pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976 Family Portrait: Bobby Glorioso, in all his glory
Vol. 42 No. 19 May 11-17, 2018
HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
New Hope Celebrates Pride for the 15th year
In favor of “Disobedience”
PGN endorsements for Tuesday’s primary elections
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Tight races mean ‘a lot at stake’ in upcoming primaries By A.D. Amorosi PGN Contributor
GYM CLASS: Philadelphia Councilwoman Helen Gym (third from right) with several members of Men of All Colors Together during its 37th anniversary dinner May 5 at JNA Institute of Culinary Arts. Gym was being honored by MACT for her work on immigration and on behalf of minorities in the community. She spoke about her years of activism before running for council. Photos: Scott A. Drake
Gender Justice Fund’s $10k grant attracts nonprofit hopefuls By Suzannah Cavanaugh PGN Contributor The Bread & Roses Community Fund has opened applications for the one-time Gender Justice Fund, a $10,000 grant to be awarded to organizations working to elevate the lives of women, girls, transgender or gender-nonconforming Philadelphia-area residents. The deadline to apply is May 25. An informational meeting May 8 brought a full house of nonprofit representatives to the offices of Bread & Roses, which organizes donors to fund community-based groups. In the mix was Phoebe Jones, coordinator of the nonprofit Women in Dialogue, which runs the Crossroads Women’s Center in Germantown that focuses on child welfare. “We deal with whatever issues people come to the center with, and it all boils down to poverty,” said Jones. “Mothers are having their kids taken because of poverty, not because of abuse and neglect. And almost everyone has some interaction with the criminal-justice system.” Crossroads’ community engagement illustrates the type of work Gender Justice Fund is looking to award money to: community organizing around issues such as reproductive justice, gender-based violence, workers’ rights, mass incarceration and health care. Rana Fayez, founder of YallaPunk, a Middle-Eastern and North-African culture festival, is also planning to apply for the grant. Fayez is seeking funds for this year’s festival. “We’re looking at Bread & Roses because traditional funding does not really fund organizations like ours,” she said. “ We had an event last year that was very successful. But we’re all just punk-rock kids, right? So, we were turned down for funding from a number of organizations last year.” Fayez hopes the reputation of Bread & Roses as a “not-so-traditional” foundation will PAGE 18 give YallaPunk a fair shot.
As the May 15 primaries approach, area activists are urging voters to get informed on candidates’ positions on LGBT issues and to use their voices “to empower the community.” The Human Rights Campaign has launched a multi-year campaign to build pro-LGBT leadership and elect candidates who “represent our values,” said Allison VanKuiken, HRC’s Pennsylvania state director. “We have to keep our people engaged, all the time,” she said. She encouraged LGBT voters and allies to remember that the elections are just the beginning of implementing change. “The real work is the policy work that follows elections.” “We’re not just here to win elections, we’re here to advance equality,” VanKuiken added. The LGBT community is impacted by decisions made at all levels of government, and that’s why it’s so important to vote, said Adrian Shanker, executive director
of Allentown’s Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center. “There’s a lot at stake for LGBT people: Elected officials have proposed anti-trans ‘bathroom bills,’ we’ve seen attacks on HIV programs and attempts to legalize discrimination through so-called ‘religious freedom’ bills. Our community deserves to be represented by fair-minded people, so it’s critical that LGBT community members do research and vote for the candidates that they believe in.” The local volunteer-based political action committee Liberty City, an affiliate of the National Stonewall Democrats, stressed the importance of flipping the state legislature in November by getting involved early to choose the best candidates. The Democrats’ minority status shuts the party out of the lawmaking process, noted Liberty City President Wade Albert, who doubles as the campaign chair for out state-representative candidate Malcolm Kenyatta. “Voters should be careful to select candidates who can win in November and, once in office, are likely to make alliances across the aisle,” Albert said, PAGE 2
Local activist demands answers in Nizah Morris case By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com Asa Khalif, a local activist with a reputation as a lightning rod who uses tactics of disruptive behavior and in-your-face confrontations, might just be mellowing ... at least when it comes to the case of Nizah Morris. Thirty years after attending his first protest against trans violence, Khalif, who has been arrested multiple times for alleged offenses such as disorderly conduct, use of obscene language and defiant trespass, says he’s now willing to cooperate with local authorities
to get answers in the Nizah Morris homicide. Morris was a trans woman of color found with a fatal head wound in Center City in 2002 shortly after a “courtesy ride” from Philadelphia police. After her death, local authorities declined to release comprehensive information about the circumstances of her case, insisting they wanted to protect the “integrity” of the investigation. Morris’ friends and supporters, including Khalif, demanded answers. In the weeks after Morris died in 2002, Khalif participated in a Center City protest that
attracted hundreds of participants, then held a press conference at the William Way LGBT Center demanding a thorough investigation of the homicide. But still, the police PAGE 18 refused