PGN June 9-15, 2017 by The Philadelphia Gay News

pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976

Vol. 41 No. 23 June 9-15, 2017

Family Portrait: Alison Bechdel on a funny stage in life PAGE 41

Congreso CEO under fire to resign PAGE 5

HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM Clay Cane comes home to kick off new book tour

Accuser takes the stand in Cosby trial

PAGE 6

PAGE 2

Office of LGBT Affairs unveils new community flag, website By Jeremy Rodriguez jeremy@epgn.com

A NEW OUT-LET: Residents and visitors of Point Breeze headed to American Sardine Bar for the first OUT in Point Breeze event June 1. The social featured food, drinks and networking opportunities, with more than 100 guests from across the city. Organizers plan to hold socials every month at rotating locations in the neighborhood. Photo: Scott A. Drake

Gay man seeks court order for Social Security to recognize his common-law marriage By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com John D. Roberts wants a federal judge to order the Social Security Administration to recognize his same-sex common-law marriage so he’ll receive spousal-survivor benefits. Roberts, 64, of North Philadelphia, initially applied for the benefits in February 2016, after spouse Bernard O. Wilkerson passed away. However, since the men only were officially married for three months, Social Security denied his request for monthly spousal-survivor benefits. In September 2016, Orphans’ Court Judge George W. Overton ruled that the men were in a common-law marriage dating back to July 4, 1990. Despite Overton’s ruling, the Social Security Administration continues to refuse to recognize Roberts’ 25-year marriage for purposes of monthly spousal-survivor benefits, according to Roberts’ lawsuit. Roberts’ May 31 lawsuit doesn’t specify the amount of benefits in dispute.

M. Patrick Yingling, an attorney for Roberts, said that a Social Security employee told Roberts the agency doesn’t have a policy on same-sex common-law marriage, giving no indication on when such a policy would be developed. “Social Security is not respecting Mr. Roberts’ 25-year marriage to his late spouse. They are singling him out because of the nature of his same-sex marriage. There is no rational reason to discriminate against someone who was in a same-sex common-law marriage.” Yingling said a court order is necessary. “We are seeking a federal-court order that the Social Security Administration must evaluate Mr. Roberts’ application [for monthly benefits] based on his common-law marriage, dating back to 1990.” The lawsuit could help others in a similar situation, Yingling added. “We are also seeking a federal-court order that the Social Security Administration may not refuse to recognize same-sex comPAGE 28

The city unfurled a redesigned LGBT flag this week, the same day it launched a new website for the Office of LGBT Affairs. Amber Hikes, the city’s director of LGBT Affairs, said she teared up the first time she saw the new rainbow flag, which was raised Thursday at City Hall during the inaugural Pride Kickoff. The new flag expands on creator Gilbert Baker’s original design by including black and brown stripes to symbolize the LGBT community’s racial diversity. “Seeing an image like this flag instills so much pride in me as a queer black woman,” Hikes said. “When I see the flag, I feel like I see myself.” Tierney, a Philadelphia-based advertising agency, approached Hikes and the Office of LGBT Affairs with the new design. Hikes said the extra stripes are “simple, but remarkable.” “The new design is a symbolic representation of Philadelphia’s commitment to centering the experiences, contributions, activism and dedication of black and brown members of our community,” Hikes said. “To me, this flag says: ‘We see you. We honor you. We celebrate you. You’re not

just a part of us. You are us.’” For the flag-raising ceremony, Hikes said the office chose people of color as presenters and performers. “I feel that when we celebrate Pride Month and the LGBT community at large, we focus heavily on the same voices, identities and experiences,” Hikes said. “This year, I want to celebrate people who are too often left out of our narratives. I’m really excited to use this event to highlight people of transgender and gender-nonconforming experience [and] highlight youth and people of color for their contributions to the LGBTQ-liberation movement.” Hikes said she believes this flag is “historic on so many levels” and will expand beyond the city. “This is not going to just be in Philadelphia,” she said. “This is going to take the nation by storm. I believe that very deeply. This is an opportunity for the community to come together and celebrate not just Pride but also the community members whose voices and experiences so often get overlooked. To me, this is a chance to stop saying ‘We’re inclusive’ and to actually begin showing it. More importantly, this flag is a step toward healing for our community and this genuine unity that so many of us are saying we want.” Hikes added that, PAGE 28

The Pulse Nightclub tragedy, one year later

PAGES 18-27

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

LOCAL PGN

Resource listings Legal resources • ACLU of Pennsylvania: 215-592-1513; aclupa.org • AIDS Law Project of PA: 215-587-9377; aidslawpa.org

• Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations — Rue Landau: 215-686-4670

• AIDS Law Project of South Jersey: 856-784-8532; aidslawsnj.org/

• Philadelphia Police Liaison Committee: 215-7603686; ppd.lgbt@gmail.com

• Equality PA: equalitypa. org; 215-731-1447

• SPARC — Statewide Pennsylvania Rights Coalition: 717-920-9537

• Office of LGBT Affairs — Amber Hikes: 215-686-0330; amber.hikes@phila.gov

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. • LGBT Center at the University of Pennsylvania; 3907 Spruce St. 215-898-5044, center@dolphin.upenn.edu.

• 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.

• William Way LGBT Community Center

1315 Spruce St.; 215-732-2220, www.waygay.org.

Health and HIV testing • Action Wellness: 1216 Arch St.; 215-981-0088, actionwellness. org

• Health Center No. 2, 1720

• AIDS Library: 1233 Locust St.; aidslibrary.org/

1348 Bainbridge St.; 215-563-0652, mazzonicenter.org

• AIDS Treatment Fact line:

• Philadelphia FIGHT:

800-662-6080

• COLOURS: coloursorganization. org, 215-832-0100 • Congreso de Latinos Unidos; 216 W. Somerset St.; 215-

763-8870

• GALAEI: 215-851-1822 or 866-

S. Broad St.; 215-685-1821

• Mazzoni Center:

1233 Locust St.; 215-985-4448, www.fight.org

• Washington West Project of Mazzoni Center: 1201 Locust St.; 215-985-9206

• Transgender Health Action Coalition: 215-732-1207

222-3871, www.galaei.org. Spanish/ English

Other • Independence Branch Library Barbara Gittings Gay and Lesbian Collection: 215-685-1633 • Independence Business Alliance; 215-557-0190, IndependenceBusinessAlliance.com

• LGBT Peer Counseling Services: 215-732-TALK • PFLAG: Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (Philadelphia): 215-572-1833 • Philly Pride Presents: 215-875-9288

Home for Hope director resigns By Jeremy Rodriguez jeremy@epgn.com The director of the first LGBT-specific homeless shelter in Pennsylvania stepped down from her position last Wednesday. Deja Lynn Alvarez confirmed to PGN her resignation from the LGBTQ Home For Hope. “It is with a lot of soul-searching and deep thought that I have resigned as director of the Home For Hope,” Alvarez said in an email to PGN. “Unfortunately, there has been a lot of infighting within the community in which I have been the recipient of a lot of hate and vitriol. All of that has taken away from the work that needs to be done to help those that need it most. I feel I have left the home in good hands with [owner] Sakina Dean and will still assist in any way needed for the community. As always my heart and all the work I do is with and for our community.” Dean did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Sharron Cooks, former chair of the Mayor’s Commission on LGBT Affairs, has contended several times on social media that Home for Hope’s 501c3 nonprofit status was revoked for a period of time. She recently posted screenshots on Facebook of Home for Hope’s GoFundMe page, contending the organization was fundraising during a time the nonprofit status was not active. A statement from Home For Hope issued June 6 described that the shelter is currently “working with consulting

firm Making Our Lives Easier LLC CEO Sharron Cooks to assist in facilitating the leadership transition and LGBTQ program development for the LGBTQ Hope for Hope.” It further listed Dean as executive director of the home. Alvarez declined to comment on the claims regarding the organization’s nonprofit status. “The home and the residents are more important than any one person, including myself, and I want each of them to know

“The home and the residents are more important than any one person, including myself, and I want each of them to know that I love them and am still here for every one of them.” that I love them and am still here for every one of them,” Alvarez told PGN. “I wish [Dean] and the home the best of luck.” DVLF recognized Alvarez for her work with the organization at its 10th-annual HEROES Awards in 2016; PGN also named Alvarez its 2016 Person of the Year. Under Alvarez’s leadership, the shelter received the Urban Initiative Award last year for its approach to fighting LGBT homelessness. n

Accuser takes the stand in Cosby case By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The sexual-assault case against comedian Bill Cosby opened this week, with prosecutors presenting several women who contend Cosby assaulted them, including the lesbian at the center of the case. Andrea Constand took the stand Tuesday in the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, seated before Cosby, attorneys, a room of reporters and the jury, comprised of seven men and five women. Constand is one of dozens of women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault but the only one whose case resulted in criminal charges against the 79-year-old Elkins Park resident. It was at his home that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2004, Constand testified. Cosby, a Temple University alumnus, met Constand when the latter was the director of operations for the school’s basketball team. She described that the pair struck up a friendship but that, over time, Cosby began making “suggestive” advances, which she said she rebuked. Constand testified that, during a meeting at his home in January 2004, Cosby was counseling her about a potential career shift when he offered her “herbal” pills. A few minutes later, she said her vision became blurry and she was unable to move. Constand testified that Cosby laid her on the couch, groped her genitals and forced her hand onto his penis. She said she came to a few hours later, felt “humiliated” and “just wanted to go home.” Constand reported the incident to police in 2005, but no charges were brought; she later filed a civil suit, which was settled. On cross-examination Tuesday, defense attorneys raised inconsistencies among Constand’s testimony and previous statements, such as her original statement that she and Cosby were not alone prior to the incident. Cross-exam continued Wednesday, when PGN goes to press. The trial is expected to last about two weeks. Because of Cosby’s fame, jurors were chosen from Allegheny County and will be sequestered throughout the trial’s duration. n

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News & Opinion

16 — News Briefing 10 — Creep of the Week Editorial 11 — Transmissions Mark My Words Street Talk

Columns

15 — Out Money: Retire in style 23 — Thinking Queerly: LGBT and Latinx communities still face pain

Arts & Culture 33 37 43 38 41 44

COLOUR-FUL CANVAS: Supporters of The COLOURS Organization got creative June 1 at Painting with a Twist. The Rittenhouse venue provided the canvases, paint and instruction and let the amateur artists get to work on their sunset paintings. Proceeds from the event benefited COLOURS, which provides community-building and health and wellness services to black LGBT communities in the region. Photo: Scott A. Drake

— Feature: Staging life choices — Scene in Philly — Comics — Out & About — Family Portrait — Q Puzzle

Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian got in on the Bingo fun at Borgata last weekend.

PGN 505 S. Fourth St. Philadelphia, PA 19147-1506 Phone: 215-625-8501 Fax: 215-925-6437 E-mail: pgn@epgn.com Web: www.epgn.com

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~ Nikki López, on the Pulse oneyear anniversay barbeque, page 19

Creep of the Week: Laurie Higgins won’t be watching “RuPaul’s Drag Race” any time soon.

Editor

“Even with some of the fundraisers or memorials that have taken place, it has always been done by folks outside the Latinx community. This is really an opportunity for the community’s voices to be uplifted.”

GALAEI invites the community to remember those lost in the Pulse shooting.

Art Director/ Photographer

Scott A. Drake (ext. 210) scott@epgn.com 267-736-6743 Graphic Artist Sean Dorn (ext. 211) sean@epgn.com

Philadelphia Gay News is a member of: The Associated Press Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Suburban Newspapers of America

The West Catholic High School community keeps Pulse victim Akyra Murray’s memory alive, on and off the court.

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

Activists rally to demand resignation of Congreso CEO By Beth Boyle PGN Contributor Dozens of community leaders and protesters gathered June 1 outside the Kensington office of Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Inc., to demand the resignation of CEO Carolina Cabrera DiGiorgio and more transparency and communication from one of the largest Lantix-serving nonprofits in Philadelphia. Since DiGiorgio was photographed smiling and clapping at President Donald Trump’s April 29 rally in Harrisburg, at which he renewed his calls for a travel ban and a border wall, Latinx and LGBT activists have called for major policy and personnel changes at Congreso. The crowd held handmade signs that read, “Carolina, which side are you on?” and chanted, “Who do you serve? Who do you protect?” in Spanish and English while several people beat hand drums. Erika Almiron, executive director of Juntos, spoke through a bullhorn: “This is beyond politics. This is about hate. They want to divide our community.” DiGiorgio told PGN after the protest that she was aware of the demonstrators’ demands. “Oh yes, I’m aware,” she said. “There’s not much by response. We respect everyone’s First Amendment right to speak out. People of every race, religion, ethnicity and

sexuality are welcome at Congreso.” DiGiorgio has previously said she was only at the rally to support her husband, Valentino DiGiorgio, who was recently elected as chair of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania. DiGiorgio told a reporter from City & State PA, “There’s nothing that would hold me back from supporting him.” Records show that both are registered Republicans in Chester County and Valentino DiGiorgio has voiced his support for Lou Barletta’s Senate campaign. Barletta supports the construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall and the repeal of Obamacare. Former GALAEI executive director Elicia Gonzales, who previously worked at Congreso, called on the agency’s current employees to stand with the community. “You have an opportunity to speak out against this travesty, which you know to be unjust,” she said. “You can use your voice to speak out. There is too much at stake for your voice not to be heard.” Protesters voiced concerns and outrage through the bullhorn, including one woman who uses Congreso’s services to manage HIV and fears funding to the programs she relies on would be cut under Trump’s budget. DiGiorgio noted that “any budget cut will impact Congreso, as it would any other agency. At Congreso, we are trying to be more innovative and trying to diversify our

LOCAL ACTIVISTS DEMONSTRATED JUNE 1 OUTSIDE CONGRESO CALLING FOR THE RESIGNATION OF CEO CAROLINA CABRERA DIGIORGIO, WHO PARTICIPATED IN A RALLY FOR PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP THIS SPRING. Photo: Felipe Vazquez

funding pool to get away from government dependency. I personally don’t think that will happen, but we would have to work quickly to diversify our funding pool.” The protesters also spoke of the anxiety over deportations since Trump’s inauguration. The Metropolitan Policy Program

estimates that Philadelphia has one of the fastest-growing immigrant populations in the country, calculated at 500,000. The Pew Center has found that more than 50,000 of those residents are undocumented immigrants. PAGE 15 Protester Valentina

