pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976
City files to require SEPTA to honor nondiscrimination laws PAGE 15
Vol. 41 No. 20 May 19-25, 2017 Family Portrait: Wafiyyah Packer is a Jane of all trades PAGE 27
HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Philly to host 2018 LGBT biz conference PAGE 5
Translating changes in Cuban LGBT visibility over 20 years PAGE 11
Anti-bias bill Sharron Cooks ousted as LGBT re-intro’d in commission chair PA House By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The lead sponsor of a bill to ban LGBT discrimination statewide is urging the Pennsylvania House Speaker to not assign the newly re-introduced measure to the committee helmed by virulently anti-LGBT Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-12th Dist.). Longtime sponsor Rep. Dan Frankel (D-23rd Dist.) submitted the Pennsylvania Fairness Act Tuesday morning, with 73 cosponsors. In past sessions, the legislation has been sent to the State Government committee, where it has been met with staunch opposition from Metcalfe. In a statement, Frankel urged Speaker Mike Turzai (R-28th Dist.) to consider other options. “I urge Speaker Turzai to send the Fairness Act to a committee where it can get a fair hearing, and we all know that a committee chaired by Rep. Metcalfe just doesn’t qualify, based on his record and his own words about the bill,” Frankel said. Frankel spokesperson Gabe Speece told PGN Commerce or Judiciary are among the relevant committees to which the bill could be assigned. “Rep. Frankel would frankly be pretty happy with almost any committee relevant to the bill where the chairperson will really look at the merits of it and give it a fair hearing,” Speece said. “We’ve been in a situation where we haven’t had a chance to have the issues raised in state government.” The bill has stalled for more than a decade. If approved, it would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the classes protected from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. Last year, the Senate sponsors divided the legislation into separate bills addressing each of the protection areas; the housing bill, with an amendment to extend protections to PAGE 15
Six weeks after she was elected, the chair of the newly created Commission on LGBT Affairs was voted out this week. The commission voted 16-3 Tuesday night to remove Sharron Cooks from the helm of the board, which advises the Office of LGBT Affairs and the city on LGBT issues. According to a report by G Philly, she later stepped down from the commission. It is unclear when a new commission chair will be named. Cooks did not respond to a request for comment by presstime. The G Philly story cited an anonymous commissioner as saying the ousting stemmed from a social-me-
dia post in which Cooks “indirectly called [commissioner Amanda Dougherty] out for being a white bisexual woman taking up space in the community affairs committee.” Ajeenah Amir, a spokesperson for Mayor Jim Kenney, told PGN that the administration fielded complaints from several commissioners. “Over the past several weeks, a number of commissioners began raising concerns about comments being made by the chair, Sharron Cooks, at meetings and on her social-media channels that were creating an unwelcoming environment,” Amir said, adding that some of the comments “attacked fellow commissioners based on their race, sexual orientation and education level.” In a statement sent to G Philly, Cooks
said she was the “target of several racist attacks by community members,” as well as death threats. She contended the Office of LGBT Affairs “consistently dismissed” complaints about a “lack of bylaws and guidelines for the commission, serious concerns regarding the leaking of confidential information by commission members,” commissioner attendance and debate over the recent allegations regarding Mazzoni Center. “The administration made clear that given its commitment to diversity and inclusion, commission members making offensive comments about other members’ race, gender identity or sexual orientation was unacceptable and therefore complaints of that activity would need to be taken seriously,” Amir continued, saying Cooks initiated an emergency meeting to “discuss commission concerns and these complaints,” which took place Tuesday evening. “The commission, supported by the PAGE 14
Trans candidate edged out for judgeship By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com First-time candidate Henry Sias came within 5,000 votes of becoming the nation’s first transgender male judge Tuesday. Sias placed 14th out of a pool of 31 candidates vying for the nine seats on the Court of Common Pleas. Sias, 40, is believed to be the first out transgender candidate to ever seek elected office in Philadelphia. Sias declined to comment for this story. In a previous interview with PGN, he noted the value of trans visibility. “[To] say to the city, ‘Hey, consider me on equal terms as all the other people asking for your vote. It’s not disqualifying that I’m trans. I’m
a real person, a trans person, a member of the community who has contributions to make just like all trans people in the community. Consider me equally.’” Sias received 30,959 votes, about 4,300 less than the ninth-placing candidate, capturing about 3.81 percent of the vote. First-place finisher Stella Tsai, who drew the top ballot position, received 7.72 percent of the vote. Former state Rep. Mark Cohen, a longtime LGBT ally in the legislature, also secured a spot in the top nine. Other winners from Tuesday include Larry Krasner for the Democratic nominee for District Attorney, who finished with a healthy lead over the other six candidates, capturing nearly 40 percent of PAGE 14
HENRY SIAS (LEFT) WITH GOV. TOM WOLF AND LIBERTY CITY LGBT DEMOCRATIC CLUB OFFICIALS AT A FUNDRAISER LAST WEEK Photo: Scott A. Drake