in for the lead lovelorn role of “Nemorino,” as Christopher Tiesi had to withdraw from the production due to illness.

“Dimitri originated Nemorino for me in Santa Fe when the production was new, and remarkably remembers it all, so I don’t feel nervous in the least,” said the openly gay Lawless, whose operatic credits read longer than the script from “Rigoletto.” “I’m sad that the wonderful Chris Tiesi wasn’t able to recover in time for the show, but utterly delighted that Dimitri is here.”

That’s some welcome for Lawless during his first time in Philadelphia.

“Culturally and socially, it feels totally different and individual from any of the other American cities I’ve worked in — which is most of them — and the Academy of Music is the most beautiful opera house in North America. Period,” he said.

Lawless originally directed a production of “Elixir” in Los Angeles in 1996, one that travelled a lot — “L.A. three times, Washington, D.C., three times, Geneva, Madrid, Graz and Houston” — and said he adores the bel canto masterpiece.

“Like Rossinian comedies, there is always a dark side to Donizetti,” says the British-born director. Lawless sees Donizetti as a hugely undervalued figure in opera and compositional circles, possibly due to the fact that “musicologists believe that someone so prolific could not therefore be any good.” Usually viewed in comparison with either Rossini or Verdi, Donizetti is — in Lawless’ estimation — his own man and equally as good a composer and consummate as a musical dramatist — to say nothing of being downright funny.

“I’m always interested in the interplay between comedy and tragedy … how, in a

KEVIN BURDETTE (FROM LEFT), STEPHEN LAWLESS AND CHRISTOPHER TIESI AT A “L’ELISIR D’AMORE” REHEARSAL Photo: Dominic M. Mercier

comic opera, there is always something darker lurking and how in a serious opera there is always a darkly ironic vein of near-comedy,” he said. “I think it’s what I would define the term ‘Shakespearean’ as.”

Finding that balance in “Elixir” is tricky, but Donizetti described the piece as a melodrama (comic opera with serious overtones) to begin with.

“The comedy always has the capacity to tumble into tragedy,” Lawless said. “Unlike Rossini, though — who writes deliberately brittle comedies — Donizetti writes comedies that have an almost Shakespearean glow, where even the ‘bad guys’ are redeemable.”

When the Santa Fe Opera Company asked Lawless to do a new production in 2009, the director agreed, not just because of his love of the show, but because he wanted to clarify the story’s drama by changing its time period.

“It was on this production that I first worked with my friend Corrado Rovaris [a director of Opera Philadelphia],” Lawless said.

“The revelation for me in 2009 was not only how well the change of period worked but Corrado’s conducting. It made ‘Elisir’ sound as if Donizetti had written the piece yesterday.”

From here, Lawless talked about the clash of cultures in the production that he found difficult to visualize in its original form: one between the military and the civilian. He believed that, by updating the period to immediately after World War II — “and having the soldiers as Americans in an Italian village” — he could make the dramatic points clearer.

“Nemorino’s function in the village is somewhat ambiguous in the original, so we gave him a profession — the village mechanic, somebody who was good with their hands and whom the whole village knew and loved.”

Lawless said his favorite part in “Elixir” is the Giannetta scene, in which the chorus ladies find out that Nemorino has inherited a fortune: “pure comic genius and a joy to direct.” n For more information or tickets, visit www. operaphila.org.

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Family Portrait

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

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Suzi Nash

Deborah Johnson: Longtime leader on Black Pride honor S u m m e r, s u m m e r, s u m m e r t i m e (almost)! And that means it’s time for the annual Philly Black Pride/Penn Relays Celebration. For 17 years, PBP weekend has been a time for black LGBTs and allies to celebrate, network and build awareness.

With an estimated 3,500-5,000 local and tri-state attendees, it’s the largest mobilization of LGBT individuals of color in the region.

The four-day event starts on my birthday, April 28 (hello, fellow Tauruses!), and covers a wide variety of events: everything from meetings and workshops on health, economic and racial equality to cultural events like the Unbothered Symposium, a narrative program featuring artists like Nikki Powerhouse, Twiggy Pucci Garcon and The Tenth Zine. The stage play “Christian,” a book reading by Nikki Harmon and an exhibit of photographs from Barbara Kigozi are other cultural events not to be missed.

The fabulous K. Brent Hill will be getting bodies in shape with a spin class, and David Grimes and the underwear models from Armour will show you how to dress them.

All together, there are more than 30 events to choose from. And of course, there are plenty of parties at which to mix and mingle, including day parties, happy-hour events and nightlife parties that have become legendary.

Speaking of legendary, one of the highlight events will be the Society Lights Awards, which pays tribute to leaders in the LGBT of color community who have “created unique narratives of progression.”

I am honored to say that I’m being given the 2016 award in arts/media and this week I’m profiling one of my fellow awardees, humanitarian and social-change agent Deborah Johnson.

PGN: So, where do you hail from?

DJ: I was born in Manhattan and raised in North Jersey — Hillside, right outside of Newark.

PGN: Tell me about the family.

DJ: I’m the oldest of three. I have two wonderful sisters and two nieces and one nephew; they’re all in North Jersey.

PGN: What’s a family adventure with three girls in the house?

DJ: Everyone in the bathroom trying to get dressed at the same time! My mother had us in increments so we’re all 10 years apart from each other. I’m kind of like their mom and the middle sister is like the mom to the youngest. So we each wanted to claim space as the elder. But we’re pretty close; if we argue, we argue on the phone together.

PGN: A conference call for consternation?

DJ: Absolutely, it must be all of us. One calls to tell me what the other one’s done

and then the other one calls in and we fuss and argue for hours at a time.

PGN: What did the parents do?

DJ: My mom was a school administrator, my father … I’m not quite sure. He was from Trinidad and I think he was ducking deportation so he changed his name and did different work, mostly office administration. But my mother was the central figure, the matriarch. She worked at the school and we knew each September that

by October there would be some kid who was neglected or needed help living at our house. She would just take them and they stayed with us for the school year.