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Out journalist launches book tour in native city By Jeremy Rodriguez jeremy@epgn.com Clay Cane is quick to admit what he learned from 1980s and 1990s Philadelphia. “It taught me about poverty,” the 40-year-old said. “It taught me about survival. It taught me about homophobia, racism, love [and] fighting for the right to exist. It taught me that you have to always fight to be seen and to be heard. “If it wasn’t for my days in Philly, I don’t think I’d be where I am today,” Cane added. “It’s one of those weird things where it was rough going through it — what I experienced being a young, black, gay kid — but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” This is why Cane says it “feels great” to launch a book tour for his memoir, “Live Through This: Surviving the Intersections of Sexuality, God and Race,” in his native city. The journalist, who received a 2016 GLAAD Media Award for his documentary “Holler If You Hear Me: Black and Gay in the Church,” will hold a launch party for his book June 14 at the Philadelphia Ethical Society. Political strategist Malcolm Kenyatta will host the event, which will include an interview, audience Q&A and a book sign-

ing. For the memoir, Cane separated 27 essays into five topics — “Sexuality,” “Love,” “Race,” “God” and “Intersections.” Throughout, he interweaved life lessons from people he has encountered. In one chapter, he noted how a sex worker, Adina, on 13th Street taught him how to read people. The skills he learned from Adina showed him how to “[figure] someone out in seconds.” “That story with Adina — she was no joke,” Cane said. “She was ferocious. That stayed with me forever. I’ve been in strange circumstances trying to figure somebody out [and] I would think of her and the girls around her.” While Cane said that his voice does not speak for everyone’s experiences, he wanted to use his memoir to shine a light on people who are “voiceless,” like Adina. “In many ways, the stories that I’m telling are untold stories in mainstream media — people who aren’t often heard, people who are considered to not have a voice, people who aren’t seen,” Cane said. “It isn’t all about me. It’s about highlighting other people’s stories.” Cane also incorporates references to pop culture in his book and noted that “pretty much

every essay you read, there is some kind of set-up for a song or a movie.” “If you listen to a song that you haven’t heard in five or so years, you’re going to remember what that song made you feel,” he said. “It made sense to have those pop-culture references,” Cane added. “That’s who I am. I love pop culture. I think it’s really

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crucial to American culture and also, right now, pop culture is king. Pop culture rules the world, which I think is part of the reason why we have this reality-show president.” In regard to the current president, to whom he refuses refer to by name, Cane said he has heard from readers about the book’s current relevance. He refers to the book as an “act of resistance”

on behalf of the marginalized communities he depicts in the memoir. Cane said there is “fire” in him now stemming from the political climate. “People are being pushed deeper into a structure of exploitation and one of the ways we can change that is through art, music, literature [and] comedy,” Cane said. “Those are ways to change it.” Overall, Cane says he wants his memoir to “encourage people to see beyond their lens.” “I want people to be able to identify and sympathize with somebody that they may not think they know,” he said. “We have this narrative for [LGBT] people to come out, be proud, be who you are,” Cane added. “But there’s so much more work than that and that’s part of the reason why I called the book ‘Live Through This.’ The journey is long and you have to prepare yourself for these constant battlefields. On an individual basis, I want people to be inspired to live through their circumstances. I want people to be motivated no matter who they are.” n Cane will launch his book 6:30-8:30 p.m. June 14 in the auditorium of the Philadelphia Ethical Society, 1906 S. Rittenhouse Square. “Live Through This: Surviving the Intersections of Sexuality, God, and Race” can be ordered here: http://amzn.to/2qTwEWv.

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

Philly Dyke March returns with new initiatives Homecoming will ‘Rise’ to kick By Jeremy Rodriguez jeremy@epgn.com Las month, police arrested a man in Brooklyn, N.Y., for allegedly knocking a lesbian woman unconscious in a subway. Officials said the suspect purposely bumped into the victim and her girlfriend while yelling anti-LGBT words such as “dyke” and “faggot.” Jenn Anderson, a co-lead organizer for the 2017 Philly Dyke March, said these stories represent why the June 10 event exists. “Obviously, dyke issues still need to be brought to the forefront because we’re not 100-percent accepted or recognized,” Anderson said. The Philadelphia Dyke March will return to the city this weekend. Since 1998, the Dyke March has been an opportunity for women to march and rally. “It’s a march, a protest, a movement,” the event’s Facebook page states, noting the protesters do not get a permit to take to the city streets. “Too often, the LGBT community focuses on male-dominated voices,” organizers state on the page. “The Philly Dyke March is our protest in support of the dyke voice and experience, and focuses on the wants, needs and demands of our community. We march to show that we exist, that we matter and that we have a voice.” Anderson noted that efforts for the Dyke March started earlier than in typical years. In the week leading up to the march, PDM hosted a Karaoke Happy Hour Kickoff event and the inaugural Dyke Ride, in which supporters participated in a group bike ride. “We really want[ed] people to know what the Dyke March is about,” Anderson said. “It’s not exclusionary. You don’t have to identify

as a dyke to come. People are not going to be unwelcome based on how they identify. That’s not what it’s about. That was part of the impetus behind us, trying to get out and involved right away.” Other new initiatives PDM will participate in will include the Masculine of Center table discussion June 11, at which six panelists will discuss what it means to be “masculine of center” and other issues relating to the LGBT community. PDM also made changes to its leadership style. In the past, positions within the organization changed each year but now leaders will hold their positions for two years. “It has been a growing year for us,” Anderson said. “It has been a fantastic experience and we learned quite a bit.” “It’s a really good time to get out there, be seen and be heard,” Anderson said about why the dyke community and allies should attend. “Sometimes, I feel like we tend to surround ourselves with people who are similar to us. It’s a really fantastic opportunity to get to know people and see who your community is.” n If you go ... • The rally begins 3 p.m. June 10 at Kahn Park, 1119 Pine St. The march will begin at 4 p.m. • The PDM Official After Party will take place 6:30-10:30 p.m. June 10 at Tabu, 200 S. 12th St. Cover charge is $7. • Masculine of Center: A Table Discussion will be held 1-3 p.m. June 11 at The Tusk, 430 South St. Admission is $10. Visit www.facebook.com/philadelphiadykemarch for more information.

off Pride weekend By Jeremy Rodriguez jeremy@epgn.com

Members of the LGBT community and allies will kick off Pride weekend with brunch festivities to raise funds for the William Way LGBT Community Center. The center will host its annual Homecoming event, featuring a silent auction and awards ceremony, June 16. The organization coordinated a Homecoming brunch last year in lieu of the usual afternoon garden party. Due to the event’s success, the center’s leadership decided to bring that format back. “It really freed people to enjoy their evening on Pride weekend and we found that people found it more relaxing to have a brunch and kick off their weekend by coming to Homecoming,” said Executive Director Chris Bartlett. Bartlett noted that Homecoming’s theme this year is “Rise.” “It pictures the community rising up to meet all of the challenges it faces and to continue the decades of great work we’ve done to build LGBT communities in Philadelphia,” he said. “The event is meant to celebrate the energy and passion of our community leaders and community participants.” Drag performer Icon Ebony Fierce will host the event, which will also honor two lesbian activists, Ada Bello and Connie Lyford, for their work.

Bello founded Philadelphia’s Homophile Action League and participated in the 1969 Annual Reminder Day march. Meanwhile, Lyford was the co-coordinator of Philadelphia Policy Council for the Gay Community Center. “They were involved in the gay-liberation movement in the ’60s and ’70s and they continue to be leaders in our movement and support new generations of community leaders,” Bartlett said. “We want to celebrate over 50 years of community activism by both of them.” The annual event will include live entertainment and auction items from organizations including Fante’s Kitchen Shop, Interact Theatre Company, Tattooed Mom’s, Wilma Theater, The Gables Bed and Breakfast, CBS-3, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Bridge Music, VIX Emporium, Philadelphia Magic Gardens and Montage Mountain Resorts. “This is a terrific opportunity for community members to come into our center, see what we’re up to, celebrate with us and kick off their Pride weekend in an energetic way,” Bartlett said. Homecoming 2017: Rise! will take place 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. June 17 at William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St. Visit http:// bit.ly/2sKzyNL to purchase tickets. n

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

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BEACH BUDS: Sandy Beach (right) took a break from hosting Pride BINGO June 3 to chat with Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian. The first-time event at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa drew a sell-out crowd, with proceeds supporting the Miss’D America organization, which stages the annual drag competition in the fall and supports regional LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations. The Bingo event featured drag performances and prizes like a $1,000 Borgata gift card and an overnight stay at the venue’s Water Club. Photo: Scott A. Drake

Pro-trans ruling could help birth-certificate case By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com Attorneys for a New Jersey trans woman seeking a gender-accurate birth certificate hope a recent pro-trans ruling in a Pennsylvania case will give a boost to their case. “Jane Doe” has gender dysphoria and seeks to change the gender designation on her birth certificate without undergoing surgery. New Jersey currently requires proof of gender-confirmation surgery prior to issuing to a trans person a revised birth certificate with a different gender. But Doe alleges that requiring surgery for a gender-accurate birth certificate is illegal. Doe’s lawsuit, filed in November, remains pending before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp, based in Camden. The defendants are state registrar Vincent T. Arrisi and state health commissioner Cathleen D. Bennett, along with the agencies they head: the New Jersey Office of Vital Statistics and the New Jersey Department of Health, respectively. New Jersey officials seek the dismissal of Doe’s suit, contending Doe already has an accurate birth certificate reflecting her male anatomy at birth. In court papers, defense attorneys refute Doe’s contention that she’s being discriminated against on the basis of her gender-dysphoria disability. Defense attorneys also claim that gender dysphoria is excluded from coverage under the Americans with Disabilities Act because the ADA excludes “gender identity

disorders.” However, in a Pennsylvania case filed by trans woman Kate Lynn Blatt, U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. recently ruled that gender dysphoria isn’t excluded from ADA coverage. In Blatt’s case, she alleges gender-dysphoria discrimination by her former employer when denying her access to a female restroom and female nametag. On May 25, attorneys for Doe provided Shipp with a copy of Leeson’s six-page ruling in Blatt’s case. “The Blatt ruling is just one more judicial ruling that’s helpful to our case,” said Julie Chovanes, an attorney for Doe. “Also helpful is a recent appellate ruling out of Chicago that supports our case. Though neither ruling is binding on Judge Shipp, we feel they’re both persuasive. It’s good to know that the courts are beginning to recognize the pervasive nature of anti-trans discrimination and they’re moving to correct injustice.” Doe’s suit notes that several states including Pennsylvania, New York, California, Iowa, Oregon, Vermont and Washington permit gender changes to birth certificates without requiring gender-confirmation surgery. Doe’s suit also points out that New Jersey doesn’t require gender-confirmation surgery to change a gender marker on a driver’s license. Paul Loriquet, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, couldn’t be reached for comment. As of presstime, the request by New Jersey officials to dismiss Doe’s case remained pending. n

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

EDITORIAL PGN EDITORIAL

Creep of the Week

D’Anne Witkowski

Laurie Higgins

Editorial

The Trump effect The negative repercussions from the election of Donald Trump have been reverberating around the world for more than six months. The Trump administration has turned Washington, D.C., into the reality star’s personal circus, and drastically altered the international perception of the United States as the leader of the free world. But there has to be a silver lining somewhere, right? Maybe we’re grasping at straws for a glimmer of hope, but we are taking some heart in the blossoming political engagement in this country, particularly among young folks. For instance, last month’s primary election in Philadelphia drove a record number of locals ages 18-34 to the polls. The City Commissioners’ Office announced this week a 279-percent increase in votes among that age group from the 2013 race, the largest jump among any age demographic. Granted, only about 10 percent of registered 18-34-year-olds voted last month, but the uptick is at least promising. We’ve seen masses of marches and protests in the past few months, attracting everyone from millennials to seniors. And many demonstrators aren’t single-issue protesters: LGBT folks are marching at climate-change events, and racial-equality advocates are joining the call for a woman’s right to choose. Awareness of intersectionality needs to continue to flourish, with a particular need for allies to support efforts like Black Lives Matter; for many, the threat to the rights under this administration may be a new development but, for others, discrimination is nothing new. Unity among all marginalized communities is the best line of defense our country has. Education is also a powerful tool, and many Americans seem to be taking that idea seriously. A few years ago, a Congressional hearing of the former director of the FBI would be a blip on the radar of most Americans, whose awareness of D.C. happenings was likely lost amid the maelstrom of daily life. But now, people more readily appreciate that what happens in our nation’s capital affects us all. The testimony of former FBI director James Comey, which started after PGN went to press on this issue, was slated to be carried live by all major networks, with many non-politicos anticipating the broadcast like the Super Bowl. At least one bar in the Gayborhood was even opening early Thursday so patrons could catch the hearing. The laundry list of damage Trump has inflicted is seemingly never-ending. But the singular positive so far is that his election seems to have awoken Americans to the need for political engagement, education and action. Let’s keep this going. n

We want to know!

For my mom’s 63rd birthday, my sisters and I took her to Drag Queen Bingo. She won a round and ended up on stage where she very proudly proclaimed that she had five children and three of them were gay. The drag queen, Detroit’s own Sabín, responded, “Bitch, what were you eating in the ’60s?” Everybody laughed, including my mom. My 7-year-old son obviously didn’t go to the 18-plus event. But we told him where we were going, which prompted the question, “What’s a drag queen?” I explained that a person in “drag” is in costume, and that a drag queen was usually a man playing the role of a very glamorous woman, almost like a cartoon character. “Oh, OK,” my son said, as if it was no big deal. Because it was no big deal. Had a child posed the same question to Laurie Higgins, however, I suspect much pearl-clutching would have ensued. Higgins, who covers cultural affairs for the Illinois Family Institute, is not a fan of drag queens. Writing for the IFI webpage on May 25, Higgins sounded the alarm that drag queens were targeting children! By reading to them at public libraries in New York and Chicago. “Pray for our nation’s little ones,” Higgins writes, lest they “end up at their local library or bookstore for story time with drag queens.” Forgive me if I expected “pray for our nation’s little ones” to be followed up with something about hunger or gun violence. But nope, it’s drag queens. You know that saying, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention?” Well, in this case, it’s, “If you’re outraged by drag queens, you’re not paying attention to the right things.” Higgins was especially incensed that a drag queen named Lil Miss Hot Mess (who Higgins insists on calling “Mr. Mess”) dared to read a book called “Worm Loves Worm,” a book where two worms fall in love and get married regardless of expected gender norms, to “children too young to think critically but old enough to be indoctrinated with lies by deceitful and feckless adults.”

