What’s hot between the covers this summer?
Professional Portrait: Donna Jaconi
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William Way Community Center Homecoming party is set for Pride eve
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June 1-7, 2012
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Vol. 36 No. 22
Penn to offset tax burden for gay employees By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
WELCOME TO PHILLY: Members of the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus took part in the opening-weekend festivities of the Barnes Foundation on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Guests at the museum May 26 were treated to a preview of selections from the group’s June 15-16 concert, which will celebrate PGMC’s 30th anniversary. The chorus was among a number of performers who welcomed the opening of the museum, a 4.5-acre complex that houses the vast Barnes art collection and will feature educational and horticultural endeavors. Photo: Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus/Adrienne Flynn
One of Philadelphia’s largest employers has announced it will alleviate a tax penalty faced by some of its LGBT staffers. The University of Pennsylvania will offer a “tax offset” program for employees who have a domestic partner on their insurance plan. Because of the Defense of Marriage Act, same-sex couples must pay federal taxes on the value of the benefits that a domestic partner receives, while heterosexual employees enjoy a pre-tax rate for their spouses. The university will now pay up to $125 a month, or $1,500 annually, to LGBT employees facing this burden. According to the university’s humanresources department, about 100 employees currently cover a domestic partner. The tax offset will be available to both full- and part-time employees who are eligible for benefits.
Philly Pride kicks off with new party
Ravi, headed to jail, apologizes By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The family of Tyler Clementi now has an apology from the man convicted of spying on their son, although it was issued nearly 21 months after the incident. Dharun Ravi was scheduled to report Thursday to the Middlesex County Prison in North Brunswick, N.J., to serve his 30day sentence and, days before his sentence began, he issued his long-awaited apology. Ravi was convicted of invasion of privacy and bias crimes for using his webcam to spy on Clementi, his Rutgers University roommate, in a tryst with another man. Ravi invited friends to watch the video in September 2010 and unsuccessfully attempted to broadcast a feed live over his Twitter account days later. Clementi committed suicide a few days after the incident. A judge last month PAGE 21
Employees wishing to add a domestic partner can do so through June 30, and the additional funds, which will be considered taxable income, will be dispensed starting in late July. Penn instituted its domestic-partner policy in 1994. Jack Heuer, vice president of the Division of Human Resources, said Penn “has a long history of supporting our LGBT community.” “We were the first Ivy League institution and among the first local employers to include same-sex domestic partners in our benefits coverage, and now we’re among the first universities to provide this tax offset,” Heuer said. Fewer than 50 American employers offer the benefit, known as the “gay gross up,” with the current list including law firms, big-name technology groups Google, Yahoo and Microsoft and academic institutions Syracuse, Bowdoin, Barnard, Yale and PAGE 21 Columbia.
By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
SPRING IN SOUTH PHILLY: Le Virtù welcomed LGBTs and allies May 23 for the monthly Queers on the Avenue social. The event doubled as a fundraiser for Philadelphia FIGHT, whose staffers and volunteers were on hand to distribute information about AIDS Education Month. FIGHT director of development and communications Mark Seaman said the outdoor area at the venue, 1927 E. Passyunk Ave., and the excellent weather made for “a beautiful evening.” Photo: Scott A. Drake
Philadelphia is gearing up to welcome thousands for the annual Pride celebration, which this year will feature new opportunities to show pride in the LGBT community. The Pride parade will kick off at noon June 10 in the Gayborhood, followed by the Penn’s Landing festival, which will run until 6 p.m. The parade will proceed east on Locust Street from 13th to Washington Square Park, head north on Seventh Street, then east on Market and across the I-95 overpass to the festival at Penn’s Landing. Before Sunday’s festivities, Pride will celebrate its official kick off with a block party in the Gayborhood, a new addition this year. PAGE 21