PGN: What were you like as a kid?

DJ: Wonderful! Actually, I was really quiet. For the first 10 years of my life I was by myself. I didn’t require a lot. I loved to read and preferred to be on my own. My mother used to have to make me go outside. I was a good kid. I went to Catholic school, so there you have it.

who she would visit on the weekends and sometimes I’d go with her. We’d hang out in Washington Square and that’s how I met my first girlfriend.

PGN: What were you pursuing in art school?

DJ: Music, vocals.

PGN: So you sing?

DJ: [Laughs] Uh, I wouldn’t go that far.

Just enough to get into the school.

PGN: What did you study at Caldwell?

DJ: Sociology.

PGN: What made you want to go into that field?

DJ: Probably the kids who came and lived with us over the years: children who did not have what I had. Wanting to understand why they were in those circumstances and wanting to save the world one child at a time. The other part was that I had a lot of family members who ended

PGN: What was your favorite book as a kid?

DJ: “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison.

That was the book that had the most influence on me as a young person.

PGN: Who was your favorite teacher?

DJ: Oh, Mrs. Lambkin. She was my firstgrade teacher and I had a big crush on her! I didn’t really realize it until I was an adult, but she was my first crush. I remember she drove a small imported car.

PGN: Where did you go to school?

DJ: After Catholic school, I went to a performing-arts school and then I went to Caldwell, an all-girl Catholic college in Essex Fells.

Times Square. We’d see shows and museums and we also traveled. One year, my mom took us to Montreal. She exposed us to all sorts of things and she really poured a cultural identity into me. I remember listening to Miriam Makeba and Sarah Vaughn in the house on Saturdays. Just the fact that I had a house and my own room and good food every night … I came to recognize that not everybody had that and wanted to know why. I wanted to know so I could make things better in my little way.

PGN: Did you practice social work?

DJ: I never did! Well, just for a second and then I realized that it wasn’t going to be for me. I was young and they gave me an internship at a children’s shelter and it was too much for me. So I left and went back to New York to FIT [Fashion Institute of Technology] to study merchandising for a semester or two. Then at age 23, I met a woman from Philly and moved here, bought a house, opened up a boutique at 36th and Lancaster called “Between Us” and started a life with her that lasted eight years. Two years ago, I went back to school to get my master’s. In between, I worked at the museum — back then it was the Afro American Historical and Cultural Museum — then did nonprofit health care with the Heart Association and Liver Foundation and realized that was not for me … ended up at the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and doing other social-service work. Now I’m back at the museum, which is now called the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

PGN: What was it like being a budding lesbian at an all-girl school?

DJ: It was a great experience. My sexuality wasn’t an issue for my mother; she was more concerned with me becoming a successful woman. So my years at Caldwell College were quite interesting. I remember one of the nuns, Sister Carol, was dating one of my classmates, which was pretty startling. I also had my first full-time girlfriend there. She would come on the weekends to visit me and it was fine, nobody cared. My college years were good.

up in the justice system so I figured it was better to try to save them at the beginning rather than having to save them at the end.

PGN: And that’s what you’re doing now?

PGN: [Laughs] No! I’m the facility usage director at the museum.

PGN: When did you come out and how did you meet that first girlfriend?

DJ: I came out in high school. Because Arts High was an arts and music school, coming out wasn’t a problem at all; in fact, it was celebrated. I met the girlfriend through my college roommate, who was Venezuelan. She had folks in New York

PGN: What was it that you had that they didn’t?

DJ: My mother was born and raised in New York and from a young age I was exposed to a really wide variety of different cultures. We would go to the Apollo on Sundays and then go into Manhattan and eat at Lucille Ball’s restaurant in

PGN: I remember going to some pretty wild parties at the museum back in the day. Do you still have those type of events?

DJ: I think that’s part of why they brought me in, to tone things down a bit. I have had a few I’ve had to shut down. I have found people asleep PAGE 34

PGN: What were you doing with the various nonprofits?

DJ: Development.

30

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PGN LISTINGS

Broadway star brings ‘heart’ to Philly show

By Gary M. Kramer PGN Contributor The elegant chanteuse Karen Akers returns to Philadelphia’s Rrazz Room at The Prince May 5 to perform her new show “Divided Heart.” The title may suggest an evening of bittersweet love

songs but, in fact, the program alternates between songs sung in English and French. “‘Divided Heart’ is a phrase from a lyric of ‘J’ais Deux Amours,’ which Josephine Baker used to sing,” Akers said over the phone from New York, explaining that she sang the “freest, and the best” in French.

“Speaking a different language allows you to express different sides and aspects of your personality,” Akers explained.

“I wish I could be in French what I am in English. In English, I guess I’m not exactly blunt … maybe I’m more direct.

And I probably swear a lot more in English. But I’m trying to cut back on that. It’s not seemly.”

She turned the conversation back to the music that inspired her show.

“Edith Piaf was a way into song. My mother loved Piaf and Yves Montand. I was so young — 8 or 9 or 10 — listening to her, but there was something in the way Piaf sang that made a huge impression on me. I dreamt about it, and I never thought I’d get to do it. With my Catholic upbringing, following your bliss is selfish. I got over that, thank God,” she said with a throaty laugh.

Perhaps it is her connection to the material that makes it come to life.

Akers discussed the Piaf song “Les Amants,” which she plans to perform in “Divided Heart.”

“Musically, it’s low-key and intense — except one passage that is more intense.

They call it a barcarole layer. It’s an odd tempo. I find it very lovely. It was used in the score in the film ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ where it was played on a jukebox in Paris. It’s an absolutely heartbreaking and beautiful song. I love it, and I can give it my own context — who am I singing it to? That [question] is enough to change the color of it completely. A song doesn’t have to lose its power in cabaret. It’s a fusion of music and theater.”