Higgins takes specific issue with “Worm Loves Worm” author J.J. Austrian, picking apart a 2016 interview he did on the Lu and Bean Read podcast. In the interview Austrian said, “Boys can wear skirts. Girls can wear pants. I’m not a cowboy but sometimes I wear a cowboy hat.” Higgins pounces on this bit. “Austrian is unwittingly treading on dangerous PC territory here. In referring to ‘boys’ and ‘girls,’ he affirms the dreaded — and to many trannies, mythical — sexual binary.” First of all, transgender people (not “trannies,” you jerk) and drag queens are not the same. Secondly, the idea that those who are trans or gender-fluid want to eradicate the very idea of “boys and girls” is silly. Higgins chooses to see any deviation from gender norms as some kind of perversion and a threat to the binary she holds so dear. Higgins continues, “When [Austrian] said that he wears a cowboy hat despite not being a cowboy, he implies that boys who wear skirts are not actually girls. He inadvertently faceplanted onto the concrete truth.” Uh, no, that isn’t what he is saying. Wearing a cowboy hat doesn’t make you a cowboy, unless you identify as a cowboy. Putting on a skirt doesn’t turn anyone into a girl, regardless of what is between their legs. That’s not how gender identity works. That is how costumes work, though. Which brings us back to drag queens. It must be nice to live such a comfortable life that you see drag queens reading books to kids as threatening. In the words of Bianca Del Rio, “Not today, Satan.” n

You know that saying, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention?” Well, in this case, it’s, “If you’re outraged by drag queens, you’re not paying attention to the right things.”

D’Anne Witkowski is a poet, writer and comedian living in Michigan with her wife and son. She has been writing about LGBT politics for over a decade. Follow her on Twitter @MamaDWitkowski.

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.

OP-ED PGN

Watch out, Pulitzer Last Friday night, Jason and I were in and led to threats to our lives. That colthe car going to do our weekly grocery umn ended up talking about the changes in shopping when I received the news. I this country since then and how PGN has looked at Jason and asked, “Is it me, or chronicled all those changes. the hype around me?” He smiled and said, These awards, all seven of them, were “A little of each” and asked me what I something that we could never have thought. My answer has never dreamed of almost 41 years changed: I’ve always believed ago since, at that time, we were it’s passion and a good editor. refused membership in almost You see, on Friday I received all journalism organizations. an email from the National And with the awards from Newspaper Association that NNA, we have now won major stated, “You have placed in awards from almost every jourthe 2017 National Newspaper nalism organization in the counAssociation BNEC/BNAC contry. There’s really only one left test.” PGN had won a total of — the Pulitzer — but hey, they seven awards: from our coverwould never look at this scrappy age of the Orlando tragedy to newspaper. Thank you to all the journalour special features, profiles and ism organizations, especially our social-media journalism. NNA, PNA, SPJ and NLGJA And then I noticed something personal: I had placed for “Best and all the others who have Mark Segal honored the staff at PGN. And Serious Column.” And that got to me for several as I’ve said so often, thank you reasons. The column that won was titled to the staff of PGN for making me a proud “A 40-year journey,” which was the colpublisher. n umn I wrote for PGN’s 40th anniversary. In it, I explained our humble — very humble Mark Segal is the nation’s most-award-winning com— beginnings and our attempts to overmentator in LGBT media. His memoir, “And Then I Danced,” is available on Amazon.com, Barnes & come hatred, which, at times, destroyed Noble or at your favorite bookseller. our offices, crushed our vending boxes

Mark My Words

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

Street Talk How will you commemorate the Pulse shooting on the first anniversary? "I'll make a point of going online to GoFundMe or some other website to see how I can contribute financially to a victims' Ellie Belcheff fund. I'll marketing intern also post the West Philadelphia information on my Facebook page and encourage friends to donate to the Pulse victims and their families."

"I'm a Reiki practitioner. I'll make sure when I treat someone on June 12 that the treatment is in honor of the Pulse victims. I Izzy Hamm may even do Reiki practitioner/ a treatment yoga instructor on myself. It South Philadelphia sends forth healing energy."

"I'll wear my black shirt with a rainbow flag on it. I also plan to do a specific outreach to my friends who were James Lincoln affected by plumber the tragedy. I West Philadelphia have a trans friend from Orlando who was deeply affected. They knew three victims personally."

"As a bisexual woman, I pray for the victims on a regular basis. I think about Pulse quite frequently. On the Jessica Plaza anniversary, actor/writer I'll have West Hollywood, a social Calif. gathering with friends. Names of the victims will be mentioned. And there will be a moment of silence in their memory."

Trans during wartime There was a collective groan on Nov. 8 as we saw Donald Trump take the presidency. With his victory, we knew that transgender rights won through the previous administration, protections that had been claimed to be “robust,” were on the chopping block. Indeed, I think back to a picture of then-candidate Trump holding a Pride flag emblazoned with “LGBTs for Trump,” and noting the flag itself was upside-down, a move typically reserved for those in distress. Today, past Donald Trump’s first 100 days, we see the rollback of our rights in action. Transgender military service, one of the later additions to a broad number of trans-positive Obama-era policy changes, is now in jeopardy. According to a report in Newsweek, transgender men and women will not be allowed to sign up to serve on July 1 as anticipated, and it is unclear if Secretary of Defense Jim

Mattis will implement the order at all. It is unclear how this will affect the 7,000 or so transgender military personnel already serving, some of whom have been openly transgender since last June’s order, but we have a good idea: Two transgender cadets — one with the Army, the other with the Air Force — are set to graduate their military academies this year, but will not be commissioned. Because policies are not yet in place, the Pentagon does not know how to handle these new officers. The military is not the only place we’re seeing setbacks: Back in February, early in his presidency, rules around restrooms and other facilities aimed at protecting transgender students were rescinded, furthering anti-transgender struggles over bathroom access. Further, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under Ben Carson has quietly begun to purge

materials related to transgender use of shelters, revoking rules allowing transgender people to stay at sex-segregated shelters of their choice. Carson, it is worth noting, had this to say about transgender people last July at the Republican National Convention: “You know, we look at this whole transgender thing. I got to tell you: For thousands of years, mankind has known what a man is and what a woman is. And now, all of a sudden, we don’t know anymore. Now, is that the height of absurdity? Because today you feel like a woman, even though everything about you genetically says that you’re a man or vice versa.” Carson’s views are not out of line with his contemporaries in other departments under Trump. While Education Secretary Betsy DeVos initially opposed withholding guidance on trans students, she fell in line behind the administration’s overall

views, and is no longer seemingly interested in standing up to any violations of students’ rights. Tom Price, the Health and Human Services secretary, has been clearly against transgender students, saying that the restroom policies enacted under Obama were “yet another abuse and overreach of power by the Obama administration, and a clear invasion of privacy.” Further, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is opposed to LGBT rights, having even fought against hate-crime protections, but Sessions seems opposed to protecting most everyone under his watch — besides perhaps himself and his cronies. Indeed, much of the Trump White House has come from LGBT-hostile territory. It would seem, therefore, that for as long as Trump is in office, transgender rights will be threatened. We’re now in the first Pride Month of this presidency, PAGE 22

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

Estate planning and retirement assets: what you need to know Q: My partner and I were recently married and we have a young son. We think we should be looking to update our wills and beneficiary information on our retirement accounts, just in case. Any thoughts on where to start?

comfort level to manage the insurance proceeds. A properly designed and executed life-insurance trust can provide considerable advantages to you, your loved ones and your estate. But trusts can be complex instruments, so be sure to consult with an estate-planning proA: First, congratulations on your recent fessional with experience in setting up marriage! And yes, I’d agree life-insurance trusts to help now may be a good time to ensure your peace of mind. revisit any planning you may Also, remember to name have done to make sure it contingent or secondary benreflects your current desires eficiaries. This means that if and new family structure. the primary beneficiary has Here are a few thoughts to died, the insurance proceeds help you begin: will go to the individual or trust named as secondary Whether you’re wealthy or beneficiary. If there are no earn a modest income, there surviving beneficiaries, then is one estate-planning concern the beneficiary is generally that is shared by people from the insured’s estate, which all walks of life: the decision means the death benefits will Jeremy be probated and ultimately of who gets what when you’re gone. While some individuals according to the Gussick distributed may logically assume that a instructions of the decedent’s last will and testament is the last will and testament. If one official forum to express such decian individual dies without a valid will sions, that’s not always the case. Often, (intestate), then the order of legal benean equally important issue is who to ficiaries to whom assets are distributed name as beneficiary on life-insurance is specified by that state’s intestacy laws. Many people also consider naming policies, pension-plan accounts and charities as either partial primary beneIRAs, since these assets are passed on ficiaries and/or contingent beneficiaries independent of what may be spelled out as well, to help support organizations in a will. or causes that are important to you and your family. Life insurance

Out Money

No matter who is designated, the beneficiaries will generally receive the death-benefit proceeds income tax-free. Unlike property disposed of in a will, if the beneficiary-designation form is properly completed, insurance proceeds typically do not go through probate. For many married individuals, a spouse will be the most logical beneficiary. A trust may be a better beneficiary choice, however, if a surviving spouse would not have the knowledge, time or

CONGRESO from page 5

Rodriguez added, “[DiGiorgio’s] out supporting Trump, and he doesn’t stand for the Latinx LGBT community. If you’re in a position as high as hers, you need to speak up for the community. I want someone [as CEO] who has walked these streets, someone who knows us.” “Today is just one of many actions we intend to conduct,” said GALAEI Executive Director Nikki López. Apart from demanding DiGiorgio’s resignation, the organization is calling for changes at the board level.

Pension plans and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)

Single people can name whomever they choose. And non-spouse designated beneficiaries of qualified retirement plans may be eligible for a “trustee-totrustee” transfer to an inherited IRA, thus preserving the ability to stretch distributions over their life expectancies. Charitable beneficiaries are also an option with retirement accounts as well. Consult your tax advisor on how these rule changes may affect your situation. Naming minor children may not be best Naming children as beneficiaries may cause unforeseen problems. For example, insurance companies, pension plans and retirement accounts may not pay death benefits to minors. The benefits would likely be held until they could be made to a court-approved guardian and/ or trustee of a children’s trust. A guardian, trust or trustee should be named beneficiary to ensure competent management of the proceeds for the children. IRS rules provide that plans may allow non-spousal beneficiaries to stretch retirement-plan distributions over the life of the beneficiary. Check with your employer to find out if this is an option under your plan prior to naming a child as a beneficiary. A competent financial professional and/or tax advisor can also offer guidance as to whether this action may be appropriate for you. Keep your plan up to date

Generally, the law requires that the spouse be the primary beneficiary of a 401(k) or a profit-sharing account unless he/she waives that right in writing. A waiver may make sense in a second marriage — if a new spouse is already financially secure or if children from a first marriage are more likely to need the money.

As you formalize or update your estate plan and will, it is important to review all beneficiary designations so that your plan accurately reflects your current intentions. Remember that beneficiary designations could misdirect the intended flow of an estate unless they are kept up to date. As is always the case with estate plan-

“This is an organization that receives almost 80-percent funding from the city, and as a social-services organization for the Latinx community, we believe the Latinx community needs a seat at the table.” DiGiorgio told PGN that the agency’s board is “an amazing group of diverse people. We have board members from Honduras, Haiti, Guatemala, all around the world. They are certainly a devoted group that volunteer their time to the community.” The Congreso board of directors, on which DiGiorgio sat for several years, released a

statement of support for her leadership in May. Activists at last week’s demonstration said that move suggests Congreso is removed from the community it serves. Abdul-Aliy Muhammad of the Black & Brown Workers Collective called for more communication with Congreso’s leadership, saying, “For trust to be rebuilt, [DiGiorgio] must resign and the board must be more open and transparent. The board of directors does not reflect the community, and that’s a problem.” GALAEI volunteer Felipe Vazquez added,

ning, consult with qualified professionals concerning your particular situation in order to ensure that your beneficiary designations are in tune with your goals. n

Jeremy R. Gussick is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional affiliated with LPL Financial, the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer.* Jeremy specializes in the financial planning and retirement income needs of the LGBT community and was recently named a 2016 FIVE STAR Wealth Manager as mentioned in Philadelphia Magazine.** He is active with several LGBT organizations in the Philadelphia region, including DVLF and Independence Business Alliance, the Philadelphia region’s LGBT chamber of commerce. OutMoney appears monthly. If you have a question for Jeremy, you can contact him via email at jeremy.gussick@lpl. com. This article was prepared with the assistance of DST Systems Inc. The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. We suggest that you discuss your specific situation with a qualified tax or legal advisor. Please consult me if you have any questions. LPL Financial Representatives offer access to Trust Services through The Private Trust Company N.A., an affiliate of LPL Financial. Because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by DST Systems Inc. or its sources, neither Wealth Management Systems Inc. nor its sources guarantees the accuracy, adequacy, completeness or availability of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. In no event shall DST Systems Inc. be liable for any indirect, special or consequential damages in connection with subscribers’ or others’ use of the content. Securities and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor, Member FINRA/SIPC. *As reported by Financial Planning magazine, June 1996-2016, based on total revenues. **Award based on 10 objective criteria associated with providing quality services to clients such as credentials, experience, and assets under management among other factors. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of 2016 Five Star Wealth Managers.

“This is kind of a blessing in disguise. You don’t know where a person stands until they take action. It’s good for the community to look closer at their organizations because we didn’t elect them and they’re not held accountable by anyone until we step up.” Organizers report that, outside of the press release supporting DiGiorgio, Congreso officials have not responded to their requests for a meeting. When asked by PGN if she would meet with the organizations involved in last week’s protest, DiGiorgio replied, “Sure thing.” n

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

will be raised for the scholarship with the new addition of the live auction. This year’s event, modeled after “An Evening in Paris,” will feature a roaming mime, a strolling accordionist and themed décor. DJ Brad Scott will provide music for the evening. The LGBT Business Council Gala will include cocktails and the silent auction starting at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 and dancing until 11 June 16 at the Bear Creek Mountain Resort and Conference Center, 101 Doe Mountain Lane, Macungie. Visit http://bit.ly/2sw762L to purchase tickets.

News Briefing Biz group to raise funds for first-time LGBT youth scholarship The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce will change up fundraising efforts for its third-annual LGBT Business Council Gala. “We had an interest in how LGBT youth may suffer more than other kids in school [because of] bullying and how that affects their likelihood to attend college,” said Angela DelGrosso, the chamber’s vice president of business and diversity councils. The resulting research ultimately helped the chamber start a scholarship fund for LGBT high-school seniors. In the future, DelGrosso said she hopes the scholarship will expand to adults planning to return to college. The chamber will raise funds through a silent auction, flower sales and the firsttime live auction at the event. Last year’s gala raised $5,000 for the Valley Youth House. DelGrosso anticipates more funds

Action Wellness hosts free HIV testing and STI screening A local nonprofit organization will host free HIV testing and STI screenings on the second Friday of each month. Action Wellness opened the effort to the public May 12, with no requirements for patients to have health insurance or to make appointments. The organization will also give away gift cards, SEPTA tokens and snacks. Testing is available noon-3 p.m. at the Annex West Health Center, 3990 Filbert St. Action Wellness is currently offering services June 9, July 14, Aug. 11, Sept. 8, Oct. 13, Nov. 10 and Dec. 8. n — Jeremy Rodriguez

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International LGBT parade held in conservative-ruled Poland Thousands of people marched and danced down the streets of Central Warsaw June 3 to show their support for LGBT rights, calling for stronger defiance of discrimination and greater acceptance for same-sex unions and marriages. The 17th-annual Equality Parade took place despite a deeply conservative government that opposes marriage rights or civil unions for same-sex couples. Some 40 foreign embassies, including those of France and the United States, expressed their support for the parade. Police estimated that about 13,000 people took part in the event, which is meant as a demonstration of tolerance not only for gays and lesbians, but also people with disabilities and other marginalized groups. Organizers said 50,000 took part. Participants carried balloons and the rainbow flags that are the symbol of LGBT rights. One banner read: “Homophobia causes heart illness.” At one point, several far-right nationalists tried to block the parade but were removed by police. Gays and lesbians continue to face significant discrimination in the mostly Catholic country, a legacy of the church’s stance and decades of repressive communism. While cities such as Warsaw have grown more tolerant as contacts have increased with the West, most gay and lesbian couples are still too afraid to walk down the streets holding hands.

