Philadelphia Gay News Vol. 33 No. 23
Honesty Integrity Professionalism
June 5 - 11, 2009
Local schools designated ‘No Place for Hate’
PA marriage bills pending
By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer
By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer
Students at a handful of local schools spent the last year striving to eliminate bigotry and bias from their classrooms. Six schools within the Philadelphia School District — out of 280 — participated in the Anti-Defamation League’s No Place for Hate program, which encourages understanding and acceptance of diversity both within and outside of the school setting. More than 165 schools in the region participated in the program this year, including Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, Community Partnership School, Joseph J. Greenberg Elementary School, Kenderton Elementary School, Ludlow Elementary School and Martin Luther King High School. Archdiocese of Philadelphia high schools Father Judge and Archbishop Ryan also received No Place for Hate certifications. The No Place for Hate initiative began in Boston and was first launched in the Philadelphia area in 2001. Uyen Doan, assistant project director of the local ADL’s No Place for Hate effort, said the program began small, but saw a great influx of participants after it received Gov. Rendell’s endorsement in 2006. Schools seeking No Place for Hate designation must take several steps to achieve this distinction, such as creating a committee to address issues of bias in the school; encouraging students to sign pledges to work against bullying and intolerance; and organizing at least three activities throughout the school year that seek to educate the school community about the value of diversity. “The program basically provides an umbrella structure for schools and communities to create and implement their own projects that target bullying, bias and discrimination and teach about the strength of diversity,” Doan said. “One thing we always say is that the strength of the program comes from the fact that it’s driven by the schools — students, teachers, administrators and community members.” Kristina Diviny, principal of Martin Luther King High School in West Oak Lane, said this is the second consecutive year the school has received its No Place for Hate certification. “We have enough violence in all of our schools today, and we were looking for an outlet for our students. None of our students are the same, and we wanted to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to connect with somebody else and know that they can feel safe within our building,” Diviny said. The principal added the school already has
communities and to just mesh us with the sports community as a whole,” Nikpour said. “As opposed to just being branded with the LGBT label, this creates a very friendly and open environment for us to present ourselves.” This year’s Sports Week offers sports enthusiasts and prospective athletes the chance to come together as both participants and spectators for nearly a dozen different sporting events. Before the games begin, the week will kick off with a panel discussion on homophobia in college sports, 7-9 p.m. June 5 at University of Pennsylvania’s Carriage House, 3907 Spruce St. Our Group, a national support organization for LGBT athletes, will lead the discussion, which will feature panelists such as Ted Rybka, Our Group founding board member and director of sports media for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The sporting events commence the following day at 8 a.m., when Sports Week participants can compete in the thirdannual Independence Dragon Boat Festival on the Schuylkill River. Last year, Team Philadelphia’s inaugural team came in second in its division. At 6 that evening, participants are invited to the Philadelphia Firebirds game
State Sen. Daylin Leach (D-17th Dist.) is expected to introduce a bill next week that seeks to legalize same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania. Leach announced May 27 that he would introduce the bill sometime this week, but on Tuesday a spokesperson for the senator said the timeline will be slightly delayed. “We had to send it back for redrafting of some of the language, so we’re hoping to introduce it sometime early next week,” said Casey Kockler, Leach’s media outreach and research specialist. Kockler said the bill currently has only one cosponsor, Sen. Larry Farnese (D-1st Dist.). “I’m pleased to join Sen. Leach in his effort to ensure that the freedoms of an entire class of productive, law-abiding Pennsylvanians will not be jeopardized,” Farnese said this week. Kockler said Leach will be making phone calls and visits to other lawmakers this week to “draw up more support.” Of the state senators who represent Philadelphia, Sen. Vincent Hughes (D-7th Dist.) said he hasn’t “made a decision yet [on cosponsorship] but [does] support Sen. Leach in his efforts,” while the other five local legislators — Sens. Christine Tartaglione (D2nd Dist.), Shirley Kitchen (D-3rd Dist.), Leanna Washington (D-4th Dist.), Michael Stack (D-5th Dist.) and Anthony Williams (D8th Dist.) — did not return calls for comment. The introduction of the bill will mark the first time this commonwealth considers marriageequality legislation. “The introduction of marriage-equality legislation gives the legislature and the public an opportunity to discuss this important, yet controversial, issue from both sides of the argument,” said Steve Glassman, chair of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. “For the first time, we’re not just fighting a constitutional amendment to ban recognition about relationships, but are able to educate the public and elected officials of the value to the economy and to the lives of all Pennsylvanians by recognizing the importance of equal treatment under the law for everyone who lives in this state.” Leach’s announcement came a week after another state legislator, Sen. John Eichelberger (R-30th Dist.), pledged to introduce a bill to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. A staff member at Eichelberger’s office said the senator is still finalizing the language of the bill and probably will not introduce the legislation until at least next week. The
See SPORTS, Page 9
See MARRIAGE, Page 9
AWARDING AN ARTIST: Gloria Casarez (center), the city’s director of LGBT affairs, and members of the Anna Crusis Women’s Choir present Jane Golden (left), director of the city’s Mural Arts Program, with the choir’s inaugural Themis Award during the group’s May 30 “All Our Children Can Fly” concert. The first-annual award recognizes an individual who has worked for socialjustice change in the area. The concert also featured a performance by Amy Dixon-Kolar, a Chicago-based musician whose composition “Rosa Sat,” about the African-American civil-rights struggle, has received national attention. Photo: Scott A. Drake
LGBT athletes team up for sports visibility By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer
LGBT athletes will take to the fields, the courts, the pool and many other venues this weekend for a series of events that exhibit the varied sports prospects for the community. Sports Week, June 5-14, is organized by Team Philadelphia, the umbrella organization that oversees all Philadelphia LGBT sports, which has spearheaded the series since 1992. “We started this as a way to introduce people to the organizations that were a part of Team Philadelphia and to promote awareness of the opportunities available to LGBT people in athletics,” said Rick Van Tassel, Team Philadelphia board member and director of Sports Week. Van Tassel said Sports Week additionally functions as a precursor to the quadrennial Gay Games, which will next be held in 2010 in Cologne, Germany. Soheila Nikpour, Team Philadelphia chairperson, said the week also helps to dispel myths among mainstream athletic communities that LGBT individuals are not interested in sports. “This week represents that there are athletes in our community who are LGBT and this is an opportunity for us to See SCHOOLS, Page 6 mingle with our allies and the non-LGBT