Another song Akers plans to perform in Philadelphia is a Cole Porter tune,

“Who Said Gay Paree?” that she calls a “sweet, simple and elegant” song. Over the phone, she sang a few bars: “Who spread the rumor that Paris was fun/Who had such fantasies?/Who never knew Paris minus you/Who said gay Paree?”…. and her smoky alto voice induced goosebumps with its seductive purr.

Part of the magic of Akers’ performance is how she creates an evening of theater and storytelling through her series of songs. She sang the praises of her pianist, Don Redic, who has been her musical director since 1990. Akers described Redic as “my one-man orchestra. He intuits so much.” She acknowledged that his version of “Paris is a Lonely Town” is in English, but it should be in French.”

She added, “I’m just influenced by the way Don plays it.”

Akers’ passion for music is evident in her performances, but she is quite relaxed on stage, unconcerned if she forgets a lyric. She used to beat herself up if she made a mistake, but not anymore.

“Perfection is an illusion and you do need to strive for it,” she said, recounting a story about a letter she read about the subject. “Rather than wholeness, we risk going down one of three roads: Arrogance, Hypocrisy or [Total] Breakdown.”

Translating that into performance, Akers decided, “Go for wholeness, not perfection. What you really want is a wholeness and a presence, complete as you can humanly be and make it.

You understand what matters and you take away what’s inessential. That made Tommy Tune [who directed Akers on Broadway in “Nine” and “Grand Hotel”] a wonderful director. He’d have us work on something and show it to him and he would pare away the things that didn’t work, weren’t truthful or didn’t carry it farther. What you were left with was a fabulous number.”

While Piaf and Porter, Redic and Tune all influenced Akers, one wonders what would the song about Akers sound like?

The performer laughed, tickled by the question.

“No one’s ever asked me that before! I would be the wrong person to write that.

I’m hopelessly sentimental. It would be a very long song. I showed one of my early forays into songwriting to my first husband and he said I should focus on singing.”

After a beat, she continued, “Sondheim could make something interesting, and it would have a touch a bitterness, but that wouldn’t be right. I love the song ‘Stars in the Moon’ by Jason Robert Brown. That’s a wonderful song.”

Hopefully, she will sing it in “Divided Heart.” n Karen Akers performs “Divided Heart” 8 p.m. May 5 at the Rrazz Room at the Prince Theater. For more information, visit princetheater.org/events/karen-akers.

Theater & Arts 1776: The Musical The Media Music Theatre Company presents the historical musical comedy, set when our country was on the brink of declaring independence, through May 22, 104 E. State St., Media; 610-8910100.

Allowed to Love Muse Gallery presents an exhibition

by Philadelphia artist Carolyn Cohen featuring a series of portraits of activists, artists and others within the LGBT community through April 30, 52 N. Second St.; 215-627-5310.

Always ... Patsy Cline Walnut Street Theatre presents the stories of laughter and heartache that brought together a housewife and a legendary country singer through July 3 at Independence Studio on 3, 825 Walnut St.; 215574-3550.

Breaking Ground: Printmaking in the U.S., 1940– 60 Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition exploring the variety of ways in which artists in the 1940s and ’50s pushed the boundaries of printmaking through July 24, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-7638100.

Clayton English The comedian from “Last Comic Standing” performs through April 30 at Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom St.; 215-496-9001.

IN THE GARDEN OF ‘EDIE’: Reno Sweeney and Jeffrey Johnson (pictured as Edie Beale) recreate the legendary 1978 cabaret act of “Little Edie” Beale of “Grey Gardens” fame with a special performance 7:30 p.m. April 29 at The Rrazz Room, 385 W. Bridge St., New Hope. For more information or tickets, call 888-596-1027.

Holly Trostle Brigham: Sisters and Goddesses The Michener Art Museum hosts an exhibition of works by the Philadelphia-based artist, featuring seven self-portraits in which she takes the guise of artists of the past, through May 26, 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown; 215340-9800.

Inside Out Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition of large-scale replicas of favorite works from the museum’s collection of local neighborhoods through Nov. 1, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215763-8100.

International Pop Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition chronicling pop art’s emergence as a global movement, migrating from the United Kingdom and

the United States to Western and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Japan, through May 16, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215763-8100.

Look Closer: The Work of Michael Newman and Stuart Alter The William Way LGBT Community Center presents a special exhibition of abstract paintings through April 29, 1315 Spruce St.; 215-732-2220.

The Naked Magic Show The world-renowned R-rated magic show comes to town 7 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. May 6 at Merriam Theatre, 250 S. Broad St.; 215-670-2300.

Philadelphia in Style: A Century of Fashion The Michener Art Museum hosts a display of approximately 30 dressed forms and addi-

tional accessories spanning a century of high fashion through June 26, 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown; 215340-9800.

Peter and the Starcatcher Walnut Street Theatre presents the grown-up’s prequel to “Peter Pan” through May 1, 825 Walnut St.; 215-574-3550.

The Elixir of Love Opera Philadelphia performs April 29-May 8 at Kimmel’s Academy of Music, 250 S. Broad St.; 215670-2300.

Plays of/for a Respirateur Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an installation by Joseph Kosuth that includes a selection of his work, along with a group of seminal works by Marcel Duchamp, through the fall, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215763-8100.

PGN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT LISTINGS

troupe perform, 9 p.m. April 30 at the World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St.; 215222-1400.

Miss Fish BEV hosts the drag queen pageant 9 p.m.-2 a.m. April 30 at Tabu, 200 S. 12th St.; 215-9649675.

Outta Town

PRESTO!: Following sold-out shows in Australia, New Zealand and Asia, the world’s boldest and cheekiest magic show, “The Naked Magic Show,” comes to town for an R-rated spectacle 7 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. May 6 at Merriam Theatre, 250 S. Broad St. For more information or tickets, call 215-670-2300.

Rasheedah Phillips and André Carrington The authors host a reading/discussion on AfroFuturism and speculative fiction 7 p.m.

May 1 at Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni’s Room, 345 S. 12th St.; 215-923-2960.