Ireland’s likely next PM would be first gay, minority leader Ireland’s governing Fine Gael party has elected Leo Varadkar, the gay son of an Indian immigrant, as its new leader and the country’s likely next prime minister. Varadkar defeated rival Simon Coveney in a contest to replace Enda Kenny, who resigned last month. Coveney won the votes of a majority of party members, but Varadkar was backed by most lawmakers and local representatives to give him victory June 2 under the center-right party’s electoral-college system. He is highly likely to become prime minister in Ireland’s coalition govern-

ment, although not immediately. Kenny will remain for a couple of weeks while Varadkar holds talks with other members of the Fine Gael-led coalition government. At 38, Varadkar will be Ireland’s youngest leader, as well as the first from an ethnic-minority background and the first openly gay leader.

Gay vulture dads hatch chick at a zoo in Amsterdam Two male griffon vultures in a long-standing relationship have successfully hatched an abandoned egg at an Amsterdam zoo. Artis zoo said in a statement May 31 that keepers who found an egg on the floor of the vulture aviary initially put it in an incubator, but later placed it in a nest that the two male birds built together in the enclosure. The zoo said the vultures, who have been a couple for years, took turns sitting on the egg until it hatched. Now, the new dads are taking care of the chick by feeding it regurgitated food. The zoo says it is not unusual for animals, particularly birds, to form same-sex couples, but it is the first time such a pair has hatched an egg at the Dutch capital’s zoo.

Hundreds take part in Winnipeg’s first Trans March The head organizer of Winnipeg’s firstever Trans March in support of the transgender community said she’s blown away by the number of people who participated. “When I first started planning this and knowing how shy some trans people can be, I was expecting 50-100 people,” said Shandi Strong, a member of the Pride Winnipeg committee that helped organize the event. “I was overwhelmed. I almost cried on the podium because we had 400 and some odd people there.” The march began 2 p.m. June 3 with a rally at the legislative grounds. From there, participants hit the streets and walked down Broadway to the Via Rail building on Main Street, then to a stage at The Forks where trans musicians performed. Strong said an event for trans people was overdue in the Pride festival. Last year, the Pride organization was criticized by members of the LGBT community who felt there wasn’t space for them in the event, including trans people and people of color. Strong said she was proud of Pride’s response and all the marchers and speakers who took part. n — compiled by Larry Nichols

LOCAL PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

The Attic receives $100K grant An LGBT youth organization this week received a $100,000 grant to support its work. Impact100 Philadelphia, a women’s philanthropy and grantmaking organization, awarded funds to The Attic Youth Center and four other nonprofits at its annual meeting Monday. “We are ecstatic to receive these funds,” Attic Executive Director Carrie Jacobs said in an email. “It is a critical juncture in The Attic’s history as we are approaching our 25th year, and the funds from Impact100 will make a tremendous difference in our future and in the lives of the LGBTQ youth who we serve. “We are tremendously thankful to the members of Impact100 for choosing to fund The Attic, and in turn, impacting the lives of our city’s LGBTQ youth,” Jacobs added. Jacobs said The Attic will use the grant to “address the needs of LGBTQ youth who are homeless, unsta-

bly housed or at risk for becoming homeless.” Additionally, she said the nonprofit plans to enhance its Life Skills Center, mental-health services, job-placement programs and internship opportunities. Jacobs and The Attic staff member Hazel Edwards prepared a presentation, along with four other grant finalists at the meeting, held in the Crystal Tea Room at the John Wanamaker building. Impact100 members voted on the finalists. “All of the finalist organizations did a wonderful job with their presentations and were very deserving,” Jacobs said. In addition to The Attic, the Interim House and the Community Volunteers in Medicine also received $100,000 Core Mission grants. The Philadelphia Young Playwrights and the National Audubon Society received $30,000 General Operating grants. n — Jeremy Rodriguez

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HIT-MAKERS: The Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus paid homage to one-hit wonders of the last few decades at its themed sing-along concert June 2. Shows were held throughout the weekend at Prince Theater to close out PGMC’s 35th-anniversary season. Many of the PGMCers gathered at Woody’s after Friday’s show for an afterparty. PGMC will next perform this weekend at the National March for Unity and Equality in Washington, D.C. Photo: Scott A. Drake

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PULSE: ONE YEAR LATER PGN

Orlando-based history center offers digital gallery for Pulse exhibit By Jeremy Rodriguez jeremy@epgn.com Locals will not have to travel to Orlando to honor the victims of last year’s shooting at Pulse Nightclub. The Orange County Regional History Center will open an exhibit June 12, one year after the event that claimed 49 lives at the Orlando LGBT club. While Orlando residents can visit the weeklong exhibit at their leisure, people from around the world can view the artifacts through an online digital gallery. The exact link for the gallery was not available by presstime but will be available via www.thehistorycenter. org upon opening. The center collected more than 3,500 artifacts from memorials for preservation. Museum Manager Mike Perkins said the digital galleries will be organized by the victim’s name, the date the artifact was collected, where the item was collected and other methods to narrow down searches. “I think it’s going to be a really meaningful way for people who just can’t get to Orlando or perhaps don’t want to see items in person but in the privacy of their own home,” Perkins said. “[They] will be able to go to that [web] site and really get a good sense of the depth and breadth of the collection.” Additionally, visitors to the website will have the opportunity to share stories about specific items. Perkins said individuals, after searching for an item they left, can share a story describing the artifact. They will then have an option to share it on the website for others to view or share it privately with the history center.

“The more personal stories that we can offer, the more we can make this event speak to somebody living 100 years from now,” Perkins said. “[It can] help them understand what it was like to live through this time and be impacted by this event, whether you lost somebody close to you or whether you just live in this community and it impacted you in whatever way it did. It will help people understand how the Pulse tragedy affected this community and shaped this community

Photo: Orange County Government

for years to come.” Perkins noted the international implications of the incident prompted the history center to engage people from around the world. “It impacted the entire nation and the entire world and I think we heard that from getting so many items from across the nation,” Perkins said. “I think it’s right for us to create the digital gallery so that people can see where their memorial items went, how Orlando responded and get a sense of the world’s responses as it related to Orlando. Showing these items in the digital gallery, in particular, will help the world understand what the response was.” n

We Will Always Remember photography by Scott A. Drake — co-winner of the 2016 Sigma Delta Chi Award for coverage of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub tragedy

PULSE: ONE YEAR LATER PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

GALAEI to host community barbecue to honor Pulse victims By Jeremy Rodriguez jeremy@epgn.com Nikki López used to spend evenings at Pulse Nightcub while growing up in Florida. The executive director of GALAEI, a queer Latinx social-justice organization, said she has struggled to process the events of the June 12, 2016, shooting at the Orlando LGBT club, which was hosting Latin Night. “For me, it was a space where everyone was welcome into the club and you saw your community reflected,” López said of her experiences. “It was one of those spaces where it didn’t matter how you identified. For it to be tragically ripped away sort of leaves you with the feeling of, ‘Wow, so what spaces are there [now] that value my existence [as a queer Latinx person]?” Exactly one year after the shooting, GALAEI will host a free community bar-

Op-Ed

becue to honor the 49 people who died. López said the event will include food, refreshments, a moment of silence and opportunities for people to speak. “For many folks, they haven’t had the opportunity to actually have a space to process in community,” López said, noting how healing has mostly been done individually. “I feel — especially with the Latinx community of Philadelphia — there hasn’t been a space that has been driven by community members,” López added. “Even with some of the fundraisers or memorials that have taken place, it has always been done by folks outside the Latinx community. This is really an opportunity for the community’s voices to be uplifted.” López said the event will center on people of color. “GALAEI is simply here serving as a safe space for folks to come but really we are having it driven by black and brown

queer folks,” Lopez said. She added that people of color will lead aspects such as the moment of silence. Additionally, she said the barbecue’s location near GALAEI’s North Philadelphia

“It’s important to pay homage to the 49 lives that were lost but to also celebrate the space that queer black and brown folks are in and to also see and get to know what this community looks like, and talk with the community themselves,”

offices was intentional, due to many people of color residing in that area. “I think ‘community’ is one of those words — just like the word ‘diversity’ — [that] gets thrown out a lot but there isn’t that sort of intentional engagement with community,” Lopez said. “This event is driven by the community.” She added the barbecue will give others the opportunity to “receive support from other people that they didn’t think they could receive support from.” “It’s important to pay homage to the 49 lives that were lost but to also celebrate the space that queer black and brown folks are in and to also see and get to know what this community looks like, and talk with the community themselves,” López said. “Remembering Pulse: One-Year Anniversary Community BBQ” will be held 4-8 p.m. June 12 at GALAEI, 149 W. Susquehanna Ave. Visit http://bit.ly/2svOuA1 for more information. n

GALAEI

Pulse one-year anniversary: We are still finding solace with the people we dance with As queer Latinx people, we know all too well that there are few places that are safe for us. Latin nights at either a local neighborhood bar or a staple gay nightclub in Center City, or a house party with friends or a random gathering on a hot summer night sitting on the stoop at Fifth and Tioga, feel like solace. Sometimes those stoop gatherings become random block parties as we blast our music from the windows or from our phones. Sometimes solace is being with your crew, sharing headphones to listen to your favorite dance track, and while waiting to catch the El, you practice a new vogue move. Sometimes solace is drunkenly catching an Uber to the local McDonald’s at 4 a.m. or piling into the car of your girlfriends after a night out and eating the best tostones with garlic and Cheez Wiz from the corner chino store. Sometimes solace is taking an afternoon stroll to places like GALAEI and hanging out in the sala, or lobby, having lunch with no particular agenda and catching up on the tea. Solace we find not in the spaces we occupy, but

the people we occupy them with. Let’s be clear about something we’ve learned as gay Latin@s: No place is entirely safe, no building is a sanctuary. Cities like Philadelphia are not immune to this; we’ve watched how major nonprofits who claim to serve all our communities have failed us, exclude us from participating, even in mourning our deaths. Governments fail us and, yes, I am sure that even GALAEI has failed folks. That is because there is no road map to liberation, no blueprint for liberatory work, no guidelines for resistances and survival. We do what we gotta do, because we have always done it. So one year later, we continue to do it with the people that hold us, we create solace with the people who bring us home. As queer Latinxs, we are always looking, either in the cities we reside in or in the next place of residence, for the echoes of what we abandoned or what abandoned us. That’s why we choose our sisters and bros, our amigxs, our sentidos of “familia.” We find them in the slang of

our Spanglish, or the lilt of our English phrases, what has and always will be all the senses of our native tongues. And for many of us, that means finding them in the nostalgia of a hazy dance floor, at your favorite club, with your tribe that holds you down, where you enjoy temporary freedoms of being unanchored and fleeting, and to have these moments while inhabiting our queer bodies — those moments when our people walk in the door, someone lets out a screech and someone else takes a sip of your drink, and suddenly no one else mattered outside of our immediate circle. How do we manage to communicate in those noisy and sometimes smoky places? Through our bodies: a kiss on the cheek, a hand against the torso, always an embrace. We hug between dances and songs, press our bodies together on the crowded floor, sweat clashing into sweat. This intimacy, where do we learn it? It’s always inside the home of ourselves. So we will continue to cherish those moments, as we dance through the pain

of grief, one year later where nothing still makes sense. Where we danced through heartbreak, or the pain of our everyday encounters with micro-aggressions. Dance to cope with loss, or disappointing hookups or unfaithful girlfriends, and the unrequited desires of our secret crushes. Lights dimmed, sound system pumping, dancing, the best kind of emotional release. And we know, we have always known, that no place is safe — we are queer people of color, no place is ever safe for us, not even the gay club — so we will continue to create those sacred spaces with our tribe. And at least for the duration of a song, we can imagine a complete surrender to the music that transports us into the sheer enjoyment of a moment, not giving a damn, not explaining a single damn thing. n Galaei is a queer Latin@ social-justice organization that embodies the common history of resistance and resilience of Latin@ and queer people. For more information, visit www.galaei.org, call 267-457-3912, email info@galaei.org or visit GALAEI at 149 W. Susquehanna Ave.

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

PULSE: ONE YEAR LATER PGN

May Stanley Almodovar III, Amanda L. Alvear, Oscar A. Aracena Montero, Rodolfo Ayala Ayala, Antonio Davon Brown, Darryl Roman Burt II, Angel Candelario-Padro, Juan Chavez Martinez, Luis Daniel Conde, Cory James Connell, Tevin Eugene Crosby, Deonka Deidra Drayton, Simón Adrian Carrillo Fernández, Leroy Valentin Fernandez, Mercedez Marisol Flores, Peter Ommy Gonzalez Cruz, Juan Ramon Guerrero, Paul Terrell Henry, Frank Hernandez, Miguel Angel Honorato, Javier Jorge Reyes, Jason Benjamin Josaphat, Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, Anthony Luis Laureano Disla, Christopher Andrew Leinonen, Alejandro Barrios Martinez, Brenda Marquez McCool, Gilberto R. Silva Menendez, Kimberly Jean Morris, Akyra Monet Murray, Luis Omar Ocasio Capo, Geraldo A. Ortiz Jimenez, Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, Joel Rayon Paniagua, Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, Enrique L. Rios, Jr., Jean Carlos Nieves Rodríguez, Xavier Emmanuel Serrano-Rosado, Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, Yilmary Rodríguez Solivan, Edward Sotomayor Jr., Shane Evan Tomlinson, Martin Benitez Torres, Jonathan A. Camuy Vega, Juan Pablo Rivera Velázquez, Luis Sergio Vielma, Franky Jimmy DeJesus Velázquez, Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, Jerald Arthur Wright

IMAGES FROM THE JUNE 13, 2016, VIGIL AT PHILADELPHIA CITY HALL. Photos: Scott A. Drake

PULSE: ONE YEAR LATER PGN

Security remains priority at local LGBT clubs By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The mass shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando happened just hours before Philadelphia Pride, a celebration that brings thousands of LGBTs to Penn’s Landing, many of whom continue the festivities in the Gayborhood afterwards. Police presence was noticeably beefed up at last year’s Pride and a number of local LGBT venues instituted enhanced security measures, which have largely remained. Woody’s had long checked oversized bags such as backpacks and, after Pulse, extended the bag check to all carry-in items. “We’ve always checked big bags for things like guns, knives, anything unsafe, liquor,” explained Woody’s co-owner Michael Weiss. “But then after Orlando, we started checking pocketbooks also.” Before the shooting, the club allowed those carrying large bags to come and go with only one check, but has since tightened that rule. “Sometimes you’ll have a situation where somebody will come in and leave to go out and smoke or meet a friend and they wouldn’t have gotten searched again. Before Orlando, they’d be let back in but now we check people every time they come back in,” Weiss said.

The club’s security team also conducts quick pat-downs on patrons, and Weiss said he has long hired a Philadelphia police officer to patrol outside the club for added protection. “Acts of terrorism continued around the world,” Weiss said. “Airports, big venues where you see a performer, anywhere that has a large amount of people at once, all have these security measures. The extra second of inconvenience is worth it.” Tabu has continued bag checks throughout the year, depending on factors like crowd size and security capacity, owner Jeff Sotland said. “We may not do bag checks every night, but when we do them, we do them across the board for that night. We do not pick and choose amongst customers on those nights,” he said. Sotland added the venue has increased the number of security personnel it hires and expanded the number of hours they work. All security staffers are certified, he said. Most patrons are understanding of extra security measures in the wake of the Pulse shooting, Sotland noted. “There are some people who are just not going to be understanding, period — whatever it is,” he said. “But we do the best we can and for the most part everybody understands.” n

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

Thinking Queerly

Kristina Furia

Only in

Thinking Queerly explores the psychological and social experiences of being LGBT in America and sheds light on the importance of LGBT community members prioritizing their mental health.

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PGN coverage of the 2016 Orlando Pulse nightclub tragedy by Jen Colletta, Scott A. Drake and Paige Cooperstein has been recognized by these organizations :

The 2016 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Deadline Reporting PGN is the only publication from Pennsylvania, and the only LGBT publication, among the 85 publications honored nationwide.

National Newspaper Association —

First place — Best Localized National Story Honorable Mention — Best Breaking News Story Keystone Society of Professional Journalists Spotlight Awards — Second place — Spot News Story PGN is the most award-winning LGBT newspaper in the country.

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and Donald Trump — far from the smiling candidate holding up a Pride flag and imploring people to “ask the gays” about how much they favor him — has declined to officially recognize the month. It’s an unsurprising move. Let this be a reminder to our community. While we have enjoyed a relatively successful eight years prior, insofar as transgender rights go at the federal level, we are now at war. Our rights are being eroded and will continue to be pushed back. This isn’t fear mongering; this is fact. While it is nice to have an administration that is willing to go to bat for us now and then, it is really up to us to make a difference. Each one of us is our best spokesperson and can do more to protect our community than any action taken by a president’s secretary. Now is a time for us to stand up and be heard. It is a time for us to assert our rights, even as people seek to demolish them. It is not a time to play nice and hope for the best, nor is it a time to despair and let harm come. No, it is a time to stand our ground and fight back. It will be up to each of us to stand against an administration full of anti-transgender bullies. We will need to rely on our allies and make new ones, and work stronger and closer with them. We will need to stand not only for ourselves, but also for all who may be oppressed under the Trump administration. This Pride is not one about celebration, but should be one of resistance, where we show just what we are made of in the face of such attacks from the president and his people. We simply have to stand, united, against our enemies and continue to show that — in spite of their best efforts — we shall continue to exist. If this is to be a war, then it will be on us to win it. n Gwen Smith is like a tree planted by the waters. You’ll find her at www.gwensmith.com.

PULSE: ONE YEAR LATER PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

Collective trauma for the LGBTQ and Latinx communities On June 12, we will mark one year experiences like being rejected by parents since the day that 49 LGBTQ, mostly and family members, by friends and peers Latinx, lives were taken by a homophoand sometimes by entire communities and bic (and likely closeted) gunman at Pulse society at large. While this type of trauma Nightclub in Orlando. While may not necessarily include one year is enough time for active violence (although it family, friends and loved ones certainly could), the emotional to have progressed through the suffering caused by everything grieving process to an extent, from micro-aggressions to grief can last for many years, rejection, alienation and shamand certainly, the effects of ing is profoundly impactful to trauma can have a lifelong presits recipients. The person on ence. One year later, both the the receiving end of any of the LGBTQ and the Latinx comaforementioned experiences munities (and the intersection automatically exerts mental of such) share the burden of a and emotional energy in the collective trauma — and this moment of receiving, processcomes as an additional layer to ing and interpreting these varthe various traumatic experiious forms of mistreatment, ences across a lifetime associmeans that that mental Kristina Furia which ated with being LGBTQ and/or and emotional energy is not of color in this society. being directed elsewhere — Hate-crime statistics reported by the FBI toward more positive thoughts and expein 2015 found that there were 5,818 sinriences. It also creates an opening for the gle-bias incidents involving 7,121 victims. presence of anxiety, paranoia, self-conOf those victims, 59 percent were targeted sciousness, fear and hyper-vigilance. because of a racial, ethnic or ancestral To go further, trauma, both acute like bias; 19 percent because of a religious Pulse and the more chronic type that bias; 17 percent because of a sexual-orien- occurs over time, causes undue stress and strain on our physical bodies and can tation bias; almost 2 percent because of a gender-identity bias; 1 percent because of lead to all kinds of medical conditions — a disability bias; and 0.4 percent because everything from chronic pain and fatigue of a gender bias. These statistics, of to heart disease. The likelihood of suicourse, were published prior to the Pulse cide attempts and successful suicides is massacre, so we can assume those casualalso heightened as the result of traumatic ties affect these percentages significantly. experiences. Among LGBTQ youth and Beyond these overt hate crimes and the adults alike, there is a significantly higher trauma they cause, there is the trauma of rate of both attempts and suicide than

Thinking Queerly

among the general population. The Trevor Project reports that the likelihood of a suicide attempt is four times greater for LGB youth than their straight counterparts and as much as eight times more likely for LGB youth with rejecting families. Furthermore, one study showed that 40 percent of transgender adults reported suicide attempts. It has also been found that with each episode of victimization such as bullying, abuse and harassment, the likelihood of engaging in self-harming behavior increases by 2.5 times. These statistics are horrifying. What happened in Orlando last June not only perpetuates the struggles related to being LGBTQ and/or Latinx but it highlights the continued need for societal change. That change must be multi-dimensional. It must include education far and wide, sensitivity training (and just sheer human empathy) and modification of the law when necessary. Unfortunately, because of our current political climate nationally, we must rely on our most local communities and governments to help us move away from oppression, fear and pain and towards true liberation, acceptance and peace. Not one single person more deserves to meet the end that those 49 beautiful souls met on June 12, 2016 at Pulse Nightclub and no one of us deserve to suffer in the aftermath of these and other traumas. May the Pulse victims rest in eternal peace and power: Stanley Almodovar III, Amanda L. Alvear, Oscar A. Aracena Montero, Rodolfo Ayala Ayala, Antonio

Davon Brown, Darryl Roman Burt II, Angel Candelario-Padro, Juan Chavez Martinez, Luis Daniel Conde, Cory James Connell, Tevin Eugene Crosby, Deonka Deidra Drayton, Simón Adrian Carrillo Fernández, Leroy Valentin Fernandez, Mercedez Marisol Flores, Peter Ommy Gonzalez Cruz, Juan Ramon Guerrero, Paul Terrell Henry, Frank Hernandez, Miguel Angel Honorato, Javier Jorge Reyes, Jason Benjamin Josaphat, Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, Anthony Luis Laureano Disla, Christopher Andrew Leinonen, Alejandro Barrios Martinez, Brenda Marquez McCool, Gilberto R. Silva Menendez, Kimberly Jean Morris, Akyra Monet Murray, Luis Omar Ocasio Capo, Geraldo A. Ortiz Jimenez, Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, Joel Rayon Paniagua, Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, Enrique L. Rios Jr., Jean Carlos Nieves Rodríguez, Xavier Emmanuel Serrano-Rosado, Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, Yilmary Rodríguez Solivan, Edward Sotomayor Jr., Shane Evan Tomlinson, Martin Benitez Torres, Jonathan A. Camuy Vega, Juan Pablo Rivera Velázquez, Luis Sergio Vielma, Franky Jimmy DeJesus Velázquez, Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon and Jerald Arthur Wright. And may we all protect, respect and love one another as best as we possibly can every single day. n Kristina Furia is a psychotherapist committed to working with LGBT individuals and couples and owner of Emerge Wellness, an LGBT health and wellness center in Center City (www.emergewellnessphilly.com).

Active-shooter expert seeks Pulse accountability By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com Chris Grollnek, an active-shooter expert based in McKinney, Texas, says he’s on a mission to hold Orlando police accountable for their response to the Pulse Nightclub incident. On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen opened fire inside the LGBT nightclub, killing 49 and wounding more than 50, including an Orlando police officer. After a three-hour siege, Orlando police breached an exterior wall and killed the 29-year-old gunman. The FBI continues to investigate the incident. Grollnek, 47, is a nationally recognized expert in the field of active-shooter prevention tactics. He’s received numerous commendations and appears frequently in the media. He contends that many casualties at Pulse could have been avoided if Orlando police adhered to active-shooter protocols. Last week, body-camera footage was released that raises more questions about the police response to Pulse. The footage depicts officers keeping their weapons trained on a Pulse bathroom occupied by Mateen, while shooting vic-

tims scream for help in the background. In the midst of carnage, one officer says: “Lord Jesus watch over me.” Eventually, SWAT members arrived and a three-hour standoff ensued. Orlando police tried to negotiate by phone with Mateen, who pledged his allegiance to terror group ISIS. Grollnek said the footage reinforces his belief that casualties could have been avoided at Pulse if police had acted expediently to control the situation. “I’m aware situations are dynamic,” Grollnek said. “But if you don’t seize control when you have the opportunity — the first few minutes on the scene — you end up with a disaster like Pulse.” Grollnek said he’s keeping an open mind, but everything he’s reviewed leads him to believe the Orlando police response to

Pulse was “grotesquely inadequate.” Multiple victims bled to death inside the club or were killed by Mateen during the three-hour standoff, according to Grollnek. “My concern is that innocent lives could have been spared if industry standards were followed. Police are supposed to pursue an active shooter until the person is neutralized. You don’t withdraw, then take a wait-and-see approach.” In a televised interview, Orlando Police Chief John W. Mina defended the actions of Orlando police officers. Engaging Mateen in a gun battle before SWAT arrived would have been a “suicide mission” for responding officers and risked the lives of hostages, Mina said. Mina also noted that the injured Orlando police officer came within “an inch” of

“My concern is that innocent lives could have been spared if industry standards were followed. Police are supposed to pursue an active shooter until the person is neutralized. You don’t withdraw, then take a waitand-see approach.”

death during the final assault, when Mateen was killed. But Grollnek disputes Mina’s assessment. “Action [by police] is always better than inaction in that type of situation,” Grollnek said. “It’s not enough to say, ‘Well, we rescued many Pulse victims while Mateen held hostages in the bathroom.’ It never should have gotten to the point of a hostage situation. Mateen should have been promptly neutralized.” In one scene depicted in the body-cam footage, a bleeding Pulse victim at a nearby hospital is handcuffed by police — who mistakenly believe he’s the Pulse shooter. “It would have been a Keystone Cops comedy, if the outcome wasn’t so tragic and appalling,” Grollnek said. Grollnek hopes to serve on a Pulse blue-ribbon review panel, if one is created by Florida Gov. Rick Scott. At press time, a spokesperson for Scott had no comment on whether such a panel would be created. “I’m very concerned that if we don’t acknowledge the mistakes made at Pulse, important lessons will go unlearned,” Grollnek concluded. “If that happens, what hope do we have for the future? More innocent lives will be needlessly at risk.” n

PULSE: ONE YEAR LATER PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

West community keeps Akyra Murray’s memory alive, on and off the court By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com Beulah Osueke was sleeping in the early-morning hours of June 12, 2016, when her phone pinged with a text message. “It was a member of the boys’ basketball team asking if I’d heard what happened to Akyra, and if it was true,” Osueke, the girls’ basketball coach at West Catholic Preparatory High School, recalled. The player was referring to Akyra Murray, a basketball standout at West who graduated earlier that month. Murray had been on vacation in Orlando, Fla., with her family, celebrating her graduation. She, her cousin and a friend had gone out that Saturday night to dance at Pulse Nightclub. Osueke called Murray, whose voicemail picked up, and then contacted her father. “He confirmed that they didn’t know where she was, they were looking for her,” Osueke said. “They thought she escaped the club, didn’t have her phone on her or was in the hospital somewhere.” As news spread Sunday of the mass shooting at the club, Osueke stayed in touch with Murray’s family while they continued to search. It wasn’t until the next day that her father learned that his daughter was one of the 49 victims who died in the attack. She was the youngest of the victims. “I had my emotional response,” Osueke remembered, “and then my assistant coach just came to get me and I told her to go to West. We started calling all the players and they all came to the gym and sat and reminisced and shared memories. It was very emotional.” Parents, teachers and school counselors joined the team, and together the group attended a vigil held that evening for Murray and the other victims at Philadelphia City Hall. Murray’s skill on the basketball court was recalled at the vigil, including by Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, who said he had seen Murray play. The 18-year-old point guard was honored earlier last year for scoring 1,000 points for the Lady Burrs team. Murray transferred to West the previous year. Unlike many high-school basketball programs, West’s basketball players operate year-round, with just a two-month break in the spring. “It’s pretty intense. They’re doing study hall, lifting weights, playing games and still going to class. But Akyra was excited

about the opportunity,” Osueke said. “Even though it was a lot, she really embraced the work and stepped into a leadership role.” Despite the intense basketball schedule, Murray kept up her academics, earning honors and graduating third in her class. She received a full athletic scholarship to Mercyhurst University, which she was set to start at the end of the summer. “A lot of the conversations we had were about what she wanted to accomplish in her basketball career and professionally,” Osueke recalled. “A lot of the lessons learned through wins and losses were about building character, developing who they are after high school. We planted a lot of seeds in her, and she was doing her job nurturing them. And that was all cut short.” The loss has been tough for the entire West community, particularly the basketball team, Osueke said. Getting back to their off-season workouts after the shooting last summer was a challenge. “There was a lot of pain,” she said. “They’re kids. For some of them, this was the first time they lost someone that close to them. And I think what was worst was how public it was; especially with social media, any time they’ve tried to live their lives, there’s a constant reminder.” When school resumed, Osueke brought in two local counselors who held two sessions with the teens, which she said were very fruitful. “The kids closest to Akyra were able to express themselves, and those who didn’t know her at all learned about how they could support their teammates through their healing,” she said. “After the second session, I really noticed a different atmosphere.” The Lady Burrs sought to keep Murray’s name alive this past season, which they dedicated to her. They wore shirts with Murray’s initials and her basketball number, 20, for special games, including their