Sex With Strangers The two-character play follows two writers who are trapped overnight during a snowstorm through May 8 at Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St.; 215-985-0420.

Stéphane Denève Conducts Williams The Philadelphia Orchestra performs May 5-7 at Kimmel’s Verizon Hall, 260 S. Broad St.; 215790-5800.

Yo-Yo Ma The Philadelphia Orchestra per-

forms with the world-renowned classical musician through May 1 at Kimmel’s Verizon Hall, 260 S. Broad St.; 215790-5800.

Music Pearl Jam The rock band performs 7:30 p.m. April 29 at Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St.; 215389-9543.

The Used The rock band performs May 3-4 at the Electric Factory, 421 N. Seventh St., 215627-1332.

Generation Axe Virtuoso guitarists Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt, Yngwie Malmsteen and Tobin Abasi perform 8 p.m. May 5 at Tower Theatre, 19 S. 69th St., Upper Darby; 610352-2887.

Ben Folds The rock pianist and musician performs 8 p.m. May 6 at The Fillmore Philadelphia, 1100 Canal St.; 215625-3681.

Local H The alt-rock band performs its breakthrough album, “As Good As Dead,” in its entirety for its 20th anniversary, 9 p.m. May 6 at Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St.; www.undergroundarts.org.

Nightlife Peek-a-Boo Revue presents: Film Strips The cabaret

Reno Sweeney with Jeffrey Johnson as Edie Beale The cabaret duo performs 7:30 p.m. April 29 at The Rrazz Room, 385 W. Bridge St., New Hope; 888-596-1027.

Wizard of Oz The classic film is screened 2 p.m.

April 30 at The Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville; 610-917-1228.

Steely Dan The classic-rock band performs 8 p.m. April 30 at the Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa Event Center, 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City, N.J.; 609-3171000.

Slaughter High The ’80s slasher film is screened 9:45 p.m. May 6 at The Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville; 610-917-1228. n

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.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

31

LGBT flicks with local angles screen at Tribeca

By Gary M. Kramer PGN Contributor At the recent Tribeca Film Festival, two queer films with Pennsylvania connections stood out.

“AWOL,” co-written and directed by Deb Shoval, was shot and set in WilkesBarre. This romantic melodrama, based on Shoval’s 2010 short film of the same name, is a gritty little indie about Joey (Lola Kirke), who is looking to join the Army in part to get money for college. But when she falls for the married-with-children Rayna (Breeda Wool), Joey’s priorities change. She only wants to be with Rayna, a “bad influence,” who talks about moving to Vermont where they will be able to live together and more freely.

“AWOL” builds its romance from the young women sneaking around trying to hide their affair in a small town. The drama stems from the push-pull relationship that develops between the two women, as they struggle with issues of money and obligations until they make a risky decision that may alter their lives and fates forever (the title is a bit of a spoiler).

Kirke gives a fantastic performance as Joey, capturing her emotional cadences as she grapples with pangs of the heart and the consequences of her actions.

Moreover, “AWOL” portrays rural queer life in a sensitive way not usually seen on screen, which also makes it worthwhile despite some narrative contrivances.

Shoval met with PGN at the festival to talk about her feature, which is set in 2012 and chronicles the couple over several years. She discussed her focus on rural queer life, noting, “I’m telling a story from the place where I am from, Wilkes-Barre. I wanted to make an honest portrait of people. For gay people around there, ‘Don’t ask, Don’t Tell’ is a good metaphor. People are out to their families who accept them, but they don’t talk about it.”

As for the focus on the military, Shoval indicated, “I do think for young queer people, joining the Army is an avenue to liberation. It is a way to meet people. Joey joins the Army in a new era. She is more empowered when she [returns] home.”

Set partially in Luzerne, writer/director Justin Kelly’s “King Cobra” is a salacious little true-crime story of murder and money, lawsuits and scandals, set in the gay-porn world. It is highly enjoyable thanks to some fabulous performances and an emphasis more on identity and less on sex.

As the film opens, Sean Paul Lockhart

aka Brent Corrigan (Garrett Clayton) is auditioning for producer Stephen (Christian Slater) on the proverbial “casting couch.” He’s sexy and adorable, and it’s clear Sean knows what Stephen wants, because he gives it to him. Stephen, in return, sets Sean up in his house, lavishing gifts on this young man whom he desires — and hopes to make the whole world desire. And before long, they do. Stephen’s videos of Sean sell like hot cakes and rival porn producer Joe (James Franco) and his star/lover Harlow (Keegan Allen) want Brent’s value, seizing a chance when a scandal derails Brent’s career.

In “King Cobra,” Kelly wisely never judges these characters, presenting them as flawed but human. The film is not just skin deep.

In an interview at the festival, Kelly talked of the appeal of making “King Cobra.”

“I am pretty fascinated with stories about shifting identity and people who become someone else, or play with who they are. How does that happen and what does that person go through? In this case, it’s what is going through the mind of an innocent underage boy who wants to become a gay porn star. For Stephen, he is an unassuming, suburban guy who wants to become a gay-porn producer. And for Joe and Harlow, it’s their wanting to become kingpins. All of the characters are playing with who they are.”

The role of Sean Paul Lockhart is certainly a conscious change of pace for Clayton, who started his career working for Disney. The actor met with PGN to talk about the challenge of playing Lockhart.

“Initially, when I got it, I called Justin and said, ‘I’m gonna Meryl this shit,’” he said. “But Justin told me to make the character separate from [the real Sean]. Tell the story. It is his story.”

Clayton took the advice to heart, but recalled a moment on set where he needed additional advice.

“I kind of freaked out at the montage of [Sean] becoming a porn star. It got overwhelming. I got back to my hotel that night and called my mom. I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can do this.’ She told me, ‘If you believe in it, I support you.’ She taught me not to judge. And then said, ‘Now you know what it feels like to be wanted for nothing more than your body.

Now you are better prepared to play this character.’”