first league game and when they played the team from Murray’s former school. They also wore black AM20 bands on their jerseys every game of the season. To mark the one-year anniversary of the shooting, West will host the Akyra Murray Memorial Game June 12 at the school. Twenty of the top girls’ basketball players in the city will participate. At halftime, Murray’s family will be presented a ceremonial plaque and basketball, as well as a jersey from the Philadelphia 76ers dedicated to Murray. “We want to acknowledge her work, her dedication and the time that she put into this program as the foundation of what we do,” Osueke said. It was Murray’s involvement in the program that many credit with its growing success. The year before Murray transferred to West, the Lady Burrs didn’t win a single game. The team won five her first year with them and 10 her senior year. This year, the Lady Burrs claimed 16 victories, advancing to the second round of the Philadelphia Catholic League tournament for the first time since 2000. The team took the District 12 City Championship title for the third consecutive year and advanced to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association State Quarterfinals for the first time in school history. “We’re attracting better players now. And none of them would have considered West if it wasn’t for Akyra’s leadership here,” Osueke said. “It speaks to who she was as a person that all of these other players looked to her and followed her. She

didn’t let that give her a big head, though; she was selfless in what she felt she had to do for the team, on and off the court.” Since her death, Murray’s successes have been held up as inspiration for other young athletes and students. But, Osueke noted, it’s also important to remember the challenges Murray overcame to accomplish all that she did. “In a lot of the news stories about Akyra, they talked about how she was an amazing student and an amazing athlete, and a lot made it sound like it just came naturally. I want people to know it was definitely a struggle,” Osueke said, noting that, since Murray’s passing, she’s questioned the tough standards she set for her. “We had a great relationship but at times I was rough on her. I’ve found myself asking, Did I go too hard on her? Did I push her too much? But I don’t think I did because she was able to respond every time. There were definitely days where she would second-guess herself, doubt herself and then she would get herself out of that.” Osueke said she plans to keep invoking Murray’s perseverance when working with other youth who are striving to meet their potential. “For as long as I work with youth, I will use Akyra as an example of what can happen if you’re able to persist. Without the struggles, she wouldn’t have been the person she was. We often talk about superstars, people like Oprah, who persisted, but those people aren’t known, they’re not within reach of our kids, especially in Philly. Akyra is someone who is within reach. She wasn’t a superstar millionaire, but she was successful in her own right. I want to keep letting people know that. None of us want Akyra to be forgotten.” n

pgn Philadelphia Pride Issue: June 16 Gay News

LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976

HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

FLAG from page 1

while the new flag won’t necessarily end racism and discrimination, its symbolism is “a massive step in that direction.” “We as a country and as a community, we have a long road to keep those goals but this flag and this event is a start and a commitment.” Thursday also served as the kickoff for the new Office of LGBT Affairs website. Jason Evans, treasurer for the

Commission on LGBT Affairs, is spearheading the website development. As of presstime, the new site includes information on the office’s mission. It can be found at https://beta.phila.gov/departments/office-of-lgbt-affairs/. Evans worked with Dominic McGraw, the Energy Project Coordinator for the Office of Sustainability and two Office of Digital and Data Transformation staff members — Jacqueline Siotto and Tim

LGBT COMMISSIONERS MEET WITH DIRECTOR OF LGBT AFFAIRS AMBER HIKES ON JUNE 6. Photo: Scott A. Drake

PGN

Wisniewski. Evans, McGraw and Hikes will oversee the content on the new site. “Blogs are being posted on the Chief of Diversity and Inclusion’s site but we thought we should have a stand-alone site of our own,” Evans said at a commission meeting Tuesday night. “They were going to make a sub-site of the Diversity Office and we were like, ‘No, we need to stand alone.’ It gets cluttered and confusing so we will have our own direct link to our page.” Evans said the office plans to include calendars, contact information for LGBT organizations and blog posts from the commission and community members. “Eventually, our big plan is to have a one-stop shop,” Evans said. “What we would like to do is have one place and it can redirect you to all of those sites based on what you need. You can go to a city website and it can take you wherever you need to go.” Evans described his vision for how people can use the website in the future. “I think about children who are at home and they might have a [parental] blocker [on their computers],” he said. “They can go to a city website and get some information. They can get a phone number or an email address.” Evans said the plan is to make accessing these resources “as easy as possible.” n

SOCIAL SECURITY from page 1

mon-law marriages that are recognized by state courts. This will prevent other people from going through what Mr. Roberts is going through.” The attorney expressed hope that Roberts will get a favorable outcome. “It’s our hope that once the federal court issues the marriage-recognition order, then Social Security will award the benefits without Mr. Roberts having to jump through any more hoops,” Yingling said. “Our primary goal is for the Social Security Administration to recognize Mr. Roberts’ marriage and therefore grant full benefits. We hope this will be done without protracted litigation. But we are prepared to do what is necessary to protect Mr. Roberts’ rights.” In an email, Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Degnan said: “We do not have any comment at this time. Thanks.” Daniel N. O’Connor, a spokesperson for the Social Security Administration’s regional office, said: “Social Security does not comment on pending litigation.” The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Berle M. Schiller. Roberts issued this statement: “I want to make sure that others in my situation receive the benefits they deserve. It seems wrong that Social Security won’t recognize our 25-year marriage if a judge already found it to be a legal marriage. I’m very grateful to Patrick Yingling and the Reed Smith law firm for helping me through this process.” n

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

Family Portrait Out & About Q Puzzle Scene in Philly

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Topical dark comedy makes Philadelphia premiere By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com Simpatico Theatre charges into spring and summer with the Philadelphia premiere of “HIR,” through June 25 at The Drake. The dark comedy/drama written by out playwright Taylor Mac is about a woman, Paige, who is forging a new path for herself and her children. She breaks free from her abusive husband as one of her sons is dealing with being discharged from active duty and the other is in the process of transitioning gender. Director Jarrod Markman said the theater company had chosen to do the play

last year but recent events have made the show and its message especially timely. “We chose this play before the election happened,” he said. “Post-election, this came to a clear picture of why we’re doing this. For me, this is an election that made me understand the bubbles that we live in, especially in this bubble of progress that me and many people I know live in. The play asks questions about what we do with the people that are not in the same bubbles as us, and how we reach over and engage with them in order to not end up with results that no one is happy with.” That’s especially relevant for LGBT audiences, Markman said. “In queer communities, we always strive

to go to the city and get out. But if you are always striving to leave and not engaging with the places that you come from, the divides sort of build. So for me, the play deals with the question of progressive responsibility. Similarly, it’s a love letter to nontraditional families and nontraditional communities, which I think at this time is super-important. It’s always been important for the queer community but I think it is important for everyone now.” Markman added that he was drawn to the play because of its unique narrative: After the election, it has become somewhat of an allegory for where the country stands socially and politically. “It was the real structure of a kitchen-sink

comedy but sort of subverted. I also liked that it featured a trans/non-binary character but the play wasn’t about that; they were one of the other family members that are transitioning in some sort of way. So those two things combined really interested me. And obviously the family dynamic was very split. They’re all on a completely different page and no one is listening to each other. So that really became a metaphor for the country. Everybody wants the best for what they believe but when you can’t talk the same language it’s hard to understand or gain compassion. We would have hopped on this play even faster if we knew how the election was going to turn out.” While the subject matter PAGE 34

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Markman said that while “HIR” is defiis serious, Markman said that Mac did a nitely entertaining, he hopes the play will great job of weaving some wickedly come- inspire audiences to seek common ground dic moments throughout the characters’ with the people in their lives with whom they don’t always see eye to eye. often-trying lives. “Regardless of how deep the discussion “While it is laced with a lot of absurgets behind the words, what’s actually dity and dark comedy, I think at the heart happening is always seen through a very of it there is a lot of hope. I think we see absurd lens, which I think is really inter- that through the character of Max, who is esting,” Markman said. “He frames the the youngest child in the play,” he said. play as a traditional comedy but subverts “Max is the one that is always trying to that with the audience’s expectation of ensure that the family stays together. And what that is. Like the thing that happens really I think that is what all the characters are trying to to Arnold, the do in their own dad in the play. kind of way, to He’s suffered a make sure that massive stroke the family stays and the way that together. Their the characters tactics to do treat him, you that often coljust can’t get lide with each away from the other and are not absurd comedy successful but in it, even though at the heart of it is laced with it, there’s a lot topical issues. of love. What I Often we are hope audiences found laughing can glean is, at things that in even in terrible, another play or terrible circumdiscussion might stances where not be laughable. you’re dealing But to view it through that lens DIRECTOR JARROD MARKMAN with issues of abuse and rape lends some levand extortion of ity to that situation and I think allows audiences to reflect in a different way or the family, can you still find compassion? engage in a different way or get mad in a I think that Taylor is asking that question and I don’t know if there’s a real answer, different way.” Markman added that the main character, but I think on a human level we sort of Paige, is Mac’s way of turning ideas about explore where that line is — how we can a family’s matriarch and patriarch on their find compassion even in these very dark circumstances. I hope audiences can juggle head. “Paige is seen as the foil to what we those questions.” n imagine a dominant male figure is,” he explained. “I think Taylor took what that Simpatico Theatre presents “HIR,” with spefigure normally looks like and turns Paige cial programs highlighting Philly Pride, through 25 at Louis Bluver Theatre at The Drake, into a character that could destroy that and June 302 S. Hicks St. For more information or tickets, take over that character and humiliate that call 267-437-7529 or visit www.simpaticothecharacter.” atre.org. HIR from page 33

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PGN FEATURE

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

Out cartoonist’s best-selling memoir becomes acclaimed musical By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com Broadway Philadelphia is bringing Tony Award-winning musical “Fun Home” to town next week at Forrest Theatre. Based on the best-selling and critically lauded graphic memoir by cartoonist Alison Bechdel (“Dykes to Watch Out For”), “Fun Home” is centered on three different stages of the author’s life. The protagonist relives and tries to unravel the layers of her strained relationship with her late father, who was emotionally distant, sometimes abusive and secretly closeted. Actor, activist and former Miss America Kate Shindle said she saw the play on Broadway last year, which motivated her to audition for the role of Alison in the touring production. “It really haunted me for a couple days afterwards,” she said. “It’s that kind of story. It takes a lot — especially at a certain point when you’re not just starting out in your career — to get an actor to go out on tour. And this checked all the boxes. “It’s a fantastic story,” Shindle continued. “It tells a story that is important right now at this particular cultural moment: Recognizing and owning your own identity is a really important thing. When people do that, it can be life-affirming. And when people don’t feel like they are able and

Photo: Joan Marcus

allowed to do that, really bad things can happen. Obviously, that has a context in a story that has to do with coming out and the main character’s relationship to her father. But it applies to all different kinds of people in all different kinds of ways.” Shindle said she hadn’t read the book before seeing the show, but noted it isn’t necessary to fully enjoy the musical.

“It’s a different experience but in a great way,” she said about the differences between the book and stage production. “I call it a show sometimes and sometimes I call it a play because to me it seems more like a play than a musical. It’s a pretty masterful adaptation. If you are familiar with ‘Fun Home,’ it might not be the first thing you think of when you go, ‘We should

PGN is the winner of the 2016 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Deadline Reporting for our coverage of the Pulse tragedy. PGN is the only publication from Pennsylvania, and the only LGBT publication, among the 85 publications honored nationwide. The award is shared by Editor Jen Colletta, Art Director/Photographer Scott A. Drake and former Staff Writer Paige Cooperstein. The Sigma Delta Chi Award is a national honor that dates back to 1932. The awards are among the premiere prizes given for professional journalism.

make a Broadway musical.’ ‘Fun Home’ is not the no-brainer choice for that. But they took this story, the graphic memoir, and really did a translation of it for the stage so that it’s a dramatically structured stage-worthy piece. I’m a fan of both. They both exist very well individually. They complement each other.” While “Fun Home” treads some emotionally heavy territory, Shindle said it does strike a perfect balance between heavy and light moments. That keeps the overall tone of the production uplifting, she said. “I don’t ever leave the stage in this show,” she said. “It’s one act, 100 minutes and I’m in all of them. There are a lot of moments where Alison is watching her younger self and reliving those memories. It demands a special kind of focus in comparison to other things that I have done, to not only be emotionally present but also strike the right tone. One of the reasons I was drawn to this is, that’s how life is. Sometimes you can be as angry as you have ever been and five minutes later you are laughing. The kind of show that tells that story of humanity and the sometimes-ridiculous ways in which we interact about serious things is the kind of show I want to be a part of.” n Broadway Philadelphia presents “Fun Home” June 13-18 at Forrest Theatre, 1114 Walnut St. For more information or tickets, call 215-893-1999.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PGN LISTINGS

New doc explores divides faced by queer women of color By Gary M. Kramer PGN Contributor

“The Same Difference,” screening next weekend at Lightbox Film Center, is a provocative documentary about conflicting attitudes in the African-American lesbian community. The hour-long film, directed by Nneka Onuorah, opens with a quote from Audre Lorde about “recognizing, accepting and celebrating” our differences. But as the film shows, there is controversy when “studs” express themselves in ways that go against gender rules. Onuorah explores several “rules” of the African-American lesbian community by showcasing the people who break them. Kellz, aka King Kellz, is an exotic dancer who identifies as a stud, but wears weaves in her hair. This “half-woman/half-man” look upsets members of the community who feel studs should present as masculine only. Likewise, actor Felicia “Snoop” Pearson (“The Wire”) does not want to be boxed into one gender identity. While many folks see her as a “thug” because of her braids and masculine appearance, she does an aboutface and tries to both dress and act more feminine. One of the most enjoyable and amusing scenes in “The Same Difference” has her learning to walk in heels in an apartment hallway. Another issue raised in the film has to do with “studs being with studs,” as some members of the lesbian community object to two masculine women being in a relationship. Nykyia and Mickey, two Atlantabased studs who are a couple, explain what they appreciate about dating each other. They also try to understand why a mutual friend of theirs is so taken aback by their relationship and displays of affection. This segment leads to a discussion of gender roles in the white and black lesbian communities and how they are both similar and different. Butch lesbian icon Lea DeLaria (“Orange Is the New Black”) is interviewed for the film and even cracks a joke about the issue; there is truth in her humor, even if not everyone shares her point of view. “The Same Difference” considers why there is such a strong reaction to gender and sexuality roles in the African-American community especially, and one answer the film suggests is that established heterosexual roles (i.e., parents) provide guides for behavior. This leads to another issue raised in the film, which concerns studs, like interviewee Jordan, who is pregnant and yet presents as masculine. Jordan explains how her wife was unable to conceive, and that while they considered adoption, she agreed that she would try to get pregnant first. When Jordan is successful, her pregnancy generates considerable hatred from some close-minded members of her AfricanAmerican lesbian community.

A phone call Jordan has with DAPS, a woman who has responded negatively to Jordan’s pregnancy, leads to some eye-opening revelations. The most salient among them is that the LGBT community faces considerable discrimination already, so it doesn’t need more from its own community. This message is at the heart of Onuorah’s film, and while she has a Greek Chorus of interviewees expressing their opinions about the various topics raised, “The Same Difference” is best when the subjects simply present themselves as who they are. It is moving to see Kellz talking with her preteen daughter, encouraging the girl to be

herself. This echoes a later scene where a woman praises Kellz for holding on to her individuality within a community at odds. Another subject, Mercedes, a massage therapist, expresses her concerns about coming out as bisexual, which is also portrayed as taboo in the African-American community. She struggles with telling her friends about her months-long relationship with a man and worries about not fitting in. The emotions that Mercedes, Kellz, Felicia and Jordan — the film’s key subjects — express are all heartfelt, and viewers will be squarely on their side as they each confront ignorant and unsupportive attitudes about gender and appearance. Onuorah peppers these segments with terrific music from stud musician Jessica Betts, who sings about “only having to love yourself,” and Philadelphia poetess Kai Davis, who talks about the hypocrisy in the lesbian community. Davis briefly discusses the stigmas against femininity and the reverence towards masculinity when it comes to masculine-presenting women. On that same point, Nor, another interviewee, explains that while she identifies as a stud, she also likes to wear makeup. She claims she lost her “gay card” because she put on makeup. It is admirable that Onuorah wants to address these issues dividing the AfricanAmerican lesbian community. Her film creates a necessary dialogue to help open — if not change — minds. Her main subjects eloquently express their thoughts and opinions, and watching these role models be true to themselves is rather inspiring. n “The Same Difference” screens at 7 p.m. June 16 at Lightbox Film Center, 3701 Chestnut St. For more information, visit www.ihousephilly.org/arts.

Theater & Arts Adele Givens The comedian from “Queens of Comedy” performs through June 10 at Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom St.; 215-496-9001. Another Way of Telling: Women Photographers from the Collection Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition featuring exceptional and rare photographs by women exploring identity in and out of the studio through July 16, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-763-8100. Blue is the Warmest Color The acclaimed gay film is screened 7 p.m. at Roxy Theater, 2023 Sansom St.; 267-639-9508. Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story The story of the early rock ’n’ roll icon comes to the stage through June 17 at Bucks County Playhouse, 70 S. Main St., New Hope; 215-862-2121. Channeling Nature by Design Philadelphia Museum of Art examines how designers of handmade and industrial objects — including furniture, pottery, kitchenware and even a 3-D printed neckpiece — have responded to the beauty and fragility of the natural world through July 16, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-7638100. Fun Home Broadway Philadelphia presents the

A DECADE OF DECIBLES: Philly’s alternative-rock station 104.5 celebrates its 10th birthday with a concert featuring The Killers (pictured), Foster the People, Bleachers and more 1 p.m. June 11 at BB&T Pavilion, 1 Harbour Blvd., Camden, N.J. For more information or tickets, call 609-3651300.

groundbreaking musical based on the graphic novel June 13-18 at Forrest Theatre, 1114 Walnut St.; 215-893-1999.

master of song, Jerry Herman, through July 2 at Independence Studio on 3, 825 Walnut St.; 215574-3550.

Group Exhibition Snyderman-Works Galleries presents a selection of works from several artists from their history, through June 17, 303 Cherry St.; 215-238-9576.

Jo Koy The comedian seen on “Chelsea Lately” performs through June 10 at The Philly Punchline, 33 E. Laurel St.; 215606-6555.

Gypsy Arden Theatre Company presents the classic musical by Stephen Sondheim through June 25, 40 N. Second St.; 215922-1122. HIR Simpatico Theatre presents the story of a mother’s journey to support her transitioning son through June 25 at the Louis Bluver Theatre at The Drake, 302 S. Hicks St.; www. simpaticotheatre. org. Jerry’s Girls Walnut Street Theatre presents Broadway’s electrifying tribute to the all-American

Lino Tagliapietra: Painting in Glass Philadelphia Museum of Art showcases the artist’s complex glass vessels through July 16, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-7638100. Motown: The Musical Broadway Philadelphia presents the musical about the legendary record label through June 11 at Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St.; 215-8931999. Philadelphia Assembled Initiated by artist Jeanne van Heeswijk, together with hundreds of collaborators from

across the city, the project explores Philadelphia’s changing landscape and tells a story of radical communitybuilding and active resistance, through July at Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-7638100. Phulkari: The Embroidered Textiles of Punjab Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition exploring the beauty and cultural significance of phulkari, ornately embroidered textiles from Punjab, a region straddling Pakistan and India, through July 9, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-763-8100. Resilience An exhibition by out photographer MaryAnn Vitiello about the LGBT community over the last 20 years, through June 17 at Exhibit No. 9, 550-102 Cookman Ave., Asbury Park, N.J.; www.vitiellophotography.com.

PGN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT LISTINGS

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

Local museum breaks glass ceiling for LGBT artists By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com

SWEAT AND SEQUINS: The Martha Graham Cracker Cabaret starts off the summer season with a drag-cabaret bang with a show featuring special guests Molly Pope and Ernest Stuart 8 p.m. June 12 at FringeArts, 140 N. Columbus Blvd. For more information or tickets, call 215-413-1318.

Saturday Night Fever Walnut Street Theatre presents the stage-musical adaptation of the hit disco-era film featuring songs by the Bee Gees through July 16, 825 Walnut St.; 215-574-3550. Transparency The LGBTQ glassart exhibition runs through Aug. 6 at National Liberty Museum, 321 Chestnut St.; 215925-2800. West Side Story Media Music Theatre presents the classic Leonard Bernstein/ Stephen Sondheim collaboration based on “Romeo and Juliet” through June 11, 104 E. State St.; 610-891-0100. The Woodmere Annual: 76th Juried Exhibition An exhibition featuring works in a wide variety of media from regional artists through Sept. 4 at Woodmere Art Museum, 9201 Germantown Ave.; 215-247-0476.

Music Jack Johnson The singer performs 7:30 p.m. June 10 at BB&T Pavilion, 1 Harbour Blvd., Camden, N.J.; 609365-1300. Bryan Adams The singer performs 8 p.m. June 10 at The Mann Center, 5201 Parkside Ave.; 215-546-7900. Get the Led Out The Led Zeppelin tribute band performs 8 p.m. June 16-17 at Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave., Glenside; 215-5727650. Sigur Ros The experimentalrock band performs 8 p.m. June 16 at The Mann Center, 5201 Parkside Ave.; 215-546-7900.

Nightlife Flush the Binary: Talent Show & Fundraiser The drag, burlesque and musical showcase kicks off

7:30 p.m. June 12 at Bob & Barbara’s, 1509 South St.; 215-545-4511. Our Boys of Summer Nightcap Cabaret presents its popular summer show featuring incredible voices and handsome faces 7:30 p.m. June 12 at L’Etage, 624 S. Sixth St.; 215-5920656. Queer Performances of Color The bi-monthly show featuring an all-person-ofcolor cast includes performances by Team Captain Jaeda, Aurora Whorealis, Mae Rose, Allison Wonderland, Derek Thompson, Roberto Mejía and Jai T. Lynne 10:30 p.m. June 16 at CiBo

Ristorante Italiano, 1227 Walnut St.; 215-923-8208.

Outta Town Karen Mason The Broadway/ cabaret star performs 7:30 p.m. June 10 at The Rrazz Room, 6426 Lower York Road, New Hope; 888596-1027. Suede The cabaret singer performs 7:30 p.m. June 16 at The Rrazz Room, 6426 Lower York Road, New Hope; 888596-1027. Three O’Clock High The ’80s comedy is screened 9:45 p.m. June 16 at the Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville; 610917-1228. 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.

The National Liberty Museum is presenting a first-of-its-kind LGBT-focused exhibition. “Transparency,” a large installation opening June 9 and running through Aug. 6, showcases diverse subjects, methods and styles explored by glass artists in the LGBT community. Megan Coll, director of glass at the Old City museum, said glass is an idyllic medium for the subject matter. “At the National Liberty Museum, our core themes for visitors of all ages include leadership and good character, diversity and inclusion, peaceful conflict resolution and civic engagement,” she said. “Our primary art form is glass art, as it makes the point that liberty and freedom are as fragile as glass.” “ T r a n s parency” is the first exhibition of LGBT glass artists in the “SPECERE” nation. The exhibition aimed to represent a broad range of artists from across the LGBT community. “We opened the exhibition to artists of the community, and we have a good representation of the spectrum,” Coll said. Alongside each of the diverse pieces is a description by the artist about his or her reflections on the glass-art and LGBT communities. Coll said the quotes from the 20 artists add “a personal and emotional element to the show that expresses the artist’s voice.” The public is also invited to add its voices to the project. The “Transparency” blog (https://nlmtransparency.tumblr.com) encourages visitors to submit their own story about an event or experience that shaped their identity as an LGBT person or ally; submissions can range from stories to poetry to song lyrics. Exhibitiongoers can read and take home printed copies of the blog posts. Philadelphia artist Natalie Hope McDonald contributed two murals to the

museum for the special exhibition. The first is a cityscape that leads visitors down to the lower level of the museum. It was inspired, in part, by John Rechy’s novel “City of Night.” “I wanted to create an illustrative cityscape that would feel overwhelming to a viewer when standing on the platform in the stairwell, much like the main character in the book did when he arrived in the big city for the first time,” McDonald said. “It’s chaotic and there’s lots of movement and detail that gets confused in a whirl

BY WES VALDES IN “TRANSPARENCY” of triangular shapes that carry down the staircase as floating prisms. These are symbolic of fragility and also movement — the gay-rights movement in abstract terms.” McDonald’s other mural leads into the exhibition and was also inspired by a literary work: Alan Hollinghurst’s “Line of Beauty.” “Practically speaking, I wanted to create a geometric design that denotes glass. The book itself played an important role in the meaning of this mural because I was concerned with image. Much like the main character wanted to be accepted in mainstream society despite his being gay, the mural offers two halves to the story built upon, what else, but lines of beauty.” n The National Liberty Museum presents “Transparency: An LGBTQ+ Glass Art Exhibition,” through Aug. 6. There will be an opening reception 5:30-9 p.m. June 9 at 321 Chestnut St. For more information, visit www.libertymuseum.org/event/ transparency-lgbtq-glass-art-exhibition/.

PGN

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PROFILE PGN

Family Portrait

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

Suzi Nash

Alison Bechdel: Coloring outside the lines, from PA to Broadway In 2015, we reached another milestone in the LGBT community: “Fun Home,” the first Broadway musical with a lesbian protagonist, took home the Tony Award for Best Musical. “Fun Home” is a story based on the life of cartoonist Alison Bechdel, who writes the “Dykes to Watch Out For” comic strip that has been seen right here in PGN. The musical explores Bechdel’s discovery of her own sexuality, her relationship with her gay father and her attempts to unlock the mysteries surrounding his life and death. Bechdel is also the name associated with the Bechdel Test, which has become a frequently used metric in cultural discussion of film: The test asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. Thankfully, our nonfictional interview passed the test. PGN: You and I have something in common: I was born next to a funeral parlor and lived in an apartment that was previously a funeral parlor and your father worked part-time as a funeral director. AB: Oh, wow. Yes, he did. PGN: As kids, we used to play hide and seek among the coffins in the storage garage. For me, it made me less fearful of death. Did it have an effect on you? AB: I often ponder the effect it had on me. I think, to a certain extent, it made me more aware and accepting of the fact that we’re all going to die. But then again, there was something surreal about my own father dying and having his funeral in our funeral home. It made it even harder to accept it than it might have been otherwise because of my familiarity with the whole business. PGN: I can see that. So you’re originally from Pennsylvania. What was it like where you grew up? AB: I grew up in Beech Creek, Pa., which is in Central Pennsylvania — a little north of Penn State. It was a very conservative place. I grew up in a small farm town, my dad grew up in a small farm town, my mother had grown up in the county seat 10 miles away. You couldn’t … there wasn’t a lot of freedom. Everyone knew everyone or lived next to a relative so you couldn’t get away with much. PGN: It’s interesting that you lived in such a conservative area, not something usually connected with the arts, with which both of your parents seem so involved. AB: Yes, they were definitely outliers in that regard. I often wondered, Why did they stay there? But my father, in particular, had very strong ties to his family and, like many people who grew up in small towns, he wanted to stay near them.

PGN: What was a fun family memory? AB: [Laughs] Well, we too would play around in the funeral home. We’d line all the chairs up and play airplane, roll the carts around and knock over the flower stands, stuff like that. We also played hide and seek among the caskets. PGN: What were the pros and cons of having an artistic mother and father? AB: The pros are pretty obvious: I was always encouraged to draw and I was always provided with plenty of drawing paper and pens. I was given piano lessons and there were hundreds and hundreds of books in our house. The downside was having parents who I knew were … who had very refined tastes. It was almost scary to creatively express yourself with highly judgmental people around. So, in a way, I felt like I became a cartoonist as a way of eluding their radar because it was the one medium that they didn’t really know anything about. PGN: I read that you choose to do your cartoons in black and white because your father was such a stickler about color choices. AB: Well — this is looking back and psychoanalyzing myself — I didn’t think of it consciously at the time, but yeah, my father was such a connoisseur of color that by cartooning in black and white I didn’t have to deal with it.

I was never really an activist myself but I really admired the people who were willing to put themselves out there so those values started creeping into the stuff I was writing about. PGN: You featured such a variety of characters, different races and backgrounds. How did you find their voices? AB: Well, the whole culture back then was a lot more activist-oriented. I mean there was no question that I would have women of color or a character with disabilities in the strip. I worked very hard to make the strip inclusive and I took great pride when someone once called DTWOF “multicultural to a fault.” PGN: [Laughs] That’s great. I was looking back at some of your cartoons and thought, I miss those times when people were bonded together for a common cause. I have a nephew who came out at 16 and there doesn’t seem to be the same sense of community for him that I had, even though this generation

PGN: How did his passion for color manifest? Was that in his personal style, his fashion sense, his artwork? AB: He did a lot of interior decorating but yes, also in his personal fashion. [Chuckles] He was a bit of a dandy and he was always restoring and/or redecorating our house.

PGN: The strip often has political tones in it. Did it start out that way or did writing it over the years make you more politically aware as you got feedback from readers? AB: No, it wasn’t explicitly political in the early days; it was more silly and funny. But it definitely became more political over the years. I’m trying to think why. I mean I always hung out with a very activist crowd.