Clayton makes Sean appropriately charming, seductive and insouciant. He is impressive — and irresistible — in the role. n

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

PORTRAIT from page 29

in the ballroom or knocked out in parts of the museum where you wonder how they got there, but that’s rare. It’s different now. You should come in. We have a lot of new things happening.

PGN: What are some recent exhibits?

DJ: We did “Legendary: Inside the House Ballroom Scene,” which was about the exuberant world of the underground house scene. It was a bit of a fight for me and the exhibition director, Leslie, to get that in. I really enjoyed doing that exhibition. The “Africans in India” exhibit was great and the one that just left, “Drapetomanía,” about Afro-Cuban arts, was very interesting. It’s been a real culturally enriching experience being back. The exhibits have been thought-provoking and we’re about to do one based on Ntozake Shange’s “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf” entitled “The God in Me.” I think and hope that my presence there allows some of those kind of opportunities to present themselves.

PGN: What are some of the other organizations that you’ve worked with over the years?

DJ: I was on the board of COLOURS during its early years, back when Michael Hinson was the executive director. I did six years with Philadelphia Black Gay Pride and I was a board member of the Jubilee Day School, which was a little private school up at 42nd and Chester.

I currently sit on the Community Advisory Council for the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, and I’ve been a judge for the Philly Pride Parade for the last four years.

PGN: And this year you’re being honored with the prestigious Society Lights award.

DJ: Along with “The Suzi Nash!”

PGN: Indeed! So what does the award mean to you?

DJ: It’s extremely humbling. I am honored because I do what I do because I love it. I can’t imagine not being in service to the community, so to be honored for it is exceptional and humbling. And to be recognized during Philly Black Pride is really special. I remember the days when right before the festival we’d be up 24 hours straight. We would have our yearly fight but, by the end of the weekend, it was satisfying to see that we’d accomplished all of our goals. And hopefully the community was better for it. So to be honored by an organization that I gave and worked so much for is kind of surreal.

I’m usually helping giving out the awards, not receiving them.

PGN: Well, it’s about time. And now, it’s time for some off-the-cuff questions.

DJ: OK, go.

PGN: Ever spend the night at the museum and, if so, did anything come to life?

DJ: I have spent the night at the museum and I truly do believe that things come alive. I know that there’s a spirit in the museum. Randomly, some of the exhibitions will start to talk and the elevator will go up and down. We know that there are spirits in there because we hold people’s collections. I’m sure some of them are living there who we don’t see.

PGN

PGN: Explain what you mean by exhibits talking.

DJ: Like in gallery two, it’s called the Conversations Gallery and we have an exhibit where you push a button and you hear a narration about the exhibit. Well, they are turned off at six o’clock but late, late at night, the video monitors will turn on themselves and start to talk. We just look at each other and say, “There they go … ” or the elevators will go up and down and there’s no one on the subsequent floors. We’re kind of used to having the ancestors around by now.

PGN: If you could pick an artist, alive or dead, to be a guest at the museum, whom would you choose?

DJ: One of my all-time favorite painters is Gauguin. I also love Georgia O’Keefe but since neither of them are African-American and we are the African American Museum, my second picks would be Audre Lorde or Jacob Lawrence.

PGN: Lake, ocean or river?

DJ: Ocean.

PGN: Best piece of advice?

DJ: Know what you don’t know.

PGN: Favorite piece of clothing?

DJ: That would be my Jane Jetson dress. It’s very futuristic; it sticks straight out. That’s my favorite right now.

PGN: Favorite genre of books to read?

DJ: Sci-fi. Especially futuristic African-American sci-fi like Octavia Butler.

PGN: My hidden talent is …

DJ: House repairs. I can paint and put down flooring, all that type of stuff.

PGN: I’m impressed. Something stupid you’ve done for love?

DJ: Oh God, I drove 1,222 miles for love. Yes, I did.

PGN: Single or partnered?

DJ: Single. Please put that in large letters!

SINGLE. And I’m finally the person that I want to be. I’m in a good place. I would marry me!

PGN: Most unusual job?

DJ: When I was at FIT, I worked for Burlington Industries as a patternist. That’s someone who takes the patterns and adds colors in the exact spots on each piece. So if you see a pattern in red, blue and green, someone actually imported those colors into each piece using a press. Well, it’s probably automated these days.

PGN: Favorite color?

DJ: Right now it’s lemon yellow. I’m ready for the spring.

PGN: Motto?

DJ: “Love is work made physical,” by Khalil Gibran. True words. n For more information on Philadelphia Black Pride, visit www.phillyblackpride.com. For more information on the African American Museum in Philadelphia, visit www.aampmuseum.org.

To suggest a community member for Family Portrait, email portraits05@aol.com.

Q Puzzle Canvas Cans Across

1. t.A.T.u. or R.E.M. 5. Eat out 10. Violates an old military rule 14. Anthropology, to Margaret Mead 15. Desi’s daughter 16. Nickelodeon explorer 17. This artist’s work was recently stolen from the Springfield Art Museum 19. One of Bernstein’s strings 20. Be a sugar daddy to 21. Start of a conclusion 22. One who studies Loewe’s partner?

25. With 47-Across, type of art that was stolen 27. Games that surprise 28. Cincinnati gay bar 30. “La Dolce ___” 31. Rock Hudson movie with James Dean 32. Words on the stolen canvases 38. Em and Mame 39. Straight-laced 41. Goes wild at Barneys

45. Drawn-out campaigns 47. See 25-Across 48. John Travolta, in “Hairspray”?

49. Kind of IRA 50. Italian sculptor Pisano 52. Capable of performing 53. Genre of 17-Across 57. Foster role 58. Stallion’s sound 59. Rubberstamp 60. Jennifer of “Dirty Dancing” 61. Parts of floats 62. Director Norman of “Prelude to a Kiss”

Down

1. What ewes say 2. Prince Valiant’s boy 3. Beatty of “Roseanne” 4. Think about Ryan Gosling, perhaps 5. Log Cabin and Stonewall candidate lists 6. Doctor, hopefully 7. Eight for Lorca 8. “The ___ in Winter” 9. Martin of the Daughters of Bilitis 10. Commercial, to Britten

11. Do in the evening 12. Big name in groceries 13. Hangouts for Natalie Barney 18. “I ___ Grow Up” 22. Candy heart word 23. “Spartacus” or “Ben-Hur” 24. Hammett hound 25. “Our ___” (movie about AIDS) 26. Where one sleeps with privates 28. River deposits 29. Dutch painter Frans 31. Drag queen ___ Pool 33. Say “So Long, Farewell” 34. Computer glitches 35. Lily Tomlin’s Ernestine, for one 36. Early indica-

tor of orientation 37. Sneaky and others 40. Submissions to an editor: Abbr.

41. Freed from the slammer 42. Fitting partner 43. Like a Merry Christmas in St. Louis 44. Far from sacred 45. “Morally straight” boys 46. “___ put hair on your chest!”

48. Capital of Ghana 50. Denial for Nanette 51. Apple that isn’t a fruit 53. They go at the bottoms of letters 54. Islands instrument 55. Turned tail 56. Optimist’s place for a cock?

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

35

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PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

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 real-

estate advertising that is in violation of any applicable law.

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.

Real Estate Sale

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PGN

Recently engaged or married?

PGN wants to hear from you!

With marriage equality now the law of the land in Pennsylvania, we want to hear from local couples who have, or are planning to, put a ring on it.

Email editor@epgn.com to have your announcement included.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

37

38

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

Legal Notices

Services

Court of Common Pleas for the County of Philadelphia, April Term, 2016, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on April 7, 2016, the petition of Joseph Patrick Swietlik was filed, praying for a decree to change her name to Jennica Hamilton.

The Court has fixed May 20, 2016 at 10:00 A.M., in Room No. 691, in Philadelphia City Hall for hearing. All persons interested may appear and show cause if they have, why the prayer of the said petitioner should not be granted. ________________________________________40-18 Court of Common Pleas for the County of Philadelphia, March Term, 2016, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on March 28, 2016 the petition of Rebecca Lynn Hanna was filed, praying for a decree to change their name to B. Ever Lynn Hanna.

The Court has fixed May 20, 2016 at 10:00 A.M., in Room No. 691, in Philadelphia City Hall for hearing. All persons interested may appear and show cause if they have, why the prayer of the said petitioner should not be granted. ________________________________________40-18 Court of Common Pleas for the County of Philadelphia, April Term, 2016, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on March 17, 2016, the petition of Quentin Steward Thompson Jr. was filed, praying for a decree to change her name to Michelle Sherell Thompson.

The Court has fixed May 20, 2016 at 10AM, in Room No. 691, in Philadelphia City Hall for hearing. All persons interested may appear and show cause if they have, why the prayer of the said petitioner should not be granted. ________________________________________40-18 Court of Common Pleas for the County of Philadelphia, April Term, 2016, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on April 7, 2016, the petition of Debra Dorothy Holzer was filed, praying for a decree to change his name to Jay Pines McKenzie.

The Court has fixed May 20, 2016 at 10AM, in Room No. 691, in Philadelphia City Hall for hearing. All persons interested may appear and show cause if they have, why the prayer of the said petitioner should not be granted. ________________________________________40-18

AIRLINE CAREERS begin here. Get hands on training as FAA certified Aviation Technician. Financial Aid for qualified students. Job placement assistance. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance 888-834-9715. ________________________________________40-18 PA DRIVERS Auto-Insurance-Help-Line. Helping you find a Car Insurance Payment You can afford. Toll Free 1-800-231-3603 www.

Auto-Insurance-Helpline.ORG ________________________________________40-18 20 year retired military man looking to assist others with driving, chores, being a companion, etc. Have pick up truck. Live in possible. Call 717-866-7309. ________________________________________40-19

Friends Men LOOKING FOR ROMANCE Attractive GWM, warm, sensitive, caring, 48 y.o. with a smooth gymnast build looking for other GWM, 30-50, who is also in good shape. I live in NE Phila. I’m looking for guys who are also sensitive, caring with a fun personality.

If this sounds interesting to you feel free to call me, David, 215-698-0215. ________________________________________40-29 WM, NE Phila. If you’re looking for hot action, call 215-934-5309. No calls after 11 PM. ________________________________________40-18 Senior WM ISO same who would like to be orally serviced.

Must be patient; I am very inexperienced. Call Bill at 856655-4013. NJ only, please. ________________________________________40-20

Massage David, 66, 6’, 200 lbs., attentive. 215-569-4949. (24/7) ________________________________________40-24

pgn Philadelphia Gay News

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Activism/Politics

ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) meets 6-9 p.m. Mondays at St. Luke and The Epiphany Church, 330 S. 13th St.; 215-386-1981, www.actupphilly.org.

Delaware Valley Chapter, Americans United for Separation of Church and State seeks activists and supporters of church-state separation. Holds monthly meetings and events; www.dvau.org.

Equality Pennsylvania holds a volunteer night 5:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month, 1211 Chestnut St., Suite 605; 215-731-1447, www.equalitypa.org.

Green Party of Philadelphia holds general meetings 7 p.m. the fourth Thursday of the month, except August and December; 215-243-7103, www.gpop.org.

Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club meets seasonally; www.libertycity.org.

Arts

Library Book Club meets to discuss a new book 7 p.m. the third Wednesday of the month at William Way. Men On Tap, an LGBT group that performs with choirs, organizations and at the Fringe Festival, rehearses 8 p.m.

Mondays at The Bike Stop, 206 S. Quince St.; dale@ magicalfantasies.com.

Philadelphia Freedom Band, an audition-free LGBT band that does concerts and parades, rehearses 7-9:30 p.m.

Mondays; philadelphiafreedomband.com.

Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus rehearses 7-10 p.m.

Wednesdays; 215-731-9230, auditions@pgmc.org.