PGN: Indeed. That story sounds like another Pennsylvanian whose name got attached to something by college kids. I heard Kevin Bacon say he didn’t even know about “Six degrees of separation from … ” until someone explained it to him. AB: Yes! PGN: In your bio it says that you’ve been invited to sit on the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary. What the heck is that? AB: The American Heritage Dictionary, which is my favorite dictionary, has this great feature, usage notes, that are all throughout the dictionary: a short explanation about how words or phrases that are problematic, or interesting or evolving, are actually used. I am now one of the people who gets to vote on what we think are acceptable usages of words. PGN: That’s dope! There’s one that probably needs explanation to the uninitiated. AB: Yes, and we’re working on things like trans terminology: Can you use “they” as a singular pronoun? I keep voting yes! yes! as they ask it again year after year but we’ll get there.

PGN: How did your cartoon strip, “Dykes to Watch Out For,” come about? AB: I started doing it soon after I graduated from college. I wanted to see images of people like me and my friends and I did not see that anywhere in the cultural zeitgeist. So I started making them myself and publishing them in my local feminist paper in New York City and slowly I started to self-syndicate in other papers around the country. [Laughs] I think PGN was the first paper that ever paid me! PGN: Nice! AB: Yeah, I think that was back in about 1985.

PGN: So do you get residuals every time someone mentions the Bechdel Test? AB: Ha! No, it’s weird … the idea originated in one of the early “Dykes to Watch Out For” strips but it didn’t become “The Bechdel Test” until sometime in the 2000s and it was not my doing at all. A younger generation of feminists found the strip and felt that it expressed their emerging ideas about feminism in an easy, nutshell way. But now it’s become this thing that’s associated with my name, which is kind of cool.

certainly has freedoms we didn’t. We’ve mainstreamed ourselves out of the tribe. AB: Yeah, that’s definitely something we’ve lost in the trade-off. PGN: Which of your characters makes you laugh the most? AB: I stopped drawing the strip in 2008 and at that point I think the character I enjoyed drawing the most was Sydney, the evil gender and women’s studies professor. [Laughs] I guess she was sort of an alter ego for me.

PGN: You have made such interesting contributions to society in surprising ways. On top of DTWOF, which was of such importance to so many lesbians growing up, now you’re in the general population with “Fun Home” — first the graphic novel and now the musical. Was there a particular moment that made you decide to write your story? AB: I wanted to tell the story of my father and me for almost all of my adult life. Almost as soon as my dad died, it struck me that it would make a really amazing story. He died when I was in college, when I was 19, but I didn’t start working on it until I was 40. I think I didn’t write it PAGE 42

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

PORTRAIT from page 41

back then because it involved revealing a lot of family secrets: that my dad was gay, or bisexual — he’s identified as gay in the musical but it’s a little more complex than that — and that he committed suicide. I just didn’t feel that I could tell that story back in the 1980s, but in the 2000s I felt there was enough distance from it and that the culture had changed enough and that I’d developed enough maturity as an artist to start grappling with it, so I did.

ironic because I read that it was a library book that helped you come out! AB: Well, we know that books have great power! People who censor them know that. PGN: I was going to say it’s hard to imagine people banning books in this day and age, but with this new administration, it’s not so hard after all. What was an early sign you were gay? AB: I was always doing crazy tomboyish things.

PGN: What was the reaction from the family? Have they seen the show? AB: Well, it was a book long before it was a musical. My mother and all her friends read the book but she died in 2013 just before the play opened on Broadway.

PGN: And yet your dad was always trying to get you into a dress. AB: Yeah, there was always a power struggle there. My mother didn’t care one way or the other but my dad always wanted me to look pretty.

PGN: What were the strangest and most heartwarming reactions to the show? AB: The strangest moments are always when some person from my childhood comes to see it, someone who knew my father, knew my parents. It’s always a little bizarre for me. I had one person who’d been a good friend of my father’s when he was a teenager who didn’t want to accept the fact that my dad could have been having samesex relationships, even though I know that he did. So that was strange. But it’s always heartwarming when young queer people tell me how happy they are to see this representation of themselves on stage, to listen to this butch lesbian anthem and lesbian love songs in a mainstream context. It’s very empowering for them.

PGN: You seem to pull up all sorts of cool stuff on your blog, old articles, etc. Are you a virtual packrat? And do you keep actual memorabilia as well? AB: I save stuff, that’s for sure. But I like to think of myself as an archivist rather than a packrat.

PGN: What did it feel like in the pit of your stomach the first time you got to see an audience react to your life story? AB: Well, the first time I saw it with an audience, it wasn’t with the general public; it was with people associated with the Public Theater where it was being staged. I found it very nerve-wracking because I knew people were kind of watching me throughout to see my reaction, to see how I was feeling about the whole thing. So it was a little stressful, but it was very different when I went to the first real public performance and I could be somewhat of an anonymous audience member. It was just amazing. And weird to have this super-intimate look at my life in a public forum and to have it be so moving for so many people. I can’t even tell you … I don’t think I’ve fully processed it yet, even all these years later. PGN: I understand that the book was banned in Missouri. AB: [Laughs] It’s gotten into trouble in a few places, most recently in South Carolina, where it was one of the reading selections for freshmen at the College of Charleston. The Republican South Carolina House of Representatives cut the college’s funding by $52,000 for “promoting the gay and lesbian lifestyle.” They compare me and the book to slavery, Charles Manson and Adolf Hitler. It was absurd. PGN: [Laughs] Which I find especially

PGN

PGN: What are you working on next? AB: I’m working on another graphic memoir. This one is called “The Secret to SuperHuman Strength.” PGN: I’m excited about seeing the show here in Philadelphia. I saw Sydney Lucas, the actress that plays you as a child, singing “Ring of Keys” on the Tonys and it was great. She was so precocious; do you find yourself wanting to adopt all the kids from the show? AB: Ha! No, no. Though I like them all very much, I don’t want to adopt them. I’m happy to just go see them on stage. PGN: I’m sure you’ve seen it countless times. What part of the show do you look forward to the most? AB: I love seeing the opening number when all of the characters flood onto the stage. There are three different characters who play me — as a child, in college and as an adult — and they’re all on stage at once. My brothers are on stage, my parents, there’s all sorts of business and flow. I feel like my whole life is happening in front of me at once and I love it. PGN: Kate Shindle is in the show and she was once a Miss America, but I understand you have a new prestigious title as well: Vermont’s Cartoonist Laureate. So what will your platform be? AB: Oh dear, I don’t think I have one. [Laughs] Honestly, I was hoping to just rest on my laurels. n “Fun Home” runs June 13-18 at Forrest Theatre, 1114 Walnut St. For more information or tickets, visit www.kimmelcenter.org. For more information on Alison Bechdel, visit www.dykestowatchoutfor.com. To suggest a community member for Family Portrait, email portraits05@aol.com.

Q Puzzle Diora Bared Her Soul Across

1. Dressed for Mardi Gras 9. Dave Pallone call 15. Rule with whips and such 16. Aileen Wuornos portrayer Charlize 17. Start of the title of a 2006 Diora Baird movie (with “The Beginning”) 18. Johnny Mathis disk 19. Get hard 20. Loafer’s lack 22. Keanu’s role in “The Matrix” 23. Chemist’s workplace 26. More of the title 28. Matured, as fruit 32. Schoolyard retort 33. Rene Auberjonois role 34. Chef Des Jardins 36. Take advantage of International

Male 40. 2005 Diora Baird movie 44. Not hard to get in bed 45. Hotel customer 46. Lawyers’ things 47. Last word in a threat 50. Like the most extreme penetration 52. End of the title 56. Fearful reverence 57. Cole Porter, for one 58. Lorca’s shore 60. Mauresmo’s court divider 63. Friend of Dorothy 65. 2006 Diora Baird movie 69. Patrick Stewart’s order on “Star Trek” 70. Flattered, in a way 71. TV Superman George 72. Mouthpiece’s tongue?

Down

1. Summer

hrs. in Harper Lee’s home state 2. Package appreciation cries 3. Foe of Peter Pan 4. Diacritical dot 5. One of “Fifty Million Frenchmen” 6. Nathan’s role in ”The Producers” 7. And others, for Caesar 8. Cul-___ 9. One that stays in a bed 10. Main argument 11. YMCA activity 12. Jeremy of “M. Butterfly” 13. Land of Margaret Cho’s ancestors 14. Give a large bosom, e.g. 21. Presided over 24. Start to climax 25. Swiss town with a bear mascot 27. Enjoy some ladyfingers, e.g. 28. Horror writer Michael

29. Head output 30. Body snatcher’s hatchers 31. Macbeth’s weapon and others 35. Heart ward, for short 37. Gay cable network 38. Crude material 39. “Hey, over here!” 41. Does a head job? 42. On “The Love Boat,” perhaps 43. One way to cook fruit 48. “___ aux Folles” 49. Teatime treats 51. Prison friend?

52. Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter, e.g. 53. Dress with a flare 54. Barely burn 55. International Male’s business, e.g. 59. Top 61. Cock ending 62. SpencerDevlin supporters 64. ___ Viola (Diora Baird’s partner when she came out) 66. Cylinder put in the mouth, for short 67. Announcement from the cockpit 68. JFK’s predecessor

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

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Our largest issue of the year is coming for

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ê Drain Cleaning ê Free Estimates ê Senior Citizen Discounts ê Emergency Service

215-271-9945

Psst, want a good deal on advertising? PGN directory ads are terriﬁc way to get your message out. Email prab@epgn.com or call 215-625-8501 ext. 212 for more info.

City of Philadelphia City of Philadelphia

-1-1-

- and check out our archive of past reviews on epgn.com.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

PGN

ADONIS CINEMA “THE ONLY ALL MALE ADULT THEATER IN THE CITY”

2026 Sansom St (located 3 doors up from Sansom St Gym)

215-557-9319 4 Small Theaters with Video & Dark Room Area

HOURS OF OPERATION: Monday - Thursday

7am-6am

(closed an hour for cleaning)

Friday- Sunday:

Open 24hrs

ADMISSION: $12.00

We now accept all major credit cards.

Plenty of New Things Happening at 2020...... JUST OPENED, “THE SUITES” • 8 NEW Deluxe Rooms “EVERYTHING is LARGER” • New sound system • New custom Slings • A New Video Room with 6 video booths AND A SURPRISE NEW FEATURE ABOUT TO BE INSTALLED SOON LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE... Come check us out there’s a different vibe going on in every section you walk THRU

WEEKLY SPECIALS:

TUESDAYS & SUNDAYS

Half Price Rooms & Lockers (6am Sunday till 8am Monday, 12am Tuesday till 8am Wednesday) ROOMS: Members: $12.50 and Non-Members: $22.50 LOCKERS: Members: $9.00 and Non-Members: $19.00

MONDAY thru FRIDAY: (8am to 4pm) Business Mans Locker Special 4 hour lockers Members: $5.00 and Non-Members: $15.00 WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY NIGHT CRUISE $12 Flat Rate for Locker Admission & Clothing Optional (4pm-12 Midnight)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON DELIGHT 4 Hour Lockers (8am - 4pm) Members: $5.00 and Non-Members: $15.00

Check out our website for our WEEKLY SPECIALS & JOIN OUR e-mail List to get the latest information on upcoming events....

www.sansomstreetgym.com

BIGGER, BETTER & MORE ENTERTAINING EVENTS...

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

SERVICES & HOME IMPROVEMENT DIRECTORY www.summersquality.com

Plumbing • Heating • Air Conditioning • Electrical Contracting •

Filippone Electrical FOR ALL YOUR ELECTRICAL NEEDS

America’s Best

Hardware Store

8200 Ridge Ave PhilAdelPhiA PA 19128

Since 1913

215-482-8800 :

Shop Simple • Shop Local

Spring Special

email info@summersquality.com

20% off with this ad

J E S S C O R E N O VAT I O N S

(must be presented at time of estimate)

215.839.0338 | 609.892.0940

215-783-3844

Plants • Flowers Pots • Soil Household Kitchen

LICENSED AND INSURED Philly Lic #18313 • PA. Lic #053919 • kitchen & bathrooms • custom tiLe work • trim work • drywaLL & spackLe over • painting • finished basements • masonry & cement work. ask for

20 years experience

family

OwnED — an d — OpERaTED No Salespeople So ® No Commissions out of Your Pocket!

— —

www.filipponeelectric.com

Mention our ad and get one free key made with any purchase!

615 E. Passyunk Avenue, Just off South St.

Your Call for Complete Home Remodeling! John!

215-922-3493

seal roofing complete roofing service

Filippone General ConstruCtion

ContraCting ExpErts Serving Philadelphia for over 75 Years

PA Lisc # PA116613 Philadelphia Lisc #45244 OSHA Lisc # 14-60-1324882

CERTIFIED In all TypEs OF ROOFIng flat rubber roofs • coatings • shingles/metal roofs

I5% OFF

IO% OFF

any roof/GUtter rePair upto $300 | must present ad | cannot be combined

licensed & insured / / 24-hr. emergency service / / Payment Plans available

2i5.533.4066 www.sealroofing.net

Wake up and smell the coffee, Francine. PGN directory ads are terriﬁc way to get your message out. Spend as little as $50 a week when you run for a minimum of 8 weeks. Email prab@epgn.com or call 215-625-8501 ext. 212 for more info.

SENIOR CITIZEN DISCOUNT

POLICE & FIRE DISCOUNT

any new roof installation upto $300 | must present ad | cannot be combined

No Job Too Small

R. RHOADS & SONS ROOFING INC. Over 20 Years Experience - Owner Operated

• Rubber Roofs • Shingles • Sliding • Gutters

• Spouts • Coatings • Repairs • Skylights

Insured and License # 46941

215-888-2963 F R E E E S T I M AT E S

VETERAN’S DISCOUNT

Payment Plan:

1/2 Down after completed, Balance due after first rain. anufacturers Warranties *M C ommercial & Residential * White Energy Efficient Coatings * Downspouts & Gutters * Roof Inspections * * Leak Repairs * Sidings

Carpentry - Kitchen/Bathroom Hardwood Flooring - Windows Doors - Sheetrock - Plumbing Electrical - Cement - Stucco - Painting

We’ll Beat Any Written Estimate Financing Options Available %15 Off when this ad is presented at time of estimate, and always for seniors, military and local or state police and fire employees

NJ office: 8569528197 Philly office: 2157833844

FLORIO HOME REMODELING Creating Fabulous Homes for Over 25 Years Remodeling Professionals

Customizable Kitchens and Bathrooms, Specialize in all Crown Molding, Install Windows and Hardwood Floors, Demolition and Home Clean Out Assistance Doors, Sheetrock, Electric & Plumbing

No Job Too Small - Free Estimates - Our Prices Will Not Be Beat

10% OFF with this ad

Financing Options Available

Call/Email John Florio:

267-972-5928

FlorioHomeRemodelingLLC@gmail.com

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 9-15, 2017

HEALTH

AND

SEX BELONG TOGETHER

Healthysexuals

CONNECT Know your status. And be ready for what’s ahead. VISIT AND TALK TO A HEALTHCARE PROVIDER

UNBC3911_B_10-125x11-35_PhilaGayNews_Connect_p2.indd 1

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