Philadelphia Voices of Pride, Philadelphia’s first mixed LGBT chorus, rehearses 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays at William Way; www.pvop.org.

Queer Writer’s Collective workshop and discussion group meets 3-5 p.m. the fourth Saturday of the month at William Way. Reading Queerly, open to all women and genderqueer/ trans people, meets 6:45 p.m. the first Thursday of the month at Giovanni’s Room, 345 S. 12th St.

Recreation

Gay Bridge Club non-beginners group meets Monday 2-5 p.m. at William Way; reservations required. Call 215732-2220.

Gay-friendly Scrabble Club meets 5:30-10:30 p.m. at Abner’s Steaks, 38th and Chester streets; 215-382-0789.

Humboldt Society: Lesbian and Gay Naturalists meets 7:30 p.m. the second Thursday of the month at William Way; 215-985-1456, www.humboldtsociety.org.

Independence Squares LGBT square-dance club, modern Western square dancing hosts an open house and Tuesday classes in the fall at Lutheran Church, 2111 Sansom St.; philadances@gmail.com, www.independencesquares.org.

Male Oenophile Group forming to discuss, appreciate and taste various wines. Will meet once a month to investigate the nuances and glories of the fermented grape; 267-2306750.

Mornings OUT LGBT Senior Social activities for senior gay men are held 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tuesdays at William Way. PhilaVentures, Philadelphia’s LGBT outdoor group, meets for hikes in Wissahickon Valley and Valley Forge Park; philaventures.org.

Sports

Brandywine Women’s Rugby Club meets for practice at p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at Greenfield Park, West Chester; www.brandywinerugby.org.

City of Brotherly Love Softball League serves the Philadelphia metropolitan area with games on Sundays, beginning in April, at the Dairy and Edgeley Fields in Fairmount Park; www.cblsl.org.

Frontrunners running club meets 9:30 a.m. Saturdays for a run and brunch at Lloyd Hall, No. 1 Boathouse Row; www.philadelphiafrontrunners.org.

Philadelphia Falcons Soccer Club, open to LGBT and allies, practices 8-10 p.m. Mondays and 2-4 p.m.

Saturdays; www.falcons-soccer.org.

Philadelphia Fins Swim Team, open to male and female swimmers, meets 7 p.m. Monday-Thursday at Friends Select School and 10:30 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays; www.philadelphia-fins.org.

Philadelphia Gay Bowling League meets 8 p.m.

Wednesdays September-April at South Bowl, 19 E. Oregon Ave.; 856-889-1434, philagaybowling@yahoo.com.

Greater Philadelphia Flag Football League plays 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at FDR Park; www.phillyflagfootball.com

Philadelphia Gryphons Rugby Football Club, open to players of all skill levels, meets 7:45 p.m. Thursdays at Columbus Square Park, 1200 Wharton St.; 215-913-7531, philadelphiagryphons.org, becomeagryphon@gmail.com.

Philadelphia Liberty Belles women’s semi-pro full-tackle football league holds fall tryouts; phillybelles.com.

Philadelphia Liberty Tennis Association plays yearround, all skill levels welcome; philadelphialibertytennis. com.

Philadelphia Firebirds women’s football team seeks players; www.philadelphiafirebirds.com.

Philadelphia Women’s Baseball League seeks players, all skill levels and ages. Practice is 7 p.m. Thursdays at Marian Anderson Recreation Center, 17th and Fitzwater streets, with games at 2:30 p.m. Sundays; 215-991-5995 (day), 301-919-1194 (evening), phillywomensbaseball. com.

Philly Gay Hockey Association Philadelphia Phury seeks players; 917-656-1936, phury@gayhockey.org.

Philly QCycle LGBT bicycling club promotes organized recreational riding for all levels in the Greater Philadelphia region; contact the organization via Facebook.

Rainbow Riders of the Delaware Valley motorcycle club meets regularly; 215-836-0440, www.groups.yahoo.com/ group/rainbowridersdv/.

Rainbow Rollers gay and lesbian bowling league meets 7:45 p.m. Tuesdays at Boulevard Lanes in Northeast Philadelphia; rainbowrollers.com.

Spartan Wrestling Club gay wrestling team meets 6:30-9 p.m. Mondays at the First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St.; 215-732-4545, www.phillyspartans.com.

Etc.

AIDS Law Project provides free legal assistance to people with HIV/AIDS and sponsors free monthly seminars on work and housing at 1211 Chestnut St., Suite 600; 215587-9377, www.aidslawpa.org.

BiUnity, Philadelphia-area social and support network for bisexuals, their family members and friends; http://biunity. org.

Delaware Valley Pink Pistols, for LGBT people dedicated to legal, safe and responsible use of firearms for self-defense, meets 1 p.m. the third Sunday of the month at The Gun Range, 542 N. Percy St.; 610-879-2364; www.pinkpistolsdelval.org.

Delaware Pride holds planning meetings 7 p.m. the first Thursday of the month at the United Church of Christ, 300 Main St., Newark; 302-265-3020, delawarepride.org.

Haverford College’s Sexuality and Gender Alliance holds open meetings 10-11 p.m. Mondays during the school year in the lounge in Jones Basement at Haverford College, 370 Lancaster Ave.; 610-896-4938.

Men and Women for Human Excellence support group meets from noon-2 p.m. the first and third Saturdays of the month at 26th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue; 267-2733513, cmoore8300@yahoo.com.

Long Yang Club Philadelphia, social organization for gay Asians and their friends, holds monthly socials; www. longyangclub.org/philadelphia.

Our Night Out, a casual social networking party of LGBT professionals, friends and colleagues, meets in a different Philadelphia hot spot each month. To receive monthly event invitations, email OurNightOutPhilly@gmail.com; more information on Facebook.

Philadelphia Bar Association Legal Advice offered 5-8 p.m. the third Wednesday of the month; 215-238-6333.

Philadelphia Prime Timers club for mature gay and bisexual men and their admirers meets regularly; primetimersofphiladelphia@yahoo.com.

Philadelphians MC Club, for leather men and women, meets 7:30 p.m. the first and third Monday of the month at The Pit at The Bike Stop, 201 S. Quince St.; philadelphiansmc.org.

Rainbow Amateur Radio Association ARRL-affiliated, weekly HF nets, quarterly newsletter; www.rara.org.

Silver Foxes, a social and educational group for gays and lesbians 50 and older, meets 3-5 p.m. the fourth Sunday of the month at William Way; 215-732-2220.

SNJ Queers meets monthly for queer/queer-friendly folks in South Jersey to mix and mingle; 856-375-3708, wmf69@comast.net.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

39

Community Bulletin Board 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. Groups meet and activities are held 4-7 p.m. Monday-Tuesday and 4-8:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday. Case management, HIV testing and smoking cessation are available Monday-Friday.

■ Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center at the University of Pennsylvania 3907 Spruce St., 215-898-5044, center@dolphin. upenn.edu. Regular hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. MondayThursday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday; noon-6 p.m. Saturday; noon-8 p.m. Sunday. Summer hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

■ ActionAIDS: 215-981-0088

■ 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. Activities held 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays.

■ William Way Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center 1315 Spruce St.; 215-732-2220, www.waygay.org.

Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-5 p.m.

Saturdays and Sundays Peer counseling: 6-9 p.m.

Monday-Friday Library: noon-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday Volunteers: New Orientation, first Wednesday of the month at 7:30 p.m.

Key numbers

■ AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania: 215-587-9377

■ Equality Pennsylvania: 215731-1447; www.equalitypa.org

■ AIDS Law Project of Southern New Jersey: 856-933-9500 ext.

221

■ Equality Forum: 215-732-3378

■ AIDS Library: 215-985-4851 ■ ACLU of Pennsylvania: 215592-1513 ■ AIDS Treatment Fact line: 800662-6080 ■ Barbara Gittings Gay and Lesbian Collection at the Independence Branch of the Philadelphia Free Library: 215-685-1633 n The COLOURS Organization Inc.: 215-496-0330

■ LGBT Peer Counseling Services: 215-732-TALK ■ Mazzoni Center: 215-563-0652; Legal Services: 215-563-0657, 866-LGBT-LAW; Family & Community Medicine: 215-563-0658 ■ Office of LGBT Affairs — Director Nellie Fitzpatrick: 215-6860330; helen.fitzpatrick@phila.gov

■ Philadelphia Police Department liaison — Deputy Commissioner Kevin Bethel: 215-6863318 ■ Philadelphia Police Liaison Committee: 215-760-3686 (Rick Lombardo); ppd.lgbt@gmail.com ■ Philly Pride Presents: 215875-9288 ■ SPARC — Statewide Pennsylvania Rights Coalition: 717-9209537 ■ Transgender Health Action Coalition: 215-732-1207 (staffed 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 6-9 p.m.

Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays)

■ Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (Philadelphia): 215-572-1833 ■ Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations: 215-686-4670

Health

Anonymous, free, confidential HIV testing Spanish/English counselors offer testing 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday at Congreso de Latinos Unidos, 216 W. Somerset St.; 215-763-8870.

ActionAIDS Provides a range of programs for people affected by HIV/ AIDS, including case management, prevention, testing and education services at 1216 Arch St.; 215-981-0088, www. actionaids.org.

GALAEI: A Queer Latin@ Social Justice Organization Free, anonymous HIV testing from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday at 1207 Chestnut St., fifth floor; noon-6 p.m.

Tuesdays at the Washington West Project, 1201 Locust St.; 215-851-1822 or 866-222-3871, www.galaei.org.

Spanish/English HIV treatment Free HIV/AIDS diagnosis and treatment for Philadelphia residents are available from 9 a.m.-noon Mondays (walk-in) and 5-8 p.m. Thursdays (by appointment) at Health Center No. 2, 1720 S. Broad St.; 215685-1821.

HIV health insurance help Access to free medications and confidential HIV testing 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays at 13 S. MacDade Blvd., Suite

■ Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia Board meetings at 6:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month at 100 S. Broad St., Suite 1810; free referral service at 215-6279090, www.galloplaw.org.

■ Independence Business Alliance Greater Philadelphia’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce, providing networking, business development, marketing, educational and advocacy opportunities for LGBT and LGBT-friendly busi-

108, Collingdale; Medical Office Building, 722 Church Lane, Yeadon; and 630 S. 60th St.; 610-586-9077.

Mazzoni Center LGBTQ counseling and behavioral health services, HIV/ AIDS care and services, case management and support groups; 21 S. 12th St., eighth floor; 215-563-0652, www. mazzonicenter.org.

Mazzoni Center Family & Community Medicine Comprehensive primary health care, preventive health services, gynecology, sexual-health services and chronic-disease management, including comprehensive HIV care, as well as youth drop-in (ages 14-24) 5-7p.m. Wednesdays; 809 Locust St.; 215-563-0658.

Philadelphia FIGHT Comprehensive AIDS service organization providing primary care, consumer education, advocacy and research on potential treatments and vaccines; 1233 Locust St.; 215985-4448; www.fight.org.

Washington West Project of Mazzoni Center Free, rapid HIV testing. Walk-ins welcome 9 a.m.-9 pm.

Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

Sunday; 1201 Locust St.; 215-985-9206.

Professional groups nesses and professionals; 215557-0190, www.IndependenceBusinessAlliance.com.

■ National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Philadelphia chapter of NLGJA, open to professionals and students, meets for social and networking events; www.nlgja.org/ philly; philly@nlgja.org.

■ Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus Regional organization dedicated to promoting LGBT tourism to the Greater Philadelphia region, meetings every other month on the fourth Thursday (January, March, May, July, September and the third Thursday in November), open to the public; 215-8402039, www.philadelphiagaytourism.com.

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Apr. 29-May 5, 2016

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